In and out of trouble: Cameron Hughes Lot 106 Sonoma Syrah

January 24th, 2009 by Vinagoth | Posted in Cheap and Red, Sonoma, Syrah | No Comments »

One of the primary things that attracted me to Mrs Barbarian when we first met was her natural frugality. To say that she is cheap is an understatement. That is a rare quality in a woman, so join that with a nice rack and I was sold. No fancy wedding – we eloped. No diamond rings – just a simple band. No closets filled with Imelda collections. The household finances are always in good shape. We each have our little pet extravagances, but those are not allowed to impinge on the Barbarian cashflow.

After my discovery of Cameron Hughes’ wines at Costco, I joined their Seasonal Red club, which delivers a mixed case, a sampler so to speak 4 times a year. This was several months ago, and we’ve received a couple of those mixed case since. However the end of 2008 brought financial turmoil to the entire globe, and Mrs. Barbarian declared some household belt-tightening. I’m a pretty cheap guy anyway, so no big deal there.

I came home from work one day to find the Mrs looking particularly barbaric as I opened the door. On the floor beside her was a case delivered by FedEx. A case of wine that is. “What is this?” she asked. Of course, she didn’t need to ask… plastered all over the box are large bright yellow stickers saying how the box contains alcohol and must be signed for by an adult, and the “Cameron Hughes Wine” label is kind of hard to miss. “I thought we were cutting back on spending” she said as she stormed off, leaving me to unpack it and put away the bottles.

What I love about CH Wines is their “upmarket wine” quality at “everyday wine” prices. Honestly these are almost always $40 bottles being sold for around ten bucks.

Within this mixed case were several samples of Lot 106, a Syrah from Sonoma County. Mrs. Barbarian likes Syrah, so it was the first one I pulled out of the box. I served it up with a pasta/pesto dinner, with some garlicy bread and broccoli. The Syrah is smooth and flavorful… not overpowering but holds up well amid the strong flavors present in the dinner. Mrs. Barbarian loves the wine… so much so that she pulls out a second bottle to open as dinner is coming to a close.

I’ll be in trouble again in 3 months when the next box comes… until I open a bottle that is. For now however, peace reigns in the Barbarian household.

Apologies dear reader*.

January 22nd, 2009 by Vinagoth | Posted in The Spit Bucket | No Comments »

I fell ill just after Christmas with a nasty head cold, which transformed into an even nastier case of Bronchitis, a malady I suffered with often in childhood. It hasn’t bothered me in decades but came back to haunt me severely for almost 3 weeks. I had forgotten how miserable it makes me feel. My Barbaric persona completely abandons me in times of illness, or perhaps it just becomes magnified, who knows. I stopped drinking wine (as I couldn’t smell anything anyway!) and took up with a collection of nice small-batch Bourbons I’ve collected through a good friend in Kentucky over the past several years. The whisky got me through the bad weeks, and now my sense of smell has returned. I’m still a tad hoarse from coughing for weeks, but I promise that wine reviews will begin again shortly. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

*(Reader is singular as I know my following is small.)

Xmas Shootout: Three Chileans.

December 25th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Coming soon. Christmas dinner at Mrs. Barbarian’s best friend’s house. I’m bringing three Chileans. A Malbec, a Malbec/Cab blend, and a cab. I’ve tried the first two, but not the last. Stay tuned to see how it plays out.

Owen Roe 2006 Cabernet Franc “Rosa Mystica”

December 25th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Cabernet Franc, Expensive, Oregon, Washington State, but not outrageous | No Comments »

This that Cab Franc I mentioned in my last post. It is from Owen Roe, and named “Rosa Mystica” The bottle features a moody photograph of a ruined Irish abbey and tells tales of the misdeeds of the evil Oliver Cromwell on the Emerald Isle. Our bottle was numbered: 4753 of 7596 produced. The winery is located in Oregon, but the grapes are sourced from it’s northern neighbor, Washington state. I’ll tag it as the both.

We enjoyed this wine with a fine meal at Mrs. Barbarian’s favorite restaurant. She did the two-starters thing for dinner, whereas I went completely overboard with Chef Martin’s special of the night, a pair of venison chops in a red wine reduction sauce that was so amazing that I spooned it all up and was about to start licking my plate when Mrs. Barbarian deftly snatched the plate away to avoid death by embarrassment. What did she expect, marrying a Barbarian? Sigh.

