Phanix's Blog » Italian

Wine Tasting @ Evergreen Laurel Collection (2009/08)

Phanix — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 10:50:45 +0000

After back to Taiwan, fewer wine tasting occassions I can join, that is not a good news for keeping my nose and cultivating this interest. However, Evergreen Laurel Collection co. provides wine tasting activities monthly, and this is my 2nd time. The first time is in the last month, but my tasting notes must lost in some mystery places, so I start writing down my tasting notes from the 2nd wine tasting at Evergreen Laurel Collection.

The main topic of this month is Ceretto, which is one of the largest wineries in Italy. They majorly produce so-called “3-B” wines, Barbera, Barolo and Barbaresco. Actually, Barbera is a grape variety, but Barolo and Barbaresco are regions. Ceretto is in the famous area “Piedmont (Piemonte)”, northwest of Italy, founded in 1930s and bursted their business in 1980s.

Italian wines (especially the reds) usually need longer maturing time, even though new wine making technologies are applied, we still need 4 or 5 years for mature. So, most wines today are still too young. For better mouthfeel, all bottles are opened 3~4 hours before tasting.

2008 Ceretto Barbera d’Alba Piana

100% Barbera, and the vineyard is in Alba Piana. Alba is one major town in Piemonte region, and Barbera is the most common variety in Piemonte region.

This wine provides rich aromas in nose, including plum, cherry and a little bit sweet flavor. After swirling, you can find the smell of raspberries. About 30 mins later, mineral is exposed in the glass.

Deep black and red. A little bit sweet at the beginning, and ends with beautiful after acid. Young body brings a lot of tannins but not velvet.

Need more decanting time before drink (I think 5 hrs maybe OK), need more patient to wait its maturation.

2005 Ceretto Barbaresco Asij

100% Nebbiolo, which is a common variety for Barbaresco and Barolo.

Barbaresco is at the northeast of Alba, and Barolo is at the southwest of Alba. The wines from these two DOCG areas have similar noses and palates. Some people said the difference is that Barbaresco is lighter and thinner, and Barolo gives stronger tannins and body. However, I think it depends on the terrior and the vinification process.

This wine brings a higher tone aroma in the glass (compare to the preceeding one), like flowers, dark chocolate and blackberry. As time goes by, the nose turns from higher tone to lower tone, the chocolate flavor becomes more obvious.

The color is red, with slight brick hue. Good body, begins with acid and ends with sweet. Palates include blackberry and black pepper. A lot of tannins but still young.

2004 Ceretto Barolo Zonchera

Also, 100% Nebbiolo. Interesting flavor, like melt chocolate mixed with cream. Black cherry, wet grass and white pepper in mouth.

Still too young, hold.

2000 Barolo Bricco Rocche PRAPO

This one is the most tasty red today. Licorice, blackberry and bright mums (Chrysanthemum) bouquet.

Apparent brick hue, especially at the rim.

Palates are blackberry, maple sugar, white pepper, spices and orange.

Good tannins and smooth mouthfeel, can still keep for a couple of years.

2005 Monsordo Langhe Rosso DOC

It’s a Bordeaux style red, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Nebbiolo (about 10%). The famous comic, 神之雫, mentioned this wine, and that makes this wine become popular in Japan and Taiwan. The black bottle also becomes one brand mark.

This wine is definitely not a standard Italian wine. Because the Italian wines need a long time to mature, Ceretto has some financial problem to pay their employees. So, they make this early matured, easy to drink and popular style wine.

Black currant, vanilla, chocolate and green bell pepper. For me, this one is good while comparing to other Bordeaux, but a little bit weird while tasting it with typical Italian wines.

2008 Ceretto I Vignaioli di Santo Stefano Moscato d’Asti DOCG

Litchi, litchi and litchi!!! Small and lasting bubbles (but not too much). The bubbles comes from the low temperature fermentation.

BTW, Taiwan is the best selling region of this wine. The reason is 茹絲葵 restaurant uses this wine, and you kwow this is a well-known dating restaurant. Besides, this wine has a nickname in Taiwan — 把妹酒. XD

However, for me, I think Korbel Moscato desert sparkling and 2007 Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Spatlese are better than this one.

