The Winehound's annual European import tasting

Who says Santa Barbara is always provincial about its wine? On July 20th, while The Chardonnay Symposium and Bacon & Barrels were in full swing to the north, the Winehound in Santa Barbara featured its annual import tasting. Held at the SoHo nightclub, it featured a vast selection of Spanish, French and Italian wines. There were some heavy hitters, but this was also highlighted by a nice selection of good value wines in the $15-30 range featuring regions throughout Spain, France and Italy. Featured importers included Martin Scott Wines, Eric Solomon Imports and Bedford International, among others.

I posted a full list of tasting notes on Cellartracker, but a few quick highlights included the 2010 Château de Puligny-Montrachet Puligny-Montrachet for its earthy bright citrus fruit and nice richness and structure; the 2012 AziendaAgricola Bucci Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore for its silky forward white floral fruit and massive structure; the 2010 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape for its layers of complex floral, earthy mineral and cherry flavors; and the 2009 Hacienda Monasterio Ribera del Duero Crianza for its wonderful depth, structure, and notes of cherry, leather, tea and spice.

It was tough missing the events that day in Santa Barbara Wine Country, but I enjoyed catching up with some great wines from the old world!

New direction

After a year and a half sabbatical from full-time employment in the wine industry, ironically due to a cross country move to a wine producing area, I'm happy to say that my career path is once again clear. I've taken a California Regional Manager position with Zaca Mesa Winery & Vineyards here in Santa Barbara County. 

I'm not sure what I want to do with the blog going forward. I'll add content that I feel good about and have time to write (time being the key factor), but the writing I'm sure will take a different approach. If you've checked in and read my posts over the past two years- thank you! I hope to see you out in wine country sometime soon!

Complex summer whites

When I think of summer whites, I tend to think of light and refreshing quaffers. Summer's a carefree time of year, and al fresco picnics, summer barbecue, or hanging out by the pool isn't always the time to sit and think about your wine. But if you are looking for something with a little more complexity and versatility, I've had two wines recently that can work in either direction.

Dirty & Rowdy Family Wines 2012 Skin and Concrete Fermented Semillon, Yountville, Napa Valley is 2nd release of this skin-macerated 100% Semillon. It's a little less viscous than the inaugural release, but still has that wonderful complexity, tannic structure, and acid backbone that I liked in the 2011. It's a cloudy bright gold color with perfumy aromas of lemon and orange zest, savory spice, earth, and frommage. The palate is bright, adding mineral depth to compliment the melange of flavors. There's a nice rich feel and presence on the palate, gaining a slight bitterness and salinity on the finish that adds a nice dimension. This would be great with brie, or a citrusy halibut.

A visit to the Brander Vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley was a nice refresher on their wonderful lineup of Sauvignon Blanc. The Brander 2011 Estate Sauvignon Blanc au Naturel, Santa Ynez Valley is notable for its 24 hours of skin contact during fermentation, giving the wine added complexity and depth before finishing fermentation and aging in stainless steel. The bright grapefruit and gooseberry is there, but is balanced by layered notes of dried herb, lavender and hints of spice. This is a great California Sauvignon Blanc. I'd like this with a grilled barbecue chicken and a summer salad.

Wine events flocking to Santa Barbara... and good inexpensive Pinot Noir

Holy Goleta! The wine events are rolling into Santa Barbara County in 2014.

This month, it's been announced that the 2014 Wine Bloggers Conference will be held July 11-13 in the Santa Ynez Valley. I've attended two Wine Bloggers Conferences, and if there's a strength to the event, it's in its showcasing of compelling wine regions. With Santa Barbara's unique east-west traversing valley and variety of terroirs, it's going to be a great insider's view of the region for wine bloggers. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to delve deeper and to learn even more about my "home" wine region.

Also, the 2014 World Of Pinot Noir event is moving from Pismo Beach to the illustrious Bacara Resort in Goleta. This is a premier event for a premier varietal, featuring seminars and tastings of Pinot Noir from around the world. Maybe not so coincidentally, 2014 is the 10 year anniversary of the Sideways film...

If you're on the Central Coast and looking for a wine event this summer, Santa Maria Valley's annual Chardonnay Symposium happens July 19-21. In its fourth year, the event brings over 50 California Chardonnay producers together to enlighten and educate on the variety and quality of Chardonnay being produced throughout the state. Educational panels, celebrity chef events, wine dinners, and a grand tasting will all commence.

*****

If you need an inexpensive, simple, and most importantly, good Pinot Noir for summer barbecues, hanging out by the pool, or sitting in your sweat box - 24 Knots is a Pinot Noir brand producing a balanced and lively inexpensive Pinot Noir from Monterey. The 24 Knots Pinot Noir, Monterey is notable for its fig, earth, pine needle and spice; along with nicely integrated flavors and good texture, acid, grip and presence for its price point. Serve it with a slight chill. It's around $16 and shouldn't be too hard to find. (I received this as a press sample from the winery)

Mercurey- a more casual Burgundy

Burgundy doesn't always have to be so complicated, or expensive. Faiveley's 2009 Mercurey 1er Cru Clos Des Myglands comes from the Mercurey commune within the Côte Chalonnaise subregion. While containing 1er Cru vineyards, this is much more modest territory for Pinot Noir compared to the Côte De Beaune and the Côte De Nuits to the north. 

