Do you know to know what makes it so special? The wine is made with the grapes of their best vineyards. This is definitely a great valued wine.
Wine Name: Del Fin Del Mundo Special Blend
Vintage: 2011
Grapes: 40% Malbec, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon & 20% Merlot
Producer: Del Fin Del Mundo
Location: Neuquen, Argentina
Avg Price: ~$35
Tasting Notes: Full body, hints of dark currant, red fruits, cassis & coconut
Rating: 90 Points
Something new and exciting has arrived at Le Wine Journal: wine tasting videos! We have decided to make this blog more interactive by posting videos of the wines we taste. We will be releasing a wine tasting video every week with wines from all over the world. We actually just released our first video of a 2010 Chateau La Tour Carnet - check it out below and let us know what you think! If you have a specific wine you would like us to taste, please let us know. Hope you like the new video tastings!
We really love Margaux so today we head to Margaux which is on the left bank of Bordeaux. We decided to open a 2011 Chateau Brane-Cantenac. In our opinion, this is one of the best valued 2nd growth wines you can get out there. 2011 is not the best vintage but not the worst as well. As you know, Bordeaux wines have great aging potential and the 2011 can definitely be kept for at least another 10-15 years. Cheers!
Tasting Date: February 27, 2016
Wine: Chateau Brane-Cantenac
Vintage: 2011
Grapes: 56.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Blanc and 0.5% Carmenere
Producer: Henri Lurton
Location: Margaux, Bordeaux, France
Purchased Price: $49.99
Purchased Location: Total Wine
Tasting Notes: Beautiful color. Lots of Oak on the nose with dark fruits. Texture is very silky. Tannins were definitely present on this young wine. Decanting it for a few hours definitely helped. Fruity on the pallet with hints of dark fruits, plum, and cherries.
Would Buy Again: Yes!
Hello, everyone! We wanted to announce that we will be rebranding the blog shortly to Le Wine Journal. This rebrand comes as we will be expanding into other countries and wines. Our goal is to share our passion and vision for wines and we want to do that with wines from all over the world. Stay tuned as we have some exciting things coming soon. Hope you like the new name!
September was a great month. As we travelled through the Tuscan region we stopped to visit the spectacular winery and vineyards of Italy's most famous and known wine, Marchesi Antinori.
The winery and vineyards are breathtaking. The Antinori family have been vintners since 1385. With a recent huge investment in their new winery, built by architect Marco Casamonti from the Archea Architects group, the property is stunning and captivating from the moment you drive up to it. This new property is a reflection of their vision for the future and long term growth to keep the quality and tradition alive. The building is made up of 3 main materials: Terra Cotta - these tiles are empty on the inside to allow for the air to flow and keep the temperature cool, Cor-ten Steel which gives that orange hue once oxidized, and glass to permit natural light to come in and allow you to feel outdoors amongst the vineyards at all times.
Marchesi Antinori prides itself in its family history and works hard to maintain its values through each generation. Currently the 26th generation is running the business, while the 27th generation is involved in the daily activities to start learning and in a few years take over.
When it comes to wines, you will be sure to find a bottle to your tasting. The Antinori family owns 10 estates in which each one prides itself in its own style. Known for producing 'Super Tuscan' wine, they produce all varieties including white wine, red wine, sparkling wine, vinsanto, and even brandy and grappa! We had the pleasure of tasting their Montenisa Sparkling wine, Chianti Classico Riserva, Pèppoli and Castello della Sala while we enjoyed a fabulous lunch at their restaurant Rinuccio 1180. The name of this restaurant represents the year the journey began for the Antinori family as the first property bought by Rinuccio di Antinori was in 1180. This restaurant is open to the public on a daily basis without the need of you having to visit the winery each time. This is a must if you are ever around Florence. We highly recommend you to tour the winery prior to enjoying a tasty lunch to fully appreciate the experience. But if you only have time for lunch do not miss out on a savory lunch accompanied by great wine and a breathtaking view of their vineyards and the hillsides of Tuscany.
