Gran Viu Seleccion

Viñedos y Bodegas Pablo
Gran Viu
Selección
Grenache, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan (or maybe Syrah?)
Cariñena DO
Almonacid de la Sierra, Zaragoza, Spain
2002
14.5%
$24.99 -- Spec's Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Obscure ruby
Nose: Stewed fruit, tar, mushrooms, cherry smoke
Body: Full
Front: Creamy roasted plum
Middle: Black pepper, black cherry
Back: Coffee grounds, rocks, dusty tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This wine has length, depth, and sweetness, plus all of the herby, leathery stuff for which ageable Spanish wines are known. This was phenomenal with a chicken-in-píperade purée and spinach and mushroom quiche. It might be hard to find this wine, but it's a well-priced example of what this region and producer can do, and much worth trying!

Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas Blanc

Tablas Creek Vineyard
Patelin de Tablas Blanc
Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne
Paso Robles, California, U.S.A.
2010
13.5%
$19.99 -- Tablas Creek Vineyard, CA

Color: Light gold, almost a hint of peach?
Nose: Charred flowers, honey, pear rind
Body: Light
Front: Peach, honey
Middle: Creamy sage, orange
Back: A hint of salted almonds
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

The nose on this wine is reminiscent of the Vin Soave I just reviewed, with a little more orangey action. The Tablas Creek folks, whose wines I generally love, have started making wines with bought fruit, not just their own; the "Patelin" series is the name for such wines, and this is the first release. 16% of the fruit for this wine is from Tablas Creek's land.

It's a charming, light wine, with persistence on the palate and a summery lift to it--very drinkable. This will go well with food, especially seafood. It doesn't have the strong orangey, gassy quality that some southern Rhone whites have, but it's not a pushover, either.

Pagos del Moncayo Garnacha

Pagos del Moncayo
Garnacha 
Grenache
Campo de Borja DO
Spain
2007
14.5%
$17.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Fishmarket, blueberry, firecracker, cream, cherry
Body: Medium to full
Front: Creamy cherry
Middle: Orange peel, plum, licorice
Back: Coffee grounds, rocks, dusty tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

The "Tinto Joven" made by this label gave me about the worst hangover I've had in a long time. Why, then, did I pick up a bottle of their Grenache?

Well, for one thing, I love Grenache; for another, the Tinto Joven was quite vibrant and fascinating. This one is not quite as multilayered as that one was. But it's big, yet excellently stocked with both fruit and secondary, herby flavors. While I suspect the alcohol level is actually higher than the label claims, it's better with food, as the end of it kind of waters out: I'm drinking it with an open jar of pickles, as it happens.

Freemark Abbey Merlot

Freemark Abbey
Merlot
Napa Valley
St. Helena, California, U.S.A.
2007
14.5%
$19.98 at Twin Liquors, Bee Cave, TX

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Sour cherry, sage, a hint of orange peel
Body: Medium
Front: Cherry
Middle: Cassis, salt, coffee
Back: Hint of pepper, soft tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I am a fan of Freemark Abbey wines, which I think are underrated. To the company's credit, they've priced their wines realistically, and this is a particularly good bargain (though I did get it on sale).

This is a Merlot, not a Cab, to be sure: it doesn't have the beefy body, but the herby aromatics are pronounced and interesting. The fruit is from Rutherford, and you can tell by the haunting, microfine tannins. My guess is that in two years this wine will be even more interesting on the palate than it is now.

Inama Soave Classico

Azienda Agricola Inama
Vin Soave
Garganega
Soave Classico DOC
Verona, Veneto, Italy
2009
12%
$11.99 -- Twin Liquors, Bee Cave, TX

Color: Medium gold
Nose: Charred wood, honey, pear rind
Body: Light
Front: Honey
Middle: Sea air, honeysuckle
Back: A hint of hazelnut
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Secretly, inside my overarching Washington wine tasting mission, the Italian white experimentation continues.

Ok, it's not secret, 'cause there you are reading this, but look: Pinot Grigio, perhaps the best known Italian white wine, mostly sucks. Largely, it tastes like acrylic with lime juice, no salt on the rim. Whereas by contrast the Greco di Tufo and Falanghina I've tasted lately--wines I'd never heard of before last year--have changed my life forever.

Now this wine didn't do that, but it wasn't bad. This bottle's a little disjointed and watery on the midpalate. But it's ruthlessly refreshing, and way, way better than the Soave I associate with my childhood. That's right, childhood, America; that is how we rolled in the backcountry in the early 80s, with the Soave Bolla.

If you like a delicate but not too complex wine, this will delight you; pair it with salty or shellfishy items, sweet nuts, or lemon vinaigrette-containing things.

