N/V Emeri de Bortoli Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc

Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc from Australia - interesting. The bottle ran me $13 - I haven't seen this producer's products before, so I snagged this one first and foremost.

A bit grassy on the nose with some pink grapefruit.

As the nose suggested....pink grapefruit and some grassiness. At the risk of this becoming the worst post ever, this tastes like a serviceable New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with a bit of fizz...I mean, it's so Sauv Blancy, the fizz almost isn't noticeable.

This is the worst review ever....grass and pink grapefruit on the finish...slightly sweet, lingers for a while, all quite pleasant.

You know...it's almost like this wine is a gimmick, it's the kind of thing you'd expect from a crappy molecular gastronomy sorta place...."ooh, this is like a Sauvignon Blanc, only carbonated" and then you try it and think "yep."

Score: 85

N/V Emeri de Bortoli Sparkling Pinot Grigio

I stumbled across a display of a bunch of Emeri sparklers each for $13 each, so I snagged a couple - one doesn't see Sparkling Pinot Grigio often, especially from Australia.

This smells vaguely like white grape juice - in fact, this could totally pass for sparkling Welch's white grape juice.

Shock of the year with this one - this tastes like sparkling Welch's white grape juice on the attack and then once you get to the mid palate, some alcoholic heat as if some vodka were mixed in.

Yep...fizzy white grape juice on the finish, maybe some grapefruit as well.

While I suppose it doesn't taste that bad, it barely qualifies as a wine....I'm not about to dump it down the drain, but I will dump into a glass of ice with a dash or two of maraschino cherry juice.

Score: 70

2008 Raphael Cabernet Franc

You know, I thought for sure we've never had a wine from New York, but it turns out four years ago we had a Marshall Field's brand sparkler from New York. While the new Macy's brand is tolerable, you can't tell me the stores haven't gone downhill since the name change, but that's a post for another blog. This wine ran me $14.

A garbagey nose - chocolate, rotten berries, and almost a red pepper thing.

Odd. Quite odd. Tasted blind I would've guessed some odd hybrid grade from the Midwest. Chocolate, raspberry, plum, eucalyptus, dirt, tobacco in a fuzzy feel sorta way...the tannins are mild on the palate, but there's quite a bit of weight on this...almost a Port feel without the burn or sugar.

Some black raspberry, fruit and leaf, on the finish and way in the back there is something strikingly reminiscent of the original green colored NyQuil.

Interesting? Yes. Beyond that though....

Score: 82

2006 Le Cadeau Diversité Wilamette Valley Pinot Noir

Don't know when or where I got this bottle, but the current vintages sell for S47 direct from the winery.

The nose is all chocolate covered cherries and coffee beans.

Chocolate. Cherry. Blackberry. Black, ultra ripe blueberry. A bit of an herbal quality. Medium body, but not much in terms of tannin or wood really.

Plum, black cherry, and just a hint of cola on the finish - it lingers for quite some time. There's something else going on mostly on the finish but also mid-palate that reminds me a bit of fruit roll up.

I don't know. After finding out the price, I felt compelled to reconsider this one, but I have to call it meh. Well made, not explicitly flawed, just meh.

Score: 85

2008 Carpineto Dogajolo

I wanted a cheap Italian red and found this one for nine bucks. This is a bit of a trend here at The Wineauxs - wanting cheap Italian red and snagging one at random.

Raspberry, blackberry, a bit of funk, a bit of earth - I dig it.

Blueberry. Maybe a light dusting of some brown spices, but there's not a whole lot going - nice acid, good light to mediumish body.

Some tobacco lingers, as well as some stemminess, and some earth.

At nine bucks, I don't feel ripped off - it's a simple Italian red, fine for pizza or pasta, but the fact is there are so many wines just like that...tasty, acidic, excellent with red sauce...that I'm just sort of meh about it. If I want something cheap and simple, I wouldn't avoid this, but I also wouldn't go out of my way to snag it.

