2004 Betts & Scholl Hermitage Rouge Northern Rhône France

2004 Betts & Scholl Hermitage Rouge Northern Rhône France
Suggested retail price $72-$78
Importer / Distributor Polaner Selections in NYC

Betts & Scholl is a partnership between Master Sommelier Richard Betts and Dennis Scholl. Together, they have forged relationships with star growers and winemakers around the world to produce wines that they like to drink. With a preference for elegant, complex, balanced wines with great perfume and finesse, and more especially characteristic to their terroir of origin. Their first releases from Australia’s Barossa Valley have focused on Grenache, with subsequent wines made from Riesling and have just released new projects from California and the Northern Rhone focused on Syrah.

This beautiful expression of Hermitage comes from one of the most special spots on earth, and has been realized this through working with one of the region's most notable and celebrated wine producing families. The contemporary artwork on our label was created by Mark Grotjahn, an internationally renowned artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

The 2004 Betts & Scholl Hermitage rouge is a blend of 95% Syrah blended with a touch Roussanne and Marsanne. The robe is bright ruby red, of medium intensity, with garnet reflects.
The nose is quite intense and attractive with freshly crushed wild red and dark berry, stone minerality, floral notes and spice. The palate is rich and dense yet of medium intensity, somewhat elegant and earthy, offering plenty of red fruit flavors intermingled with earthy, floral and spicy notes. The lingering finish is evidently calling for another glass of this well crafted Syrah based wine. overall, the acidity and the mineral keep it in focus and the tannins framing the mid-palate and the finish remind us how age worthy some of this Northern Rhône wine can be. to drink now after decanting or to keep for another few years.

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin,

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2001 Batasiolo Barolo Vigneto Corda della Briccolina Piedmont Italy

2001 Batasiolo Barolo Vigneto Corda della Briccolina Piedmont Italy
Suggested retail price $95-$105
Importer / Distributor Boisset Family Estates

This wine is produced in limited quantities from a single vineyard of 4 acre called “Corda della Briccolina” planted in the village of Serralunga d’Alba, Piedmont. It was aged in small French oak barrels, making it the only Barolo Cru of Batasiolo aged in French oak. The steep south-facing terrain and a soil rich in limestone and calcium carbonate makes this area highly suited for producing well-structured, full-bodied and decidedly long lasting wines with intense color and persistence.

Although Batasiolo is, in my opinion, a slightly more modern style than some of the cult traditionalist out there, the resulting wine is quite exceptional with generous fruit. Moreover, the fantastic 2001 vintage makes it even more complex.

Made from 100% Nebbiolo in its subvarieties (clones like Michet and Lampia), the Corda Briccolina 2001 Barolo has an intense garnet red color of medium to good intensity. The nose exposes notes of ripe dark fruit, spice, cinnamon and earth intermingled with oak hints. The palate is rich, dense and well balanced yet young with dry tannins that needs a bit of time. The finish is lingering quite nicely with persistent fruit flavors, touch of oak and spice notes. Quite lovely. A keeper.

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

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2001 Batasiolo Barolo Cerequio Piedmont Italy

2001 Batasiolo Barolo Cerequio Piedmont Italy
Suggested retail price $80-$90
Importer / Distributor Boisset Family Estates

This excellent 2001 Barolo comes from a single-vineyard called “Cerequio” planted in La Morra, a little village next to Barolo, with an excellent ageing capacity. It is considered one of the most historical vineyards for the production of Barolo wine, which has also being called “The Petrus” of Piedmont. The wine was aged for 2 years in big Slovenian oak barrels and remained for a further 8-10 months in the bottle before release as a refinement period.

The resulting wine is superb, with an intense red garnet color. The nose exposes ethereal, rose petal and spice aromas with hints of tobacco, mint and chocolate. The palate is balanced, rich and elegant with rich plum flavors and a long silky finish. Pair it with roasted meat and aged cheeses.

