10 Buck Chuck!

OK so I like to drink some bad ass wines from time to time. But lets get real! I have 2 kids. One in College already and the other on the way. Do you think I can drink expensive wines everyday? Well in my dreams maybe but when I wake up I am like every other true wino seeking out interesting little wines that I can drink and say not bad and that won't cost me more than $15.00 per bottle. I think I found One.

2007 Menage A Trois Red

This wine is made by Folie A Deux Winery and is actually priced at $9.99. Yeah that is what I said $9 dollars and 99 cents plus tax. So I guess it is a 10 buck Chuck. I tasted this wine at my local wine bar hang out. It is a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet. Hence the brand Menage A Trois. It's a VERY jammy wine which is not my style but lets face it, for an inexpensive wine you don't usually get a lot of structure. The Zinfandel adds a juicy character, Merlot mellows and Cabernet adds backbone is how they explain it on there website. I totally agree! Overall this was a perfect little wine for my dinner guest to have last Friday night. I will probably go back and purchase a few more bottles just to have for a rainy day! They do make a Cabernet, Zinfandel and Merlot under the Folie A Deux name. Those wines I have not tried but the prices are $28.00, $18.00 and $24.00 per respectively.

Give Them A try

Cheers!

A salute to the Troops!

My long long weekend was very fun in regards to wine drinking because I cooked and cooked and cooked some more for 3 days straight. I really didn't mind. I have a big big love for making a mess in the kitchen as my wife always says. Plenty of visitors were over so I went with some really trusted wines that are really really good values.

The wines I drank for my Memorial Monday were Morgan Wines:

2006 Syrah Monterey

2006 Cotes du Crow's

The wines are a perfect value in tough economic times. Both wines are under $20.00 per bottle. The Fruit is harvest from either Santa Lucia Highlands or Monterey vineyards. They also produce several other varietals like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noir. They do produce single vineyard Chardonnay's and Pinot's. There prices are a bit higher ranging from $44.00 to $85.00 per bottle.

The 2006 Syrah Monterey has the deep black/purple color associated with Syrah. Aromas of Black Cherry, Licorice and Coffee with pepper on the finish. I did pick up this wine marked down from $22.00 to $19.99. It is a great value at this price.

The 2006 Cotes du Crow's is a blend of 55% Syrah and 45% Grenache. I do love Rhone blends in general but one can still taste the qualities of each grape with this blend. Beautiful ruby red color in the glass with aromas of Violets, strawberries, pepper and mint. A versatile food wine, that is easy to enjoy. You should be able to find these wines at local wine shops or big name stores. Give them a try.

Cheers!

Women Winemakers Rule the World!

2007 Sauvignon Blanc

Hyde Vineyard

I will say it again: The Best Winemakers in California are Women.

The Ladies to me rule the world.

Kris Curran

Rosemary Cakebread

Celia Masyczek

Heidi Peterson Barrett

and so many more that skip my mind at the moment:

Then there is Mia Klein. Owner of Selene Wines. With a long long history Consulting for Several Big Name wineries like Araujo, Bressler, Spottswoode, Viader, and Fisher. Selene is her personal Label. Mia makes several beautiful wines. Merlot, Cabernet, Rose and a Bordeaux blend, but to me its that "Beautiful - Crisp - Clean" Selene Sauvignon Blanc that I can never ever forget. I have always said the I lean more towards Sauv. Blanc's and several other Varietals over Chardonnay. Her expression of Sauvignon Blanc shows the lime, lemon and pineapple notes that I have come to love from this varietal. The wine has a beautiful long finish that makes you want to keep coming back to the glass for more. Scallops - Shrimp - Lobster and my favorite! Avocado Salad with oil and vinegar (My Cuban Specialty) will benefit from this wine. So so Good! The 2007 vintage has just been released. You will find this wine at any of the major wine shops in Los Angeles! I got to try it at California Wine and Cheese. The Sauvignon Blanc wine prices out at $27.99 per.

This is one of my favorites Ladies and Gents.

Definitely Give this one a Serious Try.

Cheers

La Canada or Bust!

I would like to thank a very good friend of mine Jon and his wine group for allowing me to taste all of these beautiful wines. Jon's group gets together from time to time and comes up with a "Wine Theme" for the tasting. Jon was nice enough to invite me to attend this time around. There were 7 winos present and 10 bottles of wine poured. We brown bagged all the wines and tasted them 3 / 3 /2 and 2 at a time. I actually live quite far from Jon so I had to make sure that I poured no more than 1 1/2 ounce per tasting being that I didn't want to pass out on his couch after 10 wines. Jon also happens to be a client of mine so I made sure to be on my best behavior.

