2008 L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Merlot

Well, it has been a long day and I need to relax, so what better way than to enjoy a glass of wine from my favorite winery, L'Ecole No. 41!  To celebrate the end of the day, I've decided to open a bottle of the 2008 Columbia Valley Merlot, a nice wine that is really a more basic wine made from some of the best grapes of the region, but done in a way that maintains the character of the wine as a purely "L'Ecole" wine.  This is also appropriate given that I just received my spring wine club selection from the winery last week (can't wait to open those eventually, but you know I'm patient when it comes to wine).

Now L'Ecole is a great producer of Bordeaux style blends, so naturally this wine is not a pure Merlot (only 82%), but has been blended with some wonderful Bordeaux grapes, Cabernet Franc (12%), Petit Verdot (4%) and Malbec (2%).  The blend creates a far more interesting wine than many Merlots on the market today.  This one has deep red hues and a a nose of leather, spice and a hint of cherry.  The wine is nicely structured with a subtle taste of berry and ripe black cherry on the front end, which gives way to a wonderful smoky, mocha flavor mid-palate followed by a smooth dry finish supported by very nice tannins. 

Overall the wine tastes like what you might expect for a much more expensive wine, which is probably why I really do like L'Ecole's Columbia Valley reds for everyday drinking wine.  This one I would rate a solid 8, which gets bumped up to an 8.5 since I found it on sale at a local supermarket wine department for only $18!  Can you believe that?  As for pairings, this wine would go very well with a grilled steak, or rich pasta dish, but tonight, I am relaxing with wine and a pizza!  Enjoy!

2007 Monte Antico Toscana

What a lovely evening, nice and cool, clear skies and a beautiful sunset...it's just too bad I've been busy as all get out today!  Work, then the gym for an hour, then I stopped to pick up a chicken burrito for dinner from the local Qdoba (see not every day is a gourmet feast!) and now I'd just like a nice glass of vino to relax before I start all over again tomorrow!

So tonight I've decided to open a bottle of what I consider a very wonderful everyday wine.  Not a spectacular, special occasion type wine, but a nice wine that comes at a price that doesn't have you filling out mortgage applications should you decide to have more than a bottle a week!

The 2007 Monte Antico Toscana is a nice blend of mostly Sangiovese with a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot that seems to give this wine a little more body than a typical Sangiovese.  The wine itself is medium bodied, with a nice bright ruby color in the glass.  The nose is filled with ripe fruit and leather, with a hint of sour cherry.  The taste is somewhat earthy, with tart fruit flavors, giving way to a strawberry jam flavor midpalate, and then some nicely structured tannins for a smooth dry finish.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 7, with a half point deduction for the screw cap (you know how I love my corks!).  It's a lighter style that goes very well with take out Mexican food, or just sipping on the patio after a long day. I think I bought this at my local supermarket for just $7, so again, how can you complain?

2008 Palazzo Della Torre Veronese

So tonight being the 100th anniversary of the last dinner aboard the RMS Titanic, I thought it might be interesting to honor the tragedy with a dinner and bottle of wine that hearkens back to those days when technology and industry seemed to hold all the answers for mankind (where have I heard that before?).  So I thought about recreating the menu, but I have to admit I had neither the desire nor inclination toward creating a 12-course dinner for myself tonight, so that seems out, though you know whatever I have will be good. 

Then I searched the web trying to find a list of wines served on Titanic, and perhaps I might have a current vintage, or even a similar wine, like a Bordeaux or Burgundy, but alas there is very little detail on the wines served on board.  It seems they had more than their fair share of Champagne, but little else was detailed in the documents I surveyed.  So strike two for my last dinner evening, though I did learn an interesting tidbit, that apparently on ocean liners like Titanic, they seldom carried a great selection of aged red wines for fear that the rumbling of the massive reciprocating steam engines might somehow shake loose the sediment in old wine rendering them undrinkable.  Here's some information I could use, if I can't find a wine list, I can enjoy a rather young wine with my dinner.

So with my dinner I've chosen a bottle of 2008 Palazzo Della Torre Veronese.  For those familiar, this wine is a distant cousin to Amarone, and a closer cousin to the Valpolicella Ripasso, or the "second pressing" of the Amarone.  The main differences are the grapes used in making this wine, Corvina and Rondinella  which are often blended to make Bardolino and Valpolicella.  Unlike Amarone, this wine takes a slightly different approach, with the majority of grapes pressed at harvest to make wine with the remainder are dried or "raisined" during the period from harvest to January when they are pressed and the resulting wine blended with the wine pressed at harvest.  The result is a very similar wine to Amarone or Valpolicella Ripasso.

This particular wine is a deep red color in the glass.  The nose is quite fruity, with hints of dried cherries, plums, anise and oak.  The taste is somewhat concentrated, with initial flavors of red fruit and spice, followed by a real raisin sort of flavor mid palate.  The tannins are softer than I was expecting, creating a very smooth, dry finish.  Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8 with the chance to improve with a little time in the cellar (I'll also note this was #60 on the Wine Spectator list of the top 100 wines of 2011).  And what about my pairings?  Did I come even close to 12 courses?  Not really, but I did enjoy this wine with a very rich meal that would have been quite acceptable during the early 20th Century.  I had a nice grilled ribeye served with Béarnaise sauce along with some linguine tossed with a bit of garlic and olive oil and some steamed broccoli rabe.  And for dessert, what else but a cannoli!  Salute!