WBW #44: French Cabernet Franc

Gary Vaynerchuk, director of Wine Library and the face behind Wine Library TV, is hosting this edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday. His theme is quite simple: drink a French Cabernet Franc and talk about it.

Thanks to a tip from Brooklynguy, I was able to find a good stash of 2001 Domaine des Roches Neuves Saumur-Champigny Terres Chaudes late last year. For WBW #44, this wine will do just fine.

Domaine des Roches Neuves is located in the appellation of Saumur Champigny and is owned by Thierry Germain. Thierry approaches Cabernet Franc like a Burgundy wine-maker instead of a typical Loire producer. This cuvée, Terres Chaudes (which literally translates to "Hot Earth"), represents the middle of the three cuvées Germain produces. The age of the vines for Terres Chaudes are between 35-45 years old and the yield does not exceed 35 hectolitres per hectare. Half of the wine is matured in stainless steel vat and the other half is matured in 1 year old barrel previously used for his top cuvée, the La Marginale. Thierry Germain converted to biodynamic farming starting from 2005. Upon release, Terres Chaudes can benefit from 6-8 years of bottle aging to gain further complexity.

Importer: VOS Selections, Price: $16, ABV: 12.5%, Closure: real cork

Tasting notes:
Color: Medium garnet, tight rims.

Nose: Strong notes of wet animal fur and light roasted meat upon opening. After an hour in the glass, wine opens up revealing lovely aromas of dark berries, lavender and a hint of tobacco.

Palate: Juicy and balanced. At age 7, the acidity is still fresh but the tannins is already quite resolved. Flavors include tart berries interlaced with layers of dust, smoke and tar. The texture is really smooth. Concentrated fruit but a (tiny) bit rustic.

Body: Medium

Finish: Medium in length. Mainly tart berries supported by dusty notes of sandalwood, herbs and a slight touch of spiciness. A bit of animal funk adds complexity to the finish.

Comments:
Terres Chaudes, like all Cabernet Franc, is a versatile food wine. It is a perfect match for mild goat cheese, beef stew or even lamb.

Aside from being elegant, smooth and delicious, another great aspect of this bottle is that there is no "raw vegetable" or "steminess" that a lot of people dislike in Cabernet Franc. (Maybe this is due to sufficient bottle aging)

the 2001 Terres Chaudes is at the peak of its drinking window at the time of writing. Although I really don't see any benefit from further bottle aging, it should continue to drink well for another 2-3 years.

For a $16 wine, it really blows away a lot of competition that cost twice as much. Wish I can find more.

Note: the 2005 vintage is still quite affordable, currently selling for $20 at PJ Wine.

WBW #43: Comfort Wines

Joel at Wine Life Today provided the assignment for Wine Blogging Wednesday #43:

“Choose a wine, any wine, that you love to unwind to and tell us about not only the wine but what makes the experience special and relaxing for you!”

In my mind, comfort food is typically inexpensive, uncomplicated, and easy to prepare. By the same token, a comfort wine should complement comfort food in the following ways: easy to find, comfortable to drink and light on your wallet.

In the current economic climate, inflation of wine price is down right scary!Comfort wines that are 'best bang for the buck' are not easy to come by (Well, two buck chuck does not count!). What makes the wine I am going to recommend so special is its high QPR value. Aside from being tasty, just by knowing the fact that every time when I open a bottle to share at any occassion is not going to break my bank is enough to make the drinking experience 'relaxing and special'.

The Wine: 2003 Royal Oporto Douro Porca de Murça Red

ABV: 13%, Price: $5, Importer: Admiral Wine Imports

Porca de Murça is produced by Real Companhia Velha in Portugal. The company has a very nice website in English highlighting their history, culture and products. The grapes of Porca de Murça are sourced from vineyards in the Douro region owned by Real Vinicola. The varieties in this wine is composed of Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz and Barroca. Real Companhia Velha also makes a white wine under the Porca de Murça label that sells for about the same price.

