WineLife365

Archive for March, 2009

From: Chile

Price: $7.99 (1.5L)

Finally, a recession busting red wine that is pretty darn tasty.  I paid $7.99 for a 1.5L bottle (magnum) of this Cab/Merlot blend, and was floored by its price-to-quality level.  At what works out to be $4 per 750ml, there is a lot to like here.  The only problem with this value Cab/Merlot is the short finish.  It leaves you wanting for more, but for the wrong reason.  You feel like you’re missing something at the end – the berry taste just dissipates.  In my opinion though, this is a great inexpensive “house wine”.  If this wine had just a little bit more punch to it, I would be buying it by the jugs.

Speaking of jugs, I would love to see the folks at Concha y Toro turn this Cab/Merlot blend into a box wine. Why you ask? Because, I believe that it would make for an incredible box wine. This is the kind of juice that you don’t mind sipping during the week and having it stay fresh on the kitchen counter for a month or so. 

I give it 3 Stars. At $4 bucks a bottle, this red wine tastes as good as or better than wines double it’s price.

Checkout the Concha y Toro site for food match and recipe ideas.

WineLife365 Rating: 3-Star

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How many different types of wine glasses does a person need?

The folks that make the fancy glasses like Riedel and Spiegelau have a wine glass for every type of wine imaginable.  But who has storage space for all of those different glasses, and wouldn’t you rather spend your money on wine instead of all of those glasses?!

I say four different shapes should be sufficient for anyone:

1.) A fancy glass for white wines

2.) A fancy glass for red wines

3.) A Champagne glass

4.) A good old all-purpose wine glass

Obviously, it’s up to you to determine how many of each of these you’ll need.  You will need to factor in how often and the size of the group that you typically entertain.

 Cheers!

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So here’s a question I’m asked frequently - “What is the best wine”?  Given that this question is sort of along the lines of “what’s the meaning of life?”, my response is always the same - “I don’t know”.  Actually, that’s my response to both those questions.  But I digress….focus with me people, focus.  With thousands of different wines to choose from, how can anyone really tell you which wine is the best?  It’s purely a subjective preference.  I personally love to drink French Chardonnay, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and Spanish red wines. These are the types of wines that I could drink every day.  But you might have a totally different opinion. Trying different types of wines allow you to figure out whether there are types and styles that your palate prefers.

So perhaps a better question is – “Are there any particular wines that you feel are consistently good year after year, that represent a good value”?  That just might be a bit easier for me to answer.

Below are the 12 wines and wineries that have never let me down in my short wine life.  All of the wines listed below are priced under $15.00 and should be easy to find.

1. Villa Maria Private Reserve Sauvignon Blanc – New Zealand
2. Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc – California
3. Louis Jadot Macon-Villages and Macon Blanc – France
4. Chateau St. Michelle Riesling – Washington State
5. Columbia Crest Chardonnay – Washington State
6. Lindemans Bin 65 Chardonnay – Australia
7. A. Mano Primitivo – Italy
8. Marques de Riscal Rioja Crianza or LAN Crianza – Spain
9. Jaboulet Cotes-du-Rhone Parallele 45 – France
10. Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel Dancing Bull – California
11. Escudo Rojo – Chile
12. Rosemount Shiraz, Shiraz blends, or Grenache blends – Australia

My personal favorites in this group are the Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc and the Escudo Rojo.

If really pressed to name wineries that I feel make consistently good, inexpensive, red and white wines, my response would be:

1. Chateau St. Michelle (Washington State) – a rock-solid line-up of white and red wines, however they’re not as inexpensive as they used to be.
2. Columbia Crest (Washington State) – Everything these guys make is great.
3. Concha y Toro (Chile) – Concha Y Toro is the largest wine producer in Chile. In my opinion, the best wine producer in the world because they can make great tasting $4.00 wine and awesome $100 bottle of wine.  These guys can do it all at any price level.

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From: Washington

Price: $8.99

Hogue Cellers is Washington state’s third largest winery behind Stimson Lane (Château Ste. Michelle/Columbia Crest) and Constellation Brands (Columbia Winery/Covey Run).  But Hogue is the largest family-owned winery in the state, producing 450,000 cases per year.  Brothers Mike and Gary Hogue founded Hogue family winery in 1982.  The winery is recognized in the wine community as a great producer of value-priced wines.  These days the brothers have been focusing on producing outstanding mid-priced wines.

This particular Hogue wine is called Fume Blanc.  Let me first start off by saying that there is no such white grape known as Fume Blanc.  Fume Blanc is really Sauvignon Blanc in disguise.  Robert Mondavi first coined the term “Fume Blanc” in the late sixties.  Mr. Mondavi wanted to create a marketing buzz in the United States for a white wine that would sound unique and very American.  He legally had the Sauvignon Blanc name changed to Fume Blanc and the rest is history.  Americans have accepted “Fume Blanc” as their own, but probably never realized that they were actually drinking the native French white grape Sauvignon Blanc.

This “Fume Blanc” is a very well made wine.  It has a great lemon zip that gets your attention very quickly.  We had this wine by itself and really liked it a lot.  I think that it would be awesome with a Caesar Salad, Grilled Seafood, or a Vegetarian dish.

The 2006 Hogue Fume Blanc is good, but my heart and taste buds are still with New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs.  This is a solid value-price Sauvignon Blanc.  I’d buy this again in a heartbeat.

WineLife365 Rating: 3-Star

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“Hey Dad…Dad…DAD! Isabella’s little sister is allergic to peanuts… the cafeteria sign said, ‘No peanuts allowed!’”

“Uh Dad, Dad, Daddy… Mom, Mom, Mommy I have something to tell you…”

Ah, the sweet melodic sounds of children repeating your name…over and over and over again.

It had been 3 weeks since we’ve had a Fancy Dinner Friday together as a family.  Our sons spent the past two Fridays having fun with Grandmom and Granddad.  We were all excited about having our familiar Friday night together.

“The tablecloth is on the table and I laid down all of the place settings.” my oldest son said.  “Uh Dad, can I give everyone a fancy wine glass?” my youngest son asked.

The dinner table looked perfect and looked especially “fancy” this evening with the extra candles that our sons put around the windows.  We were dining by candlelight this evening.

I can’t say enough how great this time is together.  Our children know that this “fancy” dinner can be as short or as long as they want it to be.  They feel comfortable to share with my wife and I as little or a lot of the things that are going on in their everyday world.  It’s also a great way to end the work week and share some quiet time with your spouse  – after the kids leave the dinner table, that is.

On this particular Friday night, we opened up what turned out to be a very special red wine from Sicily.  The 2007 Cusumano Nero D’Avola Sicilia IGT was a perfect match for our Friday night spaghetti.  It had a very good cherry and raspberry taste with a touch of sweet spices on the finish.  My wife liked that this Italian wine that had no “alcoholly” taste to it.  It was very smooth and easy to drink.

What made this red wine from Sicily go from being a very good spagetti wine to a truly special dinner wine was its packaging.  I’ve tried many wines in my short wine life, but I’ve never seen a wine cork like this one before.  Grab a bottle and see for yourself.  It’s very different and gives one the feeling that they’re drinking a very expensive wine.

The verdict – I paid $13.99 for this 2007 Cusumano Nero D’Avola Sicilia IGT.  It tastes like a 3 Star wine.  However it’s unique bottling is truly something special.  This wine has the ability to make a simple spaghetti dinner feel more like a special occassion.  Just add a tablecloth and candles and you’ll see what I mean.

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