Wine Skeptic

I’m skeptical of wine reviewers that spit. I would say this wine is a perfect example of why. On the nose and first taste, its dynamite, with great fruit (2007) with the heavy black pepper note that really makes a great balance. Now, after that, its gone.. based on my previous post, perhaps you need to drink this with some meat or sausage or something to refresh the palette so you can find the unique elements again? Literally I wanted the black pepper back and didn’t find it again no matter what I tried. Don’t get me wrong, its perfectly palatable and lovely wine, recommended, but I wonder if tasters get excited by fleeting elements and don’t see that some elements don’t stick around for the whole glass.
In fairness: pop-n-pour is just as bad, some bad elements truly can ‘blow off’ if decanted for a while and that can effect reviewers as well. Still, its a tough job, what do I know?

It’s been an eye-opening holiday, due to the economic downturn, or really the need for lots of wine and little cash I decided to dip into the cellar. This included some pretty pricy and rare bottles, mainly red. Hitting the fan on Christmas Day was a bottle of Umathum St Laurent which was my first foray into +50 dollar bottles. Also going was the Keenan Merlot, Chateau Sansonnet 01 St. Emillion, and quite a few others. The verdict? Well.. meh… outside of the Sansonnet which I had before and helped me fall in love with Merlot based wines from Bordeau, they all were pretty good, but not memorable. In a way this was really surprising, since I was saving these bottles because of the price and ratings.
Perhaps the problem is building up expectations, or is it the raison d’être of this blog, which is it reasonable to think more expensive means better? After delving into wine big time, I’m still on the fence, I think some taste profiles seem to mesh with long aging, well picked and processed fruit, perfect weather, slow ripening, etc. Because of the age issue, white wine still seems to offer better quality for less price. Tannins are still a mystery, but aging does help – the Sansonnet bottle was smeared with settled tannins, which if we drank them may have tasted harsh.
What does this have to do with the Colosi? Well, its an exciting wine, around 14 bucks, and since it was featured on Vaynerchuk, I gave it a try. Normally I don’t agree with his ratings, which I will go into later, but when you see a bottle at the local shop he has raved about, what the hell? The real star of this show is big fruit with big acidity which is balanced by sweetness and bitterness of tannins. Simple, huh? Balance, and also the multi-tier, you think it will be too sweet, then it turns acidic, then bitter, drink, repeat. See, this wine thing isn’t so complicated after all?

Braida (Giacomo Bologna) Barbera d’Asti Bricco dell’Uccellone

To go with the last 10 courses at Alinea (well, we seemed to lose count) and having loved the white, we were going to go white again but why not mix it up? So Jason came up with another biodynamic, another weird one, and a Barbera d’Asti, which I think I blogged about a nice one a few weeks back. So now we’re talking, this guy gave up the big barnyard on the nose, although my brother in law described it as roses. Perhaps conceptually a problem for me, but I suppose that fertilizer, perfume thing can throw one off. On the flavor just lovely balance of sour cherries and mud, so its burgundian in style. Again, no one complained, this one seemed to have more fans of the nose, which I concur, but another winner, and I think this goes for 50 a bottle, which puts it right out there in the stratosphere.

Nicolas Joly Savennières-Coulée de Serrant Clos de la Coulée de Serrant

Ah, Alinea. A big night out, and we had planned to forego wine since the food was determined to be too ‘weird’. However, we showed our true wine geek colors by trying to pick out some sort of Alsatian Pinot Blanc or something from the list to go with most everything. I give credit to the Sommelier, Justin Leone, who talked up a Savenniere that was biodynamically produced and something not to be missed. At 160 a bottle, I was pretty skeptical, and having a weird experience with one of this region’s offerings make me even more wary. However, hubris took hold and we went for it. I can say it was an overpowering nose, full of honey and marzipan. A deep orange color, and a taste like white tea with a shot of Jack Daniels afterward. Although not ‘hot’ in a bad way. I can say we were all ecstatic about it, which proves one point that white wines are far more enjoyable and worth paying money for than red. I think people feel red is harder to make or something, or more complex, but this, like the restaurant was doing it’s own thing its own way, which I appreciated.

Chateau de Genaiserie

After the huge meal at Alinea, it was fun to open a dessert wine at home. A category that I imagine most people would be completely puzzled by. I think liqueur or brandy may have the edge in most minds as a hedonistic after meal drink. Still, I have found more excitement in these wines, which of course have sweetness, but often not as much ’sugariness’ as any aperitif. Of course, it lacks the heavy alcohol that can be a bit more palette ruiner. This wine has a nice match in the Savennieres we had earlier, a good flinty, peachy, carmel flavor. A bit sweeter than some of my other experiences, but super enjoyable.

