2007 Kunde Family Estate Sonoma Valley Zinfandel

Oh how I love me a good Zin, and certainly it's hard to match the Sonoma Valley for really solid Zinfandels, like the one I'm enjoying this evening, the 2007 Kunde Family Estate Sonoma Valley Zinfandel.  I've had a few bottles of wine from Kunde, and they've not disappointed me.

This wine is no exception.  A deep ruby color that suggests a richness you might expect from a good California Zin.  The nose is very rich and supple, with a strong scent of leather and oak intermingled with anise and the faintest hint of licorice atop ripe cherry and plum.  The taste is not as fruit forward as I had expected, rather the subtle fruit tends to provide a lasting, smooth flavor of dark berries to mid palate, followed by well structured tannins that make for a long, vibrant finish.

I'm enjoying this one tonight with some 4-year old cheddar I bought from Herman's Boy, one of my favorite local cheese merchants up in Rockford, Mich., but it would also go with a variety of fun, easy dinner options, from Chinese take out to rich barbecue!  Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 7.5, and it was such a bargain at only $10 from Wines Till Sold Out (www.tillsoldout.com).  It's been a while since I plugged them, but I just can't say enough good things about them, by far the best online wine merchant in the world, perhaps even the universe (though I haven't ordered much beyond our solar system).  Great wines, great prices and great people to deal with, what more can you ask?

1999 LaMarque Haut Mèdoc

Tonight I'm going back to the future!  That's the lovely thing about wine, it ages much better than most of us do, and it allows us to travel back in time.  Imagine, tonight I get to go back to Bordeaux in 1999, back when the franc was still in use, the euro was a dream, the internet bubble was going strong, and airport security was a breeze...and I was enjoying the last year of graduate school, those were the days!  And to remember, I'm enjoying the 1999 LaMarque Haut Mèdoc!

As I enjoy a bottle of nice Bordeaux from the last of the 20th Century, it brings back memories, but it also provides much pleasure on its own.  I recall falling in love with Haut Medoc when I was working in Paris in 1995, and I brought back 3 bottles to enjoy, all from the 1990 vintage if I recall correctly, wonderful vibrant, dry red Bordeaux that immediately brought back memories of enjoying a glass of wine at a sidewalk cafe a few block from the Eiffel Tower, with the warm breeze...printemps à Paris, c'est le meilleur!

This wine is very interesting, particularly in how it's aged over the last decade.  The color is a bright ruby with a hint of rust around the edges.  The nose is an experience in oak, leather, Asian spice, and a bit of sour cherry.  The taste is mildly fruit forward, giving way to a good bit of earthy Asian spice mid palate, and then finishing very dry, with remarkable tannic structure.  What a wonderful wine that 13 years on is still not past it's prime!  I'm enjoying this one tonight with some aged cheeses, gruyère, parmesan and gouda, all of which complement this wine exceptionally.  I don't recall where I bought this one, but I think it was just a couple years ago on a close out of some kind.  In any case, I would rate this one a solid 8.5, a great aged Bordeaux that has certainly reached it's prime.  I'm not sure you'd be able to find this wine anywhere, but even so, this should be an encouragement to open a bottle of older vintage wine tonight and relive the wonders of the past with a glass of great wine!  Salut!

2009 Château Legarère Bordeaux

So tonight we are venturing off to France for another example of the much praised 2009 vintage of Bordeaux, though technically we are a little southeast of Bordeaux in Longoiran, a small medieval village on the right bank of the Garonne.  So why not try this for fun, after all, I've had a case of this wine since the end of 2010, so it's probably about time to crack open a bottle.  And you know how much I love my Bordeaux blends, this one happens to be 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon for what should be a rather sturdy wine.

The wine exhibits a bright ruby color and has a nose of classic Bordeaux, with a musty oak, mild hints of flowers and spice all intertwined with a bit of leather and earth.  The wine itself is somewhat fruit forward, with hints of plum and cassis, giving way to some earthy spice mid palate, and then light tannins for a dry, but unremarkable finish.  The wine is still quite young (at three years old, most Bordeaux are barely out of diapers), so I expect this wine will evolve quite a bit over time, though it's drinking fairly nicely right now, given it's youth and inexperience.

I got this wine from Wines Till Sold Out nearly 18 months ago, and it was a wonderful bargain at $11, so even if I didn't find it as compelling as an '05 Haut Mèdoc, it's still a very nice, and affordable everyday red.  For that level of accessibility, I'll give this wine a hearty 7 with a chance to improve with age.  Tonight I am enjoying a glass with a rare, thick ribeye, some roasted red potatoes and steamed haricots vert, yum!  Bon appetit!