Buy & Drink in Bulk!

Remember my last post nearly a month ago promising many many posts in the coming days? Well I'm a damn liar and should probably be relegated to drinking nothing but malbecs. Apologies as I'm having a hard time finding an internet connection, the time to blog when i'm not pondering about my future and/or next travel plans.

So here I am the day before christmas with what looks like the last post of 2007. It's been a great year, drank a whole lot of shitty wines but luckily drank a whole lot of great wines too. Visited a bunch of wineries and talked wine with some great people (Danny, Laurie, Neel)!

With that said, drink Clos du Bois. Just the Cabernet Sauvignon. At a cool price of $8.99 at costco, I find it a nice drink to mix in with the regular rotation of players (i.e. Liberty School, 6th Sense, Twenty Bench, etc). You could probably find it for sale at Safeway or Ralph's or at the asian markets too. The wine drinks well, nothing overtly complex, slightly sweet and fruity. They say 2004 is a good year for Napa wines, it wouldn't hurt to stash a bottle away for a few more years to double your investment!

Ok, have a safe and happy holiday. Get a designated driver or crash on someone's couch. I leave you again with more promises to blog often!

Render Me Speechless

Has it really been over 2 months since the last post? Rest assured that we have been drinking it up. But before I get into anything else worth the trouble of reading, let me say that the previous post on Twenty Bench is/was pretty gay. I extend my apologies for the outcome of that particular post. As easily as deleting it would be, leaving it would be best as it gives you a pretty good idea of how unpretentious we are. There will be no posts about notes of boysenberry and asparagus and pairings with delicate French cheeses either. Now that I got that off my chest, just know that the Twenty Bench is a really solid wine. I don't know just how I can emphasize that statement. Pick one up and see for yourself.

Be ready for a barrage of posts in the next few days. Once I find a reliable internet connection for my unemployed self, it will be on.

In the meantime you can read about the wikipedia entry about the Judgement of Paris that was also mentioned in a previous blog entry concerning the movie Bottle Shock. Fairly interesting. See you in a few.

The New Everyday Wine

2005 Twenty Bench Cabernet Sauvignon
*at BevMo*
Neel: Dude, I've been looking for this wine ever since my pops mentioned it to me 2-3 years ago along with the Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon & the 6th Sense Syrah but this motherfucker has eluded me ever since.
Rich: Well if your dad mentioned it, I'm game. The other two were legit.
Neel: If this is anywhere close to the other 2, we may have another 'everyday' wine!
Rich: Let's do this.

*at Rich's*
Neel: Smells full bodied.
Rich: I'm stoked.
Neel: Pretty good but needs some air.
Rich: Word.

*minutes pass, wine decants & swirls*
Neel: Oh shit. This opened up nicely. Very nice and robust.
Rich: Oh damn. Strong.
Neel: Peppery.
Rich: Pretty damn good.
Neel: This might be another keeper.
Rich: Dude, at $15 we have another keeper and it's budget friendly.
Neel: This will mature well over the next few years. Maybe put a few away for later.
Rich: For a 2005, this wine is freaking good, just imagine in a few years.
Neel: I tried to find this when I lived in SoCal, searched the Ralph's, the Pavilion's, the BevMo's etc and no go!
Rich: We've been the that BevMo a bunch of times and this is the first time I've seen it!
Neel: Glad we finally got to try it.
Rich: It tastes like wine molecules surrounding a water molecule.
Neel: Yeah, probably just needs a little more maturity but you can drink this now!
Rich: This is good dude. Your dad came through again.

*Rich proceeds to pick up 2 more bottles, one to drink and one to put away. Neel proceeds to do the same. Within the span of 6 days, that BevMo location sold 5 bottles of the Twenty Bench*

Beaulieu Vineyards Chardonnay

Who says this blog is only for promoting good wines? The Beaulieu Vineyards Chardonnay, Carneros Napa Valley is really bad. I bought it on a whim at Costco, actually I may have been influenced by Robert Parker's Wine Spectator rating and at $13.99 was a bad choice.

The chardonnay lacked any butteryness and sweetness and tasted more along the lines of alcoholic blandness, almost salty. I was fairly disappointed.

I also tried the Heitz Cellars Chardonnay at $12.99 and it also disappointed. Tasting more like a sauvignon blanc than a chardonnay. While very crisp and sweet, it did not have have the butter that good chardonnays have. *sigh*

With summer coming to an end you can proceed with drinking reds now. Look out for more reviews of red wines forthcoming...

Bottle Shock

"I am not drinking any fucking merlot!" - Miles

For those interested, filming for Bottle Shock has already begun. Basically a movie pertaining to the birth of the wine industry in Napa and how a little ole white wine from an nondescript area north of San Francisco shocked the wine world by beating a French Wine. More information can be obtained here and here.

