A great $5 Fumé Blanc

While shopping in Trader Joe’s not long ago, one of your Two Wine Nuts was on the look out for Rock Rabbit Sauvignon Blanc. We have yet to find it locally but we are not giving up! In the meantime, while discussing our search woes with a TJ staff member, it was suggested that we try a 2006 Trader Joe’s Coastal Fumé Blanc instead. Always up for a wine adventure, we paid the $4.99 and waited for an opportunity to give it a whirl.

So why was a Fumé Blanc suggested when what we were looking for was a Sauvignon Blanc? Well, believe it or not, they are the same thing. Sauvignon Blanc is the real name for the grape that originally came from the Bordeaux region of France. Fumé Blanc is a name for the same thing, made up by none other than Robert Mondavi.

Apparently back in the late 1960’s, Mondavi came up with a rather tasty Sauvignon Blanc. But at the time, Sauvignon Blancs had a pretty bad reputation. Being the marketing genius he is, Mondavi decided to name his new wine something completely unknown. He came up with the new name Fumé Blanc, referring to a French wine appellation called Pouilly-Fumé. New name, no baggage. Now Mondavi’s a bazillionaire and lots of white wine drinkers have been confused in his wake.

And how was the $5 bottle of Trader Joe’s Fumé Blanc? Really, not bad at all. We decided it was a good porch wine: nice to sip casually with friends, just hanging out on the patio, not trying to match food or make a statement. The Coastal Fumé Blanc had a sweet smell of apricots and grapes but the taste was more acidic. It was a dry wine with a sharp tropical flavor that was somewhat pineappley. The finish was somewhat metallic. So overall, while this was not a fantastic wine, we consider it a great buy at just $5. We plan to keep a few bottles on hand to enjoy during the summer.

The Original Pizza Wine

Years ago, before Two Buck Chuck, your Two Wine Nuts discovered their first-ever pizza wine. We define Pizza Wine as a wine (usually red) that is inexpensive, easy to drink, inoffensive, and appropriate to serve with pizza, hot dogs on the grill, or any other casual meal. The wine that inspired the category was Fat Cat Cabernet Sauvignon by Black Mountain Vineyards, sold exclusively at Trader Joe’s.

A few nights ago we had pizza so we went to our go-to pizza wine. It was a 2005 Fat Cat and we were satisfied by our choice. It certainly wasn’t an amazing, oh-my-gosh wine but it served its purpose well. It was exceptionally sippable and it livened up with our pizza, especially the tomato sauce.

This Cabernet Sauvignon had everything a Cab should have: some bright red fruitiness, some oak, some tannin, some alcohol, some lingering finish. It just did not have any of these things in big enough quantities to make it a great wine. The Fat Cat is not a complex, complicated wine, but it is inoffensive and sippable and only $6 at Trader Joe’s. We recommend it as an everyday Cabernet. Online rumors suggest the Black Mountain Zinfandel is also pretty tasty, so stay tuned!

A Nice Second-Label Chardonnay

Hunting for a fruity, non-oaky Chardonnay, we recently picked up a bottle of a 2005 Hawk Crest Chardonnay. We know Hawk Crest because we know Stag’s Leap, so we hoped it was a safe bet. And it was.

So how are Stag’s Leap and Hawk Crest related? Hawk Crest is the more entry-level label from Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Napa Valley. Stag’s Leap is known for rather elevated wines at correspondingly elevated prices. If you want a $50 Cabernet Sauvignon, consider Stag’s Leap. Understanding, however, that not everyone considers a $50 bottle of wine a reasonable expense, Stag’s Leap developed this secondary line of wines intended to be approachable, affordable, and drinkable when you buy them.

Stag’s Leap isn’t the only winery doing this. There are lots of wineries out there who have what is called a “second label.” Mondavi has one called Woodbridge. Geyser Peak’s is called Canyon Road. Well-known in the Pacific Northwest, Chateau St. Michelle has a second label called Columbia Crest. Liberty School – which now is a stand-alone wine – first started out as a secondary wine to Caymus. Even the extraordinarily fancy-pants winery Opus One is in the seconds game with Overture. For some, having a second label is a way to expand their market. For others, it’s a way to profitably sell wine that is OK but not up to the standards of their higher-end brand.

So back to the 2005 Hawk Crest Chardonnay. Your Two Wine Nuts are not big fans of Chardonnay done in the traditional California style. Meaning, we don’t like a ton of butter and vanilla and the taste of basically licking the inside of an oak barrel. But, Chardonnay can be crafted in a less woody way, allowing the fruit and crispness to show through. The 2005 Hawk Crest achieved this nicely.

