2008 Haut Marin Cuvee Marine Wine Review

From Gascoy, France, which borders Spain, this a delightful blend of 60% Colombard, 20% Ugni Blanc and 20% Gros Manseng. This is a very crisp dry wine with subtle fruity flavors such as green apple, peach, and ripe pears. This is not a fruity wine, there is also a good balance of minerality, which reflects the unique terroir. A glass would go well with a fish or a chicken salad.

4 out of 5 Corks

2000 Jean Luc Colombo Cote Bleue Review

This was a great find! How often do you aged French wine or any wine for $18? Hardly ever! So when you find gems like this you have to swoop on it. That's one of the first things I learned from my old boss (in terms of wine). A lot of wine drinkers always drink wine that is no more than four years old and that's a shame because there's nothing better on this earth than a nicely aged good bottle of wine.

I digress, this bottle is from Coteaux d'Aix en Provence France, near the Mediterranean Sea. Usually this zone is home to grapes such as grenache, and cinsault, but this bottle is 50
% syrah and 50% mourvedre. The finish goes down ultra smooth with hints of spicy fruits. The aromas are rich with dark fruits; maybe blackberry or black cherry. For the price at this vintage, this is a total steal for any wino or cork dork (cool huh?).

5 out of 5 Corks!!!

2007 Casa Lapostolle Cuvee Alexandra Carmenere Review

Situated in the Colchagua Valley in Chile, the wine makes at Casa Lapostolle have made a fantastic wine. Like in my early post, this is my first introduction to a brand new grape; carmenere. It's very important as a wine to broaden your knowledge beyond the sterotypical grapes such as pinot, chardonay, cabernet sauvgion, merlot, syrah, and riesling. There is so much more out there if you're willing to try. I know it can be difficult to drop $20 on a bottle you have no idea what you expect. In my experience you're happy that you tried something new. On to the wine! This a multi-dimensional with a earthy layered structure of a variety of intense dark and spicy fruits. Before you drink, I recommend you decant for at least an hour so you can taste how good this wine can be. Totally seek this out!

4.5 Corks out of 5

2005 Chateau D'Orschwihr Pinot Blanc Bollenberg Review

This is a pinot blanc from Alsace, France. I can't remember the last time I reviewed a white wine. I admit it, I have a bias towards white wines, but I've started drinking more whites lately and I was wrong to have a prejudice. This is an average off dry wine with hints of peach and apricot with a lemon nose. The acidity was average, alcohol level was average, the structure was average. Very light and easy to enjoy, this wine will not blow you away, but it's a good introduction to Alsace wines or for the novice wine drinker who likes dry whites. For about $15 you can do a lot better and a lot worse.

3 out 5 Corks.

2005 Paternoster Synthesi Aglianico Del Vulture Review

The grape used for this Italian wine is aglianico. I'm sure I'm like a lot of you who shook their head when you heard that too. This is a very old grape; some say this grape was cultivated before the foundation of Rome. Also, these grapes ripen very late so these are usually the last grapes picked off the vines. The wine was has a dark ruby colour with a fruity bouquet on the noise. The soft tannins and good structure (aged in oak for about 8 months) make it very approachable for people who like softer reds such as pinot noirs. When I tried this wine initally thought it was very similar to the malbec and nebbiolo grapes.

4 out of 5 Corks.

2007 The Rhone Gang Hold Up

This a very unusual blend (70% pinot noir and 30% grenache) from the Rhone Villages. There are hints of black cherry and other earth tones with a very spicy/tobacco finish. It's as if the wine makers took the spicy meaty qualities of a Southern Rhone and blended them with the incredible flavor a Burgundy. This is a wine you should totally try to seek out.

4 out of 5 Corks