(Re-Tasted February 2010) ... Many who follow this blog or any of my other writing about the wines that I drink know that I am anti plastic cork. For the most part I find them an inferior closure that is only good for "drink now" wines - if you are unfortunate enough to find yourself face to face with an over 5 year old wine sealed with plastic you are most likely a goner (or at least the wine is) and you should find another bottle. It happened with the brother of this wine, the 2005 Merlot, so I suspect the same would apply to the Cab. But a funny thing happened with this wine - it actually came through okay. Maybe I am just so used to being disappointed that when I am not, or not fully, the slightest bit of normalcy in the bottle is reason to celebrate ... and trust me I did go over this wine thoroughly. The nose is full of raspberry liqueur, blackberry, anise and even some cedar notes. The palate proved to have more of that woody-cedary sensation, spicy and dry on the tongue with rougher than expected tannins; dark fruit and cocoa powder also made an appearance. A decent wine, and sealed under a plastic cork, wow, I'm shocked, I guess this proves that every dog really does have its day. I have two more of these wines kicking around the cellar, I guess time will tell if they survived also - I know the other 2 bottles of Merlot I had were shot to ... (you know what). If you have any in your cellar my advice would be to drink these bottles sooner rather than later - the law of averages are not on your side.
February 23, 2012
February 2, 2012
Mastronardi NV a'Dorah
(Re-Tasted February 2009) ... Released sometime in 2007, this is a non-vintage sparkler made in "Cuvee Close" or charmat method ... it was part of Martronardi's first batch of sparkling wine, which they decided to call "a'Dorah": "the wine of romance and seduction ... that ignites your passion for life." A light, fruit driven sparkler in its youth (and meant to be drunk that way) it has become something quite different and exotic now that it has a few years under its belt. The nose is caramel corn with floral and honey notes, while the flavours dole out honeyed apricots, canned peaches and hints of orange peel, leading to a bruised apple finish with a surprising, and pleasant, Barlett pear linger.
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