FRIDAY’S THIRTEEN…

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Stan The Wine Man

In a weeks time, I taste a boatload of wine (seriously). I lot of my friends think that 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 right here on Stanthewineman.com. Here for your reading pleasure, are thirteen wines that I have reviewed in my Moleskine (good or bad), this past week.

2012 Condes de Albarei Albarino (Rias Baixas, Spain)… $10.

Aromas of saline and orange blossoms. Minerals all over the palate, with notes of orange blossoms coming through. Creamy on the mid-palate with hits of white pepper and saline on the almost oily finish. Orange blossom and citrus notes linger on the backside of the finish. This is one of those wines that seems simple on the nose, yet it has some intriguing complexity for a stupid price. (A-)

2012 Buxy Bourgogne Aligote (Buissonnier, France)… $10.

Notes of melon, citrus, dried herbs, lemon and wet stone on the nose. Honeysuckle, white flowers and wet stone on the front of the palate. It gets a little creamy on the mid-palate with a little lemon zest sneaking in, finishing clean and minerally. (B)

2008 Caparzo Brunello Di Montelcino (Tuscany, Italy)… $36.

This is what old world is all about on the nose. Intense notes of iron, red flowers, leather, cherries, earth and bark. Good intensity on the palate with notes of earth, rust, cherries and minerals front to back. A little leather, crushed rock and cranberry on the finish. This Brunello delivers a lot for the price. (B+/A-)

2012 Novellum Chardonnay (Pays d’oc, France)… $12.

Wet stone dominates on the nose, joined by notes of stone fruit, apples, pears and white flowers. Ripe pears on the palate along with wet stone and melon. There is a touch of fig on the back end backed by wet stone. Interesting flavors and aromas, but lacks intensity…Average juice at best. (C)

2013 Miradou Rose (Cotes de Provence, France)… $10.

Light notes of cherries and strawberries on the nose. Bone dry on the palate with notes of crushed rock, raspberries and strawberries. This sucker is light and boring, with very little acidity to drive the flavors. (D+)

Non-Vintage BellaFina Prosecco (Italy)… $10.

With the popularity of Prosecco continuing to increase, there are a lot of them out there to choose from. I was curious what I would get out of this one for the price.
Aromas of white flowers, orange blossoms, pears and apples. Full and soft on the front of the palate, with pear notes coming through. Clean and dry on the finish with notes of apple skins and a touch of crushed rocks. Not too bad for the price. (C+)

Non-Vintage Jean-Michel Gautier Vouvray Brut (Loire Valley, France)… $20.

I really love Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley. It’s funky, delicious, vibrant and mineral driven. When you add bubbles, it gets even more interesting.
Aromas of wet wool, crushed rocks and yeast. Peach pit, yeast and wooly in the mouth with a touch of citrus on the finish. This is clean, fresh and funky with delicious old world appeal. If you want to throw your palate a curve, this will be a fun and interesting ride. (B+)

Non-Vintage Carra Pulcinella Treviso Prosecco (Veneto, Italy)… $12.

Ripe pears and apples on the nose. Pears all day on the palate with a little apple sneaking in on the minerally finish. Finishes dry with a little lemon citrus hit.
Prosecco is a tough category, because there are so many good ones out there in this price range. (C+)

2012 Domaine de la Perriere Sancerre (Loire, France)… $23.

Aromas of slate, minerals, lemon and a hit of honey. Slate, granite, crushed rock, lemon and lime hit you on the palate all the way through into a lime/citrus finish with a dash of crushed rock and slate. I love old world sauvignon blanc from this region of the world and this one has all the elements I’m looking for with fresh acidity driving the mineral driven palate. (B+)

2012 Les Charmes Chardonnay Macon-Lugny (Burgundy, France)… $11.

Earthy on the nose with notes of mushrooms, fig, apples and melon. Good minerality on the palate with notes of mushrooms coming through, backed by lemon and Honeydew melon. The acidity is there but in nice balance with the earth and fruit notes leading into a delicious finish with a little fig hit coming through. Pretty nice little Chardonnay for the money. (B)

Non-Vintage Valdo Prosecco Brut Rose (Veneto, Italy)… $14.

