It’s the second day of the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference and the second round of live blogging. Yesterday, it was all white and rose’ wines in the tasting and today it’s all red wines. Let’s go.

The first wine is a 2006 Lovingston Pinotage, a wine from South Africa. The nose of this wine is a blueberry & chocolate thing, not terribly unlike a zinfandel. On the palate it’s a bit lighter than most zinfandel would typically be. It’s a little bit rustic and a little bit fruity. The mouthfeel is nice, as is the acidity. I’ll be honest, I’m not typically a fan of pinotage, but this is a decent wine. It retails for $24.  **Correction: While pinotage hails from South Africa, this wine is from Virginia!**

The next wine is an Italian wine, a 2004 Sagrantino from Tabarrini. It’s a deep dark wine in color, and the aromas are deep and dark too. It’s loaded with chocolate and dark berry aromas on the nose. The tannins are dense on this wine. I’d like to have this in the cellar a few more years before tasting, but it’s good. It’s a BIG wine and sells for about $55. Tasty stuff, if your into big, tannic, acidic wines.

The next one is a 2007 Cab Franc from the Williamsburg Winery. It’s blended with 15% merlot and 5% petit verdot. At first it strikes me as a bit angular. It has some nice herbal notes, but they don’t seem integrated at first. It may just be my nose at the moment. It tastes good, a bit of plum and cherry. The finish has a nice mineral characteristic.

The fourth wine is a pinot noir from King Estate. This is one of the most aromatic pinot noirs I’ve tasted recently. It’s the 2008 vintage and comes from Eugene, Oregon. The acidity is nice on the palate, and it’s a lighter wine. While it is a very nice pinot noir, it’s also $60… so, it’s a bit steep for most of our readers.

Next up is a 2007 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon from Cornerstone Cellars. We’ve reviewed some of the value line from this producer before, named Stepping Stone. This cabernet has a bright, exciting nose that just sings… and harmoniously. The mouthfeel is absolutely velvety and beautiful. The flavors are beautiful too. It has a touch of a bitter tea characteristic on the finish, but I’m not complaining about it. It’s an outstanding wine… but another pricey one at $75.

Now we’re moving on to a TetraPak boxed wine called CalNaturale. It’s a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles, California. It’s also an organic wine. I feel bad for this producer to be right behind the Cornerstone Cellars, as that was an exceptional cabernet. This one is a disjointed on the nose, with a cooked berry aroma. And that cooked berry flavor comes through on the palate too. The acidity is a bit harsh. It’s drinkable, but not exceptional.

Moving from a box, we’re not tasting wine from a bag or a “pouch” as they call it. It’s the Climber Cabernet Sauvignon, non-vintage. It’s a cool package, but the wine isn’t grabbing me. It’s really tight on the nose, I’m not getting much at all from it other than a little bit of cherry. It tastes a bit better though. It’s definitely a drinkable wine, but again, not exceptional.

Going back to bottled wine, this is the 2008 Centine by Banfi. It’s a Tuscan blend, based on sangiovese. It’s in the $10-12 price range, so we’re back in our neighborhood. The nose on the wine doesn’t scream “sangiovese” to me, but it’s still pleasant. The palate has nice bright acidity and some tasty fruit. It’s not bad at all for a bargain-priced Italian red.

2008 WillaKenzie Pinot Noir is the next wine. It’s a really vibrant wine on the nose with bright red berry aromas. The palate is also really vibrant, with outstanding acidity and plenty of fruit. This is a tasty, tasty wine. We’re moving so quickly that I don’t have time to dwell on it. It retails for $41 and come from Oregon.

Now I’m tasting my firs Virginia wine of this tasting. It’s a wine called Engagement from Mountfair and it’s the 2009 vintage. It’s a red blend of Merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot. It sells for $25. The nose is really interesting on this wine, with plenty of vanilla and spicy red berries. The oak seems a little out of balance on the palate to me (too heavy), but it’s still a nice wine. It has a nice mouthfeel.

Here’s another Virginian wine called CasaNoVa from Tarara Winery, and it’s also a blend. The nose has a nice blend of red berry and herbal aromas. This wine has a nice, silky feel in the mouth with rich berry flavors. It’s a very tasty wine and retails for $50.

The final for me in this tasting is the 2006 Octagon from Barboursville Winery and it’s a Bordeaux style blend. This is one of my favorite wines I’ve tasted in Virginia and I’d have to say, one of the best all-around producers in the area, based on what I’ve tasted while here. It’s a very elegant wine with a beautiful, harmonious nose. The palate is silky and delicious. With very good depth and structure. The owners of this winery also own a number of vineyards in Italy. It’s a superb wine! Ciao ciao.

Today I am at the 2011 North American Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville, Virginia. And you may be asking yourself, “Why the hell is there a wine bloggers conference in Virginia?” Well, there is actually some very tasty wine made here… it doesn’t all come from California. I haven’t had a chance to taste much Virginian wine yet, but I’ve had some. In fact, this morning I tasted Virginian viognier, cabernet franc and even a nebbiolo that were really nice, all from Barboursville Winery. And we’re about to taste more wine from Virginia and other regions.

