Category Archives: Red

October 25, 2017 by Andrea

Fossil & Fawn – Pinot Noir, 2015

• Basic info: Fossil & Fawn, Oregon Pinot Noir Black Label, Willamette Valley, Oregon – 2015
• Type: Red
• Price estimate: $35 (from winery)
• Look: Very light red, almost translucent in color with a slight tinge of orange.
• Smell: Cherry and some leaves
• Taste: Cherry candy, raspberry. light, clean. Bob got bing cherry and smooth with mild tannins. Medium long finish.
• Conclusions: This was not my favorite Pinot Noir. I was so excited when I read the description in the wine club notes, but alas … it was just ok. It was good, but not one that we will seek out.
• Other notes: This was one of our Oregon wine club wines and I was really excited about it because it was a natural wine that was organically farmed with native yeasts and no fining or filtering and no chemical adjustments to the wine. I wanted to love it, but it was just missing something for me. We have found that we generally love five of the six bottles in the shipment, and one is good, but not great. This, unfortunately, was the good but not great one. 12.1% alcohol by volume.

 

October 18, 2017 by Andrea

Domaine Guy Mousset – Red Blend, 2015

• Basic info: Domaine Guy Mousset “Cotes du Rhone” Red Blend, France, 2015.
• Type: Red
• Price estimate: $13 (Total Wine)
• Look: Very dark red, almost black plum. Minimal legs
• Smell: Grape jelly and a little wood on the nose.
• Taste: Bob and I disagreed on what this one tasted like. He got minerality, plum, black cherry and current with a dark, almost earthy end. I got the black cherry, but I had blackberry with only a tiny bit of mineral and cranberry.
• Conclusions: We both really liked this wine even though it tasted totally different to each of us. It was a little on the thin side, but that made for a nice sipping wine. It was super smooth and very enjoyable.
• Other notes: I wanted to get the rose from this producer, but Total Wine was out of it. I never remember the name so I was that annoying person who just kept saying I will know it when I see the label. Somehow the guy at Total Wine took this as a challenge, found this bottle and asked if I was looking for the rose version. I was. He found me a substitute (since they were out) and said the red is just as good, if you like red wine. I do like red wine, so I decided to try it and I am very glad I did. It isn’t a special wine, but a great every day red.
• From the bottle: No bottle notes. 13% alcohol by volume.

September 22, 2017 by Andrea

Shannon Ridge – Zinfandel, 2013

• Basic info: Shannon Ridge  High elevation collection Zinfandel, Lake County, CA – 2013
• Type: Red
• Price estimate: $20 (local wine store)
• Look: Opaque. Dark garnet or plum in color.
• Smell: hot. oak, charred wood.
• Taste: jam. dark fruit and a little hot on the palate. Medium acidity and some black cherry flavors. Short finish.
• Conclusions: I generally LOVE zinfandel, but this was not my favorite. It tasted of a lot of alcohol and I’m not sure of the bottle was bad or if it was just the style the one maker was going for.
• Other notes: Zins for me are fruity, jammy and deep in flavor. This one didn’t do it for me. One of the great thing about a good zin is that you don’t take the alcohol, even when the abv is above 14%. They should be easy to drink and this one wasn’t.
• From the bottle: No bottle notes, but from the winemaker, ” The Zinfandel delivers extracted characters of raspberry and blackberry with notes of pie spice, clove and anise.” 13.9% alcohol by volume.

