W and I got married at the end of June! These are the awesome wines we served at the reception at Park Tavern – Halls of Fine Wines in Inman Park carries some of the Valdivieso wines, as well as Hop City Beer & Wine in West Midtown. Of course, your favorite wine shop could easily order them for you if you don’t want to track them down.

Valdivieso Extra Brut Champenoise Sparkling Wine, Chardonnay, 2008 Malbec

Their sparkling wine is made in the style of Champagne – toasty, yeasty, and absolutely delicious with a billion tiny bubbles! Their Chardonnay is not oaky and not buttery, just the way a good white wine should be – with the perfect amount of acid for a refreshing taste. And their Malbec… YUM! Seriously, get a case of their Malbec. It’s insanely fabulous. They have a broad variety of wines in almost every type of grape, as well as reserve labels and single vineyard labels.

Origin: Lontue Valley, Curico Valley, Chile
Next time: Get a case!

Estampa 2008 Sauv Blanc/Chard/Viognier Reserve

This wine was so yummy – the absolute perfect summer wine! This is what I drank throughout the wedding reception, in case I had any spills (you have to watch out for slightly spastic, potentially drunk huggers!). Estampa also has a delightful Carmenere Reserve (2007 vintage, blended with Cab Sauv and Cab Franc), which we didn’t serve since we already had a Malbec… but their Carmenere is one of my new favorites. It’s spurred a recent Carmenere-buying and tasting craze at my house lately – results on that soon now that I’m back to catching up on my wine blogging. Like Valdivieso, this winery also has several collections – Gold, Reserve, and Estate with lots of varietals in each line. And, they get an A+ on a really well-done English version of their website – very savvy and beautiful photos!

Origin: Colchagua Valley, Chile
Next time: Get a case!

Santa Chiara Pinot Grigio

Unfortunately, I can’t find any information about this wine online, except that it is from the Veneto region of Italy. I know it’s less than $20 retail, definitely. Good luck finding this one… If you do, get a bottle, it’s great!
Catalpa Pinot Noir

This Pinot Noir was good but I’d like to taste it again after these few months. I’m doubtful this would be a new favorite Pinot. But it was definitely tasty.

Origin: Mendoza, Argentina
Price: Approx. $12
Next time: Get a glass!

In March, I went to another wine class by Highland Wine. The topic of this class was Spain and Italy – a huge subject to try to cover in just one class! Here, I’ll just focus on our Italian tastings. Like the majority of Europe, most wines are labeled by the producer and the region, NOT the type of grape(s). So unless you know the area well, you’re not likely to be familiar with the winery and what types of wine they make that are indiginious to that area. The tasting was fun, but to really know Spain and Italy, you better be well prepared with a map and a LONG list of indiginious grapes and their many names. Talk about confusing… Fun though and some of the most versatile wines in the world, especially with food.

2007 Marco Flaco Memo Montepulciano D’Abbruzzo

See this previous post about Memo… extremely yummy and extremely versatile! Lots of fruit but also a nice balance of tannins.

Origin: Italy
Price $13
Next time: Get a glass!

2007 Cusamano Nero d’Avola Sicilia

Zin meets Grenache. Very tannic.

Origin:Italy
Price $12
Next time: I’ll pass.

2005 Lungarotti Rubesco Rosso di Torgiano

Sangiovese blend. Really yummy with a great balance of fruit and tannins. More subtle fruit compared to the Memo above.

Origin: Italy
Price $17
Next time: Get a case!

2003 Gioso Nebbiolo d’Alba

Very heavy fruit and heavy tannins. Too overpowering for my taste.

Origin: Italy
Price $21
Next time: I’ll pass.

2005 Sensi Chianti Riserva

This wine was really interesting. The Sensi Chianti smelled like dirty socks… seriously. But the flavor wasn’t the same (thank goodness)… it was better. Still wasn’t a terribly enjoyable wine for me though.

Origin: Italy
Price $21
Next time: I’ll pass.

2007 Ornellaia Le Volte Toscana

The Ornellaia Le Volte is quickly becoming a new favorite. With 51% Sangiovese, 34% Merlot, and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine is simply delightful. Lots of fruit, medium tannins, aged in new oak barrels… it’s a lot like a New World Cabernet, if it’s done right, and not overly ripe.

