Wine Drank by John Jaster

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Thu, 21 May 2009 09:58:03 GMT

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Tempranillos from Montecillo, Cacho, and Paso a Paso

Fri, 15 May 2009 03:01:46 GMT

Tempranillo is an early ripening Spanish red grape which makes up the vast vast majority of Spanish wines. Here I've tried 3 different 100% Tempranillo wines, all quite good with medium body, medium tannins, medium fruits. It's no wonder this is such a good all around wine and all around grape. All these wines score 6 out of 10 for upper average: 1) Montecillo, Crianza, 2005, 2) Cacho, 2006, 3) Paso a Paso, 2006. Watch for more Tempranillo reviews in the near future. Both Nancy and I really like these wines at a just $8 to $15 in cost they're really good buys.

Santa Rita Medalla Real Cabernet Sauvignon, and Carmenere, and Sauvignon Blanc

Fri, 15 May 2009 02:53:10 GMT

Santa Rita is a major wine producer of Chile and in this case we have the opposite ends of the spectrum on our wine samples. At the top we have Santa Rita, Medalla Real, Special Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006, which I found to be rich and tasty and with an accurate back label discussing red and black fruits, full body, lustrous, ripe tannins, etc. Good stuff scoring 7 out of 10 for above average. Meanwhile their much cheaper "120" series is a disapointment. Santa Rita, 120, Carmenere, 2007, was harsh and I'd actually describe it as having hints of cigarettes. I score that just 3 out of 10 for bad. And Santa Rita, 120, Sauvignon Blanc, 2008, yields a boring and almost watery white but satisfactory for scoring a 5 out of 10 for lower average. Anyway, with Santa Rita skip the cheap stuff.

Robertson Gewurztraminer; Leacock's Rainwater Madeira; Santa Julia Tardio

Fri, 15 May 2009 02:46:17 GMT

Robertson Winery, Gewurztraminer, Special Late Harvest, 2007 (South Africa) - This was in the dessert wine section of Best Cellars and only cost around $15 for a full size bottle. I expected both sweet and exotic. In my opinion it was far short of the sweetest Gewurz I've tried, plus it really didn't have much of the famous Gewurz spiciness and complexity. All in all this is just a 5 out of 10 for lower average.

Leacock's Rainwater Madeira (Portugal) - Rainwater started by accident when barrels of full strength Madeira got wet in a rainfall on a ship and the merchants were surprised the New World clients actually liked it that way and ordered more. So basically it's watered down Madeira. I stalled a long time in trying it because I'm so fond of the full strength Madeiras. Now that I did I know I really wasn't missing anything. Sure it has some of the classic Madeira flavors, BUT it is lacking in the richness and complexity of the full strength Madeiras. Personally I feel Rainwater is a rip-off, do yourself a favor and buy the real thing instead. Just 5 out of 10 for lower average.

Santa Julia, Tardio, 2007 (Argentina) - This is a late harvest Torrontes which really had me curious because the last Torrontes we tried was soapy and didn't get a good review. Well in this case the sweetness comes through fine but the wine itself seems like almost any other white and really doesn't have much complexity or flavor besides simply "sweet". Nancy really liked this one but personally I was disappointed. Probably I'd rather drink the soapy Torrontes than this sweet version, at least the soapy one had it's own character. 5 out of 10 for lower average.

Wimmer Czerny Roter Veltliner; Cline Ancient Vine Mourvedre

Fri, 15 May 2009 02:37:52 GMT

Wimmer Czerny, Roter Veltliner, 2007 (Austria) - A recent trial at our wine tasting group. I found this in a North End store which specializes in unusual wines and at around $22 I expected big things from this sample. I had learned from looking up Roter that it's based on a pinkish red grape (thus "roter") and the Veltliner reference simply means it's from the same village as the more famous Gruner Veltliner. Anyway, although I was expecting something which might taste more like a mild rose what we actually got was something very much like a Pinot Blanc. Nothing wrong with that, I like that grape too, but you an find decent Pinots for far less than $22, so overall I was disappointed. Regardless, it's still a quality wine with good flavor and body so 6 out of 10 for upper average.

Cline, Ancient Vine Mourvedre, 2005 (Contra Costa County, California) - I've tried and reviewed this before but we just gave it a shot at our wine tasting group so it's back in the review. This is a medium body red (kind of like Pinot Noir or Charbono in body) but with smokiness, tannins, and bold fruit. It took a while to open up and we even resorted to decanting it, but everyone genuinely liked it and ultimately we gave it 2 stars on our chart. A very pleasing sample. I'll keep the number score the same as my last review of it - 7 out of 10 for above average.

Quady Winery Orange Blossom Muscat; Cossart Gordon 5 Year Old Malmsey Madeira

Sat, 02 May 2009 03:53:50 GMT

Quady Winery, California Orange Muscat, 2006 (California) - Although not hard to find (every store seems to have it) the producers in the US seem to be limited to only this one winery - Quady. Inside you get a traditional sweet rich muscat. And sure it has some hints of orange but the truth is the orange is pretty subtle. Still, it's rich and bold. I'll rank it an 8 out of 10 and Nancy actually wanted to go higher.

Cossart Gordon, 5 Year Old Malmsey Madeira (Portugal) - An unusally expensive Madeira brand which I've only found in one store. The flavor was right but to me the richness and density is lacking. Personally it's only a 6 out of 10. I don't plan on getting any more of this brand.

