Author: Renee Witthoff

 

 

 

 

Origin: Mendoza, Argentina

Grape: 30% Bonarda, 30% Merlot, 25% Cabernet, 15% Malbec

Body: Lighter

Year: 2016

Alcohol: 13.8%

Price point: $12

Year Reviewed: 2018

 

So two major learning points here with this red blend:

1. Read about Zolo wines and how long they have been around

http://www.vinodelsol.com/thewineries/zolo.html

1. Learn about a new grape called Bonarda

http://winefolly.com/update/move-over-malbec-bonarda-is-argentina/

 

 

ZOLO
Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza

“Genuinely Excellent Wines” -Stephen Tanzer

Zolo is one of the most technologically advanced wineries in Argentina. Zolo selects grapes from estate vineyards in Agrelo and Alto Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza. Located at various altitudes, each of these terroirs provides a different expression of fruit and varietal concentration. The winemakers are Fabian Valenzuela and Jean Claude Berrouet (former Petrus winemaker), the vineyard manager is Carlos Correas, and the President and owner is Patricia Ortiz.

The purpose of the winery’s Zolo classic line is to create a family of fruit-forward, great value wines, which can be enjoyed with a wide range of food or by themselves. The Zolo Reserves and Zolo Blacks, with their ultra-high concentration, long ageing in new French oak, and aromatic complexity are made for those special occasions when one needs a wine to “blow your hat off.”

Zolo has been a leading Argentine brand since 2004, and is estate-grown & sustainably-farmed.

http://www.vinodelsol.com/thewineries/zolo.html

 

 

Grown at the foothills of the Andes in Mendoza Argentina still 3200 feet in elevation, this interesting clear ruby wine is sustainably farmed. All grapes are harvested by hand to pick at the “right” time.  This wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks for 12 days and then aged 6 months in French and American Oak.  Aromas of menthol, mint, violets, and cherries are prevalent.  This lighter style red blend is simply easy to drink and would be a nice crowd pleaser for a party.  Being quite high in acidity, this wine would pair well with spice such as a red pepper gnocchi recipe, rich grilled fish such as spiced up salmon or teriyaki chicken.  On the palate, you should receive a juicy taste of cherry, strawberry, (fresh red fruits), allspice and red licorice with a mildly tannic finish where the pepper comes through.  Just a nice easy drinking red blend for a decent price.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/gnocchi-with-chicken-sausage-bell-pepper-fennel

Origin: Lodi, CA

Grape: 90 % Petit Sirah, 7% Cab Sauvignon, 3% Cab Franc

Body: Full

Year:  2014

Alcohol: 15.5%

Price point: $19

Year Reviewed: 2018

Rated in the top 2% of best wines in its class, gives you all the reason to try this one!! On the eyes, this lovely deep purplish ruby wine is as amazing in the glass to look at, as it is to smell and sip.  Clean nose of pronounced spices, vegetal flavors, licorice and black cherry.  Mettler has been around 5 generations and over 100 years.  This Sirah blend is aged 16 months in 4% new and 1 year old French oak.

Medium body and medium acidy with high well-integrated tannins that give a long lingering finish. Slowly sipping this amazing wine, you will savor its complexity, view its long lovely legs, and experience multiple different flavors, with a peppery finish tantalizing your palate with much interest.  Some of these succulent flavors are blueberry, black cherry, vanilla, cinnamon, mocha and smoke.  Bone dry.  Let this get some air for at least an hour so it open up.  Quality on this wine and year is outstanding. Will buy again.

Update, so did buy again the 2015 vintage and am very pleased with the same quality of the 2014 vintage.  Just a bit different, but still exceptional.

• Origin: Columbia Valley, Washington State
• Grape: Blend of Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Petit Syrah
• Body: Medium
• Year: 2014
• Alcohol: 13.5%
• Price point: $7.49
• Year Reviewed: 2018

 

Washington State does such a fine job of creating some lovely wines. 14 Hands makes several wines and for their price point, I would suggest you try them all. They have blends, cabs and merlots.  This clear ruby color wine starts with aromas of mushroom, vegetal, anise.  Flavors of black raspberries and plum and clay chalking soil.   Try some of the reserve wines from 14 hands also/

