The Desert Wine Guy - 2013 Wilson Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Variant Series (VS)

   Here is a review of a wine I drank about a year ago but just never got around to publishing. This wine comes from one of my favorite winery's in the Temecula California area and that winery is the Wilson Creek Winery. Today's review is on their 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon VS (Variant Series). This particular wine is mostly a Cabernet Sauvignon blended with Zinfandel and Merlot and comes in with an Alcohol percentage at 14.3%. This Cabernet sells for $29.99 at the winery. Let me start off with a little bit about Wilson Creek Winery. My family and I stopped at Wilson Creek on the way out of San Diego one day.  The kids and Mrs. Desert Wine Guy chose to stay outside (although the kids were welcomed inside)  and play on the grass since it was such a beautiful day and Mrs Desert Wine Guy doesn't drink (what??).  On the grounds there are plenty of nicely manicured grass areas to choose from for the family to play in. Out back is an area set aside for club members to relax while sipping on some Wilson creek wine. The inside has a large display of wine barrels on display almost to the ceiling as well as a very long and spread out counter to do some tasting at, there is a $15 fee for the tasting. There is a gift shop, picnic areas as well as areas for weddings and 70 acres of vineyards as well. There is also a Bed & Breakfast as well as numerous Suites including the 1600 square foot Grand Almond Champagne Suite. Trust me folks there is something for everyone, the place is

wonderful. Well how does the review wine stand up to the beautiful grounds.

    O.K here we go now onto the review. While I love the winery itself I will start off with my opinion of the wine. While I did enjoy it I was not really impressed with this Cabernet Sauvignon. Don't get me wrong it was a pleasant wine but it did not in any way hold up to the standards of it's varietal. Let's start from the beginning and you will see what I mean. The bouquet here was of Cassis, Cherry and Caramel, sounds great right? Sounds like this is going to be a good, deep Cab right?  In the glass the color of the wine was a very light Red in appearance and really noting to catch your attention nor lead you to expect anything special to this wine. The wine on your Palette opens with a slightly over the top and dominating Cherry / Black Cherry notes. There is some decent Cassis, Plum and Black Cherry notes here as well. Despite all the notes that I have listed however the wine comes across as a wine that is past it's prime and has lost it's zeal or power. It comes across as a wine that has faded and lost everything it once had. The body on this wine is light to medium. There was also a slight sweetness to this wine that was noticeable to me and that I did not care for too much. All the notes combined made for a really bright, fruit forward wine that distracted me from the other notes. Now, on the upside and there is one upside I think. While this wine is not even in the ballpark of being a serious or even semi-serious Cabernet Sauvignon it would make a nice picnic Red. Overall this is a very light, fun Cab (?) that is great for Barbecues, picnics or even the first pool party of the year. Basically this is what Cabernet drinkers drink when they are not drinking Cabernet. With Summer on the way quickly this would make a perfect wine that you might think of getting perhaps a bottle of if you have some extra money . To say that I didn't enjoy this wine would not be accurate because I did enjoy it it's just that with the label on the bottle and the price of $29.99 I was expecting a lot more that a Summer Red. I would drink this wine quickly because I don't believe it has any more that three years life left to it.
   Alright everyone so what do we have here? Without a doubt we have a wine that is great for the Summer and you will enjoy. On the other hand you have a wine that simply can't be taken seriously as anything other that some Red blend that is of a very nondescript varietal(s). You also have the price that to me is in need of serious reconsideration.  I am going to put this wine at an 86 on The Desert Wine Guy Rating Scale.
                                                                                                                   The Desert Wine Guy

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The Desert WIne Guy - 1999 Glass Mountain Quarry Cabernet Sauvignon

1999 Glass Mountain Quarry Cabernet Sauvignon

    Folks today I have a special treat for you. Today I will be reviewing a Cabernet Sauvignon from 1999....yeah that's right 1999. Today's review is of the Glass Mountain Markham / Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon ....1999 vintage. For me to do this review I had to actually go back to the reviews originally published when the wine was released. I wanted something to compare the then and now so I could try and see if the wine has lost anything in time. Did the wine originally exhibits certain notes that it no longer exhibits. I expected that what ever Tannins the wine originally had would be gone by this time but I was up in the air about the rest. I guess the biggest question would be is the wine still any good or did it turn to Vinegar and be better used on a salad :). One other question I had was whether the cork held up or not. Well all those question were answered and in pretty surprising ways I thought. Research did show that the wine originally cost $10 so I have to say that going into this review I did NOT have high hopes of anything special at all. Before I get into the heart of my review I want to give you a little bit about this winery than we will get into this review I think you will be as surprised as I was.

