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[CulinaryAlchemist]

Can't wait to see the review Bob... I hope it's more favorable than mine... I am sorely disappointed at this point... But hey, it's the first glass... So maybe it will get better
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[Babette]

I opened this up to where all the reviews go during our "in between time"...If you start a review on a particular wine.. you can also do a separate thread for that wine type.

[CulinaryAlchemist]

OK... Three glasses later and it's not better.....

This only proves to me that I do not like wines in the old French style...
The reds usually start off with tannin and I do not particularly care for that....

Anywho - I could not find a White Merlot and I refused to go hunting as it was already after 7:30 and I just wanted to get home. I have had a Beaujolais before (don't particularly care for it), but I realized I had never had a Bourdeaux so I grabbed 1 of the three that were available...

Here is my review of the Bordeaux that I broke down and tried

Name: Moutan Cadet

Price:12.76

Year: 2006

Short intro from the wine maker about the win: I am being lazy. All it talks about on the back of the bottle is the prestigious legacy of the wine. Come to find out, after I checked the website, this is really more of a red table wine from Bordeaux.

Review:
Color: A beautiful deep garnet red and I don't mean the pinkish rodolite garnet. This is a Deep Burgundy purple rich color.
The Bouquet: It smelled delicious; It tricked me!! I thought it smelled like woodland flowers and berry compote - I looked it up on the web since the bottle didn't help - They say Violets & Tobacco, which I could not pick out per se but hey, they ARE a woodland flower. I assume it was the tobacco that I took for wet leaves.
The Flavor: Started with Tannin and while not strong the tannin was very long and became the foundation that the whole taste experience was based on. Next came sour cherry and what might have been a blackberry with a wet leaf taste (evidently their perception of tobacco) then ending again with nothing but soft tannins. Honestly I think my problem is that I expect MORE out of French wines, and I just don't seem to get it. Nothing lingered except the tannin..., How to describe this... Tannin... A little Fruit with Tannin... Then more Tannin with something I couldn't put my finger on; The fruit part sure didn't last long before surrendering to the tannin again... I honestly felt cheated.

Would you buy again?: Nopity Nopity no

Wine Pairing Ideas/Recipes: OK My Turkey-Brie-Pesto-Baguette Sandwich definitely didn't go well; Made the wine start to taste like Slate and Limestone (Which was the "something I couldn't put my finger on" before)

neither did the gingerbread cookie - I actually tasted tin. (yet again, at the end in the "something I couldn't put my finger on"

In all honesty I think this was a classic wine for a rare steak... Red meat was definately needed to calm the tannins... It may have even stood up to lasagna, something even most Cabernet sauvignon cannot do very well.
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~ Shane


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[Qui]

Does no one remember Mateus? It was the "real wine" you went for when Boones Farm was just not good enough for the occasion.

From Wikipedia:
Mateus wine is a medium sweet frizzanté rosé produced in Portugal. The brand was created in 1942 and production began at the end of World War II. The wine was especially styled to appeal to the rapidly developing North American and northern European markets. Production grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s and by the late 1980s, supplemented by a white version, it accounted for over 40% of Portugal's table wine exports. At that time, worldwide sales were 3.25 million cases per year.[citation needed]

Sogrape, the family company which owns the brand and which is the largest wine producer in Portugal, has more recently diversified into other areas of the Portuguese wine industry, as the popularity of its Mateus brand has declined. In the UK in 2002 the wine was re-packaged and relaunched in a deliberate ploy to capitalise on 1970s nostalgia [1] although the wine itself had already been made less sweet and slightly more sparkling, to pander to the popular modern taste for slightly drier wine. The wine continues to be sold, however, in its distinctive narrow-necked, flask-shaped bottle, with unique "baroque historic mansion" label and real cork stopper.
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... Pat ...
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Whatever you are...Be a good one.

[Carol]

Oh yeah I also liked Mateus...always saved the cute oval bottles. Mateus, Blue Nun, I guess maybe I did like drier wines or it might have just been that I was a drunk and sloshed down what ever was on hand...hmm ya think?
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Carol

BREAD AND WATER CAN SO EASILY BECOME TEA AND TOAST.

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[BobtheDude]

Name: Casa de la Hoya Carchelo (at least I think thats the name. It's a Mourvèdre grape)
Price: 10.99
Year: 2006

Short intro from the wine maker about the wine: From Agapito Ricos high-altitude, arid vineyards an ideal cuvee is created, resulting in an exuberant and versatile red wine equally suited for casual entertaining or to accompany the finest cheeses and grilled meats. (not very helpful, is it? And it's one big run-on sentence. Tsk.)
Review: Well I wouldn't call it exuberant, that's for sure. Mellow, but slightly sharp nose. Distinct red grape and alcohol smell (stronger alcohol smell than normal, that is) plus another one that I can't put my finger on. Pepper? Herbs? Dirt? No idea. The taste is very smooth and light, particularly light for a red, with a slightly dry/tannic and clean finish. Not too dry, someone who doesn't like dry wine might still like this. Maybe not though. I taste fruit rather strongly and also a touch of vanilla, but that might be from the marinade I was just making.
Would you buy again?: Maybe, but probably not. It's good, but not great.
Wine Pairing Ideas/Recipes: Goes REALLY well with CVS brand raspberry creme shortbread cookies. It went ok with the steak tips in a sweet whiskey glaze, but not so well that I would pair it with it on purpose. I bet it would be good with sharp cheese and maybe some sweet fruits.
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