Cupcake Vineyards Prosecco, Non-Vintage, $11.99

OK. I am not the type of person who saves things for a special occasion. I wear my Agent Provocateur lingerie on a Wednesday night, for example. And I'll drink bubbly on a random night, if for no reason other than to celebrate the fact that I wasn't completely overloaded with patients on the Monday before Christmas.

That being said, tonight I am not in the mood to study my wine, I just want to drink & enjoy. So I poured a glass to do just that.

This wine is crisp on my palate. Bready, yeasty, with a little hint of green apples. The aftertaste is a little sour, with touches of crystallized sugar. The finish is long, and after 30 seconds, I can still taste the sweetness, like hints of honeydew melon.

For the price, I can't beat this wine. And I have to admit I am not a fan of Prosecco. I love bubbles, but I've never been an Italian wine type of girl. This sparkler is a very happy, celebratory wine at a price that doesn't need to have an occasion to open it for. It makes even a Monday night worth celebrating. Find out more at www.CupcakeVineyards.com.

Cheers!

Kate

Channing Daughters 2008 Long Island Scuttlehole Chardonnay, $17.00

OK. This bottle was a gift to me from my dear friend Woman (don't ask why we call her Woman; we just started calling her that our freshman year of college & it stuck). She is probably the only person who tells me she reads my wine blog. Props to you, Woman!

I do love a good chardonnay. Oakey, non-oakey, it doesn't matter as long as it tastes good. Yes, I know that I tend to favor reds over whites, but I still like chard. It's my go-to white wine.

On the nose, this wine makes me fall in love a little. It's dripping with fruit & flowers: green apple, honeysuckle, peach, pear. It's light-bodied, moving slowly down the side of the glass in a single sheet. And the yellow color is so pale, it reminds me more of a sauvignon blanc.

On the palate, this wine is very, very light & clean. It almost tastes like nothing until it hits the back of my throat, then it opens up to reveal the clean taste of minerals and tropical fruits. Remember those Del Monte fruit cups? The plastic ones? It reminds me of a weaker version of their tropical fruit flavor, the papaya especially. Mmm, rocks & papaya. This actually excites me. I get it now, when Gary Vaynerchuk said that nails & spoiled papaya excited him. It's delicious.

The only drawback to this wine is its 12% alcohol content. But this wine is so pleasant & easy to drink, this shouldn't be a deterrent. While I checked out the website (www.channingdaughters.com) and learned that the 2008 vintage is no longer available, the 2009 vintage is ready to go. So please, check out a local vineyard & try something new. Cali's not the only one stirring the pot.

Cheers!

Kate

2008 Block 2 Cabernet Sauvignon, Horse Heaven Hills, $19.99

OK. So I've had Block 2's syrah, which I absolutely adored. And since I like cab better than syrah, I can only imagine what this one's gonna taste like.

Technically, it's not a straight-up cab. It's 91% cab, 4% syrah, 4% merlot & 1% cab franc. It's also got a 14.2% alcohol content. This is a happy-sounding wine. It makes me happy just reading the back of the bottle. Pretty impressive from the state of Washington.

In the glass, this wine looks like a mix of purple grape juice & cranberry juice. I can't see through the glass, but I can sort of see through the top two millimeters. Dozens of chubby little legs spring up on the side of the glass, some moving faster than others, showing off how heavy-bodied this wine is. Excellent. I'm practically salivating already.

This wine is really tight on the nose, smelling at once like rubbing alcohol and jam - grape & strawberry, respectively. At the tail end of the sniff, there's a hint of milk chocolate. It smells delicious.

And if I thought it smelled delicious, the smell is nothing compared to how delicious this wine tastes. On the rugae (those rough little ridges behind your top teeth - FYI, you need those rugae to help make different sounds when you talk), this wine is harsh, harsh, harsh! Those tannins are tight & strong. But amazingly, the wine mellows as soon as it transitions to my mid-palate, tasting like milk & dark chocolate mixed together. And the finish lingers, filling my mouth with the taste of chocolate, almond & coconut - truly, a finish like an Almond Joy. And everyone who knows me knows I LOVE Almond Joys. Ask Julie.

In my mouth, this wine is smooth. And not as heavy-bodied as I imagined. It doesn't glide down like water, but that's OK. I'm still in love with this wine, and for the price, it's the best I've ever tasted. Go looking, people. That's my recommendation.

Cheers!

Kate

2009 Creme de Lys California Chardonnay, $11.99

OK. I was told by Bruce at Stew Leonard's that this wine was exceptional. The price made it hard to turn down. Besides, I'm always on the lookout for a good chardonnay.

To me, a good chardonnay is oakey. Buttery. Creamy. Smooth, too. (It would be perfect if the alcohol content were higher than 13%, but I can't have everything.) A good chardonnay should not taste like a sauvignon blanc. There's a name for a chardonnay that tastes acidic and sharp, and that name would be sauvignon blanc.

This chardonnay is beautiful in the glass, a buttery yellow color that slides down the side of the glass, leaving droplets behind. The back of the bottle says that this wine contains "tropical fruit, baked apple and citrus...[and] adds hints of vanilla and creme brulee on the finish." Delicious. On the nose, this wine smells soft, like vanilla & custard.

My God, this wine is totally - if I may borrow a phrase from Gary Vaynerchuk - "hedonistic on my palate." From the moment it passes over my list, I'm just dying with pleasure. I taste all those bursts of tropical & citrus fruit in my mouth, flanked by the creamy vanilla, followed by a smooth, custardey finish. I don't taste any baked apple, but whatever. When a wine tastes this good, you just throw on a side of baked apple & call it a day. Bring cinnamon.

The final kill-me-with-pleasure point? This wine clocks in with an alcohol content of 13.5%. Somebody upstairs was listening to me when I described my perfect chard. Well, this one may not be perfect, but it's awfully frickin' close. Check out www.cremedelys.com for more details. And please, pass the cinnamon.

