The ‘08 Lodi Chardonnay is no exception.  It was pasta with Alfredo night and our friends for some reason brought red wine, so we brought out a bottle of Chardonnay and had a wonderful evening.  This wine is big on apples and pears both in the nose and on the palate.  Somewhere in the background you get a lemon-citrus thing lurking like Santa on the roof waiting for the children to go to sleep.  It’s there, you know it’s going to be pleasant, but you just can’t quite touch it.  Some vanilla at the mid-palate tips us off to a bit of oak aging.  Our guests thought they found creaminess indicative of malolactic fermentation, but we disagreed on that point with them.  The jury was split, and you will have to judge when you drink the wine for yourself.  All in all, it is a wonderful example of small California winery Chardonnay that is made to be consumed today, and at least two more times this week.  Just do it.

With it’s under $12 price point, we give it a very solid 3 Stars — Recommended.  Under $10 would boost its rating, but we still think this is a wine that you should have in your cooler all the times, and you should not hesitate to drink it anytime the food would go well with a Chardonnay.

This wine starts with a nose that just screams “WOOHOO !!!  LODI ZINFANDEL !!!!!!”  It is rich with blueberries, cranberries and chocolate.  These flavors follow through to the juicy, but not jammy, palate.  The fruit is ripe without being sweet, and the finish is all soft, spicy pepper that leaves just the right little zip in the back of your mouth.  We had to taste this without benefit of food, but when the question was asked, we all looked at each other and said “Chicken Wings!” at the same time.  Our thought was to take the bottle to the nearest Buffalo Wild Wings, but they wouldn’t let us bring it in the door — something about “…liquor laws…”   Well, Buffalo Wild Wings gets 0 Stars, but Wildfire Zinfandel gets a provisional 5 Stars — Highest Recommendation and if the price holds when we see it on the shelf, this will be a permanent rating.

Imagine…. l’il ol’ us! …a part of the wine tasting elite after less than a year of blogging!

Wildfire Blaze is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot.  The final blending percentages are still going through final tweaking, but this is a lovely red table wine for everyday drinking.   The nose shows the dark fruit scents of the Merlot, while the palate is much more Cabernet oriented with chocolate & coffee, and the back end of the palate reveals the blackberry, black cherry and pepper of the Syrah.  The finish is only slightly oaked with gentle tannins.  With a target shelf price of $10.99 around the country, we encourage you to seek this wine out — it should be available in limited distribution by early summer, and in much wider distribution by autumn.

We will give this wine a provisional rating, and if the price stays under its $12 max target on the shelf, then it will become a permanent

4 Stars — Highly Recommended

And then we tasted.  And what a delightful treat for the taste buds!  This wine was in French oak for 14 months, and then laid down for 3 years of bottle aging before its release.  It is a deep ruby color with a classic Cabernet nose of plums, currants and blackberries.  There was good fruit on the nose, but it was restrained, almost formal in character, without the casual “juiciness” that some California wine makers seem to like.  The finish was as you’d expect from a wine thus aged, nice oak and only slightly tannic.  Our friend said he paid $25 for this bottle and while we find that pricey for any bottle of wine, especially one from Mexico where everybody knows there are no good wines      we have to admit that this is a very good wine and is worth every bit of 4 Stars — Highly Recommended on our 5 Star scale.  If you can find this wine, buy it for a special occasion and you will not be disappointed.

The wine starts with a nose of red ripe fruit which follows through to the palate where you also get a quick layer of chocolate and blueberry before the light spice of the Zinfandel grape hits you in the back of your mouth.  The wine finishes with gentle oak & tannins and slight spice.  It is just a lovely daily drinker for the Zinfandel crowd.  At $10.99 this wine gets a very solid 4 Stars — Highly Recommended

This wine is like a delightful trip to your Grandmother’s for Sunday dinner.  You know exactly what is going to be served, how it’s going to taste and who is going to do the dishes.  Winemaker Mark Gendron sent us some samples of his wine to taste at our leisure, and his Cabernet Sauvignon did not disappoint us.  We actually hosted a small wine tasting party to show off the fact that a winery actually stood up and took notice of our efforts here.  The Cabernet was one of the first bottles to run empty, even with us limiting each guest to just two ounces of each wine.

The nose of this wine starts off with rich, dark scents of licorice & lavender, with just a little hint of oak.  The palate is rich with dark fruits, blackberries, currants and the same curious licorice & lavender that we found in the nose with the overall effect being  just delightful.  The finish is restrained oak with firm, but not overpowering tannins.  Overall, for the $10.99 that you spend for this wine, it is a great daily drinker Cabernet Sauvignon.  We give it a solid 4 Stars — Highly Recommended

This primer on wine by actor John Cleese is just wonderful. He is confused about wine, as are many of us, and asks for answers to the most basic, and often most confusing, questions. This is great for the wine neophyte and entertaining for those who know about wine. For those in the middle, you can test your own knowledge and utter an appropriate number of “Oh my Goodness! I didn’t know that!” phrases.