Passages

Originally I had an “under $10″ Chardonnay planned for this week, but after opening and tasting it on Monday the wine was obviously flawed. There was nothing on the nose, no taste, just blah. What’s a daily wine’o to do? Haul out the on-hand bottle of Jadot 2009 Beaujolais Villages – everyone should keep at least 1 in stock just for just such emergencies.

I first encountered Beaujolais on our last cruise. Then it was a Georges Duboeuf and I liked it but didn’t spend time with it other than the one evening with dinner. Being new at this I wasn’t really sure what I smelled in the glass of Jadot Beaujolais Villages – not really zesty like a Sauvignon Blanc, but there were spice tones in there. Frankly it smelled a lot like, well grapes. Drinking it a room temperature there was a fair amount of acidity but not unpleasant and certainly way less than a New Zealand SB. It didn’t sting the sides of my mouth. It had a rough edge to it not in a bitter way but more tannic.

I had read that some drinkers prefer their Beaujolais chilled so I dropped the glass in the freezer for a few minutes while I got the evening meal of chicken breasts in mustard/beer sauce going. I guess you can count me in the “chilled” camp since I really enjoyed the cooled Beaujolais more than the room temperature version. The nose and taste were much more crisp and clean.

Over the course of the week I kept the bottle chilled and had it with whatever I was eating for dinner. The mild Colby cheese was OK, peanuts were a definite non-starter (killed the acidity), but it went really well with the pan-seared chicken, grilled hamburgers and moderately well with French bread pizza. I can definitely see me taking this to a summer BBQ on a warm day.

I payed less than $8 for the bottle, enjoyed drinking it and would have it again. It gets 84 point from me as long as it’s served chilled. Now you’ll excuse me while I go get another bottle to have on hand.

Before I got involved with drinking wine, a number of people that I hung out with brought Smoking Loon brand wines to parties. I always liked the label – a loon with a stogie. When I saw the 2007 Smoking Loon Pinot Noir on the shelf at Walmart I immediately missed the old label – no more cigar puffing foul. In the mood for an “over $10, under $20″ Pinot, I opted to pick it up in spite of the new PC label.

It was nice, dark and rich looking in the glass with a moderate amount of berry-cherry on the nose. There was a nice texture along with all the fruit that came through on the palate. What I was not expecting was the moderate level of acidity. I prefer less acidity in a red, but with soft, smooth tannins it wasn’t bad. It’s not and overly complex wine – simple and easy to drink if you don’t mind the acidity level.

While I like it, I don’t know that I’d pick up this vintage again. Perhaps a year younger would add some complexity, but I won’t know that until I have a 2008 now will I. In summary, 82 points mainly due to the amped acidity level – it moderated (or I did) as I drank more if it.

After last week’s success with the 2007 Rosemount Estates Shiraz, I was hoping lighting would strike twice, if not at the same vintage, at least with the same varietal. So on a whim I picked up a bottle of McGuigan 2008 Black Label Shiraz. After drinking it, I’m opting for where the lighting struck first.

In the glass it looked rich and the berry and spice smells got me going. Tasting it there were the berries, a small amount of spice, and, well, that was about it. Some low soft tannins kicked in but there wasn’t much else. While smooth and easy to drink, it lacked complexity and came off rather one dimensional. I’ve not plumbed the depths of Shiraz but the other ones I’ve tasted were better.

Overall I didn’t really enjoy this wine. I probably won’t buy this particular mass market brand, although from what I read, McGuigan’s has other brands that are better. I’ll have to keep an eye out for those and give them a whirl for comparison sake. Over all, 77 points. Those liking uncomplicated red wines are sure to rate this higher.

Over the last several weeks, I’ve eyed the 2009 Simi Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc while picking out other “over $10, under $20″ white wines. I’ve always intended to drink this on a Friday evening so this week I took the plunge. I made up a batch of bay scallops while the bottle chilled.

The color is on the light side – very pale. There’s a fair amount of citrus along with mineral and spice notes that come through on the nose and all of that comes through on the palate. There’s a reasonable amount of acidity but it’s not overpowering. While this is not a New Zealand style Sauvignon Blanc, it’s a good California style SB. If your tastes don’t turn toward the mineral side, you may want to look elsewhere. Though it’s not strong, the mineral-ness is there, but well balanced.

Overall I liked it. I found it nicely balanced and it definitely went well with the scallops and ginger broccoli I had for dinner. That landed it at about 85 points for me.

I had a hard time waiting to uncork this week’s “under $10″ bottle of wine. The move away from Sauvignon Blanc made me anxious to try the Cupcake Vineyards 2009 Central Coast Chardonnay that I picked up on Saturday. I spent the weekend reading up on what to expect from a Chardonnay, some criticisms on its current state (overly syrupy in some humble opinions) and thinking about the few bottles that I have had.

