#90- Periquita

I'm writing this blog to actually take a break from my wine studies (that and my butt was going number from sitting on the floor for so long). I am in the home stretches of my Wine Fundamentals I class from the International Sommelier Guild. Our final exam is on Wednesday and I have been busy making flash cards of my notes so I can study hard for the next few days. I've even booked my sister for tomorrow night so that she can test me. Maybe we'll make a drinking game out of it (for every question I get right, I get to sip!). Now there's some liquid encouragement for you!

The Periquita grape is also known as the Castelao grape in other parts of the world but in Portual, and where this wine is from, it's known by it's more popular name, the Periquita grape. Now, this isn't a single varietal wine I'm drinking as it's especially hard to find but it is 95% Periquita so for the purposes of what I'm trying to accomplish, it is.

The grape is found in southern coastal regions and is sometimes used in the production of port. If you can speak portugese, you know the word periquita means parrot. It is a very tannic wine in its youth but does soften as it ages. The year I'm drinking is a 2006.

The wine is Jose Maria Da Fonseca Periquita. Aside from the crazy annoying music that greets you on their website, the site is great looking and fun to browse through.

What's interesting is in the description of the wine- right off the bat I'm at odds with them. They describe their wine as full bodied and intensly coloured while I would not say either. And not in a bad way either. The wine is not as intense as I thought it would be. To me, it's similar to a Pinot Noir or Gamay. And I certainly don't find it at all to be a full bodied grape. It's complex but at most medium bodied.

Off the nose I get some strawberries but the smell of alcohol seems to take over. Sipping the wine, I get a balanced and fruity wine, but the tannins to me are still quite intense with a medium acidity to it. It takes some getting used to. I drink it alone tonight but last night I paired it with a grilled steak done to medium rare along with a Mediterrannean salad and I felt they were a perfect complement to each other.

What was interesting to me is the lack of quality in the cork. After all, Portugal is the main producer of cork for the wine world. Apparently they give all the good cork to France. The cork barely held together as I popped it out of the bottle.

I would drink this wine again, but I would make sure to drink it with food for sure. It is not a sipping wine at all (though they do suggest that you can with this wine on the website). Oh those Portugese.

I can't believe I'm only 10 wines away from accomplishing a goal I'd set out to do nearly two years ago. And 14 wines and I've met my goal of sipping one wine a week for two years. I'm not sure if I'll continue this blog or not or maybe shift its vision a bit, we'll see how the next few weeks goes!

#77- Aglianico

Another Greek wine. Another great win for a country I can not wait to visit. If you remember my earlier posts, you'll note that the Greek wines were not off to a great start but they have made up for it lately. Except it's not Greek really- it originated in Greece but is actually an Italian wine. Maybe that's why this wine is a win! Ah, who I am kidding, I have no idea...but we'll give them all credit- yay Italy and Greece!

I picked up a bunch of wine at Aristocrat Liquor in Edmonton and again, was pleasantly surprised by their selection (I'll be popping in there from time to time to check out their selection).

Aglianico is a red wine and is pretty heavy and acidic.I haven't really had much like it, the closest being a Zinfandel (same but different). it is very intense and has a lot of impact in the mouth. It's very dark, almost black in colour. The winery is the Villa Matilde in the Campania region of Italy. Their wine is very fruity and you can really taste the blackberries. While it is quite heavy, it has that velvety smooth feel to it. It's an immediate impact on your mouth and if you enjoy red wines, this wine will be a delight to drink.

I paired the wine with a red meat- hamburger meat of all things. I tend to mix up my countries together because I'm just not that organized but it seems to work out. That night I made a plate of soft tacos with a great salsa and lots of vegetables. I found it to be a great combination and I would actually pair this up again. Sometimes playing outside the rules is the best way to find a good pairing. So yes, try it with tacos or spicy food.

I very much recommend this wine and again, still waiting from Craig to hear about this wine (I have a feeling he'll like it though....I'm starting to figure out his tastes).

I'd like to try more Aglianico wines and see if it was just a fluke (hint, I don't think so as I review another of this winey's white wines....and I liked it...stay tuned) or if the Aglianico is one heck of a grape.

Until tomorrow...

#37- Nebbiolo

The wine we drank was a Barolo but the grape varietal it's known as is the Nebbiolo grape. It is also known as Italy's most noble grape so I ensured that we would indeed be trying an Italian wine. I picked up a ton of International wines (I think when I went in, I was expecting to buy two wines, I left with eight) from Sherbrooke Liquor store in Edmonton.

