2009 La Carraia Umbria Sangiovese, Italy

Quite the delight…Dark purplish-black core surrounded by ruby red fading to violet at the rim

Two-toned nose…Cherry and vanilla

Why do I feel so wishy-washy…This wine held my attention for the entire first glass. I enjoyed the look, aroma and taste right down to the last drop. Then I waited for a few hours while cooking dinner and sampled my second glass. My attention seemed to wander during this glass. ‘Maybe it’s the food’ I thought to myself. But the next evening I experienced the exact same thing. Finally it dawned on me; this wine is pretty darn good all by itself but takes a backseat when it’s paired with just about any food. Let ‘s talk specifics about the wine itself. It has a very narrow scope of flavors as far as the attack is concerned. Mainly I can taste cherry, some raspberry, and peppers (both black pepper heat and bell pepper zest). The mid-palate is moderately acidic with some pucker factor from both alcohol and tannins and minimal astringency. The finish is medium in length featuring more pepper, savory spices (sage and basil), tobacco and very muted berry/cherry notes. I get a definite “weight” to the wine but it’s really only a medium bodied effort. The aftertaste itself is long and runs mainly to sour cherry and plum pits. It’s a nice effort and shines by itself though it becomes demure when paired with food.

Overall, I write that entire review about how good the wine tastes by itself to say that I actually enjoyed it more when I drank it with a meal. Normally I would want my glass of wine to shine with every sip I took, but this wine did something completely different. While the flavors of the wine itself were somewhat undermined the food itself took on a whole new level of “good”. I liked drinking this by itself because I could taste the wine, but I liked it even better when I paired this with spaghetti because it made the garlic marinara taste so much better. I know it’s an anomaly and I never expect to have this happen again, but this bottle gets a good QPR all the way around but for totally different reasons. I think I paid 10 bucks for this and that’s not bad. I’d recommend this for your table on any night you want an Italian red to go with your Italian dinner. It’s not an amazing wine, but it hits the spot especially with a nice plate of spaghetti.

La Carraia

2007 Hogue Cellars Genesis Meritage(49% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Malbec, 1% Cabernet Franc), Washington

Oh Say Can You See…Ruby red fading to reddish violet at the rim

A Bouquet of…Dark cherry, blackberry, syrup

The Taste buds Tale…This is a Fry’s closeout wine that I found recently on the shelf for 50% off, it rang up at just under 13 dollars. Mostly I bought this in order to get another Meritage sample. While I realize all of the Meritages I have tried up to this point have had differing blends of grapes, it is still my aim to be able to compare and contrast them. A lot of my fascination with Meritage lies in my love of red blend. I believe a good inexpensive red blend can far outshine a single varietal wine purchased for the same price. It’s been my experience that blends in the 10-15 dollar range are more complex than single varietal wines at the same price while also being more balanced. So I popped the cork, poured, and sat back to let it get some air. I returned after 30 minutes, swirled, sniffed and sipped this wine…wow after a good 30 minutes this was still relatively piercing and hot where the tannins and alcohol were concerned. I set aside the glass for yet another 30 minutes. I came back around and repeated my process only to be greeted with the same result. I decided to finish my glass swiftly and return to the bottle the following day. On day two I poured another small glass, swirled and sniffed. The aromas coming off the glass were more well defined on day two; I could smell dark cherry mixed with blackberry, a hint of licorice and at the tail end what I can only describe generically as syrup. Upon the first sip this wine still tastes young and a little rambunctious. The flavors on the attack are big; cherry, blackberry, currant and pepper. Then a wild ride of a mid-palate defined mainly by rough and ready tannins, alcohol heat just a little on the warm side for me and a sourness that I didn’t expect right before the finish hits. The finish is medium in length and brings back the big, bold berry/cherry flavors, adds to them a healthy dose of tobacco, licorice and black pepper, then heaps on a huge helping of oak halfway through the finish that ends up being the main flavor in the aftertaste. I hesitate to call this a full bodied wine, though the flavors and textures would take me in that direction. This is really a medium bodied wine that is still a little young and rough around its edges.

Let Me Sum Up…If you purchase this Meritage make sure you give it ample time to breathe before you start to sip it. In reality you might want to let this sit in your cellar for a good 3-5 years before you pop the cork on it because I truly believe this wine will be good given a chance to mellow with age. Right now it’s just too young, full of tannins and overoaked on the finish. At 13 dollars this barely gets a poor QPR from me. Had I paid full price for this I would be kicking myself all the way into next month, as it stands I still feel like I got taken for a ride. The Genesis looks like an elegant bottle of wine with mature complexity and depth but shows more in common with a rowdy wine that wants to put a knock out punch on your palate. I’d recommend that you pass on this wine.

Hogue Cellars

2009 Courtney Benham Courtney’s Angels Cabernet Sauvignon, California

Tempting tints…Very dark red with a garnet rim

Wild whiffs…Blueberry, cherry, plum and baking spices

Typical tastes…I thoroughly enjoy Courtney Benham wines, though they are mostly out of my price range. The Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is one of my favorite wines and their Sauvignon Blanc is one of the few North American Sauv Blancs that I’ll drink. That being said, I’d not given this wine much thought when I shopped at Total Wine & More. It’s a 10 dollar bottle sourced from Paso Robles grapes. I figured it would be a fruit forward Cabernet Sauvignon with few redeeming qualities and absolutely no complexity or depth. I was 100% right about it being fruit forward but dead wrong about complexity and depth. The flavors here are blackberry, plum, black cherry and raisin with underlying nuances of cinnamon, anise, vanilla, all spice and chocolate. The mid-palate is light on tannins and astringency, though there is a vein of acidity that runs throughout this wine that shows up stronger in the mid-palate giving this a slight sour alcohol flavor. The finish is medium in length with returning cherry and blackberry flavors mixed lightly with grass, cocoa, and mint leaves. This is a medium bodied wine with a fresh fruit skin flavored aftertaste that will compliment just about any dish from salad to pizza to steak.

Overall, I’d purchase this wine again. It’s a little above average in flavor and complexity and about average in price. I give this a good QPR, though I’d say this has typical California flavors for a 10 dollar bottle this might hold just a little more depth than your average grocery store red wine from California. This is an easy drinking Cabernet Sauvignon, not too heavy but very food friendly. Pick up a bottle on your next visit to TW&M.

Martin Ray Winery

2008 Tamas Estates Double Decker Red, California

Color Spectrum…Red with a cool violet rim

The nose knows…Currant, cherry, damp earth

Nice and tasty…Grabbed this one from my local supermarket just on a whim when I was picking up a take and bake pizza. I liked the idea of a Cabernet Sauvignon/Petit Sirah/Barbera blend paired with a slice of pepperoni. So after the pizza was done I poured myself a small glass of this wine; unfortunately I wasn’t too impressed. It was an ok pairing but the wine needed more time to breathe (I’d poured the glass 30 minutes prior and had it sitting in my 60 degree wine cooler waiting for the pizza to bake). So I put the bottle back and ate the rest of my pizza with a Malbec that I needed to finish off. I came back to this wine over the weekend after my wife purchased a Vinturi for me at Costco. This was the first wine I poured through my Vinturi. Sure the wine had sat open for a day and a half now, but I wanted to see what the Vinturi would do to the wine. One word: yum. The attack is perfectly proportioned raspberry/cherry flavors mingling nicely with some black pepper and tar built on a foundation of sharp cut grass and enigmatic wood smoke. The mid-palate holds a decent amount of alcohol heat and bite, but that suits this wine just fine; and the tannins seem a bit muted but they are present more towards the finish than the mid-palate itself. Speaking of the finish, it’s smooth and medium length with wonderfully subtle flavors and textures. I can taste black and red currants, cherry jam, leather, cinnamon and more of the aftertaste of vanilla rather than the full effects of that spice. The aftertaste of this wine is exceedingly pleasant; very mild cherry skin and wet grass flavors seem to cool the tongue of the lingering heat from the alcohol. This is a medium bodied wine that edges just a hint into full bodied territory.

Overall, this was a huge surprise. I didn’t expect to find so much complexity in a 9 dollar supermarket red blend. Sure I’ve gotten great red blends from my supermarket before, but most of those were from vineyards that are very recognizable for their quality and price. This threw me for a loop. It’s a very good bottle with flavors that will hold your attention and enough complexity to lift it above other wines that are double the price. I enjoyed the bottle to the very last drop; the only beef I have is that it is just a little difficult to pair with food. In fact, I gave up trying after my third attempt (2 failures, 1 success) and just finished the last two glasses without food. And this sips just fine all by itself. This gets a good QPR rating, almost getting a great stamp but the pairing failures I had took that away. Even so, I have to recommend this as a must try and a must buy if you enjoy complex yet balanced red blends on a budget.

