Category Archives: Tasting Notes

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Marlborough

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This is a benchmark producer of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in the under $15 category. I haven’t been drinking as much NZ SB as I used to, but I thought I’d check this one out again.

Producer: Kim CrawfordKC_MSB

Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Appellation: Marlborough (New Zealand)

Vineyards: A blend from vineyards across the Marlborough region.

Winemaking: Night-harvested and cold-fermented, techniques used to preserve a crisp, fruity character.

Alcohol: 12.9%

Price: $12.65 at Costco

My tasting notes: Aggressively grassy nose but with lime and a little something tropical. Textbook NZ Sauvignon. Subtle peach and melon flavors join the citrus and grass on the palate. It’s crisp and clean, but there is a bit of creamy heft to it as well.

Overall assessment: Nice stuff. If you like the NZ SB style, this one won’t disappoint as an everyday value. If you don’t, I doubt this one will change your mind. If you still haven’t tried a NZ SB, this is a decent place to start as it’s pretty true to the style. B

Free association: Green and a little in-your-face, but ultimately lovable.

greenman_Charlie_Sunny
Charlie in "Green Man" costume, from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

More info:

Wine Spectator: 91 pts (was #40 in WS Top 100 2008)

Wine Enthusiast: 90 pts

The winery’s tech sheet.

Nice write-up at Good Grape. More reviews at Wine Harlots, Wine Peeps, Cork’d (avg: 87) and CellarTracker (avg: 89).

Price: 16-20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Oddball Wine of the Week: Prieto Picudo

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Pardevalles ‘Gamonal’ Prieto Picudo 2006

Pardevalles_Gamonal_2006Producer: Vinedos y Bodega Pardevalles

Grapes: 100% Prieto Picudo – Google Translate converts this to both ‘acacia weevil’ and ‘billfish’. However, the importer’s website says it means “bunched and peaked” for the way the grapes grow in a very tight cluster and the bunches taper sharply at the bottom. I prefer acacia weevil.

Appellation: Tierra de León (DO, Spain)

Vineyards: Gamonal – a 16-hectare (about 40 acres) dry-farmed, hand-harvested vineyard of alluvial and clay soils.

Winemaking: The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in new French and American oak, then spent another 9 months in new oak barrels (50% French Allier and 50% American oak). Unfiltered.

Alcohol: 14%

Price: $19.10

My tasting notes: A dark purple color, though not especially dense. A complex nose with scents of dusty flowers, red berries and (just like it says on the back label) “fallen leaves and freshly turned earth”. It is lively on the palate, with Luden’s-like cherry and blackberry flavors predominating with an herbal and mineral edge. Modest tannins and plenty of acidity, but it maintains a nice, polished mouthfeel. It has good length on the finish. I’m finding this wine is growing on me with each sip.

Overall assessment: Not necessarily a value play at nearly $20, but a very nice wine. B/B+

Free association:

ludens

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bessicajach/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

More info:

Only 2000 cases of this wine were produced.

This wine was rated 90 points by Wine & Spirits and Wine Advocate, and 87 by Wine Spectator.

Reviews at CellarTracker and The Spanish Table in Berkeley.

An acacia weevil:

AcaciaWeevil

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Viña Zaco 2006 Rioja

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VinaZaco_Stilleto_screengrabVinaZaco_bottleshotThis wine is #71 in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 for 2009, making it one of the most exciting wines of the year in their view. They rated it 90 points.

This winery is trying very hard to make this wine seem young/hip/sexy/cool/rebellious. The bottle and website are stylish black, red and white. On the website they talk about pairing the wine with modern music (including a press release about a psychologist’s study on the subject). They talk about being “a new generation of Rioja”, “a contemporary twist” and “not constrained by the rules.”

I can forgive some over-eager marketing if the juice is good. Let’s see…

Producer: Bodegas Bilbainas

Grapes: 100% Tempranillo

Appellation: Rioja (DOC, Spain)

Vineyards: from the Rioja Alta region

Winemaking: Assuming they used a similar oak program as 2005 (website doesn’t have details for 2006), this wine spent 9 months or so in American and French oak.

Alcohol: 14%

Price: Around $10-12 at Costco. ($15 according to WS)

My tasting notes: Sweet blue & red fruit with hints of chocolate/mocha and herbs on the nose. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied and a bit empty – the fruit is on the thin side and disappears quickly leaving just a slight cool mint kind of impression and dry woody tannins.

