Sassy Bitch Cabernet Sauvignon

2007
Central Valley
Chile


This medium cherry bomb with ever so slight vanilla and herbal flavors and a slight pepper heated finish was a birthday gift from me dah. Thanks Dah.


With every bubble she sank with a drink
And washed it away down the kitchen sink.
The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are comin' so you better run
Run fast for your mother; run fast for your father
Run for your children all your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind.
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive

Florence and the Machine




7.75 out of 10
14% alc. by vol.
$10/750 ml. bottle

Carmenere

2007
Root 1
Colchagua Valley, Chile

For the price, this is a good buy.

Carmenere = "The lost grape of Bordeaux" - part of the original six red grapes of Bordeaux, it is more commonly found now in Chile.


Nice crimson color with a spicey blackberry flavor and a sort of herb-like beef bouillion finish. An all-over pleasant tasting wine. I am a fan of Root 1's Cabernet Sauvignon as well. This is more "merlot-like" and, as a merlot fan, I like it very much.

"But it feels like losing when someone you love throws you away . . . "
Ryan Adams, "Fix It"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si14rmNJcvA

8.25 of out 10
14% alc. by vol.
$10 / 750 bottle
root1wine.com

Los Vascos Cabernet

2006
Colchagua Valley
Chile

Overall, this wine is a good deal for the price. Owned by one of the more premier older French vineyard owners, this wine was medium bodied and dry with a light oak flavor and scent, mingled with green pepper taste, slight black cherry and black pepper finish. Not a long finish, not a deep wine, but perfect for every day to have on hand. The Guy and I reviewed Los Vascos 2004 Reserve last year, and I think I like this more.




My Wine Eludes Me

In the midst of hardening reality
Questioning, praying, on the edge of delusion and then forsaking
Only to initiate the cycle again

Knowledge, religion, veracity, asseveration
Ebb and flow through the veins
Afflicting the heart and the brain
Even my wine eludes me

Ransacking for solace, or just a sign
Beholding the electronic medium
It is the lyrics to a song that taunt me in possessive irony
The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" offers me no mental release

Nothing is as it seems



7.75 out of 10
$10 (or less) / 750 ml bottle
14% alc. by vol.

Santa Rita Reserva

2005
Merlot
DO Maipo Valley, Chile

Will drink again - good value.

A deep garnet color, this wine has an intense smoky creosote scent - once again, I pick up that very particular smokiness that I immediately associate with the wines of Chile. First mouthful prior to swallowing was an immediate pleasant sweetness. Then I was hit with the smoky-cresosote flavor I've experienced before, but this was immediately followed by a Eucalyptus mint combo that I've often heard described but had yet to experience. It was pretty cool. There was a slight numbing in the back of my throat with the Eucalyptus flavor, then a simple but definite finish. This was very, very good. And, quite honestly, it was nice to NOT have the typical "berry" description I am so tired of giving and tasting. I'm still a little perplexed about how we actually pick up black berry and cherry flavors from grapes, though I definitely tend to taste them. If I had to pick a fruit for the sweetness in this wine, I would finally happily report it as my first-time "plum" experience.

JESSIE

Her beauty radiates, like a Winter Solstice:
so serene and then suddenly wild.
She’s a dazzling composition of woman-child.
Emotional and defiant, then abruptly stoic and full of grace.
On the verge of thirteen, in her breathtaking face,
As if it was yesterday, I can still clearly see,
the incredible babe that was born unto me.

8.25 out of 10
14.1% alc. by vol.
$10.99 / 750 ml. bottle
http://www.santarita.com/

Arboleda Carmenere and Chateau Saint-Jean Red Rhone

Thank you Pasa Robles for your comments on "The Ball Buster". Your description of your experience sounded much more enjoyable than my own.

A few points up front:

1. The Bro made a great statement last night. He said he's been disappointed with wines because he gets "so in love" with finding new ones that he tends to forget what got him interested in the pursuit of the vine in the first place. This statement came in light of he and I enjoying pairing different foods with the Rhone wine last night.

2. In light of Christmas being in the next couple of days, I have put up a new "Holiday Poll" on what wine readers of this blog might be partaking in (provided you're having ham). I know many people have Roast Beef or Turkey. Ham is a tough one to pair with wine. Like the turkey, Pinot Noir is the favorite of many a wine shop owner as a pairing for ham. I will be drinking Pinot Noir because The Bro purchased a couple of special ones which I will review in a few days.

3. This is a blog that I am acutely aware is supposed to be for those on a budget. I realize much of what I've reviewed recently has not been "cheap". But I have been blessed enough with friends and family who gift me with more expensive wines on occasion. Please don't let that turn you away. Just put the info under your hat for a rainy day when you may find yourself able to spend a bit more on a special occasion. Then, may you remember what was good.

4. Check out The Bro below partaking in the second bottle of the evening. He's making a very poignant point!

5. I like my Christmas music all month long with my dinner wine. I hate my traditional favorites (Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Doris Day, Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller, etc.) being replaced by the likes of Madonna, Whitney Houston, Run DMC, etc., etc., etc. I tend to stick to the originals and don't like anything new. But Harry Connick, Jr. has succeeded in moving me beyond and has given me a new favorite that feels like an oldie. See the end below.


Arboleda
Carmenere
2005
Colchagua Valley, Chile

Will drink again - This is a deal for the price.

My brother has arrived for the Christmas Holiday and he has brought a case of wine. We first opened the Carmenere late afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it on its own. It's bouquet was of smokey cherry. It was very fruit forward on initial taste and then it heated up a bit before leaving with a slightly creosote-like finish.

The Bro and I agreed that we notice an interesting creosote-light smoke finish on many of the Chilean wines we've had.

Very enjoyable and highly recommended for the price.

