2009 The Vac Vacqueyras, France

I have been toying with this wine for the better part of 4 months, each time grasping a bottle, setting it in my cart only to go back and set it back on the shelf. But after reading through the spring Total Wine & More mailer, I finally decided to purchase a bottle. Rated 92 points by the International Wine Cellar, this wine features strawberry and cherry aromas with nuances of plum and pepper wafting from the rim of a ruby rimmed, dark purple pour. The wine is quite fruit forward, with notes of plum, blackberry and raspberry and lingering hints of cola and smoke. The mid-palate is nicely acidic, bringing up bright textures and a slight pucker factor with subdued tannins and astringency. In my opinion, this wine shines during the finish; pouring on loads of dark, smoky blackberry, black currant and plum with vanilla, leather, pepper and something akin to flower petals. These flavors swirl together mixing in a dark dance of dark fruit, then savory spices and finishes with wood and smoke characteristics. This is a medium bodied wine with cherry vanilla, oak and rose hips. This is a wonderfully complex wine, though it tries to trick you and make you think it is a nice fruit forward “California” red; in reality, it is a textured French red with earthy characteristics that mask the relatively sweet fruits thus transforming a potentially bland, one dimensional Rhone blend into something elegant, compelling and very satisfying.

Overall, I am not a huge fan of Rhone blends as they tend to be more fruit forward than I like; however this wine balances its sugars with equal helpings of spice and earth. It makes up for its shortcomings by providing a very broad range of flavors that blend nicely together leaving me quite satisfied. I don’t often seek out “sweet” French reds, but this would definitely make my list of must haves for rounding out your wine cellar. A bottle of The Vac will please most discerning wine drinkers that stop by for Coq au Vin, Beef Burgundy or a myriad of other savory dishes. It earns a good QPR and a recommendation from me.

Arnoux & Files Vins des Cotes du Rhone 

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Head to Head to Head: Three Cabs

Being limited in my posts-per-week due to lack of internet, my next few posts will be multiple bottle reviews. We'll start with three Cabs (2 from California and 1 from Chile). This review will lay them out from least expensive to most expensive (not taking into account coupons or sale prices) and at the end I'll give a recap as to my preference of the three taking into account flavor, cost and availability. Without further ado, on to the review!

2008 Santa Helena Vernus Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile

Color – Ruby red

Nose – Blackberry jam, blueberry, raspberry, green bell peppers

Taste – This bottle of wine showed up at my local Costco, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to sample yet another Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. After this wine had decanted for nearly 30 minutes I decided to take my first sip, and I was nicely surprised. This wine seems simple, but in reality is far from it. The attack bears lovely notes of black currant and blackberry with just a hint of bittersweet chocolate. The mid-palate is rather “warm” with firm tannins, astringency that is nearly perfect and acidity from the alcohol but not a lot of heat. The finish is long with heavy flavors of licorice, burnt caramel, tobacco and leather. This wine is full bodied, fruit forward with a finish that balances the fruit notes with “sharp” flavors and leaves a pleasant after taste on my tongue. For under 10 dollars this is a pretty good purchase as this wine holds up to a lot of different flavors (I personally tried it with burgers, steak and pizza on three different occasions and this wine went great with all three).
Overall, this wine shows a good QPR as the flavors are complex enough to allow this wine to hold up to multiple kinds of foods. This Cabernet Sauvignon is also very drinkable by itself. I was surprised that this is as good as it is. I am truly perplexed by the number of superior Chilean wines that are priced in the sub-10 dollar range is so large; perplexed but very happy. This is a must try, pick it up on your next trip to Costco because it might not be on the shelves for long.

