Tasting Notes For Friday, 1/11/13

All wines chosen by Jim, aka “Jim’s Gems”

NCWC JIM’S GEMS TASTING 1/11/13

MASI MASIANCO PINOT GRIGIO/VERDUZZO 2011
Our first Gem is this lovely blend from northeastern Italy. “The intense and fragrant bouquet is characterized by notes of wisteria and apple, pear, and banana. On the palate, it has a pleasant acidity, good freshness and intense taste, with the Verduzzo leaving a delicate hazelnut note on the finish. A unique wine with a distinct personality, Masianco balances the clean, white fruit and citric acidity of Pinot Grigio with the complex, buttery, tropical fruit notes of Verduzzo.” 89 points Tobin Bros. $11.97.

ALMA ROSA PINOT NOIR 2008
Next up is this beautiful Pinot from the world-famous Santa Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County, made by Pinot pioneer Richard Sanford. “While the fruit flavors have ripened to dark cherry and currants, there’s still a transparency to the wine, a rosy briskness that lightens the richness. The sandy tannins have a dark, cola-like tone.” 91 points Wine Enthusiast. $37.97.

GUIGAL SAINT-JOSEPH 2009
Wines from France’s Rhone Valley can be amazing! This one provides “sexy aromas of candied dark berries, violet and spices, with a bright mineral overtone. Lively and precise on the palate, which offers sweet dark berry flavors and gently chewy texture, it shows very good intensity on the finish, which clings with lingering minerality and spiciness.” 91 points Stephen Tanzer. $28.97.

FANTI BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2006
Now to the lovely Tuscan hamlet of Montalcino. For Fanti, the 2006 “marks a significant change of direction from past vintages. The dark, heavy style has been replaced by a much more finessed, elegant expression of fruit. Sweet red cherries, crushed flowers, mint and licorice are woven together beautifully in this silky, multi-dimensional, graceful Brunello. Sweet notes from the oak are intermingled with floral overtones on the silky finish.” 93 points Wine Advocate. $49.97.

ANTICA CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2009
From the rugged mountains of eastern Napa Valley, this beauty from winemaker Piero Antinori shows the pedigree of his family’s twenty-six generations of winemaking. “Dark red fruit, licorice, smoke and tar are some of the nuances that flow from this layered, gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignon.” 92 points Wine Advocate. $39.97.

BECKMEN SYRAH 2010
Beckmen makes wine in the Santa Ynez Valley, and their affinity for Syrah flows from vintage to vintage – I’ve never tasted a bad one. The 2010 “offers dark fruit and spice aromatics, and rich blackberry, plum and chocolate flavors. This complex, lushly textured wine concludes with a long, satisfying finish.” 91 points Jim Tobin. $19.97.

LUCA MALBEC 2010
Our final gem this evening hails from Argentina. “Sourced from 46-year-old vines and spending 16 months in 60% new French oak, this presents an inviting nose of exotic spices, incense, cherry cola, wood smoke, and black cherry. On the palate it opens to reveal a plush, lengthy, seamless effort that will drink beautifully from 2013 to 2022.” 93 points Wine Advocate. $24.95.