BrianOnWine

Inkberry 2007 Shiraz Cabernet

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:09:00 +0000

The Winery: Inkberry

The Wine: 2007 Shiraz Cabernet
The Price: $10.99 at QFC (marked down from $15.99)

Inkberry is an Australian winery located in the Central Ranges, in New South Wales.

The wine, a blend of 60% Shiraz and 40% Cabernet, is a very inky purple color. The bottle was stopped with a screw cap and was decanted an hour before sampling.

The wine has aromas of blackberry, black currant, bell pepper and black pepper.

This wine has flavors of blackberry and cherry, balanced with a mild pepper flavor. The wine has good fruit flavors without being overly sweet. The pepper flavor is understated and is a great counterpoint to the fruit flavors.

This is a very nice Australian wine. It is priced higher than other Australian wines that I've had, but it is worth the few extra dollars. While not in the premium wine category, this is far superior to the main stream Australian wines and definitely worth trying.

Col Solare 2006 Red Wine

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:55:00 +0000

The Winery: Col Solare
The Wine: 2006 Red Wine
The Price: This wine was provided by the winery. The wine retails for $75 and can be purchased directly through the winery.

Col Solare is an interesting winery. It is a partnership between Chateau Ste Michelle, a Washington State winery; and Marchesi Antinori, a Tuscany winery. The partnership was formed with the intent of producing ultra-luxury wine.

The 2006 Red Wine is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Syrah.

As I would expect from a premium wine, the bottle was stopped with a natural cork. I don't normally comment on the cork itself, but the cork in this bottle was exceptionally clear and seemed to be of higher quality than the corks I've encounter with other wines. The wine was decanted an hour before tasting.

The wine has a very, very deep burgundy color, taking on the color of a good Cabernet Sauvignon.

The wine has very bright black cherry and blackberry aromas with a hint of vanilla. The aromas are very well balanced and well pronounced.

The wine is absolutely phenomenal! It has a very smooth and velvety feeling to it. The wine has bold flavors of blackberries and black cherries with a chocolaty finish. It is absolutely the best wine I've ever reviewed! At this price point, it's clearly not an everyday wine. But if you're looking for a great wine for the holidays or a special occasion, you can't go wrong with this one. I very highly recommend it.

Scott Paul 2006 La Paulée Pinot Noir

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:24:00 +0000

The Winery: Scott Paul
The Wine: 2006 La Paulée Pinot Noir
The Price: $35.00 at Jack Cellars

Scott Paul Wines has an unusual history. They were founded in 1999 in California. But then they relocated to Oregon's Willamette Valley. I don't recall ever hearing of a winery moving from one state to another. If you think they were crazy for doing so, you do not understand how great the Willamette Valley is for growing Pinot Noir grapes.

The La Paulée Pinot Noir was stopped with a screw cap. I much prefer a natural cork to a screw cap. It's difficult to take a wine seriously when it is stopped with a screw cap. The wine was decanted over an hour before tasting.

The wine is ruby in color, but not quite as dark as many of the Oregon Pinot Noirs that I've sampled.

The wine has aromas of cherries and blackberries. The aromas are not as pronounced as I typically expect from a Pinot Noir.

The flavors of this wine are understated, but very good. The wine has very well balanced flavors of blackberries and cherries. It has the velvety feeling that I've come to expect from the better Oregon Pinot Noirs. The wine is deliciously ready to drink now.

Campo Viejo 2005 Crianza Rioja

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:55:00 +0000

The Winery: Campo Viejo
The Wine: 2005 Crianza Rioja
The Price: $9.99 at QFC

I've discussed Spanish wines previously when I reviewed the Campo Viejo 2001 Gran Reserva Rioja. So I won't rehash what I said before, other than to state that Crianzas are younger wines. This wine is aged in oak for 12 months before being bottled.

The bottle for this wine was stopped with a natural cork and decanted an hour and a quarter before tasting.

The wine is very dark purple, with very light penetrating through the wine in the glass. It has aromas of blackberry, plum and vanilla.

It's a fairly flat wine, without a lot of flavor. It's not bad, it just doesn't pack enough of a flavor punch. It has plum and blackberry flavors with a very slight pepper finish. I really wish there was more flavor to the wine. I like the flavors that are there, I just want more of them.

I doubt I'll buy this wine again. There are plenty of $10 wines that have more flavor than this. If you're a fan of mildly flavored wines, this could be something you'd like.

