Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week.  This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

 

 

 

 

Overview

Who doesn’t love a glass of good Italian wine with a meal?  Italian wines all seem to have one thing in common, great natural acidity.  This acidity makes these wines some of the most food friendly wines out there.  Just like everywhere, good Italian wines can be costly.  Luckily, there are some very reasonably priced wines out there, besides Chianti, that can help provide a pleasing change of pace from your normal wine drinking routine.  Two very versatile grapes to seek out are Barbera and the basis for this post, Dolcetto.

 

 

The Winery

The history of the Poderi (estates) Luigi Einaudi started in 1897, when Luigi Einaudi, still only 23 years old, acquired the farmhouse ‘San Giacomo’ in the burgh of Dogliani surrounded by 40 Piedmontese giornate of vineyards (40 acres). The family Einaudi inherited the passion of continuous improvement of their vineyards.

 

San Giacomo represents the heart of the business, the first acquisition of the 23 year old Luigi Einaudi; this became his home, within which he created a great and famous library. Here there are the first vineyards which Einaudi replanted at the beginning of the 20th century, after the devastation caused by the Filossera.

 

This is the place of memories and teachings which even today are part of the Einaudi family life. The vineyards surrounding the house cover a little more than 10 hectares: 80% are dedicated to Dolcetto while the remaining 20% to Merlot and Barbera. The average altitude is around 350 mts and the aspect is mostly South, South West.

 

This land, like all the other purchased by Luigi Einaudi, is the result of his vision and determination to find the best position in an era when this was possible and which today underlines his foresight.

 

With the same passion and enthusiasm the family is following this vision, with acquisitions which lead to the production of wines of the highest quality.

 

 

Dolcetto – The Grape

Dolcetto is a black Italian wine grape variety widely grown in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy.  The Italian word dolcetto means “little sweet one”, but it is not certain that the name originally carried any reference to the grape’s sugar levels: it is possible that it derives from the name of the hills where the vine is cultivated.  In any case the wines produced are nearly always dry.  They can be tannic and fruity with moderate, or decidedly low, levels of acidity and are typically meant to be consumed one to two years after release.

 

The New York Times had a very nice primer on Italian Dolcetto wines titled, “Wines of the Times – A Shy Italian, Made for Everyday”.  The story is available by clicking here.

 

 

 

 

2011 Poderi Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto di Dogliani – $15.19

I enjoy a nice Italian Dolcetto, they are just not that easy to find around here.  I had enjoyed this wine in past vintages so when a local wine store offered this vintage on an e-mail offer, I had to grab several bottles.

 

This wine has decent distribution in this country.  If you can’t find this wine in your area, there are several online retailers that carry the wine.  Click here to check out some of the online stores that carry this wine.  The release price is $20, but you can generally find it for a couple dollars less.

 

This wine has 13.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a medium to dark ruby color.  The inviting nose has plum, black cherry, dusty minerals, licorice, cocoa powder and wildflowers.  This has medium body, soft to moderate tannins and good acidity.  On the palate nice fruit and minerals hit first, followed by cocoa.  The finish has decent length with a floral note coming into focus.  This is easy to pair with food but is also tasty on its own.  (90 pts)

 

 

 

Win an All-inclusive VIP Sonoma Winecation

 

 

Underground Cellar is offering you a chance to win an all-inclusive VIP weekend in Sonoma wine country.

 

The winner will get the following with a value of $6,500:

• Weekend getaway for 4 to California’s exclusive Sonoma wine country
• Stay at the luxurious 5,500 sq. ft. Villa Terra Nova Retreat
• Behind-the-scenes private tour of Iron Horse Vineyards, by winemaker David Munskgard
• VIP chef’s dinner at award-winning “the girl and the fig” restaurant
• Rountrip airfare, luxury transportation, and many other surprises!

Click here to enter.   If you win, you can even include me as one of your friends.

Even if you don’t win the grand prize, there is over $3,000 of gift cards with a value of up to $200 to be given away.

 

While you’re there, check out Underground Cellar unique wine selling model.  You can “buy” a lower cost wine and get upgraded to a much more expensive bottle for free.  For example, one of their current offers is $42 for a 2008 Balboa Brioso.  If you buy this wine, you could get “upgraded” to 2007 Stonestreet Monument Ridge Cabernet ($60 value), 2009 Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet ($85 value), 2007 Anderson’s Conn Valley Reserve Cabernet ($130 value), 1994 Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon ($150 value), or even a 1985 BR Cohn Cabernet Sauvignon Olive Hill (Helen Turley) with a value of $220.

 

The shipping is also incredible, at 6 bottles, shipping cost $5! Buy 6 more bottles and ship for FREE.

