Taste The Aromas

Kimberly Grasso

Plungerhead 2007 Lodi Zinfandel: Fun labels on wine bottles never really do anything for me, and never persuade me into buying a wine. However, for the recent holiday gatherings I thought, “I am going to try a fun label wine.” The Plungerhead Zin was a HUGE hit, and not just for the fun label. Just as you open this wine you notice how robust it’s going to be. It has that old vine smell of barnyard, earth and bramble. Then as the wine continues to open you are treated to the core which is black cherry, cassis, cardamom, coffee and licorice.

This Zin was a perfect pair with the variety of appetizers we had such as stuffed mushrooms, rumakie, spice sausage bites, and bbq-meatballs just to name a few. The other thing worth noting on this wine was the Zork, which is a revolutionary new wine closure. This closure has the convenience of a screw cap and celebration of a cork. The Zork is easy to remove by hand, simple to reseal and is completely recyclable. Bring a few good friends to Kafevino and share a bottle. Cheers!

Dave’s Faves

David Ferrie

HOGUE GENESIS CABERNET SAUVIGNON: The Hogue brand is ubiquitous and, therefore, not highly thought of among enophiles. There’s something romantic and compelling about small-production, boutique wineries. But Columbia Crest – another Washington winery – put a pin in that balloon by winning best wine of the year in Wine Spectator. This Hogue Cab scored 90 points in the same publication and is an epitome of stylish restraint. Hints of blackberry and cherry resonate and the black currant backbone finishes nicely. Light and smooth. Pair it with heavy food with complicated flavorings as this wine will compliment rather than steal the spotlight.

Dave’s Faves

David Ferrie

TURLEY “CEDARMAN” ZINFANDEL: We’re excited to have obtained this allocated wine from the legendary Turley Vineyards. Zinfandel lovers have certain, few vineyards that they can count on, year after year, to produce top-quality, full-bodied California Zins and Turley is certainly one of them. The 2007 “Cedarman” from Howell Mountain has “High-toned, porty aromas of black cherry and Valrhona chocolate. Dense and thick, with lush, sweet flavors of black cherry and violet. The porty quality carries through onto the palate.” – Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar

Taste The Aromas

Kimberly Grasso

Champagne How Sweet is Sweet? – With the holidays upon us it’s time to celebrate and what better way to celebrate than with a bottle of Champagne! Bring on the bubbly! But how sweet is sweet? Champagne always carry an indication of their sweetness on the label but the words used are cryptic, so here is what to look for, this is in ascending order of sweetness:

Extra Brut or Brut Sauvage: Totally Dry
Brut: Dry
Extra Dry: Medium Dry
Sec: Slightly Sweet
Demi-Sec: Fairly Sweet
Doux: Sweet

And who can resist the quote by Lily Bollinger when asked by an English reporter when she liked to drink champagne she replied:

“I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and I drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it, unless I’m thirsty.”

Taste The Aromas

Kimberly Grasso

Domaine Coussergues Chardonnay Viognier: This 50% Viognier started out with very fragrant fruit aromas as the bottle opened, then the more floral notes came out as it hit the palate. This wine had a soft texture and was very refreshing, a good value and all around nice white blend that pairs well with salads and was especially nice with the Chicken Pesto Sandwich I was having. Cheers!

Dave’s Faves

David Ferrie

Penner-Ash Pinot Noir 2006: I’m a big red wine man. I like a wine that punches me in the head; that commands my attention. I drink this kind of wine whenever I can. It’s why I forget how precious and poignant and good Pinot Noir can be. This Willamette Valley Pinot is smooth and velvety with round, yet restrained, blackberry and plum that shows through a smokey mid-palate. Keep this in mind for Christmas turkey. It also works as the first of several wines for a small holiday get-together. Close your eyes and enjoy!

Taste The Aromas

Kimberly Grasso

Estancia Meritage Reserve 2006: Immediately on the nose you get anise, rosemary & sage, very balanced yet very distinct. Then just a moment later you get banana and pencil shavings, yet each aroma unfolds in a perfect balance. On the palate you get intense chocolate and full fruit. The rich deep crimson color really stands out and with the well structured tannins; it leads to a nice full finish. With all this flavor and lovely color the thing that stuck out with me was the composition of this wine, I could pick up the Cabernet Sauvignon ( at 58%), the Merlot ( 34%) but the last one, Petit Verdot I could not put a finger on and it was this grape that lead me to the true appreciation of the wine. At only 8% I was intrigued.

Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape usually used in Bordeaux blends. It is added in small amounts to add tannin, color and flavor. This is one of the five “noble” black varietals allowed in Bordeaux wines and because it ripens late, it has created some issues with winemaking. Perhaps this is why it was the last thing to grab my attention, either way it’s a lovely wine worth a pour!

Dave’s Faves

David Ferrie

Volver 2007: I was excited to try this year’s offering from this fine winery in LaMancha, Spain, having nearly fainted when I tried the ‘06 vintage with its intense crushed strawberry and cherry that finished with sweet tobacco which sailed on and on. In addition to a remarkable history, Wine Spectator had given this year’s vintage a 90 and a “Smart Buy” recommendation.

The fruit, this year, is dark and tight with a hint of gun metal. This is a muscular wine that packs a powerful punch. I, personally, feel that it needs another 6 months to a year in the bottle to reveal this wine’s true sophistication and depth. And that’s only if you like drinking young wine, as I do, because you could cellar it for up to 5 years.

Now that I’ve tried it, I’m going to buy another one and have it at next year’s Thanksgiving. YUM!

Dave’s Faves

David Ferrie

Raw Power Shiraz 2008 by Old Plains Winery: This wine made quite a splash with its 2006 vintage. And, although this newer vintage is not as expressive (well, down-right boisterous, really), it still has depth and resonance. This shiraz shows dark fruit and black pepper in generous measure with mocha and black tea on the finish. It’s a bit hot right now and I’m anxious to see what 6 months to a year in the bottle does for the taste. If it improves the way I suspect it will, I’ll report that to you.

Taste The Aromas

Kimberly Grasso

Appreciate Wines Aromas – What is the best way to appreciate a wines aroma? By taking repeated short sniffs (like dogs do?)or by inhaling deeply and slowly two or more times? When blending and testing my custom perfume blends for clients, I use the first but what to do with wine?

According to studies done at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, a scientific institute for research on taste and smell, one stated that the “optimum perception” among sniffs in humans is between .39 and .64 seconds, suggesting short sniffs are most effective. Another study said that “natural” sniffing is best for everyone, and you can’t do much more to improve the efficiency of sniffing. That is, a single sniff gives you just as much information as multiple sniffs-when we sniff several times in a row, it’s just to confirm our impressions, not necessarily to collect more data. So as an example, when I am blending perfume and there are a mix of scents, several sniffs in a row are needed to discriminate among all the different notes, or components. So then what is best for wine?

It’s the difference between sniffing once to realize “oh yes, that is wine” and sniffing several times more to pick out all the complexities in a wines aromatics. “Oh this is a nice wine and I am smelling spice, cola and sassafras”