Rustenberg John X Merriman 2006

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:51:00 +0000

The Winery: Rustenberg
The Wine: John X Merriman 2006
The Price: $28 at Jack Cellars

Rustenberg is located in the Stellenbosch region of South Africa. The wine is a blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 13% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Fran and 1% Malbec. The bottle was stopped with a natural cork and was decanted an hour before tasting.

This is a deep purple wine. It has aromas of plums, tobacco and pepper. It has a big, fruity blend of plum and cherry flavors with a pepper finish. This is an extremely good wine. Although I tend towards the NW Pinot Noirs, this is a great, fun wine. I recommend giving it a taste.

Feel Lucky?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:25:00 +0000

Sokol Blosser wants to know what makes you feel lucky. Check out the video (http://evolutionlucky.mppr.info/) and tell Sokol Blosser what makes you feel lucky for your chance to win!

Good luck!

As for what makes me feel lucky? My Lucky Jeans, of course!

Errazuriz 2006 Single Vineyard Carmenère

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:36:00 +0000

The Winery: Errazuriz
The Wine: 2006 Single Vineyard Carmenère
The Price: $18 at Jack Cellars

Errazuriz is a Chilean winery that was founded in 1870. This wine is single sourced from the Don Maximiano Estate.

Carmenère grapes were commonly grown in the Bordeaux region of France, and elsewhere throughout Europe. In 1867, an outbreak of Phylloxera wiped out many vineyards and nearly caused the extinction of Carmenère. The Carmenère vines in Chile were unaffected by the Phylloxera epidemic, and the grapes have thrived there.

The wine bottle was stopped with a natural cork, and was decanted just over an hour before tasting.

The wine is a very dark purple. It has aromas of blackberries, bell peppers with a spicy black pepper undertone.

The wine has a fruity blackberry flavor at its base, and a very pronounced black pepper finish. If you don't like a peppery wine, then this is not a good wine for you. I really like the wine, however. The flavor is well balanced and is very smooth.

McManis Family Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:49:00 +0000

The Winery: McManis Family Vineyards
The Wine: 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
The Price: $9.99 at QFC (marked down from $12.99)

This review was inspired by a few things. First, I've been trying to not review just Northwest wines, so I'm always looking for wines that are widely available throughout the country (and world). Second, I've been reviewing higher priced wines lately, so I'm trying to reel it in and review some sub-$10.00 wines. And finally, I happened to sample a bottle of McManis Petite Sirah recently which, while I didn't review it, was quite good.

This bottle of wine was stopped with a natural cork and was decanted about 45 minutes before tasting.

The wine is a very dark purple. It has aromas of blackberry and plum. This is a very nice wine. It has flavors of blackberry, cherry, chocolate and cinnamon. I like this wine a lot. It's a very good wine for the price. It's absolutely ready to drink now.

Rive Della Chiesa Prosecco

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:40:00 +0000

The Winery: Rive Della Chiesa
The Wine: Prosecco Frizzante
The Price: $11.99 at Central Market

If it's not obvious from the name, this is an Italian wine. It is made from 100% Prosecco grapes. And for those who don't know, frizzante wines are wines that are fizzy. They're less bubbly than sparkling wine, but definitely have a light effervescence to them.

This wine is pale yellow in color and emits steady streams of tiny bubbles. It has aromas of apple, lemon and grass.

This is a semi-dry wine. It has an apple flavor with a hint of pineapple and peaches. It's kind of a fun wine. I like the fizz - it's a nice change of pace from the same old white wines. It's definitely no replacement for a quality Champagne or sparkling white wine, but it is a good wine to have in rotation and would be fun to pull out for friends at a barbecue or dinner party.

Michael-David 2007 Petite Petit

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:28:00 +0000

The Winery: Michael-David
The Wine: 2007 Petite Petit
The Price: $15.99 at QFC

Michael-David produces several fairly well known wines (Incognito, 7 Deadly Zins, 7 Heavenly Chards, Earthquake, and several others). This is the first wine from the Michael-David family that I've reviewed.

I selected this wine for two reasons. First, I was looking for a Petite Sirah to review (and my local QFC had very little selection in Petite Sirah). Second, and I rarely fall for this, I really liked the label.

The Petite Petit is a blend of 85% Petite Sirah and 15% Petit Verdot. Petit Verdot is usually used as a minority grape in blends, most notably in Bordeaux wines. Interestingly, Petite Sirah was at one time considered to be a blend-grape, too.

Besides the cool label, Michael-David had the good sense to cork the wine with a natural cork. The Petite Petit is very deep purple in color. The wine has aromas of blackberries, strawberry jam and prunes with just a touch of black pepper.

