Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel 2010

I picked up a full flight of Zinfandels at the Julios "25% off" sale and Mrs. Vino and I dug right in with this Cline Zin - pretty much before I had gotten the remainder of my wine haul into the house.  I was very disappointed on the first taste.  I immediately reached for the "defuser" because the wine we was very tight.  Quick sidetrack story.  I'm watching every possible Pats/Giants Super Bowl pre-game show and tonight I watched a great segment where Drew Bledsoe joked that in his new career as a wine maker he needs to write the tasting notes for the wine and the X-NFL QB feels a bit awkward writing flowery descriptions of his wine.  This brings me back to me describing this Zin as "tight".  This 2010 Zin needs some air and finally about halfway through the bottle I'm getting the classic Zinfandel perpperyness and YES I'm liking it with the Friday night pizza.  Another interesting wine experience tonight.  Not sure if I'll recommend this Zin or not - I'll have to wait to see how the rest of the Zin flight tastes.  (BTW - Mrs. Vino didn't get much of this wine becaue I was quaffing it, but she says it is a typical Zin peppery wine.  Isn't that what I just said?)  I've linked up some tasting notes from another cool wine site which identified a boatload more flavors than I did.  Maybe Bledsoe helped them out.

Chateau Thebot Bordeaux 2005

Our sommelier from St Maartin - Thibault

Tim Tebow Tebows

Quick "Thebot" story.  A few years back my family traveled to St. Maartin to celebrate my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary.  One of the highlights was a private dinner in a wine cellar - hosted by a Frenchman named "Thebot".  After our gracious Sommelier took our order and disappeared into the kitchen, Mrs. Vino broke the ice by saying (to my entire family), "Not for nothing, but I'll bet Thebot gets laid a lot."  You can pretty much guess how the evening in the wine cellar progressed from there.  You can also understand how I could not resist a 2005 Bordeaux named "Thebot" when I eyed it on the wine store racks a few year's later.  Fast forward to today - New Year's Eve Steaks at home - and Thebot seems like a good pairing.  This leathery wine is much bigger and more robust than I would expect from a Bordeaux, but at 75% Cab, I suppose that is what shines through.  This wine is too earthy for Mrs. Vino, but I'm powering through, almost wishing I liked to smoke cigars.    Who needs a photo of the wine label when you can stalk Tebot and find him on Linked in.  (He spells it differently, but I'm trying to protect the poor guy.)  Normally in my review I tell you to "look for" a wine that I like, but here I'll tell you to keep an eye out for Thebot.    











Cameron Hughes & La Crema - Chardonnay f rom Monterey

I'm surveying white wines for the upcoming neighborhood X-mas party.  I hope to find and serve the best to our guests.  At the risk of sounding sexist, I know the ladies like their Chardonnay - and on occasion, so do I.  I picked up 5 different bottles and on Thanksgiving Eve, Mrs. Vino, her folks and I sampled the $11 Cameron Hughes (of Costco fame)  and $15 La Crema - both wines from Monterey.  On a blind testing we discussed our findings.  Each of us found La Crema to be more subtle.  The Cameron Hughes was stonger and the flavor lingered longer.  None of us could make an immediate fruit association and we all agreed the wines were similar.  Nonnie and I liked La Crema the best while Oppie and Mrs. Vino were less sure.  For me La Crema was smoother and cleaner.  After the tasting I read the wine maker notes and see we're supposed to be picking up warm apples and pear on the CH and pineapple, lemon zest and apricot on La Crema.  I know that I like white wines that have good minerality and acidity, so it makes sense that I liked La Crema better.  We all would gladly drink either wine again - but personally, I'll keep an eye out for La Crema.  I'm hoping the same tasting committee will be up for another couple of Chardonnay's with the Turkey dinner!  We'll see

Buena Vista Carneros Pinot Noir

A new wine experience tonight as big brother Jon brought over a jeroboam that he won in a wine auction for charity. A jeroboam holds the equivalent of four bottles of wine and there are six of us - all family. "When there is plenty of wine, sorrow and worry take wing." - Ovid. In other words, "Party-on Wayne!" - Garth. From the get-go everyone likes this one. This is a well balanced Pinot with excellent spice and acidity. Grampa comments that the wine has more body than a typical Pinot. Mrs. Vino can't believe such a smooth wine comes from such a monstrous bottle. The link from the winery says the wine has notes of strawberry and I get that as the evening progresses. All six of us will be looking for the Buena Vista Carneros Pinot Noir in the future and you should as well. Oh-jeez- lookie there that big bottle has nothing left.....

