Tag Archives: Weekly
A Wine Lover’s Weekly Review Of $10 Wines – A Sweet Low- Alcohol Italian Wine
Did you ever want to drink a wine with a very low alcohol level? Here’s your chance. Today’s wine is kosher, marketed by the largest kosher wine distributor in the world. It comes from the Asti province of the Piedmont region of northern Italy home to some fabulous wines that, at least usually, aren’t low-alcohol or bargain priced. This wine comes from the Moscato Blanco grape, the most widely planted Muscat in Italy. This is the oldest known grape variety in Piedmont, and perhaps one of the oldest grape varieties in the world. You’ll find this grape in well-known French Muscat de Beaumes de Venise AOC and the quite pricey South African Constantia, both dessert wines.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Bartenura Moscato 2007 5.0 % alcohol about $ 10
Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials. Description : Classic Moscato with aromas of peach, table grape and apricot. Medium sweet with a slight effervescence and a low alcohol. There is a pleasant minerality that gives the wine structure. Soft and pleasing. Enjoy with spicy seafood dishes or serve with fruit custard desserts. Tasting Note : Pale straw yellow color; spicy apple, citrus and light pear aromas; sweet apple and pear flavors with balancing acidity, with peach and litchee notes on the finish.
And now for my review. At the first sips the wine was sweet, and I tasted some honey. Its first pairing was with a commercial barbecued chicken and a side of potatoes roasted in chicken fat and a light, tomatoey sauce. The wine’s acidity picked up with the chicken wings and breast, and the potatoes. The stronger tasting chicken leg choked out the wine. When paired with a mixed tomato salad containing basil the Moscato lost acidity but picked up some fruit. It became too sweet.
The next meal involved ground beef in ground semolina jackets and a sour sauce containing Swiss chard. This is a delicious Middle Eastern specialty known as Kube. The wine had honey and refreshing acidity, but this wasn’t a good way to do sweet and sour. The Moscato’s honey taste picked up with fresh strawberries.
My final meal was composed of a Portobello mushroom omelet accompanied by a spicy salsa containing tomato, onion, green pepper, cilantro and other ingredients. The wine struck me as bold and its honey taste was strong. Interestingly enough the salsa intensified the wine’s sweetness.
I finished this bottle with Matjes herring followed by two local cheeses. The results were basically the same, apples, honey, and light acidity. The herring brought out increased apple taste, and the Swiss cheese intensified the honey. An asiago cheese split the middle.
Final verdict. I will not buy this wine because while above price represents the American market, I had to pay considerably more. But at the American price I would definitely buy it, especially for those times that I want a sweet low-alcohol wine that tastes pretty good.
A Wine Lover’s Weekly Guide To $10 Wines – A Peloponnesian Greek Wine
This will be our third Greek wine review. The first was a sweet wine from the island of Samos. Then came a red from the island of Crete also made by today’s producer. Now we continue with a white from the Peloponnesian peninsula. This particular wine comes from pink Rhoditis grapes in the foothills near Patras at an elevation of about 650 to 1500 feet (200 to 450 meters). The producer Kourtaki has the largest wine production facility in all Greece, which is not surprising when you consider that it is the largest producer in the country. What may be surprising is that they are the first in Europe to use the patented “Crystal Flow” wine stabilization method. There is a lot happening in the world of wine, and Greece is no exception. By the way, should you so desire they still bottle and sell that classic standby, Retsina. Don’t look for a review of Retsina here. Ever. And yes, I have tasted it.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Kourtakis Kouros Patras 2008 11.9% alcohol about $ 10 Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials.
“Tasting Note : Straw/lemon yellow color; lanolin, lemon and mineral aroma; crisp apple & lemon flavor; light body; crisp finish. Serving Suggestion : Pasta salad & olive oil dressing; fried seafood” And now for my review.
At the first sips the wine presented refreshing acidity. It was lemony. The initial meal centered on a soy-barbecued chicken breast. The wine showed strong lemon with good acidity. It was tasty. I got the feeling of the Greek seaside. The meal included an old favorite of mine, potatoes roasted in chicken fat. (The Greeks do their roasted potatoes differently.) The wine cut the grease. With a white corn and black bean salsa the wine’s acidity picked up but its fruit descended. With the dessert of fruit juice candy I got the lanolin that I had been promised.
