Smoking Loon 2006 & 2007 Pinot Noir – California

Nose of blackberry and black cherry. The nose on the 06 is more distinctive; the 07 is a little alcoholy and vague, with more of a generic red wine aroma. Tastes from the 06 were of dried cherries and plum; with the 07, a bit more smoke and minerals. Some nice pinot earthiness with both. More toward the French style rather than a new-world fruit bomb. And we really don’t like “stupid-story-gimmick-labels,” and Smoking Loon has one of the worst. Tell us something about the wine, or its growing conditions, or something substantial if you have to say something on the back. Either vintage alone would probably have garnered a Yes rating, but the differences between the two make us downgrade it a notch, to Yes/Maybe. $9-10 on sale, regularly $12-14.

Ridge Lytton Estate Zinfandel 1992 – California

Oh. My. God. Being on Ridge’s ATP mailing list, we were notified of this library release. We snatched up our two-bottle allocation, and opened the first one for Francesca’s birthday. This is far from tasting even the least bit old. Our real dilemma will be deciding when to open the other bottle.

Rather surprisingly, the nose is of dried oranges and some floral notes. But the tastes are still big, strong Zinfandel fruit for a 17-year-old wine. Cherries Jubilee, prune, berries, even a hint of mint. Very smooth and integrated, but still with distinct acid and tannins. If we could have known, and if we could have bought a case.... Yes, Yes. $50. If you stumble upon a well-stored bottle for under $100, snatch it up.

Beringer White Merlot 2007 – California

Continuing our Summer Lightweights Series....

We didn’t really know what to think about this. We actually like Beringer’s White Zinfandel, and had suggested that wine to Francesca’s mother. But being 80-something, she couldn’t remember exactly what wine we told her about, so she bought this instead. In the spirit of research we, too, had to try it.

Bright color, nose of red fruits. Tastes of rhubarb, raspberries, and strawberries. A little drier than the White Zin. We don’t think this will be on our go-to list, but it ain’t bad, either. Your parents or grandparents may love it. Maybe. $6 on sale, regularly about $7.50.

New! New! Not.

We’ve been going through a phase. We’re actually a little tired of trying new this, new that, in search of another good affordable everyday wine. We’ve just been buying our known favorites – two of this, three of that, maybe even a case of something just to have Old Reliable on hand.

Thus, we don’t have a lot of new reviews we’re excited about (although we do have a backlog of tasting notes still to post). So we thought we’d list – for you and as a reminder for ourselves – some of our current all-time-favorite fallback affordable wines. These are the wines we’re buying in multiple quantities and keeping on hand for everyday drinking.

• Castle Rock Pinot Noir – California
• Barnard Griffin Syrah – Washington
• Red Diamond Syrah – Washington
• Concannon Petite Sirah – California
• Barnard Griffin Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot – Washington
• Tapeña Garnacha (Grenache) – Spain
• Tapeña Tempranillo – Spain
• Beringer White Zinfandel – California
• Brancott Sauvignon Blanc – New Zealand
• Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc – New Zealand
• Barnard Griffin Sauvignon Blanc – Washington
• Covey Run Fume (Sauvignon) Blanc – Washington
• B&G Vouvray (Chenin Blanc) – France
• Kiona Chenin Blanc – Washington
• Columbia Crest Pinot Grigio – Washington
• Ryan Patrick Naked Chardonnay – Washington
• Barnard Griffin Chardonnay – Washington
• Bogel Petite Sirah – California
• Bogel Old Vine Zinfandel – California

All of the wines on the above list should be readily available for under $15, many even for $10 or less. And they all should be widely available.

You might notice, sadly, that there aren’t any affordable Zinfandels on that list. We absolutely adore Zin, yet have been disappointed with several (many) sub-$15 wines we previously enjoyed. The closest we have come are Dancing Bull and Ravenswood (for when we don’t want to break out a Ridge or Turley; both of which are generally in the $30+ range), but we just don’t think they quite make this list. It’s also unfortunate that there are so few nice Pinot Noirs in our “affordable” price range. We could drink Pinot Noir every day – if we could find a few in our everyday-budget range. UPDATE: We've added Bogel's Old Vine Zin to our list – the best "cheap" Zin we're recently discovered.

