Jezebel Oregon 2009 White Wine You'll Not. . .

Jezebel Oregon 2009 White Wine, a blend of: Riesling (adds acidity and minerality), Gewürztraminer (adds a rich fragrance), Pinot Gris (adds crispness and quaff-ability), $13.59-$18.99, 91 points, is a light, fruity, flavorfully layered White Wine with good quality throughout, mineral-color, lightly-sweet lemon-lime and fresh-cut hay aroma, with flavors of aroma carried-over to palate, but as this wine warmed, hidden talents of apricot, apple, and almond eked their way into consciousness.

Great wine with Thai-food, or light and spicy cuisine.

"You'll Not" Forget her! 

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Merlot Time-Bolla, Havens Napa, Clos Du Bois Sonoma, Glenn Ellen, Lockhart, Artesa

Bargain-basement Merlot, $5.99 750ml is out there, but you knew that; you go to the store every week and grab that bottle of Bare Foot, Turning Leaf, Oak Leaf, Leaf-on the wind or whatever, but I have some comments, and I'll begin with a worthy Merlot at $5.99; can you afford a worthy Bargain-basement Merlot?

Bolla 2008 Merlot, $5.99-$8.99, 86 points, is to me the Merlot, at the price we all want, and I want on my dinner table. Buying this Merlot is like going to the grocery store and buying milk and bread. Bolla 2008 Merlot is about as good a wine, at this price, you'll find.
Did I praise this enough?
Maybe it's the Italian label?
Merlot is not my usual affair, but since my wife mostly drinks Merlot, I can't get away without tasting them.
Light Red color, pleasant aroma, light bodied, having a gentle easy mouth-feel, over-all grapey flavor with great drink-ability, but still a one dimensional wine with just a hint of diesel on the finish.

Havens Napa 2004 Merlot, $19.99 (Are they still making wine?), 90 points, opened to an almost pungent aroma, but settled-down, with some breathing, to a roar of cigar, mint, and grape.
Deep Red color is beautiful.
This is a sleek medium bodied wine with a nicely layered finish.
If I'm correct, and this winery is gone, I think we've all lost something. I think the economy is not as favorable to "Family owned" wineries as it was; I've seen the reports of their selling-out, but just maybe, the best wineries, with lower costs (Family-labor biting the bullet) and demanding higher prices (95-100 points get the big-bucks), will weather these financial storms.

Clos Du Bois, Sonoma Alexander Valley 2006 Merlot, $12.99, 86 points, opens to a hint of clove and soft cinnamon, there is a striking floral character along with alcohol (14.5%), and both carry-over to the palate in excess. There is a bit of bitterness, but not offensively so. I did like this plum and licorice light bodied wine having a fair finish. However, with all the competition, the price hurts this wine.



Glen Ellen 2008 Proprietor's Reserve 2008 Merlot, $3.99-$5.99, 82 points, began with disappointment after the good quality of their Chardonnay. I think this is another one of those Merlots that gave Merlot a bad name.
The color is young with bright purple-red hues.
The aroma devolved from grapey to a muted vegetative character.
This is a thin wine with little to commend it, except for a fair, mild, spicy finish.

Lockhart 2007 Merlot, $9.90, 88 points, is Dark-Ruby-Red. The gentle Black-cherry aroma is very nice. This wine has a medium body, a bit floral and sweet, but the plum and licorice give this some richness, and the silky smooth finish makes this a good wine with a high QPR.

Artesa 2005 Merlot, $14.99-$19.99, 87 points, is dark purple, with a strong floral aroma with hints of clove, all of which carries-over to the palate with some espresso syrup and smokiness. This is the first Merlot I would call "chewy". The medium body is  dense and awkwardly complex, and the finish has quite a bit of heat on it.

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Antinori Umbria Cervaro della Sala 2005 Chardonnay

Antinori Umbria Cervaro della Sala 2005 Chardonnay, $33.99-$39.99, 92+ points, is 15 % Grechetto, but this is pure delight.

This is my first Italian Chardonnay, and though too expensive for me, I just had to try this one at the lower price point, and at that price, it is a good buy still, especially when you compare it to a high-quality Cabernet.

This wine comes from the Umbria region of Italy. This is a region that produces Grechetto (Among many other grapes), primarily for blending.  

Usually, I start my White wines at about 42 degrees, and sense them develop as they warm, and this Chardonnay too, began cold. The aroma (Cold) is the nicest and lightest lemon-oil and honey. As it warmed, hints of pine and lychee with almond and clove gave complexity to the bouquet.

The flavors developed from a unique blend of pink grapefruit and lemon into hints of pear, apple, and a marble minerality  (As imprecise as that maybe).

This is a clean, crisp and refreshing wine that will pair well with anything buttery, creamy, crab or richer fish, poultry, but you might like this with almost anything; as I've said, there are "rules" but the number one rule is: if it works for you. . .

