At times I struggle to find the right balance on this site. My personal interest lead me down the path of more obscure, unique and interesting wines. But I know that many readers come here just wanting to find recommendations on something simple they can pick up at their local shop, wherever that shop is. This is a review for those readers.
One of the more common brands I’ve been pleasantly surprised by over the years is Forest Glen. It’s a brand in the portfolio of bargain-wine-giant Bronco Wine Company and is one that I’ve found to have a good quality-to-price ratio fairly consistently. This pinot grigio is no exception.
Apple, pear and light floral aromas give this wine a vibrant and refreshing nose. The flavors are a medley of stone fruits: pear, peach and apple. The acidity is sufficient — meaning it’s crisp, but a touch more acidity would have been even better. The finish is relatively long and brings a touch of citrus to the stone fruit flavors. Overall, I can’t complain about this wine and for ten bucks it’s a bargain.
Wine: Forest Glen Tehachapi Clone Pinot Grigio
Variety: Pinot grigio
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 12.53%
Rating: 86
Price: $10.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Forest Glen Tehachapi Clone Pinot Grigio with Snooth
As I mentioned in my last review, I’ve become a fan of chenin blanc over the past year. Particularly those from South Africa.
This one comes from Raats Family Wines in Stellenbosch — a producer I recently praised for their super-tasty Red Jasper cabernet franc blend. In that review I mentioned that Raats specializes in two types of wine, cabernet franc and chenin blanc.
The Raats Original Chenin Blanc is an unoaked style, but they also produce an Old Vine Chenin Blanc that has some oak ageing.
Powerful perfume aromatics make this wine stand out. It also shows tropical fruit, apples and hay aromas. The palate has a slightly creamy mouthfeel and offers melon and apple flavors, with a touch of bitterness. The fruit is a little restrained. Salty mineral flavors come into the mid palate and linger on the finish. This is a good chenin blanc, although the aromas deliver more than the flavors.
Wine: Raats Original Chenin Blanc
Variety: Chenin blanc
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 85
Price: $12.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Raats Original Chenin Blanc with Snooth
Over the past year I’ve become a big fan of chenin blanc from South Africa. And while I’ve enjoyed it a number of times over the past year, I just realized that I haven’t yet posted any chenin blanc reviews. It’s time to change that.
Chenin blanc originates from the Loire Valley in France, but has become the most widely planted grape variety in South Africa. Some researchers suspect that chenin blanc is one of the parents of sauvignon blanc.
It’s hard to generalize the flavor profile of chenin blanc as it is a fairly versatile grape that can take on a range of characteristics, from dry and mineral, to vibrant and citrusy, to lively and tropical. This one falls somewhere between citrus and mineral, but has some other qualities as well.
The nose is a little tight on this wine, but pleasant, offering light lemon, melon and salty sea breeze aromas. The palate is much more lively, with zesty lemon, grapefruit, white peach and granny smith apple flavors. It’s crisp, slightly tart and very refreshing. It’s more of a fun chenin blanc than an elegant one, but it’s definitely tasty.
Wine: Indaba Chenin Blanc
Variety: Chenin blanc
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $10.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Indaba Chenin Blanc with Snooth
When it comes to Italian white wines, Friuli is definitely a region worth getting to know. It’s in the northeast corner of the country and creates some of the best white wines in Italy, particularly if you like crisp, vibrant white wines. Livio Felluga is, in their words, “regarded as the patriarch of viticulture and winemaking in the region.”
Like many families in European winemaking, the tradition goes back five generations. And Livio, the eldest son from the fourth generation, brought the winemaking knowledge of the family to Friuli, establishing the Livio Felluga brand.
Within Friuli there are a few sub-regions and this wine comes from the Collio DOC in the southeastern part of Fruili. This is a cool-climate region where the cool temperatures help keep the acidity levels high in the wine, which results in crisp, vibrant and delicious wines.