Tasting Pinot Gris

Phanix — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:32:37 +0000

Maso Canali Pinot Grigio 2007 and Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Gris 2007

未成年請勿飲酒

Pinot Gris 也就是 Pinot Grigio，為 Pinot Noir 的突變種，藍灰色/紫灰色的果皮，所以才被冠上 Gris (法文中為「灰色」的意思)的名稱，而 Pinot Grigio 則是義大利文的說法。會挑這兩款酒同時來喝是想要嘗試 Pinot Gris 以及比較不同地區的口味差異。

Pinot Gris is a mutant of Pinot Noir, with gray hue skin, and that’s why it has a name “Gris” (means gray in French). Pinot Grigio is Italian of Pinot Gris. I pick these two wine for tasting Pinot Gris and comparing characteristics from different regions.

Maso Canali Pinot Grigio 2007

Maso Canali 是義大利的酒莊，主要種植 Pinot Grigio，原本以為酒色是帶點綠色調的淡金黃，沒想到這個綠色調是來自瓶子，但淡淡的金黃色也很漂亮。

味道有是很明顯的柑橘類水果，夾帶有蜂蜜味道，另外還有很微弱的青蘋果。在口中的香氣和另一款比起來並不是那麼飽滿，起初帶點甜味，接著是很明顯但清爽的酸，味道上很像鳳梨，而這偏酸的口感會在口中持續很久，很棒。同時，也很符合一般對於義大利的 Pinot Gris 的描述。

Maso Canali is an Italian winery, which only cultivate Pinot Grigio. At the beginning, I think the wine color is light gold with green hue, but I find the green hue comes from the bottle glass. Well, light gold is gorgeous, too.

Aromas is apparent citrus with honey, and very slight green apple. The palate is lean (compare to the other one), and a little sweet at the beginning. The mid-palate is dense, crisp and refreshing acidity, like pineapple. The acidity last a long time, very great. Emblematic Italian Pinot Grigio.

Willamette Valley Pinot Gris 2007

Willamette Valley Vineyards 是在美國 Oregon 的酒莊，除了 Pinot Gris 外，主要是種植 Pinot Noir，另有 Chardonnay 和 Riesling。

酒色金黃，比起前者要來的深。味道偏向成熟的果香，桃子、柑橘類味道，夾有微弱的香瓜以及一閃即逝的蜂蜜味。在口中的味道以柑橘類為主，帶有一些些花香，比起前者要來得甜一些，同時沒有那麼的酸。除了 Pinot Gris 外，還加了一些 Muscat 下去一起釀造(不過比例不明)，猜測偏甜的口感是因為 Muscat 的關係，但大致上都符合一般對於 Oregon 產區的 Pinot Gris 的描述。

Willamette Valley Vineyards is a winery in Oregon, which cultivate Pinot Noir majorly, and Chardonnay and Riesling, besides of Pinot Gris.

Color is gold, deeper than previous one. Ripe fruits aromas, contains peach and tangerine, with hints of melon and slight honey. Palate is majorly citrus with flowers and sweeter mouthfeel, but not as acid as previous one. They also add some Muscat (percentage is unknown) for fermentation, I guess that brings the sweet mouthfeel. Anyway, very typical Oregon Pinot Gris.

這兩款酒相比的話 Oregon 的比較好入口，但是配著餐點吃的話，我比較偏好 Italy 的那一款，較強的酸度可以更容易襯托食物的美味，搭海鮮類很棒，前幾天跟著鮭魚拌飯一起吃就很美味。 (L)

The one from Oregon is more emollient for drinking, but I prefer the Italian one for pairing with foods, because the crisp acidity would make foods more delicious, especially seafood.

Napa Valley — II

Phanix — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:31:23 +0000

Photos here~~

Two Hearts in Cliff Lede Winery (artist: Jim Dine)

The classical view of Robert Mondavi Winery

One flower in Robert Mondavi Winery, the light break the dark and shed on the flower, I love this one.

Flying LED-lit books, in San Francisco North Beach area. (artists: Dorka Keehn and Brian Goggin)

more about Flying LED-lit books

Dinner at The Stinking Rose, an Italian restaurant, a lot of garlic! They have an interesting slogan — “We season our garlic with food”. Well, a great dining place.

