Culinary Detective

ratings....all wines are blind tasted by a panel of 12....


Turley, Howell Mountain Zinfandel, California $50 (no score)

I thought it was not bad, but the guru’s noted that it tasted corked (when bacteria get into the wine via the cork and ruins the flavors) and I decided not to use the ratings, although it must be a pretty good wine, cause even corked it was not to bad.


Dover Canyon, Cujo Zinfandel 2002, Paso Robles 18 of 25 ($18.99)

Another split on this wine, a bunch of us loved it, with several tasters including myself rating it the top Zinfandel, a few didn’t like think it was anything special. I thought it had amazing finish and a wonderful aroma. Guru Lisa Weeks noted the baked berry and raisin aroma with a blackberry pie and jammy fruit finish. I say it was just darn good! This wine is now part of my growing collection at home.

Rabbit Ridge, Barrel Cuvee Zinfandel, 2002, California ($7.99) 16.5 out of 25

A pleasant aroma and nice flavor combined with a quick finish make Rabbit Ridge a nice bottle for under 8 bucks. I noted it had a nice body and sharp finish, Novice Ann Salisbury noted, “more please”

Wente, Smith Bench Reserve, 2003, San Francisco (17.95) 11 out of 25

Wente has the distinction of having our highest rated wine so far with its wonderful Merlot (19.5 points). Wente also gets the distinction of having our lowest rated wine. The Smith Bench Reserve was terrible; in the words of Novice Julia Chung (who speaks for the panel on this one) the contents of our dump bucket are probably better.


Cline, Ancient Vine Zinfandel, 2004, California ($18) 15 out of 25

The Cline Ancient Vine Zinfandel, had mixed reviews with 2 novices giving it 18 and 20, most found it to be a decent wine, I noted that it had lot of tannin on the finish, but a great aroma of berry. The initial taste is sweet, but it lacks on the finish, Julia Chung stated it had as much depth as Paris Hilton, Guru Gene Kato said the Cline was smoky and woody with an “ok” finish.

Now onto the Merlots....There were some really good ones in here....I loved the PKNT for its amazing aroma and great price!


Rabbit Ridge, California, $9.99 15 out of 25 points

Nothing special here, everyone rated it average at best with nobody raving about it. The flavor was on par with the other wines and the aroma was nice, novice Ann Salisbury said it has a “harsh” end, but nice flavor and tasted stronger than the other Merlots.

Fish Eye, California $7.99 16.5 out 25

The Fish Eye rates a 16.5 and good solid scores across the board with the exception of Novice Henry Jenkins who referred to it as “grape juice”. Novice Catherine Mao said it is a simple Merlot with good flavor and I agree, it had a nice finish with some chocolate aroma. I like the Fish Eye and all of the wines from Fish Eye tend to be quite drinkable and they are reasonably priced with a really cool label.

Hogue, Washington State, $8.99 17.5 out of 25

This Merlot had great aroma, body and flavor but lacked just a bit in the finish. I would go with the Hogue if I were recommending a nice affordable full flavored Merlot to a friend to enjoy at home or with a friend.

Wente Crane Ridge Reserve San Francisco $17.95. 19.5 out of 25

Well, I guess spending a bit more makes a difference, at least in the case of the Wente 2002 Merlot. I will say this wine was really good and in fact 9 of us rated it highest. Guru Lisa Weeks said the Wente has rich, dark fruits with black cherry on the nose and a subtle cedar/mineral finish (it was her highest rated wine). I enjoyed my glass of the Wente Crane Ridge Reserve, it oozed class from its lovely bottle to the wonderful finish of the great wine inside.

Screw Kappa Napa, Napa $7.99 16 out of 25 points

A decent Merlot with a nice fruity aroma and medium body, Novice Cathy Mao described it as “very drinkable”. The flavor was on the light side so if you don’t like heavy wines this might be for you.

Covey Run, Washington State, $7.50 15 out of 25 points

Nice aroma, but lacking in the finish with a lot of tanins, not bad though and very drinkable tasted much like the Screw Kappa Napa but Novice Ann Salisbury said it was “sublime”. (note, I found this at the 99 cent store last week)

PKNT, Chile $4.99 17 out of 25 points

This was the most talked about wine of all the tastings so far, it had an aroma of bell pepper, which was not unpleasant and in fact intriguing as it made me want to hurry up and drink it. I loved it as did many of the panelists, although not all. Guru Gene Kato said it’s the perfect wine for a California summer afternoon. My recommendation is to go out and get a bottle to see for yourself.

Charles Shaw, California $1.99 17 out of 25 points

I slipped a bottle of “2 Buck Chuck” in to see what would happen and well, stuff happened. I rated it a 20 as it had great body and finish, but Guru’s Jim Kennedy and Lisa Weeks were not fooled and gave it 14’s. The rest of us seemed to like it, so once again, “2 Buck Chuck” was well worth the 8 quarters I paid for the bottle, heck I thought it was an expensive bottle (you gotta love blind tastings).