DEXTER LAKE, BLEND - $15.99

Dexter Lake, 2009 Blend - Matthew Rorick Wines, Mendocino, CA.


It's pretty hard to miss the handlebar mustache that looks as if it was a doodle on the label drawn with a Sharpie. In fact, the first few times I saw it on the shelves, while I noticed it, I simply didn't pay it much mind; but a funny thing happened after my first tasting - obsession.


Dark, inky and opaque with a ruby hue, I took a moment to inspect the wine against a white sheet of paper in an effort to see the full spectrum of pink reflection to looming purple. Habitually swirling the glass and paying faint attention to the escaping fragrances, I found my attention pulled from color to nose, as if being beckoned by the unseen under nose curl of a cartoon finger.


On the nose: The first thing you pick up is the unmistakeable purple smell - violets floating high over the motion of the still spinning wine after you've given the glass a twirl. Along with that purple scent, you also get a slight herbaceous note like a blanket of eucalyptus lazily thrown over a bed of bing cherries. But after you've allowed the juice to settle and the aromas time to lift away from the surface - caught in the inward sloping of the glass - what you pick up is definitely a dark, dried fruit scent. Dates come to mind. And then high up top you start to pick up bits of pepper and spice.


The first sip: Sweet, soft and eluding, there's almost a blueberry note that's both refreshing and delicate, but the fresh sweet of the fruit is quickly pushed out of the way by the tannins. They creep in from the back at first, then the front, then the sides as the fruit becomes an essence quickly dissipating into a notes of clove, tobacco and allspice hovering over the tannic action - like watching fireworks from the viewpoint of the sky.


The finish:  A hot spice lingers in the back of the palate, quickly dissolving into an afterthought of that dried date smell detected on the nose as it lifts, riding the updraft of your breath like a plume of smoke climbing from a small fire.  And then there's the echo making you wonder what you just tasted and searching pictures in your mind for the right flavor descriptor, as the finish holds; holds; holds, then fades away leaving you wanting for another round of the same.


Here's what I can tell you about the blend (and this is my working it out, not a professional opinion, so it may be boring to read): Right off the bat you can pick up the petit verdot ( about 40%) - that's the source of the wonderful purple mist of violet scent, and soft spice that creeps in from the back of the palate. Then there's that deep spice of petite sirah (also about 40%), with it's smoky ripe, dark berry flavors. Both grapes are known for the inky powers of their skins, which is most likely the source of the enchantingly deep purple, opaque color. Now, the third grape in the blend is a bit of a mystery to me.  I asked a wholesale wine rep and he told me once that it was tinto fino, and then again later that it was touriga nacional, so I decided to do a little bit of my own homework. After some research I've discovered that a wine shop in chicago seems to think it's alvarelhao (otherwise known as brancellao, an aromatic grape sometimes used to make vino verde).  Since the mysterious third grape in this blend seems to have a softer acid, doesn't effect the color, adds fruit and notes of distant leather or tobacco, I'm inclined to put my money down that we're tasting young, tempranillo. (Otherwise known as: tinto fino.)


Pairing:
Dexter Lake is going to be best friends with pork chops thrown on the grill, maybe with a traditional dollop of apple sauce on the side. If bar-b-q sauce is in the mix, bring it. The weight of the meat, the sauces, the char, they're all going to blend perfectly. Don't shy away from grilled chicken either; or a steak - there are plenty of tannins to stand up to a nice cut of beef. On the lighter side, consider roasted beets with goat cheese, drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of fresh tarragon; or arugula with crumbles of gorgonzola and lemon zest. If you're considering a picnic, and looking for the right cheese, grab a baguette and pick up a triple cream brie, or a light blue cheese with a small jar of fig spread. Also consider cana de cabra (spanish goat cheese) or bucheron (french goat cheese). And for something to cut the creaminess, grab some tapenade - the salty texture will blend wonderfully with the pepper, spice and fruit of this amazing wine.

BARBAZUL, BLEND - $15.99

Barbazul, 2009 Blend - Huerta de Albala -Tierra De Cadiz, Spain.


If you can't judge a book by its cover, then it should stand to reason that one certainly can't judge a wine by it's label, either. The problem is that labels, like book covers, all seem to be trying to out clever one another and you almost need a guide to point out which ones are great works, and which are simply great graphics.


I've passed this bottle of Barbazul several times, never really giving it much thought. There are so many bottles sometimes that I admit, all too often, I end up picking by the label. There's no harm in it, I suppose. It's what's inside that counts, but more times than not you don't know exactly what's inside until you pony up some cash; thus the label is all you have to work with. The label, or a wine clerk - who might or might not have actually tasted the wine, and might or might not have any idea what he or she is talking about.


When I tried my sip of Barbazul at a chance tasting, I was instantly zoning in on the simple label, depicting what looks like a cave drawing of a horse in red lines against a white background, and I could feel my lips moving as I said silently to myself what is that? I snatched the last bottle off of the shelf and brought it straight home for closer inspection.


Deep and rich in color, this wine is a shade of mysterious purple that I believe is usually reserved for wizards. Opaque and solid looking, it's like the skin of a black plumb has been turned to jello that has yet to set.


