everyday-wine « WordPress.com Tag Feed

2006 Ville Mt. Eden Grand Reserve Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard

garyhobrien — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:39:00 +0000

Uh, wow. That sums this one up about as well as anything else I can say. We picked a bottle of this up a week or so ago simply because we wanted a pinot noir and we did not feel like spending $20, $30 or more for a bottle. We expected a simple, easy to drink wine but instead found a monster lurking in the bottle.

This packs a punch. Solid black cherry fruit, with notes of licorice and a hint of spice. This was much more full-bodied than expected, with a long and lingering finish.

This was also very Burgundian in style, being somewhat dry and earthy on the finish. Had we drank this blind, I would never have guessed California pinot noir.

This was $13.99 and easily could have sold for double that. This is one that is getting the everyday wine label, and we will likely grab a case of it to have on hand.

Cheers!

2007 Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay "Francine's Selection"

garyhobrien — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:57:00 +0000

We continue on our quest to find an inexpensive, everyday white wine. This one works much better than our last effort. I am adding it to our “everyday wine” grouping for now because it was quite tasty while not being very expensive.

Generally we shy away from chardonnay, particularly those from California as they tend to be pretty oaky. However, when we spy one that is unoaked we sit up and take some notice. Being clearly identified on the label makes a huge difference for us.

The nose showed some fresh melon. The initial palate was rich and chewy, with melon and some apple nuances. On the back, there was a hint of acidity that well balanced the fruit. This was a big feeling wine in the mouth, but the finish was shorter than expected.

At $11.99 this definitely is an affordable wine that is wonderfully easy to drink. As with most chardonnay I think this works better by itself than it would with food, but you could pair it up with a salad if you really wanted food with it.

Cheers!

2009 Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc

garyhobrien — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:05:00 +0000

Wow! That pretty much sums this one. This sauvignon blanc is the essence of the New Zealand style with tons of citrus – grapefruit and lemon notably – plus fresh cut grass, wet stone and a lengthy finish with notes of jasmine. The acidity was nicely balanced with the fruit.

The color on this was very pale, almost to the point of being clear. But don’t let that fool you… there is a lot of stuff happening in there. Had we drank this blind, I would have guessed it to be one of the more expensive sauvignon blancs but this was only $8.99 a bottle! For that reason it moves to the everyday wine list.

Cheers!

2007 Alexander Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon "Wetzel Family Estate"

garyhobrien — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:21:00 +0000

On numerous occasions I have lamented that it is difficult at times to find high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon at a reasonable price. But it is a great surprise when you find one that is not only very, very good but also extremely well priced.

It has been a number of years since I’d last tasted an Alexander Valley Vineyards cabernet, but I did remember that they were always pretty good. So, when looking for an inexpensive cabernet the other day I spotted this for $12.99 and decided to give it a try. Boy, I am sure glad that I did!

The initial nose was somewhat shut down, but opened rather quickly and gave it some black cherry and currant. On the palate there were notes of bell pepper, cedar and plum. The tannins were definitely present, but they were pretty silky and well integrated. A lingering finish of light oak rounded this out nicely.

According to their website, this would age for a decade or more but I can not see it going that long. Yes, there is some potential there for another 5 years in my mind but much beyond that and I think it will begin to fall off. The problem is going to be actually keeping them that long as opposed to popping the corks now.

Cheers!

2006 Columbia Crest "Horse Heaven Hills" Cabernet Sauvignon

garyhobrien — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:25:00 +0000

Columbia Crest Winery produces a range of wines labeled H3, short for Horse Heaven Hills which is where they are located. The vineyards are mostly southward facing and blocked by mountains up to 14,000 feet in elevation which blocks a lot of the wet weather so typical of the area and gives the grapes a chance to reach the full potential. Under the H3 label there are several varietals which includes the Cabernet Sauvignon as well as Merlot, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris.

When we first opened this one up, it was as tight as a drum. Fully shut down, it took nearly 20 minutes of aeration to begin to develop but once it did… wow! The nose opened to dark fruits, wet stone and dusty earth undertones. On the palate blueberry and plum were predominant with moss and bell pepper bringing up the rear. The tannins were very silky and very well integrated. The finish brought on notes of vanilla and oak and lasted a good while.

We paid $13.99 for this one. I would have paid $20-25 for the quality. This is seriously good Cabernet and is going on the everyday list because it is hard to find a good, much less great, Cabernet at this price point.

