Suggested Retail Price – $32.00

 

This is based on a winery supplied sample.

 

 

 

 

Elyse Winery, is at 2100 Hoffman Lane in Napa is about a mile south of Yountville and about a quarter mile west of Hwy 29.  The winery was started in 1987 by Ray and Nancy Coursen.  The winery is named after their daughter, who is not surprisingly, named Elyse.

 

For their first ten years, the Coursen’s used various custom crush facilities in the area.  In 1997 they took the big plunge and purchased a small vineyard and winery on Hoffman Lane.  This is still the home of Elyse Winery and the tasting room.

Elyse Winery also produces a second label named after their son, Jacob Franklin.  The wines under the Jacob Franklin label are focused on small production, low yield, single vineyard wines from Napa Valley.  These wines are only available through the website, winery, or wine club.

To check on availability or to purchase wine, visit:

https://www.net10.net/ShoppingCart/buy/ProductSummary.asp

 

 

I highly recommend adding a stop at Elyse Winery on your next visit to wine country.

 

Much more information can be found at:  http://www.elysewinery.com/index.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now onto the main reason for this post, the wine…

 

 

My comments

Elyse has been one of my favorite wineries since my first visit there in 2001.  I was talking to an employee at Merryvale about the style of wines I liked and that I was on the lookout for leads to some nice Petite Sirah based wines.  All he said was, “You have to checkout Elyse”.  As soon as we got back in the car, I pulled out my guidebook of wineries, and looked them up.  According to the guide, they required a reservation so I called them.  About 30 minutes later we were met by a very gracious and inviting tasting room employee.  We spent the next hour trying just about everything they made.  We left with several bottles for the week and ordered a case to be shipped back home.

 

Since that day, Elyse has always been the first winery we visit when we make it to Napa.  I always have several bottles of Elyse wine in my cellar.

 

 

 

Wine Info

The wine is a blend of 84% Petite Sirah, 12% Syrah, and 4% Zinfandel.  The grapes come for two vineyards, Souyoultzis and Hayne.  The grapes were harvested on four passes from September 21 to October 9^th.

 

After a 13 to 15 day fermentation with native yeast, the wine was aged 10 ½ months in American Oak, 40% of which was new.

 

The final alcohol is 14.5%, and the total production was 866 cases.

 

 

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark, inky purple to black color, always a good sign for a Petite Sirah.  The very inviting nose has ripe blackberries, freshly cracked black pepper, baking spices, charred meat, dark chocolate, plums, dried herbs, earthy underbrush, and wild flower dominated potpourri.  The wine is fairly full bodied with solid, ripe tannins and very good acidity.  On the palate the wine has a load of rich and spicy berries with dark chocolate, dried herbs, black pepper, earthy elements, and a meaty quality providing a ton of depth and complexity.  The finish mirrors the palate and is long and flavorful.  This tastes outstanding today but with the balance, tannins, and acidity, this will last for a long time in the cellar…if you can resist it for that long.  (93 pts)

 

 

 

The wine was a perfect pairing with a Pan Roasted Sirloin Steak au Poivre, Paprika Potatoes, and Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus.

 

 

 

***** 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

 

 

 

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!

 

 

 

2004 Roberto Voerzio Langhe Nebbiolo Vigneti S. Francesco – $36.87

 

My comments

Today is my wife’s birthday, so I wanted to kick up the wine choice a couple of notches.  My last bottle of this wine was a little over a year and a half ago.  At that time, I felt it needed another year or two in the cellar.  It seems like a good time to try it again.  If it still needs some time, there’s still more in the cellar.

 

Winery history

Our winery was established in 1986 in La Morra, a town in the heart of the Langhe that has always been renowned for the greatness of its vineyards, some of which were mentioned in town records going back as far as 1250.

 

We began with 2 hectares, and over the years have managed to acquire the most prestigious, historic crus for the production of Barolo, such as La Serra, Brunate, Cerequio, Sarmassa, Rocche dell’Annunziata and Fossati, and excellent vineyards for Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo and Merlot.

