2006 Kim Crawford Pinot Noir

This is $16 normally, but there was an 'end of bin' sale going on and I snagged it for $8.50.

Dirt and raspberry on the nose.

A strange mix of old and new world - lots of earthy, dirty, funky notes - but then almost a Twizzler like quality...ultra ripe raspberry and dark red, borderline candied, cherries. I like both styles (the former more than the latter), but the mix is throwing me off.

Some earthy, funky, and bell pepper things are coming through on the finish.

I understand and respect this wine as I feel it's very well made, especially at this pricepoint. It just does not work for me, though.

Wine: 6
Value: Nah

2007 Red Bicyclette French Rose

Eight bones, grocery store, what the heck?

Very light strawberry and a slight bit of grape on the nose.

I'm going to be blunt – I had low expectations on this one. I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. It has a very slight touch of sugar, but by no means sweet. A bit of tart strawberry and slight raspberry with a mild bit of tannin and acid to balance it out.

If you want a rose and are in a bind, this is the way to go. I'll probably be snagging more for things like Ravinia.

Wine: 6.5
Value: Yep

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

2008 Two Lads Rose

We really liked the 2007 of this, so why not snag a 2008? I forget the exact price, but it's in the late teens or $20 flat.

I'm getting a bit of peach blossom on the nose.

Beautiful. Rather large in body – with the dominate fruit being cranberry along with some great peachy notes with a dash of strawberry. Something here is reminding me of hibiscus tea. With the punch of acid, dash of sugar, slight bit of tea, and outstanding fruit, this is among the best we've had.

More of that hibiscus quality on the finish plus more cranberry – if there's a cranberry hisbiscus tea on the market, I need to try it as I'd bet it's somewhat like this.

I can't recommend this highly enough as a great summer wine. I suppose there are two "types" of roses that we dig, the pure and traditional, bone dry ones you often see from France, and these somewhat more fruitforward and more - dare I say - complex wines. The sort of wine you can bring to a picnic but it almost seems like a shame unless you're bringing decent stemware.

Wine: 9
Value: Yes

2007 Oroya Sushi Wine

So this wine was apparently developed to be paired with sushi. The power of suggestion is strong with me, so I grabbed a bottle and a pack of sushi at the local Japanese mall. This is a blend of airen,

A slightly floral nose.

Somewhat like a Sauvignon Blanc - somewhat grassy, a bit of grapefruit, orange blossom, all with just a very small bit of sweetness that gives it a nice balance.

An orange herbal tea sorta thing on the finish.

I acknowledge this is a bit of a gimmick and there are plenty of fine white wines for sushi - from Rieslings to Pinot Grigios to Sauv Blancs and so on - but this worked very well with my sampler pack of raw fish and for $13, there's nothing to argue with.

Wine: 7
Value: Sure

N/V Lavender Crest Miche Sepi

We visited this winery about six months ago and I figured it was time to crack this bottle open, which runs around fifteen bones. This is a red blend that includes an interesting hybrid varietal marechal foch.

A bit of fruit, but mostly green, earthy sort of notes – forest floor, if you will

This is actually far better than I remember it being. Raspberry, cherry, really nice tannic structure, with great acid – dare I say this is unique, but not necessarily like many Illinois wines.

Some dried – green and brown – spices linger on the finish.

Since this is not a blind taste test and mental bias is a factor, I admit I may be going slightly easy on this one. For a $15 red wine from Illinois, however, this is one of the better ones we've had and I'll definitely give it a go.

Wine: 6.5
Value: Yep

2007 Mollydooker Two Left Feet

Perhaps the most polarizing wines on the planet - at least in the under $30 range - the Mollydooker offerings are gigantic, explosive, some may say stupid, fruit bombs from down under. They generally get good marks from Parker, but it's not uncommon for others to rate them in the 70s.

A powerful nose with super ripe plums and less heat than I expected.

Plum - perhaps more prune - blackberry, ultra ripe blueberry, a bit of maple syrup even, all with vanilla extract - almost like some sort of vanilla liqueur, and eve n some of those farmer's market strawberries that are just on the edge of going bad, they're a tad dark, a bit squishy, and you're not sure whether or not you should eat them, but they weren't cheap and you don't feel like you're going to throw up after eating a couple, so you keep eating them.



It's a style for a certain palate. We own a fair amount of Mollydooker and to be honest, if I'm not in the mood for this style, I feel a tad nauseous even thinking about it. Every few months we'll pop open a bottle, dig it, but finish the bottle more than happy to not open another bottle until six months have passed.

