Wine Reviews For The Average Wine lover

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Wednesday, April 23, 2025

2021 Matt Parish, Merlot - Napa Valley

Do you guys find yourself "jumping on bandwagons"? I think that so many people seem to do this and honestly, I'm not sure why. It seems as if most people today just either won't or can't think for themselves. Having said this, I myself do not "jump on bandwagons" whether it is for wine or anything else. My tastes are my tastes and I stick to them no matter what the likes of Robert Parker might say :) This is why I suggest to you guys, if you find a wine varietal/style that I happen to like and you compare my feelings to your feelings on that varietal/style and we agree, then you can most likely trust my review on that particular varietal/style. Why do I bring this up you may ask? Well, I bring it up because of the winemaker of today's review wine which is Matt parish. To my surprise, there has not been a single wine that Matt has made that I do not like and that includes his Rose which is a varietal I do not normally enjoy. From the very first wine of Matt's that I tasted, to the very last wine, I have found myself loving all of them. This was the case even before he became well known on the site I buy his wines from which is Naked Wines. Of course, Matt does also normally make the most expensive wines that Naked Wines sells and that is probably at least partially why his wines are so darn good but a ton of it is due to his wine background and knowledge as well. Now, having said this we are off to today's wine review.

Merlot Grapes

Today I am going to be checking out the 2021 Matt Parish, Merlot - Napa Valley. I paid $22 ($29.99 if not a member) for this wine at Naked Wines and the alcohol percentage comes in at 14.2%. The grapes for the wine come from the Napa Valley and the bottle is cork sealed.

On the nose now, I get a limited note of an oaked Black Cherry. This is followed up with a rather nice tobacco leaf note. Overall the wine smells like it is going to be delicious and I am getting the strong feeling that the wine is one that takes itself very seriously.

On the palate now...yeah...let me begin by telling you that as I thought, this is a pretty serious Merlot. To begin with, the wine displays delicious and slightly bracing tannin's along with a slight bit of a delightful chalkiness as well. These notes work very nicely at providing a slight coating to the palate which I happen to love in my reds. I like how these notes take the lead in the wine as they are well placed. As a quick note, this presentation says to me that the wine is still rather young and can benefit by at least another year of proper cellaring.That oaked Black Cherry I got on the nose is nicely evident here and it is certainly very lively, fresh tasting, and delicious. Acidity is high but goes along with the wine in general. Guys you should know that everything in this wine is in perfect balance and aside from the tannin's needing to soften a bit (for some), the wine is pure enjoyment. Black Plum is very evident here as well and it wants you to take notice for sure. This Black plum tastes like it was fresh picked from the tree and is also very lively indeed. As a whole the wine is fresh, has a vibrancy and offers up a juiciness that is amazing. You should know that the wine is not a fruit bomb nor is it a red wine that relies on fruit to be the only thing you taste as I am also picking up a bit of a leathery note here that really fits right in perfectly and is a note that I would expect from this level of Merlot. At this early stage of development, the wine might be considered to be on the astringent side for some and while I personally love it, I do believe that some people would want to put the wine away for at least a year to soften just a bit. Sitting back now and tasting further, I get a bit of cassis as well. This note really expands the wines significance in the aspect of elevating it highly over the ordinary Merlot.

Beautiful Merlot Waiting To Be Enjoyed

As a last note, while the wine does offer up a sort of slight richness that is deep within it. This slight richness is not a sweet richness by any means as this wine isn't sweet by any means however, that slight perception is there. If I were guessing, I would say that this note comes from the oaked Black Cherry.

Now that we are at the conclusion of this review, let me tell you what this wine is not. This wine is not a sweet and overly fruity wine, this is not a fruit bomb. This is not your $10 Merlot set at a high price because of the winemaker, this is a real Merlot, a Merlot designed to impress and at a very reasonable price due to where it is sold. Overall, this is also a wine that needs to be held on to for a couple of years if you do not care for tannin's as there are some and they are on the slightly robust side. This is a wine that offers up power and as I say occasionally with a wine such as this, is what I call a "confused Merlot"as it puts out much more than a typical Merlot normally does. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I am giving this wine 94 points and with the assumption it continues to age as I expect it will in the next three years it will probably reach 95 points.

The Desert Wine Guy

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Monday, February 17, 2025

2022 Bear Bros, Sauvignon Blanc

The other day I was watching a YouTube video where a wine reviewer was reviewing Aldis Italian wines. In his determination, most of those wines were simply terrible. He kept finding the wines were very "industrial" tasting or, chemically tasting. While I myself have never tasted the wines he was reviewing, I have tasted more than a few Aldis wines and honestly, with the exception of a few of the William Wright series wines which I found to be pretty nice, I have not been too impressed. Having said this you'd think I would have learned my lesson but no, I keep coming back for more punishment. While I do love me some Aldis in general, in all reality I should be going other places for wine. By the way, stay far away from their Winking Owl series ($3.99) unless you simply do not know what wine is supposed to taste like or, your guests just think its cool to walk around with a wine glass in their hands so they can look hip or want to act like they are at the newest filming location of the T.V series Housewives of Degenerate Hills. Keep in mind as well that America has a crazy love affair with sugar and if you add some fruity tasting chemicals into the mix you are sure to have a hit. Now, can you guess where today's wine that is being reviewed was bought? If you guessed Aldis, you guessed correctly. I will see you in the next paragraph.

Today I will be taking a look at the 2022 Bear Bros, Sauvignon Blanc which is simply from California. The fact that the label on the bottle only designates a state rather than a region within that state can be a potential warning sign as to the quality of the wine. This also means that the grapes could come from anywhere within that state. Normally a better wine will narrow down the specific area the grapes are from. The wine cost me $7.99 and its alcohol content comes in at 13%. Unfortunately the only other tech note that I can tell you is that the bottle is screw cap sealed as there is no other information available on line about the wine.

