The Good Wine Guru » full bodied wine

Avignonesi Rosso Toscana 2007

George — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:00:21 +0000

Varietal: Blended Red Wine (40% Prugnolo Gentile; 30% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Merlot)
Region: Italy
Cost: $21

Deep ruby red color with aromas of spring flowers, red fruits, minerals, and subtle earth tones. Fruit flavors are continued on the palate. Pairs well with lentil soup, minestrone soup, rotisserie chickens, or a bread and cheese platter.

Recommendations: This past weekend I was in Charleston, South Carolina visiting my brother-in-law and his wife and I took this bottle with me to share with family – something about Italian wine has always beckoned me to share it with others. While in the space between preparing dinner (hamburgers on the grill) and actually eating dinner, we opened up the bottle to help us relax after a long day.

I was instantly impressed by the color, being a sucker for dark red wines. Aromas of mineral and earth were very noticeable to me, with hints of fruit on the nose as well. The fruit on the palate was subtle, but I did a nice earthiness at the finish that I found very enjoyable. While we didn’t pair this with any actual food, I could definitely see pairing this with a range of foods, from a nice minestone soup to a more robust meal of either pasta or grilled meats.

When asked my opinion on it by the others drinking the wine, I simply said that it was Italian. It’s hard for me to really put into words what that really means, but the second I sipped the wine, I instantly got the image of sitting in Tuscany, sipping wine and munching on fresh baked pizza from a stone oven. My father-in-laws reaction to the wine was more along the lines of “mmm…I like it!” I like to think he means the same thing I do.

Special thanks to the International Wine of the Month Club for supplying the wine for this review.

Domaine de Villemajou Corbieres 2000

George — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:00:41 +0000

Varietal: Blended Red Wine (Syrah; Carginan; Grenache; Mourvedre)
Region: France
Cost: $41

Deep reddish brown in color and featuring aromas of plum, rose, violets and black fruits. Full-flavored dark fruit on the palate that pairs well with beef, lamb, poultry, or BBQ.

Recommendations: When I got this bottle it almost seemed a shame to open it. A 10 year old bottle of French wine doesn’t exactly find it’s way into my wine cellar every day and I kept trying to think of something special to pair it with. Then I realized that if I kept trying to find something spectacular to enjoy it with the wine was never going to get opened.

Dark reddish-brown in color (I hate saying brown, but the complete lack of purple and the shade of red make it about the only real descriptor I can use), with subtle aromas of fruit and florals, calling this wine full-bodied would be an understatement. The flavors of dark fruit are big and soft at the same time, and the slight tannic finish fades away as the bottle is allowed to open up – not that it needs to much.

Paired with a dinner of pasta and red sauce with some fresh herbs thrown in, the Domaine de Villemajou did a great job of neither overwhelming or being overwhelmed by the meal (I have yet to see anything or anyone be just whelmed). After the meal it was great by itself, being full of flavor, but not demanding food to be enjoyable.

This bottle was described to me as a party wine, and I can see how it would be easy to just keep opening bottles of it while entertaining family and friends. Bold and smooth all at once, this is a great wine for just about any meal and any company. While I can understand that the price point may give the value wine shopper pause, it’s definitely one worth getting for a special occasion.

Special thanks to the International Wine of the Month Club for supplying the wine for this review.

Wrongo Dongo 2008

George — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:00:27 +0000

Varietal: Monastrell
Region: Spain
Cost: $9

Dark violet color with aromas of spice on the nose and fresh fruit on the palate. Pairs well with roasts, steaks, and BBQ.

Recommendations: I will admit that the name of this bottle alone caught my eye when I was in the store. I had never heard of Monastrell before (though apparently it’s the same thing as Mourvedre, which I have heard of), so I decided to give it a try.

Opened the same night as the Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir, we paired this wine with the same cheese and crackers. Far more robust than the Pinot, the Wrong Dongo had aromas of cherry and spice with the same cherry on the palate.

While only paired with the cheese and crackers, I can see how this would pair well with a dinner of grilled or roasted meat, and certainly some BBQ. The big surprise for me was that even with the high alcohol content (15%/vol), I didn’t get a heavy alcohol taste, which has been a sticking point for me lately.

I don’t know that this wine lives up to its name of being “wrongo”, but it was certainly interesting and worth checking out if you’re looking to expand your varietal horizons. Paired with something off the grill it should be enjoyable and for the price it’s hard to argue against picking it up just to display.

