WineLife365

Posts Tagged ‘2-Star’

From: South Africa

Price: $8.79

Full Disclosure:  I openly admit that I am personally not a big fan of most red wines from South Africa, especially Pinotage.  Why my beef with South African red wines you ask?  Because most that I’ve tasted over the years are just way too smoky for my liking.  So many that I’ve tried have made me feel as if I was smoking the wine rather than drinking them.  And since I refrain from smoking cigarettes and other peace pipe offerings, I’d also prefer not consuming any nicotine in my liquid libation just the same.

But on this occasion, I had a pre-op plan before heading down that all too familiar smoky mountain, South African road.  To be on the safe side, before opening up the 16 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon, I slapped on a nicotine patch just in case this South African red was ready to deal me a generous amount of smoky tobacco flavors that would bring back memories of my grandfather’s beloved Red Man chewing tobacco and one little boy eager to try a pinch, and afterwards turning green inside and out.

So with my patch in place, I was ready to give this red wine a worry-free whirl.

Thank goodness for the pre-plan, because the 2006 16 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon screamed smoky!  I was greeted with a decent punch of sweet cherry tobacco, cedar, and dark fruit that left me feeling a little green like my childhood experience.  Needless to say, the 2006 16 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon was not for me.  But if you don’t personally mind a shot of nicotine in your gut, I mean glass, then this red wine might be palatable to your taste buds.

I award the 2006 16 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon 2 stars out of 4.  I realize now that the “smoky factor” is a common and “natural” trait found in most South African red wines – especially Pinotage.  Unfortunately, that cherry tobacco cigar box flavor just doesn’t sit right with me.

WineLife365 Rating: 2-Star

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From: California

Price: $10.99

I, like so many other people, have truly enjoyed watching many of the cinematic masterpieces that Mr. Francis Ford Coppola has directed, produced or written over the years.  Some might argue that movies like the Godfather Trilogy, The Outsiders, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Apocalypse Now are some of the greatest films ever made.

Sadly however, it only took two sips of the 2006 Rosso blended red table wine for my taste buds to admit that this public offering was not going to be one of Mr. Coppola’s finer pieces of work.  

The 2006 Francis Ford Coppola Rosso is comprised of 48% Zinfandel, 27% Syrah, and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon.  It delivers a rather disappointing and mediocre script of cherry-vanilla flavors.  To my palate, this wine seemed to lack solid fruit concentration and gusto to take it from being a snore to making it yet another Francis Ford Coppola hit.

Oddly enough, I did however find this wine to be more enjoyable on the second night when I paired it with a thick juicy piece of steak.  And based on how it tasted with the steak, I’d imagine that this red would probably deliver a decent performance with a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. 

In the end though, the 2006 Francis Ford Coppola Rosso was a dud for me.  It just didn’t  “make me an offer that I couldn’t refuse” to award it a higher WineLife365 rating than 2 stars out of 4 – even after two nights of convincing.

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From: Chile
Price: $10.99

It’s a “two-fer” folks – two reviews for the price of one.  Over the course of a year, my wife and I taste drive a lot of different wines day after day searching for ones that we think taste great and offer consumers like you and us outstanding value.  Unfortunately, in our pursuit of trying to discover these diamonds in the rough you might say that some days are well…better than others.  So I thought that it would be a good idea to occasionally spare both you and me the hassle of going through a lengthy review about a particular wine that we find to be so mediocre and hum-drum that it would be a sin to bother wasting precious time discussing it.  The central idea in these occasional reviews is just to tell you, “Hey this wine is fine, but you should do yourself a favor and pick something else instead.”

The 2007 Root: 1 Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Colchagua Valley in Chile that we recently tasted totally fit the bill perfectly.  The $10.99 price tag that both of these wines carry hits the sweet zone for most red wine shoppers and the packaging is absolutely gorgeous and stunning.  But, that’s where the buck stops for these Chilean reds.  Once you’re done drooling over these bottles, sooner or later you’ll have to open them up.  Once you do, you’ll be greeted with a pedestrian targeted bland combination of dark fruit and spices that will have you scratching your head wondering how such an enticing looking bottle of wine could yield such an ok, mediocre, and hum-drum forgettable tasting wine.

The 2007 Carmenere in this particular case goes through a pretty complex fermentation process that starts out with spending time in stainless steel and then ends with a 10 month vacation in American oak.  On the other hand, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is actually a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Syrah.

If you visit the Root:1 website, the winemaker’s notes on both of these wines really sound very compelling and enticing.

“Tasting Notes: Root: 1 Carmenere is a deep red color with gentle tannins and rich flavors of plum, blackberry and spice.
Food Pairings: Root: 1 Carmenere pairs well with pasta, vegetable soup, spicy entrees and grilled meats. Its unique character pairs perfectly with ingredients that are difficult to match such as garlic, bell peppers, fresh herbs and eggplant.”

Checkout the Cabernet Sauvignon:

“Tasting Notes: A rich red wine with black currant, mocha and chocolate notes.
Food Pairings: Root: 1 Cabernet Sauvignon is an exceptional match with full-flavored cheeses, pasta with red sauce, steak, ribs, and chocolate.”

 

Sounds great right?  Well, we threw our favorite chopped eggplant salad and a giant meat lover’s pizza at both of these wines based on the food pairing notes and both of them came up a little short of meeting our “taste spectations”.  Both wines left us a bit bored and bummed out. 

I award both the 2007 Root: 1 Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon each a C+ on taste alone, which equates to a 2 star rating in our house, and an A+ for its original and stunning label.  In both cases, the dark fruit, spices and vanilla flavors were much too soft and came up short of convincing us that either wine was worth buying again.  

