Tweet and Taste - soon!

You don't have much time left to prepare for the Tweet and Taste. It will be happening Monday, March 8 at 7 pm CST.

Details are here = Tweet and Taste Michigan!

A few wine bloggers - myself included - and some folks from Black Star Farms will be on Twitter, at the same time, talking about the following wines:

• 2008 Black Star Farms Arcturos Dry Riesling
• 2007 Black Star Farms Arcturos Pinot Noir
• 2007 Black Star Farms Arcturos Barrel Aged Chardonnay

It will be a fun time. To be honest, even I'm not 100% sure what to expect, so we'll see. Readers of this blog know I am not a Chardonnay fan, so I fear popping that one open.

Spoiler alert - I had, and enjoyed, the Riesling a few months back at Hot Woks, Cool Sushi (a goofy name for a pretty good restaurant on Michigan Avenue - perfect for Millennium Park/Art Institute/Symphony goers). I have a feeling the bottle will hold up to close scrutiny, but who knows?

2006 Chateau Ste Michelle Canoe Ridge Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

You may recognize Chateau Ste Michelle as a producer of widely available inexpensive wines - reds, whites, and sparklers - many of them quite good. In Chicago you can pretty much find their wines at any grocery store. This one is from their higher end line which are somewhat less widely available, but a decent wine shop should have them.

A slightly tight nose - vanilla, plum, and oak. It does open a bit to bring some blueberry in time.

Chocolate, plum, cherry, a little bit of vanilla, a touch of menthol, and even a Twizzler quality seems to be coming through - definitely a fruit forward wine. Tannins are present, but just mild enough (and with enough of that candy quality) that I think I'd call this somewhat lacking in structure, though that gripe is minor.

A lengthy finish with cherry candy for the most part with just the tiniest bit of nutmeg.

I did have about half a bottle left over and retasted a day later - I give this wine props as it actually improved. The flavors are basically the same, but the tannins seem more pronounced with the balance more in line. If you bought this, sit on it for a year...

Quite tasty indeed. This is about $25 at retail and has received a ton of praise from the Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator....I'm less enthusiastic, but by no means do I completely dissent.

Score: 87

2006 Trader Joe's Reserve California Cabernet Sauvignon

I bought this on a whim figuring the Cabernet "Reserve" from Rutherford had to be decent, right? Let's find out - and I do remind you I didn't know what I was drinking when I wrote this.

Somewhat rotten raspberry with a bit of bubble gum on the nose.

Sugary - sort of like eating a cherry Starburst and washing it down with strawberry soda. There's a splash of acid that gives a bit of balance.

Several years ago we had some Charles Shaw which completely fell apart as the wine saw air - this one did the same. The first sip didn't seem all that bad, but after two hours this tasted like raspberries that came out of a fat man's jock strap post-triathlon.

Strawberry soda on the finish.

This tasted cheap on first pour and after a short amount of airtime became unbearable. The only reason I gave this that high of a score is because the first twenty minutes or so were at least drinkable. I have a policy where wines I'd score under 75 don't get reviewed unless they piss me off - if this was three bucks I'd still be offended - but ten? A failure of Bushian proportions.

Score: 68

2007 Dr. Jebediah Drinkwell's Meritage

This is a Trader Joe's exclusive blend - 60% Cab Franc, 27% Merlot, 11% Cab Sauv, 1% Malbec and 1% Petit Verdot - quite a bit in there and strangely dominated by Cab Franc, no? Eight bucks, fun label - yep, sold.

Plum and black raspberry on the nose.

The palate brings a bit of menthol, mint, and cherry - almost like a cherry/mint toothpaste with a bit of cough syrup. Tannins are present, but the alcohol, acid, and tannins do come off a tad harsh. There's a somewhat off putting medicinal quality here - it's not all that bad, but it's definitely not great.

Cherry, or perhaps even ultra ripe farmer's market style strawberry, on the finish lingering with clove and tobacco.

It seems to me that the better Trader Joe's exclusive wines tend to be white - and to a lesser extent sparkling. The reds tend to be weak - here's an example.

Score: 78

N/V M Lawrence Sandpiper Batch #21

I just got my shipment in from L Mawby - the decision was difficult, do I put them all away and grab a beer, or since they're fairly cool already, pop one open? Sparkling wine always wins.

Strawberry - as in strawberry seeds - on the nose. Spicy nectarine notes as well, I don't know if anyone makes nectarine pie, but if they did, this is what the fill would smell like basically.

Crisp and dryer than I remember previous bottles being - tart cherry with a bit of spice - it's got that white cherry thing going on, I'm not sure if white cherries exist in nature, but they do in Slurpee form, and that - though in a peculiarly un-artificial sort of way - is what this reminds me of. Tart pink apples, pink grapefruit, what else is pink? Let's not go there.

