Bogle Vineyards 2008 Petite Sirah

The Winery:  Bogle Vineyards
The Wine:  2008 Petite Sirah
The Price:  $9.99 at Safeway

Bogle is a California winery, located in the Sacramento delta.  The grapes used in this wine are from Clarksburg and Lodi.  

The wine bottle was stopped with a natural cork and decanted an hour before tasting.  The wine is dark purple in color and has aromas of blueberry, plum and toast.

This is a fairly tannin-intense wine, with flavors of cranberry, blackberry, plum, vanilla and tobacco.  The wine is well balanced and has plenty of nicely developed flavors.  If you're a fan of Petite Sirah, this is definitely one wine that you should check out for yourself.
  

Dunham Cellars 2008 Three Legged Red

The Winery:  Dunham Cellars
The Wine: 2008 Three Legged Red
The Price:  $15.74 at QFC

Dunham is a Walla Walla, Washington winery.  They have been making wine since 1995, with their first release being a Cabernet Sauvignon.  Before starting Dunham Cellars, founder Eric Dunham interned at Hogue Cellars and L'Ecole No. 41. Besides making the wine, Eric creates the original artwork for some of the wine.

This wine gets it's name from Eric's dog, who he saved from an attack by another dog.  The wine is a blend of grapes, but the exact grapes and percentages are not listed on the bottle or the company website.  The bottle was stopped with a natural cork and decanted an hour before tasting.

The wine is very dark purple in color and has aromas of plum, black cherry and raspberry.  The wine has flavors of blackberry and cherry.  This wine is incredibly delicious!  It is rich and velvety, and bursting with wonderful fruit yumminess!    

Willakenzie 2006 Pinot Noir Pierre Léon

The Winery: Willakenzie
The Wine: 2006 Pinot Noir Pierre Léon
The Price: Retails for $38 (I had it in a restaurant, so I paid above retail)

This is unusual for me.  I am reviewing a wine that I had at a restaurant.  I have never done this before.  I am on vacation in Maui, and had dinner at Mama's Fish House.  If you ever get to Maui, I highly recommend you make a point of having dinner there.  This is a destination dining spot, so reservations are highly recommended.

The wine was served immediately upon opening, and was not decanted prior to tasting.  The wine bottle was stopped with a natural cork.

The wine is bright red in color and has aromas of cherry, cassis and blackberry.

This is a lighter Pinot Noir than I usually like.  But this one is very well developed and is bursting with great fruit flavors.  It has flavors of plum, cherry and blackberry.  The wine was good when first opened, but after 30 minutes, the flavors really came alive!  It is a very fabulous wine.  If you can get your hands on a bottle, it is definitely worth trying!

Cantina Zaccagnini 2007 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

The Winery:  Cantina Zaccagnini
The Wine:  2007 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
The Price:  $11.49 at Costco

Cantina Zaccagnini is an Italian winery.  The grapes are from Catignano in the Varano district, which is located in southern Italy.  The wine is made from 100% Montepulciano d'Abruzzo grapes.

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

The wine is dark ruby in color and has aromas of leather, plum, blackberry, oregano and just a hint of chocolate.

The wine has flavors of plum, cherry, leather, tobacco and green tea.

This is a pretty good wine.  It's flavors are interesting and well developed.  But I'm having difficulty with it because it's really not like any wine I've tasted before.  The flavors are good, but the wine tastes unfamiliar.  It tastes like wine, but it doesn't taste like any wine I've ever tasted before.  It's definitely worth picking up a bottle to experience something different.

J Lohr Estates 2008 South Ridge Syrah

The Winery: J Lohr
The Wine: 2008 South Ridge Syrah
The Price: $10.99 at QFC

 J Lohr is a California winery, located on the central coast near Monterey. The winery was founded by Jerry Lohr, who planted the first of the grape vines in 1972.

The Syrah is a blend of 93% Syrah, 3% Petite Sirah, 3% Grenache and 1% "other reds".  The wine was aged in American and French oak barrels for 14 months before bottling. 

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

The wine is deep burgundy in color.  It has aromas of blackberry, blueberry and plum.

This is a fantastic Syrah!  It has very smooth and extremely well balanced flavors of blackberry and blueberry that combine in a velvety explosion of fruity goodness!  

Besides making a wonderful Syrah, I appreciate the thoughtfully designed and very informative website that J Lohr has built.  