Santa Helena Winery

2008 Dominican Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon, California

Color – Dark red, with a near black core

Nose – Black currant, licorice, chalk dust, caramel

Taste – This was a recommendation from one of the Total Wine “Beverage Specialists” or whatever they’re called. He talked about it as if it were the best Cabernet Sauvignon for under 20 dollars, considerably better than the Courtney Benham Cabernet Sauvignon I like so much. So at 17 dollars I went out on a limb and grabbed this bottle. I won’t say that he’s completely wrong, but his palate and mine differ quite a bit. This is a very silky, smooth red wine in the beginning that transforms into something of a mangled beast in the middle, then reforms again after the finish back to silky, smoothness. The attack is “warm” (reminding me almost of a liqueur or cordial) and somewhat heavy for my tastes. I can taste cherry, currant, raisin and licorice. The licorice holds on a long time, all the way through the mid-palate. Speaking of the mid-palate this one is a little rough for my palate; with the majority of it coming on as strong alcohol heat/acidity and puny tannins/astringency. As I said before the licorice comes through the rough but short mid-palate and right into the medium-length finish and is joined by blackberry, dark cherry, vanilla, black pepper and oak. The finish tapers off into a smooth, warm, silky mouthfeel that is full of cherry skins and red plum flesh. This is a medium-to-full bodied wine, and at warmer temperatures the medium falls right off that and this wine takes on a weight of its own that can seem rather cloying at times.
Overall, this is not my cup of tea, or glass of wine as it may be. I am sure this is a quality wine, I can tell by the mouthfeel and texture of the wine that runs throughout the entire sipping experience. It might even be a pretty good QPR, but for my palate I’d give it a fair QPR rating. I won’t be coming back here again even though this wine went well with steak and a hearty salad, it failed with simpler foods (spaghetti marinara on one night and grilled chicken breast with rice au gratin on another night). It’s just too much money for what I would consider a rather confused red wine. It starts yummy and smooth, and finishes yummy and smooth; but the middle is one big yucky “hot” mess. I’d recommend passing on this and getting the Courtney Benham I mentioned above for a few dollars more or maybe the Crios de Susana Balbo Cabernet Sauvignon for the same amount. Either of those are just as complex and far more balanced Cabernet Sauvignons. You let me know what you think.

2008 Wheelhouse Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, California

Color – Ruby red with violet hints at the edges

Nose – Plum, cherry, licorice, vanilla

Taste – This delightful Cabernet Sauvignon was nearly half off at Cost Plus, and when I can pick up a 20 dollar bottle for almost 10 dollars I jump at the chance. It only solidified my decision when several employees and a customer informed me I’d made a good decision on my wine choice. I am happy I listened to them, though I’m not completely sold on this wine’s qualities. Don’t get me wrong this wine tastes good, but it’s not 20 dollars worth of goodness. There is some complexity and it starts off right as the wine passes the lips. The attack is evenly layered dark fruits and berries; plum and blackberry mixed with dark cherry and red and black currants. These fruit flavors aren’t overwhelmingly sweet but rather dark, smoky and rich with underlying spice flavors when the wine is moved along the palate. The mid-palate is full of firm tannins, bright acids and pleasing astringency. The tannins run into the long-ish finish in the form of ripe fruit skins, but the finish is also rather dark; the predominant flavors being those of licorice, leather, tobacco, cloves and smoke. This is full bodied, though it tends to feel “lighter” when it’s chilled just a little. It tastes equally well slightly chilled or at warmer temperatures, though it fares best when paired with some charred beef and at room temperature.
Overall, this is a good wine and at the price I purchased it, I would rate it a good-nearly-great QPR. But I don’t think I would pay 20 bucks for this bottle. It doesn’t give Courtney Benham’s Napa Cab a run for its money, but falls far short of the quality of that wine. I admit that this is better than 95% of any wine you will find under 15 dollars. But if you do a lot of tasting you will find those 5% bottles crop up even at your local supermarket. In all honesty I have to recommend that you try this wine because it is a very flavorful and complex wine, that being said; seek, find, and buy – but attempt to do it on the cheap!

