2005 Revolution Shiraz - Mclaren Vale Shiraz

It has been a while for me with Australian Shiraz, so when I saw the 2005 Revolution (which was rated 91 points Wine Spectator I believe) for under $25, I grabbed a few.

I hate to generalize and I'm no blind tasting expert, but I can peg most Australian Shiraz as Aussie wines. I think it has to do with that I generally only drink Rhone style syrah from California and France and the producers and vineyards I drink generally don't produce thick tasting wines. So, yes - you guessed it. The 2005 Revolution is a thicky.

Review Score and Note

This was opened for about 2 hours. Tasted, then corked again for 3 more hours.

The aroma gave off plums, blueberry and some sweet spices and was fairly open. The nose did evolve over the several hours of tasting this. The aroma was thick though. The alcohol is 15%, which isn't crazy and there was no noticable heat.

The taste and feel was very full and thick. The flavors had black cherry, dark rasberry and some chocolate - especially on the finish but the wine was just too heavy...almost "filling". I really struggled wanting to finish it. The Revolution was a wine that tasted fine and had nothing off about it. It was just TOO much weight for me and pretty simple. Not my style.

86 POINTS

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2007 Seghesio Zinfandel Sonoma

Seghesio is a consistant and afforable Zinfandel year in and year out. If you are a wine drinker and Zin drinker, you are probably familiar with Seghesio. They are a consistant Wine Spectator top 100 selection. Many times in the top 25. Their recognition by Wine Spectator is several fold. This wine usually rates at, near or above 90 points. It is priced under $20 in most places and they make a ton of it, so it is very widely available.

Seghesio makes a few other vineyard Zinfandels and those are priced a little over the Sonoma offering.

I also enjoy the fact that their wine style (2007 included) is not heavy, hot or cheap thrilly zin. It is fairly light on it's feet and the alcohol is not high 15%'s or more. This will not overwhelm most red wine type foods.

Tasting Note Review

Aroma of spice, blackberry and fruit skins with a nice mouthfeel that is not overly rich or thick. The palate had really nice flavors of cherries, spice and some pepper with nice balance and a very clean finish. This wine can work for almost anyone and go with almost anything. Under $20. Back up the truck....as usual

89 Points

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Wine Auction Buys March 2009 - Auction Bid Wins

I think I did pretty good on a recent small block of auction purchases. These wines have already been delivered to me. Gotta love the perfect March Shipping weather for auction buys.

2006 Novy Keefer Ranch Chardonnay $15

2005 Revolution Shiraz $20

2007 Lange Twins Pinot Grigio $5 (note already posted here)

2002 Beckmen Estate Cabernet Sauvignon $10

Wine Review: 2007 Lange Twins Pinot Grigio

This producer is from California and the wine is made in Lodi. I have not had a Pinot Grigio from California in a long time. The 2007 Lange Twins Pinot Grigio was bought on the Internet for $5. This has to be the lowest price wine I have ever posted here and I probably have not consumed a $5 wine in a long time. Still, this wine was not $5 retail. I believe this was part of a larger auction lot and I just got lucky....or maybe not!

Wine Review and Score
The 2007 Lange Twins wine was a strange one. When it was first opened it had a very noticable spritzy nose to it. Almost sparkling wine-ish. It also had some green apple on the nose. The taste had some earthyness to it which I liked. Good acidity and apples, peaches with more sparkling spritzy flavors. The finish was not much, but what Pinot Grigio has? Not fair to score based on that. But the wine did turn a little watery as it was opened. I did not like that all. It lost some of that zest pretty quick.

I saved some of the bottle to grab another sip several hours later and while it did not get worse, that lively sparkle never returned. It was a fairly typical low priced Pinot Grigio. Easily drinkable and I have had worse - many worse from Italy actually. I could drink this again or not. This Lange Twins Wine was a decent effort and for what I paid - I'd buy it again.

