2005 Erasmo Vina La Reserva de Caliboro

Estate grown and bottled in the Maule Valley Region of Chile (The Maule Valley is near the epicenter of the recent earthquake). A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot, this is the classic blend of the French Bordeaux grapes, but grown in Chile, under the direction of Francesco Marone Cinzano, a top Italian producer. Aged 18 months in French Oak barriques (barrels to you and me), the Erasmo has aging potential and should continue to improve for several years. The grapevines  were imported to Chile from France especially for this project.

The color is black cherry with a light red halo. Loads of spice on the nose, dark ripe fruit, dusty autumn leaves and whiffs of oak. A light mouth feel, but big on flavor. The first taste to hit your tongue is ripe blackberries, blueberries and silky french vanilla, and then you feel/sense the tannins at the back of your mouth. A huge, long lasting finish of cherries, tea and butterscotch. Still a young wine, with a nice firm structure. This is a wine that you want to buy several bottles of, drink one now, another in a couple of years, and another in a few more years. The tannins will soften and the level of flavors will become more complex with the passage of time. The Erasmo has a classy sophisticated flavor now and will pair well with steaks and chops.

Wine Courtesy of Palm Bay Imports

2008 Monasterio De Las Vinas Garnacha/Syrah Blend – $7

Okay, we outdid ourselves this time.  We found another wine from the Cariñena region of Spain that is a ridiculous steal.  This 70% Garnacha 30% Syrah blend – aged 3 months in American oak – has a nose of strawberry and raspberry jam.  On the palate you get orange, raspberry and a little spicy pepper, with a finish that lasts and lasts!

It’s great with ribs and pizza and comes in at 13% alcohol.  It also scored an amazing 91 points with the Wine Enthusiast. You really need to buy this one by the case!

Sourced from a single vineyard, the “Monasterio de San Jose”, where for centuries monks produced wine. Nowadays, this is a large production wine made for the American market, but they really got it right. The Quality-Price Ratio (QPR) is off the charts for this one.

2008 Big Woop Red Wine $13

A full one liter bottle, makes this Grenache, Shiraz and  Petit Verdot Red blend a Big Woop. Ben Riggs is the winemaker and he also makes our favorite $8 Red Wine, Woop Woop Shiraz. Sourced from McLaren Vale, Riverland and the Limestone Coast of Australia, with a 14.5% alcohol content.

The color is a deep dark red with crimson highlights. The nose is unexpected, pencil shavings, cedar moth balls, light menthol, leather and red fruit. What’s going on with cheap wine, all these aromas used to be the exclusive right of the expensive stuff. The mouth feel is very full, a bit of an explosion of taste. The flavor is ripe dark fruit with a dose of the Shiraz spice at the end. Nice long finish of raspberry iced tea.

The Big Woop Red Blend is a tasty little wine. You don’t expect a whole bunch from something called Big Woop, but this wine delivers beyond expectations.

2008 Agostón Garnacha Syrah – $10

OK first of all you know our stance on wine with cute little critters on the label (we’re looking at you Yellow Tail, Long Neck & Tall Horse). Yeah usually horrible! But a wild boar isn’t exactly cute, plus a friend is really pushing for us to review Little Penguin Shiraz, so we might as well start somewhere.

This 60% Garnacha, 40% Syrah screw top blend hails from the Cariñena region of Spain which aside from giving the Carignan grape its name is right next to Calatayud in the shadows of the Ibérico mountain range. It gets its name from the wild boars that would sneak down into the vineyards at night to feast upon the grapes like – well, pigs.

It’s a light bodied, see-through crimson in the glass and noses like the black currant iced tea you get at Egg Harbor or Maggiano’s. A sip gets you raspberry and black cherry that fades into a nice wild herb and cocoa finish. It’s juicy and relaxed even at 13.5% alcohol.

This wine is like Lucky Charms, it’s magically delicious. Drink it all by itself to see what I’m talking about or drink it down with grilled steak skewers, Firecracker Shrimp or the Buffalo Wild Wings #4.

2006 Razor’s Edge Shiraz – $9

Every time I pick up a valued priced Shiraz, I go on the internet and find that it got 90 plus points from some national wine publication. This McLaren Vale Shiraz is one of Robert Parker’s Best Buy’s of Australia. From what I could find about the Razor’s Edge, it’s made primarily for  American tastes. There is not much information available about how long it is aged in oak, etc.. on the internet for this wine.

The color is your textbook Shiraz, deep, dark, opaque burgundy red. The nose is interesting, it is not all fruit, there is mushroom, earthy notes and dark fruit (that’s the McLaren Vale influence).  The mouth feel is slightly watery, but it does fill your mouth with flavor. Tart cherry juice and chocolate are the main flavors, but not candy sweet, now I see why these wines get 90+ points, who does not like chocolate covered cherries, it’s a very luxurious flavor. The finish is blueberries, it does not last a long time but it is pleasing.

I think I understand why all these inexpensive Australian Shiraz’s get these high grades, they taste great. That’s got to be one of the most important aspects to wine. Australia has a way with the Syrah grape. Lush, tasty wine is almost second nature with Australian Shiraz. Yes, the Razor’s Edge does not have all the layers and complexity of the the best Shiraz, but you can’t argue with “it tastes great”.

