I noted in my last blog that I was trying out my first boxed wine.

I added that I had a big Chardonnay fan, my boss, going to share his opinion about the juice. This morning he gave me his impressions. He was unimpressed – not something he would buy even at $6 a bottle. But his wife didn’t think it was all that bad and was okay with it.

Again, you have to consider what it is – a $6 wine. I’ve had a couple of small glasses since last Wednesday. The wine tastes identical to the night I opened it. Upon further review, I may have been a tad kind to the juice initially – but its not the worst Chard I’ve ever tasted.

My assessment after talking to the boss, tasting it a couple of more times myself – is that this is pretty good $6 Chardonnay. It will not hold up to even a good $12-$14 bottle, but it is what it is!

If you’re buying grocery store Chardonnay there are only a few better than the Monthaven. If you’re buying your wine by the bottle in a wine shop, this may not be for you.

Now all that being said, I have tasted other wines from boxes and a few of them were very nice. So the experiment isn’t over. I’ll give a couple more updates on this Chard. And I need to find a good red and repeat the same test.

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It all started with bad wine decades ago and has evolved to a reasonable option in today’s wine boom!

Yes, I’m drinking wine from a box! I have actually had a number of people, primarily from my newspaper column, ask me to write about box wine. And that’s going to be the topic of my next column.

But just a week ago I received a 3 liter box of Monthaven 2008 Chardonnay as a trade sample. (That means free folks!) I popped it into the fridge when I got home today and drank a little with a pork chop this evening.

Here’s the plan. I’m going to re-visit it once a week and see if I notice any signifcant change. Everyone tells me it will hold up, but I think this is a test everyone has to try for themselves.

Today’s technology allows for a vacuum seal which protects the wine from oxygen. The company suggests the wine should hold up just fine for 5-6 weeks.

I opened the wine tonight. It is a soft and somewhat rich Chardonnay with oak on the nose and the finish. There’s not much aciditiy in this wine. The tasting notes suggest a hint of apple, which I didn’t pick up.

I have to add the usual disclaimer on Chard – I’m not a big fan. I like some of the unoaked Chardonnays made around the world but seldom find myself enjoying this style California Chardonnay. But I can identify the taste characteristics and determine if I sense any change over time. Additionally, I’m going to share this wine with a big Chardonnay fan friend of mine for his thoughts while it’s new. I’ll share his opinion in next few days.

This box is the “Octavin Home Wine Bar.” The company is going to use the dispenser on six different wines. Each box will retail in the $22-$24 range. Or, if you will, about $5.50-$6.00 a bottle. So going in, we’re talking about wines similar to what you’d buy in a grocery.

The wine is set to be released across the nation in May.

Let’s see how it goes. Again, to me it was a drinkable version of a wine I’m not crazy about. But seemed nicely balanced and well made.

Check back for updates – this should be fun. And for those who see my column in their local newspaper, I’ll give a lot more detail in my next column.

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I’m still on my Chenin Blanc kick though I hadn’t had any until a Friday night bottle of Chateau Moncountour 2006 Vouvray.

I have had the sweet Vouvrays, semi-sweet, and now really dry Chenin Blanc Vouvray. This winery dates back to the 15th Century. It’s very well-made wine.

It’s floral on the nose with an almost a honey-like characteristic in flavor on the palate. It is very dry white wine. The acidity was strong when I opened the bottle but opened up after it had been uncorked for a couple of hours.

I liked this wine but it clearly wouldn’t be everyone’s choice. It’s a very dry white. It’s easy to drink at just 12.5 percent alcohol and a definite balance and structure I liked with each sip.

I’d think a semi-sweet would be the best starting point for most wine drinkers. That being said, I could see red wine drinkers liking the dry version of this wine even if they define themselves as someone who doesn’t normally drink white wine.

Vouvray – the adventure continues!

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Thursday night’s Vine and Table wine tasting with Laurent Drouhin ranked up there in my top two or three wine experiences of all time.

Drouhin was in town to pour the iconic Burgundy 2008 wines. To make that experience even better, I had 20 minutes with the great grandson of founder Joseph Drouhin to do an interview for Palate Press.

So most of my information will be for that story, but I’m sure I’ll have a few left over goodies for here and when the story publishes I’ll be sure to note it on the blog.

Mr. Drouhin was charming and offered great insight not only into Burgundy but French wine in general. We tasted his Chablis, White Burgandy, and Burgandy. The Chablis (chardonnay, most unoaked or little oak) was simply fabulous – some of the best white wine I’ve ever tasted. The white Burgandy, more expensive than Chablis because of the appellation just wasn’t as enjoyable to my palate.

