2015 Titan Spring Valley District Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Sunday!  It has been a weekend full of leaf blowing, raking and carrying, but it's almost over and over the past month, I've managed to carry about 6 metric tonnes of leaves to the front of my house in anticipation of the city coming to collect them next week!  Needless to say, I am pretty exhausted and ready for a nice bottle of wine with dinner.  Tonight, I've opened a bottle of 2015 Titan Spring Valley District Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that I bought from Wines Till Sold Out about six months ago.  So, let's see how this wine is tasting.

The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass, as you'd expect from a big Napa Cabernet.  The nose presents an intriguing set of aromas, plum, eucalyptus, black cherry and notes of violet, that beckon you to take a sip.  That first sip is a rush of old world Cabernet flavors, black cherry and blueberry, intermingled with aged leather and rustic spice box which transition easily to some notes of white pepper spice and tobacco midpalate.  The tannins are supple and well structured, providing a solid base for the long, smooth dry finish that lingers for a minute or more.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it seems to punch much higher than its weight class as a $30 wine.  This would pair well with a variety of hearty dishes, from braised short ribs and hearty pasta, to rack of lamb.  Tonight, I am enjoying this wine with a hearty Sunday dinner of rare grilled porterhouse with grilled asparagus and a big baked potato with all the trimmings.  Cheers!

2017 Seven Hills Summit View Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Saturday!  Today has been a mixed bag of weather, so rather then working out in the yard, I spend some time running errands and cooking!  The weather held out, so I suppose I could have done work in the yard, but there's no sense in crying over spilled grass clippings.  So, tonight I've opened a bottle of a perennial favorite, the Seven Hills Summit View Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon which is a single varietal wine from Clone 191 grown at this vineyard, in this case the 2017 vintage of which I was able to snag a few bottle recently thanks to my friends at Seven Hills.  So, let's see how this wine is tasting!

The wine is a classic deep ruby color as you would expect for a quality Cabernet.  A gentle swirl in the glass reveals aromas of leather, blackberry, cherry and currant with undertones of black pepper spice and green grass.  Take a sip and you're greeted by a rush of ripe black fruit intermingled with rustic dried herbs, and earthy notes of peat and basalt that create a real sense of place in the Walla Walla Valley.  The tannins are wonderfully structured, providing a solid backbone for a long, smooth and exceptionally dry finish that lingers on the palate.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, which I think is about the average rating for every vintage of Summit View Cabernet as it's just always a great wine to sip.  This wine would pair well with a broad range of hearty dishes, from summer barbecue, burgers and brats, to prime steaks and chops.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a classic steak and a new dish that I learned from Don't Go Bacon My Heart on Instagram, Caprese burrata pasta (you can find the recipe here) which is rich, zesty and fun, as well as some roast hatch chilis, because I can!  Cheers!

2007 Giuseppe Campagnola Amarone della Valpolicella

Happy Independence Day eve!  Yes, summer is in full swing and the fireworks are blazing, but it's also the first Saturday in July, which means this is Cellar Saturday!  I will open a bottle of something at least a decade in the making and share it with you.  Tonight I've dug out a nice Italian wine (I'm convinced that the big wines of Italy are best when they are allowed to mature for at least a decade), one that I'm not sure where I bought it, the 2007 Giuseppe Campagnola Amarone della Valpolicella.  Amarone is a special wine from the north of Italy, where the grapes are allowed to dry before pressing, revealing a fabulous concentration of flavor.  So let's see how this one is tasting!

The wine is a deep, inky purple in the glass with lovely garnet along the edges, making this look more like a Cabernet than a Valpolicella.  After letting this one breathe for an hour or so, a quick swirl in the glass reveals rustic aromas of leather, anise, green grass and mulberry.  Take a sip and you get unexpected flavors of strawberry, ripe cherry and plum that transition easily to some earthy notes of peat and dusty limestone midpalate.  The tannins are nicely structured to provide a great base for the long dry finish, with a quick burst of acidity at the end.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it has certainly come into its own over the past 14 years.  This wine would be ideal with lamb, wild mushroom risotto, or a hearty steak.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a prime tomahawk ribeye grilled Pittsburgh rare, topped with some of the last of the season's garlic scapes and some grilled asparagus. Cheers!

