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

Jada

2005
Mirror
Pasa Robles, CA

A blend of 47% Syrah, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 23% Merlot, I liked this wine. Although the alcohol content was higher than I like, it had a wonderful, warm black cherry scent followed by similar flavor, mixed with peppery heat and slight oak with a little kalamata olive thrown in. I have absolutely NO idea if I ate food with this. I think I did not!

We went to Johnny Bravo's (a.k.a. the Guy) cousin's house for a wine party. We had a good time and got home WAY too late. I proclaimed repeatedly the whole next day that I did not ever want to consume another glass of wine, or anything with alcohol, again. I somehow made it to church and back, then plopped down on the couch for many hours. My brother came and stood over me and said: "So, I guess this means you're not making margaritas tonight?" Ooohhhh - just the thought of smelling Tequila made my head pound with dizziness. I am MUCH better today. But I had to pound three bottles of Naked's "Green Machine" into myself over the last 24 hours. (Nothing like a litte spirulina and chlorella to "fix" me on bad days - my "mowed grass juice" as everyone at work likes to say.)

We had many delicious wines that night, including Halter Ranch Rose which was excellent with an arugula and salami salad. As I am partial to blends, Jada's Mirror stood out, surpassed only by just one glass of Halter Ranch GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre blend). I could have stayed with the GSM all night and probably should have. I am positive I didn't have food with my glass of Jada. However, I did have vegetable tapenade and melted smoked gouda on crostini with the Halter Ranch and it was pretty darn awesome.

We also enjoyed taking a blind taste test by a California guest whose conversation and wine savvy I enjoyed very much. He had us try 4 different red wines and try to guess which varietal each was. I believe no one got it right. However, I was pretty proud of Johnny Bravo for exclaiming to me that he believed, whatever varietal we were tasting, they were all the same. He was right. They were all Syrah. The point of the tasting being all the same was to prove that each individual person has their own way of tasting, and each wine tastes different to each person. It was, to say the least, California Cool.


I'll be a flame burning in the darkness
And I will light what's in your heart
I'll be a flame in the dark
But I can't light what's not in your heart
-Beth Orton-


8.25 out of 10
16.3% alc. by vol.
$39 / 750 ml. bottle

Sangre de Toro

2007
Rose
Spain

I wanted something chilled, but not beer, and I didn't want my usual summer Chardonnay. I was making black bean and guacamole tacos. So I wanted something that could stand up to strong flavors without canceling each other out. I decided on a cheap Spanish Rose.

I brought it home and chilled it and then had a glass while cooking dinner. It was OK. Not bad. Just not great. No knocking off of the socks. As I mashed avocados for my guacamole, I ate a slice of avocado. I then had a sip of the wine, and THEN I smiled. NICE combo. I put sliced fresh hot red peppers in the guacamole and found a sip of the wine really brought out the pepper in the meal as well. Later, way after the tacos, when cleaning up the kitchen, I had a spoonful of organic ground turkey that had been sauteed in olive oil and red onion and had another sip of wine and had another smile. Really good accompaniment.

The really nice part is you get your own little plastic toy BULL (Toro) attached to each bottle of Sangre de Toro! It was like when I was a kid and I chose the box of cereal by the prize inside. Oh, but THIS wine has a bull attached to it! Every girls dream come true.


7.75 out of 10
13% alc. by vol.
$9 / 750 ml. bottle

ETIM Seleccion

2006
Spain

I really enjoyed this wine. Tremendously. Our friends gave it to us to try. They thoroughly enjoyed their first experience with this wine, but not their next one. They thought their first experience involved food and their second one didn't. But they really couldn't recall. And they weren't sure if they had two different vintages - what a difference a year can make :)

They found the wine "dry". And I agree. It is dry. But there was a LOT of wonderful flavor there. And a lingering finish that I just loved. Dark berry, slight smoke, slight earth, and mushrooms. It especially tasted well with our meal. I tried to make a "Spanish" oriented meal and made spinach with roasted pignolia nuts, Spanish olive oil, and garlic. I marinated shrimp in olive oil and garlic and grilled it. And we had the wine with it. It was all very good and I was happy.


"Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more."
- Proverbs 31:6-7:

For those of you who prefer a rating from a higher authority: Robert Parker gave this wine 91 pts.

