| Wine Type | Vintage Name Variety Locale | Date Posted Score Helpful Comments More... |
|---|---|---|
| Red |
2006 Trumpeter Cabernet SauvignonMendoza more |
10/4/2008 - Cal Bear wrote: 82 pointsStraightforward generic cab, with blueberries and stewed red fruits that taste a little overextracted. Moderate oak adds tannic finish but not complexity. Neither bad nor memorable. |
| Red |
2007 Las Piedras Pura Vid Malbec Giovanni Vincenzo PannunzioBarrancas more |
2/8/2010 - Cal Bear wrote: 85 pointsUninspired but decent QPR at under $9/bottle. Paired OK with mild beef chile. |
| Red |
2006 Luca Syrah Laborde Double SelectValle de Uco more |
8/24/2009 - Cal Bear wrote: 91 pointsCherries and blueberries on the nose. Deep purple color with ruby red edge. Opens fruity and jammy, and a little hot, then settles to spicy/fleshy mid-palate with nice structure, good balance of big fruit and woodsy tannins, then more jam and spice. Finish is medium length, with black cherry, ripe dark fruit. Lost some of its bite and gained no new complexity after being open for a few hours. Not sure it will age for as long as I had initially thought. Drinks very well now, so why wait? Nice alone and paired very well with grilled lamb, smoked sausage, green olives and salty cheeses. Great QPR at under $20 per bottle, and more complex than many wines in that price range. Note that the empty bottle weighs a ton. |
| Red |
2004 MonteLomas Cabernet SauvignonTupungato more |
1/27/2008 - Cal Bear wrote: 80 pointsInky and dark. Decent nose of blueberries and black fruit. Overly extracted, overly oaked. OK with food but neither interesting nor particularly pleasant alone. Would not try again. |
| Red |
2006 Mollydooker Shiraz The BoxerSouth Australia more |
7/22/2007 - Cal Bear wrote: 87 pointsNice and big jammy dark fruit, moderate bouquet,but no complexity, short aftertaste. Kind of good at first but grows tiresome halfway through. Doesn't really go anywhere. At half the price might buy more, but not a great value. |
| Red |
2003 d'Arenberg The Laughing Magpie Shiraz-ViognierMcLaren Vale Shiraz Blend, Syrah more |
12/29/2006 - Cal Bear wrote: 88 pointsDark purple/red color; indistinct fruity bouquet; flavor is of ripe fruit, almost unctious, with black cherries upfront, jammy throughout, with a little leather and more cherries on the moderately long finish. The blend of 94% shiraz is softened by 6% Viognier, which imparts an almost floral note, on top of firm tannins. The wine went quite well when first opened, without decanting, with a rich oxtail stew and salted garlic fries; the next day, after the last bottle was recorked overnight, the wine was a little heavy and flat, offering lots of strong fruit but without any of the floral or spicy notes or balanced acidity from the night before, though still with a decent finish. Not as complex as I would like, but easy to drink - everyone in our group liked it. |
| Red |
2004 Penley Estate Shiraz HylandCoonawarra more |
9/16/2008 - Cal Bear wrote: 87 pointsSpices, more tannic on finish, decent blueberry and plum jam flavors, very dark tasty fruit, though a little too hot (14.5% alc). A nice drop for the price, but nothing great. Imagine the red Coonawara earth pushing through: the lush dark fruit keeps struggling to push through the earthy top layer, but can't quite emerge. I liked it, and the QPR is good, but there's still an overripe stewed plum thing going on that kind of stifles it at the end of an otherwise rich, full finish. |
| Red |
1996 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shirazmore |
5/27/2006 - Cal Bear wrote: 83 pointsDisappointing; fruit forward but lacking in complexity or depth. Medium bodied, dark color, bland nose, short finish. Piney. |
| Red |
1990 Tim Adams ShirazClare Valley more |
7/16/2007 - Cal Bear wrote: NRPurchased in Australia ages ago and found recently forgotten in cellar. Not expecting much given its age. Seventeen years is too long to keep an Aussie Shiraz like this, but -- though way past its prime -- it still put up a good fight. Cork was in excellent condition. Color had slight amber tinge, bouquet was a little musty, and flavors had more tannins than fruit. But the fruit that remained was interesting, mainly cherries and spice, and had legs. A little leather, too. No fair basis for score given excessive age, but an interesting and not wholly failed experiment. Pleasant surprise. |
| Red |
1998 Mount Horrocks Shiraz Mount HorrocksClare Valley more |
3/13/2006 - Cal Bear wrote: 87 pointsFirst night this was overly tannic, with an unpleasantly tight finish, initially nice flavor quickly buried in too much alcohol and piney aftertaste; on second night and decanted, it had settled down and was much better; nice bouquet, though nothing special; good fruit flavor with lots of dark fruit, currants, black pepper; tannins became more velvety as it breathed and opened on second night, and aftertaste mellowed, become good to drink. Decent wine but not for the price. |
| Red |
2006 Teal Lake Shiraz KosherSouth Eastern more |
7/29/2007 - Cal Bear wrote: 78 pointsYuck. Thin and vegetal. |
| Red - Fortified |
NV Hardys Whiskers Blake Tawny PortSouth Eastern Red Blend more |
8/2/2007 - Cal Bear wrote: 89 pointsWhat it is: delicious, medium color and body, tasty finish to a rich meal, nice to drink, flavors of carmel apples over black cherries and burnt orange, with a long and very slight cinnamon aftertaste, and an absolutely outstanding value. What it's not: layered, complex, cause for amazement. |
