Chateau Lednice Rulandské modré 2008 pozdní sběr

Variety: 100% Pinot Noir
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Mikulov sub-appellation, Lednice village, Ve starých vineyard
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 12.0%
Residual sugar:  1.7 g/l
Acidity: 4.9 g/l
Color: light to medium ruby red with watery meniscus
Bouquet: dominant red fruits, mainly ripe cherries
Taste: medium body, cherries, nicely round and balanced given its young age,  longer finish
Recommended food pairing: pate
Overall score: 83
Price: CZK159
Stopper: cork
Nice fruity style of Pinot Noir with dominant cherries and sour cherries. It has unexpectedly longer finish.

Seabird Island Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Variety: 100% Sauvignon Blanc  
Country of origin: New Zealand
Wine appellation: Marlborough
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Color: pale, watery
Bouquet: very fresh, lime, white grapefruit, white currant
Taste: light to medium body, white grapefruit, lime, white currant (see the pic), medium finish
Recommended food pairing: see food
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK 159
Stopper: screw cap
Nice fruity style of Sauv Blanc, it is not as complex as the one from NZ tasted one hour ago here, but it has amazing value/price ratio. Very refreshing SB for summer parties.

Shepherds Ridge Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Variety: 100% Sauvignon Blanc  
Country of origin: New Zealand
Wine appellation: Marlborough
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Residual sugar: n/a
Acidity: n/a
Color: very pale almost like a water
Bouquet: very fresh, lime, white grapefruit, gooseberry with the hint of maracuya at the end
Taste: medium body, very dry, white grapefruit, lime, lively acidity accompanied by nice astringency, less tropical than in the nose, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: see food
Overall score: 87
Price: CZK 299
Stopper: screw cap
Very nice crisp lime acidity with touch of tropical fruit in the bouquet. Nicely drinkable. We drank it with nice salad in the beautiful spring day and finished it quite quickly:). It is produced by Wither Hills, which I had one year ago and it was excellent and it even won Sauvignon forum here in 2009. P.S. the pic is from the web from 2006

Prelius Morello di Prille Maremma Toscana IGT 2008

Variety: 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot
Country of origin: Italy
Wine appellation: Tuscany
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 13.5 %
Residual sugar: n/a
Acidity: n/a
Color: deep ruby red with purple hues
Bouquet: ripe sour cherries, blackcurrant, hint of spices mainly cinnamon
Taste: medium body, sour cherries, cherries, blackcurrant, light oak and vanilla, nice tannins, slightly higher "Italian" acidity, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: sirloin steak
Overall score: 85
Price: gift CZK 350 on web
Stopper: cork

The 52-acre estate has approximately 25 acres planted to Merlot, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Vermentino, a late-ripening white grape variety. The vineyard is on a slight slope, which reaches an elevation of 150 feet, allowing the breezes that flow from the sea (just two miles away) to the hills to bring welcome relief to the vines during peak temperatures, allowing the grapes to ripen at a gradual pace while retaining desirable acidity. Cultivation: Organic Soil: Sand (80%), clay (15%), silt (5%) Elevation: 135 feet Aging: 9–10 months in large French oak casks; 3 months in bottle

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.