 

We then decided to increase the number of vines in the new vineyards, and in some of the old ones, to 6000/8000 per hectare and reduce yield for the most prestigious wines to 500/700 grams per plant.  The clusters we leave on our vines are exclusively responsible for the quality of our wine.

 

We have always worked in the traditional way in the cellar, with total simplicity at every stage from vinification to bottling, with no interference, letting the diversity of each terroir emerge and giving each vineyard the chance to make its own wine.

 

Our production is limited: with just over 20 hectares we produce between 40,000 to 60,000 bottles, depending on the harvest.

 

More information is available at:  http://www.voerzioroberto.it/eng/cantina.asp

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a medium to dark ruby red color, with a touch of light brick at the edge.  The very enticing and exotic nose has cherries, dusty roses, melted licorice, earthy underbrush, smoke, baking spices, and tobacco.  The wine has medium body with fairly solid tannins and very good acidity.  The palate has some nice red fruit but the savory notes and spices are in control.  The finish has nice length and like the palate is more tilted towards the savory elements with the red fruit adding a touch of sweetness and depth.  This is still on the young side but opened up nicely after a couple hours in the decanter.  (91 pts)

 

 

 

2009 Big Basin Vineyards Homestead – $29.00

 

My comments

As I’ve said in the past, I think Big Basin is one big score from one of the big wine reviewing periodicals away from appearing everyone’s radar.  I’ve been a big fan of Big Basin’s Syrah wines and blends for a few years.  I would highly recommend checking them out.  This is a blend of 46% Grenache, 43% Syrah, and 11% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Santa Cruz Mountains in California.

 

Winery history

Big Basin Vineyards was founded in 1998 in the Santa Cruz Mountains next to Big Basin Redwoods State Park, with a new winery building completed in 2003.  Proprietor and wine maker Bradley Brown sources his wines from three Estate Vineyards – Rattlesnake Rock, Old Corral Block and Homestead Block.  All of the Estate vineyards are planted to Alban Selections on steep hillsides with mudstone and shale soils – 7 acres of Syrah, 2 acres of Grenache and 1 acre of Roussanne – and are farmed organically.  Additionally, Bradley works closely with Coastview Vineyard located at 2400 ft on a mountain top in the Gabilan Mountains overlooking the Salinas Valley and Monterey Bay (several miles due south of Mt. Harlan).  He has contracted with the vineyard to purchase Syrah planted in 1998 and to bud over certain sections of the vineyard to Pinot Noir and Grenache (in 2008) and plant a new block to an Alban selection of Syrah.  This vineyard is also farmed organically and managed according to Bradley’s direction.  Beginning in 2006, Big Basin started making Pinot Noir sourced from the Santa Cruz Mountains.  As of 2009, Big Basin is making three different single vineyard Pinots from the Santa Cruz Mountains (Alfaro Family, Lester Family and Woodruff Family Vineyards), plus the Pinot from Coastview Vineyard in the Gabilan Mountains.

 

Best known for Syrah, but also makes Pinot Noirs and blends.

 

Much more information is available at:  http://bigbasinvineyards.com/

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep ruby to violet color.  The open and inviting nose has cherries, black raspberries, roasted herbs, licorice, earthy underbrush, violets, white pepper, and a touch of wood smoke.  This has medium body, fairly solid, ripe tannins, and good acidity.  The wine has much lighter weight on the palate than I was expecting.  The palate shows nice spicy fruit with roasted herbs, pepper, and spicy oak adding depth and filling out the palate.  The finish is fairly long with smoky, roasted herbs and fruit slowly fading.  One of the more “civilized” wines I’ve had from Bradley Brown’s BigBasin.  I’m glad I have a few more to enjoy over the next few years.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2006 Alma Rosa Pinot Blanc Santa Rita Hills – $4.75

 

My comments

This was on a super blow out sale at the local store.  I don’t know why there were still available after having been released at least a few years ago.  I didn’t have high expectations in a six year old, appellation Pinot Blanc, but had to try it out.  We sampled a bottle right off the shelf at room temperature.  I was blown away!  It still tasted young and fresh.  I grabbed six bottles, now it’s time to try one at the proper serving temperature from a good stem, at home.  It’s a perfect time to open one since the dish we’re making for dinner requires a cup of a dry white wine.

