Rusack 2008 Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir, Reserve, $42.00

OK. One of - OK, he is - my go-to guys in the wine industry is the unmistakable Gary Vaynerchuk. Watching his Wine Library TV and reading his books & articles really gives me insight and drives me crazy wanting to try some of his highest-rated wines. In particular, in 2008 he reviewed this pinot noir (albeit the 2006 vintage) and scored it quite highly. I have been desperate to track it down, since I find pinot noir to be either really good or really bad. The catch? Rusack Vineyards is so small, it won't ship to CT, not even if your local package store begs. But they will ship to FL.

So I had them ship it down here for when I would be here. Yes, I know how this makes me sound, but whatever.

Right off the bat, I am horrified - and horrifyingly disappointed - that the cork begins to crumble as soon as I try to remove it. I mean, disastrous. This wine is way too expensive for this to be happening. I pull out my trusty Houdini which, thankfully, removes the cork in more or less one piece, but not without depositing some bits of cork back into the bottle. Blasphemous.

Moving on. This is a really dark-colored pinot; it looks like a less-opaque version of cabernet or merlot. Legs form in about 10 seconds, dripping slowly down the side of the glass. On the nose, I get the smell of drunken strawberries - young, not-quite-ripe strawberries drowned in vodka - which isn't so surprising, given its 14.5% alcohol content. (Yet another reason I like FL: the wines I try here always tend to have a higher-than-normal alcohol content.)

Holy CRAP, this wine is good.

Despite the cork bits floating around, I am genuinely moved by this wine. The first thing I notice is the mouthfeel, which is simply incredible. The heft is commanding, but so polished at the same time, almost like someone took a silver-polishing rag & scrubbed this wine before bottling it. On the palate & the beginning of the finish, all I taste are tannins. Firm, smooth tannins. Yet, as the finish continues, I get these beautiful flavors of fruit & flowers. I get the taste of rose petals, plums & cherries. They are so pretty that it almost bums me out to take another sip & wash away all these pretty flavors.

I check the back of the bottle and, lo and behold, it states that they integrated flavors of "cherry, violet and black plum" into this wine. Spot on. I love it when the back of the bottle gets it right.

Yes, I know this wine is expensive, and yes, I know I had to go through great pains to track it down. Was it worth it? Without a doubt, yes. It may not be a wine I'd drink on a Tuesday night, but it is a fine wine that I would spend the money on again & again.

I am also glad that I agreed with Gary's assessment of this wine. While I love Gary and find his tasting notes to be insightful & fascinating, I don't always agree with him. (A 2001 Hungarian dessert wine, one that cost me $56, comes to mind.) So, cheers to Gary, cheers to Rusack, and especially cheers to the state of FL for making this all happen. God, I love this state. http://www.rusack.com/

Cheers!

Kate

Michael David 2008 Petite Petit, Lodi Appellation, $17.00

OK. So here I am, back in FL. I think you guys might have caught a post a little bit back about buying wine at Target in FL, which still amuses me to no end. (Though not as much as being able to buy wine at CVS.) I was in a great mood when I bought this wine b/c I paid a lot less for it than I would normally pay for it in CT.

In the glass, a gazillion skinny little legs form immediately and drip back into the body of the wine, which is a super dark, reddish-purplish-black color that I can't see my fingers through. The nose is harsh & tannin-filled, very old-world with a cedar box component. The alcohol is only slightly evident on the nose, despite this wine's sucker punch of a 15% alcohol content.

On the palate, there's tannins. Lots of them. Big, mellow tannins with a hint of dirt. Then, as I swallow, that mellow chemical burn - an unmistakable trademark of the petit verdot, which comprises 15% of this wine - lingers, at once soothing & comforting.

This is definitely an old-world wine, both in aroma & taste. There are no happy fruit flavors in this wine. Instead, there is a truckload of tannins with a hint of cedar. It's a very mature taste, very refined.

I love this wine for a lot of reasons - the refined taste, the high alcohol content, the petit verdot component, the elephants & circus theme on the bottle. But most of all, I love it for the fact that this wine could go head-to-head with an old-world French wine more than twice the price and, in my opinion, win. www.lodivineyards.com

Cheers!
Kate

Channing Daughters 2009 Rosato di Cabernet Sauvignon - Mudd Vineyard, $18.00

OK. We all know how I feel about pink wine. (Blech.) But we also all know how I feel about cabernet sauvignon. (Love!) So this wine, a gift to me from my girl Woman, is a study & a challenge to me all at once. Bring it on!

In the glass, this wine is pale, pale, pale! It's the color of white-peach flesh, or maybe the blush in the cheeks of a girl in a Renaissance painting. Pretty! It is extremely heavy in body with legs forming immediately (and by the truckload). On the nose, I get a whiff of salt air & sea breeze (not the alcoholic drink, thank you very much). Not sure where that salt came from, but I am sure enjoying it.

