2007 Calcu Red Wine, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon/30% Carmenere/15% Cabernet Franc/5% Petit Verdot, Chile

Color - Very Dark Red

Nose - Cherry, raspberry, blackberry, currants (red & black), lots of berries, slight leather and tobacco hints

Taste - Right off this wine is very dry and has a LOT of heat from the alcohol! I taste a lot of cherry, then a lot of heat, and almost a fresh, cool mint taste and feeling just before the wine fades. This wine has some quite mild tannins that are almost erased by the heat. It's dry and the cherries start sweet and then move to sour in a the mid-palate. The finish is quite long but very smooth. To be quite honest there is much more going on with this wine in the nose than in the mouth. It's still something different. I can't say if it's "different-good" or "different-bad". But on my second tasting after the bottle had been open but recorked for about 72 hours, this wine has opened up a lot. The heat is lessened and the flavor of cherries and raspberries comes through more. The tobacco hints in the nose are also present in the finish and are quite pleasant. It's much better after having been opened. I'd say open and wait to drink this specimen.

Overall, in my opinion this wine will turn a lot of people off. They'll equate it to Listerine, rubbing alcohol, or vodka. On the one hand I kind of agree, but I really think this is a winner. I'd recommend it and say decant it and aerate it for some time. Make sure you drink it with food and pair it with strong, fatty dishes (steaks, heavy pasta dishes, ribs, etc), or wait until the bottles been open for a few days before drinking it by itself. Don't drink it right after you open it. It's a decent value at 8 dollars. I plan on drinking it again and taking the crazy journey of flavor that it took me on the first time.

Calcu

2008 Arizona Stronghold Mangus, Cabernet Sauvignon/Sangiovese/Merlot

Color - Nice even Red

Nose - Strawberry, cherry, plum

Taste - This wine is fairly sweet and quite fruit forward. It's not unpleasant even though I don't usually like sweet reds. It's not particularly complex, has smooth round tannins, and a nice clean, even finish. The finish contains hints of smoke and apple skin. This wine is young but not biting from too much alcohol or bitter like a lot of young red wines. The Sangiovese sweetens the red, but the Cabernet Sauvignon keeps it grounded. I would have to say the Sangiovese is much more dominant in this wine even though there is a higher percentage of the Cabernet. The blends from Arizona Stronghold lean on the sweet but but also dry with a very decent structure and enough depth to keep my taste buds from getting bored.

Overall, this is a decent wine though you can find others at the same price point that are just as good. It's good and will last in the bottle. The wine might mature into something more complex. But it is really quite enjoyable as an every day drinker. I would definitely recommend this wine as one to pick and try, even to keep on hand. It's sweet, yes, but it's smooth with a medium bodied and something to keep a smile on your face.

Incidentally, this is a partnership between Maynard James Keenan (yes that MJK) and Eric Glomski (Renowned Vigneron and owner of Page Spring Cellars) to make good wine blends from Arizona grown grapes.
Arizona Stronghold Vineyards

Two Wines for the price of...too much money.

I'm breaking the mold a little bit here and reviewing two wines tonight. Both of them from the same winery, one Malbec and one Cabernet Sauvignon. Without further ado, we will start with the Malbec.

2009 Espuela del Gaucho Malbec, Argentina

Color -Ruby red with a strawberry rim

Nose - Blackberry and something herbaceous that I can't define

Taste - Right off the bat this wine is not as sweet as I'd expected for a Malbec. I'm used to drinking Malbecs that are a little bit cheaper or around the same price point, but much more fruit forward and quite sweet. This has hints of dark berries and round almost well-defined tannins. It's dry, medium-bodied with a decently long finish. It has just enough heat from the alcohol to tantalize the mouth as the wine leaves my tongue, but not enough to be unpleasant. By no means is this a complex wine. It's not the normal Malbec I'm used to at this price, more of a light Cabernet Sauvignon. It's enjoyable by itself though it can take on a slightly tangy or sour flavor in the mid-palate. It leaves my mouth with a very clean feeling similar to when I chewed on grass stalks as a kid. It's a mediocre Malbec, though a decent enough run of the mill red wine.