The Owen Roe Cab Franc lived up to it’s name, being both red, and mysterious. Big as one would expect from a cab franc, but with subtlety and depth. Give it a try, I bet you’ll like it.

You’d do well to find Chef Martin and fresh-cut tender Bambi though. yum! (Now that I mention it some rabbit would be good with this too. mmmmmm…)

This wine sells for mid-range $35-$45 bucks, so again, it is a bit above my usual range. Seems par for the course for domestic products though, which is a shame. Well, I’ll always have Chile. I’ve decided to add a new category in this range’s honor: “Expensive, but not outrageous.”

Pleasant Discovery: Fall Line Winery 2005 Red

December 25th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cheap and Red, Merlot, On Somebody Else's Tab, Washington State | 1 Comment »

Mrs. Barbarian & I went out for dinner last night. It was Christmas Eve and we’d done nothing to prepare, so when the better half declared “let’s go out” I was already dialling our favorite small town bistro for a reservation. Our little foothills burg had been blanketed with an unusual snowfall. Not that we don’t get snow, it is just we rarely see more than a dusting. For the past nine days we’ve been getting dumped upon. Our home is buried under over 3 feet, and down in town things are Alaskan in appearance. Our favorite bistro was indeed open on this semi-holiday, and we secured a table for two.

Upon arrival we found a festive atmosphere and a likeness of the owner/chef, Chef Martin in snow out front:

We were seated in a comfy spot at the back, beyond a large party of revelers, but adjacent to the wine racks and small bar. We both ordered one of their “signature martinis”… neither of which are really martinis in the traditional sense. Mrs. Barbarian’s was more like a margarita, with a salted rim, and tequila as the main liquor. Mine was called a “Toasted L’Orange” and is a bourbon-based concoction. Both were awesome. Chef Martin had a special for the occasion, a slab of prime rib that looked too good to pass up, so I ordered that along with an onion soup. Mrs. Barbarian ordered a pair of appetizers as her main course, some potato latkes with smoked salmon, and an amazing glazed prawns thing which she prevented me from tasting in a fit of selfishness. Her soup was a squash/curry contrivance that was spec-effing-tacular. Midway through our soups I ordered some wine. Martin’s business partner Steve always has a great wine list and introduces me to all sorts of good stuff. Last time we visited we enjoyed a wonderful Cabernet Franc (review coming soon) so I was paying close attention to that varietal. I didn’t see anything that caught my eye until I ran down the list of blends and here was something at a reasonable price point that just had a promising ring to it: Fall Line Winery Horse Heaven Hills Red Wine 2005, 39% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Franc, and 28% Cabernet Sauvignon.

It proved a wonderful accompaniment to our meal. Smooth and flavorful. Very drinkable. Very deep and satisfying.

The wine retails for around $30, so it is just a bit outside my usual range but I always throw my cheap side under the bus when I go out to eat. Mind you, it still calls out to me when I order so I never do anything stupid like order anything in triple digits! This wine falls into that grey area between “cheap” and “expensive” so I’ll classify it as both. However, I will be pursuing this one on my own and perhaps more of the output from this small winery in Washington state. From what I read on their website they make very limited quantities, so if you want to get yours before I hoard it all for the apocalypse, get off the couch and buy some!

Office Xmas Party favorite: Apparently I’m a genius.

December 15th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Cabernet Franc, On Somebody Else's Tab, Washington State | 1 Comment »

The Vinagoth can’t take a photo obviously. Of course if you knew the circumstances leading up to this photo you might be more forgiving. It was at the Office Xmas Party last Friday night. I ended up at a table with the CEO, who said “You’re the expert, pick the wine!” That’s like handing a chainsaw to a psychopath! How could I resist?

So, perusing the long list I picked a Cab Franc that looked promising… a total wild ass guess to be honest. The Sommelier thought I was some sort of genius, saying something like “That is my favorite!” She brought the first bottle, which she expertly poured for the FIVE of us at that end of the table sharing that bottle. I thought she was a genius for getting the pour exactly right in each glass while and ending up with nothing left and all even. Damn this wine was good. The place where we had our party charged $60 a bottle, and I didn’t pay for it… well, I did pay for one bottle later, but it’ll be covered on my next expense report! I think between the five of us we polished off five bottles. It WAS a five course meal though.

