Alan Kerr’s Vintage’s June 11 Release – Tasting Notes
June 10th, 2011 | 
Author: 
Veneto wines are the feature of this release and, as Father’s Day is on the horizon, there are several highly touted wines suggested as treats for dad and for those kiddies with really deep pockets, well do read on…
THE WINES OF VENETO
029850 TENUTA SANT’ANTONIO MONTI GARBI RIPASSO VALPOLICELLA SUPERIORE 2008 Veneto $17.95
Notes of coffee bean, anise and sweet spice blend well with black cherry and plum aromas. Cherry dominates the palate, a touch of anise ball and spice, nicely balanced acidity and gentle tannin. Find this wine
063636 REMO FARINA MONTE FANTE RISERVA AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO 2004 $62.95
Lots of barnyard and earthy aromas, borderline stinky, with some pinecone and forest aromas. Delving deeper, I find a similes to black forest torte, with Kirsch, meat and dark chocolate. It is elegant, but powerful on the palate, showing sweet cherry, blackberry and a layer of cocoa powdery tannin. There is a little heat on the finish, but it is tasty and will only get better with time. Find this wine
204826 GIACOMO MONTRESOR AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA 2006 $53.95
Earthy, wet soil, drifts of mocha, forest floor and spice, dark fruit run to a palate of dark cherry, cinnamon, nutmeg and mineral. It has a chewy texture, well balanced and gentle tannins. Find this wine
230607 ZENI VIGNE ALTE AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO 2006 $39.95
Layers of blackberry jam, Asian spice, and floral aromas follow through to a palate of dark fruit, tasty acidity and a touch of sweetness on the finish. Find this wine
084079 GIUSEPPE CAMPAGNOLA CASOTTO DEL MERLO RECIOTO DELLA VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO 2007 $29.95
An interesting nose composed of fresh cut flowers, sweet marzipan, liquorice, black lozenges and sweet cherry. The palate reflects the fruit and adding a nice layer of blackberry and mocha. Some dusty tannin on the finish. Find this wine
220830 ZENI MAROGNE RIPASSO VALPOLICELLA SUPERIORE 2008 $17.95
Lots of plush sweet fruit, a little cured meat, some red fruit on the palate and chewy tannin on the finish. Find this wine
134544 MONTE DEL FRÁ BARDOLINO 2010 $11.95
Rhubarb, sweet cake spice, cardamom and black cherry with a refreshing palate of cherry and berry, a touch of sweetness and good structure. It is a deal at the low asking price. Perfect to grab a case as barbecue season is finally upon us, I think! Find this wine
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Alan Kerr’s Vintage’s May 28 Release – Tasting Notes
As another barrage of Californian wines prepares to hit the shelves, the good news is some of them are very good and a couple are exceptional. However, the bad news is they are not cheap. As always, there are several wines to be found that won’t make the wallet wince so please read on.
WINES FROM THE CALI CONFIDENTIAL RELEASE.
001537 NEWTON UNFILTERED CHARDONNAY 2007 Napa County $64.95
A rich full bodied wine that is powerful, elegant and seamless. It puts forward, fig, baked pear, mineral and peach aromas. The palate offers a perfect balance of fruit flavours, deftly administered oak, acids, mineral and great length on the finish. Find this wine
221887 ROBERT MONDAVI FUMÉ BLANC 2008 Napa Valley $22.95
Lighter in style than previous vintages, has none of the rasping acidity one expects, some pretty melon and grapefruit aromas and a neutral palate. Find this wine
059311 7 DEADLY ZINS OLD VINE ZINFANDEL 2008 Lodi 24.95
Lots of creamy sweet fruit, plum and mocha notes with a touch of black liquorice lead to a palate of black fruit jam, a creamy texture and vibrant acidity. Quite spicy on the finish. Find this wine
Some Recent Michigan Wines with the Friday Night Regulars
Last week, I decided that it was high time to try some Michigan wines with the Friday night tasting group at the retail outlet in which I am gainfully employed. The bulk of the selections were from the 2 Lads Winery on the Old Mission Peninsula. Cornel Olivier and Chris Baldyga have established an impressive level of quality with their wares in a relatively short period of time, and I’m a fan, so here was an opportunity to try some of their newest selections with our intrepid band of regulars. We started things off with some bubbles.
