Tagged with 'primitivo'

Mostly Italian with a Primitivo V Zinfandel Shootout

First Glass Template
Mostly Italian with a Primitivo/Zin Shootout
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were not tasted blind

 
 
San Lorenzo Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi 2016 – Puglia, Italy 
Golden in hue with at first a slight buttery touch to the nutty aroma and later bright tropical fruit delights. The taste is bright, fresh and tangy with peach and apricot fruit, oiliness to the texture and softness to the finish. A touch of almond and lime zest adds to the intrigue. Tasty unoaked apertif style.
13% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Escarpment Martinborough Pinot Blanc 2016
Golden hued with a flinty sense to the shy tropical fruit scent and a touch of spritz to the texture that makes it seem so bright and fresh, yet this is a wine of Chardonnay-like body and weight and as the spritz subsides flavours of lime and white peach emerge and the finish is lightly savoury.
13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $21.99.
 
Crossroads Winemakers Collection Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2015
Golden in colour with a struck match smell to the scent and a gunflint feel to the initially grapefruit driven taste but under that is some lovely nectarine fruit and oak spice and as the wine warms up stone fruit, mealy notes and savoury oak emerge.  A big bold dry wine with an exceptionally long and alluring finish but still seems youthful wanting further time to unfold. Gold NZIWS.  
14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $26.99.
 
Leone De Castris II Medaglione Negroamaro 2106 – Salento, Italy
Deep ruby, moderately opaque with pinky edges. Very appealing aroma of summer berries then firm yet fresh in the mouth with vibrancy of fruit and a lovely underlying savouriness and a lingering touch of anise. Gutsy, juicy and salivating fruit driven wine.   
14% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $15.99.
 
Leone De Castris Salice Salentino Riserva Negroamaro 2015 – Salento, Italy
A dark black red with the edges suggesting a little age. Currants and fruit cake on the nose and rich, ripe and sweet in the fleshy palate with juicy berries and touches of vanilla-tinged spice underpinned with dark savoury leathery tones and finishing reasonably dry – the fruit masks the tannins until the end. 
13.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
Masseria Li Veli Orion Primitivo 2016 – Salento, Italy
Deep rich red with pinky edges. The bouquet is ripe and vinous with fruit cake nuances and a spicy flare. Concentrated and mouthfilling in the palate with a peppery vibe, deliciously juicy fruit and leather savoury tones simmering along in the background then vanilla and tobacco come to the fore with a spicy brightness as the wine lingers.
14% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $21.99.
 
Leone Du Castris Villa Santera Primitivo Di Manduria 2016 – Manduria, Italy
Dark red with moderate opacity and youthful pinky edges. Perfumed yet slightly rustic with a nuance of violet and a waft of menthol tobacco and cedar. Bright in the palate with a touch of musk / chocolate-coated Turkish delight, fresh acidity, juicy plum and cherry fruit and a tingle of spice shimmying through the background. Fine and silky with the tannins more obvious on the finish. A crowd favourite on the night.
14.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $25.99.
 
Fatalone Giola Del Colle Fatalone Primitivo 2015 – Puglia, Italy
A moderately deep red black in the core of the glass. Perfumed with a sensual savouriness and red berry fruit. Savoury and spicy in the palate with firm tannins quickly making themselves known yet at the same time radiating a plum and dark berry fruit succulence with oak-infused peppery spices, underlying boot leather and savoury cigar box-like notes. The tannins melt away on the deliciously long dry finish. It hides its high alcohol well.
15% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $28.99.
 
Brazin Cellars Old Vine Zinfandel 2015 – Lodi, California
Deep red black with a creamy, spicy, cedary, bright, lifted berry scent and flavours that overflow with vanillin oak, smoky oak, sappy oak, oily oak and sweet, ripe, succulent berry fruit. It's ripe, luscious, full-bodied, meaty and chocolatey. Sweet and ripe with appealing bright flavours lingering for ages and while some will find the oak overpowering, others will love it. As someone said on the night, "A wine to drink with a knife and fork.".
14.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $30.99.
 
