2006 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

Kim Crawford is a highly respected producer which we've trid at tastings and thoroughly enjoyed. I grabbed a bottle of this for $14.

A huge nose of grass and tropical fruit – pineapple and passionfruit.

Nice and crisp – bold notes of citrus and tropical fruits. Pineapple, papaya, passionfruit, and grapefruit. Slate and minerals with a touch of sweetness – perhaps some limeade – and even a taste of grass. I'm a bit surprised at just how “large” this wine is – it begs for food, I'd go with some sort of spicy Asian or Mexican faire.

Lime and grapefruit on the finish. Crisp acid leaves the mouth watering.

This was highly rated all around and certainly deserves to be – powerful, complex, and amazingly, under $15. Perhaps the finest QPR we've ever had. Outstanding and strongly recommended.

N/V Prosecco di Valdobbiadene

This was a Christmas gift from our neighbors – neighbors we didn't give a gift to and now I feel sort of weird about it. Regardless, a very nice gesture. The bottle runs about $10.

Bread on the nose.

A very soft wine, mild bubbles, with mainly unripe tropical fruit – I can't help but taste papaya - and white bread on the palate....I'm also detecting a bit of walnut.

Tropical notes on the finish linger for some time.

Almost every Prosecco we've had has had a strange quality to it. They seem to leave a mildly unpleasant, strange, almost honey like coating on the mouth. Sadly, this one is no different and it's really the big dealbreaker I have with the wine.

2005 Rheingau Edition Maximilian Pinot Noir

Germany isn't really well known for its red wine – so when I saw this one for $6 at Trader Joe's I thought it would be interesting to try.

Licorice on the nose.

Sweet....unpleasantly sweet....earth, rotten raspberry, tobacco, all mixed with sugar.

Cherry comes out on the finish and some funky notes linger for quite some time.

If a sweet red wine appeals to you then perhaps, I can't even finish a glass. The bottle does state “Medium-dry” so on the one hand I should've known better, on the other I can say I've had a Pinot Noir from Deutschland and for academic purposes that's good enough.

N/V Laurent Perrier Brut Rose

For New Year's I figured I'd grab something different – a brut rose Champagne. This one goes for about $60.

Bread and apple on the nose.

Toast, yeast, strawberry, some nuttiness, and crisp red apple on the palate. The bubbles last for a long time in the class – considering we're used to lower end stuff, it's impressive seeing a stream 45 minutes after pouring.

Poached pear comes through on the finish and lingers for quite some time.

Not bad, but little wow factor. Enjoyable, but for $60 I was hoping for a little more.

2001 Château Greysac Bordeaux

I had a gift certificate at a wine shop and thought I'd grab a Bordeaux with a bit of age on it, but didn't want to drop too much of it – this ran me about $16.

Oak, tobacco, and cigar box on the nose.

Tobacco on the palate – some oak, cedar, a bit of cherry, some licorice, bell pepper, and leather.

More of that cigar and cedar on the finish, with some green notes, and at the very end tomato juice.

Bordeaux, especially a decent one with a bit of age, is an odd, somewhat acquired taste. Personally, I enjoy it, and while I haven't experienced any of the truly high end Bordeaux, this seems to have some of the standard qualities of the region for a reasonable price.

2004 Avalon California Cabernet Sauvignon

We had the 2005 Avalon a while back and it was great. If I'm not mistaken the 2005 is $12 and the 2004 is $8 so I grabbed a bottle of the older one.

Oak and blueberry on the nose.

Smooth tannins, a touch of sweetness, cherry, blackberry, a slight bit of oak – nothing deep, but not bad at all.

Some oak notes come through as well as a bit of strawberry.

Outstanding QPR – if my memory serves me right, the 2005 is a step better and more complex, but this is tough to argue with.

2005 St. Julian Winery Braganini Reserve Pinot Noir

We received this as a Christmas gift from my parents - St. Julian is a winery in southwest Michigan which my mom visited a while back. I only know of St Julian from their sweet wines so this will be interesting.

Earth on the nose mainly.

Very nice – raspberry, a bit of vanilla, oak, spices, and solid acid which brings it all together.

Oak and earth linger on the finish with some carob and spicy notes.

An all around solid wine. In time we'll probably be visiting some Michigan wineries and this will certainly be on the list.

2004 Sea Smoke Southing Pinot Noir

I paid somewhere around $50 for this a while back, but Sea Smoke sells out quickly so it'll probably go for more than double that right now.

Cherry, raspberry, and blackboard chalk on the nose.

