Wonderful Malbec with lime zest, blackberries, wheat, damp earth, menthol and toasty oak on the nose and a glorious deep purple hue. Not your typical Malbec with it’s sharpness and raw rustic flavors, but nonetheless, thumbs up except for the moderately rugged oak influence and underrefined finish. Keep Drinking and Keep Believing.
Happy Friday to all and hope everyone has wonderful plans for the Weekend! I am writing this excerpt to give my 2 cents on a wine they call “The Prisoner” by Orin Swift. This is the second time I have been conned into buying this wine after person after person, who have all somehow been brainwashed by Extraterrestrial beings, are convinced “The Prisoner” is the second coming; I am going to cut to the chase on this topic. “The Prisoner” is a nauseating fruit bomb that has so much infested oak influence that it reeks like a big block of rancid wood. Why so much oak? What does “The Prisoner” have to hide?
This is absolutely the most overrated wine on the market at almost $40 a bottle, but if you do chose to try Orin Swift wines, try his Saldo Zinfandel for the same price point. It is absolutely an awesome, rich, full bodied Zin and will not disappoint. Keep Believing and Keep Drinking.
Caught a late dinner a couple nights ago and didn’t realize until after he had already left that i was sitting next to Winemaker Joseph Carr. Would have enjoyed chatting with him. 🙂 Keep Drinking and Keep Believing.
Happy Wine Wednesday to all and the wine topic of the day is South African wine. South African wine to me can be really inconsistent with it’s quality, but when you find a good one, they are absolutely mystical, contemplative and in their own rite. So, last night my friend and I opened a bottle of 2007 Rustenberg by John X Merriman from Stellenbosch; and I was very pleased with what I fell into. This balanced Meritage blend consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec had awesome deep flavors of blackberry, rustic earth, green pepper, graphite, with a tad of tobacco and vanilla extract. With smooth tannin and great feel throughout, this wine was an absolute joy to drink! Keep Drinking and Keep Believing.
This one of those wines that if you can score it at $10 or $11 it is decent, but if it is priced between $17 and $20 not so worth it. This Cab has a beautiful dark hue and offers flavors of young easy sipping red fruit. Not much depth here, but if you decant this wine for about 45 minutes or so it would make for a good everyday sipping/dinner wine . Keep Drinking and Keep Believing.
Just stumbled across these guys this Weekend and their claim to fame is that they outsource ultra premium wines from Vineyards that only produce 90+ point wines and then they offer them to the consumer at discount price such as Cameron Hughes does with his Lot Series. My Mom and I chose to give The Lot 28 a try which is a Willamette Valley Oregon Pinot Noir that was on sale for $14.99 and WOW!
This wine from the first smell and taste has MASSIVE BARGAIN written all over it with a superbly refined bouquet of ripe red cherries, violets, perfume, sweet oak with a touch of juicy fruit. Impeccable mouthfeel and nice pepperiness through the mid palate and finish; this wine at $14.99 is so underpriced it is ridiculous!!! Keep Drinking and Keep Believing.
Had this Rioja Reserva on Friday night and was pleasantly surprised being that i am typically not a huge Tempranillo fan. This medium body Spanish Red had a refined bouquet of musk, lavender, clay, wheat and sweet oak with a mild undertone of vanilla, black licorice. With a gracious amount of balanced red and dark fruit and a mild toasty finish, this wine would be perfect with a massive grilled sirloin and portobello mushroom not overally seasoned. Keep Believin and Keep Drinkin.
Picked up this Southern Rhone blend at Trader Joe’s for $9 and thought it was a good buy offering light flavors of dark fruit with faint aromas of damp earth, nutmeg and cinnamon. Nothing magical here but easy sipping and a good value. Keep Believing and Keep Drinking.
Purchased this wine for $20 on sale and was really excited to see what it had to offer being that it is from one of my favorite areas of Napa Valley, Rutherford. I have to say that my favorite part of this Cabernet was the nose which was well balanced with aromas of lite menthol, red currant and cassis; but besides the pleasant aromas, I was disappointed and felt that this wine was one dimensional and a tad thin; Glad I only paid $20 for this wine rather than the suggested retail of $30. Keep Drinking and Keep Believing.
Have to say that Zinfandel is not one of my favorite varietals, but was excited to try this wine by renowned winemaker Orin Swift, creator of the immensely popular “The Prisoner”. At first this wine comes off extremely vegetal but once it opens up for about 30 minutes it settles down and has a lovely bouquet of sweet red and dark berries, clove with a touch of vanilla wafer. With wholesome body and rich flavors of fig and tobacco this rich Zinfandel finishes with a dash of creaminess and spice. Love the fact that this Zin is not just one big over the top jammy fruitboom that most Zinfandal prodcuers are so guilty of releasing. Keep Believing and Keep Drinking.
Layden Robinson 