2008 Francois Lurton Hacienda Araucano Carmenere, Chile

Simple shades…Dark purple that lightens at the rim

Fruit fragrant…Blueberry, boysenberry, cherry vanilla

Two-toned taste…I ventured outside my usual “wine stores” and purchased this bottle at the Whole Foods around the corner from my house. They stock a lot of the same wines that I see at my local grocer, but they have a decent selection of wines I’ve never come across. Most of them are organic wines and I had a quite pleasant conversation with an organic wine drinker that was deciding whether or not to try Syrah for the first time. That’s neither here nor there but it makes for a good story for another post. On to the review. Basically this wine is what I’d call a two-tone wine all the way around. The aromas are of blueberry/boysenberry and cherry vanilla. The attack features two distinct flavors blueberry/blackberry and licorice/tobacco. I’m not saying it tastes bad; it’s just pretty simple. The mid-palate lacks any real astringency, but shows a decent amount of alcohol heat and tingle on my tongue mixed in with some very playful tannins as they bring just a hint of pucker but serve to make the mid-palate and subsequent finish taste of wood/oak/smoke. The finish is medium in length and carries those same berry flavors, mixed now with the wood/oak/smoke and finally just a dollop of chocolate and cinnamon. The wine itself feels heavy in my mouth but it’s really only a medium bodied effort with an aftertaste of oak and apple (I know that sounds weird in a red wine but that’s what’s left on my tongue between sips).

Overall, I think this is just a bit too boring for me. I’d purchased this in hopes of finding yet another intriguing glass of wine from the Carmenere grape, instead I didn’t really find anything that reminded me of what I’ve come to expect from Carmenere. It lacks the signature herbaceous, green bell pepper and black pepper savory-ness of most Carmeneres; instead showing characteristics of a full bodied Malbec. That’s not saying this is a bad wine, merely an average wine and not a clear example of what this grape usually tastes like. It gets an OK QPR, and a weak recommendation from me only if you want to try something new or are bored with your usual Malbec. If that doesn’t describe you, steer clear of this and seek out nearly any Anakena Carmenere or Chateau Los Boldos Carmenere priced over 12 dollars.

 Francois Lurton

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

2009 Martine Galhaud Moulin “MGM” Pinot Noir, France

Color – Dark, inky purple

Nose – Sweet, dark cherry; red and black plum, licorice

Taste – This is an interesting and I would guess un-Pinot-like Pinot Noir. This is quite dark in color, large in aroma, and heavy in weight for a Pinot Noir. That’s not to say this wine is bad, just not a good representation of Pinot Noir. I will say if you drink this with an open mind, you might like this wine. The flavors on the initial sip are of very ripe plums, and dark cherry fruit; the mid-palate is cinnamon, brown sugar, heat and astringency though none of these are out of proportion. The finish is medium-to-long with flavors I can more closely describe as sweet plum liquor. This surprised me and with the first two glasses I was unimpressed and a little put off. But as I began to drink my third glass I decided to drink it with the mindset that I was drinking just another red blend. The wine went down much easier and I was quite satisfied. The flavor profile doesn’t align itself with any wine I have tasted up to this point. At times it has a closer resemblance to a sweet mixed drink or wine cooler than a red wine made only of grapes. The abundance of plum and dark cherry flavors is so strong that you really can’t avoid them or at times find any other flavors. That can be both a good thing and a bad thing, but in all I think it works in this wine.

Overall, this is another decent QPR from Trader Joe’s. It’s not as good as Trentatre 33, Viriato TInta de Toro or Alexander & Fitch Cabernet Sauvignon but this is still a pretty good wine for the money. It’s better than 75% of the wines from supermarkets that are priced in the sub-eight dollar range. I won’t be buying a lot of this or buying it often but I’d keep a bottle around just in case I wanted a very fruit forward, plum flavored red.

2009 Trumpeter by Rutini WInes Malbec, Argentina

Color - Dark purple

Nose - Blackberry, black currant, sweet spices

Taste - This wine is a very good fruit forward Malbec. Upon opening it has a very powerful nose full of black fruit and sweet spices (vanilla, cinnamon, etc), a rich purple color, and flavors to match. The first sip is jam packed with black fruit that melts into a mid-palate of vanilla, cinnamon, brown sugar, and caramel with a nice level of astringency, this fades into a medium finish that has some bite and sour, pleasant fruit skins. To sum up there's a lot going on here, but it's not distracting or confusing to my palate. As I said in my mini-review, this is like a nice rich steak with layers of flavor and texture, and this wine would be a great complement to a juicy steak.

Overall, I would definitely pay 14 dollars for this wine though you can probably find it cheaper than that. It has good texture, mouthfeel, and flavor. It's a good QPR, as this wine's quality is a notch above most Malbec's at this price point. The only fault I have with this wine is that it loses some of its depthif you don't drink it in the first day It's still good just not as intense. All-in-all, this one's a definite buy.

Rutini Wines