90+ Merlot 2014 (about $11)

About the Wine:  This year's 90+ Merlot is sourced from Mendocino, California  a region I've never much cared for, but that has produced some gems of late.  Hopefully this will be one of them.


About THIS Wine:  In the glass it is a dark but not quite opaque purple.  The legs are thick and run almost like a port.  When I first smelled it, I thought, "Smells like Merlot."  It has the dark, smoky quality on the nose that I always associate with the varietal.  Even after a little time to breath, the palate is very tight.  This is awfully young for a Merlot and I imagine it would have benefited from a little more age before release.  Tannins are present but not bracing in the finish.


Drinking This Wine:  Let it decant for a long time, at least an hour if not more.  This is the kind of bottle that will be better the second night.  Drink it with red meat.


Overall Impression:  I am a little disappointed but that is mostly because I've had such good luck with the brand.  At $11 per bottle this wine is reasonable for the price.

Paul Dolan Mendocino County Zinfandel 2013 (about $14 a bottle)

About the Wine:  I have never had much love for Mendocino wines.  They always struck me as sort of lifeless and unpleasant.  But recently I have found some that have proven me wrong and 2013 is a great vintage.  Let's see if Mr. Dolan can "Wow!" me.

About THIS Wine:  In the glass it is blood red.  Jammy blackberry comes through full throttle on the nose.  The palate is mighty juicy with good tannin in the finish  This wine has a very viscous, mouth-coating quality.  It doesn't linger as long as I would like, which is odd for how massive it is.

Drinking This Wine:  This is an after dinner wine.  It's too big to really compliment any food that I can think of.

Overall Impression:  Between the overbearing fruit and the lacking finish, this is a slightly ham-fisted effort.  As such it is a little over priced.

Parducci Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 (about $12)

About the Wine:  This is a sustainably grown California Cabernet.  The world of organic/bio dynamic/sustainable is a weird one.  If a wine is made from organic grapes then the wine itself is not necessarily organic, nor would something sustainably or bio dynamically grown carry such a distinction.  Clouding the matter further is the fact that many producers, particularly in France, Spain, and Israel follow best practices without bothering with the cost of certification.  I have tried to explain this to many a glassy-eyed, sandal wearing customer as they searched for "organic" on the label. The results are seldom good.

About THIS Wine:  For the price, this is surprisingly Old World in style.  It really takes some time to open up.  As it does, it gives off notes of wood, sagebrush, and forest floor.  The palate is dry and tannic with red fruit coming through in the finish.

Drinking This Wine:  This is a classic dry Cab and as such it needs red meat.

Overall Impression:  This was a really nice surprise.  Most Cabs at this price range are either juicy fruit bombs or unbearably rustic.  This is nice, food-friendly wine.  It could easily go for $20, so at twelve it is an absolute steal.

TheARTof Monterey Syrah 2011 (about $15)

About the Wine:  I've seen Monterey as a hidden gem for a while.  2011 was a cold, damp year that produced wines that were more reserved than is common for California.  In a hedonistic grape like Syrah that may very well be a good thing.

About THIS Wine:  The color is about right, meaning dark as night with a purple rim.  The nose presents notes of chamomile, cooking spice, and bacon fat.  I'm not quite sure what to make of that.  The palate has good fruit, but that is overshadowed by the structure.  This may well be most tannic Syrah I have ever tasted.

Drinking This Wine:  This wine definitely needs food.  Steak or a big, juicy burger would work well.

Overall Impression:  It's a good bottle.  I'll say this wine is reasonable for the price.

Pennywise Petite Sirah 2012 (about $11)

About the Wine:  I am not sure where in California the grapes that make this wine are from.  Based on the labeling, I'd say the winemaker wasn't sure either.  That's okay.  Maybe.  Sometimes winemakers source from many regions for the best quality.  Sometimes they buy in bulk and call it a day.

