1986 Philip Togni, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

The notes for this wine are almost identical to 1987. Green beans and very disappointing. Not rated.

2002, Ravens Wood, Cabernet Franc, Sonoma County

Very dark. Tight nose, with cherry and oak aromas. Big forward cherry fruit, with chocolate on the after taste, high acid, high tannins, and long fruity finish. This is a big, fruity Cabernet Franc. It has 14.8% alcohol, but does not taste overripe. My rating 87.

Two Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noirs

Garys’ Vineyard is a famous California Pinot Noirs vineyard, and many wineries make Pinot Noir from there. I happened to purchase two 2002 Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noirs from different wineries, and decided to taste them together.

2002 Savannah Chanelle, Pinot Noir, Garys’ Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands
Medium dark garnet. Cherry and raspberry aromas on the nose with some oak. Cherry, raspberry, spicy, high acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish with hints of tobacco. List price is $30. My rating 88.

2002 Testarossa, Pinot Noir, Garys’ Vineyard
Medium dark garnet. Raspberry aromas on the nose. Raspberry, cherry, spicy fruit flavors, with high acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. List price $47. My rating 90.

These two Pinot Noir’s are both very good wines, but the Testarossa Garrys’ seemed to be a bit bigger wine all around.

2001 Silverado Vineyards, Sangiovese, Napa Valley

Medium dark. Raspberry aromas. Bright raspberry, fruit, very high acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish. This was a very pleasant and easy to drink wine. List price is $18. My rating 82.

I am not a big fan of Sangiovese. This wine is 97% Sangiovese and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. I preferred the 2002 Silverado Fantasia, which is a Super Tuscan style blend, made from 55% Sangiovese, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, although that wine is much more expensive.

2003 Las Rocas de San Alejandro Garnacha, Spain

Medium garnet. Strawberry and pepper on the nose. Raspberry, strawberry and black pepper on the forward fruit, high acid, very soft tannin, long fruity finish. This is a nice, lighter style wine with a lot of intense fruit flavors which should drink well over the next few years. Good value. I think I paid about $6. My rating 83.

2000 Sebastiani, Zinfandel, Sonoma Valley, Old Vines

Dark garnet color. Open nose with intense raspberry aromas. Big forward raspberry fruit flavors, high acid, moderate soft tannins, long fruity finish with an aftertaste of chocolate. This is a big, very fruity Zinfandel that is drinking very well right now, and should hold for a number of more years. List Price $22. My rating 89.

I bought this wine on a trip to Sonoma last year. I stopped at Sebastiani with low expectations, and was very surprised at the quality of some of the wines they were offering in the tasting room. The fruit on this is ripe, without being overripe. The alcohol is 13.8%. According to the label, the grapes for this wine are mostly from the Domenici Vineyard. 1820 cases were produced.

1983 Chateau Pichon Lalande

This wine evolved in the glass during dinner. The color was medium dark and brownish around the rim. Initially the open nose had aromas of cherry, chassis and spice oak. The forward fruit had cherry, chassis, and spices, with moderate acid, very soft tannins and a long fruity finish. After some airing, it began to develop some earthy aromas and tastes of mushrooms and tobacco that added to the complexity. This wine is clearly in its prime, if it has not already started to decline. A very enjoyable, complex example of Bordeaux. My rating 94.

Inexpensive Australian Tawny Ports

I am always on the lookout for inexpensive desert wines that might be good values, so I decided to try out these two Australian Tawny Ports, since they seemed very inexpensive.

Penfolds Club Reserve, Tawny Port, South Australia, NV
Light, brownish. Open nose with aromas of honey and nuts. Flavors are honey and nuts, very sweet, soft acid, very soft tannins, log fruity finish. This is a very sweet tawny port, too sweet for my taste. It feels like honey flowing over the tongue. I would like to see more fruit flavors. Still, it is a good value, and some people may like this sweet style. Most places seem to be selling this for $9. Trader Joes had it for $7. My rating 80.

Benjamin, Tawny Port, Australia, NV
Medium dark, brownish. Open nose with aromas of dried cherry and oak. Forward fruit is of cherry, and nuts, moderate acid, soft tannins, long fruit finish. This one is not as sweet as the Penfolds and more to my liking. It comes in a funny bottle, shaped sort of like a ink well. Most places probably sell it around $10. Trader Joes had it for $8. My rating 85.

2+2 Buck Napa Creek

The Bronco Wine Company, which makes “2 buck chuck” sold in Trader Joe’s, has announced that it will begin selling Napa chardonnay and merlot under the Napa Creek label at Trader Joe’s for $3.99. This announcement follows a California state appeals court ruling that labels like “Napa Creek” can only be used on wines when 75% or more of the wine in the bottle is made from Napa grapes. When asked if this was a response to that court ruling, a Bronco spokesman would only say “It certainly sends a message that good Napa Valley wine can be produced and sold for a low price."

The article above has some quotes from two different wine industry analysts who disagree on whether Bronco can make money on Napa wines at this price. One analyst says that bulk Napa chardonnay and merlot is available at $8 to $9 per gallon. That works out to a little less than $2 per bottle Bronco will have to pay at wholesale for the bulk Napa wine. He thinks that means Bronco’s profit margins will be less than before, but it will still be making money.

The article says that the Napa Creek wines should start appearing in Trader Joe’s the middle of June.

When Trader Joe's first started selling Charles Shaw (2 buck chuck) for $1.99, it seemed pretty decent quality. I had it in some blind wine tasting with less then $20 California wines and it did pretty well. It certainly looked like an outstanding value at the price. I have tried a few bottles recently, and the quality seems to have gone down hill a lot since it was first introduced. Will have to wait and see what the quality of these Napa Creek wines is.