12 Apostles Cabernet 09

The bottle is noticeably "cheaper". It seems lighter weight while you hold it. The bottom has a very shallow indentation which is also a sign of a budget bottle. The name comes from the 12 rock formations off the coast of South Eastern Australia. This is one of the Aussie Vineyards wines (Tamborine is also one of their wines.)

We found this wine to have a mild character overall. The nose was a little light. It had light blackberry and peach on the palate with a smooth finish. No real complexity here. .

At $2.99, this wine was a good value compared to "three buck Chuck" or Woodbridge. No long shot winner here. So, it is a bit odd, but we are tagging this as a "Good Value" and "Cooking Wine". You might try this for yourself if you are planning a big party with unsophisticated tastes -- you'll only be out $3 to see if it works for you...

Barren Jack Shiraz 2009

From the bottle: "Barren Jack was the original name for the dam now called Burrinjuck. It was a major dam that was built to provide water to dry lands, which are now flourishing as grape growing areas." Isn't it nice to have an Australian geography lesson? About the wine, it says, "full of vibrant berries overlaid with chocolate and spicy notes. Ripe fruit with smooth tannin and a touch of oak, this wine is perfect with (blah blah)." Well, maybe not sooo complex, but the description is not too far off. 13.9% alcohol. This is actually a Shiraz(54%), Cabernet(38%), and Merlot(8%) blend. The bottle has a screw top (which we don't mind since it is more dependable.)

We found this wine to have a light red color and almost no nose. The flavor was surprisingly bold considering the lack of nose with a very peppery taste. It was not heavy on the berry taste but seemed like blackberry and plum. It had a nice finish and moderate tannin and oak.

At $4.99, we rate it as a good value for Gross Out. About as good as a Rosemount we would use for comparison, but much cheaper.

Hayman & Hill Zinfandel 2007

At $6.99, this is a more expensive wine for our local Gross Out, so we hoped for a little more from this lottery ticket. It met our higher expectations.

The bottle says it comes from the "famous" Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma. We aren't really up on our map of the micro-climates, but you expect Sonoma wines to be a bit better than the average. The natural cork makes it more risky in a discount wine, but we saw no problems. The wine describes itself like this: "Abounds with classic plum, blackberry, and peppery spice character, with rich stone fruit on the palate and a long finish."

We found the wine to be quite correct for a Zinfandel. The color was deep purple. It had a light fruit nose. The taste was fruity and fairly complex. It was mild on the pepper and had a nice light finish. This wine is not as big as a Cabernet and went well with crackers and double creme Brie.

We rate it as a good value. A winning ticket if you are looking for a $7 Zinfandel.

Tamborine Shiraz Granite Belt 2008

Another wine from Aussie Vineyards in the Tamborine line. We still aren't sure how these wines are related to the Mt Tamborine winery that was winning awards a few years ago. (Mt Tamborine wines go for about $35 a bottle.) This wine seems to be from the same region as the Cabernet, but it gets a "granite belt" appellation.

The bottle doesn't vary much from the Cabernet that we tasted a few nights ago. This wine also hits 13.8% alcohol and has a screw cap.

We found the wine to have a deep purple color in the glass. It has a light nose with mild fruit. The taste is fairly light for an Australian Shiraz. It has some of the pepper we like, but not as distinct as the Rosemont standard that we would use for comparison. The finish is lighter, so probably not as much oak or tannin. This wine didn't have the "fizziness" of the Cabernet; it is much more ready to drink.

At $3.99 a bottle at Gross Out, we rate this a winner in the wine lottery and are looking to pick up more along with the Cabernet.

Coorong Shiraz

I think the name is supposed to remind us of Coonawarra. The bottle says "Coorong" means "long neck" and refers to the long peninsula that runs along the southern part of Australia. This bottle gets a Limestone Coast appellation. It also has a "Reserve" marking that can signify the best from a winery. Interestingly this was bottled by Wine Trees, American Canyon, Ca. So it may have been shipped bulk(?).

We found this wine to have deep red color and a very light nose. There was not any huge berry taste and only a little of the pepper taste we like so much in Shiraz. The tannin and oak of a big red were the main features. My wife liked this one more than I did. We put it in the drinkable category, but not very far in...

At $4.99, this was a not a great deal compared to some others at Gross Out. Certainly not a winning ticket.

Tudor Creek Shiraz 2006

The name of this wine makes it sound old. We picked it up partly because you can get great values on wines that are being discounted because of their age. Unfortunately this 2006 has probably seen better days.

The bottle says it is from North Coast California in Suisun City, 13.8% alcohol, and it contains sulfites (boy does it.)

This bottle had a natural cork which seemed in good shape. We found this wine to have not much nose. The taste was mostly tannin, so if that's what you are after... The sulfide detector (my wife's allergy) pegged at the top end. We used the rest as cooking wine in marinara sauce.

At $3.99, this was still not a good deal as we really can't say it added too much to cooking either. This was NOT a winning lottery ticket.

Tamborine Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Tamborine wines 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, no it's not a Shatner tribute wine (although they do have a Dan Aykroyd wine in the store right now), it is an Australian import currently at Gross Out in Washington.

The bottle says it is from the Coonawarra region on the East Coast of Australia with views of the Gold Coast and Pacific Ocean. It should be paired with hard cheeses or red meat dishes. There are no real details on the wine or wine makers other than it is produced by Aussie Vineyards. 13.8% Alcohol.

The color was an agreeable clear deep red. We found the wine to have aggressive fruit on the nose and on the first taste. Blackberry and cherry were more evident than typical for Cab. The tannins were fairly light and there was very little oak. The wine had a slightly "fizzy" feel that we have mainly experienced with newer, unfiltered homemade wines. We felt that this wine may improve greatly with time, so we are considering cellaring a few bottles to let it develop. This wine has a screw cap.

At $3.99 a bottle, this is a good value. (We did not find an independent price quote for this wine.) It's not quite a Jackpot at this point, but could be after cellaring.

Update: We had part of the bottle left the second day and the wine had improved quite a bit. The "fizziness" was gone and the berry tastes were more subdued, so the idea of cellaring it is promising. We suggest decanting this wine to improve it if you are drinking it now.