Wines with dinner

[Florida Jim]

With cauliflower soup with white truffle oil:

2003 Kahurangi, Sauvignon Blanc (Moutere, NZ):

Aggressively herbaceous with strong gooseberry and spearmint scents, hints of mineral, melon and peach/

Crisp and focused on the palate with flavors that follow the nose, excellent concentration and intensity, good balance/

Medium length, crisp finish.

Needs 2-3 years in the cellar but still fine accompaniment with the soup.

$17.99, full retail.

With grilled pork tenderloin with sautéed onions and mushrooms with pork jus reduction sauce:

2001 Bruno Giacosa, Nebbiolo D’Alba Valmaggiore:

An odd nose of old wood, freshly picked mint and stale newspaper with some red fruit notes/

More fruit in the mouth and a sort of underlying power that flits across the palate in an instant only to be gone the next; more depth and complexity with good balance and intensity/

Medium length finish that shows its structure but never lets it control.

More “stuff” than the regular version of this wine but also more closed and backward. A bottle deserving of several years of aging. One of those “now you see it, now you don’t” wines that is only beginning to show its potential.

$21.99, discounted.

Best, Jim