this heaven gives me migraine

Sokol Blosser "Meditrina" II

Notes: This was actually sent to me (hooray for free wine) and it was exciting because I like its white-grape sister, Evolution 9, which is fun to drink. So this is an interesting wine to check out, especially since I didn't know it existed. This is the second release of the blend (indeed, you can know that by the tiny "II" on the label), and this year it is 48% Pinot Noir (most from the Sokol Blosser vineyards in Oregon), 39% Syrah (from Lodi in California and Columbia Valley in Washington), and 13% Zinfandel (also from Lodi).

It's very bright ruby in the glass and it looks young and fun. Nose of chlorine swimming pool, blackberry, and black cherry. As it warms up, you get more of the Pinot Noir in the nose: an earthy black cherry smell. There is a snap of CO2 when it first hits the tongue, which chills out once it sits out for a while, and then Zinfandel dominates the mid-palate with a sweet spice and fruit, and the Syrah dominates the backend, with a tarry black lingering finish. Nice acid, lots of fruit, some pepperiness and astringency at the finish, not much tannin.

It's totally a fun and easy-drinking red... not challenging, not strange, not anything but spice and fruit and, well, okay, a little chlorine swimming pool (which isn't a fault in this instance, I don't think, even though it could be: it's just something I picked up, which seems to have turned into Pinot Noir funk and spice once a little air got to it). It's also got a cute label even though I kind of hate myself for even thinking that, let alone saying it here. The snappiness on the tongue is slight and even though I don't love that in a red wine (I like it in whites) it wasn't overbearing or horrible.

I should probably give this a B+, but, like everything else in my life right now, I find that I am vaguely dissatisfied about wine. I am not even sure what it is I am looking for, but everything seems to fall short. I guess right now my glass is half-empty. But this was at least a tasty half-glass of something.

Cost: $18

Overall: B/B+

2003 Ridge Lytton Estate Late Harvest Zinfandel

Notes: This is something odd for me, a bottle of Ridge and I have no idea from where it came. Either this was a semidrunken purchase at the winery at some point or one of my ATP shipments (which, upon further investigation, it is). I probably should have let it age another year or two before drinking it. Oh, hindsight. But it was a Friday night after a long week of walking specs and filing bugs and sometimes you want something ridiculous and fruity that doesn't go at all with the pizza you end up eating for dinner and well, it just happens. I am a little tired of opening funky/corked/somehow bad French regional wines and this was a promise of something clean and simple and drinkable.

Anyway, it was pleasant company while watching bad movies. Well, a bad movie (hello, Red Eye).

And, since it was an ATP wine, that means I have another one socked away in storage so I can wait a while and have that when it is a little more evolved and I can do it up properly with a cheese plate, the way it should be had.

Deep ruby in the glass, purple red. The nose jumps out at you; bramble, hot blackberry and strawberry, with some toasty wood mixed in there. Slightly hot, alcoholic nose which isn't a surprise considering it is late picked (some of the grapes were almost 32 brix when picked and the wine itself is 16.1% alcohol). Mouthwateringly fruity when it hits the palate, full of raspberry. Clear raspberry with a somewhat minty/eucalyptus finish. Slight tannins and dryness, but not much, and the finish is mostly dominated by a vanilla flavor (the wine was aged in 20 percent new American oak, which explains that). The wine has 2.6 grams/liter of residual sugar, so the finish is definitely on the sweeter side even though it isn't overly syrupy or desserty.

Cost: $26

Overall: B+

2003 Delas Côtes du Ventoux

Notes: This is my desperate attempt to do something for Wine Blogging Wednesday 19, despite the fact that I had a crazy busy weekend involving not only work, but an emergency room and a dislocated elbow (not mine, thankfully), and didn't make it to the wine store or my wine storage, so any good or interesting blends I might have around or at my disposal were, well, not at my disposal. I am also working late Wednesday so I had to pre-drink and write all this up. Oh, the trials!

Anyway, I had to root around in the wine I keep in the house here and find something that would work. I do have a thing for Rhône blends, so I had some stuff lying around, but sadly nothing was very interesting. Mostly Grenache/Syrah blends, and this bottle won out simply by being a Grenache/Syrah/Carignane blend, which gave it one-third more interestingness and blendedness. And blending wine is not easy... I have had to do it in a wine class and it is harder than you think to come up with something tasty and balanced. It is very easy to end up with a muddy, difficult wine, and that is exactly what I had in my glass when I got done.

I think it is a bottle I got through the K&L wine club or picked up there when I was doing a run for cheap bottles to drink. This wine is a Côtes du Ventoux Contrôlée, which means it comes from a specific area between the Rhône and Provence, an area that has climactic conditions similar to the Rhône. A main feature of the limestone-ridden landscape is Mont Ventoux, rumored locally to be the source of the Mistral (the bitterly cold wind that blows through the Rhône).

