Saturday was Boys Night at Dennis' place with lots of meat and big wines.
Casilla Dorada Tannat/Merlot 1998 - My first wine from Uruguay. Rather light in color with some brick starting to show. Prunes. Dried fruit. High acidity. Still quite tannic at the finish. A decent enough drink. Tried it with the steak but it really didn't have the body to go with heavy food. The fruit also seemed to be drying out.
Corte Riva Napa Merlot 2004 - Very dark. A little heat on the spicy nose. Mocha and berry also make an appearance after an hour or so airing. Medium to full-bodied with a rich chocolate milkshake-like flavor. After 3 hours airing, some dried fuit and fig make an appearance as well. Young and tannic. While it went very well with a roast rack of lamb, it should really be left alone for a few years. Very good.
Pride Merlot 2003 - Very dark and dense. Similar to the Corte Riva but not showing the heat. Sweet, dense, monolithic. Tight. Some coffee. Not really giving much now. Consumed over 5 hours but hardly changed at all during that time although there was a little mint making an appearance. The sweetness in this wine was a good match for the sweetish baby back ribs but didn't really go with the lamb or steak. Needs a very long time to come around. I wouldn't touch this for at least 5 years. It is possible to drink this with enjoyment now but time will improve it.
Corte Riva Petite Sirah 2004 - Beautiful deep, complex, flowery nose spoiled a bit by the high alcohol heat. Initially closed for the first hour after airing. Later some deep flavors of dried herbs. Gradually opened up over 3 hours with suggestions of leather, tar and espresso. Full-bodied, massive and quite dry. Drank this over 5 hours but was tannic all throughout. Very young and primary, this wine needs serious aging to tame the tannins. Impressive wine.
The Corte Riva wines were made by Filipino immigrant winemakers Lawrence Cortez and Romel Rivera who are also employed by Pride. This is why we decided to have the Corte Rivas and the Pride together. It's also why the Corte Riva wines are of special interest to me. The Pride was a bigger wine than the either Corte Riva. it was also sweeter which is why it seemed to be made for sipping rather than drinking with food. The less dense Corte Riva wines seemed to be less sweet with the Petite Sirah definitely a dry wine. While they were certainly big wines as well, they weren't as massive as the Pride so that they went much better with the food.
Au Bon Climat Buon Natale Barbera 2003 - Recently available in limited quantities here so one bottle was opened to seeif additional purchase was warranted. Woody and a little stinky on the nose. Sweet, fruity, medium bodied wine. Forward, easy drinking and friendly style of wine. Nobody is going to mistake this for an Italian wine. Can't remember if Dennis decided to buy more.
Cline Red Truck 2002 - Mourvedre, Syrah, Merlot, Petit Verdot. Where's the nose on this? Very muted. Juicy but dry. Simple. Not bad.
Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes 2003 - Second wine of Chateau Rieussec. Botrytis nose. Sweet, burnt sugar. Lightish, fruit salad character. Quite good and easy to drink.