Everyone at my table thought I was a genius, and everyone loved the wine. So what is it? Have a look at the photo above, can’t you read?

It is a O*S Winery 2006 Cabernet Franc. I can’t take a photo, but I can make an blur-free HTML link:

Here you go.

I have no idea what it goes for retail, but I may seek it out and buy some. How can you resist? It makes you into a genius!

Two off-character lumps

December 13th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in California, Cheap and Red, Petite Sirah | No Comments »

Let’s say it is your dream to drive an exotic or classic sports car. You have spent a lifetime yearning for the smell of leather and oil, the wind in your hair, and most of all the unique exhaust note echoing off the hills as you roar along some lonely road. A Ferrari 275 GTB/4 with it’s shrill high-revving small-displacement V-12. An E-type Jaguar with that distinctive growl of its big-bore, long-stroke inline six. You know instinctively that every car has four wheels, an engine, a transimission, etc… but each has something about it that is unique. Sure, the packaging is all very different, but it is how it drives, and how it sounds that makes it truly unique.

Imagine then that you find out that somebody you know owns an old Ferrari or Jaguar and offers you some seat time. You meet him at the appointed place and time and as you stomp on the loud pedal instead of the exotic noise you have dreamt of all these years, the sounds that you have listened to countless times on Speed TV, various YouTube videos, you hear the generically common rumble of a small-block Chevy. Yep, the car has been “lumped” … that is had it’s original exotic engine replaced with a generic crate motor.

Now, not to say that an American V-8 makes an unpleasant noise. Not at all. It is just that it is common. Just about every Tom, Dick, and Guido you knew in high school made second-gear-scratches with his Camaro, so you’ve heard this sound a million times before. Every cop car, every SUV, every rental sedan, every muscle car you have ever known in your life made this very same noise. Sure, you are now in a unique package, but it has been blended with something .. well… DULL and your disappointment is palpable.

That pretty much sums up our experience with two bottles of Petite Sirah last night. Both were eminently drinkable, and in fact I’d say they were enjoyable and good. They just had been tamed by the introduction of some other grape. They’d lost their unique Petit Sirah-ness.

The first was a Ravenswood Vintners Blend Petite Sirah 2006. I’ve had their wines before, but never a Petite Sirah. I spotted this one out of the corner of my eye at the grocery store and of course, had to buy it. Petite Sirah is my favorite varietal and as I’ve said many times before I’d pillage your village for a single bottle. This one required minimal pillaging as it cost a mere $9.99.

Even Mrs. Barbarian was looking forward to drinking it. As she was finishing up preparing dinner she said “Oh, I like Ravenswood wines.”

I popped open the bottle and did not experience the hand grenade aroma I usually expect from a Petite Sirah upon opening. Hrmmm. Poured a glass. It was “okay” but lacking in something… perhaps that big two-by-four whack to the palette I love so much about my favorite varietal? Yeah, that’s it. This wine is smooth and tasty. It just drinks like a GENERIC RED BLEND. OMG, somebody swapped a V-8 into my exotic sports car! Damn.

Things were about to go from generic to uncertainty… as I pulled out the other Petite Sirah I bought that day. Uncertainty because it was so damn cheap. Crane Lake 2005 Petite Sirah… a mere $3.99. Yep three dollars and ninety nine cents. While I normally relish finding any red wine under ten bucks, and can’t pass up a bargain, it is always risky to go that low. After all this is a crafted agricultural product that takes months, if not years to produce. It should not be that cheap. But hey, I’ll try anything once!

Surprisingly the Crane Lake was pretty much the same as the two and a half times more expensive Ravenswood Vintners Blend… smooth, tasty, but far too lightweight and dull to be a true representative of a Petite Sirah.

So if you are looking for a reasonably cheap, or even a shockingly cheap, everyday drinking red, by all means pick up either of these two wines. They are not however good representatives of my favorite varietal. The winemakers have obviously thrown something into the mix to tone down the bigness of the signature varietal on the label. I am disappointed in them as Petite Sirah, but happy with them as wine. Odd I know, but in this case even a barbarian can put on airs.

