Desert Wind – Sangiovese 2007

Oct 23 2009

Thinking that I had already become familiar with red wines, I was taken by surprise by Sangiovese 2007 from Desert Wind Winery.  Sitting around the table having casual conversation with two friends of mine, we popped open the bottle.  This wine, dark in color, had a scent of cherries and oak.  As I swirled the wine in the glass, the scent of berries and oak became stronger.

Taking the first sip, with an expectation of a bitter taste, my eyes opened wide.  I was taken by surprise at how the flavors of this wine reacted with my tongue.  It did not have that intense bitter taste.  Observing my friends’ facial reactions, I could tell that they were also surprised by this wine.  The taste was that of a fruity flavor and extremely smooth on the palate.  Usually red wines have a much stronger and bitter flavor that leaves an after-taste.  Not saying that the after-taste is bad, this is merely a description of how this wine coats when swiveled in your mouth.

I read the label on the bottle and it mentioned light on tannins.  What are tannins?  My friends really didn’t know, so I looked it up.  Tannins are what cause the dry flavor or the pucker of your lips when you sip a red wine.  The wine tannins come from the skins of the grape, stems and seeds.  Tannins can also come from the barrels that are used to age the wine.  Sangiovese 2007 is very light on tannins, which makes it very easy to sip and enjoy.

We could not stop talking about how delicious this wine was.  I had never tasted anything like this before. This wine would be good with just about any type of food.  I still have a lot to learn but this was a great wine.  I would definitely recommend this wine to anyone who is interested in adding a bottle to their wine rack or cellar.  Two thumbs up Desert Wind!!

A No Go On this Merlot – Badger Mountain NSA Organic Merlot ‘07

Oct 1 2009

You are about to read something that has never before been written on PalateBomb.com: a non-positive wine review.

Why “non-positive” review? Why not “bad?” Well, in the words of a good friend (to me): You’re not allowed to say a wine sucks. You can say you don’t enjoy it, but not that it’s bad.

Sure, there are people out there who know enough about wine to say that three-letter word with some authority, but we don’t like those people here.

Moving along…

I picked up this wine, an ’07 NSA Organic Merlot from Badger Mountain,  from The Wine Gods at Palate Bomb (what I’m going to call them until they tell me to stop or I can think of something better). I was attracted to it because I like merlot and, frankly, I’m a good little yuppy. We yuppies LOVE anything organic (the wine is stamped USDA organic).

After letting the bottle sit in my wine fridge for about a week, I knew The Wine Gods were getting restless for the review so I popped – er – unscrewed the cap (which I am PRO screw – but that article is coming soon). It’s my bad, I over-chilled it a little and being a little impatient poured. The only thing I could honestly smell (kick me here) was bread. I know, here we go again. I gave it a few minutes and the smell (thank God) went away. Still, I couldn’t exactly place what I was smelling. The nose was pretty unique. Not bad or good, but definitely interesting.

Initially, the the wine hit my tongue like a stereotypical merlot. It came on strong like barfly near closing time, and I did enjoy that (the wine that is). But there was a lingering taste – it was fruity but horrendously bitter. Like drinking unripened berries. I didn’t care for this, and since the finish is what stays with you the longest, it didn’t exactly urge me to pick up my glass again. (Note: According to the winery’s web site, the tasting notes include sweet cherry (didn’t see that), raspberry, caramel,  spice, and marionberry as well as oak.)

A couple minutes and a few drinks later my palate began warming up to the wine. The finish wasn’t as mouth-puckering, but there was still an odd fruit (I’m thinking it was the marionberry) that I could not fully accept as likable.

Luckily, by this time, the side effects of being on a diet (having an empty stomach) and the wine kicked in and I was already “feeling it.” Mission accomplished. Wait? Oh, that’s right, mission No. 1 was to write a review. Mission No. 2…

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this wine. It’s a good price (around $15 online), but honestly there’s a lot of other wines for that price (or less) that I like a lot more.  I did, however, like the fact it was made from organically grown grapes and I would definitely be interested in tasting more wines from Badger Mountain’s NSA (no sulfites added) collection.

Wine: 2007 NSA Badger Mountain Merlot
From: Badger Mountain (Kennewick, WA)
Where Found: Gift from the Wine Gods at Palate Bomb (but you may find it for $15 or less in stores and online)
Paired With: Nada (this wine was flying solo tonight)

Goodbye Summer, Hello Old Vine Zin from Sobon

Sep 25 2009

While listening to Bob Marley’s “Red, Red Wine” and drinking the Old Vine Zin, I realized that my days of sitting on the deck with a cool glass of Chardonnay were over (everyone sigh in sadness with me). I have to start drinking the more fall appropriate red wines, and this Zinfandel from Sobon Hills is a nice little transition.  Goodbye Viogniers, ciao Chardonnays, au revoir Sauv Blancs, and too-da-loo all other white wines I have re-fallen in love with this summer.  Hello spice, beautiful colors, tobacco, and dark fruit!

One of my favorite things about Zinfandels is that they are jammy, juicy and all about the fruit.  This particular Zin is interesting in the fact that the nose is a little peppery, and when you look for it, you can find a lingering hint of cinnamon, YUM!  The pepper turned me off at first, but once I closed my eyes and took a nice big gulp, I was pleasantly surprised. It has nice oak tannins, but is not overbearing.  It has dark fruit and the ones I really picked out were plum, blackberry and has a nice long finish especially for a young wine.  Another surprising factor is that it stood up well (lasted a long time) for an organic wine.  Usually with an organic wine, which has no sulphites, it goes bad in 1-2 days.  But by the end of day 2, this wine tasted just as fresh as when I first unscrewed it.  Lucky me.

Looking back on this drinking adventure, I would definitely recommend this wine to almost anyone.  A beginning wine drinker would probably like it because of its fruit forwardness and jamminess.  The Zin aficionado would appreciate how true to form it is and the everyday wine drinker would appreciate its approachability.

Lucky for me, this wine was sent to me at no cost, but retails at $13.  It is distributed through Grape Expectations (206.763.4632) and is produced from Sobon Hills in Plymouth, California.