We began the taste with a wine I often refer to as a gateway wine. The Sartori di Verona Pinot Grigio 2005 (retail $12) is a great example of why this wine is so easy to drink and understand as a begginer wine enthusiast.
Pinot Grigio is no different from the Pinot Gris grape from France and has gained its success as an easy drinker due to its low aromas and highly acidic citric flavors. While it is the same grape as Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio achives its indistinguishable flavors by not allowing the grape to fully ripen before harvesting. This Northern Italian wine (the vineyards are around Venice) is pale yellow with a floral, apricot, and lightly lemony nose. The sharp citrus fruit flavors lead to a subtle mineral driven finish creating an overall clean fresh feel in this patio wine. I would pair this wine with a broiled whitefish topped with lemon butter and caramelized almond slivers and served with cauliflower florettes. For additional information on Sartori please visit: www.sartorinet.comThe next wine we presented was quite a treat. Ridge Coastal Chardonnay 2001 (retail $21) was one of the most elegant Chardonnays at the $20 mark I've had in quite a while.
As I've written before I'm a huge Ridge fan and was extremely exited to get my hands on this hard-to-get Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay. Our Ohio Wine rep, Brian Fry, was a bit concerned pouring this wine fearing it may not have bottle aged to his expectations. This wine proved to be a great testament to how finely crafted Chardonnays can bottle age for many years, breaking the "drink a cheap white young" mantra. Ridge used whole cluster pressing and barrel fermentation to create depth in this deep gold Chardonnay that exhibits heavy floral and creamy vanilla with light tones of mushroom and damp straw on the nose. Its full flavored bold fruit flavors lead to a long creamy subtle finish. Pair this fantastic wine with open-faced pork and shrimp dumplings with steamed rice and drizzled with a honey soy reduction. As I mentioned earlier, this wine is hard to find. In fact the winery stopped making Chardonnay from this vineyard, so I strongly suggest if you find some of this Chardonnay (especially under $20) buy as much as you can. For news on the winery or to visit other wines produced by this fantastic winery please check out:www.ridgewine.comNext we tried Raymond Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 (retail $28). This is a classic example of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from a reputable wine maker.
Like many other wine makers in California Roy Raymond Sr. honed his wine making skills from working for the much larger Beringer Winery until 1971. This family run winery has become one of the most trusted and consistent wineries in Napa Valley offering a wide variety of different teired wines in their collection. The Raymond Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is one of their middle range wines that offers great quality for a moderate price. This wine was deep purple in color with bright cherry, tobacco, and cocoa with a hint of smoke and cinnamon on the nose. Ripe flavors offered bold and full fruit in the mid-palate leading to a long deep spicy finish. Try drinking this wine with pan seared tri-tip sirlion steaks with chive butter and glazed carrots. For more information on Raymond or to sign up for their wine club check out:www.raymondvineyards.com
The next wine we offered at the taste is new to the Northeast Ohio market. When I was approached with this line initally the one that stood out above the rest was the Marquee Signature Series Shiraz 2004 (I reviewed the Chardonnay in an earlier flight night). While $20 can be a bit pricy for a Shiraz in a Shiraz saturated market this bold McLaren Vale wine certainly does deserve the price its asking for. This Earthy Shiraz offers bold scents of prunes and chocolate with slight elements of black licorice and coconut. Heavy and spicy fruit flavors lead to a little bit of heat in the finish of this beauty. Try this wine with braised chicken with corriander sauce over white rice with fresh vegetables. For more on Marquee please check out: www.marquee.comJohn and I have neglected to offer a dessert wine in our taste for quite some time and felt we needed to address the issue. We proudly presented Wyndham Estates Old Tawny Port NV (non-vintage) from the famous Hunter Valley Southeastern Australia as a sweet finale to the flight.
I think port is often overlooked because people don't fully understand what it is. Port (short for Portugal) is a wine whose fermentation is interrupted by infusing brandy into it. Some of the wine is bottled right away (ruby port) while the rest is transferred to oak barrels for ageing (tawny port). As the port ages more color and flavor is tranfered from the oak to the wine. Like non-vintage Champagne several differently aged ports are blended into a bottle hiding any inconsistencies that occur in a single vintage. The Wyndham Estates Old Tawny Port was aged in small oak casks for up to five years. Wyndham Estates has been crowned the oldest surviving winery in Australia dating back 170 years. Cloudy and copper in color this tawny port offers a nose of caramel, banana, and cashew. Balenced and sweet with a nice woody finish this port would pair perfectly with chocolate brownies or chocolate covered pretzels. I'd like to end this review with a note on a new promotion at the Wine Down. As I mentioned earlier John and I feel as though Port has missed out in our promotions. With that in mind we now offer a port board that will allow anyone to try three ports, two artisan cheeses, chocolate, and nuts for $25. This is available all the time at the Wine Down. See you soon and remember to keep an open mind and an open mind.
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