2006 Monte Antico Toscano ($8.99)
85% Sangiovese, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot
From: Pisa, Italy
This was perfect for some pizza last night.
Nice dark color.
On the nose: Plums, dried cherries, leather, chocolate, and floral notes.
On the palate: Plums and black raspberries, some leather which I always like, and a hint of licorice. I liked the dryness, the high acidity and sharp tannins on the finish. These all helped it match well with the red sauce and sausage pizza. It was lacking much of a mid palate, but for the price . . . very nice.
This wine should be decanted for a while.

2005 Clos Jean ($15.00) 375 ml from Loupiac, Bordeaux, France
80% Semillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc
This is a great dessert wine I had a couple of months ago. I will have to open another bottle soon and post my tasting notes as I can't remember at this point. I have had previous vintages and have enjoyed them also.

Winemaker's notes: "Deep golden color. Subtle nose of lemon zest, honey, anise and vanilla. Round and full-bodied in the mouth with good fruit and finesse".

Sokol Blosser Evolution -Willamette Valley, Oregon ($12.99)

I went to see one of my favorite wine guys at Surdyk's the other day to pick out a few wines for some friends. After I had loaded up my cart, I asked if I could buy him a bottle as a tip. He picked out this wine as he said it was one of his wife's favorites. He said it is a blend of 9 varietals and has a bit of residual sugar. I tossed a second one in my cart to see if my wife would like it. Nice pick Roger, my wife liked it very much. I will go back and get a several more.

Darker straw color.

On the nose: Up front I get magnolias, then lots of fruit; pears, melon, and pineapple.

On the palate: Good body weight, nice creamy texture, some minerality, melon, pears, green apple, and some lemon.

My wife really liked it. It was a bit too sweet for me, but I would like it with some spicy food.

2008 Cono Sur Carmenere Bicycle ($7.99)
From: Chili
Grapes: Carmenere

I paired this with some lamb kabobs the other night. I like Carmenere with lamb because of it's typical dark fruit and black pepper. This wine continued to develop more complexity over time. I was really pleased with this, especially with the price.

Nice dark color.
On the Nose: Black tea, tobacco, subtle dark fruit, and dark chocolate.
On the palate: Dark fruit, plenty of black pepper, other spices, a silky mid palate, and mild tannins.

I have been a fan of wine since I was 18 and a fan of and played hockey since I was very young, so I was happy to see them combined when Gary Vaynerchuk of tv.winelibrary.com interviewed The "Great One" about some wines he has put his name behind (episode 660). When GV was trying to get Gretsky to enjoy the nose, Gretzky offered what could become a classic quote, “You smell it, I’ll drink it."
As it turns out, GV gave the Cab 91 points as I recall. This fits with what my younger son told me. He ordered a bottle of Cab with 99 on the label and said that it was very good.

2006 Perrin and Fils Vacqueyras Cotes du Rhone Reserve
From: Rhone, France
Grapes: Grenache, Syrah
Dark color
On the palate: Dark fruit, vanilla, graphite, and cigar tobacco.
On the palate: Sour cherries, cassis, and cranberries. Quite dry, good structure, with strong tannins on the finish.

2008 Cono Sur "Vision Series" Chardonnay ($12.00)
From: Chili
Grapes: Chardonnay

Pale straw color

On the nose: Gardenia, grapefruit and a hint of almond.

On the palate: I can best describe it as drinking a fruit cup (the little plastic cups with the thin plastic seal on top). Decent mid palate weight, somewhat creamy, with light acidity on the finish.

Roasted Chicken and . . .

One of the reason my sons asked me to start this blog was to write reviews of wines that they might want to pick up. One of the parameters was that they be inexpensive, which I have interpreted as being under $20.00. The further under, the better. The best way to find out what you like is to try new stuff, so every time I am in a wine shop I pick out new wines. the only change in that has been that I now look for ones with lower price tags. I decided early on not to write reviews of wines I consider Plonk, so if I include one here it has some redeeming quality.

