todd10

Morambro Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, Padthaway

The first aroma I had I was thinking some kind of meat roast. I went through my herbs and realized my wife makes my roast with rosemary. I have read "hints of rosemary" before but this easy to detect for us not professionals. I highly recommend those that want to experience other things besides dark fruit and oak to give this a try.
Flavors of dark fruit and rosemary. Nice tannins (but not to powerful) that can hold up to a a nice beef dinner.

Throughout the evening, it did not evolve much, so no need to decant.

Tasted September 2020

St. Hallett Faith Shiraz 2017, Barossa, South Australia

I tasted the 2018 Vintage.
I was pleasantly surprised with this wine. The nose had herbal perhaps earthy aromas. I can best describe with aromas of bay leaf and sweet tobacco.
It was a nice balanced wine with a nice finish. I found the tannins very smooth considering this is such a young Shiraz.
Nice taste. Without being sweet it was like candied dark fruit (if that makes sense).
No need to decant.
Tasted July 2020

Beringer The Waymaker Paso Robles Red 2016, Paso Robles

The aroma that stuck out the most for me was chocolate, followed by cherry and oak. I loved the taste of the wine. The same chocolate and cherry that I smelled I also tasted. This was a nicely balanced wine with some dusty tannins on the finish that I enjoyed.
Throughout the evening, it did not evolve anymore so I see no need to decant.
Tasted January 2021

Trasqua Fanatico Riserva Chianti Classico 2015, Docg

I found that this wine probably needs more time. It had cherry and some spice on the nose, but the complexity has yet to develop. After being open for a while I could also smell some oak.
The tannins are very grippy. This would have been perfect with a steak.
I would recommend to decant this wine, but better yet, cellar it for another 5 years.

Allegrini La Grola 2016, Igt Veronese

The nose had aromas of cassis and black pepper. I found the taste and balance of the wine nice. But, I still found that this wine was lacking more aromas that really popped out. I will mention one thing that was great. I poured a glass and then let it sit for about 20 minutes. When I inhaled the aromas, it was such a wonderful smell of caramel. Sadly that dissipated and I never smelled it again.
Tasted January 2021

Dagaz Carmenère 2018, Do Valle De Colchagua

This wine started off promising with nice notes of raspberry and black pepper. However, when I tasted it, it seemed off balance and was lacking quality flavor. It had some grippy tannins, but that is about it. I felt it tasted a bit better the longer the bottle was opened, so perhaps decanting for 30 minutes to an hour will help open this up.
Tasted December 2022

Thirty Bench Winemaker's Blend Cabernet Franc 2020, Niagara Peninsula

Aromas and taste of dark fruit. I drank this wine over two hours or so. When I first opened this wine, that is when I felt it had the most potential. Probably about an hour later I felt this wine got muted taking down this score. The odd thing is near the end it was good again? I have never had the roller coaster ride of wine being good, not good and then good again in the same night.

Tasted January 2025

Wynns Coonawarra Estate The Siding Cabernet Sauvignon 2016, Coonawarra, South Australia

On the nose I was getting cassis and spice. I was tasting some fruit. I was thinking a wine version of fruit punch (a mix of fruit, but I could not pin point it). Over the evening, I did not notice much change in the wine so I see no reason to decant. Overall, it was an average wine. 88 is good but not great. But, this is one of the lower end wines from Whynns. If this is a low end wine from them. I would love to taste the higher end wines.
Tasted October 2019

Tuzko Tolnai Kékfrankos 2015

When I first inhaled, I got tobacco and and earthy aromas. I was excited to taste this wine after these wonderful aromas. On the palate, I was tasting cherry. I also noticed that the acidity and tannin's were not quite as smooth as I was hoping. Tannin's and acidity were not over powering but just not balanced. Over the next hour I was hoping that more flavors would developed, but no such luck. It was an okay wine, but after such a promising start on the nose, it felt like a disappointing finish.

Tasted Sept 2019

Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2017, Marlborough, South Island

The aromas were great. Mostly grapefruit with a hint of banana and pineapple. My first sip I experienced a very light creamy mouth feel. This was a nice balanced wine. Nice citrus flavors. I even thought to myself "if I had to drink this wine for the rest of my life, I would still be happy".
Tasted Jan 2020