Talbott 2009 Logan Pinot Noir

The Winery:  Talbott Vineyards
The Wine:  2009 Logan Pinot Noir
The Price:  $16.99 at Costco

Talbott is a California winery, located in the Central Coast AVA. The winery was established in 1982 by Robb Talbott,

The Logan Pinot Noir is made from Estate Grown grapes.  The bottle was stopped with a natural cork, and decanted an hour before tasting.  

The wine is dark red and has aromas of strawberry, cherry and blueberry.  The wine has crisp fruit flavors of tart cherry and blueberry with a peppery bite on the finish.  I find it to be richer and more full bodied than is typical of California Pinots, which I normally would like.  But unfortunately the flavors are too in your face, and the wine does not taste much like any Pinot Noir I've tasted.  It tastes more like a Petit Verdot, but not a good Petit Verdot.  This is a pretty bad wine, even overlooking the fact that it does not taste like a traditional Pinot Noir. 

The Crusher 2010 Clarksburg Petite Sirah

The Winery:  The Crusher (a label of Don Sebastiani and Sons)
The Wine:  2010 Clarksburg Petite Sirah
The Price:  $12.99 at QFC

The Crusher is one of the labels of Don Sebastiani and Sons.  In addition to The Crusher, Sebastiani produces Aquinas, B Side, s|k|n, Pepperwood Grove, The Paso Project, Smoking Loon and Big Green Box. 

The Petite Sirah is a blend of 76% Petite Sirah and 24% Merlot.  The bottle was stopped with a natural cork, and decanted an hour before tasting. 

The wine is a deep purple in color and has aromas of boysenberry, strawberry and just a slight hint of peppermint. 

The wine is anchored with a strawberry jam flavor, which is rounded out by fig, prune and tart grapefruit.  The wine is a bit heavy on tannins, but very enjoyable. 

St Francis 2008 Old Vines Zinfandel

The Winery:  St Francis
The Wine:  2008 Old Vines Zinfandel
The Price:  $16.99 at Safeway

St Francis is a Sonoma County, California winery.  The grapes for this wine were harvested from vines that are over 50 years old, with many of the grapes from 100+ year old vines.  The wine is aged from 12 to 15 months in American Oak. 

The bottle was stopped with a synthetic cork and decanted an hour before tasting.  The win is dark purple in color and has aromas of raspberry, black cherry, vanilla and blueberry. 

This is a very smooth, velvety wine.  It is bursting with big fruit flavors of cherry and blackberry with a hint of tobacco.  This is a fantastic wine at a very good price.  It's definitely one worth picking up. 

Gran Oristan Gran Reserva 2000 Red Wine

The Winery:  Gran Oristan
The Wine:  Gran Reserva 2000 Red Wine
The Price:  $11.89 at Safeway

Gran Oristan is a Spanish winery, with the grapes sourced from the La Mancha Denominación de Origen.  The wine is a blend of 65% Tempranillo and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon.  The wine is aged in American and French Oak for 24 months before bottling.  The bottle was sealed with a natural cork and decanted an hour before tasting.

The wine is dark red in color.  It has aromas of black cherry, prune, vanilla and blackberry.  It floods the palate with flavors of blackberry and cherry with a slight bite of pepper on the finish.  For under $12, this is a fantastic wine!

Columbia Crest 2009 Horse Heaven Hills Merlot

The Winery:  Columbia Crest
The Wine:  2009 Horse Heaven Hills Merlot
The Price:  $12.99 at Safeway

Those who regularly read my reviews may have noticed that I don't usually review Merlot.  That's because I'm really not much of a Merlot fan.  But this wine was recommended by a wine seller recently, so I thought I'd give it a try.

As the name indicates, the grapes for this Merlot were grown in Washington State's Horse Heaven Hills AVA.  The wine is a blend of 96% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Malbec.  The bottle was stopped with a natural cork and decanted an hour before tasting. 

The wine is very deep purple in color.  It has aromas of blackberry, plum and cherry.  This is an awesome Merlot!  It has a bold blackberry taste, blended with a cherry and chocolate finish.  The wine is very velvety and the flavors are rich, bold and smooth.  I highly recommend this one, even if (like me) you're not typically a fan of Merlot.

Quinta do Portal 2007 Mural Reserva

The Winery:  Quinta do Portal
The Wine:  2007 Mural Reserva
The Price:  $8.69 at Costco

Quinta do Portal is a Portugal winery, located in the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal.

The bottle was sealed with a natural cork, and the wine was decanted an hour before tasting. 

