Varietal: Pinot Noir
Region: California – Sonoma County – USA
Cost: $21

Lighter red in color with aromas of cherry and flavors of rose petal, pomegranate, and cherry.  Time in French Oak barrels adds a hint of toasted spice on the finish.  Pairs well with lamb, pork, chicken, steak, mild cheese…pretty much anything.

Recommendations: Ah Pinot Noir…my one true love (of wine – I love my wife very much).  I’m always in the market for a good Pinot, and back in July, during a tasting at my local wine shop, I had the opportunity to try, and then buy, this Rodney Strong pinot noir.  To be honest, I had almost forgotten it was on my wine rack until the other day when grilling some pork chops and I kicked myself for forgetting about it.

Nice and light in the glass, aromas and flavors of cherry were the most noticeable to me, with just a hint spice on the end.  When paired with the grilled pork chops, the wine held up well, adding a counter note of cherry to the grilled flavor and marinade that I had added.  In short, it was a good pairing.

Most importantly, after the meal was done, the wine continued to be excellent on its own.  Pinot Noir is easily one of my favorite varietals because of how well it pairs with food or with nothing at all, and the Rodney Strong pinot did just that.  My only complaint with this bottle was that it was only 750 ml and not a larger bottle because I was definitely craving another glass after the last drop had been poured, and in the end, that’s the true mark of a good wine.

Definitely one worth picking up, especially for fans of pinot noir.

Varietal: Chardonnay
Region: California – Sonoma County – USA
Cost: $11

Light in the glass with aromas of tropical fruit.  Flavors of pear, apple, and pineapple with a creamy finish that pairs well with cream-sauced chicken, salmon, and mild cheeses.

Recommendations: While at Costco this weekend doing our monthly shopping trip, my wife and I picked up a bottle of the Simi Chardonnay to pair with the salmon we had already grabbed earlier in the shopping trip.  The back label of the wine claimed it would pair well with salmon, and I’ve always liked Chardonnay to cut through the fat of a good piece of salmon so it sounded like a good idea.

When we cooked the salmon, we put it under the broiler with a mustard herb crust that was, at least in my opinion, quite tasty.  My wife really outdid herself on that one.  As for the wine itself – meh.  The color was nice – a light golden color, and the flavors weren’t bad, pineapple, pear, and apple with just a hint of the creamy, buttery finish that I expect from Chardonnay, and while it did a good job of cutting through the richness of the salmon, I can’t honestly say that I would buy it again.

It’s a lowest common denominator wine.  What I mean by that is that if I was having a wedding, and I had to select a red and a white to offer, this is the kind of white I would choose.  It will satisfy the largest number of people, won’t cost a lot, and will go with chicken, fish, or cream pasta.  It’s a generic wine.  It reminded me a lot of a Yellowtail Chardonnay, which is another lowest common denomination wine.

So while the wine was ok with dinner, in the end, I know I could have done better for the price point, or at least the same for a few dollars less.  Not worth picking up.

Varietal: Petite Sirah (97% Petite Sirah; 3% Petit Verdot)
Region: California – Livermore Valley – USA
Cost: $15 (SRP)

Deep red in color with aromas of fresh berry fruit and flavors of blackberries, chocolate, mocha, and plums with notes of molasses, cedarwood, and ripe mulberries complementing creak oak tones on the smooth finish.  Pairs well with barbecued chicken or lamb.

Recommendations: I don’t have a lot of experience with Petite Sirah by itself, seeing it more blended in with other wines as a small piece instead of the main attraction.  I had been sitting on this wine for a while, looking forward to it as I enjoyed the 2008 Concannon Conservancy Chardonnay a couple of months earlier, but regularly putting it off to have this or that wine with this or that meal.  Last night I finally stopped putting it off.

I specifically threw some chicken on the grill, basting it in barbecue sauce to pair with this wine, and it was a good pairing.  The flavors of plum and molasses were most noticeable to me, though I suspect that the sauce brought those flavors out more on my palate than anything and pairing the wine with something like lamb would pull out more of the other notes.