Mendelson Pinot Noir

Mendelson Wines
Pinot Noir
Sleepy Hollow Vineyard
Santa Lucia Highlands
Napa, California, U.S.A.
2007
14.5%
$34.29 [$48.99] -- Twin Liquors, Bee Cave, TX

Color: Dark brick
Nose: Stewed plum, wet gravel, sour sage cigarettes, heat
Body: Full
Front: Fruit soup, orange
Middle: Plum licorice, espresso grounds
Back: Thyme, a little heat, burned popcorn
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I'm going to go buy another bottle of this wine, because it has a combination of characteristics that I find absolutely enchanting. The heat on the nose and in the glass is a little unfortunate, especially five years out, but it's not overwhelming. Oddly, there aren't many reviews of this wine, perhaps because the maker is best known for dessert wines. Then again, maybe he just pissed everybody off.

Either way, here's the thing: this tastes almost exactly like two other high-tone Pinots I've had, that had a little age on 'em. Stewed fruit, then some earthy or beefy or smoky secondary flavors, and a burned popcorn type of ending. And the flavor profile didn't evolve in any of these cases either: an hour later, they basically tasted the same as after 15 minutes. Two hours, same deal: still delicious, but still the same flavors in the same structure.

This puts me in a quandary. One of the things I love about wine as opposed to, say, Dr. PepperTM, is that it sometimes evolves as it opens. A single wine can be delicious in five or twelve different ways over the course of a few hours. Then again, I love Dr. PepperTM! And this tastes a lot like it.

So I'm going to get another bottle, as I said. And I'm going to be flexible about what I imagine the unfolding of a wine that I enjoy might be like. At $35, I think this is an absolute steal in Pinot, unless you hate sour sage cigarettes.

Andrew Will Cabernet Franc

Andrew Will Cellars 
Cabernet Franc
Columbia Valley
Vashon, Washington, U.S.A.
2009
14.2%
$25.99 at Twin Liquors, Bee Cave, TX

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Ass coffee, fresh berries and cream, roasted orange, faint nutmeg
Body: Medium to full
Front: Red cassis, cherry
Middle: Cherry-flavored coffee, with a touch of cream
Back: Currant tea, soft tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Andrew Will makes some phenomenal wine. But it's hard times, and now they're making a sort of second-label wine. Mind you, it's $30 a bottle, so perhaps the concept didn't quite sink in. The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is the initial release of the value series, is a total Pottery Barn Wine. But this one is different.

Now, you could ask, If you're going to try to make a more popular wine, with a wider reach, why make a Cabernet Franc? Americans don't know what Cabernet Franc is any more than they know what ass coffee is, even though both are in a lot of reds they drink. But the balance of bright, tart fruit with coffee-cream goodness in this bottle will erase such questions. If there was ever a Cab Franc that might convert average wine buyers, this is it. I'm guessing, however, that the black label Andrew Will series is going to rotate varietals, and that's all good as far as I'm concerned. Much though I want this house to succeed, I don't want too many people getting into these wines.

This lacks the power of their more senior wines--has a shorter finish and less body. But with any kind of food, it's great; it opens fast, and if this were $50 at a restaurant, I'd order it and be delighted. And second rank though it might be, this will age a bit, without question: the tannins are soft and polite, but they are insistent, balancing the acid of the fruit, and promising some deeper harmony in a few years.

Melville Estate Chardonnay

Melville Winery 
Chardonnay
Santa Rita Hills
Lompoc, California, USA
2007
14.9%
$22.39 -- Bee Cave, Austin, TX

Color: Medium gold
Nose: Cedar, salt, clementine-lime
Body: Full
Front: Salt, Meyer lemon
Middle: Honey and cream, lime
Back: Oak, white pepper
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I'm increasingly a fan of Sta. Rita Hills wines. This one is delightful, though without the 20% off sale, I'm not sure if I'd go for it again. I had the same experience with one of Melville's Pinot Noirs awhile back.

This deserves a brief but perhaps important digression. There's a threshold of cost and interestingness that I want to give a name to, because I think it actually influences the drinking experience (assuming you paid for the wine--if you didn't, this isn't a factor, except for you misers out there). If the wine is expensive and tastes beautiful, you don't shy away from buying another bottle. If it's cheap and tastes really good to you, maybe you buy a case, or make it a regular. But if it's really good, yet not quite priced right, you say, I'll take my $23 to a new wine, hoping to find one that's fantastic at that price.

I always have this same feeling at Pottery Barn. That rattan side-table is fantastic! But it's $300. Target has a rattan side-table that's really good, and it's $45. Restoration hardware has one with a secret compartment, that's much sturdier, for $400. Whatever happens next, it's not going to happen at Pottery Barn. Thenceforth, wines that provoke this feeling I will call "Pottery Barn Wines." I look forward to ireful comments from either Pottery Barn execs or Soccer Moms and Dads who love their Pottery Barn for Kids wines.

That said, this wine is really good! It's tasty with the appetizers of chorizo, mustard, cornichon, and triple-creme cheese I'm having; and it brings a sea-side reminiscence with its mineraliness, which suggests it would be phenomenal with seafood.

P.S.: I got one of my rattan wine-storage chests from Pottery Barn, and it's fantastic! It was on sale, 25% off.

