Cougar Crest 2006 Reserve Syrah, Walla Walla

Posted by Keith Wallace on Jan 24, 2013 in Wine Reviews | 0 comments

The origin of this winery was 50 acres and a booth at the local airport. No, it wasn’t a grand or impressive start. What it did have, and continues to posses, is un-hyped awesomeness to a degree of ridiculousness.

The wine is like authentic mincemeat pie in a glass: sweetened bambi with a smokey boozey crust. This is a complex wine with layers of ripeness and spice and bacony goodness and a throw-down of black fruit. Not for the timid, just right for the adventurous boozehound.

Pear Valley 2007 Syrah, Paso Robles

Posted by Keith Wallace on Nov 2, 2012 in Wine Reviews | 0 comments

Pear Valley is located on the  east side of Paso Robles,  right smack in the middle of it all. The winery is very new, newer even than this wine (it wasn’t built until 2008). However, the vineyards of Pear Valley date back a decade.  This is one of the sunnier and warmest parcels of Paso vineyards, and very suited to high quality and aggressively priced luxury wines.

This is a wine that is used at the Wine School of Philadelphia in some of our introductory classes, due to it’s excellent quality-to-price ratio and it’s varietal correctness. It also makes for a great glass or wine.

Inky and smoky, like a blueberry with a bacon fetish, this wine starts out with a savory quality that is punctuated with aromas of quince. Medium to full bodied it  hits the palate  both round and tannic. Notes of clove and nutmeg follow the deep dark fruit flavors and then comes the flavors of burnt earth and lavender.

Rhone Review: Gerard Bertrand 2008 Grand Terroir Tautavel

Posted by Keith Wallace on Jul 17, 2012 in Wine Reviews | 0 comments

The village Tautavel is lovely, and largely unknown to the outside world. It is perched in a high valley that links the French wine regions of Roussillon and Corbières.

Before now, Tautavel’s singular claim to fame was being the site of a major archeological find: Back in the 1970′s, a hominid skeleton dating back nearly a half million years was discovered near the town and was nicknamed the Tautavel Man.

Fast forward to this century, and the town is developing a reputation for it’s wines. The wines are mostly Syrah, blended with some Grenache and Carignan.

This particular bottle pushes the Syrah component to the top, and that is a very good thing. .It comes swinging out of the glass like a lunatic prizefighter. Blueberry, tobacco, wet leather, and game are the principal flavors, ending with licorice and burnt herbs. A woolly mammoth of a wine (so to speak).

Dead Letter Office 2008 Shiraz, South Australia

Posted by Keith Wallace on Jun 5, 2012 in Wine Reviews | 0 comments

A vinous cocktail of Chambord, Creme Yvette, and Morello cherries. A viscous wine with a glass-and-teeth staining hue of carmine. Sweet cherry and mocha notes rise over the huge weight of this wine, to finish with decently delineated tannin and a splash of cranberry and sage. Very nicely done.

Falesco 2009 Tellus, Lazio

Posted by Keith Wallace on Mar 21, 2012 in Wine Reviews | 5 comments

Luxurious, like a velvet cushion of dark sweet fruit. The only fault is its perfection –round, sexy, slick perfection– which takes away some of the pleasure of drinking a wine from Lazio.