08/072008 / Filed in: shiraz
| Two Hands
| 2006 | 91 Rating
| The
Bohan-Dillon | pinot noir
| 89 Rating
Two Hands Gnarly Dudes Shiraz 2006
The blend: 100 Shiraz
Why you should buy it: As my wine connoisseur friend Sherie put it, “I like big fucking reds like this one that touch every nerve in my palate.”
What it tastes like: Cherry, chocolate, blueberries, pepper
What to serve it with: Beef tartare
Say this and sound smart: The Barossa Valley in Southern Australia takes its name from the Barossa Ranges, which were named by Colonel William Light in 1837. Light chose the name in memory of the British victory over the French in the Battle of Barossa, in which he fought in 1811.
The price: $29
Imbiber rating: 91
The Bohan-Dillon Pinot Noir 2006
The blend: all pinot noir
Where it’s from: It’s from Hirsch Vineyards on the Sonoma Coast, known for their premium pinot noir
What it tastes like: Two hot women on a leather couch; plums; Seville oranges; exhibits pleasant acidity; firm tannins
What to serve it with: Sharp cheddar cheese, rosemary, thyme, salad, bacon cheeseburger
The price: $30
Imbiber rating: 89
The blend: 100 Shiraz
Why you should buy it: As my wine connoisseur friend Sherie put it, “I like big fucking reds like this one that touch every nerve in my palate.”
What it tastes like: Cherry, chocolate, blueberries, pepper
What to serve it with: Beef tartare
Say this and sound smart: The Barossa Valley in Southern Australia takes its name from the Barossa Ranges, which were named by Colonel William Light in 1837. Light chose the name in memory of the British victory over the French in the Battle of Barossa, in which he fought in 1811.
The price: $29
Imbiber rating: 91
The Bohan-Dillon Pinot Noir 2006
The blend: all pinot noir
Where it’s from: It’s from Hirsch Vineyards on the Sonoma Coast, known for their premium pinot noir
What it tastes like: Two hot women on a leather couch; plums; Seville oranges; exhibits pleasant acidity; firm tannins
What to serve it with: Sharp cheddar cheese, rosemary, thyme, salad, bacon cheeseburger
The price: $30
Imbiber rating: 89
07/242008 / Filed in: Chivite
| 2001 | tempranillo
| 90 Rating
| Don Miguel
Gascon |
2006
| malbec
| 88 Rating
Chivite Coleccion 125 Reserva 2001
The blend: 58% tempranillo, 29% merlot, 13% cabernet sauvignon
Why you should buy it: ‘Cuz it’s made from the best of the best grapes from Julian Chivite’s Senorio de Arinzano winery in Aberin (Navarra region).
What it tastes like: The black fruit comes at you and comes at you hard. There’s a smokiness to it as well, along with some hints of licorice.
What to serve it with: A Portobello mushroom burger prepared on a barbecue (click here for a recipe)
Say this and sound smart: The Senorio de Arinzano estate was designed by famed architect Rafael Moneo, the man behind the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.
The price: $47
Imbiber rating: 90
Don Miguel Gascon Malbec 2006
The blend: 100% Malbec
What you should know about it: It’s made in Argentina, and Malbec is the single most important grape in Argentina.
What it tastes like: There's coffee, cherry, plum and blueberry flavor in there.
What to serve it with: It’s a versatile wine that pairs well with virtually anything.
Say this and sound smart: The Malbec grape arrived in Argentina from France in 1852
The price: $12
Imbiber rating: 88
The blend: 58% tempranillo, 29% merlot, 13% cabernet sauvignon
Why you should buy it: ‘Cuz it’s made from the best of the best grapes from Julian Chivite’s Senorio de Arinzano winery in Aberin (Navarra region).
What it tastes like: The black fruit comes at you and comes at you hard. There’s a smokiness to it as well, along with some hints of licorice.
What to serve it with: A Portobello mushroom burger prepared on a barbecue (click here for a recipe)
Say this and sound smart: The Senorio de Arinzano estate was designed by famed architect Rafael Moneo, the man behind the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.
The price: $47
Imbiber rating: 90
Don Miguel Gascon Malbec 2006
The blend: 100% Malbec
What you should know about it: It’s made in Argentina, and Malbec is the single most important grape in Argentina.
