South Carolina Wine Joe

It has been a year since I have posted to the South Carolina Wine Blog.  However, I was provided with an advance copy of the latest novel by Steven Laine entitled Dragon Vine   for my review.  Mr. Laine writes novels with a wine focused theme and I reviewed Mr. Laine's previous novel Root Cause  in 2019, which I greatly enjoyed. The synopsis of Dragon Vine is as follows: When his father dies in a wildfire, Carmine Cooper takes over the family winery in the middle of harvest, putting his dreams of becoming an architect on hold. He soon finds himself fighting with a vengeful neighbor, blackmailed by a local gang, harassed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities, and the target of an ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives) investigation. Carmine’s only hope to solve his problems and finish his first solo vintage successfully rests in identifying an unknown grape variety his father grew and made into wine for a quarter century wit...

  We enjoy finishing a nice dinner with a small amount of sweet desert wine. Dessert wines can be made from grapes that are naturally high in sugar or grapes that are late harvested to achieve maximum sugar. Then, the fermentation process is cut short, so all of the sugar is not turned into alcohol. Dessert wine can be made from many different grapes, both white and red. We want to highlight three types of dessert wines that we enjoy. They are Moscato, Sauternes and Port. Moscato is a white grape that is naturally high in sugar. The wine made from these grapes is aged in stainless steel. The semi sweet wine has aromas and flavors of pears, peaches and tropical fruit. The alcohol content is low and this is a pleasant finish to a meal of seafood or poultry. Terrific Moscato comes from Italy as well as California.  Bartenura Moscato from Italy is a top seller and we bought this bottle for $11.99 at Total Wine. Sauternes is an exceptional dessert wine from Bordeaux...

Today, March 18, 2021, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Furman University will interact with its members by Zoom in a live version of the OlliLife newsletter.  For the past few years, we have posted a short wine blog in the newsletter and during the past year we have participated in the live zoom versions.  Today, Wine Jane and I will discuss some world regions with excellent values in wine.  Todays presentation will also be available for viewing next week on the Olli @Furman YouTube channel. The three recommended wines mentioned on todays "OlliLife Live" are: Parcelica Grande 2018  Yecla Spain 70% Monastrell,  15% Granacha,  15% Merlot $11.99 Total Wine Phebus Torrontes 2020 Mendozza Argentina  $10.99  Total Wine Famiglia Castellani Chianti Classico Reserva 2015 Chianti Classico, Tuscany, Italy Red Blend $13.99 Costco

 After a recent shopping trip to Total Wine, they enticed me to come back with a 20% off coupon for their winery direct wines.  I wanted to try a new Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, but I think I have previously tried every winery direct Oregon Pinot Noir under $20 in the store and never found one that I would buy again.  So, I decided to search out the winery direct pinots up to $30 since my coupon would get me under $24.  After some online review, I selected Cardwell Hill Cellars Estate Bottled Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2016 ($27.99 reduced to $22.40) and I really made an excellent choice. Caldwell Hill Cellars is owned by a retired Fleur Corp engineer and his wife who love both Oregon and wine.  All of their wines are made with estate grown grapes and they use biodynamic farming practices. Dark cherry aromas greet you from the glass.  A complex taste of cherry, dark cherry, raspberry and spice arrive first, followed by some oak and tannins.  The fi...

We are continuing our search for world wine regions with quality wines at value prices.  One such region is Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France.  This is a large wine producing region stretching along the Mediterranean Sea north of the border with Spain.  One third of all wine from France originates from this area but it is not as well known in the US as other regions.  Languedoc has a past history of producing low cost bulk wines, but that is changing.  Because of this history, the region is less prestigious than other regions and wines can be good quality for less money.   Rhone varieties as well as international varieties of grapes are grown in Languedoc. I love Pinot Noir, especially from the Willamette Valley, Oregon.  The problem is that good quality Pinot Noir is expensive and I do not judge it to be a good use of my resources to spend $30 or more on an ordinary weeknight for a bottle of wine.  So, I am constantly searching for qua...

