Hi everyone,

This week I tasted Atteca 2007 Old Vine Garnacha.  Now this is a grape I really like, Garnacha  (Grenache in France), performs really well in hot sunny vineyards with arid growing conditions.  When the vines are young they produce a fruity, perfumed, medium-bodied red wine good for light meals and easy drinking.  When the vines have achieved an age of 75-100+ years they are capable of producing wines with a amazingly full character while remaining very smooth on the palate.

They are available from Spain, Southern France,  Australia, and the US, but usually command a more modest price from Spanish producers.  Bodegas Ateca’s OV Garnacha  is a great example of the grape.  The bouquet is full of smoky bacon and blackberries that continue with more fruit and spice on the palate.   Cherry, plum, and dark cassis are all there, as is a pleasant mineral aspect on the finish.  I highly recommend this wine for all around enjoyment, but for an interesting food pairing try it with spicy foods like barbeque, Indian foods (especially lamb dishes), and spicy fajitas.   

Atteca Old Vine Garnacha 2007 Bodegas Ateca, Calatayud DO, Spain  $16.99

At a recent gathering several of our wines were tasted and evaluated.  Really, the basis for the tasting was to familiarize with some wines that had new or previously untasted vintages.  Below are a few of those as well as one or two from a recent store tasting.

1998 Chateau Meyney, St Estephe, Bordeaux, France $33.99 This wine has a bright ruby color and lots of violet flower and dark cherry in the bouquet. The body is on the medium side of full, with velvety tannins that linger on the palate with red fruit, mineral, and spice flavors. These 98’s already have a good amount of age and have developed nicely. A great find for those who want to try Bordeaux that has aged nicely and still has a lot of life.

Borsao Grenache75%, Tempranillo25 % Campo de Borja, Spain $9.99 I have tried this wine for the past three vintages and the newest is just as good and even more perfumed with cinnamon and juicy red fruit. This wine is full bodied, but is silky and finishes so softly, it really offers the best of both worlds for a very modest price.

Treana White Blend Paso Robles California 2007 47% Viognier 53% Marsanne. I was really impressed with this wine. Extremely pronounced aromas of honeysuckle and peach that evolves into more complex mineral and apricot. This wine is can be used as a great accompaniment to smoked salmon or prosciutto. A great alternative to the usually lighter Sauvignon Blancs in the same price range.

Candor Zinfandel 2006 and 2007 multi-vintage blend , Amador, Lodi, Paso Robles.    California winemakers don’t have much of a tendancy to mix vintages as they do for mixing fruit from several appellations.  Winemaker J.C Diefenderfer, who was present for this tasting, does both with this suprisingly textured Zinfandel.  Mostly sourced from old vines, this red has tons of aroma and is very complex in it’s presentation of fruit, spice, and mineral flavors.

Free Tastings are held Tue-Sat 1-7pm.

Until next time, Salut!

Hello wine lovers,

I am just going to get this ball rolling and post some notes about a few of the wines that have been tasted recently at Colonial.   This is just a preview, more wines are coming in the next day or two.  Enjoy!

First up is the Albarino by Martin Codax.  This wine hails from the heart of Albarino territory in western Spain, Rias Baixas (say “reese buy-shus”).  A great alternative to Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc because of the medium body of the wine.  Lots of pleasant peach aromas and light mineral finish.   An awesome value for under $15.

We also tasted the Il Leo Chianti Superiore from Ruffino.  This 2004 was very soft but had oodles of stamina, the finish on this wine just keeps going.  Lots of prune and red cherry fruit with leathery spice.  Everything that is classic Chianti in this bottle.  Normally $14.39, marked down to $9.99 for the tasting.

Lastly, we poured the White Oak Napa Merlot 2004.  Loads of black fruit and spice made this a must-have steak wine for weekend cookouts.  I found it to be very full bodied (almost 20% Cabernet Sauvignon is blended in) but silky enough to be smooth on the palate with a pleasant anise finish.  Regularly priced around $28, marked down to $20 for the tasting. 

More coming soon, Salut!