Gnarly Head: Old Vine Zin 2010

Gnarly Head
Old Vine Zin 2010
Varietal: Zinfandel
Lodi, California
10.00 USD 

Our old vine zinfandel has a gnarly core of rich, dark berry flavors with layers of spice, plum pepper and vanilla balanced by a light hint of toasted oak.  Break out a bottle of Gnarly Old Vine Zin and pair with BBQ pork ribs, mom's favorite chili or steak fajitas. [back bottle label]

Ok, I took quite a hiatus from writing this blog what with graduation and moving and the new job/life thing going on, but I have been wanting to get back into it and until now I really haven't had the kick in the ass to really start again.  I bought a bottle of this in preparations for Hurricane Sandy...yeah yeah I know what you are thinking. Only one bottle? How storm ready could I have really been?  As it turned out I didn't even open it until this past Friday.  Marie and I were enjoying one of our first weekends home in about two months and I just wanted some wine.  So over a dinner I managed to only get about a third of the way through the bottle.  Weak, I know but I was a bit bummed by it.  On the nose the first thing I noticed was the extreme dryness of it.  There wasn't much fruit apparent...maybe a bit of some kind of dark berry (couldn't tell you what kind) and a lot of heat.  As for the palate it was very old world.  Very very dry, huge tannins very low sugars or any kind of perceived sweetness to it and extremely earthy.  A very robust wine to say the least.  It also had a considerable amount of alcohol to it too which didn't finish off to well for me.  All in all, not my favorite.

However, I decided to make an experiment of it and I left the bottle open and on the couch side table and came back to it the next day.  I wont tell you when because I may get a few disapproving glances but it was early(ish). Although not much better, all in all, some of the heat had dissipated and the tannins had calmed down a bit.  Still not much flavor though. It was still flat.

So now it's Sunday night.  I have left the bottle open and a glass poured of it since Saturday.  I had almost forgotten about it and was going to give up on it but I didn't and I am glad I didn't.  The difference is night and day and frankly so amazing to me that I had to write about it!  This is a completely different wine in so many ways.  The nose explodes with huge rich notes of plum and raisin and almost a dried cherry candy smell mixed with a delightful smoky/molassesy/vanilla!  It is so full, rich and smooth velvet comes to mind...liquid velvet.  This has now become one of those wines that I could just sniff all day and be completely happy (which, btw, really pisses off Derek and Marie when I do that...they yell at me and tell me to drink the damn thing and hurry up!)  There are some slight spices and an earthiness to it still but very subdued and I think adds a nice sub level to the fruity goodness.  The heat from the previous two days is nowhere to be found.  

On the palate, it is also a complete 180.  The fruits burst forward at the start and carry through to near the end.  There is still a bit of a tannic component leveling out the fruits.  It now has a measure of sweetness but is very much held in check.  Cherry starts to come through a bit more than any fruit flavor to me and there is a strange spice that kinda kicks up towards the end.  It has a nice full bodied feeling in the mouth but leaves very clean and almost disappears at the very end almost like water.  All in all an amazing transformation that I thought deserved mention!

An after-note:  I just poured the last little bit that was stored in the bottle into my glass expecting something like what had been sitting in my glass....nope it is not.  It is about halfway between when I first opened the bottle and what had been in the glass.  Tannic, lots of heat and still dry but the fruits and sugars were starting to come to the forefront.  Interestingly though there is a lot of spice to it.  Like it actually kinda burns much like spicy food does...weird

My suggestion: pick up a bottle decant it for 2-3 days then drink it.  Strange but it's worth a try!   

Dinner- Palisades (Abruzzo, Italy)

This past Thursday Marie and I wanted to hit up the Palisades again and this time we took our ever faithful comrade in arms, Derek!  This week it was wines and food from Abruzzo, Italy.  All week we had been hyping up the Palisades to him and like always the incessant verbal prodding by us finally won him over to our side and he agreed to come...I think he secretly enjoys our nagging.  Anyways, again we set off on 460 towards nowhere and this time, because I didn't bring my gps, we did actually get lost...kinda.  I just happened to take the wrong turn off of 460 and ended up driving up a very similar road as the one to Eggleston.  However, this one had a degree of creepy sketchiness to it that finally convinced me that we were on the wrong road.  Like always when I mess up I don't hear the end of it from the two clowns that I'm transporting (Marie and Derek)  They just feed off of each other and it's almost more than one man can handle.  Lucky for us all I have the will power and character of a stately saint and took it all in stride.  So eventually we found the right road and made it to Eggleston.  Derek had the exact same reaction we had when we went to the Palisades for the first time too.  He thought we were joking when I pulled up to the old general store.  

