NV Sharpe Hill Ballet of Angels (USA) cork closure – appears light silver, very clear, barely any color, smell sweet grapey at first, sweet simple nose, but some things of interest, taste slight zip upfront, great deal of refreshing lemon followed by some skin elements on finish, on introduction, I was less impressed, but as I adjusted, I found it very refreshing, a good mix of acidity, toned-down sweetness (less sweet than nose would suggest), and bit of herbs on finish, I ended up quite liking it and finding it far more interesting than my first impressions, would gladly drink again. Connecticut-based winery
I'm not sure what the story is on this wine and I've submitted some questions to the producer but haven't heard back as of yet. Not sure what varieties of grapes are included, where the grapes come from, and what the lack of vintage means (Does anyone know if wines with an 'American' appellation are allowed to be labeled as vintage wines? My limited experience with American appellation wines has included wines all labeled without a vintage.)
2005 Bodegas Naia (Viña Sila) Rueda Las Brisas (Rueda, Castilla y León, Spain), synthetic stopper closure, 13% - Jorge Ordoñez selection - appears medium gold, clear, smell perhaps papaya, but less tropical, salty lemon/grapefruit, bit of cheesiness, bit of seaside, bit harsh on nose, taste salty upfront followed by light soft mineral, nice entry, good grapefruit acid, bare background fizziness, nice tartness, simple one dimensional but pleasant wine, did not pair well with salty meat, did much better with a few bites of superb complex and intensely flavored lobster, but still didn’t find the perfect match for food, simple pleasant wine for $12, I liked it
On this wine, I am again unsure what varieties of grapes are used, some reports on the internet indicate it is a blend of verdejo, viura, and sauvignon, but I was unable to drum up any contact info for either the producer or the importer to confirm this.
2006 La Vieille Ferme (Perrin & Fils) Côtes du Luberon Blanc [30 percent Grenache Blanc, 30 percent Bourboulenc, 30 percent Ugni Blanc, 10 percent Roussanne] (Côtes du Luberon AOC, southern Rhône, France) screwcap closure, 13% - imported to USA by Vineyard Brands - appears silvery reflective, smell bit warm upfront, not sure if alcohol, but not very pleasant, with air, simple pineapple, not all that interesting, taste something like green pepper, slight spice, warm toward hot, not much content, harsh for me, others liked it, I did not, not much interest for me and a pass at $7
NV Emilio Lustau Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Fino Jarana Solera Reserva [Palomino Fino] (Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, Andalucía, Spain) cork embedded into stopper closure, 15.5% - imported to USA by Europvin – code L-6195 – if I understand the coding system on sherries, this was bottled the 195th day of 2006, which means it might not be at the optimum level of freshness for a fino sherry (and I have not tasted finos widely enough to be able to make that call), appears gold, smell honeyed mead with lively herbs, simple sherry nose, bit viscous mouthfeel, soft easy entry, taste wonderful full easy fruity entry, simply sublime, huge contrast between that wonderful light and easy entry to a bone-dry finish with some funky cheese and notes of what caramel would taste like if it did not have any sweetness, when first opened the wine was just pleasant, when I returned to it a few hours later, the entry still was beautiful but the finish had become much more integrated with beautiful balance, I loved it, paired nicely with various meats from pig on Easter including my family’s broccoli salad with freshly crumbled bacon, spinach salad with hard boiled eggs and crumbled bacon, and a simply prepared but quite juicy ham, extremely happy I took a chance for the $14/$12 with discount