2009 2 Lads Old Mission Peninsula Sparkling Pinot Grigio, 12.5% alc., $24.99: Clean and crisp; medium bodied, with very good mousse and excellent acidity. Bone dry green apple and grapefruit character, and very refreshing. Here’s what the lads have to say about this on their web site: “The cool (what? I meant cold!) summer of 2009 was perfect for sparkling wine production, and our Sparkling Pinot Grigio proves it. Produced in the traditional Champagne method, this sparkling wine underwent primary fermentation in tank before being transferred to the bottle for secondary fermentation (thus the beautiful bubbles!) It then aged 10 months en tirage (on the lees) before disgorging and finishing each individual bottle by hand.” Find this wine
Since the next selection maintains a solid presence on retail shelves in the area, I thought it would be both fun and instructive to see how it’s developing, so I included it in the mix.
Alan Kerr’s Vintage’s May 14 Release – Tasting Notes
2009 seems to have been very favourable in France as most regions are reporting stellar wines across the board. Once again it is Bordeaux’s best ever vintage, while wines in Burgundy are being heralded as excellent. The 2009 harvest in the Southern Rhône was early and offers much promise in the quality of the wines produced. The spring was cool and wet, but the summer was long, torrid and dry. Are these wines equal to the hype? Well I for one have been a fan of Rhone wines for a while. Simple equation: Great wine + reasonable prices = one happy Alan. Vintages is selling some on May 14 so you can go, buy and try or read on.
236505 PERRIN LA GILLE GIGONDAS 2009 $29.95
A giant, showing heaps of fruit, black raspberry, medicinal aromas, mineral and a dusty note. The chunky palate boasts of dark fruit, earthy nuances and a restrictive veil of tannin. It should be very tasty after a long snooze in the cellar. Find this wine
736371 DOMAINE CROZE-GRANIER CUVÉE RÉSERVE CÔTES DU RHÔNE 2009 $13.95
Generic Cotes du Rhone that delivers ample fruit, a note of sugar snap/pea skin, wet earth and black peppercorn. Spicy palate, lots of black cherry and blackberry, note of vanilla and silky chocolate tannin. Tasty wine carrying an affordable price tag. Find this wine
223487 DOMAINE DE L’ARNESQUE CÔTES DU RHÔNE 2009 $13.95
Another QPR deal emitting notes of plum, blueberry, blackberry, sage and dried herbs. Simple palate, red and dark fruit flavours, gentle tannins with a touch of heat on the finish. Find this wine
224592 DOMAINE LE GRAND RETOUR PLAN DE DIEU 2009 Côtes du Rhône-Villages $13.95
It’s nice to see Cotes du Rhone Villages at this price, especially one that’s laden with coal, slate, mineral, black pepper, plum and blackberry aromas. Chunky and fleshy, the palate is redolent of mineral and dried blueberry, perhaps a trifle ripe, but nonetheless, a decent wine. Find this wine
082560 LES VIGNERONS D’ESTÉZARGUES LA GRANACHA SIGNARGUES 2009 Côtes du Rhône-Villages $17.95
From 100% old vine Grenache, lively vibrant red fruit, cake spice, sweet cherry and dusty soil. It is rich, chewy and viscous; there is a bitter note, comparable to Campari and dried orange peel. The finish has plenty of fruit, but does carry the bitterness. Find this wine
Kerr’s First Jeebus or “Can’t find any Ice Wine, will a 1990 Haut Brion do?”
Bob Ross and Alan Kerr
I first met Bob Ross a couple of weeks ago when he was up in Niagara Falls, New York on business. Bob, along with Buffalonian Howie Hart, took a little time off to cross the border to scope and taste their way around several wineries on the Niagara escarpment. I, of course, was happy to play the role of tour/wine guide. A one point during our meeting, Bob asked me if I had heard of “Jeebus”. Flags went up, but I soon learned “Jeebus” is the name given by New Yorkers when they get together for an off line tasting. “Jeebus” that was a great tasting last night”. Bob was hosting a “Jeebus” last weekend and asked me if I wanted to attend. “Why not?” I thought.
I met Howie at noon on Friday in Buffalo and we embarked upon a beautiful route through the Catskill hills and on into New Jersey. Other than stopping for a lumpy grease-laden chicken sandwich at an exceedingly popular pseudo-barbecue fast food joint called Spiedie’s, it was a wonderful ride. We arrived at Bob’s delightful home, in Franklin Lakes, NJ to a warm welcome, a tour of the property and dinner.
Bob was expecting some twenty four people attending the event on Saturday, but on Friday it was just five of us. Julia Benkert from Ohio had also arrived early and Salil, a friend of Bob’s from Connecticut, was also present. Hungry and eager to rid my memories of the luncheon calamity, we dined, courtesy of Salil, on deftly cooked roasted pork tenderloin complemented with a creamy truffle butter risotto.
