How To Pronounce Willamette

One of the dangers of being a wine podcaster is you have to say wine terms and regions out loud. It’s hard enough to keep everything spelled correctly and often over the years I’ve made some embarrassing mistakes on the podcast. But the one that is probably most distressing for me was my butchering of [...]

How To Pronounce Willamette originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Sanaa Lathan Sara Foster Sara Spraker Sarah Gellman

Tasting Report: Current Releases from Banshee Wines

Purchase a half-case or more of our wines and receive 1/2 off shipping with checkout code "750m37"

Although I'm not reading as much doom and gloom about the economic state of the wine industry lately, there seems to be no shortage of high quality juice looking to be liquidated by relabelers. There was a good story in the Sunday Globe about Boston-based 90+ Cellars. Another label that's gaining notoriety amongst my deal hound friends thanks to a push from highly regarded local retailers is Banshee Wines.

Banshee's goal is "to delivery distinctive wines that beat the pants off many costing twice as much." Their focus is on domestic reds - mostly Cabernet and Pinot Noir - made in a plush, approachable style. In their best efforts they succeed in finding an intersection between high quality, deliciousness, and affordability I seek out as a deal hound.

I wrote about the 2007 Banshee Cabernet Sauvignon previously - rating it 93/100 points and assigning it a "Value Alert" moniker.  I've recently tasted through more current releases from Banshee and although none rise to the level of the 2007, at least at this point in my opinion, I'm pleased with the pattern I'm seeing. They're putting some very good wine in the market at compelling prices.

Here are my notes:

2009 Banshee Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
14.5% Alcohol
$27.50 Release Price


I read a lot of tasting notes saying how a wine really opened up after an hour our two. You're about to read another one of those.

I bought quite a bit of this wine so when I first opened it I was a little disappointed. It was a little tight, tart, and awkward. But after sipping on it over the course of an evening it really developed beautifully. The aromas and flavors get darker and and richer over time. Some slightly silty tannins in the background.

All in all I think it's great now and all indications are it would improve from just a little bottle age. Nothing crazy - just a year or two. If you want to drink it now, I'd recommend trying a sip, decanting or aerating, or saving a good portion of the bottle for the next night.

What was remaining in the bottle the 2nd day was very good which is unusual for a domestic Pinot Noir and a good indication this needs a little time. 

90/100 WWP: Outstanding 


2008 Banshee Cabernet Sauvignon
14.5% Alcohol
$35 Release Price

Medium to full bodied. Dusty blackberries on the nose. Satisfying velvety mouth feel. Some chalky tannins - a little grip. Some acidity. Quite smooth considering its youth. Might improve a little with 2 - 3 years of age but no reason to wait too long to open this one.

90/100 WWP: Outstanding


2009 Banshee Rickshaw Pinot Noir Sonoma County
14.6% Alcohol
$14 Release Price

If you can get past the label on their Rickshaw wines you're in for a treat.

This wine is nicely transparent visually but clings to the glass due to its 14.6% alcohol and resulting high viscosity. The nose lacks some markers that would otherwise tip its hand as being Pinot Noir when tasted blind, but in its place it there is ample round fruit and a hint of spice.

Really pleases with root beer flavors on the palate on top of supporting round fruit. Some acidity. Hard not to like this. 90 points if you're in the mood for a relaxing vacation in southern California, significantly lower if you'd rather be reading a book about Burgundy on a cold winter night. 

89/100 WWP: Very Good 


2009 Banshee Pinot Noir Sonoma County
14.4% Alcohol
$27.50 Release Price

So young it practically tastes unfinished to me. Won't open another bottle for a year.

Not Rated - will taste another bottle in a year.

Question of the Day: What do you think of Banshee Wines? What are some other relabeling operations you've been impressed with?


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Pamela Anderson Paris Hilton Patricia Velásquez Paula Garcés

13 Words About Wine and the Luxury Of Ignoring Them

Looking over the agenda at the 4th Wine Bloggers Conference set for July 22-24, I came across a pretty interesting looking session: "Ignite Wine". It's described this way "At an Ignite show, volunteer presenters each have five minutes to enlighten...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FermentationTheDailyWineBlog/~3/Ma4Rm6qC4Ec/13-words-about-wine-and-the-luxury-of-ignoring-them.html

Monica Potter Monika Kramlik Moon Bloodgood Mýa

Chono, Syrah Reserva 2008

There are a ton of great wine values out in the market today but I’m always pleased to find wines that considerably outperform their price. And tonight I have such an example. As I’ve blogged recently, Syrah has been a tough sale here in the U.S. I think it’s due to a few factors that’s [...]

Chono, Syrah Reserva 2008 originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Nicollette Sheridan Nikki Cox Nikki Reed Norah Jones

Ar.Pe.Pe. ? mountain Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo, it’s not just for Piedmont! Well, actually it is just for Piedmont (think: Barolo, Barbaresco) since there are so few examples of the grape outside the region. But consider this example from Valtellina, in the adjacent region of Lombardy, slammed up against the alps and Switzerland. Perched at about 4,200 ft altitude, the vineyards [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/CLxS7ATTVJM/

Marisa Coughlan Marisa Miller Marisa Tomei Marla Sokoloff

Vote in the Wine Blog Awards!

So, there’s this thing called the Wine Blog Awards which is sort of a hybrid of the Oscars and the People’s Choice Awards.

The awards combine a juried review along with popular voting and recognize English language wine blogs in a number of categories like, “Best Writing,” “Best Business Blog,” “Best Wine Reviews,” “Best Overall,” and so on.  There are eight categories overall and not all blogs are a fit for every category as there are a few specialty areas like, “Best Single Subject,” “Best Winery Blog,” etc.

Like all awards, because we take our cues from popular culture, most people are “humbled” and diffident when named a finalist and/or a winner, and secretly (or not so secretly) peeved if they’re not acknowledged.  If nothing else, this is a measure of the influence of the awards in the online wine writing community.

image

I’ve been a finalist or a winner since the inception of the awards in 2007, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I like winning.

However, up until last year, I was winning awards because of my blog design – which, frankly, I conceived, but I paid for with the help of an ace designer.  So, these were hollow victories because it had nothing to do with writing, where I put in actual effort.

Then, last year, I had a breakthrough of sorts and I was a winner in the, “Best Business Blog” category – recognition for writing capably about wine marketing and the wine industry.  Yes!  This was good because the purpose of this site is to write column-style and make the wine business (behind the lifestyle façade) interesting and accessible.

Flash forward a year and I’ve been named a finalist in three categories and they’re not the design category (thank goodness). 

Please vote for whomever you deem worthy in the Wine Blog Awards.  You’ll see that I’m a finalist in the following categories:  “Best Overall,” “Best Business Blog,” “Best Writing.”

Vote here.

As always, thanks for reading Good Grape and helping me, a schooled journalist, but non-professional writer, pursue my interest in wine while scratching my creative itch and hopefully, as George Bernard Shaw, perhaps the most oft-quoted guy that nobody knows what he’s known for, said, “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple.  But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/vote_in_the_wine_blog_awards/

Kelly Ripa Kelly Rowland Kerry Suseck Kim Kardashian