WTN: Mastroberardino, Sandeman, lots of others

Notes from Johnny's birthday party last night at Le Buffet. Pizza, mussels and clams soup, bracciole and panna cotta.

Wines noted in the order I tasted them.

Mastroberardino Radici Fiano d'Avellino 2006 - Pale, with slight green and yellow highlights. A bit woody, smoky. Very dry, clean, lemon drops. Quite long. Very good.

Mastroberardino Radici Taurasi 2003 - One glass was poured stright from the bottle, the other was poured through Arnie's new toy, a Venturi wine aerator. As far as taste and smell, I couldn't detect any difference. There was a noticeable difference in the tannin, with the wine poured through the Venturi a bit softer.

Very nice nose, ripe berries and a bit of oak which isn't quite integrated yet. Mushrooms, earth, dried herbs on the long finish. Very tannic but it softened appreciably after an hour and a half in the glass. Best to let this rest a few more years to tame the tannins and round it out. Excellent wine.

Chapparral Reserve Cuvee Chardonnay 2004 - Smoky, oaky nose. Sweet and easy. Weak finish. Not bad.

Kennet Volk Caleri Vineyard Negrette San Benito County 2005 - Never seen pure Negrette before so this was pretty interesting. Grape jelly nose. Oaky. Light wine. Didn't make much of an impression by itself but was very good with the bracciole.

Villa Girardi Brune Alto Valpolicella Ripasso 2004 - Musty on the nose but very good flavor. Good ripe fruit with acidity to make it a good food wine. For current drinking. Excellent.

Fox Creek Red Baron Mc Laren Vale Shiraz 2006 - Jammy. A bit hot. Candyish but not sweet. Nice label but undrinkable wine.

Talus Pinot Noir 2003 - Simple, hollow, weak finish. Blah.

Wente Riverbanks Riesling 2006 - Gentle. Orangey. Gentle sweetness rounded out by good acidity. Pleasant. Not complex or serious but still, a good wine.

Sandeman 20 Year Old Tawny Port - Gently nutty. Real easy to drink. Coffee, refreshing acidity on the finish. Elegant and well-balanced. Excellent.

Wente Riva Ranch Reserve Chardonnay 2005 - Oaky nose. Very woody. I can see how this might appeal to some people but it's not for me.

[Jenise]

I've never seen Negrette either, Jay. What an oddity, and out of California no less! Do you know the Ken Volk story? He's the guy who used to own Wildhorse Vineyards, if you knew of their wines: he sold that winery to some corporation and then bought the former Byron Vineyards that was one owned by Mondavi when a big Corporation bought Mondavi and divested many of the vineyards.

That Wente Chardonnay--massively oaked, but I can actually like that at times in a fruit salad kind of way because it reminds me fondly of what I loved when I first fell in love with Chardonnay, and it's actually quite impressive at the $11 tag it commands here.

Thanks for the notes! I rather like the Sandeman 20YO - but the bottlings I've had of it haven't been in an elegant style, but rather a full-on and toffeed, luscious style. I admit, though, that I haven't drunk it in about a year, so maybe the newest bottling is different? How would you compare the Sandeman to a style that I find in the more elegant spectrum of Port: Ramos Pinto Quinta do Bom Retiro 20YO Tawny?

Hi Otto. I haven't had a chance to try the Ramos-Pinto Bom Retiro so I can't answer your question. It used to be available here but I don't think it's being imported anymore.

It could be that I find the Sandeman elegant because of all the Pedro Ximenez I've been drinking lately!