I’d like to start with “Confessions of a Slacker.” I know that I’ve been really bad about post frequency over the past month. Getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday and other going-ons will be my excuse. But the good news is that I’ve still been tasting and taking notes, so I have some new wine reviews that I’ll be adding over the next several days.
Let’s get started with a cheap bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that really surprised me. The Fish Eye 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon from Fish Eye Wines had a surprise hidden in the bottle (in a good way… not an actual fish eye in the bottle or anything like that).
Let it Open Up
The surprise with this wine happens when you let it open up. I had to redo my tasting notes on this after it opened up. Right after pulling the cork it’s acidic and totally lacks character. But after decanting it and giving it a little time to open up, it becomes a pretty decent wine, especially for the $5.99 price tag.
It has strawberry and leather on the nose. Predominantly strawberry on the palate with a bit of currant and vanilla. The tannis are smooth. I gave it an 86, but it rated a solid 5 points lower before it opened up. So the bottom line on this one is it can be a bargain, but you need to be patient.
I also enjoyed visiting their website and seeing Cabernet spelled as Carbenet. I wonder how long it will take them to fix that one.
Wine: Fish Eye
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 86
Price Paid: $5.99
Yay! It’s my favorite day of the month: Wine Blogging Wednesday. The host this month is Neil at Brooklyn Guy’s Food and Wine Blog and he has named the theme “Silver” Burgundy. The Burgundy wine that most people think of comes from the Gold Coast (Côte d’Or) and tends to be rather pricey. If you don’t want to empty your bank account on the Gold Coast, perhaps you should visit the “Silver” Coast of Burgundy.
Neil’s goal with this theme is to identify more affordable (but still tasty) Burgundy wines, specifically from the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais regions. The rules of this challenge also state no Chablis and no Beaujolais.
I am a happy man when the theme revolves around affordability. And I was intrigued by venturing into the French aisle of the wine shop. I admittedly don’t drink a lot of French wine. I don’t have anything against the French, it’s just a language barrier.
I do great with Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, but I’m lost with French. And to complicate it even more, they use the most ornate fonts on the planet to design their labels. I can struggle through it, but it takes me three times as long to interpret a French wine label as any other region. And I take way too much time at the wine shop anyway. But the only was to fix my issues with French wine is to put myself into that aisle and get more familiar with the language and regions… and this was a great opportunity for me to do that.
I managed my way through the language barriers and found a wine from both recommended regions for this challenge.
Côte Chalonnaise: Mont Avril Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Côte Chalonnaise is considered better for red wines, so I went with a Pinot Noir from this region. The Mont Avril Pinot Noir is produced by Domaine Michel Goubard & Fils and sold for $16.99. I was happy to see on their website evidence that they struggled with English translation as much as I struggled reading French wine labels.
I found this wine to be a fantastic pinot noir. It has a very interesting nose with cherry, mushroom, cinnamon and cigars. I spent a good five minutes just enjoying the aromas before I even tasted it. The palate is equally exciting with cherry, rhubarb, leather and cinnamon. It does have a slightly high acidity but nice smooth tannins. I gave it an 89. Although it’s a couple bucks more than I like to spend (I am the cheap wine guy after all) I will probably get this again sometime for a splurge.
Wine: Domaine Michel Goubard & Fils, Mont Avril Bourgogne
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 89
Price Paid: $16.99
Mâconnais: “Les Charmes” Chardonnay
Contrary to Côte Chalonnaise, Mâconnais is better known for white wines. Therefore, I selected a Chardonnay from this region. The Les Charmes Chardonnay is from producer Cave de Lugny, who own over 98% of the vineyard property in the Mâcon village of Lugny.
This is pretty much a classic chardonnay. It has citrus and mineral on the nose. Tart apple and lots of butter on the palate. It is well balanced, but not too exciting. I gave it an 85 and wouldn’t be likely to buy it again. It wasn’t bad, just nothing special, and I think I can find better chardonnay for less.