Overall impression: Style over substance in my opinion. Not sure what Wine Spectator saw in this one. Nothing special. C

Free association:

Paris_Hilton

More info:

Other reviews at Slashfood and Good Wine Guru.

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Angeline Sauvignon Blanc 2008

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Angeline_SB08_bottleshotAngeline is an interesting 2nd label from the Martin Ray Winery. The bottles/labels are attractive. The wines are well-priced. They come from more specific and respected appellations (Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley, Sonoma) than many wines in the same price range, which are often just California or Central Coast. Let’s check out the Sauvignon Blanc.

Producer: Angeline (2nd label of Martin Ray)

Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Appellation: Russian River Valley (AVA, California)

Vineyard: no info

Winemaking: no info

Alcohol: 13.9%

Price: $9.99 on special at HEB in Austin (regular price is more like $12-13)

My tasting notes: This wine starts with a nicely layered nose of melon, lime, some tropical notes and a faint bit of greenness that makes me think of fresh snow peas. On the palate, the flavors are of ripe honeydew and spices. It manages to seem crisp and plush at the same time.

Overall impression: Good value here. A pretty complex nose and nice, clean flavors. At $10, this is better than most California whites I’ve had at similar  price. B/B-

Free Association: Easy and pleasant. Like this duet from Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson.

More info:

This wine got a 90 from Wine Enthusiast.

A few tasting notes at CellarTracker.

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

7 Deadly Zins Old Vine Zinfandel 2007 Lodi

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7DeadlyZins_bottleshotI don’t know what it is about me and Lodi Zin. I did a series on Lodi old vines Zin a few months ago and only really liked 1 out of 5. Zinfandel has always been one of my favorite grapes, but maybe my palate has shifted away from what these moderately-priced examples can deliver – maybe especially from a hot climate like Lodi. Yet, I keep wanting to give it another chance so I picked this one up recently. Apparently Parker gave this one a 90 and it was around $12 so I thought it was worth a shot. The gimmicky name should have helped me steer clear, but alas, it did not.

Producer: Michael~David Winery

Grapes: Old vines Zinfandel “blended with small amounts of Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot” (no %s specified).

Appellation: Lodi (AVA, California)

Vineyards: Blended from 7 Lodi growers.

Winemaking: aged in American oak barrels

Alcohol: 14.5%

Price: Around $12

My tasting notes: Bright, sweet, candied berries on the nose with a little mint or menthol (or maybe its just the alcohol showing). Smells a lot like when you walk into a winery – a little overpoweringly ripe. On the palate it’s fleshy with very extracted black fruit with a touch of earth. No structure or acidity to speak of – and it suffers for it.

Overall assessment: This is just too fruit-bomby for my taste these days. C

Free association:

nehi_grape_bottlecap

More info:

A wide range of responses to this wine from bloggers and others: Cork’d (avg. 88), CellarTracker (avg. 85), TasteWine, WineLife365, Wine Belly, La Jolla Mom and Goût Goût !! 味之道 (which is in Japanese so I have no idea whether they liked it or not, but I include it in case you read Japanese – plus, I just like seeing Kanji on my blog)

The back label has the following poem…

I’m raging with ire, an ocean of fire,
My Wrath is the path to all I desire.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.
 I’m inflated with pride, near-bursting inside,
A self-centered repenter, Vanitys’ bride.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.
 I’m mired in mud, inert as a slug,
Sloth is the cloth that’s woven my rug.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.
 I eat day and night, consuming all in my sight,
A Glutton with nothing but a huge appetite.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.
 My will I ignore, my Envy’s a chore,
Over zealous and jealous, I want so much more.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.
 I’m ravenous to feast, an insatiable beast,
I concede to the Greed demanding release.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.
 I hunger for trust, my craving’s a must,
My sin is the Zin enslaving my Lust.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.

— Kevin Phillips

Not exactly Shakespearean, but I commend the effort. Better than “Drink with hearty meat or pasta dishes.”

Also on the label: “Seven of Lodi’s Best Growers gave their souls to produce this one of a kind sinful blend of seven old vine deadly zins.” Sorry – bad trade.

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

This is why Côtes du Rhône rocks!

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galevan_CotesDuRhone_2007_snapshotThis one is exciting! It was a quick grab from the Costco shelf. I’d never heard of it, but was in the mood for some Rhone action. Little did I know that lurking behind this boring label would be one of the tastiest little wines I’ve had in months.