Delas Frères has been around since 1836, and despite being bought by first Deutz in 1978 and then Roderer in 1993, flew low and under the radar for years, making so-so wines that did not receive much acclaim. In 1997 Jacques Grange took over (he who revitalized Chapoutier and served under Jean Luc Colombo). He turned things around and started paying close attention to vineyard and cellar practices. No more heavy-handed fining or filtration, careful pruning, and judicious use of oak improved the wines' reputations and gave new life to Delas.

This is a bright purple-red in the glass, and looks pretty young. The nose is slightly hot, and has plum, blackberry, and tobacco, along with peppery spice. It might be fading slightly because there is not a lot of fruit on the palate. It's not old, per se, but not as bright as it might have been when younger. The palate is all about chalky leather and pepper. There is some ripe fruit quality there, more blackberry and cherry, but not a ton of it. When first opened the finish had a bitter rigidity that you know I will blame on the Carignane, but after a while of being open that seemed to dissipate somewhat (I can still taste it's cardboardy-ness, though, so it did not go away completely). The finish, heavy on the savory spice and pepper, is a little short, but really, it is pleasant enough for a ten-dollar bottle of wine. Not particularly memorable, but drinkable and good enough.

I imagine other wines in their portfolio are more interesting and might have made a more interesting entry for WBW19, but this one was worthy in that you can tell what aspects it gets from the Syrah (pepper, blackberry), Grenache (spicy herbs, cherry) and Carignane (rigidity, bitterness).

Cost: $10

Overall: B-

NV Billecart-Salmon Rosé

Notes: We picked up this bottle a while ago since everyone made such a fuss about the stuff and, well, why not see what all the fuss is about? It sat around until we closed on the house (finally... after three months and a week I thought the house would never close and the bottle would never get drunk) and then it seemed fitting for the occasion. So I admit I had kind of high expectations.

I hope the house fares better than this bottle. I mean, it was not bad... it was quite fine but really kind of underwhelming. I understand that Billecart-Salmon is all about understatement, but I was really looking for a little more excitement in the bottle. It was technically okay, but not very interesting, overall.

Oddly yellowy orange in the glass...salmonish at best, but hardly pink at all unless you sit in somewhere like our living room and look at it under subdued lighting. It's downright gold in bright light. Roses and strawberry in the nose, along with toast and hay. In the mouth it is not as lush as one would expect from the nose... it's yeasty and beery, and only through some aspiration can you get much berry character out of it (it is nice when you do, though). It's got an almondlike finish with some bitterness and is quite dry.

With a little air and time the almondlike finish turned to apples (granny smiths with a little cream) and a little more strawberry started to come through on the palate. I thought it was nicer with some open bottle time, but overall I was a little neutral on it. I am not sure what I was expecting, and really, I wouldn't kick it out of bed or anything, but I was underwhelmed. I think I was hoping for the 1995 La Grande Dame (my holy grail of Champagne) or something along those lines. Which is, of course silly of me.

Cost: $65

Overall: B

Spanish wine

This tasting happened February 18, 2005 at K&L. I was eager to go since I told someone I would find him a good, light (read: traditional) Tempranillo and every time I picked up a bottle, it ended up being a big, black-fruit, Parker-styled beast of a wine, and not at all what I wanted. I started thinking that I had been imagining lighter Tempranillo styles but finally came across an Izadi Rioja that I thought was exactly what I wanted, even though I figured I would check out this tasting as well. Funnily, the Izadi was included in the tasting and it was, of the 13 wines tasted, my favorite, still. So the tasting was maybe pointless but it was a fascinating tasting nonetheless, and I realized a few things:

1- I mentally categorize red wines into "black" or "red" based on general fruit profile and overall flavors (in this case I was looking for a red and not a black. Only two of the wines we tasted (well, three) counted as red to me, so it is good one of them worked out.
2- Tempranillo, at least what we tasted, is a lot darker than I remember (I am guessing my memory really sucks).
3- I don't like it when Cabernet Sauvignon gets into my Tempranillo. Well, sometimes.
4- 2001 was a better year for Spain than 2003.

It got crowded as it always does these days, and you have to juggle around and taste and write your notes on your clipboard (or on the counter, if you get there early like me and can stake out a good spot). Like Italian wines, Spanish wines really need food, so tasting them this way isn't ideal, because a cracker every now and then isn't really real food. Life is hard, sometimes, isn't it?

2004 Bodegas Y Vinedos Luna Beberide Mencia, Bierzo - 100% Mencia - ($13) From the area of Spain directly north of Portugal. The Mencia grape is possibly related to Cabernet Franc. Dark purple with a soapy, violet, blackberry jam nose, it is strong and tannic in the mouth. There is black fruit and some rocky minerality there but it wasn't very exciting and I wasn't thrilled by it, although I realize it had the misfortune of being the first wine tasted and that wine is always at a disadvantage. Also, it definitely needed food. 7.

