2005 Bodegas Castaño Yecla Solanera Viñas Viejas

Type- Red
Producer- Bodegas Castaño
Variety- Monastrell (60%), Cabernet Sauvignon (20%) and Tintorera (15%)
Designation- Solanera Viñas Viejas
Country- Spain
Region- Murcia
Appellation- Yecla
Price $9.99



The Little Wooden Guy is quite enamored of this good wine at a great price.


Night One

The nose on Night One starts with bright red fruit, cherries mostly, with a slight watermelon background. There is also a secondary smell of burnt rubber.

There is greater complexity on the palate. The fruit is still red, but cherries are joined by tart cranberries and wild strawberries. Dusty leather tannins and some smokey meat join the attack. There are several flavors dancing around here, including coffee, cocoa, violets and licorice. Almond skins and cherry pits add a touch of bitterness on the finish. This is a very interesting wine, and an amazing QPR. I can hardly wait to see what happens over night and what it has to offer on Night Two.

Night Two

On Night Two, minerality leaps out of the glass with the first sniff. After than, cherries and a very clear strong smell of fresh-ground nutmeg follow the stones.

The palate is mostly red fruit, tiny translucent wild cherries and strawberries, some cranberries and yes, some watermelon still lurking in the background. There is some minerality and the charred well-done end of a nice prime rib. Tannins are still fine and dusty. The mid-palate again adds a few fleeting flavors, cocoa, flowers and fennel. The finish is sweet and a touch bitter, like fruit, maple and cherry pits all together.

This is good wine, amazingly deep and complex for under $10.

2005 Rolf Binder/Veritas Halliwell

Type Red
Producer Rolf Binder/Veritas
Variety 60% Shiraz 40% Grenache
Designation Halliwell
Country Australia
Region South Australia
SubRegion Barossa
Appellation Barossa Valley
Price $19.49



The Little Wooden Guy signals "TOUCHDOWN!" This is startlingly good stuff for the dollar. Heck, it's just good stuff.

Night One

The color is very dark, turning to purple-tinged scarlet at the edges.

The nose starts with a bit of barnyard must and earthiness, probably from the grenache. It also has plenty of fruit, starting with creamy blueberries, plus the dusty, fruity smell of a bag of dried strawberries. There is also a touch of fennel.

The palate is deep and rich, with a very smooth full mouth feel. Blueberries and blackberries in cream, plus a hint of licorice, open the attack. Some tart red fruit shows up on the mid-palate. Toward the finish, add vanilla and pepper. The finish is long. This is very nice, well balanced with fruit and sweet silky tannins.

Night Two

The nose of Night Two is still fruity, but darker than on Night One, adding blackberries and elderberries to the creamy blueberries. The pepper shows up earlier on Night Two, on the attack rather than toward the finish. The fennel is still there.

The attack is very prickly peppery plus loads of black fruit, especially blackberry and elderberry. Vanilla, ample and espresso glow on the mid-palate. Tannins are very smooth and sweet. Finish is long.

This is very good. When you factor in a price under $20, it is terrific. Grenache tempers the jammy fruitiness of Barossa Valley shiraz.

Twitter Taste Live- The 89 Project

This review is just of Night Two from the weekend's Twitter Taste Live, sponsored by The 89 Project. For Night One with all the Wine Twitters, watch the video, courtesy of 1 Wide Dude:

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The Wooden Guys had a good time, but the consensus was that the Rivola was not in the same league as the rest of the wines.

2007 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis Domaine Sainte Claire Vieilles Vignes

Type White
Producer Jean-Marc Brocard
Variety Chardonnay
Designation Vieilles Vignes
Vineyard Domaine Sainte Claire
Country France
Region Burgundy
SubRegion Chablis
Appellation Chablis

Night Two

The nose has tart apple, lime, and some minerality. From Night One to Night Two this lost a lot of fruit on the palate. It is tart and stony. There is some apple there, but it is the tart and green. Butter makes an appearance at the very end of the mid-palate and echoes lightly on the finish.

2005 Abadia Retuerta Vino de la Tierra Castilla y León Rívola

Type Red
Producer Abadia Retuerta
Variety Tempranillo Blend
Designation Rívola
Vineyard n/a
Country Spain
Region Castilla y León
SubRegion Sardon de Duero
Appellation Vino de la Tierra Castilla y León

Night Two

Oak-city on roller skates. Oh wait a second, there's a single teaspoon of blackcurrant jelly there. Unfortunately, it was crushed when the lighting struck and felled the oak tree. The lighting gave it that toasty smell.