About THIS Wine:  Very dark in the glass with a purple rim.  It's about the right color for the varietal.  The nose has a smoky quality I would not have expected.  Dark fruit is also present but in a muted, almost Old World way.  The palate is full and fruity and satisfying.  There is a bit of tannin structure, but not enough to require aging or decanting.

Drinking This Wine:  This would be a good BBQ wine.  It's just a tad heavy for a sipping wine.

Overall Impression:  It's an eleven dollar wine and I didn't spit it out.  That makes is good for the price.

Cartlidge & Browne North Coast Pinot Noir 2011 (about $14)

About the Wine:  2011 was a cursed vintage for most of the world outside of South America.  Cold weather, hail, and unseasonable rain were the order of the day.  Oddly, the wines of California and Israel from that vintage have followings.  The colder weather meant the wines produced were not as ripe, not as jammy, and not as alcoholic as the wines from those hot climates usually are.  Many of the wines produced are more complex and elegant than their bigger siblings from more successful vintages.

About THIS Wine:  It is a clear, if slightly murky red with a copper rim.  The nose smells like blueberry pie.  Quite a bit of dark fruit is present on the palate, but the finish is a little flat.

Drinking This Wine:  Roasted dark meat would do well here.  I need a little more longevity on the palate for a sipping wine.

Overall Impression:  I can't recommend this for more than about ten dollars.  At fourteen it is overpriced.

Rhiannon 2013 (about $11)

About the Wine: I dimly recalled having tasted it early in my wine career and I have a nostalgia for those days. According to the back label the blend changes every year depending on what the maker feels is the best expression of the vintage.  There is no specific region listed on the label, so it is likely that the producer is using the best grapes they can source in a given vintage.  This year's blend is Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Barbera.  In many ways this represents the contrast between the winemaking style associated with Burgundy and that of California.  The Burgundians are so obsessed with terroir that every spit of land is measured against every other and they really focus on delivering the terroir in every vintage.  California just wants to make good wine every year.  That explanation probably summed up which way I lean.

About THIS Wine:  It is an opaque red in the glass with a narrow violet rim.  The nose is a bright wall of jammy fruit.  The palate is fruity but not over the top.  There is better tannin structure than I expected.  Sweet cherry and raspberry notes linger.

Drinking This Wine:  This is fine for quaffing.  It could be paired with lighter fare, maybe the appetizers before a meal.

Overall Impression:  My coworkers are Burgundy experts and enthusiasts.  I love sharing wines like these with them.  They hate me.  This is no twenty dollar bottle, but it is cheap and enjoyable.  As such, it is good for the price. 

Avalon CAB Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 (about $11)

About the Wine:  My stepfather was a mechanic who worked on only one kind of car, and it was a kind that had not been made in years.  His philosophy was simple: no surprises.  He knew exactly what to expect from every vehicle he dealt with.  Avalon follows a similar philosophy.  They make only Cabernet Sauvignon.  CAB is their entry level offering.  Having seen many other producers try and fail to branch out, and also having seen the success of places like Burgundy and Barolo that limit their offerings, I have to say that this philosophy has its merits.

About THIS Wine:  In the glass it is ruby red.  It is lighter and clearer than I would expect from a California Cab.  The nose is very tight at first, which is actually a good sign for such a young Cabernet.  After some swirling, notes of oak and mushroom come through on the nose and contrast with a bright streak of cherry.  The palate is reserved, I would say elegant for a wine at this price.  It has a good but not bracing tannin structure and red licorice quality throughout.

Drinking This Wine:  It is subtle enough to be a sipping wine, which is unusual for a cab.  It would do well with spicy Italian sausage or a pork steak.

Overall Impression:  I'm impressed.  I was expending a budget fruit bomb and got something completely out its league in terms of it price.  This wine is a steal.

Angeline Pinot Noir 2013 (about $12)

About the Wine:  I bought this without knowing much about the wine.   A customer had asked for it, so when I saw it at another wine shop I grabbed it.  The price point spoke to me as much as professional curiosity did.

