Good Rosé Under $10

With warmer weather approaching, a few weeks ago we decided to pick up a few new Rosé’s from the Wine Cellar. We had our eye on a couple but the 3^rd was a recommendation from Jeff and was the 2006 Vina Robles Roseum from Paso Robles. Doing a quick run through in my head I remembered that we had had the Vina Robles Petit Syrah at our dinner at Verbena and liked it so why not give the Rose a try, and for $7.99, it seemed like an awesome deal.

 

This Rosé is a blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah that was co-fermented cold for 4 weeks after being soaked on the skins for 8 hours for color and flavor extraction.

 

My Tasting Notes

Color – Dark Pink

Nose – Strawberry, banana, sliced cucumber

Taste – Pink grapefruit, watermelon

Mouthfeel – light to medium body, refreshingly crisp

Finish – short to medium in length, left the palate clean and refreshed

 

This was a great summertime Rosé, perfect for the back porch or served with lighter summertime fare.  It wasn’t overly complex and was a little lighter bodied than I like my Rose’s but all in all it was good wine.  And for $7.99, it is definitely affordable enough to have a couple around when friends come over to enjoy the sun on the deck.

 

Cheers!

 

Tons of Tastings Around Richmond

The next couple of weeks we have some big tastings going on around the Richmond area in addition to the regular Friday and Saturday tastings at the local wine shops.

Thursday May 15^th at the Barrel Thief

Barrel Thief is proud to host Alberto Di Gresy, owner and winemaker of Tenute Cisa Asinari Dei Marchesi Di Gresy (www.marchesidigresy.com). From 5pm-7pm, try a broad selection of his wines for only $10. The wines available to taste and their retail prices are:
2006 Langhe Chardonnay $25
2001 Langhe Gresy Chardonnay $34
2007 Moscato dAsti La Serra $20
2006 Dolcetto dAlba Monte Aribaldo $25
2005 Barberra dAsti $24
2006 Langhe Nebbiolo $29
2004 Barbaresco Martinenga $65

I am really excited about this tasting as regular Anything Wine readers know I am HUGE fan of the Piemonte region of Northern Italy.

Sunday May 18^th at the Wine Cellar

The Wine Cellar will hold a special big red wine tasting from 6:00 to 8:00 after the store closes. The is $30/person and includes cheese, salami, crackers and other apps. Up for tasting will be 18 big reds ranging in price from $25 to $50 from the West Coast. Some new wineries will be represented, as well as some the hottest big reds currently on the market.

Wine List

1. CARAVAN CABERNET NAPA VALLEY $36.45

2. SILVERADO CABERNET NAPA VALLEY $47.45

3. RODNEY STRONG RESERVE CABERNET $40.45

4. ROBERT MONDAVI OAKVILLE CABERNET $48.45

5. STONESTREET FIFTH RIDGE ALEXANDER VALLEY $36.95

6. ELYSE KORTE RANCH ZINFANDEL NAPA VALLEY $32.45

7. TOBIN JAMES JAMES GANG RESERVE CABERNET $29.95

8. HONIG CABERNET NAPA VALLEY $37.95

9. SEVEN HILLS CABERNET COLUMBIA VALLEY $28.95

10. DUCKHORN DECOY NAPA VALLEY $31.95

11. AUGUST BRIGGS ZINFANDEL NAPA VALLEY $36.95

12. BROWN ZINFANDEL NAPA VALLEY $40.45

13. RAYMEY CABERNET NAPA VALLEY $56.45

14. STUHLMULLER CABERNET ALEXANDER VALLEY $38.45

15. L’ECOLE CABERNET COLUMBIA VALLEY $30.95

16. NEYERS PATO VINEYARD ZINFANDEL CONTRA COSTA $33.95

17. d’ARENBERG LAUGHING MAGPIE SHIRAZ $33.45

18. HEARTLAND DIRECTOR’S CUT SHIRAZ $33.45

 

I love BIG reds so I can’t wait for this event!!

 

Thursday May 29^th at Bella Vino (Stony Point Location)

From Bella Vino’s website:

Great Unknowns of California: May Elite Tasting

Forty years ago California had no reputation for producing world-class wines, but today it produces some of the greatest wines in the world. Unfortunately, many of these wines have prices that boggle the imagination and are only available to a select few. We believe that the best way to get wines from California that are phenomenal AND affordable is to seek out relatively unknown producers. Their wines are more a labor of love than of profit. We’ll offer some of these wines for tasting on May 29th so that you can buy superstar wines without paying superstar prices!Tickets: $15 for one; $25 for a pair($5 discount with Bella Vino Amanti tag)(Further $5 discount if you attended the previous tasting)PLEASE RSVPThere will be limited spaces available!Pre-payment will be requiredFor reservations, call:Bella Vino Stony Point Bella-(804) 272-3202

I hope to see you all at these events as they all sound fantastic.

