RED BLENDS: SPAIN

+RUN AWAY NOW+
Abancay Mascara del Sol Crianza 
Espana: Aragon
70% Tempranillo, 30% Merlot (red)
2009
75 pts
$6.99
Ahh, Trader Joe's. It's no secret that I prefer to shop--including for wine--at family-owned, local businesses, instead of big box chains (and I usually do). But Trader Joe's does feature a few wines I know offer excellent quality for price--such as Mionetto's Il Proseco and Segura Viudas Brut Cava--so I figured what-the-hell, I'll stop by and see what's shaking in the wine aisle at our local Trader Joe's. Upon arrival, an enthusiastic young man asked if I wanted to taste the Gruner Veltliner they feature. After pulling myself together (initially shocked they were even selling Gruner), I replied, "Why, yes, thank you. I Would love to try it." And then I did--and that's when things went terribly wrong. The Gruner--Hungarian, in fact, which I admit is pretty cool--was atrocious. Tasted like a cheaply made Sauvignon Blanc from 7-11. "Well," the gentleman said, "You're not going to get the taste of a true Gruner for six dollars." Hard to argue with that. But pressing on, I picked up a few bottles of various low-priced wines (for our purposes today, that's under $8.00) to take home and taste. Among them was the 2009 Abancay Mascara del Sol Crianza from northeast Spain. This wine is attractive in the glass, colored a pleasing deep plum. On the nose, one gets a hint of black cherry (you have to work for it), but more than anything, the aroma is that medicinal sort of alcohol that often indicates an imbalanced flavor profile dominated by alcohol. That my friends, is the good news. The taste? Ninety parts water, one part cherry juice, with maybe the core of a just-eaten plum dropped in for "complexity." Don't get me wrong, there is nothing particularly offensive about this wine. The problem is that it has, essentially, no flavor, no finish, a light, water-like body, and absolutely no reason to exist beyond it's pretty color and cheap price. No Old World Tempranillo earthiness, no pleasing cherries, no juicy plums, no tobacco, no vanilla, no full-bodied richness, in a word, nothing. And Crianza (aged at least one year in oak and a year to one-and-a-half years in the bottle)? Would love to know where that oak came from. Still, I'm not ready just yet to dismiss Trader Joe's entirely as a wine retailer. On the other hand, given my experience this weekend with their Hungarian Gruner and this so-called Tempranillo-Merlot blend, I do recommend caution, perhaps avoiding the wines under $10.00, at least, and see where that gets you. Because remember this: it's only really a bargain if you can actually stomach drinking the wine when you get home.  

 
+MUST TRY+
Borsao Crianza Seleccion (by Bordegas Borsao)Espana: Aragon (Campo de Borja)
A Blend: 50% Grenache, 25% Tempranillo and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon (red)
2006
90+ pts
$14.99
Picked up the Borsao Crianza at Kafka Wine last month. The color is a striking mahogany. The pleasing, multi-layered aroma is rich in black pepper, but also features candied cherries, manure and petrol (really). Spain's official crianza designation means the wine is two years old when sold, with about half of that time spent in oak (in the case of this Borsao, a combination of French and American oak). The taste profile of this dry red is also complex (amazingly so for a wine that retails under fifteen bucks), offering spiciness along with bright cherries, plums, a little hot pepper, a floral component (gentle rose petal bitterness) on the back end, and some soft, subtle oak (French style)...all with an amazing length. Earlier reviewed the simple Borsao red (which retails for about $7.00), and while that discount wine is okay for the dough, the 2006 Borsao Crianza is an absolute steal at $15.00.  

MUST TRY!
Mestizaje (by Bodegas Mustiguillo)Espana: Valencia
A Blend of Bobal, Tempranillo, Garnacha and Cabernet Sauvignon (red)
2006
87+ pts
$18.99
This Spanish red blends 70% Bobal (a grape I'd never tried before), with the remainder composed of Tempranillo (one of my favorites), Garnacha, and Cab. I have to be honest: I think Jay Miller of Wine Advocate missed this one. Miller gave this a whopping 91 points. I find this to be a servicable wine, around 87+ points for my palette...decent enough, but not a Must Try wine. The nose is musty (not a bad thing, necessarily), with red berries. The color is a dark ruby red, actually quite nice. But I find the taste--obviously the key point for any wine--lacking. The tannins are nice and firm (good pucker quality) and the length is good, but the taste for my palette falls flat, even a bit bitter to me, and overpowering. Maybe because by 2010 this wine has lost its soul (or maybe the mushroom plus mineral taste profile just doesn't appeal to me); it's just not a wine I love. I do like its earthiness, and the dark cherry overtones are not unpleasant, but the whole thing seems overpowered, in the end, by a mushroom-like mustiness that's not for me. If you like mushrooms a lot, this might be a good try for you.

Borsao Red Wine (by Bodegas Borsao)Espana: Aragon (Campo de Borja)
Blend: Grenache 80%, Tempranillo 20% (red)
2005
$6.99
85+ pts
Not bad for a discount wine, and so-called experts say this winery is reliable; a very old world, 'dirty' wine, with strong manure, earth and mineral components, to me; can find on sale for $5.99, often; for my pallete, though, a little too dirty; servicible and affordable, but not a favorite; drink now when you have it; not a wine to hold.

PROSECCO: ITALY

+MUST TRY+ 
San Simone Perlae Naonis Millesimato Prosecco DOC Brut
Italia: Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Prosecco (now called Glera outside of Veneto; a soft sparkling white)
A non-vintage wine
$19.99
93 pts
Blown away. When I talk about how Prosecco is a better value in bubbly than Champagne, the Perlae Naonis Millesimato is exactly what I'm talking about. If this bottle of wine was produced in the Champagne region of France, it would cost $100 or more. Absolutely freaking delicious: sensuous, invigorating, with fresh peach, ripe pear, baked bread and undertones of flower-petal bitterness that result in a wonderfully balanced sparkling white. Lovely, rich and creamy mouth feel--and exceptional length, staying power. While I'm a big fan of Proseccos in the $10 to $15 range--lots of quality available at that price--the San Simone is a Prosecco I will pay twenty bucks for, no questions asked. Enjoyed this wine for the first time at a Chamber of Commerce event at Nest (a great art-furniture store on Clark Street in Chicago). Michael later gave us a bottle for home--and it's the best damn Prosecco I've ever tasted. Available via the 'net at http://www.wineliquormart.com (in Staten Island, NY). Cin, cin!

