Friday, November 27, 2009

Trying Birthday Wines 1- The Phantom Menace

This probably not the best time to do a wine write up, after several pints of Arthur's finest but hey, the show must go on. After trying the first two I feel I should at least do a quick review.

Scala dei Cartoixa Priorat 2005 - I didn't know what to expect here having never had a Priorat before. Quite a big fruity nose when I decanted it but not so much in evidence after an hour. A big powerful wine, Herself reckoned quite Bordeaux like, I thought it more mid-Atlantic, with some fruity characteristics along with some old-world structure. Very nice all told and I will endeavour to try more from this regions as the purse allows.

Norton Privada 2006 - I noted in my initial post that "the privada is a premium version, with Cab Sav & Merlot added, so am expecting good things here". This was to be its strength and its undoing. I really liked the care that into making this wine, sometimes you can taste it, but I wasn't such a fan of the sweet, fruity notes therein. Perhaps this was to do with the fact that Cab Sav and Merlot had been added to the normally Old World-ish Malbec (one of only six wines allowed when making Bordeaux).

Note: I have mixed feelings about not being 100% enthusiastic about wines which I have been generously given as birthday presents but I guess there's always the dichotomy between "journalistic" integrity and something something - screw it, I'm off to watch the Late Late Toy Show.


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