Grapesphere

Ok – so here’s a wine for all of the ABC Haters out there. This wine really rocks and of course was featured for a steal of a price about a month ago on Wine Library. Normally priced around $20, this was only $13, and well worth probably the normal $17-$20 found elsewhere. This wine, from the Russian River Valley has a big buttery rich mouthful with good acidity that helps to round out its finish.

C. Donatiello

The wine has a nose of lemon custard, apples and peaches. First thing I notice is a great body, where it has good weight in the taste. There is also a little mineral quality. There are flavors of apple, pear, peach and lemon, along with the custard and butter finish. Also get a little banana and kiwi, along with melon. The bracing, cool acidity mixes in with the rich fruit flavors to create a really well made wine. Overall, I’m very impressed with this Chardonnay, and would have to rate it a borderline outstanding. All in all, a solid effort.

I’ve been coming back again to Chardonnay, particularly from California lately. I think it’s for two reasons. One, the quality has improved and also the style has changed quiet a bit. We’ve moved from over-oaked flabby wines to steely, piercing wines, and now are starting to settle somewhere in the middle. I’m finding a good number of wineries both mid-priced and high-end playing around with what makes the most enjoyable wine at a higher quality.

Bernardus Chardonnay

I was able to get the 2007 Bernardus Central Coast Chardonnay for around $15. This wine does seem to fall somewhere in between the big buttery chards of old and the new mouth-puckering acidic Burgundy-style wines. And while I’m a fan of the later, sometimes, a simple enjoyable glass of Chardonnay is all you need. This wine does have some character to it however. The nose is full of cinnamon and apple blossom. There are also hints of lemon custard.

The flavor complexion moves from full bodied, with apples, pears, melon and pineapple, with a good attack on the mid-palate. There is a decent amount of malolactic fermentation present, but it doesn’t make the wine too buttery or milky. Instead, it added subtle body to the finish which does round nicely with the acidic-lemon-lime swirl at the end. I’m pretty high on this wine in terms of the level of complexity and its unique dimensions that are easy to decipher.

Overall, this is a very drinkable wine, and I think the price point matches up well with the overall QPR. Keep in mind however, that I’ve seen this wine selling in the mid-twenties. I think at that price, the wine starts to get a little overvalued. At $15-18, it instead delivers a very solid wine, that for California, stays right in the middle of flavor tastes. Because of that, I’d think this would be a crowd pleaser. I’m rating this wine a Borderline Outstanding.

This high-end Italian restaurant located near Dupot Circle, tends to be a well-kept secret in the DC dining world. Never on the top of the list of must-do restaurants, but for over 20 years, serving up some of the best Northern Italian cuisine in the area. It’s a tiny restaurant, maybe 25 seats with a prix-fixe menu for $75 each. This buys you five courses including a large anti-pasta course, pasta, entrée, cheese, and dessert, plus cookies with the bill. Chef Peter Pastan, who also owns 2Amys pizzeria, specializes in simple well-prepared Italian foods.

Good: The food! Overall, the quality is high here. Anti-pastas including risotto balls, roasted red peppers, duck meatballs, and sardines wrapped and baked were all very good. The pastas were all light and ethereal. Breads are all house made and perfect compliment to the meal. You won’t leave hungry, that’s for sure. Also for a small place, the table spacing was great, with plenty of room between each to allow for more privacy.

Bad: Ambiance is ok, but the place could go for a little bit of an update. Looks to be the same furniture since they first opened. Entrees were good but not very exciting. Cheese was good but only two types. A third would have been a good contrast.

Wine: The wine list was very good with only Italian selections. Hard to say how well priced the wines were. They did have a few selections in the $30-50 range, but many more from $75+. Wine by the glass also were anywhere from $6 to $16. A selection of 3 daily cocktails were also available along with a full bar for anything else.

Overall: The restaurant, while missing on a few things, overall, was a wonderful experience, with the food meeting all my expectations. Needs a little bit of a makeover, but aside from that makes for a nice romantic dinner.

I’ve had this wine and brand numerous times over the years. It’s a fairly easy to find Oregon wine. This label along with their higher end Rex Hill label had become a good reliable wine, both in the Pinot Gris but also on the Pinot Noir side. However I’d had a few recent vintages and the quality just hasn’t been there. It could have been a few bad bottles but I was running into wines that were a little too acidic and missing balance. So recently receiving a bottle as a gift, I was less than excited at the prospects.

King Estate Pinot Gris

Taking it for a spin yesterday however, I found a pleasant surprise. King’s was back. This wine had some marked sweetness upfront, with mango, apple and melon. There was also a nice lemon custard to carry it through and not allow the wine to become syrupy. The balanced acidity allowed the wine to have a nice medium-length finish, falling perfectly between the bright racy wines and the buttery Chardonnays. It’s a wine perfect for a Sunday afternoon, when you want something simple and enjoyable. Overall, I’d call this a Brick Solid wine. For $10-12, this wine is right priced and seems to be coming back around as a reliable choice.

This pizzeria located near American University and Tenleytown, has been a favorite of our families for years now. Certified Neapolitan pizza is what they do and what they are known for. This very casual restaurant is normally packed weeknights and all weekend, so prepare for a wait.

Good: Pizza, of course. Thin, crusty, and blistered from the brick-oven, these pizza come out hot and fresh with great toppings. Recommend less toppings or risk an overweight pizza. Appetizers are also good. Servers are almost always accommodating.

Bad: Its crowded, and can be very noisy. Since its setup to be good for kids, 5-7pm on the weekends, can be kid-crazy. Average 30 minute wait for a table. Service can be a little spotty at times due to the amount of people.

Wine: Good Italian-only wine list with a ton of really well-priced wines in the $25 range. All wines are available by the glass or bottle. They also have a good selection of draft beers and bottles from unique producers, including usually a couple of Italian brewers.

Overall: If you can stand the crowds, the pizza is the main attraction and worth the effort.