September 2007

Bodegas Famiglia Valentin Bianchi “Elsa” Malbec 2004

Proof that there are still good values to be had in Argentina. In fact, at a price between eight and eleven bucks (depending on the retailer), this is a super value.

Valentin Famiglia Bianchi has been making a range of consistent, quality wines from their vineyards in San Rafael for about 70 years — in my opinion, some of the best-for-your-buck Malbec, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon coming out of Argentina, year in and year out. Their style is clean, full of ripe fruit, round, and warm, with luscious, silky texture. Most of their wines go through some kind of barrel aging to add a nice vanilla spice component — but not so much to overpower the fruit, which is always the focus in their winemaking. Though they have some outstanding high-end bottlings, they also have a range of “entry level” wines labeled as “Elsa” — which is the Malbec we’re reviewing today. If there’s a negative to Valentin Bianchi’s wines, it’s finding them in the US — though they are supposed to be distributed throughout most of the 50 states, they’re about as easy to find as a needle in a haystack. However, they’re worth the effort of seeking out.

The Tasting Notes

Rich, vibrant, surprisingly complex aromas: ripe, fresh raspberry, plum, blackberry, vanilla spice, boysenberry, earth, hint of tar. Smooth as glass on the palate, showing excellent jammy fruit upfront, but not so much that it is overwhelming (the way an Aussie Shiraz might). Rather, the flavors pleasantly and slowly mellow into a well balanced finish, where mild to medium tannins and sufficient acidity appear and hold things together. The taste of the wine is a mirror of the nose: lots of ripe red and black fruits with spicy notes and hints of earth. Match this with a wide variety of foods, from blackened chicken to pork / veal chop to hamburgers to, of course, skirt steak grilled Argentine style.

Life would be truly wonderful if all bottles under nine bucks packed this much punch. Get a case and count on it as your daily drinker.

a-8 t-8 b-9 fc-10 v-10 ~ 95 Points

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Bodegas Salentein El Portillo Malbec Estate Bottled 2005

The winery is Bodegas Salentein, but you’ll have a hard time finding that on the label. It’s more easily recognized as “El Portillo” (or technically, “Finca El Portillo”), which is the name of the vineyard estate from which the grapes are grown. The vines are located more than a half-mile above sea level (3280 feet, to be exact), in the Valle de Uco (or, Uco Valley) area of Tunuyan — a municipality inside the Mendoza region. Personally, I don’t know enough about the sub-regions of Mendoza to know whether that’s important — but it does give you interesting dinner conversation.

The Tasting Notes

Nose is almost rustic, with good earthy character, ripe black fruits, and black pepper. On the palate you get muted blackberry, black raspberry, black pepper, earth. Acidity and tannins are both appropriately medium intensity, providing good backbone. Can a wine be clean and dirty? Yes it can, as this wine proves. It has that “dirty” earth character yet is well-made, well-balanced, and the fruit comes through cleanly. The finish is more old world, mostly earth, black pepper, and some black fruit. It reminds me more of Cot and traditional Argentine Malbec than the over-saturated, jammy Malbecs that have been flooding the market recently — which to me is a breath of fresh air. Not everything has to taste like Australian Shiraz or over-the-top California Zin.

I purchased this wine for the express purpose of matching with Argentine-grilled skirt steak, and it was a perfect pairing. I’d also suggest this wine with hard cheeses, cheesey dishes, other cuts of beef (grilled), roasts, and rich-flavored grilled veggies.

a-8 t-8 b-8 fc-8 v-7 ~ 89 Points

Importer: San Francisco Wine Exchange

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Bodegas y Vinedos Huarpe Lancatay Malbec 2004

Now that we’ve learned a bit about Malbec, we’ll do a few days of reviews.

