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

2006 Raymond R Collection Cabernet Sauvignon

I loved the 2003 of this wine, so when I saw the 2006 the other day, I snagged a bottle without hesitation at about $18.

Licorice - black and red - on the nose.

More of that licorice - mostly cherry - mixed with some vanilla and blueberry. Smooth tannins, good acid, some sweet oak and mild tobacco, and some brown spice as it opens - well played.

The finish brings brown baking spice plus some chocolatey notes, along with black cherry.

Solid. The regular "Raymond" label Cabs tends to be very smooth, this has a little bit of an edge, some 'bite' if you will, that while perhaps suggests a less well crafted wine, I think makes a more interesting one.

Score: 91

2007 Napa Cellars Zinfandel

This goes for $15. This may be an unfair thing to say but I view this as a grocery store sorta wine...I don't know if I've seen it at an actual wine shop, it's more like the middle to top shelf of the local large chains. That's not a criticism, more giving you an idea of where to find it.

Black cherry, chocolate...actually, quite a bit of chocolate and some coffee as well for a nice mocha nose.

Fruit forward, but enough depth to not be fruit bomby....cherry and blueberry for the most part, but some stone fruit comes through along with a bit of very mild green spice.

Almost some Dr. Pepper like qualities on the finish along with peaches, like the red peach flesh around the pit.

Not too shabby....not shabby at all. Approachable and balanced enough that I'd have no qualms serving this at some sort of BBQ this summer.

Score: 87

2009 White Cottage Ranch Elene Rose of Cabernet Sauvignon

About fourteen bucks at Costco, this one was. It was the only rose they seemed to carry, hopefully that will change soon.

Watermelon of the natural and artificial sort on the nose.

More or less standard in the whole strawberry and watermelon thing, but it has a full bodied mouth feel almost oily in consistency....there is a type of candy that comes in a tube and has the consistency, more or less, as gel toothpaste - imagine sour watermelon gel candy in wine form - here you are. There's a bit more sweetness than I prefer in a rose, but the acid and that full bodied feel bring it all together into a sort of harmony.

A candy quality lingers.

I want to clarify - I keep using "candy" terms but this is not a blush wine by any means, it's a solid rose, firmly acidic, mildly tannic, full bodied, complex, but with a candy - a sour candy - dominating component. I can see some not caring for this....for me, it works.

Score: 89

2004 White Rock Vineyards Napa Valley Claret

This bottle retails for about forty bucks and is a blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with Cab Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot.

Vanilla, cherry, and plum on the nose....blueberry and strawberry are deep in there as well.

I know it's a dumb thing to say, but this is smooth....blueberry, black cherry, vanilla, eucalyptus - all nicely integrated, nothing dominates, not overly oaky, nice balance, just a flat out nice California Cab dominated blend.

Black cherry and eucalyptus lingers, with some cinnamon and clove on the finish.

I dig it. Forty bucks? I still dig it.

Score: 92

2006 Stag's Leap Napa Valley Petite Syrah

This goes for about forty bucks and came with strong recommendations when I snagged it a while back, though my memory is sketchy with from where or who.

Raspberry licorice and cola on the nose with some mint - for the first hour or so green spice dominates but blows off.

Black cherry and plum dominate, with mere hints of mint, cedar, eucalyptus...don't let that give you the wrong idea though, this is a big, fruity, juicy wine.

More of that raspberry licorice thing on the finish.

Good...quite good....beyond that?

Score: 87

2005 Cafaro Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This goes for $39 through the winery. I know nothing about this winery other than the bottle curiously does not have a barcode and I don't think I've ever seen it in a shop. I acquired this through a silent auction at a charity event.

Plum and blackberry on the nose, but cigar box dominates.

Smooth and nicely balanced - this is just a nice drinking wine. It's fairly big, but also elegant, you won't confuse it with something Old World, but it has none of the downfalls that plague many New World wines. A gentle giant, if you will - the Pete Steele of wine. Cherry and ripe blackberry come through with cedar, mint, and (very mild) anise. Mid palate, oak and/or cedar come through considerably as do some more spicy qualities including a bit of brown spice.

An almost Grand Marnier quality comes through right at the start of the finish, as that fades a cherry, currant, and a vague mint quality linger for some time.

