An old standby: Maryhill Winemaker’s Red

August 3rd, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Cheap and Red, Odds, Ends & Blends, Washington State | No Comments »

This is one of those “can’t miss” buys: Maryhill Winemaker’s Red, in this case a 2006. This wine is consistently excellent and reasonably priced, year after year. Mrs. Barbarian was the one that found it for us, having drank it at a social gathering somewhere. We buy a few bottles every year, and usually drink them within a day or two of purchase. In this recent case it was a friend of Mrs. Barbarian who was spending the night at our house as part of a long journey. We happened to fall on a halfway point for her and we offered the guest room. We may be barbaric, but we do take care of our friends on occasion!

The Mrs and her friend were drinking a (truly awful) wine in the kitchen (don’t worry, my review is coming soon) when I arrived home from my barbaric daily travails. After I tasted and rejected their choice I opened a bottle of the Maryhill and suddenly the evening got just that much more enjoyable!

I have no idea what varietals they use to make this wine, but they are well chosen and excellent. The price is always in the teens, and the stuff is worth twice the price. Go buy some today.

Sango! Ole!

August 3rd, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Cheap and Red, Spain, Tempranillo | No Comments »

Mrs. Barbarian & I dined at our favorite local restaurant the other day. I always order the same thing there, much to the Mrs’ chagrin. The chef magically knows how to make a steak *just* the way I like it, so I never stray. Mrs. Barbarian views her visits to this place as a way of tasting a little of this, and a little of that… tonight’s special, or something seasonal… trying a bit of something new.

Me? A caesar salad and a New York strip, medium-rare.

However I never order the same bottle of wine. To me the wine list is the place to try, to sample, to go on a new adventure. The owner is a wine guy and he’s always willing to make a suggestion. As we are semi-regulars there he sometimes stops by our table to chat about wines. I didn’t see anything on the list that stood out to me, and was just starting to look at his secondary “comings and goings” list where he lists his new arrivals and stuff he’s almost out of when he walked up to the table. He looked over my shoulder and pointed out a Spanish Tempranillo that was his last bottle. “Sold!” I said and he brought it out.

The bottle says: Sango 2002 Rejadorada (Tempranillo) Toro denominacion de origen

The stuff inside was fantastic. Truly a pleasure and a fine accompaniment to our meal. The price at the restaurant was in the moderate range, so I imagine it shouldn’t be too expensive at a retail outlet. My guess would be in the teens. I’ve added it to my list for the next trip to the wine merchant. If yours does not carry it, I noted the distributor’s URL on the back label:
www.casaventuraimports.com.

Good stuff!

Je ne parle pas Francais. 2005 Domaine de L’Ameillaud

August 3rd, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Cheap and Red, France, Rhone | No Comments »

The French sure know how to make wine. But they could not SELL wine to save their lives (from an invasion of barbarians!) Look at any label from any wine made outside of France… be it the US, Chile, Argentina, Australia, etc… you get some clue as to what is inside. The type of grape, the blend (if there is one), all sorts of useful information.

Not so the French.

Their labels are only comprehensible to the French. What little I know about French and French wines I could squeeze into a small envelope and have room left over for a letter. What I do know is that this wine was cheap, and it was red, so I bought it. If I have one quality you can admire it is consistency, I’ll never pass up a cheap red I’ve never tried before.

The price tag was around $12. If you think about that for a moment it is pretty amazing. Here is something from halfway around the world, hand crafted over a period of more than a year, and then transported to my grocer on the other side of the planet. Too bad I can’t comprehend what I’m buying or perhaps I’d buy some more. I truly only picked this bottle up because of the price. I’m sure that some Frenchman somewhere is insulted by that fact, but so be it.

I’ve had some amazing French wines in my day (all on somebody else’s tab) so I know they are truly masters of the art of wine making. I just would not know how to pick one out from the label.

Mrs. Barbarian and I enjoyed this wine with an herbed chicken I whipped up one night. Since we had a French wine I went overboard with the butter when I sauteed the veggies (don’t tell the Mrs!) Yum. This Rhone red was quite tasty. For the price you can’t really go wrong.

2005 Domaine de L’Ameillaud Cotes du Rhone

Four Vines’ “The Heretic” … a Petite Sirah I’d kill you for.

July 27th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in California, On Somebody Else's Tab, Paso Robles, Petite Sirah | No Comments »

Last month while out on a business trip I attended a dinner with a potential client. We enjoyed a great dinner in a steak house with a great view. Being a classless barbarian I hogged the wine list while everyone else figured out what cut of the flesh of lesser beasts they’d be ordering. I always pick the same thing, so I don’t need to look at a menu in a steak place… just give me the wine list. My Petite Sirah radar spotted only one on the whole long list.. it was awash in Cabs, Merlots, and Pinots… but just one of that ballsy, barabaric mis-named varietal, Petite Sirah. I’d never had this one, “The Heretic”, but I figured it was a Petite Sirah, wasn’t an Oak Grove (bleagh!) and we were about to consume massive quantities of burned steer. How could I go wrong.