Domaine Faiveley's Clos Des Myglands is a 1er (or Premier) Cru monopole (single estate vineyard), with clay and limestone soils and vines ranging from 21 to 50 years old. The Pinot Noir is pressed on site in Mercurey, and is then brought to Faiveley's production center to the north in Nuits-St-Georges for aging in fine grained French oak barrels for 14 to 16 months. 

The resulting 2009 is light and fresh with nice depth and elegance. There's bright and pretty raspberry and floral notes with hints of earth and heather. Lithe and silky, but with good lift through the finish. I found this on the wine list along the Florida Gulf Coast in Apalachicola at the Owl Café- a nice selection and value in the mid $50's. It was delicate and bright enough to seriously compliment both grouper and amberjack entrées at my table. The retail price is typically in the low to mid $30's. 

This is a wine good enough to give a sense of fine Burgundy, while inexpensive and with enough availability to be accessible. Faiveley produces wines from Grand Cru and 1er Cru vineyards throughout Burgundy, but their Mercurey wines really fill a nice niche. It's a great way to enjoy Burgundy on a more casual level.

Three sides of Sonoma

There are many things to love about Sonoma County wine, and variety is definitely one of them. It was the theme of the final day of wine tasting in California’s North Coast regions in April 2013. We visited three very different producers – beginning in Santa Rosa at the Punchdown Cellars facility to visit Ceritas Wines, on to Chalk Hill and Calluna Vineyards, and finally into the heart of the Russian River Valley to Scherrer Winery in Sebastopol.

Ceritas Wines is the brainchild of John Raytek and Phoebe Bass. Their mission is to produce site-specific Chardonnay and Pinot Noir most notably from the family vineyard – The Porter Bass Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast, just 8 miles inland in Forestville. There the vineyard rolls along slopes situated between ridge lines, benefiting from gentle fog, bright sunshine and cool nights. They sort grapes in the vineyard prior to harvest. In the cellar fermentation begins naturally without inoculation, and the wines are made without acid-addition. They avoid a cold-soak of the Pinot Noir, and ferment with 25% to 75% whole clusters.

Ceritas

We tasted three 2011 releases, as well as two barrel samples of 2012 Pinot Noir. My standouts included the 2011 Ceritas Peter Martin Ray Vineyard Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains, which shined with bright citrus and floral notes, along with underlying depth of earthy minerals and dried herb – showing a dynamically rich structure with plenty of nervy tension. Very nice. The 2011 Ceritas Coastalina Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast showed clean tart fig and raspberry flavors along with deep notes of pine needle, tea leaf, and earth and brown spice – fine, silky, vibrant and complex. The 2012 Ceritas Porter Bass Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast from barrel was deeper and darker with black cherry and fig notes along with earth, forest, and savory spice that framed beautiful high-toned juicy mineral notes through the palate.

Calluna Vineyards

I first wrote about Calluna Vineyards after a visit three years ago. The vineyard was planted by David Jeffrey in 2003, and his moderately cool-climate site for Bordeaux varietals is producing balanced, powerful, and graceful wines – full of pleasure and sophistication. We tasted the current 2009 and 2010 releases.

Jon and I in the vineyard with David Jeffrey (photo by Justin)

My favorite was the 2010 Calluna ‘Aux Raynauds’ Merlot, Chalk Hill – showing plenty of mineral, floral, cedar, lead and leather sophistication, along with ripe currant fruit, all seamlessly layered and velvety on the palate, and finishing with plenty of brightness and firmness. What an awesome wine, it really shows the seriousness and sophistication that Merlot is capable of in California. I also really liked 2009 Calluna Vineyards Estate, Chalk Hill – this is a blend of the five Bordeaux varietals featuring Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot most prominently in the blend. This showed cassis and currants, with tea, floral, cedar, tobacco and black pepper notes, layered with big supple/firm tannins and juicy acidity on the finish. Also, look for the relative value of the 2010 Calluna ‘CVC’ CallunaVineyards Cuvee, Chalk Hill. This is another Bordeaux blend, that shows really well at a lower price point.

Scherrer Winery is located in an old warehouse building out on the far side of Sebastopol. Fred Scherrer produces wines from his family’s estate vineyard in Alexander Valley, as well as from numerous other sites in Sonoma County. It’s not a program that focuses solely on Bordeaux, Burgundy or Rhone varietals – instead it’s all of the above, along with Zinfandel too. Fred built production through the late 1980’s while working at Dehlinger Winery, finally moving into his own facility in 1997. Today production is between 4000 and 5000 cases. Fred’s winemaking philosophy often centers on minimal handling and non-interventionist techniques, and varies by varietal.