Tasting Notes:

Color: Slightly murky, medium garnet.

Nose: Fairly straight forward. Mostly candied cherry.

Palate: Albeit one dimensional, it is quite balanced. Acidity does poke out at times. Fairly concentrated flavor of ripe cherries supported by hints of oak. Light Tannins.

Body: Medium at best.

Finish: Short to medium. red fruit and slightly pepperish. As wine opens, there is also a note of black tea detected.

Comment:

Although Porca de Murça does fine as sipping wine, it performs much better with food. This wine just sings when paired with a dishes such as maple-garlic pork tenderloin.

Note: I have tasted the '03, '04 and the '05 vintages of this wine and the quality is consistent across all the vintages. The best part is that you can still find the 2005 vintage retails for $5, especially in New York City, at Astor and PJ Wine. How special and comforting is that?

WBW #42: Round Up

Andrew Barrow wasted no time in posting the round-up of WBW #42.

Participation of Wine Blogging Wednesday, started by Lenn Thompson has seen linear growth since its inception. For this installment, 54 wine bloggers from around the world have accepted the challange.

From reading all the entries, I am amazed how talented our fellow wine bloggers are. The titles are so creative. You know, everybody can describe a wine, but to painting a visual picture in just seven word requires a lot of thinking. Compare to the others, my description is just plain lousy! Oh well! I wish there will be more mind-tweaking exercises like this for the wine blogging community in the future.

WBW #42: An Italian Red in Just Seven Words

The 42nd installment of Wine Blogging Wednesday is hosted by Andrew Barrow of Spitton. His challenge for us is to describe an Italian red wine in JUST SEVEN WORDS.

Well, I have to admit this exercise is really fun but also very difficult, especially for folks like myself whose first language is not even English. Fortunately, Super Bowl XLII bailed me out in helping me to find the appropriate description for the Sicilian red I tasted. (It is a coincidence that this is also the 42nd installment of WBW)

The wine : 2005 Planeta Cerasuolo di Vittoria

The description : The Patriots' Collapse in Super Bowl XLII

I have to apologize here that my phrase will not make any sense to folks who are not familiar with American football or NFL. So, I provide a a little background on Super Bowl XLII and why I choose this phrase to describe the 2005 Cerasuolo di Vittoria:

The New England Patriots and the New York Giants played on Feb 3rd, 2008 for the 42nd championship game of National Football League (NFL). The game is called Super Bowl XLII. The Patriots had touted an explosive offense and a strong defense throughout the entire football season. They had won every single game coming to the Super Bowl with an 18-0 record. However, during the game of Super Bowl, their offensive performance did not exhibit the expected explosiveness. Instead, it was actually quite light weight and one dimensional throughout. Their defense also fell flat and fizzled in strength. Ultimately, the Patriots collapased and lost to the Giants by a score of 14-17 thereby falling short in finish; abruptly ending a dream of 'the perfect season'.

If my short summary of Super Bowl XLII is confusing, NFL.COM provides a much better coverage on this event.

Now to the wine, Cerasuolo di Vittoria is produced by the Planeta family in Sicily. They have a very nice website in English. This wine is composed of two indigenous varieties: 60% Nero d’Avola and 40% Frappato. All the grapes of this wine are harvested from the Dorilli vineyard.

This wine has ABV of 13.5% and I paid $19 for it. (Sadly, with the weak US/Euro exchange rate, the 2006 vintage is selling for $22 - $25).

Tasting notes:

Nose: Explosive aroma of raspberry.
[ Analogy: the initial showing of the Patriots’ explosive appearance ]

Color: Clear ruby.