Holy cow! This wine has just shot across my palate & shocked me in a way that I cannot believe. At first sip, right over my lips and teeth, all I taste is alcohol. Surprising, especially when you take into account the low 12.5% alcohol content. Then I get a hint of sweet, but sweet with a force behind it - I guess the best way to describe it is like sweet that's been knocked into my mouth off a baseball bat. And when I say sweet, I mean sweetness like a grape-flavored Jolly Rancher candy. And then, just when I think this wine is going to be all sweetness, it turns tart at the tail end, making me pucker up and think of something like a sour grape martini. The sour finish lingers, reminiscent of grape-flavored NERDS candy. An alcoholic candy store in my mouth.

Again, this is the reason why I love it when people bring me wine as a gift. This is not a wine I normally would have picked out by myself - in fact, the only pink wine I have EVER sought out was Francis Ford Coppola's Sofia Rose (and even then, it was really more for the bottle) - but I love this. I love cab, even when it's pink. Hoo-Rah! http://www.channingdaughters.com/index.php

Cheers!

Kate

Barbed Wire Meritage 2009, $11.99

OK, I just have to get this out of my system...I love Florida! Not only is it sunshiney & happy, but the local Target carries some halfway-decent wines (sometimes ones I've never seen before) at some pretty good prices. I flew into MCO last night, hit up Target to pick up my favorite snackey treats (hummus & raw veggies), and of course to find a bottle of wine. This one was the winner. And it was on sale, too! Kudos to you, state of FL, for being my second home & for selling wine all over the place!

This meritage is a blend of cabernet & merlot with a 13% alcohol content. The back of the bottle brags that it is a "bold, classic Bordeaux-style blend." Well, I'm game. And the all-black bottle taunted me.

In the glass, this wine is super-dark & almost opaque, with long, instantly-forming legs that shoot straight down the glass like they're racing to the finish line. On the nose, it truly smells like a classic Bordeaux-style wine, with damp earth & rusty nail aromas.

On the palate, this wine is extremely interesting. It's almost like a warm, rare steak on the mid-palate, but with a long, disappointingly bitter finish. The tannins are young & firm, almost to the point where this wine feels like it could be undrinkable. That being said, the mouthfeel is incredibly smooth, the wine feels very lush on the palate, and there is only a tiny alcohol tingle to remind you that there's actually alcohol in here.

I'd have to say, to fully enjoy this wine, a half-hour of decanting should do the trick. But c'mon! This wine is from Napa. When was the last time you had a twelve-dollar red from Napa? For the flavor-to-price ratio, the only thing better is Layer Cake cab.

This wine is from Sutter Home, made especially for Target. It's on sale now if you're interested. Go! Go!

Cheers!
Kate

Souverain Chardonnay 2009, $17.00

OK. I had a killer party on Friday, and one of my co-workers who reads this blog (she's ALSO the one who introduced me to that package store next to Ginza - you know who you are!) brought me this lovely bottle as a gift. So I figured I might as well open it up & drink it. After all, it is a chardonnay, it is from Sonoma & Napa, and it does have an alcohol content of 13.9%. Killer!

The back of the bottle has this to say about this wine: "Superb fruit, eight months of oak aging, and lees-stirring have created a rich wine with intense notes of pear and nectarine." Excellent. I'm salivating already.

This is a light yellow-colored wine, looking almost like a sauvignon blanc, but with a much heavier body - the chubby little legs spring up immediately and meander down the side of the glass. On the nose, this wine is very reminiscent of the Trinitas chard with its heavy, oakey, buttery aroma.

On the palate, this wine is really incredible. On the mid-palate, I get a honey-covered fruit flavor, but not a pear or nectarine but almost like a clementine. You know those teeny little easy-to-peel, often seedless oranges? Yeah, those. After the blink-and-you-miss-it deluge of honeyed clementine, the finish is long & buttery, with hints of almond & bakery bread.

The mouthfeel (...) is also incredible, thin but luscious, with the tiniest hint of acidity to it. I cannot believe how good this chardonnay is. This is why I tell people to give me wine as gifts - not because I'm a wino (which I sort of am), but because I LOVE sharing the experience of wine with people. I don't drink wine to get drunk; I drink it to expand my palate & share my tasting notes with others. That being said, I also love being introduced to new wines, especially wines that I wouldn't necessarily pick out by myself, that totally blow me away. Just like this one. I'll have to ask my co-worker where she bought this so I can replenish my wine fridge. http://www.souverain.com/index.cfm?method=homepage.showpage

Cheers!

Kate

Aquinas 2009 Napa Valley Pinot Noir, $17.99

OK. I used to be a huge fan of Aquinas' cabernet, back in the day when they still sold it by the glass at Max Amore in Glastonbury. I totally found this bottle by accident. I was eating lunch at my favorite Japanese restaurant, Ginza in Wethersfield, when my eating companions pointed out that there was a brand-new package store next door. It was so new, I didn't even get the name. But I liked it in there. The selection was great, the prices were incredible, and you know I'll be going back.

So back to the wine. Pinot noir is growing on me, something I never thought would happen but obviously suprised the heck outta me. It has that pretty purple-ruby color that I love, and it surprisingly leaves a bunch of thin legs down the side of the glass. On the nose, I get an interesting whiff of seaweed salad (ironic, no?) - it's wild!

Unfortunately, the flavor is a little disappointing.

