2012 Maxwell Creek Napa Valley Rose

Happy Independence Day Eve!  Here we are on the evening before the 4th of July and I decided to stop at the supermarket after work and they were having a big seafood sale, so what wine should I open knowing that I'll be eating seafood for dinner?  Well it just so happens that I stopped by the World Market yesterday and picked up a couple bottles of rose, so why not open a bottle of the 2012 Maxwell Creek Napa Valley Rose?

The wine is a lovely orange-pink color in the glass, sort of the color of ripe grapefruit at the center, leading to a white translucence around the edges of the glass.  The nose is very different from what I was expecting, with lovely notes of strawberry and citrus, but it also had some interesting floral notes as well as a nice bit of vanilla bean.  The taste was crisp and refreshing with flavors of citrus and green grass at the outset which transitioned to some interesting notes of flowers and tea leaves midpalate.  The finish was quite nice, with a distinct dryness, but also a burst of honey flavor at the very end which I found quite endearing.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 7.5, as it was a pleasure to sip and very versatile in pairing with a variety of dishes.  It was also a solid value at only $10 at the World Market.  Tonight I paired this wine with a lovely dinner of sea scallops seared in toasted sesame oil and served on a bed of baby greens with some spicy curried couscous on the side.  The wine is really a perfect match for seafood as the crispness really played well with the richness of the scallops, while the honey finish was a nice foil to some of the bitterness of the baby greens.  Cheers and have a lovely Independence Day!

2005 Chateau Griviere Medoc

It's getting to be very hot and humid here, so it might be rose season again soon enough, but tonight I've decided to go a little more traditional with my wine selection in light of my dinner menu, so here we are with a 2005 Chateau Griviere Medoc, a lovely Bordeaux from a fairly respectable vintage!

The wine is a very lovely deep purple color, leading to some bright ruby along the edges.  The nose is quite nice, with wonderful notes of sweet cherry, blueberry, leather and tar that seems quite appropriate for a Medoc.  The taste has some nice dark fruit at the outset, plum and ripe berries with scattered floral notes that transitions nicely to some dusty limestone and baking spice notes midpalate.  The finish is delightful, as the well balanced tannins support a long, luscious dry ending to a lovely sipping Bordeaux.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, as it's a nice example of a Medoc that is drinking very well now, and it was a bargain at the World Market for less than $15!  As for my more traditional pairing, tonight I am enjoying this wine with a nice New Zealand lamb chop grilled medium rare and topped with a bit of French sheeps milk Feta over a bed of baby spinach, the ripe fruit and earthiness of the wine really accents the beautiful flavors of the lamb, cheers!

2008 Renwood Fiddletown Zinfandel

So tonight I've decided to open a bottle of Zinfandel since I'm looking for something a little more jammy to balance out my spicy dinner, after all, it's taco night!  And for this Zin we've traveled north into California gold country, Amador county in the foothills of the Sierras for the 2008 Renwood Fiddletown Zinfandel.  Now apparently the Fiddletown appellation is the oldest AVA in Amador County, and the vines tend to be at higher elevations than other vineyards in the county, about 1,800 feet higher in some cases, so let's see what that does to the wine.

The color is somewhat lighter than your typical Lodi Zin with a certain amount of opacity.  The nose is rich in fruit, with sweet ripe berries intermingled with cherries and plums, balanced by a bit of dusty spice.  The taste is surprisingly not as fruit forward as I would have expected, in fact it's like a delayed fuse as the first taste seems to be dominated by smoke, cedar and some spice, then an explosion of fruit midpalate, with rich plum and blackberries, fading into some peppery spice note on the finish.  The tannins are pretty big in this wine, supporting a very tight, dry finish.  This wine is a bit high in alcohol at 16%, but you'd never know it from the aroma or taste (I suppose that can be a good thing!).

Overall, I would rate this one a solid 7.5.  I'll be the first to admit that on the first taste I wasn't very impressed, but as the wine breathed a bit, it got its footing and was quite nice, and a good value as I think I bought this at World Market for about $9.  And tonight I'm having this with my favorite classic chorizo and frijole tacos, ole!

2007 Vino Tinto - The Tapas Wine Collection

So tonight I'm taking a detour to Spain, since I missed Tempranillo day last Thursday.  I picked up this bottle a month or so ago from the World Market, had an interesting label and it was under $10, so I figured why not give it a shot?  After all, a nice tempranillo can compliment a wide variety of dishes, large or small!