Wine: Cave de Lugny “Les Charmes”
Varietal: Chardonnay
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 85
Price Paid: $12.99
A question many people have this time of year is: Which wine is a good choice to go with the Thanksgiving Turkey?
The good news is you have a few choices and can let your own preference guide your final decision. Turkey actually will go with a number of different wines and I would say that if you have a favorite, just go with it. Have fun and enjoy, it’s the holidays.
But if you’re just not sure what to serve, here are a few suggestions.
- Pinot Noir: This is the first wine that comes to mind for me when I think turkey. If you ask me, it’s the perfect choice. It’s not too heavy, it’s complex and it adds a bit of extra holiday spice to the table. I recently completed a series of pinot noir reviews where you can surely find a good pick for your holiday table.
- Chardonnay: If you’re a fan of chardonnay, it’s a great choice for turkey. Cook up that Butterball turkey and wash it down with a buttery chardonnay. Lucky for you, its another varietal that I recently completed a series of reviews on where you can find some good, cheap chardonnay.
- Champagne: It’s light and refreshing and helps the dynamic flavors on the Thanksgiving table just explode. I think champagne is often overlooked as a dinner wine. Give it a shot. Unfortunately, I don’t have any ratings on champagne available on this site yet. (added to the to-do list)
Those are my suggestions. I hope they help you have a fabulous Thanksgiving. Cheers!
Cut my nuts off and give me another glass of this wine.
I know that’s an odd way to start a post, but that’s about how I feel from drinking this wine. It reminds me of the old commercials for Secret deodorant “strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.” This wine is absolutely wonderful, but I’m not the target consumer. The marketing of this wine is totally geared towards women.
The communication idea in the marketing materials for Five Rivers Wines revolves around a goddess. And the copy-writing is in the voice of romantic woman’s literature. “Legend has it that once, she fell in love on a mountaintop…” I just can’t relate.
The winery is in the Central Valley of California and the grapes for this Cabernet Sauvignon come from Paso Robles. I found it interesting that on the Five Rivers website they allude to environmentally friendly wine production, but they don’t go so far as to claim organic production techniques. There’s nothing on the bottle about environmental friendliness or organic production, so I’ll assume they use pesticides like everyone else.
Despite my inability to relate to the marketing, the drinking experience of this wine is divine. Red raspberry and leather dominate the nose. It has a great concentration of flavors that include red raspberry, blackberry, currant and a touch of black pepper. The intense flavors are supported by an almost creamy mouth feel. And the finish is medium length and smoky. I gave it an 89 and an 89 at $8.99 is a steal.
Perhaps I can talk them into releasing a batch of this wine under another label with skulls or something on the label so that I can drink it without feeling like I’m compromising my masculinity. Probably not.
Wine: Five Rivers
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol: 13.8%
Rating: 89
Price Paid: $8.99
I was in the wine shop milling about the other day. Basically, I was just exploring to see if anything different would jump off the shelf and surprise me. Then it happened. This Cabernet Sauvignon from Idaho was just sitting there waiting for me. It’s not often that I come across Idahoan wines in Cincinnati, so I had to pick it up and give it a shot.
The wine is from Ste Chapelle winery in Caldwell, in the Snake River Valley of Idaho. The winery is run by Chuck Devlin and is the oldest and largest winery in the state.
While I wasn’t previously familiar with Idaho wines, it turns out that the warm days and cool evenings in the Snake River Valley are perfect for producing Cabernet Sauvignon.
I really enjoyed this wine, particularly at the affordable price of $8.99. The bouquet is very floral with hints of red raspberry, olive and a slight smokiness. The nose is my favorite part of this wine. The palate features plums, currants and raspberries. A medium length, smooth finish caps this one off. I gave it an 87 and give a thumbs up to Idaho.
Wine: Ste. Chapelle
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2001
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 87
Price Paid: $8.99
When I was in my late teens I became a vegetarian and followed that diet for many years. I’m a pescatarian now (that means I eat a vegetarian diet + fish). I originally became a vegetarian due to the politics of food more than for any other reason.