Again, if you don't remember, this is what the restaurant
looks like from the outside.

We got there early so the restaurant was largely empty and had the pick of tables to sit at.  Again, we were seated quickly and told our waitress that we were here for the wines around the world meal and asked for everything to be brought out together.  We did, however, decide to this time get a bottle to split between the three of us while we waited for our meal.  We tried to pick one that we thought would go with the meal and the weather, which was absolutely beautiful so we decided on a nice easy drinking and refreshing Riesling.

Marie and Derek trying to decide which bottle to get.

We sat for a while waiting for our food, it had picked up considerably in the time that we were there, but it was of no real concern to us.  We were enjoying each others company and conversation over what I thought was a very nice wine.  Eventually the meal came.  It is at this time that I have to apologize to you all.  I was so excited by the meal that I completely forgot to take a picture of it.  It was a plate consisting of a sizable wedding meatball in a delicious marinara sauce, a Tuscan bread salad and an asparagus/Parmesan risotto.  This was all paired with a 2010 Trebbiano D'Abruzzo from Caldora, a 2010 Montepulciano Rosato from Masciarelli and a 2010 Montepulciano D'Abruzzo from Cirelli.

Unlike last time I decided to just dig in to the meal and just try one wine with one part of the dish.  Before I started though I tried to think of what would be the best combination...not sure I got it right but I enjoyed the experiment.

The Caldora I decided to pair with the Risotto.  On its own it really didn't have much of a nose to it at all.  I asked Marie and Derek if they got much of anything and they also had a hard time getting any kind of scent from the wine.  After several good huffs of it really trying to get something I did get a slight hint of peach.  On the palate it was nice and dry with a very light body.  It was slightly tart and strangely a little cheesy.  There was no heat that I detected on it either.  When paired with the Risotto, however, it became much smoother and sweeter.  Many of the peach aspects began to come through more and it gained a bit more body in my opinion.

I paired the Masciarelli with the Tuscan bread salad.  By itself it was much more aromatic than the Caldora. There were tons of sweet apples on the nose and it had a nice full round body to the nose as well.  I felt as though there was a very pleasant smoky molasses hint that mixed with a raisin note to give it its fuller body.  On the palate it honestly had a bit of a funk to it.  It wasn't anything bad just a bit of an earthy dirt to it that wasn't expected.  There wasn't really any discernible sweetness to it either and it had a little heat on the end of it.  The Tuscan bread salad wasn't the best choice for this wine in my opinion.  I'm not sure I enjoyed the wine much to begin with and the bread salad just made it worse.  It seemed to bring out more heat all the way through the palate and what little sweetness there was to begin with was completely taken away after the salad.  After starting off with such a nice nose I was very disappointed by the taste.

The Cirelli I paired with the meatball.  It had a nose that I think was the most interesting.  It was full of rich plum and cherry notes that were offset by a nice earthy vegetal undertone.  There was a nice molasses smoke that gave it a nice full body and it had a bit of heat on it as well.  The palate had a good amount of tannic structure to it and a small amount of heat on the end.  Nice light cherry notes came through on the sweet end and served to counter the tannins quite nicely.  After such a strong nose I was surprised to feel that it was a fairly light bodied wine on the palate.  With the meatball the robustness of the wine really jumped.  More dark deep fruit flavors came to the forefront and it became noticeably smoother and rounder.  The tannins calmed considerably but the heat seemed to jump a bit.

Derek, Marie and myself after our delicious meal.

After a very satisfying and surprisingly long meal we decided it was time to leave.  I believe that my favorite was the Cirelli but I can't help but to wonder if I had paired the other ones differently if I would have liked them more.  Again, I apologize for the lack of photos, I only remembered the camera about the time that I was taking my last bite.  I won't be making that mistake again!

Dinner - Palisades (New Zealand)

Every Thursday the Palisades restaurant in Eggleston, VA hosts a wines from around the world dinner where they pair wines and food from different parts of the world.  A few weeks ago they had a New Zealand night that sounded like it would be a lot of fun.  Marie and I decided to hop on over and see what it was all about. 