Wheelhouse Wine Cellars


In closing, all of these wines were drinkable though the Dominican Oaks almost got cut from the trio due to it's messy and confusing mid-palate. In my opinion, the Santa Helena Cabernet Sauvignon is the best wine for the money easily containing the most complexity and depth for the price. If you can get the Wheelhouse Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon at a reduced rate (15 dollars or less) than you are getting the best of the three, but at full price this wine comes in second. It does taste good and offer considerable complexity and flavor, but 20 dollars a bottle is just a little off-putting. Coming in last is the Dominican Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon and truly this wine was close to being taken off this list altogether. If I could focus just on the attack and the finish this wine would tie the Santa Helena for first, but the sheer brutality of the mid-palate knocks this down to third place and that's not even taking into account the 17 dollar price tag on this bottle. The Dominican Oaks and Vernus are probably the easiest wines to find. Though I purchased the Vernus at Costco, I believe you can find it at Total Wine & More which is where I purchased the Dominican Oaks. I have only seen the Wheelhouse at Cost Plus and it might not be available at the Cost Plus in your region due to the purchasing tendencies of the Beverage Specialist at your local Cost Plus. In all I hope these reviews help you on your journey with wine.

2009 Chariot Gypsy (34% Zinfandel, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Petite Sirah, 15% Merlot, 5% Sangiovese), California

Color – Dark purple nearly black

Nose – Dark fruit, oak, licorice, vanilla

Taste – I was hesitant to pick this up due to the fact that it features Zinfandel, a varietal I have long eschewed owing to its tendency to be featured in wines I refer to as “nuclear fruit bombs”. That being said, I had heard from many people that this wine was truly exceptional, had an amazing QPR and a few of them went so far as to say this should have a price tag ten times as high as it currently does. With those kinds of screaming endorsements I just had to purchase a bottle and find out for myself. First off there are only two things about this wine that are small: the price and the tannins. Other than that everything else about this wine is absolutely HUGE. From the word “go”, the flavors in this wine assault the tongue with dark, sweet fruits, hints of pepper, and the sting of cola. The mid-palate is absent of tannins, though it shows limited heat from the alcohol, but its main ingredient is a decent amount of acid. I would imagine that between the sugar and the acid the 13.5% alcohol is rendered nearly invisible. It is medium-to-full bodied, with a long-ish finish, and a definite “weight” on the tongue (I hesitate to call it syrupy, but that’s what comes to mind). The aftertaste is unpleasant, leaving behind what I can only describe as the taste and feeling cherry Chloroseptic throat spray. Yes this even makes my tongue just a little bit numb after I swallow. This is not a bad wine, but it’s not a great wine either; it’s merely a good wine.

Overall, this is not my cup of tea, or wine, to say this least. It is far too fruit forward and syrupy for my taste. I am sure it is a hit with lots of people that like big, dark, sweet Zins from California. It hits all the marks of a wine that wants to be a big seller. I am not saying it’s a bad wine, because it’s not a bad wine and it does have a pretty good QPR, it’s just not a good wine. It is light-years away from being a 30 dollar bottle let alone a 50 dollar bottle. It lacks the complexity, depth and character that a 20 dollar bottle of wine would require. If you are looking for a bottle of wine that sells for 5 or 6 bucks but has the qualities of a 15 or 20 dollar bottle, I would say get yourself the ’07 or ’08 Trentatre Rosso. If you just want something to share with some friends that aren’t really into wine, then get this. This is definitely a love it or hate it wine, my palate absolutely hated it. You’ll have to decide for yourself on this one.

Chariot Wines

2009 Blason de Bourgogne Pinot Noir, France

Color – Translucent, brownish red

Nose – Cherry, cranberry, pepper, earth, celery?

Taste – Pinot is not one of my favorite red wines. To be honest, it’s down at the bottom of my red wine list only beat out by Valpoilicella and Zinfandel. It’s not that I don’t like Pinot, I just don’t know that much about it and according to those “in-the-know” it can be hard to find a decent Pinot for under 25 dollars. But I have been slowly sampling Pinot at the sub-10 dollar mark for a few weeks now. What I can say about this wine is that it is very light, both in color and in weight. It has a strange nose (to me) with the earth, cranberry and what I can only describe as celery. And the flavor is quite mild as well. The first thing I notice when I take a sip is that this wine tastes much better served slightly chilled. As it warms the tart fruit flavors can feel overbearing and there seems to be a little too much pucker for me. When it’s chilled the flavors play well together going from sour cherry/cranberry to earth and raspberry and finally some pepper on the finish. I am hard pressed to find any tannins, though there is some nice acidity here that keeps the mid-palate interesting and follows through to the finish. The finish is medium in length and has more cranberry and this is where I can also taste what to me resembles celery (you know that clean, slightly bitter taste that celery has?). The texture and mouthfeel are pleasant but there isn’t a lot of depth or character in either the flavor or texture department.