Forty bucks is a tad more than I'd prefer to spend on a bottle of wine, but there's absolutely nothing to complain about here. Nicely done.

Score: 91+

2004 Robert Pecota Muscat Canelli Moscato d'Andre

The winery's website lists this at $18 and this is a half bottle.

Peach and some floral notes on the nose. On first pour, there was an odd, almost turpentine quality but it blew off after an hour or so. Still....strange.

No turpentine here - peach, pear, nectarine, apricot, orange blossom, and apple liqueur all blend together on the palate. By all means, this is a dessert wine - it's quite sweet - but there's also a huge amount of acid which give this a very interesting balance.

Orange blossom, peach, chamomile, and apricot linger for an impressive length - the floral notes linger for almost a minute.

Tasty overall with very nice depth - I enjoy this quite a bit.


Score: 93

2005 Beaulieu Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This is another one of those "top shelf" wines from the Jewels that "retails" at around $25, but you'd be foolish to pay more than $16 since it's always on sale. BV make a few lines including a cheaper line, then this, and then pricey stuff you probably haven't come across unless you shop at bigger wine shops. Let's dig in.

Nice cigar box on the nose.

A bit of tart cherry, cedar, tobacco, vanilla, and some blueberry as well. This is nice and tasty, but for a Cab, I'm finding it, just a bit too light in body - it's tasty, but in terms of body, this almost has a Pinot Noir thing going on. I'm not knocking it, but I just want a tad more oomph.

Lingering acid with some tart cherry and earthy notes on the finish.

A solid offering on par with - though perhaps slightly below - the Mondavi Napa Cab we had a while back. For fifteen bucks or so, this is damn good - not as complex and some pricier options, but for the price this is a great value.

Wine: 8
Value: Yeppers

2005 Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This is about $20 and has a reputation for being a solid bottle. I've been sitting on this for a while and decided to pop it open.

The nose is big, but it's mostly just cigar box.

A well balanced wine, with a number of things working together nicely - great tannic structure, with oak, cedar, cherry, with brown and dried green spice. Some mint seems to come through, I want to say I'm getting some eucalyptus as well, maybe some sage. This is the sort of wine that one can tell is good now, but would probably be better two years from now. I hope to find a few more bottles to put away.

Cedar notes on the finish.

My notes are short here, but that's not a bad thing. This is a fine offering, loads going on, flat out delicious, and an outstanding value. This is a great bottle to snag for yourself and sit on for a while, or to give as a gift. It tastes like something a bit pricier than a twenty dollar bottle.

Wine: 8.5
Value: Yep

2006 Robert Biale Zinfandel Napa Ranches

Alright, so we've had a fair amount of wine over the years and on occasion splurge on fancy ($30+) bottles of various things, today I figured we should try a Zin since we really haven't had any expensive Zins. The retail on this is $40, but you best believe the only reason why I bought it was that it was half off on a end of bin sale. Nice.

A big nose – loads of blackberry and black pepper.

Interesting....very interesting. Alcoholic burn, black pepper, and red fruit – sort of a peach/plum hybrid thing with some cranberry and a whole lot of gooseberry, even pomegranate gets in the mix. I don't even know how to describe this, it's sort of light in mouthfeel but big in body – that's contradictory, I know. It's thin, easy drinking, but if you keep it on the palate you get all sorts of stuff – fruit, spice, loads of cinnamon – almost like a Red Hot candy – and a punch of black pepper. Served blind, I would've never guessed this was a Zin.

The finish has some interesting notes of cola, bell pepper, and a bit of chocolate.

My gut reaction was “this is a joke at $40” but the more it opened, the more I thought about it, and the more I really gave it a chance – I have to say, this is a damn good Zin, probably the best we've had of the varietal (that admittedly is saying very little), and has perhaps given me a nice kick in the pants to explore a grape we've largely ignored.

Wine: 8.5
Value: Pass (it's good, very good in fact, but I can't say it's a value).

2005 Girard Petite Sirah

I've been sitting on this a while, at the $25 pricetag I figured I'd save it for a special day – like New Year's Eve.

A bit of licorice – both cherry and black – on the nose with some cinnamon notes.

I don't normally comment on color, but this wine is ridiculously dark – purple/black – do yourself a favor and don't spill this one. Bold but not over the top – a nice balance overall. Black fruit – blackberry, black plums, dark black cherries – dominate. Some nice vanilla notes plus some interesting herbal qualities. The tannins are present and give some nice depth but are very well integrated. As the bottle opens I seem to think blueberry takes over.