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

For more info visit the importer website at www.boissetfamilyestates.com

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2004 Arzuaga Reserva Ribeira del Duero Spain

2004 Arzuaga Reserva Ribeira del Duero Spain
Suggested retail price $52-$58
Importer / Distributor Noble House Wines

Founded in 1980 by Don Florentino Arzuaga when he acquired a piece of land in the heart of Ribera del Duero in a town called Quintanilla de Onesimo. The property is now known as “Finca La Planta”. It has a farm with deers and other wild animals. And the gargantuan building encompasses an hotel, a spa and the winery itself surrounded by vineyards.

From 1982 to 1985 the first vines were planted, and in 1993 the first bottlings were marketed internationally under the Arzuaga label. In 1995, winemaker Juan Carlos Martínez tookover at Arzuaga after woking closely with winemaking legend Mariano García. Arzuaga produces five wines from 150 hectares of their own vineyards, consisting primarily of the varietals Tempranillo (Tinto Fino), Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.

Owned by the Arzuaga Navarro, Azienda Arzuagua is a traditionalist, Terroir oriented and organically farmed winery neighboring Vega Sicilia and producing earthy, intense and aged worthy Ribera del Duero. Ignacio Arzuaga, the current director, is a great guy that met many times in New York and a few times at the winery. His wines are like him: big, earthy and generous with nuances and depth and a good sense of humor. The wines are made by a skilled and passionate young winemaker named Pascal Oscar Navarro. The 2004 Reserva is surely one of their most accomplished wines of this decade.

The resulting wine is deep dark red in color, smooth and complex on the nose offering both dark and red cherry aromas as well as a woodiness. It is rich on the palate with present yet integrated tannins and still retains its fresh pure fruit characteristics complementing its rich, dense and earthy palate. Still very young and promising, keep it for a little while or decant to better appreciate it.

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

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2008 Bodega Bernabeleva "Camino de Navaherreros" San Martin de Valdeglesias Vinos de Madrid DO Spain

Bernabeleva "Camino de Navaherreros"

A few days ago, we received a wine that I didn't know and that I special ordered for a customer. Due to the fact that I pride myself as a professional and skilled wine buyer who know and tasted most of the wines in the store and beyond, I had to taste this wine.

You see, tasting every wine that I buy for the store is important for me, but more especially for my customers. Moreover, I need to admit that I do have tremendous difficulties to sell a wine that I never tasted, because of lack of knowledge, passion and conviction.

I can talk about the region, the grape(s), the vintage and give an approximate profile of how it should or will roughly taste, but I can't lie or invent something about a wine. Anyway, I'm a really bad liar and people will immediately realize that I'm full of it if I was lying to them (for anything). Thus, I rather not lie and taste the wine, which is much more fun and enjoyable and will allow me to be truthful about the wine (and suggest the right wines to my customers in the end).

Moreover, it is important for the reputation of the store, but also for the consistency and the quality of the wines that we carefully and meticulously selected then bought to feature on the shelves. Customers rely on us to do a good job and we do not want to disappoint them.

So, I brought this little Garnacha based Spanish wine at home to taste it with my wife and was pleasantly surprised.

Bodega Bernabeleva San Martín de Valdeglesias

Vinos de Madrid DO Spain

First, I need to say, the label is quite attractive: kind of pale, pastel turquoise-green-blue, modern style, simple and sober yet well designed and eye-catching.

Bodega Bernabeleva is located in San Martín de Valdeiglesias, a little village lying about 72 kilometers (45 miles) west of Madrid, part of the "Vinos de Madrid" DO (Denominación de Origen).

As one drives west from the capital city, the terrain quickly becomes rugged and mountainous, the air cooler, and one begins to see signs of an earlier era: houses and estates with older architecture in scarce remote villages, sculpted stones and rustic landscape where vines seem to be the only aspect of nature that has been tamed by men.

Bodega Bernavelda's story started here, on the eastern edge of Spain’s Sierra de Gredos mountains, when a renowned Madrid doctor named Vincente Alvarez-Villamil purchased a piece of land in 1923.

The site, which at that time was a full day’s travel from Madrid, spoke of its Celtic past, with ancient bears carved from boulders to mark forests dedicated to the hunt goddess. Hence the reason why Vicente named the estate "Bernabeleva" which means "the bear's forest". The logo representing a celtic woman carrying a glass on a bear's back was probably inspired by the ancient history of the area but also somewhat by the following picture of Vicente's daughter, Luisa, sitting atop of a stone carved bear.

