It Starts With A Grape

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Every time i hear its name i chuckle, its a play on the French wines Cotes du Rhone. Maybe not as funny to some, but i cant help but appreciate when someone pokes a little fun at the French. Moving on… Goats do Roam Red is a blend of Shriaz, Pinotage, Cinsault, Carignan, Mourvedre, and Gamay Noir. Its nose has an interesting floral and herb aspect to it, with plenty of cassis, warm oak, plumb, and rhubarb. This lush red has a super velvety mouth feel, and is fairly heavy in body. Its soft tannins make for an easy drinking wine, but certainly not one lacking in flavor. There’s plenty of jammy fruit to go around, complimented by just enough toasty oak, making for an extremely well balanced wine. It is an exceptional value out of South Africa, and would go great with a good and hearty Chili.

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It can be hard for Merlot drinkers to step outside their ‘comfort merlot’ because of the wide range of flavors and styles they come in. When I think of Merlot, this one in particular hits the mark. Its nose is filled with jammy blackberry, ripe plumb, black cherries, smooth oak and caramel. Though its on the lighter side of being heavy bodied, its certainly not lacking in flavor, and it has a fantastic velvety mouth feel. Plenty of cherry and blackberry carries over to the palate, initially accompanied by cracked black pepper. As it opens up dark cocoa emerges leading into a super smokey finish. Its a picture perfect Merlot, big on fruit, but balanced out with all that toasty caramelized oak. It would lend itself very well to char-grilled ribs, with a side of green beans and corn bread.

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The oak on this one is a bit overwhelming when you first open it and its a little rough around the edges, so let it breath for an hour or two befor drinking or serving it. That being said, the noes is full of deep dark aromas like charcoal, super toasty oak and casis. Acompanied by subtle notes of black olives, dried prunes, and fresh raspberries, its reminicent of a wood burning stove. Its a little on the tannic side, but not necessarily in a bad way if you like that sort of thing. I think it works well with the rustic, charred sort of flavors, and theres just a nuance of blueberries, right befor its smokey oak finish. It would be great with a hearty beef stew, just throw a cup in while its cooking to add a whole new layer of flavor.

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Its a deep, dense ruby color, with visibly thick legs; you can tell just by looking at this Zin that its gonna be a big one. Super concentrated dark chocolate clearly dominates the noes, with aromas of rhubarb pie, red tea, and hints of cinnamon encased in a warm oak blanket. Plenty of that dark cocoa carries over to the palate, complimented by black pepper, and understated but juicy ripe cherries. For the price, this is one sophisticated wine. Its got a bone dry finish of oak, cassis and cocoa. Pair it with Chipotle BBQed ribs and grilled earthy veggies for a match made in vino heaven.

I wish i could tell you what exactly went into making this delightful blend, but apparently the wine makers, Davey Family Wines, don’t want anyone to know. I know this because I have now spent upwards of five hours trying to find out. None the less, it is quite the vivacious red. It has a super fragrant nose of deep jammy berries, and ample oak, with just a flutter of warm vanilla. This deep and full-bodied red delivers huge fruit flavors including black cherry, and jammy blackberry, with deep rich cassis, and if you look for it, there are hints of black olives. If its a good bang for your buck your after , this ‘in your face’ red is it. It was a bit tannic at first, so letting it breath a bit is recommended, there is so much flavor packed into this wine its almost hard to know what to do with it! If your going to pair it with food, only a full flavored, heavy dish will suffice. As for cheese, Manchego or another pungent cheese would be a mice match. All in all, its super tasty, but only for the bold.

Opening with a nose of plum and ripe cherries, accompanied by aromas of black pepper and just enough oak, this is definitely a ‘go-to’ Malbec. The first sip will deliver plenty of those black pepper aromas to your taste buds, complimented by big juicy fruit, and hints of super dark cocoa. Its a fairly heavy red with a wonderfully full mouth feel, and soft tannins. The lengthy finish is primarily made up of pepper and oak, with subtle cherry. If your looking for something east to pair it with, throw some seasoned cubed steak, red and green peppers, and some chopped onions into a foil bag, and let it roast on the grill. Dinner and wine in under 30 minutes!

Packing more of a punch than one would normally expect from a Frenchy, is this delightfully full flavored Cabernet. It opens with quite earthy aromas, nuances of freshly sliced green peppers, while maintaining enough fruit to achieve a nice balance. There’s plenty of diversity on the palate, and the longer you drink it the more the layers will unfold, initially revealing ripe cherries and smokey oak, moving on to blackberries and hints of strawberry, and finishing with ample oak and cassis. Its medium to heavy in body, and would lend itself excelently to smoked chicken with a side of grilled asparagus.

This medium bodied, silky smooth Italian is exactly what a Montepulciano (monte-pool-chiano) should be. There’s bright fruit on the nose, consisting mainly of fresh raspberries, with under tones of soft oak. Its the epidamy of easy drinking, (no big oak or boisterous fruit here), with juicy plum on the palate, gliding over your tongue, caressing your  taste buds. Enjoy it all by itself or pair it with wild game, lightly seasoned with Italian herbs of course!

This particular Carmenere is what I’d like to call a mix of new and old world style. It has the smooth drink-ability of an old world wine, mixed with the up-front, in your face flavors and aromas of the new world. It opens with a burst of deep black cherries, ripe plum, subtle toasty oak, and hints of fresh cracked black pepper. Displaying a beautifully, deep, ruby color, and delivering a diverse mouthful of flavor much of which resembles its nose. It has a silky smooth finish of dark chocolate and warm oak. The back of the bottle told me this would be an ‘elegant’ wine, and i can not disagree. I couldn’t think of a better dish to enjoy this one with than a rare, lightly seasoned steak, off the grill. If your not in the mood to grill, it would also lend itself well to a pot roast, throwing about a cup of this wonderfully flavorful wine into your dish will ensure a perfect match.

No, its not a type-o, its really just $3.99. Don’t ask me why or how, because i don’t know. It opens with an ample amount of super ripe, jammy fruit, fallowed by sweet cherry tobacco. This particular petite sirah leans more towards the light-medium bodied side. Its good and juicy, but plenty of smokey tobacco carries onto the palate, with hints of milk chocolate. Cherry flavors are definitely the highlight of this one, along with plump, ripe raspberries. It may not be a huge red, but its simple fruit forward character makes for one easy drinking wine. It good on its own, but i think it would really shine if paired with something along the lines of roasted, rosemary pork or lamb, with a cherry glaze.