The wine has big jammy berry flavors with a peppery finish. Overall, it's very good. I like it a lot. Despite that, the wine tastes a little young and would probably benefit from additional aging.

Don Ramon 2007 Red Wine

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 03:24:00 +0000

The Winery: Don Ramon
The Wine: 2007 Red Wine
The Price: $6.99 at Trader Joe's

Don Ramon is a Spanish winery. Beyond that, I haven't been able to dig up much information on them. The wine is a blend of 75% Grenache and 25% Tempranillo.

This wine comes in a kind of cool bottle. It has a natural cork stopper, which is surprising given the price of the wine. It also has a cloth ribbon affixed with a wax seal, another touch of class on a value-priced wine.

The wine has aromas of blackberry and blueberry. It is an amazingly smooth wine for the price. It has plenty of blueberry and blackberry flavor with just a touch of pepper on the finish.

Sokol Blosser Evolution Lucky Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 01:34:00 +0000

The Winery: Sokol Blosser
The Wine: Evolution, Lucky Edition
The Price: $14.99 at QFC (marked down from $21.99)

I previously reviewed Evolution (11th Edition), but a couple of bottlings have occurred since that review, so I thought I'd review it again. I'd been kicking around the idea for awhile, and now that Seattle (and the rest of the Pacific Northwest) is entrenched in a heat wave, it seems like the perfect time.

From talking with an employee of another winery, I learned that some wineries chemically manipulate some of their wines so that it tastes the same from year to year. Based on my observations, Sokol Blosser does not do this (my observations are supported by this statement from their website, "Every new bottling has its own subtle and fresh personality."). I point this out because the Lucky Edition is the best edition I recall them having produced.

The wine is a blend of Muller-Thurgau, White Riesling, Semillon, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Muscat Canelli, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Sylvaner. That's a lot of grapes!

The Lucky Edition seems brighter and a hair sweeter than I recall the 12th Edition being. It has a citrusy aroma. The wine has flavors of citrus fruit, apples and pears.

In addition to the great flavor, I love the playful nature with which Sokol Blosser treats this wine. The label poses the question, "Luck? Intention?" And this year, rather than calling it the 13th Edition, they went with Lucky Edition. I like that.

As I write this, I am sitting on my balcony, looking out over Lake Washington. It's 92 degrees, highly unusual for Seattle. The view, the weather, and the Evolution make me realize what a great life I have.

Des Voigne Cellars Website Update

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:15:00 +0000

When I reviewed Des Voigne Cellars San Remo 2006 Sangiovese I commented on the condition of their website (the word "raggedy" was used). Somebody posted a comment on the review that their website has been updated. I checked it out, and found that it is much improved.

Their new site is cool and attractive. I like that they have brought the musical theme of their wines to the website. The graphics are bold and very professional looking. I encourage you to check out their new site at www.desvoignecellars.com. And while you're there, you might consider snagging a bottle or two of their wine.

Woodinville Wine Cellars 2006 Indomitable

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:26:00 +0000

The Winery: Woodinville Wine Cellars
The Wine: 2006 Indomitable
The Price: $40 at Jack Cellars

This is the second wine from Woodinville Wine Cellars that I purchased at their recent tasting at Jack Cellars. Woodinville Wine Cellars calls Indomitable their flagship wine. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (50%), Cabernet Franc (25%) and Merlot (25%).

The bottle was stopped with a natural cork, and decanted about an hour before tasting.

Like the 2006 Syrah, this is also a very dark wine. The wine has aromas of blackberry, cherry and prune. This is a big, fruity wine. It has flavors of cherry and blackberry, with a mild pepper finish. The 2006 Indomitable has a very smooth, velvety feel to it. The wine is nothing short of awesome!

Quinta Do Feital 2007 Auratus

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:22:00 +0000

The Winery: Quinta Do Feital
The Wine: 2007 Auratus
The Price: $15.00 at Jack Cellars

Quinta Do Feital is a Portuguese winery. At the time of this writing, their website is not working quite right, so I really don't have much information on the Winery. Jack (from Jack Cellars) tells me that Auratus is Latin for golden, which is appropriate because the wine is very gold in color.

The wine has aromas of pineapple and honey, much like the other Portuguese wine I recently reviewed, the Gazela Vinho Verde. Unlike the Gazela, however, this wine is actually good. Also unlike the Gazela, this wine is not sparkling. This is a good wine. It has a creamy pineapple flavor. This would be a great wine to sip on the porch on a hot summer day.

