Loosen Bros. Dr. L Riesling 2010 (Mosel) wine review by (PB)

Pale straw in color with vanilla fruit and a touch of pineapple.

Palate--Slightly sweet presence with back bone of lemon and sour apple. I would like more acidity but it it is adequate and easy going down. Serve with a little chill on it and at $8 raise a glass.

Ramey Sonoma Coast Syrah 2007 Wine Review (NW)

Tasting notes:

Interesting pepper, mocha, and wild berries on the nose

Full bodied and firm on the palate

Long finish of plum, herbs, and pepper

Summary:

Here's the deal: California Syrah is one of the most overlooked wine categories on the planet. Why? Because all the best producers manage to deliver big, intense wines that are not sweet and cloying but rather structured and firm with at least some reference to signature Northern Rhone Syrah from France. I can't speak to the $10 wines, but once you decide to spend $30 or more on a California Syrah you enter a world of well made, small production wines that are every bit "artisanal". I mention these prices only to help provide some framework- it's no exact science. Generally, you should look for notes of pepper and good acidity in addition to the ripe fruit that makes up a good Syrah.

Ramey is known for Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, but David Ramey's line up of Syrah is incredible. He's one of the great producers for sure. I enjoy wines from all over the world, record notes on hundreds of wines a year, and spend little time "following" winemakers or even wineries. There's too much to explore. With that said, Ramey is one of the great wineries of California that's hard not to appreciate.

This bottle runs about $35 and is worth hunting down. Drink it now or lay it down for ten years. In fact, this type of Syrah will taste great at fifteen years based on my experience. Most people wouldn't know that off hand because it's rarely discussed in the wine press alongside Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir.

Every year, among my 500 wines or so that I taste, I choose two specific types of wine to focus on in order to gain more insight. For 2011, one of those is California Syrah. I've recorded notes on roughly 30 different wines in this category. It's a category that has fallen flat with consumers in recent years and that's just a shame. In the Pinot Noir world we live in, take a step away from the herd. And raise a glass of Syrah!

Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino 2006 Wine Review (NW)

Tasting notes:

Notes of black cherry and dark chocolate on the nose

Full bodied and savory on the palate

Long, savory finish of dark fruit, herbs, and espresso

Summary:

This is a very good Brunello that should age well. It's dark, savory, and complex, with a long finish. Give it some time and it will be a special treat with a hearty meal. Expect to pay around $50. Raise a glass!

Monte Tondo Casette Foscarin Soave Classico 2007 Wine Review (NW)

Tasting notes:

Lemon, apricot, and mango on the nose

Medium bodied on the palate

Ultra smooth and finely texured with apple, almond, and hints of vanilla

Summary:

Here's a beautifully crafted Soave Classico from the Veneto region of Italy. It dances between tropical layers and an underlying tartness, but the real charm is the texture. The wine is ultra smooth and finely textured, just caressing the palate.

Soave is based on the Garganega grape and can contain several other white grapes of various proportions. It's one of the great white food wines of Italy that has suffered brand damage in the past as the term was used generically and not regionally. Expect to pay around $18 for this, and raise a glass!

Pasqua della Valpolicella Amarone 2007 wine review by (PB)

Mature garnet presentation with ever so slight signs of aging at the rim.
Bouquet is full of cherry with deep heavy forest floor and spicy moss. Wow!

Palate--Integrated, bread with cherry fruit and a rear layer of creamy milk chocolate with layering and a loooong lingering cigar box, fruit finish.

This wine will be in my final Top Ten wines of 2011 to be sure. It is a Trader Joe's $19 steal and I will be buying more to be sure. Absolutely a must buy and a great value! Raise a case!

Buehler Zinfandel 2009 wine review by (PB)

Lighter medium purple/garnet hue with big berry bouquet that is full of Zin.

Palate--A little chewy with some chocolate and nice berry flavor. Solid zinfandel presentation but quite disappointing.

This wine sells at around the $20 price point and I have had numerous zins at the $10 price point that are as good. For the price I would pay a few more dollars and get a nice Rosenblum single vineyard!