We first noted that the color was not nearly as yellow as many Chardonnays. Instead, the Hawk Crest was lighter and more straw-colored. It had a nicely light smell, not huge and in-your-face (or, perhaps, in-your-nose). We caught whiffs of sweet vanilla (like ice cream), honeysuckle, and honey butter. Taste-wise, we were pleased to discover a nice crispness and sharpness to the Chardonnay. It still had a smoothness and creaminess to it, but it didn’t roll around in our mouths with a heaviness typical of many Chardonnays.

Overall, we would say the 2005 Hawk Crest Chardonnay is a good go-to Chardonnay if you don’t like the heavy, buttery oakiness found in many other versions. Although we found our bottle at BevMo, we’ve seen Hawk Crest in places like World Market and wine shops. And at just $9.99 per bottle, it’s hard to beat. Compared to the Oyster Bay Chardonnay we reviewed on February 3, we would say we like the Hawk Crest a bit better due its more pronounced fruitiness and better price.

At $10, this Cabernet is over-priced

In two previous posts, we have reviewed some new offerings from Cost Plus World Market. Presumably in an attempt to introduce people to some traditional California wines at great prices, World Market has recently introduced Chard-on-yeah! (see November 8, 2007 post), Zin-fat-u-ation (see December 17, 2007 post), and Cab-u-lous. Having now sampled all three we can definitively say we are unimpressed at best, disappointed at worst.

Cab-u-lous is billed as “…the way one feels when experiencing a perfect Cab.” Cute enough. And we would agree that a perfect Cabernet Sauvignon is indeed a fabulous experience. Sadly, this wine won’t get you even close.

The 2005 Cab-u-lous had a heavy plum nose that mostly overcame the big whiffs of alcohol. A perfect Cab will smell of blackberries and jam and likely some woodiness. It will smell deep and rich. This one, well, we would sum it up as a mediocre house wine with a thin, burnt oak flavor. Honestly, it tasted like a cheap Cabernet which made us conclude it is over-priced at the usually consumer-friendly price of $9.99. At $5 or $6 we would have felt our money had been better spent.

Perhaps our biggest disappointment with these three varietals offered by World Market is that folks new to wine will sample them with the assumption that they are representative of Chardonnay, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon. In our opinion, the Chardonnay comes closest to tasting like its namesake but the other two sadly miss the mark.

We hoped for more from this Rhône blend

Several months ago, some friends served us a tasty, interesting French wine. Your Two Wine Nuts were very enthusiastic about it and quickly jotted down the label information. We were thrilled to find the wine available at Cost Plus World Market, so we snatched up a couple bottles at the very happy price of $7.99. Weirdest thing -- it hasn't been nearly as good the second or third times.

The 2004 Corbieres Les Deux Rives is a blend of four red Rhône varietals: Grenache (40%), Syrah (30%), Mourvedre (20%), and Carignan (10%). We remember it as being wonderfully earthy with lots of berry fruit. What we have tasted in both bottles we brought home has been lighter and less complex. Surprisingly, the nose is mostly alcohol and unripe blackberries. Sort of a bitter fruity smell. We feared our first bottle was corked (see February 17 post), so we waited until we had the second bottle before taking notes. Either both bottles were corked, or this is just how this wine smells.

As for the taste, we did get some of the expected earthiness as well as some smoke and cigar. But its lightness and somewhat short finish surprised us. Perhaps if we had not had the first bottle at the friends' house, we would be more excited about this wine. And perhaps the lively conversation, good food, and happy times spent with those friends added flavor to the wine that night (a very real possibility since wine is such a sensory experience).

So our recommendation is, if you are looking to try a Rhône blend without breaking the bank, give this one a shot for $7.99. It's not bad; it's just not what we remember it being.

A tasty Syrah at a good price

There are a few wines we like to stock up on when we hit a BevMo during road trips to California. Rock Rabbit Syrah is one of them. We recently opened a 2003 Rock Rabbit Syrah from the Central Coast of California and happily enjoyed it with some calzones.

Rock Rabbit produces just two varietals: a Syrah and a Sauvignon Blanc. Starting with their 2004 release, they started calling their Syrah a Shiraz. This is the same wine and the same grape. Syrah is the French name and Shiraz is the name used mostly in Australia. Sort of like Pinot Gris (the French name) and Pinot Grigio (the Italian name) - same grape, slightly different name just to confuse people.

The Rock Rabbit Syrah was deep rich purple in color and smelled a tiny bit like a Zinfandel. It smelled heavy, of ripe raspberries and dark plum. Interestingly, it smelled heavier and deeper than it tasted. It was medium-bodied (meaning it wasn't wimpy) and had some tannins, giving it a youngish feel. The most prominent flavor was blackberry jam. It was very sippable and held up against our tomatoey calzones.

At $11.99 at BevMo, we think this is a great wine to keep handy as well as a good one to serve for casual meals with friends. In addition to BevMo, also try local wine shops. We have not seen Rock Rabbit at Cost Plus World Market or grocery stores.

For more info about Rock Rabbit, check out their website.