L’arpent des Vaudon

Oh boy, oh boy. I’ve been meaning to go on some rant about Sauvignon blanc. Normally its not my favorite. I find it has out of control acidity that is just unpleasant, secondly, it can have that rubbishy grapefruit thing that I feel like just buy grapefruit juice. However, it can have other neat qualities, namely the armpit / cat pee nose, which while somewhat gross, is normally a sign of some more complex flavors. This wine delivers that nose along with a rich, flinty mouthfeel, no wateriness at all. Add to that a tiny bit of Jalapeno, which is another nifty quality of this grape and its a complete winner.

Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape

My sister and brother in law visited this weekend, and you’ll see the dinner wines we indulged in, but had to go to the cellar and pick out one of the special wines. This one was a birthday present from last year, and something I had been anticipating. The notable quality was that we decanted this before going out to dinner. Dinner was.. excessive, so there was little palette left to enjoy it so I left it overnight, then the next night had a bit, and the night after had a bit more. I can say it was lovely balanced, spicy cherry and meat. Not a lot of barnyard, but terrior driven, but an ability to drink well out of the bottle, the next day showing a new profile of a bit more fruit, then the third day, the oxidation allowing actually a nice stewed plum element. A classy bottle.

Pio Cesare Gavi

In the ‘try new things’ I did have some excitement about this Gavi, since once again the local wine store is doing their summer clearance. I recall a certain amount of meh, nothing really memorable, other than a good thin white wine.

Lupine Hill Merlot 02

Not sure if I already mentioned this wine, but it was another half off thing, so around 8 bucks. This is what makes me ill about the Merlot-Sideways thing. Or perhaps ill is not the case, Merlot can be completely profound, as in this leathery inky, nicely aged (02) effort. And of course Merlot and Bordeaux go hand in hand. So for a lovely burgundian effort, give this a try, at 17 bucks though, the finish goes hot and crazy, but starts out lovely. For half that, its a real treat.

Tuttobene rosso

I’m back at the bargain bin, and I think Costco serves this up for 10 bucks, which is putting them toward the top of our ‘list’ on trying out some interesting wines at a great price point. For this effort I would swear in a blind tasting that this was a Chateauneuf dePape. A barnyard nose with bits of inkiness and soil, or iodine. And taste, that underlying squid ink flavor but mouth coating and rich, and sort of delicious, with some dark plums to counter the overall stinkiness. With a good amount of merlot like fruit ( I suppose its sangiovese, but wow). I’m going on the bargain train for this, since I have been burnt many times by 30-40 buck Pape’s, this really delivers a good full experience. I could say the flavor profiles may not appeal to all, but hey, 10 bucks, its worth the experience.

Viña pomal Rioja

I’m getting a bit more familiar with this treatment of Tempranillo. You should take a look back to the other Reserva – the Campo Viejo that i also reviewed (and adored). This one comes straight off the plane courtesy of Dave Fish, and the globetrotting parents of his foreign exchange student. It really seems like a ‘product’ in the nicest way, since the grapes are always stored a year in oak and there’s a year of bottle aging, the Crianza I think is straight to the table, no bottle aging, and the gran reserva has two years in the bottle. So don’t quote me on this. The flavor profile is very similar, dirty cherries, which must be the wood at work. This was quite good, although I was getting a nasty cold at this point, I would say more acidity than the other brand, so more food friendly.

Clos de las siete

The winner of our night, everyone, especially the ladies tried to slog this one down. At 15 bucks, I may consider a case, just extremely good transitions and quality make this wine a winner. Not too tart, not too sweet. I would say a bit plain, but polish is everything.

I portali Anglianica de vulture

An amazing experience, and at 10 bucks, something you all should try. There is a decent fruit, tannin, nice tasting and smelling wine, but at the end – boom – black pepper! As solid as a pepper grinder. I loved it, and would think paired with a good pasta dish, its killer. I tried an Anglianico before from a different producer and thought it was off, I would like trying a few more of this region though based on this.

Gallo chardonnay

So this is what they talk about when they mention oaky chardonnay! Wow, this completely tastes like buttered popcorn. With a little booze in it. I suppose the fruit is ok, and since I like popcorn, it was pleasant enough, but there is something fundamentally weird about the experience. Reminds me of a Merasault (also chard) with similar oak that I didn’t care for. I suppose Oak=price, its reasonable if the wine spends a year in oak to charge more, but for these wines, I think the chablis from a few posts back had more honest fruit, balanced wood, and generally more spectacular, this seems expensive and fake – at 20 bucks, there are much better choices.

domaine de la mordoree

Summer is coming, and its going to be the summer of rose if I have anything to do with it. Begin with this nice melon, with stones, and rich strawberry overtones. Who can not like this stuff, its delicious!

