Monday, February 19, 2007

Nautilus 2006 Sauvignon Blanc


2006 Nautilus Sauvignon Blanc, from Marlborough New Zealand ($13). Not going to blather on, but it's a lovely wine! Light, crisp, a tiny bit acidic. I had it with a thai chicken curry and the spiciness DID overpower the wine a bit. Wish I had drank a riesling with my meal instead, but it was still a very enjoyable pairing. I used argon gas to save the wine for today... tried some and it tasted remarkably figgy and a little nutty. A nice improvement. Tonight I had the SB with roasted herb chicken which was very tasty indeed!

Saturday, February 10, 2007

The Show



This is "The Show" (2005). A mostly-cabernet blend by Joel Gott (winemaker/guy who owns Taylor's Refresher, in Napa).... and also fellow winemakers Charles Bieler and Roger Scommenga... They have been doing the Three Thieves wine, (an unexpectedly good jug wine), and also "Bandit" wine sold in a CapriSun-type box (and it is not plonk). This is their newest venture. It is 80% cabernet sauvignon mainly from Monterey, then Paso and Napa; the rest of it is made of merlot, cab franc, petit verdot and petite syrah. The alcohol level says it's 13.9. Price: $12. I like it. Good bang for your buck. Once it had a chance to open, you got mocha on the nose, and blueberries on the back end. Not bad!... Quite yummy in fact. I had this with BBQ. It stood up against the ribs and savory-sweetness of the bbq sauce, but could not hold up against the heat of the spicy sausage. All in all, this is a great everyday wine that could be matched with burgers/pizza/bbq, lamb/steak, or can stand alone by itself.

Other info: Joel Gott is a fan of the posters by the Hatch company (an old printing place in Nashville that still does posters for rodeos & country singers). The bottles feature three different colorful old time labels. Pictured are two of them.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Priorat... fancy name, sexy taste


Tonight I tried "Les Terrasses" 2004 Priorat by Alvaro Palacios ($32). 30% Garnacha, 60% CariƱena, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a beautiful, sexy wine. Fruity, but with structure and silky. Almost TOO silky, but that's a good thing. Alvaro was once a winemaker for Petrus (not too shabby). Miles would have loved this.