Live blogging at these conferences is like a speed dating version of wine tasting. A producer comes to our table and gives us a sample of their wine, tells us about it and we can write about it, all within a couple minutes. It’s really fast. This is my third year doing it and the first year I took it really seriously and tried to get detailed notes on all the wines, but now I know better and I just have fun with it. I’ll highlight a couple wines that stand out.

We are actually doing two live blogging sessions, one today and one tomorrow. The one today is all white, rose’ and sparkling wines.

So far we’ve already had a couple sessions. Jancis Robinson gave the keynote to get the event rolling, and she had great advice for aspiring wine writers, as one would expect from her. Here’s a picture of the scene for that.

After that, I attended a session on aromas in wine wherein we practiced our craft of detecting aromas in wine with six wines and a tray full of comparative aromas. This is always a fun exercise and something you can’t practice too much, if you want to better your wine assessment abilities. Here’s a picture of the aroma tray.

Alright… so bring on the live blogging! I’ll be updating this post as the tasting goes on.

First up, is wine from Texas! WTF?! It’s the 2009 Viviana from Llano Estacado Winery, which is mad from a blend of gewurztraminer, riesling, viognier and muscat canelli. It’s very aromatic with a touch of honey, lychee and herbal aromatics. It smells like it would be sweet, but it is a dry wine. The flavor profile is focused on citrus. It’s crisp and refreshing and much better than you’d expect from a hot, dry place like Texas. Nice job! The suggested retail price is $22.95.

The next wine is a rose’. (Note: I’m typing this on my iPad and it takes too long to dig out the special character for the ‘ over the e). This wine is from Chateau Morrisette. It has a nice delicate, lime and mineral aroma. The flavors bring a hint of strawberry, but it’s dry not sweet, along with apple and citrus. This one is from Virginia. It’s another nice wine.

Next up is the Boxwood Estate Rose’ which is made from juice pulled off from their red wines. This one is another lime and mineral story on the nose. In the mouth it’s a touch of apricot, a touch of pear and a touch of citrus. Nothing too intense. This one comes from Middleburg, Virginia.

Back to the white wines, this is a viognier from Baboursville Vineyards. I actually tasted this wine earlier today and it’s a really nice one. Viognier does very nicely in the Virginia area. This is a nice aromatic wine with good floral characteristics as well as some citrus. On the palate, it’s very citrusy. Sometimes viognier can be a bit oily in mouthfeel and sometimes a bit more crisp, this one is on the crisp side. It’s great. I love it!

Tabarrini Adarmando is the next wine, and it’s Italian. So, we’re leaving the country now. This is a deep golden color. It has a nice deep aroma with notes of petrol and hay and other herbal aromatics. The palate brings some cooked pear flavors and citrus, with nice intensity. It’s a fun wine.

Now we’re coming back to Virginia for another viognier from Michael Shaps. The aromas are floral in nature (of course) and I’d say, lanolin. The palate has a really nice crispness with great acidity and citrus flavors. This particular wine comes from a bottle, but the producer says they are also doing a bag-in-box wine that retails for the equivalent of $7.50 a bottle! I can say that the one from this bottle is great. I’d like to try the one in the box too.

Jefferson Vineyards brings the next wine, a Pinot Gris. It’s grown on land that was at one time owned by Thomas Jefferson. It smells nice a crisp with lime aromas, and it tastes crisp too, with lime and mineral flavors. It retails for $18.95.

OK, so we’re tasting some California wine while we’re here. This is a sauvignon blanc from Sivas-Sonoma, which is part of the Sabastiani family. This is a nice, grassy and grapefruit smelling sauvignon blanc which has outstanding aromatics. The palate is grapefruit, apple and mineral. It’s very nice. Much better than many Californian sauvignon blanks that I’ve tasted.

The next wine is from Maycas, and it’s a chardonnay from the Limari region in Chile. This is an oaken chardonnay, in French oak. It’s a very crisp chardonnay, with nice citrus flavors making it apparent that it didn’t undergo malolactic fermentation. A+

Coming back to Virginia, the next wine is the 2010 Verdejo from Keswick Vineyards – which is the only Virginian verdejo you can buy. It’s a delicate wine on the nose, with soft citrus aromas. On the palate, it’s crisp with delicate citrus and mineral flavors.

Tarara Winery in Leesburg presented the next wine, which is a blend of chardonnay and viognier. This vineyard is right off the Potomac River and they try to show that terroir in this wine. It has very herbal aroma. The acidity in this wine is bright. There’s an herbal flavor in this wine too. It’s a big angular, but distinctive and interesting.

The final wine of this tasting is from The Williamsburg Winery, and it’s their 2009 Chardonnay. It’s a burgundian-style chardonnay made with a combination of stainless steel and oak fermentation. The oak aromas are light, definitely not overdone. The palate is approachable and had a nice balance of fruit and earthy flavors. It retails for $14, which is a great deal for this wine. It’s a nice one and a great food wine.

