Mount Veeder Winery 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

This week’s selection:
Winery : Mount Veeder WInery
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Price Paid: $20.99
Vintage: 2007
Area: Napa Valley, CA
Alcohol: 14.5%
Purchased: Costco

Overall: This is as good a bottle of wine as you can buy for around $20. It is a “Mountain Cab” and I particularly like mountain cabs in ripe years like 2007. I had the 2004 (another ripe year) in a restaurant and went on to drink 5 more bottles over the next 18 months. I paid $34.99 retail a bottle for the 2004.

I was in Trader Joe’s a week or so ago and saw the 2007 for $28.99 and thought it was a great deal and bought 3. I drank one and thought it was fantastic. It just got better over the 3 days it was open. Then I saw it at Costco for $20.99 and bought 9 more bottles. I will enjoy this over the next 2 - 3 years. It is available in many places.

Reviews

Wine Enthusiast
A beautiful Cabernet, rich and mellow, and drinking well now. Shows soft tannins and smoky oak framing blackberry, cherry, cocoa, herb and spice flavors. 90 Points

Winemaker's Notes:
The 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon weaves warm aromas of cassis and tobacco into a bright canvas of raspberry, plum, and currant notes. On the palate, flavors of black cherry and boysenberry meet hints of vanilla, bay, and mocha beneath a generous structure of round, mouth-filling tannins. This big, brambly wine with bold mountain character is richly expressed with layers evolving through the full, lingering finish.

"85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 4% Petite Verdot, 2% Syrah and 1% Malbec. Deep garnet. Concentrated aromas of blackberry, dark chocolate, anise, and bay, highlighted with notes of coffee and currants. Very full-bodied, plushy and dense. Rich and round mouthfeel with intense flavors of cassis and black cherry. Good structure and well-balanced, with fine-grained tannins and a long finish of sweet vanilla, mocha, and berries. 14.5% alcohol."

Masi Masianco White Blend 2008

This week’s selection:
Winery : Masi (Masianco)
Varietal: Pinot Grigio & Verduzzo
Price Paid: $17.00
Vintage: 2008
Area: Friuli, Italy
Alcohol: 13%
Purchased: Papa Joe’s

Overall: OK, I am not a big Pinot Grigio fan. But, this is a delicious wine! It is 75% Pinot Grigio and 25% Verduzzo (which adds a bit of peach, apricot, honey…). The Verduzzo is picked slightly overripe to provide more body and a bit more sweetness but this is not an overly sweet wine. I bought this wine for my wife's "Girls Night Out" and they loved it. This is one of my favorite wineries and I have never had a Masi wine that I did not like, I enjoy their appassimento style (ancient process of drying grapes to make wine dating back 3,00 years), they have simply one of my favorite Amarone’s and even their Campofiorin is excellent (they have it at Maggiano’s Restaurant chain).

Reviews

Shoppers Wine
Golden straw color. Ripe lemon and orchid aromas. Soft entry. Light-to medium bodied palate of ripe lemon, tangerine, and apple flavors with a crisp, stylish finish. Great balance and flavor. 89 Pts. Shoppers Wines

WineChateau.com
Tasting notes
The wine has a bright pale straw color with golden reflections. The complex and appealing bouquet shows fresh notes of white fruit and citrus, as well as warmer aromas of apricot, honey and dried figs. On the palate it is full, overwhelming and smooth, with a delicate vanilla note on the finish.

Winemaker notes
Fermented separately then assembled. Fermented 25 days for Pinot Grigio, 30 days for Verduzzo. Stainless steel aging for 4 months for Pinot Grigio, 4 months in barriques for Verduzzo.

Food pairing
Masianco is an ideal aperitif. It is perfect with hors d’oeuvres, fish and white meats.

Bila-Haut 2008

This week’s selection:
Winery : M. Chapoutier - Les Vignes De Bila-Haut
Varietal: Grenache, Syrah and Carignan
Price Paid: $11.99
Vintage: 2008
Area: Roussillon - France
Alcohol: 13.5%
Purchased: Wine Buy’s

Overall: Good Grenache blend and well worth the $11.99 price. It was best the 1st day and very enjoyable, lost something the 2nd day and by the 3rd well… I highly recommend you try this just don't keep it hanging around too long.

Reviews

#75 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2009
Critical Acclaim:
"A muscular red, with concentrated flavors of dark cherry, plum, raspberry tart and grilled fig. The dense finish of dark chocolate is firm and focused, with smoky notes. Best from 2010 through 2014. 15,000 cases made."
90 Points
Wine Spectator

14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

This week’s selection:

Winery: 14 Hands Winery
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Cab Franc
Price Paid: $12.99
Vintage: 2008
Area: Washington State
Alcohol: 13.5%
Purchased: Papa Joe’s

Overall: Had a glass of this wine two nights in a row at a hotel I recently stayed at. Enjoyed it so much the first night that I looked forward to another glass the 2nd night. Good with hearty food and a nice bargain in a cab blend.

Reviews
Wine Maker

The vintage
Delayed by cool weather in the spring and a moderate summer, harvest began 10 days later than previous years. Hot temperatures in August ripened the fruit, and harvest was quickly ramped up in order to obtain fruit at its optimum ripeness. The cooler than normal growing season and full crop loads led to flavorful fruit with restrained sugar levels and ample acidity.

winemaking
Grapes were sourced from vineyards throughout Washington State, including the Horse Heaven Hills, Columbia Valley, Wahluke Slope and the Yakima Valley. Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Franc were added to create a fruit-forward blend and to enhance mouth feel. The wine was aged for 12 months in a combination of American and French oak barrels to build structure and complexity in the blend.

flavor profile
“14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon features aromas of sweet cassis and black cherries with subtle hints of spice and dried herbs. Dark stone fruit flavors are joined by notes of cocoa and complemented by fine, velvety tannins.”

recommended food pairings
Tomato-basil bruschetta, eggplant parmesan, herb crusted prime rib, grilled beef steak, hearty venison stew.

Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

This week’s selection:

Winery: Beringer
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Price Paid: $18.00 - $20.00
Vintage: 2007
Area: Sonoma, CA
Alcohol: 14.3%
Purchased: Costco

Overall: Simply the best Cab in this price range I have ever had in almost 20 years of drinking mainly Cabs. Right now I am drinking the late 90’s vintages out of my cellar. I learned the aging potential of this gem from Ron Edwards, Master Sommelier. Serve this to company with grilled meats, roast beef, etc. and no one will be disappointed. I poured this 2007 through an aerator before drinking and found the 2007 outstanding and delicious. If you don’t have an aerator you may want to decant.

Reviews
K & L Wines
According to Robert Parker: "Several other great values emerge from Beringer, including the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Knight’s Valley. A major sleeper of the vintage, this $27 wine will probably be marked down at discounters, making it a terrific value. This sexy North Coast Cabernet offers copious quantities of black cherry and black currant fruit intermixed with smoky barbecue, roasted herb, sweet cassis, and blackberry scents. Round and gentle with silky tannins, this is a plush red to drink over the next 5-8 years." (12/09)

89 points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: "Good deep, bright ruby. Black cherry, licorice and fresh herbs on the slightly medicinal nose. At once dense and juicy, with lively acidity and a firm tannic spine keeping the bright dark berry and licorice flavors under wraps today. This has good weight and balance and finishes with broad, serious, building tannins that call for a year or two of patience. Already showing a bit of flesh, but give this another year or two to round out in bottle." (May/June 10)

Airfield Estates 2008 Riesling

This week’s selection:

Winery: Airfield Estates

Varietal: Riesling

Price Paid: $15.99

Vintage: 2008

Area: Yakima, WA

Alcohol: 14.1%

Purchased: Colasanti’s Market

Overall: I like my Rieslings on the dry side but this had a pleasant sweetness with enough acid to balance it out. Apple, citrus and a good Riesling to have with Chinese or Curry in particular.

Reviews

Winemaker’s Notes:

A family owned and operated winery located in Prosser, Washington -- in the heart of the Yakima Valley AVA. Great wines begin in the vineyard! Airfield Estates uses 100% estate grown fruit. Our first vines were planted in 1968 by Don Miller. Today, the estate vineyard spans over 860 acres and includes 26 different varieties.

The vineyard is located at the foot of the Rattlesnake Mountains in the Yakima Valley. All of the vineyard blocks are situated within a 3 mile radius of the original WWII airbase. Within this range, there is a considerable amount of diversity of soil and microclimatic conditions. To maximize quality, we carefully match grape varietals to the most suitable sites.

Well balanced with impressive acidity, this slightly sweet Riesling offers a bouquet of citrus and apple with a touch of minerality. It begs for Asian inspired foods, oysters, shellfish, and salads.

From Fullpullwines:

http://fullpullwines.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/2008-airfield-states-riesling/

This Riesling comes from a block of 30-year-old vines that also goes into Ste Michelle’s Eroica Riesling program, routinely recognized as one of the state’s premier Riesling bottlings. Lots of citrus notes on the nose, with just the barest hint of petrol adding attractive complexity. On the palate, there is zingy acid that immediately hits the sides of the tongue, bringing flavors of lemon, flower, and clay. The 1.7% residual sugar is almost imperceptible, balanced beautifully by all that acid.

Maipe 2008 Malbec

This week’s selection:

Winery: Maipe

Varietal: Malbec

Price Paid: $11.19

Vintage: 2008

Area: Mendoza, Argentina

Alcohol: 14%

Purchased: Bella Vino Fine Wines

Overall: Another enjoyable bottle of wine at a good price point. As my friend Rinart has said, this varietal when from Argentina (originated in Cahors, France as Auxerroix not Malbec, the grape does so well in Argentina that they have made it the up and coming wine that it is today) seems to have more consistency than most and he really hasn’t had a bad one. Pour in the glass and let sit for at least 20 minutes. Calls out for grilled meats. The Pascual Toso Malbec reviewed several months ago was even more enjoyable.

Reviews

From the K & L Wines Website: (www.klwines.com)

90 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "The 2008 Malbec is a glass-coating purple color with a striking perfume of violets, black cherry, and black raspberry. Exhibiting surprising complexity for its price category, the wine has gobs of fruit, savory flavors, and excellent depth and length. It is an outstanding value for drinking over the next 3-4 years. Alberto Antonini (think Altos Las Hormigas) is a consultant at Maipe which in and of itself is an indicator that the winery is focused on quality." (12/08)

The largest selling wine in the history of K&L, in terms of bottles sold, was the 2006 Pascual Toso Malbec for $8.99. I'm sure many of you remember this spectacular value. Well, I think I've found the next Toso. For the same price here is another Malbec that you can afford by the case and drink on a nightly basis. With its big nose chock full of cacao, espresso, violet, bitter root and gobs of wild berry fruit, this is aromatically packed for a wine at this price point. With air the nose becomes brighter and more high-toned, expressing more of a raspberry and cinnamon note. Full weight and with a plush feel, this is full of ever-so-slightly jammy blackberry fruit laced with cedar, chocolate cream and coffee bean flavors. Bursting with flavor, the finish is packed with black pepper, tar and mocha. Inexpensive, full of character, ready to drink, what more can you ask for? (Bryan Brick, K&L)