Fred Scherrer pouring for Justin

We tasted through a broad range of wine, with favorites ranging from the 2009 Scherrer Old Vine Scherrer Vineyard Zinfandel, Alexander Valley – a broad and brambly dark fruited Zinfandel with lots of cola, spice and cedar depth, polished and rustic with a nice finish. A trio of 2008 Pinot Noirs shined- 2008 Scherrer Pinot Noir, Sonoma County and 2008 Scherrer Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley both showed nice, forward, spice-laden red fruit with earthy rhubarb notes. The 2008 Scherrer Platt Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast showed similar flavors with more depth and a more bracing structure. A 2005 Scherrer Cabernet Sauvignon Scherrer Vineyard, Alexander Valley showed the warm friendly dark fruit of Alexander Valley with plenty of cedar, leather, dried herb, and vanilla notes, along with a rustic feel and sweet ripe tannins. Finally, the sleeper of the lineup was the 2008 ScherrerTimbervine Vineyard Syrah, Russian River Valley – showing beautiful crushed rock, tobacco and cedar, along with robust blackberry and savory earth on the palate. Elegant and balanced and very nice.

In many ways Scherrer’s wines embody Sonoma County. Not just in the variety and flavors in the bottle, but also in the down-to-earth workmanlike aesthetic of Fred and the winery. Fred’s even got a band room off to the side in the winery – jammed full of big amps and drums and guitars.

This was a fine lineup of three very different producers - click here to see all tasting notes from the day. It’s always a little sad to leave Sonoma County. Until next time!

Great restaurant by-the-bottle- Etna Rosso

If you've never tried a Mt Etna Rosso wine, think about the red fruit, elegance & acid of Pinot Noir, along with an intense volcanic minerality and exotic floral notes. They can be deep and profound, and are typically accessible from a price standpoint.

Azienda Girolamo Russo is an organically-farmed family estate in Mt. Etna, Sicily producing three Etna Rosso bottlings, and one Etna Bianco. The Azienda Girolamo Russo 2010 'a Rina, Etna Rosso DOC is their introductory bottling - a multi vineyard blend from volcanic soils. The grape is Nerello Mescalese, with small percentages of Nerello Cappuccio. 

I found this on the wine list at the wonderful new SY Kitchen Restaurant in Santa Ynez, CA. Its broad range of flavor and solid acidity married well with opposing entrees - a duck ragu pappardelle, and a shellfish pasta with a garlicky white wine sauce. The flavor of the wine was a nice blend of sharp red fruit notes and exotic earth and floral accents. This is a deep and enjoyable wine that can be found in stores for around $25.

 

Pinot and Mead- Russian River to Anderson Valley (Day 3 of April 2013)

April 2013 wasn't all Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon. My traveling wine-tasting committee spent the next day working our way up from the Russian River Valley and Healdsburg, to Anderson Valley and Boonville. 

sidewalk bbq chicken tacos in Healdsburg- photo by Jon

Highlights included a stop at Holdredge Winery in Healdsburg to taste their wines and to meet with Ed Thralls of Thralls Wine. We met Ed the prior evening to try his initial bottled releases – a 2011 Thralls Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, and a 2008 Thralls Alder Springs Syrah from Mendocino. Ed, who was a wine blogger in Atlanta, made the Syrah at Crushpad in San Francisco while still living back east. After moving to the west coast in 2010 he further honed his winemaking skills in the cellar at Holdredge, producing his first Pinot Noir. 

The 2008 Alder Springs Syrah I thought was excellent – showing bright blackcurrant fruit along with integrated notes of violet, white pepper, and beef-marinade; with firmly structured tannins and bright acidity. The 2011 Pinot Noir comes from the Prodigy Vineyard near Occidental. It showed lots of funky green earth notes with plenty of tart bright cranberry & cherry fruit, polished mid-palate weight and fine tannins, along with a juicy finish – a solid first Pinot Noir effort.

Ed doling out the samples- photo by Justin

What really impressed me though were Ed’s 2012’s in barrel. Four single vineyard wines (Saralee’s and Bucher from Russian River, Roma’s from Anderson Valley, and Occidental from Sonoma Coast), and a Sonoma Coast blend – all were exhibiting nice bright fruit and rich depth. My early favorite was the Thralls 2012 Roma’s Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley- which showed nice earth, floral and fig notes over a nice vibrant and polished frame.

Holdredge Winery specializes in Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast. The lineup was mostly 2011 vintage – a cool year that brought out little extras in the cellar – saignee, pigeage, and longer cold-soaks. This added an apparent depth and richness to the mid-palate that I appreciated throughout the lineup. These wines showed a bright elegance that made way for a rich hedonistic side, exhibiting balance throughout. My favorite was the 2011 Holdredge Selection Massale Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley- a blend of 9 different clones, showing savory spice, violet, dark fruit and earth throughout with a richly layered palate of polish and brightness.

photo by Ed Thralls

Pinot Noir wasn’t the only thing flowing at Holdredge. We tasted Monks Mead, a brand that Justin produces back in Atlanta. Mead is wine fermented from honey. Monks is inoculated with a Champagne yeast and fermented to drink like a beer, resulting in a carbonated beverage with bright and slightly sweet notes, finishing crisp and clean, and with a lethal 12.9% ABV. Justin and his fellow mead-maker Martin sell Monks on draught and in growlers back in Atlanta.