2001 Viña Izadi Crianza, Rioja (Alavesa) - 90% Tempranillo, 5% Mazuelo, 5% Graciano - ($15) Light burgundy in the glass and with a goregous nose of cherries, it plies you with a lot of sour cherry in the mouth and finishes with a very slight cough drop/cardamom flavor. It has a rough, warm finish... not tannic, but nicely astringent, probably a result of the 14 months it spent in American oak. 9.

2001 Bodegas Y Vinedos Pujanza, Rioja (Alavesa) - 100% Tempranillo - ($25) Darker burgundy than the Izadi, I found it was hard to get much off the nose...some lead and tobacco with some cherry down underneath somewhere. There is black fruit but not much of it, and the finish is all leather and tannins. 7.5

2003 Artadi Viñas de Gaín, Rioja (Alavesa) - 100% Tempranillo - ($22) Blackish purple in the glass, really dark. A wacky almost floral nose that has a strange element of hazelnut in it (I am thinking, since to me it smelled like nuts and plastic, and I mean that in a nice way). It has a lot of fruit up front and an oaky softly tannic finish with lingering plum and cherry. It's a very feminine wine and very pretty. 8.

2004 El Quintanal, Ribera del Duero - 100% Tempranillo - ($11) First bottle had a must problem of some sort where it tasted and smelled musty. We got out a second one to check, and indeed, it was much cleaner. It's dark purple with a nose of thyme and herbs and is very black cherry-like and placid in the mouth, with a burst of herb, oak, and fruit at the finish. The nose is what I think of as shiny and hard... it's not rough and warm but has very precise smells in it. It's a savory-type wine, and for the price it is very nice. 8.

2001 Arzuaga Crianza, Ribera del Duero - 100% Tempranillo - ($26) Brownish-purple and with a nose full of tons of black fruit, along with leaf litter and tobacco. Loads of black plummy fruit in the mouth and some tobacco and oak on the finish. Very pleasant. 8.

2003 Finca Luzón Altos de Luzón, Jumilla - 50% Monastrell, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Tempranillo - ($14) Burgundy-black, smells like a Cab to me... lots of mocha and blackberry and currant. Has a nice spicy peppery finish, but feels heavy and dull after the previous wines. 7.

2003 Pago Florentino, La Mancha - 100% Tempranillo - ($17) Made by the Arzaga people. All about black fruit. Dark in the glass, dark in the mouth. Has a nice astringency. I really liked the first taste, but the second proved to be cloying and I wasn't so sure. Had a little too much jam in it for me... kind of Australian in sensibility. 7.5.

2003 Celler de Cantonella Cervoles Tinto, Costers del Segre - 41% Tempranillo, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Grenache, 11% Merlot - ($25) This is the second of the "red" wines, and is medium burgundy in the glass. This one is all cough syrup all the time. It's pleasant enough, though, since the slightly-medicinal sour cherry thing works for me. It also has a slight bitterness on the finish that lingers. The Cabernet isn't as noticeable here. 8.

2003 Vetus, Toro - 100% Tempranillo, maybe - ($20) Made by the Izadi people, and sports a pretty spiffy minimal label. Dark, black, with a lot of rough tannins and could probably sit around for a while to good effect. In the same rough, warm style as the Izadi. 8.5

2004 Bodegas Quinta de la Quietud "Corral de Campanas", Toro - 100% Tinto de Toro, maybe - ($22) From the former owners of Château Cheval Blanc. Dark purple and with a lot of oaky tinderbox and hope chest smells in the nose along with some mocha and cherry. Lots of big, extracted fruit descending to a prickly acid finish. A huge wine. 8.

2001 Quinta de la Quietud Muestra, Toro - 100% Tinto de Toro, maybe - ($35) Reddish black, dark. Smells like an attic filled with old papers. Lots of very ripe brambly blackberry and raspberry in the mouth. Very pretty and elegant overall. 8.5.

1996 Arzuaga Gran Reserva, Ribera del Duero - 100% Tempranillo, maybe - ($125) This was a bonus bottle opened up because everyone in the store wanted to try it. Very brown/brick red and showing that it has some age on it. Not much fruit left at this point, mostly toasty wood, tobacco, and spice in the mouth. The finish is languid and super smooth, and I really liked the finish, since I am all about the finish when it comes to wine. 9.

Tasting quote of the day:

Kirk (hosting the tasting) to me, when I didn't appreciate the Cabernet in the Finca Luzón: "Cabernet in the glass is like having your mother-in-law in your house... you don't have to see her to know she's there."

I ended up going home with the Izadi Rioja and the Vetus, even though I will probably pick up the El Quintanal at some point and possibly a couple of the others.