Posts Tagged white wine

With the explosion of wine bars and wine-focused restaurants across the country, we’ve started to see an increase in the various varietals offered in these establishments. The willingness to experiment has thrust new grapes and styles into the limelight after years in the shadows. Particular the white wines from Italy and Spain have received the most love from these places, expanding the palates of American wine lovers. This is great news for those looking for good wines at lower prices. These wines since they are relatively new to the market also tend to be cheaper, partial based on the fact that there is no reputation to push up the prices.

Falanghina is an Italian wine from the Campania region in southern Italy. These wines tend to have a little sweetness, similar to a Viognier, with a little of the acidity and body of a Pinot Grigio. This wine, priced around $11, is no different with a crisp acidic mouth-feel, good full body, and a little sweetness mixed in. There are quince, lemon, and pear flavors, mixed with a little smokiness and butter. The acidity hits first, but the residual sweetness helped cut into this and rounds out the overall flavor of this wine.

I’m going to rate this a Brick Solid. It’s a good wine, and a good example of this wine, though maybe missing a little complexity. However its got all of the trademarks of the wine style and could be a good wine to break yourself into the different white wines starting to become available.

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.

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.

Here are some different examples of Riesling. The grape tends to take on so many different variations and flavor profiles based on how its grown and produces. What that means is it allows the wines to be both acidic and sweet, have a richness and length that few white wines can match. I’m always reminded that I need to try more and more of them, every time I drink Riesling.

2006 Smith-Madrone Riesling

Nice body – rich with a bit of sweetness – nutty and earthy with nutmeg and cinnamon. Rich and rounded wine – minerality – crushed stone slightly on the tip of the tongue. Tropic fruits – guava, melon, pear, lemon, kiwi. Banana. Overall a good wine – a rather complex wine – good length for a white wine. Priced around $20

Rating: 90pts

2007 Knappstein Riesling

Like a big lemon custard pie, the nose was wonderful. Overall, the taste is crisp and acidic with lemon-lime crushed stone and green apple. There are some distinct floral notes as well. The tastes does have a little baked apple under the lid with some buttery texture and a slight peach and plum flavor. Then a pucker-mouth sour patch flavor that draws out the length on the wine. Overall, a very nice, powerful Riesling. It captures the rich body and allows the wine to stand on its own.

Rating: 90pt

2005 Paradiso Riesling Santa Lucia Hills

A nice bright California Riesling that exhibits honeysuckle and pear notes, with a little bit of Asian spice, and a nice round crisp acidity. Overall this wine is a perfect aperitif with hints of wet stone on the nose, followed by a honeyed and rich texture. Good mouth-feel, and I love the lemon custard on the end. Priced around $12

Rating: 89pts