The finish lingers for quite a while, with a very dry pear kind of quality - nice stuff.

This $10 Michigan sparkler annihilates - if you tell me a better sparkling wine at this pricepoint exists anywhere, I won't believe you. Outstanding.

Score: 89+* (not blind)

2005 Chateau D'Orscwihr Gewurztraminer Bollenberg

This retails for about $22 in the US. (Curiously, the 2007 on the winery's website costs nine Euros, but other American shops are selling various vintages – exact same label – for $20 or so).

The nose is mostly peach driven.

Fairly simple, peach and golden apple dominate, with a touch of vanilla, spice, and a fine balance of sugar and acid.

A very Gewurzy finish – a sort stewed, spiced apricot quality lingers for quite a while.

Alsace is known for making dry whites, but this is the second we've had from the region that has been rather sweet. A decent wine, but outrageous at $22. If you're in Europe and will be paying nine Euros then it may be worth a whirl, but I can't get behind this.


Score - 82

N/V R.L. Buller & Son Premium Fine Victoria Muscat

We don't have a lot of this style wine, so I didn't even bother attempting to do the whole "blind" thing. To keep it fair though, I did make Fran buy it - a trend I hope to continue. Twelve bucks for a half bottle at Costco - not exactly cheap, but a little goes a long way.

Caramel, brown sugar, and raisin on the nose.

Truly outstanding. Incredibly complex, deep, and delicious - raisin, vanilla, dried apricot, nuts, figs, maple syrup, toffee - thick, sugary, syrupy. There's also a distinct old timey sarsaparilla thing - makes me want to break out my widdling set.

The root beer really comes out late on the finish - we're talking a finish that lingers in the minutes.

This might not be for everyone - even those who like dessert wine may find it to be a bit much, but for me - I'm sold.

Score: 93+* (*not blind)

Just Grapes

If you're a wine fan and are ever in Chicago, I highly recommend hitting up Just Grapes. (I am getting no kickback or compensation for this post - just calling attention to a place I like.)

It's located about a block west of the Ogilvie Transportation Center, so very easy to get to via public transit.

It's a wine shop - good sized, plenty of options, at fair prices.

The thing that pushes it over the edge, to be blog post worthy, is they also have a pour it yourself tasting bar. You get a rechargeable card (minimum opening $10), they set you up with a glass, and then you can go around to the tasting pour and get some wines - check out the photos and info here.

Today, for twenty bucks, I was able to try around nine wines - decent sized pours, more than you'd get at your average store tasting, and since it's always open and not an "event" you don't have to worry about working your way to a table/bar while dealing with some the pushy characters who sometimes attend such things.

There are different ways to approach places like this - go for what you like and interested in buying, or - what I do - is go for stuff you don't normally drink. For example, I don't drink much Vinho Verde, Tempranillo, or Pinotage, but for six bucks I got good sized pours of four different wines. None of them worked for me, but at least I tried something different and did some experimenting for less than the cost of a bottle of Yellow Tail.

It's also a great spot because some of the wines at the bar are pricey - $50, $70, even $90 bottles are up there. The pours for those aren't cheap - $4.40 for the $90 bottle - but, how often can you try a bottle at that pricepoint for so cheap, if at all? The cheaper bottle samples are as low as eighty cents.

Take a look, give it a shot - I don't often endorse wine shops or bars, but this one easily earns it.

N/V Domaine Chandon Etoile Rose

This goes for $50 at the winery, but can be found for much less if you shop around. The prices on Chandon's website are obscenely high compared to what you can find at a wine shop. Etoile used to have bottle cap enclosures, but this came with a standard sparkler cork.

Fresh red raspberry on the nose. I rarely comment on color, but apparently this wine gets a splash of still full power Pinot Noir to give it a rather dark color.

The palate here has a striking amount of green tea powder – sort of like the green tea you get in green tea ice cream or Starbucks, rather than actual brewed green tea. It's interesting. That's not all – there's also a bit of toast, some yeast, strawberry, apple (golden and red), caraway – there's even an odd Crystal Pepsi thing going on. I don't want to go off on a tangent, but the fact that Crystal Pepsi has been discontinued for so long is a crime against humanity – perhaps the worst since, I don't know, the presidential election of Gerald Ford? That was such a dark day, few people acknowledge it even happened. Anyway – join the Facebook group here and let Pepsi Hussein Cola know how you feel.

Excellent length on the finish – rye toast, blueberry, and raspberry.

For about the price of two cans of Crystal Pepsi on eBay, this works alright.


Score - 90

N/V Gloria Ferrer Va De Vi Ultra Cuvee

We've had, and enjoyed, the entry level Ferrer Brut and Blanc de Noir - both nice bottles.

A bit of yeast – doughy, if you will – on the nose, with some lime notes.