Okay, let's take a sip, shall we? Blackberries, lots of blackberries, some cedar, and lots of vanilla. It devolves into a brown sugar/vanilla mess. The finish is short and sudden.

Honestly, I have no idea how anybody ever rated this 89.

2006 Clos La Coutale Cahors

Type Red
Producer Clos La Coutale
Variety Malbec Blend
Designation n/a
Vineyard n/a
Country France
Region Southwest France
SubRegion n/a
Appellation Cahors

Night Two

The nose has nutty, meaty smells underlying some dark fruit. Hiding behind it is a small hint of cherry, probably from the little bit of Merlot blended in. On the palate, black fruit dominates, but there is a lot more there. There is a meaty flavor like a crisp end-piece of prime rib, beefy and smoky. There is also a bit of vegetal taste, tobacco, like whole leaves hanging in a cigar shop on Calle Ocho. Tannins and acid are well balanced and pronounced, suggesting some more cellar time might be possible. Tannins are not quite smooth. "Dusty" would be a better description.

2006 Kilikanoon Shiraz The Lackey

Type Red
Producer Kilikanoon
Variety Shiraz
Designation The Lackey
Vineyard n/a
Country Australia
Region South Australia

Night Two

Bright red fruit, plums, spices, pepper and a touch of cedar all are on the nose. The palate has dark fruit, pepper, and some meatiness. At first, it was reminiscent of bacon, but a better comparison is actually Bresaola, Italian dried beef. It has the same nutty cured dried meaty flavor, especially at the back side-edges of the tongue. Tannins are smooth and sweet. Finish is long. This is nice, quite nice.

TerraNoble Gran Reserva Carmenere 2007

Type Red
Producer TerraNoble
Variety Carménère
Designation Gran Reserva
Country Chile
Region Central Valley
SubRegion Maule Valley
Price $16.99 in Indianapolis



The Big Wooden Guy liked this Chilean charmer. We only took notes on Night One, since it was one of the Thanksgiving wines, and it did not last through to Night Two.

The nose was startling in its clear, unmistakable coffee smell, like fresh espresso. That was followed by some blackberries. Coffee was prevalent on the palate, too, with dark chocolate and blackberries. Tannins were very slightly dusty, but not obtrusive. This was a very enjoyable rich wine, a good food wine, and a great QPR.

2004 Escafeld Petit Verdot

Type- Red
Producer- Escafeld
Variety- Petit Verdot
Country- USA
Region- California
SubRegion- Central Coast
Appellation- San Antonio Valley



The Wooden Guys applaud a lovely bottle of wine. The only regret is that they don't have more. Fortunately, the Little Wooden Guy gets his allowance soon and is going to buy more.

Night One

The color is deep maroon, not quite opaque. The nose is absolutely delicious, with dark chocolate/espresso mocha, and plump juicy blackberries and blueberries. The mouth feel is silky. Tannins are sweet and very smooth, but firm, indicating plenty of cellar life is still in the bottle. Chocolate, coffee, and gobs of fruit, just big splatting juicy gobs of fruit, open the palate. Not, mind you, oak and vanilla over-worked fruit, but pure believable fruit. Some red fruit, some tart cherries and maybe half a raspberry, appear in the mid-palate. A hint of vanilla rounds out the fruit on the finish, but never overpowers. The finish is long.

This is good stuff. I can't promise there will be much left for Night Two, but I will try.

Night Two

There is still some mocha, but the nose is lighter on Night Two. It also adds some hazelnut. Lovely. It is still very silky, tannins are sweet, smooth and firm. Mocha, black fruit and blue fruit, plus the hazelnut from the nose on the mid-palate, are later joined by some maple syrup, but not overpowering, balanced. Finish is sweet and long.

This is good. I am going to buy more.

2006 Humanitas Sauvignon Blanc

Type- White
Producer- Humanitas
Variety- Sauvignon Blanc
Country- USA
Region- California
SubRegion- Central Coast
Appellation- Monterey County

Night One

This is very light pale yellow, perfectly clear, like a yellow diamond.

The nose has some very classic Sauvignon Blanc smells, particularly cut grass and sweet pink grapefuit. It also has some tropical fruits, perhaps mango and pineapple. The palate is a little fat, lacking the acidity I like and expect from this varietal. The grapefruit on the palate is white, not pink, and pineapple is still there. However, it is softened, in my own opinion just a little too much, by some banana. There are many palates that would find this absolutely delightful, and I can not say this is a poor wine, only that it is not a great wine for me. It might be a bit too warm to show at its best- straight from the 56 degree cellar, where whites often shine (the refrigerator is far too cold, closing everything down). I will try it a bit cooler on Night Two.

