The Age of Riesling

• November 2009

  Am in Tokyo for several years now, so tend to view this holiday with particular sentimentality. 10 people for dinner, with staggered arrivals. Tuna and avocado tartare, raw ama-ebi sashimi and a couple of other snacky bits yet to be decided for the earlier arrivals. With a couple of... Read moreAm in Tokyo for several years now, so tend to view this holiday with particular sentimentality. 10 people for dinner, with staggered arrivals. Tuna and avocado tartare, raw ama-ebi sashimi and a couple of other snacky bits yet to be decided for the earlier arrivals. With a couple of different bubblies, a white from Champagne (Pierre Morlet) and a rose from Oregon (Soter). Dinner itself to be turkey with a chestnut/oyster/dried cranberry stuffing. Skin-on mashed potatoes with giblet gravy. Yams baked in fresh mikan juice and Grand Marnier. Greenbean casserole with wild mushrooms. Baked zucchini with a cheese topping. Caesar salad. A couple of excellent breads from my favorite local baker, one a sourdough baquette and the other an Italian flatbread with dried tomatoes baked in. Two or three whites (a Mayacamas chardonnay with some bottle age, a Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett, also with some bottle age, and maybe a Zind-Humbrecht gewurtztraminer), and three reds (a '96 Les Forts de Latour, a 2005 Auteur Shea Pinot Noir, and a 2007 Rhone since we are giving thanks for very good things this year ;-); was originally thinking to throw in a 2007 Roger Sabon Prestige CdP, but this will likely be too many big guns, so now am thinking a 'lowly' Cotes du Rhone from either Delas or Perrin & Fils--want to lay down the CdP, anyway....). Dessert to be pumpkin pie, persimmon pudding and a venison mincemeat pie with hardsauce (the meat was gifted to me). Oloroso sherry, Madeira, coffee or black tea to accompany. To fight off the tryptophan-induced drowsiness, Partagas or Montecristo Cubans, with Venezuelan rum, Lagavulin or good Armagnac, for those who want them afterwards. I never really try to make any sophisticated efforts to match wines to foods on Thanksgiving, nor even worry too much about the progression of whites or reds, since everyone will have different wines in their glasses at the same time. Just wines that I have on hand, that I think the people at the table will like, and that I want to try. Too many people with too many tastes involved, and the intimate frestival of a dinner is generally a gastronomic blowout of potlatch proportions, anyway. More about enjoying the blowout with close friends and family, and not worrying about discipline of any sort, whether of wine appreciation or what have you....    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Hello Hello - what are you... by dmcker

  
  

