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Bytowner wrote:Thanks guys. Yeah, we're familiar with La Casona, but we've been drinking it non-stop for the past month, so wanted to hit up something different. I'll close my eyes and pick up something from the Italian section.
If that is the case, try and find the Farnese Negroamaro. You'll enjoy it.
Bytowner wrote:Thanks for the suggestion Len, the Farnese was a good table wine. Enjoyed it.
It is a great all around red table wine that I enjoy quite a bit. Very fruity, not overly tannic, has a bit of berry like sweetness, but is still very much a dry wine. A great wine for no fuss dinners!
If you`re reading this, there`s a 15% chance you`ve got a significant drinking problem. Get it fixed, get recovered!
Bit of a beast with the higher alcohol, but drinks so smooth. I find the value-price ratio of higher end wines somewhat questionable compared to beer, but I wouldn't mind sitting on a couple bottles of this one.
Bobsy wrote:
I find the value-price ratio of higher end wines somewhat questionable compared to beer, but I wouldn't mind sitting on a couple bottles of this one.
I dunno, at a glance, it may be the equivalent of a 200-300 dollar Bordeaux, and it's hard to completely ignore at an extremely rare 95. You really can't 'lose' if you like the character of the wine a lot, even for 79 bucks (in a few years the same label may demand over 100 dollars.)
Though it's a fallacy to say it's 'Still better value" than Cru Classe Bordeaux when the Cru wines are hugely inflated, mostly due to insane market demand.
That's why I'm attracted to very well-made Cahors and Madiran, even Bergerac wines -- they remain good values because they are not marketed against the greedy Bordeaux price point (even though historically those same grape growing regions may have been actually used in blends to make Bordeaux reds, so there is a quality asociation in those 'lost' and overlooked wine regions.) I have some Cahors that will age 25 years, and it was under 30 bucks!!
Regardless, I'm cracking a Torres 1994 Mas le Plana "Grand Coronas" this weekend - a "Spanish Bordeaux" if there was one. $60... we'll see.
Belgian wrote:Regardless, I'm cracking a Torres 1994 Mas la Plana "Grand Coronas" this weekend - a "Spanish Bordeaux" if there was one. $60... we'll see.
You won't be sorry Jonas - a very, very good Gold Medal winning choice and well worth the dollars.
Belgian wrote:Regardless, I'm cracking a Torres 1994 Mas la Plana "Grand Coronas" this weekend - a "Spanish Bordeaux" if there was one. $60... we'll see.
You won't be sorry Jonas - a very, very good Gold Medal winning choice and well worth the dollars.
Agreed. One of the best wines I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. I'd take it over Opus One or Tignanello any day. Different wines I know, but this $60.00 wine beats out many that are two or three times more costly.
If you`re reading this, there`s a 15% chance you`ve got a significant drinking problem. Get it fixed, get recovered!
This is a boomin' Cabernet-Shiraz driven wine, nice gripping tannins and an assertive acidity. The unusual French blend is rounded out with deep brooding Mourvédre. Plenty of style for a sub-20, and great quality - maybe not one for the Shiraz heads who like the big rich soft wines.
CHÂTEAU DES CHABERTS CUVÉE PRESTIGE 2007
VINTAGES 151001 | 750 mL bottle
Price: $ 18.95
Made in: Provence, France
By: Chateau Des Chaberts
Release Date: Feb 20, 2010
Description
This award-winning wine is a blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Mourvèdre. Provence is not the place one thinks of for Syrah-focused wines, but if this is the result, they should keep it up. The aromas suggest blackberry, cassis, cedar and garrigue. Dry and flavourful, age this one 2-4 years, or enjoy it tonight with grilled lamb chops or winter-barbecued steaks.
2000 Du Crampilh Madiran Vieille Vignes. Still has plenty of tannic grip (100% Tannat grape) but I wasn't going to wait for the fruit to fade away. It's aged well. This is like a better than average Bordeaux in the powerful structure and it's also taken on subtle aromatic tones from four years of rest in the cellar.
VINTAGES Cellar Selection ** released in April 2006 **
DOMAINE DU CRAMPILH VIGNES VIEILLES 2000
AC Madiran
This wine is made with 100% Tannat. Generally, much of the tannin in these wines comes from the maceration with the grape's skins. This version is made with fruit from old vines (average age 70) which produces smaller berries and reduced yields that further increases the tannins. Give this wine 4-10 in a cellar and you will be amply rewarded.
673194 (XD) 750 mL $17.95
Belgian wrote:2000 Du Crampilh Madiran Vieille Vignes. Still has plenty of tannic grip (100% Tannat grape) but I wasn't going to wait for the fruit to fade away. It's aged well. This is like a better than average Bordeaux in the powerful structure and it's also taken on subtle aromatic tones from four years of rest in the cellar.