But the Pinot Noir was lovely. Four wines up to about the $100 a bottle price point were fabulous Pinot in the lighter, earthy Burgundy style.

A fabulous evening – more to come!

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Concannon Wines is a California name that’s been around a long time. James Concannon founded the winery in 1883, even if the operation was bought and sold a number of times in the 1980s, the family is still involved today.

The fourth generation of Concannons are now promoting it’s “Conservancy” line of four wines. The two samples I’m writing about here was accompanied by a letter from John Concannon saying the effort is aimed at “preserving our winemaking heritage and to ensure future generations experience my great-grandfather’s vision of creating world’class wines at an affordable price.”

Essentially, a Conservancy vineyard sets the property aside with the assurance it’s protected forever from urban growth. The Livermore Valley may not be a familiar name even to many wine drinkers. It’s a small area due east of San Francisco just a little south of Oakland.

The Concannon samples were a 2008 Chardonnay and 2007 Petite Sirah.

I called on a couple of friends to assist me in evaluating these wines. My boss is a big Chardonnay fan – a much bigger fan than me, for sure. He called the wine a “really nice wine at this price point. It would be good with food or by itself.”

He went on to connect with his inner wine geek and wrote “it’s fresh, crisp, with a big pear flavor, subtly oaky, but not too much. It had an excellent finish.”

This wine spent time in French and American oak and checks in at 13.5 percent alcohol.

The suggested retail price for both of these wines is $15. And Concannon is widely distributed across the country.

I’m fortunate to have a wine buddy just down the street. He comes down once, sometimes twice, a week and we share the bottles we happen to have open. I asked him down to try the Concannon Petite Sirah.

I’m more of a fan of the big wines than my friend but was curious to get his take. The Concannon Petite Sirah is 97 percent Petite Sirah and 3 percent Petit Verdot. Just like the Chardonnay, it sees French and American oak. It’s also 13.5 percent alcohol and also retails at $15.

I found the wine to be a bit young, certainly, but a big mouthful of flavor with definite chocolate and a smooth finish as it opened up. He agreed with me on the chocolate but offered up something that surprised me a bit. He was getting hints of caramel. So I looked at the winemaker’s tasting notes and found “molasses” – I’d say close enough!

This Petite Sirah is not as big as some you’ll find around the price but this one comes from an iconic winemaker and is as well-balanced wine as any you’ll find. For $15, its a real good buy!

Anyone who has visited any of California’s wine country has seen the explosion of growth over the last few decades. That certainly makes the conservancy movement even more important and appreciated.

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If you didn’t get the headline, you’re just too darn young! Memorex, the audio people, had one of the great campaign slogans for years – “Is it live or Memorex?” Then at the end of commercial an opera singer or someone would hit an incredibly high note and a crystal wine goblet would shatter! Which was it, live or a recording?

We might do the same with the Italian Primitivo! I really don’t recall ever having the grape before tonight though I’ve seen it for years.

Let’s get the mystery on the table for you though. Primitivo has been called the forefather of Zin and other assorted names! But there is a lot of interesting history online about Primitivo. Just Google it if you’re a real geek and check it out. It is an interesting debate if you like Primitivo begat Zin begat more Zin begat bad Zin kind of thing!

The grape is grown in Puglia in Italy. Or, if you prefer, the heel of the boot.

But this wine was a nice surprise. Yes, it definitely reminded me of Zinfandel. It had a really big nose, but not as fruity on the palate. It was definitely a full-bodied wine.

This is a $12 bottle (2006 Cantele)I picked up at Village Bottle Shop, West Lafayette, Indiana.

This is a lively/fun glass of wine. It’s big enough to please about anyone, though not a lot of mid palate. It is what it is – good $12 wine.

It was good with pasta and would be good with a spicy pizza, I think. Our mantra is to always encourage wine newbies to try something new! So try some Primitivo!

POSTSCRIPT: I wrote the above while cooking and with the first few bites of pasta. This wine has great quality for price point value. It’s definitely a repeat buy for me!

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Clos de los Siete is a blend from Argentina that is reasonably price, with big forward fruit, soft tannins, and easy to enjoy.

The wine is a blend of Malbec (48 percent), Merlot (28 percent), Syrah (12 percent), and Cabernet Sauvingon (12 percent). (Insert ‘kitchen sink’ joke here!)