Overall, I would call this an OK wine given my limited knowledge and experience with the varietal. It is inoffensive and subdued but that is what you want some times. It has a pretty darn good price coming in at 6 bucks at Trader Joe’s. I would advise to use this as an aperitif or maybe chilled with salad or hors d'oeuvres. It’s not going to amaze you, but it won’t let you down either. Simply put this is a pretty decent light red wine with a very humble price tag. All-in-all something that’s right up my alley.

Blason de Bourgogne Wines

2009 Castle Rock by Cramele Recas Cabernet Sauvignon, Romania

Color – Ruby red

Nose – Black currant, blackberry, flowers

Taste – On first sip, I didn’t think I was going to like this wine. It seemed a little “candy-like” or “chemically”, but I let the wine decant a little and then tried another glass, and that’s when the wine really showed its true colors. This is a great wine. It’s quite complex coming from an 8 dollar bottle; in fact, it might be the most complex bottle I’ve tasted at this price point. The initial flavors are full of black currant, chocolate and flowers; these quickly fade into a mid-palate of perfect alcohol balanced with nice smooth tannins and raspberry hints. The finish is nice and long with flavors of plum, bittersweet chocolate, coffee and pepper. This has some interesting heat to it; the heat doesn’t show up until the tail end of the finish and it feels more like actual pepper heat rather than alcohol heat. Interesting enough this wine is more medium bodied rather than full bodied; from the nose and color I would have expected something “heavier” than that, but it’s still very good. I would say this wine is one of the better that I’ve tasted at the 8 dollar price point. I didn’t expect much from this wine, and it blew my socks off. I was expecting mediocre at best, but this actually has some depth and character to it. Don’t be surprised to find this in my cellar if you come for a visit.

Overall, I would classify this as a great buy for 8 dollars and a great QPR. Make sure you decant the wine for an hour or so, otherwise be prepared for something that tastes more like cherry cough syrup than wine. I would recommend this for any occasion; it’s a rather well rounded wine. You can’t go wrong if you enjoy Cabs with some definite depth to them. This one is a gem at 8 dollars, get some for your cellar now!

Recas Wines

2009 Alamos Malbec, Argentina

Color – Dark purple

Nose – Black currant, blackberry

Taste – This is a great big WOW! Every sip brings big, bold fruits rushing over my palate. I can taste blackberry, currant, dark cherry and plum. The texture is very smooth and perfectly astringent. The transition from dark fruit, to warm spices (pepper, vanilla, licorice) and a nice alcohol heat, and finally to a long finish with oak, tobacco, chocolate and dark fruit skins is just amazing. If I didn’t know how much a bottle of this cost I would swear this is a 20 dollar wine, but it’s only half that price. This tastes much better right from the bottle, though it doesn’t lose anything after decanting rather the finish can adopt a slightly bitter flavor and the alcohol gets just a little more heat to it; other than that it’s the same wine. This wine is full bodied; it has a decent “weight” and “warmth” on the tongue, with a nice long finish. I would say you can pair this with food (barbecue, steak, hearty stews and game) or enjoy this all alone and either way have a wonderful glass of wine.

Overall, this is one of the best bottles of wine I’ve sampled under 10 dollars. The QPR is fantastic on this wine, just as much because the quality of this wine is so high than because it is so inexpensive. A lot of that has to do with the double manual selection process the grapes go through before they make it into this wine. Each batch of grapes is manually gone through so that only the finest grapes go into Alamos’ wines. I can taste the difference as this is a superior bottle of Malbec, if not the best I’ve tasted then only second to the 2007 Bodegas Flechas de los Andes Gran Malbec. I would have to say this is a MUST buy and probably one you’d want to keep around the house at all times.

