Wonders what everyone is smoking.

As I have started grad school, I was definitely comforted by the fact that my fair university is within 100 yards of my favorite wine shop, the Cheese Shop, in Williamsburg, VA. One day after class, I was asked by the staff to pick up a favorite Merlot in the shop, the 2005 Northstar Columbia Valley Merlot. I heard from the staff that it was trashed a little bit in the Spectator, so I wanted to see if the criticism was true. By the way, the Cheese Shop has an amazing price on this bottle, $29.99.

Color: Absolutely beautiful. A thick opaque garnet and black color that permeates throughout the glass. There is absolutely nothing that I can find wrong with it at all. It has a great a amount of concentration for sure. Overall, definitely indicative of a high scoring wine.

Nose: Boom. Really explosive, nice, and balanced. There is no hint of the nearly 15% alcohol, just a nice attack of cherry, red fruit, strawberry, cola, chocolate and earth. The nose goes on and on, filling the room as I drink this beauty. It is much of what I love about hotter vintage Pomerols, still having the earth, but a great amount of rich, beautiful fruit.

Taste: Balance is the best descriptor of this wine. There is an obnoxious amount of cherry and other red fruit, with a nice counterbalance of dark chocolate and earth to bring it around. It has a good amount of structure and sweet tannins, but nothing that would really indicate that this is a real long term ager. I would say that it can be enjoyed over the next 10 years, but will peak in the next 3-5. The wine is not terribly complex, but freaking amazing still.

Overall: I love this wine. The complexity and balance on the nose and the pure, great execution otherwise makes this wine a definite winner. It is certainly worth the 30 bucks I paid for it, and definitely on par or better than efforts from Duckhorn and other top Cali and international producers. 93+ Points

Nice Reward for a Long Week.

These past few weeks have been a flurry of grad school preparations at William and Mary and the eventual and sad end to what has been a great summer. To cap off my long orientation week, I pulled out a nice bottle of Merlot to have with a nice grass fed rare steak. The bottle in question, a 2005 Novelty Hill Merlot, was picked up a few weeks ago at Whole Foods in Richmond, VA for $20.99.

Color: Overall the color to this wine is very nice indeed. Dark garnet and black throughout, the wine when held to light shows a good amount of concentration and pretty color. The wine itself is slightly translucent at the rim, with dark core of black and garnet in the center. When pitched, there is little to no deviation in color. Very, very nice for the price.

Nose: This is textbook, I mean textbook Merlot. A nice plum component is present througout, continuing from beginning to end. Along with the immense amount of plum, there is a nice dark bitter chocolate component, cassis, black currant, strawberry, and a multitude of red fruit. Nothing too different or exciting, but executed very well.

Taste: Again, textbook Merlot. Plum, cassis, and chocolate dominate, with a liquer component that nicely compliments it all. It is not terribly complex, but in this case the wine is so well executed that it should not be. The black fruit on this is great and pure, going on and on throughout. The structure of the wine and tannins are there, but suggest the wine should be consumed within the next two to three years. The length is quite nice, but not remarkable, lasting for about 30-45 seconds after consuming.

Overall: If you are looking for a very well done Merlot that shares some of the great components of the New and Old World, this is a great introduction. At the price point, it is a certainly very enjoyable Merlot that is very well executed. It is not really all that different than its contemporaries in its region and price point, but again done very well. 89 Points

Saturday Merlot

Having a quiet Saturday night in, I decided to break open a wine in my collection that I am a bit flush with, the 2006 Seven Hills Merlot. I am a big fan of what Washington state does with this varietal, as it is a hell of a lot more exciting than the majority of California and shows enough sunshine and brightness to make everyone happy. I picked up this bottle at the Cheese Shop in Williamsburg, VA for about $28.

Color: The color of this Merlot is a nice beautiful dark garnet color, not as opaque or as obnoxiously dark as some Merlots from this region. It shimmers very nicely from the core of the wine, showing flecks of crimson and dark purple. It is a little transparent, as I can see my fingers through the glass, but doesnt distract from the overall beauty of the color.

Nose: This is a simple, but very nice beautiful nose. There are notes of red fruit, iodine, tar, and chocolate throughout. It does not really deviate from these four components as it gets air, just becomes a tad more intense. The fruit is very floral in nature, floating more than punching as it reaches your nose.

