Pride

2004 Pride Merlot
Shane’s Notes
$56.00

Pride has been on our “must try” list for quite awhile. Now we can say we have had one, and we can also say that we are not fans of the Pride style. The palate was dominated by massive flavors of vanilla and chocolate with maybe, just maybe, some berry flavor underneath. The wine was very well balanced but we need more than vanilla and chocolate in our wine to keep us interested. It tasted more like a candied beverage than like a fine wine. Our guess is that there is simply too much new oak for our palates.

Watery Gigondas

2003 Domaine du Cayron, Gigondas
Shane’s Notes
$20.00

I took one sip of this and thought “what the hell?” Giggy’s are usually overflowing with flavor but this one was watery. I suppose the palate showed some cranberry and herbs buy you really had to concentrate to find these (or any) flavors. The finish was mercifully short. Either the bottle was ruined or this was simply a lousy Giggy.

A Rousanne by any other Name...

2005 Bergeron, Tablas Creek
Shane’s Notes
$21.60

The palate was subtle and showed floral notes, lychee and a hint tangerine on the finish. We did enjoy it but it’s not quite worth the price. The texture of the wine seemed too heavy.

Gunderloch

Gunderloch 2004 Nackenheim Rothenberg Spatlese
Shane’s Notes
$28

The palate showed pear syrup and the finish was short and stony. We enjoyed it but it is definitely overpriced. The palate was too simplistic for this producer and price range.

Sherry

East India Sherry, Lustau
Jen’s Notes
$21

This sherry is both elegant and delicious, balancing concentration and sweetness against a sort of toasty bitterness. This is probably due to the careful blending of Oloroso and PX wines in this particular Sherry. It was raisiny and just gently sweet, with a slight tang and bitter note on the finish.

Lime and Pineapple

2004 Chablis, Domaine de Vaudon, Joseph Drouhin
Jen’s Notes
$25

Continuing the trend of perky and interesting whites, we have this excellent Chablis that suits both the palate and the wallet very nicely. The aromas were quite complex, including mineral, nectarine, vanilla and citrus. On the palate, it was minerally and concentrated, with lime and pineapple flavors. The characteristic flintiness of Chablis is evident just before the finish.

It's all Greek to Me

2005 Roditis, Lafazanis Estate, Peleponnese, Greece
11.99
Jen’s Notes

I tasted this one blind, Shane being understandably cautious about just handing me a Greek wine. With its pretty straw color and herbal nose, however, I figured early on that we were in for a treat. It wasn't a subtle or complex wine; instead it was full of concentrated and juicy peach flavors with a slight creaminess underneath. A dash of woody spices and a medium length finished wrapped things up nicely. The evolution in the glass from a very racy/zesty and slightly closed wine into this gorgeous fruit bomb told me it was a very well-made wine indeed. Naturally, I found it so good I suspected it must be French.

My gut feeling was that it was a Chenin Blanc, but part of me thought Shane would get a QPR viognier, knowing my love for the ethereal and spendy Condrieu. I pegged it at about $12-$16.

Discordant Spices

2003 Buehler Zinfandel
Shane’s Notes
$11.99

We did not enjoy this wine. The palate up front tastes like sweet cherry/raspberry cough syrup and the finish floods the palate with discordant spices. We suspect this one was over oaked.

Tenth Top Twelve

Here’s our tenth top twelve list. A quick review of the rules that we follow: we choose 4 wines in the under $15 category, 4 in the $15 - $30 category and four in the over $30 category. Also, a winery can only appear once on the list.

If you are faithful reader of our blog, the only surprise on this list is the HDV. We tend to be a little skeptical of the high priced Napa Cabs but the HDV is very distinctive. It is better than many Napa Cabs we have tasted at two to four times the price.

$5.99, 2005 Rose, Monkey Bay, New Zealand
7/5/07, The Monkey is Back

$6.99, 2004 Artazuri, Artazu, Navarra
6/29/07, Laundry Night

$12.99, Chateau de Segries, 2006 Rosé, Tavel
7/5/07, Terrific Tavel

$14.99, Kim Crawford, 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, NZ
5/8/07, Crazy Crawford

$15.00, 2003 Dr. Loosen, Erdener Treppchen, Spatlese, Mosel
7/27/07, Tangerine and Nectarine

$16, 2005 A to Z Pinot, Oregon
6/8/07, A Restrained New World Pinot

$19.99, 2005 Price Family Zin, Dry Creek, David Coffaro
6/22/07, Coffaro at Armadillo Willy’s

$22, Ariston Fils NV Champagne (Brouillet), Brut Carte Blanche
6/8/07, Amazing Ariston

$36.99, 2005 Nickel and Nickel Searby Chardonnay, Russian River Valley
5/22/07, A Zesty Chardonnay

$55, 2003 Hyde de Villaine “HdV” Napa Red, Carneros
7/2/07, A Classic Carneros Red

$120, 1977 Dow Vintage Port.
8/14/07, Another Great Vintage Port

?, 2004 Grans-Fassian Leiwaner Eiswein Goldkapsel
6/8/07, Simply Dee Vine