Gumdale Shiraz & Shiraz Reserve

Price: $6.99 / $10.99
Region: Australia
Year: 2009 / 2008

I just got back from a wonderful vacation in Jamaica, and trying to catch up on some reviews from before my trip. I had the idea to do a double-review right before I left as I had tasted two versions of the Gumdale Shiraz within a couple of days of each other. My wife had bought a couple of bottles of wine for me the week before last. We had a couple of friends over one Friday night, and when Saturday came around, I needed another bottle for dinner. Since I had just had the regular Gumdale Shiraz, it was interesting when someone pointed out this bottle of Gumdale Reserve, so I decided to give it a try. As I was paging through my wine notebook, I decided to write the notes down for the Reserve next to the regular Shiraz and do a comparison review. So, here goes...

Regular:
Even though I started this blog to review bottles under $15, I rarely buy wines that are much less that $10. Something about a $7 bottle of wine just makes me hesitate. When people come up to me and say you have to try this wine or that wine, and it is between $5 - $7, I usually pass. This has been the case with Gumdale Shiraz on more than one occasion. I have seen many good reviews, and the employees at my favorite wine store have recommended it many times. Since this one my wife actually bought for me, I guessed it was about time I gave it a try. This wine had very good clarity, but a bit on the light/clear side for a Shiraz. Along those same lines, the aroma was ab it faint. I could definitely pick up hints of earthiness, but they were definitely int he background. When I took a sip, the one word that came to mind was consistent. The taste went right along with the color and smell. Really not bad at all, but just not as bold as I like my Australian Shiraz.

Rating: 2.75 corks (Not bad for $7)

Reserve:
As I found myself in the Shiraz aisle once again (just what I've been in the mood for lately), I just couldn't make up my mind. I was asked if I need some help, and I gave my usual "just looking" response, as that is really half the fun for me. As he started to walk away, he pointed to this bottle of Gumdale Reserve, and said "that is a great value". So, as I mentioned above, I said "why not"? The color of this wine was much darker then the regular offering, which maybe wasn't much of a surprise. The aroma on the other hand, still lacked that stand up and take notice kind of smell. Again, not bad, just not very strong in my opinion. As is usually the case, it was all going to boil down to the taste. The extra flavor in the wine was apparent from the get go. It was just a bit smoother, with wonderful length and very good structure. As the wine still was very well priced, I would say it is definitely worth the four extra dollars for my money.

Rating: 3.25 corks (Worth the extra $$)

Penfolds - Thomas Hyland Shiraz

Price: $12.99
Region: Australia
Year: 2008


Wow, post number 100!! Not sure it has quite been 100 reviews, but am very close. I do however, need to get on a better wine review schedule. I am just leaving out too many good wines (and I guess some not so good ones as well). I already had a bottle wine for Saturday night dinner that my wife had picked out for me, but decided to save that for another time. The reason was, I was really in the mood for a bottle of Shiraz. So, as I went to pick up a buffalo chicken wrap for dinner, I stopped next door to grab a bottle of wine. As I mentioned, I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to grab a bottle of Shiraz, however, as I was walking towards that section, I almost stopped and grabbed a bottle of Yellowtail Malbec, but thought better of it and kept walking (maybe another time). As I browsed the Shiraz section, I spotted this bottle of Penfolds. It had been a while since I have had a bottle, and I always seemed to enjoy their wine from what I could remember, so I thought it was a good opportunity to become reacquainted.

As I sat down with my dinner, I poured myself a glass. For those that have followed along with most of my reviews, you'll know I I love the color of a good Shiraz, and this was no different. A very nice dark red wine filled my glass. I was also quite impressed with the aroma. As I gave it a few swirls, a very pleasant smell came out of the glass. There was a hint of spice that just made me anticipate the flavor that much more. As I went to take a sip, it hit me right away with a wonderful fruit forward taste. This wine was a bit young, but I'm pretty sure that is by design. It had a nice balance of fruit, reminiscent of blackberry, and a touch of earthy undertone. It was consistently smooth from beginning to end, and really hit the spot. A really great value for $13, and I'm glad I went back to visit the Penfolds brand.

