NV Santiago Station Carmenere, Chile

Color - Reddish purple

Nose - Cherry cough syrup

Taste - From the first I can taste a lot of ripe red fruit (cherry, raspberry, red currant); the flavors pretty much cover my tongue. There is some astringency though it's minimal. The wine is young and it comes through in the limited depth of the wine. This is basically a one dimensional wine, very nearly a fruit bomb which is strange for a Carmenere. I wanted to see if the usual spice and herbaceous notes would show up, but it was not to be. There is a split second burst of pepper in the mid-palate then it's gone and fruit comes back. Luckily the heat is dampened in this wine as are any offensive aftertastes, so it is fairly drinkable.

Overall, this is not even close to being a budget Carmenere, if you want that pick up the Santa Rita 120 Carmenere. I had a hard time finding any evidence of Carmenere in this wine at all. It seemed like a rather mundane, medium bodied Cabernet Sauvignon. At 4 dollars it's not going to break the bank and there isn't much else out there at this price that is better, I just wouldn't go out of my way to drink this.

2009 Challis Lane Cabernet Sauvignon, California

Color - Deep red

Nose - Blackberry, blueberry

Taste - This wine is what I would call a "two-faced" wine. One face is fruity with a lot of dark berries that transition into loads of alcohol bite and a long finish that is astringent and sour. This is the face of the wine you see when you drink it by itself. The second face is much less fruity, instead it has wonderful floral flavors with vanilla and licorice hints that give way to some nice heat from the alcohol and a pleasant, long finish. This is the face I saw on the two occasions I paired this wine with food; the first time with a meaty lasagna and the second time with a rather mild cheese pizza. As you can imagine the second face is the one I prefer. That being said I would pay the price for this wine if I had it in mind to pair with a good meal, but I would pass on this if I just wanted something to sip on.

Overall, this wine has an OK QPR. There is nothing amazing about it, but there are far worse Cabs at this price. I would recommend you do a little more shopping and find something that's more balanced than this. You won't have to look long to be able to find a solid performer that outshines this wine. But if you want something new you are more than welcome to try this out, just don't expect it to take you on any adventures as this is a pretty run-of-the-mill Cabernet Sauvignon.

Challis Lane Cellars

2009 Callaway Cellar Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, California

Color - Dark red

Nose - Raspberry and cherry jam

Taste - This is about as plain as they come, not terrible, but quite forgettable and somewhat bland. On the first sip I find out the flavor matches the nose; cherry and raspberry fruit, then alcohol bite (just a little too much), and finally a red berry-like jamminess that is a little too fruity for me. There are some sour notes on the finish, but they aren't too noticeable as the alcohol and the tannins tend to mask them. Normally I like a decent amount of tannin and alcohol, but here they distract from the actual fruit and trample on what little depth of character this wine has. The wine has a medium body with a medium finish. Not much to speak of as far as mouthfeel goes and little complexity. This is a pretty poor QPR for an 8 Dollar wine.

Overall, the lack of depth, muddled taste, and mediocrity of this wine force me to recommend that you pass on this wine. As I said before this doesn't taste "bad" (like Lucky Duck, Manyana, Manina, or Double Dog); it just doesn't do anything that well and doesn't stand out either. You can get a lot of 8 dollar bottles that taste as good or better than this. Pick up a bottle of Anakena if you want something from the Southern Hemisphere or Columbia-Crest if you want something from the Northern Hemisphere. You can also do an "eeny-meeny-miny-moe" at the wine shelf and chances are you'll get a better bottle.

Callaway Winery

2008 Radius Cabernet Sauvignon, Washington

Color - Dark red

Nose - Blackberry, green bell pepper, molasses

Taste - On day one, glass one of this wine I thought it was going to be a nice even Washington State Cabernet Sauvignon that had dark fruits, oak and vegetal flavors. That's precisely what it was, though with less oak and more fruit. On day three, glass five this wine has lost most of the vegetal flavors and the bluberry, dark cherry and blackberry flavors have taken over. It's not bad, there's a nice bite right in the mid-palate and the finish is nice a smooth although only medium in length. There are some very subtle hints of brown sugar or molasses on the aftertaste which is very pleasant and fruity. The wine has a nice "warmth" to it that I've noticed in certain reds that I end up liking (perhaps a reaction of the acids and tannins, though I don't know).

