The Gourmez

Red Diamond Shiraz 2009 Washington State This Shiraz has the most interesting nose I’ve smelled in a while. It’s full of leather and juicy blackberry. The wine itself is much thinner than expected for a Shiraz, but it’s nicely matured. Blackberry swoops up then is replaced with whipped cream and spices. Pink peppercorn, a hint [...]

Tempra Tantrum 2009 Bodegas, Spain This wine with a moderately amusing name is a tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon blend. You’d think they’d go all tempranillo with the name, but trust me—they did well with the blend. They also sell a tempranillo and shiraz blend under the same name, just in case you get confused! The [...]

Lazy Bones Cabernet Franc 2009 Paso Robles, CA This wine has quite the backstory, from the crazy label (is that art deco?) of a naked woman hanging out on her bed to the explanation of why on the back of the bottle. Lazy Bones, you see, is for those lazy days when all you want [...]

Tres Generaciones Plata 100% Agave Mexico There are many, many inviting flavors in this tequila. You really ought to sip it on its own at least once. It could do well in a traditional margarita (only lime and triple sec), but I wouldn’t use it in any cocktail more complex than that. You don’t want [...]

Three Knights 2006 Russian River Valley Merlot Sonoma, CA Prunes and strawberries dominate the nose. There’s a crushed mint flavor that accentuates the wine’s primary notes of pepper and a bright berry somewhere between blue and boysen. Plenty of dry mouth left when the wine’s been swallowed.

My lovely friend, Laura, paid close attention to my status updates and decided to buy me a bottle of green chartreuse, a liqueur I’ve been intrigued about for years but never had the chance to purchase. She found it in NYC and voila! A long-time wish is fulfilled. Green chartreuse is a blend of 130 [...]

6th Sense Syrah 2005 Lodi, CA Lodi does wine? Who knew? Not this uncultured gourmet, apparently. Also, the back of the bottle has a somewhat gruesome poem about being buried in a barrel of wine. I think it’s meant to be metaphorical, but I don’t really want to imagine someone in the vat this came [...]

Black Opal Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 Southeastern Australia Nose: Plum and spice—most notably, paprika. The spice definitely comes to the forefront when tasting, but it’s much more peppery, though the paprika is still there. For fruit, there’s raspberry and prune, with some of the dense molasses-type of sugar that comes with that dried plum, but not [...]

HRM Rex Goliath Shiraz Woodbridge, CA This wine has a lot of pepper on the nose, with some rhubarb and caramel coming through also. On drinking, my mouth fills with that pepper, which is not something I ever mind. It is tart. Raspberry is the primary fruit, but there’s some rhubarb, too. It’s a thick, [...]

Les Caves Joseph Bordeaux Rouge 2007 France This Bordeaux smells peppery and tingles my nose. It is dry and tart, with a berry flavor of deep, dark cherries. There’s an extra layer to it that’s like molasses but not sweet  . . . rum notes? The wine is very drinkable, especially the more you drink [...]