Emblem Cabernet

My cousin brought this to my parents. It was excellent.

Emblem Oso Vineyard - 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley

Looks like it is a $40 bottle.

Sparkling Shiraz

Friends brought this over, so I don't know how much it is. Very different, pretty darn good.

Majella Sparkling Shiraz
2005 Coonawarra (Australia)

Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards Sweet Red Cat

Big fan of this super sweet Rose from New York. Great summer wine served chilled. Very easy to drink the whole bottle in one sitting, or a 1.5L if it is the 4th of July weekend. Rating: 4/4.

Acacia Red Blend

Pretty darn good. Worth getting again.

Angeline

I tried their Cab and their Pinot. Both decent, but Cab was better.

Daglia Canyon Cab 2006

Daglia Canyon 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
I think I need a new rating scale.
0 - don't drink, even if you don't buy it. Don't bother.
1 - drink it, as long as you don't pay for it. Drinkable.
3 - drink it, but don't go out of your way. Worth having again.
4 - Gotta find some, it is good. A favorite.

I give this a 3. I would have another bottle. A little chewy, a little dry.

Another Oregon Pinot

This one, like more Oregon Pinots, is just under $20, not $10. OFV, which stands for Olsen Family Vineyards. It is a 2007, and I am starting to wonder if that is a bad year for Oregon Pinots. The Knights Ridge I tried before was a 2007. Again, a little too tart and not much to it.

Oregon Pinots

I have really enjoyed Oregon Pinot Noirs lately. A to Z and Bridgeview are great. So I tried one called Belle Vallee Whole Cluster. It is $18 at Total Wine. The bottle I first bought turned out to be bad because the seal and screwtop were not right. Luckily Total Wine has a great return policy, so I got a new bottle. Had the new bottle tonight, and was not impressed. Very young, tart, nothing to it. Pass on this one.

Knights Ridge Pinot Noir

2006 Knights Ridge Pinot Noir - Oregon

Knights Ridge is a fictional Massachusetts town in Beautiful Girls and October Road, but here it is an Oregon Pinot Noir. Not as good as a few others I have had lately from Oregon. I would pass on this one that I found at Trader Joes and go with A to Z or one I had at Ruth's Chris St. Louis that I can't remember right now.

Bad Pinot Noir

Masion Nicolas Reserve 2006 Pinot Noir

Very bitter. Seems young I guess. Avoid.

Much better Pinots out there.

Great Italian Red

Saladini Pilastri, 2006 Rosso Piceno.
$9.99 at Total Beverage

What a great value red.

One to Pass On

Five Rivers Cabernet 2005 Paso Robles

Hardly any bouquet. Just wasn't up to par.

A pricier selection

Doing a work meeting, I had the opportunity to order some really nice wine.

2002 Atalon Cabernet - Napa Valley

Online, I have found it as cheap as $30, but at the restaurant, it was like $80.

Super smooth, no bite. Excellent.

Another good shiraz

Tyrrell's Wines - Shriaz 2005
$9.99 at Total wine
Perfect balance of fruit and spice

Good Rosso

I am partial to Italian reds, and this one is no different.

Colonnara Rosso Piceno Lyricus. I can't remember if it was an '03 or '05. The 2005 vintage got 87 points from Wine Advocate.

Overall good value. Very drinkable. Can see it being very good if decanted.

Only $9.99.

Little Penguin Pinot Noir

I tried this cheap guy and will pass. Just grape juice. Nothing to it. I am tending to prefer Shiraz these days. This just pushes me toward it even more.

At a restaurant the other day, I had a glass of Green Point Shiraz from Australia. It was really pretty good. It looks like the bottle price is just under $20.

Spanish Wine

I keep hearing about good Spanish wines, but haven't really tried any. I limped in with this one:

2004 Osborne Solaz Shiraz/Tempranillo

It is a 50/50 blend. Not much aroma for this dark wine. Not a lot of fruit flavor. Spicy ending. The strangest part is that the flavor disappears quickly, but still feels wet on the tongue. I can't call it dry.

Not bad, but would rather have an Aussie Shiraz. I will try another Spanish one soon. Any suggestions for an Under10?

Virginia Wine

The wife and I went to a few Leesburg area wineries in December. I picked up my favorite red out of the bunch. Virginia doesn't really produce solid reds, I must admit. On the white side, they have a number of decent ones.

Windham Winery Cabernet Franc 2004

At the winery, I really enjoyed it. When I opened this bottle, there was a lot of sediment. I wasn't as big a fan. After a few days now, it is a little better. I think this one just needs lots of time to breathe. Having it with some chocolate is recommended.

Overall, decent, but spend your money on something else. Like their Doukenie White.

Great website

I am now posting for www.winelog.net. I found the site because I was looking for another place to keep track of my wines and maybe find other recommendations at the same time. This is a great site for all that. Plus, there are several others like me writing helpful articles.

Sign up and add me as a friend. My screen name is CardCat.

Notes from our holiday party

At our work holiday party, I was in charge of buying wine from a variety of countries. A fun task to say the least. Trying to be a good corporate citizen, I tried to spend less than $10 per bottle and try some new wines at the same time. Only 1 stood out that I would want again:

Twin Wells Shiraz Reserve (Australia)

One that I bought that was gone pretty quick was a local wine I have had before.

Williamsburg (VA) Winery - Governor's White

This is an expensive, Virginia white. Sweet, fruity, easy to drink. Not to complex, but excellent wine for parties or just to sit around and drink.