Alamos Wines

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 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

2008 Anakena Cabernet Sauvignon Single Vineyard, Chile

Color - Nice even red

Nose - Creamy blackberry, plum, mint

Taste - Initially this has a very nice flavor of currant and blackberry with some cedar in the mid-palate and then hints of vanilla and pepper on it's long finish. The tannins are definitely present in this wine though they aren't too overpowering. There is an even level of astringency that coats my gums and teeth. The cedar notes and vanilla are quite pleasant, a mix I've found in a few wines and have grown to like them.There is only a small amount of vegetal flavors or heat from the alcohol. I wouldn't call this bland or subdued, just a rather mellow Cabernet Sauvignon. I enjoyed it, just not as much as I thought I would. It has some small complexities, but is more a "safe" wine than a big bold red wine.

Overall, this is kind of a letdown as far as QPR and comparison to other Anakena wines go (at least for my palate). If the Indo wines weren't so good, this would be a pretty good wine, but at several dollars more than the Anakena Indo and in my opinion, having far less complexity and depth than the Indo; I'd say pass on this. That is however, based on my palate that craves big, bold red wine flavors, and lots of spice box aroma. For a very clean, easy drinking red wine, that is pleasant and smooth, this is probably one of the best out there. It all depends on your perspective.

2008 Santa Alicia Carmenere Reserve, Chile

Color - Garnet Red

Nose - Blackberry, green bell pepper, leaves, coffee

Taste - This wine is dry with a nice burst of blackberry that fades to something herbaceous, I just can't pin down the particulars. Given the right food the very subtle tannins come to life coating my mouth in somewhat warm, creamed coffee feeling and slight taste. I went out on a limb and had this with three different dishes.

1. Six-Cheese Pizza - The wine is fruity with a nice bite. The herbaceous notes in the nose don't come through. There are definite spice hints almost like black pepper and maybe very minimal clove touches.

2. Sushi - I know wine and sushi don't mix, especially red win, but it wasn't bad. It fared best when the sushi had been given a dip in wasabi, then the heat and spice of the wine complemented the wasabi but the fruits also pull forward making this wine almost seem sweet.

3. Pesto-Alfredo Cheese Ravioli with Shrimp - There are wondrous creamy tannins and lovely herbaceous flavors of grass and green bell pepper. The wine has adopted a decent mouthfeel, still medium-bodied and somewhat tart, it still warms the tongue. It reminds me of a few rather spicy Cabernet Sauvignon's I've had, but not as full-bodied.

Overall, this is medium-bodied with a long finish. it's also quite good without food, which I didn't expect. Hands down, this is the best Carmenere I've tasted so far. It's complex and inviting. I would reach for this when I wanted something lighter than a Cab and not as sweet as a Malbec. It has an exceptional QPR right now since it's on sale at Cost Plus World Market for 7.99. On a side note, The Wine Advocate rates this wine 90 points, and I would highly agree if I used a point system, since I don't I will rate it like this...Go buy some now, and if you have the money buy a whole case, you won't be disappointed.

Santa Alicia Winery

Two wines you should go out and buy right now.

It's late and I don't have a review ready to share with you tonight. So in lieu of that I will share two wines that I tasted this week and both of them are quite good. I spent some time at my local Costco this past Sunday and perused the wine section. Yes I spent a little time peaking in their wood crates of "snobby" wine, but opted on two bottles that were stacked amongst the "cheap" stuff. Here they are in no particular order.

1. 2009 Crios de Susana Balbo Cabernet Sauvignon, Argentina

This is not strictly a Cabernet Sauvignon. It is 95% Cabernet Sauvignon/5% Malbec and the blend is utter perfection. My mouth was intensely satisfied with this rich, warm Cabernet. It was full of lush fruits and warm spices. It coated my mouth like silk and left a long satisfying finish with hints of vanilla, licorice, tobacco and leather as the wine faded with time. The full-bodied wine that has a smooth, buttery mouthfeel was so pleasing I didn't want to swallow after I took a sip, and I am having a hard time as I near the end of the bottle because I'm already going into withdrawals. I will have to buy more of this soon, and you need to pick some up too.