I saw his Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc as I was walking through Costco. I know the area and the huge amount of Sauvignon Blanc that comes from there, so I took a chance, figuring it had to at least be decent and I was not disappointed.

2008 Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc (14.99)
From: Marlborough, New Zealand
Pale color
On the nose: On the front is a floral note, maybe magnolia, then plenty of grapefruit, and a hint of pineapple.
Taste: Mostly grapefruit, with some pineapple, and a bit of lemon at the back end. Good weight on the mid palate. Nice crispness, with good acidity, and a nice clean finish.

This would be great with mussels and was a good choice for the roasted chicken and rosemary potatoes I paired it with.

You can sit and sip this

Warres Otima 10 yr old Tawny Port (500 ml $19.99)
From: Portugal
Grapes: Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão.

I love the color, it reminds me of amaretto with a hint of orange in it.

On the nose: Dried fruit, stewed prunes, honey, a dark nut (I can picture this nut that I would see in a bowl of mixed nuts that my dad used to have around. I don't remember what kind it was, but it had a distinct smell unlike the other peanuts, cashews, etc.)

On the palate: Light, dried fruits, a bit of toffee. Not overly sweet, with a long finish. Another similarity to amaretto, the tail end taste reminds me of it.

I really like this. As for the price, remember, a little of this goes a long way.

Poema Cava Brut ($10.00)

From: Catalan province, Spain
Grapes: 40% Macabeo, 40% Xarel-lo, 20% Parellada

Fairly pale in color.

Nice stream of smaller bubbles.

On the nose: light toast with some pear.

On the palate: some peach, nice weight, and very crisp.

My wife like this very much. She said is was very refreshing without being overly effervescent.

2007 Cameron Hughes Lot 91, ($11.99)
From: Russian River Valley, California
Grapes: Chardonnay.

I am not a fan of oaky chardonnay, but if you like some oak this might be a good choice. It is not as oaky as Kendall Jackson, but it is quite pronounced. Oak is evident on the nose. There is a floral aspect with some pineapple.

On the palate, tropical fruits and plenty of oak with decent amount of acidity on the finish.

I was discussing everyday Cava and Prosecco the other day with a friend, as my wife really likes sparking wine and prefers extra dry, which is a little sweeter than Brut. He recommended that I try some Domaine Ste Michelle. I picked up a bottle and after we tried it I went back and picked up a few more.

Domaine Ste Michelle Extra Dry ($9.00)

From: Columbia Valley, Washington
A bit of toast and apples on the nose.

Good stream of bubbles.

Pears and apple on the palate. Nice and light, refreshing.

I ran across a December 2008 article that said St. Michelle's brut won out against Dom Perignon in a national taste test by 500 wine professionals. I certainly would not agree with that, but it is interesting.

I have never been a big fan of sweet wines, but I do put dessert wines in a different category. Recently I have had several outstanding Sauternes and Ports that I really enjoyed. The problem is that they are usually very pricey. I have been looking for a less expensive Port that I could serve more often because of a lower price. A friend recommended that I try this one.

2003 Dow's Late Bottled Vintage Porto ($19.19)

winemaker's note: These wines come from the same vineyards that, in a year when a Vintage is "declared", produce Vintage Port. However, as they are bottled between the fourth and sixth year after the harvest, they mature more quickly and are ready to drink much sooner.

Deep dark color.

On the nose: A floral note, dark cooked fruit, and figs.

On the palate: Dark fruit, cooked plums, creamy texture, and some sweetness, but not overly so. A long finish with a bit of bitter tannins on the end.

I intend to put a case of this away.

Revisit and old standby

I had a Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc the other night. I haven't cared much for the last couple of vintages and was pleased that I tried it again.
2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc($12.00)
From: Marlborough, New Zealand
On the nose: Grapefruit, star fruit, a little lime and some wet stone.
On the palate: lots of bright crisp grapefruit and a hint of kiwi at the end. Good acidity.
Great wine for fish, salads, or pizza blanco.

pair it with tomato sauce

Bogle Petite Sirah ($8.78)
From: California
I was at Costco, picking up some Sauternes, when I noticed this wine. I recalled that Vaynerchuk (tv.winelibrary.com) gave this wine 89 points, so I thought I would give it a try. It turned out to be a good recommendation.

