2004 Oriel Setena Terra Alta Red

Terry Post:

Perhaps I am a little jaded in favor of Oriel as I really like the basic idea behind the négociant brand created by entrepreneur John Hunt: "Rock Star" wine makers hand-craft small-batch wines with grapes from some of the world's most interesting wine regions.

Oriel’s is a different way for doing business as the majority of premium wine makers control the entire wine making process from owning the land upon which the grapes are grow, to crushing, blending, aging and (in some instances) distribution. In the U.S. this sort of closely-controlled arrangement is the norm for premium wines.

In France things are a little different with négociants having a well-established and well-appreciated place in the wine business. A négociant is a trader which buys wine products (from grapes to wine) and places his name on those products. Until quite recently négociants were the most common brands and the most common way for wine to reach the French retail market. Wikipedia has a nice write up on négociants here.

The important difference with the Oriel brand is that they employ well-respected wine makers who have made their mark with other premium brands to make their wine. The 2004 Oriel Setena Red's wine maker is Xavier Clua - a fourth generation winemaker. Clua is the current winemaker for Celler Xavier Clua which specializes in wines from the Terra Alta region of Spain. The Setena is a blend sourced from Terra Alta.

My impressions: Setena is a full-bodied, richly colored red wine with ripe cherries and spicebox on the nose. Plums and spice on the finish with moderate tannins. My immediate impression was that I was tasting a Châteauneuf du Pape with softer, more rounded edges. This shouldn't be too surprising as Setena is 40% Grenach – the workhorse grape of a Châteauneuf. The wine is more tannic, and less rustic, that you'd find with the typical Châteauneuf, and I think this is a likely positive outcome resulting from the 20% Cabernet Sauvignon used in the Red's blend.

This wine is engineered to be paired with foods of intense flavor such as bison, venison and rack of lamb. It would also pair very nicely with a dry-rubbed beef roast. Two summers ago I had a morel mushroom bisque served over foie gras at Citronelle in Washington, D.C. - This wine would have paired very well with that intense, flavorful bisque.

You can find Setena for about $18 (750 mL bottle) at retail and at that price it is a very good value and worthy of your consideration.

~ Terry

2007 Wine Cube Cabernet Sauvignon / Shiraz, California.

Terry post:

UPDATED: Included at the bottom of the blog.

I was on my way home from the big-box retailer Target with 1.5 liters of 2007 Wine Cube Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz tucked away in the trunk of my Camry when my brother sent me an email asking where I was getting all of my time to crank out my wine postings. He implied that I wasn’t giving my new employer its full due. Well, the answer is that I am fortified with cheap (errrr) inexpensive wine and that will keep you going. That and frozen pizza by any rate.

Wine Cube is a Target-brand boxed-wine and, based on the semi-hip looking in-store marketing, is aimed squarely at the under 30 crowd. When I lived in San Diego in the early 1980’s, I drank more than my share of Franzia boxed wines and didn’t think much about it at the time. The wine was very reasonably priced and tasted good to me.

My impressions: Medium ruby in color. Gobs of fresh fruit with bright cherries on the nose and a slightly herbal character at the short, thin finish. There is a lot of fruit in this wine, but it does not linger in the mouth. Virtually tannin free. After a couple of glasses and consulting my tasting book I was reminded of a better Australian blend I’d sampled last year and enjoyed greatly (and recommend highly)– Moloto “Jester”.

It would complement the traditional simple red accompaniments such as hamburgers, ribs, grilled beefsteak or pasta with red sauce. I paired it with a Tombstone “Original” Pizza (pepperoni and sausage) and enjoyed each completely and thoroughly.

At $11.89 for a 1.5 liter box it is the equivalent of a $6.00 750 mL bottle of wine. It is a simple wine, but it is a decent simple wine and at its price it is a good value.

August 28th Update: It has been a couple week since I first opened the box and have intentionally not finished it - choosing instead to let it sit and see how well it holds up. My experience is that most bottled wines have a shelf-life, once opened, of only a couple of days.

How would the boxed wine hold up? Well, the answer is: quite good.

Should you choose to dissect the box (as I did) you'd see that the product is contained in an airtight, bladder-like sac which did a fine job of keeping out oxygen and hence preclude the oxidation of the wine. I did not detect the flatness nor sourness as I have come to expect from corked bottles forgotten on the countertop.

All-in-all one more reason to embrace good cheap wine sold in boxes.

~ Terry