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!

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!

Atlanta has a new fabulous restaurant – Miller Union! They’re all about chef and local farmer partnerships and preparing dishes around the weekly harvest. Sustainability is key, and the food is absolutely fabulous. Naturally, they have some excellent wines to match their ethos. One of these wines is Quivira’s Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley in Healdsburg, California.

According to the Quivira Twitter page, Quivira is a family-owned organic & Biodynamically farmed winery specializing in Sauvingon Blanc, Zinfandel and Rhone varietals.

Definitely take some time to check out the Quivira website. First of all, the design is stellar and the writing just pulls you in to the magical world that is their farm and vineyards. They have some great information about their biodynamic farming techniques, as well as the history of the winery – even a great section about their farm animals! They also have a wine club that delivers twice a year, which is probably the best way to buy these wines retail unless you live down the street… they’re not exactly easy to find.

Origin: Healdsburg, Sonoma County, California
Where: Miller Union
Price: probably around $20-$25 retail
Next time: Get a glass!

This Juan Gil Monastrell caught my eye on the wine menu last night at Muss & Turner’s — I remember W and I tried this wine (2006 vintage) back in July 2009 at M&T’s Big Burly BBQ Reds wine tasting, and this was one of our favorites. Always good to put a wine from a tasting to the real test, so we shared a bottle of the Juan Gil Monastrell. What a great decision! The rich fruit, smooth tannins, and slightly smoky flavor made a perfect match with the Hangar Steak entree.

The Juan Gil winery is located in the Jumilla region of Spain, and is currently managed by the original winemaker’s great-grandchildren. According to their website, this wine is 100% Monastrell grapes, with 12 months aged in French oak.

Origin: Jumilla Region, Spain
Where: Muss & Turner’s
Price: $29 bottle (restaurant, not retail); probably around$ 12-$15 retail
Next time: Get a case!

This Deep Purple Zin is a really fun wine. First off, it tastes excellent. Second, the label is rockin’! If you’re into Mardi Gras, Jimi Hendrix, and Zinfandel, then this wine is for you. It’s definitely fruity and jammy but without being a horrible fruit bomb. It’s just very rich and tasty – not heavy on the tannins, much more focus on the fruit. Kind of a heavy version of a new world Pinot Noir.

Thanks, Kari, for sharing this wine with me!

Origin: Lodi, California
Where: From a Friend! Looking into it…
Price: around $13
Next time: Get a glass!

This Finca el Origen Reserva Malbec was another star of our Superbowl Party. Not so much a wine for appetizers, this wine paired well with the turkey and veggie chilis. Bold oak, subtle tannins and fruit make this Argentinian Malbec a delicious beauty thanks to winemaker Gonzalo Bertelsen.

Check out their website, too – There’s some great information there as well as some amazing photos of the vineyards. I learned that portions of the Andes Mountains, including the location of these vineyards, was under water at one point during the formation of the continents. As such, there are a plethora of fossils to be found, particularly ammonite, a now extinct marine creature related to today’s octopus and squid. It is the shell of the ammonite creatures that inspired the beautiful spiraled logo that decorates this beautiful wine.

This winery produces a wide range of varietals, ones that I’m eager to taste after enjoying this Malbec Reserve. Keep an eye out for their Chardonnay, Viognier, Cab Sauv, Malbec, Syrah, Cab Reserve, and Malbec Grand Reserve. I’m definitely going to look out for their Cabs and Malbec Grand Reserve. It would be a fun taste test to try their Malbec, Reserve, and Grand Reserve against each other.

Interestingly enough, I’d tasted this wine before at a BBQ pairing tasting — and didn’t love this wine! I guess it’s just an example of how your opinion of a wine can vary based on the situation and tasting environment – what food it’s paired with, temperature at which the wine is served, your mood, etc.

Origin: Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina
Where: Highland Wine
Price: $11
Next time: Get a glass!

This lovely Pinot debuted on Valentine’s Day Eve with a simple meal of baked chicken with rosemary and roasted red pepper flakes, baked sweet potatos, and steamed broccoli. The garnet-colored Pinot was a great balance of bright fruit and supple tannins. I love a Pinot that shows off its fruit without being a fruit bomb, and this is an excellent example!

Although I can’t find a website for Arthur Wilbanks, the label describes the wine nicely (except for the usage of the “&” sign versus spelling out “and”… grammer nerd, I know!

Wine, like music, should be savored, cherished & involve the senses. Our gentle sloping vineyards rest in a cool maritime climate allowing a lengthy ripening period accentuating the smooth, succulent character. Soft & delicate with elusive tannins, red fruits, and carressing structure, our wine harmonizes with vast cuisine and lively conversation.

Also, this wine goes great with watching the Vancouver Winter Olympics!

Origin: Edna Valley, San Luis Obispo, California
Where: Highland Wine
Price: $12
Next time: Get a glass!