The Prisoner Wine Company Saldo Zinfandel 2015 – California
Bright pinky/red black. Concentrated and fruity on the nose with vanilla and spice and touches of leather.  A high alcohol opulent wine brimming with bright berry fruit and jam biscuit notes yet with a well-balanced underling savouriness, juicy acidity and tannins that seem silky and seamless yet assert their presence on the finish.  A blend of 85% Zinfandel and 15% Petite Sirah and Syrah matured in French and American oak, 25% new, this is a powerful wine that as someone said, ‘needs a buffalo to accompany it.”
15.9% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $40.99.
 
The Prisoner Wine Company Napa Valley Red 2015 – California 
A deep purple red with a profoundly vinous bouquet with a waft of chocolate biscuits. A big wine, a creamy wine, a spicy wine, a fruity yet savoury wine with obvious high alcohol that masks the immense tannins. This blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Syrah and Charbono matured in French and American oak, 30% new, is overwhelming at this stage of its life and really should be cellared. Patience will reward.
15.2% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $45.99.

New Arrivals, New Vintages

First Glass 11 July 2018
New Arrivals, New Vintages
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were mostly tasted blind

 
Beach House Hawkes Bay Selection Chardonnay 2016
Golden hued with toasty oak and a just out-of-the-oven nut biscuit scent. Nutty and creamy in the palate with peach and polished toasty oak. Smooth and long with a bright tasty finish. Terrific socialising wine. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Champagne Delaplace Brut NV
Straw yellow with a frothy foam when poured. Quite a broad yeasty scent. Vibrantly effervescent at first in the mouth but when the bubbles subside the texture is creamy. A mouthfilling, nutty, mellow Champagne with attractive yeast autolysis and richness to the lingering finish. Gold NZIWS. 12% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $42.99.
 
Lawson Dry Hills Reserve Marlborough Chardonnay 2016 
Lemon yellow in hue with a full-on rich, fat, mealy, inviting Chardonnay scent then toasty and savoury in the mouthfilling palate that's layered with gunsmoke, spicy oak, lemon biscuit, peach and a touch of caramel and culminates in a long, dry, roasted nut finish. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $22.99.
 
Vega del Rayo Rioja Reserva 2011 – Rioja, Spain 
There’s a touch of tawny to the fading ruby hue. The bouquet offers up cherry and blueberry jam and it’s quite dry at first in the savoury palate with earth, game, mushroom and leather then juicy succulent redcurrant jelly-like fruit wells up from within with a whisper of spice and soft mellow oak. Subtle, understated and long with well-structured silky tannins and a linger hint of jaffa. Gold NZIWS. 13% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
Honoro Vera Garnacha 2016 – Calatayud, Spain 
Bright ruby in the glass with touches of crimson. Fresh, bright and youthful both on the nose and in the silky-textured palate where cherry and raspberry fruit is framed with red pepper, leather and spice and the finish lingers with succulence and charm. 14.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $22.99.
 
Giordano Reserva Primitivo Di Manduria Riserva 2015 – Puglia, Italy
Inky black red with crimson edges. Sweet smoky oak fills the bouquet with blueberry and chocolate coasted raisins. Full-bodied, powerful, succulent and juicy with a curvaceous body and a velvet cloak texture. Full of ripe fruit, sweet oak and underpinned with spice and pepper, it is definitely seductive at this stage in the tasting. 14.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
I Muri Primitivo 2017 – Puglia Italy 
Bright red black in the glass. Crushed dark chocolate biscuits and jammy red fruits shimmy through the slightly rustic scent with underlying savouriness, a touch of earth and plum and dark cherry fruit in the fine silky-textured palate. Oozing with succulence and flavour, a new vintage of a perennial favourite that delivers what you expect from this label. 13.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $17.99.
 
