Kunde Family Estate 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley

March 21, 2012

Matt $11-$20 Price Point, 2008, Cabernet Sauvignon, Kunde Family Estate, Next-Wine-Please!, Sonoma , , 1 Comment

The Wine:

Kunde Family Estate 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley

Not all grapes and subsequent wines they produce are equal. Typically wineries have 2-3 tiers of wine varying in qualities and prices. Barrels which don’t make the ‘reserve’ or ‘select’ wines are usually bottled in a more mass produced offering – these are very often the price point wines which make it to grocery store shelves. Without a doubt the Kunde Family Sonoma Valley Cab is their lower end, more mass produced tier. I’ve had several of their ‘premium’ offerings ($25-$35) from  Kunde and enjoyed them, so I was looking forward to trying their more widely available, $13 price point wine.

The Experience: 

Color: Very deep purple – looks very young still.

Nose: Jammy dark plum, earth, some ‘dustiness’, olives, and a little vanilla.

Palate: The same as the nose but really not that enjoyable due to a disjointing harshness between the elements. On the second day, the finish of the wine really took on a bitter quality. Over extracted seed tannin?

Bottom Line:  Next-Wine-Please

At the $13 price point, I think I would consider trying another vintage of this wine or look elsewhere on the shelf. I’m pretty sure this is or close to, ‘last run-juice’. (The last juice from the grape press which is typically less fruity, more tannic) I think you could find more value at the $7-$10 price point or a significantly better wine for $20-25. But I would encourage you to try other Kunde Family Estate wines.



VINTJS 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley

June 14, 2011

Matt $5-$9 Price Point, 2010, Give-A-Try, JBA Cellars, Next-Wine-Please!, Sauvignon Blanc, VINTJS 3 Comments

VINTJS 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley

The Wine: Finally (in Northern California), summer has arrived. Summer time means cold, refreshing white wine is bound to be on the table and new releases from last year’s vintage are making their way to market. Sauvignon Blanc is a wine best consumed sooner rather than later . I was particularly happy to seethe VINTJS stemming from Napa Valley, which I liked so much last year. However, I noticed a change in the name of cellar origin. Last year’s offering came from Maxwell Creek Cellars and this year’s is from JBA Cellars – however a visit to Tax and Trade Bureau confirms both wines are from the same ‘super’ origin. Thank you Internet! So how is this wine?

The Experience:

Color: Nice light hay/straw yellow.

Nose: (Directly from the fridge) Very bright and crisp pear, pineapple and little beer hoppyness; nice.

Palate: (Directly from the fridge) Pear, little grassyness, pineapple, flabby and a bit too ‘heavy’. Lime lingers on the finish. Lacks crisp acidity.

Bottom Line: Next-Wine-Please!/Give-A-Try

Fresh out of the fridge, the nose on this wine was so attractive.  But as the wine warmed up, the nose lost some the bright pear and citrus notes and the palate just became flabby. I wish this wine had more acidity and crispness.  I know last year was a cold growing season, then a massive heat spike a few weeks before harvest, I wonder how that affected this wine? At $7, I’d be more willing to try something else before I’d revisit this wine. But if you kept this wine ice cold, I think you’d enjoy this wine more. What did you think of this wine?

Trader Joe’s Reserve 2009 Chardonnay Rutherford

April 3, 2011

Matt $10 Price Point, 2009, Behind the Scene Wine, Chardonnay, Give-A-Try, Next-Wine-Please!, Rutherford, Trader Joe's Reserve Leave a comment

Trader Joe's Reserve 2009 Chardonnay Rutherford

The Wine: If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area like I do, this past week was a very nice introduction to spring. So you know what that means for wine drinkers, white wines will be on the table more often. This wine has its origins in the appellation of Rutherford. This is big time Napa Valley Cab country home to places like Beaulieu Vineyards (BV), but not so much known for its Chardonnay. So that fact alone lends some interest in this wine and what it potentially has to offer in ‘different’ category. When I searched the fictitious cellar name “Behind the Scene Wine”, the trail really goes cold because this wine comes from a grape broker who used a custom crush facility to create wine to place under some label, in this case, Trader Joes’. It’s kind of wild how pretty much anyone can find grapes for sale to make into wine or wine which needs a label. Here’s a link for example. But let’s get on to this wine…

The Experience:

Color: Light straw and hay.

Nose: A forwardness of apple with minerality lending itself towards metallic and rubber balloon notes. Yes, you read correct, rubber balloon. I made no notes of oak or vanilla, but this wine did see some barrel time.

Palate: Upon the first sip, you will immediately experience a short to medium crispness in this wine but gets taken over by an alcohol laden finish. I didn’t make any notes about particular fruits, but you can imagine the usual cast of apple characteristics and some toasty notes. Nothing really stands out about this wine.

Bottom Line: Next-Wine-Please/Give-A-Try

I don’t want to say this wine is bad, nor do I want to say it’s good; it’s a cookie cutter wine. It’s text book California Chardonnay, some apple, citrus and toasty notes combined with a pretty strong alcohol finish. I tasted this wine next to another Chardonnay which had higher alcohol, but it was made with much denser grape juice which resulted in much more depth and character in the wine. So I’m lead to believe this wine stems from a younger vineyard whose vines haven’t adjusted to their settings or are being produced for quantity over quality resulting in much less depth in the wine. At $10, I’m sure you could find a similar wine for $5-$7, or better for $10. But please share your thoughts on this wine with the community!

