The Desert Wine Guy - My Recent Experience With The "Wine Of The Month Club"

  

   Today I want to just do a quick little article concerning a recent experience I had with the Wine of The Month club (http://www.wineofthemonthclub.com/). On November 19, 2016 I ordered three (3) bottles of their 2012 Supper Club Cabernet Sauvignon. One night shortly after receiving these bottles I retired upstairs to my study to do a review on the wine and just get to the point.....I was terribly disappointed. The wine was so bad that I could only take a few sips of it before heading downstairs to the Kitchen sink which was the final stop for this wine. It's not often that I cannot find a use for a wine but in this case I had to make an exception. The wine was so bad that I didn't even want to waste my time or yours in doing a review. Moving to my wine (only) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy/) I posted a picture of the wine and simply posted the following "Heavy note of Prune and acidic....THAT'S IT! Ultra light in glass. No need to say anything more let alone waste time on a review." A couple of days later I sent an E-Mail to the Wine of The Month Club requesting that they substitute the three bottles of Supper Club for three bottles of the 2009 Rioja Vina Eguia Tempranillo (OUTSTANDING WINE) which was the same price. So, I waited for approximately 4 days and to my disappointment I heard nothing back from them. Looking at their "Frequently Asked Questions Page" I noticed that the first question on this page was the following:

"Q. What if I get a wine that I don't like or just doesn't taste right?
A. We guarantee your satisfaction with every wine you receive from WINE OF THE MONTH CLUB. Occasionally, you may discover a bottle which has not traveled well. Tell us. We'll replace it or reimburse the purchase price."

2012 Supper Club - Cabernet Sauvignon

   Aside from this question and answer, Paul Kalemkiarian, the owner of the wine club is quoted on a Vimeo site (https://vimeo.com/181801536) as saying the following "Here is my guarantee: You never pay for a wine you do not like. If for any reason at all you don't think the wine is for you, call or email us and we will send you something you do like… no questions asked." Well that settled it I wanted three bottles of different wine. I have never had cause to check out this aspect of the wine Club of The month previously (which is a good thing) and now was as good a time as any. After waiting approximately four (4) days I decided to call them instead. Looking at their main page I noticed two (2) phone numbers and called one (1) of them at 626-303-1690. I was given the run around there by a computerized voice prompting me to punch in the directory of the person I was trying to contact, there was no other option available (yes I pressed 0). Now I was starting to become a little irritated but noticed another phone number (1-88-949-9463) and I called that one. This time a very pleasant Lady answered and I informed her of my displeasure with the wines and inquired of HER if I could substitute the three (3) bottles of the 2009 Rioja Vina Eguia Tempranillo. The employee on the other end gave what sounded like a very sincere apology for my experience with the Supper Club wine and agreed instantly to my suggestion. She informed me that the wine would go out in the Morning as their mail had left for the day and that I would get the wine Friday.

2009 Rioja Vina Eguia Tempranillo

   I have to say that while my E-Mail was unanswered I am willing due to my past experiences with the wine club to chalk this up to possibly heavy volume due to the holiday season. I have dealt with the Wine of The Month Club many times in the past and have been always very happy with their wines and customer service, that included this recent experience.  I have even written an article on the club (http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-desert-wine-guy-review-of-wine-of.html). If you are looking for a very reasonably priced wine club that offers great deals on mostly very good to great wines I highly recommend you give the Wine of The Month Club a shot.

                                                                                                                 The Desert Wine Guy

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The Desert Wine Guy - Review Of The Wine Of The Month Club

        

Paul Kalemkiarian Sr. & Jr.

                                                          
                             
