Proof we drink white wine

Holy cow!  A white wine!  Gasp!

Well, this is not a new one to us, but it is a new vintage, and I had to share it with you.  Tonight we had a 2007 Weingut Reuscher-Haart Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Kabinett ($20 at Beverage Warehouse).  That's a mouthful.  I originally had this in a wine class and fell in love with it.  It actually started my love and appreciation of riesling.  If you are wondering, all those German words mean it is a 2007 vintage wine, made and produced by Reuscher-Haart, made from riesling from the Goldtropfchen vineyard (which is an outstanding vineyard located in Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) in the region of Piesport, Germany.  "Kabinett" refers to the level of sugar; in this case it's very low.  And it's low in alcohol at 8.5%, which is normal.

Anyhow, this wine is so amazing!  We last had the 2005 vintage and this is almost as good - this was a bit less acidic and bright - but still damn good.  Over the last few years, we've probably tried at least 20 different Kabinett level German rieslings, and this is still one of our tops.  High acidity makes it super crisp, great minerals, lime, apple, super refreshing - great to get your taste buds ready for dinner.  We had it with some Spanish goat cheese called Leonora - very tasty.  Anyhow, this is a wonderful riesling, wonderful fruit but not sickly sweet.  If you can find it, grab it.

By the way, just found this on an educational website - not sure is Reinhold Haart has anything to do with Reuscher Haart, but still interesting:

The best vineyard in Piesport is the Piesporter Goldtröpfchen. But there are over 350 different estates making wine from the Piesporter Goldtröpfchen vineyard. So if you want the best, you have to look for the wines of Reinhold Haart. His wines which are made from the best portions of the Piesporter Goldtröpfchen vineyard, and vinified to perfection and earn high scores every vintage.

Argentinean Clos

Although I was apprehensive, I really liked this one.  Tonight's wine is a 2007 Clos de los Siete, a blend of Malbec (48%) Merlot (28%) Cabernet Sauvignon (12%) and Syrah (12%) from Argentina ($15 at LA Wine Company - I also saw it for $16 at Beverage Warehouse).  According to the label, Clos de los Siete is an "oasis comprised of seven vineyards in the foothills of the Andes, south of Mendoza."

I was apprehensive because this wine has been heavily advertised lately in several of the places I buy wine - obviously, it was recently released and they have a big marketing push.  Seems, very often, these wines are over-hyped.  Not true in this case.

This wine is really nice - totally in the flavor profile we love.  Dark color (it's young)- medium to dark fruit on the nose, a little oak and spice.  Taste is very dry, dark fruit, a little spice, medium acidity, medium to heavy tannin (but not obnoxious to me), well balanced - simply very pleasing.  14.5% alcohol, but I didn't peg it that high.

Scores I've seen go from 89-91.  Various places I've looked say it is "tightly wound" - perhaps, but it is very drinkable now, surprising for a 2007.  Highly recommend this one.  The more I drink it, the more I like it.  Yay!  And I like the label - what do you think?