2004 Vivac Cabernet Sauvignon "Reserve"

I'm being diplomatic...I'm being diplomatic...I'm being diplomatic... This wine sucked. Doh! How disappointing to get a turned, vinegar-like bottle. It's our last, stored bottle; or was. This disaster has given me resolve to go out and get a $9 Cab from California that will show this $30+ bottle from New Mexico HOW IT IS DONE, people. Smells like pickled eggs in a mystery liquid; tastes like eggs in vinegar. No more. BLEH!

40/100.
AVOID...AVOID...AVOID

2001 Amici Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

We just started this bottle, over a large dutch oven pot of chicken-sausage cassoulet. The Amici showed its age in the bowl of my class, with the tell-tale light rust color around the edge, and also on the nose: woody currants and blackberries. This was no longer a rich wine, but the way that Cali Cabs used to be more consistently. A little odd and perhaps nearing peak, not astringent, by itself, but with the cassoulet? Oh my. The bit of Merlot and Cabernet Franc helped out the balance, and there's a restrained sophistication to this wine. 2001 was a good year, not a great year, in Napa, and Amici did themselves proud here with this bottling. This was to be a shared bottle with friends (DTR/CTR) but they couldn't make it down here (tongue sticks out).
91/100 -- An outstanding Napa Cab, the way they used to be. Alcohol? 13.4% abv - perfect for food.
Bottom line: I'm glad I bought it, even for around $40, at the Wine Store in Colorado Springs.

2006 Marques de Casa Concha Merlot (Peumo)

Opened 1.25.10 and enjoyed with some braised short-rib, mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli, this usually $20-something bottle of Merlot was available at Trader Joe's for about $11. What a screaming deal - and yes, this is the 'up line' of the usually solid Concha y Toro producer from Chile. Like most Chilean red wines, it has that tell-tale mint-eucalypt note on the nose, not exactly herbal, followed here by a nice, smooth dark cherry core to it. There are some really enticing fig and spice notes, the latter from the oak, and finishes with a creamy note but gutsy tannins. This should open up over the next couple of nights. Right now, it's a great deal and a lovely wine. 89/100
Bottom line: See a sale on this? Get it.

Tiny foods, not wine

I could not help it. I saw this ridiculous story in the NYTimes, and had to link to it. If your food item is too small to handle (as in HAND), and you're using tweezers, that is simply dumb. Stupid. I'm paying to eat good, flavorful food, not "art" on my plate. Others can disagree as they choose. I'm sharing a quote below to illustrate...well, read for yourself:

“It’s harder to make it look like you didn’t try,” said the chef David Chang, whose kitchen crew at Momofuku Ko tweezes extensively. “It’s more difficult to make it seem it’s plated as it falls. That’s what we call it, ‘as it falls.’ It’s not rustic. It’s naturalistic. It sounds stupid, but you’re using tweezers to make it seem natural.”

Stupid is as stupid sounds.

2007 Seghesio Zinfandel Rockpile Vineyard

This is another outstanding Zin from Seghesio, even for the price ($34), and while perhaps not as monstrously exhuberant as their general Sonoma bottling from the 07 year, it proves once again two things: a) Rockpile Zins/Petite Sirahs are our favorites, and b) the 07 vintage seems to just rock across all regions of Cali and across almost all varietals. It's impressive. For this wine, the sipper-sniffer will be rewarded with some patience. So either decant for an hour (now), or give it a few years before opening. There's a great blackberry cobbler core to this Zin, followed by a tidal wave of spice, tanning, fruit-cake and sage. And yet it's not the fruit-club that the Sonoma bottle is, there's an earthiness or loamy note to the nose and the palate that is simply not present in the blended vineyard bottling Seghesio makes. The finish can become a bit muted if it's too cool, so make sure this is at 64 deg F or around there. For us, it's simply an outstanding wine for the price. Am I really going to pay hundreds of dollars for an equivalent wine from France or Italy? (No.)
93/100.
Bottom line: A fantastic effort, again, by Seghesio, in a great year from a great appellation in California.

2006 Rosenblum Syrah (Lodi) Abba Vineyard

This bottle of blackstrap Syrah was a bargain, discounted from a retail of about $25 to a great price of $11 at the local World Market here in Santa Fe. Since I have not tried many Lodi Syrahs, this was a good chance to experiment on a dime. I was a little concerned about the alcohol level, typical of Rosenblum's love for big wines, but it went nicely with a gnocchi arrabiata-spinach sauce last night. It had good balance, no whiff or back-burn of alcohol. It looks like a Petite Sirah, smells like saddles, cloves, and cigar box, then the dark cherry core emerges a bit in the middle and end. Nice vanillin after-taste, without overwhelming the palate with oak, and the fruity-leather carries through. We really liked this. For us, an 88/100.

Bottom line: If you can find it on discount, well worth a price under $16. Not sure I'd pay retail, but I might!

2005 Marques de Caceres Rioja (Crianza)

This baby Caceres, the budget-line Crianza, was found at Trader Joe's for about $14 and it's a solid, polished, and well-balanced Rioja for the money. It displays everything a red-wine drinker would like: tobacco, dark fruits, some light oak, but also offers the versatility for food-pairing of some heavier whites because of the lack of tannins and its fresh acidity. Between pizza and a stuffed flounder, no problems, just tasty with no 'metallic(a)' effect after the fish. No wonder Rioja is one of my favorites wine-producing regions: there's something tasty for every price point and every style (austere to modern) preference. The "crianza" means it spends the least time in oak compared to Reserva and Gran Reserva Riojas. Salud!
88/100
Bottom line: A Crianza Rioja remains balanced, priced right, and versatile with food.