Saturday, October 31, 2009

2007 Chateau Pesquie Cotes du Ventoux Les Terrasses

A favorite value wine of Robert Parker (and from an incredible vintage) the 2007 Chateau Pesquie Les Terrasses is a wine I was anxious to try. I've had this wine in prior vintages, and it usually does overdeliver. The 2007 vintage is special in the southern Rhone as I've noted, so this wine had received rave reviews.

I'm pleased to say that the wine lived up to the expectation, as it was absolutely delicious. A blend of 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah, it adds just a hint of elegance to the typical Rhone terroir of the Grenache, something you would expect in a wine costing 2-3 times what this does. In most vintages, I'd recommend this wine, but for 2007 definitely seek it out as there are few wines in the $12-$15 range that will deliver as much drinking pleasure.

Friday, October 30, 2009

2007 Tenuta San Guido Le Difese

I recently was finally able to acquire a parcel of a wine I tasted first at Vinitaly this past year, and is a great value in Italian wine. The 2007 Le Difese is the third wine from Tenuta San Guido, the producer of Sassicaia and Guidalberto. A blend of 70% Cab and 30% Sangiovese, this is a very elegant wine for the price.

This bottle, opened just a few days after arrival from IWM in New York, was a bit disjointed upon opening, showing off a lot of Cab flavors but little typicity of its Italian upbringing. On the second night though, things were more in balance and it was starting to show off a little more. I'm happy to have 5 more bottles of this wine, and highly recommend it if you can find it - this is a special wine for a pretty reasonable price.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

2005 Turley Dragon Zinfandel

Ok, so I've been slacking again on blog updates, but I've also had less wine to drink lately with trips out of town, football games, a cold, and more. Among the few recent bottles was one of my older Zinfandels, the 2005 Turley Dragon Vineyard. This wasn't one of the best Turleys I've ever had, somewhat simple and short on the palate. It did have some nice dark fruit and a bit of spice, but overall wasn't quite up to the usual Turley standard. 2005 wasn't a great vintage for Zinfandel. I think that's what ultimately doomed this wine, because it had some nice characteristics and wasn't a bad wine at all, just not the top quality I expect from one of the iconic Zinfandel producers.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Two from the Rhone

Among the recent bottles have been a pair from the Rhone - one old, one younger. The older wine was the 2000 Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas. I will admit that this wine seemed to be fading. It wasn't bad, but the fruit seemed a bit muted, with hints of soy starting to creep in on the palate, a sign that the wine's age was a factor. There was still some underlying flavor of dark fruit, but I certainly believe that the wine was probably better a year or so ago. Santa Duc is regarded as one of the best producers in Gigondas, so it was a bit disappointing that I had held this bottle a little too long.

Up next was one of my regular choices, the 2006 Domaine La Garrigue Cotes du Rhone. Though I've had the hyped 2007, I've really enjoyed bottles of the 2006 vintage more. This bottle continued that consistency, with some good cherry flavors and a some of the typical Southern Rhone terroir. I've been reading of some issues of bottle variation on the 2007, so for now I'll stick with the 2006 vintage as long as I can, as it is a great value.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Two Spanish regulars

I've recently had two of my regulars from Spain, but while one was up to its usual standards, the other was a bit of a disappointment. First up was the 2007 Borsao Campo de Borja. As I've said on so many occasions, this is my favorite wine value anywhere, as it still sells for about $7 a bottle. A blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha, it gives off a great deal of primary fruit with just a hint of earthiness. I always enjoy it, and highly recommend it.

The next wine was the 2005 Volver La Mancha. Previous bottles of this have been enjoyable, though stylistically they are more in the modern, fruit-forward vein. I've usually found enough balance that the wine remains enjoyable, but with this bottle that wasn't the case. I thought the wine ended up a bit too over-the-top, with too much oak and not enough acidity to balance the wine out properly. I'm not sure if this was just an off bottle, or if there is a deeper issue, but overall I did not enjoy this wine as I had in the past. I may still get another bottle soon to see what is going on with this wine, though it may be one of the newer vintages now available.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Catching up, two more Italians

Again, I've fallen behind on blog entries with a lot going on, so I'll do my best to catch up in the coming days. I'll be doubling up by country again, starting with a pair from Italy. Up first was one of my standbys, the 2005 Zenato Ripasso. It's only been a couple of months since my last bottle of this wine, and it remained consistent. The wine isn't blowing me away, but it a solid effort, and a great food wine. I had it with Chicken Cacciatore, and it was a very good match. If you can find it around $20, it's definitely worth it, but at a higher tariff, I'm not sure it outdoes other Ripassos available for less in this vintage.

The next wine was the 2007 Altesino Rosso di Altesino, and IGT Toscana. This is a pretty good, though somewhat simple Sangiovese-based blend. It's from a pretty decent vintage and a great easy-drinking wine for food. It's pretty inexpensive, so a wine I'd recommend as a good everyday purchase to have with a meal.