Four Vines Zinfandel

The Sophisticate
Paso Robles
2008
Sonoma County, CA

The first night we had this, which I believe was on Christmas Eve, I SO loved it that I couldn't stop commenting on it. My brother brought a couple of bottles along with many others. As we had only so many days and so many wines to try, we didn't get to the second bottle. He, very kindly, left the second unopened bottle with me upon his departure.

I kept it to have with a roast turkey on New Years Day. It just WASN"T the same - I HATE that!!!! I raved about the first bottle. Over the years I have found that red zins accompany turkey nicely so I couldn't wait to open the second bottle with our New Year's Day dinner. And it was good. It just wasn't as good as the first night. I don't know why. The food was different for sure. However, I had a glass prior to food BOTH times and the first time surpassed the second. Reason unknown.

Now, on New Years Day, I did open a bottle of Bogle's Phantom which we enjoyed while I was preparing dinner. I must say, The Sohpisticate then paled in comparison following in the footsteps of the smokey smooth flavors of Phantom. THAT said, I had another bottle of Phantom tonight that was just as disappointing the second time around as The Sophisticate was the second time around. Both Phantoms were the SAME vintage. I had both with no food at first. Totally perplexing!!!

As this review is for The Sophisticate I am going to go with my first impression with the first bottle. It was delicious. It was very smooth, with a lingering vanilla and oak finish.

You don't look at Daddy the way I look at Noah. You don't touch or laugh. You don't play. You don't know anything about love.

---character of Allie in The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

8.25 out of 10
14.8% alc. by vol.
$20 / 750 ml. bottle

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

Duck Walk Vineyards Rose

2009
The Hamptons, Long Island (must be said with a Thurston Howell, III-type voice Lovey)

This was part of the Thanksgiving Day lineup. I have made it a mission to find something that this accompanies well, though I did use it mostly in cooking. On Thanksgiving, our appetizers were shrimp cocktail, aged upstate NY Cheddar with rosemary crackers, curried cashews, and prosciutto and fontina pinwheels. The Riesling we had accompanied all very well. The Rose was weakened by the other powerhouse flavors. However, I added it to my turkey soup and it tasted good accompanying the soup as well as with risotto and ginger and garlic sauteed chicken breasts that I made for dinner tonight (I did add 1 cup to the risotto). I would have thought the ginger and garlic were too strong of flavors and would have drowned out the wine, but they tasted surprisingly good together.

I was pleasantly shocked by this wine's dryness. I expected it would be weak and sweet, but it had more flavor and punch than I thought it would. Made from Merlot grapes, it was better than I anticipated. It was somewhere between a sauvignon blanc and a light summer chardonnay. It had a light strawberry like flavor with a crisp, almost floral finish. As it states on the bottle, it is better served with "light fare".

Let the angels sing around us
Christmas time is here
Let our children's love surround us
Laughing and filled with cheer

Harry Connick, Jr.
When My Heart Finds Christmas


7.5 out of 10
12% alc. by vol.
$14 / 750 ml. bottle

THANKSGIVING Line Up

A shot of labels to accompany my Thanksgiving 2010 wine list shown on the right. The zin will be served with the bird and the main course. The Riesling and Rose will accompany appetizers pre-dinner, the challenge of which I am still planning, around the wine of course. The cuvee will hopefully be enjoyed at day's end, with the kitchen cleaned up, relaxing in front of a warm fire. :)

Cakebread Chardonnay

2009

Cakebread Cellars

Chardonnay

NAPA Valley, CA

This one is short and sweet. It was a good wine. It was recommended highly by a friend. It was given to me by another friend. (I have nice friends.) It was big citrus fruit and slight apple, and enjoyable, but just not the heavy body or minerality I look for in a chardonnay.

Given the choice between this $32 bottle and my previously reviewd $19 bottle of Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve chardonnay - I am going with the KJ Grand Reserve ALL THE WAY. The distinct flavor and minerality, as well as the extra body make the KJ a way better deal in my opinion.

I've been doubting yours, baby

I've been doubting mine

I've been out of circulation

Where the sun don't shine

. . .Have to draw the line

David Gray, Draw the Line

8.0 out of 10

$32 / 750 ml. bottle

14.1% alc. by vol.

Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay

2008

Grand Reserve

55% Monterey and 45% Santa Barbara County

California

I've got a real simple description: EXCELLENT. Mineral notes, hint of vanilla, big time pear and oak. My current chardonnay favorite for the year. Reminds me greatly of the 2006 Clos du Bois chardonnay.

Fantastic alone and very good with homemade organic chicken soup. All around total SOUL FOOD evening.

