Archive for the ‘Wine’s Under $40’ Category
Varietal: 59% Cabernet Sauvignon; 19% Cabernet Franc; 11% Malbec; 6% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot
Region: Napa, California – USA
Cost: $40 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: Rich garnet color goes perfectly with the holiday season and it’s aromas of toasted hazelnut and winter spices make this wine the perfect gift for anyone on your list.
My Review: Another of the bottles that I received just before the end of the year, and on an unseasonable warm day on Sunday (pushing 70 in Virginia? Really?) my wife and I decided to throw a couple of steaks on the grill and a bottle of red wine sounded like the perfect pairing.
While there are some violet streaks going through the wine, it was a nice deep red in the glass and I picked up aromas of spice and dark berry. In the mouth there was a ton of fruit, but it was by no means a “fruit bomb”. By that I mean there was plenty of body and depth to the wine that allowed the wine to present nuanced fruit flavors and have a bit of complexity and a medium-smooth finish.
Well I’m back, but I have to say that I had a great time on my vacation with my wife in San Francisco. Now, what trip by your resident wino to the West Coast would be complete without some time spent in wine country? Exactly. My wife and I spent two days visiting vineyards during our vacation and they were both amazing. Our first day was spent in Russian River Valley where the call of the Pinot is strong and enticing.
Rodney Strong Vineyards
George and April outside Rodney Strong
We started our day at Rodney Strong Vineyards, in no small part because I had enjoyed spending time with them during the Wine Bloggers Conference back in July and also because as a big name in the area we both figured it was as good a place to start as any.
Last night I had the opportunity to participate in a Twitter tasting of several bottles of Virginia wine, which I was rather excited about, given as how I live in Virginia and am always looking to both sample new wines from my home state and to help promote wines from my home state to those that don’t happen to live here. A selection of five bottles was chosen, 2 whites and 3 reds, and myself and several other tasters in person and many more online all worked our way through, sharing our thoughts. Here are mine.
2009 Tarara Nevaeh White
Just in case you were wondering “nevaeh” is heaven backwards. Yeah, that’s what I thought too. A blend of 70% Viognier and 30% Chardonnay, with all the Viognier on the nose and nothing but Chardonnay in the mouth. Crisp flavors of honeysuckle and pineapple with a slight oaky creaminess on the finish. It’s not a bad wine, and would go well with grilled chicken, but I have hard time recommending it at the $30 price point. It’s not enough of a game changer for the price point.
2009 Notaviva Ottantotto Viognier
Very light in color and with a very subtle nose that came out the more I let the wine open up, but was never very bold. Light and crisp with nice acid and a hint of sweetness on the finish that was anything from bubble gum and cotton candy to banana flavored Now n Laters. The consensus of the people I was tasting in person was that it wasn’t very “viognier-y”. Of the two whites, I liked the Tarara better, but would could justify the $20 for the Notaviva more.
2008 8 Chains North Dry Red Wine
A deep purple/red color. The wine is a blend of 33% Malbec; 30% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Petit Verdot; 5% Cabernet Franc; 2% Merlot. Later in the evening, when I was finishing this bottle, the cabernet franc really started to come out (not a bad thing), but at the tasting flavors and aromas of smoke, berry, tobacco, and a jamminess made it a great wine to want to pair with a steak. For $22 this is a great value and one I certainly plan to pick up again. Read the rest of this entry »
Last night I had the good fortune to participate in a tasting of 4 Finger Lakes Gewurztraminers that was being hosted by The New York Cork Report and Finger Lakes Wine Country. Held at The Wine Cellar, where fellow blogger and tweeter John Witherspoon (@vcuspoon – you should follow him) hosted myself, my wife, and others for a tasting where we swirled, sipped, and posted our comments online to share with others doing the same. It was a lot of fun. But you’re probably wondering A) what we drank, and B) what I thought of it. Alright…here we go.
Our first wine was a 2007 Lakewood Vineyards Gewurztraminer. A good value at $17, it sports .9% residual sugar. Golden in color with floral, rose aromas (rose water was the overall consensus I think), it was light with just a hint of honey sweetness and apricot.
Next up was a 2008 Keuka Springs Vineyards Gewurztraminer. Also $17 with 1.2% residual sugar, though it honestly didn’t taste any sweeter than the Lakewood. Much lighter colored in the glass than the Lakewood (or any of them to be honest), it also had the honey and rose aromas with some light citrus on the palate. Very refreshing and a good deck wine.
Third on our list was a 2008 Sheldrake Point Vineyards Gewurztraminer. At $15 this one sported .5% residual sugar and was closer to the Lakewood in color. Sporting a more subtle nose than I expected, though still with the rose and honey, I found a combination of peach and pear on the palate.
Finally we tried a 2007 Red Newt Cellars Sawmill Creek Vineyards Gewurztraminer. At $36 it was far and away the most expensive of the wines, and at .4% residual sugar it sported the least sweetness. I got more floral notes on the nose the second time I looked for the aromas, and I got a nutty, almost oaked flavor at the finish. This was by far the most versatile of the wines, and could easily go with a range of grilled foods or light cheeses.
Overall I had a great time, and each of the wines we tasted was great. This is the second Finger Lakes tasting I’ve done, and it’s making me want to drive up to New York and visit some of these vineyards. Thanks again to John for hosting us and thanks to Finger Lakes Wine Country and The New York Cork Report for hosting the event.
While my wife and I are back from our vacation to San Francisco, I’m just now getting around to writing about our trip, mostly because we were having so much fun I didn’t have time to sit down and write. Fortunately, I take good notes.
While we spent the first three days in the city, on Tuesday we finally ventured out to wine country, starting off with Napa. The drive out there was beautiful, much like the weather we had the entire time we were on the West Coast (much to the chagrin of all of our friends back home on the East Coast).
Our first start was Trefethen Family Vineyards where we tried four different wines. Their 2007 Chardonnay was nice and light and very refreshing, with flavors of apple pie and a nice crisp finish. After that we tried their 2006 Cabernet Franc, which I found to be much smoother than the Cabernet Franc that we have in Virginia, with silky tannins following hints of white pepper and chocolate covered cherries.
Our third taste was their 2006 Double T Red Wine, a Bordeaux blend made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. This wine had a great body and my wife and I actually bought a bottle to bring back to Virginia with us. Read the rest of this entry »
