Tag: Wines

How to Spot Counterfeit Wines

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“Keep clear of wine I tell you, white or red, especially Spanish wines which they provide and have on sale in Fish Street and Cheapside. That wine mysteriously finds its way to mix itself with others.” Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales (14th Century).

Chaucer, evidently a suspicious man, would no doubt be amazed at the sophistication of counterfeit wine production in the 20th and 21st century. As in both the art and antique world, rogue elements have been attracted by fine wine’s high prices, so much so that wine counterfeit trading on the secondary fine wine market has risen to a worrying 5%, according to Wine Spectator magazine.

It’s important to note of course that counterfeit or fake wine can also cover doctored or illegally blended wines. For the purposes of this article we are concentrating on the particular band of black marketers who devote themselves to the manufacturing, distribution and selling of fraudulent fine wines.

So how do you spot a counterfeit bottle?

LABEL
Many leading estates have their wine labels posted on their website. Failing this you can search for the wine label via Google Images (take care to ensure the website you end up on is reputable). Benchmark the website label with your own. In the case of a bottle in your possession, remember if a wine is old, a perfect label is often a worrying sign…

CORK
Does the cork look unusually young? Corks, like bodies, become brittle with age. If your bottle purports to be 15/20 years old, does the cork look of a similar age? (to complicate matters slightly, wine collectors can, and do, recork wines occasionally).

CAPSULES/FOILS
Capsules can be lead, wax aluminium, or plastic. Make sure your capsule is of a type (and colour) that the wine estate or Chateau uses (or used).

BOTTLE SHAPE
Look at the wine estate’s website again. Does the shape of your bottle concur with the bottle shape on the website? This is a crude method, but remember that fine wines are generally found in Burgundy (sloping shoulder) or Bordeaux (angular shoulder) shaped bottles.

Finally, make sure you buy from established, reputable sources.

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A Wine Lover’s Weekly Review Of $10 Wines – A Sweet Low- Alcohol Italian Wine

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Did you ever want to drink a wine with a very low alcohol level? Here’s your chance. Today’s wine is kosher, marketed by the largest kosher wine distributor in the world. It comes from the Asti province of the Piedmont region of northern Italy home to some fabulous wines that, at least usually, aren’t low-alcohol or bargain priced. This wine comes from the Moscato Blanco grape, the most widely planted Muscat in Italy. This is the oldest known grape variety in Piedmont, and perhaps one of the oldest grape varieties in the world. You’ll find this grape in well-known French Muscat de Beaumes de Venise AOC and the quite pricey South African Constantia, both dessert wines.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed Bartenura Moscato 2007 5.0 % alcohol about $ 10

Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials. Description : Classic Moscato with aromas of peach, table grape and apricot. Medium sweet with a slight effervescence and a low alcohol. There is a pleasant minerality that gives the wine structure. Soft and pleasing. Enjoy with spicy seafood dishes or serve with fruit custard desserts. Tasting Note : Pale straw yellow color; spicy apple, citrus and light pear aromas; sweet apple and pear flavors with balancing acidity, with peach and litchee notes on the finish.

And now for my review. At the first sips the wine was sweet, and I tasted some honey. Its first pairing was with a commercial barbecued chicken and a side of potatoes roasted in chicken fat and a light, tomatoey sauce. The wine’s acidity picked up with the chicken wings and breast, and the potatoes. The stronger tasting chicken leg choked out the wine. When paired with a mixed tomato salad containing basil the Moscato lost acidity but picked up some fruit. It became too sweet.

The next meal involved ground beef in ground semolina jackets and a sour sauce containing Swiss chard. This is a delicious Middle Eastern specialty known as Kube. The wine had honey and refreshing acidity, but this wasn’t a good way to do sweet and sour. The Moscato’s honey taste picked up with fresh strawberries.

My final meal was composed of a Portobello mushroom omelet accompanied by a spicy salsa containing tomato, onion, green pepper, cilantro and other ingredients. The wine struck me as bold and its honey taste was strong. Interestingly enough the salsa intensified the wine’s sweetness.

I finished this bottle with Matjes herring followed by two local cheeses. The results were basically the same, apples, honey, and light acidity. The herring brought out increased apple taste, and the Swiss cheese intensified the honey. An asiago cheese split the middle.

Final verdict. I will not buy this wine because while above price represents the American market, I had to pay considerably more. But at the American price I would definitely buy it, especially for those times that I want a sweet low-alcohol wine that tastes pretty good.

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A Wine Lover’s Weekly Guide To $10 Wines – A Peloponnesian Greek Wine

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This will be our third Greek wine review. The first was a sweet wine from the island of Samos. Then came a red from the island of Crete also made by today’s producer. Now we continue with a white from the Peloponnesian peninsula. This particular wine comes from pink Rhoditis grapes in the foothills near Patras at an elevation of about 650 to 1500 feet (200 to 450 meters). The producer Kourtaki has the largest wine production facility in all Greece, which is not surprising when you consider that it is the largest producer in the country. What may be surprising is that they are the first in Europe to use the patented “Crystal Flow” wine stabilization method. There is a lot happening in the world of wine, and Greece is no exception. By the way, should you so desire they still bottle and sell that classic standby, Retsina. Don’t look for a review of Retsina here. Ever. And yes, I have tasted it.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed Kourtakis Kouros Patras 2008 11.9% alcohol about $ 10 Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials.

