COLOR: 5/5 - More purple than red; very saturated.
NOSE: 11/15 - Initially there was lot of bacony goodness on the nose. That blew off pretty quickly and was left with muted cherry and leather. After 3 hours, vitually no nose. Points given for initial impression.
FLAVOR: 7/10 - Very straight-forward blackberry, black pepper, and leather.
FINISH: 6/10 - Not much going on with the very short finish. Echos of the flavors just slide away leaving nothing behind.
POTENTIAL: 2/5 - Not a lot here that indicates any advantages to holding on to this any longer.
OVERALL: 2/5 - Maybe past its prime, this wine just couldn't get out of its own way. Overpowered by a very simple red sauce with pasta and completely collapsed within a few hours of being open. This bottle definitely needed to be decanted; there was a considerable build-up of sediment in the bottle. Not a bad wine, very light-fare friendly.
** SCORE: 83/100 **
I'm really surprised where this wine came out. My first 'great' (don't laugh) experience with wine came probably 10 years ago in my early 20's at a friend's wedding where I had a Hogue Riesling. I knew nothing about wine and they had the Hogue on the all the tables. I grooved to the slender bottle and marveled at the synthetic 'cork.'
Fast forward to when I picked up a mixed half-case of Hogue wines around a year ago (in-store sale + Mail-In Rebate = cheeeeeep wine!) CellarTracker told me to drink this wine before it's time had passed, so it came outta the cellar tonight... and just didn't do it for me. The nose right out of the bottle saved this from being an 82 point (or lower) wine.
As I continue to finish the glass/bottle (1+ glasses went into the pasta sauce tonight) and ramble on, I came up with an imperfect metaphor for the wine as it's drinking now -- purple dry-erase marker. Imperfect because it's not all vapory like a marker, but it's got this fake essence about it and, well, something that evidently reminds me of being in a white-boarding session at work.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
2004 Generations of Sonoma Winery Highway 12 Serres Ranch
COLOR: 5/5 - Dark ruby red colored right to the edges.
NOSE: 12/15 - All elements of this wine are apparent on the nose -- berry jam Cab Sauvignon and vegetal Cab Franc are present, but an earthy Merlot nose dominates.
FLAVOR: 8/10 - Strong, bold flavors. Still somewhat tannic, but reasonably in balance with the fruit and other flavors in the wine.
FINISH: 7/10 - Finishes as sour cherry, dark chocolate, and still a bit tannin-dry.
POTENTIAL: 3/5 - Good structure, strong tannin, and strong fruit should result in a wine with some moderate cellarability.
OVERALL: 3/5 - Probably still needs a bit more time for the tannins to tame and mellow on the finish, but there's a nice blend of earthy and jammy flavors in this that make it a food-friendly wine as well as a good drink-alone (or with friends) wine.
Score: 88/100
I really got down with the blending here. I thought that the equal parts of CS, CF, and Merlot were deftly pulled together and created a wonderful drinking wine that showed each grape well.
NOSE: 12/15 - All elements of this wine are apparent on the nose -- berry jam Cab Sauvignon and vegetal Cab Franc are present, but an earthy Merlot nose dominates.
FLAVOR: 8/10 - Strong, bold flavors. Still somewhat tannic, but reasonably in balance with the fruit and other flavors in the wine.
FINISH: 7/10 - Finishes as sour cherry, dark chocolate, and still a bit tannin-dry.
POTENTIAL: 3/5 - Good structure, strong tannin, and strong fruit should result in a wine with some moderate cellarability.
OVERALL: 3/5 - Probably still needs a bit more time for the tannins to tame and mellow on the finish, but there's a nice blend of earthy and jammy flavors in this that make it a food-friendly wine as well as a good drink-alone (or with friends) wine.
Score: 88/100
I really got down with the blending here. I thought that the equal parts of CS, CF, and Merlot were deftly pulled together and created a wonderful drinking wine that showed each grape well.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
2004 Parker Station Pinot Noir
Parker Station Pinot Noir came up from the cellar tonight. Should've brought it up a week ago for Halloween 'cause MAN is this a scary wine!
78/100-
COLOR: 4/5 - Translucent, light cranberry red, dingy around the edges.