Cheers!

2006 Ravenswood Zen of Zin Zinfandel

garyhobrien — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:07:00 +0000

You have to love a winery whose motto is “No Wimpy Wines”. And fortunately, this is one that actually lives up to its motto. Ravenswood makes a range of Zinfandels (32 are available on their website!) from single vineyard to good quality everday bottlings like this one. I did find it somewhat odd that I could not find any information at all about this on their website and there do not seem to be tons of reviews out in cyberspace either.

Which is a darn shame because this is a seriously good, inexpensive everyday red wine! I know that the 2007 has already been released, but our local ABC is still carrying the 2006 so that’s what we are currently drinking. It may time to lay in a case.

This has a lot of opulent blackberry on both the nose and front palate, but it does not come across as fruit forward. It is medium bodied for a zinfandel, but still packs lots of character. The black pepper spice stands up and smacks you at first, but then settles into a supporting role to tame the fruit. A touch of oak and tannin rounds it out on the finish.

This also isn’t a massive alcohol bomb like some zinfandel can be (do you really need 15.9% or above AbV?) — it comes in at a solid 13.5%.

With a moderate finish you are left wanting perhaps a bit more, but at $9.99 a bottle you can always open a second one! Cheers!

2005 Beaucanon Estate "Longwood" Cabernet Sauvignon

garyhobrien — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:38:00 +0000

Last night we decided to grill a couple of steaks and I needed a cabernet to pair up with them. As I stood browsing in the cabernet section of the local Publix, I was struck by how many of their admittedly light selection we have had. I was just about to settle for a reliable standby when I spotted this one. Racking my brain, I could not remember ever having any vintage of this so thought “why not”?

This is a single vineyard bottling, so we were expecting something special. We were not disappointed. The nose was rich with cassis, leather and blackfruit. Initially on the palate, it was fairly closed down but with just a little bit of aeration it opened up quite nicely. There was blackberry, currant, plum and hints of raspberry followed by firm tannins. The tannins were well integrated, showing a lot of aging potential. It finished with hints of vanilla and oak.

Normally, I wouldn’t put this in the everyday bucket because of the price ($20.99) but I am going to make an exception. For a single vineyard wine of this caliber, I’d normally expect to be paying $30, $40 or even more… for this price it is a steal.

Cheers!

2007 Beringer Founder's Estate Sauvignon Blanc

garyhobrien — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:16:00 +0000

This was an incredible surprise. I have the Founder’s Estate wines before, and thought that they were okay — good for parties where you don’t necessarily need a great wine. Looking for something inexpensive the other day, I chanced to pick up a bottle of the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc for $9.99.

After getting it chilled down, we popped the cork and headed out to the lanai to enjoy the early evening before cooking dinner. The nose was loaded with grapefruit — I mean, just tons of it. There was also a note of flint and limestone. On the palate the limestone was much more prominent and balanced nicely with the citrus and acidity. This finished nicely, with nuances of white pepper.

This may be our new favorite everyday white wine. If you haven’t tried it you are missing out.

Cheers!

2004 Graham Beck Shiraz

garyhobrien — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:45:00 +0000

By now it should be apparent that we are big fans of spicy Shiraz, and while we think that Australia really sets the bar for high quality at reasonable prices, South Africa is really beginning to offer some serious challenge to this status (or at least in our minds anyway). We recently had an opportunity to try this one, and it seriously rocked.

The nose was fat and rich with dark fruit and woodsy aromas. On the palate, hints of pepper, herbs, coffee and oak all intermingled. This was seriously full-bodied, but somehow not over the top. I think that it struck a perfect balance of finesse and weight. The finish was massive, filled with sweet tannins that lingered for a long, long time.

At $11.99, this was a fantastic bottle of wine. We drank it solo, but I’d love to pair it up with some grilled sausages and peppers. This is going on the everyday list of wines.

Cheers!

2008 Ruffino Orvieto Classico

garyhobrien — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:46:00 +0000

Orvieto is located in the Southwestern part of Umbria, near central Italy. Orvieto is also a style of white wine typically made with Grechetto and Trebbiano grapes. Of course, Ruffino is probably best known for their Chianti’s, and even though they don’t own vineyards in Orvieto because of their reputation they are able to source excellent grapes to make this Orvieto Classico.

The nose explodes with wildflower, ripe apple and fig while on the palate there is a balance between the fruit, wet limestone and clean acidity. It is very refreshing and smooth, with a weight somewhere between a chardonnay and a sauvignon blanc; sort of middle-lightweight.

