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

2007 Veleta Nolados

We had this wine at the 2011 International Wine Expo back in February. We bought a few bottles at the time and saved one to review. I’ve been looking forward to opening the last bottle, so when we talked about reviewing a wine tonight, I knew exactly what I was going for.

The facts:

2007 Veleta Nolados
Variety: 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc, 20% Tempranillo

Region: Granada, Spain
Aging: 12 months in American and French oak



My take

In a way, I get dark purple and light pink on the nose. I find that surprising and don’t really know how to process that; not sure what to expect.

As for the flavor..., It’s difficult to get it’s full measure quickly. To borrow a phrase from Jonathan, this is one I want to get to know.

I’d say it tastes like a blend. It has a lightness from the Cab Franc and added complexity from the Cab Sauv. There is definitely a range of flavors, but I can’t seem to pinpoint its character. It’s not hugely complex with a wide array of flavors, but it’s not one note either. There is some spiciness in the front and the middle. And it has a relatively long finish. The texture is great - It has a full, creamy/velvety, soft texture to it.

Overall, the Veleta Nolados has a bigger and bolder profile than I’m used to drinking, but I rather enjoy it. It’s very well balanced, easy to drink, with a nice mouthfeel (yes, I just said “mouthfeel”), and a range of flavors. I only wish I had more.

Price Point: Updated 8/18/2011

When an internet search yielded no US stores selling this wine, I emailed the winery about their availability in the U.S. They responded immediately putting me in touch with their U.S. distributor in Virginia, Andes Importers, Inc. They were very helpful and quick to respond as well.

If you're in the DC metro area, Andes Importers works with Arrowine, Red, White and Bleu, Wine House, and Unwined. While the Veleta Nolados may not be on the shelves at those stores, I'd suggest mentioning Andes Importers and see if they'll put in a special order for you. I know I will.

If you're not in the DC area, contact Andes Importers directly - they'll be happy to tell you if there are stores in your area that might special order from them. And the more interest we can drum up in this wine, the better!

2007 Dry Creek Vineyard Heritage Zinfandel

The facts:
2007 Dry Creek Vineyard Heritage Zinfandel
Region: Sonoma County, California
Variety: 87% Zinfandel, 13% Petite Syrah
Aging: 9 months in American and French oak (39% new oak)


(photo courtesy of www.drycreekvineyard.com)

My take:

Given that this is a California Zin, I expected it to be big and bold – and it delivered (though not in a punch you in the mouth kind of way). I also liked it more than I expected, given my penchant for old world style wines.

The wine looks dark red in the glass. It smells spicy and big with hints of green pepper on the nose. I’d say it smells dark red to purple. It pretty much tastes the same way – dark red to purple. It’s big up front with a good bit of spiciness in the middle. And it’s definitely dry. It’s drier and spicier if you pull air over it.

We tasted this wine with a small range of cheeses and red meat, all of which changed the character of the wine to varying extents. A reserve gouda (not particularly aged or smoked) completely erased the spice and the complexity of the wine. I thought the gouda made the wine dull and rather creamy in texture. A manchego dulled the spice a bit (not completely) and made the flavor much more grapey (read purple). Finally (my favorite with this wine), a garlic and spice boursin mellowed the dryness, but still left you with a range of flavors and a good bit of spice in the middle. And the wine was quite good with red meat. The effect of the red meat was similar to the boursin, for me.

Somewhat to my surprise, I rather enjoyed this wine and would definitely have it again.

Price point: An internet search found this one anywhere from $12.99 to $19.49.

2008 Carmen Carmenere

The facts:

2008 Carmen Carmenere
Region: Rapel Valley, Chile
Variety: 85% Carmenere, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon
Aging: Taken from www.carmen.com, "The bunches were crushed and cold macerated for 10 days at 3ºC to obtain colour and fruitiness. Alcoholic fermentation was made in stainless steel tanks between 26-28ºC. Malolactic fermentation occurred naturally in stainless steel tanks. 30% of the wine was aged in French and American oak barrels for a period of 6 months."

My take:

This wine had a red-black nose to me. I definitely got a sense of black pepper upon the first sniff or two. After opening up a bit, that black pepper transformed a bit to more of a green bell pepper.

Though I know we said we wouldn’t describe wine this way, it quite honestly made me think of strawberries, green bell pepper, and black pepper. It’s definitely on the spicy side, but not overbearingly so.

