FRIDAY’S FIVE

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 right here on Stanthewineman.com. Here for your reading pleasure, are five wines that I have reviewed in my Moleskine (good or bad), this past week.

2018 Daterra Viticultures Casas De Enriba Red (Galicia, Spain)… $30.

Morphing aromas of wet hay, pomegranate and cinnamon with some other crazy aromas that sneak in and out. Baking spices and pomegranate on the palate backed by fresh acidity and smooth tannins. Hay notes sneak in on the mid-palate with a kiss of almond. Good integration with a long finish of pomegranate, hay and baking spices. This was like a living wine in the mouth with a ton of personality. 100% bio-dynamic practices. 80% Mencia, 20% Godello (B+)

2015 Felline Allerlo Salento Rosso (Puglia, Italy)… $12.

Tobacco and wood on the nose with a solid splash of dark currants and blackberries. Currant and blackberry notes come through on the palate, underscored by bright acidity and a ton of red flower notes with a kiss of dusty stones. Dry, currant driven finish with a little crushed rock thrown in. Bring on the food with this old world baby. 50% Negroamaro, 50% Primitivo (B)

2015 Chateau D’Arvigny Bordeaux Rouge (Haut-Medoc, France)… $16.

Aromas of currants, tobacco, leather and dirt with hits of red flowers. Solid acidity supports notes of red flowers, orange peel, earth and currants. Sweet structured tannins that are nicely integrated with the acidity. Finishes with just a slightly bitter edge and dirt notes lingering underneath. (B)

2016 Elizabeth Rose Pinot Noir (Yountville, CA)… $20.

Burnt strawberries on the nose with char notes coming through big-time and a hit of cherries. Fleshy cherry notes on the palate with a hit of Root Beer into a spicy somewhat thin finish where char and tobacco notes linger on the back-end. Interesting Pinot with new world start and an old-world finish. (B+)

2016 Casa Ferreirinha Planalto Vinho Blanco (Douro, Portugal)… $13.

Melon and wet stone on the nose with a kiss of lemon and orange. Diesel and wet stone all day on the palate with a backdrop of orange and lemon citrus. Good balance front to finish where a little veggie component sneaks in along with minerality and a bit of a zing. This is like a wannabe Riesling! (B/B+)

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

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BITS & BOBS

Halloween is this Thursday, and I always wonder what to do with wine and this celebration. Really, no one gives a rats ass about wine on Halloween. Of course, I put a couple of wines in the ad that might pique someone’s interest. Bogle Phantom is one of the reds, and Dibon cava the white. The Phantom has a cool name for Halloween and the label is definitely appropriate. Bogle releases this wine once a year, and it used to be a big deal. Not so much anymore. It is a red blend that is in most vintages a couple of notches above their Essential Red. However, there is a ton of competition in the blend category and its lost it’s thunder, at least in my area. Dibon cava has an orange label and is one of my favorite sparklers from Spain. If you’re going to sit by your door in the evening handing out candy to those cute little trick-or-treaters, you might as well have some good bubbles to sip on. The orange label is a bit of a stretch, but I hope someone gets it.

A sales rep said one of the funniest things I’ve heard in a while and it wasn’t Ben. This rep was tasting me on a wine and he said, “Wouldn’t that make a great Tuesday evening wine?” I looked at him laughing and asked what was so special about Tuesday? Why couldn’t it be a great Friday night wine? Of all the days to pick, he randomly chose Tuesday. I asked him if he did anything special on that day (of course I wasn’t going to let this one go). He was nonplussed and really couldn’t answer as to why he chose Tuesday evening as the time to drink the wine. If you step into the drink tank (this is what we call my office), you best be prepared to get some razzing if you say something like, it would make a good Tuesday evening wine. Fortunately for him, my assistant wasn’t there, because when you get Scott and me together we can be relentless with the bantering. I’m still chuckling about the Tuesday thing and the next time he shows up I will make it a point to get down to the bottom of why he chose Tuesday. Hopefully Scott is there to help me out.

There are a lot of terms that are unique to the wine world. One of them is referring to wine as fruit-forward. What this means is that the wine shows a lot of ripe fruit on the palate. We used terms in the past like hedonistic, because that was a term that sold wine. Not so much anymore. Hedonistic became popular when everyone was drinking the goopy Shiraz from Australia and loving it. Today, we have found a way to describe a wine that is somewhat of a fruit bomb to the customer without turning them away. In a lot of my tasting notes, I will use the term fruit-forward instead of hedonistic. Sometimes they will ask me what I mean by fruit-forward. Once asked, I will throw in the word hedonistic if it fits because if they take the time to ask me, I will expound on the descriptor so they know exactly what they are in for. Sometimes they buy it, sometimes they don’t. I think as wine people, we should expand on fruit-forward and extend it to acid-forward or oak-forward if appropriate. I’m going to experiment with that a bit on my wine descriptors and see if it generates some animated conversations. How many descriptors have you seen that describe a Chardonnay as oak-forward? I’ve never seen it, but I see fruit-forward all the time. Why not refer to a high acid white wine as acid-forward? It makes sense to me, we will find out if it makes sense to my customers and readers.

