Tag Archives: 1 star

Ketcham Estate Five Clone Pinot Noir 2021, Russian River Valley, California

20 Friday Sep 2024

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Pale garnet colored with a watery sheen (14.9% ABV).  The nose has medium intensity  aromas of rhubarb, pomegranate, cherry cobbler, baking spices, steeped strawberry, earth, forest floor and anise.  The palate is dry with medium acidity, a medium body and medium (-) tannins.  My first impression is funk with some bitterness.  A cardboard note hits on the second taste and now I’m a bit worried.  After several minutes I gave it another go- it’s pretty one-dimensional unfortunately.  Undefined red fruit, bitterness and a fair amount of heat make this quite unpleasant.  I will give this wine another try as I bought two bottles.  The reviews, even the color don’t jibe with my experience.  For now this $65 bottle gets 84 points and 1 star.  Drink ??  Salut….

Kirkland Signature Cabernet Sauvignon NV, California

12 Friday Jan 2024

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I bought this 3 Liter box wine to use for a red wine gravy base- it was $16.   I have hopes/faith it will perform decently.

Bright purple and opaque but when I poured the first glass, it foamed up considerably.

After 5 minutes it subsided into a regular looking glass of wine with deep hues and medium viscosity (13% ABV).  The nose of this ‘California’ Cabernet Sauvignon has medium intensity aromas of candied cherry (not my fave), red twizzlers, cherry cola, black raspberry and black pepper.  The palate is off-dry (surprise, surprise) with medium acidity, medium (-) tannins and a medium body.  The flavors echo the nose on this wine that has a slightly tart finish which is short in length. I know it only runs the equivalent of $4 per regular sized bottle but I had hopes, which were dashed as soon as I smelled the candy.  It’s not good.  75 points at best, the rest gets made into gravy.  1 star and a major pass.  Salut….

Cheap Bastard Basement Red NV, Lodi, California

28 Tuesday Nov 2023

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A friend of mine brought this over as a Thanksgiving gag wine.  Turned out, he was right on the money….

Deep purple colored with medium viscosity (14% ABV). The nose has medium (-) intensity aromas of candied red cherry, raspberry and pomegranate. Dry with medium (+) acidity and low tannins this wine has a medium (-) body.  The label says to expect spicy ripe dark fruit- instead I’m getting some tart notes of underripe red fruit and perhaps some manipulation in the cellar.  This wine has no finish and is a major pass at 75 points.  I ended up using it in a braise with Oxtails, it did okay in that role.  $6 still makes it a 1 star effort.  Salut….

 

Concha y Toro Frontera Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot NV, Central Valley, Chile

15 Wednesday Nov 2023

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Medium ruby colored with medium viscosity (12.5% ABV).  The nose has medium (-) intensity aromas of plum, asparagus, chocolate powder and blackberry.  The green vegetal note is out of place.  The palate is dry with medium (-) acidity and low tannins.  A lightweight body produces some mediocre flavors of plum and black cherry but the green vegetable thing is still there and it’s off-putting.  The wine has a funkiness about it that I don’t care for, it’s prevalent on the mid palate and the short finish.  I much preferred the straight up Cabernet Sauvignon from Frontera.  This $8 per magnum bottle gets 78 points and a pass rec with 1 star.  It’s not worth the effort.  Salut….

Specially Selected Shiraz 2021, Barossa, Australia

06 Friday Oct 2023

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Medium ruby colored with high viscosity (14.5% ABV).  The nose has aromas of candied cherry, blueberry pie, pomegranate, red currant and baking spices.  It’s a little bit fake smelling tbh.  The palate is dry with medium acidity and medium tannins but there’s a sourness not associated with acidity that bothers me.  The body is medium and the flavors are pretty bland- consisting of smoky wood, blueberry and baking spices.  This wine is quite unbalanced with a high dose of heat on the shortish finish that is really bothering me.  Overall this $10 offering from Aldi is disappointing me as I had good luck with other bottles in their lineup.  It gets 82 point from me and 1 star.  Drink now.  Salut….

