South Carolina Wine Joe

Infinito 2012 is the fourth red blend that is part of the spring Costco wine sale at our local warehouse.  Costco has reduced the regular price of $19.99 to $15.99, thus making it the most expensive of the red blends in the sale.  The bottle prominently displays a Wine Spectator rating of 91 points on the front label. Infinito comes from Jumilla in south central Spain and is a blend of Monastrell, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.  The grapes are from 40 year old vineyards and the wine has 15% alcohol. The wine is full bodied with flavors of cherry and vanilla.  I found the wine to be more acidic than I prefer but that was my only objection.  From my research online, I think others appreciated this wine more than I did. SC Wine Joe rating = 88 points

Mercer Canyons Columbia Valley Red 2013 is a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Syrah.  It is interesting that they have chosen to market this wine as a red blend rather than a Merlot.  Perhaps previous vintages have had less Merlot in the wine than the 2013.  The winemaker has barrel aged the Merlot and the Syrah separately for up to 12 months and then blended them together.  The label states the alcohol content as 13.9%. This enjoyable wine has flavors of black cherry and plum.  The website claims that caramel is also part of the flavor mix but I did not detect that.  Perhaps, I will sense it the next time, if only due to the power of suggestion.   I definitely liked the wine and will buy it again.  Our local Costco included this in the current wine sale and it is reduced $2 to $7.79.  (I bought it prior to the sale for the higher price)  This is a great value at $9.79 or $7.79. I have one criticism and that is that the back label has a story about cattle grazing and tells nothing usefu

Ferari-Carano is one of my favorite Sonoma County wineries.  In the past year, I have enjoyed many bottles of their Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc.  Recently Costco was selling their Siena Red wine for $16.99 but now has it on sale for $11.49 locally until April 8.  This wine sells online for $23, so Costco is selling it for half of the online price.  It was an easy decision to place a bottle in my cart. Siena is a Sangiovese blend that also includes Malbec, Petit Sirah and some Cabernet Sauvignon.  The grapes are from the Dry Creek Valley, Alexander Valley and Russian River Valley areas of Sonoma County.  The wine is aged for 12 months in 20% new Hungarian oak and 80% older French and Hungarian oak and is said to be 14.5% alcohol. This Italian style wine is medium bodied with flavors of cherry, black cherry, blueberry and cherry cola.  The tannins are soft and not overpowering.  I have had several North American Sangiovese wines in the last year and have enjoyed every one, but I think