2010 Villa Maria Dry Riesling Marborough

I am a big fan of Villa Maria's Sauvignon Blanc wine so I decided to pick up their 'Dry Riesling.'  I used about a 1/4 of the wine for cooking today (Cream Chicken dish) and the rest for imbibing. 

At the nose, there's a slight hint of apricots, pears, apples and grass.  I think this is fairly typical for Chardonnay's; so I was a bit surprised given that it was a Riesling.  The first whirl of the 2010 Villa Maria Dry Riesling -- indeed, quite dry as the label suggests.  Interesting--  Had you blindfolded me I would have to say that this was a Sauvignon Blanc.  Nice balance of grapefruit, nuts, and pears. 

I'm going to give this one 3.5 stars.  A very descent, dry Riesling.  If you're looking for something on the sweeter side, this is definitely not it.  I purchased this one at Kinokuniya for Y1,680.  I did some googling and found one at Rakuten for Y1,239.  Maybe it's time to venture out a bit and start buying from online stores.

Summary: Very dry, reminds me of their Sauvignon Blanc.  Good value, but cheaper sources out there...
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Purchase Cost: Y1,680 (Kinokuniya International)
Other Japanese Retailers: Y1,239 (Rakuten website)
USA Retail Price: $12.95
Food:  Cream Chicken with white rice

2005 Chateau Arnauld Haut-Medoc

Slightly more expensive than the other wines listed on this blog recently, I must say that I really enjoyed this 2005 Chateau Arnauld Haut-Medoc.  I could be wrong, but I think 2005 is a fairly good year for this wine and the price was reasonable.  With a hint of pine wood or perhaps cedar, this wine is deep with blackberries/blueberries fragrances (very nice).  The first swirl had a medium to full body texture where the berries were definitely present (almost added a sweetness to the wine).  The second swirl--spicy?  Yes, definitely spicy to me--wow.  It almost has a black pepper finish to the wine.  


I purchased this one at Kinokuniya International in Omotesando for Y1,850, which seems market price here in Tokyo.  I am going to give this one 3.5 stars.  Very nice and one which I would recommend to bring to a casual dinner party.


Summary: Full body, very nice color (ruby).  Has a kick at the end with some black pepper taste.
Rating:  3.5 stars
Purchase Cost: Y1,850 (Kinokuniya International)
Other Japanese Retailers: Y1,890 (Rakuten website)
USA Retail Price: $12.95
Food: Nabe (Japanese hotpot dish)

2004 Marques de Caceres Rioja Reserva

Tonight's dinner was a special one as it was my mom's birthday dinner. I picked a 2004 Marques de Caceres Rioja Reserva (Spanish wine) to go along with our Italian meat sauce lasagna (no offense intended there...yes, next time I will pair with an Italian wine).  

The wine was very good.  First sniff was tough, but we definitely smelled berries and some type of wood (maybe cedar?).  First taste-- it was a full-body, rich red wine; the berries were definitely prominent in the first swirl.  We decided to take a second sniff; this time we smelled blackberries. The wood smell was still hard to define, but it was definitely present.  Now to the second taste-- even better.  The wine is very balanced and has a deep texture. The finish was probably the most notable.  Through the complexity of the wine it finishes with a distinct taste of (creamy) vanilla. I was quite impressed. 

This bottle was purchased at Kinokuniya International (near Omotesando Station); however it was in their sale bin, which had random single bottle wines on discount.  This bottle had a price tag of Y2,500. I am rating this bottle 4 stars out of 5.  The taste of vanilla really pushed this wine to the next rating level, otherwise it would have finished with a strong 3.5.  I think it would be a good wine to bring to your friend's dinner party. 

Happy Birthday Mom.

Summary: Full-body, red from Spain (good color).  The twist at the end made this wine great.
Rating: 4 Stars
Purchase Cost: Y2,500 (Kinokuniya International)
Other Japanese Retailers: Y3,080 (Rakuten Website-scroll down--last one on the list)
USA Retail Price: Around $28.99
Food: I paired with meat sauce lasagna (both the lasagna and the pairing were good!)