Lime dominates the palate. Quite sweet really and slightly thick/viscous. On the back palate I'm getting a nice pink grapefruit quality. All the fruit has a somewhat candied quality.

A lengthy and fairly limey finish.

A decent wine in general, though admittedly not my style. Even with that taken into consideration, at the $20 pricepoint I'd expect a bit more.

Score: 81

N/V L Mawby Jadore

This $19 bottle is a blend of Vignoles, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay.

This may sound odd but to me this smells like pear, vanilla, and cooked, but unseasoned, chicken.

Tropical fruit all around. Papaya, mango, pineapple, even some mild coconut with a dash of lavender with golden apple, and some pie crust. I'm also getting a slight hint of pear and cinnamon all with some orange juice that's perhaps sat around just a few days too long.

More of those tropical fruit notes on the finish with the coconut really coming through.

For $19 this is a fairly reasonable bottle - the sweetness, to me, is enough to make it more of a dessert thing but I could absolutely see this working with Thai or Indian food.

Score: 88

2007 Cline Cashmere GSM

When I was a little girl in Panama, a rich American came to our town and he was wearing the softest most beautiful sweater. I said to him, "what do you call this most beautiful fabric?" and he said "they call it cashmere."

I repeated the words "cashmere, cashmere."

My friend Georgie bought a bottle of this. At retail this goes for about $15, but we had this at a restaurant so it ran us - ahem - considerably more.

This is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre.

A big nose dominated with black fruit - cassis, plum, even some ultraripe blackberry.

For such a big nose, this is a rather smooth, soft - basically mild mannered - wine. Strawberry, cherry, black pepper, sassafras, cassis dominate - tannins present and smooth with acid well integrated.

A tad - just a tad - of heat on the finish with cherry and cassis lingering.

This is certainly a solid bottle - easy drinking, smooth, and enjoyable.

Strange thing about this bottle....it has a small red dot right on the front.

Score: 87* (*not blind)

2007 Two Lads Cabernet Franc

Two Lads....

Frequent readers of this blog know we love Two Lads - they were the first winery we visited in Traverse City and set the standard. Reviews of their wine have been strong here - but how much of that is bias? I like their aesthetics, I like the staff, I like the lads themselves - so when I crack open their wine do I like it because I genuinely do or because I want to? This, my friends, is why I switched to blind reviews. If this wine sucked, I'd say so - I genuinely don't care. Chalk it up to the power of suggestion and move on....I liked, but didn't love, this wine the first time we had it and even I didn't expect what follows...

Something about the nose reminds me of books - take a book, not a terribly old book, but not something brand new, flip through the pages right in front of your face and inhale - I get that. After some air time I get plum, menthol, and even some barnyard? Nice.

Solid - a distinct cedar chest quality, a bit of tobacco, cherry, and plum. There's a nice zing as well mid palate. This is a subtly complex wine - I'm getting sassafras way in the back palate, more of that (slight) menthol comes out as well. There's more - it's all subtle - and I'm content to just sit back and enjoy. The tannins are beautiful on this - integrated near flawlessly giving fantastic structure.

I get a bit of fuzzy tobacco on the finish - bite a cigar in half and let some of the tobacco get on your lips, it's that 'feel' (rather than the taste). Cherry cola and maybe some of that tobacco comes in...

Before the bottle was revealed I guessed this was a high end California Cab - instead I got a $25 Michigan Cab Franc. A twenty-five dollar Cabernet Franc from Michigan. Let that sink in. I give this the same score I gave a sixty dollar California Cab. Take note wine drinkers - this is the future.

Score: 94

N/V L Mawby Conservancy

For each bottle sold of this, L Mawby donates $2 to the Farmland Preservation Fund of the Leelanau Conservancy – suck it Fat Bastard and your quarter! Retail on this goes for $22, it's Extra Dry, and a blend of this and that.

A mellow nose with mostly pear.

Apples – red and/or pink apples, to be exact. Basically all apples honestly, so it is fairly simple, but I'll be damned if it isn't tasty. A touch sweet - perhaps sweeter than you'd expect from even an Extra Dry - but enough acid to balance it out. An almost mellow wine - the sort of bottle I refer to as dangerous as it's no doubt very easy to drink a lot of this.

More red apple and a bit of pear comes through on the finish.

Simple? Perhaps. Delicious? No question. Perfect for the summer heat (or after cranking your thermostat to 80)....I'll be buying again for Ravinia, thank you very much.


Score - 89

2007 Benton Lane Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

So, as you will notice, posting will be slightly less frequent - the goal is less wine, but better wine. Getting hit with an unexpected bill convinced me to do the only logical thing one should do - drink.