Despite its ancient history, Vicente believed that the land had great Terroir and was a special place to plant the noble Garnacha grape (Grenache), a place whose wines might exhibit profound character and exciting varietal character. Eager to exploit the potential of his land, he started to plant some Garnacha vines in 1926, but his dream was stop 10 years later with the Spanish civil war which devastated the country in 1936. He held on strong on his land and the vines for the next opportunity to fulfill his dream.

The opportunity finally arrived in 2006 when two of Vincente’s great-grandchildren, Juan Diez Bulnes and Santiago Matallana Bulnes, vowed to fulfill their ancestor’s dream. The estate’s vineyards were now 80-years-old, and there were other Garnacha vineyards to purchase from neighboring properties as well. Rejecting current fashions in Spanish wine which favored heavily extracted fruit flavors and new oak barrels ageing, the cousins resolved to make wines of purity and expressiveness that were in harmony with the beauty of their ancestral land.

Juan and Santiago’s ambitions were well supported by the terroir. The vineyards are more than a half mile above sea level, with warm days but cool nights, and vines planted on poor, sandy soils. The resulting wines have ample ripeness, but also astounding bouyancy and freshness.

The cousins wanted, above all, to protect the unique personality of their estate, and they hired consultant Raúl Pérez, a master of cool-climate winemaking, to help them develop the project.

Just as important, they hired as full-time manager a young Catalan named Marc Isart Pinos. Marc’s devotion to demanding viticulture and to non-interventionist winemaking have served the cousins’ vision well.

Their regime emphasizes long fermentations, and minimal handling. Wines are aged in barrels of different sizes, but very little new wood is used so as not to mask the glorious aromatics.

2008 Bodega Bernabeleva "Camino de Navaherreros" San Martín de Valdeglesias
Vinos de Madrid DO Spain
Suggested retail price $11-$15
Imported by The Rare Wine Co. in CA and distributed by ....

First, I need to say, the label is quite attractive and easy to spot on the shelf: kind of pale, pastel turquoise-green-blue, modern style, simple and sober yet well designed and eye-catching, with great texture and a distinctive logo (Bravo! to the person that came out with such an ingenious label, Marketing-wise, it is a fine example of simplicity and efficiency).

Camino de Navaherreros is one of 5 Garnacha based wines that they produce at Bodega Bernabeleva. It was fermented and raised in large neutral wood to avoid influencing and parting the varietal character and the Terroir oriented profile. The resulting wine is quite intense, explosive and fresh, especially for a wine with 15% of alcohol.

In the glass, it has a clear, light and bright ruby color of medium to light intensity (definitely lighter and less dark than a lot of Garnacha that I've been tasting lately). The nose is fresh, clean and quite expressive with bright red and dark cherry with mineral, touch of spices and earth combined with floral notes. The clean, fresh palate is definitely brighter and higher in acidity than any Garnacha I've tasted lately (I know I'm repeating myself, but It was such a nice surprise). I usually love the intense, riper fruit and almost milk chocolate-like attitude of certain Garnacha, but I need to admit that "Camino de Navaherreros" is an intriguing and inviting, much more versatile Garnacha. The mid-palate expresses the difference in temperature between the hot days and the cool nights, combining nicely ripe red fruit with high acidity, mineral and spices in a juicy way. The lingering finish is quite smooth and crisp with present yet fairly integrated tannins.

The overall profile of the 2008 Bernabeleva "Camino de Navaherreros" Old Vines Garnacha is nice, juicy, light to medium bodied, quite smooth yet racy, much more traditional and authentic of this uniqueTerroir, and far from other Garnacha from Navarra, Priorat and Montsant that are usually (in many cases) overly extracted and hugely oaked. I loved the fresh, earthy, somewhat rustic and old world oriented attitude of this wine. A must try in my opinion. Definitely not your everyday wine, but certainly food friendly.

