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With the warm weather heading this way, a few words about white wines from Italy. Where I live, the next five months will be warm and warmer. Red wine can just be too heavy, as a daily regimen. Vegetables are coming to the table; lighter foods are appearing as well. I am turning to white wines.
A few lately have come across the table.
Marco de Bartoli Grappoli del Grillo This wine appeared on the table right before a dish of pesce crudo with grapefruit and wild greens. This Sicilian Grillo, from one of the great Marsala producers, is a bouquet of freshness. I was parched when this wine was poured into my glass, and I was blessed with a benediction of flavors, hinting at ?someday when I grow up I?m gonna be a Marsala.? Not a chance, this wine has famous grandparents, but it?s a thong and flip flop sandal set wine.
Bruno Giacosa Arneis ?I?m going to order this wine because I don?t get Arneis.? was what my colleague at lunch confessed. What he meant, he elaborated, was that there is no defining style for this variety. I agree. I've had the Ceretto and the Pio Cesare recently in Piedmont and they were polar opposites. The Giacosa entry matched up well with fare served recently at the Landmarc in Tribeca. We had it with a fois gras terrine, followed by a grilled half chicken with mashed chickpeas and arugula. The wine is a sexy-delicate quaff, but paired with food it slipped into something a little more comfortable. Not just a one-night-stand kind of wine, more of a long-weekend fling. Very nice with the food, and on a wine list priced slightly above retail to encourage experimentation.
Falesco Est! Est!! Est!!! Coming off a recent death march of a road trip, I headed straight from the airport to a reception. The last thing I wanted to do was drink wine. Water was what I needed and lots of it. But there was this little tray of white wine being passed around and I couldn?t be the speaker at a wine event only drinking water. I was pleasantly surprised when this wine splashed onto my palate. I wasn?t expecting much substance, what I got was a lingering memory of a delicate, understated wine with a striking aroma of sweet lilies. The flavor was a brisk jump into a fresh stream of nectarines and unripe green apples, sweet and tart not sinking to the bottom, floating down the course in an inner tube of contentment.
All Hail Texas Grapegrowers If you want something else, a shameless plug for the trials and tribulations of extreme winemaking in Texas. Kim Pierce has written a fascinating article about a place that makes me want to go and see what they're are doing up in the High Plains, 4,000 feet above sea level. Check it out.
And, as they say in the Bronx, ?Chin-tann? y'all. I'm heading to the Met.
Pennsylvania is one of those states that controls the distribution of alcoholic beverages by operating state-run stores, so one wouldn't really expect it to be a hotbed of wine-distribution innovation.
However, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is looking into the possibility of operating wine-dispensing kiosks at up to 100 locations around the state, and is soliciting bids from contractors to operate them. The machines would hold about 500 bottles, and dispense a dozen different selections. Users would have to register to make purchases with the machines, which would take credit, debit or PLCB gift cards. The kiosks would incorporate security identification measures such as fingerprints or biometric readings.
2006 Muga Roija Blanco $12.99 Wine label said: Nothing much… it’s barrel fermented and imported by Jorge Ordonez. Whoopdeedoo. Vineyard66 says: As I am still researching Spanish wines, I’ve noticed that my good friend Bill from California has been spouting off about Muga Roija. Of course, he was speaking about the red wines the area is famous for. I [...]
menu selection . Visualization and pre-planning are the keys to a smooth flowing and disaster-free evening. Begin buy selection a set of recipes with which you feel comfortable. When creating a complete menu, mix recipes that can be fixed in advance with those that need to be prepared or finished during the party.
A few days ahead of the dinner, spend a half hour during your commute to work (or whenever your mind tends to take a cat nap) and focus on the number of guests, the food, the cooking facilities, and the working space in which you will be cooking. Picture yourself preparing the dishes you intend to make and serving them in the manner you have chosen. If the act of visualizing the preceding steps causes butterflies in your stomach, select alternative recipes, simplify the menu, and/or plan to do more of the cooking in advance.
