2006 Bodegas San Alejandro Las Rocas Calatayud Garnacha

As I've noted before, one of the great values picks of the past few years had been the Las Rocas Calatayud Garnacha. This was my first tasting of the 2006 vintage, and I am pleased to report that it is continuing to uphold the quality of the previous vintages.

This wine isn't going to blow you away, but it delivers solid drinking at a great price. I'll continue to recognize this as a great choice for everyday drinkers, as it comes in around $12. The Old Vines cuvee is always great as well, but I'm not sure it is worth the $5-$6 premium it commands.

A couple of Italian standbys

I've had 2 Italian favorites recently, one from a new vintage, another from and older one. First up was the 2006 Argiolas Costera. I've had this wine in prior vintages, and it's usually a favorite, but this wine did not live up to its predecessors upon opening. I found it a bit hot, and almost seeming a little green. It wasn't undrinkable, but it wasn't all that great either, especially considering the track record of prior vintages. On the second night, the wine showed a lot of improvement though. It had softened a bit and didn't seem so disjointed. Perhaps it still needs a little time to settle down, so I will give it another chance in a few months.

The other Italian was another bottle of the 2004 Angelini Val di Suga Rosso di Montalcino. I've had this wine previously, and the most recent tasting reaffirmed the original notes. The wine is very good, but still young, though for the price of $19.99 I've been purchasing it I'll keep drinking. As we are now within two months of Vinitaly 2009, I look forward to tasting all the new releases from Angelini very soon.

2004 Turley Old Vines Zinfandel

This was my last remaining bottle of Turley from the ones I got from my Dad before Loudoun and I started receiving an allocation. Zinfandels aren't known for ageing, and the Old Vines isn't one of Turley's top cuvees, so I was interested to see how this bottle had fared.

I am pleased to say the 2004 Turley Old Vines Zinfandel still had plenty to offer. It wasn't an over-the-top Zin that smacked you right in the face, and had instead mellowed quite a bit. On the second night, the wine hadn't lost anything and still offered immense pleasure with plenty of fruit. While I wouldn't say the wine had added too much during its ageing, I won't be afraid to let my Zins rest for a few years before drinking either, based on this bottle.

2007 Domaine St Damien Cotes du Rhone

I actually missed out on trying the 2007 St. Damien Cotes du Rhone over the holidays with the family because I had come down with a cold and did not drink any wine for a few days. Dad loved it, and since I had a bottle at home already I was anxious to try it. Plenty of other folks have been raving about it as a top-notch Cotes du Rhone from an incredible vintage, but I must say I was a little disappointed.

To me, this wine came off a little hot. It seemed to have a little too much alcohol on it, and not much complexity to it. I hoped that on the second night the wine would be a bit more in balance, but it still wasn't quite there. Perhaps it needs more time, or perhaps it was an off bottle, but on the whole I thought this was a very average Cotes du Rhone, and not one I would necessarily search out again. I may give it another try in a few months though, to see if it does show any better since I've heard so many good things about it.

2006 D'Arenberg Laughing Magpie Shiraz-Viogner

Once again, I went with my go-to choice for accompanying a steak, the 2006 D'Arenberg Laughing Magpie. I believe this wine has the distinction of being the first one I've written about three times, and I'm pleased to report it still has yet to disappoint.

I'm not going to add much to the prior notes, only to say that I continue to enjoy this as a top Australian wine that doesn't go too overboard in it's profile, instead coming as something between the Old World Northern Rhone style and the full-on in your face style of many Australian wines today. Still holding at about $22 in the Atlanta market, I continue to buy.

Italians to start off the new year

I'm skipping over some of the special holiday wines for now, and will go ahead and jump back in to some of the everyday quaffers that I've had over the past couple of weeks. First up is a trio from Italy - some new, some that I've had before.

First up was the 2004 Brancaia Tre. I've had this great value from the wonderful 04 vintage previously, and again it did not disappoint. The wine is a perfect example of what I look for in a food-friendly wine, a great complement for pizza or pasta especially.

Next up was another 2004 vintage wine, but this time from the Veneto. The 2004 Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre is still a favorite choice of mine as well. As I've noted before, this wine includes a bit of Sangiovese along with the indigenous varietals and like the Brancaia Tre, it is a great food wine. As long as it can be found for under $20, it's a winner.

Finally, I went to the Piemonte region for the 2005 Luciano Sandrone Dolcetto d'Alba. I've actually had the 2006 vintage previously, but this was my first taste of the '05. If prssed, I'd find it very difficult to make a choice between the two. The '05 was a little more forward than the '06, probably due to the added age, but still offered a bit of complexity you might not expect from a Dolcetto. I'm again very impressed by Sandrone, and can't wait to taste some of the other bigger wines of his I have in the cellar.

Overall, these are three great Italian choices from three different regions that continue to highlight the great choices for reasonably priced wines from there. I love the variety on offer, and the fact that so many of these wines are not only great on their own, but great with food as well.