I did appreciate the smooth finish, which I’m sure the small amount of Petit Verdot had a hand in, but I do have to say that I enjoyed the wine more with food than without.  That’s not so say that I didn’t enjoy the wine after the meal was gone, but I did find that the flavors I was getting were better with food than without, but that may just be my mixed feelings on molasses to be honest.

For somebody that cooks a lot of barbecue chicken or lamb, this is a good value wine that’s worth trying out.  If you’re like me and you’ve had plenty of wine blended with Petite Sirah but not featuring Petite Sirah, I would definitely recommend giving this a try as I think it’ll give you a better idea of what the Petite Sirah is bringing to your other wines.

Varietal: Blended Red Wine (33% Syrah; 33% Barbera; 33%Petite Sirah)
Region: California – USA
Cost: $19.50

Deep purple in the glass with aromas and flavors of blueberry, black cherry, cedar, and mulberry with a tannic zip on the finish.  Pairs well with Italian, Tex/Mex, spare ribs, burgers, steaks, pizza, meatloaf.

Recommendations: It was interesting for me to look over the tasting notes from this California wine and not see Cabernet Sauvignon thrown into the mix.  Now before I get a bunch of hate mail/comments, I know that California makes more than just Cabernet, just feels like every time I get a blended wine from there, some Cab manages to find its way in, so it was nice to see one without.

When I poured the wine into the glass I almost feel in love right there.  The deep purple color of the wine assured me that this would not be a light wine that would be overpowered by my meal.  Not that I was worried a quick dinner of pizza would overpower most any red, but I was sure that it would hold up to even the thickest, juiciest, most seasoned steak I could come up with.  I was right.

It took a while for the aromas to come out for me as the smell of alcohol was fairly prevalent at first, but after allowing the wine to open up I did start to get some of the black cherry on the nose.  I can’t speak to the mulberry on the palate (as I don’t know what a mulberry tastes like to be honest), but the same cherry that I was getting on the nose came through in the mouth.

My favorite part of this wine was the nice tannic finish.  I’ve always been a fan of a red that sort of kicks you at the end, and this wine did just that for me.  That’s not to say that the tannins were over the top, but they were there and present and there’s no missing them.  The wine was good with my pizza dinner, but I could have easily paired this with a steak or some pasta and it would have been just as good if not better.

Fortunately, for being a more bold wine, even after the food was gone the wine was still quite enjoyable.  Granted I enjoy fuller wines even just to sip on without food.  All in all it’s definitely a wine I would give another go to, especially this time of year as I’m spending a lot of time either grilling steaks and burgers or making quick dinners of pizza or pasta.

Special thanks to the International Wine of the Month Club for supplying the sample for this review.

For those looking for the wine you can order it directly from Home Grown Farms.

The first wine I tasted was the Monthaven Chardonnay.  I’d had this one before and it was exactly as I remembered – a touch of oakiness on the finish, but a fairly straight forward California Chardonnay that will pair well with chicken and pasta with cream sauce.  Next up was the other white I had already sampled, the Silver Birch Sauvignon Blanc.  It doesn’t feature as much grapefruit as a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile, but it’s still crisp and refreshing with good citrus flavors and is great for hot summer days.

Next up was the first wine I hadn’t tried before – the Big House White.  A blend of Malvasia Bianca (51%), Muscat Canelli (14%), Viognier (13%), Gruner Veltliner (10%), Pinot Gris (5%), and Riesling (4%) the wine showed the Viognier on the nose with a very floral aroma.  Tropical fruits on the palate made it a refreshing wine and one that would definitely pair well with seafood.

Moving over to the reds we started with the Big House Red (which I’m not going to list all the varietals in…there are just too many.  You can check out my previous post on it here).  A good table wine that would be perfect for a quick glass after a long day of work and for blending in with pasta sauces while cooking, none of the varietals really stand out, making it seem to have a single note, but it’s still a good table wine.