The next meal involved a packaged eggplant rolatini with tomatoes, ricotta and mozzarella cheese that I slathered with grated Parmesan Cheese. This wine presented strong lemon flavor and acidity with a moderate length. Dessert was a high-quality, French lemon pie with a buttery crust. The wine was thin and yet pleasant. The two lemons meshed.
My final meal involved an omelet perked up with garlic powder and crushed chillies. The wine was pleasantly acidic and round with a side of moderately spicy guacamole. The wine became more acidic but remained pleasant and refreshing. This was a summer terrace wine. Before the traditional two cheeses I enjoyed some Matjes herring. The wine became sweet with a delicate lemon flavor. This was a pretty good pairing.
The first cheese was a local Provolone. This relatively flat cheese managed to weaken the wine. With a nutty Swiss, the wine wasn’t very present and not worth wasting on the cheese.
Final verdict. I have no plans to buy this wine again. There is just too much competition out there. But it did come close. Why can’t they do better?
A Wine Lover’s Weekly Guide To $10 Wines – A Red Crete (Greece) Blend
This is one of our first Greek wine reviews and the first review devoted to a wine from the island of Crete which produces about one fifth of all Greek wine. Kourtaki, the producer, was founded way back in 1895 by Vassili Kourtakis; perhaps the first Greek to obtain a diploma in oenology, the study of wine. This company started with retsina, but happily moved on to better wines. Kourtaki is now the largest producer of Greek wine, bottling an estimated thirty million bottles a year, half of which are exported. They are still producing re;sina wine, but frankly the less said about retsina (which by European Economic Community policy may only be produced in Greece) the better. The wine reviewed is a blend of the red Kotsifali grape found mostly in Greece and the red Mandilara grape, the most widely planted Aegean red variety. These two grapes are often blended together.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review have been purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Kourtaki Vin de Crete Red 2008 12.0% alcohol about $ 8.50
Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials. Tasting Note : Deep purple color ; cassis and red berry aroma ; berry fruit flavor, medium body and medium length. Serving Suggestion : Serve with souvlaki or pork kebobs. And now for my review.
At the first sips this wine was strongly acidic with some berries. It was not unpleasant. Its first pairing was with barbecued beef ribs in a sweet ketchup sauce. The wine’s acidity was tamed. There were no tannins and not much flavor. The accompanying potatoes roasted in chicken fat gave this wine more body. In the presence of an overly spicy salsa with tomatoes, onions, green peppers, and cilantro the wine picked up some power.
The next meal involved zucchini stuffed with rice and ground beef and a side of green beans in a tomato sauce. The wine was somewhat harsh and short. I tasted berries. With the green beans the wine’s acidity toned down and as the meal proceeded the its harshness dropped. The dessert of orange fruit juice candy rendered this wine essentially tasteless.
My final meal was composed of beef stew with potatoes. The wine was thin and tasted of tobacco and berries. When I added powerful jalapeno pepper sauce the wine’s fruit intensified. The oriental-style side salad composed of tomatoes, pimentos, and garlic made the wine longer.
I ended the bottle with Matjes herring and two local cheeses. With the herring the wine was lightly acidic with virtually no tannins and tasted of red cherries. A relatively tasteless brick cheese managed to overpower this wine. When facing a somewhat tastier marbled cheddar cheese, the wine perked up a bit; the fruit was back.
Final verdict. I will not buy this wine again. But if you don’t like tannins and want a red wine other than Beaujolais you might consider this wine.
Related Red Wine Articles
A Wine Lover’s Weekly Guide to $10 Wines – A Red From Montenegro
This is our first review of a wine from Montenegro, a small country in southeastern Europe that was part of Yugoslavia. Montenegro has been producing wine for more than two thousand years, so perhaps it’s time to take a look at one of their products. This particular wine is produced from the red Vranac grape whose name means black stallion. So let’s guess that we are looking at a powerful wine. The company’s vineyard is one of the largest in Europe, containing over 10 million vines.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed
Palntaze Monte Cheval Vranac, 2006 11.5% alcohol about $ 8.00
Let’s start with the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Medium garnet; leather and earth with a hint of plum and spice; earthy dried fruit flavor with a hint of spice. Serving Suggestion: Stew and casseroles. And now for my review.