Wine Blogging Wednesday, Value Red from Chile: Our little Secreto

December 10th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Cheap and Red, Chile, Malbec | 5 Comments »

After Mrs. Barbarian looted and pillaged her way through Plan A, I hid Plan B away and out of her reach. Thankfully Mrs. Barbarian is diminutive in stature and cannot reach high places around the house, and all I have to do to save anything precious from her is slide it onto a top shelf somewhere. Not exactly the best place to store wine, but it only had to stay there a day.

In vino veritas indeed. I do not know what family dinners are like at your household but I know our table becomes a wonderful place in the presence of a good wine. Monday night when I opened this bottle was one of those instances. The Mrs made some red-peppery-garlicy pasta while I sauteed my infamous broccoli, in and of itself also a little stiff on the garlic end of the scale. It was a modest meal, made in a wonderful harmony by the two of us around our stove. Midway through cooking I opened the wine and took my first taste. Mmmmmm. The Mrs takes her share and makes the same happy noises.

At the table the wine flows, the garlic grows, and the conversation wanders off along tangents of life, love, history, markets, travel, economics, cultures, dreams, recreation, desires, and goals. A mundane meal made truly wonderful by the presence of a great wine!

So what is this wine? Let’s just say it is our little secret.

Between you and me, this Viu Manent Secreto 2007 Malbec is worth your efforts to find. Wait, what’s that? A Chilean Malbec? Indeed it is! From the Colchagua Valley. Malbec doesn’t have to be from Argentina, (or indeed France, though you’ll hardly ever find that word on a French bottle, it is inside plenty of them.) “But why Vinagoth, why?” you ask… “Why choose a Malbec to write about on Wine Blogging Wednesday when Chile has so many wines it specializes in, including one of your favorites!?”

You already know the answer to that, I’m a Barbarian, I follow no rules!

I will say this Malbec is one of the finest values I’ve ever enjoyed. The cost? $9.99. Yep, you read right. NINE DOLLARS AND NINETY-NINE CENTS! A sawbuck minus a penny. A tenner and it is yours.

Mrs. Barbarian even violated long-standing household wine protocol and poured the last glass for herself! That is how good this wine is. To further underscore the point when the bottle was gone and I reached into the wine cabinet for an encore I grabbed a Napa Cab… an Oak Knoll District Cabernet Sauvignon.. a >$40 wine that I felt would be the only thing that could top the Chilean Secreto. Both the Mrs & I looked at each other in abject disappointment. “This is not as good as the first one” said the better half of the Barbarian household. I agreed. The conversation sank like the proverbial lead balloon. Dinner ended on a whimper. Think about that. Here is a cheap red wine that blew the doors off a Napa Cabernet. Mind you that cab could use some years in the bottle, and I plan on doing so. But still.

Nuestro secretito. Our little secret. GO BUY THIS WINE.

Value Red from Chile: The “Cab-énère” that wasn’t.

December 10th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Cheap and Red, Chile | 1 Comment »

As you may have noticed, I’ve been shopping with an eye towards today… the big day. Wine Blogging Wednesday featuring Value Reds from Chile. Dear reader… I was born for this moment. You know this. Nobody loves cheap red wine like the Vinagoth. Cheap GOOD red wines abound on the “South America” shelf of your local wine merchant. Trust me. You will find values that will blow your mind. Stuff that puts some of California’s finest to shame in terms of value for the dollar (or peso as the case may be.) I can blather on endlessly about the excellent wines coming from Chile these days and I often do!

I’ve drank this wine before, but never written about it. So when I spotted it on a recent jaunt through the grocery store I snagged a bottle specifically for today’s post. It is a Cono Sur 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon/Carménère. This my friends is a fully buzzword compliant Chilean Value Red. It mixes the well-known standard of the wine industry, Cabernet Sauvignon, with the signature grape of Chile, Carménère. It comes from the legendary viticultural are of Chile’s Colchagua Valley. It is made from organically grown grapes. The vineyard workers commute by bicycle for goodness sakes. Drinking this wine makes you feel better than driving a Prius! By swallowing this liquid, you are saving the planet! Hell, why not drink it while you’re driving your Prius?

