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Poskupeli kvadrati i u Novom Sadu Najtra?eniji manji stanovi u centru, ali ima i onih koji kupuju nekretnine na osnovu kvaliteta gradnje. ?ivot na sala?u u trendu. Stanje na tr?i?tu nekretnina u Novom Sadu je sli?no kao u Beogradu i Ni?u. Priliv stanovni?tva je iz godine u godinu sve ve?i. Neko dolazi zbog posla, neko na studije, a krov nad glavom potreban je svima. Stalno pove?anje tra?nje, ali i smanjenje ponude stanova, osnovni je razlog za korekciju, odnosno pove?anje cena kvadrata, kako pi?e Politika. ? U prva tri meseca
Here is a wine style you don’t see every day: An off-dry Rose made from Touriga grapes that originate from Portugal, where they are traditionally used to make vintage port. The wine in question? Old Mill Estate Rosé 2007.
Vibrant flamingo red/pink, this Rose exhibits subtle cranberry and strawberry aromas. Cranberry flavours continue onto the palate, which is initially dry and savoury but finishes with a hint of sweetness. Simple and refreshing.
Overall its a good little Rose, I feel it would show its best with appropriate food that would allow the savoury style of the wine to shine through.
Score: 87/100 Price: $18 Closure: Screwcap Alcohol: 12% Other Opinions:Winorama, Wine Without Wank Would I buy this wine? I would probably pick up a bottle of Turkey Flat or Charles Melton Rose instead.
What we commonly refer to as sulfites (actually sulfur dioxide) is natural by-product of the wine fermentation process. It's also an antioxident and antimicrobiodal. Some wineries add extra sulfur dioxide to their wines to help preserve them and many wineries use this compound in lieu of harsh chemical like bleach to clean their vats, lines, and other wine-making apperatus.
Sulfites have gotten a rather bad reputation because a small percentage of the population-around one percent-is allergic to this compound. For this reason, any US-produced wine with more than 10ppm must include the phrase "contains sulfites" on the label. This includes virtually all wines as the naturally-occuring amount of sulfites is around 10-20ppm. (The maximum allowable amount of sulfites in wine is 350ppm.)
Wines with the lowest about of sulfites are organic wines, followed by dry red and white wines. Dessert wines and wines with a high sugar content are higher on the sulfite spectrum.
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Very elegant, with ripe, alluring red and black cherry fruit nicely layered with hints of sweet spice, mineral and mocha. The long, tangy finish lets the minerality play out and pulls you back for more. Shows better length and integration than previous vintages. This wine has good track record, and it's getting even better. Drink now through 2013. 5,380 cases made.
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
It’s been a while since I popped open a bottle of sparking shiraz and I had been looking forward to trying this one from Vinecrest for a while. What better time to open it than the Australia day long weekend?
Juicy dark cherry and blackberry fruit flavours are kept in balance by subtle drying tannins and a little all spice. The bubbles are fine and not overly active, but provide a creamy chocolate character. Medium bodied with decent length, a good match with Beef Rogan Josh.
Although there is a bit of a question mark about the value for money at around $30 per bottle, this sparking shiraz is very easy drinking and moreish. Definitely the pick of the Vinecrest wines we have tried.
Score: 88/100 Price: $32 Closure: Cork Alcohol: 12.5% Other Opinions:Vinecrest Would I buy this wine? No, questionable value for money
I just finished reading a very interesting book. Sensi DiVini is a tiny 80 page treatise on how our brain deals with tasting wine. It is a collection of short essays written by various experts in their fields. It is quite technical, and while I love all things techie, there can be no doubt that some of it was completely over my head.
Even while plowing through descriptions of the various parts of the brain I could immediately understand the relationship of the material to my experiences with tasting wine. The book even gave some scientific insight into why we enjoy elaborate feasts such as my famed seven course dinners.
It has been explained many times in the past, even by me, that taste is nothing without smell. We can only taste 5 things (it used to be 4, but there is a new one now). Sweet, sour, bitter, salty and the newly recognized sensation, umami. Umami has been described as our ability to taste ?savory? but the scientific description is more to the point, it is the taste of proteins.
It is the first three taste sensations; sweet, sour and bitter; that come into play in wine. The other ?tastes? in wine are due to aromas. We may only be able to taste 5 sensations, but our ability to ascertain individual aromas is seemingly endless.
