Posts Tagged ‘Mo’ Wine Group’
MWG March 16th tasting: report (1/4)
Sketchy notes on the first of four flights. All wines except the Falanghina are from the March 15th Cellier release.
Falanghina 2009, Taburno, Fattoria La Rivolta ($19.95, 11451851)
100% organically farmed Falanghina. Fermented at low temperatures, aged in stainless steel. Mercurial nose: chalk, lemon, minerals, flowers, then white coral, then nougat and shower curtain, then lard and banana. Light and rainwatery on entry but building as it goes along. Bright acid. Dry but full of sweet fruit. A little citrus pith on the chalky finish. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Soave Classico 2010, Prà ($19.50, 11587134)
100% Garganega. Fermented at low temperatures, aged in stainless steel. Yellow fruit with chalk, grapefruit and lime notes. Very present: weightier and fruitier than the flight’s other wines. Fruit tends toward citrus. High acidity rounded by the fruit and a little residual sugar. Bitter finish with a hint of nuttiness. A Soave very much in the mould of Pieropan’s or Imana’s basic bottlings. (Buy again? Sure.)
Roero Arneis 2010, Mauro Sebaste ($18.55, 11579986)
100% Arneis. Fermented in stainless steel, aged three to four months in the bottle. Flowery bath powder, then sweet lime, then white peach and crushed leaves; that said, it’s not what you’d call exuberantly aromatic. Dry, smooth and suave on the palate. Initial white fruit turns more acidic and bitter toward finish. Improved as it breathed, gaining crystalline mineral notes. Would make a good aperitif or accompaniment to delicate pasta and fish dishes. (Buy again? Yes.)
Manzoni Bianco 2010, Fontanasanta, Vigneti delle Dolomiti, Foradori ($28.90, 11580004)
100% Manzoni Bianco, a cross of Riesling and Pinot Bianco. Aged 12 months in acacia casks. Sweaty funk on the nose and palate. Medium-bodied. Fruity but dry, with strongish acid and a bitter-edged finish. Fair length. Given the winemaker and the wine’s enthusiastic reception by critics, I was expecting more. Perhaps our bottle was slightly off? (Buy again? Only to give it a second chance.)
MWG March 2nd tasting: report (4/4)
Valpolicella Superiore Classico 2002, Giuseppe Quintarelli ($81.00, 10811253)
A blend of old-vine Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara with smaller percentages of Negara, Cabernet, Nebbiolo, Croatina and Sangiovese. Five or six months after initial fermentation, the wine is refermented, using the ripasso method, in most years with the lees from the estate’s Amarone (but not in 2002, when no Amarone was made). It is then aged for six years in Slavonian oak.
A heady, gorgeous bouquet: ripe red and black fruit, sandalwood, spice and so much more. Opulent and velvety yet supple and fluid. Wave after wave of flavour. Soft and caressing on the surface but with cushy tannins and power in reserve. Infinite finish. Magnificent. (Buy again? Yes. Gulp.)
Amarone della Valpolicella 2006, Marion ($87.50, 10665057)
Corvinone (45%), Covina Gentile (25%), Rondinella (20%) and Croatina and other varieties (10%). The grapes are semi-dried for three months before pressing. Aged about three years in Slavonian oak barrels.
An Initially odd nose (pickled fruit, plastic) blows off, leaving a complex bouquet of plum, red berries, chocolate and graphite. Rich, heady and layered in the mouth. Sweet fruit, slate. Alcoholic but not hot – warming, rather. Mouth-coatingly astringent but somehow not tannic. Endless, coffeed finish. So engaging that time seems suspended as you smell and taste it. (Buy again? If I can scrape up the cash, yes.)
Valpolicella Superiore 2007, Marion ($38.00, 10710268)
Corvina Grossa (60%), Rondinella (20%), Corvina Gentile (10%) and Teroldego and other varieties (10%). Soime of the grapes are semi-dried for about 40 days before pressing, while others are late-harvested and then pressed. The wines are aged separately in small oak barrels for about 30 months before blending and bottling.
