Cliff's Wine Picks

 

 

2012 Louis Latour Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge

2014 Château Martinat Blanc Côtes de Bourg

2013 Michael-David Vineyards Syrah 6th Sense

2012 Murrieta’s Well The Spur

2009 Anthill Farms Syrah Peters Vineyard

2012 Sandler Wine Company Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch

 

 

 

2012 Louis Latour Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge – $41.99

This wine comes from vines with an average age of 30 years planted in chalk and clay soil.  The hand-picked grapes are fermented in traditional open vats and aged 10 to 12 months in French oak barrels, 35% new.

 

The wine is a light to medium ruby red color.  The inviting nose has black cherries, baking spices, earthy underbrush, dusty minerals and dried wildflowers.  This has medium body with soft to moderate tannins and very nice acidity.  On the palate cherries, minerals and baking spices come through on the front end with earthy underbrush coming in later.  The finish has good length with a nice dried floral note entering the picture.  This is drinking very nicely with a bit of air and should last in the cellar for several years.  This has 13.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (92 pts)

 

 

2014 Château Martinat Blanc Côtes de Bourg – $19.80

This is a blend of 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Sauvignon Gris from the commune of Teuillac.  The vines have an average age of 20 years.  The total production was a meager 5,000 bottles.

 

The wine is a very light yellow color with a slight green tint.  The fresh and appealing nose has apples, lemon zest, a spritz of grapefruit, crushed stones and white flowers.  This is barely medium body with great acidity and seems to be totally dry.  Tart apples, lemon zest and crushed stones greet the palate on the front end with grapefruit coming in on the backend.  The long finish leaves your mouth watering for another sip.  A superb bottle of wine.  (92 pts)  This has 13.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

 

 

2013 Michael-David Vineyards Syrah 6th Sense – $12.99

This wine is mostly Syrah with a touch of Petite Sirah.  The winery likes to add a bit of Petite Sirah to most of their wines.  I was jokingly told they would add it to their Chardonnay if they could.  This wine was aged 12 months in French oak barrels.

 

From the winery:

The Phillips brothers planted one of the first Syrah vineyards in California in 1982. With Michael’s son Kevin continuing the Phillips grape growing tradition into the 6th generation, this Syrah vineyard was one of the first he tended to as our Vineyard Manager. If you turn the bottle around you will see Kevin’s eye looking out from the inside of the bottle, making sure the wine is being enjoyed!

 

The wine is a deep purple color.  The intoxicating nose has blackberries, blueberries, asphalt, dark chocolate, fresh ground espresso beans, dry underbrush, licorice, violets and black pepper.  This has a full body with moderate ripe tannins and nice acidity.  This has massive berries and ground espresso beans on the front end with underbrush, dark chocolate and a big floral note coming in on the back end.  The finish is long and lingering with black pepper coming into play.  Not a lot of subtlety here but the big fruit and nice structure makes for a worthy companion for something hot off the grill.  This has 15.0% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  This is a steal for the price.  (89 pts)

 

 

2012 Murrieta’s Well The Spur – $16.99

For this wine, each varietal was fermented separately in upright stainless steel tanks with twice a day pump over.  Each varietal is then aged for 14 months in a mix of American, French, Eastern European and neutral barrels before being blended into the final product.

 

This is a blend of 33% Petite Sirah, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Petit Verdot, 4% Malbec and 3% Merlot from the Livermore Valley.  The wine is a medium ruby color.  The inviting nose has blackberries, cherries, baking spices, forest floor, dark roast coffee, violets and vanilla.  This has medium to full body with moderate tannins and nice acidity.  On the palate berries, cherries and baking spices jump out on the front end with nice earthiness and dark roast coffee coming in later.  The finish has nice length with a nice floral note entering the picture.  This has 13.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a twist off cap.  (89 pts)

 

 

2009 Anthill Farms Syrah Peters Vineyard – $28.00

From the winery:

Randy Peters and his father-in-law, Tom Mukaida, farm this vineyard outside of Sebastopol in western Sonoma County. The southern slopes of these hills form the northern edge of the Petaluma Gap, which rushes cool, marine air from the Pacific Ocean inland. These Syrah and Viognier vines, which Randy planted for us just a few years ago, occupy less than an acre at the lowest edge of this cool, foggy vineyard.

 

Even though Anthill Farms is more well known for their Pinot Noir wines, I love their cool-climate Syrahs.

 

The wine is a deep, dark maroon color.  The stimulating nose has blackberries, blueberries, white pepper, scorched earth, violets, roasted meat and crushed stone minerals.  This has medium body with moderate to solid tannins and very good acidity.  On the palate nice fruit, white pepper and minerals quickly jump out with scorched earth, meat and violets coming through on the back end.  The finish has very good length with fruit, minerals, dry earth and white pepper seeming to hang on forever.  This still tastes very young, additional cellar time will be rewarded.  This wouldn’t be too out of place in a tasting of higher end Northern Rhone wines.  This has 13.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (93 pts)

 

 

2012 Sandler Wine Company Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch – $25.00

This wine is 100% destemmed Pinot Noir that was aged 11 months in used French oak.

 

The wine is a nice ruby red color.  The sexy nose has cherries, earthy underbrush, warm baking spices, raspberries, dusty minerals, dried herbs and cocoa powder.  This has medium body with soft to moderate tanins and very good acidity.  On the palate nice fruit, spice and earthiness jump out on the front end with minerals coming in later.  The finish has good length with a hint of dried herbs providing depth.  This is a well balanced Pinot that is in a nice drinking window.  This will provide drinking pleasure for at least a few more years.  Very tasty stuff!  This has 14.4% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with an agglomerated cork.  (92 pts)

 

 

I am a big fan of the “Flash Wine Sale” site Last Bottle.  I highly recommend getting on their e-mail list.  Like most of the flash sale sites, they offer one wine per day until it sells out.  They also have a couple two-day marathons during the year.  Last Bottle is a great site to buy special wines at prices low enough to open any day of the week.

 

If you sign up using this link you will get a $10 credit that can be used on your first purchase.  I will also get a credit if you make a purchase.

 

Other than getting a credit as explained above, I have no financial interest in the site.  After you are on the list, you can also get the same credit by introducing friends to Last Bottle.

 

 

 

Connect with me

You can follow me on Twitter for more wine info, potential food pairings, and an occasional recipe or two.  Be warned, I’m also a sports fan and there are occasional Pittsburgh Penguins, Steelers, and Pirates tweets.  I attended the University of South Carolina, so during football season, there will also be some Gamecock posts.

 

If you like this post, consider joining Cliffs Wine Picks Wine Blog on Facebook and giving me a Like.

 

I post a lot more pictures and pairing suggestions on my Instagram account, consider joining me at https://www.instagram.com/cbbrown3/

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2016 Cliff’s Wine Picks.

All rights reserved.

 

 

 

***** 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:

 

 

Cliff’s Wine Picks mentions or other posts

Here are posts, newsletters, blogs or other articles that either mention this site or that I have written:

 

Click here or on the “Cliff’s Wine Picks On Other Sites” link in the top right corner to see links to other sites that either have my reviews, my thoughts or other posts I have written.

 

 

 

Remember to support your local wine store!

 

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

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 always check out the sale and close out items when in a store.  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!