Bricco dell' Uccellone Barbera D'Asti 2004

Hey all! Just last night I had a phenomenal wine that got me thinking about writing again- and well, here I am!

This wine was a 2004 Barbera D'Asti, made by Giacomo Bologna, an amazing wine producer, who according to my father, is credited with the marriage between the barbera grape and barrel aging. 

I actually mentioned this in my last barbera review (La Spinetta "Cà di Pian" Barbera D'Asti 2008) but I thought I'd reiterate some grape facts for some of you forgetful readers. Barbera, the grape, is actually the second most planted grape varietal in Italy- and is actually the most planted grape in Piedmont, home of the "Nebbiolo Brothers"- Barolo and Barbaresco.

At any rate, this was a real spank-daddy of a wine. I could tell it was something as soon as I started pouring it at the dinner table. Most of the time, when I praise the color and overall appearance of a wine, I've got to look at it in-glass for a while, move it around, and shine the kitchen lights on it. But not this one. As soon as I saw that gorgeous red liquid coming out of the bottle and crashing into the bottom of our glasses, I knew we were in for something special. The deep pour, the seemingly glowing colorful rims of the wine got me really excited. So excited in fact, like I said earlier, that I HAD to write about it. 

The nose also sold me. This wine is a classic example where it's more "bouquet" than "aroma." More "fragrance" than "smell." (I like that analogy... Let me know if it makes sense to anybody but me!) It was deeply jammy, the forefront of the nose was dark fruity, with JAMMY red and black currant berries, but it was held together by some classic barrique characteristics- a creamy oak delightfully lingers on the nose. EASILY one of the most fragrant wines I've ever had, I'd say the notes come through just as powerfully as they do in many gewürtztraminers. 

And finally, the wine did not disappoint in the taste category either. The nose components translated directly into the flavor profile, but that's not where the tasting ended. The oaky component of this wine integrated one of the most pleasant mouth feels I've ever had in an Italian wine. The warming 14.5% alcohol and its big dryness begged me to give it some cheese loving (and I did, I get to that in the next section.) It was a weightless medium body (once again, let me know if this sounds like nonsense,) and the flavors all came through in a balanced package: great flavors up-front, an active mid palate, and a warm, dry finish. 

Robiola is a white and milky cheese- REALLY tasty. 

Another thing I LOVED about this wine was its food-friendliness. This wine turned an already awesome Robiola cheese into the feature of my nearly two hour dinner. My dinner consisted of four courses: Appetizer (rustic style pizzas, fresh tomato salad, and robiola cheese) Pasta (trinette with a light tomato sauce and olive oil) Red Meat (ox tail and sausage from the tomato sauce) and finally Lamb (roasted with spices and herbs.) We opened the bottle at the end of our appetizer while the cheese was still on the table, and a quick taste of the two together was the great lasting impression of the entire meal. I'd definitely recommend the pairing!

WOW. Look at all those words. Sorry if I started rambling towards the end there- but when I love a wine, I've gotta let that love out and give respect where it's due. A "mad props" to the winemaker, you made my week with this jammy fruit-bomb of a wine!

Marisa Cuomo Furore Bianco 2010 & Wine Tour

The tour began with a walk through the cellar.

Hello everybody! This is the final wine tour I went on this Summer- the Marisa Cuomo winery. The winery is found along the gorgeous Amalfi Coast. You've got to take a long, curvy, and tight road along the water to get there. While the winery itself is located in Furore, the vines are found throughout a 10km radius of the central office. Since the Amalfi Coast itself is a mountainside, the vines are found at different altitudes ranging from 200 to 600 meters above sea level. Being on the Amalfi Coast is beautiful in itself, but being amongst vineyards on the Amalfi Coast is even more magical.

After the hour long tour, we were invited to the winery's own restaurant, the world renowned Bacco, where we enjoyed a four hour meal including a tasting of the winery's current vintage selection: the Furore Bianco, Ravello Bianco, Costa D'Amalfi Rosato, and the Furore Rosso. Each glass came with its own specialized dish for a perfect pairing, which led me to buy a bottle of each wine directly from the restaurant- I couldn't resist. I'm aware that my store sells these wines, but I just HAD to give these to some family in Italy because they're absolutely gorgeous wines that would make great gifts.

Afterwards, we walked along the street and enjoyed the scenery.

The wine I'll be talking in depth about will be the Furore Bianco 2010. Yeah, you heard me right. This is my very first white wine review. It was that interesting and refreshingly pleasant a wine that I just had to write about it. Let me just explain a little bit about Marisa Cuomo's wines first though. 

The wines are named after the towns that the grapes are predominantly collected from, be it Furore or Ravello. The white wines are blends of the Falanghina grape and the Biancolella grape (60% and 40%.) The Furore Rosso and the rosato are both a blend of the Piedirosso grape and the Aglianico grape (50% and 50%.) All of these grapes are found in Southern Italy, absolutely no foreign grapes are grown in the Marisa Cuomo winery. The Cuomo family, which runs the entire operation (Marisa's daughter was our tour guide,) believes strongly in staying true to themselves and the region in which they grow their wines, so only native varietals will be found and used here. The rest of Italy could try to do more of the same. 

We even got to walk through some of the aglianico vines. 

Okay, so now let me talk about the Furore Bianco. It was one of the most food friendly wines I've ever tasted. It was medium bodied yet insanely refreshing. Crisp, yet savory. The mouthfeel was out of this world, and when paired with the food served at Bacco, it tasted even better. I'm sorry to say it, but I didn't really pay attention to the individual flavors in the wine, the overall meal was just too much to take in. I enjoyed this wine a lot, and get this- I enjoyed the rosato even more. I don't even typically like rosato. That's how phenomenal these wines were. 

This post was a little all over the place, so let me just summarize everything for you here. If you ever get a chance to visit Amalfi, go online and make a reservation to VISIT THE MARISA CUOMO WINERY. You will NOT regret it. The weather is perfect, the air is pure, the scenery is magical, the cuisine is one of a kind, and the wines are truly superb. Check it out, fellas. 

Picture taken at San Pietro Wine & Spirits

I Sodi di San Niccolo` 2007 & Wine Tour

The Chianti Classico barrique.

Hi everyone! I appreciate all the feedback on the last post, it looks like you guys really enjoyed it! I'll try to keep it up with this one where I'll talk about the Castellare di Castellina winery in Chianti Classico and their top wine- I Sodi di San Niccolo`.

The Castellare di Castellina winery is a gorgeous winery found along the long rolling hills of Chianti, near Sienna. Throughout the tour my cousin and I were shown the cave-like cellars that were filled with barrique. They showed us two of the cellars, one where the Chianti Classico Riserva is kept, and one that we had to drive out to- a thirteenth century church where the Sodi di San Niccolo` is kept. The entire area was beautiful- the hills were filled with vines, freckled with lavender bushes that were surrounded by hundreds of butterflies.

Something I'd like to note about the Chianti barrique is how they keep the humidity within the cellar. Obviously being in a cave-like cellar, the temperature is kept relatively constant throughout the seasons, but the humidity has to be kept constant in a different way. What Castellare di Castellina does is dig out a ditch under the barrique and fill it with moistened gravel, which acts as a natural humidifier. Let me tell you, the temperature and humidity was perfect in there, not even my own bed room is that comfortable.

I Sodi di S. Niccolo` with some cold cuts.

Eventually, we were taken out to the office building (which looked more like a welcoming rustic household) to try a few wines. As we entered we were able to see the products that the winery produced, including the Chianti, the Chianti Classico, the Sodi di San Niccolo`, the vinsanto, the grappa, and even the world-famous Castellare vinegar. It was a nice reminder to us, who had just been out around a sunbaked paradise, that Castellare di Castellina is a prestigious and serious wine producer.

We tried three wines, the Castellare di Castellina Chianti Classico 2010, the Castellare di Castellina Chianti Classico Riserva 2009, and I Sodi di San Niccolo` 2007, the winery's "Cru," so to speak. We loved all of the wines, especially the Riserva, but I'll only review the Cru just because its something my father and I normally drink together at home.