Marchesi Antinorii hosts 2 group tours at a time in which each tour group starts on opposite ends of the winery. Silence is key. It is respected throughout as the winery wants to promote the same respect in a cathedral as the wine deserves the respect. The way this winery was built allows for the light that comes in to cast shadows that give the look and feel of a cathedral. There are 3 types of tours.
Barriccaia: is the most basic tour. Lasting approximately an hour to an hour and a half, the tour ends with a tasting of 3 wines (2 reds and 1 white).
Bottaia: is a smaller grouped tour, lasts 2 to 2 and a half hours as you are guided through more of their oak barrel rooms, a visit to their big barrels and the grand cru tasting room, and ends with a tasting of 3 wines (2 reds and 1 white).
Bottaia Cru: is the same Bottaia tour but includes a lunch at the 1180 restaurant and a tasting of 7 wines.
A very unique feature of this winery is another passion that Alessia Antinori combined with her passion for wine: contemporary art. There are exhibitions within the property 6 months out of the year. After each exhibition, one piece of each artist is left on the property. This gives the property a uniqueness that I have not come across is any other winery. We were lucky to see Tomas Saraceno's exhibition, an Argentine artist. His work was about the representation of life and the connections that link to your life.
We ended our tour watching a 20 minute documentary of the family. A humble, passionate family that inspire to pass on the tradition from generation to generation. "A great wine has a soul, and a soul means having a personality" - Marchese Piero Antinori.
Before we end this post, we want to give a special thank you to Giulia at Antinori for guiding our tour and opening the doors to the history of the Antinori family.
Stay tuned for upcoming posts where we will go into the details of their wine making process, their cellar and our tasting notes on the wine!
Salute!
Oh where to start.....First of all, it has been a while! We have been very busy this summer and it has kept us away from the blog a bit. However, don't worry! We are back and we have a lot coming up.
This year we had a 30th birthday celebration. We thought, how special would it be to celebrate with a 30 year old bottle of wine? Chateau Dauzac is one of our favorite Bordeaux so we decided to take on the search. We started our search domestic. No such luck. Fortunately, we were able to take our search internationally and have a family member purchase a 1985 Chateau Dauzac in France and bring it back when they came to visit. Don't think because they were in France it was as easy a quick stop at the wine store. Days of searching lead us to the 1 bottle. Thank you WineSearcher.
As soon as we received the bottle we had our doubts. Was it well kept all these years? Did the traveling affect it? Is it past its peak? Either way we had to wait until the birthday celebration to find out. And we did. As we removed the foil, the cork was a bit popped out and looked in bad shape. Deep breath. We continue and use the monopol to remove such an old and fragile cork. Small pieces began to break off. 3/4ths of the way and the cork breaks. We push in the end of the cork into the bottle and pour the wine. At first sight, beautiful strong mauve red. At first smell, oaky and old but intriguing. We cheer and take our first sip. Silky, smooth and just past its peak. The celebration began!
Giuliana Rancic. E! News host, fashion designer, mom, restauranteur and now her latest venture - wine. Not just wine. Wine by the glass. So on this Sunday as I make bucatini with eggplant and burrata, I only want 1 glass of wine. And voilá! No need to open an entire bottle. Xo, G Rosé comes from Longuedoc Roussillon and is perfectly refreshing with 12.6% alcohol. A great dry rose with strawberry hues, is a perfect serving size and always ready to pop open and enjoy! Easy to take anywhere! I know on my next trip to the beach to watch the sunset I will be taking along Xo, G wine. Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio and Moscato are next on my list to try!
Xo!
Spring is here and so are our guests! It's time for our friends to leave their cold homes behind and come get some sunshine in Florida!
And from France they come and discover their own wine. As we prepare a nice meal, we pair our steaks with a 2011 La Tour Carnet. We let it decant for a good hour and as soon as dinner is ready, we cheer to another great night!
