by Mark S » Sun Jun 09, 2013 7:38 pm
Lorca, Petite Sirah, Napa Valley, 1999
Opened and cork pulled...as soon as I pop and pour, this let's you know it's from California: big oak and blueberries, plums into prunes. Still burly and like most petites, this will surely age on its frame. Packs a wallop, but simple. 14.4% B/B+
Paolo Bea, Bianco Umbria IGT, Santa Chiara, 2009
Concentrated pee color. Tannic skins and pips, slight bit of eucalyptus follows the apple-pear pomace and semi-rotten orange peel. Not much complexity here, but fun. B+
Chateau Grand Tayac, Margaux, 2008
Slightly thin and vegetal, with light blackcurrant leaf, medium acidity, soft, with very neutral flavors. Not much oak in evidence, but unfortunately, no fruit either. B-/B
Pesquera, Ribera del Duero, Tinto, 2001
Didn't go well with a Spanish chicken recipe I made. This is showing more brawn and New World muscle than an earlier bottle I drank. Aromatically quite closed. There's mulberry, dried blueberries, plums with a slightly saline ending note. Slight bit of volatility in here, it feels like the fruit is hitting the wood and structure here, becoming a stewy mess right now. 13.5%
Clos Roche Blanche, Tourraine, Sauvignon (blanc) no.2, 2011
Lemon-lime oil nose. A weird sauvignon blanc, not so distinctively varietal, but pleasant enough without the obvious character. Light lemon-lime, as if watered down. A slight stink-tone reminiscent of washed rind cheeses that stays with the wine through to the finish and lingers there. Also, some interesting moss and calcite notes. 12.5% B+
Nusserhof, vino rosso, 'Elda', 2009
A schiava, but unlike any I've had before. This one is fairly rich colored, almost gamay-like without the purple highlights (usually, schiava makes a light-rose colored wine, about as pale as poulsard). A musky, perfumed nose with spicy red fruits. Spiced cooked cherries, mulled in clove, fresh and lively with perky almost nail-biting acidity. Beaujolais in weight. Plenty of chalk on the finish. Tough on the palate for the first few days. Tasted 5 days later with the Spanish chicken, and it seemed to hit the spot better, perhaps due to the 90-degree day and perhaps having some of the acidity fade. 12.5% B/B+, later in the week a B+.