That being said, when I am in the mood, and drinking this with something like ribs, steak with some sort of huge sauce, perhaps even a pasta dish with six types of cheese and three types of sausage, it holds it own and doesn't really overpower.

Wine: 8.5
Value: I think so, but proceed with caution

2007 Alma de Blanco Godello

This is around six bones at Trader Joe's.

Floral notes on the nose.

A bit fuzzy, sorta like an oaked Sauvignon Blanc – floral, lavender like notes on the palate. I'm getting some spiced unripe apricot, a little bit of vanilla, honey, lemon rind, and some orange blossom.

The orange blossom comes through firmly on the finish

Another one where the style does not work for me, but I think it's a well crafted wine that's a fine bargain if it's your sort of thing.

Wine: 6
Value: Qualified yes

Fox Valley Winery - Oswego, IL - May 23, 2009

We were more or less in the area and popped in to try some wine. We have not been to this winery for about three years now it seemed like it was time for a revisit. Oswego is a bit south of Aurora, which is a western suburb of Chicago. Here's their site.

When we arrived it was pretty dead, but by the time we left it was hopping. The woman working - sadly I didn't get her name - was extremely friendly and helpful. This is a family run winery and I feel it shows (whether she's in the family or not, I don't know, but she clearly cares about the place).

The deal is they let you try three wines for free. If you want more than three, each pour is fifty cents after that. They also have a few different options for flights, which we did, and tasted a total of twelve wines.


Here's the notes:

2005 Traminette - Dry with nice minerality and notes of unripe stone fruit. There's a touch of honey which is interesting since it's a dry sort of honey. A better description defies me.

Riesling - Light peachy nose. If you dig Auselese style German Rieslings this may work for you. Fran felt it was a bit lacking in acid, I think it was fine. Notes of citrus and stone fruit.

2005 Vignoles - the dominant fruit in this one was cantaloupe but I also got some honeydew and muskmelon and just a pinch of pear. If you dig melon, this would be a good one to try.

Niagara - Niagara, in wine anyway, is basically the white Concord grape. This one, I have to say, really elevates the varietal. Yes, it's sweet and basically simple, but there's a crisp backbone, some nice acidic fuzz that makes the only Niagra (that I can recall) ever being worthy of a recommendation.

Deux Blanc - Not much going on here other than some floral and even petrol notes on the palate. It's a very light wine that could probably work with food that you don't want your wine to interfere too much with, but it's not doing much for me.

White Sangria - I'm sure it's good since it seems to sell well, but it's not my style.

George's Red - Basically a decent (native) Midwestern red wine. Funky, a punch of acid, earth, carob, and raspberry. If you've never had a Midwestern red, this may not be a bad one to try as it's easily on par with a lot of reds that other IL wineries sell for double the price.

2005 Heritage Collection - I'd just call this one a bit thin. Blackberry and cherry notes, but nothing struck me as remarkable.

2004 Chambourcin - Many, dare I say most, Chambourcin have a harsh and funky thing going on that make them quite unpleasant. This one seems a bit lighter on the acid that makes it more palatable. Raspberry, earth, mint, carob - all the trademarks, but in a nicer form. I will say both on the nose and mid palate there's a very peculiar bacon component that is kind of intriguing.

2004 R.A. Faltz Vintner Reserve - This is a tough wine to discuss. It tastes like a very well made wine of hybrid varietals - meaning it's better than many of its peers but it's still just not to my palate. It's smooth, nicely balanced, and raspberries dominate.

2004 Petite Sirah - An almost motor oil quality comes through on the nose. The palate is quite big with black pepper and black fruit.

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon - Cedar/cigar on the nose. More formal notes coming soon.


I'm going to make a bold declaration here which I'm making only after I've consulted my notes from other winery visits and from other local wines and cracking open the box of Cab and pondering through a glass.

The Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon are easily the two best red wines made in Illinois that we have had. The grapes are imported from California, so purists may not count it, but Fox Valley is by no means the only winery in the Midwest to get grapes brought in, and we've tried many of them. Both wines go for $20 and both earn unqualified recommendations. The Cab is available in a box - yes, a three liter box - for $39 (and yes, I bought one).

In terms of their wines that are made from locally grown grapes, not one of those nine (the sangria doesn't count) were bad. The whites were uniformly solid and the reds all were worthy of what I call asterisked praise (*good for Midwestern hybrid grapes).

If you're near Chicago, this place is definitely worth the drive on a day off of work.

