Wine Tasting June 5, ’10
Just so you know, I always read the titles to this year’s entries as “Wine tasting June fifth ought-ten” because as I have argued early in the year this whole century has a zero before the two-digit year, so every year can and should be referred to as “ought-ten,” “ought-thirty-seven,” and so forth. Pass it on, maybe we can get this going!
Our first weekend back from Italy and a Studio Tour to boot. Kim’s pictures formed the perfect backdrop and many of them sold to two days of pretty intense traffic. As in Lake Wobegon, all the wines proved considerably above average, and a good time was had by all, as the following photos attest…Capella enters the fashion parade, so now we have Myra, Mary Jane, and Capella bringing class to this joint on a regular basis (see previous posts…we all really do need to start having more fun with our clothes!), and this weekend brought lots of first-time visitors…!
Capella 
Joann & Ray 
Lee
Paul & Wendy
Sean’s shoulders make a nice hat for Nancy!
Naomi and Jenna 
Brenda, Kim, and Mike
This week’s wines:
Calera Chardonnay 08 California WA90pts $15
Offers abundant notes of honeysuckle, orange marmalade, white currants, and tropical fruits. Crisp, elegant, mid-weight, and revealing no evidence of its wood aging, it will provide plenty of pleasure over the next 1-2 years.
Pend d’Oreille Bistro Rouge 07 Washington $13
Very aromatic blackberries and a chocolate note on the nose. Blackberry, blackcurrant, and blueberry flavors fill the palate and continue through a longish dry finish that includes modest oak and a cinnamon highlight.
Peirano Estates The Immortal Zin ’08 California $10
Hand selected from 113-year-old vines; deceptively subtle aromas of this wine combine red and black cherry, mineral, earthy rhubarb and slightly spicy red fruit; palate is wrapped in velvety layers of sweet red cherry, strawberry, cocoa and juicy red fruit leading to a lengthy, almost breathless finish.
Viu Manent San Carlos Malbec Chile WA91pts $18
Great aromatic complexity, depth, and grip, succulent spicy black cherry flavors, and a lengthy finish; best from 2011 to 2019.
Back yard views from Le Chiuse
Le Chiuse is a winery. It has converted the old building above the winery into five agriturismo units. We have the one on the south end, #4, or “oregano.” We are situated on north side of the steep hill to the old walled city of Montalcino, famous for its Brunello de Montalcino (some consider it the most expensive wine in the world) and little sibling, Rosso de Montalcino. Much more on that later.
For now the essential story is that after our rendezvous with other Untours people who just flew into Florence, we bussed to Siena, picked up rental cars, met our host “innkeepers,” and followed them to our homes for the next two weeks. They stock the kitchen with enough food for dinner and breakfast, and our stash included a bottle of Le Chiuse Rosso de Montalcino– young and chewy but a welcome treat– so within minutes of arrival we are sitting on our little private patio, sipping some rosso, nibbling some pecorino, and enjoying the view, so lovely we take a picture of the beautiful landscape and the dramatic clouds. Within minutes, we notice a rainbow begin on the right and expand across our horizon. So here are our first impressions of our home away from home in Tuscany…!
Wine Tasting Memorial Day Weekend Studio Tour ’10
We are just back from Italy, jet-lagged and jet-weary; flying is trying. By all accounts last weekend was a big crazy crowd. Not sure exactly what wines were poured in our absence, but rumors are that a good time was had by a large and boisterous crowd, about what we expected with Judy pouring…! Pictures!
This weekend is Artists’ Studio tour, and we are showing an array of really interesting photos by Kim Gardner; try to get here early, as many are already sold from last weekend’s preview.
In honor of our recent return from Italy, this week’s wines are Italian:
Avanti Pinot Grigio 08 Italy $9
Inviting aromas of pineapple, fresh lime, and crisp mineral notes that linger softly in the mouth.
Martorana Nero d’Avola 08 (Sicily) $12
Easy drinking red wine with crowd-pleasing notes of ripe plums, blueberry, almond, and sweet rhubarb
Bibbiani Treggiaia 07 (Italy) $10
A great value blend of sangio & cab, the ultimate pizza wine, serious but friendly!
Perazzeta Rita ‘06 Sangiovese Italy $26
From the southern fringe of Montalcino (Montalcino? Doh,, we coulda gone there!) comes this stunningly powerful, lush Sangiovese; aged in French oak barrels, and pushing the boundaries of the varietal; named after winemaker’s wife AND mother, he said of his wine: “I had no choice but to name it Rita!”
Tuscany is for Drivers
Never mind that the road signs are incomprehensible, with every manner of blue circles, red circles, blue P’s in white fields, and my personal favorite, the dreaded red X in the red circle and the blue field which seems to shout, “Stoppa the carra righta now, and steppa out witha your handsa uppa” and you feel that whatever you do is going to be a huge Mistake. And never mind that you get lost a lot, “Did you see that sign…was that our turn…??”
This place is made for driving. The cars are small and handle like go-carts. Our little Lancia has six forward gears, a torquey little engine with ready acceleration (and 40 mpg), wide tires, and suspension that takes you around tight curves without the slightest bit of leaning.
The roads are an endless series of S-curves that murmur a constant Yeeesssssssssssssssssssssss up and down undulating hills and valleys and twisty country roads that narrow to barely a single lane going through little villages, with narrow passages between old stone walls and buildings just wide enough for one tiny car. The roads are at best two narrow lanes. When they are paved, they are smooth like racetracks, perfectly flat, no shoulder, but paved all the way to the edge with driving surface.
This makes driving a very active process, definitely not like cruising the freeway, and it takes two hands all the time, don’t even think about pouring a cup of coffee from your thermos or talking on your cell phone, it just isn’t possible. So driving is very engaging; the country roads are beautiful winding over and around the rolling Tuscan hillsides, with their soft patchwork of well-kept vineyards, wide green wheat fields, and medieval cities and towns perched like little Avalons on the tallest hills.
And then of course you are always challenged by drivers behind you who want to pass or want you to go faster; for some reason the Audi drivers are particularly aggressive, along with the occasional Ferrari, which you are happy to let pass just to look at them, as well as the inievitable Alfas and Fiats.
We shot a couple of video clips that need editing…here’s the rough first one…as you can hear we are not even sure how to use the video function on our little camera..!
2072 Granger Way