2003 Ruffino Fonte al Sole

Top seller Ruffino has been making the Fonte al Sole since 1996, although I saw it for the first time this year. Perhaps they've put a special push behind it, as the label appears to be different from the 2001 vintage featured on the website.

The juice is 85% Sangiovese and 15% Merlot (all from Tuscany). I'll need to try another bottle - this one has a slight tinge on my nose that could be the beginnings of being corked.

That aside, the palatte is deep and tannic, with a distict cherry smell. The relatively weaker Merlot tempers the brute force Sangiovese for a nice result. I have to mention the color - beautiful deep garnet. Lovely!

In the mouth the wine is smooth and a little velvety. It tastes a little dirty (not always a bad thing), but overall I'd say that this wine is a little angular. I use that description occasionally to describe a wine that, in my opinion, isn't quite rounded, smooth and sublime (think Malbec, Dad, for a good example of round and smooth). This wine may age well, although I'm not sure there is enough there to keep for more than a few years in the cellar.

While I may seem a little down on this wine, I like the structure enough to give it another try. It was pricier than Yellow Tail - about the same price as Cycles Gladiator ($10). I still prefer the Ruffino Chianti (World's best selling Chianti), but I imagine I'll mention this one again on Noble Rot.

2004 Jean Garaudet Hautes Côtes du Beaune Burgundy

Many of my "loyal" readers don't believe me when I've said that a Burgundy is the same as Pinot Noir. The Burgundy region of France is the home of the Pinot Noir grape (which also serves as a major component of Champagne, by the way). Oregon has become an excellent region for Pinot Noir, but today's wine is a true Burgundy.

The 2004 Jean Garaudet ($25) is a heck of a wine, with a wonderfully earthy smell. The taste is quite complex (a plus in my book) that evolves over time. This is a wine that could be cellared but could be drunk now. I sense a hint of vanilla, strong dark fruits like black cherry, fig and currant. This is a serious wine that I enjoyed quite a lot.

2004 Yellow Tail Shiraz/Grenache

Australian label Yellow Tail has a number of interesting wines available only in the U.S., including a Shiraz Grenache Blend ($5 special this month, normally less than $10). These are mass produced for a less discriminating audience for sure, but I don't know a lot of people who drink $20 wines every day.

Grenache is quickly rising in my own grape preference, and Australia has been producing decent Shiraz for a number of years. Yellow Tail hails from Southeastern Australia and a successful marketing strategy has made this a staple of parties all over the U.S.

Upon opening I was pleasantly surprised by the smell - dark cherries, vanilla and a creamy smell. These are characteristics that I prefer in Cabernet Sauvignion, and although the proportions weren't the same (and no earthiness), I still liked the smell. The taste was similarly pleasant. Fruity, but dark and complex for the price. It tastes a bit "hot" to me (the spice in my opinion results more from alcohol than oak) but this is a nice wine for an everyday drinker. And for $5 it is a heckuva deal!

2004 Mark West Vin de Corse

My enthusiasm for wine is either inherited or catching. First Rebekah, then Ian and Samantha, now my Dad. The best part is that I'm enjoying great wine everywhere I go, and this time it's free! Haha!

Last night we shared a Mark West 2004 Vin de Corse Pinot Noir ($11). First - check out the website! It is rare to see a winemaker with a revolutionary feel, I'd say.

Dad and Susie purchased a case of this wine a while ago and we finished the last bottle of the case. It is quite fruity without a ton of complexity. Fruity with a fairly long finish and a redder color than I'd expect from Pinot Noir (no amber or gold tint). The grapes for this appelation come from Corsica (hence the name).

A quick Google search turned up a number of different opinions on this wine. I don't know if I've seen such a wide spectrum of reactions to a wine as this! In the end, while it isn't the greatest Pinot Noir and not necessarily a good representative of a "pure" Pinot (if there is such a thing), for the price it is quite good - like my everyday Cab drinker, Cycles Cab. Get it if you see it.

Cohn Estates Tasting

Last night Dad and I stopped by the local Wine Styles franchise. As we checked out the inventory (which is arranged not by region but by flavor profile - "bubbly" "bold" "fruity", etc), we noticed a well-dressed gentleman getting ready to do a tasting. Score!

Dan Cohn, of B.R. Cohn Winery shared 5 wines with us.

B.R. Cohn Winery was formed in 1984 by longtime Doobie Brothers manager Bruce Cohn (more on that later). It is located in Glen Ellen, CA, quite near Sonoma. Cabernet and Merlot are the predominant grapes in the area, and Cohn prides themselves on producing 100% varietals (i.e. a Cabernet Sauvignon that is comprised of 100% Cabernet grapes).

First up was the 2005 Carneros Chardonnay ($24). This wine has been aged in French Oak for 9 months and showed some tropical notes as well as a hint of butter. Nicely balanced, but a little pricey for the taste.