Palate: Fairly one dimensional with flavor of mostly strawberry and raspberry. Very fruit forward with notes of pepper. Good acidity but not particularly mouth coating.
[ Analogy: appearance of the Patriots’ one dimensional performance during the game ]

Body: Light to medium
[ Analogy: Patriots showing up as a light weight team ]

Finish: Mostly red fruits. Clean but short finish.
[ Analogy: abrupt finish to the Patriot’s season, falling short of expectation ]

Comments:
Planeta Cerasuolo di Vittoria reminds me of a mid-level Beaujolais. It is actually a good food wine to pair with for light fares such as roasted chicken or roast beef sandwich. However, for $20+, the QPR value on this wine is just barely ok.

WBW #40: Petite Sirah

The theme of Wine Blogging Wednesday #40, as selected by Sanadora at Wannabewino, is petite sirah. WBW was started by Lenn Thompson of LennDevours.

Wines made from the petite sirah variety are usually bold, pleasant to drink, although not highly distinctive; and can age slowly and have long cellaring potential.

Today, petite sirah vines are mostly planted in warm wine regions. Most of the petite sirah vines grown in the U.S. can be found in California. Until recently, this variety has been considered as the same as Durif, a French variety created by one Dr. François Durif in the 1870s. No one seemed to be able to pin point the exact origin of this grape until 2003 when Dr. Carole P. Meredith, a renowned grape geneticist at U.C. Davis, used modern DNA fingerprinting techniques to identify that 9 out of 10 petite sirah vines found in U.S. are actually Durif and the rest are peloursin (a southern France indigenous variety). She also identified that Durif is a cross of peloursin and true syrah. “Peloursin is the mother and syrah is the father.”, she explained.

I have mentioned in a previous post that both my wife and I loved the petit sirah produced by Guenoc. For WBW 40, I went back to the same producer and drank a 1998 Guenoc Petite Sirah North Coast. This vintage shows 14.4% ABV and cost us $17 at full retail.

Tasting notes:

Nose: Dominated by oak and roasted meat upon initial sniff. After considerable breathing, aroma of plum with hints of herb show up nicely.

Color: Inky purple with very tight rims, no sign of fading.

Palate: Still youthful, this bottle shows up in a rather feminine style with rich and jammy black fruits(plum and blackberry). Note of black tea also detected. Not powerful but shows smooth mouthfeel with a great balance of fruits, acidity and tannins.

Body: Full.

Finish: Fairly long. Notes of plum, vanilla and black pepper.

Comments:
This bottle is a good example in demonstrating how durable a petite sirah wine can be.

In addition to Guenoc North Coast not being considered a top-level petite sirah and the 1998 vintage is just so so as far as CA vintage goes, this particular bottle was bought from a retail store with less than optimal storing condition.

Under the aforementioned unfavorable conditions, a lot of wines would have fallen apart, but this particular bottle holds up well and sees no sign of fading after all these years. As a matter of fact, it is still in peak drinking condition when we drank it for WBW.

Petite Sirah needs food. It is actually too thick and jammy to sip on its own. Paring it with braised lamb belly, the food and wine matches really well.

WBW #39: Sliver Burgundy

It is great to have Neil, aka the Brooklynguy, to host the 39th installment of Wine Blogging Wednesday originally started by Lenn. Neil is passionate about French wines and his favorite regions are Burgundy, Lorie and Champagne. The theme he proposed this time is ‘Silver-Burgundy’ where participants have to seek out wines from outside of the infamous Côte d'Or region. In fact, he only allows wine produced from the regions of Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais to be discussed.

I am still climbing the steep and expansive learning curve of understanding wines from Burgundy, partly because of the unfavorable US/Euro exchange rate and partly due to the highly touted 2005 vintage where prices are unrealistic. Furthermore, wine prices from the lesser vintages such as the 2003 and 2004 have been inflated by at least 10 to 25% recently. In spite of these conditions, I found 2 lovely and affordable Burgundies to be shared in this WBW. Both of these wines are imported by VOS Selections.

