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EP 834 Popular Picks- Australian Chardonnay and Argentinean Malbec-Tempranillo Blend Tasting

Gary picks two wines that are hot sellers here and tastes them to see if they live up to the hype.

Wines tasted in this episode:

2006 Hundred Tree Hill ChardonnayAustralian Chardonnay
2008 Urban Uco Malbec-tempranilloArgentine Red Blend


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luca bercelli

90/100

Right back in the zone with this episode – the distinction between ‘real’ wine and that created in the lab is such an important subject and GV is on point with his argument. Oh and a hilarious hand gesture at 6.12 adds to the enjoyment

Tags: Argentina, Australian, chardonnay, malbec, red, review, Video, white, wine, wines

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  • vanswirlyvalin

    Can't believe you didn't comment on the U2-ish looking scene on the label of the uco. The dudes look appropriately bored as if they just tasted the wine inside the bottle.

    Been drinking an outstanding $26 Chardonnay called MacRostie from Sonoma coast 2006.

  • teckdeck2008

    I expected more from the Malbec. I'm usually a big fan and find the ones I buy to be a bit more balanced. But then again, I'm a bit of a n00b when it comes to tasting wines as compared to you. My pallete is probably in a different place.
    Qotd: I don't buy one wine specifically because I try to keep drinking different stuff and only drink wine 3 to 4 times a month. My style I prefer is a balanced Argentinan or Australian style Malbec.

  • jsums

    You're in for a treat. Be sure to let it breathe in a glass or decanter for at least 45min – an hour. It's burly, complex stuff and needs some time to open. Let me know what you think…

  • ErieWineGuy

    For me, a definite yes to the Casillero del Diablo carmenere!

  • Allan

    That sounds like a sweet deal! ; (

    Pazzzzzzzzz

  • Lisa S

    I like K&L and will have to try the cab you mentioned above, if there is any left! Thx.

  • mclurker

    QOTD: TBC 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon. Gary, you'd probably hate it, but it's low in tannins and the 2009 has a deliciousness factor. I guessing that in a blind test would not know that it's a cab.

  • Lisa S

    QOTD: My value wines:
    1. Louis M Martini Sonoma Cab
    2. BR Cohn 07 Cab
    3 Four Vines Zinfandel
    4 Tin Roof Merlot – best merlot under $10 – Costo
    5: Artesa Chardonnay
    6 Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc

    Best Splurge Chardonnay: Ramey,Talbott, or Kistler
    Best Splurge Red: Pahlmeyer, Erna Schein/Berhens & Hitchcock,
    Best PN: Sea Smoke, Black Kite, Ampelos.. Would love to try Kosta Browne some day.

  • m_harrison

    Hey Gary, lurker coming out here.
    QOTD: I normally don't buy the same wine twice, but a wine that keeps me going back for more and more is Francis Coppola's 2008 Chardonnay. http://jerichowine.com/item.asp?PID=182 .
    Something about it is deliciously creamy and nutty. You'd probably hate it because it's pretty darned oaky, which I love!

  • YoungDave

    QOTD: This Chilean Chardonnay, made by Tabali in Limari Valley- a coastal appelation that I have been a huge fan of for Sauvignon Blanc lately- is the absolute closest to a chalky, mineral-driven, high-acid, oak-restrained, Cotes de Beaune style Chardonnay that I have ever tasted at this $13 price point.
    http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1054566

  • JiminAtlanta

    I just bought 2 cases from Navarro in Anderson Valley, which is my favorite Californai winery. They make acidic whites, excellent pinots, and small volume reds like Zin and Cab. All are good and reasonably priced for the quality. My favorites are the pinots.

  • QOTD: Whenever I want a bottle of something I just know for a FACT I'm gonna love, I just close my eyes and grab any bottle for the Owen Roe section on the shelf. Incredible Washington Reds and Oregon Pinots. Never had an Owen Roe I didn't like.

    http://owenroe.com/owen-roe.php

  • QOTD: I don't buy much wine heavily. I like to switch it up a lot.

  • Chris Fleser

    Great Job as always entertaining and educational!

  • dariakushmelyn

    The wine I'm riffing on right now is Chile's wonderful Perez Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2008. Deeeelicious, without being “fake”, as you put it.

    Daria

  • plcb

    QOTD: I mix it up but have been favoring Spain.