| White - Fortified |
NV Yalumba Muscat Museum Reserve Rutherglenmore |
5/29/2006 - Cal Bear wrote: 86 pointsToo sweet. Lacks complexity. Very pleasant honey, vanilla, maple bouquet. Starts with nice honey-vanilla, fig, date, brown sugar flavor, but quickly dissolves into sugary one-note finish with a short acidic bite. Not bad for the price, and honest - in that it is not trying to be anything more than it is. Good value dessert wine, but not a very good wine independent of price. |
| White - Fortified |
NV Yalumba Muscat Museum Reserve Rutherglenmore |
3/10/2009 - Cal Bear wrote: 87 pointsHoneyed apricots. Prunes and candied oranges on finish. Acid gone now. Still nice to drink after dinner if not all that interesting. This bottle is either getting softer and mellower or just plain flabby. Not dead yet but time to drink up. |
| White |
2009 Weingut Familie Prieler Pinot Blanc Ried SeebergNeusiedlersee-Hügelland more |
5/17/2011 - Cal Bear wrote: 89 pointsFocused, tight acids in balance with mineral-driven fruit, like crushed shells, a little briny but open, with moderate and pleasant finish. Interesting and tasty both alone and with food (shellfish and fish). |
| White |
2017 Leindl Grüner Veltliner LangenloisKamptal more |
5/6/2019 - Cal Bear Likes this wine: 88 pointsBright, fresh, really good QPR. Bouquet of lime and cut grass. Taste dominated by green notes, lemony acids and what feels like some residual CO2. Long finish is more herbal (sage), not at all peppery, plus more lime. Zippy. |
| White |
2001 Prager Riesling Smaragd Weissenkirchner SteinrieglWachau more |
3/9/2007 - Cal Bear wrote: 88 pointsStraw yellow color. Had finesse and good balance. Flavors of pineapple and sour apple up front, a little herbaceous, with lemon citrus finish. Interesting, unusual wine. Neither too sweet nor too acidic. Unfocused, though. More intellectual than emotional. Paired well enough with roasted lemon herbed chicken. |
| White |
2009 Weingut Knoll Riesling Smaragd Vinothekfüllung LoibnerWachau more |
8/3/2019 - Cal Bear Likes this wine: 88 pointsComplex, savory and lush. Color golden yellow. Nose of pears and quince. When opened, some pineapple flavors appeared in the background, replaced by pears and sharper acids on day 2. Middle to end mouthful stays full and stone fruit flavors dominate, especially apricot. Also a slightly tart oily note appears. Finish is medium and too subdued. Wine may be heading out of its drinking window, though not in a hurry to leave. Interesting. |
| Red |
1995 Errazuriz Don Maximiano Founder's ReserveAconcagua Valley Cabernet Sauvignon more |
5/22/2006 - Cal Bear wrote: 90 pointsSurprisingly good; aged nicely; bouquet was herbaceous and a little spicy; flavor was complex and rich, dominated by dark fruit, oak, and with an inky note that paired perfectly with grilled beef and blue or cheddar cheese. Decent though not very long finish tasting of tar and exotic spices. |
| White |
2003 Montes Alpha ChardonnayCasablanca Valley more |
3/24/2006 - Cal Bear wrote: 86 pointsGood value. Not complex but well balanced, refined, with citrus/grapefruit and some vanilla flavors on top of solid base. Pale yellow color. |
| Red |
1995 Viña Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon Casa Real Reserva EspecialMaipo Valley more |
2/27/2007 - Cal Bear wrote: 89 pointsRich, dark, almost inky, red/purple color; full bodied; fruity bouquet with touch of allspice on the nose; taste was surprisingly elegant, full and complex,with luscious ripeness, although waning tannins betrayed the wine's somewhat excessive age: plums, dried cherries, blueberries, leather. Moderate finish. Purchased in Chile on release. Better with food. |
| Red |
2009 Alfasi MerlotMaule Valley more |
8/28/2011 - Cal Bear wrote: 84 pointsChile? Kosher? $10? This should be awful. Yet, surprisingly: not. The bouquet (such as it is) is one note, but the flavors are fine and the wine is definitely quaffable. Better than many other Kosher wines (or Chilean wines, for that matter) at twice the price. Unobjectionable is not a bad thing in a $10 wine. Recomended for what it is -- great QPR. |
| Red |
2003 Montes Alpha Cabernet SauvignonColchagua Valley more |
4/20/2006 - Cal Bear wrote: 87 pointsDark purple color. Medium body. Nice nose of chocolate, cassis and tobacco. Initial taste a little harsh, but smoothed out almost immediately. Heavy tannins at first, but they quickly fade. Soft, fruity flavor that's better with food. Decent finish but neither long nor complex. Pretty good value but nothing special. Would still keep for a couple more years in the bottle, but I doubt it will improve with time. |
| Red |
2003 Montes Alpha Cabernet SauvignonColchagua Valley more |
8/4/2006 - Cal Bear wrote: 86 pointsNot memorable. |
| White |
2011 Bibich LučicaSkradin Debit more |
2/22/2017 - Cal Bear Likes this wine: 89 pointsReally interesting stuff. Amber golden color, from deliberate oxidation at winery when aged in French oak. Restrained bouquet. Almost oily mouth feel. Flavors are richly layered: herbs, bitter apple, almonds. Pleasant and round, long finish. Paired well with everything: anchovies and lemon, roast chicken, shellfish. Really liked this. Could age more, perhaps, but ready to drink now. Wish I had more. |
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- Tasting notes: 353 notes on 333 wines
