Morgon from Georges Dubceuf

  

Gamay grape from Beaujolais district. Its flavor is on the light side. Quite fresh too.

Aventinus from G.Schneider & Sohn

  
This famous "American only" Doppel Bock supposed to be tasty as Schneider.... as least that was my expectation, did not come true.

Privada from Mendoza, Argentina.

  

Did not have many argentina wines before. This one was a trial and turned out not bad... Well balanced between aroma and flavor. Acid is on the weak side but not really a factor.. Blend of Malbec, Merlot and Cab. Yap...

Perrin&Fils from Cote du Rhone Villages

  

50% Grenache and 50% Syrah.... Very high tanning acid at beginning. Took a while to wake it up. But after that, has good balance of flavor and aroma... Think this is a good classic french wine.

Chinese Shoashin

A gift from my colleague... The package quality seem quite above average. And my chinese friends seem like it. But i am not used to this type of liquer. So only had some sips and put it back to wine cellar.

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2006 Rioja Crianza from El Coto

 

Made from Spain Tempranillo. It has quite strong oak favor.. Sort of over power since tempranillo is relatively light....

2008 Carmenere from Sombras Del Sol

 

Still have to mention that the merlot from Sombras Del Sol is still one of the best merlot I tried.... This Carmenere from the same vintage is not bad too.... But I think is lighter than what Carmenere should be...

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Hefe-Weissbier from Franziskaner

A little light.. I should say it is lighter than my expected and most hefe-weisserbier I tried... And the change of taste due to temperature variation is significant among thr hefe-weiss I ever had so far.

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2007 Shiraz Cab from Penfolds

  Urrr not remember much... Sort of high on tannic ...

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2007 Merlot from Pollak Vineyards

 

From Monticello, Virginia... I like it. One of the Virginia wines (hope not the only one) which I think can compete on general wine market.

 

Hofbrau Hefe Weizen from Hofbrau Munchen

  
You know what, I start to hate the way blogger handling the picture... It has its own mechanism to determine the orientation of pictures.... fine... but most of time it never gets it right and then there is no way to overrule it. This smells like google's culture. :D

anyway... that is why some pics are upside down...

The HB hefe from Hofbrau.... one of the most prestige brand from muniche...
sort of disappointed  It has all these distinct characters of bavarian hefe.. .but not as rich and refesh as Schneider...

2006 Merlot from Anakena

Another Merlot from Chile. We had its Carmenere and seems this vineyard holds its reputation well...
 
After we had that super cheap "popular" wine, we picked this one to see whether thiscould give us a closer experience as Sombras Del Sol (which is priced right at the ceil of cheap wine).

Sadlly, the answer is still not. But not bad thought
This Merlot do have different flavor but still quite fruity. But I think it does not have that weird combination and charisma from Sombras. Aroma is also different and good (It said to have chocolate aroma?). Its tanning and acid are slight higher than all Chile Merlot we tried.

I will not complain for the quality I got with the price I paid. It is a still decent experience.

2008 Mertlot from Frontera - Concha Y Toro

Previously, the experience of Merlot from Sambra was impressive, so bought couple more Merlots from Chile to try further.

 

This one is intriguing. It is marketed as one of the most popular Chile wine in United State... Urrrrr. ... firstly, the price is --- cheap. It is not only cheap but scarily cheap.. The 750ml is like 4 bucks... and 1.5L is only like 6 in costco!!... This means it is even just half price of most oridinary cheap wine (below $10 wines). Most cheap wines in US are priced between $6 to $10 and that is a range made me comfortable range!!! This is of course more a psychological factor only. There is no guarantee that wine labeled at $10 will be always better than $6, yes... But price at less than $4 !!!!!

Turned out it is NOT bad... It is slighly lighter in color. a little bit fruity but probably the least among the Chile Merlot we tried and light in aroma, tanning, acid, everything!  This means it could be a crowd pleaser. We think it is a wine that won't go wrong, since it does not have any strong characters. If at a party with a large number of quests and don't know their taste or favor (or cannot recognize a consistent one), you probably can put out this and be ease. And it is SO CHEAP that you probably have nothing to lose.

My comprehension maybe funny.. but I do see it has the right formula to because "popular" in US ... hahaha....

Hefe-Weizen Dark from Erdinger

 
Have to say it is not as good as Schneider Weisse. Even this is a Dark and supposed to be stronger... but its aroma and favor are both still distance away (maybe I was wrong in the begining, should get a original white?).

Blue Moon Belgium White

 
US locally brewed Belgium style white beer... I felt it is similar to Brussel's Hoegaagarden.
but quite fresh and CHEAP. So, not a bad deal while you want to try something in different favor.

2007 Cabernet Franc from Pollak

We went to this Vineyard about a month ago. It is a very young winery but with excellent scenery. Kids had a lot of fun there. Through the course, we tasted 7+ different wines. We thought this Cab Franc and its Merlot were out standing.

 

It is dark color, full body, acid and very dry (must thank to the 13 month in oak barrels). I guess because of previous two wines just had - Tempranillo from Spain and Merlot from Chile, both were much lighter and fruity, suddenly felt this cab franc is quite strong.

  

2006 Tempranillo from Vinazaco, Rioja, Spain

Probably the third time I have a Tempranillo. The first two are from the exact same vineyard and it was not bad...

 

It was quite acid in the beginning actually. We then concluded Tempranillo always has to be waken up for more than a hour before drinking. It turned as good as the previous Tempranillo. it is relatively light body, with some flowerish aromas, little fruity but none of them is too strong...

Everything is kind of slim and light... but nothing is bad. I think so far I like Tempranillo because you never has the worry that wine could overpower food.
Meanwhile, the Cost to Value for Tempranillo is always good.

2007 Merlot from Cooper Vineyards

Got from a friend. Slightly acid and earthy than my impression about Merlot (which I don't drink much). But it is full body and stronger than the previous Merlot (Sombras).

Turn out the vineyard is about 25 mins drive from my home... very family business style vineyard. Went there and happened to be the free tasting day... Tried about 11 different wines... Got to say its sweet one like ice and dissert wine are much more impressive.

2008 Merlot from Sombras Del Sol

 
I got it from a small but nice (seems quite professional) wine cellar nearby. … It got my attention firstly because it also has Carmenere. The sales rep lady was very nice and had me tried all her variety. However, its Carmenere and Cab were not impressive at this Merlot

Price is very reasonable since it is quite a new brand. But I got to say it is quite top of my Merlot experience. Even my mom who normally don’t drink Merlot, asked immediately where I got it after one sip. There were some complains about that it was Foster behind the scene. But who cares

Fruity, smooth, nice flower-like aroma(I am not that good in distinguishing flowers). It is quite easy to drink (actually, made me drink too much).

Definitely thinking to buy another one, if I still can find it..

2009 Beaujolais Nouveau from Jean-Claude Debeaune

The first Beaujolais for me, thanks to our Japanese sommelier friend.

After some research, I found beaujolais is quite an interesting category for me, since it supposed to be more fruity, sweeter but not too much, not so much depth, fresher and lighter than ordinary wine... I think it will do well in certain occasions. And personally like it, surprisingly.