Bellefont-Belcier

I had a meaningful, but disastrous time last new year with some friends in California, basically looking for a decent bottle of wine. Being artists, and somewhat high society, they had a few bottles lying around, which we tried, all of which fell flat. I had purchased a bit of bordeaux, which also was unripe and unsatisfying. Finally we went back to their house where lo and behold their gallery owner had sent them a case of St. Emillion gcru (can’t remember the maker) which when opened and sniffed magically restored all that ailed and disappointed me. If I could describe it its the dirty fruit thing, but somehow stewed and mashed and explodes in your head. It also tasted great.

Now to this number, yes, has it all, but olfactory challenged, which leads me to the idea that just smelling wine can be enough pleasure, forget drinking it. I recall a pricy burgundy that I didn’t even want to sip, it was enough to just smell it. So, perhaps I let it decant for awhile, warm it up, something like that, but disappointing.

Regaleali Rose

Gotta love the pink stuff, this one has the most amazing color, a super cherry red, again nice acidity, a bit much for me to really go nuts, but since rose’s are almost entirely shunned, this is a good entry point, although look back to see the Elise post, that was something really special.

neumayer gruner

Beautiful acidity, with that odd little german medicinal kind of aftertaste, that since i drink all whites at room temperature most people won’t notice. Just got to give it up for gruner vetliner, and Austria seems to have some real strong price points. I do remember a chardonnay something blend that I should track down and blog about. A shame they only had one bottle of it, and, like many wines it is here and then gone.

Peltier Station Petit Syrah

Oh boy, I was afraid to try out a petit syrah, because they are not at all petit, and the fear of “fruit bombs” – or at least simplistic ones, is certainly valid. What a surprise, first of all, this is a super sugary jam toast kind of front end with super heavy tannins on the back end. It completely reminds me of Russian tea, you know that tea with the jam in it? There you go, and I must say, I like it! This was also a half offer, but the retail looks to be about 16 and I say go for it. Very nice.

Ash Hollow Somanna

Not sure what a somanna is, but this wine had the ripping acidity that I normally despise, but with some fairly clean fruit and lots of dryness, I can see this would be heaven with fish or fatty foods that needed some good acidity to keep it together. I tried it with sausages, but cooked them wrong so they ended up dry, so can’t tell you. Also, at 16 a bottle (another half off special for me) I would pass, seemingly not that remarkable for that price.

Keenan Cabernet

The half-price goodies keep rolling in, this is a big name Cali vineyard, and found it a pleasant well-made cab with decent broccoli on the finish, and a very dry plum and raspberry fruit. But all in all 30 bucks or so, doesn’t seem half as memorable as the George the other day or the one I’m about to blog…

Rioja rose

Some old friends at a party last night were big wine guys, and being a newbie at this, and having learned most of what I know from half off sales and Vaynerchuk (I just read Parkers bio, though). It was interesting to see them go on at length about cellaring. I am torn on the idea, most wine I have more than 5 years old is ill kept and usually not so great, also, its tough unless you buy a case to know what it tastes like young, to see it get ‘better” – plus the fact if it doesn’t taste good young, then what guarantee do you have it will age?
Case in point Bundy’s rose, an unfortunate nose of gorgonzola, with the flavor to match. Bracing acidity. Pretty cool its about 13 years in the cellar, but not… good. Since I just had the Elyse rose which was friggin delicious, why put it in a basement for 10 years and take a chance? Not like they are going to stop making this stuff… but perhaps I’ll come around. I still have the 2001 Barolo I’m afraid to open, now i’ll just leave it be..

Palmina tokay fruilano

Had some good long talks last night about how badly thought of white wine is in America, which is a great opportunity to try fantastic wines and not have to pay crazy money. Well, speaking of crazy, here’s a grape I’ve barely heard of, and a good ol 20 buck price point, if not higher. Due to the half off bit, it comes to me and I’m loving it. Nose of grapefruit peel, with a bit of honey, so the yin/yang thing is very intriguing. Then its super light looking but a huge bomb oily heavy mouthfeel, which is another great surprise. Again grapefruit, but with thickness, not acidity, so sugar and alcohol are taming what could be something auful. Outstanding length, as Gary says – not delicious, but for me, a memorable and would pay 20 easy.

