Wine Snob: Wacky Wine Reviews

So one day, when I was putting off reading Vergil, I stumbled across a wine review podcast on iTunes called Marketview Liquor. It turns out that they've been producing these videos for a long time, but only recently put them up on iTunes. The two guys are wacky and fun, sort of similar to the way I write my wine reviews, but, unlike me, they actually know quite a bit.

In the podcast I posted above they describe two reds under $15. So, when I went to the birthday party of a friend I brought a bottle of Chateau Ste Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 Sonoma County. I thought, as it had been recommended it would be fairly decent. However, it turned out to be hugely popular and quite tasty so I shared a bottle of it with Servia and Servius on Valentine's Day and they really liked it too. There's a little bit left from the other night, so I will have to try it again and write a fuller post.

My point in sharing the above anecdote is that although these guys are a little wacky, they know their stuff and seem to review the wines fairly and accurately (so far as I can tell). They are also quite amusing, so definitely check out the videos on the website or the podcast on iTunes.

Wine Snob: Cabernet Sauvignon Double Feature

Two great wines, one post.

On Servia's birthday, we went out to dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants. It's a lovely little Italian place and we brought a bottle of wine given to us by my mom's brother on his last visit. It was a 1998 Christopher Creek Cabernet Sauvignon from Dry Creek Valley (Bradford Mount). The wine was a dark ruby color and it was a medium bodied wine that was musty and spicy. I happened to read the label after I had written my account of the wine. It said: "rich, fruity, intense, full-bodied, ruby wine." It's interesting how a wine changes over the years. It balanced wonderfully with the food. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture.

On the night before Father's Day, on which we were also celebrating the birthday of a long-time friend of the family, we had another lovely wine. It was one of the Mystery Wines from Garagiste, meaning that it was repackaged under the name Renegade Wine Sellers. It was a 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Columbia Valley, Washington.

Having a coding problem righting the bottle.

Unlike the 2007 Columbia Valley Red Wine packaged under Renegade's label which was merely mediocre, this was a fabulous wine. This fabulous Cabernet was aubergine and smelled acetone or the interior of an old trunk (the drinkers were divided in the assessment). It was a full bodied wine with notes of truffles, dark chocolate, with a bit of rich soil and a dash of nutmeg or cloves. As an important note, we let this wine decant for about two-three hours, or maybe a little more before drinking it because every review said it needed substantial decanting. I am glad we took that advice. I would highly recommend both the wine and the decanting of it.

A picture of the bottle is forthcoming.

Wine Snob: Wines from the 80s and 90s

When my uncle and aunt were here, they brought down a variety of wines from their wine cellar that they have collected over the years. Most of the wines are from California vineyards that they visited over the years. I tried two different red wines while they were here which were very old. I also learned a few things about judging red wines.

The first wine I tried was a 1993 Reserve Concannon Petite Sirah. I had a Limited Edition Concannon Petite Sirah 2006 a while ago and I thought it was a bit bland. The 1993 was certainly not bland. I liked it well enough, but it wasn't quite to my taste. It was a little thick-- full bodied and slightly viscous tasting. Dark purple, it tasted like blackberries and blueberries. It had a bright fruity taste with a light finish. Apparently Concannon was the first and one of the few vineyards in California that bottles Petite Sirah as a varietal (i.e. not mixed with other grapes). I have had one Petite Sirah varietal I liked, but this one was not my favorite, although it was certainly interesting.

The other wine I tried was a Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1985. My uncle acquired the wine back in the 1980s. Now, as it has aged for many years, it is both the oldest and probably the most expensive wine that I tried. Apparently, the wine was supposed to be past its prime. However, the wine not only tasted fabulous but apparently also was not past its prime. According to my uncle, you can tell that a red wine is past its prime if, looking at a glass of the wine from below, you can see a wide ring of brown around the top of the wine. This wine only had a slight tinge of brown around the edge of the top of the wine.

Silver Oak 1985

Furthermore, the taste was fantastic. The wine was very smooth. My aunt said that it tasted as though the the wine would have had a heavy tannic taste if it had been drunk while it was young, but the tannins relaxed over time. At the time we drank it, it was a nice medium-full body, with smooth flavor and mild tannins. It was a wonderful compliment to food and was a rich brick red color.