WTN: Battle Royale-Italy Versus California

Italy won pretty convincingly tonight. Served with bread, cheese, appetizers, and coq au vin blanc (Riesling)

Mauro Molino Dolcetto d'Alba 2003. Delicious! This was my first Dolcetto D'Alba, and I will be looking for more! Given that this is a shorter term wine, it was probably fully ready to drink. And cheap-Paid $13 a year or two ago. Dark fruit, tobacco, leather, still a nice hit of acidity to keep it fresh. Fabulous wine, it gets four stars for QPR alone! WOTN ****

Luiano Chianti Classico Riserva 1999. Nugget Market, the local grocery, is really pushing this wine right now. It's probably near its peak, otherwise I could see buying a lot. More bright cherry than the Dd'A, a nice hit of acid still. And then, that meaty dark leathery character I love in some chiantis! Good stuff. Considering QPR, I wouldn't rank this quite as high. ***1/2

Campo Morar Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2001 A much lighter wine in the color and aroma. More red notes versus the hearty black of the Dd'A and the dark red of the Chianti. Lighter in flavor, too. This was drunk last and definitely should have been drunk first. Still, pleasant, almost like a lighter style California Syrah, to my limited experience. I wouldn;t go out of my way to buy this again, as it just didn't grab my attention. Especially because its rather pricey. **1/2

Now for California

Raymond Reserve Merlot 2001 . Simple, decent merlot with some good fruit but not too fruity. Very quaffable. The caramel oak notes are rather light, just not very exciting, frankly. **

Tamber Bey Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2003. Bleh. Absolutely bleh. A bludgeoning of caramel that buries the other flavor profile that I dislike, vanilla, which is still unfortunately there, too. Harsh, disjointed, and crude. we won't even talk about the huge price differential between the second tier Dolcetto D'Alba producer and this new cultish winery. It tasted, to me, like one of the harsh, sweet, crude Zinfandels that made me give up on Zins until some recent explorations. No savory notes. No leather. No black fruit. A pretty bottle and a beautiful estate winery tucked away on one of my favorite bicyclign routes doesn't make up for awful wine not to my taste.

Tastes are different, though. My coworker Dave, a big Zin drinker, liked the wine a lot. He got to take 3/4 of it home with him. And, maybe I'm being unfair in drinking this wine so young. I've had otherbig fruit Napa Cabs from this vintage, and they don't have this disjointed, annoying character at all. At least Silver Oak is SMOOOOOTH.

I can't imagine the caramel going away. This wasn't a case of a closed wine or harsh teeth staining mountain tannins-I just don't like this wine! *

Elizabeth Spencer 2002 Oakvilel Cabernet Sauvignon. Disappointing tonight. I've drunk this wine before and and enjoyed it more, but this bottle seemed a little harsher and oakier than previous recent examples. Bottle variation? Still...much smoother, more integrated, and more savory than the Tamber Bey. The wine was drinkable. (And, the group finished it!) I have a couple of other bottles-Maybe I shoudl just age it a little longer and see what happens. **

Nice notes, Brian!

What's the Nugget charging for the Luiano?


Mike

[James Roscoe]

Italy won pretty convincingly tonight.

d'oh

Re the Campo Morar Valpolicella Superiore 2001, Brian.....that might have been a case of just expecting more than the wine was designed to deliver, in a way.

Parsing your description, I'd say it is an accurate depiction of a moderately aged Valpolicella in a fairly standard (traditioinal style). Valpolicella is supposed to be---well, it was orginally supposed to be anyway---a light to medium-light blend of red grapes destined to be served at table to accomodate, but not overwhelm, the food. Light, clean, somewhat sharp in flavor but not terribly so, and with a noticeable slightly bitter tangy bite at the finish.

You didn't mention the tangy bitterness, but other than that you described the essentials of standard Valpolicella. If you want more---more density, more substance, more intensity, more fruit, more complexity---you generally either go to a Ripasso style or with one of Nuevo Wavo producers that subscribe to the "Get More" school of modern winemaking.

I'd never open a regular Valpolicella to blow people away. And I'd seldom include Val in a comparative tasting, or a tasting designed to 'rank' the wines...Valpolicella doesn't do well in those kinds of things, because that's not what Valpolicella is all about. Some wines are just designed to be fairly simple, straightforward wines to be part of a meal, and that sounds like what you had with the Campo Morar.

Good notes, btw. Thanks.

Thanks, Hoke for the explanation. Like I said, I think order of drinking makes a difference-this was a nice light wine that should have been opened first. My only "complaint" really is that this was somewhat pricey-I think the the other two Italians together.

The Chianti is being sold around the high twenties to $30, if I recall (I've had it in my collection for over a year). I will probably buy some more-even at that price I enjoyed it quite a bit.

To defend California, I did visit a Napa winery today that is very consistently decent to very good-Hess Collection on Mount Veeder (I love driving my little Subaru on twisty mountain roads). I am not THRILLED by all of their wines, but they are all very balanced and very drinkable, with no horrible faults. And, I find their Cabs very nice-for #28 (wine club price), their Bordeaux Blend is actually very, very nice and earthy and savory. (Their highest end "The Lion" blend verges on "bomb" status. but unlike Tamber Bey, THIS winemaker knows the word "balance" and "neutral" oak and how to use nice mountain tannins. Yum! Quite good, and I am happy I have a three pack in my cellar of Hess Cabs. Good stuff! And, even the 2003 was very very drinkable, at quite a bit less cost than the TB, too. ($30s versus $51).

Plus, the owner has amazingly good taste in architecture and modern art. A stunning combination of gleaming white walls, beautiful vintage stone work, glass elevators, and lovely grounds, too. There are pieces in their collection that frankly just astound me. One in particular, by a Polish woman who grew up during the 1930s, an amazing, giant treet trunk wrapped in fibres and tipped with a gigantic metal spear tip. A profound and moving piece, and just plain "cool", too.

I like Hess Collection too.

And, as a former sports car racer, I like twisty roads. <g>

And, as a former sports car racer, I like twisty roads. <g>

Trinity Grade off the end of Mount Veeder Road (drops into the Sonoma Valley) terrifies me-in my Subaru AND on my bicycle. I'm not in cycling shape right now to really enjoy the climb up to the county line, but the real reason I won't do that bicycle ride again is fear of 120 degree acute curves on a really bad surface at 12% grade!