Passages

The 2008 Cavit Collection Pinot Noir was a pleasant surprise. I picked this up on my shopping trip to Walmart for under $10. I expected a reasonable amount of tannins. I was wrong. This Pinot Noir had very soft tannins and great sour cherry and black berry on the nose which carried right over into the taste. The finish had a slight chalky-ness that wasn’t always there but when it was, it didn’t detract from the experience.

I experienced this all by itself through two movies and the tannins never became harsh. It’s not quite as smooth as the 2007 Firesteed, for under $10, this is one I may have to keep on hand. If the last 2 Italian Pinot Noirs are good indicators, I may have to invest more time in discovering them.

If the “under $10″ Sauvignon Blanc category is getting thin, the “over $10, under $20″ still has a lot of legs. There are a wide variety of choices in that range. I have a feeling I’ll be in this category of varietal well into the late spring and perhaps early summer.

I picked up a bottle of Rodney Strong 2009 Charlotte’s Home Sauvignon Blanc at the local liquor store on Friday and stuck it in the fridge to chill while I made dinner – tuna croquettes with peas and perl onions in a butter sauce. While the pairing wasn’t a problem, I had issues once again with a California screw cap. Guess I’ll have to get over that since it’s more common than not now. Perhaps I just like the uncorking experience. Regardless, the $14.99 bottle was really nice, I mean really nice! While not as brash as a New Zealand, there was citrus there but also some softer notes on the nose, pear perhaps. All that lingered nicely through the finish. There was a slight mineral taste there, but not unpleasant or powerful. Nicely subtle.

I should have purchased 2 bottles since it went down way too easy. I had to pace myself to make it last the evening. In some ways it reminded me of more expensive Sancerre, but not quite as delicate.

I’ll give this one a 9/10 on my scale. It certainly was worth the $14.99 and I’m keeping this one in mind as the spring approaches.

I’ve been eyeing the 2009 Dancing Bull Sauvignon Blanc Winemaker’s Reserve from Rancho Zabaco in my local grocery stores for a few weeks now primarly due to it’s “under $10″ price tag. That classification is getting in short supply in from my local wine shops, which may force me to starting looking at another varietal in the “under $10″ category.

Initially the screw cap on a California wine put me off, but since the Kiwi’s do it, what the heck. Besides, the bull on the logo looked to be having fun! The first sniffs on the nose wafted up that strong New Zealand style citrus that I’ve come to love. The taste was brashly acidic (read strong here). After about 10 seconds or so it mellowed out somewhat and the citrus came through fine.

Per usual I had the wine with dinner every night, no matter what I was eating. It went well with the chicken sausage and pasta as well as the neapolitan style skillet pizza. The taco’s would have gone better with a different wine, but it held it’s own. About the only thing I’ve eaten with a sauvignon blanc that I didn’t enjoy was pop corn.

In the “under $10″ price range, I give this a high 8/10 (may have to start switching to points here since some 8′s are better than others). I can see drinking this on a hot summer day – which in the cold of a New England winter seems pretty distant.

Perhaps the Firesteed 2007 that I had on the cruise was atypical for a Pinot Noir. Perhaps it’s clouding my view of  others. So far I’ve not found one that has the smoothness and roundness of Firesteed. Despite that, the 2008 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Pinot Noir was pretty good. Lots of rich berry and subtle spices were evident on the nose.

There were more tannins in there than I was expecting but it wasn’t unpleasant. There was this interesting metallic finish that was intermittently there along with an occasional soft sweetness up-front. They were not there all the time – just every so often. Again, not all that unpleasant.

As this was my Saturday bottle of Pinot, I didn’t have it with dinner, but I did have some cheese with it. The tannins settled down some with the fat from the cheese. All in all a decent Pinot. It was in the “over $10, under $20″ range, but just over the line. I picked this one up at WallyWorld and would do so again if I needed a decent tasting Pinot Noir.

An 8/10 on the personal enjoyability meter.

I have to admit that the label on the 2009 Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc caught my eye as I walked down the wine isle at the liquor store. So when I was trying to decide between it and another, the label won me over for my “over $10, under $20″ Friday night beverage.

It definitely not your typical Marlborough, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc – well at least to me so far. While there’s definitely citrus and grass on the nose, there’s also some other fruit in there that I’m not familiar with (gooseberry perhaps). At any rate all that came through on both the nose and pallet. I had it with some soft cheese, the remainder of my home-made bread, and some left over chicken curry. It did well with all three.

After having had several Kiwi wines, Monkey Bay SB was an interesting departure. Another 8/10 on the personal scale. I’ll be keeping this one in mind when I want a “change of pace” from the typical Sauvignon Blanc.