Cherries, strawberries and a touch of watermelon on the nose. Round, plump cherry notes on the palate with a backdrop of strawberries and ripe watermelon. Pretty simple stuff, but delicious enough to please a crowd. A blend of Nerello, Mascalese and Glera. (B-)

Non-Vintage Barons De Rothschild Brut Champagne (Champagne, France)… $99.

The Rothchilds have decided to jump into the Champagne business with a little attitude. Asking a Benjamin for your first release in no small task. The question is, will it deliver. In this case I will have to say a resounding YES! I was nearly blown-away by this bottle of Champs.
Aromas of marzipan, bread dough, applesauce and yeast. Very dry and crisp giving it a laser sharp, focused feel on the palate. Notes of lemon and tangerine, compliment the bread dough and marzipan. The bright acidity drives the flavors into a mouth-watering, clean, long finish. Talk about coming to the party with flair, the Rothchilds have hit the ground running in the Champagne category. (A-)

2008 Glen Fiona Mourvedre (Columbia Valley, Washington)… $16.

Red and black licorice all over the nose, joined by notes of blueberries, currants (on the raisin side) and orange peel. Smooth tannins support notes of currants, orange peel and cola with a chalky edge. There is an underlying brightness to this wine with some bittersweet chocolate notes showing on the back-end along with orange peel and orange blossom notes that linger. Glen Fiona has been around for a long time and I was excited to give this a try… It didn’t let me down. (B+)

Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man

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CHRIS SPARKMAN…FROM NAPKINS TO INCREDIBLE WINES… SPARKMAN CELLARS.

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Stan The Wine Man

Stan The Wine Man TV: Episode 74

An interview with Chris Sparkman

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ARGYLE WINERY “SPARKLES” AT THE WILD GINGER IN SEATTLE.

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Stan The Wine Man

I received an email inviting those in the wine trade to a special presentation of wine by Argyle Winery out of Oregon. In the invitation it said that they would be pouring several of their sparkling wines, including a line-up of four at differing dosage levels. How could I pass on an opportunity like that. I signed up, and was off to Seattle to experience the wines of Argyle and their sparklers.

Argyle Winery is one of the first in Oregon to dive into the sparkling wine category in 1987. Today they are well-known for their sparkling wine which includes a brut, blanc de blanc, rose, and an extended tirage version. They are also well-known for Pinot Noir (of course), Chardonnay, and Riesling. I thought I would give you a quick report on the tasting and some of my notes.

Wine maker Nate Klostermann led the tasting group taking us through the line-up of wines they had prepared for us. The first thing he did was to take the group outside the restaurant and two volunteers had the opportunity to disgorge a bottle of sparkling wine. Disgorge means to take a bottle of sparkling wine with the yeast sediment still in it, pop the cap that keeps the bubbles alive inside the bottle, and disgorge the yeast from the wine. It’s a pretty cool thing to watch and the streets smelled of sparkling wine and yeast (loved it). What I love about the city, is that even though there was a group of people standing around a person with a bottle in hand and an opener,popping the top and wine spewing out all over the sidewalk, nobody stopped to watch. I bet I could have come out in my underwear, and nobody would have noticed. Anonymity is so much easier in a crowded city than in a small town.

Back in the restaurant, we tasted through three sparkling brut that were at different dosage levels. Dosage is the mixture of grape juice and sugar that is put back in the bottle after disgorgement. The amount of sugar determines the level of sweetness that is desired by the wine maker. A brut can be up to fifteen grams of sugar. However, it is not only the sweetness that they are looking for, but it is the mouth-feel and texture that determines the quality of the sparkling wine. This is all decided by the dosage treatment. We tasted one with zero grams of sugar (very dry), one with 4 grams, one with 8, and one with 12. The finished product, 2010 vintage brut, which we also tasted, came from the one at the eight gram level. It was well-rounded, had great acidity, with notes of apples, bread dough and hints of pear.

Next we tasted the Blanc de Blanc. 100% Chardonnay from Knudsen Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills appellation. Like the brut, it was classic sparkling wine. Nice cutting acidity with a creamy edge to it. Next came a special treat…The 1995 Blanc de Blanc which had actually been in the bottle on the yeast for 18 years before disgorgement. We found out that at Argyle, they only disgorge the bottles when they need them on the market. This creates subtle variations in the wines, even in the same vintage (makes for some interesting fodder…You think?). The ’95 Blanc de Blanc was full of baking spices, bread dough, marzipan, and honey. Absolutely delicious, still showing the acidity that we desire in a good bottle of bubbles.

