The Wine Spectator has a fascinating string on wine tasting and rating. http://www.winespectator.com/blogs/show/id/48125?icid=em_com They discuss blind wine tasting and other influences on tasting wine. One guy comments on how he believes that wineries are cheating and that they give wine publications rigged bottles to taste. He compares it to steroids in baseball. When there is so much money at stake people will do anything to get a 90 point review from some publication. The reactions from the WS writers is quite interesting.
I don't give point reviews so I shouldn't be surprised that my wine comments are not picked up by the wine industry. Apparently wineries supply bloggers with wine if they give good reviews. Points are more easily advertised than words. My son gets me a bottle of wine for my birthday every year and as long someone has given it a 90, he feels he has the perfect gift.
Lettie Teague has an interesting article on wine bloggers in this weekend's Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323419104578376630145206770.html I did not make her list. Oh well.
Drank Chateau Arnaud 2010 $20 a few nights ago. It is from St Estephe in Bordeaux. Wines from St Estephe usually have mostly cabernet sauvignon and this wine is 60% CS. The wine opened up after about 1/2 an hour. It had good mouth feel and good flavor. We enjoyed the bottle with a steak. Looks like the 2010 Bordeaux's are quite good.
Last night I had another bottle of Domaine Drouhin Edition Rose $20 2011 . I love the wine, great balance and complexity. It went well with fajitas and guacomole. The wine only available at the winery. If you need a good excuse to go to Oregon ...
Enjoy.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
March Madness, Cayman Islands, Palm Springs
March Madness
Wine and basketball are not usually paired together. Maybe we need to start a tradition. Watch the NCAA basketball tournament and drink some wine. The tournament is all about parity and upsets this year. Louisville is looking good, so far.
Cayman Islands
I had a chance to visit the Grand Cayman Island again. I had a good time and stayed at a friend's house. The water sports are great. We had good weather. I had a chance to walk on seven mile beach again. It is beautiful, white sand and blue green water.There is also things to do on the beach from water sports to eating, drinking and people watching.
We brought some great wines to the island. As I have previously stated, it is easy to bring some good wines on a trip and enjoy them at restaurants or where you are staying. We brought:
Bordeaux's
Chateau Leoville Poyferre 2006 OK Bordeaux; have not had many 06's. This may be good for 06 but it does not hold up to 2010 and 2009 in general. Decent fruit but nothing special.
Chateau Villars 2010 VG 2010 Bordeaux, very smooth and balanced, really enjoyed, good fruit and tannin.
Chateau Haut Gardere 2003 Drank this wine docked on a boat in a marina in the Caymans. VG bottle. The fruit showed up. A nice sipping wine. We drank with no food and the wine disappeared. Glad I have more bottles. An 03 Bordeaux comes into its own, wow.
Rhones
2010 Domaine de la Côte de l'Ange Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes Liked this wine. Balanced, fruit, tannin and acid are all together. Parker is right on. Could drink this wine all night. Great stuff.
2010 Patrick Lesec Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Bargeton Young CDP, good fruit, a bit hollow in the middle but good finish, enjoyed the bottle with friends
Other bottle
2006 Joseph Phelps Insignia Great wine; balanced, complex; a joy to drink.
Bought on the island
2008 Vigneti del Vulture Aglianico del Vulture Piano del Cerro Riserva Did not like this bottle.
Chakalaka 2009 We never drank this bottle but it is a favorite.
The wines were great. 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape's are getting great reviews and the 2 we drank were off the charts. My note on the Lesac wine is tough because we drank it after the l'Ange. The Insignia is too good for words. The Villars was a surprise as it was very smooth and balanced. I bought it at Costco for $18. It is a 2010 Bordeaux and I am getting more impressed with the 2010 Bordeaux's by the week.
Had some good food in the Caymans. Over the Edge http://over-theedge.com/was very good. Lots of seafood in an over the water setting.
The Lighthouse http://www.lighthouse.ky/home.html was also very good. We had Italian food and brought some of our wine to the restaurant. They charge $20 corkage per bottle which was reasonable. I had a lobster tail with homemade spinach raviolis with goat cheese. Very good.
We visited Camana Bay. There is a wine shop there with wine tasting machines. I tried the
2010 Château de Saint-Cosme Gigondas. It was very good with nice balance and fruit.The 2010 Rhone wines are looking better and better. Michaels Genuine Food and Drink http://michaelsgenuine.com/grand-cayman/ at Camana Bay still looks good. Did not get a chance to eat there this time.