First up is a Malbec made in a soft, easy drinking style, from Bodegas Huarpe, a winery sourcing grapes from high altitude vineyards in Mendoza. Their “Lancatay” is a fairly enjoyable wine, with open, forward, almost jammy aromas and flavors. The nose has black pepper, grape jam, and ripe fruit. On the palate you get more grape jam, blackcurrant, ripe blueberry, black raspberry and hints of black pepper and vanilla spice. Acidity is low, tannins are medium. By itself, it is fine as a quaffer, and will match well with the simplest of cheeses and run-of-the-mill appetizers. Otherwise, not appropriate for typical “red wine” foods, as it is too flabby and the jammy-ness wavers toward a sweetness that clashes with most dishes. For its $7 price tag, a good value for cocktail drinking and barbecues. (Note: I tasted the 2004, and wondering if it may be a bit tired; a fresher vintage may have a firmer structure.)

a-8 t-7 b-6 fc-6 v-8 ~ 85 Points

Importer: Michael Skurnik

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If you ever venture into the South American aisle of a decent wine shop (and having a “South American” aisle is a sign that it IS a decent wine shop), no doubt you’ve noticed a bunch of bottles from Argentina with “Malbec” on the label. In fact, you probably have tried at least one or two Malbecs, as it has become more prevalent and popular in the USA over the last few years. Would you like to know more about this mysterious wine?

To start, Malbec is a grape, and indigenous to France — which may seem strange since all the Malbec you see seems to be from Argentina. Fact is, in France Malbec is known mostly as a mere blending grape, used in faint quantities to soften the strength of Merlot and/or Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux wines. Well, that’s not entirely true … the grape is also known as “Cot” in areas outside of Bordeaux — for example it is the main grape for the “black wines” of Cahors (they’re not really black, but they’re a really dark shade of red, and leave your tongue looking like a Chow Chow’s).

Somehow, some way, Malbec found its way to Argentina, where it flourishes. The high altitudes, long, warm sun-filled days, cool nights, extra-dry climate, and sandy, alluvial, porous soils are ideal for the grape. Good thing, because Argentineans eat a lot of beef, and drink a lot of red wine — and for the better part of the 20th century, much of that wine was Malbec. Malbec vines are everywhere in the South American country, producing enormous volumes of red wine for its citizens — who used to be among the highest per-capita wine consumers in the world (80 liters of wine per person per year back in the 1960s — wow!).

However, in the 1980s, someone had the bright idea to pull all the Malbec vines and replace them with more marketable (and exportable) grapes such as Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. By the end of the decade, only 10,000 acres of Malbec were left — at which point more intelligent winemakers came in and said, “hey, there’s nothing special about Cabernet and Chardonnay from Argentina … but that Malbec — wow!”. As you might guess, the Malbec vines went back in the ground. At least the Argentineans became skilled at vine-pulling.

In the 1990s, with Argentina’s return to democracy and a hyperinflated economy, winemakers from around the world descended on and purchased undervalued Argentine vineyards — and continued planting the country’s most special grape. The influx is starting to pay dividends now, as more and more high-quality, fairly priced Malbecs are entering the market every year.

OK, But What Is Malbec, Really?

So that’s the background of the grape. But how about what it means to you, poured out into a glass?

Hard to pinpoint, actually. On the one hand, Malbec can be an inky black, rich and deep wine with big tannins and 20-year longevity. Personally, I’ve tasted some $50-$60 Malbecs that rival “Super Tuscans” and Calfornia reds that cost twice the price. On the other hand, Malbec can also be fashioned into a ripe, approachable, soft, ten-buck wine that matches perfectly with pizza or pork.

Generally, though, most Malbec wines share these characteristics: ripe black fruits, such as plum and blackberry; peppery notes; earthy; firm tannins; ample acidity; conducive to oak aging. In other words, a flavor profile that may be somewhere between California Cabernet Sauvignon and California Merlot. The Malbec wines called “Cahors” (which may be found in the France aisle of a very good wine shop) tend to be more inky, more earthy, and a bit more tannic. The Argentine examples tend to be riper and more jammy (though there are some “old school” Argentine wineries that go more toward the rustic side).

If you haven’t yet tried a Malbec, and you enjoy red wines, then it’s a no-brainer — buy one and match it with a grilled skirt steak (or portobello if red meat makes you uncomfortable). As with most wines, you will get what you pay for, so don’t pull a bottle from the bargain bin and expect it to bowl you over. My advice is to get to that decent wine shop, find the South American aisle, and spend somewhere between $12-18. You won’t be disappointed.

