Tag Archives: sauvignon blanc

Wine review: Jules Taylor Sauvignon Blanc 2011

The Wine Curmudgeon’s favorite New Zealand sauvignon blanc is Spy Valley; the catch is that it’s often difficult to find in Dallas. So when I had a chance to meet Jules Taylor, whose New Zealand winery gets high marks for quality and professionalism ( “Plus, Jeff, she’s a great person,” said the PR type), I was excited. There’s nothing wrong with having two favorites.

I was not disappointed. Taylor is clever and passionate about her work. How do I know this? When someone can sound as excited as she did about her wines when talking to a wine writer after a long and hot day of visiting retailers and sitting in meetings, she must be passionate. (She is also a tequila aficionado, and was very excited to be in Dallas if only for that. Not many interesting tequilas for sale in New Zealand, apparently.)

The sauvignon blanc ($18, sample) is New Zealand sauvignon blanc the way it should be. There is more grassiness than citrus in the front (and lime instead of grapefruit); a soft, almost seductive tropical middle (passion fruit?); and a long, very subtle mineral finish. This is a complex wine, especially for the price, and not only well above the entry level wines on the market, but on par with many more expensive ones. Highly recommended.

Taylor also makes a late harvest sauvignon blanc dessert wine ($20 for a 375 ml bottle, sample), which I really shouldn;t mention. It’s not that it isn’t very nicely done (lots of apricot, honeyed sweetness, and a bit of sauvignon blanc character). It’s that she makes very little of it, and even less gets imported to the U.S. If you can find it, buy it.

Barefoot wine review 2012

Barefoot, the $6 grocery store brand owned by E&J Gallo, is tremendously controversial among wine writers. They refuse to believe that any wine that sells that well at that price can be any good. That it is ?mass produced ? doesn ?t help their disposition, either.

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New this year: The 2013 Barefoot wine review
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Or, as so many of my colleagues have vowed (including the famous ones), ?You aren ?t going to catch me reviewing those wines. ?

Which is not the way the Wine Curmudgeon does things, is it? After the jump, my annual Barefoot review, featuring the sauvignon blanc and pinot noir (with links to four of my Barefoot posts at the bottom of this one).

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Mini-reviews 36: Ribera, La Vieille Ferme, Rodney Strong, Sledgehammer

Reviews of wines that don ?t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month:

? Bodegas Pe alba L pez Monte Castrillo 2009 ($13, sample): Spanish tempranillo from Ribera del Duero with lots of thickish red fruit that needs beefy dishes. Decent value, but you have to like wine made this way.

? La Vieille Ferme Blanc 2011 ($8, purchased): Hugely disappointing vintage from the French white that is a long-time blog favorite. Big-time banana fruit, which not only isn't pleasant, but shows a change in winemaking to softer and more sweetish approach.

? Rodney Strong Sauvignon Blanc 2010 ($13.50, sample): Always dependable and value-driven California white. Look for melon and California grassiness, thought not quite as citrusy as other west coast sauvignon blancs.

? Sledgehammer Zinfandel 2009 ($15, sample): Yes, it is. A massive, oaky, and alcoholic zinfandel with extracted jammy fruit if that's what you're in the mood for.

Wine of the week: Meridian Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Meridian Sauvignon Blanc 2010Meridian’s wines make the Wine Curmudgeon crazy. Sometimes, they’re really, really well done, and do things like make the $10 Hall of Fame. Other times, they taste like the grocery store wines that they are, and their $10 Hall of Fame worthinness seems very hard to believe.

Hence my trepidation with this review. The sauvignon blanc ($6, purchased) is an exceedingly well-made wine, and sets a high standard not only for Meridian, but for all grocery store wine at this price. It has lots of tropical fruit (pineapple and mango) in a very forward style, which gives the impression of sweetness. But since it’s sauvignon blanc, there is plenty of citrus and California-style grassiness to balance the fruit. And, hard as it may be to believe, I think there is minerality at the back — about as common in a $6 wine as me not being able to come up with a simile here.

