Talus Collection Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

I will nearly always part with a few dollars for the opportunity to try a Lodi wine.  I found the Talus Collection Lodi Cab at BevMo's five cent sale.  Two bottles of this nice juice for less than $10 is a pretty good deal, since I like the wine.

The nose consists of dark fruit - blackberries and plums - with licorice and some pencil shavings meeting a trace of barnyard notes.

Very soft tannins are a surprise at the price point. It's really smooth, even just after opening and pouring. A little more grip might be nice for heavy beef, but I think Talus would do nicely paired with pasta or pork.  The mild approach certainly served well for sipping.  Graphite rides herd over the juicy fruit.  Blackberrries and plums are the palate, too, with herbal notes throughout the four-day span of the bottle.

Appellation:  California > San Joaquin Valley > Lodi
Vintage:  2008
Alcohol Level:  13% abv
Price:  $9
Acquisition disclaimer:   Purchased by the author at a store sale

Chateau Saint-Cyrgues Cuvée Anna Costières de Nimes 2006

I asked Denise to smell this wine for me.  I do that when I can't quite pinpoint what I'm smelling, or if I need help identifying a particular aroma.  She has great olfactory senses, while mine leave a bit to be desired.  In this case she sniffed it and said, "ugnhngh."  I don't know if I spelled it right, but the unmistakable impression was not good.

I, however, found the aroma a bit more favorable.  I rather liked it, even though my initial reaction was very much like Denise's.  The nose is a bit funky - you might call it barnyard - but there is also a strawberry note that comes across rather forcefully and some raspberry a little further back.  The palate was quite funky also, with the same fruit in Sweet Tart fashion - not sweet at all, but quite tart.  The wine was open and refrigerated a couple of days when it took on a sort of tobacco leaf taste.  This description may not fully convey that I actually liked this wine, and for that I am sorry.  It is a dry rosé that I feel would not suit everyone's palate.  It certainly suits mine, though.

I first sampled this wine unchilled - as is my custom - and found it a lot more agreeable chilled on its third day after opening.  The color, by the way, is a little darker than I like my rosé, but it is a pretty shade of red.

Costières de Nimes  is located between the Rhone and Languedoc regions.  It seems to owe a lot more to the Languedoc than the Rhone.

Variety:  Syrah, Grenache 

Appellation: France > Rhone Valley > Costières de Nimes 

Vintage: 2006 

Alcohol Level: 13.5% 

Price: $7 

Acquisition disclaimer: Purchased by the author