Month: April 2010

Two Romanian Cab’s: Hyperion 2006 and Crama Oprisor 2008

The weekend started already on a good note after the Tignanello ’05 on FRI evening so SAT it continued with a nice BBQ in the courtyard with our close friends Crina and Catalin. We cooked a very interesting Greek improved Romanian dish that I highly recommend you to try it yourself. We learnt this recipe from some good friends,  a Greek-Romanian couple. Get any kind of “mici” meat, shape them, squizz the juice of a few lemons just to have all of them covered by lemon juice, add some oregano spice in the juice as well and for a greater flavor squizz 1 or 2 more limes. Keep this mix of meat and lemon juice in the fridge for 1h30 to 2 h and then BBQ. Add some tzatziki salad when you serve the “mici” on top of it. You’ll love it.

We had three wines with the meal: a 2008 Alsace Pinot Noir Gustave Lorentz Reserve, a 2006 Hyperion Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2008 Crama Oprisor Cabernet Sauvignon.

2008 Gustave Lorentz Pinot Noir Reserve: color is very light red, the nose was very mute just a little hint of red cherries. Taste was very unbalanced: on one side you could feel some light red cherries, on the other side the heat of the alcohol. The wine finished quickly with no aftertaste. This was a very poor bottle of Pinot. Avoid.

2006 Hyperion Cabernet Sauvignon: color is dark red with purple hues. Nose: very similar to a good Chilian Cabernet(it reminded me of Errazuriz), strong cassis flavors from the get go, a hint of oak, dry plums and spices. Taste: again strong cassis flavors balanced nicely by the American oak (the wine spent 7 months in American oak),nice acidity, spices and mint. This medium body wine finishes with dark chocolate notes in a medium aftertaste.

2008 Crama Oprisor Cabernet Sauvignon: Color almost the same as Hyperion, dark red with purple hues. Nose: strong vanilla flavor is dominanting the nose, some dark fruits but very much in the back at this stage; it feels like someone stuffed a vanilla cake in your glass. If you like that, you’ll love this wine.  In the mouth the wine continues with more sweet vanilla flavors, spices, some red and black fruits. The aftertaste is similar in lenghts to ’06 Hyperion. Perhaps it is too early to open this bottle but at this stage I am not a fan of this wine. I am however curious to see how well the vanilla flavors will integrate with the fruit 6-12 months down the row.

For me the Wine of the meal was the 2006 Hyperion Cabernet Sauvignon that I believe is already drinking well right now with nice fruit and enough complexity. Considering that both wines have similar prices: in the range of 50-60 RON, I would go with the ’06 Hyperion if I had to choose between them.

Tignanello 2005


I had a very nice FRI evening with some friends and we had the chance to taste a well known wine from Italy.

Antinori is one of the most known wine producers in Italy and recently started a joint venture with Cramele Halewood in  Romania at Dealu Mare producing Cantus Primus – a Cabernet based wine.

One of the original Super-Tuscan wines, Tignanello is produced exclusively from the famous vineyard, a 47 ha southwest facing, calcareous rocky marl and limestone plot, planted between 350-400 m above sea level at Antionori’s Santa Cristina estate.

Tignanello was originally a Chianti Classico Riserva called Vigneto Tignanello, but was first vinified as a single-vineyard wine in 1970, when it still contained the traditional Tuscan white grapes Canaiolo, Trebbiano and Malvasia. From the 1975 vintage, white grapes were totally eliminated. Tignanello is a blend of 20% Cabernet and  80% Sangiovese as opposed to Solaia which is a mirror image 80% Cabernet and 20% Sangiovese.

The wine was decanted for about 2 hours and drank over 2 hours. The 2005’s color is dark red with purple hues, still the color of a young wine. The nose is Bordeaux like with red and black berries, cassis, black pepper, cigar box, a hint of oak, some dry plums, chocolate evolving during the 2 hours more towards dark ripe fruits. The nose is sweet. The taste is lovely: a medium to full body, more full body, big and round tannins, big mouth feel with dark cherries, black pepper, spices, a great balance of acidity with a nice smooth and pleasing finish.  The aftertaste is medium to long finishing spicy with dark chocolate. Very well structured and balanced, drinking nicely today.

It is a lovely wine but the price is pretty high. If you can spend around 60-70 EUR for a bottle of wine this is a very nice and approachable bottle already.

2001 Marques de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial

After so much lamb from Easter i wanted to eat something softer and decided to cook some turkey with garlic and chilly stuffed into the meat and roasted in olive oil for dinner. As a matter of fact first was the wine selection and then the food, but don’t tell anyone. The wine is something special.

First of all very brief about Marques de Murrieta. Marques de Murrieta is unquestionably one of the leading bodegas in Rioja. Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial is a traditional Tempranillo dominated blend, which following on from six months in vat will often see in excess of 36 months in American oak before bottling. There is also a Reserva Especial, a similar blend also subject to prolonged wood ageing; both wines are only made in the best vintages, otherwise Marqués de Murrieta will produce a range of standard Gran Reservas and Reservas. Castillo Ygay has the same label for over 100 years. Just to get even  a better idea about the quality and potential of such a cuvee, in 1986 the Bodega started to bottle the 1942 vintage, that was kept in barrels for 44 years. It seems that the barrels had so much tar crystals on the inside that the wine was practically kept in a glass like container. Starting with the 90′ due to financing issues they shortened the barrel aging.