8.25 out of 10
$14/750 ml. bottle
14% alc. by vol.
www.etim.es

Mark West Pinot Noir

2008
Sonoma, California

I reviewed the 2006 awhile back and enjoyed this so much more! :) Pinot Noirs tend to be a little on the lighter side for me, but this one was highly enjoyable. I had a nice big glass last night after work while watching Where the Wild Things Are with my two youngest. Then, tonight, for some reason I just HAD to go buy a jar of olives. I brought home a jar of Greek garlic-stuffed green olives and consumed the whole damn thing, along with another glass of Mark West. Both were SO smooth! In anticipated horror, I decided to read how many servings were in the jar of olives: 12! Well, at least I didn't consume 12 servings of wine. Together, the wine and olives were awesome. I was pretty happy.

Many, many thanks to my "farway" southern friends who magically put this bottle in my mailbox as a "get well" wish last week. You guys definitely made me smile. And I smiled 3 more times too with each glass I poured this last week. THANK YOU. :)

I was feeling stupidly down and out for the last couple of days, in spite of receiving great news that "abnormal" cells removed last week are only pre-cancerous and not cancer. Tim, a co-worker, came up to me with a big sigh and asked how my day was going today. I smiled and said "OK". Then I added that "it could always be worse." He said (not even knowing about my little cancer scare thing): "True. Let's put it in perspective." He then proceeded to tell me about his good friend whose wife just had her first round of chemo today following the diagnosis of advanced metastatic breast cancer. She's in her early 40's with two young children. That zapped me right back to reality. And I am keeping thoughts of her right here with me for constant perspective.

Life is short. Too short. If you feel like buying a jar of olives and consuming the whole thing, just do it.


"Wow. He has a double re-cracker."
Alexander the Goat, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

8.0 out of 10
13.8% alc. by vol.
$12 / 750 ml. bottle

The Velvet Devil

2008
Merlot
Washington State

I am not a huge fan of Washington State wines, though I continue to try to be. Some vintages of Columbia Crest merlots and chardonnays have caught my attention and I have enjoyed a few of them for the price. But every now and then I like to pick up another vineyard whose wine I haven't tried. The Guy brought this one home last night and I liked it enough to go look up the winery and thoroughly enjoyed everything I could find on Charles Smith, and loved his no-nonsense blog. I very much intend to give his 2006 Royal City Syrah a try hopefully one day soon (not current budget friendly, but I am totally intrigued).

Washington State merlots I sometimes feel I could blind taste-test. Though many have potential, I usually find them a bit weak in taste. This one was a little different, however, and I did enjoy it. With its hints of dark chocolate cherry flavor and herbs, I will seek it out again.

"It's just booze - drink it!"
Charles Smith

kvintners.blogspot.com

8.0 out of 10
$11 / 750 ml. bottle
13.5% alc. by vol.

Walker Road Vineyards

Red Table Wine
Woodbury, CT

In addition to tasting this wine, I had the privilege of meeting the demure and unassuming owner of this small vineyard in Connecticut. This full-bodied red wine, made from 70% St. Croix grapes is actually quite delicious and grew on me. I served it with homemade lasagna and it was a fantastic accompaniment. And, two days later, the remainder of the bottle tasted so fine on its own.

Wine making in Connecticut is, to say the least, challenging, given the cool and sometimes wet climate. Jim Frey seems to have worked his way around that fact. This wine has herbal tendencies (thyme) with mushroom earthiness that I happen to love. I highly recommend this as an every day drinking wine.



I don't care if we don't sleep at all tonight
Let's just fix this whole thing now
I swear to God we're gonna get it right
If you lay your weapon down
Red wine and Ambien
You're talking sh*t again, it's heartbreak warfare

-John Mayer, Heartbreak Warfare



8.0 out of 10
12.5% alc. by vol.
$14 / 750 ml. bottle
walkerroadvineyards.com

Kendall Jackson Chardonnay

2008
Vintner's Reserve
California

I haven't had this in a while, probably not even this vintage ever - can't remember. I know I posted something earlier here. My workout partner likes it for her every day summer Chard, so I had the Guy pick it up on his way home this weekend. I had some last night with grilled asparagus and chicken wraps. Then I had more tonight with grilled shrimp, mushrooms, onions and brown rice. I enjoyed it once again. This wine seems to be relatively consistent from vintage to vintage - which is somewhat remarkable. It is very fruit tropical and citrus-filled with a creamy edge. Not bad for an every day wine.

However, tonight the Guy surprised me and brought home Clos Du Bois Chardonnay, 2008, which is more my style and slightly blows the KJ out of the water. I will give it a review in a few days. I know we are having a Malbec with Easter dinner at my mom's tomorrow so that will take precedence over the Clos Du Bois, but I WILL get back to it.

