2006 Mark Ryan Water Witch. Cab-Merlot blend from Washington State. Big, bold red fruit and smooth tannins. A well made wine from one of the boutique wineries in Woodinville. Someone pick this up for distribution on the East Coast, or let us order over the internet, state of MD. Thx, Jay!
This is probably the best wine I've had in a while. I've always wanted to try Greek wine but one can hardly ever find it in stores. You hear about it in Greek and Roman history and Italy is one of the world's top producers of wine yet Greece isn't. Anyway, I went a mission to find a place that sells it and I finally came across a huge wine store that sold a few of them and this was one of the selections they had. I hope Greece starts exporting more wine and become more known like Italy, France, Spain, Chile, and Argentina for producing quality wine (and California, Australia and South Africa to a lesser extent.)
The Greeks have only been making wine for 3000 years. WTF do they know? J/K Actually, thanks for the info. I love Greek wine, and I'll definitely check this out.
Since I started on my scotch kick I haven't really dabbled in wine much so when I was just on my cruise the wife's uncle ordered a bottle of this: I've never really given California wines that much attention due to my Malbec bias but this was one very smooth and balanced wine.
you might give this wine a shot. it's nicely priced and well-reviewed. http://www.citywinecellar.com/storefront/winedetail.aspx?id=30041&depart=2868
Might have something to do with the fact that the activity it reports on actually inhibits people's ability to post.
Has anybody tried the Kirkwood labeled wines at Costco? The saleslady was trying to talk me into buying some, she said they are very good. I was looking at the Malbec, the price is low, but I'm afraid it might be crap. They are not even rated.
I haven't had the Malbec, but I have had their Merlot and their Sauvignon Blanc. Both were pretty good. Not great, but a decent bargain everyday wine.
I also tasted their Australian GSM (grenache, shiraz, mourvedre) blend and thought it was quite good. IIRC, the Merlot I had was from Central Coast California, and the Sauvignon Blanc was from Marlboro New Zealand.
Good posts, J. I don't think schwantzme ever tasted the CostCo label wine. He just assumed that Kirkland is swill because it's their "house brand", but they carry a 2007 Cabernet, and that was an outstanding year for Coastal Cabernet. That Cabernet is from Napa Valley, so it might not be quite so good as others, but it's probably a good solid wine. The also feature a Stag's Leap 2007 Cabernet, that pulls a $35+ price per bottle, if you can find it.
Yeah Kirkland. I know their vodka is good, but wine is a different story, of course. I'm not confident about trying it just because the sales clerk recommends it.
The Stag's Leap Cabernet is awesome, one of my favorite wines. Of course, it's obviously not the wine that most of us are going to be drinking on a daily basis.
Napa Valley is 50 miles inland. I don't know whether Stag's Leap is classified as "Coastal Cabernet". If it is, then, according to most vintage year experts, it's in the top rank as far as California reds for 2007. And I didn't say there was anything wrong with Napa Valley wines.
I get most of my wine recommendations from "sales clerks." However, they are usually sales clerks at Calvert Woodley or Chevy Chase Wine and Spirits, to they know wine very well. As far as the Kirkland branded stuff at Costco, buy a bottle and try it out. The price is decent (most whites under $10, most reds under $20) enough to experiment and take a chance.
The Malbec is under 10 bucks, so if it's better than the Norton I usually get at Trader Joe's for 7.99 then I would consider it a good buy.