Come Monday I was read to go. The color was more gold than the SBs and there was some vanilla, pear, pineapple, and lighter citrus present on the nose. Crisp but not as brash as the NZ SBs I had over the last 6 weeks. While I expected sweetness, there was pleasantly less that I expected. The fruit came through fine along with that toasty buttery flavor and the vanilla and some mineral-ness . The acidity kicked in late compared to a SB, but still there. Creamy and nicely drinkable.

The week found me eating this with some cheddar and havarti cheese, both of which borough out more of the vanilla notes. The fish and pizza went well too. The only dish I didn’t particularly enjoy it with was meatloaf, perhaps if it were a bit more oak-ey.

It scored well for me at 84 points.

Normally Saturday is a Pinot Noir night, but our group of friends were headed out to the local ski park to do some inter-tube sledding, I was making chili for later and Pinot Noir didn’t sound quite right. Instead I went shopping for a Shiraz/Syrah and ended up taking home Rosemount Estates 2007 Diamond Label Shiraz. I originally picked up a 2008 vintage, but saw a 2007 sitting in the rear.  Figuring older was better (my wine guide says 3-5 years on an Aussie Shiraz) I grab it instead.

Now I have no way of knowing if that extra year was worth it, and to be honest I’ve had but perhaps one bottle of Shiraz in my short wine life, but this was rather good, especially with my chili. As I said I’m no Shiraz expert, I’m just getting my feet wet, so I’m not sure what I was smelling exactly but there were a lot of berries in there (blackberries if I had to guess) and I could smell the peppery spice. It tasted pretty good going down, not too acidic, strong but not overpowering, and the tanins were light even without the chili. When I had it with the chili I knew I did well. They went quite nicely together.

Since I’m new to Shiraz, I’m giving this an 85. If there’s another 2007 still on the shelf next week I’m going to pick it up. At $13, it’ll be nice to have on hand.

Friday’s “over $10, under $20″ Sauvignon Blanc category keeps going and going. This week it was Sterling Vineyards 2009 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc from California. As usual it was down to two and I picked the American one again (I’m a sucker for the USA).

The color was decent and smelled of citrus and melon with a hint of pineapple perhaps. Moderately acidic, what I smelled came through on the taste. There was just an ever so light hint of bitterness on the finish – not strong, but still there. What I got from reading the web site was that there is a slight bit of oak aging and some blending with other grapes. Perhaps the oak again is what I’m picking up on the finish. I’ll have to watch for that since more than once a bitter taste on the finish was with a SB that was oak’ed. Interesting…

The sight bitterness put this one at 83 points for me.

It’s really been fun exploring the “under $10 2009 Sauvignon Blanc” category over the last 6 weeks. I have only 1 catch-up note: there’s a brand that I tried at the beginning that didn’t make it the list and for completeness I want to make note of it.

My first Sauvignon Blanc in the “under $10″ category was Cono Sur’s 2009 Bicycle Sauvignon Blanc. The crispy zestiness, strong grapefruit, and acidity set the tone for my exploration of this category. I really though that I’d have a hard time finding another that I enjoyed as much, but much to my surprise I found more in the “new world” SB category that were equally good. Still, the “bicycle” was in the  8/10 range. On a whim I picked up another bottle of “Bicycle” the other night. Although it was good, I think I enjoyed at least one other more.

As I’ve mentioned before the “under $10″ Sauvignon Blanc category seems to have run its course. Not only are they hard to find, I’m getting a litte worn of having a glass of it daily for the moment. If I find another in that range I’ll try it but for now I’m moving on.

So, in looking back at this category, these are the ones I’d drink again, in order of preference:

• Santa Rita’s 120
• Cono Sur’s Bicycle
• Rancho Zabaco’s Dancing Bull
• Sebeka

Turning Leaf is way to weak for my taste buds, and Lapostolle Casa on the bitter side. All in all it’s been a nice 6 week run with the “under $10″ Sauvignon Blancs of 2009. I look forward to having these again over the summer.

Now, on to “under $10″ Chardonnay.

This is probably my last “under $10″ Sauvignon Blanc. I may find some others, but aside from some E & G and other under $6 brands there’s nothing more in my neck of the woods. In a way ending with the 2009 Sebeka Sauvignon Blanc was a good choice. It’s my one and only South African in this range and it sort of rounds out the non-European run I’ve been on. Sorry but there are not any French, Italian or Spanish SBs out there under $10.

The Sebeka was quite pale in color. Smelled of citrus and melons, perhaps some pear but not strongly. The fruit came through on the taste but didn’t linger. Only slightly acidic, as compared to some the New Zealand SBs I’ve had; more like a California SB.

Per usual I had this over the course of the week with bread, cheese, spicy chicken dishes and a Thai dish and pizza. It held up reasonably with against all that, but to be quite honest, I didn’t notice it much.

On my personal scale, a mid 7/10 (ok 76, I’m giving into points). If it’s the only SB in the cooler besides Turning Leaf and you need a quick grab and go, you could do a lot worse, but there are better ones out there.