Cliffs Wine Picks – March 2019 Vol 1

2015 Cornerstone Cellars Pinot Noir

2013 Terra d’Oro Winery Barbera

2016 Turley Sauvignon Blanc Turley Estate

2012 Uvaggio (L’Uvaggio di Giacomo) Barbera

Paul Bara Champagne Grand Cru Brut Réserve

2007 Agharta Wines Black Label

2015 Cornerstone Cellars Pinot Noir – $19

This was a “steal” from Last Bottle wines, my favorite “flash” wine site. If you use the provided link and sign up, you get an immediate $10 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. The winery’s price for this wine is $50, do the math. After using some of my credits, I actually bought this wine for a ridiculous $10.52 a bottle. Check out Last Bottle, sign up and then get your friends to sign up and you’ll be able to score the same steals.

This 100% Pinot Noir is a blend of grapes from a wide array of vineyards and clones all over the Willamette Valley.

The wine is a medium ruby red color. The elegant nose has black cherries, raspberries, baking spices, cocoa powder, dry earth, white pepper and wild flowers. This has medium body with soft to moderate tannins and very nice acidity. On the palate bright fruit, baling spices and cocoa powder jump out on the front end with dry earth and white pepper coming in later. The finish has good length with a nice floral note providing depth. This carries no excess weight and shows great balance. This would be a crowd pleaser, the upfront fruit will appeal to casual wine drinkers but there is enough savory notes on the back end and finish to appeal to most of the people reading this note. This has 14.1% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with an agglomerated cork. (90 pts)

2015 Cornerstone Cellars Pinot Noir

2013 Terra d’Oro Winery Barbera – $10.19

This Terra d’Oro Barbera was fermented in stainless steel before being aged for 15 months in small French and Hungarian oak barrels.

The wine is a deep ruby red color. The inviting nose has blackberries, baking spices, cherries, licorice, dry earth, dark chocolate and blueberries. This has medium body with soft to moderate smooth tannins and very nice acidity. On the palate berries, cherries and baking spices dominate the front end with earthy elements and dark chocolate coming in on the back end. The finish has nice length with blueberries providing some depth. This is a bit lacking in complexity but the nice fruit and spice make it easy to drink and enjoy. This has 13.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork. (89 pts)

2013 Terra d’Oro Winery Barbera

2016 Turley Sauvignon Blanc Turley Estate – $28

This will be my first white wine from Turley. I normally have a hard time limiting myself to a case of their zinfandel and petite sirah wines, but in this release, I stashed a couple bottles of their sauvignon blanc in my case.

This is a light golden straw color. The mesmerizing nose has white peach, apples, lemongrass, crushed stone minerals and beeswax. This has medium body with a creamy texture and very nice acidity. On the palate nice fruit and minerals come through on the front end with lemongrass and beeswax coming in later. The finish has good length with mouthwatering lime zest forcing you to grab another sip. This has great balance and it is extremely easy to sip and enjoy. This has 13.1% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork. (92 pts)

2016 Turley Sauvignon Blanc Turley Estate

2012 Uvaggio (L’Uvaggio di Giacomo) Barbera – $10

The man behind Uvaggio is Jim Moore. If you remember the old La Famiglia di Robert Mondavi label from many years ago, Jim was the wine maker and driving force behind those wonderful wines.

This 100% Lodi AVA wine is a blend of 98% Barbera from the Leventini Vineyard and 2% Primitivo from the Bella Vigna Vineyard.

The wine is a deep garnet color. The very inviting nose has cherries, plums, baking spices, white pepper, dry loam, vanilla bean, raspberries and violets. This has medium body with soft tannins and good acidity. On the palate the rich fruit and spice jump out on the front end with nice earthiness and white pepper coming in later. The finish has nice length with vanilla bean, raspberries and a floral note providing good depth. This wouldn’t be mistaken for an Italian Barbera but who cares. This has nice upfront fruit with enough savory notes to keep it very interesting. Barbera is another grape that is producing very tasty wines in Lodi. I liked this more and more as the evening turned into night. Great job. This has 13.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with an agglomerated cork. (92 pts)

2012 Uvaggio (L’Uvaggio di Giacomo) Barbera

Paul Bara Champagne Grand Cru Brut Réserve – $29.29

This was another “steal” from Last Bottle wines, my favorite “flash” wine site. If you use the provided link and sign up, you get an immediate $10 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 was picked up at a Last Bottle Marathon, always a great source for special wines at every day prices. See below for information on the site and a discount on your first purchase.

