Black Sea Wines Brings You Items from the Web - 22 March 2011

Black Sea Wines brings you some of the latest news and opinions from the Web.

• If you missed this January article from The Economist about wines making a comeback in the former Yugoslavia especially Croatia, Montenegro and Macedonia, it's a short and enjoyable read.

• Richard Jennings of RJonWine.com has a nice article on new releases from Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

• One of my favorite super cheap wines is the Bulgarian Gamza Suhindol. Gamza comes from the Veliko Tarnovo area and is a spicy medium-bodied red that sells for about $4 per bottle. Click here to find out about the wine and the Lovico winery. According to Lovico's website, their wine is available throughout the EU and in the US.

• IstanbulEats thinks that the 2007 Umurbey Sauvignon Blanc from Turkey is New Zealand quality.

• Cramele Recas, a Romanian winery, on its news page lists new places in the UK and US where you can buy their wine and recent awards. 

• If you can read Romanian, a nice wine blog is Cazan Cu Vin.

• Wine and cheese are always a nice pairing. If you are interested in cheese, check out the blog, Cheese Enthusiast.

Review: 2009 Avia Pinot Noir from Slovenia ... No, Macedonia

2009 Avia Pinot Noir from Macedonia

Wine: With dinner this week, we drank a 2009 Pinot Noir by Avia of Slovenia. Black Sea Wines purchased the Avia for $4.99 at Bottle King, a regional chain of stores selling wine, beer and liquor in the New York area in the United States. Avia is a Slovenian wine company but purchases grapes from all over. Avia's Shiraz uses Chilean grapes. The Pinot Noir is listed as a product of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The wine is produced in the Vardar Valley which is a Macedonian wine region near the Greek border.

Tasting Details: We opened the bottle, a screw top, immediately before dinner. Dinner was informal -- tuna sandwiches, rice cheese bake squares and salad. Debbie also tasted the wine.

Results: The wine was acceptable. It was dark for a Pinot Noir. I could barely see my finger through the wine even when holding the glass up to the light. Characteristics of this Pinot Noir were 12% alcohol content, a slightly acidic smell and the taste of yogurt. On the positive side, the Avia was dry, peppery, and had sufficient body. On the negative side, there was little balance. I detected minimal sweetness or fruit. To me, what makes Pinot Noir delightful is the ability to taste the sweetness and fruit yet still have a dry wine that works well with food. Debbie thought the wine was OK.

Overall rating: Drinkable

Price value: Decent price value. It was $4.99! What do you expect?

We will review Avia's 2009 Pinot Grigio next.
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