Origin: Italy
Price $29
Next time: Get a case!

2004 Sartori Rino Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico

Amarone is a unique grape and a really unique flavor – high alcohol and high acid; super jammy and wine from concentrate. Basically, a liquid fig newton. Each to his own, in my opinion. This wine is aged 18 months in oak barrels and 18 months in the bottle before release (as a typical Classico style).

Origin: Italy
Price $36
Next time: I’ll pass.

This wine is all about alliteration… Primiterra is the winery, Primitovo is the grape, and Puglia is the region of Italy from where this wine hails.

Besides my love of alliteration, this wine label has a pretty cool line drawing of a chicken and an egg! Which brings me to the saying on the label:

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? The answer is easy: neither! First comes the Primitivo! Strong, vigorous, with a lot of personality, a real king! (of the coop).

This is a fun wine – an absolutely fabulous zinfandel from Puglia, located in the “heel” of Italy. Fun fruit and smooth tannins! Aged in 60% stainless tanks and 40% oak. And fun drawings. Enjoy!

Origin: Puglia, Italy
Where: Amuse (can’t say I’d recommend this restaurant… but I enjoyed this wine)
Price: approx $13 retail
Next time: Get a glass!

To tag along with my Fave Red Wines of 2009, here are my star whites from this past year:

• Man Vintners Chenin Blanc – $9
• Minini Orvieto – $9
• Le Chat Rouge Chardonnay – $11
• Starborough Sauvignon Blanc – $12ish?
• Luna Argenta Prosecco (bubbly) – $12
• Kiona Vineyards Riesling – $12
• Cavas Hill Brut Rose Reserva Artesania Cava (bubbly) – $12
• Borgo Boschetto Pinot Grigio – $13
• Terra Antiga Vinho Verde – $13
• Pascual Toso “Toso” Brut (bubbly) – $13
• 071 Prosecco Veneto (bubbly) – $14
• Villa Cornaro Prosecco – $14 (this is the bubbly that went with Wyatt’s marriage proposal!)
• Fonty’s Pool Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon – $14
• Fonty’s Pool Chardonnay – $16
• Holly’s Garden Pinot Gris – $20
• Wolf Mountain Vineyards Plenitude Chardonnay-Viognier blend – $20
• Wolf Mountain Blanc de Blanc Brut (bubbly) – $25

When it came time to choose some wines for a Superbowl Party, I had some tough decisions. I had a lot of Pinots to choose from, lots of new Cabs, and an assortment of other random new wines. The main course of the evening, besides the football game, was a pot of turkey chili and a pot of veggie chili. The notes from Highland Wine recommended a pairing of this Dolcetto D’Alba Il Moroso wine with spaghetti… close enough to chili, I figured, and it worked! This Italian Dolcetto reminds me of a more powerful Pinot – enjoyable fruit characteristics with velvety tannins.

To learn more about the Dolcetto grape, check out its Wikipedia page.

Origin: Alba, Piedmont, Italy
Where: Highland Wine
Price: $14
Next time: Get a glass!

The Torre del Falasco Corvina was one of the first I tried in 2010 while celebrating the new year in Blue Ridge, Georgia. It’s only $9, which is great. Unfortunately, I wasn’t blown away by the flavor. It was lighter bodied than I was expecting it to be, more on the dry side, medium tannins. Just didn’t blow my socks off.

I’m not too familiar with the Corvina grape at this point, so I checked out this Italian native on Wikipedia. It’s no wonder I wasn’t blown away by the flavor – Wikipedia describe the grape as:

Corvina produces light to medium body wines with a light crimson coloring. The grapes naturally high acidity can make the wine somewhat tart with a slight, bitter almond note. The finish is sometimes marked with sour cherry notes.

Not sure I’ll be spending much time in the future on evaluating Corvinas.

Origin: Italy
Where: Highland Wine
Price: $9
Next time: I’ll pass.