“Tasting Note : Straw/lemon yellow color; lanolin, lemon and mineral aroma; crisp apple & lemon flavor; light body; crisp finish. Serving Suggestion : Pasta salad & olive oil dressing; fried seafood” And now for my review.

At the first sips the wine presented refreshing acidity. It was lemony. The initial meal centered on a soy-barbecued chicken breast. The wine showed strong lemon with good acidity. It was tasty. I got the feeling of the Greek seaside. The meal included an old favorite of mine, potatoes roasted in chicken fat. (The Greeks do their roasted potatoes differently.) The wine cut the grease. With a white corn and black bean salsa the wine’s acidity picked up but its fruit descended. With the dessert of fruit juice candy I got the lanolin that I had been promised.

The next meal involved a packaged eggplant rolatini with tomatoes, ricotta and mozzarella cheese that I slathered with grated Parmesan Cheese. This wine presented strong lemon flavor and acidity with a moderate length. Dessert was a high-quality, French lemon pie with a buttery crust. The wine was thin and yet pleasant. The two lemons meshed.

My final meal involved an omelet perked up with garlic powder and crushed chillies. The wine was pleasantly acidic and round with a side of moderately spicy guacamole. The wine became more acidic but remained pleasant and refreshing. This was a summer terrace wine. Before the traditional two cheeses I enjoyed some Matjes herring. The wine became sweet with a delicate lemon flavor. This was a pretty good pairing.

The first cheese was a local Provolone. This relatively flat cheese managed to weaken the wine. With a nutty Swiss, the wine wasn’t very present and not worth wasting on the cheese.

Final verdict. I have no plans to buy this wine again. There is just too much competition out there. But it did come close. Why can’t they do better?

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Consider the Wines of Abruzzo For Your Next Wine-Tasting Party

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The wines of Abruzzo, Italy, can offer more than just wine for your next wine tasting party. By offering your guests a little history on the legendary wine making region of the wines you feature, you provide more than a great tasting wine. You can complement the taste as your guests can picture the vineyards where the wine originated. The Abruzzo region of Italy has a vivid ancient past, both in history and wine making. This article looks at this region, including Scarpone, one of the most prized wineries of the area, providing some information you can share at your next wine tasting party.

Abruzzo

Abruzzo has its fair share of art and architecture throughout its hill towns and mountain villages, but the Apennine mountains dominate the region, taking up two thirds of the area and attracting hikers and skiers to resorts. The vast Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo is one of Europe’s most important nature preserves.

Descendants of various hill tribes who settled the region in the Bronze Age, the Abruzzesi were difficult to unite, although the Greeks, Romans, Swabians, Aragonese, and Bourbons all tried. Before the advent of modern transportation, the inhabitants were isolated in hill towns and villages clinging to the sides of mountains. After the 12th Century, the Abruzzesi were ruled by a succession of dynasties based in Naples to the south. As a result, their diet, speech, and customs are more similar to their southern neighbors than to their neighbors to the north or west.

The hills in the region are highly favorable for grapevines. The two classified wines are Trebbiano and Montepulciano, not to be confused with the town of that name in Toscana, where Vino Nobile is made. When grown on the lower hills, Montepulciano has an irresistible character, full bodied and smooth with the capacity to age. In the higher areas, the vines produce a lighter version, Ceraruolo, which is a sturdy, cherry-colored rosé. The white Trebbiano d’Abruzzo has been described as a phantom vine since its origins are unclear. At its best, the wine can develop a Burgundy-like complexity after four or five years of aging.

Scarpone

The small estate of Lorenzo Scarpone is located in Abruzzo in the Colline Teramane zone named after the nearby mountain town of Teramo and thought to produce the finest wine in the Abruzzo region from the native Montepulciano grape. It is the first and only zone in the Aburzzo to be given the Italian government’s highest quality ranking of DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata E Garantita).

Owner Lorenzo Scarpone is well known in the United States among Italian wine lovers for his Italian wine import company, Villa Italia, founded in 1989. Villa Italia’s wines have received outstanding reviews from Italy’s leading wine journal Gambero Rosso, wine club associations, and from Wine spectators, Robert Parker and Stephen Tanzer.

Lorenzo, an active member of the Slow Food Organization, founded the first convivium in the United States in San Francisco where he resides with his family. Born and raised in the same area where his wine estate is located, Lorenzo grows only the native Montepulciano grape. Highly respected Loriano di Sabatino is the winemaker and the wines have gained critical acclaim in the short time that the estate has released them.

The fine wines of Scarpone as well as other wineries within the Abruzzo wine making region of Italy are a favorite of many wine club associations as they produce robust wines with grapes possessing a vivid past that is sure to interest and intrigue your guests.

