Wino Blogger - Put your goddam pinky down and drink your wine like a normal human.

January 31, 2010

Tsantali - Kanenas

Producer: Tsantali
Name: Kanenas
Vintage: 2006
Varietal: Mavroudi, Syrah
Region: Mavroudi, Greece
Price: ~ $25

Haven't had a lot of Greek wine but this Kanenas by Tsantali seemed to be popular at the tasting. Tsantali offers a variety of Greek wines from all over northern Greece. Kanenas comes from a northern area that has deep "argyllic" and dark red soil and hot summers with cool northern winds. This is really shown in the colour of the wine as it exhibits a deep red. The bouquet on this 2006 has ripe cherries, slightly earthy and is highlighted by spice. On the palate the spice and pepper notes come out more followed by more cherry and dark berries. The full body of the wine finishes nice and long.

The winery almost borders Turkey so It was nice to try something new like this. Greece doesn't often come to mind when you think of a nice wine for dinner but I could really see this going well with a lamb shank with Greek spices or with another Greek-style dish. Seriously, who doesn't love a good gyros? Or saganaki? Mmm... fried cheese...

J

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Tsantali_-_Kanenas_Tags_Wine_R.zip (147 KB)

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Filed under // Greece Maronia Red Wine Wine

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January 18, 2010

Rocca delle Macie - Chianti Classico Riserva

Producer: Rocca delle Macie

Name: Chianti Classico Riserva

Region: Tuscany, Italy

Appellation: Chianti Classico

Vintage: 2004

Price: ~ $23

Okay let me first start by saying what shitty pictures these are. I think that by the time I took them I was already a few glasses deep and thought they looked blurry but it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. Apparently they actually were blurry... (iPhone where are you?!)

This was a nicely bold chianti from the old world. The bouquet smelled of forward spice with a lingering ripe black cherry scent. On the palate the wine was equally quite bold. It had a hearty full body that was complex and intriguing and carried flavours of chocolate, bark, leather and subtle notes of cherry. The whole wine wrapped up with a long dry finish. Mmm...

In the terrible pictures you can see the shape of a silver medal award for Wine Access's International Value Wine Awards.

In other news the Golden Globes were yesterday and Tarantino was robbed of best picture yet again! In 2009 Inglorious loses to blue aliens. In 1994 Pulp Fiction loses to a retard from the south who farms shrimp... "Lieutenant Dan! Lieutenant Dan!"... bah! Drives me nuts...

J

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Rocca_delle_Macie_-_Chianti_Cl.zip (209 KB)

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Filed under // Italy Red Wine Tuscany Wine

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January 5, 2010

Rosemount - Show Reserve

Gawd!! I forgot to attach the images! Well what do you expect after hours of tasting wine!

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Rosemount_-_Show_Reserve_Tags_.zip (205 KB)

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Filed under // Australia Red Wine Rosemount Wine

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January 5, 2010

Rosemount - Show Reserve

Producer: Rosemount

Name: Show Reserve

Varietal: Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvedre

Vintage: 2006

Region: McLaren Vale, Australia

So Leibovitz is $25M in debt and she's got some old photos of Tiger taken a while ago... sounds like perfect timing Annie...

Over the holidays my aunt gave me a few bottles of wine to try. Which is great because she was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer that moved into her liver and she was not expected to be with us. Fortunately, against the odds, she responded to the treatment and was able to join us for the holidays! Things are looking better each day and she's on her way to full recovery. Very frickin' happy!

Anyway, the wine that she gave me was a Rosemount that I haven't tried before. It has a velvety thick texture and a dark rich purple colour. The bouquet smells of rich cassis, black currants and cherries with an intense brown sugar aroma. The palate tastes of dark fruit and subtle spice and oak with a surprising complexity and good integration of the varietals. Wasn't expecting this to be decent because there are so many crappy Australian wines out now, but I mean, for the price it's fairly good.

J

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Filed under // Australia Red Wine Rosemount Wine

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January 4, 2010

Spy Valley - Gewurztraminer

Producer: Spy Valley

Varietal: Gewurztraminer

Vintage: 2008

Region: Marlborough, New Zealand

Price: ~ $20

Merry belated Christmas! If you don't celebrate Christmas don't expect a "Happy Holidays" from me. In fact, you probably won't get a genuine Merry Christmas from me anyway since I'm pretty sure I've stopped celebrating the actual religious holiday of Christmas. Festivus anyone?

More Spy Valley... the bouquet on this gewurztraminer smells of cinnamon, passion fruit and honey with a slight hint of cloves. The rep behind the table said that he could sense a bit of melon too but couldn't get the cloves. A nicely refreshing change to my reds, the palate wasn't too different from the bouquet. It tasted of cloves, cinnamon, honey and a bit of pepper and had a silky clean finish.

So it turns out that 1/3 of all sick days are requested on Mondays. Also, January seems to incur more sick days than any other month. I think I'm feeling a bit under the weather...

Happy new year!