If you are a certified dinner party phobic attempting to overcome your anxieties, select a recipe that can be prepared earlier in the day, i.e., a curry, and serve it with a simple salad of baby greens. Buy a finger food and a dessert or, more simply still, ask two guests to bring them. In so doing, you can put the mental block of food preparation behind you and focus on the deep-rooted source of your phobia.
pre-production . It's not always possible, and never crucial, to prepare all of the food during the last 90 minutes before your guests arrive, or in their presence. Most of my recipes can be prepared, at least partially, one day in advance. The flavors of some foods, such as soups and curries, actually improve after sitting for a day. Other foods can be prepared in advance and frozen -- although I confess to having little experience in this area because the freezer section in my aesthetically pleasing fifties refrigerator functions exclusively as a frost factory.
The corollary to food improving with time is that some foods lose their zest if prepared too far in advance. Before serving any food, taste it. If necessary, "refresh" it with salt, pepper, lemon and/or a generous portion of the same herbs that were used originally to flavor the dish.
sizing the servings . Unless you have specifically asked how hungry individual guests are, it is desirable to make all portions equal. The first phase of portion control takes place when shopping for ingredients. Sometimes a little hardball may be required. For example, if you were to request twelve 1-inch-thick salmon steaks from your local fishmonger, he would probably cut them from a single salmon. Unfortunately, the cut from the middle of the fish can be twice as wide as the cuts nearest the head or tail. There's always almost another salmon "in the back" and you must stand your ground to get what you need. After all, you are the customer and, per the retail credo, that makes you always right.
To avoid running out of food, prepare a little extra -- even at the expense of having leftovers. When planning for casual parties where additional guests may drop by, or arrive in tow with your invited guests, it's always wise to prepare extra portions of the main dish. At least be sure to have lots of something i.e., salad, bread, veggies, etc.
If you are assembling plates for a seated affair, don't let any plate out of the kitchen until you are certain that you have enough of everything to complete the remaining dishes.
timing is everything . Having settled on a menu and decided which items to cook in advance, slide back into the visualization mode for a moment and imagine that it's 15 minutes before showtime. Will everything be ready at the same time? Are the garnishes prepped? Did you put the rise on?
Return to the present and create a "critical path" by establishing the sequence in which each dish needs to be started, refreshed or reheated. When in doubt, scribble out a running order and stick it on the refrigerator.
When showtime arrives, wait until the last minute to put the finishing touch on delicate foods. As a rule, begin steering your guests toward the dinner table before tossing the salad, adding shrimp to a sauce or steaming vegetables.
the accelerated assembly line . Assembling a large number of plates quickly is a challenge for professional chefs and amateurs alike. Before you begin, think about how you would like the food to look on the plate and how the colors, shapes and textures will interact. Create a blueprint in your mind and plan to assemble each plate identically. Then:
Have all the food and garnishes ready to be dished out
Have the appropriate serving utensils in hand
Set the (warmed) plates out on the available counter space
Confirm that all of the guests are seated
Make up the first plate according to the blueprint in your mind
Then, with the help of one or two guests-cum-sous-chefs, dish it all out as quickly as possible, assembly line style. (If you have a cassette deck in your kitchen, play the William Tell Overture)
Wipe any drippings from around the edge of the plates with a clean dish towel and check that garnishes are in place before allowing each dish to leave the kitchen.
space oddity . Oven space, counter space and refrigerator space are valuable commodities when cooking for large groups -- and another reason to keep the menu simple. A shortage of counter space is the most common hindrance in a small kitchen. Sometimes a little ingenuity is required to convert dead space into a functional prepping area. Cover the sink with a cutting board, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it over the stove's burners (heat off, please) and clear the decks of any appliances or items that are not required for the meal, i.e., the juicer, toaster, bread maker, coffee maker, coffee grinder, kettle, cookie jar, popcorn maker -- I think you get the picture.
the grill drill . The advent and popularity of propane gas grills has significantly reduced the inconvenience factor of grilling. If you are using propane, refill your tank before the party and/or keep a spare tank -- a party is a bad time to discover the gas gauge is broken.
I still swear by real hardwood charcoal (often available only in mesquite), which I believes provides the best grill flavor. This may stem from my difficulty in conceptualizing how petrified lava rocks can duplicate the smoky flavor of natural wood.
When grilling with real charcoal, light your coals 30 minutes in advance. Extra charcoal may be required to keep the fire burning, but it beats fighting to get the coals lit while you're famished dinner guests cheer you on. Never use starter fluids to light your coals. They make food taste like a gas rag, not to mention being one of the worst known air polluters. Use crumpled newspaper, ideally in combination with the very politically correct starter chimney.
