2009 Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rose

Taste: 4/5

Value: 5/5

Price: $10

I had the opportunity to try this wine at the Cincinnati International Wine Festival last month and was intrigued by a rose made from Cabernet grapes from South Africa. Rose is not my favorite wine, but this was a pleasant surprise that I would definitely keep on hand. A very fruit forward wine with strawberry, red cherry and raspberry. Quite zippy and nicely balanced.

2007 Bogle Petite Sirah

Taste: 5/5

Value: 5/5

Price: $12

WINEMAKER NOTES
Thirty-one years after it was first produced by the Bogle family in 1978, Petite Sirah is today considered Bogle’s “heritage” varietal. Ripe summer blackberries and plums overwhelm both the nose and palate of this wine. Its trademark inky, jammy qualities are a barrage of black fruit and spice, adding layer upon layer of complexity. Notes of supple leather and toasty oak envelop the flavors through the finish, giving way to wisps of caramel and vanilla.

All I can add is berry, jammy, spicey...yummy!

2007 Roogle Red

Taste: 2/5

Value: 4/5

Price: $12-$13

2007 Roogle Red is an Australian blend of 50% Shiraz, 30% Cabernet, 10% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot and is aged in seasoned French and American oak for 12 months. Marquis Philips wines began as a joint venture between American importer Dan Philips and the Australian wife-and-husband winemaking team of Sarah and Sparky Marquis, giving inspiration to the roogle mark. Roogle Red came about a few years into the venture when a decision had to be made on what should be done with the wines that didn't fit into the blend for the winery's more upmarket wines. Each year the blend varies according to what wines are available. If all the wine is used for the first-tier bottlings then no Roogle Red is made that year. The label bears a picture of a cross between an American Bald Eagle and an Australian Red Kangaroo. Winemaker notes: Deep crimson. Fresh fruit of plums and ripe red berries. Some savory notes balanced by licorice and marzipan, subtle tobacco leaf and brambly characters. My take, despite a 90 point rating from Robert Parker, I found this wine overpowering, with unripe almost bitter fruit and nothing overly fantastic to rave about. Maybe it's the licorice, or perhaps the marzipan, the Petite Verdot which tends to tighten up a wine, or even the American oak. All I know is my opinion is starkly different than many others' of this wine (and it couldn't have been corked, because it was a screw top).

2007 Rosenblum Cellars Roussanne

Taste: 5/5
Value: 5/5
Price: lists for $24 (although I found it on sale for ~$15)

From the Rosenblum website: "The Roussanne grape produces a wine with vibrant aromatics of a tropical fruit cocktail and a floral arrangement of hibiscus and orange blossom. The grape originates in both the Northern and Southern Rhône Valley, where scant acreage of the grape is planted. This delicious Roussanne features ripe pears, essences of stone fruit and a hint of honeyed mango and papaya." A delicious wine that reminds me of a cross between Off Dry Reisling and Sauvignon Blanc. I would characterize it as big for a white, but very well-balanced with a bit of crisp acid freshening its lingering fruity finish. I would definitely buy more if I can find it for ~$15 again!

2008 Piazzano Chianti

Taste: 4/5

Value: 4/5

Price: $14.99

A blend of 80% Sangiovese, 10% Canaiolo and 10% other red varietals from Tuscany. This wine is bright ruby with hints of wood fruits and distinctive cherry overtones. Full bodied, smooth and just enough tannin to give good structure. A very nice pairing for red sauce Italian that I would recommend and buy again.

2006 Scandale

Taste: 5/5

Value: N/A

Price: $50

For Christmas, my sister gave me a very unique present. She adopted a grapevine from St Helena Winery in Napa Valley. With that adoption, comes a certificate of adoption and two bottles of wine made from this and sister vines. It is a very limited production (156 cases) and the only way to get the wine is to adopt a vine. I planned to (and did) open one bottle for my birthday, and it was fabulous!

History of the name:
The 2000 vintage was our first professional venture into winemaking and we wanted to share our creation with our friends and family back in France. During our 2001 New Years Eve Party we thought it would be fun to put our wine against some well known Bordeaux wines in a blind tasting which included a 1997 Haut Brion. An overwhelming majority of our close friends and family picked our wine over the French wines. This will forever be known as the Scandal or Scandale.

This wine delivers dark garnet/blackberry color, ripe blackberry, earth and dark chocolate aromas; velvety full mouth-feel, brambly fruit notes, currant liqueur; concentrated and structured, medium-fine grain tannins with a very long finish.

2008 Novellum Chardonnay

Taste: 3/5

Value: 3/5

Price: $12.99

This is my second bottle from my wine club gift from my wonderful husband (which he extended for my birthday). This was better the first day, but lost quite a bit by the second, which is the reason for the moderate rating. The wine comes from the Lafage Estate in the Languedoc-Roussillon region (the largest wine growing region in the world) on the appellation vin de Pays de Cotes Catalanes. The vines that produce this wine are 30 years old, growing in deep, rocky soil. Thirty percent of the grapes are barrel fermented with the balance in stainless steel; the aged 3 months on viognier lees.

89 points wine advocate..."The 2007 Novellum Chardonnay (already reviewed in issue 178) – from two sites with cobbled and alluvial soils, and 30% barrel-fermented – boasts subtle and alluring aromas of white peach, toasted almond, hazelnut, flowers and fine herbs. In the mouth, it offers an uncanny balance of lees-enriched creaminess with lightness of touch and refreshment. (The lees here included those of Viognier.) This lingers with a refinement and suggestions of minerality that many a Macon selling for up to twice the price would envy." Reading this, seems like I should like it more than I did!