When heavily medicated for allergies...

...IT'S NO USE. I can't really taste anything. It's like there's a hole in my palate; things that are strongly acidic, spicy, or salty come through, but that's all. Mouthfeel is all I really have left--an inordinate sensitivity to temperature and texture.

So it seems like a good moment to make tiny comments on two scientific essays that involve the wine world. They come from the seemingly antipodal realms of linguistics and biology. I read academic essays all the time, so perhaps this is one small way to contribute to the gargantuan conversation online about wine.

I've mentioned elsewhere the results of the first paper, "The Taste of Carbonation," by Chandrashekar, et al (Science 326, 16 Oct 2009), sent to me by an overeducated reader. Carbonation in beverages tastes sour, they conclude, after a battery of quite convincing tests, checking to see if it tasted more salty, more sweet, and so on. There are stories about folks in China, a rapidly expanding wine market, putting Coke or Sprite into wine; this study suggests that they're not just making it sweeter, but rather, something more complex might be going on. And recall that the Greeks mixed water and wine, before ye judge the Chinese!

The second paper, Michael Silverstein's "Old Wine, New Ethnographic Lexicography" (Annual Review of Anthropology 35, 2006, 481-96), was suggested by an equally overeducated friend who ought to be reading this blog, if he knows what's good for him. This article was less useful. Coining the term oinoglossia, meaning "wine talk," the article discusses how learning the insider lingo of the wine world helps you signal yourself as being part of the wine-interested community. It uses wine talk as an example of how linguistic anthropologists need to understand how language divides up groups in culture.

But Silverstein insists that we have to understand both the words people use and the grammar in which they're used--even what I would call a cultural grammar, of using certain constructions or words in certain situations where you know you're being judged in some way, or want to win someone over and convince them you're in the "in" crowd. You don't just use certain words when you're trying to convince your boss you know what you're talking about--you talk in a certain way.

This is good, so far as it goes, but I didn't learn anything at all about the wine world from this article. It doesn't actually cite any examples! It's like linguistic anthropology without any actual drinking human beings.

In short: if I were out drinking some bubbly, which is about the only thing I can taste right now, I'd probably rather do it with Jayaram Chandrashekar, et al (there are seven authors on the paper, so you'd need a couple of bottles at least) than Silverstein. But the more the merrier!

Hedges Red Mountain

Hedges Family Estate
Red Mountain
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Cabernet Franc
Benton City, Washington, U.S.A.
2007
13.6%
$19.84 -- Twin Liquors, Bee Cave, TX

Color: Deep strawberry jam
Nose: Cherry, sage, hint of orange, vanilla
Body: Medium
Front: Tart cherries
Middle: Caramelly cedar
Back: Spice, chocolate
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

It's time to figure out which Washington reds I like. This one is great for the money. It's phenomenal with a pepper steak, not bad with a romaine-and-egg salad. It doesn't seem to evolve much as it opens--the tannins soften considerably, suggesting the wisdom of a year or two of patience (I'm going to get a couple of bottles to lay down). But the cherry-and-oak driven profile stays true for hours.

I reckon some folks will say this is over-oaked, but I'm not sure, as the fruit and acid still come through; others might think it one-dimensional, but that doesn't tally for me either, because of the herby dimensions. Whoever made this wine seems to me to be wondering, How can I make a Merlot-based blend that tastes like serious Bordeaux, yet also tastes like the Pacific Northwest? (If I learned that they fudged down a half-point on the alcohol level, however, I'd not be surprised.)

I think that it's nicely balanced, and that with a little time--or the right pairing--it'll be more interesting than many wines at this price. (My latest thing is to try all wines with pickles: this one tastes like a McDonald's cheeseburger when paired with pickles, and that is just awesome.) {Note, in 2014: Much, much better. Haunting, rich, and delicious.}

Terredora Dipaolo Falanghina

Terredora Dipaolo Viticoltori
Falaghina
Irpinia DOC
Montefesco, Campagnia, Italy
2008
13%
$10.49 -- Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Medium gold
Nose: A fire in the apple-flavored graham cracker factory
Body: Medium to full
Front: Meyer lemon
Middle: Apple-flavored tobacco
Back: Cedar, thyme
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Fake cork

A couple of days ago I lamented the passing of a 2007 Falanghina. Remembering that there was some more of this, one of my absolute favorite Italian whites, around, I reckoned I'd better move it up on the ol' Asmodeus food chain.

I'm glad I did: not only is it damn tasty, but it's palpably right on the edge of oblivion. The maderization is coming through (how could it be, since this isn't aged in oak?), flattening out the acid and the focused apple (I've had an 09 of this wine, and it's applerific); but it's still delightful, full, complex, and balanced. To folks who like fruity American whites, the nose on this will be almost alienating, reminiscent of a red wine.

