Category Archives: Petite Sirah

Dam Good Wine!!

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Years ago, I was lounging on the sun deck of at the San Francisco Bay Club when the fellow next to me suddenly exclaimed “Wow! There’re two decks on the bridge!” In complete disbelief, I turned to him and asked “in all the years you’ve lived here, haven’t you ever driven across the Bay Bridge?”
He assured that he had—many times in fact. “And you never noticed that, say, there was steel overhead in one direction as you drove?’ I queried. “Or sky overhead when you came back?” He promised to check out this startling revelation the next time he drove to Oakland.

Your West Coast Oenophile had a similar epiphany last weekend. However, unlike the addleheaded heliolater from my health club roof, I can claim mitigating circumstances. The invitation to last week’s Drink Dry Creek’s ZinTopia listed the event’s location as the Warms Springs Recreation Area at Lake Sonoma. I was baffled. How many times had I trekked through Windsor, Asti, Healdsburg, Geyserville, Cloverdale, etc., in the early 1980s and never encountered a lake in northern Sonoma? How could I have missed such a prominent landmark?

It took a bit of Internet sleuthing to discover that I hadn’t indulged to the level of delirium on my frequent wine tasting forays—indeed, in the early 1980s, there wasn’t a Lake Sonoma! This marvelous recreational jewel turns out to be man-made phenomenon, a limnological accretion formed by the development of Warm Springs Dam. Following the dam’s completion in 1983, water impounded from Dry Creek gradually filled the basin over the next several years and altered its historic topography in creating this 2,700 acre reservoir. In other words, rather hard to miss once it was created.
The 319′ high rolled earth embankment that comprises the dam stands as the lone barrier between 470,000,000 m³ and the verdant field of the Warm Springs Recreation Area, a thought only slightly less discomfiting than the notion of encountering the CHP upon leaving the wine tasting. As things turned out, neither a deluge of Biblical proportion nor of wine lay in store for this afternoon.
ZinTopia turned out to be a wonderfully balanced event, just enough food and wine to keep pace for four hours in the hot afternoon sun and reach an acceptable level of satiety by day’s end. Actually, had they only served the grilled California White Sea Bass, I would have been content (not that the outdoor grilled Pizza and Angus Beef Sliders were anything to scoff at). But, as loyal readers of my Sostevinobile well know, restraining me from tasting good wine is no mean feat!
The organizers from Drink Dry Creek had paired the Sea Bass with an array of Sauvignon Blancs from participating member wineries. Some chose to bring one bottling; others presented contrasting vintages. I must concede that I rarely indulge in this varietal by itself, and, in retrospect, I might have felt more glowingly about the wines I did sample had I ported my dining plate to these tables. Still, these wines fared far better being chilled than did those Zinfandels that vintners valiantly struggled to keep from cooking in the sweltering heat, and certainly proved quite refreshing. 2008 Sauvignon Blanc seemed de rigueur for the wineries that were pouring this white, and both Mauritson and Dry Creek Vineyard proffered admirable vintages. The standout in this category, however, came from Sbragia, with a distinctively crisp Sauvignon Blanc that held its own as an apéritif. 
The lone contrast amid the white wine section under the event tent was the 2008 Petite Zin Rosé from Dry Creek Vineyard. The centerpiece of the afternoon, as well as the center island of the tasting, was, of course, the gem of Dry Creek—Zinfandel, in all of its red glory. Ridge Winery sent out a team from their Lytton Springs bale house, so it seemed a logical starting point to swing by and say “hi.” Their formal pourings included the debuts of the 2007 Lytton Springs, a long-standing workhorse of their single vineyard program that featured a blending with 22% Petite Sirah and 7% Carignane, and the 2007 East Bench, a relative newcomer to this lineup that was rounded out with 8% Petite Sirah. Ridge’s bonus pour, the 2003 Zinfandel Del Carlo Ranch, outshone the younger wines and raised the bar for the rest of the afternoon.
Befittingly, Lori and Ray Teldeschi, proprietors of this same vineyard, manned the station directly behind Ridge and poured both the 2006 Old Vine Zinfandel and the 2005 Old Vine Zinfandel from their Del Carlo Winery. Though both featured an identical blend with 11% Old Clone Petite Sirah, all from the same vines, I clearly favored the newer release as a wine that might give Paul Draper a run for his money! On the other hand, Talty Vineyards contrasted their 2006 Estate Zinfandel with their 2005 Estate Zinfandel—in this case, my preference fell to the earlier vintage.
In recent years, Wilson Winery has gained much acclaim for both their Zinfandels and their Cabernet Sauvignon. I found their 2007 Zinfandel Molly’s Vineyard quite appealing and truly relished bother their 2007 Zinfandel Sawyer’s Vineyard and 2007 Zinfandel Carl’s Reserve. In this era of winery consolidation, Wilson is becoming a bit of a mini-mogul, having recently purchased a handful of smaller wineries, including Mendocino’s Jepson Winery inexplicably renamed Jaxon Keys). Another of their holdings Mazzocco, out on Lytton Springs Road, proved a worthy partner with their popular reserve Zinfandel, the 2007 Maple, and an enticing 2007 Zinfandel, Sonoma County.
The wineries I commended above for their Sauvignon Blanc proved equally adept with Zinfandel. Both the 2007 Mauritson Zinfandel and Sbragia’s 2006 Gino’s Vineyard Zinfandel proved noteworthy, while Dry Creek’s 2006 Old Vine Zinfandel showed a delightful complexity. In reviewing my note, I regret missing the Sauvignon Blanc from a handful of other wineries but did manage to enjoy both the 2007 Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley Mother Clone from Pedroncelli and my gamble on the 2006 Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley from Ferrari-Carano.
I know I should rise above making bad puns, but the 2006 Zinfandel-Dry Creek Valley from Rued was definitely not rued; indeed, discovering this winery for the first time was a most unexpected surprise. Optima Wine Cellars was also a serendipity for me, but with a 2005 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel on hand; their 2005 Orgaz Zin, truly a deft pun, proved to be anything but a misnomer. Other newcomers to the Sostevinobile roster included Bella Winery with its 2007 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel and Dutcher Crossing with its expression of the 2007 Maple Vineyard Zinfandel. In contrast, Everett Ridge seemed an old friend—I had just sampled their 2006 Diablita Zin-A the night before at California Wine Merchant; their 2006 Old Vine Zinfandel easily amplified my favorable impression of their wines.
Tony Terlato’s Alderbrook, truly an old familiar, brought a 2007 Old Vine Zinfandel that made a similarly strong impression. Their 2006 Confluence, a Zinfandel/Syrah blend, balanced its components quite gracefully. Other wineries that offered both Zinfandel and contrasting varietal or blend included Amphora, whose excellent 2006 Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley was matched with its 2006 Malbec, a varietal many wineries here find too challenging to tackle. Mounts Family Winery brought its 2007 Mounts Malbec, a striking expression of this wine—a perfect complement to their 2007 Mounts Estate Zinfandel. Moniclaire rose to the challenge with its 2006 Petite Sirah but truly stood out for its 2006 Zinfandel. Given its close identification to Zinfandel, I was surprised that Collier Falls’ 2006 Primitivo presented the only offering of this varietal; in addition, their newly-released 2005 Zinfandel showed signs of incredible promise.
The only winery pouring an alternative white wine with its Zinfandel was Mill Creek with its 2008 Gewürztraminer. Their 2006 Zinfandel-Beacham Downey Vineyard deserved a prize for best name of the afternoon. Kokomo Winery seemed an odd choice for a name until owner Erik Miller explained his allegiance to his Indiana roots, and, certainly, his 2006 Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley showed no sign of Midwest terroir. These days, any place east of the Rockies seems indistinguishable, so I kidded Forchini that their 2006 Papa Nonno, a Super-Tuscan blend, sounded more like a wine from Arkansas (you have to speak Italian to get the joke).
A stop at the Montemaggiore table gave me another chance to practice the familial tongue with owner Vince Ciolino before I sampling his wondrous, organically-grown 2005 Nobile, a Paso Robles-style blend boasting 60% Cabernet Sauvignon to 40% Syrah. Even more the purists, Quivira, one of only two Demeter-certified biodynamic wineries in Dry Creek, could make anyone a convert to this practice; both their 2007 Quivira Grenache Wine Creek Ranch and their 2007 Quivira Mourvèdre Wine Creek Ranch came close to bringing tears to my eyes. 
I reacted as fervidly to the 2006 Mountain Cuvée from Gustafson Family Vineyards; this extraordinary blend combines Zinfandel from their three-acre Heritage Tree block with adjacent lots of Petite Sirah and Syrah. I extolled the incredible wines from Frick when I covered Rhône Rangers earlier this year, but was more than happy to retaste his wizardry with his 2007 Frick Counoise and the 2007 Frick Viognier.
I found the 2008 Viognier from Hawley Winery a tad of the sweet side, but feel confident these young, organic vintners will soon hit stride. On the other hand, the well-seasoned organic winemakers at Michel-Schlumberger showed their considerable talents with a restrained 2008 Viognier and a marvelous 2007 Cabernet Franc their delightful volunteer repeatedly overpoured (if only I could allow myself to taste like a civilian)! Rounding out the afternoon, the renowned Preston of Dry Creek, one of the most prodigious organic wine growers in California, validated themselves with a spicy, complex 2006 Carignane Dry Creek Valley Certified Organic. If only I had saved room to complement with an Angus beef slider!
We headed back to San Francisco after a quick detour to survey Lake Sonoma and its array recreational facilities. Suntanned and sated, there was little left to say about this splendid afternoon gathering except “Dam Good Wine!”