 

Cheers!

New Virginia Winery is Bringing the Thunder

On our second day in the Charlottesville area, we headed towards Afton Mountain. First on the agenda for the day was a new winery, Pollak Vineyards which is currently conducting a “soft opening” prior to their grand opening on May 17^th. The winery, owned by David and Margo Pollak was in full effect though, with tasting room manager Nick Dovel running us through the full line of Pollak’s first vintage of wines. Pollak has 25 acres of planted vines that were put in the ground in 2003, and currently has about 2200 cases in production with plans to ramp up to no more than 5000 cases in the future. Winemaker/vineyard manager Jake Busching utilizes a ballerina style trellis system in the vineyard. The lower trellis wire is 4 ft off the ground vs. the typical 3 feet, which allows for better airflow and more resistance to frost and/or mold damage. The trellis system gets its name because it allows for some of the shoots to be positioned upwards, leaving the remainder to fall open like a ballerina skirt. This type of system maximizes the amount of sunlight that is exposed to the canopy and fruit, with the hope of maximizing the grape quality– by the way the wines tasted, I think it is working.

All of the seven varietals that make up the wine collection at Pollack are grown on site under the watchful eye of Jake.

Here is what we tasted –

2007 Pinot Gris – round body, different from most Pinot Gris I have had, apple, lime and big mineral finish

2007 Viognier – beautiful lush mouthfeel, apricot, honeysuckle on the nose with loads of fresh peach and citrus notes on the palate

2007 Estate Chardonnay – medium body, toasty notes followed by starfruit, oak, pear and almond flavors

2007 Virginia Chardonnay – (due to the frost in early spring of ’07 they did not have the crop they needed to make only the Estate chardonnay so Pollack bought some grapes from Breaux vineyards in Loudon County to help supplement this wine) – crisp wine with citrus and green apple notes, bit too much oak on the finish for me

2007 Rose (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot)– medium to full bodied Rose, strawberry and watermelon notes, with fresh cranberry towards the finish, soft mouthfeel on the palate with a crisp refreshing finish

All the red wines are Unfiltered

2006 Cabernet Franc (extended 45 day maceration) – full round mouthfeel, solid weight in the mouth, raspberry, black pepper, currant with long finish

2006 Merlot – full body, black cherry, mint, and blackberry flavors, long finish with a hint of floral (maybe rose), extremely smooth

2006 Petit Verdot – plum, green pepper, and blackberry very smooth and round mouthfeel

2005 Meritage (44% Cabernet Franc, 43 % Merlot, 13% Petit Verdot) – Cedar, caramelized bananas, raspberry reduction sauce, and a mushroom fungus finish. Nice medium to full body with soft dusty tannins

I am always nervous trying out new wineries because they sometimes are still just getting their feet wet, such that the wines and the tasting process may be a bit awkward. Not the case here though—all of the wines were extremely well crafted, and with the exception of the non-estate Chardonnay, I truly loved all of the wines. Now this glowing review is coming straight from the heart and the palate- unfortunately I am not getting any kick-backs from Pollak, although they can feel free to send me any wine they want me to review. Haha!

As I said earlier, the tasting was conducted by the tasting room manager Nick who answered every wine geek question I could throw at him, barely blinking before he gave me the answer. In addition to Nick, Jake stopped by the tasting room so I was able to chew his ear off for a good 20 minutes, learning about his philosophy on wine-making and vineyard management, which was quite impressive. Jake follows the principal of crafting wines in the vineyard and not in the winery, handling the juice as little as possible and allowing the grapes to fully express themselves. Jim also got me excited about the newly bottled but not yet released Cabernet Sauvignon, which he said will knock my socks off and definitely bring the thunder- I can only imagine this prediction is true on the basis of the wines I tasted.

As you can see from the pictures, the winery is beautiful in both form and function, with a beautiful wrap-around porch overlooking the lake for enjoying wine and a picnic while you take in the majestic views of Afton Mountain. After we had made our rounds to the other wineries of the day, we reconvened at Pollak to enjoy the afternoon sun and to share a bottle of Rose with my sister Elizabeth and her husband Jeff.

John, Megan and Elizabeth

Make sure to check them out on your next trip to the Afton area, you won’t be disappointed.

Cheers!

 

Wine Blogging Wednesday #45 Old World Riesling

The wine for this Wine Blogging Wednesday #45 is the second wine in my WBW blogger pack from Domaine547. This months WBW topic was supplied by Tim at Winecast and was any Riesling from the “Old World.” The blogger pack Riesling was the 2006 Max Ferd Richter “Graf Zeppelin” from Mosel – Saar – Ruwer.  From the winery website, the history of the title of this wine, “Graf Zeppelin” is that is was the wine poured most on Zeppelin flights during the 20’s and 30’s. The grapes from this wine are grown in the Mülheimer Sonnenlay vineyard which consists of soil composed of gray slate soil resting on steep slopes along the Mosel river.  We ate this today (WBW) with General Tso’s “Chik’n” and it paired nicely being slightly off-dry counteracting the spiciness of the dish.