This wine is not bad - far from it. It's just nothing special. The mouthfeel (...) is very nice, silky & smooth. The flavor is not exceptional, though. I don't get the "polished notes of cherries and red berries" on my palate, though I do taste the tannins. But, to be fair, the tannins are quite the opposite of bitter, and there's no alcohol burn down my throat, despite the 13.8% alcohol content.

Bottom line? For a few more dollars, I'd rather purchase the Rodney Strong Estate Vineyards. That being said, I'm tracking down a bottle of the cab. Now that's love. http://marketplace.donandsons.com/Brands/Aquinas

Cheers!

Kate

Layer Cake Cabernet Sauvignon, Vintage 2009, $16.99

OK. Much like the New Yorkers, when the threat of Hurricane Irene hits, I make sure I have booze. I like my wine, the NY-ers like vodka. It doesn't matter what you're drinking, though, as long as you like it & have enough of it.

I bought this wine yesterday. Yes, it's another Layer Cake wine, but like I mentioned in my last posting, I like Layer Cake. And I was so excited when I checked out their website b/c I didn't realize they made a cab. I've had their shiraz, their malbec, their primitivo (better known as zinfandel), and now their chardonnay. This? I like cab best of all, so I can't wait to try it.

I've opened this wine at my parents' "compound" (so named b/c they have back-up generators, extra beds & a three-car brick garage attached to their brick home). Since my entire extended family is here, I needed a strong wine to make it through the next couple of days.

The alcohol is prominent on the nose! Not surprising, especially since this wine contains a 14.1% alcohol content. (So it's not vodka. Close enough.) I truly get an alcohol burn in my nostrils at the tail end of the sniff. Otherwise, the nose is very, very tight - it smells like tannins, dark & bitter. The legs are long & beautiful down the side of the glass.

BOOM!

This might be the best young cab I've ever tried, and I don't make that comment lightly. The first thing that hits me is that it's smooth. The mouthfeel (...) is absolutely incredible! It is so easy & silky on my palate and tongue, it's like drinking wine-flavored water.

Much like the scents on the nose, the flavors on the palate are tight - almost too tight to discern. There is a dull chocolate component on the palate, not dark like an enjoyable Hershey's Special Dark miniature - one of my personal favorite things in life - but more dark like Lindt's Excellence 99% Cocoa Bar (http://www.lindtusa.com/product-exec/product_id/41/category_id/5/nm/Excellence_99_Cocoa_Bar), which is an ashy, dry, smoky pure-chocolate bar. The tannins exhibit a buttery, aged-in-oak flavor, almost as if this cab was a sibling to the chardonnay. The finish is a few seconds long, but mellow & satisfying.

I truly believe that this cab rivals the $70 cabernet from Cakebread Cellars, but at a much better price point. If you, my readers, enjoy a well-crafted cabernet sauvignon at a reasonable price, this one is it. This is my hurricane gift to you. Irene will be best remembered for Layer Cake's cab!

Cheers!

Kate

Layer Cake Virgin Chardonnay, Vintage 2009, $13.99

OK. These days have not gotten any better & I'm surprised I'm not drinking more than I am. I also want you, my readers, to know that I bought & opened this bottle based solely on the fact that it has a screw top (and the fact that I happen to like Layer Cake doesn't hurt).

According to Layer Cake, "virgin" equals "unoaked." Fine. I can deal with unoaked chard, as long as it's not trying to be sauvignon blanc. There's nothing I hate more about wine than one one grape tries to be another.

Sadly, while this wine is forming some pretty heavy legs on the side of the glass, it's not doing anything else to deter me from thinking that this is sauvignon b. It smells fresh & minerally like sauvignon blanc, and it's certainly the same pale yellow shade.

Impressively enough, it doesn't tast exactly like sauvignon blanc. It tastes, truly, like Layer Cake made a vat of chard, a cat of sauvignon blanc, then mixed the two together. I get the creaminess & buttery goodness of chard with the crispness & acidity of sauvignon blanc. The mouthfeel (...) is also closer to sauvignon blanc, thin & silky. There's also no alcohol bite despite this bottle's 13.5%.

I am liking this wine! It's not my favorite, but it just goes to show that I can enjoy something new that I normally wouldn't pick if it's a good vineyard. I so love the Layer Cake! http://www.layercakewine.com//index.cfm

Cheers!

Kate

P.S. I think this blog post gets the win for the most times the term "sauvignon blanc" is used without it actually being about sauvignon blanc. Sad.

Trinitas 2009 Chardonnay, $30.00

OK. This is one hell of an expensive chard. Bruce at Stew Leonard's told me it was a good one & that I'd like it. Reading the back of the bottle, I find that this wine "displays classic citrus aromas of lemon zest and its velvety finish leaves a layer of creamy butter, vanilla, and toast." Well geez, it sure as hell sounds delicious. And the fact that it has a killer 14.4% alcohol content is certainly to its advantage.

In the glass, this wine is a pale golden-yellow color. Then, on the nose, it unleashes its heavy, oakey, buttery aroma without holding back. Along the side of the glass, the wine forms stubby, fast legs that foretell the heft of this wine.

If ever a wine was true to the back of the bottle, this one is it.

