2003 Georges Dubœuf Moulin-à-Vent Prestige – $12.74

 

My comments

Conventional wisdom says this wine should be dead.  I keep my cellar pretty cold, generally 50 to 52 degrees, which usually adds some time to a wine’s life.  I bought and drank a ton of the 2003 Beaujolais wines but purposely saved a few bottles to experiment with how they would age.  This wine was aged in 100% new oak, so I felt it would have the best shot at outlasting the normal life span.

 

Winery history (courtesy of wine.com)

For over 40 years Georges Duboeuf has been the Beaujolais region’s most renowned négociant and is today regarded in the wine world as the “King of Beaujolais.” Born in 1933 in Pouilly-Fuissé, the son of a winegrower, Georges began selling his family’s wines from the back of his bicycle to now-legendary local chefs such as Paul Bocuse and Paul Blanc. In 1964, Georges realized his dream and founded his own company: Les Vins Georges Duboeuf.

Over the years, Georges has developed long-standing relationships with the region’s top growers and winemakers. Georges is involved in every aspect of his enterprise and is known for his passion and his legendary palate. In 2003, the Duboeuf family opened a new, modern winery in Romanéche-Thorins. The following year, the Duboeuf and Deutsch families jointly purchased Château des Capitans in Juliénas. With annual sales of 30 million bottles, Georges Duboeuf is one of the world’s best-known French brands.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine was a dull, light to medium ruby color with a fair amount of brick.  The exotic nose had raspberries, black cherries, sandalwood, warm baking spices, dried flowers, and just a touch of underbrush.  This is barely medium body with fully integrated tannins and good acidity.  On the palate the wine gives a quick burst of red to black fruit then slowly transforms to the more savory elements.  The finish is the opposite of the palate, the savory elements slowly fade leaving some nice black cherry and spice.  Have to say this is the first time I’ve had a 9 year old Beaujolais, but based on this bottle, I have no fear letting a few bottle lay for a couple extra years.  (91 pts)

 

 

2007 Nine Stones Shiraz Hilltops – $12.34

 

My comments

We generally like a nice, civilized Australian Shiraz.  We generally avoid the ones that are off dry,  have raisiny notes, or very soft acidity.  I grabbed a couple bottles of this wine since, based on some notes I had ready, it didn’t fall into any of the categories to avoid.

 

Winery history

Both the winery principals are of Celtic origin and deeply interested in their heritage. When the opportunity to create a wine brand based on this common ancestry presented itself, they named it “Nine Stones”. The Celts left many groups of standing stones including Stonehenge. These standing stones or Druids Circles are believed to have been tribal meeting places. They are circular in aspect for amongst all the Celtic tribes the wheel is the symbol of the Sky-God. Nine is the number of planets thus nine and its derivatives are “lucky” numbers. The stones were also thought to shimmer or dance in the heat on noon and hence “noon” or nine stones. Groups of nine standing stones exist in Devon, Derbyshire, Dorset and Cornwall, as well as at Aberdeenshire in Scotland and Count Carlow in Ireland.

 

This regional range of wines is made from grapes grown in the highest quality regions of South Eastern Australia. Since Colonial Times most grapes were used to make fortified wine, such plantings being principally in hot climates. A renewed interest in table wines began in the 1980’s and has accelerated since, resulting in increased planting in cooler climate areas. Provided careful site selection is practiced, wines from cool climate wines have more interesting flavours and are better structured than those made from grapes grown in hot regions.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a medium to dark maroon color.  The inviting nose has cherries, baking spices, blackberries, licorice, with lesser amounts of vanilla and dried herbs and a touch of earthiness.  This is medium bodied with soft, ripe tannins and good acidity.  The palate has nice jammy fruit with spices and a touch of black pepper.  The finish had nice length and again is fruit driven with spices, pepper, and just a touch of earthiness.  Not the most complex Shiraz out there but it is a tasty week night Shiraz.  (88 pts)

 

 

 

2009 Copain Pinot Noir Tous Ensemble – $25.00

 

My comments

I’ve slowed down my Copain purchases over the last couple of years, but I’m still a big fan of their “Tous Ensemble” wines.  To me, the Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Rosé all have quality that greatly exceeds their price points.  This has been a consistently good $25 Anderson Valley Pinot that is comparable to $40 or higher wines from the area.