Palm Springs
I also had a chance to visit Palm Springs California. Food was OK. The setting was beautiful. I had a glass of the 2011 Meiomi Pinot Noir again. It was very good.
Also had a Stolpman 2009 Syrah. Not sure which one but it was very good. I have been reading about Stolpman wines lately but had never seen one. Drank with pizza.
Also had chance to try the 2010 Chehalem Pinot Noir 3 Vineyard from Oregon's Willamette Valley. It was light but had some flavor. I would like more mouth feel and more intensity. I have had better 2010 from the Willamette Valley.
Recent wines
2009 Château de Pitray Côtes de Castillon $11 Good 09 Bordeaux with surprising texture, flavor and complexity. VG value.
NV Codorníu Cava "Anna de Cordoniu" $11 Good but different cava. The Chardonnay makes it a bit less fruity but it still an enjoyable wine. Drank with bake clams and tomatoes with bufalo mozzerella
2011 Domaine Lafage Chardonnay Novellum $11 Interesting wine. Clean, good fruit and acid, however after the first glass you don't want any more of this wine. just not my style. It is a chardonnay but ... Can't agree with the WA review, which raved about the wine.
2009 Di Majo Norante Biferno Ramitello $12
Drinkable but very astringent. Not going to make excuses for a wine. Fruit but it is overwhelmed by the acid. Not for me.
Wine and basketball are not usually paired together. Maybe we need to start a tradition. Watch the NCAA basketball tournament and drink some wine. The tournament is all about parity and upsets this year. Louisville is looking good, so far.
Cayman Islands
I had a chance to visit the Grand Cayman Island again. I had a good time and stayed at a friend's house. The water sports are great. We had good weather. I had a chance to walk on seven mile beach again. It is beautiful, white sand and blue green water.There is also things to do on the beach from water sports to eating, drinking and people watching.
We brought some great wines to the island. As I have previously stated, it is easy to bring some good wines on a trip and enjoy them at restaurants or where you are staying. We brought:
Bordeaux's
Chateau Leoville Poyferre 2006 OK Bordeaux; have not had many 06's. This may be good for 06 but it does not hold up to 2010 and 2009 in general. Decent fruit but nothing special.
Chateau Villars 2010 VG 2010 Bordeaux, very smooth and balanced, really enjoyed, good fruit and tannin.
Chateau Haut Gardere 2003 Drank this wine docked on a boat in a marina in the Caymans. VG bottle. The fruit showed up. A nice sipping wine. We drank with no food and the wine disappeared. Glad I have more bottles. An 03 Bordeaux comes into its own, wow.
Rhones
2010 Domaine de la Côte de l'Ange Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes Liked this wine. Balanced, fruit, tannin and acid are all together. Parker is right on. Could drink this wine all night. Great stuff.
2010 Patrick Lesec Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Bargeton Young CDP, good fruit, a bit hollow in the middle but good finish, enjoyed the bottle with friends
Other bottle
2006 Joseph Phelps Insignia Great wine; balanced, complex; a joy to drink.
Bought on the island
2008 Vigneti del Vulture Aglianico del Vulture Piano del Cerro Riserva Did not like this bottle.
Chakalaka 2009 We never drank this bottle but it is a favorite.
The wines were great. 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape's are getting great reviews and the 2 we drank were off the charts. My note on the Lesac wine is tough because we drank it after the l'Ange. The Insignia is too good for words. The Villars was a surprise as it was very smooth and balanced. I bought it at Costco for $18. It is a 2010 Bordeaux and I am getting more impressed with the 2010 Bordeaux's by the week.
Had some good food in the Caymans. Over the Edge http://over-theedge.com/was very good. Lots of seafood in an over the water setting.
The Lighthouse http://www.lighthouse.ky/home.html was also very good. We had Italian food and brought some of our wine to the restaurant. They charge $20 corkage per bottle which was reasonable. I had a lobster tail with homemade spinach raviolis with goat cheese. Very good.
We visited Camana Bay. There is a wine shop there with wine tasting machines. I tried the
2010 Château de Saint-Cosme Gigondas. It was very good with nice balance and fruit.The 2010 Rhone wines are looking better and better. Michaels Genuine Food and Drink http://michaelsgenuine.com/grand-cayman/ at Camana Bay still looks good. Did not get a chance to eat there this time.
