Friday Lunch with Massimo Marinucci, Dr Vino and Mark Franks!

[Daniel_Posner]

And there was nothing from Napa! Pobega would have gone through withdrawal.

[Michel_Abood]

@Daniel Posner

And there was nothing from Napa! Pobega would have gone through withdrawal.

Like I said, you had good wines. [gheyfight.gif]

BTW, Posner, you have email. Wake up already.

[Daniel_Posner]

Sorry Michel, I am in Disney World this week. I saw your email and we will chat on Monday about the Wine Berserkers exclusive offering from your portfolio! Stay tuned everyone…

[Jeff_Cassetta]

@Peter Hirsch

1. Why are you drinking velveeta?

That’s what I initially saw…they need to do something about that name in the US market.

'96 Ponsot CdR is a real dud IMO…pisses me off too, I bought some mags to lay down for my first son…

[John_Liotta]

@Jeff Cassetta

@Peter Hirsch

1. Why are you drinking velveeta?

That’s what I initially saw…they need to do something about that name in the US market.

'96 Ponsot CdR is a real dud IMO…pisses me off too, I bought some mags to lay down for my first son…

I am sure they appreciate the market research . . .
Change your name because two people have dyslexia.

[Michel_Abood]

@Daniel Posner

Sorry Michel, I am in Disney World this week. I saw your email and we will chat on Monday about the Wine Berserkers exclusive offering from your portfolio! Stay tuned everyone…

Gotcha. Have fun, bring me back a souvenir.

[Mark_F_r_a_n_k_s]

@Michel Abood

@Daniel Posner

Sorry Michel, I am in Disney World this week. I saw your email and we will chat on Monday about the Wine Berserkers exclusive offering from your portfolio! Stay tuned everyone…

Gotcha. Have fun, bring me back a souvenir.

[Michel_Abood]

@Mark F r a n k s

@Michel Abood

@Daniel Posner

Sorry Michel, I am in Disney World this week. I saw your email and we will chat on Monday about the Wine Berserkers exclusive offering from your portfolio! Stay tuned everyone…

Gotcha. Have fun, bring me back a souvenir.

Actually, some friends went to Disney World a few years back and brought one of those back for me. It’s a fantastic bottle-stopper, all kidding aside. It’s heavy and really well-made.

[Mark_F_r_a_n_k_s]

…and has cute ears.

[Daniel_Posner]

Still talking about the bottle stopper, Mark?

[Mark_F_r_a_n_k_s]

Well, Michel does have cute ears.

[Nola_Palomar]

@Peter Hirsch

1. Why are you drinking velveeta? Do you heat it up first, to make the cheese more runny?

VELETA is the name of one of the tallest mountains in the Sierra Nevada which lies just to the North between our Farm Buenavista and Granada. The Mediterranean Sea is about 15 miles straight shot due South. Funny you caught Velveeta, Roy as when we registered our trademark Kraft sued us because of the name similarity, we settled with them in agreement that we would not use our Veleta name to bring in pasta or cheese. Veleta actually means weather-vane in Spanish, and is a word in spite of the processed cheese product it is easier to pronounce than many other Spanish labels.

I refrained from posting earlier as there was a comment about the Chardonnay having too much RS. I was waiting on my husband to get back to the bodega to pull the analysis and it does indeed have a substantial amount of alcohol 14.5% but the RS is only 2.18. So I don’t think you were tasting RS on the Chardonnay. I am down to 8 cases in my warehouse here in Dayton, so basically it’s gone.

@Max Marinucci

From Nola’s sampler package. The drier white (Veleta Vijiriega) was a very clean, crisp, refreshing, quaffer. Probably a very nice value for poolside sipping and hot summer nights. The Chard had too much RS for me and was tutti frutti, a la KJ. Not my cup of tea. The Rose was also unexciting, as it tasted like cherry 7Up…too fruity, candy-like and high alcohol.

The reds…we all agreed that the blend (Nolados) was the best wine, with the Cab a close second for me. The Nolados especially had a personality and was distinctive in a good way. Juicy, well balanced, not overdone, probably a very good value. I did not detect “the funk” in the Tempranillo and it was just ok.

Max, I don’t know what to say re: the Rose’, last years vintage had a more complex nose and perhaps a touch less alcohol, but captured a Gold at the Cincinnati Wine Festival. I had a small group of friends over last night and none detected Cherry 7up. It is a Tempranillo Rose’, we had it poolside.

I am sorry you all got a bad bottle of my Tempranillo. It would be nice if bottles could talk to us before we send them off and say STOP DON’T SEND ME!!!

I am very happy everyone liked my Nolados. I usually recommend tasting the Cabernet Sauvignon before Nolados, because the complexity of the CabFranc in the blend is pronounced.

@Mark F r a n k s

On to the wine:
2008 Veleta Vijiriega: I like the nose much more than the palate, a simple but satisfing wine, but nothing too special.
2008 Veleta Chardonnay: Not a real fan, some vanilla and roasted nut, seemed like a healthy dollop of new oak, not much happening elsewhere though .
2008 Veleta Rose (Tempranillo): Interesting wine, I could see enjoying this on a hot day instead of grabbing a beer, but again, nothing too impresive here.
2006 Veleta Tempranillo: As Dan said, we thought it slightly corked, but still an ok wine, probably would be better if not for the slight taint
2006 Veleta Nolados: I enjoyed this the most out of the Veleta wines, tobacco leaf (which when I saw there was Cab Franc in the blend made so much sense), a fairly complex wine that was vastly better than the other wines, this would be close to a 90 pt wine for me.
2006 Veleta Cabernet Sauvignon: I thought this was ok, in a $15 Aussie kind of way, although the oak was not nearly as pronounced as in those wines, fairly simple and straightforward, a decent quaff no doubt.