On the nose: At first I was getting an odd mineral scent. Sure there's berry and something rich going on, but there was a definite mineral-like sulfuric scent too, mixed with a waft of something vegetative that I couldn't quite place. I had a feeling that it was going to fall away soon enough, and right I was. Let this wine sit for a few moments to relax and get adjusted to you and your glass. After getting to know one another give the wine a good swirl and sit back as it starts to release a bouquet that begins with a soft hint of boysenberry. The berry is quickly enveloped in a note that isn't unlike the scent of a Fig Newton, but then as the dried fruit is pushed down, the vaporous presence of eucalyptus rises to the top of your senses.


The first sip: A zing of wild strawberry with a ginger snap spice rolls across your palate, along with a touch of dried figs and cherries, yet it remains soft and supple like a mouth full of smoky preserves. Velvety and light in your cheeks, it rolls around warming from the heat of your mouth into a full vapor, like steam rising from a still pond on a cool morning as your mouth fills with a simple and delicate dew of flavors. Just when you think you've got it all figured out though, something new happens. It starts on the back of your palate - a gentle sizzling comes to life - fizzing and releasing a delightful cola taste as the tannins activate.


The finish: Hot and spicy - light and weightless - distant, but not long forgotten. The wine falls away leaving behind an easy, softly acidic, tannic dryness that lingers on and on, like the presence of somebody who has recently left a room long before you wanted them to go.


Each of the grapes used in Barbazul are readily present and waiting their turn to shine, a blend of 50% Tintilla de Rota, 35% Syrah, 10% Merlot & 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Tintilla de Rota - a grape that goes by several different names depending on where it's being grown - is primarily used to make fortified wines, and that's the source of the dried fruit taste. The rich preserved berry notes are obviously coming from the Syrah, just as the soft and velvety mouth feel is coming from the Merlot and the fizzy tannins from the Cabernet. All these grapes working in total harmony, masterfully blended and aged for five months in French oak - hence the fluttering of smoke.


Pairing:
Ribs are the first thing that come to mind. Bar-B-Q ribs and cool creamy, tangy coleslaw. For vegans, Bar-B-Q seitan will be nice too. It's the texture, and gamy yeastiness rolling around in that saucy spice that will be the key to the flavor match. Also, consider a flat pizza with olive oil, gorgonzola and fresh basil; pork chops on the grill with a dollop of apple sauce; teriyaki chicken; mu-shu pork with plumb sauce, or - and I know this is out there - baked noodle kugel with raisins. With dessert, as odd as it might sound - jelly doughnuts. Also, try chocolate cake with fresh raspberries and spoon of chocolate mousse; butter cookies; strawberry short cake - preferably with fresh berries and real whipped cream.    

BARISTA, PINOTAGE - $16.99

BARISTA, 2009 Pintoage - Val de Vie - West Cape, South Africa.

For all of you coffee lovers out there, this is a must try.  Notes of ripe berry, dark chocolate and, that's right, coffee. And not a little bit either. This isn't one of those distant flavors that make you think oh yeah, I get that, after someone points it out. You'll find it all by yourself.

Now, $16.99 is a little more than I like to spend on a bottle. I don't make a good living, but I enjoy wine immensely, thus I must budget. Time and time again I've been forced to offer my pickled soul to the mercy of Three-Buck-Chuck, but every once and a while even we poverty stricken peasants must allow ourselves to eat cake - and when we do, we might as well make it coffee cake.

Color: This is a rich dark one. A deep purple monster that coats the inside of your glass with a sheet of ink, as if filled with melted blackberries.

On the nose: at first you get mostly berry - current maybe - with faint mineral and hints of that coffee, but that's when you first crack this sucker open. Give it a while. As the wine opens, breathes and relaxes, the fruit notes start to fall away into a supporting roll, and the true hero shows up.

The first sip: The current shines through, in my opinion. Along with soft, ripe berries and some dark cherry is there too. As the tannins start to do their thing you begin to taste a bitter sweet chocolate dryness, but hold the wine there for a moment or two and pull some air over it. By pulling the air over the wine while it's in your mouth you're going to get a preview of the full expression this grape has to offer.  When you're done aerating you'll taste that coffee in the murky, moist breath hovering over the pool of wine in your mouth, and lingering in your sinus.

The finish: A soft and silky mouth feel ends in a creamy coating as this wine goes down, releasing bits of chocolate and coffee onto your breath, along with the memory of the jam you might have been expecting, but never fully met.

Keep in mind that these tasting notes are all from when you first open this bottle. Take your time with this one, don't rush a wonderful thing and savor this wine. Talk about it. Forget about it. Drink it and enjoy, but give it that time it needs to get use to you.

Mid bottle: Like any shy thing, it needs to let its guard down. When it does, what you'll have is a nose that is every bit a shot of espresso with steamed milk and a spoon full of raw sugar; and you'll taste an espresso bean coated in dark chocolate then drizzled with blackberry syrup.

Pinotage is a South African grape that naturally has mild acid, coffee, chocolate and fruit notes. Not quite like this bottle, but their there if you really try to find them. The pronounced coffee in BARISTA (which is 100% pinotage) comes from a special yeast used in the fermentation process that enhances the coffee notes, so don't expect all pinotages to taste quite like this. This is a truly unique and wonderful wine.

PAIRING:

This wine is going to go great with something as simple as a burger. However, if you're looking for some ideas slightly more specific, try either a pork tenderloin or filet mignon wrapped with bacon, sauteed mushrooms and / or fried leeks. Or, try orange duck, or even better: Peking Duck.  Soft cheeses will be nice as well. And for dessert: lemon sorbet sprinkled with zest. Dark chocolate; fresh mango; even a simple scoop of vanilla ice cream will go nicely. For me, personally, I'm reaching for Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby.