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Pomp & circumstance
Aiuto! Aiuto! Your West Coast Oenophile still has not found the magic formula to weave my way through the interminable backlog to which I’ve committed Sostevinobile! So the new grand scheme is this: tackle my most recent tasting and pair it with the one for which I am most remiss, winnowing my way down to the middle.
De extremis. This entry will cover the long overdue A Single Night, Single Vineyards alongside my most recent foray, the Grand Tasting from this year’s Artisano celebration, relocated from Geyserville to The Vintners Inn of Santa Rosa. Being that Sostevinobile has yet to open and generate a revenue stream, I am compelled to flip an imaginary coin and decide to lead with the old and segue into the new.
While all of the wineries pouring at this second staging of A Single Night have previously been covered in this blog, this marquée event for the Russian River Valley Winegrowers took on a decidedly different tone this time around, and not simply because the venue had shifted from the courtyard at C. Donatiello (formerly Belvedere) to the caves at Thomas George Estates (formerly Davis Bynum). The inaugural celebration of these singularly-focused bottlings offered an undeniably millennial flair and seemed more like a slightly subdued frat party than a staid wine tasting. This year, a more mellow atmosphere brought out a more well-established, if not perceptibly older, attendance. Lady Gaga gives way to Bob Seger, Pumped Up Kicks cedes to Pump It Up. A paradigm shift or merely a shift in the economy—I can only hazard a guess.
N’importa. What matters here was the wine, which covered a wide gamut in terms of both variety and quality. In the interest of my oft-stated quest for brevity, I will highlight only discoveries from my top-tier for the evening, not so much in the same manner other writers grade the wines they sample, but more in line with scholastic honors. My corollary to summa cum laude started with the 2008 Estate Pinot Noir from Desmond Wines, a Russian River winery singularly focused on vinting estate-grown Pinot. Rivaling this bottling was the 2008 Klopp Ranch Pinot Noir from acclaimed producer Merry Edwards, the 2009 Ewald Vineyard Pinot Noir from Adam Lee’s Siduri, and a surprisingly delectable 2007 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley from Trione.
Other wines that attained such lofty levels this day included an exceptional 2009 Bacigalupi Zinfandel from Graton Ridge Cellars and the 2010 Estates Chardonnay from host Thomas George. The 2008 Uncle Zio Syrah Gianna Maria from Martinelli proved spectacularly lush, while their cousin Darek Trowbridge provided a deft touch with the 2005 Laughlin Vineyard Zinfandel from his Old World Winery. Sparkling wine virtuoso Iron Horse continued to impress me with their forays into still wine, exemplified here by their enchanting 2009 Rude Clone Chardonnay. Lastly, the 2009 Benevolo Forte, a rich port-style wine from a collaboration between Foppoli Wines and some friends, rounded out the top tier.
The next tier (aka magna cum laude) narrowly focused on a handful of Pinots, the 2008 Lolita Ranch Pinot Noir, also from Martinelli, and Thomas George’s 2008 Lancel Creek Pinot Noir. My friends from Joseph Swan held court with their elegant 2007 Trenton View Vineyard Pinot Noir, while the fourth exemplar of this ranking came from Benovia, whose 2008 Bella Una Pinot Noir, while not a single vineyard bottling, constituted a blend of “the best possible expression of all of the sub-regions of
the Russian River Valley.”
Though far more wines fell warranted a broader cum laude, it would be erroneous to consider such well-crafted bottlings commonplace. Still, Pinot Noir dominated once more, starting with the 2008 Siebert Ranch Pinot Noir produced by Ancient Oak and Balletto Vineyards’ 2009 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir. Desmond followed up its initial pouring with their 2009 Estate Pinot Noir, a worthy albeit slightly less dramatic successor, while La Follette impressed with their 2009 DuNah Vineyard Pinot. Others featuring comparably striking vintages included Matrix, with their 2008 Nunes Ranch Pinot Noir, Nalle with a splendid 2009 Hopkins Ranch Pinot Noir, Moshin, pouring its 2009 Bacigalupi Vineyard Pinot Noir, and the inveterate Williams Selyem, which poured the 2008 Flax Vineyard Pinot Noir from their vast repertoire of this varietal.
In addition to its sapid 2008 Oehlman Ranch Pinot Noir, Sandole featured an equally pleasant 2008 Russian River Valley Zinfandel. Hop Kiln showcased two distinctive wines, their 2009 HKG Pinot Noir Bridge Selection and its corollary, the 2009 Chardonnay Six Barrel Bridge Selection. Foppoli shone with its Burgundian pair, as well: the 2009 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay and the 2009 Late Harvest Pinot Noir, an especial treat.
Renowned vintner Gary Farrell also showcased his elegant 2008 Westside Farms Chardonnay, while Gordian Knot (formerly Sapphire Hill) debuted its current incarnation with a splendid 2010 Estate Albariño. Meanwhile, focusing on red varietals, John Tyler Wines crafted an elegant 2006 Zinfandel from their proprietary Bacigalupi Vineyards.
I would have expected to find more Zins served at this event, but was even more surprised at the atypical selection of Bordelaise varietals Merriam poured—not that their 2005 Windacre Merlot wasn’t an outstanding wine, as was their 2010 Willowside Sauvignon Blanc. Trione’s 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Russian River Valley struck me as equally impressive, while their 2007 Syrah Russian River Valley matched its intensity. Wrapping up my talley for the evening, host Thomas George again delivered with its 2008 Ulises Valdez Vineyard Syrah and dazzled with its 2009 Pinot Blanc Saralee’s Vineyard, a distinctive selection for this distinguished gathering.
Not meaning to slight the other wineries who poured at A Single Night, but brevity demands I truncate my review and move onto my most recent foray. A whirlwind celebration of wine, food and art, Artisano focused on handcrafted, small production labels from the North Coast, though the preponderance of participating wineries heralded from Sonoma, as well. Many were well-familiar, but a handful new to Sostevinobile. Nearly all had at least one wine that, as above, made the proverbial honor roll.
Not meaning to slight the other wineries who poured at A Single Night, but brevity demands I truncate my review and move onto my most recent foray. A whirlwind celebration of wine, food and art, Artisano focused on handcrafted, small production labels from the North Coast, though the preponderance of participating wineries heralded from Sonoma, as well. Many were well-familiar, but a handful new to Sostevinobile. Nearly all had at least one wine that, as above, made the proverbial honor roll.
A quartet of the wines scored at stratospheric levels—these I will assay at the conclusion of my review. To commence at the same tier (summa cum) where my evaluations for A Single Night began, I found myself reveling in the 2009 Zinfandel Alexander Valley’s William Gordon Winery showcased. Across the patio, Paul Mathew’s major opus turned out to be his 2008 TnT Vineyard Pinot Noir. A new label from Ferrari-Carano (which also owns Santa Rosa’s Vintners Inn that hosted this gathering), PreVail transcended the garishness of their other endeavors and impressed with their 2006 Back Forty, an elegantly textured Cabernet Sauvignon.
In addition to its coveted buttons, Pech Merle poured a wide array of their wines, prominently featuring the 2009 Russian River Valley Chardonnay winemaker John Pepe crafted. Steve Domenichelli dazzled with his 2007 Zinfandel, one of but two wines his boutique operation produces. At a nearby table, my friend from Mendocino, John Chiarito, returned with his trailblazing Sicilian transplant, the 2009 Nero d’Avola and an outstanding 2009 Estate Zinfandel. Also charting comparable territory was Cartograph, with their 2009 Floodgate Vineyard Pinot Noir.
Bill and Betsy Nachbaur finally accorded me a taste of their marvelous 2008 Dolcetto at a private visit to Acorn following Artisano, but here they most impressed with their 2008 Heritage Vines Zinfandel from their Alegría Vineyard. Somewhat paradoxically, Vince Ciolino of Montemaggiore produces no Italian varietals, despite a meticulous approach and organic practices that bespeak a Tuscan æsthetic; nevertheless, his 2007 Paolo’s Vineyard Syrah proved redolent of his Sicilian forbearers.
Although De Novo made a striking impression with their 2007 Pinot Noir Mendocino County,
it proved only their second best wine of the afternoon. Similarly, I
will briefly gloss over the choicest revelation from Old World Winery in
favor of their alluringly floral 2009 Sauvignon Blanc Bon Tempe. Also showing spectacularly with its whites, Cloverdale’s Icaria soared to new heights with its 2010 Estate Chardonnay.
When well-crafted, Viognier can reveal an incomparable varietal, as exemplified here by Stark Wine of Dry Creek’s 2009 Viognier Damiano Vineyard, which matched this pinnacle with a sister Rhône bottling, the 2009 Syrah Eaglepoint Vineyard. Ulises Valdez, whose vineyards furnished Syrah for Thomas George, here showed his own deft touch for œnology with the 2008 Silver Eagle Syrah and a Rockpile standout, the 2008 Botticelli Zinfandel.
Respite flourished with their red bottling, 2008 Antics Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley. Also from Geyserville, Munselle Vineyards enticed with a pair of superb bottlings, the 2006 Coyote Crest Cabernet Sauvignon and the equally compelling 2008 Zinfandel Osborn Ranch. The award for consistency, however, undoubtedly belonged to Miro Cellars, with all five of their selections garnering this premium score: the 2009 Windsor Oak Vineyard Pinot Noir, the 2010 Grist Vineyard Zinfandel, from atop Pride Mountain, the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, winemaker Miroslav Tcholakov’s signature 2010 Piccetti Vineyard Petite Sirah, and the 2010 Cuvée Sasha, a Grenache masterfully blended with 19% Mourvèdre and 6% Syrah.
Garnering middle honors, William Gordon returned with a 2008 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Personen Vineyard, a wine that portends to blossom in the next 5-7 years. Paul Mathew featured two more Pinots, his 2008 Horseshoe Bend Vineyard Pinot Noir and the 2008 Ruxton Vineyard Pinot Noir. And again, Prevail prevailed with the 2006 West Face, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with 36% Syrah.
Both Pech Merle’s new 2009 Merlot and Domenichelli’s 2007 Magnificent 7 Petite Sirah offered vastly compelling wines, as was Chiarito’s other Italian rarity, the 2009 Negroamaro. I especially delighted in Acorn’s 2008 Cabernet Franc Alegría Vineyard, while relishing the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon De Novo provided.
Three wonderful Sauvignon Blancs came from Simoncini, newly releasing their 2010 Sauvignon Blanc; Alexander Valley’s Reynoso, with their 2008 Sauvignon Blanc; and the “we don’t make Chardonnay” offshoot of famed grower Robert Young, Kelley & Young, who poured their 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. Captûre also poured a top-flight 2010 Tradition Sauvignon Blanc and matched it with their 2010 Ma Vie Carol Chardonnay, while my friends Jim and Christina Landy impressed with their 2009 Chardonnay Russian River Valley.
I deliberately maintain my ignorance when it comes to comprehending derivatives and other vehicles of the options market—such contrivances just seem antithetical to everything Sostevinobile espouses, so terminology like the trading positions known as Long Gamma seems rather oblique to me; nonetheless, the accomplished winery bearing same name produced an excellent wine with little statistical deviation, the 2007 Red, a Zinfandel blended with 25% Syrah and 5% Petite Sirah. Montemaggiore countered with their 2005 Nobile, a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon with 36% Syrah. And natural wine proponents Arnot-Roberts hedged their bets with their unequivocal 2009 Syrah Griffin’s Lair Vineyard.
At Artisano’s cum laude level, a variety of different wines offered compelling tastings. Again, William Gordon impressed with their 2009 Petit Verdot. Paralleling his red Burgundians, Paul Mathew featured a rich 2010 Dutton Ranch Chardonnay. Musetta’s 2009 Zinfandel handily made the grade, as did the 2008 Landy Zinfandel from Valdez.
Other standout Zins included De Novo’s 2006 Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley, the 2008 Estate Zinfandel from Simoncini, and Saini’s 2008 Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley. Pech Merle impressed with both its 2009 Dry Creek Zinfandel and the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, while Anderson Valley’s Foursight paired their 2009 Charles Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc and a delightful 2009 Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir.
I happily cottoned to the 2009 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Landy poured, then wrapped up this segment with an wide array of varietals and blends, starting with the 2010 Kathleen Rose from Kelley & Young, a Bordeaux-style rosé crafted from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc. Captûre’s 2009 Harmonie combined the same complement of varietals (sans Malbec) for a captivating Meritage, while Montemaggiore’s 2010 3 Divas blended the classic Rhône white tercet: Roussanne, Marsanne, and Viognier.
Rounding out this level, I found the 2010 Floodgate Vineyard Gewürztraminer Cartograph poured a most refreshing contrast, and had little trouble regaling in the 2008 Shadrach Chardonnay from Munselle. As always, the 2008 Sangiovese Alegría Vineyard Acorn served up proved most impressive; so, too, was the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Kenny Kahn’s Blue Rock.
As alluded above, four wines poured here achieved rarefied stature—ΦΒΚ, so to speak. Winemaker Justin Miller’s Garden Creek showcased an amazing rendition of their Meritage, the 2005 Tesserae, which, unlike its predecessors, could not be fully classified as a Cabernet—rather, a true Bordeaux mosaic of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, and 20% Cabernet Franc. All in all, an amazing Alexander Valley vintage.
