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Wines Of The Week - No. 3
We continue our tradition of highlighting five absolutely wonderful wines. We're sure you'll find at least one of these wines will quickly become a new favorite.
This week the first four selections are surprisingly inexpensive, starting at around $10 and going up to around $30. To top off a week of frugality with some irrational exuberance, we've also included one of California's essential cult wines.
Clif The Climber White
We start with a recommendation from Ray Johnson, who is a professional wine educator. I once had an opportunity to take one of his wonderful wine classes, "French wines beyond Bordeaux and Burgundy".
He was a fantastic instructor, and his class was one of the most fun and educational learning experiences I've ever had.
He's also not a guy who is prone to superlatives, preferring to stay pretty even keeled at all times. So when he wrote about Clif the Climber White I got excited.
Here's what Ray said, "the fruit is dazzling when you pour this in the glass. There’s lots of ripe citrus with floral and tropical notes. The focus on fruit continues on the palate, where the acidity is crisp, framing the taste of fresh orange and tangerine - very nice."
Ray isn't the only blogger to cover this wine. Megan from Wine Conscience has taken an in depth look at how Clif Family wines is practicing sustainability.
Megan also tried the Climber and says of it: "the aromas and flavors were pure sauvignon blanc– citrus, grass, honeydew and grapefruit. As the wine warmed up, the muscat and riesling started to break through, adding nice nectarine, honeysuckle and apricot notes. The wine is crisp and refreshing- great for a hot summer afternoon."
This wine comes from the same family that brought us Clif Bars. I'm unsure whether this wine would pair better with a peanut butter or chocolate chip Clif Bar. I wonder if they provide pairing suggestions?
If you're interested in Clif's other wines, RJ has the scoop on their Climber Red and Killer Cab.
Domäne Wachau Federspiel Terrassen 2007
Despite having a section called Dining & Wine, the New York Times seems to not be reviewing too many wines these days. But luckily, just in time for summer, they put together a tasting panel of grüner veltliner.
Of the ten wines tasted, the clear winner, and recipient of three and a half stars was the Domäne Wachau Federspiel Terrassen from 2007. It was the only wine of the ten tasted to receive more than three stars. Even better at around $15 it was one of the cheaper wines tasted.
The Times' tasting notes said the wine was "pure, deep, balanced and refreshing with complex citrus, spice and herbal aromas and flavors."
Hahn SLH Pinot Gris 2007
Our third wine of the week is from Hahn. It's their SLH Pinot Gris 2007. The SLH stands for Santa Lucia Highlands.
Frederic Koeppel at Bigger Than Your Head writes of this wine, it’s "notably clean and fresh, zinging with vivid acidity and a scintillating touch of grapefruit liveliness, all rounded with a strain of mango and crystallized ginger."
The self-proclaimed Dr. Strangelove of wine at Under The Grape Tree gave it a grade of amazing, (except in his exuberance, he all-capped the amazing).
Dr. Strangelove (or Kevin, if you prefer) says "it's all about the gorgeous single-vineyard fruit, with its soft, supple notes of honeysuckle and white flowers on the nose, followed luxuriously by hints of nectarine, pineapple, star fruit, lemon and slight splashes of herbs on the palate. It leads you toward a cresendo of smooth, supple spice and balanced fruit and acidity on the finish."
Michelle at My Wine Education wrote of it: "There was a full mouth feel with a bit of peppery spices, and then a light nuttiness on the finish. I thought the whole thing was crisp but filling. It was creamier, from the malolactic fermentation (a secondary fermentation), and had a slight nose of nectarines."
Michelle and her husband Kevin both gave it a big smiley face, their highest rating and the equivalent of five stars.
Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg Bourgogne 2006
Brooklynguy each week picks his own wine of the week. I read them religiously, looking for the wines he thinks the most highly of.
He really loved the Mugneret-Gibourg Bourgogne, saying of it: "What about the humble Bourgogne? At $32, does it offer good value? I can emphatically say yes. First of all, it is delicious wine, offering everything one could want in a young Bourgogne. And relative to other regional wines, I think this this is among the better ones."
Brooklynguy goes on to say this wine was "excellent from the moment I pulled the cork, what put this wine into 'wow' territory for me was how incredibly detailed the palate became after about 90 minutes open. It was as if I could taste the jet-black skins, and their spicy juice, the seeds and stems, the soil, and the tiny bit of wood."
How can you not love a blogger who goes by the name Brooklynguy?
Scarecrow Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
The 2005 Scarecrow made the San Fracisco Chronicle wine editor's top 10 most memorable wines list of 2008.
Jon Bonné wrote of this wine "there's something almost frustrating about a blockbuster Cabernet with such amazing provenance...[it's] a pitch-perfect expression of Napa Cabernet that's as seductive and perfumed as it is dense and wound in its tannic power."
Brian Pasch tasted it along with half a dozen other notable wines.
He writes of the half-dozen wines "if this lineup doesn't get you thirsty then you must not love California Cabernet wines. I wanted to taste the Scarecrow wrapped around some other noteworthy wines to have some perspective on how this wine compares to its peers. In this tasting, there was no peer." (emphasis his)
Brian gave the Scarecrow 98 points.
James Laube at Wine Spectator was one of the early tasters of the 2005 Scarecrow. He found it "a true tour de force that’s dark, plush, layered with flavors, supple in texture and long and persistent on the finish."
Perhaps most importantly, James found it "a shade more elegant" than the 2004 Scarecrow.