Oh wait… nevermind.

Best of all, you can save the planet for under 12 bucks as this wine set me back a mere $11.99. Yep a dozen dollars for this fine example of Planetary Defense.

I really looked forward to making this MY contribution to this month’s WBW. But, like any wise man, I grabbed another value red from Chile as a backup. Good thing to. You see… I wanted to tell you all about my experience with this wine. From buying, to opening, tasting, smelling, etc. I wanted to describe how the sophisticated Cabernet tempers the ballsy Carménère. To describe the nose, the feel, the finish. The full sensory and empirical experience.

Unfortunately Mrs. Barbarian drank it all.

Sigh. I managed to grab a small sip and it was good. The Mrs. gave me that smirky grin that only wives can get away with. Had I done the same thing and offered that smirky grin in explanation she’d have unleashed the lawyers and taken me for every penny and left me with the shirt on my back… if that. She obviously liked it, but she doesn’t write the reviews around here.

So… on to Plan B.

Value Red from Chile: Santa Rita 2007 Reserva Carménère

December 6th, 2008 by Vinagoth | Posted in Carmenère, Cheap and Red, Chile | 2 Comments »

In 1905 and 1915 Albert Einstein released his theories of Relativity (special and general, respectively) which turned Newtonian Physics on its head and shocked the world. Mr. Einstein came to his conclusions through mathematics. The concepts within his theories were so “out there” that proving them would be difficult. The earth itself is too limiting a laboratory for actual observation of his theory in action. He did posit three ways that earth-bound observers could prove his theory however:
 

1. Accurately calculate the orbit of the planet Mercury (something Einstein set out to do himself)
2. Comparing light from the sun to light here on earth (the sun’s light should have a longer wavelength)
3. Compare the positions of stars “near” the sun to their positions away from the sun.

The last one proved to be the easiest. The positions of stars are well known, and when they are in proximity (based on angle of observation from our planet) to the sun they should shift in position by a specific amount due to the sun’s gravity bending their light. If you could take photographs of the sun during a total eclipse, the stars around the sun in the photo should be in a slightly different position compared to when the sun is not present. The difference in position closer to the sun itself should be predictable by the theory, and measurable via photography. 

The world’s astronomers went about trying to capture photos to prove, or disprove the Theory of Relativity in the years following the First World War. It was very difficult, and many chances were missed due to cloudy skies, malfunctioning cameras, and just plain bad luck.

I could have saved them a lot of trouble.

Just hold up a glass of this Carménère if front of the sun and start shooting.

It is massively dense. It is so dark, and so dense, that it can block the sun and bend light. I kid you not! It is an immensely flavorful Carménère. In fact I found it a tad intense and let it stay open for a while to breathe and hopefully mellow a bit. It didn’t.

I was home alone, as Mrs. Barbarian was out and about. I drank a glass of it, followed a few hours later by another glass. I resorted to putting a stopper in the bottle and bringing it with me on a short business trip the next day. Upon arrival at my hotel I poured some into a hotel paper coffee cup (yeah… so what do you expect??? I’M A BARBARIAN!) for a little Chilean nightcap before bed. It lasted a few seconds before it went into my gullet… still not mellowed a whit(!) and this was left behind:

I can’t imagine what my would teeth look like if I drank this stuff everyday!

This light-bending red is almost surpassing Petite Sirah levels of density and color. Think of it as Chilean Guinness. I found this wine at my local merchant for $10.99 – 2007 Santa Rita Reserva Carménère from the Rapel Valley in Chile. 

As I packed for the return drive home, as an afterthought I wrapped a bit of plastic bag around the neck of the bottle and tied it off. Sure enough my bag rolled over in the car and inverted the bottle. Most was contained within the bag, but some escaped, wreaking quantum havoc with my clothing. So as I write this Mrs. Barbarian & I am drinking the last of the bottle (now open 4 days, so it is beyond mellow and is turning… but still drinkable!) while my clothes tumble around in the washing machine in an attempt to get the stains out.

Light is bending around my glass, and small objects in the room are falling into orbit around it.