I feel like a thousand flavors explode in my mouth on the first sip. It's a really interesting combination of citrus flavors (orange, lemon, starfruit - is starfruit a citrus fruit? I can't remember), vanilla custard, whipped butter, creme brulee, and french toast (minus the maple syrup). The finish is long & creamy, and I get this complex golden-brown-toasted-Italian-bread flavor on the finish. The mouthfeel (...) is incredibly lush & full, smooth with the tiniest hint of an alcohol tingle. Bravo.

That being said, I don't know if I will purchase this wine again.

Yes, it is delicious - I would never deny that it is delicious and obviously well-made. The proprietors, Tim & Steph Busch, obviously put a lot of love, thought and care into this wine. But I feel as though this wine should not be priced the way it is. If it were $20, I would buy it again to re-stock my wine fridge, no questions asked, as it compares well to the B.R. Cohn chardonnay. At $30, however, it is a bit too pricey for my taste.

Don't get me wrong, I have dropped more than $30 on a bottle of wine before. Take the Ken Wright Cellars pinot noir, for example. At $34, I thought it was way too expensive - until I tasted it. That wine over-delivered for its value, and I actually bought another bottle of it today. This wine? Delicious, but not over-delivering the goods for the price. So no, I probably will not be purchasing it again. Now, that being said, I encourage you, my readers, to give it a try once. Maybe you'll agree with me, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll absolutely hate this wine, maybe you'll love it & buy a case. Regardless, try it. You won't be sorry for trying it. http://www.trinitascellars.com/

Cheers!

Kate

Trazado 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, D.O. Maipo Valley, Chile, $22.99 or 2/$40

OK. I love cab & you all know how much I love a good Chilean red. So when you add in this wine's 14.5% alcohol content, you've got the perfect wine for right now.

The last three weeks have been hell on wheels. Where to begin? There are so many bad things going on that I could cry. But let's not dwell on the bad things. Let's just say, we need to have a shout-out to the following people: Ta, Pazza, Jill, Anthony, Kate's knee.

So this wine is a real treat. It smells really spicy & meaty on the nose, with quick-miving legs down the side of the glass. It's a gorgeous color, like a dark cherry red, which is nice b/c the back of the bottle says that there are "rich flavours of black cherry and plum" in the glass.

Tragedy. This wine is not as good as I hoped.

Now, don't get me wrong, it's not a bad wine, and it's certainly better than a lot of other wines I've had. It's just too damn spicy, plus the tannins are off-the-charts bitter. I don't taste the black cherry or plum, all I taste is spice & bitter.

That being said, the mouthfeel (...) on this wine is smooth & silky, and I can tell it's very well-crafted. I'm just not in love with the way it tastes. It's very Old-world, and while I don't have a problem with Old-world flavors, I do have a problem with paying this much money for a bottle of wine where all I taste is bitter.

Tell you what. I'll return tomorrow, when the rest of the bottle is decanted, and report back. This wine cannot be this much of a tragedy, I won't allow it.

Cheers!

Kate

Ken Wright Cellars 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, $34.99

Uh-oh. What the hell am I thinking, opening up a 35-dollar bottle of wine on a school night? Oh well, too late now.

Believe it or not, this has been a great week for me. Work days have moved along quickly - I can't believe tomorrow is Thursday - and I've even dropped five pounds. Nice! So guess what? I'm treating myself to a 35-dollar bottle of wine. Besides, it's about time I opened this bad boy up. It's been sitting in my wine fridge for the last four months.

On the nose, this wine has some pretty cherry blossoms mixed with a teeny bit of unwashed plum. It's very pretty in the glass, almost clear to a fault, with just enough purple mixed in. It's actually fairly heavy in body, leaving plenty of chubby little legs dripping down the side of the glass.

On the palate, this wine blows me away. It tastes even better than my previous favorite pinot, the undeniably good Rodney Strong Estate Vineyards from Russian River Valley. Even better! I get tart, soft cherries, plus the aforementioned cherry blossoms, mixed with good tannins. The mouthfeel (...) is outrageous! Just like Jem the 80s cartoon, but edible. OK, a little off subject, but the mouthfeel is insanely lush, soft, full & gorgeous. And even more incredible, I have no clue there's any alcohol in this. It doesn't taste like alcohol or contain the stinging burn of alcohol, despite having an alcohol content of 13.5%.

I can't believe I have a new winner in the pinot noir category. I didn't even have high hopes for this wine! Now here's a way to make any school night better, even if it is a little pricey (I could buy three actual school-night wines for less dough than this bottle). Please, please, please splurge a little on this bottle. You'll thank me later. http://www.kenwrightcellars.com/kwchome.shtml

Cheers!

Kate

Pine Ridge 2010 Chenin Blanc + Viognier, $12.99

OK. Those of you who have been reading my wine blog(s) for any length of time know that I prefer red over white, but if I must have white, I prefer a heavy, buttery, oakey chardonnay. You would also know that my personal holy trinity of red wine is cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot & either malbec or tempranillo (depending on the day). But what about my holy trinity of white wines? Without a doubt, it's chardonnay, chenin blanc & viognier. Despite the sweetness that the viognier (and sometimes the chenin blanc too) can bring, there's something about their body & heft that make me love them. So when I saw this white blend of 79% chenin blanc & 21% viognier with a 13% alcohol content, I was sold.

