Wine-savvy

[agxo3]

2008 Est! Est! Est! di Montefiascone - from Italy

 

The name is over 1000 years old, and this very good wine from the Falesco winery in Montecchio shows why it's lasted so long. Their 2008 is light, fruity and zesty. Alcohol is mid-range (12.5%) so it's not a big wine like many California or other New World wines are trending towards. Its rewards are finesse and subtlety, not an alcoholic slap in the face.

 

It's a white! Those of you who know me personally know that I am a big fan of red wines and just a bit above tolerant of whites. But this is a white to change one's mind. For $8 it was a BIG surprise! Pears and sweet green apples, a hint of casaba melon, perhaps. Bright and vibrant acidity to balance all that fruit. I had it with wild (not farmed!) salmon and a green salad and it stood up well to the meaty flavors of the fish and the lemony Caesar dressing. Would be good with a roast chicken or even with a good roast pork (but not lechon, I think - that would need a good pinot noir!)

 

From wein-plus.com, a short history of the wine:

Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone DOC

"DOC for white wine in the wine-growing region of Latium in Italy. The zone includes the communes of Bolsena, Capodimonte, Gradoli, Grotte di Castro, Marta, Montefiascone, from which it takes its name, and San Lorenzo Nuovo in the province of Viterbo. The name of the wine is derived from an interesting legend that dates back to the early 12th century. Bishop Johannes Fugger was among the entourage of German emperor Heinrich V. (1086-1125). A servant of the bishop was sent ahead of the main group in 1111, with the duty of testing the wines as well as the hostelries of the area, by visiting all the pubs and hostelries. It was agreed that if he found a house that offered good wine, he would write ”Est! (translates as: ”this is it!) next to the entrance in chalk. At a guest house in the town of Montefiascone he was so enthusiastic about the wine served that he documented this with a triple „Est! Est!! Est!!! on the door. Incidentally, Monsignore Fugger is buried in the church of San Flaviano in Montefiascone. At the time, the wine was made from Moscato grapes, and was most probably sweet. Today, the white wine is a blend made from Procanico = Trebbiano Toscano (65%), Malvasia Bianca Toscana (20%) and Rossetto = Trebbiano Giallo (15%). A Spumante version is also made. Both are available in secco, abboccato and amabile (dry, off-dry and sweet) versions. As a tourist attraction, the wine is also bottled in a flat pulcinella bottle. The DOC white wine Orvieto, which is made from the same varieties, is similar."

[Itto Ogami]

can somebody recommend a wine with the sweetness of Novellinos

but with a 12% or higher alcohol content?

 

otherwise, i'll just buy some Carlo Rossi and put a few drops of stevia in it.

 

thanks...

[masi]

I'm here in Bacolod doing advisory work for an American friend. He brought several wines and we've been drinking them every night.

 

Here's the initial list:

 

Macphail Pinot Noir 2007 Anderson Valley Toulouse Vineyard

Foxen Chardonnay 2008 Bien Nacido Vineyard Santa Maria Valley

Bonaccorsi Pinot Noir 2006 Carcasacchi Vineyard Santa Rita Hills

 

 

a nightcap of Johnny Walker Gold!

[agxo3]

WTF???

 

http://mwcimporterforhellokittywine.com/

[masi]

my bacolod wine adventure continues:

 

chateau bonnet rose bordeaux 2006

nobilo icon marlborough sauvignon blanc 2008

bonaccorsi julia's vineyard pinot noir 2006

Edited April 2, 2010 by masi

[masi]

back in manila with my american friend

the adventure moves into holy thursday

 

goldert muscat 2005 alsace grand cru

j. rochioli 2002 pinot noir west bloc

brewer-clifton 2005 melville sta. rita hills pinot noir

[bods1000]

WTF???

 

http://mwcimporterforhellokittywine.com/

 

hahaha!

so what's next? Swatch wines? Barbie ports? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles single malts? Justin Timberlake beer? :sick: :grr:

The mind boggles....

[storm]

Cheers! Wala bang wine EB? There will be wine tasting event at Ralphs Wine Museum on Thursday starting at 6pm.

[FNX]

wine eb... sounds interesting... hehe seems like many posters on this thread are out of the country though

[agxo3]

Wandering around Taipei this dreary Sunday morning, I came across a farmer's market, and in that farmer's market, I found some local Taiwanese wine. From grapes, not rice or barley! And they were giving out tastes! Hmmmm.....I've had wine from China (early vintage was not bad but later vintages were not good), and wine from Japan (not good). But never Taiwanese wine. So I bravely stepped up to TOFTT.

