Web Accidental Wine

Friday, March 23, 2007

Friday Wines - Vernal Equinox Edition

These Friday wines are in honor of the beginning of Daylight Savings time and the Vernal Equinox. Celebrate the return of sunlight in the evenings and warmer temperatures with these wines:

White under $20

2006 Duck Pond Pinot Gris Willamette Valley ($10)
Pinot Gris is the same grape as Pinot Grigio, but certainly not the same wine. Duck Pond shows off stylish apricot, pear, minerals and even cream without oak in a medium to full bodied, dry white. A line of acidity holds the wine together. Great value at $10 dollars!

Red under $20

2004 Gravity Hills Zinfandel Tumbling Tractor Paso Robles ($15)
Paso Robles is arguably the hottest region in California, having been awarded 12 subappellations in the last year or two. Like blueberry flavors in your wine? Tumbling Tractor has it, and those of us who love that flavor in wine know it's damn hard to get. What else does this wine have? Everything - big but smooth tannin, counterbalancing acidity, full body and balance, balance, balance. Did I mention balance?


White over $20

2005 Feudi di San Gregorio Greco di Tufo DOCG
Some white wine fans think you have to buy super oaked, 100% malolactic (for that buttery slipperiness) Chardonnay to get full bodied, dry wines.

NOT!

Greco is the grape here and it struts its stuff with tropical fruit flavors dominated by pineapple, almond and a hint of resin in the flavors. The texture is creamy and luscious all without new wood or malolactic fermentation. Wait until it's hot and crack one of these babies and then watch Chardonnay hide in the corner.


Red over $20

Inwood Estates Vineyards Tempranillo-Cabernet Sauvignon Texas ($40)
Stop blinking and squinting. Yes, I said, Texas, and yes it's $40 a bottle. This is fruit grown in the Newsom vineyards way out west in Yoakum county. It's big, bold, solid, real red wine. Tempranillo (58%) lends its big cherry fruit, scorched earth and a tinge of smoke. Cabernet Sauvignon (42%) fattens up the texture, adds some black fruit and provide the frame to build this big house on. It's one of the top 3 Texas wines I've ever had. Sport this bottle to your next California Cab blind tasting and watch the jaws drop and the eyes pop!

Enjoy your weekend! I'm off to drink a bit myself. The only question is:

Wine or beer? Wine or beer? Hmmm...



Mark

Labels: It's friday, red wine over $20, red wine under $20, where's the wine?, white wine over $20, white wine under $20, wine recommendations