Awesome label and it's actually a good wine

Usually I'm scared off by labels that are flashy and cool but this wine was given to my manager as a blind taste and he thought it was a much higher end wine than it's actually classified as so I decided to give it a shot. After giving it a try, I have to agree! Even if you never try this wine, and you really souled since it's $15, check out this winery's website. It ROCKS! The wine is made by 2 girls out in California and what I love most about their philosophy towards wine is that it's best enjoyed when the pretentiousness is taken out of the mix. This allows them to make something fun and adventurous and when you consider that in this bottle you can find a mix of 5 grapes, one of which I've never even heard of before, fun and adventurous is definitely what you get.

This red wine has a very bright, dark, purplish but mostly brick red complexion. At first sniff, I found that the dark Merlot fruits had a dominant role to play in this blend of Petit Sirah, Zinfandel, Merlot, Tempranillo and Alicante Bouschet, a unique and increasingly rare grape variety that has Grenache as one of it's parents. On the nose I got a lot of berries, both black and red and also some blueberries thrown in the mix. I also smelled and tasted grape and to be honest, despite the fact that wine is made from grapes, I've never gotten grapes out of red wine. There's really a lot going on in this glass. Some chocolate powder, some pepper which is classic of Californian wine, especially Zinfandel's, some cedar-like woody smells. The layers just keep going. On the palate, this wine is berry filled and grapey, with chocolate making a proud showing. The tannins are a little rough around the edges at first but tone down with air and food. It has a medium mouthfeel that picks up around the finish and isn't as jammy as most Californian basic reds. Definitely a unique blend that changes and evolves in the glass giving the observant drinker a party for the senses. Overall, it has great fruit, great complexity, nice finish, balanced acidity and is well worth every penny of the $15 I paid for it. Something I will start recommending as an entry level Cali red.

I'll hobnob this wine anyday!

From Dictionary.com: hobnob\HAHB-nahb\ , intransitive verb;
1.To associate familiarly

And this Pinot Noir presents itself with familiarity right from the start. With it's bright brick red colour and clean, black cherry, red fruit and cedar nose and onto a red fruit filled palate it's elegance and charm makes you want to be friends with this wine from the very first sip. It's tannins are strong enough to hold up to many foods but it is so well integrated into the wine that it has the potential for great gastronomic versatility. It went surprisingly well with my avocado, jalapeno and Monterrey jack omelet sandwich. It had a lot more fresh fruit than what I'd have generally expected from something coming out of southern France but I'm really happy about that. It also opens up to more really nice red fruits if given a few extra minutes. The only thing that was a little disappointing in this wine was the first part of the mouthfeel that was almost watery. The wine picked up near the middle and finished off very nicely but just that first moment when it hit the tongue lacked a bit of weight. With food however, or even after the first few sips, this feeling starts to fade and this wine becomes an easy drinking, Sunday afternoon pleasure wine.

Light, easy drinking, versatile, elegant and under $20 bucks. Definitely a wine to go on the do not forget about me list.

Southern France has been coming out with some really great stuff over the past little while, partly due to a huge market, in France and world wide, for French wines that are more than your basic table wines and partly due to lots of investments and improvements in the wine making of the area. This wine promotes itself as a Vin de Pays d'Oc which means that it's slightly above the most basic of French wines (the table wine) and is therefore allowed to mark down the grape varieties in the bottle. Pinot Noir in this case. This region encompasses a good chunk of southern France around the Mediterranean coast from just west of Marseille through to to the Spanish border. The grapes can essentially come from anywhere in this area and what probably happened with this wine is that someone bought a bunch of grapes or grape juice and bottled it under their name, so really as a consumer we don't know exactly where the grapes came from in this vast area. However the juice got in the bottle, something right was done and we ended up with a product that I'd most definitely recommend and drink again.

$17 at a BC Liquor Store near you and $19.35 at my store if you feel like coming to visit! Worth checking out for your next dinner party or your next regular ol' get together.

Alright, I just pulled out all the wines that are backlogged that I want to try for my blog. Most of them are from the store I work at but some of them are not. Most importantly, they are all under $20.
I now have 15 bottles sitting in front of me and I must admit that the task of trying to decide which to taste and review first is a bit overwhelming. Therefore, I’m putting it to a poll. I’ll list the wines and trust you guys to tell me which you’re most interested in and I’ll go from there.

RED:
California;
Bear Flag Red Wine Blend #1, Moedesto California, 13% abv, Petit Sirah, Zinfandel, Alicante Bouschet, Merlot, Tempranillo blend, crazy art, super funky label, $14.75 Village wine store in Park Royal, $12.99 BC liquor stores

South America;
Cono Sur Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere blend 2008, 13.5% abv, Valle de Colchagua Chile, organically grown grapes and carbon neutral delivery, $17.05 Village Wine store in Park Royal, $14.99 BC Liquor Stores

Las Moras Reserve 2007 Tannat, 14% abv, San Juan Argentina, cool grape variety that I’ve never tried before :D, $17.?? Village Wine Store in Park Royal, $14.99 BC Liquor Stores

