2005 Woot Cellars Humbug!

I’ve decided that I need to write a little bit every day, rather than try to write a lot once in a while.  The perfect really is the enemy of the good.  So…

I opened up my 2nd to last bottle of the 2005 Woot Cellars Humbug! on Wednesday.  This wine continues to shine with great fruit and balance.  And, it’s got the “delicious factor” that makes it quite enjoyable to drink.  It was fading a bit on Thursday, but still was pretty darn good.  I can’t wait to try my last bottle in 6 months or a year and see how it has held up.

Estampa Reserve 2005

This was suggested to me by my ‘wine guy,’ Pat, who suggested that I try it out to compare to the right-bank Bordeaux I’d had a few weeks earlier.  He also shared this interesting little fact: the predominate varietal in this Chilean blend is Carmenere which was once thought to have been extinct.  For years, this little vine was mistaken for Merlot despite the fact that the leaves weren’t the same.  Only after botanical testing was is discovered that this hearty vine in the mountains of Chile was, in fact, Carmenere.  So, take *that* to your next trivia game and impress your friends.

Camenere wines are supposed to be Chile’s answer to Bordeaux.  Hey, if you’ve got a varietal that’s been mistaken for so many years as Merlot, why not?  And, because of that, Pat wanted me to see how it compared to the 2003 Chateau Tournefeuille La Lande de Pomerol I’d had a few weeks prior.  Unfortunately, as of this writing, I don’t have my notes on the 2003.  I just enjoyed that one without making any notes (forgive me, please), so I’ll have to see if he has another bottle just so that I can truly compare the two for you.  Until then, let me share with you the impressions this little gem gave me…

This is a blend of Carmenere, Cab Sauvignon and Cab Franc and has an intense scarlet-ruby color which opens nicely with raspberry, chocolate and coffee on the nose.  Initally, you get beautifully ripe raspberry that reminds me of a fabulous raspberry jam.  Also, a wonderful herb blend of rosemary, thyme and marjoram that transitions to dark chocolate and dark-roasted coffee flavors.  Its semi-dry, not real heavy on tannins and has a short but no drop-out finish.

The fun thing with this wine, however, is the chameleon-like quality it has.  I found I liked it much more when paired with food.  It lost the inital ripe raspberry and uncovers a wonderful focus of earthiness that must have been over-shadowed by the fruit.  The herbs intensified, as did the chocolate and coffee flavors.  This is what mimicks the Bordeaux.

But, then… I decided to go the opposite and see what this wine would do.  So, I tried it after having a very small piece of 85% dark chocolate and… tah dah!…. it changes once again.  This time the raspberries and chocolate were so magnified that I felt as I’d just scooped a bit of that jam right out of the jar and topped a chocolate lava cake with it.  All of the earthiness was gone and I was left with just dessert….. fabulous!

I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking for something different.  Its not the “fruit-bomb” that so many people are looking for… that is, unless you have it with a chocolate dessert.  The versatility that I found in this $14 wine impresses me and the fact that its a winery that should be widely distributed makes this a 4-star recommendation from me.

2005 Woot Cellars Humbug!

I’ve been taking a break from wine writing for the past week or so, as my health hasn’t been great and I just haven’t been in the right mood to write.  Today was quite cool, however, so I decided to open up a bottle of the 2005 Woot Cellars Humbug! (A Melancholy Red).  When I first bought this wine, I wasn’t very impressed with it.  Even with decanting, it didn’t taste all that great and felt too hot, even at only 13.8% alcohol.  However, each bottle has gotten progressively mellower throughout the year and this one seems to be the best so far.

I cracked this open right before dinner and didn’t decant it.  On the nose, I smelled cool, dark fruit.  I would describe it best as sour pie cherries with molasses drizzled over the top.

The taste: This wine actually has very nice fruit, tasting of those sour cherries.  Maybe a little darker than pie cherries, or maybe a mix of black cherries and pie cherries.  Plenty of sour, though, which I like. The mid palate was decent (no drop-outs) and it has a good long finish, which surprised me as it doesn’t have much in the way of back-end tannins.  The lack of tannins make me fear for the shelf-life of this wine and I’m planning on having the rest of my case consumed by the holidays.  This wine is drinking very smooth right now, although I would love some more tannins.

Dinner was pasta with pesto, tomatoes and spicy Italian sausages.  The wine held up fine against this flavor onslaught.  But, I had it with a carob-nut bar after dinner and it really shone.  The carob brought out the sour nature of the wine very nicely, but also accentuated the sweetness, giving it an almost port-like character.  Pretty darn yummy!

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Nieto Senetiner, Bodegas Don Nicanor 2004 Blend

Being that I’m new to wine, but a long-time “foodie,” my entries will be a blend of wine and food notes.  My interest in wine lays in the complexities of its components.  Just as a fabulous dish is made from the creative applications of various textures and tastes, I feel that wines are created in the the same fashion.  Finding and appreciating those aspects is what expanding my palate is all about.  So, generally, my notes will begin with the initial impression of a wine and, then move into how its taste changes when paired with food.

First pour of this wine had me awed by the deep ruby/garnet color.  A gorgeous rich-looking wine that had me really hopeful that its taste would be just as rich.  All I could pick up on the nose was black cherry and maybe a hint of a smoky wood-like smell.

The taste was just as I’d hoped — full-bodied with rich dark cherry and soft oak flavors.  The mid-palate was a complex layering of dark fruit (maybe plum?) chocolate, a subtle green flavor (which I’m determined to define at some point) and some great soft earthiness (of which I am normally not a big fan, but works well with those curious green flavors).  The finish was beautiful!  A long finish with a black pepper tanginess that I know many people will love.  Its stated at 14.5% and, normally, I would think this to be too much, but its great.  Maybe my palate is ready for bigger and better.  Or, as John W would say… great tannins and great acids make a great wine!

So, tonight, I grilled some beef tenderloin medallions and served them with some grilled asparagus and grill-roasted golden fingerling potatoes…. all prepped very simply with just kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and extra-virgin olive oil (except for the potatoes to which i added some red pepper flakes and a few other spices).  Let me just say… tonight’s choices couldn’t have been better!  A perfect pairing!  The grilled beef balanced beautifully with the oak flavors of the wine, yet enhanced the cherries.  And the asparagus brought forward those sublte green flavors — though I was still unable to define the taste.  But, it has me wanting to spend more time getting to know this wine, and that’s always a good thing!

All in all, this wine is worth every bit of the $22 i paid for it.. its one of those wines that makes you just want to spend time getting to know.  I’m really looking forward to seeing if this develops any differently.