Chilean wines are one of my “go to” choices when looking for exceptional value. And it’s not just for one type of wine. You can find really good reds and whites from Chile and given the broad range of wine regions within Chile, there are a number of different styles to be found too. And […]
You may have noticed that the last few reviews on this site have all been for merlot. That’s also the theme of my column in the latest issue (issue #26) of Mutineer Magazine. This merlot from Estancia didn’t make that column, but it’s still a very tasty merlot worth checking out. It comes from the […]
I commented a couple days ago about merlot-haters, but one thing I failed to mention is that these consumers may just misunderstand merlot. They may have just tasted the wrong merlot. One of the things I like about merlot is that it can have a number of different personalities. It’s grown all over the world, […]
How about another merlot review? I thought you’d like that idea. 181. You may have seen this wine or another one from the Noble Vines family in shops and wondered what it’s all about. The labels are simple. It’s just a number and a varietal name. But what does it mean? The numbers represent vine […]
If there’s one complaint we got on this site in 2012, it was the quantity of white wine reviews versus red wines. The red wine lovers have spoken and they felt under-served. So, let’s start off 2013 with a little balance and follow up my first white wine review with a red. And, let’s make […]
Yesterday, we reviewed the Godwin Family Vineyards 2004 Merlot and we found it to be quite impressive. “The wine does a nice job of mimicking a Pomerol, but with a traditional California style all it’s own”, is what I said of that wine. You can read more on the 2004, but it’s time to review […]
Occasionally here at Cheapwineratings.com we receive wines that don’t necessarily meet our criteria, meaning they’re not exactly “cheap”. But if we believe these wines may still represent a value to our consumers who may be looking for something a little more special, we’ll certainly pass on our perspective. So when Godwin Family Vineyards sent us […]
As we wrote in our 2009 roundup of 15 Good Merlots Under $15, “merlot can be exciting and merlot can be exceptional”. I agree with this, but let me go on record here by saying I’m hard on merlot. Maybe it’s because I’ve tasted so many fat & jammy, cookie cutter examples that I’ve grown […]
I really want to like this wine. The overall look of the packaging is clean and simple but the blazoned red “181” on the black label is striking. I also like the choice of tapered meritage-glass for the bottle. It looks premium and very up-market. As I review the wine, I find myself taking a […]
Let me actually start this review with a disclaimer. There’s a lot of discussion among wine reviewers/wine bloggers about potential “conflict of interest” related to their reviews. The conflict scenario is typically an instance when a review is done for a wine and the reviewer has received something of value from the producer of the […]