Night Two

The nose on Night Two is sweeter than on Night One. There is still some cut grass and pink grapefruit. There is something else, too, though, some sweet nougat. The palate is a little better balanced than on Night One. It is still soft, but not fat. The grapefruit on Night Two seems more pink than white, pineapple adds sweetness and banana stays more in the background. I suspect the improvement comes as much from a cooler temperature (about 45 minutes out of the refrigerator) as the extra night. Whatever the reason, this is better tonight than last night.

2005 Viña Santa Rita Carménère 120

Type- Red
Producer- Viña Santa Rita
Variety- Carménère
Designation- 120
Country- Chile
Region- Central Valley
Appellation- Rapel Valley
Price- $5.99



If the Little Wooden Guy is running away you should too.

It's Wine Blogging Wednesday again, and WBW#52 comes from Cheap Wine Ratings, and the subject is Value Reds from Chile. Is this a "value red"? Well, it's $5.99, but it also isn't worth $5.99, or $4.99, or $3.99, or even $0.99. Value? Perhaps not.

Night One

The nose has some chocolate, some Slim Jim, loads of green- tomato leaves and green bell pepper. Smoked meat, blackberries and green flavors of arugula and tobacco leaves. Not much of a mid-palate. Finish is short.

After an hour or two more fruit is evident on the nose, mostly blueberry and some blackberry.

Night Two

The nose has green peppers, creosote and cherries. The palate, well, let's just say "not good."

2005 Jean-Pierre Robinot (L'Opera des Vins) Coteaux du Loir Vin de Table Francais Concerto D'Oniss

Type- Red
Producer- Jean-Pierre Robinot (L'Opera des Vins)
Variety- Pineau d'Aunis
Designation- Vin de Table Francais Concerto D'Oniss
Country- France
Region- Loire Valley
SubRegion- Upper Loire
Appellation- Coteaux du Loir



The Little Wooden Guy likes it. This wine is bright, fresh and fruity, not over-oaked and overpowering.

Night One

The color is a light translucent ruby red. The palate is very fruity, cherry pits, pomegranate, and some lavender. On the palate, the mouth feel was a bit thin. Flavor was very fruity and juicy, cherries, pomegranate, and some allspice. It is very bright and acidic, fresh and fruity.

Night Two

The nose was a little deeper on Night Two, with tobacco leaf added to the cherry pits, pomegranate and lavender from Night One. Mouth feel was a lot more full, glycerin more apparent. The palate was close to Night One, but a bit deeper, pomegranate, cranberry, and some earthy mushrooms, adding cola on the mid-plate. It was still very bright and acidic.

This is a very interesting wine, light and fruity but with layers and depth.

Quick tasting, lots of wine

I went to a wine tasting last night at one of my local wine stores, Vine & Table. It was a customer tasting, not a critic tasting, so there wasn't any spitting. That meant I had to choose pretty carefully among the 50 or so wines, to pick the ones I wanted to try. Here's the line-up, with some quick notes. Note, please, that I did not realize the tasting list did not include vintage until I started writing this entry. Just about everything was most recent available.

Casa Lapostolle Cabernet Sauvignon "Alexandre"

Type- Red
Producer- Casa Lapostolle
Variety- Cabernet Sauvignon
Designation- Cuvée Alexandre
Vineyard- Apalta Vineyard
Country- Chile
Region- Central Valley
SubRegion- Rapel Valley
Appellation- Colchagua Valley
Price $17.99

There was plenty of black fruit on the nose, plum and black currant. Black currant drove the palate, but there was also some brush and green pepper. Tannins were smooth, balance was pretty good. This was a fair, and fairly priced, Cabernet.

Allegrini Palazzo della Torre

Type- Red
Producer- Allegrini
Variety- 70% Corvina Veronese, 25% Rondinella and 5% Sangiovese
Designation- Palazzo della Torre
Country- Italy
Region- Veneto
Appellation- Veronese IGT
Price- $22.99

The nose opened with blackberry, followed immediately by a stunning amount of coffee and chocolate, mocha heaven. On the palate it was very smooth a creamy, offering up blackberry, a bare echo of the chocolate on the nose, and some licorice on the mid-palate. Finish was mid-length. The palate did not meet the nose' promise, but at $22.99, it was still good. There is one other advantage, as well. If you are trying to join the Wine Century Club, it has two grapes you don't normally run across.

