Hmm. There was a tag under this bottle saying 90 points from someone. I thought it was WE or WS. I sincerely hope not. This wine is drinkable, yeah, but not at all balanced. Too acidic and too fruity at the same time. I didn’t finish my glass and the rest of the bottle is in the fridge, waiting for me to learn how to cook coq au vin.
paid: $9
scored: 75
I’m having nostalgia for the days when I couldn’t tell Chateau Margaux from Mouton Cadet. With Champagne and its less famous, non-regionally branded comrades, “hhiigh hhknow hhnu-theeng”. Except, that this bottle was light, tasty and worth going back for seconds. I need a crash course in bubbly before I open the bottle of vintage ‘98 Billecart-Salmon we received as a gift! Off to a good start.
paid: $10
scored: - (no basis for score, but I’d buy it again)
Just outside the tiny town of Sunol (east of San Francisco) is a tiny winery. We found this by accident. The tasting room is in an aging Victorian House, and the wines were also strangely old. Most places are pouring their 2007 efforts, Elliston is breaking out the 2001. Wow. The prices were also strangely low. To be fair, this isn’t major league wine. But you know its above average when it is drinking nicely 8 years after its vintage.
paid: $11
scored: 88
I can’t take credit for this find. Somehow I heard that this bottle won big at a recent SF competition. I can see why. Most $10 Pinot has a sharp almost bitter stab to it, while this one is rounded and soft, with a little bit of complexity (read: aftershocks of flavors you missed while it was in your mouth) on the finish. It is a little too fruity for my taste, but on the balance that is a small short-coming. I went back and bought 4 bottles for the cellar.
paid: $10
scored: 90
This was the big winner with no one except me at the recent wine tasting we hosted. The highlight is its smoothness and balanced tannins – unheard of at this price point. Casa Lapostolle makes the only other bottle I can think of that might come close. But you get what you pay for: the fruit isn’t all that big and there is no finish, just one tasty swish as it goes down.
paid: $10
scored: 88
This was the big winner with everyone but me at a recent wine tasting we hosted. Maybe I’m spoiled — we did drop in on Ridge Winery earlier in the day. It was smooth enough, balanced enough, and I’d definitely buy it again — maybe I missed something the first time around.
paid: $10
scored: 86
A rather pleasing aroma of fruit and oak, from a wine with a split personality. Fruit from the central coast, but wine made in Livermore? No need to seek this one out, but you’ll be pleased to stumble across it.
paid: $10
scored: 88
My fiancee picked up this pleasing surprise, on sale. Smooth and light 50-50 Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, nice fruit on the finish and tannins that hide in the shadows.
paid: $10
scored: 89
Very vanilla on the nose, and yet a rather crisp and clean finish. A balanced and pleasing wine, and all the more so at 35,000 feet. Go Continental. I wonder if the fruit is sourced from Livermore, or from the nebulous central coast?
paid: nada, but it is about $12/bottle
scored: 89
This is the chard we opened in the middle of watching Bottle Shock. I’m not sure what trick they play to bring out so much oak and vanilla, but I don’t disapprove… although I wouldn’t seek it out. Pay more, get less (of that) I suppose. Not to be confused with Chateau MontElena from the movie. Tasty enough, and a winner at this price.
paid: $10
scored: 87