Remember the post a while back about the Chateaneuf du Pape that I should have opened about ten years from now? And how it was supposed to go perfectly with this awesome shrimp and cornbread casserole? And it didn’t. Well, the next week, W and I whipped up the delicious shrimp recipe again when my parents visited. This time, I did what I should have done in the first place – go over to Highland Wine and ask Skip what to serve with dinner!

Memo proved to be superb, especially with the spicy, savory shrimp and cornbread casserole. Very fruity with nice tannins, it reminded me of some Zinfandels. Best of all, it’s economically priced for it to be a regular staple in your wine rack.

Origin: Italy
Where: Highland Wine
Price: around $11
Next time: Get a case!

The other night, Highland Wine and DBA Barbecue hosted a great wine-tasting centered around wine-pairing with… you guessed it… BBQ! It was really fun, and I enjoyed snacking (making a meal) on the big variety of appetizers and sampler dishes they brought out.

Here’s what we tried:

N.V. Cavas Hill Brut Rose Reserva Artesania Cava ($12) to go with pulled pork and smoked chicken – This was my favorite wine of the night. Stunningly delicious – so fresh and crisp with light sweetness. Now that the weather’s getting chillier, this was a punch of springtime. I’m going back for some bottles of this!

2007 Petit Rimauresq Rose Grenache/Cinsault (Provence, France: $15) with wings and smoked turkey – This rose was more dense and mellow compared to the first wine. Less spring-like and crisp, it reminded me more of baked fruit, maybe like apricots in its heavier qualities. Not bad, but I’d rather have two bottles of the first one and skip this one next time.

2008 Bauer Haus Riesling QBA (Nahe, Germany: $13) to accompany white cheese and corn muffins with honey butter – SUPER SWEET! If your friend likes White Zinfandel, give her this instead. A little of this sweet wine would go a long way for me, but I think it would be really awesome with a spicy asian dish. I’d love a slightly less sweet version of this wine, but I would definitely not turn down a glass of this Riesling.

2008 Terra Antiga Vinho Verde (Portugal: $13) to pair with oysters on the half shell – Ah, one of my new favorite wines from this summer. It’s like honeysuckle. Go get a bottle if you haven’t already. It’s awesome. I didn’t try it with the oysters (they were out of season, and I don’t like raw oysters… enough said)

2007 Winzer Krems Gruner Veltliner (Austria: $13) with bacon wrapped shrimp and boiled peanuts – Nice light sweetness but high on the citrus flavors. It paired well with the shrimp, but overall I wanted less citrus and less acid.

2006 Flora Springs Barrel Fermented Chardonnay (Napa, CA: $21) to go with deviled eggs – I said “no, thanks” to the deviled eggs, but for folks who like a mild oaky, buttery Chardonnay, you’ll like this Flora Springs. For non-oaky, non-buttery Charddonay fans, skip this one and get a Le Chat Rouge instead.

2007 Umani Ronchi Montepulciano D’Abruzzo (Italy: $13) to accompany frog legs and grilled portabella sandwich – This was my favorite red wine of the tasting. It was mild and fruit-forward, not overpowering, just a great humble wine. I see a few bottles of this coming my way soon.

2007 Finca El Origen Malbec Reserva Mendoza (Argentina: $11) to pair with pulled pork salad – This wine packed a punch in terms of jammy and spicy. I didn’t dislike it but I never embraced it either.

2008 Penelop Sanchez tinto Joven (Spain: $14) with brunswick stew – As with most grenaches, the high tannins didn’t deliver the experience I wanted. When paired with a heavy stew, the tannins would be balanced better, but still…

2007 R&B Swingsville Zinfandel ($12) with andouille sausage, red beans, and rice – I think I tried this wine back in the summer at the Smyrna Wine Festival. Recommended.

2006 Vaca Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Small Lot Reserve ($14) with Texas beef brisket – EXCELLENT Cab. Medium tannins (but goes great with food), some spice but not overly so, and full-flavored. Go get some!

2005 d’Arenberg d’Arry’s Original Shiraz-Grenache (Australia: $17) to parnter wth Carolina-style spare ribs – This wine was enjoyable and it definitely goes great with a big piece of meat.