Subtle, complex, profound: modelling clay, red and black berries, spice, crushed leaves. Soft and supple on the palate, the texture velvety, the flavours complex and lingering. Long. Very fine. (Buy again? Yes.)
All the wines in this flight were superb. Usually, as an evening progresses, tongues loosen and the noise level rises. But in this instance, after the three wines were poured and people began swirling, sniffing and sipping, an awed hush – broken only by the occasional soft moan of pleasure – fell over the room.
Despite the wonders of the Marions, the Quintarelli stood out for everybody. It is easily one of the best if not the best of their VSCs that I’ve tasted – surprising since 2002 is widely considered a rotten vintage due to heavy rain. Could it have something to do with the fact the estate made no Amarone in 2002, in theory freeing up the superior grapes for the lesser wines? Hard to know, as there are almost no reviews or discussion of the wine on the Web (though SAQ haters take note: it’s listed at Columbus Circle Wines for US$85+ vs. C$81 here, and the NY price doesn’t include sales tax).
MWG March 2nd tasting: report (3/4)
Colli Berici 2008, Montebelvedere, Dal Maso ($19.95, 11581007)
100% Cabernet Sauvignon from 12-year-old vines. Fermented in stainless steel, aged 12 months in second-vintage Allier oak barriques and botti. Identifiably Cabernet nose of cassis, mint/celery and cedar wood. Medium-bodied and balanced, with a core of sweet fruit and no greenness. Not very tannic. Fair length. A bit simple and anonymous but definitely drinkable. (Buy again? If in the market for a $20 Cab, sure.)
IGT Toscana 2008, Cabernet Sauvignon, San Fabiano Calcinaia ($25.95, 11546914)
90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot. Spent 15 months in first and second-vintage barriques. Umami nose: tamari, cordovan leather, shaved wood. Medium to full-bodied. Quite tannic. Dark and inky palate not showing much fruit. Plum, cocoa and iodine-scented finish. Needs another year or two in the bottle. (Buy again? If in the market for a $25 Cab, sure.)
IGT Umbria 2005, Rosso Outsider, Arnaldo Caprai ($30.25, 11580821)
A 50-50 blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged 18 months in French oak barrels. Brooding nose of plum and clean sweat, developing cedar and graphite notes. Somewhat closed (or maybe just austere by nature) but also tasting far more Italian than the other two bottles. Chewy but not heavy fruit, rustic but ripe tannins. Long, dark finish. Straightforward, close to the earth, appealing. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG March 2nd tasting: report (2/4)
Venezia Giulia IGT 2008, Red Angel on the Moonlight, Jermann ($27.35, 11035786)
Pinot Noir and possibly a dollop of Merlot. Aged a year in French oak barrels and tuns. Deep burgundy to the eye. Mint, light red berries and a hint of oak on the nose. Medium to full-bodied, dry and silky. Ripe fruit shares spotlight with slatey minerals and oak. Bitterish finish. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Pinot Noir 2009, Unfiltered, VQA Prince Edward County, Hardie Wines ($35.00, LCBO 125310)
Update (12-03-22): This wine (and two others from Hardie’s stable) has just been added to the SAQ catalogue ($38.50, 11638499).
Clear, pale ruby, almost corail. Sour cherry, beet, earth, a little spice. Light, acidic, refreshing despite some woody overtones. Sweetens as it breathes, showing more structure (minerals and fine tannins). Decent finish. (Buy again? Hard to justify from a QPR standpoint but if the price ever drops to $25, sure.)
Breganze 2009, Pinot Nero, Maculan ($18.80, 11580987)
Again, deep burgundy. Cherry – a bit candied – and a hint of smoky tar. Smooth and velvety, the juicy fruit given shape by supple tannins and soft acidity. Not particularly deep, long or Burgundian but at $19, who’s complaining? (Buy again? Sure.)