Indeed, I'd expect Americans to divide seriously on whether or not they like this wine, because it doesn't play ball the way they're used to. But with food--even spicy food; I'm having it with cherry peppers, a spicy cheese (Oregonzola!), and paprika-laden chorizo--it's fantastic.

Just don't wait too long before you drink it!

Siduri Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

Siduri Wines
Santa Lucia Highlands
Pinot Noir
Central Coast
Santa Rosa, California, U.S.A.
2008
14.1%
$29.98 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Medium garnet
Nose: Strawberry jam, cherry, a little herb
Body: Medium
Front: Strawberry-cherry cola
Middle: Raspberry, banana
Back: A little sage, soft tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

This is a tasty, food-friendly, almost too-easy-drinking wine. It's rich, but not terrifically complex or deep or long on the palate. It was splendid paired with roasted chicken and a little avocado and tomato salad. Again, perhaps a tad overpriced for what you get, as is often the case with Pinot--I might try a circa-$20 Central Otago wine before this one, in the future. I don't think this is made to age particularly long, given the tannin structure, but it wouldn't hurt to wait another year, I reckon, before drinking it.

Lacrimus Rioja

Valsanzo (Bodegas Sendero Royal?)

Lacrimus

Crianza

Tempranillo, Graciano
Rioja DOCa
Rincon de Soto, La Rioja, Spain
2008
13.5%
$13.89 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Dark ruby

Nose: Cherry, blackberry bramble, orange grove

Body: Medium to full
Front: Cherry

Middle: Leather, spice, blackberry

Back: Licorice, gas

Burns clean?: Yes

Cap: Cork

A tasty Rioja, well worth the money. It'll age, I reckon, too. Good with food (pizza, in this case) and a bit brooding. It's a big wine, and I suppose one might say it's a "modern" style, but it's still plenty Spanish--the dark and herby aspects of it are to be reckoned. Hmm. Rosemaried lamb or potatoes would be awesome with this, come to think of it.

Lange Reserve Pinot Noir

Lange Winery

Pinot Noir

Reserve
Willamette Valley
Dundee, Oregon, U.S.A.
2008
13.5%
$30.99 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Medium reddish purple
Nose: Cherry candy, a hint of earth and smoke, a spritz of bug spray

Body: Medium
Front: Cherry

Middle: A hint of cassis, cinnamon, spiciness

Back: Cherry again, creamy this time

Burns clean?: Yes

Cap: Cork

This is a tremendously elegant wine--so elegant that I think I didn't really notice much flavor in the tail end of it. It's smooth and balanced, and perhaps in a year or two might become more intense. But at the moment, this is exactly the sort of bottle that has me scratching my head at Pinot Noir prices. For my palate, it's not as interesting as the Innocent Bystander, yet costs twice as much. Had I bought two bottles of this (as I did with the Pessagno), I'd put the other in the closet and wait for a couple of years before opening it. I'm not sure time does heal all things, but I reckon in this case it can't hurt.

After a long hiatus thanks to work, Asmodeus is BACK. I'd have dropped four wines on you today instead of three, if only the Falanghina hadn't been maderized. Believe it: four years may be too long for Falanghina.

Margerum M5

Margerum Wine Company
M5
Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Counoise, Cinsault
Santa Barbara County
Los Olivos, California, U.S.A.
2008
14.1%
$19.94 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Medium reddish purple
Nose: Cherry candy, orange, green apple, a hint of paprika

Body: Medium
Front: Cherry, plum, orange peel

Middle: Watermelon Jolly RancherTM

Back: Caramel espresso, soft tannins

Burns clean?: Yes

Cap: Cork

Finally, I think, I'm starting to see the core differences between French and California Rhone-style blends. The brightness of the mid-palate fruit in this wine--whose structure and flavors are otherwise very similar to a CDP--is distinctive. The tannins aren't as cultured as the CDP, either, but they're not the brutish ones of Napa Valley.

I've had earlier vintages of this wine and also liked them; it's much better with some decanting, as the fruit comes out more. Crucially, this wine is fantastic with a range of foods.

(Tonight I'm alternating sips of this with tastes of day 2 of Soos Creek's Sundance Merlot, which is fantastic, but which I won't review here because I want it all.)

A note on the notable, and to me suspect, glass ceiling of 90 points on Cellartracker for this wine: I fear that its questionable longevity is making folks rate it lower than their taste experience justifies, especially if they're drinking it with food. Cellartracker folks--knock me down if I'm wrong!

Vineyard Block Estate Block 939 Cabernet

Vineyard Block Estate
Block 939
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Calistoga, California, U.S.A.
2008
14.2%
$19.94 -- Spec's Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Deep reddish purple
Nose: Plums, stewed black cherry, orange, a little heat
Body: Full
Front: Plum, vanilla
Middle: Cherry, coffee, orange rind
Back: Chocolate, soft tannins
Burns clean?: No -- almost immediate headache after glass 2.
Cap: Recycled cork

This is pretty good for negociant wine. It's full on the palate, but not too cloying; great with grilled rack of lamb and almost as good with a tomato-basil soup. There's a lot of oak, so if you like that, you will be thrilled--there's not much spice or weird earthy flavor, which I prefer, but it's a hedonistic wine at a slightly less-than-indulgent price.

