A couple years ago I reviewed the 2010 vintage of Louis riesling from Louis Konstantin Guntrum. I loved it then and now tasting the 2012 vintage I can say that I still love this wine.
The grapes for this wine are grown along the banks of the Rhine river between Oppenheimer and Nierstein in Germany. All fermentation is done in stainless steel tanks, which is pretty typical for riesling like this. Oak would just not be a good thing for this wine.
Intense honeysuckle, pear, apple and flinty aromas make this wine sing even before it touches your lips. And once it does reach your lips the flavors are divine, crisp apple, lemon and passionfruit flavors with perfect balance and stellar acidity. It’s a dry wine, so there’s no real sweetness to those flavors, just the essence of the fruit. Granny smith apple flavors linger on the finish, where you’ll also find some mineral notes. This is a yummy, yummy, yummy riesling.
Wine: Louis Riesling
Variety: Riesling
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 12.7%
Rating: 90
Price: $14.99
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.
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I’ve reviewed a few wines in the past from a small producer from California called Spelletich Family Winery, but it’s been a while. And I’ve never reviewed one of their whites… until now.
If you’ve been reading this site for a while you probably know how I feel about chardonnay. I struggle with it. Or I should say, I struggle with how many producers make it. And I’m not alone. Many wine lovers I know are critical of chardonnay. But when it’s made well it can be outstanding.
My hat is off to Spelletich for this release. Why? For one, they didn’t bury the wine in oak. They kept the freshness of the fruit alive. It’s ALIVE!!!
This is a California chardonnay, from Lodi, to be more specific. And while you might think of Lodi being a place for red wine, particularly zinfandel, there’s still a good bit of chardonnay grown there.
This wine has a really refreshing nose, offering aromas like apple, cucumber, honeydew melon and flint. While the aromas are fairly powerful, they are also harmonious and balanced. And this wine tastes as good as it smells, revealing tangy citrus, apple, melon and mineral flavors. The acidity is good and the mouthfeel is rich but not overly creamy like some chardonnay can be. It finishes relatively long with tasty citrus flavors. This chardonnay will not disappoint.
Wine: 3 Spells Chardonnay
Variety: Chardonnay
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 14.2%
Rating: 87
Price: $20.00
A couple weeks ago I published a review of Michel Chapoutier, Bila-Haut Cotes du Roussillon Villages, at wine that absolutely blew me away by how awesome it is. So I had to post a review of another wine from the Bila-Haut line, their rosé.
This rosé comes from the Languedoc-Roussillon area in France. And while many people first think of Bourdeaux, Burgundy or Champagne when they think of French wines, the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region produces a third of all the wine made in France and it’s the biggest wine region in the world, with 700,000 acres of vines.
This wine is more specifically from the Pays d’Oc IGP, which is not just a region but a designation of wine produced by specific guidelines. A wine needs to be certified by the Bureau Véritas Quality France in order to be labeled as Pays d’Oc IGP. The standards for Pays d’Oc IGP are somewhat recent, thanks to a reform effort launched in 2009.
Cinsault and grenache are the grapes used to produce this tasty rosé.
Orange peel, lemon, peach and melon aromas are delightful and harmonious on the nose of this wine. The palate brings dry lemon and melon flavors, complemented by a rich mineral backbone. The fruit is modest in this wine and some may find it “thin” but others will find it just right. The mouthfeel is good and the acidity is sufficient. It finishes with citrus, peach and mineral flavors that last a good long time.
Wine: Michel Chapoutier, Bila-Haut, Pays d’Oc IGP
Variety: Grenache and cinsault
Vintage: 2013
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $12.99
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.
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Want another opinion? Check out these reviews:
I first discovered Four Vines back in 2008 at the Cincinnati International Wine Festival. Well, I discovered them in the same sense that Columbus discovered America. They were already around and doing quite well, I just happened to become aware of them then.
And once I discovered Four Vines I became a big fan! Their zinfandel totally knocked my socks off. However, as I remember it, all but one their wines that I tasted back then were priced higher than what I like to spend on a bottle of wine. So I didn’t dwell too much on them, but I knew I loved what I tasted and looked forward to tasting more in the future.
I’m not sure if they’ve changed their pricing strategy since then and now offer more affordable wines, or if I was just totally missing out all this time. But I now have found that they’re putting out some kick ass zinfandel that’s well within my price range.
Their “Biker” zinfandel comes from Paso Robles, one of my favorite California appellations. It’s made with 82% zinfandel, 10% petite sirah, 4% grenache and 4% primitivo.
Smoky black cherry, cedar, raspberry and loads of spices give this wine a bold and exciting nose. There’s nothing subtle about it, it’s downright aggressive (in a good way). The alcohol fumes are a bit strong on the nose too and that’s my only gripe. This wine continues the bold and exciting theme on the palate, where spice-laden, cherry, plum and blackberry flavors are harmonious yet very concentrated. At the same time, it’s not overly sweet (like some zinfandel) and has some earthy, tea-like flavors complementing and balancing the fruit and a heavy dose of baking spice flavors on the mid-palate. The acidity is sufficient and the mouthfeel is nice. It finishes fairly long, with spice and fruit flavors lingering.
