Where is it written that all wines must be happy? Grim and cynical can be interesting.
Scents of barnyard and tire rubber reign over the dark plummy notes. The palate opens with robust but angular dark fruit encased in burnt wood. It then finds its gravelly essence at midpalate where hard acidity conspires with grainy tannins and bitter herbs to raise a visceral chorale of discordant voices. Medium body, medium length, it’s vin ordinaire in the style that reaches back to the days before everyday wines were fluffy bunnies.
Strangely appealing, a taste of rustic Bordeaux is always worth $9
A blend Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon.
I think Iggy Pop’s I’m Bored does bitter justice to it.
This is what Prosecco should be like. A frothy mousse with surprisingly small, lively bubbles, the fruit is luscious, pear and apple, with white flower notes, lovely crushed rock aromas, and an intriguing funky note in the background. On the palate it is more gentle than most sparkling wine, round and vibrant, but not too edgy and like most Prosecco, the finish pulls up short. There is a hint of sweetness upfront but it’s quickly swallowed by bracing minerality and crisp acidity. Prosecco is the insouciant child of sparkling wine all bright and glittering but always carefree and unserious. The Rustico pulls that off with great elan.
Valdobbiadene is the classic region for Prosecco. And Nino Franco is one of the oldest wineries there founded in 1919.
Fluffy yet celebratory, a perfect pairing for Cosmo Sheldrake’s Come Along
If I were painting a portrait of a quintessential inexpensive crowd pleaser, this would be it. Tasty, polished, charming—your local spa should hire it as a greeter.
Blueberry shares the spotlight with an unusually robust floral dimension against a subtle earth background—simple but pleasant.
The palate features very round berry flavors cossetted by milk chocolate. Despite being a bit thin, a silky, polished mouthfeel and evolution give the wine a blithe, understated elegance wrapping up with a short, tame finish that doesn’t detract from the wine’s impact.
Ignore the “old vines” claim on the label. It legally means nothing. High production wines are seldom harvested from genuinely old vines.
Effortless “niceness” I think captures the personality. Niceness can be overrated as a moral category but in a $10 wine I’ll take it. Pair with Your Love is King by Sade
Periodically, I like to dip into the nether world of low-end-of-premium supermarket wine; it is after all where most people go when they want a slightly more impressive bottle at a reasonable price. Sometimes you can get lucky finding value in the $16-$22 range but I find this is often the price range where wineries like to push their luck hoping good marketing from a highly regarded region will net them a few dollars above the intrinsic value of the wine. That is the case here with this Constellation brand. Billed as bold and complex, it is in fact neither. This is generic juice, tolerable but for the $20 I spent I want more.
The nose of black cherry, hints of dark plum, dust and mocha hide a faint chemical note. The concentrated palate shows cloying chocolate at first with a soft, smooth foundation then giving way to a midpalate seam of flat, dried out fruit that lacks vitality. The powdery tannins disintegrate into a kind of fog so the short finish leaves almost no impression.
A timid irresolute wine, browbeaten and unnerved commiserating about lost love with The Cure’s Pictures of You
#42 by the way refers to Washington as the 42nd state in the union.
Bogle is one of the more reliable large production wineries producing good value with only the occasional disappointment. They really hit the quality mark with this one. This is a gentle giant, big, concentrated and structured but smooth on the midpalate with a lingering, filigreed finish that doesn’t grip.
Blackberry and robust smoked meat aromas hit you in the face, against a background of high toast oak. Pronounced hazelnut with subtle coconut hints provide personality.
The deep, full bodied palate shows rich dark chocolate and considerable polish but it gradually acquires a soul as the very firm tannins kick in. It’s not really a dynamic wine but it sustains a fresh, fruity aspect throughout its length. This is an extraordinary value if you’re looking for heft that doesn’t savage the mouth.
Sprawling, indulgent yet affectionate, like a big puppy, and captured perfectly by the bombast and warmth of Robert Plant’s Shine It All Around
Technical Notes: Aged in American oak barrels for 12 months, grapes are from Clarksburg and Lodi
Charles Krug winery is the oldest in Napa Valley having been founded in 1861 by the Prussian immigrant Charles Krug. The Mondavi family purchased it in 1943 and it remains in the family, co-owned by brothers Peter Mondavi Jr. and Marc Mondavi.
The Vintage Selection line is made from the best lots from their several Napa Valley vineyards. Although this is relatively affordable as Napa Cabs go these days, the quality of their grapes is evident in the still robust flavors and dynamic tension in the wine 13 years after vintage.
There remains too much non-integrated oak for my taste but this wine is still alive and will continue to age for several more years.
The nose shows pronounced graphite/wood aroma framing the rich blackberry and fig. Cocoa and a touch of smoke gently mingle while mint notes persist in the empty glass.
