WineLife365

Archive for the ‘2-Star’ Category

The label alone on this bottle of wine should have been a clear indicator that the 2008 Fat Cat Cabernet Sauvignon was one tune worth overlooking in the catalogue of hot licks in the California Cabernet aisle.  However, I’m a lover of all jazz music and if you tell me that you’re one ‘Fat Cat’, then you better Blow Daddy!  You dig?

The 2008 Fat Cat Cabernet Sauvignon had a cornball taste:  like that old-fashioned, cherry-vanilla syrup soda pop I used to get on the boardwalk as a kid. 

2 Stars out of 4.  A lot less noodlin’ and more variation in its chording is needed for this cat to really wail.

Price: $9.99

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I’m generally a happy person and appreciate the little things in life, but recently I’ve been in a wine rut of sorts.  My wife and I have hit a rocky patch of late with lots of “iffy” and “marginally acceptable” Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the under $15 category.  In hopes of finding a cure for what’s been ailing us, I decided to pull the WineLife365 bus into California to find salvation in two youthful Cali Cabs:  the 2008 Grayson Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon ($10.99) and the 2008 Butterfield Station Cabernet Sauvignon ($9.99). 

Unfortunately, on this night, the 2008 Grayson Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon ($10.99) and the 2008 Butterfield Station Cabernet Sauvignon ($9.99) were not meant to be our rescuers from this rut.

Both Cabs possessed only a moderately pleasurable, single dimensional red cherry focus with very little of anything else displayed.  In all fairness though, the 2008 Grayson Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon ($10.99) was a tad more complex:  it did showcase some milk chocolate notes that actually paired nicely with my Poor Man’s Chef dessert of sliced strawberries over top of a chewy chocolate chip cookie, drizzled with Hersey’s chocolate syrup. 

Sadly, the 2008 Butterfield Station Cabernet Sauvignon (I hate to say it) narrowly escaped banishment to the WineLife365 basement.

2 Stars out of 4.  My quest to quench continues.  If you have any recommendations for a Cabernet Sauvignon, under $15, that will rock my world and make my taste buds holler – I’d love to hear about it!

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As I was drinking the 2004 Oriel Setena, the 2007 Vina Gormaz Tempranillo and the 2007 El Jamon Tempranillo, one word that came to mind:  Kryptonite.

All three of these red wines are products of Spain and all three tasted like minerals and rocks to me – more specifically, wet metallic stone.  Not that I’ve spent much time with rocks in my mouth, but there was an almost flinty kind of thing stirring around that completely overpowered any fruit and spice components that these wines might have possessed.  Although I embrace the infinite tastes and qualities offered by different types of wine, I have to admit that I’m a bit challenged by this characteristic.  For now I’ll keep an open mind, but in the case of the 2004 Oriel Setena  (MSRP $18.50*), the 2007 Vina Gormaz Tempranillo ($9.99) and the 2007 El Jamon Tempranillo ($9.99), the metallic quality was acting more like kryptonite robbing these wines of their ‘super powers’.

2 Stars out of 4.
* Sample

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“Just give me one more chance” seemed to be the message that the 2007 Concannon Central Coast Shiraz was trying to send me by the second sip on night #1.  It wasn’t too long ago that I was in a similar situation with another Concannon Vineyard red wine.  However, on that occasion the Concannon Conservancy Petite Sirah had won my taste buds over by the third night.  Could lightning strike twice?

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the 2007 Concannon Central Coast Shiraz.  I held out hope over a two day period for a similar rousing experience.  Sadly though, that something special that happens when a wine hits your tongue and fills your mouth, so that you almost don’t want to spoil the moment by swallowing it, just didn’t happen with this American Shiraz. 

The 2007 Concannon Central Coast Shiraz delivers a one-dimensional upfront dosage of moderately sweet red berries, partnered with lots of toasted vanilla-oak flavors, and struggles to display any fireworks on its finish.

2 Stars out of 4. 

SRP: $10.00

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