Let's begin where I normally begin and that is by talking about the label on the wine bottle. Considering this is a white wine, I kind of like the label. For whatever reason, I am much more easily satisfied when I see a label on a white wine that isn't really all that flashy.

I am not really sure exactly why I feel this way but perhaps it is because I believe whites generally are for less formal occasions, I don''t know. Anyway, I like the name (Bear) of the wine being as big as it is and the "Bros" being of a smaller font, I think combined, they look good together. The varietal is front and center as is the general location of the origin of the grapes.

On the nose I am picking up a light yet fairly fresh smelling note of lemongrass which is presented in a sort of subtle way yet at the same time, a pretty nice sort of way as well. I am also getting a very light, hint of a fresh green melon. Overall the nose of this wine is very light but has the feel of freshness and is inviting.

As for the palate, the wines acidity is on the higher side and this I like as this is after all a Sauvignon Blanc and I think is appropriate. The wine is pretty lively and as expected, I am of course picking up some lemongrass here on the palate. This lemongrass is at a level that let's you identify the varietal of wine you are drinking but without going crazy like the New Zealand style of this varietal wine can be considered most of the time. A Lemongrass note in this varietal in my humble opinion can either draw in a drinker or repulse one depending on just how forward it is. Here, in my opinion, I am drawn in even though I must admit I do enjoy the New Zealand expression as well. There is also the smallest bit of a green melon note as well that I picked up on the nose. While this green melon is certainly on the lighter side it persists throughout the entire tasting experience. This note also seems to know its place and is able to thankfully stick to it. Now, there is a strange bit of a slightly bitter note here that I tasted and it shows up on the finish but I found it to be just a bit bothersome and nothing crazy however is an ever so small reason in the end to effect the wines final score. I am picking up an ultralight spice note here as well and while I can't determine the type of spice, it is presented evenly and on the way lighter side. I am really enjoying this spice as it meshes nicely with the wines acidity.

On the sides of the palate there is an ever so slight tang but it is really ever so slight guys and again I have to say, is a note that I enjoyed. Ever so slight or not, that tang works for the wine rather than against it. Guys, so as I sit here and enjoy this wine, I am trying to figure out just how the company can create a quality, well thought out wine at this price. Nothing in this wine is over the top. Nothing here is chemically (industrial) tasting. The wine is actually pretty decent. As a last note, the wine is also consistent in its push to be nice, there is no fade to the palate and nothing that really shows the grapes were just generically grown in California. The first sip of this wine comes across as the last sip of the wine. Well folks, I do believe I have said enough here, I will see you in the next paragraph.

For $8 this wine is an absolute steal. Go out and buy 6 bottles in preparation for the first pool party of the year. In the end I have to tell you guys that I was really surprised by this wine. Having been disappointed in general with the wines from Aldis, this wine kind of reinvigorated me on the stores wine selection. Alright guys, bottom line here. This is a Sauvignon Blanc that will satisfy everyone. Having said this, I have to give two separate ratings. One rating is a pool rating which is put at 95 points. The other rating is a quality rating and here is where I have to really sit back and think a bit. If I blind tasted this wine, what would I think about it? Keeping it real as I always do, the wine is lacking just a bit of depth, some nuance but as I said, this is not a bad wine folks, let's get that straight. Is this as good as a Whitehaven, Sauvignon Blanc? No, it's certainly not but its also not $15 either. On The Desert Wine Guys rating scale, I am giving this wine 91 points. I myself will be buying a few bottles of this wine and keeping it on hand for the first pool party of the year and since I live in beautiful "Freedom" Florida, and, since it is 82 degrees today (Feb 12), that won't be too long from now.

The Desert Wine Guy

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Saturday, October 26, 2024

The Desert WIne Guy - 2021 Matt Parish - Petit Verdot - Special Botteling

Today was a busy one guys. First came the garden as my dog decided that the drip system was his and apparently he was very hungry and so needed to eat parts of it. After that issue was remedied, I had to replant some baby banana plants (pups) that come up around two older plants that unfortunately did not survive last Winter (I'm a little behind:) That was super easy and the whole area looks so much better now. It was then shower time and of course, relaxation time which brings me to this wine review. After recently watching some YouTube wine channels for a bit, I was happy to see that while their styles were all a bit different from one another, they all successfully put across useful information. While I do still think my wine YouTube channel review (https://www.youtube.com/@TheDesertWineGuy/videos) style is a just a little bit more down to Earth than theirs, I do like diversity... to an extent and I do think these channels provide that. Continuing on now with the thought of relaxation, I have a wine to review so let's get to it.

Today I will be taking a look at the 2021 Matt Parish - Petit Verdot - Special Bottling. I bought this wine off of the site Naked Wines and I paid $38.99 for it.

The wine sat for 18 months in French oak and the grapes for it came from the Rutherford AVA of the Napa Valley. The wine comes in at 14.5% alcohol and the bottle is cork sealed. According to Matt himself "The grapes were handpicked and fermented in small stainless-steel fermenters. The wine was matured in French oak barrels (33% new) for 18 months." Matt goes on to say "Prior to bottling I select the best barrels and added a touch of Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon to elevate the style."

On the nose here I am getting some nice graphite as well as a bit of black spice. There is a sense of a very dark and deep blackberry note here that mixes in very well with a slight note of mocha the wine is also offering up. Topping the wines bouquet off is a bit of bell pepper that is coming through here as well. From my impression of the nose I am thinking this wine is going to be one powerhouse of a wine. All I have left to say is what a beautiful and expressive nose this wine has.