We paid $6.99 which definitely puts this into the “everyday wine” category. Excellent by itself, and works equally well with a light salad or fresh seafood simply prepared.

Cheers!

2006 Bramblewood Zinfandel

garyhobrien — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:11:00 +0000

Once again I’ve been a bad blogger… but I couldn’t help it. The past couple of months have been a bit hectic — we relocated from Cincinnati to Sarasota in late April, so what with the work getting ready to move plus the move plus the getting settled… well, hopefully you get the idea and will cut me some slack

Anyway, we are (mostly) settled in now and are very excited to be finding lots of new wines for us to try and review here. With that being said I’ll get right to the fun stuff.

First up is 2006 Bramblewood Old Vine Zinfandel from Amador County. Our new friend Steve, who is the wine consultant for the ABC store down the street from us, recommended it to me as we were discussing the pretty slim pickings in Zinfandel. I told him that we prefer the racy, spicy zinfandels as opposed to the big fruit bomb style that seems to be more and more common lately. He promised me that this definitely was not the fruit bomb but that it might not be spicy enough…

Well, he was mostly right. The nose hinted that this could be more of a fruit forward style than we care for, showing notes of bright red fruit and a hint of eucalyptus which was unexpected. The palate definitely gave up some fruit – black cherry predominantly – but certainly not a fruit bomb. Allison said she got some pretty heavy black pepper but to me it was pretty faint. The interesting thing to both of us was the amount of earthy mushroom and cocoa that we got — very atypical for a zinfandel. Interesting, but not unpleasant. The finish ended with some mild tannins and a hint of acidity.

We both liked this one a lot and would definitely buy it again. According to our friend Steve it is bottled exclusively for ABC in Florida, but I couldn’t find anything to confirm or refute this so I’ll just leave it be. $15.99/bottle here.

2004 Tiz Red

garyhobrien — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:23:00 +0000

Well, the name of this tells you what it is at least Sorry, that wasn’t funny I know but I had to try… actually, I thought it was a clever name for a pretty remarkable wine.

This is a blend of Merlot (63%), Cabernet Sauvignon (22%) and Syrah (15%). In case you were wondering, 57% of the grapes come from the Central Coast, 29% from the North Coast and the remaining 14% from other regions (who weren’t revealed). It also gets 52% oak aging, of which 40% is in French oak.

Ok, enough with the mundane statistics… is it any good? You had better believe it!

There was some earthiness and hints of pepper on the nose. The pepper I can see, but you don’t generally think of Merlot as being “earthy” excepting of course some Bordeauxs. The palate had oodles of black fruit with touches of licorice. There was a pronounced spiciness on the finish; unfortunately, the finish was oh so short.

This was a really good find for an everyday red wine. If I remember correctly, we paid about $10 for it.

Cheers!

Update – May 24, 2009 – We found this at ABC Fine Wine & Spirits in Sarasota 2 for $10… WOW!!

Update – July 11, 2009 – Apparently the 2/$10 deal was to clear out the warehouse… it’s been discontinued by ABC. This is a real bummer… I’m going to leave it as an everyday wine and hope that we can find it elsewhere.

2007 Martin Codax Albarino

garyhobrien — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:16:00 +0000

Here is another excellent Albarino from the Rias Baixas region of Spain.

The nose gave honeysuckle, jasmine and peach. The palate revealed floral overtones, ripe melon and peach, a touch of wet stone and some minerality with firm acidity.

As I’ve noted before, these whites are excellent with seafood dishes but this could also pair up nicely with a fresh salad or even some lightly grilled chicken. We enjoyed it on its own, and it was fantastic that way also!

Cheers!

2004 Pietra Santa Merlot

garyhobrien — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:24:00 +0000

Ever time that we open a bottle of Pietra Santa Merlot, I am once again amazed at what an excellent merlot this is. We recently picked up a case of 2004, and it is every bit as good, if not better, as the 2003 which we reviewed here.

First of all, this is a big merlot. Not that light, fruity stuff that so often typifies Merlot. As I’ve said before, if you didn’t know this was merlot you would probably not guess it. There is a lot of fruit — blackberry and black cherry — but also a fair amount of soft, velvety tannin. There are hints of chocolate, along with some nuances of oak and just a hint of white peppercorn.