A New Year’s Eve wine, this Molnar Family Pinot Noir was a treat to help ring in the new year during our celebrations with friends in Georgia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Coincidentally, I’ve recently written about another wine called Obsidian Ridge – it just so happens that Molnar Family and Obsidian Ridge are made by the same great folks over at the Tricycle Wine Co. (remember the cool Fly Over video?) That’s one of the things I love about delving just a bit deeper into wine – you start running across the same names and the same locales… winemakers coming and going to different wineries, family-owned and generational vineyards, fun collaborations between top talent. You really start to see the wine community as an evolving organism in itself. And at the same time, it reminds me of the music industry – nothing is ever set in stone, each artist is always trying to create something new and different, maybe even inspiring… and it’s so fun when different artists join forces and learn from each other about the craft they love so much. I get the feeling it might be a similar world in the wine craft.

If you’re interested in the more technical aspects of the wine making as it relates to the climate and geological/topographical features of the land, then be sure to check out their description of the Poseidon Vineyard where these grapes originate (here’s a short snippet from their site):

At high tide the river tastes of salt, a reminder of the sea’s proximity and reach as well as an inspiration for the name Poseidon. Pacific winds blow through the Petaluma Gap from the west and bring cooling fog throughout the spring, summer, and fall, tempering the generosity of California sun. Although Poseidon was the god of water, in his additional role of god of earthquakes he created the uplifted Mayacamas Range, which provides the soils and gravel of our vineyard.

With this inaugural New Year’s Eve beauty, you’ll find a beautiful ruby-hued wine with very fresh berry flavors and a great balance with the tannins. If you like the Morande Pionero Pinot Noir, then you’d LOVE this Molnar (except for the price difference). Give it a try with this yummy baked brie and mushroom appetizer – you won’t be sorry! Even better, if you’re lazy in the kitchen like I am, don’t even worry about the thyme and just use pre-sliced, pre-washed white or baby bella mushrooms from the grocery store. Easy.

Origin: Carneros, Napa Valley, California
Where: Highland Wine
Price: $26
Next time: Get a glass!

I was a little hesitant to try this wine at first – Skip from Highland Wine basically described Le Signal one as a huge blueberry aroma! I thought it was going to be a huge blueberry fruit bomb, totally weird, and what the heck would it go with. So this was a “let’s give it a shot” at Christmas-time when my parents visited. My dad and I compared Le Signal against the Eos Estate Petite Sirah (more on that one later). We also had fun comparing wines poured with and without his new Vintue Wine Aerator.

I’m a big fan of Sweetwater Beer’s Sweetwater Blue beer, with powerful hints of blueberry flavors. Having experienced – and enjoyed – that beer, it’s easy to pick up on the blueberry notes in this wine. Luckily, I don’t have the insanely powerful sense of smell that Skip has, so I wasn’t completely overwhelmed by a blueberry bomb going off in the kitchen.

My dad and I first tried this wine before dinner, with and without some baked brie and mushrooms appetizer. Without food, the tannins are pretty powerful and overwhelming. I’d suggest saving this one for a heavier appetizer or a nice dinner – we had a few delicious Cornish Hens as our Christmas dinner stars, and the wine was an excellent accompaniment. But before dinner, go for something lighter.

Now, on to the story of the wine. Label is iconic but not overly interesting. Two-toned icon of a truck with wine casks on the flat truck bed/trailer area. The story is interesting though – from the label and the website:

In the 1920’s, Louis Lignères delivered the domaine’s wines with his Berliet barrel-carrier truck to the Pyrenees Mountains. His customers couldn’t be impatient: it took him 22 hours at an average speed of 11km/h (6.8mph) to go from Alaric Mountain to Lourdes! And he announced his arrival with the Signal of the truck’s characteristic horn.

Pretty neat. And… I’m also intrigued by grapes I’m not very familiar with – this one being primarily Carignan (also spelled Carignane), a historically popular French grape. This blend is Carignan 80% , Grenache 10%, Syrah 5%, Mourvèdre 5%. I recently read an interesting article mentioning Carignan in Wine Spectator (by the way, I’m appalled by their obvious typos and grammatical errors in each issue) how it is being replaced with more popular New World grapes like Merlot and Syrah. Le Signal is a prime example of why traditional grape varieties should be preserved – and more importantly, why they should be flourishing!

So try something new – Carignan – and expect greatness; you’ll find it in Le Signal!

Origin: Chateau la Baronne, Montagne d’Alaric, France
Where: Highland Wine
Price: $19
Next time: Get a glass!

This Obsidian Ridge Cab Sauv hails from Napa in California. It’s part of a wine group called Tricycle Wine Company (cute, huh?). I encourage you to check out a cool video on their site – get to know the three top wine dudes and their variety of vineyards.

When I picked up this new bottle at Highland Wine, they likened it to this other favorite of mine: Chateau Rollan de By Medoc. And they were right! This Cab is a little gem. I haven’t tasted these two favorites side by side, so I wonder which one I would like better – maybe that’s an experiment for the future.

This, like the last two posts, was one of my birthday tastings and ended up being my favorite one of the night. This Cab’s a bit on the lighter side for a Cab, but it still has enough tannins to stand up to a meal. Great flavors all around – highly recommended!

Definitely check out their website to view the Fly Over video I mentioned as well as the fun bios of the talented folks involved, as well as the story of how this vineyard came to be in the new Red Hills area of Napa.

Origin: Red Hills in Napa, California
Where: Highland Wine
Price: $30
Next time: Get a glass!