    Code: 8884
    Description: Ramon Bilbao Crianza
    Size: 750 ML
    Price: $13.99

    DE JOSE PALACIOS PETALOS DEL BIERZO

    Code: 22587
    Description: Bodegas y Vinedos Luna Beberide Finca la Cuesta 2007
    Size: 750 ML
    Price: $17.49

  • Cole

    Currently my house red is Perrin's entry level Cotes du Rhone. Nothing fancy about it but it's versatile enough to go with most of what I like to cook, and tasty enough to quaff on its own. It has nice ripe fruit without being over the top and I love the herbs and black pepper undertone. 2 for 17 bucks from my local liquor store.

    http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1045505&c…

    I haven't had one in a while but once we get a little more spring weather I'll be picking up some of Montecillo's Albarino. I loved it last year and I'm looking forward to more. I remember it having great acidity. Grapefruit and lime with some riper tropical fruit and peach flavors coming out as it opened/warmed up. It also had nuances of sea air and some serious minerality. I think I paid $12 for it.

    http://www.underdogwinemerchants.com/news/PR_Al…

    One more that is a little more under the radar. Tenuta Curezza Prine Salento 2008. This is an unoaked blend of Primitivo and Negoamaro from Puglia, Italy.

    http://www.winemessenger.com/wine/Tenuta-Curezz…

  • Phil G

    QOTD – not buying much wine these days – more drinking from 'the cellar' – lots of WLTV picks, actually.

  • Englishexlurker

    QOTD- lots of this though the 09 not 08 vintage. Previous vintages have been green and raw. In fact there was no 07. They had to blend it out presumably because of the lack of decent budget grapes that year. Clearly this this wine mops up much of the surplus cheapo grapes from all over the region and in most years is not really drinkable. Last year though there was evidently such wondrful weather that they made a very drinkable glugging wine with nice soft mellow red fruit with some appealing savory earthiness fo a ridiculous price. I am taking advantage while i can!

    http://www.waitrosewine.com/230307113/Product.aspx

    Reassuring to see Gary panning a wine that sells well in his store.

  • angelatcarlson

    Just found an Alsacian Riesling & Pinot Gris at the Grocery Outlet for under $5 each.
    Can't wait for the 20% off sale starting 3/30. : )
    In the meantime I need to drink more to make space for the new stuff.

  • bobbytiger

    Although I am a “value driven” wine drinker, I too will take a pass on the Urban Uco. As I drink more than my share of Malbec, I have seen the label for some time, but have never been driven to pick one up. It looks like I will stick to either a 100% Malbec or 100% Temp.
    QOTD? My current “go to” Red, is a 2007 “33” Trentatre Rosso. It is a blend of Merlot, Cab, and Montepulciano in equal parts. Enjoyed with traditional “red” meals, it also holds up well on its own. We purchase it at Trader Joes for about $9.00.
    We use to be big fans of the Farallion Central Valley CA Chardonnay, but for some reason, they stopped making it in mid 2009. Had a great oak/butter flavor which we have not been able to duplicate to date.
    Gary, keep these shows coming. Two rapid-fire tastings, with just enough information, easily held my attention. (What am I talking about? Actually, most of your your shows hold my attention).

  • I recently discovered a wine produced by a Macedonian winery Ezimit, called “Vranec Barrique”. http://j.mp/cOprxW It's very cheap (5 U.S. dollars) but has a rich nose. Gary would maybe not like the oakiness of it, but I find that the fruit is given enough space to express itself. Usually the wines in this price range are very scarse with fruit and lack a rich nose, but this wine is something completely different.

  • Meh,

    QOTD: Nothing too consistant, mostly list wines from assorted wineries.

  • QotD: I recently got a bottle of 2007 Stadt Krems Grüner Veltliner, Kremstal DAC, Austria at $17 for an informal wine tasting/drinking. For what it's worth, I liked it, and it definitely has the most badass label I've seen. I was at the local wine store recently and saw they had about 20 bottles on the shelf at $12 each (WHA?) so I got another. I cannot find any reviews, and I would love to know what a wine critic thinks of it.

  • QOTD: found some 2005 Château Greysac for 13 “bones” at a local retailer.

  • Anonymous

    Man, I think the taste for wine is slowly but steadily getting to my wife, yesterday we were at the supermarket and she asked me to get a couple bottles of Portuguese wine for her!! That was a huge surprise!!

  • Anonymous

    It was great…
    Monvinic is in Barcelona (BCN) The place is really good, I had a selection of cheeses and tasted 4 glasses of different wines and my wife had 2 glasses of different Champagnes and 1 of Cava, we had a great time?

  • peaceloveandpinstripes

    We buy Adami porsecco quite a bit it is pretty good and a nice price point at 12 to 15 dollars.

  • Mike in C-town

    I agree a “pulse show” would be good a couple of times a year.

    QOTD: What I've been buying lately are 04 brunello and barolo (found a lot of good ones on sale at $30). But these need to lay down, so I'm in the value plays a lot lately. Like a lot of the VG nation I'm on the Stump Jump and Martini Cab tip. Also two Spainish reds (surprise! I did say value) Capcanes Mas Donnis Barrica Montsant 05 and Emilio Moro Finca Resalso 07 (both $15). The Resalso was WS 84 which suprised me, because this is really good stuff. Though I do think WS frequently under rates Spanish wines.

  • I love the pulse show! Give us at least one a month, if not two a month…you can't take a pulse just once a year, a pulse is now, its happening, its changing, its morphing….we got to know that stuff now!