Cheers!

Kate

2009 Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc Rutherford Napa Valley, $20.99

OK. I am so not excited to try this wine. Well, I was when I bought it. Then I went to open it up and saw the label on the back of the bottle. Clearly printed underneath the barcode is the phrase OPEN OTHER END. Is this a joke? 'Cuz if it is, I'm not getting it. And I have a pretty good sense of humor. And then there's the whole California sauvignon blanc stereotype. I'm just not winning with the sauvignons from Cali. New Zealand & Australia, as far as I'm concerned, are the real winners. Not Cali.

This wine looks like a chardonnay in the glass, medium-yellow. When I swirl it around in the glass, I barely see the sheet forming, but I can tell you I smell the wine from 18 inches away. Putting my nose in the glass & taking a sniff, I have to tell you this wine smells amazing. The mineral scent hits me first, followed quickly by lime, actually the acidity of the lime. I could swear I get the shortest hint of fresh-cut grass at the top of my inhale.

BOOM! NZ & AU, you got some serious competition.

When I taste this wine, the first thing I can think is that it tastes just like a sauvignon blanc from Chile or Argentina. Mmm, yummy. The acidity is sharp like a razor. This wine tastes exactly as it smells, the clean mineral taste with the idea of lime in it, followed by an almost vanilla aftertaste. I love a vanilla aftertaste, I don't care where it comes from.

This wine is not soft in the mouth at all. It's sharp & crisp, due in a small part to the wine's 12.6% alcohol content. I love how it feels in my mouth, like it's taking no prisoners. This is the perfect summertime wine, and although we're well into fall - almost into winter, actually - I'm loving drinking it. Maybe for next summer.

So yes, definitely look for this wine. And then forgive them for the stupid joke on the back of the bottle. They made a great sauvignon blanc in Napa.

Cheers!

Kate

Hansom 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, $22.99

OK. You all know my obsession with Stew Leonard's Wine Shop. So when they sent me this e-mail, I ran. By "this e-mail," I mean the e-mail where they explained that a famous winemaker whose bottles of cab retail for $70+ has a side project; said side project costing less than a third of the cost. Readers, I drove so fast to Stew's I'm surprised the New Britski cops didn't pull me over.

The e-mail wouldn't reveal the vineyard. But you know me, I've got clout. Bruce told me that it's Correggia Vineyard. Huh? Never heard of them before, so I certainly don't understand the $70 asking price. I did Google them, though; apparently, the head winemaker, Matteo Correggia, died tragically in 2001. Bummer.

In the glass, this wine is dark. And medium-to-heavy-bodied, with little legs forming on one side of the glass, then the other. And the smell is a little off-putting. It smells like leather, which is not so bad to smell, but weird to put in my mouth. There's no scent of alcohol despite its 13.9% content.

On the palate, this wine is soft & smooth. Really soft. It's such a pleasure to drink. Though I have to admit here, it tastes no different than the Bommarito cab. There are no surprising, hidden flavors. This is a straight-up cabernet, but a very polished, price-friendly one that feels great in my mouth.

So would I purchase this one again? Yes, actually. Though it's a straight-up cab - and believe me, I have no problems with that - the mouthfeel (!!!) & price make it well worth the purchase. If Bommarito felt this good in my mouth at this price, I'd be all over it like white on rice. But this one is the clear winner. Buy with no regrets.

Cheers!

Kate

Bommarito 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, $59.99

OK. This is a very special wine for me. There's a lot of love in & for this bottle. Today, I wanted love. So I opened it.

This year, in February, I turned 30. Actually, I have to say, with the exception of my 24th birthday where we ate at the Cheesecake Factory, then went to see the "Male Entertainment" dancers in Saugus, my 30th birthday was the most profound & exciting celebration. It consisted of the glorious city of Boston, close friends, the Nine Zero Hotel, Abe & Louie's (and lobster mac 'n cheese - thank you, Canal!), 2002 Cristal champagne, White Flowers sparkling riesling, coconut birthday cake (R.I.P. Sugarbelle), KO Prime, Beantown Pub (complete with nachos & french fries), and this wine, albeit the 2005 vintage, of which I split the bottle with my girl Rachel, then stole the empty & proudly put it on display at my house. A very happy birthday, indeed.

About a month later, Rachel found a wine distributor who would order a case for her. The 2005 vintage was sold out, but the 2006 vintage was available. The upshot? We split the case & I wandered home with no less than 6 bottles. All 6 of which were hosted in the wine cellar. Until now.

1st off, this wine has a screw top. God bless you, Bommarito; I was in no mood to fight with the Houdini today. I poured a glass & let it sit. It's really dark & grapey in the glass, a trait I'm beginning to love in my Napa cabs. This wine is heavy-bodied, taking about 20 seconds for the legs to form down the side of the glass. And it reeks of alcohol, not surprising since the alcohol content clocks in at 14.5%.

This wine is surprising. If I slip it slowly, it feels soft in my mouth, gliding down my throat with ease. If I swallow it quickly, it burns the underside of my tongue & my soft palate, and continues to burn down my throat. Odd. There are no complexities to this wine, it literally tastes only like the cabernet grapes. There are no secondary or hidden flavors; there is no extraneous fruit to detract from the grapes. This is an old-school wine, made with nothing but the grapes & the ethanol.

So I'd have to say, even though I thoroughly enjoy this wine & have a lot of love for it, I wouldn't buy it again. Why? This is a great wine, yes - at a $25 price point. The Clos du Val tastes a lot like it, with a little added PV kick, for under $25. So until Bommarito can cut the price by 50%, Rachel's distributor won't be hearing from me. And besides, my 31st birthday is only a few months away. Who knows what wine(s) I'll be drinking then?

Cheers!

