2008 Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells Merlot

Hello all!! We had a very nice merlot this evening, with breaded, oven baked pork chops (a nice pairing). It had a deep garnet color, and aromas of blackberry and vanilla. It started out a little rough around the edges (it is a 2008). But it opened up nicely into a lovely velvety fruit forward Merlot. This is exactly what people like about Merlot. It was a beautifully balanced fruit forward velvety pleasure to drink. As Gary would say, it had a high delicious factor. It's not particularly complex, but it was yummy! I got this for $20 at Ashes last night. I'm not generally a big Merlot fan, but I may have to keep a bottle around.

2009 Alamos Malbec from Argentina

Hello all!! We had this wine last night with a spice rubbed flank steak and broccoli rabe. This is widely available for $10 or less. I have seen it at Ashes. I actually tasted this wine a year and a half ago at a tasting hosted by McScrooge's. The tasting featured wines from Alamos and I have to say I was pretty impressed, especially when the price was considered. This wine was a deep garnet to purple. It started with aromas of blackberry and smoke. The taste was true to the nose, with the faint smokiness lingering far back on the mid palate. I also picked up a faint taste of licorice. As it opened the blackberry developed into dark cherry and the licorice became more apparent. It began to resemble an Italian Salice Salentino. We really liked this wine, and at $9-$10 a bottle, this could be a really great everyday wine.

There are other excellent (especially for the price) wines from this label. Alamos is owned by Catena. When we went to the wine tasting, Alamos was represented as a rather small operation owned by a collection of investors from the United States and working with local winemakers. I don't know whether ownership of the label has changed, but the wines were and are both very affordable and very good. We particularly like the torrantes ($8-$9 at Ashes).

2008 Erath Pinot Noir from Oregon

Hello all!! I am sitting here, right now, enjoying a glass of this lovely pinot noir. I may have blogged it before, I didn't check. It has a nice brick red color that is not too dark (appropriate for a pinot noir). And it has the warm aroma and taste of plums and earthiness. I don't notice the typical strawberry component. Anyway, this is a very nice pinot fro just about $20 at McScrooge's. It should be available at many other stores. We had this wine with salmon and a lightly spicy, rather complex vegetable sauce of tomato, onion, garlic, caper, green olive, and raisin. It was a very nice pairing.

I went to a work related party last weekend. I was asked to bring the wine. I took the advice of a salesperson in a well known local liquor store, and I was very disappointed. I bought Woodbridge wine, the white Zin, the Resieling, the Chard, the Pinot Noir, the Merlot and the Cab blend. We never made it past the Pinot Noir. The wines were completely lacking in character. The varietals were barely recognizable. I was embarrassed to have brought these wines. I was so upset by the whole thing that I vowed "No more plonk!!". Now, what will become of this? Well, I started out by trading the three leftover, unopened (1.5 L) bottles of Woodbridge for two bottles of 2008 new release French Bordeaux. The next night I bought four more bottles of the new release French Bordeaux, a bottle of California Merlot and a bottle of Torrantes. For at least a little while I am going to indulge in some of the promising bottles we have stacked around the dining room. I still have a lot of catching up to do on the blogs, but I'm going to work on making an even bigger backlog of tasting notes. I may not be able to afford really high dollar wine, but I don't have to endure plonk! There is plenty of good wine, and the occasional bottle of really inspiring wine, available in my price-range and I intend to enjoy it! To personality!! To pleasure!! To great wine!!

2009 Villa Lanata Moscato D'Asti Single Estate

This was our big New Year's Eve wine! I made baked goat's cheese rolled in sundried tomato seasonings. It was yummy with the wine. The alcohol content of this wine was only 5.5%, making it a great sipping wine for after dinner. It had a lovely golden dandelion color. The nose was of pear, apple and honey. The flavor profile was true to the nose with a little almond on the finish. Overall, a pleasant little bubbly. (Sorry, but I'm not much of a champagne person)

2007 Amavi Cellars Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Savignon

This wine was actually a Christmas present for my husband! We saw it reviewed on Wine Library TV. Unfortunately, they do not ship to Tennessee, so I had to hunt this wine down on the internet. I believe it was about $25 a bottle. The color was deep brick red. The nose was very earthy with lots of cherry. There were aromas of mulch, dry leaves, forrest, old wood, and vanilla. The flavor profile was cherry, licorice, vanilla and cocoa with rootbeer early after opening. It had a nice structure with balanced tannins and acids. The finish was long and tasted of dark cherry and cocoa. Overall, it was both delicious and complex. And, I have 2 more bottles to enjoy!!

2008 La Posta Cocina Blend

This is another wine consumed between Christmas and New Year's. I believe we had this wine with empanadas stuffed with mildly spicy beef. The blend is 60% Malbec, 20% Bonarcha, and 20% Syrah from Mendoza Argentina. I believe this was a substitute offered by the staff at Total Wines when the Malbec I requested was unavailable. I can't be sure of the price, but I believe it was about $10. The color was a dark inky purple-garnet. On the nose there was blackberry and a little smoke. The flavor profile was blackberry and dark cherry with licorice on the finish. It was silky with soft tannins that actually became firmer as it opened. This is a good example of the hidden gems that are available at an affordable price if you just hunt around and take advantage of the sales staff's knowledge.

2005 Reserva Solestium Salice Salentino

I'm really far behind in my blogging responsibilities. I have a backlog of wines for which I have recorded tasting notes on little index cards lying around the house. The holiday festivities extended to include a trip to visit relatives out of town in Philadelphia (not too far from Wine Library in New Jersey). But for now...

This very nice little wine came from total Wines in Atlanta for $9. To tell you the truth, I delayed opening this wine because at this price I was worried that at this price it wouldn't be very good. On the other hand, at this price, I couldn't resist it. The color was deep, dark ruby. The aromas were cherry, vanilla and a little horehound. The flavor profile was similar with cherry, vanilla, and horehound, moving to rootbeer on the finish. It was very silky with soft tannins and acids. It was smooth and elegant and had a high delicious factor. All for $9!!!