Fine/Fun Wines of '05
My motor is still running on '05 time. That's the only excuse I can muster at this hour for my shameful delay in publishing my wholly arbitrary Best Wines I Tasted in 2005 list. To wit, and in no particular order of merit:
The 1998 Gallo of Sonoma Barrelli Creek Vineyard Zinfandel (and I only wish I'd had the funds or foolhardiness to clean out the shelf at Hy-Vee Wines. Thank the gods I still have one or two left.) $22 or thereabouts. A favorite.
The 2001 Guenoc Petite Syrah (no surprise there). Sigh. I love this wine, at home or at Pot Pie, but not at Poco's, where they want close to $50 for it, dammit. You can find it for $17.
Every single yumalicious Zin I tasted from Seghesio. From the blue-cap Sonoma to the red-top San Lorenzo Alexander Valley, this vineyard iz a Zin master. $17 to $40. Definitely my favorite winery of the year. Their Barbera is good as well. . . we're saving the Omaggio Super-Tuscan for another year.
The St. Francis Zinfandel, 2001 AND 2002. We found this in Nancy's wine rack last summer, and oh what a pleasant find it was! (Nancy, if you're reading this, I'm very sorry you weren't home to enjoy the wine. Rest assured the rest of us did.)
A nod of best-value admiration to the Columbia Crests Two Vines Shiraz, both the 2001 and 2002. 88 to 90 points, and $6!!!! Can't argue with THAT.
The 2001 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot, at $10 a total steal, 90 Wine Spectator points of smooth lusciousness.
The 2001 Simi Cabernet Sauvignon. Of course. 90 or 91 points, and $18 at Costco. And to think I squirreled away a bottle of the hard-to-find Simi Landslide, which rates even HIGHER! Life is good.
The 2001 Dry Creek Mood Hill Cabernet. IMHO, if it says Dry Creek on it, you're home free. Probably about $17 at the winery, which also makes good Zin and a great Meritage.
The 2001 Flora Springs Cabernet Sauvignon (89 points, if it matters). Actually, as was the case at Seghesio, I liked every single wine I tasted at Flora Springs. "Spring" for the Trilogy sometime, and call me! ($60)
Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc, 2003, 2004. . . and every other S.B. I've tasted from New Zealand's Marlborough County. Kiwi, lime, grapefruit, wonderful summery goodness. Yep, a white wine made my list!
The 1999 and 2000 Masi Campofiorin Ripasso - Kim Tappan votes with me on this big guy from Veneto (Italy), a brawny Valpolicella that's fantastic every vintage I've tried. Dudes, it's only $15! (Although if wine push comes to wine shove I'll take my tried-and-true Tomassi Ripasso any old night of the week. Heaven.)
I almost forgot: 2001 Dark Star Cellars Paso Robles Syrah from Meeker Vineyard. Don't know why the guys at Gomer's Liquors dog Paso Robles; not when there's this wine to sip.
For everyday drinking: Always decent, and decently priced: Hess Cabernet Sauvignon; Bogle Petite Syrah AND Bogle Chardonnay.
Emotional favorite: the Icon Syrah Laura brought on our late-season camping trip. Although she spilled most of hers, several times, this Ravenswood bottling won "best of campsite," which wasn't hard given the Croatian bottlecap swill we began with -- but it also beat out a stellar Merlot. I blame the Icon for the out-of-context crude-sounding phrase with which I assaulted everyone within earshot as we snortingly shared, 'round the campfire, what we remembered of our first sexual experiences; it was a rousing, soused evening highlighted by Sus's observation that, in my knit cap and jacket, I looked like "a salmon fisherman setting out to sea." This from a woman so bundled up all we could see of her was her perky little nose. . . and why SALMON, I ask you? What was there in my drunken demeanor and carefree ensemble that spoke of SALMON? Why not swordfish? Why not tuna, or tilapia? And while I'm at it, do I LOOK like the old man in The Old Man and the Sea? ("No," I can hear Sus saying thoughtfully, "but you do remind me of my Polish grandmother." Sus is given to such cryptic pronouncements. Pronouncements that do not sound flattering, drunk OR sober.)
The morning after gets my nod for second-worst morning of 2005. A hangover, a hard bed, a cold tent, a disgruntled girlfriend, and a lost key. The key to the car. The car that held our food. Our breakfast. And it started raining.
Happy new year to you, and remember: All bad mornings must end eventually, and all bad wines can be recycled. Poured out, or given to Mom for cooking, or foisted on friends who ain't so picky.