Fox Valley Winery
5600 Route 34
Oswego, Illinois 60543

2005 Guenoc Claret

You know, I know nothing about this wine. It's been on the rack for a long time now, but I have no clue where I bought it or why. I see one shop has the 2006 for nine bucks, so let's pretend this was the same.

A bit of earth and some dark raspberry on the nose with something I haven't hit on in a while - asphalt. Well played.

Plum mostly, cherry, a bit of eucalyptus, some sweet oak, and a nice dash of tobacco.

A slight bit of menthol, mint, and residual plum on the finish.

For under ten bucks, there's absolutely nothing to complain about. There's a nice amount of structure and balance here.

Wine: 7.5
Value: Yep

2005 Chateau Saint Paul Bordeaux

I don't recall the price, but all the 2005 Bordeauxs I snagged were under $12. We'll pretend this was at the high end.

A very nice nose with mostly smooth cedar and tobacco - like smelling a cigar box. It's not complex, but it's just "right."

A fair amount of tobacco and leather, nicely balanced tannins, good acid, a bit of cherry, all with some nice spicy notes - clove, dried Italian spices. It's not a terribly deep wine, but it's very easy drinking.

More leather on the finish - like biting a shoe - with those brown spices coming through as it fades and lingers for some time.

The word I keep thinking when I drink this is "nice." That can come off as condescending, but it's not my intent. There's a lot to like here, everything is just right - if I find more of this I'll be buying several bottles. It's the type of wine that you can pop open and sit on the patio on a cool evening. Well played.

Wine: 7
Values: Yes indeed.

1995 Charles Heidsieck Millesime Brut

This was a stupidly priced bottle we bought to celebrate five years of marriage.

Some green apple as well as some interesting raspberry notes on the nose.

Apples dominate but there's plenty going on below the surface. Tangerine, orange zest, and a bit of toast. The thing about vintage Champagne, and remember this, is it should not be consumed as cold as cheaper stuff. The first few sips of this, when it was too cold, struck me as dull and uninteresting. After letting it warm up a bit, to more of a "cool" temperature, a lot of interesting things come through - gooseberry, blueberry, rye toast (so, caraway), and even a bit of mint.

Mostly berry and toast on the finish - rye toast with blueberry jam?

It's good, great in fact, but I'm not floored by it. If you can afford such things on a daily basis, then whatever, but for a special occasion? I'm looking for a 10.

Wine: 9
Value: Irrelevant

2007 KungFu Girl Riesling

I snagged this for around ten bucks because the label amused me, but now I'm wondering if I'm racist.

I can't say I get much of anything on the nose.

I'm thinking this is mostly white grapefruit - I'm detecting some red apple and maybe some pear, but the citrus thing is dominating. Sweet, but balanced reasonably well. I don't mind simple Rieslings, though simple with this profile doesn't work for me.

Some more orangey notes come through as well as an interesting sort of blueberry component on the finish.

The finish wins an extra half point with me since it's interesting, but I still can't say I'd recommend this unless you know Riesling and this sort of thing is your style.

Wine: 6.5
Value: No for me, but based on what you like perhaps...

2007 Two Lads Cabernet Franc

Here we have the debut red from Two Lads – Cab Franc, their inaugural red. The first sniff and sip of this was very tight, so I gave this one - that goes for $25 - three hours in the decanter.

As it opens I get cherry, oak, menthol, and cinnamon on the nose.

Chocolate and cherry with some distinct strawberry notes coming through on the back palate. Great acid with a blend of spices coming to dominate – clove, cinnamon, dried basil and oregano, with a dash of eucalyptus. Dare I say, this is Old World in its sensibility – a solid balance of fruit and earth with a good punch of acid.

A whole lot of earth on the finish, with just a little bit of brineyness, in an olive sort of way.

Cab Franc is a tough grape to hit the wow factor - in fact, it may very well be impossible to hit, but this is pretty close. I look forward to trying out another bottle after a few months (or years) and sampling their Reserve to see how this develops. For now, I say give it a go, but maybe sit on it for a while.

Wine: 7.5
Value: Yes

2004 Juvé y Camps Cava Brut Nature Grand Reserva

I just did the ol' stab n' grab with this – I wanted a sparkler at around $15 and pulled this one.

Quite dry and fairly toasty – one of the first sparklers where I'm definitely getting a distinct oak quality. There's a turpentine thing going on on the back palate into the finish. I can't say there's all that much fruit here – some unripe apple or pear. There is some perfumey and floral qualities, maybe lavender or even a slightly turned bad chamomile quality.

Nothing by dryness on the finish.

