PETITE SIRAH: UNITED STATES

+MUST TRY+ 
Bogle Vineyards Petite Sirah (by Bogle Vineyards) United States of America: Clarksburg, California (Sacramento Delta)
Petite Sirah (red)
2010

$11.00
89 pts
Dana and I enjoyed dinner with friends Joe & Leslie at our favorite Italian cafe in Chicago last night (Osteria de Pizza Metro, wow!), and while I brought a rather disappointing bottle of Salice Salantino from Puglia (where's my earth, my Old World dirt?), Joe and Leslie brought the Bogle Vineyards Petite Sirah (2010)--and I loved this little gem from northern California the second it hit my mouth. The texture is full, rich and tannic, very pleasing. The initial attack brings blackberries, with that flavor transitioning seamlessly, naturally to vanilla bean, before closing with soft herbaceous undertones (to the fruit and vanilla). There is a wonderful unity to this wine; it's "tight," coherent, whole, from start to finish, like a neat little tasty package wrapped in a bow. Even though it didn't pair with my food--calamari fritti with a tomato-based sauce--it showed some versatility and I was more than happy to continue drinking it. Would be great with meats...roast turkey with gravy or lamb stew come to mind as strong possibilities. The length isn't remarkable, and my palette tends to lean more toward earthiness than fruitiness, but this wine has such harmony (and good complexity for the money), that it's impossible not to enjoy it. And at about $11.00 a bottle, the Bogle Vineyards Petite Sirah is one California wine I will keep on hand for everyday consumption. Available locally at Lincoln Park Market, Binny's Beverage Depot and other stores. Calling this one a +MUST TRY+!

VIOGNIER: UNITED STATES

+MUST TRY+ 
Seven Hills Viognier Talcott Vineyard
United States of America: Columbia Valley, Washington
Viognier (white)
2010
$16.99
89 pts
This Washington state viognier (an historic varietal from France's northern Rhone valley) is wonderful. The nose offers green melon and peach fuzz, while the taste profile features peaches for days, following with the aforementioned green melon, undertones of clean, fresh Lemon Pledge (the polishing agent...you know the smell? You can taste it here!), and an orange peel finish. Excellent length and rich mouth feel. While viognier is a low-acid grape, I generally prefer a bit more acid, and some of the spice noted by the winery, well, I just don't taste it...but wish I did. That being said, this is a refreshing, delightful white wine from red-hot Washington. As for food pairings, the combination of low acidity and strong flavors pose a challenge, but I've read that cream sauces, nut-based dishes, and rich fish or white meats work well. Our neighbor and friend Alicia brought a bottle up on the rooftop recently for us to share, and it was an eye-opener to the varietal for me. Highly recommend this one!

RED BLENDS: UNITED STATES

+MUST TRY+ 
St. Julian Founder's Red Table Wine
United States of America: Paw Paw, Michigan (Lake Michigan Shore)
Blend: Chancellor, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Marechal Foch (red)
A Non-Vintage Wine
$8.49
88 pts
In the spring of 2012, Michigan began to blow my mind. First there was the delicious White Pine Dry Riesling from St. Joe's, and then this St. Julian red blend called Founder's Red, honoring Mariano Meconi, the 19th Century Italian immigrant to Windsor, Canada, who founded this family winery almost 100 years ago. Meconi was born in Faleria, Italy, about 20 miles north of Rome, but once in the New World, ultimately settled upon the Lake Michigan shoreline as the place to pursue his wine-making. And his descendants' Founder's Red--including two hybrid grapes from Michigan, Chancellor and Marechal Foch, bridging the Old and New Worlds just like Meconi--offers an amazing value at eight bucks a bottle (available online at http://www.stjulian.com/Founder%27s%20Red). While fruit forward (leans New World fruity, not Old World earthy), this delicious table wine offers a variety of flavors, including black cherry, sour cherry, SweeTarts candy (fun!), coffee, a hint of vanilla, and, like a playful wink to Meconi and the winery's roots in Lazio, a flash of earthiness. The length on this wine (an everyday table wine, mind you) is well above-average. Although my palette tends toward earthiness--a bit more spice and dirt would carry this wine even further, for me--the St. Julian Founder's Red is a versatile fruit-forward wine with character, priced for everyone to enjoy, the epitome of a great Tuesday night wine: tasty, interesting, great with food or alone, and inexpensive. Highly recommend!

