2003 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Shiraz
YEAR: 2003WINERY: Columbia Crest
FLAVOR: Red, Shiraz
ORIGIN: Columbia Valley, USA
PURCHASED: Seattle, WA
AMOUNT: $10
NICKNAME: "Columbia Crest Grande Shiraz"
Psydr Short & To-The-Point Wine Reviews
Below are reviews of fun little finds purchased locally. The typical cost per bottle is $10 or less, and the label probably has a little more pizazz than your traditional Barolo. But don't judge the bottle by the label. These reviews are personal and certainly non-professional evaluations of wines we've tried. Enjoy!
March 31, 2008
YEAR: 2003WINERY: Columbia Crest
FLAVOR: Red, Shiraz
ORIGIN: Columbia Valley, USA
PURCHASED: Seattle, WA
AMOUNT: $10
NICKNAME: "Columbia Crest Grande Shiraz"
March 30, 2008
2006 Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir
YEAR: 2006WINERY: Robert Mondavi
FLAVOR: Red, Pinot Noir
ORIGIN: California, USA
PURCHASED: Seattle, WA
AMOUNT: $10
NICKNAME: "Mondavi Pinot Noir"
Labels: 2006, 5 STAR, Pinot Noir, Red, Robert Mondavi, USA
1 Reviews:
-
At
March 30, 2008 at 9:06 PM ,
psydr said...
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5 OUT OF 5 STARS
This wine is just excellent. I love it. Gorgeous color and smell. More quaffable than water. It's just a delight to drink. This is possibly the best wine I've reviewed in quite sometime. I'm not kidding.
There's some cherry here and a slight oak palate as it glides off the tongue and down the back of the throat. Perfect. Incredibly smooth. I just can't say enough about this wine. Bravo Robert Mondavi!
Do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle on your very next trip to the store. It is readily available at most stores in the Great Northwest...
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March 25, 2008
2005 Michele Chiarlo Barbara d'Asti
YEAR: 2005WINERY: Michele Chiarlo
FLAVOR: Red, Barbara
ORIGIN: Piedmonte, Italy
PURCHASED: Trader Joe's, Seattle, WA
AMOUNT: $10
NICKNAME: "Chiarlo Barbara"
1 Reviews:
-
At
March 25, 2008 at 5:44 PM ,
psydr said...
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5 OUT OF 5 STARS
An excellent Barbara and for only 10 bucks if you can believe that. Hurray for TJ's for bringing us yet another great wine from the Piedmonte.
This wine would go well with practically any food you were to throw at it while at the same time making that food better. The palate is simple and smells delicious. A very, very smooth wine with virtually no aftertaste minus the slightest hint of oak just to let you know how it was aged... And aged properly it was.
2005 was a magnificent year for Chiarlo. I'll be scooping up several more of their varietals in the near future. However, first I will be heading back to Trader Joe's to acquire a few more bottles of this stuff. I love it!
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March 21, 2008
2004 Columbia Crest Shiraz
YEAR: 2004WINERY: Columbia Crest
FLAVOR: Red, Shiraz
ORIGIN: Columbia Valley, USA
PURCHASED: Seattle, WA
AMOUNT: $9
NICKNAME: "Columbia Crest Shiraz"
1 Reviews:
-
At
March 21, 2008 at 8:31 PM ,
psydr said...
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5 OUT OF 5 STARS
Delicious! This is a great wine. In general, all Columbia Crest vintages and varietals can be used as a successful standby. They never disappoint.
If you were to throw a party and know absolutely nothing about wine, then the one thing you should be aware of is this: Columbia Crest will ALWAYS please. They haven't produced a single failure to my knowledge.
The Shiraz is sweet, but not too sweet. It's smooth and goes well with anything I've thrown at it. Tonight I had Lamb Korma. Perfect accompaniment.
Damn, I'm ecstatic Columbia Crest does what they do. Nice work folks. Keep it up. I don't personally know another winery which can be counted on without fail year after year, vintage after vintage, and across sooooo many varietals...
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February 5, 2008
2004 Rock Rabbit Shiraz
YEAR: 2004WINERY: Rock Rabbit
FLAVOR: Red, Shiraz
ORIGIN: California, USA
PURCHASED: Seattle, WA
AMOUNT: $10
NICKNAME: "Rock Rabbit Shiraz"
1 Reviews:
-
At
February 5, 2008 at 9:39 PM ,
psydr said...
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5 OUT OF 5 STARS
This is a delicious wine. Another great find. Of course, it's price borders our theshold here. Not that we haven't broken it before.
A strong taste of cherry here for sure. More obvious than I've ever tasted after a single swallow. Certainly cherry. Not just fruity.