I'd almost call this jammy – lots of fruit, cherry, berries, plum. Rich, dark chocolate notes are present as well as well as a bit of root beer.

The finish reminds me of candied cherry.

So this is where things get complicated with the overall assessment. This is a damn good bottle of wine, fine all around, and I can't say I have any gripe. That being said, my socks aren't knocked off as they have been in the past by other bottles. While I enjoy this, until my income doubles, I don't see rushing out to grab this again.

N/V Jeanmaire Champagne Cuvée Brut

This real Champagne was at Trader Joe's for either $18.99 or $19.99 – I figured it would be worth a shot.

I don't get a lot on the nose – maybe some key lime.

Yeast, lime, slate, lime, and even some mandarin orange on the palate. Nice crisp acid, just the slightest bit of sweetness, but not enough to complain about. This is a solid bottle.

A sugary feeling is left on the finish, but some citric acid – lime mainly - linger.

This is, I believe, the cheapest actual “Champagne” I've seen in recent months. It's one I'll buy again cheerfully – nice balance and quite a bit going on. Positively unbeatable at the price. It's not exceedingly deep or anything along those lines, but it's overall quite nice and enjoyable. For the price, I cannot complain.

2001 Torbreck The Steading Barossa Valley GSM

A few months ago, Fran and I ate at an off the wall restaurant named Moto (which we strongly recommend). One of the wine pairings was an Australian Grenache which was amazing – I had a chat with our waiter about the wine and he told me that if I liked that one, I needed to try The Steading. Our local wine shop had it in stock for about $30 and here we are.

Dried cherry, raisin, plum, and alcohol on the nose.

Dark fruit all around – black cherry, overripe plum – actually this sort of has a “raspberry fruit leather” taste to it. Tobacco, oak, black pepper, and spice plus a hint of green pepper – the tannins are somewhat mellow but this is still a huge wine with a lot going on.

Ripe berries on the finish – ripe strawberry, blackberry as well as black pepper and cigar box.

An extremely nice bottle that is well worth the cash. It's rare that I'm sad to see a bottle go – this is one of those times. I'll probably snag this again next time I'm at the wine shop.

2005 Louis Jadot Beaune Premier Cru Appelation Controlée

This was $23 at Costco – I figured it would be interesting to try a new Burgundy, Fran offered to pay and they didn't have any more expensive bottles so this was settled on.

A strange funk on the nose along with a bit of raspberry.

Smooth, velvety tannins - fantastic. Chocolate, dirt, and some tart cherry on the palate with some eucalyptus coming through..

The earthy and some berry notes linger for quite some time.

Quite good, but it's lacking some depth to say this has a strong QPR.

N/V Blason de Bourgogne Cremant de Bourgogne Cuvée Brut (Rose)

This one was six bucks at Trader Joe's – I couldn't pass it up.

Absurdly bubbly at first pour – much like Cherry 7Up would look like. A little bit of strawberry on the nose and a lot of yeasty notes.

Dry – shockingly dry, in fact – a bit of cherry, a hint of toast, and some nice acid.

Some tart notes on the finish.

For $6 it's tough to argue, in fact this is more enjoyable than most of the cheap sparkling wine we've had – I'll take this over Korbel or Domaine Chandon, or god forbid, Tott's. I foresee buying this again in large quantities.

2005 Chateau Lhorens Bordeaux

Look at this box...amazing. It looks like a fancy wooden case, yet that's just the box of this "box wine." Seriously, this is packaging at its finest. I paid $21 for this at World Market for this three liter box (the equivalent of four bottles).

Cherry and oak on the nose.

Medium to firm tannins, blackberry, cherry, oak, tobacco. Fruity, but not terribly sweet – very well balanced. I have to say, this is a solid wine all around - put this in a bottle at charge $12 and few would complain.

Earthy and woody notes linger for some time.

For $5.25 per “bottle” this is the way to go. In fact, this is one of the bargains of the year in terms of QPR. While it's not terribly deep and complex, there's more than enough here to really enjoy beyond a simple quaff.

2005 Da Vinci Chianti

This wine is actually from Vinci – good for them, I was going to make a snarky comment if it wasn't (there was a lot of anmosity about the Da Vinci code from nerdy types who complained that all DaVinci is not a last name. Nitpicky, I say)....I paid about $10 for this.

Chocolate and cherry on the nose.

Mild tannins, cherry, and oak with a fair amount of plum and a hint of root beer. The acid really comes through late on the palate but it's not as sharp as some of the other mass produced Chianti out there.

