A very pleasant wine at a very pleasant price: easy to drink, pairing with a surprising number of food flavors. Highly Recommended (90).
This Central Valley Montepulciano with a small amount of Petite Sirah or Merlot—depending on the year—is whole cluster fermented in open top fermenters with frequent punchdowns and extended maceration. It offers aromas of macerated ripe strawberry with piney, dill notes and maple leaf hints. In the mouth, it is lighter bodied, sleek, with slight tannins, a silky texture and jolly rancher-like strawberry candy flavors. The finish is creamy, but a bit hollow. Overnight, it takes on dried rose petal and vague cherry aromas and floral hints in the mouth. This forward, mature-styled wine is an unobtrusive food companion with good acids and does not compete with food flavors. (14% ABV, 1 bottle tasted, 256 cases made)
Wow. Light and racy. From 130-year-old vines, this exhibits chai tea and dusty berries with great hints of rhubarb on the nose. Fantastic finish of red fruits and chalky earth. Really impressed by this Lodi interpretation of the fourth most widely planted grape in France.
Very lush mouth-feel, with apples and white peaches dipped in honey, countered gently by tartness of star fruit. Aromas include white peach and flowers - orange blossoms and honeysuckle. The finish lingers gently. This is very nice wine. Enjoy it with chicken salad.
Toulouse, and the Rhone, and the French influence is remarkably clear in the blend of the red, which goes for elegant subtlety over big fruitiness. It offers up aromas of tomato leaf, supple blackberry fruit, and a hand-in-hand balance of black and white pepper so well in-tune with one another that might as well have been singing “Ebony & Ivory.” Read more review by Joe Roberts on his site, 1 Wine Dude
This wine has a lovely silken mouth-feel. The aroma on the nose is chocolate-covered peppered bacon. It opens with deep mulberry, sweetening to blueberry on the mid-palate, all with the chocolate-bacon hovering in the background. Tannins are sweet. Drink with flank steak.
Clear with medium intensity, darker and deeper than many rosés, somewhere between rose and cranberry juice. Just shy of being incredibly aromatic, the youthful aromas jump out. Included are grapefruit, citrus, lemon, cherry, strawberry, a little vegetal, and floral. A dry wine with medium-high acidity, body, and alcohol. Flavors include cranberry, sour cherry, lemon, green apple, pineapple, and a little bell pepper! Each sip leaves your mouth watering making it very refreshing. For more wine notes and writing, visit Ryan’s blog oe•no•phile.