I grew up in the country and saw fewer and fewer family farms and more large, corporate farms buying up the land. Subsequently, the majority of profits from farming started to go to large corporations versus to the families who live on and work the land. Most of the land was being used to produce meat and I banned meat as a personal protest against this trend.
I knew that my protest wouldn’t change anything, but I was a idealist with Kantian sense of duty. And so I lived with actions borne from my beliefs.
I’ve also long had an affinity for organic foods and locally-grown produce. About ten years ago I started noticing the phrase “fair trade” on some products—organic products and coffee in particular. This phrase really resonated with me as it is all about creating an equitable balance in trade with farmers and other product producers. In particular, fair trade efforts are focused on workers and producers in regions where they have been most taken advantage of.
Melania Coleccion Especial Cabernet Sauvignonis an example of a wine that is produced with grapes that are organic and fair trade. I’ve heard some wine drinkers say that they are leery of Chilean wines because they aren’t sure of the chemicals used in production. Well, if that’s the case, here’s the wine for you to try.
Melania wines are produced by Viña Lomas de Cauquenes in the Maule Valley of Chile. In 1995, Viña Lomas de Cauquenes was the first vineyard in Chile to receive Organic Certification. And they are one of only two vineyards in Chile to with FLO Fair Trade Certification.
The Melania Coleccion Especial Cabernet Sauvignon is also a very enjoyable wine. I found it to be rather earthy and nicely balanced. Chocolate, plum and currant flavors prevail. It is nice and smooth. I recommend it and gave it an 87. Plus it only cost $8.99 and I know that the workers got an equitable share of that price, which makes it taste even better.
Wine: Melania Coleccion Especial
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol: 13.2%
Rating: 87
Viña Los Vascos is a 580-ha vineyard in the Colchagua region of Chile. “Los Vascos” means “The Basques” and is a reference to the Basque origins of wine production in the region.
The area was first used as a vineyard in 1750, when it was planted by the Echenique family, of Basque origin, and has been used for wine production ever since.
In 1988, Domaines Barons de Rothschild-Lafite took over the Los Vascos estate and began to restructure and modernize the vineyard under the guidance of Claudio Navajo. The result has been ever increasing quality in the wine produced by the estate.
I am very excited about the wines I’ve tasted coming out of Chile and the Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 is a great example of why. It has great flavor, interesting characteristics, and it’s reasonably priced. I picked up this bottle for $9.99.
At first I was taken by surprise by the nose on this wine. It wasn’t what I was expecting and that made me suspect momentarily, but I quickly changed my mind. It has a strong floral characteristic, which is really interesting, plus a bit of smokiness and ripe strawberry. The palate is primarily strawberry with a bit of vanilla and currant. It has nice concentration, but not a lot of complexity. The finish is silky and smoky. It’s quite different from other Cabs I’ve had, and I found it very enjoyable. I gave it an 87.
Wine: Los Vascos
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 87
It’s time to start a new theme on Cheap Wine Ratings and next up is Cabernet Sauvignon. I’m sitting here pondering a clever title for the theme and I’m coming up with nothing. I guess I was up too late last night and burned out my creative juices. I went to the UFC fight in Cincinnati last night. Odd, I know… a wine drinker going to a UFC fight. It was great people watching, I’ll give it that.
So I guess I’ll dub the theme Cheap Cabernet Sauvignon. That will keep it direct and to the point. As I have done for previous themes, you’ll be seeing several write ups over the next few weeks all focused on Cabernet Sauvignon. After I’ve gone through a good variety of bottles I’ll put together a summary of the results to give you the top picks for cheap cab.
First up, it’s Twin Fin Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. I’ve written in the past about Twin Fin wines and I really like this company. They are putting out a quality product for “drink it now” consumers. This is a brand to load up your cellar with and age it. This is tasty, fruit-forward wine that has fun marketing around it and easy to open screw top caps.