The wine is a deep purple color in the glass, with some lighter ruby along the edges.  The nose is very sweet, with aromas of black currant, vanilla, baking spice and a hint of root beer or all things.  The taste is somewhat fruit forward, with ripe berry and cherry cola flavors transitioning to a bit of anise, dried herbs and a hint of oak.  The tannins are supple, making for a lush mouthfeel and a smooth, dry finish that lasts a bit longer than I expected.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 7, especially considering the value price.  It would pair nicely with a variety of tapas as well as roasted meats or grilled seafood.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with some Maryland style crab cakes, steamed fingerling potatoes and some fresh cauliflower, a wonderful autumn spread!

2008 Coppola Alicante Bouschet

So tonight I am trying a new wine I picked up yesterday at World Market from Francis Coppola.  Now I'm a big fan of his black label Claret, as it's a lovely everyday wine for a very modest price, so when I saw his diamond label on a bright magenta background I had to investigate!  This wine was the Alicante Bouschet, which apparently is a grape that has been cultivated since the 1860s, but was made popular during prohibition, since the grapes are red fleshed, which makes them much more robust in blending, creating darker colored wines from traditionally lighter grapes.  The thick skins also make it much more resistant to rot during transport from California to the east coast during prohibition.  And all this, made it a target for Mr. Coppola, who had fond memories of wines his family made from this grape during the period, so they located some and decided to make this wine.

The wine has a wonderful, deep ruby color that is almost an inky purple at the center.  The nose is full of jammy fruit, plums, blackberries, currant, with a hint of almost maple syrup.  The taste is very fruit forward, but not really as sweet as I was expecting.  The flavors of ripe red fruit quickly transition to spice, anise and mint midpalate, and then the bright tannins take control for a tight, dry finish.

Overall, I am thrilled with this wine, not so much because it's a stellar grape or exceptional vintage, but for what it can be paired with!  This wine is a perfect compliment to barbecue, and prior to discovering it, I was fairly limited to nice Zinfandels when it came to wine and barbecue, but this opens up a wonderful second option!  And it paid off, since tonight I am pairing this with a wonderful slow roasted, barbecued beef brisket, garlic mashed potatoes, grilled white, yellow and orange carrots and corn muffins!  All those flavors, and this wine stands up like a champ!  I would rate this one a solid 8, maybe an 8.5, since it's a rare wine that pairs with something traditionally more difficult, but it was also a great value at only $10!  So pick up the pink label and enjoy some today!

2007 Moss Roxx Lodi Ancient Vine Zinfandel

So now that I'm back from vacation, it's time to get back to the hum drum life of cooking and blogging about wine!  And a nice treat for tonight is a bottle of 2007 Moss Roxx Lodi Ancient Vine Zinfandel, what I think will be the perfect compliment to my Paula Deen inspired dinner (time to put some South in your mouth!).  For those hoe know me, you know I love a good zin, and the best in my view come from Lodi, and this one is even more interesting as it comes in a really huge heavy bottle (I think I might hang onto this one to fight off any future burglars!) even though I'm not normally impressed by packaging.

The wine is a lovely deep, inky purple color, transitioning to bright ruby along the edges.  The aroma is a blend of anise, ripe plum, and a lovely bit of sweetness that I find very hard to pin down.  The taste has a good bit of smokiness, oak and sweet, ripe fruit on the front end, though it's certainly not the explosive "fruit bomb" that so many zins have become today.  The taste is well balanced throughout and provides for a wonderfully smooth, mellow finish.  Certainly, a more classic zin somewhat in the style that used to be more common in the 1990s, that makes it such a delight for pairing with food.

And what am I pairing tonight?  A southern inspired meal of maple bourbon glazed pork tenderloin (with maple syrup fresh from the upper penninsula of Michigan), some sweet potato fries and sugar snap peas!  The smoky flavor that permeates this wine just accentuates the sweet, smoky maple flavor of the tenderloin, without overpowering it.  Overall, I would rate this one a solid 8, a wonderful wine at a great price too, since I bought this one at World Market for around $13.  As Paula might say, Cheers Y'all!

2003 Château des Annereaux Lalande de Pomerol

So as I am fond of saying, tonight I've decided to take a different approach and crack open a bottle of Bordeaux from the 2003 vintage.  I bought this bottle a few weeks ago at the World Market on clearance for $20.88, though I'm not entirely convinced that was such a great bargain, but what the heck, I figured I like Bordeaux and this one is old enough that it should be drinking nicely by now. 

Now the Lalande de Pomerol appellation is just north of the Pomerol appellation, to the east of the Gironde, and the wines tend to be dominated by Merlot, which is the case with this wine.  The 2003 Château des Annereaux Lalande de Pomerol is a blend of Merlot (70%), Cabernet Franc (20%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (10%).

The wine is a fairly bright ruby in the glass, and the nose is unmistakably Bordeaux with aromas of sweet red fruit, tar and a bit of cedar.  The taste has very subdued fruit, with hints of cassis giving way to cola and black pepper flavors midpalate.  The tannins are very well structured, giving this wine a lovely smooth, dry finish that you'd expect from a nice Bordeaux.

