Pinot Noir – Terra Noble ‘Reserva – Chile – 2008

Once again I trusted the Wine Library’s up front hype and decided to try 8 bottles of this $12 Chilean Pinot Noir.  This is my first Chilean wine, my first 2008 and probably the least expensive Pinot I have tried to date.  Not a good recipe for success but maybe it has just enough of a few things to make it a good value in my most preferred wine category.

The color is a bit more violet rather than the ruby you would expect from a Pinot Noir.  On the nose you get the characteristic oak and a lively fruit essence.  The nose is nicely up front to go with the Wine Library’s so called hype.  I wish I could pick out the other fruit/berry flavors on the nose, but I cannot.  Hopefully by the time I finish the remaining  bottles, or even take my first sip of this one I’ll be able to recognize a smell or two. Time for a taste.

In the mouth it is vibrant, sour and exciting.  Thicker than the nose would have you think.  No overwhelming oak flavor either.  If anything all the flavors are disjointed and all over the place, but they are plenty of flavorful, flavor-du-de-flave, flavors.  If you know what I mean, and I don’t.  Nevertheless, I guess this wine is still very young so I am assuming it will mellow with age enabling the flavors to meld together.  Time to enjoy the sour cherries and the other vibrant flavors.

Sette Cieli Yantra Toscana 2006

This red wine from Toscana was described in the email that sold me twice on this $11.00 bottle of wine as:

The entry-level 2006 Yantra is a super-ripe, richly-textured wine loaded with voluptuous fruit and a pleasing personality. A blend of 40% Malbec, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot …” - 89 Points – Antonio Galloni from Robert Parker’s the Wine Advocate.

I say twice because I bought 4 bottle of it once on presale for $11 and then was suckered again because I purchased 3 more bottles, enticed from a different email, without realizing it was the same wine I purchased a few days earlier.

On the nose I get red licorice, not out front but not timid.  It’s fruity and red winey.  A dark opaque purple color.

Nice berries on the front and nice sour cherries on the back sides of the tongue.  The middle is a bit weak and watery but not too bad.  Finish is average but has not real after tastes.  I get more fruits and berries rather than any earthy tones that I can find.

The wine really seems to hold the characteristics of the 3 varietals  that make up this blend.  It’s nice and big and easy to drink at 13% alcohol.  An excellent table wine for eating with pasta and Italian food, especially for the $11/bottle.  It better be because I have 6 more bottle to go after tonight’s.

Wine Thought #1

I was just finishing up a bottle of Esporao Alentejo – DOC – Reguengos, Portugal Reserva 2006 and the thought came to me.  Which is a sadder moment, the first sip of a new bottle of wine when the fact the wine didn’t live up to your expectations hits you or the moment of the last sip of the bottle of wine when you realize it really was a good wine and it is all over.

Minguel Torres Celeste 2006

I just picked up 3 bottles of this 2006 Spanish red.  I ordered it on pre-sale months ago and I see this $10 bottle of wine now sells at the WineLibrary.com for $12, so take the $10 price tag with a grain of salt. I assume I got a good deal.  Enough of the money talk.  Lets see what it is all about.

Smelling and looking at the wine, it does have a little of the translucent rubiness of a Pinot Noir and also has some of the earthy woodiness of the Pinot also.  There is some fruitiness behind all those other aromas.

On the front of the tongue it does excite and it has a long finish.  There is a metallic flavor in the mid-palate, but it isn’t offensive.  It’s fruity and bright.  Not too thick and a little weak in the middle.  A real nice effort for a $10-$12 bottle of wine.

Santagostino – Baglio Soria – Sicilia – 2006

This Italian red wine from Sicilia is 50% Syrah and 50% Nero D’Avola.  I know nothing about it as is write here today.  I probably got it 2 months ago from a pre-sale I opted into 6-months ago.  Something in the write up must of caught my attention, but I don’t know what it is.  Nevertheless, I have a wine I have never had before.  With the pre-sale price of $25 I would expect something good but I don’t know what it is and it can be something strange who knows.

Pouring it, it is a relatively translucent purple, more on the violent hue than the ruby hue.  It looks clean and crisp.  It is rated at a high 14.5% alcohol level so we may have a bit of a high burn factor going.

You do sense the alcohol on the nose but there are some dark berry aromas in there, a little oak and a little dirt.  Probably a good sombo, but I assume it will take half a glass until I can really enjoy this wine.  Let’s have a taste as we drink this with some Danish Fontina cheese and a Calandra’s French Bread and oil.

Tasting it you get lots of flavors, almost bomby in the up-frontness of it all.