Tamas Estates

2006 Adler Fels Russian River Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, California

Artistically colored...Black tinged ruby red with a rust hued rim

Masterful aromas…Blackberry, black currant, molasses, oak

Savor the complexity…Those three words sum up everything about this wine. You just have to savor the complexity and textures that this wine has to offer; anything less does this wine a terrible disservice. Firstly this wine benefits from 2 ½ years of oak cask aging, by that I mean the tannins are tightly packed and come out throughout this wine smoothing the attack and finish just as much as they bring vibrancy to the mid-palate. The attack is intense, heavy and dark brining out the best in blackberry, black currant and black cherry flavors; then mixing in flavors of brown sugar, cedar and tobacco around the edges of this wine. The mid-palate features crisp acidity and astringency that pull down the alcohol heat that mingles nicely with dense tannic acids that swirl over the tongue nicely. The finish is brilliantly crafted and long enough to enjoy even the smallest flavor it holds. The fruits come back first this time led by sugared black plum and blackberry jam. This is followed by just a little licorice and smoke. And finally more tobacco, cedar and a hefty dose of chalk dust right at the end. This is a full bodied wine that covers every base and truly brings and enjoyable drinking experience.

Overall this is a superb glass of wine. It was a featured wine at my local Total Wine & More and was recommended by one of their staff on a recent visit. It’s definitely underpriced at 17 dollars. I’d pay 25 for this bottle and be happy. It’s because of that reason that I rate this a solid Great QPR. To be honest this wine is not for everyone. It is very oaky and definitely a “heavy” red wine; but I love everything about it and it is firmly in my top ten. Keep an eye out for this if you enjoy big red wines with a lot of oak aging, you won’t be disappointed if you pick this up.

Adler Fels Winery

Mini-Review : 2010 Siegel Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Chile

Mini-Review

And so starts my “mini-reviews”. Wines that get mini-reviews will be run-of-the-mill wines that don’t really stand out either for the good or the bad. Basically there was nothing about this wine for me to write beyond one paragraph. Let’s begin.

This wine is dark purple edging to black with a violet rim. It smells of blackberry, blueberry and sugar cookie. The primary flavors are sour blackberry, raspberry, tobacco, and hints of green bell peppers and licorice. Thankfully the mid-palate is soft alcohol and relatively tame tannins otherwise this wine would get a full review, albeit a poor one. The medium finish is just a little harsh due to some sour berry flavors that come in rather strong, thankfully they fade quickly into a mélange of green bell pepper, leather and tar; not a threesome you want to stick around and these linger just a tad into the aftertaste but it mainly highlights some blueberry/blackberry flavors and not much else. Overall this wine is priced right at the top as far as quality goes. If you were to tack on a quarter, to the 9 dollar price tag I’d say you paid too much. So at 8.99 this is the peak that this wine should ever reach. This fares right in the middle of the pack of most 9 dollar Cabernet Sauvignons; it’s not great and it’s not terrible, it just is. Anakena’s Cab offerings are better, Casillero del Diablo is worse and Penfolds is about the same. I’d say pass on this and go buy a 9 dollar Malbec where you are sure to find better quality for your money.

Siegel Winery

2008 Cameron Hughes “Lot 233” Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile

Color – Purple with a ruby rim

Nose – Black and red currant, green tomatoes, celery

Taste – Right on the attack there is a lot of dark fruit but more in the way of stewed fruit with less sugar and lots of earthy characteristics in the mid-palate and finish. The flavors start with black currant, licorice, and blackberry and smoothly transition to damp soil, forest floor, and pencil lead with perfect heat and astringency, and finally a long finish personified by burnt caramel, coffee, bittersweet chocolate and a hint of green, herbaceous vegetables. This wine is medium-to-full bodied with a nice “warmth” to it that runs through the entire wine. I prefer this slightly chilled, decanted for at least 30 minutes and paired with steak and buttered, salted vegetables.

Overall, this is more balanced but also more complex than the recent Chilean Cabs I have tried. It’s both noble and accessible with warm, deep, dark flavors that don’t smother the wine but add to the overall level of complexity and accessibility of this particular wine. I’d rate this as a good QPE with the quality definitely equal or above the price. Buy this when it’s available, in bulk if you have the funds. Simply put it’s that good of a red wine!

Cameron Hughes Wines

2009 Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Tempranillo, California

Color – Dark red

Nose – Strawberry, currant, alcohol

Taste – According to the label this wine produces three distinct flavors: blackberry, dried currant and smoke. I found red currant though it was hard to tell if it was dried or not. Mostly this wine is just a young effort that doesn’t really show off what a Tempranillo should be. This wine isn’t bad in and of itself, if the label read “Red Table Wine” I would be OK with that. But advertising Tempranillo and providing this mess of a wine disappoints. I shouldn’t expect much for 5 dollars, but Viriato Tinto Rey is a 5 dollar Tempranillo that passes the test ably, this wine doesn’t even show up for the test. The flavors on the attack are fruit-y but rather muddled; I can discern strawberry and cherry before the mid-palate jumps all over my tongue. It’s a rather tannic, astringent and acidic mid-palate that stretches for longer than normal. It abruptly gives way to a medium length finish that picks up the cherry and strawberry flavors and only really adds what might be black currant flavors to the mix. I expected smoke on the finish or aftertaste and was disappointed yet again when it eluded me. There aren’t any spice aromas or flavors present and overall this Tempranillo doesn’t have anything to rein it in. It simply runs from fruit-y beginning into overbearing mid-palate right back into a fruit-y finish. It’s light-to-medium bodied and for the most part rather boring in texture and weight.

Overall, I’d have to call this a poor QPR. The wine itself isn’t bad, but Trader Joe’s needs to leave the Tempranillo to the Spaniards and either import from Spain or leave off this usually palate friendly grape. Sure this wine is fruit forward and you could pick it up if you like red wine that moves into “sweet” territory, but you’d be better off staying with a wine you like. I think Trader Joe’s went off the broken path a little too far with this one. Take a pass and grab the Viriato Tinto Rey instead.

2010 Gascon Malbec, Argentina

Color – Purple with a violet rim

Nose – Blueberry, strawberry, cherry

Taste – I had the chance to spend an evening out with my wife and mutual friends at The Living Room Wine Café and Lounge. First off this is not to be confused with a wine bar, the difference between them being this was closer to a club/bar than a lounge/wine sipping spot. Regardless the wine list was lengthy though not overly pretentious however they were out of the wine I was interested in trying. They offered me this wine instead at a 12 dollar discount (I shudder to think I could have purchased this bottle for that amount at my local supermarket, instead I paid 20 dollars for this bottle). This wine is young and very fruit forward. There isn’t a lot going on as far as flavor is concerned; sugary blackberry, strawberry and cherry dominate the attack with just a little plum and raisin hints as well. The mid-palate is lacking any noticeable astringency, but does carry limited alcohol and biting tannins. The finish is medium in length with sour cherry, leather and some of that cough syrup flavor I detest in wine (though it’s just a hint of the cough syrup flavor). This wine is medium bodied though it wants to be a full bodied wine. The aftertaste is pleasing enough with flavors of stone fruit and molasses.

Overall, this wine is young, fruit forward and not worth 10 dollars much less 20. It’s a pleasing enough though completely un-complex red wine. It tastes almost like sugared fruit juice. If you don’t like particularly bold red wines or are used to sweet wines this one’s for you. Otherwise I advise passing on this one; it has a poor QPR and for the same price you can get a pretty darn good Malbec if you pick up the Kaiken.