 

My Tasting Notes

Nose – Petroleum, rubber, pear

Taste – Fuji apple, pear, citrus, petrol, honey

Mouthfeel – medium viscous body, touch of sweetness

Finish – clean, long with mineral and honey flavors

 

This was a fun textbook Riesling that was a great pairing for the Chinese food. Classic food friendly flavors, a hint of sweetness and great viscosity on the palate would make this great for any spicy dish.

 

Thanks again to Tim for a great May WBW topic.

 

Cheers!

 

IT’S GOOD TO HAVE A FRIEND IN WINE!

Post written by guest blogger and friend - Stephanie Plunkett

 

My good friend John Witherspoon has taught me much about wine.  He’s never been off in his recommendations for wines to try and wine bars to visit.  The latest recommendation was to visit Barrel Thief in Richmond Va for the Kermit Lynch tasting.  The owners of Barrel Thief (Ross and Ned)  were in perfect form, handling all the behind the scenes work careful not to intrude upon the ambience of the experience.  As typical, Barrel Thief does not disappoint.  The French visiting winemakers had stellar selections, and in the end, it was hard to make a choice for what to bring home.  I have to confess as well that I have been disappointed by the French wines I’ve tried.  My flavor profile seems more akin to Spanish wines, Argentina Malbecs, and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Sonoma Valley.  Needless to say, this experience has opened my palate to a whole new world of wine, and my husband and I visited that world last night with a bottle we bought, The St. Joseph VV.  

 

As you see from John’s blog on April 25, 2008 the St. Joseph VV 2005 is a wine made from 60 year old vines of 100% Syrah.  The alcohol content is 13%.  On the back of the bottle is a statement from Thomas Jefferson, which I couldn’t agree with him more:  “Good wine is a necessity of life for me”.   On the nose is a slightly overpowering woody cedar spice so I couldn’t really detect anything else.  This same spice hits you in the first taste, but soon the cranberry comes through, and on the finish the experience turns to a dusty and earthy note.  Overall I really liked the wine.  It was definitely unique to anything I had previously tasted.  For the first time, the following Friday at our usual tasting at the Caboose in Ashland Va my husband and I visited the selection of French wines and picked out a nice Sancerre. 

 

Perhaps I’ll write about that one in the future, but I wanted to get this one out there for my good friend John to help celebrate his Birthday in the only way I know how, and that is to celebrate the enthusiasm of wine with him!  Thanks John and have a great Birthday!

 

P.S.  For all you wine and beer lovers in the Richmond area, the Caboose in Ashland will have a beer and wine tasting special (free tasting of 5 wines and 5 beers) on Friday June 6.  Come out and visit Ian Kirkland who’s been an owner there 10 years now.  Sample exquisite cheeses picked out by Shannon Cook and experience this quaint little shop by the railroad tracks in the old town of Ashland.

Lunch at Palladio

This past weekend Megan and I hit the road, traveling out to the Charlottesville wine country to celebrate my upcoming birthday. Saturday we went to Palladio at Barboursville for lunch, followed by a cruise through their tasting room, went on to “a bad winery experience” (click to read) and then headed on to White Hall Vineyards. Sunday, Jeff and Elizabeth joined us as we headed further West to the Afton mountain area to taste at four more wineries. On the schedule for the day were Pollack Vineyards, Veritas, Afton Mountain and Flying Fox wineries. I am not going to post about all the wineries but I will say that I had an excellent time and couldn’t have asked for better weather.

First up on the review is our lunch at Palladio. Palladio is the restaurant attached to Barboursville winery, named for Andrea Palladio and his influence on the Jeffersonian Mansion. Palladio is run by head chef Melissa Close and Alessandro Medici, who truly provide an awesome culinary experience. Being quite pricey (but reasonable for what you get) we definitely go only for special occasions. This was our second time there and this time was every bit as good as the first. The experience is what you would expect from a fine dining establishment with excellent, almost choreographed service and fabulous food both in taste and presentation. Prior to what is listed below our meal started with a lovely glass of sparkling wine and some lovely marinated olives and fresh baked bread.