About THIS Wine:  It presents a really lovely garnet color in the glass.  Dark fruit is abundant but not overbearing on the nose.  The palate is plush and satisfying but not heavy.  A note of blackberry jam lingers in the finish.

Drinking This Wine:  This is a good summer sipping wine.  It would also do well with roasted pork or turkey.  It's a little too big for chicken or fish.

Overall Impression:  This wine is a really nice find and I do recommend it.  At this price it is a good value.

Oak Ridge Vineyard OZV Old Zinfandel Vines 2012 (About $14)

About the Wine:  I reviewed the 2009 vintage of this a few years ago.  That was a difficult vintage in California but I liked the wine.  2012 is a critically acclaimed vintage but one that has never been a personal favorite.  California reds from that year have an extracted, cola quality that is not all that pleasant to someone looking for something that tastes like wine and not soda.

About THIS Wine:  The dreaded cola notes are definitely there on the nose.  But so is a fair amount of dark fruit.  The palate has a blend of cola and mocha qualities that linger in a decent finish.  It's a little sweeter than I would like for it be.  It is not unpleasant, but it does taste like an impending hangover.  The cola quality does recede a bit when the wine breaths.

Drinking This Wine:  You could serve this lightly chilled or even make a sangria out of it.  It's hard to really see it as a dinner wine.

Overall Impression:  As much I would love to love this wine, the winemaker just did not overcome the less desirable qualities of the vintage.  This wine should not top ten dollars and is therefore overpriced.

Carmel Road Monterey Pinot Noir 2013 (about $20)

 

About the Wine:  Monterey is not known for its wine, which is a bit of a shame.  The coastal climate tends to negate the heat of California and the wines are generally affordable.  I was actually surprised to see a Monterey wine at this price.  Maybe the secret is out.  If so, I would like to go on record that I liked Monterey before it was cool.

About THIS Wine:  It is ruby red and fairly clear in the glass.  The nose presents an earthy quality similar to the Pinots of Sonoma.  Fruit is present on the palate, but is tempered by the earthy character of the wine.  It has a nice, dry finish.  The elements are all there and they are all in balance.  It's a classy bottle.

Drinking This Wine:  I selected pork steak as a pairing because that's what I happen to have in my fridge tonight.  That is a happy accident.  The wine is a little too big for turkey, chicken, or fish, which are my other go to Pinot parings.  It is definitely a food wine.

Overall Impression:  I rarely say this about a bottle twenty or higher, but at $20 a bottle this a really good value.

Peirano Estate Petite Sirah 2012 (About $16)

About the Wine:  2012 was a great vintage in California and I have always loved the Petite Sirahs of Lodi so it is hard to imagine that this will be a miss.  I do not really know the producer, so I did extensive research that consisted of reading the back of the bottle.  According to that, this winery is in its sixth generation within the same family and has been in business since 1895.  Perhaps this is another of Lodi's many hidden gems.

About THIS Wine:  It is dark as night in the glass with a dark purple rim.  Raisin and fig notes are prominent on the nose.  The palate is surprisingly reticent.  That is an unusual characteristic for the appellation.  After a few minutes, and no small amount of impatient swirling, the wine reveals a luxurious dark fruit palate with a fairly dry finish.

Drinking This Wine:  Normally, I consider Petite Sirah a quaffing wine but this one has some tannin and body that make it a promising paring with roasted ham or chicken.

Overall Impression:  I have always been a sucker for Lodi and this wine is no exception.  That said, it does present some surprisingly Old World characteristics that only raise my estimation of it.  And that is why I think it is an absolute steal for this price.

Route Stock Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 (about $20)

About the Wine:  Napa Valley needs no introduction in the wine world and the 2010 vintage is considered by some to be the new 2007 (not by me, but by some.)  To find a bottle at this price is intriguing to say the least.

