2003 Sanguinhal Estremadura: Ripe and bold, with black fruit and moist tobacco. Smooth tannin and a solid structure. Finish non-existent, giving the wine one, big great flaw. Other than that, feeling turned around on Portugal: 8.7.

2004 Lusitano Alentejo: Plumy and bubble-gummy, black cherry aroma, with a tad too much oak. Real old world style and surprisingly daring and rich; also, died in the aftertaste department: 8.8.

Decided to try the Bonny Doon, ‘Ancient Vine,’ Carignan, 2004. This wine brings with it a reputation larger than its label. Compared to the Portuguese wines, it was thin. Not unpleasant, but lacked the minerality and earth of the other two (just remembered the two Portuguese wines had that). That’s what you get when you stick ancient vines in fertile earth, though. No true identity; just another California wine. Drank the rest of the bottle the next evening with no apparent oxygen evolution: 8.5.

Keep reading...

Ended up on the set of a new movie Monday night, so a new post was delayed again. The movie is called “A Mighty Heart” and stars Angelina Jolie, as the wife of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The film is being produced by Brad Pitt’s production house and is being directed by […]

Keep reading...

Sorry; went to a German wine tasting Monday night and was nursing a banged-up elbow injury last night. Truth be told, both were kinda bad. The elbow, well, that’s needed for the physical act of drinking. As for the German wine tasting, well, that was just physical. The tasting, which in itself was comprised of […]

Keep reading...

The 2005 Four Crossing Australian Chardonnay is zippy and full of bursting citrus. The throat burn suggests a price tag around the £5 mark but still very versatile with food. Half a bottle used for a superior turkey stock on the BIG day. Gets extra points for coming from a family that never touches the stuff: 8.5 points.

* New Year’s Eve: 2000 Heidsick Monopole Silver Label Champagne. Nutty, biscotti trim. Fresh orange scent. Small, lovely bubbles. A real value at £20 per bottle at Oddbins: 8.8.

Keep reading...

We tried a bottle of 2005 Grover Estates from Bangalore, India. Perhaps a Cabernet Sauvignon blend? Once opened, the aroma of wine had to immediately compete with the stink of the charming basement bar we we’re drinking in. So my guess is that the opulent bouquet of (second hand) smoke probably did not come from the Grover.

The 2005 Four Crossing Australian Chardonnay is zippy and full of bursting citrus. The throat burn suggests a price tag around the £5 mark but still very versatile with food. Half a bottle used for a superior turkey stock on the BIG day. Gets extra points for coming from a family that never touches the stuff: 8.5 points.

Keep reading...