 It has been a little over 3 months since I last posted on this blog.  I have taken that time to enjoy old favorites as well as wines bought directly from wineries.   I needed a break from trying a lot of unfamiliar wines so that I might have something new to write about.   However, now I am planning a live video post for the OlliLife newsletter at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Furman University about value wines from lesser known wine regions and this will require Wine Jane and I to do a lot of research.  Well, someone has to do it! There are few places that have as much affordable quality wine as Spain.  The best known wines from Spain come from areas like Rioja in the northern part of Spain.  However, even greater values can be found further south in the areas bordering the Mediterranean Sea.  One such area is Yecla, about 50 miles inland from the sea.  In the past seven years, I have posted about four wines from Yeccl...

 I was aware of the reputation of Ken Wright Cellars for Willamette Valley Pinot Noir but had never tried one of their wines.  The winery is most known for single vineyard Pinot Noirs but their entry level wine is a blend from several vineyards.  When I have looked for wine from Ken Wright, I have either found the single vineyard wines costing more than $60 or I have found the entry level Willamette Valley blend priced significantly higher than the $22 price on the winery website.  One well known wine shop in downtown Greenville actually sells it for $34.  I guess that the wine must be really good to command higher than retail prices. Two things have recently happened.  Costco has a Ken Wright premium Pinot Noir for around $40 and Whole Foods Market has the entry level Willamette Valley Pinot Noir on sale for $22 rather than their usual price of $27.  I chose the entry level Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and I am sure glad that I did. Ken Wright Willame...

Here are some wines we recently purchased at Costco: Kirkland Signature Barolo 2015 Wines from Barolo are considered to be the finest from Italy.  Made from the Nebbiolo grape, they usually sell for $40 and more making the Costco price of $19.99 very special.  The wine has flavors of cherry, black cherry and blackberry.  SC Wine Joe rating = 92 points Ottosoldi Gavi 2018 This is a refreshing wine which is an enjoyable break from Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio.  It is $11.89 at Costco and has flavors of citrus, lemon and melon.  SC Wine Joe does not assign numerical ratings for white wine but we really enjoy this and have purchased additional bottles. Famiglia Castellani Chianti Classico Reserva 2015 This is one of the best Chianti wines we have tasted in recent years.  It is 100% Sangiovese with flavors of cherry and black cherry.  Costco is selling this for $13.59.   SC Wine Joe rating = 91 points Kirland Signature Ribera del D...

Last March, I wrote about the enjoyable 2016 Shelton Vineyards North Carolina Cabernet Franc.  Well, last week I ordered a case of wine from Shelton Vineyards which included the 2017 vintage North Carolina Cabernet Franc and it was even better than the 2016.  In fact, it was fantastic. The 2017 North Carolina Cabernet Franc is a much richer, darker wine than the 2016.  The previous vintage leaned toward cherry flavors but the 2017  is a darker color and leans more to black cherry and cola flavors.  The alcohol content has increased to 13.1%. This is a new release and the winery has not updated their website.  Previous vintages have blended small amounts of tannat and petit verdot with the cabernet franc.  Since this wine is labeled as North Carolina rather than Yadkin Valley, there is still some mystery about the source of the grapes.  Never the less, this is a terrific, delicious North Carolina Cabernet Franc.  The winery sells this for...

Yesterday, we had our first opportunity to visit Marked Tree Vineyard.  Market Tree Vineyard opened this past Memorial Day weekend and it is located east of Flat Rock, North Carolina, in the Crest of the Blue Ridge Henderson County AVA. Crest of the Blue Ridge Henderson County just received American Viticulture Area designation and currently has five Vineyard tasting rooms open to the public: Burntshirt Vineyards Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards Point Lookout Vineyards Marked Tree Vineyard (opened May 2020) Stone Ashe Vineyard (opened July 2020) Marked Tree Vineyard sits on the Eastern US Continental Divide.  The small but pleasant tasting room is situated on the top of a mountain and there are outstanding views in every direction from the outdoor seating areas.  Mount Pisgah could actually be seen in the distance.  Since we visited on a Monday, there were few customers and it was no problem to maintain social distancing. The grape vines w...