Very Light In Color Cabernet Sauvignon

   Around 1975 Markham Vineyard (http://www.markhamvineyards.com/) founder Bruce Markham moved to the Napa Valley and bought 250 acres of farmland that he quickly began growing wine grapes on.  The fruit was so good that he had the Honor of selling it to the legend Robert Mondavi as well as the famous Beaulieu Vineyards which happens to be one of my favorite wines by the way. In 1977 Bruce purchased an historic winery and founded Markham Vineyards. The first wines were released in 1978 and had immediate acclaim. In 1988 Bruce decided to retire from the wine making business and sold the Vineyard to a Japanese wine company named Mercian Corporation. In the year 2001 Bruce unfortunately passed away. Markham Vineyards still marches on however and is a very popular destination in the Napa Valley wine industry.

   Alright guys now down to the inspection and opening of this wine. Before opening the wine I inspected the outside foil / cork area for any damage and there was none visible. Taking the foil off revealed what appeared to be a perfectly intact cork, still more great news. Screwing the Cork Screw in I did not notice any crumbling of the cork, another good thing. Removing the cork was done as normal however when I inspected the cork I noticed that the bottom of the cork, the part that was inside the bottle was beginning to fall apart. Look at the photos that I took and you will see what I mean. I now started having doubts as to if the wine would be contaminated by cork. Looking closer at the cork though did not show that it was crumbling only that it was beginning to almost separate from itself. Well let's take a glass and head on upstairs to my Tasting Room (my Loft) and see what we can see.

Cork Stained Halfway Thru

Cork Splitting

   On the pour of this wine I saw something that I didn't think could be good. The wine although Reddish in appearance was really VERY VERY light and watery looking. Now I am truly worried but it's already opened so I guess I should move on and taste it. When the wine hit my Palette I got the unexpected note of Mocha along with a nice, not too bright Cherry note. This Cherry note wasn't the overpowering Cherry that I have tasted in some wines that can ruin the wine in in my book, this was a semi bright Cherry that was indeed well placed, awesome on the Palette and simply perfect. The wine was slightly on the sweeter side but once again not overdone in that category either. As expected due to aging there were no Tannins left at all but there was a nice level of Cassis that was tasted and along with a nice superb Blackberry note it all combined very nicely to form this wonderful wine. All the notes were very polished here and the wine needed no Decanting as can be expected with it's age. So remember when I said I was going to look at reviews written when the wine was released? I can now tell you that other than the small amount of Tannins some reviewers said it had at that time of release,

Markham Vineyards

Cork Breaking Down

the wine simply hasn't skipped a beat. Throw in a note of Oak and you have the complete picture of this wine down. The wine is smooth with no harsh notes at all. It appears this wine has stood the test of time and I have to say that if a wine could melt in your mouth than this would be a great example. Older reviews also talk of a slightly fruity wine and one on the light side well that is what you currently have folks. Drinking this wine today is probably how this wine was meant to be and how the wine tasted upon release and I think that is awesome. For a wine to be 17 years old and STILL impress......that says a lot about the winemaker AND the type of seal that was chosen to protect this wine.
   When a wine can handle 17 years of storage and still be as good as the day it was released says a lot about the quality of the wine and the competency of the wine maker. I wish I could find out who the wine maker was and send him a copy of this review to let him know how great his work was. Will be enclosing a few lines asking Markham Vineyards to forward this to him or her if they are still able to contact them. This wine also stands as a testimony to cork closures. At the risk of getting started on my preference of cork closures here I will simply say that the wine making process AND the type of closure  go hand in hand, you could not keep this wine as drinkable as it was with just one of these two elements in place, it required both.  The other element that kept the wine great was the storage. Without great storage this wine would NOT have made it. I owned this bottle from day one and it was kept away from direct sunlight and heat, it was also kept tilted down in order to keep the cork wet.
   The one negative thing I can say about the wine is that it is very on the light side for a Cabernet Sauvignon but that also is in the original reviews so that was not a change. This wine really fits more into a medium bodied Merlot than a Cab. Because of the fact that I don't feel this fits the characteristics of a cab I can't bring myself to elevate it to the 90 point level but I definitely will place it at a very comfortable and well deserved 88 points, and that is not bad at all for a 17 year old wine.