Château La Tour Carnet, a Grand Cru Classé, is one of our favorite wineries. It was actually the first vineyard we visited when we went to Bordeaux last year. It's immense, full of history and simply breathtaking. The property is maintained to the most utmost detail and the tour was extremely detailed - they did a great job at transporting us back in time!
Tasting Date: April 3, 2015
Wine Name: La Tour Carnet
Vintage: 2011
Grapes: 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot
Producer: Bernard Magrez
Location: Bordeaux
Purchased Price: $35
Purchased Location: ABC Wine
Tasting Notes: Silky smooth, full velvety red.
Would Buy Again: Yes!
Rating: 89 Points
Today we decided to try out Notorious Pink. The first thing that caught our attention was the bottle with frosted glass and a glass cork. Also, different from most of the dry rosés we usually drink, this is 100% Grenache which promises for a great sweet rosé. No need for a corkscrew for this one, so we are ready to taste! Keep on reading below for more detailed notes! Santé!
Tasting Date: March 8, 2015
Wine Name: Notorious Pink
Vintage: 2013
Grapes: 100% Grenache
Producer: Domaine la Colombette
Location: South of France
Purchased Price: $20
Purchased Location: Fresh Market
Tasting Notes: A sweeter rose, leaving your palate full of berry and citric flavors with grapefruit being the strongest. Very refreshing, light and smooth.
Would Buy Again: Yes!
Rating: 89 Points
I wanted to share this really great infographic that I found earlier today. Weather you are beginner or an expert, this infographic will give you some great tips and information. Need help with aromas? This infographic has got your covered! Learn anything new? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Source: Wine Investments
Summer is fast approaching in South Florida so it is time to bring out the rosé! Today we decided to open one of our favorite rose! A 2012 Lafon-Roset. This rosé is made by the 4th Grand Cru, Chateau Lafon-Rochet which makes amazing red wines. The sad thing is that 2013 is their last vintage as they will not be making anymore rosé. Although this particular rose is hard to find in the US, we were able to locate their 2012 vintage and bought a few bottles for the summer. Here we go!
Tasting Date: February 21, 2015
Wine Name: Lafon-Rochet
Vintage: 2012
Producer: Lafon-Rochet
Appelation: St. Estephe, Bordeaux
Purchased Price: $13 + Shipping
Purchased Location: Online
Tasting Notes: Dry and just enough sweetness with a delicate citric hint. Perfectly refreshing! As you can see from the pictures, this wine has a beautiful pink salmon hue.
Would Buy Again: If we could find more bottles, definitely!
Rating: 92 Points
Oh Valentines day! What to drink. Something a little more relaxing like a good rose or something a little more serious like Champagne. Champagne sounded very good! Now which champagne to go with. The classic Veuve Cliquot or Moet? This year we wanted something different and new. I remembered someone talking to me about Henriot a few months ago so I decided to look into Henriot Champagne. When we were opening this bottle I was a little nervous about how much life it had left. Was it going to be flat? As soon as we opened the bottle your heard the "pop" which was a relief. However, I must say that if you didn't drink your glass within 5-10 mins, the Champagne would become pretty flat which I think is expected since the bottle is 17 years old. At the end we were really happy with this bottle. Take a look at our feedback below. If you haven't tried this Champagne I highly recommend you do!
Tasting Date: February 14, 2015
Wine Name: Henriot Cuvée des Enchanteleurs
Vintage: 1998
Producer: Henriot
Appelation: Champagne, Reims
Grapes: 50% Chardonnay & 50% Pinot noir
Purchased Price: $119 + $32 Shipping
Purchased Location: Online
Tasting Notes: The champagne was a darker but perfect golden hue and full of delicate bubbles. To the nose, pear and honey aromas were the strongest. Last, but not least, a sip. Ahhhh. A honey, sweet, smooth flavor. This perfection lingered in your mouth, allowing you in to indulge a while longer with each sip.
Would Buy Again: Heck yes!
Rating: 95 Points
A bientôt!