From a mere 300 aroma sensors (mice have 1000) we can distinguish grapefruit from lemon, bing cherries from maraschinos, and pleasant aromas from nasty ones.
It was the need to distinguish edible from less edible foods that helped us evolve this complex interplay of flavors and aromas with recognition and selection or rejection. If it tastes good we enjoy it, and we eat it. If it tastes nasty, we spit it out, sometimes even involuntarily as with a gag reflex.
The sense of aroma is almost directly tied into the brain, making smells one of most primal senses. It is for this reason that a smell can so easily conjure a memory. We also use visual and gustatory senses when tasting, and even the sense of somatosensory (touch). These other senses combine with aroma to form recognition and pleasure through a process referred to as binding.
Binding is taking the information from several parts of the brain and creating a single unifying experience. A great example from the book is when we watch tennis. We recognize the ball as a shape, we recognize the yellow of the ball as a color, and we recognize the movement to allow us to follow its trajectory.
I have long known that I taste more effectively when I am a little hungry. This follows the research that shows that our impression of flavor (which for this discussion is a combination of taste and aroma) is highly regulated by our current level of satiety for that flavor or even nutritional value.
We are not really good at craving specific nutrients, so instead our mind equates textures, shapes and colors along with flavor, as broader nutritional needs. This is why some foods sound more appealing to us at any given time than other foods.
Once you have been eating a specific food your ability to derive pleasure from it is reduced, as is your ability to recognize the intensity of the flavor or aroma. You may be satiated from one flavor, but a new different one has all the intensity and pleasure potential you got from the first item at the start. This is the scientific reasoning behind courses or even having more than one food on your plate.
I have long held that education of any subject increases your enjoyment of it. This is especially true of wine, and the entire rationale behind my given vocation. It turns out there is some empirical evidence to support this.
Sesi DiVini recounts a study wherein wine experts and wine novices where each placed in an MRI and given tastes of wine, and of course a control solution of glucose. The wine experts had much more activity in the brain, especially in the pleasure centers. Because the experts were analyzing the wine and the novices were not, the experts ?got more out of tasting wine.?
I am not exactly a book reviewer, and this is not exactly a book review, but it is a look at a subject that I have never seen handled so scientifically. I had to write away to Italy to get the book, but they are looking into why it isn?t on Amazon any more. If you are intrigued and want a copy of your own, you can get it here.
Eating and drinking are rewarding in of themselves. Knowing how the brain reacts to flavors will probably not bring you more joy when you eat and drink, but knowing more about what you are eating and drinking will. As always I challenge you to get more out of your life by experimenting with food and wine at every opportunity. Taste something new today, it turns out the experience may even help you enjoy your old favorites all that much more.
As part of my desire to enjoy better white wines, here's the 2005 Joseph Drouhin Chablis from the Chablis region of France near Burgundy. Around $20.
A nose that is slightly reminiscent of buttered popcorn, but not overly so. Overall a very bright, sunny wine, with flavors of crisp pears and green apples, with a touch of citrus on the finish.
I served this with another preparation of whole rainbow trout roasted in aluminum foil, this time with red bell peppers and pineapple. The touch of sweetness and caramelized sugars was quite nice. In the past I've used chayote squash and other ingredients, but the pineapple is a great pairing.
I somehow weaseled my way into a Vegan cooking class this weekend to give a talk about organic wines. Shameless self/company promotion? Why do you ask!
SO, if you have nothing to do between 1:30 and 3 on Sunday, December 2nd, feel free to register to learn how to cook all sorts of yumminess (which is, apparently, a heavily-used wine descriptor) sans animals or animal by-products. I don't claim to be vegan (as the mountain of cheese in my belly can attest) but I do agree with the principles of it all.
Anys.
Come to Shakti Yoga Studio at 220 Lexington Ave this Sunday to hear me and to get your vegan feedbag on. I think it's $20 per person. Call 716 884 YOGA to register. I'll be the one with a cork in my hand stinking of butter.
96-100 points Parker: "This tiny (5 acres; 4,000 bottles produced) jewel is the ultimate vin de garage estate. A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from 46-year old vines and incredibly low yields of 18 hectoliters per hectare, the 2006 flirts with perfection. It possesses amazing power, precision, elegance, purity, richness, and just about anything else anyone could desire in a young Bordeaux. It will require 5-6 years of bottle age, and should evolve for three decades or more. Bravo!"