Déjà vu all over again

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Why must Howell Mountain wines be so uniformly good? Granted, this consistent quality bodes well for Sostevinobile and our future patrons, but leaves little leeway for Your West Coast Oenophile to eke out a column that offers a modicum of variation as I endeavor to assay last Monday’s Wines of Distinction Tasting in San Francisco. Granted, I approached this tasting with an established bias, having sampled the majority of these same wines only a few months before, at the Howell Mountain benefit in St. Helena; still, this reevaluation only confirms my belief that this AVA offers a climate and terroir so ideal to viticulture, even Alistair Muller could not help but make a great wine from grapes grown here.
Few, if any, of my readers will readily recognize this oblique reference, which, of course, allows me to digress—the hallmark of this blog—with an anecdote from my earliest days in the wine industry. Back then, Laura and I had befriended neighbors to whom we referred off-handedly as Fred and Ethel. A more bumbling duo could not be conceived. All along we had assumed that she was the more inept of the pair until that weekend when she was “compelled” to attend a company retreat in Honolulu, leaving him to fend for himself. Resourceful nonetheless, he tripped down the road and brought home a package of Ready-to-Eat Ribs, the four easy steps for preparation recounted here verbatim:

1) Preheat oven to 375°.

2) Place ribs in oven. Cook for 10 minutes.

3) Take ribs from oven and remove tin foil wrapping.

4) Cook for 10 more minutes.

Alistair was absolutely flummoxed. After struggling for nearly an hour, he traipsed down the hall to see whether I could decipher the immense complexities of these instructions. “Am I supposed to cook this on the stove?” he queried.
I responded with utter incredulity. “Do you see the word ‘stove’ anywhere there?”
“But it says ‘take ribs from oven, then cook 10 more minutes.’”
“Exactly!”
“So then I put it on the stove…”
“No!” I replied, my agitation mounting. Nonetheless, this conversation continued in this elliptical fashion for the next fifteen minutes, without penetration. “But why does it say ‘take ribs from oven and remove wrapping’?” he asked in complete candor.
Exasperated, I exploded. “It’s for idiots like you who would try to take off the tin foil while the ribs were still in the oven and burn the shit out of their fingers!”
“Are you sure???”
I don’t know whether Alistair ever had dinner that night. These days, I periodically check out the obituaries from the South Bay. Just to make sure he hasn’t accidentally electrocuted himself. With the TV remote. Still, I remain firmly convinced that, even with his lack of basic acumen, even he could churn out a memorable Cabernet from a sloping vineyard on Howell Mountain.
Before I delve into my review of the wines actually poured at last Monday’s gathering, I must commen
d the organizers for how they staged this tasting. Twenty-nine wineries aligned the perimeter of the Bently Reserve lobby—just enough to make visiting each table leisurely within the time allotted. Attendance was moderate, which permitted me to engage each of the wineries in a detailed conversation, even though I had met most earlier this summer at Howell Mountain’s benefit in St. Helena. If only all the events I must cover could be as manageable!

 For no reason other than it allowed me a certain ease with taking notes, I decided to sample each winery in alphabetical order. Nonetheless, my review of the Howell Hountain tasting need not follow the same motif.Were I to continue with classic television allusions, as mentioned above, I would likely cite that Bedrock duo, Fred & Wilma, as my segue into Arkenstone, a name that could easily double as the state from where President William Jefferstone Flinton hails. All jest aside,this organically-farmed winery once again began the afternoon with their rather demure 2006 Arkenstone Sauvignon Blanc, somewhat of a rarity for this AVA, and followed with their still-memorable Cabernet blend, the 2006 Obsidian.

