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