Category Archives: Tasting Notes

Price: Over 20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #26 – Esprit de Beaucastel

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I tasted this wine back in the summer, but never got around to blogging my notes. So I decided to dust them off for today’s Mourvèdre Monday post.

Tablas Creek 2008 Esprit de Beaucastel Rouge

Complex nose of cherry/raspberry fruit with a hit of coffee/mocha and mint. On the palate, it is mouth-filling without being overwhelming. It delivers earthy dark fruit and lightly grippy tannins and finishes with a bit of a mineral/minty lift. Fruit-forward, but balanced.
VINEgeek Verdict: Damn good.

38% Mourvèdre
30% Grenache
26% Syrah
6% Counoise

Coolio bona fides:

  • grapes from organic estate vineyard
  • fermented with native yeasts
  • aged in 1200-gallon French oak foudres

Price: $40-45

Price: 16-20 bucks, Price: Over 20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Wines of Chile Terroir Master Class – Part 2: Pinot Noir

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Chilean Pinot Noir is not something I have a lot of experience with, so I was happy to get to taste three side-by-side as a part of the Wines of Chile Terroir Master Class blogger tasting. I’ve previously posted about the three Sauvignon Blancs that were a part of the tasting. And there will be two future posts on the other varietals included: Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Emiliana Novas Gran Reserva Pinot Noir 2010 Casablanca Valley ($19)

Pretty strawberry and raspberry aromas with a puff of smoke and a little bit of barnyard as it opens up. On the palate, the fruit leans to cherry with a light earthy note. A nicely balanced wine. (ORGANIC)

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Cono Sur ’20 Barrels’ Pinot Noir 2009 Casablanca Valley ($32)

Seductive tobacco notes dominate the nose of this wine, with bright red fruit playing second fiddle. On the palate, the smooth, luscious texture and sweet fruit makes this a sexy Pinot, for sure.

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Morandé Gran Reserva Pinot Noir 2009 Casablanca Valley ($18)

A complex and rich nose, with the red fruit accented by tobacco (not quite as much as the Cono Sur) and a bit of earthy funk. Lovely cool red fruit flavors with bright acidity and a clear cinnamon red-hot note.

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All three of these wines are from Casablanca Valley, one of the coolest wine regions in Chile. Despite the cool temps, the fruit gets very ripe due to the abundance of sunshine. So these are definitely New World pinots. All three are enjoyable to drink and worth checking out if you like the style. I’d probably choose the Cono Sur for drinking on it’s own and the Novas or Morandé for dinner.

Salud!

Price: 11-15 bucks, Price: 16-20 bucks, Price: Over 20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Wines of Chile Terroir Master Class – Part 1: Sauvignon Blanc

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Recently, I participated in the Wines of Chile blogger tasting Terroir Master Class. Fred Dexheimer led the tasting from Chile while sitting with and chatting up the winemakers. We bloggers followed along via video, twitter and a chat tool. It was great fun.

There were 3 wines in each of 4 flights: Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon.  I’ll focus on each flight in a separate post, starting today with Sauvignon Blanc.

Wine #1

Viña Casablanca ‘Nimbus’ Single Vineyard

Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Appellation: Casablanca Valley

Vintage: 2012

Price: $13

Nose full of gravel and citrus. High acid, green apple palate with some floral/herbal notes ending with a long, flinty finish. New World sap, but the overall impression manages to feel elegant. This wine drank nicely for almost a week after being opened.

 

Wine #2

San Pedro ‘1865’ Single Vineyard

Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Appellation: Leyda Valley

Vintage: 2011

Price: $19

The funk has arrived! Pungent, vegetal nose – like grapefruit squeezed over grilled asparagus. Distinctive, for sure, but not the most pleasant for me on this night. The palate is more appealing: full-bodied, rounded and almost creamy, but retaining Sauvignon Blanc’s crispness. The flavors are melony and spicy. Reactions from the live-chatting bloggers varied from wow to whoa. This one grew on me.

 

Wine #3

Casa Silva ‘Cool Coast’

Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Appellation: Colchagua Valley

Vintage: 2011

Price: $25

Pineapple & lime on the nose with a chalky character. Racy and full on the palate, continuing the bright pineapple theme, complimented by a rocky minerality and long finish. This is more one-note than the others (it’s like a pineapple lightsaber), but it’s a great note.

 

Overall verdict:

A fun flight. Shows the wide range of styles of Sauvignon Blanc that can come from the varied Chilean terroirs. The winner for me was the Nimbus (and the best value at $13), but overall I continue to be impressed with what Chile is doing with this variety.

Stay tuned for the next three flights. And in the meantime, if you haven’t tried a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc in a while, give one a try and let me know what you think.

Price: Over 20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Napa Cab & Grilled Lamb

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I don’t drink a lot of Napa Cab. Always on the hunt for something more interesting, it doesn’t even cross my mind to look in that aisle when I’m at a wine shop. “Point me to the Ribeira Sacra, good sir.” But a bottle of Clos Pegase Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 Napa Valley was given to me recently and tonight seemed like a good night to open it.

Dinner was grilled leg of lamb, marinated in olive oil, garlic and rosemary – just the sort of meal that can rein in a big wine like this. And it turned out to be a great match. The Clos Pegase is big and tannic, rich with black fruit, dark chocolate, cedar and spice notes.  There’s even a minty note on the nose that I imagine pinch-hitting for the classic mint jelly that used to be served with lamb.

Overall, I enjoyed this wine. It’s very easy to like and a good reminder not to completely ignore categories of wine you’ve “moved past”. If nothing else, it’s a good reference point for your palate – and you just might remember why you used to drink it in the first place.