Galévan ‘Paroles de femme’ 2007 Côtes du Rhône

Producer: Domaine Galévan

Grapes: 70% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre and 10% Cinsault

Appellation: Côtes du Rhône (AOC, France)

Vineyard: “stony soil” according to the label

Winemaking: No info on the winery’s very basic website. The winemaker is Coralie Goumarre.

Alcohol: 14.5%

Price: Around $10-12 at Costco in Austin UPDATE: I went back and it’s only $7.99!

My tasting notes: Deep, dark color. The nose is full of iron and graphite and dark fruit and figs and coffee – it makes me want to use the word “redolent” and I’m not the kind of guy who uses the word redolent. With coaxing, I also get this really nice, bright, beautiful raspberry note. In the mouth, there is dark fruit, but the primary flavors are savory, herbal, earthy. There is a spicy, black pepper note on the back-end as well. It finishes a touch hot, but the rest is so nice, I barely notice. I am really digging this wine. It’s layered but light on its feet. It’s pushing all my buttons.

Overall impression: A great wine for the price. This is why I love trying Côtes du Rhône wines. Good luck trying to find something this interesting from California at this price. Buy it. Buy it. Buy it. (If you’re in Austin, please wait until I’ve had a chance to get back to Costco) A-

I know that I’ve never really explained my rating system. In simplest terms, it’s a rating of my enjoyment of a wine not an attempt at an objective assessment of “quality” vis-a-vis the greatest wines on the planet. I’ll try to post a fuller explanation of the rating system soon, but suffice it to say… I really like this wine.

Free association: This wine makes me want to do the Balki Bartokomous ‘Dance of Joy’.

More info:

More tasting notes at CellarTracker.

Serge the Concierge posted about Coralie and Domaine Galevan a few months ago.

CWNSXJFRQDFZ

Price: 16-20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Oddball Wine of the Week: German Pinot Noir Rosé

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KesselerRose07_snapshotMost people, myself included, think of white wines almost exclusively when they think of Germany. But they do make wine from red grapes – in particular Pinot Noir, known there as Spätburgunder. In fact, according to The Oxford Companion to Wine (3rd edition, 2006), Spätburgunder is Germany’s third most planted variety and totals over half of the acreage of Riesling. This bottle is a rosé of Spatburgunder.

Producer: August Kesseler

Grapes: 100% Spätburgunder (aka Pinot Noir)

Appellation: Rheingau (Germany)

Vineyards: Assmanshäuser Höllenberg – The vineyards are on south- and southwest-facing slopes with soils of “heat-storing slate-phyllite.” The vineyards includes vines that are up to 100 years old.

Winemaking: This rosé wine is produced via the saigné method. During the production of the winery’s normal Spätburgunder, some of the juice is drained off during skin contact to improve the quality of the red wine. That drained-off juice becomes a rose – a lovely byproduct.

Alcohol: 12.5%

Price: $16.78 at Spec’s in Austin

My tasting notes: The unusual color is one of the things that drew me to this bottle on the shelf. It’s very pale and I wouldn’t describe the color as pink so much as ‘light brown’ – okay maybe copper is nicer way of saying it (sorry no pics before the bottle was empty!).  The nose was rather closed, I had trouble picking up much beyond a general sweetish-wine smell and maybe some strawberry. On the palate, it offers up a pleasant candied apricot flavors and a bit of lime, with an undercurrent of stony minerality. It has 24.4 g/l of residual sugar, so it is sweet, but for me the acidity balances it well and it finishes clean.

Overall impression: A perfectly nice medium sweet rose. Definitely worth a try if you want to experience a different side of Germany, though I’d be more enthusiastic if it were $5 cheaper. B-

KesselerCork_snapshot_cropped

Free association:

Kramer's ASSMAN plates from the Seinfeld episode "The Fusilli Jerry"
Kramer's ASSMAN plates from the Seinfeld episode "The Fusilli Jerry"

More info:

The importer’s tech sheet.

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Ken Forrester ‘Petit’ Pinotage 2008 Stellenboch

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kenforresterpinotage_snapshot

Producer: Ken Forrester

Grapes: 100% Pinotage. A cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsault, resembling neither, it was created in the 1920s in South Africa by Stellenbosch University professor A. I. Perold. Here’s a good overview of the grape and it’s history.

Appellation: Stellenbosch (W.O. or Wine of Origin, South Africa)

Vineyards: Southeast-facing slopes.

Winemaking: Pressed off the skins early to avoid the heavy tannins sometimes associated with this grape.