This wine looks like pee in the glass. Yeah, OK, not the most appetizing image. But if you can move past its color, this wine is just dripping with aromas of peach, honey, apricot, baby spring flowers...I want to eat it. It is so heavy-bodied that the legs just drip down the side of the glass, more so than even some of the red wines I've had.

But the best part about this wine is the taste. Despite its aroma, it is not sweet. Its flavor is reminiscent of a sauvignon blanc, slightly sharp, good acidity, minerally with hints of unwashed apple & pear on the tail end. Delicious!

I am so pleased with this wine, and not just b/c it's a good wine at a good price. As I've explained before, I'm not a fan of white wines from CA, especially not ones that aren't chardonnay. I'm not a huge fan of CA sauvignon blanc b/c I think there are other places - New Zealand, Chile, Australia - that turn out it better. This is a lovely alternative to CA sauvignon blanc, one I will purchase again. http://www.pineridgewinery.com/

Cheers!

Kate

B.R. Cohn 2009 Sonoma County Chardonnay, $19.99

OK. Back to my beloved chard. I love oaky, creamy, buttery, heavy-weight chardonnay. Now, just so you all don't go thinking I dislike unoaked chard, I don't. I just don't want an unoaked chard that's trying to be sauvignon blanc.

This is a hefty white wine. It forms a thick sheet on the glass that just hangs there & looks like it wants to form legs. On the nose, it smells like honeysuckle, lavender & honey-covered peaches. There's not a lick of alcohol in the scent, pretty impressive for a 14.1% alcohol punch.

I love the way this wine feels in my mouth. It is thick, heavy & silky, all at the same time. It is so smooth. I taste alcohol & peaches on the mid-palate, with the peach taste growing stronger on the finish. And man, the finish is going on for a while.

Personally, I happen to love B.R. Cohn. And I do love this wine. That being said, I have to be in the mood for this wine. This is not an easy-drinking, toss-back-a-glass-on-Tuesday-night wine. (Oops.) I just have to be in the mood for this wine so I can properly enjoy it & appreciate it. Learn more at www.brcohn.com.

Cheers!

Kate

Todd Lauren 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, $19.99

OK. I've never seen the movie Sideways (with my girl Sandra Oh, who plays Dr. Yang on Grey's Anatomy), but apparently it gave pinot noir a shot at stardom. It also crapped all over my beloved oakey chardonnay, but that's beside the point. The point is, I don't care what wine is popular (hence the reason you don't see me buying pinot grigio), I just go with what I think tastes good. If you happen to respect and/or appreciate my tasting notes, great. If not, that's great too.

So this wine came recommended to me by Bruce at Stew Leonard's. It's very pretty in the glass, a sort of red ruby/purple amethyst gem color that's so clear I can practically see through it. It's a heavy-bodied light body wine - does that make sense? It starts off as a sheet but, after 60 seconds, forms legs if left undisturbed long enough. I suppose that would make it heavy-bodied, but I'm leaving it as somewhere in the middle. The nose is very Old World, smelling of tannins & sour. On second sniff, it smells gamy & leathery, almost like a shoe in the oven with a Cornish hen.

Great, a sneaker in the oven with a roast chicken. Yeah, I know, doesn't sound too appealing to me, either.

One of the many reasons I love wine is that oftentimes, the wine doesn't taste at all like how the wine smells. In this case, that's a great thing. I get this very pretty flower/berry taste in my mouth, like daisies & blackberries mixed together, with a little bit of earthy, minerally flavors lurking on the tail end. It's smooth & silky on the palate, without a hint of alcohol burn or tingle. That's impressive, given the 13.8% alcohol content.

This is a nice wine that impresses me, but doesn't blow me away. And lets face it, $20 for a bottle of wine isn't cheap. I can think of wines at the ten-dollars-and-under price point (see http://chicksreviewcheapwine.blogspot.com/ for more details) that are nice bottles to relax with on a Wednesday night. I can also come up with other bottles for $20 or better, even pinot noirs, that'll knock my socks off for the same exact price. So, while I enjoyed this wine, I won't purchase it again.

Cheers!

Kate

P.S. Now, that bottle of Mohua, on the other hand, I've already bought again. And the Rodney Strong Russian River Valley pinot noir, too.

P.P.S. I'd like to send out a very special "F**k You" to Governor Dan Malloy for not only raising the sales tax yesterday and putting our state workers' jobs in jeopardy, but for also imposing a luxury tax on cars over $50,000, jewelry over $4000, gasoline, cigarettes, manis/pedis, hairdressing services & wine. I hope he pulls a John G. Rowland & gets arrested sometime during his term.

Honig 2009 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, $14.99

OK. I am not having a good day so I've never looked forward to drinking & blogging about wine this much. I figured I may as well go with a sauvignon blanc from CA b/c, if it sucks, at least it will go along with my crappy mood. If it doesn't, then it will lift my spirits.

