Summer Sparklers tasting notes

Let me start by saying that 4 out of 19 bottles tasted were "off."  What do I mean by "off?"  The bottles were improperly stored, causing the corks to dry out and fail.  This in turn allows oxygen into the bottle and causes the wine to age in the bottle as is it has been left open; often causing an off-odor or caramel like / maderized flavor.  The importance of this information is: 1) Always buy wine from a reputable wine dealer.  2) Ask questions about your stores storage methods.  3) Ask the store about their return policies.  If they won't refund your money or exchange bottles of returned wine, shop at another store.  The ideal storage of wines is at 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit and 65-75% humidity.  The bottles should also be stored on their sides to help eliminate corks from drying out.  That being said, most people don't want to shop in a store that is 50-60 degrees and humid. They also want to see their bottles standing up so they can read the labels.  So... beware, don't buy dusty bottles.  Shop in stores that are busy and have a high turn over of their products.  This way you are less likely to get a bottle that has been stored upright on a shelf too long and possibly bad.  It only supports what I've always said; don't save the wine for a special occasion, the wine is the occasion!

1) Marteluzzu Prosecco; Italy NV
This wine has a slightly doughy nose with scents of strawberry and citrus and finishes in the mouth slightly sweet with accents of lemon peel, peach and apple.
83, drink now.

2) Zardetto Prosecco; Italy NV
The nose gave off scents of honey, anise, biscuits, rose petals and lemon peel.  In the mouth it was slightly tart  and confirmed flavors of the same.
84, drink now.  Approximate retail, $12.99

3) Schloss Biebrich, sekt; Germany NV
This wine carried an aroma of candied orange peel. While the wine was slightly sweet with a slight bitter finish, it drank with flavors cake batter and stonefruit with a creamy mouthfeel.
BEST BUY 84, drink now. Approximate retail, $4.99, Trader Joe's exclusive.

4) Gruet, Brut; New Mexico NV
The nose gives hints of toast and orange marmalade. The wine is dry and has flavors of berry and citrus, with a slightly short bitter finish.
83, drink now. Approximate retail, $10.99

5) Gruet, Blanc de Noir; New Mexico NV
Aromas of cinnamon danish and pear.  The wine drank with flavors of apple, pear and pineapple.
85, drink now. Approximate retail, $10.99

6) Gruet, Brut Rose; New Mexico NV
While this wine gave off aromas of strawberry rhubarb pie, it drank with flavors of sour cherry, honey and red licorice and hinted at flavors of dough.
85, drink now.  Approximate retail, $11.99

7) Gruet, Demi-Sec; New Mexico NV
Aromas of melon and honey and drank with flavors of green apple, honey dew and creamy vanilla finish.
84, drink now.  Approximate retail, $10.99

8) Charles de Fere, Blanc de Blanc, reserve Bru; France NV
This wine starts out with floral and bread dough notes and leads into tastes of almond paste and pear with a nice creamy balance.
BEST BUY 88, drink now.  Approximate retail, $8.99

9) Varichon & Clerc "Privilege," Blanc de Blanc; France NV
This wine was very enjoyable. It starts with pineapple on the nose which continues through to the palate with the addition of blackberry.  This wine is pure fruit driven, clean and crisp with no yeasty tones at all.
BEST BUY 90, drink now.  Approximate retail, $10.49

10) Scharffenberger, Brut; Anderson Valley, California NV
Not tasted due to an "off" bottle.
Approximate retail, $15.99

11) Schramsberg, Blanc de Blanc, Brut vintage 2006; California
This wine is 100% Chardonnay and has aromas of toasted nuts, cocoa and pastry dough.  It carries through to be slightly sweet with flavors of citrus and pineapple.
83, drink now.  Approximate retail, $20.99

12) Schramsberg, Blanc de Noir, Brut vintage 2006; California
This wine is made up of 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay.  Aromas of carrot juice give way to tastes of berry and pineapple. This example is fairly complex with a tangy acidity.
84, drink now.  Approximate retail, $25.99

13) Montaudon, Brut; Champagne, France NV   375ml
Not tasted due to an "off" bottle.
Approximate retail, $15.99

14) Freixenet cordon negro, Brut; Spain NV
 A nose of flowery hand soap and baked apples. The wine itself is very dry, clean and crisp with flavors of lemon peel.  Overall not very well balanced.
82, drink now. Approximate retail, $8.99

15) Mumm Napa cuvee M; Napa Valley, California NV
Aromas of baked bread, orange cream, honey and grapefruit. The wine tastes of pink grapefruit, meringue and mandarin orange.
83, drink now.  Approximate retail, $17.99