NOSE: 10/15 - Tight nose at first that begins to open after a few hours. It's somewhat rubbery, the alcohol is noticeable, and both overwhelm the raspberry and strawberry that are there.
FLAVOR: 5/10 - At first shot, there's something there, but it disappears rapidly. Bitter rhubarb is the dominant fruit flavor, but the wine tastes alcoholic and watered down and falls apart like a house of cards in about 3 seconds.
FINISH: 6/10 - Best part of the finish is that it's very short. The thin, bitter flavor carries into the finish and then just disappears.
POTENTIAL: 2/5 - Doesn't seem to have enough fruit character to survive more time it the cellar.
OVERALL: 1/5 - Not even an average Pinot Noir. Nose is by far the best aspect of this wine at 'average' and the balance, mouthfeel, flavor, and finish border on unpleasant. A poor example of the varietal, even at this low price point.
78/100-
COLOR: 4/5 - Translucent, light cranberry red, dingy around the edges.
NOSE: 10/15 - Tight nose at first that begins to open after a few hours. It's somewhat rubbery, the alcohol is noticeable, and both overwhelm the raspberry and strawberry that are there.
FLAVOR: 5/10 - At first shot, there's something there, but it disappears rapidly. Bitter rhubarb is the dominant fruit flavor, but the wine tastes alcoholic and watered down and falls apart like a house of cards in about 3 seconds.
FINISH: 6/10 - Best part of the finish is that it's very short. The thin, bitter flavor carries into the finish and then just disappears.
POTENTIAL: 2/5 - Doesn't seem to have enough fruit character to survive more time it the cellar.
OVERALL: 1/5 - Not even an average Pinot Noir. Nose is by far the best aspect of this wine at 'average' and the balance, mouthfeel, flavor, and finish border on unpleasant. A poor example of the varietal, even at this low price point.
Monday, November 5, 2007
2005 Caliterra Cabernet Sauvignon
Interesting wine, purchased from WTSO.com during their last marathon. I've learned the hard way *cough*Palandri*cough* not to trust their talk-up reviews of cheap wines, so I bought this expecting a $8 wine and in that light I wasn't disappointed.
It was a good QPR purchase and it's a nice change of pace from the Califruitia wines that dominate my cellar. That said, it's a squarely average wine that's just awkward.
82/100-
COLOR: 5/5 - Nice traditional burgundy color.
NOSE: 10/15 - Dirty, bacony nose with some smoke with elderberry/boysenberry deep down. Not overly expressive.
FLAVOR: 7/10 - Flavors are earthy, woody, with the smokiness from the nose coming through on the mid palate. Balance is suspect with the tannins jumping right out immediately.
FINISH: 6/10 - Oaky finish at first, replaced by a tannic bite again. Ends smokey.
POTENTIAL: 2/5 - While there's a prominent tannin character to this wine, there really isn't a whole lot of fruit that's begging to come out. Might be interesting to see what happens to this in a few years. Might not improve beyond where it is today.
OVERALL: 2/5 - Considered without regard to price, this is an okay bottle of wine. For an $8 wine, it's pretty decent. It would be a much better food-wine than a quaffing wine that would pair well with hearty fare (think shepherd's pie).
It was a good QPR purchase and it's a nice change of pace from the Califruitia wines that dominate my cellar. That said, it's a squarely average wine that's just awkward.
82/100-
COLOR: 5/5 - Nice traditional burgundy color.
NOSE: 10/15 - Dirty, bacony nose with some smoke with elderberry/boysenberry deep down. Not overly expressive.
FLAVOR: 7/10 - Flavors are earthy, woody, with the smokiness from the nose coming through on the mid palate. Balance is suspect with the tannins jumping right out immediately.
FINISH: 6/10 - Oaky finish at first, replaced by a tannic bite again. Ends smokey.
POTENTIAL: 2/5 - While there's a prominent tannin character to this wine, there really isn't a whole lot of fruit that's begging to come out. Might be interesting to see what happens to this in a few years. Might not improve beyond where it is today.
OVERALL: 2/5 - Considered without regard to price, this is an okay bottle of wine. For an $8 wine, it's pretty decent. It would be a much better food-wine than a quaffing wine that would pair well with hearty fare (think shepherd's pie).
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