2007 Opolo Vineyards Summit Creek Zinfandel ($21) paired with baby back ribs – Reminded me of a port in its dessert wine similarities. Lots of caramel flavors. I prefer a lighter zinfandel to this dessert bomb but it was fun to drink. Skip mentioned it would pair with chocolate really well… I might have to try that one at some point. A Vosges Barcelona Bar would do the trick.

Last night, Wyatt and I went to Muss & Turner’s. We’ve been so busy lately and haven’t been here as often as we’d like. We were completely blown away by their new economy-conscious menu! Most items were between $15 and $25 and every single one of the seven entrees sounded like heaven on a plate! Choosing was really tough.

We had the same “problem” (LOL!) with the wine menu! So many delicious bottles to choose from at such great prices… we finally landed on the Primitivo Puglia, a nice wine from Italy. I’ll admit, I’d never even heard of Primitivo. Although a little “plummy,” it fit Ryan’s description perfect – the love child of a Zinfandel and a Pinot Noir! Very fruity, punchy, subtle tannins, and there you go. I will definitely be going back to try some more of their awesomely-priced bottles.

Next time: Get a glass!
Origin: Italy
Where: Muss & Turner’s
Price: approximately $30 bottle at the restaurant… sorry, I forgot my receipt (again…)

Tonight’s “Summer Champagne Extravaganza” with Food 101 Morningside and Highland Wine & Crystal was so fascinating. It was really fun to try a variety of “bubblies” – sparkling wines, champgnes, proseccos, etc. and see which ones stood out as favorites. I’ll be the first to admit that I have tasted very little in this category and none of it has been anything I’d be comfortable ordering or suggesting to other people. So I admit I am almost as close to a champagne-sparkling wine newbie as you can get. One more disclaimer – I was tasting the bubblies on their own, not paired with anything, so that might make a big impact on any final decisions. With that said, here’s my (very initial) verdict.

The tasting started with the light and sweet to heavy and dry.

NV Marquis De La Tour Brut Loire France – this first tasting was one of my top 5 favorites. It was lightly sweet, not too dry and just overall very enjoyable.

NV Louis Pedrier Rose Cote D’Or Burgundy France – compared to the first one, this wine was drier than I expected. Not bad, but I still preferred the first one.

NV Torley Grande Cuvee Hungary - Wasn’t a big fan of this one. Not really sure why…

Parxet Cava Brut Cuvee 21 Spain – Another favorite!

NV Novecento Extra Brut Argentina – Another favorite!

NV Gratien & Meyer Brut Rose Saumur France – very nice, light and sweet with nice fruit (wow… I’m realizing I’m really bad at describing the differences between most of the champagnes I like.. they’re similar but they weren’t all the same… okay, gotta work on descriptions in the future!)

NV Villa Cornaro Prosecco – AWESOME!

071 Prosecco Veneto Italy – AWESOME!

NV Jeio Bisol Prosecco Brut Italy - AWESOME! and less sweet than the first two proseccos

2004 Gruet Blanc de Blancs New Mexico – a firm and solid dislike for this one. Smelled like fermented honey… think middle ages, mead.

NV Taltarni Brut Tache Victoria Australia – TOP FAVORITE OF THIS TASTING!

NV Maxim’s Brut Chigny Les Roses Champagne - Wasn’t a big fan of this one… this will become a trend… liked almost all proseccos but hardly any of the champagnes. I’m eager to discovery why I disliked champagnes… was it just the lack of food or a very beginner palate? To be determined!

NV Beaumount Crayere Brut Epernay Champagne – Just okay…

NV Mandois Brut Origine Epernay Champagne – Nope…

NV Beaumont Brut Rose Epernay Champagne – Very nice! One of the few champagnes in positive territory for me!

NV Mandois Brut Nature Epernay Champagne – Nope…

2002 Mandois 1er Cru Blanc de Blancs Epernay Champagne – Nope…

NV Maxim’s Rose Chigny Les Roses Champagne – Yes!

NV Laurent-Perrier Ultra Brut Salon Sur Champagne – The driest of the bunch and apparently a stellar wine according to those in the know. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan. We’ll see if that changes over time.