Woodinville Wine Cellars 2006 Syrah Columbia Valley

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:03:00 +0000

The Winery: Woodinville Wine Cellars
The Wine: 2006 Syrah Columbia Valley
The Price: $30 at Jack Cellars

I'd never had any wine from Woodinville Wine Cellars until a recent tasting at Jack Cellars. All of the wines they were pouring were very good. I particularly enjoyed the 2006 Indomitable, which I may review soon if I don't crack it open before getting around to reviewing it.

The 2006 Syrah Columbia Valley was stopped with a natural cork, and was decanted an hour before tasting.

This is a very dark red wine. One of the darker wines that I've encountered. The wine has aromas of blackberry, prune and blueberry. The wine has big fruit flavors of blackberry and plum with a slight hint of blueberry and a barely perceptible mint flavor. It has a definite pepper taste, typical of Syrah, but it's not overdone.

This is an excellent wine, well worth the price.

Recession Review: Gazela Vinho Verde

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:48:00 +0000

The Winery: Gazela
The Wine: Vinho Verde
The Price: $5.99 at QFC.

Gazela is a Portuguese winery. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any information on the winery.

I was able to dig up a little of information on the Vinho Verde varietal. These wines are made in Northern Portugal, in the Minho region. The term Vinho Verde literally means green wine.

The wine is was capped with a screw top. Opening the wine, I was surprised to hear the tell-tale whoosh of a sparkling wine. It's a very, very light carbonation. Had I read up on Vinho Verde before opening the bottle, I would have known that that is typical of the varietal.

The wine is an extremely pale straw color, very nearly clear. It has aromas of honey and pineapple.

It's a very bland wine. The flavor is almost nonexistent. It has a slight pineapple flavor, with a hint of pear. I don't dislike it, but it really lacks flavor and the bubbles are so few as to be nearly absent. It's almost like taking a box of cheap wine and cutting it with sparkling water.

Greg Norman Estates Limestone Coast 2006 Cabernet Merlot

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:56:00 +0000

The Winery: Greg Norman Estates
The Wine: Limestone Coast 2006 Cabernet Merlot
The Price: $11.99 at Costco

This winery is one of golfer Greg Norman's many endeavors. You can check out his other ventures at www.shark.com.

This wine is a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot, both from Australia.

The wine was stopped with a natural cork. It is a very deep, dark red wine. It has aromas of blackberries, clove and cherry.

This is a fairly big, fruity wine. It has bold cherry and berry flavors with a pepper and clove finish.

This is and impressive wine for the price. It would probably improve with age, but is perfectly drinkable now.

Columbia Crest 2007 H3 Chardonnay

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:35:00 +0000

The Winery: Columbia Crest
The Wine: 2007 H3 Chardonnay
The Price: I don't usually do this, but I ended up buying two bottles of this wine at two different stores. First I bought a bottle a Safeway for $12.99, marked down from $22.99. Then I found a bottle at Costco for $10.99. So naturally I next checked to see how much Columbia Crest is charging for the wine online - $14.99.

The wine is medium yellow in color, and the bottle was stopped with a natural cork.

The wine has aromas of pineapple, pear and vanilla. It has flavors of pineapple, vanilla and coconut (no, it doesn't taste like a Pina Colada), with a bit of a bite on the finish. This is a very good wine. I wouldn't pay the $22.99 that Safeway claims is the regular price, but if you can get it for $15 or less, it's definitely worth it. This may be the best Chardonnay that I've ever sampled.

Recession Review: Blason de Bourgogne 2007 Pinot Noir

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:29:00 +0000

The Winery: Blason de Bourgogne
The Wine: 2007 Pinot Noir
The Price: $7.99 at Trader Joe's

If it's not abundantly clear by the name, Blason de Bourgongne is a French winery.

The bottle was stopped with a natural cork, and was decanted an just shy of an hour before the review. This wine is much lighter in color than other Pinot Noirs that I've encountered. I would say it's roughly half as dark as the typical Pinot Noir.

The wine has aromas of strawberry jam and cherry. It's a pretty bland wine. It has a bit of a strawberry jam flavor, a bit of a cherry flavor, and too much pepper flavor.

The problem with this wine isn't the flavor. It's the lack of flavor. It's far too watery. The flavor that comes through is good. There's just not enough of it.

At $8, I'd pass on this and find a truly decent $8 wine.

