Hopewell Valley - Barbera

Price: $16.95

Region: New Jersey

Year: 2007

It has been far too long since I've sat down and wrote a review, and I have quite a backlog to get to. Part of the delay was that I was on a family vacation in Maine. While the normal evening would consist of a beer or two, I was definitely looking for a different kind of wine to review as well. As luck would have it, my sister who went along with us, brought a bottle of wine along for me that I definitely had not tried before. Not her full time job, but as a little side project, she has been working at a local winery in New Jersey. So, knowing that I love a good red wine, she grabbed a bottle of Barbera from Hopewell Valley Vineyards.

Now, I will be the first to admit, when I look for a bottle of wine each week to review, the New Jersey section of my favorite wine shop is not prominently displayed (if its there at all). So, not only do I know I never had a wine from Hopewell Valley, I can't remember ever having a wine from New Jersey. I can't say that was going to stop me from giving this wine a try with a nice seafood dinner. I will also admit I am not completely up on all of the Italian varietals, but whenever I hear the name of this wine, a big bold red always comes to mind. Not sure if that is completely accurate, but we'll go with it for now.

So, I sat down with a plate of scallops, and my bottle of Hopewell Valley Barbera. When I poured my first glass, I found it to have a very nice red color, albeit it touch lighter then I as expecting. This could very well be my ignorance, but nonetheless, nothing to be concerned about. When I gave my glass a swirl, and took a whif, I was fairly impressed at the pleasant smell, with a bit of an earthy background. Really not bad at all. So, when it was time to give it a taste, I wasn't completely shocked that is was actually quite good. It had a nice smooth flavor that hit the tongue immediately, and hung around quite nicely with very good balance. It definitely didn't have a big bite to it, but instead just kind of faded away, at which point I wanted to have another sip. I beleive if I had written some notes down before I gave it a try, based on my expectations, I would have to say it would have exceeded them. Would definitely stop by an pick up another bottle if I happen to be driving by Hopewell Valley. If for no other reason then to say hi to my sister.

Rating: 3.75 corks (Pleasantly surprised)

Penfolds - Koonunga Hill Shiraz/Cabernet

Price: $10.99
Region: Australia
Year: 2007

OK, back to reality. While last week was totally out of the ordinary, I wasn't quite so lucky this week. Still a nice Friday night at home with the family, some homemade tacos, and a bottle of wine. While I went to one of my least favorite wine stores, mostly because it is on aver $2-$3 more expensive per bottle, it is the closest to my house so it did the trick. I will say they have a fairly good selection, so its not all bad. As I was walking around looking for a bottle to try, I just thought to myself that I hadn't tried an Australian Shiraz in a little while. It is also a wine that rarely lets me down. While I have had a couple different bottles of Penfold's wine, I had not as yet tried teh Koonunga Hills Shiraz/Cab mix. There was no time like the present.

So, as I mentioned already, my wife was making dinner on Friday this week, so no take-out to pick up. Once I got home, I sat down and poured myself a glass. One of the reasons I love a good Shiraz is because of the great color, and this wine was no different. A nice dark purple wine, that had good depth. So, when I gave my glass a swirl, and took a sniff, I again was not disappointed. A very nice fragrant wine, which I would say was above average in that it really stood out to me. As always, the taste has more weight in my book. As I took a sip, I will say it had a nice fruit-forward taste, and was generally pretty smooth. The taste faded a bit quick for my liking, but it wasn't weak by any means. I wouls ay all in all the taste was a little shy of the color and smell, but in general, a very good $11 bottle of wine that you can probably find for a couple dollar cheaper. Overall, I would put it ont he "give it a try list". Next week we are off to vacation, so I might a couple of extra bottles to review :)

Rating: 3.25 corks (Give it a try)

Pine Ridge - Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon

Price: $90 (in 2004)
Region: Napa, California
Year: 2001

OK, definitely way out of the guidelines I originally set up for my blog, but I couldn't go without reviewing this wine. It was a wine that my wife and I purchased on a trip to Napa, Ca. for our 10th wedding anniversary in 2004. The plan was always to put it in our little wine refrigerator until anniversary number 15, and then break it out for a special dinner. Although our anniversary is a little over a month away, we were able to sneak in a nice little getway this past weekend. We ate dinner at a great little BYOB restaurant that is about 20 minutes away, and I just couldn't wait to give this wine a try. I litteraly had been waiting 5 years.

