2010 Giesta Dao

The last time I recall having a Portuguese wine, I was at the Portuguese embassy,and more than a little hammered (true story).  That was back in the early 2000’s, and I was there for a port tasting.  After several hours of trying all the ports the great houses had to offer (and cementing eternally my love for a 20 year tawny port), the Ambassador himself came down to mingle with the guests. After mingling for a while he said a few words about Portugal, their wine industries and then opened some wine for us to try.  A grand night, and an experience I will never forget.  Unfortunately for this story, that evening was quite a bit more interesting than the wine I am about to tell you about.  

The wine is somewhat of a non-event.  Normally I like wines, or I dislike them, usually with more than a few degrees of emotion.  Sadly, this wine elicits none of that from me.  I was excited when I first poured it, the color having a bit of brickness to it, and falling on the more red, than purple side of things.  And perhaps that might be where it really fell down for me, the taste was nothing like what my eyes had already conjured....I was imagining old world wines, with a mystery and complexity that I would spend the evening unravelling on sip at a time.

This was not to be, for the wine was fairly upfront, and fully of cherry.  I don't mind a bit of fruit here or there, but when I see a nice red wine, tantalized with the knowledge that its a blend of three different grapes, I tend to expect more.  And thus the failure, it’s not a bad wine, it’s just not a great one.  Once you work through the initial impressions, you find that there isn’t too much else to it.  As I think about describing the body, the finish, the complexity the only adjectives that come to mind are medium, moderate, middling and mediocre.  While I could certainly continue documenting its lack of interest further, but that would only be serving as an excuse to find how many more alliterations I could use, having developed a sudden fondness for them.  A fondness  that surely was developed by the hole in my affections left by this vintage.

2010 Giesta Dao

I was at a conference last week and met a few wine-loving folks while there. After talking with them about wine and enjoying a fantastic dinner at Shula’s Steak House, I was inspired to review another wine. We have a handful of bottles marked for review and tonight the figurative spin of the wheel led us to open the 2010 Giesta Dao from Portugal.

The facts:

2010 Giesta Dao
Variety: 32% Touriga-Nacional, 45% Tinta-Roriz (Tempranillo), and 23% Jaen

Region: Portugal
Winemaker: Nuno Cancela de Abreu

My take

The nosy is a spicy reddish purple. In a way, I’d say the nose is somewhat misleading. I didn’t get purple when tasting this one (and for me that’s a good thing), but the more the wine opens up, the less spicy it gets. What you do get is a full-bodied, juicy (dare I say chewy?) wine that feels rather new-world in terms of style. You get a burst of pinkish red fruit up front (that’s the new world I’m talking about) with a bit of spicyness in the middle, and a relatively long finish. The wine is not at all dry. To the contrary, it’s rather silky smooth going down.

In the end, it’s not overly interesting, but not one-note or boring either. It’s a bit too new world style for my palate. I’d prefer less up front fullness and a little more complexity in the range of flavors. That being said, if you like a new world style wine with a velvety texture, then this one might just hit the spot.

Price Point: $13 a bottle

2009 Mario Ercolino Saserello

“It was a dark and stormy night...”

Was my recommendation to Kerri when she said she didn't know how to begin her review. Technically, it was a classic starting line, sure to please even the most erudite of readers. Given Snoopy’s predilection for the phrase, I fail to see how it could not be a winner. Unsurprisingly, she spurned my suggestion. Luckily for her, she had already made copious notes of her initial impressions, and luckily for me, I’ve already had this wine before.

We got the Saserello from our Zagat wine club shipment, which is usually kind enough to send us at least two of everything (except for the El Bombero, which sadly is a different story...grrrrr). With two bottles in the fridge, I had tried it a couple of nights before, and absolutely loved it, minus the pairing with red sauce. And when raving about my devotion to this beverage to Kerri, she suggested we pick back up the mantle of faithful bloggers and do a full review. However, this time paying attention to what we paired it with, as to make the most of it. Which can only mean one thing:

Steak. Two of them, to be exact, each weighing in at damn near 1 lb. (does my wife rock or what?)

Steaks grilled, potatoes roasted in the oven, we sat down to the serious task of grading wines for general consumption. In our (well...my) second meeting, the Saserello far outpaced the joy it provided on our first encounter. I came away with much the same opinion that I did after the first bottle. Namely, that this is simply a wonderful wine, one well suited for day to day drinking. It’s a thick lush wine, full bodied with each mouthful bringing a rich smoothness that I wouldn’t normally expect from a bigger wine. The wine is fantastic on its own, prompting hedonistic consumption without accompaniment, yet it manages to shine even more brightly when matched up with a nice medium rare New York strip.

When I found out it retails in the $10-15 range I was honestly surprised. Don’t tell Concannon, but there might be a new house red. Run out and buy two.

2009 Mario Ercolino Saserello

Upon stating that I didn’t know what to write, Jonathan told me I should start with something like It was a dark and stormy night.... Then he promptly told me he had dibs on that intro. So I’m back to not knowing how to start the story on this one. Apparently I had a little too much wine too quickly this evening. ;)

So I guess I’ll just get to the gist of it. We recently joined a new wine club to try something different. We now get a case of wine 4 times a year from the Zagat Wine Club and this came from our most recent case.

The facts:

2009 Mario Ercolino Saserello
Variety: 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 25% Sangiovese, 25% Syrah

Region: Sicilia, Italy
Winemaker: Mario Ercolino



My take

The nose is red with an earthy touch, but without being too brown. Before eating anything, the wine is spicy and full up front (but not in an overwhelming way) with a good range of flavors. This wine struck me as fairly complex – more complex than I expected from a wine club wine. (Perhaps my expectations are too low?) The spice carries through the middle and then ends with a dry finish.

All that being said, if you’re a red meat eater – try this wine with steak. The bottle itself suggests it pairs well with “richly flavoured dishes such as steak with a peppercorn sauce, slow-cooked venison with juniper and full-flavoured cheeses” and it lives up to those claims (at least as far as a peppery steak is concerned). The peppery steak took the edge right off the dry and deepened the flavors. I still got spice in the front and middle, but with the meat, the wine rounded out in a dark purple red for a smooth, long finish.

This is one I would definitely buy again. Two bottles came with our wine club shipment and they’re already gone. For the price point, this could easily be a go-to wine that you keep on hand for a good steak dinner without breaking the bank.

Price Point: $12.00 a bottle