San Greal 2007 Red Supper Wine

The Winery: San Greal
The Wine:  2007 Red Supper Wine
The Price:  $6.99 at Trader Joe's

San Greal takes their name from the French for Holy Grail.  The winery is located in California's Mendocino County, in the Russian River valley; the origin of many fine wines. 

The wine is a blend of 55% Syrah, 23% Merlot and 22% Sangiovese.  This is information that they left off the label, but I was able to find it on their website.  The wine is dark red in color.  The bottle was stopped with a screw cap, and the wine was decanted 45 minutes before tasting. 

The wine has aromas of blackberry, cherry and black pepper. 

The wine is fairly awful.  It has a very gritty mouth-feel.  It has a strong alcohol flavor, which overwhelms the flavor of the wine.  Once you get through the alcohol flavor, there are flavors of berries and spice. But the berry flavor is fairly tart and not at all appealing. 

They call this Red Supper Wine.  Last Supper is more like it.  Yuck!  As I said at the beginning, Mendocino's Russian River Valley is the origin of many fine wines. This, however, is not one of them.

La Marca Prosseco

The Winery:  La Marca
The Wine:  Prosseco
The Price:  $13.99 (marked down from $19.99)

As the holidays approach, I thought I would take time to review a few sparkling wines.  This is partly selfish - I like to serve sparkling white wine throughout the holiday season, so this is a great opportunity for me to sample some wines before serving them to others. 

La Marca is an Italian winery, thus it is a sparkling white, not a Champagne. The Prosseco wines are named for the grapes from which they are made.  They are generally less complex than Champagne.

The wine is a very pale straw color.  It has steady streams of bubbles bursting forth, creating a thin layer of froth on the surface of the wine.

The wine has aromas of apples, pears and peaches.  It has a very crisp apple flavor with a peach undertone.  It has a bit of a creamy feel to it.  It's a good wine, but not a great one. 

While I like this wine, and it is interesting, this one won't see my table this holiday season.  For the price of one bottle, I could pick up two bottles of more enjoyable local sparkling white wine. 

Saviah Cellars 2007 The Jack

The Winery:  Saviah Cellars
The Wine:  2007 The Jack
The Price:  $12.99 at QFC (marked down from $19.99)

Saviah Cellars is a family-owned winery in Washington's Walla Walla Valley.  They were founded in 2000, so will be celebrating their 10th anniversary next year.

The Jack is a blend of 86% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Syrah and 2% Petite Verdot.

The wine was stopped with a natural cork, and was decanted one hour before tasting. 

The Jack is very dark purple in color.  It has aromas of blackberries, cherries, vanilla and a slight hint of pepper. 

The wine is absolutely delicious.  It has a big berry flavor, with a subtle pepper finish.  While the wine would benefit from some further aging, it is very drinkable today and is a bargain at $12.99.

I must admit that I knew before sampling that I would like this wine.  That's because I recently had occasion to sample the wine and liked it quite a bit.  So I sought out a bottle that I could review.

Inkberry 2007 Shiraz Cabernet

The Winery:  Inkberry

The Wine:  2007 Shiraz Cabernet
The Price:  $10.99 at QFC (marked down from $15.99)

Inkberry is an Australian winery located in the Central Ranges, in New South Wales.

The wine, a blend of 60% Shiraz and 40% Cabernet, is a very inky purple color.  The bottle was stopped with a screw cap and was decanted an hour before sampling.

The wine has aromas of blackberry, black currant, bell pepper and black pepper.

This wine has flavors of blackberry and cherry, balanced with a mild pepper flavor.  The wine has good fruit flavors without being overly sweet.  The pepper flavor is understated and is a great counterpoint to the fruit flavors.

This is a very nice Australian wine.  It is priced higher than other Australian wines that I've had, but it is worth the few extra dollars.  While not in the premium wine category, this is far superior to the main stream Australian wines and definitely worth trying.  

Col Solare 2006 Red Wine

The Winery:  Col Solare
The Wine:  2006 Red Wine
The Price:  This wine was provided by the winery.  The wine retails for $75 and can be purchased directly through the winery.

Col Solare is an interesting winery.  It is a partnership between Chateau Ste Michelle, a Washington State winery; and Marchesi Antinori, a Tuscany winery.  The partnership was formed with the intent of producing ultra-luxury wine. 

The 2006 Red Wine is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Syrah. 

As I would expect from a premium wine, the bottle was stopped with a natural cork.  I don't normally comment on the cork itself, but the cork in this bottle was exceptionally clear and seemed to be of higher quality than the corks I've encounter with other wines.  The wine was decanted an hour before tasting. 

