Mr. October

Even though baseball season is over...  What?  It's not over?  Hold on.

Nope.  I checked.  It's over.

Even though baseball season is over, Sue and I picked up a bottle of Longball Cellars Jorge Cabernet named for New York Yankees' catcher Jorge Posada. Can you guess I've been waiting to post this one?

If you haven't seen these wines, Longball Cellars is a division of Charity Wines which partners with athletes and celebrities to market wines that raise money for charities.  Last year, Mr. Big Dubya posted about a Charity Wines Cabernet named for a player on some other ball club.

In the case of Jorge Cabernet, a portion of the proceeds benefit the Jorge Posada Foundation which supports children and families affected by craniosynostosis.  Posada and his wife have a son who was born with this condition.

As for the wine, it was a bit surprising.  We expected a subpar novelty wine.  Instead, we both enjoyed it.  It was certainly no great wine or amazing find, but like a catcher batting .330 or hitting 30 home runs in a season—that's Posada—this wine delivered.  It was lighter than the average Cabernet, but not too light.  It lived up to its description of a warm fruity wine with a "firm tannin on the finish."

There are quite a few other Charity Wines and, based on this one, I'd try another.  What else have we got to do this month anyway?

OOO RAH!

So a couple weeks ago Darren, Clare and I were in the wine store trying to chose a wine for that evening (well, not so much Clare - she just has to touch everything and make me nervous because she's attracted to the most expensive bottles for some reason). I saw this red and with Darren's former college roommate being a Marine and all, we decided to try it.

Jarhead Red is "a wine made by Marines, for Marines (ed. note: I didn't know Marines drank wine, but you learn something new every day I guess), on California’s Central Coast. Net proceeds from the sale of this wine benefit the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, which provides educational assistance to children of U.S. Marines, with special attention given to children of fallen Marines". So far so good - red wine (always good) and a good cause.

Upon opening the bottle, the first sniff made me a bit nervous. The wine smelled a bit acidic and I was afraid it would be vinegary. The first sip was very light, and while the Jarhead Red website states: "Jarhead Red is a robust, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon. It was aged in French oak barrels for eight months. It offers flavors of plum, cassis and black currant with fine tannins on the finish" it took awhile for any flavor to begin to show up after sipping.

The wine definitely improved after being in the glass a bit - if you were to get this wine, I'd recommend opening the bottle and letting the wine breathe a bit before taking the first sip. I think we paid about ten dollars for the bottle, and if you're looking for something that supports a good cause and could be a conversation piece, if you can find this wine it would be a good choice.

This is posted in honor of Lt. Col. Brian P. O'Keefe USMC, currently serving our country in Kuwait.

Doing Time

“We need to write a wine review,” I told Sue.

“What do we have?” she asked.

“We have Red Truck, but we reviewed it already. And we have this,” I said, holding up a bottle of 2004 Big House Red, a California blend of Carignane, Sangiovese and Charbono.

I grabbed two glasses and the corkscrew from the kitchen gadget drawer. Then I noticed something.

“I’m not so sure I want to review this one,” I said.

“Why?” she asked.

“This is why.” And I unscrewed the cap.

“A lot of good wines are going to screw tops now,” she told me.

I’m still not sure if that’s true or she was making something up as she sometimes does. But you couldn’t prove it with this bottle of wine.

Neither of us liked it.

According to the website, Big House Red has “lush tannins” and is “criminally rich—a riot of blackberry, raspberry & black pepper.” Hardy har har.

I got the tannins. I think I got the blackberry and raspberry. I even got the black pepper—in the bottom of my glass. I usually like dark heavy reds, but this one was just off. Sue liked it even less.

Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator both supposedly liked it. Maybe it just wasn’t our thing. Anybody else ever done time with Big House?

It’s Juuust Right…or Is It?

One of the reasons that Sue and I don’t post here too frequently is probably that we don’t really know what we’re talking about when it comes to wine. We know what we like when we taste it, but when it comes to using words like balance, body, bouquet, nose or finish, we’re little at a loss. Instead, our discussions of wine often go something like this:

“You like it?”

“It’s not bad, you?”

“Eh.”

We drink it anyway.

Sue and I drink reds more than whites and, usually, one of us likes a wine more than the other. Sue favors lighter Merlots and Pinot Noirs; I usually like heavier Cabernets or Zinfandels. Sometimes, of course, we both really like a wine. This seems to happen most often with Italian Chiantis or Spanish Riojas. When we find one we both like, we usually buy it again.

