Fat Grape Winery 2010 Merlot Northern California I posted recently about what I’d recommend for a foodie day trip to Treasure Island. Fat Grape was the sulfite-free winery we visited that offers a zillion different types of wine to taste for free. The Fat Grape 2010 Merlot was one of two wines that impressed me,
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Trader Joe’s Grande Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2011 Napa, California I tasted this wine before purchasing it at Trader Joe’s, and I’m glad the sample convinced me to get a bottle. Its rich, medium-bodied boysenberry digs into me and won’t let go. The nose has a fleeting burst of fig newton, but is otherwise lackluster.
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Red Diamond Shiraz 2009 Washington State This Shiraz has the most interesting nose I’ve smelled in a while. It’s full of leather and juicy blackberry. The wine itself is much thinner than expected for a Shiraz, but it’s nicely matured. Blackberry swoops up then is replaced with whipped cream and spices. Pink peppercorn, a hint
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Three Knights 2006 Russian River Valley Merlot Sonoma, CA Prunes and strawberries dominate the nose. There’s a crushed mint flavor that accentuates the wine’s primary notes of pepper and a bright berry somewhere between blue and boysen. Plenty of dry mouth left when the wine’s been swallowed.

VINTJS Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 Napa Valley, CA A pleasant wine with a good amount of flavors mingling together–the spices are in one corner and the fruits in another. Boysenberry, lots of boysenberry, with a little currant to give it a kick. The spice flavors swirl through it like a cinnamon roll, consisting of cinnamon (who
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6th Sense Syrah 2005 Lodi, CA Lodi does wine? Who knew? Not this uncultured gourmet, apparently. Also, the back of the bottle has a somewhat gruesome poem about being buried in a barrel of wine. I think it’s meant to be metaphorical, but I don’t really want to imagine someone in the vat this came
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