2001 was an exceptional vintage in Rioja that produced extremely complex wines with huge aging potential. The 2001 Marques de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial was kept in American oak barrels for 36 months. This wine has an aging potential of 50+years.

This was one of the top 10 wines included in the Top 100 wines of 2009 of Wine and Spirits magazine.

Color: red with purple color with some brick color at the rim.

Nose: very complex, red and dark fruits, cigar box, vanilla, spices, mint, some meaty tones as well.

Taste: this is real finesse, pure silk; intense flavors of red fruits and American oak(not over-oaked, just perfectly balanced), fine tannins, chocolate, red peppercorn,dry plums, medium acidity. Palate very Bordeaux with great complexity.

The aftertaste is holding over and over finishing with spicy flavors.

This wine is exceptional. If you ever get the chance to find this wine BUY IT. I paid 34 EUR for this bottle. I bought this wine in one of my trips in Barcelona, but the good news is that there is a store in Sibiu and they do have the wine.

This wine gave far more flavor and was more satisfying than the Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2001 that i had for Easter for drastically less money.

Mas Belles Eaux – Sainte Helene 2005

I had this bottle in my cellar for some months now and I decided to open it with to have it with some remaining lamb from Easter . Mas Belles Eaux is owned by Axa Millesime, the same owner of Pichon Baron in Paulliac, Bordeaux and it is an acquisition made in 2002 when Axa discovered the 90 ha of vines situated Nord-East of Pezenas, in Languedoc.  New equipment has been installed and the chais renovated so that wines can be properly stored and aged for long time.

The cuvee Sainte Helene is the top wine of this estate.  Very carefully selected grapes for this cuvee are coming from the plots situated on the highest point of this property.

It is a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Carignan fermented in steel and concrete tanks. The maceration is long: 30 to 40 days. The wine is aged in French oak barrels, 1 or 2 years old, for 15 months.

The color of the wine is deep purple.  Nose: initially closed it gradually opens with notes of dark black fruits, spices and cocoa. As the wine is decanted the cocoa is the main component that comes massively and elegantly out of the glass. Oak is only giving this nose more class, balancing the cocoa component.  In the mouth the wine is magic: balance between finesse and power; cocoa with crushed white and black pepper. A full body wine with a long aftertaste, nice freshness and acidity, round and polished tannins, that stay in the mouth for over 30 s. There is no sign of heat even though the wine has 14.5% alc.

I will be looking for more of this wine to keep and see how it develops in time.

Easter 2010

2001 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

Color: ruby red with dark tones, no sign of aging. Nose: very little red cherry, a little bit of leather, little bit of smoke, tobacco, espresso, earth, asparagus. Taste: a nice medium to full body wine, bitter tannins on the back end but not a pungent wine in the mouth, black tea, earth, sour cherry. Very old school Bordeaux. Certainly no fruit bomb in here but a pleasant wine that goes well with lamb.  Aftertaste is medium: 15-20 s. A Bordeaux with enough tannins to last another 10 years easily, but not an example of a remarkable Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, not for my palate or my taste. I would probably not buy it any time soon and that’s not because of the quality but for what you get for the money you pay. For me I can think of far better wines for less money I paid for this bottle. But hey that’s me. Everybody has his own palate. What attracted me on this 2001 Pichon Lalande was the 14% Petit Verdot added in the blend.

2002 Hugel et Fils Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive

Hugel Vendange tardive Gewurztraminer 2002 – Color: nice bright yellow color. Nose:  this wine is screaming lychees crème and a floral nose.  Taste: more lychees flavours and some mineral notes. Mid palate is a little watery but the wine finishes in a long aftertaste with a mineral character.A sweet wine that goes well with foie gras.

Chateau Puech Haut 2004 Tete de Belier Rouge

Château Puech Haut is located in Saint-Drezery, a small village 15 km nord-est from Montpellier.  In old Occitan language “puech” means a hill so “puech-haut” means a hill higher than others. This makes a better “drainage” for the vines. The grapes used for their wines are for the reds:  Syrah, Grenache and small portions of Mourvedre, Carignan and Cinsault and for the whites: Roussane, Marsanne and Grenache Blanc.  The density of the vines is 6000 plants per ha. The yields are anywhere between 2000-3500 kilos per ha. It is a property that starts to be more and more appreciated for its wines. Michel Rolland is consulting. In 2009 the Tete de Belier Rouge and Blanc were served at the 58th Festival de Cannes from Magnums.

The 2004 Tete de Belier rouge is a blend of 75% Syrah, 15% Grenache and 10% Mourvedre. The wine spent 18 months time in French oak barrels.  The color is dark red to purple. The nose is intense and complex:  red cherries, strawberries, leather, and a hint of barnyard (in a very nice way). Taste: very dense, sour cherries, strawberries, earth and dark pepper, a little bit of oak but very nicely balanced, nice round tannins; there is even a meaty component. The wine is thick and the aftertaste is very long.  The wine has 14.5% alcohol but it is so nicely balanced.  A great wine to have with big food.