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 Chateau Bonnet Bordeaux Rose

French rose at Costco for nine bucks - I'm game.

Watermelon rind, pink grapefruit, and cinnamon on the nose.

Watermelon rind, pink grapefruit, and cinnamon the palate.

Watermelon rind, pink grapefruit, and cinnamon on the finish.

Do you like watermelon rind, pink grapefruit, and cinnamon? If so, you may like this wine. It's tough to get too serious about a standard cheap rose, but that said, it's more than tasty enough to snag a bunch and get a party going, get a party going, because it's time to party, and you will party hard.

Wow, the song I just referenced is 10 years old. Getting old sucks.

Score: 86

2010 Les Deux Rives Corbieres Rose

Snagged this one for about eight bucks. The weather is getting warmer so there should be lots of rose reviews coming up.

A light nose, mostly watermelon rind and a bit of fruit thrown in.

Look up "patio wine" in the wine dictionary and you should find a picture of this. Light, easy drinking, dry, fruity - strawberry, watermelon, but a bit of acid and even the mildest of tannin give it some nice backbone to prevent it from just being a one dimensional mess.

Almost some peach fuzz comes through on the finish with some strawberry seed...it's not a length finish, but should I really even be commenting on such matters?

Can't knock it - well made and cheap, meant for the deck and the grill, I'll probably be bringing this one to Ravinia over the summer.

Score: 86

N/V Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut

Around New Year's, a whole mess of big name Champagnes went on deep discount at a local shop, so I stocked up, here's yet another one.

I get sort of a dried apricot thing on the nose - some apple as well and pear, both dried and fresh.

More pear on the palate, along with golden apple - a tad sweet honestly.

Strong red apple on the finish along with some mild vanilla, tangerine, and kiwi and even a cotton candy thing. It's not quite as sweet as I may be suggesting, but it's definitely not dry.

You know, I've had the $100 Fleur and wasn't blown away - this $35 also doesn't blow me away, but at least the price is at least somewhat reasonable. For an entry level Champagne with a bit of a sweet side, this is decent, but not enough to run out for.

Score: 87

2002 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin

I was nutso over the 1996 of this so I snagged this bottle which currently retails at seventy bucks.

Very distinct yeast, orange marmalade, toast,

More yeast, toast, blueberry, orange, caraway, kiwi, all with a nuttiness, I'm going to go with pecan - complex and then some.

Strawberry seed, rye toast, grapefruit, even some cantaloupe way at the back end.

Damn good. Some reviews are short because the wines are dull, others are short because I just want to sit and enjoy the wine - this is the latter.

Score: 94

N/V Louis Roederer Brut Premier

Shop around some good sales and you can snag this one for under $35 - I'm shocked to see we haven't had a Roederer Champagne yet (though the Roederer Estate from CA is damn fine).

A bit of grapefruit, a bit of blueberry, and a bit of rye toast on the nose.

More grapefruit, green apple, white cherry, lime, slate, a bit viscous on the mouthfeel, a quality a normally don't care for, but sometimes it work - here it does.

Lime lingers on the finish along with some ginger ale qualities.

One of the better non vintage Champagnes I've encountered and at the pricepoint - as low as thirty bucks - this is absolutely worth a look.

Score: 91

2007 Domaine Charvin Le Poutet Cotes du Rhone

This bottle went for $18 - a reputable producer, a fair price, and a region we somewhat neglect, seemed like an easy choice.

When I say this smells like Dr. Pepper, I mean it in a way kinda like, I racked my brain to think if I recently drank Dr. Pepper from this glass and forgot to wash it, all along with some cassis.

Cassis dominates the palate....to a point that, dare I call it "jammy"? A touch sweet - sort of a raspberry, cranberry, blueberry thing - a bit of spice, some black licorice, virtually no oak, some brown spice, some eucalyptus, but all in all, fruity.

More of that cassis thing on the finish, some wintergreen mint qualities.

Tough to argue with at eighteen bucks - I dig it.

Score: 89

2009 Georges Dubeouf Fleurie

Yet another 2009 Cru Beaujolais for under $15 - and not to sound like a broke record, but yet another quality wine for less money than many Nouveaus.

This smells almost exactly like strawberry Starburst.

Cola and root beer on the attack, with the strawberry Starburst on the mid palate, and some brown spices coming through towards the back. All that said, this wine is certainly not sweet - quite nicely balanced, plenty of acid and spice to work with the fruit.

I guess it's stuck in my head, but yeah...mild strawberry Starburst and a bit of cinnamon on the finish.

Thoroughly enjoyable - tasty, balanced, and priced right.

