Riondo Pink

So from what I’ve read, wine reviews are considered lame and boring amongst some wine bloggers. Or at least that was what I gathered from a few posts / tweets I saw during the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference this past weekend. I found it sort of ironic that some wine bloggers would take this opinion, but then also say who needs wine critics anymore? Personally, I like wine opinions. Anyways, I just found that to be a curious set of beliefs and will have to dwell on it more before I write an opinion post.

Well, reviews are the majority of what I do, so here is another one.

With the summer heat arriving earlier, we’ve been eating lighter and hence looking to drink lighter wines. Fortunately, sparkling fits the bill. The NV Riondo Pink ($12.99 at Whole Foods – 10.5% alcohol) from Italy is a wine we’ve enjoyed in the past, including a bad bottle earlier this year that I didn’t bother to write up because, well, it was faulty. This time the bottle was as we both remembered it, an easy to drink bottle of light red melon and strawberry fruit flavors. The mousse is lighter, as is the alcohol. This is what we’d call a frizzante wine, not fully sparkling.

A side note on this wine is that it used to be labeled as Prosecco, but that has since been removed and it is now just called Riondo Pink. From what I can tell, they’ve changed this to be made from 100% Raboso grapes, hence the change in the name. It is made in the same tank method, which allows for cost savings as it is obviously much cheaper to do the secondary fermentation in one large tank than in individual bottles. Typically, wines like this are bottled to order, as they are best drunk relatively fresh. This means you want to buy it from a store that has a regular turnover of the stuff. Again, labeling laws fail the consumer, as a bottled on date would really prove quite useful for sparkling wines made in this fashion.

Anyways, this is a repeat purchase and something I’d recommend to anyone who wants a nice fruity drink without being sweet, nor too dry. We paired this with assorted fruits and cheeses, as it is pretty light to take on anything too heavy. It was particularly good with strawberries.

Until next time, live well, love much, drink good wine.

2002 Rotari Flavio

Summer time means that we’ll be doing fruit, bread and cheese platters for dinner more often than not. A simple meal, created by the selection of good ingredients and augmented by, you guessed it, sparkling wines from around the world.

While shopping Whole Foods, I found myself drawn to the display of aged gouda and no, I don’t remember or have the name written down. Like Al Davis is drawn to bad football decisions, I found myself returning not once, but twice after my initial sampling. That was when dinner was decided. Throw in some green grapes (nice and tart), fresh organic strawberries, triple crème brie, Boursin (with herbs and garlic), smoked salmon salad and a freshly sliced loaf of bread and there is dinner.

I wanted a sparkling with a bit more age on it, since I thought it would work better with the nutty caramel flavor of the aged gouda, which was the inspiration for the plate. There weren’t any Champagnes in my possession that I really wanted and I’ve been trying to hold off on my domestic vintage bubblies for a harder-than-heckfire-to-get-organized tasting with other local bloggers in the Atlanta area.

So, I spotted the 2002 Rotari Flavio and put it on ice. I loaded up the plastic pitcher with ice and water (50/50), threw in the bottle, stuck it in the freezer and umm…forgot to set a reminder to take it out and put it in the fridge. Oh well, I got a cool looking ice mold out of it. I may do that again in the future, just because I liked the way it looked.

This 100% Chardonnay comes from the Trento region in Italy, a place not nearly as well known for sparkling wine production as say Prosecco or even Franciacorta. Being the tête de cuvée (I don’t know the Italian equivalent) for Rotari, the grapes are all hand picked and de-stemmed. The gently pressed and cold macerated juice is split 60% to stainless steel and 40% to 1-2 year old oak barrels for aging for about 5 months. At that point, the assemblage or blend is made and the wine is put into bottle for the secondary fermentation. It will not be disgorged for 5 years, a long period of time to age on the lees.