About \THIS Wine:  The color is seriously dark, opaque with a dark purple rim.  The nose presents a lot of dark fruit and a mineral, wet asphalt quality that I have only ever experienced in wine made from Mount Veeder fruit, leading me to suspect that many of the grapes were sourced from there.  That minerality defines the palate with a humming undertone of red fruit.  The wine finishes with dark fruit and subtle tannin.

Drinking This Wine:  This could work as a sipping wine but a Cab that doesn't go with red meat is hardly a cab at all. 

Overall Impression:  Drinks like a bottle costing twice the price.  At twenty bucks, this one is a steal.

Bogle Essential Red 2010 (about $12)

About the Wine:  Bogle is a go to for many California wine drinkers because it is fairly cheap and also consistent from vintage to vintage.  I don't know that anybody really loves this winery but it is hard to deny that they almost always produce something reasonable for the price.  The nice fellow at my local wine shop kept recommending it, so I decided to try it.  He also told me that he regularly drinks Mark West Pinot Noir so I may regret trusting him.  If you drink Mark West Pinot Noir then you are welcome to comment on this post so that and my wine snob friends can silently judge you.

About THIS Wine:  It is very dark in the glass with a purple rim.  The label informs me that the wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Zinfandel.  It unclear if this a field blend but given that there is no appellation more specific than California I doubt it.  The Syrah dominates the nose with jammy red fruit but I do get some smoke and a subtler undercurrent that I associate with Cab.  I am not usually a fan of California Syrah.  It's usually a sticky, jammy, mess.  The winemaker did a nice job of moderating that with the other varietals so that there is a lot of fruit and pleasingly lingering jam finish tempered with some spice and just generally tamed into something pleasant.

Drinking This Wine:  This is not really a food wine.  It is better as something to sip on a cool day.

Overall Impression:  It really pains me to endorse a popular brand, but I have had twenty dollar bottles with less appeal.  This one is a good value.

Black Bear Red Chair Petite Sirah 2010 (about $14)

About the Wine:  The Petite Sirah grape and the Lodi region are among the most unpretentious things in the history of the wine business.  Generally derided as "fruit bombs", these wines helped usher me into wine appreciation with their easy drinking, fruit forward nature.  The posh wine shop where I now work finally got in some Lodi wines.  I don't know if my awesomely compelling arguments had anything to do with it so I have no choice but to assume that they did.


About THIS Wine:  The wine is opaque, unless you hold it up to a bright light in which case it is blood red and still opaque.  Blackberry, dark chocolate, and leather make up an usually brooding nose for this kind of wine.  The berry flavor delivers on a slightly creamy palate that ends in a jammy finish.  This is not as over the top as some Lodi wines but it definitely has the characteristics of the region.  Mocha lingers on the palate.

Drinking This Wine:  This wine needs no food but if I had to pair it with something I would say a heavily seasoned pork roast.

Overall Impression:  This is an example of everything I love about Lodi.  At $14 a bottle it is a good value.

Petite Petit 2010 (about $17)

About the Wine:  Traditionalists sometimes call California winemakers the "Mad Scientists" of the wine business.  While the makers from Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Tuscany strive for consistency, California winemakers are forever trying to find ways to make wines that are truly different.  Michael David is a maker of particular vision and with an especially pronounced disregard for tradition, as demonstrated in this blend of Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot.  These are two grape varietals that never meet in traditional wine making.

About THIS Wine:  It is opaque purple in the glass with a violet rim.  The nose presents the jammy red fruit that more or less defines the Lodi appellation.  That fruit is present on the palate with an interesting undercurrent of tannin that makes this a good wine for a light meal.  Pasta dishes or a light lasagna seem especially suitable.

Drinking This Wine:  As stated, it would be good with lighter Italian food.  It would also make a good burger wine.  There is a little too much acidity for a sipper.  Another year of aging would not hurt this wine but it will not get much better than it is now.

Overall Impression:  This wine is okay but I can't say I'm especially thrilled with it.  Much as I am a fan of Michael David I am going to have to say that this one is a little overpriced.

