Bodegas El Porvenir De Los Andes "Amauta" Red Blend 2005, Cafayate/Salta (Argentina)

Today we are enjoying a delightful Argentine red blend hailing from the Cafayate Valley in Salta, one of the country's northernmost viticultural areas, at the foot of the Andes mountain range. The label depicts ancestral Inca designs, which relates to it's closeness to the areas of their great millenarian empire. The wine itself is what I would consider a quintessential New World blend. Mainly Malbec, with 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Syrah. A practice that perhaps was first capitalized around in Italy by the savvy Tuscans and their monster blends (aptly named Super Tuscans) based on the local Sangiovese, to which they would beef up with red Bordeaux or Rhone varietals in order to create amazing complexity and of course, to sell to a wider range of consumers.

The wine is a dark ruby color with almost Port-like deep violet hues, minimal rim variation. The nose is concentrated and balanced albeit displaying more ripe fruit up front than anything else, namely cassis and blackberry; not a lot of minerality, but there are some dark chocolate and even slight black truffle nuances. The palate is rich, beyond supple and with a long lasting finish. A superb wine, more so considering the QPR or pricepoint at under 30 USD. This wine would definitely shine brighter paired with a hearty dinner : a lamb leg roast, a rich osso bucco or better yet, a braised onglet/hanger steak with a porcini demi-glace. Fuck, I'm hungry.

Drew Vineyards Syrah 2006 Anderson Valley, California (USA)

So you probably think I'm some fucking snob on an exclusively imported wine agenda here, but truth is I'm not. I love American wine, I really do. In front of me is a glass of said wine. Hailing from Anderson Valley in Mendocino, California. The wine was again found at the local Sigel's, I am rather familiar with the vineyard from my days as a Sommelier. I had sampled and sold various vintages of their Pinot Noir, but never their Syrah, and apparently I've been missing out. 28 USD, this bottling is from the fruit grown at their Broken Leg vineyard (love that name), visually it has a very nice deep sanguine color and signs of rim variation, with a concentrated nose of cassis, vanilla, pepper, allspice and some espresso. Rich is an understatement, this could literally pass as a Syrah preserve. The mouth feel however is quite gentle and silky with medium tannic character. The cassis/blackcurrant makes a second appearance as does the allspice, leading to a nice full finish that simply beckons another sip. Yeah, I can (and will!) totally down this bottle in one sitting. Go buy yourself a bottle now, this is a GREAT example of the kind of seriousness that California can produce with Rhone varietals (See also : Saxum, Lillian, Ojai and if you're willing to pay the price, Sine Qua Non).

Until next time, friends.

Clarendon Hills Syrah 2005 Moritz (Australia)

FOREWORD
I promised a certain Australian sweetheart that I'd begin my journal with an entry about an Aussie wine and I am above all my flaws, a man of my word!

 -J



Hello friends.

Starting this bitch finally.


Clarendon Hills Syrah (notice the spelling, Clarendon avoids the Shiraz nomenclature that is so regional to Australia). Priced kindly under a hundred USD, this heavyweight is nothing short of excellent. RP 96 points. Ha! just kidding. I will not subject any of you would-be-readers to the fucking point system, because to me it is all just some systematical fuckery that is poor in diversity and downright biased. Moving on. I was always intrigued by Clarendon Hills after reading so many great reviews of their releases. The wine is inky and dark in the glass, the nose is powerful, truffled, not for the faint of heart. Ripe fruit abounds, some crème de cassis and notes of rotisserie'd awesomeness. The mouth feel is pure fucking fireworks! Heavy, dominating and further highlights the fact that it might have been a sin to open such a cellar-worthy bottle so early, but I like to give in to sin (Because I like to practice what I preach ~ DM). The finish is spectacular, very velvet-like. It's easy for me to understand now how a bottle of Astralis (Clarendon's megastar) could fetch for such elevated kinds of currency. This is pure class, an elixir of the gods if allowed a little more time in the bottle to mature fully, although don't get me wrong, this is pretty amazing now. Another solid example of why I love Australia. Sure they churn out a gazillion hectoliters of decent supermarket-shelf wine (What's up, Chile?), but when they craft middle-to-top drawer bombshells like these, you know they are all business. IOW, when they put on their dancing shoes and hit the dance floor, other countries KNOW they must step the fuck back and RESPECT.

Thanks to Bordeaux Wine Facebook Page for my gift L'Atelier du Vin winekey (and cheese knife), I am going to use the fuck out of this opener, y'all.