Page 28 - Staff Tastings

With the Spring weather fast-approaching ( Yay! ) I thought I'd focus my blog this month on a favorite white that I've had recently. We did a charity tasting not too long ago & had 6 or 7 tables set up with 4 great wines on each.  All priced moderately & delicious were the common denominators.  One in particular seemed to strike a chord with me & some of the fellow attendees. It was a delicious Chablis from maybe one of the best vintages of the last 25 years.  What I soon learned about the 2008 vintage is that the wines have great minerality, concentration, acidity, balance; all key factors for a great Chablis.  I soon found myself refilling my glass several times with this amazing wine and, at one point, my good friend that was pouring just handed me the bottle!
 
To me this is Chablis at it's best & priced @ $29.95, it's right in my comfort zone.  Did I mention it received a huge score of 92 points from Mr. Conservative, Allen

Weekends are the best time to enjoy wine, and after three days of a relentless wind storm battering Long Island, I was looking forward to enjoying a good bottle.  My brother's collection was looking good this weekend, but I'm always hesitant to pick something that is expensive or irreplaceable.  It was his turn to choose, and when he pulled out that bottle of 2004 Poggio Il Castellare Brunello, I was overjoyed. 

The 2004 Brunellos have been drinking extremely well, and I knew this was going to be a great bottle, but it wasn't great... It was AMAZING.  Not even the minor windstorm outside, which was hurling leaves, tree branches, and smart cars around the yard, could come close to disturbing the tranquility inside, once this beautiful, silky wine was popped open.  A wonderful aroma of black fruit seemed to stream out as if it were a genie that had floated out of a lamp that was just rubbed.  My only wish? was that this bottle had an endless amount of

Today, in the world of wine, there are many values just waiting to be discovered.
Here at Sokolin, we do our best to un-earth these hidden gems and share them with our customers.  Well, do I have one for you this week!

All the way from La Mancha, Spain, just South of Madrid, they are growing Tempranillo and making amazing wines from this grape, most commonly associated with the regions of Rioja and Ribera del Duero.  It's the 2007 Mas Que Vinos Ercavio Roble.  Lots of beautiful dark fruit fill your nose with an extremely deep, dark purple core.  Some pepper and spice, along with sweet oak, glycerin and a hint of anise hit the tongue and coat the palate with enough acidity to cleanse and keep you going back to the glass. 

This value red is a perfect match for pizza, pasta, grilled meats, and roasted vegetables.  And at ONLY $12.95/bottle and $155/case, there's no reason not to always have some on hand!  And on top of that, this wine

Any of our regular customers can tell you what a great value the Waterstone Cabernet is- and if you've chatted with one of our sales reps, they've probably told you about the wine, convinced you to give it a try and made you a believer too! The Waterstone is, year after year, one of our most popular sellers, and one of the greatest values in California Cabernets that you will find.

You may have noticed that a new vintage has just recently become available on the website- that's right folks- the 2006 Waterstone has arrived and is ready to ship!

I'm sure that some of you are wondering how it compares to the 2005, and so I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you, since we popped a bottle late last week.

I was pleased from the first sip- it is quite different from the 2005 vintage in many ways, but as usual, the bottle does not disappoint. The wine was a beautiful cherry red color, bright and vibrant in the glass. The nose gives off hints of deep, stunning cherry,

With swimsuit season just around the corner my wife is on a serious "healthy eating" bend.

Normally I don't have a problem with that as we eat fairly healthy already and the change usually means skipping pasta for a few weeks.  But this year my wife has decided to cut back, a lot, on red meat. 

Since she does the cooking it's hard for me to complain but at least once a week I love a nice steak with a great bottle of red wine.  The last fantastic steak/wine combo was a T-bone with the 2007 Flechas Gran Malbec - awesome!  But I digress.  So now our main protein is chicken and usually that's fine with me but last week it was four straight nights of chicken dishes - even the kids were threatening mutiny!  Something had to be done.  The kids got off easy with organic hot dogs and French fries.  But I was stuck with the chicken dish. 

