2011 Myriad Cellars Sémillon McGah Family Vineyard

2011 Treasure Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2009 Copain Pinot Noir Tous Ensemble

2011 One Time Spaceman MCA Rosé

2008 Turley Zinfandel Ueberroth Vineyard

 

 

2011 Myriad Cellars Sémillon McGah Family Vineyard – $24.00

When Mike Smith, the owner/wine maker of Myriad Cellars sent out an e-mail offer for this wine as well as three others with a total combined production of well under 200 total cases, I was lucky enough to get a small allocation.  This was one of those offers you couldn’t refuse.  There was a total production of only 48 cases of this wine.  How can you pass on a single vineyard, Rutherford Sémillon for $24?  I couldn’t!  In the same offer, I had to also grab a few bottles of their Rutherford sourced Petit Verdot, which had an even lower production of only 22 cases.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a bright yellow with a golden tint.  The crisp and clean nose has melon, pineapple, lemon zest, toasted almonds, minerals, spices, honey, and a very slight herbal note.  This has medium body, tart citrusy acidity, and a touch of tannins.  On the palate this has rich fruit and minerals up front with a big jolt of citrus coming in to hold everything together very nicely on the midpalate.  The finish has nice length with a touch of an herbal element coming into the picture.  This is drinking nicely, but seems to be on the young end of the drinking window.  This can be enjoyed now or over the next 4 years.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2011 Treasure Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley – $28.49

This is a new purchase from this “négociant’ label.  The “winery” buys excess wine from traditional wineries, bottles it, and turns over their inventory fairly quickly.  The wineries are generally eager to sell off their unwanted wines so Treasure Hunter gets the juice at a VERY big discount.  One of the usual stipulations is that the source of the grapes/wine remains anonymous.  In this case, the name of the original winery was “accidentally” slipped, so I know who supposedly made the wine, but I’m sworn to secrecy.

 

Here is the info from Treasure Hunter’s website:

Occasionally we find a wine that is so special, it deserves it’s own label. This is one of those wines. It is a cult wine from a cult winery it just happens to cost a whole lot less. Lucky you.

 

If the source is accurate, the winery produces two cabernet sauvignons, the least expensive costs north of $100 a bottle.  The other cabernet produced by the winery has a community average cost on Cellar Tracker of well over $300 a bottle.

 

This wine is available for sell on the Treasure Cellars website for $45.00 a bottle, click here for more info.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a bright ruby red color.  The very inviting nose has cassis, dark bittersweet chocolate, dried herbs, eucalyptus, cherries, minerals, cigar box, and some “Rutherford Dust” (if this is from Rutherford).  This has medium body, fairly solid tannins, and very good acidity.  On the palate big cassis and eucalyptus grab hold eventually allowing cherries, dark chocolate, and some dried herbs enter into the mix.  The finish has very good length with a very slight green herbaceous element creeping in on the back end.  This is extremely young and has a very bright future.  Even at this early stage in its development, the wine has impeccable balance.  I’m sure with some cellar time the slight green element will integrate.  This rating is totally out the window in another couple years.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2009 Copain Pinot Noir Tous Ensemble – $25.00

I’ve slowed down my Copain purchases over the last couple of years, but I’m still a big fan of their “Tous Ensemble” wines.  To me, the Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Rosé all have quality that greatly exceeds their price points.  This has been a consistently good $25 Anderson Valley Pinot that is comparable to $40 or higher wines from the area.

 

This was Copain’s effort to put out a value priced, mid-level, appellation branded level of wines.  The Copain Tous Ensemble line up has grown to now include Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Roussanne, Viognier, and a Rosé.  In my opinion, the Copain Tous Ensemble lineup offers stunning quality for the price.  I’ve had and greatly enjoyed multiple vintages of the Syrah, Pinot Noir, and the Rosé.  I believe these wines have some distribution, I highly recommend grabbing a bottle to sample if you see one on your local wine store’s shelf.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a light to medium ruby red color.  The slightly reserved nose has cherries, baking spices, raspberries, orange zest, minerals, and a bit of earthiness and smoke.  This is barely medium body with soft, silky tannins, and very good acidity.  Much more open and robust on the palate with tart cherries, juicy raspberries, spice and some earthiness taking turns leading the charge.  The finish has decent length with a touch of orange zest and spice lingering nicely.  This is a very nice, nuanced, California Pinot with very good balance.  (90 pts)

 

 

 

2011 One Time Spaceman MCA Rosé – $15.21

This bottle is a leftover from last Summer.  I’ve had this several times and it’s a very nice, easy drinking, fruity Rosé.  This is just a touch soft and shows a touch of sweetness, making it a great, easy drinker on a nice, sunny day.  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, that’s where I bought it, and probably other places as well.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a bright pinkish salmon color.  The fresh smelling nose has watermelon, strawberries, cherries, white peaches, white pepper, orange zest, and just a hint of earthiness.  This has medium body with nice acidity and just a touch of sweetness.  On the palate, nice red fruit and spice steal the show with a touch of white pepper and orange zest coming in on the back end.  The finish is crisp and clean and has nice length.  This is an easy drinking rosé, perfect for a warm, sunny afternoon.  (89 pts)

 

 

 

2008 Turley Zinfandel Ueberroth Vineyard – $48.00

Ueberroth is my favorite vineyard source for Turley grapes that is not named Hayne.  This vineyard generally yields a big, full bodied wine with loads of pepper and spice.  In a nutshell, this is the type of old vine Zinfandel that put Turley on the map.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark garnet color.  The classic zin nose is full of crushed briary berries, black pepper, minerals, wild flowers, and warm baking spices.  This full bodied wine has moderate ripe tannins and good acidity.  On the palate the pepper dusted berries steal the show with nice building minerality on the back end.  The long, lingering finish again shows a boat load of minerals and peppery berries with a bit of earthiness also coming into the picture.  This carries its 15.9% alcohol and keeps it under wraps with only slight glimpses peaking out every once in a while.  (94 pts)

 

 

 

The evolution of our holiday dinner:

 

A rack of ribs and a beef brisket:

 

Apply a nice coating of a personally prepared dry rub:

 

Wrap the meat in plastic wrap and pop in the fridge for at least 12 hours.

 

Remove meat from the fridge and unwrap.  The dry rub will have drawn out some of the juices in the meat, broken down, and will have soaked into the meat.  Ready for the smoke.

 

After about 7 hours of smoke at about 250 degrees, I wrap the meat in some foil for about 45 minutes to an hour.  This helps the meat “pull back” a bit on the bone.  This makes the ribs a bit easier to handle and admit it, it just looks cool.

 

Here’s a picture of the finished beef brisket:

 

The Turley Zinfandel paired perfectly with this meat.  The big, bold flavors of the zin held up well against the equally big flavors from the meat, dry rub, and smoke.

 

 

 

***** Shameless Self Promotion *****

 

Here is a link to a YouTube video of me getting “coal” from Santa for being named the “Nicest Person in Social Media” in 2012.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOvQTeGR3-c

 

 

 

Breaking news from Klout:

 

 

 

 

Remember to support your local wine store!

 

 

 

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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!