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

The winery website is under construction, therefore I took portions of the text and all the pictures from the importer website at www.rarewineco.com (an importer which, by the way, has a great portfolio). Click on the following link to go directly to Bodega Bernabeleva page at http://www.rarewineco.com/html/impo/spai/bern.htm

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2007 Domaine des Terres Falmet Cinsault Vin de Pays d'Oc Languedoc France

Domaine des Terres Falmet Cinsault Vin de Pays d'Oc Languedoc France

I do not know why I never wrote a post about this wine before, because it has always been one of my favorites on the shelves. I discovered it a few years ago when the importer, Patrick Allen and his wife Connie (founders of United Estates Wine Imports), came at the store where I used to work and introduced me to this incredible gems. I fell in love with it for 2 reasons:

• 1st: because I though that it was a lovely red wine, quite juicy, with good acidity, a touch rustic with some tannins toward the end, but overall really enjoyable and definitely food friendly, and more especially not overripe or overdone like some Languedoc wines can be (sometimes).

• 2nd: because, this nice wine is made with 100% Cinsault which is definitely not a common thing to see or taste, and I was really intrigued and surprised to find such a rare and distinctive wine that good at this price (under $15).

Cinsault (also spelled Cinsaut) is a red grape variety, whose heat tolerance and productivity make it very important in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, where it excels when blended with Grenache and Carignan, but also in Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, South Africa and California.

As part of a classic Languedoc-Roussillon blend, Cinsault brings juiciness, brightness, structure and tannins while Grenache bears most of the fruit, softness, opulence and the aromatics, and Carignan complements the texture, the roundness and also some of the features through out the flavors in the palate.

Although, it is said that Cinsault originated from the Hérault district, near Beziers, in the Saint-Chinian region to be more precise, it may have been imported a long time ago from the middle-east, where it is still widely cultivated. As an example, Cinsault has always been one of the main components in the blend of Château Musar (see my previous post on Château Musar).

Cinsault has many synonyms, one of them (and probably the most confusing) is called "Oeillade" and is sold as a table grape, although it is different from the ancient and "true" Oeillade which is no longer cultivated.

In South Africa, it was known and bred as "Hermitage", hence the name of its famous cross created in 1925: South Africa's pride "Pinotage", a cross between Pinot Noir and Hermitage (Cinsault). After Languedoc-Roussillon, South Africa is somewhat the 2nd house of Cinsault.

Until about 5 or 10 years ago, Cinsault bottled on its own was nearly unseen and for most producers quite unthinkable. However, better technology and multiple experiences but also soil studies and partly global warming (I obviously mean: increase of temperature and longer ripening season), combined with skilled winemaking techniques, allow us to find more interesting wines made from grape varieties that were only believed to be small part of a blend or even sometimes nearly instinct. And trust me, this kind of wine really triggers my attention and interest.

In the store, I proudly bought quite a few wines made with grapes that were nearly instinct or only part of a blend before, here is a few very interesting examples that you should taste:

• Domaine de Monpertuis Counoise Vin de Pays du Gard: I also fell in love with this wine a few years ago when I first tasted it with my rep from Rosenthal. Roughly, about 15 to 20 years ago, Counoise was one of the 13 authorized grape varieties used in the blend of red Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Slowly, it was less and less used and was nearly instinct for lack of interest from most southern Rhône producers.... Most, except a few, like Domaine de Monpertuis (and a few more) who decided to revive it, replant it and bottle it on its own. They did the right things. Since then, Monpertuis Counoise has been one of my flagship wine in the store (for this one again, I do not know why I never wrote a post about it, may be because I always talk about it, at least 1 or twice a day, and I suggest it so much that I though that I already wrote something about it.....anyhow...)
  

• CVNE Contino Graciano and Santiago Ijalba Graciano: two great, earthy red wines made with this red grape variety called Graciano that has always been blended with Tempranillo in the Rioja region predominantly. Here again, due to daring and talented winemakers who believed in the Graciano grape, but also due to the cited above reasons, we can now find Graciano bottled on its own (see my previous post on Contino where I described in further details my experience with the wines of Contino and my meeting with the master winemaker behind them: Jesus Madrazo).

Cinsault is now a part of the list of these ancient grape varieties that were put aside for a while and nearly forgotten for some, which are now experiencing a renaissance and expressing the true characteristics and unique flavors of their Terroir of origin.