And that’s all for this tasting. Cheers!

The second US Wine Blogger’s Conference began earlier today and I’m glad to in attendance once again.  It’s a gathering of hundreds of wine bloggers like me, along with just many participants from within the wine industry.

We’ve already done our opening events (i.e. registration, meet the sponsors, lunch, welcome, etc.) and it’s time for our first “real event,” Live Wine Blogging.  The event is something like speed dating between wine makers and wine bloggers.  A producer comes to our table tells us about their wine and gives us a sample while we blog our thoughts about the wine, on the spot.  And we only have about 5 minutes with each wine!

We did this event last year, and I took it all too seriously.  I did my best to do a reasonable job taking notes and coming up with a rating for each wine.  But it was a chaotic frenzy throughout the event.  And to be honest, I can’t do justice to my reviews in that time frame.  So, this year I’m taking a different approach.  I’m enjoying the experience, blog about the experience, and I might mention a couple wines that catch my fancy.  But I’m not going to review every one of them.

Here’s a glimpse of the conference, during lunch before the live tasting started.  This is just a sliver of the crowd here.  We’re getting more crowded since I took this shot, especially since a couple wineries are stuck in traffic and late for the live blogging… therefore we’re consolidating tasting groups at fewer tables.

Let’s bring on the tasting!!

Delay: We were on the cusp of starting this event and due to wireless Internet connectivity issues they changed the schedule on us.  Live blogging will begin in 20 minutes or so. (posted 6:10 ET)

OK… finally, the live blogging is back on (6:33 ET)

Sounds like we’re starting with some Fish Eye.  It get’s no cheaper than this, so we are on equity for CheapWineRatings, the suggested retail price is $6.99. And it’s a pretty straight-forward, cheap pinot grigio.  Lime, mineral, a little pine tree aroma. Light, almost flavorless on the palate other than a slight sweetness.  It’s not a bad wine, just very light… not much to it.  Could be refreshing on a hot day.

On to our next wine and it’s Pinot Evil, pinot noir.  It’s a boxed pinot noir and another bargain wine at $18.99 for a box with the equivalent of 4 bottles.  It actually has an OK nose, unexpected from a boxed wine.  It has a little licorice, a little tar, a little cherry.  It’s a little sweet, but otherwise, not a bad pinot for the price.

Onto Cupcake Cabernet Sauvignon.  I’m already taking it too seriously again.  Time to just start having fun.  This is a good Cabernet Sauvignon for $13.99.  Solid structure, interesting nose.  Nuff said.

Next up is a blend from Snows Lake.  Blend of Cab Sauv and Cab Franc.  It’s a fantastic wine.  On a side note, Mrs. Cheap Wine Ratings has bailed on the live blogging to spend time poolside.  As a result all the wine reps have decided that the open spot she left is the perfect place to stand while they tell us about the wines.  So, I have to taste these wines with random stranger’s asses next to my face.  Not fun.  Wifey is in trouble for this one.

I’m scooting over so that I can taste the Line 39 2007 Petite Sirah without ass in my face.  It’s a beautiful purple wine.  The nose is a little tight, but it’s big and fruity on the palate with lingering dark fruit.  You know, as short as most of my posts are, it usually takes me an hour and a half to taste, take pictures and write something up.  This is fun.  But not condusive to meaningful reviews.

Cline Cellars just walked up with a 2007 Ancient Vines Mourvedre.  I thought they would have a Zinfandel, which I’ve already had, so I’m glad to see it’s a new variety.  Dirty, dirty dirty on the nose with cassis and licorice.  I just inhaled too quickly and made myself dizzy.  This wine retails for about $16.  The palate is fantastic… full of dark berries, black pepper, coffee and cocoa.  Splendid.

After a number of reds, there’s nothing like shaking things up with a Chardonnay, and here comes the Tandem 2007 Chard. It has a powerful nose.  This is one of the most floral chardonnays that I’ve tasted.  It’s great.  The winemaker, Greg La Follette, has a flute in his pocket… seriously.

Another wine rep is squeezing herself into the spot next to me, getting uncomfortably close.  I don’t even know what wine this is.  She’s not presenting it very well.  All I know is that it’s white and it’s a 2007, that’s all I could hear, and I can’t read the bottle from this angle.  There’s another rep across the table from me covering the label with her hand.  I still have no idea what wine this is.  I did just hear that it retails for $18.  Finally, I see that it’s a chardonnay, but I could have told you that from the taste.  I still don’t have the name.  It’s Foggy something.  She left.

On to the Clif Syrah.  Presented much more effectively than the last rep.  This one is a big syrah with tongue-coating berry flavors.  Yadda, yadda.  That tells you nothing, I know.  Berry… how many friggin’ wines have that characteristic?  I have no patience to try to do real tasting notes in this crowd.  But it is a good wine and this second wine I’ve had from Clif that has impressed me.  I just took a picture of the wine, but I felt like I was taking a picture of the reps chest. I’ll post it later.

