2008 Munoz de Toro Valle Perdido Malbec, Argentina

Such a pleasure...Very dark purple with an exceptionally vibrant ruby rim

Sensual subtleties… Black currant, black cherry, vanilla, cedar chips

Just a tad bit lacking…I have been lucky enough to find this wine (as well as the Munoz de Toro Argie Bonarda) at a local olive mill. I say I’m lucky because this wine is an exceptional glass of Malbec, and for the nice price of 12.99. I haven’t done a lot of research on this except to find out that this is a Durigutti wine and while I wasn’t a big fan of the 2009 Durigutti Malbec; this is a much better pour. Be advised this wine needs time to breathe, even if you use a Vinturi or other wine aerator you need to let this sit out for a few hours preferably overnight. If you give this wine a chance to breathe it is quite a nice experience. The attack is all dark fruit layered one atop the next; cherry, plum, black currant with a smattering of blackberry and blueberry and just a touch of smoky wood underlying those fruit flavors. The mid-palate is just a little bit “weaker” than I’d like. I can feel just the mere hints of alcohol heat, and the tannins are very illusive. There is some nice acidity and some nice sweet-and-sour cherry/cranberry flavors. But overall the mid-palate isn’t what I’d expected in the least. While the mid-palate leaves me wanting, the long finish does not disappoint. Layer upon layer of black fruits (plum, blackberry and currant being predominant) are interspersed with cassis, vanilla, ash, loam, sage and leather; making this one of the more complex Malbec’s I’ve tasted in a while. This is a medium bodied wine with an exceptionally pleasant aftertaste of cherry and chalk that leaves me licking my lips and longing for another glass.

Overall, this is a wonderful wine experience with just a few hiccups along the way. The attack is somewhat one dimensional and the mid-palate is a disappointment but this wine shines in the finish and pours on the depth and character. Due to the beauty of the finish and overall pleasantness of this wine I recommend it and give it a solid, Good QPR. For your money it’s a decent bottle, but if you really just want a great drinking Malbec for the best price than you’d still have to pick up the Kaiken Malbec. This isn’t as cheap as the Kaiken and the Kaiken is a better all around wine in my opinion; but this is pretty darn close.

D U R I G U T T I 

2009 Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, California

A gorgeous glass…Dark, ruddy hue fading to pinkish-red at the rim

Stunning scents…Black currant, cedar, loam, compost, syrup

Fantastic flavors…To be quite honest, this was a desperation purchase on a quick trip to my local super market. I wanted something with quality and had heard this wine had particular depth and character for a wine frequently sold in grocery stores. So I placed it in my cart and came home. Then promptly forgot about it as I had placed it in my new wine cellar. After a few months I was rearranging my cellar to organize it by varietal and ran across this particular bottle. Once again my interest was piqued and while my wife sipped on a bottle of Sparkling Wine, I chose to pop the cork on this beauty. And beauty it what this wine is. It’s not a 92 or 93 point wine, but it has defined levels of complexity that you won’t find in many wines sold in the super market, particularly at the 20 dollar mark. Be warned, this wine needs a good day of decanting before you start to sip it; it’s big, bold and very dark in flavor and texture. The attack is full of heavy black fruits blackberry, black currant, roasted black plums and black cherry jam mingling with vanilla and butter all floating atop a foundation of oak, wet leaves and peat moss. The mid-palate has a whole lot of everything; chewy tannins rise in force shoving astringency across the surface of my tongue to battle against alcohol warmth and tingle that flees from acidity and flavors of leather and dust. The mid-palate seems overwhelming and long, when in reality it merely melds right into a long finish that is full of more dark fruits and heavy savory characteristics; the first of these show up in the form of dark cherry with vanilla buttercream layered on top, this melts into a very pungent oak and tobacco taste with just a hint of sour blackberry and finally comes the wet leaves, loam, chalk and compost bringing sensory overload to my palate. This is a full bodied wine with a wonderful aftertaste of wet wood, damp earth and cooked plums.

Overall this is an excellent wine with few failings. Sure it’s not for every palate. It’s a very heavy red wine with lots of tannins and particularly deep/dark flavors. It will assault many red wine drinkers and overwhelm their “softer” palates, but for a Cabernet enthusiast this hits the spot. It’s not overly expensive or immensely complex. It shows flashes of complexity above a 20 dollar wine but provides a lot of even quality. I recommend this and award it with a solid Good QPR. If you are in a hurry at the grocery store grab this bottle, it will pair wonderfully with those steaks, heavy stews or hamburgers.

