Andre
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Posts posted by Andre
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Great choice Craig,
Also would like to add the Don Antonio, Morgante, Sicily 2000.
Thanks and a great year to all.
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A good value for the money, food friendly wine [fully agree to that].
Thanks for sharing.
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I would love to hear of a good value for the money champagne. My knowledge consists mostly of the big names indeed.
I'm going to be a bit of a jellyfish and say that, of course, it depends on your definition of value. But I believe your first post addressed the lack of character or complexity issue. And that's what I can address more certainly than whether or not a particular wine or price range is a value.
Here's my short list of small producers making distinctive wines of character. For me, at any rate, they are a comparative value when placed dollar for dollar alongside the big houses.
Larmandier-Bernier (the Nombre d'Or uses ancient grape varieties)
Pierre Peters
Diebolt-Vallois
Fleury
Jean Milan
Lallement
H. Billiot
Egly-Ouriet (particularly the rose and V.V.)
Rene Geoffroy
Tarlant
Ployez-Jacquemart
Those are just off the top of my head.
Thank you very much,
Is there a possibility for prices ?
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I would love to hear of a good value for the money champagne. My knowledge consists mostly of the big names indeed.
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Overrating is becoming a world phenomena but the leader was and is Champagne.
Excellent marketing though....
And now for the reason:
Most champagne does not deliver character or complexity enough to match its mostly exaggerated prices.
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A very good point John.
The Nero d'Avola may provide the textute and body while other more dominant grapes may provide the flavor.
It may be regarded as the semillion in the white bordeaux blends.
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Finally, sparkling Vouvray is often unjustly overlooked.
I agree, a very good value for the money.
Also one of the supevalues: Australia's Yellowglen.
Starting with the vintage pinot noir - chardonnay and all the way up to the Cuvee Victoria.
Wouldn't mind a sparkling shiraz as well. "Y" is always a favorite.
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If you want to match food and wine it is very simple, address a professional [that's whre Mark comes in ].
This is not a professional article but while at it here it goes:
The very new Australian wine industry used to be based on sweet wine demands from England. After the big changes of 1950-1970, there were other customers in foreign markets. The locals prefered the almost sweet syrupie beaujolais style reigning the super-markets such as Orlando's Jacob's Creek, Penfold's second label Dalwood.
The booming pacific Rim in the 80's provided a huge potential for neighboring Australia.
The wines exported were mostly designed to suit the spicy Asian food their customers were drinking it with. Longer fermentations that allowed the tannins to soften were becoming a norm for the big Australian wines and later on to the simpler ones.
Indeed the sometimes stupid competition between chefs and kitchens may drive the customer crazy with an often too complex dish but I guess this is due to marketing and demand.
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One wine show:
Nero d’Avola – Cabernet Sauvignon Cygnus 2000 by Tasca D’Almerita.
A wine maker friend was paying me a visit after a too long interval. After an update on the last vintage focusing on some of the diseases that strike the mature grapes [and the big question of how to deal with them without “extra” flavors in the wine, hunger struck.
I opened a bottle of the Cygnus 2000 while serving fresh tomato soup spiced with shredded Kholenjan, anis seeds and cumin.
By the time I served the second course the wine was starting to evolve in the glass:
An Excellent combination of the two grapes. A deep red ruby toward amber color. The nose is not very aromatic at the beginning but 10 minutes in the glass reveal mashed red dried prunes and black cherry liquor. The medium bodied velvety texture is dominated by dried prune syrup, with soft spices and already mature tannins. The 300 l. French oak barrels are skillfully blended in.
A brilliant job by the winemaker where the Nero d'Avola serves as the body and the ripe Cabernet provides most flavors.
The cheese quiche served with it, had a rich assorted cheese, nutmeg and allspice aroma that did not match the sweet aroma of the wine. In the mouth the wine and quiche blended in perfectly. The soft texture of the quiche was in perfect harmony with the soft texture of the wine.
The entrecote that was served as the main dish was a perfect match for the Cygnus. Aged medium rare with a little sauce based on deglazing with pinotage [ Swartland unoaked RSA ] with the addition of a bit of onion, garlic juice and mustard seeds.
Great matching with both dishes and a highly recommended wine.
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A very careful question there.
The wonderful world of tea is very widely open for you guys.
Another healthy suggestion is not to drink at all during the meal and enjoy your favorite water at the end.
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I tried the Falling Star and I am afraid it is too late to elevate it anywhere. Boaringly simple just bordering a drinkable wine.Try the Merlot Malbec by Falling Star that will provide you with a much better value for the money for this Argentinian wine.
