19 February 2005

Free Range O'nnay

From the Wimbledon (??) Wine Company, makers of HRM Rex Goliath 'Free Range' wines:

Amidst the splendor of Monterey County, the HRM Rex Goliath vineyards enjoy the most optimum growing conditions to create premium Central Coast Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. The wines & label art honor HRM (His Royal Majesty) Rex Goliath, who at the turn of the century, was the treasured attraction of a Texas Circus. People came from far and wide to behold the 47lb bird billed as the ‘World’s Largest Rooster’. The label replicates the one of a kind vintage artwork from the circus banner that hung above Rex’s Roost. This new line of attractively priced wines, launched in the summer of 2002, showcases the supple fruit-driven style of California’s coastal vineyards.

I wouldn't label this brand, "premium."  I tried Goliath Pinot Noir, and well, let's just say it was the opposite of premium.  Today after walking the dog, cleaning the kitchen, and inexplicably working outrageously hard at the gym, I craved a no-brainer wine.  H.R.M. Rex Chardonnay was rolling around in the wine fridge.  It is a fairly unoffensive, fruit-bombish Chardonnay.  Not completely over the top.  Yet not hitting the magic sweet spot that Bogle seems to be able to nail with its eight-buck Chardonnay.

Hrmrexgoliathlogo230The Skinny

Rex Goliath Central Coast Chardonnay, '03 ($8)

  • Lemon-gold in color with visible stickiness on the sides of the glass
  • Pineapple, peach and caramel-spice-oak scents
  • Medium-bodied, heading towards full-bodied with bold, fruity flavors, heavy alcohol, and too-light crispness

**.5 (2.5 stars out of 5)

All in all, an OK Saturday afternoon, post-gym, workout-negating wine.  Best to drink it all by its lonesome, as this Chard'O'nnay will likely clobber most foods with its heavy fruity-oak punch.

07 February 2005

Fat Bastard Shiraz

Fatbast_1Fat Bastard Shiraz 2002 ($10)
Cute label.  Zero character, tastes like nothing.  There are many more affordable, non-cartoon wines from Southern France.  Take Louis Bernard Cotes du Rhone Villages, for example.  Ten bucks, and character-full.

26 January 2005

WBW#5: whooh whooh *cough* whooh

A clink of the glass to Chez Pim for hosting WineBloggingWednesday #5

I'm a bit constrained in my local selection of "Cartoon Wines" due to the fact that I live in (the republic) of Utah, which is a state-run alcohol monopoly.  However, I did dig up Smoking Loon Cabernet Sauvignon.  I recently sampled both the 'Loon Shiraz & Viognier.  At $8-9 these are both pretty good wines.

Smokeloon_1The Skinny
Smoking Loon (hence the whooh-cough-whooh) Cabernet Sauvignon, '03 ($8)

  • From California
  • Deep ruby red with a day-glo sheen.  A very thin pink, watery rim (young wine!)
  • It wasn't a fruit-bomb.  Perhaps a fruit-bucket, but not a bomb.  Simple scents of blackberry, vanilla (hello, Oak chips), and caramel-spice
  • The flavor was almost all simple red-berry fruit. The wine is fairly light-bodied for a Cab.  A very brief finish.  Not quite enough Cabernet character in the mouth to sell me.

**.5 (2.5 stars out of 5)

This is a wine you can pop, sip, and forget about.  There will be no lasting memories, good or bad.  But hey; for eight bucks who cares?

Cheers to Lenn who invited me to post on WBW.

04 January 2005

Tortoise Creek - Char/Vio-blend

Chard_vio_botTortoise Creek is a French wine from the "d'OC" (A wine region that includes nearly all of the French Mediterranean coast).  It's categorized as a Vin de Pays, which, when loosely translated, means 'Country Wine.'  Once upon a time this category was looked down upon.  However, this category now provides the French winemaker some wiggle room.  You'll notice that this wine is labeled as a varietal (Chardonnay/Viognier), which is still somewhat rare with French wine labels (normally labeled by appellation of origin).  The label also indicates that the wine is unoaked.  This label term is an attempt to woo heavy Chardonnay-weary drinkers to this wine.  It's saying, "Yo.  I'm not heavy & sticky sweet like some Chardonnays."

I admire the effort by Tortoise Creek to make its wine more user-friendly.

The Skinny
Tortoise Creek Chardonnay/Viognier, '03 ($8)
Light gold color
Pear and apple scents with a subtle floral aroma
Medium-bodied, not overly strong in the alcohol department.  Unfortunately, slightly flabby, although some crispness exists, with not much in the way of flavor.  A fair wine at a very good price. 
**.5 (2.5 stars out of 5)

If you're in the market for a budget Viognier-based wine, try Smoking Loon Viognier.  If you want to knock your own socks off with Viognier in all its glory, try Guigal Condrieu

03 January 2005

This Loon Really Does Smoke!

I've let cartoon wines into my life.  So now I suppose I must drink even more wine.  It's tough.

Smokingloonsyrah_1The Skinny
Smoking Loon Syrah, '02 ($8)
From California; produced by D. Sebastiani & Sons
Deep ruby red in color
Big and fruity (red cherries, red plums, raspberries) scents coupled with some pepper & vanilla (hello, French Oak)
Suprisingly less fruity than I expected in the mouth.  It's simple and bold, yes.  However, this Syrah offers a zip of spice along with a *kerwang* of tannin, which allows it to be less-than-hostile towards food
***.5 (3.5 stars out of 5)

Try it with barbecued ribs, pizza, and/or tomato sauce-based pasta dishes

Cartoon Wines: A new category

Can't resist any longer.  Cartoon wines attacking from all sides.  "Have you tried Yellow Tail Shiraz?"  "What do you think about...?" 

So, now I embrace wines like this (at least 'embrace' in the sense that I will try them and promise not to roll my eyes when someone uses words like "loon," "penguin," "fat bastard," or "tortoise" when describing a wine):

FatbastLilpenguinSmokeloonRedbicylette