Second was the 2004 Sonoma Valley Merlot ($35). This wine saw oak for a total of 20 months and showed toast, dark fruits (esp blackberry), vanilla and hint of spice. A good wine, drinkable now.

Next we tasted the 2004 "Silver Label" Cabernet Sauvignon ($20). This is a blend of about %50 of Cohn's Olive Hill Vineyard filled out with its North Coast Vineyard. This wine has strong notes of cassis and smoke and was quite nice. My favorite to that point!

We had to follow the "Silver Label" with the 2002 Olive Hill Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ($50). It was immediately evident where the Silver Label got it's brawn - this was a great wine. A little fruitier than some other Cabs I've tried recently (for example the Smith and Hook that I'll be featuring here soon), but rich and layered in all the right ways. It smelled of earth (a plus!) and I tasted plum and currant. A nice wine!

Finally, we got to taste the 2003 Doobie Brothers Red ($96 for three). This is a series of 5 vintages produced to honor the Doobie Brothers, and a portion of the proceeds go to the National Veteran's Foundation. This wine is a Bordeaux blend. Both Dad and I liked this wine a lot, and we agree with Dan Cohn that this is a wine suitable for cellaring. It had strong tannins (but not as strong as a Petite Syrah) with a nice dark fruit undertone. We left with a three pack for Dad's new wine cellar. It was drinkable now but I'd say in a few years this wine will only improve.

Getting Corky

Zin Fan D. asked in the comment section, "When the sommelier (don't think I've ever had a real sommelier, only a standard-issue waiter or waitress) presents the cork for my inspection, what am I supposed to do with it, and why?"

Great question! I was actually planning on addressing this topic in the not-too-distant future, but there is no time better than the present (and how many more cliches can I fit into one post anyway?).

Popular thought might suggest that one is to rather dramatically smell the cork. What wondrous insights might you divine from such olfactory analysis, you might be thinking?

Not a lot, to tell you the truth. You'll probably get a musty and woody smell from every single cork you smell - yes, cork is made of wood, and yes, all wine undergoes a bit of organic development, even in the bottle (alcohol is a slightly beneficial byproduct, haha). But in the end, smelling the cork is an utter waste of your time.

The presentation process engages at least three of your senses - smell, taste and vision (and you could argue that touch is in the mix as well). Smelling the cork only engages one, and not very well at that. You can't really get a sense if a wine has gone bad by smelling the cork, and many good wines can show some mold on the cork.

But there is one very important observation that you can make by examining the cork - checking to see that it matches the bottle from which it was taken. While it is highly unlikely, the possibilty exists that the wine that you just dropped a ton of money on is a fake, and the first clue is a blank or mismatched cork.

That assumes that you know what the cork is supposed to look like, though. Oh, and I should add that I *always* smell the cork, even though I know I shouldn't. Maybe I should say that I do it BECAUSE I know I shouldn't. I'm a punk.

Nipozzano Riserva, 2002 Chianti

Tonight I had the pleasure of tasting the 2002 Marchesi de' Frescobaldi Chianti Rufina Castello di Nipozzano Riserva. This wine, produced from 640 ha at an altitude of about 1000 feet, is from an area that's produced wine since the 13th Century.

I found the wine to be extremely earthy with strong and deep tannins, from the initial taste through the finish. I've not tasted a chianti with such earthiness! It was also fairly acidic (Rebekah remarked that it "burned" on the way down). I quite liked this wine (retail between $15 and $20) but this could use some aging to smooth out the tannins.

Wine Spectator rates this a 90!

Corked!

Part of a proper wine presentation includes pouring a small amount into a glass for the consumer to taste. Most of us know that we are making sure that the wine isn't "corked" but do we really know what we are looking for? None of us wants to appear a fool, and it isn't always okay to send back an expensive bottle just because we didn't like it. So how do you know if a wine is corked?

First, let me spend a moment describing what "corked" really means. A wine that has suffered corking or cork taint (Wiki) has been infected with a type of fungus that produces a substance known as 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA). Chloroanisole is often present in the cork, and TCA in wine is often blamed on a faulty cork, although it can happen in other ways as well (like improper handling, transportation, etc).

The easiest way to tell if a wine is corked is to smell it - a corked wine smells strongly of wet newspaper or cardboard. Now I should caution that there are a large number of other smells that wine carries, and the wet paper smell is but one, although it will probably be the predominant smell. If you are still not sure if a wine is corked, taste it! In my experience, corked wine tastes very spicy and dirty and sometimes extremely fruity - like bad wine!

The good news is that corked wine is completely harmless (other than a bit of strong breath, a lighter wallet and a bad impression). Last night I opened a $10 bottle of California Cabernet which smelled okay (not great). I took a taste and instantly new that something was amiss. I still suffered through a glass, but if I had purchased this in a restaurant I'd send it back.

Welcome to Noble Rot!

I've decided to create this blog to document some of the great wine that I've been tasting over the last few years. For the most part I'll focus on interesting wines that retail between $10 and $30.