The Castellare di Castellina entrance. 

The wine in glass is nice and medium colored. The legs formed beautifully, and you can tell by the swirl and aroma that the wine and barrique joined superbly to create a complex and pleasing wine. Elegant notes of violets and plums came through, all delicately coated in that rich oak I so very much enjoyed. The dish that accompanied the wine went perfectly together- I finished that entire dish of food since it tasted so good. It's definitely a wine I'd recommend to anybody who enjoys Italian food, and I have to say I'm glad that the Bruno Brothers carry this wine at their restaurants.

Anyways fellas, thanks for reading as usual. The next post will conclude my winery tour posts with the last one I visited- the Marisa Cuomo winery located in Furore, along the Amalfi Coast. I can't wait to write about it!

Castel Giocondo Brunello 2007 & Wine Tour

Hello everybody! Been a while hasn't it? Well I'm back to blogging now that I've finished my summer classes and Chrono Trigger (which is an amazing SNES game with a gorgeous soundtrack, you should definitely check it out if you're into that sort of stuff.)

440 meters above sea level, the highest vines
of the Castel Giocondo winery are found.

Now get this, for the past week I've been wine tasting with my cousin in Italy. We saw three wineries in total, two in Tuscany and one in Campania on the Amalfi Coast. I'll be reviewing the wineries one by one for the next couple of posts, and I have a ton of pictures to go along with them! I'm going to start with the first one I went to, the Castel Giocondo winery in Montalcino where I had the extreme pleasure to try the not yet released 2007 vintage of the Castel Giocondo Brunello and the groundbreaking first Super Tuscan produced in Montalcino, Luce 2008 (production began in 1993, but you know what I mean.)

Here's where the barrique are stored, and as
you can tell, this is the fancy part of the cellar.

So the winery is situated in Montalcino, which about three hours by car outside of Florence. Montalcino is essentially a tiny town in southern Tuscany that is found on top of a mountain that is covered in sangiovese grosso vines. As you can see, it's damn beautiful up there.

At the winery I got to see the original cellar and the newly added cellar that the winery opened for the purposes of tours (opened in 2005, if I remember correctly.) You can see the sharp contrast in the appearance of where the production started as a large square room with tons of equipment and where the winery becomes a bit of a souped-up, fancy cellar.

After seeing the cellar and the vines, we were taken to an actual castle at the highest part of the winery to taste a few wines and have some classy Italian finger foods to go along with them. We were given, as I stated before, the Castel Giocondo Brunello 2007 and the Luce 2008. Both pretty phenomenal and luxurious wines.

Excuse the photo quality here, I'm still getting
used to my new iPhone...

The Brunello is set to be released internationally in January, so it technically isn't entirely ready to be drunk yet. Typically a Brunello, being of the DOCG denomination of Italian winemaking rules, requires at least four years before being released commercially. However, being a Brunello (and a great one at that,) the wine was still very drinkable this young. Too many people reserve Brunello for the future, claiming that they need at least eight years after being vintaged to be drunk properly. While I respect the aging potential of the sangiovese grosso grape, I also respect the awesome fruit that a young Brunello packs.

The entrance to the winery after about a mile
drive through the winery's vineyards.

The Brunello was fruity and featured a deeply creamy vanilla aroma. It also represented itself beautifully in the glass, then again when you're tasting wine in a castle I think just about everything around you is beautiful. The flavor and nose were a bit closed, and I attribute that to the wine not being fully developed in the bottle yet. I would order a case of the stuff but I wouldn't open any of it until 2013 at the very earliest. I shouldn't knock it too much though, because this wine still exhibited some complex aromas (including what appeared to be chalk and wild berries) that I couldn't fully appreciate due to the entire experience of the wine tour. In my defense, it was my first wine tour and I made it a point to focus more on the wine I was tasting than my surroundings for the next ones.

I would include the Luce 2008 in this post as well, but I appeared to have rambled on for quite a bit and I don't want to make this any lengthier than it is already. Next time, I'll write about the Castellare di Castellina winery in Chianti Classico, found right outside Sienna. If you'd like for me to write about the Luce as well, please don't hesitate to email me at mfilippobruno at gmail.com. At any rate fellas, thanks for reading, and you'll hear from me soon!

My Apologies

Hello everybody! Long time no see! As you can tell, it's been quite a while since our last wine encounter. Don't get any funny ideas, fellas. The Wine Noob has had to take a bit of a hiatus due to some unforeseen happenings. Be that playing Chrono Trigger on the Super Nintendo or watching Madmen, I've been a little preoccupied.

 Don't fret! I'll be back and swinging very soon. I've tasted some awesome wines in the past few weeks and I've got plenty of tasting notes and anecdotes to go along with them.

Without further ado, I bid you adieu until the next post. See ya' soon, fellas!

H. Sorrel Le Gréal Hermitage 1989

Okay, so if you've been keeping up with the blog- you'd know that I just recently wrote about an aged cabernet from Napa. Yeah, it was pretty great. But get this- right after I had that 1999 cabernet... I had a 1989 Hermitage. This wine was freaking 23 years old. It was a gift to my father from a close friend of his years ago. I'd like to meet this man, because this man gave us a treasure we won't soon forget. So for a little information about the wine, I'd like to tell you a little about where it comes from. Hermitage is one of the top wines from Northern Rhône. The vines here are planted on steep slopes along the Rhône River, where they enjoy ideal growing conditions for the exclusive grape of the region- Syrah. Hermitage wines typically age beautifully, yet for some odd reason they do not fetch the same prices as top-growth Bordeaux or top-Cru Burgundies. If anybody reading this knows why, please let me know!

Let me begin relaying my experience of this wine with the uncorking of the bottle. As soon as I cut the wrap around the the tip of the bottle, my stomach turned. The cork was visibly molded. It looked like the thumb of a pale and bloody zombie. It also felt like the thumb of a pale and bloody zombie. The corkscrew actually cut through the cork like a knife through warm butter. It was a miracle that we were able to get the cork out without any residue falling into the bottle. Fortunately for us though, the wine held itself together despite the cork's health. The cork gave everything it had to keep this wine alive, and I'd like for all of us to take a minute to remember this brave cork, as it did an admirable job. Thank you.

In the glass, this wine was actually glowing. It was a dark almost red-velvet cupcake red color, be it still or mid-swirl. I didn't take a sip of the glass for a good half hour because I was so taken aback by how beautiful it was. This wine was embracing the glass, the air, the world! Think about how many years it has been since this wine has felt fresh air- roughly 23 years passed since its bottling, and you could tell that this wine was embracing the open world after being dormant for two decades.

In flavor and bouquet, this wine was a showstopper. It slowed down time, yet then again this might have been the effects of having had a bottle of cabernet beforehand and a couple glasses of Italian sauvignon for pre-dinner. The typical dark, pit-fruits that you hear about in Rhône syrah were present in this wine, but they were far from typical. They had this rustic quality about them, it was something I've truly never experienced in a wine before. The term perfume does not do this wine justice when it comes to the bouquet. The nose was thought-provoking. Through the elegant oak in this wine, thoughts of the steep hills of Rhône raced through my mind. Pure leathery notes also brought me there, to the foot of a medieval winery in France, looking out on the calm river, the trees, the vines, and the sun-baked stone towns. The mouthfeel was supple, the lush flavors complimented the wine's great acidity. With a roast lamb, the slightest spice would emerge on the finish. The list of qualities goes on, but can be summarized with the notions of anything you'd ever dream about in the ideal wine.

My literary structure in the previous paragraph was poor at best. Let me explain why I'm okay with that. This wine did more than leave a great impression on me. I'm going to look back on this wine for a long time. As a matter of fact, I've dated the back label of the bottle. My thought process when drinking this wine was intensely focused on the way I felt when I had that glass in my hand, underneath my nose, tipped into my lips. From the very first sip, to the end of the bottle, I understood exactly what the winemaker was trying to tell me about wine, Rhône, and life. So if what I've written in this post doesn't carry much rhetorical effect due to a lack of logical structure, I apologize. But understand that I wrote about this wine on a purely aesthetic level. Sentence structure, grammar, and clear connections didn't concern me this time, as you can clearly tell. However, I think that once in a while, this sort of experience is a good one. I hope you'll all agree. Thanks again for reading, guys!

Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

Ladies and gentlemen... for this post I bring you my first aged Napa Valley cabernet! This wine is a whopping 13 years old. I've always heard about how Napa cabernets are world class when aged properly, and last night I finally got to experience what that meant first hand. Unfortunately, we forgot to decant the bottle before dinner (as we usually do,) so I don't think I was able to completely appreciate the wine. However, what I did experience was something totally new to me, considering I don't normally drink cabernet nor do I typically drink California wines all that often. So bare with me in this post, for this is generally uncharted territory for me.

In color, the wine was a deep and mature red. It had a black body and brick red rim. This is exactly what age does to the color of a well-kept wine. The body darkens and the redness develops more character. Upon a violent swirl, the wine displayed some gorgeous legs and the color figuration upon tipping the glass was almost completely uniform. This wine also threw some heavy sediment, which obviously comes with the aged-wine territory.

The flavor and nose of this wine also showed me some relatively new features to me. Cabernet is a fighter of a grape when it comes to aging, as described in the ever so romantic film, Sideways. I got some rich and unique black currant notes, drenched in a creamy french vanilla perfume. It had a powerful and relentless mouthfeel where I could literally feel the tannins (which I should note were soft despite being powerful and relentless,) beating down on my palate. The finish was oaky and dry, leaving me with a strong impression of what Napa Valley cabernets can accomplish when they're produced the right way.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, "Hey Mr. Wine Noob, this post sounds just like any other post you've written in the past- I thought that you said that this wine was something TOTALLY different for you than anything you've had before! You're slacking, BRO!" First of all, I'm not your "bro", pal. Secondly, the wine was something completely new for me despite the rather trivial description I wrote about it. Describing an aged wine in-depth is difficult, and considering I'm still pretty new to wine blogging, I think I've done a good job if you can pick up on the small characteristics that I reserve for phenomenal wines. Eventually I'll learn to do this a tad bit better, but for now I'm still The Wine Noob. This is what the wine was like, and it was pretty great. Thanks for reading, fellas!

"En Luteniére" Bourgogne 2009 & Brie

Hey everybody! Welcome to my first episode on wine and food pairing! This is something that I've become totally fascinated with just a short while ago, and I think it's time that I start to manifest this interest in writing! Wine and food are partners in crime, and when you get the right pairing of the two together, something pretty spectacular happens. I previously underestimated the magic of pairing the right wine with the right food- but never again. One day I'll write about the pairing that changed my wine life for good, but not today. Today we'll begin with something pretty simple and traditional that never disappoints.

Wrong vintage, but whatever...

The wine of choice is a pretty decent red Burgundy (which would be a pretty awesome wine compared to most others,) the Aurélien Verdet "En Luteniére" Bourgogne 2009. I wish I spoke French so that I could properly pronounce those names! At any rate, it comes from the Côte D'or region of Burgundy. As always, the wine is 100% pinot noir.

On its own, the wine is a light ruby in terms of color, light in nose, and light in flavor. You can tell from its appearance in the glass that the wine is going to be very elegant and refined. In the nose and in flavor, I could pick up some mild black cherry and red currant berry notes, along with a very withheld earthy barrique component. It has an elusive mouthfeel that quickly coats your palate, and the high level of acidity begs for some food to go along with it. Without food, I score this wine an 84/100. With food, I give it a 90/100.

Since I'm new to pairing wines and foods together, the way I go about pairing is choosing foods that are native to the area that the wine comes from. Simple enough actually, and it seems that that is all you need. Eventually, with more practice, you can begin trying more exciting pairings (like chinese food and Sauvignon Blanc*!)

The food of choice is some classic, creamy, brie cheese. Brie cheese is a traditional Burgundian ingredient. Brie is awesome fellas.

Mmm... Brie, looks like a slice of cake!

When you eat brie with some bread, this wine becomes a completely different animal. As you're chewing the cheese-covered bread, make sure the food makes contact everywhere inside your mouth. If you do that and then take your sip of vino, you'll think you just opened a different bottle of wine. A smokiness appears, along with a new balance and a type of creaminess (not California Chardonnay creaminess, I mean real creaminess) that made my heart sing! The flavors transformed seamlessly and beautifully. No longer was this your average red Burgundy- this became a standout tasting experience.

 I'm sure you've had wine and cheese before, but the next time you go for it, get a cheese from the area that the wine comes from. It makes a world of a difference, trust me.

This Food & Wine branch of the Wine Noob is a bit of an experiment. Obviously wine and cheese goes well together, but I'm pretty confident that I can figure out some more interesting ones. Hell, I have already, and I'll tell you all about them soon. For those of you that don't really care about the food and wine pairings, don't fret! The regular wine posts will still be coming out, I just want to see how this Food & Wine thing pans out. Let me know what you think!



*I have not tried nor have I ever heard of chinese food and Sauvignon Blanc going together, but who knows? It might work, right?

Bisceglia "Terra di Vulcano" Aglianico del Vulture 2009

How are you all doing, my always appreciated readers?! I myself am ecstatic. It has been a while since I've tried a somewhat obscure grape varietal, and fortunately today, I had the pleasure of trying an Aglianico. Aglianico is a red wine grape that is indigenous of southern Italy, mostly in Campania and Basilicata. From what I've had of it in the past, I can tell you that it is simply tremendous. Aglianico is commonly referred to as the "Barolo of the South," and upon drinking it, you'll understand why.

This wine, in appearance, was quite nice. You could tell just from its depth that you're in for something bold and challenging. It is a dark and deep red with a pronounced red rim. The wine also features some tiny, minimal leg formation, that upon breathing for ten minutes, will begin to loosen up and stretch. 

The nose in this wine really was something else. Too often we're all used to the common scents in wine- the overdone oak and the basic red fruit. This particular wine takes those components and totally brings them out in a different light. The oak hangs over the entire nose with authority, yet it is strikingly different from the oak you're normally used to. This oak brings out amazingly pungent rose petal notes and the Basilicata's volcanic-based terroir. It was beautifully intriguing and thought-provoking. You can also make out the powerful dark- and I mean dark- berries. 

At first, the actual tasting of the wine worried me. It was harsh and coarse on the finish, yet the flavors I smelt were all there. However, after ten minutes of aerating it wildly, the coarseness faded, and I was left with an austere mouthfeel that left a beautiful and long finish in my mouth and nasal passages. Those dark and powerful fruits entertained my palate, and the wine's high acidity made the entire tasting that much more enjoyable. I can only imagine how this wine would pair with some serious red meats. 

If you haven't tried any Aglianico wines, I suggest you soon do. From what I've had, they are phenomenal and endlessly interesting. It never hurts to explore different varietals and wine styles, and southern Italy is a great frontier to dip your feet into. As per usual fellas, thanks for reading and you'll hear from me soon!

Tenimenti Angelini "Trerose" Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2007

Here we go- our second wine review this week! This one is a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which is a fancy name for a sangiovese wine from Montepulciano. Another pretty good one, so let's get to it!

This particular wine has a clearish red with a brown edge. It looks pretty fancy if I do say so myself. It looks deep from the width of the glass, but from the top to the bottom it's actually fairly light. The wine has a visible thin figure with short and skinny legs.

As I said with the Brunello I reviewed earlier today, this wine also has that classic sangiovese nose. It has forest notes and some elegant fruit. It was aromatic and barky (and I don't mean like a dog, I mean like tree bark. So that's all oak.) There was an anise and mint note as well, and most of the fruit was relatively withdrawn. It was almost as if the wine was trying to hide something from me, which is pretty sneaky if you ask me.

In flavor it was very juicy, with an upfront spice on the lip. A green note takes root early on and then reappears into the finish. The fruit, as in the nose, was light and hidden. There was a bitter mid-palate that caught some wild fruit favors. Ultimately however, the flavors weren't the feature of this wine. It was all in the mouthfeel for me, it was light bodied, it had a sharp acidity, and some solid tannins.