De Novo’s best effort turned out to be another Burgundian, their 2008 Pinot Noir Bennett Valley, a spectacularly rich rendition of this subtle varietal. At the same threshold, Old World Winery floored me with their new 2009 Abourious Russian River Valley (little wonder, with a wine this lush, why Darek chose to pluralize the varietal). His previous endeavor with Abouriou, also known as Early Burgundy, the 2008 Fulton Foderol, was actually a blend with Zinfandel that masked much of its character; here, the unfettered expression seemed nothing short of glorious.
Finally, I must bestow my all-too-rarely accorded 
to Skipstone for their flawless 2008 Oliver’s Blend, a Cabernet Sauvignon rounded with a mere 4% Cabernet Franc. Wines like this can only cement Alexander Valley’s richly deserved reputation, along with Napa Valley and Washington’s Red Mountain as worthy rivals to Bordeaux (I think it’s still a safe bet we can rule out Ningxia from this category).
to Skipstone for their flawless 2008 Oliver’s Blend, a Cabernet Sauvignon rounded with a mere 4% Cabernet Franc. Wines like this can only cement Alexander Valley’s richly deserved reputation, along with Napa Valley and Washington’s Red Mountain as worthy rivals to Bordeaux (I think it’s still a safe bet we can rule out Ningxia from this category).As with A Single Night, I intend no offense toward those wineries that generously shared their best efforts at Artisano but have been bypassed here for the sake of (relative) brevity. My goal of timeliness is another matter entirely, remaining ever elusive as I struggle to balance not only the competing demands I face in turning Sostevinobile into a working reality, source funding for COMUNALE, and negotiate contracts for my SmartPhone development, ResCue™ (the acquisition of which could easily provide the wherewithal to launch my empassioned wine ventures). And so, as we close down the annus horribilis that was 2011, my New Year’s pledge to my steady readership here is to bring you my wine findings at on a regular, steady, and timely basis in 2012.
And if you bring a copy of this pledge to our wine bar, the first glass will be on me…
Discoveries 2011½
If Ernest Hemingway hadn’t existed, some high school English teacher would have had to invent him. And maybe one did. Think about it for a moment: imagine having to read and critique 40 or so 10th grade essays every week. Ponder what that might be like if students were exhorted to write like Pynchon. Or Laurence Sterne. Or—shudder—James Joyce.
At the quaint New England institute where Your West Coast Oenophile was incarcerated during his formative years, the author I most idolized was Thomas Love Peacock, whose parlor novels satirized the Romantic poets and other luminaries of 19th century Great Britain. Granted, those among my schoolmates who were fifth- or sixth-generation Hotchkiss legacies showed a pronounced predilection for F. Scott Fitzgerald, but the virtues of such works as A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea were rarely extolled as paragons of emulative composition.
Perhaps if they had been, I might now be able to contain my entries for Sostevinobile to a concise 750 words, instead of the opus interminatum each one of these postings turns out to be. Allora! After three years grinding my fingertips on a Mac keyboard, I am still trying.
My overdue reports on these rounds of tastings started with a long overdue event, a Paso Robles trade tasting in San Francisco. The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance had previously sponsored an intimate though curiously situated tasting amid the leading venture capital firms on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, an enclave where substance tends to be measured more in bytes than in brix. Here, amid the more familiar environs of the Presidio, the Golden Gate Club offered Trade and Media an intimate tasting before holding its oversold public event, the 2nd Annual Lamb Jam, a pairing of lamb with an array of wines from this Central Coast stronghold.
Yet there was nothing sheepish about the wines themselves, as my introduction to Bianchi, the masculine plural of the attributive terminus of my surname (but no familial relation) quickly showed. Tanto peggio per me, it would have been nice to qualify for the Friends & Family discount on their 2008 Moscato, a delightfully sweet wine with kumquat overtures, and their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles, a varietal rounded with 2.3% Syrah (a blend quite prevalent in Paso). Their most intriguing wine, the 2008 Zinfandel, consisted not only of 3% Syrah, but a 2% touch of Royalty, a varietal I not encountered before.
Another revelation, Riverstar, offered a diverse range of wines that also reflected the staunchly independent spirit of the AVA. Wines like the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, the 2007 Syrah, and even the 2009 Vintner’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon presented straightforward expressions of their single varietals, but the winery’s truest creative expression manifest itself in the NV Sunset Red, an uncommon blend of equal proportions of Merlot and Syrah. And while I also greatly enjoyed the Twilight Vintners Reserve, a non-vintage Port-style wine, my true affinity, coincidentally, was for the 2007 Affinity, an artful blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with 20% Zinfandel.
After twilight, of course, comes Midnight Cellars, an astrological endeavor from Rich Hartenberger that. somewhat ironically, leaves nothing about their wines in the dark. I know of no other winery, including the ultraspecific wine labels from Ridge, that lists not only the volume of alcohol and the percentage of residual sugar, but also the pH and “titratable acidity” for each of their wines (even with a strong background in chemistry, I have no idea what the distinction between these latter two measurements means). Certainly this winery’s expression of straight varietals, like their 2010 Estate Chardonnay and the 2007 Estate Zinfandel, proved more than admirable, but it would not be overstatement to say they reached for the stars (and came rather proximate) with both the 2007 Nebula, a Cabernet Sauvignon rounded with Malbec and Merlot and their standout, the 2007 Mare Nectaris, a Merlot-dominant Bordeaux blend balancing 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Malbec, and 12% each of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Ironically, with all the precision of their labels, the 2008 Full Moon lists itself merely as a red blend (with pH: 3.67 and titratable acidity: 0.625); nonetheless, an eminently approachable wine!
I didn’t think to ask whether Kim & Jeff Steele of Roxo Port Cellars were related to Shooting Star’s Jed Steele, but their meticulous approach to producing authentic Metodo Portugues fortified wine certainly belies a strong kindred spirit. Their 2007 Magia Preta proved a more than interesting variant on the 50/50 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah so prevalent in Paso, while even more delightful was the 2007 Paso Mélange, a Port-style blend of 71% Cabernet Franc with 22% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot. Best, though, inarguably had to have been the 2007 Ruby Tradicional, a traditional blend of 34% Souzão, 25% Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), 18% Touriga Nacional, 15% Tinta Cão, and 8% Bastardo.
Having begun this post with a literary riff, I can be forgiven for presupposing Steinbeck Vineyards had ties to the famed Central Coast chronicler and author of Grapes of Wrath. Despite my erroneous assumption, the wines proved as rich and complex as any of John Steinbeck’s literary opera. The superb 2008 Viognier set the tone for this lineup. Other equally compelling single varietal bottlings included the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2007 Petite Sirah, and a wondrous 2007 Zinfandel. Even more compelling, however, was Steinbeck’s 2006 The Crash, an atypical blend of these four grapes, along with the 2007 Voice, a 2:1 mix of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah.
Twenty-nine other wineries featured their diverse vintages this particular afternoon, and it is by no means a disparagement not to detail each here, along with the panoply of wines they offered. Certainly, I have covered each of these ventures numerous times in this blog, but, in the interest of (relative for me) brevity, I am electing now only to highlight the premium echelon of these selections, starting with the 2008 Version from Adelaida, a Mourvèdre-focused GMS blend balanced with 9% Counoise.
No overlap in the blended varietals could be found in Ancient Peaks’ 2008 Oyster Ridge, a Meritage composed of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Petite Sirah. Cypher Winery pulled no punches in labeling its Zinfandel/Mourvèdre/Syrah blend the 2008 Anarchy, but I can only defer to their own description of the dodecahedron known as the 2008 Louis Cypher: 15% Teroldego, 14% Petit Verdot, 13% Souzão, 13% Petite Sirah, 9% Carignane, 9% Alicante Bouschet, 6% Syrah, 5% Tinta Cão, 5% Tinta Roriz, 5% Tannat, 4% Touriga Nacional, 2% Zinfandel = 100% Seduction! Even if they did forget the Touriga Francesa…
I’d be dishonest if I didn’t concede that the true pleasure of Derby Wine is the chance to revisit with Katie Kanpantha, but their standout vintage had to have been the 2007 Reserve Pinot Noir Derbyshire Vineyard from San Simeon, the home of Hearst Castle. And it seemed only fitting that San Simeon would also feature the Hearst Ranch Winery, whose Rhône selections stood out among its eclectic choice of varietals. In particular, the 2008 Three Sisters Cuvée, a straightforward Syrah/Grenache/Mourvèdre blend outshone such curious nomenclature as Chileano, Babicora, and Bunkhouse—all of which beg the question: why not Rosebud?
Always a prominent presence at events where they pour, Paso’s Halter Ranch truly excelled with a pair of their wines, the 2008 Syrah, rounded with Mourvèdre, Viognier, and, uncharacteristically (for a Rhône blend), Malbec. Esoteric, but in proper keeping with the genre, their stellar 2008 Côtes de Paso added both Cinsault and Counoise to the standard GSM composition. Another of Paso’s revered wineries, Justin, must be finding itself in quite the conundrum, its overt commitment to sustainability in stark contrast with new owner Stewart Resnick’s other signature venture, Fiji Water. Nevertheless, Justin’s iconic Meritage, the 2008 Isosceles, proved itself worthy of the myriad accolades it has received.
My friends at L’Aventure managed to garner a Sostevinobile trifecta here, impressing across the board with their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2008 Côte à Côte (their GMS blend), and the crossbreed, the 2008 Estate Cuvée, a mélange of 50% Syrah, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 14% Petit Verdot. Despite its insistence on lower -case lettering, kukkula once again proved there is nothing diminutive about its œnology, excelling with its own Syrah-dominant GMS, the 2009 sisu, and the Mourvèdre-less 2009 pas de deux.
One of the afternoon’s most striking wines came from Ortman Family Vineyards: the utterly delectable 2007 Petite Sirah Wittstrom Vineyard. Meanwhile, the Rhône virtuosos at Tablas Creek veered beyond their forte and produced a stunning 2010 Vermentino.
But Paso will always remain the realm of Syrah and Roussanne, Tannat and Viognier, Grenache and Picpoul Blanc, Picpoul and Grenache Blanc, with a wide smattering of Bordeaux, Spanish, Italian and local varietals thrown into the mix. Whether its the joyous blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Cinsault Terry Hoage bottles as their 2008 5 Blocks Cuvée or the Shel Silverstein-ish GMZ blend, Thacher’s 2008 Controlled Chaos (42% Mourvèdre, 35% Zinfandel, 23% Grenache), California’s largest and most diversified AVA continues to delight with its unfettered approach to winemaking.
Ah, if only my own writing could possibly be fettered! I keep trying to keep things here succinct, and yet…
Ah, if only my own writing could possibly be fettered! I keep trying to keep things here succinct, and yet…
I seem to be going backwards, not forward. I should have completed my June notes æons ago, but somehow I let the reformulated Pinot Days slip through the cracks. Nonetheless, I need only remind my readers (as well as myself) that the primary purpose of this blog is to share all the wondrous wines that I sample—at least until I am able to have them actually poured for my readers’ delectation!
After such strong showings across California and Oregon for both the 2007 and 2008 Pinot vintages, the tendency might have been to expect a letdown in 2009. Among those who would prove to the contrary was Ed Kurtzman’s August West, dazzling with its 2009 Rosella's Vineyard Pinot Noir. And if my trepidation needed further debunking, Wes Hagen generously featured a five-year vertical of his Clos Pepe Pinot Noir. My preference ran to the unheralded 2005 Estate Pinot Noir, a wine that completely withstood the test of time, as well as the benchmark 2007 vintage. But the much younger 2009 bottling held its own against these, portending, with further aging, to equal or excel its predecessors. And though I was less sanguine about both the 2009 Estate Pinot Noir Rosé and the 2007 Estate Pinot Noir Brut Rosé, the contrast came as extremely welcome. Not to be confused with Justin Harmon—Justin Herman Plaza | Command of a sesquipedalian vocabulary is usually my forte, but sometimes I confuse simpler terminologies, like ingot with argot. Ingot, of course,refers to the rounded, rectangular die cut of gold that, had more investors acquired a few years back, would have eased my struggles to finance Sostevinobile. Argot, on the other hand, is Justin Harmon’s Sonoma wine venture, with a penchant for whimsical labels and even sounder œnology. His 2009 Over the Moon displayed touches of elegance, while the 2009 The Fence proved a far more structured Pinot Noir. Most alluring, however, was his clandestine pour of his 2009 Happenstance, an uncommon blend of Roussanne and Chardonnay. |
In the same orbit, Lompoc’s Hilliard Bruce contrasted their estate bottlings, the 2009 Pinot Noir Moon with the slightly preferable 2009 Pinot Noir Sun, while adding a 2009 Chardonnay for good measure. ADS Wines, which seems to change its corporate identity every time I encounter one of their ventures, added to this lunacy with their 2007 Howling Moon Pinot Noir, along with their similarly lackluster 2007 Silver Peak and 2009 Odd Lot bottlings.
Basically, I had a dual agenda this afternoon—first, as always, to connect with the wineries that were either new to Sostevinobile, like Aeshna, or that I had previously bypassed at other events because of time constraints (or inadvertently), like Arcadian. To the best of my knowledge, the former has never participated in the numerous Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association events, nor in the sundry Pinot-focused tastings held each year; named for the dragonfly genus that is part of the Odonata order (coincidentally, the name for another notable Santa Cruz Mountain winery that produces Chardonnay, Malbec, Durif, Syrah, and Grenache), this single-vineyard-focused venture debuted here with six distinctive bottlings, headlined by an exceptional 2008 Pinot Noir Two Pisces and the 2007 Pinot Noir Split Rock,
both grown on the Sonoma Coast. Meanwhile, Solvang’s Arcadian
contrasted two 2007 bottlings with a pair from 2005, the most
distinctive being its 2007 Pisoni Pinot Noir.
