(WT060910-01) 08 DRY CREEK VINEYARD SONOMA FUME BLANC  $10.99
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (U.S.) Tart and shrill, with some minerality. Attractive–they've always done well with this./ Peach and grass flavors. Quite powerful, as California sauvignons are apt to be. Serve well chilled. 15.8.

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(WT060910-02) 08 ALSACE PINOT BLANC, A. SCHERER  $12.99
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (FRANCE ALSACE) Fresh, lively, incisive, upbeat. Aromatic apple varieties. Suave, ripe apple and pear with a soupcon of honey./ Delicious sweet, juicy apple taste. Lively, lovely. Lots of citrus and spice. Good dryness, grip, and acidity of 08, with a certain pinot blanc tenderness too. Yes, has a mellow side. Fine length! Wide ranging mealtime apps. Even invites quaffing. Well liked by the group. 16.4.

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(WT060910-03) 08 ALSACE GEWURZTRAMINER, A. SCHERER  $16.99
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (FRANCE ALSACE) Elegant, perfumed, cold cream aroma. Rose, lychee, sachet, talc, orange, ginger. Scherer finesse shows./ Taste of Turkish delight. Plus quince and mango. Surprising degree of residual sweetness for Scherer and 08. It's not just glycerol. Say, 1.5% RS? Oh, but there's good acid foil. Especially for gewurz. The Scherer wines always have good acidity. The acidity and flavors cling to the palate and linger long. Yes! 16.4+.

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(WT060910-04) 09 PORTUGAL FAMEGA ROSE, CAVES DA CERCA  $7.49
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (PORTUGAL) Really quite fizzy, like a young Vinho Verde. Candied fruit aroma. Strawberry. Red pop like./ Fizzy, light, easy. Strawberry and melon rind. A playful little thing. Genuinely dry though. Good balance. Multi-purpose. 15.2.

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(WT060910-05) 09 YECLA ROSE, BODEGAS CASTANO  $8.99
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (SPAIN) 85% monastrell and 5% each grenache, syrah, and cabernet. Taut, ripe, dark fruits and berries. Some peels edge. Quite full, even powerful./ There's still a little gas in this, as if it's still working. This brings forth some brown apple tones. By Saturday, this had all cleared up, blown off, and the wine smelled and tasted wholesome and correct. 15.0+.

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(WT060910-06) 09 COTES DE PROVENCE ROSE, JULES  $16.99
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (FRANCE MEDITERRANEAN) Lithe, refined Provence style, with lovely floral essence and red fruit expression./ Polished, reserved, elegant, and well scented in the mouth. Good race, edge, acidity, texture. Lithe indeed. Right. Well liked by the group. 16.2.

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(WT060910-07) 09 SALENTO MASSERIA MASSARO NEGROAMARO ROSA, L'ASTORE  $16.99
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (ITALY) Sweet and berry like fruit. Comes right at ya!/ Great acidity from the south. Never a problem for Italian winemakers no matter how warm the climate, it seems. Possibly, choice of varietals clinch it. Well balanced, with a smoothness from alcohol or glycerol. Great length. Some in the group thought this rather bold for a rose–more like a red wine. I was on the side that did not feel this way. Well liked by all regardless. I wish more fresh Italian roses would come our way. Italy's as good at them as Med France and Spain. 16.8.

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(WT060910-08) 09 TAVEL ROSE, CHATEAU DE TRINQUEVEDEL  $21.99
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (FRANCE MEDITERRANEAN) Rich, bold, sweet, fruity, heady. Strawberry, cranberry, and other red core fruits./ Full, even powerful, though the alcohol was no more than most of the others. It's just that Tavel always has great presence–plenty of everything. The good, dry, stalwart style of the estate. Solid and assertive; even a trace of tannin. This really delivers, and will improve for a year in bottle. Tavel's one of the few roses I'd rather drink in year two than year one. Well liked by the group, though the Tavel style was a little powerful for some. Most agreed it had potential to improve in bottle. 16.9+.

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(WT060910-09) 08 PAVIA PINOT NOIR, MERIDIAN  $8.49
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (ITALY) Crisp and dark and cool indeed. Peels here. Well done./ Fresh and tarry/peelsy, with a pretty face too. Elegance, lift, brightness. Some oak vanillin, it seems. Wine of place. Like the Cavit and the Sartori pinots from Pavia that we've enjoyed in the past. 15.9.

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(WT060910-10) 08 DOLCETTO DI DOGLIANI, PODERI DE LUIGI EINAUDI  $21.99
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (ITALY) Brooding, stoic, black and smoky. Pleasantly deep./ Big, solid, reticent. Some brett. Lots of peels extract. Not a lot of sweet fruit formation yet. Requires faith. Liked by the group. 15.3+.

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(WT060910-11) 08 BARON PHILIPPE DE ROTHSCHILD ESCUDO ROJO VALLE CENTRAL RED  $13.99
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (CHILE) Old time Chile here. Grass, underbrush, pencil lead. Light on the fruit./ More fruit on the palate though. Good with the indigenous cuisine. 15.6.

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(WT060910-12) 07 RODNEY STRONG SONOMA CABERNET SAUVIGNON  $15.99
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (U.S.) Very sweet and oaky. Cedar, sawdust, caramel. High strung. The 07 fruit abundance works to counter the oak some, but it remains in command yet./ Vanilla oak. Very powerful and assertive. Needs time for the fruit to well up, the oak to settle in. OK with BBQ ribs now though. 15.4+.

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(WT060910-13) 05 MIDNIGHT CELLARS CRESCENT PASO ROBLES ZINFANDEL  $13.99
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (U.S.) Oak, Paso roast and ripeness, 05 firm figure./ Plenty of wood and fruit. Black fruits, jam, prune. Dry and evolving, while holding to some 05 structure and tannin still. Useful now. Slim possibilities for improvement. 15.6.

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(WT060910-14) 01 BACALHOA COLHEITA MOSCATEL DE SETUBAL  $16.99
06/09/10 Wednesday Group Tasting Notes
- (FORTIFIED) Well, this was #1 on all lists. Candied orange peel, flowers, white raisin, peach, honey, fig, date, molasses, brown spices, coffee, caramel, bakery smells. Dare I say ‘complex'? Total Setubal./ Lots of Indian spices too. Sweet, strong, vigorous, balanced. Oh, my! Just an incredible value! 18.4.

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