2006 Primus Veramonte

This half bottle ran me ten dollars - it's a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, and Carmenere.

A somewhat muted nose - a bit of that petrol/gasoline thing, appropriate seeing as Jerry was a Racecar Driver, a bit of rainier cherry, and yes indeed, I do believe that's barnyard.

Plum, blackberry, big in terms of black fruit - cigar, brown spices mixed in, and on the back end some nice black cherry.

Vanilla and blueberry on the finish with some cherry cola qualities coming through as well.

I initially thought this wine was kind of blah, but with some time in the decanter it started to shine, and by the time it got really good, the half bottle was gone. At ten bucks for a half bottle, I could easily see buying a few more of these and pulling one out every year to see how it progresses.

Score: 88

2006 Almaviva Rothschild/Vina Concha y Toro Red Blend

This wine retails at various local stores for $89. I've seen it (and acquired it) for somewhat less than that. This was decanted for four hours before sampling. This is a Bordeaux blend with: 63% Cabernet Sauvignon 26% Carmenère, 9% Cabernet Franc and 2% Merlot

Cassiss and cherry on the nose. Way deep in there is some campfire - burn some chunks of cedar to ash, splash some water on it, and breathe deep. Here you go. Tobacco and even green pepper as well. An almost startlingly complex nose.

Smoke hits me first. Plum, vanilla, mocha, cherry, blueberry, a bit of bell pepper - dare I even say, a bit of a beet quality? Deceptively smooth and balanced - great tannins, acid, fruit, and earth. That being said, the nose on this one is more interesting than the palate.

A funkier finish than one would expect follows - roasted red pepper with qualities that aren't necessarily tobacco, but actually straight up cigar. Imagine a cigar dipped in pureed red pepper.

A very good bottle of wine, but I am cringing at the notion of paying almost $100 for this.

Score: 93+

2006 OOPS Carménère/Cabernet Franc

A very slight change in format - most posts will begin with formal notes from the first few hours of opening the bottle. Immediately after pouring two glasses, I recork the bottle, toss it in the fridge overnight, pull it out a couple hours before reopening and consume the rest the next day. The second day notes will have varying degrees of depth.

A bit of a history lesson: this wine is called OOPS because for some time wines were coming out of Chile which were called Merlot – but something seemed amiss about it – after genetic testing, it turned out the “Merlot” was actually carménère – one of the orignal Bordeaux grapes that was presumed extinct (largely due to bugs, no less). This is a blend of Carménère and Cabernet Franc. I paid under $8, but don't recall exactly how much less.

Day One:
Earth and oak on the nose.

A lot of oak – too much – lots of spices, to a near unpleasant degree – cinnamon, basil, oregano – all sorts of green as well – bell peppers. In terms of fruit, maybe some black cherries but it's mostly just funk.

The oak lingers on the finish as well.

Day Two:
Oak and alcohol on the nose.

Very watery as it hits the palate – then some tannins come through – oak, mint, tobacco, and a slight bit of plum.

The alcohol is quite apparent on the finish as well as some minty flavors. I do not recommend this for mouthwash though.

Final thoughts:
You know, it's refreshing to have a cheap wine that I don't care for because of excessive green and funk versus it being too fruity and flabby. In fact, I'd be willing to wager that if I dumped out half a bottle of some cheap Sutter Home type Cabernet and mixed it with a half bottle of this, you'd probably have a pretty solid blend.

N/V Conde de Velazquez Extra Dry Sparkling Wine

I saw this one for $10 and figured it would be interesting to try a sparkling wine from Chile. This is a blend of Semillon, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir.

White bread on the nose.

A bit of yeast and toast on the palate with some nice crisp apple and just a hint of citrus–lemon zest maybe.

The bubbles went flat on this quickly...the bottle has been open for around 20 minutes and within five minutes the glass I poured was flat.

The flavor on this isn’t bad, but the fact that it’s completely flat in under 30 minutes means I just can’t recommend it. You can do far better for $10.

2005 Trader Joe’s Chilean Collection Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot (65/35)

We visited Trader Joe’s today and I decided it would be fun to pick up a few bottles of cheap wine (all $4) and see how they hold up. This one was $3.99, just $1 more than Charles Shaw...how does it compare, you ask?

Oak and spice–cinnamon mainly–on the nose.

The palate brings blackberry and a fair amount of oak. There are no fun subtleties which is really what I have begun to enjoy. It is very smooth and has no alcohol bite at all.

No real finish, some oak and a touch of fruit linger, but it fades quickly and isn’t terribly interesting.

This is light years ahead of Charles Shaw, I can tell you that much.

If I had to compare this to anything I’d say it’s at the same quality level, though very different in flavor, of the Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon we reviewed not long ago which goes for around $5. Simple and inoffensive....fine for a large party, but really not for serious wine fans.

2003 Casa Silva Coleccion Carmenère

Here we are getting ever closer to the wine century club with a Carmenère from Chile. Carmenère is actually a fairly interesting grape. It was originally found in Bordeaux but in 1867 insects (Phylloxera) infested all the vines and destroyed every grape and vine. Luckily, the grape was exported to South America in the 1850s, so it still exists. Chilean wine tends to be a good value, this one was $9.

The first thing that struck me with this wine was how dark it is. At a very deep purple, no light gets through this one at all. The nose has a hit of alcohol and cherries and not a whole lot else.

The palate is fruit bomb with a hit of alcohol. There’s some tannins to balance it out a bit but very little oak--this is for all intensive purposes, all fruit. Black fruit–plums, blackberries, cherries, and the like.

After this one opens some subtleties of spice and oak come through. A hint of herbal notes–mint for the most part–are present, but really only seemed to come through after being open for five hours. If I had to compare this to anything, I’d almost say a Zinfandel. Fruit, high alcohol, perfectly paired with pizza, grilled or roasted food, anything heav.

This is a fantastic wine, especially at the price. Highly recommended.