Among other previously overlooked labels, Napa’s Elkhorn Peak Cellars comported itself admirably with their 2008 Pinot Noir Rosé, as well an acceptable 2007 Estate Napa Valley Pinot Noir. Sebastopol’s Fog Crest Vineyard shone through the mist with both their 2009 Estate Bottled Pinot Noir and the splendid 2009 Laguna West Pinot Noir.
Newcomers this afternoon included Los Angeles-based Inception Wines, with a splendid 2008 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County they surreptitiously counterbalanced with an even-keeled 2009 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County. Miracle One may be better known for its Bluebird Wine-in-a-Pouch; nonetheless, their 2008 Carneros Pinot Noir Truchard Vineyard offered a well-structured bottled varietal. Sebastopol’s Sandole Wines debuted here with a most impressive 2009 Oehlman Ranch Pinot Noir, while Windsor’s Joseph Jewell, a familiar pourer at other affairs, showcased a trio of Pinots: the 2008 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley, the 2009 Pinot Noir Floodgate Vineyard, and the utterly superb 2008 Pinot Noir Elk Prairie Vineyard from the verdant confines of Humboldt County.
While certain reactionary elements will claim that partaking in Humboldt’s most popular “substance” leads to hardered addictions, it is only coincidence that I transitioned next to Poppy, not the opiate-bearing bud but the King City viticultural venture out of Monterey Wine Country’s custom crush operations, here featuring a surprisingly good 2009 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands and an even better 2009 Pinot Noir Monterey County. At its neighboring table, Santa Maria’s Presqu’ile shared an equally striking 2009 Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley and their estate grown 2009 Pinot Noir Presqu’ile Vineyard, along with one of the afternoon’s most appealing pink efforts, the 2010 Rosé of Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley.
My other principal target here was to connect with the broad representation of Oregon wineries, both new to Pinot Days and old hands, as exploration of this enormous swath of AVAs does not present itself as readily as my frequent jaunts to the wineries in a 100-mile radius of San Francisco. First up was the deceptively simple-sounding Big Table Farm out of Gaston; their 2009 Pinot Noir Resonance Vineyard (Yamhill-Carlton AVA) proved an elegant entrée to this segment of my tasting. Another epiphany here came from the more mellifluously named Carabella Vineyard from the Chehalem Mountains AVA, dazzling with their 2008 Inchinnan Pinot Noir and proving more than correct with their 2008 Pinot Noir Mistake Block.
Ironic labeling seems to abound north of the state line, as witnessed by the wholly appealing 2009 Provocateur, a J. K. Carriere-crafted wine that overshadowed its more generically named 2008 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Nor I could detect any ambiguity in the wines from Monks Gate Vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, a single varietal endeavor that contrasted its 2007 Pinot Noir with a more robust 2008 Pinot Noir.
Part of my impetus in selecting the architects who will render the design for Sostevinobile was their work on Sokol Blosser, the first winery to receive LEED certification, but until this Pinot Days, I had not had the opportunity to sample their Dundee Hills wines. My consensus: I could easily sustain myself with both the 2008 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir and the special bottling of the 2008 Cuvée Pinot Noir. Another Dundee Hills winery that has achieved Gold LEED Certification, Dayton’s Stoller Vineyards focuses exclusively on the Burgundian varietals (Pinot Noir, Chardonnay), represented here by a disparate contrast between the 2008 Estate Pinot Noir and their superb 2007 Estate Pinot Noir.
Dundee’s twinless Lange Estate Winery produced a triplet from their inventory of seven distinct Pinots, beginning with their generic 2009 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley. The 2009 Pinot Noir Reserve proved incrementally better, but principal kudos belonged to their standout, the 2008 Pinot Noir Three Hills Cuvée. Similarly, White Rose showcased their 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir alongside their 2008 Dundee Hills AVA Pinot Noir and a somewhat lackluster 2008 Estate Pinot Noir.
It would have been most interesting to try the Hand Picked Pinot Noir, as well as the Whole Cluster Pinot Noir White Rose produces, but these wines were not made available here. On the other hand, I was underwhelmed by the 2010 Whole Cluster Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Vineyards presented (perhaps, in time, this jejune wine will finds its expression); their 2008 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley and the 2008 Pinot Noir Estate Willamette Valley mitigated tremendously, while the 2009 Pinot Gris proved a welcome contrast to the red orthodoxy of the afternoon. So, too, did Dundee’s Winderlea, with its crisp 2008 Chardonnay, blended from 50% Carabella Vineyard (Chehalem Mountain AVA) and 50% Hyland Vineyard (McMinnville AVA) fruit. Equally impressive—their 2007 Estate Pinot Noir, while their eponymous 2008 Pinot Noir offered much to admire.
My friend Craig Camp seems ubiquitous these days, but I was pleased to sample the 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir from his Cornerstone Cellars Oregon. Other familiar Oregonians here included Domaine Serene, splendiferous as ever with their 2008 Jerusalem Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir and the exquisite 2007 Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir. Dusky Goose, a name I’ve never quite fathomed but still enjoy, featured a three year vertical, starting with their 2006 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, a somewhat tepid bottling compared to the exceptional 2007 and 2008 vintages.
Out of Newberg, Raptor Ridge sounds more like a vineyard that might have flourished on Isla Nublar (Jurassic Park), but, like Dusky Goose, its name is ornithological, its flavors, unmistakably Oregonian. Both the four vineyard blend that comprised its 2009 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley and its 2008 Reserve Pinot Noir, a six vineyard mix, flourished at this stage. And Le Cadeau, though not blending such a diverse range of fruit, still gifted attendees with six distinct bottlings: two from 2008 and four from the ensuing vintage. Of the former, both the 2009 Côte Est Pinot Noir proved a formidable entry-level selection, while the 2008 Aubichon Pinot Noir Reserve, Le Cadeau’s second label. showed every bit its equal. The 2009 vintage excelled across the board, with the 2009 Aubichon Pinot Noir Reserve, the 2009 Diversité Pinot Noir, and the 2009 Équinoxe Pinot Noir all enormously impressive; the “champion,” however, had to have been the 2009 Rocheux Pinot Noir, crafted by winemaker Jim Sanders, Le Cadeau partner in Aubichon.
With that, I had one more Oregon house to sample before completing my predetermined agenda. A couple of years ago, I did report on the delightful 2007 Pinot Gris Dundee Hills’ Torii Mor had produced, so was happy to revisit with them and sample both the 2007 Olson Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir and the 2008 Chehalem Mountain Select Pinot Noir (maybe I’ll get to try their Pinot Blanc at our next encounter).
Technically, I suppose all varietals prefaced as Pinot ought to be fair fare for Pinot Days, including the semi-archaic “Pinot Chardonnay” (genealogists at UC Davis have determined that Chardonnay resulted from a cross between the proximate plantings of Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc in Burgundy). Though an essential component in Champagne, Pinot Meunier rarely finds expression as a distinct varietal, a notable exception being La Follette’s striking 2009 Van der Kamp Pinot Meunier. While I found the 2008 Van der Kamp Pinot Noir a notch below its cousin, both the 2009 Sangiacomo Pinot Noir and the 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir equaled its prowess.
Its remote perch in Oregon House has neither proximity nor correlation to California’s northerly neighbor; still, natural wine proponent Gideon Beinstock’s Clos Saron brought out a decidedly mixed collection of his Pinots, with the perfunctory 2009 Pinot Noir Home Vineyard contrasting dramatically with its predecessor, the more elegant 2000 Pinot Noir Home Vineyard, while the 2005 Pinot Noir Texas Hill demonstrated how truly superb a natural wine can be when it hits its mark. Another vintner with deep French roots, De Novo Wines’ Hervé Bruckert showed greater consistency and an incremental increase in quality from his 2007 Pinot Noir Mendocino County to the 2008 Pinot Noir Bennett Valley to his delightful non-Pinot, the 2009 Bastille, a Right Bank-style Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc.
CRŪ is not Vineyard 29’s Cru in St. Helena, but nonetheless this Madera vintner produced an impressive lineup with its 2009 Appellation Series Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir, the 2008 Appellation Series Santa Mara Valley Pinot Noir, and an exceptional 2008 Vineyard Montage Central Coast Pinot Noir. St. Helena’s own Couloir introduced its own triple play, excelling with both the 2009 Pinot Noir Chileno Valley (Marin) and the 2009 Pinot Noir Monument Tree (Mendocino), followed closely by their second label, the 2009 Straight Line Pinot Noir.
One of Mendocino’s most revered ventures, Londer Vineyards, held true to its reputation with a stellar array of wines from their 2007 vintage, starting with more generic 2009 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir. As always, both the 2007 Estate Valley Pinot Noir and the 2007 Ferrington Pinot Noir soared with intense flavor, but perhaps the best wine of the afternoon had to have been the 2007 Paraboll Pinot Noir, an effusion of delights. Slightly below Philo, Santa Rosa’s Lattanzio Wines, an understated yet accomplished winery cum custom crush facility in Santa Rosa, hit a zenith with the 2008 Pinot Noir W. E. Bottoms Vineyard and its 2009 successor; even more compelling was their 2009 Pinot Noir Manchester Ridge Vineyard, a name that begs no punning.
My other nomination for this tasting’s Palme d’Or most assuredly belonged to my friend Hank Skewis, whose 2008 Peters Vineyard Sonoma Coast drank like a wine thrice its price. Slightly overshadowed by this monumental bottling, yet every bit as prodigious, were his 2008 Pinot Noir, Montgomery Vineyard Russian River Valley, 2008 Pinot Noir North Coast Cuvée, and the 2008 Pinot Noir Peters Vineyard Sonoma Coast. Nearby in Sebastopol, Small Vines impressed me once again with their Pinot trio: the 2009 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, the 2009 Baranoff Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, and, most notably, the 2009 MK Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. Meanwhile, heir neighbors at Suacci Carciere snuck in another “illicit” diversion for the afternoon, their 2008 Chardonnay Heintz Vineyard (somehow I managed to miss their always appreciated Pinot selections).
Nearly every AVA provides a distinct pocket for Pinot, as exhibited by Belle Glos’ Meiomi, with its authoritative 2009 Meiomi Pinot Noir, a blend of fruit from Sonoma, Monterey and Santa Barbara. Heron Lake’s Olivia Brion is nestled in Wild Horse Valley, a semi-obscure AVA that straddles Napa and Sonoma; here their 2008 Pinot Noir Heron Lake Vineyard made its presence known with quiet aplomb. And San Rafael’s Peter Paul Winery offered its excellent 2009 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Mill Station Road.
Winding down for the afternoon, I resampled Ray Franscioni’s 2007 Puma Road Pinot Noir Black Mountain Vineyard before cooling down with his delightful 2009 Puma Road Pinot Gris Black Mountain Vineyard. My final stop turned out to be the East Bay’s highly vaunted Stomping Girl, which rounded out the afternoon with two superb vintages: the 2009 Pinot Noir Lauterbach Hill from Sonoma (Russian River Valley) and their equally wondrous 2009 Pinot Noir Beresini Vineyard from Napa Valley (Carneros).
No slight intended to the many, many other wineries I failed to include here—with 179 labels on hand for this event, I couldn’t possibly sample and cover all. Add to that the fact that I am behind close to 179 wine tastings I’ve attended on behalf of this blog, and can there be little wonder that I have the stamina to make it through any of what Sostevinobile has promised to cover? But soldier on I do, and perhaps I will even record all of 2011 events in 2011 (of course, restricting my entries to under 4,000 words would expedite matters tremendously).
In closing, I would be remiss in not thanking Steve and Lisa Rigisch for revamping their Pinot Days format after the debacle of 2010’s non-contiguous affair. The reversion to a single day’s Grand Tasting with overlapping trade and public sessions made accessing so many of the wineries vastly easier, and I am honestly looking forward to 2012’s celebration.
Redux: So many tastings. So little time.
Oh, if only there were four (maybe five) of Your West Coast Oenophile to crank out this column! Actually, if I were quintuplets, I would have one of me oversee and manage the development of Sostevinobile, another liaise with the 8,000+ wine labels in California, Washington, and Oregon, a third run the wine programs at all of our (eventual) locations, have Marco Quattro handle funding, and let the one who drew the short straw sit in front of a keyboard and churn the daily prose here. Not that I would ever demean the pleasures of the scribe.
I shouldn’t really apologize for being so far behind—after all, if July’s weather has decided it can show up in October, so, too, can my reviews and witticisms roll in at a languid pace. And so the events I attended in lieu of journeying East for Livia’s ottantenario now occupy the forefront of this blog, commencing with the Grand Tasting for a new annual celebration.
Held at the Westin St. Francis, Sonoma in the City brought together an impressive array of wineries from the county’s various sub-AVAs. The alphabetical listings in the program, however, held little correlation to the actual floor plan of the exhibit room, but being the first production of this event, its organizers can be forgiven for the confusion in locating the tables I had earmarked (I suspect I might have been able to cover 50% more of the wineries, had navigating the layout not been so challenging). The first winery I was able to find turned out to be Argot, a whimsical Sonoma venture I had not previously encountered. Predominantly focused on Bennett Valley fruit, they began their tasting with the 2009 Happenstance, a deft blend of 70% Roussanne from the acclaimed Saralee’s Vineyard with 30% Chardonnay. This same Bennett Valley Chardonnay comprised the 2009 Old Habits, a wine on par with their 2007 The Preamble, a straightforward Bennett Valley Syrah. Their final offering, the 2009 Over the Moon displayed the ample potential Bennett Valley offers for Pinot Noir.
