Tuesday Quick Sip – 2006 Domaine Tempier Bandol

2006 Domaine Tempier Bandol

Wine Info –

Region: Southern France, Le Plan du Castellet

Appellation: Bandol AOC

Grapes: 75% Mourvedre, 22% Grenache and Cinsault, 3% Carignan

Oak Aging: 18 months (minimum AOC requirements for Bandol)

Price: $45

My Tasting Notes –

Nose: funky (not “bretty”), wet earth, red cherry

Taste: eucalyptus, cedar, blackberry, leather, herbs, cherry and black pepper

Mouthfeel: medium to full bodied, round and polished with leathery tannins

Finish: long!

This was GREAT! I got to sample this at work the other day and I wish I could have had a whole glass of it. The Bandol was a bit tight on the nose, as it was popped and poured, but the palate was super expressive and lively. The mouthfeel was extremely polished with enough tannic grip to pull the reigns and give some structure to the everlasting finish. MMM!

Cheers!

Tuesday Quick Sip – 2007 Perazzeta Sara Rosso Toscano

2007 Perazzeta Sara Rosso Toscano

Wine Information –

Region: Tuscany, Montenero d’ Orcia

Grapes: 90% Sangiovese, 10% Ciliegiolo (new grape for me)

Fermentation: 6 months Stainless Steel tanks, no oak aging

Price: $13

My Tasting Notes –

Nose: cooked fruit, fig, blackberry, raisin

Taste: sun-dried tomato, blackberry, boysenberry

Mouthfeel: full bodied, slightly flabby

Finish: medium in length with lots of fruit

I was excited to try this wine, one because it is a good value Tuscan blend and two, because it gave me a new grape for my Wine Century Club, the native Tuscan Ciliegiolo grape. My excitement was quickly shutdown after tasting the wine. Although nothing was necessarily “wrong” with the wine, it wasn’t what I expect in a Tuscan IGT blend. The dark fruit aromas of blackberry and raisined fruit reminded more of a Zin, versus the bright red fruit I would expect. Tuscan wines and Italian wines in general have a good amount of acidity which makes them great food wines, this was flabby to the say the least, no backbone what so ever. I would expect a 2007 to be dead, but maybe I did get a bad bottle. At the price, I may have to give it a second chance.

Cheers!

Tuesday Quick Sip – 2008 Leitz Rüdesheim Magdalenekreuz Riesling Spatlese

2008 Leitz Rüdesheim Magdalenekreuz Riesling Spatlese

Wine Information –

Region: Rheingau, Germany

Vineyard: Magdalenekreuz, elevation 100 meters to 165 meters

Aging: Sur Lees in Rheingau Oak

Soil: Sandy Loam

Price: $21

My Tasting Notes –

Nose: touch of petrol, honey and cantaloupe

Taste: peach, honey, stone/slate, “rich”

Mouthfeel: round with nice acidity to backup/combat the richness

Finish: long – with lingering sweetness of honey and minerality

I love Riesling and wish I drank more of it, not sure why I don’t. I tasted this at a trade tasting in New York with hundreds of other Rieslings and the 2008 Leitz Rüdesheim Magdalenekreuz Riesling Spatlese had one of the best QPR’s of the bunch. Great quality Spatlese (actually Auslese but labeled Spatlese), full and rich with nice touches of petrol and stony minerality dancing around great fruit and honey flavors. This has pretty good distribution so you should be able to find it in most cities.

Cheers!

(could only find the 2007 label online)

Vineyard update from Virginia’s own, Glen Manor Vineyards

I emailed Jeff White of Glen Manor Vineyards the other day and asked how his year was shaping up with the wetter than normal spring, and below is his response.

“Yes it was a cool wet spring. It now appears that summer is here, sunny, dry and a little cooler than normal. The vineyard came through fine, no disease. We are letting the grasses grow long and we’re putting off hedging as late as possible, trying to retard lateral shoot growth and of course lots and lots of leaf removal around the clusters. Looks like a lite crop, some set issues as there was rain during flowering. Means we will not have to drop fruit on some vines but most others still will require some green harvesting. We start green harvesting in a couple of weeks. Way too early to predict quality….think sun. Bright side of all the wet weather, our 2008 and 2009 plantings are flourishing on their un-irrigated slopes.”

Make sure to check out Glen Manor, fabulous wines and beautiful views!

Cheers!

Tuesday Quick Sip – 2005 Chateau d’ Arcins Haut-Medoc

2005 Chateau d’ Arcins Haut-Medoc

Wine Information –

Region: Bordeaux, Franc

AOC: Haut-Medoc (near Margaux and St. Julien)

Grapes: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc

Price: $23

My Tasting Notes –

Nose: cherry, barnyard, red clay, eucalyptus

Taste: barnyard, red currant, cedar, menthol, porcini mushroom, blackberry

Mouthfeel: full body, great acidic backbone with tight leathery (borderline velvety) tannins

Finish: long with flavors turning to dark fruit and earth overtones

I was really in the mood for a Bordeaux the other night and this really fit the bill, another great Bordeaux from the 2005 vintage. Very approachable but could still go for another 5 years or so, with plenty of fruit, acid and tannins left to mingle with each other and keep developing this wine.

Cheers!