♥ Wine Club 44: Spanish Wine with a German Name

Date: May 8th, 2013
Host: Andrea
Served: Chicken noodle soup, club sandwiches with sweet potato fries, dessert
Bonus Bottle (from the host's personal inventory): Makulu Iswithi Pinotage 

Vigne di San Martino Gavi di Gavi 2011 (Italy) Cortese grape, 12% alcohol, $15 at Otto's

Andrea says (14): Clear wine, the color of champagne. Smells nice and sweet, honey, pear, floral, and a little bit of plastic smell. Tart, acidic taste. Had flavors of honey, grapefruit, herbal, and grass. Thin body, left something to be desired.

Christine says (14.5): Light lemon yellow. Floral, honey, peaches and pears in the nose. Smelled good! Wasn't as fruity as expected: bright-tasting, acidic and grassy. Good with the soup. I didn't like it as much as the less-expensive Principessa Gavi we had earlier.

Kim says (11): Well, my seasonal allergies were bothering me this night so that may have had an effect on how I scored this wine in Aroma and Bouquet. Oh, who am I kidding... I always need help in those categories! Anyway, for a split second I caught some sort of smell that made me think, "Adhesive," but then it was gone. I swirled my glass and was instantly transported back to my childhood, watching my mom curling off apple skins until there was a heaping pile of them in the sink (and warm, homemade applesauce would follow). That's all I could smell with this wine... raw apple skins. It also had a very thin body, especially in comparison to the Principessa Gavi which was nice and full. This Gavi di Gavi was also very acidic and the finish- although long- was pure citrus. Not impressed.


♥ Blau Red Wine 2010 (Montsant, Spain) 50% Mazuelo + 25% Syrah + 25% Garnacha, 14% alcohol, $13 at Otto's
♥ Love love love ♥ : This wine scored 18 or higher with each of us.

Andrea says (19.5): A dark burgundy color with clear edges. My first smell was of alcohol, then chocolate, tobacco, raspberry, blackberry, vanilla, and pepper. I loved the smell. The taste was really nice! Berry flavors, nice tannins, good balance, nice body. I think that this wine would go really well with a lot of foods. I docked it half a point for the finish, but easily could have given it the full 20! I would definitely get this wine again, I thought it was very drinkable for being so high in alcohol.

Christine says (20): Very pretty intense burgundy color with magenta edges. Visible alcohol that floats on top and falls down the side of the glass in sheets. Bouquet had peppercorns, tobacco, alcohol, berries and a little fresh mint leaves. BIG taste! Good and perfect tannins. Rich, round mouthfeel. Fruity, but not a sissy wine. A lot of personality. I considered docking it 1/2 point for finish, but I decided to give this wine a perfect score since I wanted to give it greater than max points for its amazing body. Win! It was good with the Andes candies-like brownies. Another delicious 2010 Spanish wine.

Kim says (19): Okay, I take back all the bad things I may have said about Spanish wines! I had recently become disillusioned with them but Herr Blau has solidly reestablished their rightful place in my Top Five! This red blend had a pretty, cranberry meniscus and thick color. Smelled like black pepper and brown sugar; had a wonderful taste, perfect balance and nice, strong tannins. If possible, I would have scored them higher than the maximum allowed in Body and Balance! The missed point was in Bouquet.




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Makulu Iswithi Pinotage NV (South Africa) 13.5% alcohol, $4 on sale at Discount Liquor-Manitowoc

Andrea says (17): Burgundy colored, transparent, with clear edges. Smelled like caramel, plum, and currant. Tasted fruitier than it smelled. Very jammy, tasted like strawberry and vanilla. Good body and good tannins. I great deal at $4.00!

Christine says (18): Deep claret color. Smelled like plums, berries, currants and alcohol. Thinner body, but nice. Good fruit. Nice tannins and a long finish that included tobacco. Would be great with barbecue ribs.

Kim says (18): I smelled alcohol and raisins. Although there was no vintage, I did detect a slight tinge of brown so possibly approaching its peak. Regardless, I very much enjoyed this wine... perfect scores in all the technical and subjective categories except Bouquet.

For dinner I made my mom's chicken dumpling soup, baked club sandwich rounds, sweet potato fries and mint brownies.

Wine Club 41: The Princess and the Wolf

Date: April 10th, 2013
Host: Andrea
Served: Chicken Parmesan meatballs, salad, bread sticks, dessert

Principessa Gavia Gavi 2010 (Gavi, Italy) Cortese grape, 12.5% alcohol, $13.99 at Otto's Wine Cask

Andrea says (18.5): A nice pale gold, champagne color. Had a sweet, perfume, floral smell. Very buttery smelling, pear and citrus. It had good body and a long finish. Tasted like grapefruit and lemon. An excellent wine that didn't clash with the pasta.

Christine says (17): Light lemon color; pretty. Smells buttery or creamy, and citrus. Big body! Citrusy taste, very long finish. Both wines were good with the food. Though I scored this wine a bit higher, I preferred the red with the meatballs.

Kim says (18.5): Andrea told me what we were having for dinner so I could select the wine and I was torn between red or white... so I opted for one of each! I wanted to find a white that had a big enough personality to stand up to this meal and this little princess did not disappoint. Pale lemon in color and smelled like rich, creamy cheesecake with a light citrus twist. I was pleased at the taste- not sweet but bright. Think of lemon cheesecake... silky, full body and had citrus on the finish, too, which was nice and long. This wine was well-suited to the meal but neither one enhanced the other (although they didn't insult each other, either)... I liked this wine much better but thought the red was a better pairing.



The Wolftrap 2011 (South Africa) 65% Syrah + 32% Mourvèdre + 3% Viognier, 14.5% alcohol, $9.99 at Waterford

Andrea says (15): This was an interesting red blend that included Viognier? Sounded intriguing. It was a ruby/brick color with clear edges. It smelled like alcohol, smoke and must, but also like jam and berries. I thought the taste was tart like berries, very smokey and quite tannic. Had a bit of a bite to it.

Christine says (16.5): Wine color (how about that?), with visible alcohol floating on top. Smelled of jam and dried strawberries, berries and slight tobacco. It kind of stung the tip of my tongue (was that the alcohol?). Berry taste, plus alcohol. Good straightforward wine.

Kim says (13): I was fascinated by the concept of a red and white blend... the surprising introduction of Viognier piqued my interest. But we tipped our glasses back and met a simple, straightforward, shoot-from-the-hip kind of wine... no tricks and not complicated. So while this wine could be considered standard and unexciting, I also enjoyed reading the legend of the Wolf, whose history is rooted in mysticism and lore. Take a sip and wonder...

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

The meal Andrea created was excellent... I am definitely adding this one to my own list! And the dessert... well, how can you go wrong with fruit and chocolate?