The 2002 Extended Tirage Brut was very nutty on the palate with hazelnut and almonds coming through. Yeast and marzipan notes joined the party with that signature honey element of the Argyle line-up. The Extended Tirage is left on the lees for no less than ten years before release. We will be seeing the 2005 vintage released in the spring of 2015. The 2010 Argyle Brut Rose` is a beautiful sparkler with notes of ripe cherries and strawberries with a touch of rhubarb. This is a bone-dry rose`with just a touch of yeast…Delicious!

The group had and opportunity to taste the ’91 Argyle Riesling and it had aged beautifully, with petrol notes joined by notes of apples and stone fruit, still showing some vibrancy. The 2012 Argyle Nuthouse Riesling is classic. Good acidity with notes of petrol, apricot, minerals and orange pith. After Riesling, we tasted ’05 and ’12 Nuthouse Chardonnay. The 2005 displayed aromas of pears, figs and orange blossom. High intensity on the palate with notes of fig, pears, honey and a touch of butter. Creamy fruit front to back with oak notes that were well-integrated. Bone dry finish. The ’12 showed aromas of ginger, pears, apples and white flower blossoms. Pears all day on the palate with oak more prominent.

Pinot Noir was next in the line-up and we tasted the reserve 2001 and 2011, along with the Nuthouse 2000 and 2012. All of them are drinking beautifully, showing vintage variations. The 2011 Argyle Reserve was feminine and loaded with red flower notes. 2011 was a difficult vintage for Oregon, but Nate did a nice job with this one and it is showing well. The 2012 Nuthouse Pinot is a powerhouse, yet it remains earthy and minerally with cherry and root beer notes dominating the palate, backed by beauty bark and red flower elements. Argyle produces classic Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

If you are looking for classic domestic bubbles, I would strongly recommend Argyle. As far as the rest of the line-up, I would have no problem putting Argyle on the list of wines to try.

Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man

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FRIDAY’S THIRTEEN…

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Stan The Wine Man

In a weeks time, I taste a boatload of wine (seriously). I lot of my friends think that 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 right here on Stanthewineman.com. Here for your reading pleasure, are thirteen wines that I have reviewed in my Moleskine (good or bad), this past week.

As I knew would happen, eventually this version of Friday’s Thirteen falls on Friday the 13th. If you are a superstitious person, I would suggest that you refrain from trying any of these wines today….Just wait, to be safe.

2011 Signorello Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley, California)… $95.

Intense aromas of blackberries, black currants, violets and tomato stem. Oak notes sneak along with cinnamon, bittersweet chocolate and some alcohol heat. Black currants, chocolate and spice hit on the front of the palate with good intensity. The wine expands on the mid-palate into the finish of currants, spice and chocolate notes with a kiss of oak. This cab is nicely integrated with smooth tannins. This cab needs time to open up and will improve over the next 8-10 years. It’s a little pricey for what you get, but good nonetheless (B+)

2011 Edge Wines Cabernet Sauvignon (North Coast, California)… $16.

Red and black currants on the nose joined by notes of tar, black licorice, tomato stem and baking spices. A little “flat” on the palate, lacking acidity. Notes of black and red currants come through with a hit of tar on the mid-palate. Finishes with notes of white pepper and black licorice joining the notes of black currants and just a touch of tomato leaf. This was a challenging vintage in California, and I believe it is reflected somewhat in this effort.
This is part of the Signorello family of wines at a much more reasonable price. (C+)

2008 Chateau de Pez Bordeaux (Saint-Estephe Bordeaux, France)… $47.

Old world aromas of stewed meat, currants, cedar, earth, wet stone, soy sauce, tobacco and rose petal (that is a serious bouquet my friends). The palate does not lie, this is a Bordeaux! Minerals, leather, currants, tobacco and cedar notes hit up front and on the mid-palate. Minerals show up in spades on the finish with crushed rock and grippy tannins backing up the earth notes that linger. This wine has excellent structure and good acidity, which tells me it will age nicely over the next 10-15 years or more. (B+)

2012 Owen Roe Abbots Table Red (Columbia Valley, Washington)… $25.

David O’Reilly is perhaps one of my favorite wine makers in the Pacific Northwest. His talent is evidenced in most of the wines that he puts out there, and he has quite a following when it comes to this kitchen-sink red blend called Abbots Table.

