Superior Taste, April 12th 2007

As usual for this weeks Thursday Night Flight Night John and I chose a dynamic group of fine wine for everyone to try. However, unlike any other week we chose all of our wines not only from one distributor but from one portfolio. The wines this week were from Superior Distributors and more specifically from the The Australian Premium Wine Collection. For more information on this wine collection that's imported by USA Wine West, Sausalito, California go to: www.tapwc.com.au

Chef Tim King and Pete Evanovich put out a beautiful spread including an assorted cheese tray, Shiraz and garlic marinated lamb kebobs with peppers and pineapple, homemade potato and onion chips with a chive horseradish dipping sauce, and for dessert chocolate dipped strawberries, bananas, and marshmallows.

We started the taste with the Elderton 2006 "Unwooded" Chardonnay from Barossa Valley, Australia (retail $15). Elderton's South Australian vineyards date back to 1890 and have been family owned since 1979 and prides itself on taking extra measures to keep the wine making process as bio-dynamic as possible. Occupying an old Penfold's fermentation facility this award winning winery uses state-of-the-art machinery to achieve consistancy and quality in their wines. With a slightly floral nose this wine exhibits huge fruit flavors leading to a slightly spicy yet refreshing finish. It is suggested that this wine will be best appreciated within a couple of years from release. This wine is perfect for hot summer days. Try drinking this wine with pan seared scallops with a cauliflower puree, raisins, and capers with a balsamic reduction drizzle. Check out more about Elderton at:www.eldertonwines.com.au

I've never had a huge success marketing white blends at Wine Down. However everytime I can convince somebody to try one, they love them. The Rutherglen Estates 2005 "The Alliance" is no exception to this statement. This $15 blend of 70% Marsanne and 30% Viognier is quite simply an impressive white. Rutherglen (located in the north-east corner of Victoria) is another old vineyard dating back to the 1850's. It saw a huge expansion in 1997 when vineyards were added to the total acreage. Rutherglen concentrates mostly on Rhone varietals in its 360 hectares of vines with "The Alliance" being their only white offering. This pale wine has a nose of melon, citrus, cream, and slight hint of honey and mint. "The Alliance" has smooth, slightly off-dry, delicate & creamy fruit upfront with a long tart acidic finish. Try drinking this wine with romaine lettuce tossed with sauteed shrimp and topped with avacado, bacon, and a lemon vinaigrette. Find out more about the winery at:www.rutherglenestates.com.au

Gearing up for the summer we sampled a Pinot Noir for our first red of the evening. The Hill of Content 2004 Pinot Noir is from the Mornington Peninsula Victoria (retail $19) however, with a blindfold I would have guessed it to be an Oregon or Burgundian Pinot Noir. This crowd pleasing wine is an excellent example of how elegant the Pinot Noir grape can be. I think the back of the bottle explains it best, "Pinot Noir is undoubtedly one of the sexiest grape varieties on the planet earth, and this wine captures much of its magic." Exhibiting a big earthy nose with heavy floral and cherry accents this translucent bright bold fruit leads to a slightly tart yet soft finish. While this wine pairs excellently with a variety of different food I suggest dry-rubbed salmon tacos with a tomatillo-avacado slaw and a side of creamy risotto with edamame.

As much as I like Shiraz, I feel its sometimes unbalanced acidic finish ruins the essence of the grape. Thankfully some wine makers have taken to adding small amounts of Viognier (yes, the French white grape) to their Shiraz to give it a rounded and more subtle finish. Rocky Gully 2004 Shiraz/Viognier is a great example of this blend. At an affordable $15 Rocky Gully is a blend of 95% Shiraz 5% Viognier. This Aussie blend emulates a French Cotes-Rotie style that is undeniably delicious. Deep ruby in color the nose offers a peaty earthy bouquet. This bold Western Australian wine is fruit forward with slight pepper and a long mellow finish. Try pairing this wine with Asian baby back ribs with panko-crusted mushrooms.

We finished the taste with another Rhone blend. Hewiston "Miss Harry" 2004 GSM (retail $23) offered the depth and complexity we needed to finish off the night. Some of these vines in this South Australian, Barrosa Valley vineyard date back to 1853. In fact the winery boasts having the oldest Mourvedre vineyard in the world. "Miss Harry" is a blend of 44% Grenache, 43% Shiraz, and 13% Mourvedre. Winemaker Dean Hewiston recieved his Masters degree from UC Davis, California giving this classic Rhone blend a new world feel. Deep purple in color this wine has elements of black cherry, date, dark chocolate, and tar. Deep red fruit flavors lead to a long slightly tart and subtle finish. Once again the decription on the bottle is worth noting: "She's showy seductive and gorgeous. She's got style. She's from 50 and 80 year-old vines. She's All-Australian. She's Miss Harry." Pair this with herb crusted leg of lamb with a cannellini-and-green bean salad. For more information on this winery please visit: www.hewitson.com.au

I know I have fell really behind on these posts but with the summer ending (and the wedding out of the way) I have had more time to work on these posts. Please continue to check this blog for updates and I hopefully will be up to date very soon. All the recipes from this entry were taken from the April 2007 edition of Food & Wine magazine. Until then I hope to see you at Thursday Night Flight Night and remember to keep an open mind and an open eye.

