Esta Viernes! The best and worst wines of the week!

Best Wine this week: 2006 Sea Smoke Southing Pinot Noir. This is an iconic cult producer of Pinot Noir from Santa Rita Hills in California. It was kinda made famous by the movie Sideways but insiders knew of it of course prior to that. Finding it in the midwest is a little unusual especially on a wine list so when I saw it at one of my favorite restaurants in St. Louis I had to order it. It is a big, full bodied wine.........bigger than you might think for Pinot Noir but I'm not really complaining. It was dark cherry, orange zest, raspberry, cedar and spice. It finished long and lingering.

Where I drank it: Harvest. An awesome restaurant in St. Louis

How much: $102 off the wine list. Interestingly that is considered a bargain. I know that makes rent in Wyandotte County.

Final Note: These cult trophy wines that have been difficult to get your hands on are getting easier with a rough economy. They are more available right now and there is downward pressure on price. Look for good deals over the next couple months.

The Keith Olbermann (Worst Wine of the week): 2007 Cavit Pinot Noir, Italy. I've been writing about Pinot quite a bit lately. It isn't intentional. Trust me, I'm drinking other wines too. Finding inexpensive Pinot Noir really is a challenge. It is funny really that we keep trying to find good cheap Pinot Noir. Finding a good cheap Pinot Noir is like trying to find a really good conservative that can beat Dennis Moore. Seemingly non existent. Italian Pinot Noir. I don't know why I thought I'd like this wine because I don't really like their Pinot Grigio either. It was just really thin and light........didn't have a ton of flavor. It has a caramel or maybe even margarine flavor and the fruit it did have seemed more like dried fruits. I can't see buying this again.

Where I had it: Home. Bought it a Lionsgate Wines

How much: $8.99

Final thought: Two things. Be skeptical of cheap Pinot Noir. Really, sorry but you'll have to expect to spend at least $15 for find something decent and that tastes like Pinot. Second, forget about Italian Pinot Noir. Haven't had a good one yet.

Vaya Con Dios! Enjoy the weekend. Great some good wine.

It is Friday. Best and Worst Wines of the Week. Cheers!

Okay, after the intensity of my last post I'm certainly glad it is Friday. I had an interesting week of drinking wine. I was over in St. Louis and I'll give a shout out to a great restaurant over there called Harvest. They have been around for sometime but they were just named 2009 Restaurant of the Year. Pretty heady stuff to keep it exciting for that many years AND considering there are a handful of really great new(er) and creative places over there. Very good place. Can't wait to go back.

Anyway. SOB will like this in that I'm going to focus on a few lower priced wines this week. (wine)Alms for the poor outside of JOCO!!!!

The best wine I drank this week: Red Rock Merlot 2006. This is a nice bottle and very affordable. Wine snobs would say pimping Merlot is a little old school and they might be right but coming on the heels of several (snobby) Pinot Noir reviews I thought you might appreciate this and much as I did. It is the Merlot we fell in love with back in the early 90's. It has pleasing plum on the nose without much herbal notes. It is well, clean. It is lush and soft with plenty of concentrated black berry fruit and maybe a little mocha. It has just a little bit of tannin but nothing like Cab. The body really is that soft, lush, dry Merlot we all loved so much. You would call it almost full bodied and it has a lingering finish.

How much: $11 Retail.

Where I drank it: I drank it at Maker's Mark in the Power and Light District.

Final Tip: Pinot is expensive these days and good Merlot is pretty affordable. Red Rock proves this point. Merlot is a good versatile wine that goes well with everything from pizza to burgers to steak. Don't go too cheap though. The under $10 examples are usually pretty light without much flavor. You can quite a bit for $10-$12. If you have seen Sideways, I'd just say after drinking Red Rock...........fuck you Miles. Why would we listen to a neurotic like prick like you anyway? I'm just saying.

The Keith Olbermann (worst wine this week) Sycamore Lane Chardonnay. I guess this wine is only available to restaurants because I've never seen it in a wine shop or even a grocery store. This wine gives all wine a bad name. It was light as water and it tasted like apples with maybe some artifical sweetner in it and some I guess butter. In fact, if you took a slice of an apple, poured a packet of Sweet n low on it, sprayed it with I Can't Believe it is not Butter and took a bite this is maybe what you would get.....except in a bottle. What evil chemist made this liquid and found a way to call it wine?

How much: Free. I was at a catered event but somebody had to pay for it. Pity them.

Where: An event catered by Jack Stack. Food was great but why do they serve that pitiful wine?

Final Tip: A little additional research and I found this is owned by Sutter Home and I'm guessing it is either Sutter Home or worse in a second label. Several of my friends were snickering about the wine so my suggestion would be if you are throwing a catered party ask for something other than Sycamore Lane. Hey folks I might be a wine snob but even a novice would say this wine is beyond cheap and gross at any price.

Vaya Con Dios and Salud!