Il Casale Soave Classico D.O.C. 2009 Sponsored Wine Review By Billy

Nose: Honey and Apricot on the nose.  Soft flowers.
Palate: Spice.  Soft and even balance of acid and sugars.
Finish: Green melon and hay.  Slow and elegant.
Overall: This wine was sent to us at The Wine Cask Blog for review by the good folks at the Soave Consortium. This wine is made of the Garganega grape and comes from the Soave region of Italy.  Overall, this easy drinking white is a very easy drinking wine that has wonderful flavors.  We sampled it immediately on opening where the nose was delightfully strong.  After some exposure to the air, the flavors and feel in the mouth had settled down and evened out.  The softness of the wine is quite elegant.  It is supple and embracing.  This makes it a very accessible wine that pairs nicely with fruit and cheeses or other light snacks.  It retains its flavors without tapering off which is delightful in such an easy-drinking white wine.
Raise a glass to Il Casale 2009 Soave Classico.

Casata Monticello Dolcetto D'Asti 2007 wine review by (PB)

Bright ruby hue with a staid bouquet.

Palate--Dried cherry, thin, closed, marginal even at $8. Pass on this one!

Chateau Malmaison 2006 wine review by (PB)

Black cherry hue with some depth, and rising fruit aromas of blueberry, cigar box and black berry from the glass.

Palate--The wine is tart with chewy tannins, rough edges, tight fruit and harsh. I aerated it and breathed it more--which did help some but is still too young. there is good potential here but it needs to be in a cellar a few more years. Classic Bordeaux style and 80% Merlot with 20% Cabernet Sauvignon.

I saw this at one of my favorite haunts for $18 and since 2005 was such a great year for Bordeaux, I figured it should be really good. Baronne Nadine Rothschild is involved with this wine so certainly has a good pedigree but needs more time.

Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009 wine review by (PB)

Green herbal front with medium blackberry on the bouquet.

Palate--Bread,, medium fruit, blackberry with plum notes.

This needs another year and will drink even better. Not the best Columbia Crest has done but at $8, always a good value wine. Raise a glass!

Gnarly Head "Authentic Red" wine review by PB

So deep it looks like Syrah in the glass but smells like Zinfandel all the way with espresso and black berry aromas.

Palate-- Big and bold, again Zinfandel all the way with robust, sweet, rich textured, butter chocolate and loads of fruit. Holy cow!

Get a grip factor--This wine is a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot but from the smell and taste, I would say that besides Zinfandel, they must have merely waved the other grapes over the vat. This is thoroughly Zinfandel and here is the real get a grip factor--I just had a Buehler Zin rated at 91 points by the big boys and I liked this wine as much, and perhaps even more. I paid $7.50 for this wine and 3 times that for the Buehler. Seek it out and raise a glass!

Bodegas Alejandro Fernández Pesquera 1991 Ribera Del Douro wine review by (PB)

Medium garnet hue with a slight stink and nice cream and cherry-berry bouquet.

Palate--Complex mature wine with cinnamon, herbs and anise; a tasty wine.

This was the third wine (NW) served me up blind. I put it at a wine of upwards of 15 years...so I was of by 5--can't win them all.

The Ribera Del Douro is dedicated to the Tempranillo grape and this is a fine example of how well they can mature and how wonderfully complex they can present. (NW) thought he paid around $38--another treat and we raised a glass or two!

Lewis Vineyards "Alec's Blend" Napa 2007 wine review by (PB)

Deep and darkly pigmented black cherry hue right to the rim of the glass.

Bouquet is full of rich black berry, plum and cocoa with vanilla note.

Palate--Rich mocha, with intense depth, full bodied with loads of "stuff" waiting to be released in the treaure trove of complexity; white chocolate emerges a little later.

This is a young, immature plush wine of immensity that finishes with lasting espresso and blackberry jam.

Again served to me blind, it reminded me of a young (2006) "Don Melchor" from Concha Y Toro but my first impression was a gargantuan, superior Syrah. Made by the famous "Lewis" winery it is 70% Syrah with 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Merlot.