UPDATE (1/31/08):
We just found the 2004 Rock Rabbit Shiraz at Trader Joe's for $9.99!

A bad introduction to Zins

As previously posted, Cost Plus World Market has a new wine gimmick of creatively named varietals at $9.99 each. We reviewed their Chard-on-yeah! on November 8. We recently opened up their Zin-fat-u-a-tion. So far, we’re most impressed by their marketing.

The 2005 Zin-fat-u-a-tion comes from Amador County in California. We have had some great Zins from this area nestled up against the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the northern part of the state. So we were optimistic that Cost Plus had done its homework and found something to adequately represent their label description of “…an intense and irrational passion for Zinfandel.” Unfortunately, we were sadly disappointed.

There wasn’t much to note about the color or smell of Zin-fat-u-a-tion other than we picked up hints of raspberry and alcohol as we swirled the wine before sipping. Similarly, our notes about the taste are all about how little there was to note: “No flavor.” “Very thin.” “Nothing there.” “Very easy to drink since it’s largely watery.” At best, this was a forgettable, bland, boring wine. At worst, we hate to think that folks new to Zinfandel are using this one as an introduction. There was nothing Zinfandel-y about this. No spice, no bell pepper, no rich berry fruit. None of the excitement and fun that should burst from a glass filled with Zinfandel.

We’re a little wary about trying Cost Plus's final entry: a Cabernet Sauvignon. Stay tuned.

A Mediocre Merlot

Years ago, the first wine your Two Wine Nuts bought in quantity was a 1990 Clos du Bois Merlot. That Merlot was the first wine we liked enough to stock up on, so we splurged and bought six bottles. Being rather new to wine, six bottles was quite a commitment. Unfortunately, we had very little knowledge about properly storing wine, so we made several vital mistakes:

▼ First, we stored the wine in a room that got a lot of sun. Wine likes darkness.

▼ Second, we stored the wine in a room whose temperature fluctuated. Wines like consistent coolness (we now have a wine fridge that we keep at 52 degrees).

▼ And third, we stored the wine in a rack that sat on the floor. We vacuumed the floor often enough, there was quite a lot of vibration under the wine. Wine likes to be still.

Sadly, we only enjoyed two of those bottles. By the time we found a third special occasion calling for our coveted Merlot, the wine was ruined. It was a sudden lesson in the importance of storing wine properly. If you don't have a cave or a wine cellar or a wine fridge, the best place to house your wine is often something like a dark, quiet closet. Refrigerators are too cold, and garages often fluctuate in temperature too much.

We were reminded of our first bulk purchase when we spotted a bottle of 2004 Clos du Bois Merlot while shopping at Beverages and More on a recent trip to California. On sale for just $8.99 (regularly priced at $9.99), we decided to see how this "historical" wine has held up. Sadly, it really hasn't. Or our tastes have changed measurably over the past 15 years, which is very likely.

We shared this Merlot over dinner with a couple new to wine. As your Two Wine Nuts were smelling mild hints of raisin and heavy fruit, the wife of the couple had one of the best wine descriptions ever. She said, "This smells like Communion." There you have it.

Although the Clos du Bois Merlot opened up its plummy flavor a bit as the meal progressed, it was mostly thin in the mouth and had quite a bit of tannins, reflected by the astringent puckery feeling. So, overall we were not all that impressed with this wine. We would not recommend it, even at the consumer-friendly price of being less than ten bucks. There are much better Merlots out there. Have some fun finding them and skip Clos du Bois's version.

A favorite sweet Riesling

One of the really fun things about Rieslings is that they can vary so much. Some will be sweet and fruity; others will be dry and acidic. In the mood for a sweeter version, the other night we opened a 2005 Firestone Vineyard Riesling and were happy that this easily sippable white has remained consistently sweet and light since we first discovered it in 2003.

Like most sweet Rieslings, the Firestone version smelled like apricots and peaches. Its flavor was similar. The label also claims it boasts a honeysuckle flavor. Having never eaten honeysuckle, we can’t say for sure but we’ll at least agree with the concept. Because of its sweetness, the Firestone Riesling is another good wine for folks who are just starting to experiment with wine. We have a couple of very occasional wine drinker relatives who love this wine whenever we serve it to them.

Firestone Vineyards is owned by the same family famous for tires. It is located in the Santa Ynez Valley near Santa Barbara, CA. Several years ago, we visited the winery. We tasted about ten different offerings and the Central Coast Riesling – one of their more entry-level, grocery store wines – was the only one we liked.

We haven’t yet spotted Firestone wines in the Pacific Northwest. We do occasionally see it on wine lists. It is easily found at Beverages & More and online. Road trips to California usually involve a stop at BevMo and this is one of the wines we stock up. The 2005 Firestone Riesling is currently on sale for $7.99, regularly priced at $9.99. Either way, we think it’s a great buy.