The Wine Thread

[rizzle]

Few suggestions for a $10-12 Syrah, please.

[landhoney]

Got some Bordeaux futures in the other day; '04 Pontet Canet (finally!) and '05 Clos du Jaugueyron (Margaux), a few bottles of each. I had one of my bottles of '01 Jaugueyron not too long ago and it tasted like it was pressed yesterday, amazingly fresh. Won't open any more for a long while, but it was an excellent wine. Pontet is a good value, try to pick up a few every vintage unless its a bad year for them.

[aldukes]

Originally Posted by rizzle

Few suggestions for a $10-12 Syrah, please.

try Powers from Washington State. Penfolds from Australia puts out some good stuff in that range too. Ask your wineshop if they have anything from the Northern rhone- you would be pleasantly surprised.

[rizzle]

Originally Posted by aldukes

try Powers from Washington State. Penfolds from Australia puts out some good stuff in that range too. Ask your wineshop if they have anything from the Northern rhone- you would be pleasantly surprised.

Powers...will do.

Penfolds...I've had a couple of those. Do you know the difference in their bin #'s? Seems I can't remember what I've had or what I should be buying.

Northern rhone...will do.

Thanks

[aldukes]

Originally Posted by rizzle

Powers...will do.

Penfolds...I've had a couple of those. Do you know the difference in their bin #'s? Seems I can't remember what I've had or what I should be buying.

Northern rhone...will do.

Thanks

http://www.penfolds.com/wines/bin/default.asp

let us know what you pick up!

Originally Posted by rizzle

Few suggestions for a $10-12 Syrah, please.

Columbia Crest Grand Estates

A quick note. We cracked this at the office a few days ago. I do not have that much experience with this house (I have a few bottles of 83' but they are pretty far gone at this point) but in general they are considered to have underperformed for many years (80's & 90's) Therefore, I wasn't expecting much, which often leads to pleasant surprises. Schonborn is the largest privately owned winery in the Rheingau and some of the estate vineyard sites have been in the family since 1349!




1990 Schloss Schönborn Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen Auslese
Strong aromatics right from the onset, huge petrol nose, with mixed citrus fruits and honey in the background. Medium weight with lime zest and meyer lemon, oily viscosity and surprisingly some tight acidity as a backbone. The finish continues on with citrus and a lively grapefruit note. Much better than anticipated. By no means a heavy hitter, but a lovely wine that would match nicely with foods as the sugar levels are in check. 1990 was an epic year for Germany (and most places in Europe) and it would appear Schonborn benefited from this with the Nussbrubben bottling. No clue on the current cost but Id pay in the $40s for this if available.

Cheers
~Vitis

[RichardW]

Originally Posted by Vitis

A quick note. We cracked this at the office a few days ago. I do not have that much experience with this house (I have a few bottles of 83' but they are pretty far gone at this point) but in general they are considered to have underperformed for many years (80's & 90's) Therefore, I wasn't expecting much, which often leads to pleasant surprises. Schonborn is the largest privately owned winery in the Rheingau and some of the estate vineyard sites have been in the family since 1349!

Sorry to hear that this wind has done so poorly during the last few decades. Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen was the first great German wine that I fell in love with -- a Kabinet from the late sixties-early seventies. I'll have to dig up some old tasting notes to see which house.

Thanks for the review, Marc

They're drinkable, but 83 being such a great vintage you hope for more. The 83 JJ Prums (especialy the gold capsule and LGKs) are unf*@#ingbelievable at this point. Sublime.

~Vitis

[aldukes]

Went to UGC Bordeaux Grand Tasting last night-

I didn't take great notes, but here are some of my favorites:

05/06 Grand Puy Ducasse
05 Smith Haut Lafitte
05 Chateau Cantelys- a STEAL at $30
05 Pape Clement
06 Chateau Figeac
05 Angelus
06 Brane Cantenac
06 Chateau Guiraud

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by aldukes

Went to UGC Bordeaux Grand Tasting last night-

I didn't take great notes, but here are some of my favorites:

05/06 Grand Puy Ducasse
05 Smith Haut Lafitte
05 Chateau Cantelys- a STEAL at $30
05 Pape Clement
06 Chateau Figeac
05 Angelus
06 Brane Cantenac
06 Chateau Guiraud

I heard the '05 Smith Haut Lafitte is suppose to quite the deal as well

[aldukes]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

I heard the '05 Smith Haut Lafitte is suppose to quite the deal as well

It is- for less than 100 is really nice and will age for a long time. Same producer as Cantelys. Spent a few min talking to the owner of the Chateau.

