Decanterberry Tales - The Vulgar Wine Blog

Rondan, (Crianza) Rioja, 2001

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:51:26 GMT

Apparently, we've just started a Spanish wine kick, and this is the second (of a many coming soon).

The nose is oak/vanilla, pepper, cinnamon, bark, a slight bit of chemical. Yes, oak again, but no where near the level of oak in that Toro we just had. The taste is mainly cherry, but there's something tart in there too -- maybe raspberry, and maybe some cranberry. This is not exactly fruity, though it is much more so after all that southern French wine we've been drinking these last few weeks. The finish is oak, cherry, arugala (bitter veggie), yet it has some of that citrus (tangerine) acidity, especially at the start of the finish. The body is medium.

Cost: (it's normally $11, but we paid just short of $10)

Rating: 6.0

La Uve, Barrica, Toro, 2001

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:08:18 GMT

I'll describe this as a "Justin Timberlake wine"; yeah, it's bubble-gum pop, but you have to admit that sometimes it sounds good (no, I don't own any Justin albums just for the record). It's just that this is a wine likely to be a hit at parties (oak is pretty popular, or vinters wouldn't use it), even if the critics might not like it ...

The Southern French Round-Up

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:04:47 GMT

So I had a bunch of bottles open that I'd reviewed recently -- along with a piece of pumpkin pie (thanks Elizabeth!). And I took the opportunity to taste a bunch of them side by side. This is neat because it really makes clear the differences between the wines. Up to bat are the following:

Domaine Brusset, 'Laurent B', Cotes du Rhone, 2005

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 04:45:24 GMT

Here's yet another Cotes du Rhone. I think we may be slowing down on these as we've had a lot of southern French wine these last few weeks. This was a "Wine Stewart Selection" at Fred Meyer's.