Blueberry and some spices stick around on the finish – a bit of clove and perhaps some tobacco.

A solid wine – I rated this higher but the more I drink it and think about it, the more I think it's just a tad simple – if a big, bold, yet smooth wine sounds like your thing, this is certainly worth it.

Wine: 8
Value: Yes

2003 Rubicon Estate Cask Cabernet Sauvignon

Rubicon – the classy Coppola winery – I've been wanting to try wine from this producer for some time but have avoided it – this half bottle ran me thirty bones, so you see why.

Big vanilla and cherry on the nose.

At first I wasn't convinced but the longer I have this in the glass the more I'm sold (in other words – decant 3+ hours) – plenty of vanilla, lots of tart cherry, some ripe strawberry, rich chocolate – not in the funky/earthy/baking chocolate kind of way, but legitimate hints of a dark chocolate candy bar, great balanced tannins.

The oak sticks around on the finish with some nice tart strawberry notes.

A great wine – excellent depth, great fruit, solid backbone – perhaps not quite worth the price, but a solid effort.

Wine: 9
QPR: N/A

2005 Shafer One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon

Fran's birthday is here and what better way to celebrate than with an absurdly priced bottle of wine? This one ran seventy bones and is actually a lower end offering from Shafer (their “regular” Cab retails at over $200).

This is a nose – like opening a cigar box lined with ripe blackberries. This clearly shouts expensive because with just a couple of ounces in the glass and a few seconds of swirling you can smell this wine with the glass half a foot away from your face.

I don't know much about many “ageworthy” wines but as my wine drinking experience deepens, I think I'm beginning to get it – this wine is clearly a fantastic wine but it's not quite perfect – there needs to be a bit more harmony and some hard tinged aspects need time to mellow. That being said with a few hours in the decanter this has opened nicely – more of that cigar box, cedar chest, tobacco, quite a bit of herbs (rosemary, sassafras, and a potent amount of sage), with some chocolate. Lots of acid here – this wine almost requires a steak. The fruit comes closer from the background as the bottle opens – the only thing I could detect at first was some very mild blackberry but after a bit some blueberry and black cherry notes are coming through..

Chocolate lingers on the finish which is surprisingly short.

A short finish on a $70 bottle? Hmmm. So here's the thing – if you found this page because you're well to do and you buy this by the case (or you're absurdly rich and want to see how this cheap stuff compares to the regular stuff) then my opinion will be woefully inept. If you're like me and occasionally splurge on this sort of thing, then to be blunt, I don't know – I've had bottles at this pricepoint that have kicked my ass all over my apartment – this one is good, damn good, but I'm simply not blown away. If I stumbled upon this for cheap or received it as a gift I'd put it away for five years or so and then give it a shot.

Wine: 9
QPR: N/A

2004 Ceja Vino de Casa Red

This was nine bones at the local shop. It's a somewhat unusual blend of Pinot Noir and Shiraz.

A little bit of tart cherry on the nose.

More tart cherry on the nose, some strawberry, a bit of white pepper, a touch of oak, not much in terms of tannins but a solid amount of acid – this begs for food.

Cherry and a little bit of oak linger on the finish.

The second day really brought some power to this one – black and red licorice on the nose. More pepper, more fruit, more alcohol, more acid – a bit of bell pepper, some Twizzlers, bing cherry, ripe strawberries, and the sweet oak is presenting itself with a bit of tobacco. Big acid and more licorice on the finish.

Nine bucks? This is one of the steals of the year so far. Not terribly complex (though no quaffer) the first night, but the second day this just came to life. I hope I can find more as this will definitely be worth a revisit.

2004 Domaine Carneros Brut

This was about $20 at World Market. After sampling it, I realized it was a somewhat uninteresting bottle. I figured I would liven up this review but comparing how it tastes with two different glasses. The first is a crystal Spiegelau Champange flute which has a very thin lip and runs about $10 each. The second is a $2 glass flute from World Market with a relatively thick lip.

The Spiegelau:
A little bit of toast on the nose, but overall quite muted.

Very light and crisp, but also a bit weak overall. Citrusy – grapefruit mostly and a bit of orange zest with just a bit of yeast.

