Morande Carmenere 2002

Definitely last bottle of this wine. I actually selected the wine to accompany our Toscano Black Amedei chocolate. Remembering the taste of this Carmenere I went straight for it. We were finishing the Rioja to accompany our boeuf bourguignon and this Rioja just did not go well with this chocolate. The match with the Morande was awesome, something like jing and jang. For the review of this Carmenere please refer to March 2010 tasting here and September 2009 tasting including the pictures here.

SEÑORIO DE LABARTA Crianza 2006

Variety: Tempranillo x Garnacha 
Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: Rioja 
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Residual sugar: n/a
Acidity: n/a
Color: medium red
Bouquet: red fruit with the dominance of cherries
Taste: medium body, sour cherries, cherries, less vanilla and wood I would expect from Crianza, still slightly higher acidity, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: fuet
Overall score: 80
Price: gift CZK 175 on web
Stopper: cork
Average Rioja, although being decanted it is not as expressive I would expect, pleasant drinking with mostly cherry type of character.

Vina Albali Gran Reserva 1998

Variety: Tempranillo
Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: Valdepenas
Vintage: 1998
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Color: deep dark red with brownish meniscus
Bouquet: very nice complex, nicely layered, mainly canned cherries, earthiness, tobacco, coffee, if blind I would guess Bordeaux
Taste: medium body, nice canned fruit dominated by nice matured wood tones and vanilla and spices, coffee, nice tannins present in the mouth, longer finish
Recommended food pairing: jamon serrano
Overall score: 87
Price: gift on web CZK 350
Stopper: cork
Excellent bouquet, so complex with earthy, woody tones accompanied by nice coffee and canned cherries. IN the taste it is not as expressive as in the nose with dominant canned cherries and coffee with wood. and nice round tannins. Definitely pleasant drinking.

Casa de Santa Vitoria Inevitavel 2007

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon. Syrah
Country of origin: Portugal
Wine appellation: Alentejo
Vintage: 2007Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: deep black ruby  red
Bouquet:very expressive forest fruits with black currant, fresh black currant squeeze my mum used to make a jam from
Taste: medium to full body, big big black fruit mainly blackberries and black currant with excellent fruity acidity with less of  pepper tones I would expect, very light  touch of vanilla, longer finish given the higher alcohol, which is nicely warming
Recommended food pairing: pate with jam
Overall score: 85
Price CZK ?? gift
Stopper: cork
Big similar to new world style of fruit bomb, however more sophisticated. It aged in new French oak for 14 months and it should have definitely stay in the cellar for another  3 - 5 years. It has excellent fruitiness and higher, but pleasant Cabernety acidity to it that would soften in the cellar.

Arte Vini Green 2008

For the description of the wine please refer to the previous tasting done in May 2010 here. It changed slightly from the last tasting. The color is a bit darker still with green hues. The bouquet is very nice reminiscent of hey and grass and light touch of lime. It is more expressive than in last tasting more than half year ago. The taste is very similar with medium body and dominant lime pleasant crispy acidity and touch of white grapefruit. I actually consider it better now and definitely better than 2009 vintage of the same vine I typically find now in restaurants. 2009 vintage for me lacks this stunning crispiness and went towards higher alcohol and is not as refreshing as this one. Final score 83

Vina Santa Rita 120 Carmenere 2004

Variety: Carmenere
Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellation: Rapel valley
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Residual sugar: g/l
Acidity: g/l
Color: deep ruby red at the meniscus going towards  garnet
Bouquet: intense black cherries with spices
Taste: medium body, excellent dark red fruit combined with spiciness and mouth watering nice fruity acidity and round gentle and pleasant tannins, medium to longer finish
Recommended food pairing: hanger steak
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 245 
Stopper: cork
Very nice and properly aged Carmenere. I am pleasantly surprised of the level of tannins in the wine, they are at this point nice round and soft and accompanied by lots of fruit preserve.I had this wine in cellar for about 5 years.

Domaine Valentin Zusslin Riesling Grand Cru Pfingstberg 2005

Variety: Riesling
Country of origin: France
Wine appellation: Alsace Grand Cru
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol content: 13.50%
Color: straw yellow
Bouquet: minerality, honey, ripe apple, complex
Taste: medium to full body, ripe red apple, round with nice balance of acidity, residual sugar and bottleness, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: salmon
Overall score: 88
Price: EUR 28
Stopper: cork
Excellent ripe and properly aged Riesling with complex nose and sophisticated flavor. Big Riesling.

Marks and Spencer Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Limari Valley

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellation: Limari Valley
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Residual sugar: n/a 
Acidity: n/a
Color: pale watery
Bouquet: nice grassy with lime, grapefruit and amazing minerality on the nose
Taste: medium to full body, white grapefruit with slightly higher crisp citric acidity and white currant, the same as in the nose dominant minerality is present with medium to longer finish
Recommended food pairing: fish
Overall score: 85
Price: St. Valentines gift
Stopper: screw top
Very interesting type of SB. It is quite unusual with higher body and more mineral and acidity profile in the taste. Very interesting indeed and definitely nice experience, never had such a big body with so much acidity and minerality at the same time in this variety, very different from Central Valley in Chile. It is produced by Marcelo Papa from Concha y Toro. From the similar amabalage and font on the label it must be this branded wine from Concha y Toro Maycas del Limarí is the first super premium winery from Viña Concha y Toro Group. Its inspiration comes from Limarí's magic lands. These lands, whose minerals and precious stones once seduced the Inca empire, are now the north door for Chilean viticulture. Soil & climate studies of the Limari Valley have determined that these lands are some of the best lands in Chile for fresh & mineral whites and elegant cool climate reds. All the wines from the Maycas winery capture the spirit of the valley, revealing freshness & minerality in the land of the cold light.

Elsa Bianchi Syrah 2009

Variety: Syrah
Country of origin: Argentina
Wine appellation:
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: medium violet red
Bouquet: very fruity, blackberries, black cherries
Taste: medium body, forest fruits , mainly blackberries with tones of overripe black cherries, higher alcohol,fruity, full mouth feel, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: BBQ
Overall score: 81
Price CZK 99 on special
Stopper: screw cap
Decent fruity BBQ wine. P.S. the pic is from the web, that is why it has different vintage on it.

Undurraga Carménère 2008

Variety: 100% Carménère
Country of origin: Chille
Wine appellation: Central Valley
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Residual sugar: g/l
Acidity: g/l
Color: medium ruby to violet red
Bouquet: very fruity, expressive, ripe black sour cherries with a hint of raspberries and black currant and black pepper, alcohol slightly standing put of the body
Taste: medium body, black sour cherries, still visible tannins needed to settle down a bit, at the end garnet apple, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: duck liver pate
Overall score: 81
Price: CZK 100
Stopper: cork
Easy drinkable fruity type of Carménère.

Vinné Sklepy Lechovice Pálava 2004 pozdní sběr

Variety: Palava
Wine appellation: Moravia, Znojmo sub appellation, Borotice village, U Auerového kříže vineyard

Vintage: 2003
Alcohol content: 13.6%
Color: straw yellow
Bouquet: nice spicy aroma of ripe mango
Taste: medium to full body, spicy, mango with white grapefruit, balanced acidity with slight residual sugar, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: Asian food

Overall score: 83
Price: CZK ???
Stopper: cork
NIce example of bottled mature Palava. Slight residual sugar is nicely balanced with very nice acidity (most likely coming from 2004 vintage) making it very fresh still given its age.