What it tastes like: There's coffee, cherry, plum and blueberry flavor in there.
What to serve it with: It’s a versatile wine that pairs well with virtually anything.
Say this and sound smart: The Malbec grape arrived in Argentina from France in 1852
The price: $12
Imbiber rating: 88
07/152008 / Filed in: Meyer
Family |
syrah
| 2004 | 95 Rating
| Luke
Donald |
claret
| 2005 | 90 Rating
| cabernet
sauvignon | 2006 | Shannon
Ridge |
88
Rating
Meyer Family 2004 Mendocino County
Syrah
The blend: 100 percent Syrah
A little bit about it: Meyer Family Cellars is a little bitty family-owned winery up in the Yorkville Highlands. Justin and Bonny Meyer, the founders and former owners of Silver Oak, established the winery in 1987.
What it tastes like: My God, this is a smooth and delicious wine! If there’s a place called Wine Heaven, you can bet the ’04 Meyer Family Syrah is on the list. It’s not all that easy to accurately describe how “balance” manifests itself in a wine, but even neophyte oenophiles know it when they taste it. Well, this is an exquisitely balanced wine. You’ll taste vanilla and cherry pits and a little tobacco on the back end. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. Let it breathe a while after pulling the cork…it’ll open bigger than a Will Smith movie.
What to serve it with: Whatever you feel like eating. Just focus on the wine. I had it with edamame and seared tuna, and it was delicious.
Say this and sound smart: “Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever.” — Aristophanes
The price: $30
The Imbiber’s rating: We don’t give numbers like this out very often but this wine earned it… (drumroll please)… a 95!!!
Luke Donald Collection 2005 Claret – Napa Valley
The blend: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot
A little bit about it: This is collaboration between professional golfer Luke Donald of Great Britain and wine pro Bill Terlato.
What it tastes like: It’s really good… not Tiger Woods level good, mind you, but certainly good enough to, say, win a few times on the PGA tour, which Donald has done.
What to serve it with: Whatever rich old white guys at country clubs are eating these days.
Say this and sound smart: Donald had wanted to play his college golf at Stanford (where Woods went for a minute) but he was not admitted to the university. He wound up at another great school instead – Northwestern.
The price: $40
The Imbiber’s rating: 90
Shannon Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 Lake County
The blend: 90% cabernet sauvignon, 10% petit verdot
A little bit about it: Lake County, which was created from parts of Napa and Mendocino counties, was known for producing world-class wines in the early 20th century. During prohibition, however, most of the vineyards were torn up and replaced with pear orchards. The vino comeback began in the 1960s.
What it tastes like: Bing cherries with toasty vanilla bean
What to serve it with: Sweetbreads might work; a big juicy burger definitely would.
Say this and sound smart: The cabernet sauvignon grape is the result of a chance crossing between cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc in France sometime during the 17th century.
The price: $19
The Imbiber’s rating: 88
The blend: 100 percent Syrah
A little bit about it: Meyer Family Cellars is a little bitty family-owned winery up in the Yorkville Highlands. Justin and Bonny Meyer, the founders and former owners of Silver Oak, established the winery in 1987.
What it tastes like: My God, this is a smooth and delicious wine! If there’s a place called Wine Heaven, you can bet the ’04 Meyer Family Syrah is on the list. It’s not all that easy to accurately describe how “balance” manifests itself in a wine, but even neophyte oenophiles know it when they taste it. Well, this is an exquisitely balanced wine. You’ll taste vanilla and cherry pits and a little tobacco on the back end. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. Let it breathe a while after pulling the cork…it’ll open bigger than a Will Smith movie.
What to serve it with: Whatever you feel like eating. Just focus on the wine. I had it with edamame and seared tuna, and it was delicious.
Say this and sound smart: “Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever.” — Aristophanes
The price: $30
The Imbiber’s rating: We don’t give numbers like this out very often but this wine earned it… (drumroll please)… a 95!!!
Luke Donald Collection 2005 Claret – Napa Valley
The blend: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot
A little bit about it: This is collaboration between professional golfer Luke Donald of Great Britain and wine pro Bill Terlato.
What it tastes like: It’s really good… not Tiger Woods level good, mind you, but certainly good enough to, say, win a few times on the PGA tour, which Donald has done.
What to serve it with: Whatever rich old white guys at country clubs are eating these days.