 

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #25: Luzon 2009 Jumilla

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I posted a photo of this wine bottle recently (via my Instagram account), but never commented on the wine itself. It’s a 70/30 Monastrell/Syrah blend from the Jumilla region of Spain. It sells for around $8-10. The nose is fresh, bringing red fruit with an herbal edge. On the palate, it’s like a black cherry Jolly Rancher dropped in rock dust. It’s not going to knock your socks off, but it delivered more interestingness than I expected for $8. Try it.

And I dig the label with the overlapping L-U-Z-O-N…

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Viña Cerron 2009

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An interesting blend of grapes for Spain, from the Castilla region. The vintner seems to like round numbers: 25% Tempranillo, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah and 25% Petit Verdot.

A loamy quality that I love on the nose. Dense, dark fruit, but not a bruiser. Fresh, slightly wild, full of spice and a bit of tobacco to accent the blackberry, black cherry flavor. A nice bit of grip on the finish. This is refreshingly balanced for Spain. Sure it’s concentrated & ripe, but it avoids sweetness. There’s a lot to like here. B+

$14 via Garagiste.

Photos of the label too boring to post. Their website shows some much-improved current packaging, Look at that instead.

 

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Who Couldn’t Use a Nice $10 Ugni Blanc/Colombard Blend

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This one’s been floating around in my Giant Pile O’ Tasting Notes for a while, but never popped to the top. Maybe that’s because Ugni Blanc posts don’t promise much in the way of search traffic. [Caution: Blogger navel-gazing] Third-tier grapes are one thing, but combine it with a yawn-inducing appellation like VdP des Cotes de Gascogne and a supermarket price point and you might as well be writing in invisible ink. So file this one under If You’re Reading This You’re An Honorary VINEgeek.

 

 

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #27: My New Favorite Monastrell

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I originally declared 2010 to be the Year of Mourvèdre, but my love of the grape knows no bounds, calendrical or otherwise. Here in 2012, the posts don’t come as often as they used to, but in honor of my recent business trip to Spain, here’s a review of my new favorite Monastrell (the Spanish name for Mourvèdre).

This wine retails for around $10-12 and is a great intro into Monastrell if you’re new to it — or for those who know and love the grape, it’s a good bulk buy. Have you tried this wine before? Leave a comment.

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Search-friendly, cut-and-paste-friendly text: Olivares Altos de la Hoyas Monastrell 2008 Jumilla |Nose: Smoked cherries with a fresh vegetal note. Palate: High-toned blackberry fruit with good acidity and a touch of earthy minerality. Good, persistent finish. Overall: My new favorite Monastrell. Made my day. | Score: A-

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Two Alex Elman Wines

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Finally catching up on some old tasting notes. Here are a couple of wines from Alex Elman Wines, an importer who decided to create her own label, featuring wines from Argentina made from organic grapes. You may notice braille on the labels; that’s because Alex Elman lost her sight in her 20s. Read the full story here.

TRIVIA BREAK: What well-known Rhône winery uses braille on it’s labels? (Here’s a lesser known one.)

These wines were provided as samples for review. They each retail for around $12.

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Overall, I think the Torrontes is a solid example of it’s type for the price. It’s just not a style I’m a big fan of. Given the glut of inexpensive Malbec on the shelves of wine shops and grocery stores and gas stations coast to coast (depending on the relative enlightenment of your state’s beverage laws), I’d have a hard time recommending this one.

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And now an offering to the SEO gods (and anyone who needs to cut & paste):

Alex Elman 2010 Torrontes Mendoza (Argentina) | Floral, apricot/peach nose like a car air freshener. More apricot/peachy flavors on a medium-bodied, low-acid frame, with the barest hint of minerality. | C+

Alex Elman 2009 Malbec Mendoza (Argentina) | My first reaction is that it smells cheap. There’s lots of Christmas spice and it reminds me a bit of mulled wine (though maybe I’m just having a flashback to a really terrible tasting room experience in Fredericksburg TX). The flavors are blueberry/blackberry, a bit on the thin side and in need of some backbone. Overall, I don’t get enough of the richness I want when I’m drinking Malbec. | C-

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Another Great Value Sauvignon Blanc from Chile

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My cellar has been running low on everyday whites, so when I saw this bottle of Montes Sauvignon Blanc at Costco recently, I grabbed it. Chilean Sauvignon Blanc has impressed me in the past and Montes is a very reliable producer up and down the price scale. This wine is from their “Limited Selection” line and at $9.99, the price was right.

I unscrewed it tonight with a Meatless Monday dinner of pasta with fresh corn, grape tomatoes, garlic, scallions and parmesan.

Lots of parmesan.

Montes Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Leyda Valley

Producer

Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Appellation: Leyda Valley (Chile)

Vineyards: Labeled as “Leyda Vineyard” — presumably a Montes-owned vineyard within the Leyda Valley appellation.

Vintage: 2010

Winemaking: no oak or malolactic fermentation

Alcohol: 13.5%

Price: I got it for $9.99 at Costco. Regular retail is around $15.

Tasting Notes: Crisp, lemon pith acidity cuts through the plump tropical fruit. It’s also got that green, fresh-cut grass character that I love in an SB, plus a bit of minerality at the core. It all comes together to give the sense of a wine teeming with lifeforce, like some magic elixir you could pour upon the earth in a moonlit glade and conjure an Ent. (OK, that was a weird reference).

Overall impression: I think this is a dynamite bottle of wine at $10. Great for a refreshing summer sipper to buy by the case. If you are Costco-deprived and you find it closer to $15, it’s still a good deal. VINEgeek approved. Strong B+

Free association:

Image credit: matildaben via Flickr

More info:

90 POINT ALERT: This wine was well-reviewed by the big publications, receiving a 91 from Wine & Spirits and a 90 from Wine Enthusiast.