2011 Mastrojanni Brunello di Montelcino

Well this is truly an occasion as Cellar Saturday, that first Saturday of the month also happens to be Independence Day and more significantly, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  With this in mind, I have gone back to my roots on my mother's father's side and have gone totally Italian.  With the melting pot, we will celebrate with a 2011 Mastrojanni Brunello di Montelcino, a wine that should be hitting its stride and one that's been in my cellar for at least a decade (more likely since at least 2012!).  So, let's see how this wine is tasting!

A gentle swirl reveals aromas that will have you reminiscing of an old Italian grocery, with notes of mint, charred oak, dried spices and hints of anise.  The first sip is the heart of Tuscany, with a rush of strawberry, cherry and blackberry that smack you in the face as it to wake you from a nap before easing into some earthy tar and charred oak.  The tannins are well structured and perfectly integrated to lead you into a smooth, dry finish with a hint of tart cherry and oak at the end.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it's a wonderful Brunello that is just hitting its stride.  This wine would pair well with a range of Italian dishes from the Tuscan classics of toast with fava beans to Bisteca Fiorentina!  Tonight, I am enjoying this wine with a more subdued Italian American classic of hot Italian sausage (after all, you can't spell sausage without USA!) sautéed with onions and peppers along with linguine tossed with garlic scapes, asparagus and broccoli rabe sautéed in garlic and olive oil and topped with shaved parmesan.  Cheers! 

2020 Woodward Canyon Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Sunday!  It's been a weekend of yard work as I am nearing the end of leaf harvest, and soon all the trees will be bare and several metric tons of leaves will be hauled to the front of my house.  And now that it gets dark before suppertime, I suppose it's appropriate to open a nice bottle of wine in anticipation of dinner.  Tonight, I've opened a bottle of a perennial favorite, the 2020 Woodward Canyon Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon (you can see the many other vintages I've reviewed here).  This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (76%), Petit Verdot (12%), Cabernet Franc (5%), Merlot (4%), and 1% each of Syrah, Barbera and Dolcetto.  So, let's see what this vintage has to offer!

The wine is a deep inky black at the center with bright garnet along the edges, just as you would expect from a nice Cabernet.  Take a whiff and you're greeted by aromas of black cherry, leather, anise and a hint of mint.  The first sip is rush of ripe black fruit that transitions to some notes of dried spice and earthy notes of tar and basalt.  The velvety mouthfeel and well integrated tannins offer and appropriate yin and yang to a Cabernet that really shines through the Bordeaux aspects of Washington state.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, and since it's still relatively young, there is plenty of opportunity to mature with some time in the cellar.  This wine would pair exceptionally well with hearty steaks, braised short ribs or hearty fall stews.  Tonight, I am enjoying this wine with a rare American Wagyu strip from Snake River Farms, along with some oven roasted sweet potatoes, leeks and maple bacon Brussels sprouts.  Cheers!

2020 Seven Hills McClellan Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Saturday!  It's been a while since I've had a weekend all to myself, and so this weekend I'm celebrating with some wine and food!  So, tonight I've opened a bottle that came from a recent wine club shipment from one of my favorite wineries, Seven Hills.  I have enjoyed a few bottles already, but here is my blog debut of the 2020 Seven Hills McClellan Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.  This wine is a classic Walla Walla Cabernet from the McClellan Estate Vineyard, which is adjacent to the Seven Hills Vineyard.  So, let's see how this wine is shaping up!

The wine is an inky black at the center, with bright ruby along the edges as you might expect from a classic Cabernet.   A gentle swirl of the glass reveals aromas of leather, anise, and classic dried spice and oak that brings me back to tastings in the barrel room at the winery.  Take a sip and you're treated to a rush of ripe black fruit, blackberry, cherry and currant that transition to some earthy notes of tar, pipe tobacco and dusty loam midpalate.  The tannins are perfectly structured to provide a long, smooth dry finish that will leave you reaching for another sip.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it's just a classic example of a great Walla Walla Cabernet.  This wine would pair well with a range of dishes, from rare grilled filet mignon, to hearty pasta dishes to a summer barbecue.  Tonight, I am enjoying this wine with a great cowboy ribeye (that I bought at my local market today) grilled Pittsburgh rare, with blistered cherry tomatoes and grilled white asparagus with bacon.  Cheers!

2019 Poggio Badiola

Happy Sunday!  Well, last week I was traveling, and last night I had a dozen people over for a practice run of hot dogs and hamburgers ahead of Labor Day, so tonight is the first chance I've had to post in a while!  Tonight I've opened a bottle of wine that I picked up at Costco yesterday, the 2019 Poggio Badiola.  This wine is an interesting "super Tuscan" as it's primarily Sangiovese (65%) and Merlot (30%) along with some Petit Verdot (5%).  So, let's see what this wine has to offer.  

