2007 Fritz ZINFANDEL (Dry Creek Valley, Cal.)

A good value in a medium-weight, intensely minerally Zin.

Dark ruby garnet.  Medium intensity, inviting nose of warm vanilla, spicy blackberries, and salty, stony minerals.  Soft and fruity, lots of up-front blackberry fruit, along with a striking saline minerality.  Good acidity and a fair amount of tannin in the finish.  Good, not great concentration, and a medium-long, dry finish.  Solid B.  I got this for $14 and change at Spec's on Weslayan.

2009 Domaine Seguinot-Bordet CHABLIS "Vieilles Vignes" (Northern Burgundy, France)

A young, intense, tight, mineral-infused Chardonnay.  I would lay this down for at least another year or two, maybe more.

Medium light, very bright gold color.  Intensely saline/chalky/minerally nose whose fruit profile features intense green apples and crisp, slightly underripe peach scents.  Lean, intense, chalk and stone-laced flavors attack the palate, with some slightly bitter green apple skin and straw flavors.  Needs time to settle down, but should get even better.  The intense acidity and good length bode well for ageing.  B++.  Imported by J&R Selections.  Was $21 at Spec's on Weslayan.

2007 Casa Emma CHIANTI CLASSICO (Tuscany, Italy)

This wine was in a very soft, easy-going style.  A bit less structured and simpler than is usual, in my opinion, from this very good producer.

Dark ruby garnet.  Scents of warm gravel and cherries.  Soft, easygoing flavors of sandstone, bright cherry fruit, and steely minerals.  Very soft texture and decent acidity.  Ideal for red-sauced pasta dishes over the next year.  B-.  Imported by Margaux and Associates, I got this for about $18 at Spec's.

2007 Domaine Vendemio "AMADEUS" (Cotes de Ventoux, Southern France)

This 80% Grenache, 20 % Syrah was a bruiser.

Completely saturated black ruby.  Dark, low-toned and highly-extracted nose of mineral-laced blackberries, pound cake, and scorched earth.  Inky, mouthcoating, peppery flavors of blackberry skins and graphite.  Boatloads of tannins in the long, dark, highly-extracted, peppery finish.  B.  A winter-weight wine.  Imported by Eric Solomon, I got this on sale from Zachys.com during one of their periodic "$20 Sales."

2009 Domaine de la Voute des Crozes COTES de BROUILLY (Beaujolais, France)

A tightly-wound, classic cru Beaujolais at value price.

Jet black ruby with dark purple highlights.  Intense nose of crunchy cherry candy, cracked stones, and a hint of Juicy Fruit gum.  Intensely minerally cherry and plum skin flavors.  Tight and bone dry, with a surprisingly (for a Beaujolais) amount of tannin in the finish.  Good acids too.  This wine will be better in a year or so, but it is very enjoyable now as well.  Very food-friendly.  B+.  Imported by Kermit Lynch, I got this for $18 from B-21 Wines in Florida.

2008 Wine Guerrilla ZINFANDEL (Dry Creek Valley, Cal.)

A very good value, flavorful Zin.

Dark ruby garnet.  Pleasantly rustic nose of dark blackberries, roasted green herbs, and brambly sandstone.  In a leaner more rustic style than most Zins, this wine has drying flavors of blackberry, brambly underbrush, and scorched earth.  Good acidity and a bit of tannin in the medium length finish give some structure.  Would pair well with rustic, assertive dishes.  B+.  $14.73 at Spec's on Weslayan.

(Sorry, 2009 shown)

2009 Cline "Ancient Vines" MOURVEDRE (Contra Costa County, Cal.)

Cline has cranked out yet another excellent iteration of this wine.  Let's hope that the vineyard owners in the region don't sell out anytime soon to the real estate developers, which apparently is a real issue with the old vines in Contra Costa County.

Dark, violet-tinged ruby.  Rich, low-toned fruity nose of sappy blackberry juice, toasted baking spices, toffee, and sandstone.  Soft (especially for a Mourvedre, which can sometimes be a bit coarse), ripe, mouthfilling flavors of blackberry, smoky gravel, and a hint of peach juice.  Long finish with well-integrated tannins and the barest trace of heat.  A winner.  A-.  $13.99 at Spec's.

(BTW -- I had the 2009 Cline Ancient Vines Zin while on vacation, and while I have no notes for it, it too was a great value in a fleshy, balanced Zin).

2008 Jean & Gilles Lafouge AUXEY-DURESSES 1er CRU "LES DURESSES" (Burgundy, France)

One of the best under $30 Burgundian Pinot Noirs I've had in many years.  A high energy wine.


Light ruby garnet color.  Gorgeous, high-toned nose of sweet/tart cherries, cool plums*, powdered stones and lemon dust.  Piercing, almost electric flavors of high-toned cherry and tingly, stony minerals.  Crisp acidity and a fine dusting of tannin dominate the texture of the finish.  Amazing purity of flavors and liveliness.  Leaves the palate tingling and invigorated.  A-.  Was $29.99 from B-21 Wines in Florida (an excellent retailer who ships).



