Statistics:
- Price: $9.99 (on sale)
- Alcohol: 14%
- Value: Excellent

Tasting Notes:

Excellent value!  This syrah is dark and full-bodied, with a burst of chocolate on the nose that leads to a long, smooth finish with a hint of cinnamon.  We paired this with a California Syrah BBQ Salmon with Charred Corn and Avocado Salsa (recipe courtesy of Cline).

-Ryan

I don’t know whether I’m imagining things, or whether I have actually had the Twisted Zin before.   If I did, it certainly wasn’t memorable or I would probably not be drinking it now.

Did it used to have a yellowish label?

Regardless, I saw a bottle of the 2006 for $6.99 at the local grocery and I thought I would give it (another?) try.

It’s nice and dark, like a zin should be, but I’m not getting anything on the nose.  I mean nothing.  What does this mean?  Either I’m slipping, which is likely, or the wine just isn’t giving me anything, which is very likely.

If I dig really deep, I can get a subtle, some-sort-of-dark-fruit-jammy flavor.  But, it’s fleeting.

All in all, I prefer it to the box.  It’s ok - not awful.  Not great.

It’s just not a memorable wine, although I would say that this zin isn’t a bad value for the price point.

Cheers, here’s to finding a better bottle by dinner!
-Ryan

I consider this to be one of my few true victories of the week.  I picked this bottle up at the local grocery store for two reasons:

1. Sweet label (I would bring this bottle to a dinner with friends and pretend that it was expensive)

2. $7 - I’ll take a case, please.

Prominently displayed on the front of the bottle is a very Italian-sounding name and “Sicilia“.  I may be a sucker, but it worked.  On the back of the bottle is a picture of Italy’s boot, with a focus on the toe.  Why bother commenting on the back of the bottle, you ask?  Good question, I won’t waste any more of your valuable time with that nonsense.

It’s a very drinkable bottle. It’s dark, full-bodied and keeps me from drinking from a box.  Dry, full bodied, mellow, 13.5% alcohol - what’s not to love?  A glass or two makes me think of the pleasant smell of burning firewood, or maybe just something pleasant and toasted (this is not a commentary on my current level of sobriety, it’s the first bottle of the evening).

All in all, a very decent bottle of wine at a very decent price.  While it is certainly not the best bottle that I’ve ever had, it’s a very solid purchase and I don’t think that you’ll be disappointed.

Does anyone have any other Nero D’Avola’s that they would like to recommend?

I have really been trying to give the French a honest go at it, but I feel that many of their wines are light and weak.  My rational mind tells me that I’m an idiot, and that I just don’t have the palette to appreciate good wine.

But deep down, I would rather shotgun a 30-rack of Keystone Light waste my time on a wine that light.

Viva la revolution!
-Ryan

Let me lay it out for you. It’s a Thursday night and work was awful. You had three deadlines today, one at 10:15, one at 2:00 and one at 3:30.  How did you do?  Well, you pretty much got there, but you’re still not flying high.

Yes, you are correct - you’re far too old for malt liquor (although there is a time and a place), and shots of jaegermeiter just don’t feel quite right for a Thursday.  What to do?

Enter RH Phillip’s Night Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon, preferably in a magnum.

At $9 for the 750ml, and around $17 for the mag - your night is looking up.

RH Phillips claims that their grapes are harvested at night, and that “…this concentrates the flavors in the fruit…”  I think that there is a legitimate chance that this may actually be true, although it may just be that somebody important liked the label and the marketing department was forced to invent a story to coincide.  Or maybe not.

Whatever the reason for the label and the name, the wine is very decent.  It’s a fairly dry, fairly average cab with a fairly average price tag.  While this doesn’t sound too exciting, The Night Harvest isn’t overly exciting, and it doesn’t beat you up like a couple bottles of zin might.  However, it seems like just the ticket for most week nights at home - when you want to hit it hard, but you know that you shouldn’t.

Please don’t mistake this last thought for maturity; I assure you that there is a 40oz of OE 800 somewhere in my future.

Live it up,
Ryan

Back we go, to the Finger Lakes region of New York to sample a bottle from one the area’s most interesting wineries: Bully Hill.

It would be tough to be from upstate NY and to have not heard of Bully Hill, as they are one of the most distributed wineries of the region.  While they don’t claim to have high end, elitest wines, they do serve their wine “with laughter”.  My only issue Bully Hill is that I can only find their sweet wines out here in Cincinnati, and they currently are not currently shipping to Ohio.

I’ve been to their tasting room on several occasions, and I have never had a bad time.  The only tough part about Bully Hill is that their pours can be devastating - I would recommend going on a slow day, you definitely will not be disappointed.

From the start, they ask you to grab your glass in a Genny Light Death Grip and slam their first pour.  They do not screw around at Bully Hill.  Personally, I’ve never thought that this was a bad way to start a tour, but it gets better.  One of the tasting room staff was taking requests to sing songs while impersonating Chad Kroger from Nickelback.  My favorite of the concert was “Come Sail Away”…like Chad Kroger.  Maybe you had to be there after a few glasses - but it was pretty damn funny.

Bully Hill knows their market, and they keep their wines very reasonably priced.  Whatever your taste, from Sweet Walter White, to the Meat Market Red to the Bulldog Baco (noir) - Bully Hill produces some very reasonable everyday bottles of wine.