Wine: Four Vines, Biker
Variety: 82% zinfandel, 10% petite sirah, 4% grenache and 4% primitivo
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 14.8%
Rating: 90
Price: $18.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.
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It’s only September and I’m already seeing Christmas junk on display in stores. Have they forgotten about Halloween? It’s one of my favorite holidays, although I haven’t taken the time to celebrate it much in the past few years. Plus a lot folks say that I’m too old for Halloween.
I think Halloween should be celebrated by all ages. And a number of wine producers appear to agree with me and have been creating special wines to celebrate Halloween. Really, what’s a better beverage to have on Halloween than some blood red wine?
Besieged from Ravenswood is one such special release for Halloween. What’s funny is that I probably would have included Ravenswood on my Halloween wine list even without a special release.
This wine is a blend of petite sirah, carignane, zinfandel, syrah, barbera, alicante bouschet and mourvèdre. I like that they chose some wines with exotic, mysterious sounding names.
This wine is a little more purple than “blood red” as I had hoped, but it’s still a beautiful color. The aromas are dark and mysterious, offering intense cherry, blackberry, plum, leather and exotic spices. It’s a bold wine on the palate, bringing rich wild cherry, blackberry, plum, coffee and a brooding, earthy bitterness to offer a counterpoint to the fruit. That bitterness may be disturbing to some. It finishes with lingering spice flavors that heighten your senses. This is not a polite wine. It’s dark, bold and challenging. Yet it’s enticing. It seems appropriate for Halloween.
Do you dare try it?
Wine: Ravenswood Besieged
Variety: Petite sirah, carignane, zinfandel, syrah, barbera, alicante bouschet and mourvèdre
Vintage: 2013
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $16.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.
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Do you ever find yourself looking over a wine list at a restaurant and you’re frustrated that you don’t know any of the wines on the list? Despite the large number of wines I review, I too find myself in this situation. But my solution to this problem is to order based on region rather than looking for a specific wine that I know.
When it comes to red wines, one of my “go to” regions that I always feel confident ordering is Southern France. More specifically, I look for wines from the Rhône or Languedoc-Roussillon. And this wine is a perfect example of why. It’s amazing!
The nose of this wine smells luxurious, with velvety blackberry, black cherry and plum aromas accented with nutmeg, black pepper and frankincense. It’s complex and elegant. It’s also amazing on the palate, with a beautifully textured mouthfeel. It offers rich black cherry and blackberry flavors balanced with earth flavors like earl grey tea. It finishes long with fruit and tea flavors delightfully lingering.
This wine is produced by Michel Chapoutier, a wine producer with a long and celebrated reputation in Southern France, particularly in the Rhône where his family produces a number of the top wines of the region. The vineyards where the grapes for this wine were grown are terraced and stony, not easy land to work but excellent for producing some delicious wine. And that’s exactly what this is.
Wine: Michel Chapoutier, Bila-Haut Cotes du Roussillon Villages
Variety: Syrah, grenache and carignan
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 94
Price: $15.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.
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Last night I posted a review of Champs de Gaillard, a tasty Bordeaux for under $20 (which seems unbelievable). And tonight I have yet another bargain-Bordeaux to share, this one from Château Lamothe de Haux.
Both of these wines are on the “Today’s Bordeaux” list for 2014. This is a list of 100 Bordeaux wines priced between $10-$55 selected by a judging panel.
This particular wine is made of 60% merlot, 30% cabernet sauvignon and 10% cabernet franc. It once again proves to me that Bordeaux does have some good wines in my price range.
Vanilla aromas dominate the nose, but I also found some cherry, plum, raspberry, leather and cinnamon aromatics with moderate intensity. The balance is reasonable despite the heavy vanilla. The palate brings a mouthfeel that’s lacking depth, but it has nice flavors such as cherry, raspberry and plum fruit (with restrained sweetness) along with some earthy mushroom and tea flavors. The finish is moderately long and has a raspberry tea quality to it. I like the old world style of this wine, but I wish it had a little more depth.
Wine: Château Lamothe de Haux, Côtes de Bordeaux
Variety: Red Bordeaux blend – 60 % merlot, 30% cabernet sauvignon, 10% cabernet franc
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 85
Price: $15.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.
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I generally walk right past the Bordeaux section when I’m in a wine shop. It’s not that I don’t like Bordeaux, I just don’t like paying too much for my wine. But apparently I’ve been making a mistake and I’ve been missing out.
There’s a lot of hype in the marketplace about Bordeaux. It’s been like that for years and has resulted in prices skyrocketing — particularly for some sought-after names. And while these are some exceptional wines, when you pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a bottle of wine you’re buying hype. And I don’t like to buy hype. I like to buy good wine at reasonable prices.
