The Tasting Room: RED

[Rogers72]

I thought that it would be nice to have a place to report on the various wines that we try. The wine world is SO big and it’s always nice to catalog our experiences for later reference. Whenever you try a RED wine, good or bad, let us hear about it here! Try and give as much info as possible so that others can search for it and try it if they desire. Producer, Varietals, Vintage, Price, Where Purchased, Tasting Notes, etc.

Don’t be shy! Give us reviews on anything from the $5 bottle to the $5,000 bottle!

[Puros Y Vino]

Great idea!! I was thinking about doing this but just got too lazy. I take notes on every wine I drink. I'll transcribe them over within the next few weeks.

[rp99pts]

Ok, I'll start it off..The other night my wife and I popped a 07 Switchback Ridge Cabernet Napa..This wine is Made by Robert Foley. It is a massively concentrated wine that will knock your socks off. Full bodied, black ink in color with an alcohol content of 15.2%...Wow...nice firm tannins with tastes of oak, rasberry and currants...If you light a fruit bomb this is it....I gave it 95 points....$75, but can be found maybe a little cheaper online. will hold for next 10 years...

[lemmycaution]

Last night I had Pico Maccario Tre Roveri Barbera D'Asti. The bottle goes for around $25 and tastes like it would be more expensive.(Not to get into the whole price debate...) This producer also has another Barbera D"Asti called Lavignone. It is about $10 less than the Tre Roveri. Great stuff. If you can find them, check them out.

[Rogers72]

2008 Thorn-Clarke Terra Barossa Shiraz

I found this bottle at my local store. I have had the slightly pricier bottling from them, Shotfire Ridge, numerous times and love it so I didn't hesitate the give this one a try. It came in a really handy 1 Litre bottle so it is bigger than the 750ML but smaller than the Magnums...I'm sure there's a good name for this size??? Anyway, It came in at right around $17 so it's a pretty good price range for me since it's bigger. Screwcap.

The wine is fantastic. As expected, it's a big, ripe warm weather Aussie just like the Shotfire. Lots of dark cherries and soft velvety mouthfeel. At this quality and price, it will be a staple at my house. Highly recommend it.

[lemmycaution]

2009 Pinot Project ($12.99)

An awesome value in Pinot Noir. I was really surprised at the quality and flavor of this wine.

[Rogers72]

2009 Layer Cake Shiraz

McLaren Vale, South Australia

$15.99 at my local World Market

I decided to try this after a recommendation from a good friend. I did a little research and Layer Cake apparently "produces" several different varietals from around the world. From what I gather, the wine is made elsewhere and they import it from the different growing regions and put their lable on it. Is this common? From what I gather, they have a Cab and Chardonnay from California, Primitivo from Italy, a Malbec from Argentina, and several others I think yet Layer Cake is a California "winery". This Shiraz is from the McLaren Vale and it says that it was produced by Pure Love Wines of Australia. Notice the front and back labels below. I would love to hear some input from you Aussies who may be knowledgable here.

I cracked the screw top and poured a glass. It was DEEP purple in color. Almost black. It smelled like ripe Blackberry Jam. I was excited. My excitement was drained at the first taste. This is not a bad wine. It's very easy to drink but it is just empty. No depth of flavors, not many flavors at all. No soul. I can see why some people may like it b/c it is so neutral and easy to drink but I got nothing from it. At that price point, I certainly won't buy more.

[lemmycaution]

I've had the Layer Cake Malbec from Argentina. It didn't do much for me. I believe it was also $15.99. Although it seems many like it, there are much better wines out there.

[aavkk]

Great idea on the thread. After spending 5 weeks recently in NZ and 10 days Southern California my standouts would be:

1. All pinot coming out of Escarpment by Larry Mckenna in Martinborough. Deep concentration of fruit and super well made.

2. Ata Rangi Celebre- probably the best value red in NZ @ 22-23 US and a marvelous blend made by another top winemaker. This wine shows a ton of complexity without tannins that rip your face off.

3. The entire line at Stonecroft Cellars- particularly the Ruihani an outstanding blend. Another brilliant value

4. The entire line at Coal Pit- serious pinot at an entry level price

5. St. Clair in Marlborough has some rediculously well priced Pinot's. Look for the Pioneer block range and buy with confidence. By far the best "bigger winery" throughout the country.

6. If you like old world European style Syrah look no further than Fromm. This is an old swiss family that make some stunning reds and dont give a **** about yields. All of their attention is turned to quality.

Also, almost all of the reds we tried coming out of gorgeous Waiheke Island are stunners. You will be hard pressed to find great value here but the quality is outrageous. The best values being some very tasty reds at Kennedy Point Winery. Our favorite was the reserve Malbec from 07.

My wife and I are by no means wine experts but we were fortunate enough to travel the entire country and share an hour or more at over 75 cellar doors over 5 weeks. It was truly an amazing experience and certainly a big education on what quality wine is all about... The boutique wineries consistently outshine the bigger houses in quality and uniqueness. It seems the bigger wineries are more focused on consistency than putting out the best product possible given that year's conditions.

In California we had limited time for wine but our standout winery was Epiphany Cellars in Paso Robles. They had some excellent older Syrah's that they have held back. We scooped up several stunner 04's.

[Puros Y Vino]

Wine: 2006 Bodegas LAN Crianza Rioja

Grape Varietal: 100% Tempranillo

Region: Rioja (Spain)

Aging: Spent 12 months in American and French Oak Barrels, with another year in the bottle before release

ABV: 13.5%

Price: $11.99 per 750mL bottle (all depending upon country and taxes of course)

Wow! That was quite the review and quite timely too. A friend of mine suggested that very wine to me yesterday. I'm definitely going to pick up a bottle or two...or six..or twelve!!

Thanks.

Frank