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

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FRIDAY’S FIVE

In a weeks 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 right here on Stanthewineman.com. Here for your reading pleasure, are five wines that I have reviewed in my Moleskine (good or bad), this past week.

2015 Angela Estate Pinot Noir Abbott Claim Vineyard (Yamhill-Carlton, OR)… $33.

Aromas of orange citrus and citrus peel with underlying cherry and red flower notes with a trace of meat marinade. Dry and savory on the palate with notes of dark cherry on a bed of earth with hits of tobacco. Citrus notes lie underneath on the finish with a kiss of cranberries. Tobacco notes sneak in and linger on the back-end. A little tight, this could probably use some cellaring. (B-/B)

2016 Domaine de la Rochette Macon-Bussieres “Mont Sard” (Burgundy, France)… $26.

Pears peaches and wet stone on the nose with a hit of fresh mushrooms. Fresh acidity hits the palate up front followed by notes of peaches and pears with a little mushroom thrown in, leading into a bright finish where citrus notes and white pepper join the palate party. Citrus notes linger. This baby is fresh, bright and almost crunchy on the palate. (B-)

2017 Watermill Winery Viognier (Columbia Valley, WA)… $18.

Just a touch of stink on the nose with notes of pears, filberts, banana and hints of fig. Solid fig and pear notes on the palate joined by hits of apricot. Nicely integrated with balanced acidity that surrounds the fruit and fig notes, keeping it fresh in the mouth. Nice expansion on the mid-palate leading into the finish where fig notes lead the way. (B)

2015 Maison Roy & Fils “Petite Incline” Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley, OR)… $39.

Aromas of cherries with hits of black tea, Root Beer and Asian spices. Dark cherry notes are lifted on the palate by a spine of acidity with bark and tea notes playing underneath into the finish where Asian spices sneak in along with a little leather action. Interesting citrus notes show up on the back of the mid-palate and the finish. An elegant Pinot that leans towards the old world in style. (B+/A-)

2017 Wrongo Dongo Monastrell (Jumilla, Spain)… $11.

Cherries, beets and bark on the nose with a candied element coming through. Boysenberries and cherries meet with tobacco, earth and crushed rock on the palate. Mineral notes dominate the fruit and take over on the finish where tobacco shows up big-time and lingers. There is a slight bitter edge on the back-end. If you like minerality and tobacco, this is the wine for you. (C+)

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

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BITS & BOBS

I had a couple of encounters this past month that reminded me just how much I love what I do. First, a young lady who may have been thirty years old, but probably in her mid-twenties approached me in the wine aisle to ask a question. It’s not unusual to be approached with a question about wine by a younger person. The unusual part was what she asked me about. I would have expected something like “Where is the Moscato?” No, this young lady wanted to know if I would be getting more of the 2016 Bordeaux that was missing on the shelf. I assured her that it would be in this week, and she walked away with a smile, saying that it was a very good Bordeaux. I get so excited when I see younger folk taking an interest in wine and especially when they stretch out and try different things. I reviewed that very Bordeaux on my YouTube channel and it was stellar. It warmed my heart that a younger wine drinker invested in the wine and discovered a real gem. I know it may sound geeky to a lot of you, but my goal as a wine guy is to help as many as possible expand their palate horizons and discover the many unusual and great wines that are out there.

Yesterday I noticed a customer spending a bit of time perusing the aisle. I approached and asked if she needed some help finding something. She told me that she was getting ready to take the first level Somm exam and was doing some research prior to the class. I love running into people that have enough interest in wine that they would jump into the Somm world to educate themselves. She was very impressed with our selection of wines and although I left her to make her own decisions, I still watched as she shopped the more eclectic sections of the wine department. I hope the best for her, and once again, those are the moments that make me love my job.

On a global note, the sacred region of Bordeaux, a part of the world where tradition and strict guidelines for winemaking are their religion, are about to do something that most wine people would consider unheard of. The Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieur Association have made the decision to allow the planting of seven new grape varietals in the region. That is big news from an area known for their staunch rules and traditions. The move to plant the new varietals is being made due to global warming. Four reds and three whites will be included in this decision. The reds will include Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Arinarnoa and Castets. White varietals will be Liliorila, Alvarinho and Petit Manseng. In an attempt to keep the integrity of the Bordeaux region, they will approach this change with caution. We live in different times for sure and it is interesting to see how grape growers will deal with climate change. If you are a Bordeaux fanatic, don’t get your shorts in a knot. They will not be tearing out Merlot and Cab to be replaced with the new varietals. This is all about research and development in dealing with climate change and making sure we can still enjoy wines from that part of the world. I find it both interesting and a bit unnerving.

On a more uplifting note, Susie and I are in the planning stages of taking a trip to Italy and the Southern Rhone. I love traveling with my wife and am looking forward to visiting places we have never been to. I will be contacting wineries and trying to set up interviews for my YouTube channel. Susie will handle the planning of the trip (which she is very good at) and I will handle the winery visits. I will keep you posted as things develop.

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man




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