 

 

 

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.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 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:

 

Snooth

WINES WE’VE LOVED!  Our Favorite Wine Writers Share Their Picks

http://www.snooth.com/articles/wines-we-yve-loved/?viewall=1#ixzz2yOsinkhN

 

Snooth

OUR FAVORITE REDS FOR SPRING – The Wine Cognoscenti Recommend

http://www.snooth.com/articles/our-favorite-reds-for-spring/?viewall=1#ixzz2xkH0dfSj

 

Snooth

WHAT’S A GREAT GRENACHE? – Our Friendly Wine Experts Share Their Favorites!

http://www.snooth.com/articles/what-ys-a-great-grenache-5209/

 

Snooth

SPRING TIME IS FOR PAIRING – Our Favorite Wine Writers Share Their Picks

http://www.snooth.com/articles/spring-time-is-for-pairing/

 

Balzac

Balzac Communications & Marketing – News & Views

http://balzaccommunications.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/y/948F113D27729D90/DF475947E7F379DE2A1BF84ACBDD178B

 

Snooth

WHAT WE’VE BEEN DRINKING – News and Reviews from Around the Blogosphere

http://www.snooth.com/articles/what-we-yve-been-drinking/?viewall=1#ixzz2vy4idw7a

 

Snooth

WINES THAT RANG OUR BELL IN FEBRUARY 2014 – Our Favorite Wine Writers Share Their Picks

http://www.snooth.com/articles/wines-that-rang-our-bell-in-february-2014/?viewall=1#ixzz2vy4DCh5L

 

Crave Local

California Wine Reviews: Cline Cellars and Jacuzzi Family Vineyard

http://www.cravelocal.com/all-favorites/california-wine-reviews-cline-cellars-and-jacuzzi-family-vineyard/

 

Crave Local

Sample Boutique Wines at Affordable Prices with Tastingroom.com

http://www.cravelocal.com/all-favorites/sample-boutique-wines-at-affordable-prices-with-tastingroom-com/

 

 

 

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 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!

 

 

 

Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week.  This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

 

 

 

 

Overview

I was introduced to Belle Pente by a local friend.  After having a bottle he picked up at the winery for me, I was hooked.  When he received an offer from the winery for their newly released wines, we split a case of this wine at a great discount.

 

 

The Winery

Belle Pente (bell-pont’) means “beautiful slope” – a perfect description for our hillside vineyard site in the Yamhill-Carlton District of Oregon’s Willamette Valley.  Our inspiration comes from the exquisite wines of Burgundy and Alsace, and follows the guiding principle that great wine is made in the vineyard and merely nurtured in the winery.  Our standard practices include organic & biodynamic viticulture, carefully managing vineyard quality and yields, and meticulously hand sorting the grapes that arrive at the winery to remove all under ripe or damaged fruit.  Our 3-level, gravity-flow winery is designed for gentle, natural winemaking in small lots, with minimal handling and manipulation, to produce premium wines of character and distinction.

 

Belle Pente is owned and operated by Jill & Brian O’Donnell.  The 70 acre property is located on a historic farm 2 miles east of the town of Carlton in the new Yamhill-Carlton American Viticultural Area.  The vineyard site rises from 240′ to 500′ with south, south-east, and south-west exposures.  The first vineyard was planted in 1994, and now includes 16 acres of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay.  Our estate vineyard is supplemented with high quality fruit grown to our specifications in partnership with carefully selected independent Yamhill County vineyards.

 

For more information on the winery and their wines, visit their website by clicking here.

 

 

 

 

I’m not sure of the availability but the winery has a couple of nice “Instant Cellar Packages” listed on their website.  One package is 3 bottles of the 2007 to 2010 vintages; the other is 2 bottles each of 2005 to 2010.  For more information, check out their website.

 

The winery does not have nationwide distribution but their wines are distributed in 14 states and the District of Columbia.  Check out their website to see if your state is one of the lucky ones.  If your state does not have distribution, the wines are available via their website.  Their wines are also available at various stores on the internet; use Wine Searcher to find them.

 

2008 Belle Pente Pinot Noir Estate Reserve – $38.25

This wine is based on the best barrels selected from the best blocks in the vineyard.

 

The wine has 13.8% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a nice red to ruby red color.  The very nice nose has cherries, baking spices (think cherry pie), some earthiness, fresh wild flowers, minerals, smoke, orange zest and a touch of dark chocolate.  This has medium body, fairly solid ripe tannins, and good acidity.  This is fresh and lively on the palate with the cherries and spices carrying the load until some earthy elements come into the picture on the backend adding depth.  The finish is long and easy going with the bright cherries and spice again doing the heavy lifting but a nice orange zest element also enters the picture.  This may be on the young side but it is very approachable and enjoyable, which really is all that counts.  (94 pts)

 

 

 

Win an All-inclusive VIP Sonoma Winecation

 

 

 

 

Underground Cellar is offering you a chance to win an all-inclusive VIP weekend in Sonoma wine country.

 

The winner will get the following with a value of $6,500:

• Weekend getaway for 4 to California’s exclusive Sonoma wine country
• Stay at the luxurious 5,500 sq. ft. Villa Terra Nova Retreat
• Behind-the-scenes private tour of Iron Horse Vineyards, by winemaker David Munskgard
• VIP chef’s dinner at award-winning “the girl and the fig” restaurant
• Rountrip airfare, luxury transportation, and many other surprises!

Click here to enter.   If you win, you can even include me as one of your friends.

Even if you don’t win the grand prize, there is over $3,000 of gift cards with a value of up to $200 to be given away.