Gascon Wines

2009 Durigutti Malbec, Argentina

In livid color…Very dark purple, black at the core

Remini-scent of…Black currant, raisin, alcohol

Taste the situation…I must admit to being curious about this wine every time I walk through the Costco wine section or look at the Malbecs that are sold at Total Wine & More. The bottle is elegant and simple with cursive script in white on a black label with orange foil topping the cork. It’s because of this elegance and simplicity that I was so interested in this wine, that and the price. I finally gave in on a recent trip to Costco and purchased this bottle. Not having any preconceptions I popped the cork, poured a small glass, swirled, sniffed and sipped. Definitely decant this wine, preferably for an extended period (mine was still too tight, alcohol-y and tannic even after a few hours, that faded by the next day). Keep in mind this is a young wine and according to the winemakers does not go through a lot of the processes other wines go through as they are fermented. Take that with a grain of salt, however it’s possible that those processes take off some of the “edge“ of most red wines. This one still had some rough patches, but I was able to get through the bottle without my palate being overwhelmed by this wine’s failings. First off this is a pretty big wine, tasting heavily of fruit but equally of sharp, savory and sour flavors. The attack starts off smooth enough with raspberry, cherry and blackberry flavors, backed with a streak of leather and smoke. Those last two carry on through the mid-palate where astringency jumps right in and dries my tongue and cheeks mightily. This is followed by powerful alcohol heat and flavor, almost overbearing in its intensity; the only reason it doesn’t kill this wine is that it fades VERY fast. A medium-long finish meanders in lazily and brings with it a lot more dark, sour flavors and leaves off most of the fruit. There is leather, smoke, tar, licorice, espresso beans and just a hint of plum and blackberry. The sharp flavors are backed by another surge of alcohol heat that you can feel if you exhale through your nose just as you swallow. This is a full bodied wine with an aftertaste of leather and burnt sugared plums.

Overall, I went back and forth by the end of each glass I drank trying to decide if this was a drinker or a dud. It has its failings, but you can tell the winemakers are trying to relay something with this wine. There are hints of complexity; they just don’t work right. The overwhelming alcohol presence is what finally tipped the scales and made my mind up for me. This gets a poor QPR mostly by taste alone. The quality in and of itself is definitely there in the weight and complexity of the wine, but the flavors don’t blend in this wine at all. It’s a pretty messy, hot wine; not something I would recommend. I do plan to set a bottle of this aside in my cellar and come back to it in the next 5-10 years because I do think there is something here. I just believe this needs more time in the bottle to mellow and gain some much needed age. Take a pass on this if you are looking for a Malbec with dinner grab the Kaiken or Alamos; those two won’t let you down.

Durigutti

2008 Kirkland Signature Napa Valley Meritage, California

Shades of simplicity…Dark red nearly black at the core

Pleasantly perfumed…Black currant, plum, vanilla, alcohol

Brute-force flavors…This intrigued me as I passed through the wine section at Costco last week. Another Kirkland Signature Meritage, this one 4 dollars less expensive than the Rutherford Valley Meritage I enjoy so much. Could this possibly have an equal QPR? Let’s find out. This is darker than I remember the Rutherford Valley Meritage being, and the proportions of the varietals is different as are the vineyards the wine comes from. The aromas present here are pleasant enough though the underlying smell of alcohol is a little off-putting. The attack is warm and spicy featuring a decent amount of oak, blueberry and plum; this is a heavily oaked wine or it just tastes like it was heavily oaked as the flavor of oak/wood is present from start to finish. The mid-palate has young, playful tannins and a lot of heat and tingle from the alcohol but there is also a decent level of sweet blueberry and plum fruit that would overpower this wine if the alcohol and tannins didn’t rein this in. The long finish carries forward the plums and blueberries, adds some black cherry and blackberry to the mix and tops it all with oak, pepper, chocolate and leather. This is a heavy bodied red that fares better at room temperature and benefits from pairing with a fatty, charred piece of meat. The aftertaste is immensely pleasant and full of plums and vanilla.

Overall, this wine doesn’t reach the same level of quality or complexity as the Rutherford Valley Meritage. Granted this wine is not as expensive as that wine, but this is a less pleasing glass of wine. I give this a good QPR if you can handle a rather oaky red wine that also shows a decent amount of alcohol flavors throughout the wine itself. In all honesty this wine will probably taste better in 5 years or so. It’s a little young right now and that shows; it needs the chance to mellow and gain some age. I can’t recommend this over the Rutherford Valley Meritage and to be honest you can find better bottles at the same price point (Kirkland Signature Carneros Pinot Noir is the first that comes to mind) but I will recommend it as far as price point goes. For me I will spend the 4 extra dollars and pick up the Rutherford or purchase this to add to my cellared wines.

2006 Yangarra Cadenzia (68% Grenache, 27% Shiraz, 5% Mourvedre), Australia

Colored with three Crayola crayons…Ruby red fading evenly to garnet with flecks of black in the core

A lovely bouquet of…Black cherry, blackberry, plum, sugar

My tongue tells me…I don’t usually purchase Rhone Blends or any wine that features Grenache or Mourvedre. The reason being; I think they taste sweet. Yes I am using the term sweet, not fruit forward or “fruit bomb”; I think GSM’s taste sweet and cloying. This was recommended as I was purchasing the Wirra Wirra Catapult Shiraz/Voignier; now I know why. That particular Shiraz is “sweeter” than I would have liked, and this is a wine along the same lines. All of this begs the answer, is it a good wine and worth the buy? Setting aside my dislike for sweeter red wines, I will attempt to review this wine. It is a very smooth wine from start to finish, which is the only thing I like about sweeter red wines they tend to remove the tannins that might make the wine less palatable. This wine is the definition of a smooth, sweeter, dark red wine. The attack is all sugared dark berries and stone fruit; black cherry, blackberry, plum, raisin and grape. These flavors taste good even to me as they take on a slightly caramel/molasses flavor and blend into a very warm mid-palate. The mid-palate is nicely warm from the alcohol, not overly acidic and marginally astringent; creating a pleasant but minor segue from attack to finish. The finish is long in length and personified by more black cherry, blackberry and plum flavors, but now they are brought down to earth and tempered by some alcohol heat and flavors of crème brulee, vanilla and leather. This is a medium bodied wine, just edging into full bodied territory with an aftertaste of fresh plums mixed with wet leather.

Overall, this was originally priced at 20 dollars; yikes! But it was on sale for 10 dollars the day I purchased it. Is it worth 20 dollars? I don’t really know as I don’t have anything to judge this against. Is it worth 10 dollars? Very much so! I would say at 10 dollars this is nearly a great QPR, and a wine to purchase by the half case at least. Yes even though this is a rather sweet wine, it is very smooth and balanced, and moves nicely into an extremely pleasing finish that had me going back to the bottle for more as my glass emptied. I can’t review this wine against other GSM’s, but judging this wine on its own I would say this is a very nice wine; perhaps not worth 20 dollars but definitely worth more than 10.

Yangarra Estate Vineyard

2009 BrisAndes Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile

Color – Dark red with a violet-tinged rim

Nose – Strawberry, red currant, slight green bell pepper

Taste – I purchased this while spending some quality time amongst the bottles at Total Wine for under 10 dollars. I wasn’t expecting much from this wine, I just wanted to judge it against other Domaine de Rothschild wines from South America. This one is slightly better than the Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon (not reviewed due to the loss of my tasting notes, sorry.) It has a simple nose of red berries and minimal herbaceous notes. The attack is a little darker, featuring dark cherry, strawberry and green bell peppers with behind the scenes tastes of pepper and oak. The mid-palate is nearly invisible with barely any recognizable alcohol or tannins and light astringency. The finish is medium-long and borders on the unpleasant as the berry flavors turn sour and what can only be described as “dark”. I can taste sour cherries, bittersweet chocolate, burnt molasses and leather. The aftertaste teeters on the edge of overbearing and pungent, but never really falls over. All of that having been said when tasting this wine by itself, the flavors don’t change too much when paired. I did, however, notice nice changes when I paired this with a grilled top sirloin. The rare cut of beef complimented the wine, or vice versa, very well, mellowing the sour flavors and adding a “buttery” characteristic to the finish. It wasn’t good enough to change my opinion of this wine, but it made the wine drinkable.

Overall, I would rate this a poor QPR. It tastes better than the flat and bland Los Vascos, but the flavors here don’t taste good. The overall feeling I got from this wine was that it was too young and pungent, with flavors that made me cringe especially during the finish. I wanted to like this, but even upon revisiting this wine after four days in my wine cellar it was just as unpleasant on day one. I highly advise passing on this wine; you can probably chose another wine while blindfolded and get a better wine than this.