Image of the Palisades Restaurant when we arrived.

Marie and I set out for Eggleston right after class on Thursday.  We knew it was a small town in the middle of no where but we were not expecting this.  After a few minutes on 460 you turn off onto a curvy side road that seems to twist and turn itself into a knot.  Finally you break out of the trees onto a bridge crossing the New River and see Eggleston on the far bank.  If I hadn't already seen pictures of the town I would have sworn we were in the wrong place to get a great meal. Everything except for the restaurant seemed to be in various states of disrepair which made the Palisades stick out like a gem.  When we first walked in we were astounded by the charm the old general store turned restaurant had.  It was exactly the kind of place that all the restaurants in Georgetown try to be but fall far short of becoming.  

Pita chips, hummus and tomato salad...yum!

We were immediately seated and after we explained we were here for the wines around the world dinner our waiter departed to get us our appetizer.  It was a wonderful plate of pita chips, hummus and a tomato garlic basil salsa type topping.  We had to control ourselves from devouring the plate like animals.

We asked to have the wines brought out with the meal instead of beforehand so we had to wait for a bit but it was enjoyable just looking around at all the old charm the building had to offer and the wide range of people in the restaurant. 

The three wines from left to right with the meal in front:
Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Pinot Noir

Eventually the meal came out, and what a meal it was.  The meal consisted of Lamb with apricot sauce, Tuna with sweet potato cake and mustard butter and a Kiwi/Strawberry Gelee.  These were paired with a sample of Lawson's Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Spy Vallery Riesling 2009 and Ponga Pinot Noir 2010.  

This I was not expecting!  I felt like I could find a plate that looked like this in New York City for 60 bucks and I'm only paying 18 for it!?  Not only that but this is in Eggleston!  Needless to say Marie and I were blown away.  

I sampled each of the wines before I began eating just so that I had a base on which to compare when tried with the food then I dug in.  I tried each of the wines with each of the parts of the meal and definitely found that certain wines pair better with certain parts of the meal.  

The Lawson's Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2011 I found to be quite floral on the nose with tons of tropical fruits.  It felt crisp and clean; very light bodied.  It had a good measure of melon and peach which gave the nose a bit of a sweet component.  On the palate it was actually just a bit frizante to me.  Again, it was light and crisp and remarkably clean with hints of melon and tropical fruits.  With the lamb it took on an almost grapefruit bitterness and became much dryer in my opinion.  The lamb really seemed to take all the sugar out of it.  However, with the tuna I really felt like it remained largely the same but I thought I tasted some kiwi thrown into the mix (this was probably just my imagination playing with me because I had New Zealand on the brain).  

The Spy Valley Riesling 2009 was much dryer.  It had a strong component of a mineral stoniness to it that really over powered the rest of the nose.  There were some light citrus fruits on the nose but like I said they were being overpowered.  The palate, however, was completely different.  It was a strange mixture of sweet and bitter fruits.  Tons of green apple in my opinion and lots of citrus.  It was like a totally different wine from the nose.  I found that the tuna again paired best with this wine.  After having some of the tuna it became much sweeter and smoother.  The body seemed to increase as well and the small amount of alcohol that was present seemed to disappear.  

The Ponga Pinot Noir 2010 was fantastic.  It had a nice medium bodied feel to it on the nose with lots of rich plum and cherry notes.  It was nicely smooth and earthy on the nose with no discernible heat on it.  At least that I could tell.  On the palate it was by no means sweet but the fruits really came through instantly.  It was fairly dry and tannic but worked well with the fruits.  There was a measure of spice and a smokiness as well.  There was a little heat on the end though.  The lamb paired really well with this one.  It brought out the fruits very well and seemed to tame some of the tannins and even smoothed out the alcohol.  It really was the best fit for this wine.  

Marie standing in front of the restaurant as we were leaving.
(we didn't even notice that it had gotten dark)

This meal was a complete surprise in every way.  It was one of the best meals that I have had in a very long time in one of the most uniquely humble restaurants I have been in.  The food and wine separate were great and together amazing and so was this experience.  I couldn't wait to go back again.