14 Hands wines are inspired by the spirit of the wild horses that once roamed eastern Washington. A popular area named after these horses was the Horse Haven Hills (see below).  Climate is “right” in the valleys shown below for producing some of the best cabernets and merlot blends in the US.  If you haven’t tried Washington State wines, what are you waiting for?

www.gogglemaps.com

• Origin: Maipo Valley, Chili
• Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
• Body: Medium
• Year: 2014
• Alcohol: 14%
• Price point: $12.00
• Year Reviewed: 2018

 

So I learned about this winery when I was working a fund raiser and truly sold a lot of their wine. Cono sur vineyards claims that the bicycle represents its commitment to the environment—a commitment that extends to using bikes rather than motor vehicles to travel across and between the vineyards. That’s good for the vines and these grapes are hand picked. I’ll drink to that!!!

www.goggle.com

Cono Sur Vineyards & Winery. Cono Sur Vineyards & Winery is the third exporter of bottled wine in Chile. It was created in 1993 as subsidiary of Concha y Toro Winery. Its name makes reference to its geographical origins: South America‘s Southern Cone.

www.goggle.com

A clear medium ruby clean color with lots of raspberry, plum and a spiciness on the nose. Dry, medium acidity with high tannins you would expect from a cab out of this region.  2014 was a great year for Chilean wines.  Lots of plum, spice, cloves and vanilla but I also receive a degree of leather, meaty, farmyard, mushroom, wet forest floor and a bit of smoke.   Love that type of interest.  With a nice long finish, this wine is rated “very good” for a value of under $15.00.  Pair this with ribs, pasta or Hungarian goulash….now I am hungry.

 

Origin: Chablis appellation, France

Grape: Chardonnay

Body:  Light

Year:  2015

Alcohol:  12.5%

Price point:  $36

Year Reviewed:  2018

 

So I believe “passion” is what cuts the difference between average folk and passionate ones.  I was reflecting on this as I was opening my 2015 Chablis from France.  (Tell you why later.)   When I tried this wine at a tasting, I knew I needed to purchase and blog on it.  As I am more of a red gal than white, I am so particularly picky on my whites, that when I find the good ones, I want to share with all of you.  Some of the best white wines are the white burgundies from France.  Most common are Chardonnay grapes and lesser common white grapes are Aligote and Sauvignon Blanc.   You can almost instantly identify a fantastic year or vineyard from your white’s aroma.  This clear pale lemon Chablis smells so fresh and clean with a medium intensity of apple peach fresh juiced punch, white floral, biscuits and mushroom. From its bit of citrus smell, you know this was fermented in stainless.

I would let this wine open up a bit before your guests arrive.

On the palate, smooth and bit of buttery lemon.  Medium/High acidity but well rounded out with a long finish of citrus.    The minerality comes from the chalky soil of the vineyards of Chablis.  Outstanding quality.   I would pair with some white cheeses and crackers, chicken limone, orange roughy francese with a lemon wine sauce or simply polenta with wild mushrooms. For those of you who like oysters, the minerality in this wine is a perfect pair…..so I heard.  Also lobster, crab or port dishes work well with your white burgundies.    Okay, just a sweet roll with butter was worthwhile also. (Hungry yet?)

2015 was another exceptional year with the perfect weather conditions for many vineyards around the Chablis area and the Maconnais area.

 

So more about passion…..I was opening this lovely bottle and just having one heck of a time capturing the label with my crappy cell phone camera.  Either the lighting was hitting the bottle wrong or my camera just didn’t seem to be focusing properly.  Determination, anger, and a lot of passion, kept me trying to get it just right.  This weekend my daughter got married and had a photographer who must have captured over 500 to 1000 of photos.  Every pose and every shot, she was passionate and excited about.  You heard her comment, “oh look at how the light hits the gown, or that is perfect as a shadow is cast a certain way, or cool we must take photos of the guys cute socks….I never had such a cute sock shoot before.”  She truly loved what she did; she truly was enjoying capturing out day…..the right way….the most perfect way she could.   Do you think she will be successful in her career?  Do you think she will have to advertise much, or will she simply be referred to the next client?  I speak about “passion” and “passionate” people a lot, as those seem to be the folks who  found their niche is life, what their true mission is before they leave this earth, and enjoy doing it each and every day.  Have you found what you are passionate about yet?