Overall, it's an ok wine but drink it when you're in the mood for a light Cabernet or a Merlot. It's not anything special but decent at 8.99 on sale, though I'd never pay full price for this wine. Go for the Mil Piedras Malbec for 14.99 or the Redwood Creek Malbec for 6.99. Leave this for someone else to try.


On to the second wine...

2008 Espuela del Gaucho Cabernet Sauvignon, Argentina

Color - Dark red

Nose -Sweet berries, raisins, sweet grapes

Taste - Perhaps the aroma of raisins pervades this to the point that it overwhelms the flavor as well as the nose, but that's the dominant taste I get.Very sweet, nearly over-ripe grapes and raisins. There's heat from the alcohol and the wine is medium-bodied with a long finish. Flavor-wise this wine is a fruit bomb. There's no depth, no complexity, no layers. The flavor of sweet grapes/raisins overrides absolutely everything. This wine is halfway decent when paired with dessert more than dinner. The extreme sweetness of the raisin flavor is dampened with chocolate and there is a very subtle leather/tobacco flavor that comes through. Again this is nothing spectacular, a very one-dimensional wine. This wine is nothing to get crazy about it's on the lower end of the spectrum. Very mediocre and rather plain.

Overall, this wine is nothing to rave about, its on the lower end of the spectrum. As much as I disliked the Malbec from Espuela del Gaucho, this is even more boring. I'd be hard pressed to find a more mundane Chilean wine. You could be blindfolded when picking out a bottle at the supermarket and 9 times out of 10 you'd get a more complex, more well rounded bottle than this. Pass on this one, while it's not bad, it's so "blah" it's nearly worse than bad.

Espuela del Gaucho Wines

2010 Fabre Montmayou Phebus MMC (70% Malbec, 15% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon), Argentina

Color - Dark, inky purple

Nose - Raspberry, cherry, slight oak

Taste - On the first taste, I get cherry, spicy oak, a little plum and a tinge of red berry jamminess. The wine is adequate in the tannin department, though not big like I'm used too. It's acidic but not overwhelming, with a nice alcohol bite. There are some nice spice hints on the end of the attack (licorice and vanilla). The wine is medium bodied with a long finish. This wine has a very clean mouthfeel though it only touches the tip and sides of the tongue and doesn't coat my entire palate.
I like this wine much more when I paired it with white sauce pasta and creamy cheeses. I like the way it loses the sweetness and gets a slight tart flavor, the cream in the sauce and cheese compliments the wine quite nicely. It also lessens the acidity which can get cloying.

Overall, I would have to say this is an exceptional wine for the price. At just over 5 dollars, you can't miss with this one. I am becoming quite fond of the Argentinian and Chilean produced wines, specifically those varietals that you rarely see from other regions (Malbec, Carmenere, and Bonarda). I would recommend this wine with just a few caveats. One, it's still a rather young wine so let it sit for a good fifteen minutes before consuming it. Two, it is a decent blend that you can put out basically at any time of the day for any occasion but it's not really complex and it won't work wonders on your palate. Finally, it doesn't have the depth or flavors that I love in wines that usually feature Cabernet Sauvignon (warm dry moutfeel, big tannins, nice depth of body and flavor) but it's not a bland wine either. Go get a couple bottles and sample it for yourself, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Fabre Montmayou Wines

Thoughts on Food and Wine.

