Category Archives: Red Wines

Cabernet Sauvignon Review: Rayun

Rayun Cabernet Sauvignon wine labelIn these difficult economic times, we wine geeks with short pockets must do a better job of hunting down the great values. Traditionally, I have looked to South America for dirt cheap deals on deliciously drinkable wines.

At one time, Chile was a great place to find fantastic values. Then the secret got out, and Chilean bottles went up in cost — allowing Argentina to arrive as an affordable area for the adventurous. But of course, eventually enough people discovered Argentina, driving the prices up. While the see-saw continues today, I’m happy to report that nicely priced daily drinkers are still available from both countries — but they take a little more time and effort to unearth.

In this case, you need to look away from the better-known producers and toward the Rapel Valley, an area which has a history of producing fine red wines based on the Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. The winery is “Rayun” and it’s not always found on the eye-level shelves of the wine shop — so stoop down and check the lower levels and the bargain bins (use your knees, so you don’t hurt your back!). At around seven or eight bucks, it’s a good value.

Tasting Notes: Rayun Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Open nose of dirty earth, tobacco, green bell pepper, some black fruit (cassis, blackberry). Smooth texture, almost creamy mouthfeel. Good ripe black fruit flavor — blackberry, cassis, black raspberry — with a hint of spice and mild earth. Acidity and tannins are about equal, both mild to medium and in fair balance to the fruit level. A nice, soft, red wine that is a decent choice as an everyday drinker. About what you would expect from an under-$10 Chilean Cab — tastes more like a Merlot. Enjoy it alone or with mild cheeses, pasta in marinara, turkey burgers, simple “bistro” fare.

a-7 t-7 b-9 fc-9 v-8 ~ 90 points

Find this wine at a retailer near you through Wine-Searcher, Vinquire, or WineZap

Red Wine Review: Pannotia Garnacha

Pannotia Garnacha Spanish Wine bottleImported wines can be tough to purchase, because there are so many wines brought in from so many areas of the world, with labels that you likely have never heard of, nor seen, before — particularly in the under-$15 range. Additionally, there are a ton of wines brought in for no other reason than the fact that the label says “Pinot Noir”, “Pinot Grigio”, “Chardonnay”, or whatever this month’s “hot varietal” might be.

Even a fairly well educated geek like me has trouble deciding whether an unknown imported wine is worth the few ducats in pocket (and those spare dollars are dwindling by the day!). As protection against buying a dud, I tend to rely on specific importers that have, over the years, consistently delivered wines with a strong price:quality ratio. However, it takes some time to find wines from specific importers — most of them stamp their name in small print on the back label of bottles. As a result, I often spend far too much time in wine shops pulling out my reading glasses and scrutinizing back labels, one after the other.

To save my eyes, Pannotia Vineyards has instituted a somewhat novel idea: to put the importer on the FRONT label; in fact, to make it the brand name. Because you see, there are no vineyards anywhere in the world called “Pannotia” (OK, maybe there are, but wines from such a place won’t be labeled as such). The literal meaning of “Pannotia” (puh-NO-shah) is “all the world is a single continent”. In other words, a wine with the Pannotia label can come from just about anywhere.

It’s an interesting concept brought forward by founder John Fawcett — find quality wines from different parts of the world, and brand it with the importer name, rather than the winery. Of course, this type of branding is not new — Opici comes to mind as one of the obvious, as does Ole Imports — but it is nonetheless intriguing (and saves my eyes).

Helping to establish the Pannotia brand are the distinctive, artsy, colorful labels, created by artist Gary Kelley. The bottles are indeed an attractive package, and the juice inside is pretty good, too. This particular wine is from Castilla, Spain, and made from the Garnacha (aka Grenache) grape.

Tasting Notes: Pannotia Vineyards Garnacha

Black and bell pepper aromas mix with black fruits and earth on the nose. Flavors of black raspberry, cranberry, and black cherry, and hints of vanilla and earth. Texture is glassy smooth. Tannins are mild, acidity is somewhere between mild and medium. The acid, in fact, is slightly tart when this wine is drunk alone, but is the perfect level to match with most mild dishes. For example, it was a good pairing to pasta with sausage marinara, and it would be equally complementary to leaner dishes such as turkey, chicken, and vegetarian. A good daily drinker. At around ten bucks, this is a good value.

a-7 t-7 b-8 fc-9 v-8 ~ 89 Points

Website: Pannotia Vineyards

Find this wine at a retailer near you using Vinquire

Pinot Noir Review: Acacia “A”

Acacia “A” Pinot Noir 2006

Acacia A Pinot Noir wine bottleThere are oodles and oodles of Pinot Noir choices at all price levels from all regions around the world — so how does one know which one to buy?