Having spent a week with this Chilean wine I can honestly say that I enjoyed Santa Rita’s “120″ Sauvignon Blanc. Crisp, light, fruity with a fair amount of green apple, citrus, and grass that came through on the nose as well as the palate. There was a slight mineral taste that was pleasing on the quick finish.

During the week I had this with crispy, breaded chicken, spicy curry, soft cheese and  a turkey panini. It never let me down. This is another “under $10″ keeper that I’ll be spending more time with during the summer.

It gets and 8/10 on my personal scale.

Usually I pick out a red wine (and usually Pinot Noir at that) to have on Saturday night. However this weekend we got together with friends at a “post cruise” party. Everyone brought and shared their pictures – a great time. It was also a “pot luck” affair and I had a taste for the island “salsa” ceviche as well as some smoked BBQ. So rather than go “red” I opted for a lightly oak’ed chardonnay.

I think I made a good choice in a $10 bottle of  2008 Toasted Head Chardonnay from R.H. Phillips. I picked the bottle up at Walmart on a whim (OK I liked the fire-breathing bear on the label) while I was shopping for the party. Chardonnay isn’t one I usually pick out (OK, I’ve never picked a Chardonnay out), but the one wine class I’ve had made an impression on me that an oaked version can go with meat AND fish.

The rich nose of spice, pear and other fruits combined with a rich buttery taste that I found hard to resist with the BBQ and the ceviche! It was very smooth going down and had a rich finish that I really enjoyed. I’m not sure if this is what Chardonnay is supposed to taste like, but I really enjoyed this particular incarnation. I’ll be back for more of this.

I don’t know that I can give it a “9″ since it’s my first full bottle of Chardonnay, so an upper 8 out of 10 is what I’ll settle on for now.

The scallop-fish ceviche as well as the winter-charcoal grilled pulled-port BBQ turned out really well too.

I have difficulty picking in this category week to week. There are just a lot of wines that are “over $10, under $20″. This week I decided to go in the middle of the road and hit a $17.99 bottle that was on sale for $15.99. Do more dollars make a better wine?

My first experience with Frei Brothers Reserve 2009 Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc was not quite what I was expecting. The nose was crisp and fruity, but there was an underling texture that’s not usually present in other Sauvignon Blanc’s I’ve had. I was fully prepared to be disappointed but after a taste I realized the wine was in a slightly different class. Not better, just different. There was a definite mineral-ness to the wine and a “something else” I just could not put my finger on – an earthy something that sat aside the crisp, tangy fruity/grassy notes.

After reading their website I see that they age at least part of the product in oak for a short period and blend that back with the un-oak part. While it may be the oak’ing, it may be the entire processing package that gives this wine its distinct taste.

All that said, I enjoyed this wine down to the last drop – 8/10 on a personal scale and I’d drink it again.

This week’s “under $10″ Sauvignon Blanc was more like “under $8″. Most other wines I’ve had in this category were quite crisp, had lots of fruit flavor and a nice green-gold color. Unfortunately, the Gallo Family’s Turning Leaf 2009 Sauvignon Blanc didn’t hold up in any of those categories.

The color was on the pale side of green-gold, and the citrus notes rather watery - definitely not crisp. The nose of this was hard to place – there was some citrus notes in there but nothing jumped out of the glass at me. I did pair it with spicy food as well as some soft cheese, but nothing seemed to enhance the flavor or structure of this lack-luster wine.

Looking around the Internet I see that some folks gave this wine an 80′ish rating and “3 out of 5″. Sorry but after some of the other wines I’ve had in this category, Ernest and Julio could do much better. I’m giving this a 5/10.

Saturday’s are about a “over $10, less than $20″ reds. Unfortunately there isn’t a lot to drink that’s aged well sitting around in the supermarket or liquor store. Beyond the Beaujolais, Pinot Noir is the next thing that’s nearly ready to drink from the vintages available at the store.

I ran into the Feudo Arancio Pinot Noir after having nearly settled on a 2008 California Pinot Noir. I’m trying to stay in the 2008 or earlier vintage since 2009 is a bit early to drink for me.

The nose was good with lots of berry. Being new at this I’m not good at distinguishing what berries, but believe me there were a fair amount of them in there. Had decent balance with some lingering tannins on the finish. I’m still getting my tannin legs and for me less is more, especially when I’m not drinking it with a meal  - which was the case Saturday night. It went down well enough over 2 movies with popcorn.

I’d drink it again as it garnered an 8/10 on the personal rating scale.