Tasting Notes – Sunday, 29 February 2007 – California Reds

The Control Wine

For our first tasting, I thought it might be nice to provide a control wine or a wine with a recognizable label and easily available. That way we would have something to compare and contrast the other wines to. Since the theme for the tasting was “California Reds.” My intention was to find some sort of Gallo Burgundy. All I could find at the local Albertson’s was a Gallo Twin Valleys Cabernet Sauvignon. There was no vintage date listed on the label.

Surprisingly enough, this was a decent wine. I guess I was looking for something that might be of inferior quality that we would all moan and groan about. And then we could taste something good. I think we were all pleased with this wine and would recommend it as a decent, everyday table wine. So check it out. I think it was only about $6.99.

The Wines

Region: Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
Maker: Au Bon Climat Winery (www.aubonclimat.com)
Name: Isabella Morgan Pinot Noir
Type: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2003

This wine was really smooth and had a bit of a nice fruit taste to it with a tiny bit of a black pepper taste in it as well. It was by no means too sweet to my palette. I liked this wine and would maybe pair it with roasted pork tenderloin or roasted butternut squash. Check out the webpage and the information about the winemaker, Jim Clendenen. He has to have the best looking mullet in the wine business.

Region: Central Coast
Maker: Robert Mondovi (Woodbridge – http://www.woodbridgewines.com/)
Name: Private Select
Type: Merlot
Vintage: 2001

I will admit to steering away from Merlots in the last few years. They used to be my red of choice (as I sure they were with a lot folks). But then I started to move away from Merlots in favor of trying other reds. This one was really good. It definitely had more of an earthy taste than the above Pinot Noir. However, it was still really smooth and did not have that over dry taste. I think this one might be good with a nice grilled portabella mushrooms sandwich.

Region: Mendocino County (Ukiah)
Maker: Mendocino Wine Company
Name: Tusk ‘N Red (www.tusknred.com)
Type: Red Table Wine
Vintage: 2003

The Tusk ‘N Red was my contribution to the wine tasting. This one really did remind me of an Italian red. I really cannot qualify what I mean by that, but it was interesting. It had a very, almost carbonated taste to it. It tingled in the mouth a bit and left a bubbly taste on the tongue. Odd, I know, but it was good. To me, this one would be good with pasta and red sauce. The Tusk ‘N Red is a blend of:

45.4% Syrah
20.5% Zinfandel
19.9% Carignane
11.7% Petite Sirah
2% Sangiovese
.5% Mixed Red

All four of these wines (four, counting the control wine) were distinctly different, but all tasty to me. I was not disappointed in any of the above. So give them a taste and let me know what you think.

Ciao for now!