Yet another uncomfortably close rep, leaning over me and speaking loudly about the wine.  I can feel his breath on my head as he speaks.  He just said terroir, the first one to use that word on me today.  Anyway, the wine is a Pinot Noir from Benovia and it’s the best Pinot Noir I’ve had so far today.  A bit of raspberry, a touch of pepper, a touch of mushroom (I guess that’s the terroir).

2007 Lion’s Pride Pinot Noir, for which the grapes are grown by students at the El Molino High School.  A different winemaker makes the wine each year and part of the program is to teach the kids about growing grapes.  It’s a good, spicy pinot noir.  Not as good as the Benovia, but it’s tasty.  Only 100 cases are produced, so it’s not a wine you’ll find in your local store, but you can buy it from their website.  I grew up in farmland area in Illinois, so I understand agricultural programs in high schools.  Good for them to get to do this.

It’s time for our last wine, and it’s Rockaway from Rodney Strong.  YES!!! Great wine, but one I can’t get in my local shops.  It’s only available through allocation (i.e. you need to be on a list to buy it – you can sign up on their website). It retails for $75.  Nobody comes to this website to read about a bottle of wine that is that expensive.  But so what?  It’s an outstanding wine, but not worth $75 to me.  That’s why I do this site.  There is diminishing returns on spending more for wines.  Yes, this is great… but you can find plenty of wines for under $20 that you would like nearly as much, just as much, possibly more.  Nothing against this wine.

The live blogging is over, and I just sold some ads to Atkins Cuisine.  I’ll be presenting here at the conference on Friday about monetizing wine blogs, so good timing on a sale to highlight during my talk.

OK, so no… I didn’t uncover leaked information about who won the Murphy-Goode Really Goode job.  But I do know who the real winner is, it’s Murphy-Goode.

In case you haven’t heard about this let me give you the background.  The folks at Murphy-Goode wine set up a contest where they asked people to apply to become a “Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent.”  This means that you blog, vlog, Tweet and social network all about Murphy-Goode wine.  And they are paying the winner of this contest $60,000 to do this for 6 months and the winner gets to live in a house in wine country on MG’s tab.

Now, I say that Murphy-Goode is the real winner because I would estimate the value of the “free” media they’ve gotten from this contest to be worth ten-fold what they’re paying the so-called winner, if not more.  And that’s even before they’ve picked a “winner.”  Bloggers everywhere, as well as traditional media, jumped all over this story and have given Murphy-Goode huge volumes of “share of voice” in the media.  And here I am, another sucker giving Murphy-Goode more free publicity.  At least I’m in good company.

I know that cost of the prize is not all that Murphy-Goode invested in this promotion though.  I would guess they spent about $250k with a marketing agency on the creative.  If they paid less, then their agency is undercharging.  But either way, Murphy-Goode comes out way ahead on this one.

When I first heard about this contest I was into it.  I had 4 or 5 people tell me about it and suggest that I enter it.  I thought about throwing my hat in the ring, but then I remembered that I already have a really good job.  And once I started watching the videos that were submitted, it confirmed that I didn’t want to enter.  It just seemed way to narcissistic to me to sit in front of a camera and proclaim why I deserve this job.  That’s just not me.  And when I really think about the responsibilities the winner will have, I think they are underpaying for this job.  On the surface it sounds like all fun and games, but if the winner takes this seriously, it will be an exhausting job that requires dedication to Murphy-Goode 24/7.

I laughed at and made fun of many folks who entered, but at the same time I give a nod of respect to all of them because I could never put myself out there the way they did.

Dozens of wine bloggers have rallied behind Hardy Wallace from Dirty South Wine and endorsed him to be the winner of this promotion.  To be honest, I was a little put off by how quickly everyone got behind Hardy.  I like Hardy, but I didn’t want to endorse a candidate until all the entries were in.  That just seemed more thoughtful and genuine to me.  In fact, my plan was to watch all the videos and pick my favorites from them.  Then over 900 videos were submitted and I tossed that plan out the window.  I’m not going to assume that responsibility unless Murphy-Goode wants to hire me to watch them all.

But now they are down to 10 finalists and the winner will be announced tomorrow, July 21.  So, it’s time for me to make my endorsement.  And my endorsement goes to Hardy Wallace! He got a lot of support when he first got into this and I’d like to give him that little extra push here at the tail end of the process.

When I first heard about this contest, even before I considered entering it myself, I thought that Hardy was perfect for this.  I’ve met Hardy and he is… well, I’ll say it again… perfect for this job.  He’s super friendly and super funny.  He’s the kind of person who you feel like you’ve been friends with him for years only moments after meeting him.  He knows his wine.  He has a good following online.  In fact, practically overnight he amassed an army of supporters in his bid for this gig.  He’s not only good with blogging and social networking, but he’s apparently a PR machine as well.  He’s gotten publicity for himself all over the place.  He even flew out to California from Atlanta to attend the kickoff of this contest, which shows his commitment to it.  And he’s “on equity” for Murphy-Goode, to use some marketing lingo.

