winellama

Tenuta Poggio Ai Mandorli, Chianti Classico DOCG, Gran Selezione, Italy, 2011, 13.5% abv. US$19

Posted on November 11, 2015 by winellama

I purchased this bottle at Trader Joe’s Bellingham store for about US$19, but it actually cost me a lot more in Canadian dollars because of the tax paid at the border.

Medium ruby with a tinge of garnet, it has aromas of plum, black licorice and plenty of gamey meat.

The palate is dry with medium acidity and hot alcohol alongside flavours of blackberry, damson plum, tar, soy sauce and some relaxed tannins. The finish is simple.

Made from mostly Sangiovese grapes, there is also some Merlot and Syrah added in. The alcohol is slightly high and the flavours are not clear; it’s definitely unbalanced.

Overall, it’s an uncomplicated, WSET Acceptable wine. Average at best, it’s doing its thing, but unremarkably for the most part. Use as a second or third bottle on pizza night.

Posted in Italy, Merlot, RED, Sangiovese, Shiraz / Syrah | Tagged Chianti Classico DOCG, Gran Selezione, Italy, merlot, red wine, Sangiovese, syrah, Tenuta Poggio Ai Mandorli, Trader Joes | Leave a comment

Grüner Veltliner, Singing, Laurenz Five und Sophie, Austria, 2013, 12% abv, C$19++

Posted on November 11, 2015 by winellama

Grüner Veltliner (aka Gru-vee) is indeed a groovy, Austrian grape that makes great wine. Generally, Gru-vee is food friendly with a solid floral and fruit profile, elegant minerality and a peppery hit. This one is no exception.

Made from Grüner grapes harvested in both the Kremstal and Weinviertel regions, this version is medium lemon with aromas of white peach, plenty of nose tingling crushed rocks and white pepper spice.

The palate is dry with refreshing acidity and light alcohol at only 12% – and you could literally drink it all day long as a result. Flavours are medium and show more stone fruit with a touch of light honey, white pepper powder, fresh pickle juice and tons of minerality.

Ever so slightly watery, this wine still has good body and lends itself well to food. We paired it with grainy mustard and apple stuffed pork sausages and fresh garden salad.

WSET Good and punches above its weight for the price.

Posted in OTHER | Tagged 12% abv., 2013, Austria, Gruner Veltliner, Kremstal, Laurenz Five und Sophie, Laurenz V, Singing, Weinviertel, white wine | Leave a comment

La Porta di Vertine, Riserva, Chianti Classico DOCG, Toscana, Italia, 14.2% abv, 2009

Posted on November 9, 2015 by winellama

Located on amphitheater-shaped vineyards in tiny Vertine located in Gaiole (one of the five Chianti Classico regions) and north of Siena, this producer harvests organically grown grapes, uses indigenous yeast and employs minimal intervention in the cellar.

The wine is comprised mostly of Sangiovese with a little Canaiolo and an even smaller proportion of Colorino. The La Porta di Vertine website offers some detailed notes regarding the harvest and vinification process for each of their wines produced, including this one.

The 2009 is deep garnet with clean and distinct aromas of blackberry, black cherry, light soy sauce and tar.

The palate is dry with medium plus acidity and the alcohol while slightly high, is balanced with the fruit. Fresh flavours of cranberry, blackberry and black currant with leather, vanilla, clove complement the light and grippy, but ripe tannins.

WSET Very Good – nice complexity and elegance, perfect with Table 1006’s veggie lasagna.

Posted in Canaiolo, Colorino, Italy, OTHER, RED, Sangiovese | Tagged Canaiolo, Chianti Classico DOCG, colorino, italia, La Porta di Vertine, red wine, Riserva, Sangiovese | 2 Comments

Grand Cru Classé de Graves, Château Carbonnieux, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2011, 13.5% abv, C$65

Posted on November 4, 2015 by winellama

Today I learned I passed the French Wine Scholar course, so it is logical to celebrate with a French wine, mais bien sûr! I opened the 2009 version a while back, but friends brought this 2011 over to share.

A Sauvignon Blanc – Sémillon blend from Bordeaux, it requires a little food to round out and fill in the corners. Pale straw in colour, it has a nose of citrus and hints of honey, lemon balm and lemon grass.