I can’t find, with 100% confidence, the exact blend of grapes for this wine but it appears to be 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. I should note, I have even seen this noted as 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir. This means, your guess is as good as mine.

This is a light golden straw color with a steady stream of pinpoint sized, persistent bubbles. The festive nose has tart apples, lemon zest, stony minerals, toasted yeasty bread, orange blossoms, white peach and a hint of berries. This has light to medium body with great effervescence, crisp acidity and just a touch of sweetness. On the palate apples, minerals, orange blossoms and lemon zest quickly take control with a hint of white peach and berries slipping in on the back end. The finish has good length and is crisp and clean thanks to lemony acidity. This is a joy to sip on its’ own or with a light meal. This has 12.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a standard Champagne cork. (92 pts)

Paul Bara Champagne Grand Cru Brut Réserve

2007 Agharta Wines Black Label – $41.39

This was another “steal” from Last Bottle wines, my favorite “flash” wine site. If you use the provided link and sign up, you get an immediate $10 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. I know the wine’s release price was $75 because I bought a couple bottles from the winery upon release.

First some info for the wine geeks from the winery:

This wine spent 57 months in barrel, 55% was new French oak. The final selection process yielded only a 20 barrel-lot, which is composed of 100% Alder Springs fruit. Eleven of the selected barrels were new in 2007, from coopers Darnajou, Ermitage, François Frère & Meyrieux, the remaining barrels were of varying ages, but all were essentially neutral when the wine went into them. Four of the barrels were co-fermented with Viognier and they were clearly loaded with a succulent lift in their aromas. Only two of the barrels came from fruit that was de-stemmed. The freshest and most concentrated barrels included 100% whole-clusters, with some of the more open knit and exotic barrels having received some partial de-stemming, giving them some more evolved and exotic characteristics, that worked well in the final blend.

This is 98% Syrah and 2% Viognier. 85% were whole-cluster.

The wine is a deep, inky purple color. The sexy nose has blackberries, blueberries, charcoal, dark bittersweet chocolate, road tar, plums, violets, licorice and black pepper. This has a full body with moderate to solid tannins and good acidity. A barrage of berries, charcoal, dark chocolate and road tar quickly engulf your palate on the front end with plums, charcoal and black pepper coming in later. The long finish adds licorice and a nice floral note. This is a loaded wine but with the structure and savory notes that keep it out of the “fruit bomb” category. This isn’t for you if you are looking for a lighter style of nuanced wine. This will last in the cellar for several more years but I wouldn’t plan on cellaring it for an extended length of time, this needs opened before the acidity and tannin levels decrease to the point they can’t support the body and flavor, figure 5 to 7 more years. This has 15.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork. (94 pts)

2007 Agharta Wines Black Label

A few meals paired with a couple of the wines.

Other meals that were paired with all the wines for the week are usually posted on my Instagram account, Cliff’s Wine Picks Instagram. If you want a specific recipe, send an e-mail to Cliff @ CliffsWinePicks . com. Obviously, remove the spaces.

I paired the 2007 Agharta Wines Black Label with slow simmered short ribs and gravy over mashed potatoes with a yeast roll and green beans we froze from last summer’s garden.

The 2015 Cornerstone Cellars Pinot Noir was paired with a new recipe, Creamy Ranch Chicken, and fresh picked broccoli from our “winter” garden.

How can you go wrong having a pepperoni and Italian sausage pizza with a bottle of 2012 Uvaggio (L’Uvaggio di Giacomo) Barbera

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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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.