Castle Rock Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Paso Robles

It's never a bad idea when buying wine to ask more from the label than "California."  Now wait, I love California wine; I'm just saying that you should look for more geographic specificity on the label.  For example, Lodi, Rockpile, Mendocino County, Carneros, Santa Barbara County — or in this case — Paso Robles.  An appellation, i.e. a geographic designation, tells you that such and such a percentage of the wine actually originated from the area cited on the label.  The more specific the appellation, the smaller the plot of land that the grapes you're drinking came from. To me, a narrow appellation means a concentration of flavors in the wine.  A concentration of flavors lends to wine a personality.  Bottom line, if the Wine Thrift has to choose between a $7.99 bottle of wine from "California" and an $8.99 bottle of wine from e.g. "Paso Robles", the Wine Thrift is going with Paso.

I've spent some time in Paso Robles, not "spent time," like a year or two in California's man colony, just visited family.  Paso Robles is located in California's Central Coast, about half of the way between LA and San Fran.  If anything, Paso is reputed to have great zinfandel.  And while true, tying Paso to zinfandel sells short so much other good wine coming out of the Central Coast.  There's plenty of good grenache, shiraz, muscat, and cabernet sauvignon coming out of Paso as well.

The Castle Rock 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon notes on its label that is from Paso Robles.  My wife purchased it at the Brentwood, MO Trader Joe's for what couldn't have been more than $9.

I cut metal to find a real cork, which I like, always like, very welcome.  Smell of wine actually hit me instantly.  This is uncommon but I took it to be a good sign.

Proceeded to pour.  Found a soft, quite velvety not-too-dark wine ready with strawberry and cocoa flavors.  Not a shitty wine at all.  Could have lived another year or two in the bottle and still been plenty good, probably better.

You never know with a bottle like this but if the vintner is willing to narrow down the appellation your chances of picking a nice bottle — and one that can age a tad — increase.

Paso wines don't mess around.  I was tasting in Paso once and this guy from "S'noma" is in there with his wife asking me where I'm from and telling me where he's from.  He's saying "S'noma" like a Texan from NorCal and I'm thinking, "What did he say?  Where?"  I nodded, not knowing, only hearing him later.

And he says the Sonoma wines have more body, more character.  And I'm like, "Then why the hell are you putting two cases on your credit card?"  D bag.

That's my Paso experience.  They don't put out much Cab in Paso but that's a sort of mystery to me, especially after tasting this Castle Rock.

It is a full wine, 13.8% a.b.v., purple in taste and color.  A good I'm home tonight and tomorrow I don't have to do anything so I think I'll just sit and listen to the crickets kind of wine.

This wine receives a Wine Thrift score of 84.

The Wine Thrift scoring system weights quality and price equally.  That is to say, a wine can earn 50 possible quality points and 50 possible price points.

2007 Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc

I'm going to stop drinking grapefruit juice in the morning and instead just have a glass or two of this delightful sauvignon blanc from Chilé's Casablanca Valley.

Seriously, I'm wondering what percent of my daily vitamin C a glass or two of this can offer. It bursts with the sharp taste of grapefruit. Maybe some granny smith in there as well. It literally left the tip of my tongue buzzing. There is just the hint of graphite to pull back on the grapefruit just a bit. Similar to the taste of dried apricot.

This is a fun wine I could see myself drinking at any time. During the summer, after a run, on a picnic — whenever!

Very light in color but full of flavor. Screw cap enclosure.

At around $10.50, it's pushing the wine thrift budgetary limits. I've seen it at this price in St. Louis at both Schnuck's and World Market. The price drags down the Wine Thrift score, which comes out to be an 81. If you can find it for under $10, lucky you.

Imported by Hunceus Vintners LLC, Rutherford, CA. 13.5% ABV.

2003 Columbia Crest "Two Vines" Merlot

Let me say first that now in the second month of 2008 I am happy to see a 2003 still on the shelf. I picked up this bottle for $5.49 at a Schnuck's grocery in Ladue, MO.