This is essentially just another wine that is meant to be had with food. Brie cheese and fresh bread is this wine's soul mate- so I suggest you go that route if you ever have a Vino Nobile in the future.

I'm getting tired of these food wines, fellas. In the coming days I'll try to have a wine that can stand on its own, something that actually excites me a little bit. I apologize for these boring wines, but we should remember that not all wines can get us riled up. Wine isn't always flashy, sometimes it's quite dull. Then again, I'm sure the producers of this particular wine think otherwise, so don't always take my word for it! See ya soon, guys- thanks for reading!

Altesino Brunello Di Montalcino 2006

Hello guys! I apologize for having been on a week-long break after that awesome double header. I just had a lot on my plate during finals week and for once I decided to think about school before vino. But never again! From here on out I'll be committed to The Wine Noob. Two wine reviews a week, and I'll make them super fun for you guys. So with that, we proceed to this exciting wine- the Altesino Brunello di Montalcino.

Let me just start off by saying that I personally would only consider having this wine with a traditional Italian dinner. I HATE having to say that because I don't want to limit Italian wines to Italian meals. I also HATE broadcasting Italian culture, because I think that enough people do that already. However, this wine requires some sort of "al dente" pasta with a hearty tomato sauce, followed by some tomato drenched ox tail. On to the wine!

This Brunello was nothing short of, well, good. My parents praised it to no end, but we should consider that they come from Italy and are very proud about that- and as a matter of fact there's nothing wrong that. But, I personally thought it was... well, just good. Nothing truly spectacular, as you will see in my unbiased description.

The color of the wine was a clear red, with a long coloration that boasted a very clear edge when tipped.  It also featured some elastic, quick forming legs. Also, the swirl was particularly pretty (something I've begun to notice in a wine's structure.) Lastly in color, there was a pretty orange rim  along the edge of the glass.

The nose caught my fancy in this wine. The classic sangiovese bouquet shone in there, which actually usually bores me, to be honest. There was a raspberry/licorice combo up front, with a greenish "stalky" component coming in shortly afterwards. Eventually in the actual drinking of the wine I could absolutely say the wine was juicy, active, and vivacious. There was a superb mouthfeel with a persistent dryness, which went on to make the light body and tannins more enjoyable. I should also note my favorite part of the wine, which would be the unmistakable turnip and radish flavors that came in towards the end of the glass. Pretty solid.

Now, I must say this again. This wine highly benefitted from the meal I was having. On its own, I seriously doubt that I would have enjoyed it as much. When you have a Brunello, be sure to have it with a rustic meal. I'd say some Spanish or maybe Californian cuisine would go well with it- as well as classic Italian food. Anyways, I'll be back soon to post another wine review in a little while. Thanks for reading!

Colgin "Cariad" 2000

Wow-wee! Now this was an extremely spectacular wine. One of my father's close friends in the wine industry actually gave this to him as a Christmas present, because we would otherwise have no means to get it since apparently it's a pretty coveted blend. It is, if I'm not mistaken, my first Napa Valley wine review. So let's get this started!

Okay, so in color, the wine was beautifully murky, as if it was trying to hide all of its lovely nuances. It was a deep and dark red, almost burgundy colored. Interestingly, upon swirling, half of the glass would quickly form its legs and the other would form them slowly. I have NO IDEA what that was all about. They were beautiful though, they shot an image of tears running down the glass in my mind.

On the nose, this wine changed dramatically throughout the bottle. We actually decanted the wine because the cork broke in the bottle, but that turned out the be a blessing in disguise; this wine benefitted from oxygen contact. At first it was aged fruit: red currant, black currant berries, with a dried mulberry note as well. Eventually, the fruit got thicker, and it became raspberry jam-like. Towards the end of the bottle, this fruit transformed even more dramatically, becoming virtually 100% leather and horsehair. The oak, throughout the wine's life was minimal, the other features really shone through.

In the mouth, the wine showed a lovely smooth and soft tannin structure. It had those previously mentioned fruits, which eventually led to a decadent and creamy raspberry chocolate-mousse finish. There was also a slight hazelnut dimension in there as well. The mid-palate had a small tart flavor, but that diminished eventually. I should also note that the 14.8% alcohol was definitely felt in the nose and drink. The wine also finished with a touch of a spice, maybe a very mild paprika.

Now besides the absolutely gorgeous combination of flavors in this wine, something else about it drove me crazy. The wine didn't specify the grape varieties in the blend, and my father and I had to almost guess our way to what the blend could be. We decided that it had no cabernet sauvignon, and that it had to be merlot and syrah based on its mouthfeel and flavors. However, we then looked up the varietals and tasting notes after we finished drinking it, and we couldn't have been more wrong. It was a Bordeaux blend: 55% cabernet sauvignon, 35% merlot, and 10% cabernet franc and petit verdot. Additionally, the tasting notes that the winemaker's website provided said, "Plum, sweet cranberry, and coffee bean..." along with other flavorful components. We were just so off, which just goes to prove that no matter how much wine you drink, there's still so much you don't know about it.

I will however sympathize with our evaluation by saying that the website's tasting notes were written when the wine was released in 2000, the wine must surely have changed by 2012. But oh well, this is what I got from this wine, and it was pretty phenomenal.

La Spinetta "Ca` Di Pian" Barbera D'Asti 2008

Hello everybody!  I had some quality wines this weekend and I decided to write about two of them, since they both left quite an impression on me. The first of these two is a barbera, the most widely planted grape variety in Piedmont. You would assume that nebbiolo of the Barolo and Barbaresco wines would be the most planted varietal, but for some reason it isn't. If I find out the exact reason why that is, I'll be sure to include an edit in this post to let you know as soon as I find out.

So this is a single vineyard barbera wine. In color, it was a bright, see-through ruby red. It had even, tall, and droopy legs. When tilted in glass, the wine showed some pink to clear coloration at the very edges, which gave the wine some pretty in-glass characteristics. The wine also boasted a beautiful swirl, something I haven't really noticed in a wine up until this one.

Usually, I split the nose and the flavor of wines into two different paragraphs, but because this wine was so simple and straightforward, I will combine the two into one. This wine tasted and smelt exactly like strawberry fruit roll-ups. You guys all remember those, right? That stretchy, chewy candy stuff. It also had a jolly rancher feel to it in flavor, it was wowingly (yet another time where I make up a word) vibrant and fruity. It had some high acid levels that might turn you off if you're not accustomed to acidity. The acidity really makes the tongue salivate, which is to be expected with the powerful sweetness this wine has.

So if this wine was so simple, what was so special about it that it left an impression on me? Well there is something to derive from the fact that it smelt like fresh fruit roll-up candy. This is an "Old-World" winemaking region, Asti (in Italy,) producing a clearly "New-World" wine. There isn't a doubt in my mind that this wine was produced this way for the American palate. That isn't a bad thing, though you may read it as if it is.

I personally dislike the notion that wineries around the world are constantly moving towards making these ultra fruity, sweet wines that appeal to international markets, especially America. What we'll be left with in time is millions of wineries making the exact same wine, trying to fetch high scores from Wine Spectator and the Wine Advocate. It's a shame, yet at the same time, we'll be left with easy-to-drink wines that are easy to buy without any worry that you won't enjoy them. It's a double-edged sword, and as of late, us as consumers have been swinging it willingly (and perhaps blindly, as well.)

Stay tuned, I'll post the second wine that I mentioned at the begining of the post as soon as it's ready!

Plumpjack Syrah 2007

Heyyo! What an awesome wine I've got for you for this post! After the last wine review, I caught syrah fever, and luckily I had the great fortune to try out a pretty special one, the 2007 Napa Valley Plumpjack Syrah. Boy oh boy fellas, what a wine.

