CHATEAU CLARKE - 2003

Merlot and Cabernet Listrac Bordeaux blend.

TASTING NOTES:

Purple color with light oak and red berries on the nose. Smoke, plum, black currant and beautiful freshly picked summer cherries on the finish.

SCORE & RECOMMENDATION:

88 PTS

When you open up this bottle, taste it immediately. You will find it is extremely good. The fresh cherries on the finish are exceptional and are accented by a hint of smoke and black fruit. But after this wine opens up, it turns ordinary. The mid-palate flattens out and the finish disappears turning the wine ordinary. This is a 89 or 90 pointer if you open and consume immediately. If you decant this or drink it over the course of two days it falls a few points lower. At $25 a bottle, it is hard to recommend, but those fresh cherries on the finish still linger on my memory palate.

TWENTY ROWS MERLOT - 2005

95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa with 14.8% alcohol.

TASTING NOTES:

Ruby red color with cherry-raspberry and green pepper on the nose. Red fruit, black currant, chocolate, blackberry, creme de cassis with some vanilla and oak. Dry tannins with some alcohol heat on both the mid-palate and the finish.

SCORE & RECOMMENDATION:

86 PTS

This is definitely the weakest effort of any Twenty Rows wine I've encountered. I suspect that this wine will settle down and improve with some bottle age, but a $15 Merlot should be drinkable now. A lot of flavor is packed into this wine but it is out of balance and just not up to par with the stellar Twenty Rows Cabs and Grappler. I highly recommend those wines. This one isn't worth your time.

TWENTY ROWS THE GRAPPLER - 2004

58% Lake County Zinfandel, 30% Paso Robles Syrah, and 12% Calistoga Cabernet Sauvignon with 14.7% alcohol.

TASTING NOTES:

Rich red color with dark chocolate and green vegetable notes on the nose. Black currant, cherry and spices intermingle with cedar oak. Fairly smooth and lush. Opens up very nicely and tastes better on the second day.

SCORE & RECOMMENDATION:

90+ PTS

Twenty Rows consistently delivers quality. Their last two Cabernets were exceptional and The Grappler is yet another success. This is a winery to watch. For $15, this is an exceptional red meritage from California.

KREMSER WACHTBERG GRUNER VELTLINER - 2005

Gruner Veltliner or "Gru-Vee" is Austria's white varietal that usually exhibits floral and spicy characteristics. If you haven't tried this varietal before and are a fan of zesty, complex whites, this is worth your while.

TASTING NOTES:

Light peachy-yellow color with apple-pear and floral notes on the nose. Loads of frizzante (bubbles) emerge on the first pour and gradually disappear. Citrus and mouth-popping acidity are intertwined with flavors of plum, nectarine, and peach. There is an unusual emergence of pastry dough on finish when this wine begins to open up.

SCORE & RECOMMENDATION:

90 PTS

A dynamic, complex white for $14? Sold! This is an excellent white wine. I highly recommend finding yourself a bottle. The wine has 13% alcohol and also came with a handful of glass-like crystal shards at the bottom, but don't worry. These are harmless tartrate crystals. The wine clearly went through "cold stabilization," a process to remove sediment so that the wine takes on a better appearance.

CAKEBREAD CELLARS MERLOT - 2004

14.1% alcohol. Made from 61% Napa Valley Merlot and 39% Carneros.

TASTING NOTES:

Rich red-black color with oak, tobacco leaf and pine forest on the nose. Lush blackberry, plum, cherry, herbs and a plethora of black licorice on the finish. Good balance with vibrant fruit.

SCORE & RECOMMENDATION:

89 PTS

Retails for around $50 to $60 a bottle. Incredibly overpriced. You are paying for the Cakebread label which has made a name for itself with really good Cabernet and Sauvignon Blancs. I'll take two $25 bottles of Swanson Merlot (which are far superior in quality in almost any vintage) over this effort.

MAS D'EN COMPTE PRIORAT - 2004

This Spanish red is made from 45% Cariñena, 50% Garnacha and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon from old vines. Fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged 14 months in new French Allier (70%) and American (30%) oak barrels and 8 months in bottle. 14% alcohol.

TASTING NOTES:

Dark red color with a rich nose of raspberry-blackberry. Saturated, chewy red fruit, black currant, minerals and herbs. Thick and concentrated.

SCORE & RECOMMENDATION:

89+ PTS

Very good wine but overpriced. For around $30, this simply isn't exciting or dynamic enough for my taste. You can find much lower priced Priorats that will give you just as much enjoyment.

