Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For September 10, 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 reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes with you via twitter (limited to 140 characters). They are meant to be quirky, fun, and easily-digestible reviews of currently available wines. Below is a wrap-up of those twitter wine reviews from the past week (click here for the skinny on how to read them), along with links to help you find these wines, so that you can try them for yourself. Cheers!

08 Grgich Hills Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Like black licorice? Then I’ve got something you gotta try in about 7 years. $60 A- >>find this wine>>
10 Mayacamas Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc (Mt. Veeder): Looks big & boxy at 1st, but possesses a racy lime-&-grass engine under the hood $25 B+ >>find this wine>>
09 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): More bling than zing, but dig the violets, mint & black cherry. $50 B+ >>find this wine>>
09 Spring Mountain Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley): Girth like Larry the Cable Guy, but melon, rind & opulence that’s way more serious. $40 B+ >>find this wine>>
10 Pence Ranch West Slope Pinot Noir (Santa Barbara): Not quite ready to wake from its savory, plummy, herbal, earthy & pithy slumber $50 B+ >>find this wine>>
08 Dierberg Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley): Intense, leathery stuff; salted meat w/ sides of blackberry, plum & chocolate dessert. $34 B+ >>find this wine>>
08 Star Lane Cabernet Sauvignon (Happy Canyon): Not only demanding with its structure, but demands that you *really* dig sage, too. $42 B+ >>find this wine>>
09 Dierberg Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills): New vines, tons of promise; but won’t deliver on that weighty structure for about 6 yrs. $42 B+ >>find this wine>>
09 Dierberg Chardonnay (Santa Maria Valley): Still life with a ton of just-ripe apples & peaches, done in textural & linear strokes. $32 B+ >>find this wine>>
10 Star Lane Sauvignon Blanc (Happy Canyon): Opulent, visceral & elegant; like a swimsuit model photo shoot set on a tropical shore. $20 B+ >>find this wine>>
10 Melville Verna’s Estate Viognier (Santa Barbara County): A palate that’s broader (& with more wet rocks) than a freshwater stream. $26 B+ >>find this wine>>
10 Melville Estate Syrah (Santa Barbara County): Geek alert: there’s pepper & blue flowers to spare! Always nice to find 1 like this. $26 B+ >>find this wine>>
10 Melville Estate Carries Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills): Concentrated & rich w/out being obnoxious, & w/ more chalk than a blackboard $52 A- >>find this wine>>
10 Melville Estate Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills): Jumping herbs eventually jump out of the way of plums, smoke, meat & muscle. $34 B+ >>find this wine>>
11 Melville Estate Inox Clone 76 Chardonnay (Sta. Rita Hills): Tight, bright, & stripped of all pretense (apart from white flowers). $36 B+ >>find this wine>>
10 Melville Estate Chardonnay (Sta. Rita Hills): Funky, fresh & nearly seamless; like Burgundy on a short California vacation. $26 B+ >>find this wine>>
09 La Follette Lorenzo Vineyard Chardonnay (Russian River Valley): Character over caution, personality over perfection, risk & reward $38 B+ >>find this wine>>
07 Sanford La Rinconada Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills): Distracting sexiness, like trying hard not to look at the cleavage. $47 B+ >>find this wine>>