Crane Lake Sangiovese 2010
Crane Lake
Strong odor of sulfur with an equivalent taste of it. Nothing but alcohol and sulfur in a heavily filtered wine. Stay away.
Crane Lake Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
Crane Lake
This wine is pretty bad. Nothing can be saved here. For $3 bucks, you get what you paid for.
Valoroso Cabernet Sauvignon Touriga Nacional Syrah 2010
Casa Emerlinda Freitas
This is a pretty interesting portuguese wine, mostly Cabernet with some of the local portuguese grape Touriga Nacional and a little Syrah. It's dry, like many portuguese wines, but quite pleasant, with some minor berries in the background.
The Pessimist Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Pessimist
This was a joke with a friend of mine. The wine was okay. Nothing very distinctive about it. Just an ordinary Cab, with some nuances of raspberry.
Canoe Ridge Vineyard Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
Canoe Ridge Vineyard
Had this Cab up in Tahoe this week with friends. It's pretty good. I was told it was inexpensive (looks like it's around $20) and it's surprisingly decent. Some initial sweetness hits at first from this bold-colored red Cab. It's missing some complexities in the mid-palate, but works well. I'm Read more
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edpin Hi Shaun! I have no prejudice against WA. It's just that the two wineries I visited (twice) in columbia valley didn't impress me much: the wines were okay, but pricey and I thought I could get better deals from Chile or CA. I love CA wine (yes, they too can be expensive -- one's gotta search to find the great bargains). But I'm happy to be proven wrong sometimes! :-)
18 Days Ago -
shaunmdaniel That makes sense. I'm pretty sure the wineries in WA are younger anyway, which may speak to a lack of experience in making great wine. But it could also be a matter of terroir. Maybe California is just in a better spot for wine making? Similarly, I've been finding regional differences in microbrew styles - which I appreciate. The Northwest especially has a powerful IPA and a hop style that no one else can touch, but the Midwest seems to follow more of an English and Belgian brewing tradition. Variety is the spice of life, as they say...
18 Days Ago
Frog's Leap Zinfandel 2009
Frog's Leap
And the last Zin of the night is this bold 2009 Zin, Frog's Leap. It has a strong strawberry aroma. It's well balance and bold (stings the tip of the tongue a bit). It thought it was the best of the night (but who knows, after 4 pours, my senses Read more
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shaunmdaniel Interesting! I'm drawn to wines that have strawberry aromas and flavors, perhaps because they don't seem as common to their raspberry and cherry cousins. I'll have to check this one out.
22 Days Ago -
edpin You should, definitely. It's not an expensive wine, so it's worth it. Are you into Zinfandels?
22 Days Ago
Seghesio Family Vineyards Zinfandel 2009
Seghesio Family Vineyards
Third Zin of the night, as part of the blind taste last Saturday. This is a bold wine. Big, high alcohol. It has some fruit aroma, but is not very fruity. It produces a slight tingly sensation on the palate at first that goes away with more sips. Good overall.
Decoy Zinfandel 2009
Duckhorn Vineyards
This was the second Zin in the blind taste. I thought it had a lighter color than usual, but still pretty vivid. I noticed the presence of faint but pleasant spices. A decent wine throughout.
Clos du Bois Zinfandel 2009
Clos du Bois
This was part of a blind taste from my wine club. I thought this wine had a high content of alcohol at first. It had a faint smell and was very fruity on the palate, almost sweet. It's not bad for an under $20 wine.