Chardonnay's on a hot summer day

Chardonnay's and Sauvignon Blancs

Recently, i began drinking white wines due to the hot weather, and well, cheap ass prices. (compared to Cab's) I typically drink Chards (Chardonnays) and Sauvignon Blancs. These wine provide a more lighter, sweeter, more refreshing experience to drinking wine. I would recommend that you drink one of these very cold and before a meal. There are some other white wine varieties that people drink, but I dont really drink them, so I dont have much to say about them. But to distintify these two different whites, the Chard is a more flavorful, savory and buttery taste, while the Sauvignon Blanc's are a lot sweater in taste. But be careful! Sometimes you get some that taste like cat piss. Below is a simple list of ones that I have tried and enjoyed. I will go through a more comprehensive review of some of my favorite whites at a later time. Here are some of my picks:
(prices are currnet of BevMo(if they have prices))

BV Chardonnay Carneros '04 - ~16 bucks, good stuff, very sweet
Ch Montelena Chard - any year, very pricey, but tasty
Chalone Chard - good stuff for under 20 bucks
Clou Du Bois Chard- good for under 10 (the reserve for less then 20)
Clou du Val Chard - very good, very popular wine maker, everyone knows them, but you can get better. Around 20
Cakebread- probably the best chard you can drink-if you can find it.
Far Niente Chard- one of the top chards, sooooooo good. about 50 bucks
Franciscan Chard- strudy wine for 15ish bucks
Grigich Hills Chard- very good Chard, probably one of the better wines to come from there
Groth Chard- pretty good, almost like a cab,but a white, if that makes any sense...
Kenwood- pretty good for less then 10 bucks
Sanford Chard- a good wine esp for around 15
Sonoma Cutrer - Excellent wines, probably the best bang for your buck at 25 bucks (lot of bucks though)
Pine Ridge- excellent chards as well.
ZD Chard- Pricey, but tasty

Thats a pretty good list to work off of. I dont have too much experience in white wines, but these are pretty good. So sample some new stuff and let us know what you all think. If you want a good Savignon Blanc, try any one of these brands, and they should be really good as well.

Happy tasting.

Cakebread Cellars

I went wine tasting with family during the long 4th of July Holiday week. The first winery we hit up was Cakebread Cellars, an appointment I made well in advance for my family. Located along the St. Helena Highway, it's one of the first wineries you see before being deluged with a gazillion wineries along the road.

Tastings are by appointment only, you get to keep the wine glass and at $10, must be the best value in all of the Napa Valley. The tasting lasts about 45 minutes and you'll be able to taste about 6-8 different wines. From the delicious chardonnay, the grand reserve chardonnay, the cabernet sauvignon as well as some other wines they have on hand. On this particular day, they also had a merlot, rubiayat and sauvignon blanc, all of which paled in comparison to the other 3 I mentioned earlier. The weekend we went, they had just opened up their new tasting room which allows you to sit down and casually drink and taste while the wine steward waxes poetic about tasting notes, food pairings and restaurants. The rest of the time we strolled the premises, took pictures and relaxes before driving to the next winery.

Again, I can not stree enough at how good of a value this is, we all know that wine tasting can put a pretty dent in your wallet so being able to do a tasting at a very high end winery and that allows you to keep the glass is okay in my book!

2005 Joseph Phelps Innisfree

A new wine released by the folks over at Joseph Phelps Vineyard? Say word?!?! A 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon? When I first saw it while perusing the aisles at my local Costco, I thought to myself that this must be Joseph Phelp's newest entry into the affordable wine market! Usually, Phelp's wines will hit your pockets for about ~$40, so buying a Phelps wine in the $17-19 would be an awesome look. After going online onto the Phelps website I wasn't able to find much information. Some more google searches and I was able to find that it was made with excess grapes from the Phelps vineyards, the same grapes used for the regular Phelps cabernet as well as the baller Insignia label. Unfortunately, this wine failed to live up to the Phelps standard, lacking in aroma and taste, I must say I was very disappointed. A small gamble to take especially if the wine turned out to be something worth buying in bulk to store away. Onto the next adventure.

*Danny, Laurie, Neel, where you at? Old Chinese proverb say drinking wine improve vitality!*

Friends with Whitey!

Don't discriminate against white wines. Especially during these hot summer days, having a chilled glass or bottle of white wines is kind of nice.

One particular white wine that comes to mind is the Kendall Jackson Chardonnay Grand Reserve. Granted the regular chardonnay is tasty is its own right, the Grand Reserve really puts the 'grand' in it. Very smooth, crisp and buttery, it really refreshes.

At about $13 - 16 a bottle, it's very reasonable. Do yourself a favor and grab a few for the summer.

The Value Wine: 2004 Les Caves Joseph Bordeaux

Sometimes you just gotta buckle down and go cheap. Especially when you are kickin down 4 bottles with your fellow wine snob on a given night. Until recently, I always considered Liberty School to be the only value wine for me. But even at 11-13 bucks a pop, it can get a little pricey.

I was turned onto a 5 dollar value Bordeaux from Trader Joe's. Normally, Bordeaux are your very expensive French wine. When I say very expensive, I mean VERY expensive. An average bottle of decent Bordeaux (think something like a St Supery or Provenance) would set you back about 50 bucks, at the least. The 2004 Les Caves Joseph is an excellent alternative to these.

The wine itself is a very different wine to what I normally drink. It is a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cab grapes. Typically, I stay away from the Merlot scene, but this wine hides it very well. While nothing spectacular, it is extremely smooth and decently flavorful. I definitely recommend trying it. I recommend opening up the bottle about 30 minutes before you drink it. Decanter it if possible (see other blog about decanters), and pour a little into your glass. Be sure to swirl the shit out of the wine. This wine loves oxygen, and definitely needs it. For 5 bucks you can't go wrong!