How was this healthy (which means "no adding cheese") chicken dish going to go down? 

2007 - everyone says it's an amazing vintage for White Burgs - the 'transparent vintage' showcasing terroir

So far, I have had a few Grand Cru and 1er Cru deserving of this claim (Bonneau Du Martray Corton Charlemagne comes to mind) - however, I have found a greater proportion of village and Bourgone Blancs that have blown me away for value.

Though most associate Chardonnay with White Burgundy, the other varietal of the region is Aligoté - an early ripening grape that is often added to blends throughout the world for acidity and structure - in the case of 2007 Lucie et Auguste Lignier Bourgogne Aligoté, it is the primary varietal and showcases the varietal's merits in spades.

"After the tragic death of Romain Lignier, Domaine Hubert Lignier was divided between Hubert and his grandchildren,

The past couple of weekends I've found myself in the mood for a nice white to have on hand with the warm weather. I wasn't looking for anything too complex, just something nice & crisp with good acidity to accompany  a delicious fish dish. Of course we have an amazing inventory to choose from, but I keep finding myself picking up this same wine every weekend. So this brings me to my Go To Riesling, The 2008 Arndorfer Riesling Strasser Weinberge. 
 
Arndorfer is a small producer from Austria, & I've always been a fan of the style of Austrian Rieslings & Gruner Veltliners. It has a medium body, great acidity, & it's not too sweet, so for me it's the perfect Riesling. Also, our own Summer Wolff discovered this small winery so it's exclusive to Sokolin. Anyone looking for a cool unique delicious Riesling should give the Arndorfer a try!

 
2008

2007 Seventy Five The Sum Proprietary Blend

OK, so I didn't really come up with 75 reasons to buy this wine, but I thought it was a catchy title.  However, if you read this blog and are still not convinced... go to the website, get a history lesson (each time you navigate to a new page, a 1975 history fact pops up), and read how passionate the wine maker is about his products and work ethic.  He states "I insist on over-delivering on every one of your expectations: wine quality, pedigree and price."  And that he does!

Inside this artsy labeled bottle is a supernatural California red that is simply irresistible.  It's a massive structured wine that is able to be enjoyed now, but will have a long life ahead of it.  It's the Shelby Mustang of wines, and it's firing on all cylinders.  This powerhouse is a beautifully balanced delight to drink, and it's not at all over-powering, but rather is delicately tamed with finesse.

The nose

Well, in case you haven't noticed, it's getting really nice out! Flowers are in bloom, trees have their leaves back, everything's green and Spring has sprung.   This means it's time to wash down the patio furniture, take the cover off the grill, and get ready to spend some much-anticipated time outdoors!  This also means it's time for some Sauvignon Blanc...

We have come to love the California producer Walter Hansel, best known for its Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.  Year after year, they make some of the best wines from the Russian River Valley.  In fact, Robert Parker says about this winery, "One of northern California's 'good guys', who fashions top-quality Burgundian-styled Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.  Moreover, prices remain unbelievably fair for wines of such quality."

Just recently, I was fortunate enough to taste their 2009 Sauvignon Blanc.  And again it was all about the amazing quality for such a great price!  The nose was

I just spent a few minutes reviewing the tasting articles of some of my colleagues and realized that everyone has been recommending white wines for summertime- no surprise there! However, I thought I'd bring you in a slightly different direction this week, and suggest one of my absolute favorite wines to enjoy as the weather warms around us:
Rosé, the new white wine!

Rosé adds something just a little different to a beautiful summer day- a different flavor and a light, joyful color. It's a nice, easy drinking wine that is pleasing to just about any palate!

I always recommend the lineup of Rosé wines from D'Esclans, our Sokolin go-to Rosé values, which are rated by our very owner expert, Dave Sokolin. We love these wines; there are 3 different labels of D'Esclans Rosé (The Whispering Angel, the D'Esclans, and the Les Clans). The D'Esclans and the Les Clans are relatively more complex and structured, which accounts for the increase in