With the huge popularity gain for wine in the past five years, one could wonder if a recession in the wine industry is looming.
Much depends on factors in the grand scheme of things. The once-booming housing industry created much wealth for a lot of Americans, but a recent downturn in home sales has created a large-scale semi-panic in the mortgage and banking industry. The stock markets have been shaken by the idea that mortgage companies are virtually disappearing overnight. This has put into question the stability of the biggest banks, and what their exposure to these smaller (defunct) companies has been.
The wine industry is based much on excess wealth. Wine is seen by many, not as an essential, but as a luxury item that would be cut out of a budget if tough times arose. A recent look at distribution and retail inventory levels showed a large glut, sometimes in excess of 200 days worth of stock.
The ever-popular Pinot Noir seems to be immune to this kind of chatter, however. Spurned to new heights of acceptance by the movie Sideways, the "heartbreak grape" seems to be an indespensible red... a must for any cellar or pantry. The next couple of years will be crucial to the industry at the retail and restaurant level.
Although I missed the boat on this one completely, the results are in for the latest Wine Blogging Wednesday over at CorkDork. This month’s objective was to try new red wines from New Zealand. 31 bloggers participated this time! Check it out!
As the weather gradually warms up, I?m pleased to be encountering more intelligent value Argentine wines from provinces outside of Mendoza.Produced by Viña Cornejo Costas, an estate with established history in the Argentine northwest, here?s another Torrontés beauty from the mineral-rich CafayateValley.This is a great recommendation that can stand up to spicy and Asian dishes, given that Argentina?s native Torrontés variety is intense in acidity and flavor, even if light on body.
This wine reminds me again that Torrontés made in the CafayateValley could well be considered the benchmark for Argentine Torrontés.For being in the $10-$12 range, this Torrontés boasts a great deal more complexity and balance than some French and Italian varieties costing more have sadly failed to exhibit.Although I am a lifetime fan of European wines, I?d like to drink more intelligent value wines made by producers who don?t take me for granted due to some sense of entitlement. I sometimes worry about that and I?m not sure whether it?s that exactly or perhaps the fact that wine prices for Burgundy and Bordeaux are incredibly inflated, but I?m finding it more difficult than ever to put down $15 for a bottle of white wine from prestige regions that won?t underwhelm.
Reflecting more upon possible Argentine wine import trends, I am really looking forward to seeing more wines from Argentina?s provinces outside of Mendoza given that producers are avoiding bulk production like the plague and still very much feel that they have everything to prove.For one, crafting wines in Salta isn?t exactly for the faint of heart?stony, sandy soils on steep Andean inclines and almost 360 days of sunlight.Wines produced in Salta don?t even account for a tenth of Argentine wines, and this especially underscores the fact that bulk producers have stayed away for some time.
I?ve recently noticed lots of new and exciting things which I?ll report on later in terms of Argentine wine imports.Interestingly enough, these wines don?t exactly fit the typical ?Wines of Argentina Awards? formula for success (Bordeaux-style blends with Malbec playing a role to some degree).I am seeing more general Patagonia appellation Pinot Noir, Tempranillo from San Juan and now, more Torrontés producers from Salta stepping up to deliver.I have a feeling that things are looking up for smaller Argentine producers who may want to share their work with export markets such as the U.S., since an open-minded changing of the guard, taste-wise is afoot.For now, here?s my take on the don Rodolfo Torrontés:
In the glass, it is a clear, pale lemon color.The nose is perfumey and stays true to the nature of the aromatic Torrontés variety?clean, pronounced floral aromas (elderflower dominating), stone fruit (apricot and peach), and lemon.The style is dry, with high acidity, light body and an impressive balance of flavors for the price point.The elderflower blossom aspect that dominates from the nose on through to one?s afterbreath really captivated me, as it?s one of my favorite scents/flavors in general.The acidity from the lemon zest is very refreshing and nicely accompanies the stone fruit flavors.
The importer of the don Rodolfo wines is Cabernet Corporation, out of California. Check with them for distribution information if it doesn't seem to be available in your area.
