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This wine is characterized by a yellow-green colour, a fresh citrusy aroma with hints of honey and a complex flowery aftertaste. It’s a semi-dry riesling, dryer than the Slovenian rieslings (such as Laški Riesling for example), but sweeter than those found in Serbia. It is a nice wine to accompany a lighter meal.
This is one of the wines available in Belgrade restaurants in 0.2l bottles, so if you’re a driver among non-wine drinkers (meaning you can’t order a whole bottle of some fine wine) it’s a good chance you’ll be in a position to try it. Do so.
This is another dry red wine from the sunny ?emovsko valley near Podgorica, Montenegro. We’ve covered a few wines from the Planta?e winery in the past and this is probably the poorest of their wines, without much character. Enjoyable only with a meal.
The difference in perception of this wine and the Dulka Cabernet we just covered is quite huge - the wine makers from Fru?ka Gora do seem to know how to add some magic to their wines and add a special touch to it (OK, it costs twice as much, but is well worth it!).
Score: 5/10 Price: 240 RSD (?3) Retailer: Widely available in Serbia and Montenegro
Tuscan Wine Tours offers day tours of Italy's region of Tuscany. In this video, the group visits two small wineries and enjoys a relaxing lunch al fresco, a typical tour. Take a look:
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The release, along with all Penfolds top-end wines, comes as the Australian auction market is experiencing its strongest ever demand for super-premium red wines.
Grange is arguably Australia's most famous wine and is officially listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia. Grange boasts an unbroken line of vintages from the experimental 1951 and clearly demonstrates the synergy between Shiraz and the soils and climates of South Australia.
Penfolds Grange displays fully-ripe, intensely-flavoured and textured Shiraz grapes in combination with new American oak. The result is a unique Australian style that is now recognised as one of the most consistent of the world's great wines. The Grange style is the original and most powerful expression of Penfolds multi-vineyard, multi-district blending philosophy.
An order of Sardinian nuns is the first convent to practise organic? viticulture?? in Italy.
The Compagnia delle Figlie Evaristiane grows hardy indigenous varietals? including Cannonau, Monica and Vermentino on an inhospitable stretch of the west coast of Sardinia.
The community focuses its efforts on supporting youth from disadvantaged backgrounds.
'We like to think that our vines are like the vegetables in the backyard of the convent,' said Mother Superior Margherita Piludu, 'we've never needed chemical fertilizers or fungicides to grow them. We pursue the same philosophy in viticulture.'
Here's an interesting comment from one wine critic on wine criticism. Jancis continues to prove that she is one of the most thoughtful wine writers today. One can't miss the cult of personality that has grown around certain American wine critics whose followers often seem more concerned about the critic than wine itself. This can be seen in the fact that even the slightest criticism of such critics will generate howls of protest and comment spam against the perpetrator.
Robinson's comment, "We must always remember that we are parasites on the business of winemaking" should be in the back of every critics mind. Considering Robinson's status as one of the most influential wine writers in the world this is an striking statement that only adds to her already substantial and well earned respect within the wine trade.
Apparently I don’t get out much. Until recently, I didn’t know that some restaurants charge as much as $250 per bottle for their corkage fee. Excuse me, but that is insane. As Lettie Teague in Food and Wine magazine asked recently, “What could you get for $250 that you couldn’t for, say, $25?”
The average cost of corkage around the country is about $25, which is infinitely more reasonable, but even those establishments that have reasonable corkage fees, they, perhaps surprisingly, come with their own set of rules. One of the more popular restaurants in San Francisco, Michael Mina, for example, has a two-bottle limit with their $35 per bottle fee, and the bottles that you bring can’t be something that they have on the house list. That certainly makes sense, and if you’re planning on bringing your own bottle of wine to your next dinner reservation, it’s a good idea to call ahead to inquire as to the restaurant’s fee and their own individual rules. You know, “know before you go,” and all that.
