Recession Review: Fetzer 2007 Pinot Noir

The Winery: Fetzer
The Wine: 2007 Pinot Noir
The Price: $6.98 at Safeway (marked down from $8.99)

I was shocked to find a Pinot Noir for less than $7. I don't see how they can produce a $7 Pinot Noir. Needless to say, I'm not expecting to find greatness here.

Fetzer is a California winery. They seem to focus on making mass-produced wines for the masses.

The bottle was stopped with a composite cork. The wine is a deep, dark red.

The wine has aromas of plum and berries, whith a fairly strong alcohol odor. It also has a bit of a plasticy aroma to it.

The wine is fairly harsh. It has flavors of berries and plum that are overwhelmed by the alcohol flavor. It is an eye-watering red wine. If you want to dip your toes into Pinot Noir for the first time, skip on this one. It is not a good representative of Pinot Noir.

That said, it is a servicable red wine for $7. This is, afterall, a recession review. This wine is the homely person on the bar stool at last call. It's not what you were hoping for when you walked it, but it'll get the job done.

Francis Ford Coppola 2007 Pinot Noir

The Winery: Francis Ford Coppola
The Wine: 2007 Pinot Noir
The Price: $17.98 at Safeway (marked down from $21.99)

I'm trying to not let two prejudices cloud my objectivity on this wine. First, I've had very few good Pinot Noirs that were less than $20/bottle. And second, I had a bottle of Francis Ford Coppola Claret a few years back, and I recall not liking it a whole lot. But nevertheless, I shall review this wine with the same open mind with which I review all wine.

This bottle was sealed with a natural cork. The grapes are from California's Monterey County, which seems to be where the bulk of the California Pinot Noir that I run across comes from.

This is a dark ruby colored Pinot Noir. It has aromas of raspberries and plums with a very subtle smokey aroma.

The wine has a tart cherry flavor to it that mellows to a smooth berry finish. It's far better than I would expect for a $20 mass produced Pinot Noir. I'm happily impressed. This would be a good wine for those nights that you're in the mood for a Pinot Noir, but don't want to drop $40+. Or to serve to that date that you're not quite sure which direction things are going. Save the really GOOD wine for the dates with whom you think you have a future.

Recession Review: Trinity Oaks 2007 Pinot Grigio

The Winery: Trinity Oaks
The Wine: 2007 Pinot Grigio
The Price: $5.99 at Haggen (marked down from $10.99)

Trinity Oaks is a California winery. I don't recall ever having any of their wines before.

The wine bottle was corked with a synthetic cork...disappointing. The wine is very light in color, with a very slightly yellow cast. It has aromas of pear and melon. Its a fairly dry wine with flavors of pear, melon and citrus.

This is just an okay wine. If I'd paid the regular $10.99 for it I would be fairly disappointed. At $5.99 it's not horribly priced but it's definitely not making me want to get it again.

Table Mountain Vineyards 2006 Rooster Red

The Winery: Table Mountain Vineyards
The Wine: 2006 Rooster Red
The Price: It was a gift, but I found that it sells online for $16

Table Mountain Vineyards is the first Wyoming wine I've ever seen, let alone tasted. They're located in Torrington, Wyoming. I had no idea that Wyoming had any wine industry. When I think Wyoming, I think cowboys, Devil's Tower and Yellowstone. Not wine.

The bottle was corked with a natural cork, which is a plus; however, the label is quite unprofessional looking. It looks like they printed it on their home computer.

The wine is a muddy red color, but it has pretty nice legs. It has perfume and strawberry aroma. The wine is...um...interesting. It is decidedly fruit forward. It tastes a bit like cherry SweetTart candy. It starts out sweet, and then it changes it's mind and goes sour. Then just when you're about to give up on it, it goes all sweet again. With each sip, you don't know what you're going to get. It's like a little roller coaster ride from Torrington. This is a wine that you probably wouldn't want to share with your friends. Or your family. Except maybe your mom. What am I saying? Wine should be shared. If you don't share it and just keep it hidden away in the cupboard, it just goes bad over time. And then nobody gets to enjoy it.

Recession Review: Red Truck 2006 Red Wine

The Winery: Red Truck Wines
The Wine: 2006 Red Wine
The Price: $6.99 at QFC (marked down from $10.99).

In the crowded wine market, a lot of wineries are turning to the label to attract customers. Red Truck is one such winery. I've wanted to review their wines for some time now, and seeing a price drop down to the recession review price range was just the nudge I needed to pick up a bottle.

According to the label, this wine is a blend of Syrah, Petite Shiraz and Cabernet Franc. The website adds Grenache and Mourvedre to the mix. Don't you just love it when companies give conflicting information? Me either.

The wine is corked with a natural cork. It is a dark red wine with good clarity. I decanted it about an hour before sampling it.

