This evening I’m heading across the ocean to the dark continent. I have this one bottle of 2005 Simonsig chenin blanc left from a case I purchased last year. This hails from South Africa and was a good value at something like $9 per bottle when I bought it. It has aged quite a bit from what I remember it being. The color has darkened to this lovely golden color where before it was lighter with hints of greenness. On the nose it displays a lot of fruit with pears, lemon, honey and a hint of grass. This one is heavy on the palate with a very nice mouth feel. You get hit right up front with pears, sultanas and honey. The finish lingers to develop an interesting, if not a bit strange, complex vegetative experience in the back of the throat. These second tier flavors make for an interesting experience. The acids are nicely balanced. I would give this one about an 86 if I were to rate it.
Simonsig
Drinking with Gary
If you haven’t seen Gary Vaynerchuk on his internet wine tv show you are missing out on an experience. He’s funny, entertaining, and most importantly he knows his wine. He has been talking about the ’05 Bordeaux vintage for a while now and he offered a secret xmas pack of four wines to taste along at home on Christmas eve. I jumped at the pack as I need to learn more about French wines. It was great to taste these and compare my experience with Gary as he tasted them on the show. Here’s my stream of consciousness as I was tasting them.
Chateau de Callac 2006 Blanc (Graves) ($15.99)
Hints of lemons and bananas on the nose mixed with some grass. A bit of nail polish remover that dissipated after a while. Creamy smooth on the palate. A refined wine. Long finish. Delicious flavors of buttery lemon and pineapple. The nicely balanced acidity is not too sharp but definitely can stand up to food. This is fantastic and is one of the most interesting white wines I’ve had in a very long time.
Chateau de Lavagnac 2005 ($8.99)
Young, fresh fruity raspberry and cherry nose. Bright purple color. Fresh fruit right up front of cranberries and raspberries. Medium bodied. Nice tannins that ends with wood on the back palate. Fruit up front then wood on the end. Not bad for $9. Hint of earthiness on the roof of my mouth in the mid palate. I wish the fruit lingered a bit longer before the wood took over, but it is a very nice complex wine for the price.
Chateau Moulin de Lavaud Pomerol 2005 ($18.99)
Bright red color, not too deep. Cherries meet strawberries on the nose. Soft tannins, elegant, medium bodied, vegetable and sour cherries. Some wood and flowers on the end. Finishes with a spicy wood flavor.
Chateau de Callac 2005 ($15.99)
Dark purple red color. BIG nose of red plums, strawberry, red raspberries and licorice. Cherries, roses, red fruits, strawberries, strong tannins, soft acid. Medium bodied. Ends with tannic wood.
Have your cake and drink it too
Let them drink cake is about right. I want to talk about this wine I had last night. A great effort from the Barossa Valley of Australia. This is a 2006 Shiraz appropriately labeled Layer Cake. It is produced by Pure Love Wines in Tanunda. I paid about 12 bucks for ir. I want to share what is written on the back label as I think it sets the stage for how I will describe my experience with the cake.
My old grandfather made and enjoyed wine for 80 years. He told me the soil in which the vines lived were a layer cake. He said the wine, if properly made, was like a great layer cake, fruit, mocha and chocolate, hits of spice and rich, always rich. ‘Never pass up a layer cake’, he would say. I have always loved those words. ~A. Orlando
This description is absolutely accurate. The color layer: This wine had a deep rich almost black color. A great indicator of things to come. The aroma layer: The nose is attacked by layers of fruit and earth. Notes of black plums and black cherries overlayed on top of leather and musty soil permeated the nose. The rather high 14.9% alcohol was apparent on the nose and the tongue when the bottle was first opened, but after being decanted for an hour or two it diminished and became harmonious with the wine. The taste layer: How do you describe the heavy weight and lusciousness that this wine delivers on the palate. This wine HAS to breathe for a while before it expresses its true layers. When first opened it tasted out of balance with various flavors darting in and out but not supporting each other. After being decanted for some time the palate is first attacked by a heavy fruit of blackberries and plums mixed with hints of cherries and the slightest touch of raspberries. This was mingling with rich, earthy cocoa and leather. After airing this all came into resonance to provide a rich and satiny experience. A long finish this ‘fruit bomb’ was not the typical heavy, fakey, fruity Australian shiraz that we all know and tolerate. This one really appealed to my palate after it was tamed a bit. Next time I’ll let it decant for at least six hours.
Another very pleasing wine I had last evening was a zinfandel from Mendocino county in California. The 2003 Edmeades had a very high alcohol 15% alcohol level but it was not out of balance at all. I actually think the alcohol helped to tame the big fruit and kept it in check. The nose was full of raspberries, chocolate and black pepper. On the palate the red fruits danced in the mouth probably waltzing around with the alcohol. The chocolate notes were present but not obtrusive. The only negative thing for me was the smoky flavors that stood out a bit too much. This is undoubtedly due to the toasted oak. I am not a big fan of the smoky oak. I found it overall a nice and enjoyable wine that I would definitely drink again.
Wine from Michigan
You do know that every state in the United States now has some commercial wine production. Last June I happened to be traveling along I-94 in southwest Michigan and I came upon some wine outlets just off the freeway. We stopped first at a St. Julian wine outlet. The wines were as expected – thin, sweet and unappealing. But right next to them was another winery outlet from an outfit called the Round Barn Winery. These folks from Baroda, MI do know their stuff. Now, I think some of the finest white wines in the country come from the Leelenau Penninsula of upper lower Michigan. But, red wines from Michigan? I actually found some palatable red wines from this place. They have a Merlot that is not too shabby at all. On the lower end is their “Vineyard Red”. I was eating a maple cheddar burger tonight and this wine went very nicely. It’s not a serious wine by any means but with a nice crisp acidity and a good cherry fruit this matched great with a cheeseburger.
Let’s go to Portugal
The first thing I think of when someone mentions Portugal is, of course, ports. I do love ports. But they also produce some very nice wines. I’ve had a bottle of Quinta da Bacalhôa 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon in my cellar for a while and I thought it was high time that I gave it a taste. This wine is from the Terras do Sado region which is located in the southern third of the state just north of Lisbon. I can’t remember having tasted this wine before so this was a new one for me this evening.
The garnet color had slight tinges of red bricks on the edges. When I first opened the bottled the nose was very vegetative with the slightest hints of black fruits and plums mingling with cigar wrappers and wet earth. The first thing that hit me on the tongue was this sensation of salty roasted mushrooms and alcohol. It was earthy and musty with a crisp biting acid. There was a strange woody flavor on the finish at the back of the throat. I could not detect fruit at first but a bitter kale greens flavor predominated initially. It sounds strange but at first taste the wine wasn’t great. However, after some time in the glass it opened up very nicely. Sour cherries started appearing and the funkiness began to diminish. After being opened a few hours it was definitely enjoyable. It was a little light in the mouth but had hints of cocoa mingled with those sour cherries and just enough of the pleasant vegetables to make for a very interesting and unusual flavor. It had what I can only describe as that European dirt on the finish which I tend to enjoy. Not a big wine for sure but one that would be quite food friendly with the acid. I think this might actually pair very well with roasted chicken or mild cut of beef.