Expert Wine Expert's Review

This post is again for my own vanity. I took the Tell Tale Stubborn Red down to Wine Squared (on the square in Denton, TX) to be tasted by the owner/sommelier, Brook. I had told her I wasn't able to get all of the carbonation out of the wine, and her response was "that's okay, most beaujolais has some carbonation." We popped the cork and she said, it sounds good. She and one of her employees Nick tasted the wine. Brook's first response was "that is the best beaujolais I've ever had not from France. It could even be confused with beaujolais from France." It appears that The 2009 Tell Tale Stubborn Red is a good wine. Again this post does not really concern the readers as the wine is not for sale, but rather is more for my own self-esteem. Excuse me while I toot my own horn.

2008 Tres Picos Boraso Garnacha

Angela and I decided that we hadn't been to Wine Squared (the wine bar on the square in Denton, TX) recently, and we didn't want to go home, so we stopped in for a drink. First of all, if you live in Denton and haven't been to this place, you need to go. It's a cool, laid back place with really good wine and really good staff that know what they're doing.

We walked in and got a bottle of 2008 Tres Pico Borsao Garnacha from Campo de Borja (Garnacha is spanish for Grenache). I hadn't had a Grenache until a few months ago, and this is one of the most delicious varietals out there; I highly recommend it. It smelled smokey and delicious. I took my first gulp and immeadiately knew this wine was fantastic. It was one of the smoothest wines I've ever had. I couldn't identify any specific flavors in it, but it was a thick wine if that makes sense. It is the type of wine that you feel like you had a meal after drinking. It was delicious without any food, but Angela and I both agreed it would've been better with food. In fact, I thought it would have been fantastic with ribs, brisket or another type of bbq (it appears there is a running theme in these posts about bbq; just as a note, I like wine, but I LOVE ribs). I would recommend this wine as perfect for a relaxing night, or if I were having people over I would not hesitate to serve this wine. All in all, it was just a very good wine.

This wine receive 4.25 grapes out of 5.

There you go Paul, a red that got a good review.

2007 Platform 9 Merlot

As per the request of one Paul Hensel I decided to drink a red last night. Angela and I went over to Kroger, we had to buy some necessities anyway, I don't want Paul to think we did this all because he wanted a red review. I said, let's try a merlot and after a trying decision process finally picked up this 2007 Platform 9 Merlot from California. The wine cost $9.99, but was on sale; it normally retailed for $17.

Angela was not very excited about it, saying that merlot is never great. I opened the bottle and noticed that the cork was synthetic and blue. This was snazzy, but it certainly doesn't mean the wine is going to be good, just look good. I poured two glasses of it, one for me, and one for Angela. Upon first tasting this wine Angela's words of wisdom were confirmed.

This wine was certainly not great. It wasn't even good, however, it wasn't bad. It was wholly unremarkable. My first taste was without food. I didn't taste oak, I didn't taste sweet, I didn't taste sour, I didn't taste much of anything. I then had some with dinner which was chipotle bean burgers, corn on the cob and taboulli salad. The burgers were a little spicy, and the wine did not handle that well at all. It tasted acrid with spicy food. With the corn on the cob and the taboulli salad it again had little flavor.

This wine I think would be good for someone who doesn't really like wine. It isn't offensive in anyway, but it doesn't really wow you. For the price, it is a terrible buy. I was disappointed at $10 for the bottle, I can't imagine paying $17 for a bottle of it. I would not suggest anybody purchase this wine, unless they are looking for something that is really mild.

This wine receive 2 grapes out of 5.

Quick Wine Tip

If you ever go away for a few weeks and when you come back your home has been inundated by little annoying fruit flies, there is a quick way to rid yourself of them. Open up and old bottle of red wine that is no longer drinkable (i.e. 2006 Beaujolais that has been stored in a non-climate controlled environment for years). Open the bottle and leave it out near the flies. The flies will go into the bottle for the wine and be unable to get out of the bottle. They will fall into the wine where they will die a drunken death. The key is not to pour the wine out of the bottle. The shape of the bottle keeps the flies from escaping.

2009 Tell Tale Stubborn Red

This review is more for me than for any readers because the wine we had last night cannot be purchased anywhere. We had the 2009 Tell Tale Stubborn Red which is 100% Gamay (aka Beaujolais). The reason this cannot be purchased anywhere is because it was made in my dinning room. This was my first attempt at home winemaking and it turned out surprisingly potable, even tasty.

The grapes used for this wine were grown in France and I bought them as concentrate. That is they were already pressed into juice and I fermented the concentrate with some added water. After drinking the bottle last night there are only 24 bottles left (if you want to buy a case just give me a call).