J

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Spy_Valley_-_Gewurztraminer_Ta.zip (208 KB)

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Filed under // Gewurztraminer New Zealand White Wine Wine

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December 20, 2009

Spy Valley - Sauvignon Blanc

Producer: Spy Valley

Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc

Vintage: 2008

Region: Marlborough, New Zealand

Price: ~ $17

At this point in the night I was really diggin' on these New Zealand wines. It really was very refreshing. The bouquet smells of melon and mineral which is characteristic for the area. Also it had a cold wintery crispness to it which was nicely awakening. The tasting had soft flavours of grapefruit, melon with subtle stone and mineral accents. It had a light body with good acidity and finished quickly. Well made!

On a different note, Brittany Murphy died of a heart attack this afternoon. I'm sure that will be hitting the presses tomorrow morning. On Google Trends, 8 out of 10 of the top searches were about her.

Christmas shopping done! Boo yah!

J

PS: Sorry for the shitty pic. Perhaps I'll get an iPhone for Christmas?

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Spy_Valley_-_Sauvignon_Blanc_T.zip (198 KB)

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Filed under // New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc White Wine Wine

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December 8, 2009

Spy Valley - Pinot Noir

Producer: Spy Valley

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Vintage: 2008

Region: Marlborough, New Zealand

Price: ~ $22

News: Seriously? I know he's dead, but come on... he makes it too easy...

What does the above link have to do with wine? Nothing, just move on...

My first New Zealand wine of the night and it did not disappoint. It won Wine Access' silver medal "Value Wine" award for 2009. Additionally, and in comparison to the Rolling Stones rep, the Spy Valley rep was informative and eager to teach us more about the region.

The bouquet on this pinot was of fresh blueberries and for the first time of the night—liquorice, all embraced by a crisp ruby red colour appearance. On the palate it had a surprising spice which gave way to stone and mineral accents which I learned was characteristic of the Marlborough area. The surprise spice kept me coming back and the medium body gradually unfolded it's complexity. It doesn't linger; it finishes quickly and cleanly. An interesting and excellent value wine!

Okay, peace ooouuut!

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Spy_Valley_-_Pinot_Noir_Tags_W.zip (215 KB)

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Filed under // New Zealand Pinot Noir Red Wine Wine

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November 15, 2009

PKNT - Gold Reserve

Producer: PKNT (i.e. "picante")
Name: Gold Reserve
Varietal: Carmenère, Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2005
Region: Central Valley, Chile
Price: ~ $10

Despite writing about the (oops) Carmenère Merlot earlier, this PKNT Gold Reserve Carmenère was actually my first time tasting a Carmenère. The bouquet smelled of dark rich berries, black currant with a slight vanilla and honey undertone. On the palate it was a full bodied red with predominantly warm oak and black cherries. A slight surprise considering the hot pepper on the label. Well balanced but fairly simple and straight forward—AKA: a nice value.

J

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Filed under // Cabernet Sauvignon Carmenere Chile Red Wine Wine

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November 6, 2009

Rolling Stones Wines - Satisfaction

Producer: Rolling Stones Wines
Name: Satisfaction
Varietal: 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 5% Malbec, 4% Petite Sirah
Vintage: 2005
Region: Napa Valley, United States
Price: ~ $50

Well what do we have here Mick? Your own wine? I'm very cautious of celebrity branded wine because for the most part it's mediocre wine in a flashy package. The Rolling Stones booth definitely had a lot of flash: numerous banners, TVs playing shows of the Rolling Stones, multiple bottle displays and somewhat of a greasy salesman behind the table. It put me off a little because I was trying to ask the rep about the wine and he gave me a lazy description and moved on to other tasters—namely the females—who weren't even spending time tasting the goddam wine anyway (there's a lot of them at these conventions). It would seem to me that if you wanted to get your wine out there, you'd spend time with the tasters who were actually serious about discussing the wine.

Anyway, the bouquet was actually pretty interesting with notes of cassis, currant and black cherry. On the palate it had strong cherry and spice notes that were quite bold and forward. With slight oak and a full body (almost syrup-like), the wine was complex and well structured with a long spicy finish.

When I looked the wine up online I came across prices in the $50 per bottle range. I'm sorry, the wine was good but not $50 per bottle good. There are far more interesting wines out there for a much better price. Try it to say you've tried it, but there probably won't be an encore tasting.

Peace in the middle east!

J

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Rolling_Stones_Wines_-_Satisfa.zip (519 KB)

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Filed under // Napa Valley Red Wine United States Wine

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November 3, 2009

Inniskillin - Dark Horse Meritage

Producer: Inniskillin
Name: Dark Horse Meritage
Varietal: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2006
Region: Okanagan, Canada
Price: ~ $25

The Inniskillin Meritage was the first wine that really started piquing my interest in how wine was made. When I was bartending I would sit down with a bottle of this after almost every shift. Thinking about the blend and why they did what they did. Comparing the current vintage with past vintages and how things have changed. A wonderful wine simply for my own selfish and sentimental reasons.

The bouquet is rich with cassis, black cherry, chocolate, earthy notes. It's a full bodied wine with a long dry finish. Tastes of spice, dark berries and chocolate, this wine is balanced and complex that keeps you sitting and contemplating at the bar until the late hours of the night.

J

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Filed under // Canada Meritage Red Wine Wine

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