The body is dry and has medium plus acidity with an elegant body and flavours of more lemon balm with dried herbs.

Delicate and tasteful, as it warmed in our glasses, it took on a deeper Meyer lemon profile.

WSET Very Good

Posted in France, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, WHITE | Tagged Bordeaux, Château Carbonnieux, france, Grand Cru Classé de Graves, Pessac-Léognan, white wine | 3 Comments

Pinot Noir, Schug, Carneros, Sonoma, California, 2010, 14.5% abv.

Posted on October 31, 2015 by winellama

With American Thanksgiving on the horizon, this is a California Pinot Noir that would be worth finding to pair with the turkey.

On the eyes, this wine is the colour of raspberry juice with some garnet thrown in for tone. Its legs are tight and even.

The nose is full on cherry and berry, dried fern, clove and cedar and the palate is dry with medium plus acidity, ripe tannins and high alcohol.

Flavours of more ripe field berry, black cherry, vanilla and clove, dried leaves, sous bois and cedar frond round out the palate. The finish is a little light.

It worked perfectly with Winesnob’s homemade jambalaya and pizza made with a gluten free base topped with crumbled feta cheese, spicy Italian sausage and Taggiasche olives.

WSET Good

Posted in California, Pinot Noir, RED | Tagged 2010, california, Carneros, pinot noir, red wine, Schug, Sonoma | Leave a comment

Meritage, Clos du Soleil, Celestiale, Similkameen Valley VQA, BC, 2011, 13.4% abv.

Posted on October 24, 2015 by winellama

Straight from the heart of the Similkameen Valley in BC’s Okanagan, a veritable desert (yes, I know – non-believers have a hard time with that – there is actually a desert in Canada), here we have a Meritage wine.

What exactly is a Meritage (rhymes with heritage)? It’s the North American term for a classic red Bordeaux blend – Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Each varietal brings something to the wine – structure and fruit, acidity, plush body, spice and pepper and something to fill in empty corners.

Deep ruby, there are inital aromas of cedar and fir which soften slightly as it opens, with intense black fruit – blackberry and cherry – leather, light vanilla, black pepper and minerality.

The palate is dry with medium ripe, slightly green tannins and average body and alcohol. Acidity is medium plus. Flavours show more blackberry and cherry with purple plum, leather, vanilla pod, and leather.

Balanced, layered, fruity and broad – WSET Very Good.

Check this link for a 2013 tasting note.

Posted in British Columbia, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon / Blends, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot, RED | Tagged BC, biodynamic, cabernet franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Canada, Celestiale, Clos du Soleil, malbec, meritage, merlot, Petit Verdot, red wine, Similkameen Valley | Leave a comment

Lugana DOP, Cantine Colli a Lago SRL, Desenzano di Garda Brescia, Lombardy, Italy, 2013, 12.5% abv.

Posted on October 18, 2015 by winellama

Marta, my Italian wine expert friend, found this at the Cambie Street BCLB and picked it up out of curiosity.

Quite frankly, we were completely prepared to expose this wine as an insipid white Italian along the lines of most of the Pinot Grigios that find their way here. Knowing the Canucks had likely purchased a bladder of this and slapped some labels on to sell at The Phone Booth (Roger’s Arena), we weren’t expecting much.

But weren’t we surprised; with the cheese and fruit we selected, it showed far better than anticipated. From Lombardy in north central Italy, it’s made from Turbiana on the shores of Lake Garda.

Very pale lemon with uneven legs, it has light aromas of dry, crisp, not cloying, pear, white flowers, and a hint of ginger blossom.

The palate is dry with average acidity, medium body and flavours of crunchy pear and quince, white tree flower and again, a little fresh ginger.

Fruity yet elegant and refreshing – we agreed we could drink this all day long.

Maybe we will – Go Canucks, go!

WSET Good

Posted in Italy, Ugni Blanc, WHITE | Tagged 12.5% abv, 2013, Cantine Colli a Lago SRL, Canucks, Desenzano di Garda Brescia, Italy, Lake Garda, Lombardy, Lugana DOP, Turbiana, white wine | Leave a comment

Sauvignon Blanc, Le Tronsec, Joseph Mellot, Pouilly-Fumé, Loire, France, 2013, 12.5% abv. C$35

Posted on October 17, 2015 by winellama

We stopped into the Joseph Mellot storefront in the centre of Sancerre when visiting the Loire in September 2014. So, when looking for a Sauvignon Blanc recently, purchasing this white wine classic was an easy decision.

