2008 Cantina Terlano "Terlaner"

The 2008 Cantina Terlano Terlaner Classico, Alto Adige is a delightful blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay from Italy's northernmost wine growing region. Pale yellow with green highlights, the nose gives off a lot of floral, citrus notes with an underlying yeastiness that reminds me of Alsace. Give it some time and a touch of herb/bell pepper makes an appearance. The palate is medium-full bodied with great minerality, acidity and more of that delicious yeastiness. Just a wonderful texture! Rich and full without a trace of oak.

A great pairing with a grilled filet of fatty salmon with a spicy, teriyaki-based glaze.

2007 Dunning Meritage

Seriously, folks, what else can I say about this winery? Everything Bob Dunning touches to gold. Why aren't you on his mailing list? Over the past 18 months or so, I've had pretty much every offering from this winery. But tonight was my first taste of his Meritage. The 2007 Dunning Vineyards Meritage, Paso Robles has a fantastic color. It literally oozes with sweet, jammy plum and black cherry fruit and new saddle leather. Is there a hint of licorice in there, too? The palate is massive with huge tannins and the acidity becomes more prominent as the wine opens. Pretty assertive with the French oak. Finishes with a dusty, herbal note which I assume comes from the Cabernet Franc. Drink now or hold this blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc for 5-10 years. (As big as it is, it's considerably more approachable now than their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is.) Lustily consumed with grilled KC strips liberally seasoned with *gasp* Montreal Steak Seasoning and cold green bean/tomato/mozzarella cheese salad.

2009 Feital "Auratus"

My partner-in-crime at work, Katie, has been talking up the 2009 Feital Auratus, Minhao, Portugal since the day I came on board. And for some odd reason, I've waited this long to give it a whirl. What a mistake on my part! This blend of Alvarinho (Albarino) and Trajadura is loaded with aromas and flavors of peach and flowers and has a tremendous minerally backbone. A great pairing with seared tuna steak with a homemade salsa/avocado topping. Great value at $17 or so.

Stoughton, WI

Spent last week at the Crown Point Resort in Stoughton, WI. The beds were a bit uncomfortable, but otherwise, we had a wonderful time there. Apparently, the fishing is a bit off this year as Lake Kegonsa is having some issues with algae. But that didn't stop our crew from catching a whole mess of smallmouth bass, a couple of northern pike, a largemouth bass, a bluegill and even a drum.

We drank an obscene amount of wine, but I'm not going to bother commenting on any of it as it was, by design, mostly of the pedestrian variety. Mostly $10-15 Malbec, Torrontes and red blends that can already be found in the notes of this site. Grilled brats, burgers, fish tacos, catered BBQ, etc. just isn't the time to break out the really good stuff.

But I did want to mention a couple of local beers that I tasted that really stood out from the competition. The Mad Hatter IPA was quite nice with intense citrus and pine aromas and flavors. But as nice that was, the Ale Asylum Satisfaction Jackson IPA was a truly profound experience. Intensely hoppy on the attack, but finishes with a glorious malty sweetness that I admire in a great IPA. Sadly, not available in Kansas.

We also spent an afternoon at the New Glarus Brewery in nearby New Glarus, WI. This was a favorite brewery of mine when I lived in Milwaukee a few years back and I was glad to finally be able to see where the beer comes from. The facility is a stunning sight. It's huge, brand new and no expense has been spared. The outside is visually impressive with lots of stonework and the manufacturing floor is a bewildering maze of what seems like thousands of miles of gleaming stainless steel tubing. I haven't seen a more impressive sight in any California winery. My favorites there were the Stone Soup (a sophisticated Belgian style ale with cherry, bitter almond and aromatic spices), Spotted Cow (a slightly sweet, fruity farmhouse ale) and the hoppy/malty Moon Man "No Coast Pale Ale." If you're ever in Central Wisconsin, this is a must-see operation.

Brief notes from a weekend of wine

A couple of friends came by last weekend and we opened a number of nice and not-so-nice bottles. I didn't take any specific notes on the wines, but here are a few brief impressions of a couple of them:

1999 Pride Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley - I've been lucky to have had a couple of 96-97-98 of this wine but I always had them in their youth. This was the first time I'd had one of these with any age on it. What an odd bottle this was. No fruit. No chocolaty, over-the-top oak that I usually associate with this winery. Just some weird sun-dried tomato flavors and acidity that was really out of balance. Tried it again on day two and the additional time on air didn't help.

2006 Eaglepoint Ranch Grenache, Mendocino - Probably my favorite wine of the weekend. All of the raspberry fruit, herb and spice of a good Cotes-du-Rhone but with that extra kick of California fruit. This wine never fails to impress. Sadly, I'm down to my last two bottles.

2007 Flock Old Vine Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley - Call me crazy, but I really enjoyed this inexpensive, value-priced Zinfandel from Sebastiani. Lots of blackberry and black pepper; just how I like my Zinfandel.

2007 Dunning Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles - Oh, mercy, the tannins! What a brute! Really hard to even evaluate this wine's potential as the tannins and acidity are completely overpowering the fruit at this point. Two more in the cellar and I won't be opening either one any time soon. Check back with me in about 10 years.

2006 Trenza Tinto, San Luis Obispo - Another perennial favorite around here. Waves of black olive, new leather, dark fruits. Good structure, but certainly ready to drink now. A rare Tempranillo-based blend from California's Central Coast.

2006 Ambullneo Howling Syrah, Santa Maria Valley - Sadly, corked. I'm pretty sensitive to TCA and I was the only one who found the wine approaching undrinkability. Everyone else felt it was an "off" bottle, but managed to drink it anyway. The wintergreen and white pepper harkens back to a bottle of this I enjoyed a few months ago. But the TCA taint was just too much for me to be able to enjoy this particular bottle.

A Tale of Two Riojas

I rubbed a whole chicken down with salt, pepper, Spanish smoked paprika and dried parsley tonight and smoked it over charcoal spiked with cherry wood chips. Rioja seemed like an appropriate choice so I opened two. Both wines were quite tasty with the food:



The 2006 Heredad Ugarte Crianza, Rioja, offers rich, classic flavors of porcini mushroom, saddle leather and mint. Drinking at or near its peak, the leather and dusty cherry flavors shine on the palate.









The 2009 Montebuena Cosecha, Rioja, is a completely different animal. Although the sweet raspberry fruit and spice speak more of Spanish Garnacha than Rioja, I really enjoyed this wine. Not terribly complex, but the purity of fruit is something to be appreciated. Well done; albeit a bit atypical for this region.

2006 Lindaflor "Petite Fleur"

Opened the 2006 Monteviejo Petite Fleur, Mendoza tonight with my stand-by meal for Argentinian red wines: grilled flank steak with chimichurri sauce. What a tremendous wine! Fantastic color. Intoxicating nose of blueberry, blackberry, coffee grounds and black pepper. Might even be a hint of cured meat/salami (from the Syrah, perhaps?) hiding in there, too. Loads of dark fruits and spice on the palate. Big tannins and acidity. My only criticism of this wine is that the 14.5% alcohol seems pretty intrusive. Drink now or cellar for 5 years. A blend of unspecified percentages of Malbec, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Chimichurri Sauce

2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup (packed) Italian parsley
1 cup (packed) cilantro
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Simply puree all ingredients in food processor. Serve over grilled beef, pork or chicken.