2003 DomaineChofflet-Valdenaire, Givry, Chalonnaise
2005 Domaine Thomas Tradition, Saint-Véran, Mâconnais

2003 Chofflet-Valdenaire, Givry
ABV: 13%, Price: $22

Background information:
The Chofflet-Valdenaire estate, located in the hillside hamlet of Russily, has been in their family for over 100 years. Today, Jean Chofflet’s son-in-law Denis Valdenaire runs the 11-hectare domaine. Theestate’s Givry AOC comes from several vineyard parcels. The grapes are entirely hand-harvested and 100% destemmed. It is aged half in tank, half in two to three year casks for one year before bottling. They also produce two single vineyard cuvee being produced, Givry 1er Cru Clos de Choue and Givry 1er Cru Clos Jus.

Tasting Notes:

Color: Clear medium ruby. Tight rims.
Nose: Notes of ripe cherry. Initial funk, which my wife describes as rotten lettuce, that blows off after a while in the glass.
Palate: Juicy sour cherries giving way to notes of sage and earth.Slightly dusty tannins and lively acidity support the very balanced mouth feel. The fruit flavor is fairly focused.
Body: Light to medium.
Finish: Medium length with notes of cherry, dried herb, earth and black pepper.

2005 Domaine Thomas Tradition, Saint-Véran ABV: 13%, Price: $18

Background information:
Domaine Thomas was created in 1934 and now extends over 12 hectares on southwest facing slopes. They have been estate bottling the majority of the wine production since 1987, specializing in St-Veran. Lucien Thomas, owner and winemaker, produces his St-Veran from old-vines planted around a remarkable, single-block, south-southwest facing amphitheater vineyard. The St-Veran is made from 40-50 year old vines. Domaine Thomas also produces a St-Veran Vieilles Vignes made from a block of vines that are 70 years old. Neither of these 2 wines is treated with oak in order to preserve the terrior and the fullest expression of fruit.

Tasting Notes:

Color: Light golden.
Nose: Expressive aroma of pear and lemon. Notes of stones.
Palate: Fairly concentrated. Ripe pear and lemon zest flavors supported by lively acidity and undertone of minerals.
Body: Medium.
Finish: Slight peppery and bitter notes that support a long citrus flavor. The finish is very clean.

Comments:
While not particularly complex, both of these wines are very food friendly. They are straightforward wines for simple and homey dishes. The Chofflet-Valdenaire pairs very well with an earthy but light Cantonese dish of Steamed Chicken with tiger lily and fungus. On the other hand, the Domaine Thomas, being a unoaked Chardonnay, is a good match for the steamed black sea bass we prepared.


For folks who would like to know the recipe of Steamed Chicken with tiger lily and fungus, the recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:
Half a dressed chicken (about 1.5 lbs)
4 Chinese dried mushrooms
1/2 oz. Dried tiger lily [honey suckle flower]
1oz. Cloud ear fungus
4 Red dates
1 Tbsp chopped ginger
1 Tbsp Chopped garlic
2 twigs of Cilantro (optional, for garnish)

Seasonings:
1 Tbsp Light soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp Dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp Ginger wine [We use the Domaine Thomas instead]
1 1/2 tsp Cornstarch
A dash of Sesame oil

Sauces:
1 cup of Water
1/2 Tbsp Light soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp Oyster sauce
1 tsp Sugar
A dash of Sesame oil

Note: All the ingredients above are readily available in any Chinese grocery stores.

Preparation:
Chop chicken into pieces. Season and marinate for 1/2 to 1 hour. Soak and rinse mushrooms, tiger lily, fungus and dates. Quarter the dates and discard the pits if present. Tie each tiger lily with an overhand knot. Cut mushrooms into thin slices.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil, sauté garlic and ginger until fragrant. Stir-fry chicken until 60% done, add remaining ingredients and sauce. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until done. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

WBW #38: Portuguese Table Wine with Caveats!

