Hittin It

On we go:

2006 Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire (Sur Lie) Lieu-dit Les Grand Vignes

Medium gold; aromas of ripe melon with a flinty characteristic, some white peach and fresh apricot; amazingly perfumed, elegant, balanced, and refined for a Muscadet (must be the great pedigree: favorable, Grand-Cru like single vineyards, old vines, etc...). Complex with great finesse. At $13 floor*, this would be my "summer wine" by the case!

2004 Leone D'Almerita

Deep golden; aromas of citrus and pale fruits with some mineral (wet slate, etc.) and subtle floral (fresh cut flowers) notes; ripe fruit (tangerine) with balanced acidity, somewhat lean and crisp- unique blend of Catarratto Bianco (another indigenous Italian varietal) and Chardonnay. Summer singing at $13 floor*.

* Floor means before any store generated discount... this makes these prices rock!

Wines Of Summer?

The weather in NYC is April fare- but here is a summer sipper:

2007 Riesling- Auslese Selzer Osterberg- Rheinhessen (Fritz Windisch)

Pale yellow with white peach, melon and some petrol aromas. Pure elegance on the palate with great balance and ripe flavors that seem to last for over 30 seconds. At 10% alcohol this is an impressive summer sipper for $14 a bottle. (Auslese is the equivalent of "late harvest"- not vinified to burn off all the residual sugar, but not quite a dessert wine either).

Onward- Tasting Notes

Tasting away-

2007 Castagnolo Orvieto (Barberani)

Pale gold. Lemon-lime, and limestone aromas. Round, almost buttery mouthfeel, with rich, ripe fruit- moderate acidity, and alcohol on the moderate to long finish. For $13 this is an elegant white for any occasion.

2008 Verdicchio Vermentino (Vitiano- Umbria)

Light yellow, with aromas of melon and wild field flowers. Lean with good acidity and mineral notes to intertwine with the fruit components mentioned above. Moderate finish. At $9.50 this is a steal.

2007 Pinot Noir Single Vineyard- Bio Bio Valley (Anakena- Chile)

Light red/purple, with good PN spice, racy fruit and spices (cinnamon) with earth notes. Medium body with good balance- true PN characteristics- no vegetal or off-putting flavors. Moderate finish with some charcoal tones. Very impressive for $13.

Tonight's The Night

I will try to keep this as current as my schedule allows (sorry about the abrupt ending to my previous post) ... so on that note, here we go with tonight's lineup:

Contrasting 2 Pinot Noirs

As we all know Red Burgundy (yes the original Pinot Noir) has continued to escalate in price, with even the simple, entry level French Bourgogne breaking the $20 mark. Everyone is looking for affordable Pinot Noir that still tastes like their personal qualitative benchmark- a wine that brings them back to their personal romance with the grape. That being said, there are still some affordable Pinot Noirs in the marketplace- I will give you comments on current wines I think are worth trying. As always, please feel free to add your input ----------now on to the tasting notes:

6-19-2009

2006 Heron Pinot Noir ($13)

Youthful purple red, pale rim.

Expressive nose of fruit (blueberry, dark cherries), smoke, and spices, tar and leather (sweat)

Balanced- dark fruit, tannins, acidity, and spice, tar... needs time to open up ( just pour a glass and let it stand for 30 minutes or ask me for other tips)... this winemaker/ owner is totally cool- I honestly just found out about her and cannot wait to try her other wines.

2007 Wyatt Pinot Noir ($16)

Youthful purple, pale rim.

Bracing, racy raspberry fruit with smoke and earth.

Ripe, round PN fruit with balanced acid zip- cherry, blueberry, strawberry, plum flavors.

Complex yet elegant- picks up weight in the glass.

Let's get it going

Here are some of the recent values I've found in today's market (I am talking Manhattan and surrounding boroughs, but these wines should be available almost everywhere hopefully at comparable price points):

2007 Orvieto Classico (Ruffino)- more finessed and refined than in previous years, and made by a large and reputable house, this pale gold wine offers pear and honeysuckle nose and palate tones with good balance and body. So for $8 this will impress... but now , my source has gone to $10?... because it is now the 2008 vintage- still similar quality and characteristics.

For more stats: Orvieto History and Ruffino.

TBC

Welcome To My Humble Blog

So as we all know, everyone can have a blog these days, but I think I have a unique and interesting concept- trying to present interesting content for all of you who may be in the same situation as me - someone who needs to locate affordable wines in the current economic climate, but can also reminisce on the great wine tasting experiences that are etched in our memories. So please feel free to jump on this bandwagon to express your feelings, experiences, and most importantly, your connections to the great wines (on any level) that we can all enjoy.