As she hustled away I asked her about it, she replied, "it's a staple
at our house." Done deal. I grabbed one.
For $12, this is another sweet deal. It is a very European style
Pinot. Light, mineraly, and slightly musky. You don't see many of
these lighter ones coming from California.
People want to lay on the oak and let the fruit over ripen into a Cab
in a bottle with hips. Don't call me a hater, I like those too. But
sometimes you just want a more mellow glass to play nice with a
meatball sandwich on a Thursday night.
Total Wine is like a love child between Bevmo and Costco. Wall to
wall, floor to ceiling booze, beer, and wine.
Well, I'm glad Steve is the proactive kind of guy that he is. Total
Wine had been open for about a year and despite only being a few miles
from my house I had never been there.
I was in Awe the moment I stepped in. I momentarily got lost in the
Bourbon section until I found a bottle of Buffalo Trace, but that's
another blog.
I then went to the Pinot Noir section because I hadn't had one in a
while. I got three ones I hadn't tried before. I met a guy who knew
his shit, don't you love those people? Why can't everyone be like
that?
He helped me with the Pinots and in between them and taking me to the
Sauvignon Blanc section, he told me to buy some of this Radius Cab.
Well, I'm glad he did.
It was about $7 and tastes like it's $20. I'm an easy sell but if you
lead me wrong once I won't come back. I'll be coming back to Total
Wine.
It is big and mean but has a kind streak. TGIF.
Although a few in our group weren't big fans, I enjoyed it
tremendously. There were big bright dried cherries and a tart
funkiness like goji. It was bold and like one added, thick, and felt
good like a Syrah should.
It is nearly impossible to find Carignane bottled all by itself and
I'm not sure why. Of course it doesn't have the consumer awareness of
other varietals but if the majority of them tasted like this one, it
would catch on fast.
Since Somoma had such unusually low yields in 2007 this rings in at
14.4% percent. It was aged for 12 months in American oak and is just
coming of age right now.
I only wish I had a case.
Some of my favorite types of Malbecs are free Malbecs. This one hails
from the Uco Valley (never heard of it, didn't google it) and hides
14% alcohol pretty well.
I enjoyed this thoroughly and if the rest of the shipment is as tasty,
I may try and convince the wife we should sign up.
What's more fun than getting wine in the mail? Drinking said wine!