The program called them Draxton. The parent venture, however, calls itself Vintners Signatures. in contrast, the website lists the label as El Roy. Despite this conundrum, the wines proved uniformly quite good, starting with a crisp 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Dry Creek Valley. I liked the more modest 2009 El Roy Chardonnay and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley both, but found 2007 Malbec Alexander Valley clearly preferable
Even though I have been familiar with Saintsbury’s Garnet since the early 1980s, I had not realized that it had been spun off as an independent label and acquired earlier this year by David Biggar’ and Tom Peterson’s Vintage Point, a Sonoma partnership that also markets such favorites as Educated Guess and Layer Cake. To be honest, I have not always been a fan of this approach to crafting Pinot, but was surprisingly pleased by the 2009 Carneros Pinot Noir, especially considering that it represents a 10,000 case undertaking. On the other hand, I was well aware that the venerable MacRostie label had been sold to Lion Nathan, an Australian/New Zealand-based importer/producer that also owns Oregon’s esteemed Argyle Winery; still under the tutelage of Steve MacRostie, the 2008 Sonoma Chardonnay remained a most pleasant wine.
I’m not sure how I’d missed Red Car before this event—Director of Sales and Viticulture Paul Sequeira is married to my good friend Simone Sequeira of La Follette—but perhaps I may have confused it with Red Truck, which has been subsumed by the good folks at JFJ Bronco. Nonetheless, Red Car sits at the proverbial antipode to Ceres’ œnology, meticulously producing restrained, unfettered wines from the Sonoma Coast. Befitting wineries that share Red Car’s æsthetic, their lineup focuses on Chardonnay, Syrah, and Pinot Noir. Their entry-level line, Boxcar, featured a palatable 2009 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast, while both the 2009 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast and the 2008 Syrah Sonoma Coast from their Trolley series pleased immensely. I can’t quite decipher the nomenclature from their eclectic Reserve lineup, but was just as enthralled with the 2009 Aphorist, a Pinot Noir from Bartolomei Vineyard.
One of my all-time favorite aphorists was the self-proclaimed MetaPhys Ed Teacher, who memorably pronounced “It’s not whether you win or lose. It just is.” This philosophy parallels Sostevinobile’s efforts to stay non-judgmental about the various approaches to making wine different winerires here on the West Coast practice (with the caveat that these efforts reflect a sincere attempt to craft quality wine, not simply move quantities of mass-produced juice). This straightforward approach is exemplified in hundreds of wineries I encounter, including my discovery of Rockpile’s Bruliam Wines, where Brian Overstreet and his wife Kerith, a former general surgeon turned œnologist, handcraft a trio of vineyard-designated Pinots, alongside a stellar 2009 Rocky Ridge Vineyard Zinfandel. Sourced from The Swale, an exclusive ¾ acre block of this prized Rockpile vineyard, this limited release derives exclusively from the St. Peters Church Heritage Zinfandel clone. Dedication, precision, devotion—it just is.
Another discovery here, Bennett Valley’s Sable Ridge, concentrates its efforts on Syrah. Sonoma in the City provided an exquisite platform for the winery to contrast its current release, the 2008 Syrah Bennett Valley with its well-rounded elder sibling, the 2002 Syrah Bennett Valley. Both proved immensely appealing in their own right. I had had a number of occasions lately to sample from Flanagan Vineyards, but somehow had managed to arrive right after they had packed up. Under the tutelage of Philippe Melka, this Bennett Valley winery finally managed to impress me with both their 2008 Syrah and an equally balanced 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon.
From there, my task became to navigate as many familiar wineries as I could fit in logistically, with the scant amount of time and confusing floor plan. First up, I visited with the redoubtable Acorn Winery, but rather than bore dedicated Sostevinobile readers with my recurrent plea to sample their Dolcetto, I’ll merely highlight both their 2007 Cabernet Franc Alegría Vineyards and, of course, the 2007 Sangiovese Alegría Vineyards. Similarly reaffirming the quality of their craft was longtime familiar Peay Vineyards, ably serving up both their 2009 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast and a highly memorable 2009 Pinot Noir Pomarium Estate Sonoma Coast. Another of Peay’s confrères from the West of West Festival that promoted the West Sonoma Coast Vintners, fellow Kissie Steven Singer’s Baker Lane held its own with its 2008 Estate Vineyard Syrah.
An equally appealing 2007 Cardiac Hill Syrah from Jemrose stood between their crisp 2009 Egret Pond Viognier and the compelling 2008 Foggy Knoll Grenache. And I certainly found myself exuberant about Bill Canihan’s 2007 Exuberance Estate, his special reserve bottling of his Syrah. Arguably, however, the benchmark for Syrah came from Westerhold, which paired two equally stunning bottlings, the 2007 Estate Syrah Bennett Valley and a pre-release of its successive vintage, both singular efforts from this esteemed family boutique. And although Schug is primarily regarded for its Pinots, I opted only to sample the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley this go-around.
As noted in previous postings, I have often been impressed with Ray D’Argenzio’s Italian bottlings, particularly his ongoing efforts to produce a California Amarone. Today, however, his offerings included only his more mainstream Sonoma wines, of which I happily partook in the 2006 Zinfandel Russian River Valley and the 2006 Petite Sirah Russian River Valley. Still, I was not to be denied my predilection for my ancestral varietals, starting with a pair of wines from Muscardini. As per usual, I greatly enjoyed the 2008 Tesoro, Mike’s proprietary blend of Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, but his real gem this afternoon was the new 2009 Sangiovese, an exquisite rendition of the grape.
Meanwhile, the olive oil virtuosos at DaVero showed just how adept they can be at vinification, starting with their 2008 Sangiovese Dry Creek Valley. I had hoped they would have poured their famed Sagrantino here, but its absence was mitigated by the superb 2007 Rosso di Bea, a miscela of Sagrantino and Sangiovese in equal proportions. DaVero’s second label displayed both skill and diversity, starting with the 2008 Falco Barbera, as well as with a non-Italian red, the 2008 Falco Zinfandel. Their versatility also extended into the white realm, with a delightful 2009 Falco Vermentino and their special 2010 Falco So’ Bianco, a complex blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Musqué, with just a touch of Riesling.
One would think that Ray Teldeschi’s Del Carlo Winery would produce Italian varietals, and certainly with his acclaim for Zinfandel, Primitivo would not constitute a stretch, but for now, I was sufficed by his 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Creek Valley and, naturally, the 2007 Old Vine Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley. Another strong showing for Zin came from Everett Ridge, with their small production 2007 Estate Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley. Still, Gracianna came close to stratospheric with their amazing 2009 Zinfandel Russian River Valley. And while this extraordinary wine proved their forte, I found both the 2009 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley and its immediate predecessor more than compelling, while greatly enjoying the 2010 Suzanne’s Blend Chardonnay.
Just as Westerhold focuses on a single varietal & bottling, Garden Creek Ranch annually produces around 500 cases of its proprietary Bordeaux blend. Here I had a definite preference for the 2004 Tesserae, though the 2005 vintage certainly displayed nothing to scoff at! Also with an attenuated inventory, Hidden Ridge features quite possibly the most vertically daunting vineyard to harvest in California. And yet its 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon 55% Slope (!) presents a wine that surpasses in its approachability.
At the other end of the spectrum, Hartford Family Winery offered a diverse range of exceptional wines. The 2007 Land’s End Pinot Noir tantalized with overtures of virtuosity I normally expect from their Pinot lineup, but their strong suit came from their Zins, of which I sampled three. Equally impressive were the 2009 Zinfandel Highwire Vineyard and the 2009 Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard, but the utter standout had to have been the non-specific 2009 Zinfandel Russian River Valley. Keeping pace, Hartford’s white wine portfolio featured a marvelous 2008 Stone Côte Chardonnay and three equally outstanding vintages from the Russian River Valley: the 2009 Four Hearts Chardonnay, the 2009 Fog Dance Chardonnay, and a superbly aged 2007 Laura’s Chardonnay.
Gracefully aging, too, was the 2002 Estate Pinot Noir from former Ambassador to Italy James Zellerbach’s Hanzell Vineyards. Ripe and ready now, the 2009 Pinot Noir Floodgate Vineyard from Cartograph exemplified this emerging vintage, while their 2010 Gewürztraminer Floodgate Vineyard proved equally appealing. Halfway between these vintages, the 2006 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from Laurel Glen affirmed why this sometimes obviated Glen Ellen producer has quietly remained a force with which to be reckoned for the past 30 years. Ironically, its only other selection, the 2007 Counterpoint makes no counterpoint but rather underscores Laurel Glen’s reputation for Sonoma Cabernet.
Oftentimes, trade tastings afford me the opportunity to sample wines outside of the varietals or blends for which a particular winery’s is customarily acclaimed. For example, I have typically turned to Iron Horse as a favored sparkling wine house since the mid-1980s, and certainly here the 2008 Classic Vintage Brut Green Valley was a paragon of their forte. Still, the 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay Green Valley displayed an equal facility with still wines. Similarly, I think of Mauritson as the pioneers of the Rockpile AVA—its Zins in particular. Here, their Zin offering was an inarguably excellent 2009 Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley, alongside a more modest 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Dry Creek Valley. From their perch above Lake Sonoma, the 2008 Petite Sirah Rockpile Madrone Spring Vineyard displayed an utterly exquisite wine, while the 2007 Buck Pasture Red Wine exhibited all the finest qualities of a complex Meritage still 5-10 years away from peaking.
Other wineries here held close to their common perceived claim to fame. Kosta Browne offered a selection of their highly prized Pinots, including the 2009 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley and the 2009 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast. Their Sonoma Coast brethren at Littorai shone, as usual, with their 2008 Pinot Noir The Pivot Vineyard and the 2008 Platt Vineyard Pinot Noir.
Winding my way through the maze and the crowd that filled the ballroom at the St. Francis left scant time to visit with but two more wineries. With no overt agenda in mind, I drifted over to the table for Medlock Ames, one of the wineries most dedicated to sustainable practices throughout every aspect of their architecture and viticultural methodology. Their 2007 Red Bell Mountain Ranch ably blended Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, while the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley begged to remain bottled for at least four more years. As is wont to happen, the 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Creek Valley from Fritz seemed quite drinkable now, while their coda to this tasting, the Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc blend known as the 2010 Vino Valpredo Bianca Mia, with its very Italianate bottle, easily won for the most intriguing name of the afternoon.
Ah, if there had only been more intrigue for Sostevinobile! But another day and another tasting loomed just on the horizon, and so I hastily pedaled back to Pacific Heights and rested up for the next day’s onslaught…
The next day saw me journey up to Rutherford for the annual Day in the Dust celebration. Returning to Francis Ford Coppola’s Rubicon Estate Winery for the first time in the post-Larry Stone era, I still marveled at seeing how this vast operation continues to evolve. With the majority of the winery’s low- to mid-range production shifted to the renovated Geyser Peak facility in Sonoma (renamed the Francis Ford Coppola Winery), this former Niebaum estate has gradually returned to the prestige of its pre-Heublein era, when John Daniels elevated Inglenook to the zenith of Napa Valley winemaking.
With Coppola having acquired the Inglenook brand, a revival of this historic label is now underway; in the meantime, the Rubicon wine program continues to flourish under winemaker Stephane Derenoncourt. Their Rutherford offerings here included two exceptional Cabernet Sauvignons, the 2008 Cask and their flagship, the 2008 Rubicon, both from estate grown organic vineyards.
Cabernet Sauvignon ruled the day here, followed by Sauvignon Blanc, which approximately ⅖ of the wineries also poured, and while one could find a sprinkling of Chardonnay, Merlot, Petite Sirah and even Pinot Noir, this annual tasting seemed the model of conformity, with the 2010 vintage showing for the whites and predominantly 2008 for the reds. And even though Sostevinobile has previously covered each of the wineries here on multiple occasions, it was still a pleasure to revisit with old friends and sample what they had brought. Exemplary of this trend was the MacDonnell Family’s Round Pond, a venture receiving much attention of late for both their wines and olive oil; upholding this reputation, their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford seemed both balanced yet young, while the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Rutherford tasted at its peak.
McGah Family’s MCG Cellars presented a similar lineup, though I found their 2008 Scarlet Cabernet Sauvignon preferable to the 2010 Green Sauvignon Blanc. Likewise, the ever-effusive John Robert Eppler poured the 2010 Fumé Blanc Rutherford and a most compelling 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford from his eponymous label.
Given
the restrictions of this tasting to wines grown within the
appellation, a number of the wineries could only pour a single wine, even though they may make several others throughout the Valley or in other California AVAs. St. Helena’s Conn Creek, one of Château Ste. Michelle’s Napa holdings, makes a number of prized wines, including its renowned Anthology, a blend which sources its Bordeaux components from Mount Veeder, Spring Mountain, Atlas Peak, Stags Leap District, St. Helena. and Yountville, as well as Rutherford; here, however, they elected only to pour a single-vineyard selection, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Hoshoni Vineyard.
The jury may be split on their asymmetric, Zebra-striped tasting room, but Flora Springs almost universally won over attendees with their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Hillside Reserve; Pedemonte, which makes a Sangiovese/Syrah blend I am yearning to try called Adagio, showcased their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford, with equal aplomb. With no need to attract new converts, the ever-popular Piña Napa Valley poured their Rutherford selection, the 2008 Firehouse Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. In the same vein, St. Helena’s St. Clement made a strong showing with its noteworthy 2008 Star Vineyard Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon.
