Merlot from California
84% Merlot, 16% Carignane
Purchase Price: $13.99
Wine Enthusiast 90, ElsBob 89
ABV 13.8%
Aromas of red fruits, cherries on the palate, medium-bodied, smooth, with a short finish. Will go well with vegetables, pizza, and pasta. An easy sipping wine best served slightly chilled.
A very good table wine at a slightly elevated price.
Trivia: Label is from an 18”x24” oil painting by Andrew Power titled “Pacific Redwood”, 2008-2009.
Bordeaux Red Blend form Bordeaux, France
80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc
Purchase Price: $14.99
Wine Enthusiast 87-91, ElsBob 88
ABV 13.5%
Aromas of black fruits, smooth, slightly acidic, medium bodied with a short finish. Will pair well with beef, pasta, and cheese. Serve slightly chilled.
A very good table wine at an elevated price. Probably not worth paying more than $12.
Sangiovese from Chianti, Tuscany, Italy
Purchase Price: $12.99
Wine Enthusiast 90, Wine Spectator 88, ElsBob 89
ABV 13.0%
Aromas of cherries, very balanced, smooth, and medium bodied with a medium finish. Will pair well with pasta and mild cheese.
A very good table wine at a reasonable to slightly elevated price.
Trivia: The Renaissance painting depicted on the wine label is “Lady with an Ermine” by Da Vinci, c. 1490. Supposedly it is a portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. The painting last sold in 2016 for 100 million Euros or 106 million in 2016 dollars.
Bordeaux Red Blends from Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina
70% Malbec, 30% Cabernet Franc
Purchase Price: $12.99
James Suckling 91, Robert Parker 91, ElsBob 90
ABV 13.9%
Aromas of plums and herbs, medium-bodied, tannic, balanced, with a medium finish on the palate. Enjoy it by itself or with a few Godiva chocolate truffes.
An excellent wine at less than half what you would expect to pay for a comparable wine.
Bordeaux Red Blends from Medoc, Bordeaux, France
Purchase Price: $60 (Restaurant)
Wilfred Wong 91, James Suckling 90, Wine Enthusiast 90, ElsBob 91.
ABV 14%
Aromas of black fruits and spice, medium to full-bodied, dry with silky tannins. We enjoyed this wine with medium rare, peppered beef filets with a side of grilled thick-cut vegetables: delicious.
An excellent fine wine at a little more than half the retail price (~$23) for a comparable vintage and rated wine.
Trivia: Château Blaignan is the one of the oldest winemaking estate in the Médoc region of Bordeaux. Documents dating back to the 15th century reveal that vineyards were planted in the Blaignan hamlet nearly 600 years ago.
Trivia II: During the 15th century, the Bordeaux region was a significant battleground during the Hundred Years’ War between England and France. The English kings, including Edward III, and Henry V, led several military campaigns in the region. The war culminated in the Siege of Bordeaux in 1453, which marked the end of English rule, by Henry VI, in the region and the conclusion of the Hundred Years’ War.
Barbera from Asti, Piedmont, Italy
Purchase Price: $13.98
James Suckling 90, ElsBob 91
ABV: 14.0%
Aromas of raspberries and spices, medium to full-bodied, with amplified acidity, and dry. This wine will complement just about any food from steaks to pizza to cheese. Enjoy.
An excellent wine at less than half the price you would expect to pay for a comparable wine.
Trivia: The Italian Piedmont region is where Hannibal initially descended from the Alps with his elephants to engage the Romans in the Second Punic War, which spanned the period from 218-201 BC.
Claret is an English term for Bordeaux wines that traces its origins back to 16th century. The name derives from the French word “clairet,” which described a lighter, more rosé-like style from the Bordeaux region.
Originally, the grapes used to make this wine were Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, similar to today’s right-bank Bordeaux. The left bank added Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Carménère to the mix.
By the 17th and 18th centuries, clarets evolved, through better maceration, aging, and blending techniques, into a darker, full-bodied wine we would recognize today as a Bordeaux. It became a major export to England and the world.
Trivia: Charles Dickens in ‘Martin Chuzzlewit’, ‘The Pickwick Papers’, and ‘Great Expectations’; Wilkie Collins in ‘The Moonstone’; Anthony Trollope in ‘The Belton Estate’; William Thackeray in ‘Vanity Fair’; and George Eliot in ‘Middlemarch’ all mention the drinking of claret, usually at their dinners.
In these novels the claret was diluted with water to reduce the alcohol content, making it more palatable and easier to drink over long meals or gatherings and to stretch the supply.
Source: Wine Spectator. Decanter. Graphic: Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881. Public Domain.
Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon 83%, Other Red 17%, from California, USA
Purchase Price: $12.99
Vivino 90, ElsBob 90
ABV: 14.5%
Aromas of black and purple fruits, mainly plums, spice, and chocolate. Full-bodied, smooth, and light in tannins. Will pair very well with lamb.
An excellent wine at an unbelievable price. Stock up if you can find it for less than $15.
Trivia: Charles Dickens often referenced Claret wines in his novels such as Great Expectations.
Red Blend from South Eastern, Australia
Purchase Price: $9.99
Vivino 92, ElsBob 91
ABV: 13.5%
Aromas of cloves and dark fruits, full-bodied, slightly sweet, and smooth. Will pair well with most red meats, cheese, and chocolate.
An excellent table wine at an unbelievable price, selling at half to a third of comparable wines.
Trivia: The wine is named after the nineteen crimes committed in Great Britian that were punishable by death or banishment to Australia. This punishment by ‘transportation’ began in 1788, and many of the lawless died at sea. For the rough-hewn prisoners who made it to shore, a new world awaited. As pioneers in a frontier penal colony, they forged a new country and new lives, brick by brick. This wine celebrates the rules they broke and the culture they built.
Bordeaux Red Blends from Cotes de Castillon, Bordeaux, France
Purchase Price: $19.99
James Suckling 92, Vinous 91, Decanter 90, Wine Spectator 90. ElsBob 89
ABV 13.5%
Aromas of plums and cherries, full-bodied, tannic, slightly acidic and dry. Will pair well with beef, lamb, and spicey pasta dishes.
A very good table wine significantly overpriced for its rating. It should be selling for under $10.
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