For my second review I take on two wines, both $20.99 suggested retail price (though you never know what those high-end groceries will charge), both dark reds, both 100% varietally unblended, and both from the century-old Luigi Bosca winery in Mendoza, Argentina. The grapes for each were grown in desert regions receiving less than 10 inches of rain annually - in case you find that morsel interesting. I do. They also were grown in a region where summer is winter and vice-versa. Can you comprehend such craziness? Want more? Rivers here flow up, you're cold when it's hot, cats bark and water burns. Yet red wine, oddly enough, is still red. Let's drink it.
Luigi Bosca 2007 Pinot Noir, Argentina. The wine smells of strawberry and mushroom, and sweet spices like pepper and cassis. In the mouth it begins with broad and heavy fruit, deep and purple (yep, I can taste colors - can't you?), some strawberry, and a pull of tannins against the mouth. Savory, earthy notes follow closely behind, including some smoke and bacon.
Luigi Bosca 2006 Malbec, Argentina. This wine is savory on the front, fruity on the back. It smells a bit tart and smoky - the way I like my wines. Earthy flavors - including moss and wood - are softened faintly by fruit, but the lingering impression is dark, syrupy honey dripping off a smoked ham (I'm not making this up), with wood and coffee flavors thickening the entire experience. Finally, on the finish, the tannins kick in. Very nice. Said to age for up to 10 years - but I couldn't wait.
Lost on Lemnos
Dec 23, 2009
Dec 20, 2009
A Review of Wines
Wine may be the simplest of alcoholic beverages, consisting of fermented grape juice only. Yet somehow it has become dauntingly complex. Wines are differentiated by region, vineyard, variety, winemaker, yeast, barrel, time, year and other factors. Thus, while all wines are virtually identical genetically and at first taste, each is absolutely unique. Thus is justified the esoteric pastime of writing reviews, and thus I begin. I will focus now on assorted reds.
1) From Bodega Septima in Argentina, the 2007 Malbec. This was a new variety for me when I tasted it a year ago. It reminded me of a Syrah - smelling of cherry and ham, and with flavors of bacon fat, leather, and even some tomato and onion, oddly enough. A dry wine, it puckered the mouth a bit. These tannins would probably mellow with years, leaving a great wine.
2) From Pietra Santa in Central California, the 2006 Sassolino. A blend of primarily Sangiovese and Merlot, I believe the qualities that I find here are attributable to the former, which in my experience is a spicy and charismatic wine. The Sassolino smells of dried herbs and cherries, and in the mouth flavors of honey, bacon and ham open up, balanced by a savory essence of forest and wet moss.
3) From Robert Mondavi, the 2006 Napa Valley Merlot. This wine's aroma is extremely lush and ripe, vibrant and alive on the tongue with juicy blackberry and jam. A tannic body tugs at the mouth.
4) From Gordon Brothers, the 2006 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a tremendous wine. Redolent of black prunes, licorice and woodiness, it tastes of black raisins and bacon (hmm, they all do, it seems), with vanilla in the background and lingering on the finish. Spritzy, zesty and acidic. Very nice.
5) From Rancho Zabaco in Sonoma County, the Dry Creek Valley 2007 Reserve Zinfandel. It is a black-purple wine, and I immediately smell hot plums and alcohol, deep cherry and spicy, savory meats. At first sip it bites with strength, then explodes with fruit and maple-like spice. It is juicy and ripe and as strong as it tastes, at 14.9% ABV. It finishes long and lasting in the mouth.
1) From Bodega Septima in Argentina, the 2007 Malbec. This was a new variety for me when I tasted it a year ago. It reminded me of a Syrah - smelling of cherry and ham, and with flavors of bacon fat, leather, and even some tomato and onion, oddly enough. A dry wine, it puckered the mouth a bit. These tannins would probably mellow with years, leaving a great wine.
2) From Pietra Santa in Central California, the 2006 Sassolino. A blend of primarily Sangiovese and Merlot, I believe the qualities that I find here are attributable to the former, which in my experience is a spicy and charismatic wine. The Sassolino smells of dried herbs and cherries, and in the mouth flavors of honey, bacon and ham open up, balanced by a savory essence of forest and wet moss.
3) From Robert Mondavi, the 2006 Napa Valley Merlot. This wine's aroma is extremely lush and ripe, vibrant and alive on the tongue with juicy blackberry and jam. A tannic body tugs at the mouth.
4) From Gordon Brothers, the 2006 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a tremendous wine. Redolent of black prunes, licorice and woodiness, it tastes of black raisins and bacon (hmm, they all do, it seems), with vanilla in the background and lingering on the finish. Spritzy, zesty and acidic. Very nice.
5) From Rancho Zabaco in Sonoma County, the Dry Creek Valley 2007 Reserve Zinfandel. It is a black-purple wine, and I immediately smell hot plums and alcohol, deep cherry and spicy, savory meats. At first sip it bites with strength, then explodes with fruit and maple-like spice. It is juicy and ripe and as strong as it tastes, at 14.9% ABV. It finishes long and lasting in the mouth.
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