Wine of the Week, October 27, 2013

ANGELINE RESERVE PINOT NOIR 2012

CALIFORNIA $19.99

The Pinot Noir grape is a thin-skinned, sensitive, finicky grape. It is difficult to cultivate and difficult to transform into wine. In the hands of a good vintner (winemaker), as is found in Burgundy, France, and Willamette Valley, Oregon, and Sonoma County, California, it can be coaxed into an extraordinary wine. I have tasted Pinot Noirs from around the world, and many of them, while they may be pleasant-tasting, are not recognizable as a true Pinot Noir. Angeline Reserve Pinot Noir 2012 is a true Pinot Noir, exhibiting the essence of the grape. It is medium-bodied, balanced, and concentrated, with aromas and flavors of rose petal (yes, rose petal), cranberry, raspberry, and spice. A perfect complement to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner; also, it weds well with a salmon fillet, each bringing the best out of the other.

Wine of the Week, October 20, 2013

LA VIEILLE FERME ROUGE 2012

COTES DU VENTOUX, FRANCE

$7.99

One of my favorite, inexpensive, tasty, everyday wines. La Vieille Ferme (the old farm/farmhouse) is a red blend of mainly Syrah (Shiraz) and Grenache grapes produced by the Perrin family who have been making wine for centuries in the southeastern area of the Rhone wine region. La Vieille Ferme, similar to a Cotes du Rhone, is full-bodied, dry, fruity (not sweet), with soft tannins and a spice component. It has a deep-red color, with aromas and concentrated flavors of ripe cherries and berries. At $7.99 it is, arguably, the best wine value at Harney's.

Wine of the Week, October 13, 2013

TRIMBACH RIESLING 2011 ALSACE, FRANCE  $19.99

I enjoy all good wine, both red and white, from a full-bodied, dense, complex Marina Cvetic Montepulciano D'Abruzzo (last week's Wine of the Week) to a light, elegant, subtle Pinot Blanc. It is not true that all Riesling (pronounced REESLING) wines are sweet. They can be bone-dry (no residual sugar), semi-sweet, or sweet. The best example of all three styles is produced by Pacific Rim Vineyard: the same grape produces all three. A side by side tasting of all three would immediately show the difference. Recall the fermentation process: yeast + fruit juice (sugar) = alcohol. In general, the lower the sugar, the higher the alcohol. The Trimbach 2011 Riesling is bone-dry. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the driest, 10 being the sweetest, this Riesling is a 2. It is highly aromatic (floral), fruity (peach, grapefruit, lemon), has a mineral note (slate), with a high acidity that assures a clean, crisp finish. A perfect accompaniment to Asian dishes; a must as a Thanksgiving wine.

Wine of the Week, October 6, 2013

MASCIARELLI MONTEPULCIANO D'ABRUZZO

MARINA CVETIC VINEYARD 2008

$19.99

No, I'm not getting senile; yes, I have already reviewed this wine before in this column. Harney's has been very fortunate to recently obtain several cases of this wine. If anything, it is even more satisfying now. There are over 10,000 varieties of wine grapes. 10,000! Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is one of them. Abruzzo, by the way, is a region in central Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea. Let me repeat what I have said previously: this is a big wine with a 14.5% alcohol level; it has concentrated flavors of ripe black cherry, plum, and prune, with hints of mocha, licorice, black pepper, and spice; its tannins are soft, the mouth-feel is silky, with a long, smooth finish. And, we are able to offer this altogether extraordinary wine at a price lower than before.