2009 El Posadero

Wow it's been a long time since I've posted! I have 4 additional posts after this one to get to as well... Oops!

So, after the UGA vs Colorado Basketball game on 11/16, Clay and I decided that we needed to celebrate the (much too narrow) Dawgs win with a glass of wine at home! I went to the wine fridge and pulled out a bottle that looked interesting. I poured a glass, took a whiff and did NOT like what I smelled!!! I then looked at the bottle again and had a flood of memories attack me! Emily: "Rebecca, you need to make sure that you decant this wine for about an hour before you drink it. I tasted this straight from the barrel earlier this year, so it's super young." CRAP! We didn't want to wait an hour and now I've already opened this bottle! UGH!

So, I poured it into our decanter in the most un-ladylike manner possible (to try and get as much air in there as fast as I could)! I swirled the decanter full of wine with power and determination! : )

So, here we are... trying to rush the process of aerating the wine! Well, it sort-of worked! : )

2009 El Posadero
Vinos de Madrid Denominacion de Origen
Date tasted: 11/16/10
Purchased at: Shiraz wine store
Price: $10.99

Rating: 8.5-9 (Clay: 9)

This wine is 85% Tempranillo and 15% Syrah and 100% DELICIOUS!!! You would NEVER believe that this was an $11 bottle of wine!!! This probably sounds stupid, but it seems like a really sophisticated wine! I would serve this or take it to a high-class dinner party and not worry at all!

Really dark in color, gets lighter at edges; very clear; beautiful deep Garnet color.

Smell: maybe cherry, not really jammy, almost flamed cherries!? (yes, I know that's weird... but it had a Cherries Jubilee type smell), some spice, maybe a little chocolate, coffee, pencil lead

Tastes: BIG, bold flavor, spices, acidic, tannic, seems like it may have a higher alcohol content than normal, but I don't know that that's true

We didn't eat anything with this wine, but I felt like we really should have! I almost felt like I was wasting the wine by not having a good meal with it!

It continued getting better and better as it had time to breathe. The last 1/2 glass was phenomenal!

I made a note that the smell throws the wine off a bit to me... Not that it smelled bad, but it tasted a lot better than it smelled to me.

I will definitely buy this wine again! Especially since it's only $10.99!!!
*Note: I did actually go back and get 2 additional bottles. Next time, I'll make sure to give it ample time to open up and breathe! And... I think we'll have a great meal with it too!

**I always talk about making notes, etc. Well, I have a wine book that Emily gave me to take notes, etc. about wines tasted. I usually just fill in the blanks on the pages, but this wine had me writing all over the page trying to fit everything in! So, I figured I'd take a picture of that as well! : )

2007 d'Alessandro Nero d'Avola

MY BEST FRIEND IS GETTING MARRIED!!! : )

Kauleen got engaged and we were too busy to actually get together to celebrate until about 2 weeks later! Geez!
Once we were both FINALLY in town at the same time, we decided a girl's night was in order! So, I ordered lasagna and a spinach salad from Mirko Pasta (here in Athens) and drove down to Lake Oconee for a much needed night of wine and girl/wedding talk!

The lasagna lost a little of it's deliciousness in the hour drive, but Mirko is always a winner! The wine... not so much, unfortunately!
I took a bottle that we had gotten from our Shiraz wine store wine club. I cheated* this time and looked at Emily's description in the newsletter and saw that this wine was supposed to be good with Italian food/pasta, so I was really hopeful that we would have the perfect night!
*I never look at the newsletter's descriptions of the wines before I try them so that I won't be influenced by Emily's expert opinion.

I can honestly say that I'm VERY rarely disappointed with our wine club selections! I know that everyone has different opinions/tastes on wine, so it's really not a surprise that once in a while I'm not crazy about one! However... I will say that I was a bit disappointed about this one, simply because this was a celebration and the wine was just ok! Oops! Sorry K! : (
Next time we'll take no chances... BUBBLY!!! : )

2007 d'Alessandro Nero d'Avola
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy
Date tasted: 10/27/10
Purchased at: Shiraz wine store
Price: normally $16.99, but it was $14.99 at the time
Rating: 6 (I forgot to ask Kauleen what she would rate it. She said that she liked it, but I think she was being nice more than anything!)



