The other night, with partial bottles of Pedro Ximenez Cream Sherry, Rainwater Madeira and two Amontillado Sherries looking at me on the shelf, I suddenly had a wild idea: What would it be like to build these fortified wines into cocktails?
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Rich, full walnut aromas, a mix of fresh-cracked walnuts and Nocino Italian walnut liqueur, with a piquant back note of lemon. Nuts and tangy lemon carry over on the palate, light brown-sugar sweetness more than overpowered by sharp acidity. Hints of dark chocolate join walnuts and citrus in the flavor with a touch of alcoholic heat, a complex wine that opens up remarkably with cheese or other unctuous food match. Labeled “Solera Familiar,” Lustau’s good but relatively affordable range; 18.5% alcohol.
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Find vendors and compare prices for Lustau Amontillado “Los Arcos” on Wine-Searcher.com. Read article.
Clear copper-bronze color, almost a pale orange hue. A mix of cracked walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, and a distinct hint of lemon show on the nose and palate. It’s nutty and full-bodied in flavor, with medium-level sweetness well balanced by sharp, zingy acidity that lingers on the sides of your tongue. It carries its 20 percent alcohol well, with mixed nuts and tart citrus lingering in a very long finish. According to the label, “Special reserve drawn from the solera established in 1912.”
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Find vendors and compare prices for Wisdom & Warter Extra Amontillado Sherry on Wine-Searcher.com.
Here’s a list of all Wisdom & Warter’s wines and merchants on Wine-Searcher.com. Read article.
This 170-hectare estate outside Montefalco has been run by the Antonelli family since it was acquired from the Papal States in 1882, and today it produces 300,000 bottles of wine a year. Neil Duarte reports on the winery’s offerings. Read article.
If there’s anything that makes people wonder about wine geeks, it’s our mysterious ability to detect things like tar, smoke, butter, caramel, bananas, geraniums, and even a whiff of the barnyard wafting from our glass.
But gasoline, diesel, or even petrol when we’re trying to tastefully emulate our British cousins? In wine? This is a step too far for many people.
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Today we feature three good German Rieslings – two from the Mosel, one from the Rhine – to mark this month’s Wine Focus topic in our WineLovers Discussion Group, All the wines of Germany! You’re invited to read the conversations, join the discussion, and bring your own tasting reports. Click here to join in! Read article.
If it’s autumn, it must be time for the new annual edition of Hugh Johnson’s little Pocket Wine Book for 2018. As always, it is an indispensable companion at the wine shop, in a restaurant, or on your own wine rack.
Buy it now on Amazon.com for $11.72, a 31 percent saving from the $16.99 list price. Read article.
I’m always on the lookout for good, balanced and interesting red wines that don’t break the bank … and I most often find these elusive delights on the shelves marked “Southern France” and “Italy.” Every now and then, though, I remember about Portugal’s Duoro Valley.
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This wine’s name, Duas Quintas (“Two Vineyards”), refers to the sources of its grapes, the Quinta de Ervamoira vineyard on the Douro Valley’s hot, dry lower slopes, and the cooler, breezy Quinta dos Bons Ares vineyard high up the mountainside. A blend of the Port varieties Tinta Barroca (40%), Touriga Franca (30%), Touriga Nacional (20%), and Tinta Roriz (10%), this is a clear but dark reddish-purple wine, showing ruby glints against the light. Its pleasant aroma of fresh but not overbearing fruit is focused on blackberries and black plums with a faint background whiff of spice. Clean, fresh and rather full-bodied black-fruit flavors carry over on the palate, shaped by brisk acidity, with tannic astringency present but palatable. The label claims 13.5% alcohol, standard strength for a red table wine.
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Check prices and find vendors for Ramos Pinto “Duas Quintas” Douro on Wine-Searcher.com.
Click this link to find lots more Douro reds and vendors under $10 on Wine-Searcher.com. Read article.
Made from traditional Port grapes, Tinta Barroca (30%), Touriga Nacional (25%), Touriga Franca (25%), Tinta Roriz (15%), and Tinto Cão (5%), this wine from the Symington family’s historic Dow Port house is dark garnet in color almost all the way to the edge. It seems closed at first, showing simple black fruit, but opens up a bit with time in the glass to reveal notes of something like cranberries and a whiff of licorice. Black fruit and licorice show on the palate in a ripe flavor built on a sturdy structure of tart acidity and firm, astringent tannins. Although 14.5% alcohol is claimed, I don’t detect the bite of heat that sometimes comes with higher-alcohol wines.
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Check prices and locate vendors for Dow’s “Vale Do Bomfim” Douro on Wine-Searcher.com.
Want to find more Douro reds under $10? Check this link on Wine-Searcher.com. Read article.