Fire Road 2008 Sauvignon Blanc

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:21:00 +0000

The Winery: Fire Road
The Wine: 2008 Sauvignon Blanc
The Price: $9.99 at Central Market

Fire Road is a New Zealand winery. I don't recall ever reviewing, or even sampling, a wine from New Zealand.

The wine was stopped with a screw cap. It is a very light colored wine, with aromas of apple, grass and a hint of mint. The wine has flavors of flavors of apple, honey and, again, that hint of mint.

This is a really good wine. It's a perfect wine to savor on the porch on a hot summer day. It would pair very nicely with mild fish or a refreshing salad.

This first foray into the wines of New Zealand was a great experience. I'm looking forward to seeing what else they have to offer.

Lowden Hills 2005 See You There Syrah

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:24:00 +0000

The Winery: Lowden Hills Winery
The Wine: 2005 See You There Syrah
The Price: $25 at Jack Cellars

I went to a tasting a Jack Cellars on Saturday. Jim Henderson was pouring his wines this week. I enjoyed them all, and purchased my favorite to review. My second favorite was probably the Lowden Clear Riesling - an off-dry Riesling. While I'm not reviewing it here, it's worth a taste if you get a chance.

Jim Henderson seems like a great guy. Total confession here - I talked with him without letting him know that I review wines. In the event that the wine was horrible, I didn't want him asking for my opinion. And I find vintners to be much more friendly and approachable if they don't know that I do reviews. Anyway, I liked Jim and found him to be a pretty nice guy. And he wore a very brilliant Hawaiian shirt, so you had no chance of missing him.

I'm not normally a huge Syrah guy. When I sampled this originally, I didn't really think of it as a Syrah. It's much more fun than most of the other the Syrah's I've tasted.

Lowden stops their bottles with natural cork. The wine was decanted an hour before tasting.

This Syrah is a very dark purple wine. It has aromas of blueberry and coffee. This is a big, huge, fruity wine. It is bursting with blueberry flavor, with a carmelly, coffee finish. It is absolutely wonderful. It is great, and I don't see any value to cellaring it away. Buy it. Drink it. It's fantastic.

Recession Review: Protocolo 2006 Tinto

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 26 May 2009 01:44:00 +0000

The Winery: Protocolo
The Wine: 2006 Tinto
The Cost: $7.99 at Central Market

Protocolo is one of the lines from Dominio De Eguren. The winery, founded in 1870, is located in Northern Spain.

The wine was stopped with a synthetic cork, and was decanted about one hour before tasting. The wine is made from 1oo% Tempranillo grapes.

The wine is a deep purple color with aromas of molasses, pepper and berry, with a fairly pungent alcohol aroma.

This tastes salty. I don't recall ever encountering a salty wine before. Besides salt, the wine has flavors of cherry and berry with a pepper finish.

The wine is not bad. Actually, it's pretty good Especially for the price. I'm just perplexed by the salty flavor. It is unexpected and adds an interesting depth to the wine.

Recession Review: BV Coastal Estates 2007 Chardonnay

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:45:00 +0000

The Winery: BV (Beaulieu Vineyard) Coastal Estates
The Wine: 2007 Chardonnay
The Price: $7.99 at QFC (marked down from $11.99)

BV is a Califonia winery. They've always struck me at one of those mega-producers that is focused on quantity over quality. This may be the first BV wine I've ever sampled. I don't recall ever having it before.

To my surprise, the wine was sealed with a natural cork. So we're off to a good start. The wine is a hair towards the yellow side.

The Chardonnay has aromas of apple and pear. It has a creamy texture to it and has flavors of apple, pear and vanilla. It's a dry wine with fairly decent flavor. It's an average Chardonnay for the price.

Ruffino Il Ducale 2006 Toscano

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:29:00 +0000

The Winery: Ruffino
The Wine: Il Ducale 2006 Tuscano
The Price: $17.99 at Albertson's (Marked down from $22.99)

If you can't tell by the name, Ruffino is an Italian winery, located in Tuscany. They are celebrating their 130th anniversary, so I'd imagine that they probably have this whole wine making thing down by now.

This wine is a blend of Sangiovese (60%), Merlot (20%) and Syrah (20%). It was sealed with a natural cork, and was decanted just over an hour before tasting.

The wine is is a very dark burgundy in color and has aromas of blackberry, currant and cherry. This is a nice wine. It has bold fruit flavors of berry and prune with a subtle bite to it. It has a nice texture. and the flavors have blended well. It would be better with further aging, I would think, but it's certainly drinkable now.