follow QRW on facebook

Wines of the Quarter:
Two Great Reds

QRW Tasting Team


Some of the most fun at QRW is searching for “Wines of the Quarter.” These are wines sent to us, which we taste blind, as we do for every tasting. Every day, for perhaps a week or more per quarter, we taste a six or seven wines. They are bagged and numbered, only separating red from white. There is no regard to price, there is no advertising or commercialism involved. Of the 41 global red wines tasted this quarter, we found two wines you need to know.

Argentina

2007 DiaAmdes Gran Reserva, Mendoza (70% Malbec and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon), $35. This is a Michel Rolland wine, one of the best winemakers in Argentina, and wine consultant to the world. Ripeness is the operative word for the wine, with a ripe floral nose and ripe and generous flavors of earth, subtle cassis, cedar spice tones, and cherry. There are enough chewy tannins to cellar for a few years as well. Generous and long with soft finish that will be even better with decanting. This is what serious Malbec can become. Delicious.

Oregon

2008 Home Place, The Grande Dalles, Rock Flour Hill (70% Tempranillo, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Cabernet Franc), Oregon, $60. Even from some of the best Spanish examples, we have not tasted a better expression of Tempranillo in many years. The fact it’s so young and from a fine Oregon vintage speaks to an even finer future. Seductive aromas and flavors of ripe raspberry, with cedar tones, gentle spice, and delicious and embracing jammy notes. Elegance abounds here. There’s a whisper of oak, as it should be for finely composed Tempranillo. It’s mouth watering, engaging, meditative, sophisticated. Fabulous wine, a special event wine for important moments. Currently only available from the Grande Dalles: www.thegrandedalles.com

More...

Is Dining Dying?

Château Margaux at Blantyre

29th Annual Best of The Best: Best of Show Winners

29th Annual Best of The Best: California Chardonnay

29th Annual Best of The Best: California Zinfandel

Photo Feature: A Nostalgic Look Back

29th Annual Best of The Best: California Cabs and Bordeaux Blends

29th Annual Best of The Best: California Pinot Noir

All Things Grape and Small, Winter 2012/13

QRW Vintage Wine Chart [PDF]

Gaia and Gaja: Italy’s First Wine Family

29th Annual Best of The Best: Champagne Tasting

Wine’s Decline: Wither Romance?

Aristocrats of the Table: Julia Child, Eating, and Dining

Whining about Downton Abbey

Cellar For A Lord: Downton Abbey, Part II

All Things Grape and Small, Autumn 2012

Best of The Best: California Cabs

Best of The Best: California Pinot Noir

Best of The Best: California Zinfandel

Wine Scene

Best of The Best: Vintage Champagnes 2008–09

Best of The Best: Non-Vintage Champagnes 2011

Wining and Dining at WGBH Studios

QRW Covers by Photographer Jim Scherer

Wining & Dining in Morocco

Wine Quiz: Varietal Variations

An Afternoon at Caymus

Shafer Vineyards: Treasure Trail; Wine, Love and Rock and Roll

Blending Buzz at Rutherford Ranch

QRW Wine Diary

Wines of the Quarter: Two Great Reds

Dernier Cri: What’s a Good Wine?

Style Doyenne: Profile & Book Reviews on Mireille Guiliano

Hugh Johnson Praises QRW and Publisher Richard Elia in the Boston Globe

Hear Publisher Richard Elia on NPR