This is an inexpensive Spanish Garnacha (Grenache) from Spain. Ruby/purple in color. The nose has dusty black cherries. Sweet and slightly candied on the palate with black cherry fruit as well. Clean. This sells for around $20. It will work with heartier foods. This should be consumed in the next few years. A fun wine that should be a hit among non-wine geeks.
A blend of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, and Touriga Franca. This is an easy drinking red from Portugal. It retails for around $10. Ruby in color. The nose is a bit dusty with candied cherries. On the palate, this is sweet, jammy and candied. This retails for around $10, so its fine, but this is a wine, for casual wine lovers. It's not meant to be cellared or contemplative.
Green gold in color. The nose has nice minerality with slight lemons. On the palate, the lemons carry thru along with a slight bitterness. Good acidity. Nice finish. This retails for $23. It will works nicely with sea food and salads. Should be drunk in the next few years.
This is a wine made from the Trebbiano grape on the shores of Lake Garda from the Lugano DOC. Light golden in color. Lovely nose of tropical fruit, slight grassiness and underlying minerality. Very Sauvginon-like. On the palate, this is round and slightly oily. Velvety. Very nice texture. NIce acidity. Just a bit of lemony fruit with good minerality. Nice finish. Very food friendly and a crowd favorite.
This is quite good but needs a bit of cellar time to hit its potential. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has black raspberries, roasted meats, leather and slight white pepper. It seems tight and tannic on the palate. With air it has pretty sweet black raspberry fruit with some charred meat and an underlying mineral streak. Good finish. This has plenty of upside but if drinking before 2020, give it a nice decant.
This is 97% Syrah with 3% viognier cofermented from the Powerline Vineyard. This drinks in the style of the Northern Rhone but with a new world flair that works. It should improve with a few years of cellaring. Ruby in color, purple at the core. The nose has black raspberries, black olives and a nice minerality lurking in the backround. On the palate, this is softer in texture. Nice black raspberry fruit, slight black pepper and underlying char. Slight tannins that come out more with air. Good finish. This needs heartier foods but has the acidity to work well them.
Stunning bottle of wine. 100% Syrah. Ruby/purple in color. The nose has black raspberries, slight black pepper, a nice earthy note. With air, some black olives emerge along with a nice mineral backbone. On the palate, this has a great texture. Black raspberries, black licorice, and underlying char and minerals. Medium tannins. Long finish. This is intense, and concentrated and will need a few years to really open up but it is drinking great today. It needs hearty or spiced foods. Fantastic with upside.
Wine is subjective and this wine got some huge reviews from major critics. I can't get quite that far. This is a good wine though. 100% Grenache from Powerline Vineyard. Ruby in color, clear and bright. The nose is cherry cough syrup but in a good way. Not over the top. Also some smoke and a bit of leather. On the palate, the cherry cough syrup predominates. That is to say, thick, slightly sweet, with alcohol. There is some underlying char. Warm on the finish. One glass goes a long way and this would work by the fire on a cold night. It might be a difficult food match. YMMV.
Purple in color. The nose has cassis, black raspberries, and sandal wood. Also an herbal note that was hard to describe. A fellow taster said green olives and that is not too far off. On the palate, the Syrah seem to dominate although this is an 80/20 blend of Cabernet and Syrah. Black raspberries, an underlying char and some black olive notes. A very nice texture although a bit soft. The finish is a bit bitter black raspberry but not in a bad way. Overall, an excellent wine. It improved with air and more Cab notes seem to come out. It will be interesting to see how this ages.
At peak. Purple/ruby in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has nice cherries with some cassis and cigar box. On the palate, some complexity. Nice texture. Juicy cherries with some cassis and underlying slight cocoa dust and tobacco. Nice finish. This is about as good as this wine will be. Reasonably food friendly for medium and heavier foods.
