Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For August 6, 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!

• 00 Sandeman Vau Vintage Vintage Port (Porto): Spicy, dark, viscous & struggling with the weight of its own generous fruit burdens. $40 B+ >>find this wine>>
• NV Sandeman Founders Reserve Port (Porto): Just enough pepper & fresh blue fruits & figs to stave off all those woody staves. $19 B >>find this wine>>
• 08 Derby Wine Estates Derbyshire Vineyard Pinot Noir (San Luis Obispo): Rhubarb gets its due as a main course, sides of meat & toast. $36 B+ >>find this wine>>
• 10 Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Chardonnay (Dundee Hills): A spar between pithy citrus peel, sweet tropical fruit, & creamy luxury $55 A- >>find this wine>>
• 10 Puiatti Zuccole Pinot Grigio (Fruili): Like lemon, apple, melon cleaned clearly in mineral water; why go to any other PG region? $13 B- >>find this wine>>
• 10 Feudi Di San Marzano Primitivo (Puglia): Tone down your average CA Zin, keep a hint of the jaminess & add a healthy dash of pepper $12 B- >>find this wine>>
• 10 Tormaresca Neprica (Puglia): Negroamaro, Primitivo, & Cab all playing nice with leather, cassis, licorice, & plummy toys. $10 B- >>find this wine>>
• 09 Famlia Eguren Vinedos de Paganos La Nieta (Rioja): Has character, like Antonio Banderas when he’s acting & not going thru motions. $145 A >>find this wine>>
• 05 Vinedos de Paganos El Puntido Gran Reserva (Rioja): Sandalwood, pepper, dusty earth, dark cherry, red plums & perfumey elegance. $56 A- >>find this wine>>
• 08 Vinedos de Paganos El Puntido (Rioja): Lift, leather, lilting flowers; marred only by a bit too heavy a syrupy maple oak dollop. $56 B+ >>find this wine>>
• 10 Sierra Cantabria Organza (Rioja): Fruit cocktail in a glass now, but structured enough to carry that tropical fruit some distance. $29 B+ >>find this wine>>
• 08 Sierra Cantabria Amancio (Rioja): Old school savory, floral, toasty Rioja gets focused, minty, plummy – & damn excellent – turn. $145 A- >>find this wine>>
• 09 Sierra Cantabria Finca El Bosque (Rioja): Finely hewn & muscular, from densely-packed tobacco & black cherry to toasty finish. $145 A- >>find this wine>>
• 08 Senorio de San Vicente Rioja (Rioja): Hairy Tempranillo chewing black raspberry, snorting dried herbs & spitting smoke tobacco $56 B+ >>find this wine>>
• 08 Sierra Cantabria Reserva Unica (Rioja): Don’t let the wood fool ya, things get spicy, plummy, fresh & bright before it’s all over. $29 B >>find this wine>>
• 04 Sierra Cantabria Gran Reserva (Rioja): Give it time in the glass, those dried blueberries, cherries, tobacco & licorice are shy. $38 B >>find this wine>>
• 10 Marques de Caceres Rose (Rioja): Its Strawberry brings a little crowd-pleasing sunshine, but its bite brings a little bit of rain. $11 B- >>find this wine>>
• 08 Skouras Megas Oenos (Peleponnese): Under that veil of oak spice stands cassis, graphite, confidence & an affinity for skirt steak. $25 B+ >>find this wine>>
• 10 Skouras Saint George Aghiorghitiko (Nemea): Like Cab Franc’s talented lil’ brother; leather, sour dark cherry & big bro’s spiciness $15 B >>find this wine>>