+MUST TRY+
Foss Marai Extra Dry
Italia: Veneto
Prosecco (soft sparkling white)
A non-vintage wine
$14.99
90 pts
This is a wonderful bottle of Prosecco. The nose offers the smell of just-baked bread and green apples...inviting and delicious (couldn't wait to get this in my mouth!). Once there, the Foss Marai Extra Dry is soft and creamy, with a perfect weight--it's a wine that actually feels good to drink. The taste profile includes a bit of pear, a hint of the green apples enjoyed on the bouquet, and then some gently bitter flowers before concluding with a long, pleasing mineral finish...a little taste of the Veneto. A tasty, refreshing and interesting dry sparkler that I recommend highly!

+MUST TRY+
Astoria Lounge Prosecco
Italia: Veneto
90% Prosecco; 10% Chardonnay (soft sparkling white)
A non-vintage wine
$11.99
89 pts
This Prosecco offers a lovely, creamy bouquet, with up-front peach followed by a pleasant smokiness. The creaminess on the nose carries right through into the mouth, while the taste profile includes some gentle peach notes, but is dominated by a florality (with nice bitterness on the finish). This wine also possesses a pleasing weight. While I love the Astoria Lounge Prosecco--increasingly I find flowers appealing in terms of taste--it's not for everyone, particularly if you prefer a bit more pronounced fruit in your wine, and don't appreciate floral bitterness. As I let the wine warm a bit (for getting a better handle on the flavors), a stony minerality started to come through. Also tasty! A solid wine, and the price is right. As the back of the bottle reads, "Enjoy the lounge experience." A MUST TRY!

Maschio Prosecco Brut
Italia: Veneto
Prosecco (soft sparkling white)
A non-vintage wine
$10.99
85 pts
There are two positive things I can say about the Maschio Prosecco Brut, and in the spirit of the season, I'll start there. First, it's not terrible. And second, the color is a beautiful, almost luminescent gold. The aroma is closed, difficult to pick up much of anything. The mouth feel is interesting--a sort of creaminess, along with a bouncy little sparkle. The attack offers mostly apple (with a bit of peach fuzz along the edges), but the overall flavor profile here is dominated by the stones and flowers on the back end. While this is often a good thing for my palette, in this case, the various aspects of this wine just don't seem to fit together well. The creamy sensation and the sparkle make an odd combination. The apple and peach don't seem complementary. And the lingering taste on the finish--after the stones and into the flowers--is somewhat unpleasant. On the whole, this wine falls flat. This is the second prosecco in a row that I've reviewed where the individual elements seem terribly disjointed. Is this a common characteristic of bad prosecco? Hmmm. Something I'll keep an eye on. 

Vigna del Sole Prosecco Treviso Extra Dry
Italia: Veneto (Treviso)
Prosecco (soft sparkling white)
A non-vintage wine
$13.50
84 pts
Purchased this Prosecco at Vinic Wines on Chicago Avenue in Evanston last week, an elegant little shop with a thoughtful selection of European wines. Friendly service, too. Not a huge fan of the Vigna del Sole, however: a weak opening, a good mid-palette (pear definitely, maybe some apple, too), and a floral finish. The length is pretty good. But my problem with this Prosecco is not really the individual parts (except for the delayed start upon the first sip); it's that the transitions are so disjointed. When I drink this, I feel like I'm sipping completely different wines from different glasses, rotating sips from one to the other. The first one tastes like nothing, the next one (mid-palatte) is nice and fruity (a hint of acidity from a citrus flavor mixed in?), and the final one is full of flowers, with a little bitterness (perhaps too much bitterness for my palette). It's like watching three one-act plays (one about nothing, and two mildly entertaining ones)--as opposed to a single play in three acts that leaves you both entertained and intrigued. Just not a good effort in its entirety.

Salvatore Principe Prosecco
Italia: Veneto
Prosecco (soft sparkling white)
A non-vintage wine
$10.99
84 pts
Picked up the Salvatore Principe Prosecco for $11.00 at Cost Plus World Market, having no prior knowlege of this producer (from the Prestige Wine Group). In a word, I'd call this Italian sparkler acceptable. The color is an attractive light gold, with the tiniest, quickest little bubbles racing toward the top of the glass (very nice fizz). The bouquet, however, struck me as very odd: an oaky, woody. Chardonnay-like nose. As for flavor profile...I get the same thing: too much wood, at the expense of the floral and fruit (apple?) flavors. Interestingly, when I tried the wine, again, the next day, the floral flavor seemed strengthened, and the wood weakened a bit (a good thing, for my palette). And the fizz remained strong. But in the end, I'm just not a fan of this wine: it looks better than it tastes, and the strange oak flavor, so dominating on my first tastes, just isn't my idea of a prosecco. If you like strong oak in your wine (as well as floral, rather than fruit flavors), you might enjoy it, however--and the price is certainly reasonable enough. But the Riondo, Mionetto, and Zonin proseccos--reviewed below--are oh-so-much better. 

+MUST TRY+ 
Riondo Prosecco Spago Nero NV (by Riondo)Italia: Veneto
Prosecco (soft sparkling white)
A non-vintage wine
$9.00
89+ pts
I don't want you to think I'm a prosecco lush, but at this point, a full 50 percent of the proseccos I've rated over the past year have been MUST TRYs, higher than any other varietal. Clearly, this is a grape I like. What I really enjoy about this wine, the Riondo Prosecco Spago Nero NV, is the wonderful balance it maintains between three flavors: floral, mineral, and fruit (apple and pear, I think). Subtle fruits--not too sweet, as is the point with this varietal--with a pleasing floral component, even to me, for whom the floral taste profile is not a favorite. And at the back end, I get nice but not overpowering minerals...and as crazy as it sounds, maybe even a hint of green vegetables? Gary V. describes the nose as a "band-aid" smell, and he's actually on target. Reminds one of a hospital room smell. Pretty funny. And the length is very nice on the Riondo. I rate this wine just a hair below the Mionetto Il Prosecco, costing about the same, simply because I give the taste profile for Mionetto--less complex, but a bit more fruit-driven--a slight edge (just my preference). That being said, they're both phenominal sparkling whites from Italy, that I enjoy and highly recommend.