2. 2007 Flechas de los Andes Gran Malbec, Argentina

This is not nearly the same as the above wine even though the Crios has a little Malbec in it, it exudes perfect Cabernet tendencies while this wine shows off what makes Malbec truly wonderful. It's fruity, but not a fruit bomb. It's subtle with the hints of plum, cherry, and raspberry. It transitions well in my mouth from fruit to complex flavors of pepper and chocolate. This wine went perfect with some spicy Mexican food I paired it with, and my last two glasses went perfect with nothing at all, a true testament of the wine's fantastic depth and character.


Both of these great wines can be picked up at Costco right now for under 15 dollars per bottle. The Crios was rated 90 points by the Wine Advocate, and the Flecha de los Andes was rated 92 points by the Wine Advocate. If I used 100 point systems I'd say that's about right, though I like the Crios better. Either way the QPR(Quality to Price Ratio) is off the charts here. Amazing quality for such a low price. Get them before they sell out!

2006 Veo Grande Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile

Color - Dark, Ruby Red

Nose - Spices (Pepper and Vanilla hints), Dark Cherry, Tobacco

Taste - Clean, vegetal flavors hit my tongue almost immediately, with just a hint of vanilla. Not quite green bell pepper flavor, but nearly the same flavor. As the wine fades there are some slight notes of cherry. The tannins, to me, are rather smooth, nearly nonexistent for a Cab. The aftertaste is nearly creamy. Medium bodied.
On my second drinking, I paired the wine with Jarlsburg Swiss and Gouda. The wine didn't fair well with the swiss, but really came alive with the gouda. Very creamy with the cheese. The vanilla hints rise to the surface and block out the vegetal flavors. Quite pleasant.
On my third drinking, I chose to drink the glass without food of any kind. The wine has now been open (though recorked) for nearly 4 days. The fruit is much more developed. I would say it is now very fruit forward, Cherry jamminess on the attack, though not too sweet. Smooth and more dry than it had been before. The nose is much more complex than before, though the wine is more enjoyable without food now. (Or maybe my palate's just changed that much in 4 days).

Overall - I would say to break the seal and enjoy this with food the first time, pasta with red sauce, grilled meats, or strong cheeses. If there is any left over, let it sit a few days and then enjoy it on it's own. It can taste decent by itself, though the vegetal notes are rather off putting if this is drunk without food. A rather run-of-the-mill Cabernet Sauvignon, there are better wines out there for the same price.

Veo Grande Wines

2006 Merkin Vineyards Caduceus Chupacabra

I review this wine first only because it is a local wine, and I have been a fan of the vineyard's owner (Maynard James Keenan) since I was a teenager. I picked this wine up from Total Wine for 16.99, which is cheap compared to other wines from Mr. Keenan. I hadn't read any reviews of Caduceus wines though I had watched "Blood Into Wine". With all that being said, on to the review.

Color - Dark red bordering on violet

Nose - Black Cherry, Pepper (very light in the nose)

Taste - This wine was very dry to my taste on the attack, with just a hint of black cherry and plum. The tannins were very present (I like strong tannins and this wine has a lot of them). Large alcohol bite on the finish and in the throat, though I didn't find this off-putting. The wine is spicy with hints of tobacco flavor as the attack lessens. When paired with red pasta the fruit shines through and the bite and acidity lessen somewhat. Very enjoyable with food, a little overwhelming by itself. Pepper and spice also pull through quite a bit with red pasta. On the third tasting I tried it with a nice Jarlsburg Swiss and a gouda. The wine evinced lovely vanilla flavors with hints of coconut just as the wine left my tongue, very pleasant.

Overall - Though this wine is great when paired, especially with cheese, it's far too expensive to be a regular drinker when other much cheaper wines taste so much better. I'd say buy it now and leave it sit, then drink it on special occasions (I plan to). It's really good, though not by itself, pair it well and you'll love it. It tastes better warmer in my opinion 65 degrees or above and when decanted for at least 12 hours.

Caduceus