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redatom's Review:

Ever notice how your friends ask you if they should save the $10 bottle you just got them for a special occasion? What a silly people we Americans are. We think all wines are like this one-outrageously expensive and inaccessible when, in fact, there are a lot of great wines in our market that are cheaper per fl oz than a microbrew. This is not one of them.It is a great wine-subtle, soft, smooth, a touch of oak and spice, a touch of fruit-but I hesitate to recommend it for anything but the most special of occasions. Weighing in at well over $100, the law of diminishing returns applies in spades.

redatom's Review:

So many wines in store refrigerators are put there without consideration. My local wine and cheese snob shop, on the other hand, has a knack for picking the best values from their selection. Domaine Des Cassagnoles is their most recent and outstanding choice. Pairs well with summertime vegetables or chicken. At less than $10, this is a French superstar.

redatom's Review:

If not careful, two people may be induced to drink the whole bottle before stopping to observe anything more than "dry" and "tasty".

redatom's Review:

Terroir, or the sense that a good wine tastes like the place it was grown, expresses itself in the form of earthy, mineral qualities rather than fruits or tannins-like the difference between good water and bad water. In this case, the mineral taste is so much stronger than all the other flavors, it's difficult to tell whether SEPP is a sophisticated or just a little off.

redatom's Review:

Versatile in pairings, but really shines with hearty pork and vegetable dishes. With $10 wines like this, there's little reason to spend more than $25 on anything but champagne in the current market.

redatom's Review:

I have no idea why I was made to pay $30 for what appears to be a $15 wine. I liked it, but I'm too mad about the price to think clearly about what it tastes like.

redatom's Review:

The shelf talker for this one said something to the effect of: "Our distributor hyped the shit out of this wine. Like Pavlov's dog, we were blown away. Our hasty decision = your purchase." I considered on my way out the door that, for $35, this wine was either going to fantastic, as this spikey-haired gentleman suggested:http://thespiderking.com/wordpress/?p=19or disappointingly overpriced, as Steve Tanzer indicated in his review, which is widely available for anyone who can use Google. In spite of my distrust of professional tasters, the truth lay with Tanzer. The wine is unbalanced and abhorently chalky. Its tannins will pucker your mouth like an unripe persimmon. I'm vaguely curious to know what it will taste like a couple of years from now, but, unlike Tanzer I'm not going to waste any space in a time capsule to find out; if it's not ready after six years, I find it hard to imagine it will be any more ready after twelve.

redatom's Review:

I've been drinking mostly whites since the summer. Now that summer is well behind us, I decided to find an appropriately full-bodied red. The neighborhood being filled with Brazillians, the foreign selection was stacked firmly in favor of the Portuguese, so Douro it was. I was not disappointed. From the blackberry nose to the gamy, apple-ish finish, this Meandro is an entirely different sumo wrestler of a red wine. It's big and it's definitely got a sense of place with its chalky, puckering tannins and well-balanced, heavy fruits. There's a metallic aftertaste that doesn't sit well enough to make this a great wine, though. Meandro's a decent value, but there are plenty of better sub-$20 wines.

redatom's Review:

Honeydew awesomeness. Slightly effervescent.