2009 Crios Torrontes

Hello all!! We had this wine a few nights ago with baked chicken with roasted latin veggies. This was a very good match and actually saved the meal as the vegetables were a little bland (next time I'll add an onion). It had a pale dandelion color. The nose was of pear, citrus, and lemon zest. The flavors were similar but with a lightly honeyed mouth-feel. It had soft acid and was clean and light on the palate. This is actually one of my favorite white varietals and is generally available at very reasonable prices. Torrontes are generally consistently good, and are an excellent choice for people who are not big wine drinkers. It's a good wine to try, if you haven't had it already. This particular wine is about $15 at Ashes.

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.

2009 Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) Selection Prestige White Bordeaux

Hello! Al and I had a nice white Bordeaux last night. I prepared chicken breasts with cream ala Julia Child. I served it with asparagus and rice. It was actually a quick and easy recipe if making a sauce with en entire cup of cream doesn't seem like a bit much. Julia recommended a white bordeaux, and I just happened to have this one. It was very nice with the chicken dish. The crisp acidity of the wine cut the creaminess of the sauce. But this wine was richer and more flavorful than many Sauvignon Blanc wines. White Bordeaux can be made from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle. They are typically predominantly Sauvignon Blanc, but blending in the other varietals gives the wine more body and richness. This wine is a bland of Sauvignon Blanc (40%) and Semillon (60%). It had a nice pale straw color. The nose was fruity and sweet with a bit of floral. i picked up lemon, pear and a bit of pineapple. The taste was not nearly as sweet as the nose. It started with the taste of lemon, then green apple on the mid-palate, then a bit of almond (and vanilla?) on the finish. It also picked up some grassiness as it opened. Overall, this was very nice. It was crisp but medium bodied and had a silky lingering finish. I'm going out today to see if I can find another bottle. I picked this up at Bob's a month or so ago. I'm not sure of the price, but I believe it was $15-$20.

2007 Alamos Viognier from Argentina

Hi!! We actually had this wine a couple of nights ago. It was pretty good. We had it with grilled chicken salads, and the pairing was good, but not outstanding. The viognier was very fresh and clean on the nose with aromas of jasmine and lemon peel. On the palate it was very acidic, bright and juicy, and tasted of grapefruit and a little lime with nice minerality. This was a pleasant summer sipping wine and at $8 or $9 at Ashes, a very good buy.