Category: Bruno Donaggio

This past Wednesday I attended an excellent tasting of wines from Napa Valley California with the Oakville designation. Oakville is a sub AVA of Napa Valley and has some prime real estate to grow good juice. Almost all of the wines at the event were red and most of those were Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Sauvignon based blends. The event was held at Carnegie Hall and there was a tasting for the trade in the afternoon and a consumer tasting later that evening.

I enjoy these theme tasting, all of the wines poured carried the “Oakville” AVA and it’s fun to try wines from various producers from a specific area. In general the reds were all big wines, dark and concentrated but not all were fruit bombs. Many showed some tight restraint with all that concentration. They were all good wines but I enjoyed some more than others, my favorites included:

 

 

 

 

Ramey Wine Cellars which poured their 2008 and the 2009 “Pedregal Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon. Both nice wines with differend styles, the ’08 was tighter than the ’09 which was more fruit forward. Far Niente poured their 2005 and 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon. Robert Mondavi poured some nice juice, their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon “Reserve” and the 2009 Opus One were both excellent. Groth Vineyards poured their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon as well as their Reserve 2008 & 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon. Nickel & Nickel produces several single vineyard designation Cabernet Sauvignon, today I enjoyed the 2009 “Rock Cairn”. Turnbull poured a nice 2009 “Black Label” Cabernet Sauvignon. Spoto Vineyards poured their 2010 “Cuvee Lenore” Cabernet Sauvignon from a magnum and Franciscan Vineyards poured their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon. Oakville Ranch Vineyards poured one of their library wines, a 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon which was drinking beautifully at this point

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Most wineries poured Cabernet Sauvignon but there were a few other varietals as well. Detert Vineyards poured a nice 2009 Cabernet Franc and Paradigm poured a 2009 Cabernet Franc as well. Swanson Vineyards poured a 2008 Merlot while Gargiulo Vineyards poured their 2009 “Aprile” which is mostly Sangiovese. This wine was definitely the lightest colored wine in the room, with a hint of the tar and violets that you would get from an Italian Sangiovese but with Cali fruit. It was a very nice wine in a roomful of outstanding California juice.

This past Wednesday afternoon I attended a tasting organized by the Rhone Rangers. According to their website the Rhone Rangers are a non-profit organization “dedicated to promoting American Rhone varietal wines and American rhone-style wines made from the same grapes that have flourished for centuries in France’s Rhone River Valley”. To become a member of the Rhone Rangers  the winery has to apply for membership and bottle a wine in which at least 75% of the wine content include one or more of the twenty-two traditional Rhone grape varieties as approved by the French government for the wines of the Cote du Rhone.

Most of the wineries were from California but Virginia and New York State were represented as well. The event was held at City Winery which is located at 155 Varick Street. There was a trade tasting in the afternoon and a consumer tasting later that evening. I attended the trade tasting and there was no better place to be during a snow storm than in-doors drinking good juice. The storm did keep people away though, the event wasn’t very crowded and I was told that the consumer tasting wasn’t very crowded as well. For eats they served the usual trio of salami, cheese and bread.

I like wines made from the Rhone varietals especially New World wines. Something different to drink than the usual Cabernet or Chardonnay. I tried whites made from Grenache Blanc, Roussane, Marsanne, PicPoul Blanc and Viogner. A lot of wineries bottle a Viogner but the other grapes aren’t bottled as a varietal too often and are used in blends. Some of the wines I liked:

From Tablas Creek Vineyard I had the 2011 PicPoul. It had a slightly closed, interesting nose of burnt rubber. Stark Wine 2011 Grenache Blanc”Saarloos Vineyard” had a nose of peaches and mango with moderate fruit and a smoky finish. Cypher Vineyards 2011 Grenache Blanc had a nose of white flowers and peaches, very dry with a crisp lemony finish. Villa Creek Cellars 2010 Roussanne had a nose of green fruit and mango and a full body. The  2009 Qupe Roussanne had a big nose of mango, peaches and hazelnuts. The 2008 Kenneth Volk Roussanne Paso Robles had a big nose of mango and cinnamon with full, firm fruit.