The wine is a light ruby color in the glass, with great clarity, a nod to the heavy hand of Sangiovese in the blend.  A gentle swirl reveals a funky little wine, with notes of tar, strawberry, anise and dried spices.  One sip and you are immersed in a wild ride that starts with a bit of red meat which then zigs to some fresh strawberry before taking a zag to some white pepper spice at the finish.  The tannins are well structured, offering a pleasing dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a pleasant drinking everyday wine at a value price of just $13.  This wine would pair well with pasta, steak, or even hearty fish like salmon or branzino.  Tonight, I am enjoying this wine with a grilled veal rib chop along with some squid ink linguine tossed with cherry tomatoes roasted with garlic, olive oil, balsamic and pancetta.  Cheers! 

2014 Reininger Cima

Happy Sunday!  It's been a relatively relaxing weekend, in which I was planning to do some yard work, but the weather today didn't cooperate, so amidst the cold rain I took the afternoon off and decided to watch movies and nap (sometimes simultaneously!).  Tonight I've decided to cook indoors and needed something of an Italian flair, so I settled on a recent wine club selection from Reininger Winery, the 2014 Cima, well anticipated having been aged in barrel for the past six years.  This wine is crafted in a style of a super Tuscan blend, mixing the classic Sangiovese with some Bordeax varietals.  For this vintage the blend is Sangiovese (50%), Cabernet Sauvignon (25%), Merlot (17%) and Petit Verdot (8%) from the Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills Vineyards in the Walla Walla AVA of Washington.  So let's see how this wine is tasting!

The wine is a lovely deep garnet color in the glass, a testament to the heavy doses of Sangiovese and Cabernet in the blend.  The nose classic of a Tuscan blend, with aromas of cherry, raspberry and currant intermingled with green cedar, violet and dried spices reminiscent of an old Italian grocery in New York.  The taste is a rush of tart cherry, with wisps of smoke and charred oak that transition to some blackberry and raspberry midpalate.  The fine grain tannins offer a perfect base for the long voluptuous dry finish that lingers for a minute or more.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it's just a pleasant drinking and elemental wine, the speaks to its complexity as well.  This wine would pair well with a variety of classic Tuscan dishes, from bistecca alla fiorentina, to classic pasta dishes to fava beans on Tuscan toast.  Tonight I am going with a bit of a classic Italian dinner of fusilli with hearty meat sauce with hot Italian sausage with onions and peppers topped with shaved parmesan and fresh basis.  The fruit and earthy notes of this wine are perfect with a spicy pasta, cheers!

2008 Sommavite Brunello di Montalcino

Well, it's the first day of December and also the first Saturday of the new month which means it's Cellar Saturday!  Last month I totally forgot to open a wine more than a decade old on the first Saturday of the month, so for that I apologize.  In any case, tonight I've opened a bottle of 2008 Sommavite Brunello di Montalcino.  I am a huge proponent of letting the great Italian wines like Brunello and Barolo wait for at least a decade from the vintage before they are ready to drink, and this one is just about ready.  So let's see what this epitome of Sangiovese has to offer!

The wine is a nice ruby color in the glass, with hints of amber along the edges.  The nose is classic Brunello, with hints of cherry intermingled with leather, dried spices, coarse mineral notes and a light floral overtone.  The taste is somewhat fruit forward with a rush of cherry and red currant with light mint overtones that transitions nicely to some earthy notes of tar and tobacco midpalate.  The tannins are velvety and nicely integrated for a long, smooth and very dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a nice example of a good quality Brunello that's had some time to develop in the bottle.  This wine would be ideal with hearty Italian pasta, fall mushroom risotto, or a classic bistecca alla fiorentina.  Tonight I am heading in the latter direction, enjoying this wine with a prime New York strip grilled Pittsburgh rare (half the bistecca anyway) along with some sauteed onions and peppers, grilled asparagus and a big old baked potato with sour cream and scallions.  Cheers!

2012 Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Merlot

So yesterday I was at my local supermarket, looking at the wine section for anything interesting (and yes, only I can define interesting in my wine tastes!) and I happened upon a section of Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Merlot.  Having been to the winery in Napa, I've developed an appreciation for this mega producer, but what caught my eye was one lonely bottle of the 2012 vintage in an entire display of 2014 vintage.  Naturally, knowing what a spectacular vintage 2012 was, I had to grab this bottle and bring it home.  So let's see how it tastes!