CASA RIVAS CHARDONNAY - 2002

It is time for a rant. For a changing wine world, I am still amazed at the lack of respect wine gets in bars. Despite America quickly becoming the greatest consumer of wine, we still have a long way to go in the areas of service and wine education. For instance, last week I attended a corporate function at a NYC bar. They were pouring a bunch of wines by the glass, so I thought I'd find out what they were pouring and get myself one. The conversation with the bartender (BT) went like this:

Me: What kind of wines do you have?

BT: Red and white.

Me: No, I mean what kinds of wines are you pouring?

BT: We have red wine and white wine. What do you want?

Me: No, I'm sorry, what labels are you pouring exactly? What wines specifically?

At this point the bartender just shook his head in confusion. A co-worker of mine chimed in and explained, "he's a wine guy so you are going to have to do better than just red or white."

Me: Can you at least tell me what varietals?

BT: Um, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Rioja and Malbec.

Me: Fine, I'll take the Malbec.

The bartender then turned to the next person who asked, "what kind of beer do you have?" The bartender ran through a list of every beer on tap by name (Miller Genuine Draft, Coors Light, Killian's Red, etc) as well as every beer by name in bottle (Corona, Dos Equis, etc). You get the picture. I dream of the day when the average bar, even if they are only pouring 4 wines, will give up wine info without a struggle. Is that too much to ask?

So speaking of wine details, let me tell you about this 14% alcohol Chardonnay from the Maipo Valley in Chile.

TASTING NOTES:

Golden straw color with bright citrus and apple-pear on the nose. By the second day the nose changes and smells like petroleum jelly and orange peel. Light oak with caramel, toffee, and saltwater taffy on the mid-palate. Full buttered popcorn finish. Smooth with nice acidity.

SCORE & RECOMMENDATION:

89 PTS

Tremendous value and expression in this Chardonnay. This wine blew me away, especially since I picked it up on clearance for $3.99. I was expecting a mediocre white that would be good to cook with. Instead I ended up with something really surprising and enjoyable. I can't imagine that this wine tasted this good upon release as a $10 wine. With some bottle age, it is a complex hidden gem.

DASHE CELLARS DRY CREEK ZINFANDEL - 2004

A blend of 93% Zin, 5% Petite Sirah, and 2% Carignane.

TASTING NOTES:

Cherry-red color with black cherry-raspberry and flowers on the nose. Creamy vanilla, charred oak, cherry cough syrup upfront with baking spices and cherry kirsch on the finish. There's some heat early on that eventually settles down revealing very concentrated and saturated mouthfeel and red fruit flavors.

SCORE & RECOMMENDATION:

89 PTS

This wine reminded me of a lot of mid-priced Spanish wines, believe it or not, because of the purity and clarity of the cherry flavors. Sappy and dense yet fruity and polished. A very solid Zin that is big without being too big and it doesn't suffer from a ton of alcohol. The 14.5% here is actually on the low side for California Zins. Retails for around $15 - $20.

CASTANO MONASTRELL - 2005

From Yecla with 14% alcohol and made from 100% Monastrell grapes (Mourvedre).

TASTING NOTES:

Purple in color with spicy, black fruit aromas. Briary, with very ripe wild berries, red fruit and plums. Medium-bodied, dry, rustic tannins. Round and balanced.

SCORE & RECOMMENDATION:

88 PTS

Pretty amazing for only $6. You really can't go wrong here. An excellent food wine. Might not be complex enough for the wine snobs and might be unappealing for the masses who aren't used to drinking Monastrell. Those who love Spanish wine won't want to miss out on this bargain of the year.

SHARECROPPER'S CABERNET SAUVIGNON - 2004

Cabernet from Columbia Valley? You betcha. This Newberg, Oregon Cab sports an alcohol content of 14.1% and is made by Owen Roe.

TASTING NOTES:

Purple-red color with blueberry jam, cherry and sweet tobacco leaf on the nose. Blackberry-raspberry upfront with cherry cola on the mid-palate and cedar oak on the finish. Young tannins are a bit rough and showing a little heat from the alcohol.

SCORE & RECOMMENDATION:

88 PTS

Nice flavor profile and a fun exploration of Cabernet from a state best known for Pinot Noir. Needs some time in the cellar to improve so if you own this one put it away for awhile. If you don't, at $20 a bottle, I wouldn't suggest adding this one to your collection.