Kate

P.S. This photo is Jess, Rachel, Nancy & me, posing with our glasses of Cristal, on the bed in the Nine Zero. We had just returned from dinner at KO Prime & were already a little drunk. Nobody ever could've had a better 30th birthday than I did. Thanks, guys! I heart you!

Ruca Malen Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2007, $17.99

OK. As much as I love cabs from Argentina, I fought with this wine right off the bat. As I used my fantastic Houdini wine opening device, I noticed myself fighting with the cork. As I finally ripped the cork out, I noticed the bottom portion was ripping apart. Great. If I find any cork pieces floating around in my wine, I'm not going to be happy.

At first smell, I catch a whiff of pungent alcohol. Whew. This is a 13.9% alcohol content, all right. But as I take a another deep sniff, I notice the berries. Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries. Then there's a little black pepper component. It smells luscious. And the back of the bottle proclaims that there's "black fuit, blackberry, and...figs along with emerging peppery notes" on the nose. BINGO! I love it when the back of the bottle gets is right.

Looking at this wine in the glass, it's a very pretty, grapey cabernet. It's so heavy-bodied that it takes 15 - 20 seconds for the legs to form down the side of the glass. And - wait, what's that? Cork? There are pieces of cork floating around in my wine! Anybody got a tissue? I am seriously depressed. The only way to lift me out of this depression would be for the wine to taste amazing.

On the bright side, this wine does taste amazing. Even with the cork bits floating around in it. At first it tastes like bitter tannins, but then the tanning become smooth & velvety. The have a great mouthfeel (!!!), really polished and elegant. There's a hint of vanilla lurking in the background, which gets a bit stronger on the finish. And talk about a long finish - it's about ten seconds long.

Such a great wine. I you like Hispanic reds, this is one you've gotta try. Hit up www.bodegarucamelen.com for more info.

Cheers!

Kate

2009 Bell Sauvignon Blanc, Lake County, $14.99

OK. Confession time: I love red wine, cabernet especially, and I have a bottle of Bell cabernet in my wine cellar. Not the wine fridge, the wine cellar, which is basically a wine fridge in the basement where I keep all my wines that need aging or were just too expensive to be opened for anything other than a special occasion. The Bell cabernet falls into the latter, it was just too expensive to open up for any old reason. So when I saw this wine at a much more attractive price point, I jumped on it. Then I looked at the alcohol content & saw 12.5%. Well, gee, I guess that's what happens when the price falls 30 bucks.

Back to the wine, then. This wine smells no different than a New Zealand sauvignon blanc on the nose - Matua, Oyster Bay. The back of the bottle promises "citrus and mineral aromas and a subtle hint of fresh cut grass." I smell the mineral component & perhaps a very subtle hint of peach/apricot, but try as I might - and I try so hard I almost inhale some wine - I don't get that fresh-cut grass aroma. Bummer. The wine is very, very pale yellow with the thinnest, most delicate sheet down the side of the glass I have ever seen. In all actuality, I'm preparing for a delicate-tasting, subtle wine.

Boom! It's not a subtle wine, thank goodness, but I'm a little disappointed in it. On the palate, I taste some citrus along with the usual crisp, acidic taste of the sauvignon blanc grape. The flavor is strong on the palate but nearly nonexistent on the finish, leaving me wanting to drink more to reclaim some sort of taste. Sad. It's not a bad wine, exactly; in fact, it's a very pleasant, easy-drinking wine that would be perfect on a hot day.

My problem lies in the fact that when I want a drink, I want a drink. As much as I hate the word mouthfeel (AAARGH!), I want a wine that feels heavy in my mouth, a wine that leaves me with the impression that I'm drinking something other than water. I need a wine that's heavy-bodied & obvious, not subtle. I don't want to guess or tip-toe around a wine.

I will not be purchasing this wine again - for this price & taste, I'd rather buy a bottle of Matua - but it's not a bad wine. I've had much worse. If any of my readers are interested in a California sauvignon blanc with a great acidity, find out more at www.bellwine.com or call #707-944-1673.

Cheers!

Kate

2009 Louis Max Beaucharme Chardonnay, $10.99

OK. French wines aren't really my thing. But I'm always on the lookout for the next great chard, and at this price point, can you really blame me? Although I have to admit, it does worry me a little that this is last year's vintage crop. I'm trying to tell myself that Aqua de Piedra is last year's vintage too, and look how well that turned out (see the Chicks Review Cheap Wine blog), but I don't know. France is not known for its early-year vintages.

This bottle of wine doesn't promise anything. In fact, it says nothing on the back label other than the wine was imported from Bourgogne by Slocum & Sons in North Haven, CT. Uhhh...things are not looking so good for this wine.

This chardonnay is pale yellow in the glass, with aromas of oak, butter and a slight hint of apricot on the nose. A long-standing sheet hugs the side of the glass, almost like it wants to form legs but doesn't. It looks like a fairly solid, medium-bodied wine from the glass. But I have to admit, the wine does smell good. It smells like an exceptional chard, even if it does only contain 12.5% alcohol by volume.

Eh. Have I ever mentioned how I'm not a fan of French wines?

On the palate, this tastes like water. It has no taste. None. Except it doesn't go down like water, it sort of stings. There is a short aftertaste which consists primarily of oak & a tiny tease of butter. Underwhelming. Completely underwhelming.

If I may stand on my soapbox for a minute, I understand that France & Italy are the great-granddaddies of the world when it comes to wine. But lately, I'm finding that if you want a great bottle of wine from France that doesn't cost your arm & leg or your firstborn child, or that doesn't need to be cellared for 10+ years, you're screwed. This is so disappointing to me. Even Italy has jumped on the bandwagon & is producing some recent vintage wines at a good price point that don't need to be cellared. This is the best France can do? Louis Max is the best they can do? And this is the best Louis Max can put out for those of us who can't afford to blow a car payment on a bottle of wine? Yes, I understand that this is an eleven-dollar bottle of wine. But for this price, you can buy a bottle of American wine - from Washington Valley, New York State, or even one of the famed valleys in California - that's ten times as good. Or you can buy a bottle of wine from Chile, Argentina, Spain, Australia that's far more complex. And with a higher alcohol content.

