Those of you who were concerned for my liver after reading my fall picks can now rest easy as this past winter saw moderate imbibing. I sampled 16 new wines and was surprised that 9 of those were whites as I thought the cold winter months might see me crack open more reds. I mostly tried French and Spanish wines but also managed to quaff a few from the US and Australia also.
I have only three recommendations from my tastings.
1. Twenty Bench, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2003 - Napa Valley, California, USA (17/20)
"fruity, cedar, smoky but not overpowering", for more tasting notes look here
2. Abrazo Gran Reserva, Carinena, Garnacha, Tempranillo, 1996 - Spain (16/20)
"more full bodied that the regular Abrazo, different but also good"
3. Hillside Estate, Reserve Series, Muscat Ottonel, 2004 - Okanagan, Canada (16/20)
"a different grape, peachy, citrus, orange, slightly fizzy, sweet and nice"
So nothing from France made my recommendations although an Alsace wine (Pierre Sparr, 0ne, 2004) came close. I was really impressed with the Twenty Bench but at $25 (17EURO, 12UKP, $AUS29) I would say it was a little expensive for everyday indulgence.
The regular Abrazo made my fall list and so it is no surprise to me the Gran Reserva made this list. The Gran Reserva has tempranillo whereas the regular Abrazo has not, I felt it was more full bodied but I am not sure this is due to the tempranillo.
Finally the inclusion of a Canadian wine is no 'sympathy vote', the wines from Hillside Estate are very good and this wine is very different from other wines I have tried. We picked it up whilst visiting the vineyard a couple of years ago so unfortunately it is probably quite hard to come by even in Canada.
I expect for Spring I will drink more US wines. Good Australian wine continues to elude me, getting a corked Wolf Blass Sauvignon Blanc recently did not help their reputation but I am a forgiving-sort so I expect I will give them a try again. Hic!
For more information ...
twenty bench
abrazo gran reserve
hillside estate
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Could buy a lot of gifts with the money spent on wine....
ha! ha! funny guy
A 'corked' wine is one whose taste and smell has been adversely affected by a 'bad' cork.
Moulds occuring in the cork combine with chemicals used to clean the cork and a compound called trichloranisole (TCA) is created.
A 'corked' wine smells moldy or musty.
When a waiter asks you to try a wine this is all you are really checking for, so you don't even need to taste it, a simple sniff should suffice. Also don't bother sniffing the cork, just give it a glance to see it is not mouldy on the side that faced into the bottle. It actually may be moldy on the side that faced upwards and this probably indicates storage in humid conditions (not necesarrily a bad thing as long as it wasn't too humid).
Overall I prefer no mold on the cork anywhere and no sniff of it on the wine. Estimates are that approximatley 1 in 20 wines are corked to some degree so it is likely you have come across some.
bad wines
'Places' moved. will chat to L. about her blog.
Thanks for the suggestions. I did try the Spanish wine and it was lovely, I enjoyed it.
Glad you enjoyed it, next time ask for a Priorat agood and currently fashionable wine! Not that fashion counts.
Post a Comment