Featured Wines - April 2007

"Ohhh . . . my." "Wow"! "What a nose"! "Great wine," are just a few of the panel's comments regarding the 2004 Montecastro Ribera del Duero. Indeed, this is a superb, intense Ribera del Duero and an outstanding example of just how appealing and complex Tempranillo can be from a great appellation in a classic vintage like 2004. The 2004 Montecastro is as deeply colored as any Spanish wine we have encountered. Its robe is nearly opaque and recalls ...

Smooth, smooth, smooth . . . the suave, sophisticated 2003 Tinto Pesquera just rolls off the tongue, caresses the mouth, and fills the senses. This medium bodied beauty is already a pleasure to drink, as it offers a cornucopia of scents and savors for the discerning palate: ripe textured Tempranillo fruit, chestnut, violet, and smooth sandalwood like flavors pour from the glass and delight the thirsty throat. Although it is the most approachable ...

The 2005 Montellori Chianti captures all that is beautiful in Montalbano Chianti, beginning with a bright cherry colored robe that sparkles through the glass and a haunting perfume that sets the senses afire. A medium-bodied wine with a touch of tenderness, Montellori's 2005 Chianti offers up soft, textured fruit along with plenty of delicate charm. Forever the coquette, this dry, expertly made Chianti changes from moment to moment in the glass, ...

There is nothing quite like the rich, regal robe of authentic South Australian Shiraz and the unfiltered, full-flavored 2004 Rockbare McLaren Vale Shiraz more than bolsters McLaren Vale's preeminence in this regard. Better still are this wine's olfactory fireworks, a combination of blackberry, cassis, and chocolate; all of which have been overlaid by smooth vanilla oak tones that seep deeply into the wine's hedonistic, richly fruity core. As is t...

Tim Burvill has always made exceptional Chardonnay, but Rockbare's 2005 McLaren Vale Chardonnay is unquestionably this winery's most prodigious offering to date. The 2005 Rockbare Chardonnay wears a pretty straw-colored robe and a sunlit gleam, but even more exciting is the wine's seductive aroma – a combination of fresh apple and peach, followed by a gentle minerality, and a textured creaminess that persists all the way through to a glorious fin...

A splendid, old-fashioned Graves, the 2004 Domaine de la Solitude Pessac-Léognon is everything an exceptional white Graves is called be: aromatic, full, deep, highly structured, and capable of extensive bottling aging. The 2004 Domaine de la Solitude is all this and more. In true Pessac-Léognon fashion, the Domaine de la Solitude Blanc is not your brash, sit around sipping kind of white wine. Instead, it is a wine with a soul, whose charm and cha...

It has been said that "Opening a bottle of Caldora wine is one of the most predictable hedonistic experiences known to humankind," and the 2005 Caldora Colle dei Venti Pecorino certainly won't refute that statement. Yet, this unique medium-bodied wine is more than a mere fleshpot: it is winemaker Mario Ercolino's finest Pecorino to date and the ultimate expression of the rare indigenous Pecorino variety. From the moment the cork exits the bottle,...