So, why am I in such a foul mood, you ask? Good question. My dad is trying to transfer a vehicle to me, but I need auto insurance. The plan was to insure the car under my significant other's policy, where we could get a multi-car discount. It was a lot of phone calls & wasted time to the insurance company. Finally, we were all ready to go to the DMV, and my dad notices that the VIN number on the vehicle is incorrect. The insurance agent missed one letter in the VIN number & screwed everything up. My S.O. called the insurance agent back for a correction, but said insurance agent was gone. And probably 'til Monday. I wouldn't have minded, but I wasted my entire afternoon for this, and the agent is a freakin' d-bag.

So back to this wine, which came highly recommended by Bruce & Phil at Stew Leonard's. It's medium-yellow in color, leaving a clingy sheet down the side of the glass. It smells amazing, fresh, green & mineral-y. I get white rocks & a hint of green grass. Pretty.

On the palate, this wine is soft & lightweight. I get a spritz of citrus, followed by sour. On the finish, I get the freshness of green, but not exactly grass the way grass is, more like grass reinterpreted. And, curiously enough, I don't taste alcohol in this, despite its 13.5% alcohol content.

This is a nice, happy, easy-drinking summertime wine at a decent price. It doesn't exactly blow me away, but it's a nicer CA sauvignon blanc than most. Hell, I've recommended others that were lesser in quality, higher in price & lower in alcohol content than this one. So check it out, you might not be sorry. So even though I personally won't buy it again, I can see other people liking it quite a lot. Check them out at www.honingwine.com.

Cheers!

Kate

Pendulum 2007 Columbia Valley Red Wine, $17.99

OK. I almost got killed buying this wine at Toast in West Hartford Center. I ran across the street just as the light changed & I literally had to hold out my hand to stop two cars from mowing me down. Ah, story of my life. Good thing the ADA gave me life insurance.

This is not a bottle I would normally buy. First of all, what kind of grapes are in it? The back of the bottle doesn't say much except for "Intense flavors of berry, chocolate and spice artfully blended to achieve a complex and worldly wine." Not really my style. But it does have a 14.1% alcohol content. I can live with that.

I'm coming up on the one-year anniversary of my beloved Grandpa's death. For those of you who have been reading my wine blogs long enough to remember, my grandfather passed away last year on June 4th. Grandpa, who adored sweet wines, would have been intrigued by the description on the back label. And that is the reason I bought it, as well as the reason I'm opening it up right now.

In the glass, it looks like any other red wine - cab, syrah, merlot, take your pick. The body is so heavy that the wine clings to the side of the glass for a good 10 seconds before the legs begin to form - long, thin, spindly legs that take their time traveling down the glass. The scent of rubbing alcohol assaults my nostrils first, but midway through the sniff, I get this fantastic chocolate-covered cherry scent, much like the dark chocolate chocolate-covered cherries from Russel Stover that have the liquid-filled centers. Mmm, chocolate-covered cherries.

To borrow a phrase from the wine lord Gary Vaynerchuck, this wine has obnoxious silkiness to it. It is so lush, smooth & silky in my mouth, it feels like I am holding a wad of satin sheets in my mouth. (The real satin sheets, not that fake crap.) On the palate, I get this intense chocolate/cherry/berry mix, like I'm dipping fresh fruit into dark chocolate fondue. Oh, delicious. The finish lingers, reminiscent of grenache. I bet the predominant grape in here is grenache, which is totally cool by me.

The best part about this wine is that it's not sweet. Sure, it sounds sweet with its fruit & chocolate flavors, but there's a spicy little zip to it. It's like a dinner wine that's trying to be dessert-friendly. It could be great with dessert, but right now I'm liking it just as it is, chilling by myself with a glass in my hand. It makes me want to visit Walla Walla, WA.

Cheers!

Kate

P.S.: This is my official blog post in remembrance of Grandpa. On the actual date - June 4th - I will be attending his memorial mass, followed by my cousin Jen's wedding. I don't know if this wine would've been sweet enough for Grandpa, but I bet he'd be ballsy enough to try it. I miss you, Grandpa, and I still love you.

Bogle Vineyards 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, $11.99

OK. I'm backwards, and we all know it.

Back in January, in the middle of a snowstorm that eventually dumped over two feet of snow on the state of CT, I opened - and blogged about drinking - Bogle's chardonnay. Today is the first hot day in CT, hitting 86 degrees by 11 a.m., and here I am, blogging about Bogle's cabernet. What can I say? Red when it's hot, white when it's not.

This wine is absolutely beautiful in the glass, a gorgeous purple-ruby color. The nose is a little weak, smelling like cabernet tannins & little else. There is not a drop of alcohol on the nose, regardless of its 13.5% alcohol content.

A sour patch hits my palate when I take a sip. After that, I taste nothing. There's nothing on the mid-palate, nothing on the finish.

I can't say that this wine is entirely bad, though. It's not exactly a fine wine, definitely not a complex one, and maybe a little disappointing, but it's one that's easy to drink at a decent price point. It's not as good as the chardonnay, but that don't mean I'm performing alcohol abuse & dumping it down the drain.

Cheers!

Kate

2009 Mohua New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, $13.99

OK. I love this wine already & I haven't even cracked it open yet.