Okay, here's a conundrum: The front of the bottle clearly states the varietal to be Shiraz. Yet the vintage is of California... making it a Syrah. Then, on the back of the bottle, the statement is Syrah. A little weird I say.
Confusing? Yes. But given the nature of things and that these grapes were harvested in California, we have to call this a Syrah... right?
Regardless of Rabbit's confusion, most importantly, you should go out and pick up a bottle of this wine. It's yummy!
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January 28, 2008
2 Reviews:
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At
January 28, 2008 at 6:29 PM ,
psydr said...
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5 OUT OF 5 STARS
Excellent! This is a great Pinot Noir at a great price. A hint of cherry. No bitter. Not too sweet. It's perfect. Honestly, I can not believe this is a $7 bottle of wine. Hats off to Mirassou. You are sure to see more of their wines reviewed here very shortly... -
At
May 10, 2008 at 3:58 PM ,
psydr said...
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5 OUT OF 5 STARS
So, a friend of mine brought this bottle over last night to a little dinner we hosted. It hadn't struck me I'd already reviewed the bottle a couple months ago until the silky liquid hit my tongue. I thought, "this is an excellent, excellent Pinot." I checked the Psydr Wine List and sure enough, there it was. I'd already given it a 5 STAR rating.
Well, just to solidify the rating I thought I'd rant a little about it once more. My buddy said he picked up the bottle on sale for $8, but I remember paying only $7. Either way, it's a great value. Shoot. It'd be a great value at twice the price in my humble opinion.
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January 4, 2008
1996 Travaglini Gattinara
YEAR: 1996WINERY: Travaglini
FLAVOR: Red, Gattinara (Nebbiolo)
ORIGIN: Piedmonte, Italy
PURCHASED: Seattle, USA
AMOUNT: $30
NICKNAME: "Psydr's Personal Favorite"
Labels: 1996, 5 STAR, Gattinara, Italy, Nebbiolo, Red, Travaglini
1 Reviews:
-
At
January 7, 2008 at 6:26 PM ,
psydr said...
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5 OUT OF 5 STARS
I just love this stuff. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure why. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact my family is from Piemonte and it's in my genes. I don't know.
Gattinaras, Barolos, and Barbarescos have always held the top positions of my personal wine list. The Nebbiolo grape has been used to produce some fabulous red wines... and grappas. Yours truly has been known to put down an entire bottle of Grappa di Barolo in an evening while sitting on the Tuscan hillside.
If you have the opportunity, please try a bottle of Gattinara. They're not that difficult to obtain and certainly well worth the effort.
I hear your rants now: "This is more than a $10 bottle of wine." I'm aware. But it's my favorite. And this is my blog... I may occasionally list a bottle above the $10 mark. It's okay.
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December 24, 2007
3 Reviews:
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At
December 24, 2007 at 4:17 PM ,
psydr said...
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5 OUT OF 5 STARS
Very smooth. Tons of flavor without an unpleasant aftertaste. It's hard to say what it might have become once it had had a good chance to breath because the bottle didn't last very long...
For the money, this wine can not be beat. Honestly, this is one of the best inexpensive wines I've ever purchased. I will be purchasing more bottles of this particular wine in the near future. -
At
December 25, 2007 at 8:05 PM ,
said...
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Being one who may have never experienced a 5 star wine I'm not sure how to rate the good ones. So bear in mind just that.
4 stars
T'was a little dry but not bad at all. I like them sweet and this one came across as such to me. I liked it pretty good....and it's got a big red truck on it. -
At
May 9, 2009 at 12:33 PM ,
said...
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Not a review- just noticing that all of your 5 star wines are red. What's with that?
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1 Reviews:
5 OUT OF 5 STARS
First of all, this is a great wine. 5 STARS without a doubt. There's a wonderful cherry/oak flavor which comes together perfectly. Hats off to Colombia Crest. This is their best wine yet!
Okay, this is one of those moments of personal awkwardness. I'm pretty sure I've already reviewed the "regular" Columbia Crest Shiraz. And I believe I gave it a 5 STAR rating... which it deserved. However, if that's the case, then I have to come up with a new rating system, because this wine is easily TWICE as good as their "regular" shiraz. This Grand Estates stuff is the bomb. Damb, it's good!
Does this really mean I have to come up with a new rating system? No. It just means there's a wide variety of vinos which fit in the 5 STAR catagory. And ALL of them are incredible.
Is there one 5 STAR that's better than another? Of course. Absolutely. But my intention here is to make sure that if you were to pick up any wine I rate 5 STAR, you're going to be one happy camper.
We all need variety. Remember one thing: The bitter makes the sweet sweeter. There's soooooo much truth to that I won't even begin to approach the subject here...
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