Its odd I actually agree with Gary Vaynerchuk on this one – here’s his take:
#2; COLOR-light golden; NOSE-grapefruit candy explosion; sweet honeycomb component; sugar cubes; TASTE-nice crispness & acidity, fruit forward, nice finish; laser sharp focus of flavors (grapefruit, grass & hints of mint); the finish is awesome; lacking a little in the delicious factor; very food friendly; many $15 crisp Italian wines that bring this, but a very well made wine; GV-90

Puygueraud George

well, its Spring wine clearance here in Chicago, which is a time for the skeptic to try out all the 30-40 dollar bottles at half off! Besides seeing how the other half live we can judge whether price means any better quality of product, and rightout the gate comes this monster. Enormous fruit, nice soft tannins, while drinking I thought how long its been since I had a good solid Cabernet. What’s surprise g I’d the four grapes, bordeaux style, including malbec that make up this effort. As I progress through this bargain set I will easily mark this as worth 40, and would pay full price.

Elyse Rose

So many are afraid of the pink stuff, and for good reason, it usually embodies the worst traits of both white and red, lousy acidity with a strawberry kool-aid midpalette. Of course, a stunner like this elyse rose would change most peoples mind, once again a limo ride through the smell, floral, lilacs, then the first taste is a rich guava with mild acidity then a fully rounded aftertaste. Well made.

Swings and roundabouts viognier

wow, my first wine where they forgot to make it into wine, tastes pretty much like water. I suppose if I drank it chilled it could be considered refreshing, but so is tap water.

Peltier station viognier 2006

very hot at first – needs to decant to ward off some mojo left in the stem. But then this has that crazy ripe peach thing that viognier can do where you feel like its nectar to your bee. Which means I drank too much of it but since spring has come, this really brought home all the essence of full summer. Plus closeout for 9 bucks, what more do you want from a beverage?

Alexander valley vineyards shiraz 2004

Shiraz’ can be rather scary, the potential for fruit fire or heavy attacks of jam is high. While this itself is not unpleasant, the heat or alcohol taste that easily accompanies that big sugar can ruin it for me. It doesn’t matter if you are going for the wine coctail thing. But what impressed me about this effort was the price – got it closeout at half off 8 bucks, but the limo drive smoothly through the initial jam into the tea like midpalate and a fine ringing finish. No weirdness , just well done. Would love to blind taste against yellowtail.

Camron Hughes

This is COSTCO’s private label, and I’ve been pretty curious to see what the QPR (quality price ratio) is on these warehouse brand things. I’ve been on a Tempranillo vs Malbec exploration lately. And in this case, Tempranillo wins! Malbec is a tricky one to pair down, it has great tea like tannins, which make it interesting, but it also makes it samey same, and since theres a 5 buck malbec I like from Trader Joes, this 10 buck offering just doesn’t seem to add much. Will need more research, but this one is nothing special

Belleruche

Another 10 dollar costco buy, and very fruit forward for a rhone, there is a bit of interesting greenness to the back end, nothing profound. Yet I think this can be recommended for a lighter alternative to a shiraz or cab. Its obviously trying to play in that ballpark. The fruit is good, I just expect a different profile from a rhone. I’ll have to do a bit of research and see if this is mainly pinot, which would explain a bit. In fact lets say its a great pinot for 10 bucks and call it a day.

Tampo viejo

Wow, had a great run of reds that I need to get written up. A big 10 dollar roundup at Costco, I wanted to see what the midrange had to offer. My big surprise lately is Tempranilo, which can be quite fruit forward, rasin-y but charming in some styles, in this, bone dry, with a dramatic bordeaux like balance. Stunning, I need to really research this grape, considering the value proposition, it may be my go-to red grape for awhile.

Fortia Chat Pape

I’ve been reading my own blog and it appears to be about some nutty white wine drinker. Well, not to worry friends, I am all about the red as well. Not to mention pink, but I must say its been a rough road lately to even recommend something. Pulled out this fairly cheap Pape (20 bucks) and found it totally hot – as in paint thinner on the nose. Is it just me or are these mishandled? I have had so many reds ruined by no decent nose and just a super alcohol flavor. Perhaps its a style to compete with vodka tonics or something? I truly dont know but I put this away to have the last bottle of the bordeaux I reviewed about 10 reviews back, a shame really.

