A couple of weeks ago I reviewed an Argentine Malbec (May 14) very favorably.  This is another excellent red from the same region, but the similarities end there.  While Malbec is Argentina's signature wine, this Syrah is almost an homage to the French Rhone style.  The peppery, cedar spice and the tannic, yet thin texture are typical of Chateauneuf-du-Pape that sell for $18-20.  Henry LeGarde has been making wine for more than 100 years (of solitude, ha!) in the Mendoza valley, Argentina's finest wine growing region.  There 97 Syrah was made entirely from estate-grown grapes.  A very romantic, traditional bottle of wine.

You know the old saying: "if something looks too good to be true, it probably is."  And a Napa Cab (any Napa Cab) for $10 doesn't seem quite right.  But I'm an eternal optimist (when it comes to red wine) and had to give it a try.  Good thing that I did.  This was a good drink.  Lots going on in the glass, and a flavor that opened up over several minutes.  Not the greatest Cab ever, but a very real wine.  

Coyote Creek is new to me; definitely not a brand that has had any retail expose in the Houston market in the last five years.  A bit of a mystery too.  Their web site makes no mention of any Napa wines, only Paso Robles.  Still, there it was, on the shelf.  Napa Cab...  ten bucks...  powerful red...  how can you beat that?

A personal note:  Last week I was in California, interviewing for a marketing job at E&J Gallo.  I was excited by the prospect of returning to the wine industry.  Sadly, I was not selected for the position.  If anyone I spoke to at Gallo reads this, it's my "no hard feelings" review.

Rancho Zabaco is a neat brand concept.  Gallo describes it as "Zin-centric".  Much like Ravenswood, Zabaco bottles other wines but focuses on a line of Zinfandels, including California, Sonoma, Russian River Valley, and even single vineyard appellations.  This "Heritage Vines" bottle is the mid-tier Zin, and it is a real bang for the buck wine.  As loyal readers know, I'm a big fan of big Zins.  This one certainly qualifies with all the flavors right where they should be.  Rich, tart, fruity, spicy.  A great buy.

The Argentines make some great red wine.  It makes perfect sense; they eat more beef per capita than any other country.  Malbec is not yet a well known grape in the US.  Cahores, a tiny commune in southern France, makes a Malbec wine.  In Bordeaux it is widely used, but only in small amounts to add color when reds are too light.  But the Argentine wine makers have embraced it as their own. Malbec is their unique statement, much like Zinfandel is in California.  

Malbec makes a dark, almost black-red, wine.  Bad Malbec is terrible, like having dirty shag carpet in your mouth.  But good Malbec is rich and tannic, lush and robust.  This bottle from Alta Vista is killer.  Merlot smooth with Cabernet bite.  

Note: There are some great Argentine wines available now.  Look for Mendoza on the label, a high, mountainous region known for excellent reds.

Moet & Chandon, White Star, non-vintage.  $35ish.  Recommendation:  Drink.  Logan provided a bottle of bubbly to help celebrate after receiving my degree, repaying when I did the same for him four years ago.  He did not disappoint.  White Star is the standard for a toast to a job well done.  It's a great Champagne, the best you can get without getting insanely expensive.  White Star is an extra-dry, so there's just a hint of sweetness.  A brut Champagne may be better with food, but for clinking glasses and sipping with friends, this is the way to go.

Lindeman's, 1999 Shiraz, Bin 50.  Australia.  Going out of business price at Albertson's.  Recommendation:  Drink.  Later in the day, Norma hosted an open house celebration.  She's wonderful!  When her neighborhood Albertson's went out of business she loaded up on discounted wine.  This 1.5 L Australian Shiraz was a great party wine.  Pretty soft in the mouth, very refreshing.  An easy afternoon wine.

I'm a fan of Sangiovese, especially when it's toughened up with a splash of something stronger (see May 2nd Chianti review).  Col di Sasso is a 70/30 blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon from Tuscany.  Banfi is a dependable Tuscan name, and this is one of their fun wines.  It's a great hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant wine, which is exactly where we enjoyed it.  Easy drinking and delicious, with full flavor and just enough texture to go with olive oil and garlic-heavy foods.  It should run under $10 at Specs, and I strongly recommend picking up a bottle the next time you're making lasagna or homemade paste sauce.

South African wines started to get a lot of attention in the US during the 80s, but quickly receded.  I've heard it said that the end of apartheid forced the grape growers to pay their workers a living wage, and that price shock took a lot of steam out of the industry.  Don't know if that's true or not.  There is a great red unique to South Africa called Pinotage, a cross breed of Pinot Noir and Syrah (I think), that's worth seeking out.

This one was less than stellar.  It's hard to judge this wine, because it might have been good once and gone bad, or it might have always been bad.  Five years is a long time for a Pinot Gris, and the Van Loveren was cloudy and musty, with off flavors.  There was also a sweetness that seems way out of place in a Pinot Gris, and that might have been there from the beginning.  Just to be fair, I'll try to review a good South African in the next couple of weeks.

Perhaps you don't think very highly of Chianti?  Well, was the last bottle of Chianti you tried wrapped in a wicker basket?  Was it six bucks?  Perhaps that was the problem.  Chianti (at least, some Chianti) has come a long way in recent years.  Traditionally, the blending of Chianti was directed by Italian wine laws (called DOCG) to contain a percentage of several inferior grapes varieties, including a white one.  

But Chianti producers, recognizing the potential quality of their Tuscan vineyards, have successfully lobbied to change the DOCG, giving winemakers the discretion to make truly superior wines that still bear the Chianti label.  Such a wine is the Reserva by Rocca Della Macie.  95% Sangiovese and 5% Merlot, it was an outstandingly earthy wine with great structure and finesse.  A great wine to enjoy with Norma's birthday dinner.

Now, as long as I'm on a soap box...  while I did feel that the Rocca was a good find, Mia Bella's wine list has been consistently disappointing since the restaurant opened almost three years ago.  All restaurant wine lists are over priced, but this one is awful.  The selection is weak, and most of the bottles offered are low-end grocery store Italian wines, making the ridiculous mark-up even more transparent.  $18 for a bottle of Cavit Pinot Grigio!  Are you kidding me?!  This puzzles me to no end considering that Mi Luna, Mia Bella's Spanish sister restaurant in the Rice Village, has such a good wine list.

Around '97 to '99 it really looked like Australian wines were going to take the U.S. by storm.   Lindeman's Chard was flying off the shelves, and at the higher end Rosemont Estates was selling good reds in volume.  A lot of Australian brands were ready to jump in and grab a piece of that action.  Oxford Landing was one of them, and as promising a candidate as any.  Unfortunately, the market never materialized.  Plenty of good Aussie wines sell in the boutique arena, but in the mainstream wine trade it turned out that two Australian brands were plenty.

Oh well.  Oxford Landing's still around as a niche player.  This Limited Release Shiraz is an interesting drink.  The texture is Chianti thin, but it's packed with flavor.  Very much in keeping with its ancestor, the Syrah of Cotes du Rhone.  Astringent at first, but after a few minutes it opened up with a lot of herbal and minty flavor, berry fruit and spice.  Fun and different.