Santa Monica Tierra de Sol Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

George — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:00:19 +0000

Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon (1997)
Region: Chile
Cost: $ 21

Dark coloring, more brown than red, with aromas of fresh berries, cassis, dark chocolate, and cigar box cedar. Flavors of blackberry fruit, cassis, plum with hints of chocolate and roasted coffee. Pair with chicken, veal, beef tenderloin, lamb, and stews.

Recommendations: Having read the description of this wine, I was intrigued, especially since it had been a while since I’d had the chance to enjoy a wine this old. I did get hints of fresh fruit on the nose, but I also got tobacco and smoke, which isn’t a bad thing, along with a bit of pepper, which I also got on the finish of the wine.

Paired with a meal of home made chili, the smokiness of the wine was actually a great compliment, pairing well with the slow cooked meal. The heartiness of the meal helped to mask some of the tobacco and smoke, while letting the fruit flavors shine through.

My only real complaint with this wine is that they used a real cork to seal it, and there was some sediment in the bottle. That being said, it wasn’t a real problem until my wife and I got to the very end of the bottle, and would have been easy to fix had we decanted the wine instead of just letting it open up in our glasses. If you’re looking for a more full-bodied Cabernet and don’t want something fruit forward, this is definitely what you’re looking for and is worth it for the price.

Special thanks to the International Wine of the Month Club for providing the wine.

Potomac Point Winery Cabernet Franc

George — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:49:53 +0000

Varietal: Cabernet Franc (2007)
Region: Virginia – USA
Cost: $22.99

Light coloring with a fruit flavors and a finish of dark cherry, spice, violet, and black currant on a medium to full-bodied wine. Will pair well with red meat, pasta, or by itself.

Recommendations: Potomac Point is another of my favorite winerys here in Virginia, and while they’re relatively new, they’re already producing some great wine. Their Cabernet Franc is everything that you would want in Virginia’s signature grape, with nice spice and pepper on the finish and not too much fruit in the beginning.

I paired this red wine with a steak, and the pairing of Cabernet Franc and red meat continues to be one of my favorites. While the only way to currently get this wine is to visit the vineyard or find it in a Virginia ABC store, it’s well worth it if you’re in the area to stop in and pay them a visit. Their tasting room and patio are a great way to spend a day trying this and other great wine. Give this one a shot.

2006 Turner and Cole Poggio Del Falco

George — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:58:21 +0000

Variety: Super Tuscan (Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet)
Region: Italy
Cost: $21.50

Deep ruby in color, this blended red offers aromas and flavors of violets, roses, and ripe black cherry fruit. A good tannic structure on the finish will lend this wine to pastas, rich meats, and even game birds such as quail and pheasant.

Recommendations: The Super Tuscan blend has been growing on me, partially because my father-in-law and his neighbor make their own wine, one of which is a Super Tuscan. I paired this Super Tuscan with steaks that had been marinading for 24 hours, and the pairing was amazing. The juiciness of the steak was a great compliment to the ripe fruit and great tannins of this medium to full bodied red.

Allowing the wine to decant for a while mellowed out some of the tannins, but if you prefer a more tannic finish to your wine, enjoy it as soon as you open this one. If you’ve never enjoyed Italian wine before, I would normally recommened Chianti on principle, but this is definitly a wine that any lover of Italian wine should give a try.

Special thanks to the International Wine of the Month Club.

Grayhaven Winery Touriga

George — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:23:15 +0000

Varietal: Touriga
Region: Virginia – USA
Cost: $20

A Portugese grape being grown in Virginia, the Grayhaven Touriga is made from 100% Touriga grapes, which are often used to make Port wines. Hints of vanilla and pepper on the finish follow a flavors of cherry and grapefruit for this medium to full bodied red wine. Pairs well with steak and other rich dishes.

Recommendation: I love Grayhaven Winery for their tasting room and surrounding area alone, but their wide ranging selection of wines, which includes being one of the few wineries in the state to offer a Touriga wine. My wife and I paired this wine with a dinner of grilled bbq chicken and roasted red potatos. I was worried that this somewhat more bold red might overpower the chicken at first, but after a generous basting of bbq sauce while it was grilling, the pepper and vanilla on the finish of the wine were a great compliment to the smokiness of the meal.

Being one of the few wineries in Virginia, if not the only, to offer a 100% Touriga, I almost want to recommend this wine on that fact alone, but the great flavors and ability to pair with more than just red meat means that this is a great wine to pick up when you’re in the area. I also recommend visiting the winery if you’re ever close as everybody there is incredibly friendly and welcoming.