2013 Forgeron Zinfandel

Oh happy Monday!  I just returned from the gym and now I'm ready for a glass of wine before dinner.  Tonight I've decided to help celebrate Washington Wine Month with a bottle of 2013 Forgeron Zinfandel (and you know how I love a good Zin!).  This wine is a blend of Zinfandel from the Alder Ridge Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills (83%) and Primitivo from the Stone Tree Vineyard in the Wahluke Slope.  So let's see what this wine has to offer!

The wine is a deep ruby in the glass, with nice clarity.  The nose presents aromas of cedar, anise, clove and allspice with an underlying layer of black fruit.  The taste is lovely, with a rush of ripe fruit up front, plum, blackberry and cassis, that transition nicely to some mineral and spice notes intermingles with cocoa powder midpalate.  The finish is quite rustic, with supple tannins supporting a long, smooth and exceptionally dry finish.  This is way beyond the fruit bomb style of many Zinfandels, this one is well structured and well thought out in blending.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's one of my all-time favorite Zinfandels from the Columbia Valley.  Although I'm enjoying this wine with leftovers tonight, it would pair very nicely with a variety of easy favorites, from grilled steak to pizza to barbecued ribs.  Cheers!

2012 Forgeron Mourvedre

Happy Tuesday!  I have been winding down at work, one more day until I'm finished for 2015!  In the meantime, I thought I'd open another bottle of my Forgeron wine club shipment, this time it's the 2012 Mourvedre from the Heart Vineyard in the Red Mountain AVA.  I have seldom found a nice pure bottle of this varietal as it's usually blended as the minor partner of any of a number of GSM blends.  So here goes nothing!

The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass with nice clarity.  The nose presents some aromas of tart cherry, black pepper, sage and a hint of rosemary, a very rustic feel.  The taste is warm and appealing, with lovely flavors of ripe berries up front, boysenberry, blackberry and currant that transition to some notes of rustic spices, anise, white pepper and clove.  The finish is quite pleasant, with smooth tannins and a reprise of black fruit embellishing the long, dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, it's just a very pleasant drinking wine that also seems to be very food friendly.  I would enjoy this wine with a lot of rustic dishes, hearty stews, pastas and pot au feu, but tonight I am going the unconventional route and pairing this wine with a sesame seared tuna steak with wild rice and steamed asparagus.  There's something about fusing Asian inspired flavors with a southern Rhone varietal.  Sante!

2012 Maison Bleue Metis

Well, this past week or so has just been a whirlwind of activity, between my normal travel schedule and some amazingly bad luck with flight delays, I've had no time for blog posts of any sort (though rest assured, I still had time to drink some wine!).  So I'll make up for it tonight, as for my 500th  blog post, I've opened a bottle of 2012 Maison Bleue Metis, a lovely blend of Syrah (70%), Grenache (25%) and Mourvedre (5%) that I picked up on my vacation in Walla Walla.

The wine is a lovely, deep ruby color in the glass with great clarity.  The nose exhibits an intriguing combination of ripe berries, smoke and floral notes that really urges you to take a sip.  The taste is classic GSM, heavy on the S, with flavors of blackberry and pomegranate bursting forth, only to ease back into some herbs and smoky, earthy notes midpalate.  The tannins are somewhat rustic, but form a perfect foundation to under gird the long, smooth and very dry finish that leaves you wanting more.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a great example of the fine Rhone blends coming out of Walla Walla now, and since I received a wine club discount, this one was a super bargain (even though it's worth every penny of the regular price).  Although this wine will pair well with the classics, lamb, beef and wild game, tonight I'm enjoying this with a baked chicken breast topped with some prosciutto and smoked provolone along with a bit of linguine with garlic and olive oil and some steamed haricots verts.  Cheers!

2011 Oakville East Exposure Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Saturday!  Like most of mine, this Saturday has been busy with errands but there's always time for wine, and tonight it's the 2011 Oakville East Exposure Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon which I recently purchased from Wines Till Sold Out.  Despite the heat today, I just felt like it was a good Cabernet day!

The wine is a lovely, dark, brooding indigo in the glass with bright ruby around the edges.  The nose is classic Oakville Cabernet, with notes of oak, leather and violet over just a hint of blackberry.  The taste is just awesome, with a blast of ripe fruit up front, blackberry, cherry and raspberry that wash over you.  The ripe fruit transitions seamlessly to some rustic mineral notes midpalate before the young tannins set up the long, luscious and exceptionally dry finish.  This is just a classic Napa Valley Cabernet that you could sip all evening and wonder where the time went!

