The wine in spain falls mainly in my glass (1 of 2)

The other day, I drank a glass of Rioja at a local restaurant for $10 a glass. Later, when perusing my favorite wine store, I was surprised to see the same wine sold for $14.99 a bottle. I am not sure really if it was a pleasant surprise; in fact, I was a little annoyed at my “by the glass” fleecing (even though I remember enjoying the wine tremendously.) However, it tasted like it had been open for at least a day at the restaurant, and I felt it warranted a fair and balanced “by the bottle” review. So, here it is.

 2006 Sierra Cantabria Rioja Crianza

Rioja is made from only one grape, Tempranillo. It is made to be very age worthy, and is available in many different levels. This wine is a Crianza, meaning it has been aged for at least two years in oak. It shows a dusty smoky nose. I noticed a nice acid and good power also. It was a little tight right off, but it showed hints of greatness. I was impressed by the well-integrated oak and dark raspberry notes. This wine was wonderfully complex and showed a long evolving finish. With the benefit of about an hour in a decanter the oak started to smooth out and the wine started giving up more flavors.  I loved the brightness of the acid at the finish, and found it cleansing to the palate. I give this wine 4 out of 5 arrows, and would highly recommend it to anyone. This is definitely well priced at $14.99 and absolutely what I would call a “steal”, but save yourself a couple bucks and always buy it by the bottle.

Cheers,

E

Aussie Aussie Aussie

Oy oy oy. Australian wines are known for a few things: They’re cheap, they’re fruit forward, and they are big. This makes it a perfect place for “The Hood” to research. To be fair, it is hard to call sitting around drinking wine research, it’s more pleasure than anything. I enjoy the whole experience of this blog. I love wandering the wine store with no idea what I want. There is always that “ah ha” moment when you find the right (hopefully) one. I saw this sitting on display at a local wine store with a RP score of 90, and purchased it. I then went and ran a bunch of errands, and basically forgot about it until about 9pm when I was really in the mood for a glass (or 2) of wine. Realizing that I had a Robin Hood wine to try, I leapt into action. I grab the bottle and my wine key, only to discover a twist top (stelvin enclosure). I thought "how convenient", and my girlfriend and I immediately popped it open. 


2007 Luchador Shiraz from R wines

Right away it was a fruit bomb, showing bright notes of raspberry and cherries with eucalyptus and pepper. Some hints of oak, but not a ton, probably was aged in used American oak. The Aussies are huge fans of the American oak as it gives enough flavor to stand up to the bold wines they produce. This wine was bold for sure, with all the power and fruit one would expect from those crazy Aussies. Alcohol was off the charts at 14.5%, but was well integrated. It had a definite viscosity to it, an almost chewy texture that stuck to the teeth and gums. I did notice a brightness that gives it a great drinkability. Not a terribly complex offering, but very good. Complexity is that certain something that separates good from great wines.  So I tell my girlfriend "I like this particular wine, but am not overly impressed." I follow that with the question, “What was this, like $15”. “No babe, it was $10 bucks”, “OH” So, for $10 this is a heck of a deal. For $15, which is what I saw as the average price online, it’s average to above average.  Great fruit and power, not much finesse or complexity. A good example of an inexpensive Aussie Shiraz, this wine is like a Aussie rules footballer. It has the brawn to turn your head, but not enough depth to keep your interest. At what I paid, $10, I would give it 4 out of 5 arrows and definitely recommend picking it up.

Cheers,

E

red or white wine?

please vote in the poll as to what you most typically drink, red or white wine. I realize that most of us really only drink reds, but I feel like we are missing out on some great white wines. My tastes in white are pretty much French only. I think that gives me a fun opportunity to try to expand my tasting to some interesting white wines. Let me know what you think by voting in my poll.

Cheers,
E

wine-ing with a little help from my friends

After the pirate invasion of Tampa Bay this last weekend a friend of the blog came over. He offered to blind taste a few friends on some steals he had come across. I don't have the exact prices or the names right this second. Truth is, we were already pretty snockered from the day's festivities. I am going to post this and then come back and do some editing as I pull all the details of the evening together. So here is what I remember.

1st wine I was way off on. It had a slight brick to the color an indicator of old world, but no rim variation another indicator of age and old r new world. I first thought french based on some color and earth. Then I decided it was South American, it had that kinda bell peppery thing going. I finally decided it was from Washington state and was a Syrah blend, probably a GSM. Then I thought, I am way to drunk to do this and I have no idea. I get a wonderful complexity with solid tannic structure and great finish. Turns out to be a carignan blend from Southern France costing about $10. We all agreed it was fantastic

2nd wine was bright colored dark ruby. Notes of min, eucalyptus and licorice. It had earth and was very mouth coating dry. I thought Italian, and again, I was wrong. This turned out to be the Foppiano Petite Sirah from Russian River Valley. Very solid wine, but I can't remember the price. I am pretty sure it is under $15.

On a day I had drunk way too much I was introduced to a couple of "steals". I will have these posts updated as soon as I can, I am just trying to write all I can remember of the evening. My notes are sparse and barely legible. Nonetheless, much thanks and respect to one of the great wine minds in my circle of friends. We call him "the spook" for his propensity to disappear at any time from any place. Thanks to him and all my readers and supporters. I appreciate the suggestions comments and ideas.

Cheers,
E

2007 Daglia Canyon Cabernet Rutherford

To all my readers, sorry I haven’t posted in a while. It’s been crazy here, between the Gasparilla festivals, the Warrior Dash, and starting a new job I haven’t had much time to write. I have, however, had plenty of time to drink. I wanted to try a wine that was recommended to me by an associate at total wine. Typically I don’t think they have a clue about anything there, but it was a '07 Napa cab, and it came from Rutherford, so why not?

2007 Daglia Canyon Rutherford Cabernet

Rutherford is known for producing very concentrated fruit, and many of the best cabernets in Napa call it home. I picked this up for $19.95, a little more than usual for me to review, but you pay for terroir. I opened and decanted this wine about 30 minutes before drinking to try to get the wine to open a bit. When I got to it, I noticed viscous concentration, dark ripe cherry, and the typical Rutherford dust. That dustiness is one of the qualities that embody the soil of the Rutherford sub-appellation of the Napa valley. The wine had notes of cassis, was very dry, and possessed a long lingering finish. I still found the wine to be very tight and decided to come back to it every half hour or so. The bottle says it is bottled in French oak, but I didn’t notice it within the first hour. I did notice a slightly off-putting metallic taste, almost irony, and thought it would continue to open up. After sitting in a decanter for 2 hours it developed some cedar notes, reminiscent of the inside of a cigar box. What I noticed at this point was that the wine had fruit, but wasn’t very complex, and it was extremely dry still. It was big, bold, robust, but the lack of complexity was disappointing. I returned 3 hours after decanting and started to get some of the vanilla notes that I associate with the use of French oak.

I have come to a conclusion on this bottle, and it’s not pretty. I would not call this a steal; it gets maybe 2 out of the possible 5 in my new rating system. It just never panned out. If you try this wine give it at least 2-4 years to mellow, and I would recommend decanting for 2 hours. This wine did open up quite a bit over 3 hours, and typically young Rutherford wines need that, but this just didn’t have the whole package. I would equate this wine to a one trick pony; it has power but no finesse. Oh, my original conclusion about the staff at Total Wine was correct. Clueless staff, but they do have a large selection of in-expensive wine. Trade-offs I guess. 

Cheers,

E