 

While you’re there, check out Underground Cellar unique wine selling model.  You can “buy” a lower cost wine and get upgraded to a much more expensive bottle for free.  For example, one of their current offers is $42 for a 2008 Balboa Brioso.  If you buy this wine, you could get “upgraded” to 2007 Stonestreet Monument Ridge Cabernet ($60 value), 2009 Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet ($85 value), 2007 Anderson’s Conn Valley Reserve Cabernet ($130 value), 1994 Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon ($150 value), or even a 1985 BR Cohn Cabernet Sauvignon Olive Hill (Helen Turley) with a value of $220.

 

The shipping is also incredible, at 6 bottles, shipping cost $5! Buy 6 more bottles and ship for FREE.

 

 

 

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.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 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:

 

Snooth

OUR FAVORITE REDS FOR SPRING – The Wine Cognoscenti Recommend

http://www.snooth.com/articles/our-favorite-reds-for-spring/?viewall=1#ixzz2xkH0dfSj

 

Snooth

WHAT’S A GREAT GRENACHE? – Our Friendly Wine Experts Share Their Favorites!

http://www.snooth.com/articles/what-ys-a-great-grenache-5209/

 

Snooth

SPRING TIME IS FOR PAIRING – Our Favorite Wine Writers Share Their Picks

http://www.snooth.com/articles/spring-time-is-for-pairing/

 

Balzac

Balzac Communications & Marketing – News & Views

http://balzaccommunications.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/y/948F113D27729D90/DF475947E7F379DE2A1BF84ACBDD178B

 

Snooth

WHAT WE’VE BEEN DRINKING – News and Reviews from Around the Blogosphere

http://www.snooth.com/articles/what-we-yve-been-drinking/?viewall=1#ixzz2vy4idw7a

 

Snooth

WINES THAT RANG OUR BELL IN FEBRUARY 2014 – Our Favorite Wine Writers Share Their Picks

http://www.snooth.com/articles/wines-that-rang-our-bell-in-february-2014/?viewall=1#ixzz2vy4DCh5L

 

Crave Local

California Wine Reviews: Cline Cellars and Jacuzzi Family Vineyard

http://www.cravelocal.com/all-favorites/california-wine-reviews-cline-cellars-and-jacuzzi-family-vineyard/

 

Crave Local

Sample Boutique Wines at Affordable Prices with Tastingroom.com

http://www.cravelocal.com/all-favorites/sample-boutique-wines-at-affordable-prices-with-tastingroom-com/

 

 

 

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 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!

 

 

 

Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week.  This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

 

 

 

 

Overview

One Point Five takes its name from the term “a generation and a half,” coined by John and Doug Shafer to describe their long father-and-son partnership.  Since 1983 this family team has worked side by side to manage their Stags Leap District winery.

 

 

The Winery

Shafer Vineyards traces its beginnings to 1972 when John Shafer left a 23-year career in the publishing industry and, with his family, moved to the Napa Valley to pursue a second career in wine. After purchasing a 210-acre estate in Napa Valley’s Stags Leap District, the Shafer family faced the arduous task of replanting the existing vineyards, which dated to the 1920s, and terracing the steep and rocky hillsides, eventually expanding vineyard acreage to its current 50 acres.

 

Evolving from grape growers to vintners, the Shafers crushed their first Cabernet grapes in 1978 and began construction on their winery a year later.

 

The first Shafer Cabernet became a benchmark, winning the acclaimed San Francisco Vintners Club taste-off upon release and, over a decade later taking first place in an international blind tasting held in Germany, where it outranked such wines as Chateau Margaux, Chateau Latour and Chateau Palmer.

 

Doug Shafer became winemaker in 1983 after graduating from the University of California at Davis with a degree in enology and viticulture. A year later Elias Fernandez joined the winery as assistant winemaker. Together Doug and Elias have worked closely to forge the Shafer style of quality, consistency and elegance.

 

New vineyards have been added over the years, with acreage acquired in the Oak Knoll, Stags Leap and Carneros districts, bringing the total Shafer vineyard acreage to over 200 acres. Winery facilities have been expanded and extensive caves carved into the hillside for aging wine.

 

In 1994, Elias was appointed winemaker, and Doug took over the reins as president when John became chairman of the board.

 

From a modest beginning of 1,000 cases in 1978, the winery has grown steadily until reaching its present size of 32,000 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Syrah. Today Shafer wines are available in major markets nationwide and in many foreign markets.

 

Much more information on the winery and its history is available on their website by clicking here.  I’d also recommend checking out the recipes from Annette Shafer by clicking here.

 

 

 

 

2010 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five – $54.99

This vintage of wine is sold out at the winery, but I see several online retailers with it for around $70.

 

The suggested price for the current release of this wine, the 2011 vintage, is $75, and again I see several retailers with it available for around $70.

 

Based on these prices, you should be able to easily see why I had to grab a few bottles of this wine when the local wine store had it on sale.

 

While this wine is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon every vintage, the breakdown of the “supporting” grapes change every vintage.  In this vintage 1% Petit Verdot was added to the Cabernet.  The grapes for this wine come predominately from two Stags Leap District sites, Shafer’s hillside estate vineyard and the “Borderline” vineyard located about two miles south of the winery.