Here is what we had –

Appetizer

~Tortino di Spugnole~
Morels & Spring Garlic Tartlet with Salad of Local Greens,
Fava Beans, Vidalia Onions & Fresh Lemon

Paired with the Barboursville 2006 Rose (Strawberry and faint peach, lovely medium body with crisp finish - bit tight on the nose)

First Course

~Risotto con Taleggio e Verdure~
Risotto with Roasted Italian Eggplant,

Roasted Sweet Red Peppers, Taleggio & Opal Basil

Paired with the Barboursville 2007 Reserve Chardonnay (nose: honey, apple, pear and toast; taste:pineapple, hay and oak)

Second Course

~Melanzane Ripiene~
Baked Ricotta filled Eggplant with Local Baby Greens,
Sundried Tomato Pesto & Basil Chutney

Paired with the Barboursville 2006 Merlot (nose: black cherry, currant, spice; taste:coffee, smoke, caramel, blackberry - good acidity, round and smooth)

Dessert

~Crostata al Limone~
Lemon Soufflé Tartlet served with Prosecco Sorbet
& Blueberry Compote

~Torta alla Gianduia~
Hazelnut Chocolate Molten Cake
with Vanilla Gelato & Fresh Raspberries

Both were paired with the Barboursville Philéo n.v. (honey, almonds and flowers)

All I can say is that each course was fabulous and the pairings were spot on, highlighting the components of each part of the meal. The tart was quite nice, the warm earthy flavors were complimented nicely by the cold fava beans that were on top, combining both unique flavors as well as texture profiles. The risotto was cooked to perfection, just slightly al dente and seasoned perfectly. The eggplant dish was extremely flavorful and not overly rich despite its description. Being baked and not fried, the eggplant was a component of the dish rather than being the dominant flavor element, and it was complimented by the nuttiness and garlic of the pesto- a truly mouthwatering combination. The desserts were too awesome to describe, our empty plates spoke for themselves.

You can choose from 2 courses up to 4 (what we did) and can also choose to forgo any wine pairings, but that would just be silly. J If you feel like treating yourselves, the trip to Palladio is definitely worth the drive.

Stay tuned for our review of Pollack Vineyards.

Cheers!

Customer Service?

You shouldn’t expect rude service at any establishment where you plan to spend money, though you might not be surprised to encounter it at a fast food joint or a clothing retailer during the Christmas rush.  One place Megan and I never imagined we would receive actual rude customer service was in a winery tasting room.  While you may encounter less than ideal service at a winery (such as the tasting room staff not knowing much about the wine they are pouring), you would never anticipate being treated poorly.  Customer service is an amazing thing – in one foul swoop it can turn a winery you have really enjoyed in the past to one that you question visiting again.

 

This weekend we are traveling around Charlottesville visiting some wineries for my 31^st birthday activity (my b-day is actually Wednesday) and we decided to hit some old favorites yesterday and a few new ones today. The winery we were visiting yesterday closes at 5:00 and we drove into their 200 acre property at around 4:10. As we were enjoying the views we failed to notice the tiny 8.5×11 sign taped to one of the fence posts stating they would be closing at 4:30 for a wedding. We strolled in the tasting room at approximately 4:13 and were immediately glared at by the tasting room associates, one of whom looked to her colleague and stated “we must not have put the signs up” and continued to scurry around in a huff. Megan and I looked at each other confused, thinking that maybe we had read the brochure AND website incorrectly and they closed at 4:00 instead of 5:00.  When we asked, they confirmed that they typically close at 5:00 but were closing early for a wedding, again exclaiming “you didn’t see the signs?”  Despite the fact that we hadn’t seen the signs, we still had more than 15 minutes before the earlier closing time to go through the tasting. The tasting room staff scowled and said, “I guess we can do a quick tasting,” poured the first wine and bellowed “it will be $3 per person to taste.” We suggested that maybe we should just leave, to which the tasting room associate replied “well it’s up to you, but I’ve already poured the first wine, and it will be $3 per person.”

 

Luckily we were both keeping our emotions in check, because the rudeness at this point was about hip deep and we both felt like we were about 1 inch tall.  We received a “splash” of each of the next five wines, and were told the name of the wine before the associated turned her back to us, walked away with no further explanation, and continued to clean up and shut down the bar. We were both astonished and actually couldn’t believe it– were we on candid camera or something? After the 5^th wine with 3 more to go, we had had enough and decided to just pay and go on to the last winery of the day (at this point it was 4:22, still 8 minutes to go). I pulled out my wallet, and said I would just like to pay – the women who had been our tasting associate had disappeared for a moment, and the other woman was kind of taken aback that we didn’t want to finish and we said with an extra helping of sarcasm “that they were CLEARLY too busy to be helping us and we didn’t want to be in their way any longer.” At that point our tasting associate had come back and, realizing that she had been extremely rude to us, offered to pay for our tasting (though she wasn’t very gracious about it). We thanked them and left, relieved that we didn’t just pay $1/minute of wine hell.

 

At this point I am really contemplating putting the name of the winery in the article, but I think I won’t. I am however going to email the link of this post to them to let them know the impact that this experience had on us.  If you are an astute Virginia wine lover, you can probably figure out which Charlottesville winery we are talking about.

 

Cheers!

Friday Tastings in Richmond

Here is the info on tastings tonight in Richmond. I know that there are more, but these are the only two that I get emailed information about on their Friday tasting offerings.

