D&D Wine Review

We purchased this bottle from last year’s Summerfest - an annual event in the Virgina Highlands where our favorite wine store & restaurant, Murphy’s, holds a wine tasting and sale.   Last year we couldn’t actually make the tasting, so I trusted Nick to put together a case of delicious wines with lots of variety.  This year we did make it, and I can’t wait to pick up my wine later this week (lots of affordable and tasty summer whites) - I’ll blog about that soon.

This wine did not disappoint - it was delicious.   Rich and smooth, it had the heaviness of a Cabernet without being overwhelmed by oak (even though it is aged for 18 months in oak).  You can taste hints of fruit (the tasting notes mention black cherry and blackberry), and other rich flavors like coffee and chocolate.   Some Cabernets I find overbearing, but this one was not - I enjoyed it and wish I had more in the cellar.  It is a higher price point than we normally write about but it was a good bottle of wine and I wanted to share.

Vineyard: Provenance Rutherford

Varietal: 97% Cabernet, 3% Petit Verdot

Year: 2005

Price: ~$40

Rating:

For my first night away from my almost 10-month old daughter, I joined some girlfriends for a night on the town in Atlanta. We dined at Shout, and moved up to their patio for an evening of sangria and people watching. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad we had our girls night out.

During the dinner portion, our waiter recommended their ‘house’ wines, from Trinchero. We decided on the Pinot Noir, a favorite normally for us. I have to say, it was just okay. And considering they had a huge markup on it … it wasn’t worth it - or at least it won’t be bought again. From the scent, I thought we were in for a light fruity wine, very typical of Pinots - instead it seemed heavy and you couldn’t really taste the fruit that you could smell. It was fine - it was okay - it wasn’t something I was excited about. We decided afterwards to stick with Sangria….

Also, I have to say how disappointed I was by the markup at Shout on wine. One example - we dined at probably one of the best restaurants in Atlanta - Kevin Rathbun Steak (reviewed previously on this site), and had the Ridge Three Valleys Zin - priced around $46 and found in wine shops for around $23 - so a reasonable doubling of price, as I expect at a restaurant. Shout listed the wine at $70. Yes, $70… That’s insane! I don’t think I’ll be going back to Shout - that just turned me off too much. The sushi was very good - the other food was good but not remarkable by any means. So… sorry - not a great review for the wine or the restaurant.

Winery: Trinchero (the Family line I believe)

Price on website: $12 - Price at Shout: $48 (yeah 4x - that’s just not right)

Varietal: Pinot Noir, aged 4 months in oak

Year: 2006, I believe

Rating:

I rated this below my drink again threshold of a 3 - however, I think a lot of my experience has to do with the price and the restaurant - I’ll probably get a bottle for the more affordable $12 and try again and then maybe update the rating according. Per the tasting notes below, it should be a wine I like - this is normally the kind of tasting notes I look for….

Tasting Notes from the website: Expect ripe, open flavors on the palate with strawberries, sandalwood, cola and earth. The nose is focused and bright, the texture is soft and generous and the finish is long and complete. This luscious Pinot Noir balances generous ripe black cherry and mocha aromas with cedar, spice and vanilla. Sleek and supple on the palate, the wine is brimming with bright bing cherry and spice with a hint of mint.

I didn’t really get all of that - but I’d like to try again for the $12 pricetag and in my own home.

Sidenote: The second D of D&D - the Duttons - are off on a month-long excursion to Australia and New Zealand - so all the updates will be coming from the Dyars until they get back… hopefully they get to hit the wine regions out there and post all about it.

Kelly

Since I also like to post fun photographs on this site, here are just a couple from me being artsy with the roses my wonderful husband gave me for mother’s day.

We opened the Marega Pinot Grigio to try out another white wine for the upcoming summer season - it came recommended from our friends at Murphy’s in Virginia Highlands.  It was typical of Pinot Grigio - slightly sweet, pale color, light fruit, no woodiness (Pinot Grigio’s are rarely aged in wood) - a nice in-between that isn’t a Chardonnay and isn’t a Reisling.  I liked this white colder - I’d recommend definitely letting it get to temperature before drinking.  However, it was an enjoyable white wine for summer. 

Winery: Marega

Grapes: Pinot Gris

Country: Italy

Price: $13 - $15 range

Rating:

Just in case there is any confusion about our ratings - anything rated a 3 or better is definitely something we’ll drink again - especially if it has a good price point.  The Marega will be one of the summer wines we enjoy this year. 

For Brent’s graduation dinner from GT with his MBA - we let him pick any bottle from the wine cellar to enjoy. Thankfully he picked one under $30 - just kidding. We were having seafood and he decided on a Pinot Noir from Oregon - it was a great choice.

I unfortunately didn’t write down my tasting notes, but I remember it being very fruity, smooth and delicious. Heavier than some of the more typical Pinots out there, which I liked. And its price, in the mid-$20s, was very reasonable for the quality of wine - so I highly recommend this wine. I’m also excited that we have a few more bottles in the cellar to enjoy. (Tasting notes I’ve found said to enjoy through 2016, so its a good wine to have in a cellar)

Vineyard: White Rose, Oregon

Year: 2004

Wine: Nekaia Pinot Noir

Price: $25 - $28

Rating:

for designing and building our wine cellar. I love it and it looks great. I can’t wait to keep finding new and great wines to include in our collection, and write about them here of course.

