Sunday, June 28, 2009

Hogue 2007 Columbia Valley Gewurztraminer

Very pale straw color, cloudy with a lot of petillance.

Smell of not-quite-ripe grapefruit.

Sweeter-than-offdry apple flavor, tongue-tingling petillance.

I'll not buy this again. I recognize that Gewurztraminer needs some residual sugar to overcome an inherent bitterness, but this is like soda. $12.50 wasted.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Herdade Fonte Paredes 2005 Alentejano Cabernet Sauvignon Aragones

I decanted this wine with vigorous aeration then let it rest for most of a day.

Deep ruby color, purple at the edge.

The smell I notice first is fresh (California?) oak and plenty of it. It overpowers everything else.

The oak flavor also predominates, with red cherry and blackberry. Lively acid, begs for food to accompany.

Entirely pleasant bottle for $19.99, made an excellent match with a steak dinner. I'll keep hunting up my budget Cabernet, but this is a winner. I appreciate oak with Cabernet more than I do, I think, with any other grape and I think I've said before that I've learned to greatly admire the dry reds of Portugal.

This is labeled 60% Cabernet Sauvinon, 40% Aragones. Aragones is better known as Tempanillo, the grape of Rioja wine in Spain.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Domaines Schlumberger 2006 Alsace Pinot Blanc Les Pinces Abbes

Quite pale color, traces of petillance

Smell of fresh clean laundry.

Soft acid with melon flavor, a bit of citrus, then fruity sweet berrycherry, some petilance on the tongue.

A pleasant bottle for $16.99, surprisingly low acid for an Alsatian wine, though I read that this characteristic is common in Alsatian still Pinot Blancs. I think I shall look elsewhere to find a better Pinot Blanc.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Jean Bererd et Fils 2007 Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais le Perreon

Fairly dark red color, purple at the edge.

Mild banana/strawberry smell, a bit of raspberry.

Tart raspberry flavor, banana. No apparent oak. Good acid.

This wine is eligible to be labeled Beaujolais-Villages but is not so labeled. I wonder if someone is lobbying for cru status for le Perreon. If so, I'm not convinced it deserves it.

Pleasant enough, a food-friendly fun Beaujolais, but no bargain for $19.77. A day of the bottle open didn't improve the second half of the bottle.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Chateau de Pitray 2005 Cotes de Castillon Grand Vin de Bordeaux

I decanted this wine with vigorous aeration then let it rest for a few hours.

Nearly opaque ruby color.

Very little smell, what there is is blackberry, black cherry.

Black cherry and blackberry flavors, hint of blueberry, I don't detect oak. Bright with acid, tannic finish.

A day later the bottle seemed to have a more pronounced aroma, so a second bottle was opened a few days after, decanted with vigorous aeration and tasted after half a day of rest but showed no obvious differences. A third bottle, opened without decanting, seemed to have slightly more pronounced aroma and flavor.

A somewhat overpriced bottle for $17.99. I'll continue looking elsewhere for bargain Cab Sauv.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Pierre Sparr 2006 Alsace Geurztraminer Carte d'Or

Deep golden color, I don't know that I've ever seen a young dry wine this color.

Full spicy apple melon smell.

Melon flavor with apple. I don't know what that melon is, but I imagine the spicy flavor is a melon. Just the slightest big off dry.

I don't know why it's been so long since I've had a dry Gewurztraminer, I like this grape. This is an especially nice bottle, even considering that I paid $20.99. It made a companion for a lunch of fried rice and General Tso's chicken from the local Chinese takeout place.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Lucien Albrecht non-vintage Cremant d'Alsace Brut Blanc de Blancs

A year ago, I would have quietly asserted that I'd tasted the common wines and missed only the real outliers, mostly. Just this week I've had my first bottles of French Gamay from outside Beaujolais, and this, an Alsace fizz.

Very pale straw color, many small vigorous bubbles.

Melon smell, apple, toast.

Dry melon flavor, grapefruit, toast, apple, some cleansing bitterness at the end and, contrarily. fruitiness. A fine bottle for $16.99. (This wine is 100% Pinot Blanc.)