2001 Le Haut-Medoc de Giscours

To the best of my knowledge, this 2001 Le Haut-Medoc de Giscours is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  According to wikipedia, Haut-Medoc was a salt marsh for animal grazing back in the day; however these days its producing some good wines (I've had a few from this region and have enjoyed all of them).

The wine has good balance of aromas.  Hint of oak, the presence of berries and spices were apparent.
First swirl was nice--  full body and nice texture.  Tannins were strong, and there was a slight bitter finish to the wine.  Second swirl I am not as impressed;  not bad, but nothing spectacular.  A good wine that is fairly easy to drink.

I am going to give this one 3 stars.  I purchased this bottle from the Wine Market store in Ebisu Gardens for Y2,600.  This price seems about market price here in Japan; however I could not find a listing price in the U.S.  Overall, a good wine, but nothing that knocks your socks off.

Summary: Full-body, Good balance, but nothing spectacular
Rating: 3 Stars
Purchase Cost: Y2,600 (Ebisu Gardens, Wine Market Store)
Other Japanese Retailers: Y2,777 (Rakuten website)
USA Retail Price: NA
Food:  NA

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!)