The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass, classic for Merlot.  The nose is a lovely combination of blackberry, cherry and currant intermingled with dried spices, oak and leather.  It almost has an old-world sort of nose, like a nice Bordeaux or even a super-Tuscan.  The taste is a rush of black fruit up front that transitions to some notes of cherry cola, mocha and tobacco midpalate.  The tannins are still fairly tight, providing a lot of backbone for the long, smooth and very dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a lovely example of a Napa Merlot that's just starting to come into its own.  This wine would be excellent with some hearty pasta dishes, steaks and chops or even summer barbecue.  Tonight I'm enjoying it with a rare grilled porterhouse over a bed of grilled leeks and broccoli rabe.  Cheers!

2007 La Mannella Brunello di Montalcino

Happy Cellar Saturday!  It's the first Saturday of January and the first Saturday of 2018, so it must be time for me to raid the cellar and explore a wine that's just been sitting around being lazy for a number of years, not unlike their owner.  Tonight I've decided for a number of reasons to go full on Mediterranean, and I've opened up a bottle of 2007 La Mannella Brunello di Montalino, the undisputed king of Italian vino!  Now, I feel the same about Brunello as Barolo (though I'm much less likely to make exceptions with Barolo) that these wines really don't start coming into their own for a good decade after harvest, so it's far more likely that you'd see these on a Cellar Saturday than any other time.  So here goes nothing!

The wine is a lovely bright ruby color in the glass, with great clarity.  And although I've let this wine have a good bit of air already, the aromas are just exploding from the glass, with notes of dried spices, olive and dried floral notes, all amid aromas of blackberry and tart cherry fruit.  Classic Brunello aromas all around.  The taste is at first a rush of black fruit flavors, currant, cherry and plum that transition to some flatter notes of dried herbs midpalate.  The tannins are still quite robust, and you're treated to a reprise of sweet cherry on the long, voluptuous and very dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it's just starting to come into it's own, but it's still a classic example of what a good Brunello should be.  This wine would pair well with a variety of Italian and Mediterranean dishes, from the classic bistecca Fiorentina to hearty pasta.  Tonight I am enjoying this one with a wonderful grilled octopus with Tuscan herbs and grilled vegetables along with some linguine tossed with cherry tomatoes, lemon and capers.  This is the type of dinner that makes you feel like you're at a seaside restaurant in Sicily rather than a 10-degree ice castle in Indiana!  Cheers!

2014 Seven Hills Pentad

Happy Saturday!  It's been a dreary and rainy day here, so I thought I'd brighten the mood a bit with a nice bottle of wine.  Tonight I've decided to open a bottle from one of my favorite wineries, Seven Hills and specifically a wine that's not produced every year, the Pentad!  This Bordeaux style blend is only produced when conditions are right, so although we have seen the release of a 2014 and just recently a 2015 vintage, prior to that we only saw the Pentad released in 2012, then earlier in 2009 and 2007, so in all, we have seen only 10 vintages released with the 2015.  The 2014 Vintage is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (61%), Petit Verdot (19%), Malbec (9%), Cabernet Franc (7%) and Merlot (4%) from the Walla Walla Valley AVA, so let's see how last year's wine if faring!

The wine is a deep inky color with bright ruby along the edges, suggestive of the heavy presence of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend.  The nose is a lovely combination of leather, blackberry, clove and dried spice that welcomes you to take a sip.  The taste is wonderfully smooth and balanced, with casual notes of ripe black fruit intermingled with mocha and dark chocolate that transitions to some lovely green herb notes just before the finish.  And the finish is lovely, with chewy tannins that make for a long, firm and exceptionally dry finish that lasts a minute or more.

Overall, this wine is really the gold standard in Walla Walla Bordeaux Style blends and I'd rate this one an easy 9, perhaps even a 9.5 with another couple years in the cellar.  This wine is very food friendly, and best enjoyed with a nice family dinner or some cheese and charcuterie with friends.  This wine would pair well with a variety of steaks and chops, heavier Italian pastas or beautiful autumn stews, but tonight I am enjoying this wine with a rare grilled New York strip along with some bucatini tossed with garlic, olive oil and broccoli rabe.  The wine really stands up well to beef, cheers!

1996 Vigna La Villa Paiagallo Barolo

Happy Saturday!  It's the first Saturday of the new month, which means it's Cellar Saturday, when I raid the cellar and enjoy a wine that's at least a decade old.  Well of course some of you may have noticed that I didn't have a Cellar Saturday last month, and that's because I just totally forgot!  Yeah age-related memory loss really is a thing!  So to make up for it, I've doubled the normal 10-year requirement for this month's Cellar Saturday going back more than two decades and opening a bottle of 1996 Vigna La Villa Paiagallo Barolo!  Now a good Barolo needs at least a decade just to be drinkable in my opinion, but they usually begin to sing once they get to 20 years old, so this one should be singing by now.  I've decanted this wine for about an hour so let's see how she tastes!

