Mega wineries surprise me with cheap blends....

Ahh…the mega wineries. Usually predictable, but sometimes not always predictable in a good way. But occasionally I get surprised, so when I saw the 2005 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Vinetta and 2004 Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Meritage Red, both for under $12, at the grocery store, I couldn’t help but pick them up. Although fair warning, the Mondavi starts off with a near zero finish but, with like 20 mins in a decanter, it all sudden gets a finish. Still a short one, but about what you’d expect for a $15-ish wine. The Kendall-Jackson was actually pretty decent. I might even say it’s under priced- I’d pay close to $20 for it. Here’s some info on each:

Vinetta:
Blend Percentage: 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 11% Petite Sirah, 5% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc
Winemaker's Notes
Robert Mondavi Private Selection 2005 Vinetta is a blend of the five class Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. Produced from choice Central Coast and North Coast grapes, it offers lavish dark plum, black cherry and blackberry aromas, a smooth, plush texture, succulent mid-palate flavors and an impressively long finish bolstered by beautifully integrated tannins and savory oak tones. Enjoy this delicious red wine with grilled rib-eye or porterhouse steak, lamb chops, osso bucco and flavorful cheeses.
Tasting Notes
"The 2004 Meritage has aromas of blackberry, black licorice and violet. On the palate, juicy black cherry, along with cassis, espresso and pomegranate are well balanced with generous, round tannins. In a word, this wine is plush." – Randy Ullom, Winemaster

K-J Meritage Red:
"Meritage," pronounced like "heritage," is a combination of the words merit and heritage.
Only Meritage Association members may use this terminology. The association was founded in 1988.
Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and a splash of Cabernet Franc from several counties including San Benito, Napa and San Luis Obispo.
Artisan winemaking techniques, such as cold soaking and extended maceration, were used to enhance and simultaneously, soften the tannins, deepen the color and intensify the flavors.
Handcrafted in small individual lots throughout the winemaking process – boutique winery style, for flavor distinction. Coastal San Benito County adds blackberry, dried cherry and cocoa flavors. Napa benchland vineyards provide cassis and licorice flavors with generous, round tannins.

Wine Statistics
Composition: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc
Growing Regions: 23% San Benito County, 22% Napa County, 15% San Luis Obispo County, 13% Sonoma County, 10% Mendocino County, 11% Solano County
Barrel Aging: 9 months in 56% French (53% new) and American oak

$90 gas cap or $6 gas cap??

St. Louis has emissions testing. Its "supposed to keep the air clean". Whatever-it has much more the appearance of a way to get more money. I really wish they'd just tack the testing fee onto our registration fee and leave it alone, versus making people jump through hoops to get their car tested. However, here's a tip that recent experience has taught us, if your car, which appears to be performing fine and isn't trailing out black smoke, fails emissions testing, and they offer to tell you WHY it failed for a mere $90 diagnostic cap, tell them to shove the diagnostic machine up their ass and go directly to an auto parts store and get a new $6 gas cap. That what we did and since they re-test it for free, we went back and voila! the car passed. How insanely easy and cheap. In fact, I might just say if your vehicle has 70K miles on, hell, spring for the gas cap BEFORE you take it to emissions....save yourself the second test.

Peirano Estate Vineyards

We recently had 2 wines from Peirano Estate Vineyards Heritage Collection : the Chardonnay and the Six Clones Merlot. Sorry, just not crazy about them. But if you like what I like to call "french funk" in your wines, the aroma you find in a lot of bordeauxs and rhones, you might like merlot. (I think its also referred to as barnyard aroma, but whatever) We just didn't love either one. The Chardonnay had a wierd mineral buttery thing going on not really either but the presense of both, so I don't think my non-chard lovin friends would even like it. Sorry Peirano Estate.