I would put this up with a good steak any day of the week; it’s that solid. But it also has a finesse and would work equally well along side duck or even salmon.

Cheers!

2008 Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc

garyhobrien — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:12:00 +0000

We continue to be amazed at the high quality from Nobilo. A while back, I reviewed the 2007 Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc and last night we opened the 2008. Interestingly, while very similar these two were also quite different. Some of the difference I would attribute to age, since these are meant to be drank sooner rather than later, and a lot was the fact that we drank the 2008 without food, and these are definitely food friendly wines.

Notably, the 2008 was not as “in your face” acidic, but rather had more floral overtones. There was still a boatload of citrus in there, but it was subdued and elegant. The was more melon and peach, and less lemon and grapefruit than you found in the 2007. Still, as typical with Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, this packed a wallop of grass and herbs that is fairly distinct. The finish was also a bit longer than I would expect in a SB.

We both enjoyed this one a lot, but Allison did more so than myself. I really think that food would have improved this one, and next go around we will definitely pair it with something.

Cheers!

2006 Big House Red

garyhobrien — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:48:00 +0000

I am shocked that I have not yet written a blurb about one of our all-time regulars. If you have never had Big House Red, you need to go and try a bottle today. These are excellent, everday wines to have on hand when you just want a glass of wine or to take to a party or to have with grilled anything.

From Bonny Doon, Big House Red is intended to be a fun wine. The intent is, and always has been, to make you realize that wine is supposed to be enjoyed; it doesn’t have to be (and should not) pretentious, snobby or whatever adjective you’d like to insert. Wine is meant to be shared with good food and good friends and family.

There are typically something like 8-10 different varieties that go into making Big House Red, and the mix changes every year. There is typically Zinfandel, Carignane, Petit Sirah, etc. in there so it tends to lean towards the spicy side (which we happen to like a lot!). The 2006 was pretty full-bodied, which is also pretty typical, without being massive. A deep, inky purple in color in the glass, with notes of blackberry, raspberry and pepper on the nose and palate. This is fairly fruit-forward but it is not jammy at all, and there is a ton of spice.

Cheers!

2005 Dynamite Cabernet Sauvignon

garyhobrien — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:59:00 +0000

Unlike the 2004 Dynamite Cabernet Sauvignon, this one rocked!

Full bodied, with notes of blackberries, cassis and chocolate along with mild tannins and a finish of bell pepper. The finish lingered for nearly a minute.

2007 Estancia "Pinnacles Ranches" Chardonnay

garyhobrien — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:21:00 +0000

I’m not a big fan of California chardonnays, particularly those that have been overoaked. Fortunately, there are some producers that don’t try and manipulate the wine too much with oak and Estancia has always been one that I have enjoyed.

The 2007 lived up to vintages past. Medium-bodied, with a golden-yellow color and a nose of tropical fruit and vanilla. On the palate there were hints of melon, vanilla and just a slight buttery-oakiness that was quite pleasant.

I made chicken and dumplings last night, and this worked okay with that but for that particular dish I think next time I’d go with a heavier, oaky Chardonnay.

2005 Paringa "David Hickinbotham, Individual Vineyard" Shiraz

garyhobrien — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:05:00 +0000

Last week, when restocking some everyday wines, I found new bottling from an old friend. I’ve often had the normal bottling from Paringa, but this was the first time that I had seen an invididual vineyard bottling. What’s even more amazing is that it was only $2 more than the regular bottle! Have enjoying Paringa, I expected this to be a hidden gem… and I wasn’t disappointed.

Dark purple color indicated that this was probably going to be full-bodied, but I was surprised at how much so. There were notes of berries and plum, with hints of spice, on the nose. At first, it was extremely closed down but it quickly opened up to reveal blackberry, cherry, licorice and black pepper. There was also a nice, long and lingering finish.

One of our friends talks about great Australian shiraz being “inky and brooding”… I wouldn’t quite characterize this one that way, but it was pretty close. At $10 a bottle, this should be on your short list to try!

2004 Dynamite Cabernet Sauvignon

garyhobrien — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:19:00 +0000

Usually a good quality, reasonably priced, easy sipping Cabernet, the 2004 seemed to fall short of its reputation. While still good, it was disappointing that it wasn’t what I remembered.

Medium-bodied, with traces of black cherry and plum. There was a subtle hint of pepper on the nose at first, but that seemed to bleed off rather quickly. There were some tannins, but they didn’t seem to be integrated very well. Also, even though it came out of the cellar at about 58 degrees, there was a certain “hotness” to the wine – not corked or burnt, and not high alcohol levels – that I couldn’t quite place. Served with a steak, it was an acceptable, but not great, wine.