And so, I hereby proclaim that Murphy-Goode should award this gig to Hardy Wallace.  He has been endorsed, yet again.

Now Hardy, I hope you invite me for a visit if you win

My friend Kevin Keith, blogger at Under the Grape Tree and head wine buyer at Liquor Direct in Northern Kentucky, has invited me to present the weekly wine tasting at Liquor Direct this Friday and Saturday, May 15 & 16.  It’s really pretty casual, not a formal presentation or anything.  Kevin asked me to pick the wines and I’ll be on-hand to talk about the wines you’re sampling.  I did this one last fall and it was fun to meet some of the local readers of this blog.

Times and locations:

• Friday 4-8PM @ Fort Thomas, Liquor Direct
• Saturday 2-6PM @ Covington, KY Liquor Direct

Since there are 2 locations I can’t be in both places at once.  Jonathan Seeds, another Cincinnati-area wine blogger, will be at the location opposite me at each of those times with his own theme.  You can check out his blog too at Best Drink Ever.

The theme I picked for this tasting is European Red Wines for Under $20.  Unless anything changes before then there will be a couple wines from Spain, a couple from Italy and one from France.  And because I like to constantly try new wines myself, I picked a few new ones for this along with a couple favorites.  Most of the wines we’ll be tasting are ones that I haven’t even posted an official review about.  And so, I’ll give you the quick assessment.  Please note that the prices are just from my notes the last time I bought these wines. I don’t work for Liquor Direct and can’t guarantee the prices.  They usually have special prices at tasting also, so you’ll probably do better than what I have listed here.  Here’s what we’re planning:

Villa Brondello Primitivo 2007
This is an Italian wine and if you’re not familiar with Primitivo, well it’s the same grape you may know as Zinfandel.  That said, it is stylistically different from what you probably think of as Zin.  The nose has a dusty nature to it.  I would describe the nose on this one as cherry, dusty tomato, sage and coffee.  The palate is much softer than California Zinfandel.  It’s full of rich tannins, dark cherry, blackberry, oak and cocoa.  It is not at all jammy.  It’s well balanced and very approachable.  To be honest, it’s slightly over-oaked in my opinion, but it’s still good.

Rating: 85
Price: $7.98

Mano a Mano Tempranillo 2006
Now we jump over to Spain for a little Tempranillo.  This is a tasty wine and quite a bargain.  Blackberry, salami, black pepper and tea on the nose.  The palate has big blackberry flavors followed by tea on the mid-palate and finish.  It’s not very complex, but it’s still a yummy Tempranillo.

Rating: 87
Price: $8.59

Tres Picos Garnacha
Since we’re enjoying Spain, let’s stay there for a minute to enjoy some Tres Picos Garnacha.  To be honest, I don’t even have formal tasting notes on this wine in my database (yes, I’m that geeky that I keep a database of my tasting notes).  It kind of amazes me that I don’t have notes on this one because it is a quick pick favorite of mine.  If I’m having friends over or going to a party I’ll often grab a bottle of Tres Picos because I know it’s going to be good.  If I had to guess (and I do) I’d say that it would end up getting a rating between 88-90 from me.

Rating: 88-90
Price: I have to go from memory here $14-15

E. Altare Dolcetto d’Alba 2006
And now it’s back to Italy for a recent favorite of mine from a review of wines from Piedmont, Italy.  Read about it in that post.

Rating: 90
Price: $17.69

Gerard Bertrand Tautavel 2005
This is a red blend from the Tautavel appellation in the Roussillon region of France, and it’s outstanding.  It’s a combination of Grenache, Syrah and Carnigan… not a surprising blend at all from France.  The bouquet on this wine favors the earth-side of the spectrum.  Mushroom, toasted oak and walnut provide an earthy foundation to soft cassis and blackberry aromatics.  The blackberry and cassis come to life in a big way on the palate, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “fruit forward”.  It is an elegant and full bodied wine, with silky tannins that give a luxurious feel to the wine.  The berry flavors linger on the finish.  This is a very nice wine.

Rating: 89
Price: $17.69

I hope you stop by, say hello and challenge me on my tasting notes.

Yesterday I had the honor to be one of the 45 judges for the upcoming Cincinnati International Wine Festival.  There were 350+ wines entered in the competition, of which I only evaluated about 40.  I thought you may be curious to get a little behind-the-scenes peek at how judging is done for these competitions—as well as a sneak peek at my personal picks.

This wine festival is one of only two in the country that train their judges to ensure consistency—the other is the American Wine Society competition.  All judges in Cincinnati are required to attend a training session about a month prior to the actual judging.

