2007 Beringer Founder's Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, California

Color - Ruby red

Nose - Blackberry, smoke

Taste - I'm not going to mince words with you, this is a fruit forward wine, close to being too fruit forward for my tastes. In fact, it's right on the edge and on a few sips tipped over the edge just a little bit. There are TONS of dark berries, plum, raisin, a tiny hint of oak, and a slightly smoky aftertaste. The fruit doesn't overwhelm the taste on most sips but is reined in with a good balance of alcohol and tannins (there were a few times were the fruit did seem to flood my palate, but I think this was more due to mis-pairing of food rather than the wine itself). This is a medium bodied wine with a pleasantly long finish. This wine is easily enjoyable without food, in fact, I would go as far as to say this wine is better without food than when paired. It is balanced and smooth without food and can be finicky, in my opinion, when you pair it. The only thing holding this wine back is the lack of complexity and depth in the flavor transitions and the tendency of the flavor in the mid-palate to show a little too much raisin and plum for my taste. This wine doesn't hold any surprises, so don't look for any, nonetheless it is a good offering of a New World Cab.

Overall, this is a good wine with a good QPR. If you are a fan of inexpensive California Cabs (fruity without a lot of herbaceous or spice notes) this one is definitely for you. It is close to the Washington Cabs I have tried recently as well, only falling a little short in the complexity department. I'd say this is a wine you would want to at least try and perhaps keep a bottle around the house for those times when you need an inexpensive bottle of red to round out a meal.

Beringer Wines

2007 Finca Flichman Paisaje de Tupungato, 70% Malbec/27% Caberet Sauvignon/3% Merlot, Argentina

Color - Dark red, nearly black

Nose - Blackberry, plum, molasses, alcohol

Taste - This wine is HUGE! Big, bold dark fruit flavors. Think of just about any dark fruit and that flavor is present here. Blackberry, blueberry, black cherry, plum; the list goes on and on. Normally all of that fruit would chase me away, but the heat from the alcohol and very lively tannins come in during the mid-palate and finish and level this wine out quite a lot. I will say the alcohol is just a little too much in this wine and can come on too strong especially during the finish. The wine has a lovely mouthfeel, velvety and spicy at the same time. It's a full bodied red with a definite "weight" to it that you can feel on the tongue. The astringency is a little lacking or perhaps covered up by the alcohol, which is a shame.

Overall, I'd say take a pass on this big, red wine. The QPR here is only fair. I was hoping this would be similar to the Anakena Ona or Concha y Toro Trio. While this wine is big and bold like both of those, it's too alcohol-forward to be rated like the Ona or Trio. If you want a good red blend from South America try on of those two and pass this one by, while it's not a bad wine, it's not the best out there and it's price is higher than the decidedly better competition.

Finca Flichman Wines

2007 Waterbrook Merlot-Cabernet (56% Merlot/44% Cabernet Sauvignon), Washington

Color - Dark red

Nose - Plum, coconut, licorice, clove

Taste - I get spiced cherry, plum, tobacco and pepper right on the first sip. This is a great big red wine with huge spice box aromas that carry right over into the flavor. This is my favorite type of red wine; really big with massive spice flavors. I love the smooth flavor transitions between plum, licorice, tobacco, then lovely smooth warmth from the alcohol and finally a long finish personified by peppered cherries. This is a nice full bodied red with awesome mouthfeel and texture. It's got some rather nice astringency that blends quite well with the spices leaving a lovely tingle on my palate. As good as this wine is where flavor and texture is concerned the best thing about it is that I bought it for 8 dollars at my local supermarket. The last time I got this level of quality and complexity it was priced just over 15 dollars. The is a great wine.

Overall, this wine has great taste, texture and price. It should have a 20 dollar price tag, thankfully for you and I it doesn't. This wine isn't just a good QPR, it's a great QPR. I would say stock up on this wine by the case!

Waterbrook 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

2008 Anakena Syrah Single Vineyard, Chile

Color – Dark purple

Nose – Blackberry, black currant, brown sugar

Taste – I rarely drink Syrah except when it is in a red blend, but when I saw this I was intrigued and had to pick it up even though the previous Anakena Single Vineyard varietals had been more miss than hit. However, this wine turned out rather good, at least on my palate it seemed of superior flavor and quality. First off the wine is pretty big, it looks big in color, it has an even bigger nose, and the flavor is there to back up the “big-ness” of both the color and nose. I taste dark cherries, blackberries, and come black currant flavors, those smoothly transition into a mid-palate of eucalyptus and mint, then the wine finishes quite long with warm flavors of oak, tobacco, and cacao. The wine is full bodied with a very good mouthfeel, the bite from the alcohol is in perfect proportion with the fruits, and the wine is just astringent enough to give you a slight pucker but one that is nice and pleasant. This is the first of the Anakena Single Vineyard’s that I think tastes better after decanting and at slightly warmer temperature. The flavors actually open up nicely as the wine comes to room temperature, and the heat of the alcohol as well as a slight spice flavor enter the mid-palate; giving this wine a nice depth.

Overall, I would say this is a good QPR for this wine, though I do admit that I don’t purchase a lot of Syrah and I don’t have a lot of other wines to compare this too. However, if I merely compare this to what I like in other varietals, how much I enjoy big, bold wines, and the body, finish, and depth then this wine makes the grade. It’s not in my top five wines, but it’s a solid offering and one I would seek out if I were in the mood for a Syrah. I would say this one passes my tests and is a must try.

Anakena Wines

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

2010 Anakena Carmenere, Chile

Color - Inky purple, nearly black

Nose - Bell peppers, dark cherry

Taste - This is a very young while at the same time a very drinkable red wine. It has an interesting flavor transition: dark fruit, bell pepper, spice, heat(alcohol), fruit skins. It is a little fruity for my taste in Carmenere but it is far from a poor wine. I would rate it right up there with the Santa Alicia Carmenere Reserva in flavor and in price. I'd say given a few years of cellaring this will mature rather nicely. The heat and tannins can be a little much at times but there is a definite potential for the flavors to become more organized while at the same time gaining depth and character. You're not going to find too many Carmenere's at this price point that are this good.

Overall, this is a definite winner. Sure I would pay the extra 5 dollars to pick up something really good, but if I'm strapped for cash or just want something I know will taste good this wine fits the bill. It's perfect by itself or with pizza, spaghetti, meats, even cream sauce pasta. Yet another Anakena wine gets an A+ from me.

Anakena Wines