16) Mumm Napa, Brut prestige; Napa Valley, California
Aromas of baked bread and orange carry through to tastes of lime, toast and tart apple. The wine has a good balance and nice mouthfeel.
85, drink now.  Approximate retail, $17.99

17) Jacquart, Brut Mosaique; Champagne, France NV
The wine had a salty aroma of steamed shellfish that quickly blew off to scents of buttered rolls.  when tasted the wine was rich and dry with a buttery acidity.  With flavors of brioche, this is classic Champagne.  Try pairing with a ripe Brie.
89, drink now or hold 1-3 years.  Approximate retail, $23.99

18) Veuve Clicquot, Brut; Champagne, France NV
Not tasted due to an "off" bottle.
Approximate retail, $39.99
19) Nicolas Feuillatte, Brut; Champagne, France NV
Not tasted due to an "off" bottle.
Approximate retail, $34.99 
 

Cabernets on a budget

With the cost of California Cabernets these days, I just can't afford to drink what I want on a daily basis. If you are like me, you need to be selective and find value for your dollar.   Let's look at why that bottle of wine costs so much.  Most states operate on what is called a three tier system: the winery, the wholesaler and the retailer. For the sake of discussion, let's take a bottle of wine selling for $50 in a restaurant. The winery sells it to a wholesaler; called a distributor for about $12.50.  The distributor then marks it up about a third and sells it to a retailer for about $16.50, plus freight and state taxes.  The retailer would then sell it for about $25 and the restaurant for double that charging you around $50.  The cost of that bottle for the winery to produce is about $10.50



For a $50 bottle of wine, within the three-tier system, here’s how it breaks down:

• 7% – cost of grapes and/or growing ~ $3.50
• 9% – cost of wine making ~ $4.50
• 4% – bottles, corks, boxes, labels ~ $2.00
• 2% – marketing ~ $1.00
• 13% – sales people, distribution from the winery ~ $6.50
• 3% – administrative costs ~ $1.50
• 2% – interest ~ $1.00
• 4% – taxes to government ~ $2.00
• 5% – actual winery profit ~ $2.50
• 20% – wholesaler markup ~ the people who get the wines to wine shops and/or restaurants ~ $10.00 (There are lots of overhead and payroll costs involved at this level)
• 31% – wine shop markup ~ $15.50 (There are lots of overhead and payroll costs involved at this level)

The more often you buy a bottle of wine directly from a winery, the more profit there is for the wine company owners. Because there’s more profit, it allows for those with advanced social consciousness to take better care of their workers, and they do. This exists even more so if the wine company is also growing its own grapes.

Now that we know how the costs stack up, how did our selections of budget Cabernet Sauvignons fair?  Let's start with what we are looking for in a typical Cabernet Sauvignon  grape.  Cabernets are often called the "King" of wines.  They make big, powerful, age worthy wines; why?  Characteristically Cabernets produce high tannins, moderately high acids, and carry big pigments and phenolics.  This all adds up to big powerful wines with massive structure.  You should also be looking for aromas of:
                                       black cherry                              cedar
                                       vanilla                                       chocolate
                                       black and red  currants              pencil shavings
                                       herbs                                        tobacco
                                       blackberry                                black pepper
                                       mint                                          tea
                                       blueberry                                  eucalyptus
                                       toffee                                        coffee
                                       cocoa

When these wines are young, they tend to be deep purple in color, have more fruit components in their flavor profile and exhibit big dry mouth puckering tannins. This is often referred to as a "closed' style.  For those that have patience enough to store their wines for often a decade or more, the wines start to turn brick red in color.  The flavors become more delicate; coffee-toffee, fragrant cigar box, and the tannins soft and supple.  How you prefer tour wine is certainly a matter of taste.  For the sake of our tastings, this is why I will rate a wine drink now or hold for x years.  Sometimes we will even recommend a wine as a cellar selection.  It's all a matter of preference.  Check out our reviews on the Cabernets we tasted, taste them for yourself or even send us comments on what you thought of the wines.  May you have the good fortune of good wines and good friends to share them with!


... Tom Cook

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Merlot

I can't think of Merlot without thinking of the line from the movie, Sideways, in which Paul Giamatti proclaims, "I'm not drinking any f#*^ing Merlot." So why does this wine with such high held popularity hold such disregard amongst wine snobs?  Merlots by nature are genarally light, easy drinking, fruit-driven wines.  However, given the right growing conditions it can be a big, brawny, cellar worthy wine.