Whether you have chosen gas or charcoal, beware that grilling for 6 to 12 people can require a surprisingly large area of grill space -- especially if you have chosen to accompany the entree with grilled veggies. Be prepared to grill your food in shifts, or borrow a second grill so that all of the food can be cooked at once.
help! i need somebody . Once your guest list hits the double digits, the sheer volume of people becomes an impediment to merely "winging it." In most cases, guests will be willing to lend a hand or even arrive early to help, though occasionally circumstances may make this inappropriate or undesirable. In these cases, you might consider outside help. Help comes in the following flavors: bartender, sous-chef or general kitchen assistance. Consult a friend who uses help, check the Yellow Pages or hire the kid next door.
Hiring one person to assist with the prep, cooking and cleanup can make the difference between enjoying yourself and feeling like the "help" at your own party.
if you can't stand the heat... . Throwing a dinner party is supposed to be one of life's little pleasures. But there is work involved. Hard work. Even the most enjoyable parties have their trying moments. Compose your own cooking mantra and repeat it to yourself with Buddhist fervor whenever the inevitable disaster rears its ugly head. Not only will this save you untold aggravation, but it will start you down the path toward an understanding of the true Zen of cooking.
The latest edition of Decanter (March) came out this week, and several articles caught my eye. The first was entitled Start Your Own Wine Cellar. As I’m often torn between buying bottles to drink and those I think I may like to keep for a special occasion, I was drawn to the profiles of the 3 different types of people for whom Decanter made recommendations. There was the couple who did not know much about wine, but wanted to learn and had £500 to get them going. At the other extreme was the couple who already drank a lot of good Bordeaux and had £5000 to spend. I found myself drawn to the example in the middle, someone who knows her grape varieties, but would not describe herself as a connoisseur. Decanter put together an interesting cellar at a cost of £1000 for her.
The one question I was left pondering with the suggestions was the distinction between wines for drinking 2008-2010+ and for 2010-2018. Why do a couple of decent Italian reds from 2004 fit in the first category, but a Portuguese 2005 and a Spanish 2003 fit in the second? I know it’s down to how it is made and matured, but how are you expected to know that for the slightly more unusual wines? Labels don’t always given enough information and certainly very few give how long to keep the wine for.
I always peruse the Wines of the Month to see what recommendations I can pick up. These wines are available from stockists in the UK so I feel sorry for foreign readers who may be unable to source them. However I’m always a bit frustrated to read other reviews elsewhere in the magazine and see the dreaded ?N/A? next to them. Although I figure what’s the point in reviewing them if they aren’t available in the UK I have to keep reminding myself how international Decanter is. In this month’s issue 4 of the 9 letters are from non UK readers. I am sure this helps the editorial team keep an international focus which is good for all us readers.
The panel tastings this month are both French, 2005 St Emilions and 2005 cru bourgeois. I was stunned to see a great value 2005 cru bourgeois at £7.35. I must seek it out.
Next month’s edition features Italy and is out, according to the ad in the magazine, on February 6. Oops ? I think they forgot to change the date from last month’s edition as I’m sure they mean March 6th!
Stock up on Sauvignon Blanc. This favorite spring and summer quaffing wine make a perfect "slap-in-the-face" aperitif and a classic match for oysters on the half-shell.
My second organic wine pick for this week involves Pinot Noir--which still seems to be everyone's favorite red variety. There's a lot to like about it, so it's not surprising. They're flavorful, rich without being heavy, and pair well with a wide variety of foods.
So when the folks at Cooper Mountain asked if I'd like to try their latest vintage of Pinot Noir I said yes. Cooper Mountain Vineyards are in the Willamette Valley, perched on the slopes of an extinct volcano in Oregon. Robert and Corrine Gross started the vineyards in 1978 and began bottling their own wine in 1987. Robert Gross always explored alternative methods of treating his medical patients--he's a psychiatrist, a homeopath, and an acupuncturist--and his fondness for the road less traveled in his career can also be seen in his wine work. Within a few years, Gross became interested in sustainable, alternative farming and began to convert the vineyards to organic methods. They were certified organic in 1995 (the second vineyard in Oregon to achieve this status), and four years later received their biodynamic Demeter certification.
