• About
  • Indiana Wineries
  • Michigan Wineries
  • Wisconsin Wineries

Howard W. Hewitt

~ … The "W" stands for wine!

Howard W. Hewitt

Tag Archives: Achaval Ferrer

Nothing Like Evening of Great Wine!

12 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by Howard in Italy, South America, Spain

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Achaval Ferrer, Agrentina, Friulano, Livio Felluga, Mendoza, San Roman Toro, Turley, Zinfandel

On more than one occasion I’ve written about my wine buddies on the blog and our frequent gatherings to try new wines, themed nights, blind tastings, and enjoy the good conversation and great wine.

A couple of the guys have job situations that have them out of the community for awhile so it’s always great when we can get the band back together. We were able to do that Friday night and had a dynamite lineup.

FriulanoLivio Felluga 2011 Friulano – I have to admit, this was my first Friulano and I loved it – so did the guys.

The Friulano region is as far north and east as one can travel in Italy. The wine is yellow-ish with fresh apple and citrus notes. I loved the rich mouth feel and balance. It has a hint of almond and even a bit of a grassy thing going on.

The Livio Felluga is the name to look for too. The Felluga family brough Friulano back after WWII, according to the winery website. Wine Enthusiast gave this vintage a great 90 points.

Livio Felluga 2011 Friulano, $26, Trade Sample, can find it higher and lower in the $20-range, Highly Recommended.

Turley 2008 Old Vine Zinfandel – The wine guys and I have had plenty of Zin but never Turley. That’s going to change!

2008-turley-zinfandel-old-vinesThe Turley old vine was our first red of the evening but might have been the best wine of the night. Simply put- it was stunning Zin.

Dark ruby red, spicy nose, incredible balance from tip of tongue to lingering finish, it was stylistic and silky with a rewarding finish. It had raspberry and pepper and all things that make Zin so alluring.

It’s an alcohol bomb but doesn’t taste like it at a whopping 15.6 percent.

Robert Parker gave this wine a stingy 89 points. Steven Tanzer a point lower at 88. It’s every bit that good and maybe better.

Turley 2008 Old Vine Zinfandel, $39.99, Very Highly Recommended.

toroSan Roman 2006 Toro – This is good as Spanish wine gets at a reasonable price point. I’ve had this wine on two or three previous occasions and it never disappoints.

This is a bold, muscular, in-your-face red wine that still has balance. Think smoke, tobacco, chocolate, and leather for this wine that is only seven years old. The critics all rave at 93-94 points.

Blackberry and dried fruit might best describe the palate. It’s big dry wine. We were enjoying this with shortribs which had spent the day in a crock pot. It was an awesome pairing.

San Roman 2006 Toro, prices all over from $30-$50, Very Highly Recommended.

Achaval Ferrer 2010 Quimera – This Argentinian blend from one of the country’s top producers just rocks. The wine is a unique blend of 31 percent Malbec, 20 percent Merlot, 27 percent Cab Sauvignon, 18 percent Cab Franc, and 4 percent Petit Verdot.

achaval-ferrer-quimera__92820.1359816257.1280.1280It’s something new from the winery and fits the description, often over-used, as a Bordeaux blend. These vineyards are 3,000 feet above sea level and represent some of the best regions in Mendoza.

It gets the classic treatment of new French oak, 40 percent, and is a reasonable 14 percent alcohol.

Plum, chocolate, and a hint of oak makes it a great wine with steak. We were sipping while tasting bites of a grilled ribeye and it worked great. It was not quite as big a wine as I had anticipated but certainly a good way to taste Argentina beyond all the mid-teen priced reds.

Achaval Ferrer 2010 Quimera, SRP $56, Trade Sample, Highly Recommended.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • Huber’s – Not just about wine anymore
  • Where have the all the biscuits gone?
  • Just what is a ‘bad wine?’

Grape Sense on Instagram

Have you met Karen? She works mid week mornings at the shop and is reminding everyone to join us for Saturday Sipps this weekend. We will be pouring the popular Auntsfield Sauv Blanc, another new Rose, and a Pinot noir from the Loire Valley! It all begins at 11 AM through the afternoon
Very mixed thoughts about an unplanned visit to Nonna’s Italian Italian in Plainfield just off I 70 from last night. Unexpectedly stuck in town for a couple of hours thought I would try it out it’s an odd set up where you have to order at the register. Calamari was great my salad was great the lasagna was good except for some odd white sauce top of the marinara which was delicious the white sauce was congealed and tasted bitter… The home-baked roll was delicious… The glass of Gabbiano Chianti was OK well I paid 1150 for a glass that sells for eight bucks … total bill $36 for those items which I thought was a little high mostly the wine cost. Service seem confused and disjointed but they were all very pleasant I’d probably give it a second chance not sure
Join Curt and I Saturday at the Wine Shop for Saturday Sipps. We will be pouring an unusual and delicious Austrian Rose, Italian Vermentino, and Sicilian red! Of course, all three 20 percent off Saturday only!
New coffee shop in Greenwood! Paul Jacquin, in photo, owner of Vino Villa has opened up Cafe Euclid in small house behind the wine shop and restaurant! Lovely patio for outdoor seating and good coffee!

Categories

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 3,651 other followers

Howard’s Wine Ratings

"Very Highly Recommended" - Drop everything and rush out to buy this wine!

"Highly Recommended" - Wine is varietally correct, well made, great balance, a must buy!

"Recommended" - Good wine and a good value. Not spectacular but a solid choice.

"Not Recommended" - Run the other direction.

Wine Travel Photos

My Magazine Stories

Friend Me On …

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Archives

My Summer With Lymphoma: Lymphoma, My Stem Cell Transplant

Good news on cancer and eyes

I have failed miserably at keeping ‘the cancer blog’ updated – and that’s a good thing, I suppose. I have now been “clean” since my April autologous stem cell transplant. I had a PET scan in June and a CT scan this week (Sept. 11) and both showed negative results. My oncologist was very pleased […]

Decisions, Decisions – Job & Health issues

  It’s been two weeks since my last update, one week-plus since I dropped one of my three antibiotics, and 97 days since my stem cell transplant for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.   So there are a few things to update and a few thoughts to share. Let’s start with the cancer. My team of oncologists at […]

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Howard W. Hewitt
    • Join 3,651 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Howard W. Hewitt
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: