Homewood Winery Merlot Port 2010 Dry Creek, CA I picked up this bottle on a recent sojourn to Sonoma from the one vineyard we ventured to on a quick day trip to the region. I thought the merlot port delicious in the tasting room, and I’m interested to see how it stacks up when drunk
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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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Tempra Tantrum 2009 Bodegas, Spain This wine with a moderately amusing name is a tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon blend. You’d think they’d go all tempranillo with the name, but trust me—they did well with the blend. They also sell a tempranillo and shiraz blend under the same name, just in case you get confused! The
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Arge & Tina Malbec 2009 San Juan, Argentina Who can resist a pun like this wine’s name? Mr. Gourmez won this bottle of wine at a trivia game—hooray, free wine! Nail polish and heavy spice meet my nose, but I’ve found a nail polish smell does not always make a nail polish wine. Tobacco is
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Quarles Harris Ruby Porto Gaia, Portugal The smell of this port is unappealing, like glue. Luckily, I already know it isn’t a bad bottle, because I used it in a cranberry curry sauce the other day, and there was no sign of foul tastes, so I’ll carry on past the nose—okay, I’d carry on past
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Blue Fin Chardonnay 2008 Napa, California This wine is bland on first sip, but then a note of eucalyptus chimes in. It’s just a fleeting note, though, so bland still wins the day for me. It might be a stretch, but I think I taste pineapple and light brown sugar. It’s quite sweet for a
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