The sommelier came by and noted that I was the guy holding the (gigantic) wine list and I asked him to bring my choice. He replied that he hadn’t tried this one yet, and was looking forward to opening it. “Coward” I thought. If I had his job I’d be cackling in the cellar amid a pile of Petite Sirah barrels. Leave the Cabs and Pinots to the snobs upstairs, I’ll be hoarding the Petite Sirahs down in the cellar.

He brought the bottle about the time our appetizers arrived and poured me a sample.

oh. my. gawd.

Of the Petites I’ve enjoyed, this one tops them all. Truly awesome. Everyone at the table thought I was a genius.

I have no idea of the vintage to be honest (2005? 2006?). The bottle is heavy and large, almost like a champagne bottle. The label is minimal. I grabbed it and shot two photos with my cell phone on the black leather of the booth… and both of the photos are pretty bad… as you all know I am a LOUSY photographer, sorry. I can make out “Paso Robles” on this shot of the back label.

I must head to my wine merchant and grab a few of these bottles for myself.

Four Vines “The Heretic” from Paso Robles.  

2005 Seven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon

July 26th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Cabernet Sauvignon, On Somebody Else's Tab, Washington State | No Comments »

One of my co-workers came back from a Costco run with this wine in hand for our Friday afternoon imbibery. It is a Seven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon, from the Columbia Valley of Washington. It is a big, powerful red. Unfortunately a bit too powerful. This is another one that should be locked in a dark, cool place for a few years before opening. I have no idea what this one cost since i didn’t buy it, so I can’t classify it by price. If you have a cellar it might be good to grab a bottle or two and lock ’em away to see how they develop. Unless they’re asking more than a fistful of dollars for it. If so, pass it up.

2004 Casa Silva Reserva Carmenère

July 26th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Carmenère, Cheap and Red, Chile | No Comments »

Mrs. Barbarian had a friend over last night, and we drank two and a half bottles of wine. A little of this, a little of that. The last bottle I pulled from my “cellar”… which is really an unfinished room in our basement, but “cellar” sounds better doesn’t it? The bottle I picked was this Chilean 2004 Carmenère from Casa Silva. When I opened the bottle and poured a taste I was a tad angry at myself, as it was obvious the wine needed to stay in the cellar a while longer. Very young on the tongue.

We only managed to finish half of it, so I put a stopper in the bottle and finished it with dinner tonight. It is much nicer now. If you were to throw this wine at a real wine snob and hit them in the head they’d probably suffer a concussion. Then when they came to and tasted it I bet they swear it was a French wine from Bordeaux. It has a VERY French style to it, earthy and complex. I like it a lot, but then I really like big earthy reds.

This is not a wine that you would buy and drink, this is a wine to hang onto for a couple of years. Maybe give it as a gift to a wine snob. I can’t recall what I paid for this bottle… but I’d guess it was under $20.

Casa Silva 2004 Carmenère, Colchagua Valley, Chile

True Earth Red

July 21st, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in California, Cheap and Red, Odds, Ends & Blends | No Comments »

I was stalking through the wine section of the grocery store the other day, when I happened upon this red wine. Honestly what caught my eye was the presence of my favorite grape on the label: Petite Sirah. Given that I’d pillage your village for a mere sip of Petite Sirah I have developed a finely tuned peripheral vision that is able to discern the pattern of letters that say Pxxxxe Sxxxh from a distance of 32 light years away. This grocer is desperately trying to appear upscale, and has devoted a subsection (really just an end of the row) to “Organic Wines”… bleagh. From what I know about winemaking the best wines come from grapes that have been tortured to within an inch of their lives. If we could ship a few vines to Gitmo I’m sure a red worth writing home about would appear! I mentally envision Organic Farmers out having deep conversations about love and emotion to their grapevines to produce this stuff. Hell, I’d be out there menacing the little bastards: “Suffer you miserable grapes! Suffer or we’ll turn you into jelly and you’ll live for nothing but the indignity of a sandwich! With peanut butter!!” … all while brandishing a battle-axe at them.

Anyway, this little section of the grocer’s wine department is where I found my beloved Nuevomundo, so I always give it a glance. Sure enough my pattern recognition systems zeroed in on my favorite varietal like a smart bomb to an Iraqi ventilation shaft. I grabbed the bottle and noted the label:

TRUE EARTH Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Petite Sirah Mendocino

I flipped it over and noted the percentages: 52% Cab, 43% Merlot, 5%(!) Petit Sirah.

