Wine Reviews: Best of Spring 2017

Today is the last day of spring and tomorrow brings summer! So here are the top five wines that I reviewed between March 20th and June 20th!

May being 90+ Cellars Month resulted in a 90+ Cellars domination on this list, and the only red on the list is from Texas!

#5. THP Montepulciano 2014 by Llano Estacado

Region: High Plains, Texas
Review Release: April 23rd, 2017

The color of the wine is a dark garnet. There's aromas of dried cherries, jammy plums, sweet tobacco, dried pottery clay and orange peel. It's medium bodied with sweet tannin and perky acidity. The palate shows flavors of blackberries, black cherries, tobacco and dried herbs. The tannin stiffens up a bit on the finish, and there's the leftover taste of blackberries and tobacco.

READ THE FULL REVIEW / WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $20

Rating: 4.5/5 = Recommended / Highly Recommended (what does that mean?)

#4. 90+ Cellars Lot 2 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2016

Region: Marlborough, New Zealand

Review Release: May 14th, 2017

The color of the wine is pale yellow with a silvery shine. On the nose there's Tic-Tac shell, grapefruit, green pepper, lemon peel and celery. It's firmly structured within its medium body, yet still crispy with a sharp acidity. On the palate there's flavors of lime, grapefruit and pear. With the finish you're left with the saliva in your mouth stripped away as if it were a highly tannic red, and there's flavors of lime and pear.

READ THE FULL REVIEW / WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $12

Rating: 5/5 = Highly Recommended (what does that mean?)

#3. 90+ Cellars Lot 50 Prosecco Brut

Region: Prosecco, Veneto, Italy
Review Release: May 1st, 2017 (Wine Pick of the Month)

A dry stone minerality overlays the juicy peaches and ginger of the wine's nose. In the mouth it's light and crisp, yet soft and fluffy when swished into a foam. There's intense green apple all over the palate, with a tiny squeeze of lemon and lime. It's just so refreshing and delicious that's it's ridiculous. You simply must try it.

READ THE FULL REVIEW / WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $12

Rating: 5/5 = Highly Recommended (what does that mean?)

#2. 90+ Cellars Lot 126 Sancerre 2014

Region: Sancerre, Loire Valley, France
Review Release: May 28th, 2017

The wine is a light lager yellow. The limestone in its marl soil shows through on the nose with chalky minerality. There's aromas of white flowers, lemon, and the juice collection from a fruit salad. In the mouth it's light bodied with high acidity, and has both a smooth body and a crispy bite. The palate shows flavors of lemon, grapefruit and cracked stone. It finishes super dry with grapefruit and cracked stone.

Goat cheese brie cheese on Saltine crackers would put me in heaven right now. This is an awesome, awesome Sancerre for $21. It beats the crap out of the more popular ones at that price range, and I'm giving it a perfect score.

READ THE FULL REVIEW / WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $21

Rating: 5/5 = Highly Recommended (what does that mean?)

#1. 90+ Cellars Lot 130 Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2015

Region: Russian River Valley, Sonoma Valley, California
Review Release: May 21st, 2017

The wine has a golden color. On the nose there's a touch of smokiness with aromas of apple, pineapple, butter, caramel and walnut. It's full bodied with a buttery mouthfeel but still has a sharp, piercing acidity. There's flavors of pineapple, vanilla, banana and ginger. It finishes with some heat, spicy ginger, and pineapple.

Dude. DUUUUUDE. This is stellar! 90+ Cellars knocked it out of the goddamn park with the purchase of this lot. If you bought it under the source label it would run you $22, which is a great deal in itself, but under the 90+ label it's $18. I indeed fell in love with this Chardonnay.

READ THE FULL REVIEW / WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $18

Rating: 5/5 = Highly Recommended (what does that mean?)

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Wine Review: THP Montepulciano 2014 by Llano Estacado

This is the final wine of five that I've reviewed for Llano Estacado out of TEXAS! Yes, TEXAS! I started with the 2016 Pinot Grigio, then 2015 Viognier, 2015 Signature Red, now 2015 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay and finally 2014 THP Montepulciano.

Spanish monks made Texas and New Mexico the first of the would-be-states in today's USA to grow vineyards and make their own wine in the 1620's. Llano Estacado was established in Western Texas in 1976, and has become the best selling premium winery in the state. Their current winemaker Greg Bruni took over that position in 993.