A few weeks ago, we tried a 2003 Chianti Classico from Castello di Gabbiano that Sue picked up for $12.00. According to Cellar 360, Castello di Gabbiano’s sales partner, the Chianti Classico has “delicate floral aromas of violets and soft scents of fruity blackberry [that] mark the nose. The dry, medium-bodied palate is filled with robust tannins and flavors of black pepper, sweet spices, and a touch of light, toasted oak. The finish is long and dry.” Like I said, I never could have come up with the description myself. I could agree with it though—except for the violets, I’m not so sure I tasted violets.

A couple weeks later, we picked up another bottle specifically for the purpose of reviewing it here. (Yeah, that’s the only reason we bought it.) Same wine, same price, same store even. This time though, we didn’t really like it. It tasted more acidic and a little vinegary. We were hoping we could recommend this one, but now we’re not so sure.

Has anyone else had a bad second experience with a wine they liked the first time?

Act Now...or Don't

Like we’ve done for the past few years, Sue and I picked up a bottle of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais nouveau. This is the French red wine that is fermented for just a few weeks and comes out annually on the third Thursday of November—Beaujolais Day—and is best drunk lightly chilled. It’s also best not to let this wine age more than a few weeks or months at most.

Usually, we’ve enjoyed the Beaujolais. We never expect anything great from it—it’s cheap, light and pretty unexceptional, but it’s usually fun and a decent fruity wine. This year though we couldn’t even finish it. It was too light and tasted like watered-down sour grape juice.

I looked for some other reviews to see if Sue and I were alone in our opinion here. We weren’t—I found some pretty terrible reviews of the 2007 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais nouveau. I also found some reviewers who enjoyed it for what it was. If I were in the habit of trying this wine every year (which I guess I am), I’d probably still pick up a bottle. Just don’t expect much.

Does anyone else have a good holiday wine for review? Maybe a wine you’ve given or received as a gift? Let us know and post a review.

Happy holidays, everyone.

Ol' Reliable

We’ve actually had a few bottles of wine since I’ve last posted. But none of those bottles have made it through to a review. I’m guessing that all of us get a little busier as the holidays get closer and posting wine reviews is one of the first things to go.

There are a few standby wines that we buy when we want to be sure we’re getting something good—a favorite Rioja or Chianti or any one of a few California wines. A great, moderately-priced and interesting red blend that we love is Red Truck.

Red Truck is a Sonoma blend that we’ve had many times. Recently though, Sue found a Red Truck Pinot Noir. I also learned from their website that Red Truck makes a Merlot and Cabernet. There’s also a White Truck blend, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and a Pink Truck. (All of the “Truck” wines are a division of Cline Cellars.)

As claimed, the 2006 Red Truck Pinot Noir was smooth with a mix of fruity and spicy tastes. I actually could make out the cherries that the label said were in there too. Sue and I both enjoyed this wine and, although we’re not great at describing tastes in detail, we recommend it. All of the Truck wines we’ve tried have been good and they always seem popular at our local wine stores too—even though the Red Truck name has only been used since 2002. The website seems fun too and you can sign up to become a “Friend of Red Truck.” I sent in my email address. If I get anything good, I’ll let you all know.

Moo-vad, or How Many Times Can I Call It Dark?

To be fair, the reviews were mixed on this one. I thought that the 2005 Mourvèdre from Cline Cellars in Sonoma was dark, heavy and a little acidic. Sue thought that the wine was dark, heavy and a little acidic. For the same reasons, I liked it and Sue didn’t so much.

Mourvèdre is a grape that I hadn’t heard of before. The description on the back of the bottle explains that it’s an ancient, somewhat uncommon grape:

Mourvèdre is an exotic grape found in the Rhône and Provence regions of France, Spain and Australia. It is a key component in Chateauneuf-du-Pape and has a starring role in Bandol. Once widely planted in California (where it is often called Mataro), today only a tiny amount exists and Cline owns many of the historic ancient vines that remain. Redolent of dark plum and chocolate with a hint of oak, this juicy Ancient Vines Mourvèdre is delicious now and will age for well over a decade. A perfect complement to herb-roasted meats, grilled pork tenderloin or dark chocolate.

We didn’t have the wine with herb-roasted meat, grilled pork tenderloin or dark chocolate. (Do people really have much wine with chocolate?) We just opened the bottle at night and had it with some cheese. Both Sue and I got the dark fruit taste, but the chocolate undertone wasn’t so obvious. I guess liking this wine (as with almost any food or drink) is a matter of taste. If you like dark, fruity flavors, you may like it. Or you might find it too dark and heavy. If anyone else tries it (or has already), I’d really be interested in hearing what others think.

Cline Cellars’ website lists this wine at $18.00 retail, but I picked it up on a recommendation from the store clerk for $12.99.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

Neither Sue nor I have posted here much in the past couple months. But not to worry—we did get most of the assignments done. Unfortunately, like Mrs. Big Dubya, we drank a couple bottles of wine on vacation and didn’t take the best notes. Here’s what we remember.