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Domaine Charvin Vin De Pays De La Principaute D’orange 2005

Here’s the scenario : I’ve just bought two 90% lean beef patties for hamburgers (with swiss cheese, grilled onion and tomato). I go into the wine shop with the goal of finding a suitable red to go with my burgers. I’m thinking Cotes-du-Rhone, maybe even be a little adventurous and go for a Californian Rhone Ranger. Essentially, I’m looking for : red, earthy, with black pepper notes, a medium acidity to fight the 10 percent fat and enough tannins to foil the protein — but not so much that it’s overbearing.

Going through the Cotes du Rhones, I came upon this bottle — which doesn’t make clear what it is, other than a VDP (Vins de Pays). The winery – Charvin – is a relatively unknown (among pedestrian wine buyers) but well-respected producer of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and is imported by Weygandt-Metzler — who in my experience has been reliable when it comes to price-to-value ratio. Suffice to say, I was not disappointed.

This wine’s nose emits a lot of black pepper, wet earth, and ripe black fruit — cassis, plum. In the mouth it has a surprising amount of jammy blackberry and plum fruit upfront, which is soon joined by spicy black pepper, earthy tobacco, tar, and the slightest hint of anise (makes sense; I found out later it was a Merlot - Grenache blend). Good acidity makes for easy food matching, and supple, firm tannins keep everything together. Alcohol is medium-high, but appropriate for the fruit ; there is no sense of hotness. The finish has good black fruit and drying tannins. It may be too dry and tannic to drink alone, but is absolutely perfect for food. Drink it with burgers – as I did – or have it with a piece of cheese, grilled beef, roasts, sausage. At about twelve bucks, it’s a very good value.

a-7 t-7 b-8 fc-10 v-9 ~ 91 Points

Importer : Weygandt-Metzler

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Merryvale Starmont Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Napa Valley

Although I usually condone (and insist on) trying new wines to expand your horizons and learn to enjoy all the fan and adventure that fermented grape juice has to offer, it’s also OK to drink the same wine more than once (just don’t make a habit of it!). Indeed, there are often times you walk into a wine shop with the express purpose of purchasing a bottle or a brand you’re familiar with — perhaps as a gift for someone else, or to match with a specific meal, or simply because you know you’re going to enjoy it. Personally, I have about a dozen or so “reliable standby” brands that I count on year after year. One of those is the Merryvale Vineyards and Winery in Napa Valley.

Merryvale concentrates on the typical California varietals — Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. Year in and year out, their bottlings are consistently high quality throughout the lineup, and give you good bang for your buck. I particularly enjoy the reds from their entry level “Starmont” line, including this Cabernet Sauvignon — which also has a bit of Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc blended in for added complexity.

Tasting Notes

Forward nose open with ripe black and red berry fruit, along with some earth and tar. In the mouth, the texture is smooth, almost creamy, with rich, ripe black berry fruit – blackberry, cassis, stewed plum / prune. Also touches of tobacco, earth, and a hint of spice add complexity. Very tasty and enjoyable on its own, even better with a ribeye, sirloin or skirt steak. Acidity is medium, tannins are ripe and medium – neither is overpowering at all, but rather provide structure and are in good balance with the almost-jammy ripe fruit. Finish is also balanced and pleasing, offering good fruit and hints of earth, black pepper, and tobacco before yielding to some chalky tannins at the very end. Enjoyable, appropriately priced (about $23), and ready to drink now.

a-8 t-8 b-8 fc-7 v-7 ~ 88 Points

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Hill of Content Shiraz 2004

Australian Shiraz has become overly popular — to a fault. Once a secret among wine geeks “in the know” as an affordable alternative to high-priced Syrah-based wines from the Rhone, Aussie Shiraz has become wildly popular among all imbibers, to the point where pedestrian wine drinkers are surprised to find out that French wineries are “now” making “Shiraz” as well — but spelling it differently.

With the influx of Shiraz on shelves across the United States — and overflowing the bargain bins — trying to find high-quality bottles is akin to searching a needle in a haystack. Sure, it’s fairly easy to find a nine-dollar Shiraz filled with upfront jammy fruit, but what about something with complexity, or a wine to contemplate? Perhaps a Shiraz with a finish that lasts longer than the time it takes to bat an eyelash?

