Charleen's Wine Corner: Red Wines

4 Uvas Tinto 2004

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:15:10 GMT

4 Uvas Red Wine

Producer: Casa Santos Lima Companhia

Country: Portugal

Vintage: 2004

Grape: Castelao, Trincadeira, Alfrocheiro, etc...Blend

Price: Less than $8

Appellation: None, Vino Regional Estremadura

Rating: 76

Dark and purplish color that had a leathery and fruity aroma. Tated fruity as bell and had a medium and bland body.

Short review, huh? Eh, okish but boring wine. Very bland too.

Protocolo Red Wine 2004

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:42:49 GMT

Protocolo Red Wine 2004

Producer: Dominio de Egurren

Country: Castilla, Spain

Vintage: 2004

Grape: Red Wine Blend

Price: ~$5

Appellation: None

Rating: 76

This is a dark ruby red wine with a hint of turning into brick color kinda thing. The bouquet has hints of bacon, butter, black pepper, wood, leather and tobacco (?). All in all, a horrible horrible bouquet. The wine was very dry (water please!) and buttery. It had a bite too it and I could definately taste (and I meant TASTE) the alcohol. Extremely unbalanced, and highly dissapointing. I am definately not a fan.

Realce Tempranillo 2003

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:37:17 GMT

Realce Tempranillo 2003

Producer: Cooperativa del Campo U.C.I

Country: Manchuela, Spain

Vintage: 2005

Grape: Tempranillo

Price: 3.99

Appellation: D.O. Manchuela

For 3.99 this is an EXCELLENT WINE. I give it 85 points for its peppery, a little fruity and leathery aroma. The wine has a tight nose at first, but it later develops a fruity bouquet. It has a dark red ruby color with strong legs. It is dry and has hints of oak, leather, and pepper in the taste. I would decant this wine for a good half hour before drinking to expose it to some breathe a little as well as to remove some of the sediment. This wine tasted excellent with dark chocolate.

It is pretty well balanced. Very soft when you drink and yet, it has a strong flavor. Light but strong.

Peñasol 2003

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:17:32 GMT

2003 Peñasol

Producer: Peñasol

Country: Vino de la Tierra de Castilla, Spain

Vintage: 2003

Grape: 60% Tempranillo and 40% Garnacha

I bought this wine from my local wine store for $6.50. It was ok for the price; not very impressive. This Spanish wine had a rather light reddish color. THe bouquet was also uneventful. There were some hints of leather and pepper. The taste was too bland and had barely any aftertaste. I will not be buying this wine again. I would give this wine about 68 points.

2003 Escudo Rojo

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 01:23:00 GMT

2003 Escudo Rojo

Producer: Baron Phillippe de Rothchild

Country: Maipo Valley, Chile

Vintage: 2003

Grape: Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Cabernet Franc, Syrah

Well, what can I say but...truly amazing.

I am very excited about this wine, it is very good. It is very beautiful dark ruby color with strong legs that are slow to come.

As to the aromas, well there is a lot to smell in this wine. It is magnificantly blended and exhibits a lot of characteristics. It is excellent. The wine, for me, reminds me of bacon. I think I may be the only one that thinks this. I have been sick and my taste buds are not great. Also, I ate a yummy Monterrey Chicken from Chilli's earlier that day and it was still on my mind. The wine has a slight hint of butter and a peppery aroma. There are a lot of spice and cherry aromas. Black cherry perhaps? The Carménère is definately present and it is the very first thing you can distinguish. It adds an very fruity and vibrant charasteristic to the wine. The Syrah is also present with the pepper aroma.

The taste is nothing but wonderful. It is spicy and biting to the tongue, just the way I like it. The wine is very dry with a somewhat short and bitter aftertaste but it is still smooth. The aftertaste reminds me of black pepper. THe wine also exhibits some oak and butter adding to that dryness. You can definately taste some fruits, but for the life of me my taste buds cannot tell me which since they have been compromised by the terrible cough that has been going around.

I think this wine would go great with a nice steak or chocolate. A lot of dark chocolate. Mmmmm. I definately reccomend it.