At the Wine Cellar, Jeff will be offering up value wines from Chile as well as the D’Arenberg Cabernet Sauvignon from Australia. Come check it out, FREE from 5:00 to 8:00 tonight.

And on the other side of the river at River City Cellars is their FREE tasting that will be tonight from 5:00 – 7:00.

Nessa 2007 Albarino: Crisp and fragrant, this dry white wine produced in the temperate and verdant Rias Baixas appelltation of northwestern Spain has flavors that recall apricots and nectarines.

Medina 2007 Rueda: Citrus skin, melon and herbal notes characterize some of the aromas of this dry but rich white wine made from the Verdejo grape in the Rueda zone north and west of Madrid.

Marques de Caceres 2007 Rioja Rosado:  Produced in Rioja, Spain’s most famous wine region, this dry yet fruity rose has strawberry and floral notes.  

Arbanta 2007 Rioja Tinto:  This medium-bodied, flavorsome red is made from Spain’s reigning indigenous varietal, Tempranillo.  

Loma Gorda 2005 Almansa Tinto:  Full-bodied red from southeastern Spain made from 65% Garnacha (Grenache) and 35% Syrah.

 

 

Lots of good juice to sample, as well as the multiple other FREE tastings around town to help you expand your palate and fall in love with new wines.  If any of the other shops in town want me to post their tasting lists, feel free to shoot me an email and I will put it up.

Cheers!

 

Colombo wasn’t just a detective on a TV show

… He is also a famous winemaker from Southern France.

Wine Review of the 2006 Jean Luc Colombo La Violette Viognier

Produced from 20 year old vines in the Languedoc-Roussillon, the La Violette underwent controlled fermentation and maceration at 59ºF, 80% in stainless steel tanks and 20% in barrels. The wine then spent 6 months on the lees, 70% in tanks, and 30% in one-, two- and three-year-old barrels.

 

My Tasting Notes -

 

Nose – Asian pear, apricot, mint

Taste – Honey, citrus, mineral/stone, tea

Mouthfeel – light to medium body

Finish – Medium in length, dry clean finish with flavors of honey and brewed tea

 

Decent Viognier from Languedoc Roussillon, a bit tight on the nose at first as it took about 45 minutes for it to open up.  Not as viscous as most Viognier, shedding its oily nature for a cleaner more crisp mouthfeel and strong mineral notes toward the finish. All in all not bad, we just picked this up at the Wine Cellar, wanting to branch out from our Viognier rut of sticking to California, Australia and of course Virginia.

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

Kermit Lynch Tasting at The Barrel Thief

Last night I attending the Kermit Lynch tasting at the Barrel Thief in Short Pump, and as the email promised, it was HUGE.  Now Kermit Lynch himself was not there but 5 of his top imports were represented via the winemakers, who were there pouring their juice for us to try. For 10 bones we got to taste over 18 wines from the Rhone region, what a steal. I was not able to taste all the wines as they ran out of a few and I ran out of time, but the ones I did taste were fantastic. To accompany the tastings were some nice cheese and salami slices (didn’t try cuz of the whole vegetarian thing) and some nice baguette slices to help clean your palate in between tastes. To see what I thought and what I bought keep reading.

 

 

My Tasting Notes (in order of tasting)

 

Chateau de Trinquevedel

2007 Tavel $25 – A dry Rose comprised of 45% Grenache, 24% Cinsault, 15% Clairette, 6% Syrah, 4% Grenache Blanc, 4% Mourvedre and 2% Bourboulenc. Very full and round Rose with strawberry and salmonberry flavors and aromas that led to a stony, mineral finish. I would have bought this but they don’t actually have it in for sale yet.

 

 

Domaine Auguste Clape

St. Peray Blanc (3 vintages) - St. Peray is a small appellation in the Northern Rhone, South of Crozes-Hermitage producing white wines from Marsanne and Rousanne. The Blanc’s from Clape are 100% Marsanne with fermentation done in cement vats and aged in stainless steel.

 

2007 $40 – nose of honey, fuji apple with pear and honeysuckle flavors, beautiful mineral finish

2005 – nose of cooked fruit, apricot and floral notes dominated the flavor profile with a hint of spice and again a clean mineral finish

2004 – Interesting nose of sweet cheese such as baby swiss, apple, asian pear and nutty flavors – this vintage did not have the mineral finish that the others did

 

All the vintages were medium to full body, good fruit and moderate levels of acidity with the 2004 have lower acidity than the rest and a darker golden color (to be expected). These were very nice wines and it was awesome to taste the vertical.

 

Cotes du Rhone (3 vintages) – Made from 100% Syrah with whole cluster natural yeast fermentation in cement vats with 10 months ageing in large French oak casks, bottle fined and unfiltered.