+MUST TRY+
Il Prosecco (by Mionetto Wines)
Italia: Veneto
Prosecco - (soft sparkling white)
A non-vintage wine
$9.99
90 pts
This prosecco is I.G.T., a formal designation allowing for a little creative leeway in the way the wine is made, while still remaining ‘typical’ of the region. The Il Prosecco is frizzanti, possessing just a soft little fizz to it. In terms of color, the Il Prosecco appears light in the glass, like a translucent gold. It possesses a gentle peach bouquet and the delicate, light flavor to match (a drier wine). This is a tasty little prosecco at a bargain price (I purchased a chilled bottle at Binny’s Beverage Depot in Chicago for just $9.99). Also has a good, solid finish, with the pleasing flavor remaining in your mouth a good 15 seconds after the wine is gone. The presentation of this wine is unique, as well: the bottle is beautifully shaped and colored, sleek and modern, with a contemporary look to the logo, and it’s capped not with a cork, but with a metal crown top like those found on bottled beer and soda. While I know there are better proseccos on the market for more money—such as the Zonin Prosecco rated 90+ below—this is such a great value, combining affordability, taste, and unique presentation…I call this one a +MUST TRY+. A great wine to have on-hand in the home all summer long.

+RUN AWAY NOW!+
Pizzolato Prosecco (by Settimo Pizzolato)
Italia: Veneto Prosecco - organically grown grapes (sparkling white)
2006
$14.99
75 pts
I.G.T; don't like this organic prosecco at all; bitter, flat, with no finish; not sweet enough, not refreshing; completely unsatisfying; available by the glass at Dunlay's for $10.00. Tried it once, no need to do so, again.

Rustico Prosecco (by Nini Franco)
Italia: Veneto (Valdobbiadene)
Prosecco (sparkling white)
A non-vintage wine
12.99
88 pts
A nice prosecco at this price point: fresh, with a decent finish, too. It's funny, though: there's an instant shot of fruit up front, then a 'break' at the mid-palette with not much going on at all...followed by a long fruit finish (lemon), even stronger than the opening. Not overly sweet (very dry), which is good for me, but Dana prefers a sweeter version. A decent buy at $13.00, but I think there are still less expensive proseccos that taste even better. Vaynerchuck calls it a buy, and Parker gives it 90 pts. I give it 88.

+MUST TRY+ 
Zonin Prosecco Special Cuve'e Brut Spumante (by Casa Vinicola Zonin)
Italia: Veneto (Gambellara)
Prosecco (sparkling white)
A non-vintage wine
$14.99
91 pts
This prosecco is outstanding, in my opinion. The flavor (a hint of lemon, of citrus) is not overpowering; for my tastes, this is the perfect level of sweetness in a prosecco. It's crisp and refreshing, with a good finish. A medium level of fizz. Would like it even more if it was just a few dollars cheaper, but the Rustico Prosecco (rated above), while two dollars less, lacks an evenness, with a hollow mid-palette. This Zonin is steady as she goes, from start to finish--and thus I give it a higher rating. Had a few glasses with Dana's homemade pesto and rotini for dinner tonight, and it was a perfect compliment. Also great with appetizers or by itself.

Presto Prosecco Brut (by Amistani Guarda Venegazzu Winery)
Italia: Veneto (Montebelluna)
A non-vintage wine
$9.99
86 pts
This is one of Whole Foods' Top 10 Summer Wines for 2009: hmmm. At 9.99, that's sure a decent price for Italian bubbly, and the taste is by no means bad--a dry, agreeable, easy to drink prosecco, with just a subtle hint of fruit--but this simple wine is just sort of blah. While one may enjoy sipping a few glasses this summer (as Dana and Leslie and I did on our rooftop deck last night), the Presto doesn't leave you with the desire to run out and buy more. I would describe this as a non-offensive and affordable little wine, but Mionetto's Il Prosecco (rated above), also at 9.99, is much better in terms of taste and finish. And for just $5.00 more one can pick up the Zonin (also rated above, at 91 pts), which has great balance, a more pleasing and complex fruit, and a much stronger finish. I'd compare drinking the Presto to drinking a typical iced tea in a restaurant, for those who like iced tea (not so much, for me): sort of hard to screw it up, and as long as it tastes like iced tea and is cold, it can be refreshing...but it's not the kind of drink one ever craves or gets excited about. That's Presto Prosecco Brut for me.

PINOT NOIR: UNITED STATES

+RUN AWAY NOW+
Plowbuster Pinot Noir
United States: Oregon (Willamette Valley)
Pinot Noir (red)
2009
$19.99
75 pts
I'm a big Willamette Valley Pinot fan...as is Scott. Clearly, we're not alone. This region and its thoughtful vintners nearly always deliver a solid Pinot Noir, one of the most difficult wines to produce, given the fragile, temperamental nature of these thin-skinned grapes. But the 2009 Plowbuster is not a wine I can recommend, particularly at twenty bucks a bottle. The best thing this wine has going for it is the pretty ruby color. The nose is stingy, perhaps revealing the tiniest whiff of black cherry, but it's awfully tight. The taste profile includes the aforementioned cherries on the mid-palette, followed by an unusual metallic minerality that has good length, but overpowers all, and just doesn't taste good to me. There is no initial attack on this wine at all. One simply has to wait...and wait...and wait...for the cherries, which then quickly give way to the powerful taste of, perhaps, tin? I find the 2009 Plowbuster disjointed, unbalanced, and distasteful. Perhaps a rough vintage? Wine Spectator gave the 2008 89 points, citing tea as part of its taste profile. I'm not a fan of tea, so maybe that's part of my dislike. I've read the winemaker says this particular plot of land is littered with bits of steel from plows that have worked the fields over the years. Interesting, but even if that accounts for the steely taste, that's more of a good story than a good plan to make wine. I say this one's a +RUN AWAY NOW+, and Scott agreed, refusing to drink any more of his own bottle of wine. Good thing we had a little Borsao Spanish red standing by to enjoy on that lovely night in the front yard with Dana & Gail!

NOTE: I rated this wine after a lengthy period of opening up, during which the taste profile seemed to transform from an overly sweet wine to a wine dominated by the steely minerality.