I also had a chance to visit Palm Springs California. Food was OK. The setting was beautiful. I had a glass of the 2011 Meiomi Pinot Noir again. It was very good.
Also had a Stolpman 2009 Syrah. Not sure which one but it was very good. I have been reading about Stolpman wines lately but had never seen one. Drank with pizza.
Also had chance to try the 2010 Chehalem Pinot Noir 3 Vineyard from Oregon's Willamette Valley. It was light but had some flavor. I would like more mouth feel and more intensity. I have had better 2010 from the Willamette Valley.
2009 Château de Pitray Côtes de Castillon $11 Good 09 Bordeaux with surprising texture, flavor and complexity. VG value.
NV Codorníu Cava "Anna de Cordoniu" $11 Good but different cava. The Chardonnay makes it a bit less fruity but it still an enjoyable wine. Drank with bake clams and tomatoes with bufalo mozzerella
2011 Domaine Lafage Chardonnay Novellum $11 Interesting wine. Clean, good fruit and acid, however after the first glass you don't want any more of this wine. just not my style. It is a chardonnay but ... Can't agree with the WA review, which raved about the wine.
2009 Di Majo Norante Biferno Ramitello $12
Drinkable but very astringent. Not going to make excuses for a wine. Fruit but it is overwhelmed by the acid. Not for me.
| 2006 Chimney Rock Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District $40 Wine started out disjointed but it came together after about 20 minutes. Lots of tannin but the fruit came thru and we enjoyed the bottle. The wine needed food, we had steak, and it faded towards the end of the bottle. Not much complexity. Not a great value although I got it as a gift. Not sure if continued cellaring will help this wine. I would drink it now. |
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2009 L'Esprit de Chevalier $23 Not sure about this wine. It probably needs time. Good structure and flavor but
tannins prevail. Will see how fruit develops. Will try again 2005 Château Larrivaux $10 My hopes are being dashed after holding this wine for a number of years. Previously thought that this wine was coming around but not this bottle. Still think it needs time but maybe it is wishful thinking. May never develop. I have a few more bottles. A trip to Kauai is coming up in the near future. I will stop in on Aunt Lillikoi. Enjoy. |
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Seen a Crocus Yet
Seen a Crocus yet
It is beginning to look like spring. I had withdrawal symptoms for veggies last weekend. I found an H-Mart in Edison NJ. Apparently it is a chain of Korean grocery stores. This store was very modern and large. The produce department had all types of fruits and vegetables. I bought snow pea pods, sugar snap peas, Japanese eggplant, baby bok choy,persimmons, frozen dumplings and Vietnamese clear spring roll wraps. Everything was very reasonably priced and good quality.
H-Mart is down the road from one of the 2 NY Costcos that have wine. Of course I made my Costco wine stop. I found several interesting wines.
Pio Cesare 2007 Barolo $54 - I had this in Barolo and it was great.
Monsanto Chianti Classico Reserva 2008 $15.99 This is a very good wine that I have had in other vintages.
Chateau Vilars 2010 Bordeaux $18.99 - Have not tried yet.
Friends came over for dinner the other night. I made slices of Italian bread with bufala mozzeralla. Costco sell the buffalo mozz very cheaply. The cheese comes from Italy and is made with buffalo milk. It is creamy and is packed in water. A pound plus package is $12, a real bargain.
I put fresh tomato slices with salt, olive oil and vinegar over the cheese.
I then made the frozen Chinese pork and leek dumplings. I make the sauce of sherry, soy sauce and chopped ginger. I then made sauteed veggies of onions, snow peas, sugar snap peas and bok choy. I made fried rice with white rice, sauteed onions and mushrooms, soy sauce and an egg white. I seared some fresh tuna. I took a rice bowl and put in rice, then veggies and sliced tuna.
Also made 5 -flavor shrimp. Cooked shrimp in the shell but minus legs and vein and fried in oil quickly. Then drained and re cooked with salt, pepper and 5 flavor spice sprinkled on to lightly coat the shells. Chinese 5 flavor spice is a favorite and it is a combination of cinnamon, star anise, fennel, ginger, cloves, white pepper and licorice root. Gee, that is more than 5. This is the spice that gives Chinese ribs their distinct flavor.
