Price: Around $25
Image link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dobrych/4552132976/
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I’m experimenting with this new review format. I thought it would be cool to take the free association image I would typically insert in a post and give it more impact by making it the primary feature, with the text for bottle info (just the basics) and my tasting notes layered on top. I’m digging it, but let me know what you think.
Cheers!
Jim
Way back in October, Wines of Chile held a twitter tasting of red blends from Chile (hashtag: #ChileBlends). I had signed up for the tasting and received the wine, but a family emergency kept me from being able to participate on the night of the event. That also coincided with this blog going into a coma for several months. But I tasted the wines and made my notes and am finally posting my comments.
Chile made it’s mark on the US wine scene via inexpensive varietal wines, mainly cabernet, merlot and chardonnay back in the mid-1990s. While I knew things had moved on from that, I figured most of these blends would stay in the Bordeaux mold, with various combinations of cab, merlot, carmenere, and a bit of cab franc and petite verdot here and there. So I was pleasantly surprised by the range of grapes and some unusual combinations. Syrah is a trendy grape in Chile these days and a few of these add that Rhone grape to the Bordeaux blends. A couple include mourvèdre, my favorite grape. One makes use of old-vines, dry-farmed carignan, a hidden treasure of Chile’s. One even mixes syrah, merlot and pinot noir (though this was my least favorite of the lineup).
Below are my notes and free associations. They are in order from my favorite (bonus: it’s also the least expensive) to my least favorite. (Interestingly, my least favorite bottles all had a preponderance of Syrah.)
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Carmenere
A beautiful dark fruit nose, with just-right green/herbal notes. The palate has an iron minerality at the core, draped with black cherry and blackberry flavors, ripe tannins and a touch of creamy caramel. It finishes clean and minty. This wine has a take-another-sip quality that’s singing to me. It’s just plain delicious and a great value at $15. A-
Free association:
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31% Syrah,29% Cabernet Franc, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Carmenere
At first taste, I thought “This is the one I’m not gonna like.” But it started to appeal to me with time; kinda like Cougartown. The nose is like walking around the Christmas tree tent picking out your overpriced Douglas fir — including the whiffs of cigarette smoke from the carnie working there. A little mint too. Dry and tannic in the mouth with a tight core of sultry black fruit (it is a 2008) and tobacco. A wine worth spending an evening with. B+
Free association:
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56% Carignan, 24% Mourvèdre, 20% Syrah
There is a wildness to the smoky cherry nose with it’s green/vegetal notes and leather. On the palate it is medium-bodied and smooth-textured, with chocolate and black cherry flavors. Finishes cool. Nice wine. B
Free association:
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57% Carmenere, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petit Verdot
Pretty herbal and sandalwood notes highlight the fresh red fruit on the nose. The palate’s plummy/blueberry flavors feel controlled and precise, not overblown. A dry, woody, tannic finish. B
Free association:
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38% Syrah, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Carmenere, 17% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Mourvèdre
Dynamite nose of berries and a touch of cocoa/chocolate on a frame of crushed rock. On the palate, the dark berry fruit is a bit reserved behind the prominent woodiness. It’s nicely smooth-textured at the beginning then turns a bit coarse, with barky/woody tannins and a minty finish. The palate doesn’t pay off the promise of the nose, but a pleasant bottle. B-
Free association:
Image credit: seaan via Flickr
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42% Syrah, 30% Carmenere, 12% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec
Interesting nose of modest red fruit with fresh green pepper (more the white inner stuff than the green outside) and a metal and slightly saline quality. On the palate, the initial blueberry fruit is polished, but the wine tightens up and gets quite woody and grippy. It finishes with some black pepper spice (though a touch hot). The wine improves after a few hours open, but overall it’s not a favorite. B-/C+
Free association:
Image via Accidental Mysteries
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61% Syrah, 26% Merlot, 13% Pinot Noir
As the last wine in the lineup, and the most expensive, I had high hopes. (I should know better about price/quality expectations, but it’s a hard bias to shake.) The wine is dense & figgy, but I found the fruit to come across as “overcooked” and it finishes hot (despite only 14.4% on the label). It feels like there is some interesting complexity hiding in there, but it’s been stamped out. C+
Free association:
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Additional Notes:
I misplaced my notes on the De Martino Single Vineyard Old Bush Vines “Las Cruces” 2006 Cachapoal Valley ($45), 66% Malbec, 34% Carmenere, which was also a part of this tasting. My apologies to the good folks at Wines of Chile. I suck.
