SteveTimko
Steve Timko
Sharon Bowman recommended romorantin from Cour-Cheverny and gave thumbs up to the 2004 Domaine Philippe Tessier Cour-Cheverny. K&L Wines had it on close out for $6. Hell, I'm there for that.
I took a bottle and had five others (three of them wine geeks) try it blind and everyone liked it. It's certainly a different grape. I'll post the notes below with some other notes as I see how CellarTracker! works on Wine Disorder. But here's my question: What'a a good food to pair with romaorantin? It's kind of a stony white flavor with high acidity. Sharon copied something from Wikipedia that said it was Chablis like, but I didn't get that, at least in this basic bottling I tried. Maybe the more expensive bottles are like that.
I've had some great wines in the last couple of weekends, including a 1977 Lytton Springs zinfandel and a white zin (Storybook Mountain calls it zin gris, but we all know better).
I'll see if I can link to pictures of a great meal at Louie's California Chinese Cuisine in San Francisco's Chinatown, in the shadow of the Transamerica building.
1977 Lytton Springs Winery Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley (8/30/2008)
This bottle was probably better than the one at the Vegas In-N-Out Burger offline. The nose wasn't as good. This had a great nose. My dining companions thought it was Old World, maybe Spain or Portugal. Again it had the leather and some of the spices. Some dark fruits on the nose. The palate was better this time. I got a lot of chocolate. Lana noticed raisins and plums. Just really smooth from attack to finish. And a nice, lingering finish. Andy said it was holding up better than his 1982 Bordeaux.
2004 Domaine Philippe Tessier Cour-Cheverny Domaine Blanc - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Cour-Cheverny (8/30/2008)
Certainly a different kind of white. Thanks to Sharon Bowman for calling my attention to it. Initially the nose was kind of like melon and a little bit of diesel. After about two hours it opened up and most of the people at dinner agreed it smelled like reposado tequila. I had never seriously smelled tequila so Lana opened one, I sniffed and sure enough, resposado tequila. The palate is a little harder to describe. Andy noted it's got to be paired with food. Lots of acidity. There's stony fruits and some nuttiness like I get in some Provence whites. Some complexity of flavors. It opened up over a couple of hours which tells me this wine will improve with another year or two of age. Decent finish. The romorantin is different enough some people will be put off by it but I like it. And for $6 close out at K&L Wines it's a freaking steal.
2005 Sbragia Family Chardonnay Gamble Ranch - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/30/2008)
Not my style of chardonnay but it seems well-made nonetheless. I thought it was oxidized on the nose but Lana thought that was just the oak. The oak was a little heavy on the palate but not too bad. Big and buttery on the palate with some apples and lemon. Nice finish. Served blind. I pegged it as chardonnay but I didn't get that oak overkill on the aftertaste that I get with so many of these oaky California chardonnays. Perhaps a more judicious use of oak?
2006 Araujo Estate Sauvignon Blanc Eisele Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/30/2008)
Nice sauvignon blanc. On the nose I got the grassyness and the grapefruit. On the palate, more of the grapefruit along with other citrus flavors. More depth than most sauvignon blancs with a nice creamy texture. Very good finish. The depth and texture make this wine stand out.
2006 Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis Bricco delle Ciliegie - Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Roero DOC (8/30/2008)
A nice wine. A little more austere and not as floral as other arneis I've had. Some citrus on the nose. On the palate, dry with some minerality and lemon zest. A nice wine for summer and it went well with Lana's appetizers.
2006 Robert Foley Charbono - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/30/2008)
First time having charbono and it was a nice wine. Fruit forward. Mostly blackberries and darker fruit. Some tartness but not a high acid wine. Served blind I first thought it was a zinfandel but it wasn't quit as big as a zinfandel. Decent finish. I don't know if aging it will bring more complexity.
1989 Bollig-Lehnert Piesporter Goldtrpfchen Riesling Sptlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (8/23/2008)
Again just another fantastic bottle of this wine. Pure riesling expression. Some diesel on the nose and a perfumed honey. A little bit of flowers too. Wonderfully balanced. Apple and maybe some pineapple on the palate. The honey was notable more in the midpalate and towards the finish. It's sweet but that is perfectly balanced by the acidity. The biggest compliment is that one of our dining companions with a thousand bottle-plus cellar wrote down the information about the wine because he wants to buy more. Fred thought it will age and improve for another 10 years.
1996 Weingut Eduard Hauth Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (8/23/2008)
Nice wine and definitely for acidheads, as Gnther noted. As a kabinett I wondered how dry it would be since rieslings that are too dry are sour to me but it had just enough residual sugar that it was pleasant to drink. On the nose there was a slight whiff of diesel along with some citrus elements. On the palate, there were lots of white fruits like peach and apple. Decent minerality. The finish was just average, which is what kept it being a special wine instead of just a good wine. Drank with a great Cantonese meal and it was probably the best match for the food because it was only slightly sweet and the acidity cut through the fat in a lot of the dishes.
2007 Storybook Mountain Vineyards Zin Gris - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/23/2008)
Purchased on the recommendation of the K&L Wine staff. Very nice white zinfandel. Dry with nice red fruit aromas and also some spices on the nose. On the palate more red fruit flavors and balanced. A very nice finish. I liked it a lot (still only the fourth best rose I've had this year) but it's a good food wine.