   Today I going to write about the wine club that I belong to. If you go a quick Google search you will find that there are many, many wine clubs that you can choose to join. When I was first started looking for a wine club it wasn't easy do to the many choices.  I ended up choosing the wine club that is currently the topic of our review, The Wine Of The Month Club (http://www.wineofthemonthclub.com/). For the purposes of simplicity for the remainder of this article I will simply be referring to it as "The Club". I will explain more in the next paragraph. Before I go into the review however, I want to disclose one important item that I feel I must in order to be above board with you guys. The owner of The Club, Paul Kalemkiarian Jr has agreed to send me a bottle of wine in exchange for a review of that particular wine. Paul has sent me the "Porto Kopke 10 Years Old Tawny" from Portugal that I will be reviewing next. One other thing I want to let you guys know is that before I even thought of contacting Paul, I was already a member of The Club myself and believed that it was worth getting into an agreement with Paul and talking favorably about. Remember I am paying full price each month for The Club myself so it must be good or I would have already cancelled. One last thing that I would like to mention. I would like you, my readers to know that I am from Brooklyn, New York and am from the "Old School". I will never sell myself or the name of The Desert Wine Guy out to anyone. My reviews whether on wine, or as in this case a wine club are my true opinions on whatever subject I am reviewing. The reason I am saying all this is because I want to let you guys know that as always I will continue to review all wines and anything else I decide to review and give my sincere, honest opinion. I also do not like wines or services or for that matter dislike wines or services simply because the person owning, pouring or as in this case, giving me the wine is nice or friendly, I do not work like that. I will not even let the politics of the Vineyard owner, wine maker or company owner effect my reviews on a product. I myself came to Paul with the proposed arrangement because I felt that The Club was something that I could actually support because as I have already said, I have actually belong to The Club myself. Now that I have been straight with you my readers lets get into this because this article is something that I do want to share with you all.
   Let's start learning about The Club by first hearing what attracted me to joining it myself in the first place. Before The Desert Wine Guy was created and before I joined or for that matter even heard of The Club I was not what you could call a wine drinker. I occasionally had some wine but it was just not my thing. If I was drinking I would drink some beer and that was that.  The one thing I noticed at that time, as well as today is that The Club didn't send out what you would call "big name wines".  I didn't recognize any of the wine labels that I was sent. To be honest at the time I thought that was a big drawback to The Club. I mean other clubs were sending to their customers big name wines and because they were big name wines they had to be better, right? I mean who wouldn't want a Robert Mondavi wine or an Ernest & Julio wine? Well guess what, once I really started learning about wine I realized that simply name alone does not mean anything. Because I wasn't really a wine drinker the wines that I received from The Club simply sat in a small kitchen wine rack on the counter. You know the kind of rack I am talking about, I think we all have at least one. I'm talking about the wine racks that K-Mart and Walmart sell. The ones that are just used for decoration. My membership for The Club eventually expired and I ended up not renewing it and The Club was forgotten about. A few years later as The Desert Wine Guy started to take shape. I started to open these wines and drink them and do you know what I realized? I realized that these small, (I guess you could call them Boutique wines) were very good. I ended up drinking and eventually reviewing these wines and loving them. By this time the wines were a few years old and the wines had time to develop in the bottle. Most of the wines were so good I would get with the particular winery to purchase another bottle or two and I was informed that the wine was no longer available, I guess since they were small production wines I had waited to long to drink them and I was out of luck. WOW that was terrible. One day I am sitting in my Loft doing a review of a wine that did not come from The Club but was from a small winery that I had never heard of and I started to think about The Club and the great wines I received from them. It was then that I decided to rejoin. I was now on the path to learning and discovering everything I could about wine as well as to go on to develop two small backyard Vineyards. I started to grow in my wine knowledge and experience. Prior to re-joining I thought of the great wines that I received from The Club. What I believed at the time was "bad" wine simply because they were from small Vineyards ended up turning into my "great awaking". I looked around the internet and saw that there are many wine clubs that I could join but those early memories that helped plant the seeds of The Desert Wine Guy had a major influence on me and I went to The Clubs website and saw how Paul loved wine and was so willing to share that love and teach his customers about wine. I also remembered just how great those early wines really were. A quick check of The Clubs website clearly shows that. There is everything from videos of interviews of winemakers that Paul has conducted to educational articles on wine. Paul interviews fellow Bloggers and is a wealth of knowledge. There is a link to wine news article of interest. Paul has his own wine blog with recipes and articles on individual wines. Paul also has a shop where you can purchase great wines. There is also a gift shop where you can purchase gift baskets, gift certificates and wine accessories. I recently purchased the Wine Tasting Party Kit that has everything and I do mean everything to host your own tasting party. They charge $29.99 for the kit and I truly believe it is worth every penny. Here (http://vimeo.com/53347603) is the link to Paul's review and description of the kit. There  is a little something for everyone who has any interest in wine or for that matter knows anyone who has an interest in wine. Paul also has 6 (yes I said 6) different levels of wine clubs to choose from. There are 4 clubs for those who want 2 bottles each month, 1 club for those who want 6 bottles every other month and 1 club for those who want 12 bottles every 3 months. From the person who is just developing an interest in wine or is already a casual wine drinker all the way up to the wine expert there is a club for you.  As an example how great the prices are if you take the Classic Series Wine Club for example, you are getting 2 bottles a month for $37 which DOES include shipping. That is a little over $18 dollars a bottle. I, myself am signed up for the Cellar Series Wine Club which is 6 bottles a month for $86 which also includes shipping. No matter what club you join there isn't just wine that comes with each shipment. There is also a color glossy magazine that tells you about each wine you receive such as who made the wine, where the wine is from and what to look for in the wine. There is even information as well as what foods to pair each wine with. Included with each shipment is a newsletter (which is really a magazine) also. The color, glossy magazine which is entitled "The Tasting Room" discusses things such as terroir, climate, grape variety, winemakers' history, cellaring conditions, as well as temperature settings for storage and service, recipes and more. One other item I would like to add is that when you e-mail Paul he actually e-mails you back, and quickly. Prior to working with Paul I have e-mailed him a few times and even though he is very busy especially with the holidays he has gotten back to me very quickly. I am also very regularly getting e-mails from him as to great buys he is offering on wines. When I say great buys that is what I mean. One example is $9 two day shipping which is going on right now (ends the 21st) . One other important point to make is that I haven't seen any e-mails from other companies related to the wine industry that I have not, myself initiated. What I am saying is that I have seen nothing to lead me to believe that Paul sells your e-mail address, this is good. One other great thing I must mention is that there are no dues to pay. If you get tired of receiving great wines from The Club, just let Paul know and that is it. I have also done some checking on the internet about The Club to see if my great experiences with The Club are common experiences or if I am just lucky. What I found out is that everyone has nothing but great things to say about The Club. Here is a link to Yelp

Tasting Kit

                                                    (http://www.yelp.com/biz/wine-of-the-month-club-monrovia) so you can see for yourself. I could find no negatives about the club. One interesting (and I think nice) thing about The Club is that almost every wine I have received from them I can find no review on line about. Not that this means anything but with the power and vast amount of information on the internet I found that interesting.
   In closing this article out here is my advice to you if you are looking to join a wine club or if you already belong to a club and are looking to expand your wine tasting and knowledge.  I recommend that you at least give The Club a try. If you love to taste the wines that are made from the Vineyards you never hear of as well as few that you have and love the experience like I do then I believe you have found the perfect wine club. If on the other hand even you are locked into the big name wines and believe they are the end all be all of wine choices then it is time to expand your horizons and venture out from your comfort zone. I recommend that you to join The Club and at least give it a try, I think you will be glad that you did.

                                                                                                                   The Desert Wine Guy



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The Desert Wine Guy - MSH Cellars - An Exceptional 2013 Sauvignon Blanc

        
   http://www.wineofthemonthclub.com/) and pay the $7.99 instead. This wine is so good that after I got my normal shipment of 6 different wines from my wine club which included the 2013 MSH Sauvignon Blanc and after tasting the MSH I had to order 9 more bottles of it. The wine was so good that I ended up giving one bottle away on my wine ONLY Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy) page to a friend who won a giveaway who lives in California.  Four of the others were enjoyed by me and one is promised to that same friend and loyal follower in Southern California, thanks Greg. Two bottles have also proudly made their way into my chilled wine cellar. By the way my friend couldn't say enough great things about this wine. Today after drinking the last bottle I ordered 5 more from The Wine of The Month Club. Yeah, folks, that's right $11 (7.99 for members) which is the price for those of you who do not wish to join, it's still a heck of a deal. This is one of those wines that you would buy and a couple of months later get around to drinking and when you looked around for more of it at your favorite store you won't be available to find it any longer. Well, Mr. Desert Wine Guy just how do you know this? That is a very good question, dear reader. I know this because I myself have had this happen to me with a lot of wines that were not made in large quantities such as our review wine. I have since corrected that problem by very quickly trying to drink a while I buy within a fairly short amount of time and then, if I liked it, buying at least two more bottles once I have tasted the first bottle. You can research the wine yourself by going to Google and trying to find it anywhere else besides The Wine of The Month Club. What you will find out that nearly everyone loves it and they USE to carry the wine for sale but everyone is out. I will not let this happen with this wine. I am telling you, folks, do yourself a favor and order a few bottles of this wine and put at least three away. You will thank me later. By the way, getting off the subject of the wine for a second.  I want to assure everyone that neither I nor anyone I know or have any dealings with has any financial or other relationships with The Wine of the Month Club, I just happen to be really impressed with the wine they send and their pricing. Now having said that and before we move on to the main body review, back to my promise of a rating. I most confidently put this wine at 93 points on The Desert Wine Guy Point Scale. For those of you who are interested, here is also a link (https://vimeo.com/113648621) to the review that The Wine Club of The Month has done as well on this wine.