It is very powerful and well balance. All the components of the wine are perfectly blended to yield an amazing experience for your palate. Even sick I loved it! This wine just gives you a flavor fiesta in your mouth. I am definately buying another bottle, or five.

You should decant this wine to bring out better its flavors and let it breathe a little. And if you can wait, (although you can drink it now) you should wait another couple of years for this 2003 wine. I think it would be great in 2009 or so.

Rating: 89

Price: $12.95

Definately an excellent wine for a great price.

2004 Concannon Vineyards Selected Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:04:39 GMT

Producer: Concannon Vineayrds, Selected Vineyards

Vintage: 2004

Country:Central Coast, California

Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon (98%), mixed reds (2%)

I had this wine for a wine tasting. It was ok. It has a deep ruby color and strong legs. It has a bouquet of cherry, wood and berries. The taste was dry and full of cherries and berries. It was very...earthy. It is smooth and good to drink with chocolate. Not a powerful Cabernet but pretty ok.

Score: 83

This wine should be good with meat or tomato sauce dishes.

About Cabernet: Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the most widely-planted of the world's grape varieties. It is the principal grape in many Bordeaux wines. It usually results in highly tannic wines.

2001 Vinson Richards Shiraz

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 04:31:31 GMT

Vinson Richards

Grape: Shiraz (85%); Tannat (15%)

Vintage: 2001

Country: Juanico Valley, Urugüay

Aroma: Oaky and peppery

Taste: Slighlty oaky (it smells more oaky than it really is); smooth and fruity

Body: Pretty well balanced

Rating: 76

First of, this wine should not be drunk with any spicy food because the flavoor is brought out too much. Otherwise, this wine is pretty ok, a little bland but tastes well. This wine barely has any legs.

This is my first wine from Urugüay and I'd have to say that it was pretty ok.

2005 Château d'Oupia Minervois

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 04:24:31 GMT

2005 Château d'Oupia Minervois

Varietal: Red Rhone Blend

Region France, Languedoc Region

Appellation

Minervois

Color: Deep dark Red

Aroma: This wine has a strong aroma as soon as you open the door. It smells of plum and berries.

Taste: The wine has a pungent and very sharp taste. The wine does not have a lasting aftertaste. It is too acid and bitter in the beginning.

This wine was ok. It should be aerated for a while before tasting. Also, it tastes a lot better the next day, not as acid.

Rating: 80

Araucano 2004 Carménère

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 06:37:56 GMT

Producer: Hacienda Araucano

Vintage: 2004

Grape: Carménère

Producer: Jacques & François Lurton

Region: Valle Central, Chile

Let's start off by saying that I love Carménère but I did not like this one as much. It was rather disappointing because it was rather bland for a Carménère. This wine ad a deep ruby color. It was not that alcoholic and its legs were not that thick. The aroma had a peppery flavor. It is somewhat dry and it is not that bitter.

Biggest flaw of the wine is that it has a screwcap and I hate screwcaps! I like corks! I know screwcaps are better but....I still like the cork.

Rating: 80

Georges Dubœuf Beaujolais

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 15:08:20 GMT

Now, I cannot remember whether it was beaujolais nouveau or just Beaujolais. It is the one with the fully painted bottle. But, I will never drink this wine ever again. It just tasted really bad. Can I rate a wine 30? 0? I threw out the wine because I could not drink it anymore. It tasted like soda (too much fermentation?) and very bitter. This basically was Fanta Grape with a splash of vinegar to top. Myabe it was corked...but I think it's just that it was bad.

Rating: 30

Lesson learned: will never by again

Peñasol 2003

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 06:20:11 GMT

Peñasol 2003 - Vino de la Tierra de Castilla

- Tempranillo 60%

- Garnacha 40%

This Spanish wine was a dissapointment. It was bland and uneventuful. It had a weak bouquet of peppery aromas.

The color was a light red and clear. It was a light bodied wine and had a rather short finish. The legs were slow to come and not thick at all.

This is defninately a wine I will not buy again.