Basta! If I continue in this vein, this entry may never end. And so I will forego any attempts to link Dr. Marc Cohen’s Howell at the Moon with the comic genius of Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows as immortal Ralph and Alice Kramden, leaving their excellent 2005 Howell Mountain Cabernet to stand on its own merits. Like Howell at the Moon, Blue Hall is run by a run by Andrew Zolopa, a physician from Stanford. His reprise of his 2005 Camiana was as memorable as the first time I tasted it—a special bottling of 100% estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon that contributes a portion of its sales to benefit HIV-infected children in Africa.
Idealism of a different sort came from CADE, a sustainably-focused winery applying for LEED Gold Certification. A division of the PlumpJack enterprises, CADE’s 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon reinforced Sostevinobile’s tenet that sound environmental practices and skilled œnology are wholly synergistic (one can only hope that a portion of their profits is not donated to Newsom for Governor, however). With no competing agenda, Neal Family Vineyards poured sequential releases of their Certified organically-grown Cabs, the 2004 Howell Mountain Estate Cabernet Sauvignon being one of the afternoon’s true standout.
One of the more pleasant aspects of this afternoon was not being inundated with an endless selection of wines; most participants brought 2-4 of their vintages, with many offering but a single wine. Still, it was hardly a burden to taste all of Outpost’s six hand-cultivated, organically farmed wines. Standouts in this group were the 2006 Howell Mountain True Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2007 Howell Mountain Zinfandel; as an aside, I could not help but think their 2007 Howell Mountain Grenache would have made the perfect accompaniment to the cherry-glazed Duck Leg I described in my previous posting. Duckhorn Vineyards (note the deft segue) poured an interesting quartet of wines, dating back to their previous ownership. Their more recent pair, the Cabernet/Merlot blend 2005 Howell Mountain Red Wine and the Zinfandel-dominant 2006 Howell Mountain Postmark were clearly their more impressive offerings.
Six other wineries elected only to pour one Cabernet Sauvignon; for each, staking their repute on a single wine proved fortuitous. I very much enjoyed the 2005 Reserve Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon from Spence, as I did the inaugural 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from Roberts + Rogers, despite the absence of owner Bob Matousek. Despite its more recent vintage, the 2006 Howell Mountain Cabernet from Red Cap seemed quite drinkable at this stage, while the 2005 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon Riva di Ponente Vineyard underscored why Cimarossa has become so highly prized among wine cognoscenti. Another mouthful to pronounce came from Napa stalwart Cakebread Cellars, with their 2006 Howell Mountain Cabernet Dancing Bear Ranch; another longtime veteran, Piña Napa Valley, dazzled with their 2006 Howell Mountain Cabernet Buckeye Vineyard.
Interestingly, two wineries were willing to stake their claim based on a wine other than Cabernet. I had previously tasted the 2004 Howell Moun
tain Merlot from W.S. Keyes, but was pleased to revisit it. New to me, however, was Retro Cellars, with their 2006 Old Vine Howell Mountain Petite Sirah, a reserved, almost muted expression of this normally outspoken varietal. Retro’s owners, Randy and Lori Dunn, also presented their eponymous Dunn Vineyards label, showcasing their 2004 Howell Mountain Cabernet while delighting a few privileged attendees with their 1998 bottling of the same, a classic example of this vintage as it mellows through its second decade.
Where there is Cabernet Sauvignon, there is often Cabernet Franc. Clearly excelling with the latter varietal was La Jota, with its wondrous 2004 Cabernet Franc; their 2004 23rd Anniversary Release Cabernet Sauvignon was certainly no slouch, either. White Cottage Ranch brought both Cabs, along with a Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon. Admittedly, the 2005 Howell Mountain Cabernet Franc seemed a tad young, whereas the 2006 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon held greater promise. The rejuvenated Atlas Peak offered a tantalizing preview of its 2008 Cabernet Franc, with another barrel sample, their 2008 Merlot, alongside; their soon-to-be released 2005 Howell Mountain Cabernet showed that it will be a worthy successor to their much-honored 2004 vintage.
I mentioned to Cornerstone Cellars owner Craig Camp I thought his 2005 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon begged to be tasted in 2013—and beyond. Even the 1999 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon he poured held future promise. Cornerstone also makes another 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that assembles grapes from three corners of Napa: Howell Mountain, the western edge of Oakville, next to the Mayacamas Mountains, and the Southeast corner of the Napa Valley, but Camp did not serve this “blend.” In contrast, the amiable Joan and Bill Smith, owners of W. H. Smith, blend the classic Bordeaux mix (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec) from their Piedra Hill Vineyard into both their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Bronze Label and 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Purple Label. Ironically, another couple, Notre Vin’s May-Brit and Denis Malbec, do not bottle or even grow Malbec, reserving their Hughes Vineyard solely for Cabernet Sauvignon, from which they made their 2006 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé and their 2006 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.
Besides Cabernet, the other hallmark of Howell Mountain is its Zinfandel. Wineries that showcased both included D-Cubed, with a truly outstanding 2006 Howell Mountain Zinfandel and an admirable 2005 Bravante Cabernet Sauvignon and Robert Craig, whose 2006 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon shone quite brightly beside both his noteworthy 2006 and 2007 Zinfandels. At Lamborn Family Vineyards, the ubiquitous Heidi Barrett worked her usual magic with both the 2005 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon and the pre-released 2007 Howell Mountain Zinfandel. Summit Lake also brought two Zins to accompany their 2006 Emily Kestrel Howell Mountain Cabernet; of the three wines, I can only say that the 2002 Clair Riley’s Pirate Reserve Zinfandel struck me as memorable.
I was, admittedly, underwhelmed by the Sauvignon Blanc Ladera Vineyards poured, but the outstanding 2005 Ladera Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon readily dispelled any doubts about this winery’s efforts. On par with this wine was la crème de la crème of Cimarossa, Tor Kenward’s 2005 Howell Mountain Cimarossa Cabernet Sauvignon (the 2006 bottling was still too premature to tell if it will rival the magnitude of its preceding vintage). And, of course, the true joy tastings like this is discovering that rare gem you might not have the opportunity to experience elsewhere, like Diamond Terrace’s 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain—a scant 190-case offering from owners Hal and Maureen Taylor’s Eagle Summit Vineyard. That they also slipped in a taste from their more prolific (235 cases!) 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain District was a perfect coda to the afternoon.
In going over my previous column on the wines of Howell Mountain, I realize this entry may be a bit, to paraphrase that famous icon of 1950s baseball and telev
ision, Yogi Berra, “déjà vu all over again.” Pour me a generous glass of Howell Mountain Cab, and I can live with that criticism.

Hinduism had damn well better be wrong!

