Nomadic Wines

Haas Wine Industry Series... Week 1

As part of my formative MBA education, I am taking a course on the wine industry. The class is student-organized and I will probably be the organizer next year. Each week we bring a person from a different segment of the industry to talk about their work. In addition, we taste wines... of course we taste wines, what kind of wine class would it be without wine tasting.

This post is going to have two parts. I want to talk about the wines we tasted. All of them were inexpensive but easy drinkers. In a separate post, I want to document some of the questions asked by my classmates. Rod Santos from Wine Thieves (an East Bay retail wine store) did an excellent job responding to questions - I'll try to recreate his responses and add a little bit of my own commentary.

• 2005 Laurenz V. Grüner Veltliner Singing - Austria, Niederösterreich (1/24/2007)
  My initial impression was very light golden color, clean but slightly water mouthfeel. There was a little toasted almond on the nose, pears in the middle, and a nice tinge of green apple acidity on the finish. Nice wine and accurate representation of Gruner but the wateriness just didn't do it for me.


• 2005 Charles Krug Winery (Peter Mondavi Family) Chardonnay - USA, California, Napa Valley, Carneros (1/24/2007)
  This wine was a light golden color with a rich nose that had a slight tropical tinge. The nose had distinctive tropical aromas of coconut, banana, and a little pineapple (like the acidity of pineapple providing a bit of searing acidity at the end). The mouthfeel was full-bodied but slightly one-dimensional. The highpoint was great acidity on the finish - this is not a flabby California Chardonnay.


• 2003 Tormaresca Puglia IGT - Italy, Puglia, Puglia IGT (1/24/2007)
  The first bottle was slightly corked... not awful but I smelled enough wet cardboard to be turned off. As we discussed, this tasted like southern Italian wine - it had a nose of smoke and dried fruit, especially raisins and prunes. There was even an aspect of dried rose petals. The palate had more plums and some berries, and it had a chewy texture. Sweet tannins finished it off - great value wine... I think Tormaresca is one of my favorites.


• 2004 Razor's Edge Shiraz - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (1/24/2007)
  Sweet, sweet, sweet. The nose is sweet with a little meatiness, a little pepper, and a little bit of heat. The mouth is filled with sweet raspberries, vanilla, and creaminess. The tannins on the finish are sweet as well, though they were grainy like a powder.


• 2004 Salentein Malbec - Argentina, Mendoza, Valle de Uco (1/24/2007)
  Super easy drinker, sweet plums, and dark fruit. Initially the nose was muted with a touch of minerality. The color was a deep inky color. The oak on the finish mellows the tannins.

Labels: Haas, wine

posted by nomadfromcincy @ 10:32 PM