Off to do some yoga. Ciao.

well it wasn't me says the boy with the gun

sure i pulled the trigger but it needed to be done

because life's been killing me ever since it begun

you can't blame me cause I'm too young

you cant blame me sure the killer was my son

but I didn't teach him to pull the trigger of the gun

it's the killing on this TV screen

you can't blame me it's those images he's seen

well you can't blame me says the media man

well I wasn't the one who came up with the plan

and I just point my camera at what the people wanna see

man it's a two way mirror and you can't blame me

you can't blame me says the singer of the song

or the maker of the movie which he based his life on

it's only entertainment and as anyone can see

it's smoke machines and make up man you can't fool me
it was you, it was me, it was every man we've all got the blood on our hands we only receive what we demand and if we want hell then hell's what we'll have

COOKIE JAR, Jack Johnson

8.5 out of 10

13.5% alc. by vol.

$18.99 / 750 ml. bottle

Conundrum White Table Wine

2008
Muscat Blanc, Semillon, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay
Conundrum Wines, California

Yes, sometimes I AM a complete idiot. THIS is NOT the wine I intended to buy. Only I didn't know it. I didn't realize there was more than one Conundrum. I wanted to try Caymus Conundrum and purchased instead Conundrum Winery's Conundrum. :( I saw it and grabbed it without reading the label!!! Do not do this faux pas - READ your labels.

Although a little sweeter than my preferences, this was good, especially with curried butternut squash and pear soup. The scent was all pear for me and that's what made me crazy with anticipation to pair it with my soup I'd been brewing a few hours. The two were very good together. The wine's flavor was more tropical with slight pear and vanilla.

. . .and theres always been laughing, crying, birth, and dying
boys and girls with hearts that take and give and break and heal and grow and recreate and raise and nurture
but then hurt from time to times like these
and times like those
what will be will be
and so it goes

and there will always be stop and go and fast and slow
action, reaction, sticks and stones and broken bones
those for peace and those for war
and god bless these ones
not those ones
but these ones made times like these
and times like those
what will be will be
and so it goes . . .

Jack Johnson, Times Like These

8.0 out of 10
$20 / 750 ml. bottle
Didn't catch the alcohol content because my idiocracy continued and I chucked the bottle :0

NAPA RIDGE Zinfandel

2005
NAPA Valley

I wasn't sure at first that I liked this. It had a scent that was reminiscent of another wine which I couldn't quite place. It was a kalamata olive scent with some slight smoke. The flavor was right on with the first tip-of-the- tongue taste, then it seemed a bit watery or weak. But THEN with subsequent sips, the finish lasted much longer. With a hint of oak, and smoke, and olive, I really enjoyed this. It is recommended to serve with red meat or cedar-planked salmon (which I would have LOVED to have it with). However, I made pizza this evening.

I came across my favorite cookbook by Susan Branch, Vineyard Seasons, that my mother gave me at the hospital on the day of my first daughter's birth. I found my old favorite pizza dough recipe in there and was so happy! The wine was good on its own, not bad with the pizza, and fantastic with dark chocolate brownies.

One of my favorite magazine advertisements (which I haven't seen in quite awhile) was the old Jim Beam ad which stated: "You always come back to the basics." That saying kept going through my head today especially after working my pizza dough and letting it rise. My daughter popped in my Frank Sinatra "I've Got a Crush on You" CD and life came to a nice, slow relaxing pace for a bit. Add to it the note my mom wrote in the cookbook: " . . .This has wonderful ideas for special family times. Now that you are a family I hope you will find it as special as I do! And enjoy it together - " The best part of this note was that she spelled my daugher's name wrong. When she learned the true spelling of her name she wanted to change it in the book, but I told her to leave it. It showed how "new" my daughter was, that her own grandmother didn't know how to spell her name yet. It's so awesome! :)

8.0 out of 10
$12? / 750 ml. bottle
14.1% alc. by vol.

Bogle phantom

2007
Petite Sirah, Old Vine Zin, Old Vine Mourvedre
California

There's that word I love to say over and over: "Mourvedre". It is indeed time again for "phantom". If you've never tried it, buy some. It is only released in the fall and its usual distinct flavor I await with anticipation.

I wish I could say I am a sophisticated taster. However, upon first heady smokey "sniff", I declared in my head "Yes!". I then tasted and the first words that totally popped into my head were (in the accent and bass of "Austin Powers"): "YEAH, Baby!" I then proceeded to thank God out loud for his blessings over the vines and allowing the conditions needed to present this awesome flavor. The Guy was put off by my outward devotion to a being who did not actually physically purchase the bottle.