 

The alcohol is 15.3% by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a nice, deep ruby color.  The stunning nose has cassis, tobacco, minerals, dark chocolate, cedar, eucalyptus, violets and warm baking spices.  This has medium to full body, solid tannins and very good acidity.  On the palate the rich fruit and solid savory elements merge with the chewy tannins and acidity to yield a mouth full of pleasure.  This is very young but stunning with some air.  Is there a better bargain out there for a top end Napa Cabernet?  I’m glad I grabbed several for this price at the local store.  (94 pts)

 

 

 

Win an All-inclusive VIP Sonoma Winecation

 

 

Underground Cellar is offering you a chance to win an all-inclusive VIP weekend in Sonoma wine country.

 

The winner will get the following with a value of $6,500:

• Weekend getaway for 4 to California’s exclusive Sonoma wine country
• Stay at the luxurious 5,500 sq. ft. Villa Terra Nova Retreat
• Behind-the-scenes private tour of Iron Horse Vineyards, by winemaker David Munskgard
• VIP chef’s dinner at award-winning “the girl and the fig” restaurant
• Rountrip airfare, luxury transportation, and many other surprises!

Click here to enter.   If you win, you can even include me as one of your friends.

Even if you don’t win the grand prize, there is over $3,000 of gift cards with a value of up to $200 to be given away.

 

While you’re there, check out Underground Cellar unique wine selling model.  You can “buy” a lower cost wine and get upgraded to a much more expensive bottle for free.  For example, one of their current offers is $42 for a 2008 Balboa Brioso.  If you buy this wine, you could get “upgraded” to 2007 Stonestreet Monument Ridge Cabernet ($60 value), 2009 Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet ($85 value), 2007 Anderson’s Conn Valley Reserve Cabernet ($130 value), 1994 Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon ($150 value), or even a 1985 BR Cohn Cabernet Sauvignon Olive Hill (Helen Turley) with a value of $220.

 

The shipping is also incredible, at 6 bottles, shipping cost $5! Buy 6 more bottles and ship for FREE.

 

 

 

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.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 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:

 

Snooth

WHAT’S A GREAT GRENACHE? – Our Friendly Wine Experts Share Their Favorites!

http://www.snooth.com/articles/what-ys-a-great-grenache-5209/

 

Snooth

SPRING TIME IS FOR PAIRING – Our Favorite Wine Writers Share Their Picks

http://www.snooth.com/articles/spring-time-is-for-pairing/

 

Balzac

Balzac Communications & Marketing – News & Views

http://balzaccommunications.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/y/948F113D27729D90/DF475947E7F379DE2A1BF84ACBDD178B

 

Snooth

WHAT WE’VE BEEN DRINKING – News and Reviews from Around the Blogosphere

http://www.snooth.com/articles/what-we-yve-been-drinking/?viewall=1#ixzz2vy4idw7a

 

Snooth

WINES THAT RANG OUR BELL IN FEBRUARY 2014 – Our Favorite Wine Writers Share Their Picks

http://www.snooth.com/articles/wines-that-rang-our-bell-in-february-2014/?viewall=1#ixzz2vy4DCh5L

 

Crave Local

California Wine Reviews: Cline Cellars and Jacuzzi Family Vineyard

http://www.cravelocal.com/all-favorites/california-wine-reviews-cline-cellars-and-jacuzzi-family-vineyard/

 

Crave Local

Sample Boutique Wines at Affordable Prices with Tastingroom.com

http://www.cravelocal.com/all-favorites/sample-boutique-wines-at-affordable-prices-with-tastingroom-com/

 

 

 

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 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!

 

 

 

Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week.  This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

The Winery

Aalto is a joint project founded by Mariano García, chief winemarker of thirty years at perhaps the most famous Ribera del Duero brand, Vega Sicilia, and Javier Zaccagnini, former head of Consejo Regulador de Ribera del Duero.  The cooperation that started in 1998 has in the meantime received tremendous attention of the wine enthusiasts of the world and a multitude of praise from the experts.  Ribera del Duero, next to Rioja, is one of the distinguished wine appellations of Spain, specializing in producing excellent wines using the local variety called Tinto Fino (resembling Tempranillo).  Aalto manages over 40 hectares of old vineyards (between 50 and 100 years of age) in the at the altitude of 700 to 850 meters.

 

After 10 years, the winery is considered a leader in the Ribera del Duero and has obtained the highest reviews in many tastings.  Top scores include three 98 point-ratings from The Wine Advocate, and twice being named Best Wine of Spain, as selected by Michel Bettane and Thiery Dessauve’s book of the Best 100 Wineries of the World.

 

 

2004 Bodegas AAlto Ribera del Duero AAlto – $31.67

This wine is 100% Tempranillo from my favorite wine region in Spain, Ribera Del Duero.