2007 Bodegas Naia "Las Brisas"

garyhobrien — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:42:00 +0000

What a great little white wine – nice and crisp, with floral notes surrounded by apricot, melon and a touch of honey while maintaining a firm acidity. Great summertime white.

Made by Bodegas Naia, this comes from the Rueda region of Spain. 50% Verdejo, with the other 50% a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Viura.

2005 Dancing Bull Zinfandel

garyhobrien — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:43:00 +0000

This is consistently one of my favorite everyday wines. It’s at a great price point ($7.97 US), it’s easy to drink with or without food and it’s always consistent.

A huge blast of dark, ripe fruit – blackberry, blueberry and black cherry – intermingle with gobs of black pepper and the faintest hint of vanilla. Not overwhelmingly high in alchohol (13.9%) makes this easy to drink, as opposed to some of the big alcohol zinfandels out there.

In Search of a Good Pizza Wine- 2006 Terre di Sole?

fredfood — Sat, 24 May 2008 22:02:23 +0000

The white whale to my Ahab is what I call a good pizza wine. What do I mean by that? Well what I am always on the lookout for is an inexpensive red (preferably Italian) that we can crack open on a weeknight with a quickie meal of spaghetti, pizza or any of the other Italian inspired cuisine we seem to eat so much of. Kind of like the house wine at Stately Fred Manor. For many years our go to pizza wine was Taurino Salice Salentino. Used to be able to get it by the case for under six bucks a bottle. Something happened to the wine after the death of the founder and the wine changed dramatically. We really stopped drinking it and went on to others. I also haven’t seen a vintage since 2003 so I’m not sure what the story is

Now I understand that price wise those days are long gone for any red I am going to drink but I am always on the lookout for something in the $8-11 range. With that background I decided to give the 2006 Terre Di Sole a try. Its a 100% Sangiovese from Sicily. I purchased it at the Frederick WIne House for $12.99. ( a touch over my price point for a pizza wine I know, but if it was really good I figure it would be worth it.)

MY notes: It was a ruby red color and had a nose of sour redfruit and some smoke. Medium bodied and light. Fairly simple tastes with sour fruit, cherry and some peppery notes on the finish. Mild tannins. Not nearly as acidic as other Sangiovese’s that I’ve had. This is a wine to be drunk as part of a meal, not savored. All in all it was a decent drink with pizza. I gave it an 85. Do I have a new pizza wine? No. Why? QPR wasn’t there- just too expensive for the wine you are getting.

The quest continues.

Fred

A Trip to the Wine Shop

Sonadora — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:34:00 +0000

I spent a good part of the afternoon nosing around the Curious Grape today. Although it’s winter and the more likely choice for wine is a nice heart-warming red, we still like to drink the occassional white, especially on nights where I serve light seafood dishes. And, sadly, we have almost run the course of white wines purchased on our Sonoma trip. I ended up purchasing seven bottles for around $78, not a bad deal. They range from $6.99 to $21.99 and all but one were purchased in my pursuit of everyday wine.

Additionally, I was searching for my entry for WBW #29. Keeping in mind my indecisiveness over which bottle of sparkling wine to review for the previous WBW, I didn’t want to get caught in the same trap this time. So I figured I would poke around the wine shop and see if I could find anything on my own before asking the salespeople for a recommendation. Sadly, it appears that vineyards don’t seem to proclaim on their bottles that they are biodynamically produced, at least none of the bottles I looked at did. I found myself cursing the fact that I hadn’t thought to print out the list of producers over at Fork and Bottle. If you have yet to purchase your bottle and you are unfamiliar with biodynamic wine like me, I definetly suggest bringing a list!

When I asked the clerk for help, she couldn’t immediately point me to one. She showed me a few she thought were biodynamic wines, but couldn’t confirm for sure. Even though she was incredibly busy (they were setting up for a champagne tasting in light of the impending arrival of New Year’s Eve) she took the time to look at their inventory log on the computer and point me to some that most definetly were biodynamic wines. And so I am now the owner of what I think is my first ever bottle of biodynamic wine.

I must admit I am still a little skeptical. Plus, it was a little pricier than I am normally willing to spend on something I haven’t tested. But, I’ll try anything once. So come January 17th, we shall see!