Bruce Markham & Two Grandchildren

                                                                                                                   The Desert Wine Guy

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The Desert Wine Guy - A Review Of The Boiling Crab - A Disapointing Seafood Restaurant

Front of the restaurant

Gumbo with rice

Front counter area

My Meal Served in a Bag

   From time to time I like to break from my wine stuff and I get inspired to do a restaurant review. Well folks today is one of those days. Today Ladies and Gentleman The Desert Wine Guy will temporarily become The Desert Restaurant Guy in order to do a restaurant review of a restaurant named The Boiling Crab which is located here in Las Vegas but does have locations in California, Nevada and Texas. In Las Vegas the restaurant is located at 4025 S Decatur Blvd. O.K folks, before I get into this review I want you to know something. Please keep in mind that I am not some primadonna by any stretch of the imagination and as you guys know  I have two vineyards PLUS a garden so I am not afraid to get down and dirty and get my hands dirty. It is important that you keep that this mind as you read this review.

Too many "market price" items

Oysters

What a mess

Shrimp W/Head & Legs

    The other day Mrs. Desert Wine Girl and I were out for Dinner at a restaurant I had previously reviewed (the FireRock steakhouse http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2015/07/today-i-am-going-to-take-break-from-my.html) on this blog which by the way was awesome.  We ended up striking up a conversation with the Waitress. It seems that my Mrs. Desert Wine Girl was eating the Oysters and she complained about how terrible they were. I guess they were very small and contained little meat. Since the dozen Oysters were around $20 she figured she would voice her opinion.  The waitress was very nice and apologized and recommended a place named The Boiling Crab for great Crab and Oysters. Well since she loves Oysters that was all Mrs. Desert Wine Girl needed to hear so one night shortly after that we decided to head on down to The Boiling Crab and see what it was all about. When Mrs. Desert Wine Girl and I walked into the restaurant at around 7:30 PM the restaurant was fairly busy so we waited about fifteen minutes to be seated which wasn't bad considering how crowded the place was. We would have been seated about five minutes earlier but decided to wait for a booth. The restaurant is pretty decent size and is well lit. It has a very casual atmosphere and is set up for people to just walk in off the streets and have Dinner. There were family's galore and dress is as you can imagine, come as you are. This restaurant unfortunately,  is also one of those places where the manager feels the need to play the music very loudly. While not loud enough that you couldn't hear people at your table talk it is loud enough to be annoying, if I wanted a Nightclub I would have went to one. There are also a good amount of T.Vs for those of you who need your sports updates. Once we were seated our Waitress Jess T approached us for our drink order and to also explain how the ordering process went. Jess did a good job explaining things and was one of the bright spots to the evening (not as bright as Mrs. Desert Wine Girl though :) O.K things are going O.K so far. During this explanation I learned that there were only basic dishes such as for instance as in in my case, Shrimp. If you wanted say for instance to add Sausage that was extra, everything seemed to be extra. There were no combo plates to choose from. O.K I guess that's something that you can get over. The minute I started reviewing the menu I saw a few issue. The first thing is that there were a lot of things at "market price", in my opinion way to many things. This place wants to come across as a VERY casual, come right off the streets place one one hand yet on the other wants to act price wise like a fancy seafood restaurant. The other issue I noticed was that there was Gumbo on the menu and if you wanted rice in your Gumbo that was cheaper than if you didn't want rice and here started my issues. To me this issue of a larger charge without rice told me that the restaurant was going to charge you more because they might have to put in a few extra pieces of Sausage or perhaps an extra Shrimp or two, I don't like stuff like that. Simply just put the Gumbo on the menu and give me a price, besides I have never even seen gumbo without rice before. I have been to enough restaurants to know when I am getting "nickeled and dimed" so to speak. I can't stand restaurants that choose to do that. You know the restaurants, the ones who charge you for an extra sauce or want to charge for substitution of Cole Slaw for Potato Salad.  Well anyway let's move on because I think you are getting the idea of the type of restaurant I am reviewing. My Wife ordered the dozen Oysters and I ordered the Gumbo.....with rice. Mrs. Desert Wine Girl told me that the Oysters were great and had a lot of meat to them and that she really enjoyed them, I wish I could say the same about my Gumbo however. My Gumbo was very watery even with the little bit of rice they were kind enough to throw in. The Few bits of Sausage in the Gumbo were fairly tasty but the couple of shrimp they were again "nice enough" to throw in were bland although they were peeled  and had no heads or legs. As you read on you will see why I threw that comment in.  I was overall not all impressed with the Gumbo.