The wine I sampled, the 2006 Cooper Mountain Vineyards Cooper Hill Pinot Noir, was a light bodied, cheerful wine with excellent QPR. ($15-$17 through online merchants) Made with organic, biodynamic grapes, the wine tasted very pure to me, with lots of cherry and raspberry aromas and flavors that were intense and lively. The wine had Pinot's distinctive silky character, and after you swallowed down all those fruity flavors there was a nice fresh taste in your mouth that reminded me of the smell of a wet garden. Like most Oregon Pinot Noirs that I've tasted, this wine is not opulent and rich but cool and restrained--like Grace Kelley. It's a young wine, with refreshing acidity at its core and I found that the cherry had turned to black cherry and the raspberry to blackberry after I recorked it and left it on the counter for 24 hours. This suggested to me that this is a wine that will continue to develop with age. But it's delightful right now, so you shouldn't wait to try this one. And the price is amazing for a wine that is organic, small production, and so darn tasty.
We had the Cooper Mountain Pinot Noir with some BBQ shrimp and cheese grits made with shrimp tossed in some homemade red sauce with bourbon and spices and some creamy grits laced with extra sharp cheddar cheese. The acidity really cut through the red BBQ sauce, and the purity of the fruit flavors didn't clash with the spices. This summer, if you've got plans to BBQ, get yourself some of this wine.
Cooper Mountain makes a wide range of organic, biodynamic wines including Pinot Gris, Malbec, and several different Pinot Noirs. If you want confirmation from another blogger that Cooper Mountain is a winery to watch, check out Jeff Lefevere's review over at Good Grape. This is a winery that may not be on your radar screen, but it should be. Their wines are further proof of the numerous affordable, delicious choices that are out there if you would like to make organic and biodynamic wine choices.
Beautiful aromas of green apple, fennel and mineral follow through to a full body, with bright acidity and a clean, lively and refreshing finish. Drink now. 4,165 cases made.
A hastily organised farewell dinner at Milsons in Sydney for a friend. My first time at this restaurant and both the service and food was excellent. I had the following;
Scallop and prawn filled zucchini flowers in prawn bisque with green asparagus, grape tomatoes and seeded mustard crustacean oil
?Cannelloni? of kingfish and blue swimmer crab with avocado, black sesame vinaigrette and coriander oil
Cherry wood smoked, 200 day grain fed beef tenderloin with fondant potato, baby green beans, aioli and red wine sauce with truffle oil
MV Krug (August 1989 Disgorgement): Light gold colour with very fine bead. Citrus, ginger and cocoa on the nose. Rich flavour to the palate, but also some very youthful, fresh characters. Not as advanced or complex as a couple of the other late 80s MVs I’ve recently had, but lovely all the same. 94/100
1995 Jacquesson Signature Brut (May 2003 Disgorgement): Very active bead. Lemon, toast, floral and some cookie dough aromas. Fluffy, creamy palate.Quite approachable, good length and very nice drinking but lacking in depth. 91/100
1981 Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese Riesling: Smoke, rose petals and peaches on the nose. Medium sweetness present on the palate, slightly rounded mouthfeel and the acid isn’t quite there to lift it up entirely. Still, fairly nice to drink but not very complex. 87/100
1998 William Fevre Le Clos Chablis: Straw coloured. Sesame seed oil, lemon, toast and grapefruit. The palate has some piercing acidity but also shows some malty oak influence and heat. Very good, but I don’t know what is going to happen with further aging. 89/100
1998 Olivier Leflaive Montrachet: Muesli, vanilla, minerals and chalk to the nose. The palate doesn’t show the same restraint as the nose, it is intensely rich with a creamy mouthfeel. Great length of flavour. My first taste of the famed Montrachet vineyard, thank you Alex. 90/100
1999 Robert Chevillon Nuits St Georges Les Vaucrains: Smoked meat, oak and charcoal aromas. Linear, dry and alarmingly short on the palate. I thought something was wrong here but I don’t know what - no sign of TCA, someone thought it may be brett, but half the table quite liked it! 81/100
1981 Chateau Trotanoy Pomerol: Briar/bramble, blackberry and cherry aromas to the nose. Nicely weighted, medium bodied palate with tannins pretty much resolved and drinking close to its peak. Very nice, it needs to be consumed in the near future. 88/100
1982 Chateau Beychevelle St Julien: Cassis, blackberries, cedar and spice form the nose. The palate is rich and expressive, though it retains good balance across the length. Still very youthful, it is a lovely wine now with the potential to be even better. 93/100
1995 Ornellaia: On the nose there are aromas of raspberry, earth, tobacco and dark chocolate. Shows a very classy palate, it is long and has detailed texture. Still feels as though some promise is being held back, I think the next 10 years will prove very interesting for this wine. 92/100
1995 Chateau Pichon Lalande Pauillac: Chlorine on the nose. Metallic palate. Undrinkable. A shame. NR/100
1981 Ernst Bretz Bechtolsheimer Klosterberg Scheurebe Eiswein Auslese: Toffee, honey and brown sugar nose. Hasn’t got the acid structure needed. Finishes short and simple. May have seen better days. 84/100
1980 J. Baumer Hochheimer Rotenpfel Silvaner Eiswein Auslese: Toffee, spice, honey and peaches. Spicy on the palate, quite dense flavours but some acid remaining to lift the palate slightly. Decent length. 87/100
This lightly golden Bordeaux smells like a wonderful Riesling or Gewürztraminer on first sniff and then evolves quickly to a Sauvignon Blanc blend. Peaches and grassy notes are very nice on the swirl with flowery bouquet.