2007 Wirra Wirra Catapult Shiraz/Viognier (95% Shiraz/5% Viognier), Australia

A Sight for Sore Eyes…Intense black core fading to deep red and finally garnet at the rim

Nose-tradamus Predicts…Blueberry, blackberry, raisin, plum, crushed peppercorns

Tasting a Rainbow of…The Wirra Wirra Catapult has been in the back of my mind for about two months now since I picked up the 2007 Waterbrook Syrah Reserve from Cost Plus World Market when their beverage specialist recommended both of the wines to me. I put off on the Wirra Wirra due to my lack of familiarity with Viognier and my skepticism on red wines blended with white wines. But when I stopped by recently and saw this reduced to 15 dollars (a 5 dollar price cut) I just had to pick up a bottle. I sipped this directly after opening and found it to be just a little on the fruit forward side for me and I immediately got worried that I wouldn’t be able to make it through the bottle (to my palate this is a very fruit-y, re: sweet, red wine). I let this sit for a good 20 minutes before returning and testing the waters. The wine was still fruit-y, though it tastes better now that it has had a chance to breathe and reach room temperature. I can taste dark plum, raisin and brown sugar flavors predominantly with hints of charcoal/ash and tobacco right as the mid-palate takes over. The mid-palate holds a decent amount of heat and some interesting tannins that nearly change the charcoal/ash flavors from complex and intriguing into pungent and unpleasant. Luckily these flavors fade rather quickly as the medium finish takes over. The finish is personified by more savory and robust flavors; tobacco, leather, black pepper and smoke. There are some light tinges of plum/raisin and blackberry in the aftertaste, but mainly it tastes like burnt sugar and tobacco. This is a medium-edging-into-full bodied wine with complexity in the attack and finish, and a mid-palate that is a little too rowdy for my tastes.

Overall, I would say 15 dollars is an ok price point for this wine, it is definitely a quality wine. Does it have its flaws? Sure, it’s rough and nearly unpleasant in the mid-palate, but the attack and finish are deep, warm and complex with flavors and textures that definitely had my attention. It is a little “sweet” for my tastes, I like my Shiraz/Syrah to feature fruit but this has just a little too much fruit and sugar for me, especially in the attack. All that aside, I would rate this a Fair to Good QPR at 15 dollars; it’s normally priced at 20 dollars and at that price I think I’d drop my rating a notch and call this an even QPR wine. But if you can find it on sale below 15 bucks, I think you will get yourself a good deal on a fairly complex offering. Will I be Catapult-ing again any time soon? Probably not, but I will think hard about cellaring a bottle of this because I do believe it will hold up well for 5-10 years and age into a very smooth, complex red wine.

Wirra Wirra Vineyards

2009 Mauro Sebaste Nebbiolo d’Alba Parigi, Italy

Beauteous to Behold…Elegant ruby red lightening slightly at the rim to garnet

Heavens Scent…Tobacco, cherry, herbs, grass and lettuce (smells the way endive tastes)

Palatable Perfection…As a short disclaimer I must be quite honest and admit that Nebbiolo, and Italian wines in general, don’t normally make my list for reviews. I am not that familiar with Italian reds aside from a few inexpensive Chiantis and Trentatre Rosso; nor have I enjoyed most of the Italian wines that I have tried. They tend to run sharp and acidic, tasting of sweet-sour cherries and raspberries and they tend to fall more in the light or medium bodied category. So I have shied away from reds from Italy until my most recent trip to Total Wine & More. This particular afternoon (a Friday) they were sampling three different Italian reds of varying prices and qualities. I enjoyed the first but it left my mouth puckering a little too much, the second was palatable enough but not something I would drink often but the third wine (a Barbaresco) was immaculate but outside my price range. At the advice of the wine expert that was taking me on my journey through Italian reds I purchased this particular Nebbiolo and I am exceedingly happy that I listened to him. First off this wine looks a little light in the glass but the color is very even throughout the glass and makes me immediately assume this wine has depth and quality. The aromas coming from the wine are very tight and focused (as an aside you really need to decant this wine for a minimum of 3 to 5 hours if not overnight otherwise it tends to be very tight, acidic and tannic) bringing to mind the tar and musky-ness of tobacco layered with cherry/raspberry hints and a very strong line of sharp grass or lettuce that runs throughout the background of the bouquet. The attack on this wine can be summed up in this short description: a focused red wine that shows its quality and complexity through the perfect silky-smooth layers of flavors and textures that complement each other while never detracting from the intensity of this wine. In all honesty I don’t think I have ever tasted a wine that immediately and thoroughly proves its quality, depth and complexity like this wine does. The attack is supremely focused fruit and spices; cherries and prunes covering chocolate and pepper layered on top of tar and leather, all of them making me wish the flavors would never end. But soon enough they melt into an extremely pleasant mid-palate of smooth, round tannins; pitch perfect astringency and just enough acidity to cut through some of the more fruity characteristics of this wine. The mid-palate fizzles and fades right as the medium-long finish takes hold of my palate, and what a finish it is. The sweet-sour cherry/raspberry flavors come on first mixed with black tea leaves and leather and finally some raisin/plum flavors with hints of vanilla and flowers. The aftertaste is quite pleasant almost refreshing with the plum and flowers sticking around for the duration. This a medium bodied wine that is best served right at room temperature and with a nice big hearty meal or some simple but nicely spiced red sauce pasta dish.

Overall, I went back and forth coming up with a rating for this wine. So here’s my reasoning. This wine nears the top of my budget for a single bottle of wine at 20 dollars a bottle (right now 25 is my self-imposed limit and that wine better knock my socks off). But it easily matches and then slightly surpasses any of the best bottles I’ve sampled since I started this blog (even the Clos Pegase Cabernet Sauvignon which is nearly 10 dollars more expensive than this). So my mind is made up. I give this a great QPR rating and if I did a point rating system based on a 1 out of 5 system this would easily get a 4.5 rating. Simply put this wine is truly a wonderful drinking experience. It has the sharp and acidic moments that Italian wine buffs love but it also has the layered flavors and complex depth that Napa Cab lovers swoon for. In all honesty this is my new Number 1 Wine as far as quality and price are concerned. I highly recommend this bottle. If you love red wine at all then you should try this now.

Mauro Sebaste

2007 Anakena Ona Limited Edition Malbec, Chile

On the Crayola chart…Blackish red with a garnet rim

Olfactory allusions...Black currant, brown sugar, Concord grape juice

The taste buds are a-tingling…I have talked up the Anakena line of wines for quite some time now, with the only real disappointment being their Single Vineyard Malbec. So when I saw this on the shelves of my local Total Wine & More, I just had to try it out. I had hopes that I would find a decent Malbec from Chile; sadly that’s not the case here. While this wine does better than the Single Vineyard Malbec, it still falls short of my expectations for an Ona labeled wine. The attack is marked with blackberry, black currant and plum; other than those flavors there doesn’t seem to be any other layers which threw me for a loop to say the least. The attack to mid-palate transition is very smooth; the mid-palate showing shy tannins and over-friendly alcohol heat. The heat lingers into the medium-to-long finish; mingling with darker flavors of molasses, tobacco, black tea leaves and sugared black plums. There is a lingering aftertaste of black plum and molasses, that sours just a tad right before it fades. All of this after the wine had been open for a day. I did sample a glass fifteen minutes after I popped the cork; much like the Single Vineyard Malbec this wine tastes better right after opening than it does after breathing in some air. I don’t know if the terrior in Chile doesn’t favor the Malbec grape or if my palate doesn’t enjoy just how much Chilean Malbec tends to mellow after breathing, but I didn’t enjoy this wine as much as I’d hoped to.

Overall, this rates a mere OK QPR. It tastes big and somewhat herbaceous if you sip it right after opening, but mellows into a rather boring, warm red wine if given the chance to touch some air. That’s not to say it tastes bad, merely that it makes this wine an over-expense when there are much cheaper Argentinean Malbecs that are more pleasing and complex than this wine. If you are taking a journey through the Anakena Wines as I am attempting to do you will still want to sample this wine, but I don’t think you will be keeping it around the house afterwards. This does not earn a recommendation from me unless you just want to try out a Chilean Malbec, all the rest of you purchase something else.