Very dark in color.
On the nose: Floral notes, my wife accurately described it as, “like lilacs just as they open, along with the green leaves.” There is a bit of attic dust and then blackberries.
On the palate: Loads of dark fruit, good mid palate weight, very jammy, almost too much so for me. Nice back end structure with some moderate tannins.

I am a proponent of decanting all wines. I did not decant this one, but did leave a fairly empty bottle sitting on the table overnight. When Vaynerchuk reviewed this wine, he said he got "brown sugar" on the nose. I didn't get that originally, but twenty four hours later this was very prominent on the front end and it had become much silkier.

Really Happy New Year

New Years Eve evening was a bit different this year. For the past few years we have made a practice of having dinner, or a movie and dinner, with another couple who are our closest friends. We usually wish each other a happy new year and are headed home around 9 PM. The difference this year would be that we really had something to celebrate. The wife of the other couple called to say that her doctor had agreed to remove her halo two weeks early and she was on the way to see him. She had been thrown from a horse last fall and broken her neck. This meant she would not feel like going out, but we would still do dinner. The plan was that I was going to make bourbon pan seared lobster flambé. The husband of the couple really had his heart set on boiled lobster. After I got the call with the good news I threw the lobster tails back in the freezer and headed for the grocery store to stand in line with the last minute New Years Eve crowd. A familiar face behind the counter picked out four nice pound and a half lobsters and I headed to the check-out counter. The two young women at the check-out counter were beside themselves about handling the lobsters, even though they were in bags. Using their fingertips and holding the bags at arms length they were finally able to maneuver the lobster bags into a couple of grocery bags.

I headed out into a light snow fall and drove home to pick up my wife and a bottle of Kirkland Champagne that I had chilled. Stop laughing! Before I bought it I researched online and read several positive reviews including 90 pts by Wine Spectator (WS).

We arrived at their house and for the first time in too long the now neck braced friend was able to great with a hug and a kiss, without being blocked by the bars of the previous contraption. I had to take it all in; it was so great to see her head free. She pointed out the divots where spikes had recently stuck into her skull to hold her neck rigid. After our inspection, we assured her that they would not be noticeable when they healed. We frankly could care less about a few scars; she lived through this and was not going to have any long term deficits. I couldn’t ask for more.
The first wine of the night was a Napa sparking wine (can’t remember the name) that some friends of theirs had stopped by with earlier. It was nice, rather simple but drinkable. We then opened a 1996 Nicolas Feuillatte Cuvee Palmes d'or Brut Champagne.

The lobster pot took forever to boil. While we were waiting, he showed me his new lobster pot boiler. It is basically a steel tripod with a circular top frame and a vertical tube in the center that hooks to a propane tank. It resembles the flame device on a hot air balloon. I can’t wait for us to use it later this year. We didn’t use it new year’s eve, because it was around 3 F and snowing. In the mean time I made the rice pilaf and my wife made the salad with so many ingredients that I can’t remember them all. I do remember, a crumbled gorgonzola, walnuts, mixed greens, Dijon, and olive oil dressing.

By the time we sat down to dinner, with bibs sporting a lobster on the front, we had to open the Kirkland Champagne. It was quite a drop from the Nicolas Feuillatte, but it sufficed. The dinner was great, the company superior and about nine, the woman in the neck brace began to fade fast. We wished each other the best for the New Year and my wife and I headed home.

1996 Nicolas Feuillatte Cuvee Palmes d'or Brut Champagne
(unknown actual price, saw it online for $135.00)
From: Champagne, France
Grapes: "Blend", typically includes Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier.
Light straw color
Tiny streaming bubbles
On the nose: Strong smell of fresh baked bread on the nose with some citrus, ginger, and a bit of lemon peal.
On the palate: Smooth and creamy, lots of green apple, nice acidity on the back end, with a long finish.
One of the best champagnes I have ever had.



