Tried these last night w/ my brussel sprouts:
1. Avanthia Godello DdO: Valdeorras (35 yr old vines; 13.5%) O Barca de Valdeorras/Orense 2008: Light yellow color; rather stoney/mineral/earthy some grapefruity/floral/carnations light lemony/fragrant pleasant nose; tart/lean/grapefruity/lemony some stoney/mineral/earthy light floral/carnations flavor; med.long grapefruity/floral some earthy/mineral/stoney quite lemony/grapefruity finish; rich for a Godello; an altogether pleasant $20 btl of wine. $30.00
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2. DomaineBertagna AC: Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits "LesDamesHuguettes" PinotNoir (13%) MeBaD Bertagna/Vougeot 2008: Very light color; light smokey/pencilly/oak rather earthy very light violets/cherry/Pinot pleasant enough nose; tart/lean/thin light violets/Pinot/floral rather earthy fairly tannic/hard/mean flavor; med. some cherry/Pinot/floral rather earthy light pencilly/smokey/oak Burgundian rather hard/lean/tannic/thin/eviscerated finish; about what you'd expect for a $20 RedBurg. $25.00
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3. JCCllrs Grenache VentanaVnyd/ArroyoSeco (15%) 2007: Very dark/black color; rather herbal/rosemary/blackberry/black cherry/Syrah-like somewhat toasty/oak/smokey/pungent licorice ripe nose; soft big/rich/tannic strong boysenberry/black cherry/licorice strong pungent/toasty/oak flavor; very long intense blackberry/boysenberry/black cherry/cola slight herbal/rosemary strong toasty/oak/pungent rather tannic finish; needs 4-8 yrs; more like Syrah than Grenache and only hints of the herbal character that Ventana usually gives. $30.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Bertagna: When I moved to NM in '72, I discover Kelly'sLiquors in Albq, a cut-rate liquor store where all the checkout clerks packed heat. There were boxes of wine stacked helter-skelter on pallets all over the place. You had to rummage around thru the boxes to find what you wanted and oftentimes the prices were not listed on the board tacked to the wall. When you'd find something that didn't have listed in their book, the clerk would just charge you whatever price another btl from that producer was.
DomaineBertagna was one of those producers I discovered at Kelly's. The wines were very good, even at the bottom end. You could buy Bertagna GrandCru for lower teen $'s. Even below $10 if they were not listed in the book.
Hadn't seen a Bertagna in NM in yrs, but spied this one on the shelf, so took one for old times sake. First RedBurg I've bought to drink in probably 20-25 yrs. Pretty much about what I'd expected...not like the Bertagnas of yore. Probably be another 25 yrs afore I'll buy a RedBurg again.
Tom