The wine has aromas of plum, cherry and berry. The wine is fairly fruity, with the flavor leaning decidedly towards berries. It has a bit of a peppery bite on the finish. Not a lot, just the Syrah saying hello. The wine has a slightly velvety texture to it, which appeals to the Pinot Noir lover in me.

At $10.99 this is a pretty decent wine. At $6.99 they really have my attention.

La Montecchia 2007 Fior D'arancio Spumante

The Winery: La Montecchia
The Wine: 2007 Fior D'arancio Spumante
The Price: $19.00 at Jack Cellars

I was at Jack Cellars yesterday, and Jack suggested that I review a Spumante. Since I've never reviewed one before, I thought it was a good idea. So I picked up a bottle of La Montecchia.

One thing that really intrigues me about this winery is that you can rent a home at the vineyard. I'd love to do just that. They're located near Verona and Venice. What better way to spend a couple of weeks in Italy? Who's with me? Anyway, I encourage you to check out the winery's website.

It goes without saying, but this wine has a natural cork stopper. We're not drinking Andre here.

The wine is pale yellow, about the color of straw, with just an ever-so-slight tinge of green. The wine has very good clarity.

It has a fruity aroma, with scents of orange and honey. The smell is rich and sweet.

This is a very sweet wine. Best saved for dessert. Jack told me that it tastes a lot like a orange creamcicle. I doubted him. He was right. The orange flavor is a little subdued and tastes more natural. But it does have a definite creamcicle flavor to it.

This is a good, fun wine. It would go rather nicely with a chocolate volcano cake sort of dessert, or maybe just a bit of very dark chocolate.

This wine puts a whole new spin on sparkling wines for me. I've always been more into the Brut's that are so dry that they're a step below sand. But I have to say, this is very interesting and fun.

Recession Review: Sea Ridge 2006 Syrah

The Winery: Sea Ridge Coastal Winery
The Wine: 2006 Syrah
The Price: $4.79 at Safeway

Searidge is a Napa Valley, California winery. They do not appear to have a website, so I really don't have any information to impart about the winery.

The bottle was sealed with a natural cork, which is a pleasant surprise in a sub-$5 bottle of wine. I decanted the wine about an hour before sampling it.

The wine is appropriately dark red in color. It has aromas of black cherry and plum.

This wine is surprisingly good! It has a very pleasant cherry and blackberry flavor. It is a fruit-forward Syrah, with a very subtle pepper finish. It's refreshing to find an enjoyable Syrah for the price of a latte! Buy this one! This is one Recession Review wine that I wouldn't be embarrassed to pour for guests.

Marq Vineyards 2006 Pinot Noir

The Winery: Marq Vineyards
The Wine: 2006 Pinot Noir
The Price: $18.99 at Albertson's (marked down from $20.99)

Marq Vineyards is a Monterey County (California) winery. Their website is just one page, and really doesn't give any information about the winery. Too bad...I find that sort of information to be interesting and useful.

I decanted the wine a hair over an hour before tasting it. The bottle was sealed with a natural cork.

The wine is appropriately deep red in color. It has good clarity and there was no notable sediment in the bottle.

The wine has aromas of berries, oak and a alcohol/sauerkraut combination.

Awful does not begin to describe this wine. It's downright gawd-awful, nasty, puke-inducing vileness in a bottle. I'd sooner wring the sweat out of my gym clothes into my wine glass than to suffer through another glass of this bile in a bottle. Yuck!

If my warnings have not deterred you, I suppose I should talk about what little taste there is to the wine. It does a seem to have a bit of a fruity flavor that is hiding deeply behind the over-pronounced peppery/alcohol flavor. And that sauerkraut aroma makes an unwelcome appearance in the flavor. Blech. No amount of aging will fix this wine.

Recession Review: Meridian 2005 Merlot

The Winery: Meridian Vineyards
The Wine: 2005 Merlot
The Price: $6.99 at QFC (on sale - regularly $12.99)

When I saw the significant markdown on this wine, I nearly rejected it as a recession review. But I ultimately decided that it fits my Recession Review rules. Part of the spirit of the recession review series is to find good wines at bargain prices.

I decanted this wine 50 minutes before the review. The wine bottle was stopped with natural cork.

The wine is very dark ruby in color. Very little light is transmitted through the wine. In other words, it is a typical Merlot.

The wine has berry aromas to it, along with a hint of yogurt.

The wine is a fairly unremarkable low-end Merlot. It has flavors of cherry, berry and cinnamon with a harsh pepper finish. It has a pronounced alcohol flavor.

At $12.99 I would be pretty disappointed with this wine. At $6.99 it's just OK. I'd rather get a $4.99 Chilean Merlot.

On whole, this wine greatly under delivers. I was excited to find a $12.99 wine nearly half-off.