 

This has 15.0% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

 

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep maroon, dark color.  The stunning nose has blackberry liqueur, melted licorice, warm baking spices, cedar, dark bittersweet chocolate, some earthy underbrush, and a nice floral note.  This has medium to full body, fairly solid tannins, and good acidity.  On the palate the wine is rich and plush with spicy berries, dark chocolate, and some earthiness.  The finish is long and loaded with spicy fruit and dark chocolate.  This tastes outstanding today, but may get even better with some additional cellar time.  (94 pts)

 

 

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.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 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:

 

 

 

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 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!

 

 

 

Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week.  This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

 

 

 

The Winery

In the winery’s words – We are a small Sonoma County winery specializing in the production of old-vine, vineyard designated zinfandels and red Rhone varieties (syrah, grenache, mourvèdre, and petite sirah).  While we like our wines to be bold, rich, and intensely flavored, each reflecting a sense of place, its origins in the vineyard, we also strive to create wines of balance, complexity, and perhaps most importantly, pleasure.

 

Rich.  Lusty.  Hedonistic.  These are some of the descriptors we often hear applied to our wines.  However, we also hear the words elegant, balanced, complex.  Yes, through hard work in the vineyard and winery, we believe you can have it all, the best of both worlds.  Our approach to winemaking is simple, yet difficult.  We prefer to intervene in nature’s process as little as possible but we will leave no stone unturned in our quest to maximize the quality of each wine we produce.

 

In my words – This is the one mailing list you have to join.  Mike Officer makes some of the best wines coming out of California and sells them at incredibly reasonable prices.  I was lucky to be an early fan of the winery and was able to join the mailing list immediately.  For the unlucky people who were not able to jump on early, the mailing list is full.  The winery actually has a waiting list to get on the mailing list.  No one can accurately say how long it will actually take to move from the waiting list to the mailing list for one very good reason…no one, or probably more accurately, very few people drop off the list.  These are usually outstanding wines and with their pricing, these are some of the best QPR wines out there.

 

 

The Wine

Mother Nature blessed Papera Ranch with both quality and quantity in 2009, providing us with a wine that rivals our much-lauded 2007.  If you are a fan of what we have done with this vineyard the last few years, I encourage you to take advantage of the quantity available.  The grapes were picked October 10^th, fermented indigenously and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

 

Papera Ranch® (Formerly Carlo’s Ranch) – RussianRiverValley

Just a stone’s throw from Carlisle Vineyard, this “grand dame” of the Russian River Valley was planted in 1934 by Charley (Carlo) Papera.  Given its cool location, this vineyard is typically picked in late October.

 

If you would like to join the waiting list to get on the Carlisle mailing list, click here.

 

 

Here is what an “old vine” Zinfandel looks like:

 

 

2009 Carlisle Zinfandel Papera Ranch – $37.00

Papera, Montafi and the Carlisle Vineyards are my favorite sources of Carlisle Zinfandels.  This vineyard was planted in 1934 and is unusual for an old vineyard in that it is planted to over 95% Zinfandel.  Most old vineyards have a much higher percentage of other grapes planted.

 

This 100% Zinfandel has 15.4% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  There were 779 cases of the wine produced.

 

There is no need to try and find the 2010 vintage of this wine.  After a few months of cool weather, a day of sweltering heat on August 24^th wiped out the entire crop.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark, opaque purple color.  The nose is absolutely stunning on this wine, it’s full of brambly berries, warm baking spices, licorice, minerals, roasted herbs, dried wild flowers, plums, well worn leather and freshly cracked black peppercorns.  This has a full body, moderate ripe tannins and good acidity.  On the palate this is balanced, dense, rich and full of layers that slowly fade so the next one can take over.  The flavor profile is loaded on this wine with a very nice mixture of fruit and savory elements.  The finish is very long and again full of flavor.  There are absolutely no rough edges or over powering elements on this wine.  It is drinking wonderfully today and will continue to do so for a few more years.  Stunning!  (95 pts)

 

 

We paired the Carlisle Zin with a fairly simple meal, grilled barbecue chicken, potato salad and at my insistence, deviled eggs.

 

 

 

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.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 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:

 

 

 

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 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!

 

 

 

Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week.  This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something new or interesting.

 

 

 

Overview

This was a new winery for me.  A couple years ago, during an online Berserker Day on the Wine Berserkers Forum, an online friend, Beau Carufel, told me I should check out this winery.  I always like to acknowledge when a wine friend gives me great advice.  You can check out Beau’s blog site at Beau’s Barrel Room.

 

 

The Winery

Helioterra Wines is a small, artisan producer of Northwest wines made at the SE Wine Collective in SE Portland, Oregon.

 

Our wines are pretty, elegant and graceful in style. Winemaker Anne Ebenreiter Hubatch partners with exceptional regional vineyard growers to craft wines that demonstrate the best that the Northwest offers.

 

The name draws on geological inspirations, symbolizing Heliolite, the Oregon state gemstone (more commonly known as Sun Stone.)  Helio and Terra combine the Greek words for sun and earth, natural partners for grape growing.

 

For more information, I highly recommend checking out their website.