Chateau d'Oupia; Perrieres; Home Grown Family Harvest Red

Sat, 02 May 2009 03:48:12 GMT

Chateau d'Oupia, Minervois, 2007 (France) - This blend has cherry and a rich texture, so it clearly was quality, but really it didn't stand out enough for me to rank it better than a 6 out of 10 for upper average. Plus there was quite a bit of grit in the bottom of the bottle.

Perrieres, Marc Kreydenweiss, 2005 (France) - Once again a quality balanced wine from France and from the good year of 2005, however, not really a standout in any particular way. Still just a 6 out of 10 for upper average.

Home Grown, Family Harvest Red, 2007 (California) - This $10 wine was pushed hard by a wine shop which insisted it was very bold and tasty for the price. I'll hand this much to them, both the bouquet and the texture are bold so before and after your first sip you believe you're getting something pretty special. BUT the truth is the flavor itself is just average. In the end I thought it was just another 5 out of 10 wine in the $10 range.

Beringer White Merlot; Aria Estate Brut Cava; Cristalino Rose Brut

Sat, 02 May 2009 03:39:28 GMT

Beringer California Collection, White Merlot, 2007 (California) - So two different co-workers mentioned either they or people at home really like white merlot, to which I said "What?, Merlot is red". I surmised right then it was probably a lot like White Zinfandel which although popular is usually considered an atrocious waste of red grape juice per hardcore fans of those grapes. Anyway, I hunted a bottle down for Nany and I to try. Of course it was in one of the cheaper aisles of the store and the bottle was only $5. What was inside I would most accurately describe as a wine cooler. NOT that I'm saying no one enjoys a wine cooler, sure, they have a time and a place, but to a hard core wine geek this clearly isn't a rendition of Merlot they would consider respectable. Anyway, people can drink what they like, it doesn't matter. Personally I just give this a 4 out of 10 for low average. In fact even Nancy made special note that this was basically a cheap low average wine, and if she can taste it then trust me - it's evident.

Aria, Estate Brut, Cava (Spain) - Nice bulby bottle and an attractive shield label on the outside, plus the store had a sign praising this as an extremly good value. Personally, compared to other cavas I've had, I'd say this is decent but simply average (just a 5 out of 10).

Cristalino, Rose Brut, Cava (Spain) - We're very big fans of the white Cristalino Cava, now we try the rose and it too was quite good. I still prefer the white but Nancy said she really preferred this one. Anyway, it was quite good, 7 out of 10 for above average.

GEOCITIES ENDING; CK Mondavi Willow Springs Chardonnay; Magnificent Wine White

Sat, 02 May 2009 03:30:07 GMT

GEOCITIES REPORTEDLY IS ENDING "LATER THIS YEAR", WHENEVER THAT IS. THEY'VE ALREADY CUT OFF SIGN-IN FOR NEW ACCOUNTS AND AS A RESULT I CAN'T EVEN MAKE BLOG ENTRIES FROM MY NEW COMPUTER BECAUSE IT WON'T LET ME LOG IN - IT ASSUMES I THINK THAT I MUST BE NEW. SO I'M WRITING TO YOU NOW ON THE OLD ONE. ULTIMATELY THIS MEANS I'LL HAVE TO EITHER A) MOVE THIS BLOG IN ENTIRETY, B) START NEW ENTRIES ON A NEW BLOG SITE, OR C) SIMPLY STOP THE BLOG. MOST LIKELY I'LL DO B). WATCH THIS SITE FOR DIRECTION TO THE NEW BLOG.

CK Mondavi Family Vineyards, Willow Springs, Chardonnay, 2007 (California) - Although this is clearly a basic average wine the truth is I found it pretty good and it does indeed have hints of tropic fruit like the back label suggests. And it's only $8. I'll score this 6 out of 10 for upper average.

The Magnificent Wine Co., House Wine, White Wine, 2007 (Columbia Valley) - A peculiar mix of 85% Chardonnay, 10% Riesling, and 5% Muscat, you would have thought maybe this wine would have some interesting flavors. Nope. Probably one of the most boring whites I've had in a while. 5 out of 10 for lower average. Sure you can drink it, it's not bad, but who really cares?

Nusserhof Blaterle; Layer Cake Shiraz; Archeo Nero d'Avola

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 03:13:04 GMT

Nusserhof, Blaterle, Vino da Tavola (Bozen, Italy) - An Italian wine store highly recommended this and we waited quite a while before trying it at our wine tasting group at work. Hey, this was fun. It's truly unlikely most any other white wine we had tried, actually hard to describe. Personally I thought it had a hint of dry apricot flavor. Frankly it had a punch to it kind of like a red wine but not necessarily along the same flavor. Interesting. We ended up giving it 2 stars and on my own scale I think I'll give it a 7 out of 10 for above average.

Layer Cake, Shiraz, 2008 (South Australia) - This is my 3rd vintage of Layer Cake, I had 2005 and 2006 and now 2008. The 2005 really blew me away and garnered an 8. By 2006 I thought it had become a mass marketed shell of its former self and just gave it a 6. This year it's just a 6 again. Ironically the flavor is a little different. Last time I thought cherries predominated and this time it's more a leather and tobacco flavor. In any case this Shiraz is no longer the complex layers of cake it originally was named for.

Archeo, Nero d'Avola, Ruggero di Tasso, 2006 (Sicilia, Italy) - Really quite a nice Nero, bold in flavor and a touch chewy in texture. It's affordable too since this is one of the Trader Joe's exclusive cheap wines. 6 out of 10 for upper average, and a wine I plan to repeat for myself.