Beats me … unless you’re spending $45 or more for a legit red Burgundy from a reliable producer, buying Pinot Noir is a crapshoot. What I’ve been trying to do is focus on the ones in the $15-20 range, with the hopes of finding a few nuggets. So far, so good. It appears that if you get too far below the $15 mark, the quality and uniqueness drops considerably. Going above twenty, though, doesn’t seem to guarantee anything. But as I uncover Pinot Noirs that deliver good bang for the buck, I’ll post them here.

The most recent find is Acacia “A” Pinot Noir.

Acacia is a winery based in the Carneros region of Napa Valley, California, and respected for their Chardonnay as well as for their pioneering efforts with Pinot Noir in Carneros. However, this wine is not from Carneros, but rather from grapes grown in both Sonoma and Monterey. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it allows Acacia to make wines that are more affordable for short-pocketed folks such as me. The effort is commendable, and well-executed: Acacia “A” Pinot Noir is a quality wine.

Tasting Notes: Acacia “A” Pinot Noir

Attractive aroma of roses, bright raspberry, and a hint of earth. The palate is equally pleasant, offering flavors of ripe red raspberry, black cherry, a touch of black pepper and mild, sweet earth. Texture is smooth. Acidity is medium, tannins are mild to medium. This is a pleasant, easygoing wine that is OK by itself and better with simple dishes. Try it with mildly seasoned chicken, turkey, or duck; vegetarian cuisine; or mild cheese.

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

Winery website: Acacia Vineyard

Find this wine at a retailer near you using Wine-Searcher, Vinquire, or WineZap

Rubicon 2004

Rubicon 2004

If you’re looking for a Jeep review, move on. This is a site for cork dorks.

Rubicon wine bottleLast week we learned about Francis Ford Coppola’s Rubicon Estate, and the one white wine produced there, Blancaneaux. Today we’ll review the flagship wine of the estate, and the wine that gives the estate its name: Rubicon.

The 2004 vintage was one of the ripest ever seen in Napa, which means the wines of that year should be “huge”, or have a high concentration of fruit. It was the earliest harvest since 1994 due to the warmth of the season — which was a fortunate anomaly since there have been more cooler vintages than warm in the last fifteen years.

However, that warmth and ripeness did not equal abundance. In fact, 2004 was a fairly light crop, with not much fruit — it yielded 25% less cases compared to 2003. In contrast, the 2005 vintage was the largest harvest in history, but didn’t have quite the same ripeness (but it was still pretty damn ripe!).

Because of the extreme ripeness and concentration of 2004, winemaker Scott McLeod chose to age the wine in 100% French oak barrels (small ones, called “barriques”). When you have a lot of fruit, you can give it some oak to add vanilla and spice components without worrying about the wine tasting like a tree. McLeod chose French oak because it leaves less of a “stamp” on the wine; American oak barrels tend to impart more “woodiness” to a wine.

Rubicon 2004 Tasting Notes

The nose is full of violets, with blackberry and other black fruits, as well as some vanilla spice.
In the mouth you get ripe black fruit right away: black raspberry, plum, black cherry. There are equally ripe tannins and good acidity holding things together, and an incredibly silky texture. There is lots of complexity, with flavors of rum raisin, sour cherries, vanilla and other spices. Additionally, it has great length (meaning, flavors hang around in the mouth for well over a minute after swallowing), finishing with black fruit and licorice. It’s OK alone, but it’s very big and most valuable with food — I’d drink it with a braise or a stew or a hunk of cheese.

a-10 t-10 b-10 fc-9 v-7 ~ 96 Points

In addition to the 2004, I was able to get a sneak preview of the 2005 out of barrel. It’s huge, with a wide open nose of red and black berry fruits — licorice, violets, boysenberry, earth. Flavors are similar, but this wine was way too young and nowhere near ready to judge. I can tell you it’s going to be a monster. Meantime, there is the 2004 to drink (or cellar).

