2008 R Wines Southern Belle Shiraz

Whiskey with a splash of water, is just fine, whiskey and Shiraz?, well that’s a bit different. So, therefore, the Southern Belle Shiraz is different from every other wine reviewed on this site, first of all the Shiraz was partially aged for 18 months in American oak barrels that were previously used to age Pappy Van Winkle Kentucky Bourbon and secondly the alcohol content is 17.6% (that’s 35.2 proof for you whiskey folks). The wines importer, Dan Phillips, says “that it’s his sincerest hope that this wine offends every sommelier and Frenchman in the world.” The winemaker, Chris Ringland, makes fantastic wines and brings as much skill to the valued priced wines as he does to his more expensive efforts. Fruit forward, tasty wines, that have excellent balance and polish, if anyone can tame the over the top Bourbon barrels and the 17.6% alcohol, it’s Ringland.

The color is a beautiful almost black red with a blood red outer halo. Nice fresh black and blueberries at first and then the nose gets real interesting, leather, molasses, orange peel, petroleum jelly and vanilla. Wow, this is not your usual fruit bomb shiraz, dark fruit upfront and then coffee, toffee, black cherry cough drops, brown sugar, orange zest and oak spice. There are almost as many whiskey flavors as there is wine flavors. This is a rich, nuanced wine, even with the huge alcohol level and the bold whiskey barrel oak, there is a balance to the Southern Belle Shiraz, it feels more expensive than it actually is.

A very unique, must try wine. It may not be your go-to everyday wine, but this Southern Belle is an experience. It would really pair well with a full slab of ribs from your towns best BBQ pit.

2007 Temptation Zinfandel

Sourced from the Alexander Valley and Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma, along with a bit from Solano (east of Napa), California. 91% Zinfandel, 8% Sangiovese and 1% Syrah. Aged for 12 months in American oak, 25% new oak. Alcohol content is 14.2%.

A deep dark, but see-thru red. Black and blueberry, stewed prune and a light curry spice on the nose. Tart black cherry upfront, then some softer flavors such as plum and blueberry. Altoids spice with vanilla kick in the mid-palate. The finish is blackberry and spice, but fades quickly.

The label has a skeleton offering wine to some 15th century plaque victim and any wine with skeletons on the label automatically get extra points. It tastes real good, so that adds points, it does not cost much, so that adds points, the Temptation Zin would pair very well with BBQ, so that adds points. Doing math when you are drinking wine is not recommended, so we will never know how many points the Temptation Zinfandel gets. But, to sum things up, it tastes great, is reasonably priced and has skeletons, two thumbs up.

2008 Peirano Estate Vineyards “The Other” Red Blend

Ok, I picked this wine because of the label. If I have to pick between a wine with a plain label or a wine with a naked lady on the label, I’m going with the naked lady every time. Actually, a beautiful or clever label is pretty good reason to choose a wine, the best winemakers tend to be very creative people, so it stands to reason the label on their bottle should be creative (or naked).

The Other is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 10% Syrah all sourced from Peirano Estate Vineyards in Lodi, California. The 3 grapes were fermented and aged separately and then blended at the very end of the process. The alcohol content is 13.8%.  Peirano Vineyard Estates has been making wine for 4 generations.

The color is back cherry jello. The nose is blackberries, blueberries, cedar and a touch of vanilla. Soft smooth fruit upfront, raspberry, black cherry jam on buttered toast, strawberry dipped in dark chocolate and light oak spice. A long blueberry vanilla finish.

A very easy wine to drink, an excellent every day wine. Would pair well with burgers or pizza, or skip the food and enjoy a glass or two.

2009 Layer Cake Shiraz

100% Shiraz from sourced from vineyards in a variety of McLaren Vale micro-climates in South Eastern, Australia. Layer Cake has been making highly rated value priced wines for the last 5 years. 50% of the Layer Cake Shiraz has been aged, for an unspecified amount of time, in new French oak barrels. The wine is unfined, that means unfiltered, there might be chunks of grape and yeast residue in the bottle. The alcohol content is 14.9%.