Aromas of red cherries, rose petal, violets and licorice. Plush cherry notes on the front of the palate joined by notes of red licorice. The fruit expands on the mid-palate into the long finish. This wine has excellent balance, soft tannins, medium acidity, and most importantly (for the consumer) it is a “10” in the delicious category. The 2012 vintage in Washington state was outstanding, and this wine reflects the vintage and the talent of wine maker David O’Reilly. (B+)

2011 Carpe Diem Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley, California)… $25.

This cab is very vegetal on the nose. Notes of tomato stem are prominent, joined by cherries, rose petal, tobacco and red currants. Sturdy tannins on the palate, backing notes of black cherries, currants and underlying tomato stem and blackberry leaf. There is a little herbal, earth action on the grippy finish. (B)

2011 Casale Del Giglio Petit Verdot (Lazio, Italy)… $19.

A Petit Verdot from Italy? That perked my interest, so I was excited to give this puppy a try.

Chalk notes came through on the nose along with notes of black raspberries, currants, black cherries, soy sauce, tobacco and violets. Crushed rock notes all over the front of the palate, joined by tobacco and cherries. Bright acidity pops the fruit notes finishing with hits of violets, currants and black raspberry notes. For the first ever Petit Verdot I have tried from Italy, I was impressed. (B+)

2012 Carpe Diem Chardonnay (Anderson Valley, California)… $27.

Pineapple, pears, vanilla and toast come through on the nose. Mostly pineapple on the palate with notes of pears joining the party along with some apple notes. Lemon and a kiss of oak come through on the finish. This Chard has nice balance between being creamy and having a nice spine of acidity. (B)

2012 Casale Del Giglio Petit Manseng (Lazio, Italy)… $19.

Another interesting varietal from Italy that peaked my interest…

Aromas of green apples, orange blossoms and crushed rock. There is a saline element on the palate joined by notes of crushed rock and orange blossoms. A little saline component on the palate with notes of orange blossoms and crushed rock up front. Lemon and lime notes show up on the mid-palate into the finish with some chalky elements coming through. This white is fresh and lively on the palate with balanced acidity. (B)

2009 Chateau de L’oiselniere Muscadet Seve & Maine (Loire, France)… $14.

Melon, lemon, saline, slate and crushed rock on the nose. Crushed rock all day on the palate with notes of melon, saline and lemon. Steely lemon notes on the mid-palate into the finish with the saline element dominating. This Muscadet is not as acidic and dry as some, but it will lend itself nicely to shellfish nonetheless, and I love the saline component of this white. (B)

2011 Foris Fly Over Red (Rogue Valley, Oregon)… $12.

Aromas of raspberries and cherries with a hint of bittersweet chocolate. Fairly bright on the palate with cherry notes all day, accented by raspberry and tomato stem notes. The tomato stem element sticks on the finish with chalky tannins. This wine needs some time to soften up and is not very complex. However, it has some interesting elements and is bright enough to make it a nice match with grilled meats and a little BBQ sauce. (C+/B-)

Non-Vintage Abacela Vintners Blend #14 Red (Southern Oregon)… $15.

Aromas of plums, boysenberries, licorice, and a touch of chalk and chocolate. Currant and blackberry notes meet up front on the palate with some cocoa notes and chalky tannins that flow into a cocoa powder lingering finish, joined by leather and grip. (B-)

2011 Brandborg “Benchlands” Pinot Noir (Umpqua Valley, Oregon)… $19.

Root beer, violets, cherries, beauty bark and cinnamon notes come through on the nose. Very youthful on the palate with tight cherry, root beer, bark and leather notes. This Pinot needs some time in the bottle and tips the scale on the acidic side. ’11 wasn’t the best vintage in Oregon, but most of the Umpqua stuff I’ve tasted from this vintage has been a little better. (C+/B-)

2013 Domaine Le Clos des Lumieres Cotes du Rhone Rose (Rhone Valley, France)… $9.

A little challenged on the nose with notes of wet stone and strawberries. Cherry dominant on the palate, blended with notes of ripe strawberries and watermelon. Watermelon notes hang on the finish along with the wet stone element. Nice balance of acidity and fruit. This is a ridiculous value for only nine bucks. (B)

Happy Friday The Thirteenth…Be safe.

Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man

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