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• October 2009

  I wasn't going to post anything but since this thread is still going . . . You can find a million wines under $15 but the question is whether you yourself would like to drink them. The more people who answer, the more random the list becomes until eventually you end up listing... Read moreI wasn't going to post anything but since this thread is still going . . . You can find a million wines under $15 but the question is whether you yourself would like to drink them. The more people who answer, the more random the list becomes until eventually you end up listing every wine in the whole world that is under $15. That might not be a bad thing. Anyhow, here are some things I wouldn't mind drinking and I tried to explain why. I posted this somewhere else a few years ago so it may be dated - I would love to find a wine under $10 or so that is good enough to justify buying, but rarely is it possible, at least in reds. I tried 2 Buck Chuck and Yellowtail. Both went down the drain. The latter especially was way too sweet - they either left a lot of residual sugar in it or added some. Nothing else going on with the wine other than some horrific sweetness. It used to be possible to get decent values for that price, but over the past 10 years or so that has changed. So we define $10 - $15 as cheap enough for every day. At that range, there is a lot. Spain is a great source. Try looking for some garnacha - it's by far the most widely planted red grape in the country and consequently in the world, and as a result, there are some real bargains to be found - Artazuri Garnacha - several versions but the cheap one is fine, lots of dark cherry fruit and a touch of spice and earth. Borsao or Las Rocas or Leilia or Tres Picos - all produce inexpensive versions of garnacha with more complexity than you'd ever guess from the price - usually have a touch of earth, ash and spice over the fruit. The Las Rocas can be very uneven depending on which lot your bottle comes from. It's made in millions of bottle runs. Also try some monastrell - it was grown for centuries but usually made a rustic, unpleasant, stinky wine until a few producers attempted to reach a little higher. Because it comes from a region relatively unknown in the US - Murcia, there is not demand from collectors and prices can be great. Altos de Luzon - a blend of moslty monastrell and syrah and I think cab, very earthy and leathery on the nose, great balance, very good job and one of the best values on the market from anywhere IMHO. They do a cheaper version but it's nasty IMO. The bodega led by Juan Gil has been a pioneer in raising the quality of the wine from the grape, and the Juan Gil wine itself is under $20 and great. In addition Casa Castillo does an inexpensive version and Rafael Cambra does a great one but it's over $20. Most of all, don't overlook the great grape of Spain - tempranillo. Too many to list but the traditional crianzas or better, joven wines, from Rioja especially can be great values. E.g. Marques de Riscal, Marques de Murrietta, etc, from Rioja. Regarding the Riscal Reserva - I cannot think of another wine in the world that you can pay less than $12 for and keep for the rest of your life. And it improves w age. Look for Joven or Crianza from Ribera del Duero too - Bodegas Arrocal, Gormaz, and Casajus (which I sell), or the wines of Alejandro Fernandez, like Condado de Haza, or from Toro, his el Vinculo. Greg already mentioned Flavium, which is a really good job of mencia from the north of Spain. There aren't a lot of good value mencia wines out, but that's one and so is the Abad Dom Bueno, which was listed by the NYT as the best value and again, disclaimer - it's something I sell. And don't overlook the whites. Lots of great verdejo available - usually has a touch of grapefruit and a crisp quality - it's what a sauvignon blanc would love to be but never can. There are many Spanish whites around for under $15 and rather than list them I'd suggest that you simply go to the store and pick one up. If you like it, try another. They're often sold by grape variety, so you can learn fast. And don't overlook the rosados either - as a rule, try to get them as fresh as you can, but there are a few that can age, believe it or not. Australia is always a good source of value - Rosemount has really decreased in quality, but is still OK w the whites, Oxford Landing, Two Hands (the Lucky Country is their only low-end red and the new imnporter is raising prices), Mollydooker (the new label from Sparky Marquis who used to make Marquis Phillips), Grant Burge, Jacobs Creek, Lindemanns, Penfolds and Peter Lehman all make a range of wines and their low ends are good. They tend to be fruity and also very "clean", in that you don't get funky, leathery notes on the nose for the most part. Also in Australia, don't ignore the whites. They make some of the best value riesling and semillon on the planet - usually very dry. I'd say just pick up what you find and if you don't like it, try something else. Not much from Napa or Sonoma but if you go to somewhere else in California, you can do well - Fess Parker from Santa Barbara makes a number of wines, Michael Phillips from Lodi makes big, fruity, brawny zins and syrah and cab and petite sirah. And Cline, as mentioned makes pretty good stuff, especially their zin and syrah that come in at your price point. Ravenswoods lower end isn't great - some people like it but go for their better stuff - they've really come back after a few off years. BV is sometimes OK w the Coastal label, but spend a little more - I think their Rutherford cab may be one of the best values in Napa - you can find it for as low as $17 sometimes and worth