Casa Silva 2007 Viognier

Somehow I've managed to drink a bottle of this Chilean viognier every summer for the last 3 years and didn't realize until last week that I've tried it before.  I guess the name 'viognier' always catches my eye.

In the summer of 2010 I wrote "They describe this wine as 'complex, elegant and unique', which sums up this bottle pretty well.  It certainly doesn't have the grassiness of so many SBs.  I haven't drunk a pinot gris in a while so I can't compare it to those, but this seemed like a pleasant middle-of-the-road white, not too acidic, not too sweet, not overloaded with different notes."

Last year I said "This is a light viognier but it has more substantial nose than the California Kunde I drank last week. It has more subtlety of flavor than a lot of the whites I've drunk this summer. I couldn't identify the notes but I think I got oak.  A nice wine, good for a dinner party or friends over."

Maybe this vintage (2007) is getting a little long in the tooth, but I was less impressed with it this summer.  I'll agree that it's a pleasant middle-of-the-road white, not too acidic, not too sweet.  I wouldn't agree with the subtlety of flavor assessment.

Not a bad wine if you can find it on sale.  It would still go great with pasta or seafood.

2007 Vertikal Riesling Kabinett

I'm not taking a picture of this one as this posting is a little story about how sometimes you can be surprised by a discount wine.

This Mosel riesling comes in the traditional blue bottle, and the price label under it said $7 or $8.  When I checked out, it rang up at $3.  I thought, Why so cheap?  It was at that point I noticed that it's a 2007. 2007 is getting long in the tooth for rieslings and so I didn't expect it to be very drinkable.

I was pleasantly surprised.  It wasn't a great wine by any means, but it was perfectly acceptable for sipping in the evening with a snack, and it held on well for a couple nights in the fridge.  The label says notes of Granny Smith apples, and I'd agree with that.

This is the first riesling I've had labeled Kabinett, which I though I knew what it meant, but I looked it up to be sure.  Wikipedia says Kabinett ["cabinet" in German] "is a German language wine term for a wine which is made from fully ripened grapes of the main harvest, typically picked in September, and are usually made in a light style. In the German wine classification system, Kabinett is the lowest level of Prädikatswein, lower in ripeness than Spätlese. A German Kabinett is semi-sweet (lieblich) by default, but may be dry (trocken) or off-dry (halbtrocken) if designated so."

2010 Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling

Before you say I've reviewed this one before, that was Chateau Ste Michelle's *dry* riesling.  This is their *regular* one.  I know--I was confused for a minute when I got this home and saw the name on my list (same year too).  So many wines, so hard to keep them straight.

Their dry one had grapefruit notes.  This one is anonymously fruity.  The label says peach and pear: I didn't get pear but peach may be right.  Vanilla as well maybe.  The label also claims it has "racy acidity".  So what's that when not referring to a tart-tongued stripper?

I like this one: sweet but not overly so; fruity, but not like you're drinking a glass of Mott's. I drank the entire bottle in 2 outings, which is the first time in a few weeks for rieslings.  A good summer wine.

2011 Chateau de Campuget Rose

For something different, I drank a 2011 Chateau de Campuget Rose, 30% grenache and 70% syrah. It ran me in the low teens.

Just a quick review.  I wasn't a huge rose fan when I drank a few last summer, but this one was nice:  fruity, mild acidity.  The label says it's a good picnic or BBQ wine, and I can see that (depending on what you're grilling; no heavy steaks).

One caveat: it didn't do well after a couple days in the fridge, it was already vinegary.  But if you've got several people to share this, it's a nice wine.