Rating: 3.75 corks (Excellent Value)

Courtney Benham - Merlot

Price: $15
Region: Napa Valley
Year: 2008

As I mentioned in my last post, I have a lot of wines to get to. I tend to write about those that are most fresh in my mind, but when ends up happening is that a lot of the wines I've tried, and intend on reviewing, get lost in the shuffle. So, as I sat down for my second review of the night, I started to write about another wine I had this weekend, but decided at the last second to change gears and review a wine from last week. This particular wine I had actually bought so for my wife who was heading over to a friends house, but found out at the last second that they had gone out an bought a few bottles as well, so this was one mine to keep (or drink).

I have had a couple of wine from this winery, that usually turn out to be pretty darn good. I believe they have Angeline and Martin Ray in their lineup as well. I had never had the Courtney Benham Merlot, and as it is a little more than I usually buy for my weekend wines, it was still only $15. What caught me by surprise was how dark red this wine was when first poured. It came out as a very bold looking wine. Then I gave the glass a swirl, and noticed a very nice floral smell. At this point I was fairly impressed and really looking forward to having a taste. I definitely was not disappointed. I know a lot of people view Merlot as a boring, middle of the road kind of wine that lacks the style of a lot of other reds, but this wine was very interesting, with good structure, and a very consistent flavor. I really enjoyed this wine, and will look for other offerings from this vineyard.


Rating: 3.75 corks (Very Nice)

Chilenesis - Cabernet Sauvignon

Price: $9.99
Region: Chile
Year: 2009

Wow, do I have a lot of wines to get to. I've had a good variety of wines lately, with some very good ones, and so kind of middle of the road. I picked this one because I happen to be having a glass right now. My wife has kind of gotten into a habit of stopping by the wine store on Friday afternoons and picking out a couple of bottles of wine for the weekend for us to share. She always tries to stay within the guidelines of buying wine that is $15 or under so that I can use it in my blog, and this was no exception. This weekend she happened to buy 3 bottles, and I will try to get to the other bottle we tried a little later tonight, but for now, I'm going to write about this bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile.

As you would expect with a Cab from Chile, when this wine it sitting in the glass, it truly has a deep dark red look about it. Definitely no surprise there. When I give the glass a swirl, and take a sniff however, I get a unique aroma. It smells just a little bit tart, but the overriding smell is one of berries. Mostly notably blackberries, but again, just a bit tart. So, when I go to take a sip, i am expecting a rather fruit forward flavor, but the flavor that hits me, and just won't go away is one of vanilla. The flavor doesn't really hit until it gets to the back of the tongue, and then there is still a bit of tartness, but really not bad. I was expecting a little smoother wine, as I had enjoyed some very good values out of Chile. This one isn't bad, but not the top of my list. Worth a try if you like the taste of vanilla in your wine.

Rating: 2.75 corks (Not my favorite, but not bad)

Lan - Rioja

Price: $17.00
Region: Spain
Year: 2006

My last post of 2010. I was hoping to get to about 40 done this year, and fell a bit short, but still another fun year of trying and reviewing a lot of new wines. I have a whole lot of reviews written down from over the Christmas holiday, but I decided to go with another gift from my wife from the Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2010. I forget exactly where this was on the list, but I'm fairly certain it was between 40 and 50. From the title, it is easy to determine we are talking about a wine from the La Rioja region of Spain. This wine is made up of about 80% Tempranillo. It falls a little bit about the $15 range, but not much. I really enjoyed the Malbec that also found its way on the Top 100 list, so I was hoping for a repeat experience.

There was nothing special going on when I decided to open this bottle of wine. To me, sometimes that is the best time to open a new bottle. No expectations, just wanted to sit down with a fire in the fireplace, and experience a new wine. There was no surprise when I poured a glass and saw a deep dark red wine in my glass. I have had some really good Spanish wines over the last couple of years, so my expectations were high. I gave a glass a rather long swirl, and took a couple of short sniffs. While the wine had a very nice berry smell, it was a bit faint in my opinion. With such a bold color, and the reputation of this grape, I was hoping for a little more umph. When I took a sip, I had the same impression. It was a very smooth wine, with great texture, and length, but just lacked a little boldness. Maybe expectations were a bit too high, but overall I thought it was a touch thin. That definitely doesn't take away from a very good wine, but just a little off the mark for me.

