Cab, Cab, Cabs.....

Winter has arrived and it sure is cold out. Up here in Buffalo we already received a few feet of snow in certain areas of the county. While some people dream of hazy days on the hammock, I look forward to settling down by the fire with a nice teeth staining red wine. In the winter there is nothing better than Cabernet Sauvignon.

The first Cabernet Sauvignon I decided to try is from Mendoza, Argentina. Trapiche 2006 "Broquel" Cabernet Sauvignon (Retail $18) is a classic example of what some of the high altitude vineyards have to offer from South America.  Broquel, meaning shield, uses hand picked grapes from select vineyards with average vines producing grapes for at least 25 years. A brand new facility with top of the line equipment was recently finished allowing this winery to create high quality new world wines. Aged in oak for 15 months this ruby red wine exhibits notes of black cherry, cocoa, leather, huge raspberry and a hint of graphite. Typically Cabernet Sauvignon from South America tends to be a little herbal and have heavy vegetative flavors like green pepper, however, in the Broquel they are more subtle with offerings of ripe medium-bodied red fruit flavors leading to a long plummy and tannic finish. This wine would pair perfectly with Prosciutto wrapped asparagus with Neufchatel cheese.

Next I jumped back to the continental United Sates and opened a phenomenal Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington State. The Chateau Ste Michelle 2006 "Cold Creek Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon retails for around $32 and is worth every penny.  The Washington state wine region is principally in Columbia Valley east of the Cascade Mountains. The valley provides the perfect growing climate for some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon in the world (just last year a Washington State wine was awarded the wine of the year by the Wine Spectator). Chateau Ste. Michelle is one of the largest wineries in Columbia Valley and has vineyards in all the AVA's located in Washington state. Cold Creek Vineyard was planted in 1973 offering old vines and silty soils allowing for more concentrated fruit at harvest. 2006 had a later harvest due to a wet spring but still produced a very nice vintage. In the nose this wine offers black cherry, chocolate, rose petal, a hint of petrol and leather. On the palate the wine has soft and lush plum and fig flavors leading to a full and round silky finish. This wine is certainly worthy of its Bordeaux heritage. Pair this wine with a roasted beet and goat cheese tower with pistachio's.

Finally I finished strong with a historic winery from Napa Valley. The Freemark Abbey 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (Make sure to check out the link attached to the wine to hear the winemaker talking about the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon) is sourced from two world class vineyards in Rutherford and retails for around $35. 2005 was a good year in Napa and this wine definitely shows both the quality of the terrior and the vintage. This wine quaffs cocoa, huge black cherry, leather, raspberry, hints of tobacco and prune in the nose. Deep and intense in the mouth with a tannic dark-red-fruit flavors offering a complex yet elegant finish. Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon is simply a reminder of how great and easy drinking a good Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon could be. Try pairing this wine with beef fajitas with fresh tomatillo salsa and Pico de Gallo.

Once again thanks for taking the time to read this review. I do welcome any comments to this site and would love to hear from you. Until next time remember to keep an open mind and an open eye.

John and Dan's Picks III, April 19th 2007

Well I'm back! Don't let the post date fool you it's well into mid-October. Since my new job here in Buffalo doesn't have as many duties attached to it I have more free time to catch up on the blog and review new products. It will take me a little time to catch up on all I've missed so please stick with me through these reviews.

As usual John and I had some trouble finding a rep this week to host the flight night, so we picked some wines off of the shelf to feature for this Flight Night. Chef Tim and Pete Evanovich put out an assorted cheese tray, handmade garlic parmesan breadsticks, fried brownie bites with chocolate sauce, and smoked shredded pork quesadillas with peppers, onions, and cheddar cheese to compliment the wine selection.

We started the Flight Night with a selection from Spain. John and I are huge enthusiasts when it comes to Spanish wine. While the labels are somewhat easier to read than your average French or Italian wine bottles, (afterall 1 in 10 U.S. citizens speak fluent Spanish) people are still a bit confused by the grape varietals and geography of most of what Spain has to offer. As a general rule, Spanish wines offer high quality for a very small price. Sure you could drop over $100 on a Spanish wine but why would you when there are great wines at around the $20 to $30 range? The Nora 2005 Albariño is no exception to this statement at the $18 mark. Albariño is a light Viognier like grape that is indigenous to the Rias Baixas region of north eastern Spain. The Albariño grape accounts for 90% of the plantings in this wine region. Nora is light gold in color and has elements of peach, cream, and lemon peel on the nose. Full-bodied and refreshing fruit lead to a very long smooth and textured finish. As John noted: "this is a great replacement for cookie-cutter Chardonnays". This is a fantastic summer wine for dining out on the patio. Try pairing this great white with a pan-fried flounder with poblano-corn relish.