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, it's just such a pleasant drinking Cabernet and it was very reasonably priced at just $29!  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a completely random dinner of classic stuffed peppers, using my mom's recipe.  The ripe fruit and great backbone of this wine make it a perfect complement to the sweet and spicy sauce and rich goodness of Italian sausage and ground beef that make the stuffing.  Yum!  And now that dinner is over it's time for me to head to the theater, as I have tickets for tonight's production of Zombie Prom by the Elkhart Civic Theater!  Cheers!

2007 Elk Cove Vineyards Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Merry Christmas!  Yes, I know it's only Christmas Eve, but this is the night when I typically watch a whole bunch of Christmas movies while gorging myself on Chinese food, since it won't leave me too full for the real feast tomorrow!  I just returned from the gym, just to make me feel good about myself before the feast of obesity begins, all the presents are wrapped and I just placed my order at the Jade Garden, so I may as well open a bottle of wine to enjoy this evening, and tonight it's one of my all time favorite Oregon Pinots, the 2007 Elk Cove Vineyards Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.  Now in all the time I lived in Portland, I never got into the Pinot scene like everyone else it seems, but I did find this one that appealed to me, a big bold Cabernet and Bordeaux drinker that wasn't the light, whispy Pinots that you often find in Oregon or Burgundy!

Now I'll admit I had a hard time finding this wine today, I tore the cellar apart, looking in case after case, knowing had to be there somewhere, and alas I found it in a half case of Languedoc!  So here we are, a beautiful deep garnet color in the glass with great clarity.  The nose is just a rush of Oregon Pinot memories, rustic earthy elements of peat, leather, blackberries and fresh herbs.  The taste is a burst of fruit, plums, black cherries and cassis, all of which blend together for some earthy mineral notes of limestone, cedar intermingled with Asian spice midpalate.  The finish is remarkably smooth, without the tannins and dryness that you can get from a Cabernet, this one is just all around pleasant to drink from start to finish!

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a lovely example of the fine Pinots coming from the Willamette Valley, but it's probably reached it's peak for drinking now.  As I mentioned, tonight it's Christmas Eve which means Chinese food, so I'm pairing this with some wonderful Kung Po chicken, steamed dumplings and spring rolls, some of my favorites!  Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

1998 I Balzini Super Tuscan Blend

Here we are, the first Saturday of October, which of course means it's Cellar Saturday!  And thank goodness for that, since over the past 24 hours it seems like we've gone from summer right into the depths of fall!  It was about 75 and rainy with a lot of humidity, and right now it's 43 and raining, heading to a low of 37 tonight!  Perfect weather for a hearty super Tuscan blend of Sangiovese (50%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (50%)!  This bottle was a part of a vertical that I bought from Wines Till Sold Out that included the 1997 (you can see my review of this one here), 1998, 1999 and 2001.

I opened this bottle a few hours ago and let it breathe a bit rather than decanting.  The wine is a lovely deep ruby color in the glass.  The nose is somewhat rustic, with some aromas of barnyard, leather and cedar intermingled with some ripe berry and plum notes.  The taste is quite nice, with some lovely mint and fruit, blackberry, cherry and raisin, up front that transitions to some iron, mineral and spice notes midpalate.  The finish is rather subdued, with mellow tannins supporting a smooth, very dry finish.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 7.5, as it just doesn't seem as nice as the '97.  Tonight I am enjoying this one with a wonderful grilled New York strip on a bed of baby kale with an aged white balsamic, a baked potato and some steamed green beans, a perfect fall dinner, with some big flavors that play very nicely with a more mature wine like this one.  Cheers!

2005 Rio Bom Douro Colheita

Tonight I've decided to try some new things, from the food I'm making for dinner to the wine I've decided to open!  I've seldom had the chance to enjoy a wine from Portugal, but tonight I've opened a bottle of 2005 Rio Bom Douro Colheita, a recent purchase from the Wines Till Sold Out cheapskate event.

The wine is a very nice ruby color in the glass, about the same color as a nice Spanish wine, like a Tempranillo.  The nose is very interesting, with a lot of bright fruit at first, blackberries, plum, black cherry, but as it opens up, it displays more rustic and earthy notes, forest floor and a classic barnyard.  The taste is fruit forward with some notes of cherry cola and some cocoa powder, which transitions to some fresh herbs, tarragon and green tea midpalate.  The finish is quite nice, with rather mild tannins supporting a rather abrupt finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 7.5, as it's a solid wine that could complement a variety of dishes and it was a good value at around $14.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a wonderful dinner of fresh rainbow trout stuffed with oranges and fresh thyme along with some pesto linguine and steamed asparagus.  The earthy notes and fruit flavors of the wine really strike a nice note with the richness of the trout, but I could see this going very well with a variety of dishes from grilled steak to a nice braised beef stew.  Cheers!

