This is a Shiraz, Cab, Merlot and Cab Franc blend.
This bottle was looking at me for a long time, not sure why I kept passing it up. Lets just say blueberry, blackberry come the closest. I wouldnt at this point decant at all.
We really liked this easy to drink shiraz, maybe are expectations were low. Either way it was enjoyed. Not going to put a rating on it, probably hard to find now. But dont let bottles go to waste wating on the perfect moment to open. We got lucky on this one, so dig around and pull out that bottle you saved. Cheers
2009 Sea Smoke Gratis Chardonnay
This has been a suprise! Came in the mail as a former club member. Why was I a member, Pinot of course. But wow is this an incredible Chard. Love the color nice medium yellow, great nose, not overly oaky at all. Just right. The acidity is low, the fruit is great. I have to say we loved drinking this wine.
OK, Sea Smoke known for Pinot. This Chard is a home run. The sad part is, its not for sale. Nope. Hence the name Gratis, so... Get a membership, go to Sea Smoke and search this one out.
On my scale of of gotta own and love to drink, a full 9 out of 10 here.
Hey check this out, Sort Out This Cellars, from this point on STOC. Has produced a pretty cool set of labels for their wines. Featuring pin up style art, the look of old Las Vegas, that kind of thing. Typically I don't like wines, or I stray away from wines with cute labels. Usually, not in all cases, the label can be better than the wine. This being only my first taste I will not judge the others,but I did like this one!
Like the label and the winery, this is not typical Zinfandel. You won't hear, deep dark fruit, Jammy or intense or alcohol at 17% or something crazy like that. This was brightly colored lighter garnet, swirl it in the glass and it hung beautifully to the glass. Nose was soft, not intense. its 13.5% alcohol. The fruit was cherry, dark but subtle not jammy. The tannin was nice, not huge or overwhelming. This was almost elegant and it was a Zin. Crazy! I know what you are thinking, its not exuding all those over the top flavors, or nose we are supposed to like in Zins. I know, and I like it.
When I think of Zin, two favs come to mind Cosentino The Zin and Biale Black Chicken. Spicy to Fruity jammy to well balanced etc. also $20 to $40plus. Big difference in these three Zins.
I would like to see this closer to the mid $20 range, there are a lot of great Zins out there at this price point and lower. But this is something a bit different. I do recommend this wine. If you have a white wine drinker in the house, pour this, they will
love its smooth taste. Having a nice afternoon beach picnic, sitting on
the patio just hanging out with friends this will be something you will
talk about.
New and improved site should be coming soon. Its been a while I know! But the real job, you know the one that pays the bills and will get our daughter through college....
OK the summer is here and I am looking at nice warm weather wines. Typically you are expecting big reds, I know. Look for some crisp white wines like Pomelo Sauvignon Blanc, and Cosenting Pinot Grigio to appear soon!
Today I am heading over to Caruth Winery in Solana Beach Ca. Looking forward to some good stuff
Cheers, Jeff