In her recent Corkage article, Lettie shared seven cheap corkage spots for your drinking pleasure:
Where to Go
Metro Marche, New York City ($10). This bus-station brasserie has good food and cheap corkage. 625 Eighth Avenue, 212-239-1010
Sip Sak, New York City ($13). Great Turkish food and a low corkage fee. 928 Second Avenue, 212-583-1900
Dehlia Lounge, Seattle ($15). Corkage here is just $15, as it is at all of Tom Douglas’s restaurants. 2001 Fourth Avenue, 206-682-4142
Market, St. Helena, California ($15). Corkage is free on Tuesday nights at this friendly diner. 1347 Main Street, 707-963-3799
Charlie Palmer Steak, Washington, DC ($25). If you bring an American wine, the corkage is free; otherwise, it’s $25. 101 Constiutution Avenue NW, 202-547-8100
Naha, Chicago ($25). There are lots of great corkage spots in Chicago, but this restaurant also has terrific food. 500 North Clark Street, 312-321-6242
Michael Mina, San Francisco ($35). This top restaurant has a great wine list and a fair corkage fee as well. 335 Powell Street, 415-397-9222.
I was first initiated into the innovative world of Wine 2.0 when I attended their NRO event at Varnish last November. What I found was an extremely thriving movement of loosely knit and mainly younger wine aficionados, producers and entrepreneurs that were expanding upon the path set down by ...
Lacking the customary Schloss Vollrads crest, and the three, four and five syllable Germanic descriptors one would commonly associate with quality, I'd imagine this is an entry level wine. It's also my entry for WBW45, which this month is hosted by the always reliable and informative Winecast.
From the year that can seemingly do no wrong, this 2005 Riesling is pleasingly pure, pale and piercing. The nose is fragrant with candied citrus, apple and dried apricot. In the mouth it is a lovely amalgam of sweetness and intense, face distorting acidity. Quite fleshy, inviting and textured, before a crisp kaffir lime finish.
Well I popped up to the Hunter the other week and of course no visit is complete without a quick hop in to the Boutique Wine Centre. As usual big Garth Eather got me in an ear-lock but before I escaped he slipped a bottle of this into my box. I don’t generally keep many tasters at home but this one was handy..and as the old saying goes..’If you can’t be handsome, be handy’…although of course everyone knows that I am very handsome so this does not apply to me.
Aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry, BBQ sauce, mint, toasted coconut, lemon, cedar and tobacco. A curious smelling wine but most certainly an attractive and engaging one. On the palate medium to full bodied with blackcurrant, blackberry, spicy BBQ sauce and more earthy tobacco flavours. Tannins are fine, dry and lightly grainy and there is a slight citric acidity that adds freshness. Finishes with spicy tangy blackcurrant flavours. Packed full of flavour and interest. This is a highly slurpable and very tasty wine.
Fri Feb 25th, 2005, Los Angeles Cocktail Cuisine - The Art of Appetizers Fri – 2/25/05 7:00pm-10:00pm Take your cocktail parties to a cosmopolitan level of food style and presentation!
For those of you unfamiliar with D.O. Yecla, I can assure you that it’s not something you’d say when tasting a glass of old milk, well past its suggested date of consumption. “D.O Yuck-la?!” Instead, this tiny D.O, with only 4,300 hectares under vine, is increasingly gaining in popularity abroad, as traditional winemaking is crafting high-quality wines made from the Monastrell variety.
Located in the northern eastern corner of the political region of Murcia (Spain), DO Yecla is surrounded by three other DO’s: Jumilla to the southwest, Almansa to the north and Alicante to the east. Having driven through this area only once in route to Bodegas Castano, I can tell you that the area is absolutely gorgeous, with rolling hills and sandy lime soils. Yecla is also enjoys both the temperate Mediterranean climate coming from the east and the continental climate from the central upland plateau known as La Mancha. Therefore, summers are generally long, hot and dry with mild, cool winters, and very little rainfall throughout the year.
DO Yecla is not primarily known for its whites or roses, however, although I have read that they produce some lovely examples made from Merseguera, Macabeo and Malvasia. Instead, what I am familiar with is their dark violet reds commonly made from Monastrell, showing lovely dark fruits and spices and fine silky tannins. These are typically fruity dense wines that tend to marry well with rich foods.
Today, we popped open a bottle of 2004 Cueva de los Secos from Bodegas y Vinedos del Mediterraneo. Interestingly, unbeknown to us until today, this winery is actually located in Jumilla and under the control of Bodegas Castaño, but named Bodegas y Vinedos del Mediterraneo in order to avoid confusion among distributors and consumers. Evidently, Castaño bought two vineyards, totaling approximately 8 hectares a few years back, as one of their many side projects including Bodegas Sierra Salina and Dutch importer Marco Meeuwses’s Mmmmm!.
