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"Wine Review"

Details details (billy)
We now link to all the wine review blogs listed in the "Top 10 Sources for wine reviews" listings (here).

Castle Rock 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Review (billy)
The fetching Mrs. (billy) brought home a bottle of this for me as a nice treat. While it was inexpensive ($12) it was nice to have her bring it home for us just to have. This is a nice "just to have" wine. /Nose: big jammy blackberries. cherries and a whiff of acetone. /Palate: decent balance with just a touch of hotness in the back of the mouth.

Chateau Bonnet 2004 wine review by (PB)
This French white from the Entre-Deux-Mers is a pale straw in color with a powerful bouquet of Sauvignon Blanc grassiness. There are fruity aromas which are hard to pin down but they are very nice and mouth watering just smelling them. In the mouth this wine is sturdy with acid, grassy with cream undertones and a touch of citrus and grapefruit.

Chimney Rock Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 Stags Leap Wine Review (billy)
I am at a conference in Orlando Florida right now and several of us went out for dinner in Downtown Disney. As expected the prices were sky high but the selection at the restaurant we ate at was good. The Chimney Rock 2002 Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon was quite nice. On the pour it was still showing quite young.

Cline Ancient Vine Zinfandel 2004 wine review by (PB)
This previously reviewed wine is one of my favorite value wines. We loved the 2003 and we love this vintage as well-maybe even more! It is medium garnet on the pour with a deep dark blackberry and dried cherry nose with a trace of spiced apples on opening. In the mouth this wine is just plain wonderful.

Final Score: The End of Wine-Ranking Inflation
Nobody changes the rankings or description, but I defy you to find a wine review of a C wine, a 65.

2002 Parker Station Syrah
Here's my first real wine review of 2006. Which reminds me--I'm approaching my one year blogiversary or whatever the hell they call it. I actually maintained a completely different blog for most of 2004, in which I did reviews of every movie I watched. At the end, I started writing about wine, and decided to make a clean break with a new blog tied to my real name.

Beaujolais Nouveau 2005 G. Duboeuf wine review by (PB)
Previously reviewed when first released, this wine is still holding well. Very pretty color with strawberry notes in the bouquet and a touch of cinnamon. In the mouth it is simply fruity, light and made for guzzling. Don't let this Nouveau go to long; remember they are made to be consumed within 9 months or so after its release in November.

Camelot Pinot Noir 2003 wine review by (PB)
This previously reviewed wine is light in color on the pour emitting wonderfully astounding Pinot Noir aromas; classic Pinot "stink" with a light strawberry and currant nose. This wine which cost me $6 is flabbergasting it is so good. I paid 7 times this for a well known Burgundy and it wasn't anywhere near this good.

Casa La Postolle Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 wine review by (PB)
This Chilean which made the Wine Enthusiast's top 100 of 2005 comes from the Rapel Valley and has a great color of deep purple with youthfulness right to the rim. It has a room filling bouquet of fresh fruit and candy. Oddly, the nose is closed and tight revealing almost nothing.

Casa Lapostolle Rapel Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Wine Review (NW)
Beautiful dark color /Blackberry and raspberry bouquet on the nose /Dark chocolate and good structure on the palate /Moderately strong tannins on the finish When PB was in town, we had to track this down and sample it. After all, if Wine Enthusiast was going to proclaim this wine to be the number one best value release of 2005, it must have some special qualities.

WIne Tasting Note: Porter Mill Station Chardonnay, 2004, South Africa.
[Porter Hill Chardonnay] Porter Mill Chardonnay [Wine Review / Wine Tasting Note] Wine Tasting Note: Porter Mill Station Chardonnay, 2004, Swartland, South Africa. Flying Corkscrew £6.99. Disappointing. It is all very well being fresh, crisp, light and perfectly drinkable - but were is the excitment?

Wine Tasting Note: Balbi Malbec, 2004, Mendoza, Argentina.
[Balbi Malbec Bottle] Balbi MalbecSomething for sausages and mash. Nothing too extravagant as its just me and the cats tonight. A bottle of Malbec might just fit the bill, well it is going to have to do as its about the cheapest thing in the rack. [Wine Review / Wine Tasting Note] Wine Tasting Note:

Wine Tasting Note: Domaine de Lavabre Rouge, 2001, Pic Saint-Loup, France.
[Domaine de Lavabre bottle] Domaine de LavabreThe side road eluded us; travelling east across the Languedoc aiming for the Pic Saint-Loup hill. Basically we missed it and ended up in the Southern Rhone. It was a year or two back now and I do regret the missed opportunity.

Wine Tasting Note: Alejandro Fernández El Vínculo Crianza, 2002, La Mancha, Spain
[El Vinculo - from the producers website] El Vínculo La Mancha, the sprawling plateau south of Madrid, is not re-known for high quality; it's main claim being the largest wine-growing region both in Spain and the world. This producer though is highlighted in the 'bible' for Spanish wines (the Peñín Guide) as being "undeniably the best" from the region.

Wine Tasting Note: Trevor Mast Four Sisters Shiraz, 2002, Australia.
Four Sisters Shiraz Four Sisters ShirazFour Sisters is the creation of Trevor Mast, owner and winemaker at Mount Langi Ghiran, world famous for its Langi. One year his four daughters created the wine label design as a birthday surprise. Produced with the help of the eldest daughter Daliah, a graphic designer, the label depicts each one of the sisters

Wine Expression and Wine Ratings
How do you rate a wine? Do you try and stick to the 100 point system? Is that system flawed? Is there a better scale to use? How important are tasting notes? These are some of the questions most of us face when we seriously try and gauge a wine's quality. There are a lot of different rating systems out there, but most seem insufficient or flawed.

Fortant White Merlot 2003
I really wasn't sure what to make about this whole white Merlot thing. Seems like they are playing a bit of catch-up to the White Zin here in America. Nevertheless, I thought I'd give a fair shot here on Cheap Wine Reviews. This one came from southern France. I guess it was a little [...]

Bucko's Wine Reports: Winter 2005 Releases
Holiday festivities call for ritual cork popping. In that spirit, Dr. Randy "Bucko" Buckner's monthly 100 new-wine reviews include reports on 16 sparklers.

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