I’ve been posting carménère reviews lately and here’s another bargain carménère from Chile. This one comes from the Colchagua Valley, a region known for its red wines – including carménère.
The spice is pretty heavy on the nose of this wine. It’s loaded with nutmeg, clove, toasted oak and vanilla. That’s backed up by plenty of blackberry, blueberry and plum, although I can’t say it’s entirely harmonious. It’s a little clumsy, but still enjoyable. The palate is full of ripe fruit flavors, such as blackberry, plum and black currant. There are also some coffee notes on the palate. The finish is rather spicy, but still has plenty of berry flavors. The acidity is good as are the tannins. It’s a drinkable and enjoyable wine, although the balance is a little off.
Wine: Calcu Carménère
Variety: Carménère
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 84
Price: $14.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Calcu Carménère with Snooth
Following up from the last review, here is another Chilean carménère.
This one comes from Maquis in the Colchagua Valley. The story of Maquis dates back almost 90 years to when the first vineyards were planted on the estate. For most of its existence the owners only grew grapes to sell to other winemakers, but in 2002 they decided to start producing their own wine and built a winery. Their vineyard lies between two rivers, ending at their confluence, resulting in a unique micro-climate.
Cedar, black cherry and chocolate aromatics make for a dark and spicy nose. The palate brings rich tannins, gripping acidity and a dense mouthfeel. It offers blackberry, plum, black cherry, soy sauce and chocolate flavors. It has a touch of spice moving into the finish. This is a pretty big carménère with a good mix of fruit, earth and spice.
Wine: Maquis Carménère
Variety: Carménère
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $19.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Maquis Carménère with Snooth
Although carménère has in recent years come to be thought of as a signature Chilean grape, its roots go back to Europe. More specifically, it is thought to have originated in the Médoc region of Bordeaux. It was once thought to be the “lost grape of Bordeaux,” having gone extinct from phylloxera in 1867. But cuttings of the vine had been imported to Chile prior to its supposed extinction where it was thriving in hiding for over a century.
Actually, it wasn’t truly hidden, it was just mistaken for merlot until 1998 when it was officially recognized in Chile.
As I’ve come to know this wine I’m rather surprised that it was confused with merlot, as the two wines have some distinct differences. Although there are some visual similarities with the vines and grapes, which is what I understand led to confusion.
Unfortunately, I often find that carménère has a strong green pepper aroma, which is a sign that it was harvested before fully ripening. This particular one from Casillero del Diablo doesn’t suffer that flaw.
Leather, tar and coffee aromas add an earthy quality layered over the fruit such as blackberry and raspberry. The aromas are all good, but the balance is a little clumsy. The palate offers black cherry, blackberry covered with chocolate. The chocolate lingers into the finish. This is a fairly meaty carménère and should be enjoyed with a meaty meal.
Wine: Casillero del Diablo Carménère
Variety: Carménère
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 85
Price: $12.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Casillero del Diablo Carménère with Snooth
Today it’s rainy and icky outside and I’m feeling kind of moody, but things are turning more springlike and for that reason I’m going to focus on a happy wine for spring. A rosé!
I love rosé and I think it’s an under-appreciated wine in general — although not under-appreciated by me. When it’s made well, it’s a refreshing, approachable and fun wine that’s easy to enjoy.
This one comes from Spelletich Family Winery, a producer I’ve profiled in the past. They’re a small producer, so it’s not a wine you’re going to find everywhere, but it’s worth snagging a few bottles of their wine if you do come across it.
Their 3 Spell rosé is made from a blend of merlot and cabernet sauvignon from Napa Valley. Like many of their wines it’s a small production wine run with only 90 cases produced.
Peach, lemon, bubble gum and wet stone aromas give this wine a cool and refreshing nose. It smells yummy. In the mouth, this is everything I want from a rosé. It’s crisp and offers tasty flavors like apple, strawberry, black cherry, lemon and vanilla. It’s well balanced and has a personality. The finish is relatively long and tasty. It’s a very good rosé.
Wine: 3 Spells Rosé
Variety: Merlot and cabernet sauvignon
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 88
Price: $25.00
South Africa is rising quickly on my list of locations for really good bargain-priced wines. I showed up late to this party, but I’m sticking around now that I’ve found it.
This is the latest in my list of South African wines worth raving about. And this one is a chardonnay. I almost never “rave” about a chardonnay. I know some of you are big chardonnay fans and some of you love to hate it. In all honesty, I’m often in that latter group but I give credit where credit is due. While I’ve tasted plenty of crappy chardonnay over the years, I’ve also had some mighty good ones. And this is the latest to go on that list.
Lemon and straw dominate the nose of this wine, but it also shows some floral and wet stone aromatics. The palate is vibrant, with crisp lemon flavors supported by green apple, white peach, melon and a dash of salt. The balance is perfect. It’s interesting and elegant. This is a wine that will make you love chardonnay. It’s delicious.
Wine: DeMorgenzon DMZ Chardonnay
Variety: Chardonnay
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 89
Price: $17.00
Find DeMorgenzon DMZ Chardonnay with Snooth
I’ve raved about Kim Crawford wines from New Zealand in the past. The fact is, I have yet to taste a wine from Kim Crawford that I don’t love. Although they’ve only been around for about two decades, they know their stuff. They only make a few varieties of wine, and they make them really well.
My love for Kim Crawford wines is rooted in their sauvignon blanc, which is just amazing. But I’ve also previously reviewed their entry-level pinot noir, which is also quite tasty.