 

Winery history

Richard Sanford came to the Santa Ynez Valley 40 years ago with the desire to create wines that would rival the best of France.  First to recognize the potential of the Santa Rita Hills (now an officially accredited American Viticultural Area as Sta. Rita Hills), and first to plant Pinot Noir vines there, Richard is a pioneer with a well established reputation for excellence in winemaking.

 

Working in partnership for more than 30 years, Thekla and Richard Sanford founded multiple, successful winegrowing enterprises.  Their latest venture, Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards, represents the culmination of a lifetime’s experience – an enterprise dedicated to creating high quality wines and setting a benchmark for organic farming, sustainable agriculture methods, and environment-friendly commerce.

 

The winery, owned by Richard Sanford, dubbed the father of Santa Barbara Pinot Noir and the first to plant the vine there, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 27.

 

After nearly a half-century of ups and downs in the wine business, Sanford admitted that he’d rather be riding off into the sunset than trying to save the family farm.  “It is true that I have been doing this for 44 years, and Thekla and I were looking forward to having some quiet time,” said Sanford.  “But that’s just not possible yet.”

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a bright yellow to straw color.  The light and refreshing nose has lemon curd, apples, stony/flinty minerals, orange blossoms, a touch of spice and a bit of pineapple.  This has light to medium body, is dry and has crisp, citrusy acidity.  This is very bright and lively on the palate with crisp apples, lemon zest, and flinty minerals, on the backend a touch of spice and orange zest add some depth.  The finish has nice length with the citrus, apples, and minerals holding on nicely.  This was an absolute steal on closeout for under $5.  (90 pts)

 

 

 

2006 Villa Creek Willow Creek Cuvée – $35.00

 

My comments

I’ve been a fan of the wines coming out of Paso Robles’ Villa Creek for several years.  Most of the wines are very unique blends and all are of very high quality.  This wine is a blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 20% Mourvèdre from the Denner and James Berry Vineyards in Paso Robles.

 

Winery history

In the spirit of the great wine producers of the southern Rhone and the bodegas of Rioja and Priorat, blending is what Villa Creek does best.  The area’s finest Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Tempranillo Vineyards are just a stone’s throw from the west Paso Robles winery where these blends are lovingly produced by winemaker Cris Cherry and his wife JoAnn.

 

The grapes of the area’s most progressive vineyards, James Berry, Denner, Ohana and Booker, currently grace the wines of Villa Creek Cellars.  Per acre contracts insure that the fruit comes off the same blocks each vintage.  The Cherry’s own 70 acre estate on the west side of Paso Robles boasts elevations of 1400-1800 feet, calcareous soils, south facing slopes and ample water.  In the spring of 2012, the Cherry’s finished planting their first grape vines, 3.5 acres of Grenache.  They look forward to planting Mourvèdre and Carignan in the months to come.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a fairly saturated ruby red color.  The very appealing nose has blackberries, smoke, earthy underbrush, meat juices, black pepper, licorice, cherries, dark chocolate, and dried wild flowers.  This has medium to full body with fairly solid, ripe tannins, and very good acidity.  Big, juicy, berries, black pepper, meat, and earthy elements grab the palate initially with some chocolate and cherries coming through on the backend.  The finish is fairly long and full of smoky, peppery berries.  Outstanding now, but will last in the cellar for another 4 to 6 years.  (93 pts)

 

Label modifications in the picture courtesy of my VinoTemp which doesn’t like the slightly larger bottles used by some wineries.

 

 

We paired the Villa Creek wine with a quick and easy recipe we’ve enjoyed several times over the years.  The Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce over Egg Noodles is very wine friendly with minimal fuss and ingredients.

 

 

The recipe can be found at:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pork-tenderloin-with-mustard-sauce-10000000521619/

 

 

***** 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

 

 

Mailing Lists

 

The season is starting to heat up, keep an eye on the old inbox.

 

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to get the dreaded Cayuse, “I’m sorry” e-mail last week.  I’ll live, there’s plenty of other great options out there.

