Harlaftis Winery Athanassiadi, Nemea, Greece 2007

Hi, again. I sit in front of my computer once again with an open bottle of wine in front of me. This wine might interest some people (me included) because it is Greek. With the LONG history of winemaking in Greece it might seem surprising what a small portion of the US market its wines control. I believe we will be seeing more and more Greek wine as their general quality continues to rise with the help of more winemaking experience and better technology. This wine is from the Nemea region and I was told that it is made from 100% Agiorgitika grapes and sees no oak. Here are my initial impressions (the picture shows the wrong vintage):

Harlaftis Winery Athanassiadi, Nemea, Greece, 2007, 100% Agiorgitika, about $11 retail, distibuted in this area by So Po Wine Co
dark ruby with watery rim
nose: medium- intensity of juicy, almost candied red fruit (sweet red cherry, raspberry) and just a hint of peppery spice and green pepper
palate: quite like the nose. The fruit manages to stay fresh enough (not candied) that I enjoy it. The nose had me a little worried that the wine would taste "fake", but it doesn't. The lack of oak treatment is, I think, allowing the fruit to take the forefront, and the hints of spice and green pepper that I got on the nose remain just hints on the palate.
The wine has medium- body, acid, tannins, and length. It doesn't really change much during the palate and is a bit one dimensional, but that dimension is tasting good. I would call it good, probably 83 points for my palate, and considering that it comes from a category not hugely represented in our market, I think it is a reasonable value. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to try something new or anyone who knows they like this style of wine.

I would like to thank everyone who has made it this far for reading our posts. If you are reading, please leave us comments. We would love your feedback, including any suggestions or requests you might have.

2006 Barone Cornacchia Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

Hi, again, folks. I'm running the risk of alienating those who check this blog solely for Galen's posts by writing my second in one day. Don't worry; I'm in a better mood now (I'm drinking wine). I am willing to take this risk because I am hoping my presence will encourage (or shame) Galen into continuing with this, his, blog. I understand that people wonder where to get these wines about which we write. I agree with the sentiment of not promoting any single retailer. I do think maybe it will help people to know who distributes the wines in this area. If you have a favorite wine shop you can ask them to special order you a bottle of the wine. That should be easy for them provided you can tell them which distributor to ask and that the shop buys from that distributor. If they don't buy from that distributor, you should be able to find someone who does. Now, on to the wine.

2006 Barone Cornacchia Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, about $15 retail, distributed by Easterly Wine
opaque ruby with lighter ruby rim
medium intensity (nose and palate), body, acid, and length; medium-, fine tannins
The nose shows some game and oak (comes across as smoke, toast, and plain old oak staves) with overtones of dark plum, red cherry, graphite, and dust.
The palate starts out a lot like the nose, but gives way to a fairly explosive midpalate with a lot more fruit dominance. The components are similar, and everything is still there, but the dominant flavors change. The finish is more like the attack. I also get a little raspberry and maybe some other dark berry fruit. Some coffee also emerges from the midpalate to the finish. The flavors are nicely balanced and I like the combination of earthy tones and fruit. As the fruit drops out on the finish, I am left with a slightly awkward bitterness that's costing this wine a point or two. The gaminess might be a little weird to those not familiar with that element, but this wine would go gorgeously with a variety of meats and would, with such a pairing, be pleasant even to such people. Personally, I think it's quite nice on its own and is delivering very good quality for the price and category. Heck, this is very good quality in general. If you like the reds of central and southern italy, this wine is for you. If you're not familiar with the montepulciano grape, this would be a good start. 86 points

If there are regions or varieties whose wines you want us to write about, please let us know by leaving comments. Thank you for returning after we let this endeavor go for so long.

Copain and a quick rant

Sorry to anyone who cares that we've let this blog die while still an infant. I just stumbled upon it (yes, I had pretty much forgotten) and decided to look through my notes for a decent tasting note to post. This wine is not available in Maine (sorry ... the original idea was to review wines people can find, but I think it's okay since we haven't been doing that anyway), but I'm a big fan of Copain since the '06 vintage. They still won't ship to Maine because our stupid legislators can't properly create a law enabling small producers not distributed in this state to do so. These legislators claim that the new law is great and does allow such activity, but if someone as small as Copain spent the time and money necessary to do so legally, they'd probably be losing money shipping wine to Maine. The last thing I'll say, now that I feel better after having unfairly generalized about an entire group of people, some of whom might even know how to craft good laws, is that this note is from my pocket notebook and will not have the detail as others here. Edit: I am leaving the original text in here so you can laugh at my foolishness, but here's an update regarding Copain. With their next release, they will be able to ship to Maine. I guess they decided it would be profitable after all. Great news for us. If you like wines made in the style I describe here, I highly suggest getting on their mailing list. If you're not sure, I believe you can order the Tous Ensemble series (not single vineyard, but still very good wines) without being on their mailing list. So for now, for this blog, the score is State of Maine:1 -- Doug:-1 (I subtracted a point for being so rude). I hear Maine will even take back the rule about minors not seeing any wine tasting going on. Now maybe they can learn not to create these problems in the first place. I promise to post something better soon. If I fail to do so I encourage people to comment, blasting me as ruthlessly and unfairly as I have just blasted certain lawmakers (don't even get me started on the idiot from Freeport who thinks kids shouldn't see any wine tasting going on). I leave it to Galen to censor me if he sees fit.

2006 Copain Alder Springs "Spirit Rock" Syrah, Mendocino (picture shows wrong vintage)-- not available in Maine, but about $40-$45 on release, if I remember correctly - tasted 12/25/09
opaque purple with ruby, watery rim
The nose and palate of this wine are quite similar. I got blackberry juice, white pepper, green pepper (slight enough to be charming rather than off putting), other savory spices, underripe plum, and black cherry. When I delved further I noticed a little lavender. The length was medium- and the flavor and aromatic intensities were medium+. The wine was very pretty and quite fresh for CA Syrah. This was right on the border for me of very good and outstanding. I scored it 90 points, but I would have gone higher if the finish had held on a bit longer. These wines are built to age and I suspect that element might flesh out a bit over the next few years.

For those who aren't familiar with Copain, Wells Guthrie (cofounder and vigneron) has, since the '06 vintage been focused on sourcing fruit from the coolest sites in CA (mostly Anderson Valley and the rest of Mendocino) in order to create wines of balance and significant acidity (sorry I didn't note the acid in this wine) that will age well. I can't comment on ageability, but in my opinion he is certainly accomplishing the rest of his goal, and the balance and acidity make them great food wines. The pinot noirs are quite elegant and this syrah was extremely well balanced. The wines I've had so far are almost Old World in structure (the pinots are Old World in structure) and yet distinctly Californian in flavor profile. If this style interests you, I suggest trying his Tous Ensemble wines. They're his entry level line (the only ones blended from multiple vineyards) and great values. The '07 Tous Ensemble Pinot Noir is killer and currently being discounted in a couple of places. You can find the wines in Massachusetts if you go there ever, or I would suggest (if I advocated such things, which I do not) ordering directly from www.copainwines.com and having the wine shipped to a friend or relative in New Hampshire. Let NH have the excise tax since Maine doesn't seem to want it (or don't -- I'm not saying this is the right thing to do and am obviously against the illegal practice of transporting alcohol across state lines ... in fact, I have no idea how I acquired the bottle I just reviewed).