Lenn Thompson’s theme for Wine Blogging Wednesday 38 is Portuguese Table Wine. Our gracious host, Gabriella and Ryan at Catavino, has added a few restrictions to the game: no Port wines, no red wine from Douro, no Mateus and Lancers Rose, no Vinho Verde and no Madeira are allowed.

To play by the rules, two entry level Portuguese wines will be discussed for this WBW:
2003 Pedra do Urso from the Beira Interior region
2006 Monte das Ânforas from the Alentejano region

Wine 1: 2003 Pedra do Urso
Price paid: $3 (2006 sale at Astor but this is available in Portugal for €3)

The Beiras region is located in north-central Portugal around the highest mountain ranges of the country, Serra da Estrela. Pedra do Urso (literally means the rock of the bear) is also a popular rock climbing site near the town of Covilhã with boulders scattered all over a high plateau at over 2500 feet.

Adega Cooperativa da Covilhã is the coop that produces Pedra do Urso. Initially, sale of bulk wines is the company’s main business since its inception in 1954. Since the 70’s, it has moved into producing and bottling their own wines. Today, the coop has almost 1200 members with around 1500 hectares of vines, producing around 4 million bottles per year.

Pedra do Urso is a red blend using grapes such as Marufo, Periquita and Touriga Nacional among others. It is not filtered and bottled 12 months after harvest. ABV is 12.5%

Tasting notes:

Color: Light ruby.

Nose: Port like aroma upon opening. After 30 minutes, aroma of red fruit pops out with a metallic (iron) undertone. Hints of smoke with continuous presence of bret (in a good way).

Palate: Sour cherry and salty olive flavor, hints of leather supported by bright acidity and light tannins.

Body: Light but smooth.

Finish: Short with primary red cherry notes.

Wine 2: 2006 Monte das Ânforas Tinto
Price paid: $6 (at Astor)

Vinho Regional Alentejano is located in the south east of Portugal, near the border of Spain. It is often referred to as the ‘bread basket’ of Portugal. Fertile lands are reserved for wheat growing while poorer soil is used for olive tree, oak and vineyards. In contrast to the hilly Beiras with cool climates, Alentejano is mostly flat plains where the climate is much warmer.

Monte das Ânforas is an entry-level wine produced at Herdade das Ânforas, one of the four wineries owned by Bacalhôa Vinhos de Portugal S.A. According to notes from the producer:

“The vineyards are located in three regions that are very well suited to Alentejano wine production: Portalegre, Borba and Moura. … the grapes are picked and quickly transported in small trucks to our “Monte das Ânforas” cellar in Arraiolos, where each grape variety, from each vine, undergoes separate vinification in small tanks (10 T). Part of the wine is then aged in Portuguese oak casks before it is bottled.”

2006 Monte das Ânforas Tinto is a blend of 40% Aragonez, 30% Trincadeira, 10% Alfrocheiro.
ABV is 13.5%.

Tasting notes:

Color: Dark ruby.
Nose: Cherry aroma in kool-aid style with a spearmint undertone, slightly alcoholic nose.
Palate: Soft and supple, fruit forward with flavors of high-toned cherry and raspberry jam, hints of rose petal. No noticeable tannins and very low acidity.
Body: Light but round.
Finish: Short and peppery with slightly bitter aftertaste. Fruit flavor is mostly cherry.

[Note] We finish this wine in 2 days. On the 2nd day, the flavor profile of Ânforas has actually changed to resemble a light Beaujolais with more intense cherry flavor and pronounced spiciness.

Comments:
Interestingly, the website of Bacalhôa offers food pairing recommendation on most of their wines. For Monte das Ânforas Tinto, they suggest Grilled Octopus with potatoes. However, there is no food pairing suggestion for Pedra do Urso on the producer's website.

Pedra do Urso is much more traditional in style when compared to the Monte das Ânforas which has ‘in your face’ style fruit. Although both wines are drinking well now, Pedra do Urso can be cellared for 1-2 more years without seeing any significant decline. On the other hand, Monte das Ânforas has relatively low cellaring potential based on its lack of acidity.