P.S. I updated my list of default wines since it tends to change over time. I added the Angeline Pinot Noir that I reviewed in May - http://winereviewsyoucanunderstand.blogspot.com/2010/05/angeline-pinot-noir.html - Good Stuff!

Rating: 3.0 corks (Worth a try)

Durigutti - Malbec

Price: $15
Region: Argentina
Year: 2008

I really love this time of year. There are the obvious reasons of the Christmas season, but there are surely wine reasons as well. We attended a recent wine tasting at a local wine shop, and did a lot of browsing for a couple of bottles of our Christmas wines. We have a brunch each year on Christmas day, and I like to have a couple of nice bottles of wine, even though it is fairly early in the day. It just gives me a good excuse to take a little nap in the early afternoon. This year will be no different, and I'll do my best to review them come January. Another reason I love this time of year is that my wife always picks me up the Wine Spectator top 100 wines of the year. I don't read Wine Spectator at any other time of the year, but I enjoy sitting down in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine and casually reading this edition. On top of the magazine this year, my wife also grabbed a couple of bottles that were on the list and under $20. so, since I had a couple of new wines to try, I thought I try one an write about it here.

While I had 3 to choose from, I ended up picking the Malbec first, as it was just the kind of mood I was in. We happen to be having take-out hamburgers again, which is almost becoming a Friday night staple. Not quite sure if that is a good thing, but that's another story. Not surprisingly, when I poured a glass, I saw a very dark red wine in my glass. It really had a rich looking quality to it, and just right up my alley. Now, I gave a glass a few swirls, and took in the smell. It was not overpowering, but the word that came to mind is smooth. That is something I usually associate with a velvety tasting Cab, but this wine just had a nice consistent smell to it. When it came to having a taste, the word that again popped in my head was consistent. It had a great upfront flavor, which was a bit smokey, but continued right through to the back of my mouth, with nice length. This wine was really quite tasty. Now, I usually try to stay away from wines that already carry with them a great review, and being on the top 100 list of 2010 definitely carries classifies, but it was easy to see why this wine made the cut. It really had it all, including a very reasonable price. This was one of the better wines I've had this year for sure.

Rating: 375 corks (Top 100 for a reason)

Glen Ellen - Chardonnay

Price: $8
Region: California
Year: 2009

I actually and just about to get ready to head to a wine tasting tonight, and had a few minutes so thought it was a good time to write another review. I have two wines from last week, but I thought I would start with one of the wines that was sent to me a couple of Fridays ago. There were two 1.5L bottles of red, and this bottle of Chardonnay. If you go back over my 2+ years of reviews, the white wines are few and far between. Interestingly enough, I have another one ready to go from two weeks ago that I have not gotten around to yet. Even though we usually buy a white every week for my wife, I usually only have a taste. Since I knew I was going to be reviewing this, I sat down with a glass, some spinach dip, and my wine journal to give it a try.

While I don't find it that difficult to see the variety of sight differences between red wines, I tend to lump white wines into two categories. There are those pure white wines, that have very little color at all, and then there are some with a bit of a yellowish tint. Now, I'm sure there are those that would say there is much more to it that that, I'm sticking with that for now. This wine definitely had a bit of a yellow tint to it. I really gave this one a good swirl to try and conjure up as much of the smell as I could, and I was pretty impressed. This wine had a nice floral aroma about it that was definitely not overpowering. When it comes to white wines, there are few that I love, but I must say I tend to stay away from Chardonnay. My general impression is that I will get a very dry wine, and when I do choose a white over a red, I look for something a bit more on the fruity side. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but as I took a sip, and was bracing myself, I was actually quite surprised that this wine had a very crisp flavor with a pleasant hint of pear. It did not have a bad aftertaste, but went down smooth, and was quite enjoyable. I only had the one glass as my wife enjoyed it as well, and I had a nice looking red standing by just calling my name. I think we will add it to the list of white wines that we buy as a little change of pace from our typical Chenin Blanc.

Rating: 3.0 corks (Not what I would call typical, but pretty tasty)