E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone 2005

The future Mrs. H. and I have been continuing our search for great value wines to serve at the wedding. I think I found a winner for the dinner.

Lush dark fruits and blackberry on the nose combine with a touch of earthiness that melds into rich, creamy mocha on the palate. The tannins are just perfect for a wine that would match a delicious steak entree. At $14 a bottle, this makes for a great value. Three and a half stars out of five (with a half star for value).

What's missing from this story?

Take a look.

HINT: the 2005s will be released in 2008....

Top ten list from 2007

I think I'm a little overdue in posting this, but here's a top ten list of my favorite wines from 2007.

1. Dominus Estate Napa Valley Napanook Vineyard 1996. An amazing, amazing wine, and enjoyed with two of my best friends (whom I haven't seen in almost a year). Smooth, filled with fruit and amazing character. Worth buying, and great to enjoy (especially over some Venison with Maytag Blue Butter).

2. Grgich Hills Paris Tasting Commemorative Chardonnay 2003. A great wine, and enjoyed with a wonderful person. Great memories.

3. Francois Chidaine Montlouis Sur Loire Les Boumais 2005. An amazing wine, and really shows how great Chenin blanc can be. As complex as a Chardonnay, but not as in your face.

4. Plumpjack Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. I'm glad I have a second bottle of this... and I'm eager to open it!

5. Dow's Vintage Port 1994. I had only a taste of this at the Philadelphia Wine Festival, but it was almost worth the price of admission (okay, I'm probably overstating that). Great wine, and it makes me wonder about the Bishop of Norwich.

6. Crozes-Hermitage Paul Jaboulet Aine "Thalabert" 2003. A wonderful Rhone, and enjoyed at a great restaurant.

7. Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes 2001. A great Sauternes, I can't wait until I open the d'Yquem.

8. Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. I can't wait for the 750 ml bottles to come out!

9. Quinta do Vale Meao Douro 2003. I can still taste it, and I wish I had a bottle of it right now.... Maybe I can pick one up when I'm home in February?

10. Vasco Sassetti Brunello di Montalcino 2001. It turned me on to Brunellos.

And looking over this list, and the host of wines I've tried over the past year, and I can say that I feel really lucky to be able to enjoy this hobby.

"Offerus" 2003

Lovely ruby color, and pepper dominant on the nose with some dark fruits underneath. The tannins do not seem particularly strong, and though the finish includes further pepper notes. Two and a half out of five stars -- a decent wine, though there are better Rhones out there.

Jean Luc Colombo Les Ruchets Cornas 2001

A 100% Syrah wine, it had the characteristics of a great Rhone. Typical Syrah fruit flavors, though they did not dominate. It is great to drink now and is a perfect meal-wine. Three and a half out of five stars.

Crozes-Hermitage Paul Jaboulet Aine "Thalabert" 2003

A working trip to NY lead to having dinner at Sparks -- and an excellent wine for a very good price.

Sparks is an absolutely delicious steakhouse to eat at. The steaks are sooo juicy and tender that they can be cut with a butter knife. A strip steak and a baked potato will leave one full for hours – and the price is great for the quality of the meat.

But since this is a wine blog, I felt I would do a disservice to any of my readers (if they exist) if I did not review the wine list. What can I say? The selection was fantastic and the prices were very fair. In fact, I spotted a number of bottles that had a 50% mark-up, at most -- a great rate for a restaurant of this caliber, given that many high-end places will inflate the prices by up to 300%.

The wine I picked for dinner was a Crozes-Hermitage Paul Jaboulet Aine "Thalabert" 2003. The Thalabert is a 100% Syrah wine. Deep purple in color showing its youth, yet it had the structure of an older wine. Definite fruit on the nose with a distinct earthiness underneath. The palate was dark berries, and iron notes were also identifiable and strong. Very drinkable, and great with the steak. I'd rate this at four out of five stars based on the quality to value ratio alone.

Does the glass matter?

One who reads more about wine quickly learns of the views held by many professionals that some glasses help a wine taste even better. In particular, glasses made by this company. So, is there any truth to this view?

I had been dating someone who shared a love for wine. I gave her a pair of Riedel Sommeliers Bordeaux Grand Cru glasses for Christmas. And to match those glasses, we opened a bottle of Joseph Phelps Insignia 1999 -- a Meritage -- for our Christmas dinner.

We were amazed by how much the glasses influenced the wine. First, the glass directed the bouquet so that one could identify the aromas even when holding the glass at least eight inches under one's nose. And then tasting the wine! The wine was balanced and elegant, with a full arrange of flavors appearing on the tongue. We then tried the wine from a more mundane glass, and the aroma and the flavors were not as developed. The glass mattered for this experiment.

I have since repeated this test with Sommeliers glasses designed for Pinot noir, Rhone-blends and Chardonnay. The Chardonnay -- matched with a 2004 Martin Ray -- had a similar effect. Likewise, the Rhone glasses were sampled with a 2003 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert -- fruit on the nose with gravel underneath, and the palate contained dark berries and iron (the iron may not sound delicous, but it wonderfully added structure). On the other hand, at least two tries with the Pinot noir glasses fell flat -- however, each attempt was with rather low end Pinot noir and Burgundy.

So what do these experiments mean? Should one who enjoys wine buy any of the Sommeliers glasses? I think the answer is: it depends. These glasses matter when drinking very well made wines. However, for a wine that is lackluster to begin with . . . well, a glass cannot fix that, and may even make it worse. So, the question any oenophile must ask is:

(1) For the wine that I drink, is it good enough to be improved by a specially designed glass?

(2) Am I willing to forgo a few bottles in order to get some glasses that will make all of the other bottles I have taste that much better?

My answer: I'll use the glasses for the wines I really love, and not bother with the rest.