Blog: Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Wines Of The Week - No. 1

With countless wine reviewers and bloggers out there, who has time to read them all? Well, we do! See we don't have much of a life here at 1000 Corks. But we know you do.

So, starting this week we have a new feature. We highlight seven fantastic wines, and share with you who likes them and what they thought about them.

Marcel Lapierre, Morgon, Beaujolais, 2007

Dr. Vino did a tasting of summery wines, and the Marcel Lapierre was the winner: "a delicious wine, unanimously loved".

Vigna Uva Vino said it tastes of "violets, raw meats, and pencil shavings followed by flavors of white pepper, raspberries, and strawberries."

Mmmm...raw meats!

A picture of wine and some corks

Castle Rock, Mendocino County, Pinot Noir, 2007

After a bit of a hiatus, Jason's Wine Blog has started publishing their Trader Joe's Top 10 Wine List again.

Many of these wines can be found at other stores than Trader Joe's. Although why someone would choose to live far away from a Trader Joe's is beyond me.

Number one on the list is the 2007 Castle Rock Mendocino County Pinot Noir.

Here's what Jason said of it: "At the front of the palate nice, soft strawberries. Lingers nicely through the mid palate leading to a slightly dry finish with silky tannins and flavors of orange rind....I grabbed some more and am thrilled to have a go to bottle of Pinot for the near future!"

Beckmen Vineyards Grenache, Rosé, Purisima Mountain Vineyard, 2008

Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher recently did a Wall Street Journal Tastings column on American Rosés. Overall they weren't too impressed, but there were a few standouts.

The best of tasting was the Beckmen Grenache Rosé, which was "exceptionally crisp and alive, with real stuffing underneath."

Good Wine Under $20 reviewed the 2006, and said it is a "crisp and light rosé that is perfect for summer sipping. Watermelon in color, the wine has juicy watermelon aromas." They gave it a very good QPR (quality to price ratio).

Fantinel Prosecco, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, N.V.

Alder Yarrow spent last weekend at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, where he discovered the NV Fantinel Prosecco, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, from Italy.

Alder called the wine fantastic, "one of the best examples of the use of the Prosecco grape," and "a lovely sunny day in the bottle".

Francois Bedel, "Entre Ciel et Terre" Brut Champagne, N.V.

Hardy Wallace, over at Dirty South Wine raves about this wine, as long as it's not paired with mackerel. He calls this "killer farm fizz...insane" as an after dinner sipper, which in his world is a really, really good thing.

Peter Liem, publisher of champagneguide.net says its "sleek and racy under the rich flavors" of "orange peel, dried apple, spiced plum and blackcurrant."

All Bedel wines are bio-dynamic.

Au Bon Climat, Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley, 2007

While on the subject of Pinot Noir, Jancis Robinson recently highlighted the Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir 2007 Santa Maria Valley.

Jancis says of it: "This was/is pure essence of Pinot Noir - beautifully balanced and fragrant with lots of fruit and elegance and no trace of superfluous sweetness or alcohol....the main thing is just how delicious the wine is. The sort of thing you search for for some time in Burgundy. "

Emiliana Natura, Sauvignon Blanc, 2008

The Emiliana Natura is an organic wine from the Casablanca Valley in Chile.

Thea of Luscious Lushes says the wine was "very enjoyable, and a GREAT deal at $10.99, and even better deal for less. It was grassy on the nose, reminiscent of New Zealand sauvignon blancs, but was followed by crisp citrus fruit and green apple. My Aussie friend who was tasting me is normally a NZ Sav Blanc drinker, but she said 'super yummy!' which is high praise indeed!"

Matthew Scott of a Good Time With Wine was at the same event, and he said "the bouquet on this white wine is a mixture of orange and orange blossoms, showing citrus and subtle floral together. The citrus fruit was round and full, with some nice back end acidity."

Megan from Wine Conscience says "this was a fantastic Sauvignon Blanc, particularly considering that is it organic and only about 11 bucks. The nose was comprised of citrus and jalapeno, with faint honeydew melon and honeysuckle notes."

At the time of writing, it looks like the 2008 has yet to hit the retail market, but the 2007 is available.


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One comment

jason wrote (15 years ago)

Thanks for the mention! By the way the 2007 Chariot Gypsy is a screaming deal at $4.99! Definitely in the next Top 10...

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