The wine is made from 75% Monastrell, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot. After completing a cold maceration, each variety of grape separately completed a traditional maceration: 25 days for the Monastrell, 14 days for Merlot and 18 days for Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was then aged for 14 months in new French oak.
Dark as night, the wine shows an astounding and complex bouquet of everything from charcoal to chocolate, not to mention the random surprising notes of bbq smoke, boysenberry and cinnamon. In the mouth, this wine is big and bold, the Tonka Truck of wines, with vibrant acidity, firm tannins and lovely, long finish. Loads of dark berry flavors follow with a strange, yet tantalizing soy, chocolate and black cherry notes. Although needing a little more time in bottle, this is a great find!
Producer: Bodegas y Vinedos del Mediterraneo Alcohol: 14.6% Price: $29.03 or 18.78 Euros Availability: Excel Wines
Gabriella
2004 Bodegas y Vinedos del Mediterraneo Yecla Cueva de los Secos - Spain, Murcia, Yecla (5/1/2008) Incredibly concentrated and dark, almost black, red in color with rich aromas of dark cherry, bbq smoke, slate, black pepper among more elusive notes of black, wet earth, hickory and tar. The nose is beautifully layered and leading to an equally complex palate. In the mouth, the wine explodes with bright acidity and medium fine tannins that lightly gripping your entire mouth, then releasing to show a long and fresh dark berry finish. Medium in body with secondary flavors of soy, charcoal and mineral, this is a dark and brooding wine with a sexy palate. 4/5
Ryan
2004 Bodegas y Vinedos del Mediterraneo Yecla Cueva de los Secos - Spain, Murcia, Yecla (5/1/2008) Very dark black in color, inky. A meaty dark nose comes out of the glass with bosenberry, chocolate, anise dusty cinnamon and more. Really a concentrated offering with rich aromas who will undoubtedly develop with time. Big in the mouth with a strong acidity and fine but firm tannins. Really powerful, and in need of decanting and or a couple of years more of bottle age. Full flavored with black raspberry, cherry and chocolate coming to me at first. Some loamy earth comes out as it opens, with allspice hints. A bit out of balance, but I think this might come together nicely in a year or two. Modern wine flavorful, where subtly takes a backseat to power. 3.5/5
Hmm. I wonder if anyone even bothers to stop by any more, even if it's just to note my conspicuous absence.
Lots going on, folks.
Thanks to all who wished the Chef and me well last month on the anniversary of our wedding.
On a similar note, best wishes to Scott and Jill on their nuptials last weekend. Such a beautiful party.
And, of course, there's the wine goings on. Much to do here in Northeast Ohio, especially this weekend. If you felt let down by the Tribe's oh-so-typical performance this year, you can return to Jacobs Field in Cleveland this weekend, Nov. 2-4, for a much happier occasion. It's the Heinen's/WVIZ World Series of Wine , a perennial joy for wine novices and aficionados alike. It really doesn't get much better than the grand tastings ($70-$75 a person; purchase tickets in advance). More than 400 wines, 100-plus producers, stellar munchies, unparalleled people watching. You'll find lots of opportunities to speak with winery and distributor representatives to get the real dirt on what you're tasting.
It's hard not to over imbibe with so many wines to try, so take a cab or a limo or book a hotel room. Some downtown Cleveland hotels are offering packages specifically for the occasion.
This is easily the biggest wine event of the year for Northeast Ohio. Oh, and it benefits public broadcasting, as if you needed another reason to go.
When you start building a cellar and amass any quantity of wine, you're bound to forget some of the bottles you've stashed away. Rediscovering them is like meeting up with an old friend.
So much to talk about, so many memories to rehash.
Last night, when the Chef brought up the Trapiche 2000 Malbec Oak Cask, it was a surprise. I'd forgotten about this bottle, which my friend Rachel gave to me years ago. Why I'd never thought to drink it, I don't know. The wine's not expensive - maybe $7-$10 - but I'm glad I held on to it. The aroma was powerful, with touches of violets, baked goods, cigar and cherries. The flavor itself was ripe with purple, stain-year-teeth fruit and spice. It started out weak in the middle of my mouth, but opened up beautifully and finished long. I'd put this wine up against any mid-priced, big California wine, and at the end of the day I'd have a few more dollars in my pocket.
It's been the case for me that these forgotten bottles tend to resurface at just the right time, for just the right meal, just the right occasion. This one - surprising, but still very promising - came as I'm preparing to make some job changes.
