N/V M. Lawrence US Batch #2

This was $15 at a a local wine shop – as a fan of the winery, I snagged a bottle and commented to the manager that I was excited to see it offered.

A bit of orange on the nose, some sugar, and this may sound strange, but it just smells “thick.”

Lots of orange and spice – citrusy overall with some very tart green apple. This is one of those tough wines – it's interesting, different, very enjoyable, but a bit of an enigma.

To be honest, wines like this sort of piss me off in a good sort of way. There's much more going on in the glass - I know it, I taste it, but I can't identify it. If it's intricacies presented themselves more easily I may be compelled to rate this lower, but the fact that I can't, makes this wine intriguing and interesting an an phenomenal value at $15. If your palate is more sophisticated than mine (certainly, no large feat) then you may find it less enjoyable. L Mawby hits another one out of the ballpark.

Wine: 8.5
Value: Hell yes

2006 Hashi California Red Wine

This half bottles goes for about $11, and the full goes for $20. It is billed as being blended to go with Asian food, which is frequently regarded as difficult to pair, we shall see.

A bit of mint on the nose.

Nicely balanced - cherry, oak, strawberry, spice. There is a slight dried fruit thing coming on - a slight bit of prune - nothing that dominates, but certainly present.

The only Asian foods I particularly care for are sushi and Thai curries. This would really go with neither, but I suppose if you're into things like beef stirfry, it would be an alright pairing, though it's certainly not a terribly unique or interesting wine.

Wine: 6
Value: Meh

2005 Terra Alto Sexto

Continuing the pursuit for 100 grape varietals, I browsed a local store looking at blends to see if anything caught my eye – I nearly walked away before this one called out to me. A blend of Garnacha, Carignan, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah – lots of stuff, but meh. That's only five in this blend of six – the reason I snagged this one, Lledoner Pelut Noir. Awesome. This one went for around $13.

A little bit of green pepper on the nose with some cinnamon. The second day we had this one, some garbage notes came through.

A fair amount of licorice, vanilla, rotten blueberry – this is one of those wines where there's a lot of alcohol burn, so much so that it detracts a bit from the wine. There's definitely some funky Spanish qualities here, but it seems like they're trying to bring some New World sugar into the mix and it's not working. The second day, some clear oak notes come forward and plenty of spice – clove and cinnamon, as well as some orange zest.

Some cinnamon and a bit of carob linger on the finish.

Big fat meh.

Wine: 6
Value: No

2006 Luigi Bosca Malbec Reserva

You know, I grabbed this fairly recently, but have no idea where or for how much. Trader Joe's? Maybe? It couldn't have been more than $12 or so....it may have been far less in fact.

A mentholy mediciney nose.

Big eucalyptus on the palate – like really big, huge, inching very close to unpleasantness. Even with plenty of airtime, this is still a difficult wine. There is some fruit, mostly strawberry, but it's all funky and green – mint, olives,

The finish is minty with more medicine qualities.

Well, if you like a lot of medicine qualities, then sure. Otherwise, I can't recommend it.

Wine: 4.5
Value: Nah

N/V Korbel Extra Dry

Fran actually won this in a raffle, so it was free. FREE! Figure this is around $9-10.

A very strange aluminum quality on the nose.

Maybe some orange on the palate. I don't know - my initial reaction to this was, well, disgust. After some time in the glass, I'm not quite warmed over, but it's not as bad as I thought. The mouthfeel is somewhat oily and not entirely pleasant, but the weird metallic thing on the nose doesn't come through on the palate. It's somewhat sweet and I suppose reasonable acid to give it a bit of balance. After being open for two hours, this has basically gone flat.

An orange/tangerine quality comes through on the finish.

The only way this can be acceptable is if you make mimosas. There's so much decent cava for less money than this, that I can't even suggest it for that.

Wine: 3.5
Value: No

2005 Baron de Mont Plaisir Bordeaux

Here's another cheapo 2005 Bordeaux. I don't know the price, but it wasn't $10.

A nice nose with anise and cedar.

In a word – thin. Virtually no body. I'd describe this as slightly oaky water with some cherry.

Some anise and clove lingers for longer than you'd expect for such a light bodied wine.

Big fast stinking blah. It's the sort of wine you can drink a gallon of not think twice about. Perhaps alright for a hot summer day when you're grilling a steak and want something red, but not too heavy - beyond that, nah.

Wine: 5
Value: Nah