The wine we purchased specifically for the extra-credit blend assignment was an Italian Sangiovese and Merlot blend from Luna di Luna. We don’t remember the year or price, but it couldn’t have been that old and the price was well within the guidelines here. This brand is famous for its blends in colorful bottles. We’ve tried the brand before (I think we’ve had the Merlot/Cabernet blend in the red bottle, and the Chardonnay/Sauvignon in the green), but we weren’t very impressed with this one. It was a little too acidic and fruity for our tastes.

Another wine we tried on vacation was in a bottle that Sue picked up based on the name and label (and we've all seen how that usually works out). It was a 2005 Mommy’s Time Out and given that name (and the quality of the website which I just found) we didn’t expect anything. But this one was a good surprise. It’s from Primitivo grapes in the Puglia region of Italy, which, I’ve just learned, have been found to be genetically identical to California Zinfandel grapes. The wine was smooth, a little oakey, and had a great balance of fruity flavors. It was also well under our price guideline. How can you beat that? Only by giving the wine a better name and marketing.

Polo, Nazis and Malbec

Since Big Dubya used the Evita reference in his review of an Argentine Malbec, I figured I'd throw everything else I knew about Argentina into the title of this review. Except before buying a 2005 Doña Paula Los Cardos Malbec from the Mendoza province, I didn't know anything about Argentine wines. (I also didn't know that los cardos means the thistles, which are pictured on the bottle.)

To be honest, we chose the wine because we thought we'd be different. We had heard of Chilean wines and thought that other people would buy those. To be more honest, I'm not sure if we've even had a Chilean or any South American wine before this. But, I learned that Argentine wines are becoming more popular, and we did like this one.

The label describes the wine as "a spice wine with a touch of dried herbs that are well combined with mature fruits as dry plums and black cherries." (I know it seems like there's a word missing in that quote, but, even though I'm typing this right after we've drunk the wine, I've checked twice and it's like that on the bottle.) The wine also describes itself as having a hint of mint.

Sue and I both liked this wine. It was slighty spicy, dry and fruity as the label suggested, but we didn't get the hint of mint. I'm sure it would be great paired with steaks or any heavier South American or Mediterranean food. We didn't have it with a meal though; we had it with some bread and gorgonzola dip from a local bakery that we bought downtown at the farmers' market today. (That reference is mostly for the Dubyas.)

So, we've found another wine that we'd buy again. But, since we're usually not knocking back that many bottles a month, our next purchase will probably be July's assignment instead. That's the beauty of this project—that we're trying wines that we probably wouldn't have otherwise.

Left me wanting more, but not in a good way

I've procrastinated long enough, it's time to get down to my first wine review. I wish I could say that is was worth the wait - for me, something tells me you all had better things to do than worry about when my first wine review was coming - but it wasn't.

Let's go to the beginning. A new wine store recently opened in the shops surrounding on our picturesque, very New England-ish town common. I had high hopes for my first wine from this shop, but I had my two year old daughter with me (they're only open until 6pm, closing well before my husband gets home from work) and I was a bit distracted. So I was only too happy to take the suggestion of the woman behind the counter. A 2004 Fattoria di Vetrice Chianti Rufina.

I was all Hey, I like Chianti! and for $11 I was pretty happy. So I brought the wine home. The wine is produced by the Grati family in the Rufina region of Tuscany, in the hills around Pontassieve. I was even more thrilled then because I've been to Pontassieve twice and was familiar with the area.

I started to do a bit of research on the web about this wine and there was... Nothing. Well, next to nothing (I couldn't even find a picture of the actual label, that one above is a different vintage). And that was a foreshadowing of what this wine was to be like. As soon as I took a sip and swallowed there was...

Nothing.

It is a Chianti Rufina, after all, and not a Reserva, and the very first taste was enough to bring me back to those warm days in the Tuscan sun. But like a good vacation it was over too fast. The fruit explodes quickly in your mouth but there's no finish. And the tannins were a bit too overpowering for the fruit. I don't mind that fuzzy tongue feeling you get from heavy tannins as long as the wine is worth it. This wasn't.

As my husband put it, "It is what it is. For eleven bucks it's not bad." And we weren't eating when we were drinking this wine (long day + cranky child = pass the alcohol NOW). Maybe a good port salut cheese would have helped this wine a bit, but we didn't have any (damn).

For my hard earned $11 dollars I'd like a bit more. This wine, in my opinion, would have been great - fantastic even - in a carafe as the local house red in a trattoria in Sienna. But those cobblestone streets have a way of making everything better, even a sub-par wine. It's not horrible, it's very drinkable, but I'll forget its name as soon as the last drop is gone.