Benton Valley Pinot Noir
United States: Oregon (Willamette Valley: Monroe)
100% Pinot Noir (red)
2008
$18.00
87 pts
This Willamette Valley Pinot (by the way, recently learned locals pronounce Willamette like damn-it...suppose you Oregonians know, but had no clue...thanks, Dana!) offers a measure of cherries and the characteristic cocoa finish, but is awfully light, even for a Pinot. The fruit disappears after a quick hit of cherries, faster than a Republican candidate for President at an immigrant's rights rally. While this wine strikes me as needing another year or two to mature, as it stands now, the best part is the finish, with cocoa and a hint of musty earthiness emerging, and lingering rather pleasingly. Overall, it's a decent Pinot, but not a MUST TRY: just too thin, too lacking in fruit flavor, and without any coherent transition from the initial cherry to the cocoa finish. I'll say this, though: it's light, easy drinking...and it just does NOT go with Mike 'n Ike's candy. Trust me.

+MUST TRY+
Adelsheim Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
United States: Oregon (Willamette Valley: Newberg)
100% Pinot Noir (red)
2009
$22.99
90 pts
The nose on this wonderful northwestern US Pinot offers cherries, raspberries and fresh earth. In the mouth, the initial attack is young cherries with hints of earth underneath, followed by a surprising finish that almost explodes with candied sour cherries. The length? Outstanding! The first word that came to mind when this wine hit my mouth was "elegant"--it's smooth, refined (even at this young age), and confident. My guess is that with more time in the bottle, the youthful cherries on the front end will gain maturity and more sophistication. And perhaps the already rich earthiness will become even more pronounced in a few years. The Adelsheim Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is delicious, balanced and worth the price tag, just over twenty bucks.

Uptown Pinot Noir (by Uptown Cellars)
United States: Califorina (North Coast)
Pinot Noir (red)
2008
$12.00
88 pts
Scott brought this Pinot up to our rooftop deck last weekend for an informal gathering of neighbors from the building, and while I was already drinking Prosecco (and Verdejo, too), this wine was so good upon a taste that I had to have a glass...and he was kind enough to give me the rest of the bottle at the end of the night. Distributed by the Midwest Wine Exchange based in Novi, MI--which claims to specialize in small boutique wines at affordable prices--this is a very nice Pinot Noir at a good price. I find the color unusually dark for a Pinot Noir (dark cherry), but it is beautiful. The kind of wine when you examine the color in the light, you want to drink it. The weight is more typical of the varietal (light), but it has a creamy mouth feel which I like a great deal. As for taste profile, cherries, definitely (and maybe some raspberry notes, too), but on the back end, there is a subtle little hint of cocoa, or of chocolate, that leaves me feeling like I've just had a chocolate-covered cherry in my mouth (not the taste of the chocolate-covered cherry in my mouth per se, but the taste left there after consuming it; it's subtle). There's also a floral bitterness that lingers on the finish, which I'm not really crazy about (doesn't seem in harmony with the rest of the taste profile). But for about twelve bucks, this is a decent Pinot. Not a MUST TRY, but a slightly above average wine for the price, in my opinion--like a .280 hitter with no power and a good glove. Cooperstown won't be calling, but you could do worse than have him bat in the two spot.

VERDEJO: SPAIN

+MUST TRY+Angel Rodriguez Martinsancho VerdejoEspana: Castilla y Leon (Rueda)
Verdejo (white)
2009
$15.99
90 pts
I really like this wine. Enjoyed a few glasses on a steamy summer evening on the veranda of The Boulevard Inn (St. Joseph, MI) with Dana recently, and I was blown away. It's grassy, herbal, floral and vegetal (green on all counts), with a fresh green melon nose, too. Unbelievably refreshing. And there's also some nice complementary minerality on the finish, with an above-average length. The fruit definitely takes a back seat to the herbs, flowers and green vegetables (melon most prevalent on the bouquet, not in the mouth), so it's possible some might not fall head-over-heels here on first taste. But this is a remarkably complex, tasty and rewarding wine: it feels good, makes you think (about what you're tasting), and cools you down. Now this is the way to get your vegetables. This one's a +MUST TRY+!

+RUN AWAY NOW+Poligono 10 Verdejo (by Bodega Gotica)
Espana: Castilla y Leon (Rueda)
Verdejo (white)
2007
$7.99 on sale
75 pts
Well, it took me a long, long time, but I finally found a verdejo I don't like. Not that I was searching for one. It's just that I was beginning to think, perhaps, that this grape couldn't possibly be used to make wine that tastes bad. I like it that much. But the Bodega Gotica Poligono 10, I couldn't even bring myself to finish the contents of such a beautiful translucent blue bottle. This may sound crazy, but for starters, the color of this wine tastes terrible. Darker than any verdejo I've ever seen--the color of apple juice, or urine after one has consumed way too much beer (so I've heard)--it looked bad in the glass, unappealing, unpleasant, just strange. The bouquet was dominated by flowers, not a bad thing, but once in the mouth, it felt a little heavy for verdejo, then offered sort of a flat floral note, intense minerality, and a very tiny hint of citrus...all in about a second-and-a-half, before it vanished, entirely. The fact that this wine has almost no length is a good thing, since it looks, feels and tastes unpleasant. The various flavors it flashes can be brilliant if each tastes good on its own and they coordinate somehow, form a nice whole, offer balance. But here it's just a mess. The producer's website waxes poetic about this wine, even suggesting that "The yellow-greenish colours praise the sparkles of its luminosity." Nice effort, but I'm afraid that no amount of hyperbole can redeem this one. I say RUN AWAY NOW. Great grape, bad wine.

+MUST TRY+Rueda Naia (by Bodegas Naia - Vina Sila)Espana: Castilla y Leon (Rueda)
Verdejo (white)
2006
$17.99
95 pts
The BEST verdejo I have ever tasted. Cool, crisp and refreshing up front, with just the right amount of sweetness and citrus fruit (along with hints of freshly-mown grass); on the back end, long and so smooth. One of the best wines I've ever had. Tasted it for the first time at La Sala at La Valencia Hotel, on our spring 2009 trip to La Jolla, CA. This is one of my favorite wines. Available at Whole Foods for a few dollars less than above, too.

Castillo de Nava Verdejo (by Castillo de Nava)Espana: Castilla y Leon (Rueda)
Verdejo + Viura (white)
2006
88+ pts
Sold by the glass at Dunlay's for $9.00; a tasty & refreshing Verdejo, with strong citrus (hint of pineapple) and a crisp front end; good, but not as good as the Bodegas Naia Verdejo, which has a very long, smooth, near-perfect finish.