So, friends & readers, I have to tell you to JUST SAY NO. Do not purchase this bottle under any circumstances. If you want a great bottle, buy anything other than this.

Cheers!

Kate

This wine is thin & watery in my mouth

Clos du Val 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, $24.99

OK. If you know anything at all about the wines I drink, you would know that cabernet from Napa Valley takes the cake. It pushes all the right buttons for me. Now, this one here is not exactly pure cabernet. It's 85% cabernet sauvignon, 6% cabernet franc, 5% merlot & 4% petit verdot. Ahhh, the PV. I'm in love just after reading the label.

This wine is so dark in the glass it's almost black. There's a purpley-red tinge around the perimeter, but all in all, it's dark. You couldn't see through this if you tried. That's the PV for you. God, I love PV.

It takes a while for the legs to form on the side of the glass, but when they do, they're slow and long. They creep down to the wine, never breaking up, never turning into a sheet. And there are a lot of them. This is no cheesy, two-legs-and-we're-done kind of wine. This is one heavy bad boy. On the nose, I smell two things: the alcohol content (13.5%) and the petit verdot. Man, that is one distinctive grape, and you either love it or hate it. You know I love it.

The back of the bottle proclaims that there are "flavors of dark fruit" on the palate. I wonder, what exactly constitutes dark fruit? Granted, I'm not tasting happy strawberries or raspberries on the palate - really, all I taste is petit verdot & these amazing tannins that are powerful but mellow at the same time. Does that make sense at all? Those tannins are there & they're totally not pushovers, but at the same time, it's almost like they're saying, "Yeah, we're here, and we used to be bitter, but we've mellowed out." Yummy. This is exactly the kind of wine I could drink my entire life & not get tired of.

The aftertaste is long on this wine. It's reminiscent of fake sweeteners, but not in the flavor sense. You know when you have artificial sweeteners & they leave a distinctive tang/burn down the back of your throat? This wine does the same thing. The aftertaste leaves this mellow chemical burn down the back of my throat that's at once comforting and perplexing. Again, that's the PV talking. It's so funny that just a small amount of PV can radically change the structure of an entire bottle of wine.

Love. I am in love, love, love with this wine. It's not the cheapest wine out there, but it's by far not the most expensive, either. I think, if I had to pick only one wine to drink for the rest of my life, this would be it. This is my wine. This wine defines everything about me & what I'm looking for in a wine...hell, even in my life. I dare you to try it once & see if you don't agree. www.closduval.com.

Cheers!

Kate

Jacob's Creek Non-Vintage Chardonnay - Pinot Noir Brut Cuvee, $16.99

OK. What's up with all these non-vintage wines lately? Well, like I've mentioned before, if the price is right & the taste is good, bring it.

I adore a good bubbly, even more so at a good price, and I have never seen this bottle before. Sure, I've seen Jacob's Creek, and I love them for putting out a decent wine at a decent price. Their other wines can be found everywhere. This one I found by accident at a little packey near Shady Glen in the Manchester Parkade. Actually, I was kinda surprised when I went in there, b/c they have a LOT of stuff I haven't seen before, even though they have a small selection.

A sparkling wine calls for a champagne flute. I love looking at all the bubbles in this glass. Actually, I love hearing them pop in the flute next to me, sort of like a Rice Krispies cereal pop.

On the nose, I smell a little bit of yeast, a little bit of apple. Green apple, sliced, crisp & crunchy. Mmm. But mostly, I smell joy. This sparkling wine is meant to be opened for happy occasions.

There's not much on the palate, the effervescence totally takes over & nullifies the taste till the back of my tongue. From there, I can taste a little more of that green sliced apple taste along with some French baguette, mixed with nut flavors - walnut, mostly, with some hazelnut & almond. There's a touch of oak in here, as well there should, since this is an 80 - 20 blend in favor of the chard.

Another thing I should mention: this sparkler glides down my throat. Despite the 12% alcohol content & the loud pop of those beautiful bubbles, this goes down clean & easy. I am in love.

SPEED, don't just drive, to the Manchester Parkade to find this beauty. It's that good, I promise. Learn more at www.jacobscreek.com.au.

Cheers!

Kate

Pacific Rim Non-Vintage Dry Riesling, $10.99

OK. So I can practically see you all thinking, What's the deal with all the Pacific Rim? Doesn't this b*tch drink anything other than Pacific Rim?

Well, of course I do. But I love Pacific Rim, for its taste & its price point. You know, sometimes you just want to open a bottle of wine where you don't have to fidget with the fancy wine opener (this has a screw top), you don't have to feel guilty about opening up a pricey bottle (I can buy five of these & spend less than I would on a bottle of Bommarito - more on that to come), and you can sip & enjoy. This wine in particular is very near & dear to my heart.

On June 2nd, 2004, I was introduced to this wine at my dear friend Carly's 25th birthday party at Legal Sea Foods in Copley Square, Boston. My date Kate Knowles, who's originally from Cali, introduced me to this wine & to the fish stew called cioppino. This was actually the 1st wine I'd ever tried & liked. I liked it a lot. Of course, it was from Bonny Doon Vineyards back in '04. Things have changed a little since then.

I also got drunk on this wine on the night of June 22nd, 2006. Less than 18 hours before my sister Missy & brother-in-law Justin got married, my boyfriend at the time dumped me. At 11:00 at night. What a loser. This wine was my comfort that night & the following day, when I was so upset about being the fat, just-dumped, older sister of the bride.