Although the Philipponnat family history in the Champagne region dates back to 1522, the recent history began when Auguste and Pierre Philipponnat settled in the Mareuil-sur-Aÿ region of Champagne in 1910. When Pierre acquired the steep Clos des Goisses vineyard on the southern flank of the Gruguet hill in 1935, he broke with the tradition of blending Champagne vineyards, creating a single-vineyard wine from a rather remarkable site that overlooks the Marne River. Charles Philipponnat, grandson of Auguste, is now President of the Maison and has overseen the creation of new wine making facilities and barrel storage.
Join us as Charles takes us on a walk (make that climb) of the five and a half hectare Clos des Goisses - which stood witness to the WWI battles of nearly 100 years ago. We also visit the cellars and barrel room, and disgorge some Champagne.
This wine was in a flight of 2004s from DRC at the Mornington Peninsula International Pinot Noir Celebration. I wrote about the Echezeaux 10 days ago and someone pointed me to an article on DRC in the Dec/Jan 07 Gourmet Traveller Wine, which gives some indicative pricing. This wine has not been officially released but I may take out a loan to get a bottle or 2 for a benchmark tasting of the future. DRC is not the sort of stuff your average serious pinotfile buys all the time. In fact the Chardonnay Princess reminds me how many lovely Chardonnays I could buy for a single bottle of DRC. But that is why I want to write about it so the Winorama readers can share this very fortunate experience. The nose was very clean, showing pure fruit, mainly of the cherry tree type. The palate was rich with silky sweet red cherry as well that seemed to flow on and on with just a little crescendo of plum on the finish. Over the hour I managed to keep my meagre portion in the glass it revealed some dark cherry and plum. The classic iron fist in a silk glove fruit power and texture combination.
2004 Bass Phillip “Estate” Chardonnay: Cloudy light golden colour. Oatmeal, nutty characters, soap and citrus peel on the nose. Rich and round palate with acidity that seems a little bit prickly. I think it was better than I’ve made it sound, but I can’t muster a whole lot of enthusiasm for it. 87/100
2007 Primo Estate “d’Elena” Pinot Grigio: Very pale colour. Banana and tropical fruits (mostly pineapple) aromas. Texturally interesting, but there is also a bit of alcohol heat on the palate that I found distracting. 85/100
1997 Paringa “Estate” Pinot Noir: Dark ruby colour, a little bit murky as well I thought. Cherry, raspberry, stalks and damp soil. The acid is sticking out, but I thought the rest of the flavour on the palate carried well. May have looked a bit better a couple of years ago. 87/100
1986 Domaine Jacques-Frederic Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses: Light red, with some orange tints around the rim. Yeasty and baked aromas on opening, we feared that it may be dead. We moved on to another wine to give this some time to see what happened and the recovery was pleasing. After around 60 minutes there were some earthy, dusty aromas coming through. Then another look after 90 minutes showed some spice, cherry and perfume like aromas. Palate never shed its dominant tannin, but it was quite drinkable anyway. It didn’t hit any great heights, but the recovery was remarkable and it ended up a nice drink. 87/100
1996 Domaine Bart Bonnes Mares Grand Cru: Medium purple coloured. Nose was very shy throughout the time we spent with it - there were fleeting scents of dark cherry, mocha, rose petal and some other floral notes. The palate is lovely though, it is quite youthful but layered, balanced and very long. Plenty of potential in this wine over the next 10 years. 91/100
1977 Graham Vintage Port: (375ml) Light crimson colour. Earth, spice, roast nuts and mint on the nose. There is a pleasing brown sugar style flavour to the palate, but it is noticeably lacking in depth. Not really what I expected in terms of richness and complexity, would like to know how it looked on following nights. 88/100
Dear Dr. Gott: Just thought I would share something I recently discovered that may be a help to your postmenopausal readers who are bothered by night sweats and hot flashes. via Monterey County Herald
BUYING AND STORING OLIVE OIL Choose containers that keep out light: dark glass, ceramic, even metal. With pricey oils, taste before you buy, and look for seal-of-approval initials such as DOP (Italy), DO (Spain) or COOC (California). Keep your oil tightly sealed; store it in a cool, dark place; and use it within two years (some say 18 months) of harvest, or one year after opening. Oh, and that plastic Jug O? Oil from the C word? Don?t go there. There?s inexpensive, and then there?s swill.
