Hello All,
Having just won the college football bowl pool at the office (Yay!), I
decided to spend some of my windfall on three unfamiliar wines:

'99 Marchesi di Barolo Barolo (US$29.99) - light cranberry bouquet,
subdued cranberry/raspberry flavor with moderate acidity and firm
tannins. OK overall, but unimpressive for the price. Perhaps this one
needs decanting/aeration.

'04 Giesen Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough (US$11.99) - lime and cat pee
bouquet, lime-dominated flavor with moderately long finish. Refreshing!

Delaforce 10-year-old Tawny Porto (US$19.49) - burnt caramel aroma and
flavor with spicy, long-lived aftertaste. Now here's a winner!
Dan-O (<- hoping to win next year's pool!)

Dan,

thanks for notes.

I'd think that any '99 Barolo would benefit from significant air.
Marchesi di Barolo is not my favorite producer, but I think with
aeration that it would show better

Nice to finally see a good note on an '04 Marlborough, I've liked the
Giesen in the past.

Good luck on next year's pool!

"DaleW" > wrote in message
oups.com...

> Nice to finally see a good note on an '04 Marlborough, I've liked the
> Giesen in the past.

I too have like Giesen for the past two years, but I've not tried the '04
yet. I liked the Kim Crawford '04 myself, although others here were less
impressed. I'm in Pennsylvania, so my choices are somewhat constrained;
many of the producers L. Helier mentions simply don't come my way. I've
never seen a Martinborough PN, for example.

Dean

Thanks, Dale.
The Giesen was one of the few NZ SB's from '04 on the store shelf. Most
of the others were '03 and '02 - I thought they might be a bit stale.

Re the Barolo, I'll pour a glass before I start on dinner, then drink
it AFTER I wash the dishes. That might help.

Dean,
I'm in the same boat (Pennsylvania). Even the nearest specialty store
doesn't carry NZ PN's. For that matter, I often have a hard time
finding Oregon PN's !

Dan-O

wrote in news:1106068889.604580.201120
@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

> Dean,
> I'm in the same boat (Pennsylvania). Even the nearest specialty store
> doesn't carry NZ PN's. For that matter, I often have a hard time
> finding Oregon PN's !
>
> Dan-O
>
>

Gosh, whnever I read about an interesting wine someone posts about, I give
it a look-up online

This one is out of my price range
http://www.lcb.state.pa.us/Retail/Pr..._ListPage.asp?
searchPhrase=Martinborough&selTyp=&selTypS=0&selTy pW=0&selTypA=0&Cost1
=&searchCode=&sortBy=qual&SortDir=ASC&submit=SEARC H

I did have a NZ PN about 3 weeks ago, but have become *lax* in my notes and
I can't recollect the name. Going to say it was <$20US, if I can find the
receipt...

Dan and Dean, the folks at my local premium store (Oxford Center,
Pittsbrugh) have been happy (!) to look up availability for me, local and
across the state, FWIW...

De

"DPM" > wrote in message news:0NaHd.2834$Dz2.2608@trndny09...
>
> "DaleW" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>
>> Nice to finally see a good note on an '04 Marlborough, I've liked the
>> Giesen in the past.
>
> I too have like Giesen for the past two years, but I've not tried the '04
> yet. I liked the Kim Crawford '04 myself, although others here were less
> impressed.

I recently tasted the 2004 Kim Crawford. It's certainly in the usual style
for the winery, but seemed a bit dilute to me.

Tom S

enoavidh > wrote in
. 40:

>
> I did have a NZ PN about 3 weeks ago, but have become *lax* in my
> notes and I can't recollect the name. Going to say it was <$20US, if
> I can find the receipt...
>

Just as a follow-up, I see that it was Tamar Ridge Devil's Corner 2003,
from Tasmania; Pennsylvania LCB #27601, at USD17.99; and honestly, I just
don't remember anything about it, had it during the holiday break, or took
it along to a dinner...(late resolution, get back into the habit of tasting
notes!)
De

enoavidh > wrote in
. 40:

>
> I did have a NZ PN about 3 weeks ago, but have become *lax* in my
> notes and I can't recollect the name. Going to say it was <$20US, if
> I can find the receipt...
>

Just as a follow-up, I see that it was Tamar Ridge Devil's Corner 2003,
from Tasmania; Pennsylvania LCB #27601, at USD17.99; and honestly, I just
don't remember anything about it, had it during the holiday break, or took
it along to a dinner...(late resolution, get back into the habit of tasting
notes!)
De

Following up on the Barolo, it definitely improved with one hour of
breathing, thus soothing my initial sense of disappointment. Fruit
flavors came to the fore.

Dan-O

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Following up on the Barolo, it definitely improved with one hour of
> breathing, thus soothing my initial sense of disappointment. Fruit
> flavors came to the fore.

Don't let Mr. Scarpitti in on the secret. He doesn't believe in the
"breathing" phenomenon.

I think contact with all that Uranium has destroyed his olfactory functions,
and perhaps his palate as well. :^|

Tom S

Hey Tom,
He would really hit the ceiling if he noticed that it's a wine from
I____! :-D

Dan-O

>Following up on the Barolo, it definitely improved with one hour of
>breathing

They can improve with several hours of air.
Straight out of the bottle the nose is often closed and with a bit of airing
the wine just blossoms.

Barolo is probably one of the wines that most benefits from this - vintage Port
is the other.