Anakena Wines

2009 Angeline Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, California

Complex colors…Dark red with a garnet rim and stars of deep purple

Subtle Scents…Strawberry, cherry, compost

Tempestuous tastes…This was purchased as a way to grade the Kirkland Signature Russian River Valley Pinot Noir that I enjoy and my wife really likes. While that wine is light and floral containing components that I would assign to a white wine; this wine while still being a light red is deep and complex with intense red fruit flavors and characteristics more akin to a red wine. I knew I was in for a treat right after I popped the cork on this as I was greeted with amazing aromas of strawberry and cherry with hints of potpourri and herbs (when swirled there is an added scent of compost and root beer). The first sip was intense and amazing all at the same time; rarely have a I found a light red wine that had this many flavors and textures (2009 Beaujolais truthfully is the only wine that makes the grade until now). On first sip this brings strawberries and molasses mixed with cherries and vanilla and right in the back a semi-sweet black pepper flavor and heat. The mid-palate has alcohol that tingles and slightly warms my gums and just a hint of tannins that dry my cheeks and add a “dark” texture to this wine (I frequently use “dark” to describe a deepening, intense flavor that I would not have expected from a wine. Kind of like a spur-of-the-moment thunderstorm that blows in=”dark”; this “dark” flavor blows into a wine that I had not expected or intensifies already deep and dark flavors). The finish is medium in length and definitely the highlight of this already stellar wine. This finish is bright strawberry/raspberry and cherry, vanilla and brown sugar, roses and wet leaves with a slight trace of cherry cola (I know that even sounds weird to me but right at the end of the finish I get a fizzy Cherry Coke flavor and sensation). As I stated before this is a light bodied red wine that sometimes leans into medium bodied territory. It’s much more complex than similarly priced Pinot Noirs and is one of the least expensive Pinot Noirs from the Russian River AVA. All of that adds up to a great big, tasty wine.

Overall, you can’t go wrong here. At $12.99 a bottle this wine is a freaking steal. It’s smooth; it’s complex; it’s drinkable with or without food; and it’s damn good. I don’t normally rave about Pinot Noir because I think that Pinot Noir in the sub-20 dollar range tends to be rather weak and/or fruity; this wine proves me wrong. It does has some fruit flavors that make this a pleasant drinking experience, but there is an underlying foundation of powerful dark and savory flavors that lend this wine credence and truly make it an outstanding wine. This is a great QPR, no doubt about it this wine is worth WAY more than 13 bucks (I’d pay 20, maybe even 25 for this bottle and feel like I still got a good deal). While I love Beaujolais and the flavors that varietal can bring to a wine, this is just a little more up my alley combining the best of Beaujolais and Malbec, two wines that I love to sip. This is a must buy, and you should add several bottles to your cellar for enjoyment in the coming years.

Martin Ray Winery

2009 Santa Julia Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, Argentina

Scintillating shades of…Dark red with a violet rim

Amazing aromatics…Plum, strawberry, teriyaki sauce?

Flavors of fantastic…Not too long ago I took a chance on the Santa Julia Reserva Malbec and was pleasantly surprised, so when I saw this I just had to pick it up and give a try. I sipped a small glass about 15 minutes after I’d uncorked the bottle and came to realize I couldn’t judge this wine against the Malbec. The Malbec was a superior bottle for the price; this wine just isn’t at the same level. I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s review this wine and then I can recap. As of the first sip, I knew this was going to be a medium bodied wine and that I might even struggle to adequately find the flavors and textures because this is a very enigmatic wine. The attack comes on soft (for a Cabernet Sauvignon) and fruity; displaying strawberry, raspberry and perhaps red plum with the slightest hint of black pepper right before the mid-palate kicks in. On second thought, the phrase “kicks in” has no place when describing his wine, rather the mid-palate “slinks in” very smoothly but it “slinks out” rather quickly too leaving behind some tart alcohol flavors and light tannins but that’s about all. The medium length finish comes right on the heels of the short mid-palate and shows off sour cherry, tart blackberry, bittersweet chocolate and over-steeped tea leaves. The aftertaste smoothes out, which is nice since I was expecting more sour/bitter flavors, however I get more strawberry overlaying leather on the aftertaste; a nice end to this relatively messy red wine.

Overall, I would rate this a poor QPR. I think this cost 8 or 9 dollars and I’d have to say this isn’t worth 8 or 9 dollars. It’s a decent 5 or 6 dollar wine. It doesn’t bother me that it start a little soft and light, but it gets confused, muddled and a red mess by the end; giving me the feeling I’m drinking three different wines that have been poured into one glass. I really wanted to like this wine, I absolutely love the Santa Julia Reserva Malbec, but this didn’t even come close to the quality of that wine. Perhaps this is just a little too young, but I would recommend passing on this get the Malbec instead or just about any other Cab Sauv from Argentina at the same price and you won’t go wrong.

Santa Julia Winery

2008 Cruz Alta Chairman’s Blend (85% Malbec, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Syrah), Argentina

In living color…Deep ruby red with hints of purple throughout

Heavenly aromatics…Blackberry, boysenberry, smoke, clove

Taste sensations…I have enjoyed quite a few wines from Cruz Alta’s catalog, but I always felt they were slightly overpriced for the quality of the wine. Sure they were all good, solid wines; but I had heard them talked up as these amazing, complex wines for bargain prices. It is true that most of them fall into the value wine category, but I have enjoyed other, less expensive wines more than I enjoyed those from Cruz Alta that I had sampled. It was with all of these reservations in the back of my mind, I went out on a limb and took the advice of a Total Wine “expert wine specialist” and purchased this bottle. My palate is truly appreciative of that man’s advice. This is an immensely excellent red blend; combining elegant fruit flavors, subtle savory textures and enough heat and complexity to carry this wine through and bring me great pleasure. The attack flows over the tongue with smooth blackberry, plum, black cherry and molasses. The mid-palate carries the silky-ness of the attack with focused yet subtle tannins, delicate alcohol acidity and warmth and near perfect levels of astringency all mingled together to ground the fruit forward attack. The finish is pleasantly long, characterized by cassis, black pepper, tobacco, bittersweet chocolate and hints of wet leaves. This is a silky-smooth while at the same time somewhat “weighty”, full bodied wine. It moves from attack to mid-palate to finish like a liquid ninja gliding across the tongue and leaving faint reminders of its passing. Truly an exceptional red blend!

Overall, I have to rate this wine a good QPR. I wanted to go out on a limb and say great QPR, but it is a little pricey. However for the quality exhibited here you won’t find many other wines that can compete with this. The Anakena Ona red blend is the only one that comes to mind, all others at the 10-15 dollar mark are decidedly lacking (though still decent in and of themselves). The Kirkland Signature Rutherford Valley Meritage comes close to this wine, but doesn’t have the complexity, balance and smoothness that this wine carries. In my opinion this ties the Anakena Ona as my favorite red blend sub-20 dollars. I highly recommend this wine if you enjoy intense red wines or quality red blends from south of the border.

.2009 Cruz Alta Reserve Malbec, Argentina

Color – Deep red with a purple core

Nose – Blackberry, plum, blueberry, molasses

Taste – Upon recommendation from a Total Wine employee I picked this up. Actually several of their employees have recommended this as their best Malbec under 15 dollars, so I finally bought a bottle. This is a good, balanced Malbec. The attack is warm, with pleasant dark fruit and berry flavors particularly blackberry, dark cherry and black plum. The mid-palate has wonderful texture personified by firm tannins, perfect levels of acidity and easy-going astringency. The finish is medium-long with darker flavors and textures; sugared dark plums, molasses, tobacco, coffee and bittersweet chocolate jump to mind as I sipped the wine. This is a medium bodied Malbec, though it edges into full bodied territory just a little bit on the finish. The weight and warmth of this wine speak to its quality, while the depth and texture are nicely balanced. It’s not overly presumptuous though it shows hints of complexity in the mid-palate and finish. The aftertaste is very smooth berries and raisins with a touch of plum skins. A nice effort, nothing out of the ordinary for a Malbec but of definite quality, depth and flavor.

Overall, I would rate this wine with a good QPR. It’s not an amazing Malbec. The attack is a little subdued for my taste, the mid-palate a touch boring and the wine itself wants to be a full bodied wine but doesn’t make the cut. The finish is the only area where this wine shows its true colors, and it shines at the finish. It’s not my favorite Malbec, but it’s a good, drinkable representation of this varietal. In my opinion for half the price the Kaiken Malbec is a much better wine for the price, but this isn’t bad just not the best.