A very purple red in color. The nose is very intense blackberry, christmas spice, pencil shavings and cigar store, an impressive nose, I probably could have found more scents, but it was time to start drinking and quit sniffing. A very rich Shiraz, blueberry, tart cherry, dark chocolate, the mid-palate has plum and a healthy wallop of Shiraz spice. The finish is much lighter than the main body of the wine, dark fruit with a touch of spice, anti climatic after all the fireworks going off before.

A big, bold fruit driven Shiraz. You can pair this with beef and pork dishes, but to me this is a wine to be drunk on it’s own, it would be a good choice by the glass or the bottle, if you find it on the wine list at your favorite Watering Hole

2007 A to Z Night & Day Southern Crossing Red Blend

35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 20% Syrah, 10% Sangiovese, 4% Grenache and 4% Cabernet Franc all sourced from vineyards in the Rouge Valley of Southwestern Oregon. The wine is aged in French oak barrels, A to Z’s website does not specify the length of time the Night & Day was aged, but says the wine should continue to improve for the next 5 to 10 years. 13.5% alcohol content.

Really dark opaque red. The nose is cherries, plums, dark chocolate, cigars and vanilla. Complicated and good tasting, Ripe red fruit, then cocoa powder, followed by black and blueberries, oak spice and creamy vanilla hits at the mid-palate. A long, long finish of blueberry and vanilla.

A talented Winemaker can take good grapes and blend them into a final product that is far better than the individual ingredients. The A to Z Night  & Day Southern Crossing, a bit of a long winded name, is an expertly made, well balanced, yummy wine. This would pair very well with a nice bacon wrapped filet.

The A to Z website has a list of local distributors, if you would like to find the Night & Day Southern Crossing in your area.

http://www.atozwineworks.com/distributors.html

2006 Sierra Salinas Mo Monastrall

Sourced from vineyards at the lowest slopes of the Sierra Salinas Mountains in the Alicante Provence in Spain. Made from Monastrall grapes, along with Garnacha Tintorera, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Monastrall is also known as Mourvedre and Mataro and it is the M in the GSM blends. Manual harvest (people picked the grapes, not machines) and aged 4 months in French oak barrels, the alcohol content is 14%. 90 points Robert Parker.

Deep dark, almost black red. The nose is blackberry, blueberry, pepper, vanilla and a new mown hay. Nice raspberry and blueberry upfront, then softer strawberry followed by raisin spice. Good tannins, gives the wine a nice structure, but does not give you that tannin bite in the back of your palate. A tasty blueberry vanilla finish.

Spain is producing some excellent Monastrall wines at an excellent price. I know Monastrall is not the first grape that comes to mind when you head to your local Wine Shop to grab a bottle or two, but often wines made from grapes that are “off the beaten path”  can’t command the prices of the usual suspects, i.e.…Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, etc.. Just the same, the Sierra Salinas Mo Monastrall is a solid bottle of wine, with good fruit and spice that would go well anything off the backyard grill or drinks well on it’s own.

2009 Tres Pinos Three Pines Cuvee $5

A Trader Joe’s Exclusive made by San Antonio Winery, they have been in business 91 years and are the last remaining winery in Los Angles. This is a blend of Syrah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the grapes were grown in San Luis Obispo County, California (Paso Robles and the Central Coast growing areas). Like most Trader Joe’s wine there is virtually no information available on the Three Pines Cuvee, and San Antonio Winery does not list the wine on their website. I guess at five bucks a bottle there is no money left over for information or advertising.

A few years back, $10 was the cut off for good and bad wines, there was no telling what you were going to get. Now, $10 wines are almost always at least drinkable and often excellent values. Five dollars is the new cut off point and $5 wines are an adventure.