Well, it is obviously a red wine, however, it is a light red. We drank it chilled with some pita and spicy hummus, and some chevre and crackers. I smelled the wine and I thought I smelled banana bread, but I've been driving for 3 days, so I may have been mistaken. I took a sip and it was light with no oak flavors. This is good, since I did not oak it at all (if I had tasted oak I would've been worried). During the process of making the wine I added potassium nitrate to kill any yeast that might still be fermenting. Adding this created carbon dioxide. I stirred the wine for about 20 minutes to dissipate the CO2, however, I suppose I didn't stir it enough, so there was a touch of carbonation in the wine, which I thought gave it a little something interesting.

The wine was not overly sweet, but it wasn't dry; I would call it damp. It did not make me pucker my lips like some of those wines that taste like candy, but it wasn't difficult to drink like very oakey and dry wines. By my calculations the wine is about 13% alcohol, but doesn't have any alcohol flavors. It is surprisingly balaced. I had 4 glasses of it and didn't wake up with a headache. All of this being said, the wine is nothing spectacular. This wine will not wow you. It is a good wine for summer relaxation, but definetly not an entertaining wine (although it will be considering that I made it myself). All in all, I would say this wine could be confused with a low-medium end commercial Gamay.

This wine receives 2.75 grapes out of 5.

North Fork of Long Island Wineries

As I said in my last post, Angela and I visited a number of vineyards/wineries on the North Fork of Long Island on Tuesday (my dad came along as well, but he doesn't really drink wine, so he drove). There are somewhere in the vicinity of 40 vineyards/wineries on the North Fork, so it is obviously impossible to visit all 40. Instead, we drove out to the North Fork and stopped at 4 that happened to be opened, however, I only have notes on 3 of these because by #4 (The Lenz Winery) I wasn't so capable of keeping notes anymore. Due to the nature of having tasted around 15 wines I'm going to only touch upon each one, unless I really liked it.

So the three of us (Angela, my dad and I) jumped in the Accord and headed out on the island. After stopping for lunch just past Riverhead we received directions from a nice old man and his wife who probably had never left eastern Long Island in their lives (and also have probably never seen a dentist in their lives). We headed east on Route 25 towards Orient Point, then turned around and headed west and stopped at a number of wineries.

The first one we stopped at was Corey Creek Vineyards (which is owned and operated in conjunction with Bedell Vineyards, which is one of the more famous Long Island vineyards). Corey Creek was ridiculously overpriced. Their wines were all $30+ and frankly were not worth the price. The 2007 Gerwurztraminer was decent. It was a dry Gerwurtz but frankly lacked a strong flavor. The flavor it had was decent, but there just wasn't much of it. I liked the 2007 Taste White, however, it smelled terrible. Once I got past the smell I liked the wine, but not at the high price. The 2007 Reserve Chardonnay was a pretty good Chard. It had a light oak flavor and was quite smooth, but again, the price was exorbitant for the wine. The 2007 Taste Red was the best wine Corey Creek/Bedell had to offer. It was a medium bodied red with a light oak flavor. It had a nice tart tasting finish, but not worth the close to $40 price tag. The final wine we had at Corey Creek was the 2007 Reserve Merlot. I normally don't like merlot but this one was pretty good. It was not a very oakey merlot but had a bit of a smokey taste. Apparently, this wine can be aged up to 10 years, or so the winemaker says. Although this wine was tasty, it was severly overpriced. All in all, Corey Creek had some decent wines, but they certainly did not warrant the hefty price tag. I also might add the tasting room was quite nice, but almost sterile. It had a very corporate feel.

We went on our way without any wines from Corey Creek and stopped at Duck Walk Vineyards North. Duck Walk was originally on the South Fork but has since opened a vineyard and tasting room on the North Fork. We walked into an enormous tasting room that felt a little uninviting. However, we walked up to the tasting bar our pourer (Daria) was talking to another guest about bachelorette parties that come in and how they trash the women's restroom. This was just a sample of the friendly feel we got at Duck Walk.

At Duck Walk we tasted 8 different wines, beginning with the 2007 Chardonnay. This wine was a decent chard, but nothing special. The 2008 Chardonnay Reserve was delicious and we actually bought a bottle of this for both Angela and I, and my parents. It was a smooth and fruity chard that I would have no problem serving to friends and family. I don't know if had been oaked at all, but there was little to no oakey flavor. This was a fantastic chardonnay. In fact, I might say it's the best chardonnay I've had in about a year.

The 2008 Duck Walk Chardonnay Reserve gets 4 grapes out of 5.

Other wines at Duck Walk were 2007 Pinot Grigio, which was a decent white with a clean finish, however, it lack a bold flavor. Further, I thought it smelled kind of funny. The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from Duck Walk was not as good as the pinot grigio. It smelled better, however, it had a sour finish.