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This isn’t part of my incessant rant against those infuriating outsourced call centers whose mangling of even the most basic tenets of conversational English (“how might I best facilitate the rectification of your importuned perturbance most congruently Mr. Marc?”) manages to elicit threats annihilating Bangalore from this foresworn pacifist. Rather, I speak of their—one would certainly hope—erroneous concept of reincarnation, where even a minor malfeasance could condemn a poor soul to enduring a subsequent lifecycle as an aardvark or some scatophagous species like a housefly.
If there really is reincarnation, I want to come back as Jamaican or a Caribbean Islander. Not because I find the accent so appealing. Nor is it necessarily the allure of a tropical climate or the island cuisine that is primarily focused on fresh fruit and seafood. And rest assured, Your West Coast Oenophile is not secretly harboring a desire to switch from wine to rum. Or ganja. No, in my next life, I simply want to be a professional steel drum player.
Wafts of reggae fusion filled the lawn at the Oakland Ferry terminal Saturday afternoon as the East Bay Vintners Alliance staged their fourth annual Urban Wine Experience. For a moment, it almost seemed that UB40 was entertaining the crowd, but the sound belonged entirely to Bay Area Caribbean stars Pan Extasy, with their star percussionist, Ashton Craig. To call Craig a virtuoso on the steel drum is an understatement—his tantalizing arrangements of The Temptations’ Just My Imagination and Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl to reggae standards like No Woman, No Cry and I Can See Clearly Now provided the perfect backdrop to these sun-drenched festivities.
I was in attendance on behalf of Sostevinobile and, of course, to taste the wines that an eclectic collection of 16 East Bay vintners exhibited. The organizers of this event smartly paired each of the wineries with an individual food purveyor from the East Bay, as well, and I would be remiss in not recognizing the contributions of Adagia Restaurant, Angela’s Bistro, Asena Restaurant, Bellanico, Bucci, C’era Una Volta (a return visit from June’s Golden Glass), Culina, E-22 Café, Fabrique Délices, Levende East, the resurrected Miss Pearl’s Jam House, Pappo, Savory Cook Special Event Catering, Whole Foods, and—truly the last word in culinary circles—Zza’s Trattoria, Enoteca & Catering. As readers might expect, the abundance of Italian cuisine was hardly a disappointment. Various duck dishes seemed to abound, as well; a portent of which may well have been the huge gaggle of 60+ waterfowl I espied as I drove into Oakland, huddled together on nearby Coast Guard Island as if in complete trepidation of what lay ahead down the road.
As I had at P.S. I Love You, I started the tasting with Rock Wall, eager to sample what they were producing beyond Petite Sirah. Though young, I found their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley showed great promise. Standout for me, though, was their 2007 Zinfandel Sonoma County, which I felt exceeded the Reserve version they were also pouring. Over at the next table, parent winery Rosenblum Cellars filled in for the regrettably absent Stage Left Cellars. Frankly, if they would always pour their 2007 Rockpile Zinfandel, I’d be happy to let them substitute for any winery they wished!
Rosenblum also poured their 2007 Fess Parker Roussanne. I generally find Roussanne preferable to Marsanne, except in the case of Alameda’s groundbreaking winery, where the latter varietal has always outshone the former (this afternoon proved no exception). Ironically, Rosenblum’s former winemaker, Jeff Cohn’s JC Cellars poured their 2007 Preston Vineyards Marsanne, alongside an excellent catfish entrée from Miss Pearl’s Jam House; I found it slightly wanting compared to his previous efforts, but satisfying nonetheless. Better exemplifying his skills was the 2007 Smoke & Mirrors, a Syrah balanced out 9% Petite Sirah and 6% Zinfandel. Quite a satisfying wine! At the next table, Rob Lynch’s Irish Monkey can best be described as a quixotic operation with some notable offerings. Their chilled 2008 Chardonnay Davis was most welcome in the 85°F heat, while their 2006 Syrah Lovall Valley was noteworthy in it own right. As instructed, I washed down C’era Una Volta’s creamy polenta plate with the 2006 Sangiovese Amador—indeed, it was splendid.
Valdiguié is not the most complex varietal, despite its tongue-twisting morphology; still, it readily adapts to a blush expression (again, quite welcome on a sweltering afternoon). I chilled down with Urbano Cellars’ version, their 2008 Vin Rosé, Green Valley and also found myself grateful for their 2006 Petit Verdot, Lodi. Unfortunately, their next door neighbor, Urban Legend, had promised to bring a tantalizing selection of Sangiovese, Teroldego, and Nebbiolo, but only mustered a premature sample of their unreleased Barbera. Allora!
A number of familiar faces were pouring this afternoon. Oakland standout Dashe Cellars brought an exceptional 2007 Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley and 2008 Vin Gris, Dry Creek Valley (a blend of 40% Grenache, 30% Zinfandel and 30% Petite Sirah) to match. I also enjoyed their 2007 Dry Riesling, McFadden Farms Potter Valley. French-affiliated Aubin Cellars offered a fetching pair of Pinots from their Verve Label, the 2007 Pinot Noir Monterey Old Vines and the 2006 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast—I forget which I preferred!
Even if Eno Wines was substandard, it would still be a pleasure to see Sasha Verhage and his wife Kiara. Nonetheless, their 2006 Yes Dear (Grenache, Eaglepoint Ranch), 2006 Acre of Happiness (Zinfandel, Teldeschi) and 2006 In Your Own Time (Syrah, Las Madres) all stood out as exemplary. I’ve also long enjoyed the wines from R & B Cellars, though I had yet to make the acquaintance of Kevin Brown before this afternoon. Ironically, none of their musically-themed labels (Swingville, Zydeco, Serenade) echoed the diverse selection (socca, reggae, calypso, Caribbean Jazz) that Pan Extasy included in its repertoire, which may account for why I was extremely partial to his 2004 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and am eagerly awaiting the 2005 version.
This penchant for quaint names extended to Prospect 772, perhaps my favorite discovery of the afternoon. Along with some intriguing offerings from Bucci’s in Emeryville, including a shaved fennel cold dish, I reveled in their 2008 Baby Doll Dry Rosé, the self-styled pugnacious 2006 The Brawler (a Syrah tempered with 4% Viognier) and their standout 2006 The Brat (a 80% Grenache/20% Syrah blend). Another newcomer, Andrew Lane, blended Syrah, Zinfandel and Valdiguié to make their 2007 Andrew Lane Rosso Napa Valley. More distinctive, however, was their 2005 Andrew Lane Merlot and their multi-vintage Gamay Noir Four Vineyards Napa Valley.
On the food side of things, the Urban Wine Experience began with a Duck Paté and finished with a Duck Confit. This latter concoction paired up admirably with the 2005 Troubadour Paso Robles, an equal blend of Grenache and Petite Syrah from Tayerle. Though not listed on the program, they also poured their just-released 2006 Sun King, a Bordeaux-style red blended from Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Of course, I managed to save some room for dessert, which consisted of pure liquid delight in the form of Mango Wine and Persimmon Wine from Adams Point.
On my way out, I held the iPhone up to Pan Extasy’s bandstand, so the Ginkgo Girl could hear a portion of what she had missed. It would be a shame if she misses any more of these gatherings. Nicely tanned and filled with both good wine and good duck, I strolled through Jack London Square and quiet soberly made my way back to San Francisco (after all, it would have been a shame to meet my end after such an enjoyable afternoon).
I still sometimes think the world is merely a figment of my imagination and therefore feel compelled to remain alive forever. But if I do go and reappear, I had better not downgrade to mallard the next time around. Human (or better) is a must, and if I am not gifted with an uncanny ear for melody, an intuitive sense of rhythm, and agile hands that can hammer out an intoxicating Calypso melody across the gleaming metal surface of a kettle drum, then at least let me come back as tall as fellow locavore pioneer and Caribbean rum authority Thad Vogler!

Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.

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Someday, someone (not Your West Coast Oenophile) should open a winery primarily focused on Petite Sirah and call it Schnozzola Vineyards. Or, to be a little less obscurant, Durante Cellars. The connection? Whenever I hold up a truly wondrous glass of this underappreciated varietal, its lush, ebony tincture devoid even of a hint of pellucidity, I find myself quietly humming strains of Inka Dinka Doo, the signature song of this beloved, malapropistic Italian comedian.

OK, so even if a wine could be characterized as having a big nose, I’m not sure it’s an epithet I’d readily employ. Unquestionably, however, I would characterize Petite Sirah as a big wine. Bold and forthright, with a flavor that can hold its own against a Filet Mignon or venison. Not to mention Pasta al Sugo di Salcisse. Or exquisitely-rendered Ostrich medallions. Suffice it to say that Petite Sirah can easily be matched to any entrée that pairs with Zinfandel; Zins may express a great range of complexity, but, in general, Petite Sirahs will hold their own over a longer duration.

Last Tuesday, I ventured out to Livermore to taste a smorgasbord of these wines as part of the Seventh Annual Petite Symposium but on by the varietal’s principal advocacy, P.S. I Love You. Fittingly, this gathering was held at Concannon Vineyards, which holds claim to the first varietally-labeled release of Petite Sirah in California. I should have known this, of course, but flubbed my response when queried on the matter by Jim Concannon, an embarrassing moment not unlike the exchange from Cheech & Chong’s Let’s Make a Dope Deal (our first question: what is your name, Bob?).

