3/29/2011 - leemrw wrote:

Light straw, clear, bright
Baked apple, cinnamon
Very little, if any oak treatment, secondary fermentation is at a minimum too, tart apple flavors mix nicely with oak and light baking spices.

Would work nicely with pork loin and an apple chutney

3/29/2011 - leemrw wrote:

Clear, straw to golden color, bright
Oaky, smoke, dried mushrooms
Bright, peppery, mushroom notes, mineral finish

3/29/2011 - leemrw wrote:

Garnet, clear, bright
Smoke and cured meat, plum, notes of black pepper
Plum, dried fruit, limestone notes in the finish, nicely acidic, firm tannins

3/29/2011 - leemrw wrote:

Purple, opaque, bright
Leather and spice,
Leather with black pepper, even tannins, smoky finish

3/29/2011 - leemrw wrote:

Opaque, dark purple
Notes of black pepper, blackberry
Juicy with nice balance, black pepper, cure meats with cremini mushrooms in the finish. This wine certainly evokes images of Argentinian steak with chimichurri.

3/29/2011 - leemrw wrote:

Opaque, dark purple
Notes of black pepper, blackberry
Juicy with nice balance, black pepper, cure meats with cremini mushrooms in the finish. This wine certainly evokes images of Argentinian steak with chimichurri

3/29/2011 - leemrw wrote:

Garnet, bright, clear.
Light smoke, hard candy, cured meat notes
Nice acidity, smkoky, gamy with pomegranate and hard cherry candy notes.

3/29/2011 - leemrw wrote:

V: Opaque, dark purple, bright
N: Blackberry with hints of spice,lush and inviting
T: Cassis leading to leather and spice. Long lingering dried fruit/cassis finish. Beautiful with red meats.

This bottle has been open (under Vacuvin) for a few days and is not suffering for it

3/21/2011 - leemrw wrote:

visual: translucent, bright, dark purple
nose: smoky, dark berry
taste: blueberry

3/21/2011 - leemrw wrote:

visual: clear, bright, garnet going to purple
nose: notes of cranberry, earth, mushroom, smoke
taste: light cranberry, soil, mushroom, smooth acidity. very pleasant

3/21/2011 - leemrw wrote:

visual: clear, light purple, some sediment
nose: light cranberry,
taste: soft acid and tannins, cranberry notes, earthy notes.

12/6/2010 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Dark purple; Clear; Bright
Nose: Dark fruit; notes of cassis
Taste: Well balanced, blackberry flavors, some dried fruit, cured meats in the finish. This wine is surprisingly well-balanced; the cured meats were even more of a surprise.

Pairing: charcuterie, anywhere you might use a chianti though the flavor profile is clearly different.

12/6/2010 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Clear, bright, garnet
Nose: Cherry leading to slate or stone
Taste: Bright cherry leading to stone with a beautiful dried or stewed cherry finish with nice acidity.
Pairing: This is a delicious sangiovese. It's an easy drinker and one that would accompany grilled meats or vegetables. There is enough acidity to stand up to a creamy sauce

9/5/2010 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Bright, Clear, Red Garnet
Nose: leather, red fruit
Taste: Bright red fruit leading to big tannins. Rough and tunble like a Southern Rhone should be.

9/5/2010 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Clear, Bright, Garnet
Nose: Floral, Dried Fruit
Taste: Floral, Raspberries, Leather. Bright raspberries followed by leather notes as in freshly tanned.

9/5/2010 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Clear, Bright, Red Garnet
Nose: Smoke, Cassis
Taste: Candied Cherry, Dried Fruit. This is an easy quaffer with nice cherry notes. Balanced.

9/5/2010 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Clear, bright, Dark purple
Nose: Raspberry, smoky notes
Taste: Bright, some slate, big tannins, some fruit. The acidity in this wine would make it a good companion with food; especially a hard cheese. Tannins are high so stay away from salty foods

8/15/2010 - leemrw wrote:

visual: purple, clear bright
nose: light smoke, cherry notes
taste: tart, medium tannins, greenish cherry aspects

8/12/2010 - leemrw wrote:

visual: dark purple, clear, bright
nose: smoke, berry, plum
taste: plum, spice. a well-balanced wine and pleasant drinker

8/12/2010 - leemrw wrote:

visual: garnet, clear, bright
nose: smoky with peat notes
taste: smoke leading to plum and cherry notes, dried fruit finish, medium to high tannins

8/12/2010 - leemrw wrote:

visual: Dark purple/garnet, clear, bright
nose: woody,slate, baking spices, mild dried cherry notes, some green bean
taste: initial spice leading to earth, moderate tannins, dried fruit finish

Acidity is high enough to make this a good food wine. Pizza, Pork

6/13/2010 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Garnet, clear bright
Nose: Clove, red berry, cedar
Taste: red cherry, dried fruit, nice tannin structure, earth notes

50% Touriga Nacional, 50% Castelao

6/7/2010 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Dark purple, opaque, white border
Nose: Huge rasberry quickly followed by wood and then dried fruit
Taste: Delicious. The nose says it all. Nice structure.
Food:

6/7/2010 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Light straw, clear, bright
Nose: petroleum, apple, apricot
Taste: A little tart. The petroleum nose carries through to the taste, lemon leads to a slightly sweet finish. There is a bread, yeast undertone; probably has been on the lees. Good wine for $10.
Food:

