Rodney Strong Northern Sonoma Knotty Vines 2009 Zinfandel, $16.14-$21.99, 86 points, has a strawberry to ruby color which is quite clear throughout. The aroma is tart cherry pie and sweet spice. A medium body carries lots of juicy cherry and plum, but it is the fair finish of spice and a fair price that give this wine a buy signal from me. The 2009 Knotty Vines is a bit sweet, but does make your mouth water. This wine is a bit on the syrupy side and didn't pair very well with my T-bone steak, but was okay with a broccoli and turkey casserole. The next day this Zin paired fine with a Meatball sub and provolone.
Index-of-reviewed-wines
Copyright 2012 Dennis Tsiorbas. All rights reserved, Template provided by Blogger
Rodney Strong Sonoma County Chalk Hill 2010 Chardonnay $16.14-$21.99, 89 points, has the color of lemon/lime, the nose is melon with some bright citrus, the light to medium body has an oak-spice quality, and the flavor is melon and tart apple. The finish shows hints of vanilla.
This is a nice wine, and at $16.14 a great value: buying Rodney Strong wines now gets easier at the NHLS's 15% off six bottles of "Green" wine. I can now recommend 3 bottles of the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc at $33.12 and 3 bottles of the 2010 Rodney Strong Chalk Hill Chardonnay at $48.42 (About as much as one bottle of Nickle and Nickle Far Niente Chardonnay) , which equals 6 bottles of very good white wine for only $81.54; nearly a tank of gas! If variety is important to you, then my review of the Rodney Strong Zinfandel is on the way.
Index-of-reviewed-wines
Copyright 2012 Dennis Tsiorbas. All rights reserved, Template provided by Blogger
Robert Mondavi Napa Valley 2008 Merlot, $15.29-$22.99, 90 points, is what I had hoped for with the Rodney Strong Merlot. The color is ruby red trailing violet, transparent rim, but opaque at the core.
The aroma is a more subdued, yet pronounced cedar with sweet cooking spice.
The medium body carries a fine florality that is near perfectly 'cut' with noticeable acids and firm tannin. Other flavors are blackberry and boysenberry with licorice late palate, and finishing long on spice and a hint of menthol.
This wine evolves with a deepening complexity as it breathes, and the longer I held my glass the more this Merlot appealed to me.
Index-of-reviewed-wines
Copyright 2012 Dennis Tsiorbas. All rights reserved, Template provided by Blogger
Rodney Strong Sonoma County 2008 Merlot, $7.64-$19.99, 84 points, began with a consistent ruby color and a transparent rim. A bombastic, unpleasant aroma of floral-cedar, clove, and vegetation smacked me in the face. Though the mouth-feel was smooth, round, and juicy, the flavor was way too floral for me, and the medium-plus body carried a syrupy flavor into the finish; neither Ethan nor I even finished our glass.
Index-of-reviewed-wines
Copyright 2012 Dennis Tsiorbas. All rights reserved, Template provided by Blogger
Rodney Strong Charlotte's Home Northern Sonoma 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, $11.04-$14.99, 90 points, is not like any Sauv-Blanc I've tasted! This wine is all about melon, with hints of banana and cantaloupe, but no grass, no cat pee, not even lemon or grapefruit, but it is sweet without being cloying, it is delicious without being complex, and it paired nicely with almost everything, including a Swiss burger. I wouldn't be shy in serving this wine at a barbecue, only expect to go through copious quantities.
The color is very clear with gold notes, the aroma is melon and lichee, the body is light to medium, and the finish is fair on ginger spice.
If you like white wine, cold or warmer, if you like melon verses citrus, then this is a white wine for you.
Index-of-reviewed-wines
Copyright 2012 Dennis Tsiorbas. All rights reserved, Template provided by Blogger
For those who like controversy, I'm not one of them, this piece by Alder at Vinography and the 49 comments gathered at the end of his great article, has long got my attention, but on this blog I'm mostly concerned with the wine. So, as to not leave you in the dark, I've linked below the article for those who might be interested in the "rules" governing blogger's reviews and wineries; I have not received any wines and have not had the occasion to sign such a statement or contract, but as I've often reviewed several wines from wineries as White Hall Lane, Clayhouse, and others.
Now that I'm preparing to taste a number of Rodney Strong wines, I thought I might prepare my readers.
The occasion is NHLS's 15% off of "Green wine" sales.
I've reviewed some of Rodney Strong's wines in the past, and have found them well worth the money, in fact I was still able to buy their Merlot, this vintage is the 2008, for an unbelievable $7.64! If this Merlot is anything like their 2007, it is stock-up-time my friends.
Vinography "utter stupidity of the FTC
Index-of-reviewed-wines
Copyright 2012 Dennis Tsiorbas. All rights reserved, Template provided by Blogger
Clayhouse Paso Robles 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, $13.99-$17.99, 88 points, is a wine that needs to temperature-mature, it needs to be tasted cold and then handled for a while as the warmer it gets the better it gets. I like my Sauv-Blancs cold, but what you get with the Clayhouse is a sipper of a white wine, a medium body, mineral-water clear, a nose full of lemon/lime, pink grapefruit, and kiwi, but there's a bit of mustiness which is not altogether bothersome. The flavor is the aroma, but there's a nuttiness and some tangerine with a hint of lichee, and the finish is a nice ginger spice.
I paired this Sauv-Blanc with a medley of seafood.
I was not blown-over by this wine, but I wasn't disappointed either.
Index-of-reviewed-wines
Copyright 2012 Dennis Tsiorbas. All rights reserved, Template provided by Blogger
