Wine Diary

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

2011-10-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-06T17:11:00.001-07:00

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

2011-09-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-19T14:53:00.001-07:00

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

2011-08-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-02T17:17:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-11T12:39:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

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

Cupcake Vineyards Prosecco, Non-Vintage, $11.99

2010-12-20T16:31:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-05T12:17:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-03T11:20:00.001-08:00

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

2010-11-24T13:38:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-19T12:00:00.001-08:00

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

2010-11-13T09:41:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-05T10:35:00.001-07:00

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

2010-10-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-17T14:40:00.001-07:00

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

2010-10-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-11T13:58:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-07T18:44:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-05-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

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