Recently I’ve enjoyed three new red wines. One was a Bordeaux that continues the theme of 2009 as a great value year for Bordeaux. One was a California Cabernet Sauvignon that was pleasantly atypical, and the other was an excellent California Pinot Noir.
I wrote last year about 2009 petit chateaux Bordeaux wines and how they can deliver a nice experience at a great price point. This most recent Bordeaux is another inductee into the hard to find nice Bordeaux for less than $20 category. It’s the 2009 Chateau Magence Graves, label shown above.
The wine is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The wine was smooth and integrated, with inexpensive Bordeaux often is not. It was relatively fruit forward and easy to drink, with a clean and quick finish. It retails for about $16.
The surprising Californian was the Hobo 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon. It was not like a typical Cabernet from Sonoma’s Alexander Valley. The wine was subtle, much more Bordeaux like than Californian. It had nice fruit but was on the subtle side, plush without much oak and with some graphite on the finish. A pleasant surprise at around $20.
The final worthy new red is the 2009 Neely Spring Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir (scroll down a bit after clicking on link for the review). This is a flat out delicious New World Pinot Noir from the Santa Cruz area of California. The nose is clean and fragrant, and the wine is light but well structured. The fruit is full on cherry with a hint of cola, with a hint of tartness. I had a bit of earth and alcohol on the surprisingly long finish. A really nice effort that you should be able to find for under $40.
I’ll keep sampling and taking notes about worthy new reds. Yes it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. <smile> What wine has surprised you lately? Drop a comment and let me know.