In color the wine showed some excellent depth and purity. It was pitch black as night with possibly the darkest shade of violet that I've ever seen tinting the edges. Absolutely zero sunlight got through the wine in my glass. What got me especially excited about the wine in the glass was its fast appearing legs. I'm not sure entirely, but I'm assuming that they formed quickly after the swirl because the wine was so heavy and full bodied. Those legs by the way, were thin and bendy- just the way I like them! (No sexual pun/innuendo intended.) I'll score the in-glass appearance of this wine a killer 94/100.

On the nose this wine did far beyond impress me. At the very first whiff I got a flurry of dark fruits, black currant berries and black cherries especially. There was also a spice in that initial hit of the nose, with a "peperoncino" type flavor and zest. I also got some juicy, straight-up chocolate notes along with some dark nut, mulchy (not a real word, by the way,) oak. What a deadly combination of scents. I wish I could drink this wine with my nose, but I know better than to try that again. I score the nose on this wine a 92.

On to the flavor! What I've got to stress in the flavor of this wine is the heavy spice and the wine's big, big body. Initially, there was a greenish dimension taking over, with a bitter tone until the spice kicked in. That green flavor was accompanied with a chocolate covered clove that totally took me by surprise. The spice lasted well throughout until the end of the finish, with an arousing spiced black currant berry flavor. The wine also exhibited a pleasant dryness with an awesome lush and fatty mouthfeel. I give this big daddy of a wine a 90 in the flavor department.

Overall, I'd say this is a 91, maybe 92 point wine. Is that good? You bet it is. It's getting to the point where I can really tell when a wine is special, and this one truly is. I'm starting to be able to notice the dark fruit and chocolate characteristics of the syrah grape, and I can totally see how this particular wine blows those aspects out of the park. As usual everybody, thanks for reading, and look forward to another post coming as soon as Saturday or Sunday night!

Thoughts on Wine

Hey guys! I think that after about three months of wine blogging, it's time for some reflection. Let's remember that the point of all of this isn't to just review particular wines. There's millions of different wines of different vintages out there, what difference will knowing about just a few specific ones really do for you, anyways?

The point of all of this is that I'm new to this wine-world. I'm trying to see how wine influences me and how it could possibly influence you, too.

So far, after just three short months, my life has changed dramatically. From reading wine journals between classes, tasting wines about four times a week, and most importantly- talking about wine, voids in my life that I didn't even know were there have been filled.

If you're already submerged in the infinite wine world, awesome. You know what I'm talking about. If not, I strongly suggest you try to get into it. It couldn't hurt to try. There's so much more to wine than just drinking it. It's more novel than text. You'll come out of it with a new sense of wonder. If you don't have the means to get into the wine world yet, then take my word for it fellas, when you can,  just dip your foot in the pool. The water isn't cold, it feels unbelievable.

You'll learn about things that you had no idea even existed. You'll experience spectacular flavors and scents, and you'll understand why wines express themselves the way they do. You'll open your eyes to see that wine isn't just a commodity, it's a living, breathing organism. Finally, the most fantastical thing you'll do, is have the extreme pleasure and opportunity to talk about wine. The possibilities for basic conversation about wine are endless, and needless to say, beautiful. Think about the friendships you'll make over a bottle of wine, or better yet, think about the things you'll find out about people you've known your entire life whilst talking about something entirely new for you.

It's a little premature for me to declare my love for the wine world, so I'll put that on hold for another day. However, I can confidently say that after just three months of wine blogging, I feel I've opened a million different doors for myself (You can probably tell by now that I'm about four glasses deep by now.)

Anyways, wine has done this for me. If wine isn't your thing, I appreciate your reading this because it gives me great pleasure to know that I'm acknowledged on the interwebs. Furthermore, if wine isn't your thing: find your thing, and let me know what it is. I'd love to try whatever it is, too. As usual, thanks for reading!

PS: Coming later this week is really special wine! Stay tuned!

Red Belly Black Shiraz 2008

I wasn't lying last time when I said I would write about something bolder in the next post last time. This post's wine is a shiraz from southern Australia, a dramatic shift from the recent pinot noir streak that I've been on. Shiraz (also known as Syrah,) is an awesomely powerful grape, it is often added to other wines in blends for strength and to a lesser extent, body. Australia, as a winemaking region, encompasses a large variety of microclimates, some extremely hot, some rather cold. Interestingly, the wine I'm reviewing today has grapes from different vineyards, one from a hot area, and one from a cold one. This, according to the back label of the bottle, gives the wine a unique balance.

So! The wine of this post is the Red Belly Black Shiraz from 2008. In color, this wine was phenomenal. It had an exciting dark depth in its heart, as well as a rather seductive violet/red hue around the glass. In the right light you can see your fingers at the other end of the glass, but you've got to drink your way down to a third of the glass to get that to happen. The legs were decent, and the wine left a charming stein on the glass as the wine was drunk.

Aromatically, this wine was everything you'd dream for in a bold wine. Black currant, wild berries, and an amazing oak coating it all. The oak by the way, in its engagement with the dark fruit of the shiraz grape, creates an enchanting dark chocolate, probably the best note of dark chocolate in a wine that I've ever had. It was richly decadent and thick. I honestly couldn't have asked for anything else in this type of a wine.

In flavor, the wine also impressed. Dark, and I mean, black-to-black violet, fruits really come in swinging with serious force. A mild spice also comes in on the finish, which really rounds the wine together. Some slight plum action also came through, but mostly the black currant and wild berries were the at the front of this wine. Combine that with the rich dark chocolate, and all your dreams of pleasure food come true. On top of that, add a boldly full body that packs a punch and some silky tannins, and you're on cloud nine.

If there was something wrong with this wine, it would be that it was too sexy to handle. I can definitely picture Satan tempting the masses to drink from his forbidden flask, which of course would contain the 2008 Red Belly Black Shiraz. I personally can't have a wine like this every night, just because after a while this much power can wear me down. Additionally, the wine boasts a 14.5% alcohol percentage, which honestly, takes a toll on a man. Another cool thing about this wine is the fact that the grapes come from both a hot and a colder vineyard, which you can totally see. If all the grapes came from the hot vineyard, this wine would have been way too powerful and full, to the point where the fruit gets overshadowed by an ever-higher alcohol percentage. An A+ wine in my books, the Angove winemakers (the family that produces this wine,) did a great job, and I'm excited to see what they put out in the future!

Dom Brunet Pinot Noir 2009

I think have pinot noir fever this week, because this is now the third pinot in a row that I'm talking about. What can I say? The stuff's yummy. Plus, it just so happened that one of the bottles of the wine I'm reviewing got shipped to the store with a dirty label, so I was able to take it home last night. Free wine, I'll drink to that!

This is a popular wine at San Pietro Wine & Spirits, retailing around $11 bucks a bottle while packing some awesome value-power in terms of quality. The wine I'm writing about today, if you somehow missed the title of this post, is the 2009 Domaine Brunet Pinot Noir. This wine hails from the Languedoc-Rousillon region of France, which is located on the southern end of the country, stretching towards the Spanish border. The region experiences a strong Mediterranean climate. That means sunny days and awesomely cool nights- a sign of a great viticultural area.

The color of the wine was, to put it bluntly, pretty simple. A light transparent red with no real depth. The legs on the wine were charming, but nothing to go crazy over. They might have been a little too thick, but they spread themselves with consistent spacing. However bland the wine may have looked though wasn't really a big problem for me though, I wasn't exactly expecting something phenomenal.

In aroma the wine was, opposed to its appearance, spectacular. At first I could make out some red fruits, mainly cherries and black currant. After a while though, the pinot's marriage with the French oak revealed itself, culminating in a lovely, thick scent of dark chocolate. Upon further inspection, which is always a lot of fun, I was able to make out a pistachio-spread type scent that came through beautifully. If you've never had pistachio spread, you should. It's like Nutella times nine-thousand double-rainbows (for a whopping total of eighteen-thousand rainbows.) It was pretty great.