Feudi di San Gregorio Greco di Tufo

Feudi di San Gregorio
Greco di Tufo
Campagna 
Serpico, Avellino, Italy
2008
13%
$15.49 -- Twin Liquors, Bee Cave, TX

Color: Light gold
Nose: Grass, pear, honey
Body: Medium to full
Front: Lemony pear
Middle: Apple, banana
Back: White pepper, honey
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Wow. This is a phenomenal wine, to my taste. Acid up front, interesting fruit and secondary flavors battling it out in the middle, and a long, long finish with minerals and honeysuckle. This might be on the old side for Greco, at three years, but it's still seductive, like a good conversation. There may be a lot more of these appearing on the ol' Caveat Emptyer. I think would be fantastic with many, many things, especially seafood.

Kinton Syrah

Kinton Vineyards
Syrah
Santa Barbara County
Sta. Maria, California, U.S.A.
2004
14.3%
$13.39 -- Twin Liquors, Bee Cave, TX

Color: Beautiful, dark ruby
Nose: Blueberry, petrol, cherry,
Body: Medium to full
Front: Cherry, lime
Middle: Orange peel, plum, apple
Back: Coffee grounds, firm tannins
Burns clean?: Mostly
Cap: Cork

This has much of the style of Australian syrahs: big, bold, fruity, but dark and multilayered notwithstanding. I like this style, especially on a cold night and with old-school cooking. Some might find it too oaky, but it's getting reasonably old at this point, and I found the balance of fruit, acid, and secondary flavors pretty delightful. It's neither the smoothest nor the biggest Syrah out there; in the midpalate it backs off, a little, but I like the acidic fruit that you can taste when it does, so it doesn't bother me much, and the alcohol is reasonably under control.

On the Nature of Wine Blogs

FAITHFUL READERS, HAVE PATIENCE with me. Normally on a Friday night I'd be drinking wine and listening to Wilco and relaxing in front of a fire or within a pool. Instead I'm doing all of those things while composing a minor reflection spurred by a post at one of the best wine blogs out there, Vinography:

http://www.vinography.com/archives/2011/02/why_trust_a_wine_blogger.html

The gist of it is that there was a survey conducted asking winos what source they trust for wine information, concluding that wine blogs weren't really trusted. And more importantly, Vinography reflects thoughtfully on the circumstances of such surveying (including the fact that the surveyors spun their press release so that bloggers would react to, and thus propagate it) and offers data from his own site's survey and access statistics.

What Vinography doesn't do with this post is reflect on the relationship between bloggers and the wine industry--the elephant in the room when we talk about authority and consumer trust. The blogosphere's reputation as a third party has changed over the last few years, and will continue to change. It used to be that blogs were pretty radical and DIY, and now they're often co-opted (and we always suspect them of being so first, and look for clues of genuineness, a moving target). Look at how Gary Vaynerchuk massages his commercial interests in his video blog--it's an evolving, difficult issue, because the wine market changes, even as the media marketplace morphs at the same time.

On the one hand, if you buy a lot of wine over the $15 mark, you probably consult more than one source when buying something you've never tasted. So an industry insider--that is, one who has any kind of commercial stake in any part of the wine creation-and-circulation chain, including journalists and software designers--is never your only potential source.

On the other hand, no source or combination of sources is reliable. It's not the marketplace for reviews or wine itself that matters, but the palate and its aggregate shiftiness. Get Vaynerchuk, Parker, Galloni, and Asher together and get 'em drunk, and have them all agree, in that freewheeling ecstatic state, on five wines that they think are phenomenal. I'll bet you'll find at least one of those bottles pretty mundane, if not icky. I will never forget the disgusted look on the face of one of my guests a couple of years ago when I served her a glass of 2003 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel--not because I regret a faux pas, but because of how immediately I thought, menos burros, mas olotes.

But we can't do without wine writing and reporting. (Ranking we can do without.) Sure, we don't buy as much mail-order wine as we used to, and so the necessity to write about wines may be coming from other sources--perhaps, the explosion of an international trade market (in the U.S. anyway; the wine selections in Ireland, for example, are at the moment comparatively narrow); the diversification of the wine-drinking demographic; or the flood of Internet-vectored information about wines that comes from vendors or vintners, very little of which will actually make us pull the trigger on a bottle unless we're drinking it alone and can smother the shame of having been taken, if it turns out to suck.

Now, I don't know much about wine, partly because I'm not a wine industry person. But among the things I study is the relationship among writing, authority, and evidence. There is decent evidence of what makes a wine terrible, but not much about what makes one good. Time, temperature, terroir, temperament, mood, and mold all make a difference when we're talking about individual bottles, which I suspect is the way most of us buy. And all those factors can be taken into account in a written description of a wine: its social connections, food compatability, trajectory and history, all of these things that give life and richness can be conveyed.

