We tasted 7 different single varietal wines from different regions of the world including Australia, California, Chile, France, Italy, and Spain. Here they are:
• 2005 Fortitude Luvisi Semillon. Fortitude is a project developed by the Etude Winery winemaking team to focus on endangered varietals such as Semillon, Valdiguie, Charbono, and Carignane. This is a 100% Semillon from 25-year old vines grown in the Luvisi family vineyard near Calistoga in Napa Valley. Showing aromas of citrus and honey, the wine was medium-bodied and refreshing, and many tasters identified it as a New World Sauvignon Blanc.
• 2005 Step Road Chardonnay. The wine is produced from a high altitude vineyard in the Adelaide Hills region, in South Australia. It is a cool-climate region with high winter rainfall and cool summers, ideal for Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. The wine had a golden color, tropical fruit and citrus aromas and a good depth on the palate. Many tasters rightly identified the wine as a New World Chardonnay, the most cited regions being South Africa, California, and Australia.
• 2005 Valle Isarco Sudtiroler Pinot Nero: This is a Pinot Noir from the cool Alto Adige region in northern Italy also known as Sudtirol. The region is bordered by Austria to the north and by Switzerland to the north-west. The wine had a light garnet color, a fruity nose, with a good amount of acidity and slightly tannic on the palate. This light-bodied Pinot Noir was not easy to identify and many tasters thought they had recognized a Gamay.
• 2005 Fleurie Clos de la Roilette : the Clos de la Roilette is a nine hectare east-facing vineyard in Beaujolais' Fleurie appellation, bordering the famed Moulin-à-Vent appellation. The soil is clay and manganese, the vines are on average 25-33 years old. The wine is 100% Gamay with a deep purple color, peony and red berry aromas, a medium-bodied palate with a well-balanced acidity. This one was rightly identified as a French Gamay by many tasters.
• 2005 El Quintanal Vendimia Seleccionada: the wine is a 100% Tempranillo from Spain's Ribera del Duero region. In the Ribera del Duero appellation, vineyards lie on either side of the Douro river, on a high-altitude plateau with cool nights and low rainfall, ideal growing conditions for the Spanish native grape Tempranillo. With a deep color, a black fruit nose, a ripe and spicy palate, this was tricky wine identified as a California Zinfandel by many tasters.
• 2004 Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve: Viña Los Vascos, located in Chile's Colchagua Valley, is owned by the Domaines Barons de Rothschild-Lafite. Vascos means Basques and is a reference to the estate's Basque origin. This is a Cabernet Sauvignon with a dark red/purple color, black fruit and licorice aromas and a well balanced and elegant palate. Many tasters rightly identified the wine to be a New World Cabernet Sauvignon. The most cited regions were California, Argentina, and Chile.
• 2005 Ridge Zinfandel Ponzo Vineyard: Ponzo Vineyard is a cool-climate vineyard located in California's Russian River Valley. It has small amounts of Carignane and Petite Sirah interplanted with Zinfandel in the oldest blocks. The wine had a deep color, a blackberry and cherry nose, and a fleshy, spicy texture on the palate. Many guessed rightly recognized a California wine, a few identified a Zinfandel, others thought that it was a Syrah.
Our next tasting event will feature summer wines from around the Mediterranean Sea so let's stay in touch.
Previous wine club tastings:
• Tasting the wines of Australia and New Zealand
• Tasting the wines of Piedmont
• Champagne Tasting
Technorati tags: wine food & drink
3 comments:
Would the owner of this blog please contact ken@1800blogger.com.
Thank you
I'm going to look out for these.
I enjoy reading this article, thanks for sharing.
Post a Comment