The flavor also didn't disappoint, showing an early sweetness on the initial tongue contact. Once again the cherry and black currant berry flavors came through nicely throughout the mid palate and well into the finish. Begining towards the end of the mid-palate and all the way to the end of the smooth finish came the rich barrique oak which brought about a sweet woodenness along with those dark chocolate notes. As usual, the pinot's body was mildly light (perhaps medium-bodied,) and it possessed soft tannins that went well with my roasted eggplants and tomatoes.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Dom Brunet is a smart buy. Its yummy, it has rich aromatics, and most importantly it put a smile on my face. At any rate, I'll try to get something other than a pinot noir to review for the next post. Perhaps something a bit stronger and bolder. Stay tuned, fellas! Thanks for reading!

Jules Taylor Pinot Noir 2009

Okay so if I'm not mistaken, last week we did an Oregon pinot noir. Let's say we follow that up with a New Zealand pinot noir? I'd like to start this post off by saying that New Zealand wines are ON THE RISE. Everybody already acknowledges their Sauvignon Blanc and cabernet, and it's looking like pinot could be the third.

So our wine for this episode is the Jules Taylor "The Wrekin" Pinot Noir 2009 from New Zealand's Marlborough wine region. Marlborough is the area of New Zealand that is currently producing some of the absolute best Sauvignon Blanc in the New World. Marlborough is located on the northern tip of the southern New Zealand island. The area experiences an extremely sunny growing season that attributes to bright and feisty characteristics in their wines.

Don't let the boring bottle label fool you, this wine as some nice in-glass features. It has a bright ruby red with some purple tints hiding around the edges of the glass. It's very light and you can tell that in terms of body and weight, the color will translate into a lighter pinot- which should be the case because New Zealand (Marlborough, especially) pinots are lighter-bodied than your typical pinot. If there's one thing I didn't like about this wine, it's that the structure was a little pedestrian. You can tell by the legs, which are flabbily thin and scattered with no pattern around the glass. You feel this later when you taste it.

Wait about ten minutes to really start nosing and tasting this wine, trust me. At least for me, the initial Sniff & Sip was pretty tight and uninteresting. The aromas were bitter and closed and the flavor just wasn't there yet.

Now we can get into the wine's aromas. As you recall last week's episode, the Acrobat pinot noir had some crazy tobacco leaf notes. This pinot on the other hand, has an ever so slight tobacco leaf aroma. What I'm trying to show you is how the climate comes into play. In the Jules Taylor I'm picking up more berries and cassis notes rather than tobacco and leather. There's a lovely elegant oak coming into play as well, but that doesn't excite me as much as the fruit does. I should also note that on the second day of tasting this wine I picked up some cedar-esque scents, playing around with some vanilla notes. And it was nice.

So if Oregon is cold and wet and you get tobacco and leather notes in the Acrobat Pinot Noir (last week's pinot,) you can say that cooler climates produce very terroir-driven characteristics in wine. On the other hand, a super-sunny area such as Marlborough will bring you fruit-bombs, where the terror is still important, but it takes a back seat to the natural fruitiness of the perfectly ripe grape.

So in flavor, we see a similar trend. The fruit dominates the initial flavor and the mid-palate. Once again, red berries and perhaps pitted red fruits, maybe plum-skins are the fruit flavors. The leather and oakyness (oakyness is not a real word, but it should be) is still there though, creating a pleasantly bitter finish to counteract the sweet begining. However I will say that no matter how fruity the wine is, it's relatively dry. You can feel your tongue react to the acidity and your throat can surely feel the dryness and the 14.5% alcohol content. Another thing to note is the wine's light body and velvety texture, which is a deadly combination if you ask me. I personally prefer a heavier bodied wine with a velvety texture, but here you get to experience what its like to have a "purple-flavored" cloud in your mouth. Its pretty cool.

This pinot was pretty good. I'd score her an 85. The Wine Enthusiast gave her a full 90, but I wouldn't go that far. As of yet, my favorite pinot noir so far was the Jermann Blau & Blau. This wine and the Jermann are dramatically different, but they get different jobs done. I'd very much enjoy the Jules Taylor any day of the week. A solid wine, but I'm tired of this average stuff for now. Expect something superb in the next post. See you later alligators!

Acrobat Pinot Noir 2010

Why hello everybody! I know exactly what you're all thinking, It's about time I review another pinot noir, huh, guys? Well I agree, great insight, fellas!

The 2010 Acrobat Pinot Noir from Oregon state is the Wine Noob's wine of the day. Pretty good wine, if I do say so myself. Coming from Oregon, the vineyard experiences a much cooler and wetter climate than the wines I've reviewed in the past, so I'm excited to show you guys how that climate comes into play to create something radically different than wines from a more temperate climate.

So the wine's color was very light, a bright garnet red that showed no signs of depth or darkness. I could easily see right through the liquid, even from the bottom of the glass. It actually looked a little watery, to tell you the truth. I was a little hesitant, I thought that the wine would be flabby and uninteresting, but don't make the same mistake I did, because boy was I wrong.

The aromas in this wine were totally in your face. The nose was bold and strong. Some wines take me a while to dissect aromatically, but not this one. The first whiff took me to my aunt's farm in Italy, in the middle of the tobacco fields. I didn't necessarily smell barnyard/hay type smells, but I smelt a rich and flavorful tobacco. Not cigarette/cigar tobacco though; the sticky, pungent, tobacco leaf tobacco. There was also some leather action coming in with the oak. The power of the tobacco and leather totally washed out whatever fruit this wine had, which should be a lot considering how young it is.

In flavor, the fruit was almost nonexistent. Only after three sips, at ten minute intervals, did I get any fruit notes. Blueberry mostly, but an ever so slight black raspberry also came through. What you mostly taste is the lovely tobacco leaf flavor, combined with a rich spiciness that lasts throughout the mid palate well into the finish. In terms of mouthfeel, this pinot noir disappointed just a little bit. It was soft and lush, yet neither silky nor velvety, which is what I personally look for in a pinot.

So what's the final verdict? Well that's up to you guys. If you're kind enough, email me or somehow contact me and let me know if you'd pass on this tobacco/leathery wine for a fruit-bomb instead. I'd really like to know. I personally would enjoy this wine, but I won't be taking it to a friend's house for their birthday. Marco "The Wine Noob" Bruno gives this wine a thumbs-up for at-home consumption. At any rate, take care, you scoundrels!

Terrabianca "Croce" Chianti Classico 2005 Riserva

Ah! Fellas I hope you had a nice Easter weekend, because mine was splendid! I tried about four new wines this weekend and I just couldn't decide which one to write about. After a long and gruesome series of trials and tribulations (which took about a day,) I decided to write about the wine I had on Easter Sunday, the Terrabianca "Croce" Chianti Classico 2005 Riserva.

This is my second chianti review, so I'm assuming it'd be a nice opportunity to dig deeper into the always interesting world of chianti. This is a Chianti Classico, which means it comes from the original area of Chianti in Tuscany. When you read just "Chianti" on the wine label, its referring to the expanded area around the Chianti Classico region that started the blend. The wine is also a single-vineyard wine, hence the "Croce" name after the wine producer name, Terrabianca. Single-vineyard wines are supposedly of higher quality and concentration than multi-vineyard wines (of course, this is just another wine-world generalization.)

So lets get to it. I'll start off by saying that a 2005 chianti is a little bit on the older side for a chianti, they're typically meant to be had younger than this one. It was also in a magnum, 1.5 liter bottle, so we had to let it breath for about an hour before drinking it.

Its color was nice, dark red with a slim orange hue on the outer rim. What struck me in the color was that it was a burgundy red, however the color burgundy, as far as I know, is exclusive to French Burgundy wines. I don't know why that is, but hey, I'm a novice here, despite what you may think.

The nose is where this wine got me (as most chiantis will.) This particular wine is composed of 97% sangioveto and 3% canaiolo grapes. The sangioveto grape is a genetic clone of the sangiovese grape, allowing for the deep and complex aromas, while the canaiolo is responsible for bringing acidity, body, and color to the rest of the wine. I was bull-rushed with forest-green notes deep within the bouquet, an elegant tobacco from the light oak, and a possible mint/cedar combination coming in at the end. There was also the scent of dried, dark fruits up front, probably what you'd notice at first if you don't look for anything else. It was a fun wine to sniff while it was opening up in the glass.

