2003 Gattavecchi Riserva dei Padri Serviti Montepulciano Nobile

Hello!! We had this delightful Italian wine with steaks and polenta. It was a deep brick red and had a big, full nose. It had aromas of plum, plum, plum with some vanilla and a little cherry. On the palate it was very smooth with soft acids and well integrated tannins. The flavor was plum, cherry, raisin and vanilla with a distinctive touch of root beer. It covered the entire palate and had a lingering finish. It hit the entire palate and was overall smooth and elegant. This wine came from Total Wines in Atlanta and was $25 a bottle. The '04 vintage is also available, and is supposed to be an even better vintage. The '04 is rated at 91 points by Wine Spectator. These wines are particular favorites of myself and Al. Years ago, we ordered a bottle at a restaurant on a whim and were blown away. It really turned us on to wine in a whole new way. It's become a standard for us. Montepulciano had suffered in reputation since then, but there have always been excellent examples available, if you just take the time to find them. After all, it was these wines and these winemakers that gave rise to the Super Tuscans. But there are still winemakers in Italy producing excellent Nobiles. I'm picking up a couple more bottles.

2007 Louis Jadot Pinot Noir Bourgogne

Hello everyone!! Last night we had roast chicken with snow peas, garlic and aromatic vegetables. It was delicious! We had this French Bourgogne with it. It was light cranberry in color, and fairly transparent. It was somewhat aromatically challenged with bits of raspberry, current and strawberry on the nose, with maybe a hint of smokiness. On the palate red current and raspberry with a little mulchy, earthiness. The tannins were soft, but present, and the acidity was very light. Not one of my favorite wines but a nice light red that went very well with the chicken. This is a French burgundian style pinot noir as opposed to the much bigger and bolder new world style pinot noirs. Like rose wines I find that although some of these very light reds are not my favorite sipping wines, they are pleasant and very nice with lighter foods, especially when you just don't want to have a white wine. Because of that they do have a home in my wine rack. This wine is fairly simple for a pinot noir and lacks the complexity of other French pinot noirs that I've had in the past. That being said, it it what it is. It's a pleasant (under $15 a bottle) burgundian style French pinot noir. Would I buy it again? Maybe. Or maybe I'll try something different. It would be a good wine for Thanksgiving dinner. I would by far perfer this wine to a nouveau beaujolais (very grapey!) with my turkey.

2004 Podere La Vigna Brunello Di Montalcino

Hello!!! We had a fabulous wine last night! I prepared a beef stew with onions, garlic, tomato, and rice. The Brunello was a good match. It had a rich garnet color, with a nice brick red color at the rim. It had aromas of cherry with a little vanilla and a hint of smokiness. The flavor was very true to the nose. The tannins were firm but smooth. The acidity was soft. What really set this wine apart was the elegance of it. It was so smooth, so well balanced, and so elegant. The flavor profile was similar to many wines we've had (and enjoyed) in the past, but this wine had a beautiful silky texture. I will say that it was better with the food. The tannins became a little intense after dinner when we were sipping the wine by itself. All in all, this was one of the best wines I've ever had! This wine was ordered online from Wines Til Sold Out. This site offers deeply discounted wines listed one at a time, until they sell out. This wine was about $45, originally listed at about $90. I have one more bottle of this, and I wish I had more. I believe I have just become a Brunello fan.

2006 Mas Carlot Les Enfants Terribles Rhone valley red wine

Hello! Last night we had this wine with spaghetti and meatballs. Why a French wine with a classic Italian meal? Well, the sauce was improvised from the sauce leftover from braised veal chops we had the other day. It was a rich creamy sauce, more French than Italian in flavor. The wine was a good match to the meal, standing up to the richness and complexity of the meal. The color on this wine was a deep purple. The nose was full of blackberries, along with some smokey, oakey aromas. On the palate there was lots of blackberry, baking chocolate and a little licorice. It had soft, well integrated tannins and mild acidity. It was a little weak on the back palate and the finish was short. It was good but not great. It was a little too much oak for me. I got this at Bob's for $15.50. I'd drink it again, but I'd not go out of my way to pick up a bottle.

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.

Graham's 10 Year Tawny Port

Wow! This was a lot of fun! I ran across a recipe for an Italian dessert containing dried dates, apricots and cherries. It also called for wheat berries, hazelnuts, and chocolate. I thought it would be fun to try having this with a port. Since I know little to nothing about ports, it was a bit of an adventure. I went to Bob's and found everything from $6 (very scary) late vintage port, to 30 year ports that were well over $100. They also had something called tawny port for about $35. It looked promising, so I decided to give it a try. It was delicious! I'm really not a big fan of port, mainly because I find the high alcohol content a bit of an impediment. And it does have that spike of "heat", which many people enjoy. The color on this was just beautiful. It had a lovely tawny red current color, like brick red, but brighter. The nose was lush with dried fruit. There was date, fig and raisin, along with the scent of baking spices (cloves, and allspice). The taste was true to the nose, and it had this wonderful rich, viscous mouth-feel. It was very sweet, but well balanced, with a lingering finish of dried fruit and spices. It reminded me of those home-made holiday fruitcakes that are basted daily in rum. It was a great compliment to the dessert.

I went on line to find out just what is this "tawny port". Apparently there are basically three kinds of port: late vintage port, a ruby red port of recent vintage with minimal aging; classic aged port which is aged primarily in the bottle for up to and sometimes more than 30 years; and tawny port which is aged for shorter periods in oak barrels. All are, of course, fortified wines with alcohol levels of about 20%. Aged ports acquire the same characteristics of aged red wines. The 30 year ports are still deep red. The tannins have softened and the flavors are more blended and mellow. The tawny ports pick up flavors from the barrels which change the taste and character of the wine. The barrel aging is what gives this port both it's color and taste. It has less fruit and more oak than the other ports. I read that it is not advantageous to further age tawny port in the bottle. Also, once opened, it is best consumed within 4 days or so. The recommendation was to re-cork a partially consumed bottle and store it in the fridge. Classic old ports retain their character longer after opening, with partial bottles lasting for up to a few weeks.

So, while ports may not appear frequently in this blog, we will probably enjoy one from time to time, particularly around the holidays.

Nervi 2001 Gattinara (nebbiolo)

Well, I'm sorry to say that this wine was a bit of a disappointment. Wine Library has recently been reviewing nebbiolo and Gary was very enthusiastic about this varietal. I'm not sure if it's a difference in palates or if this wine just wasn't a good example. I was actually expecting something bigger and more full bodied, so maybe the mistake was my own expectations. I opened this wine to have with a spinach lasagna. The lasagna was also lighter than I expected, with a sauce that was very vegetal (lots of aromatic vegetables). It was very good, just less tomato and less hearty than I expected. so, while the pairing was a bit of an accident, the food and wine actually matched better than it might have. This wine was fairly delicate and reminded me of pinot noir more than anything. It had a lovely tawny red current color, which was light and transparent. On the nose there was current, strawberry, violets maybe some rose petal and definitely some forrest smells. The taste was true to the nose with soft tannins and nice acidity. It was reminiscent of a pinot noir, but more tannic and with a bit more oomph. I actually liked this wine, but more as Italy's answer to burgundy. I'm uncertain on the price, because Michael picked this up for me at Total Wines in Atlanta. The wine I asked for was a Nervi Gattinara 2001 Vigneto Molsino at $24. I can't find Vigneto Molsino anywhere on the label, but Nervi does make a whole range of nebbiolo and nebbiolo blend wines, so I'm probably not too far off on the price. I'd try this (or a different nebbiolo) again, mainly to explore the varietal further.