How and why does this wine have such a split personality?  Let's first define what a Merlot characteristically is.  Merlot is known for its softness and fleshiness and a certain sensuality that it brings to a wine.  In a wine it typically has aromas of:
                        Blueberry                    Plum
                        Cedar Box                  Cocoa
                        Blackberry                  Prune
                        Mint                            Coffee
                        Cherry                         Grapey
                        Toffee                          Spice
                        Black Cherry               Black Pepper
                        Vanilla                         Chocolate

It characteristically has moderate tannins, high alcohol and very little acidity.  In Old World regions, Merlot is often grown in less than ideal sites with cold conditions or clay soils.  This is because the better sites with optimal growing conditions are given to Cabernet Sauvignon, its blending partner.  Grown in these sites, Merlot hardly ever expresses its true potential.  In New World regions, grown on good soils, in good sites and warmer conditions, Merlot is capable of producing some big powerful wines.

In the United States, Merlot was used almost entirely as a 100% varietal until Warren Winiarski, encouraged bringing it back to its blending roots making Bordeaux style blends.  In France, Merlot is rarely used as a stand alone varietal except in the south of France where it is bottled as a Vin de Pays.  Merlot is the most widely planted grape variety in France, accounting for nearly 2/3 of the total world plantings.  In Bordeaux, Merlot accounts for 50-60% of the overall plantings, yet tends to average only 25% in most wine blends.   Left Bank regions are mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Right Bank regions are predominately Merlot.

In the 1980's Merlot helped put Washington State on the world wine radar. Merlot production helped dispel the myth that Washington's climate was too cold for red wine production.  Now Merlot is the most widely planted grape in the state and accounts for nearly 1/5 of their wine production.  During the 1990's Merlot gained in popularity due in large to 60 Minutes "French Paradox" episode.  This suggested that drinking red wine could help promote heart health and spurred a worldwide jump in red wine consumption.  Merlot's easy to pronounce name and easy drinking style seemed to cause an overnight explosion in sales.  Winemakers attempt to keep up with growing demands created many sub-standard bottlings though.  As a result, consumers came to accept lightweight wines being produced from young vines.  Today, mature vines are creating rich, well crafted wines like those that originally started the Merlot craze back in the late 80's and early 90's.  Check out our ratings on the Merlots we sampled

Merlot tasting notes

1.) McManis Family Vineyards, 2011 Merlot, California

With a sweet nose of soft cherry, leather and vanilla, the wine itself had a woody character. It had flavors of cherry, vanilla, and a touch of bitter chocolate on the finish.  Moderately tannic with a touch of acidity, this wine is bigger than expected.  I could see drinking this with a stew.
 I rate this wine an 84, drink now.

2.) Little Black Dress, 2010 Merlot, California

A raspberry nose that drinks with a creamy, sweet, soft mouthfeel ( almost syrupy ).Finishes with a touch of wood, herbs and chocolate.  This wine while light and quaffable, is very enjoyable.  This could be a real crowd pleaser in a group of non-serious wine drinkers.
 I rate this wine an 86, drink now.

3.) Michael Pozzan, 2009 Merlot, Napa Valley, California

This wine hints of dark fruits with a touch of leather and cedar.  The wine is very soft and dry with very light tannins.  It also gives way to slight hints of graphite and dark chocolate.
 I rate this wine an 82, drink now.

4.) Ravens Wood, Vintners Blend, 2010 Merlot, California

Not much dimension to this wine at all.  Hints of black cherry, cedar and bitter chocolate.
 I rate this wine an 81, drink now.

5.) Avalon, 2010 Merlot, Napa Valley, California

The nose eluded to red or stone fruit, but the wine exhibited flavors of cherry and coffee with a light minerally quality, a touch of oak. This wine has a very nice balance that compliments the light tannins
 I rate this wine an 87, drink now.

6.) Wellington Vineyards, 2007 Merlot, Sonoma Valley, California

The nose hints of plum, currant, leather and cedar.  The wine opens with  jammy fruit, smooth soft tannins with a touch of acidity, then finishes with a compliment of cinnamon, leather an cedar.  Very smooth and drinkable.
 I rate this wine an 88, drink now or hold 2-3 years.

7.) Ghost Pines, Winemakers Blend, 2010 Merlot, 71% Sonoma County, 29% Napa County

This wine was a wonderful blend of eucalyptus, green pepper, perfumed berry fruit, cedar, leather and plum.  The wine has a smooth easy balance and begs for more.
 I rate this wine an 89, drink now or hold 3-4 years.

8.) Rutherford Hill, 2007 Merlot, Napa Valley, California

The nose suggests slightly sweet dark fruit.  First taste of this wine confirms that the alcohol is a little to high and the wine is slightly out of balance. It drinks with nuances of cedar, coffee and dark fruits.
 I rate this wine an 85, drink now.


By Tom Cook

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