On the nose, this wine smells like any other dry riesling, crisp & acidic. It has a lower alcohol content (12.5% - figures it was the one to break me in) & forms a thin sheet on the glass.

On the palate, this wine is just as crisp as it ever was. I taste a faint hint of apricot on the mid-palate, which the back of the bottle promises. The bottle also promises tastes of lime, but I don't taste lime, I only get the acidity of the lime. The finish is short but pleasant. Mainly, the taste that sticks out is the acidity & the freshness. This is not a sweet wine.

As you've probably gathered, I adore this wine. This is my 1st love, so if you don't love it, don't tell me! www.pacificrimwinemakers.com.

Cheers!

Kate

P.S. You can get a really bangin' cioppino at Bobby Flay's "Bar Americain" at Mohegan Sun in CT, if you're interested. Also, I had another really great cioppino at "Scoma" in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. Both are highly recommended.

P.P.S. This photo is of me & Kate Knowles at Carly's birthday party. God, I miss that girl every day. Dr. Knowles! If you stumble across this blog, holler back at me!

Pacific Rim Non-Vintage Chenin Blanc, $10.99

OK. Back to one of my favorite sweet winemakers.

I am obsessed with tracking down a bottle of Paumanok Vineyards chenin blanc. I read about it in Food & Wine magazine; apparently it's one of - if not the - best Chenin Blanc in the U.S. And made in New York State, no less! Heh heh, good luck trying to find it, though. Apparently, this wine is not one of the best-kept secrets in the States. Everybody knows about it.

So this is my runner-up coveted chenin blanc. First off, it's a non-vintage, but that doesn't matter so much to me if the wine tastes good & is well-priced. It's not much in the alcohol content department (12.5%). It's not much on the nose, either. This is one of the first wines I've actually smelled where I don't get much of a scent at all.

On the palate, the first thing that hits me is honey-covered honeydew melon. The back of the bottle says that there is "an eruption of floral notes and...pear, key lime and creme brulee." In all honesty, I don't taste any of those flavors, which is kind of a bummer b/c I'm a big fan of pear & key lime...and don't even get me started on creme brulee. The aftertaste is a little disappointing. Well, it's nonexistent, just like the scent on this wine.

So yes, chenin blanc is a little on the sweet side. Not sweet like Pacific Rim's sweet riesling, but sweet enough. And I love Pacific Rim, more so than most other vineyards in the U.S. So, until I can get my hands on a bottle from Paumanok, this one will have to do.

Cheers!

Kate

Foxglove Central Coast Chardonnay 2009, $12.99

OK. By now, if you've been following either of my blogs for any amount of time, you probably know that I am a big chardonnay fan as far as the non-red, non-sparkly wines go. I know, I don't get it either. But this bottle, which I picked up at Stew Leonard's, has a 91-point rating. That's a pretty high rating for a pretty small price.

For a white wine, this wine is so heavy that it almost, almost forms legs on the glass. Yeah, baby! That's the kind of white I like to drink, heavy. On the nose, I get a sweet, happy aroma, a bouquet of apricot, pineapple & peach. To be more specific, it smells like you took the juice that covers the pineapple rings & mixed it in with canned, artificially-sweetened apricots in that sugary syrup. I can also sense the teensiest scent of a sauvignon blanc in there. It's a tight, complex nose.

This wine tastes exactly how it smells. It doesn't fake you out or pull any punches. What you smell is what you get. And this wine goes down like water. Water. It's smooth, light, and clean. I don't even feel that alcohol-laced tingle on the underside of my tongue or the back of my throat as I swallow. Which is quite a feat, considering the 13.9% alcohol content.

This wine is great: well-priced, easy-drinking, highly-rated, and tastes just damn good. With a respectable alcohol content, to boot! Now, I know that I'm not supposed to pick favorites, but this one is a winner. Go look for it, it's a can't-miss! Find out more at www.varnerwine.com.

Cheers!

Kate

Pacific Rim Sweet Riesling Columbia Valley 2008, $10.99

OK. I am a sucker for Pacific Rim, and I'm not even a riesling fan. Whatever it is they do to these grapes, it is nothing short of astounding.

First off all, this wine gets major points from me because 1) It's got a screw top - love that, and 2) The bottle is accented in purple, my favorite color. So right away, it's hard to go wrong.

This wine is so light & pretty in the glass, with a graceful thin sheet gliding down the side of the glass. On the nose, it smells like a beautiful bouquet of mellow fruits & flowers - cantaloupe, peaches, honeysuckle. I am in love with the smell of this wine.

The taste is exactly as it smells. What you smell is what you get. I love the lingering honey notes on the aftertaste. Make no mistake, this is a sweet wine, even though the back of the bottle proclaims that it's only "medium-sweet." BS. It's sweet. Not sickeningly sweet, but sweet enough. I could see this wine being amazing paired with a creme brulee or an almond/pear tart or a fruit crisp. A delicate, understated sweet dessert, not chocolate - chocolate would completely overpower this riesling.

My only disappointment is this wine's low alcohol content. It's a miniscule 8.5%. That's something Julie would laugh at. Normally, I would too. But I love this wine, I do. And I'm so glad it's available at the Cost Cutters Liquor Store (affectionately referred to as the "packey") right across the street from my office. I can get out of work, swing by, pick up a bottle for a low price & head home a happier camper.

Learn more about this sweet riesling and more at www.rieslingrules.com.

Cheers!

Kate

Bogle Vineyards 2007 Phantom, $21.99

OK. I am a complete sucker for wines that come in a limited shipment. It's like Christmas: it only comes once a year, and when it's gone, it's gone. Stew Leonard's sent out an e-mail saying that the supplies this year were so limited that they couldn't take any phone orders for or hold any bottles of this petite syrah/old vine zinfandel/mourvedre blend. So you know I had to hustle my heinie down there and pick up a couple of bottles.

