How to Throw a Wine Party

Planning to hold a wine tasting party? There is a new article posted in the Wine Basics section titled How to Throw a Wine Party. Check it out and you will get tips on glassware, themes, choosing, tasting, rating, and even spitting!

Red Wine Review: Robertson Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

Ten or fifteen years ago, Australia was land of wine values … until “New World” wines became in vogue and prices skyrocketed. Then the great unknown red wine values came from Chile and Argentina; however that secret is out as well and the prices of South American wines have gone up steadily as people discovered how good there are. The next great secret from the Southern Hemisphere may well be from South Africa, which is best known for the band-aid wine, Pinotage, but also produces other fine reds at affordable prices. For example, this Cabernet Sauvignon from Robertson Winery. If Australia still made a wine under ten bucks, this is what it would taste like.

Nose: Rich, full, wide open, complex nose of ripe red and black berry fruits, earth, menthol, tobacco, and spice.

Palate: Rich, full ripe fruit upfront, with some earth and vanilla spice. Smooth texture, a touch hot in the finish, which turns to grapey cassis in flavor. Has decent acidity and mild to medium tannins, but not quite enough structure to stand up to a cheeseburger. Will be more enjoyable on its own or with not-as-fatty dishes.

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White Wine Review: Basa Rueda Blanco

Another Great White Wine Value from Spain

Real deal price: $7.99

A few weeks back you read about Las Brisas Rueda, a white wine from an area in Spain northwest of Madrid. That wine made enough of an impression on my palate to try another white from the same region: Basa Rueda Blanco. Once again, an excellent white wine value has been discovered.

Basa Rueda has a vibrant nose of green unripe fruit with a distinct grassiness characteristic of Sauvignon Blanc. That shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, as Sauvignon is planted in the DO Rueda region and is part of this wine’s blend (it also contains Spain’s own Verdejo and Viura).
Sour granny smith apple, zesty lime/citrus, and a slightly grassy/vegetal element mark the flavor of this wine, which has a gush of tart acidity and a crystal clean finish. Actually the finish reminds me of original flavor Gatorade gum: limey citrus flavor with a chalky, thirst quenching tartness. Alcohol is mild, hardly noticeable, yet the wine has surprising body for a light white. Drink it ice cold as a refreshing aperitif, or match with simply prepared white meats (poultry, pork), vegan dishes, mildly seasoned salads.

For the geeks (and conversation): Basa Rueda’s winemaker is Telmo Rodriguez, considered by many wine experts to be Spain’s up-and-coming enologist. A few things make him special, notably his dedication to preserving the terroir in wines and believing that winemaking begins in the vineyard. As a result, he chooses indigenous grapes from old vines that produce extremely low yields. He’s also a proponent of biodynamic methods; in other words, using natural / organic products in growing vines. Biodynamism leads to wines that achieve a pure, true expression of their place of origin.

Score: 91 points
a-8 t-7 b-8 fc-8 v-10

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