2015 Stemmari Nero D'Avola Sicily

I have been meaning to pick a bottle of Nero since watching a show where they made a red sauce using some Nero in it. The recipe looked amazing, which inspired me to check this grape out. The NH Liquor store in W. Lebanon has 3 different wineries to choose from; they range in price from $7.99 to $13.99.

I decided to try the Stemmari ($7.99) and Villa Pozzi ($9.99) both have screwtop enclosures. But don't be put off by this, the modern Stelvin enclosure works great for wines meant to be consumed within a couple of years of being released.

 I've noticed more of the wines in the $7 to $15 dollar range with the screwtop enclosure in recent years; this is in response to the fact that demand for cork has outstripped supply. The bark of the Cork trees can only be harvested every 7 years, and there are only so many trees....

At first, the Stemmari has some red fruit, tobacco leaf notes, a bit of freshness in the nose. The palate has semi-tart strawberry, cranberry, red plum? with good acidity that cleanses the palate.

After 45 minutes the nose takes on cherry, strawberry, almost black plum notes, the palate has developed more of a full mouth feel with a nice blend of matching flavors of the nose. This has developed nicely since opening, it finishes pleasantly tart with lingering red fruit notes.

I made some bruschetta using Pricehopper's Central Market tomato topping, and put some freshly grated Parmigiano cheese on top. The Nero paired nicely with this, and would likely go well with a number of foods... in my opinion this is a nice change of pace from Chianti, and at a good price.

On sale now at NH Liquor outlets for $7.99, and probably a few other retail outlets as well.

Cheers!        Next up, the Villa Pozzi....

Ed

14 Hands Winery  2015 Merlot  Columbia Valley

It's no secret I like Washington State wines, I believe they offer a great price to quality ratio in most instances. The growing conditions are usually very stable, and the growers can produce optimum fruit for wine. The 2015 growing seaon was very favorable, and almost all wines across the board are quite good.

This winery is part of the Chateau Ste Michelle group, which means the winemaking team has the equipment and resources available to make top notch wines at an affordable price. 

Merlot got a bad reputation in California a while back because it became the darling wine, and producers pushed out quanity over quality. When people realized this, it fell out of favor there. But in WA State they've quietly continued making very good Merlot, and it's okay if a lot of people don't know this... it keeps the price down for those of us who do know.....

Upon opening notes of cherry, red plums, bright red fruit and a nice spicy note in the nose, the palate has similar flavors to the nose. After 30 minutes I noticed a blackberry note both in the nose and the palate, and more depth of fruit. And a hint of cocoa/milk chocolate in the nose, nice medium mouth feel and decent length of finish, with pleasant lingering fruit notes.

I enjoyed this with chicken pot pie, but this is a food friendly wine and would pair well with a number of different things.... have fun and experiment to find out what works for you.

On sale now at the NH Liquor outlets for $9.99 per bottle, available at Total Wine in Natick for $8.99 per bottle. At that price buy a case for everyday drinking....

Cheers!

Ed

A few options for wine glasses.....

I was asked recently about the different types of wine glasses used in the wine blog. I have researched all kinds of glasses, and found you can spend a lot money on all sorts of stemware if you choose to.

My friend Mark first showed me a Riedel stemmed glass that he had, a Vinum Cabernet/Merlot model. It was an improvement over the basic glass I had at the time from Walmart, the wine smelled and tasted better to me. This was an eye opener, and as I read about the family who makes these glasses I realized how devoted they are to optimizing the wine drinking experience.

The shape of the bowl, and the thickness of the glass at the lip really do make a difference in how you taste and smell the wine. I use the Riedel Cabernet/Merlot glass for the initial tasting of all red wines, I feel it allows me to see the wine for what it is. Good or bad.

When I'm not trying a new wine, the Riedel stemmed glasses are used for the special wines I don't drink everyday as it makes the experience that much more enjoyable.

 We also have a set of Bormioli Atelier glasses that we use for Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Albarino, and other fragrant white wines. The shape of this glass really focuses the nose and taste of these wines, I highly recommend you obtain a set of these glasses if you like any of those grapes.

We do have some basic stemless glasses that we use for everyday wines, I found them at various retail outlets for an affordable price. A large bowl glass for red wines, and a smaller bowl glass for Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and other dry whites.

Shop around for the Riedel and Bormioli glasses, they can be found for less than normal retail price. Try TJ Maxx, Target, or other outlets....

Cheers!  Ed

2013 Chateau St Jean Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

I can't remember the first time I tried one of Ch St Jean's Alexander Valley Cab's, I do know it was after a visit to one of the Total Wine stores.

One of their employee's asked if he could help with any selections, I told him I was fond of the Alexander Valley Cab's, that they just made sense to my palate. He asked which ones I'd tried so far, listened to my list and suggested this winery. The winemaker is Margo Van Staaveren, and she's been making wine there for 37 years using fruit from a number of regions in California.

The bottle sat in my cellar for a month or so, until one night I purchased a nice NY Strip steak from the Co-op store, and wanted a nice Cab to go with the steak. I started poking around in the cellar and came across the 2012 which was quite good with the steak. I went back as soon as I good and bought more. For my palate there is something special about the match of grilled beef and red wines from the Alexander Valley, and a slice of garlic herb butter melted over the steak.

When first opened, notes of mild blackberry, red plums, and a hint of mixed berry pie in the nose, the palate has the blackberry along with black cherry, and a nice brightness to the fruit.

After 45 minutes the blackberry notes in the nose are distinct, along with blueberry, and bramble patch fruit, just a delight to smell, the palate has deepened but still has the right acidity to balance the lushness of the fruit.

