As the Olympics have raged on for the past week, I took it upon myself to begin an Olympic wine tasting marathon. Since last Thursday I have tasted 64 wines, 6 cocktails and 4 beers. The wines I all spit out but the others helped "clean" my palate. For this week's "Monday Night Wines" I wanted to share with you what I have tried. I have used a star rating for each entry. No stars means it was gross, 1 star good for the money, 2 stars it is a good wine, and 3 stars you should rush out and find it. So, are you ready?
Wine Name Style and Color Rating Retail Price
Xarmant, Txakoli (Spain) 07 Basque dry white wine ** $14
Domaine Deletang Montlouis Demi Sec Slightly sweet white ** $20
(France) 06'
Glatzer Gruner Veltliner 06' (Austria) Bone dry white ** $15
Boeckel, Riesling Grand Cru Rich white *** $30
Wiebelsberg 2005 (France)
Domaine Emile Juillot White Burgundy ** $35
"Champs Martins" Mercurey 1er Cru 2006 (France)
Plouzeau, Bourgueil AOC 2005 Medium bodied red ** $17
Lopez de Heredia "Bosconia" Medium bodied red *** $40
Rioja Reserva 2000 (Spain)
Domaine Viret, Sain-Maurice Rich, spicy red *** $28
Cotes du Rhone Village (France) This wine is amazing!
Marcel Deiss, Riesling Medium bodied white *** $25
Vin d' Alsace 2005 (France)
Potel-Aviron, "Chateau Gaillard" Plump fruity red * $20
Morgon (France) 2005
After reviewing my lists of wines the above where the only ones I felt I could recommend. Many of the other wines were fine, they just were not good enough for the asking price. I did taste a group of wines from Spain and I am sad to report that many of these wines were over ripe, to high in alcohol, and all had a very dried out finish. Why is this sad for me? I have enjoyed many Spanish wines in the past and they have generally provided great value, but it appears that many of the importers told their wineries that Americans want a certain style of wine and the winemakers went overboard.
If you can find any of the above wines where you live, ask you local wine merchant for her or his recommendation for a wine of the same grape and/or region. Cheers and keep on drinking!
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