The 2014 THP Montepulciano is 76% Montepulciano, 12% Aglianico, 5% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3% Syrah. So this Texas wine takes two varietals whose vines normally don't venture far from their homes in southern Italy, and blends them with three French international varietals. THP stands for Texas High Plains, and that's where the vineyards are located. The wine spends 18 months in 59 gallon French and American oak barrels.

NOTE: In advance of moving to a new house and the arrival of a new baby, the reviews for March, April and May were all written in February and may be much quicker and to the point than you expect from this blog. Foolishness will return this summer.

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Wine Review: Llano Estacado Cellar Reserve Chardonnay 2015

This is the fourth of five wines that I'll be reviewing for Llano Estacado out of TEXAS! Yes, TEXAS! I started with the 2016 Pinot Grigio, then 2015 Viognier, 2015 Signature Red, now 2015 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay and finally 2014 THP Montepulciano.

Spanish monks made Texas and New Mexico the first of the would-be-states in today's USA to grow vineyards and make their own wine in the 1620's. Llano Estacado was established in Western Texas in 1976, and has become the best selling premium winery in the state. Their current winemaker Greg Bruni took over that position in 1993.

The 2015 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay is 100% Chardonnay, mostly from the Mont Sec Vineyard. It was cold fermented in stainless steel before spending 318 days on the lees in neutral French oak. It saw complete malolactic fermentation and has a 13.2% ABV.

NOTE: In advance of moving to a new house and the arrival of a new baby, the reviews for March, April and May were all written in February and may be much quicker and to the point than you expect from this blog. Foolishness will return this summer.

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Wine Review: Llano Estacado Signature Red Meritage 2015

This is the third of five wines that I'll be reviewing for Llano Estacado out of TEXAS! Yes, TEXAS! I started with the 2016 Pinot Grigio, then 2015 Viognier, now we're on 2015 Signature Red, followed by 2015 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay and finally 2014 THP Montepulciano.

Spanish monks made Texas and New Mexico the first of the would-be-states in today's USA to grow vineyards and make their own wine in the 1620's. Llano Estacado was established in Western Texas in 1976, and has become the best selling premium winery in the state. Their current winemaker Greg Bruni took over that position in 1993.

The fruit used in this blend are from the Mont Sec and Carpenter Vineyards of Far West Texas and the Reddy and Newsom Vineyards of the Texas High Plains. It is vegan friendly and has a 13.3% ABV.

NOTE: In advance of moving to a new house and the arrival of a new baby, the reviews for March, April and May were all written in February and may be much quicker and to the point than you expect from this blog. Foolishness will return this summer.
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Wine Review: Llano Estacado Viognier 2015

This is the second of five wines that I'll be reviewing for Llano Estacado out of TEXAS! Yes, TEXAS! I started with the 2016 Pinot Grigio and now we're on the 2015 Viognier, followed by the 2015 Signature Red, 2015 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay, and finally the 2014 THP Montepulciano.

Spanish monks made Texas and New Mexico the first of the would-be-states in today's USA to grow vineyards and make their own wine in the 1620's. Llano Estacado was established in Western Texas in 1976, and has become the best selling premium winery in the state. Their current winemaker Greg Bruni took over that position in 1993.

The Llano Estacado Viognier 2015 is 99% Viognier from the Mont Sec Vineyard and 1% Roussanne from Reddy Vineyards on the Texas High Plains. There was no oak aging and it has an ABV of 12.5%.

NOTE: In advance of moving to a new house and the arrival of a new baby, the reviews for March, April and May were all written in February and may be much quicker and to the point than you expect from this blog. Foolishness will return this summer.

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Wine Review: Llano Estacado Pinot Grigio 2016

This is the first of five wines that I'll be reviewing for Llano Estacado out of TEXAS! Yes, TEXAS! It's the 2016 Pinot Grigio followed by the 2015 Viognier, 2015 Signature Red, 2015 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay, and finally the 2014 THP Montepulciano.

Spanish monks made Texas and New Mexico the first of the would-be-states in today's USA to grow vineyards and make their own wine in the 1620's. Llano Estacado was established in Western Texas in 1976, and has become the best selling premium winery in the state. Their current winemaker Greg Bruni took over that position in 1993.

The 2016 Pinot Grigio is 77% Pinot Grigio from Reddy Vineyards on the Texas High Plain and 23% Sauvignon Blanc, fermented in stainless steel, and saw no oak aging. It's vegan friendly and has an ABV of 13.5%.

NOTE: In advance of moving to a new house and the arrival of a new baby, the reviews for March, April and May were all written in February and may be much quicker and to the point than you expect from this blog. Foolishness will return this summer.

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