This wine has nothing but a name in common with that gentrified village on the SF bay. An entertaining blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere and Syrah (not sure of the %). The tannins are pretty strong but disappear upon decanting, leaving a pleasant earthy smell and a semi-lingering finish. I have to admit the blend confuses my palate, but so what? I wonder how it will taste in 5 years.
paid: $13 (on sale from $19)
scored: 90
A simple recipe for good times: have a Romanian friend, get invited to a Romanian BBQ. Good food, lots of jokes you won’t understand (until your friend chokes back his laughter enough to explain it), and a sweet table wine from the Mother land. No idea what grapes went into this. Its a little rough around the edges, but you can actually taste the effect of some barrel aging. The sweetness is a perfect match for grilled ____.
paid: no idea
scored: 82
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
A uniquely delicious wine. Organic certified, from France but not from an AOC appellation (vin de pays = country wine, and “d’Oc’ puts it down south by the Mediterranean). Tastes like a cab, smells like a cab, is smooth like a good cab… but wait: there’s something more. I can’t put my finger on it. There are subtle layers of flavor in this wine. Somewhat new-world wine-making, meaning not as dry as is typcial for French wines. Blind, I might have guessed Argentina. Either way if you cross paths with this BUY IT and see for yourself. I’ll be doing the same. This wine could probably age for a while too.
paid: I didn’t, it was a gift
scored: 90
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
Back in NYC for 24 hours en route to my sister’s kid’s baptism. We treated ourselves to dinner at La Sirene, an haut cuisine byo establishment on the rather seedy border between SoHo and Tribeca. Its literally a hole-in-the wall with few tables, a tiny kitchen and a fabulous chef. A good place to uncork a Pomerol in other words. People who “don’t like Merlot” should give this beauty a try. (There are probably some other Bordeaux varietals blended in there but I’m not sure of the percentages.)
paid: $28
scored: 89
Recipe for a successful red-eye flight: 2 dramamine tablets, 2 warm sweaters, 1 damn fine bottle of wine, 15 minutes to burn and 2 plastic cups. I have known about this winery for a while but never felt rich enough to check it out. Then I heard a piece on public radio about dry farming. As in, whatever water falls out of the sky is what we’ll use, nothing more. This vineyard is the dry farmer’s poster child (at least in the wine world). Seems they’ve been doing it for years… and churning out excellent wines in the process. I had to taste for myself. Its truly fine stuff. Smooth and tasty. And the Zinfandel has a rather approachable price tag…
paid: $19
scored: 90