Hiatus

And with that....

It's been a pleasure doing the blog for the past five years, and I'm not necessarily quitting, just going on hiatus for a while.

N/V M Lawrene Sex Batch #79

So many cheap jokes with this wine, I'm just going to leave it be.

Watermelon Jolly Rancher on the nose.

Peach, strawberry, watermelon, a touch of sugar, but balanced.

Almost a toasty quality, like ever so lightly toasted white bread with a bit more of that watermelon candy thing on the finish.

At $15 a bottle, I have no objections.

Score: 87

2009 Velvet Devil Merlot

This goes for about $12 retail and as you can see, is a rather eye catching label.

Straight up dark chocolate on the nose - usually I see chocolate covered something or another, but this is just chocolate.

More chocolate on the palate, but some cherry notes come through as well. Big, fruity, a touch sweet, not much for tannins, reasonable enough acid, but overall quite jammy.

Some more interesting things come through on the finish - more chocolate and cherry, but blueberry presents itself as well as some vanilla.

A gateway wine for the Yellow Tail lover in your life. If you're having a big party, this is worth serving, pair it with ribs or burgers and you're good to go - jammy and quaffable, but there's something in the background that tells you there's more than meets the eye.

Score: 85

2008 Joel Gott Amador County Dillian Ranch Zinfandel

The question I ask you is, who is Joel Gott? Something with railroads, yes? Wait that's John. He also spells and pronounces his name differently. I wonder if he's related to Joel Gott? Costco - $20 - Zinfandel - alright.

I hate alliteration, but I'll be damned if there isn't some Port poached peaches on the nose, Strawberry in a Starburst kinda way, or maybe it's cherry in a Skittles kinda way?

The palate brings cherry licorice, plum, vanilla, very nice acid, good tannic backbone

The finish brings more of the same - mildly sweet cherry licorice with a sweet tobacco kind of thing.

I quite dig this - I must start buying more Zin.

Score: 89

N/V Jean Farris Marito White

This $14 bottle is a blend of Seyval Blanc, Viognier, and Chardonnay. This is our first review of wine from Jean Farris Winery located in Lexington, Kentucky. We liked this place so much on our trip to Florida, we went a couple hours out of the way on the way home to stop, pick up some wine, and have brunch at the winery's restaurant.

White grapefruit, lime, and slate on the nose.

More of all that on the palate - white grapefruit, lime, slate, along with some orange zest and lemon qualities. Quite dry, well balanced acid, not terribly complex, but certainly rather tasty.

A short finish with soft grapefruit notes dominating.

A solid summer wine, good perhaps for people who like Sauvignon Blanc, and worth checking out.

Score: 87

N/V M Lawrence Green

This is a new, limited offering from M Lawrence - it's called Green because the bottles are reused (actually reused/washed/sanitized - not recycled) and because it's their spin on vinho verde....the grape is cayuga, which is a green grape as well. How green! Retail is fifteen bones.

A clean nose, kinda grapey...

Light overall - apples, grapes, loads of acid, quite dry overall to my palate.

Some lime, lemon, and slate lingers on the finish along with a green apple candy thing way on the back.

It's a solid wine, but it's certainly in a distinct style. Great for the remaing summer heat - light, crisp, dangerously drinkable, and well priced, no complaints!

Score: 86

2009 The Pinot Project

This one has been getting some good press and at $12, I decided to take a stab at a bottle. From what I understand, this is one of those negociant deals where the winemakers bought some cheap grapes that were good enough to make wine out of...let's see.

Raspberry jam on the nose.

Raspberry jam on the palate - very soft, very simple, nothing here would suggest Pinot Noir. At the same time, it's not exactly bad, it's not sweet or anything like that, just sort of one dimensional.

You guessed it, raspberry jam on the rather short finish.

Not bad as an adult beverage to go with a random dinner...somewhat one dimensional and dull. Sad to say, this is not the miracle Pinot Noir you are probably looking for.

Score: 80

2006 Jean Farris Syrah

Kentucky wine - grapes produced with the help of the cold Kentucky Rain, best served with a side of polk salad, which looks something like a turnip green. Now, that's polk. dun. Salad. dun dun. What was I saying? Oh yes. We visited Jean Farris a few months ago, loved it, and bought a random selection of wine - this one is new to us.

A funky nose...odd, garbagey, chocolatey, strange.

Not as funky on the palate - loads of chocolate, a bit of black pepper, mostly cherry, but certainly a black cherry covered in dark chocolate sorta thing. Not much for noticeable oaky qualities beyond some mild vanilla in there, with nice acid and tannic structure.

Blueberry comes through on the finish, as well as blackberry, some more cherry, a mild implication of mint, maybe a spring of eucalyptus for good measure.

$25 ain't cheap, but this certainly doesn't offend even at that pricepoint especially when you consider the oddball region. Well played...more Jean Farris in the coming months, wines we've tried before buying, that should prove stronger than this.

Score: 88