In a weeks time, I taste a boatload of wine (seriously). A lot of my friends think I’m lucky. Well, they’re right, and I wouldn’t give this job up for the world. The only thing that makes my job hard, is my feeling of responsibility to taste the samples given to me as quickly as possible and to put my reviews either in my Moleskine, on my YouTube channel (Stan The Wine Man TV), or right here on Stanthewineman.com. Here for your reading pleasure, are five wines that I have reviewed in my Moleskine (good or bad), this past week.
2016 Quadri Nero D’Avola (Terre Siciliana, Italy)… $11.
Aromas of dark berries, currants, dirt , blackberry bush and red flowers. Round shoulders on the palate with notes of currants, crushed rock, blackberries, earth and red flowers front to finish. There is a candied element that comes through on the mid-palate. The tannins get a little grit element on the finish with earth and tobacco sneaking in on the back-end. Lingering finish. (B-)
2016 Quadri Sauvignon Blanc (Delle Venezie, Italy)… $11.
A touch stinky on the nose, with a little diesel action, joined by notes of wet stone and a little grapefruit pith underneath.. Balanced acidity, keeps it fresh in the mouth, with notes of Meyers lemon, wet stone and a kiss of grapefruit. Dry, but there is enough fruit to keep it from going to bone dry. Diesel notes sneak in on the mid-palate into the finish. Decent complexity for the money. (C+/B-)
2018 Paxton “Now” Shiraz (Mclaren Vale, Australia)… $19.
Aromas of dark cherries, red flowers and a little blackberry thrown in with a hard candy element coming through. Solid dark cherry and blackberry notes up front on the palate into the mid-palate where it thins out just a bit on smooth tannins. Tobacco notes show up big time on the back end with the dark cherry and blackberry notes, joined by a hit of red flower petals. Made from organically grown grapes (B)
2017 Paxton “MV” Shiraz (McLaren Vale, Australia)… $19.
Slight cherry and blackberry notes on the nose with a little kiss of red flowers. Earth and red berries on the palate with a kiss of red Bing cherries. Thin up front and into the mid-palate, than it goes to ripe dark cherries on the finish, joined by a hit of tobacco. Smooth, easy tannins. (C+)
2017 Paxton “AAA” Shiraz-Grenache (Mclaren Vale, Australia)… $19.
Absolutely nothing on the nose (believe me I tried to get something). Slight splash of blackberry and plum notes on light tannins with a hit of pepper on the back-end. Very thin and simple. (F/D-)
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
About Stan The Wine Man
I am a blue collar wine guy who has been in the biz for over twenty years. I work at a store in a tourist destination stop. I work hard at finding the best wine for the money. I love the challenge of learning my customer's palate so I can find the best wine for them, whether it is Petrus or white zinfandel. Cheers!