September 13, 2017 by Andrea

Prunus – Red Blend, 2014

• Basic info: Prunus Private Selection Red Blend, Dao, Portugal – 2014
• Type: Red
• Price estimate: $18 (Weekly Tasting)
• Look: Dark black cherry in color with minimal legs at first and medium legs when it warmed up. (thank you Bob and Ed for the color descriptor)
• Smell: Sandalwood (I kid you not – that was the dominant smell in the glass and I almost didn’t try the wine because of it)
• Taste: Some effervescence up front with taste of blackberry and jam. Thin for such a dark wine. Medium finish.
• Conclusions: This wine was good and the taste was completely different than the smell. It was a bit thin on the mouthfeel, but there was more flavor than texture in this wine. We liked it – didn’t love it but liked it.
• Other notes: So we opened this bottle when Ed and Erin were still here and we had the first glass after finishing the bottle of the Eyrie, so our opinions of this wine may be a little biased. The Eyrie was just such a perfect wine that I’m not sure what wine we opened after, it would not have compared favorably. That said, this wine was good – not great – but certainly very drinkable.
• From the bottle: “Elegance on a grand scale. Lightly oaked and perfectly balanced with a silky texture and crisp edge. Supporting black cherry, plums and raspberry fruit flavors.” 13% alcohol by volume.

September 6, 2017 by Andrea

Eyrie Vineyards – Pinot Noir, 2012

• Basic info: Eyrie Vineyards, Oregon Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon – 2012
• Type: Red
• Price estimate: $40 (from vineyard)
• Look: opaque – black cherry in color with good legs
• Smell: Strawberry and cherry on the nose. (Bob only got wine.)
• Taste: Black cherry, current, hint of ripe plum with a touch of vanilla and granite. Beautiful, long finish.
• Conclusions: This is one of the rare perfect wines. On the first sip it was just eye closing perfection and the wine only got better as it opened in the glass. While a little expensive, this wine was worth every penny.
• Other notes: When we went to Oregon last year, we tasted this at the vineyard and fell in love with it. The wine got better over the last year and I think we drank it at the best possible point. Even better was sharing this bottle with Ed and Erin since they love Pinot Noir. Ed’s comment was simply, “This is what a Pinot Noir should be.”
• From the bottle: Vineyard notes, “this Pinot noir is an embodiment of the vintage, offering 2012’s richness while also taking advantage of its lively acidity. The layers of dark fruit notes combined with the earthy spice of this lush wine make it difficult to resist drinking now.” 13.5% alcohol by volume.

September 1, 2017 by Andrea

La Source du Ruault – Cabernet Franc, 2011

• Basic info: La Source du Ruault, “Clos de la Cote” Loire Valley, France – 2011
• Type: red
• Price estimate: $25 (Chamber Street Wine)
• Look: Plum, black cherry in color with significant legs
• Smell: mild earth
• Taste: mild earth, unripe raspberry and slightly harsh. Dry, short finish.
• Conclusions: Drinkable. Not bad, but not the best Cab Franc ever.
• Other notes: Ed, Erin and Bob made the tasting notes for this wine. We all had it with dinner, but I didn’t care for it as much and found it a little hard to drink. Ed is a huge Cab Franc fan, so it was his opinion I was really interested in. He found the wine good, but not great.
• From the bottle: No tasting notes on the bottle or from Chamber Street. 12.5% alcohol by volume.

August 9, 2017 by Andrea

Bombina – Red Blend, NV

• Basic info: Bombina, Red Blend (Cabernet Sauvignon & Sangiovese), Puglia Italy, No vintage
• Type: Red
• Price estimate: $15 (local wine store)
• Look: deep red with no noticeable legs
• Smell: dark fruit, cherry
• Taste: fruit. very smooth. nice acidity, but not too much.
• Conclusions: This is a good drinking wine, but it isn’t memorable. I could not discern too many specific tastes or smells in this wine, but it was a nice wine.
• Other notes: I almost didn’t post this wine, since I didn’t have much to say about it, but I decided this is part of the experience. I need to remember the only ok wines, and the wines I really don’t like, as well as the good ones. I also think I have a good baseline now and it may be time to start playing with smells and tastes, and take a look at what I’ve learned so far.
• From the bottle: No bottle notes. 12.5% alcohol by volume.