This wine is 40% S. Blanc 50% Semillion and 10% Muscadelle and it tastes precisely like what it is. This wine comes in at $7.50 and is food friendly, and okay as an aperitif. Raise a glass to be sure.
This is a big spring/summer for me - I'm done with school after 7 years of post-high school education, I'm turning 25, and I'll soon be truly independent for the first time. I'm planning on writing myself a little letter with some thought/goals, etc. and getting a bottle of wine that I can keep for 10 years, so that when I turn 35, I can enjoy the wine and look back at something I wrote at 25, reminisce, laugh at how naive I was, enjoy some (hopefully great!) wine, etc. :)
The best thing to do is probably talk to someone at a local store, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on picking out and storing the wine, too. I generally drink wine shortly after I buy it and store it horizontally in my closet until I open it. Should I do anything different or specific to help make sure the wine keeps well?
I've practically never had a red wine I didn't like. Any thoughts on specific wines to look for? I can spend about $100 on this, though less money is certainly fine. I've never bought a bottle of wine that cost more than about $30, and most of the wines I drink are in the $10 range, so I'm out of my league experience-wise. A recent favorite was a 2003 Reserve du Chateau Mouton Bordeaux Superieur, if that helps define my taste at all.
Wed Feb 23rd, 2005, Stowe Weekly wine tasting featuring Spanish Reds, with local distributor Robert Boehme of The Vermont Wine Merchants Company , on hand to discuss the wines.
After years of struggling to prove itself to the rest of the world, it seems the California wine industry has finally arrived. There's no disputing the quality of California wines, and never before have they enjoyed a finer reputation. But at what price?
Somewhere in the uphill struggle to world-class status, the California wine industry lost a very important tradition. The French still have it. Bovine festivals still have it. Even garlic, cherry and apple growers still have it. But when autumn rolls around in California wine country, the folks are left empty-handed. Without representation. Without hope. Without...a queen!
Things weren't always this dark. In the 1950s and '60s, wine queens reigned over the California vineyards like welcome spring showers. Each October, at the California State fair in Sacramento, vintners chose a local lovely to represent them as their queen during National Wine Week. Some queens were blonde, some brunette. Some even studied dramatic arts. All, of course, were beautiful.
For seven glorious days, the newly crowned Vintage Queen would take her position as wine's goodwill ambassador, making appearances at vintage festivals, attending dinners and proclaiming the excellence of California wines. But perhaps the most important duty of the Vintage Queen was posing for stunning publicity photos, personifying the glamour, grace and charm of California wines. Even some 40 years later, the message comes through loud and clear.
It's time for these photographs to charm the world all over again! Let's raise a toast to these lovely ambassadors of the grape and honor their contribution to the success of the California wine industry as it stands today. In fact, why stop there? Let's be the first to shove all the nineties politically correct crap aside and elect new wine queens to lead us proudly into the 21st century!
Long Live The Queens!
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Everything grows large in California, they say! The beautiful 1950 Vintage Queen has the proof, as she playfully prepares to drink a giant glass filled with California Champagne.
The charming 1950 Vintage Queen pauses from her grape picking duties to flash the lucky cameraman a smile.
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Sultry! 1951 Vintage Queen Jeri Miller pauses during the wine grape harvest to adorn her hair with grape clusters. No wonder the grape was America's third ranking tree fruit that year!