(I do not own the rights to this picture)

A little over a year ago, I had the opportunity to eat at Victoria and Albert's at Walt Disney World. This is all due to my wife making reservations months in advance. I have never had the opportunity to eat a meal the likes of which we enjoyed that night, nor to have wine that matched each course of our meal so perfectly. As I have become more entranced by wine, I have found myself reminiscing about that visit to Victoria and Albert's. I have pulled out our menus and perused them, then searched the internet for each wine that we sampled. Not surprising, the wines we tried are not 100 dollar bottles. Most of them come in at 20 dollars. Of all the them, I could only find one that had been rated by any of the big wine magazines or organizations, and it was rated a 92. I didn't know that at the time, what I do know is that every wine we sampled was fantastic, and the meal itself was an amazing experience. I long to try something similar, however, Arizona does not lend itself to fine dining or nine course chef's tasting menus. I envy friends of mine living in California, New York and Florida that have access to a bevy of restaurants that offer these types of dining and drinking experiences. I guess all my reminiscing and writing is for one reason. If you are so inclined and have the money, I would recommend doing some research and then spending a lovely night at a restaurant like this. If you go in with an open mind and an attitude to learn about cuisine and wine, you won't be let down. Even if it's a once in a lifetime experience, it's well worth it. And for those of you that want a review of Victoria and Albert's, it was worth every penny, I highly recommend it!

2009 Concha y Toro Casillero Del Diablo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile

Color - Ruby red

Nose - Black currant, blackberry, oak

Taste - My first impression of this wine(from this tasting, I've had this wine quite a few times in the past), is that it has a quick cherry sweetness to it which fades to a pleasant, light vegetal flavor reminiscent of grass, oak and mint on the finish. It has a decent medium-to-long finish with a mild bite right before it fades from the palate. There are subtle undertones of black pepper and spice, as well as minute flavors of green bell peppers. All of these spice/herbaceous flavors are just under the surface of the fruit and fade rather quickly. This particular wine is lighter than most Cabs I am used to drinking. It's good but uneventful, not complex at all, but not boring. It's definitely more medium-bodied, even leaning more to a light Cabernet. The wine really shines when it's paired with fatty meats or heavy cream sauces. The fats pull out the tannins and flavors of this wine that otherwise go unnoticed. It's not a great Cab, pretty ordinary, but you can pick it up at almost any supermarket so it's readily available if you need a decent Cab to go with your steak dinner.

Overall, I'd love to rate this as one of my favorite wines because I truly do appreciate Concha y Toro wines, but I really can't. It's a good wine, it's probably priced about 4 or 5 dollars too high, but if you get on sale for 8.99, it's a decent bargain. I would say pick it up for those summer grilling days, but you can just as easily find a better bottle for just a few dollars more. Try the Altera Cabernet Sauvignon for about the same price, or Courtney Benham Cabernet Sauvignon for just a few dollars more.

Concha y Toro Wines

2008 Fabla Calatayud Garnacha, Spain

Color - Garnet

Nose - Strawberry, Tannin, Alcohol, Oak

Taste - Right from the get-go, this wine strikes me as very light, fruit forward and particularly dry. As with the nose, there are definite hints of strawberry and as the wine passes over the palate it has quite along finish, which surprised me. Attacks the mid-palate, but rather softly with light berry flavors . This wine has a very clean finish, one of the cleanest I've experienced, it leaves almost no lingering tastes of anything, which I view as disappointing. The finish itself is medium compared to what I'm used to, and pleasant. It's rather one dimensional, not complex at all. I would say this is a decent substitute to Chianti or a light Merlot. After a second tasting of this, I find it does leave just a slight aftertaste of leaves (strawberry leaves or sweet tea leaves). Finally, I can't find any tannins at all, though they seem present in the nose, I can't taste them to save my life. For me this is a big minus since I love tannins in my wine.

Overall,this is much too light for my tastes. It's extremely un-complex, bordering on boring. I'm sure it would be great to serve to red wine newbies or people that like light/sweet red wines, but for me it just seems bland and a waste of time and money. It's not nearly tannic or full bodied enough which is the main deciding factor. It is drinkable by itself, but you should know that the flavors "dull" rather quickly. Find something even a little more complex and driving, perhaps a Malbec or decent Tempranillo.

Calatayud Wines