Wineries here with but a single annual bottling included Agustin Huneeus’ Quintessa, with a 2008 Quintessa that seemed far too structured and tight to be opened any time before 2017! In contrast, 12C Wines’ younger 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III proved suitable for drinking now. Though seemingly out of place, 94574 Brand (their name derives from the zip code for St. Helena) currently produces a single wine, the delectable 2010 Sauvignon Blanc.
A handful of wineries here only poured Sauvignon Blanc, including the 2010 Estate Sauvignon Blanc from Sawyer Cellars, whose vineyards date back to the plantings of George Yount in 1838, and Fleury Estate, with their rather exorbitantly priced 2009 Sauvignon Blanc Rutherford (then again, anyone who calls their Meritage F in Red warrants some accolades). Of course, with my friend Megan Skupny pouring, I was predisposed to liking Long Meadow Ranch’s offering, but their 2010 Sauvignon Blanc still managed to stand out on its own merits. And it was most interesting to compare the two Sauv Blancs that Alpha Omega proffered, with the 2010 1155 Rutherford taking the nod from the nonetheless appealing 2010 Sauvignon Blanc.
From thereon, definitive patterns were hard to identify. The 2010 Sauvignon Blanc from Frog’s Leap seemed a tad off from its usual excellence, but both the 2008 Merlot Rutherford and the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon continued to extol winemaker John Williams’ reputation. John’s ex-wife Julie Johnson’s Tres Sabores, as per usual, shone with its organically grown wines, here with a representative selection that included the 2008 Rutherford Zinfandel and both the 2008 Rutherford Perspective Cabernet Sauvignon and its preferable predecessor, the 2007 Rutherford Perspective Cabernet Sauvignon.
Jean-Charles Boisset’s Raymond Vineyards presented a stark contrast between their respectable 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford and the well-accomplished 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford. The Corley family’s Monticello Vineyards also contrasted different vintages for their Cabs, with remarkable parity between the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Tietjen Vineyard and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Corley Reserve. The true treat of the afternoon, however, had to have been the decade span of Heitz Cellar’s excellent 2005 Trailside Cabernet Sauvignon with the 1995 Trailside, a wine on the cusp of perfection.
I don’t normally associate Calistoga’s Frank Family with Rutherford, but after luxuriating in both their 2008 Winston Hill Red Wine and the 2008 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford, I will no longer permit such a gross oversight.On the other hand, Staglin’s organic estate wines all herald from the Rutherford Bench. Though greatly enjoying both, I gave a slight nod to their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford over the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford; somewhat surprisingly, their delectable 2009 Chardonnay Rutherford was the single selection of this varietal on hand here.
Freemark Abbey similarly poured a pair of their highly-rated Rutherford Cabs, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyard and their exceptional 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosché Vineyard, both of which were established during the original stewardship of Jim Warren and his partners; alongside these gems, the winery poured a previously unfamiliar (to Sostevinobile) 2007 Petite Sirah Wood Ranch, a welcome contrast in this setting.
Another stark contrast to the prevalent orthodoxy here were the two Sonoma Pinots Sojourn Cellars offered sub rosa, their 2009 Pinot Noir Ridgetop Vineyard and the equally alluring 2009 Pinot Noir Gap’s Crown Vineyard. Nonetheless, their foray into Napa produced a thoroughly enjoyable 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III. Contrary to their popular image, Trinchero Napa Valley broke from its multimillion case, mass produced White Zinfandel to showcase a pair of biodynamically farmed wines, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Chicken Ranch Vineyard and the 2008 Merlot Chicken Ranch Vineyard.
Rutherford Grove Winery also featured a Cab and Merlot, the 2007 Merlot Rutherford Bench and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Bench, then excelled with a crisp 2009 Sauvignon Rutherford Bench—all three wines antedating the predominant vintages of most wineries pouring at this event. Sullivan Vineyards inundated attendees with five separate selections from their 2008 vintages, though tasting through these Bordeaux reds was hardly a task. Not surprisingly, I preferred the 2008 Reserve Merlot Rutherford to the 2008 Estate Merlot, but actually cottoned to the 2008 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon over its Reserve bottling. The standout, however, was their Meritage, the 2008 Coeur de Vigne Rutherford, a deft mélange of 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot.
Napa Valley is well-known for its multigenerational enterprises, exemplified here with the noteworthy 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Walther River Block from paterfamilias D. R. Stephens (winemaker Mike Hirby) and the even more enticing 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford from Hunnicutt, the solo venture of scion Justin Hunnicutt Stephens (winemaker Kirk Venge, a formidable legacy in his own right). With their own second generation at the helm, Honig maintained its considerable reputation with its latest 2009 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, coupled with an enticing 2009 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc. Departing from its original charter, the winery proved itself equally adept with its 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Campbell Vineyard.
Lieff Wines has always proven strong with both the unblended red and unblended white they produce; here the 2007 Auberge Road Cabernet Sauvignon proved a worthy compatriot to their distinctive 2010 Auberge Road Sauvignon Blanc. Péju, like Lieff, is best known for its female proprietor, and with her usual aplomb, HB Péju served up a fine 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Reserve and an extremely fine 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Reserve. Falling somewhere between this pair, the 2007 Cabernet Franc Reserve delivered a compelling rendition of this varietal. And proving herself a most adept one-woman operation, Amy Aiken brought a trio of wines from her Meander Wines, punctuated by the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Rutherford. Her 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Morisoli Vineyard proved itself slightly superior to the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, which blend 50% Morisoli fruit with 50% Cabernet from Lewelling Vineyard in St. Helena.
I haven’t visited Neal Family Vineyards in Angwin, but have sampled their Howell Mountain wines on several occasions. Their Rutherford selections here included the 2009 Rutherford Dust Vineyards Zinfandel, the 2005 Rutherford Dust Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, and, despite its peculiar spelling, the superb 2007 Rutherford Dust Vineyards Petite Syrah. On the other hands, I have toured Greg Martin’s painstakingly restored Martin Estate and was happy once again to sample his trio of Cabs: the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Bacchanal and the equally wondrous 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Collector’s Reserve and the 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.
Martin Estate revived the facilities of the former H. H. Harris Winery in Rutherford, which had ceased operation during Prohibition. The H. H. Harris Winery was most noted as the facility where George de Latour first made his wines for Beaulieu Vineyard. Although BV now sputters as one of Diageo’s holdings, and, like Inglenook, has seen its brand utterly eroded following its earlier sale to Heublein, its Napa Cabernets still can be quite breathtaking. I am always impressed by the consistent quality of the 250,000 case production of its 2008 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon and was even more pleased here by the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Ranch#1 here. Primary kudos, however, belonged to its namesake 2008 Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that continues to be splendid 100 years after his first vintage!
At the pace I am writing, it will probably take me 100 years to complete my reviews of all the wines I am tasting for Sostevinobile, but perhaps salvation is in the near offing. The possible sale this week of my non-wine venture, ResCue™, may FINALLY afford me the resources to open our brick & mortar operations and allow me to delegate my blogging responsibilities to the Sostevinobile tasting panel.
Not that I won’t find reason to chime in every now and then…
So many tastings. So little time.
Harvest has just begun in the wine country at the time of this writing, and Your West Coast Oenophile couldn’t be more relieved. Predictions for this year’s crop have admittedly been largely on the gloomy side, with yet another dilatory warm season, but here at Sostevinobile, all fingers are crossed that the quality will prove high and the yield, bountiful.
Still, my pleasure in harvest starting stems largely from a sense of self-interest. I am still woefully behind in keeping my readership abreast of my wine discoveries over this past summer, and with every one tied up in the fields or on the crushing line for the next several weeks, there will be few occasions for me to venture out and explore. So maybe by the time the Cabs and late harvest Zins finish up…
My annual visit to the historic Escalle Winery in Larkspur has become ritual at this point, although a reaggravated squash injury prevented me from making the trek on bicycle this year. Once again, the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) put on an impressive spread of venison, rabbit sausage. local cheeses, and, of course, the diverse repertoire of Marin County’s Pinot Noirs (and then some).
The seventh staging of this benefit was marked by a notable change in the lineup of wineries, and while I was disappointed not to find perennial pourers like David Vergari and Nathan Kandler (Precedent Wines & Thomas Fogarty) on hand, it was certainly a pleasure to encounter several new participants, starting with an impressive debut by Bryan and Paul Vais’ Bailiwick Wines. MALT had loosened up its parameters for this year’s event, allowing other locally-grown varietals to be poured, but despite the allure of a Cabernet Franc and Vermentino I have yet to try, Bailiwick opted only to showcase their fairly impressive 2009 Borderline Pinot Noir.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Novato’s Pacheco Ranch Winery debuted here without a drop of Pinot, selecting instead to showcase a three-year vertical of their Cabernets. While all were noteworthy, the middle selection, the 2005 Estate Bottled Cabernet Sauvignon, stood out as their benchmark vintage.
Other wineries that did avail themselves of the “not just Pinot” option included MALT stalwarts Pey-Marin, with a notable 2010 The Shell Mound Riesling and the ever-eclectic Point Reyes Vineyard, that offered their 2001 Quail Hill Cabernet Sauvignon alongside their familiar NV Blanc de Noir Sparkling Wine and a surprisingly delectable 2007 Estate Pinot Noir.
Last year’s barbecue saw the debut of Skywalker Ranch, a MALT-protected agricultural easement on the property originally developed as headquarters for George Lucas’ operations. The wines are now produced under two labels, Skywalker Ranch, which excelled with their 2009 Reserve Pinot Noir, and the Francis Ford Coppola co-produced Viandante del Cielo, with an equally compelling 2009 Pinot Noir and an underripe 2010 Pinot Noir. The treat here, though, was the 2008 Viandante del Cielo Chardonnay, a wine showing marvelously at this stage.
Meanwhile, I continued onto the wineries that had yet to included in the Sostevinobile roster. Readers here should not be surprised that I would be utterly predisposed to liking a label that calls itself Burning Bench even before its vertical of Pinots crossed my lips. The Internet offers few insights into this intriguing venture from David Mease, but no matter—the wine speaks for itself. Though I was tepid about the 2006 vintage, I could not have been more pleased with the 2007 Moon Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir and its equally elegant successor from 2008.
Couloir doesn’t boast a color scheme like this—the rainbow effect is my feeble attempt a French visual pun. What this incipient wine venture does rest its laurels on is the prowess of owner/winemaker Jon Grant, whose pedigree includes Turley, PlumpJack, Corison, and Robert Mondavi. Here, with his own label, he showed great promise with the still-young 2009 Chileno Valley Vineyard Pinot Noir—even though his Website identifies this as a Mendocino County vintage!
 Alfred Derby Easkoot (1820-1905) Marin County’s first land surveyor | The driving force behind the annual MALT tastings has always been Mark Pasternak, proprietor of Marin’s Devil’s Gulch Ranch, a renowned sustainable farm and youth camp focused on “agriculture, nature education, and indigenous skills” in the Petaluma Gap designated sector of the Sonoma Coast AVA. While the vineyards at Devil’s Gulch have furnished Pinot, Chardonnay, and Gewürztraminer for other vintners in Marin, Pasternak had not previously produced his own label. Now, with grapes from Marin’s Chileno Valley Vineyard and winemaking from Shane McManigle and Matt Duffy, comes the highly eclectic Easkoot Cellars label. Though now sold out, their inaugural release, the 2009 Pinot Noir Chileno Valley Vineyard showcased its considerable pedigree quite amiably, a solid portent for Easkoot’s forthcoming 2010 vintage, as well as a yet-to-be released bottling from Sonoma County’s Suacci Vineyard. I would be remiss in not also citing the commitment Pasternak’s Devil’s Gulch Educational Services makes to Haitian farmers. It is an unwavering dedication even my activist friends at Haïti Liberté gratefully acknowledge. |
Another Francophone stronghold in the New World is the burgeoning wine empire of my friend Jean-Charles Boisset, whose family holdings recently acquired Buena Vista, California’s oldest premium winery. Boisset’s first Sonoma acquisition, DeLoach Vineyards, returned here with a trio of Marin Pinots, along with a compelling 2009 Chardonnay Stubbs Vineyard that was not listed on the program. In descending order, I found myself duly impressed with the 2009 Skyview Pinot Noir, followed by the subtle 2009 Marin County Pinot Noir that blend grapes from both the Stubbs and the Corda Vineyards, and, lastly, the 2009 Stubbs Vineyard Pinot Noir, a Vineyard Designate selection.
Meanwhile, both Nicasio’s Dutton-Goldfield and Bolinas’ Thackrey featured their bottlings of Pinots from Pasternak’s Devil’s Gulch. The former proved most enticing with their 2008 Devil’s Gulch Pinot Noir, while the 2009 Devil’s Gulch Pinot Noir hinted at future promise. I could not pick a favorite between the non-consecutive vintages from my fellow Hellenophile from Horseshoe Hill Road, but both the 2006 Andromeda Devil’s Gulch Ranch and its successor, the 2008 Andromeda Devil’s Gulch Ranch, impressed me as the most complex vintages of the afternoon.
