Summer 2008 Wines

Wines
Barbera d’Asti, ‘Ca di Pian’, La Spinetta 2005 $26 (***)
Sangiovese ‘Sezzana’, La Spinetta 2003 $48 (**)
Pin Monferrato Rosso, (Nebbiolo/Barbera) 2005 $48 (***)
Barbaresco Riserva, ‘Valeirano’, La Spinetta 2004 $122 (***, aromatic)
Barolo, ‘Campe’, La Spinetta 2003 $125 (*****)
Barbera d’Asti ‘Bionzo’, (Barrique) La Spinetta 2005 $49
Moscato d’Asti, Biancospino, La Spinetta 2007 (375mL) $13 (***)

Double feature

There was a double feature tonight: Abruzzo wines from Illuminati for the first tasting and Silver Tequila for the second.

• *”Illuminati Brut” Méthode Champenoise vintage. $39
  light white flowers, honey, pale orange candies, No fizz in 5 min, a fave of mine
• Controguerra Bianco D.O.C. Costalupo. $16
  a more plastic version of the sparkling.
• *Zanna, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG Riserva 1988 $70
  mushrooms! thickness a little oxidized, nice acidity and soft tannins. good on opening, four hours later not good, one of my faves at 5pm

Spring ’08: a catalog of wines tasted

* favorites, however would revisit all the unstarred except the pinot grigio.

france
*2003 Jacques Puffeney Arbois Poulsard
*2004 JL Chave, Saint-Joseph, “Offerus”

italy
*2003 Barrua, Tenuta San Guido, Toscana
*2005 Guidalberto, Tenuta San Guido, Toscana
2004 Sassicaia, Tenuta San Guido, Toscana
2003 Tassinaia, Castello del Terricio, Toscana

More 2005 Bordeaux and various Italian wines

The wines tasted on Saturday.

Italian wines
2005 pinot grigio, la tunella (fruili)
2006 ravello bianco, marisa cuomo (campania)
falanghina and something biano blend
2005 derthona, vignetti massa (piedmont)*
in the tre bicchieri, timorrasso grape
2005 barbera d’Asti Tre Vigne, Vietti (piedmont)
1996 barolo bussia, poderi colla (piedmont)*
2004 grifola, poderi san lazzaro (marche)*

Bordeaux Wine Tasting

The person running the tasting suggested that St. Julien is hard to identify and frequently mistaken as Pauillac since it has the graphite nose and slightly more mid-palate. Of the left banks tasted, Margaux had flowers, which I like.

1. 2005 Ch. Lynch Bages Blanc, Pauillac($48)
40% Semillon, 40% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Muscadelle
significant oak, brown sugar, sweet fruit, pretty perfumed almost

2. 2005 Ch. Birot, Cotes de Bordeaux($13)
Cabernet-based
popcorn butter at first, bright crisp, herbal alcohol, significant flavor and slightly astringent

3. 2005 Ch. Marjosse Rouge, Bordeaux ($15)
Merlot-based
only reason not rated “superior” because sourced fruit all up and down left bank. owned by Pierre Liertan of the supermarket chain. rich berry but not too fruity, mostly oak with significant powdery tannin. a fave of the group.

4. 2005 Ch. Hilare, Medoc ($16)
50% Cab Sauv, 45% Merlot, 5% Cab Franc
significant nose, bell pepper almost, like a nicer California Cab with a softer mouthfeel than CA would.

5. 2004 Leoville Barton, St. Julien ($60)
72% Cab Sauv, 20% Merlot, 8% Cab Franc
consistent and best price/value of the second growths, their 2003 was $150. significant Cab nose, big fruit and tannin, powdery tannins, glycerol quality, slightly astringent. this one will be mature in 3 to 5. best at 2012.

6. 2003 Beaumont, Haut-Medoc ($16)
62% Cab Sauv, 30% Merlot, 5% Cab Franc
Beychevelle winemaking team which has a soft sensual delicate style. Significant oak and ripe fruit, with a delicacy to the mouthfeel. easy vintage for them to make? One of my favorites for the price bracket.

7. 2003 Lynch Bages, Pauillac ($85)
73% Cab Sauv, 15% Merlot, 10% Cab Franc
Significant Cab taste, almost no astringency, well-balanced round tannins, great in 2003. Pauillac classic graphite, pencil lead smell. classic pairing with steak and potatoes, no tomato or spice.

8. 2001 Ch. Lascombes, Margaux ($60)
40% Cab Sauv, 55% Merlot, 10% Cab Franc
This house changed style in 2001, quite a saga. classic smell for the region is flowers lilac/honeysuckle. rich, unctuous but a high acid vintage, bell pepper going down, but round tannins as well.