                                         
   Let's move on now and learn a lot more about this wine. The wine we are discussing and that I have purposely not named until now in order to keep you in suspense is the 2013 MSH Cellars Sauvignon Blanc. Like a lot of other Vineyards or Winery's do, this particular Cellar (the MSH Cellars) does not really exist.  MSH Cellars is actually the secondary label for the Gamble Family Vineyards (http://www.gamblefamilyvineyards.com/) in Yountville California.  I will begin by telling you that these grapes are grown in the Yountville area sub-region of the Napa Valley. The MSH Cellars Sauvignon Blanc consists of a mix of 85% Sauvignon Blanc with a small 15% mix of the Semillon varietals. While you can most certainly tell that his wine spent quite a bit of time in Stainless Steel tanks there is also that ever so slight hint of Oak as well that manages to creep thru. The story behind the grapes in our Sauvignon Blanc is pretty interesting and one that actually works out in our favor. Originally this label started because Gamble Vineyards had some leftover Sauvignon Blanc grapes from a contract and they decided to go ahead and bottle the wine instead of dropping the fruit. It is my understanding as well that these grapes are the same Sauvignon Blanc grapes and make the same great wine that a more prominent Winery would charge three times as much for. How do I know that these grapes are good enough to charge three times as much for? Well, I have some inside information and I (of course) I tasted the wine. Actually, as I have previously said, I tasted quite a few bottles of it, not all at once of course but it seemed that I kept going into my collection and saying to myself as I reached for the bottle "MSH...yep it's that good".  O.k so I think I have educated you enough on this wine as far as background goes so now it is time to tell you what I think about this wine
   Alright wine fans, with this review I am going to do something that I don't do too often and even then only on occasions when I find a wine that truly exceeds all of my expectations and excels in its particular varietal. What am I going to do you ask? Today I am about to jump over the other reviews that I have pending because I want to get this review out to you guys while the wine is still available. Today I am going to write about a Sauvignon Blanc that I simply fell in love with. This Sauvignon Blanc that I am going to review here is simply outstanding and I do not use that word loosely. I don't normally come across so strong about a wine but in this case, I will make an exception. Today in this review I am going to go into great detail about this wine because I feel it is most definitely worthy of my time in order for you to get a mental treat/picture of what I hope you will soon experience in your very own wine glass at home. In this case, I am going to layout the final point rating BEFORE you even read the review because I want all my fans who like the Sauvignon Blanc varietal to go out and purchase this $11 wine or do as I did months ago and join The Wine of The Month club (
   To describe the pour of the wine I noticed an almost clear wine with a very slight hint of Gold as it sat in my glass. The wine was clear other than the slight Golden hue.
   On the Nose, there was a strong bouquet of Peach and Pear and also a hint of Kiwi. There was a sense of peppery spice as well that was pleasing to the nose.
   In the mouth, the wine simply impressed to no end. The first thing that I noticed was that the wine was very Grapefruit forward and dominate. Following closely on the heels of the Grapefruit was Lemon and shortly after that was an incredible Peach and lastly an ever so slight hint of that Kiwi that I mentioned.
   
   You might think that for an $11 dollar wine you would consider yourself lucky and be happy at how far the wine has already taken you concerning its bouquet and mouthfeel, I know that I would be. To the credit of the Gamble Family Vineyards wine team however, this wine was not done at all. I noticed the quick development of a very nice Green Apple that lingered for a short time in my mouth and to top it off was a sort of Black Pepper that hit the spot when blended with all the other flavors. Despite all the talk of Green Apple, Kiwi and Peach we are for the most part dealing with a dry and slightly noticeably acidic white wine here. There is some sweetness here however and it appears to be "cut" so to speak by the grapefruit and Lemon and not allowed to come close to being an overly fruity wine. I will add however that the Peach, Green Apple, and kiwi were allowed to come forward just enough to let you know that they are there and they aren't going away. It is also apparent that the  "cut" of tropical fruits had it's desired effect on the some of the acidity and the dryness of the Grapefruit and Lemon as well to help make this a complex Sauvignon Blanc. All the different notes each work together rather than separately to aid in the development of the wine but also as I have said, in the complexity of this wine in your mouth. This is a simply wonderful and well-balanced wine we have here but, we are not done so don't go anywhere. To make the case for the crispness of the wine there were earthy, and grassy notes that actually add to the superbness of this wine. To top this wine off there was a slight Alcohol taste that in this particular case went extremely well with the rest of this wine and was not the normal put off that it can be. Our review wine ends up overall on the dry side with the Grapefruit and Lemon maintaining it's dominance along with the acidity I mentioned earlier, over the more tropical fruits. This wine screamed Spring or Summertime pool party in every sip I took. I also want to point out so that the fact is not overlooked that this wine sat most of its winery life in Stainless Steel is clearly not concealed by the wine and is I believe one of this wines assets and strong reason behind why this wine was able to subdue the sweetness of the tropical fruits to the effectiveness it did.
   Well, there you have it, folks. I know that this review might be a little long in the tooth so to speak but I couldn't help it, I not only had to but felt compelled to get all this out to you. I wanted you to know how impressed I was with this wine. Many of you who follow this blog on a regular basis know that I am a big lover of a nice Oakey Red and I still am but this White has made me stand up and take notice of the Sauvignon Blanc Varietal a little more now as well as remind me to keep my eyes open for other wines from MSH Cellars in the future. This Sauvignon Blanc has no problems standing on its own against much more expensive wines of the same varietal. I think that this wine will also be able to please both the lovers of a slightly sweeter White wine and yet also please a lover of a dryer White wine. Here in closing is a wine with a strong backbone and not afraid to show off that it is one of the new tough guys on the wine block and yet that it can also be one of the new sensitive guys as well. The bottom line is this wine is a first-class, top-notch Sauvignon Blanc.

