Cliffs Wine Picks – January 2017 Vol 3
2013 Methymnaeos Chidiriotiko Orange Wine Greece
2006 Shafer Relentless
2014 Prisoner Wine Company Saldo
2011 Outpost Grenache Howell Mountain
2008 Big Basin Vineyards Mandala Syrah
Locations WA-4
2013 Methymnaeos Chidiriotiko Orange Wine Greece
The winery is the only one in the world making wine from the almost extinct Chidiriotiko grape. Even though Orange wines are usually made from white grapes, this is a pale colored red grape. The winery produces a white, red and this orange wine from the grape.
An “orange” wine is produced by fermenting white grapes on their skins similar to the production of a red wine. The light colored skins give the wine a bright orange tint after going through fermentation. As I noted above, in this case, the grapes used were a light, pale red but the results were the same.
The wine is a bright, clear orange color. The mysterious nose has cherries, minerals, orange zest, white flowers and a hint of nuttiness. This has an oily texture with soft tannins and very nice acidity. On the palate cherry skin, minerals and orange zest jump out on the front end with a floral note and a hit of roasted nuts coming in later. The finish has nice length with minerals and cherry skins lingering nicely. This is an obscure grape and a different style of wine that work nicely. If you ever have the opportunity to try an “orange wine” think of it as a lighter red wine serving wise. This tastes better at cellar temperature or a touch warmer. This has 14.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a man made Nomacorc. (89 pts)
2013 Methymnaeos Chidiriotiko Orange
2006 Shafer Relentless – $42.74
This vintage is a blend of 84% Syrah and 16% Petite Sirah.
The wine is a deep, dark, inky purple color. The exotic and enticing nose has blackberries, fresh ground espresso beans, crushed stone minerals, dark chocolate, melted licorice, black pepper, smoke, black cherries, tar, and violets. This is full bodied with solid tannins and good acidity. On the palate there are layers of fruit and savory elements that thoroughly coat your mouth, like the wine’s name, the flavors are “relentless”. The finish is fairly long and again is loaded with flavor. Not a lot of subtlety here, just massive amounts of flavors that are held in check by the outstanding tannic backbone and acidity. This is in a great drinking window and will hold for several years. This has 14.9% alcohol and is sealed with a natural cork. (93 pts)
2006 Shafer Relentless
2014 Prisoner Wine Company Saldo – $22.99
From the producer – “The word “Saldo” is of Latin origin often referring to “from here and there” or in this case, representing our sourcing of Zinfandel from regions “here and there” across Northern California.”
The wine is a deep purple color. The big and bold nose has blackberries, plums, baking spices, plums, espresso beans and scorched earth. This has a full body with moderate ripe tannins and decent acidity. Layers of fruit and spice quickly coat your palate with scorched earth and espresso beans coming in on the back end. The finish has nice length with the fruit and spice continuing the assault on your palate. Not a lot of complexity but this fruit bomb has enough savory notes to keep it from getting boring. This has 15.9% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork. (87 pts)
2014 Prisoner Wine Company Saldo
2011 Outpost Grenache Howell Mountain – $36.59
This wine was purchased from Last Bottle Wines. My favorite “flash sale” site on the web. More information and a discount on your first purchase is below.
This wine comes from a vineyard 2,200 feet above the Napa Valley floor. Thomas Rivers Brown produced 171 cases of this 100% Grenache. The wine was aged in 100% one to five year old French oak barrels.
The wine is a light, bright ruby color. The intoxicating nose has strawberries, dry earth, rocky minerals, white pepper, raspberries, baking spices and wildflowers. This has medium body with moderate tannins and very nice acidity. On the palate red fruit, minerals and white pepper push out to the front quickly with baking spices and dry earth coming in later. On the lingering finish the savory notes take the lead with the fruit providing nice background sweetness. This isn’t your normal fruit driven California Grenache, but it’s also not really Southern Rhone like either. Maybe the best description would be Rhone-esque with richer upfront fruit. This is a hard one to give a drinking window, it should be in its prime, but there still seems to be some depth and oomph buried in the background. I plan on holding off opening another bottle for a year or two. This has 14.1% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork. (93 pts)
2011 Outpost Grenache Howell Mountain
2008 Big Basin Vineyards Mandala Syrah – $35.00
Total production was 8 barrels. This is a blend of 88% Syrah, 8% Grenache and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon.
The wine is a deep ruby to maroon color. The big and bold nose is full of blackberries, blueberries, baking spices, dying wood embers, dark chocolate, dried violets and dusty minerals. This has a full body with moderate to solid tannins and good acidity. On the palate layers of fruit, spice and minerals jump out on the front end with wood embers and dark chocolate coming in later. The finish has great length with a nice dried floral note adding some depth. This is a big, bold and rich wine that needs a hearty meal. This is now in a prime drinking window that should last another 4 or 5 years. What this wine lacks in subtlety it makes up for in taste. This has 15.8% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork. (90 pts)
2008 Big Basin Vineyards Mandala Syrah
Locations WA-4 – $20.00
This wine was purchased from Last Bottle Wines. My favorite “flash sale” site on the web. More information and a discount on your first purchase is below.
Even though this is a “non-vintage” wine, most, if not all the grapes, were from the 2014 vintage. This is a blend of Syrah, Merlot and Petit Sirah that was barrel aged 10 months in French and American oak barrels.
The owner and winemaker for Locations is Dave Phinney, better known for his esteemed Orin Swift wines. The idea behind this label was “what can we do if we break the rules and blend grapes from regions that are normally not blended together”? Why not make a wine blending grapes from both Bordeaux and the Rhone and throw in some from Roussillon? The original concept has expanded to now include unique blends from different states in the US. Besides the normal states, I noticed a Texas blend is now being produced.
The wine is a deep purple color. The enticing nose has blackberries, blueberries, dry underbrush, white pepper, dark chocolate, dried wildflowers, warm baking spices and a hint of crushed stones. This has a full body with moderate ripe tannins and nice acidity. On the palate dark fruit, spice and underbrush quickly grab control with white pepper, dark chocolate and crushed stone minerals coming in on the back end. The finish has good length with a dried floral note providing nice depth. This isn’t a wine to stash away in the cellar, open it over the next 4 to 5 years and enjoy the layers of fruit and spice the wine readily offers up. This has 15.0% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork. (90 pts)
Locations WA-4
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.
Cheers!
January 23, 2017
Cliff
Cliff's Wine Picks 