Winery Visit: Barrel Oak Winery

 For the past few weeks Marie and I have been making trips back and forth to the DC area for job interviews and apartment hunting.  A few times we have stopped to check out some of the wineries around along the way.  One of the wineries we stopped at was Barrel Oak winery in Delaplane, VA. 

The main building.  The tasting room is at entry level and the
 production area is below that where the slop drops off.

 We originally decided to stop there because there website made them look like a nice fun loving bunch of people that just got together to make some wine one day.  They make about 24,000 gallons of wine annually on the premises as well as have about 20,000 vines on the property.  They did say though that they import grapes from all over Virginia.  

View of the grounds from the main building

The tasting room is located above the production area in the same building.  The interior of the tasting room in reminiscent of a pseudo log cabin type feel.  Lots of stone and heavy timber framing form a cozy space around a rather large fire place.  It is all quite a nice space to have some wine.  There is also a top loft space for private tastings for larger groups and events.

Marie with a glass of the BOWHaus
 Red in the tasting room

The tasting room complete with fire place

A view of their back party deck

The day we were there they weren't giving any guided tours but encouraged us to take a self guided tour around the grounds.  It was quite nice being able to just roam about the building and the grounds as we pleased.  Below the tasting room was the production area with the large stainless steel fermentation tanks and a few barrels for aging.  They had a very cool platform from which to view all the equipment.  They also have a great back patio area with a covered pavilion and fire pits, and if you feel like a little privacy they have picnic benches set up all around the grounds closer to some of the vines.

The giant stainless steel fermentation tanks
viewed from above

Their giant 20+ foot door
(its visible from the highway!!)

Me in front of the fermentation tanks

Some of the barrels used for aging

Below is a list of the wines we were able to try during our visit to the winery:
     (Quick side note:  We also chose to stop here because being architecture students and knowing that our school was based on the ideals of the Bauhaus [a very famous design school] when we saw that they were playing with that motif we just had to stop)

• BOWHaus White 2010:  Light, fruity, sunshine  in a glass!  It is a blend of Vidal Blanc + Sauvignon Blanc.  It is Riesling reminiscent and their most popular wine.  This was the wine that still sticks out in my mind.  It had such an unusual smell and taste to it that it is hard not to remember it.  On the nose and the palate I got smacked in the face by a strange banana creamy richness that I wasn't expecting from their description.  It was still very light and crisp just as their description said it was.  
• Barrel Chardonnay 2010:  100% Chardonnay with hints of Fiji apple, Asian pear and vanilla.  Aged Sur-lie in new French Barrels.  100% malo-lactic fermentation provides a rich buttery finish.  Their description of this wine is spot on.  It was rich, and fruity on the nose with tons of bready, cheesy smells that gave it a sense of a fuller bodied wine  It did sport the vanilla from the oak as well but it was hidden in the background and I really had to concentrate to pick it up.  On the palate it was where more of the vanilla began to come through for me.  It mixed nicely with the pear but I didn't get much of a distinct apple taste.  It was a fairly full bodied wine that really coated the mouth nicely and was fairly silky in texture.  It didn't have much heat on it and wasn't overly sweet either.  
• BOWHaus Red 2009:  Chambourcin with a fine blend of Merlot, Cab Franc, Syrah, and Malbec.  Slightly off dry, very fully developed and highly quaffable.  Excellent with a wide variety of foods.  This was one of their other wines that really jumped out at you.  The scent alone made me take pause.  It was a mix of a very vegetal notes with an almost perfume jamminess that I had never really encountered before.  When I asked they said that it was the Chambourcin that I was smelling.  It had a bit of heat on the nose and seemed to be fairly light bodied.  On the palate it was not nearly as interesting as the nose.  I could sit there and smell it all day but the taste was so-so to me.  It was fairly dry with some acidity and a bit of dark berry jamminess but nothing jumped out at me.  There was also a peppery earthiness to it as well that came in on the end.  
• Merlot 2009:  This was by far my favorite wine that Marie and I tried.  Soft and sensual with balanced acidity. This fruit-forward Merlot represents ideal winemaking conditions from vine to bottle.  Barreled in American and Hungarian oak, the finish is reminiscent of espresso and warm croissant.  On the nose it was deep rich and warm.  Full of body and huge dark red fruit smells.  Plum and cherry came though nicely and was balanced by a nice level of tannic structure.  Some smoky vanilla was also present on the nose.  On the palate it was soft silky and warm.  It coated the mouth instantly and stayed for a while.  It was very nicely fruity with lots of cherry and plum coming through that helped to mellow out the tannic component.  There was also some nice soft vanilla coming through from the oak as well.  On the tale end is where the surprise was.  At first I didn't notice but after a few sips the coffee/espresso notes started to creep froward.  
• Chocolate Lab:  A beautifully crafted and totally unique dessert wine.  Port style Chambourcin infused with cocoa nibs.  This was another wine that I could just smell all day and be perfectly happy.  It had bits of the strange smells similar to the BOWHaus Red because of the Chambourcin but it was much much sweeter.  Just from the nos it seemed like it would be a very thick full bodied wine that would just coat the mouth.  It also had tons of dark chocolate notes as well.  The alcohol was very present on the nose which turned me off a little at the beginning but as I spent some time with the wine it seemed to dissipate.  It was like drinking rich red fruits [think strawberry and cherry] covered in silky dark chocolate and a touch of alcohol.  It was an easy drinker despite its high alcohol content and would be a perfect end to most any meal.   