I know some folks are still prejudiced against screw caps, thinking they are indicative of cheap wine. Well guess what? If you buy a $10 bottle of wine with a cork and a $10 bottle of wine with a screw cap you end up with two cheap bottles of wine. There is nothing more “high-end” about the bottle with the cork. But, the bottle with the cork could get cork taint. That’s not going to happen with the screw cap. That’s the long way to say that that there’s nothing wrong with screw caps.
The grapes for Twin Fin Cabernet predominantly come from Monterey County California. The wine shows chocolate and black berries on the nose. The palate is black currant and plum with a velvety chocolate undertone and hint of vanilla on the finish. It’s not terribly complex, but very enjoyable… especially for $6.99. Cha-ching… I’ll have another please. I gave it an 86.
Wine: Twin Fin
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 86
I was almost ready to write up this summary on my Quest for a Good, Cheap Pinot Noir when I noticed that more recent vintages of my top two picks were on the shelves. To be relevant to those shopping now, I had to pick them up to ensure they are worthy of top picks. And wouldn’t you know it… the newer vintages didn’t hold up.
So what does that mean? There is no clear winner. Yep, the naysayers won (those bastards). There is not a great, cheap pinot noir that I could find. That said, there are some decent mediocre ones.
One of the frustrations of a cheap wine aficionado is that sometimes your picks just don’t work out. The good news is, when that happens it’s only a few bucks and not a $40+ bottle of disappointing wine.
So what were the top picks that didn’t work out with more recent vintages?
- Rosemount Estate Pinot Noir 2004 was my original top pick with a rating of 89.
- Mark West Vin de Corse Pinot Noir 2005 was my second pick with an 88.
The 2006 vintage of Rosemount Estate Pinot Noir dropped to an 84 rating. It’s still an OK bottle of wine, but it’s nothing exceptional. It offers cherry, apple and vanilla on the nose. It has a somewhat fruity palate with strawberry, plum and apple, but all are subtle. The tannins are soft and it has a medium length finish that lacks complexity. It also cost a dollar more than the 2004 vintage cost me… damn inflation!
The 2006 vintage of Mark West Pinot Noir fared a little better. Now I should note that Mark West puts out Pinot Noir from different regions and the only 2006 release that I’ve found is from California versus the 2005 I tasted with French grapes. The 2006 Mark West has a smoke, vanilla, red raspberry and cherry on the nose. I did enjoy the nice, warm mouth feel. Plum, cherry, raspberry and earth make up the palate. It has dry tannins and a medium length finish. I gave it an 86.
Others Worth Mentioning
I gave a reluctant 88 to 47 Pound Rooster Pinot Noir from HRM Rex-Goliath! Wines. The reason it’s a reluctant 88 is that it has no vintage. As you can see with the Rosemount Estate example above, there can be quite a difference from one vintage to the next. I don’t like wines that keep vintage a mystery as I just don’t know what I’m getting.
Another worth mentioning is the Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir 2005. I gave it an 87 and I can still remember the crisp spiciness of this wine. It was enjoyable. I’m sure the 2006 is on the shelves by now and I haven’t tried it yet… that will be up to you.
The Ratings Chart
As a part of my summaries I like to include a chart of all my wine ratings for that category so that you can get a quick glance at what I tasted and how it rated.
|
Brand
|
Year
|
Region
|
Rating
|
Price
|
|
Rosemount Estate
|
2004
|
Australia
|
89
|
$8.99
|
|
Mark West – Vin de Corse
|
2005
|
France
|
88
|
$10.99
|
|
47 Pound Rooster
|
N/A
|
California
|
88
|
$9.99
|
|
Pepperwood Grove
|
2005
|
California
|
87
|
$6.99
|
|
Mark West – Appelation California
|
2006
|
California
|
86
|
$10.99
|
|
Meridian
|
2005
|
California
|
85
|
$9.49
|
|
Castle Rock
|
2006
|
California
|
85
|
$14.99
|
|
Rosemount Estate
|
2006
|
Australia
|
84
|
$9.99
|
|
Beringer Founder’s Estate
|
2004
|
California
|
83
|
$9.99
|
|
Robert Mondavi – Woodbridge
|
2005
|
California
|
82
|
$6.99
|
|
Three Thieves
|
2005
|
California
|
82
|
$9.99
|
|
The Little Penguin
|
2006
|
Australia
|
80
|
$5.99
|
|
Mezzacorona
|
2005
|
Italy
|
78
|
$7.99
|
|
Blackstone
|
2005
|
California
|
73
|
$7.99
|
I’ve been wanting to try some Portuguese wines for some time now and today for Wine Blogging Wednesday #38 the theme is Portuguese Table Wine hosted by Catavino. That gives me the extra motivation I need to stop delaying and try some Portuguese wine!
