More wines

After brunch Saturday afternoon, we walked back down Connecticut towards Dupont Circle and wandered into Best Cellars, a wine store, which was having a public wine tasting. It was nothing terribly formal. The manager had set out five wines on a counter near the front of the store and served little sips of wine in tiny plastic cups.

We started with Poggio Le Volpi Frascati Superiore 2004, an Italian wine retailing for $12.50 a bottle. It was a very clear wine with a quite light taste and little substance to it. It would probably be fine as a light aperitif, but it lacked acid and body, so I don't think I would serve it with food. The next white was a 2004 Vine Street Chardonnay. This is actually a private label for Best Cellars, and it's pretty good for a California chardonnay. The $15 bottle held a straw colored wine with good body and flavor, and with enough acid to it that it would be a good wine for appetizers or even an appropriate main course item. It was my favorite wine of the entire tasting.

The first red was La Ferme Gicon Cotes-du-Rhône 2004. It was everything one would expect for a $10 per bottle French wine: thin, tannic, and unimpressive. I poured out the rest of my cupful after a couple of quick, tiny sips. The cotes-du-Rhône was followed by an Argentine wine, Auka Malbec 2003. It had a fuller purple color and was quite a bit dryer with quite a bit of tannin. It costs $15. It's merely okay right now, but I think this wine will age well and should be nice in a few more years. The final red was Mähler-Besse's Toro Oro 2003, from Spain. The wine was a deep burgundy color with good complexity, but a bit of a tannic aftertaste. It was only $12, but I think it was probably my favorite of the reds. This wine should definitely be paired with foods.