Finally, note that there are four Sauvignon Blancs on the list – probably because it’s summer and we love those wines this time of year. The two New Zealand wines are bright, crisp, and grassy – typical NZ styles. The two Washington wines are more mellow but still fresh and lively – excellent summer dinner wines.

Turley Zinfandel Atlas Peak Mead Ranch 2007 – California

This was a fun experiment. We’d had Turley Zins before, but they’d always been older vintages that were in bottle for at least a few years. We recently got on Turley’s mailing list, and this new release was one of the bottles from our shipment. We’d been trying to decide when to open the first bottle – now or wait. Obviously, with this bottle, “now” won.

This is a big, jammy wine. Like a raspberry pie. It has an enticing berry nose, and there’s nothing shy about the tastes – sharp acids and new tannins, but balanced by all that fruit. We do think we’ll give the rest of our 2007 Turleys a year or two (at least) in bottle.


As we are sort of new to Turley, we decided to have an expensive evening so opened a 2005 Ridge Geyserville Zinfandel “just for comparison.” (We’ve previously said that this Ridge was one of our all-time favorite, “desert island” wines.) The two wines were surprisingly similar, but the Ridge had a more subtle nose and more integrated tastes. That could be because of two more years in the bottle, the vintage itself, or the winemaker’s style. Both wines were wonderful. Overall we said the Ridge was more “elegant” and the Turley was more “powerful,” despite so many similarities. We’ll let you know in a couple of years how these Turleys are shaping up. Yes. $35

Sutter Home Chenin Blanc 2007 and Sutter Home Moscato 2007 – California

From the makers of one of the iconic California White Zinfandels, comes this Chenin Blanc. Definitely California, not a dry French style. Nose is sweetly floral and honey. Tastes are of smooth apricot, honey, and just enough acid to keep the sweetness from being sticky. Not an everyday food wine, but at the price a nice patio sipper. Yes. $5


The Sutter Home Moscato is so similar to the Chenin Blanc that it could have come from the same vat... except that this doesn’t have the acid to balance the sweetness. (Beringer also makes a cheap Moscato, which we far preferred. And as we’ve noted before, we really like less-known varietals.) Maybe. $5

Castle Rock Pinot Noir 2007 – California

We’ve experienced back-and-forth availability for this, yet it’s always been one of our favorite inexpensive Pinots. Recently found it again on one of our travels. Despite our challenges finding it in rural Washington, it seems to have pretty wide availability.

Nose is of cherry, cherry, cherry. Taste is of cherry, cherry, cherry – a mixed bowl of cherries. (“Just a bowl of cherries.” Sorry.) Maybe a tiny touch of earth, and some notes of rose hips and thimbleberries. (Does anyone else know what a thimbleberry tastes like? It’s sort of a soft, mild raspberry.) House. Usually about $10 on sale, $12 retail.

Ridge Zinfandel Paso Robles 2006 – California

Wow, did this catch Ken by surprise. Francesca handed him a glass blind, and as much as we know and love Ridge wines, Ken thought this was a big French Burgundy (Pinot Noir). Oops. But it does show some of those characteristics. Nose of dark cherries, earth, loam, peat moss. Deep tastes of black cherries, earth, and a bit of spice. To us, quite different from the usual big Ridge fruit bombs. More reserved and subtle, with smoother, dry, but not harsh tannins. Beautiful garnet cherry color. Yes. About $30.

French Hill Confusion 2005 – California

This is a “meritage” red blend. Both of us liked this wine, but we described it totally differently. I guess Confusion is an apt name.
Francesca said the nose was of prunes and boysenberry. Ken thought it had violets, bing cherries, and weirdly maybe some roasted red chilies.
As for taste, Francesca noted spice, licorice, almonds, and anise. Ken found smoke, earth, and lots of California fruit. It’s almost like a big Zin in fruitiness, but balanced and mellow. There’s definitely some spice involved. Like a French red blend but with California fruitiness. The blend is Malbec, Tempranillo, and Petite Sirah. A House/Yes wine, and we’re generally not huge fans of “generic” red blends. Very well done.