it. Washington has good values - the Chat St Michelle companies which also include Villa Mt Eden from CA, and Columbia Crest, among others. All of their whites are solid values. The Eroica from Chat St Michelle wins awards every year - it's a riesling that's got a touch of residual sugar, like many kabinett wines from the Mosel these days, but it's always a nice wine and around $18. But if you spend less on the basic riesling, you won't be disappointed and you'll have a few bucks extra for a red. The Reserve cab and syrah from Columbia Crest lists over $25 but can often be found for much less and like I said, if you average out the price of the white and the red, you hit your price point. Italy is easy if you stay south - Sicily has decent wines made from Nero d'Avola like Morgante, with dark fruit flavors and great balance, as well as from other local grapes but their prices are inching up. A-Mano is a primitivo (zinfandel) that is made in Puglia by Chris Shannon from California - it goes for around $8 and is a great value every year. May be the best primitivo from Italy, although Appolonio is good too. Usually they have a little more acidity than some of the CA versions and for the price, a lot more complexity. Monte Antico is from Tuscany and is a pretty good value, as is Gabbiano - a Chianti. If you're looking at a cheap Chianti, you could do a lot worse. Hungary has a few interesting wines - Craftsman is a label that was created to develop good, inexpensive wines as an intro to their grapes and wine. All of them are decent values if you can find them. You can learn about grapes that most people have never heard of and enjoy yourself at the same time. I've had all of these many times and in general, the whites tend to be fruity and have a touch of residual sugar, but they're not sweet. And don't forget Argentina, maybe the best place for the US right now, given the currency rates and how we are suffering against the Euro. You can get any number of malbecs and cabs - Sur, Ox, Gascon, Altos las Hormigas, Altos de las Terrazas, Norton, Dona Paula, etc. All are actually nice. And if you spend a few bucks more for the reservas, you will have excellent wine. The Terrazas for example, makes a reserva that I get for $14.99 and it can hold its own with wines costing much more. These all tend to be fairly big wines with a good shot of oak and spice. Chile makes low-cost wines, but I find them frequently rather green and rarely buy them. They are quite different as a rule than the wines of Argentina, which are more lush and softer. Those from Chile, when ripe, still end to have a bit more in the way of herbal notes, but they also have less opulent fruit and a leaner profile. Can be quite nice in some cases if that's your thing. France remains a strange place. Of its most famous wine, some is the most overpriced on the planet and some represents outstanding value for the money. Beaujolais has a bad rap because people tired of the fashion for the cheap, young wine. As a result, there is little demand for the cru beaujolais and they represent outstanding values. Moreover, some of them are quite ageworthy and for the price of a bottle of Burgundy, you can get a case to lay down. In ten years you'll have a wine that will make your Burgundy drinking friends envious. Brun and Vissoux are 2 that I am happy to own. Syrah from the Northern Rhone is as expensive as Burgundy or Bordeaux, but syrah grows elsewhere and can be delicious. Garnacha, or as they call it, grenache, can be an even better value. There is a lot of swill produced but also a lot of great wine. Chapelle St Arnoux produces my favorite bottle of wine from the South Rhone in the Ventoux region. It's under $10 and drinks wonderfully and is a blend of garnacha and other "Rhone" grapes. It's worth remembering that except for syrah, the most important grapes in the Rhone cam from Spain, so look for the same grapes I mentioned for Spain - grenache, monastrell (which they call mourvedre) and carinena (which they call carignan). These are frequently blended together and in fact, most wines from the south of France are probably blends, so you won’t generally see a bottle that states the grape variety. Doesn’t matter - try them anyway. In the same way that the co-op wines produced in the millions can still represent value in Spain, those of France can also represent value. Many Cote du Rhones are surprisingly good and they have similar profiles to the Spanish wines I described earlier - earthy, strawberry/cherry fruit, spice. Most of the wines I've mentioned from France, Spain and Italy are made with little or no new oak. The cost of a French barrel is around $800 these days, so it can be a great savings to the winery if they use old, used barrels or cement tanks. France also has regions that are frequently ignored. The Loire for example produces great cabernet franc. It tends to have a green and herbal note to it, VERY unlike the wines from the south which are generally much fruitier and more pleasant up front, but if you like that quality, it's hard to find better values anywhere. The whites from the Loire, especially the far west, are outstanding values if you like super lean, crisp, minimalist whites. It's also the home of sauvignon blanc, and while I'm not a huge fan of the grape, the wines from that region can be exceptional. Lesser known areas like Jura, Savoie, Madiran, and others can be sources of value but as it's unlikely you'll find much, I'll not say anything about them. At any rate, if you buy a handful of wines from each of the areas I mentioned, you'll get a good overview and have enough to keep you busy for a long time.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic What is your favorite wine... by GregT

