Fiat Vino

Another Grocery Outlet grab, jeez they aught to start paying me.  This was around the $5 mark and for a Lincoln, quite the bargain.  It has some great stone fruit notes and is still light enough to be food-friendly. We paired it with some penne in Marinara. Fantastico. I'd buy this again like I was walking the dog.

Trader Joe's pluck here, and for only a Hamilton. Hamilton is on a 10 dollar bill right? This is food-friendly and we paired it with some tofu curry. It has some nice green apple notes and knows which fork is the salad fork. I'd pluck this again.

A $5 grab from Grocery Outlet. Great buy. This could be a staple in our home soon.

$12 grab at Bristol Farms (already chilled). Not overly oaked or buttery, really the opposite of that. 12.5% alcohol. Some sour green apple, dry, crisp, good acidic zip. A good chardonnay for people who have tried Cali chardonnay's and been turn off. Had with stuffed salmon. I liked it a lot (both the wine and the salmon). Gonna explore some more cheap French wine.

Holy cherry bomb, I like. There is touch of oak to balance out the stone fruit but this is what I expected. This was another grab from the Grocery Outlet for about $6. We paired it with spaghetti and meatballs and it might have been a little too jammy, it might have gone better with something spicy or something with a fruit sauce. I would buy this again.

Johannesburg Rieslings from Germany were my parents' favorite wines because they were cheap and sweet. With this ingrained in my head I had little hope for this wine, despite being a WS top 10 pick and well less than $20.... but it was fantastic! Crisp. Not overly sweet. Nice acid. A+

I found out about this winery while trying to figure out how to get some Sea Smoke wines. A bit pricey but oh so good! A beautiful, medium-bodied Pinot with a nice nose of fruit and a light easy palate. Overmatched and appearing a bit thin compared to the full-bodied, concentrated, and fantastic '07 Chasseur Umino Pinot we tasted it with, but the Les Larmes really was never meant to stack up. It did however offer a more feminine style that was great in its own right.

Great Chard. Apple, pear flavors. Toasted oak but not overdone. Lingering finish, good minerality. Lovely bottle.

Utterly fantastic. Among the best Pinots I've ever had. A full-bodied, concentrated, powerful pinot that is well balanced with all the right components but nothing overpowering. Lovely nose. I can definitely see this improving with age but it is drinking very well right now.

My mom got brought this to our reunion. Advertised as better then Dom Perignon for half the price. Taste like a yeasty (good thing) martinelli's sparkling cider (bad thing). To sweet for me to handle. I'm sure there are things better than the Dom at half the price, but in my book this is not it!

Got this as part of my short-lived membership to Foxen's Compass Club. I canceled after I realized I could get most of the wines at the grocery store for cheaper than I was paying. I digress... More body than your typical SB. Sour apple, toasty. Hints of guava but less tropical fruits than my preference. Not overly dry or crisp. Ripe. Solid, enjoyable, but not sure I'd buy again at this price. Papawow is doing better with his southern hemisphere finds.

I nice balanced Pinot. Ruby-red color. Cherry, cola, herbaceousness, bodaceousness. A bit of zest, spice. Earthy, caulk nuances. Some heat. A toasty, oaky, spicy, long finish. Good tannic structure. A little more bodaceousness. Love the glass "cork"!

Fantastic, young cab. Opened the bottle a few hours before dinner but didn't decant. The wine opened surprisingly well and quickly. Had next to a '95 Bordeaux. This showed the power of napa cab. Well balanced all-around but concentrated and rich. Appeared alcoholic next to the 12.5% Bordeaux but not over board. A bit sweet all-around (especially on the finish) to suit my tastes, but it is a lovely napa cab that is drinking well now but will continue to age gracefully (it should really be drunken in at least a few year time but we wanted a stark comparison to a Bordeaux in its prime). Expect good things out of Napa's 2008 vintage.

OK, I don't normally roll like this but had a bit of a family reunion and it involved some fantastic wine. I'm a Bordeaux novice, but this was a lovely wine and I am now a believer. Drank next to a 2008 Caymus cab. Most but not all preferred the d'Armailhac. Is was more restrained and balanced had fantastic earth tones and subtle fruit flavors. Could have had a bit more concentration but still a nice medium length finish. Popped and poured. A bit funky at first but didn't take long to open up. Seems to have life ahead but hard to imagine much improvement. And check out the dancing Frenchie on the label!

Throw another shrimp on the barbie! Australian wines are such a great value right now because there's so much crap out there. This $5 gem; however, hails from the Grocery Outlet and outshines its brethren. Semillion is such a cool varietal that is relatively ignored in the states. Too bad. I'd grab this again, no problem. 

This hails from New Zealand and we grabbed it from the supermarket for about $9. I like the crispness and the hint of pineapple and mango. It paired well with taco night so that may give it some street cred for its food friendliness.

This is a Bordeaux style blend from Sonoma County that is 40 percent Merlot,  30 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 26 percent Malbec, and 4 percent Cabernet Franc. This has a deep basement of flavor. It is a great example of why the French have blended these varietals together for so long. It is only too bad that these are not done as often in California. This is a tasty wine. It was brought over to our house to pair with some Chicken Parmesan, unfortunately I don't know where to go get some more.