Wine Info:

  • Price: $10
  • Cellar: Behind the Scene Wine
  • Appellation: Rutherford (in Napa Valley)
  • Alcohol: 14.3%

Dynamic 2009 Red Table Wine

March 7, 2011

Matt $5-$9 Price Point, 2009, Ceago Vinegarden, Dynamic, Lake County, Next-Wine-Please!, Red Wine Leave a comment

The Wine: When I saw this stack at TJ’s, the thing which intrigued me about

Dynamic 2009 Red Table Wine

this wine was the rather unusual blend of Syrah (53%), Merlot (43%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (4%); I hadn’t seen a blend like that before. I’m not a wine-person spanning many decades, so this blend is new to me. (French wine people, is this a blend which originates from a region of France?) The rear label also hypes the fact this wine is ‘bio-dynamic’ which imparts “unique qualities”. OK, the marketing has me; I purchased the bottle.

The Experience:

Color: Rather dense plum color, violet; looks very young.

Nose: Doughy, yeasty, earthiness (Syrah), a hint of wood with almost no fruit.

Palate: Really grassy and moves quickly towards a smoky/toasty finish. Chalky dryness. Top of my mouth was picking up Merlot, my tongue was sensing Syrah. But there was this overall yeasty tasty to the wine.

Bottom Line: Next-Wine-Please!

This wine was just too weird for me. It was actually rather disgusting in my honest opinion. At work today, I tasted a corked bottle of wine which was much nicer to drink than this. I’d almost think this Dynamic bottle was corked, but it’s a screw cap. The blend lacks any clear focus or direction. This was the first time I’d considered taking a bottle back due to dissatisfaction. I’m definitely not seeking perfection at $7 per cork, but I’d expect it to be a palatable table wine. Or maybe I’m missing something? Has anyone else tried this wine? Please share your thoughts!

Wine Info:

  • Price: $7
  • Appellation: Lake County, California
  • Cellar: Ceago Vinegarden – Hopland, CA
  • Alcohol: 14%

VINTJS 2009 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey

February 23, 2011

Matt $5-$9 Price Point, 2009, Monterey County, Next-Wine-Please!, Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands, Trader Moon Wine Co., VINTJS Leave a comment

Thanks to all who participated in my poll and decided the next three varietals I am going to review on my site! The winners are:

1. Pinot Noir – 32.49%

2. Red Wine Blend – 25.71%

3. Zinfandel and Petite Sirah – 11.74% each (Executive decission, I’m going to review Petite Sirah since I reviewed so many Zins just a few weeks back. But I have several Zins from TJ’s in my stash and it’s one of my favorite varietals, so we’ll talk about that very soon, too!)

VINTJS 2009 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

The Wine: Pinot Noir is one of the four Noble Grapes; it’s also one of the most challenging grapes to grow and then produce amazing wine from. For lack of taking its Noble Title away, it’s a sensitive grape. Weather, soil, atmosphere, air quality, temperature and water, they all can vastly effect the success in producing rich grapes to make wine with; to make matters more challenging, any Enologist will tell you, you must stress the vines during growth so they struggle, thus producing richer and more complex grapes and ultimately wines. This puts into context why you don’t see ‘cheap’ Pinot Noir on many shelves, and if you do see one for $4, I’d be highly suspect of its ability to deliver anything more than a cheap buzz. Our wine today comes from the Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County, California. This AVA has prime coastal fog and air, along with the rich California sun and soil to produce some Pinots which are worth trying, which is why it’s on the review board tonight…

The Experience:

Color: Right away, the youth of this wine is revealed through it’s very violet color. There are the slightest hints of red hues in the center of the bowl, but the wine remains rather thin in density. I’m going to go on a limb here and predict this is not the richest of wines.

Nose: Directly out of the bottle after removing the cork, this wine smells like applesauce. Kinda cool. It then develops into a cider-y nose with hints of several baking spices (cinamin, all-spice) making themselves known. Like a classic Pinot Noir, you begin to pick up earthy and grassy (green) qualities which definitely inform you that you are about to drink Pinot Noir.

Palate: Tart sour cherries was the first note I wrote down, followed by a short and more than slightly alcohol driven finish. Upon my second tasting, I tooke note of the earthy qualities picked up on the nose which deliver equally as apparent on the palate, but oddly, hardly any oak or vanilla components are picked up. I’m not sure if there are tannins or if my tounge is reacting to the 14.5% alcohol. Judging by the ‘drying’ effect of my entire mouth, I wouldn’t doubt for a second if was about 2-5% Petite Sirah in this wine. The body of this wine is on the thin side. The lingering finish reminds me of Welch’s Grape Juice with a little baking spice added.

Bottom Line: Next-Wine-Please!

I was really hoping for a diamond in the rough. Good Pinot Noir for under $10 is something hard to come by. But it happens! There was the 2007 Picket Fence Russian River Pinot Noir for $8.99 which wasn’t my style of Pinot, but it definitely delievered a more complex and ‘deeper’ wine. (Check out my friend Jason’s review, it was his wine of 2010) To be fair though, that was a hustle buy and the producer was normally asking for $30 per cork. Pinot Noir is a really difficult wine to review because you will hear ‘experts’ speak of its subtitles and power, which are completely contradictory attributes. Ultimately, these wines need a lot of harmony and balance between all components. This wine is rather disjointed and lacks depth in the fruit and too much (apparent) alcohol. I’d be really curious to see how this wine ‘calms’ down over the course of 1-2 years. If anyone does save a bottle that long, please do share!

Question: What was the last very good Pinot Noir you got for under $10?

Wine Info:

  • Price: $8.99
  • Cellar: Trader Moon Wine Company. Manteca, California
  • Grape Varietal(s): Pinot Noir, Petite Sirah?
  • Alcohol: 14.5%
  • Appellation: Santa Lucia Highlands. Monterey, California

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