The grapes for this wine hail from the Tronsec vineyard in Pouilly-Fumé, across the river from Sancerre on the right bank. Only whites are produced in Pouilly-Fumé and the soils in Le Tronsec are kimmerdigian marl based which accounts for the wine’s acidity.

Pale lemon in colour, this wine has moderate aromas of gooseberry, green leaf, white flower and citrus.

The palate is dry with high acidity and herbaceous flavours of lemon pith, yellow grapefruit, green clippings, more gooseberry, and white blossom alongside a solid finish.

WSET Very Good

Posted in France, Loire, OTHER, Sauvignon Blanc, WHITE | Tagged 12.5% abv, 2013, france, fume blanc, Joseph Mellot, Kimmeridgian, Le Tronsec, loire, pouilly fume, sauvignon blanc, white wine | Leave a comment

Pinot Noir, Domaine Ostertag, Fronholz, Vin d’Alsace, France, 2008, 12.5% abv.

Posted on October 16, 2015 by winellama

From all accounts, André Ostertag is one interesting guy.

One blogger who published about his visit there in 2010 noted “The Committee Interprofessionnel du Vins d’Alsace (CIVA) says that ‘André Ostertag is an eccentric, a wacky winemaking freak surrounded by the sanity and boredom of Germanic commercialism’.”

And the homepage of Ostertag’s website has a picture of the 1999 Riesling Manifesto published by Ostertag, Johannes Selbach and Randall Grahm urging people to give Riesling a chance.

Founded by his father in 1966, the Domaine has been biodynamic since 1998, and is ploughed and worked by hand. The family owns 14.3 ha, but that’s spread between 80 small plots and divided even further between 5 villages. The Fronholz, where the fruit for this wine is from, is 4 ha but only 0.3ha are planted to Pinot Noir on southwest facing quartz-based slopes.

The Domaine has bottled this wine in a brown flute which signifies it’s a ‘Vin de Pierre‘ or a wine that espouses its terroir – in this case, the quartz with sand, clay and marl.

This wine is unlike most Pinot Noirs I’ve tasted – so pure and clean. Medium cherry with garnet overtones (we opened it at 7 years old), this wine is striking; it’s lines are absolutely pristine.

It’s also alive with aromas – cherries, sous bois, cedar, dried moss, spice and tingling minerality.

The palate is dry with an elegantly minor level of alcohol and mouth-watering acidity framed by lightly strained tannins. Flavours are intense with ripe black cherry, pomegranate, dried leaves, cloves and crushed rocks and the finish is long.

Unfiltered, balanced and fully integrated, this wine is both elegant and delicate, intense and flavourful. Available in the US, imported by Kermit Lynch.

WSET Outstanding

Posted in France, Pinot Noir, RED | Tagged 12.5% abv, 2008, Alsace, Domaine Ostertag, france, Fronholz, pinot noir, red wine, riesling manifesto, Vin d'Alsace | Leave a comment

Damilano, Cannubi, Barolo DOCG, Nelle Cantine di la Morra, Piemonte, Italia, 2009, 14.5% abv.

Posted on October 15, 2015 by winellama

The 2010 Barolos are widely renowned as being part of the best vintage in a long time, but this 2009 was no slouch.

From the famed Cannubi hill in La Morra, the Damilano is made from 100% Nebbiolo grapes planted on calcareous-clay and sand with a southern exposure.

The wine has a medium garnet tone, is crystal clear and shows the classic Barolo aromas of rose petals alongside black cherry, plum, leather, vanilla and cinnamon stick.

Dry with medium plus acidity and dry, dusty tannins, its flavours offer more rose and dried petal, plum and date, black cherry, dried grass, leather, baking spice, soy sauce and a Dutch black licorice layered onto a crushed rock minerality.

Nuanced and complex, it was enhanced even moreso by Frank’s Osso Bucco.

WSET Very Good Plus

Posted in Italy, Nebbiolo, RED | Tagged 2009, Barolo DOCG, Cannubi, Damilano, italia, La morra, nebbiolo, Nelle Cantine di la Morra, Piemonte, red wine | Leave a comment