WHAT?S YA FLAVA? Fruity, peppery, buttery, appley, grassy, herbal, nutty? You?d think you were talking about wine. There?s actually similar flavor chemistry going on in olive oil and wine. Early-harvest olive oils taste greener and more pungent, like an herbaceous sauv blanc. The longer the hang time, the riper the fruit, the smoother the mouthfeel, the mellower the flavors. Late-harvest oils come across more like a full-tilt chard. Both can be great; it?s just a matter of what you like and how you plan to use it. (Uh, you are gonna use it, right? You want to decorate your kitchen counter, buy a bonsai.)
GOT AN EXTRA VIRGIN? The terms ?virgin? and ?extra virgin? really are more than just sexy sounding hype: they measure the percentage of harsh-tasting oleic acid in the oil (lower is better), which can translate to quality. ?Extra virgin? oils must have less than 1 percent acidity (many clock in below .5 percent) and require as much care in growing and production as boutique wines. Oils with up to 2 percent acidity earn the ?virgin? tag. Forget the sluts, er, oils over 3 percent. And also forgo ?light? olive oil: the only thing it?s low on is flavor.
IN THE KITCHEN, AT THE TABLE, ALL AROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH There?s a reason for the large variety of oils: different oils suit different purposes. Think basic wine pairing: match light with light and heavy with heavy. Use subtle oils on mild salad greens or as bread dips, or drizzle a bit on fish, chicken or simple desserts like fruit salad, pound cake or biscotti. Big oils can stand up to red meat - try the Tuscan trick of finishing off a thick grilled steak with a slosh of spicy, robust oil. Better yet, brush the oil on with a rosemary branch while the steak sizzles.
Sometimes the best cooking is no cooking at all. There?s nothing simpler or more satisfying than setting out three or four bottles of oil at the dinner table, along with your chosen vino, some good bread and a cheese or three, before, during and/or after your meal. (If everyone wears black you can feel really superior and Eurotrashy.)
TIPS FOR TASTINGS Tasting olive oil is a lot like tasting wine: you can stick to one country (Spain, Greece), one region (Tuscany, Sonoma), or one varietal (manzanilla, arbequina) and compare six or eight side by side. Or you can taste a random assortment, and maybe throw in a flavored oil that has citrus or herbs blended in. Add some cubes of chewy bread, little bowls or paper/plastic tasting cups and some easy-drinking wine. Kick back. Speak to each other in Spanish. Wait for Penelope Cruz to show up.
FOR MORE INFO Check out The Flavors of Olive Oil by Deborah Krasner (Simon & Schuster, 2002) and the Web sites of the International Olive Oil Council (http://www.internationaloliveoil.org) and the California Olive Oil Council (http://www.cooc.com). Or just Google ?olive oil? and click around the 50 million or so sites that come up.
OLIVE OIL TASTING NOTES
XX. Antara 100% Arbequina Olives Tarragona - Spain $16/750ml The Ellen DeGeneres of olive oils - easygoing, smooth and slightly nutty. Close to XXX.
XX. Nunez de Prado Extra Virgin Family Estates Crop; Baena - Spain $24/500ml Chris Rock hosting the Oscars - dark, intense and zingers start to finish (but you know what you?re gettin?).
XX. Caroliva Extra Virgin Estate Grown and Bottled; Andalusia - Spain $20/500ml Think a big, buttery chard on steroids. Rich gold color, soft, round and juicy. Close to XXX.
XX. Columela Picual and Hojiblanca Olives Andalucia - Spain $19/500ml Gael Garcia Bernal?s eyes - big, deep and dark. Touch o? pepper on the finish. Close to XXX.
XX. Gasull Arbequina Olives Catalonia - Spain $22/500ml Cool deep-green bottle with a long slim neck. Purrs like Scarlett Johansson in a Ferrari: soft and elegant with a long, smooth finish.
X. Jordan Hand-Picked, Extra Virgin, From Italian Varietals Alexander Valley - Sonoma $25/375ml Kind of a bait-and-switch: starts out sweet and fruity, then morphs into a porcupine by the time it smacks your tonsils. Close to XX.