One might expect a really toasty and yeasty styled wine with that sort of long term sur lie aging, but the autolytic character came across more in a toasted nuts fashion than heavy duty bread or honey. There was also a very strong citrus component, very much like someone had roasted some meyer lemons and sprayed their juice over the roasted nuts. I like the freshness in this wine, something you might not expect (nor find) in most sparkling wines of this age. A real tribute to the quality of the Chardonnay that goes into the bottle.

For those considering it, it does compare well to other $30 offerings and I don’t see anyone being real disappointed, but I have to be honest and say while this is an outstanding wine, I still have to profess the Riserva is the better value. Oh yeah, FULL DISCLOSURE: This was a press sample.

I couldn’t find any other blogger reviews, but this wine did garner 91 points in Wine Enthusiast.

Please comment, pass on to friends and join me on Facebook or LinkedIn. I’m here to help and love to answer questions and read comments.

Cheers,
Kevin

On an unrelated note, Atlanta hits the big time next year with their first Food & Wine Festival. You know, the magazine which does two annual festivals, one in Aspen, CO and the other in Miami, FL. Yep, now Atlanta has one of those too. Very cool.

2008 Croteaux Rosé

Though not our first gathering as a group, it was the first official meeting of our newly formed wine and supper club. It started with an event where we were all gathered to help friends pick a sparkling wine for an event. After that, we got together at the same house and ripped through California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas, of which I’ve now become a fan. Everyone was asked to bring a wine (or two since our group isn’t very restrained) to go with pizza and we did.

This time, it was an “official” gathering. The theme was set, BBQ. Due to the fact we live rather far from everyone, we co-hosted the first event with good friends of ours that we’ve shared many a great meal and even more great wines with. They tended to the proteins, which included slow-cooker pulled pork, grilled chicken and kick-butt ribs.

In addition, we had some scrumptious side dishes created by my wife, including a four cheese alfredo sauce mac-n-cheese / pasta bake, the best damn cole slaw I’ve ever had and two kinds of cornbread, traditional and the other (my favorite which I just had for lunch as I write this) with green chiles and cheddar cheese. A meal unto itself.

Of course, I brought sparklers. Rose sparklers. I still believe they go really well with pork, though I didn’t get to re-certify the authenticity of my theory at this festivity. We had them before the food was ready, but both were really tasty and for me personally, the highlights of the evening. Granted, I’m bias that way. I didn’t taste all the wines (too many and a few I was already familiar with) and actually missed a photo of everyone’s apparent favorite (I only got to sip it when I put the wines in order…I always get drafted for that duty), but since it was gone by the time I went to taste it, no matter.

[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received both the Croteaux and Graham Beck Rosés as samples]

2008 Croteaux Sparkling Rosé: Croteaux specializes in rosé and after drinking this, I can say they seem to know what they are doing. At least, from a wine making point of view. This wine isn’t available here in GA and retails for $24 on the winery website. Honestly, I’d pay $15 for it, so it is a bit pricey for what it is. Made in the tank method, this soft and juicy wine reminded me of a cocktail made with fresh red berries, a dab of ripe watermelon, with a spritz and twist of sweet orange (I forget the specific variety we’ve gotten from Whole Foods that are so sweet).

The packaging was whimsical and absolutely screamed W-E-D-D-I-N-G. I didn’t hear anyone complain, except that I only had the one bottle and between 16 people, that doesn’t provide for a very generous pour. C’est la vie. If you live in NY, I’d recommend visiting them and trying all their wines. Summer begs for rosé.

Graham Beck Brut Rosé

NV Graham Beck Brut Rosé: So, this isn’t that well known, nor well regarded by the big reviewers. Good. More for us who know and enjoy it, especially at the mid teens price point I was told it should make here in Georgia. I know the wine is available, as I sampled the lineup back in January at the local distributor’s tasting. I’m pretty sure the rep told me it would make a $15.99 retail. I had two different guests ask me about this, as they wanted to buy some for themselves. [UPDATE: After I wrote this, I saw local wine guru Gil Kulers gave this two thumbs way up.]