The road to Anderson Valley from Cloverdale takes you through green forests and over pastoral foothills before landing in the narrow valley that’s home to the many up and coming Pinot Noir vineyards and producers. The Drew tasting room in Philo was a good introduction to the valley with a nice lineup of wines, and an interesting host named Susan Robinson. Susan’s a writer and exile from LA who writes a blog that educates and enlightens on the subject of GMO’s in food. She also makes some killer bread.

Jon & Justin with Joe from Foursight

Anderson Valley was highlighted by an epic tasting with winemaker Joe Webb of Foursight Wines in Boonville. Foursight produces Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon from their estate Charles Vineyard. Joe makes his Pinot Noir with native yeast fermentations, using partial whole-clusters, and bottles unfined and unfiltered. Aging takes place in new and used French oak barrels from the Allier, Troncais, and Bertranges forests.

I thought this was a stellar lineup of wines. The 2011 Foursight Charles Vineyard Semillon, impressed with bright tropical fruit and savory white pepper and earth tones, along with a richly polished structure. But this was all about Pinot Noir. We tasted wines split between the cool weather 2009 and 2010 vintages. The 2009’s showed massively bright high-tones that brought an expanded fruit profile – think red apple and tropical on top of fig and cherry mineral notes. I loved both the 2009 Foursight Charles Vineyard Zero New Oak Pinot Noir and the 2009 Foursight Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir. The former showed gleaming bright fruit along with slate and earthy spice, on top of an elegant structure. The latter added more floral & mineral depth and richness to the bright high tones. In contrast the 2010’s were more about darker cherry and fig notes and earthy spice. The 2010 Foursight Charles Vineyard Zero New Oak Pinot Noir showed both sweet and savory spice notes, along with tea leaf and sagebrush on top of fig and cherry fruit, with richly layered structure. The 2010 Foursight Charles Vineyard Pommard Clone 5 Pinot Noir was massively layered with pine & eucalyptus earthiness, tea, fig and sandalwood – good acidity and long fine tannins. Quality to price – these estate single vineyard Pinot Noir bottlings are screaming values.

The drive back to Sonoma County passed through the Mendocino Ridge AVA and down the coast. Click here for a full list of tasting notes from this epic day of coastal wines from Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. 

From Boonfly to Buster's- Napa Valley day two

The second day of Napa Valley April 2013 began much differently than the first. Rather than the twists and turns of a mountain road, we rolled into a Napa industrial park to taste the wines of Buccella before heading up the valley. Each visit very different from the last.

Jon contemplating a non-sequitur

Founded in 2002, Buccella highlights the sleek and luxurious side of Napa Valley. Its wines blend fruit from vineyards in the southerly AVA’s, highlighting the cooler Yountville and Coombsville regions. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, these are in barrel for 20 months in new French oak. The winemaker is Rebekah Wineburg, with consulting by Celia Welch. We tasted the three 2010 releases with Rebekah – all noteworthy for their overall boldness and richness, and underscored by a velvety feel of pure luxury on the palate.

Justin & Jon with Rebekah Wineburg in the winery at Buccella

The 2010 Buccella Merlot, Napa Valley comes primarily from Hyde Vineyard fruit and includes 4% Cabernet Sauvignon. The notes were leathery-floral black cherry, adding a mélange of spice, coffee and tea depth on the palate. This was remarkably silky and seamlessly layered with polished tannins, along with beautiful weight, feel, and depth. The 2010 Buccella Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley is 86% Cab with the balance a blend of the remaining Bordeaux varietals. This showed similarly seamless layers of polish and bold elegance, adding in more densely packed savory notes of graphite, vanilla bean, roasted espresso, and black olive – along with red currant and cherry fruit – a strikingly beautiful young wine. Last, the 2010 Buccella Cuvée Katrina Eileen is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon with a bigger denser structure set apart by mineral, floral and darker fruit notes, on top of cedar and savory spice notes. A little bigger and broader tannins on this wine, along with consistent elegance and polish. The wines of Buccella are unmistakably modern and decadent, while showing great elegance and beauty.

At Rutherford Grove Winery (photo by Justin)

Rutherford Grove lies along the busy Highway 29 corridor heading up into St. Helena. The winery and its ownership, the Pestoni family, have a long history in Napa Valley. It’s an interesting place, in that judging by the looks of its facility and packaging I might have thought the production was much larger and more widely distributed than it is - it has the look of a bigger brand. In reality it’s only about a 5000 case production, spread across several bottlings and sold primarily out of the tasting room. All of the wines are estate-grown, coming from 60 acres of vineyards spread through the Rutherford, St. Helena, Howell Mountain, and Lake County AVA’s. Interestingly, there’s also a huge Pestoni-owned composting facility behind the winery.