85 Points

Mara Syrage Lot 7 - Tasting Note 2006 Mara Wine

Mara is a California producer at the medium price end (generally). I only have had 1 vintage experience with a Zinfandel wine a few years ago. My recollection was that it was lean in body with strong flavor and sweetness. That is a very general thought from memory. I rarely see Mara locally, but occaisonally see their Zinfandel. At a price tag usually in the mid $20's to $30, I was not a buyer of the Zinfandel. The Syrage Lot 7 was a surprise find - and at $16

This 2006 from Mara is a Merlot Syrah blend and I have really enjoyed Merlot Syrah blends. I find both really work together. Merlot is a great grape to blend with it's fruit lushness, full body style and low dryness and tannins.

I opened this little fella in the afternoon picking on some cheese and crackers. A great early stop to a work day! I'm drinking a lot more wine lately - have I mentioned that? Anyway, back to the wine:

Wine Tasting Notes

The 2006 Mara Syrage Lot 7 was opened for 30 minutes and this is an easy crowd pleaser - I could tell. Very open aromas of sweet, rich dark fruit and a little nutmeg. Very inviting stuff. The taste matched the aroma with a nice full bodied feel of cranberry, cherries, real good acidity with balance. Nice yummy full finish with some cocoa and chocolate added in. Good things going on here.

Aside from the usual points for this or that. The Mara Syrage is just tasty stuff and would please any fun wine drinker who may not be THAT serious (no one really should be) into wine. Might be a tad sweet for some, but I think that's adds to the wine as the Syrah really gives it that rich spice that makes the blend really work IMO

A QPR (Quality Price Ratio) winner. Pick some up

90 Points

2006 Martinelli Zio Tony Ranch Chardonnay

Martinelli is a well known California producer of mostly Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and Chardonnay. They also make a Syrah and a few other varietals but I have not had any of those. Their Pinots, Zinfandels and Chardonnays are made from several single vineyards they bottle, as well as grapes from a combination of vineyards. The Zio Tony Ranch is one of them.

I have been on Martinelli's mailer and I have also bought their wines from the secondary auction market. This bottle was sourced via auction. I was able to get this 2006 Chardonnay at a very good price from a larger lot being sold.

Tasting Review Note

The nose showed classic California full flavored chardonnay with some toasted almond, lemon and oak. The taste had full and rich flavors of lemon oil, steel, cream and almonds. The mouthfeel was not heavy but the flavors were fairly raw. Not subtle. Very long finish. This 2006 Zio Tony Ranch might be worth it just for that. It really goes.

If someone does not appreciate full bodied California Chardonnay like this 2006 Martinelli, they may find the wine a little over-done. I might agree that while I love a quality full flavored Chardonnay - food (shellfish particularly) would really bring this out.

Not a cocktail wine, but the best Chardonnays - including white burgundies should be food wines IMO.

I would let this sit at least another year in the bottle. But if you are cranking out some nice crab or clam in a garlic white wine sauce (I'm getting hungry now!), let this open for an hour or so and go at it. Don't forget the French Bread for dipping!

90 Points

Nick

Recommended Wine Book:

Bordeaux: A Consumer's Guide to the World's Finest Wines - Robert Parker


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2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

A very consistent producer of affordable, fun and tasty sauvignon blanc. Although there are vintages of Kim Crawford I have like slightly more than others, they are pretty close and solid year to year. The 2008's I have had from others have been fairly straight to the producer and similar to 2007.

Taste Review Notes

Green fruits with peach and tropical aroma and green. The taste was a little more tangy and a little heavier on the grapefruit. The acidity was vibrant as expected. Very crisp and clean, but I did not find this bottle as smooth as last year or the 2006 offering. I wanted to love this again, but didn't. This has scored in the 90 point range almost every year lately by Wine Spectator and even hacks like me! I don;t know what WS gave it yet or if they did or not.

I went through a case of the 2007 Kim Crawfords last summer and they were always the party pleaser. This one will be also, but I did not like it as much.

87 Points