 

2007 $45 – Blueberry and black cherry on the nose followed by raspberry eucalyptus and “dirt” on the palate, good big body with strong leathery tannins.

2006 $45 – Earthiness, blackberry and leather predominately on the nose with dark fruit and mint with a touch of green olive in the mouth – a years difference was definitely noticeable in the slight smoothing of the tannins that I would define as dusty.

2005 $45 – Barny, raspberry, cherry and slight funk on the nose with collard greens raspberry and earth rounding out the taste profile, firm tannins at the finish although extremely soft and well balanced across the mid palate. This was my favorite of the 3 and one of the wines I took home.

 

2005 Cornas Cuvee Renaissance $ 79– 100 % Syrah with same processing as above except for 20 months of aging in French oak casks. This wine had amazing blackberry pie and floral aromas, green bean, fig and licorice flavors. Fairly smooth tannins and full bodied structure.

 

2005 Cornas $119 – This wine is the exact same as above except from a different vineyard lot that is comprised of 60 year old vines. Another heavy hitter at $119, very rich with cranberry, currant, tobacco aromas that followed through to a similar taste profile with a bit of green pepper thrown in and a hint burnt rubber. HUGE TANNINS at the finish – definitely need about 10 years before this one really shows its potential.

 

Domaine Philippe Faury

 

2006 Condrieu Blanc $89 – did not try I wish I had because I love Condrieu wines.

2006 St. Joseph Blanc $39 – did not try

2006 Syrah $29 – 100 percent Syrah – strawberry and rose on the nose with mostly a pure cooked green bean flavor on the palate.

2005 St. Joseph VV $39 – 60 year old vines of 100% Syrah – Blackberry and cranberry dominated the aroma and flavor profile, with a hint of Shitake mushroom at the finish

2006 Cote Rotie $79 – 85% Syrah and 15% Viognier – Barny, earth, raspberry and floral notes. The Viognier gave the wine noticeably more viscosity and the floral aromas were very nice. I would have bought this but they didn’t have it in stock yet.

 

Domaine de la Charbonniere

 

2005 Vacqueyras $37 – 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah aged from 6-8 months in large oak tanks bottled unfiltered. Dill pickle, green olive and cassis with a earthiness and mushroom notes on the palate

2004 Chateauneuf du Pape “Mourre de Pedrix“ $49 – did not try

2005 Chateauneuf du Pape “Mourre de Pedrix“ $65 – Comprised of Grenache (69%), Syrah (15%), Mourvedre (15%) and Cinsault (1%). Aged in both oak barrels and large tanks for 12-18 months and bottled unfiltered. I got cake batter aroma on the nose as well as earth, cassis and a hint of fresh dill. On the palate I got similar flavors with green olive making another appearance and the earthiness became more evident. Magnificent body and structure, firm leathery tannins that will take quite a few years to smooth out. This was a great wine and the second bottle that I decided to purchase.

2005 Chateauneuf du Pape “Vielles Vignes” $75 – Comprised of 70% Grenache and 30 % Mourvedre. Toast, blackberry, sulfur on the nose with blackberry and tobacco flavors on the palate. Good body and firm tannins but not overly so.

2005 Chateauneuf du Pape “Les Hautes Brusquieres” $75 – (did not try)

 

The event seemed like a success (to me) with a good size crowd turning out for the tasting. I know myself and the few people I brought from work sure enjoyed our time and the opportunity to taste some pretty pricey wines of great caliber. Good job Barrel Thief team, I look forward to the next one!

If you haven’t already, make sure to stop by the Barrel Thief for some great wine and food or just to browse their selection.

 

Cheers!

 

The “other” Duero

A few weeks ago we joined some friends in Ashland Virginia for a wine and beer tasting at the Caboose, a small wine, beer and cheese shop that sits alongside the railroad tracks.  At the tasting were quite a few wines I had not had the pleasure of tasting before, including the 2004 Rivola Sardon de Duero that we purchased. At first glance I thought I had seen incorrectly because prior to this I had only heard of the Spanish region of Ribera del Duero and not the next door neighbor of Sardon.  I was not mistaken; Sardon de Duero like Ribera del Duero is located in Castilla y Leon, the largest of the autonomous communities in Spain. This wine in particular comes from the winery of Abadia Retuerta which encompasses 700 hectares (~283 acres) of land, 204  hectares of which contain vines that lie along the Duero river. The composition of grapes that take up the planted acreage of the estate consist of75% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% is Merlot and a small amount of Syrah and Petit Verdot.

 

The 2004 Rivola is a blend of 60% Tempranillo and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in a mix of French and American oak casks for 12 months.   

