Storm Wine!

So the East Coast of Canada is getting wolloped today with a nasty rain storm.  100 mm of rain in some parts, high winds and a chance of a thundershower.   I was supposed to participate in a run, however, I think this is the plan today….

There has been lots of new wines released lately thanks in part to the recent Port of Wines Festival, and I’ve been trying news wines over the past couple of weeks.

Here’s a refreshing new wine I’ve tried recently.  From Castello Monaci it’s the Coribante blend which is Syrah and Malvasia Nera di Lecce.  Like you, I’ve never heard of Malvasia Nera di Lecce before this particular wine, but it is extremely popular in Italy.  The name of the wine is inspired by the lively nature of the “Coribanti” dancers, who frenetically danced to the rhythm of the tambourine.  And I found this to be a lively wine on the palate, and thoroughly enjoyable.  Aged in barriques for 12 months, which are smaller oak barrels, the wine has a subtle smoothness that I enjoyed very much.

Here’s a beauitful Argentinian wine I tried recently from the Mendoza region.  This is a gorgeous blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Syrah, which has been aged in both French and American oak for  6 months.  Regular readers will remember French oak is quite subtle as opposed to American oak, but the combination of the two makes for a complex wine with rustic notes.  I found it quite good.

Here’s a great wine for a stormy Saturday.   My friend Judy had her birthday this past week and we are celebrating it tonight.  This is the wine I picked to give her for a birthday present.   It’s one of her favorutes, it’s the Renwood Zinfandel.  Renwood  was established in 1993 and is producing some of the finest Zinfandel wines I’ve tasted.   Very well respected in the Sierra foothills, this Zinfandel is rich and fruity and a very food friendly wine.

And my wine of the week…..

Is another Zinfandel, the 1000 Stories Zinfandel, aged in Bourbon barrels.   Batch #1 of the 1000 Stories Zinfandel was bottled on October 29, 2014 and it was a 2013 vintage.   As you can see by my picture I enjoyed the 2014 vintage.  Made by winemaker Bob Blue, who says the key to a wonderful Zinfandel is picking the grapes when they are very ripe.  This is a wonderful Zinfandel and the bourbon barrels adds a delicious charred vanilla flavour and some herbal notes to the wine.

Well that’s it for this week.  Again thank you very much for taking time out of your day to read my wine blog.   I hope it gives you a craving to be a little adventurous and try a new wine.

Till next week, cheers.