VINEgeek VINstagram: The Stump Jump

Good supermarket red. I didn’t love the 2009, but the 2010 seems to be back in the groove of past vintages. #vinegeek #vinegeekapproved

on Instagram: http://instagr.am/p/QLlAW_M5y_/

September 29th, 2012 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Price: 11-15 bucks, VINEgeek VINstagram | Leave a comment.

With a Name Like Stickleback…

Tuesday night I opened a bottle of Stickleback Red 2008 from the Aussie winery Heartland. It was a Costco grab that intrigued me with it’s mix of grapes: the back label says it’s a blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Shiraz, 5% Lagrein and 4% Dolcetto.

Tastes more like 100% Smuckers.

This is a major dark [...]

October 21st, 2011 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes | 3 comments. Add yours.

Cleavage Creek Trio

I am long overdue to review these wines from Cleavage Creek, kindly provided as samples by the winery. I had been waiting to do some sort of tie-in with Breast Cancer Awareness Month or something like that (Cleavage Creek donates 10% of gross sales to various breast cancer research organizations.) When I heard the awful [...]

June 28th, 2011 | Tags: , , | Category: Price: 16-20 bucks, Tasting Notes | Leave a comment.

Shiraz Tastes Good: Penfold’s Thomas Hyland Shiraz 2006

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 [...]

March 10th, 2010 | Tags: , , , | Category: Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes | 2 comments. Add yours.

Sylvan Springs Hard Yards Shiraz 2007 McLaren Vale

Producer: Sylvan Springs

Grapes: Shiraz (presumably 100%, but it doesn’t say so on the tech sheet)

Appellation: McLaren Vale (Australia)

Vineyard: Soils are “grey sand over ironstone gravel layer over orange permeable clay.” At least some of the fruit comes from the Blewitt Springs sub-region.

Winemaking: No new oak – the wine spent 12 months [...]

January 7th, 2010 | Tags: , , , | Category: Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes | 4 comments. Add yours.
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