 

My Tasting Notes –

Color – crimson

Nose – cabbage, prune, pepperoni, pomegranate, little funk, walnut

Taste – Raspberry, collard greens, blueberry, orange peel, cherry

Mouthfeel – medium body and smooth across the palate

Finish – Long with dusty tannins

 

This was a great wine with a fabulously smooth texture with great earthy cooked vegetable notes that were pleasantly complimented by the red fruit that drenched the palate. Complex in its flavor and aroma profile but very easy drinking in nature and a great value at $12 (on sale) or about $15 regularly priced.  This wine is estate grown as all of their wines are but does not classify as one of their Estate Wines which I am eager to seek out and try.

 

Cheers!

 

Virginia Wine Industry in the News

After self distribution rights were taken away from Virginia wineries almost 2 years ago, a huge gap was left for someone to fill.  Enter the Virginia Wineries Distribution Company (VWDC), a new inexpensive outlet for Virginia Wineries to distribute their wine. For a nominal fee of $5 per transaction (size doesn’t matter) wineries in the Commonwealth can once again get their product back on the shelves of wine shops and restaurants here in Virginia (up to 3000 cases).  This $5 fee is much much less than the cost a winery would incur going through the typical wholesaler route of the 3 tier system. With a board of directors consisting of two winery owners, two wine wholesalers and the commissioner for the Virginia Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services, they hope that this will continue to provide stimulation to the growing VA wine industry that went from 6 wineries in 1980 to 147 today.

 

Comment from David King, Chairman of the VWDC and owner of King Family Vineyards in Crozet, Virginia:

(source - http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/17859094.html)

“We are excited to launch this new company to support the Virginia wine industry,” says King. “This new wine wholesaler provides a distribution option for many Virginia wineries, especially smaller wineries that may not have other wholesale representation. It’s exciting for all sectors of the industry, wineries, wholesalers and retailers, to finally have this wine wholesaler in place. On behalf of the wine industry, I thank the Virginia General Assembly for creating an alternative to the Virginia wineries’ loss of self-distribution.”  

 

I am glad to see this development and I know that a lot of winery owners are excited as well, which can be seen from the already 70 that have signed up to use the service.

 

Cheers!

This Fridays wines at the Wine Cellar and Live Passionately

This Friday Jeff and the Wine Cellar gang are offering up a mixed bag of new wines for their weekly tasting.  Italy, California, Oregon, Portugal and Argentina will be represented in the mix of two white and three red wines.  It should be interesting, fun and FREE as usual. This Friday from 5:00 to 8:00

 

There is a cool and fun new application on the Virginia.org website aimed at identifying what your passions are.  Live Passionately lets you select 4 out of 12 icons (seen above) that represent everything from “natural beauty” (meaning you want to be outdoors) to “getting better with time” (meaning that you like to savor life) you will be told what your passion is and how Virginia can accommodate.  It is pretty neat, but it didn’t work out to well for me, I think because I have too many things I am passionate about.  Either way, it is a fun way to kill 5 minutes and find out more about what Virginia has to offer.

 

Cheers!

Verbena is no lemon!

Verbena is actually the name of a lemon or a type of lemon but it is also the name of a new restaurant here in Richmond, which was by no means a lemon in our opinion. After getting much fanfare from the local blog scene and traditional press, and seeing that they had a couple of yummy veggie options on their menu, Megan and I decided to check it out. So after we hit River City Cellars for their tasting we headed over to Verbena for dinner.

We had reservations for 6:30 but arrived about 10 minutes early and were seated with no problem. The restaurant had 4 or 5 tables already occupied and it seemed to have a few patrons upstairs at the lounge, although I didn’t check for myself. Our water glasses were promptly filled as our menus were dropped off at which time I immediately dove into the wine list. The wine list was nice, with fair pricing, not overly extensive with about 18 selections each of white and red, and a nice diverse mix to suite everyone’s palate. Our waitress came over and introduced herself and promptly started in on the specials, although we stopped her to let her know we were vegetarians so she didn’t have to go into her schpeell about the duck and foie gras. She did however let us know what the 3 vegetables would be in the ravioli trio as they change everyday. We ordered our wine which was the Vino Robles 2005 Petit Sirah from Paso Robles and she gave us a few minutes to peruse the menu and make our selections. Upon her return she brought some fabulous bread accompanied by a homemade olive tapanade that we quickly scarfed up after ordering our food.

What we ordered –

Appetizer – Saffron potato cakes - $6

Salad – Manakintowne mixed greens with dressing of the day, a blackberry thyme vinaigrette - $6

Entrée 1 – Trio of ravioli (2 with Shitake mushroom, 2 with Butternut squash and 2 with Spinach) - $16

Entrée 2 – Phyllo wrapped vegetable medley (stuffed with asparagus, carrots, and squash accompanied by a light tomato sauce - $16

Dessert – Pistachio cupcake topped with white chocolate icing, surrounded by a passion fruit puree - $6

Coffee – 2@$1.50

The restaurant was fine dining in its approach to food and service. They had attentive and skilled wait staff, beautiful silverware that was almost ergonomic in design, Schott Zwiesel glassware (you know I am sucker for nice stems), and a simple yet elegant dining room. At the same time, they were able to make the whole experience seem very casual and relaxed, which some fine dining establishments fail to do.