WineLife365 Ratings: 2-Star

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These “special” wines were um…how you say “quite so-so”.  As I contemplated what do with these 2’s in the form of a writing assignment and giving them their rightful place in my wine rating system, it brought memories of a highly publicized light-weight fight that took place back in 1980 between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran.  This boxing match would be the second encounter between these two fighters.  One of the most famous boxing quotes ever recorded took place in the 8^th round of this historic second fight when Sugar Ray Leonard backed Roberto Duran into a corner and proceeded to throw everything at him except for the proverbial kitchen sink.  As Roberto Duran was being punch-drunk by Leonard’s flurry of punches, it is said that Mr. Duran muttered the words “No Mas…No Mas” which in English mean “No More…No More”.  The fight was then immediately stopped by the ring official, but Roberto Duran to this day claims what he really said was, “my stomach is hurting too much”.

I feel your pain Roberto! After going 8 rounds with the wines listed below, my stomach as well as my wallet were both hurting! 

Take for instance, the 2008 New Harbor New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.  It was fine with its low citrus and passion fruit flavors and lackluster New Zealand style finish.  It was definitely a wine that spilled with mediocrity when compared to other New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs in the same price range and certainly worthy of a 2 star rating.

Or, how about the 2007 Domaine du Prieuré d’Amilhac Pinot Blanc Chardonnay from France?  This inexpensive white French table wine totally fit the bill of a 2 star rating.  It’s flavors were just beyond a glass of ice-cold mineral water with a spritz of lemon, and was the kind of stuff worth twiddling your fingers and counting backwards from 100.  

Or, how about this stomach ache inducer from Chile:  The 2008 Step by Step (Ohh baby! - minus the New Kids on the Block) Sauvignon Blanc.  This Chilean Sauvignon Blanc is a “Fair Trade Certified Wine”, which means that a portion of the profits from the sale of this wine will go towards securing health coverage for more than 1,400 Maule Valley vineyard workers and their families.  I certainly support this effort, but unfortunately, the peculiar combination of nectarine and woodsy flavors left me feeling a bit green, if you know what I mean.  This Sauvignon Blanc was definitely not my cup of tea at all and deserved a 2.

Finally, I took another unsuccessful plunge into South Africa and found a bizarre tasting 2008 Porcupine Ridge Sauvignon Blanc that reeked of tart sour apples, cigarettes, and wood.  This Sauvignon Blanc is definitely an acquired taste for those with an adventurous palate. 

But, lets not forget (no-I must forget!) about some not so good red wines that were also deserving of a WineLife365 2 Star rating.  I’ll start first with a land that is very near and dear to my heart when it comes to making exquisite and delicious red wine – my beloved Spain.

The 2006 Unio Perlot from the wine region Montsant in Spain was barely ok on my taste scale and narrowly escaped from being banished into the WineLife365 basement of shame.  The label on this Spanish red wine indicates that it’s a blend of 40% Grenache, 40% Cainena, and 20% Syrah.  This blend sounded wonderful, but the output was a rather light, tasteless red wine that failed to captivate my love of Spanish reds.

Another red wine that left me scratching my head was the 2008 Pascual Toso Malbec from Argentina.  This odd tasting wine is almost good, except for the strange Coca-Cola meets Starbucks coffee, and oh lets add a cherry tootsie pop for good measure finish.  Oddly enough however, it’s almost pretty good, but it’s still a 2 in my book.

While I’m still on the subject of Argentina, here’s another Malbec that you’ll either find moderately appealing or you’ll put to night, night – it’s the 2008 Dona Paula Estate Malbec.  I tend to get pretty giddy when I come across a red wine where the grapes are grown and the wine is produced and bottled by the same winery for less than $15 bucks.  Unfortunately, I found this light-bodied raspberry and cherry flavored wine to be very disappointing and it fell below my expectations of “Estate Bottled” wine.  

Finally, how could I ever forget about the 2007 Sawbuck Cabernet Sauvignon from California?  I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical when one of my local wine guys handed me this $10 Cab to try (basing my opinion solely on the label alone), but he assured me that the contents inside the bottle would deliver a very good taste performance.  Unfortunately, it’s a “No way Jose!” from me on this one.  I found the finish on this wine to be rather dismal and can’t really think of anything that would entice me to purchase it again.

So there you have it, 8 grueling rounds with a lot of tough tasting wines.  “No mas…No mas!”  It’s now up to you to decide if you’re going to step into the ring with them or just throw in the towel!

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From: France

Price: $12.99

After experiencing a stream of “lab rat” red wine concoctions from California so far this year, I thought that it was time to get away from the US and taste some French red wines to see if they were any better.  I grabbed a bottle of this French Rhone blend in the hopes of finding a solid, old world style red wine that would excite me. 

Unfortunately, this French country wine or “Vin De Pays” did nothing to restore my confidence that a great tasting red wine under $15 bucks could be found, if you were willing to look for it. 

I found this red Rhone blend of 50% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 10% Carignan, and 5% Merlot grapes to be rather boring.  In my opinion, the fruit lacked the spiciness and richness of other red wines that I’ve experienced from this neck of the woods in the past.  Additionally, the label on this wine indicates that it has an alcohol content of 13% – and believe me you can taste it.  Finally, the herbal flavors that also characterize wines from this French region were also rather subdued and bland tasting to me.

All in all, I found the 2004 Montirius “Le Cadet” just to be pleasant, but rather uninspiring.  I did however appreciate that it tasted like a “real” wine and not manufactured.

I give it 2 Stars – there’s just not enough flavors popping to warrant a 3 Star rating.

WineLife365 Rating: 2-Star

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