Australia;
Shot in the Dark Shiraz/Petite Sirah 2008, 14.5% abv, very generic but I’ve heard good things about it from knowledgeable people who had it stuck in a blind tasting. $15.85 Village Wine Store in Park Royal, $12.99 BC Liquor Stores,

Rolling 2008 Shiraz, 14% abv, Central Ranges Australia, whole bunch of awards given for this wine, $18.25 Village Wine Store in Park Royal

South Africa;
The Wolftrap Boekenhoutskloof 2008 Syrah (68%) Mourvedre (30%) Viognier (2%), 13.8% abv, Western Cape South Africa, Came recommended by a colleague, $17.?? Village Wine Store in Park Royal, $14.99 BC Liquor Stores, $13.95 LCBO

France;
Hob Nob 2008 Pinot Noir, 13% abv, Vin de Pays d’Oc Southern France, I got it because in class this week we’re studying southern France and I thought it would be good to give a wine from that region a go before going into class. $19.35 Village Wine Store in Park Royal, $16.99 (2007) BC Liquor Stores,

Domaine de La Renaudie 2008, Touraine AOC Loire Valley France, Could be a variety of grape varieties but probably Cabernet Franc based, 12% abv, $19.00 Marquis Wine Cellars

Mouton Cadet 2007 Bordeaux, 12.5% abv, as basic as they get for Bordeaux and a very unpretentious wine. I’ve had the 2005 and 2006 vintages and have enjoyed them. They are associated with the wine making empire of Baron Philippe de Rothschild and so will always guarantee a minimum of quality. Cabernet Sauvignon/ Merlot blend, $14.95 BC Liquor Stores, $14.25 LCBO

Italy;
Ricossa Antica Casa Barbera D’Asti DOC 2006, Piedmonte Italy, 13.5% abv, Barbera is the grape variety, Piedmonte wines are just magical in general which is why I’m excited for this wine, $18.20 Village Wine Store in Park Royal, $15.98 (05/06) BC Liquor Stores

Spain;
Trio 2004 Syrah-Tempranillo-Cabernet, 13.5% abv, one of the most popular wines in the stores so I figured there’s got to be some reason why people keep going back to it so I might as well give it a try. $13.65 Village Wine Store in Park Royal,

WHITES:
Italy;
Villa Chiopris Pinot Grigio 2008, Fruili DOC Italy, 12.5% abv, I’ve only ever had a sip of this wine and I thought it was way more expensive than it actually is so I want to explore it a bit more. $19.35 Village Wine Store in Park Royal, $18.95 LCBO

Portugal;
Sogrape Gazela 2009 Vinho Verde DOC, 9% abv, Neutral wine, great for summer, definitely a wine to be drunk on a sunny day. Super light and neutral, $12.50 Village Wine Store in Park Royal, $9.99 BC Liquor Stores, $8.95 LCBO

ROSE;
South America;
Pascual Toso 2009 Malbec Rose, Mendoza Argentina, 13% abv, I’m fascinated by the idea of making a rose out of malbec. I’m surprised by the high alcohol volume but hopefully this wine will turn out ok. $16.00 Village Wine Store in Park Royal, $13.99 BC Liquor Stores, 11.95 LCBO

OTHER;
South America;
Sua Lemon Sparkling Wine with natural Lemon pulp, 10.5% abv, sounds just fantastic. Who wouldn’t want to try this with summer coming up? $16.95 Village Liquor Store at Park Royal,

The simple joys of the Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine

Clocking in at $20 exactly, this wine is worth every penny, and maybe even more. All I have to say about this wine is that it is absolutely fantastic. Of course, with my tastes, it has that hint of eccentricity and one or two unique flavours that make it a rather obscure wine in most North American wine stores, but it can be found for those willing to seek it out.
The wine I'm here to tell you about today is another Loire Valley wine, but from the region just to the west of Tourraine where that Gamay from my last post was from. This wine is from the Nantais and carries the appellation name of Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine. Wines from this area must be made from 100% Melon de Bourgogne grapes and a common trend is for wine makers to employ lees stirring as a technique. This is essentially the process of aging the wine for a period of time of the deposits of dead or residual yeast cells and tends to add an extra layer of complexity to the wine as well as notes of bread and baked goods.
Domaine Pierre de la Grange, also sometimes referred to as Domaine Pierre Luneau-Papin is widely recognized as a wine that provides excellent value for money. It is also on the list of wines imported by Louis/Dressner in the US, an importer who tends to bring over a lot of wines that appeal to my palate.
At 12%abv, it's not a heavily alcoholic wine but makes up it's body with what I feel are the flavours imparted by the lees stirring. It is a pale wine with notes of Baked bread, red apple/orchid fruits, stony and mineral with some white blossoms coming through. This wine kind of made me picture freshly baked apple pie. On the palate, it was pretty much the same as the nose. I felt that the lees added a nice bready complexity to the wine and also added some roundness and richness. I thought there might have been a hint of oak but I might have been confusing that with the yeast flavours. It turns out that there was some old wood aging which explains why it was such a background flavour and so well integrated. The finish was nice and long and I would have happily followed this bottle up with another of the same a few times over. A great wine and especially with summer coming around, a wine worth trying while enjoying the sunshine, the beach and the ocean.
Can't wait for the next bottle!!