A Raft-Out is a little summer neighborhood tradition in which 5 or 6 boats with 12 to 20 people aboard float out to a calm place in the bay, lash the boats together, and then proceed to have a potluck dinner and wine party while waiting for the sun to set. The wines are never serious as befits the plastic, non-skid glassware required of the situation.
I've been poured a number of Costco's Kirkland brand wines with varying results. A Champagne was recognizably a champagne--had the yeast and brioche flavors that could be from nowhere else. A $25 Margaux tasted more like a Graves from an earlier year than what was on the bottle, and all in a good way, so good that I definitely wanted to buy some for myself but they were out when I got back. A Paulliac was dilute and uninteresting. A Shiraz was the best wine at a party of cheap wines after the wine I brought was gone, but otherwise not worth anyone's attention. And a "Super Tuscan" was very concentrated and modern in an extracted, slick way that obliterated all of the usual references to Tuscany, but not a bad wine in and of itself. So with no expectations whatsoever did I accept a glass of (didn't catch the vintage) Kirkland Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. But damn! This is good stuff! Quite recognizably a kiwi, it has the chalky, limestone thing going on with citrus-basket fruit--good nose, nice finish. Purchased last week, it's owner thought she paid $6.99. Deal!
The brightness of the Kirkland Savvie made the 2006 Terlan "Terlaner", a white mix from Italy's Alto Adige, which I'd brought, seem all wrong. The wine's off dry and though IIRC a combination of pinot blanc and sauvignon blanc, it's gingery flavor and low acidity reminds of gewurz and tokay pinot gris. Would be fine served with a curried squash soup at home, but it was all wrong out there.
A 2005 Tintara Shiraz from Australia's McClaren Vale was just delicious. Ripe but not overly so with a little less oak and more acidity than expects from the velvet Vale, the characteristic black currant fruit had some blackberry and plum to it as well, and there was a minty pine note that added nice complexity. Everybody loved it--tasty and complex, lip-smacking, but not a wine you had to work at to enjoy. A perfect raft-out red.
And which made a 2005 Frei Brother Cabernet Sauvignon from California taste a bit rubbery. Lacking the acidity of the Tintara, it just kind of sat there in the glass, rustic and on the thick side, tasting like a wine that would throw a tennis ball gob of sediment if left alone for very long.
The 2004 Mt. Baker Reserve Merlot from Washington showed very well. Though deserving of a better circumstance for evaluation, it's quality was not lost in my turquoise blue tumbler. Still sporting considerable tannins, this plus-size merlot shows deft wine-making and room for improvement over the next 3-5 years. Not for the oak averse, though.