The theme for this tasting was California Cabernet's and we rated the wines using the Robert Parker scale. The twist was that Jon created a handicap system depending on the cost of the bottle. I don't recall the exact math equation that Jon used but If bottles were above $100 per, they received a negative handicap while bottles under the value of $100 in increments or $10 dollars below received a positive handicap. The handicap was added to your final Parker score to determine a winner. Everybody seemed to be in the same frame of mine being that no bottle was above the cost of $60.00. I brought to the tasting 2004 Freemark Abbey Napa Cabernet. I purchased the wine this past Saturday. I have not bought much Cabernet in the last few years and I didn't get a chance to poke around in my cellar to see if there was something I could of brought. The Freemark Abbey was a wine I had experience with in the past. Somewhere in my cellar are a few bottles of 2001 vintage. Just have to find them someday. Most of the young Cabernet that I do own, I want to age out a little. Either way my thought was to bring a wine that was a bit more of a Bordeaux style. I thought I would be good enough to pick my own wine but I wasn't. All the wines that I tasted were pretty good. I was a bit hard on most of them, with only 2 wines scoring above 90 points. Most of the wines scored in the 80 point range with 1 wine scoring 77 points. The Freemark Abbey that I brought I scored 82 points. It's good to be brutal on the wine that you bring. Then again when you are tasting wines blind anything can happen.

Here was the list of wines we tasted in the winning order:

The number one wine was 2001 Keenan Cabernet priced at $20.00. I actually rated this wine 85 points which was third highest on my list. It is a good feeling that a 2001 / $20.00 bottle of wine won the competition. Yeah it might of been that we tasted this win first and that we were all real thirsty, but I will agree with the group that the wine had a good structure and the $20 price tag just makes us all warm inside.

The rest of the wines are as follows: (2) 2005 Sequoia Grove Cabernet $20.00 (3) 2005 Pellegrini Cloverdale Ranch Cabernet $28.00 (4) 2002 Robert Mondavi Oakville Cabernet $32.00 (5) 2002 Rober Mondavi Napa Cabernet $18.00 (6) Freemark Abbey Napa Cabernet $27.00 (7) 1995 Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet $60.00 (8) 2006 Honig Napa Cabernet $37.00 (9) 2006 Stags Leap Artemis Cabernet $48.00 and last but not least was 2003 Robert Sinskey Cabernet at $55.00 per bottle.

The Sinskey to me was the worse wine of the night. I gave it 77 points. The wine had a strange nose and on the palate came up a bit short for me. The "Robert Parker Scale" gives up to 35 points in bouquet and finish and that is where I scored this wine the worse. It is kinda ironic that the Sinskey was the second most expensive wine on the list. Is it too structured for our palates maybe?? I don't claim to be an expert by a long shot, but there have been lots and lots of times when I thought a wine was horrible but Parker gave it a 90 plus score. I guess you have to follow the old saying "Like what you drink - Drink what you like". Have fun with it!

I will end this Blog post with the 2 wines that I loved the most this night. They were the 1995 Robert Mondavi Reserve Cab and the 2006 Stags Leap Artemis Cab. I gave the Mondavi 92 points and the Stags Leap 91. It is funny that these 2 wines are separated by 11 years of vintage. The Artemis was a bit crucified this night coming in second to last place. The $48.00 price tag was third highest, but the Artemis to me grabbed that Cedar Box, Chocolate, dark berry fruit that reminded me the most of a French Bordeaux. The Reserve Mondavi followed the same paths. This wine showed all of those French Characteristics that Napa Valley wants to emulate so very much. The rest of the wines showed a lot of those California Big Fruit flavors. That isn't a bad thing to me. California has a style of its own.

I had a great time tasting all of these wines. I so wish that I had a bigger and closer to where I live group of friends that could get together like this once in awhile, tell stories and enjoy each others company while sharing in some great wines.

Thanx Jon

Cheers!

Me Gusta Tempranillo

The Latino in me was in a mood to cook. I decided on my Chicken milanesa, black beans, avocado salad and some white rice. What wine did I decide on? Tempranillo of Course! The wine I decided on was 2005 Ramon Bilbao Tempranillo.

I picked up this wine over the weekend because 2 weeks ago I was watching a cooking show on PBS which features Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow traveling thur Spain. The show does not focus on wine but this particular episode had both Mario and Gwyneth visiting the Ramon Bilbao Winery facility. Now the wino in me always takes notes about wines or wineries especially when they are shown on TV or print and sure enough our visit to a wine shop over this past weekend yielded me this wine.

The Ramon Bilbao winery is in the Rioja Alta region of Spain approximately 190 miles north of Madrid. The word Tempranillo translates to "Early". The grape usually ripens mid September earlier than other red Spanish varietals. Rioja has always been known as the best region for growing Tempranillo and for this wino there is no better made anywhere else in the world.

The 2005 Tempranillo has a dark crimson color. It exhibits cherry and baking spice aromas with subtle tobacco characteristics. On the palate the wine has great acidity; another good characteristic of Tempranillo and a lingering peppery finish. I was very very satisfied with this wine. How can I not be for $11.99 per bottle. Oh yeah! that is another great thing about Spanish wines. There quality exceeds there value.

Cheers!

Cabernet or Merlot?