2007 Domaine des Terres Falmet Cinsault Vin de Pays d'Oc Languedoc France

Suggested retail price $10-$13

Imported by United Estates Wine Imports and Distributed David Bowler in NYC

Domaine des Terres Falmet was established in 1996, in the little village of Cebazan, located southeast of Saint-Chinian (north of Narbonne and west of Beziers). The Domaine encompasses 25 hectares of contiguous vineyard plots planted on hillside with excellent sun exposure.

The young and talented Yves Falmet, owner and winemaker, produces this well crafted Cinsault from vines that are more than 50 years old planted on very rocky, clay-limestone soil, so the resulting wine combines, character, length and depth with juicy fruit, mineral and good tannic structure. Moreover, with no filtration or no fining, this wine didn't lose any of its personality or varietal character.

I loved the previous vintage, and think the 2007 Terres Falmet Cinsault follows the same profile, attitude and charm. The robe is clean, bright ruby red with light intensity. The nose is quite expressive and inviting, Garrigues-like with freshly crushed wild red and dark berries aromas, touch floral, earthy and mineral. Overall light to medium bodied, the palate is quite lush with darker berries flavors than the nose, like blackberry, ripe dark cherry and blueberry, nicely lifted by a great acidity which adds balance, freshness and juiciness, especially in the mid-palate. Calling for another glass, the lingering finish is dry and earthy, a touch spicy, with present yet integrated, soft tannins.

Food friendly and an easy drinking, this intriguing and attractive little wine offers a complexity not often found in wines in this category. Pair it with grilled lamb Chops and veggetable Mediterranean dish like Ratatouille. You can serve it both room temperature or even slightly chilled, it has been flying off the shelves this summer.

Due to the consistency and harmony of the last two vintages, Domaine des Terres Falmet and Yves Falmet deserve that interested amateurs and connoisseurs keep an open eye on this estate and its wines. Yves also produces an other beautiful wine produced in AOC Saint-Chinian, called: "L'Ivresse des Cîmes" (which could be translated by the "Dizziness of the Summits", just the name speaks for itself).

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

You can also find more info about this wine on the importer website at www.unitedestateswines.com

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2008 Alto Tierruca Sauvignon Blanc Chile

2008 Alto Tierruca Sauvignon Blanc Reserva Chile
Suggested retail price $7-$9
Imported / Distributed by Monsieur Touton in NYC

I couldn't find much information about it and Monsieur Touton the Importer / Distributor doesn't seem to have any website. However, as always, I will find more info even if I have to phone the winery (it wouldn't be the first time that I'm doing such a crazy thing).

However, to get back to the wine, I love this little wine. It is a quaffer, quite simple yet attractive and balanced, fresh and juicy. At roughly $8 dollars on the shelf, it is a steal!

In the glass, it shows an extremely clear, pale yellow color with low intensity and discreet slightly green reflects. On the nose, the Alto Tierruca Sauvignon Blanc Reserva offers floral notes, like white blossom, and mineral intermingled with citrus peel, peach and lemon grass aromas. The palate is clean, fresh and simple yet balanced, nicely expanding and focus til the end.

I personnally think that this wine is a perfect crowd pleaser. Love it.

Enjoy each sip of it as an aperitif or with appetizers, hors d'oeuvres, fresh cucumber and feta salads, goat cheese, grilled fish and asian cuisine.

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

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Earthy reds for Fall's feelings

Earthy reds for Fall's feelings

Fall evokes the changing colors and multiple shades of the leaves in the forest; the mushrooms and truffles hunts; the warmer cloths and the scent of burning logs in the fireplace; lazy Sundays under the blanket reading a book or watching a classic, while the stew is cooking. All of these comfort our hearts and prepare us for the up-and-coming winter season. Fall also calls for earthier food and wines with fuller mouth-feel, richer fruit and more Terroir-oriented savors. Made with atypical and indigenous red grapes from three wine regions aside of the beaten path, the following wines encompass all of the above cited fall’s feelings, sensations and flavors in a bottle.

