Gnarly

Gnarly Head Zinfandel 2005

Very easy to drink with lots of fruit and a little tannin and acidity - but not much. This is training wheels wine, or perhaps it's everyday wine. I mean, it isn't life changing, but it's something to enjoy with dinner tonight.

Genofranco Nero d'Avola 2004

Pictured is the 2003; I simply could not handle the 2003 when I first tried it. Being even more inexperienced back then than I am now, I insisted that the bottle had gone bad. Now, comparing the 2004 to the '03, I'm convinced that the whole variatal is this way.

The nose on this wine is odd; it comes across like red wine, but with something additional. Not spicy, perhaps salty if one can even smell salt. Reminiscient of ham. Alcohol is very present, especially once the wine is sipped. The 13.5% alcohol content isn't supported by much fruit, and the warmth is noticeable as an alcohol intensity rises up the palate and into the nose. There's an herbacious spice along with leather or maybe tobacco. Austere is a good word. Lots of tannins, and rich, understated blackberries under all that.

It's not for the casual consumer. This is an interesting wine, not entirely pleasurable on it's own, but it has an intensity worth experiencing. Pair with equally intense foods - balsalmic vinegar with oily bruschetta, fatty, rich meats, eggplant with anise-heavy marinara. Quite a value for the usual $10 price tag, if you're looking to experience something interesting.

The Crossings Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2004

The Crossings Sauvignon Blanc 2004

At first this wine was too cold, which can be deadly to flavor. After warming, it seemed to me to have softened a bit since the last time I've had this, which was about a year ago. What used to be lots of bright, fresh grass and bold citrus has softened to a more generic white wine flavor. The wine, of course, was fine in its youth, but has since spent too much time in a cardboard box in some warehouse somewhere. Two lessons: 1) Drink your white wines, especially your New Zealand sauvignon blancs, as soon as you can, and 2) the Stelvin Enclosure system (read: screw cap) works fine, allowing the wine to age without oxidizing.

Bootleg Puglia

Maybe I just got a bad bottle, but this sucks. It smells and tastes like a cleaning agent (with some softer fruit underneath!). There are billions of tiny sediment particles floating around but not settling, making decanting a futile affair.

Most of the reviews I've seen on it are pretty positive, though. I must have gotten a bad bottle. A really bad bottle.

Here's a varietal breakdown, just so I remember:

25% Primitivo
25% Negroamaro
25% Montepulciano
25% Uva di Troia

Spain and Canada

Pares Balta Blanc de Paes

Spain; 2004

A strange but not unpleasant wine. This white is soft and even more perfumey than the Las Brisas was, with just a little softer stonefruit. Not much complexity, just a nice, pleasant softness that manages to be very easy to drink without a trace of sweetness.

The grapes:

23% Macabeo
46% Parellada
31% Xarello

Moosehead Canadian Lager

Why am I even reviewing this? It's a classic. Pretty basic lager, without too much hoppy flavor or anything too bitter, basically without much character. Still, it finishes really clean. And it's totally easy to drink. I'd much rather be slamming these than Bud or Miller or any of that. And it's relatively cheap. Drink it out of the bottle.

What have we had lately?

Some wines I've had in recent months, plus a couple beers:

Turley Zinfandel Juvenile 2004

Amazingly rich complexity. Deep berry fruit and cocoa as rich as dark chocolate. Actually enjoyed it with chocolate. Almost like unfortified port. Total winner.

Lily Sonoma Pinot Noir 2005

Softer berry fruit like strawberries and light, fresh cherries. Opens up as it sits. A decent amount of complexity with less intensity. Very nice.

Menage a Trois Red 2004

It is what it is. A fun party wine and a cute joke to tell the next day. Easy to drink, lots of soft fruit. Not quite soda or jelly, but almost.

Las Brisas Spanish White 2005

A beautifully soft and floral white. A total steal at six or seven bucks. Light and aromatic, floral with the faintest hint of stonefruit. Crisp but short finish. I could drink this all day.

Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau 2006

Again, this is what it is. Not the best of the Beaujolais Nouveau that I sampled in 2006, but decent nonetheless. The usual nouveau flavors. You get tired of this wine as you drink it. Next time, I'll have it over ice.

O'Fallon Chocolate Cherry Beer

Strange, fun, and not bad. A beer that actually strives to taste like chocolate covered cherries. There's lots of chocolate, and a sort of fruity sweet cherry which is lost in all the chocolate. Much less dark than I expected, and just a little too sweet.

Hoegaarden

Add this one to my list of favorite wheat beers. A Belgian white, this is softer on the spice but still very rich in flavor. A tiny touch of sweetness and some other, more clean flavor that I can't quite put my finger on - sort of like the crispness of soap, only not in a bad way. This will be in my bar rotation, if only I can find bars that have it on tap.