St. Francis Red

Name: St. Francis
Color: Red
Varietal: Blend (Merlot/Syrah/Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon/Zinfandel)
Vintage: 2005
Country/State: California
Region: Sonoma
Price: $10
Stars: 4 (out of 5)

The St. Francis Red is a delicious blend of Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, with just a touch of Zinfandel. This wine had a dark red color and a nose of ripe red fruits, with just a little spice. The taste was similar to the nose and was very smooth, with a medium body and a pleasantly long finish. I drank it without food after dinner, but I imagine it would go very well with any number of dishes.

I see this wine all the time and am definitely glad I finally tried it. I know I'll be buying more in the future. It's a fun everyday drinker type of wine that would appeal to most tastes. At $10, it's an excellent value.

Bogle Petite Sirah

Name: Bogle
Color: Red
Varietal: Petite Sirah
Vintage: 2006
Country/State: California
Region: NA
Price: $11
Stars: 4.5 (out of 5)


Wow! We both really liked this wine a lot. This was our first full Petite Sirah. We had a taste of the Concannon Petite Sirah and liked it enough to buy a bottle, which is still on our rack. I picked up the Bogle Petite Sirah after seeing it on sale at Lueken's Liquors. I knew from reading online that Bogle's Petite Sirah was well-liked and very consistent. We couldn't have been more pleased with it. We also really liked the Chardonnay by Bogle, which was also an excellent value.

We drank this wine last night with some turkey filets wrapped in bacon that we seasoned and tossed on the grill. The meal and the wine were terrific and went well together. The aroma of this wine was absolutely amazing...I could have sniffed it all night. The nose was dark fruits, mostly red cherry and blueberry. The color was a deep, dark purple. The taste was delicious - jammy, fruity, and just a little peppery, with nice smooth tannins and a long finish. It had a really nice full mouthfeel that let you know you were drinking a big, full-bodied wine.

The Bogle Petite Sirah is definitely a wine that we will buy over and over again. I can't wait to finish the bottle tonight!

Peter Lehmann Layers

Name: Peter Lehmann Layers
Color: White
Varietal: Blend (Pinot Gris/Muscat/Gewurtztraminer/Chardonnay/Semillon)
Vintage: 2008
Country/State: Australia
Region: Adelaide
Price: $15
Stars: 4.5 (out of 5)

I love this wine!! I had a glass at the Green Springs Bistro in Safety Harbor on my birthday, and have been searching for it ever since. I found it today at Lueken's Liquors in Dunedin, and quickly bought a bottle to have with my Father's Day dinner of scallops in a honey lime sauce...Both the meal and the wine were delicious.

Every review of this wine online mentions that it is a "melange" of flavors from five white grapes (Pinot Gris, Muscat, Gewurtztraminer, Chardonnay, and Semillon). Since I'm a product of a public school system, you won't find me using the word melange in any of my postings. The word "blend" works just fine for me. When wine geeks start throwing around words like melange, cassis, anise, or malolactic fermenation, I start to feel like Jefe when El Guapo asks him, "Would you say I have a plethora of pinatas?"

My man, Jefe, would be completely confused by some of the terminology used to describe wine!


The Peter Lehmann Layers was very crisp, refreshing, and extremely easy drinking. It had an aroma and taste of lemon, lime, peach, and pear. It was very well balanced and smooth.

Bogle Chardonnay

Name: Bogle
Color: White
Varietal: Chardonnay
Vintage: 2007
Country/State: California
Region: NA
Price: $10
Stars: 4 (out of 5)

Krista picked out this wine after we attended a wine tasting together on Friday night at Ed's Fine Wines. This wasn't one of the wines offered that night, but she selected it based on the description at the store that suggested the wine had a pineapple flavor. The same night, I picked up a bottle of the Concannon Petite Sirah, which was offered at the tasting and we both really liked it. I plan on drinking that one soon.

We took the Bogle Chardonnay with us to Krista's parents house for dinner and drank a little before and during the meal. We both really enjoyed this wine. I think I liked it a little more than she did, but I like just about everything. I really liked the full mouthfeel that I got from this wine, as well as the buttery, fruity taste (mostly pears and green apples). Neither of us picked up on the pineapple, but it was still very good. The 2007 was aged for 7 months in 50% new American oak, giving the wine a touch of oak, but not too much. I found it to be crisp, well-balanced, and refreshing...For $10 or less, I would highly recommend the Bogle Chardonnay...I can't wait to try their Petite Sirah, which I bought today!