2009 Tikal Patriota (60% Bonarda/40% Malbec), Argentina

My Crystal Balls Shows…Rich, dark purple that barely fades to violet at the rim

After a Sniff or Three…Blackberry, strawberry, blueberry, vanilla

The Taste Forecast is…I just about jumped up and down with glee when I saw this at my local Costco for 17 dollars this past week. Previously I’ve only been able to find this wine at Total Wine and at a price range that was a little above that at 20 dollars.  Needless to say I didn’t hesitate to place this in my cart; the resulting shopping trip was a nightmare because I was so impatient to get home and crack open this wine. We finally reached the house; I quickly unloaded the groceries, helped my wife put them away and then uncorked this bottle. Let me first say that this bottle could double as a deadly weapon. It’s heavy, made of thick glass, with considerable width at the base. I have read many articles that also comment on the cost of bottle and labels that wineries choose for their wines; this one is seems to be in a bottle that is of a higher quality than most other red wines I’ve tried. After this had decanted for a good 30 minutes I couldn’t help myself and finally swirled, sniffed and sipped. The aromas coming off this wine are complex but they are also very fleeting, you have to search to untangle the scents because they blend together so well. On the first sip my palate was absolutely overwhelmed with massive flavors of black fruit, dark berries and savory herbs and spices. I sipped down the rest of my glass and let the bottle get some air overnight before I returned to see if it had mellowed any. My second glass went nearly as my first did; the wine had mellowed slightly but not much. So this wine is just going to be a HUGE, DEEP red wine. The attack is complex, with bold strawberry and blackberry flavors that fold into creamy vanilla which melts into what I can only describe as peppery, oaky leather. These flavors dissipate like smoke leaving a slightly cracked window into a mid-palate of pitch perfect alcohol heat and tannic astringency. The mid-palate is so smooth on this wine that is almost makes me want to say bad things about the attack and the finish; while those are both complex and pleasant the mid-palate is so extremely balanced and smooth that it almost seems to be invisible. Yet when you spend a few sips experiencing just the mid-palate; you find it isn’t invisible it is merely so evenhanded and silky that it doesn’t seem to exist amongst the massive flavors of the attack and the finish. Speaking of the finish, it’s long and luxurious. It brings back the blackberry, oak and vanilla flavors; then adds to them grape skins, bittersweet chocolate, coffee and anise. There is no doubt in my mind or palate this wine is a full bodied wine. It pours dark and thick in the glass, evinces aromas that are blended but very dark and tastes just as warm, dark and heavy as you would expect from any full bodied red wine.

Overall, this wine is right up my alley; a big, bold red wine. Actually describing this is a big and bold is doing it an injustice. This wine is enormous in flavor, amazing in complexity, varied in texture and superbly priced. Had I paid 25 dollars for this bottle I would rate it a Good-to-Great QPR, at 17 dollars it’s as if I committed highway robbery and got away with it. Don’t misunderstand me; this wine will only satisfy a small portion of the population, those of you that like really LARGE tasting/feeling wines. If you fall into that category, as do I, you will love this wine and hopefully agree with my descriptions. As it stands I plan to return to this wine soon and frequently while Costco still carries it. I also plan to cellar at least 2 bottles of this wine; I think it will hold up well to cellaring for quite some time. I highly recommend this wine; buy this now!

Tikal Wines

2008 Columbia Crest Horse Heaven Hills H3 Cabernet Sauvignon, Washington

Harmonious hues…Very dark red (nearly black) with a ruby red rim

Sensationally scented…Black currant, blackberry, molasses, cedar

Quintessentially quaffs…Quite some time ago I went on a Columbia Crest kick and picked up just about every red wine with their label on it. At the time I could only find the H3 Merlot at my local Costco which was a wonderful wine and opened my eyes to what a decent 10 dollar Merlot should taste like. This recently showed up at my local supermarket and I just had to give it a taste. I will be honest and admit that I didn’t have a lot of preconceptions about this wine. I knew going in that this is a relatively inexpensive wine (though it is at the mid-to-high range as far as Columbia Crest is concerned). That it might not rate that high against other wines at the 10-12 dollar price range. But most of all I expected this to be a rather straightforward but big, oaky Cabernet Sauvignon that would be pleasantly drinkable with just about any hearty foods. I was right on that last point though I would rate this a little higher than wines in the same price range. That being said; the review…The attack is interesting, layered and more complex than I would expect from a wine that only cost me 10 dollars. There are the obligatory blackberry and currant flavors, “sweeter” than I had expected but they are mixed with warm oak and minimal licorice flavors. Normally this mix would be a little cloying but the mid-palate comes on with a healthy dose of alcohol warmth and rather robust tannins that tone down the fruit and wood flavors of the attack. The mid-palate doesn’t last long; it soon fades into a medium length finish that again brings to mind blackberry and oak, and then adds raisin, plum, vanilla, tobacco and brown sugar. This makes for a pleasantly warm, full bodied wine with a medium finish and an aftertaste of grape skins, vanilla and tobacco. Honestly this wine has more going for it than I had given it credit for.

Overall, this is a good QPR. I want to rate this higher than good, but it’s not great it just doesn’t show the depth that a wine should show for it to be rated that high even when considering Quality-to-Price ratio. It is certainly a more complex red wine for the price; you won’t find many wines that are this layered for less than 15 dollars. But it’s also a pretty big, robust red; so you also won’t find a lot of people seeking out this wine. Those of you that enjoy these types of reds already have your favorites (though this should be considered if you are still looking or just want to try something new). I’d be interested to see how “wine snobs” would rate this if they came over for dinner and you served them the wine without telling them what it was. I would hazard a guess they would guess this was a 15 dollar Argentinean Cabernet Sauvignon or Malbec or a 20 dollar California Zinfandel. But they’d probably enjoy the wine in and of itself. I recommend at least giving this a try if not keeping it in your cellar at all times.

Columbia Crest Winery

2008 Kirkland Signature Series Stag’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon, California

*You may notice that I have changed my "style" of reviews to be just a little more amusing. I don't know if this will prove to annoy my readers or amuse them, but I wanted to enjoy writing my reviews a little bit more and this is one way where I have found more pleasure in writing. On to the review.*

The Nose Knows…Blackberry, forest floor, compost, pencil shavings

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory…Dark red swirled with purplish-black notes

Taste a Rainbow of…Balanced fruit and berry characteristics (blackberry, black currant and plum) mixed with pepper and vanilla; nicely rounded tannins dance with subdued alcohol heat and astringency; finishes big, bold and pleasant with more blackberry/currant flavors, black pepper, oak, vanilla, licorice and wet soil.

Survey Says…This is a surprisingly pleasant wine that’s pretty darn close to my price limit ($17.99 at Costco). This bottle is my first foray into Stag’s Leap territory of any varietal. After I’d purchased this bottle I read a few reviews of the previous vintage of this wine and found ¾ of them rated this wine poorly. Perhaps they have more experience with Stag’s Leap wines in general because I don’t have any experience with them but I found this wine to be quite a pleasant drinking experience. It’s smooth and balanced with a nose that makes me want to sit and sniff it for hours on end. It didn’t need a lot of time to decant (though I gave it about an hour after sipping a very small glass straight after opening). It opened up a little after an hour and smoothed out just a hair more than it had been upon the initial pour. It’s safe to say you can enjoy this right after popping the cork. The attack is full of ripe blackberry, currant, black plum, vanilla creaminess and peppery tingles. The mid-palate shows off near perfect tannins, rather subdued heat and acidity from the alcohol and mild astringency that suits this wine just fine. The finish is big and bold, the berry/fruit flavors come back strong to be joined with black pepper, oak, vanilla, wet soil/forest floor, and lastly licorice that runs deep in this wine but comes on strong in the finish and aftertaste. This is a full-bodied wine with a long finish and a pleasant licorice-y aftertaste. Based on what I’m used to drinking this is way up there as far as quality goes; it’s so smooth and balanced it’s hard to believe I was drinking a 2008 vintage it seemed older and more aged. It is a little pricy as far as I’m concerned, but to my knowledge this is the least expensive Stag’s Leap AVA Cabernet Sauvignon you can purchase right now. If there is one at a lower price point I can’t find it in Arizona. That being said I would really only drink this on special occasions or if I had wine snooty friends over because I think this would pass their tests. I plan to cellar a bottle of this for a later date just to see how well it ages, but it’s not going to be an everyday or even every month bottle for me. Despite not being an everyday bottle it still gets gets a good Quality-to-Price Ratio and a passing grade. Let me know what your palate says about this wine.