VINTAGES Cellar Selection ** released in April 2006 **
DOMAINE DU CRAMPILH VIGNES VIEILLES 2000
AC Madiran
This wine is made with 100% Tannat. Generally, much of the tannin in these wines comes from the maceration with the grape's skins. This version is made with fruit from old vines (average age 70) which produces smaller berries and reduced yields that further increases the tannins. Give this wine 4-10 in a cellar and you will be amply rewarded.
673194 (XD) 750 mL $17.95
That sounds interesting. I haven't been able to find 100% Tannat anywhere.
If you`re reading this, there`s a 15% chance you`ve got a significant drinking problem. Get it fixed, get recovered!
Belgian wrote:2000 Du Crampilh Madiran Vieille Vignes.
That sounds interesting. I haven't been able to find 100% Tannat anywhere.
It is unusual - and this one's actually the first Madiran and first vintage I tried, on the recc of a Cooper Street employee who knows her stuff.
Most Madiran in the sub-20 range is blended with Malbec and such or softened with micro-oxygenation to 'age' the tough tannins. Those are early-drinking wines with less potential. The traditional style of 'hard' Madiran is a tough sell but if you look towards the $30-40 range you might find something interesting.
Domaine Du Crampilh never sold this particular version to the LCBO again, but the Vieille Vigne's an obvious bargan.
It's interesting to Google about the growing surplus 'wine lake' of France & the industry crisis - there is more well-made wine than ever, yet with so much new competition producers are forced to adapt both wine styles and product image to more global tastes. As producers struggle to survive, certain traditional styles of wine may in a short time vanish in front of our eyes. Worth learning about them all while we still can.
Belgian wrote:
It's interesting to Google about the growing surplus 'wine lake' of France & the industry crisis - there is more well-made wine than ever, yet with so much new competition producers are forced to adapt both wine styles and product image to more global tastes. As producers struggle to survive, certain traditional styles of wine may in a short time vanish in front of our eyes. Worth learning about them all while we still can.
Belgian (or anyone else),
Have you watched the documentary Mondovino? It's a very good insight into a lot of these issues.
Well I have Biegaman, and it's a good one to watch. I too reccomend it to anyone. The New World wine producers were already hurting Europe's preeminence in a pretty big way, as are people's changing drinking habits today.
"Mondovino" may be a little guilty of over-simplifying France's problems, placing too much of the 'blame' on Parker and Roland, for respectively 'influencing' a popular taste preference of all critics and drinkers (eg strong fruit and new oak) and for making a traditionalist wine country bend to the demands of 'modern' wine drinkers (softer tannins and greater uniformity for more approachable wines.)
Roland (a 'Pomerol guy') consuilts with various vineyards, advising them whether to micro-oxygenate et cetera. People ask him what he thinks will make the wine sell or, perhaps, get a 90+ Parker score which in turn seems to grab the wine-buyer by the nose ring, regardless what people like. The criticism is that individual intelligence is being suppressed by a 'scoring system.'
A lot of France's current problem may not be the 'industry experts' or critics, but the modern drinker, who is currently bombarded with big soft reds from Australia, California and South America - very ripe, sweet and unchallenging wines suited for young people that grew up with Coca-Cola on the dinner table.
I can't blame Robert Parker for people listening to his personal likes. He is ONE man and has his own opinion. The best comment in the documentary is the gentleman explaining why he would often prefer a 'low scoring' or 'inconsistent' wine over a robotic perfected one - he would take genuine terroir & vintage character over manipulated blandness, any day. I'm with this guy!! If you like a flawed but very expressive 67 over a 'balanced' predictable 91, then the 67 IS your better wine despite what anyone thinks.
That's a big thing with wine. It can express a lot about the relationship of grape variety and place and the human beings making it, OR conversely those wonderful things can be masked in favor of producing a much more one-dimensional product out of commercial desperation. Ever had a 'modern' wine lately that hit you big & impressive up front, but there was not much of anything to follow it? A wine that did not develop & reveal, to keep your interest as you drank it instead of becoming obnoxiously repetitive? There you go.
Casual wine drinkers might not know that and assume ALL wines of a particular grape variety are pretty much the same - they might think that the Shiraz or whatever grapes 'make themselves' into a predictable type of wine - or perhaps they don't care, because they have not appreciated the difference enough to value it. Rather like a Stella Artois drinker who doesn't care a toss about those 'bitter' or 'too strong tasting' craft beers. Everything is rejected before it is understood, hop and malt flavors not even intelligently appreciated. And in the case of wines a tradition or culture of a French vineyard - one that may have taken generations to form a very specific balance - is being lost.
Keep in mind Bordeaux and other select regions like the Rhone will always sell their flagship wines, so the general over-production "Wine Lake" crisis in France is a different problem than Parker's alleged influence on 'greedy' Bordeaux producers trying to score a 95 in Wine Spectator.