More citrus zest on the finish.

The no name glass:
Compared to the other glass, this feels thick and viscous – instead of citrus, I'm getting mostly green apple. No yeast, no toast, interestingly I get a bit of mint though overall it's quite mild.

Green apple and yeast on the finish.

Interesting, eh? To me, the line between green apple and citrus zest is somewhat thin so the flavor profile difference are a bit more minor than they seem - however the thing that's really interesting is how the first glass was absolutely “light bodied” and the second glass was the exact opposite – it's all about how the wine hits the tongue..

Definitely not worth the $20 pricetag – if you found this for half off I would recommend it. There's nothing wrong here but it's just not all that interesting compared to various other bottles at this pricepoint we've reviewed.

2001 Markham Petite Sirah

This was $13 – marked down from $25. Even though it's a bit old, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try.

Licorice and earth on the nose.

Smooth tannins but bold and fruity - plum, ripe blackberry, licorice, and some sweet oak on the palate. Lots of dark fruit all around but very nicely balanced.

Cherry and black licorice on the finish which lingers for a solid amount of time – over a minute.

No arguments here for $13, but I don't know about the $25 retail price. By all means, it's a good bottle of wine, but there's not much of a wow factor.

2003 Girard Petite Sirah

This has been sitting on the ol’ rack for some time. We tried this at a tasting and didn’t hesitate with a $20 pricetag. I gave this one about three hours in the decanter. The very bottom of the bottle did begin to throw sediment so be careful with this one.

A bit of oak and plenty of earth on the nose along with some deep, ripe raspberry.

The palate is big–lots of black fruit, lots of oak, big chewy tannins. Blackberry, plums, and some spice as well–mint, cinnamon, and black pepper. Everything it big, but it’s all nicely balanced...you’re assaulted equally by everything.

The finish fades with lingering earth, black pepper, anise, oak, and vanilla....not much in terms of fruit....and it lasts for quite some time with the black pepper lasting for close to a minute.

At hour seven, this wine really began to change a bit...new fruit began coming through—strawberry and cherry, the tannins are still firm but much smoother. Personally, I think it’s better now than it was earlier, so either drink this one over a long evening or open it as early as possible.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a Petite Sirah and I have to admit I was hesitant to open this bottle since I felt strongly about it at the tasting and feared it wouldn’t hold up–well, it has. This is an excellent wine and one that I’d recommend if you don’t mind having your teeth stained purple.

2003 R Collection Cabernet Sauvignon

A few months ago I was at the local wine shop during a small tasting and a guy came up to me and said “how about you recommend a Shiraz to me for under $20.” I was taken aback to say the least. I don’t look like your typical wine guy and he didn’t look familiar to me, but I politely engaged him in conversation saying that while I don’t actively dislike Shiraz, I tend to avoid them because they’re not my style though I do enjoy them in blends. He asked what my style was and I said “Cabernets and Rhone blends mainly.” He asked me to make a suggestion of something I like for under $20.

Without hesitation I walked directly to the display of this wine and said it was one of my favorites.

At $18 this is just above my normal price range and I’ve had this bottle on the wine rack for quite a while...I’ve been saving it, I don’t know for what, but I was. Today I realized–what the hell am I saving this for? It’s not that expensive and it’s not difficult to find.

I poured the glass with a bit of fear–I gave this wine top recommendations, I haven’t had it in months, everytime I’m at the shop I think about how much I like it, I even gave my boss a bottle for her birthday telling her it was the best wine I’ve had...have I built this wine up so much that I’m going to be disappointed?

I stopped, and thought that whatever preconceptions I have going in, forget them as much as possible, and just try it.

On my first sip all the fears went away. This is, flat out, my favorite wine. This is the standard I hold other wines to. When I try a $50 bottle, I think how does it compare to R Collection’s Cabernet?

The nose has lots of oak, dirt, and spice. There’s little fruit on the nose, but I do get a suggestion of cherries.

The palate has oak, tobacco, cinnamon, anise, blackberries, cherries, spice, and earth...there’s even a bit of that cola flavor I love. On top of all that, the tannins are smooth and silky. A wonderful balance of earth and fruit. The finish has an interesting start of anise and then fades to strawberries.

This is it, if this bottle was $50 I’d buy it again.