The only reason I am posting about this wine is so I remember to never buy it again. Enough said.
Santa Ana Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
17 Sunday Nov 2013
Tag Archives: 80 points
Apothic Red Winemaker’s Blend 2011
15 Sunday Sep 2013
Posted in Wine
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I am going to do something completely different today. I am re-tasting the Apothic Red which I despised back in May of last year. One of the primary reasons for this tasting is to calibrate my palate. Right after I tasted this wine, hated it and wrote about, the Big Man himself proclaimed it to be his ‘wine of the day’. Imagine what a schmuck I felt. Anyway, that was last year and it was the 2010 vintage. I have the 2011 vintage and am ready to try it again. This time, I am going to write about it as I am drinking it. Here we go……
Dark purple in the glass, there appears to be some effervescence. (That is not a good thing by the way.)
On the nose, that Zinfandel smell of candy again. Not liking….
My first impression is…. …. … Candy. Again with the sickly sweet, overdone sugar water. This is a wine that will be loved by newb’s. It is sweet, lacks structure, has no tannins and is off balance with the acidity. I cannot recommend this wine, to anyone. A blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon that lacks any fruit characteristics.
Dear Mr P. I disagree with your thoughts about this wine. It is junk and should not be on shelves. The end. Your thoughts?
For $14, there are millions of other wines that are delicious. 1 star and 80 points (I’m being generous).
Chateau Denisiane 2009
19 Friday Jul 2013
Before we begin, (it’s going to be brief), check out my previous post on the Denisiane. Not much has changed, it’s still a really bad wine. The basic profile is nothing more than candied cherries and a sharp retractive initial palate attack.. I was hoping for evolution, perhaps something, anything…..nothing. A major downer, 80- points and no stars at this point. Ugh….
Handcraft Petite Sirah 2010
12 Sunday May 2013
Posted in Wine
A bar wine that I ordered on the fly. Very basic fruitiness in a forward style. I honestly can’t recommend buying this wine for the cellar at home as it is boring, thin and not representative of Petite Sirah. 2 star, 83 points but is not on my “Cheap and Nasty” list. It is drinkable in a bar-like atmosphere, but I would not try to pair it with any food. It retails for about $10. I did some research on this wine, and found that WS gave it 85 points while WE gave it 90! Enough said.
McWilliams Mount Pleasant ‘Jack’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
25 Friday Jan 2013
Posted in Wine
Whoa there Mr. Fruity-up-my-nose-guy… I am not a fan of this wine. Absolutely in my grill with the blueberry jam and across my palate with a rather sweet compote of blue and red berries with no finesse whatsoever. I did not detect much tannin nor any structure to this wine. If you like easy to drink wines, get some. If you are slightly more serious, give this a major pass. 1 star and 80 points. I can’t believe I paid $12 for it.
Magistrate Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
06 Saturday Oct 2012
A “Limited Production” release that a friend brought along to our little party. Not liking it. Very primal fruit, almost Kool-Aid in nature. I don’t know much about this wine or it’s price, but was really not impressed. Major pass. 80 Points and 1 star.
Laleure-Piot Les Tuvilains
23 Sunday Sep 2012
Posted in Wine
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Really……disappointed, with this thin wine. From the stellar 2009 vintage, I was hoping for depth, charachter, fruit and a cellaring potential. Nothing I mentioned showed up for this party. Overly acidic, unbalanced and lacking any semblance of a typical Burgundy, this wine is a major pass. Move it along people, don’t waste your time. I get nothing on the nose, a thin reedy mid palate of just juice and no fruit on the finish at all. 1star, and a paltry 80 points if done by pro wine taster. Sorry to burst bubbles….
Chateau Latour Camblanes 2009 and 2008
22 Saturday Sep 2012
Posted in Wine
Yup, two vintages in one blog post- by accident. My local shop was running a BOGO on this wine. I am a little leery when shops are giving wine away at half price, a sure sign of it’s inability to sell. However, my goal is to taste every thing in this particular shop (not a huge selection mind you). So, I picked up my two bottles of Latour Camblanes and a bottle of Shiraz. When I arrived at the tasting site, I retrieved all the bottles from my bag and noticed that one of them had a green top on the capsule. Upon further investigation, the labels looked slightly different. I then realized that the staff had placed the 2009 vintage behind the 2008 and the SKU’s must have registered as the same item. I had paid full price for the 2008 and got the 2009 for free- as advertised. I was excited to perform a mini-vertical tasting and proceeded to open both bottles. I started with ’08 and realized my worst fears. The wine needed to be given away at half price, it was just shabby. No flavor profile, very little tannin and generally flat. Yuck. On to the 2009, not so. Cherry and tobacco, some edgy tannins and a crisp acidity made me come back for more. I did not drink any more of the 2008 because I believe strongly that life is too short to drink crappy wine. My drunk friend didn’t care and proceeded to polish it off for us, leaving the far better ’09 for me to ponder and enjoy. In a nutshell, 2009 was a far superior vintage in Bordeaux and this point was highlighted in our little tasting. I would imagine the ’08 was a combination of poorly made wine in an average vintage versus a little more effort put into a far better vintage. It’s a shame really because I am now poisoned by this brand. I will not take a chance on their wine, knowing that they did not perform in an average year and relied on nature to help them out in an excellent year. 2008 1 star and 80 points. 2009 3 stars and 85 points. Would I buy again? Nope.
Freixenet Mederano Tinto 2010
27 Wednesday Jun 2012
Posted in Wine
Look at the label carefully people.
We’ve all had Freixenet sparkling wine, the Brut in the black bottle. Did you know they also make a red wine? Neither did I. Look closer at the picture, it’s a Spanish wine with a German label that I bought in Asia. Made from Tempranillo grapes and very reasonably priced, this is what we call “cheap-and-nasty”. If you are looking for a very basic red wine that you can swill at a party, this one may fit the bill. However, I have a rule- life is too short to drink shitty wine. So, think about what you want to accomplish if you buy this wine. It tastes like wine, smells like wine, looks like wine and will get you drunk like wine. It offers nothing in the complexity department, no tannins to see it through the rest of the month, and no finish whatsoever. Having thrashed it, I will now sing its praises. It’s not out of balance, sour, weird or bad tasting. I will however give it 3 stars, simply because it gets the job done on such a low budget price. Besides, when your having a massive party and everyone is hammered, who cares? 80 Points….
Denisiane ’09
31 Monday Oct 2011
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