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Red Wine Trio Triple Value

Costieres Et Soleil Plume Bleue 2007 Grenache/Syrah, $12.99-$14.99, 89 points is a splendid French Red wine at a splendid price.
Having a very light ruddy-plum and crushed black currant color, a toasty pine-nut aroma, and layers of fruit flavor. As is typical with Syrah, Plume Bleue finished with a spicy flair, wrapped in a matrix of unnoticeable 14% alcohol.
For inexperienced wine adventurers, I've advocated United States Wines. I still do, but I have also advocated going outside the box when the price is right and or you have some "good" counsel; this wine and the two to follow, was inspired by those two criteria and the idea behind my buying and tasting these wines; I was not disappointed, and I doubt that you will be either. When my wife (Who only drinks one Merlot) had finished her last favorite bottle of Merlot, came-a-beggin for "something" to try, she tried three different Merlots (Which she rejected) before I gave up, and surreptitiously    
gave her this wine; she loved it.


Peter Lehmann Of The Barossa Clancy's 2005 Red Wine, 37% Shiraz, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 27% Merlot, $13.99-$18.99, 88 points, has a typical dense purple-red color, and an aroma of plum and black currant that carry-over to the palate with a quaff-able quality, yet sweet and sour hints give this some complexity. The finish is long and spicy.
This is a high QPR wine, fabulous with many dishes, barbecues, Italian or Mexican cuisine, or just plain burgers. 






Claraval Seleccion Especial 2006 Red Wine, $14.99, 91 points, is a Red Wine from the Calatayud region of Spain

This Red Wine is of a medium body with a rich feel, and flavors edging red currant and grape. The tannins are firm, and the finish is smooth, but spicy.
This is a better than average table wine, and will stand-alone.

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Reasonable Markus Molitor Riesling Multifaceted And Manicured

Okay, my title is confusing, but German wines confuse me, so I'm just getting even.

Markus Molitor Haus Klosterberg Spatlese 2007 Riesling, $21.00, 92 points ( Spätlese-Late Harvest ), is a sleek and pure libation. If you click on the above link, you'll get the fact sheet that is more informative than I can be about this wine; all I know is that it was elegant, delicious, refreshing, and difficult to pin-down, but sometimes we'll see something quite beautiful and not be able to explain the essence of it, hear a melody that we just can't hum, or taste a wine that everyone seems to describe differently; I found (cold) hints of kumquat and golden grapefruit, but as it warmed there was crisp apple and a slate-like quince dominating, but others had peach, still others had citrus. 

On the rim of the finish was a delicate fructose tangerine (Acid 6.9 grams/liter). So, if you are daring, if you have $20.00 or so to spend, and want something outside the American-box, give this a try, write your own review and let the people of New Hampshire into your insights and opinions. 

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Marechal Foch New Hampshire's Very Own Wine?

Marechal Foch (pronounced "mar-esh-shall-fosh"), some people like to think (In some sense) that this is New Hampshire's very own wine. So, and as far as I'm concerned, that's not a problem.
My reason for starting this post is obvious: NH Wineman and so few NH wines! Well, this is a work in progress, but I'm working to rectify my malfeasance. In the meantime just enjoy the photograph and the four wine reviews linked below. Thanks Tom! Hope you like the photo of Mount Washington?

Sadly my blind tasting of four New Hampshire Marechal Foch red wines didn't go well, and I'm sure I'll get a lot of heat for this, but I have to call them as I see them.

Flag Hill 2011 Marechal Foch Red Wine, $10.99-$12.99, 76 points
Jewell Towne Marechal Foch N/V Red Wine, $8.49-$10.49, 77 points
Olde Nuttfield 2009 Marechal Foch Red Wine, $10.99, 75 points
Sweet Baby Vineyard N/V Marechal Foch Red Wine, approximately $12, 75 points



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Chateau Ste Michelle Columbia Valley 2009 Dry And 2010 Harvest Select Rieslings

Chateau Ste Michelle Columbia Valley 2009 Dry Riesling, $9.00, 87 points, is another in the value wines from Chateau Ste Michelle Columbia Valley.
This is a very dry wine, but has plenty of fruit, apple and lime as well and other pome fruit with some citrus flavors which were carried over from the aroma.
The color is very clear, having a glimmer of lemon-lime.
The lightness of the color is true on the palate, making this a very refreshing libation. 
Chateau Ste Michelle Columbia Valley Harvest Select 2010 Riesling, $10.00, 91 points, is a great buy.
The color is almost as crystal clear as mineral water, the aroma is citrus, and the flavor is rich and layered. I found tangerine and a hint of kumquat tingeing the core of light citrus and giving a lush creaminess to this more full-bodied less dry Riesling.
The three of us did a blind tasting on these two wines, and we all preferred the Chateau Ste Michelle Columbia Valley Harvest select.
Keep in mind that Chateau Ste Michelle  has almost a dozen different Rieslings.

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