Drink this chilled on its own, or with almost any kind of warm weather white wine dish. Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2013 Hall of Fame. Please, Meridian, don’t let me down.

Mini-reviews 34: Chateau Malescot, Hess, LangeTwins, Henri Perrusset

Reviews of wines that don ?t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month:

? Ch teau Malescot St. Exup ry 2005 ($28, purchased): This cabernet sauvingon blend from Bordeaux is exceedingly capable wine, and given that it comes from one of the vintages of the century, it's practically a steal. Having said that, it doesn't taste especially French, but more California — a plummy, peppery aroma, lots of red fruit, chalky tannins and a long finish. My brother, who sometimes contributes his thoughts on pricier wines for the blog, would probably enjoy this as a birthday present.

? Hess Collection Sauvignon Blanc Allomi Vineyard ($18, sample): Interesting and solid white wine from Napa Valley, which doesn't taste like too many other sauvignon blancs. That means a touch of oak that gives the wine a little more richness to go with with California grassiness and some citrus.

? LangeTwins Moscato 2010 ($13, sample): This sweet white California wine is clean and fresh, with aromas of orange blossoms and lime. But there isn't much in the middle, and the finish is short — it leaves a sweet aftertaste without any acid to compensate.

? Domaine Henri Perrusset M con-Villages ($20, purchased): Yes, $20 is a lot to pay for a French villages wine, but this comes with the Kermit Lynch imprimatur. So it's worth it. This chardonnay from the Macon region of Burgundy is almost elegant, which is very surprising for a basic level bottle. It has lots of apple and citrus zest, but also an underlying layer of richness that is not often seen on villages wines.

Wine of the week: Jean-Louis Trocard Bordeaux Blanc 2009

image from featherfiles.aviary.com

Where does the Wine Curmudgeon begin to praise the Trocard ($10, purchased)? Cheap wine does not get much better than this:

? It's a previous vintage, and it's still yummy.

? Classic white Bordeaux, made with sauvignon blanc. That means not much fruit and certainly none of that New World grapefruit stuff. That's something one doesn't see enough anymore because too many French producers are on a misguided quest to make their wine taste like it came from somewhere else.

? Clean, crisp, grassy and fresh. Just enough of everything to make it stand out, from aroma to finish, but not too much of anything. And only 12 1/2 percent alcohol.

? A simple wine that proves the adage that simple does not have to mean inadequate.

Serve this chilled on its own, or with almost anything that goes with white wine, whether seafood, chicken. or salads. And it's probably a good match with an uncomplicated cream-style sauce (chicken fried steak or chicken pot pie, for example). Highly recommended and almost certainly in the 2013 $10 Hall of Fame.

Wine of the week: Maxwell Creek Sauvignon Blanc 2010

04-09-10-maxwell-creek

So much for wondering about the quality of California wine. Or thinking that wine prices were going to increase this year.

Which says pretty much everything that needs to be said about the Maxwell Creek ($10, purchased), which is apparently a second label from St. Supery, a long-established and classy Napa producer. Wineries do second labels to sell cheaper versions of their better known wines without having to discount the latter. Second labels are usually made by the same winemaker at the same facility, though the grapes may not be of the same quality.

In this, second labels are usually a value, and the Maxwell Creek is a ridiculous value. It's top-notch Napa wine; think of it as a much simpler version of something like St. Supery or Grgich sauvignon blanc, but with the same attention to detail and reflection of terroir. Look for California grassiness and some minerality on the finish, with a bit of citrus zest. This is a crisp and refreshing wine, yet surprisingly subtle. And, though it's a little thin in the middle, it's not thin enough to make a difference at this price — or at $15 or $18, for that matter.

Chill this and drink it on its own, or with almost any grilled seafood or chicken dish. Highly recommended — which is saying something, because the main reason I bought it, honestly, was that I didn't think it could be any good and so could write something curmudgeonly about it.