Review for week 24 - by Steve

Ssezi would like to give a special shout out to his boy George from the Monterey Wine Market in Pacific Grove, Californ-I-A. It seems that George has thrown his wine buying public for a loop. He groups his wines by food pairing, and he knows his business. This F-ing Merlot from Scheid Vineyards had a big fruity flavor but wasn't too sweet, just as Ssezi requested. John compared it to a Ravenswood and noted its complexity and some spice on the finish, but most Winers thought the finish was a bit subdued. Breaking new ground in wine terminology John didn't think that this Merlot had too much 'overberry' and Chris thought the Scheid would be great to drink 'in the background'. While this merlot sat well with the Winers, some balked at the 25 large price point. Please excuse the growing background noise during the review, the offending parties been dealt with accordingly.

Tipping the scale at 35 large, this rich Chilean cab tries to keep novices away with a bit of pong on the nose. Cutting past the pong, the deep character of this wine shines through with hints of cherry and smoke. It's also highlighted by a nice spicy, lingering finish. While excellent, unfortunately the Winers unanimously deemed that the price point demanded more ... transcendence. Bill rightly points out that some more expensive libations we've sampled had not been this tasty, but nonetheless no Winer would buy Don Melchor's cab again. Poor John, he bought two of these puppies when he picked it up, one for drinkin' and one for his mobile wine cellar. They can't all be winners, but fear not, everyone's a winner when the supply gets low and John pops outside for a minute to go to his trunk.

This 2000 Reserva Terra Unica was donated by Rich and sampled in his absence. Bill correctly questioned whether this Terra Unica had been rated before (12/13/2005). Correcting for fewer Winers, the ratings appear to be similar, and overall fairly good. Chris deemed that this TempMon would 'get the job done', but fearing the unknown price of this wine, he originally gave it a drink, not buy. He later revised his review upward on reassurances by Ssezi and Bill of a price of no more than 15 large. Detracting modifiers ranged from John's 'corky taste' to Bill's medicinal aftertaste. Although it was only the 3rd bottle of the night, the intrepid quartet of Winers were starting to feel the effects. The 3rd bottle sensations left Chris feeling wimpy and unmanly.

Here's where things degenerated more than usual. Feeling the effects of the 3 reds, the Winers scoured near and far (mostly near) and hauled some leftover brewskis out of the fridge to finish up the night. The first beer of the night was Red Stripe. If you listen to the audio you may hear a few disturbing things, like Ashley Simpson on the radio in the background (enough to give me cold sweats) and Ssezi exclaiming 'JamaicaGood Beer Mahhhn'. All in all, Red Strip didn't review so well. Ssezi is recorded as a drink and buy, but as I write this, I'm still not sure if that's accurate. However, the Winers were kind enough to warn the audience that they were reviewing 'way out of order', repeatedly. Why? I have no idea. Give it a listen.

Available in over 150 countries, Modelo Cerveceria's imported superstar is reputedly the best selling beer in Mexico and the #1 imported beer in the USA (Corona Light is also the #1 imported light beer). It's been brewed since 1925, the tenth anniversary of Modelo. Aside from Ssezi, who apparently doesn't drink water and wouldn't drink this (how does he live without water?), the Winers assume a fallback stance on Corona. Given a hot summer day and a few limes, the Winers would gladly pound several of these to meet any and all thirst quenching requirements. For an exact quote on the usefulness of Corona, we turn to Ssezi. He believes you should 'Drink Corona when you want water, but want to get hammered'. Despite the 'ol standby' status, many thought this particular wasn't as mas fina as the Red Stripe. Listening to the review, it seems that this beer may have been skunked. The clear bottle can often hasten the demise of flavor.