Usual Price: 6.50

Score: 70

Concha y Toro: Casillero del Diablo Carménère 2003 Chile

Sun, 30 Apr 2006 03:08:40 GMT

Concha y Toro: Casillero del Diablo Carménère

Year: 2003

Country: Rapel Valley, Chile

This Carménère is excellent.

Firts off, this wine has aromas of plums and chocolate. There is also a spice aroma to it and something else (that I can't quite grasp) that makes it very distinctive. The aroma of this wine is filling on its own and fits perfectly its taste.

This is a very dark wine, very purple, with little light passing through it. It also has very distinctive, thick and slow-moving legs and it stains the wine glass quite a bit.

This red wine has a very strong and mouth-filling flavor. It is quite the imposing wine that just waters your mouth. It is very dry and yet, it goes down smoothly. The Carménère has a very fruity taste with hints of oak that are barely there. It also has hints of chocolate and spices.

I would say that this wine has a very strong and thick flavor that is excellently paired with chocolate or a good steak. It takes over your mouth and you get to experience its strong, dry and excellent taste.

Rating: 90

PS. Just a heads up...this wine is quite strong even with just 2 glasses....

Marques de Tudelilla 2003 Rioja

Sun, 16 Apr 2006 00:59:12 GMT

Marques de Tudelilla

Country: Spain

Year: 2003

At first taste you can feel the dryness of this wine. It is made 100% of Tepranillo grape and has a fruity aroma hinting of berries.

It has a bright cherry red color and great aroma.

This wine is dry and somewhat rich tasting. It has a fruity taste and no oaky flavor.

When you drink the wine and keep it in your mouth for a few seconds you can experience the full taste of the wine.

Rating: 80

Cricklewood 2003 Pinot Noir

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 03:32:28 GMT

Cricklewood Pinot Noir

Country: Oregon, US

Vilamette Valley

Year: 2003

This is going to be a very short review.

This Pinot Noir is very fruity and bitter at the same time.

It has a buttery taste (which I hate) that was not a hit among my guests. Basically they said: "This is drinkable but I would never buy it again."

Rating: 60

Viña Santa Catalina Colección Especial Merlot 2003 Chile

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 01:43:33 GMT

Viña Santa Catalina Colección Especial Merlot

Country: Chile

Year: 2003

I rarely like Merlots, but this one is great. Both the taste and aroma of this red wine are very mellow and fruity. When I first tried it I felt some bitterness that was just not right. I recommend that you use a decanter with this wine and let it breathe a little.

The aroma of this wine is very fruity and mellow and it compliments the taste perfectly. The best place to taste it is in the side farther parts of your tongue.

This wine is just plain fruity, you can almost taste the plums! It has barely any oaky or bitter flavor (once you let it breathe some minutes).

I recommend that you drink this wine with pasta (cooked with tomato sauce). It brought out the flavor of the sauce, especially if the sauce is home cooked. I also recommend that you pour some wine when cooking the sauce, it makes it taste splendid.

If you like a mellow fruity wine, this is a wine you should taste.

Rating: 85

Maison St. Paul Rouge Du Soir 2003 France

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 22:38:42 GMT

Maison St. Paul Rouge Du Soir - Red Table Wine

Vin de Pays de l'Hérault

Year: 2003

Country: France

This is a very simple red table wine. The aroma of this wine is a little bitter and I expected a very full wine. Rather, I found myself tasting a bit of bitterness but not a very full bodied wine. It's goes down easily even though it is very dry. If you want to experience the full taste of the wine, move it around in your mouth and bring it to the back of your tongue where your bitter taste buds are. When you do this, the wine tastes much better, especially if you like bitter. You will also feel the tinge of bitterness at the back of the top of your mouth.

I'll admit I was dissapointed when I tasted the wine because I was expecting a lot more, even though it is a very inexpensive wine.

A day after being opened the bitterness is accentuated so much you can feel it in your nose. I actually found that it tastes better. Take this with a grain of salt because I like bitter wines.

The red wines from this winery usually get a rating from 82-86.

I will give this red table wine and 76.