If you want a Lewis wine--you'll pay for it! this one runs in the $50 range but it was (NW's) pocket so raise a glass and say "Yeah baybay!"

Truchard Roussanne 2009 wine review by (PB)

This Carneros (Calif.) is a medium gold in the glass has a pronounced tropical fruit and pineapple that smells "old world." Underneath the forward grangrances there is subtle peach.

Palate--This wine has a sharp acidity, is off dry with solid tropical fruit flavors.

(NW) served this to me blind--as usual--and I believed it to be an old world style perhaps Alsatian Gewurztraminer with a little age on it. It is, as its name reveals is the grape "Roussanne" which is typically a blending grape in numerous white French wines. This wine runs around $17 and is a nice wine so raise a glass.

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico Riserva 2006 Wine Review (NW)

Tasting notes:

Nice aromas of cherry and earth on the nose

Full bodied on the palate

Long, savory finish of dried herbs and spice

Summary:

Chianti Classico wines have improved dramatically over the past decade. They are richer, more full bodied, and more complex. This wine is no exception as it delivers full flavor and a long, savory finish. Pair it with hearty fare- perhaps Italian! I paid $17 at a local wine shop. Raise a glass!

Meritxell Palleja Nita Priorat 2009 Wine Review (NW)

Tasting notes:

Aromas of currants on the nose

Medium bodied on the palate

Tannic and somewhat bitter finish of sour plum and herbs

Summary:

This wine is a little too tannic and bitter. Unfortunately, I don't think it will settle down much with cellaring. It's a blend of Grenache, Carinena, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah from the Priorat region of Spain. While Priorat produces some amazing wines, take a pass on this $24 bottle. Raise a glass of something else!

Merry Edwards Russian River Valley Klopp Ranch Pinot Noir 2004 Wine Review (NW)

Tasting notes:

Black cherry with hints of anise and cedar on the nose

Medium bodied on the palate

Long, silky finish of red fruit and cedar

Summary:

This Pinot Noir has good complexity and a silky texture, which are the two things that define the best of the varietal. Merry Edwards is a highly regarded producer who's wines have a reputation of drinking really well with a few extra years of bottle age. I would take this a step further and suggest that most good California Pinot Noir can sit in the cellar for at least a few years and do very well.

Expect to pay around $50 for this wine, and raise a glass!

Lockwood Vineyard Pinot Noir Monterey 2007 "Block 7" wine review by (PB)

Beautiful crystalline, very light cherry color on the pour that intensifies amazingly once in the glass. This wine is brimming with classic Pinot aromas of strawberry and light hard cherry candy and the slightest touch of spice.

Palate--This wine has depth with a cinnamon front impression with big flavors of bright fruit and some weight with a little tannic edge even. Once you swallow and the fruit subsides after about a minute, there is a surprising green apple finish. Amazing!

I paid $13 for this great wine marked down from $18. If I had only known at the time I would have bought several more!

I paired it with grilled Tuna steaks with a caper and olive oil/lemon vinaigrette sauce. Raise a glass!

Marchesi De Frescobaldi Tenuta Di Castiglioni Toscana 2007 wine review by (PB)

Dark black cherry hue showing off its serious frame. Sweet cherry is drifting from the bottle from afar with nice cigar box, tobacco and tar bouquet with a touch of eucalyptus.

Palate--Unctuous, rustic cherry and a touch of licorice on a foundation that is textured and a little chewy on opening. Its muscular frame needs time and air. There is a nice lingering, long finish.

I paid $17 for this and bought about 8 bottles it was so good! I have two left that I will leave cellar if I have the discipline. Raise a glass!

Cesari "Mara" Caraion Veranese 2008 wine review by (PB)

This is classic Valpolicella Ripasso made by one of the multi-generational giants of the Italian wine industry.

It has a dark black cherry hue with a bouquet of big deep ripe dark berries with fresh grape hints underneath; cinnamon is prevalent in balanced subtlety with bright and dried cherries as it opens.

Palate--Bold velvety tannins with big fruit forward pleasure with good integration for such a young wine. Finishes with more dried red fruit.

At $17 this is a lot of wine and just delicious so raise a glass!