Posts tagged ‘Poderi Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto di Dogliani’

Cliffs Wine Picks – July 14, 2014 to July 20, 2014

2011 Poderi Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto di Dogliani

2010 Henry’s Drive Shiraz Pillar Box Reserve

2008 Tamarack Cellars Firehouse Red

2000 Vino Bambino Pinot Noir

2008 Stefania Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Cruz Mountains

N.V. Château Gaudrelle Crémant de Loire Alexandre Monmousseau

2010 Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières Gigondas Les Mourres

2011 Poderi Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto di Dogliani – $15.19

I enjoy a nice Italian Dolcetto, they are just not that easy to find around here. I had enjoyed this wine in past vintages so when a local wine store offered this vintage on an e-mail offer, I had to grab several bottles.

This wine has decent distribution in this country. If you can’t find this wine in your area, there are several online retailers that carry the wine. Click here to check out some of the online stores that carry this wine. The release price is $20, but you can generally find it for a couple dollars less.

This wine has 13.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a medium to dark ruby color. The inviting nose has plum, black cherry, dusty minerals, licorice, cocoa powder and wildflowers. This has medium body, soft to moderate tannins and good acidity. On the palate nice fruit and minerals hit first, followed by cocoa. The finish has decent length with a floral note coming into focus. This is easy to pair with food but is also tasty on its own. (90 pts)

2011 Poderi Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto di Dogliani

2010 Henry’s Drive Shiraz Pillar Box Reserve

This was purchased from Underground Cellar. Using some credits and getting free upgrades, my actual out of pocket cost was only $8. This has an average price of well over $20 on Cellar Tracker, so it is VERY doubtful you will find it for anything close to my cost.

Only the best parcels of Shiraz were selected for this wine. This wine is made to be enjoyable in its youth but to also to reward some cellar time.

This has 14.5% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a twist off closure.

My Tasting Note

The wine is dark as midnight. The comforting nose has blackberries, warm baking spices, mocha, candied violets and a touch of vanilla bean. This has medium to full body with moderate tannins and good acidity. On the palate rich fruit jumps out first with nice layers of savory elements coming in on the back end. The finish has very good length with enough acidity to hold everything in check. This is a very nice Aussie Shiraz that has nice ripeness but does not push it to far. Enjoy this one over the next few years. (92 pts)

2010 Henry’s Drive Shiraz Pillar Box Reserve

2008 Tamarack Cellars Firehouse Red – $13.29

This is a kitchen sink blend that changes every vintage. This vintage is a blend of 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Syrah, 16% Merlot, 7% Cab Franc, 3% Malbec, 3% Sangiovese, 3% Petite Verdot, and 1% Carmenere from the Columbia Valley in Washington.

The bottle is sealed with an agglomerated cork and I could not find the alcohol level anywhere on the label.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a fairly dark ruby to maroon color. The enticing nose has blackberries, smoldering charcoal, vanilla, meat juices, dried herbs, baking spices, licorice, and a bit of earthiness. This has medium body, fairly solid tannins, and very nice acidity. The palate has a nice mix of fruity and savory elements that play well off of each other. The finish has decent length leaning a bit more on the savory elements. This is in a very nice drinking window and is a nice change of pace from the bigger, riper California wines. (90 pts)

2008 Tamarack Cellars Firehouse Red

2000 Vino Bambino Pinot Noir – $20.00

This wine was made my Morgan Twain-Peterson, currently of Bedrock, when he was 19 years old. This was stashed away in their cellar and forgotten about for many years. Upon finding it and trying it, this was released as part of a Bedrock offer.

The bottle does not seem to have the alcohol listed. This was closed with a natural cork.

Here it the background on this wine from the release e-mail from the winery. Sorry for the length, but I wanted to leave it as Morgan wrote it.