  
  

• September 2009

  How is traffic flow (which contributes to vibration, as well as making it more likely someone will mess with the boxes of wine--my aunt once did me the favor of 'straightening up' my former storage area in California, one part of which was standing several boxes that had been lying... Read moreHow is traffic flow (which contributes to vibration, as well as making it more likely someone will mess with the boxes of wine--my aunt once did me the favor of 'straightening up' my former storage area in California, one part of which was standing several boxes that had been lying on their sides straight up, and this unfortunately happened while I was away on a trip for several months....) in your basement? And relative humidity? You don't want your storage area to be too dry if you'll be storing wines for 5 or 10 years. Also, what kinds of wines do you like? Cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, merlot, syrah, grenache, chardonnay, riesling, etc.? All of those I mention will, if well made, benefit from laying down that long. It would be good to focus a bit if you have a limited budget, so you can learn the most from your efforts. Also, to purchase at least, say, three bottles of the more interesting of your wines so that you can taste one now, another in five years, and yet another 10 years from now....    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic What Wine Promises to Age... by dmcker

  
  

• August 2009

  The Decanter blurb may have been truncated but it said that the producers wanted to show that Australia could produce "fine wine", and to join the clique you had to have a winery of some age and vineyards of some age, etc. That is what missed the point entirely. I have never once... Read moreThe Decanter blurb may have been truncated but it said that the producers wanted to show that Australia could produce "fine wine", and to join the clique you had to have a winery of some age and vineyards of some age, etc. That is what missed the point entirely. I have never once heard or read any critic say that Australia's vines or wineries aren't old enough. The issue is how you define "fine wine" and that has nothing at all to do with the age of your winery or vineyards. Take Sparky Marquis for example. When you talk to him he talks of vine nutrition, plant biology, soil, sunlight, terroir. He is as knowledgeable and as studious as any winemaker anywhere. You hear the same things when you talk to winemakers in Austria and France and Spain and Italy and California or anywhere else in the world. Sparky isn't making plonk. He's making incredibly passionate wine. The difference between him and a winemaker in the Loire Valley or Bordeaux is where their visions finally take them. There is no way on God's green earth that Bordeaux is going to have the sunlight and heat that Sparky has, and no way that they're going to get the ripeness levels that he gets. People who favor their wines call his overoaked fruit bombs. Does he produce "fine wine"? Absolutely IMHO. But it's of a type that is stereotypical for Australia. If all the wineries in the clique get together and produce that, they will have absolutely no effect on the criticism leveled against Australia. The Caillard interview was much better and I think it hit the points perfectly. He understands that the issue is wine style and he points out that many styles can be produced. And I loved this quote: " '...marketing bullshit...' Australia has badged its commercial wines as Brand Champions or Generation Next. These so called 'personalities' actually have no personality at all. They are generally just boring international styles that compete on price and slug it out with marketing bullshit and stupid critter names. " I met with some of the people who are responsible for coming up with that whole idea of "brand champions" etc., and i asked them what the point was. They have selected certain areas to be known for certain grapes. Barossa obviously for shiraz, but then they assigned chardonnay, cab sauv, riesling, etc. So I asked whether they could just as easily have stuck chardonnay in region X instead of region Y, or some other gape in region A instead of region B. The answer was yes. It was simply a way of creating some kind of regional consciousness in the market. Personally I found it kind of dumb and I'm glad that Caillard reacted the way he did. If there are regional characteristics that favor one grape over another, let that speak. Coonawara and cab for example. But don't just do some matchup and market that just so you have something to say. It's really bad marketing, totally concocted and obvious. Domino's Pizza once had something called "avoid the Noid". They created this mythical gremlin so they had something to rhyme with "avoid". Insulting and lame.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic What's wrong with Australian... by GregT