I tried 3 reds at Duck Walk, the first of which was a 2007 Pinot Meunier. I had never head of this varietal before, and I will probably not seek it out ever again. It smelled like dog food to me, which should have been my first indication that it might not be good. It tasted terrible. It had an extremely oakey flavor. It had an almost bitter finish. I would not recommend this for anyone ever. The 2007 Duck Walk Cabernet Sauvignon was fantastic. It had a strong and tangy flavor that would have gone well with any red meat. If I were having a big juicy steak, this is a wine I would like to drink. The Duck Walk Windmill Red was a red blend that was quite tasty. It was dry and had no oak flavor. I finished at this vineyard with the 2007 Blueberry Port. This was incredibly alcoholic and sweet. I usually like ports and dessert wines, but this one was not a favorite. It would describe it as mediocre. It was almost too alcoholic and the blueberry flavor was overwhelming.

From Duck Walk we went to Raphael, which might be the most gorgeous tasting room I've ever seen. It is built in the style of an Italian villa and was gorgeous. The tasting fees at this vineyard were ridiculous. It was at least $2 a taste, however, the price was worth it. We started with the 2008 Raphael Rose of Merlot, which was the best wine we tasted all day. We drank it chilled, and on a warm day on Long Island, it was fantastic. It was crisp, refreshing and light but not sweet like many roses. This was the best rose I've ever had, even better than the Canard. I think it is perfect if you are looking for a light and refreshing summer wine.

The 2008 Raphael Rose of Merlot receives 4.1 grapes out of 5.

We also tasted the 2008 First Label Sauvignon Blanc from Raphael. This was supposedly the best Sauv Blanc Raphael has, however, it was the one I liked the least of not only Sauv Blanc but also my least favorite wine of Raphael's. It was light and tangy; it even had some fruity flavors. was just a bit too sweet for me. In terms of Sauv Blanc, I prefered the 2009 Grand Cru, which the woman working at Raphael said was the lesser of the two (but she was snooty). The Grand Cru I thought simply had more flavor than First Label. The flavors were similar, but the Grand Cru just had more flavor. The Grand Cru was citrusy and delicious. I don't know what food it would taste good with, but it would be a nice sitting on the front porch drink.

We finished with Raphael's 2007 La Tavola. This was a red blend. I wanted to taste this because it had a good portion of malbec in it, and I love malbecs. This was a fantastic wine with a strong oakey flavor (i.e. full bodied). It smelled and almost tasted smokey. I think it would be awesome with some BBQ. It was a smooth wine that went down easily, however, there was a bit of a bite at the end. This being said, it was a great wine and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good red wine.

The 2007 Raphael La Tavola receives 4 grapes out of 5.

As an aside, I might add that my father was wondering why Raphael, which is owned and run by the Petrocelli family and housed in a recreation of an Italian villa does not make more Italian style wines. I guess he wanted a chianti or something.

Well, that being said, Angela and I leave for Denton tomorrow, we should arrive in a few days, but there probably won't be any posts for a while. Next stop, Staunton, VA.

2008 Paso a Paso Verdejo

Not many people are familiar with Verdejo, and I must confess this is my first time ever drinking a Verdejo. According to Wikipedia, Verdejo is a white Spanish wine from the Rueda region, you can read more here. I bought this bottle for $10.99 at Bargain Liquors in Rockville Centre, New York. I figured this was going to be a good wine, for a few reasons, 1) it's from Spain, 2) it cost more than $9 (that's generally my cutoff), and 3) it was purchased in a town where they misspell center to be a bit snooty.

Angela allowed me to pick this out all on my own, and that was, in my view, a mistake. This wine was in my opinion a subpar wine. I drank the wine with my mother's homemade pasta sauce (there was also pasta, it wasn't just the sauce). Her sauce is far from those super sweet store bought jarred sauces, it is almost tangy, and delicious (Angela felt the need to comment how I haven't exactly mastered that sauce yet). Well, I took my first sip and I was immediately pleased, however, that happiness dissapated as I swallowed. It was kind of harsh and I could really taste the alcohol. It wasn't dry, it wasn't sweet, it didn't have oak flavors, it was just kind of rough. I personally do not like my wines to taste like vodka.

I thought that maybe it was just interacting with the sauce poorly. So I got a glass of water (or rather Angela got it for me), and I took a big gulp, and took another swig of wine. It was just as harsh that time. I decided I was done with this wine. Dejected I switched to water only. Oh well, you live and learn.

All in all, I probably would not recommend this wine to many people. However, it may just be young. If I were going to drink this again, I would let it sit for probably another year or so, no more than that, as it has a synthetic cork. All in all, if you like wines that have a bit of a bite you might enjoy this one because the first flavors are delicious.

This wine receive 1 grape out of 5.