Other blogger posts on this tasting at drinknectar , cheapwineratings and 1winedude.
Carignane is about as unsexy as grapes get. Firstly, it’s a pretty ugly-sounding word. And have you ever heard anybody say, “My favorite wine is Carignane”? I didn’t think so. When it is used, it’s most often in blend, so today’s varietal Carignane from Cline is suitably oddball. And being “old vines” adds a little extra something. Although, now that I think about it, I bet a large portion of the Carignane that exists in California is “old vines” … because who the hell is planting Carignane these days?
Producer: Cline Cellars
Grapes: 100% Carignane
Appellation: Contra Costa County (AVA, California)
Vineyard: Blended from several lots drawn from Cline’s old old old vineyards in Oakley.
Winemaking: Stainless steel fermentation then six months in French oak (35% new)
Alcohol: 15.0%
Price: About $16
Tasting notes: It’s got a meaty/savory aroma. Intense, concentrated cherry/red berry flavors. But it seems infused with more: woodsmoke, herbs, sweet tobacco. Enough acid to rein in the plump fruit. A touch too heavy with the oak treatment, perhaps. But good juice.
Overall impression: I’m enjoying this wine. Maybe Carignane is sexy after all. B
Free association:
Get the reference? Leave a comment, Bender.
Mourvèdre Monday finally makes it to Texas. Becker is a big name in the Texas wine scene. I’ve tried quite a few of their wines over the years with mixed results. I had high hopes for their “Prairie Rotie” — a Southern Rhône blend of Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah and Carignan (though the name is a play on Côte Rôtie, which is a Northern Rhône appellation where the wines are either all Syrah or Syrah + Viognier). Let’s check it out.
Producer: Becker Vineyards,whose winery and tasting room are in the Texas Hill Country near Fredericksburg
Grapes: 68% Mourvèdre, 14% Grenache, 12% Syrah, 6% Carignan
Appellation: Texas High Plains AVA – way up in the panhandle
Vineyard: Martin Vineyard
Vintage: 2007
Winemaking: This wine spent 9 months in new American oak barrels.
Alcohol: 13.8%
Price: $16.95 on Becker’s website, but I believe I paid about a few dollars less at HEB (supermarket).
Tasting notes: This wine smells purple, grapey. Or like some imaginary Kool-aid flavor called Sparkleberry. Some sweet oak coming through pretty strong as well. Extracted, overripe berry fruit on the palate, coming across a little raw. The winery’s description promisingly mentions forest floor and herbs and coffee, but I didn’t pick up any of that in the wine. I grew bored of this very quickly.
Overall impression: A Texas winery taking pains to make and market this as a Rhône-style wine set my expectations to a way different place. I hope Becker (and others) continue working with these grapes here in Texas, but this particular wine didn’t do much for me. C
Free association:
I’ve been meaning to devote more attention to Bandol in the Mourvèdre Monday series. Bandol, after all, is the only appellation in France where Mourvèdre is the top dog grape (it must be a minimum of 50% of the blend).
So I was very excited when I was recently followed on Twitter by @BandolWines and subsequently discovered that they’re a Bandol importer based in nearby Houston. Soon after we connected via Twitter, I got the chance to meet Amine Matta, who was pouring three wines from Domain La Suffrene at the Austin Wine Merchant: a fresh, crisp appley white (from Clairette and Ugni Blanc), a nice minerally rosé and the red reviewed below. (Tasting notes based on a full bottle I purchased and drank later.) I’m looking forward to tasting through the as much of their portfolio as I can eventually!
Grapes: 55% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache, 15% Cinsault, 10% old-vine Carignan
Appellation: Bandol (AOC, France)
Vineyards: “sandy-silt-laden, calcareous and clay” soils
Vintage: 2005
Winemaking: 18 months in oak (% new unknown)
Alcohol: I failed to note it.
Price: I paid around $30 at Austin Wine Merchant
Tasting notes: On the nose, there is a spicy, black pepper layer on top of the red fruit (berries and maybe some plum). A definite whiff of horse stable on the nose, but a nice clean horse stable, like the ones with the clydesdales at Busch Gardens and SeaWorld. On the palate, it has good dark fruit, but it’s strength for me is in its leathery, savory, earthy qualities. A wine for contemplation, not quaffing.