At Rutherford Grove

The lineup of wines ranged from Sauvignon Blanc, Sangiovese, Zinfandel and Petite Sirah – then on to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. My highlights included the 2011 Rutherford Grove Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley, Rutherford - from the Musque clone, showing a grassy kiwi profile with nice and bright mineral/slate high tones. The 2008 Rutherford Grove Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Rutherford showed nice cedar and earth notes throughout with savory dark fruit draped in tobacco leaf and leathery depth on the palate, along with nice supple tannins- really good as a young drinking Rutherford Cab with nice flavors, balance & depth, and a good price. I also really liked the 2007 Rutherford Grove Petite Sirah Spring Creek Vineyard, Napa Valley, St. Helena for its big wild dark fruit and integrated savory depth, along a large structure- very nice.

Tucked away in the Diamond Mountain district near Calistoga, Von Strasser Winery was founded in 1990. In 1985 Rudy Von Strasser became the first American to intern at Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, moving on to stints at Trefethen and Newton prior to launching Von Strasser. The winery is located on a historic winery property, part of which was parceled off to become the Diamond Creek vineyards. Von Strasser ended up modernizing the facility and digging caves into the hillside.

At Von Strasser, Diamond Mountain

The Von Strasser wines are primarily single vineyard Diamond Mountain Cabernet. Stylistically these bridged a gap between the brawny fruit and firm structure you might find on Spring Mountain, and the rich polished wines of the valley floor. Throughout the lineup I really liked the dynamic of elegant and subtle flavors with rich fruit over deceptively powerful structures. We tasted four single vineyard wines from the 2009 vintage – all of which I thought were outstanding.

Choosing a top 2- the 2009 Von Strasser Cabernet Sauvignon Post Vineyard, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain showed aromas of vanilla, clove, blackcurrant and red-floral with a complex palate – mineral, juicy cherry, violet, with subtle savory depth – well-integrated with fine polished tannins and a big juicy finish. The 2009 Von Strasser Cabernet Sauvignon Sori Bricco Vineyard, Napa Valley ,Diamond Mountain showed nice lightly sweet aromas of vanilla, anise, spice, cassis and butterscotch. The palate was richly opulent, yet elegant, with notes of blackcurrant, mineral, floral, subtle spice and earthy depth. It finished big with silky-firm tannins. Luxurious and layered- excellent.

View of Kronos Vineyard

Last stop was a refresher visit to Corison Winery. I visited Corison in July 2012 and tasted a very nice assortment of Cathy Corison’s Napa Valley and Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons (new and library releases). This time around I wanted to show my travel companions the wines, so we visited and tasted through a similarly special lineup. Click the link for my 2012 comments on visiting the winery.

"Fly is Open!"- Thanks to tasting room staff at Corison!

Stay tuned for thoughts on the rest of the April 2013 trip. We spent the rest of the weekend in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. Click here for a full list of tasting notes on Buccella, Rutherford Grove, Von Strasser and Corison.  

2014 Wine Bloggers' Conference- the finalists are in!

The Wine Bloggers Conference is heading back to California in 2014. Santa Barbara, Paso Robles and Lodi are the three finalists - so there are decent odds that the conference will land on the Central Coast. 

I have to be a homer on this one. My vote was for Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara Wine Country features world class wine, cuisine, scenery and weather. It's an exciting region still growing and expanding its footprint in the wine world, with a wide variety of varietals and styles. There's a plethora of world-class winemakers and vineyards - perfect resources for excursions and education about the area. And I believe that much of what the area has to offer remains undiscovered to the larger wine world, leaving an exciting opportunity for next year's attendees. 2014 also marks the 10-year anniversary of the film Sideways, a definitive moment in the history of the wine region.

Paso Robles/San Luis Obispo would be a nice consolation, and many of the same advantages would apply. I'm not sure about Lodi. I've had plenty of Lodi wines but have never visited. My initial thoughts are of big jammy red wines and the heat of the Central Valley in the summer. It might have been interesting to tie in Lodi and the Sierra Foothills AVA's into one package, although I could see this creating logistical issues.

At any rate, go to the Wine Bloggers Conference website to vote. Hope to see you in 2014!

Head for the mountains of Napa Valley

To find classically styled wines and a more down-to-earth side of Napa Valley, just look to the mountains. The hairpin roads up and down Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain, and Howell Mountains on a bright and sunny late April day were filled with twists and turns - leading to great wines, history, and personality.

Mayacamas Vineyards certainly provided all of the above. It also ended up being a sentimental time to visit the historic vineyard and winery on Mt. Veeder, as the sale to Charles Banks/Terroir Capital was announced early the following week. Bob Travers and family owned Mayacamas through the previous 45 years and brought the property, a vineyard dating back to the 1880's, to international prominence through its involvement in the 1976 Judgment of Paris and the famed evolution of its wines since. Taking an at-times uncommercial path in its style, Mayacamas became known internationally for extremely long-lived mountain Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay that stayed true to their style, despite popular trends.

