Sunday, October 31, 2010

Nové Vinařství Cépage Sauvignon 2007 II

Variety: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Morava, Mikulov sub-appellation
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Residual sugar: 2.9g/l
Acidity: 6.6g/l
Color: straw yellow
Bouquet: citrus canned fruit with touch of ripe peach
Taste: round, full mouth feel, canned peach, nice mineral and dense texture,  medium to long finish
Recommended food pairing: tropical fruit salad
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK 190
Stopper: vino lok (glass stopper)
Very round full style of Sauvignon Blanc with nice minerality and nice long finish. This SB is market by Roman II as it was supposed to be bottled as part of the higher row ARDEA, but it slightly missed the winemaker expectation and as such they decided to bottle it under CEPAGE row, however marked clearly as Sauvignon II for differentiation.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

České vinařství Chrámce Rulandské modré 2007 pozdní sběr

Variety: 100% Pinot Noir
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Bohemia, Litoměřice sub-appellation, Rudolice u Mostu village, Sv.Vavřive vineyard
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol content: 12.0%
Residual sugar: n/a
Acidity: n.a
Color: lighter red with watery meniscus
Bouquet: subtle, red cherries
Taste: light to medium body with slightly higher acidity, dominant fruit character of sour cherries with a bit of grapefruit at the end, still feels young and unbalanced, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: pork cutlet
Overall score: 77
Price: CZK 169
Stopper: cork
Regular Pinot Noir with primary fruity characteristics. I personally prefer more complex PN, this wine had higher acidity than I would expect from PN.
The pic is from web, but the label looks exactly same with only vintage being different.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Vinařství Bukovský Veltlínské Zelené 2006

Variety: 100% Greenur Veltliner
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Velke Pavlovice sub-appellation
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Residual sugar: n/a
Acidity: n.a
Color: medium yellow
Bouquet: grass, herbal tones, green pepper with touch of citrus tones
Taste: light to medium body, pepperness, citrus tones, herbs
Recommended food pairing: salads
Overall score: 79
Price: CZK 100
Stopper: cork
Very peppery and grassy style of Greenur Veltliner, nicely dry with visible minerality and tones of freshly cut grass drying in the sun.

Finca La Celia Furia Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Variety: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Country of origin: Argentina
Wine appellation: Mendoza
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Residual sugar:
Acidity:
Color: medium ruby red
Bouquet: quite fruity, black currant, sour cherries, not very expressive, rather fruity
Taste: medium body, sour cherries, a bit higher acidity,  medium finish
Recommended food pairing: steak, BBQ
Overall score: 77
Price: CZK 150
Stopper: plastic cork
Quaffable, but nothing more, rather ordinary Cab Sauv.

Jedlička a Novák Sauvignon pozdní sběr 2008

Variety: 100% Sauvignon
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Velké Pavlovice sub-appellation, Bořetice village, Terasy vineyard
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Residual sugar: 5.1 g/l
Acidity: 6.3 g/l
Color: light yellow
Bouquet: gooseberry, black currant, grapefruit
Taste: medium body, white currant with gooseberry accompanied by pleasant acidity and with strong white grapefruit at the end
Recommended food pairing:   
Overall score: 83
Price: CZK 150
Stopper: plastic cork

František Foretník Chardonnay 2006 výběr z hroznů

This wine is very very nice. Full rounded tropical fruit chardonnay with predominant pineapple tones. I would score it the same as described here, but I felt it dryer today than in summer.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Vinselekt Michlovský Rulandské šedé 2008 pozdní sběr

Variety: Pinot Gris
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Mikulov sub-appellation, Nový Přerov village, Na štrekách vineyard
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Residual sugar: g/l
Acidity: 7.6 g/l
Color: medium yellow
Bouquet: citruses, specifically orange with white flowers
Taste: medium to full body, very round, lemon tones, lively acidity with small residual sugar, white grape fruit, medium to longer finish
Recommended food pairing: fish
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 120
Stopper: plastic cork
Very nice and interesting Pinot Gris, quite round with nice lemon acidity accompanied by slight residual sugar. It is the same village and vineyard, but different vintage from the wine I tasted here. I should have one more bottle of 2008 in the cellar.