 

Origin: Agrelo region, Mendoza, Argentina

Grape: Malbec

Body: Medium

Year: 2013

Alcohol: 13.9%

Price point: $10

Year Reviewed: 2018

 

Yet another great buy from 90+ cellars. This is called LOT 23 and is a 2013 OLD VINE MALBEC.  This clear ruby colored wine has a medium to deep ruby color with an interesting nose of red fruit and spice.  As I love “old vine” wines, I wanted very much to sample this Malbec.  Pungent tastes of tart sour cherry left me a bit puckering.  Spices of cloves, marjoram and basil were evident in this wine, with a fine hint of vanilla.  I had the pleasure to pair with some milk chocolate and amazingly the chocolate really smoothed out this wine quite elegantly.  Malbec wizards should try this with their rib dinner finished with a chocolate mousse dessert.

Origin: Italy

Grape: Glera

Body: Light

Year: NV

Alcohol: 11%

Price point: $12

Year Reviewed: 2018

 

I purchased this Italian Rose as I was interested in finding a light bubbling Rose to begin a party off with some inexperienced wine drinkers. This clear, pale, pink rose, didn’t give me much on the nose at all.  I tried long and hard to get some aromas, so picked up a hint of floral, possibly rose blossoms and maybe a hint of eucalyptus.  Definitely a very light intensity.     On the palate, the sparkle and lightness of this wine was a pleasant surprise and I could see a bunch of folks truly enjoying this wine.  Not so sweet, but not so dry….so a nice way to begin a party or a meal.  On the palate, this wine will bring you flavors of melon, strawberries and a yeast pastries……strawberry shortcake recollections.  Surprisingly there was a long finish on this wine and the quality was very good.  Looking to try some Glera grapes…..give this a try.

Ruffino is a wine producer based in the Tuscany region of Italy. Founded in 1877, the winery was purchased by the Brescian Folonari family in 1913. In 1999 the Folonari business was split, with the brothers Paolo and Marco retaining the Ruffino name for their operation.

An Icon of Tuscany

After the Second World War, Ruffino purchased the first of its Tuscan estates, the Villa di Montemasso in the Chianti Classico region.. Ruffino continued to invest in new vineyards and became one of the first major wineries with vineyard estates in Italy’s three most renowned wine-producing regions – Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Ruffino has established itself as a leader in Chianti, renowned for consistency and quality, and Ruffino Chianti has become a global ambassador of Tuscan wines around the world. Not surprisingly, when Chianti first became recognized as a DOCG wine in 1984, Ruffino Chianti DOCG was awarded the first warranty strip #AAA00000001.

 

More about Ruffino Winery…..see this link:

https://www.ruffino.com/us/our-story/rich-history

 

 

Origin: Italy

Grape: 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon

Body: Medium

Year: 2010

Alcohol: 14.5%

Price point: $29

Year Reviewed: 2018

 

So who wouldn’t have picked this Grand Cru up with the bottle dated 2010 and Saint Emilion? This red Bordeaux on appearance was clear with a deep intensity of ruby in color.  I picked up some aromas of kirsch, black currant jelly, nuts, medicinal, cedar or smoke, and earth.  I truly enjoyed deciphering the flavors in this bottle as I picked up kirsch, oak, black cherry, chocolate, nutty flavors and a hint of coffee. Wow, that’s a lot so see what you pick up on the nose and on the palate.  Enjoy this wine until 2025.

Origin: Italy DOC

Grape: 50 % Cabernet Sauv, 25% Nebbiolo, 25 % Barbera

Body: Medium

Year: 2016

Alcohol: 14.5%

Price point: $14

Year Reviewed: 2018

 

I love 90+ cellar wines, so had to try this one at a wine tasting.   Of course, ending up buying a bottle.  Appearance is clean, medium intensity ruby in color.  Nose is clean with aromas of black cherry, smoky cedar, earth,   and chocolate.  I also get a hint of floral off of this wine.  I love the Nebbiolo grape, so was expecting the palate to be more of it, but since this was only 25% Nebbiolo, I picked up more of the Cab flavors.  Dry, medium acidify with high tannins.  An interesting blend, but the next day it did kind of loose its pizazz and interest.  (Guess you have to drink it all on the first day!!)    A nice long finish and I will rate the quality of this wine as very good.  Another interesting wine from 90+ cellars.