Fortunately for me, none of the wineries pouring their fare managed such an egregious faux pas. I started off at Rock Wall’s station. This new wine venture is fondly known as Rosenblum—The Next Generation, and with her 2007 Rock Wall Petite Sirah Mendocino County, daughter Shauna manifests her heredity quite ably. Next table over Rosenblum père held his own, as expected, with a trio of wines, the most notable being his 2005 Kick Ranch Petite Sirah. At the next stop, I discovered Nord Estate Vineya
rds, where owner Julie Nord poured generous samples of her 2004 Napa Valley Petite Sirah Jonquil Vineyards.
Clarksburg is a small town in Yolo County and an AVA that encompasses parts of neighboring Sacramento and Solano Counties, as well. The 2004 Heringer Estate Petite Sirah was a fine example of what this region is capable of producing. Clarkburg’s most prominent winery, Bogle Vineyards, showcased three versions of their Petite Sirah, the 2007 Petite Sirah, the more striking 2006 Petite Sirah Reserve from Quick Ranch and a compelling 2006 Petite Sirah Port selected from the same vineyard. Actually, there were quite a number of different regions represented, despite the relatively small size of this tasting, including a selection of four distinctive Petites from host Concannon of the Livermore Valley, highlighted by their 2005 Captain Joe’s Petite Sirah, Livermore Valley.

Several Sierra wineries showed why Petite Sirah readily adapts to this cold climate. Fiddleton’s Cal-Italia specialist, Il Gioiello, featured their 2005 Estate Petite Sirah from Amador County (Sierra Foothills). From Nevada City, the ebullient Alex Szabo brought his 2006 Szabo Vineyards Petite Syrah Block 1. And Oakstone Winery’s Steve Ryan showcased his 2007 Petite Sirah Jeoff and Katy Vineyard from Fair Play. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Edwards Cellars from Ramona (San Diego County) showed a respectable 2004 Petite Sirah Ramona Valley from this notably warmer region. Mediating between these two extremes, the Central Coast’s Vina Robles pour their 2007 Petite Syrah, Jardine.

The permutations of how different wineries spell this varietal certainly argues for standardizing it as Durif, its other nomenclature, in honor of French nurseryman Dr. François Durif, who cloned this varietal by pollinating Peloursin with Syrah. As this debate continues within the wine world, it seemed in arguable that the 2006 Artezin Garzini Ranch Petite Sirah Mendocino County from Hess Collection was as big as its name. Nearby in Lake County, Langtry Estate, the umbrella operation to Guenoc, featured both their 2006 Guenoc Petite Sirah Lake County and a very sumptuous 2005 Langtry Petite Sirah Serpentine Meadow, a fitting tribute to winemaker Maria Navarro’s craft. Nearby in Cloverdale, winemaker Miroslav Tcholakov displayed both the 2004 La Storia Petite Sirah from Trentadue and the award-winning 2006 Miro Cellars Petite Sirah, his own label. Also from Sonoma County, Fortress Vineyards debuted their 2007 Petite Sirah Red Hills Lake County.
 is a plaudit longtime readers of this blog know that I dispense rather sparingly. today’s entry will be no exception. Still in keeping with my Durante motif, I must bestow an Ha-cha-cha-cha-cha on the 2007 Silkwood Petite Sirah from Monnich Family; this multi-award winning wine was every bit as velvety as the texture of its distinctive label. Another gold medal winner from the Central Valley was the 2006 Petite Sirah from Maley Brothers of Woodbridge.

Of course, it seems only logical that Petite Sirah should have had its greatest representation from Napa County. The inveterate Stags’ Leap proffered their 2006 Napa Valley Petite Syrah. Single Varietal producer Fulton Mather increased the tally with his 2005 David Fulton Winery, Estate Petite Sirah. And, from among the multifarious labels produced by RDJ Artisan Wines, the 2007 Seven Artisans Petite Sirah from Clayton Road Ranches (Suisun Valley) placed a wonderful coda to the afternoon.

While I appreciated the intimacy of this tasting, I do need to admonish P.S. I Love You for not providing a program that detailed the wineries on hand and the individual wines they poured. Expecting to find such a guide in the press kit, I was initially at a loss for composing this entry until I corresponded with each of the attendees.Not only did nearly everyone e-mail back immediately back with their particulars, it was extremely gratifying to see how the wineries expressed such tremendous enthusiasm for Sostevinobile and for having their wines included in our program. As the irrepressible Jimmy Durante so often said, “Everybody wants to get into the act!”