Next up was the one that I was probably looking forward to the most, the Seven.  A blended Spanish wine of Cabernet Sauvignon (25%), Merlot (25%), Syrah (18%), Petit Verdot (8%), Tempranillo (8%), Grenache (8%), and Graciano (8%), there was a nice berry flavor with good tannins and a robustness that I found enjoyable and certainly made me want to pair it with some grilled red meat.

Finally was the Boho Old Vine Zinfandel.  Jammy is the best way to describe this wine, and it lacked the usual spice and pepper that I associated with Zinfandel.  That being said, this is a BBQ wine through and through.  If you’re making ribs for a summer cook-out, this is a good go-to wine.

All in all I had a great evening, the wines were all enjoyable, the location was spectacular, and the staff was incredibly helpful.  I want to thank Cork’d for hosting the event, and Lima Restaurant and Lounge for your amazing service.

Varietal: Zinfandel
Region: California – Sonoma – USA
Cost: $20.50

Aromas of blueberry, bramble, chocolate, and white pepper.  Crushed berries, mint, and tobacco on the palate with oak tones.  Pairs well with grilled pork chops, braised ribs, Italian sausage, calzones, lasagna, manicotti, pizza, burgers, steaks, BBQ, fried chicken, meatloaf.

Recommendations: I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been a bit wary of Zinfandel of late.  It’s not that I don’t like the grape, I’m a fan of it, especially this time of year, but I’ve seen a trend in really high alcohol content on it as of late, and of that I am not a fan.  Fortunately, the bottle of Dry Creek Vineyard Heritage Zinfandel that was sent to me by the International Wine of the Month Club had a much more modest alcohol content.

Sporting 13.5% by volume, the aromas of blueberry and white pepper were able to come through on the nose, not being overwhelmed by the alcohol.  In the mouth I got tobacco and crushed berry, but none of the mint that was mentioned in the tasting notes (which is perfectly fine with me as I’m not a big fan of mint to be honest).  Paired with a quick dinner of pizza, this was a perfect pairing and one I would gladly do again.

What I found most enjoyable about this wine was the fact that I could easily imagine pairing this with just about anything that I’ll be eating this summer – pizza, burgers, steaks, sausages, or pasta.  The versatility of this wine makes it a great value and I definitely recommend grabbing a bottle if you’re looking for something to pair with your summer grilling.

Varietal: Chardonnay
Region: California – Livermore Valley – USA
Cost: $15

Light golden in the glass with pear and guava on the nose and flavors of fresh peach, guava, and pear with hints of lemon, herbs, and brioche with a creamy finish.  Pairs well with pork loin or pasta with cream sauce.

Recommendations: I’m always wary of opening a bottle of Chardonnay to share with my wife as she doesn’t like oaked Chardonnay (she doesn’t like the buttery finish).  However, when fixing a dinner of pork tenderloin, the bottle of Concannon Chardonnay called out to me.  I got a bit of pear on the nose, and flavors of peach.  The finish was nice and mellow, with just a hint of the typical buttery finish that you associate with Chardonnay that has spent time in oak barrels.

Paired with our dinner it was a winner.  The slight acid of the wine did a great job of cutting through the richness of the pork tenderloin, and the hints of lemon and herb complimented the herbs that we had added to the tenderloin.  While this wine certainly doesn’t break new ground, it’s a nice, solid Chardonnay that’s worth picking up and is a great pairing with pork.

Varietal: Pinot Noir
Region: California – Carneros – USA
Cost: $22

Dark plums, cherry, cola, and leather on the nose with flavors of soft vanilla, fruit, and subtle tannins with a lingering finish.  Pairs well with grilled salmon, beef, pork, turkey, and lamb.