 

Wines bought or received this week

 

It’s getting boring, I was good again this week.

 

 

 

 

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!

 

 

This is based on a sample provided by the winery or a company representing them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winery History

Tolosa’s name reflects the long history of winemaking in the Edna Valley Appellation.  Over two hundred years ago the friars at Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa began the first vineyards in the county.  These early wines were highly valued throughout California.  Today, Tolosa honors that legacy by producing remarkable wines from this small coastal wine region.

The first vineyard plantings in early California came with the establishment of the missions.  The vineyard at the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was the first planted in San Luis ObispoCounty and was situated in what is now the EdnaValley appellation.  Original documents show the quality of wine produced from this mission was highly valued and often traded to other missions.

In the 1870’s, Pierre Hyppolite Dallidet grafted French cuttings onto the rootstock still surviving from the mission era.  Some of the original rootstocks survived prohibition and are part of the EdnaValley appellation today.

Like the Burgundy region of France, the valley has balanced hot days with cool nights, and challenging soil.  The weather conditions prove ideal for producing grape clusters that are fewer in number, but linger longer on the vine to yield flavor of exquisite intensity.

The tradition at Tolosa is the commitment to evoke the natural sophistication inherent in the grapes in the EdnaValley.  We focus on Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah varietals that yield the most intense results under our growing conditions.  We follow a slow handcrafting process that nurtures the wine through periodic gentle racking and minimal filtration.  We allow nature to determine the character of each vintage.  This is the way California’s winemaking heritage first began, and this is the way it will always be at Tolosa.

Much more information available at: http://www.tolosawinery.com/

 

 

Sustainable Winegrowing

 

Tolosa practices scientifically based sustainability practices in their vineyard and winery.  To summarize – sustainability is a comprehensive program that encompasses hundreds of the best management practices in the winery, vineyards, employees, and with neighbors.

 

The 3 E’s of Sustainability:

Environmentally friendly

Equitable, Socially

Economically Feasible

 

 

 

• Solar Powered Facility
• In August 2009 Tolosa converted to solar electrical generation with SunPower Corp.  This system will provide the winery’s electrical energy for the next 25 years.
• All of Tolosa’s Vineyards are SIP Certified, demonstrating Sustainability in Practice.
• All winery waste including grape seeds and skins is recycled, composted, or otherwise recovered.
• We use vineyard tools with tractors designed to do multiple tasks at the same time.  This minimizes the number of tractors traveling through the vineyard and significantly reduces fuel, soil compaction and erosion.
• We utilize cover crops that reduce erosion, build soil fertility, and provide habitat for beneficial insects.
• We have integrated pest management practices in place that carefully monitor the balance of insects, soil fertility, soil moisture, and vine health to minimize the waste of energy and chemical inputs.  These practices make use of natural predators to control insect pests, and even weed species in some cases (we actually release a specific beetle which eats the seeds of star thistle.)  We also utilize non-pesticide management methods, like using the Vine Mealybug’s own pheromones in small playing-card size clips hung on the vines, to confuse them during mating and as a result lowers their populations.
• Every drop of water that we use in the winery is recovered and biologically processed until all the water is utilized a second time through the drip systems to water the vineyards.
• All the vineyards are irrigated with low volume, low pressure drip irrigation placed at each individual vine to minimize the waste of water and maximize uniformity of vine growth.
• Root stocks are chosen for the vines to resist insect and disease issues while minimizing any chemical or energy inputs.
• We use low-risk fungicides in protecting our crop from fungal diseases.  For example paraffin-based stylet oil (an organic product) is one of the many effective ways we control powdery mildew.
• In the month of June, just after the young clusters have gone thru bloom and set, the leaves around the clusters are removed and the growing shoots are positioned upwards to passively minimize botrytis and mildew pressure, which reduces the number of protective sprays and increases the effectiveness of those sprays when required.
• We leave wildlife corridors and erosion offsets along creeks, with native plants remaining in place.
• Our winery’s refrigeration lines, hot water lines, exterior wine tanks, walls, roof and doors are completely insulated.  The wine industry’s most efficient presses and refrigeration equipment were built for Tolosa.  Our night time sensors monitor the temperatures inside and out, utilizing nature’s cool night air with a series of automatically opening vents in the ceiling and low maintenance fans in the walls.  Each and every permanent wine vessel in the winery is individually controlled with their own thermostat to minimize lost energy.

