19 Crimes is a large wine brand from Australia known for producing large volumes of wine and unique collaborations.
The name 19 Crimes comes from the list of crimes that would get you exiled from Britain and sent to Australia, and most of the core line features one of the crimes on its label.
We picked up a bottle of 19 Crimes Cabernet Sauvignon to see what it was all about and found it to be an easy-drinking wine, albeit a bit too heavy on the oak notes for our personal taste.
Although I generally found my WSET Diploma D3 tasting exam to be, in a word, brutal, there were some silver linings to be found. In particular, the 12 wine lineup included some fantastic examples of wines found all over the world.
One such bottle we were fortunate enough to taste blind was an aged Pomerol- a Merlot heavy red blend from the right bank of Bordeaux known for making some of the finest wines in the world.
Not only was that the first Pomerol I had ever tried, it was also exceptional. So much so that the day after the wines were announced, I stopped at a wine store, purchased a bottle of Chateau La Rose du Temple Pomerol, and brought it home to enjoy- hoping it'd be anywhere as delightful as the bottle I enjoyed on my exam.
It absolutely was.
Through our wine studies via WSET, we have learned a lot about the French negociant system where companies will buy grapes or premade wines from local producers and ferment/mature/blend them into a final product before selling them on their private label.
This practice is also common in the USA; however, is often not discussed nearly as much compared to European counterparts. In some regions this is fairly common, like Washington state, and in others it is less frequent, like California where wine-producing estates are plentiful.
One such merchant taking this unique approach to wine in California is Cameron Hughes, and as a result of their set up they are able to source wines from prestigious wine regions all over Napa and Sonoma for a rather robust product line at approachable prices.
So when we were offered a few bottles for review, we knew we had to give it a try and our first bottle was their Lot 896 from the Stags Leap District in Napa.
During my trip to eastern Washington for a conference, I was fortunate enough to sample many wineries near Tri-Cities, Washington. Naturally, as the conference was held in a wine region, many of the evening parties also included samples from various local producers as well.
As it turns out, I started to get a bit of a reputation as a wine lover during this (non-wine-related) conference and had several bottles gifted to me that ended up being leftovers from these various parties. Yes, with as much as the travel blogging community can consume, there were still bottles leftover from an event that got rained out, and Gordon Estate's Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve was one such bottle that fell into my hands purely from chance.
While I'm not terribly sold on Cabernet Sauvignon as a grape, I have to admit, this bottle was quite nice.
During our travels in Portugal, we were fortunate enough to taste many high-end wines at wineries and via multi-course tasting experiences at restaurants like Belcanto, DOC, and The Yeatman.
One such wine we were able to try at these dinners was the Principal Grande Reserva 2011 which was one of the most memorable pours we had on the entire trip.
Naturally, when we went wine shopping on our last day at Garrafeira Nacional (perhaps the best wine store in Lisbon), we found a bottle of this one and had to buy it to bring home.
It did not last long in our cellar after that.
When exploring one of our favorite local liquor stores by Angie's parents' house, we often head to the “other wines/international” section to find bottles from countries that aren't well represented in the US.
When this particular store started stocking Moldovan wines, we had to grab a few bottles purely for the fact that we never had wine from this country to begin with.
We quickly opened our Castel Mimi Rosu de Bulboaca shortly after buying it, and quickly realized that this one was made in the classic Bordeaux style as a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. While I admit I never actually looked at the grapes until after buying this one (and maybe would've second-guessed it as I am not a huge Bordeaux fan), this bottle ended up being quite enjoyable all the same.
When it comes to thinking about boxed wine, we often remember the lower-quality beverages we had way back in our younger days. As some of the connotations that go along with this packaging medium are generally on the negative side, we've not really rushed to try out any of the new brands pushing boxed wines that have been popping up in recent years.
It wasn't until Gratsi contacted us to see if we wanted to try their Washington-grown Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon that we decided to give boxed wine a chance. All we have to say is if boxed wine was like this when we had it last, we may have not waited so long to try them again.
To be sure, this is table wine. But it is damn good table wine, and at 3L per box provides an ample amount of wine for meals, cooking, and even some sneaky sips here or there all at a respectable price point.
We could get used to that.
If you've read any other wine reviews on our site, you would know we have a soft spot for Chateau Musar from Lebanon. We first had an aged Musar at Wine Bar George in Disney Springs, and have been buying bottles wherever we can find them ever since.
The Chateau Musar 2010 is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, and Cinsaut which hits all the things we love about this bottle. Despite enjoying this one in 2021, we think this one could age even more!
Chateau Musar is one of those wineries that we have to buy a bottle of every time we find them in a liquor store- especially the aged bottles which the winery does not release until they are ready to drink (making them somewhat hard to come by).
Our first experience with this winery was enjoying a lovely '98 at Wine Bar George at Disney Springs, and ever since then we've been on the hunt for bottles. We found a great Chateau Musar 2006 at a store locally and struck gold when visiting family in Ohio where we found half case of Chateau Musar 2010 and the Pere et Fils 2012 as well.
We bought one of each, went back to my mom's house, cracked open the 2012, and knew we had to go back to the store the next day to buy more- this Carignan, Grenach, Cinsaut, and Cabernet Sauvignon blend offered everything we love about the winery in an attractive price point as well!
Our first sample of Lebanon's Chateau Musar came at Wine Bar George while we were on vacation at Disney. At that point in time, Angie had never tried a significantly aged wine, and the 1996 Chateau Musar caught her eye as a splurge sample.
It was, in a word, lovely.
It was there that we learned that Chateau Musar is somewhat unique as a producer in that they do not release their bottles until they are ready to drink. Sometimes these can be young, other times quite old depending on the grape, growing season, and blending choices.
Cut to a year later when we found a bottle of 2006 Chateau Musar at a local store with a three-way blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsaut, and Carignan at a rather respectable price point. Without thinking twice, we bought the store's one and only bottle.
A few months later we cracked it open with our Ah So, gently poured it into our decanter, and snuck a taste while letting it breathe. It was different, naturally, but every bit the high-quality wine we expected.