                                                                                                                                The Desert Wine Guy


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The Desert Wine Guy - 2014 Awning Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

2014 Awning Estate - Cabernet Sauvignon

   Sooooo, the first thing that I want to bring to your attention in this review is that this the very first red wine that I have ever seen that has a Screw Cap to seal it. I am sure you already know by now but if you don't I will tell you, I do not like Screw Caps and this is not Soda or some other fizzy soft drink. This is not Mad Dog 20/20 or Night Train, this is real wine. Actually, this actually normally is a $20 bottle of wine at that. I can put up with (not like) or deal with a Screw Cap on a white wine but on a red? So, let's get into this review, talk about this wine and see if there is any saving grace for this wine.
   The other day I received an E-Mail from the Wine Of The Month Club (https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-desert-wine-guy-review-of-wine-of.html) that advertised the 2014 Awning Estate - Cabernet Sauvignon wine for $4.99. Now, I am always getting E-Mails from them with wine deals but I usually have other wines in the house so while I will check them out on the Internet, I usually don't end up buy them. What I have found is that when they say a wine sells for $20 elsewhere they are always telling the truth. Well for some reason I was interested in this particular wine and when I checked it out on other sites I saw that this wine that was selling for $4.99 here was indeed selling for $20 everywhere else. After seeing some "reputable" sites also raving over this wine I decided to but four (4) bottles of  it. The reason I usually don't buy wine on line is because of the shipping costs, in this case however the shipping was $12.....for four wines. That, is really good. Anyway, that is why and how I came to be reviewing this wine. Now, onto specifics of the wine.

   The wine comes in at 13.5% Alcohol and is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Syrah (Shiraz), 2% Petit Verdot. The wine is imported from the country of Chile by Austral Wines LLC.  The grapes for the wine were all grown at the Awning Estate. Something interesting here is that I have learned is that in Chile a wine must be at least 75% of a specific varietal for it to carry that particular varietal as the sole one on the label AND be consumed in Chile. If the wine is exported it must have 85% and must also have 85%from the designated vintage year. To list a particular wine region one particular varietal must be at least 85% from that region. The Winemaker for our wine is Sergio Hormazabal Baglietto who's remarkable resume includes making wine on three continents, with experience in Spain, France, Italy and the United States. Sergio was awarded Winemaker of the Year in Chile in 2012. Now that's what I'm talking about. Here (http://goldenfrogproductions.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Awning_TechSheet_2014.pdf) is the Tech Sheet for the wine and for those of you who are as interested in that sort of thing as I totally am. The wine was matured in French Oak (25% new) for 12 months. Alright then, it is time to move on to the next phase of this review and that is the labeling of the wine so let's go ahead and get to that now.

   Looking at the label here I see there really isn't really what you could consider to be a label on this wine, it is more of lettering. Looking at the bottle I wanted to stare at it for a long time as it was beautiful. Look at the pictures that I have included, are you liking it as much as I do? Not only is the front of the bottle beautiful but the back of the bottle which has the same type of lettering is also very informative and tells you a lot about the wine as well. I believe it is a nice touch of elegance and impressive as well.
   Now onto the appearance of the wine in my glass, in other words what am I seeing? Well, I'm glad you asked because I am seeing a very dark red / Garnet in color wine with the bottom of the glass just barely visible to me. The wine is extremely consistent in it's appearance all the way through from the edges of the wine all the way until the middle of the glass. Some wines appear lighter then others at different points in the glass. This is another wine that as far as appearances also looks rather serious minded indeed. Looking at the glass from the outside there are long thin legs (Marangoni Effect) that were put on a nice display as they ran down the side of the glass. I wish my Cellphone was able to pick them up but it cannot and I'm too lazy to break out my good Camera, sorry. Well anyway, lets do some more checking into this wine and get to its Bouquet.

Paul Kalemkiarian (owner Wine of The Month Club) & Ed Masciana

   So here we are, onto the Bouquet of our $4.99 bottle of wine. First up is a semi Dark Cherry note that meshes rather nicely with a note of medium Oak. The Dark cherry note is dominating but not by much. Both notes get together to combine for almost a note of their own and one that you most defenitely can taste is a well put together and serious one. There is a Blackberry note as well here but you have to (and should) kind of seek out as it comes toward the back end of the Bouquet. Weirdly. There is also a sort of ultra light, almost hidden in the back, vegetable type note that I have never experienced expressed in this way this before. Now, before you go getting crazy one me I should let you know that I do like it and also let you know that no, this is not the smell of a bad wine, it is however the smell of a rather unique wine. If you really want to pick up that Vegetable type note you must really take your time and check deep into the wine glass because that is where it is. Let's now talk about a super nice and super deep note of an oakey, Baked Cocoa that manages rather nicely to somehow blend in with the vegetable type note and tone it way down to as I said, the way back end of the Bouquet. One last thing I must repeat to you guys is that if you choose to simply give a once over of the wines Bouquet, you will definitely NOT pick up the vegetable note but you will pick up that medium Oakey type note of the Baked Cocoa. I don't know about you but at this point in my review I am thinking "$4.99 huh"
   Guys I to take a break for a minute and I am going to give you guys a heads up of sorts by telling you that I have to admit that I have been so busy enjoying this wine that it has taken a really long time to get to this point of the review. While it may appear that my reviews are written within an hour or so trust me, they are not, particullary this one. I will get into my wine review the process at another time but for now just know that I can be in my Loft (Office) for 3-4 hours tasting the wine and rocking out to 80s music. I know, I know, poor Desert Wine Guy :). As I said, I have been rather distracted on this review as I found myself caught up in my ultra enjoyment of this wine. Well, I am done for the moment being distracted with the wine so I have time to tell you what I am tasting so let's get to that part of the review.