I enjoy New Zealand sauvignon blanc, I really do. I find them unmatched by any from Cali, that's for damn sure. This one in particular has a lot of things in its favor. One, it's a sauvignon blanc from New Zealand. Two, it's got a screw top. Three, it's got a 13% alcohol content. And four, it's earth friendly - profits from this bottle of wine help fund conservation projects to help the survival of the mohua, a small native bird on the brink of extinction.

Like I said, what's not to love? Even if the wine sucks, I'll be glad I bought it.

The aroma on this wine is shockingly good. I smell the crispness & minerally goodness in here first, followed by an overwhelming - and delightful - aroma of exotic green berries. It makes me salivate. I watch the raggedy sheet fall down the side of the glass into the medium-yellow body. It's not pale yellow, but it doesn't look like somebody peed in the glass, either.

I am so pleased by the taste of this wine. It tastes exactly how it smells. On the palate, I get the beautiful, fresh mineral taste coupled with the crispness & acidity, both of which are honed to perfection. On the finish, I get the berry taste. It's gooseberries.

Even the mouthfeel (...) is good. It starts off thin over the lips, but as I feel it on my tongue & palate, it feels fuller. And smooth. The acidity is there, but it's a smooth acidity, one that doesn't tingle my salivary glands or overpower the taste. Nice.

I love, love, love this wine. I am instructing all of you, my readers, to do a good deed & purchase this bottle. You may not love it as much as I do, but you'll feel better about yourself for purchasing it. Go. CT Beverage Mart. Go!

Cheers!

Kate

Estancia Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands 2006 Pinot Noir, $23.99

OK. Estancia, in my esteemed opinion, is like Robert Mondavi & Rodney Strong. They're everywhere at every price point. Which is not a bad thing, but really, how many do we need? Now, I adore Mondavi & I'm a huge fan of Rodney's select stuff, so I'm willing to give it a go. Hell, it's Cinco de Mayo. This is as close to a margarita as I'm gonna get.

In the glass, this wine looks like a cross between plum juice & strawberry juice. Weird, but those are the vibes I'm getting. A thick, slow-moving sheet sets up along the side of the glass, forming some stubby little legs after about ten seconds. The back of the bottle advertises a "spice-laced fragrance...with lush fruit and exotic smokiness." Um, maybe. I smell the alcohol up front (which is a big duh with a wine that clocks in with a 14.5% alcohol content), but beyond that, I smell earthiness, like wetlands, with a little mixed-berry aroma at the tail end of the nose.

This wine makes me incredibly happy. The mouthfeel (...) is priceless. Silky, medium-bodied, smooth. I would buy this wine just for the feel of it. On the taste side, I'm getting a quick hit of non-descript fruit & blueberries on the mid-palate, which dulls into a pleasant bitterness as it glides down my throat. I know, it doesn't sound appetizing when I put it that way, but trust me, it's fantastic.

This being said, this is not a wine I want to share. This is not a wine I would break out with friends, or order at dinner. This wine would be very food-friendly, but right now, I'm enjoying it just by itself, all alone at home. HA! Best Cinco de Mayo ever. Find out more at www.estanciawinery.com.

Cheers!

Kate

Ruinart Champagne, N/V, $69.99

I'm ba-ACK!

OK, I have to say, that was one hell of a Lenten season. Not only did I slip up a couple of times (a night in Florida with a magnum of house chianti & a night in West Hartford's Barcelona come to mind), but Charlie Sheen failed to deliver the goods. Bummer. But I learned the only good thing about giving up wine for 40 days is that you end up with a full wine fridge when it's over. Awesomeness.

One of the things I purchased was this bottle of champagne, for Easter at my in-law's house. For those of you who don't know, my father-in-law, Ta, is pretty ill. He's got terminal cancer, Mantle cell lymphoma to be exact. And he likes to drink. So I bought a bottle of this champagne for him. It came in a killer bottle in a fancy box. On a side note, the only reason I've ever heard of Ruinart champagne is b/c my FAVORITE boutique chocolatier, Vosges, infuses their champagne truffles with this. Yum.

As soon as I opened this bottle, the smell of apples hit me. Like the freshest apple juice you've ever smelled, all different types of juicy apples & one of those hand-held juicer things. It's a little darker yellow in color, like a clear, pale apple juice. How's that for irony?

In my mouth, this wine is dry. That's the first thing that comes to mind. Dry. The taste of alcohol is intermittent, the taste hitting on the rugae but disappearing at the mid-palate. I personally find the lack of apples on the palate disappointing. I also find the mouthfeel (...) a little disappointing, a little thin & watery. And dry. I think I mentioned that already.

The worst part about this wine is that, at the first sip, I thought it was the best champagne I'd ever tasted. By the time I swallowed, it tasted no better than my two favorite bubbly stand-bys, which I won't name now b/c I'll be reviewing them later, but one is $14.99 & the other is $18.99. That's a whole lot cheaper than $69.99.

That being said, I don't regret buying this champagne in a kick-ass bottle. I wanted Ta to have real champagne for Easter, not just the sparkling wine one, and this one fit the bill nicely w/out a three-digit price tag. So, my final review is this. If you want the real deal at a decent price, this will do. If you just want a bubbly, steer clear from Reims.

Cheers!