Fiano di avellino

Our local wine store got in quite a few cases of mainly Italian wine. All were heavily discounted – 80 percent off! In trying them, they were for the most part unremarkable. Many seemed quite dangerous, which I have heard refferrd to as “cooked”. However, this gem shone through with white stone, quince, jasmine and just a bit of grapefruit. At 3 a bottle, its a steal, but would happily pay full price.

Chablis grand cru 2005

At around 20 a bottle, most people won’t even think of buying wine with the word ‘chablis’ on the label. Not sure why this region has been maligned with jug wine marketing. In this case, a grand cru usually means pricy, but what was unexpected was the overall quality of this effort. Its basically lemon and stone, but balanced, proportioned, and with a good seawater bit of finish. Just plain classy, and good.

Heissenberg gewürztraminer 2004

Wow, this is just extraordinary. Total gold, nose of petrol, lychee, and booze, it smells quite hot, which worries me sometimes. However the taste is incredibly rich, but not from sugar, it’s spicy and nicely bitter. I think this really puts me on a kick to try more Gverz’s – there’s something about the flavor profile that is quite delicious. Beware though, I’ve gone through a few bottles, and some get ‘funked’ because they are using only organic, non-filtered techniques. Paid 20 bucks a bottle, which is a bummer, but cheap german/alsace wines seem to be rare. Once got it on close out, so again, keep your eyes open.

Saumur 2005

Yipes, the Loire Valley comes through in a crazy way. Got this for 10 bucks on a lark, and its the shizzit. Plums, pencil lead on the nose and just the most gorgeous mouthfeel. Yipes, am I the first to realize the French can really make some crazy good wines? I’m going to stockpile this baby.

Chateau Haut Rian 2006

Ok, this is what I really enjoy in a more ‘friendly’ white, meaning not sweet wine (for some reason we like desserts sweet but any hint of sugar on a white wine is disgusting – Mind you sweetness on red “fruit bomb” is ok). But I digress, this smells like fresh daisies in the meadow, strike that, fresh melon? A fresh unripe melon, honeydew? Well, its a tough one to nail, but I’ll say it smells delicious, so tasting it’s very rich, not bitingly acidic until the final moment when there’s a tiny bite to keep things honest. Refreshing, still that same sort of limeish flavor, but not. Boy, hard to pin down, better try another bottle.

Chateau D Epire

Wow, not my expectation at all, what a hugely hyped wine from sams, on the pricey side 17 bucks, and it just seemed – disjointed. The flavors were all there, lots of rocks and chard like fruit, but didn’t come together in some meaningful way.

Krems Gruner Vetliner

Got a great closeout deal at 3 bucks a bottle. I think the general fear of German wines can be exploited at closeout costs for great, easy to like whites. Of course some can even be profound, this one, not so much. But good lemonade, bone dry, and that sort of funky asian fruit flavor rocks.

La Posta Malbec

Took it over for “Lost” night and since I had a cold, I suppose I found it kinda ok, everyone else seemed more impressed, I would say fruit forward, a middle ground tannic tea taste. I remember it as a bit harsh, but I’m on malbec kick lately, seems well worth exploring further.

Hagen-daaz Brazilian acai berry sorbet

It may not be wine, but a huge shout out to the H-D folks who are trying out this new style of fancy desserts. In this case the tannic bite and overall complexity – orange pekoe tea flavors are stunning. Great qpr since it rolls in at 4 bucks or so.

Mark west Chardonnay 2005

its a typical oaky Chardonnay, but surprises with a decent balance of fruit. The Aussies come on strong for a 5 buck wine. I sense a touch of paint thinner on the finish, I may need to rethink this post.

Chateau de la taille 2005

Bordeaux keeps coming on strong, this has the great barnyard smell, decent leather and sour cherries to expect. And what? Only 8 bucks!

I started this blog with the thought that wine is really expensive, and hard to find good value for the money. Unlike our good friend beer, mass market product is rarely good. Over the past 6 months, I have totally switched my view. While expensive (sponsors are welcome), I think most people can provide themselves with some spectacular experiences by using basic judgement and following their palette. A first tip is to look for some bargains, I think the 40 dollar bottles marked to 20 can be very interesting, but ultimately the best way to find value is to look for 15 dollar bottles marked to 8.
Why would this be the case, why not 10 marked down to 5? Because there seems to be little reason to produce 10 dollar wine with any exciting qualities. I think it’s much like restaurants capturing the low ground is a safe bet, and the high ground, but middle ground (think Chilis) is a tougher place to find good value.
15 dollar bottles on sale I tried recently (only got 1/3 off)
Brassac 2005 Bordeaux
Chinot 2005 Cabernet Franc