 

 

The Wine

The Vintner’s Select is just that.  The best barrel was selected from each vineyard site, and then blended to create a very special wine.  The flavors and aromatics are much richer and more mysterious than the Willamette Valley.  It demonstrates great depth and elegance with a touch more toast and a greater potential for aging.  The wine was aged for ten and a half months in French oak barrels and has 36% new oak influence.  The grapes were from Apolloni Vineyard (42%), Veeman Vineyard (42%) and Lia’s Vineyard (16%).

 

Just 49 cases were produced.  Wholesale $25.00 Magnums $53

 

The current release of this wine is the 2012 vintage.  More information on the current wines and the winery’s upcoming Sprint release is available on their website.

 

 

2010 Helioterra Pinot Noir Vintner’s Select

This was a new winery for me last year.  Since that time, I met the owner/wine maker Anne Ebenreiter Hubatch when she returned to her home state of Wisconsin.  After tasting through close to a dozen of her wines, I became convinced this is an up and coming winery to keep an eye on.

 

This has 13.5% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a very light ruby red color.  The very enticing nose has cherries, strawberries, baking spices, some earthiness, and a nice herbal note.  This has light to medium body, great acidity, and some subtle tannins.  On the palate there is a very nice balance between the fruit and spice with the herbal note coming in late.  The finish has nice length and again shows very nice balance.  This isn’t a big, ultra ripe, highly extracted Pinot, this is much more feminine and nuanced.  This is tasting very nice but is still on the young side.  (92 pts)

 

 

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.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 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:

 

 

 

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 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!

 

 

Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week.  This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

 

 

 “Adams offers a bridge between Paso’s lavish ways and a more cerebral effort”

Jon Bonne – “A Guide to the Producers and Wines Behind A Revolution in Taste”

Ledge Vineyards is a winery that appeared on my radar over a year ago.  I “met” the owner/winemaker, Mark Adams, via Twitter and after exchanging tweets about wine, he sent me a bottle of his 2009 vintage of this wine to sample.  It was a stunning bottle of wine, I needed more.  Unfortunately, that vintage was sold out.  I quickly joined their mailing list and waited for the upcoming release of the next vintage.  I also let my Twitter followers know this was a winery to check out before it was too late. I know at several of my “friends” signed up.  When the wine was released, I quickly ordered a nice stash of wine.  This vintage is now sold out.  Hopefully I helped play a part in the wine’s popularity.  I’m sure the praise and high scores the wine received from Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator helped, but I found them first.

 

The owner/winemaker is Mark Adams.  Mark is also the assistant winemaker for another outstanding Paso Robles winery, Saxum.  The San Francisco Chronicle and Jon Bonné in particular recently named Mark in column called “Winemakers to Watch 2014”.  Click here to read the story.

 

 

The Winery

The Adams Ranch is in the Willow Creek region on the west side of Paso Robles and rests on a plateau with the SantaLuciaMountains as a backdrop, with a steep drop to Vineyard Drive in the foreground. The vineyard is almost entirely Syrah, with some Grenache and Mourvedre peppered in. We expand every year at a snail’s pace, with 25 dry farmed acres as the ultimate goal. The vines are own rooted and reared in the home nursery after pruning each year. Once established, the vines are dry farmed, field-blended and co-fermented using only native yeasts and are aged in neutral oak barrels.

 

 

 

2010 Ledge Syrah Adams Ranch Vineyard – SRP $55

Ledge Vineyards is the winery owned by the One Time Spaceman, Mark Adams.  I was lucky enough to secure a sample of the 2009 vintage of this wine from Mark.  After two sips of the wine, I immediately joined the mailing list.  After securing my spot on the list, I started telling everyone who would listen to get on the list.  If you didn’t hear or heed my earlier advice, you still have time; the 2011 vintage is still available.

 

For more information, order wine, or to join the mailing list, click here.

 

This wine has 14.5% abv and is sealed with a natural cork and wax coating.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep purple color.  The very inviting nose has blackberries, minerals, smoke, raspberries, eucalyptus, black pepper, violets, roasted herbs, and a touch of dark bittersweet chocolate.  This has medium to full body, moderate ripe tannins and good acidity.  On the palate this is rich and plush with nice layers of fruit, spice and minerals.  The finish is very long with rich fruit, spice, minerals and a floral note seeming to hand on forever.  This is on the young side but already a stunning wine.  This will be a nice one to follow over the next decade, maybe even longer.  (94 pts)

 

 

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.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 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:

 

 

 

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 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!

 

 

 

Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week.  This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

 

 

 

The Winery

Peay Vineyards is a first generation family winery.  Husband and wife, Nick Peay & Vanessa Wong, grow and make the wine and brother Andy Peay sells the wine and runs the business.  With minor exceptions, all wines are made from grapes grown on our 51-acre hilltop vineyard located above a river in the far northwestern corner of the West Sonoma Coast, 4 miles from the Pacific Ocean at Sea Ranch.  We grow 34 acres of Pinot Noir, 8 acres of Syrah, 7 acres of Chardonnay, 1.8 acres of Viognier, 0.4 acres of Roussanne and 0.2 acres of Marsanne.

 

Winemaker Vanessa Wong left her position as winemaker at Peter Michael Winery in 2001 to launch Peay Vineyards.  She formerly she worked at Château Lafite-Rothschild, Domaine Jean Gros and Hirsch Winery.