On to the reds. Ridge Vineyards poured a few of their reds. They source from old vine fruit and are know for their blends. I tried the 2010 Carignan “Buchignani Ranch” which is 100% old vines Carignan. I thought it was dry and tight with bright fruit. The 2010 Petite Sirah “Lytton Springs”  is a blend of four grapes and was black with a dry, dusty finish.  The 2008 Syrah/Grenache “Lytton Estate” had a nose of sour cherry and dried rosemary with balanced fruit and dried herbs on the finish. The 2007 Syrah “Lytton Estate” was black with a big nose of red roses and slate with silky fruit and great balance. Very tasty.

Tablas Creek Vineyard poured a 2010 Counoise. An obscure blending varietal from Southern Rhone that I’ve never seen bottled on its own, it was medium red with a nose of spicy cherry with tight fruit and a mouthful of tannin and acid. From Petrichor Vineyards the 2009 Syrah Blend “Les Trois” was chunky with silky tannins, black fruit and firm acids on the finish. From Qupe the 2009 Syrah Lindquist Vineyard “Sonnies” was medium red with a nose of new oak vanilla and pickles, with a velvety long finish.

Most of the wines were from Cali but a couple that were not stand out. Damiani Vineyards from the Finger Lakes in New York and Tarara Winery from Virginia. I’ve been to the Damiani’s tasting room on Seneca Lake a couple of times and I’ve enjoyed the wines especially their Pinot Noir. Today the poured their 2011 Syrah and their 2010 Reserve Syrah. The Reserve which was decanted was very nice, not in a big and lush Cali style but with tight concentrated fruit. Tarara Winery poured their 2010 “Leap XII” which is a GMS blend (grenache, mourvedre, syrah). Very old world with a big nose of smoky bacon fat, dried mushrooms and leather with silky, earthy fruit and great balance. Another tasty wine.

Makes me want to take a road trip to Paso Robles.

On Wednesday I attended Spain’s Great Match trade wine event which was held at the Metropolitan Pavilion located at 125 West 18th Street. The Met Pavilion hosts many events and I’ve attended many a wine tasting at this space.

The trade event was in the afternoon and there was a consumer event in the evening. I attended the trade portion of the tasting. It was a huge event with the usual charcuterie and cheese laid out for the trade, though the trade must have been very hungry since there was always a line at the food tables. One small room on the side was dedicated to wines from the Ribero del Duero, a wine region about 75 miles north of Madrid. Tempranello (local name Tinto Fino) is the big grape varietal in the region. Some of the Ribero del Duero wines I enjoyed included the 2007 Montecastro, the 2006 Callejo Reserva, the 2008 Tinot Pesquera Reserva, the 2006 Pagos Quintana Reserva and the 2001 Alenza Gran Reserva. At that part of the room they had a table with someone slicing bits of Iberico ham off a hock. That ham is outstanding and I spent a good part of the evening with a glass of red in one hand and a sliver of ham in the other.

I decided to sit-in at the Rioja seminar. It was hosted by the enthusiastic Steve Olson and they poured some very good juice. Eight Rioja wines were tasted as well as a sparking wine as a starter.

The starting sparkler was the 2011 Bodegas Muga “Muga Rosado”. It was light pink, dry and crisp. A nice wine to cleanse the palate after drinking all those reds at the main tasting.

The 2006 Bodegas CVNE “Contino Graciano” made with the Graciano grape which I was told represents only 2% of the plantings in Rioja. It was black with dusty, floral and oak on the nose with dry juicy fruit and good balance.

The 2008 Bodegas Palacios Remondon “Propiedad” was medium to dark red in the glass with a nose of sour graphite, tight fruit and sour black cherry on the finish.

The 2005 Baron de Ley Siete “Vinas Reserva” was one of my favorites of the flight. Dark in the glass, big nose of black fruits and slate, silky firm fruit and a long finish. Interesting and complex, very tasty.

The 2006 Familla Martinez Bujanda “Finca Valpiedra” Reserva was black with sweet mint and stewed fruit on the nose with tart fruit and a mouthful of tannin. I thought it was a little unbalanced.

The 2005 Bodegas Luis Canas “Hiru 3 Racimos” was another of my favorites. It was black with a slightly closed nose of pickle juice it was thick, juicy and silky with nice acids on the long finish.

The 2006 Finca Allende “Calvario” was black with a nose of black fruit and toast, tight plums on the long finish with a touch of heat at the end.

The 2005 Bodegas LAN “Culmen Reserva” was another favorite.  Black with a stinky nose of slate and pencil shavings with chewy, velvety fruit and great balance and grip on the long. Very nice.

