Sartori di Verona “Regolo” Rosso Veronese 2006

Segway: This wine was enjoyed during my family’s Christmas Eve dinner, paired with my mom’s homemade lasagna! The bottle was hand-selected by Chuck, the main buyer at The Andersons market. Chuck’s task was to fill up one case for me for under $120. This local supermarket has one of the better selections in Columbus, by the way. One would never suspect this, however, by the store’s unassuming, small-town supermarket appearance. The bottle retails for $25-ish but was on sale for $12!

Winemaking: The vineyards are located in the hilly area of Valpolicella, north of Verona. Select clusters of Corvina grapes are carefully harvested. The maceration lasts for 8 to 10 days. Following maceration the wine goes through the “rispasso” process, where the wine rests on the lees left over from Amarone, enhancing the wine’s aromatics and aging potential. After the malolactic fermentation, the wine ages for 18 to 24 months in medium to large-sized oak casks. Before release the wine is aged in the bottle for at least 6 months.

Sartori di Verona “Regolo” Rosso Veronese 2006
Tasting Notes: 100% Corvina, 13.5% vol, unfiltered. Deep, dark, ruby red in the glass, with brick-red around the edges. Very herbal, spicy nose, opening up to beautiful violets and more subtle notes of rich, ripe black fruits. Smooth and juicy texture in the mouth, a tart acidity that is fairly well-balanced, a bit too sour but definitely not an over kill. There are flavors of black cherries and strawberries on the mid-palate and prunes and lingering sourness on the finish. A bit disjointed between the nose and the mouth. The nose definitely wins out with its pretty floral notes and complexity. An over-all pretty good wine.
Rating: 16/20 (90/100)
Price: $25 retail @ The Andersons

William Kavney Cellars Napa Valley Cab

Segway: I first discovered this wine at the Brookside Golf & Country Club Open House Wine and Spirits Tasting, with my dad. It was all the rave and I remember thinking it was pretty good but not paying too much attention to it, since I was more focused on the socializing than I was the wine. I forget the details but the generalities behind the story of this wine are that William Kavney apparently bought the best wines that were left over from the production of some top Napa producers. He then blends them together to make his small production creation with a Bulldog logo on the clearly hand-crafted label.

The story behind the Hausfrau Haven wine store is pretty cool too. Hausfrau Haven is where I purchased the William Kavney Cellars bottle. I was asking around at the open house, trying to pinpoint who in Ohio distributed and/or retailed Guigal wines. I was a winemaking apprentice, A.K.A. Cellar Rat, at Guigal during the 2009 vintage and so naturally I’m deadset on getting my hands on one of the 2009 LaLas. I’m pretty damn proud to be able to say that I helped make those wines and was part of the EPIC 2009 vintage. By the way I was also part of spilling a few thousand dollars worth of wine on the cellar floor, after failing to properly fasten one of the pumps. I considered it an offering to the French wine gods. LaLa, by the way, is the nickname for Guigal’s top single-vineyard Cote-Roties (La Turque, La Mouline and La Landonne) that demand between 3 and 5 bills a bottle! But more importantly, these are some AMAZING wines!

So how the hell does Guigal have anything to do with this William Kavney Cellars tasting, other than me selfishly plugging my 2009 vintage? Well nothing yet, except that after asking around at the Open House, I was told that the top wine buyer in Columbus was Faye, owner of Hausfrau Haven wine store and “the best palate in Ohio”. And additionally, I was told that she would be the best bet for finding a bottle of a Guigal LaLa. So I dropped in for a visit to Hausfrau and sure enough they carried Guigal, including the LaLas! Now my name’s on the list for the 2009 vintage, which is still in the barrel btw, and won’t be in the shop for another 6 to 12 months. Some of the LaLas are aged for up to 4 years in barrel. Now that’s what I call barrel ageing!

Sorry I understand that I STILL haven’t got to the point of today’s tasting. So much buildup I know! Well the closing chapter of this saga is that after speaking to one of the wine reps and asking for his favorite bottle under $20, he immediately grabbed the William Kavney Cellar 2007 Cab, the exact same wine that was all the rave at the Brookside Open House. The End!

