A few more reviews...

wine wine wine..down in my belly...here's a few to try..or avoid:

Château Rouquette Sur Mer Cuvée Amarante 2007, Ac Côteaux Du Languedoc La Clape $17.95

90

 Lovey dark red wine. Dried fruit and herbal nose with a slightly floral hint. Medium bodied, but concentrated. Very dry and savory. Very French. Plenty of fine, ripe tannin. An honest, dry, old world style wine that's not out to impress critics with over-extraction, too much oak or sweetness. Not necessarily a friendly sipper though, this really ought to be drunk with big, savory foods....red meat, spicy pasta etc. My kind of wine. This gal will certainly cellar for at least 5 years, it will likely soften and develop a more complex bouquet. But it's good to go now.

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc $19.95

90

A little spendier than some blancs yes..but full of flavour. A strong scent of pink grapefruit right out of the gate. Crisp and refreshing, nice medium body and really quite delicious. Would be great with grilled, mildly seasoned salmon (lemon, sea salt, pepper, fresh dill...nothing else!). Seafood, shellfish. Might be nice with mildly spiced asian foods, mild curried chicken, phad thai etc. And any chicken dish...roasted, a bit of rosemary maybe. Too bold flavours might kill the subtleties of this wine...keep it simple. If the food could use a squeeze of lemon...crack this gal open.

Marqués De Valcarlos Crianza $13.95

88

Tempranillo/Cabernet Sauvignon really is one of my favorite blends. This Navarra has a strong nose of oak, pepper, tobacco, some christmas spice and a hint of rubber. On the palate, medium body, stewed prunes and blackberries. A bit smokey. Finish is very woody (some might say over-oaked) and slightly astringent. This is certainly an old school, masculine and rustic wine, but I quite liked it.
A few years might soften it a bit, but for me it's ruggedness is the whole point. Good value. Drink with mexican food!

Henry Of Pelham Off Dry Reserve Riesling 2007 $15.95

88+
I picked up a few bottles of this direct from the winery before LCBO sold them...I'm glad they're in stock now because I love this wine. On the nose; a nice peachy, gooseberries, green melon and slightly gasoline thing happening. On the palate; tropical fruit, (mango!), citrusy and a slight biscuity nuance that of all things reminds me of dom perignon! My wife ordered in indian food, I ordered in sushi...I wanted to to see if i could find a wine to drink with both..this is what I picked, and it was perfect.

Tyrrell's Rufus Stone Shiraz 2007 $19.95

84..and that's generous.

LCBO has this rated as a "94" by some no-name Aussie reviewers. Last year's release of this wine got crazy good reviews..i missed out, sold out before i had a chance to try it. So when i saw this new batch a snapped up a few bottles....yeah...well I can only assume that is a rating for the previous vintage and not this weirdo. Big surprise that you've never heard of whoever gave this wine that rating. This wine is a disjointed, under-ripe, acidic mess. It tastes like homemade wine. popped-and-poured: An interesting oaky, slightly smoky berry nose with touches of spice, pine and tobacco. Disappointingly medium, almost light bodied. (Isn't this supposed to be an Australian Shiraz?? The epitome of BIG BOLD WINE!) Very little concentration of fruit that just can't compete with the raw cranberry, woody palate. Long finish, like lemon juice. Embarrassing release from Tyrrell's ("winery of the year"...says james haliday). I took back the rest.

By the way....anytime you see an Australian reviewer (like James Halliday for a prime example) reviewing Australian wine...deduct at least 2-5 points.

I'll do a whole other blog about wine reviews another time.