Cliff's Wine Picks

 

2011 Bokisch Vineyards Garnacha Terra Alta Vineyard

Charles & Alphrede (Ch. & A.) Prieur Champagne Grand Prieur Reserve Brut

2008 Duckhorn Vineyards Cabernet Franc Estate Grown Patzimaro Vineyard Napa Valley

2007 Novy Family Wines Syrah Garys’ Vineyard

2016 Domaine Fontanyl Côtes de Provence Rosé

2014 La Crema Pinot Noir Monterey

 

 

 

2011 Bokisch Vineyards Garnacha Terra Alta Vineyard – $12.12

This bottle was purchased from Last Bottle wines, my favorite “flash” wine site.  If you use the provided link and sign up, you get an immediate credit and I get a credit if/when you make a purchase.  Check them out, they have awesome deals and their Marathons are always something special.

 

Markus Bokisch was raised in California but spent his childhood summers in Spain with his family.  In 1992 Liz & Markus Bokisch moved to Spain and worked in the Spanish wine industry.  Upon returning to California, they quickly purchased the Terra Alta Vineyards property.  Using the connections they formed while living and working in Spain, they began importing “budwood” and planted the Las Cerezas Vineyard.  They produced their first vintage under the Bokisch label on 2001.

 

The wine is a bright ruby red color.  The enticing nose has cherries, crushed blackberries, baking spices, white pepper, crushed stone minerals, dried violets and dry underbrush.  This has medium body with soft to moderate ripe tannins and decent acidity.  On the palate ripe cherries, berries and white pepper come through on the front end with dried flowers, baking spices and minerals coming in later.  The finish has good length with cherries and dry underbrush carrying the load.  This is in a prime drinking window and should hold for a few years.  This is another wine that shows the diversity and quality of wines being produced in Lodi.  This wine is a steal at the SRP of $20.  This wine has 14.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (91 pts)

 

 

 

Charles & Alphrede (Ch. & A.) Prieur Champagne Grand Prieur Reserve Brut – $28.91

This bottle was also purchased from Last Bottle wines, my favorite “flash” wine site.  If you use the provided link and sign up, you get an immediate credit and I get a credit if/when you make a purchase.  Check them out, they have awesome deals and their Marathons are always something special.

 

This is a blend of 45% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 25% Pinot Meunier (including 30% of reserve wine).  This was aged for at least 3 years before disgorgement and at least 3 months afterwards.

 

The wine is a light yellow-straw color with several streams of pinpoint sized bubbles.  The enticing nose has apples, lemon zest, stony minerals, yeasty bread and light nuttiness.  This is crisp and dry on the palate with nice effervescence.  On the palate tart apples, minerals and lemon zest grab your attention immediately with yeast bread coming in later.  The lingering finish add a nutty note.  This is a very nice bottle of Champagne that is perfect of any day of the week but it will not be out of place at a special occasion.  This has 12.0% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a standard Champagne cork.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2008 Duckhorn Vineyards Cabernet Franc Estate Grown Patzimaro Vineyard Napa Valley – $38.75

This bottle was also purchased from Last Bottle wines, my favorite “flash” wine site.  If you use the provided link and sign up, you get an immediate credit and I get a credit if/when you make a purchase.  Check them out, they have awesome deals and their Marathons are always something special.

 

This wine is a blend of 84% Cabernet Franc and 16% Cabernet Sauvignon.  The wine was aged in 100% new French oak Chateau-style 60 gallon barrels.

 

The wine is a deep ruby red color.  The enjoyable nose has cassis, cedar, dusty minerals, roasted herbs, baking spices, cherries, white pepper and a touch of dark chocolate.  This has medium body with moderate to solid tannins and very good acidity.  On the palate cassis, cedar, minerals and baking spices jump out quickly with roasted herbs and white pepper coming in on the back end.  The finish has decent length with cedar and dark chocolate providing depth.  The only negative is the herbs turn a touch green on the finish.  All in all, a very good wine with a piece of juicy meat hot off the grill.  This has 14.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (89 pts)

 

 

 

2007 Novy Family Wines Syrah Garys’ Vineyard – $33

This wine was one of my favorite California Syrahs.  It was a sad day when the winery was sold.

 

The wine is a deep, dark ruby to purple color.  The very enticing nose has blackberries, licorice, smoked meat, black pepper, baking spices, blueberry, dried herbs, minerals and dark chocolate.  This has medium to full body with moderate tannins and very nice acidity.  Spicy fruit with a nice meaty presence grabs hold of your palate with pepper and some earthiness coming in later.  This has a nice lingering finish which again highlights the meaty elements with chocolate and fruit in the background providing nice sweetness.  This is very nice with impressive balance.  This wine has 14.2% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (93 pts)

 

 

 

2016 Domaine Fontanyl Côtes de Provence Rosé – $10.74

I believe this is a wine directly imported by Total Wine.  As is usually the case with these wines, there isn’t very much information available.  In this case, I couldn’t even find the specific grapes that were used to produce the wine.

 

The wine is a pink salmon color.  The appealing nose has strawberries, melon, orange blossoms, stony minerals, cantaloupe, lime zest and a touch of dry underbrush.  This has medium body with crisp acidity and seems to be totally dry.  On the palate strawberries, melon and minerals come through on the front end with orange blossoms coming in on the back end.  The finish has decent length with a touch of lime zest providing some depth.  This is tasty and very food friendly but could use a bit more complexity.  This has 13% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with an agglomerated cork.  (88 pts)

 

 

 

2014 La Crema Pinot Noir Monterey – $15.09

This is 100% Pinot Noir from the Monterey appellation in California.  After a three day cold soak, the grapes were “punched down” three times a day during fermentation.  After fermentation was completed the wine was aged for 8 months in 100% French oak barrels, 17% being new.  After aging, the barrels were blended and bottled.

 

The wine is a bright ruby red color.  The comforting nose has black cherries, flinty minerals, forest floor, cola, tart red cherries and baking spices.  This has medium body with soft to moderate tannins and good acidity.  On the palate black cherries, minerals and baking spices come out on the front end with forest floor and a touch of cola coming in later.  The finish has nice length with tart cherries providing some needed depth.  Not a lot of complexity but that doesn’t make it less tasty.  This has 13.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with an agglomerated cork.  (88 pts)

 

 

 

 

 

I am a big fan of the “Flash Wine Sale” site Last Bottle.  You probably noticed some of the wines in this post were purchased from the site.  All of these wines were purchased at a big discount.  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.

 

 

 

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Cheers!

 

 

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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 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!