Tense yet composed movement canters over a lush, velvet foundation on the palate, although the pronounced cherry once again acquires wood notes and too much dissonant bitterness that can’t be overlooked. The wine expands generously at midpalate with a spine of firm gravel before launching a lengthy finish of powdery tannins.
Aeration is absolutely essential. Some of the wood notes back off and allow the wine’s lush underbelly to shine once sufficient oxygen is introduced.
A majestic wine but with something unsettling or fatalistic about it, perhaps hounded by tragedy, a reading that resonated with the Third Movement of Henryk Górecki ‘s Symphony No. 3, The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, Lento – Cantabile Semplice
I like a wine that lives up to its name. Not that this wine has an excess of bacteriological activity. The funk is under control but it has attitude, a raucous, downhome spirit but with a touch of cowboy class.
It’s cloudy and dull in the glass, no gleaming sheen to admire here. But the nose draws you in with its folksy enthusiasm. The red raspberry/black cherry notes rhyme nicely with the dried roses and decaying autumn leaves with tarragon hints.
The juicy yet dry palate slips just under the medium weight limit and opens with a moment of playful tenderness. But with a howl of happiness and a whisper of freedom it moves and stirs, swelling with soaring acidity while acquiring breadth from supple dusty tannins that bark but never bite. The tannins and acidity work together like two sides of a coin to create intensity on the medium length finish on which a subtle, tart apple-like flavor lurks.
A wine of tiny explosions, its too jabbery to be elegant and the finish harbors latent angst below the surface but its mouthwatering and delicious and walks the walk with The Blaster’s classic, American Music.
Technical Notes and Story: 100% Mourvedre from the Chalone AVA in Monterey County. Whole cluster native yeast fermentation, unfiltered and unfined, and aged in neutral French oak.Made by Mourvedré specialist Hardy Wallace, a former wine blogger who decided to make wine, and has become one of the better known natural wine producers in California.
The Monterrei appellation is the smallest D.O in Galicia located on the border of Spain and Portugal. It is one of the lesser known regions in Spain although it is increasing in prominence as their wines are beginning to attract attention. Warmer and drier than most of Galicia, this is primarily a white wine region but they grow some Tempranillo and Bastardo as well as Mencia.
Mencia is native to Northeastern Spain. For much of its history it has been used to make simple table wine but some producers have begun to treat it as a serious wine and its quality is rapidly improving. This version from Vinos de Terrunos is delightful.
Strawberry, cherry and rose and floral aromas are dominant with a pleasant background earthiness. The palate is svelte and juicy but has some steel and nerve with its firm, gravelly texture and strident acidity. Bright pomegranate keeps the mineral core from getting too chippy until the bristly finish launches.
Bright and energetic but detached with pristine coolness like The Eurythmics Here Comes the Rain Again
This Nerello Mascalese (85%)/Nerello Cappuccio blend from the slopes of Mt. Etna is a garden in a glass. If you’re unfamiliar with Nerello Mascalese, it’s a grape primarily grown in Sicily and makes fascinating, lighter-bodied, tensive, aromatic wines.
Greetings of earthly decay are quickly swallowed by ebullient floral notes and red raspberry. It really does smell like you’ve walked into a botanical garden with its melange of decomposing soil and blossomy exotica. The palate opens with slender elegance, a collaboration of red and dark fruit, but the shape in the mouth keeps expanding like a new universe, showing some cola-like flavors and an intense, chalky finish all of which gives the wine a more dynamic personality as if that folksy charm is hiding relentless ambition.
Despite the light to medium weight, and lack of oak, the wine has considerable dynamic range showing both layered, textural depth and hi-toned, acid driven minerality.
Distinctive and thoroughly enjoyable, this blend of earthy grace and bright, cathartic ambition brought to mind the nerve and pulse of Joan Armatrading’s Show Some Emotion
Technical Notes: Native yeast fermentation with 8 days on the skins. Aged in stainless steel for 12 months.
The original home for Malbec, Cahors in Southwestern France has a reputation for dark tannic wines that need bottle age before drinking. This wine is a remarkable departure, mineral driven with mostly bright, red fruit on a medium frame.
Cranberry and blackberry aromas share space with intriguing pine and rose notes. The palate shows juicy, plump red fruit upfront but quickly condenses into a more angular, stony midpalate. The medium grain tannins are late to arrive and stay in the background giving the wine a tart finish laced with refreshing citrus notes. A bit coarse but It has good length for a wine in this price category.
A complex personality, folksy, generally optimistic but wearing a sardonic grin like Bob Dylan’s Tonight I’ll be Staying Here With You
Technical Notes: From organically-grown, 50 yr. old vines, native yeasts used in fermentation, the blend included 5% Tannat, unfiltered
Where is it written that all wines must be happy? Grim and cynical can be interesting.
