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.