EAST COAST PALATE

$7.50 is an amazing price to pay for the quality wine that you get from this bottle.  This blend comes from the southeast of Spain, in a region called Almansa, where in 2005 the heat was strong and the grapes ripened extremely well.  This wine consists of about 2/3 Garnacha and 1/3 Syrah.  There are some resinous dark cherry and leather components coming from the Grenache in it, while the Syrah adds some ripe plum and a peppery kick to the final product.  You can tell the wine spent some time in oak barrels, but those tannins are very well integrated with the fruit and acid it the wine, bringing a toasty cedar note into the mix.  The acidity here will put a pucker on your face, like a big swig of cran-grapefruit juice would, if you can imagine the sensation.  Early on I detected a bit of that nail-polish-remover, chemical odor (ethyl acetate) that can really screw up a wine.  But if it was a bit flawed, it wasn't to a strong enough extent to mask the great aromas, flavors, and overall balance of this red blend.  In any case, I'll be buying more of this wine, so I'll be able to compare the bottles I open in the future with the first one.  Overall I'll give this wine a solid B rating at 88 points.  I love that it matches or surpasses many of the wines in the $20-$30 range.  It is a drink-now kind of wine that bring with it many old world characteristics, and I recommend it to everyone.
I have to say thank you to Nick Henning for pointing this wine out to me at YES Organic Market in D.C.  Otherwise it could've passed under my wine radar and I would've never known what I do now.  Currently it is the wine of the month at YES, so there will be plenty in stock throughout the holiday season.  I am pumped up to know about this wine.  Tell your friends.  Share this wine at parties.  It's only 7 bucks and worth every sip.

I am a fan of sparkling wine, regardless of the climate or what hors d'oeuvres are being served.  Sparkling wine doesn't need an occasion...it is  an occasion.  This bottle that I just bought at Adega Wine Cellars down in Silver Spring has got me pretty excited.  I'm a glass in, and the aromas and flavors are still evolving.
The wine:  Conde de Subirats, Cava Brut (NV) weighs in at a light 11.5%.  There are green apple and lemon zest scents mingled with a sweaty, baking bread aroma that all together transported me back to when I was 19 in Strasbourg, France during the marché de noel eating madeleines and drinking hot wine composed of white wine and orange juice mixed with mulling spices.
Anyway, minus the spices, this wine is very sugar cookie like, and that first sip starts out creamy.  Then pear and lemon flavors emerge.  Suddenly you pucker and the tartness of a Granny Smith apple takes over your tongue.  And then the smooth, sweet, yellow Skittle finish comes on and doesn't seem to go away.
I like this wine a lot; it gets an A from my palate without a doubt, especially at $15.

When someone calls into your room where you're busy writing and sipping on a Sam Adams.  "Come try this wine," they say, and the night gets a bit better.  This is a 2007 Rioja from Dominius del Marquesado.  With a deep, inviting color, and aromas of strawberries, cherries and leather, I'm into this wine even before I try it.  There is a slight chemical aspect to the smell, like laquer or modeling glue, but it's not enough to ruin the aroma; it just makes the strawberry smell more sythetic, like flavored pancake syrup or a Jolly Rancher rather than fresh fuit.  The wine is medium bodied, not-too-tannic, leathery and very well balanced.  I'd like to see more body, maybe more oak even.  This is an elegant wine that is smooth and ready to drink. 

So yesterday Jared and I made plans to go out, try a taste of Baltimore.  We started out sipping on a great Barolo at his house, then made our way to the Wine Market.  The best aspect of dining here is that you can buy a bottle from the store in the front of the establishment, then take it back and enjoy it with dinner for only a $9 corkage fee.  So he and a friend and I picked out a bottle... each of us picked one.
The food overall was good, the standout selections the duck paté and the decadent beef strogannoff.  The only disappointing dish was the special, tenderloin medallions that were cooked perfectly, but were caked with so much black peppercorn that the meat's flavor took a sad back seat to the pepper.  The decor is an open, industrial feel that aplifies conversation, but we still felt comfortable by all means.  And we had plenty of vino...

The first one (At Jared's): A 2004 Barolo from Brezza called Canubi from Giacomo e figli.  This wine brings a ton of acidic pucker, some slatey minerality, a hint of cedar and spice, with an inviting ripe boquet of raisins, dates, figs, and prunes. 89+ from me

At the Wine Market:  Gmork, A 2008 Gruner Veltliner by Anton Bauer.  solid acid, aromas of green apple skin, starfruit, waxpaper (that petrol nose that often comes with whites from that part of the world).  This paired very well with the cheeses, especially the aged Irish cheddar, and with the paté.  A solid wine to start with, 84 points

Mas de la Rouvière 2003 from Bandol.  Right off the bat the smell of this mostly Mourvèdre wine had me intrigued; stinky earthy raspberries and strawberries, a green or vegetal aroma lingering somewhere beneath the dank earth and ripe fruit.  Big tannins surprised me, but the wine's taste and body sort of seemed a let down after the crazy aromas that had pulled me in first.  A B wine (86 or so).

The gem of the night was the 2005 Ferrer Bobet from the Priorat region of Spain, a 53% Carignane, 35% Grenache, 7% Syrah, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon blend.  This fruity candy smelling wine has great balance and a sweaty minerality that create a complexity of flavors.  A truly balanced, tasty wine.  90 points