The Wine Journey Continues, Bottles 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6:

2006 Ruffino Chianti:

Brought a magnum of this to some friends' place and there are many people [all 6 of you? hehe] who will read this and instantly think, "Ugh, chianti, and Ruffino at that!" Whatever, the wife and I love chianti and Ruffino is no exception. It's dryness and easy-drinking qualities fit our palates, and the overall inexpensiveness of it fits our budget. Besides, it's an easy way to bring us back to our honeymoon in Tuscany where Ruffino was one of the less-expensive options on completely overwhelming wine lists.

Tasting notes: It is better than your basic chianti. For chianti fans and Tuscany fans, this offering can give you a cheap way to figure out what sort of year 2006 was in Tuscany. This is not 100% Sangiovese according to the website, and according to Italian law it can contain as little as 75%. No word on the other grapes contained per either the bottle or the website. All in all, a decent value for fans of Chianti. Good wine to open at those big dinners where you're afraid to uncork your more impressive bottles.

Wine Count: 2. Grape Count: 3. Country Count: 2

2007 Stellenbosch Winery "Oracle of the Sun" Shiraz:

This is one of our repeat bottles... well, it's a repeat wine anyway. The vintage is different. We had the 2006 and did something we rarely do... we saved the bottle to make sure we knew what to look for. Took this to the party mentioned in the chianti paragraph above and it was a big hit. One person was acclaiming its pairing with chocolate. The wine is from South Africa, which explains the availability of a wine from the year 2007.

Tasting notes: I apologize for my notes in this entire edition of my blog. I did not write anything down and am going from memory. What I can say is that wine is a winner. It is not overly fruity and sweet like some Australian shirazes. It is a huge value, and fans of dryer shiraz should feel safe in trying it at $12-13 that it is offered.

Wine Count: 3. Grape Count: 4. Country Count. 3

2003 Wellington Vineyards Merlot:

This is a wine I purchased on wine.woot.com. It's an interesting site that sells one wine offering per week [in a bundle of usually 2-4 wines, sometimes as many as 6], at competitive prices that are almost always the lowest you can find. What's better is the offering are usually not available readily, and they are usually varied, containing 3 or 4 different wines. In the Wellington example, they offered a Merlot, Zinfandel, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon and in your state you may be able to find the Merlot and the Syrah, but not the others, or vice versa. Hell, this week they're offering Chaucer's Mead [which I bought]. The downside is not all states are offered as shipping destinations all the time, which is due to the fact that the shipping licenses are worked according to the winery, not woot.com. Also, if you live in a state that has legistators and distributors that absolutely don't give a rat's ass about their customers [New Jersey, Indiana, and Massachusetts I believe, possible Arizona], it will take you forever to get your wine, anywhere from 1 to 3 months. I GOT A CAR FROM SWEDEN MANUFACTURED ESPECIALLY FOR ME IN LESS TIME.

The wines themselves are made by one Peter Wellington, a winemaker that has embraced the forum community on wine.woot and regularly posts his thoughts and wine experiences there. His posts are so informative that I couldn't pass up a chance to taste his wines, and I was not let down. This wine is labeled as Sonoma Valley and contains 100% Merlot. Peter believes in making wines that express the character of the grapes and the land.

Tasting Notes: Not being huge Merlot drinkers we brought this to my mother's house, who is a big merlot drinker. I remember it being hot at first, but it did open up. I remember what I took to be a sour cherry smell and taste. The wine is good but I would not repurchase, but that should not be an indication of the other wines, which are excellent and you will read about later.

Wine Count: 4. Grape Count: 5. Country Count: 4. State Count. 1.

2006 RedHeads Studio "The Red Sedan":

This is a Shiraz/Malbec blend from Australia that was sent to me by the 4 Seasons Wine Club, of which you can read a review below. The short version, the customer service is excellent, and the wines are great for the price. The story behind RedHeads is that the owner purchased an old bar and hired vintners right out of school, you know, the ones usually "learning" by carrying grape bins and cleaning up the workspace. One thing you need to know before you read my tasting note is this: YOU MUST DECANT/STRAIN THIS WINE.

Tasting Notes: Holy sediment, Batman!! The first time I tried this wine I did not decant and no lie there was about a tablespoon of GUNK in the bottle, not to mention the cloudiness of the wine itself. This is fixed by straining the wine into a decanter, and rinsing out the bottle itself to relieve the caking that has occured. That said, the wine is decent and actually very very good. A bit alcoholic on the nose and palate but that goes away fairly quickly and pretty expressive fruit is revealed in its place. This wine is 77% Shiraz and 23% Malbec. Shiraz has already been tasted and I feel adding Malbec to my list as a blend grape is an injustice, so I will knock out the grape and Argentina at a later date.

Wine Count: 5. Country Count: 5.

2002 Kiona Proprietary Blend:

This is another wine from 4 Seasons Wine Club with a mix of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Franc [which I will not include in the count and will taste later]. This wine is produced in Washington State.

Tasting Notes: Honestly I don't know what it tasted like because all I could taste was alcohol. There was some fruit in there but not much. The next time I have this wine I will decant the thing for a good 30 minutes before even attempting to sniff it.

That's it for this installment, it was a busy weekend unfortunately don't have more detailed notes but I hope you enjoy it. The journey is moving along nicely and hasn't stalled yet, but I'm sure it will at some point. Here's to moving forward... CHEERS!

Today's Tally:
Wine Count: 6. Grape Count: 6. Country Count: 4. State Count: 2.