Benziger Syrah 2007 (about $15)

About the Wine:  Benziger is a California winery on its way to a fully organic status.  I had the good fortune to meet the winemaker, whose name I promptly forgot.  What I do remember is that this winery is pushing a vision of wine making that includes an extremely deep connection to the land to the point of using MRI machines to determine the composition of individual plots of soil and decide what will best grow there.  They also keep livestock on the property to control pests and generate fertilizer.  2007 is a California vintage that needs no introduction, so this could be quite a gem at fifteen bucks.

About THIS Wine:  The center is blood red with a nearly clear rim.  The nose has an earthy, forest quality.  There is prominent fruit but it is of a wild berry variety rather than the jammy fruits one often associates with California reds.  The palate is a fairly simple one of red licorice and plum going into a finish that overdose it a little on the spice but is still pleasant.

Drinking This Wine:  I bought it to go with a burger and I think that is the right pairing.  I think this wine is at its peak.  Aging more will not benefit it, nor does it need to be decanted.

Overall Impression:  I like the wine, but not as much as I had hoped I would.  A wine with this much age is not common in this price range and the fact that it is made with organic methods does increase its worth.  At fifteen a bottle this wine is a good value.

Quivira Zinfandel 2009 (about $20)

About the Wine:  A lot of wine aficionados look down their noses at Zinfandel.  This bold, often sweet wine seems out of place among the more refined wines like the great reds of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Tuscany.  But Zinfandel can be a great wine for anyone looking for something fruit forward and easy drinking.  I was drawn to this bottle by the cute piggy, and after that by the fact that it comes from Dry Creek Valley, one of the best places in California for growing Zinfandel.

About THIS Wine:  It is an opaque red in the glass with a nearly clear rim.  The nose presents red and dark fruit and interesting notes of charred wood.  The palate is moderately acidic with a lot of creamy red fruit and significantly more tannin structure than I normally associate with Zinfandel.

Drinking This Wine:  It does well by itself.  Some kind of hearty, spicy sausage would make a good companion.  This one might benefit from some decanting or some aging.  The acidity and tannin are more than I have come to expect from this kind of wine and I think it could hold up to and improve with a few years of cellaring.

Overall Impression:  I have tasted much more expensive bottles that had nothing on this in taste, complexity, or accessibility.  At twenty dollars a bottle this one is a good value.

Firestone Syrah 2010 (about $18)

About the Wine:  Syrah is one of the two principle grapes in Rhone blends (the other is Grenache.)  Its cousin Shiraz has become essentially the national grape of Australia and it has also shown well in other hot climate terroirs like Israel, so it makes sense to produce it in California.

About THIS Wine:  This Syrah is very dark red in the glass with a violet rim.  The nose presents with enough earth and sour cherry that on a blind test I would have mistaken it for a Pinot Noir.  Red fruit defines a very full and rounded palate with firm tannins on the back end and a lingering dry, spicy finish.

Drinking This Wine:  This one definitely needs food.  Pepperoni pizza would be a good match for it.

Overall Impression:  I am not blown away but it is a very good wine and California Syrahs typically go for at least twice this much, so this one is reasonable for the price.

Peirano Estate Chardonnay 2011 (about $10)

About the Wine:  Lodi, California is a wine growing region best known for its accessible, fruit forward reds.  I have never had a white from there so this will be a learning experience.

About THIS Wine:  The wine is golden yellow in the glass with no distinct rim.  Oak, peach, and apricot blend on the nose.Citrus and oak are strong on the palate.  The finish is fairly acidic, so much so that I don't think this wine went through the malolactic fermentation that gives most California Chards their buttercream taste.

Drinking This Wine:  This is acidic enough that it needs food.  Grilled chicken, light vegetarian dishes, or cheddar cheese would all go well.

Overall Impression:  This is not a wine you bring to impress anyone but it is very pleasant and perfectly drinkable.  This one is good for the price.