Walk Around Tasting at The Gourmet Shop Columbia, SC 6/25/2011

Danielle from Advintage was our hostess. She and Brian picked three Spanish, and one California wine. This is almost a holiday, and the foot traffic on the street was sparse. Many of the locals are not in town, so there was plenty of room. As usual the wines were excellent, and all under $20.

• 2010 Banshee Sauvignon Blanc 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  This wine is so new and unique, that the back label did not have a bar code. Either the producer, wholesaler, or maybe even the retailer had to supply a legal bar code, in a separate, pressure sensitive, third label. I have never seen this before. The wine is very good. I have tasted at least 30 premium Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc's this year, and this one can hang with any of them. We know the folks in charge at Crushpad are super well connected. This wine has seen some oak and some malo lactic fermentation. It can handle it easily. There is some of that grassiness on the nose, but it is more or less controlled. It is more than medium bodied. Slightly darker than gold in color. Lemon, pineapple, grapefruit and melon fruit along with some non fruit brown spices. A good kick of acid. Long finish slightly affected by oak, which will subside with some bottle age. This is no steal at $20, but totally respectable and worth it.

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• 2010 Garciarevalo Rueda Casamaro 87 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Rueda

  Crisp, fresh and tart, this is a thirst quencher. Stainless steel fermented Verdejo and Viura. Golden color. Lemon, pear and pineapple on the nose, with a hint of white flowers. Very nice mineral scents and flavors. Surprisingly big in the mouth. Pretty heavy duty acid. Lemon, grapefruit, pineapple and pear fruit. Minerals and lemon on the finish.

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• 2008 Dominio de Tares Bierzo Baltos 88 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Bierzo

  This is one of those relatively simple, early release wines the Spanish do so well. This wine smells like grapes.The color is purple. The taste is ever so slightly just like Welshes grape juice, but on steroids. There is a big place in the world for a wine like this. It can easily be sipped by itself, even slightly chilled. A very welcome fragrance of violets on the nose. There is a minimum of those non fruit flavors that are hard to describe. This is just has ripe blueberries, blackberries, and cherries with some alcohol, minerals and acid. Smooth, ready and delicious for what it is.

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• 2009 Cortijo Rioja 90 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  Even at the value priced entry level, Tempranillo is a noble grape. Coming in at about $12, we still get a good dose of complex goodness. Dark, but not that dark color. The nose has lots going on, violets, licorice, tobacco, tea, and fruit. Just past medium bodied, but very smooth and silky. Blackberry, dark cherry and currant fruit. Very smooth tannis. So balanced, the alcohol and acid just cruise on throuh the palate. Little if any oak influence. Graphite on the refined finish. Superb for the $$.

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