Featured Wines - June 2005

A deeply colored wine with a very amplifying nose, the 2001 Lunelli Terre Di Pietra contains a wealth of appealing flavors in a very unique format. Scents of plum, earthy woodlands, violets and black fruits waft from this wine and grow steadily in both appeal and intensity as the wine unfolds in the glass or decanter. Cassis, cedar, and coffee tones that are so reminiscent of first class Bordeaux can be found in the flavor profile of this wine, b...

Fresh fruit, minerals, stones, and a waft of the rarified air that surrounds this breathtakingly beautiful winery, form the key elements of the 2004 Huia Marlborough Pinot Gris. In scent as well as flavor, all these elements come together to express the exhilaration and seductive charm that seems to pervade all of Huia’s wines. Full flavored for Pinot Gris, this Huia offering contains a good dollop of fresh tangy fruit as well as superb acid bala...

Wonderfully consistent from year to year, despite the vagaries of vintage, the 2001 Ventana Monterey Arroyo Secco Cabernet Sauvignon radiates all the charm of Bordeaux; yet, it embodies oodles of decadent fruit. Truly, Ventana has produced a California Cabernet Sauvignon with European sensibility. Produced from some of the oldest Cabernet vines in Monterey County, this 2001 Ventana Cabernet Sauvignon exudes considerable hedonistic charm as well a...

Bold and bright, the 2003 Marques de Irun Rueda Verdejo shines like the sun; its rich color captures the light and presages a burst of sunshine as well as all the latent goodness that lies tucked within this tasty wine. An entrancing, utterly pleasing nose offers up the scents of apricot, lemon oil, sesame, and spring flowers. What follows is even more intriguing: a host of fruits and spices form a solid core of hedonistic pleasure that amplify t...