2007 Seigneurs de Monbazilllac (sauternes)

Hello everyone!! I hope you are having a very merry Christmas Eve! Our family celebrates the feast of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve. We actually had five fishes (even numbers being unlucky, so while 7 is ideal, five or three is ok for a smaller dinner party). We had calamari with lemon and olive oil dressing; crab and scallop cakes; pasta with clams, mussels, and scallops; salad; and bread. We enjoyed a pleasant but unpretentious pinot gris (Geyser Peak) which was nice with the meal. It had a brisk acidity that complemented the seafood dishes. I believe I've described that wine in an earlier blog.

For dessert, we had cheesecake with blueberries and this nice little dessert wine. This wine is not a true sauternes. It is from outside the region of true sauternes, but has the distinct flavor of the "noble rot" It had a lovely golden color. It was somewhat aromatically challenged, with faint aromas of honey, nuts, and apricot. The flavors were similar with the addition of figs and raisins. It had a lingering finish of raisins and nuts. It coated the entire palate and was really quite pleasant with the cheesecake. This wine is available in Knoxville for about $15 a half bottle. I have had more interesting sauternes, with more complex flavor profiles and more intense aromas, but not at this price. It was alright, but overall, uninteresting. I don't drink sauternes (or any dessert wine) often. These are special occasion wines for me. Because of that, I don't think I'll pick this up again, unless it's strictly as a cost saving measure. Unless I need several bottles of dessert wine for guests, I'd rather spend more and have a more memorable bottle. Still, it's very nice for a $15 sauternes style wine.

2009 Leyda Pinot Noir from Chile

We had this wine tonight with pasta and pork chops with peppers. This light red was a nice compliment to the tangy and well seasoned pork chops. The color was brick red. The nose and the flavor profile started with lots of cherry. As it opened the cherry dissipated and strawberry and blueberry emerged. After opening for an hour or so the blueberry and cherry disappeared completely, and we were left with strawberry and plum! This wine also had a nice forest, mulch component and a little bit of spice. I bought this at Ashes for maybe $12. It was recommended as a Burgundian pinot. Honestly, when we first opened this wine I wasn't too sold on it as Burgundian. However, as it opened it developed more of the delicate complexity expected of a French burgundy. This is a very nice wine for the price. Also, it will be even better in a couple of years. I really love having this style of wine around because it is sooooo food friendly. I'll probably keep this around (or set some aside).

2008 Dry Creek Valley Castlebank Old Vine Zinfandel

This was a nice little wine that I picked up from WTSO (wine til sold out) online for $11 a bottle. We had this wine with homemade pizza and it was very nice with it. This is a single vineyard zin labeled from Guilia's vineyard. I don't know if this wine is available locally. The color was a dark purple garnet. The aromas were black cherry and a little vanilla. The flavors were cherry, blackberry, a llittle vanilla, and a touch of chocolate (I only got the chocolate on the finish). It was pretty light for a zin, with more acid than tannin. We couldn't help but compare this wine with the previous zin. It wasn't nearly as polished. However, it was an honest, straightforward wine that was pleasant to drink. I have 3 more bottles, and I'm looking forward to enjoying them.

2006 Cline Zinfadel

This was a terrific zinfandel from the Sonoma region in California. We had this wine with lamb chops smothered in onions, tomato, and olive. It was a lovely match with the lamb and may be the best zinfandel I've ever had. Unfortunately, I'm not sure where I got this wine. It probably came from either Bob's or Campbell Station, and of course, I'm not sure about the price. I'd guess this to be in the $20 to $30 dollar range.

The color was a deep, inky garnet with a bit of a brick red color at the edge. The aromas were of oak, blackberry, vanilla and chocolate. The flavor was of blackberry and cherry with the vanilla and chocolate previously described. On the palate it was very fruit forward, and had a wonderful smooth, rounded quality. It was very silky for a zin with well integrated tannins. The finish was smooth and lingering. It was one of those wines that was just delicious. This wine was excellent with the lamb, but would also make a great sipping wine. I think part of the success of this wine was the fact that it has a little age. This rounded out the tannins and integrated all the flavors. I will look for this again.

2008 Anakema 2008 White Blend

Sorry, I've fallen behind in my blogging responsibilities. Also, we've not been drinking a lot of new wines. Last week we had this white blend form Chile. it was 35% Viognier, 35% Reisling, and 30% Chardonnay. This wine received 89 points from the International Wine Cellar. I picked this up in Atlanta from Total Wine for $15. We had this with a roasted chicken dish with greens, onions and toasted squares of bread. The dish was delicious from Food and Wine magazine December issue page 106. The wine was not so good.

The color was pale straw. The aromas were apricot with minerality and a touch of smokey oak. The flavor profile was similar with apricot and pear. The flavors were a little too subtle. It had a nice minerality and bright, refreshing acidity, but it just seemed disjointed. Overall, while I liked the minerality of this wine, it lacked personality. Definitely a pass.