The very old press at Mayacamas

In touring the winery, it was striking to see the oldness of the place. From the old continuous screw press, to the built-in concrete fermenter, to the large oak tanks, to the musky cellars - not something you see everyday in Napa Valley. Neither were the 50+ year old Cabernet Sauvignon vines. All of this will surely see a makeover with the new ownership and incoming winemaking/vineyard team of Andy Erickson and Annie Favia. Nostalgia aside, appearances suggest that the makeover is probably coming at the appropriate time. I do hope that large oak tanks will still be used to age the Cabernet Sauvignon before it goes into small barrels - something the winery has traditionally done. I'm guessing this is a key factor to the Mayacamas style.

The cave at Mayacamas

Old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon at Mayacamas

We tasted a pair of Chardonnays from the 2010 and 2006 vintage. Both were impressive in their brightness and complexity. The Chardonnay is fermented in a built-in concrete fermenter and goes to barrel without malolactic fermentation. The 2006 Mayacamas Chardonnay, Mt Veeder, Napa Valley was reveling in its advanced earth and spice notes, complementing the stone and citrus fruit and filling out a big toasty structure. Great Chardonnay and even more amazing to consider the release price of $30. The 2007 Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon, Mt Veeder, Napa Valley was showing big earthy brambly structure along with juicy black cherry, currant, leather, mineral and anise. Definitely one for a later date, but a fun glimpse into its future.

Smith Madrone Vineyard- Cook's Flat blocks top-center

My third trip up Spring Mountain to Smith Madrone Vineyards was a great chance to show my friends Justin and Jon what makes brothers Charles and Stu Smith's winery and vineyards so special. There's quite a bit of history here too, with the Smiths founding the winery and vineyards in 1971 high atop Spring Mountain on an old vineyard site. There they dry-farm their Bordeaux varietals, Chardonnay, and Riesling. This is always a fun visit - Charles and Stu are colorful characters, the winery is quaint and rustic, and the views of the valley floor from the vineyard are amazing.

Justin sharing his crazy viticulture ideas with Stu Smtih

A lunch and tasting with the Smiths

Charles Smith teaching me about political cartoonist, Bill Mauldin

We tasted the current releases. The 2010 Smith Madrone Chardonnay, Spring Mountain, Napa Valley was showing nice slate and citrus, balanced and rich, with silky spice depth. The 2007 Cabs were especially impressive. The 2007 Smith Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain, Napa Valley was especially notable for its rich silky structure showing notes of black tea, olive, blackcurrant, cassis and vanilla - along with firm tannins and plenty of depth on the finish. This has the structure of past vintages, with nice accessibility as a new release. The 2007 Smith Madrone Cook's Flat Reserve was produced to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the winery. 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, it comes from select blocks in the vineyard and is aged in new French barriques (The estate Cab is aged in American oak). This shows similar flavors to the estate cab, with added depth and structure. Very polished and balanced, and very Bordeaux-like. It's a much higher price point than the estate Cab, but definitely a special wine.

Carole explaining the view at Lagier Meredith

Back on Mount Veeder, the Lagier Meredith Vineyard sits high atop an epic driveway through the trees. Stephen Lagier & Carole Meredith developed vineyards on the property after purchasing in 1986. Stephen was making wine at Robert Mondavi and Carole was a professor of viticulture and enology at Cal-Davis. They grow primarily Syrah, along with Mondeuse, Malbec and Zinfandel. The 4.5 acre east-facing vineyard sits at about 1300 feet on fractured shale and sandstone soils. Justin, Jon and I sat with Carole and Stephen and enjoyed a beautiful bright and rich 2012 Rosé, along with their 2010 Lagier Meredith Syrah, Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley- which was showing nice peppercorn, black olive, floral and currant notes with added layers of flavor on the palate, along with a deep elegant and silky structure. Also of note were Carole's delicious Niçoise cured olives grown on the property.

Last was an ill-fated trip up Howell Mountain. Scheduling difficulties and St Helena traffic had gotten me behind schedule. We were late to Black Sears Vineyard & Winery, and our host Chris had to head out. He left us the 2011 Black Sears estate Zinfandel to taste, but it was corked. Their wines sell out quickly - the 2010 Zin is gone and the 2011 won't even be released for another year. Luck ran out on the day, but it's a beautiful vineyard to get a chance to visit with or without the wine. 

Zinfandel at Black Sears

More to come from late April 2013 in Napa Valley. For full tasting notes on the wines tasted on this day, click the link.

A consumer's view of the Wine Spectator Grand Tour in San Francisco

On the way up to San Francisco to pick up my inbound Atlanta friends Justin and Jon for our 2013 wine excursion - the 2013 Wine Spectator Grand Tour was conveniently happening downtown. When the Wednesday April 24th date was announced, it seemed like the perfect excuse to splurge on a ticket and start my vacation a few hours early.