John and Dan's Picks, March 29th 2007

Every couple of weeks John and I can't find a distributor to sponsor our Flight Night, so we feature wines that we think are notable. For this weeks Flight Night we decided to feature wines from European Wine Imports, Heidelberg Distributors, and Vintner Select Distributors. As always, Chef Tim King and the kitchen downstairs put out an impressive spread of food that included a mixed cheese tray, pipette pasta with calamari tossed in a spicy arrabiatta sauce, chicken satay with peanut sauce, white vanilla bean cake, chocolate brownie cake, and chocolate covered lady fingers, marshmallows, and strawberries.

Its not uncommon for John and I to start our taste with a sparkling wine, however, lately I have found a obsessive fascination with crémant (for a definition on crémant see my Feb. 22nd 2007 entry). The Cave de Cleebourg "Clerostein" Crémant 'd Alsace Rose (retail $18) was not by any means exempt from my enthusiasm for this style of wine. This wine is actually made from a wine co-op out of Cleebourg in Alsace of which 5 villages and 190 different growers are associated. Made from 100% Pinot Noir this fruit is sourced from the Huettgasse de Steinseltz locality. With a nose full of strawberry and cream this fruity and crisp sparkler exhibits a nice yeasty or bisquity body and a smooth creamy finish. For a great summer treat try pairing this fantastic crémant with a dozen steamed littleneck clams with drawn butter and hot sauce. If you want to find out more about the co-op or view other wines they produce please check out www.cave-cleebourg.com

Next we moved to a wine that I hope to feature on the patio this summer. Kitfox Vineyards "Foxy" White Table Wine 2005 retails for $12 and is a blend of 63% Chenin Blanc, 12% Sauvignon Blanc, 7% Verdelho, 5% Orange Muscat, 5% Riesling, 5% Viognier, 5% Gewurztraminer. Light gold in color this wine exhibits a floral nose with watermelon, honey, apricot, tangerine, and light lime zest. This nice white table wine is fruity and off-dry in the mid palate leading to a complex finish of lemon zest and honeydew. As I mentioned earlier this is a refreshing option for hot summer day. Try this wine with apple and nut stuffed pork tenderloin with fingerling potatoes and steamed dandelion with fresh ground sea salt. For more information on Kitfox check out:www.kitfoxvineyards.com

Jumping from California we ended up with a Barbera d' Alba the Northwest region of Italy. Barbera is often referred to as the "people's wine" and accounts for over 40 percent of the grapes grown in Peidmont. While I know reading and understanding Italian wine bottles can be confusing at times, Barbera d' Alba simply indicates one of the three major terriors from which this Barbera is grown (just outside the town of Alba). Corino is a major player in the Peidmont reigion and is often sought after for their Barolo. However, the two brother winemakers, Renato and Giuliano, split the family vineyards with Guiliano keeping the original namesake. This is Renato's label and this dark crimson Barbera is a nicely priced (retailing for $20) introduction to the quality wine their family traditionally produces. The Renato Corino Barbera 'd Alba D.O.C. 2005 offers a nose of cherry, barn-fire smoke, and light chocolate. Spicy and full fruit upfront lead to an acidic peppery finish. This wine took quite a while to open up and is a bit young in the bottle. I would suggest cellaring this for another couple years or if you insist on drinking it right now decanting for at least one hour. Try this wine with a prosciutto wrapped chicken topped with a wedge of semi-hard ricotta and served atop fetuccine con spinachi tossed with sliced cherry tomatoes, virgin olive oil, and freshly grated Romano cheese.

Whenever I can I try to plug my favorite varietal in the Flight Nights. The Silver Peak Vineyard Zinfandel 2001 (retail $14) comes from the Zinfandel rich Lodi, California. One of the general wine rules to Zinfandel is that it should be drank very young, however, the 6 year bottle age clearly helped this wine rather than hindered it. Lodi fruit (especially Zinfandel) tends to be bold and deep and full-bodied to begin with and definitely needs a bit of bottle time to really pop. Cheap or not, try cellaring some Zinfandel to see what I mean. This wine exhibits cherry, vanilla, strawberry, and oddly a bit of petrol in the nose even though the alcohol content is relatively low for Lodi (13.5% ABV). Silver Peak Zinfandel offers deep full-bodied bold fruit with a slightly tangy yet smooth finish. Try drinking this wine with a chopped beef tenderloin sandwich with sauteed onions and mushrooms on toasted ciabbatta with melted provolone.