X. L?Estornell Extra Virgin, Organic Arbequina Olives Catalonia - Spain $15/375ml Like Erica Christensen in most of her movies: all sweetness and light in the opening scene, but she grabs you by the throat in the last act. Close to XX.
X. Molino de Leoncio Gomez Extra Virgin, Unfiltered, Picudo and Hojiblanca Olives Cordoba - Spain $11/500ml Gotta hunt for the flavors at first, then they do the Big Bang in the back of your mouth. Close to XX.
XXX. Pons Extra Virgin, Arbequina Olives Catalonia - Spain $16/473ml Yo-Yo Ma playing a cello concerto - rich, deep and resonant. Pale gold, medium body, with layers of fresh apple, almond and spice flavors, and a nice little kick on the finish.
XX. Poplar Hill 2005 Extra Virgin Spring Mountain - Napa Valley $20/375ml Light, airy, silky, delicate and balanced; buttery, hazelnutty and smoooooth. An obvious late-picked oil (check the harvest date!) that deserves nothing more than a chunk of good bread and a pinch of salt. Close to XXX.
XX. Skipstone Ranch Melina?s Harvest, November 2004, Extra Virgin Alexander Valley - Sonoma County $25/375ml Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby - brawny, punchy, ends with a surprising knockout.
XX. Soler Romero 100% Picual Olives Andalusia - Spain $18/500ml Why does this taste like nectarines, white pepper and grass? Starts fruity and sweet, then turns tangy on the finish. Slather some on sliced oranges with red onion slivers, lemon juice and salt.
X. Unio 100% Arbequina Olives Siurana - Spain $16/750ml The NZ sauv blanc of olive oils - spicy and green start to finish. Makes a great pesto with basil, anchovies and good parmigiano reggiano. Close to XX.
X. Zoe Extra Virgin Castilla-La Mancha - Spain $9/1-Litre Tin A tad rustic and rough, but a good value. Great for stir-frying veggies. Close to XX.
Scorpiiion are a relatively new boutique producer from the Barossa Valley who kindly sent three bottles of red for us to review. The first cab off the rank (if you would pardon the pun) is the Scorpiiion Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, a multi-regional blend of Barossa and McLaren Flat fruit.
This Cabernet exhibits fragrant aromas of tobacco and eucalypt swimming in an ocean of ripe plummy dark fruits and berries. Full bodied with loads of fruit flavour, well managed spicy oak, a velvety mouthfeel and fine, slightly powdery tannins. It’s rich, well balanced and very modern in style, with a satisfying and clean finish.
The Scorpiiion philosophy is to let the fruit do the talking, they have done a good job in producing a Cabernet that is approachable while young, without being overripe. As far as I can tell, the wine is only available direct via their website, or from Squashedgrape.
Score: 90/100 Price: $29 Closure: Screwcap Alcohol: 14.5% Other Opinions: None appear to exist online Would I buy this wine? If it was available for around $20-25, yes.
Tecnorati
Here is a wine style you don’t see every day: An off-dry Rose made from Touriga grapes that originate from Portugal, where they are traditionally used to make vintage port. The wine in question? Old Mill Estate Rosé 2007.
It’s been a while since I popped open a bottle of sparking shiraz and I had been looking forward to trying this one from Vinecrest for a while. What better time to open it than the Australia day long weekend?
Here's a sure sign that Spring has actually arrived, and that Summer is on the way: The local farmers markets are beginning to stir. 
This wine was in a flight of 2004s from DRC at the Mornington Peninsula International Pinot Noir Celebration. I wrote about the Echezeaux 10 days ago and someone pointed me to an article on DRC in the Dec/Jan 07 Gourmet Traveller Wine, which gives some indicative pricing. This wine has not been officially released but I may take out a loan to get a bottle or 2 for a benchmark tasting of the future. DRC is not the sort of stuff your average serious pinotfile buys all the time. In fact the Chardonnay Princess reminds me how many lovely Chardonnays I could buy for a single bottle of DRC. But that is why I want to write about it so the Winorama readers can share this very fortunate experience. The nose was very clean, showing pure fruit, mainly of the cherry tree type. The palate was rich with silky sweet red cherry as well that seemed to flow on and on with just a little crescendo of plum on the finish. Over the hour I managed to keep my meagre portion in the glass it revealed some dark cherry and plum. The classic iron fist in a silk glove fruit power and texture combination. 
