Review Wines: Tempranillo, Sparkling Wines and California Cabernets

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Review Wines: Tempranillo, Sparkling Wines and California Cabernets

California Cabernets

‘Tis the season for review wines and after receiving a call that I had “a few boxes of wine waiting for me at my old work address,” I had some serious tasting to do.  It was a very tough job, but you know I had to rise to the occasion.  P.S. It’s fun to be a wine blogger.

Ferrari Metodo Classico Wines:

I received two bottles of Ferrari Metodo Classico wines. Ferrari has been producing luxury 100 percent Chardonnay sparkling wines in Italy since 1902.  These wines are produced at the foothills of the Alps in Trento D.O.C. in the Trentino region. 

  • Ferrari Brut NV ($25), very crisp with golden apples, flowers and the scent of crusty bread.  It was very drinkable and had some nice nuances between minerality and fruit.
  • Ferrari Perle 2004 ($35), made from estate grapes with nuttiness, yeasty, pear, apple and minerality.

You know I am a huge fan of sparkling wines and I’ve been impressed with the evolving quality of the Italian sparkling wines that I have tried this year.  The wines provided by Ferrari continued this positive trend.

Mossback Russian River Valley:

California Cabernets

I was not familiar with Mossback and had not tried its wines prior.  I received a bottle of 09 Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, which is a small production wine from the Russian River Valley.  John and Lane Giguiere make small production wines celebrating the farmers and the hands on attention that make a wine great.  Winemaker Dan Cederquist considers Mossback his own “garage wine.” 

This is not a garage wine that I’ve had the opportunity to sample.  It was rich and smooth with black fruits including black cherry and blackberries with notes of chocolate and coffee.  I am very glad that the people of Mossback found me and I can’t wait to try more of their small production wines.

Heredad Collection Wines Celebrating Tempranillo Day:

California Cabernets

I was sent two samples to taste for Tempranillo Day which was November 8.  I will be writing soon about my experience with Rioja wines, which are primarily tempranillo and very diverse, so I was excited to continue my experimentation. 

The first wine was the VAZA Crianza 09, a very fruity wine with lots of red fruit.  I tasted oak, leather and tobacco.  I describe this wine as juicy, but with enough structure to make it very interesting.

The second wine was the Valdubon Cosecha 10 from Ribera del Duero.  This wine had notes of fruit – strawberries, plum and red raspberry, but had more earth and spice than the other.

Both of these were value priced at $15 and totally quaffable – with food or without.

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