2005 Surfrider Red - reviewed by Kerri

The facts:

2005 Surfrider Red
Region: Malibu Newton Canyon, California
Variety: 73% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Petit Verdot
Aging: French oak, 18 months
Winemaker: Christian Roguenant



My take:
Upon first pour, the wine was rather red and smelled red-pink. A full glass looks purplish and smells a little jammy.

The first sip was rather surprising. I didn’t get that full, in your face, jammy sip of a California wine that I was expecting. On the contrary, it is more mellow than what I normally expect from a California wine. After reading about the wine and the winemaker at the Rosenthal Estate website, it's not that surprising. The winemaker lived in Burgundy for some time and the wine is aged only in French oak. (For reference, I make it a practice not to read anything about the wine before I taste and draft my review. I don't want to be biased or unduly influenced by what I read prior to writing my review.)

I’d call this one a good sipping wine.

I find it to be medium bodied with a nice mouth-feel. It’s not too dry (though it’s more so if you pull some air over it), but it’s also not very creamy. It’s somewhere in the middle. Very nicely balanced. The downside to this wine is fairly short and you’re not going to get a huge amount of complexity from it. Like I said..., a good sipping wine.

Price point:
$24-$29

Frankly, though I think this is a nice wine, it’s too short and not complex enough in my opinion to warrant that price tag. $15..., sure. $30...,nope. (We must have gotten this one through wine club or as a gift.) That being said, the label says, "For each bottle purchased, a donation is made to the Surfrider Foundation, a grassroots, non-profit, environmental organization that works to protect our oceans, waves, and beaches."

Hey wait, does that mean my wine tonight is tax deductible? ;)

2005 Surfrider Red

Surfrider!

Yes, you did indeed read correctly. I just had a wine called Surfrider. Normally, the mere name would knock it off my radar, and my wine fridge as I (a) have an aversion to wines with stupid names, and (b) an aversion to wines with stupid labels. However, that being said, every month I get two bottles of random wine in the mail, and apparently they have a better sense of humor than I do (or a love of variety...but hey...details right?), which would indicate how this whole affair came to be.

Sidebar – Note to wineries

Labels with funny pictures, or strange logos, or pictures of cats, or Studabakers with a surfboard coming out are unlikely to sway me into purchasing your wine. I don’t like surfing, I like California even less, and while I do adore kitties I suspect they would get in the way of my wine glass, and thus might detract from the drinking experience. Pro Tip: Include the grapes, their percentage and the amount of time your wine was in oak, the wines name, and your name. Nothing else is necessary.

That out of the way, Surfrider came to us by way of our wine club. It espouses to be a Californian Bordeaux wine (by varietal composition). The wine comes out in a rich red color, and a slightly fruity nose, and while I don’t normally get into this sort of thing, its chock full of cherry. It’s a good competent wine, and it’s well made, and very drinkable. The balance is nice and the tannin level is near perfect. It’s really just a bit one note for me. It’s pleasant, well mannered and tasty. It is also lacking in anything vaguely akin to soul. The wine is devoid of any personality or interest past being a delightful beverage.

Bottom line: It’s tasty, I’m going to drink it, and marvel at how well balanced it is, but for the $25 price I’m going for a Reserva Malbec, or Rhone wine.