But the end result is a purple wine that has a really rich texture and wonderful finish. I got some mineral quality along with the dark cheery and currants you might expect. But the chocolate and earthy characteristics is what made it a great glass of wine for me.

I didn’t know the back story on this wine until after drinking it and writing the first few graphs of this blog post. It seems the wine was made by French winemaker Michel Rolland (his name is on the label). He is often credited/accused of making Bordeaux style wines that are fruit forward and lots of oak. There are those, apparently, who not-so-subtly suggest that’s for the purpose of getting big ratings on the 100-point scale that helps sell wine.

I, for one, like an occasional fruit forward, big oaky wine. Apparently, lots of people like such wines.

I had this wine with beef tenderloin and it was a great pairing. I think it would also rock with barbecue.

Wine Advocate gave this wine 90 points with Robert Parker scoring it 91. The best part is you can find it at $15-$18. I have seen it in lots of shops.

This is simply very good wine that I’d buy again.

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I have written about my visit to Italy over the holiday and my one day into Tuscany to visit two small Italian wineries.

The contact for the winery visit was Jersey native Anthony Finta. Anthony has a great business idea to bring such wines to the U.S. via the internet. I wrote a story about that experience that went up on the national online wine magazine – Palate Press today. Click here for a direct link to the story.

Then I was very happy this evening to learn that WineBusiness.Com picked up my story for its website. (Go to lower lefthand corner of page – More Blogs – If you wish to see it up there.)

I traded a couple of emails with Anthony today, who was thrilled with the exposure. Then he directed me to his site Florence Wine Merchants, where he hopes to sell the wine. He put up a link to the Palate Press story about his new venture.

I’m thrilled with all the exposure and the exposure for Grape Sense!

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Recently I’ve taken to drinking more Cabernet Sauvignon. The grand ol grape is grown all around the world and is best known for the great wines of France and California.

I have discovered some old friends, so to speak. I have bought several “iconic” California Cabernets along with a few new ones. And you know what kids? Those “good old boys” of Sonoma and Napa still know, have always known what they’re doing.

I admit with a tinge of embarrassment I had never had a Louis M. Martini wine until this very night. Louis started his California winery in 1933 and the family operation runs it to this very day.

I opened the Martini 2007 Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon. You can find it within a range of $12-$16. Guess what? It’s damn fine Cab! Wine Advocate and Robert Parker both pinned this value wine at 90 points!

The juice has a huge nose for the price. I get spice, herbs, and some dirt on the nose. I thought it was a nicely balanced and well-made bottle of wine. I’d recommend this wine heartily to those just starting with Cabernet. Sure, it’s not a huge wine at this price but it is surprisingly big and even more suprisingly balanced.

This is quality at a Cabernet price point where you usually only see confusion and tricks.

Better yet, Louis Martini wine is widely available. I’ve bet you’ve seen the label on the bottle I inserted on this blog.

Pick a bottle up next time you’re having steak. I don’t think there is any way you can be disappointed with this wine at this price!

I have a couple more in the wine rack I’ll be trying soon. There’s nothing like ‘old friends’ – even when you’re meeting them for the first time.

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If I wrote 85 percent Garnacha and 15 percent Tempranillo you’re going to say “Aha, another Spanish wine!”

Well tonight you’d be wrong!

I opened a 2007 Odisea Two Rows Garnacha tonight from California. I love those two grapes and was pretty sure what to expect but was taken back a bit by the boldness of this California concoction.

The wine had big spice and big dark fruit flavor. But, for me the tannins came on too strong. It is a wine that spent some aging time in French oak. It is a young wine but one I’d assume meant to be consumed at a young age – or maybe not!

I really, really wanted to love this wine. As I write this entry, the wine has been open about an hour and a half and is starting to smooth out a bit. I’d think a long decant, or another year in the bottle would make this a bold California venture into southern France and Spanish wine styles.

I had it with Chili and the balance was pretty good. The wine was even better with some dark chocolate.

I might just pick up another bottle of this and put it away for a year. I love the effort from winemakers Adam Webb and Mike Kuenz.

I just have a feeling this is darn fine wine when it opens up. Right now it’s really tight. Perhaps I’ll update this entry tomorrow night when I finish the bottle.

Online I saw this priced up to $25. I picked up this bottle at Village Bottle Shoppe in West Lafayette for a very reasonable $15.99.

I wouldn’t say I disliked the wine at all, but I wanted to love it. Stay tuned!

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