Score: 88

N/V Moet and Chandon Impeial

Imperial doesn't get much respect (it used to be called White Star), but neither does Veuve Yellow and I dig that stuff - this can be had for anywhere between $30 and $35ish.

The nose is kind of interesting as it seems to show shortbread and even some peanut qualities.

In one word, I'd call this boring. There are some bready and yeasty notes, some orange pith, but really, not a whole lot. Too sweet to be brut, certainly not sweet enough for dessert - the sorta wine I'd recommend with Thai or Indian food, but too expensive for randomly pairing (unless received as a gift).

A bit of a grapefruit with a bit of sugar on top thing on the finish, maybe some tangerine - the finish is far more interesting and flavorful than the palate.

You know, even if this was half price I wouldn't recommend it, it's certainly not an unpleasant wine, but it's just completely uninteresting and for this pricepoint, that is inexcusable.

Score: 78

2007 Jean-Luc Colombo Côtes du Rhône Les Abeilles

Grabbed a bottle of this for eight bucks because a shelftalker told me someone - Spectator, I guess - dug it.

Sort of a Beaujolais type nose - raspberry, earth, rotten fruit, perhaps a bit of banana....

Acidic, inching towards harsh, almost seems to scorch the tongue. Dirt and earth dominate, fruit is very mild, maybe some plum, perhaps peaches mixed with strawberry as well.

A dirty, spicy finish - brown baking spice, some mint, perhaps a touch of eucalyptus.

I tend to go easier on cheap swill if it's not a sweet sugary mess, and I find myself wanting to go that way here, but I'll resist....with food, I suppose it would be fine, but I can't get behind this.

Score: 80

N/V De Chanceny Cremant de Loire

This is a sparkling wine from the Loire Valley in France - a blend of 70% Chenin Blanc and 15% Chard and Cab Franc. I don't know if I've had a sparkler wine with Cab Franc before...hmmm. This is about $11 at the local Whole Foods.

Green apples on the nose and almost a Pez kind of thing, chalky I suppose.

Quite nice - crisp and dry with pear and golden apple notes dominating with a bit of that chalky thing.

The finish is tough to place, I normally dislike saying "grapes" because it tends to be a pejorative, but that's what I get - green grapes - and not necessarily in a bad way.

French sparkler, dry and tasty, classy label, change back with a ten and a five? Solid gift for the upcoming holidays, my friends.

Score: 87

N/V Louis Albrecht Cremant d'Alsace Brut Rose

This was on sale at Whole Foods for $18...some places have it for a few bucks less, some for a few bucks more.

A bit of a Fufu Berry nose....Fufu Berry is a Jones Soda flavor, I don't believe such a thing exists in nature.

Cranberry domination. This would be a fine Thanksgiving wine actually....nice fruit, not bone dry but not sweet, not too toasty though some is present, and fine acid make it a good food match. Nice.

While the palate struck me as a real fruit, the finish brings the Fufu back.

If you're considering bubbly next Thanksgiving - and you know what, you should - this would be a solid offering.

Score: 88

N/V Duval-Leroy Brut Champagne

Grabbed this on sale - a local shop had a big Champagne sale, for the holiday I suppose, so I snagged a few bottles.

The nose on this is all blueberry jelly spread on white bread toast. Nice.

A bit doughy, not toasty, not quite bready, a little bit nutty, mostly like the raw dough you get in this exploding cans to make biscuits. Other qualities of interest are peach skin, pink Sweet Tarts, candied orange peel, and a bit of citron. (Now that the weather has cooled down, let me just take this moment to strongly recommend citron tea - find your local Asian market and grab a jar, it's good stuff.)

Some blueberry on the finish along with more of that yeasty sorta thing with the nuttiness coming through even further.

A worthy entry level Champagne. At $30, I have no complaints.

Score: 90

2009 Georges Dubeouf Moulin-A-Vent

This was about thirteen bones which makes this Cru cheaper than many of the Nouveaus...how do you suppose it compares?

While there's definitely some dark fruit in there, I get a very distinct bubble gum component on the nose.

You know, more of that bubble gum, along with some super ripe strawberry and some cola notes - a solid acidic background almost reminds me of that sour cola straws you sometimes see, cola gummy candy dipped it sour sugar granules.

That sour cola thing lingers on the finish.

All the sour talk I'm sure suggests this is a bit harsh and unbalanced - and I can't really say it's not, but it's pretty good. For $12, this is certainly acceptable and light years ahead of the more recent Nouveau.

