Wine Ratings

Culinary Detective

Here are some of the wine ratings from the tastings so far.
The Culinary Detective wine-tasting panel conducted its first tasting of “affordable” wines, this time focusing on a very common wine, cabernet sauvignon. It’s a nice red wine with good flavor and should go well with beef and works well in sauces. I went to Trader Joes and picked up some inexpensive bottles to review.

We (6 novices and 2 wine guru’s) rated the following wines for aroma, taste, appearance, body and finish, all of which are important factors in really enjoying a glass of wine. Each area had a maximum allowed 5 points with a total of 25 maximum points possible. Oh yea, I learned its also pretty important to get a good wine stem (glass) that allows the wine to “breath” and helps you enjoy the aroma.

Charles Shaw, 2002 $1.99 Total score 10 out of 25
This wine, also known as “2 buck Chuck” is responsible for getting me and a lot of other people to start drinking wine, cause hey, for 2 bucks you cant go wrong. The flavor was not bad and it rated highest for its appearance and lowest for the finish, but hey its only 2 bucks!

Trader Joes, Cabernet Sauvignon $3.99 Total Score 11.5 out of 25
Not a bad wine but nothing special, I would stock it in my house as a “need a quick bottle to serve with dinner and dont want to go the store ” wine. Appearance was highest rated and its finish lowest as well.

Yellow Tail, Cabernet Sauvignon $4.99 Total Score 19 out of 25

This Australian wine was head and shoulders above the rest with good body and aroma and a good flavor, a great wine to keep around the house and for $4.99 it’s a real bargain. Australian wines are really starting to give Napa and Sonoma a run for the money and provide a great wine at a great price for folks like us.

Next time we will be reviewing “Red table wines” by Red Truck, Cote Zero and Coppola “Rosso Classic” so get some and learn along with us.



The Culinary Detective tasting panel (3 guru’s and 7 novices) conducted “Blind” tasting’s on the following wines. The wines were evaluated for appearance, aroma, body, taste and finish We went with Chardonnays since it’s a great fruity white wine that is so nice on a warm southern California afternoon. It goes great with white or goat cheeses.

Quail Ridge Napa 2003 $9.99 (17 out of 25 points)

Great aroma with a really fruity nose with hints of pear and pineapple. It rated highest in this category and was a surprise when revealed to the panel, as most didn’t expect it to be this good. I agree and think it was a very nice all around wine for under 10 bucks.

Crane Lake California Chardonnay 2003 $3.99 (14 out of 25)

Not a great wine by any stretch of the imagination, but for fewer than 4 bucks, who can really complain. It had a nice aroma but not the finish or body of the Quail Ridge. Novice panel member Greg Toya said that it was a sweet taste but not much of a finish or smell and Guru Gene Kato just didn’t like it at all.

Helderberg Chardonnay South Africa 2003 $7.99 (16 out of 25)

A nice affordable Chardonnay from South Africa, rated high in apperance and aroma. Novice panel member Gigi Camisa loved the Helderberg so much she scored it a 21. I agree that I was impressed with the overall body and flavor of the wine, a great choice for a novice drinker not wanting to spend a fortune on a bottle of Chardonnay yet still have an enjoyable glass of wine



The Culinary Detective wine tasting panel decided to go with a basic red “table wine” this time, table wines are a blend of different types of wines blended together. Table wines are great all around red wine and a good choice with tomato based pasta sauces as it has a nice hearty flavor, but isn’t to heavy. The 8 member (2 guru’s and 6 novices) panel rated the following wines on appearance, aroma, body, taste and finish.

Cote Zero: $5.99 (12 points out of 25)
Pretty decent flavor but nothing exciting, it rated highest in aroma with a pretty good nose, but lacked in flavor. It is an organic wine with no sulfites, I expected a bit more and was left disappointed, which was pretty much the overall feeling of the panel. I guess I would call it “hollow” as the flavor didn’t follow the nice aroma the wine gives.

Coppola Rosso: $8.95 (17 out of 25)
A nice wine for a decent price, Coppola wines tend to be a good quality wine at a good price and this one did not disappoint. Good aroma and good solid scores all around, I would recommend this wine as it’s a good buy for the price, much better than the Cote Zero.

Red Truck: $7.95 (18 out of 25)
A nice blended wine from the Cline winery. Good solid flavors and a nice pleasant finish. Nice color and body with a good finish to it, another nice selection that suits my palate just fine. Red Truck just beat out the Coppola Rosso for the top spot in this tasting.


“Sofia Rose” Carneros Pinot Noir 2004 from Coppola winery ($12.99) 15 of 25

An absolutely beautiful bottle with a wonderful aroma and a nice finish made for a nice all around rating. Guru Lisa Weeks stated it had a wonderful deep berry color and a berry candied rhubarb on the nose with a slightly bitter cranberry hint. Novice Julia Chung stated it was “boring”. I liked it and would buy it again if it were on sale.

Hunter Valley, Margan Family Shiraz Saingee, Australia, 2004 (7.99) 19 of 25

A nice surprise from down under, rated the highest by the panel with strong ratings across the board. I really enjoyed this wine and it has become my favorite of this type, the price is a real bargain too. The sweet berry flavor, nice aroma and wonderful finish make a warm day outdoors that much more enjoyable by simply having a glass of this wonderful wine.

Robert Hall, Rose de Robles, Paso Robles California, 2004 ($3.99) 14 of 25

While the Robert Hall rated a 14, just under the Sophia Coppola, I think it didn’t even come close. The aroma was nothing like the other 2 wines rated and it didn’t have the finish either. Its not an expensive wine by any means but it also tastes that way. Novice Mark Houseberg said it had a bitter finish and I agree but Guru Lisa Weeks said it had a a great nose with some tannins on the finish. Novice panelist Julia Chung stated it had a nice color, but looks can be deceiving. In the case of Robert Hall, you get what you pay for, an “ok” wine for under 4 bucks.

What I have learned so far: 5 bucks tends to be the cut off for the wines that are truly “drinkable” and a decent glass. So as a general rule, if you are standing in the wine section of the store with no idea, get something over 5 bucks and it will be a much better experience than something for less.