Price: $9 Maker: Concannon Vineyard, Livermore & San Luis Obispo, California Varietal: Merlot Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork Alcohol: 13.5% Our Rating: 8.7 out of 10 Concannon Central Coast Merlot 2006 starts with a big licorice nose, and its flavor features raspberry, strawberry, and a bit of tart cherry. It’s not an overly complex Merlot, but it’s eminently drinkable. [...]
Price: $8 Maker: R.H. Phillips Vineyards, Woodbridge, California Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork Alcohol: 13.5% Our Rating: 8.8 out of 10 Night Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 is our kind of wine. Its ripe berry nose is tinged with smoky oak. On the palate, it’s ripe and fruity, with strong cherry and plum notes. The [...]
Price: $5 Maker: Charles de Monteney, France Varietal: Bordeaux (100% Merlot) Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork Alcohol: 12% Our Rating: 8 out of 10 Charles de Monteney Bordeaux 2005 is 100% Merlot, and is found only at Aldi stores. It has an interesting nose of licorice, woody cedar, and raspberry. This is a lighter-bodied Merlot, with berry flavors [...]
Price: $22 Maker: Boho Vineyards, Ripon, California Varietal: Merlot Packaging: 3-liter box, twist spigot Alcohol: 13.5% Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Boho Central Coast Merlot 2006 may well be the nicest boxed Merlot we’ve tried. It has blackberry, clove, and leather aromas. On the palate, it offers juicy cherries and chocolate notes, leading into a long oaky finish with [...]
Price: $3 Maker: Oak Leaf Vineyards, Ripon, California Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork Alcohol: 12.5% Our Rating: 8 out of 10 We’ve been hoping for a Two Buck Chuck beater to emerge, and it looks like Oak Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon may be it. This non-vintage offering is sold by Wal-Mart, and seems to be aimed squarely [...]
Price: $9 Maker: Ravenswood Vintners, Reynella, SA, Australia Varietal: Shiraz Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork Alcohol: 13.9% Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Ravenswood Vintners Blend South Eastern Australia Shiraz 2004 is, as the name suggests, an Aussie import under the Ravenswood label best known for their California Zinfandels. If you are looking for Shiraz, Australia isn’t a bad [...]
Price: $9 Maker: Ravenswood Vintners, Reynella, SA, Australia Varietal: Shiraz Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork Alcohol: 13.9% Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Ravenswood Vintners Blend South Eastern Australia Shiraz 2004 is, as the name suggests, an Aussie import under the Ravenswood label best known for their California Zinfandels. If you are looking for Shiraz, Australia isn’t a bad [...]
Price: $6 Maker: Lindemans Wines, Australia Varietal: Shiraz 60%, Cabernet Sauvignon 40% blend Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork Alcohol: 13.5% Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Lindemans Bin 55 Shiraz Cabernet 2006 is another bargain blend from this major Australian winemaker. It has blackberry, plum, and cocoa notes with a slightly peppery finish. It isn’t overly complex, [...]
NBC’s Today Show did a frothy piece on the increasing quality and acceptance of boxed wines today. Much of the segment involved a couple of the hosts trying to guess whether they were drinking box or bottle wine. They actually guessed correctly most of the time, but it was hardly scientific. Here’s [...]
Price: $12 Maker: McWilliam’s Hanwood Estate, New South Wales, Australia Varietal: Zinfandel Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork Alcohol: 14.1% Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Baron Herzog Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2004 is the first kosher wine that we’ve tried, at least knowingly, and we liked it. It has aromas of berries and smoky leather. The wine is [...]
Price: $6 Maker: Lindemans Wines, Australia Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon 60%, Merlot 40% Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork Alcohol: 13.5% Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Lindemans Bin 80 Cabernet Merlot 2007 is a youthful but nice addition to this Australian winemaker’s lineup. We’ve been partial to their products in the past, notably Lindemans Cawarra Shiraz Cabernet 2004 and Lindemans [...]
Price: $6 Maker: Lindemans Wines, Australia Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon 60%, Merlot 40% Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork Alcohol: 13.5% Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Lindemans Bin 80 Cabernet Merlot 2007 is a youthful but nice addition to this Australian winemaker’s lineup. We’ve been partial to their products in the past, notably Lindemans Cawarra Shiraz Cabernet 2004 and Lindemans [...]
Price: $19 Maker: Black Box Wines, Madera, California Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon Packaging: 3-liter box Alcohol: 13.5% Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10 The last time we tried Black Box Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon (the 2005), we didn’t care for it much. Rating it only 7.5, we speculated that perhaps we had a bad box. Happily, the 2006 we tried [...]
Price: $12 Maker: McWilliams Hanwood Estate, New South Wales, Australia Variety: Merlot Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10 McWilliam’s Hanwood Estate Merlot 2006 is another example of the inexpensive but tasty red in McWilliams’ Hanwood Estate Line. We found it on sale for a mere $8, and it was difficult to pass [...]
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