2005 Costano Solanera – $14

91 points Wine Spectator, 90 points Stephen Tanzer and Robert Parkers’ Spanish Wine Bargain under $20. Imported and custom blended by Eric Solomon, which is always a good sign, wines with Solomon’s name on the back label are usually a very good bet. A  red wine blend of 65% Monastrell, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Tintorera sourced from the Yecla Region of Southern Spain, an up and coming wine region that does not have a trendy name yet. Unfiltered and unfined, ten months aged in oak.

The color is a dark plush deep blood red. The nose is smoke, red twizzlers and dry autumn leaves.  Big and chewy with noticeable but smooth tannins . Tastes of silky dark chocolate truffles with liqueur centers, figs and blueberries. The finish is exactly the same as the initial taste that slowly fades into oblivion. A lush and I dare say, classy wine. Not fun and fruity, but deep dark and thought provoking. Another case of a under $20 wine that can compete with the big boys.

2006 Carhartt Vineyards “Chase The Blues Away” Rosé – $10

A small production Rosé (250 cases), Estate Produced and Bottled in the Santa Ynez Valley all for ten bucks. Carhartt Vineyards is a 10 acre family owned Estate on a mesa in the Santa Ynez Valley (Santa Barbara, California). The Rosé is a blend of Syrah and Merlot and the wine is aged six months in neutral French oak. To simplify things, a rosé is red wine grapes turned into wine using white wine methods. The grape skins are left in the vats for a short period of time at the beginning of fermentation. The wine gets a bit of color, but not much in the way of tannins.

The color is a very clear peachy, orangey red. The nose is bright fresh fruit, strawberry shortcake, I even think I detected a bit of whipped cream and raspberries. The flavor is smooth, crisp and light fresh, creamy red fruit. Not too sweet, very refreshing. The alcohol content is 13.6%, but it tastes much lighter.

It is winter in Chicago, but the “Chase the Blues Away” Rosé has me thinking of warm weather. A very nice choice for a lazy summer evening, this is a bottle that goes down nice and easy.

A small production wine, but you can find it at Lush http://tiny.cc/Qepbb

2006 Domain Menada Tcherga – $10

This is a first for me, a wine from the Thracian Valley Region of Bulgaria. A red blend of 70%Merlot and 30% Rubin (a cross of Syrah and Nebbiolo). The name Tcherga refers to the folk craft rugs made in that region (check out the label to see what those rugs look like). The wine is aged for 8 months in French and Bulgarian oak.

The color is crystal clear see thru burgundy red. The nose is strawberries, blueberry and spice. Nice mouth feel. The flavor is very bright fresh fruit, gobs of vanilla, very light tannins, the oak is lightly evident in the back of your mouth.The finish fades a bit too soon, but is a very nice combination of chocolate and vanilla. A very tasty wine.

I was expecting Bulgarian wine to be too sweet and too simple, but  I was wrong. This is a good tasting new world style wine. Put Bulgaria on the wine world map, the Tcherga is a well made wine.

2008 Cotes Du Rhone Signargues La Granacha – $13

I was wandering thru the wine shop looking for a bottle to purchase, nothing on sale interested me.  I saw a Granacha (why the Spanish spelling for a French wine, I don’t know) from the Cotes du Rhone, I checked the back label and saw that it was imported by Eric Solomon, that was a good sign. I have had good luck with Eric Solomon wines, he has a knack with finding good “off the beaten path”wines.

I hit the internet to find a bit of information and found this is sourced from 80 year old Grenache vines from the Signargues region of the Rhone Valley. Organic and sustainable farming, unfiltered and unfined (that means they do nothing to get solids out of the wine). Half the wine sees 6 months in French oak, the other half aged in stain-less steel vats. The Signargues is not a well known wine area, so the wines do not command a high price. The 2007 vintage got 91 point in Wine Spectator.

Opaque purple with a contrasting red halo. The nose is French funk, black  licorice, the smell of coloring Easter eggs and raspberry jam. The taste is bright fresh fruit mixed with jammy fruit, blackberries and blueberries with a late splash of spice in the back of your mouth, a bit of acidity can be felt on the tongue. The finish is chocolate milk, berries and a touch of spice. A well structured wine, not just a ton of fruit, layered and nuanced. This is a versatile wine that can be paired with many different dishes and still be a good back porch sipper.

2007 Taz Santa Barbara Pinot Noir – $13

This California Central Coast Pinot is sourced from two vineyards in Santa Barbara County. Grapes from the North Canyon Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley that are soft and delicate are added to grapes from the Fiddlestix Vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills that are big and bold. Two different sides of Central Coast Pinot blended into one bottle. 1/4th of the juice saw French oak barrels the rest was aged to neutral oak, so a bit of oak for flavor but not much for aging, a drink it now wine.

The color is a rich deep see thru purple. It has that funky Pinot nose, mushroom, forest floor and then strawberries and spice. Medium mouth feel, not lush, but not watery. The taste is cherries and chocolate covered strawberries, but not sweet, there is a good deal of acidity. You can really feel the acidity on your tongue and the back of your mouth. A nice blueberry and cherry juice finish.
A $13 complicated, interesting and tasty Pinot, be still my heart.

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