VSolo Verdejo (by VSolo)Espana: Castilla y Leon, Vallodolid (Rueda)
Verdejo 100% (white)
2008
$9.99
87 pts
Not a bad little wine for $10.00 (was on sale, regularly priced at 11.00 at Whole Foods)...but not a top-shelf Verdejo, either. The color of this wine is clear, almost like water, and the nose is quite nice, full of pineapple, especially. A first tasting reveals a lot of pineapple, as well, and it's not overly sweet (a plus for me). After breathing a while, the VSolo Verdejo does provide a bit more complexity, with a mineral element in addition to the pinapple that is not unpleasant. But this is a simple straightforward wine possessing a clear pineapple focus, with very little finish at all. It just seems to disappear during the midpalette, never to return. A little more complexity in flavor and any finish at all to speak of, and this could have been a MUST TRY. Still might be a good buy for those who love pineapple, and the price is right (marketed by the food chain as a Top 10 Summer Wine). Also, as a 2008 vintage, this is obviously a young wine. Might mature a bit with time. Will probably pick up another bottle and set it aside for a year or two, and see what happens. The name VSolo refers to the fact that this wine is made from the Verdejo varietal only.

Paso A Paso Verdejo (by Paso A Paso)Espana: La Mancha
Verdejo (white)
2007
$10.99
85 pts
This is an okay Verdejo, but not great, and even though the $11.00 price tag is quite reasonable, the Rueda Naia (at $17.99) and even the Castillo de Nava are so much better, that I can't justify buying this one again. Has a tight nose that doesn't open up much even after airing, and while the pear flavor is nice at first, there is a somewhat overpowering bitterness that follows, and lingers on the finish. Nice acid, though. In terms of color, this wine is so light, so clear, it almost resembles water (although in fairness it doesn't taste as light as it looks, and has some degree of substance to it). Overall, I find this to be an average grade verdejo...and isn't life just too short to settle for average when the price difference is so close?

+MUST TRY+Monte Palma Verdejo (by Monte Palma Winery)
Verdejo 100% (white)
Espana: Rueda (Segovia)
2008
$11.99
89 pts
Lincoln Park Market began carrying this Verdejo, recently, and we picked up a bottle there to share with family on Father's Day...and I'm really glad we did. At $12.00, this is a tremendous find. This wine has a beautiful straw color with hints of green. The bouquet is exceptional, with a delightful citrus aroma that seems to jump from the glass upon the slightest twirl. The taste begins with grapefruit, and finishes with pear, offering a complexity not common to wines in this price range. This wine is made to be consumed upon production, but setting aside a bottle or two for a year may be interesting. Even now, this is a nice affordable verdejo, a great summer wine for sipping on the deck, at the pool, or with appetizers or white grilled meats (I'd even say regular pizza, too). Not as remarkable as the Naia (rated above), one of the best wines I've ever tasted. But for $12.00, as an everyday wine that goes great with a lot of different foods, or alone--if Spanish whites were a baseball team, I'd want the Monte Palma Verdejo to be my shortstop.

CHIANTI: ITALY

+MUST TRY+
Collezione di Paolo Chianti
Italia: Tuscano (Chianti, Rufina)
Sangiovese (red)
2009
$15.99
89 pts
This is a young (still a little green) but delicious Chianti, full of flavorful sour cherries on the initial attack and right through the mid-palette, before finishing with a hint of mushroom, some barnyard, and just a bite of chocolate for desert. The mouth feel is smooth and the tannins firm, and I get the sense that this wine will achieve even more depth over the next few years, with the earthiness stepping up as a full partner with the fresh red cherries (will be interesting to see if the chocolate becomes more pronounced, too). Having received a case from my brother-in-law today (what a wonderful gift!), I look forward to enjoying the Collezione di Paolo Chianti over the next two years as it matures. In the short run, think I'll decant it a bit before consumption. At sixteen bucks, this is a wonderful wine for pizza and pasta.

+MUST TRY+
Da Vinci Chianti Reserva (by Cantine Leonardo Da Vinci)
Italia: Tuscano (Chianti)
100% Sangiovese (red)
2004
$24.99
90 pts
Received this Reserva (12 months in French oak plus 4 months bottle aging) from Dana as an early Christmas gift in 2010--an awesome gift, considering how much I enjoy this winery's Chianti! Had not tried the Reserva, however, and could not wait until December 25th. So here I am in Sarasota on holiday on 22 December, drinking my gift. The color is reddish-brown. The aroma on this wine is awfully tight, tough to pin down, even after 45 minutes of breathing. I definitley get clear white pepper on the back end, along with a hint of mustiness and some blueberry. But as I said, it's a pretty closed nose. The mouth feel is light. Taste profile? I get blueberry, followed by some plum, and then a heavy minerality, with a bit of the fruit hanging on through the finish (dark fruit), closing with the pepper that was so recognizable on the nose. This is a delightfully dry Chianti, with near-max pucker quality. Compared to the non-Reserva da Vinci, this wine offers less fruit, more minerality, and more pepper. The fruit it does offer is considerably darker, as well. If it has a weakness, it's length: it just doesn't stick around very long. Another issue might be the lack of aromatics. However, I really like this wine: it's an extremely dry Tuscan red that offers authentic minerality from the region, with some mature dark fruit that's unique and not overpowering, plus nice white pepper. But beware: the fruit isn't the star here--it plays a supporting role. I think everyone should give this one a try, if for nothing else, than to sample a Chianti that has something different to offer than the run-of-the-mill stuff available at pizza joints city-wide. Salute'!

+MUST TRY+
Da Vinci Chianti (by Cantine Leonardo Da Vinci)
Italia: Tuscano (Chianti)
90% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot (red)
2006
$14.99
90+ pts
Just revisited this delicious Chianti--drinking a glass right now, in fact!--and I love it as much today as I did two years ago, despite a broadening of my palette over that same period. This is a wonderful, high-quality Chianti priced to drink everyday--and that's saying something, considering how many tasteless Chiantis exist in our all-too-imperfect world. Ruby red color in the glass, the aroma offers deep, rich soil, with, perhaps, mushrooms. In terms of taste, the initial attack features cherries, plums, and some spice hints on the tongue (cherry skin, too). Then, underneath, bridging the initial attack and mid-palette as stylishly as Ponte Vecchio bridges the shores of the River Arno, this real-deal Chianti offers some Old World, earthy undertones, a little taste of Tuscan dirt (with a hint of manure) that screams authenticity. The small percentage of Merlot helps soften the tannins, and smooth out the finish. Nice length, too. Two years ago I reported this Italian red, great by itself or with pizza or pasta, is worth its weight in gold. And as 2010 nears its end--it still is. Easy to find throughout Chicagoland. Do yourself a favor, and find a bottle soon!

