Tuesday, September 28, 2010

2007 Martinelli Pinot Noir, Zio Tony

If I weren't careful, I would end up filling New Tastes with reviews of Martinelli's luscious pinot noirs. They are all estate bottled wines from their vineyards in Sonoma's Russian River Valley and the "true" Sonoma Coast.
This pinot says Russian River from start to finish. Seamless and precise, it is loaded with sweet, ripe cherry aromas and flavors, with touches of wet earth and soy. If higher alcohol and ripe fruit offend you, look elsewhere. This is a hedonistic wine that makes no excuses for what it is - delicious.
This is an allocated wine but it should not take you too long to get on their list. They might have some of this wine for sale at the winery (800-346-1627). The cost is $60. There are not many wines for which I will pay $60, but I have no problem doing so with Martinelli's pinots.

2007 Domaine Gauby, Cotes du Roussillon, Vieilles Vignes

OK, I promise this is my last posting on the Languedoc/Rhone Valley wines from the 2007 vintage, but this is such a superior vintage and the tanked economy makes these wines even better values.

This wine is a blend of syrah, grenache and carignan, with a bit of mourvedre thrown in. The intense fruit and spice aromas that leap from the glass tells you this is something special. Full-bodied with high extract, ripe tannins, mouth-filling flavors and a long finish, there is a lot going on here. You could drink this wine now with roasted T-Rex, but this one will definitely improve in the bottle for another five to ten years, maybe more.

I bought several bottles of this wine from the Wine Exchange in Orange, CA (1-800-76-WINEX). The price tag of $40 each may seem steep for a wine from the Roussillon appellation, but it really is a treat. Parker gave it 93-94 and I think it easily merits that.

If they are out of stock, see if they have any of the following exemplary 2007 Languedocs:
Leon Barral Faugeres; Chateau de la Negly (La Falaise) Coteaux du Languedoc; and Domaine de Fondreche (Persia) Cotes du Ventoux. They are not as knock-your-hat-in-the-creek as the Domaine Gauby, but they are about half the price.