TAPAS: taking off where ZAP began

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I like to create my own anagrams. Back when Your West Coast Oenophile contemplated becoming a children’s doctor, I devised POPPA, which stood for Pediatricians Opposed to Prophylactics, the Pill, and Abortion, a self-aggrandizing scheme aimed at providing an endless stream of new patients for my future practice. Later, while working at Tetris™ distributor Spectrum HoloByte, I came up with the quintessential Pranksters Hired to Undermine (Your) Competitors’ Quality and Usurp (Their) Prominence and Profitability, otherwise know as PHUCQ UPP. Of course, I am always happy to give due credit to others who can hold their own in this arena, and, as Randall Grahm aptly noted in his off-the-cuff discourse, the contrivance to come up with Tempranillo Advocates Producers and Amigos Society in order to educe TAPAS was sheer mastery.
Maybe because I decided to forgo the quintennial gathering of my own amigos from our days of sequestration back in Lakeville, Connecticut, I decided to attend the trade seminar on Spanish varietals, prior to the 2nd Annual TAPAS Grand Tasting at Fort Mason on Sunday. My friend Markus Bokisch broadly elucidated the history and transformation of Albariño vinification quite ably, not terribly surprising once you’ve tasted his own deft manipulation of this varietal. Similarly, Penelope Gadd-Coster navigated aficionados through an overview on Tempranillo that was highly enjoyable and never didactic.
Onward we went, from the seminar in Building D to the quaint antechamber in Building A, known as the Golden Gate Room. Hard to believe this nowadays, but it was in this very same room that the gargantuan ZAP Grand Tasting, which now occupies two entire piers, first took place. A good omen for TAPAS, to be sure, and a much easier venue to reach than the late, great Copia, where their inaugural tasting was held.
This year’s gathering included 36 member wineries from California and Oregon, plus one lone representative from Arizona. In other words, just about the right density to remain manageable for one afternoon. My simple plan of attack meant rounds of seven wineries at a time, interspersed with a recharge of the incredible paella the chefs from Marco Paella were generously doling out from the back of the room. Maybe because of their alphabetically primacy, I first turned my attention to Oregon’s Abacela, a winery owned by TAPAS president Earl Jones. Standout among their pourings was a 2005 Tempranillo, Reserve, Southern Oregon, and I reserved some space for a revisit near the end of the afternoon with their 2006 Port, Southern Oregon, whose memory from last year’s tasting still lingered. A nearby swing brought me to Plymouth’s Bray Vineyards, whose noteworthy 2008 Verdelho preceded a taste of their striking 2006 Vinho Tinto, a blend of 5 Portuguese varietals: Tinta Cão, Touriga Nacional, Souzão, Tinta Roriz, and Alvarelhão (my spellcheck hasn’t a clue about any of these)! Bodega del Sur from Pacifica(!) similarly offered their 2007 Carmesi, an intriguing blend that spanned multiple viticultural designations, combining Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah. Then again, compare these wines with Boeger Winery’s 2005 Milagro, a decidedly more Spanish-leaning mélange of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Graciano.
Graciano, of course, has long been my favorite offering from Bokisch Vineyards, though I found myself more partial this time to their 2007 Garnacha, Lodi. Another paragon of this varietal was the 2007 Garnacha, Denner Vineyards, Paso Robles from Villa Creek Cellars, whose equally delightful 2007 Mas de Maha, Paso Robles combines Tempranillo with Garnacha and Mourvèdre. I am used to referring to Garnacha by its Rhône designation, Grenache, and I often flip between Mataro and Mourvèdre; calling this latter varietal Monastrell, as does Paso Robles’ Viña Castellano was unfamiliar to me. Nonetheless, this house produces a fine bottling of such but truly stood out for both its 2004 Tempranillo and 2005 Tempranillo. Viña Robles is of course, another neighbor taking liberal advantage of Paso Robles’s abundance of Rhône varietals, using Petite Sirah, Syrah, and Tannat to add to Touriga to make their 2007 Red Blend.
Maybe someday Bonny Doon will swap me a couple of cases of their finest (would that they still made grappa!) in exchange for my insights into Web design. A striking visual site, but a Web presence is supposed to be all about rapid access to information. To be fair, almost every design house I know is as self-indulgent with their own site; still, Randall, who needs hallucinogenic graphics when your 2007 Angel Paille already fits the bill? The good folks at St. Amant Winery offered their version of a post-prandial wine with their 2006 Vintage Port, Amador County, while St. Helena’s Tesouro Port Cellars blended Touriga, Tempranillo, Alvarelhão, Souzão and Tinta Cão to make their 2005 California Dessert Wine, a deceptively generic name for such an intriguing wine. Further north, in Jacksonville, Oregon, Valley View Winery topped the alcohol charts with their 2007 “Anna Marie” Port, Rogue Valley.
Though currently Sostevinobile does not plan to include Arizona in its mix, the Grand Canyon State was ably represented by Callaghan Vineyards, whose 2007 Padres accentuated its 58% Tempranillo with both Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Iberian wine houses permeated in a number of atypical locales, like Livermore’s Fenestra Winery, which finds its strength in Portuguese varietals, including its 2006 Alvarelhão and 2006 Touriga. Also from Livermore, Murrieta’s Well blends their 2007 Zarzuela with Touriga Nacional, Tempranillo, Souzão and Touriga Francesca. Closer to San Francisco Bay, Danville’s Odisea Wine Company offers blends of epic proportion, my favorite being their 2007 Two Rows Garnacha, a duet of Grenache and Tempranillo. Poised at the Bay’s edge, El Cerrito’s Tejada Vineyards offered similar fare with their 2005 Tempranillo & Garnacha Blend, as well as a noteworthy 2006 Tempranillo, Reserve. Quaint Murphys in the Gold Country lays claim to Hovey Wine, with its standout 2007 Rolleri Cuvée Tempranillo, Calaveras County; the urban confines of the City and County of San Francisco, meanwhile, is home to James Judd & Son’s 2006 Tempranillo. Circling back to Jacksonville, Red Lily Vineyards offered one of the day’s standout wines, their 2005 Tempranillo, Rogue Valley.
Anomalies (at least as far as I am concerned) in nomenclature also abounded, to a degree. The parlance of business school should have nothing to do with the soaring, elegiac beauty of viticulture; still, the 2006 Tempranillo, Lake County from Six Sigma Winery represents a commendable undertaking. I kidded the proprietors of Irish Family Vineyards that their label seemed as much an oxymoron as Pasquale’s Corned Beef & Cabbage, but their 2006 Grenache and 2007 Touriga Nacional warrant no ribbing.
Providing their own laughs, of course, was the ever-outré Twisted Oak, with a quartet of nonetheless highly respectable wines, including a 2008 Verdelho from Lodi’s highly regarded Silvaspoons Vineyards. Another familiar face was Constellation’s Clos du Bois, valiantly striving to maintain an individual identity with its 2005 Tempranillo, Alexander Valley, Sonoma Reserve. This blog has also given considerable plaudits in the past to Quinta Cruz, a pre-eminent Iberian wine producer, whose 2006 Touriga combines both Touriga Nacional and Touriga Francesca.
A number of wineries came out with commendable Rosés (Rosado). After Penelope Gadd-Coster’s morning presentation, many folks flocked to the Coral Mustang display to try her 2006 Tempranillo Rosé. Solvang’s D’Alfonso-Curran dazzled with their 2007 Grenache Gris. Trenza/Tangent Wineries offered a 2008 Trenza Rosado, an uncommon Spanish-style rosé from the familiar Rhône the GMS blend. Verdad Wine Cellars, the Spanish division of Rhône-style pioneer Qupé, blended 90% Garnacha with Tempranillo to make its bone-dry 2008 Rosé.
Truth (verdad) was clearly expressed in the 100% Tempranillos from a pair of Napa wineries. Truchard Vineyards offered a vertical from 2000-2005, the standout being their current 2005 Tempranillo. Striking, too, was the 2007 Tempranillo, Shake Ridge Vineyards, Amador County from Yorba Wines. Less orthodox were the predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon blends with Tempranillo from Parador Cellars, although their 2006 Tempranillo Reserva Rancho Chiles was delightful.
Lacking a clever segue, I can only list the remaining presenters without the benefit of thematic continuity. Barreto Cellars proved strongest in their Portuguese offerings, particularly their 2005 Touriga, Lodi. From the next vintage, Pierce Ranch Vineyards shone with their 2006 Touriga . The wonderfully-labeled Dancing Coyote dueling whites from each country, with a slight edge going to the 2007 Verdelho, Clarksburg over the 2007 Albariño, Clarksburg. Premier grape grower Ron Silva, bottling as Alta Mesa Cellars from his own Silvaspoons Vineyards, truly excelled with his 2008 Alta Mesa Cellars Verdelho, Lodi. 
The standout producer for the afternoon also crushed Silvaspoons grapes. Matt Rorick’s whimsically named Forlorn Hope Wines dazzled with four wines. The 2008 La Gitana was one of only two Torrontés at TAPAS. The 2008 Suspiro Del Moro was, I believe, the only single-varietal Alvarelhão. A third white was his Verdelho, the 2007 Que Saudade. Lastly, he blended Touriga, Tempranillo, Tinta Cão and Tinta Amarela to make his superb 2006 Mil Amores.
It will take perhaps not mil amores but definitely mil amigos to continue sustaining TAPAS. With my strong predilection toward Italian varietals, I have watched the rise and subsequent retreat of these varietals on the West Coast, as well as the dissolution of their trade association, Consorzio Cal-Italia after its promising beginnings. Despite these vicissitudes, including Antinori’s lamentable decision to uproot the Sangiovese vines from its reacquired Atlas Peak, I see inklings of a resurgence in Italian varietals here on the West Coast and, one would hope, a restoration of the Consorzio on par with Rhône Rangers and other specialized advocacies.
I wonder whether Spanish and Portuguese varietals will need to endure a similar oscillation before truly taking hold here. Like Sangiovese and Viognier, I suppose it will take a few tries before vintners truly grasp the full nuance of Tempranillo and its compadres. And, of course, there is still the issue of acceptance from a public that has scant familiarity with these wines. Most people still associate Spanish wine with Sangria and, unfortunately, the taint of Mateus and Lancers still clouds perception of Portugal’s offerings. As always, though, I wish TAPAS all the best with their mission and look forward to the day they, too, move out of Building A and occupy the piers of Fort Mason, just like ZAP (okay, maybe just one pier—there isn’t a paella pan large enough to accommodate both exhibit halls)!