+MUST TRY+
Abbot's Table Wine (by Owen Roe Winery)United States of America: Columbia Valley, Washington State
Blend: 25% Zinfandel, 20% Sangiovese, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah, Grenache 13%, 7% Blaufrankish, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec,1% Merlot (red)
2009
$21.99
89+ pts
Received this bottle as a gift from a friend (thanks Jessica!), which always makes reviewing awkward--that is, when the wine sucks. But in this case, it was an absolute pleasure to taste. This Washington state gem is a complex blend of nine varietals, and is no ordinary table wine. The color is a rich plum, and the mouth-watering aroma offers red fruit (raspberries definitely, but also cherries, maybe), along with some intense white pepper and, after opening up a few minutes in the glass, even a hint of old barnyard on the back end. As for taste, the initial attack is a rapid, lively and bright shot of red fruit (mostly raspberry), that transitions very quickly (a good thing for my palette) to subtle dancing white pepper on the tongue. And then, for the finale', some good Washington state earthiness takes the stage and lingers pleasantly for an encore, with an above average length. While it is certainly true that so-called "table wine" seldom reaches breaches the twenty-dollar mark, I'll say it, again: the Owen Roe Abbot's Table Wine is no ordinary table wine. Soon I'll be enjoying a glass with turkey and stuffing (Dana's cooking up a post-Thanksgiving storm...and no, I haven't tired of turkey), and I suspect this wine will prove to be very food friendly, as the name suggests, with good but not overpowering and oppressive fruitiness (when it comes to fruit-forward wine--and Zin does make up 25% of this wine--I prefer a meaningful cameo to gross over-exposure). This one fits my play bill perfectly, and is a MUST TRY!

RIESLING: UNITED STATES

+MUST TRY+ 
White Pine Dry Riesling
Southwestern Michigan (St. Joseph)
Riesling (white)
2010
88 pts
$14.99
If I hadn't tasted it myself--twice, to be sure--I wouldn't have believed it: a crisp, refreshing, outstanding dry Riesling from grapes grown in southwestern Michigan. Produced by White Pine Winery--which maintains a storefront tasting room in the popular (though still charming) summer resort town of St. Joseph, Michigan--the 2010 Dry Riesling is an attractive pale straw color, offering a bouquet of peach and pear and a luscious mouth feel. While the initial attack is full of fresh apples, the taste profile also includes peach fuzz, pear, and even steely minerals.I also get a hint of flower petal on the back end. But while the beautiful color, multidimensional taste profile, and rich mouth feel are clear winners, the length is a letdown, with little staying power. But what there is, is delicious--and wonderful with appetizers or a light meal. This is a fantastic summer sipping wine from right here in the great Middle West, at just about fifteen bucks, a wine where you can clearly say YES! to Michigan.

PINOT NOIR: UNITED STATES

+RUN AWAY NOW+
Plowbuster Pinot Noir
United States: Oregon (Willamette Valley)
Pinot Noir (red)
2009
$19.99
75 pts
I'm a big Willamette Valley Pinot fan...as is Scott. Clearly, we're not alone. This region and its thoughtful vintners nearly always deliver a solid Pinot Noir, one of the most difficult wines to produce, given the fragile, temperamental nature of these thin-skinned grapes. But the 2009 Plowbuster is not a wine I can recommend, particularly at twenty bucks a bottle. The best thing this wine has going for it is the pretty ruby color. The nose is stingy, perhaps revealing the tiniest whiff of black cherry, but it's awfully tight. The taste profile includes the aforementioned cherries on the mid-palette, followed by an unusual metallic minerality that has good length, but overpowers all, and just doesn't taste good to me. There is no initial attack on this wine at all. One simply has to wait...and wait...and wait...for the cherries, which then quickly give way to the powerful taste of, perhaps, tin? I find the 2009 Plowbuster disjointed, unbalanced, and distasteful. Perhaps a rough vintage? Wine Spectator gave the 2008 89 points, citing tea as part of its taste profile. I'm not a fan of tea, so maybe that's part of my dislike. I've read the winemaker says this particular plot of land is littered with bits of steel from plows that have worked the fields over the years. Interesting, but even if that accounts for the steely taste, that's more of a good story than a good plan to make wine. I say this one's a +RUN AWAY NOW+, and Scott agreed, refusing to drink any more of his own bottle of wine. Good thing we had a little Borsao Spanish red standing by to enjoy on that lovely night in the front yard with Dana & Gail!