Cabernet Sauvignon

   Right off the bat with this wine is the note of spiced Cherry, not a sweet Cherry but rather an incredible spiced Cherry that is darkened with a super wonderful French Oak, wow.just wow.  Now, I am going to say the following however I don't wish that any of my readers to take the following note for an overly sugary or sweet one. The wine seems to express a note that some (me included) might call......slightly......"Jammy" yet it is not the jamminess that we all are used to and that (in my opinion) absouletely destroys a wine. Readers, this wine is not sweet, nor is it sugary, nor is it a jam sandwich. Yes, there is just an ever so slight touch of a Jamminess note which is where any sugar on the Palate might come from BUT in no way can it be said that this an overly sweet, poorly made wine, so far at least. There is a note of Blackberry yet it doesn't dominate the Palate because of the jamminess note that appears to keep everything in this wine in it's proper perspective and in check. There is Acidity on the Palate as well that seems to encompass the entire Palate yet is not anywhere near being what I would consider offensive to the Palate or overdone. Having thrown out to you a necessary defense of the wine I hopefully also provided for the easing of your mind when hearing the word "jamminess" in relation to this wine I now without any doubt need to discuss with you guys the Cassis that his wine is proud to seriously present. I want to use just two simple words here to describe the Cassis and they are "mouth encompassing", what do you think about that? The Cassis note exhibited in this wine is just simply.......outstanding, yeah really. Not really soft on one hand yet not overpowering on the other either. In other words, simply perfection in my book. I have noticed that at least in my opinion, it seems that all of the red wines that I have rated in the mid ninety's all seem to have that expression of really nice or rather "aggressive" Cassis or Tannins. I have a little more to say about this in the closing paragraph. Let's discuss now a note of Ceder that somehow manages to appear in the wine and yes, I did say Cedar. I know that the wine sat in French Oak yet I can't see to shake the note that I am picking up of Cedar. Super nice and super up front this note is really enjoyable. As I continue on here lets talk about more notes that this wine proudly presents. Ripe Berries jump forward and almost seems to beg for themselves to be noticed from the wine drinker. Here again is another darker type mood that the wine loves to set as there is no soft brightness or lightness in this wine, it is serious all the way from the opening all the wayto the finishing of the bottle. The wine presents as well a note of Coffee which once again adds to the the moderately dark depth of overall the wine. Folks, this is a red that is the epitome of a juicy wine yet is also on the moderately dark side yet is not overbearingly on that dark side as the notes are not not overpowering in the least bit. Now, what I am about to say may surprise you as much as it did me. There seems to be an elegance of sorts to this wine that appears to kind of come out of nowhere. I first noticed it when I sat back in my chair and was trying to decipher exactly what a particular feeling the wine was presenting. I mean yes, I certainly knew about the dark boldness of the wine yet there was something else.  What I discovered is that I was feeling a sort of sense of Elegance that the wine was presenting and it was actually throughout its entire presentation. Perhaps the elegance is because of the Syrah varietal that is being expressed here, I am not surebut what I am sure of is that it only adds to the wines superbly crafted presentation. Folks, keep in mind throughout this review the amazing fact that I paid $4.99 for the wine so when I tell you now that the wine is presenting more that I need to tell you about you will know why I am in absolute amazement. How about some Anise and earthy leather? These notes are so much more then merely, detectable, they first appear on the front Palate and extend to the mid Palate. The quality of these notes are what you would expect from aat least a $50 Cabernet Sauvignon. The Leather in particular brings a sort of toughness to the Palate that when combined with the Cassis is........well, once again, out of this world guys. The Leather note is as comfortable on the Palate as a jacket that you have just broken out for the Winter as it feels like an old friend. I somehow get the feeling that some of the wines Palate directing notes come from the Syrah. How can a Varietal that is a mere 12%  make such an impact on a wine? All I can say is that perhaps it is the nature of that particular grape. I'm thinking as well that perhaps that is where the darkness or depth of the wine comes from as well. So, the wine has all of these wonderful notes but how about some silky Tannins, can the wine have that note as well? The answer is both yes and no. While the Tannins are front and center they are not in my humble opinion what you would say are dominate or in need of settling down.Oh yeah, for some the Tannins (and Cassis) presented might be over the top but if you are use to enjoying the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal wines that are in the $50 range and higher you are at home here as the wine is happy to be what it is. Currant, and licorice. You mean there is more to the wine there Desert Wine Guy? Oh gosh, yes there is. I believe that Black Currant is where that perfect presentation of Jamminess might perhaps be coming from. This fruit also I believe assists in bringing the wine to expose that juiciness that it exhibits from beginning to end. As I mentioned earlier, this wine has a semi-dark presence that it just loves to present to its enjoyer. You simply can't avoid that presence because to do so would have you avoiding the entire wine, it is that nice. Let's go ahead and add one more note shall we? Before I get to the closing paragraph I need to talk about a super, really nice note of Black Pepper that this wine is proud to show off. Readers add all the other notes onto that of the Black Pepper note and whatever good things you are imagining, that is what the wine is. Once again, nothing overdone here yet you will taste and appreciate the Black Pepper and it only adds to the greatness of this wine. Guys, I must end this review now as I seem to have spent a lot of the time working on it as well as enjoying the wine. Mrs. Desert Wine Girl has cooked a wonderful Dinner of smoked Chicken and I must get going. With all this being said I must move to the closing paragraph and give my final thoughts and rating of this wine.
   I know that I keep saying this but this wine present itself as more of a wine that would normally go for $50 instead of of the $4.99 or $20 that it would normally cost. Go the the Wine of The Month Club and buy the wine, NOW! Readers, I am not sure how they are able to sell this wine for what they are selling it for but you need to buy the wine. I am about to E-Mail them and ask them how they are doing it so hold on a second. Okay, so I really did E-Mail them and I will include their response in my final review. Guys, after drinking the entire bottle here are my recommendations. Let the wine Decant for about an hour, that's it. Although a simple recommendation the wine is certainly way much more then a simple wine. This is a full bodied red wine and one that not only demands but deserves your time and respect, it certainly has mine. This is a wine that managed to receive three spots in my wine cellar......yeah, you read that right folks, three spots as I will be entering three bottles into my collection. If you are worried about the Tannins and Cassis being too overbearing have no fear as you too can place some bottles into your Cellar as well and hold them for a few years. I know that there are those of you who have a real dislike for those two notes of Cassis and Tannins when presented in what might be considered "aggressive" levels, for those of you I would either look elsewhere for a red or follow my suggestion and put the wine away for a few years. As for me the Cassis and Tannins are right now moderate in my opinion and I love them as they are are. Now, did I say cellar a $4.99 wine? Yes, I did say cellar a $4.99 wine. Folks at some sites this wine is already unavailable at others it is indeed around $20. This is a succulent and juicy wine that will absolutely floor you. None of the notes mentioned which the wine presents and which are mentioned in this review are out of position on the Palate, they are well thought out and almost wait in line for one another and for their time to impress. Those notes are also near perfect representations of what they are meant to be in this varietal and when crafted perfectly. There isn't any unwanted softness nor is there any harshness to the wine. I have to just simply get to the point here. On The Desert Wine Guy Rating I give this wine 94 points. An Absolutely spectacular wine at a absolutely spectacular price.
  