I got to taste 2 very reasonably priced wines the other day. One being my favorite Varietal while the other was the much maligned Merlot. Both Wines were under $20.00 per Bottle.
Now mind you!!! I am not an expert. If you were to put 2 Cabs and 2 Merlots in front of me and made me taste them blind, lets just say I probably wouldn't get them all right. It is 2 grape varietals that always trick me a bit on the nose and even sometimes on the palate. From my standpoint, Merlot always seems to be softer on the palate, but what do I know.

Anyhoo!

The Cabernet I tasted was 2006 Sean Minor 4 Bears Cabernet.
http://www.4bearswinery.com/
The wine is a blend of 85% Cab, 13% Merlot and 2% Petite Verdot. The alcohol levels on the wine are good at 13.5% which I like, but the wine sees some time in American Oak barrels which I don't like. The nose has light tobacco notes which is ok. A bit of bitter chocolate and berry fruit do come Thur on the palate. I am not really sure if this wine would benefit from aging or decanting. I only got to try the wine at a tasting, but for $16.99 per bottle. The price seems very fair for what you get. I rate this wine on the parker scale, 83 points.

The poor maligned Merlot I got to taste was the 2005 Tin Roof Cellars Merlot.
http://www.tinroofcellars.com/
The poor poor Merlot grape has gotten a bad rap since "SIDEWAYS". Don't get me wrong! I almost gotta agree! Why reach for a Merlot when you can reach for a beautiful Cabernet instead. Besides! like I mentioned earlier, the 2 grapes throw this wino off sometimes when I taste them.

This Merlot I kinda liked. It does have a bit of Cabernet and Petite Syrah blended in. I would think the petite syrah is to lift the tannins on this wine because to me they are not subtle. The nose on this wine was very fruit forward. Cherries, plums. On the palate I puckered up a bit, but the hints of Chocolate and tobacco came Thur. The wine did have an herbal character that I could not figure out. I tasted this wine directly from the bottle, so no decanting what so ever. I would think that might of benefited the wine some. Overall! For the price of $19.99 per this was a decent little wine. I rate this wine 85 points on the parker scale.

Overall I liked both wines. They were not seriously complex or Over the top Fruit Bombs. I would like to thank my friends at Vinatero Wine Shop for the tastings. http://www.vinaterowineshop.com/.

Try em if you dare!
Cheers

"Raise A Glass to Honor Robert Mondavi"

Whether you love him or hate him. There is no denying that Robert Mondavi was one of the driving forces in putting California Wines on the map. Today is the 1 year anniversary of his death. I drove out this morning to Hollywood with my big brother. We were headed to a Wine Shop that my brother really wants to work at to buy a very exclusive Cabernet that they were listing in there newsletter. The 2005 Kathryn Kennedy "Lateral" was sold out when we got there, so I ended up picking 2004 Freemark Abby Napa Cabernet instead. http://www.freemarkabbey.com/ I needed a California Cabernet for a tasting that I am doing with a friend of mine on Tuesday. I have had this wine before, it is a very Bordeaux style wine which should make for a very interesting tasting on Tuesday.

Any winery from any part of California owes a debt to Robert Mondavi. It really is one of the reasons that so many wineries flourish today from our great state. Do I believe we make the very best wines in the world here in California?? Actually I don't!! Old World wines still appeal to me a bit more. But! Robert Mondavi had a vision and California will always continue to show great growth in the Wine Industry forever.

Cheers to you Mr. Mondavi!

I guess I better crack the 1996 30Th anniversary Reserve Cabernet in 9 more years on this day to honor you.

I guess for my first blog posting I better talk a little about myself. I was born and raised in Southern California. I am 41 years old. I am Married 21 years with 2 children ages 14 and 18. We started young. I have a career in Printing and design under my own company Flash Graph ix. It is a small home base business that I have been doing for 15 years. The business has had it's up and downs over the years, but I make a decent living.

I also have a huge thirst and love for wines and food. I am a self taught Cook. Learning mostly from all the years my grandmother and mother did it. Being Latino you get stereotyped as being a "mamas boy" Where your mama takes care of you forever and ever. But my mother and grandmother would always make me assist in any of the chores including cooking. So I learned a fun passion from them both.

My love for wines started back in 1995 when I was still working for someone else. My brother who had already been living in San Francisco since 1993 was working in the wine industry and from time to time would tell me about all the beautiful wines he got to taste. My then boss who was a Korean businessman had a hug passion for wines and food, so my first taste of a great bottle of wine was our Christmas Party where I got to taste 1992 Opus One and a Kobe Steak. To this day that meal ranks up there as one of the best I ever had. If I only remember the restaurant. Somewhere in Downtown LA. Went into an underground parking structure in one of the many many buildings. Took an elevator up to the restaurant. Oh well!

I fast forward 14 years later and thousands of bottles of wine. My love continues to flourish. I am not the best when it comes to history or regions, but I have gotten to understand varietals very well now and my real passions stems again from the love I have of cooking and pairing those great bottles of wine with the perfect meal...

It is my passion!

To Be Continued!

Cheers!