The saffron potato cakes were simply amazing - I wished there were 10 on the plate instead of two, lightly pan fried on the outside but soft on the inside, with the saffron providing an excellent flavor without being overwhelming. The salad was crisp and fresh, and the homemade blackberry thyme dressing was refreshing and almost palate-cleansing. Both the entrées were great. The ravioli were a perfect balance between tender and al dente, and were chock full of their individual ingredients (sweet potato, spinach & ricotta and shitake mushroom). There was no hide and seek with the veggies to where you couldn’t even tell what they were filled with. They were topped with a light cream sauce which, if I were at home, I would have been tempted to lick out of the bowl. The phyllo wrapped dish (actually the vegetarian version of their phyllo wrapped salmon) was equally as good as the ravioli. Jam packed with flavor, the richness of the phyllo played well with the lightly grilled and steamed vegetables (which were plentiful), tied together by a wonderful yet simple tomato sauce.

Accompanying all this was the Petit Sirah from Vino Robles winery.

My Tasting Notes

Nose – black currant, cedar, plum, caramel

Taste – thyme, blackberry, blueberry, date and cinnamon

Mouthfeel – med body, soft and smooth

Finish – medium length and black cherry flavors

The wine was good and very “rich”, with loads of dark fruit that didn’t taste like fake, Hi-C fruit. I might have preferred something with a little more earth and vegetal notes to go with the food, but the wines on the menu that would have given me that would have been too tannic and full-bodied, possibly overpowering the food. All in all it was a good choice and excellent sip that would also be good all by itself, and at $30 it fit the bill.

Last but not least were the desserts. As soon as we heard “pistachios” our ears perked up and we didn’t even have to think about which one we were ordering. The cupcake had ground pistachio in it and was topped with an uber creamy white chocolate icing and fresh whole raspberry, surrounded by an exotic passion fruit puree. The savory aspect of the pistachio balanced out the sweetness of the icing and the tartness of the puree very nicely. Accompanied with some good strong coffee, it was an excellent way to finish the meal.

With 20% tip we were just over a hundred smackers for dinner, which for the amount and quality of the food was not bad at all. Our experience was great as you can tell and we walked out wondering when we would treat ourselves to Verbena once again.

Cheers!

River City Cellars Tasting 4.11.08

Friday night we decided to mix things up and hit the wine tasting at River City Cellars instead of our old standby the Wine Cellar.  Megan and I had never been to River City before so we did some perusing around the shop to see what they had to offer. They have great prices and a unique and extensive selection for such a small shop. One other cool/interesting thing I noted is that I saw no references to ratings. No scores from Spectator, Parker, or Enthusiast posted above any of the wines.  I thought that was very interesting and the complete opposite of what you see in most shops today. Way to go against the curve RCC.

 

The tasting featured five wines from their $12 and under rack and was cleverly dubbed the “Taxpayer Relief Tasting”.

 

1 – 2006 Hillinger Pinot Grigio from Burgenland Austria – peach and floral notes on the nose with grapefruit and a razor sharp acidity on the palate. It was a little to sharp for my taste but was very good overall and a whole glass would probably very refreshing with some nice goats milk cheese. $11.99

2 – 2007 Bellevue Touraine Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley – Pink grapefruit and raw green bell pepper provide an awesome aroma followed by crisp acidity and lemony finish on the palate. Very nice! $10.99

3 – 2007 Bellevue La Foret Fronton Rose from just outside Touluse France – (70% Negrette, 15% Syrah, 15% Gamay) – Wonderful juicy watermelon aroma and a great fresh strawberry flavor profile with lush medium body. Excellent Rose, especially at the price point, so we took this one home. $11.99

4 – 2006 Terre di Poppiano Chianti – (primarily Sangiovese) Raspberry and pine tar on the nose with mint, raspberry, cherry and clove on the palate. Decent body with medium weight. $9.99

5 – 2006 Antano Rioja – (100% Tempranillo) Earthy nose laced with blueberry and raspberry, similar flavor profile surrounded by slight brussel sprout with medium body and fine dusty tannins. This was our favorite of the reds and our second wine we took home.

 

The wine of the week was the Faucon Noir in which we received a taste of at the register.  Faucon Noir is from Domaine du pes Saint Martin and is a Samur Rouge made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and this one was certified organic. The nose was a weird mix of floral and smoke with indiscernible dark fruit on the palate. Good body and acidity but the flavors and aromas were just off balanced in my opinion.  Megan and I were not fans, but hey that is what tasting is all about, trying new things!

 

Our first visit to RCC will certainly not be our last so look for future tasting reviews.

 

Cheers!