This Week's Tastings

Name: Canyon Road Chardonnay
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2011
Price: $6.95

Winery Review: Medium bodied wine with notes of crisp apple and ripe citrus fruit with a hint of cinnamon spice. Delicious compliment to grilled chicken, lighter pasta dishes or mild cheeses.

My Review: Very light in color with light hints of apple on the nose. Very nice subtle apple flavor, great taste to it. Would love to try this with some grilled chicken.

Name: Sainte Victoire Cotes de Provence
Variety: Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault
Region: Provence
Country: France
Year: 2011
Price: $8.95

Winery Review: Bright salmon pink; typical of the fresh but warm Provence style. Refined and complex on the nose, with summer fruit and floral notes. Dry and crisp, with a delicate flavor and full texture.

My Review: Extreme fruitiness on the nose, also an odd color for a rose, almost an orange color, which makes sense with all the citrus scents. A nice fruity rose, nice sweetness to it.

Name: Montebuena Rioja
Variety: 100% Tempranillo
Region: Rioja
Country: Spain
Year: 2010
Price: $8.95

Winery Review: Ripe cherry and blackcurrant on the nose and in the mouth. Pliant and seamless in texture, with good heft and back-end energy. Finishes smooth and sweet, with fine grained tannins providing shape and grip. Still on the young side but this wine drinks very well with an hour or so of decanting; it's an excellent value for Rioja.

My Review: Medium Red, strong cherry on the nose. Light cherry flavor to start but then almost a bitter, not so enjoyable taste to the tail end. Not sure what it is but it went downhill, fast. Not a fan.

Name: Tres Ojos Garnacha
Variety: Garnacha
Region: Calatayud
Country: Spain
Year: 2011
Price: $6.95

Winery Review: This wine has a brick red color with a bouquet of red raspberries, spice and white pepper. The palate is incredibly concentrated and rich. The modern styles of Garnacha in Spain are continuously being perceived worldwide as wines of extraordinarily good quality. This wine is fruity, juicy, and shows a great depth, ripe tannins, length but yet with wonderful elegance and lightness. Enjoy with sausages, roasted meats, aged cheeses, etc.

My Review: Deep medium red. All I'm smelling is pepper, no fruit. Strong overwhelming scent. A lot a lot of tannins, with a very strong peppery taste and almost no fruit. Definitely not a wine to drink by itself but I could see it pairing nicely with a good steak.

Name: Emeri de Bortoli Sparkling Shiraz
Variety: Shiraz
Region: South Eastern Australia
Country: Australia
Year: NV
Price: $9.95

Winery Review: A relatively light, fresh style of sparkling Shiraz, with berries and hints of chocolate picking up just a touch of sweet vanilla on the finish.

My Review: A nice fruity scent with a touch of vanilla, really nice on the nose. A nice berry taste with a touch of acidity, a little strong though. Not bad, but not worth my ten dollars.

This Week's Tastings

Name: Cortenova Pinot Grigio
Variety: Pinot Grigio
Region: Italy
Country: Italy
Year: 2012
Price: $7.95

Winery Review: Brilliant straw color with emerald reflections. Fresh and floral bouquet with a hint of pears, apricots, and bananas. Fresh and inviting with bright fruit and an easy drinking style with a pleasing hint of almonds in the aftertaste. Pairs well with seafood dishes, risottos with scampi, spaghetti with clams, sole in white wine. Perfect also as an aperitif.

My Review: Smells very light, with lots of hints of pear on the nose. Very tart to the tongue but not sweet, so tart it almost makes your lips pucker a bit. Tastes like it is a high alcohol wine but really isn't that high at 12%, so not a lot of masking to the alcohol taste.

Name: Maipe Malbec Rose
Variety: Malbec
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2011
Price: $7.95

Winery Review: Intense pink color with violet hints. Fresh red fruit bouquet, strawberry and cherry flavors, balanced acidity, dry and lingering finish. Excellent with tuna or green salad, pasta, spicy Asian dishes.

My Review: A nice bright pink, a lot of cherry on the nose. A very nice light cherry/strawberry flavor that kicks in right at the tail end, but other than that not a whole lot of flavor to be experienced.

Name: Tinto Figaro
Variety: 100% Garnacha
Region: Calatayud
Country: Spain
Year: 2009
Price: $6.95

Winery Review: Figaro is 100% Garnacha, made from a selection of the best grapes grown in the oldest vineyards. While not truly an "oaked wine", a short stay in oak barrels provides a nice spicy flavor boost. Bright violet. Dark berry and cherry aromas show a jammy aspect. Supple and gently sweet, with good lift to its black raspberry and boysenberry flavors. Smooth and broad on the finish, leaving behind a hint of spiciness. Extremely easy to drink and an excellent value.

