Must try Wines!
WHITES
Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc 2018
This is one of my most favorite New Zealand whites! I'm so partial to Sauvignon Blancs as they are so refreshing and tropical, especially from this region. This one has notes of Grapefruit, guava, passion fruit and lemongrass that coat the palate in perfect balance with a refreshing crisp acidity! A good deal at $13!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This 2010 Viognier from Switzerland is absolutely amazing. I loved the bright fruit with tastes of fresh bananas and a buttery texture without being overwhelming. I could not get enough of this wine. It's easy drinking or could be paired with tapas or Indian food. Very nicely done with this wine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a beautiful French wine that is a blend of 70% Roussanne, 20% Viognier, and 10% Granache. Bold and round like a Chard, yet has the citrus quality of a Sauvignon Blanc. It's a fantastic wine and is an easy drinking white and only gets better as the time goes buy as the wine aerates. A must try at about $19.99 per bottle. Great by itself or paired with a nice fish dish, or even a lighter pork dish. Truly enjoyable and goes down very easily with a nice rich finish.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pouilly-Fuissé is an appellation for white wine in
the Maconnaise subregion Burgundy in central France.
With Spring in the air, the whites are finding their way back to our wine shelves. It tasted as though a Chard and a Sauv Blanc had been blended together and then as time went on it then had tasting notes of honeysuckle. No surprise with the Chard taste though as it's made from Chard grapes. It was truly an enjoyable white and a first (not last) white try for us from this region. With many layers for a white wine, we felt it had good backbone for white. The finish was lingering and made your mouth water for more. A must try white! About $27.99 per bottle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gruner Veltliner or GV is a wonderful white that pairs well with salads with a vinegar based dressing. Gruner is a very food friendly wine and can match up to Asian and Indian dishes and pork dishes very nicely along with fish and seafood cuisines. The fruit is nice, not fat with fruit, but well structured for even a stand alone wine. The minerality adds a nice balance to the finish.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ah, Sauvignon Blanc, one of my favorites from New Zealand which happens to produce wonderful Sauv Blancs. Marlborough is one of New Zealands largest regions for this wine. Very quaffable and refreshing with vibrant notes of citrus, banana (I get banana) and passionfruit. Goes very well with popcorn! A great value wine for under $15.
______________________________________
REDS
Tre Roveri Barbera D'Asti Superiore
This wine is luscious and fruit forward and a very bright for red wine. It has a long finish and tasting notes of dark cherries, hints of spice and chocolate and it coats your tongue like satin. Great round wine with big bold taste. We love this Italian wine! Ready to drink now, but I'm sure some bottle aging would make it even better. About $18 per bottle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a great little wine gadget that sits in the spout of the bottle and makes it easier to pour without drips as it aerates the wine. It's worth the investment at only $20. You should try it. I believe Amazon sells these. I love it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perez Cruz Liguai 2007
Chilean red. Really well concentrated fruit of ripe berries and black pepper. Super balanced and strong, sharp finish. Drinks like a $50+ bottle but retails for around $40.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abadal Reserve 2003
Great pricepoint for this Spanish red. Good bottle age adds a bit of complexity. Tones of vanilla and licorice. Not very tannic so quite soft of the finish but fruit forward first sips will have you finishing the bottle quickly. =)
Del Dotto 2008 Pinot Cinghiale Vineyars
Splendid pinot showing here with deep ripe cherries and bright minerality adding great backbone. Decant for 1 hour and it's as quaffable as a cab without need for food or pairs super with fish or poultry. Pricey at $75 a bottle but you'll know where the money went.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hess Cab 2008
Great value red with bright cherries mixed with dark fruit and strong backbone. Nice and consistent Cab from Hess as usual for bottles in the $20 range.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Habla Del Silencio 2008
Que diablo! Great Spanish red here from a super producer from Spain, Bodegas Trujillo. Cab and Tempranillo blend. Lots of fruit and cigar smoke with a finish that lasts for an hour.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Huelken 2004 Cab
Great showing from this Chilean red from Maipo valley. Penelope and I found the producer and winemaker during the Zurich wine boats in 2010. Lots of plums and ripe cherries with smoky finish.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simonsig Pinotage 2008
Big South African red with a lot of earthy tones and cigar box finish.