2007 Kanonkop “Kadette” Stellenbosch South Africa

Suggested retail price $11-$13

Imported / Distributed by Lauber Imports in NYC

Kanonkop is one of the well known wineries of Stellenbosch. Their Bordeaux-like style, blend and structure greatly appeal to most customers and usually please the connoisseurs. The adepts of South African red wines often compare their wines to some of the best Bordeaux yet at a more attractive price.

Kadette is Kanonkop’s second label, yet like the first label it presents very enjoyable fruit, a generous palate and a lovely balance. A blend of approximately 50% Pinotage, South Africa’s pride, blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this wine was matured in Bordeaux size (225 liters - French Nevers forest) barrels for up to 16 months. The resulting wine offers rich, structured and juicy ripe red and dark berry flavors with hints of oak, spices and earth. The lingering finish presents some dry yet very integrated tannins. Pair it with a grilled steak or even venison and game.

2003 Chateau Peyros Madiran Vieilles Vignes Southwest of France

Suggested retail price $15-$18

Imported / Distributed by Baron Francois in NYC

Chateau Peyros is the southernmost property of the Madiran Appellation. It takes its name from a local Gascony word which means "rocky location" or "stony place". Its location combines exceptional Terroir and ideal growing conditions. The main objective of Chateau Peyros is to apply the most natural and adapted wine making methods to their vineyard and cellar to protect the earth and its Biodiversity and to maximize the quality of their wines. Most of their wines are not filtered to avoid imparting taste and flavors, therefore any natural deposits and slight sedimentation in the bottle are a guarantee of the wine's authenticity and truthful, unique expression. A light decantation is suggested to fully appreciate this Tannat based wine.

Typical of the infamously hot 2003 vintage, the full bodied and opulent Chateau Peyros is a blend of 60% Tannat, Madiran’s indigenous grape (which slowly became the national grape of Uruguay), and 40% Cabernet Franc, both from 40-plus year-old vines. Deep purple in the glass, the initial aromas of dark plum, blackberry and cedar unfold to reveal layers of peppermint and coffee. Fully ripe dark fruit and black berry flavors coat the palate along with notes of bitter chocolate and spices, sustained by a generous acidity and firm yet fairly integrated tannins into a long, structured finish. An earthy, slightly rustic red to be enjoyed with hearty fare: think roast beef, lamb and game.

2004 Le Combal Cahors Southwest of France

Suggested retail price $17-$20

Imported / Distributed by Metro Wine in NYC

Although more recognized than Madiran, Cahors remains one of the lesser known small wine regions of the southwest of France (that people do not venture easily to taste). However, Cahors produces great Malbec based wines that were the initial inspiration for what is now the fame and pride of Argentina. Big, concentrated, tannic and earthy, they usually need time and decant to fully deliver their character and personality.

The 2004 Le Combal is very dark and deep purple color. The Bordeaux-like nose is clean, dry, earthy and smoky. The palate is rich, with enjoyable dark wild berry flavors, minerality and forest floor notes intermingled with hints of roasted coffee, mushroom and spice. Firmly textured yet with a great juicy mouth- feel, this wine has a finish that is slightly tannic and a touch rustic, yet it tastes really good. Beside, a piece of semi-hard flavorful cheese or a slice of roasted meat should ease some of the slight angularities. Like the Madiran, this Cahors is an earthy, peasant’s like, wintry drink after a hard a day braving the unfriendly weather and the other complications of the day.

Overall, The Kanonkop Kadette is a friendly, versatile wine to enjoy with or without food. However, both the Madiran and the cahors will warm you up nicely when paired with southwest of France specialties like a "Cassoulet de Castelnaudary" or "Saucisses Lentilles de Toulouse" or "Magret de Canard" from the Landes.

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

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2008 Baclhôa JP Azeitao red Setubal Terras dos Sado Portugal

2008 Baclhôa JP Azeitao Tinto Setubal Portugal

Wow! What a wine! Last night when I came back from work, I was thinking about the post that I just wrote a day earlier about Bacalhôa JP Palmela 2002 and how good the wine was. Thinking about it, I realized that I also bought their entry level and didn't open it. So, I opened it without much expectation about it. After all, it only cost $7.99 at the store and I was hoping for a correct wine without too much complexity or depth.... well, I was wrong.