All aboard!

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Sometimes public wine tastings are all about the wine. Sometimes it’s the event itself that takes center stage. This past month, Your West Coast Oenophile has attended two tastings put on by the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association (SCMWA); both gatherings proved to be impeccable.
I waxed rather eloquently in a previous posting about their trade tasting at Trevese in Los Gatos. My most recent encounter was for their annual Wine with Heart benefit, held for the second time at Roaring Camp in Felton. The afternoon could not have been more pleasant.
I suspect I am not alone in having climbed Highway 17 from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz innumerable times since the late 1970s without ever veering off near the summit and discovering a vibrant community nestled in the hills. Perhaps this semi-clandestine location is what has allowed Felton to retain its quaint charm. In any case, Roaring Camp features a recreation of a turn-of-the-century whistle stop and still operates a Southern Pacific rail line that runs to the boardwalk far below. 
Many wineries gave both time and tastings quite generously to this event; their contribution to the medical research this event helps sustain is quite laudable. But, like a good Lothario, I compulsively seek out that which I have yet to conquer. Ahlgren Vineyards started me off with a stark contrast the understated 2005 Ahlgren Sémillon and a boisterous 2004 Ahlgren Cabernet Franc. From Campbell, Pinder Winery (not to be confused with Pindar, a meretricious Boeotian lyricist from the 5th century BCE, as well as a modern-day Long Island winery) displayed their Rhône-style virtuosity with their 2006 Viognier and 2004 Mourvèdre Contra Costa. Aptos Creek Vineyard, a decidedly boutique affair, offered a 2004 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz County that made one wish it were not such a rarity. The same could be said for the 2007 Chardonnay from Bruzzone Family Vineyards. A third micro-producer, formerly known as Dragonfly Cellars but transitioning to their taxonomic equivalent, Odonata Wines, sampled the remainder of their 65-case special 2006 Durif. 
Keeping things local, Hunter Hill Vineyards resonated with a 2005 Estate Syrah Santa Cruz Mountains and a 2005 Estate Merlot Santa Cruz Mountains. Fernwood this afternoon (not to be confused with Fernwood 2Night (nonetheless made mirth with their 2006 Central Coast Petite Sirah and 2006 Il Cane Sangiovese. Not to be outdone in the pun department, Burrell School brought a wide selection of their academically-themed wines, the standout being their aptly-named “Spring Break,” the 2005 Syrah Estate Pichon Vineyard. Handcrafted Pinot Nor from Clos Títa included their eminent 2005 Pinot Noir Cuvée, Santa Cruz Mountains. In keeping with the Santa Cruz aura, two organic wineries were showcased: Silver Mountain Vineyards with their 2003 Alloy (a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Merlot) and Zayante Vineyards, whose 2007 Santa Cruz Mountain Estate Clos du Z combines Grenache, Petite Sirah, and Syrah.
. This highly-coveted designation has to be resuscitated for the amazing 1997 Blanc de Blanc Méthode Champenoise Sparkling Chardonnay from Equinox . A one-man sparkling operation, this 100 percent Chardonnay spent nine years en triage, and was bottled with no dosage. If only he had brought his 2006 Bartolo Fiano as well!
But regrets were not to be had on this gloriously sunny afternoon. After the tasting portion had closed down, guests were treated to a ride on Roaring Camp’s Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific Railway halfway down the mountain toward Santa Cruz. It reminded me of the train ride Dr. Zhivago and his family took from Moscow to Yuriatin. Only it was warm here. And the train cars were open-air. And these were not the Urals. And I don’t recall wine freely flowing in the movie. Several of the wineries brought their leftover bottles along, and generous glasses from Naumann Vineyards, Byington , Cooper-Garrod Estate and Bonny Doon kept everyone well-oiled for the ensuing 1½-hour trek.
Of course, all good things must come to an end. Back at the camp, the Ginkgo Girl and I took in the lingering rays of sunshine before heading back to San Francisco. Even she had to agree, it had been a most splendid afternoon.

What kind of wine goes best with apostacy?

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I would never think of serving venison for Christmas. A rabbit repast for Easter is, however, an indulgent heresy. Years ago, I tried adapting a Paul Prudhomme recipe for Cajun-style Coniglio Tetrazzini as the overture the post-prandial delectations of a young denizen of New Orleans who was summering in Santa Cruz, but, alas, she never did show for dinner,—or the follow-through breakfast I had so elaborately planned-and I was left to slough through reheated leftovers for the next four days.

Twenty-five or so years later, I decided to reprise my culinary fête for The Ginkgo Girl. Lacking my original recipe, I improvised, kneaded a batch of Red Pepper/Paprika dough instead of the Cilantro Fettuccine I had made the previous time, and cranked it through the spaghetti cutter on my well-worn Atlas Pasta Maker. Fresh spring vegetables (bell peppers, snap peas, button mushrooms) and butter were readily acquired on AT&T Coupon Night at Rainbow Grocery, but an exhaustive search found only Little City Meat Market stocked fresh rabbit for the coming Saturday.

Sunday morning, I set to task, first rolling out the noodles, then boiling and cooling them down as I prepared the sherry-cream base. In the middle of my preparations, I realized, much to my chagrin, that—horrors!—none of the wine we had on hand would complement the myriad flavors of my elaborate concoction.

Because it was Sunday, and a sacrosanct holiday to boot, I soon became aware that my options were quite limited. The Wine Club was closed; groceries, if open, were limited, at best; and all of my preferred wine shops were closed. Reluctantly, I settled for my last available recourse: BevMo.

Now, this isn’t to say that Calizona’s leading beverage chain does not offer a very nice selection of some very nice wines. One certainly can find a wealth of highly serviceable vintages in the $15-20 range that more than adequately address the need for an everyday wine. And their selection of higher-end wines is far from pedestrian. But a store like BevMo, quite understandably, leans toward predictably safe choices. There are rows upon rows of Cabernet, of Zinfandel, of Pinot, of Merlot, and of Chardonnay. They is an abundance of Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah, dollops of Roussanne and Marsanne, a smattering of Pinot Gris and Viognier, and an homage to Petite Sirah and an array of blends, both red and white. But none of these quite fit the menu.

The more traditional Chicken Tetrazzini could have withstood a strong white, perhaps a heavily-oaked Chardonnay that trend-seeking wine enthusiasts often deride. The peppers and spices that infused my rabbit/pasta mélange demanded something red, but on the lighter side. Don’t even think Valdiguié! Perhaps the charms of a California Dolcetto or the rare subtlety of a local Aleatico might have served my purpose, but the tiny tiers of the Other Reds rack offered only an array of GMS blends, a couple of
Petit Verdot and a lone bottle of Carignane. If memory serves true, there may have also been some $9 Sangiovese and a rather unassuming Barbera, but my quest for a well-paired varietal was not to be satisfied. Loathe as I am to admit it, Your West Coast Oenophile was stumped; eschewing the anathema of scouring the Imports aisle, I settled on a 2006 Cambria Pinot Noir (Julia’s Vineyard) and returned to the stove.

My fanatically Catholic mother would readily attribute my shortfall to the heterodoxy of my religious tenets—a divine retribution against my culinary foray. Who knows? I am not about to give her the satisfaction of acceding to her strictures. Next year, I intend to select the wine first and devise a recipe around it.

Best to Drink from Years 7DD to 7E5; San Jose Mercury News Rating: 5E pts.