MWG March 2nd tasting: report (1/4)
While the March 1st release was one of the weakest in Cellier‘s history, it wasn’t totally devoid of interest, as these three wines show.
Thomas Bachelder, the winemaker who got Le Clos Jordanne rolling, has struck out on his own. His latest project is to make Chardonnays and, eventually, Pinot Noirs in the three regions he’s worked in – Burgundy, Oregon and Ontario – all using the same recipe. What better way to illustrate regional differences? For the 2009 Chardonnays, the recipe involved, to the extent possible, organically farmed grapes, native yeasts and 16 months’ aging in mostly neutral barrels. (Much of my information comes from newspaper articles and other blogs, as Bachelder’s website is lacking in technical details.)
Chardonnay 2009, Bourgogne, Bachelder Bourgogne ($34.00, 11584620)
Grapes sourced from vineyards in Puligny, Beaune and Saint-Aubin and vinified at Alex Gambal’s facilities. Classic Burgundian nose of chalk, minerals, lemon and oats. Dense and winey texture (millésime oblige) but with enough acidity to keep the wine taut and bright. The dry fruit (mostly citrus and stone) is shot through with minerals, and a faint lactic note fades in and out. The finish is long. The wine seems to retreat as it breathes, probably a sign that it needs another year or two in the bottle. (Buy again? Yes, but…)
Chardonnay 2009, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Bachelder Niagara ($33.75, 11584857)
Grapes from the Beamsville Bench, vinified at Southbrook. Lemon and tropical fruit. Rounder in the mouth – the fruit riper, the acid lower – than the other two wines. A hint of residual sugar adds to the New World feel. Minerals, such as they are, and a little spice emerge on the sustained finish. Friendly and likeable if, to my palate, less attention-worthy. Ready to go. (Buy again? Yes, but…)
Chardonnay 2009, Willamette Valley, Bachelder Oregon ($34.00, 11584814)
Vinified at Lemelson Vineyards. Closed nose: hints of coral and coconut. A mass of minerals surrounding a core of dense fruit (yellow and green apple above all). Lively acid. Quartzy finish with a whey – eventually butter – note. Perhaps the least immediately appealing of the three but also in ways the most intriguing. (Buy again? Yes, but…)
The wines were served blind. That several tasters unhesitatingly pegged the first as Burgundian attests to its typicity. All three had their partisans among the tasters, with fans of New World wines tending to coalesce around the Niagara even before it was unveiled.
Why the “yes, but…” then? In a word, price. For $35, a single loonie more, you can buy a bottle of Pattes Loup’s 2009 Chablis 1er cru Beauregard, a classier and far more enthralling Chardonnay. And tellingly, even without that benchmark in mind, when the tasters were asked what they’d be willing to pay for their favourite of the Bachelder Chards, most said $25.
MWG February 9th tasting: report (4/4)
Domaine Lemaire Fournier was a 30-hectare estate located in Vernou sur Brenne, close to Vouvray. In 2003, the estate was in its second year of conversion to organic farming. The wines were made with native yeasts and abjuring enzymes, chaptalization, deacidification, fining, added nutrients, tartric stabilization and sulphur. The estate’s remaining stocks of wine are being liquidated, which explains the reasonable prices.
We tasted the three wines on their own and then with four cheeses.
Vouvray 2003, Tartemains, Domaine Lemaire Fournier ($27.15, La QV)
Honey nose, brown sugar palate. Notes of beeswax, yellow apple, golden raisins. Medium-bodied, medium sweet. Soft texture despite the underpinning acidity. Lengthy finish with a hint of bitterness. Delicious, especially with the Tome de Savoie. (Buy again? Yes.)