  
  

• August 2009

  I'm doing a 7 course seafood feast for my girlfriend's birthday. It's her 19th (which is drinking age where I am) so I'm interested in perhaps having a 1990 vintage. Currently the pairings look like this: non-vintage Moet w Tuna Tartare a la Bernardin (with traditional steak... Read moreI'm doing a 7 course seafood feast for my girlfriend's birthday. It's her 19th (which is drinking age where I am) so I'm interested in perhaps having a 1990 vintage. Currently the pairings look like this: non-vintage Moet w Tuna Tartare a la Bernardin (with traditional steak tartare garnishes & mustard vinaigrette, served in endive) Oysters with cold poached lobster, crab, clams, & prawns Grilled scallop & octopus salad w arugula and baby spinach Louis Boillot Volnay 1er Les Brouillards 2002 w Swordfish & tomato penne Roast Halibut a la Daniel/Balthazar (w tomatoes, almonds & crushed potatoes) Quinto do Panascal 2001 w Cheese plate (t.b.d at the market) Chocolate Souffle The pairings are preliminary, still need to have a good conversation with my favorite wine merchant. It will just be the two of us, so I'm not really looking to do a different wine with each course, but we might be able to squeeze another bottle in there (and drink the remnants the next day). Our preferences are generally fruit forward but well structured reds. Tend to focus on Chile and Argentina for the great price/quality ratio, though I've really enjoyed some Rioja Gran Reservas. In whites I like a strong Riesling or Gewurtz, occasionally white Burgundy. For this dinner the usual concerns over ability to drink the wine on its own aren't as important, so I'm very interested in Old World suggestions. What would you serve/suggest? I'd like to keep the overall drinks budget under $250 and feel like a real Champagne is an important part of the celebratory atmosphere. Nothing against Prosecco or other sparkling wines, which I love on a day to day basis.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Celebratory Seafood Feast by preppycuisine

  
  

• July 2009

  penguinoid - they make outstanding semillon and riesling, and are working with many other grapes. If you get a chance, try some from Colonial Estate for example, from Barossa, or Vasse Felix from Margaret River. The wines from Hunter Valley specifically are known to age nicely and... Read morepenguinoid - they make outstanding semillon and riesling, and are working with many other grapes. If you get a chance, try some from Colonial Estate for example, from Barossa, or Vasse Felix from Margaret River. The wines from Hunter Valley specifically are known to age nicely and many should fit your preference profile. Until probably the mid 1980s, the Australians were as known for those wines as for the reds, but the developing love for chardonnay in the US pushed a lot of that out of the market. Matter of fact, they make some pretty decent chardonnay too. But the prices for their whites make them really competitive vis a vis some equivalent wines from say, Bordeaux.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic What's wrong with Australian... by GregT

  
  

• July 2009

  What about a great white wine like a Grand Cru Riesling. Or, a cheaper now, dearer later option such as Hunter Valley Semillon. The best of the latter are always too lemony when young, a bit weak (9.5 to 10.5 degrees alcohol), but become beeswaxy and honeyed and incredible with fish... Read moreWhat about a great white wine like a Grand Cru Riesling. Or, a cheaper now, dearer later option such as Hunter Valley Semillon. The best of the latter are always too lemony when young, a bit weak (9.5 to 10.5 degrees alcohol), but become beeswaxy and honeyed and incredible with fish and shellfish after twenty years bottle age. They are usually very expensive if ever seen retail at that stage in their lives.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Recommendation for a 2006... by williamsimpson

  
  