+RUN AWAY NOW!+
Banfi Chianti Classico Reserva (by Castello Banfi)
Italia: Tuscany (Montalcino)
A Blend: Sangiovese, Canaiolo Nero, Cabernet Sauvignon (red)
2005
75 pts
$25.00
Received as a gift, and online I've seen this wine priced anywhere between $18.00 and $35.00. Very odd. This is a bad Chianti. Had this at a wine-tasting at our place with some friends, and I so wanted to like it, a gift from two of my nieces last Christmas (and I'm a big fan of a good Chianti). But I found the Banfi Chianti Classico Rerserva to be paper-thin, with an artificial, almost plastic taste. I also think the color was much too dark for Chianti, perhaps indicating too little Sangiovese and too much of the Nero or Cab? In any event, I wasn't alone, as this wine received the lowest rating of the eight we tasted that night. And particularly at this price, it's not something I will drink, again. I see that Wine & Spirits gave this vino 91 points. Yikes! I say run from this wine: it's just not good.

Bolla Chianti (by Bolla Wines)
Italia: Tuscano (Chianti)
San Giovese + Cannaiolo (red)
2007
$8.99
85 pts
D.O.C.G.; not horrible, but nowhere near as good as the Da Vinci; no finish; this wine just falls flat. And the Da Vinci, so much better, is also less expensive. Dana bought this at Lincoln Park Market. Not a great wine at all, but this store does have a nice selection of vino, fyi. And Dana enjoys the 'samples' when it's time to do some grocery shopping! .

+MUST TRY+
Chianti Colli Senesi (by Agricola Ficomontanino)
Italia: Tuscano (Chianti Classico, near Siena)
San Giovesese 90%, Colorino 5%, Canaiolo 3%, Trebbiano 2% (red)
2005
92 pts
Bought in Italy December 2007; fresh, with good fruit, great with beef or white meat; D.O.C.G.

RIESLING: GERMANY

+MUST TRY+
Dr. Heidemans-Bergweiler Riesling
Germany: Mosel River Valley
Riesling (white)
2009
89+ pts
$12.99
Picked up this German Riesling at Binny's Beverage Depot on Clark Street for thirteen bucks (it's a Gary Vaynerchuck rec on Daily Grape.com). GV got this one right; hell, I even think he may have underplayed it a bit, for my palette. This is a delicious wine, one I think that can change some minds about this varietal for those who view Riesling as a distasteful, Koolaid-like sweet wine...especially Rieslings at this price. While I find the nose to be awfully stingy, the mouth feel, taste, and length are outstanding. This is a medium-bodied German white offering bright citrus, fresh apple, and a long, dry finish with plenty of minerality. It's also a wonderfully balanced wine, with smooth, seamless transitions from the initial citrus burst to the mouthful of apples, and then to the encore of river rock-like minerals. The mineral finish, in particular, is rewarding...sort of like a Springsteen encore featuring Thunder Road and Jungleland: as good as the show was, the encore blows you away. Needless to say I like this wine, and give it a most-definite MUST TRY.

Starling Castle Riesling
Germany: Mosel-Saar Ruwer
Riesling (white)
2006
86+ pts
$9.99
The nose on this straw-colored, semi-sweet Riesling offers pear with a hint of tobacco, while the taste profile includes peach on the front end, heavy pear on the mid-palette, and a minerality on the finish. This wine starts sweet and finishes a bit sour. The length is slightly above average, and on extreme back end, there is even a nice dry finish (odd, really, in a semi-sweet Riesling). That's all pretty cool for a ten dollar bottle of wine, and if you prefer sweetness in your whites (as opposed to more mineralty or florality), this wine might be a MUST TRY for you. For my palette, it's a bit too sweet up front. Tried this wine with corned beef and cabbage, including a bit of horseradish with the beef. Not a great pairing. By no means a ripoff at ten bucks, but also not a wine I'm eager to keep on hand.

Römerhof Weinkellerei Riesling
Germany: Mosel River Valley (Trittenheim)
Riesling (white)
2009
85 pts
$8.99
Received this bottle of Mosel Riesling as part of a Christmas gift basket from a kind family at school, and opened her up this evening to try with Dana's homemade pesto and pasta. In terms of a food pairing--Riesling is so damn food friendly--a spicier dish would have been better, given the sweetness of this wine. The nose is awfully stingy--after it has warmed up a bit in the glass, I do get a little butter--but the mouth feel is quite pleasing (butter again comes to mind). The taste profile is quite fruit-forward, as one would expect, with quick little hits of peach and apricot and stronger, more sustained apple and pear flavors. The very back end possesses a hint of minerality (which I like), while the length is practically non-existent: poof! and it's gone. This is not a terrible wine, and in a pinch could go well with some spicey Asian dishes. But it's also not the kind of wine I enjoy drinking sans food, and despite the variety of fruit flavors offered, it drinks as a one-dimensional wine. Back in '09 Whole Foods had this wine on its Top Ten Holiday Wine List, and I can see it being consumed with cranberry sauce and stuffing, but still, just an average wine for my palette: beter than the worst junk Rieslings out there (i.e., Polka Dot), but nothing to get excited about, either.

+MUST TRY+
Carl Reh Riesling
Germany: Mosel River Valley
Riesling (white)
2009
89 pts
$9.99
Just enjoyed a few glasses of this bright and delicious Riesling from Germany at Dozika Pan-Asian in Evanston, where Sara, Ken, Jessica and I had lunch the day before Thanksgiving. Wow. Paired it with spicy Kung Pao chicken, which worked very nicely (Riesling is so food-friendly, given its acidity and potential for balancing out spicy dishes with a little sweetness and minerality). This wine, priced at $7.00 a glass at Dozika but about ten bucks a bottle retail, can also stand tall on its own. It's fresh, full of life, with a delightful taste that is reminiscent of the Apricot preserves my grandmother used to buy and serve on toasted white bread. This strikes me as a semi-dry wine, however (not at all candy sweet like some Kool-Aid style Rieslings) and even offers hints of minerality on the finish. Perhaps the only shortcoming is that the length is average, vanishing soon after consumption--and this, along with a lack of real complexity, of an interesting story to tell in terms of taste--keeps the Carl Reh Riesling from being a 90 point wine. That being said, this kind of deliciousness, along with such high potential for pairing with spicy Asian foods, at ten bucks a bottle? It's a MUST TRY!