One of the undeniable pleasures of this annual Marin wine tasting is gauging the evolution of not only of the county’s burgeoning wine industry but of individual wineries, as well. Perennial participant Kendric Vineyards continued to lure me with each subsequent appearance here, as the quality of Stewart Johnson’s Pinot Noir escalates even as its price-point slowly trickles upward. Still, I preferred the $34 2007 Marin Pinot Noir to the $35 2008 Marin Pinot Noir, an assessment contrary to the findings of Richard Jennings’ RJonWine. Other familiar presences here included John Tracy’s Willowbrook Cellars, a Russian River Winery that first expand into Marin in 2006. Here, their third bottling, the 2008 Pinot Noir Chileno Valley Road easily reflected the depth of their Sonoma bottlings, while the pre-released 2009 Chileno Valley Pinot Noir showed hints of spiciness.
As noted several times before, one of my displeasures at events like this continues to be pourers who leave well in advance of the allotted time frame. And I might have taken Vision Cellars to task for prematurely running out of their 2008 Chileno Valley Pinot Noir here, but who can find fault with such an amiable winemaker as Mac McDonald? Still, it would have provided a most concordant note on which to end the gathering…
Mac McDonald heads up a very exclusive, albeit unheralded, trade advocacy, the Association of African American Vintners. This fledgling group is hardly comprehensive but does shed light on the diversity found throughout the wine industry. Also shattering stereotypes about winery ownership is the new Napa Valley Mexican-American Vintners Association (NVMAVA).
Arguably, this noble endeavor would have been far better served had they hired yours truly to create a more mnemonic acronym, as I have in my previous career for such memorable ventures as Pediatricians Opposed to Prophylactics, the Pill, and Abortion (POPPA) or Pranksters Hired to Undermine your Competition’s Quality and Usurp their Prominence and Profitability (PHUCQ UPP). This oversight notwithstanding, I was still immensely pleased to participate in their Bautizo early this summer at Maldonado, a Napa Valley estate ringed with hewn caves and revered for its Chardonnay.
Maldonado typifies the story of most NVMAVA members. Patriarch Lupe Maldonado arrived in California in 1961 and toiled in the vineyards for over three decades before being able to buy his own 10 acre tract and plant vines in Jamieson Canyon. Now, in addition to his planted acreage, son Hugo has architected and operates a state-of-the-art facility in Calistoga. Maldonado’s œnological prowess, however, needs no prelude. As anticipated, the 2009 Parr Vineyard Chardonnay proved a lush, superb expression of the varietal. On par with the Parr was the 2006 Los Olivos Syrah, followed closely by the 2008 Proprietary Red Wine, a blend of unspecified composition. And while quite approachable now, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon hinted at peeking in 3-5 years,
While the Napa Valley will always be inextricably linked with Cabernet Sauvignon, the county cuts a wide swath, from Calistoga down to the eastern half of the Carneros AVA, with a marked diversity in its viticultural predisposition. Mi Sueño exemplified the fortes of this lower region with a striking 2008 Pinot Noir Los Carneros, paralleled by an equally appealing 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. Carneros’ other signature grape flourished in the 2008 Chardonnay Los Carneros, but the true revelation here was the 2008 El Llano, a deft blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah that needs no modification, despite Mi Sueño’s description of this wine as “expressing notes of molasses, freshly-cracked pepper, and a dash of piloncillo” (which readily explains why I refuse to incorporate such logorrhea in assaying wines here).
Many of the members’ labels came, not surprisingly, from virtual wineries—endeavors that lack a proprietary physical presence and produce their fare at custom facilities (many of today’s finest labels began in just such a manner). Here, Fernando Candelario’s handcrafted Voces Wines proved a prime example of this phenomenon, featuring a stellar 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Similarly, his 2008 Napa Valley Zinfandel and the 2006 Napa Valley Petite Sirah, both also produced in lots of <300 cases, struck me as exceptionally fine wines. In a similar vein, Blumaro Montes developed his Marita’s Vineyard label to produce ultrapremium wines, like his 2006 SOMA, a Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from his Coombsville vineyard.
Another incipient label, Rosaura Segura’s Encanto, pays tribute to the pioneering vineyard work of her late father, producing Sauvignon Blanc from and a distinctive 2008 Carneros Pinot Noir, both guided by acclaimed vintner Rudy Zuidema. Likewise, Alex Sotelo Cellars displayed a wide diversity in its lineup of small lot wines led by the 2006 Zinfandel Dalraddy Vineyard and the 2006 Syrah Leveroni Vineyard. Also noteworthy were the 2006 The Big A, a signature Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2010 Alma, Sotelo’s interpretation of Sauvignon Blanc.
The Rios brothers launched their Solovino label in 2004 and maintain a tasting room in Calistoga. Their hands-on experience with grape growing over the past three decades, which now encompasses over 1,200 acres of vineyard under the management of Rios Farming, readily showed in Solovino’s consistently noteworthy lineup. Offerings here included the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, the 2007 Chardonnay, and the Rutherford fruit-driven 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. Completing their selections stood another Rutherford gem, the 2006 Mixto, a compelling blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.
I moved on next to a pair of wine labels also featuring downtown tasting rooms but in the throes of construction for full winery facilities at their vineyards. Now it’s well known that I like to pick on Amelia Ceja— just because—but I was beholden to her for inviting me to the Bautizo.
As always, she and daughter Dalia were more than generous with their
selections, which included the 2007 Carneros Pinot Noir and a ripe 2008 Carneros Chardonnay. I was particularly impressed with the 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and their enticing 2008 Dulce Beso, an intensely sweet Late Harvest selection blended from Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Renteria, another winery with which I have long been familiar, poured a representative trio of their noteworthy wines: the 2009 Chardonnay Carneros, their 2007 Pinot Noir Knittel Vineyard, and a most amiable 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley.
I have visited the Robledo Family Winery in Carneros and while Bonness Road stands squarely in the portion of the AVA, many of their wines are crafted from an array of Napa vineyards, as exemplified by their outstanding 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley–6th Collector's Edition. Where the AVA line falls for their 2009 Los Carneros Chardonnay and 2009 Los Carneros Pinot Noir is of little consequence—both were quite delectable, as was the 2009 Tempranillo Lake County (a curiously underrepresented varietal here) and the 2006 Los Braceros, a Sonoma Valley blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah.
Los Braceros is a tribute to the Mexican field workers that have truly constituted the backbone of the California agricultural industry since the 1800s. Robledo proudly salutes its rise from such humble origins to its current position of prominence and is often cited as a paragon of the “True American Dream.” Similar stories could be told of all the founders of NVMAVA. My own decades of experience with the California wine industry has me finely attuned to the handful of endeavors whose amazing degree of success allows them to bottle and release their wines as they see fitl, aged to the point of perfection, and not mandated by the vicissitudes of the economic climate. Here today, at the pinnacle, my friends from Delgadillo showcased their current release, the lusciously layered 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon. In a climate that is already pushing the 2009 vintages onto the shelves, this rare achievement was truly a monument to success for all the members here.
11 bottles of wine on the wall, 11 bottles of wine…
Your West Coast Oenophile is normally not one to laud his own accomplishments, but my ongoing efforts to launch Sostevinobile, along with the creation of Smartphone app ResCue™ and the design of Comunale, have led to my selection as Featured Entrepreneur by EFactor, the self-billed World’s Largest Entrepreneurial Community.
The downside to this accolade has been responding to the flood of e-mails I’ve received from well-wishers and the like, yet another task impeding my progress in completing entries for this blog. Still, I am drawing to a close with this (admittedly) gimmicky approach to short-format posts focused on the vast array of wines I have had the privilege of sampling this past summer, and so, without further ado:
11) The name Murphys has always struck me as somewhat incongruous, but this quaint, self-billed “Queen of the Sierra” has evolved into the seat of Calaveras County viticulture. Keeping stride with this recently garnered reputation, Hovey Wine showcased their delightful 2009 Tempranillo Rolleri Cuvee, an exemplary take on this varietal.
10) The last time I wrote about T.A.P.A.S., I exhausted every pun I could make about Longoria, so today I will only sing praises of their 2010 Albariño Clover Creek Vineyard. Here truly is a vintage that could convert even the most diehard white wine skeptic.
9) Pierce Ranch is both one of the mainstays of the San Antonio Valley AVA and a principal grower of Iberian varietals in Monterey County. It’s always a pleasure to see Josh Pierce at numerous tastings throughout the season and sample through his wines. This afternoon’s nod went to his 2008 Cosecheiro, a deft proprietary blend of Tempranillo, Touriga, Graciano and Petit Sirah
8) For me, trying to pronounce Cosecheiro probably poses the same difficulties others encounter in my pentasyllabic surname, a euphonic conjugation I had mastered by age 2½. It took a bit of Internet sleuthing to discover it’s a variation on cosechero, or harvester, a tribute to the field workers who make winemaking possible. No such challenge for this former Vergilian scholar to grasp the nuances of the exceptional 2009 Idilico Garnacha from Pomum Cellars, the lone visitor here from the Puget Sound AVA in Washington.
7) Continuing in this vein, San Francisco’s own Urbanite Cellars coined its own proprietary portmanteau for the pair of Lodi blends it produces; of the two, I gave slight nod to the 2010 Caliberico White, a mezcla of Albariño, Verdelho, and Torrontés.
And yet, I didn’t realize the connection between Urbanite and Vinos Unico until I found two listings for mutual owner Luis Moya in my iPhone Address Book. The latter lists itself as “Wine Importers and Wholesalers,” with a portfolio from Spain and Portugal, as well as Iberian wine producers in Argentina, Arizona, and California. With that, the derivation of Cal-Iberico finally dawned upon me. Allora! I wish him greater success than the ill-fated Consorzio Cal-Italia ever enjoyed!
6) Should my cohorts and I manage successfully to launch Risorgimento as a preferable successor to Consorzio Cal-Italia, I suppose the inevitable question people will ask is whether D. Marc Capobianco can be the next Bob Cappuccino? Which is not unlike asking whether Jeff Tsai will be the next Randall Grahm. Not this is meant to contrast their winemaking styles or philosophy—the 2010 Verdelho Calaveras County from Jeff’s Twisted Oak proved a true highlight of this tasting—nor foster a debate on their mutually over-the-top showmanship. Indeed, the only relevant question any of us should be pondering at this time is “who can become the next Steve Jobs?”
 Would you buy a used Cabernet from this man? | 5) Quinta Cruz, the Iberian varietal arm of Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard, has long been a reliable presence at a number of events, including T.A.P.A.S., and certainly one of the most heavily Portuguese-focused wineries in California. One of the peeves I have with some Iberian producers here is their rather lax approach to labeling their varietals, in particular, the generic use of “Touriga.” This practice is akin to calling a varietal “Cabernet,” when distinction between Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc is obligatory. But Quinta Cruz’ superb 2009 Touriga San Antonio Valley commits no such transgression—components are properly listed as Touriga Franca and Touriga Naçional. |
4) Not to be confused with Yorba Linda, the birthplace of Richard Milhaus Nixon, Yorba Wines from Sutter Creek (self-billed as “the Jewel of Amador County”) offered a rare vertical tasting of their lone Spanish wine, with the oldest vintage, the 2005 Tempranillo, clearly manifesting the beauty and complexity of aging this noble varietal.
3) Odisea, or, more Hellenically, Ὀδύσσεια, doesn’t merely constitute the 24 book tome I labored to translate under the questionable tutelage of William C. Scott, but a rather cerebral winery operating out of Danville (the Jewel of Contra Costa County?). Though each of their featured wines had much to admire, I found myself quite partial this time to the 2009 Unusual Suspects, an atypical blend of Tempranillo, Cariñena (Carignane), and Garnacha. (This same wine venture also produces the Circean-inspired Cochon Wines).
2) From Suspects to Oregon’s Rogue Valley—RoxyAnn typically makes French varietals but managed to comport themselves quite admirably with their 2007 Tempranillo. I will be more than interested to taste through the rest of their library, which includes a non-vintage Pear Wine from their Hillcrest Orchard.
1) Of course, what would an Iberian varietal tasting be without Port, even if it no longer can use this nomenclature? St. Helena’s Tesouro Port Cellars returned with a superb vintage of their 2005 California Dessert Wine, deftly marrying lots of Touriga, Tinta Cão, Tempranillo, Alvarelhão, and Souzão.
0) OK, I admit I’ve exceeded my self-imposed limits for the scope of this seemingly interminable exercise, yet despite its conceits, I am no closer to catching up with my backlog than when I began, 99 bottles of wine ago. But it’s my blog and if I can make the rules, I can just as well violate them! And so I elect to bring this exercise to a murmuring close with Wine #100, the phenomenal NV Tawny Port Amador that Lodi’s St. Amant Winery crafted. The perfect coda to a labor of love (Sostevinobile) that (hopefully) never ends…
22 bottles of wine on the wall, 22 bottles of wine…
Seven down, two to go. And even with this pithy approach to succinct (for me) postings, Your West Coast Oenophile has barely made a dent in the backlog of chronicles to which Sostevinobile has committed. “It’s all about the wine,” I keep telling myself. “The wine has no time frame…”
22) Earlier in this series, I offered a few observations about the diminishing attendance at industry tastings in San Francisco, including Rosé Avengers & Producers’ annual PINK OUT SF!. Though I am finding the continued attrition of both attendees and participating wineries at these industry tastings increasingly disconcerting, I would be remiss in not acknowledging my discovery here of Paradise View, a Sonoma Coast winery producing an international potpourri varietals, including Arneis, Albariño, Malbec, Roussanne, and Lemberger (or Blaüfrankish, if you prefer). Despite its unspecified varietal identity, the 2008 Rosé poured here furnished an impressive introduction to this skilled, eclectic venture.