I took a bottle and had five others (three of them wine geeks) try it blind and everyone liked it. It's certainly a different grape. I'll post the notes below with some other notes as I see how CellarTracker! works on Wine Disorder. But here's my question: What'a a good food to pair with romaorantin? It's kind of a stony white flavor with high acidity. Sharon copied something from Wikipedia that said it was Chablis like, but I didn't get that, at least in this basic bottling I tried. Maybe the more expensive bottles are like that.
I've had some great wines in the last couple of weekends, including a 1977 Lytton Springs zinfandel and a white zin (Storybook Mountain calls it zin gris, but we all know better).
I'll see if I can link to pictures of a great meal at Louie's California Chinese Cuisine in San Francisco's Chinatown, in the shadow of the Transamerica building.
1977 Lytton Springs Winery Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley (8/30/2008)
This bottle was probably better than the one at the Vegas In-N-Out Burger offline. The nose wasn't as good. This had a great nose. My dining companions thought it was Old World, maybe Spain or Portugal. Again it had the leather and some of the spices. Some dark fruits on the nose. The palate was better this time. I got a lot of chocolate. Lana noticed raisins and plums. Just really smooth from attack to finish. And a nice, lingering finish. Andy said it was holding up better than his 1982 Bordeaux.
2004 Domaine Philippe Tessier Cour-Cheverny Domaine Blanc - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Cour-Cheverny (8/30/2008)
Certainly a different kind of white. Thanks to Sharon Bowman for calling my attention to it. Initially the nose was kind of like melon and a little bit of diesel. After about two hours it opened up and most of the people at dinner agreed it smelled like reposado tequila. I had never seriously smelled tequila so Lana opened one, I sniffed and sure enough, resposado tequila. The palate is a little harder to describe. Andy noted it's got to be paired with food. Lots of acidity. There's stony fruits and some nuttiness like I get in some Provence whites. Some complexity of flavors. It opened up over a couple of hours which tells me this wine will improve with another year or two of age. Decent finish. The romorantin is different enough some people will be put off by it but I like it. And for $6 close out at K&L Wines it's a freaking steal.
2005 Sbragia Family Chardonnay Gamble Ranch - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/30/2008)
Not my style of chardonnay but it seems well-made nonetheless. I thought it was oxidized on the nose but Lana thought that was just the oak. The oak was a little heavy on the palate but not too bad. Big and buttery on the palate with some apples and lemon. Nice finish. Served blind. I pegged it as chardonnay but I didn't get that oak overkill on the aftertaste that I get with so many of these oaky California chardonnays. Perhaps a more judicious use of oak?
2006 Araujo Estate Sauvignon Blanc Eisele Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/30/2008)
Nice sauvignon blanc. On the nose I got the grassyness and the grapefruit. On the palate, more of the grapefruit along with other citrus flavors. More depth than most sauvignon blancs with a nice creamy texture. Very good finish. The depth and texture make this wine stand out.
2006 Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis Bricco delle Ciliegie - Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Roero DOC (8/30/2008)
A nice wine. A little more austere and not as floral as other arneis I've had. Some citrus on the nose. On the palate, dry with some minerality and lemon zest. A nice wine for summer and it went well with Lana's appetizers.
2006 Robert Foley Charbono - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/30/2008)
First time having charbono and it was a nice wine. Fruit forward. Mostly blackberries and darker fruit. Some tartness but not a high acid wine. Served blind I first thought it was a zinfandel but it wasn't quit as big as a zinfandel. Decent finish. I don't know if aging it will bring more complexity.
1989 Bollig-Lehnert Piesporter Goldtrpfchen Riesling Sptlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (8/23/2008)
Again just another fantastic bottle of this wine. Pure riesling expression. Some diesel on the nose and a perfumed honey. A little bit of flowers too. Wonderfully balanced. Apple and maybe some pineapple on the palate. The honey was notable more in the midpalate and towards the finish. It's sweet but that is perfectly balanced by the acidity. The biggest compliment is that one of our dining companions with a thousand bottle-plus cellar wrote down the information about the wine because he wants to buy more. Fred thought it will age and improve for another 10 years.
1996 Weingut Eduard Hauth Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (8/23/2008)
Nice wine and definitely for acidheads, as Gnther noted. As a kabinett I wondered how dry it would be since rieslings that are too dry are sour to me but it had just enough residual sugar that it was pleasant to drink. On the nose there was a slight whiff of diesel along with some citrus elements. On the palate, there were lots of white fruits like peach and apple. Decent minerality. The finish was just average, which is what kept it being a special wine instead of just a good wine. Drank with a great Cantonese meal and it was probably the best match for the food because it was only slightly sweet and the acidity cut through the fat in a lot of the dishes.
2007 Storybook Mountain Vineyards Zin Gris - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/23/2008)
Purchased on the recommendation of the K&L Wine staff. Very nice white zinfandel. Dry with nice red fruit aromas and also some spices on the nose. On the palate more red fruit flavors and balanced. A very nice finish. I liked it a lot (still only the fourth best rose I've had this year) but it's a good food wine.