Kate

Public Service Announcement

To My Readers -

Beginning March 9th, 2011, I am officially giving up alcohol for Lent. (No, not crazy; Charlie Sheen's crazy.) I apologize for not being able to keep you updated on the latest & greatest wines, but I do promise that when I return, there will be more amazing wines to come. So sit back, hang tight & try not to miss me too much. I'm sure Mr. Sheen will keep you entertained until I return.

Cheers!

Sober Kate

2006 Olvena Garnacha-Syrah, $17.99

OK. It's bad to admit this, but I bought this wine for the bottle. It's a cool, almost cushion-cut (if you're into diamond shapes) bottle with actual edges, reminiscent of a high-end olive oil bottle. And it comes packaged in a box. A black box with an orange interior. Way cool. I normally have to pay over $100 to get a wine packaged in a box, so for under $20, I was game.

I love the smell of this wine. It's like grape jam, fresh strawberries, black pepper & sugar-free strawberry-kiwi Jello-O all hit my nostrils at once. There are lots of legs on the glass, denoting the heaviness of the wine's body. The color is a red-purple, clear, almost clear like a pinot noir (which is fast becoming one of my favorite grapes, but I digress).

This wine goes down my throat like water, it glides down so smooth & easy. On my palate, I'm tasting tannins, but mellow tannins, mellow like a little baby. On the finish, which lingers for a few seconds, I get strawberry Jell-O flavor on top of those tannins. Interesting side note: I can't taste or smell a lick of alcohol, despite its 14% alcohol content. It reminds me of the time I went to a bar with my sister, when she ordered some tropical drink that tasted like it had no alcohol in it, so she proceeded to order them & ended up tanked after the 3rd drink. You could get seriously sloppy on this wine if you're not careful.

Grenache is not my favorite grape (it's Julie's), but I could really get into this bottle. SSSH! Don't tell Julie I'm getting her a bottle for her birthday. Learn more at www.bodegasolovena.com, and please, don't forget that there's alcohol in it.

Cheers!

Kate

2009 Pacific Rim Columbia Valley Riesling, $10.99

OK. I am so excited because I've got another Pacific Rim wine to blog about, and you all know how much I dig this winery. It's so funny - I'm not even a riesling fan. But I feel like whatever this vineyard puts out, between the pretty label and the screw-top and the delicious taste, I'm never dissatisfied.

This riesling is, according to the back label, medium dry, just short of medium sweet, with "aromas of jasmine, pear and apple." (It also boasts an 11.7% alcohol content, which is pretty decent for these guys.) Mmm. The best part is that I can actually smell the jasmine in this wine, in equal amounts with the pear & apple. I also smell a lot of honeysuckle in this wine, which moves slowly in a sheet down the side of the glass.

As for the taste, the first thing I think is that this wine tastes like I took the dry & sweet rieslings, mixed them together, dumped them in a glass and drank. They're not kidding when they report this wine as being a nice compromise between the two. Mid-palate, I'm getting some hints of brown sugar cube, along with gala apple & the two aforementioned flowers. The aftertaste is like a soft, warm sugar cookie, but the finish is quick.

I like this wine, though it's definitely not my favorite in a long list of Pacific Rim wines. That's cool, though. I like trying new things & experimenting with all the labels this winery has to offer. And hey, maybe someday I'll be able to blog about a wine of theirs that has higher than a 13% alcohol content, you never know. www.RiselingRules.com.

Cheers!

Kate

2009 Bogle Vineyards California Chardonnay, $11.99

OK. First of all, I'd like to say, Happy New Year! Second, I'd like to say: I love snow days.

It is snowing like a demon where I come from. I've been watching the news all morning, and this storm, the one they're calling Winter Storm Benedict, has pretty much closed the entire state. The snow is falling at 3 - 4 inches per hour & a lot of the state has already seen over 2 feet of snow. That's feet, people. Two feet.

So, since I obviously didn't go to work, what better way to spend a snow day than sipping on and blogging about wine?

Now, I know I'm a little messed up. I know that winter calls for red while summer calls for white. I'm a little backwards. I truly enjoy red in the summer & white in the winter. For me, it's a no-brainer. Cold while it's cold, warm while it's warm. Which is why I lusted over & decided upon this bottle of chard.

This is a buttery-gold chard in color, really beautiful. It's not heavy, falling in a single sheet on the side of the glass. But it sure smells heavy, with its mouth-watering butter & oak aromas. And it doesn't smell like alcohol, despite its 13.5% alcohol content. This wine is making me salivate.

And no wonder! This wine tastes heavy too, though not in mouthfeel (ARGH!!!). In taste, it's a heavyweight, luckily tasting exactly the way it smells. It smells like oak & butter, with a tight alcohol taste on the finish. It's not complicated. Also, it's not smooth the way a buttery, oakey chardonnay usually is; it's sharp, like a sauvignon blanc. There's a little bite to it.

I suspect that if you, the reader, aren't usually a fan of a buttery, oakey chard, this is a great one to try. It's got the body of a sauvignon blanc with the taste of an oak monster. Quite possibly the best of both worlds. I highly recommend it, especially at this price point. It's a better white than a lot of others for the money. Learn more at www.boglewinery.com.

Cheers!

Kate