P.S - The Wine of The Month Club responded to my E-Mail which said " Today I receoved four (4) bottles of the 2014 Awning Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and am in the process of writing a review on it. WHat an outstanding wine it is. I promised my readers that I would stop the review however in order to ask how you are able to sell this wine for $4.99? This is an incredable wine and I will be getting more soon." The wine club said "Thank you for the kind message! That is nice that you are spreading the word about the bottle, it is one of my favorites too. Our cellarmaster Paul got this bottle for a really great deal with a personal connection he has and right now we have a surplus amount of it, so that is why it went on sale for such an amazing price! If you have any other questions, please let me know and I can help. Have a lovely day!" By the way I just checked and the wine has gone up to $12.48 (their normal price) which is still a great deal.Now, if I haven't already said enough, I must end this review with a big push for the Wine of The Month Club. Here (https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-desert-wine-guy-review-of-wine-of.html) is an article that I wrote on them a few years ago. By the way, I get nothing in the form of compensation nor do I know anyone who works for them.
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The Desert Wine Guy - My Review of Cellars Wine Club

   How many of you guys are getting tired of receiving mail talking about "the best wine club you can join"? I'm sure you know the mail I am talking about, the ones who offer you twenty wines for $30 PLUS free shipping? Well, if you're like me you probably get a lot of this type of mail. The other day I was sitting in front of my computer reading one of those particular mailings when it dawned on me, are these clubs really any good and do they offer up good wine for a decent price? Right then and there I decided that was a great idea to blog about. I immediately sent out e-mails to different wine clubs letting them know that I was looking for them to participate in my review which would rate their club overall. Five clubs responded back. One club the Plonk Wine Club said they "......aren't looking for a review at this time." and while I was a bit surprised, I do appreciate them taking the time to get back with me. The second club which semi responded was the Wall Street Journal Wine Club. They responded with an automated e-mail saying that "Due to very high volume, our email responses have been delayed. We apologize but promise we will get back to you within 72 hours." Well, 72 hours came and went and no one got back with me. As a matter of fact as of the date of me writing this over thirteen working days have passed and they still have yet to get back with me, so much for their "promise."  Because of this I would not recommend you do business with them as they are unreliable.

Don't Pay Full Price For Wine

   Now there were three wine clubs who were actually interested enough to send out wine in order for me to review their club and I want to talk about the first club right now. The club I am going to discuss today is the Cellars Wine Club (https://www.cellarswineclub.com/90-point-wine-of-the-month-club.aspx). Cellars was sent my e-mail on December 30th and the following day I received a response back from Tom who loved the idea of a review being performed on the company and the wine. After researching the company profile I found out that there is a Tom Bauer who is the company Vice President. After getting in touch with Tom that belief was confirmed as it was indeed Tom Bauer. Tom gave me the opportunity to choose from one of their many different levels of the club and I picked their "90 Point Club" which they say is wines rated 90+ or more by the likes of Wine Spectator & Robert Parker. I let him know as well that I would like one red wine and one white wine. Tom responded back saying that he will have the wine to me by the end of next week. The very next day I got another e-mail from Tom stating that the wine shipped that day and provided me with a tracking number from FedEx. Today, the 7th of January I received the wines but before I talk about them here is some information on the club in general.
   There are a total of twelve different sub clubs to choose from. You can go anywhere from the "Bottle Club" where you get one bottle of wine for $29, all the way up to a case of wine. As an example the "90+ Point Case Club" offers you a full case of wine (12 bottles) delivered to your door on a one time shipment or up to 4 times. Each shipment would be quarterly. The cost for this club is $369. Shipping is included in the price for all the clubs. Here (https://www.cellarswineclub.com/best-wine-clubs.aspx) is a link to all the different sub clubs they offer. There is no membership fee and they offer a money back guarantee on all their wines.

Hall, Merlot Tasting Notes

   Today I posted the unboxing video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU_zwf8jE5o) I did. During this unboxing video which is available on my  YouTube channel I did the usual introduction of the wines and talked in general about the wine club. While doing this video I also talked about what I consider to be an issue that stems from lack of attention to detail by one or more of the clubs employees. I am assuming that the issue probably occurred while picking the wines for boxing. Let me go ahead and tell you what disturbed me. The wines come with individual Tech Sheets from the wineries themselves as well as one general information from the club which includes tasting notes as well as some technical information concerning the wines. This information sheet is put out by the wine club themselves. I would normally say that this was great and helps those of us who like to dig a little deeper into what we drink to learn more about the wines. This information sheet is where the first problem occurred appeared. The first problem that showed up was that the Tech Sheet as well as the general information sheet were both for the 2014 vintage of the Hall, Merlot however I actually received the 2012 Hall, Merlot, interesting huh? This means that all the information given in reference to the 2014 Merlot which I did NOT receive is of course not valid for the 2012 vintage that I DID receive and therefore are of no use to me as a wine reviewer nor as a consumer as wishing more in depth information on the wine they are drinking. In order to get that information we would have to go out of our way and research that wine ourselves and we shouldn't have to do that, that is not cool as that is the very purpose of those sheets. Now for some good news. I immediately contacted Tom and he very quickly got back with me and apologized saying that there was a case of loose bottles in the Warehouse and the wrong wine was picked out and that there would be a bottle of the 2014 sent out immediately. I received the correct wine two days which was great. Now I have to say really quick that while the vintage mix up certainly wasn't something that was a good thing I did originally think at the time that the rapid response by Tom to correct the error did show that the company was pretty responsive to the customer and I told him so in an e-mail. It was a mistake which was remedied. Now, I did say originally Right? As I sat down with the 2012 I now received and prepared to do a review on the wine I began to look a little further into the Tech Sheet (https://na87.sales force.com/sfc/p/#40000000IZGT/a/400000004Opf/bUNP_h6zWleah_1HZiUcNZCLk14p7BqUrlUpO06jNVU) for the wine and I noticed there were MORE glaring errors when the Tech Sheet was compared to the information sheet and this I can only attribute to sloppy employee performance, lack of attention to detail and overall poor customer Service, now I could no longer let things slide. The information sheet which I said came from the club itself along with the wines continued to provide more inaccurate information that would have never been written if the clubs employees had simply been paying attention to the information they had in their possession or even perhaps simply cared. This information sheet written by the club itself says that the 2014 Hall, Merlot is a blend of 97% Merlot & 3% Malbec however according to the Tech Sheet (from the winery itself) said the wine is 100% Merlot. There were unfortunately even more mistakes. The Tech Sheet from the winery said that the wine sat in 45% new French Oak and the information sheet from the club said it sat in 40% new French Oak. Are you ready for another one? The Tech Sheet from the winery said that the wine aged in French Oak for 20 months while the information sheet from the club said it was aged for the wine aged 18 months in French Oak. All this from a wine club that's supposedly devoted to wine education. All around the club seemed to be rather sloppy in getting the information about their product accurately relayed to their consumers. This is not good.