Lopez Panach Red 2009

Bottle of Lopez Panach
Red 2009

Lopez Panach
Red wine 2009
Varietal:  Tempranillo
Albaceta, Spain
4.00 USD


Color: Deep dark garnet
Nose:  Black fruit with new wood
Palate:  Flavorsome, aromatic with lingering finish, Unfiltered
(Bottle Label)


This wine boasts a beautiful red ruby color with a purple hue; brighter than its previous vintages. This wines is fresh and bright with nuances of dark fruits like blackberries, black currants & raspberries. Inviting aromas of spices, wild flowers & violets. Fresh in the mouth with good structure, well balanced acidity & a medium finish. Lopez Panach wines represent amazing value with bright characteristics; and the 2009 Tempranillo is certainly true to that (casaventuraimports.com)


This is another wine they had at the Vintage Cellar on Friday.  It had super strong dark fruit on the nose.  Cherry and raspberry.  It was fairly dry and had a nice body to it.  It really seemed like it would stick with you just from the nose.  It also had a very pleasant floral notes as well that balanced out the fruitiness. On the palate it was dry and tannic but not overwhelmingly so.  It had nice sugars and dark rich fruit to it as well.  There was a bit of heat on it but overall fairly round to me and stuck nicely with me.  The was a very distinct cranberry aftertaste that stuck around a while after finishing.  

Accuro Torrontes 2010

Bottle of Accuro
Torrontes 2010

Accuro
Torrontes 2010
Varietal:  Torrontes
Mendoza, Argentina
5.00 USD


Created under the concept of respect for the fruit, although the use of wood can be involved in the vinification process, it seeks only to highlight and maintain its varietal character. Best consumed young (accurowines.com)


This wine was a blast to try at the vintage cellar this past Friday.  It was light and floral on the nose.  Think honey and honeysuckle and citrus.  It did also have a semi bread like note to it as well.  On the palate it had a strong presence of green apple and melon.  It was full bodied and really seemed to coat the mouth very nicely in a silky richness that seemed to really be in contrast with the citrus and fruit flavors.  I'm glad I bought a bottle of it. 

Coldstream Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Bottle of Coldstream Hills
Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Coldstream Hills 

Sauvignon Blanc2009

Varietal:  Sauvignon Blanc

Yarra Valley, Australia

14.00 USD

Although a relatively smooth vintage, this harvest will be remembered as particularly challenging with devastating bush fires and drought.  Sourced from hand picked fruit grown in the cool Upper Yarra, this wine was fermented and stored on fine lees for three months.  Attractive characters of passion fruit are evident with freshly balanced acidity. (bottle label)

The bottle label on this wine is an interesting one.  It is really telling to me about the type of wine this will be.  The information about the growing season really let me understand why this wine was the way it was.  It was fairly dry and highly acidic, there was little sweet fruit present in either the nose or the palate.  It had many of the bread and cheese-like scents on the nose as well as the palate that helped to smooth out the wine a bit.  It made it a bit rounder.   Looking at the label it says it

is 13 % alcohol which was definitely present in the 

wine both on the nose and the at the tale end of the

taste.  What surprises me is that this white with its

bad growing season was able to get to 13 % alcohol.

Makes me wonder how much sugar they had to add

in to get it that way.