Waterbrook 2013 Reserve Merlot

The Winery:  Waterbrook
The Wine:  2013 Reserve Merlot
The Price:  $25.00

Waterbrook is a Washington State winery, located in Walla Walla. Waterbrook is one of Washington's early wineries, opening their doors in 1984. They are a winery that I discovered long ago - probably 16 years or so. They were the first winery to get me beyond the $5 bottle mentality. I reviewed one of their wines in 2009, so it is time for another go around.

The Waterbrook Reserve Merlot is made from 100% Merlot grapes. The grapes are sourced from three vineyards: Mirage, Canyon Vineyard Ranch and Pepper Bridge, all in the Columbia Valley AVA. The wine is aged for 22 months in a blend of American Oak (94%) and French Oak (6%). Each vintage is aged in 25% new oak barrels. The wine was stopped with a natural cork and decanted an hour before tasting.

The Wine is a very deep purple in color, with just a slight hint of brown. It has aromas of cherry, vanilla, dried plum, and a very slight hint of black pepper. It has a pronounced cherry flavor with a strong vanilla back. It has more subtle tones of raspberry, pepper and oak. The wine is very good and drinkable today, but it has pronounced tannins and a bit of a bite that should yield an even better wine after a few years in the cellar.

Liberty School 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon

The Winery: Liberty School (from Hope Family Wines)
The Wine: 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon
The Price: $16.00

Liberty School is one of Hope Family Wines from Paso Robles, California. The wine is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 5% Syrah; all from the Paso Robles AVA. The wine was aged in 10% new French and American Oak and 90% neutral French and American Oak barrels.

The wine was capped with a natural cork. It was decanted an hour before tasting.

The Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon is an extremely dark ruby color. It has aromas of blackberry, cherry, cassis, and black pepper. It has flavors of tart cherry, blackberry, vanilla and a slight hint of cinnamon.

This is a very good wine. At $16, it is a bargain for a wine of this quality.

Ex Umbris 2014 Syrah

The Winery: Ex Umbris
(produced and bottled by Owen Roe)
The Wine: 2014 Syrah
Retail Price: $21

Ex Umbris is produced by Owen Roe, who, interestingly enough, produce both Yakima Valley (Washington) and Willamette Valley (Oregon) wines. They have been around since 1999, so they must be doing something right.

The Ex Umbris Syrah is made from grapes from the DuBrul, Outlook, Red Willow and Union Gap Vineyards; all in Washington. Ex Umbris originally began from a wildfire in 2002, which, apparently, resulted in a phenomenal Syrah that year. They bottled it under the Ex Umbris name, and their fans have pressured them to continue the Ex Umbris brand. For those who are not up on their Latin, Ex Umbris translates to, "from the shadows," which is appropriate given the roots of this wine.

The bottle was stopped with a natural cork (and a wax seal at the top). It was decanted an hour before tasting. The wine is very dark burgundy in color. It has aromas of cherry, plum, leather and blueberry. This is a very big, juicy wine with delicious plum and blackberry flavors and an incredible cherry finish. It is very smooth and bursting with flavor! This is a very special Syrah that is very much worth checking out.

Zin-Phomaniac 2013 Zinfandel

The Winery: Zin-Phomaniac

The Wine: 2013 Zinfandel
Retail Price: $18.99

Zin-Phomaniac is a Sonoma County, California winery. I usually shy away from gimmicky labels and/or names.  But this one was very well done, and used embossed, raised accents, which is not an inexpensive upgrade.

Zin-Phomaniac sources their grapes from the Lodi AVA, and their grapes all come from old vine stock. All of their grapes come from vines that are 20-75 years old. Their wine is aged for 9 months in new and aged oak barrels.

The wine bottle was stopped with natural cork, and was decanted an hour before tasting. It is deep burgundy in color.

The wine has aromas of cherry, dark chocolate and vanilla with a hint of black pepper.

The Zin-Phomaniac has a bit of a pepper bite, followed by flavors of juicy cherries and raspberries, and finally a rich chocolatey finish. This is a really good wine...sexy, bold, and arousing. It is much better than I hoped for when I selected it for review. It is definitely a conversation starter - a fun wine to take to a party. Probably not a great wine to impress a woman on a first date, though.

B Side 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon

The Winery:  B Side
The Wine:  2011 Cabernet Sauvignon
The Price:  $16.99 at Costco

B Side is a secondary label of Don Sebastiani & Sons.  The grapes for B Side wines are sourced from vineyards on the eastern slopes of the Napa Valley, hence the name B Side (for those who don't know, the B Side of 45s and 78s was the song on the flip side of the record from the hit song...sometimes the song on the B Side was good, other times not so much).

The bottle was stopped with a natural cork and decanted an hour before tasting.  The wine is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petite Verdot and 4% Merlot grapes.  It has aromas of blackberry, vanilla, caramel and cassis.

The wine has flavors of cranberry, cherry, chocolate and almonds.  It is a bright, fruity wine with plenty of tannins.  It is a very delicious wine that boasts deep fruity flavors.  If you are not one who enjoys being smacked in the face with tannins, then this probably isn't a wine for you.  But I find it to be very enjoyable and one that I would definitely recommend giving a try.

Apolloni 2010 Cuvee Pinot Noir

The Winery:  Apolloni
The Wine:  2010 Cuvee Pinot Noir
The Price:  $19.99 at Whole Foods

Apolloni is an Oregon winery located in the Willamette Valley AVA.  The winery was founded in 1999 by Alfredo Apollini, a first-generation American.

The wine is made from Dijon and Pommard clones.  It was aged for 16 months in French Oak barrels.  The bottle was stopped with a natural cork and decanted an hour before tasting.

The wine is light red in color with a slightly brown tone.  It has aromas of moss, cherry and grass.

The wine has flavors of cherry, raspberry and vanilla.  It is a light and thin example of an Oregon Pinot Noir, which is the norm for a $20 bottle.  It's a decent wine, but one that would move from decent to exceptional if the flavors and aromas were more pronounced. 

Pendulum 2010 Red Wine

The Winery:  Pendulum
The Wine:  2010 Red Wine
The Price: $15.99 at Whole Foods

Pendulum is a Washington State winery, located in Walla Walla.  This wine is a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 15% Grenache, 14% Mouvedre and 3% Malbec.  The wine was aged in French and American oak barrels for 19 months before bottling.  The bottle was stopped with a natural cork and decanted for an hour before tasting.

The wine is dark purple in color.  It has aromas of blueberry, cherry, leather and chocolate.  This is a very delightful wine.  It is bursting with fruit flavors of sour cherry and blackberry with subtle undertones of cocoa and vanilla.

This is a very good wine at a good price.  I recommend giving this one a try.  It's a fine example of the quality of Washington blended wines.  

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.