Like many wine producers, they have a couple different tiers of product that they produce. This pinot noir comes from their “Small Parcels” line, which are single vineyard wines produced in smaller batches than their entry-level wines. The vineyards for these wines are selected for producing higher quality product, which also means it’s a more expensive product. The price for this wine does come in higher than our $20 target price and is almost double the price of their basic pinot noir, but it is quite good.
The nose of this wine is balanced, harmonious and elegant with supple cherry, blackberry, vanilla and violet aromatics. The aromatics are moderate in intensity, but absolutely delightful. It is also quite spectacular on the palate, where it offers rich blackberry, plum, strawberry and beet flavors. It has a vibrant and full mouthfeel that adds to the awesomeness of this wine. This is the kind of wine that makes me wish I could spend more on my wine all the time. It is superb!
Wine: Kim Crawford, Small Parcels Rise and Shine
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 92
Price: $33.00
Find Kim Crawford, Small Parcels Rise and Shine, Pinot Noir with Snooth
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Red blends are where it’s at when you want a tasty red wine at a bargain price. And they seem to be all the rage too. I’ve hear people raving over red blends all the time, and some of my favorite wines are red blends. Although not all red blends are the same, so it’s good to learn what styles you prefer.
When it comes to Californian red blends, I find a lot of “new world” style wines. This means they tend to be fruit forward with nothing subtle about the flavors. I’ve noticed a growing popularity of zinfandel blends coming out of California, a wine that’s known for its bold fruit characteristics.
The 1 Red Blend from Noble Vines is a new world style wine, which is very generous on the fruit. It’s not a zinfandel blend per se, but it does have some zin in it. Merlot is the lead grape in this blend, followed by cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel.
The nose of this wine is loaded with spice, and it’s well-balanced with the fruit characteristics too. It features cinnamon, cedar, blackberry, black cherry and plum. The palate offers concentrated plum, black cherry and blackberry flavors — just like the fruit on the nose. It’s a bit on the jammy side. It has good acidity. This is a good BBQ wine.
Wine: Noble Vines 1 Red Blend
Variety: Red blend
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 85
Price: $15.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Noble Vines 1 Red Blend with Snooth
Yesterday I posted a review of a bargain-priced pinot noir that was pretty good for the price. It wasn’t a wine that would totally knock your socks off, but it was good and a great value for a pinot noir. This wine from Brancott Estate is a similar story.
This wine comes from Marlborough, New Zealand where Brancott has been producing wine since the mid 1970’s. Brancott is best known for their sauvignon blanc, which is quite tasty. But their pinot noir is not bad.
The nose on this wine has quite a bit of intensity — I didn’t even need to bring the glass to my nose before I was smelling it. It’s a spicy nose too, with nutmeg, allspice and cedar making a bold appearance. There are good fruit aromatics dancing in there too, such as plum, cherry and blackberry. The palate is bright and fruity, although has a bit of a pucker. It offers tart cherry and strawberry flavors with a touch of spice. The finish is fairly long, but has a bit of bitterness to it. Overall it’s a good pinot noir, particularly on the nose. And it’s a great value.
Wine: Brancott Estate Pinot Noir
Variety: Pinot noir
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 85
Price: $13.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Brancott Estate Pinot Noir with Snooth
As I’ve commented recently, I try to make sure I post reviews of both unique (although perhaps harder to find) gems and more widely distributed, easy to find wines. This one comes from Bronco Wine Company, a producer I’ve written about a number of times. They produce over 100 brands of wine, including many of the more popular cheap wine brands like Red Truck, Charles Shaw and Forest Glen to name a few.
To be honest, I didn’t expect much from this wine — a $10 bulk-produced pinot noir from Lodi. Many folks consider cheap, good pinot noir to be a unicorn (i.e. they don’t exist). And to extent that’s true, it is hard to find an “exceptional” cheap pinot noir, but you can find some decent ones. And with this one I was pleasantly surprised. That’s one reason I write these reviews. With so many wines on the shelves, it’s hard to know which bargain is going to be worth the ten bucks. I think this one is.
The nose is quite aromatic and balanced, offering strawberry, plum, raspberry, vanilla and cedar fragrances. The palate is light and approachable with tasty strawberry, black cherry and plum flavors that are harmonious. It does good with the acidity and tannins too, which are just right. There’s nothing extraordinary or magical about this wine, but it’s good and easy to drink. And the value can’t be beat.
Wine: Harlow Ridge Lodi Pinot Noir
Variety: Pinot noir
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $10.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Harlow Ridge Lodi Pinot Noir with Snooth
It’s no secret to regular readers here that I’m a fan of the good value wines that come out of Chile. I’ve reviewed a bunch of Chilean wines over the years. And I’ll probably review a bunch more in the coming years.
One varietal from Chile that has been hit and miss for me is cabernet sauvignon. Sometimes it’s awesome, but sometimes it has too much menthol that makes it seem out of balance. This one, from Casillero del Diablo, is good and I didn’t find any menthol aromatics in it, but those may have been hidden behind the abundant spices.
The nose of this wine makes me think of a blackberry cobbler made with healthy dose of cinnamon and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. There’s plenty of fruit and loads of spice. The palate also features loads of juicy, ripe fruit, such as blackberry, black cherry and black currant. And the spiciness comes through in the flavors too. It finishes medium-long, with berry and chocolate flavors.
It’s a big, juicy wine and the spices are heavy (perhaps too heavy, leaving it slightly out of balance). It’s not what I would call elegant, but it’s tasty and a good value.
Wine: Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: Cabernet sauvignon
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 85
Price: $12.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon with Snooth
Prev1...8910203040...82Next 
Page 9 of 82