飲年度百大(Top 100, Wine Spectator)好酒 — Part 5

Phanix — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:15:35 +0000

Frescobaldi Nipozzano Chianti Riserva 2005

飲酒過量有礙身體健康，未成年請勿飲酒！

這瓶義大利 Chianti 是上個月在 Costco 花不到 $20 (含稅)買的，已經喝完一陣子也手寫了 tasting note，可是卻一直很懶惰沒有整理起來。而自從上週的 Barrel Tasting 之後，最近對酒就有一點疲乏，很少想去碰酒。那，就來整理這瓶酒的 tasting note 吧。

This Italian Chianti was bought from Costco with the price less than $20 (tax included), and I finished this bottle for a while and had a hand writing tasting note. However, I am a little lazy to post it on blog. After the Barrel Tasting last week, I had less will to have wine, so I decide to deal with the tasting note of this Chianti.

開瓶的時候就有花香湧出，第一次喝的時候首先聞到的是不是太濃郁的黑醋栗、黑莓味道，接下來就有著明顯的香料味道出現，雖然我覺得仍算不上刺鼻，但這是種不曾在紅酒裡頭聞過的味道。喝起來丹寧有一點點咬舌但以三四年的酒來說算是柔順，香氣持續時間蠻長的。

After removing the cork, I smell the floral bouquet. The aromas of black current and black berry are not too over, then an apparent nose of spices come out. The smell of spices is not sharp, and I never experience such kind of smell in red before. The tannins are a little bit harsh, but, for a young wine, it is smooth enough. And lingering finish.

唔，感覺起來好像沒什麼太過於特別的，於是我很納悶為什麼 Wine Spectator 給了他 90 分還有列入 Top 100 of 2008。去查了一下才發現這瓶酒是 90% 的 Sangiovese 和 10% 其他葡萄(Malvasia nera, Colorino, Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon)釀製而成。這就太驚奇了，跟我之前喝過的 Sangiovese 完全不一樣，沒有那麼刺鼻，喝起來也很柔順，所以我決定接下來幾天都倒一杯來喝看看。

Humm… sounds not so special, and I am confused why Wine Spectator rated it 90 and listed it in Top 100 of 2008. After my checking the profile of this wine, it was made by 90% Sangeovese and 10% other grapes (Malvasia nera, Colorino, Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon). Waooo~ that is amazing!!! Definitely and totally different to my previous experiences of Sangiovese. The smells are not so pungent, and the tastes is smoother. So I decided to taste it again in the next few days.

第二天喝的時候就有點不同了，香味跟口感比前一天好上許多。香料的味道更明顯了，不論是在聞或品嚐上。但，這味道會讓我想到很高檔的醬油的香氣與甘甜就是，真的很奇妙同時又是很懷念。

Next day, the taste and smell became better. The spices are more apparent, no matter in nose or in palate. But, that made me think of some high-level soy sauce. This is really an interesting, familiar and memorial experience.

Antinori Santa Cristina Sangiovese 2006

Phanix — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:50:14 +0000

This is my first time to have a Sangiovese red wine, and I think it is not easy to have a fair comparison here.

Sangiovese is a red wine grape origined from Italy, and Tuscany (Tuscana) is its major region. If you see a Sangiovese on the shelf, you can just guess it is from Tuscany intuitionally.

This Sangiovese is bought from Trader Joe’s with the tax included price less than $10. After tasting, I think its C/P is not bad, and it is suitable to be served on table with roasted red meats. (I had it with beef, and the combining tastes is good)

The color of this Antinori Santa Cristina Sangiovese 2006 is fabulous ruby. The aroma is not very strong (compare to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot), but combines berries and a little cherries.

While tasting, the tip of tognue can feel a little spicy which soon disappeared. The tannins are not dense, but smooth. The lingering is not long, but a hint sweet.

Panettone

Phanix — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 05:02:33 +0000

美味的義大利聖誕節慶蛋糕 (L)

前一陣子在 Costco 發現了這個美味的義大利蛋糕，和一般常見的蛋糕不太一樣，內部的質地反而比較類似土司、麵包。加上橘子、檸檬、葡萄等乾果，讓口味變得更加的豐富，搭配不加糖的飲品，像是咖啡、紅茶、花茶都很適合(只要不要挑了偏苦、酸、澀的應該都OK)。

我自己比較喜歡拿它跟Latte一起來當早餐，用比平常稍多一些的咖啡粉沖出較濃厚的咖啡後加入牛奶、拉花之後，較厚實的咖啡口感讓蛋糕在口中更顯得香甜。

參考：Panettone (wikipedia)、義大利 Panettone 麵包、Panettone & 咖啡