In a week’s time, I taste a boatload of wine (seriously). A lot of my friends think I’m lucky. Well, they’re right and I wouldn’t give this job up for the world. The only thing that makes my job hard, is my feeling of responsibility to taste the samples given to me as quickly as possible and to put my reviews either in my Moleskine, on my YouTube channel (Stan The Wine Man TV), or on Stanthewineman.com. Here for your reading pleasure, are five wines that I have reviewed in my Moleskine (good or bad), this past week.
2014 Cana’s Feast Nebbiolo Ciel Du Cheval Vineyard (Columbia Valley, WA)… $31
Aromas of strawberry, cola and a touch of bark and rust with a hit of red flowers. Red flower notes and rust all day on the palate, with nicely integrated acidity. There is a tiny kiss of cola on the mid-palate into the finish. Excellent balance and true to old-world Nebbiolo (think piedmont). Rusty, old world finish (B+)
2013 Cana’s Feast Sangiovese Grosso Ciel Du Cheval Vineyard (Columbia Valley, WA)… $44.
Currants and licorice on the nose, joined by dark red flower notes, beauty bark and baking spices. On the palate, notes of currants, bark, red flowers, orange peel and rust, with a splash of meat marinade front to finish where baking and BBQ spices join up and linger. (B-/B)
2015 Gifford Hirlinger Estate Merlot (Walla Walla Valley, WA)… $35.
Deep dark cherry and currant notes on the nose with hits of dark flowers underneath. A touch perfumed with a kiss of wood coming through. Dark, brooding cherry notes combine with notes of wood and spices wrapped in nicely integrated acidity. Licorice notes come through on the mid-palate into a dry finish where a pinch of tobacco sneaks in. Nice expansion of the cherry notes on the mid-palate. Good balance and integration. (B+/A-)
2019 Bodega Garzon Albarino (Uruguay)… $18.
Aromas of banana, peach, mango and a kiss of apricot. Fresh acidity on the palate supports notes of apricot, orange citrus and peach notes, all balanced nicely with good integration. Peach and orange notes linger for some time. (B+)
2018 Domaine Papagiannakos Retsina (Mesogaia, Central Greece)… $15.
Fig notes all day on the nose with a backdrop of rosemary and white peach. The rosemary hits big-time on the front of the palate and then the fig and white peach notes take over, joined by a kiss of lemon citrus on the back-end. The rosemary comes out on the back of the finish and lingers for some time. (B+/A-)
Cheers!
Stan the Wine Man
