Ronnie's 7th Annual wine tasting w/impressions 2/26/06

[Drew]

Went to Ronnie’s 7th. annual wine tasting Expo yesterday with Eileen and friends hosted again at the Harford Community College Gym. 41 vendors each with a minimum of 5 wines…whew, that’s a lot of tasting. Ronnie’s wine store sold last year to a new buyer and we were excited to see how the new boy faired. Well he did a great job! Better wines and terrific food this year. Hope he continues this tradition. Tickets were $35 and limited to 500. I’ll post my impressions of what stood out for me using **, and a couple of losers. The price posted is the regular retail price. Show attendees received 15% discount on individual bottles and 25% discount on case buys.
The Grateful Palate presented the 04 Marquis Phillips Shiraz $15, Sarah’s Blend $15**,and a Trevor Jones Jonesy Port $11**(three grape blend Oz “port”…delicious, all of which all showed very well, big improvement from the 03’s MP. Moshin Vineyards was present this year for the first time and I love Rick Moshin’s wines, been a fan for several years now. I go to the table and tell this gentleman that I love Rick Moshin’s wines and even have an autographed bottle of Pinot Noir and he extends his hand and sez “Thanks, I’m Rick Moshin!” He was a pleasure to talk to and his wines are some of the best QPR’s that I’ve ever had. 01 Moshin Cabernet $20**, 01 Moshin Syrah $21 and the 02 Moshin “Bowmans Vineyard” Zin $21** all delicious. The 03 Avalon Napa Cabernet Sauvignon $13** is a no brainer, deep and lush. Also the 03 Zolo Malbec $12** was a delicious Malbec as well as the 03 Aussie Angus Bull Cabernet $17. There was a reserve 03 Melipal Malbec** which was very elegant and delicious but didn’t note the price, sorry. The Cline group showed very well, as usual, 03 Cline Cool Climates Syrah $15 very fruit forward and the 04 Cline Ancient Vines Zin $15 and 04 Ancient Vines Mourvedre $15, the Zin standing out. The 02 Pine Ridge Rutherford $37 was good but not worth the $, imho. Two nice Oregon Pinot Noirs, 02 Yamhill $20 and the 04 Sipino $20 were good buys the Yamhill showing more earthiness and my fav. The 04 Casa Lapostolle Cuvee Alexander Merlot $24** was wonderful with a thick, glycerin body and mouth feel and the 02 Geyser Peak Merlot $16 were the two standout Merlots of the show. The 02 BV Tapestry $50 was nice, and I don’t have a lot of experience with Tapestry, but I thought a little thin for the price. I did very much enjoy the 03 Ascheri Dolcetto d’Alba $19**, Italy. The 03 Domaine Charvin CDR $23 and the 03 Truth “Lindsey’s Cuvee” $18 both showed very well with the Charvin a smidge overpriced I thought but I know the French wines are fetching more$ due to some atypical vintages. The 04 Andretti Cabernet $12** (case buy @ $9per) was the QPR of the show, imho, rich and well made for a $12 California Cab. The 02 Row Eleven “Bien Rocido Vineyard” Pinot Noir $29 was a very nice, elegant PN. Some losers were the 04 Sipacha Garnacha $11, Spain, thin and non descript for the $. All of the 04 Fish Eye Line, Merlot, Shiraz and Cab all $8 were spit bucket recipients as well as the milk carton boxed 04 French Rabbit Cabernet, Merlot and Pinot Noir $10. I thought the 03 Worthy “Sophia’s Cuvee” $30 was way overpriced and a rather non descript Cab that I would have been disappointed with at half the price. Also the current Blackstone lineup were all disappointing, Cabernet, Merlot, at $10 each and Napa Cabernet and Napa Merlot at $20 each. Several years ago Blackstone was producing wonderful wines…wuz zup now? I tasted one Maryland wine the Fiore Zinfandel-Zinland $13 which was very grapy, as most Md. Wines are. Also won a three bottle “vertical“, silent auction, of the 2001 Beringer Napa Merlot, Napa Cabernet Sauvignon and “Knights Valley”…very cool addition to the stash.

Drew