Disclaimer: I nearly killed myself to get into this bottle. The neck of this bottle is so big that I couldn't get the foil cutter around it, and had to resort to a corkscrew to rip the foil off. The foil is so frickin' tough that I slipped and almost cut my finger off. Well, not really, but my index finger is still throbbing.

This wine looks exactly like a cup of purple grape juice in the glass. It's pretty. On the glass, this wine forms a thin sheet with just a couple of thin legs running down within the sheet, so you can tell it's pretty medium-bodied. On the nose, the first thing that hits me is the scent of alcohol, which shouldn't come as a surprise, given the 14.5% sucker punch of an alcohol content.

Now for the taste. At first sip, I get this incredible deluge of flavors in my mouth, blackberries and raspberries with a hint of strawberries. I get a taste of rubbing alcohol in there, followed by a bitter component in the aftertaste, where the flavor of the old vine zin shines like the star of the show.

Hmm. I keep sipping this wine, but I'm not sure how much I like it. Straight-up red zinfandel makes me puke. It's the only grape I can't stomach. Granted, I've been sick on cheap wine before, but red zin in any quality makes me throw up. (FYI: the wine that got me bad was called Plungerhead. It came really well recommended and had a really cool bottle, but I threw up for hours.) I suppose that doesn't make me the best wine reviewer, it makes me sort of prejudiced against this grape and any blends that contain it.

All in all, this wine could probably use an hour or two of decanting. The tannins are harsh & bitter, and I really need a more mellow feel on my tongue and palate. Ask me again when I've decanted the entire bottle. Oh well, at least I bought two bottles. Maybe I'll open up the bottle in the cellar next year & report back.

Cheers!

Kate

Grant Burge The Holy Trinity 2002, $29.99

OK. I need to start this blog with a warning, because life is often not fair. Well, that's not true exactly. There are multiple reasons I frequent Stew Leonard's Wine Shop, and one of them is because I like the staff, they like me, and they get my taste in wine. And sometimes they even cut me fantastic deals. This wine was originally $39.99 on the shelves, but this was the LAST bottle in the shipment, so Bruce gave me ten bucks off to clear the shelves. See? Fair & not fair.

I've seen this bottle on the shelves before, but in all honesty, it never did anything for me. For Grant Burge, the "Holy Trinity" is grenache (39%), shiraz (36%) and mourvedre (25%), all dolled up with a 14.5% alcohol punch. First of all, grenache is more Julie's grape than mine, and second of all, what the heck is mourvedre? I really have so much more to learn about the wine world. Plus, my own personal "Holy Trinity" is more along the lines of cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot & McLaren-Vale shiraz, though not necessarily all rolled up into one wine. But who am I to argue? The price is right & the alcohol content ain't wimpy.

I love this wine on the nose. I'm getting some really deep, grapey grape aromas with hints of cherry & strawberry jam. Strawberry jam? Now this is interesting. The legs on this glass are really interesting: this wine is so heavy-bodied that the sheet of wine literally hangs on the side of the glass for 10 - 15 seconds before these stubby legs show up.

At the first sip, all I can taste is the unmistakable grenache, and all I can think is that Julie would love this wine. This wine is weird because I literally taste nothing on the palate & mid-palate, but the aftertaste is just explosive and long. It's really tart & gamey in the beginning, but it seamlessly rolls into this smooth, almost sweet finish with a hint of custard in it, almost like a blueberry creme brulee without the burnt sugar topping. Well, I've never had blueberry creme brulee before, but this is how I imagine it would taste.

I'm not sure if I'm loving this wine or not, but it is complex, and I always appreciate a wine that makes me think. I know Stew's doesn't carry it anymore, but if any of my readers are interested, it's imported by Wilson - Daniels Ltd, and you can phone them at #707-963-9661 or fax them at #707-963-8566.

Cheers!

Kate

Rodney Strong Estate Vineyards Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2008, $19.99

OK. Here we go again, people. I said I wasn't a fan of Rodney Strong, so Bruce at Stew Leonard's insisted I try this one. I'm actually a little prejudiced against pinot noir too. Blame it on the whole Sideways phenomenon. Not that I ever saw the movie, mind you. But even so.

So back to the wine. This is very pretty in the glass, reminiscent of a deep, dark cranberry juice. The organic, unfiltered type. It smells really pretty in the glass - the back of the bottle claims that it contains "rose petal, red cherry and pomegranate flavors" with a "silky" texture. And this is all true. I can smell all the aforementioned flavors as I take a sniff, which is not an easy feat, considering this wine's alcohol content is a 14.4% powerhouse punch and it doesn't even smell like there's any alcohol in my glass. There are some legs noticeable down the side of the glass, which is impressive because this heavy-bodied wine tastes really light & clean in my mouth.

This taste is making me really, really happy. To me, it doesn't taste like a straight-up pinot noir, it tastes like a light, luscious 79% cabernet blend with the remaining 21% being pinot. There is a really nice aftertaste going on, with the pomegranate & cherry flavors definitely shining through, though the cherry is not as strong.

Bruce recommends chilling this wine - sticking it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes prior to opening - and I concur. I can totally see this wine tasting better slightly chilled. It would be completely delightful. So a big hooray to Rodney Strong, who has finally, finally gotten me on board with his camp's wine-making skills. Please find out more at www.rodneystrong.com.

I would like to dedicate this blog to my friend's grandma Vaughn, who lost her valiant 5+ year battle with cancer on 6/17/10. Thinking on it, she was very much like this wine: strong, smooth, silky. She was a class act right up to the very end. I will miss her tremendously.

Cheers!

Kate

Yangarra McLaren Vale Shiraz 2007, $20.99

OK. I have to start this blog out with a disclaimer: I've tried this lovely screw-top wine before. We ordered it by the bottle at J.Gilbert Steak House in Glastonbury, CT (before they took it off the menu - BOO!!!) on September 18th, 2009. My husband's & my rehearsal dinner the night before we got married.