Beringer Vineyards 

2009 Cincuenta Ugarte Rioja, Spain

I’ve been wondering for quite some time what has been happening to my Total Wine & More mailers. I hadn’t received one since the first of the year and wondered what good deals they were offering. I figured my daughter was probably hiding them from me or they had ended up on the bottom of a stack of junk mail. So it was with great surprise that I found the latest mailer when I was cleaning off my kitchen table of a few days worth of mail. Low and behold, such deals on some great wines. 2009 Bordeauxs under 15 dollars, 92 point Rhone blends for 12 and 90 point rated gem for less than 10 dollars. I have grown to love Tempranillo when it’s done right and that means from Spain, usually from Rioja. This wine fits that bill perfectly. It pours dark into the glass with swirling rubies, garnets and purples that at times edge into midnight black making for a mesmerizing glass to look at. The nose wafts strongly of sugared black plums, blackberry jam, vanilla and licorice with subtler elements of dust and charcoal. The palate itself is elegant and layered; stacking dark fruits (blackberry, currant and cherry) on top of caramel and cocoa in the attack. The mid-palate is wonderfully focused; featuring perfect tannins, crisp acidity in all the right places and beautiful astringency that pull the caramel and cocoa flavors through into the finish. And what a wonderful finish it is; long and luxurious where the fruits mix and mingle with sugars and savory flavors. Chocolate covered cherry and caramel tinged plums, with sweetened coffee and vanilla laced milk leave my tongue feeling as if I’ve gone on a pleasure cruise through a box of designer candies. Underneath these flavors are more pungent tastes of cedar and smoke with hints of ash and dirt, but they all build a wonderful flavor profile that is extremely gratifying. This finishes strong and though it feels heavy it is in fact a medium bodied wine that pairs well with just about any grilled meat, some spicy barbecue, sausages and especially hamburgers.

Overall this wine was phenomenal. I was amazed at the flavor and texture that it produced and just how complex this bottle really was. It paired so well I went through the bottle in three consecutive nights and came back on the fourth night disappointed I hadn’t saved a little for a few slices of pizza. At 10 dollars this is an amazing QPR. Sure it got 90 points from The Wine Advocate, but this one was a surprise to me. I frequently sample 90+ point wines (those that ring up at the register under 25 dollars and there are quite a few); this bottle is right at the top of the list of those wines. Complex, daring, with a depth that is hard to find; it is a truly wonderful wine that will slake your thirst and have you coming back for more. Highly recommended and if you find it purchase more than one because you are either going to want to add it to your cellar or you are going to want to sip it for several weeks!

2007 Valserrano Rioja Crianza, Spain

Easy on the eyes…Deep ruby red with a rusty rim

Heaven Scent…Strawberry, raspberry, vanilla

 Oh the flavors…Again and again I am drawn back to Spanish wines, particularly those featuring Tempranillo grapes (which in reds is the most common varietal). The flavors present in these wines are usually very distinct being fruit forward but not necessarily sweet as they are often tempered by hints of vanilla, cedar and spice box notes. This bottle is definitely a winner. The attack comes on with wonderful strawberry and raspberry fruits, followed closely by leather and vanilla and just a hint of smoke. The mid-palate is very smooth featuring mild tannins, perfect levels of acidity and astringency and just a tad bit of sour cherry flavors. This features a medium finish brimming with red fruit jams (strawberry particularly), blueberry, black pepper, burnt sugar and vanilla. This is a medium bodied wine that leaves an aftertaste of cherry, strawberry and oak/vanilla.

Overall, this is an excellent wine that is perfectly priced for the quality that you get. It easily earns a Great QPR. It isn’t immensely complex but it well balanced with layered fruit flavors and enough complexity to keep my palate engaged. More than anything it is very pleasing and easy drinking. I recommend drinking it with meat dishes but it is very food friendly and would do well with salad, macaroni & cheese and pizza. Truly a wonderful wine and highly recommended.