This Columbia Crest merlot is a wine to cruise with. It's like a fog on a just-warm-enough night. At first I tasted green flavors — grass and apple. Those have subsided and I'm left with a dark, even wine that's well worth $5.49.

A few glasses in, I am still tasting a hint of something evergreen, coniferous. Maybe that's just me imagining what Washington is like.

This wine receives a Wine Thrift score of 87.

The Wine Thrift scoring system weights quality and price equally. That is to say, a wine can earn 50 possible quality points and 50 possible price points.


This was Wine Thrift review of the 2003 Columbia Crest "Two Vines" Merlot from Washington's Columbia Valley. Wine Thrift found this bottle on sale at Schnuck's in Ladue, MO for $5.49.

2005 PKNT Carmenére

The 2005 PKNT carmenére from Chile's Central Valley is tasty. I picked up a bottle at Randall's Wine and Spirits in St. Louis, MO for around $7. A sip of this wine begins in the same way that it ends — with a controlled explosion of pepper and fruit. Don't hold this bottle around for too long after you open it, though. I found that the tannins were a bit harsh upon finishing off this bottle 24 hours later.

I have to say that I had my doubts about this bottle but I bought it because I had recently had some Chilean carmenére that I thought was pretty darn good. At $7 I figured that this bottle was worth the risk.

I say risk because this is a cheesy looking bottle of wine. It has a big red picante pepper on the front and below that a hot pink label identifying the wine. On the pink label is a sticker signifying that this wine won a gold medal from the San Antonio Express News in 2006.

The back label proclaims that "PKNT (Picante) is THE new wine from Chile made from 100% carmenere grapes." This winemaker is clearly excited about its wine and rightfully so.

The Wine Thrift doesn't worry about pairing food and wine. So I don't have any recommendations about "what this wine would go well with." Frankly, I think wine is best drunk on its own, from the bottle.

I give 2005 PKNT carmenére a Wine Thrift rating of 82. My scoring system weights quality and price equally. That is to say, a wine can earn 50 possible quality points and 50 possible price points.

Miscellaneous facts. Alcohol 13.5% by volume. Imported by Classic Wines of California, Ceres, CA. Produced and bottled for Terraustral S.A. Randall's Wine and Spirits is located at 1910 S. Jefferson Ave. in St. Louis. Right near I-44.

I wouldn't keep this bottle in my cellar for more than a year or two.

The End of Crane Lake Petite Sirah?

If there is a Wine Thrift Hall of Fame, Crane Lake's Petite Sirah might well be the first wine enshrined.

I have experience with the 2003 and 2004 Crane Lake Petite Sirah. Upon cursory investigation, however, I regret to inform you that it seems Crane Lake has not put out a petite sirah for 2005, much less 2006. This is a real shame.

I could pick up my Crane Lake petite sirah for $3.99/bottle here in St. Louis. Either at Schnuck's or the Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton.

Crane Lake's petite sirah was my go-to wine. It was a good value. A dark, inky wine that was highly versatile. Mostly, I liked to open a bottle late at night and drink out of the bottle while reading. I figured, "Hey, it's only $3.99. I'll go pick up another bottle tomorrow. No big deal."

And, too, I found I could age the Crane Lake petite sirah a little bit. I'm not talking about ten years here. But I opened a Crane Lake petite sirah 2003 last week and there's wasn't a single thing wrong with it. I thought I detected just a bit more depth, grit, dirt. I remarked that the Crane Lake petite sirah could probably be consumed five years past label. And who knows: maybe six or seven? I have aged some other petite sirah (Clay Station, Lodi, 2002) and wow was that stuff good.

Well, the infamous Crane days have drawn to a close, it seems. Now the search begins for "The Next Crane Lake." Sure, Crane Lake puts out a merlot, a cabernet sauvignon, a chardonnay, a sauvignon blanc. But that petite sirah was special.

Wine Thift Pops its Cork

There are a lot of wine blogs out there. This blog strives to remain up-to-date. Its mission is to look at cheap, ahem, inexpensive wines that despite their price are some damn good bottles of wine. The Wine Thrift believes he can stay happy drunk on wine without going bankrupt. This is the happy medium.