Following up that great Spanish white was no easy feat, so John and I decided use a wine from a classic winery and a legendary California AVA (American Viticultural Area). The Ferrari-Carano 2006 Pinot Grigio (retail $18) from the much coveted Russian River Valley in Sonoma County was our second selection for the night. Ferrari-Carano has four different vineyards across Napa & Sonoma from which they source their grapes. Their Russian River Vineyards consist mostly of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. The yields of Pinot Gris from this region are somewhat small and I can only assume this is a newer venture for the winery or originally a private table wine that was made public. I'm pretty sure the marketing think tank at Ferrari-Carano chose to label this varietal as Pinot Grigio (instead of the more common Pinot Gris) to avoid consumer confusion. While the wine was Italian in style it has an obvious Californian attitude. This pale and lightly golden wine exhibits a nose full of citrus with slight floral & fruit tones. Slightly tart mellow fruit leads to muted acidic citric flavors with a long lingering finish on the palate. Try drinking this wine with salt cod fritters with garlicky Skordalia. Find out more about Ferrari-Carano at:www.ferrari-carano.com

During my time in Ohio, I've sampled a variety of different wines from several of the local wineries in or around the Geneva area. The Ferrante 2005 "Signature Series" Cabernet Franc (retail $18) surprised both myself and many of the Wine Down patrons who tried it. Nick Ferrante has won a numerous amount of awards with his Golden Bunches Riesling, however, I would personally put this Cabernet Franc at the top of his wine portfolio. I was thrown back at how opaquely purple this wine was considering it was grown in Ohio which typically produces lighter colored reds. The nose had huge dark red fruit scents like plum and blackberry with light cocoa tones. This medium-bodied dry red fruit flavored wine lead to a slightly tannic sharp finish with lingering elements of confectioners chocolate. I was so impressed that a wine of this caliber came from Ohio that I retasted this wine the following day. It had mellowed out immensly and took on a pleasing deep woody almost vanilla flavor where the tannins were the day before. Pair this fantastic red with orecchiette Bolognese with chestnuts. Ferrante is one of the nicest commercial wineries in the Northern Ohio Wine Trail. I'd strongly suggest taking a tour of the modern facilities if you ever happen to be in the area. For directions or more information on Ferrane Winery go to: www.ferrantewinery.com

The next selection is a newer wine from an up and coming wine region in the foothills of the Andes Mountains called Valle de Colchagua, Chile. At an affordable $14, Calcu 2005 (A magician in the Mapuche language) is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 20% Carménère. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Carménère grape, it has a very interesting story behind it. After the phylloxera epidemic in Europe, the Carménère grape (Bordeaux varietal) was thought to be a lost. However, South America was not affected by the epidemic. The grapes were brought over by the missionaries and often labeled Merlot. In the mid 90's after extensive DNA testing they were in fact found to be the lost grape of Bordeaux, Carménère. While many other wine growing regions have successfully replanted the finicky varietal, none date back to the 150 year offering of Chile. This Deep red blend has meaty, tobacco, leather, and butter essences on the nose. Full-bodied rich red fruit flavors with traces of spice and pepper lead to a subtle rounded finish in this fantastic Chilean wine. Try pairing this wine with pork and leeks in avgolemono sauce. Several patrons have commented on the label of the wine. It is in fact a watercolor of a bull painted by Salvador Amenabar and in my opinion gives the wine some added elegance when presented at a table. For more information on Calcu go to: www.globalvineyard.com.

