Famille Peillot Bugey, 2008

Bugey is an appellation from Savoie in France, just a bit east of Beaujolais. This is my first time to try Pinot Fin, which apparently is a parent of Pinot Noir. A very strange, real and charming wine, which tasted like a mineral chardonnay with a shot of Cabernet Savignon. Very light body, not much tannin, but quite a bit of sharp acidity. Purple-ish red, very transparent, surprisingly well developed glycerin legs. Taste ways grassy, some mild, sweet cherry and other red fruit. Not much of a nose, but we served it chilled. Definite points for originality.
We drank it with some hunter's stew and fingerling potatoes: a perfect match.
20$ @ Blue Angel Wines, Brooklyn
78 points

Gigondas Les Pallieroudas 2006

80% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, organic, 80 year old vines from Cotes du Rhone. Very rare coffee and spices nose on this wine, followed by a mouth of coffee syrup, molasses, bitter herbs, caramel and plum compote. Dark and sticky, quite opaque. I liked how this wine is balanced with almost no acid... its the play of milky sweetness against the bitter aftertaste. It successfully accompanied barley with mushrooms and leeks in bacon.

$25 @ Blue Angel Wines, Brooklyn
80 points

Less known Italian varieties...

Motta Giove Ciliegiolo 2008

Very seldom Ciliegiolo appears as a varietal wine. It's a Tuscan/Umbrian grape which was traditionally added to Chianti. This bottle comes from a small producer located on the south-east corner of Tuscany.
Young, medium body, fruity with a unique bitterness which makes the whole thing attractive. The nose is a puny sweet cherry... but the taste is pretty awesome: red currant, black sour cherry, cherry pit and a bit of tobacco in the finish. Nice vibrant red color with shades of purple. Gave me a minor headache in the morning, but it was worth it:)

$20 @ Union Square Wines NYC
79 points







Zongola Montefalco Sangrantino 2003

Not exactly rare if you are into Italian wines... but Sagrantino from Umbria is local and quite fantastic. I believe in a few years it will make it to the pantheon of great Italian wines along with Amarone, Brunello and Barolo. Thick, full bodied, very tannic, ripe dark fruit, dry and chalky, big chocolate and cinnamon finish. A perfect winter treat.

$32 @ Union Square Wines NYC
75 points









Agricola Punica Montessu Isola dei Nuraghi, 2007

This Sardinian cuvee was really tasty, mainly Carignano (60%) and the rest Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah. Powerful, deep fruit, mainly plum and some anonymous berries, licorice, pretty long tannic finish. This wine scores over 90 points. The bottle was good, but for the price I would hope for a little more personality. A bit too generic...

34$ @ Italian Wine Merchants NYC
79 points

Some decent Italians

Antano Montefalco Rosso, 2007

This was probably the most successful of the three bottles...
A hearty, organic Sagrantino/Sangiovese/Merlot cuvee from Umbria. Rustic, chunky, charming... cherry/plum and gentle, buttery oak bottle, nothing extraordinary, but very pleasant and solid. It will age well, I'd like to try it in a couple of years.

The Ten Bells, NYC $49
73 points











Cantina Rotaliana Teroldego, 2006

An easy drinking item from Alto Adige: medium body, ruby red, ambiguous red fruit and green apple acidity. I didn't like the Rioja style sweaty/lactic nose which took away from the experience. Over all, teroldego is an ancient and interesting Alpine variety worth checking out.

D.O.C Wine Bar, Brooklyn 39$
69 points











Taurasi Dei Feudi Di San Gregorio, 2005

I picked up this bottle in a supermarket in Rome (25 Euro) and was quite excited about trying Taurasi from Campania for the first time. What a disappointment: the perfectly fine Aglianico grape was totally overwhelmed by harsh, abrasive French(?) oak tannin. Some prune and fig managed to break through after a while. This wine is a victim of the global oak-till-you-drop trend:(
60 points

Cascina Fontana Barolo, 2004

Relished this amazing bottle with Mr. Pensao in Brooklyn on a cold January night. The plan was to open the wine and let it breathe while we arrange some food... Well, we never got to the food part because after tasting this poppy we just couldn't stop... kinda left as speechless and euphoric:)

Finally figured out what the Barolo fuss was all about... Sadly, you will have to spend some money to get a good one, but when you do it's really worth it! This bottle was surely amongst 5 best I've had... Very thick in consistency and oily, wouldn't call it full body though... Complex and concentrated, with red fruit, sour cherry, oak and cocoa. The wine kept developing in the glass, incredibly long and noble. The nebbiolo tannin was perfectly mature and balanced, the barrel kicked in after 10 minutes... There was plenty enough malic acidity to keep the wine energetic. Awesome.

55$ in retail (De Paulo's NYC)
95 points

Christmas in Krakow: some memorable bottles

Comte Dornfelder Barrique, 2007 (Poland)

This wine was a nice surprise: a solid, medium to full body red produced in southern Poland. Dornfelder is a German hybrid which is capable of surviving tough winters; reminded me of Petit Verdot in color and taste. Nice local oak, firm acidity/structure, blackberries... purple and velvety.
40 PZL (13$) from the producer.

Blason Timberlay Bordeaux, 2005 (France)
Tannic and full bodied: figs, raisins, some chocolate and tobacco finish... A surprisingly alive and pretty inexpensive wine from Bordeaux. Half bottle.

32 PZL (11$) at Vinoteka La Bodega













Sophenia Sythesis , Mendoza 2007 (Argentina)

Truly good. A balanced cuvee of Malbec, Cabernet Sav. and Merlot. The mouth seemed to be endless... Mostly mature fruit and oak. Opulent, supertoscan style nose. Definitely an aging wine. Parker gave it some crazy points.

160 PZL (55$) at Klimaty Poludnia (special tasting of Finca Sophenia products)











Antonelli Montefalco Rosso, 2003 (Italy)
Rarely do I get to drink a wine which makes me genuinely happy. This was one of them. Medium body, high viscosity, ruby red and full of wild strawberries, both nose and mouth. This Umbrian staple contains Sangiovese and Sagrantino, although doesn't really taste like either... Was absolutely perfect with home cooked venison.
10 Euro, from the producer










Pisano Tannat RPF, 2005 (Urugway)
The best of those world fashionable Uruguayan tannats I had so far. Ridiculously tannic, full body, gritty and almost too much to handle. This wine is bad ass. Perfect for cold winter drinking, would go great with game... but I can drink it solo.
120 PZL ($35) at Sala Wina












Paolo Bea: Rosso de VEO, 2002 (Italy)
A table wine from the legendary Umbrian producer Paolo Bea. Wild yeast, home made quality, a crazy volatile collection of tastes dominated by chocolate and mature apples. This should be tried at least once to know how wines tasted like in the middle ages:)
25 Euro, from the producer











Miolo Cuvee Giusepe, 2004 (Brazil)

Cabernet Sav. and Merlot done beautifully: thick dried fruit, silky mouth, oak tannin almost completely transformed into cocoa... Why aren't there more Brazilian wines in NYC?

100 PZL ($30) at Klimaty Poludnia

Luigi Bosca Pinot Noir Reserva, Lujan de Cuyo 2007

Aged cheese, cherry and prune bouquet; big smokey mouth (that sounded wrong!), dark fruit, tobacco, full body, some oak. Can't believe this is a 2 year old pinot noir! I would have it with some red meat next time around.
A bit short now, but I can imagine this will change in a year or two.
Over all totally worth the 50 AR$ (retail), but not as good as the 2006 vintage Sam wrote about here.