That, to me, is the role of the wine blog. My title suggests that they have a nature, but frankly, the title is an essayistic affectation designed to attract the attention of wine bloggers (who will find much to complain about here, if they have any acuity or self-esteem). But what one does in a media outlet changes when its context changes. And the variety of social embeddings of wine that responsible wine blogs create (the jury is out for me on whether James Suckling's new project is responsible or not) is salutary.

That said, I really appreciate writers who make clear their relationship to the wine industry, even if only to say their role is just that of a verbose consumer. And it can catalyze fascinating interactions among readers, writers, and wineries, when you do: check out what I think is an astonishing and rare exchange at Wine Peeps, when a blogger had a tough time at a 2009 tasting at Soos Creek. (Also, please do NOT buy Soos Creek wines, because I want them all.)

At this point what irritates me most--and see Siva Vaidhyanathan's The Googlization of Everything for a much more detailed rant--is Google's algorithm and the search engine optimization industry. When I search for any particular bottle of wine, it's very difficult to find blog posts reviewing the wine, particularly if those blog posts aren't on massively linked sites like Vinography. There are thousands and thousands of wine blogs, and you can't tell me that a CDP I buy at Costco hasn't been reviewed on one of them. But it's gotten harder and harder over the last year, thanks to the Cork'd-Winesearcher-Snooth-Wine.com formations, to find blogger reviews unless they're brand new. If you want reviews that aren't trusted, it's the ones on these sites. StreetMarine says he found the Hello Kitty Brut Rose disappointing...say it ain't so!

So to those big four, and others that aspire to them: hear me. Start linking up blogger reviews. Do what Google can't, because your SEO specialists are hammering away at it, and give us links to blogger reviews of the wines, not just links to Cellartracker and some Parker scores.

And now, back to our regularly biased wine reviews!

Ornellaia Le Volte

Tenuta dell'Ornellaia
Le Volte
Toscana
Sangiovese, Cabernet, Merlot
Bolgheri, Italy
2006
13.5%
$23.39 -- Twin Liquors, Bee Cave, TX

Color: Dark ruby with tiny brown tinge
Nose: Cherry, olive, rose, wet earth; mint and raspberry after a couple of hours
Body: Medium
Front: Cherry tea, or possibly cherry-flavored tobacco smoke
Middle: Licorice, black olive, coffee bean
Back: Thyme, soft but graphitic tannins
Burns clean?: Immaculately
Cap: Cork

This is an entry-level red for the famous Ornellaia brand. It's an odd blend, in my experience; this one is delightfully complex, with a beautiful nose. I'm no fan of Sangiovese in general, but the layers in this wine are seductive and ceaselessly changing. I've had the 2005, which was also delightful, but a little age seems to have benefited this. The texture is largely smooth, with some tannins still noticeable at the end, and it's light-bodied but complex-flavored.

Now, here is a thing: I think this is sort of a wine-geek wine. You'll find it on restaurant menus, I know, and if it's really old or really young, my guess is, it's a good call. But even this, at 5 years old, really only came into its own after a couple of hours open. So make 'em decant it, or aerate it, or something, just in case. And though it's made from varietals with legendary presence, the combination of them is quite fascinating and subtle. Some wines taste the same, each time you take a sip (within the first couple of hours after they're open, anyway). This one changes, and next to the fascinating aromas of the wine, it's the best part of the show.

Ferrer Bobet Priorat

Ferrer Bobet
Priorat 
Carignane, Grenache
Falset, Tarragona, Spain
2006
15%
$33.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Cherry, plum, orange
Body: Medium
Front: Steely blackberry
Middle: Licorice, smoke, peppery spice
Back: Soft tannins, char, coffee bean
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Priorat: it's trendy, overpriced, and sometimes fantastic. This is pretty good, but I still think overpriced. It may be that in ten years (which it can certainly handle) it'll be awesome. Or, given the unevenness of the delivery on the palate, it may be that in six months it'll be fabulous, terrible in two years, and awesome again in five.

I suppose the moral of the story is: If you decide to go for this, get more than one bottle, and try to find it on sale! And don't try it with fondue. Terrible combination; shame on me!

Vincent Pouilly-Fuissé Marie-Antoinette

J.J. Vincent
Marie-Antoinette
Pouilly-Fuissé
Chardonnay
Fuissé, Burgundy, France
2008
13%
$15.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Light gold
Nose: Smoke, lemon, wet earth
Body: Light
Front: Salty peach
Middle: Lemony tang
Back: Oak, wet rocks
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I'm on a quest for a cheap Costco star Chardonnay, and it's not going well. So far, the Kumeu River and the Gary Farrell (which I see I did not review, but will next time!) are leading the pack, but they're not really cheap at around $20. Come through for me, France!

This is close. The nose isn't exciting, but on the palate, the wine is balanced, smooth, and has some nice layers of acid, fruit, and oak. It's great with the impromptu antipasto I'm having: cornichons, cherry peppers, a little salami, and mustard.