Alcohol: 14%

Price: $9.99 at Spec’s in Austin

My tasting notes: Serious blue cheese attacks on the nose – like a really pungent Cabrales. The fruit aromas are plummy with an ashy note. On the palate it is nice and juicy with a good silkiness for a $10 wine. Good red fruit. I’m really enjoying this.

Overall impression: An affordable introduction to Pinotage. It’s definitely got the funky Pinotage character, but there’s plenty of juicy fruit to please. ‘n goeie wyn B

Free association:

cabrales

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/obis/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2008

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2008_kungfu_girl_bottleshot

Producer: Charles Smith Wines

Grapes: 100% Riesling

Appellation: Columbia Valley (though from a single vineyard; see below)

Vineyard: Evergreen Vineyard, a 452 acre vineyard planted to 10 different white varieties and farmed by Milbrandt Vineyards. It is rather young, having been planted in 1998. The vineyard currently falls under the large Columbia Valley AVA, but is a part of the “Ancient Lakes” area, which is seeking AVA status. Ancient Lakes is a cooler region with soils of clay, sand, silt and Caliche.

Winemaking: 100% stainless steel fermentation and aging

Alcohol: 12.5%

Price: $11.77

Package: Kick-ass label. Screwcap.

My tasting notes: A slight spritz. Bright green apple and pear aromas on the nose with a waxy quality. Round, luscious mouthfeel yet with lively, zippy acidity. Makes me think of Clearly Canadian sparkling water from back in the 90s, if they made an apple and kiwi flavor. (I mean that as a complement – I loved Clearly Canadian back then, especially Mountain Blackberry and Western Loganberry flavors.)

Overall impression: A very enjoyable drink. A crowd-pleaser for your next party. Hell, I might pick up another bottle to have on hand for Thanksgiving. B

Free Association: I loved playing this game at the bowling alley arcade I was a kid.


More info:

Winery’s tech sheet.

Good info on the Ancient Lakes region from the Millbrandt Vineyards website.

Jeff at Viva La Wino reviewed this wine earlier this year and liked it, too.

Gary V. had Charles Smith on WLTV last year and they tasted the 2007 Kung Fu Girl.

Update: Found another blogger review from Ben at Benito’s Wine Reviews.

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Oddball Wine of the Week: Lagrein

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This is the first post of a new series I’m starting on oddball wines. I thought I’d start in Italy, which is full of indigenous grape varieties that are produced in a small region and hardly anywhere else. This is one of those: Lagrein. Have you ever had one? Ever heard of it?

LaVis_Lagrein_LabelshotLa Vis Dipinti Lagrein 2007

Producer: La Vis

Grapes: Lagrein. La-what? It’s a red grape variety from the Trentino-Alto Adige region of Italy that is related to Teroldego. It’s pronounced Lah-GRAYN (hear it here).

Appellation: DOC Trentino, in northeastern Italy up near the Austrian border. Thirty years ago, red wines accounted for 80% of Trentino’s vineyard land, but today it’s down to 40%, with Merlot being the most common red grape (Chardonnay is the most planted white). However, the indigenous grapes are hanging on. [Info from The World Atlas of Wine.]

Winemaking: Spends only 2 months in oak.

Alcohol: 12.5%

Price: $11.77 at Spec’s in Austin

My tasting notes: Dark color, though not opaque. I get dusty plum and cherry fruit on the nose, with a substantial Old World swampy/barnyardy stink. There’s something a bit wild to the fruit aromas, too. Interesting. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied and starts off sharp and angular (though not necessarily in a bad way), with under-ripe raspberry flavors, light minerality and grippy tannins. A cranberry tartness and prickly acidity linger on the finish. I came back to this wine after it was open for about 48 hours and it was drinking very nicely. The acidity and tannins had softened a bit and the fruit was more evident on the palate. It paired well with a sausage, kale and white bean soup.

Overall impression: Not straight-up delicious, but really interesting and food-friendly. Worth it just for the geek-cred you’ll earn for trying this uncommon grape variety. B

Free association:

Demoiselles d'Avignon - Pablo Picasso
Demoiselles d'Avignon - Pablo Picasso

More info:

Tech sheet, which doesn’t state the vintage, so assume the specs are approximate.

Gary Vaynerchuk did a WLTV episode on Lagrein wines (though not this bottle).

Apparently, outside of Trentino-Alto Adige, Lagrein has developed a small foothold in Australia. And there is also an Oregon winery (with an Aussie winemaker), Amaranth Ridge, that is growing some. (Thanks, Wikipedia!)

Another blogger’s review at Melodic Fermentables.