A very nice nose - chocolate, cola, cherry, blueberry,

Interesting - chocolate (maybe carob?), barnyard (maybe that's the carob hint on the chocolate), tobacco, cherry, black pepper, a decent amount of earth, and just a touch of green, sort of grape stemmy, almost minty kinda thing. The tannins are integrated very well - this is a nice, easy drinking, bottle to be sure. Another wine I refer to as dangerous since you can easily down it quickly and dig it, but a bit of time, a bit of air, and more than a bit of contemplation will pay off.

A reasonably lengthy finish of barnyard, cherry, and some mild menthol notes.

I'm quite digging this one and, quite frankly, am being forced to reassess my view of New World Pinot Noir. At $26 from the winery, this isn't a bargain, but it's more or less right. Don't get me wrong, I wish it was cheaper, but realistically speaking, if you want decent PN you gotta pretend you're looking for love - which means you gotta pay.

Score: 90

And now...

The big slow down.

The past few days I've posted quite a bit - more than I had planned.

The "blind reviews" weren't supposed to be up for a while, but I have to admit I'm excited about it. I burnt off a few reviews (and even deleted a few that weren't tasted blind - I have extras of those wines and they'll be put to the test in time).

I have a few more in the can that shocked even me - a highly rated California Cab gets a shrug, a Michigan Pinot Noir gets over 90, and will my love for L Mawby or Two Lads hold up when tasted blind?

Time will tell. Stay tuned.

2005 Souverain Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This one goes for about $22, but I found it at Target, of all places, on sale for about $15.

Plum, cherry, and tobacco on the nose.

The second this wine hits my palate it's like water - virtually nothing going on at all. After a second or so, things start coming together - blackberry, blueberry, and vanilla. Deep on the back palate, there's almost a nectarine quality with some cinnamon and very mild tannins - flabby is a word that comes to mind. Day two saw much of the fruit fade while the cinnamon began to dominate with some mint coming through.

There's just a bit of eucalyptus on the finish, with some bing cherry qualities as well.

This one is okay - kind of interesting how the palate presents itself, but not necessarily in a good way. Simple perhaps, but also pleasant to drink - I can't really bash it, but a low B is about right. This is the way blind tasting begins...not with a bang, but a flabby, inoffensive wine.


Score: 81

The blind era

I have made every effort to not let my biases creep into my reviews, but it's inevitable. Am I being too easy on the $5 wine? Too hard on the $50 bottle? Vice versa? I don't mean to, but I probably am.

Therefore it is, with pleasure, that I announce all wine will be tasted blind from here on out.

The way it works is simple - I will give Fran a vague suggestion for selecting a wine off the rack. She will open it and either pour the bottle into a carafe or mask it in some way. I will not know what I'm drinking until the review and score are finalized.

The selection process will be noted in each review - I may suggest a "California Cab" or a "Pinot Noir from anywhere" or maybe I'll ask for "something bubbly" - my suggestions are just that, she can take or leave them. Price will not play a factor, so I won't know if it's a $5 or $50 wine.

If you want to be insufferably particular, you can say I should call this "semi-blind" since I have an idea of what we own, but trust me - my memory isn't that hot.

Situations do arise when I may not be able to do it this way - I will make this clear in the review and most likely add an asterisk to the score.

2006 Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

This is a half bottle which sells for about $30 – the full sized bottle was going for $60. Kudos to the winery for not charging a premium for half bottles. Though I understand why one would do such a thing, I've seen places charge $30 for a half when the full goes for $40. Not cool. It's probably too early to be drinking a wine of this quality so soon, so I gave it several hours in the decanter.

A very large nose - you can smell it from several feet away - plum and eucalyptus dominate.

While I can see why this will be better many years from now, I think this drinking rather nicely now. All sorts of things happening on the palate - plum, cassis, tobacco, mint, clove, eucalyptus, sweet tannins, vanilla and chocolate, black cherry. There's an interesting quality with the body of this one - it's thick, full bodied, but by no means hot - almost like a liqueur.

More plum, more black cherry, all with a bit of mint and linger eucalyptus on the finish.

An excellent, beautifully structured wine. Now to find a second and third job so I can afford this more often.


Score: 94

2006 Mollydooker Maitre'D Cabernet Sauvignon

I was not a fan of the 2007 at all, but I had this 2006 on the rack, so I figured I'd crack it open. The first glass was just heat and burn.

I recapped it, put it in the fridge, and forgot about it for ten days. The plan was to let it sit for only a day or two, but out of sight out of mind - I was about to pour it down the drain, but thought I should at least try it. Guess what?

Ripe plum, almost prune like, and red licorice on the nose.

Red licorice, blueberry, black cherry, a touch of eucalyptus, coffee, and chocolate are all nicely integrated on the palate. A big wine to be sure, plenty of heat, but we actually get "something" here - after a full week and a freaking half.

It's pretty much all black cherry on the finish.

Day one was not good in the least – tight, huge, silly, painful (think low 70s). After a full week and a half we have a wine that's tolerable. I'm sticking with The Boxer from here on out.


Score - 80