The Good Wine Guru » sangiovese

Big House Red 2010

George — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:00:51 +0000

Varietal: Petite Sirah; Tempranillo; Syrah; Grenache; Malbec; Mourvedre; Nebeillo; Tannat; Souzao; Aglianico; Barbera; Zinfandel; Petite Verdot; Cabernet Franc; Charbano; Nero d’Avola; Sanviovese; Sagrantino
Region: California – USA
Cost: $10 (SRP)

Winemaker’s Notes: This Big House Red lives up to that old Fruit Bomb moniker that you’ve come to expect. It starts with a nose full of blackberries and raspberries, with hints of leather and spices. The palate is clean, exhibiting flavors of cranberries, roses, and a touch of rhubarb. This finish lingers, with flavors of vanilla and a touch of dark cherries in the finish. Pairs well with all grilled meats, lasagna Bolognese, grilled vegetables, or even sashimi grade Ahi tuna.

My Review: The previous version of this wine was one of those that I was torn on. I liked what they were trying to do by creating a table wine with a little bit of everything that could then go with a little bit of everything, but I felt that the attempt created a wine that just fell flat. This vintage was different.

Now, to preface, I’m not saying that the 2010 Big House Red is some revolutionary wine, but I did like it better than the previous years bottles I had tried. They’ve changed the mixture some and I think it’s for the best. On the nose I got mostly raspberry with a touch of spice and in the mouth I got dark cherry and some cranberry with a juiciness that made me feel like the Zinfandel as much as anything was coming through.

With a dinner of pizza after a trip the grocery store to stock up after the Thanksgiving holiday, a simple bottle of inexpensive red was a welcome sight and I continue to be a proponent of what Big House is doing – making nice affordable wines that might not set the world on fire, but are certainly welcome after a long day at work.

Ruffino Chianti 2008

George — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:00:05 +0000

Varietal: Chianti
Region: Italy
Cost: $9

Ruby red in color with aromas of spice, cherry, and hazelnut. Flavors of fruit and berry in a medium-bodied wine. Pairs well with pasta, pizza, and most traditional Italian dishes.

Recommendations: I picked up this bottle last night after a long day of work. I’d had other Ruffino wines before and enjoyed them and was just in the mood for Chianti and thought this would be a safe bet. I should have grabbed another one. While the color and the aromas of the wine were nice – ruby red and cherry – I felt the wine was lighter than I was expecting in the mouth. The flavors were all there, berry, some cherry, and a noticeable tannic finish, but while Ruffino claims it’s medium-bodied, I felt it leaned more towards the lighter side.

While this bottle hasn’t turned me off of Ruffino wines, I definitely won’t be getting this one again, especially as there are other Chiantis out there for about the same price that have delivered for me in the past. Kinda disappointing.

Le Altane Chianti 2008

George — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:00:25 +0000

Varietal: Sangiovese
Region: Italy – Chianti
Cost: $6

Earthy notes with subtle flavors of crushed red fruit and a nice tartness with a good tannic finish. Pairs well with pasta, pizza, chicken, and beef.

Recommendations: I have a great wife. I really do. This past weekend, while we were up visiting our families, I was spending some time with mine, and she with hers. While out with her family, they stopped into the local Wegmans and she picked me up a bottle of wine – the 2008 Le Altane Chianti. I told you I had a great wife.

After a dinner out on Monday (for our 2nd wedding anniversary), we came home and opened up the bottle she had bought as we relaxed and let our dinner settle. A deep red in the glass that was nothing so much as brown (not in a bad way), the wine was subtle. A subtle earthiness with subtle flavors of red fruit, with a subtle tartness and subtle tannins on the finish. Subtle.

Usually I like my Chianti to have a bit of kick on the finish, but as I wasn’t pairing this wine with a meal, it was nice that this one had a more subtle profile. There was still enough going on that it would pair well with a pizza, beef, or chicken, but I would be worried about it being overwhelmed by a more robust pasta sauce.

All that being said, for less than $10, it’s hard to argue against this wine. It’s nothing flashy, but it’s a good table wine, and as anybody that’s been here before knows, I’m a big believer in the table wine. One worth picking up for a casual night at home, but probably not what you’ll want to pull out for the fancy dinner party.

Santa Cristina Sangiovese 2007

George — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:00:13 +0000

Varietal: Sangiovese (90% Sangiovese; 10% Merlot)
Region: Italy
Cost: $14

Ruby red with hints of purple color featuring aromas of ripe fruit with floral hints. Fruit on the palate with soft tannins on the finish. Pairs well with meat, roast beef, white meat, or medium-aged cheeses.

Recommendations: If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a fan of Sangiovese. While restocking my wine cellar, I picked up this wine with the pizza in my freezer in mind. Paired with a dinner of pepperoni pizza, the tannins managed to come out more than the alcohol (13%), though once the meal was gone that was less the case.

While I did get an initial aroma of ripe fruit on the nose, it was quickly overwhelmed by alcohol aromas, as were the fruit flavors in the mouth. While it doesn’t have the highest alcohol content of some wines I’ve had recently, it felt like it had more.