Damn.

But… like a fish on the hook, or a bird in the hand, here I had a red and it was relatively cheap. This grocer also gives an additional discount if you buy 4 bottles and I already had two, so I decided not to play catch and release with this one… into the basket it went.

Mrs. Barbarian and I drank this with dinner tonight and both of us remarked how good it was. I was ready for another bottle, but alas, we only had the one and the Missus was unwilling to dive into something else (she is so not uncivilized like her mate… sigh.)

You will note this red has no date associated with it. No vintage. I do not know exactly why that is in this case, but I suspect that this blend was a collection of leftovers… sort of like a good chili or stew.

I love a good chili or stew! At $12.99 this is rather high-priced leftovers but to be perfectly honest, it is pretty damn good chili. I’d serve this to a friend in a heartbeat. Tasty. Rich. Excellent grapes. Everything you should and could expect from a good, cheap red. Give it a try.

Of course it could also come in handy for another use in todays hectic society. You know that annoyingly yuppie couple? C’mon… we all know them… the ones who shop at Whole Foods and send their kid to French language day-care? Yeah, I want to decapitate them too, but hey… what can you do? Next time you have to endure a party at their house bring a bottle of this one along. That way they can appreciate all this “organically grown” crap while you can enjoy a reasonable red. If you drink enough of it you’ll lose that urge to decapitate… leave the axe at home though.

De Martino “Legado Reserva” Syrah 2004

July 19th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Cheap and Red, Chile, Syrah | No Comments »

I spotted this Chilean Syrah in the wine section of my grocer today and had to pick it up. I’ve seen all sorts of varietals from Chile, but never Syrah… until today. Now, being a brutish barbarian, I rarely stay in tune with the fashions of the day, and I know Syrah is THE hot grape of this decade. The Aussies and Californians are pumping it out at a prodigious rate… so much so that it is becoming a tad overwhelming. But, as you know I’m on this Chilean kick at the moment because their wines are generally such a great value. The Vinagoth is all about value.

So I grabbed this De Martino Syrah.

Man… it was worth every bit of the $15.39 paid for it. Awesome. In fact, I’d bet if this wine came from California it would fetch $45. It was smooth, subtle, and very tasty! Go out and buy a few bottles of this one before they figure out how much they can jack the price up.

The sticker on the top of the bottle says that the producer, Marcelo Retamal, won the “Chilean Wine Guide’s Wine Maker of the year in 2004.” He earned it with this one. I don’t know if the Chilean Soccer announcers say this but I wanted to shout: “Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllll!!!!!!” when I tasted it.

Veramonte Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Reserva

July 18th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Cabernet Sauvignon, Cheap and Red, Chile | No Comments »

This is one of the wines I grabbed on that rampage through the wine section a while back. As promised here is the review.

Not a bad Cab, but it isn’t a mind-blower. But hey, what do you expect for under $10! If there wasn’t some Spanish on the label you’d swear this was a California Cab. If it was from California you’d be forking over 2X the price though! As such this is a great value. Mrs. Barbarian liked it too, so it must be reasonably good. She’s far more discerning than I… I’ll drink anything… well ALMOST anything, but she will give up on a Red she doesn’t like and go pull some cheesy Riesling from the fridge. She drank most of this bottle, leaving me with just the first and last glass. Barbarian family tradition gives me the last glass of every bottle at the dinner table. Since I like reds far more than the wife, I usually also get a glass or two in the middle as well. Not with this Chilean Cabernet, that was all I got. First and last.

Looking for a Cabernet Sauvignon that doesn’t suck your wallet dry, but also doesn’t suck? Give this one a try.

Cono Sur Carmenere

July 12th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Carmenère, Cheap and Red, Chile | No Comments »

Another great value from Chile. I keep seeing the Cono Sur brand at my local grocery store. They sell Pinot, some white varietals I don’t care about, and this wonderful Carmenere. Being very interested in this particular grape led me to grab a few of these off the grocer shelf while Mrs. Barbarian was picking up cat food or something equally useless. The price was right (under $10) and the wine did not disappoint. Very tasty, went well with the braised housecat steaks we ate along with it.

As if to dispense completely with the wine snobbery, it has a screw top bottle. Works for me.

Here is one of the six noble grapes of Bordeaux, once thought extinct, available for under ten bucks, with an easy to open bottle. Gotta love these times we live in eh? Go buy some now.

Yeah.. there is some multi-lingual word play going on here (cono sur, connoisseur) but I’m far to barbaric to note or explore that, ok?