Valserrano

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 Cameron Hughes Lot 266 Los Carneros Pinot Noir, California

Silky shades…Transparent garnet hues with a soft rose rim

Noble nose…earth, compost, black plum, cranberry

Elegant essences…Select Arizona Costco locations are currently receiving shipments of four new Cameron Hughes wines, when I read the email containing this information I just about jumped for joy. I have enjoyed every Cameron Hughes wine that I have tried up until now albeit with differing levels of excitement. To be honest they’ve all been pretty solid, some have been outstanding; therefore I decided I’d pick up two of the new offerings on my next trip to Costco. Surprise, surprise, or maybe not but this wine is definitely an enjoyable glass though it does offer some twists. First off, it pours light-to-medium in color but smells deep, dark and earthy. Then comes the first sip and I’m greeted with wonderfully subtle flavors that dance with equally deep, dark flavors. A perplexing adventure to say the least. First off, the attack is a multilayered journey of stealthy blackberry, plum and strawberry that can seem lost behind a blanket of cloves, oak, leather and wood smoke. These flavors seem reverse from what I’m used to, but they are very satisfying here though they do lead to difficulties when pairing this wine. The mid-palate tingles with alcohol acidity that fades into chewy tannins then shifts the flavors of this wine as the finish sets in. The finish itself is short-to-medium in length and more savory than I’d imagined it to be. I expected the fruit to come out more in the finish, but it takes yet another step back letting the savory, dark flavors move up yet another notch. Sour cranberry and light strawberry are the two fruits that show up in the finish; but they are nearly eclipsed by licorice, leather, wet leaves, potting soil and oak. These “dark” flavors are run through by the lighter fruit flavors in a way that makes this “heavy” finish very pleasant. This is a medium bodied wine with an aftertaste of plums and cherries and a tendency to truly perplex the person drinking.

Overall, this is yet another enjoyable wine from a negociant I have come to trust where quality wine is concerned. Where does this one rate against those I’ve sampled in the past? Closer to the bottom than the top unfortunately. It might be that I’m still not adept at reviewing Pinot Noir, but this wine seemed just a little too robust for me. I expected a lighter glass with strawberry and cherry flavors backed up by hints of vanilla, oak, chocolate and tobacco. I didn’t get that at all. Plus this was a nightmare to pair with food. I failed on three separate occasions, and resorted to finishing the last few glasses without any accoutrements. As for rating this, I believe I paid 13 dollars for this bottle; and I think that may be a little steep. It’s a pretty good wine and still drinkable, but as far as QPR goes this is merely a fair QPR. I’d rather get the Kirkland Signature Russian River Pinot Noir at the same price or the Kirkland Signature Carneros Pinot Noir for 3 bucks less. Both of those are equally as enjoyable as this wine but have better quality compared to the price they are offered at. I still recommend this wine, but have to preface that by saying there are better wines out there, especially if you shop at Costco.

Cameron Hughes Wines

2009 Cameron Hughes Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon “Lot 230”, California

Color carnival…Dark purple with a bright purple rim and a black core

Aroma assembly…Red plum, licorice, coffee, compost

Palate presence…This is a recent addition to my local Costco; priced quite nicely at 14 dollars it is a quite inviting buy. I picked up a bottle at the same time I purchased the Los Carneros Pinot Noir. This emits more complex and inviting aromas and shows colors that are intensely dark in the glass. I immediately assumed that this would be of superb quality but might suffer from youthful tannins and an overabundance of alcohol. Upon the first sip I wasn’t quite far off in my assumptions. The attacks is concentrated dark berries and stone fruit, mingled with coffee grounds, burnt sugar and leather and floating along the top of those flavors a slight texture of creaminess. The mid-palate is relatively young featuring silky yet playful tannins, not a lot of alcohol heat but definitely a tingly, acidic alcohol presence and a slight sour cherry flavor as the mid-palate melts into the finish. The finish itself is medium-long, warm and made up of very dark, heavy flavors; licorice, wet earth, blackberry/cassis jam, black plum skins, chocolate and wood smoke co-mingle throughout the finish dancing in merry couplets and triplets as the finish fades away. This is a full bodied wine with a wonderful aftertaste of grapes and brown sugar.

Overall, this is an excellent wine though at times it can feel a little young. I would still recommend this over most 14 dollar Cabernet Sauvignon and rate this firmly in the good QPR category. With a few extra years of cellaring, I imagine this could reach all the way up to great QPR. I am looking forward to drinking a bottle of this in 5 more years just to see how it ages. I plan on putting a bottle of this away to cellar you should do the same, but only after you enjoy a bottle or three with dinner or all by themselves.

Cameron Hughes Wines