The flavor was great, displaying aged fruits including: ripe plums, blackberries, and raspberries. The raspberry might be debatable, but I'm not too familiar with wild forest berries, which is what I assume that flavor really was. There were some light tannins, that honestly, by glass four, got to me. Luckily I had some cheesy lasagna to break them down. As most chiantis are, this chianti was also on the lighter side, but it had enough body to be considered a medium-bodied wine.

I enjoyed the wine a lot, then again, its hard to have a bad wine when my father's the one picking the wine for dinner. As the two of us had a final glass of the wine together outside with a cigar, he told me something pretty nice. We had spent the entire meal discussing this wine, figuring it out, noticing the little nuances as they unfurled with our meal, but my father told me, "Wine... wine is like a woman. As soon as you figure it out, you're lost all over again. It's such a mysterious thing... so in the end the important thing is to just enjoy it while it lasts." Boy my dad sure is profound by the end of the bottle. He's right though, with each glass the wine showed something else, and as soon as we thought we got it- something else would come out of no where, forcing us to start all over again. What really mattered is that we had a good time breaking it down. 'Till next time, guys!

Ca'Marcanda Gaja Promis 2009

HEY everybody! I had a Gaja tonight. A freaking Angelo Gaja (pronounced gah-yah.) For those of you who don't know, Angelo Gaja is THE Italian winemaker, the guy that brought fine Italian wine into the international spotlight back in the mid 1900s. Known primarily as a producer of Barolo and Barbaresco in Piedmont, Gaja plays a serious game in Tuscany too. The wine I had was one of his super tuscans, a wine that historically scores in the 90s- the Ca'Marcanda Gaja Promis 2009.

On a not so interesting note (but still noteworthy,) I had this super tuscan tonight after having a glass of the United States' very first, original pinot noir. I know none of you will be laughing at this, but the funny thing is that the super tuscan felt more like a pinot than the actual pinot that I had. I was in stitches. A blend consisting of sangiovese, merlot, and syrah outdid a pinot noir in the silky texture department. Who would have thunk it?

Well okydokes. The color of the wine was a light garnet, showing some widely spaced legs (get your minds out of the gutter, you rotten children!) throughout the height of my glass. See-though, yet deep in the right light, the wine was a pretty gal. It was also very uniform, stretching the wine across the glass to the tip, there was little dilution, it was a solid color throughout.

As I hit the nose, no singular thing in particular came through. Rather, there was an awesome balance of different dark fruits, tobacco, forest notes, and raspberry jam. Not one of these characteristics stepped in front of the other- this young super tuscan is NOT messing around. I could only imagine what this wine could do in 8-10 years, aromatically at least.

Taking my first sip as I wolfed down my homemade fusilli (with some lovely tomato sauce and grated parmesan cheese,) I could see how Italian wines really can't be beat when being paired with food. I also had another glass of the stuff later outside with a cigarette, understanding further how Italian wine is truly an awesome compliment to cigars and cigarettes. The sangiovese brought me the succulent dark fruit and tobacco flavors, the syrah brought me the power and light acidity, and the merlot brought the stuff together, creating a roundness and smoothness, both throughout the mid palate and the finish. That finish by the way, was nice and long. The tannins also show up pretty nicely for a little while, like a cameo, for lack of a better word. These flavors and textures really came together to make something fun to drink (the 13.5% alcohol also helped.)

Well oh man, my first Gaja critique. To be completely honest, I don't feel worthy. Because of that, I kept it short and sweet. What I learned from this wine is that Italian wines can be had young, and that "the big guys" (big wine producers,) don't mess around. I had always known that, but this wine reminded me of it. For a while I had been looking at big time values for small bucks, but there's a reason those wines aren't as coveted as the Gaja's. I love the little guys, there's a huge chunk of my heart devoted to them, but these big guys are something totally out of this world.

Villadoria Bricco Magno Langhe Rosso 2007

Wine Noob disciples! I hope you all enjoyed that lovely 70 degree weather last week, if you're like me you probably tried a whole lot of white wines to cool down in the afternoon. I'll be honest, although I really like white wine, I really stink at drinking it. I'd say 90% of the wine I've ever drank in my life has been red, so I'm a lot more comfortable with it. Because of that, I've decided to keep with the reds for now, just until I get a better feel for what white wine has to offer us. This week's wine is the Villadoria Bricco Magno Langhe Rosso 2007. Long named wine... must be good.

Let me just start off by saying that I really like this wine. For $13.99 this wine gives you a boat load of Barolo and Barbaresco characteristics that would otherwise cost you at the very least $30, and often soar up into the $200 range. This is because the wine comes from an area within a few miles of Barolo and Barbaresco's vineyards, and is produced with the same exact grape: Nebbiolo.

Now, I could give you a history lesson dating back to the 1960s on the nebbiolo grape, but we'll save that for when we have a glass of the stuff together in the future.

Alrighty then. So once again, the Bricco Magno is a wine reminiscent of Barolos and Barbarescos. That said, it's similar to them, by no means is it the real deal. In the glass, the wine has a nice deep red, but I can see my fingers through the glass. It doesn't have the full body of the Barolo, nor the entirety of the elegance and finesse of Barbaresco. You may think that's a bad thing, but it doesn't have to be. Just from the color you can tell that the wine isn't going to weigh you down like Barolo, or overshadow the meal you're having like Barbaresco often can. At the same time you're going to get the solid acidity and structure that the nebbiolo grape surely delivers, and that my friends, is totally bananas.

The nose was by far my favorite part of the wine. It was so charming and so pleasant, I definitely didn't expect this going into it. Being that the wine is pretty young for a Piedmont red, the fruit was still there, and it was still swinging. Strawberries, red currant, and ripe plums are the fruits that come out and smack you in the face. Me, being a sucker for Piedmont, dug a little deeper and found some other things going on though. Brace yourselves fellas, this 2007 Bricco Magno showed signs of: mushrooms, tar, tobacco, and anise.

"Are you freaking kidding me Marco? What the hell are you smoking?!" Don't worry fellas, I'm in class right now so technically I'm not allowed to be smoking anything in here. But if I had it my way, I'd be puffing down a nice Marlboro red right now. Anyways, yeah, I'm dead serious about that. When I first noticed mushrooms and tar, I was ecstatic. I had always heard people talk about tar in wine before, but I had never really caught onto it before. Family, friends, high-tech pedophiles, believe you me that when you hone in on your palate and nose, you'll get those notes and you'll have a great time doing it, too.

Now that we've hit the five paragraph mark, I think it's a good time to start talking about how the wine tastes. So, I've mentioned already that the wine is young and that therefore the fruit comes out swinging. This wine is absolutely a fruit bomb (term "fruit bomb" coined by Gary Vaynerchuk, an awesome wine dude.) You get those red, ripe fruits literally wrecking down your mouth with catapults and trebuchets. But you guys know me, I'm a fool for texture and body- and this wine lacked a little bit in that department. Not enough tannic backbone and not enough going on in the mid palate. What I will say is that this wine has a lovely floral finish, and that it goes down so smooth with almost no bite whatsoever. I didn't try this wine with food, but I would imagine that the Piedmont region and the nebbiolo grape do a great job of producing wines with a good amount of acidity to pair with game meats, red pasta sauces, and who knows, maybe even forest salads (... are forest salads a real thing?)

Let's finish this post off with the wine's reception at the store. From what I've heard, people generally didn't like it. I got pretty depressed when I heard that, I really thought that I had found a quality value in a Piedmont region red that people would appreciate. So, where did I go wrong? Hell, I don't know. I'm slowly learning what people are looking for in wine, and I guess that maybe this wine isn't for everybody. A casual wine drinker should be able to enjoy this wine, but there's no guarantee of that. The Italy wine expert, on the other hand, would probably go crazy for this wine. What better Piedmont red at $13.99 can you drink while you wait for your 1997 Barolo to age to the height of its maturity? To be honest, there's probably a lot of better wines to be drinking right now than the Bricco Magno, but it doesn't hurt to diversify. Just ask those Lehman guys.

