A full line of Hob Nob red wines were sent to me for review: Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir. They came in stylish, modern packaging including those dandy new artificial corks that are spongy and easy to remove. There’s even a snazzy website with a clever “spin the bottle” navigation format (though, being an old drongo it took me a few minutes to figure out how to find details about the wines; as it turned out, the details weren’t terribly useful to me — there were “matches” for “Mood”, “Music”, “Books”, and “Social Mastery”, as well as foods. Again, the drongo that I am can’t understand why Shiraz is “loud” and a match for the book Running with Scissors. But I digress …)
Instead of spending much more time letting the HobNob website make me feel old and un-hip, I moved on to the actual wines. [Read more...]
Why the sudden Carmenere kick? Well, because I was the beneficiary of a selection of Carmenere blends as a result of being included in a “twitter tasting” hosted by the Wines of Chile a few months ago. Yes, I’m sometimes (often?) slow in getting my reviews published to the blog. But hey, better late than never, right? Anyway, on to the wine.
The 2007 vintage of this wine was originally sent to me by Wines of Chile for their 
Wide open, expressive nose of bright ripe pear, peach, honeysuckle, banana, vanilla. In the mouth it is velvety smooth, with almost sweet ripe pear, candied peach, vanilla, honey. Acidity is mild. Alcohol is surprisingly low considering the high level of ripe fruit. Finishes with spicy peach, vanilla, and a touch of zesty lime. This is enjoyable on its own, also good with leaner foods such as simply prepared roast chicken. Will be nice with spicy and sweet Chinese dishes (General Tsao, sweet and sour shrimp, sesame chicken), BBQ ribs. As far as the Passover table goes, this will be a nice match for a mildly sweet noodle kugel. 
Open aroma of ripe plum, red raspberry, jam, chocolate. Jammy, juicy ripe flavors of sweet raspberry, blueberry, pomegranate. Tannins are mild, acidity is mild to medium. Texture is smooth. Finish is pleasant, full of raspberries and pomegranate, with a slight edge of tart acidity. Enjoyable alone, it will match well with lean meats such as roast chicken and fish but also has just enough structure to stand up to simply prepared beef — such as beef brisket. Will also be nice with turkey meatloaf, Chinese rib tips or beef with spicy and/or sweet sauce.
Every once in a while I get in the mood for a big, jammy, New World style red wine — something bursting with sweet red and black berry fruits — but at the same time, something that I don’t have to think much about. In other words, a bottle that I can pick up for around ten bucks or less and not feel guilty about drinking with a hamburger or cheap cut of steak. 
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