2000 Robert Young Alexander Valley Scion $50

In January, I took my first wine trip to Sonoma. The night before I left, I talked to a friend who had gone many times. Continue reading →

2000 Quivira Dry Creek Cuvee $5

Yep, it was five bucks, and I bought it at Trader Joe’s. It is probably the soon to dry up wine glut that brought us the likes of “Two-buck Chuck” in recent years. All I can say is given the choice between the two for something to drink with pizza or spaghetti, choose this one. For the price, it is a nice blend of Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah and Zinfandel.

According to this page, one of the big wine magazines gave this one 91 points.

2001 Robert Biale Black Chicken Zinfandel $34

Have I mentioned that I really like the Robert Biale Black Chicken Zinfandel? I probably did, but just in case, assume that I do!

I like the nice spicy finish with no raisin or prune flavor. There is some plum flavor, but it is not over-ripe. The 2001 Black Chicken is simply a great Zinfandel in my book!

They are currently selling the 2002 version of this one, and I’m a bit worried about the description, because they use the words “jam” and “jammy” in the same sentence to describe it. Well I hope they haven’t changed it much from this one, as this one is very nice as it is.

2000 Sartori di Verona Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOC about $30

I like this one a lot!

If I didn’t have the label to look at, I’d say this was a nice Napa wine. Nice dark red color with dark fruit or perhaps a bit of cherry aroma. There is just a touch of chocolate in the taste, and the wine is very well balance from beginning to end.

So this is a very nice blend from Spain; 45% Grenache, 35% Cab, and 20% Tempranillo. The label reports that the grapes are from 50 year old hillside vines (or older) — love those hillsides. I cannot remember exactly what we paid for it, but I want to say it was under $10.

A dark ruby color and 13.5% alchohol, this one exudes raspberry, cherry, and rose on the nose with plum, cherry, and a hint of spices and tobacco on the palate. We enjoyed it with roast chicken one evening and London Broil the next. Have gone thru 3-4 bottles and still have one in the cellar. Looking for an inexpensive red blend to go with your next Bar-B-Q meal?? You cannot go wrong with this one.

This is one of those wines that was so good that you don’t want to throw away the bottle after you’ve finished it. I may have let it sit on the mantle for a while.

I had three of these in the cooler, so of course I thought that I could safely open one. I remember when I first tasted it, that I thought that it could sit for a while.

This wine is huge! In fact I think that I’ll keep the other two bottles for two or three more years. They would easily last longer.

The color is very dark red. The aroma contains a little red fruit, perhaps plums. I noticed that after an hour it opened up quite nicely. I would definitely say to decant this one and let it sit for a little while.

As for the taste, it has a perfectly balanced taste curve. Everything about it is perfect. Very nice tannins. Great finish.

Here is what Antinori has to say about the 1999 Tignanello.