 

In a word - DON'T. Sweet and syrupy, tannins totally and conspicuously absent, "grape-y" and nothing else. Not even sweet in the port-like or late harvest sense. More like the "I poured rubbing alcohol into a bottle of Welch's grape juice" sense. Clearly not made from any of the vinifera varietals I have had the pleasure to taste. I guess it's made for the local palate which favors sweet and not tannic. I should have taken a picture of the label to warn everyone off this stuff, but I was so repulsed I had to leave the booth immediately.

[Raintribe]

Maybe one day we can try a wine EB with wine sourced from unlikely countries: for example China, Taiwan, Greece, etc.

[chipmaker]

ever heard of black riesling? it's not actually real riesling. it's meunier, one of the grapes used in making champagne. a few weeks ago, i bought a bottle of this stuff out of curiosity, because i've always known riesling to be a white wine variety of grape. tasted quite nice actually. i didn't read the label then, but some friends pointed out it's better drunk when chilled a bit.

[floppydrive]

Got to try Acantus. It's a Spanish Cab Sauv/Tempranillo. Easy drinking wine for P340 a bottle.

[agxo3]

hahaha!

so what's next? Swatch wines? Barbie ports? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles single malts? Justin Timberlake beer? :sick: :grr:

The mind boggles....

 

How about Marilyn Merlot? It's a real wine, and actually, not bad fromwhat I hear......haven't tried it yet but will one of these days!

[agxo3]

ever heard of black riesling? it's not actually real riesling. it's meunier, one of the grapes used in making champagne. a few weeks ago, i bought a bottle of this stuff out of curiosity, because i've always known riesling to be a white wine variety of grape. tasted quite nice actually. i didn't read the label then, but some friends pointed out it's better drunk when chilled a bit.

 

That's pinot meunier. Not usually a wine that stands on its own. The only example of it I tried was pretty bad. I picked it up @ Domaine Chandon in Yountville (Napa Valley) and was very surprised that they would actually sell a wine that bad. Haven't had it since....

[bods1000]

Maybe one day we can try a wine EB with wine sourced from unlikely countries: for example China, Taiwan, Greece, etc.

 

hello!

That should be a very unlikely EB, but it's interesting. If ever, we should politely leave out the Chinese and Taiwanese and Indian wines and just stick to maybe Greek, or Cypriot, or Romanian, or any of the other Balkan wines.

[bods1000]

How about Marilyn Merlot? It's a real wine, and actually, not bad fromwhat I hear......haven't tried it yet but will one of these days!

 

There's also a Marilyn Cabernet and a Norma Jeane from the same collection. Parang fourth vintage na yata nila hehehe.

 

Was in Barcelona and Amsterdam the past week though wasn't able to try any of the wines there. I doubt if there's even a Dutch wine. Mostly spent my day getting lost in what they call the red light district or something hehe.

[masi]

There's also a Marilyn Cabernet and a Norma Jeane from the same collection. Parang fourth vintage na yata nila hehehe.

 

Was in Barcelona and Amsterdam the past week though wasn't able to try any of the wines there. I doubt if there's even a Dutch wine. Mostly spent my day getting lost in what they call the red light district or something hehe.

 

 

yeah right!!! and you we're thinking that if it's a red light district they should be serving red wine there!

 

 

btw, congratulations on your forthcoming greenhills branch!

[agxo3]

There's also a Marilyn Cabernet and a Norma Jeane from the same collection. Parang fourth vintage na yata nila hehehe.

 

Was in Barcelona and Amsterdam the past week though wasn't able to try any of the wines there. I doubt if there's even a Dutch wine. Mostly spent my day getting lost in what they call the red light district or something hehe.

 

Dam Square in Amsterdam? Now, does your other half know what you were up to?

 

Great place to go people watching, the people in the windows bearing the most attention, but you gotta be discreet in taking those pictures or you could get our camera tossed in the canal, or worse, YOU could get tossed in!

 

Yup there are others in the collection. I've never tried any of them, but I'm hearing good things. Maybe time to experiment a bit?

 

OTOH, I was in Novato last Saturday at a place that carries wholesales wines and was doing a blowout sale - concentrating on French and Australian. Picked up a cab franc from Chinon (nice!), a 2000 Bordeaux, and a few others. We'll see how they pan out........

