Wine Weekly

Rose Wine Review: Chateau Laulerie

Chateau Laulerie Bergerac Rose 2006

Where did the summer go? It seems like it just arrived, and now it’s on the way out. Maybe I wouldn’t have realized it had I not seen banners and ads all over the place for Halloween … sheesh! However, the weather is still warm in most parts of the USA, and you can continue to enjoy the pink / rose wines that were released over the last few months. Thank goodness, too, because I have at least a half-dozen reviews of good roses that you can still find and will be fresh enough to enjoy for about another month or so.

One excellent value — you can find it under ten bucks — is Chateau Laulerie Rose from Bergerac in southwestern France. It’s made from grapes grown just to the east of Bordeaux, along the Dordonne river — 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 15% Merlot and 15% Malbec. This wine offers a typical rose nose: mild ripe aromas of red raspberry, strawberry, and a touch of red licorice. In the mouth, you get ethereal flavors upfront carried on an almost creamy texture that become more intense as the wine sits on your palate and moves toward the finish. Good ripe strawberry, red raspberry, a touch of red cherry and a hint of mineral. Acidity is mild to medium, tannins are mild — both are at appropriate levels for the fruit. The finish is longer than expected and pleasant, first offering raspberry and cherry, eventually ending with watermelon and some tart acidity. A great wine for food — ideal for a barbecue. It goes with grilled sausage and peppers, shish kebab, salads (bean, pasta, leaf), chicken dishes, all kinds of appetizers, anything with sautéed onions, quiche, vegetarian dishes. There’s the slightest bit of perceived sweetness that will offer a refreshing foil to hot and spicy cuisine as well. Don’t drink this too cold or you will miss all the juicy ripe fruit — drink it slightly colder than a red, slightly warmer than a white. Easy drinking … almost too easy, even on its own.

Importer: Michael Skurnik Wines

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a-7 t-7 b-9 fc-10 v-10 ~ 93 Points

Red Wine Review: Red Truck

Red Truck Red Wine 2005

Last week we profiled Red Truck wines, and posted tasting notes for their White Truck White Wine. Now we also have tasting notes for Red Truck Red Wine.

Deep, rich, aroma of blackberry fruit, earth, tobacco. Lots of sweet earth, green herbs – savory, bay leaf, sage. On the palate, lots of forward fruit upfront. Rich ripe blackberry, black raspberry. It’s a little sharp immediately out of the bottle, so let it sit and evolve for 10-15 minutes and you will be rewarded with a smoother texture and more mellowed flavor. Reminds me of a southern Rhone wine in an overly ripe vintage – think Cotes du Rhone, Cotes du Ventoux, or Vacqueyras in a hot ripe year such as 2003. Better yet, if you’ve experienced Costieres de Nimes and enjoyed it, then you’ll like this too. The black raspberry upfront yields to sweet tobacco, earth, black pepper, and a touch of chocolate licorice and cassis in the finish, which is much longer than expected and in good balance. Acidity is mild to medium, tannins are ripe and medium in intensity, alcohol is properly unnoticeable. If you let it sit for a few minutes, it is very enjoyable and jammy by itself. It is a decent match for grilled, lean meats, vegetarian dishes, chili, and mild cheeses.

a-8 t-8 b-8 fc-7 v-7 ~ 88 Points

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White Wine Review: White Truck

White Truck California White Wine 2005

As promised in the White Truck winery profile article of a few days ago, a review of White Truck White Wine.

Nose is bright and forward, exuding floral, honeysuckle, ripe pear, apple, banana, and a hint of an unusual spice – maybe ginger? Very smooth texture, fat and creamy with ripe pear, apricot, honey and vanilla spice flavors. Somewhat sweet smelling and perceptively sweet flavor, though it finishes dry and in good balance. An intriguing, unusual wine that might be considered tropical or exotic. Acidity is mild, but there is enough to match this with lean poultry and gamey fish – perhaps best with spicier dishes such as Cajun / creole / blackened and Asian cuisine.

I like this as an aperitif or cocktail wine, but it also has the versatility to enjoy with lean and/or spicy dishes as suggested. You might call it the poor man’s Conundrum, with its fruit salad -like character. For the same reason, I also like it as a “bridge” wine for White Zinners and those looking to graduate from junior high wines such as Yellowtail.

a-8 t-8 b-7 fc-7 v-7 ~ 87 Points

Red Truck Wines website

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Keep On Truckin’

Around the turn of the century — the 21st century, that is — Fred and Nancy Cline bought — at an auction benefiting the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art — a painting of a classic, old red truck created by internationally renowned, Sonoma-based artist Dennis Ziemienski.