Score: 87

2009 Domaine de Fondreche L'Instant

This is easily the lightest rose I've ever seen. It's almost in the 'vin gris' category. This goes for about $12 at retail.

A mild nose, with peach notes.

Very dry. Perhaps some peach but mostly a rindy kinda thing - watermelon rind, peach skin, grapefruit rind, etc. After a few hours, some fruitier qualities come through - mild watermelon, mild strawberry - but it is still a bone dry, not terribly fruity wine.

Mild watermelon on the finish - the flavor is there, but once again no sugar at all.

So, it's a matter of preference I suppose - I like bone dry roses, but I want more fruit. Perhaps pouring the bottle in a decanter with a handful of ripe strawberries may liven it up a bit....sacrilege I know.

Score: 83

2009 Georges DuBoeuf Moulin a Vent Domaine de La Tour Bief

I seem to have misplaced a real photo of this label.... 2009, if you believe the experts, was an excellent year for Beaujolais. Having just tried some 2010 Nouveaus, I figured I should give some love to a Cru. This bottle goes for $14, which puts right on par with the Nouveaus...

Overripe strawberry, plum, mild chocolate, and even milder eucalyptus, but not at all in a harsh way.

A bit tart, a lot of dirt, some cherry, tobacco, a little bit of oak - a big mouthfeel, but everything nicely put together. It's all quite nicely integrated, I'm digging it. As it gets more, it becomes more interesting - a back palate of root beer and vanilla...

Some of that raspberry fruit and leaf thing linger on the finish, with a bit of a chocolatey thing as well.

A solid wine at a fine value...I feel pretty lousy I didn't snag more of these Crus and focus on them instead of the Nouveaus. I may snag some more this week.

Score: 90

2010 Pierre Chermette Beaujolais Primeur

This one was $13 and struck me as quite respectable in the shop.

Something about this nose reminds me of bratwurst. I can't explain it. Sage? Beyond that, raspberry infused black tea on the nose.

Heavier than one may expect, one may even think this is a light Pinot Noir by feel. Cherry, raspberry leaf, dirt, black tea, reasonably balanced acid in an almost citrusy kinda way...not bad at all.

Cherry and black raspberry on the finish with just the faintest bit of mint, almost a cough syrup thing, with a vague garbagey thing, a slight taste of 'decay' if you will.

Easily the winner of the three BN's I bought, no noticeable flaws, but a wine of this quality for $13? Pass.

Score: 82

2010 Chateau Cambon Beaujolais Nouveau

At $14 this was the priciest Beaujolais Nouveau in the store....during the tasting, it seemed to be the most interesting one overall (I did not know prices, for whatever that's worth).

The nose here is subtle....a bit of chocolate, a bit of peanut butter, a bit of banana, and a bit of turpentine....I imagine this is what Elvis smelled like in the later years.

Cherry kijafa...I've never had cherry kijafa straight, but I've had it in crepes and this is it...there's something that tastes vaguely off, as if the cherry kijafa sauce was good, but the crepes have been sitting around for a few weeks.

Cherries on the finish but as it fades, some of that sad rotten banana comes through and that is something I just can't get behind.

Of the three, this is in the middle - there are some unpleasant qualities, but they're relatively subtle and don't necessarily "ruin" the wine...I'm being generous aren't I?

Score: 76

2010 Domaine Dupeuble Pere et Fils Beaujolais Nouveau

This ran me $13 and has been relatively reliable in the past....at the very least, the label is fairly classy.

That banana thing...actually, you know, this totally hits me of strawberry banana yogurt.

Smokey - almost to a point of strangeness, liquid smoke blended with banana and a bit of artificial strawberry.

Yep, strawberry banana on the finish.

Disappointing. Even more so because at the shop this one struck me as the best tasting and most interesting of all the Beaujolais Nouveaus...the smokiness got to me I guess.

Score: 71

2008 Georges Dubeouf Morgon Jean Descombes

This wine goes for about $14. Morgon is a region within Beaujolais, so this is the same area that gives the world the Nouveau swill in November - here's a better offering.

A bit of raspberry tea on the nose.

On the initial attack I get a little bit of cola but it quickly morphs into strawberry - sort of a strawberry jam thing, with some stems, leaves, and extra seeds thrown in. Perhaps a splash of blueberry and tart cherry as well. Excellent acid, slighly overbrewed tea like tannins, on balance dry, no discernible wood - an easy drinking wine that still has a backbone.

Raspberry comes out on the finish.

I dig it and would recommend it. In a few days it will be the third Thursday of November, walk past the Nouveau and snag a bottle of this instead (it's basically the same price). You won't regret it.

Score: 87