Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Petit Sirah deal of the winter

This 2007 Ursa Petit Sirah is not one out of the cellar that has been waiting-I bought it last night at the west side liquors in Santa Cruz. I was not sure that it would still drink well after years on the shelf but I was really impressed at how this wine has held up. Nearly nine years old and it still has intense flavor and the almost black color of the varietal-with 14.5 % alcohol, this Sierra foothill wine is a product of very hot summers with the high alcohol being balanced by the really big flavors. This isn't an overly sweet wine but certainly not as dry as an old-world version-it is definitely California and a really great example of Petit Sirah and the intensity of the grape at its best. At $ 11.95 it is also a real deal for the kind of quality in the bottle. I'll give it 8 1/2-9 swiggs.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Can't do much better than this

Maybe you might think that I'm more than a little partial to Ridge wines. This is true-it is not hard to find excellence in nearly everything they have bottled in the last 30-odd years. This 2012 zinfandel from Paso Robles is no exception. For a fairly young version of this wine it drinks now like it has been in the bottle for ten years-it will probably be just as good in ten more from now. There's lots of flavor across a wide spectrum.....a good way to describe it would be 'round', encompassing all the great flavors possible in a central California zin-for that matter, any zin from anywhere. Expect to find this for $28-32 in a good market. We found this one here at Shopper's Corner for $ 29.95.  9 swiggs . A great treat for special occasions.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Low budget Italian red thats a winner

Every once in awhile I find a wine where I like the look of the label and I buy it.... even if there's no vintage date and the information on the bottle is vague. Something about this one made me want to try it......I'm really impressed with the flavor at the price. A few years ago I found another non-vintage red from Paso Robles that was also really tasty and less than  $ 5.00 . Wines at this price that are this good are pretty rare so I'm planning on stocking up on this Ocarossa from Trader Joes At $ 4.99 it is one dollar less than out other favorite cheapie - Rabbit Ridge allure de Robles 2013.It tastes like a much more expensive Italian red-much like an Amorone or Ripasso. I'll give this one 7 swiggs.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Perfection.......again.

I have always regarded Ridge Geyserville as one of the great wines of the world. That's right......world. I'm not kidding about this-there's too much good to say about this wine to fit in a short blog post but take my word for it-the depth of flavors without being heavy handed is something that very few wines can match. Go ahead-bring out your grand crus, your classified growths, your Napa cult wines. This bottle will hold its own. 71% Zinfandel for 2012, a bit more than the last one I tried but as always , a masterful blend . This one cost $ 37.95 at New Leaf market and we drank it for my wife's birthday.........no food, just the wine-it can stand on its own. 10 swiggs.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Local winery makes a winner

 Something about this bottle was calling me on a rainy Friday night. Here was a local winery ( Sones) making a Merlot from Santa Clara grapes and it was already 6+ years old on the shelf for $ 14.95. I had to try it. It did not disappoint being complex on the nose and rich on the pallet. This is the kind of red wine I had been jonesing for many weeks. The goodness of the wine was not too much of a surprise as Sones makes some great stuff. I'll give it 9 swiggs and it is either available where I got it at New Leaf market or from the winery in Santa Cruz.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Primitivo has the taste of earth

Here's a wine that really cannot be duplicated by anything from California. Not everyone will be happy with the dark , earthy tastes of this Italian red but I really liked it. Primitive is very much and old world Zin but with a bit less sweetness. There's almost a port-like finish on the wine mixed with the earthy flavors and texture. Its a nice taste of Italy for just under ten dollars. $ 9.95 at Shoppers corner. I'll give it 7 1/2 swings.