Barnett Vineyards 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District (Napa Valley) – purchased for $65 in January 2008 at the winery.  This wine was smooth with integrated tannins. An enjoyable and solid Napa cabernet that we would buy again.

Schrader 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard (Napa Valley) – purchased for $95 from the winery upon release.  This wine had a wonderful nose (barrel room!); great balance, tannins and finish.  This was a tasty and impressive bottle of wine.

Bryant Family 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) – purchased for $400 from the winery upon release; our 2015 Christmas dinner wine.  A smooth and silky wine with a nose of blackberries and cassis; sweet tannins with a long finish.  This was a wonderful and delicious wine!

Mendel Unus 2004 (Lújan de Cuyo, Argentina) – purchased in 2007 for $39.99, but still available at that price; a blend of cabernet sauvignon and malbec.  Black currants, plums and figs on the nose and palate, smooth and round tannins. This was a terrific wine with a rib eye.  If you are a cabernet fan, a malbec fan, or both, you will enjoy this wine.

My latest Wine of the Week is going to focus on the three very old and special Tokaji Aszús that Charlie and I tasted while we were in Budapest a couple of weeks ago.  While we tasted 8 Tokaji Aszús that particular evening, and all were exceptional sweet wines, the oldest we tasted were the 1972, 1975 and 1956 Aszús.  While the 1956 is not the oldest wine Charlie and I have ever tasted (that distinction belongs to a 1952 Dalva Golden White Port), the rarity of an outstanding Aszú during this period of time in Hungary’s past, makes this wine very special.  These Aszús were all from Oremus, and all were 5 puttonyos.  (To read a full description of how an Aszú is made, and what 5 puttonyos means, click here).

For this week, my wine of the week is going to be Wine of the Winery from the week Charlie and I spent in the Wachau, Kremstal and Burgenland wine regions of Austria.  So, here goes:

Geyerhof Grüner Veltliner 2013 Gaisberg (Kremstal, Austria) – apricots, good acidity, long mineral finish, creamy

Franz Hirtzberger Riesling 2002 Singerreidel Smaragd (Wachau, Austria) – more mineral than fruit, a long finish, rich and complex, a very nice wine

Johann Donabaum Riesling  2013 Offenberg Smaragd (Wachau, Austria) – floral on the nose, some apples and honey, good acidity, a very nice wine

Tegernseerhof Riesling 2013 Kellerberg Smaragd (Wachau, Austria) – full bodied, intense, peaches, apricots, spicy

Rudi Pichler Riesling 2009 Kirchweg Smaragd (Wachau, Austria) – poured from magnum, good mineral and fruit flavors, some citrus, good mouthfeel, a very nice wine

Nikolaihof 2013 Elizabeth Tradition (Wachau, Austria) – a blend of Grüner Veltliner, Riesling and Weissburgunder [pinot blanc], floral nose, delicate acidity, apples, pears, some honey

Pichler-Krutzler Grüner Veltliner 2014 Klostersatz (Wachau, Austria) – easy drinking, refreshing, “not too fancy,” some peaches, a very nice wine

Emmerich Knoll Grüner Veltliner 2014 Ried Loibenberg Smaragd (Wachau, Austria) – good acidity; fresh, easy drinking, some apples and citrus, a very nice wine

Jamek 2007 JJJ 90 Zweigelt (Wachau, Austria) –  mellow, easy drinking, cherries, soft tannins

Kracher 2000 Scheurebe No. 5 Zwischen den Seen (Burgenland, Austria) – a beautiful golden color, dried apricots, sweet with good acidity, long finish, silky

Esterházy 20120 Leithaberg Blaufränkisch – we didn’t drink this particular wine, but I think the label is great (the goose with the red feather bonnet), so I had to add it to my wine label collage

Tommasi 2001 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico (Veneto, Italy) – purchase price $62, deep purple in color, a little barnyard at first, but that blew off quickly, black cherry and currants on the palate, medium to full bodied, paired well with a grilled steak, a solid Amarone, but not the best I have tasted

Charlie and I drink some very nice wines on a frequent basis.  So, I thought I would start posting what wine we drank during the week that was our “wine of the week.”   Week no. 1’s wine was:

Costers del Siurana 2004 Miserere (Priorat, Spain) – purchased in 2010 for $70, blend of 27% cabernet sauvignon, 27% garnacha, 26% tempranillo, 10% merlot and 10% carinena, decanted for about an hour, red and black fruits, smooth tannins, easy drinking; buy again

Looking for something to go with pizza, we decided to open an older zinfandel.  Our pick was surprisingly good, reminding us how well zinfandel goes with pizza.  So, I am going to add a second “wine of the week.”

DeLoach 2004 Forgotten Vines Zinfandel (Sonoma County) – purchased at the winery in 2006 for $24, a velvety mouthfeel, long finish; buy again