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

2010 Kirkland Signature Pinot Grigio Friuli, Italy

A seven dollar house label Pinot Grigio - how good can this be?

Apple and pear on the nose.

Excellent balance, solid acid, vanilla, pear, and a bit of peach.

More vanilla and pear on the finish.

Good Pinot Grigio is hard to find and pricey. Cheap ones tend to be flabby and dull - this one isn't great, but it's not flawed like one would expect from one of the level. Well done, Costco.

Score: 86

N/V Jean Farris Rose

Jean Farris...a winery on the outskirts middle of Lexington, Kentucky that grows most of its own grapes. Sounds like it could go really wrong, doesn't it? Read on about this $20 bottle.

This is one of those roses that needs time to open - seriously, give it an hour in the glass or maybe run it through a Vinturi or something.

Watermelon Jolly Rancher with some strawberry notes as well...kind of a candied strawberry, like the filling of a cake from the local Jewels.

This is literally like a liquid watermelon Jolly Rancher. A bit sweet, quite tangy, fairly heavy bodied...I can see this being fairly polarizing, but put me firmly in the pro camp. There's more strawberry on the palate as well, along with some apricot and nectarine, and thrown together with a pinch of black tea.

Yep, more of that watermelon Jolly Rancher thing along with some stone fruit, a dash of nectarine (real), and peach (Jolly Rancher) bring some interesting depth on the absurdly long finish.

This is a distinct style. You may hate it and I totally get why you would...but some wines are so absurd, so distinct, and so undeniably well done, that you have to give them love.

Score: 93

2010 Charles and Charles Rose

It seems like we've had this before, but I see no review of it on this blog...I think it was a Ravinia pick. This one ran me eleven bones.

Strawberry jam on the nose.

A bit spicy...nice acidic backbone, tart cherry, raspberry, and peach tea...a very nice balance with fruit and spice blending together.

A peach tea sorta thing, perhaps even a fuzzy navel quality.

I've found straight up Syrah rose to be iffy....this one works nicely. For a hot weather quaffer, this works.

Score: 87

2010 Old Shore Vineyards Turkey Nest Pinot Gris

This bottles retails for $18, but the winery produces only a limited number of bottles, so you pretty much have to buy direct from their website.

A mild grapefruit thing with some interesting gasoline sorta notes. I hate when Americans use the word petrol.

Dry, light, orange blossom, peach fuzz, grapefruit zest, well integrated acid, almost a bit of rose...it's a fairly floral wine really, but not in a perfumey sort of way. Don't ask me to explain it.

The finish starts with pink grapefruit, then fades to white, then fades further to zest. It's a finish and a half really - quite lengthy and pleasant.

This wine makes me crave oysters....a very nice bottle to be sure, perfect for the summer, but dangerous in its easy drinkability.

Score: 89

2009 Torbreck Barossa Valley Woodcutter's Shiraz

There is a restaurant we frequent and this bottle frequently calls my name from the wine list, I decided to have it at home for it's $22 retail instead of the marked up list price. I respect Torbreck, we need to drink their stuff more often.

Cherries on the nose.

Quite big - not over the top ridiculous, but big nonetheless - cherries, vanilla, a little bit of oak but mostly fruity with some mocha and even some bell pepper qualities.

Plummy, peachy, cherry-y....a big finish with all sorts of stone fruit without any burn.

Can't knock it, but I'm also not knocking over old ladies to grab another bottle.

Score: 86

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 Nine Walks Sauvignon Blanc

This bottle is what we call an industry sample - in the interest of full disclosure I need to tell you this bottle was comped. It was still tasted in the same rigorous way as all wines we taste here - semi-blind without a care of hurt feelings or broken relationships, this is a blog after all. That said, this retails for $11

Classic New Zealand SB nose - grassy and grapefruity with a bit of vanilla bean.

While the whole grapefruit and grass thing is there, there's also some great tangerine notes, vanilla, well balanced acid and I'm going to say there's a dash of sugar or two, but it all works together nicely.

White cherry in a Slurpee kinda way on the finish, with orange blossom, grapefruit zest, and a bit of rose.

On par, if not better, than most $10 New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs I've had. This one is certainly worthy of being put in your rotation.

Score: 88

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

2006 Iron Horse Fairy Tale Celebration Cuvee

The way I saw it, if I was going to spend money on a souvenir I might as well get something I really want - here we are, a sparkling wine exclusively available at Disney properties, prices vary on where you're buying it, but the Boardwalk Resort gift shop was charging $35.

Grapefruit and green apple on the nose.

Mostly grapefruit to me, a bit of caraway, solid acid, a bit of golden apple, some orange and I know this sounds odd but I get a honey sort of taste, but I'd still call this wine bone dry.

Spiced apple, sort of like pie filling, on the end, and an interesting orange, almost baked orange sorta thing on the finish - once again though, this is quite dry.

An excellent wine - Iron Horse typically delivers and at $35, I have no gripes. If you can't find it at a shop, some of the restaurant wine lists put it at about $65 - I'd snag it.

Score: 91

2008 Kanonkop Pinotage

We don't drink much South African wine...we don't drink much Pinotage, I decided to splurge on a reputable one.

A thick blackberry syrup kinda nose along with that famous burnt rubber smell - I drank this blind and the nose gave it away.

Interesting...a unique wine, more of that blackberry syrup on the palate, not much oak or tannin, but loads of acid, stone fruit, peachy, plummy, that whole thing, all with some chocolatey notes as well....

You guessed it, blackberry on the finish, as it fades some spicy qualities - mint, mostly - lingers. Not bad.

An interesting wine. Retail out here was $32, so that's certainly nothing to sneeze at, but if you want to try a nice version of this varietal, it may be worth your while.

Score: 89

Mobile friendly

The Wineauxs is now mobile device friendly.

Just point your browser to http://thewineauxs.blogspot.com and a version of the site enhanced for mobile devices will automatically load. As far as I can tell you can't search the blog easily from this, but you can just scroll down and revert to the traditional site and pull it up that way.

Not too shabby if I do say so.