William Kavney Cellars “Cabernet Sauvignon” Napa Valley 2007
Tasting Notes: 100% cabernet sauvignon, 13.8% vol. Dark ruby red in the glass. A decent amount of alcohol on the nose, accompanied by pleasant and subtle notes of black fruits, cinnamon and vanilla spice. Silky-smooth texture up front, followed by strong fruit, black cherry jam, good balance of acidity and finishing with dry tannins and notes of dark chocolate and oak. Certainly nothing magical and not all the rave, BUT definitely an overall enjoyable wine.
Rating: 15/20 (89/100)
Price: US$20 @ Hausfrau Haven in German Village, Columbus, Ohio

Thorough Wine Tasting Involves All Senses

Written By Yuliya, guest contributor, editor at WineClubGuide.com:

So many wine choices -  this may seem intimidating to an individual not yet versed in the different aspects that the world of wine has to offer. How does a person choose which wine they will love? Wine exploration and discovering should not be intimidating or scary but a great deal of fun. This drink that has been loved throughout the ages should be thought of as a pleasurable treat to indulge in. You can have a blast tasting wine and exploring different flavors and varieties. Learning how to taste wine properly is a simple practice that makes all aspects of wine tasting worth doing. Its also nice to know that in this day and age you can do some research online prior to wine tasting. Websites like the Wine Club Guide will help you understand wine better and make your life easier in choosing which wines you would like to try.

Like most things, it takes time to develop your wine tasting palate. Once you get going though, you will learn to distinguish good wines from poor ones and hopefully discover some great ones along the way. All you really need to do is learn the basics of wine tasting to get started. The wine’s appearance, how it smells and tastes are the fundamentals of any thorough wine tasting.

When pouring a glass of wine for tasting, you should fill the glass a 1/4 full. This gives you enough room to swirl and sniff the wine. After pouring, look at the color of the wine and note its clarity, color and depth. A dessert wine will usually be darker and thicker than a white wine. Once you’ve experienced more wines, you will understand each types viscosity, hue and other characteristics just by looking at it.

Swirl the wine some more and sniff the aroma. Note the scents coming from the fruits. There is no right or wrong when doing this. Each individual has their own way of describing what they smell. A wine can have a bouquet of earthy or woody scents and even smell like chocolate or rubber tires. How awesome is this! Do you enjoy what you’re smelling? Try to pick out any stronger smells that are primarily coming through. Does the aroma provoke your senses enough to want to sip the wine?

Take a small sip and swirl the wine around slowly while sucking in bits of air to create a stronger taste. Does the taste make your lips pucker or is there a subtle sweetness that lingers on your tongue? Each wine will taste completely different as will it’s feeling in the mouth. Some wines will give off a dry sensation while others will feel silky and smooth. Note these differences along with the tastes you discover.

Take notes on all the different types of wines you try, and soon you’ll become the wine tasting expert that everyone comes to when choosing a bottle of great wine.

Chilean Blogger Tasting – 2010 Concha y Toro Marques de Casa Concha Carmenere

This is the seventh of twelve wines tasted from the Wines of Chile Blogger Tasting.

Wine #7:  2010 Concha y Toro Marques de Casa Concha Carmenere

Appellation:  Cachapoal Valley

Notes:  14% ABV.  Deep color.  Plum jam and chocolate nose.  Very rustic.  Good fruit, some complexity, huge acid.  This becomes a sour candy.  I like acid and I like sour, but this becomes off balance.  Some heat, too, but I’m not sure if that’s the acid or the alcohol talking.  Grows on me as I drink it, decanting may smooth out the rough edges.

Rating:  2.5/5 (got an extra .5 because it’s getting better.)

Price:  $22 SRP

Chilean Blogger Tasting – 2009 Morande Grand Reserva Pinot Noir

This is the sixth wine tasted at a Wines of Chile blogger tasting.

Wine #6, 2009 Morande Gran Reserva Pinot Noir.

Appellation:  Casablanca Valley

Notes.  100% Pinot Noir.  Proper color and transparency, very floral notes with red fruit.  Lots of strawberry, some spice.  Acidic.  Off balance to me, I’m unimpressed, but it’s OK.

Rating:  2/5

Price:  $17.99 SRP

 

Chilean Blogger Tasting – 2009 Cono Sur 20 Barrels

This is part of an ongoing series of posts covering a Wines of Chile Blogger Tasting.

Wine #5:  2009 Cono Sur 20 Barrels Pinot Noir

Appellation:  Casablanca Valley

Notes:  100% Pinot Noir, 14.5% ABV.  Deep color.  Red fruit nose, almost jammy.  Very fruit driven at first, with cherry and strawberry, then some floral and pepper sneak in.  Good acid.  A little off balance to me, but the velvet mouthfeel and good potential for food pairing win me over.  Not really a typical Pinot.

Price:  SRP $32

Rating:  3/5

Chilean Blogger Tasting – 2010 Emiliana Novas

This post is part of an ongoing series covering a Wines of Chile Blogger Tasting.

Wine#4 2010 Emiliana Novas Pinot Noir Grand Reserve

Appellation: Casablanca Valley

Notes: 100% Pinot Noir. 14% ABV. This wine has a little funk on the nose. If I didn’t know better, I would think it was from Burgundy; very French. Pepper and fruit undeneath. On the palate, this has nice fruit, great balance, soft tannins, and some acid. Wonderful character and elegance. I am blown away. Blown. Away. This is great wine, and a killer value.

Price: SRP $19

Rating: 5/5