Rootstock Syrah 2007 North Coast, CA Smell: Oak, touch of cinnamon, dash of plum. Taste: A well-rounded wine with minimal fruit, though there is that bit of plum. There’s also a mellow presence of spices with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and some light vanilla. This wine is fine and dandy but nothing special.

Wine: Villa Sonia Pinot Grigio Piave 2008 Region: Trevino, Italy The Villa Sonia Pinot Grigio Piave 2008 has very little color, which fits as it also has very little body.  There was no smell I could discern. The tanginess hits you first, followed by a very light melon flavor, perhaps casaba. As the tanginess comes
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Wine: Taylor Marsala Region: Finger Lakes, New York The color of this dessert wine is fantastic. It’s like looking at a blood red rose, with a copper hue around its edges.  It smells like port, with rich, dense, scents of overripe peach and tamarind. The flavor is smooth and definitely has peach notes, but the
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Wine: Cribari Cellars California Madeira Region: California This is my first madeira, which I accidentally bought instead of marsala for a recipe. My quick googling informs me that Madeira is a fortified sherry wine with some Muscatel thrown in and is used as a dessert and cooking wine. It’s heated up to reproduce oxidation that
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Wine: Sterling Vintner’s Collection Zinfandel 2006 Region: Central Coast, CA My apologies for the lack of a picture. Oops. Guess I was too busy drinking! This is a dry wine, with notes of tobacco, soft orange, and chocolate.  I can’t complain about it but I can’t endorse it, either. I had hoped for more. Other
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Wine: Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2006 Region: Italy Leather says hello as I take a whiff of this wine. There’s a dark, rich cherry smell as well.   It tastes strongly of leather and leaves me with an impression of a smoke-filled car. It’s very dry and somewhat sour, sucking away the moisture in my mouth and
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Wine: Condesa de Sarabella Viura 2008 Region:  Spain This pleasant wine starts with a faint nose of apples.  A mild sweetness rolls over your tongue until it fades to minerality, with a twist of lime. Sweet cream, kiwi, and fresh green grapes usher it to the back of your throat. Other Bloggers’ Thoughts: Meg @
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Wine: Red Bicyclette Pinot Noir 2008 Region: Languedoc-Roussillon, France The nose smells of chocolate and berry. It tastes like biting into a packaged cherry danish that has been dipped in chocolate donut glaze. Both the spice and the texture are rather thin. I don’t like the chocolate aftertaste (shocking, I know). It’s an adequate wine
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Wine: Cellier du Rhone Region: Cotes du Rhone, France The nose of this French white table wine reminds me of kiwi and vanilla. It is mildly sweet and does taste of kiwi and vanilla, though with a mineral finish. Lending it some additional depth are green apple and lime flavors.  It’s nice to drink a
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Wine: Schloss Biebrich Sekt Region: Germany This sparkling wine is light gold, nearing opaqueness.  It has a smooth feel going down.  The bubbles tease more than assault (I’m not a big carbonation fan). It tastes pleasant, with a floral note beneath its mild orange flavor.  It is sweet, simple, and appealing.