Robert Mondavi Private Selection Syrah 2006 – California

At one time, the Mondavi winery produced the premier wines of Napa Valley. You might not have liked a particular wine, but they were always well made and well regarded. Now, Mondavi is owned by Constellation, and sources grapes from places far removed from Napa Valley. This wine tastes like nothing so much as ... Red Wine; industrial stuff out of a common vat. Nose: red wine. Taste: red wine, like an inexpensive Bordeaux blend with a few oak chips thrown in for a bit of depth and tannin. There is no hint of Syrah that we can find, except for the fact that it isn’t light and watery. There’s no reason this should be a “No” wine, for it’s not really bad. It’s just so absolutely sad and ... boring. Maybe/No. $8 on sale, regularly $12.

Matanzas Creek Chardonnay 2006 – California

It’s two-for-two on the whites we brought back from Matanzas Creek Winery, outside Glen Ellen, in Sonoma County, California. This has a nose of tropical fruit, papaya, pineapple, and – oddly but nicely – an earthiness. It’s a moderately creamy style, but without excessive heaviness too often found in California Chards. Some honey notes, and the Chardonnay character shows well though some mild oak. Yes. About $15.

Rancho Zabaco Dancing Bull Zinfandel 2006 – California

Dancing Bull has received many recommendations as a good, inexpensive California Zin. We used to drink it frequently, but for some reason stopped the past few years. We just tried it again, and were pleased. Nose of grapes and plums. On the palate it’s a very fruity style; not a lot of tannins, acid, or oak. Beautiful color. Notes of cherries, violets, and spice. Yes. $8.50 on sale, usually about $10.

Mirassou Pinot Noir 2006 & 2007 – California

We’ve been searching for a cheap, fruity Pinot Noir as a replacement for the “original” Beringer Founders Estate we loved so much when it was made from California grapes. The 2006 Mirassou, from a sixth-generation California wine family, came pretty darn close. The nose was smoky, with some plum and cherry notes, maybe pomegranate. The tastes included those smoke, plum, and cherry flavors, along with some other great fruit, including some nice grape flavors. (Yes, we know, “grape,” weirdly, isn’t supposed to be a positive flavor in contemporary wines, but we rather like the tastes of fresh, ripe grapes.) The plum tastes were sweet (not in a sugary sense), and there was also some mild dark cherry and a hint of spiciness. This was very smooth and nice, and was on our short list for a new standby for our “cheap-and-fruity” California Pinot. We rated it House/Yes. $10 on sale, usually around $12.

The first bottle of the 2007 we tried echoed the above themes. We were pleased. But then, after two more bottles of the 07, we’re not so sure. The wine is now earthier and has lost much of the fruitiness we enjoyed so much. Is this a case of inconsistency? Between vintage years? Or even between bottles? Hard to judge. The latest wines aren’t bad (in the sense of being corked or such), just not the same. We’ll try a few more bottles, as we have liked this wine, and report our findings. (The 2007 is what’s on the shelves now.) As of now, we’re changing this rating to Yes/Maybe, until further tasting.

Another weird note: Looking back at some of our much older notes, we’d previously had this on our No list. Our notes don’t have details that far back, or mention why we rated it a No. But it probably shows what a difference vintage year or grape source can make. Or maybe our tastes changed, or we had a bad bottle previously.

More wine drinking (what a shame) is in order to see if we can determine a pattern, and if we’ll continue to keep trying this over the long term. Consistency is something we look for in “everyday” wines, so it’s not really looking good for this Mirassou, although we’ll keep an open mind.

Beringer Third Century Pinot Noir 2006 – California

After loving Beringer’s Founders Estate Pinot when it was made with California grapes, and not loving it when it was made with French or Italian grapes, we decided to try this “Central Coast” (California) Pinot. It opens with a blackberry nose that’s very nice. Taste-wise, it’s much more of a French style (which we like) and far better than the Founders French mentioned above. Still, we’re looking for that great New World fruit style to replace our “original” favorite Founders Pinot. Alas, this isn’t it. Tastes of smoke, earth, with a short, acid, almost lemony finish. Not much fruit on the palate. Yes/Maybe. $12 on sale, usually 16.

