Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Lamaione 1997

When I started my obsession with wine , at the beginning of the millenium, Super-Tuscans were very popular, the 1997 vintage was just released , and recieived praises all around. Many wines were , relatively affordable. and approachable. Among the wines that were available in Israel were the top wines of Antinori (of which , the Guado al Taso was my favourite), many wines from Banfi (The Sirrah and Cabarnet was sold at around 100NIS and were very nice) , Cassalferro from Ricasoli, and more but one of the greatest wines was the Lamaione from Frescobaldi, a 100% Merlot wine from Castelgiocondo in Montalcino.
Since then Super Tuscan went out of fashion . One reason was that the success of the 1997 vintage made many raise their prices. Another reason was that these wines were good but not unique like other regions (maybe too internationally styled). Today when Bordeaux prices reached stratosphere , the Super Tuscan are actually bargain. Wines such as Massetto 2004 are sold for about 1000NIS , much cheaper than top Pomerols.
Yesterdai I opened my last bottle of Lamaione 1997, and again it was superb. Dark ruby, Nose of black cherries, plums and a little bit oak. the highlight was in the mouth, medium to full bodied, rich, smooth , fruity, mouth coating, with long and sweet aftertaste. Elegant in the best sense of the word. Score - 95

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Fonseca - Vintage Port 1985

2 month ago during an evening with some of my friends at home, I opened a bottle of Fonseca, Vintage Port , 1985. We didn't finish the bottle so I corked it again with vaccum , and forgot about it. Yesterday night I had difficulties to fall a sleep so I opened it and drank the remaining - simply wonderful. Nose of Chocolate and cassis , Full bodied , Very rich, live, still a bit tannic with long finish. I think it actually got a little better during last 2 month. Score : 95-96

BTW , I quickly fell a sleep afterwords. Maybe I should start prescribing this for my patients, costs more than Bondormin or Nocturno but tastes much better.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Super Tuscans at Barcarola

3 days ago a special super tuscan tasting was held at Barcarola restaurant in Kfar-Sava. The tasting was held with the collaboration of the restaurant and especially with the help of the restaurant's manager (and Sommelier) , Elad Chen.
The restaurant made a special 6 course menu that was very good , especially a rissotto with mushrooms & artichokes , a great green salad with aged Gauda cheese and Revioli with cow tail meat. We all got 2 excellent wine glasses and some of us , asked (and got) third glass in order to allow the wines to breathe. I was quite impressed with the wine selection, prices and the knowledge of the manager/sommelier.

I didn't write formal tasting notes during the evening to the notes here are short and are mostly of general impressions:
1. Argiano - Solengo, 2000 : Seemed a bit corky at the beginning but improved with time. A very ripe almost raisiny nose with black fruits followed by medium body, smooth and quite long. Score : 90-91 , but probably not the best bottle.
2. Lamborghini - Campoleone , 1999 : dark ruby colour, Nose of black and dark red fruits with some spices and flowers , in the mouth medium to full bodied with great balance, good acidity , good hold. Finish was a bit short , but overall a very well made wine (some said too technical, and without clear identity) . Score : 93-94
3-4. Antinori - Guado al Taso 1998+1999 : The 1998 had a nose of ripe black fruits with some toastiness , medium to full bodied, smooth , not very long nice finish . a well made wine but a bit annonymous . Score : 92-93 (Others liked it more) . The 1999 was very closed down, both in the nose and mouth and wasn't rated.
5. Castello dei Rampolla - Vigna d'Alceo, 1999 : Dark coloured. Superb nose of black fruits, spices, licorice and graphite, followed by full body, very smooth, great mid palate presence and long aftertaste. Beautiful wine. Score : 97-98
6. Gaja Ca Marcanda - Camarcanda 2000 - The surprice of the tasting. Lovely nose of ripe cherries and blackberries with candies , medium to full bodied , with good balance and sweet aftertaste. Yummy wine. Score - 94-95
7. Tua Rita - Giusto di Notri , 1999 : Dark coloured and corky . NR
8. Fattoria Petrolo - Galatrona , 1999 - very very dark coloured. Impressive nose of black cherries, chocolate and spices, very full bodied , still quite young and tannic with huge mid palate and medium finish. Great bottle of wine. Score : 96-97 (The medium finish prevented it from scoring few more points , but still if you could find it, buy it)
9. Zind Humbrecht - Clos Windsbuhl, Vendage Tardive 1990 - A bonus wine I brought with me , scored 100 at the WA. Golden yellow , great pure nose of tropical fruits, some apricots and peaches. The nose a bit strange and acidic at the first moments became better after a few moments , with medium body, great fruitiness, very sweet but with enough acidity to balance it, and long aftertaste. A superb desert, sweet, smooth, and elegant without any hard edges found sometimes in desert wines. Score 97-98.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Apology & Tasting note

Apology
A few days ago , I wrote in the Fat Guy forum some words against the over hype about wines from Burgundy. I wrote that even though I like the whites, The prices of both red and whites are way exagerated and that the too much writing about them prevents us from enjoying some excellent wines from other regions that are priced more reasonably such as Alsace and Germany. By mistake , I wrote that the main importers of german wines to Israel , Giaconda, doesn't bring the top wines from the producers they import. Another member in the forum, Gilad , and later Anat from Giaconda payed my attention to the fact that in the last catalogue, there are wines from the top sites of Donhoff, and from this year also from J.J.Prum and Egon Muller , 2 wine producers that considered by many (along with Donhoff, Muller Catoir and other) at the very top of the premier league of the german wineries.
I suggest any wine lover who likes german wines (or didn't try them yet) to go and grab them. The very few bottles I had, were enough to make me fell in love with them, and for the first time, even my wife shows some interest.

I think the success of Giaconda , waked up some guys at Shaked who started again importing some wines from Dr.Loosen, another well regarded german producer.
Last week I opened a bottle of Dr.Loosen, Wehlener Sonnenuhr , Riesling Auslese, Gold cap, 2005 . a straw coloured, It had a nice nose of sweet lime, peaches and minerals. In the mouth it was medium sweet with great balance between the sweetness and Acidity (one of the hellmarks of good german Riesling) , very fruity with long aftertaste. Score - 93-94 . Only a bit lack of complexity prevented it from acheiving higher score , but it worth the wait.

Friday Noon's wine group

This friday, I came a bit late. My friends just finished a bottle of Serafin Gevrey Chambertin 1999 , so I suggested opening a bottle of Serafin, Charmes Chambertin 2001. I've had a bottle of the 2004, a year ago, and liked it very much and the 2004 didn't dissapoint either. Some brett in the nose at the beginning was replaced soon by a nose of red fruits, especially strawberries, in the mouth it was only medium bodied but it filled the mouth , with great balance, nice mid palate presence and long aftertaste. An elegant wine (in the good sence of the word). Score : 93-94.
Later on I was suggested a glass of Trio 2006, a new Israeli wine made by 3 cousins of the the Shaked family (Oran, Kobi & Tal). The grapes were sourced from the Judea hills and are mostly Cabarnet Sauvignon. The nose is quite closed with some black fruits emerges. In the mouth its medium to full bodied , very fruity, some green notes and medium finish. not very sophisticated but a very nice wine for everyday. Score - 88.