Sweet, ripe strawberries and oak linger on the finish.

Not a bad bottle at all, in fact this is quite enjoyable.

2005 Yellow Tail Reserve Shiraz

I was perusing a local store and noticed the shelf for this wine was completely empty – strange. When I got around to looking at my new Wine Spectator I understood why. This is #72 on Wine Spectators Most Interesting Wines of 2007. A few days later I was at another store which had plenty so I grabbed one for about $10.

Licorice, chocolate, and cherry on the nose.

Smooth – chocolate, tobacco, cherry, smoke and oak, with medium tannins.

Cherry, cinnamon, and a bit of anise come through on the finish with some lingering oak notes.

Our review of the 2004 of this wine was lukewarm, but I feel stronger about this vintage – this is solid. The Wine Spectator list is for the “most interesting” wines – not necessarily;y the “best” - and therefore I agree. The fact that a Shiraz, made by Yellow Tail, that is easily acquired in a grocery store for around $10 can be this good is exciting. Don't go into this expecting the finest bottle of Shiraz you've ever had, but I'd bet served blind to a wine snob, this would get praised all around.

2006 Beaulieu Vineyard Coastal Estates Pinot Noir Vin De Pays

We've had this producer once before and enjoyed it, so I picked up the 2006 when I saw it on the shelf for about $7.

Earth and raspberry on the nose.

Dirt, blackberry, a bit of cola, cherry, oak, and a bit of eucalyptus. The tannins are mild but present enough to give this some reasonable structure.

Oak and herbs on the finish.

$6 for decent Pinot Noir is rare - I see no reason not give this one a try.

2006 Zeller Schwarze Katz Mosel-Saar-Ruewer Riesling Qualitatswein

How can one possibly pass on such an adorable bottle for $10? Oddly you can find the empty bottles on eBay ranging from $5 to $10 - one seller has started bidding at $10 wants $13 shipping - insanity.

The nose I can't decide on – is it just plain old grapes or is it grapefruit? Not sure.

Indeed – I initially thought the nose was grape, but the palate has so much grapefruit it threw me off. I also get a touch of apple, but mainly we're talking citrus. Somewhat sweet, but crisp acid balance this out nicely.

More of the grapefruit on the finish.

At $10 for a 500ml bottle, this is a bit too simple for me to suggest running out and grabbing. It's certainly not bad – in fact the balance is quite nice –my issue is solely with QPR - for $15 (for 750ml) you can get something far more interesting. That being said, if you love the bottle, there's no reason to skip this one.

2004 Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva Ducale

I had memories of an older vintage and slightly higher label (Riserva Oro) being a great wine, so I figured I'd try a bottle – this was on sale for about $20.

The nose is all chocolate covered cherry.

Tobacco, oak, smoke, earth – a funky wine to be sure. Some cherry notes come through, plus some spice. Firm tannins even after being open for a few hours. A reasonable amount of acid brings some balance.

Oak, tobacco, and mint linger on the finish.. Fran tells me it lingers like cough medicine.

Italian wine is weird – this is no exception. I'm not sure how I feel about this honestly. Maybe some more time on the wine rack would help it out, but as it is I can't praise this one much.

2004 Estancia Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles Keyes Canyon Ranches

We've had Estancia's Pinot Noir and it wasn't bad – this one is about $13 at the local grocery store but they had a buy one, get one for 10 cents deal so I grabbed two for $13.10.

A fairly weak nose – I don't get much of anything really – other than a hint of earth.

The palate brings a bit of smokey oak, cherry, a touch of sweetness, and even a bit of cola, The tannins struck as mild but they come through as it lingers on the palate.

Strawberries come through on the finish.

For $13 – no. For $6.65 – absolutely. Not a bad bottle and perfectly good for under $10.

N/V Finca La Linda Extra Brut Sparkling Chardonnay/Semillon

I've heard of Extra Brut sparkling wine, but don't recall ever seeing one in a shop. I found this sparkling wine from Argentina while looking around a boutique wine shop and it cost me about $14.

The nose on this has the strongest scent of white bread that I've ever smelled. I also get something I can only describe as chemically.

A strange palate – at first I thought “this strikes me as sweet” but the more I drink it I think I'm being fooled by some fruit flavors – this makes your mouth pucker somewhat. Citrus mainly – I'm thinking white grapefruit and severely unripe pineapple.

Grapefruit zest on the finish.

For academic purposes, I suppose I'm enjoying the bottle. From the pure enjoyment side of things - this is just not working for me.