At first tasting the wine was dark and oaky with round tannins. It was mouth filling and chewy but relatively short. The initial meal involved slow-cooked beef ribs and potatoes. I tasted cherries and chocolate. Its palate cleansing acidity was good because the meat was fat but this Vranac seemed to fade away. It did not pick up when I added spicy green jalapeno pepper sauce to the meat.
The second meal consisted of commercially barbecued chicken thighs in a light herb sauce and deli potato salad. The wine was powerful, but perhaps a bit too acidic. It showed dark fruit but didn’t overpower this lightly flavored dish.
The final meal was based on Merguez, North African spicy lamb sausage. The wine was mouth filling and I tasted stewed fruits. It cut the grease and, believe me, this meal was greasy. The deli potato salad muted the wine. When I added spicy green jalapeno pepper sauce this time the wine stepped into the background and its fruit was gone.
I finished the tasting with two cheeses. The first cheese was a marbled cheddar. The wine was dark and tasted of cherries and plums. It seemed well balanced. With a sheep’s milk feta cheese the wine lost a lot of its character. This cheese was too much for this wine.
Final verdict. I won’t buy this wine again. It is better than many $ 8 wines but with all the cheap wines out there, I won’t hold the presses for this one.
Find More Red Wine Articles
A Wine Lover’s Weekly Review of $10 Wines – A Red Sicilian Blend
Please let me apologize. Usually I place these weekly reviews on my website Sunday night or Monday night. This one went up on Tuesday; last night was President Obama’s first prime time news conference. I’m not going to talk about the press conference here, except to repeat that this wine column is our attempt to deal with the present economic problems. We feel that in these very difficult times it’s important to keep your chin up, and to find a way to enjoy life without spending too much money. What can be better than the right $ 10 bottle of wine? We help you find the right ones.
Italy produces many fine wines. We have reviewed about two dozen fine Italian wines, coming from eighteen and soon nineteen of the twenty regions of Italy. Sicily is the number one Italian wine region both in terms of acreage devoted to the wine grape, a whopping third of a million acres, and total production, over two hundred million gallons. In fact, if Sicily were an independent country it would rank seventh in the world for wine production. Now quantity doesn’t necessarily mean quality. The wine reviewed is a blend of the indigenous Nero d’Avola and the international Cabernet Sauvignon, both red grapes. Nero d’Avola wines usually aren’t very expensive but I was quickly able to locate a $ 80 bottle on the web. Cabernet Sauvignon produces some very expensive wines such as the California Opus One costing hundreds of dollars, depending on the vintage. Enough of that; let’s see if this bottle is a good choice for dealing with these hard times.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed
Montalto Nero d’Avola Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 14% alcohol about $ 8
Let’s start with the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Deep red violet color; dark fruit and spice aromas and flavors; dry, medium to full bodied, long, smooth finish. Serving Suggestion: Roast lamb or beef, meat pastas, and grilled meats. And now for my review.
At first tasting the wine was thin but long with moderate acidity and a touch of oak. The initial meal involved homemade shepherd’s pie. There was dark fruit. The red blend washed the food down pleasantly. It was robust. Simple food, simple wine. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. I added some Turkish Harissa, a hot pepper sauce and the wine followed, picking up some spiciness.
The second meal was a combination of meat balls and recooked steak, slow cooked with potatoes. The Nero d’Avola/Cabernet Sauvignon was now powerful; it definitely packed a punch. I could taste the oak. The length was good.
The final meal was a middle-eastern specialty, kube, also called kibbe, ground meat in jackets made from ground bulgar, in a spicy tomato sauce. It was strange, at the first sip the wine was thin, almost watered. But as I drank more the power built. There was some oak and dark fruit with moderate acidity.
I finished the tasting with two cheeses. The first cheese was a provolone. The wine was balanced with good tannins and moderate acidity. But it was short. A marbled cheddar cheese flattened the wine somewhat. After the cheese the fruit came back.
Final verdict. If you feel like washing down simple meals with a simple wine this is an option. But I think I will keep looking.
Find More Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Articles