Fleur Pinot Noir 2010 (about $16)

About the Wine:  Carneros is a region at the south end of the Napa/Sonoma border.  While Napa and Sonoma are both known for their Cabs, Carneros is better known for its Burgundy style wines.  That's a pompous way of saying they grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay there. The winemaker has a website here.

About THIS Wine:  It is a touch darker in the glass than I usually expect from a California Pinot.  The color is a deep, almost blood red with pink a rim.  The nose is very earthy with prominent notes of spice and just a hint of sour cherry.  The palate is spicy and saucy but the wine's consistency is very thin, making it an unusually good sipping wine for something so robust.  Spice and cherry make up a mild but lingering finish.

Drinking This Wine:  This is not a really a food wine though it could work with pork steak, turkey, or maybe just cheese and crackers.  This one is also fine to just sip on.

Overall Impression:  This is a beautiful representation of a California Pinot Noir.  In a blind taste I would have guessed the price at around thirty dollars.  At a little more than half that this wine is a steal.

Dainero Toscana 2010 (about $16)

About the Wine:  I chose the wine for tonight's post based on the fact that it was the most appealing of the three open bottles we had at the store where I work.  I said that I was always up for a Super Tuscan.  The manager corrected me, explaining that it was only a Tuscan blend and that Super Tuscans are very high end.  I thought about telling him that the wine expert from Italy I had talked to said something different, but I preferred to go home and drink my wine instead.

About THIS Wine:   Very dark red it the glass with a violet rim.  The nose is tannic and herbaceous, indicating that the wine may still be a little too young.  There is some very nice licorice and cherry on the palate, but the wine is still pretty tight.  Tannins are sharp on the finish.

Drinking This Wine:  It would be a sipping wine if it was a little and more developed.  I had it with a meat and rice dish and it went pretty well.

Overall Impression:  This is an Old World maker's attempt at a New World wine.  The result is pretentious and overpriced.

Badiola Toscana 2010 (about $15)

About the Wine:  The recent trend in Super Tuscans and other non traditional Italian red blends has been toward Sangiovese and Merlot blends.  A particular winner in that category is a wine called PHI, which many people say is under priced at $45 a bottle and that high end stores routinely sell out of.  Is this a knock off or a quality off brand?

About THIS Wine:  The center is a deep red with a pink rim.  Raspberries are prominent on the nose with strong hints of smoke and oak.  The fruit delivers on a strikingly dry palate with a fairly nice cherry finish.

Drinking This Wine:  This is really not a sipping wine.  It is good for pasta and red sauce (a personal favorite) or a meaty pizza.

Overall Impression:  There is nothing spectacular here but the juice is good and the price is fair.  This one is reasonable for the price.

Chateau Monestier La Tour Bergerac Rouge 2011 (about $10)

About the Wine:  The back of the bottle informs me that Bergerac is a wine growing region outside of Bordeaux that shares many of the climate and soil characteristics of the Bordeaux region.  The blend in this wine is dominated by Merlot, fairly typical of a Right Bank Bordeaux.  The implication here is that one can get Bordeaux quality without paying Bordeaux prices.  I am a little doubtful, but the price speaks to me on a very deep level. 

About THIS Wine:  The color is a deep, ruby red with a garnet rim.  The nose is thick and rustic, revealing the wine's youth.  I get notes wild berries and forest floor.  The palate is mellow and has a fairly meaty with notes of sour cherry.  Cinnamon and pomegranate are present in a finish that lingers a lot longer than I would have expected.

Drinking This Wine:  I could sip this by itself but it would also go well with burger or pizza.

Overall Impression:  It seems like the maker of this wine set out with a very specific goal: to make a perfect ten dollar wine, and I would say they succeeded.  You will not impress anyone with this but it is pleasant, complex, lingering, and versatile.  This wine is a good value.

Bear Boat Pinot Noir 2008 (about $15)

About the Wine:  The Russian River Valley is one of the best regions in California for growing Pinot Noir.  Finding a Pinot Noir from there at this price is either a really good find or a looming disappointment.

About THIS Wine:The center is crimson with a light red rim.  Earth, smoke, and mineral notes dominate the nose, reminiscent of a Red Burgundy.  Those flavors deliver on a palate with what I would describe as an earthy punch, a sharpness that I would not have expected.  The finish is very light after the heavy palate, with more mineral notes and some red fruit lingering.

Drinking This Wine:  The palate is a bit too heavy for a sipping wine.  Enjoy with swordfish or some other dark fish.  This would be too heavy for most white meats and too light for red meat.

Overall Impression:  This wine is good for the price but I think it will improve with a few more years of aging.  It's still pretty coarse.

Bellanotte Merlot 2007 (about $13)

About the Wine:  Most wine in the under twenty dollar price range is not meant to be aged more than a year or two.  This is why fifteen dollar Brunellos and Barolos don't exist.  Those wines simply require too much time in the cellar for a cheap price tag to be possible.  Finding an '07 red at this price range is remarkable.  It may be that the winery was having trouble moving it and dropped the price or perhaps this is just a rare value.

About THIS Wine:  The center is opaque with a violet rim.  Berries and fruit leather make up a pleasant nose.  A kind of crude acidity defines both the palate and finish.  The wine is not spoiled, it just has very little flavor to speak of and is fairly acidic so the acidity dominates.

Drinking This Wine:  This definitely needs food.  It would work well with pizza.

Overall Impression:  This one is not bad but you can do better for less.  This wine is overpriced.