Overall impression: A real winner for me. B+
Free association: I picture Dumbledore drinking this in his office after a long day battling office politics at Hogwarts.
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 the world of wine by a Cabernet on a camping trip, I quickly gravitated to Zinfandel. On my first couple of trips to wine country, I focused on Dry Creek Valley and Russian River Valley and was on the hunt for Zins. Wine Guerrilla’s mission is “Finding the very best zinfandel grapes, and crafting wines worthy of the grape’s unique characteristics, and introducing those wines to the public.” I can get behind that.
Producer: Wine Guerrilla
Grapes: A co-fermented field blend (yay!) of 83% Zinfandel, 12% Petite Sirah, 2% Carignan, 2% Alicante Bouchet and 1% Grenache
Appellation: Russian River Valley (AVA, California). A cool-climate sub-region within Sonoma County that is known primarily for the Burgundian grapes Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but it’s Zinfandels are a highlight, too – usually noted for their finesse, balance and delicacy. Not sure that description fits here, but read on…
Vineyard: Conte Vineyard
Vintage: 2008
Winemaking: Spent time in 1-3 year old oak barrels (French, American and Hungarian)
Alcohol: 15.9%
Price: $30
My tasting notes: This wine definitely reminds me of why I fell in love with Zin when I first got into wine. Big, fruity nose that shows rich raspberry and blackberry fruit, and even some prune and raisin but not in a bad way (at least for me). Definitely some sweet oak on the nose, too. Dense, rich mouthfeel that’s full of more delicious red and black fruit. Solid acidity and tannins. The 15.9% alcohol is definitely noticeable, which wouldn’t have bothered me so much in the early years, but I wish was toned down a bit here.
Overall impression: Another Zin from the “these go to eleven” school, but nicely made and better than most. The luscious fruit doesn’t seem fake or sugary and there’s enough acid to keep it out of trouble. If you’re a Zin fan, you should keep an eye out for this one. B/B+
Free association:
More info:
Only 195 cases produced.
This bottle was provided as a sample for review by the winery.
Okay, maybe you’re getting tired of me posting about Montsant, but I’m going to keep trying them as long as they keep impressing me. Let’s check this one out.
Producer: Cellers Can Blau. (This wine also bears the label of Jorge Ordoñez Selection, though Tempranillo Inc. is listed as the importer.)
Grapes: 40% Mazuela, 40% Syrah, 20% Garnacha. (Mazuela is a synonym for Carignan, which I was unaware of until researching this post.)
Appellation: D. O. Montsant (Spain)
Vineyards: The Mazuelo was planted in sandy clay, the Syrah in chalky soils and the Garnacha on slate, known as llicorella [from the label]
Winemaking/aging: no info
Alcohol: 14%
Packaging: Beautiful diamond pattern on the label. Looks like an inlaid marble floor you’d see in a palace or something. Real cork closure.
Price: $14
My tasting notes: Nice dark color. Cedar, beef jerky and blueberry on the nose, with some of the alcohol showing through. On the palate, this wine has an inky, dry, slightly stemmy core laced with ripe mixed berry fruit that disappears quickly. Finishes very dry and tannic. This wine throws quite a bit of sediment as well. (It got a bit rounder and more balanced on day two, so I’d recommend decanting this one for a few hours.)
Overall assessment: Interesting how this blend comes together, you get the tannic backbone of the Mazuelo/Carignan, the cedar and meatiness from the Syrah and the Garnacha delivers some fleshy fruit (though not enough, I think). At least that how I imagine the components working together. In the end though, I didn’t find this as satisfying as I’d like. The hollowness of the mid-palette left me hanging, wanting more depth. B-/C+
Free association: The name Can Blau makes me think of this song from Bob Schneider called Blauu.
More info:
Apparently most people liked this wine more than I did, so maybe you will too. It makes me question myself when I see so many gushing reviews of a wine I think is good but not special. But, hey, I gotta call ’em like I see ’em.
Stephen Tanzer gave it 91 pts and Robert Parker gave it 90 pts.
Other blogger reviews at Serge the Concierge, The Rhone Report, and BlogRoom.
More tasting notes at Corkd and Snooth. More people on CellarTracker shared my thoughts on the hollowness of the wine.