21) This is the age at which I arrived in California, with a freshly-minted Dartmouth diploma stashed somewhere amid my worldly possessions, which fit snugly in the rear of a 1978 Dodge Omni. At the time, the only California wineries I could name were Gallo, Sebastiani, Paul Masson, Almaden, and Inglenook. Today, my Rolodex is approaching 2,500 distinct labels, with new discoveries almost daily—even in pockets where I thought my knowledge was comprehensive. Case in point—although I have covered individual wineries and at least a dozen tastings for the Santa Cruz Mountains Winery Association, I had not encountered Villa del Monte until the most recent South Bay Trade tasting at The International Culinary Center in Campbell. My reaction to their focused 2009 Reserve Pinot Noir Regan Vineyard? Where have you guys been hiding?
Speaking of hiding, I must commend the Culinary Center for coming out this year from behind their glass-enclosed culinary lab and catering the tasting this year. Recalling how excruciating it had been last year, when we had to shuttle between two tasting rooms and content ourselves to stare longingly at their amazing feats of gastronomy through impermeable glass displays, I had scheduled a luncheon meeting beforehand with Lathrop Engineering to architect my design for a low-cost nitrogen preservation system for Sostevinobile’s wines. Oh well! I never claimed foresight to be my forte!
20) I’ve registered www.sostevinobile.net to be deployed as an extranet, once we are ready to start taking orders. The goal is to allow every winery and producing label in California, Washington, and Oregon who can meet Sostevinobile’s criteria for sustainability to access and manage their own information in our database. When that day does come, my first order of business will be to hire a Filemaker programmer to build this platform for us. In the meantime, I am compelled to enter each winery I encounter into a very rudimentary data file, and, like everything else, I frequently fall way behind in this responsibility with all I compelled to handle.
As such, I failed to realize that I had already visited with Paradise View when I retasted them at T.A.P.A.S. a few weeks later. No similar confusion, however, with Acampo’s Riaza Wines, an indisputably new discovery that came close to flooring me with their knockout 2008 Tempranillo Amador County.
19) It was extremely hard for me to assess the success of the T.A.P.A.S. Grand Wine Tasting. Last year, the somewhat thin crowd could be attributed to the unforeseen change of venue when Crushpad, which had committed to host the event, suddenly pulled up stakes and relocated to Napa; that same day, SF Vintners Market held its event in Fort Mason, as well, while the nearby Union Street Festival commandeered nearly every available parking slots in the Marina. This year again, the street fair wreaked havoc with the local traffic, while the crowd inside Herbst Pavilion seemed just as sparse.
T.A.P.A.S., of course, is still very much a nascent undertaking, and, to be honest, 44 participating wineries does not warrant so cavernous a space. Nonetheless, I can’t gauge whether this event is gaining traction, declining, or simply maintaining its status quo. Over the past couple of years, I have become increasingly concerned over the attrition of attendance at nearly all the major tastings, hoping it is not a harbinger for the state of the wine industry itself nor, circumspectly, for Sostevinobile. Now I have even greater reasons for wanting to see groups like T.A.P.A.S. and Rhône Rangers thrive, as I am heading an effort to resurrect a similar organization for West Coast producers of Italian varietals. Look for an announcement about Risorgimento in an upcoming entry.
Of course, part of the pleasure of T.A.P.A.S. is simply the effort I must put in to make sure I have the correct orthography for the sundry Spanish and Portuguese varietals I taste my way through. And just when I think I’ve got a handle on every Tinta and Touriga out there, along comes Ron Silva, adding yet another indecipherable grape to the list! Still, the barrel sample of the 2010 Trincadiera his Alta Mesa Cellars provided proved a most delectable discovery.
18) Marie Antoinette Nichelini-Irwin had introduced me to Sauvignon Vert, a varietal I thought I had never tried until I learned it was the same grape as Tocai Friulano (as I am all too fond of saying, sempre i francese imitano gl’italiani). After Toni died last year, I thought that Irwin Family Vineyards might have been her legacy, but there is no correlation. This first generation endeavor made an impressive introduction with their 2008 Tempranillo Piedra Rioja Block 22, their sole production.
17) A first-time entry from Lodi was Jeremy Wine Company, a relatively new hand-selected boutique venture from industry veteran Jeremy Trettevik, focused on both Italian and Iberian varietals. Here, the 2010 Albariño Lodi proved an exceptional introduction to this notable endeavor.
16) My friend John Monnich of Silkwood Wines would take affront, but I am all-too-fond of denigrating wines from Modesto as being a front for Ernest & Julio. Another exception to this blanket generalization is Duarte Georgetown, whose exceptional 2008 Divide Tempranillo El Dorado proved every bit as alluring as its highly commendable 2007 vintage.
15) The next time I decide to get lost in Winters, the Yolo County hamlet juxtaposed between the Napa Valley and UC-Davis, I will make every effort to track down Turkovich Family Wines (provided I can finally get GPS service or AT&T cellular reception anywhere in these environs). Meanwhile, I can only content myself with their stellar array of wines, led by the exceptional 2009 Tempranillo Yolo County.
14) Readers here know how much I gushed over the Reserve Chardonnay from Jarvis this past spring. Here, their virtuoso winemaking continued, the results very nearly as impressive with their exceptional 2009 Tempranillo Napa Valley.
13) No surprise that I would offer glowing reviews for the wines Markus Bokisch produces. This time round, their game never been as on as with their 2008 Graciano Mokelumne River, easily the best vintage produced of their signature red varietal.
12) Introducing Markus and his wife Liz to Matthew Rorick felt like an inkling of what the late Tom Dowd must have felt pairing Eric Clapton and Duane Allman. Hyperbolic praise? Not if you had sampled Forlorn Hope’s 2006 Mil Amores, yet another truly astounding blend of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Cão, Tinta Amarella, and Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo).
Más a venir, even with less than a dozen bottles left…
33 bottles of wine on the wall, 33 bottles of wine…
Here’s an interesting statistic I recently uncovered: back when Your West Coast Oenophile started in the wine industry, Gallo commanded a 27.7% share of the domestic wine market. In those days, the other dominant players in the wine world were divisions of some of the world’s largest food & beverage producers: Heublein, which owned Inglenook, Italian Swiss Colony, and BV; Nestlé, which had Beringer; Seagram’s owned Paul Masson; Coca-Cola of New York controlled Franzia, Mogen David, and Tribuno, which later became the foundation of The Wine Group; Coca-Cola of Atlanta held Monterey Vineyards and Sterling, which they subsequently sold to Seagram’s.
Most of the wine then came in 3L jugs and magnums. What was most interesting, though, was the degree of conformity among these mega-producers. Everyone, of course, produced a White (labelled as Chablis), a Red (usually called some variation on Burgundy), and a Pink (either Rosé or Pink Chablis). Across the board, varietal bottlings consisted of the Big Eight, no matter where the winery was situated or what the soil and climate might warrant: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chenin Blanc for whites; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, and Napa Gamay (Valdiguié) for reds. And please—don’t even think to ask what passed for Sparkling Wine back then!
Even when Robert Mondavi founded Woodbridge to produce quality, affordable wines—again, mostly in 1.5L bottles—followed by the twin labels, Glen Ellen and M. J. Vallejo, that Benziger created, this same lineup remained compulsory (I still hold a particular fondness for Woodbridge’s “Bob White” and “Bob Red”). It wasn’t until the late 1980s, when a new strain of phylloxera forced nearly every winery to replant their vines, that current system of growing wines to reflect the character of the AVA and the particular terroir of a site became predominant.
Ironically, even with this more sophisticated focus, Napa retains the greatest degree of conformity, not to the old orthodoxy but to an extremely narrow concentration of varietals, predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, along with Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel, for the most part. Cabernets and Meritages are almost exclusively blended in accord with Bordeaux strictures, and the majority of varietal bottlings tend to derive from the other components of these assemblages: Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec.The upside to this phenomenon, however, is that the wines tend to be damn, damn good!
33) Returning to my exploration of Oakville’s finest that I began in my previous installment, I was pleased to find the eclectic Flora Springs pouring here. Though both the winery and avant-garde tasting room are based in St. Helena, they source their quintet of Single Vineyard bottlings from various AVAs throughout the Napa Valley, with the exemplary 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Holy Smoke Vineyard representing the apex of their Oakville efforts.
32) I’d be remiss in not extolling the incredible wines Harlan’s other label, Bond poured. Like Flora Springs, this winery offers five single vineyard bottlings of Bordeaux blends they somewhat immodestly call their “Grand Crus,” though perhaps the 100 points Robert Parker awarded their 2007 Vecina gives warrant to this classification. Hyperbole or not, this Médoc-style vintage still presented a vastly impressive mastery of œnology.
31) It may rhyme with dud, but any comparison stops way before here. The extraordinary 2006 Oakville Estate Red from Rudd proved a multilayered, nuanced wine, ripe and ready, yet easily ageworthy for a decade or longer.
30) Adding to the increasing obfuscation of yet another geographically-labeled wine operations within this sub-AVA, Oakville Cross nevertheless comprises an exceptional labor of love, a micro-estate planting of 2100 vines that yield their single offering, the highly prized 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. Truly a rare pleasure to enjoy.
29) DeSante has built a relatively young virtual winery that sources much of its fruit from Tierra Rioja and Raugh Family Vineyards in Oakville. Here, they proudly poured the pinnacle of their viticultural endeavors, the 2007 Oakville Terraces Cabernet Sauvignon, a scant 85 case bottling.
28) JP Harbison has offered boutique production of Cabernet Sauvignon for the past 10 years, sourcing fruit from a variety of Oakville sources to produce upwards of six barrels. Having planted enough vines on a Silverado Trail tract to yield 11 tons (~22 barrels), they debuted their 2009 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon here, a delectable albeit early bottling.
27) Volatility has been a phenomenon in the wine industry long before I founded Sostevinobile. The trials and tribulations of Cosentino Winery have been well documented elsewhere, and while their Lodi facilities have been shuttered, it was good to see that new owner Larry Soldinger decided to bring back founder Mitch Cosentino. Validating this decision was the quality of the wines poured here that still bore Mitch’s imprimatur, especially the 2008 Estate Merlot, a wine that nullifies any denigration of this Bordelaise varietal.26) A few years back, I met Ronald Nicholson by chance at Jack Falstaff, the former PlumpJack enterprise where my friend Annette Yang (Nettie’s Crab Shack) held sway. Ron was hawking his fledgling wine operation, Kelham Vineyards,
door-to-door, and during the course of our conversation, he poured me a
glass of his inaugural Cabernet Sauvignon, which he was showcasing for the
sommelier. This day, however, I found myself particularly
cottoning to the 2003 Merlot, a wine that had reached a splendid peak eight years after its harvest.
25) Textbook Vineyards only sounds pedantic. OK, maybe their single effort, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Mise en Place has a slightly abstruse tone to its nomenclature, but the wine easily rivals the more familiar Pinot Noirs this operation bottles under its Pey-Marin and Pey-Lucia labels.
24) Teaderman, on the other hand, conveys more of a “come sit and put your feet up” aura. Its amiable wines emulate Bordelaise conventions, with the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc clearly standing out.
23) Speaking of Sauvignon Blanc, the progenitor of its alter ego, host winery Robert Mondavi, demonstrated no diminution of its prodigious viticultural artistry since its absorption by Constellation, showcasing a remarkable 2009 Fumé Blanc Reserve, a perfect wine to counterbalance the profusion of Cabernets that give Oakville it well-warranted cachet.
Now if only I could find a way to counterbalance the profusion of wines I inexorably sample for Sostevinobile and the endless flow of words with which I chronicle each…
44 bottles of wine on the wall, 44 bottles of wine…
The 2½ years that Your West Coast Oenophile has devoted (so far) to creating Sostevinobile occasionally encounters moments that make my inexorable efforts seem all worthwhile, though, to be perfectly honest, attending an event like Taste of Oakville several weeks back, offers little relevance to the Wine-by-the-Glass program I am building (let’s see, if I can pour five glasses from a bottle of $400 Cabernet, that rounds out roughly to $80/glass—assuming I do not intend to make one single cent of profit). Still, depending on how we evolve, our Reserve Wine list and our retail sales will happily embrace each and every wine these über-premium labels allot us.
It would probably be hyperbolic for me to make the assertion that being afforded the opportunity to spend a glorious afternoon amid the hallowed chambers of the Robert Mondavi Winery, sipping what is inarguably the pinnacle of Napa Valley viticulture, seemed tantamount to ascending to heaven. On the other hand, having Zhang Ziyi serve me almost eighty indescribably wondrous Cabernet Sauvignons, Bordeaux varietals, and Meritage blends would come pretty close to my definition of sheer, unadulterated ecstasy. |  |
44) It seemed only fit to begin this afternoon with the 2007 Opus One from the autonomous joint venture of the same name that was founded by Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild (of the two Premier Cru vineyards that bear his name). Though these two departed titans obviously no longer manage this venture, Rothschild’s daughter, the Baroness Philippine, has striven to ensure that Opus One not be enveloped by the corporate ownership that acquired Mondavi in 2004. The result? This vintage of the first true cult wine remains as near-flawless as ever.
43) A quick Internet survey shows bottles of the 2007 Harlan Estate selling for $895 or better. Can a wine really be worth such an exorbitant price? Given the perfect scores it received not only from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate but also the secret Sostevinobile talley sheet I never let anyone view, this flagship bottling from Meadowood’s Bill Harlan could very well be.
