Winter Wine Finds

I hope all my readers are enjoying good wine this winter. Here are some new discoveries Gabriele and I have made recently.

2009 Line Shack Cabernet

This California Cabernet Sauvignon was recommended by Vince at Total Wine as a good, inexpensive California Cabernet. At only $15, it delivers good taste and good value. It’s light bodied for a Cab, with very flavorful black cherry fruit. It has easy, balanced tannins and is easy to enjoy with a broad range of food.

2010 Alessandria Barbera d Alba

We had a very nice new Barbera at Genario, a long-time Old Town Alexandria restaurant. The wine was very bright and clean, with good dried cherry fruit. It had the typical acidity of a Barbera that made it good with dinner, without being overly tart. Based on some searches it looks to retail for about $17.

A special shout out needs to go to the swordfish entree I had at Genario. The fish was presented on a crisp polenta cake with red peppers and a light corn cream sauce. It was fantastic, and a creative twist on a common menu staple.

2007 Langmeil ‘Hangin Snakes’ Shiraz/Viognier

We really enjoyed this wine, which was $20 at Whole Foods in Alexandria. The wine starts with a deep attractive aroma, then isn’t as huge and fruity as some Barossa Shiraz can be. I tasted some leather and spice on the very nice finish. I found this video review and I agree completely — nice wine:

2010 Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas

As I’ve blogged about previously Gabriele and I often like GSMs/Rhone style blends, and this is another. A mixture of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre and Counoise, this wine leads with tart raspberry fruit. It is light bodied and a bit spicy on the finish, more Old World than New in style. This probably isn’t surprising, since the Haas family at Tablas Creek has a long standing association with the Perrin family in France, proprietors of Chateau Beaucastel.

The wine was $21 at Unwined in the Belle Haven shopping center. The link above tells a neat story about how the Patelin label is a cooperative effort between Tablas and other growers in the Paso Robles region.

That’s a slice of what we’ve been drinking – how about you? Drop a comment and let me know.