Week Nine - Old Winemaker Gets Bubbly in New Mexico

Scott and me in Silverlake Wine in LA

I’m in the middle of a two week stint in California and having a great time! I came out for a conference and then Matt flew out to meet me so we could tack on another week here for vacation. My in-laws recently moved out to LA and so we spent the weekend there and all four of us drove up the coast to Carmel for the week – tough living!

My father-in-law, Scott, who knows wine far better than I and also enjoys it immensely took me to a wonderful wine store, Silverlake Wine, in Los Angeles. The people were very helpful and they had LOTS of wine that was blog worthy (i.e. $10 or under). A very helpful wine clerk took me on a little tour-de-ten dollar bottles before I made my selections. I bought three there, but have only tasted one so far. More about these wines will be forthcoming in future blogs!
Not only did the helpful clerk show me all their offerings, but he helped me choose bottles with good stories to spice up my blog. We drank a Domaine-Saint Vincent Brut bottle of bubbly. I learned from the clerk that wine is made by the French champagne producer Gruet but in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It’s made in the French champagne tradition (hence the term Méthode Champenoise on the bottle) and the second fermentation which gives wine the bubbles is done in the bottle as opposed to in large quantities pre-bottling.

The verdict: a real winner! We drank it before dinner this evening with cheese and crackers. My in-laws agreed to taste my wines to give their opinions for my little project, but made no promises to drink a full glass of my cheap juice. However, it’s only 5:30pm and my bottle is empty and in the recycle bin. If you can get your hands on a bottle – buy it!

The Bottle: Domaine Saint Vincent Brut (non vintage)

Price: $10.00
Would I Buy This Wine Again: Yes, though I’m afraid I won’t be able to in Indiana.

Week Eight - Wine at the Fort

In the interest of keeping the blog moving I’m going to write a more sensory, anecdotal based entry for week 8. I drank a 2006 Louis Jadot Macon-Villages Chardonnay in Fort Wayne, Indiana when visiting my parents. Matt and I went up for the weekend to visit family and opened the bottle on Saturday evening before going out to Paula’s Seafood Restaurant (hands down the best restaurant in the town!) My dad pulled this out and proclaimed it one of his “go-to” whites that he always keeps on hand. We drank it on the screened porch and enjoyed it immensely. It could be a go-to wine for anyone and is an affordable, easy going chardonnay. Interesting fact –my dad actually picks this bottle up at Meijer (a Target/Wal-Martesque store in the Midwest).

The Bottle: 2006 Louis Jadot Macon-Villages Chardonnay

Price: $10.00

Would I Buy This Wine Again: Yes – and I’d choose the same people to drink it with again too!

Even Max, my parents' dog, got in on the fun!

Week Seven - Out of Argentina

I’ve been eyeing this week’s bottles in the store since I started this blog and was excited to finally try them this week. I chose two Malbec wines, both produced in the Mendoza region of Argentina. After looking this area up on a map, I found that it’s in the far west of the country and centrally located from north to south. The area is very close to Chile and lies in the eastern foothills of the Andes mountains.

Malbec is a grape that was originally widely used in Bordeaux but has now becoming almost synonymous with Argentinean wine. In Argentina if a wine is labeled as Malbec, it is made 100% from that varietal so these were both good examples of the grape’s product.

We opened these bottles on Tuesday night and had prepared pasta with a spicy tomato sauce for dinner. Both wines held up to the strong flavors in the food, though the Norton tended to pair with it a little better. Later that evening Matt’s mom and two friends joined us and we tasted them both again and shared the wine – both bottles were a hit!

The first bottle I tasted was the 2006 El Ganador. The wine paired nicely with food and drank well on its own. There was nothing abrupt about this wine and our guests all enjoyed it as well. I tended to like this one a little better than the next simply because its fruit felt really balanced.

The Bottle: 2006 El Ganador Malbec

Price: $9.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: Definitely and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get acquainted with Malbecs. This would be a great wine to buy for a party - a real crowd pleaser.

The second bottle was the 2007 Norton Malbec. Norton is recognized as one of the major players in Argentinean winemaking and this was a fine example. I really got a sense of the oak on the nose and found this wine to be a bit more tannic than the El Ganador. However, the more striking features of this wine seemed to complement our spicy pasta sauce well.

The Bottle: 2007 Norton Malbec

Price: $9.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: I believe I would. It seemed a little more distinctive than the El Ganador so might not appeal quite as widely, but a very good wine for people who appreciate a bit more earthy sharpness in a wine.

Source
Robinson, J. (2006). The Oxford Companion to Wine. USA: Oxford University Press .

Week Six - Rioja At Last

Matt making morel mushrooms

After several Spanish wines we have at last arrived in Rioja - perhaps the most well renowned wine producing region in Spain. I was excited about this pick - Montebuena 2006 - which Matt chose during a visit to Big Red last weekend. The wine is made entirely from Tempranill0 grapes. Unfortunately, I came down with a crazy cold/flu this week and didn't get to fully enjoy it.

We tasted it earlier in the week at a time when I couldn't taste or smell anything. Matt and I each drank a glass but didn't get much of a chance to review it. We drank it last night with pizza and still I wasn't impressed. This evening I picked up a few (10) morel mushrooms. They're in season right now though I can't seem to find them on my own and resort to paying outrageous prices for a handful of these delicious mushrooms. We sauteed them in a little butter and for the first time I enjoyed the Montebuena with the morels.

The most striking thing about this wine for me was the color in the glass; it's a very deep red. There is a big fruit on the nose and then intense tannins on the finish. The finish felt a little unbalanced but with something as rich as sauteed morel mushrooms it was just right.

The Bottle: 2006 Montebuena

Price: $9.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: Probably not - it was a little off balance and I already have a number of better balanced wines at this price point that I find better than this one.