My wife and I first reaction was: Wow! This wine is good! and when I told her the price, she could barely believe it and found it even better. Almost deciding that it should be our house everyday red wine. However, we are way too curious and adventurous to stop at one wine and drink it every day. But I need to admit that I bought 2 more bottles tonight and we finished them in no time. It is definitely a sign that this wine is very good and quite easy to drink.

JP Tinto is normally and in most cases produced mainly using the Castelão grape variety, which, on the Setúbal Peninsula, is known, more commonly, as Periquita. However, this is a blend of 6 different grape varieties: 50% Castelão, 20% Aragonez, 15% Syrah, 5% Alicante Bouche, 5 % Touriga Franca and 5 % Trincadeira (What a wine! What a blend!). After the grapes are crushed, the must is fermented at a controlled temperature. It is then immediately stabilized in stainless steel tanks and bottled soon after in order to allow the retention of the fruity aromas, resulting in a very pleasant wine that should be drunk young.

2008 J.P. Tinto Azeitao Red Setubal Terras dos Sado Portugal
Suggested retail price $7-$9
Imported / Distributed by Admiral wine Merchants

It has a ruby-colored robe of medium intensity. The nose is clean and fruity with ripe red and fruit character. In the palate, the wine is smooth and has prevailing aromas of ripe red berry fruits with touch of earthiness. The acidity carries the fruit nicely toward the long fruity finish. Overall, this wine offers a generous and easy going, friendly mouth-feel profile, in a simple yet convincing and juicy way. It is a hell of a wine at this price. Love it. So versatile, you can pair it with pretty much anything.

FYI: the 2008 received a Bronze medal at a conquest (International Wine Challenge 2009), and I can easily understand why. Try it, you'll understand. And the price is difficult to beat.

Enjoy!

Find more info about this wine on the winery website at www.bacalhoa.com and on the importer website at www.admiralimports.com

LeDom du Vin

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My opinion regarding the wine rating 100 points score system

My opinion regarding 

the wine rating 100 points score system

Here is a long comment (edited and enhanced with more thoughts for this post) that I posted on Tom Wark's blog regarding his post about the 100 points score system. 

Hi Tom, 

In response to your post about the 100 point score system, here is my opinion. 

I've been a Sommelier, Wine Director and more especially a Wine Buyer for the past 17 years for restaurants, wine retail stores and private customers, and all I can say is that customers like this system because it guides them and give them easy direction regarding which wines to buy or not to buy, but I personally do not care about it. 

Where I used to work before as a wine buyer, it used to be our only focus: buying wines with a score above 90 at all cost. It was very important for my ex-boss who believes in the scoring system, but I didn't really care. 

Of course, it helped us selling a vast amount of bottles, but I didn't necessarily always agree with the scores. In fact, in many cases, I didn't agree at all and was even wondering how good was the palate of the person who gave certain ratings and scores, depending on the wine critic and/or the magazine. 

Now, I work as a wine buyer in a store where my boss is like me, he doesn't care about the scores. Our main focus is to taste every day and dissect, evaluate and analyze each wine that we taste to be able to offer the best, most interesting and most intriguing, most varietally correct wines from smaller, less marketed and more "Terroir" oriented producers from all around the world. 

You're a blogger and you like wine, so you'll know what I'm talking about. 

Tasting notes and descriptions are essential, yet they only correspond to one palate that shouldn't be trusted blindly. And scores only correspond to a personal yet approximative estimation of the quality of the wine (that also depends on the mood you were in and the conditions, circumstances and also to a certain extent from the people around during the tasting, on that particular day). Meaning that the same person tasting the wine a few days later in totally different conditions may score the wine differently, for various reasons. 

Moreover, we all know that wine tasting is very subjective. Even moreover, we can all agree that sometimes it is very difficult to differentiate the reason why a critic gives an 85pts to one wine and a 90pts (or more) to a similar wine from the same region and grape varietal, when reading the (ultra) short wine descriptions in certain magazines (that I will not be named), and the descriptions aren't so different after all and don't say much about the difference between the two (or really why the 2nd one is better than the 1st one)... 

I have always found that very fascinating: similar description notes but totally different score... go figure. For me, this is bullshit! 

