Monday Mini Wine Reviews Round-Up For May 21, 2012

So, like what is this stuff, anyway?
I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine sample tasting notes with you via twitter (limited to 140 characters). They are meant to be quirky, fun, and easily-digestible. Below is a wrap-up of the twitter reviews from the past week (click here for the skinny on how to read them), along with links to help you find them so you can try them for yourself. Cheers!

02 Kilikanoon Blocks Road Cabernet Sauvignon (Clare Valley): 10 yrs on & this spicy, inky, gritty wonder is still tightly wound? Yep! $32 A- >>find this wine>>
04 Jim Barry Benbournie Cabernet Sauvignon (Clare Valley): A rich, licorice-filled game is being played (its name is "vibrancy"). $75 B+ >>find this wine>>
09 Knappstein Cabernet Sauvignon (Clare Valley): Big, dark, plummy fruit that’s gingerly (& overachieving-ly) tending a mint garden. $20 B+ >>find this wine>>
07 Hanna Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley): A zealous dance of oak and ripe dark blue fruits, with the oak obviously leading. $27 B >>find this wine>>
03 Mitchell McNicol Shiraz (Clare Valley): Not afraid to pair herbs with cedar & silky blue plums; we should all be so bold sometimes $48 B+ >>find this wine>>
06 Taylors St Andrews Shiraz (Clare Valley): Get past the oak & U will lose yourself in dark cloaks of brooding, plummy yumminess. $53 B+ >>find this wine>>
10 Caves de Lugny Les Charmes Chardonnay (Macon-Lugny): Peaches & cream, along with a few generous spritzes of lemon, lime and grit. $13 B- >>find this wine>>
05 Kilikanoon Morts Reserve Riesling (Clare Valley): All grown up into an assertive, nutty, rich, fruity & strapping young man. $35 A- >>find this wine>>
10 Taylors St Andrews Riesling (Clare Valley): Fleshy, chalky, floral & serving up texture tailor made for those who love the big boys $30 B >>find this wine>>
11 Jim Barry The Florita Riesling (Clare Valley): Tightly wound limes, served up any way you can imagine on a plate of pure slate. $40 B+ >>find this wine>>
11 Kilikanoon Morts Reserve Riesling (Clare Valley): Age this quince-filled puppy, because that acid backbone has bark *and* bite. B+ $35 >>find this wine>>
09 Parallel Chardonnay (Russian River Valley): She’s curvy, & has a sweet tooth no doubt; she’s also bright, spicy & fun to be around $44 B+ >>find this wine>>
08 Parallel Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): The driveway is gravelly, lined with blue- & blackberries, & leads to a mansion $125 A- >>find this wine>>
09 Les Clos de Paulilles Banyuls rimage (Banyuls): We likes it, precious, the chocolatesssss, but it burnssssss usssssss, precious!!! $20 B- >>find this wine>>
04 Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque Brut (Champagne): Still just a peach, brioche & apples baby, looking for a decade more of quiet rest. $145 A- >>find this wine>>
09 Cornerstone Oregon Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley): Unexpected juxtaposition of OR nose & CA mouthfeel, but it works wonderfully. $50 B+ >>find this wine>>