The wine still has some nice garnet color at the center, with some orange-brown along the edges.  The nose is classic Barolo, with some wonderful floral notes overlaying some nice mint and spice aromas under the surface.  The taste is just marvelous, with some mild fruit notes up front, strawberry and cherry that transition to come lovely notes of mint and earth midpalate.  The finish is classic Barolo, with well structured tannins that leave you breathless on the long, smooth and meticulously dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it's a really lovely example of Barolo and the potential for Nebbiolo over time.  This wine would be ideal with a variety of northern Italian dishes, but tonight I am enjoying this one with a rare grilled New York strip, grilled leeks and grilled broccoli rabe, and roasted red potatoes.  The bitterness of the broccoli rabe really plays well with the spice of the wine.  Cheers!

2005 Font de Michelle Cuvée Etienne Gonnet Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Well, it's the first Saturday in December, which of course means it's Cellar Saturday, that one day a month that I try to dig deep in the cellar for something with a bit of maturity.  Tonight I've decided to open a bottle that's only been in my cellar for a few months, but is certainly ready to try, the 2005 Font de Michelle Cuvée Etienne Gonnet Châteauneuf-du-Pape.  This wine is a blend of Grenache (70%), Syrah (15%) and Mourvedre (15%), that should just about be ready to drink (I personally believe these wines should wait at least a decade before they are mature enough to drink).  So let's see what this one has to offer!

The wine is a deep ruby in the glass, a bit darker than usual but in my view an ideal color.  The nose presents aromas of ripe fruit, plum, cherry and dates, overlaid with some wonderful dried floral and spice notes.  The taste is a nice rush of sweet fruit up front, a combination of berries and dried fruit that transition to some lovely spice notes midpalate.  The finish is quite nice, with a reprise of sweet fruit in the tannins, that play a perfect counter to the lingering dryness on the finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it's a truly lovely example of a French classic.  This wine would be perfect for the holidays, pairing well with turkey, ham or lamb, but tonight I am enjoying this wine with a lovely sesame crusted seared ahi tuna filet with some steamed asparagus and jasmine rice.  Cheers!

2010 Plumb Cellars Estate Sangiovese Walla Walla Valley

Well another weekend has slipped by me and I didn't get nearly as much done as I had wanted to!  But I guess that's life in many ways, no matter how much we toil there's always more to do, and that's why God made wine!  So we can enjoy a rest from all the toil of life and take a moment and breathe a little easier.  Tonight I am breathing easier with a bottle of wine I picked up on my last trip to Walla Walla, the 2010 Plumb Cellars Walla Walla Valley Sangiovese.  I know normally I love the Cabernets and Bordeaux blends from Walla Walla, but I have to admit I tasted a lot of very nice Sangiovese while I was there last summer!

The wine itself is a beautiful ruby color in the glass, with great clarity as you might see on a classic Chianti.  The nose is wonderfully Sangiovese, with ripe black fruit notes of cherry, ripe berries and plum overlaid with leather, dried spice and some forest floor.  The taste is very nice, with good fruit up front, a blast of black cherry and cassis that transitions effortlessly to some wonderful spice, dark chocolate and dusty limestone notes midpalate.  The finish is long and dry, but very smooth as the tannins do the heavy lifting, but don't get all up in your face about it.  A wine you can just sip and enjoy on an early autumn afternoon like today!

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's such a nice example of the varietal and a super value as I think I paid under $20 for this bottle!  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a vegetable pizza, my own creation of red and purple peppers, portabello mushroom and zucchini topped with mozzarella, asiago, parmesan and provalone, yum!  An American version of an Italian wine with an American version of Italian cuisine, how appropriate!  Cin cin!

2012 Villa Pozzi Nero D'Avola

So tonight I've decided on a recent wine club selection to open with my dinner, the 2012 Villa Pozzi Nero D'Avola from Sicily.  I know it's still a bit young, but I think this is one of the red varietals of Italy that can be enjoyed relatively young as opposed to something more ageworthy like a Brunello or Super Tuscan.