Since I have reduced the frequency of my posts, we have not been experimenting as much with new wines.  This has enabled us to go back and enjoy many of our old favorites.  One of our all time favorites is King Estate Willamette Valley Pinot Gris.  We drank this regularly a few years ago when it was stocked by Costco, but in recent years we enjoyed a variety of Oregon Pinot Gris searching for a new wine to blog about. We are regularly asked about the difference between Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio.  Both are made from the same grape.  In France, the grape is called Pinot Gris and in Italy it is called Pinot Grigio.  The style of the wine is a little different in the two countries with Pinot Gris generally more full bodied and complex.  In Oregon, the wine is usually made in the style made famous in the Alsace region of France and thus is called Pinot Gris. King Estate Pinot Gris has been the best selling Oregon Pinot Gris for many years.  ...

SC Wine Joe blog began in November 2013.  In that period, I have written 480 posts.  These have included descriptions of wineries we visited and OLLI events that we led, but most blogs were our opinions of new wines that we tried.  Wine Jane and I enjoy trying new wines and comparing our impressions, but lately we are finding those new wines to be less enjoyable.  In recent years, we have averaged around 6 posts per month.  It takes a lot of new wines to find 6 that might be interesting enough to write about and you would be surprised how many have been poured down the drain.  We are now wanting to enjoy some old favorites that we have found.  We are not ending this blog, but going forward we will post once or twice per month on average.  Some months may have no posts.  Thank you for your continued readership. Bernie and Cindy

Costco has had La Gitana Gold Rioja Reserva 2015 in some stores as early as September 2019, but I just found it locally last week.  Costco's price of $11.99 seems to be about half of the original price and the bottle sports a sticker proclaiming that Wine Enthusiast thinks this warrants 94 points.  While I do not find many 94 point wines for under $12, I do often find Spanish wines that over-deliver for their price. La Gitana gold is made from Tempranillo grown on 60 year old vines in the Rioja region of northern Spain.  It is aged for 28 months in American oak and an additional 12 months in the bottle.  The alcohol content is stated as 14.5%. This wine improved significantly after 45 minutes, so I recommend aerating it accordingly.  I get aromas of cherry, blackcherry and vanilla in the glass.  I taste cherry, black cherry, spice, oak and minor blackberry.  This is a great wine for a small price and it is one of the best Spanish wines I have ta...

My recent delivery of wines from Jolo Vineyards included a bottle of Golden Hallows White Wine Blend.  Last year, I wrote about the 2016 vintage of this wine that I found at a wine shop.  I really enjoyed the 2016 but I think this 2019 is even better.  This wine was bottled and released 3 months after harvest, so it does not experience much aging.  With a wine like this, the current vintage is always better than one that is a couple of years old.  Jolo Golden Hallows 2019 is a blend of 75% Vidal Blanc and 25% Traminette, both French-American hybrid grapes.  The alcohol content is listed as 12.5%. We enjoyed flavors of pineapple, peach, tangerine and a little honey.  As I said in my previous review, this is summer in a glass.  Obviously, this is a great wine to enjoy on the patio but I wondered how it would be with food.  Well, we paired it with baked Mahi and it was terrific.  I highly recommend this summer treat. Jolo sells Golden...

I have been drinking wine purchased directly from my favorite wineries for several weeks, but now feel that I can mix in some wines from big box retailers.  Therefore, I was quite happy to find this Canoe Ridge The Expedition Merlot at Costco.  Canoe Ridge has long been one of my favorite wine brands from the Columbia Valley and I always grab a few bottles anytime Costco has a Canoe Ridge wine. I have noticed that Canoe Ridge will vary the blends on their wines significantly from year to year.  Whereas the 2016 Merlot had 19% Syrah, the 2017 has no Syrah but blends 4% Cabernet Franc with 96% Merlot.  The 2017 Merlot spends one year in French Oak and the alcohol is stated as 13.5%. With this wine, I taste dark berry fruit with some cherry cola.  The tannins are medium intensity and the finish is long and slightly spicy.  I keep finding great values in red wine from Washington and this is no exception.  Wine Spectator rates this as 91 points  an...