Week Five - Flowers and Fruit

The flowers in the title of week five come from the amazing label on this bottle. I have to admit that I am as taken by a beautiful label as anything else but have learned to control the urge to just buy pretty bottles. Fortunately, this one came recommended as well so it was a win win situation.

This wine is made of Primitivo grapes which I learned are genetically identical to Zinfandel. Another interesting fact is that they both originated from Croatia. This is great news for me as I really enjoy red Zin! I tried only a bit of this wine before making good tasting notes to blog about. Matt opened the bottle when I was out of town and so I'm relying on his words for the verdict. When I asked him to describe he simply offered up the description of spicy. Though the Primitivo vary from Zinfandel grapes because of where they're grown (Primitivo in Italy and Zin often in California) they were more similar than different.

The Bottle: 2007 Cortenova Primitivo

Price: $9.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: Good food wine in a pretty package - of course!

Week Four - Still in Spain

These past two weeks have been peppered with an out of town wedding and the running of a half marathon. Though I didn't get the blog posts up as soon as I would have liked I certainly still continued to drink my $10 bottles!

During week four we enjoyed two more Spanish wines both still from the Calatayud DO. Upon the recommendation from a helpful employee at the local Big Red Liquor Store I chose two to taste against one another.

I first tasted the 2006 Tres Ojos red, this is the same Tres Ojos whose rose I tasted in week three. Its labeled as "old vine" and they really are - Kysela's website notes that the vines are at least 40 years old and some more than 50. It's worth visiting the Tres Ojos link I provided in week three to read more about this vineyard and see the pictures of the vines. They're stout bush vines with no trellis. Tasting notes indicated that it had a peppery spicy bouquet. For some reason when nosing this wine it made me think of a big Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner. After tasting it, the richness of the finish went right along with this perception. It was very nice and would be a great accompaniment to a large meal with heavy meat; this wine will stand up well.

The Bottle: 2006 Tres Ojos Old Vine Garnacha

Price: $9.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: Not everyday because it is a pretty big wine, but perfect for a big meal.

The second wine we tried in week four was the 2006 Tinto Figaro Red Wine. Though the bottle gives no indication of the grape, the website below indicates it's 100% Garnacha. Matt tasted this one first and then we traded. After trying the Tres Ojos this one didn't quite measure up. However had I tasted it alone I think I would have been pleased. Drinking it later in the week I actually enjoyed it a bit more. I might recommend letting this wine sit in your glass for about 10 minutes before drinking it; a little oxygen goes a long way with this one. This one had a little spice to it but I definitely picked up on more of the fruit. We ended up enjoying this on the porch without food several times throughout the week and found it to be pleasing.

Another great resource from Kysela: http://www.kysela.com/spain/figaro.htm

The Bottle: 2006 Tinto Figaro Red Wine

Price: $9.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: Probably won't be a standard go to wine but I would buy it again from time to time.

Week Three - Life Through Rosado Colored Glasses

If I had share just one thing I have learned in the past few weeks of this project it would be that if you want lots of choices and aren't flush with cash you should head to the Spanish section of your wine store. Sure there are good things coming out of South America, South Africa and elsewhere around the world; but Spain is putting out a lot of good wine at the $10 price point. With guidance from some wine clerks at my local wine store I started doing some exploration of Spanish wines and bought a pair of reds and a pair of roses (or Spanish rosad0 wines). All four are from the same region in the northeast of Spain. Their Denominacion de Origen (DO) is Calatayud, a small region near the better known Rioja. I learned that the DO is an official classification system used for wines in Spain but also applies to fine foods, such as olive oil.

This week was full of ups and downs for us after attending an unexpected family funeral early in the week and continuing to muddle through unseasonably cold and rainy weather that was no good for the spirits. However, on Friday afternoon the weather turned sunny and near 80 degrees; something that felt like an unexplainable gift. We made an impromptu trip to Target and bought chairs and a table for the front porch of our relatively new house to celebrate the coming of nice weather. We enjoyed the remains of last week's wines of Friday evening with some cheese. On Saturday, we ran in a road race in the morning, I mowed the lawn and then settled in to open up two bottles. The two rosados were already chilled and seemed like the perfect fit. We opened the two noted below and enjoyed a glass of each on the porch before heading to dinner with some work friends.

The first wine that I tasted was the 2007 Tres Ojos Rosado. It is a blend of Garnacha and Tempranillo grapes. It was fruity and had some sweetness to it, but was perfect for a warm afternoon. The strawberry really comes through but isn't overpowering and we're looking forward to enjoying it with a few meals this week. Kysela Pere et Fils website has some great information on the region and this particular winemaker, you can check out their link at: http://www.kysela.com/spain/tresojos.htm

The Bottle: 2007 Tres Ojos Rosado

Price: $8.99

Would I Buy This Wine Again: I would. Too many people ignore rose wines in favor of reds and whites. They can be a great pairing with foods and this one is a real value.

The second wine I picked up was the 2007 Cruz de Piedra Garnacha Rosado. I chose this simply because it was also a rose from the Calatayud DO. Matt tasted this one first and then the Tres Ojos second. I think he put it best in saying that the Tres Ojos is sweet like cake but the Cruz de Piedra was sweet like icing. Too much so for me. The difference is that this wine is 100% Garnacha and didn't have the Tempranillo to add the slightly more austere quality that the Tres Ojos had. This was also fruity and tasting notes describe almost identically to the Tres Ojos (raspberry and strawberry notes). One intersting suprise on this wine was the synthetic cork - it's bright pink!

The Bottle: 2007 Cruz de Piedra Garnach Rosado

Price: $6.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: I don't think so, especially if I had to choose between this and the Tres Ojos. This one is a little one dimensional.