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.

Chateau Chateau Skulls – $17

Old World Wines vs New World Wines, Terrior vs Manipulated, Earthy vs Fruity. There has been a bit of a shift happening in the wine world, Australian wine sales are off 23%, stores that used to stock 100 different Aussie labels, not stock half that amount. There has been a backlash in the Wine Press, Australian wines are often described as “fruit bombs” or “over extracted”. I don’t quite get the change in attitude, Australian wines are every bit as good now as they were when they were the hottest wines going. So, times and tastes change and R winery is rolling with the changes. The Chateau Chateau series of wine is intended to show the terroir, the effects of Australian soil and weather conditions on the Grenache grape. They have a line of single vineyard vines all done in an “Old World” style. Skulls is the entry level wine for Chateau Chateau and has a very cool label, look at it one way and it is a surreal painting of a man falling from a tree, look at it again and it is a human skull.

Skulls is a french style blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mataro (another name for Mourvedre or Monastrell) no oak, aged in stainless steel. This is the entry level wine and it is not single vineyard,but sourced from vineyards all over South Australia. The nose is nice jammy cooked dark fruit with a touch of spice, the color is a see thru burgundy. The flavor has dark fruit in the lead, but it has mushroom, stewed meat element too. A very interesting transition on your palate from fruit to the savory flavors and then a nice long finish. All the flavors are well blended, nothing jarring, a slight bite from the tannins at first but that goes away with the second sip. All the delicious fruit you would expect from an Australian wine, but it still has that French funky, earthy thing going on, the best of both worlds.  Interesting flavors and the label is pretty cool, this one is a winner.

2005 Chateau Tour Bayard Montagne St. Emilion – $20

Most experts agree that the 2005 vintage is the best vintage of Bordeaux in the last 15 years, and this one lives up to the vintage!  Full bodied and bold, this Bordeaux drinks great now, but would definitely age beautifully.  Cassis and blackberry fill the palate in this monster for the price. Gotta put it down as $20 even though we picked it up for $9 at a sale. Jealous? Yeah, we know some people that know some people that robbed some people.

Decant this bad boy before drinking, as it gets better with air, and drink it with a nice steak.  Awesome value!

2008 Orleans Hill WELL REaD Organic Red Table Wine – $6.49

A Trader Joe’s exclusive wine, organic, vegan friendly and no sulfites detected certified. Made by Orleans Hill Winery using Grenache, Sangiovese and (their words) a splash of Syrah.

The color is a see-thru ruby red, the nose is kind of funky, half stewed strawberries and half medicinal. The mouth feel is a bit light, the taste is of dark fruit, plums, blackberries and Nestle Quick cocoa powder. There is a bit of a jolt in the back of the palate from the tannins and the oak, nothing too obtrusive and the tannins do smooth out with each additional sip.

There’s a lot to like about an organic, no-sulfite wine that costs only $6.49, it’s not bad tasting either.

2005 Fife Max Cuvee California Red Wine – $7

I picked up this Zinfandel Blend at Trader Joe’s, I tried to find some information about the Max Cuvee on the internet and found nothing. Fife made a Napa Max Cuvee in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, but  their website makes no mention of a 2005 vintage. So there is something up with this Zinfandel, Syrah, Sangiovese and Petite Syrah blend, nobody puts 4 years of bottle age on a wine to sell it for only 7 bucks. It’s also aged in French oak, which is the most expensive of all the oak used for wine barrels. The sign above the wine at Trader Joe’s said it was sourced from Mendocino County, but the label only says California. So what’s the story with the Max Cuvee?

Nice dark ruby red color, just what you would expect for a Zin blend. The nose was a little tight and oaky, the first sip was all tannins and oak, everything was happening in the back of my mouth, no fruit upfront. Had to sit it down for awhile to let it open up, decanting this wine would be a wise move. After it opened up, the fruit came out and balanced out the tannins and oak, much better. Nice chewy dark fruit and lots of spice with a little hit of oak in the back.The more this opens up, the better it tastes, don’t rush this wine. The finish is not huge but it does linger awhile with a vanilla cola flavor. All in all, a real nice bottle of wine for seven dollars. I don’t think they ever meant to sell this for $7 bucks, but their loss is our gain, so enjoy.

UPDATE : Fife Winery’s has been sold and these Trader Joe’s Fife Wines are made from juice leftover from the old owners. I don’t know if the leftover wine was ever intended to be made into Fife label wines or were intended to be sold off to other labels. But I am sure they never intended to sell these wines for $7.

2007 Hey Mambo Red Blend – $10

No offense to Lee Meriwether or Eartha Kitt, but my “purrfect” Catwoman was Julie Newmar. Meowing in that leather outfit, she simply purred sultriness.

Just like this “Zorked“* wine! A blend of Syrah, Barbera, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Malbec, and Alicante Bouschet, she bills herself as the “Sultry Red” and has notes of Catwoman’s leather on the nose as well as dark fruit and tobacco.

And just like Julie back in the day, this wine is soft, silky, supple and intense. She stays with you for a long time after feeding you dark berries, cassis, black pepper and spices. She will intoxicate you as well with her 13.5% alcohol content.

Drink her in with some pizza, burgers, pasta or turkey chili.

*Zork: an alternative wine closure that seals like a screw cap and pops like a cork.

2007 Les Heretiques Red Blend – $10

A Syrah, Carignane, Grenache blend from the Languedoc region of France (price $10). The nose has that barnyard smell (does that smell like what I think it smells like?) and is a rougher style than you usually find. But that is it’s charm, this is no “New World” wine made for the American palate, this is an Old World red table wine. Low alcohol (12.5%) and unfiltered (expect some residue in your glass). Made from 100 year old vines, this tastes of another time and place. This the kind of wine the bank robbers in Killing Zoe were drinking the night before the heist. Not fancy French wine, but French wine for everyday people.

2006 Bombing Range Red – $16

A Washington State red blend, mostly Cabernet (78%), Cab Franc (10%), Syrah (8%) and Mourvedre (4%) ($16). Small production wine from McKinley Springs Winery. A very tasty wine, lots of dark ripe fruit, soft and smooth. Starts out like a California Cab then mellows out, soft tannins, no sharp edges. Not a “wow” more like a “nice” wine, and there is nothing wrong with that. Not widely distributed, but worth trying if you can find it.