 

Additional information about the SIP Certification is available at:

http://www.sipcertified.org/

 

 

 

My comments

This is my first experience with a wine from Tolosa and I am looking forward to giving it a try.  The winery’s commitment to sustainable farming practices shows they care about the quality of fruit going into the bottle and put their money into protecting the environment.

 

 

Wine info

The wine is 100% Pinot Noir from the Tolosa Estate in the Edna Valley AVA.

This is a blend of the D667, D115, 2A, and Pommard clones.

The wine was aged 11 months in 225L French oak, about 1/3 new.

Total production was 4,450 cases and the alcohol is 14.1%.

The Suggested Retail Price of the wine is $30.00.

 

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a nice medium ruby red color.  The sensuous nose features black cherries, baking spices, forest floor, black raspberries, wild flowers, a pleasing, subtle herbal note and a touch of smoke.  The wine has medium body, soft, ripe tannins, and very good acidity.  On the palate the tart cherries and juicy berries allow the nice spice and earthiness to come in providing additional depth and complexity.  The finish has very nice length but needs a touch of cellar time to fill out a bit.  This needs a bit of cellar time to really strut it’s stuff, but is none the less still delicious as is.  With the nice acidity and balance this has several years of great drinking in the future.  (93 pts)

 

 

 

This is a very food friendly wine that will pair nicely with a large variety of dishes.  This would pair nicely with poultry, fish, and dishes with a creamy, rich sauce.

We had the wine with our Sunday before New Years dinner that co-starred this ham:

 

The wine was a perfect pairing with the ham, macaroni and cheese from my wife, and some quickly sautéed asparagus.  Delicious!

The good acidity cut through the juicy ham and the rich macaroni and cheese and the slight herbal note was perked up a touch by the asparagus.   This was a very nice pairing in our house.

 

 

 

***** 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

 

 

 

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!

 

 

2008 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection – $91.04

 

My comments

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 Special Selection is generally a ripe, plush style of wine and is full of velvety fruit and spice.  I have a few bottles of the wine and figured New Year’s Eve would be a great day to check in to see how it is coming along.

 

Winery history

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 Napa Valley 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.

 

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 big, ripe tannins and good acidity.  The wine is rich and plush on the palate with loads of crushed berries, baking spices, and dark chocolate.  There are dried herbs and cherries coming in on the backend filling out the palate and adding depth.  The finish is long and rich with a bit of vanilla creeping 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)

 

 

 

2009 Tablas Creek Côtes de Tablas – $23.24

 

My comments

I’ve been a fan of the higher end Tablas Creek wines for a few years.  For some reason this single bottle of their wine sat in the cellar for about a year without being opened.  Today seems like a great day to have it with dinner.  This is blend of 43% Grenache, 24% Syrah, 18% Counoise and 15% Mourvedre.

 

Winery history

Tablas Creek is the realization of the combined efforts of two of the international wine community’s leading families, the Perrin family, proprietors of Château de Beaucastel, and Robert Haas, founder of Vineyard Brands.  They had since the 1970s believed the California climate to be ideal for planting Rhône varietal grapes.  In 1987, they began the lengthy process of creating a Châteauneuf-du-Pape style vineyard from scratch in the New World.  The Tablas Creek Vineyard Partnership was born, with the Perrin and Haas families as majority partners, and French and American wine loving friends as minority partners.

 

The partners searched California from the foothills of the Sierras in the north to coastal Ventura County in the south, looking for a close match to the Mediterranean climate and high pH soils of Château de Beaucastel.  In 1989, they purchased a 120-acre parcel twelve miles from the Pacific Ocean in west Paso Robles.  They named it Tablas Creek Vineyard, after the small creek running through the property.