We finished the taste with what seemed to be the crowd favorite. Marquis Phillips 2005 Shiraz retails for $16 but drinks at twice that value. The label features a mythical creature called a Roogle half bald eagle and half Kangaroo to represent the partnership between its American importer and Australian winemaker. This dense and opaquely deep red is almost black in color indicating the huge blackberry and plum tones accompanied by, tar, leather, oak. Heavy full-bodied dark fruit flavors lead to a slightly spicy long rounded finish in this high octane (15.9% ABV)wine. Try this wine with chocolate zucchini cake sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Thanks again for staying with me through this blog and supporting the Thursday Night Flight Night. As always I would appreciate some feedback on what you thought about the wine or if there is something you want to see in one of my flight nights. I'll see you all next week and 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.

Hammer Taste, March 15th 2007

This week at Thursday Night Flight Night we featured the wines of the Hammer Company. Hammer is one of the larger distribution companies in the country and represents a very nice selection of different high quality wines. We had a phenomonal turnout for this taste and Chef Tim King put out a cheese platter and deep fried calamari tossed in chorizo sausage, hot peppers, and a spicy sauce.

We started this taste with a bubbly from Domaine Chandon. This California sparkler is one among a few of the entry level sparkling wines offered by the sister company to Moët & Chandon. Domain Chandon boasts not only being the first French owned attempt to sparkling wine in the U.S. but has gone though great strides to promote sparkling white as an everyday table wine instead of a dessert or special occasion option. Their restaurant offers wine pairings for all their menu items. The Chandon Rose NV (retail $20) is composed of Pinot Noir from their Carneros vineyard. This light pink bubbly contains strong strawberry tones with a hint of citrus and honey. The light and refreshing sparkler offers suggestions of ripe cranberry & apricot. Try pairing this wine with a grilled chicken cobb salad with warm goat cheese, beets, and candied walnuts drizzled with a lemon peppercorn vinaigrette. For more information on Domaine Chandon or their restaurant check out their website at: www.chandon.com.

We followed our sparkling selection with a wine from the upper Northwest. Snoqualmi "Naked" Reisling 2005 (retail $18) is produced in Columbia Valley, Washington. This 100% organic "au naturel" wine is a classic example of what the ripe riesling grape is like straight off the vine exhibiting a deep gold complexion with heavy straw scents in the nose. The naked riesling is semi-sweet and surprisingly fruity with indications of navel and apricot leading to a long dry finish. Try pairing this wine with a buffalo mozzarella and tomato salad served with a lentil and spicy eggplant relish and fresh basil with a balsamic dressing. For more information on Snoqualmie Winery check out their website at: www.snoqualmie.com.

The next two wines we presented are a new project for the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. The Coppola Winery has purchased a new unnamed wine making facility near Alexander Valley formerly occupied by Chateau Sovrain. Much like the Coppola Diamond Collection wines, the Directors Cut Series of wine offers quality wine at an affordable price. The Coppola Directors Cut Chardonnay 2005 (retail $18) draws its fruit from the Russian River Valley renowned for its cool-climate grape varietals like Chardonnay. This wine exhibits pineapple and peach with a hint of honey in the nose. Lush grapefruit and citrus upfront flavors are followed by a long finish of oak, hay, and a hint of white pepper. Try pairing this wine with seared sea scallops with prawn ravioli, salmon roe & cauliflower puree.

Coppola makes an attempt in this new line of wines to connect his interests of film making and wine making by playing with the idea of the directors cut. As I'm sure many of you know a directors cut of a movie is the film makers most ideal presentation of his creation indicating that this wine is the most ideal presentation of his wine. Coppola also created dynamic labels that mimic zoetropes (a visual illusion that creates motion in a series of pictures). The Coppola Directors Cut Zinfindel 2005 (retail $18) pulls its fruit from Dry Creek Valley producing a sensational red Zinfindel with lots of character and poise. Almost purple in color, the nose explodes with berry and cassis offering a hint of tobbaco and tar. Deep berry tones lead to a long rounded oaky finish with a hint of black pepper on the outro. It was a pleasure to drink from start to finish. Try pairing this wine with beef tenderloin served atop creamed potatoes and covered with a caramelized shallot sauce or a hazelnut & chocolate torte with honey ice cream & a honeycomb.Although the website didn't have any information on this new aquisition check out Coppola's winery at: www.ffcwinery.com.

For our last wine I revisited 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.

John and I have been busy coming up with new promotions at the Wine Down and would like to thank all of you who have been supportive of our efforts. Keep checking this blog for new and upcoming events and promotions. The next post will be a review of our first Winemaker Wednesdays Series featuring the winemaker Benoit Laville from Chateau Laville in Bordeaux, France. I'll see you next week and remember to keep an open eye and an open mind.

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.