Alexander Valley
Rose of Sangiovese Delightful, crisp with good flavor, little strawberry, little fruit. Balanced and showy and a great price. Too bad we have a boatload of rose right now, this one would make a good item.
Chardonnay My style of Chard with a narrow band of really delectable flavor, crisp acidity and muted oak aromas. Not overly malo not overly oaked. If they could sustain this style of chard, California would have a good piece of the market they could sell for about $15. My opinion.
Merlot Really good merlot with a touch of spice and a great balance that would set it apart as a food wine. These vines must be getting some personality of their own. Only thing, its priced a little high.
Cabernet Sauvignon Good generic cab with good extract, has everything except a personality of its own. Would stock it because it is in a good price point for sonoma cab.
Redemption Zin Bought grapes (most of their stuff is estate). Good generic zin with berry flavors and decent balance. Not as good as Sin Zin but hopefully not as pricey.
Cyrus Meritage blend. Good to very good with dense extracted flavors. More a drinkers wine than a sipper, it has good enough structure to make it a good food wine. Price is too high.
Schoolhouse Cab Like it a lot good dense ripe flavors and good balance. Not shy on structure, either would be a very good food wine. Price too high.
Spain and Argentina
Alta Vista Torrontes Very good balance, structure, and aromatics. A nice hand with this grape which too many people try to do too much with. Melon, honeysuckle, and floral bouquet. Would be tasty with bland or sour food.
Tittarelli Chardonnay Pretty good Chard with too much alcohol showing through. Price is good but this is an area we don’t need to explore much.
Alta Vista Rose of Malbec Ok wine but once again we don’t need anything here. Like a lot of Mal roses it has some burnt wood on the nose which is off putting.
Alta Vista Malbec Too much structure for me- there are too many sexy ripe wines in this category.
Arzuaga La Planta Ribero del Duero Very good wine and very good price. Maybe out balanced in oak but a crowd pleaser. with smoky bacon fat in the nose and dense ripe Temp fruit on the palate. Could fill a slot nicely left by Vizcarra.
Lan Rioja Crianza I remember this line from times past. In good years the crianza is a good wine, other times it can be a bit thin. This one has good balance, but I tasted it in the wrong order and I think I need to re-taste. GH