Some people have horoscopes, others magic eight balls. Me, I turn to my cellar. I'm taking this bottle as a good sign.
Clos Henri is a relatively new entrant to the Wairau valley of the Marlborough wine growing region. This property is also located close to Renwick and is actually opened by the Bourgeois family from the Sancerre region in France. The first vines were planted in 2001 with emphasis on bringing out the terroir. There are a multitudes of soils here but they essentially are either clay based or rocky riverbed. Their "Bel Echo" offerings of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir show definite minerality and bely the rocky riverbed soil which it was planted on. The "Clos Henri" series on the other hand definitely is more earthy, rich and deep being planted on predominantly clay. Of all the wines tasted in this region - these wines strike me as the most "terroir transparent" I have tried so far.
Their vine planting densities are some of the highest around here of around 5000 vines per hectare. I have high hopes for this property in the future as their vines begin to acquire age and more experience is gained each year on the boundaries of each specific "terroir".
There is definite potential here for these wines - give the vines some age, more experience with the soil and LOWER YIELDS. If there is one sticking point it's the yields which tend to be on the higher end. At ~50 Hl/Ha, this is just too high to produce anythng worthy of the "ultra-premium" status and certainly world class. To get there, we are going to have to drop fruit yields by 30% or more so let's watch this space - it's a great start.
The strength of Italian wine lies in the large number of its producers rather than in the big? numbers of just a few large multinational companies. It is these producers ? most of whom are very small in size ? who represent the force and vitality of the nation?s varied but extremely high-quality viticultural terroirs. The major changes that have taken place in international wine production and trading ? for example, the acquisition of brands by large financial/commercial corporations and the setting-up of huge vineyards run according to "industrial" principles in Asia, Latin America and Australia ? will not ultimately destroy Italy?s special viti-vinicultural heritage.
This is the ? highly optimistic - opinion of Angelo Gaja, one of the main producers responsible for saving and re-launching Italian wine in the 1980s.
"The Italian wine system consists of 33,000 businessmen and women running wineries that vary in size from large to tiny".
Is this extremely high number of producers an important resource or is it a stone round? the nation?s neck??
"This fragmentation - Gaja underlines ? is the result of a historical and socio-economic process that is part and parcel not only of Italy but of Europe as a whole: it?s part of our D.N.A., it makes us what we are. Fragmentation, though, has not prevented Italy from becoming the world?s leading wine-exporting nation, leaving France a very distant second: the result isn?t really that bad at all".
"It is amongst the 4 thousand or so small and tiny companies that export regularly that one finds a great many of the wineries which, thanks to the ratings their wines have received from international guides and wine-writers, have had a positive influence on the image and prestige of Italian wine, leading to beneficial effects for the sector as a whole".
So what does the future hold for small wineries?
"The Italian wine system is extremely well-integrated?. A capacity for working side by side links together companies of different sizes and with different production philosophies and marketing strategies. The smaller producers will help safeguard individual terroirs. They will welcome wine tourists. They will sell wines in bulk to the bottling firms, whilst maintaining the goal of higher quality. They will succeed in grasping consumers? imaginations by explaining their wines and their history. They will learn English. They will think of the whole of Europe as their own country and as the market to conquer, and the number of them who have learned how to sell their wines outside of Europe will also continue to grow? The real great wealth of Italian wine lies in its entrepreneurs, whether large, medium-sized, small or tiny. Together with their wineries, they constitute the motor for building demand for Italian wines. The terroir? and indigenous varieties count for less: these are factors that the producer has the opportunity to underline to a greater or lesser degree. It is logical to imagine, however, that there will be a process of aggregation involving both large and small producers, but if ? taking an educated guess ? there are still 28-30,000 wine producers in fifteen years? time , Italy will continue to be the country with the most sizeable treasure house of people who really know the business of wine. And that is my main reason for looking towards the future of Italian wine with great optimism".
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?
Advertising on the Women Wine Critics Board ABOUT US This blog is compiled and edited by Mary Baker, co-owner of Dover Canyon Winery in Paso Robles, California. Mary has considerable experience in the California wine industry, and the blog is open to all writers who are passionate about wine. It is updated at least three times per month with guest articles and wine news. OUR READERSHIP The Women Wine Critics Board attracts an audience interested in fine wine, wine-related travel and wine appreciation experiences. As of June 2007, the number of unique visitors coming to the site on a monthly...