Winery: Rubicon Estate

Find this wine at a retailer near you through Wine-Searcher, Vinquire, or WineZap

Red Wine Review: Ch. Vignot Bordeaux

Chateau Vignot Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Bordeaux 2004

Chateau Vignot Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Bordeaux wine bottleOne of my great weaknesses when it comes to wine is Bordeaux (when was the last time you heard a wine geek like me admit he didn’t know something about wine?). There seem to be so many producers of Bordeaux, with prices starting around $6.99 and going well past $699. And forget the whole Bordeaux “futures” market — I just sit back and listen to people talk about the cases they’ve “reserved”. Me, when I spend money on wine, I want it NOW.

Anyway, I know a “little bit” about Bordeaux, which I’ll share with you. I know the wine comes from France, from the region of Bordeaux, and that the wines are often, but don’t have to be, blends (the primary grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc). Generally speaking, you get what you pay for, which is where things get cloudy. If you have big bucks, then Bordeaux is easy — you go after a “First Growth”, “Second Growth”, and so on, through “Fifth Growth”. These are the Chateaus, or wine estates, that were named in something called the “1855 Classification” — so named because all these estates were “classified” as producing superior red wine way back in the year 1855.

However, if you’re like me and not the beneficiary of a wealthy trust fund, then finding an affordable Bordeaux can be sketchy. Luckily there are “lesser” classifications within the region to help steer you to a nice bottle: Cru Bourgeois, Premier Grand Cru, and Grand Cru. If you see these words on a label, chances are good that the wine inside will be of good quality. Whether you like it or not, however, is another story.

But wait, it’s actually not that simple. There’s an area in Bordeaux called Saint-Emilion which subscribes to a completely different set of rules. And unfortunately, it gets more complicated — partially because the process by which wines are classified in Saint-Emilion is under controversy. You can, however, count on a label that says “Grand Cru Classe” (and you’ll pay for it). If you find you like Bordeaux wines, though, it’s worth doing research on — and tasting through — the wines of Saint-Emilion.

There are very fat books dedicated to Bordeaux, and we can’t even scratch the surface of the region and its wines here. That said, very generally speaking, the wines from the Medoc, Haut-Medoc, and Graves (pronounced “graav”) will be dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon. If you see Saint-Emilion or Pomerol on the label, the wine most likely will be based on Merlot and or Cabernet Franc. Armed with this information, it may be a bit easier for you to start exploring wines from the Bordeaux region.

Today we review a Bordeaux from Saint-Emilion, and it’s “only” a Grand Cru, as opposed to a Grand Cru Classe. But you wouldn’t need me to tell you how great a Grand Cru Classe is, so I’ve picked one of the diamonds out of the haystack of Grand Crus in Saint-Emilion — one with the potential to add “Classe” to its label in the near future, in fact.

This wine is made at Chateau Lassegue by superstar winemaker / vigneron Pierre Seillan (who is also the genius behind Verite, Tenuta di Arceno, and other boutique wineries under the Jackson Estates umbrella).

Tasting Notes: Chateau Vignot Saint-Émilion

Deep, dense, purplish and magenta color suggests that it is still young. Forward nose of rich, ripe, complex, yummy smelling red and black berry fruits: mulberry, boysenberry, raspberry, and currant, along with mild tobacco, earth, and a hint of tar. Palate is equally complex, with flavors of dry blackberry, black raspberry, tobacco, an earthy herbal component, and a touch of chocolate licorice. Silky smooth texture – almost creamy. Tannins are firm but not overwhelming. Acidity is medium and in good supply for food matching. A bit too dry to drink alone, enjoy this with a piece of cheese to take the edge off, or grill a good steak. It’s in its youth, and will improve with some time in the cellar. Polished.

At about $35, it’s pricier than most wines reviewed here. However, I can tell you that you don’t have to be worried about spending that much for Chateau Vignot — in this case, you get what you pay for, and what you get is a high quality wine.

a-10 t-8 b-9 fc-8 v-7 ~ 92 Points

Winery: Chateau Lassegue

Find this wine at a retailer near you through Wine-Searcher, Vinquire, or WineZap