EAST COAST PALATE

This blend of Marsanne and Roussane has a color and an aroma rarely found in most white wines.  Its hue is a dark gold with a tinge of orange.  The smells coming off the nose are slightly oxidized (like a Sherry smells), with other odors like sawdust, flowers, and perfume joining the unique bouquet.
There is a nice acidic kick to this wine, and a woodsy, almost burnt taste that creates a slightly bitter, floral finish.  This wine isn't for everyone, but I think that for those of you looking to try new things, this bottle from the Robert Katcher selection will surely deliver some novel flavors and aromas.  I'd rate this wine a solid B, and it is a decent value for the $11  I spent at the Montgomery County liquor store.

This is a Riesing with no perceived sweetness, except maybe aromatically.  For $13, this bottle offers a wine that is crystal clear, even pretty to look at.  It has a zesty lemon scent, a bit of pear, some fresh flowers, and a touch of that alcoholic sting on the nose.  And once past the lips it delivers a lush onset, followed by a crescendo-like acidic lift.  The amount of body surprised me here.  This is a wine that can go solo or with some rich cream-sauce-smothered seafood.  I like this wine a lot and give it an A- in that 90-9 point range. 
Question of Riesling preference:  Which does it for you more the sweet or the dry?  What are some of your favorite Rieslings?

The second red we opened was a 2000 Château Mondorion Grand Cru from St. Emilion, France.  I actually chose this bottle because while I studied abroad in France, some friends and I took a road trip that led us through the town of St. Emilion, where wine has been produced for about 13 centuries. 
This wine was replete with funky odors that may be offputting for some, but behind the musty, barnyard stink there were hints of chocolate, plums, and cherries that emerged more as we let it breath.  One observation around the table was very fitting: the wine smelled like carnations, sort of stinky, but in a good way...
The wine has a solid structure, a good balance of acids and tannins, and a chalky texture that adds to the feel of the wine in your mouth.  This was a B+ kind of wine, completely overshadowed by the excitement created by the Muga Reserva.  
This wine was also on special, costing only about $10 more than the retail price for a bottle.  I'm excited about the basement wine scene at Mrs. K's.  They have a half-price happy hour deal from 5 to 7 on wines by the glass, their food and wine menus both offer some fantastic flavors, and there is something about the cellar's ambiance that makes one forget that downtown Silver Spring is only a minute away.  The next time I want to be transported a European cellar, I'll go to Mrs. K's basement.
Oh yeah, for dessert that evening we also enjoyed a bottle of 1985 Burgundy and a bottle of Moët & Chandon Impérial.  I won't even score those bottles.  They were simply a decadent icing on my birthday party's cake.

The blend in this bottle is 60% Syrah/40% Mourvèdre.  It smells old-world, with dusty, earthy aromas mingling with fresh strawberry notes.  It also smells a bit strong, even though the alcohol content is listed at 13%. 
The wine is light bodied, with some fantastic minerality and a little bit of spiciness.  I like the acid levels, too.  The fruity components, in this case, were low key, taking a back seat role to the stoney, dirty characteristics.  This wine gets 87-88 points from my palate; I'd recommend decanting the wine to let it breath a bit (really just to allow some of the stinging boozey aroma to burn off).  Either way, this Luc Pirlet blend from the Languedoc region is a good wine, and I'd go back for more any day, especially since it only costs $12.

The 2007 vintage in the Rhône valley is impressive, and many critics are touting it as the best year in the last couple decades for Chateauneuf-du-Pape blends, but let's forget the Côtes du Rhônes.  Many Chateaux have limits on how much CDP they can produce, and a lot of high-quality wine is going into blends like this one that cost under 20 bucks but still bring some serious flavor to the table.
This 2007 Domaine de la Solitude has some strawberry/blackberry notes that hover just above a sweaty funk that gives this wine a well of aromatic depth.  The slate smell is in there.  There's some black cherry.  This wine smells dank and earthy.  It smells beautiful.
The mouthfeel is rich, with tannins and acids in perfect harmony.  There is a chalkiness that seems to accentuate the minerality and earthy aspect of this wine, too.  Most impressive about this product is the balance.  Some wines are 'good.'  This one is a composition.  I love it.  It an A, 93 points, and I bought it for $13 (on sale from $17)at The Wine Source in Baltimore.  Even though that Domaine Lafond CDP was a B+ for me, why would I get it ever again when I know that I could get 2 bottles of better wine for less money?  If I seemed a little worked up, it because this wine really just does it for me.  It is good enough that I might have to order a case. 