I made citrus sorbet with orange juice, lemon and grapefruit juice. All fresh and I used meyer lemons, which I found in Costco. Meyer lemons are very juicy and have great flavor.
We drank Justin Justification 2003 -- a blend of cabernet franc and merlot and a 2007 Rosenblum Cellars Zinfandel Reserve Lyons Vineyard, Rust Ridge Vineyard Napa Valley. The Justin was balanced and complex and good. The Zin was great. It was 15.9% alcohol, OMG, but it was smooth with lots of fruit but not grapey. I am not a Zin lover but this wine rocked.
We also tried to drink a Sauterne, Chateau Filhot 2001. I opened 1 bottle and it was moldy and not good so I opened a second bottle and it too was moldy and corked. Oh well. Sauternes are nice dessert wines but I rarely drink them.
Recent Wines
2006 Nicolas Potel Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Hauts-Doix OK Burgundy but I make excuses for them. A Pinot Noir needing more fruit. Subtle.
2010 Viña Leyda Pinot Noir Las Brisas Really good Chile Pinot Noir. Earthy. I paid $13 but the price has gone up to $17.
It is beginning to look like spring. I had withdrawal symptoms for veggies last weekend. I found an H-Mart in Edison NJ. Apparently it is a chain of Korean grocery stores. This store was very modern and large. The produce department had all types of fruits and vegetables. I bought snow pea pods, sugar snap peas, Japanese eggplant, baby bok choy,persimmons, frozen dumplings and Vietnamese clear spring roll wraps. Everything was very reasonably priced and good quality.
H-Mart is down the road from one of the 2 NY Costcos that have wine. Of course I made my Costco wine stop. I found several interesting wines.
| 2010 Château Petit-Freylon Cuvée Sarah $7.99 - This is a good wine with nice fruit and structure. A really good bargain. Costco is great for cheap Bordeaux wines from good vintages. They sell out very fast. |
Monsanto Chianti Classico Reserva 2008 $15.99 This is a very good wine that I have had in other vintages.
Chateau Vilars 2010 Bordeaux $18.99 - Have not tried yet.
Friends came over for dinner the other night. I made slices of Italian bread with bufala mozzeralla. Costco sell the buffalo mozz very cheaply. The cheese comes from Italy and is made with buffalo milk. It is creamy and is packed in water. A pound plus package is $12, a real bargain.
I put fresh tomato slices with salt, olive oil and vinegar over the cheese.
I then made the frozen Chinese pork and leek dumplings. I make the sauce of sherry, soy sauce and chopped ginger. I then made sauteed veggies of onions, snow peas, sugar snap peas and bok choy. I made fried rice with white rice, sauteed onions and mushrooms, soy sauce and an egg white. I seared some fresh tuna. I took a rice bowl and put in rice, then veggies and sliced tuna.
Also made 5 -flavor shrimp. Cooked shrimp in the shell but minus legs and vein and fried in oil quickly. Then drained and re cooked with salt, pepper and 5 flavor spice sprinkled on to lightly coat the shells. Chinese 5 flavor spice is a favorite and it is a combination of cinnamon, star anise, fennel, ginger, cloves, white pepper and licorice root. Gee, that is more than 5. This is the spice that gives Chinese ribs their distinct flavor.
I made citrus sorbet with orange juice, lemon and grapefruit juice. All fresh and I used meyer lemons, which I found in Costco. Meyer lemons are very juicy and have great flavor.
We drank Justin Justification 2003 -- a blend of cabernet franc and merlot and a 2007 Rosenblum Cellars Zinfandel Reserve Lyons Vineyard, Rust Ridge Vineyard Napa Valley. The Justin was balanced and complex and good. The Zin was great. It was 15.9% alcohol, OMG, but it was smooth with lots of fruit but not grapey. I am not a Zin lover but this wine rocked.
We also tried to drink a Sauterne, Chateau Filhot 2001. I opened 1 bottle and it was moldy and not good so I opened a second bottle and it too was moldy and corked. Oh well. Sauternes are nice dessert wines but I rarely drink them.
Recent Wines
2006 Nicolas Potel Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Hauts-Doix OK Burgundy but I make excuses for them. A Pinot Noir needing more fruit. Subtle.
2010 Viña Leyda Pinot Noir Las Brisas Really good Chile Pinot Noir. Earthy. I paid $13 but the price has gone up to $17.
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