2006 Veramonte Primus, Chile

Color – Purple with a dark red rim

Nose – Blackberry, brown sugar, black currant, raisin

Taste – This turned out to be a stellar deal that is currently available at my local Costco for 14 dollars. I call this a stellar deal because this wine is quite good and sells for 20 dollars at Total Wine, you do the math. On to the wine review! First off you need to know that decanting or aerating this wine is a must. I recommend a minimum of an hours decanting if you truly want to enjoy this wine, but overnight decanting is probably best. This wine is HUGE in the flavor/texture department and if you don’t let it get some oxygen you will get a kick in the palate. That being said, if you decide to sip this after some decent breathing, this wine tastes fantastic. The attack is full of dark fruit/berry flavors; blackberry, plum, dark cherry and black currant with veins of brown sugar and chocolate present as well. The mid-palate is all about balance. The fine balance of firm tannins, alcohol heat and smoky, astringent leather flavors/textures; all of these blend into a long, pleasing finish. The finish tastes again of dark fruits (mostly plum and raisin) with some spice (vanilla and anise), tobacco, chocolate, brown sugar and just a hint of oak. All of these flavors blend effortlessly together into a very pleasant mélange of playful tastes. I enjoyed the finish so much more than the attack and mid-palate that I would close my eyes as I swallowed every sip and let the tastes wash over me. This is a full bodied wine that benefits from being served at or just slightly above room temperature and the weight of it changes when you serve it warmer, so I advise sampling it cooler and warmer so you know what you are getting.

Overall, this is a really good wine for the money. I wouldn’t hesitate to spend 20 dollars on this bottle and at 14 this is almost a great QPR. For a red blend with lots of flavors, complexity and textures going on this one still manages to take my palate on a journey without being pretentious or losing sight of the final destination. I would recommend this wine to anyone that enjoys big, bold red wines; you won’t be disappointed with this effort.

Veramonte

2008 Chateau Los Boldos Cuvee Tradition Carmenere, Chile

Color – Deep purple, nearly black

Nose – Currant, blackberry, sugared plum

Taste – I was in the mood for a Carmenere and had sampled most everything from Total Wine with a sub-ten dollar price tag; so I picked up this bottle for 13 dollars instead. I was hesitant at first due to my dislike of the Chateau Los Boldos Momentos line of wines, but figured there Cuvee Tradition offerings might be more to my liking. Was I ever right? Whereas the Momentos wines are acidic, alcohol-forward and almost overbearing; this Carmenere is smooth, flavorful and surprisingly complex. The wine sips pleasantly directly after the cork has been pulled with just a little overabundance of tannins and some sharper green bell pepper flavors; if you let it decant for 30 minutes or so the tannins calm down in the glass and the green bell peppers become just hints around the edge of the other flavors. The attack is black currant, blackberry, and molasses with minimal flavors of green bell peppers, damp earth and coffee grounds. What I notice first in the mid-palate is an intense astringency that mingles with perfect tannins and some alcohol heat, but these textures easily blend into a wonderfully long finish that is chock full of blackberry, black plum and dark cherry notes and floating at the edges flavors of vanilla, leather, cut grass and bittersweet chocolate. The wine is medium bordering on full bodied with a very pleasant berry/cherry aftertaste. This may be one of the most balanced Carmenere’s I’ve ever tasted and for the price is my new favorite from this varietal.

Overall, this is a pleasing, complex offering from a grape that is oftentimes too green or barring that too Cabernet Sauvignon-like. The QPR here is good-to-great with the flavors and texture truly being worth more than the price tag. I wouldn’t have picked this up had there been any other options in this price range that I hadn’t already tried, that’s how much I disliked the Momentos wines, but this is a winner. I highly recommend this if you like Carmenere, or just want a balanced red, sipping wine. This is a must try.

Vina Los Boldos

2009 Domaine Pignard Beaujolais, France

Color – Ruby red

Nose – Strawberry, cherry, floral notes, honey

Taste – This is another 10 dollar bottle of Beaujolais that Total Wine now carries. I didn’t see this a couple of months ago, but on a recent trip this was something new and I just had to see how it compares to the other Gamay wines I have sampled. It looks the same in the glass, somewhat thin, but upon swirling it isn’t watery and clings to the glass nicely. It smells of light red berries, cherries, flowers and what I can only describe as honey or sugar cane (that sweet scent that smells unprocessed and fresh). The attack is very similar to the Georges Duboeuf Flower Label Beaujolais-Villages that I have fallen in love with; layered tastes of strawberry, sour cherry, grass, salt and flowers. The mid-palate is all soft textures; tannins that effortlessly slip over the tongue, smooth astringency and alcohol that just barely bites. This is a light bodied wine with an even, medium length finish that carries more complexity in flavors; showing sour (but not puckering) cherry, cranberry, lavender and just a touch of black pepper. In my opinion this is a wine to drink chilled and with a light cheese or just by itself. It is perfect slightly chilled and will refresh you on a warm summer day.

Overall, this one is another winner as far as I’m concerned. It’s a good-to-great QPR with flavor and complexity that keep your palate happy. I paired it with a pork roast and it fared well, but mostly sipped glasses of it all by itself. This is a red wine for summer drinking for those of us that don’t like to switch to white wines. You can’t go wrong here, I’d say get this wine on your next visit to the wine store.

2009 Domaine Du Riaz Cote-De-Brouilly, France

Color – Very dark purple

Nose – Strawberry, blueberry, flowers, leaves, bubblegum?

Taste – Again I’ve come back to sample another Beaujolais Cru, this one a Cote de Brouilly that sells for 15 dollars at Total Wine. I didn’t rely on the advice of a member of their staff but read through their offerings and randomly chose this wine. All of Total Wine’s Beaujolais Cru’s are between 13 and 20 dollars, and of those most are rated 90 points by one of the “Wine Journals”. This particular wine is rated 90 or 91 from one such magazine. First off the wine is definitely good. It has wonderful depth of flavor from the beginnings of the first sip. I can taste strawberry, grass, dirt, lavender, dandelion, sage and salt. These flavors simply edge into a mid-palate of perfect alcohol tingle mixed with some sour berry flavors and intense astringency. The finish is medium-to-long and made up mainly of leftover sour berries, salt, floral undertones, and of all things grape. I hesitate to call this wine complex, the flavors are diverse, but the wine itself doesn’t feel complex. It is medium bodied and the aftertaste is pleasantly cherry and grape-ish. But the wine seems a little watery, without any real weight. The astringency is just a little over the top, though the alcohol and sour berries are perfect. I began this wine liking it, but by the end of the bottle this particular bottle of Gamay grapes had soured on me.

Overall, this is an OK QPR, certainly a good wine for the price. Are there better examples of this wine? You bet, and quite a few are much cheaper. I’d take a bottle of Georges Du Beouf Beaujolais-Villages or Morgon Flower Label over this wine and both of those are cheaper. This wine has too much going on and not enough connecting all the dots. The flavors taste great and are the only saving grace for this wine, but it’s not enough for me to buy it again. I’d say pass on this one.

2008 Gooseridge Vineyards g3 Red Wine, Washington

Color – Dark purple edging to black

Nose – Blackberry, black currant, spice box

Taste – Grabbed this on a whim when I was looking through the wines at my local supermarket. The bottle art reminded me of the Horse Hills Heaven H3 Merlot that I’d tried earlier in the year. The blend is Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz and that particular blend of varietals grabbed my attention as well. That being said, this wine has everything that I love about a big, bold red. It looks amazing in the glass; dark and inky and when swirled it clung to the glass quite nicely. The aroma wafting from the glass after a good swirl brought to mind everything I loved in the Courtney Benham Cabernet and the Clos Pegase Cabernet; dark berries, spice box hints and musty/earthy compost tinges. On the attack this wine runs through quite the gamut of flavors and textures. Firstly I can taste blackberry, black currant and dark cherry with equal parts jamminess and chocolate riding behind the berry flavors. Second, comes slight flavors of black pepper, vanilla and licorice all mingled together with a butter-like mouthfeel. The mid-palate seemed strange to me, in that is holds little or no astringency, the alcohol shows up as sour acidity, and the tannins show up subdued but still present. The finish is medium-long with stewed berry goodness, semi-sweet dark chocolate, vanilla, licorice, spice box and wet leaves/forest floor flavors. There are textures of warmth, weight and “filmy” butter-like consistency as the finish fades into a rather dark, molasses/vanilla flavored aftertaste. This is a wonderfully full bodied wine that covers all the bases a good red should cover.

Overall, this wine was a pleasant surprise gaining it a good-to-great QPR. I believe I paid 10 dollars for this (it was on sale normally going for 14). Had I paid full price for this I would still be touting the qualities of this wine and how great it is for the money. I enjoy red blends, especially those that don’t bounce all over the place flavor-wise or simply end up bland and flat in the glass. This red blend fits the bill and has the quality/flavor to push the price point closer to 20 dollars without making me cringe. I’d recommend this wine to anyone that enjoys a big, bold red blend with wonderful complexity of flavor and rich textures.

