2003 Inspiration Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA) 14.3% – 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot – appears quite dark see through purple, smell cool plum and dark cherry, chocolate, black pepper, lively but heavy, taste basic black cherry, lots of cool juice, basic pepper, drying finish, basically tasted like nothing more than alcoholic fruit juice to me, quite disappointing and wine felt like it was barely holding together, boring stuff and odd as I remember liking it much more at a tasting at the winery, pairing it with a ribeye steak did nothing for it, at $25, I would not revisit this wine. Had this bottle shortly after a bottle of zinfandel from the same producer I found undrinkable due to what I assume was volatile acidity – nail polish/chemical nose and prickly unpleasant on tongue, smelling sour. No idea if it had a role, but both used artificial non-cork closures (the cheaper looking version). From producer: from a small hand tended, Eastern facing hillside vineyard located in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley Gallaway vineyards in Healdsburg, open-top fermented, aged in seasoned French oak barrels for 22 months . . . approximately 140 cases produced
2004 Schwarz Burgenland Zweigelt Qualitätswein Trocken (Burgenland, Austria) 13% – appears see thru very purple, smell cherry, raspberry, very spicy, floral, bit of ale, taste sweet and spicy on tongue, simple, pleasant tartness, nothing quite exciting, however, never rises above boring simplicity, it served better as an ingredient for an acorn squash, Pfifferlingen/chanterelle and red wine panade than it did as an accompaniment, boring wine that makes me wonder why I decided to buy it after sampling a glass, at 7 euro, I would not purchase this wine again
1999 Lo Sparviere di Gussalli Beretta Franciacorta Extra Brut (Franciacorta, Lombardia, Italy) 13% - 100 percent chardonnay – appears quite dark gold, smell muted solid wall of melon, with air, ginger spice, mouthfeel quite heavy, almost thick, barely any spritz, bit more once it opens up, taste here was mighty disappointing, basic muted flavors, the wine lumbered under its own weight, and the finish just felt cheap, at first I wondered if the wine was cooked or suffered from some other flaw, but the lackluster finish didn’t seem to indicate to me there was any promise whatsoever about this wine—too heavy, too little spritz, no excitement in the flavor, lousy finish, I am no expert at wine flaws, but perhaps this is a mild case of TCA?, at 25 euro I really regret the purchase. 10,000 bottles produced