Celler Piñol Terra Alta Ludovicus 2009 Red Wine (40% Garnacha, 15% Tempranillo, 15% Cariñena, 20% Syrah and 10% Merlot), $9.00-$12.50, 89 points, is dark ruby red in color.
Give this wine a "minute" to breathe, and out comes a beautiful blackberry, smoky oak, and cooking spice aroma.
The body is medium plus, is smooth on mild acidity and tame tannin, carrying plentiful flavors of plum, licorice, juicy boysenberry, tart cherry, and espresso. The palate continues the finish with just a hint of spice.
It is about time I served-up a Spanish Red Wine, and at $9.00, wow! I'm not sure if this one is still available, but if you're looking for a great Red Wine as a "table wine", then grab this one.
Bought at the Londonderry Hannaford's super market.
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Château Tanunda Grand Barossa 2009 Riesling, $10.80-$15.00, 88 points, is an Australian Riesling I can drink. Those who follow this blog understand the dilemma of warm-weather Rieslings and "petroleum" aromas and flavors (some love it, I dislike TDN violently).
This wine is light gray to light lime in color, the aroma borders on floral/lemon with a touch of diesel, and these carry onto the palate with a considerable sense of minerality. The near medium bodied wine is dry, has some viscosity and good acidity.
What I get from this Riesling is the desire to try the latest vintage and to pair this with Asian cuisine.
Just maybe, this evening, I'll find out when I meet John Geber, the owner of Château Tanunda.
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Fünf (5) Sassy White (German Sweet Riesling), $6.99-$9.99, 91 points (Did I say that about an inexpensive sweet wine?), is the faintest of gold tones in color, has a lovely toasty sweet apple aroma, an almost medium body with good acidity, and wonderful flavors of peach, apple and pear that continue into the fair finish.
This is a sweet Riesling, but it is not syrupy, not cloying, not over done, but with a sense of minerals that fashion this wine's arraignment to trail on a clean note.
The bottle looks great and while pouring feels like bone china; compliments many table settings with a touch of classy sass.
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J.Lohr Cuvee P A U Paso Robles 2006 Red Wine, $18.69-$49.99 (Power buy), 90 points, borders on elegant, and for the $18.69 is a good deal, but falls short of a $50 red wine, in my opinion.
The color is Burgundy with a clear rim, and the aroma is a beautiful array of cooking spice, cedar, violets, and Autumn leaves.
A medium-plus body carries good acidity, tart red cherry and violets, with noticeably firm tannin that continues through the spicy finish.
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Domaine La Roquète Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2007 Rhône Red Wine was a blend of 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and 10% Mourvedre (GSM), $39.09-$50.99, 91 points, is solidly cranberry colored with orange-garnet tones and a broad transparent rim.
The aroma begins soft and gains intensity with air. Swirling hints of earth, licorice, sweet cooking spice, and soft floral perfume, gives a lovely bouquet.
The medium-plus body is luscious, somewhat acidic with moderate tannin, and carries a plethora of flavors, clove, cinnamon, cedar, vanilla, licorice, plum and black cherry among them.
This Rhône Red finishes incredibly long on pepper, menthol, and eucalyptus, which I found to be the highlight of this wine.
However, the wine seemed a bit double-minded and unfocused to me, maybe off-balanced is the right term, but I wasn't sure that this wine ever really knew what it wanted to be: a floral-stony Grenache or a silky-fruity Syrah, and some may just like the complexity of the two. Maybe the Mourvedre adds too much mystery to this wine and I'm not acclimated to so much wine in one glass, which made this a stand-alone wine for me, but a note to chocolate loves, this was great with my chocolate dessert!
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Arca Nova 2011 Vinho Verde, $6.30-$8.75, 87 points, is near clear with gray to brass tones. The aroma is almost pungent apple/white grape, and that aroma carries over to the palate with a strikingly dry light and acidic body with hints of pear, lemon, and maybe some fizz. This white wine from Portugal is interestingly different with a distinctively crisp and almost astringent quality.
At the price of only $6.30, I felt taking a chance on a relatively unfamiliar wine (Loureiro, Arinto, Trajadura varietals) couldn't hurt, and the results were amazingly good.
Drink alone, or as I did, pair with spicy Linguica franks and hot mustard and horseradish.
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Ferrari-Carano Siena Sonoma County 2008 Red Wine, $16.79 (I believe this was a NHLS power-buy)-$27.99, 92 points, has a ruby to Bordeaux red color, the nose is a lovely potpourri of sweet cooking spice and freshly turned earth.
Siena is largely Sangiovese and has a round mouth-feel, but kicks-in with ample acidity and lasting firm tannin. The near full body carries plenty of black fruit with some sweet plum, floral cherry, and coffee liqueur with just a hint of licorice. The finish is reflective of the palate, and is quite smooth, but with a touch of heat (13.7%) and chalkiness.
I believe this is the best Ferrari-Carano wine I've tasted, but keep in mind that many of the "Big" wine tasters weren't gaga over this wine, and with scores in the mid to high eighties, the Big guys weren't as impressed as me.
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