2010 Kirkland Signature Pinot Grigio Friuli, Italy

A seven dollar house label Pinot Grigio - how good can this be?

Apple and pear on the nose.

Excellent balance, solid acid, vanilla, pear, and a bit of peach.

More vanilla and pear on the finish.

Good Pinot Grigio is hard to find and pricey. Cheap ones tend to be flabby and dull - this one isn't great, but it's not flawed like one would expect from one of the level. Well done, Costco.

Score: 86

N/V Jean Farris Rose

Jean Farris...a winery on the outskirts middle of Lexington, Kentucky that grows most of its own grapes. Sounds like it could go really wrong, doesn't it? Read on about this $20 bottle.

This is one of those roses that needs time to open - seriously, give it an hour in the glass or maybe run it through a Vinturi or something.

Watermelon Jolly Rancher with some strawberry notes as well...kind of a candied strawberry, like the filling of a cake from the local Jewels.

This is literally like a liquid watermelon Jolly Rancher. A bit sweet, quite tangy, fairly heavy bodied...I can see this being fairly polarizing, but put me firmly in the pro camp. There's more strawberry on the palate as well, along with some apricot and nectarine, and thrown together with a pinch of black tea.

Yep, more of that watermelon Jolly Rancher thing along with some stone fruit, a dash of nectarine (real), and peach (Jolly Rancher) bring some interesting depth on the absurdly long finish.

This is a distinct style. You may hate it and I totally get why you would...but some wines are so absurd, so distinct, and so undeniably well done, that you have to give them love.

Score: 93

2010 Charles and Charles Rose

It seems like we've had this before, but I see no review of it on this blog...I think it was a Ravinia pick. This one ran me eleven bones.

Strawberry jam on the nose.

A bit spicy...nice acidic backbone, tart cherry, raspberry, and peach tea...a very nice balance with fruit and spice blending together.

A peach tea sorta thing, perhaps even a fuzzy navel quality.

I've found straight up Syrah rose to be iffy....this one works nicely. For a hot weather quaffer, this works.

Score: 87

2010 Old Shore Vineyards Turkey Nest Pinot Gris

This bottles retails for $18, but the winery produces only a limited number of bottles, so you pretty much have to buy direct from their website.

A mild grapefruit thing with some interesting gasoline sorta notes. I hate when Americans use the word petrol.

Dry, light, orange blossom, peach fuzz, grapefruit zest, well integrated acid, almost a bit of rose...it's a fairly floral wine really, but not in a perfumey sort of way. Don't ask me to explain it.

The finish starts with pink grapefruit, then fades to white, then fades further to zest. It's a finish and a half really - quite lengthy and pleasant.

This wine makes me crave oysters....a very nice bottle to be sure, perfect for the summer, but dangerous in its easy drinkability.

Score: 89

2009 Torbreck Barossa Valley Woodcutter's Shiraz

There is a restaurant we frequent and this bottle frequently calls my name from the wine list, I decided to have it at home for it's $22 retail instead of the marked up list price. I respect Torbreck, we need to drink their stuff more often.

Cherries on the nose.

Quite big - not over the top ridiculous, but big nonetheless - cherries, vanilla, a little bit of oak but mostly fruity with some mocha and even some bell pepper qualities.

Plummy, peachy, cherry-y....a big finish with all sorts of stone fruit without any burn.

Can't knock it, but I'm also not knocking over old ladies to grab another bottle.

Score: 86

N/V G.H. Mumm Brut Rose

This retails for $62. I paid substantially less due to a post-Valentine's Day sale...I guess the local store though a ton of people who be springing for the $60 Mumm Brut Rose instead of the $15 Mumm Napa Brut Rose.

A bit of peach, some strawberry, and a touch of vanilla on the nose.

A bit of pink grapefruit, some nectarine, a nice burst of toast...kinda like a piece of very light rye toast with some sort of grapefruit marmalade. Crisp, dry, and fairly full bodied on the palate.

The grapefruit quality lingers for some time.

Certainly quite good, especially for a a grapefruit fan, but I can't get behind recommending it at the price.

Score: 89

2010 Nine Walks Sauvignon Blanc

This bottle is what we call an industry sample - in the interest of full disclosure I need to tell you this bottle was comped. It was still tasted in the same rigorous way as all wines we taste here - semi-blind without a care of hurt feelings or broken relationships, this is a blog after all. That said, this retails for $11

Classic New Zealand SB nose - grassy and grapefruity with a bit of vanilla bean.

While the whole grapefruit and grass thing is there, there's also some great tangerine notes, vanilla, well balanced acid and I'm going to say there's a dash of sugar or two, but it all works together nicely.

White cherry in a Slurpee kinda way on the finish, with orange blossom, grapefruit zest, and a bit of rose.

On par, if not better, than most $10 New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs I've had. This one is certainly worthy of being put in your rotation.

Score: 88

2008 Napa Cellars Sauvignon Blanc

This is a tough wine to gauge the price...it's the kinda wine that seems to retail for $16ish, but it's always on sale for $10-13, so basically, if you're interested, shop around.

Zest...lime zest, perhaps lemon zest....a zesty nose.

Grapefruit dominates, mostly white grapefruit implying more acid and tartness than sugar, along with some green apple qualities. Not sweet, but not over the top in its acidity.

Grapefruit on the finish that fades quickly.

Not bad, but I guess not really my style - I tend to prefer the cheap New Zealand SBs. If you found it cheap, you could do worse, but you could also certainly do better.

Score: 84