The Grape Crusader

Winery: Stolpman Vineyards

Bottling: 2005 La Coppa Syrah

Region: California

Sub-Region: Santa Ynez Valley

Estimated Retail Price: $19 (Winery price)

Purchase Details: Purchased for approximately $16 at Arlequin Wine Merchant in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, California.

Tasting Notes: Blackberry and boysenberry flavors with an herbal, rosemary like finish.  There was a grainy textural quality that I find very appealing and more often than not, I find this quality in wines that also possess a “delicious” quality, the kind that makes you just want to go back to the well over and over again.

I haven’t had a wine like this in awhile and it was exciting to be drinking it.  I’ve tasted many wonderful wines that were well-crafted, impressive and downright outstanding.  There are few wines I’ve tasted though, that had the same quality this syrah had to make me want to drink it in the same voracious manner in which I would eat a can of Pringles.  Was there MSG in this wine, I wonder?
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Winery: Saint Andre de Figuiere

Bottling: 2008 Le Saint Andre Vin de Pays du Var Rose (Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Cinsault & Grenache)

Importer: Paul M. Young Fine Wines

Region: France

Sub-Region: Vin de Pays du Var

Estimated Retail Price: $14

Purchase Details: Purchased from Solano Cellars in Albany, California for $13.50.

Tasting Notes: Very pale coral and salmon hue in the glass.  On the nose, delicate aromas of roses and mineral.  In the mouth and interestingly enough, this rose has flavors that are more reminiscent of white wines.  Apples and white peaches are the main flavors I remember tasting.  Unripe Safeway strawberries added actual rose flavors.  A very light-weight mouth feel and a crisp, dry finish complete the wine.
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Winery: Domaine de Fontsainte

Bottling: 2007 Cobieres Rouge (60% Carignan, 30% Grenache, 10% Syrah)

Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant

Region: France

Sub-Region: Corbieres, Languedoc-Roussillon

Estimated Retail Price: $13

Purchase Details: Purchased for $12.95 plus tax directly from Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant in Berkeley, California.

Tasting Notes: In the glass, the wine exhibits a purple and ruby color.  On the nose, dark fruits and fennel.  In the mouth, flavors of dark and red fruits – raspberries, boysenberries, blackberries, charcoal, black pepper, fire roasted herbs and a little meat.  Vibrant acidity, clean, but firm tannins, a medium-bodied texture and weight and a dry finish complete the ride with this wine.  I think we drunk the wine too quickly as it could have benefited from a little more air.  I also think you could lay this down for a couple of years for future enjoyment.

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Winery: Cartlidge & Browne Winery

Bottling: 2007 Pinot Noir

Region: California

Sub-Regions: Fruit source breakdown — Monterey(56%), Solano(18%), Mendocino(15%), San Luis Obispo(6%) and Sonoma County(5%)

Estimated Retail Price: $12

Purchase Details: Purchased for $13.99 plus tax at Beverages & More on Geary Avenue in San Francisco, California.

Tasting Notes: A medium light ruby hue in the glass.  On the nose, aromas of wild berries, cherries and spice.  In the mouth, flavors of red cherries, red plum, fennel, baking spices and cola on the finish.  Light-bodied, juicy fruit and non-existent tannins allow for supreme gulping pleasure.

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Winery: Chateau La Coustarelle

Bottling: 2005 Cahors “Cuvee Tradition” (80% Malbec 20% Merlot)

Importer: Charles Neal Selections

Region: France

Sub-Region: Cahors, Southwestern France

Estimated Retail Price: $13

Purchase Details: Purchased from K&L Wine Merchant for $12.99 plus tax in the South of Market neighborhood in San Francisco.

Tasting Notes: In the glass, opaque, motor oil black liquid.  On the nose, graphite, black fruit and a little meat.  In the mouth, blackberries, graphite, plum, licorice and smoke.  Burly, aggressive, but surprisingly velvety tannins rip through your mouth.  This is a full-bodied wine with a rough texture and a rough disposition.

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Winery: Domaine Richou

Bottling: 2006 Anjou Rouge “4 Chemins” (Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon).