While I liked this better than the Il Valore Sangiovese that I had last week, I didn’t like it as much as the Di Majo Norante Sangiovese. A respectable wine that definitely needs a food pairing to be enjoyed.

Il Valore Sangiovese 2008

George — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:00:39 +0000

Varietal: Sangiovese
Region: Italy
Cost: $6

Garnet colored in the glass with aromas of cherry and crushed fruit on the nose. Cherry, crushed fruit and a spice finish in the mouth. Pair with pasta or meat.

Recommendations: Given that my wife and I have been snowed in for the better part of two weeks, our supplies of wine are starting to run low. While watching a movie (The Neverending Story for those that care), we opened up a this bottle of Sangiovese that I had picked up at our local Trader Joe’s in anticipation of the coming snow storms.

Fairly light in the glass and on the palate, I got flavors of cherry and spice, along with a little fresh crushed fruit. In typical Sangiovese style, the wine was rather dry and would have paired great with a pasta dish or some red meat, though it was a good compliment to the realization that the movies from my childhood may not have been as good as I thought they were.

While certainly not the best Sangiovese I’ve ever had, not even the best in the last 30 days to be honest, it’s really hard to argue against a passable bottle of wine that’s less than $10. Worth it to keep around the house for cooking/pairing with quick pasta dishes, but not good for much else beyond being a cheap table wine.

Di Majo Norante Sangiovese 2008

George — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:00:23 +0000

Varietal: Sanviovese
Region: Italy
Cost: $10

Violets, berries, spices and leather on the nose of this garnet colored wine with flavors of ripe fruit that pair with pizza, pasta, and grilled meats.

Recommendations: I grabbed this bottle of wine at a local store because, quite frankly, the price point was too good to pass on for a Sangiovese that had been highly rated by The Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator in previous years. Also, as Chianti is my first love of red wine, I have a hard time walking away from any Sangiovese.

Paired with a meal of pasta with red sauce and ground Italian sausage, the dryness of this wine was a perfect compliment. A bit of ripe fruit on the palate does take the edge off the wine, making it enjoyable well after the meal is gone (my mark of a good wine), and the price means you can pick this wine up in bulk to keep around for any occasion.

If you’re not a fan of dry wines, you might want to pass on this one, but if you are a fan of Chianti or any dry wine, or are looking to get into them, this is absolutely one you should pick up – easily one of the best values I’ve found for any red wine.

Big House Red 2008

George — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:00:10 +0000

Varietal: Blended Red (Sangiovese, Syrah, Carignan, Barbera, Zinfandel, Mourvedre, Montepulciano, Petit Verdot, Tannat, Aglianico, Petite Sirah, Nero d’Avola, Grenache)
Region: California – USA
Cost: $7 – $10

Cherry, raspberry, blueberry, cassis, and chocolate flavors all blend together. Pair this wine with chicken, ground beef, pizza.

Recommendations: I’ll be the first to admit, my wife and I first paid attention to this wine because of the bottle. We thought, if nothing else, it would look good over our cabinets (see my previous post if you haven’t already). Having looked over the list of what was in the wine, we decided that the wine would go better with pizza, and so when we ordered a pizza one evening, we opened the bottle.

I wanted to like this wine, I really did. I’m a fan of most of the varietals that they used to blend it, and I’m a firm believer in table wines that aren’t impressive, but aren’t bad. Unfortunately, the Big House Red just left me shrugging. It wasn’t terrible in a pour the bottle out kind of way, but it just didn’t do anything to make me pay attention – good or bad.

Big House Red threw the entire kitchen sink into their wine, and while I did pick up some fruit flavors, mostly I just tasted…wine. With so much going on in the wine, nothing was able to stand out. I’d seen that in previous years this wine was quite good, and that in previous years they had put fewer varietals in the wine, and maybe that’s what they need to do again.

An interesting bottle, but too much going on for any one thing to stand out. Not worth spending money on, even for the decorative bottle.

Jacuzzi Sangiovese

George — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:00:22 +0000

Varietal: Sangiovese
Region: California – Sonoma Valley – USA
Cost: $22

Bright raspberry, cherry, and pepper flavors with a deep red color. Light and smooth on the palate, pairs well with grilled chicken, red meat, seasoned pork.

Recommendations: Sangiovese will always hold a special place in my heart as Chianti was the first red wine that I ever truly got in to. Because of that, when my wife and I were in California back in October, I immediately was drawn to the Sangiovese at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards.

Light on the palate and smooth throughout with just a hint of tannin on the finish, it was a great pairing with a dinner of chicken caesar salad. My only real complaint with this wine was that it wasn’t a bigger bottle. While I’ve yet to find this wine back home on the east coast, if you’re a fan of Sangiovese or Chianti and do come across this wine, or you’re at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards in Sonoma, I do recommend picking up a bottle of this wine. It’s well worth it.

Monte Antico Toscana

George — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:00:06 +0000

Varietal: Blended Red Wine (85% Sangiovese; 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; 5% Merlot)
Region: Italy
Cost: $10

Dark garnet color with rich flavors of fruit balanced by robust tannins on the finish. Pair with red meats, pasta with red sauce, or sharp cheeses.