The texture was ever so slightly chewy and slightly dry. I’d call it full-bodied.

When all is said and done, I don’t really have too much to say about this wine. It isn’t great, but it isn’t bad either. We drank it before, during, and after having a steak dinner and it held up to marinated, grilled rib eye. But for me, that green pepper flavor didn’t seem to pair well with the steak. I liked the wine better without food. That being said, it’s not velvety enough for my tastes and I get no sense of the brown that I tend to prefer, so it’s not something I’d purchase again.

Price point: $12-$13

2006 Chateau Lamothe de Haux

The facts:

2006 Chateau Lamothe de Haux
Region: Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, France
Variety: 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc


(Disclosure: I cheated and did not take a photograph of our wine bottle; I grabbed this image from the internet. Rest assured that the bottle we have is 2006, not 2005.)

My take:

I was excited to try this wine – I love a good Bordeaux blend and the color was beautiful – a nice red-brown. The nose was light, which seemed perfect to go with pork tenderloin. That’s as far as my optimistic notes are going to go.

I think I finally had what I would consider a full-bodied wine. This wine feels quite thick and viscous in the mouth. I personally didn’t care for the texture. The taste is very light up front, a bit more brown in the middle, and you get some complexity in the finish, if you pull a good amount of air over the wine. However, if you’re just sipping this wine, it’s completely nondescript. It’s very short, with little complexity or flavor. After the first glass and making some notes about it, I found myself completely uninterested in drinking more.

Don't get me wrong..., I didn’t dislike the wine, but I didn’t like it all that much either. I will say, drinking it with dinner did lengthen the wine somewhat, but I still found it thin in flavor (not texture). Luckily, dinner did not disappoint. For any food network aficionados, I made Paula Dean's apple stuffed pork tenderloin. Now that I can recommend. It was easy and delicious!

Price point:
Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps the Chateau Lamothe de Haux Blanc is better and/or more well-known than the Rouge. We got the red through our wine club and an internet search reveals lots of places selling the white, but I couldn’t find the red.

2005 Concannon Limited Reserve Petite Sirah

The facts:

2005 Concannon Limited Release Petite Sirah
Region: Central Coast, California
Winemaker: Adam Richardson
Variety: Petite Sirah



This wine is one of our regular stand-bys. We almost always have it on hand and drink it pretty often. We first tasted it at the DC International Wine & Food Festival a couple of years ago. We wandered by a table that was tasting wines from Big House and Concannon. The guy who was pouring the wine told us the Big House wines are more popular, but we liked the Concannon Limited Release Petite Sirah better than the Big House wines. And yes, that is a mouthful (no pun intended). I’m saying “Limited Release Petite Sirah” deliberately because the Concannon winery makes more than one petite sirah. The Limited Release one is the only one we’ve tried, but they also produce a Reserve Petite Sirah and a Heritage Petite Sirah. I’m also deliberately spelling it the way they spell it – makes it easier for you to find online, should you be searching for it.

At the time, when we first tasted it, neither of us could believe there was actually a California wine that we enjoyed. Now, that could have had something to do with the amount of wine we had already consumed that day, so when we saw it at the grocery store (yes folks, even Safeway carries it), we decided to give it another try. And we were pleasantly surprised once again. So we tend to keep it on hand. I’d call it a good sipping wine – not one that requires or demands food.

So here’s my take:

The wine smells dark red, maybe a little purple, with just a bit of the stringent alcohol scent/sensation. Upon sipping, it’s spicy and more complex than I’d expect from a wine in this price range and I think it has a rather long finish. It's on the dry side and I might call this one full-bodied.

As an aside, I’d love to have someone in the industry give me a light-bodied, medium-bodied, and full-bodied wine one after the other so I can feel the difference. Maybe then I'd actually get it. I had an experience like that at the International Wine Expo some years ago, when a pourer perfectly demonstrated for me what oak smells and tastes like. Ever since then I've been able to smell oak on a wine and now I know that I dislike oak aging of white wines – especially American oak. Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled program....

Drinking the LRPS (that’s the texting shorthand for Limited Release Petite Sirah, heheh) with Italian food (red sauce) made it taste a bit more on the purple side than red and made it less dry; kind of mellowed (dulled?) it out a bit. It definitely seems less complex and less spicy after the red sauce.

Price point:
$10 - $14 per bottle