Vouvray 2004, Demi-sec, Domaine Lemaire Fournier ($21.30, La QV)
Complex nose: apple, honey, herbs, fall leaves. Light, cidery and dryish on the palate, the residual sugar just taking the edge off the acid. Lingering cedary finish. Tasty and refreshing, the kind of versatile wine you could serve as an aperitif, with fish or pork dishes or with cheese (soft bloomy rinds, aged Gouda, mild blues). (Buy again? Sure.)
Vouvray 2003, Réveilleries, Domaine Lemaire Fournier ($27.15, La QV)
Oxidized and spritzy. Browned apple and a cheesy, volatile note. Odd, sour/bitter finish. An off bottle, as confirmed by a taster familiar with the wine, though not undrinkable. Strangely, it achieved a kind of synergy with the Bleu bénédictin. (Buy again? As a believer in second chances, yes.)
MWG February 9th tasting: report (3/4)
Petite Sirah 2008, Russian River Valley, Foppiano Vineyards ($24.00, 00611780)
100% Petite Sirah (aka Durif). Aged in oak barrels, 30% new. Dark, spicy plum nose. A velvety mass of inky, tarry fruit in the mouth. Some astringency and heat (15.2% ABV) on the chocolate and oak-inflected finish. Became a bit characatured – one-noteish, fruit-bombish, more harshly tannic – as it breathed. (Buy again? Unlikely.)
Petite Sirah 2008, Napa Valley, Girard Winery ($34.00, 11604061)
89% old-vine Petite Sirah, 8% Zinfandel, 2% Mourvèdre and 1% Grenache. Fresh and lilting nose of raspberry and spice with a hint of chocolate. Upfront fruit saved from facileness by darker undertones, chewy tannins and structuring oak. Long but could use more zing on the finish. (Buy again? If I were a bigger fan of New World wines, probably.)
Petite Sirah 2007, Napa Valley, Stags’ Leap Winery ($56.00, 00349910)
More than three-quarters Petite Sirah blended with homeopathic amounts of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Pelousin and Viognier. Aged 18 months in American oak barrels. Evolving nose: chocolate napoleons then hazelnut then plum and cordovan leather. Less dense and fruit-driven than the Girard and Foppiano. Powerful – structure and tannins galore – yet civilized, even elegant. Long, herby/woody finish with lingering slate notes. Needs a decade or maybe two. (Buy again? Yes.)
Petite Sirah 2009, Green Truck, Mendocino County, Red Truck Wines ($16.35, 10985966)
Made from organically farmed grapes (79% Petite Sirah, 21% Merlot) though fermented with commercial yeasts. Sees only stainless steel up to bottling. Wood, plum, ink. Surprisingly rich and velvety, the sweet fruit underpinned by tannins and brightened by acidity. Pure, uncomplicated, easy-drinking and relatively low alcohol (13.5%). A great barbecue wine. (Buy again? Sure.)
True to their New World selves, all the Petite Sirahs were built around a core of sweet fruit. The big disappointment for me was the Foppiano. I’d picked it over other candidates at the price point because a decade or two ago, back when I used to buy the occasional bottle for personal consumption, it was made in a lighter, Pinot Noirish style.
MWG February 9th tasting: report (2/4)
Burgenland 2008, Blaufränkisch, Szapary, Uwe Schiefer ($47.00, 11515966)
Schiefer, whose last name fortuitously means schist in German, is a former sommelier who decided to get his hands dirty. Located in south Burgenland, a cool-climate region on the Hungarian border, his up-and-coming estate is currently organic but converting to biodynamism. His approach to winemaking is minimalist; “less is more” he says. The grapes for this 100% Blaufränkisch cuvée are grown on a steep schist slope.
Restrained but complex nose of blackberries, herbs, spice (anise seed?) and slate. Burgundian – or maybe Barbarescan – mouth feel. Deeply flavoured (cherry, blackberry, black pepper, minerals) and broad but also supple and fluid. Tingly acid, fine, velvety tannins and a long, caressing finish. My wine of the night. The winemaker says it’s best at four to six years but capable of aging up to ten years. (Buy again? The price gives pause but, bucks permitting, yes.)
