Favorite Red Wines

I'm addicted to wines. You'll see many more posts about wines in the future. I'm on pace to drink about 400 different wines this year. There are only two other topics I like talking about more than about wines - music and women. When you combine all three, things get very interesting. Here are the red wines that have over the years blew me away.

Chateau Haut-Brion - 1988 Bourdeaux, France(Pessac-Leognan, Graves) - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc
My dad bought a bunch of these a while back. He opened one on my twenty-first birthday. Back then, I didn't know as much about wine. I just remember having this unbelievably complex Bourdeaux. Only recently did I realize that it was the famous Haut-Brion. I didn't remember the name but I remembered the distinctively simple label. Even though it was ten years old at the time I had it, I didn't mind the tannins that much. People have called this one of the top Haut-Brion of recent years. My dad still has one left. I can't wait until I get to try it when it has fully matured. This is a premiere cru wine.

Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou - 1996 Bourdeaux, France(Saint Julien) - Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Fr, Petit Verdot
I had this at a cellar tasting at Wine Underground, in between Roland Park and Hampden in Baltimore, this year. It is the most balanced wine I've ever tasted, although I have to admit that I do have a high tannin threshold. Robert Parker called it possibly the best vintage of Ducru ever. Although it is a second growth wine, most people agree that it's up there with first growths.

Beaune Clos de la Mousse, Bouchard Pere et Fils - 1999 Bourgogne, France(Beaune) - Pinot Noir
I've been staying away from Burgundies because they tend to be too expensive for me, they're variable in quality, and they're too delicate to keep around in less-than-ideal environments like my apartment. When I saw a half bottle of this premiere cru at a clearance sale, I seized upon it. Unfortunately, it was oxidized. They gladly replaced it. Smooth, elegant - like velvet. Finally, I got to have a red Burgundy that tasted like a prototypical Burgundy.

Pira Luigi Barolo - 1995 Piemonte, Italy(Serralunga) - Nebbiolo
Wow! This is how my love affair with the nebbiolo grape started. I've been hearing about barolos for years and a couple of years ago, I got up the courage to buy one. There's a store near Lexington Market in Baltimore called Trinacria that sells wines at wholesale prices, sometimes lower! I got this one for $20! I bought it for a dinner party and I used it for both a tenderloin roast and for a spaghetti sauce. This just might be the biggest and most complex wine I've ever had. The finish was like a minute and a half!

Villa Bellini Amarone 1998 Veneto, Italy(Amarone) - Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara
Had this during Cranbrook Liquors(Timonium, MD) Dollar Days sale where they sell everything for $1 above cost. Not too soy sauce-ish like some other amarones, just enough to make you appreciate it. This is one big and deep wine.

CVNE Imperial Gran Riserva - 1995 Rioja, Spain - Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuelo
Late last year, I stumbled upon a Spanish wine tasting at Eddies on North Charles, Baltimore that was simply earth-shattering. I never had wines like those before. I never tasted anything so unique, vibrant and so full of character. Ever since then, I've grown quite fond of tempranillo based wines. This is full, complex and terrior all the way!

Les Terrases, Alvaro Palacios - 1998 Cataluna, Spain(Priorat) - Cab Sauv, Carinena, Garnacha
A wine distributor I know refers to this wine as a "big, dirty, slut". It's big, bold, and spicy, obnoxious even. Sometimes, you don't want elegance. It's like that loud boorish friend of yours that you can't help but love. Priorat, along with Barolos and Bourdeaux's are my favorite wine styles right now. Most of them are horribly expensive but this one's fairly reasonable.

Penfolds Grange 1997 South Australia - Shiraz
This was one of my wine dreams come true. During my first visit to Wine Underground, the owner took me to the cellar and had me try something. When he showed me the bottle, my eyes lit up. You'd think that the best wine from Australia would knock you flat on your ass but I was surprised at how smooth it was. It was like Bourdeaux meets shiraz.

Rosemount Syrah McLaren Vale Balmoral ? McLaren Vale, Australia - Shiraz
Ah, my first shiraz. I was hearing great things about shirazes a few years back. Every year, my best friend from home , Carl, and I celebrate our birthdays together - we were born a day apart. During the peak of the tech boom, I briefly experienced the luxury of financial stability. In 1999, we decided to splurge and go to Salamander, a very high end fusion restaurant in Boston. And this was the wine we picked. The best way to describe it was in musical terms - sforzando piano, followed by a crescendo(we're both musicians). Basically, you initially get hit with spice and fruit, then it quickly softens, only to intensify into a wonderful finish.

Clarendon Hills Old Vines Grenache 1996 Australia - Grenache
I had this on the same day as the Grange. Wow, what a day. I don't remember much about this wine other than that it was really fucking good! It got some obscene score in Wine Advocate.

Cyrus, Alexander Valley Vineyards 1996 Sonoma County, California(Alexander Valley) - Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Fr
This is what a meritage should be! It's a bourdeaux blend made with California in mind. It's more aggressive and vibrant but still as complex as a bourdeaux. This was a refreshing change since I've been getting tired of Californian wines these days. I had this at Roland Park Wines and Liquors tasting.

Elyse D'Aventure ? Napa Valley, California - Syrah, Grenache, Mouvedre, Carignan
Every Elyse wine I had was awesome(Petit Syrah, Howell Mountain Zinfandel, Tietjen Vineyard Cab). This one's in the style of a Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Lots of intense but well balanced flavor. It's pretty remarkable how they kept the fruit from being to unwieldy and let all the other flavors come out.