Red Knot Classified McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016 – South Australia 
Inky purple red in the glass. Blackberry and dark chocolate fill the bouquet then in the firmly structured, full-bodied, mouthfilling palate there’s savoury oak, vanilla, touches of pepper, hints of anise, concentrated mulberry and black cherry fruit and succulence to the spicy finish. Made by Shingleback. Winestate Shiraz Wine of the Year. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Reilly's Clare Valley Shiraz 2016 – South Australia
Inky black red with crimson edges. There’s a floral allure to the sweet nutty oak and spice-infused scent with spice quite prominent in the silk-edged velvety textured palate with dry (but not drying) tannins and a juicy succulence to the bright creamy finish. A dense, concentrated, tight-knit wine that would benefit from cellaring at this stage of its life. 15.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Mouton Cadet Reserve Sauternes 2014 – Bordeaux, France
Deep yellow in the glass with a nectar-like scent and lightly viscous and honeyed in the palate with an intriguing earthy savouriness that brings the delectable sweetness into check. Orange honey, candied orange peel, candied fennel seeds, dried tropical fruits and lanolin all combine for a glorious finish. Made from 90% Semillon and 10% Sauvignon Blanc. Delicious. 13% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $49.99 for a 750-ml bottle. 

Italian & Spanish Wine Festival

First Glass 16 May 2018
A selection from the Italian and Spanish wine tasting
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were not tasted blind

 
Astoria Treviso Butterfly Prosecco 2017 - Treviso, Italy
Pale straw with a lacy mousse. Ripe orchard apple scents fill the bouquet and it’s vivaciously fizzy in the mouth with a myriad of apple flavours and hints of musk. Fairly dry with a long creamy finish. 11% alc. $19.99.
 
Vilarnau Cava Brut Reserva NV - d’Espiells, Penedes, Spain
A dry, creamy cuvee of Macabeo, Xarello and Parellada grapes with secondary fermentation in the bottle that introduces complex yeast aromas and flavours to the fresh grapey taste. Served in a painted bottle that would look fabulous at any occasion. 11.5% alc. $20.99.
 
Tenuta Ulisse Pecorino 2016 - Terre di Chieti, Italy 
Luminous gold in the glass, aromatic, and rich and oily to the taste with a hint of apricot. A mouthfilling, textural white that’s a little reminiscent of Viognier with fresh acidity pushing through on the long, full, satisfying finish. 13% alc. $22.99.
 
Castello Del Poggio Moscato - Provinca de Pavia, Italy
Grapey, musky, floral aromas and a sweet, light and frothy taste full of muscat grape flavours with a green apple bite to balance the flirty sweetness. To be served very chilled as an aperitif or at the end of a feast. 7% alc. Screwcap. $18.99.
 
I Muri Puglia Primitivo 2016 - Salento, Italy
A rich garnet red (cherry juice) hue with light, savoury aromas with hints of raspberry jam adding brightness, and medium-bodied to the spicy taste with firm tannins, hints of nut chocolate and cherry with a juicy fruit sweetness to the finish and lingering touches of anise. 13.5% alc. $16.99.
 
Gran Sasso Colline Teramane Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2012 - Abruzzo, Italy
Deep black red in hue with a leathery overtone to the concentrated red and black jammy fruit aromas then in the mouth a profound vinosity frames the black cherry and plum fruit with a hint of liquorice and vanilla and beautifully integrated tannins. Svelte yet with understated power. Outstanding on the night. 13.5% alc. $30.99.
 
Fantini Edizione 2014 - Puglia & Abruzzo, Italy
A sumptuous, smooth, mouthfilling blend of Montepulciano, Primitivo, Sangiovese, Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera with a youthful saturated black-red colour, a fragrant aroma reminiscent of chocolate-coated violets and a big, rich, ripe, almost sweet taste with loads of fruit, spice, vanilla, musk, chocolate and mocha. $57.99.
 
Banfi Bolgheri Aska 2013 - Italy 
There’s a little browning to the red garnet hue, the aroma evokes a mellow old world style with subtle barnyard and woody herb notes and the taste is initially dry, sappy, savoury and herbal with increasing vinosity that imparts a juiciness to the finish. A bit like leftover fruit cake with dried cakey bits and sweetness from the fruit. Very much a food wine. 13.5% alc. $29.99.
 