On the palate now, all those notes that I picked up on the nose translate right on over to here. Right off the bat I can tell you that this is a deep, complex and very serious wine folks as it seems all of Matts red wines are so get ready for this review. First of all, beautiful graphite does a nice job of leading off as the dominant note on this wine but just barely. While it is difficult to determine at first, the other notes follow up just behind the graphite but not much behind so you need to pay attention and be ready for them. A Green pepper note (pyrazine) is not shy here and is gently challenging the graphite note for dominance but eventually gives into its lead and is delicious guys. Black fruit is fresh and juicy without being sweet. The wine offers up a florality of sorts which takes a back seat yet finds a way to intermingle itself nicely throughout the wines entirety.

Acidity is on the higher side and helps as well in elevating everything the wine is trying to do. Plum is well represented here as well and it is on the deep, dark side. As a side note and getting back to the black fruit note, I need to let you guys know that the wine is not a sweet tasting, overly fruit forward one, as I previously said, this is a very serious and well controlled red wine. This is a wine that lives up to its varietal reputation. A well placed bit of sage is here in the background as well and it is indeed just a bit and not looking to do anything other then let you know it is present and help the wine continue its robustness. Rutherford dust. Okay guys, to me, when I taste this wine I am reminded of that Rutherford Dust type note that normally is spoken of in a great Cabernet Sauvignon. I have never experienced this dust element in reference to this particular varietal but it works. There are some say this note doesn't exist, I say drink this wine and you will have a great feel for what it tastes like and why I love it. As for any alcohol burn, there is none which is awesome as this is something no one wants but can happen with an alcohol percentage such as this wine packs. Blueberry is a note that is content to be in the background here and it is a great thing that it is not attempting to fight for control. On top of all of this, I am also getting a bit of licorice and let me tell you that it too is nice. Tannin's present themselves nicely and come across as lightly dusty providing a slight coating to the tongue as well. I enjoyed this expression tremendously as in ... like totally though it was great. One note that really sets this wine off to me and I just have to come back to it is the "greenish" note that the bell pepper puts out. This is a common note for the varietal but usually shows up in an older expressions of it. This greenish note is offered up very nicely here and is well done. The wine overall is in perfect balance and I think Matts greatness in wine making really shows itself off here. As a last note, I am getting a spice note that is delicious and just keeps the taste of this wine moving strongly along.

Well it's been a long review but here we are, the conclusion. Let me start off by cutting to the chase and giving you the Desert Wine Guy rating for this wine which is a very solid 96 points. Yeah guys, the wine very simply rocked. As I said earlier, what a powerhouse wine this is and one that I know you will love if you love the Petit Verdot varietal. My recommendation is for you to buy three bottles of this wine (I already have) as you will have one when you get it which will leave you very happy that you have two more in your cellar. So, that's about all I have to say guys, the wine was amazing.

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THE NEXT DAY - So, it is the next day and I am back to see just how the wine handled the night. Yesterday I ended up enjoying a half a bottle of the wine and you already know that I loved it but the question now is how did it hold up over night? I couldn't see just throwing a half of a bottle of amazing wine down the drain guys so here we are again quickly, (yeah right) talking about it. I placed a stopper in the bottle and it sat on my desk all night. Having first opened the bottle to review at around 4 PM the evening prior, it is now 4:31 PM of the next day so what is going on with it? As I bring the glass to my nose now, I can tell you that the nose has died down a good bit but the same notes that I picked up yesterday are still present today. On the palate now, the wine has toned down a good bit as well and the wine is now what I would consider to be just decent... nothing special, nothing to write home about, just decent. There seems to have been a certain something lost overnight. If I were tasting this wine for the first time having just opened the bottle today I would not be too impressed. While the wine currently is simply okay, it is certainly not a 96 point wine by any means. There is now a flatness to it of sorts that comes into play on the finish, a bit of blandness and if I were to rate the wine today I would give it 92 points.

Saturday, September 28, 2024

2023 Mulderbosch - Chenin Blanc

What do you think of when you hear a business, any business is into "sustainability"? I could have this all wrong but the first thing that I think about when a company uses that word is that the business is doing whatever it can to sustain itself and remain in business. Ahh...yeah Desert Wine Guy, no duh. Okay guys, I get it, that was the answer you all came up with as well but why then do wineries just love to say they are sustainable on their labels and brag about it when someone from the winery is interviewed? The answer is marketing. Look at us guys, we care about our vineyards and the environment. Don't get me wrong, caring about the environment is great but I think in the end, when it comes down to it, there is self sustainment, and marketing involved here more than anything else. Ahh, good old marketing, how wonderful it is and how it fools so many consumers into thinking that a particular company is doing something so very special in this case for for the environment when in reality they are simply saving themselves money and trying to guarantee that they will remain in business.

This word "sustainability" is used to try and impress the customer and therefore, have them support (buy) their product. I would expect nothing more from a company than to do whatever they could to remain in business and create profit. Well, this is my take on the matter but right now, let's get into wine.

Today I want to talk about the 2023 Mulderbosch - Chenin Blanc. I paid $14.99 for this wine and I bought it because I wanted something different, from some place different. I wanted a wine from some place I actually don't think I ever had a wine from. Scanning the shelves, I came across this wine and what really caught my attention was not only the label but the fact that it was from, South Africa. The wine comes in at 13.5% alcohol and was matured in 30% neutral 79 Gallons and 132 Gallon French oak barrels as well as in a few 396 Gallon foudres (large wooden vat). Maturation was for 8 months in barrel and in tank on gross lees which is dead yeast that settles to the bottom of the tank along with the skins from crushing the grapes. The grapes for this wine are from Stellenbosch, South Africa. and the wine is 100% Chenin Blanc.