Domaine Serene Rockblock SoNo Syrah

Once again the weekend is coming to a close, so why not make the best of it with a bottle of Northwest wine?  Tonight's selection is a little different, as it's a multi-vintage wine from Domaine Serene, produced from the best grapes and vintages from two vineyard sites in the Walla Walla region of Oregon.  And for those unfamiliar with the area, Walla Walla is just a few miles north of the Oregon border and fortunately good wine grapes don't stop growing once you reach Oregon!  The fruit for this wine was sourced from the Seven Hills and Stone Valley Vineyards in Oregon.  As a non-vintage wine, this one should be interesting.

The wine has a nice deep, inky purple color at the center, leading to a bright ruby along the edges.  The nose is at first a spicy sweetness, with black pepper and blueberries that ease into some hints of smoke, cocoa powder and a touch of lavender.  The taste is wonderfully complex, with some spice and floral notes up front that transitions smoothly to blueberries and black plum midpalate.  The tannins are somewhat rustic and smoky that suppose a silky finish that lingers on the palate.  Very pleasant to sip at the end of a long day!

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a lovely example of Walla Walla Valley Syrah that shows a lot of complexity.  The only real negative I can see with this wine is the price, as I paid $33 for this bottle at my local wine merchant, G.B. Russo's, so it's clearly not an everyday wine if you're on a budget!  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a simple Sunday dinner of salad, herb roasted chicken breast and some steamed fingerling potatoes with butter and parsley.  The rich blue fruit and spice of this wine make a nice foil to the more subdued flavors of chicken and potatoes.  Cheers!

2010 Wrongo Dongo Monastrell

It's the middle of the week and what better way to celebrate hump day than with a fun wine?  And tonight's is certainly fun, as the name says it all, the 2010 Wrongo Dongo Monastrell from Jumilla Spain!  I have to admit, I bought this bottle at the World Market about a year ago, just because I couldn't get over the name, and I figured at less than $10 how could I go wrongo?

The wine itself is a deep ruby color in the glass, giving you a sense that this is a heartier Spanish wine, which it is, as Monastrell is the Spanish version of Mourvedre, which is a blending grape in the Southern Rhone, but a primary grape in many wines from Southeast Spain.  The nose is very rustic, with aromas of leather, sagebrush and forest floor accented by rich ripe fruit, blackberries, ripe cherries and plums.  The taste is delightfully fruit forward, with a burst of ripe berries and prune that mellows through the midpalate where there is a smooth transition to some mint and herb notes.  The tannins are somewhat tight, allowing the fruit and spice notes to really carry through on the finish.

Overall I would rate this wine a 7.5, it's quite pleasant to drink, but even moreso it's a great value as I think I paid about $9 for this bottle!  Tonight I'm enjoying it with some rotisserie chicken and a nice salad of field greens and raspberries, as the wine really balances well with the savory spice in the chicken.  It would also pair well with a variety of roast meats, or some spicy sausage and polenta.  Cheers!

2009 Reininger Walla Walla Malbec

Well, this one is a bit off the beaten path for me, as most who know me realize that I am just not a huge Malbec fan, as often these wines are just too rustic for my taste.  But the kind folks at Reininger were kind enough to send me two bottles of the 2009 Malbec for my wine club selection, so I figured I should at least try them right?

The wine was a deep garnet, edging toward purple in the glass.  The nose was quite rustic, almost woodsy, you know, that somewhat barnyard type aroma that some wines seem prone to, but this one wasn't as woodsy as some I've tried.  The taste however was a dramatic step in the right direction, with lovely tastes of dried fruit, some wonderful floral notes and a hint of leather.  The tannins were somewhat subdued, however the finish was still quite dry.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, mainly because it's a Malbec, and even though I thought this wine was fine, it did not convert me to a fan.  We had this wine with some wonderful Lucques olives from the Languedoc region of France and some Manchego cheese from Spain, and the spice of the cheese and richness of the olives really complemented the earthiness of this wine.  Cheers!