Frankovka modrá 2009, Južnoslovenská, Výber z hrozna / Suché, Mavín (c. $15, importation valise)
The name translates as Blaufränkisch 2009, Southern Slovakia, Selected grapes / Dry, Mavín.
Recognizably Blaufränkisch but quite different from the other two wines. Nose of berries, puff pastry and a hint of band-aid with dried blood. Red fruity in the mouth with spice and earthy/slatey notes, light tannins and an astringent finish. A bit simple, short and rustic – as the “importer” rightly pointed out, it tasted less expensive than the other two wines – but enjoyable all the same. (Buy again? At $15 or under, sure.)
Burgenland 2009, Blaufränkisch, Heinrich ($21.05, 10768478)
100% Blaufränkisch from 10 to 25-year-old vines. Fermented in stainless steel tanks, finished in oak vats and used casks. Vino-Lok closure. Straightforward and appealing. Spice, blackberries, baked earth and dried wood on the nose. Red fruit on the palate. Fluid, light and tight with an appealing astringency and lots of acid. Long, dryish, minerally finish. Delicious. (Buy again? Absolutely.)
MWG February 9th tasting: report (1/4)
Demands on my time mean the notes for the Mo’ Wine Group’s latest tasting will be served, like the wines, in four flights.
Sancerre 2010, Les Chailloux, Domaine Fouassier ($28.15, La QV)
100% biodynamically farmed Sauvignon Blanc from 20-year-old vines; fermented with native yeasts. Chalk and bath powder, then boxwood and jalapeño, then a hint of peanut. Light, fluid and quite dry. More minerally than fruity, and what fruit there is is of a crystalline purity. Longish finish and a lingering impression of freshness. (Buy again? Yep.)
Sancerre 2010, Terroirs, Sylvain Bailly ($22.10, 10861808)
100% Sauvignon Blanc. Textbook nose: grass, cat pee, white fruit, gunflint. Taut and vibrant, with a smooth surface, acid undertow, minerals and green fruit. Long, bright finish. A classic Sancerre and great QPR. (Buy again? Def.)
Sancerre 2010, Domaine Vacheron ($30.25, 10523892)
100% biodynamically farmed Sauvignon Blanc. Closed nose hinting at seashells, hay, green pear. The driest of the four wines. Green fruit, grapefruit and minerals, bracing acidity. Long albeit muted/soft finish. Elegant. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Sancerre 2009, Cuvée Edmond, Domaine la Moussière ($56.50, 10269273)
100% biodynamically farmed Sauvignon Blanc from 40 to 70-year-old vines. Fermented in oak casks (60% new). Pale gold (quite the contrast to the other wines’ silvery-green). Complex nose of ripe yellow fruit, kiwi, camphor, custard, lemon verbena. Round and weighty in the mouth, showing a bit of residual sugar. Just enough acid to save the wine from heaviness. Long, honeyed finish. Imposing and impressive if atypically rich for a Sancerre or even a Cuvée Edmond. (Buy again? Probably not.)
MWG sixth anniversary tasting: report
December 8, 2011, was the Mo’ Wine Group’s sixth anniversary. We celebrated on the following day because it was a Friday and the evening risked being a long one. Hewing to tradition, the tasting featured several bubblies and some silliness.
A QUEBEC SPARKLER
Bubulle 2009, Méthode traditionnelle, Les Pervenches ($30.00, La QV)
Consistent with the bottle sampled earlier in the day. This was served double-blind to the group, with no information provided about origin, composition or cost. Everyone liked it. No one guessed it was made in Quebec and most pegged its price as being in the $30 to $40 range. (Buy again? Definitely.)
