2011 Macchia "Amorous" Lodi Sangiovese

So tonight I am enjoying two lovely wines from Lodi, California for the Snooth.com Lodi virtual tasting (you can check it out here: http://www.snooth.com/virtual-tasting/video/lodi-virtual-tasting-room/) and the first one I am tasting tonight is the 2011 Macchia "Amorous" Sangiovese.  This will be interesting, since I very partial to Lodi Zinfandels, but I don't think I've tasted any other varietals from Lodi!  Here goes nothing!

The color of this wine is a lighter garnet all around, very similar to many Sangiovese from Italy.  The nose is very interesting, with some tobacco, lovely dry spice notes, black pepper and a hint of fresh mint and lots and lots of oak.  The taste has a wonderful floral quality up front, which eases into some lighter fruit notes and fresh herbs midpalate.  The finish is very smooth, with lovely notes of gravel and mint that is quite dry.  This wine strikes me as a very food friendly wine, as the more subtle flavor profile would tend to compliment a wide variety of dishes, from rich pastas, to grilled salmon to pizza on a Friday night!

Overall, I would rate this one a solid 8, as I think it's a very nice example of a classic Sangiovese that would be great with food, or just sipping on the patio on a summer afternoon. It's also a decent value at about $22, an added plus.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine and it's companion with spicy noodles from a local Thai restaurant, I love Thai food and this wine really holds up nicely to the spice! This would also be great with a lot of pasta dishes, and especially braciole, so long since I've had good braciole!

1988 Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino

It's "Open that Bottle" night!  A day once a year when we open special bottles we've been saving for special occasions that never seem to arrive.  So tonight I am opening a bottle to enjoy with some friends that I've had since 1995, a bottle I paid 24,000 Lira for when I was in Rome!  The 1988 Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino is a wine that I am hoping has aged well over it's time in my cellar.  Of course I also get a kick out of the English translation on the back of the label that sounds like Google translator a decade before Google existed, "From a severe selection of the Sangiovese grapes this wine of great structure is produced." Hopefully the wine isn't as severe!

So in the glass, the wine was a bright ruby color, with a bit of cloudiness.  The nose was a nice combination of leather, dry spice and floral notes.  The taste was actually somewhat of a surprise, particularly how much fruit was left after a quarter century. Up front the taste was quite peppery, but the spice quickly transitioned int some nice fruit, ripe plum, anise and some berries.  The finish was just bone dry, but still very pleasing, and interesting to see how a more mature Brunello presents itself.  As an aside, after the first glass, we decanted the bottle, and ironically the air seemed to suppress the pepper and spice, but the fruit was still fairly bright as it opened up.

Overall, I would rate this one a solid 9, primarily because 25-year-old wines are not easy to come by, and this one was a super bargain at only 24,000 Lira, which if I recall at the time was about $15.  Tonight my friends and I enjoyed this bottle with a lovely Italian dinner, starting with a spinach salad with goat cheese, pickled beets and candied walnuts, and some wonderful eggplant involtini with pasta and fresh tomato sauce. And of course for dessert we had some mini canoli, one of my favorites! Ciao!

2007 Fitch Mountain Cellars Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

It's been a long day, definitely time to open up a bottle of wine.  And since it's snowing, I feel like a big hearty red, so why not the 2007 Fitch Mountain Cellars Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon?  That ought to warm things up a bit!

The wine is a deep, inky purple in the glass, and the nose is a pleasant combination of leather, oak, anise and dried spices, a perfect combination to warm you up on a cold evening.  The taste is a lovely fruit blast at the outset, with flavors of ripe berries, tart cherry and ripe plum, that provides an intriguing combination of sweet and sour.  Midpalate we transition to some lovely spice notes and a hint of cocoa, before the vibrant tannins lead you to the long, smooth, dry finish.  A nice Cabernet that though reminiscent of those from Napa Valley, provides a bit more fruit and a different overall feel when drinking it.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8, and maybe I'm being generous, or maybe I just really needed a glass of wine, but so be it!  As for pairings, I am going against the grain tonight, enjoying this big, bold red with some butternut squash ravioli and some sun dried tomato and parmesan cream sauce.  The bold fruit and spice notes of this wine provide a great contrast to the creamy smoothness of the ravioli, delish!

2006 Bernardus Marinus Red Wine

Well, it's a good time to enjoy a lovely Bordeaux blend from the Carmel Valley in California!  The 2006 Bernardus Winery red wine from the Marinus Estate in upper Carmel Valley in California, this wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec grapes, making it a very interesting blend.

The wine is a lovely deep purple color in the glass, and the nose exhibits a notes of red fruit, raspberries, cherries and blackberries along with some earthy elements of tobacco, leather and anise.  The taste is very fruit forward, with flavors of ripe cherry and plum, transitioning to dry spices and cinnamon.  The tannins are quite supple, leading to long, smooth finish with notes of dark chocolate and smoke, which is often characteristic of blends with Malbec.

This wine is a very nice wine that stands well on its own, but would pair nicely with a variety of grilled meats or hearty winter dishes, though tonight I am pairing it with pizza!  Overall I would rate this wine a solid 7, but with a price tag of $20 it seems as though it should rate a bit higher.  Even so, I am certainly pleased to be sipping on a glass or two of this one tonight, cheers!