Featured Wines - March 2003

What a darn good quaff, and then some,' commented one taster. And that exclamation pretty well sums up the tasting panel's reaction to the 2001 Fattori & Graney Soave Classico Superiore. This wine is everything you could ask for in a Soave: it is light, lovely, and thoroughly captivating. Moreover, the Fattori & Graney Soave Classico possesses a light pretty color and a haunting nose of spring flowers, which afford it real sensuality and a beguil...

For those club members who are old enough to remember the old candy commercials for a truly 'serious and sophisticated candy', the 2000 Quinta Do Vallado Vinho Tinto is the enological equivalent. Indeed, the 2000 Vallado is a serious red wine drinker's wine; its deep brooding purple color and its bold somewhat rustic profile recall the best of the wines of yesteryear. No smoke and mirrors, acid balancing, oak chips or other insundry tricks of mod...

The 2001 Bouchard Aine & Fils Pouilly-Fuisse sports a bright, straw-colored robe that underscores the very clean, modern style of wine making practiced by this house. In the aroma, scents of vanilla cream and citrus, along with a restrained minerality, dominate the nose. Meanwhile, in the mouth, the savor of pure, clean Chardonnay fruit combines with hints of steel and orange peel. In short, the 2001 Bouchard Aine & Fils Pouilly-Fuisse is classic...

This medium bodied, deeply colored Cabernet brings its welcome with it. It sports a bouquet full of lush berry scents, cassis, and cedar. Blackberry and the unmistakable smoky, flamboyant flavors of ripe Cabernet coat the mouth with each sip. And in the finish, the 2001 McManis Cabernet Sauvignon demonstrates its natural upbringing. In this case, less is more. McManis, who eschews over manipulation and the use of massive quantities of tartaric ac...