Admittedly, I was a bundle of nerves & energy that night, so I can't remember exactly what this wine tasted like, I just remember that it was good. And super smooth. Even my mom, who hates red wine, liked it. So I had Bruce at Stew Leonard's special-order a couple of bottles for me, just so I could have it on hand. I cellared one in the basement for a special occasion & kept the other in my wine fridge. I just haven't opened it yet. I just hate to open a special-order bottle for no special reason.

Readers, we buried my Grandpa today. It was one of the three saddest events of my life, right there with the death & funeral of my Aunt Margo and my family friend "Uncle" Marty. I mean, they gave him a military ceremony & everything. Even the priest got choked up. So this is a special event that calls for a strong wine. Bingo. This is a special wine that clocks in at a 14.5% alcohol content. I think it fits the bill nicely.

This wine looks gorgeous in the glass. It's a deep, dark purple color, so dark that it's almost black. The legs form instantaneously on the glass, showing off what a heavy-bodied wine it is. On the nose, it's damp & earthy. The back of the bottle claims that this wine contains "peaty and lignite characters" as well as the taste of cool breezes. That's exactly what this wine smells like, perfectly.

Oh my God, this taste of this wine is out of control. The first word that comes to mind is smooth. So smooth! And strong. There's a pleasantly bitter component on the aftertaste which I love. Peppery & spicy on the mid-palate, with some great earthy tones & a little bit of mineral taste. It doesn't feel full-bodied in the mouth, it feels thin & watery, but I'll overlook the mouth-feel (again, hate that word) because it tastes so frickin' good.

For all the Stew Leonard's shoppers: petition Bruce & the rest of the crew to put this wine on the racks on a regular basis. It's that good, you won't be sorry. Find out more at www.yangarra.com.

Oh, and Grandpa...I miss you & I will always love you.

Cheers!

Kate

Clos Palet Vouvray AOC 2008, $11.99

OK. I have to come clean here: I originally purchased this wine for a Memorial Day BBQ. It came highly recommended by Phil at Stew Leonard's, he even told me how disturbed he was by the fact that he & his wife both love this wine and she asked him to save her the last glass in the bottle, and it's been over a week now, so Phil can't stand looking at that one last serving in the refrigerator. Sadly, this wine never got used for the BBQ. As I noted in my other blog with Julie, my Grandpa was in the hospital.

Readers, tragedy hit me hard this week. My beloved Grandpa passed away on 6/4/10. He was one of a kind, almost 88 years old (his birthday is July 9th). He served our country in World War 2 by jumping out of airplanes into enemy territory 13+ times, serving as one of Donovan's Devils in the Office of the Secret Services (OSS), which went on to become the CIA. He spent over 40 years working in G.Fox before retiring in 1984. He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather & great-grandfather. And I loved him.

His wake was today & his funeral's tomorrow. Obviously, I need something to drink. And since Grandpa loved sweet wine so much (Riunite was his favorite), I felt that this 100% chenin blanc wine was a fitting tribute to him.

On the nose, this wine smells like a sauvignon blanc, acidic & crisp. Like the back of the bottle proclaims, it has a flowery scent, though I don't quite get the aroma of fresh almonds that it promises. There are no legs on this glass, the wine slides down the side like a heavy sheet. The alcohol content is on the lower side (12%), which may help explain its easy-drinking attitude.

On the palate, this is a pleasant wine. It has a very soft but full mouth-feel. (I hate that word. Don't ask me why.) It tastes like flowers with a little bit of tart candy flavor coming through, sweet with a sour aftertaste. It's a nice touch. There's also a teeny bit of sour cherry flavor on the aftertaste.

This wine definitely is not something that I would pick out on my own, but I like it. It's a pleasant, happy wine that my Grandpa would've loved if he'd gotten to drink it. I'm only sorry he wasn't. I will think of that lovely man every day for the rest of my life.

Cheers!

Kate

Rodney Strong Vineyards Charlotte's Home Sauvignon Blanc 2008, $11.99

OK. Everyone knows I prefer red over white. That's just who I am, which is sorta ironic, because my ENTIRE FAMILY prefers white over red. Go figure. (Shoutout to my dad, who will try any wine once: you rock for that! Even if he does prefer margaritas, from Margaritaville especially.) However, my wine fridge is pretty full on the red side. I have a dual-temperature, two-zoned wine fridge with two racks for white and four racks for red. You know it's bad when the white side is full of specialty beer and not white wine. So I asked Bruce at Stew Leonard's to pick out a good white for me, one that I won't feel guilty about drinking. You know, you tend to feel guilty when you open up a bottle that costs $30 or more just because you want a glass of wine. He picked this one out for me.

I have a problem, one that I'm still working on overcoming. I hate it when wines are a "popular" label. Take Robert Mondavi, for example. He's everywhere, from Woodbridge to the highest highs. It used to annoy me, until I took the wine seriously & tried it. Now I love Mondavi. I feel the same way about Rodney Strong. Plus, it's got a screw-top, which I feel gets a really bad rap in the wine world. So I took this wine and tried to love it.

Readers, I don't love it.

Now, to be fair, for its price point, this is a very good wine. It's got a decent alcohol content (13.8%) and a good taste. If I were blindfolded, I'd know without a doubt that I was drinking a sauvignon blanc. But that's as far as it goes. It's just not special.

This wine smells like alcohol on the nose, and its legs on the glass are nonexistent, really a fast-moving sheet that slides down the side of the glass like a kid down a playground slide. The back of the bottle claims that this wine has "ripe pear, spiced melon, citrus and a clean mineral character" contained within. I taste the minerals, I do, and I like them. I enjoy the mineral taste. (I wouldn't be drinking Fiji mineral water on a regular basis if I didn't enjoy mineral taste.) But, try as I might, I cannot taste the pear, the melon or the citrus, and I'm more than two glasses in.

