Top 10 wines tasted in 2010

1) 2003 Rutherford Hill Cabernet Sauvignon

2) Le Lapin Ingenuity White

3) Bogle Petite Sirah

4) 2009 Matua Sauvignon Blanc

5) Tarrica Zinfandel

6) Mercer Riesling

7) Rosenblum Cellars Roussanne

8) Bitch (Garnacha)

9) 2008 Palo Alto Reserve

10) Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rose

2007 Mercer Riesling

Taste:5/5

Value: 5/5

Price: $13

Mercer Estates is a family-owned Washington State winery and a partnership of the Mercer and Hogue families. Despite the description below, I found the finish to be off-dry. Can't wait to try it again with Asian food!

"Riesling grapes grown in the Washington State's cooler Yakima Valley appellation produce a brisk, tangy and refreshing wine. Flavors and aromas of apricot, peach and tangerine along with the bracing acidity of the Mercer Estates Riesling reflect the unique character of Washington State Riesling. With little less than a percent and a half of residual sugar this Riesling is a bit dryer than many Rieslings and lends itself quite well to food pairings." -David Forsyth, winemaker

Wine Spectator: 88 points

Wine Advocate: 87 points

2009 Tamaya Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva

Taste: 4/5

Value: 5/5

Price: $10

A $10 Cab? Really! Apparently great values really do come out of Chile, Limari Valley to be exact. Located at the foothills of the Andes mountains and adjacent to the most arid desert in the world, the Atacama, with cooling fog from the Pacific.

A bouquet of red ripe fruits, dried herbs and fine spicy oak, this wine is juicy with a lot of texture, and the mouth is firm and powerful. Other varietals from this vineyard include: Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Merot, Carmenere, Syrah and Sangiovese.

2009 Escarpmant Vineyards Over the Edge Pinot Noir

Taste: 3/5

Value: 3/5

Price: $15

I am probably the most picky about Pinot's as many of them fall flat on my palate and gravitate towards the more cherry berry. This selection from Martinborough, New Zeland, is 70% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Gris, 5% Riesling, and 5% Pinot Blanc. This wine was far from flat, with an earthy, spicy nose and a darker fruit palate, with a full bodied mouthfeel.

2008 Il Cuore Chardonnay

Taste: 4/5

Value: 5/5

Price: $10

This wine's motto is "less oak, more fruit" and it shows. My first thoughts were bright, crisp, apple and pear and enough acidity to stand up to a rich dish. It reminds me of a chardonnay/sauvignon blanc blend, but is actually a 91% chardonnay/9% viognier blend. The viognier enhance the tropical fruit aromas and adds flavor complexity on the palate.

Il Cuore is a North Coast CA vineyard (Mendocino County), where they have complex soils, warm daytime temperature and cool nights. I completely agree with their philosophy that "one shouldn't have to pay special occasion price to get a bottle of well made, interesting wine".

2008 Pagos del Moncayo

Taste: 3/5

Value: 3/5

Price: $15

With a 90 point rating from Wine Advocate, I really wanted to like this wine more than I did. A blend of 65% Grenache/35% Syrah, I expected a softer, fruitier wine. What I experienced was an initial worry that the bottle was skunked. With statistics like 1:10 bottles being at risk for this, it is entirely possible, but then I didn't get the same mustiness from the wine that I got from the cork. Then again, for being briefly oaked it sure had quite a bit of oakiness to me.

Bodegas Pagos del Moncayo is a Spanish winery, that carries out the entire winemaking process by hand, to ensure the final wines will express their true terrior. Robert Parker labels it a great value for drinking over the next 5-6 years, so perhaps I will need to rebuy this and give it another try.

2007 Sequoia Grove Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Taste: 4/5

Value: 4/5

Price: $30

This wine retails for $35, but with my frequent buyer discount I was able to obtain for $30, which gives it a leg up in the value category! So, this is the first "splurge" wine that I purchased from my recent sister's trip to Napa the end of September. Sequoia Grove was one of our favorites, largely because we liked all of the wines and also because of the special added touch of the tasting room hostess. We were her only customers at the time, and realizing that we both had a deep appreciation of the nuances of wine, she pulled out her sensory evaluation kit and let us guess a few scents. The funny thing was, her scents had been replaced in the wrong spot in the case so when we both correctly identified the scent, she kept telling us it was something else. We persisted and she figured out the error! Back to the wine...while I did buy two other bottles there, I waited to buy the Cab at home since it is widely distributed. The 2007 was just being released, so it's possible that we tasted the 2006 at the winery, but I remembered it being better at the winery. I give points for its richness, balance and soft tannins, but if I'm going to spend $30 for a Cab, I'd buy Mount Veeder for about the same price.