Bodegas Enguera Pelta 2008

tried this red blend at a recent wine tasting. it is 80% tempranillo and 20% monastrell. i am usually very fond of blends. this one had a very fruit forward nose, with blackberry and herbal notes, as well as an interesting sweet blueberry pie aroma. the taste left me hoping for more, as i got mostly fruit in a blackberry flavor and just a subtle hint of leather and spice. finished a bit short and a bit thin also. maybe some time in the bottle would help this to develop into something a little nicer.

Gato Negro Malbec 2009

i wrote about the 08 vintage a while back and revisited the 09 to see how it compared to the 08. it is pretty much on the same level with the 08. the nose was very fruity, with black currant aromas. also got some spicy notes and a little inky aroma as well. the palate was black currant, blackberry and some spicy pepper flavors. the body was a little thin but it is a 2009 so maybe time in the bottle? but this is meant to be consumed now. the finish was not very long but not bad. good pizza wine. i had a few comments about other malbecs in this price range but quite frankly, there really aren't any at the $3.99 that this sells for. i will mention a few others that are slightly more expensive and a bit better flavor, most notably alamos and notro, which sees no oak but was very tasty. once again,the gato negro is about what you would expect for the $4 price, nothing too special but very drinkable.

Sterling Vineyards SVR Reserve 2005

i tried this really nice blend recently with a spaghetti dinner. this blend has 78% cabernet sauvignon, 18% merlot, 2% petit verdot, and 2% petite sirah. the nose is blackberry, black cherry, black licorice, a little leather and earth. in a word, complex. on the palate, black cherry, dark chocolate/mocha, spice and a little leather. after a day, the finish changed a bit and i got more of a smokey flavor. all with nice firm tannins and a long, rich finish. this is not a wimpy red. great food wine that will work with paste, steak and a good stew. sells for about $30 and well worth the price.

Wine Wisdom

Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.
Ernest Hemingway
Death in the Afternoon

Styring Vineyards "Wit" Reserve Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2005

this is the third and final wine of my vertical tasting. this pinot is mainly sourced from the yamhill-carlton ava. the nose was very earthy and sexy, with black fruit, wet forest floor, and a little spice as well in the aroma. when i think of oregon pinot noirs, this is the nose that would come to mind. the palate is dominated by a lush, earthy fruit of blackberry and black cherry, with the earthy quality being more than just a subtle hint. this is one sexy wine. far less spicy than the previous two vintages, this wine is beautifully delicate, yet extremely complex. on the second day, the wine added a very nice mocha-like finish that was only a subtle hint the day before. this vertical tasting was a true joy for me. all three of these wines were very different and enjoyable with the 05 coming away as my favorite. an extremely sexy, sensual wine. sells for $38 and will work well with a nice salmon dinner, but really is quite beautiful all by itself.

Styring Vineyards "Wit" Reserve Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2004

on to the second offering from styring, the 04 pinot noir. this red's grapes are from the forest grove area of the willamette valley in oregon. so how did the 04 compare to the 03? the first thing i noticed was the nose, which had little of the earthy quality of the 03. the 04 was very spicy on the nose, with fruit was of raspberry and blackberry. on the palate the first thing i got was very gripping tannins and spice. much more spice than the 03. black cherry fruit was very evident. this is not a wimpy pinot. it hits you right in the mouth. on the second day the tannins had relaxed quite a bit allowing the fruit to come through. i got some blackberry as well and a little less spice. i also picked up some subtle vanilla notes from the french oak. sells for $38.

Styring Vineyards "Wit" Reserve Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2003

i actually opened all three wines at the same time, pouring a glass of each, smelling and then leaving them site for about 20 minutes, then going back and swirling smelling and tasting them in order. the first one i will write about is the 2003, from the dundee hills region of willamette valley. the nose was very nice, with an immediate earthy tone of wet forest floor, followed by some black cherry, plum and spice notes. i am a big fan of earthy nosed wines and this came through nicely on that front. on the palate, the wine had a spicy wood and blackberry quality. the spice was a little stronger than i remembered it being the first time a tried this wine, but this is not a delicate flower. it had a very nice mouth feel and medium tannins. i sampled the wine again after a day and the tannins had mellowed quite a bit, allowing the blackberry fruit to shine through more and there was a nice earthy and mocha notes in the finish that i didn't get the first day. overall a very nice pinot. this vintage is no longer available, but sold for about $38.

Vertical Tasting-Styring Vineyards Pinot Noir

over the course of the next week i will be blogging about a vertical tasting, something i have been wanting to do for a while now. for the uninitiated, a vertical tasting is two or more wines of the same varietal, in this case pinot noir, from consecutive years, from the same vineyard. i have been holding three different years from styring vineyards, a small producer of exceptional wines in the willamette valley in oregon. this is one of my favorite areas for pinot noir. the three years i will be comparing will be '03, '04, and '05. all three of these wines are not grown on the estate as the first plantings had not yet matured yet. they are all from the valley and this area produces some of the finest pinot noir in the country, if not the world, in my opinion. styring is now producing estate grown pinots as of the 2006 release. i hope to have a bottle of the '06 soon to also compare to these other three. for more info on styring, visit their website http://www.styringvineyards.com/

Funf German Riesling

i noticed i had been hitting the red wines pretty hard so i will throw a few white wine reviews in. i tend to drink more reds during the cooler weather, so i neglect the white wines during this time. the comely brunette and i got this bottle as a gift from a friend. i have blogged on 10 rieslings previously and had mixed feelings on a few. this one falls into that arena. the nose was white peaches and honeysuckle. very sweet and floral on the nose at first pour. on the palate, an almost syrupy mouth feel and a sweet, almost cloying taste. flavors of honeydew and a little honeysuckle, with a sweet grapefruit-like finish. most rieslings have some mineral notes that actually help tone down the sweetness a bit. not this one. way too sweet, almost dessert wine quality. and the name means 'five' in german. funf after five? not for me thanks. sells for about $6.