In spite of their relatively monolithic flavor profiles and lack of character, there are far worse plonks from around the world at this price point. Are these 2 wines good? Not really! Are these 2 wines a true representaives of what Portuguese wine is about? Absolutely NOT! However, considering the price paid, both Pedra do Urso and Monte das Ânforas do provide good QPR values and fit the bill as simple 'Portuguese table wines'.

These wines DO complement a variety of food dishes of rich flavors due to their relatively low alcohol content. As an experiment, we took them to dinner with friends in a Chinese restaurant and ordered food such as chicken in scallion ginger sauce, sweet and sour pork chop, pan fried T-bone steak, stir fried vegetable with dried squid, casserole of eggplant cooked with salted fish and chicken. Both wine showed well in pairing with the above dishes.

WBW #37 : indigenous grape varieties

The theme for WBW 37, hosted by Dr. Vino, is indigenous grape varieties. Selection of an off-beat grape variety and comparison of wines from its ancestral home AND a new home is also highly encouraged.

Tannat, depicted by appellationamerica.com as a wolf man, shall be used as the grape varietal for this WBW discussion. This grape is native to the Madiran AOC in southwestern France where the wines Midiran and Armagnac are produced. In the 19th century, tannat found a new home in South America when wine growers imported this grape to their countries. Today, tannat has flourished in Uruguay and become its ‘noble’ grape.

Although well known for their fierce tannins, tannat wines can provide exceptional value for consumers due to their relative low costs and abilities to age; especially those made by good producers in good years. As for this WBW theme, we shall compare two wines, one from Midiran, France and the other from Colonia, Uruguay.

From France: 2001 Château de Perron

Wine Spectator claimed Château de Perron as one of top valued wines of 2005 and gave it a score of 90 points. It is a blend of 65% Tannat, 20% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. However, the sad story about Château de Perron is that 2001 is the last vintage. The owner sold his vineyard after a divorce and the new owner chose not to continue it's production. This wine is now extremely difficult to find on the retail market.
ABV: 12.5%. Price paid: $12

Color: Dark purple.

Nose: Initial burst of ripe berry, meat and leather. With air, slight hint of tobacco is also noticed.

Palate: Consistent notes of ripe berry, leather and oak. Tannins initially overpower the fruit even after 6 years in the bottle. It keeps on gaining weight and depth with air and tannins eventually smooth out after 30 minutes or so in the glass.

Body: Medium.

Finish: Medium with grainy and dry tannins. Strong notes of black tea.

From Uruguay: 2000 Los Cerros De San Juan Cuna de Piedra Oak Reserve

Los Cerros de San Juan Wine & Cellar S.A just celebrated its 150 years of wine making in 2005. According to the producer’s website, this 100% tannat wine, Cuna de Piedra is first produced in 1994 to celebrate its 140 years anniversary. This wine is made from mature grapes harvested from 50 and 100 year old vineyards. The company also makes another wine from 100% tannat, Maderos de San Juan Tannat, from younger vines. However, like a lot of wines from Uruguay, the availability for either one of them in U.S. is quite limited.
ABV: 13%. Price paid: $15

Color: Dark ruby approaching purple.

Nose: Primarily blueberry with wet leaf aroma. Hints of toasted oak; giving way to notes of cedar and tar.

Palate: Dark berry, leather, wood and hint of earthiness. Acidity is very lively. The structure is quite robust and the tannins does not overpower the fruit. Good mouth feel.

Body: Medium to full.

Finish: Medium with tart cherry and spicy notes. Hints of chocolate.

Conclusions:
Neither Perron nor Cuna de Piedra is a sipping wine. By themselves, they are very rustic and not particularly enjoyable. Their true color shines through when matched with the proper food. We paired them with grilled rib steak and mushroom and both wines are just marvelous.