Chenin Blanc & Pizza

Label wise, I like it. I like the whole thin stripe label thing going on. I love the colors chosen here as well as the appearance of quality the label seems to display. That sounds weird huh? The "appearance of quality" just based on a label. Guys...I don't know, it just felt and appeared like mass effort was put into this label which immediately translates (thought wise at least) into the wine being a quality one but we will soon see.

Appearance wise in my glass the wine is beautiful guys, simply beautiful. A bright yet light golden color liquid is really showing itself off here guys. There is almost a sparkling appearance to the wine and no, not a carbonation type sparkling but a shiny sparkling appearance none the less. What makes things even more enticing is that the room I am reviewing this wine in is not very brightly lit and yet this wine is impressive...stunning looking actually.

On the nose now, I am getting a bright, fresh, tropical note of light green pear and apple. Being that the nose is rather simple, I hope the wine itself will be showing a lot more on the palate.

As far as the palate is concerned, this is a wine where lemon tries to dominate but do not let that scare you away from it as this attempt is only mostly successful and the lemon that you do taste (and enjoy) is not a sharp or harsh lemon. This is a lemon that puts on display a rather very expressive note of florality. This is a lemon that knows what could be offensive and over the top and how to tone those things down and help to lift up other notes that indeed refresh. This lemon has plenty of company which wonderfully meshes with and compliments it very nicely. As an example, there is white pear which is light, fresh, semi bright and tropical.

Chenin Blanc - Tasting Profile

This white pear comes into play just after the opening of the wine and it is well placed. This white pear is thankfully missing a lot of its normal sweetness which is a good thing. While not bringing along an abundance of sweetness, the pear sure does bring along its flavor. Ripe Granny Smith apple is here as well and like the pear, it too manages to restrict its normal sweetness but yet bring along its flavor and freshness. I certainly can't forget about a note of apricot that has a bit of a stone type note to it. All the fruits here are amazingly well presented and refreshing.

Bracing acidity is big here guys and it certainly makes its presence known. This acidity is joining forces with a lesser amount of minerality and together, both are really very nice. Passion Fruit is here as well guys and is as juicy and fresh as everything else is. As a side note, thankfully there is no butteriness here, like none. A nice limestone note is certainly here as well and it too rocks. This limestone note is not exactly underlying nor does it come in after the opening of the wine, it is front and center to begin with and again, rocks. Orange peel is here as well and it lies deep within the wine but is nonetheless good at doing what it needs to do which is to help elevate it. This orange peel note will make you sit back in your chair and make you think about what you are tasting but in the end you will appreciate it. Folks, make no mistake about it, this is overall a dry wine but there is no mistaking that there is just enough of a needed tropical fruit freshness and sweetness to the wine to help rather than hinder this wine rating what it does in the end.

Speaking of the end, here we go, the conclusion of this review. This is not a creamy (maloactic) type wine, this is a crisp, minerality/crisp and tropical fruit driven white wine with among other things, nice lemon and acidity helping or assisting it to be what in the end is a clean wine. These grapes appear to have been picked early as there is really not much sweetness present which is one of the things that I loved about the wine. This wine is coming across much more like a French Chenin Blanc rather than an African one. I just have to cut to the chase here. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale, I am giving this wine 94 points and yes, as soon as I get another bottle it will make my cellar, it was that good and that enjoyable. For $14 guys, this wine was a steal and is highly recommended

The Desert Wine Guy

P.S - If you would like to know more about the wine, here is the tech sheet. https://mulderbosch.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mulderbosch-Chenin-Blanc-Steen-Op-Hout-2023-Spec-Sheet.pdf

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Saturday, August 17, 2024

2022 Franciscan - Sauvignon Blanc

There are certain names that to me at least, represent quality. In this particular case, we are discussing wine so I will stick to the names that I consider to be quality in that arena. Names such as Sattui, Peju, BV, Pine Ridge, Matt Parish and Stags Leap, are just some of the names that come to mind when I think of high quality wines. Unfortunately, neither of these wines are available in my area and I have to drive about an hour to purchase them but that's okay as they represent wines that are for the most part, very simply amazing. These wines also represent great memories of having an amazing time at the wineries themselves. Memories such as these come into play when we hit up the wine stores and also possibly even dictate what wineries we specifically look for when shopping, at least I know they do for me. Some things in life are after all, worth searching out guys and I am sure we all know that wine is one of those things. Right now, I want to talk about one winery whose wine I have always considered to be quality and that is the Franciscan winery, let's get into this review now.

Today I will be discussing the 2022 Franciscan - Sauvignon Blanc which I paid $12.99 for. The wine comes in at 12.8% alcohol and the bottle is cork sealed. The bottle simply says that the grapes for this wine come from California which means anywhere in California.

On the nose here, I am getting light lemongrass and a hint of peach which comes in on the back-end. Overall there is nothing impressive or noteworthy here on the nose.

Now, on the palate there is a different story, the wine is good folks and I am not disappointed in the slightest bit. Yes, lemongrass is here guys as expected but, it is very well controlled, this is not a New Zealand, Sauvignon Blanc I promise. Nectarine is here as well but it also is not over the top by any means guys. I am getting this nectarine on the mid-palate and while it is on the lighter side, it is enjoyed nevertheless. To me, what really sets this wine off is a beautiful sense of dryness... of cleanness. There is also a juiciness to the wine without any doubt and that juiciness is... beautiful. Nothing overblown here and nothing to detract from the fact that this is a well made wine. Green Apple is here as well and it is intermixed wonderfully. I think his note is the one that brings that brightness i mentioned earlier in the wine. Acidity wise the wine presents the note at low to medium in its presentation but at the level the wine is offering the acidity up, it simply works, it is nice. I know there are those who demand high acidity in their wines however, if this particular wine offered that level of acidity up I feel it would be out of balance for sure. There is a floral note here as well and it is yet another super positive aspect of the wine guys. This florality note is embedded into the wine and is a base that everything else in the wine is carried on.With all this being said, let's head over to the conclusion section of this review and wrap it up.