 

The property elevation averages 1,500 feet, and the shallow, rocky limestone soils are of the same geologic origin as those at Beaucastel.  Summer days are hot and sunny, but the influence of the nearby Pacific cools the nights, and the remarkably Rhône-like Paso Robles climate allows the grapes to mature fully and yet retain crisp acidity.

 

Much more history and info available at:  http://www.tablascreek.com/

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a bright ruby red color.  The very open and inviting nose has cherry, raspberry, warm baking spices, wild flowers, wet slate, and a touch of earthiness.  The wine has medium body, fairly solid tannins, and very good acidity.  On the palate the wine provides a nice mouthful of spicy, mineral laden, red fruit with a touch of subtle earthiness.  The finish has good length and again features the spicy, red fruit and minerals.  This is a very refined, elegant, and food friendly Rhone styled blend from Paso Robles that is available at a very reasonable price.  Load up!  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2008 Rhys Alesia Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast – $28.00

 

My comments

I’ve been on the Rhys mailing list for a few years.  A lot of people knock the wines because they don’t taste great upon release.  Rhys wines require a few years in the cellar to smoothen out and open up.  That said, their Alesia wines, which are made from purchased grapes, though also needing some time in the cellar, seem to be ready to drink a couple years earlier.  I grabbed several bottles of this wine when it was offered on their e-mail release.  I’ve had a couple bottles and every bottle has been better than the previous bottle…always a good sign.

 

Winery history

While much of our focus is on wine growing for our Rhys estate-managed vineyards, we also enjoy exploring distinctive California locations outside the Santa Cruz Mountains.  In particular we love the seductive beauty of Pinot Noir and Syrah from the Sonoma Coast and the utterly unique expression of Syrah from the Santa Lucia Highlands.  We call these wines made from purchased grapes “Alesia.”

 

Each Alesia wine is made with the same philosophy as our estate grown wines – concentration from low yields and pure, fresh fruit flavors.

 

More information on Rhys and Alesia is available at:  http://www.rhysvineyards.com/index.html

My Tasting Note

The wine is a nice ruby red color.  The sexy nose has strawberries, raspberries, cola, baking spices, underbrush, minerals, cherries, dried flowers, and a slight stemmy note.  The wine has medium body at most with some tannins and very good acidity.  The very complex palate has layers of fruit, spice, and earthy elements that slowly reveal themselves with each sip, with the nice cleansing acidity evident at all times.  The finish is fairly long and the mouthwatering acidity is ever present.  This is very food friendly and civilized.  There is no excess weight or overly extracted notes evident on the wine.  This is still on the young side and can be enjoyed over the next several years.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2006 Bilancia Syrah – $28.73

 

My comments

I grabbed a few bottles of this wine a few years ago when they were offered by Garagiste Wine for a decent price. I bought these more out of curiosity to see how New Zealand would handle the Syrah grape.  I figured this wine would be a great example of a cool climate Syrah.

 

Winery history

Bilancia is a small Hawkes’ Bay producer of exceptional Pinot Gris, Viognier and Syrah.  It is the label of winemakers Lorraine Leheny and Warren Gibson and was established in 1997 when Lorraine and Warren returned to New Zealand from winemaking overseas.  The first wines were released in mid 1998.

 

The word  Bilancia (be-larn-cha) means, in Italian, balance, equilibrium and harmony.  These terms have obvious connections with wine and winemaking, but also, Bilancia is the Italian word for the Zodiac sign Libra which both Lorraine and Warren were born under.  Warren worked in Southern Italy for a number of harvests and the name came to him whilst reading his Horoscope in the Italian newspaper!

 

The philosophy of balance, equilibrium and harmony is something that is carried through all aspects of the winemaking and, hopefully, people will see this when they drink the wines.

 

The viticultural central point for Bilancia is the 6 hectares (15 acres) of land covering the front and back of Roys Hill (west of Hastings on State Highway 50) where, planted only on the North – Northwest facing slope is the vineyard known as la collina (col-ee-na), which is Italian for “the hill”.  The upper most slopes and terraces are planted to Syrah whilst the lower gently rising land and gravels flat is planted to Viognier (and a small amount of Gewurztraminer).  Some of the Viognier was top grafted to Chardonnay in 2007.

