Price: ~$25

Nose:

Stewy, thick fruit with notes of blackberry, garrigue and hot bacon grease.

Palate:

Full bodied, moderate acid, and sweet ripe tannin.  Intense frontal attack of dark berries, S’mores, and brown spices.  Long finish with a touch of bitter cocoa.

Synopsis:

Terrific stuff.   I’m going to go into a little more detail than I normally do because of my Rhône preference.  Perrin & Fils is the producer.  Rasteau is the southern Rhône village from where the grapes came.  Côtes-du-Rhône Village is essentially alerting you to the fact that this is indeed a C-d-R wine.  L’Andeol is the vineyard name from where these grapes came from within the town of Rasteau.

I am well aware that I am not the first guy to proclaim the wonders of the 2007 Rhône vintage nor will I be the last.  The growing season was near perfection and the proof is in the many 07′s I’ve tasted thus far.  All the pieces are there to make an amazing red wine, but as I taste through the 07′s I’m often reminded of Brett Favre’s comment before joining the Vikings:  “The pieces are in place.”   At the time I composed this (12/06/09) the pieces are not in place.  You’ve got your fruit over here, your acidity over there, your structure right there, and tannins in your face.  This vintage would love to lay down in your basement for 6 months to a year just to let the pieces relax and meld together a little.  It will happen, but a little patience is required.

All that being said,  the 2007 P&F Rasteau is the first one I’ve tasted where I can feel it coming together and it is awesome!  It will probably cost you upwards of $25.00 but is easily worth it.  SJH wise…better than an 8 but right now I cannot go all the way to 9.

The Som Rating: 8.5/10 Scarlett Johansson Heads

Region:

Columbia Valley, Washington

Nose:

Dark cherry, blackberry, pipe tobacco, vanilla.

Palate:

Full bodied, moderate acidity.  Supple notes of plummy fruit, dark cherry, and a silky finish that throws in a mild smokiness.

I’ve been a long time fan of wines from Washington States Columbia Valley.  I think their wines offer a very good blend of ripe fruit, better than average acid, and evident but not distracting alcohol.  The Waterbrook Melange is a blend of Merlot, Cab, Cab Franc, Sangiovese and Tempranillo.  I do think this wine exhibits a little of that muddiness that multi-grape blends can show but I’ve tasted muddier.  For a wine that could be enjoyed sitting around the backyard fire pit, you may be hard pressed to find anything better.

The Som Rating: 6/10 Scarlett Johansson Heads

Price:  ~$19

Nose:

Stewed beef, blackberries and hazelnuts.

Palate:

Full bodied, mouthwatering acidity but very well balanced. Tight knit bitter tannin and notes of dark chocolate, tobacco, bacon grease and a long herbal finish.

Synopsis:

The bright fruit notes and spice are missing right now The fruit is buried beneath the structure.  All the elements are in place but need time to incorporate.  Drink late 2010-2015.  I have found this to be a common issue with the 2007′s just coming onto the market.  2007, by all reports, is a vintage for the ages in the Rhone Valley, but these baby’s need time to relax.  It’s like a football team with newly acquired pro-bowlers all over the field. You can see the promise and the talent but it usually takes half the season for them to learn to play together. Buy them and set them aside for a year. The patience will pay off big time.

The Som Rating: 8/10 Scarlett Johansson Heads

Tuscany, Italy

Blend:

Sangiovese and Merlot

Nose:

Very fresh nose of mint, blackberry-raspberry compote, and licorice.

Palate:

Full bodied, dry.  Dense, chewy tannin, moderate acidity.  Dark fruit notes on the attack, plum skin and blackberry.  Very chewy texture throughout.  Impressive “Super-Tuscan.”  Lots of life left in this tasty gem from a very warm vintage.  Charming and powerful, like Gina Carano in a glass.

The Som Rating: 8/10 Scarlett Johansson Heads

Bright raspberry and blackberry notes with a touch of mint.

Palette:

Full bodied, but not as rich as you might expect from an Australian Shiraz.  Terrific balance of fruit, acid, and sweet, round tannin’s.  There is blackberry, vanilla, and a hint of spice.  The finish is lovely, long, cooling and smooth.  Very pretty wine that needs attention and some grilled rack of lamb.  Nothing fancy…just some simply prepared lamb, this wine, and some good friends.

The Som Rating: 8/10 Scarlett Johansson Heads

• Syrah
• Grenache
• Carignan
• Cinsault
• All unfined and unfiltered

Color:

Very bright ruby with a purple rim.