The 2001 Vina Ardanza “Reserva Especial La Rioja Alta” was the last of the flight had a brick color with a nose of pickle juice with tart and tight fruit.

Last Saturday I attended the Grand Tasting event at the Food Network Food & Wine Festival being held around town. The event was held at the Hudson River Park Pier on W 15 Street. The place was huge, the size of an aircraft hangar and it was packed with thousands of festival goers. It was a zoo. Sort of like the subway during rush hour only more crowded.  I usually don’t have high expectations for these consumer events since they usually have a lot of mediocre wines. There were many restaurants serving bit size portions of food but you had to fight you way in to grab a bite. What food I got my hands on were pretty tasty though.

There were some decent wines at the event. I enjoyed the 2009 Goldeneye Pinot Noir and the  2009 Duckhorn Merlot.  Jordan Vineyards poured their 2010 Chardonnay and their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon which I enjoyed as well. Silverado Vineyards poured their 2007 Mt George Vineyard Napa Merlot which was excellent.

Afterwards I headed to the Standard Hotel to attend a vertical tasting of Fontanafreddas single vineyard “La Rosa” Barolos. Compared to the mostly mediocre wines at the fest, these wines were outstanding.

Six Barolo were poured.

The 2006 Barolo La Rosa  was medium red to dark red with a nose of dried rosemary. Big fruit with firm tannins I thought it could use some more time to balance out.

The 2005 Barolo La Rosa had a big nose of tar and leather with silky fruit with great balance on the finish. Delicious

The 2000 Barolo La Rosa was dark red to black with tar and black cherry on the nose. Unusual to get black cherry with a Barolo but that’s what I was getting. I thought the wine was drinking at its peak right now with good acidity on the finish.

The 1999 Barolo La Rosa was dark in color with a nose of stewed fruit and roasted nuts with firm tannins on the finish. I thought it was a little unbalanced.

The 1996 Barolo La Rosa was dark with a slightly closed nose of dried herbs and mint. Tight fruit with a long finish with crisp acidity.

The 1982 Barolo La Rosa was dark in color with a nose of stewed fruit and dried leaf. The fruit was big and silky with balanced tannins and acids. Wouldn’t hold on to it much longer but was drinking nicely now.

All the wines were excellent Barolos made in a fruit forward, new-world style. That’s not such a bad thing since Barolos can be tannin bombs when they are young.

Last Sunday was a rainy day so I decided to take a ride out East to wine country.  I like touring the wineries when it’s raining because I don’t mind being indoors when the weather is not too good and I don’t fee guilty about being indoors when the weather is lousy. On the weekends most of tasting room have some sort of musical entertainment to go along with the wine. I decided to stop into tasting rooms that are off my radar and that I don’t stop into often.

My first stop was Lieb Cellars winery located at 35 Cox Lane Road in Matttituck. They share their location with the Premium Wine Group, a custom crush facility that produces wine for over 70 vineyards. They describe their tasting room as “industrial chic”. The winery is known for their Pinot Blanc which is not widely planted out here but I had the red flight tasting.  Of the five reds I taste which included the 2005 Reserve Merlot, the 2008 Petit Verdot, the 2008 Right Coast Red,  the 2005 Meritage and the 2007 Reserve Cabernet Franc, the Cab Franc was my favorite with  a stemmy, vegetal nose, silky fruit with a moderate to long finish. I felt that all of the reds have crisp acids at the finish.

From there I kept heading East to stop at the Winemakers Studio, the cooperative tasting room in Peconic. After drinking all that red at Lieb I started with a tasting of the 2011 Anomoly which is a white Pinot Noir. It had a slight copper color with good body and balance, unoaked and dry it was a nice glass of wine. Other than that there was nothing new to try so I grabbed an espresso and hit the road.

The weekends are the busiest time for tourists to visit the wineries and most of the wineries have live music and I was in the mood to listen to some music and chill out with a glass of wine in my hand. Bedell Cellars is on the way back west and I know they usually get a good crowd on the weekends so I stopped in. Sure enough it was pretty crowded. The front room had the wine flight tasters and the back event space was packed with people having a good time drinking wine and listening to the one-man band. I grabbed a glass of the 2011 “First Crush” Red. A blend of Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc aged entirely in stainless steel with indigenous yeast, it was dry, young and fruity, a good party wine to sip.

