Drinking lots of wines!
You may have noticed that this blog has not been updated all that much recently. Whatever. I haven’t had time or patience for it, I’m afraid. But after a month or so, I do have a lot to say once again!
The best wine I have tried lately has to be the 2001 Conde de Vimioso Reserva, a “Vinho Regional” from the Ribatejano area of Portugal. I originally bought this wine for Wine Blogging Wednesday #38, but I ony got around to opening this wine a few nights ago. Whoops. Anyway, it’s darn good! Here are my notes on the 2001 Conde de Vimioso Reserva:
- Aroma: Spicy black cherry and leather, blackberry jam; very focused fruit bouquet without much distraction at first, but with a bit of smoke on the end; opens into a more cocoa and toffee bouquet with bright acidity.
- Flavor: Buttered black bread, blackberries and black currants, a mild briny spice on the mid-palate and then that same sweet buttered bread aftertaste; after some air time, the wine becomes more acidic and tannic, with a twist of port on the finish.
- General impression: A really nice wine at first, leaves me wanting more right away; settles into a slightly tannic, full-bodied red wine that could age longer and be even better. Sort of like a Silver Oak Alexander Valley but with more vanilla and brown sugar notes on the first day; the second day was a little hotter and more acidic at first, but then became settled and nice once more.
Other wines I have tried lately and enjoyed:
- 2006 Erath Pinot Noir - A young, fresh fellow that tastes good now; very reasonably priced under $20 (people who don’t drink much Pinot will be very impressed with this wine if you tell them it costs $35-$40).
- 2005 Selbach-Oster Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese Trocken - The name is a mouthful, and so is this wine…mild, very faintly sweet Spatlese; needs more bottle aging for sure.
- 2002 Van Duzer Dijon Blocks Pinot Noir Willamette Valley - Hot damn! Delicious wine. Big, vibrant aroma and flavor, very fruity; very nice…the age helped a lot.
- 2005 Lachini ‘S’ Pinot Noir - Not ready yet, keep yours in the cellar if you have some.
- 2004 Domaine Ehrhart Pinot Auxerrois Val St. Gregoire - Nice, balanced, smooth white wine; refreshingly mild lemon zest with a pine needle aftertaste; smoother with salty food and seafood; worth buying again for this price ($10!).
- 2006 DiStefano Sauvignon Blanc - Delicious apricot and citrus flavors, rich bouquet, absolutely worth getting again with seafood or curry! Good value, too, at $15 and under; very strong for a Sauvignon Blanc.
- 2003 Hestan Cabernet Sauvignon - Dove into my private stash for this one; Took 60-90 minutes to open up, but when it did it was quite good…very floral and spicy, with jammy fruits and meaty backbone. Nice, lots of character; not a typical CA Cab. Not quite worth $80/bottle, though, but maybe someday when it matures more fully.
- 2004 Avignonesi Vino Nobile de Montepulciano - Made with nothing but the Prugnolo Gentile clone of the Sangiovese grape; blackberry, raspberry, pepper on the nose and palate; deeper earthiness began to show after 20 minutes; dry tannins after 30 minutes; nice but not overwhelming, probably needs some bottle aging.
And finally, a trio of dessert wines from the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada:
- 2004 Henry of Pelham Riesling VQA Niagara Ice Wine - Rich, creamy, smooth, sweet; very nice!
- 1999 Stoney Ridge Gewurztraminer VQA Niagara Ice Wine - Pure caramel apple with hazelnuts, very tasty and smooth but a little different from the other two so hard to compare directly.
- 2004 Magnotta Cabernet Franc Ice Wine - Sweet, sugary pomegranate dessert wine, very nice; my favorite of this trio.
As you can see, I’ve been trying to beat my record from last year, when I consumed about 160 different wines. I’m up to about 120 this year, and the holidays promise to be exciting for wine!