Here we are guys, reviewing a rather inexpensive, American, Sauvignon Blanc. How good could the wine be folks? Well... let me tell ya... the wine is indeed, good. Balance... the wine is in balance guys. I don't know who the winemaker is but he or she, is talented for sure. Balance is an aspect of this wine that really is a selling point. The wine manages to express itself just a a great Sauv Blanc should and also knows a good bit about how to show itself without overdoing itself. One last thing here, in my mind at least, the fact that the winery is now owned by E& J Gallo has really brought this winery down from the prominence it use to hold and I think that is sad. Aside from this, on The Desert Wine Guy rating scale, I am giving this wine a very solid 94 points.

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Saturday, June 22, 2024

2018 Chateau Ste Michelle, Chardonnay - Canoe Ridge Estate

The other day, my white wine fridge wet down, it was not cooling. I thought for a second about getting it fixed but thought again when I remembered that things are being made to be disposable in todays world. Long gone are the days when a product lasted and you could pass actually it down to your children. With prices for repairs being so expensive now, it was sadly better to just throw out the fridge then to try and fix it. I did some searching on the web and found that a 34 bottle wine fridge which is what I had, was actually pretty expensive. Eventually I came across one being sold at Walmart which was the Arctic King, 34 bottle wine fridge and it was available for $159 (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Arctic-King-Premium-34-Bottle-Standard-Wine-Cooler-Glass-Door-AWCA034ADB/737222365). After reading all the available reviews on the product, I figured I would go ahead and buy it as the reviews were portraying it as a very well made appliance. Three weeks later, I decided to do a review of it on my wine YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgp-5uwUo9s). By the way, I would love for you guys to check it out as I think you will be in for a surprise. Having said this, today I will be pulling a wine out of that very fridge and doing a review on it so let's get to it.

Today I will be taking a look at the 2018 Chateau Ste. Michelle, Chardonnay - Canoe Ridge Estate. I paid $11.99 for the wine and the bottle is cork sealed. The grapes (100% Chardonnay) for the wine come from the Canoe Ridge Estate vineyards which are located in Washington State. The vines for these grapes are planted on their own root-stock and the alcohol percentage of the wine comes in at 14.5%

On the nose there is pear and ...well, that is all, I wish I could say more.

As far as the label on the bottle goes, it is well done and very sharp looking. As a consumer, I am convinced that the wine inside the bottle is going to be very nice indeed. Here is yet another case where less is better. This to me seems to always work with a white wine but I have trouble with it on a red for some reason. The font chosen for the winery name really is well chosen and well placed on the label. I remember as I was scanning the shelf and came across this bottle I just had to pick it up to see what it was. Once I saw the winery name on the label, it went into my cart. Did the label fool me into thinking this was a good wine? We will soon find out.

Starting off here I will tell you that the 14.5% alcohol (rather high) is tasted on the palate. Even before I knew the alcohol percentage, I said to Mrs. Desert Wine Girl "the alcohol is high here" and sure enough, I was correct. The second and third thing that I will tell straight out of the gate is that this is a dry Chardonnay and, the wine definitely sat in oak, that is also for sure and for me, and in reference to the oak, a bit too long for my liking. There is also a creamy note (or sense) to the wine that I enjoyed and this note came more on the mid-palate but was overall well placed overall. Another nice aspect of the wine was that you can sense the soil the grapes for the wine were grown in and while that would normally be a good thing, here it is just overwhelmed by the oak. A stone note is presented here as well and while it would normally be good thing as well, it can't overpower the rest of the wine. Green Pear is here but it is almost completely hidden unfortunately and more sensed than anything else. Vanilla is most definitely here and it too is a killer as it is best friends with that oak. I am also picking up a buttery note here that is well integrated but that doesn't mean anything as the note is just... lost and without any value due to the other overdone notes the wine is so fond of displaying. On the sides of the palate was a brightness that was nice but was unfortunately killed by the main body of the wine in general.

Guys, I really don't have anymore to say, the wine was in my opinion at least, bad, I did not like it and will never buy it again. The only thing on point here is the acidity as it is the only thing able to manage the wood/vanilla note. As a last note, there is a weird and deep white pepper type note here that is able to spread itself out throughout the wine and again, would normally be good but here it fails. It is now time to conclude this review, I will see you in the next paragraph.

Here we are guys, the conclusion paragraph. I'll just say this flat out once again, I did not enjoy the wine and would not buy it again. What is really weird is that the wine gets very good reviews, I am left wondering if I am tasting the same wine they are. I am sorry guys but the wine was just killed with oak, a toast type note and a vanilla note to go right along with those other two. There was no real fruit to speak of and what is here, is extremely limited. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale, I am giving this wine 86 points. The wine was very close to being a sink wine guys and I suggest you stay far away from it.

The Desert Wine Guy

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

The Desert Wine Guy - My Review Of Last Bottle Wine Company

There are many places to buy wine on line today with all of course claiming to have the best prices and the best customer service. As with buying anything though, the old saying of "Caveat emptor" (let the buyer beware) is very accurate. Like any business, the goal is (or at least should be) to have you buy the product you want, or need, from them and in that attempt, they will try and convince you that the price they are giving you is the best available anywhere as is their customer service after the sale. Many times guys, these claims of best price and customer service is a deception, a flat out lie. While the business owner(s) themselves may have a true interest in keeping you happy, the employees are lacking at times. Many times you may be given the best price but there are inconveniences that you must be willing to put up with in exchange for that best price. In the end you as the consumer have to ask yourself were you happy with the entire process and, are the inconveniences worth the savings? In referance to wine, as a consumer of wine, we have to keep in mind the fact that there is a lot of money to be made with those on line wine businesses and as with any business, these companies should not only have to fight to have us as customers but fight to keep us as as continued customers as well.