S.A. Prüm "Essence" Riesling
Germany: Mosel River Valley
Riesling (white)
2009
87 pts
$13.00
Enjoyed dinner in Winter Park, FL with my dad, his wife Linda, and my sister Kim last night, at Ruth's Chris steak house. Not a steak guy, really, but this gave me the opportunity to test out a spicy Asian food-dry Riesling pairing, something I read about in Jay McInerney's book A Hedonist in the Cellar. I selected as my entree the large calamari appetizer, served at Ruth's Chris with a sweet & spicy Asian sauce, and as my wine, the Prum Essence Riesling. The citrus and sweetness in this German white are supposed to complement and balance the spiciness of Asian sauces and food. As it turns out, I like this wine a lot, but the pairing with this dish was just so-so. While the wine had a wonderful minerality to it and pleasing hints of lime--with a nice mouth feel and a slightly above average finish--this near dry/semi-sweet Riesling, so mineral driven, just didn't do enough to balance out the spices used on the calamari (could have used a bit more acidity, for my palette). I've since learned that the blue slate in the soil of this mid-valley estate accounts for the nice minerality. Still, on it's own or served with seafood or fish sans Asian spices, I think this is a good, solid semi-dry Riesling at a reasonable price--and a wine I would certainly drink, again. Compared to the Polka Dot Riesling reviewed below, this is a 91 point wine. On its own, I give it 87...nice, but not a mind blower, either.

+RUN AWAY NOW+
Polka Dot Medium Dry Riesling
Germany: Pfalz
Riesling (white)
2006
75 pts
$10.00
Need to start with two realities here: first, just about everyone who's rated the Polka Dot Medium Dry Riesling likes it a lot--but not me. Second, this is the first Riesling I've rated officially, and I'm no expert on the specific characteristics of this varietal. Those points aside, here's my honest take.

The color of this wine is yellow straw (light, even sort of airy), and the bouquet offers pear and nectarine. The company claims apricot on the nose, as well, but I don't pick that up. It's a sweet smell dominated by those fruits. As for taste, it's very light in the mouth (I've read this is an expected characteristic of the varietal, however), and the sweetness of the fruit--opening with pear, then transitioning, rather awkwardly, to a longer nectarine flavor--is displeasing for my palette: just too much for a wine described as Medium Dry. I also pick up a secondary floral taste, but that flavor does not seem at all in harmony with the dominating, sweet fruit. And the length of this wine is below average, a disappearing act. Riesling is recognized as one of the most food-friendly wines in the world, and I can see how the sweetness (plus a bit of acidity) would complement certain spicy foods (especially Asian?), but I don't care for the mouth feel, dominant flavors, level of sweetness, balance, or finish on the Polka Dot Riesling. It's just not a wine I want to drink again.

ZWEIGELT: AUSTRIA

+RUN AWAY NOW!+
Neckenmart Zweigelt (by Winzerkeller Neckenmarkt)
Austria: Burgenland (eastern Austria, south of Vienna)
Zweigelt (red)
2008
77 pts
$11.99
BRUTAL. Absolutely brutal. A big fan of Austrian wines, especially the dry white Gruner Veltliner (lovely minerals and rocks), and I've been anxious to explore Zweigelt, a varietal that dates only to 1922, but an Austrian red many experts say has a lot to offer if it can overcome some obvious marketing hurdles, i.e. a name that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue in English and the fact that it's an unknown varietal to most. The Neckenmart Zweigelt is one of three featured wines in D.O.C. Wine Bar's Old World Red Flight (a good buy at $15.00). But while this flight also includes the delightful Domaine de Fontsainte Corbieres (click HERE for my rating), the Neckenmart may just be the worst wine I've had in the past year. The fact that the weight is water-thin is about the best thing that can be said of this wine. The nose is ALL barnyard...not even earthy, really (I generally like earthiness) but an overpowering, offensive stench of dung. There are wines with this element that I actually enjoy, but those wines give one the sense that the manure is complementary as you enjoy the fruit and minerals in your glass...perhaps standing in a green field with your glass in hand as the barnyard aroma drifts faintly by, adding to the richness, the authenticity of the experience. But with this wine, you are standing in the same field buried up to your neck in cow manure, drinking a glass of watery cherry Kool Aid... with pieces of dung floating in it. One almost has to choke it down. Not only are the aroma and flavor distasteful, the two elements of the taste profile--cherries and dung--are completely disjointed, unrelated...except in that they both offend. Based on what I've heard and read, the Neckenmart cannot be a good example of what Zweigelt has to offer. Run away from this wine--fast--but more to come in future posts on this varietal. Grüß Gott!

CABERNET SAUVIGNON: UNITED STATES

+RUN AWAY NOW+
Blossom Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
United States of America: San Benito County, CA
Cabernet Sauvignon (red)
2008
$10.00
65 pts
Yikes, yikes and triple yikes. This Cabernet may be England's most disconcerting contribution to America since The Spice Girls. Owned by an English firm (and, in fact, one of the UK's top-selling producers, if not the leader), the Blossom Hill label seeks to capture that magical, big California fruit in a discount-priced bottle for wine enthusiasts in both the USA and the UK. The firm boasts that its Cab offers robust red berries, black currant, and subtle oak. And in using the word subtle, I think we find a wonderful example of the classic English use of understatement as a comedic device: this wine, even thinner than water itself, is absolutely tasteless. The aroma is a closed door, offering, perhaps, a whiff of Welch's Grape Juice (remember?). The attack, if it can be called that, brings watered-down Kool-Aid, and to speak plainly, there is no mid-palate, no finish, and no length. Kind of tough to comment further on things that don't exist. The only reason I'm going as high as 65 points is that despite drinking three glasses of this stuff last night in a relatively short period of time, I was not hungover this morning (65 gratitude points). This is the first wine in my experience where even after three glasses, it didn't improve one bit, in my mind (shattering my theory that every wine becomes a 90 point wine as you approach glass number four). There are some good quality wines out there for ten bucks if one looks hard and gets outside the usual varietals--and then there's a whole lot of junk. The Blossom Hill Cabernet is junk.

