Wine-O-Rama

On a Mission from God

I found this last week at Miami Valley Wines for $19.99.  It’s a bit more than we normally spend on cab, but I thought we could use a new adventure, and it WAS payday.   We had it with meatloaf and it was quite nice.  I was too lazy to blog it then, so end of story.  Or WAS it?  Marjorie said she really liked it, which is a rarity, since she greatly prefers white wine.  (I KNOW - welcome to MY world.  More red wine for me, though!)  Last Friday, in the throes of a Winter snowstorm, I dropped by MVW and grabbed their last bottle of Dan Cab in anticipation of the Superbowl.  In years past we always used Superbowl Sunday to try many new wines or pit one wine against another.  But alas, we grow old and tired, so Dan it is.  And it’s all about the berry:  raspberry, blackberry with some black cherry and a hint of bright (yes, bright) plum.  The key word is BRIGHT, and that’s a GOOD thing.  What a pretty transparent garnet in the glass, and a classy nose.  It paired perfectly with Superbowl snack fare.  Not the deepest of cabs - like baby bear’s bed:  it’s JUST right.  Definitely not an oak bomb (again, just right.)  A nice, pleasantly long finish brings things to a close.  Sourced and made by DeLoach, this is indeed excellent stuff for a decent price.  We don’t care who wins the Superbowl - we won with our wine selection.  Way to GO Dan Aykroyd!

Grade:  A-

Nice in a Snow Storm.  Good luck?
I found this last week at Miami Valley Wines for $13.99.  Never tried it, so why not now… in the aftermath of a large snow storm.  We received a svelte 6 inches of the white fluffy stuff here mixed with freezing rain, while folks nearby racked up 12-14″.  Friends in D.C. and on the East Coast bragged about 2-3 feet!  Yawn.  So we drank some Block 13 tonight while watching a DVD of Julie and Julia, ironically about a blog.  Great movie!  The cab was a pretty garnet in the glass with bright berry and licorice on the nose.  The palate, juicy with raspberry and cherry.  Nice moderate tannins and a long tart finish.  Not very complex.  We would’ve liked more fruit purity and intensity, especially for the price, but we can’t complain much.  Sourced mainly from the Alexander Valley, other cabs from the same area and about the same price (namely Geyser Peak) outshine this offering.  But nice for a snowed-in Saturday.

Grade:  B

Greetings to our new friends at The Wine School of Philadelphia!

Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers and Blessings,

Robert and Marjorie

Past Prime

Picked this up for $10.99 at Miami Valley Wine.  Marjorie made grilled pork chops for dinner.  Hadn’t had lots of luck with Sebastiani in the past, but the price was right.  Brownish coming out of the bottle.  With the pig, it was passable.  Lots of raisin (usually the sign that a red wine is past its prime) with some plum, dull licorice and some damp cardboard.  The (real) cork was in pretty bad shape - maybe storage or age issues?

Grade:  C

Better Than Spaghetti Sauce

Marjorie and Heather brought this home from Sam’s Club last weekend.  I had my doubts.  I mean, look at that label.  It’s a cartoon portrait of the wonderful late Paul Newman, who has donated over $250 million to charities worldwide since 1982!  We really love his spaghetti sauces and salad dressings.  But WINE?  Okay, so it’s has a REAL cork closure.  And it’s a pretty garnet in the glass, with a bright berry nose with tons of licorice.  The palate smiles with berry and very nice subtle spice from the oak.  Nice mouthfeel - rich even.  Perfect tannins and a long tart berry finish.  Is this for real?  Marjorie swears it cost $11.99.  I’ll have to buy more, because this is absolutely wonderful cab and a miraculous price.  Hats off to the memory of Paul.  For real, though:  slap a classy label on this bottle and charge $45.  More for charity…  And Marjorie LIKES this (rare for RED wine!)
Grade:  A-

Like, we were all “ho hum” with the 2005 vintage nearly a year ago, but we can’t argue with the $5.99 price.  The 2006 vintage seems a bit murkier in the glass, yet a tad bit fruitier: dark plum with a hint of dark cherry and a hit of medicinal alcohol.  We still think it would be a great recession wine.  For under six bucks, it’s pretty decent.  Perfect for a bitter cold Midwest evening with fried chicken.

Grade:  B- -

Sorry for yet another repost of the GN 2006 cab, but it’s just so darned good!  I found this bottle at Foodtown, unfortunately not on sale, for $17.99.  Since everyone way gone for dinner, in my vast loneliness (hehehe) I garnered solace in the GN 2006.  And it was fantastic, as usual - tasty medium berry with subtle spices from oak.  Lots of complexity, only subtle - just the way  a good cab should be. Worked perfectly with grilled steak tips with mushrooms.  Delightful finish!  Quite the contrast with the GN 2007 cab vintage.  In our experience, it tasted So dramatically different (not in a good way) that they had to totally redesign the label.  Possibly a bad (2007) bottle?  Perhaps, but we are hesitant to try it again.  But as long as the 2006 holds out, we’ll gladly imbibe it!

Grade:  A

Nice!

Has it really been 3 years since we sipped some Ecco PG?  How’d THAT happen?  For under $10 ($9.99 at Meijer) it might be “commercial” but dependable.  Intense purity shows subtly.  That’s the best way to put it.  Clean and crisp - should go well with about anything.  Tonight it was baked cod.  This would really shine with spicy pizza.  Note to self:  Get more Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio.

Grade:  A-

Please pardon the re-repost.  Previous reviews HERE.  We popped the cork tonight to celebrate Marjorie’s birthday.  I was distressed when the foil covering the cork was sticky and possibly leaky.  Not to worry though, as the Spatlese was glorious!  Going back in history with the half case we bought awhile ago, you can see how nicely this wine is aging.  A couple more bottles will slumber in the cellar, awaiting more special occasions.  Simply AWESOME Riesling - a spiritual experience!

Grade:  A

Yuck!

Sometimes the brain just does not remember.  We tried Baroncini Chianti a couple of times - hated it, but kept on buying it (by mistake) for the low $5.99 price at Jungle Jim’s.   Big mistake.   So what do we get last week at JJ’s?  Yep, some Baroncini Pinot Grigio.  Same $5.99.  Doh!  Not good at all with Domino’s “new” pizza.  Will we never learn?  : (

Grade:  D