Don Sebastiani & Sons 2009 The Crusher Petite Sirah

The Winery:  Don Sebastiani & Sons
The Wine:  2009 The Crusher Petite Sirah
The Price:  $11.99 at QFC


Don Sebastiani & Sons is a California winery.  While located in Sonoma, they source grapes from several appellations.  The grapes for this wine were sourced from the Clarksburg AVA, in the San Francisco Bay area. 


The wine bottle was stopped with a synthetic cork and decanted an hour before tasting.


The wine is very dark purple in color.  It has muted aromas of blackberries and plums, but it is fairly lacking in aromas at all. 


This is a disappointingly bland wine.  There is just not much flavor to it.  The flavor that is there is good, but it's amazingly lacking.  The wine has flavors of blackberry and plum.  The flavors in the wine are very well balanced and very smooth, but it lacks punch.  If the flavors were at all pronounced, I'd highly recommend this wine.  But given how underwhelming the flavors are, I have a hard time endorsing this.  It's too bad, because I'm always on the hunt for a really good Petite Sirah.

Yalumba 2008 Eden Valley Shiraz Viognier

The Winery:  Yalumba
The Wine:  2008 Eden Valley Shiraz Viognier
The Price:  $13.99 at Costco

Yalumba is an Australian winery.  Founded in 1849, they are Australia's oldest family owned winery.  The name Yalumba comes from an aboriginal word meaning, "all the land around." 

The Shiraz Viognier is comprised of 97% Shiraz and 3% Viognier, all sourced from southern Australia's Eden Valley.

The wine bottle was stopped with a screw cap and was decanted an hour before tasting.  The wine is very dark purple in color. It has velvety smooth aromas of plum, cherry and cassis. 

This is an incredibly delicious wine with very smooth and well balanced flavors of plum and cherry with a slightly spicy finish.  I absolutely love this wine!  And at the price it is a great bargain!

Dussek Family Cellars 2007 Syrah

The Winery: Dussek Family Cellars
The Wine: 2007 Syrah
The Price: $15.99 at Costco

 Dussek is one of the wines produced by Woodhouse Family Cellars, a winery located in Woodinville, Washington.  Woodhouse has been making wine since 2004, so they are a relative newcomer to the industry.

The bottle was stopped with a natural cork, and the wine was decanted 45 minutes before tasting.

This is a very dark purple wine with aromas of cherry, blackberry, plum and vanilla.

It is a very tasty wine, with a blackberry base, accented with cherry, plum and black pepper.  This is a very good Syrah.  It's definitely one worth checking out!

Erath 2008 Pinot Noir

The Winery: Erath
The Wine:  2008 Pinot Noir
The Price:  $14.69 at Safeway

I last reviewed Erath's wine just over two years ago, it was their 2006 Pinot Noir, and at the time I was not overly impressed.  2008 is supposed to be a very good year for Oregon Pinot Noirs, so I thought I should revisit Erath.

Erath is still sealing their bottles with screw caps.  The wine was decanted an hour before tasting.

The wine is is fairly light red in color.  It has aromas of cherry, plum and cassis. 

Like the 2006, the 2008 Pinot Noir is light and thin.  It has flavors of cherry, blackberry and cranberry.  It also has a bit more alcohol flavor to it than I would expect. It has more robust flavor than I recall from the 2006, but it is still lacking the rich, velvety flavors of a great Oregon Pinot Noir.  If you are looking for a great Pinot Noir, this isn't it.  But it is a drinkable wine at a decent price.  At the price, I half-heartedly recommend this wine.  But I'd rather spend more money and get a great Oregon Pinot Noir.      

Michael-David 2008 7 Deadly Zins

The Winery:  Michael-David
The Wine:  2008 7 Deadly Zins
The Price:  $11.99 at Safeway

I've been wanting to review this wine for quite some time, partly because I can sometimes be a sucker for a clever name, but more because I really enjoy Michael-David's Petite Petit.  7 Deadly Zins is so named because the wine is a blend of grapes from seven different Lodi (California) vineyards.

The bottle was stopped with a natural cork and decanted slightly more than an hour before tasting.

The wine very dark purple.  It has aromas of plum, blackberry and blueberry.  It has a bit of a bite to it, owing to it's 15% alcohol content.  Once you get past that, it's a very delicious wine.  It has very robust flavors of cherry, cinnamon, blueberry and raspberry, wrapped in a blanket of black pepper.  Despite the peppery bite, the wine has a very velvety smoothness to it.

This is another great wine from Michael-David!