September 2, 2010 at 10:54 pm (Age, Argentina, Australia, Bell Pepper, Black Cherry, Black Fruit, Blackberry, Blends, Cabernet Sauvignon, California Taste Fine Wine, Carmenere, Cellaring, Collecting, Comparisions, Cote du Rhone, Dornfelder, Earthiness, Food, France, Fruit, Germany, Grahma Beck, Grenache, GSM, Italy, Laguna Niguel, Languedoc, Mclaren Vale, Merlot, Mourvedre, Nero D'Avola, Organic, Organic Grapes, Pfalz, Pic St. Loup, Pinot Noir, Red Fruit, Ripeness, Sicily, Soil, Souith Africa, Sour Cherry, South Africa, Spain, Spatburgunder, Storage, Syrah, tar, Tasting, Tobacco, Uncategorized, Winemakers, wineries, Yangarra)
Tags: Acid, Argentina, Australia, Black Fruit, Blends, California Taste Fine Wine, Carmenre, Cherry, chocolate, Dornfelder, Earthiness, France, Granache, GSm, Italy, McLaren Vale, Monastrell, Mourvedre, PAtel Cabernet Sauvignon, PAtel Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Retail Wine Stores, South Africa, Spatburgunder, Syrah, Tasting
First, I have to start with the thought that there is a huge world of wine out there. There are so many variatals, it is impossible to name them all. Many wine enthusiats in California think only in terms of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir. It is funny when I ask people if they might like a Zinfandel. The typical response is,”I do not like sweet pink wines.”
But, as we all know, Zinfandel is a fantastic, deep rich red wine. Great with BBQ and strong cheeses.
When it came to the International Reds Tasting at California Taste Fine Wine in Laguna Niguel, there were a few surprises in the group. The first were the large number of countries that are producing GSM blends. A GSM blend is Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. These grapes all go so well together and have a spicy finish. The combination of plum, cherry, blackberry, tar, tobacco and earthiness and spice make this genre of wine a natural with so many food types.
Sometimes this blendd is found in Cotes du Rhone or other Rhone blends. The traditional home for these grapes are the Rhone Valley in Southern France. Mourvedre or Monastrall as it is known in Spainit’s original home before it migrated east to France. At the tasting was a a Falcata Casa Gran from Valencia, Spain, Yangarra Cadenzia from Mclaren Vale in Australia and a Pic St. Loup from the Languedoc in the south of France. The blends where similar, but each wine was as different from the next as an orange is as different than an apple. I would drink any one of these wines at anytime.
Another wine in the tasting was a German wine from the Pfalz region of Germany. Made by Alfred Bonnet, the Cuvee Bonus was a Trocken, or dry red comprised of a blend of Dornfelder and Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir). The first bottle opened was shot and the second was okay. The wine had a very aged look to it, almost brown. But there was still fruit predominate and a lot of acid. Not a favorite at the tasting. And the little bit that was left in the bottle was totally done the next morning.
I have never been a fan of Carmenere or Chilean wines in general. They all seem to have a green taste, like a ripe bell pepper. This is from the grapes perhaps not reaching full ripeness or too much stem, leaves and other things making it into the fermentation vat. But the La Playa Carmenere changed my mind. No green. Just a rich, thick, dried prune, chocolate and cherry taste and nose backed with a hint of toasty oak. What a great wine. A steal at under $10.
Italy was represented with a wine from Sicily. Gulfi Nero D’avola. This is a grape that is getting more popular in United States. It is a high acid wine that plays so well with so many foods. My personal preference for Italian wines showed through with this wine. All I could think about was having this with a nice veal Cannaloni.
Then there was a Pinot Noir from Argentina that was made with Organic Grapes. The Santa Julia wine brand is very solid. The Bonarda is a real winner. The Pinot Noir is very packed with cherry, strawberry and cranberry. Maybe a dark horse for that tofurkey. Graham Beck is another brand to be aware of. This South African winery makes a number of wines including a nice sparkling wine. But this tasting featured the newest vinatge of the Cabernet Sauvignon. With red, sour and black cherry coupled with minerality, blackberry in the finish, this is a fun drinking wine. Glad it is back.
But what was really interesting again is how all of these wines tasted better after being open for a couple of days. I know I have said it before, but on any given night, open two bottles and then come back to each of them the next day or the day after. The reward will be tremendos and the wines smooth and very drinkable. I guess that is how you Uncork Happiness times two!