 

Nick, a UC Davis-trained and veteran Santa Cruz mountains winemaker, is the vineyard manager and works side-by-side with our full-time crew of 8 workers.

 

We farm organically and maintain our certifications for fish-friendly farming and integrated pest management.  The health of our vineyard dictates these approaches to farming and making wine.  We also run on bio-diesel at the vineyard and solar power at both the vineyard and winery.  The vineyard and winery are not a family heritage.  We bought an old apple orchard and sheep ranch in 1996, planted the first 30 acres in 1998, and have dedicated our lives to learning how to make superior wines from it.

 

We sell Pinot noir grapes to Williams Selyem and Failla Wineries for vineyard designate wines.

 

 

The Wine

This is the coldest Syrah vineyard in the U.S. and that is due in large part to the fog and wind blowing up the river valley from the Pacific Ocean. La Bruma (“the mist or fog”) pays tribute to the fog’s role in producing our unique microclimate.

 

To say 2010 was a harrowing year for growing Syrah on our vineyard is putting it a little lightly; we were going through verasion in the middle of September. That usually happens a full month earlier! The warm spell that hit California in mid-September helped accelerate ripening but by November we were simply out of time (and good weather) and picked what we had. What we had was one very good Syrah, not two. We did not make a 2010 Les Titans Syrah. Sigh. This is it for the next year. So, what is the 2010 La Bruma like?

 

The nose has the classic white pepper, hickory smoke, and floral perfume that have attracted people to our Syrah. The mouth adds iodine, lead and a venison quality to the floral profile that begs for it to be paired at the table. The acidity is mouth-watering and the tannins present but soft. The wine is lighter on the palate (clocks in under 13%) than our previous Syrah but is not lacking for seriousness.

 

Total production was 260 cases.

 

 

2010 Peay Vineyards Syrah La Bruma – $38.04

As a lover of cool climate Syrah, when I see a Syrah from “the coldest Syrah vineyard in the US” I have to jump in.

 

This wine has 12.8% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a fairly deep garnet color.  The very appealing nose has blackberries, smoked meat, black pepper, plums, tobacco, baking spices, dried herbs, minerals and dried wild flowers.  This wine is barely medium body with moderate tannins and very good acidity.  On the palate fruit, spice and smoked meat grab hold initially, slowly allowing plums and black pepper to creep into the picture.  The finish has outstanding length with nice fruit slowly giving way to smoked meat.  This is very young but opened up nicely after an hour in a decanter.  Drink now with some air or preferably leave it in the cellar for another year or two.  (94 pts)

 

 

 

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.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 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:

 

 

 

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 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!

 

 

 

Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week.  This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

 

The Winery

In 1971 Charles F. (Charlie) Wagner and his wife Lorna Belle Glos Wagner asked their son Charles J. (Chuck) Wagner, who had just graduated from high school, if he would be interested in joining them in starting up a winery.  If Chuck declined the offer, Charlie and Lorna were planning to sell out of their ranch in NapaValley and move to Australia.  Chuck accepted his parents’ offer to launch the winery, Caymus Vineyards.

 

The Wagners produced their first vintage in 1972, consisting of 240 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon.  Since then, Caymus has focused their efforts in the production of quality Cabernet Sauvignon.  Today’s production is 65,000 cases.

 

Caymus Vineyards remains 100% family-owned by the Wagners.  Charlie, Lorna Belle, and Chuck worked together as a remarkable team for over 30 years building Caymus Cabernet.  Today, Chuck, his two sons, Charlie and Joe, and one daughter, Jenny, have joined the family team. Farming grapes remain the priority with the family farming about 350 acres of choice Napa Valley land.

 

The Wagners took the name Caymus from the Mexican land grant known as Rancho Caymus, given to George Yount in 1836, which encompassed what eventually became the town of Rutherford and much of the surrounding area.

 

 

The Wine

Caymus Vineyards produces two Cabernets Sauvignons, the generic Napa Valley and the “Special Selection”.  The “house style” for Caymus is a dark, rich, supple wine with smooth tannins.  The winery uses extended “hang time” to achieve their style.  The technique, which risks the loss of crop if an early winter sets in, is simply allowing the grapes to “hang” on the vines as long as possible.

 

Caymus Special Selection is the flagship wine of the Wagner family.  Even though the winery says this wine is not produced in difficult years, the last vintage the wine was not produced was 1993.  Both the “Napa Valley” and “Special Selection” Cabernets are produced under the winemaking hand of Chuck Wagner.

 

Caymus has long been one of the benchmark Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Napa.  Caymus Special Selection is created by selecting the best barrels of wine from the vintage.  The grapes for this wine come from various vineyards scattered around the NapaValley.  In this vintage the appellation breakdown is Rutherford 32%, Atlas Peak 15%, Oak Knoll 14%, St Helena 9%,  Yountville 6% and 24% from lesser known areas in the valley.

 

 

2008 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection – $91.04

After 35 years of being a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine, this vintage included 14% Merlot.  I was able to buy my bottles at a very special price; this wine is generally over $100 a bottle.  On the current auction market, this wine is close to $125 a bottle.