I actually have a sliver of a connection to Portugal as I supposedly have some Portuguese blood in me. It’s pretty diluted to be honest… nonetheless, I embrace it.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve been wanting to try Portuguese wines, another is the fact that when I read reviews in various wine publications the list of highly rated value wines from Portugal seems to keep getting longer and longer. So I make notes of all the great values that I read about and head off to the wine shop and walk in circles trying to find these great wines… Where are they?! I’m off to another wine shop… same thing… and another…
I had a devil of a time finding Portuguese wine, much less finding some not from Douro. The few Portuguese wines I found were usually mixed in with Spanish wines. One shop I was in even has a sign that looks something like this:
SPAIN & Portugal
It seems that the wine distributors in my area (Cincinnati, OH) are doing a piss-poor job at bringing in Portuguese wine. And I think they are missing a huge opportunity. Everyone loves a great deal, and from what I’ve read there are lots of great value wines available from Portugal. If I knew the business of wine distribution I would do it myself. If anyone knows the folks at Cutting Edge Selections make the suggestion as I think they are probably the ones who would go after this market.
The Tasting
After much searching I was able to pick up two bottles from producer Sogrape Vinhos. One of them I thought was mediocre, but the other bottle I thoroughly enjoyed.
The first bottle I tried was Vinha Do Monte 2001 ($10.99) from the Alentejano region. This wine is a blend of Aragones, Trincadeira and Alfrocheiro Preto grapes. All of which are new to me, so I did a little digging: Aragones it seems is either another name for Garnacha or Tempranillo (I’m not sure which to believe); Trincadeira is an indigenous Portuguese varietal that grows best in dry, hot regions and typically produces flavors of jam, red plum, cinnamon and clove; Alfrocheiro Preto is another indigenous varietal thought to be related to Pinot Noir. Alfrocheiro Preto is typically grown in Dão and is attributed to producing flavors of mint, flowers, black currants and fresh strawberries.
The Vinha Do Monte has an interesting nose: strong floral and vanilla with earth and cherry undertones. The palate brings out the cherry a bit more with plum and vanilla riding shotgun. It has a very warming mouth feel with a rather high acidity that is just slightly out of balance. It’s a little bitter on the back of the tongue. The finish is long but rather uninteresting. In general it’s an OK wine, but not great.
Wine: Vinha Do Monte
Varietal: Blend of Aragones, Trincadeira and Alfrocheiro Preto
Vintage: 2001
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 82
The second bottle I tried was Grão Vasco 2004 ($6.99) from the Dão region. This wine is a blend of Touriga Nacional, Jaen, Alfrocheiro Preto and Tinta Pinheira. Touriga Nacional is a varietal used extensively in Port wine that has characteristics of strong tannins and concentrated black fruit. Jaen is a rather bland grape with low acidity that is often used to balance tannins from other varietals. Tinta Pinheira, also known as Rufete, is another varietal used in Port that oxidizes easily and adds candy-like fruit flavors.
Overall, I found this to be a very enjoyable wine. It has a nice smoky, leathery and floral bouquet. Cherry and pepper on the palate with a silky mouth feel. It isn’t terribly complex, but it does have surprising concentration for a $7 wine. It always makes me happy when the less expensive wine is my favorite.
Wine: Grão Vasco
Varietal: Blend of Touriga Nacional, Jaen, Alfrocheiro Preto and Tinta Pinheira
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 89
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