The color is dark but see thru cherry red. The nose is fairly simple, some red fruit, a little new mowed grass. The flavors are soft red fruit, some strawberry, plum, tart cherry, Nestle’s Quick Chocolate Milk powder, some green, unripe flavors pop up in the background. The mouth feel is slightly watery  and you can feel the bite of the tannins in the back of your palate. The cherry juice finish fades a bit too quickly, the tannins linger longer that the fruit flavors.

This is light years better than the cheap wine of my college days. If you are sitting around playing Madden Football on the Xbox with friends, the Tres Pinos should be considered as the beverage of choice. I don’t want to be be too hard on a $5 wine, I know how hard it is to make wine at that price, it’s just that there are so many good inexpensive wines on the market today, we are in the middle of cheap wines’ Glory Days.

2007 Clayhouse Vineyard Adobe Red

A red wine blend sourced from California’s Central Coast, Clayhouse Vineyards says that much of the fruit came from their Estate Vineyard in Paso Robles. The grapes used in the blend are 41% Zinfandel, 32% Petite Sirah, 16% Syrah, 5% Malbec, 4% Grenache and 2% Mourvedre. 15% of the wine has been aged in neutral oak barrels for 14 months. Alcohol content is 14.1%.

See thru burgundy red with a salmon pink halo. The nose is reminiscent of a fruit stand, plums, cherries , raspberries with a touch of vanilla infused oak. Tart cherry juice hit first, then a softer plums and strawberry. Tannins can be felt all over your mouth, but in a good way, it gives the wine a nice strong character. The Adobe Red smooths out at the mid-palate, tart cherry and the tannins fade away and a fresh juicy berry flavor takes over. The finish is mixed berries and vanilla, you will be tasting it 5 minutes after you put the glass down.

The Clayhouse Adobe Red is a well constructed, big, bold, good tasting wine. A rough and ready Red that also has a well mannered side. BBQ Ribs or Steak Fajitas would pair very well.

2007 Luchador Shiraz $13

100% Shiraz from grapes grown in the Barossa Valley (85%) and Langhorne Creek (15%) regions of Australia. 60% of the juice is aged in 2nd and 3rd use American oak, the rest is aged in stainless steel vats, so you will get some vanilla and spice from the oak, but not much in the way of aging properties. Parker rated the Luchador Shiraz at 90 pts, the 2006 vintage received a 92 pt. rating, I don’t know how much of the 2006 is available, but it might be worth seeking out. The alcohol content is 14.5%, which is downright tame for an Australian Shiraz.

Black cherry red in color with a strawberry halo. The nose is blueberry preserves, vanilla and some grassy notes in the background. The flavors burst out of the glass, rich blackberry, blueberry, plum and black Twizzlers, vanilla and oak spice on the mid-palate. Smooth almost sweet tannins and a lengthy vanilla Coke finish.

With a masked Mexican grappler on the label, you wouldn’t expect a well balanced, expertly crafted wine. Delicious with gobs of fresh fruit, but well structured, the Luchador would go well with a nice juicy steak and even better with some first class BBQ.

2006 Barnard Griffin Merlot $13

A bit of Taste of Columbia Valley, with grapes being sourced from vineyards in 5 of the 7 of Columbia Valley’s growing areas. 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Syrah, aged 15 months in European oak. Alcohol is 14.1%

A deep dark red with black highlights. The nose is ripe red fruit, chocolate covered cherries and Swisher Sweets cigar. Big soft fruit flavors upfront, cherry, some strawberry and then vanilla followed by Altoids spice. You can feel a bite from the tannins and oak in the back of your mouth, not overly tannic, but the tannins are definitely there. A decent cherry vanilla finish.

I saw Sideways, I didn’t care that Myles hated Merlot, but for some reason in the years after that movie Merlot lost it’s way. But, Merlot is back, this is a good tasting, full bodied wine. Pair it with beef and pork cooked on the grill.

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