Mark, the Vijiriega, is rounded up with about 15% Chardonnay. It is a dry, crisp, acidic grape brought to the region by the Phoenicians some 3000 years ago or so. By itself I describe it as square, we add the Chardonnay to give it curves (Juan adds “like a good woman”. I am surprised you all didn’t note the striking minerality, all of our wines have, especially the whites. You mentioned the oak on the Chardonnay. That was a surprise, as we age both the Viji and the Chardonnay for only 2 months in new American and French Oak. The Spaniards as a rule do not like over oaked wines so we don’t. The Nolados won a Gran Diamante (Grand Diamond) at a wine contest Vino Y Mujer this past March. It was a contest organized for women, by women in the business to place emphasis that women’s taste may be parallel to men’s taste profiles, but that there are also differences too. The Nolados was chosen among that panel of judges with the highest pointage of all the wines in the competition. (note: I corrected the spelling of the Vijiriega and Nolados) The Nolados was named in honor of me, Nola and our little girl also Nola (we call her Nolita - little Nola). My husband found himself with 2 Nola’s thus, Nola_dos_.

@Daniel Posner

First flight: Veleta whites and Rose

1. 2008 Veleta Vijiriega: A fun wine for me. Inexpensive and a good summer sipper. Nothing exciting about it, but knowing the pricepoint, a perfectly good value.
2. 2008 Veleta Chardonnay: No one particularly enjoyed this one. I think Max mentioned KJ Chard look alike. Max sells a lot of KJ, so he would know. It was okay, but not for me.
3. 2008 Veleta Rose (Tempranillo): This was 13.5% alcohol, and you could feel like it was a bit more. The alcohol overwhelmed any potential good fruit for me.
4. 2006 Veleta Tempranillo: Mark and I thought that this was slightly corked. I will reserve judgement, as I felt like it could be better
5. 2006 Veleta Nolados: Now we are talking…a blend of Cab, Cab Franc and Tempranillo, this was a wine that I would happily enjoy many times over. Rich and concentrated, this had layers of fruit and a nice finish. A pretty serious wine for the money. Good match for the foods we were enjoying.
6. 2006 Veleta Cabernet Sauvignon: This was a good wine, albeit uninspiring. I kept going back to the Nolados, and considering that they are probably around the same price, this one suffered for me, because of the Nolados.

It should be noted that Josh Raynolds has reviewed these wines and given them all about 87-88 points consistently. They are worth seeking out, considering the low prices, in particular #1 and #5.

A special Thank you Dan, I appreciate you organizing this tasting and including my wines, I am still looking for avenues to get my wines on the shelves of yours and other markets. Hope you and your family had a great time in Ratonville!!! We took Nolita last October for Halloween, she loved it!!

[Mike_Reff]

we had tried all of Nola Palomar’s wines and also met her husband as well. One thing that you guys did not mention are the prices. I think the most expensive is around $15.00? great QPR wines.

[Daniel_Posner]

Mike

I referred to them as good values on 3 occasions in the first post. Then Mark Franks mentioned how they sell for less than $15. What is your problem?

[Mike_Reff]

@Daniel Posner

Mike

I referred to them as good values on 3 occasions in the first post. Then Mark Franks mentioned how they sell for less than $15. What is your problem?

Oh, my problem is that I do not read all the lines in the posts. Sorry about that, since I am busy chasing my 9 month around I have to skim the posts some of the time. But why am I apologizing to you???
[big_boss.gif]

btw…moving up to Westchester in the next month, bi-monthly offlines?? Oh and here are two for ya [1928_middle_finger.gif]

[Max_Marinucci]

@Mike Reff

btw…moving up to Westchester in the next month, bi-monthly offlines?? Oh and here are two for ya [1928_middle_finger.gif]

Oh boy…here comes trouble…

[Mike_Reff]

We tasted these last autumn in NYC…

The Reds:
2007 Tempranillo: medium acid and a long finish nice fruit balance with some anise flavors $8.99

2006 Tempranillo reserve: one year in oak nothing too revealing for me $12.0

2007 Nolados: 40% Can Franc, 40% Cab, 20% tempranillo, very nice blend price point around $!4.00

2006 Cabernet: Juan mentioned that this wine came from a graft from Napa around 14 years ago. Medium acidity, nice fruits flavors of berries and cola. Elegant finish. Excellent job on this wine. Bravo

Juan went on to state that the soils are mostly slate and clay and that his vines receive the northern winds and climate from the Mediterranean.

All in all a nice tasting with some excellent QPR’s for wines that we tasted

[Daniel_Posner]

Mike

Nice notes, I think we all concur. our team of “experts” enjoyed the Cab and Nolados as well. I am still convinced that our Tempranillo was off. The reds are very good values. Too bad the wines are not imported by one of Jay Miller’s buddies. Because then he could taste the wines in an “optimum” setting that is referred to, with his buddy pouring it for him from across the table.

[Daniel_Posner]

Dr Vino’s notes…

Spot the 62 pointer - Viu 1 from Chile - and some Spanish Dr Vino's wine blog" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[John_Liotta]

From DrJ:

http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/showthread.php?t=204982" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;