They’re out there, but it’s hard to know them without tasting them first — kind of a catch-22. One way is to find them is to follow the old “you get what you pay for”, as it’s unlikely you’ll find a mindblowing wine for, say, eleven bucks. But when you start pulling out the bills with Andrew Jackson’s face to pay for a bottle, you’d like to be satisfied with the purchase. Aside from relying on friends’ recommendations, I have a secret: look for a strip around the neck of the bottle, or above the label, that says “Australian Premium Wine Collection“. Chances are good that if you see their seal stuck to the bottle, you will at least get what you pay for when it comes to Australian wine. Such was the case in my plucking this Hill of Content Shiraz off the shelf.

The Tasting Notes

A big jammy wine – so big it seems to be jumping out of the glass. The aromas are open, with ripe fruit of blackberry, black raspberry, menthol, alcohol, with hints of earth and spice. Take a taste and you are rewarded with a mouthful of rich, ripe blackberry, black raspberry, and mild touches of earth, vanilla spice, tar, dark chocolate, and tobacco. Ripe, medium-high tannins and medium acidity balance things out nicely, and become apparent in the finish which is fairly long and pleasant. Though there seemed to be a good dose of alcohol on the nose, it blew off after a few minutes in the glass and wasn’t overbearing in the mouth. It’s a touch hot at the very end of the finish, but nothing out of the ordinary for a wine packing so much punch. Drink this with a hamburger, sirloin steak, runny cheese, or well-grilled veggies. If you’re really into big, jammy reds, you will also enjoy drinking this by itself.

a-8 t-9 b-8 fc-7 v-8 ~ 90 Points

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Drylands Pinot Noir Marlborough 2005

A few months back, we reviewed Drylands Sauvignon Blanc — a good, clean, nicely priced summer sipper from Marlborough, New Zealand. Not surprisingly, their Pinot Noir was similarly clean and well-valued.

The Tasting Notes

Very typical “New World” style Pinot Noir. In other words, it has wide open, bright, ripe, forward fruit on the nose and the palate. Aromas scream strawberry, red cherry, and red raspberry. Flavors are similar, with an almost jammy drench of strawberry and red raspberry upfront, which yields to mild sweet earth and some bell pepper in the midpalate and earth and black raspberry and black cherry in the finish. Acidity is mild, barely enough to match with poultry, and tannins are mild to medium. A fruity, clean, fairly polished wine that’s more like a Cru Beaujolais than a red Burgundy. Enjoyable on its own, you can also match it with mildly seasoned chicken, pork, turkey and fish, or with vegetarian dishes. Try it with Indian cuisine as well. At an SRP of $17.99, this is a good value — one of the better Pinot Noirs you’ll find under twenty bucks.

a-8 t-8 b-7 fc-7 v-8 ~ 88 Points

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Tall Horse Pinotage Rose 2007

You’d think this site became a pink wine blog …

Yes, it’s yet another rose wine review. Sorry, but there are so many gosh-darn good pink wines this year.

The latest I’ve tasted is by Tall Horse, made from 100% Pinotage — an unlikely candidate for rose wine. Pinotage is from South Africa, and traditionally a big, bold red wine with black berry and earth character, and a touch of an unusual aroma that can only be described as “band-aid”. When I heard that a) there was a rose from South Africa and b) it was made from Pinotage, I had to get my hands on a bottle for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity and bewilderment. After all, it’s difficult to find ANY South African wines in a typical US wine shop, and damn near impossible to find a rose from SA — and even then it most likely would be made from Cabernet.

Suspicious of any pink wine made from Pinotage, especially one adorned with a label of a cartoon-like giraffe, I’ll admit my initial prognosis was, “there’s no way this is going to be good.”

As is often the case with low expectations, however, I was pleasantly surprised — this rose is a fruit-filled quaffer with plenty of complexity and enough structure to stand up to food.