Score: 84

2006 Mollydooker Two Left Feet Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon

My records say this ran me about $26 a few years ago - I seem to recall seeing the newest vintage for a bit cheaper than that though...

Blackberry jam and vanilla ice cream on the nose - almost like a sundae.

Black fruit dominate - dark blueberry, blackberry, plum. Somewhat sweet and I can't say I get much wood, but I do get some nice spicy qualities, perhaps some fresh basil and oregano, but mostly a minty.

A surprisingly short finish, anise, black fruit, and mint fade quickly with only some alcohol heat lingering for some time - it's worth nothing there is almost no heat on the palate.

It's big, it's fruit bomb like, it's stereotypically Aussie - it's also quite good. As potent and huge as it is, it's really not all that over the top - if this is your style, I give it a go.

Score: 88

2008 Acquaviva Winery Brianna

Acquaviva is a winery in northern Illinois, we visited them a while back and wrote it all up here. Honestly, I'm bordering on desperate to get back - the food was excellent and while the wine is defintiely of the hybrid acquired taste variety, it's Italian styled enough to work with the food perfectly. I don't recall the retail, but it was defintiely under $20.

Peaches, almost peach Jolly Rancher, candified, in other words.

A fair amount of sweet whites from Illinois bring this sort of flavor profile - loads of acid, loads of sugar, limeade, peach, and grapefruit.

Pineapple comes through on the finish, with a more mellow grapefruit quality as well.

Treat as a dessert wine. I can't say I think it would work with chocolate though, it would compliment key lime pie, though maybe too much....some sort of ginger cake dessert maybe?

Score: 88

2007 Kirkland Napa Valley Meritage

This is a blend of mostly Merlot, a good chunk of Cab Sauv, and just a splash of Cab Franc.

A bit of heat on the nose, black fruit - cassis and plum mostly, though - and this may sound strange -a raw chicken sorta thing.

Smooth and balanced, though not exactly complex - plum, blueberry, black cherry, vanilla. This is a solid middle of the road red, the kind of wine you can pop open and eat with anything from pizza to a steak and be set.

Blueberry lingers and way way on the back end some cherry.

Eleven bucks? Beyond sold - snag it.

Score: 87

2006 Estancia Paso Robles Meritage Reserve

This is a blend of 58% Cab, 34% Merlot, and 8% Petit Verdot. We've had a few of this producer's wines before, including a previous vintage of this one that we dug (not reviewed here though). The retail is about $25.

A plum sorta nose...cassis as well. In fact, this strikes me as textbook cassis.

The thing that struck me about this wine was how approachable it was on pop and pour - everything was nicely integrated and it was drinking fine. Blackberry, vanilla, oak.

The finish has lingering blackberry and vanilla, combined in a Blizzard aftertaste sort of way. You know, the last time I went to Dairy Queen they didn't have blueberry Blizzards anymore. WTF DQ?

It's tasty, perhaps a safe bet if you find it priced reasonably on a restaurant wine list, but I can't say it's exciting or all that interesting when pondered.

Score: 86

Leiffel Bistrot & Creperie - Barrington, IL - December 23, 2010

L'Eiffel has quickly risen to the top of our list of favorite restaurants. We've been here a bunch of times and always had a great time - excellent food, a great wine selection, solid service, and completely reasonable prices.

We both had specials which are not available on the web menu, so forgive my vague descriptions.




Beef carpaccio with Roquefort - the blue cheese was pungent, the beef was a nice balance of meaty and salty.

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Half dozen raw oysters - they were great, but the wine real highlight is a Champagne vinegar shaved ice that's absolutely amazing, I'd come back here for that ice alone.

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Salad with roast duck, arugula, fennel, and a vinegar dressing.

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I hate taking pictures of soup because it's inherently a rather dull looking product dish, but their soups are consistently great - this is a corn and clam chowder.

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What I dig about L'Eiffel most is their wine service - there are many options by the glass, bottles start at under $30, wine flights, and a monthly "ultra pour" - which is a pricey, think $100 bottle range, wine available by the glass. We had the Champagne flight, three real Champagnes...