I am indeed thankful tonight for a nice wine experience that I haven't enjoyed in awhile. Smoke, creosote and BIG stone fruit flavor and my personal favorite "warm rocks in the sun" taste enveloped my tongue in ecstasy. :)


He, amid his figs and wine
Cried, "Oh, loving friends of mine
Pleasures come but not to stay
Even this shall pass away"

Theodore Tilton, 1866 poem, resurrected in Robert Plant's, "Even This Shall Pass Away"


8.50 out of 10
14.5% alc. by vol.
$20/750 ml. bottle
boglewinery.com

Clos Du Bois Merlot

2006
North Coast
California

It's been awhile. This wasn't my first choice for a review following such a long absence. However, it is what it is. For the price, I expected more. It's a good wine, just didn't knock my socks off. Not a lot of big flavor. Smooth with some subtle berry and oak, but not enough wham to catch my attention. About the same with food. However, I didn't have it with red meat as suggested. I had it with grilled chicken. The Guy really liked it. A lot more than I did.

I am forever looking for a repeat of the year 1993 and it just never happens. Interestingly metaphoric.


Oh the rain is falling (blow blow down)
And the wild wind roars (blow blow down)
It'll shake your windows (blow blow down)
And rattle your doors (blow blow down)
Ah blow down this house of cards
Blow down this house of cards

(Written by Richard Thompson, sung by Robert Plant and Patty Griffin)


7.5 out of 10
$18 / 750 ml. bottle
13.5% alc. by vol

Edna Valley Pinot Noir

2007
PARAGON
San Luis Obispo County, CA

First, I must apologize for the earlier post that follows this one (Dancing Bear by Cakebread Cellars) - once again, I was supremely lucky enough to not have it be a budget wine (or one that I paid for!). But I apologize to any readers truly looking for a "real" budget wine. As I've mentioned earlier, if we are gifted or fall into the throes of a more expensive wine, we ARE going to review it, even if it's not budget. Just like, if you readers were out visiting friends, or were invited to a function where you didn't have to pay for, but received a glass of expensive but truly magnificent wine, you would rave about it. So, that said, I move on to more budget-friendly material. Thank you for your patience. :)

This was a Pinot Noir with some substance. This tastes bigger than it is. I was impressed. It was a nice surprise from a co-worker, MC, who has been telling me about this "great Pinot Noir" he's been having for several months. As we don't see each other very much anymore (he has been relocated to our other building), I was SO very happy when our QA girlfriend brought it back for me following her inspection time up at P2. Meanwhile, MC had called me and told me it was coming back with her. As it is recommended to serve with grilled seafood (as well as lamb chops, game hens & rich pastas), I waited for Thursday when I knew our "Fish Man" would be in town and grabbed some salmon.

I enjoyed this on it's own, but it was really enjoyable with the salmon too. I made out pretty well this week - wine from one co-worker and fresh, Swiss Chard from another. Salmon and sauteed Swiss Chard accompanied this wine nicely.

Interestingly enough, I couldn't quite place the fruit I was tasting. It was a bit cherry like in addition to black pepper, but there was something else I couldn't quite describe. I try to find my own likes prior to reading the label descriptions, but after giving up guessing, it came in handy to turn the bottle over and read the label. The label mentions pomegranate and that's what the missing flavor was that I couldn't quite place (I am a "POM" juice freak).

The Guy was totally impressed with the substance of this Pinot Noir. He felt it tasted more like a Cab. Interestingly enough, I had an Edna Valley Chardonnay last month that was good, but I didn't write about it. I got it through the WSJ Wine Club. We have previously received very obscure run-of-the-mill wines from them. A few catch our attention, but nothing that I am usually inspired enough to write about. I find it pretty cool that this was bought at a local store and recommended to me and it's from the same vineyard as the Chardonnay I had a ways back. I can't wait to tell MC that it's a winery I was unknowingly familiar with!

8.0 out of 10
$14 / 750 ml. bottle
13.9% alc. by vol.

Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

2006
Dancing Bear Ranch
Howell Mountain
NAPA Valley, CA

79% Cabernet Sauvignon
4% Cabernet Franc
17% Merlot

The first 3 words to come to mind upon first sip: "Oh My God". The next 3 words that followed: "Yes! Yes! Yes!" This wine blew the sandals right off my feet and into LI Sound. I have not had a wine that tasted SO good in SO long. The flavor was AMAZING. The finish was SILKY. The scent prior to tasting was buttery lobster. I don't like lobster. But I used to. The scent of of this wine was how lobster tasted to me at the height of my actually really liking lobster. The flavor was super dark fruit with herbs and oak and a bit of wonderful minerality. The flavor just lasted and lasted. It has a fairly high alcohol content - but I never even knew it - it was so incredibly smooth.

What was amazing to me was it tasted just as phenomenal with food as it was on its own. And we had food that was more conducive to white wine. I actually was drinking a Pinot Grigio prior to this wine being introduced. I made chicken sauteed in olive oil, garlic and basil. I made a brown rice dish with spices. We had regular summer salad with cukes and tomatoes. ANY of which I was sure would ruin the flavor of the wine for me. NONE of it did. This wine just stood right up and dominated!! It MADE me come home tonight and finally post something again. I am its slave.


9.5 out of 10
14.8% alc. by vol.
$100 / 750 ml. bottle