This is not a typical choice for a Monday night wine.  But I asked my sister to go select something from the growing stack of brown bag covered bottles by my desk.  She broght me a few ounce pour so I could practice some sensory analysis with this wine (This kind of olfactory exercise can be a lot of fun and will provide a more objective critique of any food or beverage.  If somebody, myself included, sees a wine label that says Châteauneuf-du-Pape, we're predisposed to think highly of this wine).
The color: beautiful ruby red that is clear...nearly translucent.
The aromas are very subtle.  This wine has that old-world dusty smell that allowed me to guess where it was from, but overall it is what many would call tight, meaning its smells and flavors are masked by its youth.  None-the-less I get a little bit of strawberry (my sister said red Jello) and a gravely minerality.  The alcohol (14%) really comes through on the nose here, only adding to the difficulty of picking up other aromas.
The wine has a solid body: decent acid, good tannins, and overall balance that transitions to a finish where the berry flavors are even more pronounced.  There just isn't a lot of depth to this product yet.
In my opinion, this bottle needs 2-3 more years before being opened.  I'm saving half the bottle to see how the flavors and smells open up over night.  If I had to give this wine a score right now, I'd have to stay around the 87-88 point range.  That's a let down when taken into account the bottle sells for $45.  For that much money I expect nothing less than an A effort.  But again, this wine hasn't seen its prime yet.
Lesson learned: wine is fun!!  I know that the 2007 vintage from Châteauneuf-du-Pape is being hyped up as one of the best in a long time.  Unfortunately I haven't tried that many of the CDPs yet.  This Domaine Lafond shows potential, but for the time being I'd have to take my money elsewhere. 
Who has tasted some of the 2007 Châteauneuf-du-Papes and could recommend a wine to me?  I'm working on writing my Christmas list...

This 2006 Bourgogne, Cuvée La Marguerite, cost me $13.  As it turns out, it pairs perfectly with poultry...
I owe some thanks to Karmen, who asked me to recommend a white wine to complement the bird at a Thanksgiving party.  I looked in my notes, but really felt at a loss for giving sound first hand advice.  I decided to go buy some Chardonnay and some turkey and was pleasantly surprise by how well the pairing turned out.
The wine has definite apple and green grape aromas, with slight floral honeysuckle smells playing around on the nose.  The wine tastes fresh and has the acidity to balance out that buttery viscosity coming from the barrel treatment.  On its own it's a solid B, 86-87 point wine.  But then I took a bite of some roasted turkey slices from my local deli, and washed it down with a bit of wine.  The salty, smokiness of the meat actually makes this wine seem more balanced.  The slightly bitter finish I had noticed before was now mellow and smooth; and those tart green apple/lemon peel flavors popped just a little more.  Tasting the wine with the turkey adds a couple points to the overall experience.  This experiment was a lot of fun for me, and I suggest doing something like this before bringing wine to a party, or planning what to cook and which wines to serve when you have company.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  Let me know what wines you drink with the meal.

I decided last night to try two Malbecs side by side.  The prospect of this tasting had me excited, ready for a good matchup of two bottles of the hottest grape varietal around.  Then I opened these bottles and smelled each contender.  This is when things started to go downhill. 
The 2008 Elsa Bianchi, from Argentina ($12), had a faintly chemical aroma that masked the little grape and blueberry that was barely present.  The wine in my mouth started smooth and fruity, but quickly dissolved into a bitter aftertaste.  Overall it lacks any complexity and is a B- at best.
The 2005 Pigmentum Malbec from France wasn't much better...it's aroma was a nice, resiny mixture of dry fruits and dusty plums.  It had a little bit more of a tannic structure than the Elsa Bianchi, but lacked any finish and was for me equally disappointing.  For $12, this Malbec really didn't give me my money's worth, either.
I was hyped up about this flight, but it turned out to be like watching a soccer match that ends in a 0-0 tie.  I remember working at Syzygy in Walla Walla, WA, standing on the edges of binfuls of fermenting Malbec and the smells rising up to me as I punched down (just a mixing up of the grape skins and juice) the cap of grapes into the juice as it fermentened.  There is something about malbec that is lush and sensuous and sexy when it is made right, but neither of the wines tried last night really did much for me.

A crisp bright white wine is perfect for hot summer days, or for quenching your thirst between points in an intense game of ping-pong.  Ideal wine: the 2008 Picpoul de Pinet from the Coteaux du Languedoc, made at La Cave Les Costières de Pomerols.  This grape reminds me of Albariño a bit, zesty citrus notes, some tropical fruit aromas, too.  This grape is not seen often on the shelves, but at $9 it's a steal.  I want to buy a case just to have around as a solid fallback white.  I give it 88 points.

This wine had me very excited when I smelled it.  Sticky sweet molasses, mulling spices, resin, flowers, fresh mushrooms... a symphony of aromas eminates from this wine.  The enchantment dissappears, though, after the taste.  It is smooth with a lush mid-palate followed by a tart bite and then a too-quick finish.  Buying this wine for $20 doesn't bother me, but the fact that its original listed price was $47 sort of seems ridiculous.  The magic in this wine is purely olfactory... but I would pay $20 again to smell the complexly woven quilt of aromatics in this wine.  With the acidity that this wine has, I'd like buy a few bottles and try them a few years from now.  Aromas get a 95, overall the wine gets 87 points from me.