Monthly Archives: March 2010

Wine Review: Tait 2008 Barossa Valley, The Ball Buster

Posted on March 9, 2010 | 3 Comments

I saw this wine in Costco and I wondered if I should give it a try.  I’m weary of wines with outrageous or edgy names.  I picked up a bottle and read the back label, and there I noticed the alcohol content: 16%!  Okay what the hell its only $15, I’ll give it a try.  I had it in my fridge for a few weeks before I could get around to trying it out, and Friday night seemed like the right night.  It was a busy hectic day, an end to my first week back from my vacation to Vancouver, British Columbia where I “experienced” the men’s gold medal hockey game.  That means I watched the game in a casino right next to the stadium.  I poured the wine in my decanter and then decided to run some errands while the wine opened up.  I returned 3 hours later!  And ready to drink some wine too!

The Blend: 76% Shiraz, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot

Tait, The Ball Buster

Alcohol: 16%

Where from?:  Barossa Valley, Australia

The nose: slight cigar box, licorice, cherry.  The nose was not incredibly aromatic, even after 3 hours in the decanter.

The Palate:  Here’s where this wine got really interesting.  Right away I noticed the incredible texture.  This wine has the consistency of heavy cream, incredibly silky almost slippery, weighty. The next thing I was hit with was how concentrated the fruit was.  Almost like a liqueur with a very ripe blackberry flavor.  Then I noticed the tannins, which were quite well-rounded.  I expected the tannins to be chewy and out of control for some reason, but they are actually quite soft for such a big wine.  One thing that is absent from this wine is the earthiness that some Barossa valley Shiraz’s have.  That can be good or bad depending on how “earthy” or funky you like the aroma of your wine to be.  Personally, I can go either way, as long as it’s in balance.

The Finish:  Powerful almost Port like with licorice and chocolate.  Surprisingly less heat than one would expect from a 16% wine.

Conclusion:  I would recommend this wine to anyone that says they like the big bold fruit forward styles of Shiraz and Zinfandel.

Tim

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Posted in Shiraz, Wine Review, Wines under $20

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Wine Review: Chateau Raspail Gigondas 2007

Posted on March 8, 2010 | 2 Comments

The Blend:  60% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre

Where from?: Southern Rhone, France

Price: $17 at Costco

I have recently become a big fan of GSM blends, so I just had to give this wine a whirl. I am typically a bit weary of some French wines because a lot tend to be a bit light to me (I’m a huge Napa Cab drinker). After verifying the blend of this wine, and seeing the alcohol content – I knew that would not be the case here.

The wine is very deep purple, almost black in the glass. Gobs of blackberry, with hints of raspberry amongst its dark fruit profile on the nose. Some good floral earth notes and red stone are intermingled in with the dominant dark fruit.

I decanted this bad boy just over 2 hours before my first taste and quickly learned that it needed far less time than that to open up. On the palate it exudes dark fruit highly dominated by dark cherries. Medium full-bodied with subtle earthiness and a hint of pepper. The sweet and meaty tannins are well-balanced with medium length to the finish.

Overall, this wine is a great value. It lacks just a tad in complexity and is a bit thin, but more than makes up for it in its’ overall balance and superb dark fruit. This wine could probably benefit from another year or so in the bottle, but I would not recommend aging for much longer than that, or long-term cellaring. Despite that, this is a fantastic drink now bottle out of France. I would personally rate this wine 91 points. It really is a steal under $20 bucks, and I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase again.

By Ryan O’Connor

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Posted in GSM, Rhone

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Tim’s Tri Tip steak recipe

Posted on March 7, 2010 | Leave a comment

The Steak:

 

Tri Tip before seasoning

 

about 2  pounds of Tri Tip steak in  one  big piece instead of sliced

mix into a small dish or bowl:
1 tea spoon of salt
1 tea spoon of coarse ground black pepper
2 tea spoons of Hy’s Seasoning Salt- Original No MSG*
1 tea spoon of onion powder

Mix seasonings in the bowl and then rub the mixture into both sides of the meat

Drizzle a tea spoon of canola oil on each side of the meat.

Let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour

Heat oven to 400F

Put the  steak in the oven with the more fatty side up and on the center rack for 20-25 minutes or until it is medium rare.  Do Not over cook.

 

After Seasoning

 

Take out of the oven and cover with tin foil, let it sit for 5-10 minutes.

Slice across the grain and serve

*Hy’s Seasoning Salt is a mixture of salt, red pepper, garlic, and onion.

You can purchase Hy’s Seasoning Salt here

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Posted in Recipes

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Visit to Salt Tasting Room in Vancouver British Columbia

Posted on March 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

On my recent trip to the Olympic winter games I managed to squeeze in a visit to a wine bar.  It’s not the easiest place to find, but since I am familiar with Vancouver it was easy for me.  It’s worth locating for those of you who want a serious wine experience.  Why?  Because they don’t do a whole bunch of other things.  It’s wine with local meats and imported cheeses.  They do wine flights, wines by the glass and by the bottle.  There is a good selection of British Columbian wines.  I liked the setting quite a bit.  It’s a non descript entrance with just a stylized picture of a salt shaker above the entrance located in an alleyway.  Inside it is warm and inviting.  Old fashioned light bulbs hang from the ceiling, there are brick walls on both sides.  At the far end is a chalk board wall with the menu.  There is a long table with bench seating on one side and tables on the other.  Quite simple, which allows you to just focus on the wine.  The staff is friendly and knowledgeable.  I asked for the best red wine they had from British Columbia and the waitress said it was only available by the bottle for about $75, but she would ask the manager if she could open up a bottle for me.  I made no mention that I was a wine blogger, she just thought I was a regular customer.  She came back and poured me a glass for only $15!  I love it when wine by the glass is not any more expensive than by the bottle.  With the wine I enjoyed a platter that the waitress picked out.  A creamy soft brie, a hard bold parmesan, some hard peppered salami, some nuts, and mini pickles and a basket of assorted breads.  Very yummy in the middle of a busy afternoon.

The video is short, I reviewed the wine I drank in a different post which you can see HERE cheers!

Visit the Salt Tasting Room site here

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Posted in Places to drink wine, Wine Tasting

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Wine Review: Orofino 2007 Beleza, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia

Posted on March 3, 2010 | Leave a comment

The Blend:  68% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petite Verdot

Great Wine, Bad Photo

Aging: 16 months in new French and American oak.

Alcohol: 14.3%

Price: $34 from the winery which is sold out.  I sampled it at The Salt Tasting Room, a wine bar for $75 a bottle/ $15 a glass

On the nose: Blackberry, Pepper, Vanilla

The palate:  Amazing rich dark fruit, blackberry, cherry.  Solid tannins with a cocoa, espresso vanilla finish.

I was very surprised by this wine.  It actually blew me away.  Complex and rich, solid tannins, good fruit structure without being too fruit forward or ripe.  Nice oak, without being over 0aked.  Very well balanced.  As a 2007 right now, it’s a little young and tight, but it opens up nicely in a relatively short period of time, you could probably hold on to this wine for 10 years, but as it tastes so good I doubt whether anyone will do that!  It paired well with my peppered salami and aged Parmesan Reggiano.  For those of you into points, I give it 92 points.  I really look forward to trying it if I can find it again next time I am in Vancouver.

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Posted in Meritage, Wine Review, Wines over $20

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