 

This wine has 15.4% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

 

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark purple color.  The very nice and inviting nose has cassis, roasted herbs, baking spices, fresh ground dark roast coffee, dried herbs, cherry, dark chocolate, vanilla and a touch of eucalyptus.  This has medium to full body with moderate ripe tannins and good acidity.  The wine is rich and plush on the palate with loads of crushed berries, baking spices, and dark chocolate.  Dried herbs and cherries come in on the back end filling out the palate and adding depth.  The finish is long and rich with vanilla coming in as well as some eucalyptus and dark chocolate.  This is delicious right now but with all the richness, I don’t know if this will be one to hold long term.  I’d advise enjoying over the next several years.  (94 pts)

 

 

What would I pair with this wine?  How about a thick, medium rare New York Strip Steak with some freshly made herb butter served over a bed of crisp French fries.  Add a few pieces of grilled baguette and you have a perfect dinner for two.

 

 

 

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.

 

Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 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:

 

 

 

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 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!

 

 

 

Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week.  This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

 

 

 Overview

Lacuna is a winery I “found” only because Morgan Twain-Peterson is their wine maker.  This would have probably gone unnoticed until Morgan’s name jumped out at me.  Morgan Twain-Peterson is the owner/winemaker for Bedrock Wine Company.  He also is the son of Joel Peterson of Ravenswood fame.

 

Don’t miss the special deal the winery is offering below in the Special Bonus Offer area. 

 

The Winery

Our small partnership group is comprised of 3 industry friends.  None of us with any claim to fame so our names remain in the background behind our rock-star winemaker!  One of us operates a Burgundy and Bordeaux import company, the other two of us are active in the sales and marketing efforts of several wineries in California.  We’ve all worked as wine consultants.  I have worked as a sommelier in what now seems like a past life!  We all have young children and work very hard to balance the demands of juggling multiple jobs (including Lacuna) with being attentive fathers.  We are fortunate to work in our field of passion and interest and feel absolutely privileged to have the talents of Morgan Twain-Peterson on board.  He is just as enjoyable of a person as he is talented a winemaker!

 

The Wine

The 2010 is a slightly atypical wine for Lacuna.  We experimented with a much higher percentage of Petite Sirah(42%)  from 120 year old Sonoma vines than we ever had before and likely will ever again.  Not that we were entirely unhappy with the result but given our cool vineyard sources for our Syrah, Lacuna certainly exists in a more savory band-width than many other wines based on this varietal.  Our goal that year was to add some structure to the wine which philosophically all the partners at Lacuna agree is one of the cornerstones of serious red wine.  The classic European wines that we are drawn to all have an elevated element of structure (both acid and tannin).  The old vine Petite was a successful addition to achieve this but our discovery was that it sent the wine in a backwards direction on the palate took quite some time to get to an optimal “drinkability” state.  In subsequent vintages we used techniques like whole cluster fermentations with our Syrah to achieve desired levels of spice and added structure.  We found this to work ideally for us in every way and have continued with high percentages of stem inclusion in the ’11, ’12 & ’13 vintages.

 

 

 

2010 Lacuna Wines Proprietary Red Blend – $28.99

This is a blend of 58% cool climate Syrah and 42% Petite Sirah from 120 year old vines.

 

The wine has 14.3% alcohol by volume and the bottle is closed with a natural cork.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep purple color.  The very powerful nose has blackberries, smoked meat, dying wood embers, licorice, roasted herbs, dried violets, blueberries, warm baking spices, vanilla, black peppercorns, and a hint of eucalyptus.  This has a full body, a solid wall of tannins and good acidity.  On the palate the smoked meat, pepper and roasted herbs initially grab hold before slowly and reluctantly allowing some fruit and spice to enter the picture.  On the back end the smoked meat and wood embers re-emerge.  The finish is surprisingly long with layers of tannins clinging to your palate.  Give this monster a few years in the cellar or as they say, “serve it with a slab of rare brontosaurus”.  (94 pts)

 

In Summary

Don’t open this expecting a soft, fruity, easy drinking California Syrah, you’ll be disappointed.  If you set your sights on a big, meaty, chewy Northern Rhone bottle of Syrah, you won’t be disappointed.  The large Petite Sirah content adds considerable muscle to this wine and helps push the fruit component a little into the background.  The fruit is there, just not up front and in your face.  In my opinion, this is very drinkable today with a chunk of rare to medium rare meat, but I like a solid wall of tannins.  That said, this will be much better down the road.  If you can, stash this in the back of your cellar for a few years, you will be very handsomely rewarded for your patience.

 

Special Bonus Offer

This wine was previously thought to be sold out but the partners found a few cases in their personal “library stash”.  The wine is not on their website, but is available to readers of Cliff’s Wine Picks.  The wine is available for $28.99 a bottle (plus shipping and applicable taxes) by e-mailing info@lacunawines.com.   That price is the same as the winery’s current release.  Like I said, this wine is not available on the winery’s website.  This is coming from their personal library and is available only via this offer.

 

 

 

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.

 

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Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 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

 

 

 

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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!