French Hill Almond Sparkling Wine Non-Vintage – California

There’s a local joke in the California central valley. The locals pronounce “Almond” as “A-mond.” So.... You have to know how almonds are harvested. There are big machines that grab the trunks of the trees, and shake them until the nuts fall to the ground. The joke is that they say “Amond” because... “they shake the L out of them.” Guess you had to be there. Anyway.... The nose of this sparkler is of... Almonds. Tastes of almond, cherry. It’s quite smooth, and quite sweet. We like French Hill’s reds a lot, but this takes some getting used to. Yes for Francesca, Maybe for Ken. $18

Sea Ridge White Zinfandel 2006 – California

We never know what to expect from a $5 wine (which is probably why we seldom buy them). We just bought this blind, because we actually like white Zins (if they’re not syrupy sweet); and because we just sometimes try something for no particular reason. Poured into the glass, this has a peach/pink color – sort of like the old, original “flesh”-colored Crayons. The nose is quite light, with hints of peach, apricot, and strawberry. The tastes are quite nice with peach, papaya, and a touch of strawberry. This is pleasant, light, with a slight acidity that keeps it from being KoolAid. Yes/Maybe (at the price). Still, we doubt we’ll go out of our way to buy this again. $5 retail ($4.50 on sale).


BACKGROUND NOTE: From everything we can find, Sea Ridge was an independent winery on the California coast in the 1980s and early ’90s. It seems it’s now a label of Bronco, and sold in Safeway stores. Bronco also makes the (in)famous “Two Buck Chuck” (aka Two Buck Junk).

A 2004 Wine Business magazine article says: “[Fred Franzia, owner of Bronco and creator of Two-Buck] also seems mystified that more groceries don’t emulate Trader Joe’s. ‘How can any major grocery chain not have a wine that competes with Two Buck Chuck?,’ he asked. He said that Bronco’s Sea Ridge brand, which is sold in Safeway for $4.50, sells for about the same at wholesale as [Two Buck Chuck], so Safeway could sell the wine for $2 and still make a profit.”

The implication being that Two Buck Junk sells for about $1 wholesale. As does, apparently, this Sea Ridge White Zin. Draw your own conclusions.

Matanzas Creek Sauvignon Blanc 2006 – California

Matanzas Creek is one small valley west of the Sonoma Valley, in a beautiful setting of lilac fields and rolling hillsides. The tasting room is friendly and open, and the grounds are gorgeous.
This wine opens with a nicely floral nose. It has bright, zingy tastes, like a not-too-tart grapefruit. This tends a bit more toward the New Zealand style (grassiness) than most California Sauvignon Blancs, but finds a nice balance before getting too far toward that grassy style. More nice floral notes in the taste, and it finishes dry with a good acid balance. This would be great with rich seafood. Yes/House. $24

(Wine News rated this 90; Wine Enthusiast 91.)

Concannon Chardonnay 2006 – California

First we gushed about the Concannon Petite Sirah. Then it was their Pinot Noir. Now, we’re impressed with this first white of theirs we’ve tried. Nose of lemons and pansies. Tastes of chantrelles, jasmine, and lemon curd. Crisp, with little or no obvious oak. Great balance, with a little honey (taste, not sweetness) on the aftertaste. House/Yes. $8 on sale, usually $9.50

Mirassou Sauvignon Blanc 2006 – California

Very light lemon and orange on the nose. The tastes are lemon, tangerine, and a hint of grapefruit. Very nice and subtle – not too much acidity, yet a good food wine. This isn’t an in-your-face New Zealand Sauvignon, but a nice example of an inexpensive California style. Yes. $10 on sale, usually $12.

Cambria Chardonnay Unwooded 2006 – California

This opens with a great floral, herbal, and almost perfumy nose. Tastes are of green apples and a little grassiness. It’s bright and crisp, with nice acidity. This shows what chardonnay can be like when the sometimes massive overdoses of oak are left out. Yes. (We don’t remember the price, but most of Cambria’s mailing-list wines are in the $20-25 range.)