The 1998 Gallo of Sonoma Barrelli Creek Vineyard Zinfandel (and I only wish I'd had the funds or foolhardiness to clean out the shelf at Hy-Vee Wines. Thank the gods I still have one or two left.) $22 or thereabouts. A favorite.
The 2001 Guenoc Petite Syrah (no surprise there). Sigh. I love this wine, at home or at Pot Pie, but not at Poco's, where they want close to $50 for it, dammit. You can find it for $17.
Every single yumalicious Zin I tasted from Seghesio. From the blue-cap Sonoma to the red-top San Lorenzo Alexander Valley, this vineyard iz a Zin master. $17 to $40. Definitely my favorite winery of the year. Their Barbera is good as well. . . we're saving the Omaggio Super-Tuscan for another year.
The St. Francis Zinfandel, 2001 AND 2002. We found this in Nancy's wine rack last summer, and oh what a pleasant find it was! (Nancy, if you're reading this, I'm very sorry you weren't home to enjoy the wine. Rest assured the rest of us did.)
A nod of best-value admiration to the Columbia Crests Two Vines Shiraz, both the 2001 and 2002. 88 to 90 points, and $6!!!! Can't argue with THAT.
The 2001 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot, at $10 a total steal, 90 Wine Spectator points of smooth lusciousness.
The 2001 Simi Cabernet Sauvignon. Of course. 90 or 91 points, and $18 at Costco. And to think I squirreled away a bottle of the hard-to-find Simi Landslide, which rates even HIGHER! Life is good.
The 2001 Dry Creek Mood Hill Cabernet. IMHO, if it says Dry Creek on it, you're home free. Probably about $17 at the winery, which also makes good Zin and a great Meritage.
The 2001 Flora Springs Cabernet Sauvignon (89 points, if it matters). Actually, as was the case at Seghesio, I liked every single wine I tasted at Flora Springs. "Spring" for the Trilogy sometime, and call me! ($60)
Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc, 2003, 2004. . . and every other S.B. I've tasted from New Zealand's Marlborough County. Kiwi, lime, grapefruit, wonderful summery goodness. Yep, a white wine made my list!
The 1999 and 2000 Masi Campofiorin Ripasso - Kim Tappan votes with me on this big guy from Veneto (Italy), a brawny Valpolicella that's fantastic every vintage I've tried. Dudes, it's only $15! (Although if wine push comes to wine shove I'll take my tried-and-true Tomassi Ripasso any old night of the week. Heaven.)
I almost forgot: 2001 Dark Star Cellars Paso Robles Syrah from Meeker Vineyard. Don't know why the guys at Gomer's Liquors dog Paso Robles; not when there's this wine to sip.
For everyday drinking: Always decent, and decently priced: Hess Cabernet Sauvignon; Bogle Petite Syrah AND Bogle Chardonnay.
Emotional favorite: the Icon Syrah Laura brought on our late-season camping trip. Although she spilled most of hers, several times, this Ravenswood bottling won "best of campsite," which wasn't hard given the Croatian bottlecap swill we began with -- but it also beat out a stellar Merlot. I blame the Icon for the out-of-context crude-sounding phrase with which I assaulted everyone within earshot as we snortingly shared, 'round the campfire, what we remembered of our first sexual experiences; it was a rousing, soused evening highlighted by Sus's observation that, in my knit cap and jacket, I looked like "a salmon fisherman setting out to sea." This from a woman so bundled up all we could see of her was her perky little nose. . . and why SALMON, I ask you? What was there in my drunken demeanor and carefree ensemble that spoke of SALMON? Why not swordfish? Why not tuna, or tilapia? And while I'm at it, do I LOOK like the old man in The Old Man and the Sea? ("No," I can hear Sus saying thoughtfully, "but you do remind me of my Polish grandmother." Sus is given to such cryptic pronouncements. Pronouncements that do not sound flattering, drunk OR sober.)
The morning after gets my nod for second-worst morning of 2005. A hangover, a hard bed, a cold tent, a disgruntled girlfriend, and a lost key. The key to the car. The car that held our food. Our breakfast. And it started raining.
Happy new year to you, and remember: All bad mornings must end eventually, and all bad wines can be recycled. Poured out, or given to Mom for cooking, or foisted on friends who ain't so picky.
posted by Winetaster | 8:10 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks for the guidance! I'm so relieved I postponed the wine shopping excursion I'd planned for last week. Now I can shop, spend, & drink safely! By the way, tilapia fishermen reside in Egypt, and salmon fishermen who eat lots of the stuff must benefit heartily from the Omega-3, so they probably look healthier than the rest of us...you can always get to a compliment if you rationalize long enough ;-). Happy New Year to you!
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