In referance to money making and wine, the on line business named Naked Wines generated $450,472,758.51 in sales for the year 2023. According to the site Future Market Insights Blog (https://www.fmiblog.com/2024/06/08/wine-subscription-market-forecasted-surge-of-20-7-cagr-leading-to-2033-industry-trends-and-consumer-behavior-analysis/) "the market is expected to reach a US$ 3.9 billion valuation. The personalized box subscription type of wine subscription is projected to surge with a projected CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 22.2% from 2023 to 2033." Being that there is so much money involved with the on line wine market, there will be some smart companies that realize they have to stand out in a way that for one, will attract the consumer and, for another, they will realize that once they have the customer, they now have to keep that customer so that they don't stray. Any companies bread & butter is indeed their customer and today I want to talk to you about one company that I am in the process of dealing with that seems in my humble opinion at least, to have some issues when it comes to the customer receiving their product and that company is named Last Bottle (LB).

Last Bottle (Blicker Pierce Wagner Wine Merchants, LLC) is a company that sells "one hand-picked wine per day until it sells out". Last Bottle is not a club you join so that may be seen as a positive for some as no automatic shipments occur and there are no monthly payments made. If you sign up for their email list you get notifications of the daily wine offered and there is never a commitment to buy anything.

The company was formed in 2011 by Brent Pierce and Stefan Blick who call themselves "wine fanatics". They claim to be wine insiders and involved in the "global wine trade" which in turn, helps them to be able to offer up wines "to beautiful people like you every day". Talk about marketing huh? The company also goes on to say that they taste about 40,000 wines every year. In case you are wondering, the infamous James Suckling has 25 employees and they taste 41,000 wines a year (https://www.jamessuckling.com/about-us/) so yeah, it is doable. Now, according to the site Trustpilot (https://www.trustpilot.com/review/lastbottlewines.com), LB does not have great ratings (3.2) with one customer saying "Received damaged wine. Took pictures, sent numerous emails and no response. Going on two weeks. Also left numerous voice messages". Another customer said "Save yourself the aggravation and don’t order from them. I placed an order with them 2 weeks ago and never received it. They haven’t issued a refund yet and take forever to respond to email. They are as horrible as it gets! I will file a complaint with authorities!" Now there are some sites out there that I find rather suspect themselves that rate LB very nicely but these sites as I said, seem to be rather suspect in their legitimacy in my opinion. As an example of Last Bottles prices, today, as I write this review, I looked at Last Bottles website and they were selling the 2018 Gallica Cabernet Franc Oakville Ranch Oakville Napa Valley which sells for $175 at Wine Searcher but is available for $85 on Last Bottle. This seems like an awesome deal if you get the wine and if you do get the wine, what do you have to put up with in order to get it?

Now, I want to talk about my own experience with LB. What about customer service after the sale? What about actually receiving the wines you bought in a timely manner? Should you (the customer) have to run after a company that they bought a product from or do you expect them to keep you updated? The following is a progression of how my order was handled.

May 27th - I purchased four bottles of the Erikson & Caradin Raptor & Crimson Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. After doing my research on the wine prior to purchasing it, I discovered from numerous reputable sites that the wine is supposedly amazing. I also doscovered that the wine sells for $85 at the winery . Last Bottle had the wine available for $22. The next best price I was able to find was $33 which was from Vivino but you had to add shipping even if you bought four bottles and with Last Bottle, shipping was free with four bottles. This was a great deal and I couldn't wait to get and to try the wine.

May 27th - 11:21 am. After I ordered, I immediately received a confirmation email which said the following "This message confirms your purchase. This wine is sold out on the East Coast, but is available in our West Coast facility! We will send the replenishment of wine over to the east coast warehouse to fulfill your order as soon as a truck can be scheduled for temp controlled transport. (Please note there can be delays with this process - if you'd rather ship directly from the west coast, contact us straight away). Tracking will be sent once packed and ready to ship from the east coast facility."

Okay so now I'm thinking, this is a little weird. I had to order the wine before I found out that it was not available at their local warehouse and that there would be "delays with the process". Still I'm thinking that my wine should surely be here in the next few days. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

June 1st - 9:31 am. I contacted LB June 1st saying "I have heard nothing as to where my order is."
Keep in mind that I ordered the wines on the 27th of May and now it was the 1st of June and I had received no followup from Last Bottle.

June 3rd - 6:12 pm. I received a response from Krissy (last name omitted per request) who is a Customer Service Representative which stated the following:

"Hi Marc,

Your order was placed from West Coast stock after the East Coast sold out. We noted this in the checkout process and our order confirmation email, and replenishment timelines can vary between offers. This process can take 4-5 weeks to complete. Your order will be shipped as soon as stock is replenished at our East Coast warehouse. You will receive a tracking email once scanned for transit!"

Now I am being told again that Last Bottle is going to ship my wines from their West Coast warehouse to their East Coast warehouse which could take a month to over a month to complete. Do you mean to tell me that a company that is in the business of transporting products needs wait until "a truck can be scheduled for temp controlled transport"? Do you mean to tell me they don't have a company policy to deal with this as a common occourance? I do believe that I might have an issue here. My response to Krissy was:

June 4th - 1:14 pm I responded to Krssy by saying:
Hey Krissy;

After reviewing your confirmation e-mail, I see that it said ..."but is available in our West Coast facility!" Krissy's email also went on to say " We will send the replenishment of wine over to the east coast warehouse to fulfill your order as soon as a truck can be scheduled for temp controlled transport." Seeing that the wine was ordered on the 27th of May and today is the 4th of June, are you telling me that a "temperature controlled transport" has not been available? Are you further telling me (according to your below e-mail) that I might have to wait over 1 month in order to get 4 bottles of wine shipped to me from the West Coast to the East Coast of this country?