Von Strasser Cabernet Diamond Mountain

Von Strasser Winery
Diamond Mountain District
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Calistoga, California, U.S.A.
2005
14.1%
$39.43 -- Spec's, Austin, TX

Color: Dark cherry red
Nose: Stewed plum, herbes de provence, black cherry pipe tobacco
Body: Medium
Front: Sour cherry
Middle: Roasted fig, orange
Back: Toasted spices, soft tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I got this wine on a bit of a sale; I'd heard good things about the house, and loved a Diamond Mountain cab that I had at Sattui's Castello di Amoroso a couple of years ago.

This isn't a huge wine, but it's complex, and evolves in an interesting (though not quite distracting) way as it opens up. The nose is delightful; like the palate, it combines fruit and herb elements in a seductive way.

Ravenswood Pickberry Vineyards Red Wine

Ravenswood Winery
Pickberry Vineyard
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon
Sonoma Mountain
Sonoma, California, U.S.A.
2006
14.2%
$19.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Dark cherry red with purple tinge
Nose: Blueberry pie, cherry cola, cumin
Body: Full
Front: Cherry cream
Middle: Licorice, salt
Back: Marshmallowy tannins, green herbs of some kind
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This wine is powerful, but young. The tannins are nicely distributed throughout the wine, but they're everywhere you turn, as my "marshmallow" description is meant to suggest. I'm thinking of the outside of the marshmallow, there, though the richness of this wine lends it a more comprehensively marshmallow-like texture, come to think of it. The combination of big fruit and curry-like smells on this wine is completely enchanting to me, I must say; if the wine ever ends up tasting like that (and I think it's got several years to go before it really integrates) it'll be astonishing.

Angela Pinot Noir

Clawson Creek
Angela
Pinot Noir
Willamette Valley
Carlton, Oregon, U.S.A.
2008
13%
$29.98 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Medium garnet
Nose: Strawberry jam, cherry
Body: Medium
Front: Raspberry
Middle: Strawberry-cherry cola
Back: A little Slim Jim, soft tannins
Burns clean?: Very
Cap: Cork

The taste of this wine reminds me a bit of the Innocent Bystander Pinot Noir. It's bright, but not just fruity, with a couple of layers, and has a lovely texture. The price is, under the circumstances, a little shocking even at Costco (though after reading the hype about this wine, I'm curious why it is available at Costco; perhaps there was a large harvest in 2008).

But it certainly goes well with food -- grilled lamb chops, roasted beets, and sauteed beet greens with onions, dried red pepper, and garlic. After it was open three hours, it gained weight and interest, particularly when paired with some late-night sorpressata. And it comes in a gigantic bottle with a huge punt, so you can wear it on your head when you are finished drinking it.

Chateau de Launay Bordeaux Superieur

Chateau de Launay
Bordeaux Superieur
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
St.-Emilion, Gironde, France
2003
14.5%
$20.29 -- Twin Liquors, Bee Cave, TX

Color: Deep clear garnet
Nose: Cherry, black olives, black currant
Body: Medium to full
Front: Cassis, licorice
Middle: Black cherry, espresso, charred vegetables
Back: Leathery tannins, mint
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Alright. One mystery has been solved: my Bordeaux-disappointment problem. I like St.-Emilion, and not so much the other areas that I have tried. This may require a systematic approach to figuring out if this is true of all the areas.

There's a lot going on in this wine. It's good. I'm going to go back and get more. Tonight I'm having it with a little sauteed spinach, butternut squash soup, and lemon-herb marinated pork tenderloin, which I'm sure will be a good pairing, but it's pleasant with a simple chunk of Centenol cheese, too.

Tablas Creek Vermentino

Tablas Creek Vineyard
Vermentino
Paso Robles, California, USA
2009
13.5%
$24.00 -- Tablas Creek, Paso Robles, CA

Color: Light gold
Nose: Pear, honeysuckle, lime
Body: Medium
Front: Pear, apple
Middle: Marshmallows--not roasted, river stones
Back: Lemon, pine
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

There's a slight effervescence in this wine that I find delightful, right off the bat. This isn't the acidic, cutting style that I'm used to from Italian vermentinos, but it is damn fine. The pine flavor is an illusion; this wine is not fermented in oak, and they stop malolactic fermentation to keep the acid levels high. Still, it's very smooth, and would be great with seafood, particularly of the briny sort. I'd serve this to anyone.

Hall Cabernet

Ceramics by Wayne Bates.

