Desktop Tasting

I just finished tasting twenty four wines. I have a bit of a backlog of samples in my office so I am trying to get through two cases per week on my never ending hunt for good wine. Today's wines ranged in retail price from $10 to $60 and from Washington state to the Yarra Valley of Australia.

In the middle of my tasting my good friend Chris called me and talked about what we were tasting. He just took a job as the sommelier at an Italian restaurant in L.A. and is amazed at how much crap wine he has to sift through to get to something good. I concurred and told him it was our solemn duty to taste a bunch of crap wine so our guests will not have to do the same. Now, I'm not saying that everyone will love what we pick but our job is find wines for everyone and make sure the wine is not poorly made or just plain bunk. I am not looking for wines for me but for a wide cross section of palates that have various likes and dislikes.

Here is what I was intrigued by today:

Kung Fu Girl Riesling, Washington State 2008: ($11 to $13) The wine did not WOW me but it was pleasant and if you like a bright fruity wine that taste just like a basket of fresh apples, then here you go.

The Velvet Devil Merlot, Washington State 2007: ($11 to $13) This is from the same winery that produces Kung Fu Girl. The wine is inky in color with a vibrant core of deep black fruit aromas and flavors. The wine is not just a fruit bomb but has some herbal notes and is well balanced. Pretty tasty wine for under $15

Sean Minor, Cabernet Sauvignon "Four Bears" Napa Valley 2006: ($15 to $17) I had tried the "Four Bear" wines in the past and had dismissed them as green, unripe and boring...well two vintages later this Cabernet is showing great and Mr. Minor has scored some really good Napa fruit sources. The next two wines I tried after the "Four Bears" were triple the price and this wine was better. It had classic Cabernet aromas and flavors of blackberries, plums, cedar, dried herbs, baking spices and a hint of dust. The wine was medium to full bodied with fine tannins and a really long finish. It is ROUGH in the under $20 Napa Cabernet market and this wine is worth seeking out if your enjoy Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

So out of 24 wines I found two above board and one pretty good, that is a 12.5% success rate. The rest of the wines were schlock!

Comments

[Dan Donahoe]

The Kung Fu Girl and Velvet Devil wines are distributed all over the country - if you like either, you should be able to find them in your local wine shop...I see them everywhere!

[Cigar]

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