So, we ordered a couple of appetizers, and poured ourselves each a glass. From the get go, it was exactly as I expected. A deep, dark red color was definitely no surprise. This is a top rated Cab each year, and shallow in color was one thing it was not going to be. The smell was equally impressive. A great fruity smell, that definitely had some body behind it. So, now, the only thing left to do was give it a taste. I know there is not much suspense here, but wow, what a great wine. It was velvety smooth, with a great red berry flavor, that had tremendous length. I know that when you are used to $10 - $15 bottles of wine like I am, that a bottle that almost cost $100 is in a different league, but at least it tasted like it. I would have been a bit disappointed if it wasn't a homerun across the board, but no such let down here. I will say that when we were in Napa, we had a private tasting at Pine Ridge where we barrel tasted this wine, and it wasn't quite as good as it was that day, but not far behind. The point here is that every once in a while, even if it is once every 5 years, treat yourself, and see how the other side live :)

Rating: 4.5 (Wow)

Tin Roof - Merlot

Price: $11.99
Region: California
Year: 2005


I still have a little bit of a backlog of reviews, but I haven't had time to sit down and write up the weeks I missed. I will certainly get to it soon. In the meantime, I am going to write about my wine from this past weekend, as it is fresh in my head. There wasn't too much special about this Friday night, just a normal take out dinner from our favorite little Italian eatery, with a wine store next door of course. I was just having a salad, so wasn't predisposed to any particular wine. I just wanted something medium bodied, so I went straight to the Merlot aisle. After looking at a couple of selections, I saw this bottle of Tin Roof, and at $12, seemed like it was worth a try.

So, when I got home, and got everyone's dinner ready, I sat down with my glass of wine, and my salad. At first glance, this glass of wine looked very much like many other medium-bodied Merlots. Not super dark in appearance, but not weak looking by any stretch. It really had a nice looking depth to it. When I gave my glass a little swirl, and took a sniff, I was pleasantly surprised. A very nice floral bouquet, that was definitely not weak, but not overpowering. A good balance. At this point, I was really looking forward to tasting this wine, because it had been a while since a new Merlot caught my attention. When I took a sip, this one definitely did that. A very nice forward flavor, that was very smooth, with great length. It wasn't a velvety smoothness like a good Cabernet, but definitely a smooth tasting wine, with great texture. I have to say, once of the better Merlot wines I have had in this price range in quite a while. I was so impressed, I went back on Sunday to get another bottle for Sunday night dinner. The first new addition to the "top 5" list in a couple of months.

Rating: 4.0 corks (a repeat buy for sure)

Earthquake - Syrah

Price: $30

Region: California

Year: 2005

So, I am a few weeks behind I know, but I have a good reason. I recently changed jobs after 13 years at my previous job, and things were a bit hectic. I am however, back in the swing of things, and have three reviews to write up over the next couple of days. This first one is a departure from the normal routine as it was a present from my wife. It is more expensive then the wines I set out to review, but still wanted to post a review on this one. Anyway, after I decided to take this new job, my wife stopped by the store on her way home one night, and picked out a nice bottle of Syrah.

We were having rice and shrimp for dinner, so as I helped around the kitchen to get dinner ready, I poured myself a glass of wine. Right off the bat I knew this was a bold wine. The color was a deep dark purple, very pleasing to the eye. After admiring the color, I gave my glass a swirl, and smelled a very nice Syrah for sure. Not too strong, but extremely pleasant. So far I was very impressed. As I took a sip, the smoothness hit me right away. A great bold flavor for sure, but one that hung around for a bit too. A nice smooth wine with great length. I must admit there wasn't much I could find wrong with this wine. Definitely one worth the extra money for a special occasion when you done't feel like spending $50 or $100 for a bottle of wine. Now, I probably won't add this to my top five, although it certainly scored high enough. I just want to be sure to rank the wines that fit into the original criteria of this blog. That being said, if you have a few extra dollars one evening, this one I would recommend for sure.