Yes, this is a wine that I made when I was 19 years old but at that point it was the 14th year I made Pinot Noir. When I was five years old, I asked Angelo Sangiacomo if I could buy .5 of a ton of Pinot Noir from him. Every year until I was 18 the Sangiacomo family delivered a bin of Pinot Noir, free of charge, to Ravenswood for me to make. This gesture is, in large part, why I am a winemaker today and is emblematic of why I love the community I work in so much. In 2000 and 2001, buoyed by placements of the older vintages on the wine lists of Gramercy Tavern, Blue Hill, Aureole, Mesa Grill, and others, I made a little more wine. However, academic pursuits took me away from the industry and the wine has sat in a cold warehouse for the last 11 years. The wine is obviously evolved, but Chris and I both find the developed perfumed and aromatics to be quite enticing- full of rose petals, violets and that lovely kiss of funk that good older Pinot develops. Yes, this is a bit of a Kalin-esque curiosity but I am quite pleased with it.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a murky/cloudy ruby to brick color. The very inviting and sensual nose has cherries, baking spices, raspberries, earthy underbrush, and a touch of “Pinot funk”. This has medium body, fully integrated tannins and very good acidity. On the palate tart cherries and baking spice hit first, slowly allowing nice earthiness to slip into focus. The finish has very good length with the tart fruit, spice and earthiness to take turns leading the show. This is a stunning, aged California Pinot Noir. (92 pts)

2000 Vino Bambino Pinot Noir (Bedrock)

2008 Stefania Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Cruz Mountains – $40.00

The grapes for this wine come from the Harvest Moon, Elandrich and Chaine d’Or vineyards. These vineyards are all located on the Eastern side of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The vineyards were fermented separately with native yeast. This Cabernet Sauvignon based wine also includes 17% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc. The wine was aged in a mix of new and old French oak barrels. The total production was a miniscule 94 cases.

This wine has 13.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep garnet to purple color. The intoxicating nose has cassis, cedar, minerals, dried herbs, warm baking spices, white pepper, vanilla bean and a touch of wood smoke. This has medium body with moderate to solid tannins and very good acidity. On the palate spices and minerals join rich cassis upfront with toasty oak and vanilla coming in on the back end. The finish has good length with dried herbs and white pepper adding nice savory layers. This is still on the young side but coming around nicely with some air. This still has plenty of upside potential. (93 pts)

2008 Stefania Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Cruz Mountains

N.V. Château Gaudrelle Crémant de Loire Alexandre Monmousseau – $23.99

I bought this wine while on an unsuccessful local shopping hunt for some Crémant d’Alsace. After being shut out, I decided I wanted to try something different and saw this Crémant de Loire.

This domain was established in 1931 and quickly gained its reputation based on the rich terroir of limestone and silica.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a vibrant yellow to straw color with very persistent, pinpoint sized bubbles. The alluring nose has fresh baked bread, apples, minerals, pineapple and lemon zest. This is light on the palate with crisp acidity and just a hint of sweetness. On the palate honey dipped apples, minerals and a yeasty note grab hold slowly allowing a hint of pineapple and lemon zest to come in on the back end. The finish has good length with just a touch of sweetness balancing out the crisp, lemony acidity. This is an easy sparking wine to like. (90 pts)

Château Gaudrelle Crémant de Loire Alexandre Monmousseau

2010 Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières Gigondas Les Mourres – $17.99

This wine is a blend of 80% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre and 5% Syrah.

This very old family estate’s name comes from a place of pilgrimage visited by the Provencal people in the Middle Age and due to protect them from the « bad fevers » (the plague).

This wine has 15.0% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep purple color. The intoxicating nose has blackberries, crushed stone minerals, blueberries, dark bittersweet chocolate, dried herbs and candied violets. This has a fairly full body with moderate to solid tannins and very nice acidity. Crushed berries and minerals coat the palate initially slowly allowing some dried herbs and a candied floral note to slip into the picture. The finish is long with some dark chocolate coming into play. This is on the young side but already very impressive. (91 pts)

2010 Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières Gigondas Les Mourres

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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!