GooseRidge Estate Vineyard & Winery

2009 Courtney Benham Lucca Red, California

Color – Ruby red

Nose – Strawberry, blackberry, alcohol

Taste – Three things influenced the purchase of this wine. The first is that I quite enjoy Courtney Benham’s Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley appellation. The second is that I have been on a red blend kick lately and after reading the tasting notes provided by Total Wine this wine had my interest piqued. The third is that at 13 dollars I was expecting to get some decent quality at a relatively low price. Having sipped this wine now for a few days and being near to the end of the bottle, I can honestly say that this wine doesn’t disappoint but it also doesn’t amaze. It’s a fairly fruit forward red blend, tasting more of “sweet” strawberry, blackberry and blueberry on the attack with minimal savory or herbaceous characteristics save for a small hint of black pepper right before the mid-palate. The mid-palate is full of playful, young tannins, abundant alcohol and what I like to call “fruit skin astringency” (the flavor of fruit skins followed closely by a mouth drying astringency). The finish is medium in length and carries more of those same berry flavors, with added dark cherry, tobacco, coffee and burnt sugar a la crème brulee. This wine falls right in the medium bodied category, though at some points it seems somewhat “watery” or thin. That doesn’t detract from the wine itself, but it just brings to mind the cheaper red blends I have had recently.

Overall, this wine is not what I was expecting, and I would rate is a mere fair QPR. It is a decent notch above Tres Pinos Three Pines Cuvee or Chariot Gypsy. But it’s also a few notches above those wines where price is concerned. I compare this to those two wines because all three of them are fruit forward, “sweet” red blends. This is the most complex of the three, but this doesn’t show off the level of complexity I had hoped for. For the same price I would much rather buy the Anakena Ona or Veramonte Primus. I advise passing on this wine unless you enjoy a more fruit forward red blend that borders on the sweet. If you like complexity, depth and boldness in your red blends pass on this and grab something else.

Courtney Benham from Martin Ray Winery

Revisiting an Old Friend in a New Vintage

2008 Trentatre Rosso (33.3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33.3% Merlot, 33.4% Montepulciano), Italy

Color – Purple with a reddish rim

Nose – Dark brown sugar, plum, fresh pipe tobacco, gingerbread

Taste – While wandering the aisles of a Trader Joe’s that was not very close to my house I found the 2008 vintage of this wine and had to try it. Previously I’ve reviewed the 2007 and 2009 but the two closest Trader Joe’s to my house didn’t have the 2008. I’d read reviews of this vintage all of them calling this the vintage to get if you like this particular blend. On the one hand I was dubious that this would be that much better than the 2007. But on the other hand I just knew it had to be better than the 2009. I popped, poured, swirled, sniffed and sipped…and found out that if this isn’t my favorite vintage of this particular wine, it is the most balanced vintage. Let this get some air (20-30 minutes worked for me) and then take a nice swirl, sniff, sip and let the magic begin. The attack is much like the nose; dark fruit (mainly plum and cherry), brown sugar/molasses and baking spices. None of those flavors truly stand out; they merely blend together nicely and then fade into a beautifully mild-mannered mid-palate. The mid-palate really only features two things, but they work together in perfect harmony; firm tannins and tingly, biting alcohol. The alcohol lasts a little longer, staying as the mid-palate segues into the medium length finish. The tingle from the alcohol evades a long finish and mixes nicely with more fruit (plums again), berries (blackberry and maybe boysenberry) and then a mélange of tobacco, bittersweet chocolate, black pepper, dust and smoke. This is a full bodied wine, with a balanced attack, playful mid-palate and deep, dark finish. The aftertaste is one of burnt brown sugar, smoke and leather, which sounds quite harsh but in reality is extremely pleasing.

Overall, I still prefer the 2007 Trentatre Rosso over this slightly younger version. I admit this is the most balanced in flavor and texture, but it’s also a little more subdued (especially during the attack/mid-palate). The finish here is sumptuous and I would drink this wine if only to get to the finish, but the 2007 is the pick for me. This is still a good-to-great QPR (I challenge someone to recommend a 6 dollar bottle that is as complex or fulfilling as either the ‘07/’08 Trentatre Rosso. I don’t think it can be done); and would recommend this bottle over just about any other Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Malbec, Merlot, Shiraz or red blend out there at a comparable price point. Get this one if you can find it, preferably by the case.

2006 Waterbrook Melange Noir (28% Cabernet Franc/21% Syrah/19% Cabernet Sauvignon/17% Sangiovese/14% Merlot/1% Tempranillo) , Washington

Color – Dark red, with a purple core

Nose – Blueberry, vanilla, grapes

Taste – I had hoped when I picked this up on clearance at my local supermarket, that this would be a standout wine. I had hoped it would surpass the two other Waterbrook wines I had tasted up to that point. Unfortunately I was sadly mistaken. This isn’t a bad wine, but it doesn’t have the depth and complexity that the Waterbrook Syrah and Waterbrook Cabernet-Merlot characterize so well. This wine looks big, bold and dark. It smells just a little more timid than that. But it’s in the flavor that it fails for me. The attack is full of jammy, fruity blueberry, raisin and plum flavors with veins of brown sugar, molasses and leather running through all the fruit. The mid-palate is relatively one dimensional, with the alcohol and astringency hiding and chewy, playful tannins showing up as the mid-palate makes its way into the finish. The finish might have redeemed this wine had it been just a little more complex and a little longer. It’s a medium finish that holds more brown sugar, molasses and plum flavors and brings on hints of vanilla, licorice and very minimal baking spices. The wine itself is medium bodied, though when left to sit and reach slightly above-room temperature this wine feels “heavier” on the tongue.

Overall, I can’t call this a bad/poor wine or QPR. At its normal price of 17 dollars I would have called it a poor QPR. But I picked this up at 9 dollars and for that price this wine is lightyears ahead of most other 9 dollar wines. The reason I deride it is because the other Waterbrook wines I’ve tasted have been so good, I expected the same from this wine. I didn’t get it. It’s a little thin, a lot confused as far as flavor goes and lacking anything I would call depth or complexity. If you can get this for under 10 dollars then I would recommend grabbing it just to try it and maybe you‘ll prove me wrong. If you can only find this for more than 10 dollars I’d advise passing and grab any other Waterbrook red wine.

Waterbrook Wines

2009 Urban Maule Red Blend (50% Cabernet Sauvinon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot, 5% Carignan), Chile

Color – Very dark purple, almost black in the glass

Nose – Blueberry, pepper, herbaceous nearly green bell peppers

Taste – This wine is really something of a conundrum to my palate. By the looks of the color I’m expecting big flavors. The nose hints at fruit, but pushes more in the realm of sharp and savory vegetal notes. And the flavor is basically a mish-mosh of both. The fruit comes on quick and is gone just as quick, personified by smoky, somewhat charred blueberry and blackberry flavors. This is very quickly overtaken by some very herbaceous flavors; sage, thyme and pepper as well as black tea leaves. These flavors linger through the mid-palate which is fairly acidic from the alcohol and equally astringent. The finish is medium-long and is the most straightforward part of the wine with flavors equal parts tart berry, smoky pepper and savory herbs. The wine leaves and aftertaste in my mouth of cherries and a spice cabinet, as if I’ve been licking the lids of every spice/herb container I have on hand. Not that pleasant of an experience. I will admit that I tried this over several days and only sat down to take the majority of notes on the last day rather than the first. My memories of day one are more pleasant, though the wine tasted very young with big tannins and flavors more closely in line with blackberry, green bell pepper and some hints of sage. That being said it wasn’t an amazing glass of wine then but it was slightly better than it is right now.

Overall, I’d say I wasted about 10 bucks on this bottle, and advise you don’t even bother with this wine. It’s a poor, nearly bad, QPR. Maybe it’s the blend, maybe it’s the grapes, maybe it’s me; but this wine just doesn’t work at all. It tastes convoluted on the attack and mid-palate, the finish is just barely passable, and the aftertaste is downright bad. For the same price you can find a myriad of good-to-great red blends, most of them available in your local supermarket (yes even the supermarket red blends taste better than this). Trust me, this is one wine you want to skip.

Bodegas y Vinedos O. Fournier