Wine Review: 2008 Maison Roche de Bellene Cote de Nuits-Villages

9 06 2011

I’m pretty sure this is the first Burgundy that’s made its way onto PnP; I don’t drink a lot of it because the cheaper stuff tends to taste that way and almost all of the good stuff tends to be out of my price range.  However, I’m trying to put a little more effort into discovering the wines of that region, because top quality Burgundies are some of the most alluring, complex, memorable wines in the world.  I got a chance to try some high-end white and red Burgundy at my WSET course a couple weekends ago (a Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet [white] and a Domaine Roy Marc Gevrey-Chambertin [red], if you’re curious) and started to understand what all the fuss is about, so tonight I dug up this wine, which comes from one of the few solid value producers in the area, to continue my Burgundy initiation. Read the rest of this entry »


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Wine Review: 2008 Enzo Boglietti Dolcetto d’Alba (Take 2)

27 05 2011

I’m back!

One and a half vino-free weeks later, I’m over my illness and once again ready to wine it up.  On the eve of my foray into WSET wine camp, my symptoms have subsided enough that popping and pouring is again on the agenda, and tonight’s wine is of particular interest because it was decided by you, the people…well, 14 of you, anyway.  The first ever PnP wine poll was at least a marginal success, and by a landslide, you voted that my first post-sickness wine should be one that I’ve had before, with horrific results:  the 2008 Enzo Boglietti Dolcetto d’Alba.  To be fair, Enzo wasn’t at all to blame for my initial nightmare experience, which was due to a faulty bottle; tonight he gets his rightful chance to salvage his name and reputation. Read the rest of this entry »


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Wine Review: 2008 Artadi Orobio

21 04 2011

I love it when cheap wine overdelivers!

Sometimes low expectations will get you everywhere.  This was one of those wines that I bought, stuck in my wine fridge and then intentionally avoided drinking for many many months because I didn’t think it would be very good.  Even on nights when I just wanted something cheap and cheerful to wash down dinner, I always managed to make this the 2nd or 3rd option, so it sat there, lonely and neglected, until I finally decided to put it out of its misery tonight.  I don’t know exactly why my outlook was so dim; maybe it’s because there’s something jarring about seeing a wine from Rioja, the most renowned and traditional wine region in Spain, with a screwtop (not that there’s anything wrong with screwtop wines — the screwtop, a.k.a. Stelvin closure, actually does a better job preserving wine than a cork does).  Maybe it’s because the label is so blasé.  Whatever the reason, I was all geared up to have a bad wine experience tonight, but instead the little screwtop that could totally came through for me. Read the rest of this entry »


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Wine Review: 2008 Schild Estate Barossa Shiraz

26 03 2011

My wine-loving history in a bottle.

I’m psyched about this review tonight for a few reasons.  First, I have been buying Schild Shiraz basically since I started collecting wine.  This 2008 will be the 4th vintage that I’ve purchased (making Schild my first legit vertical), and while four years isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, it takes me back to my earliest serious interest in wine, a time when ALL I drank was Australia Shiraz. (Incidentally, who DOESN’T start drinking wine via Aussie Shiraz?  It’s like the vinicultural gateway drug.)  Second, this particular bottle of Schild was the recipient of an honour this year that many $100+ bottles would kill for:  it was named the #7 wine of the year in Wine Spectator magazine’s Top 100 Wines of 2010 list.  This doesn’t mean that Wine Spectator thought that this $28 bottle of Shiraz was the 7th best wine on Earth last year, but it does mean that, when taking quality, availability, value and other factors into account, this Schild rose almost to the top of the heap.  Spectator scored it 94 points (very rare for a wine at this price point) and generally showered it with praise.  Third, unlike some of the bottles I’ve discussed in recent weeks, this one is widely available almost everywhere. Read the rest of this entry »


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Wine Review: 2008 Juan Gil Monastrell…and Is Kraft Dinner the Perfect Wine Food?

20 03 2011

Old-vines Monastrell...or Mourvedre...or Mataro...or whatever.

Super interesting Sunday night wine tonight:  the 2008 Juan Gil Monastrell from the lesser-known Jumilla wine region in eastern Spain.  This wine comes from grapes grown on 40+ year old vines; the older the vines, the less fruit they produce, but the more concentrated and complex that fruit is (the wonders of Mother Nature), which is why producers trumpet Old Vines if they have them.  Monastrell is a grape of many names, all of which strangely start with M:  apart from its Spanish name, it is known as Mourvedre (and sometimes Morastel) in France and Mataro in Australia.  I don’t know if there’s any kind of movement afoot to create an Esperanto-like universal world wine language, but if there is, I would sign the petition.  What makes the Juan Gil interesting is that Monastrell/Mourvedre/Mataro is usually a blending grape that gets added to wines made predominantly of other varietals in lesser quantities to boost the blend’s colour and structure; very rarely does it get to be the star of the show in a bottle of wine, but this Juan Gil is 100% pure Monastrell, front and centre. Read the rest of this entry »


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