Chateau D'Arvigny Haut-Medoc 2008

Hey everybody, it's been a while, hasn't it? Usually I try to have about two posts a week, but it just so happens that in the past seven days I've had about six different wines and I've had some difficulty trying to decide which ones to write about. Also, on top of that, I've been trying these wines several times throughout the week so I can get a better feel for them.

But enough with this teenage foreplay, let's dive right in! (Recycling past jokes, good start, Marco)

This time around I'll be writing about a pretty nice Bordeaux red. France's Bordeaux region has consistently produced world-class wines since, well, the middle ages. The particular wine that I'll be talking about comes from the Haut-Medoc region of Bordeaux, an area that allows only certain percentages of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot, cabernet franc, and a little bit of malbec to be blended into their wines. The wine I'll be discussing shortly is from 2008, a vintage in Bordeaux where you taste the chateau, or the specific appellation/vineyard (which is pretty cool, comparing 2009 where you taste the vintage*.)

"LET'S GET ON WITH IT, YOU CLOWN!", you all scream!

... I'm not a clown!

The Chateau D'Arvigny Haut-Medoc 2008. In my opinion, this wine is pretty overrated, but pretty underrated as well. I guess you can call it average, or above average maybe. It depends on your taste. It's hard to find a wine from the Haut-Medoc region that isn't good, but that doesn't mean that they're all going to always be spectacular. What I mean by both over and under rated, is that some people will assume that because its a 2008 Haut-Medoc, it will be a spectacular wine; but at the same time, because it wasn't a 1st or 2nd or 3rd Growth rated wine, that it won't be any good. That's tomfoolery. Trust your palate, and you'll find what you like, don't buy into wine-world generalizations!

It's a pretty red. A dark red really, with a black purity to it. The legs on the wine are pretty nice, which is a sign that it's well structured and balanced, a prelude to what you'll experience when you taste it (... that's what she said.) I'd like to think that its solid structure will let it age pretty well, I'd say this wine could be put away for a few years and it'll mature pretty gracefully.

The blend (which specifically, I'm not sure of, since Haut-Medoc AOC's allow a lot of grape variety) gives the wine some nice aromatics. The wine is floral up front, with some fruit coming in towards the end of the sniff. Red currant, raspberries, and black cherries come through pretty nicely. It's not too earthy, and the oak takes a back seat to the flowery and fruity front court. There is a vanilla note if you really look for it, though.

As nice as the scents are though, they do no justice to the mouthfeel and flavor of the wine. It's supple and light on the tannins. Supple is the key word. The wine becomes chewy to an extent, and I'm not going to lie, it's a really nice feeling on the palate. Once again, in fruit you get some subtle red currant, black cherries, and raspberries in front of the pleasant red floral notes (or should I say red floral symphony?) The oak is there, but it's mild. That might be the only real downside to the blend.

Overall, the Chateau D'Arvigny Haut-Medoc is a pretty simple and nice wine. Is there something left to be desired, hell yeah there is. It's freaking Bordeaux. The appellation's chalky terroir should be coming through a lot more. The limestone in the soil should be growing on you throughout the mid-palate. BUT. The wine costs about 16 Zelda rupees (1 Zelda Rupee = $1 USD.) For a pretty modest price you're getting a very good wine in terms of value. There's some Bordeaux characteristics in this wine that other Haut-Medocs fetch over $30 for. That structure is something to be coveted, it's hard to find. So is that supple and chewy texture. The merlot in the wine really shines, and Bordeaux merlots can soar into the $1000 range.

What can I say, I'm a sucker for good values. I'd give the wine an 86 on the 100 point scale. That's pretty good, then again my scale relies heavily on dollar power. Big time wine drinkers would probably scoff at this bad-boy, but post by post, we're changing that. We can appreciate this wine. Hell, its delicious. I've got about two glasses left in my bottle at home, and I'm excited to finish it off if it stays fresh for another couple of days.

Anyways, thanks for the patronage, and you'll be hearing from the Wine Noob once again by the end of the week. Enjoy the sunny weather, fellas! (expect some white wine reviews coming soon!)


*Mad Props to Wine Spectator for the comparison between '08 and '09 Bordeaux

Jermann Pinot Neros

HELLO EVERYBODY! Welcome to my blog, how's it going? I'm doing great, in case you're wondering. Why am I doing great, you ask? Because I had some absolutely outrageous wines this week. Wines that I've been looking for my entire life. Wines that I'll look back on one day, wishing I had just another day with them. Wines that will make all future wines live in the shadows of their spectacularity. Wines that will make me question why I ever even spoke to other wines in the past. Wines that will make me write unnecessarily long introductions to my blog posts.

If you can't tell, I'm excited to write about these wines. They're both pinot noirs (pinot nero, since they're Italian, really.) They are from the creative and artistic Jermann winemakers in the Venezia Giulia area of Italy. Jermann has historically created some spectacular wines, and the two that I've had this week lived up to their old standards. They were beautiful, engaging, and they both put a huge smile on my face. They were good.

We'll start with the Jermann Red Angel on the Moonlight 2008. Read that name again. Beautiful. Good start.

In color the wine showed a dark red, slightly see-through, hint of a ruby shine. That shine, in my opinion, comes from the beautiful texture and body of the pinot noir grape. The color justified the wine's label, making me think of a serene, chilly night in Venice (near where the wine was made.) I can imagine the gondole in Venice riding in channels of the wine throughout the city. Quite a pretty scene.

The nose on the wine was excellent. The oak barrels used by Jermann are not French. Jermann ferments its wine in slovenian oak barrels, which gives their wine some very particular and unique characteristics. The Red Angel for instance, has an unmistakable potpourri dimension. The oak then comes out swinging, drenched in the floral and blackberry/plum mask of scent.

In flavor, the Red Angel I feel is second to very few. Its body was elegant, not too light and not too heavy. Silky and smooth, reminiscent of dried and live roses at the same time. The oak comes in on the mid-palate, completely transforming the flavor, leaving you with a subtle, yet powerful fruity finish. (By the way, did I mention the wine is only $17?)

I realize that I've written quite a lot for just one wine this episode, but I'm going to go ahead and power through on to the next one as well. I'd feel horrible not giving this next wine the same attention and care as I did the last, it certainly deserves it.

The next bottle of wine I had this week was the Jermann Blau & Blau 2008. Another pinot nero, this time comprised of two genetic pinot noir cousins, 90% Blaufrankisch and 10% Blauburgunder. This combination made a spectacular wine. A wine that quite frankly, I think is right up there with the first wine I've reviewed in my entire blog, 2011's #1 rated wine itself, the Kosta Browne Pinot Noir 2009.


I'm not sure about this 100%, but I believe that the winemaker dedicated this wine to his daughter, who picked the name and picture to appear on the label of the wine.

The color was a dark and beautifully pure violet red. Nothing would pass through its depth of color, unless I put the glass under the right light, where I could see right though it. It had a beautiful roundness about it, something that you'd have to see to know what I'm trying to express. 

Its nose was more interesting, somehow, than the Red Angel's. More juicy, a clove vector piecing my nose, and forest scents underneath. If you ever want to just smell something (yes, just smell something) this is the thing to smell. There's so much going on, I was able to break it down, dissect the individual scents and isolate the others. It's that slovenian oak!

The flavor was elegant, slightly dry, and oh so smooth. The blackberries and red currant flavors burst through, really giving my taste buds a smack. There was a slight flower note of flavor, but mostly I could taste the fruit and I was overwhelmed by its full texture. The wine, although just a sip at the moment, felt as if it filled my entire mouth. A freshness overcame me, and the lush flavors of fruit paired with the forest oak qualities created something truly remarkable. This is a wine I won't soon forget. 

Wow! That was quite a bit of blogging. I apologize for the pretentious writing this time around, as you should know by now, that's not my style. It's just that these wines brought out something else in me this week. At any rate, I think I know what wine I'll be bringing to my daughter's wedding in 30 years. Have a nice week, fellas, and thanks for reading!