Bottle, Tech & Info Sheets

   Now for what I thought about the wines. Let me first talk about the 2012 Hall - Merlot for just a second. While I won't get into a full blown review of the wine as I will be doing a separate review on it, I will say that this was the best tasting Merlot that I have ever had the privilege of reviewing, flat out. This is a serious wine with an ultra intense dark depth to it as well as deep Tobacco notes, Black Spice, good acidity & ripe red fruit. This wine was a winner. As for the 2014 vintage the wine was also amazing and presented itself much more like a Cabernet Sauvignon with the spice of the Tempranillo varietal thrown in. Both wines were delicious and worth their prices. Now as far as the second wine goes, this is the Lu & Oly - White Blend. The wine presented great acidity and sharpness. The wine was brilliant in the glass and showed nice complexity although it was perhaps a bit overbearing on the Palate. Let me be clear here, I had no issues with the wines themselves, they were very good wines.

Tom Bauer - V.P Cellars Wine Club

   Now let's look at the numbers to see if financially a consumer would benefit going through the Cellars Wine Club or if they would be better off buying the wines on their own. If you break this down I received two wines shipped for $79. I bring to your attention again that the club say that shipping is free, they even have a page dedicated to it (https://www.cellarswineclub.com/Dont-Pay-Full-Price-For-Wine.aspx). Now, the Hall - Merlot retails for $40 and the Lu & Oly - White Blend sells for $28. All together a consumer would pay a total of $68 for both wines. If you look at the picture above you will see that the company advertises "don't pay full price for wine" yet according to the numbers I am actually paying more then full price for the wines. I don't see how I am making out by joining the club, sorry.
   In the end, here is my take on all of this. While Tom was very responsive in correcting first issue issue I am afraid that I have to say that the company overall failed to follow through on its promises that you don't have to pay full price for wine and that they are devoted to wine education. The company is not detail oriented at all and fails to provide accurate information on their product(s). Allow me to ask you a question. If as a consumer you go for your first time to deal with a company and on that very first dealing with that company they make so many mistakes on important things, are you going to go back when there are other companies who will provide just as good a product for cheaper? Folks, I am sorry but I cannot recommend Cellars Wine Club. While the wine was very good indeed and I appreciate Tom sending me the wines, I feel I have been jaded. I had to do way too much investigation and correction on their product to make me comfortable.As someone who is looking for more then just good wine from a wine club I simply don't feel confident that Customer Service is up to par and that can cause numerous big time issues down the line perhaps even with billing. I shouldn't have to worry if  a correction would have been as quick if I wasn't in touch with the Vice President of the company and doing a review on his company, of course that I have no way of knowing.

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The Desert Wine Guy - Vinesse Wine Club, A Ripoff

 What is going on guys? Today I want to do a short review of a wine club named Vinesse which is a subsidiary of American Cellars Wine Club. Keep in mind that I am not a stranger to reviewing wine clubs as I have reviewed a few of them on this site. During these reviews the two that I found were good was the Wine of The Month Club (https://www.winemonthclub.com/) & Naked Wines (https://us.nakedwines.com//). Here is my review of both the Wine Of The Month Club  (https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-desert-wine-guy-my-recent.html) as well as Naked Wines (https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-desert-wine-guy-my-review-of-naked.html). By the way, I also happen to belong to Naked Wines and give them $40 each month. So, why am I writing this review? My answer to that question is that I am very upset, allow me to explain why and I think you might be as well. The other day....and the day before....and the day before that and two weeks prior to that I received the above offer(s) in my mailbox and I finally got tired of throwing the mail out and decided to open it up and see what it is all about, after all it did have to do with wine. As you can see from the photo above, the offer sounded really good and was for an introductory offer of 6 bottles of wine along with a "free gift worth $50" (2 additional bottles of wine) for a total of 8 bottles. The total for these 8 bottles is  $29.99 + $10 for Shipping & Handling.

Vinesse Shipping Charges

 Okay, so far, this sounds like a good deal and if you also think that it sounds like a good deal you would of course be correct. Now keep in mind that you are also agreeing to join the club and receive a shipment of wine each month which is normal for these wine clubs. Well folks, I went ahead and read a little further into what the company offers and here are the problems that I found.
   Let's begin by talking about a generic wine that Vinesse sells. Vinesse sells this generic wine for $20 and let's say for arguments sake that that is a good deal, here is where the first part of what I consider to be a ripoff, comes into play. The first part of this ripoff is the fact that Vinesse charges $21 to ship that $20 bottle of wine to you. Yes, you read that correctly, $21. If you think that Vinesse charging $21 for shipping a bottle of wine is bad, just wait because you ain't seen nothing yet. If you thought that Vinesse is done charging you for shipping for that the one bottle, you would be wrong again and this is where the second part of this ripoff comes in. Vinesse isn't done charging you shipping for that one bottle of wine because they also have a.......wait for it.....surcharge. Yes folks, a surcharge and if you need your wine shipped to one of  23 states (one of which is mine) Vinesse will hit you with a surcharge of 17% and if you need that wine sent to PA and IL, that surcharge jumps to 20%. Keep in mind that according to a big wine magazine, winery direct (which is what Vinesse claims to be) shipping is prohibited in four states so that is a lot of states that will be paying that crazy surcharge. For the remainder of the states they charge a 10% surcharge. I bet that now you think they are done charging you for delivery huh? If you thought that your wrong again because there's more, there is yet another surcharge.

Naked Wines - Shipping Charges

This surcharge is a 3% surcharge for those of us who live in a "residence", Yes folks, Vinesse charges you a surcharge because you live in a residence which is otherwise known as where you live. I guess they believe that wines from an on-line wine club are not normally sent to a residence.
   Let me tell you guys a little something. I recently ordered a bottle of Chardonnay from the Napa Valley winery, Black Stallion (https://www.blackstallionwinery.com/) and they charged me $14 to ship it. Guys, anytime a Napa Valley winery is cheaper than a retailer, in anything, something is indeed, way wrong. Now as I tell you this please remember that I actually give $40 a month (I'm a member) to the wine club I am about to mention which is Naked Wines. Naked Wines charges $9.99 to ship anything under $100. Now I didn't say that 9.99 is per bottle because that is not the case. If your order totals $99.99 or less, that order ships for a flat $9.99. If you order $100 or more, it ships for free as does Vinesse but since Vinesse doesn't believe that surcharges for delivery are actual delivery charges, you will still pay them so it's not free at all. Getting back to Naked Wines for a minute, I just today received six bottles of wine that I ordered from them and it shipped for free. Looking at their shipping charge, Vinesse would have charged me $30 + all the other surcharges..
   There you have it folks, do you see now why I am so upset? I hope that if you are in the market for a wine club that I have helped you in narrowing down your search. If you want to pay out the butt for shipping, perhaps you will like being a member of Vinesse but if you are like me and will not do business with what I consider to be a dishonest company, I would stay far away from them.