Overall, I would say this is another wine that I've come to enjoy quite a bit. I would compare it to Columbia-Crest or Redwood Creek both in price and taste. It's an OK QPR, the wine is not complex but it's a great, smooth stand alone wine. Try it if you like fruitier Cabs or just need something pleasant and unoffensive for a get together.

2009 San Elias Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile

Color - Ruby red

Nose - Raspberry, green bell pepper

Taste - On the first sip, I taste lots of sour red fruit, though not sour enough to give me actual pucker, but there is also quite a bit of bite from the alcohol and acidity from the tannins. This has a lot of astringency though it mixes well with the bite and sour fruit flavors making a melange of flavors and textures that doesn't overwhelm me. I can taste some raspberry, sugared blackberry, and plum and then some hints of burnt caramel on the finish. There is nothing special about this wine, it's medium bodied with a medium-to-long finish. It's not complex but still good in it's simplicity. I didn't expect much going into this tasting and got a little more than I expected, especially with the alcohol and tannins working with the flavors rather than clashing with them. I'd say this is better when consumed by itself, improper pairing wrecks this wine and it can be pretty finicky. Pizza overwhelmed it, creamy pasta didn't effect it at all, and savory meat just made the wine feel "flabby" and "bland".

Overall, this is an OK fruit forward, young Cabernet Sauvignon. It has no idea where it's going and neither will you. It's something of an adventure with every sip you take, but I'd advise you to skip this treasure hunt and look elsewhere. While it's an OK wine, and the QPR is decent as well, there are a myriad of better wines at this price point. Go ahead and look for anything from decent Washington, Chile, or reputable California vineyards with like-priced wines. They'll all beat this every day of the week.

2008 Anakena Malbec Single Vineyard, Chile

Color - Dark red

Nose - Raspberry, flowers, dark cherry, burnt sugar

Taste - I was curious about this Chilean Malbec when I saw it on the shelf at Total Wine. I am glad I gave in to my curiosity, as it is a pretty good Malbec. It is quite smooth with raspberry and cherry fruit flavors and some nearly-sour grass or vegetable flavors on the mid-palate and then a medium-to-long finish that has just a touch too much alcohol heat for what I would have liked. It's a pretty big Malbec if you drink it right after opening, but if given the chance to decant it mellows too much for my taste and subsequently loses it's intense complexity. If consumed right after opening, it holds up quite well to Argentinian Malbecs, but over time loses the big fruit flavors (raspberry, cherry, etc) of the Malbecs I most enjoy. Most of it calms down and can seem to run together as far as flavors go. It's not bad, as it retains its nose and color and is still very drinkable, I just think it's better right out of the bottle.

Overall, this is a good wine, it's just a little too overpriced but worth the expense to try something new. It's better if consumed prior to decanting as it loses too much of it's depth if given too much time to breathe. I think the big flavors it has right out of the bottle, even the alcohol heat, are better than the rather mellow fruits and nearly invisible tannins when it's decanted. It's not great and the QPR is only fair. There are many Malbecs that are better and cheaper, Alamos and Flechas de los Andes are the two that come right to mind, but this is still a good effort and probably the best you will find from Chile. In short, you make the call on this one.

Anakena Wines

2009 Chateau Los Boldos Momentos de Chile Carmenere, Chile

Color - Dark red with a black core

Nose - Plum, black cherry, wet soil

Taste - I get lots of plum that gives way to what I can only describe as fresh pepper-like and then quite nicely tannic with a mild alcohol heat. There are herbs on the finish which is medium in length and has hints of oregano and smoke (the smoke is present throughout the entire body of the wine). This wine is young and has a lot going on, probably too much going on as it can easily get confusing on the palate. While I get some of the typical Carmenere flavors this is more fruity than herbaceous. It's a medium bodied wine but feels "heavier" on the palate than I think it actually is, a lot of that in my opinion is due to the presence of alcohol and smoke. It benefits from decanting though you can drink it right out of the bottle and it isn't too offensive. It's good by itself or paired with savory dishes and steak, but doesn't really get any better than "good".

Overall, I'd say this is an average Carmenere. It's somewhat muddled and maybe a little expensive or perhaps not what I'd expected from a wine at this price point, 10 dollars. In reality it's an OK QPR and I'd say take a pass on this and pick up the Anakena Indo Carmenere or Santa Alicia Carmenere. This one's just average, those are blockbusters in comparison.

Chateau Los Boldos Wines