Overall, I would rate this one a solid 7.5, as it's a lovely wine but the price is somewhat aggressive, even at a marked down $21.  Tonight I am, yet again, taking a different approach and enjoying this wine with some wonderful Cajun dirty rice, with spicy chicken habanero sausage, green peppers and red onions, a nice spicy dish that plays nicely on the rich, earthiness of this wine.  Bon appetit!

2009 Bogle Vineyards Essential Red

So tonight I am enjoying a bottle of 2009 Bogle Vineyards Essential Red for a simple evening at home.  I bought 4 bottles of this wine a couple weekends ago based on a promotion at World Market that offered an extra 10% off to get the wine below $9 a bottle, so I figured why not try it?

The wine itself is a blend of old vine Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Sirah, which raises the potential for this to be a wonderful everyday wine.  The color is a deep red, with some garnet along the edges.  The nose presents some some floral notes combine with leather and licorice, but overall the aromas seem quite subdued.  The taste is very nice, with some initial bits of jammy red fruit, which transcends to a bit of peppery spice midpalate, and then finishing quite nicely with somewhat youthful tannins creating a nice bit of dryness.

Tonight I am sipping this wine on the patio, watching the neighborhood kids play and enjoying the last bit of heat from the day as the sun sinks lower in the western sky.  As for pairings, this one is a great everyday wine, once that would go as well with a thick juicy steak as with a cheeseburger or zesty pasta dish.  Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 7, as it's not spectacular, but it's a solid value for under $9.  So if you find yourself in the wine section of the World Market or your local retailer, pick up a bottle or two!

2008 Old Zin Vines Lodi Zinfandel

Yay!  It's the 4th of July and hot as all get out!  So that presents a bit of a challenge for the red wine lover, what to drink on a hot day with lots of old fashioned American food?  Do you wimp out for a chilled rose?  Or do you go for the gusto?  Well, I chose the latter with a wonderful old vine zinfandel from Lodi, the 2008 Old Zin Vines (OZV) old vine zinfandel!

Now I love a good zin and everyone knows the best zins come from Lodi so how could I miss with this one?  This wine is a lovely deep purple in the glass, with a good bit of opacity.  The nose is a treat, with hints of ripe plum, anise, leather and cedar, with just the faintest bit of a floral smell, the kind of nose that tells your taste buds, "get ready, cause this is gonna be good!"  There is a good bit of fruit on the front end, with tastes of ripe berries and cassis, giving way to a wonderful cedar smokiness midpalate leading to a wonderfully smooth, dry finish.  Very much what you'd expect from the old vines of Lodi!

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8, it's just a great overall zin, which is even more impressive given the price at only $11 at the local World Market!  This wine would be a great one to sip at sunset, or enjoy with a variety of cuisines, from spicy Mediterranean to a rare grilled T-bone, to lovely fish tacos, but tonight I am enjoying it with the most American of fare, hot dogs!  Yes indeed, I am having some lovely grilled hot dogs served up Chicago style, with mustard, relish, diced onions, tomato, pickle, celery salt and sport peppers (don't ask how we get all that on a single bun!), along with some lovely baked beans and freshly made coleslaw, a perfectly American summer meal! 

2008 Maggio Old Vine Zinfandel

Oh how I love me a good Zin!  And as I've said many times, I'm a firm believer that the best Zins come from Lodi, and tonight we have the pleasure of tasting one! I remember when I first tried a glass of nice Lodi zinfandel I was quite skeptical, given the experience of "white zinfandel" in the 1990s, but my fears were certainly misplaced as a good red zin has a richness of fruit and wonderful tannins that make it a special wine!

For tonight's pleasure, I've not tried a wine from this maker, but I saw this wine on a recent trip to the World Market, and thought I'd give it a try, after all, old vine zin from Lodi, where's the risk in that?  The wine itself is a deep purple hue with bright ruby around the edges.  The nose exudes licorice, leather and baking spice, with a good bit of red fruit character.  The wine is somewhat fruit forward, but not as jammy as some zins, the rich ripe plum and red berries give way to cedar and smoke mid-palate.  The tannins are nicely structured giving the wine a nice tart finish.  I've read some reviews that complain about the finish being too short, but I didn't experience that at all.  It wasn't an exceptionally long finish, but certainly adequate given the structure of the wine.

Overall, I would rate this one a solid 7.5, especially given the price point at $8!  Tonight I am pairing this wine with a bit of Italian, some rigatoni with some spicy red sauce, as I find that a little spice in the pasta sauce plays very nicely against the fruit of a nice zin.  Cheers!