We finished off the taste with another well established name in California. Cosentino 2004 "The Cab" Cabernet Sauvignon retails for $15 but drinks like a wine twice that price. Mitch Cosentino sources the friut for this series of wine from his Lodi vineyards which also offers "The Chard", "The Zin", and the more popular "CigarZin". Typically fruit sourced from Lodi tends to be deep and intense. "The Cab" was no exception to this. Exhibiting vanilla, pommegranite, plum, strawberry, and dried leaf tones on the nose, this deep and lightly spicy red lead to a long rounded finish with elements of buttery oak. This wine is really tightly wound and I would suggest allowing the wine to decant for quite some time before getting to it. In fact in my exploration with this wine I found that it really came around a couple days after I had opened it. This clearly suggests that this wine may not be quite ready for consumption and I would suggest that you give it some addionional bottle age before opening it. Try pairing this wine with hanger steak with shallots and mushrooms. For more information on Cosentino check out: www.cosentinowinery.com.

Thanks again for showing interest in this blog and wine education. If you are interested in any of the recipes used in this post please check out the October 2006 issue of Food & Wine magazine. Until next time remember to keep an open eye and an open mind.

Ohio Wine Taste, March 22nd 2007

This week for the Thursday Night Flight Night, John and I decided to feature wines from the Ohio Wine Distributor. Our selections jumped around the world offering selections in California, Italy, and Australia. As usual Chef Tim King put out a few small finger foods and the standard assorted cheese plate.

We began the taste with a wine I often refer to as a gateway wine. The Sartori di Verona Pinot Grigio 2005 (retail $12) is a great example of why this wine is so easy to drink and understand as a begginer wine enthusiast. Pinot Grigio is no different from the Pinot Gris grape from France and has gained its success as an easy drinker due to its low aromas and highly acidic citric flavors. While it is the same grape as Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio achives its indistinguishable flavors by not allowing the grape to fully ripen before harvesting. This Northern Italian wine (the vineyards are around Venice) is pale yellow with a floral, apricot, and lightly lemony nose. The sharp citrus fruit flavors lead to a subtle mineral driven finish creating an overall clean fresh feel in this patio wine. I would pair this wine with a broiled whitefish topped with lemon butter and caramelized almond slivers and served with cauliflower florettes. For additional information on Sartori please visit: www.sartorinet.com

The next wine we presented was quite a treat. Ridge Coastal Chardonnay 2001 (retail $21) was one of the most elegant Chardonnays at the $20 mark I've had in quite a while. As I've written before I'm a huge Ridge fan and was extremely exited to get my hands on this hard-to-get Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay. Our Ohio Wine rep, Brian Fry, was a bit concerned pouring this wine fearing it may not have bottle aged to his expectations. This wine proved to be a great testament to how finely crafted Chardonnays can bottle age for many years, breaking the "drink a cheap white young" mantra. Ridge used whole cluster pressing and barrel fermentation to create depth in this deep gold Chardonnay that exhibits heavy floral and creamy vanilla with light tones of mushroom and damp straw on the nose. Its full flavored bold fruit flavors lead to a long creamy subtle finish. Pair this fantastic wine with open-faced pork and shrimp dumplings with steamed rice and drizzled with a honey soy reduction. As I mentioned earlier, this wine is hard to find. In fact the winery stopped making Chardonnay from this vineyard, so I strongly suggest if you find some of this Chardonnay (especially under $20) buy as much as you can. For news on the winery or to visit other wines produced by this fantastic winery please check out:www.ridgewine.com

Next we tried Raymond Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 (retail $28). This is a classic example of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from a reputable wine maker. Like many other wine makers in California Roy Raymond Sr. honed his wine making skills from working for the much larger Beringer Winery until 1971. This family run winery has become one of the most trusted and consistent wineries in Napa Valley offering a wide variety of different teired wines in their collection. The Raymond Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is one of their middle range wines that offers great quality for a moderate price. This wine was deep purple in color with bright cherry, tobacco, and cocoa with a hint of smoke and cinnamon on the nose. Ripe flavors offered bold and full fruit in the mid-palate leading to a long deep spicy finish. Try drinking this wine with pan seared tri-tip sirlion steaks with chive butter and glazed carrots. For more information on Raymond or to sign up for their wine club check out:www.raymondvineyards.com

The next wine we offered at the taste is new to the Northeast Ohio market. When I was approached with this line initally the one that stood out above the rest was the Marquee Signature Series Shiraz 2004 (I reviewed the Chardonnay in an earlier flight night). While $20 can be a bit pricy for a Shiraz in a Shiraz saturated market this bold McLaren Vale wine certainly does deserve the price its asking for. This Earthy Shiraz offers bold scents of prunes and chocolate with slight elements of black licorice and coconut. Heavy and spicy fruit flavors lead to a little bit of heat in the finish of this beauty. Try this wine with braised chicken with corriander sauce over white rice with fresh vegetables. For more on Marquee please check out: www.marquee.com