Beautiful Jeri Miller, 1951 Vintage Queen, toasts National Wine Week and wonders where she left her house key.
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Diane Bagshaw, 1953 Vintage Queen, wears the traditional grape picking outfit favored by field workers of the day.
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Dee Hardy, 1957-58 Vintage Queen, has a sunny disposition in spite of the grape vine growing out of her head.
The lovely Dee Hardy, a 23-year-old San Francisco dramatic arts student, is pictured here trying to figure out where she left her glass of Chardonnay.
Dreamy Dee Hardy, 1947-58 Vintage Queen, prepares to sip California Champagne while bubbles dance around her head in admiration.
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Wine Queen June Adler reigned over National Wine Week, October 10-17, 1959. She is truly the picture of glamour!
1959 Wine Queen June Adler raises a toast to California wines after a day of hosing down tanks in the cellar.
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Making wine is hard work, but Marilyn Lockway, 1963 National Wine Queen, makes it look easy!
It?s been a very busy week, but after my nice catching up session with Google Reader, here are some treasures worth noting from the RSS pileup:
1)Catavino?sRioja Report and EWBC 2008:Gabriella and Ryan over at Catavino have made a labor of love?an ambitious sort of compendium that is all things Rioja.From regional gastronomy to what else? Los vinos!You can find maps, profiles of wineries, beautiful photography and even a comprehensive explanation of Rioja labeling practices.I also found their buying guide particularly valuable and look forward to bringing it along on some shopping trips in the near future.This kind of stuff is a privilege to be able to look at when you consider other ?regional reports? published by people with a sense of entitlement to wine travel and $60+ annual subscription fees.Ryan and Gabriella are accountable for their material, actively and genuinely elicit and value readers? opinions, suggestions and evince passion for this stuff, so go ahead and bookmark them.
3)Remember Mr. Show?s Worthington Law applied to wine?Looks like the research findings from that CalTech/Stanford study published earlier in the year have been further validated.Working Paper No, 16, published by the American Association of Wine Economists details a new study in which people generally preferred less expensive wines, unless told by researchers of course, that a wine was particularly expensive.
4) If you read Spanish and want to stay up on the latest happenings in the Mendoza wine industry, you may want to bookmark El Blog de Vinos de Argentina.I have been reading their blog for some time now and have found it more and more valuable in terms of getting an inside track on what they?re thinking in Mendoza.As an Argentine, I?ve become a bit tired of receiving my Argentine wine industry news solely from the perspective of English-language consumer magazines.In the Argentine wine-sense, I?m approaching the sort of frustration many over here are feeling with news sources like CNN and FOX?it?s unfortunately limited for my needs.I may not be alone in wanting something like this?I really feel that things would get interesting if insiders from many wine regions only generally covered by shiny-cover magazines began communicating their perspectives directly to readers in a couple of other languages.
5) I would like to issue a preliminary warning before checking out this final note...it is cringe-inducing. I caught this on an Argentine website related to wine news. You'll click on the link and notice the article is written in Spanish, but that won't deter you from making the appropriate inference...Madonna will be contracting some local producer to lovingly craft her own label of Malbec. My comments? Oh hell no. Truthfully though, the nausea actually set in when I read that the label will reportedly be named after "Evita." Whether you are a foreigner and think Evita was a great person or an Argentine who may have the courage to speak up and express a more balanced perspective for the legacy of this famous political figure, one thing's for sure, Madonna could have chosen ANY OTHER variety cultivated in ANY OTHER country. Why us, oh God why us?