 

Coming up on the hot season in Napa, Sonoma and Livermore, and it's definitely warming up. Time to plan that bike tour of Livermore wineries!

Edited May 5, 2010 by agxo3

[bods1000]

yeah right!!! and you we're thinking that if it's a red light district they should be serving red wine there!

 

 

btw, congratulations on your forthcoming greenhills branch!

 

thanks, pare! Medyo madugo lang at malaki ang area. Kita tayo dun!

No red wine! Maybe red faces and red underthings.

Beer still rules in Amsterdam, I guess.

Got to taste the Heineken Old Brew or something and Grolsch Kanon. Too sweet for my taste. The best I had was the Duvel.

[bods1000]

Dam Square in Amsterdam? Now, does your other half know what you were up to?

 

Great place to go people watching, the people in the windows bearing the most attention, but you gotta be discreet in taking those pictures or you could get our camera tossed in the canal, or worse, YOU could get tossed in!

 

Yup there are others in the collection. I've never tried any of them, but I'm hearing good things. Maybe time to experiment a bit?

 

OTOH, I was in Novato last Saturday at a place that carries wholesales wines and was doing a blowout sale - concentrating on French and Australian. Picked up a cab franc from Chinon (nice!), a 2000 Bordeaux, and a few others. We'll see how they pan out........

 

Coming up on the hot season in Napa, Sonoma and Livermore, and it's definitely warming up. Time to plan that bike tour of Livermore wineries!

 

Yes, Dam Square, right beside the Old Church, and yes, the family was with me and I was taking my boys around the sleazy mazes with those interesting windows. Prohibited to take pictures so I did not even attempt to.

Talking about hot. It's incinerating here! Good luck to that bike tour of yours.

[agxo3]

Yes, Dam Square, right beside the Old Church, and yes, the family was with me and I was taking my boys around the sleazy mazes with those interesting windows. Prohibited to take pictures so I did not even attempt to.

Talking about hot. It's incinerating here! Good luck to that bike tour of yours.

 

Still working on setting up- that bike tour - and we're heading to the hot season pretty soon! But, no rest for the wicked, I guess, since I will be heading out to Asia (Taiwan and shanghai) again right after Memorial Day - for almost 3 weeks!. Sorry, no time to stop by Manila. Maybe in October. Until then it's a monthly trip to Shanghai and Taiwan for me!

[masi]

Villa Maria, Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2009 New Zealand

Hall Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 Napa Valley

Carnival of Love Shiraz, 2006

Martinelli Pinot Noir Russian River 2006

Littorai 2007 Pinot Noir

[superfunkibey]

Any recommendations for good decent red wines suitable for daily consumption? (doctors orders) Not too pricey, just in the 500-800 range.

Edited June 18, 2010 by superfunkibey

[agxo3]

It's the 4th of July weekend, and time again for my annual meat-burning, wine-drinking festival of excess.

 

Small group this year (only a dozen or so), since I got started planning this event way too late (having just come back from 3 weeks in the bowels of a factory in Shanghai).

 

On the board for this year:

baby back ribs - it's not the 4th if I don't have ribs! Chile and coffee rub, chile/vinegar/mustard/apple sauce

the famous black meat - Fred's marinated sirloin. Don't know what it's marinated in and why it's black, but as they say, once you go black, you can't go back!

Kimmie's slow-cooked pork shoulder. The kid tries her hand at BBQ this year. Can she dethrone me? We'll see.

macaroni salad - how can yo have BBQ without a good Filipino-style macaroni salad?

deep-fried zucchini slices - dredged in seasoned flour (with parsley, onion and garlic salt, pepper flakes, fresh-ground black pepper and fresh-crumbled parmigiano reggiano)

roasted broccoli - a (very small) nod to greens

roasted corn

dessert? After all that you still need dessert???? Well, then, how about some cheese, dates, roasted figs, walnuts, cashews and almonds? Oh, and an apple pie or two. Can't have an American holiday feast without all-American apple pie!

 

With all that, what would you suggest for wine pairings? I have zins and pinots, cabs (sauv and franc, and some blends of the two!), merlots and barberas, syrahs and petit sirahs, and a nice dry, crisp rose or three. Not to mention the other assorted reds and whites floating around somewhere in the back of my wine fridge. Old World styled wines, and some very definitely New World wines. Light and robust. What to choose????? (Other than "I'll have one of each, please!")