This was a pretty true form Syrah, packed full of boldness. It wasn’t necessarily a fruit bomb, and definitely not candy-like or fake-feeling like we might expect from Australian Shiraz. Instead it’s very peppery and full of spice. To me, it actually tastes exactly like salsa-flavored jelly, which is amazing stuff. I definitely recommend trying salsa jelly, and if you like that, go for this wine.

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2006 Savannah-Chanelle Coast View Vineyard Syrah, Monterey

After about 7 hours of decanting, this wine is still fairly tight, though it’s displaying a friendly red licorice flavor on top of some subtle raspberry. Tannins are moderate in intensity, and it’s not an unenjoyable drink. Time will tell whether it opens into something really good.

Day 3: The wine has opened up a bit, but it’s revealing itself to be more disjointed than I initially detected. The raspberries are tasting under-ripened and there’s crabapple on the back end. Crabapple can be a fun flavor, but it’s not what I’m looking for in this wine. Sadly, this is looking like another disappointing effort from Bonny Doon.

Day 4: The wine has recovered somewhat from yesterday and isn’t feeling quite so disjointed. It’s even revealing some new fruit: strawberry, and hints of mango. I’d be pretty happy if I could drink today’s wine every day, but yesterday’s performance still scares me. I think the moral of the story is that if you’re going to have this wine, it should be drank no earlier than 2015.

2006 Bonny Doon Ca Del Solo Dolcetto, Monterey

There’s a little bit of the burnt vegetation flavor in this wine that turned me off from the Savannah-Chanelle. The nose reeks of asparagus and the palette is full of collared greens. Some people like that stuff, but I’m not one of them.

The tannins aren’t too powerful, but their flavor is clearly vegetal, and that just doesn’t sit well for me. I’m looking for fruit, and I’m not finding it. I’m definitely going to let this wine sit over night and we’ll see if there’s any improvement tomorrow. I’m drinking now after about 3.5 hours of decanting.

Day 4: So, I obviously let this wine go the long haul, as I now finish the final glass on the fourth day of the bottle being open, I stand as I was on the first day, utterly unimpressed. My perspective is undoubtedly affected by the high esteem I have for Bonny Doon wines. Given the reputation and the prices, this wine doesn’t measure up to the quality I’d expect. It’s passable for a $12-15 bottle, and someone who’s into vegetal flavors might get into it, but for my palette, this is a definite pass.

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2006 Bonny Doon Syrah, Central Coast

This is the  fourth day I’ve had this bottle open. Its very rare that I keep a bottle open this long, and so I feel a little weird about judging it in this state. The fact is I was really enjoying it prior to today. I actually brought a bottle to Christmas dinner last night while I had this tasting bottle open because I was enjoying it quite a bit.

This fourth day, though, is disappointing me. It’s fallen into a thin state where there’s no longer enough structure to contain the alcohol, and the primary flavor is burnt wood.

I guess the moral of the story is that this wine will probably be plenty enjoyable for the next 5-7 years, but I wouldn’t try to keep it longer than that, for fear it will fall apart.

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2006 Savannah-Chanelle Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley

The Wine Link

I drank the 2006 vintage of this wine in the summer, and I very much enjoyed it. Sadly, the 2006 was sold out by the time I decided it would make a good addition to my library. Naturally, I looked to the 2007 version, and I’m pleased to say this is another solid Malbec effort.

This is totally a great buy, sitting in that $10-12 price range. There are a lot of nice values in this range from Argentina. Hopefully, the 2007 will find its way into my library.

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2007 Alamos Seleccion Malbec, Mendoza

The Wine Link

I’m pleasantly surprised by this sparkling wine. I have to admit I brought in some preconceived notions based on the fact that this is totally a grocery store brand and pretty cheap.

It didn’t blow me away at first sip, but as I continue to drink it, I find I continue to like it, perhaps more than when I started. I’ve long felt that apple is the most universally good flavor (who doesn’t like apple?). There’s plenty of red apples in this wine along with a hint of pear. At first I was a little hesitant toward the yeast flavor (I’m not a fan of yeasty-ness) but I have to say it’s well within balance.

I think I’ll be drinking more of this in the future, and that’s a good compliment for any wine.

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Barefoot Bubbly, Barefoot Cellars, California

The Wine Link

I was excited to have a well-aged Bordeaux along with an Italian dinner, but my excitement turned out to be a bit premature. Despite being 17 years of age from a first-growth vineyard, I wouldn’t have priced this wine any higher than $20. It certainly wasn’t terrible, but I’ve seen plenty of efforts from California, Spain, and South America that match this bottle at 1/5th the age and 1/20th the price.

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1991 Chateau Cos Labory, Saint-Estephe

The Wine Link

This was hands down the worst malbec I’ve had – ever. It made me cry to see a grape I love violated so. It smelled and tasted like burnt rubber. About 4 swallows was all I could stand and the rest went down my sink.

Normally, when a wine is this bad I’m compelled to think it was just a bad bottle and it was corked or something. By the nature of this flavor, though, I don’t think it was corked. I think this wine is just terrible and nobody should buy it – ever.

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2006 Tapiz Malbec, Mendoza

The Wine Link

This was a quite refreshing Riesling. I would say it is the best American Riesling I’ve had to date. It had a nice balance of acid and citrus fruit with solid mouth feel as well. It had a very slight tinge of of heat at the end, but it was mostly in balance, and it was even delicious to drink at room temperature. I will definitely be getting more of this.

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2007 Sineann Riesling, Willamette Valley

The Wine Link

Black Opal is textbook for an under-$10 Australian wine. Candied fruit dominate a fully one-dimensional palette. I’m a fan of Australia, but even so, this wine is a little too Australia and too candied for my preferences.

It remains serviceable for the price point, and could be a fine buy if you’re looking to buy a case for a party or just like candy. It at least pretends to have a backbone and is good enough to sit and drink for a while, as long as you have something else going on to distract you.

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2006 Black Opal Cabernet Merlot, South Eastern Australia

The Wine Link