1992 Leasingham Classic Clare Sparkling Shiraz Cherry, raspberry and some leather and earthy elements to the nose. There is a delicious sweetness to the palate that is well countered by savoury nuances. Very enjoyable. 90/100
2000 Besserat de Bellefon Grande Tradition Champagne Cheesy and toasty nose. Rounded mouthfeel. Lacks depth and finishes short. 83/100
2002 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling Lemon, orange peel and some toast aromas starting to develop. The palate is long and full, with incredible intensity. This wine holds so much future potential. 93/100
1978 Chateau La Tour Haut-Brion Tobacco, bramble, ash and smoke on the nose. The tannins are fully resolved, leading to a medium bodied palate with soft fruits and good aged character. Very pleasant to drink wine at its peak. 89/100
1996 Chateau Léoville-Poyferré Youthful nose of blackberry, spice, cassis and cedar. Intensely tannic on the palate, but the structure is good and this is going to improve greatly once the tannins soften and it takes on additional complexity. Needs time. 90/100
1981 Chateau Musar Cherry/kirsch, smoked meats, earth and honey. The palate shows amazing fruit sweetness that is balanced superbly by aged earthy, spicy characters. Complex and long. If this was deconstructed too much you may be able to pick out many faults, but amazingly all mixed together they have achieved harmony. 94/100
2000 Hochar Père et Fils Horsey, with earth, raspberry and a touch of VA. The palate is sweet and soft, it is quite drinkable but looked very simple in comparison to the older Musar had before. Will probably show better given time. 87/100
1995 Antinori Tignanello Cocoa, blackcurrants, graphite and cedary nose. Lovely medium bodied, savoury palate with excellent balance. 91/100
1991 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon A bold nose, with tobacco, cassis and blackberry. The youthfulness of the wine is evident on the palate as well, with primary fruit still dominant. The tannin structure and overall build of the wine is such that I think this has the potential for greatness. 92/100
2004 Gangloff Côte-Rôtie La Barbarine Must be close to 10% viognier in this, but it did not bother me as it did some others at the table. Very pretty nose, with lifted fragrant floral notes, apricot and pepper. Long and rich in the mouth with some spice evident. A little bit young still tonight, but very nice anyway. 90/100
2004 Tyrrell’s Shiraz Cabernet Vat 8 Earthy, with some raspberry notes as well. Bright, red fruited palate with some earthiness coming through in the background. Tannins are bold, but should settle with time. 88/100
1998 Pfeiffer Tokay Auslese Caramel, toffee and apple aromas. Medium body and sweetness. Ready to drink now, it could do with some more complexity but I don’t think it has the structure to age much more. 85/100
1998 Müller-Catoir Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Auslese Passionfruit, spice, peach and pineapple aromas. Lovely, lingering sweetness to the palate and it just has the acid to keep it fresh and balanced. This style of wine is right up my alley. 93/100
1995 Hétszolo Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos Honey, coconut, pineapple and maple syrup. Rich, honey like palate, but with excellent complexity and acidity. Fantastic length, this was a great wine to finish the evening with. 93/100
Tasted by TashNYC. Jen had this and reported it was ok but would benefit from a year of bottle age, to put on some weight. I didn't have the wine. Other year's vintages have been very good. At Bob Tarjan's 60th birthday party in Princeton, NJ (88 pts.) - Tasted 5/9/2008. [FIND IT!]
The Story Wines are a boutique producer based in Melbourne and a predominantly Shiraz vineyard in the Grampians region. From what I can gather the 2005 “Orphan” Shiraz is their second commercial release under the label.
Slightly off blood red in colour, this shiraz smells like damp English hedgerow berries, dark chocolate and a hint of raspberry jam. Medium bodied yet full in flavour with fleshy blackberry, blueberry and plum up front, some pepper and spices, a soft and supple texture and integrated chalky tannins on a savoury finish.
In essence this Shiraz is a reminder that I need to drink more wine from our Mexican friends south of the border. It is seriously moreish and very reasonably priced at online retailers Squashedgrape and Boccaccio.
Score: 91/100 Price: $20 Closure: Screwcap Alcohol: 14.5% Other Opinions:The Story Wines, Winorama Would I buy this wine? Yes, very good value for money
Tecnorati
With the warm weather heading this way, a few words about white wines from Italy. 
A few lately have come across the table..jpg "ancestors-of-florio")
Pennsylvania is one of those states that controls the distribution of alcoholic beverages by operating state-run stores, so one wouldn't really expect it to be a hotbed of wine-distribution innovation.
The one question I was left pondering with the suggestions was the distinction between wines for drinking 2008-2010+ and for 2010-2018. Why do a couple of decent Italian reds from 2004 fit in the first category, but a Portuguese 2005 and a Spanish 2003 fit in the second? I know it’s down to how it is made and matured, but how are you expected to know that for the slightly more unusual wines? Labels don’t always given enough information and certainly very few give how long to keep the wine for.
The Story Wines are a boutique producer based in Melbourne and a predominantly Shiraz vineyard in the Grampians region. From what I can gather the 2005 “Orphan” Shiraz is their second commercial release under the label.