The wine is a blend of 40% Tinta Roriz, 40% Touriga Franca and 20% Touriga Nacional, with 25% of the wine being aged in French oak barrels for nine months before bottling.

The wine is a deep, dark burgundy in color.  It has aromas of cherry, blackberry, cassis and vanilla. 

The wine is a bit lighter in flavor than the dark color and rich aromas would indicate.  It is a delicious wine, with flavors of cherry and raspberry.  It is a nicely refined wine, with velvety smooth flavors. 

While the wine is not bursting with bold fruit flavors, it is a wonderful wine at an absolute bargain price.  It's definitely one worth checking out!

Chehalem 2007 Stoller Vineyards Pinot Noir

The Winery:  Chehalem
The Wine:  2007 Stoller Vineyards Pinot Noir
The Price:  $23.99 at Costco

Chehalem is an Oregon winery, located in the Willamette Valley's incredible Dundee Hills AVA.  Chehalem was founded in 1990 by Harry Peterson-Nedry
and Bill & Cathy Stoller.

The bottle was sealed with a natural cork, and the wine was decanted an hour before tasting. The wine is ruby in color with a slight brown cast to it.  It is a bit thinner in appearance than I prefer in a Pinot Noir.

The wine has aromas of blackberry, cherry, plum and leather.  It has flavors of raspberry, cherry and blackberry with just a touch of spice.

This is a very good wine.  It has bright fruit flavors, and is very smooth and well-balanced.  It's definitely a wine worth trying!

14 Hands 2009 Hot to Trot

The Winery:  14 Hands 
The Wine:  2009 Hot to Trot Red Blend
The Price:  $14.99 at Albertsons

14 Hands is a Washington winery, located in Patterson.  In addition to the Hot to Trot Red Blend, they make Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Reisling and a Hot to Trot White Blend.  The Hot to Trot Red is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petit Verdot, sourced from several AVAs throughout Washington State. 

The wine bottle was stopped with a natural cork and decanted an hour before tasting.  The wine is medium-dark burgundy in color, with a slight brown tint.

The wine has aromas of blackberry, blueberry and cassis.  It has very solid and well balanced fruit flavors of blueberry, blackberry, cherry and vanilla.  The flavors are bold without being overwhelming.  It is simply fantastic!  I highly recommend giving this one a try.

Bonny Doon Vineyards 2009 Contra

The Winery:  Bonny Doon Vineyards
The Wine:  2009 Contra
The Price:  $16 at PCC

Bonny Doon Vineyards is located in Santa Cruz, on California's central coast.  They have a quirky website, and they do not take themselves too seriously.  Their website, besides being quirky, is irritating to navigate and does not adhere to typical web design standards.  But I'm here to talk about wine, not websites.

The wine was sealed with a screw cap, as are all of Bonny Doon's wines.  On their website they have an explanation of why they use screw caps.  I don't necessarily agree with them, but they have clearly thought about the various choices for sealing bottles, and I appreciate that they explained their philosophy.

The 2009 Contra is a blend of 55.1% Carignane, 15.4% Grenache, 14.3% Mourvèdre, 7.1% Petite Sirah, 5.3% Zinfandel and 2.8% Syrah.

The wine was decanted 1 1/2 hours before tasting.  It very dark purple in color and has aromas of black cherry, blackberry and black licorice.  This is a very interesting wine.  It is fairly heavy in tannins, and has flavors of blackberry and cherry.  It is a bold wine, but it has a velvety soft finish.  I really like this wine.  And with each sip it gets better. 

Seghesio 2008 Sonoma Zinfandel

The Winery: Seghesio Family Vineyards
The Wine:  2008 Sonoma Zinfandel
The Price:  $23.99 at QFC

Seghesio Family Vineyards have been around since 1895.  The Seghesio history is pretty interesting.  Rather than recapping it and leaving out a lot of details, you can read it here if you're so inclined.

The wine is a blend of 89% Zinfandel, 8% Petite Sirah and 3% Syrah.  They barrel age the wine in 75% American Oak and 25% French Oak for 10 months prior to bottling.

The bottle was stopped with a natural cork, and the wine was decanted an hour before tasting.  It is very deep red in color, with just a hint of brown.  The wine has aromas of cassis, blackberry, raspberry, cherry and vanilla.

The wine is very well balanced, with flavors of blackberry, cherry and dark chocolate with a spicy undertone.  It's a velvety smooth wine that is running over with delicious fruit flavors.  This is simply a fantastic wine!