This Simunye Shiraz 2004 from South Africa is quite luscious. In the glass it is a youthful ruby red. The nose is all oak and cedar (like a freshly-built deck). On the palate is lots of fruit — raspberries and blackberries — with structured tannins. The finish is full and rich.
We will have this tonight with a roast beef that I have had cooking at a low temperature for several hours. It is Friday night and we are celebrating!
This Dona Ermelinda Palmela DOC 2004 is made from the Castelão grape in Portugal. Interestingly, Tom chose this wine to go with leftover pizza. We see from a previous post that we chose this wine for pizza another time! We also had it with home-made soup.
This Portuguese wine is medium body and fruity. In the glass it is deep purple rimmed with garnet. The nose is a very fresh spice. On the palate is soft tannins, oak, dried fruit, and fresh cherries. This is a keeper: bold, audacious, and delightful!
Tom: This Dona Ermelinda Palmela DOC 2004 has a fruity (blackberries) and slightly vegetal nose. It comes across as a big red, and so it should be good with pizza.
This delicious Cerro Campana Shiraz 2005 from Spain is a dry, fruity red. On the nose is plums and cranberries with hints of violets. On the palate is spice, licorice, and blueberries. The feel of this wine is lovely — round in the mouth, full bodied, and very smooth. I am very pleased with the quality of this wine. I will definitely purchase this again.
We will have this wine tonight with a batch of spicy chili that I whipped up after work. It is simmering on the stove and smells good. A tasty, tummy-warming supper for a very cold Michigan night.
Tom: This Cerro Campana Shiraz 2005 is peppery with notes of cherries and berries. Good fruit flavor without being fruit bomby. Very tasty and should be good with chili.
This Château Moureau Bordeaux 2005 is quite wonderful. I can’t remember where we purchased this wine. Tom thinks it came from one of our wine clubs and he is probably right. (I need to start marking the wines as they arrive, or when we purchase from the store, so I remember.) Nevertheless, this is a delicious red wine. The nose is anise and honeysuckle. On the palate is a balanced quaff with firm tannins and a lengthy finish of redwood and oregano.
We will have this wine with a leftover pot of soup that I made for our pre-Thanksgiving meal: beef-barley soup. This soup is delicious and is the result of several days of preparation — starting with the cooking of a roast, followed by the sauteeing of onions, garlic, potatoes, and carrots, and then adding tomatoes, broth, barley, and, as my son says, “what not”. . . anyway, it makes a yummy soup and that is what we will have tonight for dinner. Cheers!
We received this Third Stone Monterey County Syrah 2006 from California from one of our wine clubs. When Tom poured me a glass, I was quite taken with the nose. The aroma is strong and attention getting (and very pleasant). Ahhh, and the taste. . .simply lovely! This is a delicious, yummy wine! On the palate is wood, spice, and pepper. The finish is pepper and a bit of plum, but mainly pepper. I am very impressed with this wine. It’s been awhile since I have raved about a wine. I love it! (Tonight we are having a dinner of a sausage, potato, carrots, and sauerkraut stew. . . a German dish that is savory and comforting on a snowy, cold evening. This wine will hold up well against this spicy-hot dish.) I highly recommend this wine for anyone who loves a big, bold red. Mmmmmm!
Tom: I selected this Third Stone Monterey County Syrah 2006 on the guess that it would be on the spicy side to go with our sausage dinner. It’s very pleasant: fruit forward (cherries and berries), a bit spicy but not particularly so, and more soft than tannic. The combination is a very drinkable, big-fruit wine that is still big enough to stand up to our sausage dinner.
This Noble Road Cabernet Merlot 2005 from Australia, a blend of 75% Cabernet and 25% Merlot, is a bit unusual. My first sip was a jolt to my senses, but after swirling a bit and airing, I find it to be a lovely, big, and bold red. While the nose is delicate, the palate is quite zippy! It has a fizzy quality with a mouthful of fruit and a bit of caramel and vanilla. This wine has a long finish of wood and bramble.
We will have this wine tonight with leftover turkey, dressing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, yada, yada, yada. . .I just need to make room in my refrigerator!
Tom: This Noble Road Cabernet Merlot 2005 is very pleasant. It’s fruit forward (in true Australian style). Its fruit flavor is cherries, with a bit of vanilla. It’s soft and not very tannic; the merlot side seems to mellow out cabernet side. The soft, fruity taste will go well with our leftover turkey.
This California Mandolin Merlot 2005 is complex with a dark berry fruit nose. On the palate is a blend of spice, plum, and raspberries in a medium-bodied and luscious mouth-feel with a dry, pine-tree, and plum finish.
We are having this wine with leftover Thanksgiving food! We had such a lovely Thanksgiving dinner, but I didn’t even taste it because I was so captured by the moment . . . having my family surrounding me. My parents (Bill and Delight) have left, my sister and brother-in-law (Jan and Steve) have gone back to their home, the boys (Tommy and Tony) are here and there, and now Tom and I (and Trigger) are taking a breather. I think this wine will go nicely with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sagey stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, and oven-baked rolls. I’ll try to get Tom to post some Thanksgiving pictures!
Happy Tuesday before Thanksgiving! We are celebrating as though it was a Friday at our household. We have family arriving tomorrow. So, Tom opened this bottle of Les Pins Domaine Carpy Fitou 2005, a French red, which is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Carignon and Mourvedre. It is simply wonderful. I must admit, I can tell the difference (usually) between a wine that sells for under $10 and a wine that is over $10. This one is a full-bodied, big red with a fruity nose, firm and grippy tannins, and a lovely, long-lasting finish. This is a complex wine with many layers of tastes and aromas. This is an absolute winner and I love it.
Tom is taking a picture of Trigger on my lap as I write this post. I hope he posts it so you can see how cute she is!
I had to work late tonight and travel quite a distance for a presentation tonight. When I came home, Tom had our martini glasses chilling (what a great husband) and we read the paper and had our cocktail. Following that, Tom opened this bottle of Ruggero di Tasso Nero d’Avola 2005, a Sicilian red wine. Tom is enjoying this wine but I did not care for it. This is a personal thing and it does not reflect on the quality of the wine, but for me, it just didn’t do it for me. The nose is musty and yeasty. I only had a couple of sips and Tom insisted on pouring me a glass of another wine so I will stop this review and Tom will pick it up from here, because he is enjoying this wine. (He poured me a glass of Morgon Beaujolais. . .)
Tom: This Ruggero di Tasso Nero d’Avola 2005 is quite good. It has a quality that I am coming to recognize as common among Italian wines: it has a certain earthiness or yeastiness that is something of an acquired taste. (Melody calls this musty and I see what she means: it appeals to you or it doesn’t.) But I find this very nice: a strong, dry red with that certain yeastiness.
This Lindemans Bin 99 Pinot Noir 2006 is pleasant, soft, grapy, not tannic. Fruit tastes of berries and cherries. An easy-going quaff.
Here are Tom and Trigger, each leaning on their elbows while listening to Melody during cocktail hour.
