Wine By Nine

Red Wine by Yalumba from Barossa Valley, Australia. Soft and full-flavoured, it shows intense varietal character on the nose - ripe plums, cloves and spices interwoven with fragrant chocolate and truffle notes. The generous palate shows sweet berry, cherry and spice characters. The 2005 Grenache Bush Vine (100% Grenache) exhibits classic strawberry, framboise, licorice, and pepper aromas, medium body, dusty tannin, and enough spice and fruit to last for another 2-3 years. - The Wine Advocate

Red Wine by Yalumba from Barossa Valley, Australia. Color: Deep crimson red Aroma: A wine that opens with bright red fruits and spices with hints of violets and roses and also a savory complexity. Palate: Shows richness and ripeness with textured layers of red and blueberry fruits and youthful tannins. Food: Match with a creamy pasta or chargrilled chorizo and roasted eggplant.

Red Wine by Bitch from Barossa Valley, Australia. Bitch, a provocatively named 100% Grenache from R Wines, achieves the potential of this difficult-to-grow grape. Winemakers Chris Ringland and Lisa Wetherell use fruit from the Barossa Valley in South Australia. Yields from the 25-year-old vines grown in sand over clay are modest, 3 to 5 tons an acre. Fruit sourced from Vineyards in the Ebenezer sub-region of Barossa. Ripe quince and lifted spice with a rich juicy concentration. Intense perfumed characters come from the sandy loam and dark berry characters from the heavier red-brown soils. Bitch Grenache is sourced from 40- to 60-year-old vines from the Ebenezer sub-region of the Barossa. With the price of Cotes du Rhone soaring due to the weak dollar, I am hard pressed to think of a better value in full-flavored Grenache. The 2006 Bitch Grenache received no oak treatment. Medium ruby-colored, it presents an alluring bouquet of earth, smoke, rhubarb, cherry, and strawberry. Supple, sweet, and tasty, this wine totally over-delivers for its humble price and is an exceptional value. R Wines is a new company founded by importer and marketing genius, Dan Philips, along with co-owner, renowned winemaker, Chris Ringland. Winemakers for R Wines are Chris Ringland, Lisa Wetherell, Andrew Hercock, and John Hughes. It encompasses four familiar labels, Marquis Philips, 3 Rings, Roogle, and Bitch, along with 13 others created especially for R Wines. Needless to say, the packaging of these wines is amazingly creative but, more importantly, what is in the bottle consistently over-delivers from low-end to high-end. -Wine Advocate