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Tim Lemke

Tim is the founder and chief reviewer at Cheap Wine Ratings since 2007.

Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon

A lot of fun has been poked over the years at boxed wines.  And rightfully so.  Most of the wine sold in boxes over the past couple decades has been disgusting.  But that’s starting to change.  It’s not the container, it’s the wine… and there are a few producers now putting some tasty juice into […]

Turning Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon

There’s not a lot of back story to this wine.  It’s Turning Leaf, which is one of wine giant E.&J. Gallo’s many brands.  You’ll find it in just about any grocery store that sells wine.  It’s mass produced… so there’s lot’s of this stuff out there.  There is not a quaint story about a family […]

Los Vascos Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon

OK, so first my apologies for letting over a week go by without a new review.  While I can say, “I’ve been really busy,” ultimately that’s just an excuse and I hate excuses.  Rather than that, I will promise to do better this week. If you’re a regular reader, it will come as no surprise […]

Forest Glen Cabernet Sauvignon

We’ve reviewed a couple other Forest Glen wines in the past and I have to admit that they consistently perform surprisingly well in blind tastings.  Forest Glen is one of many brands owned by Bronco Wines, best known as the producer of Charles Shaw (aka: two-buck chuck). Most of the Bronco brands are bargain wines, […]

Montevina Cabernet Sauvignon

A few weeks ago, we reviewed the Montevina Zinfandel.  Tonight, we check out their Amador County Cabernet Sauvignon.  I’ve already given a quick background on Montevina in the previous review, so let’s be quick about this and get right to the details. The nose of this wine smells like a new leather wallet that’s been […]

Urban Cabernet Sauvignon by Ortega Fournier

Ortega Fournier, better known as O. Fournier, is an international wine group, currently producing wines from Spain, Argentina and Chile.  As far as wine companies go, they are relatively young, having only been founded ten years ago, in 2000.  And it’s even more recently, in 2007, that they’ve begun operations in Chile, where they have […]

Wild Hare Cabernet Sauvignon

It should come as no surprise that the label on a wine can have a significant impact on sales.  I know I’ve seen some wines where the label totally “wowed” me and other labels that have made a wine appear unappealing to me.  But this is a wine with a label that I just don’t […]

33 Bottles of Wine

We’re doing something a little different tonight… a book review. Friends of mine frequently ask me how they can become better at tasting wine.  While there are a lot of exercises and studying that you can do to improve your wine knowledge, there’s one piece of advice that I always give to people: take notes.  […]

Dancing Bull Cabernet Sauvignon

Dancing Bull was established 8+ years ago as a brand focused on Zinfandel, and to this day that’s the wine for which I assume they’re best known.  We’ve reviewed reviewed their Zinfandel in the past, and it was pretty good.  But that’s not all they’re producing.  After their success with Zinfandel, they’ve branched out into […]

Concannon Conservancy Petite Sirah

It has been a while since I’ve reviewed a Petite Sirah.  If fact, it’s been way too long and as I tasted this wine, I was reminded of how much I love Petite Sirah.  The rich flavors, deep color and silky feel are incredible.  And who better to revisit this variety with than Concannon.  After […]