A firmer, fuller bodied wine than the Croteaux, this presented a profile of tarter red fruits with fine minerality giving it a more solid finish. I found this to the better wine with food, whereas the Croteaux was a great way to begin with its more pillow-like nature. I’m telling you, based on other professional retail buyer opinions and those of friends I’ve shared this with, I really think Graham Beck is one of the top values in sparkling wine.

I have to say, the rest of the wines that were brought was a more interesting mix than I was expecting. We only had 3 Zinfandels, where as I’d told my wife I thought everyone would bring at least one Zin. I went against my usual preferred tastes and gravitated towards the two old world offerings. First up, Spain.

2008 La Cartuja Priorat: I don’t know what the retail was, but based on my searches, this is usually around $15! Okay, read that again. $15 for Priorat. I wonder if this is somebody’s declassified juice sold on the auction market for a fraction of “normal” price. No matter, it was a good wine. A bit tight at first, it did open up in the glass. I highly recommend decanting this and remember folks, serve your reds at around 65 degrees. That is room temperature in Europe…or at least, it was when that rule was first circulated. Ripe red and black fruits, with plenty of warm spice and the signature “hot rocks” note I always seem to find in wines from this region. I would definitely recommend this as a great introduction to the region and the style of wine. Usually you have to look at the surrounding horse shoe shaped region of Monstant for wines of this taste profile, quality and price point.

Two favorite still red wines of the evening...yes, I'm shocked too...

2005 Les Bois du Menestrel Vacqueyras: Another nice value, but again, I don’t know the retail. I think it is probably in the same range as the La Cartuja, mid-teens. A good choice, but this would have gone much better with beef. The smoked tobacco leaf and roasted red cherry character, wrapped around a core of iron, beg for big food. I’d even say wild game or mushroom laden dishes would work well with this. It was another solid choice and give it bonus points for probably being the most esoteric. Nice job Mark.

2005 Wilson Diane’s Reserve Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel: This sucker weighed in at a whopping 16.2% alcohol. Safety tip: no open flames near this one. It should have been decanted and served much cooler, something the generous bringer of this wine lamented not doing. A limited production wine of 200 cases, with an approximate price of $48, this screamed Zinfandel. Black as tar dark fruits, but of the ripest variety, with a healthy dose of fresh cracked black peppercorns. You could definitely taste the alcohol, but it was more in the sweetness than in the heat. A big wine for big food. Throw down with some ribs, plenty of water and a cooler service temperature.

So, those were my three favorites. One other wine, which was the most interesting because it was the most non-typical example of a grape variety wine I’ve ever had, was the 2006 Montoya Petite Sirah from Paso Robles. It was light, almost to the point of if you wondered if the grapes were all under enormous shade trees. This wasn’t PS. It was PS masquerading as I don’t even know what. Maybe a Grenache or warm vintage Oregon Pinot Noir, with a pinch of Syrah thrown in. It was actually not bad, it was just not what a Petite Sirah drinker would want in their glass.

To finish the evening, there was an assortment of Pepperidge Farm chocolate cookies (Genevas are my favorite) and some two bite (really…why do I always eat them in one then?!) brownies. To accompany them, Mark brought a bottle of Casa Sant’Orsola Brachetto d’Acqui. Liquified raspberry juice is how I always find these sweet Italian red sparkling wines. Perfect with the chocolate and a nice way to wrap things up after a very rich, savory and superb meal. My compliments to the chefs! (All I did was some prep work, pour our two bubblies and put the wines in order…that was an easy gig.)

So, there you have it, the birth of Wineaux 75, our social supper and wine club.

View the video below or on YouTube.

Piper Sonoma Brut Select Cuvee, Villa Granda Prosescco, Cupcake Vineyards Brut Rose of Pinot Noir

Value is always a priority, as nobody ever really wants to pay more for something than it is worth. Granted, when it comes to how we define value, everyone has a different scale. It could be that a $40 is an outstanding value because it really over delivers compared to other wines in that price point. That same $40 could still be much more money than some folks would ever pay, even if they have the means.