These events can have their pluses and minuses. On the plus side are the wines under one roof available to taste. High-end producers and wines from nearly every major wine region in the world are there. The down side is an expensive ($200) ticket and the unknowns prior to the event. Those unknowns to me were the potential pitfalls of overcrowding and a difficult layout. With an event duration of three hours, efficiency is needed to get to the desired wines. I've been to plenty of other wine events and wine trade tastings where tables were crowded out, or where it was difficult to find who you were looking for without walking around the room with a map. Fortunately many of the former events I wasn't paying for. This time it felt like there was more at stake.

In anticipation, I mapped out my targets and even posted an inquiry on WineBerserkers.com asking if anyone had been or was going to the event. The posting started a bit of an odd dialog about the worthiness of the event, but I was undeterred to take advantage in my goal to taste and note a great list of wines from the event. On the day the event rolled around, I was on the road finding my way up to Union Square in San Francisco to the Marriott Marquis. Successfully navigating time and traffic, I was in line to get in just a few minutes prior to opening. Once inside, with a glass and my notes in tow I made my way through three hours featuring plenty of great juice (and the occasional wine celebrity manning a table).

Any trepidation about the potential downsides of the event were quickly answered. The event wasn't oversold, so you could walk around comfortably and take notes. The room was effectively laid out from sparkling to whites to reds by region, so I intuitively knew where to go without looking at the map. Most importantly, there was only one wine poured per producer per table, keeping lines to a minimum. I tasted just about every region and producer I set out to and enjoyed the experience.

Bottom line, yes it's an expensive ticket, and Wine Spectator may be passé to certain wine message board posters, but if I had the extra cash and the event were convenient, I'd be happy to do it again. Here's a link to the wines tasted.

Happy trails!

Exciting things are happening at Wine I Like! So much so that I'm taking the rest of April off from posting to concentrate on other things I have going on. I'll be attending the Wine Spectator Grand Tasting in San Francisco and then doing some Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino wine tasting later this month. I look forward to posting on these excursions in May - until then, happy trails!

Sta. Rita Hills- here we grow again?

If you follow California Central Coast wine appellations, by now you've surely read about the proposed expansion of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA here in Santa Barbara County. Living close to the situation, it gives me a chance to put a face to a name, so to speak.

A sub-AVA of the larger Santa Ynez Valley, Sta. Rita Hills was established in 2001 to differentiate the cold, windy and fog-swept valleys between Purisima, Santa Rita, and Santa Rosa Hills running west-east between the towns of Lompoc & Buellton. Soils here contain diatomaceous earth in some locations and clay loam in others. The common markers of the wines here are earthy & well-structured Pinot Noir, bright mineral-driven citrus Chardonnay and dark savory Syrah.

The area in question for expansion is the eastern boundary along Highway 246. The hills here along the boundary take a turn southward effectively cutting off the upper valley of the AVA from areas east. From there, driving east toward Buellton the valley flattens and widens into the larger and warmer Santa Ynez Valley, where the grape varietals move away from the Burgundian and toward the Rhône.

The ownership of the Pence Ranch vineyard is petitioning the TTB for the change, contending that the site displays soils, climate, and varietals common to the AVA. That vineyard is located just over the hill along 246 east of the boundary. They grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, designating the AVA Santa Barbara County rather than Santa Ynez Valley. Two other vineyards- John Sebastiano just to the west and Rio Vista to the southeast straddle the boundary. None of the above vineyards were in existence at the time of the establishment of the AVA.

Wes Hagen of Clos Pepe Vineyards led the effort to establish the AVA and is the voice of the opposition to change it. The Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance is also opposed to the change. The argument is that the southward hills dissecting Highway 246 at the east boundary is an essential line of demarcation for fog and the most extreme of the ocean influence, and that by redrawing the boundary further east into the “Buellton Flats” the natural geographic barrier is lost and the ability to further expand the AVA eastward into warmer areas is gained – potentially diluting what is one of the smallest and most unique AVA’s in California.

Similarly, an expansion of the Russian River AVA was approved in 2011. There, a huge business interest (Gallo) successfully expand an already huge AVA against vehement local opposition to include some of their vineyard holdings. The Russian River Valley is a great brand name but was already a huge area with different microclimates and a wide variety of wines produced. The difference here is that the business interests are much smaller, and the AVA is a sub-AVA of the larger Santa Ynez Valley. It would be like trying to expand the Green Valley AVA within the Russian River Valley, or the Yamhill-Carlton AVA within the Willamette Valley.

It’s an interesting dynamic. Personally, I tend to think conservatively about redrawing lines on such a finite area. Either way I look forward to get a better sense of both the pros and cons as the petition develops.

This bud break's for you and tasting at Curtis

Bud break is upon us in Santa Barbara County, most notably to the north in Santa Maria Valley, where early-budding Chardonnay is already greening up the vineyards. The Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay vineyards along 101 just north of Los Alamos are almost fully green.

Bud break at Bien Nacido, late-March 2013 

Further down Foxen Canyon Road in the Santa Ynez Valley, Rhône varietals at Curtis Winery are just starting to break.