                                                                                                                                     The Desert Wine Guy

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The Desert Wine Guy - 2012 Pennywise Chardonnay

The 2012 Pennywise Chardonnay

   Hello everyone and welcome to the first few days of Spring. I don't know about your weather but here in Las Vegas (on the day I am writing these notes at least)we are experiencing full Sun and temperatures in the low 70s with slight breezes that feel simply wonderful actually. What better day than to open a nicely chilled bottle of Chardonnay. Today's review is on the 2012 Pennywise Chardonnay with grapes sourced from various parts of California. The 2012 Pennywise Chardonnay is a blend of mostly Chardonnay (96%) and Viognier (4%) and comes in at 13.5% alcohol. We will get into the company and where the grapes come from in a few minutes. First however lets begin by talking a little bit about where I got this wine. I received this wine from the Wine of The Month Club which by the way, I highly recommend belonging to. This wine was listed in their "Classic Wine Series" and I received it in my monthly shipment. If you are interested in finding out some more about the club, here is a link https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-desert-wine-guy-review-of-wine-of.html) to a review I did on it in December of 2014. All right then, let's move on now and learn a little bit more about this Vineyard.
  Let's start off by first understanding that the "Pennywise" label is made from grapes sourced from various vineyards in California. The Pennywise label itself is produced by a beverage company named "3 Badge Beverage Company" and does not come from a particular vineyard.
(http://www.3badge.com/enology/) was founded in 2010 and is located in Sonoma, California. According to their website the name "3 Badge" actually comes from old fire services badges from the Sebastiani family. The company itself also happens to be run out of an old fire station in Sonoma. Digging a little deeper I also found that the 3 Badge company is in reality owned by Don Sebastiani & Sons (http://donsebastianiandsons.com/) although for some strange reason their website makes no mention of the Pennywise label nor the Leese-Fitch wine label that they also handle among others although the 3 Badge website does make mention of these labels.

3 Badge Beverage Corp

Don Sebastiani Jr  CEO and chairman.

   Before we actually start delving into describing this wine I have to admit something to you readers. I have to tell you that after tasting the first few sips of the wine my first thoughts were in reality to simply forget about writing this review and just kick back, relax and enjoy this wonderful Chardonnay. In reality it actually does take a lot to put together a rough draft of my review wines as opposed to simply sitting back, relaxing and enjoying the wine. Well, as I said, that was my original thought but than I than started thinking about you guys, my readers and how you deserve to be able to appreciate this wine (at least thru my writing) so I simply had to follow thru with the review so that you guys can begin to appreciate this wine like I did. This is one of those wines where you can pick up the Bouquet from a few feet away, I love it. From the minute I opened the bottle in my Kitchen the wine exposed to the air notes of rich, tropical, Honeysuckle, Green Apple and melon just jumping right out there, I truly wasn't expecting this from such an inexpensive wine that sells for $10.98 thru stores. Truthfully, early on I was starting to be impressed and also started developing hopes for the wine that I held in my hand. How this wine up up on my Palette however is the next question we need to answer. I am hoping that this wine doesn't disappoint on my Palette folks, really I am. Starting off on my Palette now I'll say that this wine appears to be extremely well balanced. All the notes present in the wine seem to mesh very well together with none really dominating over the others. Honeysuckle seems to be the first note that I picked up on my Palette. WOW folks, really nice. No overpowering sweetness here to ruin the wine. Am I saying there is no note of sugar here, no, I am certainly not. There is definitely a note of sugar to the wine. Think about this for a minute. A note of Honeysuckle, does that bring to mind a sweetish addiction?  How about our next note of Green Apple, does Green Apple not also bring to mind a sense of sweetness? I guess before I go on let me say this about the wine.

While the notes may lead one to believe that the wine is a "sugar bomb" it certainly is not. This wine is not dominated by sugar, it is actually not dominated by anything except expressive tropical fruit. You clearly taste each and every individual note and you clearly love it. How about Papaya, does that sound enticing? Well, you bet it is enticing, especially when you taste it in this wine. An ever so slight (and yes, I do mean slight) note of toast here in the wine perhaps from the Oak the wine sat in adds a bit of crispness and with very little acidity here in this wine it is simply perfect. As I have already stated, this indeed is a very tropical wine that I am reviewing here, no doubt about it readers so please don't think that this is a dry wine at all, if you are looking for a dull, dry Chardonnay you should look elsewhere. These grapes were grown in a semi hot climate and the Chardonnay exhibits that element. So I am into about a half of a bottle right now and I have to say that the wine is not losing anything on the Bouquet or mouth feel after being open at least an hour, this wine is still going strong. One thing I want to mention before I forget. readers of this blog should already know about how I feel concerning wine closures (Cork vs Screw Caps) this wine is actually sealed with a cork and not a screw cap, that is nice. Perhaps this is due to the vintage and the Screw Cap fad hadn't caught on yet, I do not know. I hope however that in their current  vintages that 3Badge Enology have continued to stick with sealing their wine bottles in this way.

Glass of The 2012 Pennywise Chardonnay

   O.K everyone, let's wrap this up. Let's see now. Folks.....what a wonderful Summer Chardonnay we have here. Beware that this is certainly a "New World" wine with notes of tropical fruit delivered to prove it. This is a wine whose grapes are obviously grown in very warm locations or experienced some sort of Malolactic Fermentation, either way the wine is absolutely awesome n my book. I do believe that I could have this wine everyday (if I drank alcohol everyday, which I don't) in the Summer as I sit out by the pool. All right folks, here is the moment we have all been waiting for. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I am putting this wine at the superb rating of 94 points which means that it fell into the level of wines judged at "Superb, a great achievement". My recommendation is for you to track at least a few bottles of this wine down and wait for your pool weather to enjoy it, you will not be sorry you did.

   UPDATE - I have actually just finished E-Mailing the Wine of The Month Club for information on possibly purchasing more of this wine. According to Khalil at The Wine of The Month Club it is not possible to get any more of this wine, how sad.

                                                                                                                The Desert Wine Guy

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