The wine itself is somewhat lighter in color than many heavier red wines, but it presents a lovely nose of blackberry, tart cherry, rich leather, dried spices and an interesting twang.  The taste was surprising, I was expecting it to be rather tart based on the nose, but rather it was very smooth with tastes of sweet berries, plum and a bit of fig that transitioned into some candied apricots and dusty limestone midpalate.  The tannins were somewhat mellow, lending to the round, supple finish that really capped off the fruit.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 7.5, it's a bit young, but it was also a good value as I bought this one from wineshopper.com for $9!  Tonight I am enjoying this with a rare marinated T-bone steak topped with caramelized red onions and served with some fresh steamed brussels sprouts and some linguine tossed with garlic and olive oil.  The fruit of the wine offered a wonderful foil to the heartiness of the charred steak and lightness of the pasta.  Cheers!

2008 Helix Stillwater Creek Vineyard Sangiovese

Well, it's been a long week and it's time to relax with a nice bottle of wine from one of my favorite producers!  Tonight it's the 2008 Helix Stillwater Creek Vineyard Sangiovese, which is produced by Reininger out of Walla Walla.  I was impressed with their Sangiovese when I visited last year, and fortunately for my, this was the Spring wine club selection so I just received a couple bottles a week or so ago.

The wine is a bright ruby color in the glass, and not nearly as opaque as some varietals, and perhaps a little darker than your standard Tuscan version of Sangiovese.  The nose is a luscious combination of rich Corinthian leather (nod to Ricardo Montalban, RIP), ripe berries, layered with a bit of dried spice.  The taste is somewhat unexpected for what is billed as a more acidic red wine.  There is some cool fruit up front, but not the sweet jammy fruit the nose might lead you to expect.  The fruit transitions effortlessly to some dried herbs and a some earthy flavors midpalate, before giving way to a lovely smooth, exceedingly dry finish. Given the dryness, the acidity and the well balanced tannins, this wine would be a very approachable one with a wide variety of dishes.

Overall, I would rate this one a solid 8, it's a pure pleasure to sip, though it's not your everyday wine with at $29, though it's a bit less with your wine club discount.  Tonight I am enjoying this one with a nice rare grilled Angus T-bone, a baked potato and some steamed broccoli, a lovely well balanced dinner!  It would also pair very well with a variety of tomato based Italian dishes, or a variety of hard aged cheeses.  A fun Italian varietal produced right in the heart of Washington's wine country, cheers!

2005 Chateau Greysac Medoc

So today is April 15, a day of infamy.  In the United States it's tax day, the final deadline for everyone to file their income taxes and pay Uncle Sam for the great services he provides the nation...for people like me, with a more nuanced appreciation of history, this is a day known for one of the greatest sea tragedies in all of history, the sinking of the great White Star liner R.M.S. Titanic in the early hours of the morning of April 15, 1912 in the north Atlantic.  It's been 101 years since that fateful night, and it's become my custom to open a nice bottle of wine in honor of the 1,514 people who lost their lives in the tragedy, as well as the 710 who survived, including the grandmother of a family friend who was just a baby when she was placed on a lifeboat in the freezing weather.

So, in honor of the Titanic, I am opening a bottle of 2005 Chateau Greysac Medoc, which reflects what would have been a rather common wine on board the ship, being a young claret, and this wine being primarily a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  Surprisingly very little is known about what exact wines the Titanic carried or served, but based on other White Star liners, there would likely have been a few younger "clarets" and more white and sparkling wines on board, as there was some concern that the vibrations from the ship's massive engines would act to dislodge the sediments common on older Bordeaux wines, rendering them unpalatable, if not undrinkable.  So my selection tonight would have been considered a younger claret at the time (after all, in 1912, the main vintage of Champagne on the ship was 1907, so an 8-year-old red wine would be quite young).  And to make it more of an honor, tonight I am drinking from a White Star Line reproduction wine glass that I bought at the Titanic exhibit which is visiting Grand Rapids until this summer.

The wine itself is a deep ruby in the glass, and the nose is just pure Bordeaux, with the classic "Bordeaux funk" as some people have called it, a somewhat musty, combination of black fruit, leather, anise and dried spices that combine create a very memorable aroma of funk!  Though I'll admit, after a bit of air, or some decanting, the funk dissipates and you're left with great aromas of ripe black fruit, leather and anise.  The taste is quite complex, with a rush or ripe fruit, particularly cherries at the front, then we transition to just the slightest bit of cedar and mint midpalate, which goes quite quickly.  The finish is supported by some well structured tannins, as well as some notes of gravel and earth in the long, exceptionally dry finish.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, as it's a nice example of the style and drinking quite nicely right now, and I bought this one a few years ago for only $14, making it a solid value Bordeaux.  Tonight I am pairing this with some grilled flank steak tacos with black beans, but it would go very well with a broad spectrum of grilled, marinated meats, or some nice roast lamb or braised short ribs.  So there you have it, my toast to honor a horrible date in history!