Taste: The taste of this wine is as simple as the nose. It is very floral throughout, with a medium body and decently large mouthfeel. It is very pleasant to drink, albeit not very inspiring or intense. There are notes of red fruit, a little earth, and floral components throughout.

Overall: This wine is a good, but ultimately not great wine. Very pleasant and nice, but does not really have the spark to make you want to have a repeat visit. It is lighter than most of its breatheren in Washington state, but shows enough good difference to make stand up to its peers. Overall I like it, but dont love it. 87 Points

Summer Nights, Satisfying Wines

Traffic in my fair Hampton Roads area is horrible. In order to make it on time to a friends birthday party I had to forgo the wines in my cellar and picked up some wine from the Cheese Shop in Williamsburg, VA. The two wines in question are again a creation of Charles Smith, the 2008 Kung Fu Girl Riesling and the 2006 Chateau Smith Cabernet Sauvignon.




First up was a great choice to break up the heat and humid weather we have been having in our area, the 2008 Kung Fu Girl Riesling. I have had the previous vintage of this wine before, all being good examples of the Riesling grape and also very balanced and clean for the price point. Due to the popularity of the wines in the area, they have gone up in price, but still a good value considering what some German ones go for. The 2008 rendition set me back $15.00, a fair price for the quality.

Color: This wine definitely has a nice, dainty, light golden color. I remember the 2007 version was slightly darker, but not much more so. The wine is not cloudy in the least, and defintely is impressive in the color department.

Nose: The nose is very pungent and shows all the trademark aromas of the varietal. The wine has loads of apples, apricots, grapefruit, and passionfruit on the nose. It does smell a little sweet, due to the somewhat off dry style of this wine. It is by no means what you would smell on a sweeter Dr. Loosen or other off dry Riesling, as it does not overwhelm with obvious sugarcane and sweet fruit on the nose. There is also some stone and minerality on the nose, showing the pedigree of the vineyard site and gives it some typicity.

Taste: The first impression of the wine for me is that the acidity, balance, and minerality of the wine are immense. The wine is quite linear on the palate and a bit simple, showing a huge amount of apple, some grapefruit, and a little tinge of apricot throughout. There is some stone and minerality, especially on the finish, that pairs up well with the acidity that lifts the wine at the finish. Overall a very nice product.

Overall Impressions: This is a good entry level example into the the Riesling grape and what i can do. It is by no means the best example overall, as I have yet to find something that really stands up to the best German and Austrian examples. The wine is a bit simplistic in its approach, but its execution and end product are impressive. For the money, I would say this is a buy. 88 Points



The second wine on tap for the night was the 2006 Chateau Smith Cabernet. This Cabernet cost me about $20.00, which is definitely towards the lower end of moderately priced Cabernet. In the realm of everything, Cabernets at this price point are typically a little oaked, sweeter, and lighter examples of the varietal. I had previously seen this wine panned by Gary Vaynerchuk on Wine Library TV, as he found it a bit simplistic, a bit flabby, and a bit boring. Lets see how it holds up tonight.

Color: Overall the color of this wine is quite light and transparent to be honest. There is a nice dark garnet color throughout, with some crimson flecks that show from the core. It is transparent, as I can see my fingers through it, even when not held to the light. It is a little thin looking, but not a huge deal in the long run.

Nose: There is a very overbearing peanut, seasalt aroma to this nose. It takes it over from the beginning, but as it opens up there is a bit of dark fruit, red currant, floral, and tobacco leaf aromas. It is quite complex once it opens up, but not necessarily that blows me away.

Taste: Much of what is on the nose tranlsates directly what I taste. At the beginning, there are is a huge peanut and salt component, but it soon gives way to dark fruit, floral and tobacco leaf. The mouthfeel is a little thin and the flavors do seem to drop off after the initial attack, showing a bit of a soft midpalate and finish. The mouthfeel is not the best but not the worst, coating the palate for a second but not lasting too terribly long. It is very balanced once opened and would be especially great with lighter foods, as it does not take over your palate.

Overall: This is a solid and good Cabernet for the pricepoint. You are not going to get the overoaked, oak chipped, goopy, off balance Cabernets that you would find in many other wine regions around the world. Beyond that I do think this wine is kinda just a little "meh", by no means a bad wine, just nothing that will set the world on fire. I would definitely serve this to friends, as it is a good food wine and not something that would put off the average wine drinker. 86 Points