I don't know what I was expecting. This is a very happy, easy-drinking wine, but it's not complex. Maybe I like a heavy, complex wine. Maybe that's my problem. But if you, the reader, prefer not to think about your wine and just enjoy it, then I'd recommend this wine in a second. You can learn more about it at www.rodneystrong.com.

Cheers!

Kate

Block 2 Syrah Horse Heaven Hills 2008, $19.99

OK. So this is sort of a cult wine at Stew Leonard's. Bruce sadly informed me that, after their next shipment, there will be no more Block 2 Syrah. There will be a Block 2 Cabernet, which is more my speed, but right now I've got the syrah in my hands, so that doesn't do me any good. And just so you know, this is not a straight-up syrah, it's got malbec & merlot mixed in, but it's still more than three-quarters syrah.

Onto the wine. Despite this wine's high alcohol content (14.6%), I don't smell any alcohol on the nose. I get a peppery scent, with almost a weird raw fish scent if I close my eyes & focus enough. I'm a sushi lover in addition to a wine lover, so this doesn't turn me off at all. On the glass, there are legs for days - short, thick, rounded legs. It's exciting to see such a heavy-bodied wine.

Wow, this wine is smooth. If this wine were a man, it'd be the type of man dressed in a luxe three-piece Hugo Boss suit with shiny shoes on his feet, a Rolex on his wrist & a Cuban cigar in his hand. Actually, that pretty much sums up how this wine tastes, like dark chocolate with a hint of shiny metal & the slightest bit of cigar smoke. This taste is mostly on the aftertaste, but wow, is it good. I'm excited when a wine is so full of contradictions: it smells like sushi but tastes like dark chocolate? Sign me up.

Here's the joke: I'm not even a fan of syrah. For some reason, I equate Syrah with Old Vine Zinfandel, which is the only wine I can't stomach. I don't know why, it must be some Freudian thing. But if all Syrahs were like this one, this little grape could become one of my favorites. And just think, if this vineyard can make a syrah taste this good, then imagine what is can do with a cabernet. Can't wait to find out!

Cheers!

Kate

Fincha Flichman Paisaje de Tupungato 2007, $19.99

OK. Anyone who knows me knows how much I adore red wine. If I had a gun to my head & had to pick one wine to drink for the rest of my life, it would be cabernet sauvignon from Napa Valley, followed directly by any red from Chile/Argentina/Spain. That should tell you a little bit about what kind of a wine drinker I am.

This wine falls into the 2nd category. It's a cabernet/malbec/merlot blend from Argentina with a high alcohol content (14.5%). It came highly recommended from Bruce at Stew Leonard's, who told me that the wine shop there is now catering almost exclusively to people like me, people who appreciate a fine wine & are willing to try something new.

This wine is very light, though not light-colored, in the glass. The wine falls in a sheet down the side of the glass, reminiscent of a sauvignon blanc. Odd, but manageable.

Prepare for a shock when you smell this wine. On the nose, all I can smell is rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol like when you were a kid & you fell, and Mom came to the rescue to clean the scrape before putting Neosporin & a Band-Aid on top. Obviously, this is due to the high alcohol content, but it still comes as a shock when you continually sniff the glass to see what other scent is in there, but nothing else comes on.

On the palate, this wine is kind of ho-hum. It tastes exactly as the back of the bottle describes it: "a...subtle combination of Cabernet sauvignon, Malbec and Merlot...combining the landscape and the spirit with which we wish to pay homage to our land." Read between the lines: this wine tastes like how a winery smells. You know that scent if you've been to even a local winery, the raw wood, the dirty hay, the damp earth, and the peppery alcohol. That's exactly what this wine tastes like. It tastes like you put ye olde vineyard wine shoppe in the blender.

Overall, I'm a little disappointed in this wine. I can think of better wines at this price point. While I'm feeling good after one glass & I most certainly won't be dumping it down the drain (alcohol abuse!), I will not be purchasing it again.

However, if you, the reader, are interested in dirty, earthy red wines, I encourage you to find out more information about this wine at www.flichman.com.ar or www.evaton.com.

Cheers!

Kate

Cline Viognier 2008, $10.99

OK. I like California wines better than French & Italian wines, and I'm not the hugest fan of white wine, so it makes sense for me to try something white from Cali.

The back label says that this grape is rich & exotically perfumed. I'll drink to that, no pun intended. On the nose, this wine smells pretty, like lots of field flowers and candy mixed together. And not chocolate candy, sugary candy like SweetTarts (a personal favorite of mine) and Pez. The back label also says that their viognier is "loaded with pineapple, peach and apricot flavors accented by floral and citrus notes." I get that. I taste the acidic pineapple and I taste the wildflowers in the aftertaste.

That being said, I'm a little disappointed because I didn't expect this wine to be sweet. I'm not a fan of sweet wines. My husband, that's the only way he'll drink it. But me, I like something not so sweet. On the plus side, this wine has some crispness and freshness to it. It's not like a riesling per se, more like somebody mixed half a bottle of riesling with a bottle of New Zealand sauvignon blanc.

I'm feeling good from the 14% alcohol by volume content after just one glass. This is some seriously potent stuff.

I like this wine. Not my favorite, of course, but one that I will buy again if the opportunity arises. The sweetness & the alcohol content will make my husband putty in my hands. ;)

Cheers!

Kate

Welcome!

Hi peeps! For those who don't know me, I'm Kate, and I have a cool blog with my girl Julie on cheap wine. (Said wine blog is Chicks Review Cheap Wine, check it out after you're done reading my blog!)

Now, while I don't have a problem with wines that are $10 and under, I like to try and review a lot of wines, and most of them don't fall into that category. So, because I like to take tasting notes and share the love, I've decided to start my own blog. Please join me, bring your own bottle, and we'll make it a party.

Cheers!

Kate