Rocce delle Macie Chianti Classico 2015 - Italy
Deep ruby red with a dark centre. The aroma is savoury with barnyard and leather then sweet herbs and glace cherries. Medium-bodied, dry and spicy with juicy cherry, plum and cranberry fruit, well-balanced underlying savouriness, freshness and lingering anise vibes. Accompany with antipasto nibbles or BBQ. 13.5% alc. $22.99.
 
Castelforte Valpolicella Superiore 2014 - Italy
Rich garnet red with the slightest suggestion of browning. Savoury aromatics with the blood of fresh game and hints of liquorice and anise, then touches of ironstone, bottled plums and green herb tones to the taste. An interesting wine in a rustic, old world style with pleasing vinosity and texture and rounded tannins. 13% alc. $20.99.
 
Castello Tricerchi Brunello Di Montalcino 2012 - Italy
Dark orange garnet. Lifted fine, mellow aromatics with a hint of orange cordial / orange pomander. Silky in the palate with old world savoury gamey notes, fine dry tannins and mellow dried orange tones. A little understated/delicate to start but builds in complexity and vinosity with an almost floral lift to the bright and extra long finish and just a touch of salinity. A thinking wine to savour with food. 14% alc. $69.99.
 
Muga Rioja Reserva 2012 - Rioja, Spain
Dark red, browning on edges. The bouquet is a little dusty with hints of baked chocolate plum tart - the scent becoming more and more intriguing over the course of the tasting. Lovely concentration to the taste with fine tannins, sweetness to the mulberry and cherry fruit, touches of anise and an aura of complexity that comes with bottle age while the dusty oak is an alluring feature to the finish. 14% alc. $35.99
 
Torres Celeste Crianza Tempranillo 2014 - Ribero del Duero, Spain
Bright deep red. Concentrated fruit and fine oak aromas with a hint of cigar box. Smooth and flowing in the mouth with red fruit, nicely framed vanillin oak, pillowy tannins and plumpness to the long, creamy finish. A youthful wine with brightness to its astral aura. 14.5% alc. $29.99
 
Campo Viejo Rioja Gran Reserve 2010 - Rioja, Spain
Dark red black with orange tones to the edges. Aromatic, a little dusty with sweet oak and baked fruit pie. Firm in the mouth with tannins still quite pronounced. Savoury, gamey and just a little meaty with a softness/mellowness coming through and while it is still unfolding the vinosity/fruit sweetness that emerges shows the promise of the future. 13.5% alc. $29.99.
 
Castillo Armado Tempranillo Reserva 2009 - Valdepenas, Spain
Dark garnet red. The bouquet is of drying / baking red fruit with a touch of herb and spice. Flowing seamlessly across the palate it is medium-bodied with mellow plum fruit and a sprinkle of spice, perhaps a hint of oxidation but it is nine years old - or maybe it is rusticity. 13% alc. $17.99.
 
Carlos Serres Rioja Reserva 2011 - Rioja, Spain
Dark burnished red with a black core. Aromatic scents of plum and mulberry pie with sweet spices and perhaps even a suggestion of mint. Savoury, dusty and earthy to the taste with touches of red berry, vanilla and mint with smooth silky tannins and a long mellow finish with a brightness as it lingers. Rioja’s acidity is holding this wine nicely. 14% alc. $25.99.
 
Costers Del Priorat Petit Pissares 2015 - Priorat, Spain
Bright black red. Aromas of brambles bushes (juicy berries, sappy leaves and stems) on the side of a dusty road. A big wine. A full-bodied wine. An earthy, savoury, spicy, gamey wine with powerful yet rounded tannins, juicy drupelets of blackberry that pop in the mouth, a touch of pepper and a dark chocolatey oak finish. Fulfilling, modern and memorable. A crowd favourite on the night. 14.5% alc. $28.99.
 
Gran Familia Rioja Reserva 2012 - Rioja, Spain
Fading black red garnet. Fragrant aromas of cherry jam with a touch of rosehip and sweet spices. Lifted in the medium-bodied palate with moderately firm tannins to start, juicy red fruits, a touch of vanilla creaminess, a rose petal muskiness and subtle anise spices finishing smooth with the tannins dissolving to leave behind a pleasing roundness and well-balanced sweetness and savouriness. Star buy. 13.5% alc. $19.99.