Rating: 4.5 corks (A great wine)

S. Orsola - Chianti

Price: $9.99
Region: Italy
Year: 2007

This week I was determined to stay in the Italian aisle until I left with a wine I hadn't tried before. I'm just not as familiar with the grapes on some of the different kinds of Italian wine, so it just takes me a little longer to pick one out. Well, after about 15 minutes, I narrowed it down to a couple of choices, and finally picked the S. Orsola Chianti. I can't say there was really any deciding factor, but sometimes that's just how it goes. Anyway, since I was determined to get an Italian wine, I also decided to pick up our favorite pizza for dinner. A large pie with grilled chicken, artichoke, and spinach. Sounded like a good Friday evening to me.

So, I sat down with a couple of pieces of pizza, and a generous glass of red wine. One thing I found interesting when looking at a couple of different bottles of Chianti, is that some stated "full-bodies", while one or two stated "light-bodies", but the far majority were listed as "medium-bodied". The bottle I choose was of the medium variety. So, it wasn't unexpected that the color was a bit on the light side. It didn't look weak or anything, but definitely not big and bold. Along the same lines, the smell had a bit of a floral hint to it, but it wasn't very strong. It was definitely time though to give it a try. I took my first sip, and all of the taste seemed to go right tot he back of my tongue, with a bit of a bite. In addition, the taste seemed to fade pretty quickly. It wasn't an awful taste, but I was definitely hoping for much more. All in all, I would say it was a middle of the road kind of wine. When Sunday rolled around, and it was time to have my in-laws over for dinner, my wife told me she was cooking an Italian dish for dinner. Since I had long finished the bottle of Chianti I bought on Friday, I took another trip to the store, and grabbed the only Italian wine on my default list Monte Antico-> http://winereviewsyoucanunderstand.blogspot.com/2008/12/monet-antico-sangiovese.html -> and it was good....

Rating: 2.5 Corks (Going to have to pass)

The Prodigal Son - Petit Sirah

Price: $9.99
Region: California
Year: 2006

For some reason over the past couple of weeks, I have been heading to a different country section of my favorite wine store to try and find a new wine. Last week I tried a new wine from Spain, and this week I was gravitating towards Italy, as it has just been a while since I tried a new Italian wine. For some reason though, I left the aisle without finding what I was looking for (maybe next week). Then, I ended up in a small section of the red wine aisle called "alternative reds". This is always a place I like to take a peak in order to find something a bit different. This week however, it wasn't something different, but instead a new brand of wine I buy quite often. It is hard to miss the bright colorful label, and the interesting name of this wine, and it definitely caught my attention. There are only a handful of Petit Sirah wines in this store, so I guess that is why it shows up in this section. Based on how much me and my wife love a bottle of Bogle Petit Sirah, I am always on the lookout for its equal, at a similar or better price. However, so far, no luck. So, when I saw a new bottle of Petit Sirah with a catchy name, and at the same price point, I had to give it a try.

Usually I would save this wine to have with a hamburger on the grill, or some other grilled meat, but I already knew we were having Italian take-out, and that wasn't stopping me. I was really looking forward to giving this a try, which might have been my first mistake. I have to remind myself to not get my expectations up when buying a bottle of wine under $10. Anyway, I sat down to dinner, and poured myself a glass. It started off good enough, with a nice rich, deep red color. Very similar to other Petit Sirah wines I have enjoyed. Definitely one of the things I love about this variety is the color. So, I gave the glas a swirl, and was not surpirsed that it was a nice strong scent. Pleasant enough, but for some reason, it seemed a bit young, for lack of a better word. As usual though, it was going to come down to taste, as I was a bit on the fence at this point. So, when I took a sip, it had a good start, but faded quickly. As I noticed with a smell, the wine didn't seem to have much in the way of staying power. It was a nice enough taste, but still a bit short of the Bogle, and with much less length. So, my search for an equal continues, but I'll keep trying for sure.

Rating: 2.75 Corks (Decent, with a catchy name & label)