These two wines offer great QPR values. Although not elegant, they are big, powerful and further cellaring of 3-5 years may be required to fully integrate all the components. Cuna de Piedra is a more modern wine when compared to Château de Perron. At the time of writing, the Piedra is actually more approachable than the Perron.

Both wines are tested over a 3-day period (vacuum pumped and refrigerated). At the end of the test, Cuna de Piedra holds up really well keeping most of the elements together. The Perron, on the other hand, loses a lot of the fruit on the 3rd day while the tannins and the taste of wood become almost unbearable. One concern for Château de Perron for longer term cellaring is that eventually there may not be enough fruit to support the tannins. Ah, but for this, only time can tell!

WBW #34: Washington State Cabernet - 2004 Pitch

The theme for WBW 34, hosted by Catie, is Washington State Cabernet, especially from the Walla Walla Valley Appellation. I have to admit that my knowledge of Washington State wine is limited, let alone wines from the Walla Walla region.

Browsing through a lot of wine stores in NYC, there are plenty of wines from Columbia Valley, but rarely would I came across one from Walla Walla. If I find one from that region, it rarely fits my budget. Well, my luck changed last week when I found this wine, 2004 Pitch Cabernet Sauvignon from Astor Wines at $13 full retail.

The 2004 Pitch is made up of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot & 25% Syrah. 14.4% abv. Not only is this wine not 100% cabernet Sauvignon, it a wine made with grapes grown outside of the Walla Walla appellation. However, the back label says 'Bottled by Dusted Valley Vintners, Walla Walla WA'. Well, a wine made with grapes sourced from Columbia Valley and bottled at Walla Walla? This should satisfy Catie's theme for this WBW.

Tasting Notes

Color: Dark Garnet with purple hue.

Nose: Big Cherry and oak at first; also yielding hints vanilla after wine opens.

Palate: A real fruit bomb. Full of dark berries - cassis and cherries. Integrated with notes of vanilla and oak. Angular and slightly thin.

Body: Medium.

Finish: Medium, sweetness of fruit with hint of chocolate. A mild touch of tannins.

Comment: Match this wine with a grilled shell steak and portebella mushroom, not particularly a great match but it works. It would match better with a rich pasta dish or grilled pork chop with apple sauce. As far as QPR is concerned, even at $13, I can find wines of better QPR out there.

WBW #33 : Mid-Priced Midi Wines

Domaine De Lavabre is an ancient estate located at the foot of the Cevennes mountains in the appellation of the Pic Saint-Loup, north of Montpellier in the Lnguedoc region.

Rescued from dilapidation by Olivier Bridel from Normandy, Domaine de Lavabre is now one of the foremost properties in the Languedoc. Traditional grapes including Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvèdre and Syrah are planted in this estate.

Three A.O.C. red wines are produced by Domaine De Lavabre:

Domain de Lavabre - an entry level cuvee
Les Demosielles de Lavabre - a mid tier red
Chateau Lavabre - top cuvee

The wine I contributed to the tasting here for WBW 33 is 2001 Chateau Lavabre Pic St. Loup. It has a whopping 14% alcohol by volume. Paid $25 in full retail from ViNOViNO, a shop in NYC that specializes in artisanal and estate bottled wines.

Tasting Notes:

Color: Deep garnet

Nose: Powerful aroma of roast meat, garrigue, dark fruit. Slightly alcoholic (not surprising with the 14% alcohol.)

Palate: Waves of cherry and blackberry that follows the nose. Very concentrated. Good acidity with firm backbone with a spicy backend. Tannins is still a bit harsh at this time.

Body: Medium

Finish: Medium long. Hints of earth.

Comments:
This wine does take a while to open up in the glass. Once it opens up, this wine holds up well for over 3 hours.
It is delicious right now but should be even better with 2 to 3 years of cellar time when all the elements are further integrated.
Drank it over 4 days (refrigerated with pump and vacuum). The alcohol and tannins softened up on the 3rd day but still held up well.