Yes, that was basically the point of this quick weekend post.Over the past week I made the best attempt I could at finding all six single-variety wines that the South African producers released, and have only achieved partial success (3/6).Though not so entirely happy with one of the whites (sadly the only one I could track down), I return to the reds to find a very interesting Shiraz.
A small clarification about how I view value wines though.Obviously, the MAN Shiraz is no Crozes-Hermitages, but that simply isn?t the objective with a value selection recommendation.It doesn?t make it better than say, a Northern Rhône Syrah that usually sells for more.Value selections like this one are unusually interesting for the price point.That shortsighted all-or-nothing approach people have the tendency to apply to so many things in life seems absurdly inappropriate even with wine.I thought about that today when I read the latest post over at The Pour, which somewhat deals with a new book on wine reminiscent of that 20/20 segment from 2005 which relegates the value of art and art criticism (good parallel with wine) to that of upper-brow contempt for the masses.How many certifiable idiots have you overheard in a hotel lobby asking trite questions that more or less resemble ?which one?s the best, Flemish art or Florentine art?The inanity of an exchange like this swiftly reveals the poverty of knowledge, or perhaps more crucial to the matter, lack of genuine appreciation which the participants must have for art.
As someone who seriously studies literature and has a couple of degrees to back that up, I have always cringed at those book club type questions where two writers from completely different perspectives and time periods are given the old CNN Crossfire treatment, ?George Sand or Danielle Steele??On a whole, more people would likely prefer Steele, who no doubt is an accomplished writer; her work could thus be considered better, right?No, no and no.As with artists or writers, let?s please leave wine out of that sort of thing.
At any rate, this Coastal Region Shiraz is all about straightforward flavors and food-accompanying functionality.I thought it a bit complex for the price point, with nice plum, berry, spice and smoke.Balance wasn?t too far off, with medium acidity, high body, medium-high tannin and solid fruit which stood up to the vegetal and spice flavors for three days after opening.An added bonus, considering most sub-$10 reds, was that the oak presence was never overwhelming.I?ll certainly consider the MAN Syrah and Pinotage again when looking for value-priced accompaniments to grilled meats and those ostrich burgers I have come to enjoy recently.
I just received an email from RadCru announcing a live chat (text, audio, video) with the winemaker and owner of Tobacco Road Road Cellars. The chat takes place today, March 26th, from 2:00 - 3:00pm EST. If you're interested in getting in on the chat, go to www.tobaccoroadshow.tv. It looks ...
[07/19/2006, 07:16]
The Argentinians consumed in May 2,55 liters for inhabitant Better results that in April the producers of wine obtained on the internal Argentine market. In agreement to statistical information delivered by the INV (Vitivinicultura's National Institute) of Argentina, the consumption of wine for inhabitant reached in May the quantity of 2,55 liters, relying on the general population of the country.
If one was counting only the major ones of 18 years, this number would rise up to 3,84 liters. This indicates an increase of 7,66 per cent with regard to the same month of the year 2005.
While, the wines liberated to the consumption in this May, always according to numbers delivered by the INV, added the 967.503 hl., that represents an increase of 8,9 % with regard to the same month of the year 2005 and 12,79 more % with regard to last month April.
The origin of these wines they were in the main from the province of Mendoza, followed by the province of San Juan.
This increase is justified by the campaign of advertising that is realized at present in the Argentina to increase the internal consumption.
Tecnorati
This wine is characterized by a yellow-green colour, a fresh citrusy aroma with hints of honey and a complex flowery aftertaste. It’s a semi-dry riesling, dryer than the Slovenian rieslings (such as Laški Riesling for example), but sweeter than those found in Serbia. It is a nice wine to accompany a lighter meal. 
This is another dry red wine from the sunny ?emovsko valley near Podgorica, Montenegro. We’ve covered a few wines from the Planta?e winery in the past and this is probably the poorest of their wines, without much character. Enjoyable only with a meal.
The release, along with all Penfolds top-end wines, comes as the Australian auction market is experiencing its strongest ever demand for super-premium red wines. 
Apparently I don’t get out much. Until recently, I didn’t know that some restaurants charge as much as $250 per bottle for their corkage fee. Excuse me, but that is insane. As Lettie Teague in 
Well I popped up to the Hunter the other week and of course no visit is complete without a quick hop in to the 
