Chateau Beaulieu Comtes de Tastes Vintage: 2003 Purchased: Jun 7th 2007 Price: $11.99 Purchase Location: Garagiste - (http://www.garagistewine.com/) Categories: Bordeaux - Cabernet Sauvignon - France - Merlot - Red

Tasting Notes:

We were having steak, so I opened a Bordeaux. At first this wine showed mostly black fruit and raspberry flavors. But as it opened up, blueberry seemed to dominate. This is a really good wine at this price.


Also Tasted On:
Sep 5th 2007


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Chateau Les Bertrands Vieilles Vignes Vintage: 2005 Purchased: Feb 16th 2007 Price: $11.99 Number on Hand: 1 Purchase Location: Garagiste - (http://www.garagistewine.com/) Categories: Bordeaux - Cabernet Sauvignon - France - Merlot - Red

Tasting Notes:

If all Bordeaux was like this, I'd drink much more. Looking at this wine, you understand why Bordeaux received the name claret from the British. This is a transparent wine. It's not inky black. It's a dark red, but you can see through it. The nose has more red fruit than black fruit: strawberries, raspberries, and red currant. In the mouth, it's creamy smooth. The fruit is muted at first, but came more apparent the longer it breathed. The red fruit is there, along with some plum. The finish is long with no oaky flavors and nice smooth tannins. I also noticed just a hint of an herbal mint quality.


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Ravenswood Sonoma County Merlot Vintage: 2002 Purchased: Dec 31st 2007 Price: $0.00 Categories: California - Merlot - Red

Tasting Notes:

This is not a wine I would normally buy. I tend to like merlot (and cabernet for that matter) in blends. But this was a gift, and I'm never going to turn down free booze!

This was a deep thick purple wine. You could tell it meant business in the glass. It had a fairly pronounced nose of black fruit. In the mouth, it was thick and very jammy with blackberry and blueberry flavors. The finish was super long, but it was pleasant with well developed tannins and quite a bit of black pepper and smoky oak.

This was a fairly nice wine, and it paired well with the steak. It probably lacked acid and it started to fall apart when opened the second day. But all in all, it was quite nice.


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Chateau Beaulieu Comtes de Tastes Vintage: 2003 Purchased: Jun 7th 2007 Price: $11.99 Purchase Location: Garagiste - (http://www.garagistewine.com/) Categories: Bordeaux - Cabernet Sauvignon - France - Merlot - Red

Tasting Notes:

I was making a sous vide flat iron steak, and figured a big bold Bordeaux would mate with it well. I had two bottles of this, and decided I'd give it a try. I didn't take any detailed notes, but thought it was pretty good. I think it will be better in a year or two. Since I don't have much to say, here's what Robert Parker said:

"Situated northwest of Libourne, this 37-acre vineyard, planted with 50% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, has fashioned a sleepers of the vintage. Produced from 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, the dense ruby/purple-hued 2003 exhibits an opulent black raspberry and cherry-scented bouquet offering hints of cedar, vanilla, and roasted herbs. Beautifully-textured, medium to full-bodied, with silky tannin, it can be enjoyed now and over the next 5-7 years. 89pts"


Also Tasted On:
Sep 22nd 2008


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Silver Lake Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot Vintage: 2004 Purchased: Jan 21st 2007 Price: $7.99 Purchase Location: QFC Categories: Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot - Red - Washington

Tasting Notes:

Kathrine picked this out to go with a braised beef shank dish that I had made. I quite enjoyed our trip to Silver Lake when we visited and was pretty impressed with most of their wines. My favorite was probably their Grand Reserve Claret, but at $40 a bottle, I feel that their are much better values out there. This wine is a similar blend at a much cheaper price.

It's got the expected color to it in the glass. A dark purple color. The nose is very pronounced and fruity. Mainly blackberry, but some other fruit components as well. On the palate you get the fruit first, but it's not overpowering. I tasted blackberry and blueberry, with just a hint of raspberry. It's backed up by a very good acid that Washington reds seem to have and is often missing from California. There wasn't a lot to spice to it. The back of the bottle mentioned vanilla, but I didn't get that. There were some soft tannins, but they were mild and well balanced. It tasted more like a cedar plank than oaky.


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Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot Vintage: 2003 Purchased: Jan 20th 2007 Price: $9.99 Purchase Location: Metropolitan Market - (http://www.metropolitan-market.com/) Categories: Merlot - Red - Washington

Tasting Notes:

Opened this bottle to have with a Sunday pot roast dinner. It's only slightly fruity on the nose, with a very pronounced mineral smell. If I had to place it I would say mineral oil.

It's much more interesting on the palate then it's price would suggest. The first impression is of blackberries, but only briefly. Then you get struck by the taste of black pepper before the acidity washes it away and the tannins kick in. No one of those things is overpowering, but they all appear in an orderly distinct fashion.

We only had half the bottle on Sunday. I used a neutral gas and recorked it before putting it in the fridge. On Monday night, we shredded the rest of the pot roast and used it and the broth as as sauce for pasta. I opened it back up and it had changed slightly. The fruit was more of a black cherry taste and seemed to last a little longer, and the tannins were a little softer.

All in all a good wine that I recommend at this price.


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Chateau Buisson-Redon Vintage: 2004 Purchased: Dec 9th 2006 Price: $11.99 Purchase Location: Central Market Categories: Bordeaux - Cabernet Sauvignon - France - Merlot - Red

Tasting Notes:

I always thought of Bordeaux as something that was very expensive. This led me to believe that the cheap wines labeled as such were not worth buying. However, when Kathrine saw this bottle at Central Market I was intrigued. The handwritten notes seemed to make it seem like a great deal, so I bought a bottle. This wine proves that producers in Bordeaux can compete with new world red wines even on QPR.

This wine comes from a 101-acre vineyard in the Fronsac district. It is composed of 60 percent cabernet sauvignon and 40 percent merlot. The wine is a very bright and deep hued red. There is fruit to this wine, it has the tastes and aromas of ripe cherries and blackberries; but the fruit is subtle. The tanins are not harsh at all, and it has a pleasent mineral taste to it. It's different than the new world cabernet/merlot blends I've tried, which seem to be both fruitier and more tanic. I'm hesitant to say it's better, just different. This wine is ready to drink right now, and at the price I paid an outstanding value.

We enjoyed it with short ribs braised in red wine and veal stock. It complimented the meal perfectly.


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Dunham Cellars Trutina Vintage: 2005 Purchased: Jun 1st 2008 Price: $26.00 Purchase Location: Dunham Cellars - (http://dunhamcellars.com/) Categories: Cabernet Franc - Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot - Red - Syrah/Shiraz - Washington

Tasting Notes:

N/A


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Patrick M. Paul Vineyards Merlot Vintage: 2005 Purchased: Jun 1st 2008 Price: $21.00 Purchase Location: Patrick M. Paul Vineyards - (http://pmpvineyards.com/) Categories: Merlot - Red - Washington

Tasting Notes:

N/A


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Emilio Bordeaux Vintage: 2005 Purchased: Jan 24th 2008 Price: $9.00 Purchase Location: Maple Leaf Wine Cellar - (http://www.mapleleafcellar.com/) Categories: Bordeaux - France - Merlot - Red

Tasting Notes:

N/A


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