Since the Clines also happened to own Cline Cellars — a respected winery well-known for their Zinfandel and Rhone-style reds — they thought it would be cool to use the image of the red truck on a label. As a result, the 2002 vintage of Red Truck Wine was bottled — a Rhone-like blend of Syrah, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Franc, Mourvedre and Grenache. The wine was a success, perhaps as much for its neat-looking label as for the quality juice inside.

In 2005, the Clines sold the “Red Truck” brand to Dan Leese and Doug Walker, who retained Charlie Tsegeletos as the winemaker, and have since expanded the brand to include several reds, whites, and a pink.

No doubt you’ve seen the label in a wine shop somewhere — it’s hard to miss, and tugs at your heart. But can you judge a wine by its label, any more than a book by its cover?

A fair question, and well-dressed bottles have become more prevalent as wine marketers catch up to the latest trends in packaging. Certainly, a sharp label leads to more sales — at least, to first-time buyers. And as with books, the results are mixed — some of the fancied-up bottles contain good wines, others contain plonk. In the case of the Red Truck line, what I’ve sampled thus far has been fair to good.

For ten bucks, you can’t expect a wine to be life-changing, and that’s around the price you can expect to pay for Red Truck wines. Back in February, I recommended their “Pink Truck” as an option for Valentine’s Day, though it’s a bit too far to the sweet side for my taste. Since then I’ve also tried the “original” — the Red Truck Rhone-style red wine blend, and their “White Truck” white wine blend. Both were pleasing enough to justify their under-$9 price tag, and interesting enough that I’ll try other Red Truck wines as they appear on my local retailer’s shelf. For all three — the Red, White, and Pink — the flavor profiles should have mass appeal, and may be more appropriate as cocktail sippers than wines for the dinner table.

Check back later in the week for full reviews of the Red Truck Red Wine and White Truck White Wine.

Red Wine Review: Les Deux Rives Corbieres

Les Deux Rives Corbieres Rouge 2005

Summer is the best time for drinking white and pink wines, but that doesn’t mean you should swear off reds completely. In fact, now is a good time to sample lighter reds that you might not consider during the braising and roasting seasons of autumn and winter.

One such lighter-bodied red, which I find to be a nice match for an array of summertime meals, is Les Deux Rives Corbieres rouge (lay doo reev core bee air rooozh). If you didn’t take French 101, and don’t know much about France’s wine geography, you might have some trouble pronouncing this wine, much less understanding all the gobbledygook on the label.

First, let’s talk about the brand name. “Les Deux Rives” is the name representing the best wine blend of Corbieres produced by les Vignerons du Val d’Orbieu, a group of winegrowers based in Narbonne in Southern France (Val d’Orbieu is in small print somewhere on the label, but this wine is best known by the former moniker).

Additionally, “Les Deux Rives” means “the two banks”, as of a river or other water current (as opposed to Chase and Wachovia). In this case, it refers to the two banks of the Canal du Midi, a canal built in the 1600s that ran through the Corbieres region connected the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. It was one of the most important routes for transporting wines of the Languedoc-Roussillon to northern France, Europe and beyond. The label, in fact, is a rendition of a 1920s postcard of the Canal. So now you have a cool story to tell your friends when you’re pouring the wine.

In addition to the story of the label, it’s helpful to know something about Corbieres. The Corbieres is one of the largest wine appellations in France, a sub-region of the Languedoc-Roussillon, located in the south of France, below Minervois and along the Mediterranean Sea. The main grape grown there is Carignan, which you’ll see throughout the south of France and also in California, and is usually used in combination with other grapes such as Grenache and Cinsault. For a long time, the wines of Corbieres were considered “cheap plonk”, and deserved little attention from critics. However, there are now many fine wines produced in the region, including several excellent values.

This Corbieres from Les Deux Rives is a blend of mostly Grenache and Syrah, with lesser amounts of Mourvedre and Carignan. The nose is soft, not too expressive. Smells of black cherry, hints of earth and tar. Soft and easy on the palate. Not too complex, but good balance and structure that makes it an ideal match for mildly flavored foods, seasoned fish (blackened), fried chicken, hash browns, mild cheeses. Acidity is medium, tannins are soft to medium. Flavors are black cherry, cranberry, red raspberry, touch of mineral, and an earthy, herbal / vegetal component. Smooth texture.

I discovered this wine about six or seven years ago ever since have had it on my list of reliable standbys. Year in and year out, Les Deux Rives provides a consistent flavor profile and structure that is typical of the Corbieres. It’s a step above Beaujolais, a step below Syrah (more like Grenache) — a solid, “bistro” wine and good value. Match it with roasted chicken, lamb, mac and cheese, burgers, and pretty much anything off the grill.

a-7 t-7 b-8 fc-8 v-8 ~ 88 Points

Importers: Pasternak Wine Imports and Martin Sinkoff Wines

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