Fuerza Malbec 2003

Vineyard: Fuerza
Location: Mendoza, Argentina
Type: Malbce
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol Content: 15.0%

Purchased: 2/25/09 - Trader Joe's, San Gabriel, CA
Cost: $4.99
Rating: 5.0/10

Wines not bad but not as good last night. 15% is pretty strong, and you can smell it (not necessarily a good thing). Of course all of the same comments about Argentina and the label from last post apply to this wine as well.

Other thing is that this is a 2003 and the previous wine was a 2006. Makes you wonder why they are both the same price?

Fuerza Tempranillo 2006

Vineyard: Fuerza
Location: Mendoza, Argentina
Type: Tempranillo
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol Content: 14.7%

Purchased: 2/22/09 - Trader Joe's, San Jose, CA
Cost: $4.99
Rating: 5.25/10

I recently introduced my mom to this blog. I was a little worried, which is why I waited so long before sharing with her, but she totally loves it! Productive drinking!

So, mom has me over for dinner on Sunday, and I feel that I should act grown up and bring a bottle of wine to dinner - you know, let her contribute to the blog. She, however, has the same idea, so goes out and gets a $5 bottle from Trader Joe's herself. Did you guess right? Yes, you did! The same bottle! Well, almost - she got the Tempranillo (Malbec post coming soon). How funny is that?

To make everything better, the wine is pretty good. As I comment in the notes, the label is pretty cool. Plus, who doesn't like thinking about Mendoza and eating lots of red meat when drinking wine. I'll also be able to comment on the other Fuerza variety soon.

These trends (varietals, blends, multi-vintages) come in spurts, randomly. They aren't planned at all. Seriously!

Wild Hare Zinfandel

Vineyard: Wild Hare
Location: Paso Robles
Type: Zinfandel
Vintage: n/a
Alcohol Content: 14.4%

Purchased: 2/19/09 -Mollie Stone's, Palo Alto, CA
Cost: $4.99 (gift!)
Rating: 5.0/10

Two comments about this wine:

1 - It was a gift which makes it taste all the better. Please, everyone, feel free to donate wines to the idontdrinkwine stock. I will be certainly be gracious. I'm also very open to suggestions on what wine's to drink, where to get them, and I'll even put your notes up on the blog if you stay within the criteria: idontdrinkwine@gmail.com or @idontdrinkwine on twitter.

2 - This is the second installment in the Wild Hare vineyard line. I like the idea of going back and drinking other varieties from labels I've already had. What are your thoughts? Is a label going to be overall better than another, or are they going to focus all their energy in one to the detriment of the others. Both of these Wild Hares were decent enough, tonight's slightly winning out to the Petite Sirah.

Zarafa Pinotage 2008

Vineyard: Zarafa
Location: Paarl, South Africa
Type: Pinotage
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol Content: 14%

Purchased: 2/12/09 - Trader Joe's, Mountain View, CA
Cost: $3.99
Rating: 4.75/10

I was overjoyed when I found this bottle at Trader Joe's on the way home today. $4 is pretty cheap for a bottle of wine coming all the way from South Africa. My one time visiting the country I was able to make it up to Stellenbosch (Paarl is just north of there), which is where I went wine tasting for the first time in my life. Something about drinking wine next to a cheetah that I could pet really made my day.

This wine, while not bad, was a little weird. I have to say it smelled pretty bad in the first place - hint of rubbing alcohol. It just tastes different than other wines. (And unfortunately, the trip to SA was too long ago to be able to claim whether it was similar to other SA wines or not). You can't really go wrong with wine from SA with a giraffe on the bottle, though. I recommend picking up a bottle, despite not being on the top of the taste list.

Trellis Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Vineyard: Trellis
Location: Sonoma, CA
Type: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol Content: 12.5%

Purchased: 1/16/09 - BevMo, San Francisco, CA
Cost: $3.99
Rating: 5.0/10

I'm still trying to figure out the subtitles between vintages - while I can't quite make them out, I don't think that tart aftertaste is supposed to be on the list. It's too bad, really, cause the wine tastes pretty good until you swallow it. This contrast makes the experience rather interesting, but the strong (and rather bad) aftertaste is going to leave you not wanting more.

That being said, I did realize something about myself today drinking this wine that most of you have probably already figured out about me: I kinda like drinking bad wine. I know its bad - and I think I rate it appropriately - but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it. I like pickle juice, too. Weird.

epicuro Aglianico 2006

Vineyard: epicuro
Location: Beneventano, Italy
Type: Aglianico
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol Content: 13.5%

Purchased: 1/16/09 - Trader Joe's, Mountain View, CA
Cost: $4.99
Rating: 7.0/10

This is actually a really good wine. It is very full, which I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume is a very Italian quality. Smells good, tastes great, and aftertaste doesn't ruin in.

The problem about these good wines is it doesn't leave me much room to rant. The blog is more useful the more good wines I find but is more humorous the more bad ones I have to endure. Maybe this is a good place to make fun of all of the people who have spent more than $5 on a wine recently and went home with something equal to or worse than this wine. HA!

Maybe I'll make a pay site for my blog. No one will trust my reviews if I'm giving them out for free, right?

Old Moon Zinfandel 2006

Vineyard: Old Moon
Location: Manteca, CA
Type: Zinfandel [Old Vine]
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol Content: 14.0%

Purchased: 1/28/09 - BevMo, Mountain View, CA
Cost: $4.99
Rating: 6.25/10

This wine is pretty good, I must say. I'm enjoying a good run!

It's a rather mellow wine, with a rather mellow label. The 14% is a surprise - and it adds a slightly unpleasant smell of nail polish remover to the glass. Just slightly, though - not enough to put you completely off. The taste is nice and fruity with an aftertaste that has a bit of a kick but is OK.