NOTE: I rated this wine after a lengthy period of opening up, during which the taste profile seemed to transform from an overly sweet wine to a wine dominated by the steely minerality.

Benton Valley Pinot Noir
United States: Oregon (Willamette Valley: Monroe)
100% Pinot Noir (red)
2008
$18.00
87 pts
This Willamette Valley Pinot (by the way, recently learned locals pronounce Willamette like damn-it...suppose you Oregonians know, but had no clue...thanks, Dana!) offers a measure of cherries and the characteristic cocoa finish, but is awfully light, even for a Pinot. The fruit disappears after a quick hit of cherries, faster than a Republican candidate for President at an immigrant's rights rally. While this wine strikes me as needing another year or two to mature, as it stands now, the best part is the finish, with cocoa and a hint of musty earthiness emerging, and lingering rather pleasingly. Overall, it's a decent Pinot, but not a MUST TRY: just too thin, too lacking in fruit flavor, and without any coherent transition from the initial cherry to the cocoa finish. I'll say this, though: it's light, easy drinking...and it just does NOT go with Mike 'n Ike's candy. Trust me.

+MUST TRY+
Adelsheim Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
United States: Oregon (Willamette Valley: Newberg)
100% Pinot Noir (red)
2009
$22.99
90 pts
The nose on this wonderful northwestern US Pinot offers cherries, raspberries and fresh earth. In the mouth, the initial attack is young cherries with hints of earth underneath, followed by a surprising finish that almost explodes with candied sour cherries. The length? Outstanding! The first word that came to mind when this wine hit my mouth was "elegant"--it's smooth, refined (even at this young age), and confident. My guess is that with more time in the bottle, the youthful cherries on the front end will gain maturity and more sophistication. And perhaps the already rich earthiness will become even more pronounced in a few years. The Adelsheim Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is delicious, balanced and worth the price tag, just over twenty bucks.

Uptown Pinot Noir (by Uptown Cellars)
United States: Califorina (North Coast)
Pinot Noir (red)
2008
$12.00
88 pts
Scott brought this Pinot up to our rooftop deck last weekend for an informal gathering of neighbors from the building, and while I was already drinking Prosecco (and Verdejo, too), this wine was so good upon a taste that I had to have a glass...and he was kind enough to give me the rest of the bottle at the end of the night. Distributed by the Midwest Wine Exchange based in Novi, MI--which claims to specialize in small boutique wines at affordable prices--this is a very nice Pinot Noir at a good price. I find the color unusually dark for a Pinot Noir (dark cherry), but it is beautiful. The kind of wine when you examine the color in the light, you want to drink it. The weight is more typical of the varietal (light), but it has a creamy mouth feel which I like a great deal. As for taste profile, cherries, definitely (and maybe some raspberry notes, too), but on the back end, there is a subtle little hint of cocoa, or of chocolate, that leaves me feeling like I've just had a chocolate-covered cherry in my mouth (not the taste of the chocolate-covered cherry in my mouth per se, but the taste left there after consuming it; it's subtle). There's also a floral bitterness that lingers on the finish, which I'm not really crazy about (doesn't seem in harmony with the rest of the taste profile). But for about twelve bucks, this is a decent Pinot. Not a MUST TRY, but a slightly above average wine for the price, in my opinion--like a .280 hitter with no power and a good glove. Cooperstown won't be calling, but you could do worse than have him bat in the two spot.

ZINFANDEL: UNITED STATES

+MUST TRY+
Chronic Cellars Paso Robles Purple Paradise
United States of America: Paso Robles, CA
95% Zinfandel; 5% Petite Sirah (red)
2007
$14.00
89 pts
One of the best California Zins I've had, and at less than fifteen bucks per delicious bottle, a wine I highly recommend. Our friend from the building Gail brought this over last night, and she, Dana, Scott and I hung out really enjoying the Chronic Cellars Purple Paradise. The color is a pretty purple, as the name suggests. On the nose, I got plenty of black pepper with hints of red berries. The taste profile? Strawberries, chocolate (Scott called it right with fresh milk chocolate) and then, on the back end, the Petite Sirah comes through, with a vegetal or herbal component, green pepper maybe. Beneath it all lies a a delicate spiciness which works well. The label on this wine is wild, too: a smiling Day of the Dead-like skull, on a black background with the wine's name in a font reminiscent of Halloween or horror films. Turns out the young producers (who went to college in the area and became fascinated with the wine culture there) used to employ the term chronic to describe anything cool to them, and thus the name Chronic Cellars. A fun but quality wine...probably only available to Chicago-area residents via the Internet, but well worth the cost of shipping. A +MUST TRY+.

Seghesio Family Vineyards Sonoma Zinfandel
United States of America: Sonoma County, CA
Zinfandel (red)
2007
$23.99
85 pts
This is by no means a budget-priced bottle of wine (given as a gift to us over a year ago at a party we held). And having done a little research, I see that it has scored very nicely, even in the hands of some tough professional critics. But for my palette, the Seghesio Family Vineyards Zinfandel is just not a winner--especially priced over twenty bucks. I decanted this wine for more than hour, giving it some time to really open up. The nose offers some smokiness (which I like), but is dominated by jammy dark fruit, a candy-like sweetness that I find unappealing. I will say this, however: it is very aromatic. The color is a rather dark violet. As for taste, lots of blueberry jam, with some peppery spice on the back end, finishing with a lingering green vegetable flavor (and you can really taste the alcohol). I can see why the pros like this wine, since it does offer rich coloring, strong aromatics, and a complex taste profile (with at least three distinct tastes, in succession, that transition reasonably well). So what's my problem with this wine? It's elemental: I don't like the dominant taste, reminding me a bit of the old Blueberry Buckle baby food that I once liked (sadly, into my teens), articifical, candy-esque, and ultimately unsatisfying, lacking substance. Generally, I prefer an Old World taste profile, with more earth and dirt and flowers and minerals than fruit (or at least more of a balance with the fruit), and this wine is exactly the kind of artificial-tasting, fruit-forward wine that I just don't care for, although I readily admit that many people do. If you prefer fruit (especially jammy blueberries) over farmland, rocks and flowers, you may enjoy this one, but me...not so much.

CABERNET SAUVIGNON: UNITED STATES

+RUN AWAY NOW+
Blossom Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
United States of America: San Benito County, CA
Cabernet Sauvignon (red)
2008
$10.00
65 pts
Yikes, yikes and triple yikes. This Cabernet may be England's most disconcerting contribution to America since The Spice Girls. Owned by an English firm (and, in fact, one of the UK's top-selling producers, if not the leader), the Blossom Hill label seeks to capture that magical, big California fruit in a discount-priced bottle for wine enthusiasts in both the USA and the UK. The firm boasts that its Cab offers robust red berries, black currant, and subtle oak. And in using the word subtle, I think we find a wonderful example of the classic English use of understatement as a comedic device: this wine, even thinner than water itself, is absolutely tasteless. The aroma is a closed door, offering, perhaps, a whiff of Welch's Grape Juice (remember?). The attack, if it can be called that, brings watered-down Kool-Aid, and to speak plainly, there is no mid-palate, no finish, and no length. Kind of tough to comment further on things that don't exist. The only reason I'm going as high as 65 points is that despite drinking three glasses of this stuff last night in a relatively short period of time, I was not hungover this morning (65 gratitude points). This is the first wine in my experience where even after three glasses, it didn't improve one bit, in my mind (shattering my theory that every wine becomes a 90 point wine as you approach glass number four). There are some good quality wines out there for ten bucks if one looks hard and gets outside the usual varietals--and then there's a whole lot of junk. The Blossom Hill Cabernet is junk.

Chalone Vineyards Monterey County Cabernet Sauvignon (by Chalone Vineyards)
United States of America: Monterey, California
Cabernet Sauvignon (red)
2006
$18.00
88 pts
This California Cab possesses a rich and beautiful dark cherry color, with the black cherry nose to match. The taste profile is fairly complex for a wine under twenty bucks: good black fruit up front, with some pepper midway, and a hint of vanilla on the back end. But I also experienced an undercurrent throughout--strongest on the tail end of the above-average length of this wine--of an earthy, musty, mushroom taste, not something the nose offered at all. I give this one 88 points, decent because of its interest-level and complexity (and I find the fruit and pepper aspects appealing...it's not a typical Cab by any stretch), but not a MUST TRY wine, for my money, because the lingering mushroom in the end is just too much, at least for my palette. This is an interesting, unusual Cabernet Sauvignon, probably worth trying, but more for its uniqueness than its quality. I find the various aspects to be somewhat disjointed. That being said, I've had two glasses so far, and as usual, the more I drink, the better it seems!

PINOT GRIS: UNITED STATES

+MUST TRY+
King Estate Signature Pinot Gris (by King Estate)
United States of America: Eugene, Oregon
Pinot Gris (white)
2008
17.00
91
This is a crisp, delicious, and refreshing white, offering a wonderful complexity at this price point. The color is a beautiful pale yellow (nearly clear; this wine even looks refreshing), while the nose offers pear at first, and a hint of flowers after a few moments. As for taste, it's outstanding from beginning to end: starts with a pear fruit up front, adds a hint of citrus (lemon rind?) at the mid-palette, and closes with a mineral and floral combination. Wow. And the finish is very, very nice. Seldom have I tasted a wine in the $15.00-$20.00 range with such an interesting story to tell. Highly recommend this one--may be the wine for summer 2010, capable of carrying even a Cubs' fan through the dog-days of summer. One of the best first-tastings I've had in a long time: highly recommend this one!

WHITE BLENDS: UNITED STATES

+RUN AWAY NOW!+
Tabor Hill Classic Demi-Sec White (by Tabor Hill Winery)
United States of America: Buchanan, Michigan
Vidal Blanc (hybrid) blended with other Michigan Grapes (white)
A non-vintage wine
10.49
76
This wine advertises itself as preferred by the White House, but it appears that was during the Ford Administration, and seeing that ol' Jerry was from Michigan, I suppose that makes a degree of sense. And while the Tabor Hill Classic Demi-Sec has won Midwestern wine awards, I have to call it like I see it: I really hate this wine. The color calls to mind the color of urine, the nose is fruity but kind of indescribable (at least for me), and the taste, while covering the whole palette and providing a good finish, is quite simply, unpleasing to me. I get plenty of apple, and even a hint of pear, perhaps, but the level of sweetness is well beyond what is advertised (it's just too much). And I find the fruit flavor to be candy-like and artificial. Proves the old adage--which I think I just made up today--that a long finish is only a plus when a wine tastes good in the first place. This wine leaves your mouth coated with a sort-of oily film, and a slight bitterness (an unpleasant bitterness) lingers. Even Dana, who prefers Riesling, found this wine over-the-top. I would like nothing more than to find a Lake Michigan wine that I enjoy, and I suspect there are some out there...but certainly not this one.

SYRAH: UNITED STATES

+MUST TRY+
Klinker Brick Farrah Syrah (by Klinker Brick Winery)
United States of America: Lodi, California
Syrah (red)
2004
Est 18.00
89+
Tried this very interesting wine for the first time at Basil Leaf Cafe in Chicago, where it's available by the glass for $7.00. Nick, the bartender one Saturday evening when Dana, Joanna and I stopped in, offered me some as a tasting, along with his recommendation. What a fascinating little wine! Combines a plum color with the body of a lighter red (perhaps a Pinot Noir) and the taste of a solid Spanish Tempranillo, with lots of tobacco and spice--plus a smoky finish (maybe the French Oak cooperage). An awfully complex wine for $7.00 a glass, especially in Lincoln Park. I plan to keep a bottle on hand for times when I crave these wonderful flavors, but am not in the mood for--or, based on our food, not in need of--a heavier, fuller-bodied wine. There are two things that keep this wine, for me, from achieving the 9o point rating: first, I generally prefer full-bodied reds, and second, the finish to this wine, while pleasing, isn't long enough in my judgment to warrant the 90 or higher rating. Still, a very nice wine!

CHARDONNAY: UNITED STATES

+MUST TRY+
Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay (by Chateau St. Jean)
United States of America: Sonoma County, Kenwood, California
Chardonnay (white)
2005
12.00
89
The nose on this classic Chardonnay captures that movie-theater butter, while the taste adds nice apple and citrus flavors to the buttery undercurrent. Decent finish with nice acid. I like this Chardonnay a lot. A touch of vanilla flavor adds a little complexity. This is a very enjoyable wine, and at this price, really worth trying. The wood's not overdone, for me, something unusual in a lower-priced Chardonnay.

Columbia Crest Two Vines Chardonnay (by Columbia Crest Winery)
United States of America: Paterson, Washington (eastern Washington, in the Horse Heaven Hills along the Columbia River)
Chardonnay (white)
2005
8.00
82
A very inexpensive Washington State chardonnay...that just doesn't do much for me. I find the color bland, the bouquet tight, and the taste--mostly pear, with some apple--completely overwhelmed by a somewhat obnoxious oak on the finish. Not a wine to run away from with great haste, I suppose, but also not a chardonnay to seek out. In a pinch this might prove better than water--but just barely.