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And the French red flight.

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Forgive this photo, it's not the brightest place, this is steak frites, a 16 ounce prime ribeye with cajun fries. We actually came here for dinner because of the allure of steak - let's put it this way, we wanted steak, Ruth Chris is in the same shopping center, we chose here.

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Braised alligator, sliced venison, and - I'm sad to admit, I forget what else, lamb? Either way - three meats with a rice pilaf underneath.


If you want French in the Northwest suburbs, look no further - this is the place.

2008 Boom Boom Syrah

I've seen this go for $16 to $20, so when the $15 pricetag at Costco caught my eye, I snagged a bottle.

Kind of a chocolate covered cherry nose.

Blueberry dominates with some chocolate and cherry....little in terms of tannins, earth, or even oak, but some nice acid with the fruit makes it quite approachable.

The finish is kind of interesting, sort of a blueberry infused green tea right away but it fades quite quickly.

Tasty stuff, but admittedly simple - for $15, I actually like it enough to buy it again. We'll be drinking a bottle of this tonight with Christmas Eve dinner and I think it will go well. It's fruity and smooth enough I can even see this working with some spicier foods like Mexican or Thai if you insist on red. I say it's worth a shot.

Score: 86

2007 Syncline Mourvedre Coyote Canyon Vineyard

We don't drink much Mourvedre...does anyone though? This bottle retails for about thirty bones and features a glass cork.

Cassiss, blackberry, menthol, and I'll be damned if I'm not getting a big dash of soy sauce.

Plum. Big ol' plum. Perhaps a drop of vanilla in a giant vat of chopped plums, but that's about it..

Just a bit of oak and mild spicy qualities on the finish with just a bit of raw meat, in a tartare sorta way.

Tasty? Yes. One-dimensional for the pricepoint? Yep.

Score: 87

N/V Duval-Leroy Brut Champagne

Grabbed this on sale - a local shop had a big Champagne sale, for the holiday I suppose, so I snagged a few bottles.

The nose on this is all blueberry jelly spread on white bread toast. Nice.

A bit doughy, not toasty, not quite bready, a little bit nutty, mostly like the raw dough you get in this exploding cans to make biscuits. Other qualities of interest are peach skin, pink Sweet Tarts, candied orange peel, and a bit of citron. (Now that the weather has cooled down, let me just take this moment to strongly recommend citron tea - find your local Asian market and grab a jar, it's good stuff.)

Some blueberry on the finish along with more of that yeasty sorta thing with the nuttiness coming through even further.

A worthy entry level Champagne. At $30, I have no complaints.

Score: 90

2004 Il Colombaio de Cencio Chianti Classico i Massi

This goes for about $30 at retail, while I typically prefer cheap Chiantis (most of which are acidic, tart, and not sweet) every so often it's worth grabbing one of these mid-level ones...

Black raspberry with a white tea thing on the nose.

Cherry, tobacco, eucalyptus, a bit of cocoa....I'm thinking this may be a tad too old, it just seems flat.

Tart cherry and more eucalyptus on the finish.

Meh.

Score: 84

N/V M Lawrence Fizz Batch #25

Fizz - one of the M Lawrence line that we haven't enjoyed a bottle of, so I'm stoked to try this as part of the Tweet and Taste. Retail on this is $13.

The nose on this reminds me startlingly - and this was mentioned in the Tweet and Taste but it is so right on I have to say it - dried banana or banana chips, absolutely all the way. Very mild and elegant in its own way.

Reminds me a bit of the M Lawrence label Detroit in some ways, not too shocking seeing as both are unashamedly Demi Sec. White peach in a candied sorta way - something fairly common in many of these M Lawrence wines, but while it's sweet, it had a very light mouthfeel.

While the finish is peachy, some interesting things really start coming through - pear, apricot, red apple, honeydew, even lychee and as it all fades away, a bit of that subtle banana chip thing.