Nose:

Spice blackberry and vanilla.

Palate:

Dry, fairly tannic and very youthful.  Decent acidity but just barely.  Pretty chewy fruits of blackberry, plum skin, raisins and herbs.  A touch of heat on the finish.  I was a big fan of the 2006 but I think the ’07 could use some laying down time to let those big fruit notes integrate with the tannin and oak.  It’s a little clumsy right now.  I will look forward to it in another year.

The Som Rating: 7/10 Scarlett Johansson Heads

~$16

Nose:

Big cherry and plum aromas with a back-drop of vanilla.

Palate:

Full bodied, moderate acidity, fairly dry but with sweet, round tannic structure.  Dense flavors of blueberry and blackberry, currant and a bit of mint.  Touches of coffee and chocolate on the mid-palate.  Long, juicy, well balanced finished.

As good, moderately priced California Cabernets go up in price (hello Avalon), along comes a new Mondavi product that exceeds it’s price point by quite a bit.  This is destined to become a staple “glass pour” at steak houses around the country.  Pretty much everything one is looking for in an inexpensive California Cab.  Buy a case and roll through it over the next two years.  Terrific value!

The Som Rating: 8/10 Scarlett Johansson Heads

Website Link

• Cesanese
• Sangiovese
• Merlot

Nose:

Pretty aromas of Cranberry, Cherry and spiced vanilla.

Palette:

Almost full bodied, round well integrated tannin and above average acidity.  Big hits of vanilla and wood spice on the attack quickly followed by luscious, silky red fruits, smoke and bright cherry coke on the long, smooth finish.

Synposis:

For $13, this is pretty cool stuff.  You may be able to find older vintages in close-out mode like I did with this 2002 (an average vintage at best)…but if not, expect to pay slightly more.  But no matter what, buy some and enjoy it now or hold it for a few years.  This 2002 still had lots of life and was drinking wonderfully.

Food Pairings:

Steaks, roasted meats, grilled chicken and root vegetables…Great wine works with lots of stuff.

The Som Rating: 8/10 Scarlett Johansson Heads

Mendoza, Argentina

Blend:

• 30% Cabernet Sauvignon
• 50% Cab Franc
• 15% Merlot
• 5% Petit Verdot.

Nose:

There is nothing particularly interesting about the nose…it was kind of shy.

Palette:

This wine is huge in the mouth.  Tannins are present but very round and soft.  Plummy rich fruit, vanilla, and a velvety soft mid-palette.  The finish is surprisingly short for what I was expecting in a wine of this pedigree.  There is not exactly any “waves of flavor.”

Synopsis:

I opened this wine and poured it into a glass at 9:00AM and let it sit until 12:30PM per the wine rep’s instructions.   It really didn’t do much for me.   I then left some for the next evening.  It seemed to have a dryer texture, the spice started to show a little, and the complexity improved…but nothing mind-blowing.  In truth, it turned out to be a huge disappointment.  This wine retails for about $35 and I expected a lot more “value” from a wine from Argentina.

I think the wine rep was anticipating a great review, and I was expecting something pretty impressive.  But  frankly, I’m shocked by the price of this good, but far from great wine.

One positive comment:  the empty bottle weighs about 3lbs….really good glass!

The Som Rating: 5/10 Scarlett Johansson Heads

Wow!   Bacon fat right away, vanilla, violets, blackberry, and even though this is only 13.5% alcohol, I get a touch of heat.

Palette:

This is a full bodied wine with good acidity and plush, round tannins.  Up front I get a lot of bittersweet chocolate and vanilla with the fruit evident but kind of buried.  Imagine too many “Nilla” wafers on top of too much chocolate topping on top of a red grape and blackberry medley.  That is this wine to a T.

Synopsis:

What does all that say to me?  Lets break it down.   Structurally the wine is well balanced.  All the vanilla and chocolate speak to the oak barrels (probably American oak) that the wine was aged in.  There is fruit underneath those flavors.  As the oak flavors begin to integrate with the fruit over the next year or so I think this could become something considerably more.  Very drinkable now but by mid 2010-2013 this should mature into something more smokey and leathery with a nice line of cherry fruit throughout.

Rating this wine is tough.   Right now I’m tempted to give it 6/10, but I can almost guarantee you that in 4 years I would freak out over this wine.  So lets split the difference.

The Som Rating: 8/10 Scarlett Johansson Heads