Viña Tarapacá Chardonnay Reserva 2005

Variety: Chardonnay
Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellation: Maipo Valley
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Residual sugar: n/a
Acidity: n/a
Color: medium yellow
Bouquet: ripe pineapple, touch of mango
Taste: medium to full body, overripe pineapple, orange peel, balanced and rounded mouth feel
Recommended food pairing: pumpkin risotto
Overall score: 82
Price: CZK 230
Stopper: cork
Nice medium to full bodied new world style of Chardonnay, it was fermented and aged in the French oak barrel for 5 months. The oak is almost invisible at this age. The main characteristics in nose and taste is tropical fruit predominantly pineapple.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Chardonnay Clos du Bois 2002 Sonoma County

Variety: Chardonnay
Country of origin: USA
Wine appellation: Sonoma
Vintage: 2002
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Residual sugar: n/a
Acidity: n/a
Color: medium yellow
Bouquet: very smoky, hazelnut, toast, grilled pineapple, bottleness
Taste: medium to full body, overripe pineapple,complex canned tones of  orange marmalade on toast bread
Recommended food pairing: smoked salmon
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 200
Stopper: cork
Very good example of aged smoked new world chardonnay, quite full and Complex with hazelnut character with bigger body. I checked my notes from more than one year ago and they differ so I decided not to link old but reproduce my new ones. Just check out the old ones.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Domaine de L'Isthme Chardonnay 2003

Variety: Chardonnay
Country of origin: France
Wine appellation: Languedoc
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: straw yellow, almost oily viscosity
Bouquet: expressive, canned pineapple,  tropical fruits, minerality, nice bottled aged tones
Taste: medium body, apple pie, dry fruit, very round and mineral with slight touch of red grapefruit at the end, medium finish 
Recommended food pairing: cream sauce pasta
Overall score: 83
Price: CZK 199
Stopper: cork
Heavier but unoaked style of Chardonnay with lots of minerality and structure.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Bodegas Los Lanos Pata Negra Roble 2005

Variety: Tempranillo
Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: Valdepenas
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Residual sugar: n/a
Acidity: n/a
Color: medium red with ruby hues
Bouquet: very fruity, plums, sour cherries, and lots of sweet vanilla with chocolate undertones, actually it is quite nice nose
Taste: contradictory to the nose in the mouth it feels light to medium body, canned sour cherries, cherries,  slight acidity, no tannins, sweet spices like vanilla and clove
Recommended food pairing: pork in plum sauce
Overall score: 80
Price: EUR 3.50
Stopper: cork
Well this wine is very surprising, it has excellent bouquet of ripe plums and sour cherries and very visible vanilla tones. In the mount  it is lighter than expected with predominant sour cherries and plums character. This makes it more fruity red one would guess it is from Austria rather from Spain (if the bouquet was not n in the sensory perceptions).


Robert Mondavi Twin Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Country of origin: USA
Wine appellation:
California - Nappa
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol content: 13,5%
Residual sugar: unknown
Acidity: unknown
Color: medium red with garnet hues
Bouquet: ripe black currant, black cherries, sour cherries, hint of vanilla
Taste: medium body, ripe black currant, cherries, hint of  black chocolate  medium finish
Recommended food pairing: beef
Overall score: 82
Price: CZK 199
Stopper: cork
Reasonable Cab Sauv from California.

Chateau Valtice Aurelius 2004 pozdní sběr

Tasting notes are very similar to those written here from tasting in May. This time I can feel even more minerality and less acidity than at that time, score would be the same.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Undurraga Chardonnay 2003

Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Country of origin: Chille
Wine appellation: MaipoValley
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Residual sugar: g/l
Acidity: g/l
Color: straw yellow
Bouquet: overripe tropical fruit, mango, slight tones of butter
Taste: medium body, silky, smooth mouth feel, ripe pineapple, mango, balanced body, nice lingering medium finish
Recommended food pairing: pasta with cream sauce
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK ?? (Found it in the cellar)
Stopper: cork (single piece)
I was very interested in this Chardonnay whether it would still be alive given the vintage. And it was very very nice, the color was slightly lighter than I would have expected. The nose was visibly marked by overripe mango. The body was medium, rounded, again main characteristics was mango and canned pineapple. I was surprised by the reasonable level of alcohol given the origin of the wine. Overall nice surprise, even my loved one requested more:)