The wines in the Cincinnati competition are judged on a 20 point system, using a modified version of the American Wine Society evaluation chart.  It’s modified by changing “appearance” to only 1 point and “overall impression” to 4 points.  This is a much different system than I use on Cheap Wine Ratings where, as you know, I provide a score based on a 100 point scale.  The evaluation is a lot faster than I typically spend with a wine also.  I usually spend 20-30 minutes exploring a wine while I take my notes, but at the competition we had about three minutes with each wine.

The judging is done by panels of five judges.  All wines are tasted blind.  We each rate all the wines in a flight of 4-8 wines and then compare our scores.  The goal is to have all judges within a three point range.  If one of the judges on the panel has a divergent opinion on the wine, then we all revisit it and debate why we gave the scores that we did until we can come to a consensus.  It’s a good way to ensure that one person’s personal preferences aren’t the deciding factor on a score.

Typically there is a progression from white wines to red wines in these events, but the organizers mixed it up this year and I was surprised at how well that worked.  The panel I was on started with a flight of Malbec, followed by Pinot Noir, red blends, then two white flights before we went back to reds.

The day started with a warm up.  Everyone in the room tasted two high-end wines, a white and a red.  We tasted them blind and the results reinforced my position that expensive wines are not that much better than affordable wines.  They were both good wines, but definitely not a life changing experience.  And the scores around the room did not give them perfect scores either.

My Favorites

Disclaimer: I don’t know the medal winners for this competition yet, and I won’t know until it’s announced to the public.  I also didn’t taste all of the wines entered into the competition—I didn’t even taste 20% of them.  I’ll share with you my favorites from those that I tasted, but to avoid being a spoiler I won’t give you my scores.

I will tell you that I’m not listing everything I tasted, I’m only listing wines that I thought were very good to exceptional.  But these are listed in the order I tasted them, rather than how they scored.  You’ll have to check out the official results to get the scores.  I should also note that although I typically focus on wines that are $20 and less on this website, the wines I tasted ranged in price and a few of my favorites were over $20.  But there are a number of great deals in the mix.  The prices listed are approximate and based on prices I found in online searches.

Tamari Malbec, 2006 – $14

Septima Malbec, 2006 – $11

Mac Murray Pinot Noir, 2006 (They have a couple different Pinot Noirs and I didn’t note which one.  I’ll update when I find out)

Sebastiani Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, 2006 – $18

Robert Mondavi Private Select Meritage, 2006 – $10

Helix Pomatia Red Blend, 2005 – $22

Blackstone Sonoma Reserve Rubric Red Blend, 2005 – $19

Dry Creek Valley Vineyards Fume Blanc, 2007 – $14.50

McNab Ridge French Colombard, 2008 – $14

Michel-Schlumberger Pinot Blanc, 2007 – $21

Maryhill Winemaker’s White White Blend, 2007 – $14

Menage a Trois California White White Blend, 2007 – $12

Michael David Petite Sirah, 2006 – $18

Two Angels Petite Sirah,  2006 – $25

Annabella Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 – $12

Sebastiani Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 – $18

Broadside Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 – $16

Attend the Cincinnati International Wine Festival

If you want to try these and hundreds of other great wines, consider attending the Cincinnati International Wine Festival.  The event runs March 12-14, 2009 and offers a number of different tasting events.  Tickets run from $55-100, depending on which events you want to attend.  For the bargain hunters, the Saturday afternoon tasting is the way to go at $55.  It also tends to be less crowded than the other times.   The proceeds from the event go to charity and your ticket is partially tax deductible.  It’s a fun event and a great way to discover some new wines and make some new friends.

I have a few quick notes for you tonight on some upcoming wine events.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #53

You may recall that I was the host for the last Wine Blogging Wednesday, just a few weeks ago, when we featured value red wines from Chile.  The next installment of this monthly event will be hosted by El Bloggo Torcido, the official blog from Twisted Oak Winery.  The theme this month is Wine for Breakfast.  The challenge is to pair a white or red wine with a breakfast dish.  Sparkling wines, dessert wines and wine cocktails are not allowed.

As much as I love wine, I’ve never had it with breakfast.  So, this will be a first for me and may be the springboard for a dark and ugly future.  But check back here next Wednesday to find my breakfast wine selection and check El Bloggo Torcido for the summary from all the contributors.

Cincinnati International Wine Festival

Preparations are underway for the biggest annual wine event in Cincinnati, which happens March 12-14 this year.  It’s a great event and a wonderful opportunity to sample from a huge selection of wines.  I recommend getting a hotel room downtown so that you can walk to your room after the event (as you’ll probably be in no condition to drive).  Hotels are offering special rates for the event.  Tickets are on sale now.

Local Cincinnati Wine Tastings

Many of the local wine shops stopped doing tastings over the holidays because they were just too busy with holiday business.  They are starting back up again, so get out and discover some new wines.  Our friends at Liquor Direct contacted me this week to let me know that they are starting up again this Friday and Saturday.  They are one of my favorite stops, since they not only pick some good wines but tend to keep the prices down to where a frugal guy like myself wants them to be.  And this weekend they are featuring value wines! What more could I ask for?