Recommendations: I’ve always been a sucker for Italian wine – Chianti will always hold a special place in my heart as my first red wine. When I saw this on this shelves at my local Costco, it was practically a no-brainer to pick up a bottle to try out.

The wine itself was a dark garnet red in the glass and while the flavors of fruit were noticeable, the big finish of tannins were what really made this wine an instant favorite for me.

Paired with a plate of sharp cheddar and crackers (some munchies while waiting for Christmas Day dinner to finish cooking), the wine was a great sipping wine that I could easily imagine pairing with a meal of robust pasta and red sauce.

Definitely one I plan to pick up again on my next trip to Costco and one I recommend you do as well.

California Wine Country Day 2 – Sonoma

George — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:26 +0000

So, it’s been a couple of weeks since I returned from my trip to California, and I realized that I haven’t talked about our second day in wine country, when we visited Sonoma. I’ve been busy. We drove out to Sonoma, passing over the Golden Gate Bridge (which we had originally planned to bike over at some point, but were suddenly very glad we hadn’t).

Our first stop was at Viansa Winery & Marketplace. The tasting room and grounds at Viansa are nothing short of spectacular, and I recommend stopping in there just for the view. We tried several of their wines, including their Senza Chardonnay, an unoaked Chardonnay that was light and crisp, the Reserve Chardonnay, featuring lots of butter on the nose, and a Pinot Noir that was velvety right up to the end where it showed a bit of bite.

We also tried a Zinfandel with that was jammy, with lots of cherry flavors but very little pepper and spice on the finish, much different than the Prindelo, which was very full-bodied and not at all jammy. The Sangiovese offered a spicy nose with fruit and tannins on the palate.

We finished up at Viansa with two Cabernet Francs. The 2004 Cab Franc was dark with with a fruity, jammy nose, and was the closest to a Virginia Cab Franc I had experienced on my trip. The 2005 Samuele Cabernet Franc was more robust, with a peppery nose and a dry, tannic finish.

Our next stop, right down the road, was Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. If you’re a fan of olive oil, I would recommend a stop to Jacuzzi for that alone. They have a great selection of flavored and unflavored olive oils that are worth the drive. But let’s be honest – that’s not the only reason I went there.

My wife and I started off with a taste of Carneros, which had a fruity nose, but was light and refreshingly crisp with flavors of citrus, peach, and cinnamon. From there we jumped into the reds with Pinot Noir, which was dry moreso than fruity, and featured a bit of spearmint on the palate. Next up was a Sangiovese that was very light on the palate and smooth. We took a bottle of this wine home.

Next was a Nero d’Avola, which is a Sicilian varietal, that offered strawberry on the nose and palate. The last two that we tried were a Barbera that had a smoky finish and is a great steak wine if there ever was one, and a Primitivo which had a very dry nose, but was very jammy and fruit forward on the palate.

Next we stopped at Sebastiani for some tasting and lunch. Before settling down for lunch, we tried several samples, including a Carneros that showed white peach and green apple with a hint of white pepper. Very refreshing, my wife and I bought a bottle of this to enjoy with our lunch.

Before we made it to said lunch, we also tried a very mellow Chardonnay and a White Pinot Noir that was effervescent, as well as a Pinot Noir with a great deal of spice on the nose, though not so much on the palate. The Barbera offered anise, black cherry, and licorice and is perfect for pizza.

Finally we tried the Zinfandel, which I found to be very smooth and would be great with BBQ, and the Cabernet Sauvignon which was soft and earthy.

Our lunch finished, we traveled to Ravenswood. To be perfectly honest, the only thing to say about Ravenswood is this: Zinfandel. If you’re a fan of Zinfandel than this is a stop worth making, if you’re not you’ll probably want to pass.

From there we traveled to Ledson Winery, located at a converted mansion that was absolutely beautiful. First up was a Sauvignon Blanc with melon on the nose and a white peach, semi-sweet flavor. This was followed by a Carneros Chardonnay, the Tres Frais, with a green apple nose and banana finish. Very light, very balanced acidity.

From there we moved into the reds with a Sonoma County “Old Vine” Zinfandel with raspberry on the nose and leather, spice, and raisin on the palate. This was followed by a Merlot with cherry and smoke, a Malbec with a black cherry nose and leather notes on the palate, and finally a Petite Sirah that was nothing so much as dusty and rough.

Our final stop of the day was Chateau St. Jean. Another beautiful estate, it was only enhanced by great wine. First up was a Pinot Blanc that was surprisingly robust for a white wine. Next was a Chardonnay that was amazingly light for having spent 15 months in French Oak.

Next we sampled an excellent Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon with a very smoky nose. Our final red was a Syrah before trying a Gewurztraminer that was off-sweet and refreshing. I’m not a fan of Gewurtztraminer and I found this one enjoyable and would certainly recommend it as a deck wine.

Unfortunately, like all things, my trip to California had to come to an end. If you’re already in California I certainly recommend a trip to any of these vineyards, and if you’re not in California…what are you waiting for? I want to thank all of the vineyards in both Napa and Sonoma that were so welcome to both my wife and I, and I look forward to coming out to try even more wine.