It ain't bad, but it also ain't worth fifteen bucks.

Wine: 6
Value: No

N/V Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut Champagne

We had this one around two and half a years ago and dug it – a lot of wine snobs go out of their way to talk trash this bottle, so I was curious to see how our palates changed. I snagged a bottle when I saw it on sale for $35 which is a pretty good price for this particular label.

Orange and honey on the nose.

Some nice toasty notes, orange marmalade, a bit of yeast, and quite a bit of a peachy things going on. While this is sweeter than I care for (and I have no clue how this qualifies as Brut), there's something to be said about the balance – lots of acid brings it together.

Some toasty notes come through on the finish.

This is pretty damn good, but is it $35 (or $50 as some places charge) good? There's great balance and nice toasty qualities that you really only see in real Champagnes, but overall somewhat simple. It's not bad – not in the least – but I can't recommend it for more than, I don't know - $25.

Wine: 7.5
Value: No

2007 La Ferme Julien Cotes du Luberon

The quest for the wine century continues with this blend of Bourboulenc, Grenache Blanc, Ugni Blanc, and Roussane – not bad. Another Trader Joe's acquisition that ran around six bones.

Pineapple on the nose.

At first I got vanilla and pineapple, but as it opens lemon seems to dominate....I'm guessing this has spent some time in oak.

Lemons linger on the finish as well as some generic tropical notes as well as a bit of white pepper.

Not my style at all, but for this sort of white my palate is somewhat limited. The price is certainly right for experimentation.

Wine: 5
Value: Nah

2007 Montoya Monterey Pinot Noir

Hallo! My name in Pinot Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. This was sampled to me at a wine shop and while it's not my favorite style of Pinot, it was still a reasonable offering at $15.

A slight bit of chocolate and cherry on the nose.

Fruit forward – mostly cherry and berry with just a bit of earth, not much in terms of tannin and fairly mild on the acid.

Raspberry sorta notes linger a bit on the finish.

This is an extremely easy drinking wine, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. There's not a whole lot of complexity, but it's an enjoyable bottle. If you dig the fruit forward PN then this may be alright, but I can't say it's grabbing me. In fact, I liked it a hell of a lot more in the store - perhaps the bottle was open for most of the day.

Wine: 6.5
Value: Pass

N/V Verdi Spumante

This is around five bucks or so.

Giant bubbles and almost as light as a glass of water. A mild nose of orange blossoms.

Sugar water to an extreme, perhaps with a dash of peach nectar.

You know, the start of the finish is blah but then this really unpleasant sweet and sour thing happens.

This may be alright but that finish destroys it. Down the drain. I was hoping to sing Libiamo ne'lieti calici, instead I wish I was dying of consumption.

Wine: 2
Value: No

2008 Two Lads Riesling

We are big fans of Two Lads. I feel that sounds strange, as before visiting their tasting room, I can't say we were "fans" of any wine producer. There are other producers we like, but significant issues are present which present us from geeking out. Two Lads (and L. Mawby) is (are) [a] winery ([two] wineries) that I can, without hesitation, say we're fans of - enough for me to break out bizarre, and most likely, horrifyingly improper grammar. We dig many, if not most, of their products and their pricepoints are right without qualification (as in, not "good for a Midwestern wine").

When the new releases were announced, hesitation was not an option and I made sure we got a few bottles of each varietal. This is their first Riesling offering - $20 a pop – and so limited that if you want it, it very well may be too late. The tasting notes state that this is the best Riesling that Cornel (one of the Lads) has ever made. Some may be persuaded to go into this wine assuming it will be awesome. Me? The cynic? We'll see....

A powerful nose – pink grapefruit, orange zest, with a bit of strawberry and even some lychee.

Sweet merciful crap! A nice punch of pineapple, pink grapefruit, grapefruit zest, a bit of orange, a dash of those irritatingly vague 'tropical' notes I speak of. As close to an ideal blend of sugar and acid that I've had all with great depth – loads of interesting subtle things going on that you don't see much – the slightest touch of vanilla, a hint of strawberry, all with just a touch of peach. It's been a while, but there's something here that's calling out “Crystal Pepsi” - a soda I miss to this day. The people who remember that pop as not being awesome never gave it a chance. I digress.

Fantastic length – the strawberry notes stick around along with a bunch of that grapefruit and fades away with some nectarine qualities.

I don't want to get nuts here and say "this is the best Riesling I've ever had" - I'm going to hold off for the next bottle before I make some bold declaration like that. For now? It just may be.

Wine: 10
Value: Yes