I made a shocking discovery this evening: my text library does not recognize the word "Chardonnay" - I need to somehow make that more regular! :)













8.0 out of 10
13.5 % alc. by vol.
$13/750 ml. bottle

The Chocolate Block

2008
South Africa
69% Syrah /12% Grenache / 10% Cabernet Sauvignon / 7% Cinsault / 2% Viognier

I have posted previously on The Chocolate Block - in December. However, I posted on the 2007.
BIG DIFFERENCE between the 2007 and 2008. I am not too fond of this one. Needs more time I guess.
It is AMAZING to me the difference a year makes. It just goes to show you how volatile wine-making
can be. Each year provides a different taste. It's really intriguing. And sometimes disappointing.
My brother bought a bottle of 2007 in December and we enjoyed it while watching the movie Bottle Shock.
BIG difference in price (almost $20 more for the 2007), but a BIG difference in taste too.

I came home from a SOAKING wet walk with my Gfriend to find The Guy had purchased a bottle of this
and left it on the counter. I was pretty happy to see it. Until I saw the vintage. However, I have not
previously yet tried the 2008 so I tried to have an open mind. :( I am sorry to report that it just wasn't
near as good as the 2007. This one was extremely dry with little distinguishing flavor. It packed a punch,
and wasn't bad, it just wasn't what I was expecting.


There's indecision when you
Know you ain't got nothing left
when the good times never stay
And the cheap thrills always
seem to fade away
When will we
When will we fall down
Jump back, got to get out of here
been too long this time

--Toad the Wet Sprocket--


7.50 out of 10
$17 / 750 ml. bottle
(I was unable to find the alcohol content!!)

Columbia Cabernet Sauvignon

2006
Columbia Valley
Washington State

This vintage actually got some good reviews. For me, it was OK. A little "grape-y" at first taste. The scent was of dark berries and green olives. It was recommended to serve with red meat, especially steak. I don't do that. I actually had it with rice pasta, white beans, roasted asparagus and roasted sweet onion, mixed with olive oil and balsamic and it tasted better than on its own. This is one of those freaky things where it did seem to improve with being exposed to air for an hour. And it seemed to be a good match with the balsamic. The taste was very Spanish olive like. It tasted quite better on its own the next night - smokey. Tonight. I am tempted to change my rating below, but I won't.

Which brings me to a discussion I previously had recently with a friend with regard to decanting. He believes, and was told, that decanting a young wine is necessary. I was always under the impression that you did not need to decant young wines. But older wines, especially ports, should be decanted to separate out the sediment mostly. The idea of airing a young wine didn't seem necessary. But I have to say I've recently found a few younger wines seemed to taste better upon opening up for a bit. I loved the fact that some of their scents filled the room and made my mouth water.

I consulted my Kevin Zraly book to find that he feels there is NO difference whether a young wine is decanted or not. Old wines should only be decanted to separate sediment. However, if you've got a pricey old wine, DO NOT decant for any more than 15 minutes as you may actually miss the best moments of tasting for that particular wine. The longer it sits, the more its taste evaporates. He does state that he's had a few students swear to him that they notice a younger wine tasting better upon decanting for an hour. So, his suggestion is to decant for an hour if you wish, though he doesn't feel it's necessary. At best, it will fill the room with the wine's aroma for the arrival of any guests for the evening. If you have an old wine, with possible sediment, let it sit for 10 minutes, light a candle, and hold the bottle and decanter up to the candle and pour slowly, watching for any sediment arriving at the bottle neck. Then put it down again and let rest for 5 more minutes to let remaining sediment settle again, and do again.

--Men are like wine, some turn to vinegar - the best improve with age.--
Pope John XXIII (was this Pope fond of wine, or fond of men???????? Regardless, I find this statement to be fantastically true)

7.75 out of 10
$12 / 750 ml. bottle
13.5% acl. by vol.

HJ Fabre Malbec

2008
Mendoza - Argentina




I think it needs more time. Then I might drink it again.


Initially disappointing for me. The Guy liked it. It was high alcohol taste for me, and quite bitter. It was definitely better after air time, and rather enjoyable a couple of days later with chicken and sweet potatoes.


Once I got past the alcohol, I got a black fruit flavor and a bit of licorice and warm spice.





Something about the bitterness of the wine and the sweetness of the roasted potatoes made a positive difference. It is recommended to serve with red meats and fine cheese.

I think a re-visit is necessary in the future with some of my brother's NY State sharp, aged cheddar and the decanter.




The rain is like an orchestra to me
Little gifts from above meant to say
Girl, you're falling at his feet
Isn't lovely or stunning today

The rain'll bring me down

--Rachel Yamagata--



8.0 out of 10 (from The Guy)
7.5 out of 10 (from The Gal)
$12 / 750 ml. bottle
14.5% alc. by vol.