Friday’s pre-dinner wines: (CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE)
Alan Kerr’s Vintage’s April 30th Release – Tasting Notes
Due to a change of date for the Vintages tasting, I was able to scribe a few notes on the next two releases. The focus this month is “All in the Family”, otherwise known as Aussie dynasties and their notable wines. Interesting to note, all but two of the Australian wines were in screw top bottles. Also featured in this release are bargain basement wines from Italy’s lesser known regions of the South.
THE FEATURED FAMILY VALUES WINES
225425 CAMPBELLS RUTHERGLEN MUSCAT Rutherglen, Victoria 375 ml $19.95
Dark brown colour, dried tangerine peel, huge mocha both on nose and palate. Quite spicy, some discernible, sweetness, but nicely balanced. Find this wine
917252 DE BORTOLI NOBLE ONE BOTRYTIS SEMILLON 2007 New South Wales 375 ml $29.95
Absolutely gorgeous, tastes like a first rate Sauternes. Aromas of guava, candied orange peel, vanilla and marmalade. Impeccably balanced, superb length on the mind blowing finish. Find this wine
CAMPBELLS BOBBIE BURNS SHIRAZ 2008 Rutherglen, Victoria $22.95
Nice fruit aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry and creamy mocha. It carries fruit on the palate, but the sweetness is a little high for me. Find this wine
677617 D’ARENBERG THE TWENTYEIGHT ROAD MOURVÈDRE 2007 McLaren Vale $29.95
Earthy, tar, treacle, mocha, floral notes and a whack of pure ripe dark fruit. It has a spicy palate, showing cinnamon and nutmeg, great texture, velvety fruit and lively acidity. Find this wine
221994 DE BORTOLI DB RESERVE PINOT NOIR 2008 $15.95
Nice red fruit aromas, red licorice, a note of cedar, thyme lead to a palate of elegant, well balanced fruit and the perfect amount of acidity. Hard to find nice Pinot at such a price. Find this wine
Florida Jim Cowan’s 2011 Tasting Notes Archive-Part One
Jim Cowan Photo by Chris Witkowski - click to enlarge
The 2011 archive is presented by date the notes were compiled and submitted. Prior year’s tasting notes may be found here
April 24, 2011
2001 F.X. Pichler, Riesling M:
13% alcohol; this wine has shed the fat and viscosity of its youth to become both more balanced and less powerful. Clean scents of fruit and spring water; balanced in the mouth with solid flavors, some nuance and excellent balance; good length. In its youth, one could see this developing a richness and depth that would stun; instead, it has become more feminine and contained. Not what I expected but very good with “bubble and squeak.” Three days later: after being re-corked and refrigerated, this came out with the texture of Welch’s White Grape Juice mixed with pineapple syrup. I liked it better upon opening. Find this wine
2008 Bedrock, Cuvée Caritas:
14.1% alcohol; fairly expressive nose with fruit and mineral tones, some resin; a pretty good flavor profile that shows a bit too much new wood influence, there aren’t any oak flavors nor does it smell of wood but the mid-palate texture is amped up (as new wood will do) and the fruit is noticeably deadened; medium finish. Later vintages of this wine seem to be more dialed in as far as the oak goes and have better balance. Find this wine
1999 Lafarge, Volnay Vendages Selectionées:
13% alcohol; substantial VA on the nose with an impression of tannin but, even still, the cherry (both black and red) comes through; brooding, tannic and moderately unbalanced in the mouth but the Volnay texture is there and the tannin is not too drying; medium length. A flawed wine but, curiously, an interesting one. Find this wine
Best, Jim
Random Reds and Whites for the Friday Night Regulars
I host a weekly Friday night wine tasting at the retail outlet at which I am gainfully employed, and last week, I decided to abandon a more structured theme in favor of just sampling whatever odds and ends I thought our guests might enjoy. I also took the opportunity to pull the corks of a couple of things I hadn’t tried yet myself, so everybody won. Here’s the rundown on what we tried, starting with an old friend that we ran out of at Gang Central a few years back.
I still rue the fact that the last two distributors who carried Steve Edmunds‘ wines here in Michigan couldn’t do them justice, for whatever reason. Both are good independent companies, not the two or three monstrosities that have formed over the last several years through mega-mergers, and to be fair to them, the problem is likely more the fault of area retailers who simply didn’t know what to do with these great wines. Whatever the reason, I doubt that we’ll see the Edmunds St. John label in Michigan again anytime soon, and this was undoubtedly one of the last bottles to be found at retail anywhere around here, so I thought it would be a perfect choice to start things off.
