Undrinkable Nazi Wine Sold For $7,800 Part II

So now it appears that the Hitler wine might be a fake. I can't feel sorry for the buyer. Full Story

Technorati Tags: wine, auction

Royal Tokaji

Ever on the hunt for a new yummy dessert wine, marius and i picked up a bottle of 2000 5 puttonyos Royal Tokaji. It is a delightful wine. While a 5 puttonyos it is still not too sweet, a good compromise wine when dealing with sweet and non sweet tooths. The Tokaji is smooth, sophisticated, well balanced with a long silky finish. Oak, Walnut, Apricot, Apple, Pear, Honey are all present along with a citrus sour. Reminiscent of a calvados, brandy, even reminds me of the sadly no longer produced York Mountain Sherry.

I am absolutely dying to taste the '99 Essencia. At $500 a bottle, Marius suggested I find myself a Sugar Daddy. Perhaps I should settle for a 6 puttonyos?


TOKAJI’S ROYAL CONNECTION AND RENAISSANCE
The first Tokaji Aszú (toh-KAY ah-SOO) wine was created in the 1600s, perhaps by accident — a harvest delayed by threat of enemy invasion. In 1700, Tokaj became the first European region to have its vineyards classified, its uniquely varied terroirs and climates rated Primae Classis, Secundae Classis, Tertius Classis (“1st Growth, 2nd Growth, 3rd Growth”) by Prince Rakoczi of Transylvania. This classification system is still used in Hungary today. Louis XIV of France (1638 - 1715) declared Tokaji “the wine of Kings and the King of wines”, while in the 18th century, Catherine the Great stationed soldiers in Tokaj to protect her vineyards.

Quality production ended with World Wars I and II and the Communist takeover of Hungarian winemaking. Aszú grapes were used for mass production in factories, with vineyard distinctions lost in giant tanks. Tokaji’s renaissance began after the collapse of communism with The Royal Tokaji Wine Company (RTWC) in 1989, inspired by well-known wine author, Hugh Johnson, and others. RTWC’s founders started the winery in an effort to preserve what they considered a dying art. “I couldn’t resist bringing back to life a wine that had been so renowned centuries ago,” says Johnson.

For More information:
Royal Tokaji
Wilson Daniels Ltd.

Undrinkable Nazi Wine Sold For $7,800

A rare bottle of Nazi red wine from World War II, whose age makes it undrinkable, was sold recently in Britain for a surprising final auction bid of $7,790.

Adorned with a picture of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, the bottle of red Fuhrerwein was expected to sell for only $1,560, but was ultimately sold for nearly five times that by Britain's Plymouth Auction Rooms, the BBC said. This is pretty sad.

Castoro Cellars 2006 Muscat Canelli Paso Robles

Castoro Cellars was founded by the husband and wife team of Niels and Bimmer Udsen with a warm and welcoming style. The winery was named after the Italian translation of Niels’ long-time nickname, “Beaver,” prompting the motto “Dam Fine Wine.” From the wine cellar to the tasting room, all who contribute to Castoro wines hold strongly to the belief that high quality wines should be accessible to all consumers.

Picked up this bottle of Muscat Canelli at Trader Joe's. Very fragrant with lots of Peach and Apricot aromas. Some hint of apple and citrus. The taste unfortunately is not very well balanced. After the initial sweet peach and apple taste is followed by rubber alcohol and a bitter after taste. But for 5.95 it is not a bad sweet wine.

Marius Rating: 85

Allergy hope over wine preserver

A new technique for preserving grapes for mass-market wine may prevent the drink causing allergies, a study says.

Vino Club Meeting One

First official meet has come and gone. How did it go? You tell us. As memory serves us, it was a great time with great wines. Once secretary come around from her Syrah bliss tasting notes will be posted. Meeting two will be Saturday, March 3, 8:00 pm. Theme for tasting will be Dessert Wines. More details to come.

Gustav Niebaum Captain's Reserve Pinot Noir 2005 more details
Cline Syrah California 2005 more details
Garretson "The Bulladoir" Syrah, Paso Robles more details and video review
Eagel Castle Syrah 2000 more details
Twenty Rows Grappler 2004 more details and video review

Villa Palatina Trockenbeerenauslese 2005

Excellent dessert wine. Bough this wine at Trader Joe's for 19.95$, I feel this is well priced wine and if you like Trockenbeerenauslese go buy it now. This wine is made from the Ortega grape, which is used for white wine blending in the Rheinhessen region of Germany. The wine is very nicely balanced with strong notes of honey, apricot and peach. Silky feel on the tongue with citrus notes.

Marius' Rating: 91

Tannins - We’ve all heard the word, here’s what they are…

“Wow, this wine is tannic”!

“…lush plummy fruit supported by a fine tannic structure…”

We’ve all heard the sentence and the phrase just above, and as the title says, the word is thrown around like a Nerf football in a college stadium parking lot, but perhaps for that very reason, my instincts tell me that many wine drinkers, if really pressed for an answer, couldn’t define the term with any real precision. Let’s have a look…

hear ye! hear ye! point system sucks.

you heard me.
i am neither robert parker nor am i wine spectator.
i am not comfortable with current point system of this blog.
might i suggest we move to a more personalized standard?

Anthony Bourdain speaking the truth about The Food Network

My favorite chef/writer Anthony Bourdain tells why the food network is not a place where 'real cooks' are shown....."I find myself riveted by its awfulness, like watching a multi-car accident in slow motion. Mesmerized at the ascent of the Ready-Made bobblehead personalities, and the not-so-subtle shunting aside of the Old School chefs..."



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Who knew? Marius Wine

This is possibly my new favorite winery.
Marius Wine

2003 Castle Vineyards Pinot Noir Los Carneros

Bought this wine on wine.woot.com and happy I did. Very nice Wine.
The color of this wine is dark ruby with a heavy fruit noise. Lots of strawberry jam, clear vanilla and oak and hints of rose. Soft tannens makes this wine feel lighter then I would have expected. I had this wine with a roasted chicken and it turned out to be a great paring. Had to go 88 because the finish was to short.
Marius' Rating: 88
Cost: 14$

well...first pinot i would willingly and gladly drink again-with food.
delicate subtle strawberry, definite hints of choco and coffee, vanilla and oak.
what i dont care for which is typical pinot is the high acidity and overwhelming pepper.
to me, pinots dont seem full bodied enough to carry these forces.
Shannons Rating: 87

2004 Benziger Port Sonoma Mountain

We bought this port on Dawns birthday wine trip to Sonoma Valley. The Benziger Winery is a must see if your planning a trip to Sonoma. This full bodied ruby red port is made from Dragonsleaf Vineyard Syrah and a splash of Shell Creek Vineyards Petite Syrah. It has an intense fruit aroma of blackberry and cherry, it is well balanced and has a nice long finish. Basically, really, really good. Sweet enough for those with a sweet tooth but not too sweet for those without. Great with dark chocolate and yes, as winemaker suggests, a nice Brie, we actually paired it with a french triple cream and it was fantastic...yes, we broke the Port rule of only pairing Port with Stilton...We're rebels like that. ;)

Alcohol: 19.5%
Total acidity: .39
pH: 3.96,
Residual sugar: 7.52.

Cost: 35$ (at winery)
Our Rating: 92