Legado de Barros Tempranillo

Name: Legado de Barros
Color: Red
Varietal: Tempranillo
Vintage: 2006
Country/State: Spain
Region: NA
Price: $8
Stars: 3.5 (out of 5)

This was our first 100% Tempranillo. We have had several Spanish blends that use Tempranillo and have enjoyed them very much. We drank this wine last night with beef tacos and corn on the cob. It was enjoyable, but not particulary memorable. The nose and taste were dark berries, with an earthy/leathery/herbal quality. It was a dry, medium bodied wine, which was fortunately not overpowered by oak.

I picked up the Legado de Barros at Ed's Fine Wines on the advice of the sales guy who recommended it as a good value. That's all I really had to go on, since I couldn't find much information about this wine online at all. I probably wouldn't buy this particular wine again as there are just so many Spanish wines I like and others I want to try, but I'm glad I gave it a shot.

Columbia Crest Two Vines Vineyard 10 White

Name: Columbia Crest Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Color: White
Varietal: Blend (Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon)
Vintage: 2006
Country/State: Washington
Region: Columbia Valley
Price: $9
Stars: 4 (out of 5)

We enjoyed this juicy, refreshing white blend last night after dinner and after the kids went to bed. We spent a fun day at the beach (Honeymoon Island) today and this wine was one that would really go well with a picnic at the beach...I bought this wine a few weeks ago after having seen it recommended by several different people online, including our local paper, which featured it as the wine of the week recently. Back in April, we had the red blend by Columbia Crest Two Vines and really enjoyed it as well.

The aroma of the white blend was mostly pear and apple, but I also smelled a little banana. The taste was similar, primarily apple, pear, and melon...Very tasty and easy drinking. This wine is a great value at $9, but I've seen it priced even lower making it an excellent value. It compared very nicely to the Mark Davidson white blend that we have enjoyed recently. If you are just getting into wines, like me, you can't go wrong with the wines from Columbia Crest.

Palo Alto Reserve

Name: Palo Alto Reserve
Color: Red
Varietal: Blend (Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere/Syrah)
Vintage: 2007
Country/State: Chile
Region: Maule Valley
Price: $10
Stars: 4.5 (out of 5)


We both really liked this blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, and Syrah from Concha y Toro's Palo Alto label from Chile. In the past, we've had the Concha y Toro Casillero Del Diablo Carmenere, and I remember enjoying that wine quite a bit, too...This one was highly recommended by various sources, so when I saw it at my local wine shop, I picked up a bottle for $10. The sales guy mentioned that the Palo Alto has been one of their best sellers lately...After drinking it last night, I can see why. The color was dark purple in the glass with a nose of dark fruit and smoky, earthy aromas. The taste was also dark and smoky. It's kind of hard to describe, but there's an earthiness to this wine that was really enjoyable and rather complex for a $10 wine. It's not as fruit forward as most of the red blends we usually drink, but it was a nice change of pace. The body was medium to full with a rich, warm mouthfeel. It is an excellent dry wine with gripping, but tolerable, tannins that softened quite a bit as the wine sat in the glass.

We drank this wine with steaks that were marinated and grilled. It paired quite nicely with the steaks. I would definitely drink this wine again and highly recommend it.

Gloria Ferrer Pinot Noir Rose

Name: Gloria Ferrer
Color: Rose
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2006
Country/State: California
Region: Sonoma
Price: $10
Stars: 3.5 (out of 5)


This was a nice, dry Rosé made from Pinot Noir grapes that I found to be very refreshing, but lacking any punch that would make it exciting or especially memorable....We drank a couple of glasses last night after dinner. It was definitely more enjoyable than my last Rosé experience (a Rosé under the Menage a Trois label that I found to be too floral for my taste). This one by Gloria Ferrer was on sale at Ed's Fine Wines for $10, so I picked it up as I've been meaning to experiment with some Rosés for awhile now. The aroma was primarily strawberry, raspberry, and something else I couldn't really describe, kind of a flowery watermelon scent. Krista thought it smelled like cran-grape juice, so who knows...There's really no wrong answer. The taste was similar to the nose, mostly strawberry, raspberry, and watermelon, with a little peach juice. It was very easy drinking and not at all sweet or cloying. I liked it more and more as it warmed up in the glass.

We also have a Rosé from La Vieille Ferme at home. We'll probably try that one next week. It will be nice to see how it compares to the Gloria Ferrer.