*  Remember that William Carlos William poem, "This is Just to Say"?

This Is Just To Say
I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold

2010 Crios ROSÉ OF MALBEC (Mendoza, Argentina)

A bruiser of a rosé, but in a good way.


Very dark (for a rosé) cherry/watermelon color.  Deep nose of cherry and watermelon juice (I'm not just getting lazy here, it really did look and smell like cherry and watermelon) along with powdered rock dust.  Intensely flavored (almost overwhelmingly so for a rosé) with cherry/mineral flavors.  Lots of body too.  It's a rosé that drinks like a red, is what it is.  Clean. long, minerally finish with some (barely) perceptible residual sugar.  Not a lot of finesse, but a lot of oomph.  Put a good chill on it or it will be cloying, but with that good chill it's a B+.  Got this as a gift, so I don't know the price, but an Internet search reveals that most places sell this for around $10, making it a good value.  

2008 Trimbach RIESLING Reserve (Alsace, France)

I LOVE this style of Riesling -- fragrant, lean, so crisp as to be zingy, bone dry yet with wonderfully ripe Riesling fruit.  Very much in the classic Trimbach style.

Very pale bright gold.  Classic Alsace Riesling nose of piercing green apple, tea, and powdered granite, it features crisp, bracing, intense flavors of fresh-crushed green apple juice poured over lemon drenched stones.  Very tight now, this wine will age effortlessly for another 4 years or so.  Not as full and ripe a style as a lot of Alsace producers are now trending toward, this really is a classic wine.  A.  I got this on sale from Zachys.com for $20.

2007 Eric Texier COTES DU RHONE "Brezeme" (Southern France)

A good, rustic, old-fashioned style of Cotes du Rhone.  Lean, earthy, spicy, and nowhere near the more direct, fruity style that is much more prevalent today.

Dark ruby garnet.  Intensely earthy with a pleasantly barnyardy component on the first day, on day 2 the barnyard was gone, replaced with a tart, spiced cherry and raspberry fruitiness, pungent rock dust, and a hint of sweat.  Tight and lean in the mouth, with bone-dry cherry liqueur/mineral flavors, morphing into a darkly-minerally finish with a slight bitter edge.  Good acidity.  A wine that requires rustic rich food as an accompaniment.  Not a cocktail party red.  B.  Was $23 at Houston Wine Merchant, it's imported by Louis/Dressner Selections.

2008 Chono CARMENERE Reserva (Maipo Valley, Chile)

A very classically Bordeaux-styled wine from the New World -- pretty rare.  It was very good: elegant, some complexity, not a fruit bomb.

Saturated dark ruby/mulberry color.  Gorgeous nose of cedar, ripe, dark berries, smoky stones, and chocolate powder.  Concentrated, focused, and balanced, with medium-full body.  Mouthcoating (but not heavy) flavors of low-toned berries, accented with minerally sandstone and bitter milk chocolate.  Reminds me of a high-quality, old-school Margaux but at a fraction of the price.  If the finish were a bit longer I would have given it an A, but as is it's an A-.  Imported by North Berkeley Imports, I think I got this for around $13 at Whole Foods on Bellaire.

2007 Trinitas OLD VINE CUVEE (Mendocino County, Cal.)

This is very good and a good value, but neither the label nor the Internet discloses what varietals make up this wine.  There's obviously a lot of Zinfandel, but beyond that I'd only be guessing.

Nearly saturated blackish ruby with some violet.  Gorgeous nose of sandstone, baking spices, sweet cream, and ripe black raspberries.  Dense, ripe fruit coats the palate in a soft-textured blast.  Fills the mouth quickly with fruit, then displays loads of sweet, spiced gravel notes, and ends texturally with a fair amount of soft tannin.  My only quibble is that there's some (barely) perceptible residual sugar in the finish.  Very nice.  B+/A- (depending whether you can deal with the bit of residual sugar).  Was $14 at Spec's on Smith.

2007 Ridge "Dusi Ranch" ZINFANDEL (Paso Robles, Cal.)

Notes from memory here, as I had this at a dinner with friends at Harris' Steakhouse in San Francisco last week.

Short version:  one of the best Zins I've ever had.  Longer impressions:  Ripe and fragrant, with great minerality.  Perfect balance, ripe and full but with nice balancing acidity.  No jamminess.  No heat in the finish.  Absolutely stunning texture.  Plush but firm.  A+.

2008 Planeta CERASUOLO DI VITTORIA (Sicily)

This blend of Nero d'Avola and Frappatto was pretty decent on its own, but would probably be even better accompanying pasta with meat sauce.