FOUR POL ROGERS
Champagne, Brut, Pure, Extra Cuvée de Réserve, Pol Roger ($67.00, 11043487)
1/3 each Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. Undosed. Clean, pure, elegant: brioche, minerals, hint of lemon. Fine bead. Bone dry. Crisp fruit fades fast though a pleasing sourness and minerals linger. Enjoyable on its own but simple-seeming in retrospect. (Buy again? Probably not when it’s pushing $70.)
Champagne 2000, Brut, Extra Cuvée de Réserve, Pol Roger ($88.50, 10663123)
60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay. Initial funkiness blew off leaving a classic champagne nose of browning apple, minerals, white meat, toast and eventually sesame. Pure fruit with a honeyed, oxidized note. Relatively high residual sugar, though far from sweet or even off-dry. Long, bready finish with a lingering sourness. Though I found myself longing for a little more complexity and depth, this generous and delicious wine was popular with many around the table. If I ever open another bottle, it’ll be to serve with something rich, like foie gras au torchon or sweetbreads in cream. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Champagne 2000, Brut, Blanc de Blancs, Extra Cuvée de Réserve, Pol Roger ($94.75, 10663166)
100% Chardonnay, of course. A hint of rubber recedes leaving a refined nose of brioche, lemon and sour apple. Pure and clean, light and buoyant, multifaceted: a crystalline complexity. White-fruity on the attack, dry and minerally on the long finish. Elegance in a glass. In my mind’s palate, I kept “tasting” this for days after the event. (Buy again? If I’m feeling flush, yes.)
Champagne 1999, Brut, Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, Pol Roger ($208.25, 00892166)
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Impossibly layered and complex nose: apple, lemon, brioche, minerals and so much more. Soft yet persistent effervescence. Smooth and rich from start to finish. Pure fruit. Just enough sweetness to round the acidity. Breadth, depth, length and any other dimension you might name. Nothing exaggerated, everything in place. A beautiful and complete wine. (Buy again? I should be so lucky.)
This was the first time the MWG tasted a flight of champagnes from a single producer. The wines were served double-blind and at least a couple of tasters detected a family resemblance between the two 2000s (I was impressed because I don’t think I would have). The resident champagne freak later declared it the most intellectual flight in the group’s history.
RED BURGS: TWO BY TWO, OLD AND NEW
Aloxe-Corton 1er cru 1996, Les Vercots, Tollot-Beaut & Fils ($48 in 1999)
Textbook red Burgundy nose: red berries, forest floor and beet along with a hint of alcohol. Silky texture. Fine balance between fruit and acid. Initially tight tannins quickly relaxed and smoothed out. Pure and lovely. Drink now. (Buy again? Moot now but I’m glad I did.)
Gevrey-Chambertin 2009, Sérafin Père & Fils ($65.25, 11472484)
Persimmon and cinnamon with hints of cola and red berries. Smooth on entry but falls flat: a little heavy on the fruit, a little light on the acidity. Plump tannins. Totally dry. Lingering oak flavours. Am not convinced it’s passing through a phase. (Buy again? No.)
Aloxe-Corton 1er cru 2009, Les Vercots, Tollot-Beaut & Fils ($61.50, 11473575)
Red berries, ground beef, milk chocolate, minerals. Tight tannins notwithstanding, the fruit is dominating structure for now. Still, it comes across as better balanced, more complete than the 2009 Sérafin. Good finish. (Buy again? Probably not.)
Gevrey-Chambertin 1996, Sérafin Père & Fils ($48.75 in 1999)
Initial stink giving way to a dark-fruited nose with ferny notes. Rich fruit, tight acid. Tertiary flavours (leather, old wood, leaf mould). Fair length. Pleasant but could be deeper. Drink now. (Buy again? Moot but it wasn’t up to my expectations.)
At a tasting earlier this year, Oliver Guyot told us he considered the somewhat snubbed 2008 a classic red Burgundy vintage and the much touted 2009 vintage over-hyped and full of atypical, fruit-forward wines not built for the long haul. Can’t say the 2008s and 2009s I’ve tasted to date have me thinking he’s wrong.
