Blake Kennedy

Fantini Farnese Montepulciano D'abruzzo 2012

Mommessin Domaine De Champ De Cour Moulin à Vent 2012, Ac

Exquisite colouring! Clear medium-intensity ruby with all sorts of elegance. The nose features medium-intensity strawberry with cherry undertones, with some earthiness or spiciness and a hint of floral accents as well.

Medium-bodied with high acidity and light but chewy tannins, which perhaps might become very smooth and integrated in the next couple of years. Medium-long on the finish; tastes the way it smells.

Tasted October 2014

Cono Sur Bicicleta Pinot Noir 2013, Central Valley

Cono Sur Chardonnay Reserva 2011, Casablanca Valley

Ate with a seafood pasta in a white wine-cream-fines herbes sauce. Paired very well.

Has high levels of alcohol and acidity. Has a fruity nose with sweet notes. Easy on the palate. Tasted Oct 2013. Will let another bottle sit for two years and see how it mellows and taste again then.

Mission Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2007, VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Château Argadens 2009, Ac Bordeaux Supérieur

The appearance of it is absolutely exquisite. The mouthfeel was heavenly and the finish was medium-long, but pleasing. For the most part, everything in this wine is balanced. It shows high levels of refinement and elegance.

And then comes the nose.

Sara D'Amato suggested chocolate milk notes. And that's exactly what it is. It has strong herbal and buttery notes, and then the powerful chocolate milk comes in and strongly clashes with everything else.

But I can't be that upset. It's my first Bordeaux Supérieur, and for all its flaws it showed me that everything of this type can become.

Maycas Del Limarí Reserva Pinot Noir 2013, Limarí Valley

Medium-intensity nose of cran-cherry and strawberry with some sweet spice and minerality (fine gravel) and floral aspect (violets). Medium-bodied, high acidity and medium tannins (grippy, almost sandy). Medium finish, with the flavour characteristics mirroring the nose.

The aroma really lacked the earthy and herbaceous element that makes a really good pinot noir. The minerality tends to drive the acidity, which makes it refreshing, but it doesn't make it great. The tannins could use 1-3 years to smooth out a little, but there isn't enough structure for the aroma to develop much.

Montefino Tinto Reserva 2005, Vinho Regional Alentejano

I first opened the bottle and on the nose immediately knew it was unclean. I took a brief swish in my mouth and less spat it out than spewed it out violently. It was completely acidic. There has been a bacterial bloom of some kind - acetobacter, if I had to guess - that made that bottle completely undrinkable.

Bodegas Castaño Hécula Monastrell 2011, Do Yecla

Lindemans Bin 45 Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Not particularly deep or balanced, but its vanilla and toffee notes and fruitiness paired surprisingly well with dark chocolate. That factor probably greatly enhanced the experience for me.