The wine has a very, very deep burgundy color, taking on the color of a good Cabernet Sauvignon.  

The wine has very bright black cherry and blackberry aromas with a hint of vanilla.  The aromas are very well balanced and well pronounced. 

The wine is absolutely phenomenal! It has a very smooth and velvety feeling to it.  The wine has bold flavors of blackberries and black cherries with a chocolaty finish.  It is absolutely the best wine I've ever reviewed!  At this price point, it's clearly not an everyday wine.  But if you're looking for a great wine for the holidays or a special occasion, you can't go wrong with this one.  I very highly recommend it.

Scott Paul 2006 La Paulée Pinot Noir

The Winery:  Scott Paul
The Wine:  2006 La Paulée Pinot Noir
The Price:  $35.00 at Jack Cellars

Scott Paul Wines has an unusual history.  They were founded in 1999 in California.  But then they relocated to Oregon's Willamette Valley.  I don't recall ever hearing of a winery moving from one state to another.  If you think they were crazy for doing so, you do not understand how great the Willamette Valley is for growing Pinot Noir grapes.

The La Paulée Pinot Noir was stopped with a screw cap.  I much prefer a natural cork to a screw cap.  It's difficult to take a wine seriously when it is stopped with a screw cap.  The wine was decanted over an hour before tasting.

The wine is ruby in color, but not quite as dark as many of the Oregon Pinot Noirs that I've sampled.

The wine has aromas of cherries and blackberries.  The aromas are not as pronounced as I typically expect from a Pinot Noir.

The flavors of this wine are understated, but very good.  The wine has very well balanced flavors of blackberries and cherries.  It has the velvety feeling that I've come to expect from the better Oregon Pinot Noirs.   The wine is deliciously ready to drink now.

Campo Viejo 2005 Crianza Rioja

The Winery: Campo Viejo
The Wine:  2005 Crianza Rioja
The Price:  $9.99 at QFC

I've discussed Spanish wines previously when I reviewed the Campo Viejo 2001 Gran Reserva Rioja.  So I won't rehash what I said before, other than to state that Crianzas are younger wines.  This wine is aged in oak for 12 months before being bottled.

The bottle for this wine was stopped with a natural cork and decanted an hour and a quarter before tasting.

The wine is very dark purple, with very light penetrating through the wine in the glass.   It has aromas of blackberry, plum and vanilla.

It's a fairly flat wine, without a lot of flavor.  It's not bad, it just doesn't pack enough of a flavor punch.  It has plum and blackberry flavors with a very slight pepper finish.  I really wish there was more flavor to the wine.  I like the flavors that are there, I just want more of them.

I doubt I'll buy this wine again.  There are plenty of $10 wines that have more flavor than this.  If you're a fan of mildly flavored wines, this could be something you'd like.   

Rustenberg John X Merriman 2006

The Winery:  Rustenberg
The Wine:  John X Merriman 2006
The Price:  $28 at Jack Cellars

Rustenberg is located in the Stellenbosch region of South Africa.  The wine is a blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 13% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Fran and 1% Malbec.  The bottle was stopped with a natural cork and was decanted an hour before tasting.

This is a deep purple wine.  It has aromas of plums, tobacco and pepper.  It has a big, fruity blend of plum and cherry flavors with a pepper finish.  This is an extremely good wine.  Although I tend towards the NW Pinot Noirs, this is a great, fun wine.  I recommend giving it a taste.   

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Errazuriz 2006 Single Vineyard Carmenère

The Winery:  Errazuriz
The Wine:  2006 Single Vineyard Carmenère 
The Price:  $18 at Jack Cellars

Errazuriz is a Chilean winery that was founded in 1870.  This wine is single sourced from the Don Maximiano Estate.

Carmenère grapes were commonly grown in the Bordeaux region of France, and elsewhere throughout Europe.  In 1867, an outbreak of Phylloxera wiped out many vineyards and nearly caused the extinction of Carmenère.  The Carmenère vines in Chile were unaffected by the Phylloxera epidemic, and the grapes have thrived there.

The wine bottle was stopped with a natural cork, and was decanted just over an hour before tasting.

The wine is a very dark purple.  It has aromas of blackberries, bell peppers with a spicy black pepper undertone.

The wine has a fruity blackberry flavor at its base, and a very pronounced black pepper finish.  If you don't like a peppery wine, then this is not a good wine for you.  I really like the wine, however.  The flavor is well balanced and is very smooth.