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Wines for next show acquired

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Good day from sunny Southern California (The OC, to be specific)!

I’m out here visiting my parents for the weekend, but took some time yesterday afternoon to sit down with Brian and Jay from Grape Radio and Michael Geoghegan from Reel Reviews. It was great to finally meet them in person and continue our discussions on podcasting, movies and, of course, wine. One of my questions was where they buy their wines here and they suggested I check out The Wine Club and Wine Exchange. Both stores have great selections of domestic (particularly California) and imported wines with very knowledgeable staff. They are a wine lover’s dream and are hightly recommended; I just wish I brought a larger bag 😉 I was shocked to see wines I pay $30 in Minneapolis for $19, but that’s another story…

So I used this opportunity to pickup the three wines for my next show on Sicilian Red Wines as part of Wine Blogging Wednesday #8.

They are:

– Firriato, “Chiaramonte”, Nero d’Avola 2002 ($12)
– Morgante, Nero d’Avola 2003 ($11)
– Colosi, “Dry Red Wine” 2002 ($7)

I will be recording the show Tuesday night and will once again feature a virtual tasting.

Summary of Wine Blogging Wednesday Posted

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Andrew has posted the first part of his summary of Wine Blogging Wednesday #7 at Spittoon. It makes very entertaining reading and I am honored he considers Winecast “pithy”. High praise from an Englishman, indeed 😉

Update: Just as I posted my last comment, the second part of the write-up was posted; enjoy!

Update 2: Andrew has finished his fine summary here. There were an amazing 31 different grape varieties represented in the 36 wines tasted.

Winecast 13 – Wine Blogging Wednesday #7

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Today’s show is a special edition for Wine Blogging Wednesday #7 whose theme is, “Obscure Red Grape Varieties”. Thanks to Andrew Barrow of Spittoon for inviting me to participate as the first podcaster to join the fun of WBW!

I had to stoop down quite a bit at some wine stores here in Minneapolis as I looked for varietals I had never heard of, let alone tried. I ended up picking 4 wines for tasting, all for $8 USD or less. Unfortunately, one of the wines was disqualified as it was a blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvugnon and Merlot; my full tasting notes of that wine are posted here.

What was great about this theme was it forced me to look for things I normally pass by at the wine store and I would have otherwise never found any of these interesting wines:

– Castellani, Negroamaro, Puglia, Italy 2003 ($6) – Deep garnet, dusty berry nose, simple, peppery berry flavors somewhat like Dolchetto, good rustic finish with moderate tannins, nice pizza or pasta wine, very good value, plastic cork!
Score: 8/10

– Castellani, Nero d’Avola, Sicilia, Italy 2003 ($7) – Garnet, pleasant fresh berry nose, deep, simple black cherry flavors, no tannins to speak of, good “quaffable” drinking now, another plastic cork!
Score: 7/10

– Cortello, Estremadura, Portugal 2001 ($8) – Made from native grape Castelao (a.k.a. Periquita) and Argonez grapes; deepest garnet, lean berry nose, round plum flavors and silky mouth-feel, finishes a little bitter and funky but overall quite good.
Score: 7.5/10

Best of tasting and best value goes to Castellani Negroamaro 2003. I will be looking for this variety from other producers in the future to share on Winecast.

Thanks once again to Andrew from Spittoon for the invitation; I am looking forward to WBW #8!

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