 At almost 5 years of age it was perfect tonight with the Angus NY Strip steak grilled medium, baked potato with sour cream, and a side of grilled onions, garlic, and mushrooms.

Available at NH Liquor outlets for $29.99, Total wine has it for $19.99 and qualifies for a pick six price of $17.99 if you get 6 or more.... can you say road trip?

Cheers!

Ed

2014 Puramun Malbec Reserva Valle De Uco Argentina

I used to do my wine shopping at a store in North Hampton MA called the big Y, they had a nice selection of beer and wine for all budgets, along with a monthly news letter profiling different regions of the world.

I remember one month the news letter highlighted the wines of Bodega Catena, specificly the Chardonnay from this winery. At the time I wasn't drinking white wine and didn't try, or buy, any of this wine, which was likely my loss. The head winemaker was Pepe Galante, who, with the help of Paul Hobbs, was bringing Argentine wines to the worlds attention....

Pepe left Catena in 2010 to do his own thing, and Puramun Malbec is the result of his efforts. As soon as I opened this wine and poured some in a glass, I knew this was different than most of the Malbec's I've tasted before. It has spicy red fruit in the nose, inviting another swirl and sniff of the glass...red plums, raspberry, a bit of ripe strawberry, then black raspberry, white pepper with a bit of tobacco leaf.

Nice mouth feel right from the start, black plum, cherry, black raspberry, and a nice spicy, lingering finish with a pleasant tartness. The tannins are there, but fine and not overly mouth drying. This wine has a beautiful color, deep red, but not black.

After 30 minutes in the decanter, deeper notes in the glass of blackberry, black plum, black cherry, spice, just a beautiful nose... matching flavors on the palate, with more of a full mouth feel, wonderful spicy finish, not as tart, just delicious to sip on.

I paired this with a regular flavor rotisserie chicken from pricechopper, Swiss rice, and mixed veggies with some garlic herb butter. I spooned the au jus from the chicken over the rice, it was a great match. I think this would be nice as well with prime rib, or garlic-rosemary lamb chops from the grill.

Available at some NH Liquor outlets (W. Leb) for $18.99 per bottle, in my opinion drinks like it should cost way more than it does....

Cheers,

Ed

Simi 2012 Landslide, day 2

This wine has developed a beautiful nose with blue and black fruits sharing space, the blackberry is now there with the cherry, and a blueberry component. There is a spicy note as well, and a hint of cigar box that kept me giving this another swirl or two so I could smell the wine again...

This wine is not over extracted, the color is a nice brick red with a pleasant slightly thick mouth feel.
Elegant, one that doesn't overwhelm the mouth... while this wine has the ability to stand up to bbq, I can see this pairing with an herb crusted prime rib, a garlic/rosemary rack of lamb, pan seared beef or pork tenderloin medallions with a sauce of some sort.... perhaps with Morel mushrooms.

At 5 years of age in the bottle, this wine is in the sweet spot for my taste, I think it will hold for 2 or 3 more years easily. In good vintages I usually buy 6 and open a bottle upon purchase, and then every 6 to 9 months so I can judge when to try the next one. In vintages that are average this wine drinks well at release (3 years after vintage)

At about $25.00 a bottle it's not an everyday wine, but for special occasions this is a nice addition to anyone's collection... from what I read in vintage reports '13, '14, '15 should be be good. Of course each harvest brings subtle differences in the wine, but that's what makes tasting wine so fun.

Cheers!

Ed

Simi Winery 2012 Landslide Vineyard Alexander Valley

Back in the mid 70's I was dating a girl from CT who spent the summers with her Aunt in Braintree VT, competing in English equestrian events. Her Aunt opened some bottles of Simi Cabernet to have with the wood fired grilled steaks for dinner one night. I didn't know much about wine at that time, but I remember I liked the flavor of the wine with the steaks, and the Simi name has stuck with me since.... and the memory of that summer when I was 17 and fresh out of high school....

Fast forward to 2010, and after work one day I walked into a NH Liquor store where a guy was pouring some free samples of wine. He asked if I liked red or white? Red I said, and he poured me some of the 2007 Simi Landslide Cabernet. The wine had been open for about an hour, and it was delicious.... (the '07 vintage was one of the best) the taste of the wine, and seeing the name on the bottle brought back a flood of memories revolving around that summer when I met this girl and was introduced to this winery.

Since then I have kept some of these bottles in my cellar, in most vintages the wine is very good and can be outstanding in great years. The vineyard has some unique geological soil features resulting from, yes, a huge landslide which created a special medium where Cabernet vines produce fruit that is distinctive, and really tasty!

When first opened, bright notes of black cherry, and red raspberry in the nose. Cherry, blackberry, and a minerality in the palate, along with fine tannins and a slightly tart finish. After an hour the blackberry is noticable in the nose, sharing space with the cherry notes. The palate is now mixed black fruit and more plush in the mouth, quite nice. Finishing with lingering fruit and a bit of fine tannins, really enjoyable to sip on....

I tried this wine with grilled Johnsonville cheddar brats, chicken bouillon rice, and green beans with bacon, garlic, and butter. An okay pairing, but grilled beef, pork, or chicken would be best in my opinion.

Available at Total wine stores for $26.00, $24.00 if you buy 6 or more wines in the "pick 6" category.
$35.00 thru NH Liquor outlets, sometimes NH will have sales which get you close enough to Total's prices that it saves the drive down to MA.

Cheers,

Ed