My Top 9 List – February 2010

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:34:28 +0000

I thought that publishing my top 9 list would be fun for people to see and also for me to look at in the future to see if my favorites remain my favorites and also to watch my moods change! Why is it a top 9 list instead of a top 10 list? Why not? For now, the wine style I can’t seem to get enough of is that lightish red colored, fresh and slightly CO2’d wine sitting at between 11 and 12% alcohol. Wine number 2 is a good example of what I am talking about (although the last bottle I drank noted an alcohol of 12.5.5% – there’s no mistake in my post, this is exactly the way it was printed on the label)! (I have left out vintages because I didn’t feel that they were necessary here.. )

1. Frank Cornelissen Munjabel Bianco
2. Jean-Marc Brignot Rayure
3. Camillo Donati Rosso della Bandita
4. Laureano Serres Montagut Vinyes Arrencades Blanc 2008 *
5. Maison Pierre Overnoy Arbois Pupillin
6. Domaine Le Mazel Cuvée Raoul
7. Camillo Donati Malvasia Secco
8. Domaine Griottes P’tite Gâterie
9. Jean-Pierre Robinot Concerto d’Oniss

* (I noted the 2008 vintage here because this is the first and only vintage of this wine I have ever tasted.)

Of course I have many more favorites and could have made this list quite long… but these are my favorite 9 for now!

Unfiltered Wines & Deconstructed Grapes

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:05:03 +0000

And along came natural wines. Pure, fermented “grape juice”. I find it difficult these days to drink wines that I can see through. I’m not saying I want to have a glass of super-dark, jammy, inky wine. In fact, I like wines that are lighter in color and fresher in taste. What I am actually saying is, I prefer my wines to be totally unfined and unfiltered. I love cloudy wines, wines with bits and pieces of “deconstructed grapes” floating around freely. A glass of wine that I can’t see through because of the living particles afloat in the glass. I believe that fining and filtering a wine is partly to blame for the “death” of a wine, along with over-sulfuring.

I also love wines of all colors – from light red to off-red, light white to light orange, even some brown wines I have tasted have intrigued me.

Often times, these light, fresh, unfiltered wines are easier to drink and very often pair well with a wide range of different foods.

As lovers of wine, we should give all wines a chance. Let’s dispel our beliefs that a red wine should be dark red and a white wine should be yellow and totally clear. Let’s dispel our belief that a white wine should be sparkling and a red should be still. Let’s give all wines a chance – light, cloudy reds; orange-hued whites; sparkling reds and sparkling orange-hued wines. They all want the chance to be understood, so give them a try, with an open mind and remember….the next time you feel turned-off because there is sediment left in your glass after drinking your natural wine, it’s simply from deconstructed grapes, and they won’t hurt you.

Too see more photos, click here:

Rayure – Vinosseur.com

My Top 9 List – February 2010

Unfiltered Wines & Deconstructed Grapes