{"id":44,"date":"2008-12-16T11:56:02","date_gmt":"2008-12-16T11:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=44"},"modified":"2008-12-16T11:56:02","modified_gmt":"2008-12-16T11:56:02","slug":"more-collectible-wines-for-christmas-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=44","title":{"rendered":"More Collectible Wines For Christmas Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WineReviewing high end wines is a very fun, because 90% of the time the wines are quite enjoyable.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The question for the panel usually comes down to two factors.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>How good is the wine? and\u00c2\u00a0does it cost more than $50?\u00c2\u00a0 W<\/span>ith that in mind, our tasting panel reviewed 12 wines.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>There were 5 Pinot Noirs<\/strong> and 7 other High End Reds<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The panel recommended all 5 Pinots and 5 of the other red wines.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The panel felt that each of these wines would make a fine gift for the wine lover on your holiday shopping list.<\/p>\n

\"BouchaineSo let's start with the Pinots.\u00c2\u00a0 Our winner was a new wine for me and the panel.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0It was the 2006 Bouchaine \u201cEstate\u201d\u009d Pinot Noir<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0 $45<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>This Pinot from Carneros<\/st1:city>, CA<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> was exceptionally balanced, smooth as silk, and has delicious black cherry flavors.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>This wine scored 90.8<\/strong> points from the panel.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>They felt this wine would pair perfectly with prime rib.<\/p>\n

\"DonumOur second place wine was our comeback wine. The 2005 Donum \u201cEstate\u201d\u009d Pinot Noir<\/a> $65<\/strong>from Carneros was very well received.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>This wine was still a little tight when we first reviewed it in the spring.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>It is showing quite well now and the panel gave it the nod and scored it Very Good + or 90.16<\/strong> points.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>This medium bodied wine was very well balanced and satiny.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>It won over the panel with its very tasty black cherry flavors with notes of dark chocolate and pepper.<\/p>\n

\"HartfordIn third place, was the Hartford Court 2005 \u201cFar Coast Vineyard\u201d\u009d Pinot Noir<\/a><\/strong> for $65<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>This Sonoma Coast Pinot is a light bodied wine that is smooth and soft.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>It shows mild red cherry and raspberry flavors which make it very food friendly.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>As a result they thought it would go quite nicely with a tuna steak or halibut.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The panel scored this wine 90 points<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The other 2 Pinot Noir<\/strong> recommendations from this tasting were as follows:<\/p>\n

#4 Carabella 2006 \u201cInchinnan\u201d\u009d Pinot Noir<\/a><\/strong>(Chehalem Mountain, OR) $51<\/strong> (89.16<\/strong>)
\n#5 Merry Edwards 2006 \u201cOlivet Lane M\u00e9thode L'Ancienne\u201d\u009d Pinot Noir<\/a><\/strong> (Russian River, CA) $60<\/strong> (89.16<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

\"PietraIn part 2 of the tasting most of the wines were red blends with 2 exceptions.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>As I mentioned earlier we recommended 5 out of 7 of these wines.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Our winning wine in this tasting grabbed the highest score of the evening with a Very Good +<\/strong> rating and 91<\/strong> points.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>This wine was the 2003 Pietra Santa \u201cVache\u201d\u009d<\/a><\/strong> for $45<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>There are only 457 cases of this gem that is showing quite nicely right now.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>This wine is made from 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, & 5% Cabernet Franc.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Once the blend was discussed, then came the biggest question of the evening.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Where in heck is Cienega Valley, CA?<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>A quick Google search revealed that it was about 25 miles east of Monterey Bay and that the San Andreas Fault runs through the middle of the valley.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Now that that mystery is solved, back to the wine.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The panel found it to be medium bodied, velvety, and elegant.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>It displayed black cherry flavors with notes of pepper and raspberry.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>It was very well received.<\/p>\n

\"MastroberardinoOur second place finisher in this tasting was the 2004 Mastroberardino \u201cRadici\u201d\u009d<\/a><\/strong> $60<\/strong>from Taurasi, Italy.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>This wine is made from 100% Aglianico<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Many members of the panel were unfamiliar with Aglianico which is pronounced “ah-LYAH-nee-koe<\/strong>“.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>It is a black grape grown in the Campania and Basilicata regions of Italy.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>We discussed how Aglianico tends to be full with very firm tannins and has high acidity especially in its youth.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>However, these characteristics allow for the wine to have excellent aging potential.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>This particular certainly spoiled the first time tasters of this grape. It was smooth and very well balanced right out of the bottle.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>It did have a dry mouthfeel to go along with its rich and complex flavors.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Those flavors ranged from licorice, black current, molasses, and toasted oak.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The panel scored this wine Very Good + and awarded it 90.5<\/strong> points.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>This would certainly be a great holiday gift for an experienced wine lover.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>The other 3 red wines recommendations from this tasting were as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>#3 St. Supery 2004 \u201cElu\u201d\u009d<\/a><\/strong>(Napa Valley, CA) $70<\/strong> (90.1<\/strong>)
\n#4 Eponymous 2004 \u201cRed Wine\u201d\u009d<\/strong><\/a>(Sonoma Valley, CA) $45<\/strong> (89.5<\/strong>)
\n#5 Masi 2005 \u201cCostasera Amarone Classico\u201d\u009d<\/a><\/strong>(Valpolicella, Italy) $65<\/strong> (89.5<\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Well that wraps up the official high end red tastings for the year.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>We did have some Shiraz’s that will be posted with the Shiraz and Syrah results in January.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>For a complete list of all our Collectible and Gift wines you need to visit the Ken's Collectible Wines<\/a><\/strong> section of the website.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>This is where all the recommended wines with a price tag of $50 or greater reside.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>I hope you have fun shopping for these gems and don't forget to pick up an extra bottle for yourself.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>You deserve it!\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Cheers.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>Ken<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewing high end wines is a very fun, because 90% of the time the wines are quite enjoyable.\u00c2\u00a0 The question for the panel usually comes down to two factors.\u00c2\u00a0 How good is the wine? and\u00c2\u00a0does it cost more than $50?\u00c2\u00a0 With that in mind, our tasting panel reviewed 12 wines.\u00c2\u00a0 There were 5 Pinot Noirs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,88,12,8,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aglianico","category-high-end-wines","category-pinot-noir","category-wine-recommendations","category-wine-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}