Elite Wine Reviews – Eve’s Wine 101

by Eve Bushman

Today we wine 101ers get to taste and describe.  When I use a word like “soft” think smooth or gentle on your palate, “tight” means I think the wine needs to aerate, or breathe, with decanting, while “tannic” means spicy.  The last two bottles I reviewed blind with help from the SCV Vintners and Growers Association.  For that tasting think “free association,” as winemakers like to guess where each wine was made.
Most ratings use the 100-point scale.  Anything above 80 is drinkable.  For me, I may choose wines rated 90 or greater, if I only have a rating to go by.  (We assigned the points below.)  I actually prefer to go by what my wine store proprietor knows I like; the style of wines that I’ve liked before guides us both.  
Open That Bottle Night
Chateau de Candale Bordeaux 2005: We enjoyed this Bordeaux for “Open That Bottle Night” (OTBN) a night wine drinkers set aside to drink that perfect bottle, sans special occasion, only because the wine is ready. The wine showed a soft nose and soft tannin, a subtle pomegranate fruit, very balanced, earthy, what I like to call “approachable”. 96 points.
Next up was a Silver Oaks Alexander Valley 1989: It was a little tight to start but opened up well after just 5 minutes in a decanter, very tannic, and then we were able to taste the fruit, a very pleasant finish. 95 points.
Franciscan Magnificat 05 Meritage: Peppery nose, Zinfandel qualities, berries and raspberry flavors predominant. 92 points.
Reviewed with SCV Vintners & Growers:
2006 DragonFly Winery (now Pulchella Winery) Syrah, Mill Road Vineyard, Santa Clarita, by local winemakers Steve Lemley and Nate Hasper: Jammy black fruit, a perfect Syrah.  Guessed it was a Cote Rotie or a Santa Barbara. Group rating: 89-97 points.
2005 Zaca Mesa Syrah: Tobacco nose, complex, French oak, high alcohol, very good. Guessed Paso Robles, European, possibly French.  One of the best of the night. Group rating: 93-98 points.

Yours, in wine and out,
Eve

You may contact Eve at ebushman@earthlink.net for questions and comments. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, evewine101.blogspot.com and westranchbeacon.com