Serve well chilled for the fullest visual-sensual experience. Aromas fill the glass like chilled saltwater sea-licked morning fogs that sleepily yet gracefully lift with the first rays of sunlight from the vineyard immediately post-harvest – where an abundance of ground-trodden grapes, having been all too hastily removed from the vines and having slipped from the…
Category: California
Review – Red Wine: 2010 Five Rivers Pinot Noir, California USA
The right side of the wine label in this photo shows a beautiful plum-purple stain line caused by a drip of wine that ran down the bottle. Interestingly, this very magenta-colored wine turns this darker plum-purple shade when dry, just as dried magenta hibiscus flowers do, after being steeped in hot water and staining a…
Review – White Wine: 2011 La Crema Chardonnay – Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, California USA
Very refreshing, airy, open, spacious aroma, like walking into the foyer of a grand marble-floored glistening hotel. Indeed, first sip confirms this feeling further, with an elegant balance between a fruity beginning on the tip of the tongue, a full buttery softness midway through, and a final statement of dry maturity on the back of…
Review – Red Wine: O’Shaughnessy Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley, California USA
Sturdy and gallant as a trusty Shire horse, but demanding as one as well. The aroma is dark as a midnight forest with an encouraging invitation to be curious and come closer, like entering an old rustic oak country cottage, ushered in by a mystical great-aunt who maintained the house and land with her bare…
Review – White Wine: 2010 Morgan Chardonnay, Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County, California USA
Tickles the nose when inhaled deeply. Too sweet to accompany dessert. Better as an apéritif or with savory food because of the sweet bite of this wine. Swirling in the glass brings out flavors of honeydew melon and cantaloupe, but it is stubborn and doesn’t open up easily. Subtle aromas of an overly sanitized but…
Review – Red Wine: 2009 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California USA
Begins a bit rough on the tongue, especially in the aroma, which suggests a full purple-grapeyness but being a bit immature and in need of aging. After a few sips this wine opens up much more beautifully, with the grape lingering long in the mouth, making it a good sipping wine with or without food, although its full-bodiedness…
Review – Red Wine: 2011 Coppola Rosso & Bianco Rosso, California USA
A slightly stinky aroma, like heavily laden bacteria-infested grapes (that is, like natto, or gooey fermented soybeans), seems peculiar to some Italian regions. Old wool carpet and patina-weathered Italian oversized armchairs in a large airy rustic cottage, and soil-smothered water-drenched decaying wood stumps in a boggy forest, also come to mind. Not bad at all,…
Review – White Wine: 2010 Dreaming Tree Chardonnay, Central Coast California, USA
Great everyday white wine. Fruity but not sweet, as in lemons and tropical citrusy fruits blended with the pollen-soaked sundew from tropical flowers. Mellow minerals. Best as an aperitif. Probably very good with a light after-lunch dessert, or after dinner if only white wine is had throughout the evening. Grape: 100% Chardonnay Bottle opened &…
Review – Red Wine: 2010 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County, California USA
Not as memorable as the 2009 (see older review) but still fine. Needs a little aging and a fresh review later. Best consumed after half an hour or so of opening up in the glass. Grape: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon Bottle opened & wine tasted: 2013 February 13th Review written: 2013 February 14th
Review – Red Wine: 2010 Joel Gott 815 Cabernet Sauvignon, California
This was okay. The aroma was very unusual, perhaps more metallic or minerally (such as well water or spring water minerals) as opposed to the typical grapeyness of Cabs. Sharp but bright, reminiscent of a very sunny early summer afternoon on the back porch during a cookout with a glass of icy lemonade in hand…
Culinary Poetry 