 

Winery history

Wells Guthrie discovered early on that his taste in wine gravitated toward Europe in general and France’s RhôneValley in particular. So much so, he picked up and moved with his new bride to the region to learn from the best. For two years, Wells apprenticed for esteemed winemaker and living legend Michel Chapoutier in France’s RhoneValley. During that time, Wells was deeply inspired by the traditions and practices of French winemaking, not to mention the European attitude that wine is an essential part of life. At Copain, he creates wines that are firmly rooted in California, yet with the sensibilities of the European wines that so moved him. He is as committed to crafting these elegant, nuanced wines as he is to building a legacy that will be passed down to his daughters in the great tradition of European winemakers whose estates have been in the same family for generations.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a light to medium ruby color.  The sexy nose has cherries, baking spices, raspberry, with a touch or earthiness and a slight herbal note.  This is medium body with soft, ripe tannins and good acidity.  The palate has nice, sweet, juicy cherries complimented by spices, earthiness, and the herbal elements.  The finish has decent length and shows a touch of spicy oak.  A very nice everyday Pinot that could use a bit more complexity to reach the next level.  (90 pts)

 

 

 

2010 Novy Family Wines Zinfandel Russian River Valley – $18.99

 

My comments

I think Novy is greatly under rated as a source of great, value priced Zinfandels.  I love all their wines, but the zins always seem to have that little something extra that is usually found in much more expensive bottles from other producers.  I was able to grab a six pack of this wine for about $19 a bottle.  I had one bottle not long after receiving the wine and though it was good, as expected, it needed some cellar time.  Time to check in again since it has been 8 months.

 

Winery history

We met Dianna Lee at an in store wine tasting here in the Milwaukee area a couple years ago.  While we talked she mentioned going to college in East Texas.  After talking a bit more, it turned out she was in college about a mile from our house while we were living in Nacogdoches, TX.  We were able to talk about having Margaritas in a local Mexican Restaurant.  There’s a good chance we were all enjoying happy hour together, a few tables apart.  Who knows, maybe La Hacienda closed down because they lost all our business when we moved to Milwaukee and Dianna met Adam and moved to wine country.  Truly a small world.

 

For us, the beauty of making our own wine is the total freedom to do it our way, without compromise. Although it is necessary to be able to adapt to new circumstances with each and every vintage, we have found that these principles hold true year after year.

 

We believe that great wine is made in the vineyard. Only with great grapes can we produce great wines. To this end, we purchase the majority of our fruit by the acre rather than by the ton.

We believe in minimal intervention winemaking that promotes, rather than overshadows the work we do in the vineyard.

Most importantly, we believe that wine should be a pleasure to drink. If you don’t like the way a wine tastes, what’s the point? Novy Family wines are made to be enjoyed with good friends and good food.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a medium ruby color.  The classic zinfandel nose has brambly berries, black pepper, licorice, baking spices, and a touch of dark chocolate.  This is medium to full bodied with fairly solid, ripe tannins and great acidity.  On the palate the wine shows nice, juicy, peppery berries and spice with a touch of chocolaty oak in the background.  Nice length on the finish with the pepper and berries slowly giving way to a touch of spicy oak.  Not the most complex zinfandel out there, but this is not a fruit forward, easy drinker.  With the great acidity and tannins, this may age for a few years, but it is delicious today.  (91 pts)

 

 

Mailing Lists

 

Nothing new hit my inbox this week, other than a few tracking notices and reminder of upcoming shipping dates.

 

 

 

Wines bought or received this week

I had to grab three of the WineWoot 4 bottle packs from Core Winery earlier in the week.

 

 

 

Remember to support your local wine store!

 

 

 

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Notes – I use the “official” Cellar Tracker name for the wines.  I use Cellar Tracker to help manage and organize my cellar.  I highly recommend checking it out at www.cellartracker.com.  Loading you existing cellar is a lot less intimidating than it would first appear.  There is a good chance 99% of your wine is already in the system, so you generally only need to enter part of the wine’s name and the system will find it for you.

 

 

Prices noted are the prices I paid at the time of purchase.  I don’t shop around to find the best prices, but my local store is usually VERY competitive.  I generally get case discounts, and since I work there part time, I get a 5% discount.  Wines purchased direct from a winery do not include any shipping charges.  None of the prices include the sales tax.

 

 

All wines that were sent to me free of charge to sample will be noted and I will show suggested prices when available.

 

 

 

Cheers!