The bill for eating with my hands

When ordering the main meal my Wife ordered the pound of Shrimp and a half a Corn on the Cobb. For flavor she ordered "The Whole Sha-Bang, non spicy. I ordered the pound of shrimp with sausage and for seasoning I chose mild.  The wait for the food was about 15 minutes which is fine. The real problems I have with this place however, start here. All the food was served in a medium size, clear, plastic bag. There are no plates. Now think about this and look at the pictures. the food and bag is coated with a messy , sticky, Brown sauce and you are expected to reach in to the bottom of the bag and pull out your shrimp, sausage or whatever else you ordered. Want to wear a watch or any wrist jewelry? You can forget it unless you want to go thru the process of removing them. Want to have sauce past your wrist to the middle of your forearm? You are in luck, you have come to the right place. The only other option is to dump everything onto the table cloth which is disposable. I don't know about you but having a big mess layed out in front of me at my restaurant table is not my idea of a good time. Well I looked at my bag and asked if I could get a plate instead. Jess, our Waitress looked at me for a second like I was crazy and informed me that there were no plates. I guess I was also supposed to know that you eat EVERYTHING with your hands. I simply said "O.K". Well I opened my ....bag of cooked shrimp and sausage and all I saw was a big mess (look at the picture). Not only was there a mess of food but there were things on my shrimp that I never experienced in a place where I had to actually spend money such as the legs, heads and yes ....eyes. It seems in this restaurant you have to devein your shrimp, pull the legs off your shrimp, pull the head (with eyes) off your shrimp!!! I'm sorry folks but when I spend that kind of money for my food I expect ALL that junk to be removed BEFORE it gets to me, call me crazy. My wife who hates spicy food said she thought the non-spicy was slightly spicy. I thought the mild was just that, mild. My Shrimp had a greasy / mildly spicy taste to it and was simply O.K.. My sausage was decent although kind of on the greasy side. Mrs. Desert Wine Guy ordered the Shrimp and thought they were simply "O.K". For her side she had the corn which she said was "mushy".

So you don't think that Mrs. Desert Wine Girl or I are off base with our reviews I ended up striking up a conversation with the people at the next table across from us who were made up of four Women. I asked them what they thought about the place and after giving me a look that said all I needed to know they voiced that they weren't too happy with it. They also specifically commented on the mess that you are forced to eat in. I also happened to also strike up a conversation with a guy in the bathroom (it's a guy thing O.K) after washing the greasy, messy sauce off my hands and he said he is from Los Angeles and he wasn't too impressed and also commented on how the shrimp did not taste fresh. 

Inside the restaurant

The end of the Dinner - Still want to go??

Here is the bottom line everyone. I think this place is popular because it is new to town and it is unique. I also do NOT think it will last too long. I can't imagine anyone especially here in Las Vegas where you can get a seafood buffet anywhere AND also have the heads and eyes and legs removed off your food for you and also not go thru your dinner sticky and messy. Here in Las Vegas you can get FRESH seafood along with plates and a little more upscale environment for around the same prices as you can at The Boiling Crab. I give the place six months and it will be gone. For $83.25 there are TONS of better places we can go and not feel like we have to take a bath afterwards. As for me and Mrs. Desert Wine Girl we have had our one and only visit to this place.

                                                                                                                   The Desert Wine Guy

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