Pour Haus Pinot Grigio NV, California

23 Tuesday May 2023

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I’ll cut to the chase- I needed some serviceable (read cheap) Pinot Grigio for a wine experiment so I ended up with two 3 Liter boxes in my garage fridge.  It’s nearly summer y’all and I am cooking Shrimp Scampi so here we go!  Pale platinum colored with a watery sheen (12% ABV).  The nose has medium intensity aromas of pear, yellow apple and white blossom.  Pretty straightforward so far.  The palate is dry with medium (+) acidity and a medium (-) body.  The aromas I got are duplicated on the palate but with a twist.  The fruit is showing a touch of bruising with some phenolic bitterness.  The apple and pear notes dissipate quickly on the finish leaving me with a sense of higher than 12% alcohol, it seems to be a touch hot and out of balance.  I paid $14, the equivalent of $3.50 pear bottle, what was I expecting?  It’s a hot-summers day wine that needs to be chilled to mask the imbalances and crisp up the flavors and aromas.  82 points from me and 1 star.  Drink immediately.  Salut….

Ramian Estate 3 Clone Selection Pinot Noir 2013, Sonoma Coast, California

15 Thursday Sep 2022

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The second wine I tasted at the wine bar was this unfortunate Pinot Noir.  So over-the-hill it was shocking for such a relatively young wine.  Pale garnet colored, the pigments ended a mm from the edge of the rim when studied at an angle.  Aromas of stewed fruit, dried figs, bruised cherry and clove.  The tertiary notes dominated the nose and palate which was tough to swallow, everything has fallen apart here.  The tertiary flavors are what I love about cellaring wine, but there comes a point of diminishing returns and this bottle passed that a while back.  No score given, a major pass.  Salut….

Albert Morot Beaune Bressandes 2019, Beaune Premier Cru, France

13 Friday May 2022

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Every so often I get thrown a curveball.  This Burgundian Pinot Noir was tasted blind at my WSET class.  I barely passed the assessment.  This 92 point wine was not at all what I tasted- bottle variation?  Storage issues?  Did the invigilator know this was a $60 Premiere Cru and made his mind up with that knowledge?  Who knows.  My notes are pretty consistent with the majority of the class.  This wine is medium ruby colored with medium (-) intensity aromas of red currant, raspberry, red cherry, pomegranate and red plum.  I called it simple.  On the palate it is dry with medium acidity, medium (-) tannins, medium body and high alcohol.  I got medium (-) intensity flavors of the above descriptors and found the wine to have a short finish.  I marked it as being of acceptable quality with a drink now recommendation.  In my world this is barely an 85 pointer and for the cash- 1 star.  It was a real disappointment to find out it had such pedigree yet did not deliver.  I almost want to buy a bottle and have another industry pro blind taste it to confirm my suspicions- but why waste $60?  Major pass.  Salut…

Vignobles Andre Lurton Chateau Bonnet Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot 2018, Bordeaux, France

06 Wednesday Apr 2022

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Tasted blind, this Bordeaux blend of Merlot and Cab Sav was a deep ruby color with thin legs.  Medium (-) intensity nose with aromas of red cherry, red raspberry, wet wool and purple grape- I found it to be very youthful and simple. (Plus disgusting).  The palate was dry with medium acidity, medium tannins, medium alcohol and light bodied.  Medium (-) intensity flavors of the above led to a medium (-) finish.  I called this wine poor but was corrected to- acceptable; a point for balance was deserved(?).  This wine is to be drunk now, not suitable for aging.  I did not care for it and was surprised that I couldn’t even get the varietal right.  For me this $14 wine gets 84 points with a 1 star rating.  Salut….

Vinium Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Napa Valley, California

19 Saturday Feb 2022

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Deep ruby/purple in the glass it has a unique nose.  Medium intensity aromas of açaí berry are the first thing I smell.  After a good swirl I get boysenberry, red plum, eucalyptus, coconut and a dusty, brambly component.  Very interesting and quite complex.  The palate is reminiscent of black charcoal and blue fruit compote.  It’s quite tannic with good acidity and medium to full body.  The flavors are out of whack though- I get unripe fruit mixed with oak influence and slightly green tannins.  Not what I was expecting to be honest.  The back end is quite astringent, not in a good way.  I’m taking a step back, doing some research and letting this wine breathe.

I’m back and traced the roots of this wine- it retails for $125 and is still not very righteous.  I’m sorry but the write-ups and reviews just don’t gibe with me.  This is an 83 point wine that may improve with age as it has some structure, but unless that fruit thing on the palate resolves itself this is not a pleasant wine to sip.  1 star and a major pass IMHO.  Salut….