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Getting Organized

January 10, 2008 by greg 2 Comments

For years I have just stacked my wine in the cellar without any organization at all. I only have about 200 bottles so it wasn’t so bad. But it was bad enough that I had trouble finding things. Well, recently I put all of my inventory into the on-line cellartracker database. What a fantastic resource that is! I was able to download labels for my entire inventory which I formatted to my liking and printed out. I placed these labels onto bottle tags so everything is readable without having to remove the bottle from the rack. I have organized the wines into categories – some regions (France) and some by varietal. Each column in my wine rack is assigned a bin letter and the inventory has all the location data for every bottle. Now, when I drink a wine, I can just keep the wine tag so I can remember to consume it from my library. Finally getting organized!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: cellartracker, wine cellar, wine tags

Silvertop

January 7, 2008 by greg 2 Comments

Let’s go south of the equator again. I enjoyed this malbec from Argentina and I wanted to share my thoughts about it with you. The 2005 Silvertop Malbec can be found here in Fargo for about $10. For that price it is certainly a good value. This had a deep rich dark color. Aromas of bright red fruits greet you as you sniff it. It almost reminded me of cherry candy. In the mouth you experience dancing raspberry and cherry mingling with peat and a bit of tobacco. There were also hints of red plums. It was very fruity, almost juicy, but not in a sweet way. It was not that complex but certainly quafable.

Filed Under: malbec, south america Tagged With: Argentina, Silvertop

PNW Wine

January 6, 2008 by greg Leave a Comment


The Columbia Crest Merlot has consistently made it onto Wine Spectator’s top 100 wines. It is a steal of a deal at $12. The 2004 does not disappoint at all. This was a little harsh at first but was actually much better a day after opening. It had an earthy aroma with chocolate and black raspberry notes on the nose. It had a nice smooth mouth feel with a medium body. A really nice raspberry and red cherry hit you with a crescendo on the mid palate. The alcohol was tamed by being open for so long. It had subtle mocha notes as well. A pleasing wine that is a fine example of what is coming out of Washington these days.

Filed Under: merlot, north america Tagged With: Columbia Crest, Washington

The Winery and The Wines

January 4, 2008 by greg Leave a Comment


I was so happy that The Winery in Fargo reopened. It is a nice cozy place with some great values on wines. They have an all new menu and wine list offering very affordable options. I was there on Wednesday evening and had the opportunity to taste some nice ones. We started with a Bogle Petit Syrah. This is usually a nice affordable quaf and it didn’t disappoint us. There are two wines that I want to talk about though.

2005 Langmeil Three Gardens


The 2005 Three Gardens was an incredibly complex and interesting wine. When first poured it had a very interesting mossy nose with earthy sweat sock smells that mingled with black cherry and spice. The pungent socks diminished with a bit of air time. On the palate this was full and lush. Actually I would describe it as soft and creamy. It had flavors of roasted vegetables, corn silo dust and sour black cherries. It had a good tannin structure and a long finish. Secondary notes were full of complex interesting things like green hickory nut hulls and spice. An excellent wine that I will be looking for again.

2004 Franciscan Cabernet Sauvignon


We also opened a 2004 Franciscan. The bouquet was full of cloves, tart cherries, green peppers with a side of blueberries. Another interesting nose. When I put this in my mouth I immediately knew this was opened way before it’s time. Can you say TANNIN MONSTER? So dry and puckering this one had more tannins in it than I can remember tasting before. It definitely needs a good five years in the bottle before it is drinkable. Aside from that it had flavors of chocolate covered cherries dusted with unsweetened cocoa and cassis. The finish was very dry and woody, undoubtedly due to the huge tannins. Because of that the alcohol felt quite hot. I think this will be a nice wine some day but that day is not now.

Filed Under: australia/new zealand, cabernet sauvignon, meritage, north america Tagged With: Australia, Franciscan, Langmeil, Napa, The Winery
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