VINEgeek

I had the pleasure of participating in Swirl Smell Slurp’s United Slurps of America: Texas. Each week they taste some wine from one of the 50 states and invite a blogger or two from that state to taste the same wine and share their thoughts. My blogger-pal Ben from Vinotology was the other Texan to [...]

If memory serves, Cline’s was the very first varietal Mourvèdre I ever tasted, way back in the mid-90s in the tasting room. If it wasn’t the first, it was certainly the one that made me take notice of the grape. It’s been an old favorite ever since.
Producer: Cline Cellars
Grapes: 100% Mourvèdre
Appellation: Contra Costa County (AVA, [...]

Producer: Valley of the Moon Winery
Grapes: This is their Bordeaux-style blend, which they call Cuvée de la Luna. 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 4% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
Appellation: Sonoma County AVA
Vineyards: Various lots were sourced from Sonoma Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Mountain and other area in the county.
Vintage: 2006
Winemaking: Stainless steel [...]

I first took notice of Wine Guerrilla, a producer of several distinct Russian River Valley and Dry Creek Valley Zins, after reading this post at Benito’s Wine Reviews. Reading the post and checking out their website reminded me of my early days as a wino, er , wine lover. After having my eyes opened to [...]

This is the tenth installment of Mourvèdre Monday. Click here for the other posts in the series.
We return to Spain for this week’s Mourvèdre Monday post. And not only back to Spain, but back to the producer of Week 1’s wine: the Barahonda 06 Monastrell. This is another wine in their lineup – this one blended [...]

Producer: Michael~David Winery
Grapes: 84% Syrah and 16% Petite Sirah
Appellation: Lodi (AVA, California)
Vineyards: no info
Vintage: 2007
Winemaking: The wine spent 20 months in French oak (% new unknown)
Alcohol: 15%
Price: $17 at the online store
My tasting notes: The wine starts off with sweet blueberry and blackberry cobbler aromas along with smoke and tobacco notes. It actually reminds me [...]

For this week’s Mourvèdre Monday, we’re hopping in the wayback machine. I mean waaaaaaaaayback. I’m talking the oldest known Mourvèdre vines in the world. I’m so excited I just might wet myself.
Producer: Hewitson
Grapes: 100% Mourvèdre
Appellation: Barossa Valley, Australia
Vineyard: All the grapes for this wine come from the “Old Garden” planted in 1853. Eight. Teen. Fifty. Three. [...]

Rosenblum has always appealed to me because of it’s focus on Zin and it’s extensive lineup of vineyard-designate wines. I saw this Petite Sirah on the shelf a while back and the vineyard name struck a chord with me (see below), so I picked it up. Let’s check it out.
Producer: Rosenblum Cellars
Grapes: 100% Petite Sirah
Appellation: [...]

Aussie Shiraz is approaching Merlot-backlash territory in terms of becoming a wine style that some people wouldn’t be caught dead drinking (à la Sideways). Maybe that’s just in wine geek circles (not sure I have the most objective perspective on these things), but that’s where it starts, right?
But there’s usually a reason a wine style becomes [...]

This is the second appearance of the Mencía grape here in the Oddball series. The first was the terrific Viña Caneiro 2007 Ribeira Sacra. But this one is from Bierzo, another northwestern region of Spain.
La Mano Mencía Roble 2007 Bierzo
Producer: Vinos de Arganza
Grapes: 100% Mencía
Appellation: Bierzo (DO, Spain)
Vineyards: No info on the bottle or website, but if [...]