42) Joining Opus One and Harlan in this august circle was the 2008 Collina Dalla Valle from Dalla Valle Vineyards. A breathtakingly beautiful wine, it was juxtaposed against a library sample of the 1994 Maya, Dalla Valle’s acclaimed Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon blend that proved stunningly equal, 17 years after bottling, to its younger cousin.
41) There is a sense of prestige and accomplishment in owning a Porsche—unless you happen to own a Lamborghini first. Similarly, the next tier of wines poured at this tasting could have easily headline nearly any other event. A metaphoric Turbo S Cabriolet, Futo Wines offered an astounding find, pouring their 2008 Futo Estate, a multilayered Cabernet Sauvignon blend underpinned by Cabernet Franc.
40) Another 530 Hp wine, the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Rioja unveiled from its library, presaged an auspicious evolution for the yet-unreleased 2008 vintage they also featured here. I would also note that the winery’s name, meaning “red earth” could not be more befitting the velvety crimson hue of this wine.
39) I can’t keep pace with the various permutations with “Oakville” incorporated in the name of estates that produce wine in this AVA, the most specific being Oakville East Exposure. Their exquisite 2008 Core Stone presented a balanced, textured blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Cabernet Franc and 8% Petit Verdot.
38) I tend to believe that the length of one’s name denotes to an inherent depth or quality. Vine Cliff Winery would probably be concordant with this notion, especially as it pertains to their delightful 2007 Private Stock 16 Rows Cabernet Sauvignon, a label that could not be more precise, unless they identified each individual bud.
37) An interesting winery I had not encountered previously, Spoto, brought out a decidedly mixed selection of Bordeaux style wines, leaving me with a profound preference for its 2007 Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon over the other selections in the vertical tasting they poured, as well as over their Meritage blend, the 2008 Cuveé Arianna.
36) Next to Spoto, the renowned Screaming Eagle allotted fractional sips of their Cabernet, the 2008 Screaming Eagle. Make no mistake, this still is a profound wine, but at a minimum of $1500/bottle, I expected not simply to be floored but blown across the room. Allora, this is what inevitably happens when dedicated founders sell their winery—the Jeannie is out of the bottle.
35) Admittedly, I (as do most folks) can sometimes be swayed by attachments or predilections; it has been well documented throughout the years I have been penning the Sostevinobile blog that, in the 1980s, I often made the trek to the real estate offices of Phillips & Harris, Land Broker spurred by an infatuation I never found the temerity to verbalize. Similarly, I concede to having a pronounced affinity for wineries that resonate with my background or feature other commonalities.
I nonetheless am not averse to criticizing places that my predisposition might lend to me
favoring, nor have I been daunted from praising the efforts of wineries even if it might raise contention about my objectivity. Case in point, my effusive praise of late for Gargiulo holds no correlation to our shared ties to Hotchkiss but highlights the strides they have made with the Aprile, its Oakville Sangiovese. Here, they even surpassed that effort with their 2008 OVX Cabernet Sauvignon, the fourth bottling of this special estate wine.
34) Had I discovered the website for Hoopes before I had sampled their wine, I am certain I would have found myself just as biased toward their Cabs. In a realm where compelling readers to scroll through a page for content is generally verboten, Hoopes’ home page features a 750 ml bottle of their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon amplified to 333⅓%—a 40" image! The wine itself drinks like a bottling that could easily command similar inflation to $200, despite its relative diminutive $60 retail price. I easily enjoyed it as much as the bold statement its pictorial depiction implies.
In my own efforts to reduce scrolling by my readership, I need now to bring this post to an abrupt halt, knowing full well that the ensuing installment will pick up with yet another eleven amazing finds from this luxuriant gathering.
55 bottles of wine on the wall, 55 bottles of wine…
Note to everyone who has nagged me over the past three years: the demands of keeping this house (Sostevinobile) clean and in reasonable order is inexorable. Your West Coast Oenophile can’t possibly be expected to maintain the same level of punctiliousness in the upkeep of my home office! And so I soldier on in my attempts to pay long overdue citation to the various vintages I have been sampling with single-minded purpose since April.
55) I’ll be the first to concede that Homefire of Sonoma sounds more like a Country/Western band than a wine label. Nomenclature notwithstanding, this accomplished winery excels in its single-varietal focus, as exemplified by its superb 2007 Homecoming Zinfandel.
54) I first stumbled upon John Viszlay one afternoon when I was combing Limerick Lane in Healdsburg. Until we met at the facility he shares with Christie Estate Winery, I had not realized that Prosecco was a distinct varietal, not simply a style of sparkling wine. To the best of my knowledge, Viszlay has the only vineyard producing Prosecco on the West Coast, and while John had declined to bring his sparkling wine to the San Francisco Vintners Market, he did share his striking 2010 Sweet Prosecco, a still wine with 10% alcohol and 2% residual sugar.
53) Christie also shared Viszlay’s booth here and poured an array of their eclectic bottlings. I’m not sure owner whether Steve Aitken’s Panty Dropper Wines constitutes the broadest marketing ploy, but one can hardly argue the appeal of the 2008 Russian River Valley Late Harvest Zinfandel produced under this label.
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52)
My final citation from the Vintners Market highlights a winery after my own
heart, Huge Bear, an enterprise that pays homage to the brief
incarnation of the independent nation known as California Republic, founded in what is now recognized as Knights Valley. With three releases of their Sonoma wines, the particular standout from this secessionist sympathizer inarguably had to have been the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine nearly as big as its ursine emblem and nationalist aspirations.
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51) Though Huge Bear clearly bills themselves as a Sonoma winery, their listed contact is in St. Helena, the proverbial seat of Napa Valley. And while I may be bit perplexed by this anomaly, it does little to diminish my enthusiasm for their wine or overall branding. Many others, I am aware, are hardly as ecumenical, in their delineations.
In putting together the wine program for Sostevinobile, I tend to encounter an inordinate amount of hostility towards Napa among the various other AVAs. Granted, charging $50 for a tasting room visit does seem contrary to the inclusive spirit of the wine industry, and the number of $125 Cabernets that really deserve to be priced at nearly ⅓ that level is legion; still, there is inarguably a phenomenal amount of truly great wine produced throughout the Napa Valley, and, when warranted, I am unabashed in lavishing accolades upon it.
Case in point, the extraordinary 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Padrone from Signorello Estate on Silverado Trail. Listed at a mere $110/bottle, this luxuriant wine could easily be deemed a bargain.
possible.
possible.
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50) This year, Taste Napa Valley
held satellite tastings throughout California instead of a single,
central Grand Tasting. My designated venue was the Walnut Creek branch
of Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar. This 64-unit, nationwide chain, owned by OSI Restaurant Partners, the parent company of ersatz Australian Outback Steakhouse, may boast a wine-by-the-glass program twice the size and breadth of Sostevinobile—the Fleming’s 100, but I will not deign to make a qualitative comparison.
Along with Signorello, I discovered several visiting wineries here,
including Match,
a boutique Cabernet enterprise that farms a duet of proprietary
vineyards, Butterdragon Hill and Baconbrook. Comparisons to the Big Rock
Candy Mountain seem tempting but unwarranted—the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Butterdragon Hill proved a stunning bottling. |
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49) Back in February, I literally found myself lost in the maze of caves at Far Niente and missed out on Oakville Ranch Vineyards. Here, I atoned for my lapse by working my way through the craftsmanship of legacy winemaker Paula Kornell, favoring her buttery 2008 Chardonnay Oakville slightly above her red selections.
48) One of the most astounding Chardonnays I have ever tried was the 2008 Chardonnay Finch Hollow Reserve that Jarvis poured here. Boasting another legacy winemaker, Dimitri Tchelistcheff, this wine demanded that I revisit Jarvis’ table at least three times during the course of the event.47) Of course, I was completely predisposed to like their puckishly named wine, the 2007 Will Jarvis’ Science Project, even before I sampled it. A Cabernet Franc literally borne from their son’s 8th grade experiment, here was a wine whose flavor actually exceed its promotional whimsy.
46) Truth be told, I had met Ellen Reich Luchtel a few evenings before this gathering and had sampled a number of her Fortunati wines while practicing my Italian with her. As luck would have it, I hadn’t tried her sublime 2007 Pinot Noir, vinted by husband Gary Luchtel of Suhr Luchtel, a winery prized for both its Pinot and Syrah.
45) Apart from Chardonnay and Zinfandel, Napa tends to be almost monomaniacal in its adherence to Bordeaux varietals and blends. In contrast to this orthodoxy, Lagier Meredith has always stood out for its Syrahs, as amply exemplified by the 2007 Syrah Mount Veeder, a bottling without peer at this particular tasting.
I frequently admit to being worn thin at times with all the tastings I undertake for Sostevinobile—to wit, my increasing inability to keep up with this blog in any reasonable time frame. But even if I lag behind with my chronicles, the wines that I assay, and the people that produce them maintain an enduring relevance.
66 bottles of wine on the wall, 66 bottles of wine…
I really hadn’t planned to attend both days of the San Francisco Vintners Market, but for a variety of reasons, it became a logistics impossibility for Your West Coast Oenophile
to cover the numerous discoveries Sostevinobile had slated in one fell swoop. So here’s the A-Z of what I found, with a few other letters interspersed.
66) I admit to liking the motto for Aurielle Vineyards immensely: Art and Science in Divine Proportion. Which proportion of their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Howell Mountain and which from Mt. Veeder isn’t specified, but the 98% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc, ½% Merlot, and ½% Petit Verdot winemaker Chad Alexander blended made for a striking release of this 303-case production.
65) People with iPhones or iPads are well aware of Apple’s efforts to purge the world of Flash. Steve Jobs’ quarrel with Adobe stems from the point they switched allegiance and began focusing their software to be compatible with Microsoft. I won’t belabor the point with historical references to how the Apple/Adobe duumvirate ushered in the era of PostScript that eradicated the archaic dot-matrix printouts and displays of the 1980s nor to the utter elegance of the fully-integrated version of Illustrator 5 that Adobe developed for Jobs’ NeXT Computer. The real problem (from my standpoint) was that this ill-begotten alliance caused Adobe to eviscerate its User Manuals to accommodate the inferior functionality of the Windows platform.
 A true tech geek will recognize this precursor to Mac OSX! |
Confession: I lied my way into my first full-fledged graphics production contract by convincing the design director I knew all the ins & outs of Photoshop, then taught myself the entire program over the course of a weekend, methodically reading Adobe’s guidebook and working through their tutorial exercises. Some 20 years later, daily interaction with this program has made terms like monochromatic contrast and greyscale second nature. Greyscale Wines derives its name from the aforementioned photographic principle, but its select vintages manifest none of the legerdemain to which an advanced Photoshop user often resorts. Rather, winemaker Kian Takavoli handcrafted their 2008 Cuvée Blanc from Sauvignon Blanc, transparently rounded with Marsanne to create its distinctive crispness. |
64) Penché is a French term, loosely translated as leaning, bending, or tilting—or, as Photoshop users would say, skewing. Fittingly, this premium Napa winemaker’s label articulates to form a parallelogram instead of the traditional rectangle, but there was nothing askew about its Meritage, the 2007 Argent Proprietary Red, a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend combining the five Bordelaise varietals from four distinct vineyards. Mon Dieu!
63) Despite listing its contacts near the San Francisco waterfront, Promenade offers a wine label wedding multiple Napa appellations that border Silverado Trail. Its lyrically named Meritage, the 2007 La Joyeuse Harmonie, consonantly blends Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville Merlot, and Pope Valley Cabernet Franc in an augmented triad—all that is missing its eponymous soundtrack.
62) Je ne comprends pas—I’m
haven’t been able to decipher the schema by which Jean-Charles Boisset
selects the numerical designation for his releases, but the 2006 No. 7 from JCB constitutes a well-rounded Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir that straddles the twin viticultural hp,es (California, France) for this new father of twin girls.
61) I was undeterred by the name for Pulgas Ranch, the Portuguese and Spanish word for fleas. An inveterate punster like myself might say I now have an itching for their 2007 Syrah Alder Springs Vineyard, but that would be straining the metaphor.
60) The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon To Kalon made an impressive statement for Knights Bridge,
a winery whose operations straddle both Sonoma and Napa Counties, with
its estate vineyard located in the heart of the Knights Valley AVA.
59) Readers who recall the Ginkgo Girl from a few dozen installations here should know that Bolen Family Estates has no correlation to the erstwhile Bolan. This Oak Knoll winery produced an exceptional 2007 Merlot that, simply put, does not quit and leave you.
58) I might be curious to try the Lady of the Lake Sparkling Pear Wine Mt. Konocti Growers Winery produces one of these days, but for now I am content to have sampled the signature 2010 Sauvignon Blanc from their Lake County cooperative.
57) I’ve actually found a winery in California that produces Rkatsiteli, the signature grape of the Republic of Georgia (when I finally make my way to Avanguardia in Nevada City, I promise an entire post devoted to their esoteric wines). While Victor Eristavi proudly flaunts his Georgian roots, the wines he crafts on Treasure Island remain decidedly Californian. Still, there is a touch of Old World mastery quite evident in his 2009 Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley.
56) At the terminus of the English alphabet, Calistoga’s Zahtila Vineyards is another red wine-only venture producing Cabernet and Zin. The most impressive of the four wines I sampled was the homegrown 2007 Oat Hill Estate Zinfandel, an appropriate tribute to owner Laura Zahtila’s zeal and intensity.
I may have exhausted my allotted space for this entry, but I will complete my review of my four final discoveries in the next undectet of this series.