Now, I have been slightly lazy in my blog writing as I've been intertwining some other blog postings with the grape reviews so I'm actually four ahead (completed #40 tonight) but one thing it did allow to do was try and retry the Barolo wine along with the Barbera D'Asti wine (#38). I found both wines quite similar and I can't say that like one more than the other. But let me get back to focusing on the Barolo. The wine is from the Batasiolo winery in the Piedmont region of Italy and while the winery makes more than one Barolo wine, this is the wine that we tasted!

The Nebbiolo grape is also known as Barolo so you may or may not encounter that on the bottle when you're reading it (I had to look it up to make sure that Barolo was indeed the Nebbiolo grape). Craig tried these wines and admittedly was more descriptive in his descriptions of the wine. Now remember, Craig isn't usually a fan of red wine and recently dismissed the Shiraz! But he did not mind this wine and observed that it wasn't took oaky and a bit on the dry side. Interestingly enough, I didn't notice any oakiness taste even though I knew that this wine was in fact barreled. My taste buds are failing me.

Nebbiolo based wines can often take on tastes such as tar and roses and depending the particular region in the Piedmont, can have other tastes of rasperries, violets, tar, wild herbs and cherries. Like Craig noted, it is kind of dry and that is due to the Nebbiolo grape being very high in tannins (causing the puckering in your mouth and the feeling of dryness). Often, this wine is left to age a bit to lessen the tannins and make the wine drinkable.

Dinner that night was perogies (they were whole wheat). And in case you're not familiar with what perogies are, they are this fabulous Ukrainian dish that we are all very familiar with here in Alberta. And so easy to make!! You can either fry them up or boil them for a healthier choice. Add a little sour cream, some chives and bacon bits and you got yourself a meal. Sometimes it's really hard to cook for one person and when you have just come home from the gym after having worked out for an hour PLUS an hour of hot yoga (this is why I'm drinking wine in workout gear) and coming home at 8pm, the last thing you want to do is make a big meal. Perogies it is! Ciao!

#11- Malbec

"You can't judge a wine by its label." Because if that were the case, this Malbec would have been the best wine ever. Unfortunately, it was far from it. And we do have some differing opinions here on the wine itself.

I was looking forward to the Malbec. I've drank several different bottles of Malbec and have always enjoyed them so I was really expecting the same thing here. I picked up a bottle of LoTengo Malbec, a 2008 wine from Argentina and bottled by Bodega Norton.

Let's start with the cool part of this wine and why I picked it up. It was for no other reason that the coolest label I've seen to date. It's what I believe they call a holographic foil. The label is of two people doing the tango (LoTengo...okay you get it) and when you move the bottle, the dancers legs move so it actually looks like they're doing the tango. Freakin' cool! Yes, this is how I chose this wine. Rather than going with a recommendation or a previous Malbec that I loved, I chose this bottle because I wanted the cool label. Learn people from this- never pick up a bottle because of its label. Or if you do, pick up a second bottle of the grape for comparison.

I should also point out I'm battling a heck of a sinus cold so my taste buds may be a little off. Excuses. In any case, dinner was prepared by Craig (here's the deal- Craig got gift cards to go out and buy chicken but he'd like to let you all know he "cooked" dinner. To be fair, he did make the St. Hubert sauce...). So we had roast chicken, fries and sauce with some slaw. Not exactly a perfect red wine pairing but I'm not complaining. I didn't have to cook.
So,the wine. I was prepared for the acidic taste but didn't bother to let Craig know. He took a gulp of the wine and immediately made his decision that the wine was no good. His first words were "tastes like balsamic vinegar." The first couple of mouthfuls were hard to get down. It is a very acidic wine and you can very much taste the tannins in the wine. The tannins relaxed a bit as the wine breathed (so if you try a Malbec, make sure to either decanter it or let the wine breathe in the bottle for a good hour) and I found the wine to be at least drinkable. I even had a second glass. My mother took a whiff of the wine and couldn't get any closer than that to trying it. Craig didn't even finish his glass but the effort was there. He just couldn't get past the acidic taste. "So much for me liking all the reds" he said. And he would like to point out that this was by far the worst wine we've had to date.

So it's not a rave review for this Malbec but let me assure you that there are some amazing Malbecs out there. My sister and I all last summer enjoyed a bottle (or six) of Malbec wines and loved them all. Apparently this one wasn't on my list. I'll be on the look out for a better bottle of wine and as soon as I find it, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I'll make a valient effort today to finish the bottle, even with my taste buds out of whack. Maybe it'll taste great with a side of cold medicine.

And the rumour is true. Next week the wine is a dessert wine and we're trying the very delicious Muscat. Let's hope we're not in for two bad weeks in a row.