9. 1996 Ch. Haut Bailly, Pessac-Leognan ($70)
65% Cab Sauv, 25% Merlot, 10% Cab Franc
pronounced oh-bye-yee. classic smell is gravelly, grimy, with briny limestone finish as if kicked up dust. This one needs time to flesh out. Described as elegant delicacy to this property, however, my perception of graves is very austere, masculine type of wine with odd veg with gamey smell. Intense Cab and very intense flavor.

10. 1996 Ch. Riessec, Sauternes ($65)
90% Semillon, 7% Sauv Blanc, 3% Muscadelle
described as most unctuous of the Sauternes. Property next to Yquem. Candied apricot, not unctuous on tongue but citrus.

Enotria Wine Bar: Part Deux

Friday evenings from 5 to 6:30pm are busy at Enotria. They had a 5 dollar tasting last Friday focused on wines from New Zealand and Australia. All four wines were of better quality than the previous six whites I’d tried at the Tuesday night tasting.

1. Alpha Domus Viognier 2005 Hawkes Bay, NZ
2. The Crossings Pinot Noir 2006 Marlborough, NZ
3. Nevis Bluff Pinot Noir 2002 Gibbston, Central Otago, NZ
4. Penfolds ‘St. Henri’ Shiraz 2002 South Australia

The Viognier was made in a dry style with some acid and a significant oak component. This is a serious Viognier, not like the tropical ones being made for Trader Joe’s. Peach and other floral notes. Almost a little bitter which I didn’t expect. 13% alcohol. $20. The 2006 Pinot Noir was a bright wine with cherry, sour cherry in the mouth with a slightly glycerin texture. I expected it to be higher in alcohol but it was only 13.5% as well. $14. The 2002 Pinot Noir was smoky strawberry with more sour cherry and a plummy taste. $25. The last and the best was the Penfolds ‘St. Henri’ Shiraz. This wine is five years old, but it has the eucalyptus, herbal notes I associate with good quality Northern Rhone wines. It is made in a fruitier style than Northern Rhone. $42.50. All four wines were lower in cost compared to their equivalents in other countries. For instance I would expect the older Pinot to be 20 dollars more if it came from Oregon and the Shiraz as well.

Tuesdays in Sacramento: Enotria Wine Bar

Tuesdays at Enotria Wine Bar are a steal since everything is 30% off. Six white wines tonight for roughly 15 bucks.

1. Naia “Las Brisas” Verdejo / Sauvignon Blanc / Viura – 2005 Rueda, Spain
2. Groth Sauvignon Blanc Napa
3. Feudi Greco di Tufo 2003 Campania

1. Laurenz & Sophie Grüner Veltliner – 2005 Austria
2. Margerum Pinot Gris 2005 Washington
3. Demuth Chardonnay 2002 Anderson Valley

Tasting notes:
Pass: Verdejo blend was all smoky wood and Demuth Chardonnay was all popcorn butter
Ok: Margerum Pinot Gris was clover honey (dry but smells like dessert wine) and the Groth Sauvignon Blanc is like sodapop at room temp. Has none of the distinctiveness of SB suprisingly. This is SB for people who don’t really like SB’s grapefruit or herbaceous qualities.
Different: Greco di Tufo and the Gruner Veltliner. I’m postponing judgement on Greco till try more producers. It has a slight honey nose with veggie. The Gruner Veltliner had 12% alcohol (a little less) and was generally more appealing since it had more residual sugar and a slight exotic fruit smell as it warmed up. Neither wine had much acidity. It was not clear if either had been in barrel, though the Greco was a 2003, so I’m assuming it had gone to barrel.

An education on Bordeaux

So to celebrate finishing our first year of school, Billo had a Bordeaux tasting. We were assigned different regions to bring wine from, preferably 2003, 1995 or 1996 (the best recent years for Bordeaux). Order of serving was from right bank to left bank, shown below:

2002 Clos. Rene, Pomerol*
2003 Ch. Quinault “l’Enclos”, St. Emilion Grand Cru
2003 Ch. Giscours, Margaux
2003 Ch. Gloria, St. Julien
1993 Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac*
1990 Phelan Segur, St. Estephe*
* indicates they were true to type

My tasting notes in summary were the Pomerol had soft round tannins, light bodied with a candied berry taste. The St. Emilion smelled the most New World initially with a significant amount of oak, but after an hour or two it lightened up. The Margaux had a slight playdough smell and the St. Julien was slightly butter-like. The Pauillac was dried leaf, tea, some chocolate. It was more astringent than expected for its age and transformed in the mouth with steak. The St. Estephe had a tomato leaf smell, almost glycerin texture with round tannins and a long finish.

The creative part was that then we were tested on bordeauxs blind, to see if we could determine the location. I have to admit I’d stopped guessing after a while and just drank! However it was a great wine education night thanks to Billo and our fellow grad students.