 

Back on the road I passed Laurel Lake Vineyards at 3165 Main Road, Laurel. It’s one of those wineries that are off my radar, in fact I couldn’t remember the last time I stopped in so I decided to stop in this time. Bedell Cellars was a crowded party, when I walked into this tasting room there was a quartet of people out back listening to the two-man band and thats it. The guys were doing a good job of playing Hank Williams “Hey Good Looking” so I grabbed as glass of the 2009 Cabernet Franc and spent the end of the Sunday afternoon with a glass of red in my hand and listening to the excellent music.

I’ve missed most of the trade wine tastings this Autumn season, sigh. I decided to drop in at the Opici Fall Tasting that was held last Thursday afternoon for a few minutes to say hi to wine drinking colleagues and to grab a quick taste. The event was held at the Prince George Ballroom which is located at 15 East 27 Street.

I didn’t stay very long but some highlights included: Peju Provence Winery “Tess”.  A non vintage blend of four red grapes and Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The wine was served chilled and it was the perfect Summer wine for when you don’t want to drink a heavy red but want something with a touch more character than a white. Great balance, easy drinking and chilled.

The 2008 Chalk Hill Estate Red is about half Cabernet Sauvignon with the rest a Bordeaux blend. It was dark, chewy and chunky with some mint and tobacco on the nose and dark chocolate on the fruit.

The 2006 Vibreti Barolo Riserva “Bricco Delle Viola” was medium red with a nose of leather and dried fruit with a silky finish and firm but balanced tannins and acids at the end.

This past Saturday I attended the Wine Riot tasting held at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue.  Wine Riot is a walk around tasting event that is held in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and D.C. These consumer tastings usually turn into drink fests with boatloads of mid-level wines and people looking to party. I wasn’t expecting a serious wine tasting. On Saturday they had afternoon and an evening session as well as a session Friday night. I attended the afternoon session.

The event was targeted to the 20ish-30ish crowd, a fact that was made evident to me when I tried to get a tasting sheet to write notes on. There were no tasting sheets because it was assumed that you would take notes on an “app”. Now for people of a certain age, an app was something you had before the Veal Parmigiano came out. So I basically had to scribble notes on any business card I could get my hands on. Also the glasses the provided were “surgical grade” plastic stemless glasses. As a rule, I don’t like to drink wine from plastic but I suppose at an event liek this with a lot of amateurs and unlimited wine for four hours, it was probably for the best. I hate the stemless glasses. They are awkward to hold and I’ve spent a lot of years perfecting the proper twirl with a stem glass. No food was provided but there were some vendors selling food.

There were few familiar names at the event but I had a few favorites. Steele Winery from Lake County appellation in California had some nice wines. Their 2010 Pinot Blanc was creamy, buttery and toasty. The 2011 Shooting Star Chardonnay (their second label) had tropical fruits on the nose and was much leaner than the Pinot Blanc. The 2009 “Writers Block” Malbec was tight with notes of roasted coffee. Their 2009 “Outcast” red blend was black in color with a big nose of chocolate mint and crushed blackberries with roasted coffee on the finish as well as some heat peeking through on that finish.

I liked the 2009 Garnacha from Las Rocas, Spain. Juicy and earthy with a firm, crisp finish.

Saturday night I travelled out East to Lenz Winery which is located on Route 25 in Peconic, to attend their 23rd annual Merlot World Classic. Not surprisingly it was a tasting event that featured about 50 different Merlot from the East End and from other states and countries. Lenz  winery established in 1978, is one of the founding fathers of the Long Island wine industry and are known for their Merlot.

It was a beautiful late Summer afternoon and the tasting took place in a tent outdoors. Other than the wines being poured, they served some cheese and salami although a nice steak would have went really well with all that Merlot being poured.

I made a bee-line to the California table and started the day tasting the most expensive wines at the event. Past experience has taught me that those were the wines that would be gone first, I had a trio of some very nice juice.

The 2007 Twomey Napa Valley Merlot was very nice, dark red with a nose of crushed blackberries and mint with dusty mouth filling fruit but restrained with great tannins/acid balance on the finish.

The 2010 Plumpjack Napa Merlot was much more of a  fruit bomb than the Twomey. Black, thick and jammy with firm tannins on the finish. I think it needs more time in the bottle for everything to come together.

The 2009 Shafer Napa Valley Merlot was medium dark red with red floral notes on the nose, chewy velvety fruit with nice balance on the finish.