July 21, 2014

Cliff

Wine of the Week – 2011 Poderi Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto di Dogliani

Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week. This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

Overview

Who doesn’t love a glass of good Italian wine with a meal? Italian wines all seem to have one thing in common, great natural acidity. This acidity makes these wines some of the most food friendly wines out there. Just like everywhere, good Italian wines can be costly. Luckily, there are some very reasonably priced wines out there, besides Chianti, that can help provide a pleasing change of pace from your normal wine drinking routine. Two very versatile grapes to seek out are Barbera and the basis for this post, Dolcetto.

The Winery

The history of the Poderi (estates) Luigi Einaudi started in 1897, when Luigi Einaudi, still only 23 years old, acquired the farmhouse ‘San Giacomo’ in the burgh of Dogliani surrounded by 40 Piedmontese giornate of vineyards (40 acres). The family Einaudi inherited the passion of continuous improvement of their vineyards.

San Giacomo represents the heart of the business, the first acquisition of the 23 year old Luigi Einaudi; this became his home, within which he created a great and famous library. Here there are the first vineyards which Einaudi replanted at the beginning of the 20th century, after the devastation caused by the Filossera.

This is the place of memories and teachings which even today are part of the Einaudi family life. The vineyards surrounding the house cover a little more than 10 hectares: 80% are dedicated to Dolcetto while the remaining 20% to Merlot and Barbera. The average altitude is around 350 mts and the aspect is mostly South, South West.

This land, like all the other purchased by Luigi Einaudi, is the result of his vision and determination to find the best position in an era when this was possible and which today underlines his foresight.

With the same passion and enthusiasm the family is following this vision, with acquisitions which lead to the production of wines of the highest quality.

Dolcetto – The Grape

Dolcetto is a black Italian wine grape variety widely grown in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The Italian word dolcetto means “little sweet one”, but it is not certain that the name originally carried any reference to the grape’s sugar levels: it is possible that it derives from the name of the hills where the vine is cultivated. In any case the wines produced are nearly always dry. They can be tannic and fruity with moderate, or decidedly low, levels of acidity and are typically meant to be consumed one to two years after release.

The New York Times had a very nice primer on Italian Dolcetto wines titled, “Wines of the Times – A Shy Italian, Made for Everyday”. The story is available by clicking here.

2011 Poderi Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto di Dogliani – $15.19

This wine has 13.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

My Tasting Note

2011 Poderi Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto di Dogliani

Win an All-inclusive VIP Sonoma Winecation

Underground Cellar is offering you a chance to win an all-inclusive VIP weekend in Sonoma wine country.

The winner will get the following with a value of $6,500:

Weekend getaway for 4 to California’s exclusive Sonoma wine country
Stay at the luxurious 5,500 sq. ft. Villa Terra Nova Retreat
Behind-the-scenes private tour of Iron Horse Vineyards, by winemaker David Munskgard
VIP chef’s dinner at award-winning “the girl and the fig” restaurant
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Click here to enter. If you win, you can even include me as one of your friends.

Even if you don’t win the grand prize, there is over $3,000 of gift cards with a value of up to $200 to be given away.

While you’re there, check out Underground Cellar unique wine selling model. You can “buy” a lower cost wine and get upgraded to a much more expensive bottle for free. For example, one of their current offers is $42 for a 2008 Balboa Brioso. If you buy this wine, you could get “upgraded” to 2007 Stonestreet Monument Ridge Cabernet ($60 value), 2009 Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet ($85 value), 2007 Anderson’s Conn Valley Reserve Cabernet ($130 value), 1994 Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon ($150 value), or even a 1985 BR Cohn Cabernet Sauvignon Olive Hill (Helen Turley) with a value of $220.

The shipping is also incredible, at 6 bottles, shipping cost $5! Buy 6 more bottles and ship for FREE.