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Washington Wines Revealed

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For too long now, Washington wines have existed under the shadow of their neighbors to the south, and living under the pretense that they could not, and would not stack up to the boisterousness and nobility of California wine. Washington has been prisoner to the understandable misconception that they simply do not host a suitable grape growing climate. How could they grow grapes, you may ask, when it rains all the time? In fact, the majority of Washingtons wine growing region lies to the east of the Cascade mountain range, which, due to the rain shadow effect is arid and sunny. While damp and temperate Western Washington gets an average of sixty inches of rain per year, the East Side receives eight.

Its true that Washington was still making fortified wines based on Concord grapes in the 1960s when California wines were already receiving awards and becoming world recognized. But they have grown with leaps and bounds over the past 40 years and are producing high quality wines that compete with the best of California. The wheat fields and fruit orchards that were the previous staple economy in Walla Walla and Yakima Valleys have been replaced with acres of lucrative vines, growing from just ten wineries in 1970, to over five hundred today.

The Washington wine industry is currently worth three billion dollars and is ranked second to California in grape growing and wine production. The 1980s saw a huge demand for white wines and interest spiked for Rieslings and Chardonnays. Although the white wines are continuing to hold their popularity and prestige, Washington is now praised for its Syrahs, Cabernet Sauvignons and Merlots as well.

One of the most notable and celebrated winemakers out of Walla Walla Valley is winemaker Charles Smith. This year will mark his tenth year. The retired rock band manager shifted gears when he taught himself the art of creating quality wines, starting with very small batches of Syrah. Dont be fooled by the wine label effect and eye catching names, these are not mediocre wines with a cushy marketing budget. Inside the bottle are some of the most tremendous wines coming out of that region. These wines are not for the faint at heart. They are powerful, rock solid wine that pack a serious punch. With his wild thick hair, leather boots and a plain black t-shirt Smith looks like a cross between Jerry Garcia and a Harley Davidson poster child, and seems a little out of place in the perceived pretentiousness of the wine industry. His motorcycle riding, live on the edge, rock n roll personality shines through in all aspects of his winemaking, from labels to descriptions and within the wines themselves.

You can find Charles Smiths wines, the signature black and white labels, under his self-titled Charles Smith label, K Vintners and The Magnificent Wine Company. K Vintners is his original production and consists mainly of 100% Syrah and Syrah blends. The value-based Magnificent Wine Company label revolves around House Red Wine and House White Wine; quality table wine blends from multiple vineyards and vintages. His most recent endeavor is his Charles Smith wines, where he has been continuing with his full bodied, best wine possible approach and branching out to Rieslings, Chardonnays and Merlots.

Listed below are just a few of the favorites.
Charles Smith Label

Kung Fu Girl Riesling ($ 17)

Inspired by the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill

Tasting Notes: THIS GIRL IS SERIOUS! Aromatic, smooth, vibrant and tasty. Think tangerine, apricot, wet stone, key lime, clove and nectarine.now stop thinking and start drinking CAUSE KUNG FU GIRL KICKS ASS! Charles Smith

Eve Chardonnay 2007 ($ 15)

Tasting Notes: Sinfully temptingfresh, crisp, the perfume of sweet apple blossoms lures you into The Garden of Eden. Silky, soft, mouth filling deliciousnesstake the first sip! Charles Smith

Velvet Devil Merlot ($ 15)

Tasting Notes: If velvet had a flavor this would be it. Bittersweet chocolate, dark Italian cherries. Sweet rose petals with a firm, satiny finish. Pure Washington Merlot. HELL YEAH! Charles Smith

Chateau Smith Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 ($ 21)

96.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5% Malbec

Tasting Notes: Delicious Cabernet Sauvignon. Aromatics galorecigar box, pencil lead, cedar and currants with super refined tannins and a long, fine finish. French? No. Chateau Smith? OUI! Charles Smith

Boom Boom Syrah ($ 18)

99.5% Syrah, .5% Primitivo

Tasting Notes: Everything you want in a syrah.smooth, firm, fresh & darksuper

dense purple with meaty dark fruit, Asian five spice & sweet tobacco. Intense yet

plush textureit will KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF! Charles Smith

K Vintners Label

K Vintners Milbrandt Vineyard 2007 ($ 36)

Tasting Notes: As the day is longa never ending finish of spices, fresh tobacco, cured meats, and stone. So smooth, so fine. Charles Smith

K Vintners Northridge Vineyard 2007 ($ 40)

Tasting Notes: Extremely concentrated, intense color. Notes of huckleberry, cedar, cigar and kirsch. Built like a brick shit-house; exuberant ripe fruit with grippy backbone and spice and a seamless finish. Charles Smith

K Vintners Phil Lane Vineyard 2007 ($ 75)

Tasting Notes: Violets, lavender, roasted meat, game, crushed stone, and a super long finish. Charles Smith

Washington Facts retrieved from Complete Wine Course by Kevin Zraly. Additional Charles Smith information can be found at www.charlessmithwines.com, www.kvintners.com & www.magnificentwine.com

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