Recommendations: After having tried the 2008 Waterstone Chardonnay, I was admittedly ready to give the 2007 Waterstone Pinot Noir a try.  I shouldn’t have waited so long.  Light red in the glass, I picked out some aroma of cherry, but the nose was overwhelmed a bit by the wine’s high alcohol content (14.3%).  It got better as the wine opened up, but it was still there.

Flavors of cherry, red fruit, and a hint of cola on the end (which weirded me out when I read about it, but was actually rather enjoyable once I tasted it), lead into a very subtle finish that was the perfect match for a dinner of salmon and orzo pasta tossed in olive oil with a bit of fresh basil and garlic thrown in.

As a big fan of Pinot Noir, I was very impressed with this wine, and while the high alcohol content was noticeable early on, the longer the wine was allowed to open, the less noticeable it became on the palate.  The flavors were well balanced and this wine would do well paired with most foods, making it a great wine to just keep around for any occasion.  At around $22 it’s perfectly priced and I definitely recommend giving it a try if you come across it.

Varietal: Chardonnay
Region: California – Carneros – USA
Cost: $18

Bright, concentrated citrus, pear, green apple, and nectarine with just a touch of oak on the palate.  Pairs well with chicken, pork, and seafood.

Recommendations: When this wine first showed up I was looking over the tasting notes and saw that it had spent 9 months in French oak and instantly thought that maybe my wife wouldn’t like this wine as she doesn’t typically like oaked Chardonnay.  Fortunately we opened it to pair with some grilled pork chops and she gave it a try.  She was glad she did.

Green apple and a bit of pineapple were noticeable on the palate, with just a hint of oak on the finish so that you know it’s not a stainless steel Chardonnay, but not enough to turn off those that don’t like oaked Chardonnay.  When paired with some grilled pork chops and sides of corn, potatoes, and green beans it was the perfect pairing to add a touch of acidity to counter the food, while still having some richness to compliment it.

For the price this is hands down one of the better Chardonnays I’ve had in a while and I definitely recommend giving it a try whether you’re a regular Chardonnay drinker or not.  A good wine and a great value.

Varietal: Merlot (89% Merlot; 11% Cabernet Sauvignon)
Region: California – Napa Valley – USA
Cost: $21

Deep ruby red in color with aromas of blueberry, cassis, and cocoa.  Berry fruit, tobacco, dark chocolate, and refined new oak all mix in the mouth.  Pairs well with beef, lamb, BBQ, roasted chicken, pasta, and grilled vegetables.

Recommendations: I’ve never tried to hide my apprehension about Merlot.  I’ve had bad ones in the past that had put a bad taste in my mouth (no pun intended), but had recently decided to give it a second go, partly due to some impressive Merlots coming out of Virginia.  With that in mind, I opened the Folie a Deux for a dinner of pasta and red sauce.

I was instantly impressed with the deep ruby/garnet coloring of the wine, and I managed to pick up some white pepper and berry on the nose.  Dark chocolate and oak were most prevalent for me in the mouth, which was a fine pairing with the dinner I’d prepared.  Tannins on the finish can certainly be attributed to the big of Cabernet Sauvignon added to the wine, but it was a fairly lush, full-bodied wine – what I’d been reading about Merlot but had yet to really experienced from a California bottle.

Now, all that being said, I have a big complaint with this wine – 14.5%/vol alcohol is just too much for any wine.  I know that I’ve complained before about the seeming race to see which vineyard can create the wine with the highest alcohol content that people will still drink, but it has to stop.  I was barely able to get any aromas or flavors, and only those that were bold because of the aroma and flavor of alcohol that permeated this wine.

While the wine was fine with my meal, the sauce helped to cut the alcohol, by itself I found it less pleasurable.  I did appreciate the full-bodied nature of the wine, and I think that with a bit less alcohol it would be a truly spectacular wine.  That being said, unless you really like the taste of alcohol I have a hard time recommending this wine.

Special thanks to the International Wine of the Month Club for supplying the wine for this review.