Kelly

A friend brought over a bottle of Riesling during a recent get together, and one night when I was in the mood for white wine, we opened it up.  Normally Rieslings are very sweet, almost dessert-like, so that was what I expected.  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to find that while the wine was sweet - it wasn’t over the top but instead was refreshing and I really enjoyed the light fruitiness of the wine.  Another great summer white wine to enjoy while sitting on the deck.  The reviews suggest it would be a great accompaniment to spicy food, and I think that would be a good pairing.

Wine: Clos du Bois

Year: 2006

Varietal: Riesling

Price Range: $10 - $15

Rating:

It was the weekend of Spanish wines for us, because Saturday night we enjoyed this Mauro wine, also recommended by Murphy’s.  We were eating it along with some great crusty french bread and a tangy cheese recommended by the cheese guy at Whole Foods, as one that would stand up to a strong wine.  It definitely fit the bill - this wine was rich in everything - taste, color, smell.  I picked up the scent of tobacco and maybe black cherry, and could taste that in the wine.  My first thought when I took a sniff, was that the wine would be almost too strong - it seemed almost harsh in its strong sent.  But then we tasted it - and it was very good.  While it had lots of depth, it was also very balanced and smooth to drink.  This is a wine for drinkers who like a really bold red, not something simple, but it was suprisingly pleasant.  It did carry a hefty price tag with it, at just under $50/bottle, but we enjoyed the bottle from beginning to end.

If you are looking for a bold, Spanish red - I’d probably say go for the more affordable  Cova Dels Vins Terros I also reviewd - however, this was also a great wine.

Wine: Maura Vendimia Seleccionada

Producer: Bodegas Mauro

Varietal: Tempranillo

Region: Spain - Castilla y Leon

Price: ~$50

Rating:

I bought a half-case of this Spanish red based on a recommendation from one of my favorite wine stores & restaurants, Murphy’s.   They know my preferences - I generally prefer bold reds (Zins are my favorite), and I have really enjoyed many of their recommendations of Spanish wines in the past.  This wine was definitely worth the purchase, especially at the reasonable price of $28/bottle.  I’ve seen it listed as a $32 bottle, but you can often find it on sale or get case discounts.

This wine is definitely bold - yet its very smooth.  I found it had flavors of fruit - to my tastes I would say it has berries - and it was very rich.  It had a very dark, blackberry color to it as well.  We were drinking it with a spicy salmon dish, and it held up well together with the pairing.  I also think it’d go great with a beef.

If you see this wine around, I’d definitely recommend picking some up.  Its gotten a 92 rating from The Wine Advocate, and I’ve seen that its recommended drink date actually is 2009 - 2019.  So a great wine to have around and save in your cellar.

Wine: Cova Del Vins Terros

Vintage: 2004

Region: Spain

Grapes: 50% Garnacha from 96-year-old vines, 25% Carinena from 75-year-old vines, and 25% Syrah from 20-year-old vines

Aged: 14 months in barrel

Rating:

We had a wonderful 5 course Northern Italian wine dinner at the Williamsburg Winery in Virginia. The Williamsburg Winery produces the most wine in the state of Vinginia, annually producing 60,000 cases. Our dinner consisted of 9 different pours; with each course we recieved one from the Williamsburg Winery (WW) and a similarly matched wine from Italy. We started the evening with a single white wine, the 2006 WW Seyvel Blanc to pair with a light crab dish. This wine was light and slightly fruity, a very nice way to begin our dinner. We continued with WW Burgesses Measure Merlot, which was our favorite wine of the evening. This delcious wine was fruity yet smooth with an earthy undertone. We picked up at bottle for $16.00. The Italian match was Lilliano 1998 Chiante Classico. This wine had soft tannins with a lovely smooth finish. I thought it was delcious, however, some had difficulty enjoying the tabacco aroma that accompanies Sangiovesse grapes. Our next course included a 2003 Avignonesi Rosso, a general Italian table wine, that was fruity and very pleasing on the palate; and a WW 2004 Barrel Aged Claret, which was more smooth and stuble than the Italian counterpart. Moving on, we enjoyed a 1991 Vadipiatta Vino Nobile that was more complex than the first Italian wines. This wine retails for $32 per bottle. It was still smooth, yet dry with a bit of spice and coffee. The WW companion was the 2005 Trianon Cabernet Franc. Again, we enjoyed this tasty wine, however, it would not reach it’s peak until 12 years of aging. Finally, we moved into the dessert course which paired with a Bruno Franco Birbet that was perfect with the poached pears served as our final course. It was fruity and floral, without overpowering, this was one of our favorite dessert wines. The WW companion was their Raspberry red wine, which was concentrated with fruits and sugar. It would work well for pouring over strawberries and cake, but not for drinking. Overall, we had a great wine experience. We learned about each wine we were drinking and had the opportunity to compare Italian and local Vinginia wines.