I wasn't sure about this wine on first sip, but it's pretty interesting how complex the finish is while the palate, still tasty mind you, is a tad more one dimensional. As a result, I recommend this wine for (rather than with) dessert.

This wine was consumed and reviewed as part of the Tweet and Taste Michigan Wine on Tuesday, December 14, 2010. This was not tasted blind and the bottle was comped - all effort has been made to be as objective and honest as possible.

Score: 89

N/V M Lawrence US Batch #21

This bottle goes for $13 - we dig L Mawby so when the opportunity to participate in the Tweet and Taste popped up, I jumped on it.

A rather clean nose - white peaches and some artificial peach as well...take a piece of a white peach and shove a peach Jolly Rancher inside and take a bite while avoiding breaking a tooth and you have something kinda like this.

Peaches, oranges, grapefruits...though, none real, all in an artificial candy sort of way, yet not terribly sweet. Interesting.

A candied orange peel kinda thing on the finish.

I was a big fan of batch 2 of this wine, but here we are at batch 21 and I'm not quite so sure....for a $13 sparkler it's worth your while.

This wine was consumed and reviewed as part of the Tweet and Taste Michigan Wine on Tuesday, December 14, 2010. This was not tasted blind and the bottle was comped - all effort has been made to be as objective and honest as possible.

Score: 86

Tweet and Taste Michigan - Tuesday, December 14

It's true! Tweet and Taste is back - Tuesday, the 14th, and 6 pm CST. Two wines from the incredible L Mawby - full details are over at Michigan by the Bottle.

The basics though - get on Twitter on the 14th and 6 pm, search #ttmi and follow along. I'm a fan of TweetChat for this kinda thing.

We'll be drinking FIZZ and US (link containers possible spoilers), both cheaper offerings from the M Lawrence line so it's a solid way to introduce yourself to L Mawby's sparklers.

This Tweet and Taste only has two wines so it should be a bit more relaxed and chatty, we shall see!

2009 Georges Dubeouf Moulin-A-Vent

This was about thirteen bones which makes this Cru cheaper than many of the Nouveaus...how do you suppose it compares?

While there's definitely some dark fruit in there, I get a very distinct bubble gum component on the nose.

You know, more of that bubble gum, along with some super ripe strawberry and some cola notes - a solid acidic background almost reminds me of that sour cola straws you sometimes see, cola gummy candy dipped it sour sugar granules.

That sour cola thing lingers on the finish.

All the sour talk I'm sure suggests this is a bit harsh and unbalanced - and I can't really say it's not, but it's pretty good. For $12, this is certainly acceptable and light years ahead of the more recent Nouveau.

Score: 87

2009 Domaine de Fondreche L'Instant

This is easily the lightest rose I've ever seen. It's almost in the 'vin gris' category. This goes for about $12 at retail.

A mild nose, with peach notes.

Very dry. Perhaps some peach but mostly a rindy kinda thing - watermelon rind, peach skin, grapefruit rind, etc. After a few hours, some fruitier qualities come through - mild watermelon, mild strawberry - but it is still a bone dry, not terribly fruity wine.

Mild watermelon on the finish - the flavor is there, but once again no sugar at all.

So, it's a matter of preference I suppose - I like bone dry roses, but I want more fruit. Perhaps pouring the bottle in a decanter with a handful of ripe strawberries may liven it up a bit....sacrilege I know.

Score: 83

2007 Bruno Giacosa Dolcetto D'Alba

No recollection on this other than it apparently cost me $24. Dolcetto is in the northwest part of Italy and is the name of both the grape and region.

A somewhat mild nose with cherry, plum, and perhaps a cigar box kinda thing.

Cherry, blackberry, strawberry, plum - a lot ot fruit really - with a bit of smooth, sweet cedar. Everything flows together nicely - tannin, acid, fruit, wood - all is in very nice balance.

A fuzzy tobacco quality lingers on the finish with some ultraripe strawberry.

The wine is fairly straightforward and doesn't really have all that much depth, but it is undeniably tasty. I dig it a lot.

Score: 87