When I was in retail, I saw many definitions of what value was. One of my favorite customers was a retired commercial real estate developer who had done quite well for himself. He had a mountain home (not a cabin) with a newly built 1,000 bottle cellar and when he started shopping with us, his general spending limit was $20. When it came to Scotch, the story changed, but even then he always took two or three times of considering it before laying down the $100 or so he would spend. That was his value set and he was a great customer to work with because he’d buy two or three bottles, try them, then call us up to get cases of what he liked best. He’d load up in his decade old Chevy Suburban and head up to his mountain retreat to stock up. He was great fun to talk to and one of those customers that you really miss once you leave the business. No pretense, no consideration of what score the wine got, just someone who knew what he liked and could care less what anyone thought of his choices.

Then you have folks like this who think of an awesome $30 bottle of fine Loire Valley Chenin blanc as cooking wine. Jealous? A wee bit for sure, but more because I wonder if they really appreciate those wines and how they would judge things in blind tastings. And yes, I’d love to drink a few of those killer wines.

So, back to value. The following three are recently sampled sparkling wines, all of which were pretty good, though none of them really blew me away. The job got done, nobody got hurt and for the price I’d buy them on my own dime. FULL DISCLOSURE: All the following wines were received as samples.

NV Piper Sonoma – estimated retail $15: First up we have an entry from California. Those of you who are bubble heads may recognize the first half of the name, Piper. Yes, this particular California producer, like many, is owned by a Champagne house. In this case, it would be Piper-Heidsieck. The wine is brimming with crisp acidity, California citrus flavors and has a body that broadens on the palate. It was well balanced and easy to drink, with a style that neither pushes the edge, nor does it fall off the cliff. Good patio wine.

NV Villa Granda Prosecco IGT – estimated retail $11-12: Proseccos have come to become known as the go to wine for unwinding mid-week. They tend to be slightly lower in alcohol than other bubblies, though not by much since most sparklers top out at 12.5%, and on the fruitier side. Whether you are making a sparkling cocktail, having Sunday brunch with mimosas or kicking back and enjoying this fine spring weather, this is a good choice. Soft, with stone fruits that are fairly typical for the style, though I got a bit more mineral than others. Good for light appetizers, drinking alone or with mild cheeses.

NV Cupcake Vineyards Brut Rosé of Pinot Noir – estimated retail $12: A product of France, this bubbly was very tight lipped at first. After warming up, sweet strawberry and a slight hint of cherry came forward, though neither will knock you out with volume. Good acidity, enough to make food taste better and a wine that went well with grilled ham, jelly and cheese sandwiches.

Have a happy weekend and enjoy this fine weather!

Cheers,
Kevin

Remember the review on the three selections of Champagne Henriot? Well, those same friends are having a gathering next month and were having trouble in picking the sparkling wine to kick start said event. So, what else would a good wino do, but have a pre-event with a small group of fellow drunks oenophiles to select the starter wine.

All the wines were under the $20 price range and actually, came in under $15 each. The quality was pretty good all around, though I will admit that the constant drinking and eating didn’t give a fair chance to the last four or so selections. We had ten wines, all of which were served blind. I have them listed in order and have listed the names along with them, along with my notes and then thoughts about the wines after they were revealed.

First off, I’d like to say thanks to our friends for creating the event(s) and our gracious host and hostess who cooked dinner for us at their home. Food, conversation and company were all great and throw in 10 sparkling wines (after tasting six still wines at an earlier tasting) and yeah boy, you’ve got a party.

We were served food that was NOT the same as what the menu at the actual event would be, so I was taking the possible selections into mind when reviewing these wines. Like I was trained, I also considered the audience, which will include many folks who don’t really care that much about wine. Yes, they’ll drink it, but they aren’t as obsessed enthusiastic as the rest of us.