Hall
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
St. Helena, California, U.S.A.
2006
14.5%
$28.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Deep cherry red
Nose: Blueberry jam, cherry, white pepper
Body: Full
Front: Cherry vanilla
Middle: Cream, raspberry
Back: Cafe au lait, blueberries, firm tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a large, rich wine, in a big California style. The oak is elegantly balanced, though, with interesting fruit. And it's not cloying or sticky; it has nice texture, and will evolve into a much smoother version of itself over time. The tannins will kick you if you try to drink it too soon after opening, so beware of it at a restaurant and ask for some time to breathe. If so, it's splendid with food--on its own at this age, it's a little too wound up, like having dinner with a smart, talkative humanities graduate student; he's brilliant, but more pleasant when occasionally silent from scarfing down food. Oddly (and maybe it's just my weirdo palate du jour) it was more fascinating with the bleu cheese, tomato, and iceberg salad tonight than the grilled ribeye (though tasty with both).

Wine Spectator gave this wine 94 points, which I can't quite support, and not just because we don't do points here at Caveat Emptyer: but I will say that it's a bargain at the Costco price.

Barrot et Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Domaine Lucien Barrot et Fils
Châteauneuf-du-Pape 
Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault
Vaucluse, Chemin du Clos, France
2007
15%
$25.95 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Dark red, purple edges
Nose: Stewed cranberries; licorice; coffee jam; Slim Jim
Body: Full
Front: Dark cherries, violets
Middle: Licorice, blackberries, mushrooms
Back: Espresso, firm tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Everybody has had coffee jam, right? Just checking. It's an occult southern tradition; you can look it up. This is a tasty wine, good for a cold night with some baked chicken and a warm, salty tomato and basil soup. It's a good deal at the Costco price, as there aren't a huge number of $25 wines that are this interesting, especially after an hour to breathe.

Mérode Ladoix 1er Cru White Burgundy

Prince Florent de Mérode
Ladoix 1er Cru
Hautes Mourottes
Chardonnay
Grand Vin de Bourgogne
Ladoix-Serrigny, Cote-d'or, France
2005
13%
$24.49 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Rich light gold
Nose: Lemon, salt, intriguing hint of charred bone
Body: Medium
Front: Lemon, salt
Middle: Lime, beach ball
Back: Wood for days, graphite
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a lovely wine, if a little rough in the transitions. The acid is good, and there's a hint of fruit in it, with nice non-food savors. It's great with nuts and cheese, and I think would be phenomenal with oysters, if I had any lying around here. The nose smells a bit like a fire raging in a lemon grove. Or a forest fire being put out with lemon juice, either of which reminds me more of California, but the palate is French to be sure.

Virage

Virage Vineyards
Napa Valley Red Wine
Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa, California, U.S.A.
2007
14.4%
$45.00 -- Virage Vineyards, Napa, CA

Color: Deep ruby with a tinge of purple
Nose: Herb, spice, a little lovely stank, vanilla, violets
Body: Medium to full
Front: Cherry
Middle: Currant, cilantro
Back: Smooth tannins, anise 
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

My affection for Cabernet Franc is well-known to my tiny following. As it happens, one of my blog's followers makes one, and this is her maiden vintage. I'm delighted to be among the first to drink this wine, and have been looking forward to it for months. As a point of information, this bottle (pictured at right with Wayne Bates pottery) wasn't a gift; indeed, I've never had a wine company send me anything to review, which shows that I have been doing something wrong!

This is a wine of tremendous subtlety, that rewards patience and a good meal to accompany it. The nose is enchanting, and more so the more air it gets. It has a combination of greenness--herby greenness, more than broccoli or that sort of thing--with dark fruit and telluric aromas that I like in some European wines and that's pretty rare in American ones.

At this price point, doubtless people who encounter this wine will decant it and give it an hour or two to open. Having gifted three bottles of it (see, Emily, I'm spreading the word in the best of ways, not just in the watered-down medium of a review!) I'm going to lay down my other two for two and five years: structurally they're built to last, and I am excited to see what the future holds for them and their younger siblings. {Note, in 2014: Just a beautiful wine, evolving slowly and surely.}

Domaine Carneros by Taittinger Sparkling Wine

Domaine Carneros
Brut
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
Napa, California, U.S.A.
2006
12%
$19.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Pale gold
Nose: Apple, minerals, a hint of bread
Body: Light
Front: Lemon
Middle: Bread, orange
Back: Lime, wet stones
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

What better way to ring in the new year--and more or less this blog's fourth--than with sparkling wine? This one has long been a family favorite, though I seldom, for some reason, take the time to review sparkling wines (a fault I'll correct this year), so it hasn't shown up yet.

The 2006 is super, at this price. Nicely balanced, with good bread, acidity, fruit, and a hint of something more. Just a hint, though: it doesn't have that powerful late-mid-palate delivery of something bizarre that I like most in sparkling wine. But it's a good pairing with almost everything except bubble gum and raw pork. Wasn't superb with pistachios, but you cannot win them all.

As for this blog, I note that last year was a banner year, if one measures things in terms of volume. This year I'm focusing a little more on quality. I'm not sure what that means, but I think it has something to do with reviewing odd varietals, tackling a couple of problems in the wine world, more carefully reviewing things made by houses I gravitate to, including more photos, and reporting on more wine dinners.