The wine was really dark (really dark) and very clear. Was extremely dry and tannic (dried my mouth out significantly) and seemed acidic for a red (not sure if that's accurate though).
Smells: slight chocolate, cinnamon and some kind of fruit (not sure what though)
Tastes: Maybe cranberry?, not jammy at all and doesn't taste fruity at all- hard to explain
Notes: Didn't really like it much at all- wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't buy it again

Oh well, regardless of the sub-par wine, it was great seeing Kauleen (and that rock she now sports on her left hand) and talking about the wedding (and, of course, THE BACHELORETTE PARTY)!!! : )
Congratulations Kauleen and David!

2007 Pikes Traditionale Dry Riesling

I have a lot of blogging to do... : )

I mentioned (briefly) in an earlier post that I think that Riesling has an unwarranted bad reputation, so now I'm proving that!

I, along with SO many people, thought Riesling was ridiculously sweet and unbearable to drink (and there are plenty of those); however, dry Rieslings are delectable! They are very neutrual wines and can be paired with anything (or just enjoyed alone)! Most (good) dry Rieslings will actually spell it out for you and put on the label that it's a DRY Riesling, so definitely be on the lookout for that!

This particular dry Riesling was the feature wine at Shiraz wine store here in Athens for the month of October. I walked in to pick-up our wine club wines and Emily (the store owner) said, oh Rebecca... you're going to want this one! : )

See, Emily is the person who made me take that brave first step and "try" a Riesling again. Only, she didn't exactly tell me that it was a Riesling... she tricked me! : ) She does a great job of trying to learn your particular tastes and guide you to try new things. Emily asked (early on) what I usually drink, etc. and I told her that I just really haven't been a fan of white wine, but would love to find a few "go-to" whites. She started by asking what I don't like about white and if there are any varietals in particular that I don't care for. My first response... "I hate Rieslings!" She calmly said, ok, why? I explained to her that I just DO NOT care for sweet wine (unless it's a dessert wine and I'm mentally prepared for it to be sugary sweet)! Emily's response, "No problem... I actually have a great bottle of white open, why don't you just try it and tell me what you think." So, low and behold, I take a very cautious sip of white wine and fall in love... with none other than the dreaded Riesling! Emily says this is one of her favorite tricks to pull and that tons of people have the same reservations about Riesling until they try a good one. So, the moral of this (way too long) story... TRY A GOOD DRY RIESLING!!!

2007 Pikes Traditionale Dry Riesling

Australia- Clare Valley

purchased at Shiraz wine store (Athens, GA)

$19.99 normally, but it was $9.99 because it was the feature wine

Date tasted: 10/19/10

Rating: 9-9.5

I had this wine one night when Clay was out of town, but I still wanted a great meal. So, I grilled a peppercorn pork tenderloin and some zucchini and opened up this fabulous bottle!

Pale yellow in color, gets more yellow around the edges, very clear wine

Smells: honey, grass, petrol- Yes, petrol/gas... I know that's odd, but it's very common and doesn't mean that it's not good... it's actually DELICIOUS! : )

Taste: medium bodied, acidic and dry- light and crisp, earthy, petrol, not sweet at all, also has little spice kick at the very end of the sip

My notes:

Really crisp and refreshing dry Riesling- Really great! Seems super versatile- I would think this wine would change someone's mind about whites and especially about Rieslings! Would definitely buy again (and again and again)! Screwtop bottle. Hard not to chug this one- it's really great!

Side note: I did actually buy this wine again... Shiraz decided to extend the $9.99 special into November, so when I picked up November's wine club wines, I bought two more bottles!