Louis Jadot Pommard 2005

Type- Red
Producer- Louis Jadot
Variety- Pinot Noir
Country- France
Region- Burgundy
SubRegion- Côte de Beaune
Appellation- Pommard
Price $51.99

This is very young, and it showed. The nose was closed, barely giving up hints of cherry pit, strawberry and mushroom. It was a bit more tart on the palate, showing cranberry and raspberry, along with a little earthiness. It did not have tremendous depth or much of a mid-palate. I know the '05 Burgundies are outrageously priced, and $52 is low on the scale, but that is still a lot of money for a wine of this quality.

Louis Jadot Pommard 2006

Type- Red
Producer- Louis Jadot
Variety- Pinot Noir
Country- France
Region- Burgundy
SubRegion- Côte de Beaune
Appellation- Pommard
Price $65.99

This was completely closed down. The nose was simply absent. There was a bit of red berry and pepper on the nose, but not much. I realize the '05s commanded high prices, but a price INCREASE for the '06 is just not justifiable.

Elyse "Morisoli" Cabernet Sauvignon

Type- Red
Producer- Elyse
Variety- Cabernet Sauvignon
Vineyard- Morisoli Vineyard
Country- USA
Region- California
SubRegion- Napa Valley
Appellation- Napa Valley
Price- $79.99

The nose on this wine was like a straight right from George Foreman- it came straight at you and caught you right between the eyes. It was huge, with buckets of plum and elderberry and a powerful smell of meat and soy sauce. Yes, soy sauce. It was equally big on the palate, bringing blackcurrant and redcurrant, some smoke, a very smooth full mouth feel, and firm but surprisingly well-integrated tannins. It was sweet, adding the brown sugar and vanilla I note in so many California Cabs, but in this case those flavors did not take over and elbow out the fruit, they just merely joined alongside it. The finish was mid-length, a bit of a surprise.

Page Wine Cellars Proprietary Red

Type- Red
Producer- Page Wine Cellars
Variety- Red Bordeaux Blend
Designation- Proprietary Blend
Country- USA
Region- California
SubRegion- Napa Valley
Appellation- Napa Valley
Price- $56.99

The nose was jammy and spicy, with red fruit, pepper and cedar. The palate was interesting, offering up a taste I never before found in a Bordeaux blend. It started with cherry, followed very quickly by A&W root beer and cream, almost a root beer float. The midpalate brought vanila and cedar. Finish was long and smooth.

Four Graces Pinot Noir

Type- Red
Producer- The Four Graces
Variety- Pinot Noir
Country- USA
Region- Oregon
SubRegion- Willamette Valley
Appellation- Willamette Valley
Price- $26.99

The best way to describe the nose was dried strawberries, that fruity musty sweet smell. The palate was very typical mid-price Oregon pinot, cherries and black tea, plus a bit of pepper and allspice.

I Giusti & Zanza Nemorino Rosso Toscana IGT

Type- Red
Producer- I Giusti & Zanza
Variety- Syrah Blend
Designation- Nemorino Rosso
Country- Italy
Region- Tuscany
Appellation- Toscana IGT
Price- $19.99

The nose had loads of pepper and black fruit. The palate was odd, though, with a clashing mix of nuts, canteloupe and blueberries.

2006 Shirvington Shiraz

Type- Red
Producer- Shirvington
Variety- Shiraz
Country- Australia
Region- South Australia
SubRegion- Fleurieu
Appellation- McLaren Vale



The color is maroon, bright and clear. This wine hits your nose with a wall of smells. It starts with sweet butter slathered on roasted nuts, sitting on a plate next to a vase full of day-old magnolias. That is followed by a complex melange of red fruit, cherries and strawberries, and black fruit, blueberries and mulberries. Mouth feel is very full and thick. The palate has the same sweet buttered roasted nuts, almost praline-sweet. That is followed by big jammy fruit, hearty jam with big chunks of strawberries, black cherries, and a few blueberries. Maple syrup and vanilla flow on the mid-palate. The finish is very sweet and very long.

Night Two

Again, the nose starts with buttery praline, the cherries and blueberries. The palate has the same pralines, loads of big black and red fruit, and browned butter to finish. The overall sense, and mouth feel, is smooth butter. The finish is not as long as Night One, but still fairly long.

This is a great big buttery powerful wine. It is not a fruit-bomb, as the fruits are not overly jammy and sweet, and the butter-nut praline offers another level of flavors other than just jars of jelly. It is big enough, though, that it cold easily overpower most food, so choose carefully when looking for a good match.