8.25 out of 10
$12.99 / 750 ml. bottle
14.5% alc. by vol.

Chateau Saint-Jean
Chateauneuf-Du-Pape
2005
France
85% grenache
15% Syrah

Will drink again.

Tis the season for nutcrackers and chocolate. This red wine
was very good on its own, with freshly cracked nuts, with hot pepper jelly, well aged Cheddar cheese, with our swiss chicken dinner, herb stuffing, and sweet potato, and absolutely awesome with a piece of Hershey's dark chocolate.

The bouquet was very earthy with a hint of berry. The flavor was more of a generic berry followed quickly by earthiness (which I like) and then (for me) sort of a disappointing watered down finish. I don't know why, but French wines just do that to me. They smell like they're going to be great, they can even start out great, but then they finish weak. HOWEVER, once we started experimenting with the chocolate, this wine was great for me. Both The Bro and I immediately tasted chocolate cherry in the wine when it followed the chocolate. I also tasted tobacco. The finish was there when it wasn't before. And it was definitely cherry versus any other berry. Very good and fun to experiment with.

8.5 out of 10
14.5% alc. by vol.
$32.29 / 750 ml bottle

My heart told me once before
To find my dream and search no more
And when my heart finds Christmas
I hope it finds you too

Harry Connick, Jr. (oh! be still my heart)
When My Heart Finds Christmas

Carmen Reserve 2005 Merlot

Valle De Casablanca
Chile

Paso Robles, I am SO glad you found the Phantom as alluring as myself. You are a lucky dog that you've got yourself a case.

Might drink again.

Note: I have posted two reviews tonight. Please see my review below of Clos du Bois 2004 Chardonnay.

OK - This is very funny to me. With regard to the Phantom wine that I reviewed a few nights ago (the same wine I also refer to above in my comment to Paso Robles) I read an on-line review while looking where I might purchase it. The person loved Phantom, but one of their "tastes" they picked up was "Creosote". I made all kinds of comments to The Guy about whether or not he thought that person climbed into their fireplace and licked the back wall to actually know what creosote tastes like. Now, I know fully well in the back of my head that I have smelled weird things in wine that I have not actually tasted in real life (cat pee comes to mind for instance). So I really do know better than to poke fun at a strange taste. But I did it anyhow.

Tonight I eat crow. The Carmen Reserve had a strong bouquet of fruit and earthiness. The flavor was very dry fruit with a hint of vanilla, then pepper, followed by a slight smokiness and then . . .creosote!! I actually tasted what I think creosote would taste like. We had a fire in our chimney a couple of years ago (due to a buildup of creosote) and the smell that resonated that night was what I tasted in this wine. Therefore, I didn't particularly like it. But then the finish turned earthy and the creosote went away and it was slightly long. Even though it was a really weird experience, I am glad I had it. I like a wine that has the ability to make one taste strange things.

Take me to the vineyard.
Is it wrong, is it a sin?
I want to press the grapes into my hair,
rub their juices on my skin.
I want to bathe in moonlight,
pour the wine over my head.
Let it run until it finds my mouth.
I long to fall asleep in a vine-filled bed.

7.75 out of 10
13.5% alc. by vol.
$11.99 / 750 ml.
www.carmen.com

Calina Reserva Merlot

2005
Valle Del Maule
Chile

The wine urges me on, the bewitching wine, which sets even a wise man to singing and to laughing gently and rouses him up to dance and brings forth words which were better unspoken.

HomerThe Odyssey, bk. XIV, l. 463

I have learned my lesson: 1. Limit myself to one glass (unless it is a wine I myself rate greater than an 8, or greater than a Robert Parker or Wine Spectator 90 or 91 in which case, provided I am not responsible for any children or driving anywhere, I will just continue to drink as long as I am still revelling in the flavor - EVEN if I am alone, talking to the dog, belting out tunes, and getting jiggy with it.) 2. Don't buy wine without having Windows on the World Complete Wine Course easily accessible - like out in the car. I don't care if I need to leave the wine shop 3 or 4 times to go consult. Hell, from now on I will just bring the book in with me.

I bought a Chilean Merlot, 2005 Calina Reserva, imported by Santa Rosa, CA. But I was remembering (ineffectively) Kevin Zraly mentioning Chilean 2005 red being exceptional, especially Caliterra Reserve (not exactly Calina Reserva) and Santa Rita - Casa Real (not quite Santa Rosa, CA import) being two of the best wineries. Well, I did get the 2005 red right on.

I taste-tested this last night with corn on the cob and Chairman's Reserve Pork Loin. NOT a good pairing. However, Yellowtail Chardonnay was GREAT with the corn. Tonight, I had half of a leftover spinach, ricotta, mozarella, mushroom and fresh garlic calzone, and the glass of Calina
Reserva was better.

The initial tasting the previous night was that it was very dry for me. It had a fairly decent bouquet, and I thought it might be pretty good. But when I tasted it, my mouth immediately was dried out, there was a hint of cherry, followed by . . .nothing. It went flat and tasteless. However, having it again tonight with the calzone, there was a slight finish, though not as long as even the shorter version of what I like to experience. But I tasted a hint of vanilla. HERE IS THE COOL THING: Much later tonight, I ate a piece of dark chocolate and, as I am forever looking to find the perfect red with chocolate, I had another sip of the Calina. I tasted tobacco and it was really awesome. I am not particularly fond of tobacco, though I am sure there may be an instance where I might be interested in tasting it, I know both red wine and chocolate can let such flavor loose. I don't know if it was the wine bringing out the tobacco-ness of the chocolate, or the chocolate bringing out the tobacco-ness of the wine, but I liked it.

7.25 out of 10 (with the recommended food pairing of pizza, pasta or cheese and I might add chocolate)
$9.99 / bottle
13.5% alc. by vol.