And of course you can always check My Wine Education.  This is wine blog written by another friend of mine in the Cincinnati area and she keeps a Cincinnati Wine Events calendar on her site where you can always find out what wine events are happening.

Cheers!

I am sitting at the first US Wine Bloggers Conference in Santa Rosa, CA and we are about to do a live blogging wine tasting.  You could call this speed tasting.  We get 5 minutes with each wine.  Many of these wines are over the price range we typically do here.

Disclaimer: My normal process for reviewing wines takes 20-30 minutes per wine.  The results in this post are quick impressions and were not evaluated with the same vigor as most ratings on this site.  Here are the results.

Bonterra – The McNab

60% Merlot 26% Cab, 14% old vine Petite Syrah.  Made with biodynamic wines.  Strong raspberry, cherry and cedar, plus a bit of leather on the nose. It is very dry on the palate with loads of blackberry and raspberry fruit, plus there is loads of spice. The finish is loooong.

Wine: Bonterra – The McNab
Varietal: Red Blend
Vintage: 2004
Rating: 89
Price: $45

Weir Vineyards – Bink

Soft and earthy nose that I would describe as cherry and straw.  It comes alive on the palate with cherry and strawberry flavors.  It is hot and spicy with a bit of black pepper.  The finish is medium in length, but very interesting.  I like the structure in this wine.

Wine: Weir Vineyards – Bink
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2005
Rating: 89
Price: $40

Clos LaChance – Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

Blackberry and bramble on the nose.  Rich and velvety on the palate.  Great structure.  Blackberry, black pepper, cherry.  Outstanding chocolate on the mid-palate and long finish.  There’s quite a bit of heat in this one too.

Wine: Clos LaChance – Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2005
Rating: 91
Price: $30

Boho Chardonnay

This is a boxed wine and there’s the equivalent of 4 bottles of wine per box-3 liters.  Wine stays fresh for weeks after opening.  Lots of banana on the nose, which is in general rather tropical.  There’s also a strong oak quality.  The palate has a good acidity, but the structure is a bit weak.

Wine: Boho
Varietal: Chardonnay
Vintage: 2006
Rating: 80
Price: $24 (3 liters)

James David – Muscat Blanc

Bright tropical fruits on the nose–pineapple, citrus, pear (I know that’s not tropical).  Great acidity.  The tropical flavors continue on the palate with mango, pineapple, pear also.  But it is not too sweet.  This is a very refreshing wine.

Wine: James David – Muscat Blanc
Varietal: Muscat
Vintage: 2006
Rating: 87
Price: $18

Twisted Oak – The Spaniard

This is a blend of… you guessed it, Spanish varieties. Earthy and complex nose.  Cherry, blackberry, and bramble.  Awesome palate.  Big raspberry and blackberry flavors and earthy oak, black pepper.  In the picture is winemaker (and wine blogger) Jeff Stai, proudly holding the bottle.

Wine: Twisted Oak – The Spaniard
Varietal: Red Blend
Vintage: 2006
Rating: 92
Price: $49

Dark Horse

The rep called this a cowboy wine and appropriately so with a smoky nose like a campfire.  Along with blackberry aromas.  A bit jammy on the palate.  Not too spicy for a zin.

Wine: Dark Horse
Varietal: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2006
Rating: 87
Price: $34

Small Vines Wines

This wine is produced from biodynamic vineyards.  Raspberry and bramble with a hint of black pepper.  It’s a little tight on the nose.  But the palate is bright and lively.  Big raspberry and great black pepper spice.

Wine: Small Vines Wines
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2006
Rating: 93
Price: $65

Cupcake Chardonnay

Apple, lemon aromas on an oaky palate.  It’s like mild apple cider on the palate. Decent acidity.  Rather quick finish. Decent for the price but not great.

Wine: Cupcake
Varietal: Chardonnay
Vintage: 2007
Rating: 85
Price: $11.99

Kanzler

This wine was a treat.  It has not been bottled yet, but we got an early taste.  Cedar, vanilla, cherry, coffee on the nose.  The nose is a bit tight when it was poured, but will be better if decanted. Very lively on the palate.  Raspberry, cherry, and black pepper.  Nice cocoa in the mid-palate and finish.

Wine: Kanzler
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2007
Rating: 92
Price: $48

Lionheart Wines

Banana, peach and tropical aromas.   Nice crisp acidity and good roundness from malolactic fermentation–giving it a creamy mouth feel.  Nice long finish with a touch of minerality.  (Is that a word?)

Wine: Lionheart Wines
Varietal: Roussanne
Vintage: 2007
Rating: 89
Price: $30

Sean Minor – Four Bears

Lively and exciting nose.  Raspberry and spice.  Hints of cocoa.  Big spicy raspberry flavors.  This is an excellent wine for the price.  All their wines are under $20.  This is an exceptional wine for the price.  I am a new fan.