Unless you really try to compare both wines and define why they are different and more especially explain clearly why one deserves a better score than the other one, then writing similar notes for a totally different score is bullshit! 

Most magazines just describe the overall taste in a few vague sentences that, in most cases, aren't sufficient enough to really have a complete overview of the described wine. 

There are three schools of wine people in the market: 

1. People who only read the numbers (whether it is the price or the score, or both); 
2. People who read the tasting notes and/or the descriptions, but don't really care about numbers or pay less attention to them; 
3. People who diversify their sources of information and are interested to learn more about wine and prefer experiencing and judge by themselves, rather than follow scores blindly and be too influenced by the wine critics and the winepress in general. 

Don't get me wrong, after all, people can do as they please, that's their choice. I just think that sometimes, 100pts score system is a bit unfair and somewhat dated (even if nowadays, it seems that everyone is adopting it). 

In the 70s and the 80s up to the mid-90s, it was surely the best way to discover and learn about wine without having to try it or spend the money for it (except for the magazine itself). People were less educated about wine than we are now, and needed guidance. There were also fewer wine schools, programs and tastings. And if we talk about the American market, there were much fewer wines to choose from, as not as many wines were imported to the US back then, and certain brands were the benchmarks of their appellation and nobody questioned it because nobody knew better.

In 2009, the world has changed. There are much more wines, producers, wineries, wine schools, wine programs, wine blogs and websites dedicated to wines than ever before. And people are much more educated about the subject than they ever were before. People are facing much more choice as much more wines are imported in the US, and from all around the world now, compared to mostly Europe before.  

The wine information networks via the internet. It is free, full of info and descriptions about most of the wines from all around the world. Wine bloggers and wine websites, like you and me, have flourished and blossomed on the net over the last 5-10 years, and more and more people are writing about wine (and food, etc). Giving their opinions and guidance about which wines they liked (or disliked), where to buy it, at what price, from which importer or distributor, where and when they tasted it. 

In short, these people (including me) do exactly what people like Robert Parker Jr., Wine Spectator, Decanter, La Revue du Vin de France, Stephen Tanzer, (etc..) used to do and continue to do...but with more conviction and passion, and somewhat fewer influences (IMO), as they mostly speak or write without any business-minded or money interests. 

Customers don't have to follow the voice of only one or two persons anymore, they can choose what they want to read and make their own judgment about the described and desired wine from hundreds of websites (including the winery websites in many cases). Moreover, winery websites, Bloggers, Facebookers, Twitters, and other articles (press or not) are usually more thorough and less critical than the wine magazines and wine press in general (certainly due to the fact that most websites and blogs (etc..) mainly write about the wines they liked and barely not about the wines they disliked). 

Somehow, it is true, how can we (and what gives us the right to) score a wine which took months to achieve, many people time, stress, passion and skill (and money), to just destroy it with a ridiculous score that will hurt not only the image and reputation of the winemaker, the producer and the winery but will also affect the current and future sales of the wines? 

In my opinion, wine tasting is very subjective, so if you don't like a wine, do not write about it or do not score it. There are enough misery and bad things in this world, so better write-only or mostly about good and positive things. Write about what you like, it is more constructive for everyone.  

Also, as the grandson of a winemaker, I genuinely think that Wine is part of a culture, an "Art de Vivre" and pleasure in life, like food and s...(you get the picture). It is happiness in a bottle, which shouldn't suffer from mediocre revues and scores. 

At the end of the day, a good winemaker will always be good no matter what, good year - bad year, as a good wine buyer with a good palate will always be a good wine buyer. Only your palate should be the judge of the quality of the wines you taste, buy and drink. 

Descriptions should help you and guide you, not influence you or impose you an opinion (especially if it is a bad one), and remember, as I said earlier, that a score (the good one, but more especially the bad ones) only reflects the personal yet approximative estimation of the quality of the wine, depending on many variables, and always controllable factors, including the mood you were in and the conditions of the tasting that day). 

I'm open to your comments...

Regards, 

LeDom du Vin (a.k.a. LeDomduVin a.k.a. Dominique Noel)

www.LeDomduVin.com 

#ledomduvin