I am actually a wine reviewer based out of Central Florida and I was actually planning on doing a review of your company. As of now, I am not pleased with the response I have gotten in reference to the wines I am expecting.

June 4th at 7:52 PM I received a reply from Krissy saying:
We can absolutely ship from here (as mentioned in the email-"Please note there can be delays with this process - if you'd rather ship directly from the west coast, contact us straight away").

Let me know if you are okay waiting, or if you prefer to have us ship on our temperature controlled trucks this week, to arrive next week. Thanks so much!"

Again I am being told that just to transport four bottles of wine from the West Coast of America to the East Coast of America would take over one month or more. This is not to even include the time for it to be picked up at the warehouse and delivered to me. I responded to Krissy again, this time having just gotten home from work at 2:18 am by saying:

June 5th - 2:18 am - Please do so in the temperature controlled truck so it arrives next week.

June 5th - 12:52 pm - Krissy responded with:
Of course!

June 7th - 1:11 am, I received the following email from LB:

"To Our Favorite Customer:

We have great news! Your shipment has departed our third-party shipper's temperature-controlled facility and is now en route to your area hub (also temp-controlled).

FedEx Tracking Number: OMITTED BY ME
Please note that tracking information will not appear until the label is scanned at the hub by FedEx Home Delivery, which takes about 4-7 business days. Once tracking becomes active, the ETA on your tracking page will be accurate.

So it appears that on the 7th of June, my wine was shipped from the West Coast to the East Coast. The wine will then wait until it is picked yup by FedEx. I had had enough of this. Send me my wine from the West Coast directly without stopping at another warehouse only to be picked up by the delivery company. What a waste of time, I had had enough and responded to Krissy the following:

On June 8th at 11:40 AM, I sent Krissy an e-mail saying:

"Krissy;

Can you please get me in touch with a supervisor?
Thank you, Marc - The Desert Wine Guy

June 11th - 11:59 am I received an email from Kiki (last name omitted per request) who is the Assistant Customer Service Manager stating:
Hi Marc!

I'm the Assistant Manager for our Last Bottle Customer Service team, How can I help today?

June 11th - 2:05pm - I responded with the following:

Good Afternoon Mrs. (last name omitted per request);

I originally came across your company when I was doing some research
on a wine project I was working on at the time. As I am a wine reviewer, I decided to check out your site and when I did so, I came across a wine that was being sold at a great price so I went ahead and ordered four bottles. I also figured that I would do a review of the entire process since I have numerous social media sites relating to wine only. My order was placed on the 27th of May. My first experience with your company didn't start off well as I received an immediate order confirmation stating " This wine is sold out on the East Coast, but is available in our West Coast facility! We will send the replenishment of wine over to the east coast warehouse to fulfill your order as soon as a truck can be scheduled for temp controlled transport. (Please note there can be delays with this process - if you'd rather ship directly from the west coast, contact us straight away)."When I inquired days later about my purchase since I had heard nothing (no update) from your company I was informed via an E-mail by Customer Service Representative, Krissy (last name omitted per request) that my order could take 4-5 weeks*just for it to ship *to the East Coast facility. The product would then go from the facility here on the East Coast to FedEx. With this being said, I have a few questions/complaints.

My first question/complaint is why would your company wait until after the customer ordered the product to then be informed that the item they ordered is out of stock near them? As a customer, I have no idea where your warehouses are located nor do I care so why would that is be important to me? This adds to the second part of this question which is to then be informed as I was by Krissy that "my order could take 4-5 weeks" is crazy which leads me to my next question.

My second question/complaint is, why in the world would any customer wish to wait 4-5 weeks (over 1 month) just to have their purchased product shipped to another warehouse and then be picked up by FedEx? To even have that option is crazy. Is there a benefit to the consumer if they were to have the product shipped from the East Coast rather than the West Coast?

My third question/complaint is, what is the thought process behind your company shipping an item from one of its warehouses to another one of its warehouses rather than ship the customer the item directly from the original warehouse? Doing this only adds to wait for the customer to receive their order (4-5 weeks). No wonder the product takes so long to be delivered to the customer. Again I have to ask, is there a benefit to the consumer if they were to have the product shipped from the East Coast rather than the West Coast?

Having said all of this, as of today FedEx has still not received my package and I (the customer) wait. It has been 15 days since ordering. I have to tell you Mrs. Kikithat unless I get some satisfactory answers to my questions, my review of your company will unfortunately not be a good one. as a last note, I belong to Naked Wines and they deliver me a case of wine in three days without excuses. Yes, this is regular ground shipping.

Thank you for your time, Marc ****** - The Desert Wine Guy

June 12th - 11:38am Mrs. Kiki (last name omitted per request) responded by saying:

HI Marc!

I understand your concern and appreciate your feedback.

Opposite Coast orders can take some time to process, and like Krissy mentioned, this is noted in the confirmation email. Replenishment is shipped to our East Coast warehouse in bulk on temp controlled trucks, and then specific orders are processed at our East Coast warehouse to be shipped individually to customers on the East Coast, so that direct transit time is shorter.

Unfortunately, in cases like this one, delays can happen due to truck availability, issues with the delivery, or even the wine arriving damaged to our East Coast, so the orders are switched to ship from our West Coast warehouse via third party temp controlled trucks so that customers don't have to wait another few weeks for new bottles to arrive at the East Coast warehouse.

