I am still amazed at the work that goes into a bottle of wine. Just think of it, in order for a Selene wine lover to open and enjoy a bottle of our wine, a lot of dedicated people have to do their jobs first.
Growers/Vineyards: They say it starts in the vineyard, no [...]
With New Year’s Eve less than 24 hours away in some places I wanted to take the chance to share my limited insight into the offering in a limited time frame. In an effort to keep this short let’s jump right in. Before doing so I once again want to profess that this [...]
Continue reading about Trader Joe’s Sparkling Wines for New Year’s Eve
Price: $2.99 @ Trader Joe’s imported by Americal Beverage Group
What They Said:
Per the bottle “This 100% Sangiovese wine from the Puglia region is smooth and fruity with a touch of red berries.”
What I Think:
I had this one a while
A few quick post-holiday wine reviews, one a Carménère from Chile, the other a Malbec from Washington state.
I’ve been tasting a lot of Carménère’s lately, partly in thanks to Wines of Chile. I like the varietal, with its smokey and peppery notes, but I don’t think it’s for everyone. The Odfjell is the first one that I think is truly accessible to a large group of wine drinkers. Easily the most balanced and easy drinking of the dozen or so I’ve tried, this one is 100% Carménère, with blackberry, plum, tobacco, smoke and white pepper. Remarkably nice acidity, allowing the wine to slice directly through the palate, but balanced with a nice, long finish and a quick, broad mouth feel.
What you should do: BUY IT! This varietal is worth a try and, without a doubt, this is the one to experiment with.
My rating: 89
2007 Townshend Malbec
This wine was brought to my attention by my father-in-law. He is a Malbec loyalist and responsible for me exploring the Malbec varietal by introducing 
me to a great Terra Blanca Malbec a few years back. The Townshend is a nice fruit -forward Malbec, with dark cherry, fig and white pepper on the nose. Remarkably well balanced and full palate, especially for a wine this young. It’s big and broad on the palate and then narrows into a lasting finish. All in all, this is a fantastic Malbec from Washington.
What you should do: Buy it, if you can find it. The winery does have plenty of the 2007 on hand, in the mid-$20’s, so you can get it there, but I wasn’t able to find it anywhere else. This may be a case wine for me – would love to have some bottles around the house.
My rating: 88
NOTE: The Odfjell was provided to me as a free sample.
Continue reading about Quick fire wine review – Odfjell and Townshend
- 2007 d’Arenberg The Stump Jump – Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (12/26/2009)
Peachy with honeysuckle blossom, ripe honeydew. Hint of oily petrol aroma. Finishes sweet. Quite nice. Off an “expensive” restaurant wine list in Vietnam it was $30 so if it is available retail in the US, it should be at an attractive price to stock up: it would go well either as a sipping wine at a party or with Asian fare. (85 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
Continue reading about Tasting 2007 d’Arenberg The Stump Jump
Apologies! I missed Thanksgiving and yet again Xmas. With that I promised facing an 0-2 count I would deliver for New Year’s. At least for those waiting until the last minute to do your shopping! Little was inspiring me to publish a new Top 10 list, so much so that I was [...]
Continue reading about Top 10 Trader Joe’s Wines: The New Year’s Version
Been a while since I’ve done a book review, mostly because what I’ve been reading hasn’t really captured my attention. But, about a month ago, I finished “New Classic Winemakers of California: Conversations with Steve Heimoff,” a book that reignited my imagination about wine. A collection of who’s who in today’s wine world – Andy Beckstoffer, Heidi-Peterson Barrett, Merry Edwards and more – “Conversations“ is literally that, oral histories that these accomplished and up and coming winemakers have with Steve Heimoff, the West Coast Editor of Wine Enthusiast magazine.
I read this book fast – it’s easily digestible, fun to read and if you have an interest in wine and the thought process and philosophies of making wine, then this is the book for you. These are conversations that most of us aren’t exposed to on a daily basis and they’re very compelling.
In addition, it shows these accomplished winemakers as down-to-earth folks who have latched onto something they love and success followed. For most of them, this is not something that happened overnight, but, rather, over years and years of practice, success, failure and just plain old hard work. And, the plan wasn’t to be well known winemakers (at least for most), but to just cultivate a passion that they couldn’t ignore.
The best way to describe what I pulled from this book is through music. At the same time I was reading it, Pearl Jam (yes, I am an unabashed Pearl Jam loyalist) came out with their new album, Backspacer. If you buy the album on iTunes, it comes with a 10-minute video of the band that opens with Eddie talking about the creative process and what a friend once told him: “Paint a hundred [paintings], see if you’re good at it. After a hundred, maybe you’ll know.” And that is exactly what I captured out of this book and why it was so inspiring to me – if you have an interest, a passion and calling, keep at it, keep working and you will get to where you want to be, whether that be where you thought or somewhere else that turns out to be even more satisfying. It really is true and it was unexpected that I captured that feeling through a book about wine – I mean, let’s be honest, most of them aren’t all that inspirational.
What you should do: Buy it. Apologies that this review came out after Christmas, but buy it for yourself – it really is an interesting read. And, I guarantee you’ll look at the wine in your glass in a different way.
My rating: 92
The Finklestein Family is Napa Valley wine royalty. Okay, perhaps they’re more like the wine court jesters. They are fun, funny, eccentric, and make life in wine country just a little bit more interesting. Art and Bunny Finklestein created Whitehall Lane and then moved on to found Judd’s Hill. Their son, Judd, follows in their footsteps running the winery now. Check out Judd’s off-the-wall video blog: Judd’s Enormous Wine Show. I especially like Episode 2. I’m ready to order tshirts for every kid I know.
Continue reading about Video blog by Judd Finklestein will make you chuckle
- 2007 Gunderloch Jean Baptiste Riesling Kabinett – Germany, Rheinhessen (12/25/2009)
Lemon curd, peaches, floral, in this charming but primary wine. It is a kabinett but one still gets an overall impression of sweetness. Right now it goes well with a big, spicey Vietnamese meal. Would be interesting to see how this one develops over the years. (88 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
Continue reading about 2007 Gunderloch Jean Baptiste Riesling Kabinett