And that hype is the blessing and the curse for Bordeaux. It’s a well-known, well-regarded wine region that commands top dollar for its top wines. But not all Bordeaux wines have the cachet held by the top brands in the region and a lot of consumers who buy into the hype only want the big names. And when other wine consumers, like me, ignore the entire region because they consider it overpriced, Bordeaux wine producers might have a problem.
I don’t think I’m alone with my perception either. And the PR teams behind Bordeaux are trying to change the perception of Bordeaux and grow affinity with wine consumers who haven’t inherited a trust fund. They’ve created a program called “Today’s Bordeaux” through which they highlight 100 wines each year in the $10-$55 price range. They have even set up a website where you can read about all the wines and you can even filter them by price to zero in on the ones in your price range.
This wine is on that list and it’s one of the most affordable wines on the list. It’s a red blend made from 70 % merlot, 16% cabernet sauvignon and 14% cabernet franc. As a 2008 vintage, it does have a few years of age on it too.
The nose of this wine is beautiful! The fruit is complex and balanced, offering cherry, raspberry and blackberry aromas. It also has plenty of spice (although not too much) to make the wine exotic and memorable, such as nutmeg and tobacco. The palate brings a delicious, old world style blend of fruity and earthy flavors, such as raspberry, blackberry, currant and black tea. Moderate tannins add a just enough texture to the mouthfeel and good acidity gives it a bit of zing. It finishes long with raspberry tea flavors. It’s a medium-bodied wine that goes well with food, but is good by itself as well.
I’ve learned my lesson. Next time I’m walking by the Bordeaux section I will stop and shop.
Wine: Champs de Gaillard
Variety: Red Bordeaux blend – 70 % merlot, 16% cabernet sauvignon, 14% cabernet franc
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 88
Price: $13.99
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.
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When most people think of German wine they think riesling. That’s fair… they do produce a lot of riesling and it tends to be pretty good riesling too. Some wine aficionados will also associate Germany with other white wines, like müller-thurgau or sylvaner. And those are also some tasty wines. But many people never think of Germany as a place for red wines, yet they do create some delicious ones. And the third most-planted variety in Germany is Spätburgunder, which is the German name for pinot noir.
Yes, Germany produces some tasty pinot noir and it’s something you may have overlooked all these years. It grows well in the same areas as riesling and as such is often competing for real estate. Therefore, you don’t see as much of it as you otherwise might.
This is one such pinot noir. Not only is this one good, but with a giant embossed monkey hugging the bottle it also wins the award for the freakiest wine bottle design I have ever seen! I know critters on wine labels tend to help sales, but this one is a little out of hand! Nonetheless, the wine is pretty darn good.
The color of this wine is a light brownish-red that looks a little older than it is. However it still smells fresh, with powerful spice and perfume/floral aromas layered over strawberry, cherry and raspberry. The palate also offers plenty of ripe fruit flavors like cranberry, raspberry and wild cherries. There is a touch of bitterness, hence the “wild” cherries. The acidity is sufficient and the mouthfeel is pleasant. It finishes with lingering wild cherry flavors. Overall, it has a unique personality and I like it.
Wine: Affentaler Valley of the Monkey Pinot Noir
Variety: Pinot noir
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 85
Price: $17.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.
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A lot of wine snobs would suggest that good + cheap pinot noir is something that just doesn’t exist. But I disagree. And I would suggest that those who hold this belief are just assholes.
But you know who’s not an asshole? The folks at The Other Guys wines. They create wines that I’ve found to be consistently tasty and not overpriced, like this California pinot noir.
This is not some fancy single vineyard wine from one of the elite appellations appellations in California. It’s not even designated to an AVA more specific than California at large. The producers of this wine sourced the grapes from a number of different growers in different parts of California, yet it’s still a tasty pinot noir.
OK, well it’s not 100% pinot noir. Maybe that’s how they made such a good “pinot noir” for such an affordable price. This wine is made from 78% pinot noir, 11% grenache, 6% barbera, 3% petite sirah and 2% merlot. That’s a lot of different stuff, but it has enough pinot noir in the blend to be labeled as a varietal pinot noir. (Although I’m sure it’s the petite sirah that makes it so good.)
While it may not measure up to some of the $50+ pinot noirs out there, it’s good. And better yet, you can enjoy four bottles of it for less than one bottle of $50 pinot noir.
This is a very aromatic pinot noir with intense cherry, strawberry, floral, cedar and black pepper fragrances. The palate is also quite tasty, offering light raspberry, cherry and strawberry flavors. Some might find this wine a little “thin” but a pinot noir should be medium-bodied, not too concentrated and I think this one is right on. The mouthfeel is pleasant, but could be a little richer. The acidity is good. It finishes relatively long with lingering berry flavors and a touch of spice. The bottom line is it’s a nice pinot noir for the money.
Wine: Pennywise Pinot Noir
Variety: 78% pinot noir, 11% grenache, 6% barbera, 3% petite sirah and 2% merlot
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $12.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.
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