Wine: Sean Minor – Four Bears
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2006
Rating: 92
Price: $17

Yellow and Blue

Organic grapes in a tetra pak.  I’ll admit it, I’m not a fan of the tetra-pak yet, but this is probably the best red I’ve had from one.  Rather tight on the nose for a Malbec, but the aromas are good: Plum, coffee, cocoa and cherry.  Good cherry, blackberry, cocoa and black pepper on the palate.  Medium finish.

Wine: Yellow and Blue
Varietal: Malbec
Vintage: 2007
Rating: 86
Price: $11

Last fall, a friend of mine and fellow Cincinnati area wine blogger Michelle Lentz lost her sister, Krystal Pepper, due to a congenital heart defect.  In an effort to honor Krystal’s memory, her friends and family have established a memorial scholarship in her name and are working to raise $25,000 in the next three years to fund the scholarship.

They have been organizing various events to raise money for the fund and on September 11 from 6-8 PM they are having a wine tasting fundraiser at The Party Source in Bellevue, KY.

The cost is $40 per person and includes paired cheeses, a flight of 6 reds, and education about the wines.  100% of the proceeds will go towards the scholarship.

The focus of the event will be red wines from up and coming, young French winemakers and up and coming French wine regions.

The event is limited to 30 people and is filling up fast.  Tickets must be pre-purchased via online registration.

It sounds like a great event.  I plan to attend and I suggest you do as well.  Visit the Krystal Pepper Scholarship Fund website to register.

Another Cincinnati International Wine Festival has come and gone.  My wife and I had too much wine (just like every year), but it was fun.  I attended the festival with a dilemma this year.  On one hand, I wanted to take really good notes so that I could write all about it here.  On the other hand, I just wanted to enjoy myself and not worry about all that.  The solution: takes notes with a camera! 

I took along my camera this year and snapped photos of the wines that I found particularly good.  I didn’t tally scores as that’s a fairly tedious process.  And I didn’t take detailed notes either.  I just took pictures of what I enjoyed so that I can track them down later and do a more formal evaluation another day.  You won’t get the full details just yet, but here’s a glimpse of some forthcoming reviews.

I even got a picture of my ugly mug to put on the site.  That’s me, enjoying some Maryhill Zinfandel which has loads of rich dark berry flavors, a chocolaty mouth feel and an exciting complex spiciness.  Maryhill also had a nice Cabernet Sauvignon on hand which I enjoyed as well.  Both wines had outstanding concentration of flavors, good complexity and good balance.  They sell for $17-20.  I’ve been tasting more and more Washington State wines lately and these from Maryhill fueled my growing love affair with wines from that region.

Speaking of Zinfandels, the hands down best Zins I tasted at the festival where at the Four Vines booth.  They had three different Zins available that where all outstanding.  Unfortunately, only one of them falls into my $20 and under target price.  They also had a very good Naked Chardonnay that sells for about $13, but Zinfandel is what’s really special about Four Vines.  They also get accolades for having the most friendly reps working the booth and fun marketing.  I’ve seen a number of brands with great marketing for their wine, but mediocre product.  Four Vines had some “rock star” marketing and incredible wine.  The reps and I discussed the value of wine ratings as they have not sought out reviews from any of the major wine publications because they don’t want to play the game of catering to the critics (although they’ve gotten great ratings from Wine Spectator).  I encouraged them to engage the online wine community where independents like me provide an alternative voice.

Napa Cellars had another great Zinfandel that isn’t as spicy as some others I’ve had, but was still loaded with dark berry flavors and had enough pepper to make it interesting.  The festival judges also liked this Zin enough to award it a bronze medal.  This one sells for about $20, so it is at the high end of my target price range.  By the way, a series on Zinfandel is in the near future for this site.  I’ve started collecting bottles to taste for that already.

The best bargain wine I tried was the PKNT Carmenere, which retails for about $7.  The nose on this one actually smells a bit like a hot pepper, just like the one pictured on the bottle.  It’s a really full, flavorful and spicy wine.  It’s well worth the price and scores another point for Chilean reds. 

Speaking of bargains, I should mention that Toasted Head Winery won two golds, for their Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir.  That is outstanding for wines in the $10-15 range.  I didn’t make it to their booth, but I’ll be sure to pick up some of their wines to taste.

In the “wines I’ve wanted to try but haven’t come across” category, I was excited to try the Six Foot Six Shiraz Viognier.  I’ve been seeing a growing trend of winemakers adding a small amount of Viognier to Syrah in order to soften the palate and add a bit of complexity.  In this case the end result is packed full of brambly berry, chocolate and black pepper.  It’s a really well rounded wine and retails for about $18. 

Another producer who I was impressed with was Zaca Mesa.  They had an outstanding Syrah and their Z Cuvée (a Rhône-style blend) was also very enjoyable.  Both of those wines will run you about $20.  They have an interesting story too with all of their wines being 100% estate grown and bottled.  That’s something you’ll find in only about 1% of the wine you find on the shelves.

There were numerous great wines and I have an even longer list of wines I need to follow up on than I’ve listed here.  As they say, stay tuned.