    Having finished raging about that, great episode as always. I am really excited about trying that Hundred Tree Chard…GV says everything I want to hear about Chardonnay simply by saying one descriptive word: Mâconnais-like. As soon as he drops that bomb, I'm sold. That region makes the best values Chards in the world by my reckoning. Mâconnais just has that totally unique style of its own….kind of old world/new world combo. Love it.

    On the flip side is that Urban Uco, which I have seen promoted heavily in various stores and places….and I just don't get it. I really don't like trashing a wine or a label, but I've tried it 3 times, and three strikes you are out. Sorry Urban, just not my bag. Maybe you should change your name to Urbane….it is more fitting.

    On my radar go-to reds? I've suddenly discovered a hell-ton of great Côtes du Ventoux in local shops. This stuff is great spring-time fare! La Vieille Ferme I just randomly had last nite at a dinner party, and it was the bomb with rare roast beef. That is what is so awesome about wine…you suddenly bump into a forgotten region, kind of like an old friend, and rediscover it all over again. Damn good stuff!

  • KOdyssey

    QOTD: Currently addicted to 2006 Domaine Jean Fery Savigny Les Beune… it's got a deliciousness factor to it!

    http://www.snooth.com/wine/domaine-jean-fery-et…

  • KOdyssey

    In direct comparison to the previous episode where a wine you weren't quite sure of got 89 and a wine you thought was solid got 90-91… Whereas this reasonably solid wine got 89…

    Using two consecutive episodes as evidence, can I venture the remote possibility that you still unconsciously upgrade CA wines and unconsciously downgrade Aussie wines? 😉

  • Anonymous

    Fedt billede. Jeg kan slet ikke forestille mig hvor svedig Mott’s pose er.

  • Like these pulse shows. I cant wait for the day that my buying habbits influence the winelib pulse show. DARN TN!! 🙁

    QOTD: I feel that I am so new in drinking wine, that I rarely if ever buy the same bottle twice. Unless I liked it so much I want to share it with a friend who didnt have it. Right now I want to go get a bottle of bordeaux I had last year on our anniversary. Château Greysac Medoc

    But really my craving has been for <10 spanish tempranillo. Just that really easy drinking great w/ pizza midweek wine. That is what I am craving lately, and just finished my only bottle of sunday night .

    Jason

  • benbron

    quotd – for a while now the weeknight wine of choice has been Lilla Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and a variety of $9-10 portuguese

  • Always good to see what's hot on the retail side.

    QOTD buying wine? I picked up some bizarre but delicious sauvignon blanc from south africa the other day at grocery outlet for 5.99 a bottle. I plan on buy them out next time i'm in. I don't even remember the name of it. It is on my counter at home. Started with and S

  • I have a wine that I am loving. I have to go back and get some more next week. It is a red, and that is all I will say. I don't want to get there and have them emptied from the shelves.

    Yes, it is at the Winelibrary

  • SourGrapesFC

    qotd: altano douro

  • Illegal_Formation

    Agree that the 2007 Louis M Martini is an awesome value. A little light for a cab, but had a lot going on for a $12.50 wine.

  • A dumb Rhein king

    QOTD: Not too hot into anything right now.

  • QOTD: Inniskillin Ice Wine Vidal for half off via the PLCB this week. I bought half a case. My first very happy experience with them http://winelibrary.com/wines/36639-2006+Inniski…

  • franky

    weißer burgunder and riesling from wittmann in germany. perfect!

  • Don D

    What's drinking great right now in Florida is the Domaine Jourdan Picpoul, from the Southwest region of France.

  • amoril

    I'm drinking thru my stock of Via Vega wines from Paso Robles that I picked up from their winery last month. Great people and they make 11 different varietals that are all pretty tasty I think.

  • Wana

    QOTD: My current high-volume slamming wine is Alamos Chardonnay. Purely economics at $8/btl for a case. I don't hate it, it's cheap, and I can always pull a better grade from the rack if I need to refresh my palate…

  • Anton

    I'm drinking 2000 Colle dei Venti Tufo Monferrato Rosso for $4.75 a bottle from my local wine shop in Bethesda, MD. I've gone through 2 cases already.

  • Weston3220

    qotd: Well Liking Muscadet, but not really buying a lot of wine. Especially the muscadet this Muscadet Good price in Canada http://www.marquis-wines.com/Domaine-Pierre-Lun…

  • Skippy6052

    Drinking a lot of good wines from Australia right now like the MollyDooker “Two Left Feet”, also had a Grenache from Australia “Yalumba bush vine grenache 2007” solid deals in my opinion.

  • Cant get enough Rose lately, I have been hot on this—–>

    http://www.wine.com/V6/Folie-a-Deux-Menage-a-Tr…

  • JayZee13

    What a shock! A $9 wine that wasn't very good! 😉

    QOTD: http://winelibrary.com/wines/40191-2005+Francoi… Yeah, I know, it isn't cheap. However, I got a case from Cindy wine at about $33 per bottle and this wine rocks it for my palate. I love it!

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