• June 2009

  I have a Canadian bias but not all ice wine from Canada is good. Both Niagara and Okanagan produce very good ice wine. Ones that I love are: Peller Estates Riesling Ice Wine: http://www.snooth.com/wine/peller-estates-riesling-ice-wine-2006/ Peller Estates Cab Franc Ice Wine:... Read moreI have a Canadian bias but not all ice wine from Canada is good. Both Niagara and Okanagan produce very good ice wine. Ones that I love are: Peller Estates Riesling Ice Wine: http://www.snooth.com/wine/peller-estates-riesling-ice-wine-2006/ Peller Estates Cab Franc Ice Wine: http://www.pellericewine.com/products-cab-franc.html Inniskillin Riesling Ice Wine: http://www.snooth.com/wine/inniskillin-riesling-ice-wine-canada-sweet-dessert-wine-2007/ I generally find the vidal based ice wines too sweet but vidal ice wines that are oak aged are nice. All are age worthy and will benefit from a few years of cellaring.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Ice wine regions by HondaJohn

  
  

• June 2009

  These were posed in another thread but really deserve to be answered on their own so here they are. I'll start with a few answers though some of these lack enough context to gaurantee correct responses. Anyway here I go Q&A 1. Why in Bourdeaux is April the best time for barrel... Read moreThese were posed in another thread but really deserve to be answered on their own so here they are. I'll start with a few answers though some of these lack enough context to gaurantee correct responses. Anyway here I go Q&A 1. Why in Bourdeaux is April the best time for barrel samples- April is a good time because the climate is still cool, good tasting temperature, most red wines have finished their malo-lactic fermentation and the whites are ready and bottled so buyers can get a chance to taste the whites that are to be released over the coming months as well as a first chance to taste the finished reds from the new vintage. 2. Negociants going bankrupt- If your are talking of this as a recent phenomenon I would say the obvious cause would be purchasing over-priced wines, 05 and 06 in particular and not being able to sell them but for a loss. In general this has been the bane of the negociant's existence, buying into a rising market and being left holding the bag, think 1973-1974, 1997, 2006. 3. Bordeaux 1970's hardship- They made crappy wine. In reality some Chateau made decent wine but there was a wave of hype that followed the good 1970 and 1971 vintages that caused the prices to increase for the crappy vintages that followed and then the OPEC oil embargo hit leaving stocks of wildly over-priced wines filling the retail channels and no money to buy them. 4. Why does it take 2 years for 2008s to be released in the US- The wines must age in barrel and then bottle. The barrel aging helps to round out and soften some of the tannin. 5. Why is 2008 the latest and longest harvest for more than a decade- Weather. The relatively warmer summers Europe has been experiencing caused the grapes to mature more quickly and be ready for harvest earlier. The cooler, rainy summer of 2008 needed every day of that indian summer to achieve the full ripeness they were finally able to achieve. 6. Indian summer- A period of unusually warm weather late in the autumn. 7. Coulure- a failure of the flowers on the grape vine to pollinate thus reducing the yield per vine. Frequently caused by rain. 8. Austere backbone- A totally subjective phrase that implies that the tannins of the wine are drying and the wine is not particularly well endowed with fruit. 9. Super Seconds- A phrase that refers to a group of producers, some of which are classified as Second growths, that produce wine very close to, and sometimes equal to the quality of the first growth Chateau. 10. en primeur- the french term for futures, or pre-release pricing. 11. 2008 compared to 1988- I have yet to try the 2008's but 1988 produced classic Bordeaux with ripe but crisp fruit, relatively high acids and slightly aggressive tannins that have proved to be wines with excellent aging potential that have developed wonderful complexities yet lack the fruit driven nature of what are considered the best vintages. I expect this to turn out to be a false analogy since, for the most part, Bordeaux 1988 was still produced using traditional methods while much of 2008 was "saved" through the use of reverse osmosis, roto-fermenters, and other tools of the trade that have become all too common place. 12. Why does botritys spread faster in scheurebe than in riesling- I have no idea but if I had to venture a guess I would say there are 2 factors at play: skin thickness and cluster density. The thinner the skins the quicker the botrytis can get at their food source and stimulate growth and the denser the cluster the easier it is to spread through the bunch. 13. Dessert wine from scheurebe- Delicious. 14. Too much make-up on malbecs- Usually refers to oak though can also include the tricks previous mentioned that have changed Bordeaux. Ok who is next. Calling GregT! Lio    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Lio's questions by Gregory Dal Piaz