Their 2005 Merlot weighs in at about $8 and hits you really hard right out of the bottle.  While this merlot is on the lighter side, it has a really intense nose and taste.  The dark fruit cracks you pretty hard right out of the bottle (blackberries?) and transitions to a raspberry on the palate.  While I did enjoy this bottle with a pasta, I would almost recommend pairing it with something a little stronger, like a steak, as it did tend to overpower the meal.

As they say at Bully Hill, a magnum of their Grower’s Blush (chilled) is the perfect single serving size for mowing your lawn.  Some might scoff, but I’m telling you, don’t knock it ’til you try it. It’s even more fun with a riding mower.

-Ryan

Pepperwood Grove - My favorite bottle of wine after the first bottle of wine.

I’m not being intentionally cryptic, in fact, I’m pretty damn sure that you all know what I mean.  You’ve had that first bottle and the party isn’t quite over.  You’re not ready to drink anything too hard, but you don’t want to piss away a good bottle after a good bottle.  Enter anything Pepperwood Grove!

This Shiraz happens to hail from down under, like many of the economically feasible shiraz’s available today.  However, I like it better than it’s cheaper Aussie cousins.  The PG Shiraz happens to be as dark as the night itself, and have a very decent taste.  While I won’t pretend that I get anything too specific off of this one, it hasn’t disappointed me yet.  And like most good shiraz, makes a good show of staining your teeth purple.

As many of you know, “Syrah” was originally grown in the French Bordeaux region and was moved across the ocean to Australia and then called “Hermitage”.

Personally, I think this is a load of nonsense and I’m calling BS on Wikipedia.

However, what does seem to be uncontested is the fact that Syrah is the same grape as the very popular Shiraz now grown in Australia.  The US has largely adopted it’s original name, Syrah, and has proceeded to make some very good wines.

As proof positive that I’m fond of this wine, I have purchased one half case.  It’s a nice complement to the other half of a case of Pepperwood Grove Pinot that I happened to purchase at the same time (I’m a big fan of the case discount).  This is a very drinkable wine that I don’t have to feel bad about breaking open, which makes it one of my favorites.

Laters Mates,
Ryan

*Please do not confuse “syrah” or “shiraz” with “petit syrah” which is actually a different varietal.

I’m beginning to get a little sensitive.  I’m beginning to think that all of my reviews are on the positive side.  Where are the bad reviews?  We’ve all had awful wine, where is it on this site? Which wines should I stay away from? 

Truth be told, I try really hard to not drink bad wine.  Life is way too short, and we spend far too much of our busy lives committed to nonsense to add more pain by drinking shitty wine.  Please don’t jump to conclusions, I have (and still) enjoy a good glass of wine from a box.  Every now and again, we all need our fix and sometimes, just sometimes, the box will do.  I will not fall to the ground from the sheer enjoyment of said box wine, but it will do in a pinch.  The wine from a box (or jug) will not be white, pink or anything lighter than a cab - and my bank account had better be in overdraft, but I will not shun a box.  What I’m talking about is genuinely bad wine. 

The Red Bicyclette 2004 Syrah is not this mythical awful wine.  It’s really good, and I’m thinking I’ll start picking this up regularly.  The nose is extremely subtle, but if you really look for it, you can catch a faint hint a tart cranberries.  This almost-black wine is light and smooth, with an incredibly soft finish.  I would definitely by this wine again at $9.  And I take back almost everything that I’ve ever said about the French.

At first I thought that this was similar to a Cline Syrah, primarily because of the price point, but these wines are vastly different.  While the Cline is heavy and rough, the Red Bicyclette is smooth and light.  Think of a Budweiser Clydesdale vs. Seabiscuit and you have the difference in these wines, if they were horses.  However different these wines may be, at the end of the day, they are both better than box wine and not at all bad.  Some days, I may prefer the Clydesdale and others I may lean towards the thoroghbred.  At the end of the day, both of these ponies take you to the same place, but in a slightly different manner. 

The moral of this story: drink the Red Bicyclette, it’s an excellent wine and a good value.  The presentation on the bottle is also good, so don’t feel bad about bringing it to dinner at my house.

Bonsoir mes amis,
Ryan

I was looking for a decent bottle of wine that I wouldn’t have to feel bad about breaking out for no occasion at all, and I think I found it in this old vine zin.  Pepperwood Grove has always been recognized as an excellent value wine.  While I am more familiar with their pinots, merlots and cabs,  I was very excited to stumble across this zin.

Pepperwood Grove has vineyards across California, into South America, in Europe and even out as far as Australia.  And to be honest, when looking for a value wine, I don’t really care where it’s from.  I just want to have a bottle that’s inexpensive, that I can open whenever I want (even on a Sunday morning) and not have to worry whether or not I should have waited.  I just want to drink it. Now.

Moving on to the tasting: My silly father in law thought that he caught some black pepper in his first snort of this old vine zin.  He even went as far as to say that “…it was like opening a jar of peppercorns.”  After ridiculing him mercilessly for several minutes, I did agree with his secondary assessment of dark raisins and plums.  And maybe a hint of pepper, but I’m pretty sure that he just said that because it was all he could read on the label without putting on his glasses.

While there isn’t much that is really striking about this wine, it’s a very safe bet for your $7-$8.

Enjoy!
Ryan