John and I have neglected to offer a dessert wine in our taste for quite some time and felt we needed to address the issue. We proudly presented Wyndham Estates Old Tawny Port NV (non-vintage) from the famous Hunter Valley Southeastern Australia as a sweet finale to the flight. I think port is often overlooked because people don't fully understand what it is. Port (short for Portugal) is a wine whose fermentation is interrupted by infusing brandy into it. Some of the wine is bottled right away (ruby port) while the rest is transferred to oak barrels for ageing (tawny port). As the port ages more color and flavor is tranfered from the oak to the wine. Like non-vintage Champagne several differently aged ports are blended into a bottle hiding any inconsistencies that occur in a single vintage. The Wyndham Estates Old Tawny Port was aged in small oak casks for up to five years. Wyndham Estates has been crowned the oldest surviving winery in Australia dating back 170 years. Cloudy and copper in color this tawny port offers a nose of caramel, banana, and cashew. Balenced and sweet with a nice woody finish this port would pair perfectly with chocolate brownies or chocolate covered pretzels.

I'd like to end this review with a note on a new promotion at the Wine Down. As I mentioned earlier John and I feel as though Port has missed out in our promotions. With that in mind we now offer a port board that will allow anyone to try three ports, two artisan cheeses, chocolate, and nuts for $25. This is available all the time at the Wine Down. See you soon and remember to keep an open mind and an open mind.

Tri-County Taste, March 8th, 2007

This week we got back to featuring a specific distributor in our Flight Night. Tonight we poured wines represented by Tri-County Distributors hosted by Micheal Scannell. Mike has a long history with the Upstairs Lounge and brought in a nice crowd for this taste. Chef Tim King put out mini mild sausage and ricotta calzones with marinara and a Seasoned rice as a side dish.

First we started with a sparkling wine from California, Piper Sonoma Brut Select Cuvée NV (retail $18). Piper Sonoma is a sister company to the Piper-Heidsieck winery based out of Reims, France. Piper Sonoma prides itself in making quality California sparkling wine in a traditional méthode champenoise style. This sparkler is a blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Menuier, and Chardonnay. Light, almost clear in color with predominantly grapefruit, bready, and lightly creamy accents in the nose. Sharp and slightly acidic leading to a dry clean finish. Try pairing this wine with roast pheasants served with saurkraut and potato pancakes. For more information on Piper-Heidsieck check out their website at: www.piper-heidsieck.com

The second wine in the taste was Beringer Alluvium Blanc 2004 (retail $18). This wine originating from Beringers Knights Valley Vineyard is a classic example of a Napa Valley rendition of a Bordeaux blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Deeply floral with light oak and apple tones in the nose compliment a fruity and creamy mid-palate leading to a smooth finish of mown hay and lemon peel with a touch of white pepper. Drink this wine with a swiss chard and arugala salad drizzled with balsamic vinnaigrette and a fresh goat cheese, sundried tomato, and olive oil focaccia bread. Please check out more about Beringer at: www.beringer.com

For our third wine we tried Trinchero Vista Montone Chardonnay 2005 (retail $15).This unfiltered wine was not a crowd favorite at the Flight Night, however, I disagree with the masses on this one. I felt this light gold bold wine had the right balance of fruit and acid making it a easy match for food pairing. The nose had a nice bouquet of bright apricot, carnation, and tangerine with a hint of deisel in this 14.5% ABV beauty. This wine was light and friuty upfront with heavy citrus flavors in the mid-palate leading to a long creamy finish. Try pairing this big Chardonnay with poached salmon topped with hollendaise sauce and served with snap peas and garlic mashed potatoes. So far I have yet to be dissapointed by any of the wines produced by Trinchero which leads me to my next wine:

As I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts (Childrens Hospital Fundraiser Post) Trinchero Main Street Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 (retail $25) and Trinchero Chicken Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 are sister wines. In fact so sisterly they practically come from the same vineyard. Their differences are so subtle they are unmentionable. Main Street is a classic fruit-forward full-bodied Cabenet Sauvignon with a heavy palate that proves to be spicy and complex, balenced with a long spicy oaked finish. As I mentioned before, the Main Street Cabernet (and the Chicken Ranch) is one of the most elegant Cabernet Sauvignon's I've drank recently and certainly can hold up against any other wine in that price point. Drink this wine with a T-bone steak topped with onion fritters and served with a spicy cole slaw and rosemary roasted baby red potatoes. Check out their website at: www.trincherowinery.com

The final wine we tasted Thursday night was Montevina Amador Zinfindel 2002 (retail $18). Amador County is riddled with old goldmines, ghostowns, and of course, wineries that were sprung up by the Italians that took part in the great American gold rush. This fun Zinfindel is deep ruby in color with black cherry, cocoa, currant, and a hint of pommegranite in the nose. A subtle yet fruity body leads to a deep structured mid-palate finishing sharp and slightly tangy. Try this wine with a Chorizo and lamb stew served with vegetable corn bread. For more information on this winery please check out their cool flash based website at: www.montevina.com

Thanks again for sticking with this blog through the lack of recent updates. While I try to make time for this every week, sometimes I just fall short. I'd love to hear some comments or suggestions on how to make this blog better for everyone so please comment if you can. I'll see you next week and remember to keep an open mind and an open eye.

Children's Hospital Fund Raiser @ the Avalon Inn

On Saturday Feburary 10th I was a guest pourer for the Childrens Hospital Fund Raiser at the Avalon Inn in Howland, Ohio. The event was very nice and had a great turnout. This year the event was arranged by Micheal Scannell from Tri-County Distributors. In total, seven wholesale companies donated wine for the event. One of the highlights of the evening was a toast given to the recently deceased Richard Alberini, who through his personal drive and hard work built a wine community in the Mahoning Valley.

Before I begin i'd like to make a note on the schematics of wine tastes. While there was no rhyme or reason to the order in which I tasted these wines, I've decided to arrange them as if I would in a flight night. There were alot of nice wines at the event, however, being the novice writer that I am, I only chose a few to write about. Besides, with these larger tastes my palate gets pretty stressed after the first 8-10 wines. So I don't feel it would be a fair to anyone if I reviewed all thirty or so (I don't think anyone would want to read that anyway). I did, however, narrow the list down to six fantastic wines.

The first wine I'd like to review is the La Palma Sauvignon Blanc 2004 from the Viña La Rosa Winery.Viña La Rosa is one of Chile’s oldest wineries set in the beautiful Cachapoal valley (La Palma is named for the scattered natural palm trees that spot the vineyard), South of the capital city Santiago. This wine truely was unique. The deep hay color is the first indication of the bold fruit flavors of this wine. Its' light, crisp granny smith apple and light grapefruit tones led to a subtle refreshing effervescence in the finish. La Palma Sauvignon Blanc proved to be elegant and refined for a wine under $10. Try this wine with oysters Rockafeller or a roasted butternut squash soup drizzled with roasted red pepper puree. For more information on Viña La Rosa Winery and the rest of their products check out: www.larosa.cl

Next I tasted another Chilean wine, Montes Reserve Chardonnay 2005. Montes is a brand formed in 1988 by four Chilean wine veterans with vineyards in the Colchagua and the Curico valleys South of Santiago. The winery is known for some of its high end Bordeaux blends (Montes Alpha M). This Chardonnay is pale yellow in color with buttery hints of vanilla, tropical fruits (banana & pineapple), & slight floral tones. A fruity palate, with a good body leads to a semi-smooth creamy elegant finish (45% malolactic fermentation). The 75% oak cask (six months in American oak barrels) & 25% stainless steel fementation lend this wine an added balence and elegance that most cheap chardonnays lack (this retails at about $10). Try this wine with a Pecorino cheese bruchetta bread or a date, goat cheese, and mesculin salad. While they do have an interesting website I couldn't find anything in their product list that indicated this wine was theirs. This may be an oversight on their part or perhaps they discontinued this line. In any event feel free to check out their website at: www.monteswines.com