I know the wait time is not preferable for you, but we do have quite a few customers that would rather wait and have it ship directly from our East Coast instead of having the longer transit time directly to the customer, as our third party shipping direct from West Coast to Customer in the temp controlled trucks can take a couple weeks, even though these shipments are temp controlled. Our operations team has been looking into ways we can improve this, and I will make sure they know your thoughts and complaints with how things are currently working.

Tracking on our side is showing that this order has arrived at the hub in FL and is being sorted for direct shipping! Once FedEx picks this up and scans the shipment, you should receive an email with updated tracking. This should arrive by the end of the week.

For the inconvenience, I've added a $50 store credit to your account.

Cheers, Kiki (last name omitted per request)

Assistant Customer Service Manager
Last Bottle Wines

Guys, Mrs. Kiki (last name omitted per request) response, while I truly do appreciate $50 being placed onto my account, confuses me for the following reasons.

1) In reference to Mrs. Kiki (last name omitted per request) saying that "Opposite Coast orders can take some time to process", I don't understand why? The West Coast is not in another country so why the delay depending upon the coast the wine comes from. Once again, I have to add that this information was not given until AFTER I completed my purchase.

2) In reference to Mrs. Kiki (last name omitted per request) saying that "Replenishment is shipped to our East Coast warehouse in bulk". I think the issue here is that Last Bottle waits until they have a lot of orders before they ship. This is why it can take up to five weeks before a customer gets their purchased product. This is not a good way to do business.

3) In reference to Mrs. Kiki (last name omitted per request) saying that "delays can happen due to truck availability, issues with the delivery, or even the wine arriving damaged to our East Coast". Truck availability shouldn't be an issue, they are a company that ships country wide and should be prepared for such a thing.

4) In reference to Mrs. Kiki (last name omitted per request) saying "... we do have quite a few customers that would rather wait and have it ship directly from our East Coast instead of having the longer transit time directly to the customer, as our third party shipping direct from West Coast to Customer in the temp controlled trucks can take a couple weeks". Once again we run into Last Bottle not wishing to ship four bottles by themselves and wanting to wait for a lot of orders to be completed. I believe this boils down to money for them. If that is the case, they shouldn't offer free shipping wth four bottles.

5) In reference to Mrs. Kiki (last name omitted per request) saying "tracking on our side is showing that this order has arrived at the hub in FL and is being sorted for direct shipping! Once FedEx picks this up and scans the shipment" I called FedEx on June 11th and they informed me that they did not have my package yet. I have to wonder if throughout all this traveling, my wine was not temperature controlled as I did spend an extra $8 to have this done.

In complete contrast to Last Bottles customer service, I belong to an on-line wine club and I will not mention the name because I do not wish to have this twisted into an advertisement but my last order from them on May 28th and received my wines on June 1st by FedEx, that's including the date I actually ordered. That's four days folks for six bottles of wine to get to my home, why is LB having a hard time?

Want another example? There is a site named Wines Till Sold Out (WTSO) and they offer free shipping if you purchase a minimum of $60. I had placed an order with them April 6th. I received an immediate confirmation email and on the very next work day (the 7th was a Sunday), I received an email stating that the wines have shipped. On the 10th of April I received my wines. This and awesome prices scores WTSO (https://www.wtso.com/last-chance#product_id=88375) a very high rating in my book. By the way, I have no affiliation with WTSO.

June 13th - FedEx finally has received my wine.

June 14th - Finally, my wine is out for delivery. Later on in the day I received my wine and having finally sat down with the box, it is time to open it. Inside I see the wine was packed exceptionally well with a big block of re-usable ice. Huge, thick foam blocks surrounded the wines and I have to say, I was impressed. I will try the wine in a few days.

As I move to wrap this review up, I have to say that I am kind of disappointed in the service LB has offered up in the way of delivery. At this point, it has been 12 days since I ordered four bottles of wine and it seems that all I have witnessed is a company that has been around a long time, acting more like a start up as far as transporting their product is concerned. What caused a delay here that I found to be unacceptable was the fact that they shipped my wine from the West Coast to the East Coast and than to FedEx. Why my wine couldn't be shipped directly from the West Coast to my home is beyond me. Keep in mind here that aside from the shipping from one warehouse to another, I also had to wait for FedEx to prepare and ship the wine to me. This is only more time for me to wait. Also, the potential of having to wait 4-5 weeks (over a month) to receive my product due to LB shipping issue, is crazy. Okay now, my final thoughts. Having received my wines I believe that LB is a legitimate company and and while they do deliver the product they promise and at a great price, I think their company needs to do some big tweaking of their delivery process. Moving product from one coast of this country to another and then to another shipper is ridiculous. I do believe that my noting them I am reviewing the company expidided my delivery.

Having said all of this, I kind of have faith in LB and I actually ended up doing another order from them to see if this was just a fluke, an issue with long distance shipping or if it was an issue with all of their shipping. My order was for four bottles of the 2022 Peju (Napa Valley) Legacy Carneros Napa County Chardonnay and was purchased on June 13th. I will be receiving these wines on the 20th per FedEx. Mrs. Desert Wine Girl opened an account and ordered one bottle of wine, the 2022 Q Appassionata, Cabernet Sauvignon - Stags Leap District as well and both orders will be coming in the same box rom the East Coast on the 20th. Once again I have to note an odity. I never received a notification that this second bottle was shipped.

Has LB redeemed itself? Is the companies only issue their long distance shipping process (shipping in general)? As things stand right now, it appears that way. I also want to state that I had no issues with Krissy as none of this was her fault and she was cordial in her dealings with me, the same goes for Mrs. Kiki (last name omitted per request). By the way, I will be contacting Mrs. Kiki (last name omitted per request) and giving her the link to this review which I hope she passes on so that LB will be aware of the issues that I experienced.

The Desert Wine Guy