My Review: Medium red, strong scented, lots of raspberry and some cherry on the nose. "Gently sweet" is a good way to describe it. A nice simple red with a touch of sweetness, and nicely agrees with my palate.

Name: Domaine de Grange de Payan
Variety: Grenache
Region: Cotes du Rhone
Country: France
Year: 2011
Price: $8.95

Winery Review: Intensely spicy and precise, with lively red berry flavors and a hint of black pepper. The Grenache, which makes up the majority of the wine, is deeper and more powerful, offering cherry and black raspberry qualities lifted by zesty minerality.

My Review: A lot a lot a lot of spices on the nose, pretty overwhelming. The taste is not as overwhelming, a nice spice to the beginning and then a nice fruity/cherry kick at the end. A very nice wine.

Name: Potluck Sweet Malbec
Variety: Malbec
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2010
Price: $7.95

Winery Review: Deep red with violet hints. Complex, fruity, and predominant red fruits. Easy to drink, round with persistent sweetness, very well balanced with sweet tannins.

My Review: Fairly deep red, smells very similar to the domaine de grange, but with a little less spice. A well balanced combination of sweetness and tannins. Again, a decent red, my palate must be coming around.

Tastings From This Week

Name: Dibon Cava Brut Reserve
Variety: 45% Macabeo, 25% Xarel-lo, 30% Parellada
Region: Penedes
Country: Spain
Year: NV
Price: $9.95

Winery Review: Light gold with plenty of bubbles, this wine has aromas of apples and pears with pleasant floral notes. Crisp and light-bodied on the palate, stone fruit flavors are accompanied by a mild minerality and balanced acidity. A delicious sparkler for a great price!

My Review: Smells quite similar to the types of whites I am usually drinking, sweet and fruity to the nose. Lots of apple hints jumping out at my nose. To the palate it came across as a typical champagne, but didn't seem to have the bubbles that I would have expected. Was also not as dry as I was anticipating. Price tag seems a little steep for what it is.

Name: Villa d' Orvieto
Variety: Grechetto, Prociano, Malvasia
Region: Italy
Country: Italy
Year: 2011
Price: $6.95

Winery Review: Fresh and crisp, it has a beautiful, floral bouquet. It is wonderful with appetizers, fish, chicken, and salads.

My Review: Extremely light color, almost none there. Not much on the nose either, I might have picked up a little alcoholy scent if anything. Not to my suprise, not much flavor here either, maybe a slight alcohol kick towards the end, but overall there isn't anything to this wine that would make me want to buy it.

Name: Maipe Chardonnay
Variety: 85% Chardonnay, 15% Viognier
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2012
Price: $7.95

Winery Review: Brilliant yellow golden color with green hints. The wine is crisp and filled with white peach, pear, green apple flavors, toasty vanilla. Elegant and luscious wine, well balanced. Crisp and long finish. Pairs well with creamy soups, pork, veal, and vegetables.


My Review: Fruity and peachy to the nose. Tart and crisp as soon as it hits my tongue. Definitely one of the more tart chardonnays I have tasted which is probably the reason why I like it.

Name: Cortenova Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Variety: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Region: Italy
Country: Italy
Year: 2010
Price: $6.95

Winery Review: Deep ruby red color with violet highlights and a pleasant and fruity bouquet. Full bodied, soft tannins and good acidity. Excellent with pasta dishes and red meats.

My Review: Medium red color, strawberry and cherry notes are sharp on the nose. Smells dry and maybe a little oaky. Taste is very dry and tart to me, while I'm not opposed to it, I could not sit and drink a whole bottle of this.

Name: Monte Aman
Variety: %100 Tempranillo
Region: Arlanza
Country: Spain
Year: 2009
Price: $5.95

Winery Review: Fermentation of selected grapes in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperature. Aging American oak casks for 5 months followed by 3 months in the bottle before being released in the market. Inky ruby. Ripe cherry and plum on the nose. Smooth and fleshy, with deep dark fruit flavors complicated by bitter chocolate and anise. A spicy quality adds lift and focus to the weighty fruit. Offers an appealing mix of power and energy and drinks very well right now.

My Review: Dark dark red color, has an extremely spicy scent to it, peppery. No fruits jumping out at me whatsoever. Flavor didn't seem to be as potent as the smell, a lot more mellow. A small hint of spices, with a little touch of cherry.