I picked up a bottle of cheap wine at Costco called Bogle Vinyards Old Vine Zinfandel.
I only bought one bottle to try at about $8. I an pleasantly surprised at how good it is.
Maybe it's the over 14% alcohol but it is a well balanced wine with nice flavor, smoothness, finish, color. Bottle looks nice. I think I will get some more for a table wine to drink often. It reminds me of some home made wine an old fashioned family I knew used to make. Did I mention the 14.8% alcohol? Mmmmmm!

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by BC-Axeman

I picked up a bottle of cheap wine at Costco called Bogle Vinyards Old Vine Zinfandel.
I only bought one bottle to try at about $8. I an pleasantly surprised at how good it is.
Maybe it's the over 14% alcohol but it is a well balanced wine with nice flavor, smoothness, finish, color.

Yes, it's the alcohol that is making this wine taste "pleasant". Higher alcohol gives the impression of more extract in flavor. Very common wine making method in new world wines.

[TheRiddick]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

Yes, it's the alcohol that is making this wine taste "pleasant". Higher alcohol gives the impression of more extract in flavor. Very common wine making method in new world wines.

Moses,

Please don't go there! Alcohol has nothing to do with much, I've had low alcohol wines where the first thing you smell and then taste is alcohol and I've had high alcohol wines, in the 16-17% range, where you didn't really notice alcohol until you looked at the label. Wine balance is key and when all components are in balance (fruit, acidity, alcohol, oak, tannins), alcohol plays a secondary fiddle.

Higher alcohol creates an impression of bigger wine BODY, not flavor. The only way to create great flavor is to use great fruit, there is no substitute. IMHO, of course. At least I haven't found one yet

Besides, do you really believe the numbers on European wines' labels? Many of them are false, have no idea why ATF is not paying closer attention.

For example, one very famous French wine always lists 13.9% content on its label, yet a number of lab reports peg it at mid to high 15%. The importer confirmed this fact as well. I am sure if more are tested, you'll see a significant number of highly touted wines actually come in in similar alcohol ranges to USA made wines'. From my own tasting experience, although limited due to cost, almost every 1st and 2nd Bord you can name is at least at 14% and some are in the 15% range. LLC is proudly using RO to concentrate the juice, almost all firsts and many seconds use the technology as well, ask yourself why.

Just yesterday there were news about 50+ French vintners being sued by the French authorities for using sugar to beef up alc levels, and this is not an isolated case, trust me, these were just careless enough to get caught (although I am not sure how they got caught, their competitors snitching?).

I stopped paying attention to stated alc numbers a while ago and only want to know how well is alc integrated in the overall taste profile of a wine. If it sticks out enough for you to notice, then sure, its out of balance.

So, how do drink Porto with all that alcohol in it?
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Bogle is one of the best QPR labels around, pretty much everything they make is solid and some wines, such as their Petite (already mentioned above) is a great deal, IMO, year in and year out.

Jewel is another well priced and well made label, should be in the $10-14 range. Central Cost fruit.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by TheRiddick

Moses,

So, how do drink Porto with all that alcohol in it?

By the case

We are suppose to have a Niepoort vertical this weekend... Maybe a couple of Grand Cru's to warm up.

[rizzle]

Originally Posted by TheRiddick

...Bogle is one of the best QPR labels around, pretty much everything they make is solid and some wines, such as their Petite (already mentioned above) is a great deal, IMO, year in and year out.
...

QPR=??

[landhoney]

Originally Posted by rizzle

QPR=??

Quality (to) Price Ratio.

I didn't say the wine tasted "pleasant". I said it tasted surprisingly good. Everyone liked it and it all got drank up quickly. For that price it's worth getting a case or two for a common table wine, when you don't want to be drinking money.

[aldukes]

Originally Posted by BC-Axeman

For that price it's worth getting a case or two for a common table wine, when you don't want to be drinking money.

Try the Petite Sirah from Bogle- very good for the price point.