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March 10, 2010 at 5:37 pm (Age, Black Fruit, Cabernet Sauvignon, California Taste Fine Wine, Cellaring, Cooking, Laguna Niguel, Napa, Soil, Storage, Tasting, Winemakers, wineries, Zinfandel)
Tags: Cabernet Sauvignon, California Taste Fine Wine, Crush Pad, Laguna Niguel, Malbec, Napa Valley, PAtel Cabernet Sauvignon, PAtel Zinfandel, Retail Wine Stores, Tasting
This weekend, we are hosting at California Taste Fine Wine Raj Patel. He is the owner/creator of Patel wines. These are small, very limited production gems sources from some of the best sites in Napa.
Raj started out as a guy who loves wine. As he got more into it, he decided he wanted to make his own wine. So he contacted CrushPad in San Francisco and was soon on his way. His first effort was a 5o case experiment called Zinfandel. He figured he wanted to sell some of it and so he got the proper permits and was off on a grand adventure.
Now he has a number of red blends, Malbec and a few more things fermenting. He has even beaten out Duckhorn for a set of sought after grapes.
But what makes all of this so remarkable is that he is very meticulous in his wine making efforts. He has an actual wine maker that he works with. They select only certain lots of grapes, the best barrels as well as mixing up the barrels. That means he uses a variety of barrel types for the juice. And time. They let things sit. And sit. And sit some more until they feel it is okay to bottle. Then the wine stays in the bottle for at least another year or more before being released.
That is why we are debuting the 2007 Cabernet. It has finally come of age. But I have said before that these wines are well made. You can open a bottle and if you do not finish it, can just put the cork firmly back in it and finish at a later date. (Store in a cool, dark space) the wine tastes good seven to ten days later. No gas, no nothing. That is the hallmark of a very well made wine.
We are one of the only wine retail stores to have this wine. He made 112 cases of the Cabernet Sauvignon and only 50 cases of the Zinfandel.
So this Saturday, March 13, at 4pm, I will be excited to try these wines again in Laguna Niguel. Now I can really say that the Patel Wines are Uncorking Happiness.
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January 9, 2010 at 6:12 pm (breathable glass, Cabernet Sauvignon, California Taste Fine Wine, Cellaring, Comparisions, Paso Robles, Storage, Tasting, wineries)
Tags: Acid, breathable glass, California Taste Fine Wine, Chateau Montelena Riesling, Hammersky Zinfandel, Napa, Paso Robels, PAtel Cabernet Sauvignon, PAtel Zinfandel, Retail Wine Stores, Tasting, Zinfandel
It is not everyday that an open bottle of wine will stay that way in the house. Unfinished and with just a cork shoved in it. Most wines are drinkable only for about four days. A few make it to a week. And then there are the rare few that go beyond that. I have discussed storage and ways to keep wines in previous blogs.
The first wine that was good after about three weeks was a Chateau Montelena Riesling from NApa. We had a bottle and then put the cork in it when we did not finish it. The bottle got buried in the refrigerator. A little over three weeks later, I was getting ready to sit down to a meal of baby back ribs. We had a few bottles open at the time, but for some reason, I stumbled upon the buried bottle in the refrigerator. Being curious, I pulled out the cork and gave it a smell. It was very nice, then i put a sip into a wine glass and tried it. It was absolutely amazing. It still had citrus and melon flavors ad was ultra smooth. The small amount of oxygen had helped tame this wine. And tasted great with the ribs. I finished the bottle, which was three quarters full.
The next wine we had a chance to recently play with was from Hammersky Vineyards in Paso Robles. PAso Robles is known for big wines, but the Zinfandels from Hammersky are over the top. These are small production wines but they have a very firm tannic, acidic and fruit structure. These wines really come into their own after about four days of being opened. I had some n decanter for seven days that tasted great at day seven. It is amazing when something like this happens. And though most people do not have bottles open for so long, it is fun to see how long some of these things last. At the house, we sometimes hit on a great bottle and it tends to last all of about twenty minutes. So often, when we do experiment with time, there are a number of bottles open.
On December 26th, 2009, I met up with Raj Patel of Patel Vineyards. I tried his Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. My friend Ken Nicholas I loved the wines and they were big and bold. They tasted very good right out of the bottle but were even better in breathable glass. More on the glasses later.
But with all of the holiday goings on and store tastings, once again the wine got shoved aside. Last night,yes fourteen days later, we got to finish and see if the Patel Cabernet held up. At this point, this Cabernet might be the best mad wine I have ever experienced. Originally, there were notes of black cherry, black berry and cassis, leather and earth/tar. After two weeks, the wine had all of that and a very smooth finish. It was better than many wines that have enjoyed right out of the bottle. Patel wines are very limited production wines, but you can go to www.patelwinery.com or pop into California Taste Fine Win for a bottle.
I recommend wines from these wineries because they all have amazing structure and balance. The acid, Tannin and fruit are aligned and that makes for a wine that each time you open it you will be Uncorking Happiness.
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