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That’s Silicon Valley parlance for “drink between 2013 and 2021” and a “95 point rating.”** These hexadecimal assessments may even be modest for Ridge Winery’s 7D5—I mean, 2005 Monte Bello. As I mentioned to my hosts last Sunday, at Ridge’s First Assemblage tasting for the 2008 Monte Bello, I have yet to taste such a complex 2005 Cabernet (70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc), so much so that it demands being set down for at least 15 years. Winemaker Eric Baugher insists that the current vintage, an uncharacteristic blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot portends to become one of their benchmark releases, superior, in fact, to the 1971 Monte Bello that placed first in the 2006 reenactment of the Judgment of Paris.


Your West Coast Oenophile tends to be a bit of an agnostic when it comes to Ridge. I have always held them in exalted esteem not so much for their single vineyard Zinfandels but for the “off-varietal” selections they produce intermittently: Mataro (Mourvèdre), Carignane, and Grenache, as well as single varietals and blends with Syrah and Petite Sirah. But the real virtue of the winery comes out on a crystal-clear day like Sunday, where panoramic views from some 2200′ up make Silicon Valley look like a vast Legoland below—a realized metaphor, as some might say.

Ridge is not the only winery on Black Mountain. As you approach the hairpin turns en route to the summit, you first encounter Picchetti, a winery and preserve that is all too frequently overlooked by Ridge pilgrims, much in the way the more demure Jan Smithers got overlooked for the amply-endowed Loni Anderson on WKRP in Cincinnati. If you somehow manage to miss Ridge, you’ll encounter the rarely-accessible Fellom Ranch Winery. Almost as far up the mountain, on the side of Montebello Road overlooking the valley, Don Naumann operates his eponymous Naumann Vineyards from the aerie he built just below Ridge’s original operations. Like Fellom Ranch, it is only open on select weekends and by appointments. 

Last Sunday, Naumann held a couple of private tastings and put out their sandwich boards to direct visitors to their deck. Having never had the opportunity to visit this winery, I took my chances and veered off to the side on my way back from the Assemblage tasting. I would hazard to guess that few, if any, would-be burglars would set their sites on a home 16 miles up an inexorable series of hairpin turns, so it’s a fairly safe assumption that a stranger traipsing across your back porch at 5 PM is likely there to try your wines. Even though Don had already closed up for the day, he happily brought out two glasses and two bottlings each of his Chardonnay and his Merlot. The latter, which he grows on his two Montebello properties, quite clearly constitutes his pet project and his passion show in the wine. The 2004 Estate Merlot was an honest, fruit-forward expression of the varietal, easily drinkable now and a wonderful complement to a lighter cut of beef or a red meat medallion (think ostrich)! In contrast, the 2005 Estate Merlot is a wine waiting to happen, not quite the two decades before the Monte Bello will reach maturity, but easily three-five years away from hitting full stride.

Don and I must have spent close to an hour sitting on his porch, over looking the expanse of Santa Clara County, discussing winemaking, viticulture and my plans for Sostevinobile. He could not have been more hospitable. Recently, the Ginkgo Girl and I rented Bottle Shock, a somewhat apocryphal version of the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting. I recall Bill Pullman’s Jim Barrett telling Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) how people in the Napa Valley were different and genuinely bonded together as a community. Jim Warren of Freemark Abbey always used to tell me, “It isn’t just the wine. It’s the lifestyle we have here.” I wish I had understood that better while he was still alive. The same could be said for the beauty and tranquility along Montebello Road and the people who inhabit it.

There is a pre-fab, monlithic conformity to much of Silicon Valley that seems, apart from the form & functional design of the Apple product line, almost impervious to a sense of aesthetics. Fortunately, this rigid orthodoxy has not made it up the way of the Valley’s western slopes. The people who operate the nearby Lehigh-Hanson Cement Quarry have ambitions to expand their operations significantly, a move that would have significant environmental repercussions throughout the nearby region, including the vineyards on Black Mountain. To counter this proposed devastation, please visit and endorse Quarry No!

**The hexadecimal conversions were hard enough to derive. Please d
on’t even think to ask for them in binary!

Now give me a red envelope!

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I hope all my readers will join me today in wishing a heartfelt 恭喜发财 (Gung Hay Fat Choy) to my beloved Ginkgo Girl! She knows I could never have accomplished any of this without her.
I wish I could be so unabashed in all my praise. But my most recent foray in wine tasting leaves me feeling a bit tepid. Before I assay the wines I tasted from the San Francisco Wine Society, let me first note my great admiration for Crushpad and the many splendid, up & coming wineries that have incubated in their Potrero Hill facility. A Donkey and Goat, (who blew away everyone at Rhône Rangers a few years back with their unreleased 2000 Syrah) Eno, VIE, San Sakana are but a few of the burgeoning wine producers who initially honed their skills at Crushpad’s custom crush facility, then moved onto their own operations. even as boutique operations, these wineries either bought or contracted their own vineyards, supplied (or functioned as) their own winemaker and diligently crafted their product as distinctive expressions of the oenological arts.
Now, however, many of winemaking aspirants subscribe to Crushpad’s systematic program, buying pre-designated grapes and relying on in-house technicians to develop their wine. Which is fine for the occasional hobbyist who simply wants to bottle a few cases to serve to his friends or custom bottle a wine exclusively for Joe & Bob’s commitment ceremony or for Aunt Martha’s 90th birthday, but seems to me to be somewhat disingenuous when bottling wine for commercial sale.
Don’t get me wrong—many of the wines the members of SFWS produce are indeed noteworthy. Jazz Cellars put out a most respectable 2006 Petite Sirah, sustainably cultivated at Eaglepoint Ranch Vineyard in Mendocino. Seawind Wines offered a pair of Pinot Noirs, the 2007 Split Rock Vineyard from the Sonoma Coast being a clear favorite. But how do you justify a $70 or $90 Cabernet that is bottled from grapes that are systematically available to program subscribers?
Even if a wine in this price range is no longer considered stratospheric, it still ought to have a distinct character to justify its price. Andy Beckstoffer’s To Kalon Vineyard inarguably produces some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon ever made in Napa, but if my wine tastes the same as your wine and the same as our friend’s wine, where’s the unique value proposition?
One of the great beauties of wine is its symbiosis of artistry and nature. Terroir need not be the only determinant of a wine’s character or flavor (there are numerous 2eme Cru offerings that I have tasted whose highly-vaunted terroir tastes more of soil than of grape). A good winemaker is a craftsman, who puts his distinctive mark on every bottling, making it his personal signature. It would behoove many of the wine bottlers in the SFWS to focus on making their next vintages far more individualized and less homogeneous.
Of course, I give myself the prerogative to be contradictory or to go back on my word as this blog evolves. So, despite earlier promises to shy away from a rating system, I reserve the privilege of bestowing a special approval on any wine I find so exceptional, I cannot restrict myself to proper tasting technique for a wine professional. The category of Too Good To Swill & Spit will be awarded to any wine I encounter that begs me to linger and enjoy a full glass (if not bottle)! As such, my first  goes, somewhat ironically, to the 2005 Flying Wine Cellars Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. What earns this wine my kudos is the roundness it derives from adding 15% Petit Verdot to its To Kalon Cabernet. A standout wine at this event, and an outstanding wine in general.
Anyway, enough of this banter this New Year’s Day, 4707! 红包拿来!