Chalone Vineyards Monterey County Cabernet Sauvignon (by Chalone Vineyards)
United States of America: Monterey, California
Cabernet Sauvignon (red)
2006
$18.00
88 pts
This California Cab possesses a rich and beautiful dark cherry color, with the black cherry nose to match. The taste profile is fairly complex for a wine under twenty bucks: good black fruit up front, with some pepper midway, and a hint of vanilla on the back end. But I also experienced an undercurrent throughout--strongest on the tail end of the above-average length of this wine--of an earthy, musty, mushroom taste, not something the nose offered at all. I give this one 88 points, decent because of its interest-level and complexity (and I find the fruit and pepper aspects appealing...it's not a typical Cab by any stretch), but not a MUST TRY wine, for my money, because the lingering mushroom in the end is just too much, at least for my palette. This is an interesting, unusual Cabernet Sauvignon, probably worth trying, but more for its uniqueness than its quality. I find the various aspects to be somewhat disjointed. That being said, I've had two glasses so far, and as usual, the more I drink, the better it seems!

FORGIARIN: ITALY

+RUN AWAY NOW+
Emilio Bulfon Forgiarin
Italia: Friuli Venezia-Giulia
Forgiarin 100% (red)
2007
$19.99
80 pts
Let me say this first: Emilio Bulfon's efforts to resuscitate the traditional grapes--some hundreds of years old--of his native Friuli are noble, and as someone who prefers the typical Old World flavor profile (drier, earthier, changeable, with less polish) to the big, bold candy-fruitiness the New World, I respect and even appreciate Mr. Bulfon's work. However, his 2007 Forgiarin (a grape named for a small town in the west of Friuli), just didn't do it for me. Had never tasted this grape before--had never even heard of it, which I love--and was hopeful of a new and exciting discovery, having received this bottle as a gift from a wonderful family at school. The color of the Forgiarin is dark-cherry red. I wasn't able to pick up much on the nose, at first, except for a hint of petroleum, of all things. After a few seconds and a few more twirls in the glass, I did start to get some cherries. Overall, I would describe the bouqet as kind of tight, close, not revealing much. As for taste, certainly pucker-dry (which I don't mind), but it was so disjointed I struggled to put any name to the fruit. It seemed to me as if the mouth feel and flavor and weight were somehow all separated from one another in my mouth. After waiting a while, the wine did open up--and perhaps even pull itself together--a bit, but the fruit, which I've read since is supposed to capture blueberries...well, not for me, it didn't. I don't recommend the Bulfon Forgiarin, with or without food, I'm afraid. It's just doesn't offer enough coherence and flavor; I can live very nicely with a single pleasing flavor, or a complex balance of complimentary flavors, but this wine offers neither. The label is beautiful, though, designed by Bulfon himself, capturing a Medieval fresco of the Last Supper. But in the end, the producer's noble effort to make great wine in the 21st Century from old, traditional local grapes (and his beautiful label)...these are the best aspects of this wine. Maybe I'll try again in a few years--I'm pulling for him.

PINOT GRIGIO: ITALY

+RUN AWAY NOW!+
Grigio Luna Pinot Grigio delle Venezia (by Villa Borghetti)
Italia: Veneto (Verona)
Pinot Grigio (white)
2005
Retail cost unknown (received as a gift at a house party)
78 pts
While this I.G.T. pinot doesn't taste badly, per se, it just doesn't taste much at all. Tastes and feels like chilled water with a slight hint of pear flavor up front, and just a touch more fruit at the mid-palette. Then the finish does a vanishing act...presto. Haven't tasted much pinot, so I'm by no means an expert, but have to believe that the best pinots out there have some taste. This wine lacks flavor, character, complexity. Even the nose, prior to drinking, is non-existent. A nice rich light-golden color, but looking pretty in a glass is about as good as this one gets.

CHARDONNAY: ITALY

+RUN AWAY NOW!+
Agrinatura Puglia Chardonnay (by Agrinatura Puglia Winery)
Italia: Puglia (near village of Andria)
Chardonnay; organic grapes (white)
No Vintage Identified on Bottle
$12.99
65
Was intrigued with the notion of an Italian Chard, so picked up a bottle. The color of this wine showed some promise...resembles melted butter in appearance. But I couldn't pick-up much butter on the nose, instead got a whole lot of ash, like the smell of a campfire the next morning. As for taste---could barely get a glass down. This wine possesses such an overpowering taste of burnt wood (or burnt popcorn kernels) that, for my palette, was absolutely disgusting, completely undrinkable. This is readily available at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's...but I have NO idea why. Having been thoroughly disappointed by it, I decided to test one of Vaynerchuck's fun and crazy notions, specifically that Chardonnay pairs well with Cinammon Toast Crunch cereal...maybe that would help this wine. It didn't. In fact, it was even more disgusting, if that's possible. But I can say that Cinammon Toast Crunch cereal is pretty tasty. This is a wine from which to flee!

WHITE BLENDS: UNITED STATES

+RUN AWAY NOW!+
Tabor Hill Classic Demi-Sec White (by Tabor Hill Winery)
United States of America: Buchanan, Michigan
Vidal Blanc (hybrid) blended with other Michigan Grapes (white)
A non-vintage wine
10.49
76
This wine advertises itself as preferred by the White House, but it appears that was during the Ford Administration, and seeing that ol' Jerry was from Michigan, I suppose that makes a degree of sense. And while the Tabor Hill Classic Demi-Sec has won Midwestern wine awards, I have to call it like I see it: I really hate this wine. The color calls to mind the color of urine, the nose is fruity but kind of indescribable (at least for me), and the taste, while covering the whole palette and providing a good finish, is quite simply, unpleasing to me. I get plenty of apple, and even a hint of pear, perhaps, but the level of sweetness is well beyond what is advertised (it's just too much). And I find the fruit flavor to be candy-like and artificial. Proves the old adage--which I think I just made up today--that a long finish is only a plus when a wine tastes good in the first place. This wine leaves your mouth coated with a sort-of oily film, and a slight bitterness (an unpleasant bitterness) lingers. Even Dana, who prefers Riesling, found this wine over-the-top. I would like nothing more than to find a Lake Michigan wine that I enjoy, and I suspect there are some out there...but certainly not this one.