FOUR COUNTRIES, FOUR BIG REDS
Marilyn Merlot 2006, Napa Valley, Marilyn Wines ($26.80, 11341767)
85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. 13.9% abv. Closed nose. Hints of graphite, red fruit. Medium- to full-bodied but fluid and balanced with ripe tannins and an acid bite. Fruity but not heavy. Short on follow-through. Began cracking up after an hour or so in the glass. (Buy again? Only as a gag gift, albeit a drinkable one.) ***Flipper alert: this wine is retailing for US$75 on the Marilyn Wines website.***
VDP des Bouches-du-Rhône 2007, Domaine de Trévallon ($66.25, 00728162)
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Syrah. 13% abv (hard to believe) [Edit: That’s the percentage according to SAQ.com but it’s probably for the 2006; I checked the label at a store today and it says 14%.]. Assault-by-strawberry-jam nose with a little dusty wood thrown in. Primary and monolithic. Palate so dominated by sweet fruit that it’s easy to miss the underlying structure. Long but not very appealing. Hardly budged during the two hours it was in my glass. The tail-end of the bottle showed a little better the next day: the strawberry no longer centre stage, some garrigue, cassis, ink and tobacco beginning to emerge, the acid and tannins more present. But still. (Buy again? No.)
Brunello di Montalcino 2005, Etichetta Bianca (“White Label”), Casanova di Neri ($55.75, 10961323)
100% Brunello (aka Sangiovese Grosso). 14.5% abv (not hard to believe). In 2005, this low-end bottling contains the fruit that would have gone into the high-end Cerretalto bottling, had one been made. (The 2004 Cerretalto retails for $229 at the SAQ.) Terra cotta, cherry, foliage, oak and a hint of minerals. Dense, sweet fruit. Enough acidity and tannins to save it from galumphingness but not enough to endow it with the brightness and drying finish that are the hallmarks of the best Sangioveses. Indeed, it doesn’t taste particularly Italian. Lingers long but ultimately cloys. May improve with age but, for now, it’s as unappetizing as a fruit-bomb Shiraz, a wine you wouldn’t want to serve with anything but a grilled steak, and even then… (Buy again? Nope.)
Rioja Gran Reserva 2004, Prado Enea, Bodegas Muga ($50.25, 11169670)
80% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano. 14% abv. Closed nose. Next day: plum, black cherry, hints of leather, dried herbs and quartz, a bit vaporous. Balanced if a bit fruit-forward (cherry/black cherry). Glycerine-like texture. Not bone dry. Tannic astringency surges on the finish. Not particularly deep, at least at this stage. Needs time to transform into, let’s hope, a medium-bodied perfumy charmer. (Buy again? Maybe.)
A surprising and disappointing flight, as I had high expectations for the three European wines, all icons of one sort or another, and thought the Californian Merlot might have people gagging. Instead, the Merlot was far and away the most popular wine, a perfectly drinkable if anonymous red. Shockingly, anonymity was a characteristic of all these wines. The three Europeans didn’t offer up much in the way of varietal specifics and (the Muga excepted to some extent) tasted heavy, sweet, short on acid, high in alcohol, internationalized, geared to a Maryland-based wine reviewer’s palate. The Trévallon, a wine I’ve long been a fan of, was especially unfortunate: smelling and tasting of little but overripe fruit, sugar and alcohol. I was sure it had to be the Californian. Maybe all it needs is ten or 20 years in the bottle, but neither I nor anybody else at the tasting would be willing to take a chance.
The tasting done, the table was piled with an assortment of edibles, highlights of which were an outstanding venison and foie gras pâté en croûte from Boucherie de Paris and the Colli Trevigiani IGT 2007, Verduzzo, Villa di Maser ($23.50, Sublime vins & spiritueux), a powerful yet food-friendly white (bordering on bronze) that went especially well with the various cheeses.
Brett happens 