Wine Tasting on 6-26-09

Present were Jimmy, Piroca, Winepath and Uncle-N with a guest appearance of Uncle-OZ. Uncle-E was MIA. We blind tasted 4 wines. All 4 were from different regions.

1. Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino 2004, score=2+

Color is bit lighter than classic Cali Cab. Slight brown tinge. Nose is bit alcoholic (wine just arrived and did not have a time to rest) with some floral nose with coffee and green tea (as per Piroca). Palate starts with rather muted back fruits with kind of flat mid palate ending in big chewy tannin and acidic finish (some thought this is not too acidic). Finish is rather long. Probably this is not our kind of wine. It may be good with food but the tannin and acidity are rather assertive. Tasters mentioned Garnacha (Spain), Malbec (Argentina), and Primitivo (Italy). This is an example of rather young Brunello Di Montalcino (Sangiovese).

94 Points - Wine Spectator
"Delivers raisins, blackberries and roses on the nose. Full-bodied, with a soft and silky tannin structure and a long and delicious finish. This is the best Brunello ever from here. Best from 2010 through 2016. 10,300 cases made."

2. Numanthia Numanthia Toro 2004, Score=3+~4

Color is very dark garnet (the color of highly extracted wine). Nose is very nice with lots of black fruit. Palate is very fruit forward with predominantly black cherry with rather complex flavors and smooth mouth feel ending in large assertive but still smooth and nice tannin. By far the best in the tasting. This profile is that of high-end Cali Cab but again discussion of wines from Spain such as Alto Moncayo "Aquilon", Mas Doix Priorat Costers de Vinyes Velles which totally tasted like high-end Cali Cab. Other possibilities mentioned include Australian Cab or cab blend, Argentinian Cab, Malbec blend. Before removing the cover, Piroca said this was Tinto de Toro. Uncle-N muttered “Numanthia” and this was indeed “Numanthia”. We had this wine in a previous tasting (before we started our wine blog). Some Spanish wines keep impressing us with their quality and PQR.

“This is a sensational effort which in a perfect world should be cellared for a decade and enjoyed over the following 25+ years. However, the elderly among us should not feel guilty about opening a bottle now." Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, 98 Points

3. Artesa Merlot 2004, score=3

Nose has floral note with slight sweaty foot. Palate has mixed sweet fruits upfront leading to rather assertive tannin. Definitely a new world wine. Although upfront sweet fruit may not be everybody’s cup of tea, this is a very pleasant wine. This turned out to be Merlot from Artesa. We have tasted Artesa Element red 03 (their Bordeaux blend) and liked it. This merlot is also good.
This wine uses 74% Sonoma and 26% Napa Merlot grapes.




4. Prince Michel Merlot, vintage unknown, Score=2

Color is a bit thin. Nose has a bit of medicinal note with floral (lavender). Again, upfront sweet fruit with rather gentle tannin. A pleasant but simple wine. For some reason, Winepath (who did not bring this one) uttered Virginia wine and even Price Michel (we don’t know how). In any case, he was right. I am not sure of the vintage, must be 2006 but this wine does not carry any vintage on the label or at their web site. Here is the text from the web page.

“Thirteen months of aging in both French and American oak gives this wine a soft, silky texture. Rich berry flavors blend beautifully with undertones of vanilla bean and spice. International Eastern Wine Competition and Tasters Guild International — Silver Medals. Philosophy: To bring to the forefront notes of blackberry, raspberry, and toasted coffee bean that are so much a part of the Merlot grape.”