Say this and sound smart: Donald had wanted to play his college golf at Stanford (where Woods went for a minute) but he was not admitted to the university. He wound up at another great school instead – Northwestern.
The price: $40
The Imbiber’s rating: 90
Shannon Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 Lake County
The blend: 90% cabernet sauvignon, 10% petit verdot
A little bit about it: Lake County, which was created from parts of Napa and Mendocino counties, was known for producing world-class wines in the early 20th century. During prohibition, however, most of the vineyards were torn up and replaced with pear orchards. The vino comeback began in the 1960s.
What it tastes like: Bing cherries with toasty vanilla bean
What to serve it with: Sweetbreads might work; a big juicy burger definitely would.
Say this and sound smart: The cabernet sauvignon grape is the result of a chance crossing between cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc in France sometime during the 17th century.
The price: $19
The Imbiber’s rating: 88
The varietal: 100% Chardonnay
Why you should buy it: It’s about as Burgundian a California wine as you’re likely to encounter. The combination of an uncommonly cool growing season and some nifty tricks with malolactic fermentation resulted in a very crisp wine that is high in acidity.
What it tastes like: Tropical fruits, butter, lemon, a little vanilla…there’s lots of stuff going in there, baby!
What to serve it with: How about some grapes? Or is that just plain mean?
Say this and sound smart: The barrels this wine was stored in were stirred by hand three times a week to enrich the wine with viscous manoproteins and polysaccharides released from the fermentation lees.
The price: $25
Ghost Pines Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
The blend: 80% cabernet sauvignon, 7% syrah,4% petite verdot, 4% malbec, 4% merlot
Why you should buy it: This new venture sources fruit from vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Counties … plus, did you see all those varietals in the blend – these guys are WORKING IT!
What it tastes like: If blueberry pancakes smothered in Aunt Jemima syrup were a wine instead of a delicious breakfast dish, it would taste like this. The Ghost Pines cab is a big fat dense beefy red that you can totally jam out to. Jam? Get it?
What to serve it with: Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.
Say this and sound smart: A Ghost, or Grey Pine, is a tree indigenous to Northern California.
The price: $23
03/222008 / Filed in: Blackbird
Vineyards | merlot
| Melini
| chianti
| sangiovese
| MacMurray
Ranch |
pinot
gris |
Casa
Lapostolle
The blend: 96% merlot, 4% cabernet sauvignon
Why you should buy it: Because it's one of the most highly regarded boutique wines from Napa. Parker gave it a 91, and he appparently knows what he's talkign about. Also, the winemaker's surname is Gott and the winegrower's name is Pott. When you put those two together I, for one, am a very happy camper.
What it tastes like: Plums plucked from chocolate trees in a valley full of violets... with a fresh-brewed cup of coffee on the side.
What to serve it with: I had it with an amazing hamburger and it was, well, amazing
Say this and sound smart: Dion, Jose Feliciano, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and Billy Preston are among the many artists who've covered the Beatles' hit "Blackbird"
The price: $80
(We profiled three additional wines this week. Click link below to read about them)
Read More...
The blend: 91% cabernet sauvignon, 6% cabernet franc, 3% merlot
Why you should buy it: ’05 was a good year for cabs in Napa…but you knew that already, didn’t you?
What it tastes like: I detected apricot, oak and Nestle’s Crunch, seasoned with a little pepper. Very, very smooth finish. Quite an easy-drinking wine now, sure to grow in complexity over the next 10 years
What to serve it with: Braised beef short ribs, pork tenderloin, sausage gumbo
Say this and sound smart: Gumbos can be broadly divided into three categories: those thickened with okra, those thickened with filé powder, and those thickened exclusively with roux.
The price: $35
Website: www.raymondvineyards.com
The blend: 100% chardonnay
Why you should buy it: What’s with all the stupid questions? It’s good chardonnay, for chrissakes… buy it already!
What it tastes like: Ever suck on a honeysuckle blossom immediately after drinking a vanilla soda? Well, it tastes kinda like that.
What to serve it with: Quiche Lorraine, Quiche Sylvia or Quiche Miriam. Whatever you do, though, DO NOT serve it with Quiche Barbara… way too salty.
Say this and sound smart: Napa was one of the original counties of California, which was granted statehood in 1849.
The price: $20
Website: www.raymondvineyards.com