The tasting notes:
Mild aromas of red berry, red licorice, cranberry (none of the typical “band-aid” aroma associated with Pinotage, by the way). Fruit is more pronounced on the palate, offering juicy watermelon candy, raspberry candy, pomegranate, pear, peach, and a touch of mineral. Acidity is mild to medium – not too high for drinking alone, but tart enough to match with fairly simple foods. It finishes quickly, but with a nice red licorice and red cherry flavor, as well as a bit of citrus. Easy drinking, with enough perceived sweetness to sway white zinners toward finer wine. Don’t drink this too cold, or you’ll miss a lot of the fun and complexity. Enjoy it as an aperitif, with simple appetizers, or with barbecued chicken. May also be good with sweet and spicy dishes, such as you might find on a Chinese take-out menu. At around 8 bucks, this is a great value.

a-7 t-8 b-8 fc-7 v- 9 ~ 89 Points

Tall Horse Wines website

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Solo Rosa Rose (from Sangiovese) 2005 - California

Tired of the pink wine reviews? I hope not, as there are at least a half-dozen more coming in the next two weeks. Seems I drank a lot of dry rose the past month.

Usually, I go for the pink wines from Spain, Portugal, and France, but every once in a while spot an example from California that appears interesting. Part of the problem in choosing an unknown rose from the USA is that you never know if it’s going to have a sweet flavor — what many people (and restaurant wine lists) associate with “blush” wines. Luckily, this “blush” made from Sangiovese finishes dry, and has enough acidity to match well with a variety of foods.

Color is pinkish bright orange — like the inside of a blood orange or raw wild salmon. Nose is a little hot of alcohol, not terribly expressive until it warms up — then it offers ripe fresh pear – it smells more like a clean Chardonnay than a Sangiovese. Some faint hints of citrus, maybe red fruit and something green. Flavors of red cherry, ripe pear, a touch of watermelon candy (i.e., jolly rancher). Glassy smooth texture. Good dose of acidity, typical of Sangiovese. Tannins are apparent and mild, offering a nice bit of structure. Finish is pleasant, though a touch warm, with ample pear, some red cherry fruit, and vanilla oak. It’s really more like Chard than Sangiovese.

It was a good match for tacos made with ground turkey, and will be tasty with similarly lean meat and fish dishes. At $28.00, it’s a bit overpriced … and I have to admit I didn’t pay that premium, because the wine shop had it tagged at $12.99 (at that price, a good value), which is the cost for the “entry level” Rose from Sola Rosa.

a-7 t-7 b-8 fc-8 v-6 ~ 86 Points

Solo Rosa Winery Website

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Pink Criquet Bordeaux Rose 2006

What does a cricket have to do with wine? Not much really … this wine is so-called because the winemaker Pierre Seillan’s rugby mates nicknamed him “Criquet” for his small size and lightning reflexes. Seillan — the same genius behind Verite, Chateau Lassegue, and Tenuta di Arceno (among others) — makes this rose wine with 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Bordeaux, using a process called “saignee” — whereby free-run juice gently kissed with the color of red grapes during maceration is added to enhance the wine’s color and flavor complexity.

Don’t let the shiny hot pink screwtop fool you – this is a serious wine. It can be summed up in two words: fresh and bright. Very bright, deep pink, magenta color. The nose is equally bright and open, displaying fun and pleasing aromas of strawberry, raspberry, and a hint of citrus. Flavors are bright, ripe, and mild, with strawberry, cranberry, red raspberry, white cherry, a touch of pink grapefruit and a steely mineral note. Acidity is mild to medium, and there are sufficiently perceptible tannins. Finishes clean as a whistle, with all elements perfectly balanced. This is pleasing enough on its own to be an aperitif, but really comes alive when paired with foods. You can enjoy it with flavorful fish, non-red-sauce pasta dishes and salads, bean salads, poultry, Asian and Indian cuisine, and hot and spicy dishes. A very versatile wine, and enjoyable at all degrees between room temperature and over-chilled. When toward the warmer side, it looks, smells, and tastes more like a Beaujolais Cru than a run-of-the-mill rose. At around fifteen bucks, this is appropriately priced.

a-7 t-7 b-10 fc-10 v-7 ~ 91 Points

Importer: Sovereign Wine Imports

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