Wine of the day #04 - Chateau de Beaucastel 2003

Wine itself, undoubtedly not an everyday wine, it is only my surprise wine tonight. Why? It is just a secretly opened wine found in dad's cellar. Somehow I have to stop someone from further consuming...

Appelation: Chateauneuf-du-pape controlee

Weather: warm, dry growing seasons in Rhone

Soil: pebbles known locally as ''galets''

Wine Maker: Jean-Pierre and Francois Perrin
Grape: Here's the highlight. This wine has 13 varietals of grapes!
30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise, 5% Cincault and others (Vaccarèse, Terret noir, Muscardin, Picpoul, Picardan, Bourboulenc, Roussanne)
Production Method: blending. Unlike ordinary Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the % of Mourvedre is higher than others.

Observation: Tawny, garnet rim, very long tears
Nose: Blend of peppers, spice, leather, black and red fruits, slight prune...mixture of all dark fruit palate based wine.
Palate: Ham, meaty, spice, hint of licorice. Balanced body, medium + length, spicer, high alcohol content. not as peppery as cabernet sauvignon, body is slightly lighter. Creamy, rich in content that generates long aftertaste. Hint of bitter cherry at the edge.
          Decanted --> tannin is softened and body is more balanced. It can last longer, still have potential to grow, yet still the time to drink. Almost at peak. (Decanting is recommended on wine label. Whenever wine requires decanting, its tannin level must be high and body would be very rich and well-balance. This is what we called the Big Wine)

From its body and the texture, it might well deceive drinkers as one of the Grand Cru Classe. You can only distinguish from tasting a blend of finishes that it would be a blended varietals. This is due to the usage of Mourvedre, a grape which could work as effective on aging as Cabernet Sauvignon. Very high quality to-be-vintaged wine.

Price: Ranging from $480
Source: Wine bluff
Worth buying: $$$$$

Wine of the day #03 - Chianti Classico DOCG Borgo Salcetino 2007

In a petit supermarket, a place which suppose with assorted wine just displaying on rack covered with dust...Treasure is always beneath.
DOCG wine from Toscana company our family for a lousy instant noodle dinner...now who is insulting who?

Location: Lucarelli in municipal administration of Radda in Chianti.
Weather: Fine weather at the crucial final stage of grape ripening allowed producers to harvest at optimum ripeness, risking a little extra hang-time if necessary. Generally, the grapes were extremely healthy, with yields down 10% on the average.
Terrior: Lime, clay, sand

Grape: 95% Sangiovese, 5% Canaiolo
Class: DOCG
Ageing: 6 - 10 years.

Observe: clear, long tears, white rim, ruby color, pinkish edge
Nose: slightly declining of animal fat, strong shade of red fruit, light vanilla hint.
Palate: slight acidic, refreshing. Medium - length. Medium + alcohol. Petroleum carried over the tongue,  cherry-red fruits, fruity, spice
Food match: Goat cheese, grilled red meat, game

Source: Park'n Shop
Price: $149
Worth: Worth buying

Link: http://www.livon.it/eng/home.htm

Wine of the day #02 - Chateau Calon 2003

Chateau Calon 2003. Don't get me wrong, this is not the 3rd growth Calon-segur. This is from st. Emilion. Not sure if that's a misbuy from dad. Anyhow, give it a shot.

Weather: 2003

It is the vintage of God's joke. Atypically warm March and April resulted in flowering ending two weeks before normal time. May entertained with very little rain, while June and July got almost no rain at all. August was a case for itself. Heat wave which lasted three weeks with temperature between 40-45°C, low humidity and few drops of rain. The growing cycle of vines was halted because of rain shortage.

To the East lies the famous appellations of St. Emillion, with its wonderfully ripe Cabernet Franc, and Pomerol where Merlot rules the roost and produces deep, plush wines of uncommon refinement.

Soil / Landscape: clay-limestone
 
Clayey soil and limestones in subsoil, keeps as everybody knows a sufficient amount of rainwater back, that’s why Merlot had it better here with rainwater not running deep down or far away.
 
Producer n Chateau Owner: Jean-Noël Boidron
Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Carmenere

Color: ruby, opaque

Nose: Typical Cabernet Sauvignon. As in peppery and blackberry taste. I would have the metal nose to the typical cab sau. Not tasting much of the blending grapes or merlot. Dorminated by Cab Sau component.

Palate: Compare to the standard can sau, it has shorter length of after taste. It is easy drinking, the highlight would be on it's lead finish.

Price: $238
Worth-buy: so-so...
Source: TBC (dad is sleeping...)

Weather Reference: http://www.greatbordeauxwines.com/Bordeaux%202003.html

Wine of the day #01 - Prosecco Fossato

Don't envy. Yes, this is an extra dry sparkling wine from Umbrio -- Prosecco. Goes well with Chinese dish. Slightly creamy, sizzling in the mouth. Not too citrus. Excellent with so-called weird chinese food like preserved egg "皮蛋".

This wine unlike champagne, adopting charmat method, 2nd fermentation under stainless steel, less expensive in production. No wonder, it looks like the $2xx - $3xx wine, it's cost is around $70!!! It is one of Bellini's component as well.



Dominantly for local consumption. In recent 2-3 years, they are also available for production in new world countries such as Argentina, Brazil etc.

Prosecco can appear in another form -- CAN. They will be called Frizzante instead. Il Paese that I introduced previously also have these Can sizzling wine available.