2005 Denuño Jumilla, Spain

I worked an event for the New England Culinary Guild at the Commander's Mansion in Watertown. There I met a member of the family behind BLM Wine and Spirits. We poured several wines, unfortunately I only really tasted two of the wines, both red, enough to develop the opinion; the others were a Pinot Gris, a Prosecco, and a Kerner.

2005 Denuño: Jumilla, ESP
This exciting blend of 90% Petit Verdot, 5% Monastrell, and 5% Syrah with 13.5% alcohol, 6 months of barrel aging juice is delicious. I was speaking with John, host of a radio talk show on food and wine, about the varietal characters of Petit Verdot and how this was the most petit verdot I had ever had in a wine and hence the closest thing I've gotten to experiencing its pure varietal characteral s demonstrated in Heitz's 100% Petit Verdot, which also, surprisingly enough, has 13.5% alcohol.

The Winemaker calls wild berries, spice, and toasted oak. I wrote, garnet to ruby colors on the fringe, with creamy sort of dark fruit (black & red), spice, and a slight touch of an earthy element. A bit restrained when first opened. Soft tannins, low acidity, and a nice finish round out this easy-drinker. Decant.

Many people asked about how much I thought this wine would cost in the store. I reasoned it'll be no more than $15, but I'm curious to find out. Also, one particularly lovely lady ;) asked about the wine's with the most reservatrol in the same line as pinot noir. For the record, Tannat comes from the Madiran and has been suggested to me to have the most reservatrol.

Stay tuned for more on Pinot Noir, and for the lovely lady who requested a list of affordable Pinot Noirs, one will follow shortly.

The other red was a Mendocino Barbera that was deliciously plush with red fruit with some zippy acidity and mild tannins (IMO, tannins + meatless pizzas = bad), I instantly thought back to sharing many Regina's margarita pizzas with medium basil and crispy crust with many bottles of Barbera d'Asti and Barbera d'Alba.

Shameless plug to somewhere else related to wine: A perfectly affordable case of wine.

On Steaks (Jean Luc Colombo)

Just thinking back to my earlier post, steaks are so easy to pair with red wines that you've tasted before. Think back to what the wine tasted like and then season your steaks accordingly.

Example, I'm thinking of Syrah. One by made by the man who said this:

Cornas is part of the Northern Rhône hillsides, which is where Syrah comes from, and where Syrah gives its greatest expression. At the same time, the hills of Cornas benefit from Mediterranean influences, which bring a lot of character to the wine.

Cornas' hero, and non-traditionalist (supscription required?) Jean Luc Colombo's Les Farot Syrah, 2006 Côtes du Rhône. It's 100 % Syrah, yummy with spice, juicy, with a nice earthiness accompanying a grip of fruit and nicely balanced tannins. His "non-traditional" ways: French oak, destemming, and green harvests.

Here's what I do with the steak: rosemary, some garlic (completely optional), olive oil, and cook to R- (rare minus) by special cooking method not permitted in restaurants per health regulations. Then sear the steaks under some fire after seasoning with sea salt, fresh cracked black peppercorn, fresh rosemary, thyme. Think garrigue when seasoning.

Sidenote:

Speaking of steak wines, Wine Spectator's Sam Gugino talks about Wagyu Skirt (skirt steaks are one of the butcher's cut (like hangar steak) and red wines like a California meritage, Super Tuscan, Aussie Shiraz (Mollydooker's $90 Carnival of Love), and an Argentinian Malbec. Mollydooker, with 95 pts, was the only one to receive a plug because it was deemed WS worthy. Don't get me wrong, it's a great wine, in the same level as this.

Beckstoffer grapes are on James Laube's newest hot list of California Cabernets and understandably so. My last Beckstoffer encounters were through several wines by Anthony Bell's Bell Wine Cellars, and a 1995 Guenoc Beckstoffer IV from over a year ago.

Facebook plug to Bell Wine Cellars and a bravo to Anthony Bell for the 2004 Sonnette! I'm looking forward to reviewing his Clone 6 Cabernet Sauvignon.

2005 Two Hands Ares

Dark purple with black pepper, black berry, tar, black raspberry, black cherry and an aroma of vanilla. Wow.

ADDENDUM: While dining at the Boston Morton's in the Seaport District. The 2002 Darioush Shiraz followed later than evening along with some Mickey D's. I paired the Darioush with BBQ sauce and chicken nuggest. Following that was 2006 Two Hands Bella's Garden. Fun night, thanks P and Jill Feeney for the outstanding service.

There's also a funny story from that night of a blind tasting with my mother, cousin, yours truly, Morton's AGM Scott Platt, and burgundy cooking wine.