this heaven gives me migraine

2007 Domaine le Couroulu Vacqueyras Cuvee Classique

Composition: 60% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 15% Mourvedre

Notes: Big nose of dark plum jam, (hot fruit!), lead, rosemary and herbs. Dark fruit in the mouth, lots of black cherry, raspberry, and plum bramble. Some graphite and rock under there, and a tiny bit of tarry bite at finish Nice acids. Youthful, vibrant, well put together... almost elegant, and not too terrubly fruit-bomby even though it's a pretty big wine.

Cost: About $15

2008 Domaine La Bastide Syrah Vin de Pays d'Hauterive

It's the house of sick these days, so not much wine drinking here. This is one I had the other night, before I succumbed to this latest illness. I guess this means I can check off being sick this month... since November, I've had something every month thus far! Fun times, having a baby who has to put everything in her mouth.

Composition: 100% Syrah.

Notes: Dark rocky nose of mineral, violet, and dark plum and raspberry. Flinty fruit in the mouth... a nice combination of rocks and fruit, with soft tannins. Not much of a tarry quality at the finish normal to Syrah, but some slight bitterness and some persistent graphite-like flavor. Very nice overall, although I think I prefer the Les Genets (I did pick up another bottle, finally, and had it the other night, so now I need another one already!). I really like Domaine la Bastide, though, from these wines I've had, and for the price the wines are pretty amazing.

Cost: $12

2008 Uwe Schiefer Blaufrankisch "Konigsburg"

I got this since I had the Eisenberg at Weygandt's a few days ago and thought it was very good, and the Konigsburg sounded even better to me based on the description (more crazy animal/leather/meat). Sadly, it was not so for me: I think I like the Eisenberg better, although that will remain to be seen when I try the bottle I picked up the other night to see if it is really a wine I like. Sometimes, you have to try things more than once....

Composition: 100% Blaufrankisch.

Notes: The main problem for me was that the nose shut down after about an hour open, and that was the main time when I was trying to write my notes. It came back about three hours in, but then had some other issues. The nose is sort of smoky, not as much as I had hoped, but a sweet smoke with coffee, cherry, and an unusual but not unpleasant plasticky smell. When the nose died and came back, it still had some of these elements, but also has some brett in it, and I really had a hard time getting past the brett. In the mouth it was smooth and round, tingly, with not much tannin: this is one of those wines that is about acid and spice. It's got sour cherry fruit in the mouth, and there's that nice peppery spice on the finish with decent acids. I am sad to say I didn't love it, even though I wanted to.

Cost: $23

2005 Ridge Buchignani Ranch Carignane

Dug this out to have with some curry. Usually I am not a big fan of Carignane, although I am coming around... for some reason a lot of Carignanes have a back-of-the-tongue bitterness I don't like. This one didn't have that, and while I didn't love it, it was drinkable for the most part.

Composition: 100% Carignane.

Notes: Chewy, jammy raspberry nose with bramble and some dry leaves. Still a generous amount of sweet-seeming fruit in the glass, despite its couple of years in the cellar. Some warm spice at the end. A clove and anise finish, but not anything by way of tannins. Not much of the hard/bitter back of the throat thing I usually get from Carignanes, which was a nice surprise. Pretty simple overall: nothing complex, but pleasant enough. For me personally, I found it a little too extracted and jammy and the sweetness was a little much for my liking. That, however, didn't keep me from drinking it over the course of two nights. It held up well and was pretty much the same the second night.

Cost: $25/30