I am afraid I didn'y try anything else on that list.
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Thanks again Craig,
Tokaj is a village in North-Eastern Hungary. Tokaji reflects the region. [ i = off Tokaj ]. The fame of this region had no doubt invited imitations very much like the regions of Champagne, Cognac and others.
There should be no debate about the use of the name that should be confined to the Tokaji region.
A more serius problem is the continuation of the Tokaji region across the Slovanian border. This area had been baring the name Tokaji since the comunist era, using the same grape varieties and production techniques [ though segnificantly inferior quality wise ].
Thanks again for the illuminating article.
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Chateau Briand Arose’ with white wine and Cognac braised with Rosmarine accompanied by black pepper creamed mushroom sauce, potatoes gratine’e [ three cheeses ] and white wine.
Reminds me of when a restaurant I once went to:
Wairess 1: "We only have 2 Chateaubriand left so you may wish to reserve them"
Us: "OK"
Waitress 2 comes along a few minutes later: " How many bottles of Chateau Briand did you want?"
Us:
oops
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A broken wrist may be the end of the world to whoever experiences such consistent pains on a minute-by-minute basis for over three months. Nothing seems to be able to stop my mother’s culinary talents.
The following meal was cooked for 10 friends and family members with one hand:
Creamed red lentil soup with sweet potato and carrots spiced with cumin and a lemon zest. Optional addition: butter roasted bread crumbs with fresh parsley and chives.
The wine: Verdelho 1999, Swan valley western Australia 1999 by Tlijancich. Clear straw toward yellowish color with a sharp fresh heb and tropical fruit aroma, very round on the palate and somehow drier than the nose, smooth ad very long with a hovering light spicy finish.
The smooth texture of the soup was a perfect match for the Verdelho and the cumin complimented the perfectly balanced wine and dish.
The following is a distinctively Palestinian dish:
Tajine fillet of sea-bream baked in tahina and fried onion sauce decorated with pine-nuts.
The wine: White Rioja Conde de Valdemar, Finca Alta de Cantabria 1999.
Those who judge a wine by its appearance better skip this one. Goldish toward brownish color, this crianza is heavily coated with old oak bouquet with plenty of earthy and spicy aromas and some citrus fruit.
The palate reveals a medium bodied rich and amazingly smooth dry wine, perfectly balanced with the dominating spices, dried apples, and the perfectly intermingled oaky finish.
The melting fish in the rather oily tahina sauce was perfectly matched by the dry and earthy Rioja elevating the diners to a higher sphere.
Green salad with walnuts seasoned with honey mustard and huile a la truffe noix de jacquou and a few drops of aged balsamico.
This provided a small break before the main dish. No wine matching here.
Chateaubriand Arose’ with white wine and Cognac braised with Rosmarine accompanied by black pepper creamed mushroom sauce, potatoes gratine’e [ three cheeses ] and white wine.
The wines: Merot Reserva, Montes 2000 from Chile, and Shiraz Mount Ida, Victoria from Australia.
Bigger is better? It seems not always.
The merlot showed a great nose of ripe raspberries, black cherries coffee and lightly toasted oak with a now rather smooth tannins, well balanced red berries and oak and a pleasantly vegi. finish. The medium rare fillet did not require any chewing and was happy to meet the Merlot as if life long friends.
The full bodied Mount Ida was like an addition of concentrated sweet sauce to the dish, not my cup of tea and respectfully out of place.
I left my glass to try with some of the cheeses that followed.
Cheese platter consisting of Saint Agur blue cheese, aged Gouda and Brie de montagne.
I finished the Shiraz with the Gouda and opened a Pinneau for the more aggressive St. Agur and Brie.
The Wine: Pinneau de Charentes Moulin de Merienne Rubis 5 years old.
My preference is always white pinneau to red but the St. Agur made the call. Deep rubis color with a port like nose blended with some cognac aromas of aged oak and caramel. The texture is creamy, sweetish and complex. A good match to the St. Agur and a narrow pass for the Brie de Montagne match.
Dessert:
Lebanese Assafira: thin tiny pancakes filled with soft white cheese and cream, dressed with Neroli flavored syrup, and decorated with minced pistachio nuts. A masterpiece addition performed by grandmother [ apples…trees…].
Traditional pistachio filled cookies [ Ghraybeh ] accompanied the tea orders.
God bless those hand mother.
p/s
Imagine cooking for 10 using one hand but unable to open a single bottle of wine?
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A definite mind exercise, Craig.
Seems very interesting but I must confess, do need time to digest something like that.
Pino Nero is a brilliant example, surely something that deserves full attention and thought.