After sampling the three high-end Cali Merlot I made my way to the French table.  I enjoyed a couple of the right-bank Bordeaux. The 2001 Chateau Simard was showing very well. Brick red with a nose of stewed red fruits and mint, nice dusty fruit on the palate with good balance. It’s nice to try wines with some bottle age and there were a few of those at this tasting this afternoon. This wine was drinking nicely now and I wouldn’t hold on to it for much longer. The 2009 Chateau de Sales had a nose of  green olive and toasty oak with tight and concentrated fruit.

I then decided to sample  the local wines. Since I was at Lenz Winery I started at their table first. They poured the 2002 Old Vines Merlot. Another wine with some bottle age, this one was dark red with stewed bright fruits on the nose, velvety fruit with a nice balance of tannins and acids on the long finish. Nice job.

Mattebella Vineyards is pretty new on the LI wine scene, they opened their tasting room this year.  They poured the 2007 Old World Blend which is 84% Merlot with the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Dusty cinnamon and spice on the nose, woodsy fruit and nice balance. The 2008 Old World Blend came from a leaner year which explained the tighter fruit.

The 2005 Jamesport Estate Merlot Block E was medium to dark red with a nice nose of dusty black cherry, the fruit on the lighter side with crisp acids on the finish.

Wolffer Estate Vineyards poured a couple of interesting wines. Their 1998 Estate Selection Merlot was dark red with elegant fruit with some alcohol peeking through on  the finish, it is aging well.  They poured the 2010 Christian’s Cuvee which will be available next year. At $100 a pop I had some high expectations for the wine. 100% Merlot made from their oldest vines, very big nose of black cherry, silky fruit with a hint of acid on the finish but a smooth long finish. Very nice wine.

This past holiday weekend I decided to take a road trip to Long Island wine country on Sunday. Before I start I just have to mention one of my pet peeves when it comes to wine drinking. Wine glasses. The wine drinking experience is enhanced with the proper glass. The same wine will always taste better in a proper wine glass than in a plastic cup. Some wineries insist on pouring their tastings in thimble sized wine glasses. You can’t swirl, you can’t sniff, you can’t observe the color of the wine. You would think that wineries would want to showcase their product in the best light possible and I don’t mind paying to taste the wines, the least they can do is serve the wine in the proper glass.

My first stop of the day was at Waters Crest Winery at 22355 Route 48 in Cutchogue. The under the radar tasting room is the only one on Long Island located in a strip mall. The owner/winemaker Jim Waters is a negociant, he doesnt’ own any vineyards but buys grapes from local growers. I started the tasting with a sample of their 2011 Rose. What caught my eye was the bottle had the same shape as the prestigious Domaines Ott Rose. The bottle was nice and the wine wasn’t bad either, salmon color, dry with a clean, crisp finish. As I was sipping the wine, I heard the sounds of a crowd coming from the barrel room in the back. I asked the pourer what was going on and she told me they were there for the barrel sample tasting. I asked if that was still available and it was, so I made my way to the back room where Mr. Jim Waters and his wine thief gave out samples of four of his 2010 red wines. 2010 was a great vintage for Long Island so I had high hopes. The wines didn’t disappoint. The 2010 Merlot was harvested at 1.5 tons per acre and was dark to black, dense and chewy with some mint and cinnamon on the nose with moderate tannins. The 2010 Cabernet Franc was black with a nose of dried herbs, dense, with great fruit and silky tannins and moderat acids on the finish. The 2010 “Book Ends” was 90% Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and Cabernet Franc rounding out the rest. It was dark and concentrated with a huge aromatic nose of crushed blueberries and dried herbs, great balance with a moderate to long finish. The last wine poured was the 2010 “Campania Rosso” and it is 85% Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc filling out the rest. It was black and concentrated with a nose of vanilla, cinnamon, crushed blueberries concentrated fruit with firm tannins and acids. I did get some heat on the finish but still a tasty wine. And they did serve the wines in a proper glass, small to medium with the upper part of the glass tapered in.

Next stop was Anthony Nappa’s Winemakers Studio located at 2885 Peconic Lane, Peconic. Many of the local winemakers have side projects and bottle wines under a second label. They are poured at this tasting room which is in a former 19th century general store. They had two new red wines they I haven’t had before both made by Anthony Nappa.

