Not sure how y'all are feeling after this past week, but we know that we definitely needed an extra glass of wine.
Last week, the wine in our glass took us all over the globe. We enjoyed wines from both the Old World (Italy, France, Spain, Portugal) and New (South Africa, USA). We even represented a healthy variety of retailers as we purchased our wine both online (SommSelect, Wine.com), as well as in brick-and-mortar shops (Costco, Perrine's Wine Shop, producer direct). Check 'em out in the picture below and read on for our top picks of the week.
In no particular order from left to right:
2012 Lamborghini, "La Fiorita" (Umbria, Italy)
2014 Gueda, Tinto Reserva DOC (Douro, Portugal)
2017 Celler Vendrell Rived, Montsant “L’Alleu” (Catalonia, Spain)
2017 Malvirà, Roero Nebbiolo (Piedmont, Italy)
2018 Seghesio, Zinfandel, Sonoma County (California, USA)
2018 Prieuré Saint Côme, Chablis (Chablis, France)
2018 Dashe, Vineyard Select Zinfandel, (California, USA)
2017 Kirkland Signature, Old Vine Zinfandel (California, USA)
Not pictured, but enjoyed:
2019 Storm Point, Chenin Blanc (Swartland, South Africa)
2011 Bicocchi, Monteregio di Massa Marittima "Sor'Emilio", Super Tuscan (Tuscany, Italy)
Roero Nebbiolo, FTW! This wine was easily our favorite of the week. We are always drawn to wines that have a sense of place, and this one transported us directly to the Roero region of Piedmont, Italy, which is a place we both love. This wine poured a pale garnet in color, almost transparent, and had an incredible floral bouquet of rose petals. On the palate, we picked up lots of acidity and tannins that were a bit "forward" to start, but then integrated nicely into the texture after it opened up during the meal. Cherry and raspberry fruit rounded out the wine and we were completely sold. This 100% Nebbiolo wine is produced just across the Tanaro River from the more famous winemaking villages of Barolo and Barbaresco, but should not be overlooked! We have visited Roero and can say that while it is more "rustic" in character and stature compared to its neighbors, it is completely charming. The wines here are often a little fresher, lighter, and cheaper - what's not to love! SommSelect delivered this outstanding wine to us at $29.
Our value wine of the week was also a clear choice. However, it is unlikely that you can find this wine anywhere in the States. We picked up the Gueda 2014 Tinto Reserva directly from the producer in Portugal last fall for the price of 12€ (roughly $13). This tasty wine is made by great people and is powerful, yet easy drinking. It has broad shoulders, yet delicate. A seriously fun wine that seems paradoxical. We loved it. You can read about our visit to the Douro in 2019 here.
Another fun evening was spent blind tasting 3 wines with a kit that we purchased from Perrine's Wine Shop in West Midtown. We picked up the wine (covered well in paper bags to avoid any identifying markers) in advance and Perrine lead a virtual blind tasting over Zoom. We had no idea what was in our glasses (well, aside from the color), and it was a challenge trying to place each of these wines, although Liz nailed the California Zinfandel! The surprise of the evening was the Chenin Blanc from South Africa - we didn't even get close to this one, but the wine was delicious and interesting. We might have to do some more "research" on this region sometime soon. Perrine and her staff made the tasting fun and informative, and we look forward to joining the next one. Check out her site for updates on future events.
How about you? Did you drink anything noteworthy this week? Let us know!