Miner’s Oracle 2004 (a Bordeaux blend) video review
Monday, December 29th, 2008
Miner’s Oracle 2004 - a review from PortersWine.com from Porter’s Wine on Vimeo.
Music by Broken Social Scene (Shoreline 7/4)
Porter’s Wine Blog
Whitehall Lane Vineyards Merlot 2005
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
Blackberry, violets, and plums - oh MY?! No, not so much. Think pungent, mold veins of blue cheese on the nose, deep red fruits (rotten apple peel it seems… or am I crazier than usual? probably) on the palate, and a brambled, brown finish… I love every bit of it.
This wine is so much better than I expected… and I expected a LOT from a bottle of USA red priced well over $20 even and I say EVEN at Trader Joe’s wine shop.
It is not an easy wine. It is a good wine. It is not a smooth wine. It is a frenetic wine. It is not a complex wine… but it is an interesting wine.
Of course maybe it was just my bottle that seemed to have been dunked in cooked, blue cheese, but probably not since it was a screw top. Let’s score this:
$24.99 at T.B. Ackerson 8.1/10
Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc - Viognier 2007
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
Pine Ridge both tempted me and taunted me last night. I have a box full of random and exciting ‘04 Bordeaux reds that I bought at steep discount over the summer that I’d been saving for a night when I need to drink a glass of wine that would be good enough to take my mind off things, but when faced with the prospect of sorting through thousands of emails, this wine called out to me to buy it with a polycephalic cry of, “I’m made of your two favorite grapes,” “You love to write about how much you hate Californian white wines,” and “The Bordeauxs will only get better… you can drink us now! ”
Their cries convinced me, and I unscrewed the cap to the Napa Valley white with Bob Ross-inspired label.
Inside I smelled a bouquet of prickly white flowers and unripe apricots. The mouth-feel was simultaneously substantial, sharp, and soft. The finish left an impression of a melted citrus candle and the smooth leaf of a tulip stroked against my throat.
I loved all of it, and I hated the wine for satisfying me. I wanted to mention at the end of all my emails that night that “California has disappointed me again,” but was left with a sensation that was wholly satisfactory, if not, at the price point, quite laudatory. Hopefully next time, their Sauvignon Blanc will bring me the self-flagellating disappointment I crave from our great first state of wine.
$14.99 at T.B. Ackerson 7.8/10