If I may, I would like to add the Pinot Nero produced by Hofstatter in Alto Aldige.
Amazing, the different styles and intensity a single winery can produce from one grape.
cheers.
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Tannins anyone? Medoc it is.
Whenever I think of Bordeaux, I automatically start chewing on thin air and liquids while forming some rather funny Mickey Mouse faces to whomever is watching.
Tannis, soft tannis, hard tannins, chewy tannins, green tannins - that is what Bordeaux wines stand for in my eyes – plenty of tannins.
The very next thing that comes to mind is patience.
Why on earth would someone open a top quality 2000 vintage Bordeaux? Ignorance is probably the answer to that. Bordeaux wines are designed to develop a certain number of years allowing the consumers to decide for themselves on their own preferences.
Following is an illuminating tasting performed November 30th:
This tasting is not about great names but rather about great drinking wines.
Always nice to start with a white:
Chateau Bonnet Blanc, Entre-Deux-Mere 2000
A Beautiful expression of the region between the Dordogne and Garonne rivers. Although this area is responsible for most of the Bordeaux and Bordeaux superior wine production the A.O.C. tends to reflect the whites blended mostly by Semillon and some Sauvignon Blanc. Excellent balance and marriage of the two grapes. Medium bodied easy drinking wines with ripe melons and sweet apples ending with a fresh grassy finish. Lovely.
Chateau du Grand Moueys, Blanc 1997
A simple reflection of oak aged Bordeaux whites. At 6 years old, the oak and wine seem as one with a dry earthy, smooth flavors. Although this wine is nothing to write home about, it shows a completely different style than the Bonnet.
A White that I would not hesitate to serve with grilled pork.
The Reds:
Chateau Bonnet Rouge, Bordeaux, 1999.
Medium bodied well-balanced dry red with tannins lingering from the mid palate all the way to the mildly spiced finish. A well made good value for the money wine that will easily stand up to any Bordeaux lovers’ expectation as an everyday wine.
Medoc, Reserve Speciale, Lafite, Baron de Rothschild, 2000.
A rather big name for this rather closed and not so complex wine. I would suggest opening the wine in a year or two and hope for some progress.
Chateau Brown Lamartine, Bordeaux Superior 1998.
A Third label Chateau Cantenac Brown wine just south of Margeaux named after a poet friend of owner Armand Lalande.
A fruit driven [mostly cherry] medium bodied well-rounded wine with pleasant ripe soft tannins intermingling very nicely with the spice oriented oaky finish. I am not sure if this wine will develop any more but certainly will prove a good company to a good steak.
Chateau Monbrison, Cru Bourgeois, Margeaux 1995.
Not a Grand Cru? This wine is a very clear “So what”.
There is something about 1995 and Bordeaux that goes very well together. This year seems to be plenty of tannins. Once used to be a hard wine, the Monbrison is finally showing some balance with little expression of red fruits, mostly forest berries, good acidity and a medium long softly spiced finish coated with ripe tannins. A very good complex and reasonably priced quality wine that is neither a GC nor even a Cru Exepcionelle or Cru Bourgeois superior. Lucky us.
CARRUADES de LAFITE, Pauillac. 1995
This second label by Chateau Lafite, seems more like the harsher more Sirius Mouton this year than a Lafite off-spring. Plenty of now rather soft, yet not necessarily mature tannins with some cassis and red berries and a somehow green harsh tannins on the finish, yet distinctively 1995.
CARRUADES de LAFITE, Pauillac. 1996.
To say the truth, I did not intend to open this wine but 1995 was mentioned too much not to compare with the massive 1996.
The wine is still closed showing plenty of green notes with some fruits appearing in the glass after 15 minutes. The tannins are harsh and rather green and the taste lacks both balance and complexity yet a promise of a really good bargain is showing some signs and should put words into action in two years time.
Chateau Poujeaux, Moulis en Medoc 1995.
An example of the sometimes-awkward Bordeaux classification system. Medium to full bodied chewy wine just starting to express its complexity
With some cassis and red berries coating the now softening tannins. Subtle oak and spices on the finish prove this wine to be an excellent expression of this vintage. A Raw steak with this one and I am a happy man.
Chateau Gruaud Larose, Grand Cru Classe’ Saint Julien 1994
One of the best early drinking quality Bordeaux wine region. The Wine Spectator’s enthusiasm of this region was clearly shown in this years top 100 wine list, and this is one of the increasingly rare moments I come to terms with their wine choices of this region.