Importer: Vintage ‘59 Imports

Region: France

Sub-Region: Anjou, Loire Valley

Estimated Retail Price: $15

Purchase Details: Purchased for $14.99 plus tax at the K&L Wine Merchant in the South of Market neighborhood in San Francisco.

Tasting Notes: Looking at the wine in the glass, I see a dark, opaque purple core with dark red edges.  On the nose, perfumed aromas of violets, fresh dark fruit, and a little meat and pepper.  Flavors of fresh blackberries, plum, pepper and more violets lead to a lasting spicy finish.

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Winery: Mountain River Wines

Bottling: 2006 Reserve Pinotage 50%/Syrah 50%

Importer: MT Global Wines

Region: South Africa

Sub-Region: Western Cape

Estimated Retail Price: $7

Purchase Details: A friend who shared this with us purchased it for approximately $7 from the Trader Joe’s store in Daly City.

Tasting Notes: Visually, the wine was an inky, dark purple color.  On the nose, smoke, wild plum, dark berries and black pepper.  In the mouth, black plums, blackberries, more smoke, and that distinctive pinotage beetle bug-like flavor (My path to being a true, hard core foodie started at age 3).  Lots of structure, moderate tannins and a pretty long and distinctive finish round out the experience.

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The 2005 Sogrape Dao Callabriga Red was a mouth-filling, chocolaty, delicious surprise.  In my earlier post about the Symington Family dry Portuguese red, I had mentioned how after not having had that many memorable dry Portuguese reds in the past, that recently I’ve actually had some good ones that include the Symington and this Sogrape.

Like many dry Portuguese reds, the Callabriga is a blend of the traditional red grapes that also go into the country’s Port wines.  Loads of lush plum, smoke and chocolate flavors filled my mouth in the first gulp.  Add to that some cinnamon spice, lush tannins and a pretty persistent finish and you’re looking at a recession-busting, value wine.

The good friend of ours who shared this wine with us loved the wine so much, he had bought about half a case of it and still had a few bottles left to share.  I believe he picked it up for about $12/bottle?  The wine also received a nice score of 90 points out of 100 from the Wine Spectator.  Easily a case buy for both early drinking and cellaring.

The first thing that came to mind when I took my initial sniff of the 2006 Symington Family Douro Vale de Bomfim, was it smelled like a Dry Creek Valley zinfandel.  No kidding; it had a certain peppery spice and wild berry aroma that was reminiscent of wines from that particular part of zin country.

In the mouth, the wine was also not far off from tasting like a zin.  More wild red and black berries, a little plum, currants and a lot of spice like cinnamon and black pepper.  Nice weight, pleasant purity of fruit and easy to drink.  We really enjoyed this quaffer of a wine.

I haven’t had a lot of experience with dry Portuguese reds and to tell you the truth, with the exception of Quinta do Crasto and another label I can’t remember, most of what I’ve had has been pretty bad.  They were very dry, tasteless and insipid.  I know a lot of this has to do with the availability of dry Portuguese reds in the market that I’ve lived in the past several years, so I’m definitely not writing these wines off.  In fact, I’ve been noticing that lately there has been a lot of positive industry press about the new wave of quality Portuguese dry reds coming to market.  I just tasted another solid one last week, so look out for my review on the Sogrape Callabriga.

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Winery: Rosenblum Cellars

Bottling: Vintners Cuvee XXXI Zinfandel

Region: California

Sub-Region: All Over California

Estimated Retail Price: $12

Purchase Details: Purchased by the glass for about $9 (yikes!) at P.F. Chang’s Bistro in Honolulu, HI.

Tasting Notes: On the nose were aromas of both black and red berries and even a slight hint of peach.  The berry aromas were echoed as flavors in the mouth along with some nice baking spices.  The mouth feel was of a medium weight and the tannins were virtually non-existent, making the wine very smooth and easy to sip, gulp and swallow.

Although this zinfandel is not what most people probably expect when they think of today’s modern day jammy zinfandel, it still maintains a flavor profile that is consistent with the varietal of wild berries, spice and lively fruit.  Its nice to taste zinfandels like these that have the quintessential zinfandel flavors, but without the high alcohol and heavy, cloying texture.

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