2007 Wild Hog Vineyard Petite Sirah Cache Creek – $9.50

I bought a case of this wine via an e-mail offer from my local store.  I’m not sure what the suggested price is for this wine, but it has to be well north of $10.00.  It’s been a while since I last had a bottle, but it’s always been your typical Petite Sirah.  By typical, I mean a full bodied wine with lots of dark fruit, pepper, smoke, licorice and solid, chewy tannins.  At under $10, this is a top shelf week night wine.

According to the winery’s website there were 270 cases produced, but what do they know.  They also say this is the last vintage for this wine and I have a case of the 2008 in the cellar.  Oops, I guess 2007 wasn’t the last vintage ever produced.  🙂

The wine is a deep, dark, inky purple color.  There are blackberries, pepper, vanilla, smoke, licorice, fresh cut flowers, eucalyptus, and some cherry on the very nice nose.  This is fairly full bodied with solid, ripe tannins and very nice acidity.  This is big and bold but not over the top on the palate with loads of spicy, peppery berries with just a bit of an herbal note, possibly from stems.  Fairly long finish with the peppery berries front and center. Tastes very nice today and fairly young but I’d probably err on the side of drinking this young, over the next few years for the ripe, spicy fruit.  (90 pts)

 

 

2005 Novy Family Wines Syrah Rosella’s Vineyard – $17.00

It’s been about a year and a half since we last tried this wine.  At that time, I felt the wine could use some additional cellar time.  I think Adam Lee of Novy (and Siduri) makes outstanding, spicy, structured Syrahs that steer clear of their brethren who push the ripeness envelope to the max.  For some reason, I was able to get a few bottles of this wine at an outstanding price direct from the winery and I jumped on the offer.  Novy currently has the third most bottles in my cellars of all wineries.

The wine is a deep, dark, inky purple color.  This has smoked meat, black pepper, blackberries, road tar, soy sauce, earthy underbrush, licorice, citrus zest, and a floral note on the deep, dark, brooding nose.  This is medium to full bodies with solid, ripe tannins and very nice acidity.  On the palate the wine shows the smoked meat component with nice spicy berries and some earthiness with a nice citrus element lurking in the background adding considerable interest.  Nice lingering finish with the smoky, peppery berries slowly giving way to soft earthy, meaty notes.  In a great drinking window now, but should hold for at least a few years.  (93 pts)

 

 

2011 Bedrock Wine Co. Casa Santinamaria – $17.50

I’ve been looking forward to trying one of these since they showed up at my door at the end of March.  I love the Bedrock white wines, like I mentioned in my previous blog.  This is from a vineyard that was planted n 1905.  This is a “field blend” comprised of Muscadelle, Chasselas, Zinfandel, Semillon, and even a little bit of Chardonnay.  That wasn’t a mistake, some old vine red Zinfandel grapes from the vineyard are in the blend.  Everything was picked together and whole-cluster pressed into old French oak and stainless steel barrels.  This was fermented with native yeasts and malolactic fermentation was inhibited.

The wine is a bright yellow/straw color.  This has a very intriguing nose with apples, pears, peach, minerals, white pepper, citrus zest, a very nice floral note and just a bit of an herbal note.  This has medium body with crisp acidity and just a hint of lingering sweetness.  This has luscious, juicy fruit on the palate with citrus, herbal notes and a bit of white pepper in the background.  This very unusual blend is very unique and delicious.  This is another winning white wine from Bedrock.  (92 pts)

 

We had the Casa Santinamaria with a simple Bruschetta with fresh from the garden cherry tomatoes, red onions, and basil.  We use Cholula hot sauce and Gouda cheese.  The touch of sweetness kept the hot sauce in check and the acidity cut through the rich cheese and stood up to the tomatoes.  Superb!

 

 

2011 One Time Spaceman MCA Rose – $15.21

I’ve had this a couple times and it’s a very nice, easy drinking, fruity Rosé.  It is a bit softer and shows a touch of sweetness.  This is a Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre blend from Paso Robles.  The winemaker, Mark Adams, is a rising star in my opinion.  Besides the One Time Spaceman label, he has another label called Ledge.  I recommend doing a Google search for them and joining the mailing list.  Mark is also the assistant winemaker for a small Paso Robles winery you may have heard of, Saxum.  In his spare time, he is also a musician.  Check out his latest offering, Panjanatan, I know it’s available on Amazon, probably other places as well.

The wine is a bright salmon color.  This has watermelon, strawberries, white peaches, white pepper, and a touch of earthiness on the soft and pleasing nose.  This is light to medium body with nice acidity and just a touch of sweetness.  On the palate the wine is full of sweet, juicy red fruit with some citrus kicking in on the backend.  This is a nice, easy drinking Rosé, perfect for a casual dinner on the deck or patio or to sip on a hot day.  (89 pts)

 

 

News, Notes, and Questions –

 

Wine Country memories

Here is a shot of me with Richard Graeser of Graeser Winery.  We were barrel tasting two vintages of his Diamond Mountain Cabernet Franc.  I have always loved the wines and Richard was definitely a character.  I hated that the winery went out of business a couple years ago.  Luckily I still have a fair amount of his wine in my cellar, including both vintages we were tasting on this day.

 

One more with Richard and a friend of mine, Dave Schauer.

 

The gang enjoying a glass of Napa’s finest before dinner at Cole’s Chop House in Napa.  With friends Kristin and Dave Schauer and my wife Eva.

 

 

Mailing Lists

 

Big Basin

The next BigBasin release is coming on September 10th.  I love their big, full bodied red wines created from the Rhone grapes.

 

Loring Wine Co

The latest Loring offer hit the inbox this week.  I’m in for the Pinots, but will be passing on the full blown California Chardonnay offer.  I’m more into crisp, tank fermented, non malolactic Chardonnay wines.  I’m sure Brian’s Chardonnays have a large and devoted following, but I’m not one of them.

 

 

#CabernetDay

Save the Date: August 30, 2012 will be the third annual global celebration of Cabernet.  You have a couple weeks to pick out a bottle to open.  Let us know which wine you choose.  #Cabernet Day

 

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Notes – I use the “official” Cellar Tracker name for the wines.  I use Cellar Tracker to help manage and organize my cellar.  I highly recommend checking it out at www.cellartracker.com.  Loading you existing cellar is a lot less intimidating than it would first appear.  There is a good chance 99% of your wine is already in the system, so you generally only need to enter part of the wine’s name and the system will find it for you.

 

Prices noted are the prices I paid at the time of purchase.  I don’t shop around to find the best prices, but my local store is usually VERY competitive.  I generally get case discounts, and since I work there part time, I get a 5% discount.  Wines purchased direct from a winery do not include any shipping charges.  None of the prices include the sales tax.

 

All wines that were sent to me free of charge to sample will be noted and I will show suggested prices when available.

 

 

Cheers!