Next on the list of notable wines was Belle Vallee Cellars Whole Cluster Pinot Noir 2005. This Pinot Noir resides from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. The winemaker, Joe Wright (formerly of Willamette Valley Vineyards), uses 100% whole cluster fermentation to create a deep ruby (nearly opaque) appearance in this Beaujolais mimic. I felt that Belle Vallee was the most unique wine of the taste. The nose is light and earthy with fruity tones of strawberry and prune. Semi-full on the palate this 100% stainless steel fermented wine has floral tones mid-palate and leaves the tongue slightly tingling with a long black pepper finish. Retailing at around $14, Belle Vallee is a very easy drinker ringing in at a modest 12.5% ABV. Try this wine with a blackened chicken cobb salad with a lightly drizzled balsamic viniagrette dressing or a goat cheese, pesto, and sundried tomato flatbread pizza. For more information on the wines from Belle Vallee check out: www.bellevallee.com

While I know Penfolds is a common name as far as Australian wines is concerned, I decided I would review the Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2003 on account of my recent facination with Shiraz and Syrah. For those of you who don't know, Penfolds is one of Australia's oldest wineries in the South Australia (along with Lindeman's). It was founded by Dr. Christopher Rawson Penfold in 1845. He had originally started his winery for a supply of wine that he prescribed to his patients. Over the years Penfold's has been a name that is associated with quality wine. His infamous Grange wine has recieved awards and sells for around the $160 range. However, the wine I was drinking is in the Bin portfolio. This is their middle-of-the-road series of wines (the big seller being the Cab/Shiraz blend Bin 389) retailing around $20. Bin 28 is named after the famous Barossa Valley Kalimna vineyard purchased by Penfolds in 1945 and from which the wine was originally sourced. Today, Bin 28 is a multi-region, multi-vineyard blend, with the Barossa Valley always well represented, providing over 45% of the fruit for this vintage. Bin 28 is 100% shiraz exhibiting a big earthy nose with berry & cassis. With a robust full-bodied mouth it's fruity and sweet in the mid-palate with a long rounded semi-dry finish. Try this wine with shrimp kebobs and long grained wild rice or an Italian antipasto salad. For more information on this winery and their products click this link: www.penfolds.com.au

The fifth wine I'd like to review is Ridge York Creek Zinfindel 2003. First off I'd like to state that I love Zinfindel (It was my gateway wine). Not only do I love Zinfindel, but I love Ridge Zinfindel. The reason is simple: blends. Ridge understands that every year is different in the world of wine. Growing conditions change and with it so does the flavor and intensity of the wine. I suppose that's why they beat the French in a great 1971 upset that launched the US wine program into a world market (Click this link for details:1971) Ridge blends are among the best in the world at a moderate price (this one retails around $25). The 2003 York Creek Zinfindel is 84% Zinfindel 16% Petite Sirah. Deep red in color the nose lends offerings of black cherry & currant with just the smallest hint of petrol. The tongue is full-bodied & nicely balenced with chocolate tones and a nice clean cherry finish. I have yet to find a Ridge product that doen't spark my interest. try pairing this Zinfindel with steak tartare or a chocolate-raspberry torte. Not only does Ridge make great wines but they give back to the environment. Cumulatively since system operation began, Lytton Springs' renewable energy production helped avoid the release of 88 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere or 25 acres of forest saved or not driving 219,702 miles. Check out their website at: www.ridgewine.com

I decided to finish this post with a Cabernet Sauvignon. Coming from a "Cab drinking town" the Trinchero Chicken Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (sorry, no picture) proves to be a great representation of a elegant single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon for a low cost (retailing around $25). The Chicken Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon is the sister wine to the Main Street Cabernet Sauvignon. Their differences are so subtle they are unmentionable. Chicken Ranch is a classic fruit-forward full-bodied Cabenet Sauvignon with a heavy palate that proves to be spicy and complex, balenced with a lightly oaked finish. The Chicken Ranch (and the Main Street) is one of the most elegant Cabernet Sauvignon's I've drank recently and certainly can hold up against the Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest in that price point. Drink this wine with a 22oz Porterhouse steak covered in sauteed mushrooms and onions or try it with a Cowboy burger and fries. Check out their website at: www.trincherowinery.com

Thanks again for reading this blog. If there are any questions or comments on any of the beverages I review please post them. I will try my best to get back to everyone in a timely manner. Just a reminder that this Thursday we will be featuring the wines if Masteropietro Winery. Dan is a local guy trying to make it in this crazy business. So come out and try his wines & he'll be there to answer any questions. See you on Thursday and remember to keep an open mind and an open eye.