Shadow Springs Vineyard has a sister named Windsor Run Cellars located a couple of miles away.  All of the wine making takes place at Windsor Run, which is both a winery and a distillery.  One of the Windsor Run products is a distilled spirit named Shadow Hawk, made from Seyval Blanc grapes grown onsite. In recent years, a number of wineries have introduced wines aged in bourbon or whiskey barrels.  Sometimes, the barrel flavors mask mediocre wine.  Shadow Springs Brandy Barrel Select Red wine is a blend of Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc from more than one vintage year.  The wine was aged one year in oak barrels and 8 months in used Shadow Hawk brandy barrels.  The result is quite different. On the nose, you detect black cherry and chocolate but the brandy aroma dominates.  This is a delicious rich blend of black cherry, blackberry, chocolate, cola and brandy flavors.  It is a bold mouthful of flavor with a very long finish.  This wine is...

Pere Ami is a label produced by Willamette Valley Vineyards in honor of founder Jim Bernau's father, Fred Bernau.  Pere Ami translates as "Father, Friend".  Fred Bernau was a lawyer in the Umpqua Valley of southern Oregon in the 1960's who helped a vineyard pioneer secure one of the first winery licenses in the state after prohibition.  The sketch of Fred Bernau on the label was drawn by his granddaughter. Pere Ami 2017 is a blend of 45% Tempranillo, 36% Syrah and 19% Grenache with a stated alcohol content of 13.9%.  I detected aromas of cherry and raspberry and the color is red/purple.  This is a smooth medium to full body wine that begins with flavors of cherry and black cherry followed by blackberry.  There is nice acidity and a long spicy finish.  This is a well made wine with complex flavors. This wine will need to be purchased directly from Willamette Valley Vineyards and it is priced at $35.  If you are supporting the winery by purchasi...

In a very short time, Jolo Vineyards has become one of the most successful wineries in the Yadkin Valley.  Jolo, located in Pilot Mountain, N.C., features one of the most beautiful tasting rooms in the region with a fine restaurant and breathtaking views of Pilot Mountain.  The wines are made from French-American Hybrid grapes but vinifera vines have been planted for future harvests. We are continuing our support of independent wineries during the pandemic period.  We took advantage of a Jolo offer of 4 selected wines for a reduced price with free shipping.  The package included Crimson Creek Chambourcin, which we have enjoyed in past visits to the tasting room. The wine pours a deep dark red color with raspberry and spice aromas.  The wine was released only a few months after harvest.  The wine is more vibrant and light fruit forward than most Chambourcin I have tasted.  I note cherry, raspberry and blueberry flavors with a lingering spicy finish....

As part of my effort to support my favorite independent wineries during the "shelter in place" period, I ordered a delivery from Shadow Springs Vineyard.  Shadow Springs and it's sister winery Windsor Run Cellars are located in the southwest corner of the Yadkin Valley, within the Swan Creek sub-AVA.  There are 7 wineries located within this small area with more to come.  The other wineries/vineyards in Swan Creek are Dobbins Creek, Laurel Gray, Midnight Magdalena, Piccione and Raffaldini.  Shadow Springs Vineyards Meritage is a 2014 vintage wine made from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot, aged for almost 24 months in oak.  The wine is labeled as "Yadkin Valley" so not all of the grapes are from Swan Creek AVA. There is a inviting aroma of blueberry and blackberry in the glass.  The flavors are a complex combination of dark cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and tannins.   This is one of the best red blends I have encou...

We continue enjoying wines ordered directly from wineries.  In a previous post, I noted that Shelton Vineyards in North Carolina was offering a 20% discount on six bottles with free shipping.  That offer is still available and it is one of the best sales around. The Two-Five-Nine wines are Shelton's premium reserve offerings.  We have found that there is a sharp increase in quality in the Two-Five-Nine wines over the lesser priced Estate wines and we especially recommend the Petit Verdot and Tannat wines. The Tannat wine grape originated in southwest France.  Today, it is the national grape of Uruguay and it is grown in small amounts in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.  It was often grown in those eastern states to blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to give the wine darker color and more body but in recent years, a few wineries are experimenting with producing Tannat wine.  I recently tasted a Tannat from Uruguay and it was delicious and ...