Medium-light ruby garnet.  Intensely metallic-minerally, sour cherry nose, with spiced lemon notes.  Cherry, pine resin, and charcoal flavors on entry, quickly molting into very clingy, cherry/mineral flavors.  Good acidity, and a good finish.  Medium-full bodied.  B.  Was $22 at Spec's on Smith.

2009 Hippolyte-Reverdy SANCERRE ROSÉ and a Recipe

I drank my last bottle of this outstanding Pinot Noir rose, which I reviewed previously, and it was still remarkably fresh and flavorful.  I had to improvise a quick, light meal based on what we had in the house, and came up with the following, which not only was really good, but paired wonderfully with the Sancerre rose.



Pasta with artichoke hearts and Italian tuna belly

 1 lb. pasta (like penne or rotini)

1 can artichoke hearts in water

1 jar Italian tuna belly (ventresca*) packed in olive oil, drained

¼ cup finely chopped onion

¼ cup finely chopped celery

¼ cup finely chopped carrot

¼ cup good olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup dry white wine (maybe a splash more. . . I didn't measure)

Salt

Pepper

A bit of chopped parsley

Get a pot of salted water boiling for the pasta.

In 12” sauté pan, heat 1/8 cup olive oil and then soften onion, carrot, and celery for 5 minutes over medium low heat.

While they’re softening, drain artichoke hearts.  Cut into quarters, and squeeze out excess water with paper towels. 

When onions, carrots, and celery are softened (not browned), add artichokes.  Toss for a few minutes.  Add the white wine, and turn up the heat to get the wine boiling and reduce it a bit.  Add the lemon juice and the rest of the olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, stir around, then turn the heat off until the pasta is almost done.

Just before draining the cooked pasta, turn up the heat on the sauce and add the tuna, trying not to shred the tuna as you stir it in.  Turn off the heat as soon as the tuna is stirred in (cooking it makes it taste bitter and crappy).

Add  sauce to the drained pasta, mix, then throw the chopped parsley on top.  I think this is better without Parmesan cheese, but Liz likes Parmesan cheese on every type of pasta 

known to man.

* Ventresca is like basic tuna packed in olive oil, except it's from the best part of the tuna, and has a really refined taste. 

2007 Mazzocco "West Dry Creek" ZINFANDEL Reserve (Cal.)

A luxurious wine.  No other way to say it.

Dark, sedate black ruby color.  Rich, voluptuous, sexy nose of sweet, smoky balsa wood and oodles of ripe, oozing blackberries, along with warm, baking spice-inflected sandstone.  Richly-fruited, dense, full, and velvety soft in the mouth, with mouth-filling, deep-toned berry fruit and a deep-toned minerality in the back half of the palate.  Loads of very soft tannin buried underneath.  Very hedonistic.  A.  Drink this over the next one to two years.  My brother and sister-in-law got this direct from the winery and gave it to me, so I didn't have to pay the high-price tag this commands.  Thanks, guys.

2009 Falletto (Bruno Giacosa) DOLCETTO D'ALBA (Piemonte, Italy)

A solid wine, I was expecting more from this producer.  This had too much bitterness and a scorchey component going on to really shine.  Come to think of it, I haven't had a Dolcetto that has floated my boat in a long, long time.

Vibrant dark ruby color.  Nose of scorched earth, dried leaves and piney underbrush, along with some bone dry blackberry extract.  Intensely dry, but fruity extract in the mouth, juxtaposing fruit and bitterness -- scorched, inky fruit but in a soft-textured package.  Finishes with a clean, low-toned bitter edge.  Just a teeny bit of tannin.   Interesting.  B.  Can't remember where I got it.  I think it was around $20.

2009 Punta Crena PETTIROSSO Rose (Liguria, Italy)

This unusual rose, made from the Rossese grape, was fizzy and a little earthier than the typical roses I drink, but it was good.


Beautiful watermelon/salmon color.  Very fizzy when poured, the extremely tiny bubbles lent a pleasantly prickly feel to the wine.  Intense, earthy passionfruit and pomegranate nose.  Clean, slightly fizzy flavors of bone dry, stony/earthy fresh grapes.  Clean, fruity, and with a refreshing texture that would be welcome for light meals on very hot days.  B.  Imported by Kermit Lynch, I got this for $18 from B-21 Wines in Florida.

2009 Domaine Chignard FLEURIE "Les Moriers" (Beaujolais, France)

A very lively, zingy wine that will jolt your palate awake.

Dark ruby with magenta highlights.  Intense and zesty nose of ripe, crunchy berries and extroverted, almost overwhelming melted stone minerals.  Assertive and very youthful in the mouth, with ripe but zesty, high-toned berry fruit, along with crisip acidity, some tannin, and a clean, minerally, refreshing finish.  Very distinctive, this wine will pair nicely with simple, assertive foods.  B+.  Was $27.99 at Houston Wine Merchant.  Imported by Kermit Lynch.