Bila Haut - Cotes du Rousillon Villages - M Chapoutier

Late August, the hot weather is fading and it is finally time to dig back into the deeper, darker reds I love so much. (Mrs. Vino has been stuck on Pinot's and I've been stuck on my Roses all summer.) My daughter selected steak for tonights dinner and my mind immediately thought, "great, I can dig into something that has been sitting (aging) in the basement (cellar) all summer. I had picked this one up at a Julio's 25% off sale, and the Wine Spectator 90 point rating caught my eye. "GSM" (Grenache, Syrah, Mouvedre) is a common blend that I like, but this wine substitues Carrigan for the "M". Mrs. Vino loves it and so do I. The wine was perfect with the grilled steak. In trying to describe this wine I'm reminded of the book I'm currently reading - "Judgement Day in Paris" which quotes a famous UC Davis professor who said, "Quality in wine is much easier to recognize than define." Amen. Words for this blog to live by. This wine is big and bold with great tannins and a bit of spice! It is around a $15 wine. Gr3at value for a wine in the top 100 from the WS. Look for it! (A very nice description of the full wine is linked)

B & G Vouvray

I had read that Vouvray was a match for lobster, so I gave this B & G a whirl while relaxing with the family (minus Mrs. Vino who is with her family) at my folks place just off the Maine coast. Early August is a time for soft shell lobsters which are a nice contrast to the hard shell variety you find in the spring. I certainly don't want to digress into the whole hard/soft shell debate in this space, so here we go with the Vouvray. Vouvray is made in the Loire Valley of France from the Chenin Blanc grape. The B&G had a bit of peachy sweetness and a similarly peachy texture. If you had told me I was drinking a Riesling I would have believed it. The wines flavors blended well with the melted butter I was dipping my lobster into. I will not hesitate to try another Vouvray with my lobster, but may try a different maker next time - as this was just a bit sweet for me and difficult to drink on its own once I was done eating.

Pieropan Soave 2009

Today's WSJ weekend edition featured Soave's and the author Lettie Teague happened to taste and recommend Pieropan Soave, which I happen to have in my wine baseme-ooops-cellar! I immediately grabbed the bottle and threw it in my mini-wine-fridge in anticipation of this evening's grilled salmon dinner. Lettie explains that the folks in the Veneto region of Northern Italy are making a concerted effort to make some higher quality wines and she's happy Soave is making a comeback. A maker describes it as "California Chardonnay without the buttered popcorn". The Pierpopan is just that, with a rich texture, a pleasant smokey flavor and sharp acidity. I picked this one up for $15 and Lettie describes it as an "excellent deal". My many dedicated readers were expecting that! She also points out that the $10 Bolla is also a surprisingly good. Bolla was the maker who made Soave famous back in the 80's. Can you picture that jug? I'll look for the newer version and recommend you look for either the Pieropan or the Bolla while the hot weather lasts! Enjoy the summer everyone!

Joseph Cattin

This is my first review of a Pinot Blanc. There seem to be endless wine varietals and sampling new ones is one of the many things that makes wine fun. I found this wine as simple and delicious as its label - a wonderful wine to match with our scallops on a warm spring day. Just a hint of light peachy sweetness on the front end, but the wine finishes off with a crisp clean finish. (Sounds like Budweiser - but this is much better!) This wine would be perfect for an afternoon lunch on the patio. I will look for this wine from that little region of France that at one time bounced back and forth between Germany and France

Medalla Real, Santa Rita, Maipo Valley Chile 2006

At a recent wine store visit, I was chatting with a representative of a winery from California and I told him that I drank a lot of Chilean Cabs, mostly because they were consistently good value. He said that he went through a phase where he drank many of them, but that he now prefers the California Cabs which are less earthy and organic their Chilean counterparts. I had this conversation in mind when I pulled this wine as our second wine for a Saturday evening dinner with my brother and his wife. (see prior post) The moment I tasted this Cab and contrasted it with our first bottle of a California Cab, I noted a much earthier flavor. Mrs. Vino announces that she likes this one much better. "More flavor." The Wine Spectator rated this at 91 points - exactly the same score as the BV wine from the prior post - but for two wines made from the same grape, scoring the exact same WS rating, they could not have been more different. This wine was much bigger and bolder. I loved them both and thought, "this shows why the point rating can be a useful barometer, but really says very little about the wine. I purchased this wine a little while back and am guessing I paid just under $20 for the bottle. Definitely pick this one up if you see it in that price range. I learned that inviting another couple certainly presents an opportunity for an informal wine tasting where two wines can be tasted. We all had fun with it!

Beaulieu Vineyard, Georges De Latour, Private Reserve, Napa 1996

A few years back, Mrs. Vino stole away with her book club for a spring weekend on the Cape. She asked what wine she could bring and I gave her a few lower priced "BV" wines, figuring the ladies weren't going to pay too much attention to the wine. When she returned on Sunday evening she handed me the bottle pictured to the right. As you can see it was a "BV" but a 1996 BV Private Reserve Cab from Napa! She says everyone insisted this was one of the wines she brought. Well I put it in the wine rack and over the last few years I've smiled and wondered every time I scanned our wines. Yesterday I decided, I better not wait any longer. To celebrate the grand opening of this 15 year-old bottle we invited my brother and his wife for some grilled tenderloins, along with fried mushrooms and onions, roasted potatoes, broiled asparagus and a fresh orange and yellow tomato dish. I was expecting a big hairy red, but I found the wine far more gentle and easy. I never would have guessed this was a straight Cab. My brother picks up on a smokey or toasty flavor, which is exactly what the Wine Spectator commented on when they gave it 91 points. Of course, 1 bottle is not going to last for the two couples on a Saturday evening, so see the next post for a contrasting cab that we opened. I see this wine is $70 on the web, much more than Mrs. Vino paid.