Wow what a whirlwind January was! Filled with great friends, new friends, some of our favorite wine personalities and plenty of amazing bottles of wines in between, we started the new year off strong with wonderful tastings of great bottles of wine. All of the wines from our three past tasting events are available for sale. I have the highlights with full tasting notes down below. If you are interested in any of the wines we have featured or would like to know more, please reach me directly at kim@graileys.com.
We kicked off the year with a visit from our dear old friend D’Lynn Proctor of Penfolds and a couple of bottles of Grange and what a night it was! As D’Lynn and our valued members gathered around the tables, we poured an incredible lineup of Penfolds from the always-reliable, great value Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz to two powerful vintages of the one of the most iconic wines of the world: Penfold’s Grange. Both flirting with perfection, the 2010 ($699/btl) and 2012 Grange ($699/btl) were blockbuster beasts that could knock over skyscrapers had they the chance. The ’12 Grange was more generous in fruit while the ’10 is still completely bullet proof, showing us the maximum power that South Australia and the team at Penfolds are capable of. Rich in blackberry, plum and blueberry fruit while dense notes of coal, licorice and tar paint a thick layer right on top. The tannins grip to the tongue is as powerful as Zeus’ grip to his lightning bolt. Wow! what a spectacular treat to be able to host D’Lynn and try these two vintages side-by-side.
Once again, it was a full house for our annual Robert Foley tasting and Bob was an incredible host as he went over the wines of the highly anticipated, newly released 2013 vintage. As usual, there were plenty of delicious bottles to go around the tables and satisfy everyone’s guilty pleasure but the one that stood out to us the most was the 2013 Foley Claret!! ($134.95/btl) His signature notes really shown through lavishly in this bottle with ultra-rich textures, explosively ripe, juicy dark berry fruit and seamless layers of warm vanilla, dense spice and plus violets. For any Cabernet enthusiast, the 2013 Foley Claret is an easy win!
We had the pleasure and honor to host an Italian matriarch: Maralisa Allegrini, of the most acclaimed winery in north east Italy and Italy’s 2016 Winery of the Year: Allegrini! As our beloved members sat for dinner with Maralisa, sixth generation of the Allegrini legacy, we poured a grand flight showcasing not only the beautiful wines of Allegrini but also her Super Tuscan project: Poggio al Tesoro. My wine of the night just so happened to be from this estate: the 2009 Poggio al Tesoro Bolgheri Superiore Dedicato a Walter ($109/btl)- pure Cabernet Franc with supple tannins, compelling notes of ripe red berries, rose and wild spice and great length. The 2012 Allegrini Amarnoe Classico ($59.95/btl) was a hit as well with wonderful approachability, freshness in red and black fruit, soft textures and elegance.