The 2010 “Dieci” is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. It was dark red to black with dried red fruits on the nose, chewy, chocolatey fruit with good balance. The 2010 “Blackbird” is 100% Merlot. It was dark red to black, ripe red cherry on the nose, tight fruit with firm tannins on the moderate to long finish. Nice wines. They do serve in a small wine glass but at least the shape was correct.

My last stop of the afternoon was at Clovis Point Winery located at 1935 Main Road in Jamesport. I’ve been here a few times before but only had their whites, today I had their red flight. And they served them in real Riedel wine glasses! The wines I enjoyed:

 

The 2005 Merlot had a nose of dusty prunes and spice with dusty fruit and good balance on the finish. The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon was black with toasty oak and mint on the nose with fruit of crushed blackberries.  The 2008 Cabernet Franc was medium red with white pepper on the nose, tight fruit with a peppery finish. The 2006 “Vitners Select” Merlot was unusual. It was made from free run juice, that is the grapes were not run through a wine-press. Medium dark with a nose of stewed fruits, tight with mouth filling tannins and crisp acids on the finish.

After the tasting I grabbed a glass of their NV Rose (100% Cab Franc) and relaxed out back before heading home.

This past Saturday I took a road trip to Atlantic City to attend the Cal-Ital wine event which was billed as “A Celebration of California and Italian wine”. The event was held at the Golden Nugget Casino on the marina. The event featured Italian wine producers and California wine producers with an Italian background as well as wine produced from Italian varietals.

The Golden Nugget casino was formally the Trump Marina and had gone through extensive renovation and it shows. The casino has that spanking brand new look and not the frayed around the edges look like some of the casinos on the boardwalk have. They held the event in the “Grand Room” which was the huge event space with lots of chandeliers and red tones.  I had an enjoyable evening, they poured enough decent juice to make the night interesting, and of course, the models they hired as pourers didn’t hurt. This event was much better than the food and wine fest that AC had a few weeks ago. That event had an ocean of mediocre wines.

The Italian producers I sampled were: Cerreto, Michele Chiarlo, Tommasi, Marcarini, Banfi, Frescobaldi, Lungarotti, Antinori, Castello di Querceto, and Terre di Talaimo.

The California producers I sampled were: Sbragia, Pellegrini, Levendi, Cosentino, Seghesio, Schafer, Altamura, Louis Martini, Flora Springs, Pedroncelli, Sebastiani, Ferrari Carano, Trinchero, and Montevina.

The 2009 Sbragia “Home Ranch” Merlot was medium red with a toasty dark chocolate coverd cherry nose with great balance and a long finish.

Levendi from Napa was a winery I haven’t tried before.  Their 2007 “Symphony” Cabernet Sauvignon (100%) was medium red with a dried herb bouquet on the nose, tight concentrated fruit with a medium to long finish. The 2006 “Sweetwater Ranch” single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (100%) had an interesting nose of tar and violets with tight and very concentrated fruit with a firm but balanced long finish. Very tasty.

The 2009 Shafer Napa Valley Merlot was dark red with a nose of dark chocolate and bluberries, chewy dense fruit with a long finish.

The 2008 Altamura Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was another Cali wine with a dark color with a nose of black plums, chewy fruit and a long finish.

The Louis Martini 2008 Lot No. 1 Cabernet Sauvignon had a brambly, dried rosemary nose and juicy, mouth puckering tannins and acids on the finish.

From Trinchero Vineyards the 2008 “Chicken Ranch” Merlot was medium dark with a dusty nose with chewy, toasty fruit on the palate. The 2008 “Central Park West” Cabernet Sauvignon  had a nose of spicy plums and oak with tightly wound fruit of dark berries and oak and firm acids on the finish.

From the Italians I enjoyed Frescobaldi’s Super Tuscan the 2004 Luce (Sangiovese, Merlot). Medium red, nose of tar and violets, chewy earth on the long finish.

The Ceretto 2007 Barolo Zonchero had an atypical nose of black cherry with the fruit on the light side and chewy tannins on the finish.

Tomassi’s 2007 Amarone was a delicious wine, medium dark, the nose was closed but had some dark berry flavors peeking through, concentrated fruit with bright red cherry on the finish. Not at all like the typical jammy Amarone.

The 2009 Peppoli Chianti Classico from Antinori had what I thought a dark color for a Chianti with spicy chocolate on the nose with bright fruit and crisp acids on the finish.

The 2008 Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico Riserva was medium red with earth on the nose with good fruit followed by mouth puckering tannins on the finish.