Bud break at Curtis, late-March 2013

While at Curtis I tasted through a nice lineup of balanced and bright Rhône varietal wines. Most impressive to me were the 2011 Curtis Heritage Blanc, Santa Barbara County, with richly layered tropical and citrus notes along with honey and spice nuances. Among the reds the 2009 Curtis Rock Hollow Vineyard Syrah, Santa Ynez Valley is aged for 18 months in 40% new French oak and comes from their estate vineyard in Ballard Canyon. It shows an alluring complexity of spice, tea, earth, cracked pepper and brambly fruit that streamlines into blueberry and violet with subtle depth on the palate, finishing with firm polished structure and good length. Really a beautiful wine. Also the 2010 Curtis Reserve "GSM", Santa Ynez Valley (50% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 25% Mourvedre) showed an epic blend of meaty cassis, spice and blood orange fruit - layered, juicy and bright on the palate finishing with hints of clove and vanilla, firm silky tannins and good length - an outstanding wine. Click here for tasting notes on the current lineup at Curtis.

Wine freezing fallout, rosé tasted blind, & a nifty Mersault pairing

It's been a busy week at the world headquarters of Wine I Like! I think I bummed some folks out on Linked In with my wine freezing... My three commenters there seemed genuinely offended, although I'm not sure they actually read the blog post or checked the links. It's funny what gets people riled up.

Elsewhere, I participated in the latest installment of the Central Coast Wine Press Tasting Panel. We enjoyed  a couple of rosé wines tasted blind and paired with cheeses, charcuterie and pulled pork. One was Central Coast and the other Provence. The group opinions were mixed, but I definitely leaned toward the 2012 Domaine de la Fourquette Cotes du Provence Cuvee Rosee d'Aurore over the 2011 Carhartt Grenache Rosé Santa Ynez Valley. It was a contrast in styles - crisp, dry and aromatic newly released Provence vs round, full and luscious Central Coast with a year of bottle age. At any rate it was great fun with good folks. Click here to read Laurie's full notes on the evening.

Finally, I decided it was time to "close the deal" on a purchase I made from Wines 'Till Sold Out two years ago. I wanted to open my second and final bottle of 2007 Louis Latour Mersault-Blagny 1er Cru Château de Blagny ($37 each with free shipping), so I decided to search on Google for good Chardonnay pairings. What I found was a simple recipe of chicken leg quarters roasted in white wine, marjoram, cream & butter that was recommended for "medium oak-influenced Chardonnay" - the rich dark meat of the chicken alights the fruit and richness of the wine. It was a solid pairing and the wine showed well otherwise- Austere and nutty upon opening, it really came alive after an hour or two. Light gold in color with aromas of toasted almond, river rock and lemon zest. Bright citrus and stone fruit flavors framed with dried herb, mineral and nutty notes. Richly layered and brightly polished, with a full 45 second finish of spice, herb and citrus. It continued to improve until the end of the bottle. Very nice. Drink/short term hold. It was so good I didn't even have to freeze it!

Was freezing my open wine a good idea?

I recently ran across a Cellartracker tasting note mentioning freezing opened wine for later consumption. Intrigued, I posted a note on Wineberserkers.com getting several interesting responses and decided to give it a try.

A quick Google search reveals several sources of information regarding the trial and error and the science of freezing wine. Basically, at common household freezer temperatures the water component of the wine will freeze leaving traces of unfrozen liquid with highly concentrated alcohol. In the short-term the wine remains largely uncompromised, although you might see some sediment from tartaric acid falling out of solution.

In unopened bottles the expansion of the freezing liquid and ultra-low humidity can push out or dry out corks or even crack the glass, so there doesn't really seem to be a practical application for freezing wine unopened. As for storing an opened bottle for later consumption, what I read considered this viable although there were varying opinions on the length of time you would want to leave the wine frozen (or how much the structure might be affected).

I opened a bottle of Melville 2008 Pinot Noir Terraces, Sta. Rita Hills. Out of the bottle and over several hours the wine was showing a full bouquet and drinking with ample bold red fruit along with big spice notes, hints of earth, and richly textured integrated structure, along with some heat on the finish.

Straight from the freezer

With just under half a bottle remaining, I decanted the wine into a 375 ml bottle that I use for storage and placed it diagonally in my freezer. Upon removing the bottle the following day, the mostly frozen wine remained diagonally suspended. I left the bottle on my counter until the liquid leveled out, then placed it in lukewarm water in my sink to finish thawing. After about an hour the wine was at a good approximate 60 degree temperature for drinking Pinot Noir.

In drinking the previously frozen Melville Terraces, whatever affects freezing a wine may have over 24 hours may have were imperceptible to me. I might have said that the structure of the wine had softened ever-so-slightly, but I couldn't be certain. The flavor profile was identical to me, and there was no oxidation. Basically as far as I could reasonably tell I was drinking an identical glass of wine to the one I had decanted 24 hours earlier. Next time I'll try the freezing for a longer time frame.

With mixed results I've pumped, gassed, and dropped little plastic disks into my wine bottles. The only question that remains for me is why this isn't the consensus for saving an opened bottle.