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Picked this up last night while out tasting wine. My friend Lori at the Wine Merchants in Carlsbad tasted me on it and Iam glad she did. My first thoughts were big red cherry nose, Nice cherry, peppery taste. Just what you like from Barossa valley Shiraz. Being on Barossa a blend of Grenache gives it that slight earthy and mineral taste and nose, gives is a bright light cherry taste too.

Colin Glaetzer is a pretty big name in the business, Ben his son, seems to be doing great as well

This wine is great buy, look around the prices seem to be all over the map from $16 to $26. Well worth the price of $26 but hey if you can find it for less why not.

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This is cool grape, my first go at it. Robert Foley Charbono is this inky dark juice, Its has a deep dark cherry flavor. The fruit is nice, not jammy in any way but real pleasant. I really enjoyed it. The body is nice, medium. Well structured and hangs well on the palate with nice soft tannins. A wine you can drink with almost any thing.

I think you should search out this wine and the grape. I will be looking for more of this varietal. I have read people trying to compare to Petite Verdot, no I dont think so. Zin? no not that either. This is a bold grape that has a style all its own. Deep dark colors, dark fruit, tannins but none of it over the top. Find someone, like Foley, that knows what they are doing and they can build great bottle of wine out of this grape!

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My buddy showed up with this tonight, a wine I have really liked in the past.

All right this is a wine I bought about a year ago maybe a bit longer for the same price about $25. It was drinking really great back then and I think was a real steal. The fruit was still present and it held up like a big boy Napa Cab. I think 2003 was just thought of as a bad year on average and it got caught in the mix. Sure 2004 and 2005 were really good,but this also was a great drink. Some were asking $60.

OK, so cut to the chase about a year ago it popped and now it surfaced again. I bring it up since I was not reviewing wine like this back then and I think it still merits some time. This is at $25 a pretty good Cabernet, with a nice name. Nickel & Nickel make at single vineyard Match cab and it comes from these guys. No, its not their Spring Mountain stuff.

The nose is soft, nice dark fruit but soft. It has a dark fruit flavor, but again soft.The tannins on the back side are real nice and the earth tones are real old school pre-2000 style. I do enjoy the ease of drinking this wine brings, right now.

I know it's not a huge great gun review, but I do like it. Its an easy drink not a fruit bomb. Easy with almost any food and if under $30 is good for you this is going to be great.Not going to find it a lot of places so you and your buddies are not all going to bring the same bottle to the same party. I would look for it. That being said, don't hang on to it sic months to a year and I think it might be over for this one.

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It was a nice afternoon on the patio when the Larkmead Sauvignon Blanc came out. A nice looking wine with a bright clean pale yellow color.

The 2006 was opened first, I am a club member and I am not sure this was allocated outside the winery or club. As expected we got that crisp clean feel, citrus, maybe a little grape fruit on the palate. We all enjoyed drinking it. It also had this earthy tone, minerals, almost woody as someone described it. A really neat tasting wine.

The 2007 came next, with the first taste we all agreed this was better. The color was more golden and bright, the ripe melons and grape fruit on the nose were clean and pleasant. The fresh citrus flavor are just right, the alcohol while at 14.7% is well tamed. The fruits linger nicely and were a prefect fit for the afternoon on the patio with neighbors.

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Stopped in at the Wine Merchants in Carlsbad today and tasted this little gem today, wish I would of had more. But I can tell you this, great fruit. The nose is light, spice maybe a little cherry like, not overwhelming, maybe a little light. Its a light body to medium body wine, but the fruit is what gets you right off with this one.

I would think eating ribs, pizza, early afternoon snacks on the patio with friends. Its easy to drink, it does not last long and wont overwhelm you. You not going to hug the glass, but it is a refreshing glass of wine. That being said I am not sure how easy it will be to find, but I am sure if you look around you will find it.

It was claimed to be restaurant only for the 2005 vintage, but most shops seemed to have it. Some were asking almost $30 Thinking they had a real find that no one could get and it was worth the money. But then slowly it leaked out that this was a real bargain and could be bought retail under $20 and then most shops had to make the offer. Now it seems the 2006 vintage is going to stores without a hassle, I think. I walked into it at one of my shops just sitting there waiting for me to buy, I did.

Like the 2005 this version has all that great fruit. Nice ruby to dark cherry color. The dark cherry nose, the dark berry on the palate. Just what you look for in a Cabernet and under $20!Then you taste the dark oaky, toasty background and think it had to cost more. This is really a nice wine, the finish is smooth and silky, it does not quite have the full tannins the 2005 had but still real close. 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 3% Syrah, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petite Sirah Thats a lot going on for under $20

This is the wine you can buy and people will all really like it. The bottle is a pretty painted finish with silver foil. It presents well in and out of the bottle.  I will for sure keep these around the price may be cheap, but this is not a cheap wine.

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This week lets not break the bank! I am going after the elusive under $20 bottle of wine that is still drinkable! You know we all search for that.

So that being said this week I will put these three gems to the test, and possibly others. The reason I pick these three. They appear to be readily available in most wine shops I walked into. When I gave them the preliminary taste I found them to be “not bad”  and one is under $10!

So coming this week are

1. Silver Palms, $16 - A Napa Valley Cab that when it first came out was touted as a restaurant only wine and sold for as much as $30 in the shops that had it. Having had this wine a few months back, I can tell you it was good.

2. Louis Martini, $10 - This is the Sonoma Cab, no its not Monte Rosso. Alexander Valley or Napa. Its a bit of a blend that they really played with and you should be able to find this anywhere and for $10 its worth the time

3. Bishops Peak, $12 - Paso Robles Cab,Another highly allocated wine. This one is a bare bones offer from the people at Talley. I have not yet tried it so get ready this week!