The elegancy and gentleness of this wine may have proved disappointing after an array of heavily tannined wines at the first encounter, but after concentrating on its beautifully balanced nose and witnessed the development in the mouth after 10 seconds, ther was no mistake for its uniqueness. Round with ripe raspberries, cassis, dark chocolate, nutmeg and allspice. A friendlier version of Bordeaeaux? Maybe, but, by no means less complex.
Chateau Lafon-Rochet, Grand Cru Classe’ Saint-Estephe 1990.
There is always this question: When should I open my Saint-Etephe?
This upper Medoc appellation is characterized by hard tannins that make most wines very difficult for early drinking.
Situated between Lafite and Cos D’Estournel, this massive wine proved rather young at 13 years of age. The massive amount of hard tannins deprive the current drinker from the supposed balance of concentrated fruits, concentrated tannins and concentrated spices that will not be fully expressed in at least three years.
Patience is a good thing.
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Etiquete is about being a good host and allowing maximum comfortability.
You should be presented with tiny sips of your own without having to drink from your friends glass.
The fact that you have chosen to participate should be enough to earn their appriciation and extra attention.
When I dined with my wife during pregnancy a few months ago, not all hosts were cosiderate - that is bad etiquete. One place had us waiting for 15 minutes on tall uncomfortable chairs although we reserved in advance [ I only wished Carema was there...].
The better hosts they are the more comfortable you should feel.
I would call them in advance and explain the situation.
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Great thread,
I must confess that "bitching oak" does sound scary since [ and this may have been the case with the first choice of chardonnay ] the combination may result in unpleasant bitterness.
I have two choices in mind:
1. a rather round and certainly not perfumed wine such as the Pinot Blanc from Alsace. If the sauce is on the side of this fish, the result may be very pleasant.
2. A vermentino [ Rolle] from Sardegna or a dry earthy white from Portugal. Again would stay away from perfumed or even sweet wines as they may not be able to deal with the sauce.
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I would like to knowsome more information about the chocoolates: source of raw material, blends, percentage etc.
I would start the tating with a tasting of dif. percentage of dark from dif. sources.
If the choclates are flavoured - what with ?
adding to the prvious choices:
Amarone
Oaky hot climate Cab. - you can play with dif. oak [ toastiness ]
Cahors and dif. kinds of Malbec etc.....
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Craig is my friend
Wine Spectator is no doubt driving this holly place the wrong way. This is very wrong. Those who taste the wines in WS are trained to seek power rather than complexity on the one hand, and show off with the "in" producers on the other.
The WS statement is very much the swell of no return. Several years ago they rated some of the 1994 port wines "100" [Fonseca, Tylor ] prices broke into outer space in no time. Cult wines? I think we have enough of those and this marketing strategy proved wrong on the long run.
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The only one we stock is the Chateau Chambon (M. LaPierre)
TN: 2003
Sour cherries and a hint of flint. The unmistakable stench of CM (grape Bubblelicious).
Nice cute lasting finish.
I am hungover like no tormorrow and this is perfect.
The color is pretty, a smashed dark violet smeared on the pavement during rain.
Today in Chicago it is warm,almost tropical and winter lurks in the back- a chill that threatens and snow is imminent.
A little swirl and the glass yields a snitch of garrigue.
Also the tinniest smidge of herbaciousness, bergamot maybe straining to release itself from bon bon land.
ooooh. And cherry mike n' ikes. remember those. I used to eat them after swimming at the Y. We are going there tonight.
Arevoir y'all.
Witty !
Amongst Drouhin Village, Deboeuf and Albert Bichot, Drouhin rules in this part of the world.
Prices in Israel 13.5$-18.5$.
Local Israeli versions:
Carmel Mizrahi Hilulim 2003: the lowest form of a delluted wine. 3.8$
It looks as if the wine maker blended whatever grape and whatever vintage ...
Tishbi Junior, Baron cellars, Zichron 2003 5.3$
A rather pleasant aroma of red cherry syrup and cassis, yet the body lacks the fresh youthful aromas of a nouveau with a disapointing off aromas at the finish.
Gamay Nouveau, Golan Heights Winery 2003. 8 $
Very light raspberry candy, vanilla and butterscotch candy nose.
Delluted with unpleasant sweetness and unpleasnt finish of somehow oxidized grapes., lacks acidity. Drink chilled if you must.
Wine is Spiritual?
in Wine
Posted
"WineSpirit is the brain child of White and David Freed, who runs the wine industry investment firm Universal Capital Corp. WineSpirit is based in UCC's Napa office and is "an unofficial nonprofit arm" of UCC, White says."
Wine is the religion of land and farmer.
I would not like to contaminate it by people who believe they are closer to God.