Adriano Adami Garbel Prosecco 13 - Depreville Brut Rose - Kingsley North Coast

NV Adriano Adami Prosecco Colli Trevigiani Garbèl 13 ($13.99): Pear, touch of mineral with a sweet-tart like finish that had a hint of pink grapefruit in it. Pleasant for a starter wine, but wouldn’t stand up to the suggested appetizers.

NV Depréville Brut Rosé $9.99: Pretty rose quartz color, with tart red berry flavors that finished a bit short and would actually work better at the end of a menu with some sort of tart. The ladies seemed to like this one if I recall, but I wasn’t counting the ballots, so what do I know?

NV Kingsley North Coast Sparkling Brut $12.99: Cooler climate from the higher acidity profile, with granny smith apple dusted with candied ginger, giving it spicy edge. I found this to be decent, but not well suited for the crowd.

De Chanceny Cremant de Loire - Rotari Talento - Segura Viudas Brut Reserva

NV De Chanceny Crémant de Loire Brut $12.99: The crowd favorite, this got a vote from everyone. While not my personal favorite, I thought this had been the easiest and smoothest to drink, but with more oomph than the first, which was just too light for food. I was also drinking this while eating marinara sauce, which was a mistake. I think the acidity in the tomatoes does nothing good for sparkling wines, but hey, I was hungry and the food tasted good.

NV Rotari Talento Trento Brut DOC $12.99 Golden apples with touches of bread and minerals. Lengthy and smooth on the finish, this was another crowd pleaser with broad appeal. Rotari makes three excellent sparkling wines and while the NV stuff is very nice, if you find the vintage, take a stab and see if you aren’t impressed for the money.

NV Segura Viudas Brut Reserva $7.99: This was one of the wines I’d suggested which made the list. At this point, everyone was more into the conversation than the actual evaluation of the wines and all I put was this had nice fruit and was a contender for the crown. I always think this is a good bottle to keep around the house for casual sipping or Sunday mimosas. Unfortunately, it didn’t add to my total in the race for 365, but that is fine, it was still good.

Rondel Pura Raza - Segura Viudas Aria - 2006 Saint-Hilaire - Depreville Brut

NV Rondel Pura Raza Cava $7.99: I guessed this was an inexpensive Cava based on the high acidity and the strong, simple citrus profile. I thought it was a nice wine for a starter and think it is one to take a look at if you can’t find the Segura Viudas. You could always do what we did and hold your own blind tasting.

NV Segura Viudas Aria Cava $10.99: Again I wrote Cava, with more richness than the previous two and strong hint of grapefruit. At this point, I was just ready to get done. I always like Aria, but as reviewed last week, find it has taken a bit of a downturn for me when compared to the $3 less expensive Brut Reserva.

2006 Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux $14.99: Umm…I got tangerine and citrus, which means I was too lazy to really try and sniff out what other (since tangerine is a citrus fruit) citrus I was picking up on. It was nice, but at this point, what wasn’t?

NV Depréville Brut $8.99: Austere and not pleasant. Even at this stage, I didn’t like this one. Probably the only wine I wouldn’t drink again. Skip this.

So, there you go. Ten sparkling wines, all tasted in a blind format (my favorite kind) that was really quite fun. The wines ranged from no way Jose to fill ‘er up Johnny and while none of them blew my socks off, I thought it was a very good lineup for the price range. Then again, I am bias to some degree when it comes to sparkling wines. I wonder how many Pinot Noirs in this price range you could find of similar quality? Even Cabernet Sauvignon, with the sheer number of choices to pick from, could be difficult, especially if you were picking out wines that you weren’t really familiar with.

Based on all factors (our votes, price, location, customer loyalty), Rotari is the winner and will be the wine we start the evening off with when the party actually takes place.

Once again, many thanks to P & C for having us as guests to the party and M & T for being such awesome hosts. We had a wonderful time and look forward to many more with everyone. It was also nice to put another 8 notches in the 365+ belt in one evening.

Cheers,
Kevin