Monday, August 22, 2011

Pioneer Wine Company

Pioneer Portfolio tasting

O.k., I’ve had a VERY busy week, so I’m going to blog in reverse of the dates I actually tasted these wines.

When I returned from TexSom on Tuesday, I went directly the the Pioneer Wine Company Portfolio tasting. There were about 150 wineries represented, and there were easily over 1000 wines there to try.

I was pretty wiped out after TexSom, but made it a point to taste several specific wines, and several recommended “value” wines.

Here’s what I tried:

Tuck Beckstoffer

I thought that all of these wines were outstanding, but each came up a little short when it came to price. If you have the money to spare, these are all exceptional!

2007 Pinot Noir “Semper” Gold Ridge Vineyard

2007 Pinot Noir “Ellenbach Vineyard

2008 Chardonnay “Semper”

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon “Mockingbird Red”

Betts & Scholl

I thought that this brand was worth the money. Maybe not big values, but worth every penny!

2008 Grenache “OG”

2007 Grenache “Chronique”

2008 Shiraz “Black Betty”

Renteria Wines

I know Oscar Renteria from his work as a vineyard manager, and also his projects with Steve Reynolds of Reynolds Family Wines. However, I didn’t realize that his own label had such bargains. These were exceptional for the price, Especially the “Salva Tierra” Cabernet!

2009 Chardonnay

2007 Pinot Noir “RRV”

2007 Pinot Noir “Knittel Vineyard”

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon “Napa”

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon “Salva Tierra”

Surh Luchtel

This brand had some real standouts for price (marked by an asterisk *), and also a few that I thought didn’t quite deliver. However, they are all well-made.

2008 Viognier “Fortunati Vineyard”

2007 Pinot Noir *

2007 “Mosaique” Red Wine *

2006 Cab Sauv “Stagecoach Vineyard” *

Tortoise Creek

I had not tried these wines in over five years, and I’m happy to report that they’ve just gotten better over the years. For a “value” label, these guys really over deliver!

2008 Chardonnay “Jam’s Blend”

2008 Cab Sauv “Cherokee Lane

2008 Zinfandel “Chelonian”

2009 Pinot Noir “Les Oliviers”

2009 Viognier “le Verger”

2010 Tiamo Pinot Grigio

Bottled Poetry Imports

As a whole, these guys over-deliver, and I can recommend the wines without reservation.

2005 Bressia Profunda

2007 Las Perdices Reserva

2008 Las Perdices Cab Sauv

2010 Lancatay Malbec

2010 Los Nevados Malbec

2009 Los Nevados Cab Sauv

Select Fine Wine

Another importer of “value wines”, these were great for the price.

2010 Babich Sauvignon Blanc

2008 Babich Pinot Noir

2006 Desierto Cabernet Franc 25/5

2006 Desierto Cab Sauv 25/5

Eric Solomon Selections

Perhaps I’m a little biased, since I am familiar with this portfolio, and it’s always dependable for representing solid wines.

2008 Alto Almanzora “Este”

2007 Castano Monastral (Organic)

2009 Hortus “Le Loup dans la Berg”

2009 Lafage Chardonnay “Novellum”

2006 Mas Alta Artegas

2006 Ercavio Tempranillo Roble

Raventos I Blanc

Nice little wines!

2007 Cava L’Hereu Brut Reserva

2009 Perfum de Vi Blanc

In addition to the wines listed here, there were 18 others that I tried that I cannot recommend. I felt that some were flawed, and others were just not worth the price tag, whether they were $8 or $108.

If you’d like pricing on any of these, just let me know and I’ll get that info to you.

Cheers,

Chuck

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