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14 darn good wines - Printable Version

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- newsguy - 12-21-2006

this originally was posted on the WS board, from the offline i attended sunday evening. various types of wines from different areas of the world, but some of them were darn good values, so i'm posting here.

Our theme was wine from anywhere but the U.S., France and Italy. Here goes...

2004 Brundlemayer Brut: Wonderfully complex aromas and flavors, not at all yeasty in the champagne vein. Great fruit and great depth. 91 pts.

Schloss Gobelsburg Brut NV: Much more like a traditional champagne. Fairly dry, with very good fruit, but nothing to really make it stand out. 89 points.

‘95 Bodegas Montecillo Reserva: A bit of funk in the nose, followed by flavors of plenty of red and dark fruits, plus some leather. This bottle was slightly corked, as the funk of the nose grew with time and more like typical “corked” aromas. No score.

‘98 Bodegas Montecillo Gran Reserva: The first of two wines I brought. Very obviously different from the previous Montecillo bottling, which was reddish in color going slightly orange at the rim. This wine was much darker in color, with a much bigger nose that screamed of French oak. Bigger fruit (red & dark), plus a touch of black pepper, with perfect balance (good acidity, soft tannin) and a long, expanding finish. Great concentration. Will probably improve for a few more years, then hold for a decade, but why wait? I will buy a case of it (at $18.99 per bottle) and drink up over the next 2-3 years. 92+ points.

‘02 Weingut Brundlmayer Lamm Gruner Vetliner: Bright fruit, white pepper and spice aromas jump from the glass, followed by similar flavors. Very nice balance. I really enjoyed this, and it was a perfect match for a seafood pasta dish. 90 points.

‘05 Getariko Txakolina Txomin Extaniz: An indigenous Spanish white. It has a very nice, big nose of tropical fruits, lots of acidity to stand up to food. Very nicely concentrated, long and balanced. 89+ points.

‘04 Schild Estate Barossa Valley Shiraz: I love big fruit bombs, and enjoyed this one, but not as much as I had expected I would. It has a huge nose of caramel and typical Barossa fruit (chiefly plums and blueberries), plus some black licorice. Flavors of same, with plenty of acidity to match (plus some heat from the high alcohol content.) But that’s where the balance ended. There were no noticeable tannins, so although this is tasty now, you had better drink up through ‘09 or so. WS scored this at 96 points; I give it 92.

‘99 Clos Martinet Priorat: This was decanted for two hours. Big nose of rich, dark fruits, plus a touch of black pepper. Similar, juicy layers of flavor just keep expanding in your mouth. Still room for improvement, but seriously enjoyable now. This, along with the wine that followed, were perfect pairings for the incredible lamb shank entree with white beans side dish. For me, this just edged out the Torres for my WOTN. 94+ points.

‘85 Torres Gran Caronas Mas La Plana Estate “Gran Reserva”: I haven’t had a ton of 20-plus-year-old wines, but the youthful appearance, flavors and structure of this one surprised me. Wonderful nose of smoke, dirt, leather, mushrooms and dark fruit. Plenty of that in the mouth too, with perfect balance. This will will easily go another 10 years, possibly 20. A joy to drink. 94 points.

‘00 Montes Folly: This is the first vintage of this remarkably extracted Chilean syrah. Huge nose and deep, inky, dark fruit flavors. Plenty of acidity, and a touch of very fine, drying tannins. Great fruit but a bit out of balance. 91 points.

‘02 Los Vacos Colchagua Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve: Very good nose of barnyard and dark fruits, plus some sweet oak. Very good dark fruit flavors. Very representative, very nice Chilean cab that I thought was overshadowed by its company on this night. 88 points.

‘04 Clarendon Hills Moritz Vineyard Syrah: The other wine I brought. Decanted for three hours. Very big dark fruit nose, with hints of butterscotch and caramel, followed by huge dark fruit flavors with a hint of violets, lots of acidity and very little tannin. This still needs time. Think I’d wait til ‘09 or so on these, then drink over the next 3-5 years. 92-94 points.

‘03 Minus 9 degrees Ice Wine: Made from the Ehrenfelser grape, this Canadian had a wonderful, deep nose, followed by fruit flavors that came close to backing it up. A very tasty dessert wine that you don’t feel guilty drinking young. 90 points.

‘05 Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz: A new bottling from an Aussie wine-making duo I love: Sparky and Sarah Marquis. Decanted nearly four hours, and this one smells just like the Marquis-Philips 9 Shiraz that I love: big aromas of sweet cream, blueberries and a touch of blackberry, plus some mocha and black pepper. Similar big flavors with a pretty fair amount of acidity, plus plenty of heat from the 16.0 percent alcohol, which is pretty overwhelming right now. No noticeable tannins. Give this two years, then drink up over the next 2 or 3. I liked this, but I prefer the M-P 9. 90-92 points.

happy holidays to all!

[This message has been edited by newsguy (edited 12-23-2006).]


- winoweenie - 12-21-2006

Hi Newsie and merry stuff-n-such. Good notes. Seems a lil' top heavy in SWs. Happy to you and yours. WW


- wondersofwine - 12-22-2006

Thanks for providing the notes. I was quite impressed with a Brundlmayer Riesling that I ordered by the glass at a DC restaurant. I would like to try more Austrian wine.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 12-22-2006).]


- Innkeeper - 12-22-2006

Since these are all supposed to be Best Buys, did you get prices on any except the Montecillo?

Have a great one yourself.


- newsguy - 12-23-2006

IK: sorry, prices were not shared at the dinner, and since no one else was asking, i decided not to myself. i only know the price of the two i brought -- the '98 montecillo (quite a best buy, i'd say) and the clarendon, which i got on sale for $40.


- kris10 - 12-29-2006

Hello! I'm a newbee and I'm trying to find out how to purchase the wines you have listed. I can find the Mollydooker, but not any of the others. I'm looking online. Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you!

Kris10


- Innkeeper - 12-29-2006

Hi Kris, and welcome to the board. Have you tried www.wine-searcher.com ?


- kris10 - 12-29-2006

Nope, I'll check it out! Thank you!!

Kris10


- TheEngineer - 12-30-2006

I thought I was experiencing deja vu! Nice writeup dude!


- winoweenie - 12-30-2006

Nopie there Eng. We classify that as "Post-Travel Syndrome". WW [img]http://wines.com/ubb/wink.gif[/img]