The nose on this wine is just what I want from a pinot grigio. It offers floral, pear and apricot aromatics, with a flinty mineral base. The balance is very good. The palate brings apple, pear and soft apricot flavors with sufficient acidity. The finish is moderately long with lingering fruit flavors and a touch of mineral. This is a light and well-structured pinot grigio with elegance and balance.
Wine: Livio Felluga Collio Pinot Grigio
Variety: Pinot grigio
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 88
Price: $22.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Livio Felluga Collio Pinot Grigio with Snooth
Last year I discovered that I have an affinity for South African wines. I reviewed a number of them and, quite frankly, I’ve been blown away by the extraordinary values that can be found there. Since then, a couple of my friends have visited South Africa and have told me that I must visit because the wines are extraordinary, it’s beautiful and the prices on the wines are unbelievably affordable. That sounds great to me, although I haven’t booked a trip yet.
This wine from Raats Family Wines is a great example of why I’ve fallen in love with South African wines. It’s a Bordeaux-style blend made from 55% cabernet franc, 28% malbec, 11% cabernet sauvignon and 6% petit verdot.
One of the things that I like about Raats Family Wines is that they have a focus. They specialize in chenin blanc and cabernet franc. I’ve found that the quality of the wines from producers who focus on one or two things tends to be consistently good, while producers who try to do everything are often more hit and miss. And while this particular wine is a red blend, cabernet franc is the key player in the blend and the other varieties are blended in to support that star.
It’s clear on the nose that this blend is most dominant in cabernet franc due to intense herbal and vegetal aromas. It also offers plenty of black cherry, blackberry and black currant aromatics. The palate is delicious, offering concentrated black currant, blackberry and coffee flavors with stellar acidity. The mouthfeel is velvety and the finish is very long, featuring black tea and black cherry flavors the linger on and on.
If you like cabernet franc, you’ll love this wine.
Wine: Raats Family Wines, Red Jasper
Variety: Red blend
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 89
Price: $18.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Raats Family Wines, Red Jasper with Snooth
Once again, I’m breaking my own rules and writing about a wine that’s a little more expensive than my $20 target price. Sorry about that. On the bright side, it is a delicious wine.
This cabernet sauvignon comes from Spelletich Family Winery in Napa, California. The wine, however, is from Sonoma Valley.
I’ve reviewed a few wines from Spelletich in the past. It’s a small, family-run winery. They don’t own any vineyards, but source their grapes from other growers. They are in the winemaking business, not the growing business. In addition to their own wines, they run a custom crush facility where they produce wines for others.
One of the things that makes Spelletich stand out to me is that they bottle on demand — meaning they’ll keep the wine in the barrel until they’re ready to sell it. And they don’t sell their wines until they feel the wine is ready, which means they’ll often sell wines with a bit more age on them than you find from your average wine producer. So while the price is a little more, you’re getting something different.
They also produce their wines in small batches. They only made 200 cases of this cabernet sauvignon.
Another thing that makes Spelletich stand out to me is that their wines tend to taste awesome. This one is no exception.
The wine is light in color for a cabernet sauvignon. I might have guessed it to be a pinot noir based on the visuals. But don’t let that make you think this wine is light. The aromas offer intense blackberry, black currant, chocolate, coffee and spices. It’s very complex and wonderful. The flavors are equally awesome. It shows loads of blackberry, vibrant cherry, strawberry followed by chocolate covered cherries and a touch of spice. The mouthfeel is beautifully creamy. And the finish is long. This is a fabulous wine.
Wine: 3 Spells Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 92
Price: $30.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
I know I’ve raved about Kim Crawford sauvignon blanc before, such as here and here. Those reviews have been about their entry-level sauvignon blanc, which I would say is one of the best bargains out there. It’s reliably delicious and affordable. I have some friends who refer to it as their “glass of Kim” every time they go out. It is one of those wines that fans trust and go back to time and time again. It’s a great wine.
But apparently the folks at Kim Crawford knew they could one-up themselves and they came out with this wine. It’s still under the Kim Crawford brand, but is part of their “Small Parcels” line and given the “Spitfire” name. This is what you get when they pick the best of their sauvignon blanc. And it is a notch better!