August 2, 2017 by Andrea

Shebang Wines – Red Blend, No Vintage

• Basic info: Shebang Wines, “The Whole Shebang” red wine blend from Sonoma, California
• Type: Red
• Price estimate: $15 (Chamber Street Wines)
• Look: Dark plum, opaque with good legs
• Smell: plum, cherry, deep dark fruit.
• Taste: Cherry, blackberry, ripe plum, dark fruit and chocolate on the back end. Long finish.
• Conclusions: Fantastic wine and one that tics all the boxes for both Bob and I. It is rare that we both find a wine we really love, but this zinfandel blend is doing the trick. It is higher alcohol content than either of us guessed because we didn’t taste any alcohol and we didn’t feel anything in the back of our throats (sure sign of high alcohol). We had this with our cheese box last month and we were both super happy with the wine.
• Other notes: I love zinfandels and I love the dark fruit taste of them and this wine is 55% zinfandel, so I was pretty sure I would like it. I wasn’t prepared to love it, especially not at $15 a bottle. We liked this wine so much we ordered more of it the next day. I don’t usually do that, and we have only ever decided a wine was that good that we needed to make sure we stocked away a few bottles twice. Because the wine is high alcohol, I can only do a glass of it, but I savored my glass and drank slowly because I wanted it to last. This is really an incredible wine.
• From the bottle: No tasting notes from the bottle, but from Chamber Street, “55% Zinfandel blended with Carignane, Petite Sirah, Mourvedre, Alicante Bouschet, Grenache, Syrah, Barbera and a touch of whites for aromatics from old vine plantings (up to 100 years old) around Sonoma County, fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel and raised in a nice bit of French oak for a bold, bright-fruited, silky, and satisfying wine that is unbeatable at this price.” 14.2% alcohol by volume.

July 28, 2017 by Andrea

Edmunds St. John – Gamay Noir, 2015

• Basic info: Edmunds St. John, Bone Jolly – Gamay Noir, El Dorado County, California, 2015
• Type: Red
• Price estimate: $23 (Chamber Street Wines)
• Look: ruby red, translucent with noticeable legs
• Smell: blackberry and cherry
• Taste: Raspberry and dark fruits with currants on the back end. Bright wine with just a little effervescence and some mineral on the finish.
• Conclusions: Good wine and fairly interesting. It is a little like a pinot noir, but just different enough to make me want to try more.
• Other notes: Gamay noir was one of the grapes on my list that I really wanted to try. I didn’t want to get just any bottle, I wanted to find one that would be a good example of the grape and I think this was it. I would like to try one that is just a little more expensive because I think I will get more depth to the wine. This one was good, very good, and easy to drink, but there were subtle things that make me think I can find something just a little better.
• From the bottle: No bottle notes, but from Chamber Street, “Made from 100% Gamay Noir, it is beautifully aromatic with candied black cherries, orange blossom, hibiscus and sweet spice aromas rising from the glass. Candied fruit abound on the palate pairing well with an array of different meals.” 13.5% alcohol by volume.

July 12, 2017 by Andrea

Vischio-Vaglio Serra – Barbera, 2014

• Basic info: Vischio-Veglio Serra, I Tre Vescovo, Barbera d’Asti Superiore, Piedmont Italy – 2014
• Type: Red
• Price estimate: $22
• Look: Garnet with slight brown tinge at the edges. Good legs.
• Smell: Wine. (Really, that was all I got)
• Taste: Cherry, a little earthy with an undertone of plum. Bob said unripe plum with a dusky finish.
• Conclusions: This is a good drinking wine. It has enough character that you go back for another sip, but not so much that it overpowers what you are eating. Like a lot of Italian wines, it pairs nicely with food. This one has a good mouth feel and the taste was better the second day.
• Other notes: This was one of our local wine club wines and it was the first one we opened this month. It was very good the day Bob brought it home, but it opened really nicely after sitting for a few days.
• From the bottle: No bottle notes, but from the club note, “Ruby color with orange overtones and an excellent body. A strong bouquet of dried fruit and a slightly woody flavor. The taste is dry and long lasting.” 13.5% alcohol by volume.