Kirkland Champagne NV ($25.00 Costco)
Pale color
Lots of bubbles but not fine
A bit tart, fairly dry, some citrus, a hint of toast, refreshing, medium length finish.
Drinkable, but far from impressive.

Slider pairing

Christmas 08 was one of the best for me. Everyone was healthy and there were no significant stressors going on in anyone’s life. Both my sons were home for almost two weeks. When they would come home from college several years ago, they would be gone most of the time catching up with friends. I didn’t begrudge them this, it made sense. That was their world, and with their friends and them spread all over the county, this was their opportunity to catch up in person. This visit they stayed around the house for most of the time. It gave us a chance to really catch up and to cover a wide range of topics, stuff you don’t get to on phone calls. We played several games of Rook. This is a card game that is taken very seriously in our extended family, as are wiffle ball and touch football. Well, the boys beat the pants off us time and again, and as family tradition dictates, rubbed it thoroughly in our faces. We did manage to salvage a game or two which we claimed to be equal or superior to the drubbing they gave us in the rest of the games.

Down through history, it has to be one of the greatest feeling for a parent to look across the room (or cave) and see your sons lounging on the leather couches (or leather covered rocks) and feel comfortable that they are doing so well.

To the stated premise of this blog, I had planned on opening several special bottles of wine from my cellar while the boys were home, so they could experience some higher end wines. We didn’t get to any of them; they drank some Linney’s Red, some Belgian beer, a lot of Soda, a few gallons of coffee, and some tea.

Their choice of food was the primary reason we didn’t get to the upper end wines. For instance, the first night they were home, I walked into the family room to find the boys with a Crave Case of sliders (30 or so White Castle burgers). Not sure what to pair with that, I opened a 2005 Marco Bonfante Barbera d Asti Stella Rosa and a 2007 Saint Esprit Cotes du Rhone. I thought the barbera was the better match, my older son preferred the Cotes du Rhone.

2005 Marco Bonfante Barbera d'Asti Stella Rosa ($9.99)
From: Asti, Italy
Grapes: Barbera
On the nose: Dark fruit, black raspberries, cooked cherries, a floral note and a hint of cedar. My younger son pointed out that he tasted “red grapes”, and then sat there grinning at me.
Taste: Predominantly cherry juice, with a little bit of raspberry, and a hint of chocolate at the end. Light in the mid palate and a bit of bitter tannins on the end, but a nice simple Barbera that improved and became more complex as it opened.
This is a good wine for lighter fair including seafood. I especially like this with seared tuna or salmon.



2007 Saint Esprit Cotes du Rhone ($8.99) WA 90 pts
75% Syrah, 25% Grenache
Deep dark inky color.
On the nose – dark fruit, a bit of a smoked venison, and black pepper,
On the palate – black raspberries and cassis up front, cranberries and nice weight on the mid palate, with firm tannins on the back end.
Cotes du Rhone is my favorite wine with triple cream brie. This one is great, especially for the price.

Poor me a glass and let's get started

I kept a journal once in my life. I don’t recall if someone talked me into it or if I decided on my own. I was sixteen years old and went on an adventure. I traveled two days by banana boat from Colon, Panama to an island called Rio Tigre, one of the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama. I was the first non native permitted to stay on the island overnight. Twelve Cuna Indian chiefs had to approve my stay. I was there for a couple of weeks and fortunately I have a written record of it, along with super eight video, some Molas, clay necklaces, and a pan flute like instrument.

I have on occasion contemplated starting a journal, not because I think I have anything profound to say, but because someone who comes after me may find it helpful or maybe even interesting. In conversations with friends, usually after I have gone on about some event I was a participant in (war stories); I have been urged to write my stories down. When my sons visited for Christmas 2008 they suggested that I write in a blog so that I could pass on wine tips for them and a few of their friends. I figure they have been discussing this for some time, and that the real purpose in my blogging would be to stave off “Denny Crane’s Mad Cow Disease”.

Well, let’s see how it goes.