This is an intense sauvignon blanc, featuring powerful aromas. It’s much more grassy than the standard Kim Crawford sauvignon blanc but it still has lots of tropical fruit too. Cut grass, nettles, lemon, melon, passion fruit and grapefruit are a few of the aromas that reveal themselves in this wine. Vibrant acidity and concentrated tropical fruit flavors make it delicious too. It offers grapefruit, peach, melon and lemon flavors. The finish is spectacular and long.
This is a little above our typical target price of $20 or under, but it is also an amazing wine.
Wine: Kim Crawford Spitfire Sauvignon Blanc
Variety: Sauvignon blanc
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 93
Price: $25.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Kim Crawford Spitfire Sauvignon Blanc with Snooth
Following up from the last review, I wanted to post a review for another tasty shiraz. This one comes from Hardys, a family winery with 160+ years of history in South Australia.
Like many wine producers, Hardys has a few different lines of wines and this one is from their William Hardy line. This line was started just a couple years ago to celebrate 40 years in the family business for William Hardy, a member of the 5th generation of this family to work at the winery.
The appellation designation on this wine is South Australia, meaning it’s not from within one of the more specific regions within this area.
Blueberry, chocolate, plum and apple peel aromatics give this wine a complex, balanced and enjoyable nose. On the palate it is bursting with big fruit flavors, like plum, blackberry and blueberry. Moderately firm tannins and vibrant acidity give the wine good structure, good mouthfeel and lively flavors. The finish is pretty long, with lingering berry flavors and tea-like tannins. There’s a touch of spice to this wine too. This is a tasty one, which of course is the most important quality.
Wine: Hardys William Hardy Shiraz
Variety: Shiraz
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 87
Price: $17.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Hardys William Hardy Shiraz with Snooth
I’ll admit, I’m not a big shiraz guy. When I was younger, I was more drawn to shiraz but in the last few years I just find them to be too jammy. I don’t know if it’s just me or if the style of shiraz is getting more aggressive. But I do still find some that impress me from time to time, and this is one of those wines.
This wine comes from Chateau Tanunda, Australia’s oldest and largest wine Chateau. Their property is home to some of the oldest vines in the Barossa Valley. Some of their shiraz vines are over 120 years old, and those aren’t the oldest vines on the vineyard!
The aromas signal that this is going to be a big wine. Ripe black cherry, plum, chocolate, vanilla and leather aromas give the wine loads of complexity and character. The palate offers abundant ripe fruit flavors such as black cherry, blackberry and plum. It also has plenty of spice on the palate, like vanilla and black pepper. The acidity is good, as is the mouth feel. Overall, it’s a tasty shiraz.
Wine: Chateau Tanunda Grand Barossa Shiraz
Variety: Shiraz
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 87
Price: $17.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Chateau Tanunda Grand Barossa Shiraz with Snooth
A few months ago, I reviewed the Wild Horse Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon and noted then how the winery was one that started small (literally in a plastic tub) and grew over time. And like many wineries they’ve gotten to a point where they offer a few different tiers of wines. The “Central Coast” lineup represents their bargain-priced wines.
Similar to the Cabernet Sauvignon, their merlot is bold and intense. The style is also what I sometimes refer to as “dirty,” meaning it has lot’s of spice and character, not just juicy fruit (although there’s plenty of that too.)
This is a big merlot. It has powerful plum, blackberry, nutmeg, cedar and clove aromatics. The palate is equally big (if not bigger), with ripe plum, blackberry and cherry flavors with a touch of spice. The acidity is good and the mouthfeel smooth. The finish is uber-long. To keep this review quick and to the point, this is a darn tasty merlot.
Wine: Wild Horse Winery & Vineyards, Central Coast
Variety: Merlot
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 89
Price: $17.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Wild Horse Winery & Vineyards, Central Coast Merlot with Snooth
Prev1...91011203040...82Next 
Page 10 of 82