6/7/2010 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Light straw, bright, clear
Nose: Citrus, very light tropical notes, light lees/wood notes
Taste: Grapefruit, pleasantly tart, lychee at mid-palate
Food: This wine's nice citrusy acidity would go well with a salad, citrus fruit, chinese food

12/24/2009 - leemrw wrote:

Just tasted this as part of some Christmas Eve cheer. This used to be the red headed step child of the bunch but now is showing better than the 2003. It is deep purple, bright with a white rim. Nose is full of black fruit, cherry cola and stewed cherry. On the palate, the biggest changes are obvious. It begins with a strong black raspberry and continues on to cherry. The mid-palate is full of the chalky, dusty Red Mountain earth I love. The finish is quite long with strong stewed cherry and floral notes giving way to nice structured tannins.. I don't think I can do justice to all the flavors I picked up over a two hour period. Definitely decant this one and you will be rewarded with many flavors. We started with it at 45 degrees. Even at such a cold temperature there were many aromatic elements present.

If you have a few bottles do open now and enjoy. Another two or three years may reveal more.

11/13/2009 - leemrw wrote:

This is an excellent grower produced Champagne. Small dense, long lasting bubbles set the stage for a note of apple and the classic taste of a sparkling wine made in the traditional method. There was an excellent balance between the taste of the lees and fruit.

There was a bottle of Tattinger in this tasting and I must say that there was no comparison between the two. The Lassaigne was a much better wine in every way. At $20 less than the Tattinger there is no question in this wine lover's mind what to choose the next time I'm out looking for Champagne.

11/12/2009 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Dark purple, almost opaque
Nose: Somewhat closed, chocolate leading to a little oak
Taste: Nice mouth feel, medium tannins, medium acid, some wood with a little fruit leather in the finish.

Great pizza wine.

11/12/2009 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Clear, Light gold
Nose: Bananna giving way to melon like Honey Dew and some tropical fruit.
Taste: Mineral leading to light melon, crisp

This is a good summer wine that could work well on its own or with shell fish and even salad.

11/10/2009 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Light clear red, garnet
Nose: Cranberry. Classic Pinot nose. A little smoke.
Taste: Balanced with good tannins. Light on fruit, Finishes with mushroom, long smoke and a fair amount of grip. Light style.

Tried to pair with a chicken stir fry that was seasoned with soy, garlic, sweet red Thai chili sauce and had red and yellow bell peppers along with chanterelles. Was hoping to pick up the mushrooms a umami of the soy. Not a bad pairing but it didn't pick up the mushrooms and accentuated some of the spices in an unfavorable way. Face it, this was a gamble that didn't pay off.

I'd predict this wine to be a good compliment to salmon and perhaps duck.

Delighted to have a pinot from Sancerre after having had enjoyed so many Sauvignon Blancs from there. Something about the earth showing here that reminds me of the Sauv Blanc but that might come from too much tasting.

11/10/2009 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Light gold, clear and bright
Nose: Light apple with some notes of apricot
Taste: Nice balance between acid and sugar. Crisp with a semi-dry finish. Light apricot in the finish. This was a nice compliment to a chicken stir fry that was seasoned with soy, garlic, sweet red Thai chili sauce and had red and yellow bell peppers along with chanterelles.

I feel so good about pulling this out of the bargain bin at Safeway for $6. Regret I didn't get there in time to collect its three other companions.

11/10/2009 - leemrw wrote:

Huge fruit, a mixture of black cherry and cooked berries. I loved how the fruit came out slowly and presented itself moment by moment. This gave way to the dusty Tapteil mid palate which is very similar to the dust that gets kicked up when driving through the vineyards. The finish is long and reprises the cooked fruit at the beginning.

11/10/2009 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Deep purple with ruby to red rim.
Nose: A bit tight, some dust
Taste: Subtle wine with a lot of structure coming from medium tannins. Fruit comes in as cherry. Notes of stone, perhaps granite. White pepper. Wood used judiciously.
Since Carignan is supposed to be the "big boy" of Spain I was surprised to note that this was the most subtle of the three Parmi wines I tasted. (the others being l'Esperit and l'Infant) Still, this is a very pleasant wine to drink and one worth drinking now and putting down for a bit.

100% Carignan

11/10/2009 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Deep purple with ruby to red rim.
Nose: Berry, chalk, dusty
Taste: Black Cherry with smoky mid-palate. Grippy tannins. Dried figs in the finish. Great mouth feel. Notes of cooked fruit. Nice acid. Wood used judiciously. Black pepper in the finish.
This is an outstanding wine with many pleasures to offer now and in the future.

50% Grenache, 50% Carignan

11/9/2009 - leemrw wrote:

Visual: Deep purple with ruby to red rim.
Nose: Berries with spice. Perhaps some fruit leather.
Taste: Black Cherry followed by black pepper Balanced with grippy tannins. Long earthy finish. Moderate acid. Cooked fruit. Wood used judiciously playing harmoniously with tobacco notes.

80% Grenache, 20% Carignan

10/13/2009 - leemrw wrote:

Dark ruby. Almost opaque.

Nose was filled with fresh berry. The taste starts with deep berry continuing on to dried cherry and cassis. Lingering finish.

Whole Foods has been featuring this wine for 8.99 - A great value.