Bold Bordeaux

Hello Wine Lovers!

Now that the excitement of the Bears is over and everyone has drowned their disappointment and their tears in their favorite beverage of choice... lets talk about a super buy on a French Bordeaux from Chateau Roc de Levraut! This wine sells for, are you ready for this, $5.99 at the Wine Discount Center! Let's face it, if you don't like it, just pour it in your car's windshield fluid container and call it a day! This is a classic example of a French Bordeaux with a blend of 50% Cabernet, 40% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. You will find it earthy with flavors of cassis and blackberry with just a hint of tobacco notes and a slightly tannic finish with just enough oak to keep it interesting. I purchased this wine with no real big expectations but I figured if it was good enough to write about on this blog I would do so. Twenty minutes later... I was blown away! This will not be your best wine of the year, but it certainly can';t be beat for the money!

Until next time...Drink More Wine!
Cheers!
J

Nice Cabernet

Hello Wine Lovers!
I still can't believe it is 2011... time flies when your drinking wine! My entry for today is a inexpensive California Cabernet that i think you will find most enjoyable for the money. The McManis Family Vineyards Cabernet. This can be purchased at your friendly neighborhood Binny's for around $9.99, a steal if i ever saw one. You will find this wine purple-red in color, and the nose is filled with chocolate and caramel, more than likely from the oak aging. The round creamy mouthfeel is accompanied by dark fruit flavors with a long soft finish. They also make a Merlot that is a dollar less and will be a topic of a future blog. Now a little about the vineyard.

McManis Family Vineyards is a grower and vintner of premium varietal winegrapes located in the Northern Interior of California. The company was founded in 1990 by Ron and Jamie McManis - fourth generation family farmers. The McManis family has been growing grapes in this region since 1938.
They currently operate over 2500 acres of winegrapes, and after the 1997 harvest, a state-of-the-art winery was designed and built to maximize the resulting wine's quality through small lot handling, whole cluster pressing and barrel storage and fermentation. By keeping the lots small, we really can do a number of setups," Jeff says. "We can treat each tank differently with regard to yeast, fermentation, temperature, and oak. We've built as much flexibility as we can into each individual element of the process."
McManis Family Vineyards' President, Ron McManis, says, "The benefit of having three winemakers on staff is that there is always someone here to look after the wines. If they have concerns about a batch of wine, our staff has someone they can discuss the problems with and help them both understand and reach a solution."
I feel after you open a bottle of their wines... you will agree!
Cheers
J