Tasting Notes

Tasting notes for individual wines.

Tawny Port Comparison

I was drinking a Taylor Fladgate 10 year old Tawny Porto and saw in the local wine shop an Australian “Tawny” and decided to see how they compared. I did expect a difference since the Taylor Fladgate is a true port while the Seppeltsfield is a Grenache, Syrah blend aged like a tawny port. The Taylor Fladgate was a dark […]

2002 Hewitt Cabernet Sauvignon

This Hewitt Cabernet Sauvignon has a very dark garnet color after aging in our cellar for a few years. The nose was light with dark fruit and a hint of vegetal. The flavor was dark fruit, leather and a hint of vanilla with moderate tannins and acidity. The wine had a medium body and a moderate length finish. We also […]

2009 MontGras Reserva Carmenere

The 2009 Montgras Reserva Carmenere is from Chile’s Colchagua Valley. It has a dark ruby color and the nose is smoky, with dark fruit and vanilla. The flavors were dark fruit with a slight hint of vegetal and light vanilla. Lots of tannins with good acid and a long finish that Nancy found slightly bitter due to the tannins. There […]

2005 Sodaro Private Reserve Estate Blend

The 2005 Sodaro Private Reserve is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 20%Petit Verdot and 5% Malbec. The color was a dark garnet. There was ripe dark fruit, green pepper and a little vanilla in the nose. The flavor had dark ripe fruit with a burst of cedar. There was a light round body with smooth tannins […]

2007 Santa Ema Amplus Cabernet Sauvignon

2007 Santa Ema Amplus Cabernet Sauvignon – This Chilean wine is a dark ruby color with hints of violet around the edges. It has a earthy dark fruit nose. The flavor is a light amount of green pepper, big dark fruit and bitter chocolate. There is a medium length finish. Overall quite a nice flavorful wine. It was aged for […]

2004 Gran Feudo Crianza

The 2004 Gran Feudo Crianza is from the region of Navarra in Spain and contains 70% Tempranillo, 25% Garnacha and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine has a nice medium garnet color. The nose had nice medium dark fruit with cedar. There was a light body with medium dark fruit, cedar and a hint of vanilla. There was a good balance […]

2006 Campo Viejo Crianza Rioja

What is a Crianza anyway? I think I’ll start another section where I’ll put definitions as I go along. While I generally know what Crianza means I’ll list the exact definition so I’ll remember better and others will learn more easily.

This weekend’s wine

2009 Provenance Sauvignon Blanc – This wine has a very light yellow color. Nose is very obvious, citrus and melon. Flavors of citrus, melon and floral back-notes. A good amount of acid gives this wine a clean finish of moderate length. None of the grassy flavors I find objectionable in some Sauvignon Blanc. There is a slight bitterness on the […]

Thursday night tastings have started again!

We had our first wine tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton after the summer break. The theme was Non Vintage Champagne and sparkling wines. We had two domestic sparkling wines and three Champagnes and all were Bruts. I am not a big fan of sparkling wines so I cannot judge them very well but I will take a try at […]

2008 Lucky Star Chardonnay

This weekend we had a 2008 Lucky Start Chardonnay. The wine was 97% Chardonnay and 3% Sauvignon Blanc with 60% of the grapes from the North Coast and the balance from Clarksburg. Only part of the wine went through a malolactic fermentation and I don’t believe it was on oak at all. If it was on oak, it was not […]