  
  

• April 2009

  Great wine and a 1040 deduction just for you! I realize that this is one of the least welcome weeks of the year for most of us. With April the 15th only hours away we can all use a little help and cheer. Wine.com agrees and has created an offer that you just have to check out! This... Read moreGreat wine and a 1040 deduction just for you! I realize that this is one of the least welcome weeks of the year for most of us. With April the 15th only hours away we can all use a little help and cheer. Wine.com agrees and has created an offer that you just have to check out! This limited offer is available from Wine.com for 2 days only, April 14th and 15th. Simply put together an order of $99 or more (excluding tax and shipping) and after entering promo code TAXSAVINGS, you'll get a $10.40 discount! Go to Wine.com for more details and to get started! Tired of thinking about form 1040? Well, this gives the number a whole new meaning. But wait, it gets better. Wine.com has introduced what they call their Steward-Ship program, which for a one-time price of $49 lets you enjoy ground shipping at no additional charge for the next 12 months on all your orders! And the best part is that you can combine these two great offers - so buy $50 of wine and the Steward-Ship program for $49 (to total $99), and you'll not only get your $10.40 discount, but you'll get an entire year of complimentary ground shipping from wine.com. And if you need another reason to visit Wine.com and take advantage of this fantastic offer, their selection of wines is second to none. 2007 Chateau Ste. Michelle & Dr. Loosen Eroica Riesling $11.89 The 2007 Ch. Ste Michelle Eroica was the wine that convinced the critics that Washington State was capable of producing world class Riesling. The result of a collaborative effort between Ch. Ste Michelle and the famed Dr. Loosen Estate of Germany, this wine is packed with rich apricot, guava and citrus tones in a gently sweet style that is sure to satisfy the Riesling lover in you. 2004 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon $49.98 Looking for a Napa Valley classic? Look no further than the 2004 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon. Texturally plush and mouth filling, with waves of dark fruit flavors, spicy oak tones and lovely nuanced chili and herb accents that are pure and deep. This is open for business in an opulent, friendly style. Mike Grgich's first claim to fame was as the winemaker for the 1st place white wine in the famous 1976 judgment in Paris tasting, which was recently featured in the film Bottleshock. Never one to rest on his laurels, Grgich is once again leading the wine world by being certified as an Organic winery in 2006 and as Biodynamic in 2007. So not only will you love the way this wine tastes but knowing how it's made makes it that much harder to resist. Now I know that stocking up on $60 wines these days is not an easy proposition, even with a $10.40 discount, so I've saved the best for last! Wine.com is offering 2 bottlings from Spain's Bodegas Castano that are easy on the wallet and absolutely delicious. 2005 Bodegas Castano Solanera $13.99 The 2005 Solanera is an exclusive bottling created for the winery's US importer. Coming from the property's oldest vines, this blend of Monastrell, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tintorera is aged in French oak and offers rich clove spiced, raspberry fruit and deep mocha tones all wrapped up in a smooth as silk package with just a touch of tannin on the powerful finish. 2007 Bodegas Castano Monastrell $7.49 On the other hand the 2007 Monastrell is all about pure, transparent black berry fruit with black pepper and licorice nuances in a bright, juicy style. This is so fresh and delicious it's irresistible, and its lighter body makes it an ideal partner for summer grilling. Buy it by the case and enjoy it with a slight chill all summer long! Some markets may still have some of the 2006 available which has gained a lovely rounded edge with its extra year of age but is just as appealing. If you want great wines, at great prices, and a helping hand this Tax Day you simply must take advantage of this great deal. Just place an order for $99 or more and enter the promo code TAXSAVINGS at checkout to receive your $10.40 deduction! And remember your Steward-Ship membership fee counts towards that total! Don't miss this great deal. Take advantage of Wine.com and get a little Tax Relief!    (hide)

  From the article Great wine and a 1040 deduction just for you!

  
  

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