Coteaux du Languedoc, Château La Rogue, Pic Saint Loup, 2003

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Pic Saint Loup is probably a tough sell. It’s a shame for in the under $20 category red Lanquedoc wines still offer some of the best value you can find. Just compare this wine, selling at $16 against a California Merlot or Cabernet selling for the same price and you will see there is no contest. Full rich fruit flavors mix on the palate and nose with tar and black licorice to make for a really interesting drink. A great wine for summer cook outs.

Malbec, Tikal, Amorio, Altos de Medoza Argentina, 2004

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Winner of the heavy bottle award of 2004. Out of this massive bottle comes a pretty good wine - often a surprise when such pretentious bottles are used. Richly colored with a woody, ripe character that, with a little air time,  starts to reveal some real complexity.  Going for under $25 a bottle, those who love Napa Cabernet, but can’t stand the price should grab up some bottles of Tikal Amorio, as you are sure to like the style.

Marionberry Wine

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One of the pleasures of living in Oregon are the fresh bakery goods in the morning. Big juicy Marionberry muffins, scones and anything else you can think of baked into butter, flour, eggs and sugar. They are all delicious and it’s exciting that an Italian wine producer has figured out a way to get the luscious, juicy, dense black fruit flavors of Marionberries all the way from Oregon bakeries into their wines in the Piemonte region of Italy.

Much to my surprise, when I took my first sip of 2003 Cá di Pian, Barbara d’Asti by La Spinetta the proof was there. La Spinetta has obviously not only transplanted Marionberries to Piemonte, but has discovered how to make a wine out of them. Strangely enough this wine, which certainly should be called DOC Marmellata di Marionberry, is somehow called Barbera d’ Asti. This must surely be a mistake, because anyone who has ever tasted a fine Barbera d’Asti will realize that this wine could not be made from the Barbera grape – at least not naturally.

The only thing this could be is some sort of bizarre fruit wine (Marionberries?) as it is grotesquely purple and juicy-fruity to the point of being revolting with food. I tried meat, pizza, panini and pasta with this bottle and it is very clear the only thing this glop of a wine can go with is itself.

The rhinoceros on the label of this wine is very appropriate as the rhinoceros is as graceful and refined as this “wine”. La Spinetta is a label that should be avoided by anyone who cares about the harmony of wine and food.

(artwork by Peter Puszta)

Do They Still Exist?

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riesling 2.jpgI thought it didn’t exist anymore, but there it was in my glass. The firm mineral and petroleum odors mixed with brilliant, zesty ripe apricot and white peach aromas that all exploded on the palate, which was braced by fine acidity. All was tightly packaged into a perfectly balanced wine. Most of all it was real, classic Alsatian wine, a type that has sadly dissolved into over-ripe  quasi-dessert wines with alcohol levels that bring out the no smoking signs.

The 2004 Albert Boxler Riesling ( imported by Robert Chadderdon) is a really pretty wine that will develop and grow for many years, although I probably won’t have the discipline to save my bottles as it is just too damn good to drink now. 

It is almost a shock these days to taste such a balanced wine from Alsace. Buy this wine and enjoy for it may be a dying breed. It won’t break your pocketbook to taste this classic as it goes for under $20 a bottle. Funny, it seems these days the more expensive an Alsatian wine is, the more undrinkable it becomes.

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, sur lie, Domaine de la Tourmaline, 2004

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Yikes! What a bad label, but what a good wine. This is a label that would frighten anyone who ever worked on a bottling line. How do they ever get it on the bottle?

More importantly this wine embodies everything that makes Muscadet one of my favorite white wines. Full of acidity, bright fruit that is layered with a yeasty, mineral complexity. A perfect food wine. Bring on the oysters!! 

It Bites

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accornero-grignolinobriccobosco.jpgIt Bites.

It bites hard. Punching the palate with searing acidity. I loved it.

Is there a wine more complimentary to homey, rustic foods than top-quality grignolino? I don’t think so because rich, full flavored dishes need a good dose of acidity to keep the palate alive and few wines deliver like grignolino. The 2004 Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese, Bricco del Bosco,  Az. Ag. Acconero imported by Montecastelli fills that bill just perfectly.

Warning: if you like California merlot or Australian shiraz with cute animal labels selling for under ten bucks a bottle, avoid this wine at all costs.

I fell in love with this wine from the first sip that set my saliva glands into hyper-drive.