 

Fruit has been always been sourced predominantly from Hawke’s Bay although, for the 2000 to 2003 harvests some Pinot Gris was taken from Marlborough.  Since 2004 all fruit has been sourced from Hawke’s Bay vineyards: Syrah and Viognier are from la collina and Syrah from Mere Road (Gravels). Pinot Gris is from Black Bridge Estate at Haumoana.

 

Much more information is available at: http://www.bilancia.co.nz/home.html

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a fairly deep ruby red color.  The bright and lively nose has juicy berries, minerals, white pepper, brined olives, dried herbs, smoke, meat juices, and flowers.  The wine has medium body with fairly solid, chewy tannins and very good acidity.  The front of the palate is dominated by spicy, peppery berries but dried herbs and a touch olives and earthiness kick in on the backend adding depth.  The finish is fairly long with a touch of spicy oak coming in late.  Don’t try this expecting an Aussie style Shiraz, to me this is slanted more towards a nice, midpoint Rhone wine.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2006 Albini Family Vineyards Merlot – $0.00

 

My comments

This bottle of wine was a gift from a friend.  I’m not sure of the release price of the wine, but in Cellar Tracker six people have paid an average of $21.64 a bottle.  I’ve been fairly vocal about my opinion of Merlot wines over the last couple of years, but this wine is outside of my normal “rant zone”.  I complain about the lack of a good, week night, Merlot for under $20, this one is assuredly priced over that price point.  I will be the first to admit there are very nice Merlots out there, but most of the good stuff is not priced to be opened with a normal dinner on Monday to Thursday on a consistent basis.

 

Winery history

Albini Family Vineyards was established in 1991 and produces about 500 cases of handmade wine each year.  Although we are small, our Merlot and Zinfandel wines receive national attention for their high quality and unique style.

 

We are proud of our artisan style of wine making, which follows a natural, hands-on approach.  At 2 to 3 tons per acre, our vineyard yields are low and all of our grapes are handpicked and sorted to assure only the highest quality fruit is used.   Fermentation takes place in small, open-top fermenters utilizing indigenous (wild) yeast and the cap is punched down 3 – 4 times a day.  Once the wine is dry, it is pressed in a 1/2 ton basket press and then hand bucked into barrels.

 

Our Russian River Valley Merlot is aged for 20 months in a mix of French and American oak barrels.  The Zinfandel is aged for 18 – 20 months in primarily American oak barrels.  Both wines are unfiltered and hand-bottled at our estate winery in Windsor, California.

 

We very much appreciate your interest in our wines.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a fairly deep ruby to purple color.  The inviting nose has cherries, blackberries, melted licorice, dried herbs, vanilla, and spice box.  This has medium body, fairly solid, ripe tannins, and very good acidity.  The cherries and berries grab the palate initially but nice spice and dried herbs kick in on the mid palate.  The finish has decent length with spicy fruit and dried herbs, but a touch of excess oak pops through.  All in all, a decent Merlot that would get a big buy recommendation is you can find it for under $20.  (90 pts)

 

 

 

***** 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

 

 

 

Mailing Lists

Nothing new to report now, but keep an eye on the inbox starting next week.

 

 

 

Wines bought or received this week

I was good over the last few days, so nothing to report.

 

 

 

 

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!

 

 

 

Here are the top wines I sampled or drank in 2012.  It was a hard task since I had tasting notes on over 500 wines this year.  As an added bonus, I included my next 10 wines, but since they aren’t ranked, I’ll  still call this my Top 10.

 

I set a couple of rules going in, the same winery couldn’t have more than one wine in the top 10 and could not have more than 2 in the top 20.  This only came into play for one wine, causing a bottle to fall from the top 10 to the “number 11 to 20” list.  Sorry Carlisle.

 

Unfortunately, since most of the wines I open have been in my cellar for a number of years, most of these wines are not available to purchase today.  Some are probably available on the auction sites, like WineBid.  If you are interested in any specific wine, let me know and I can help you track down a bottle.

 

 

 

10 – 2001 Elyse Cabernet Sauvignon Morisoli Vineyard

 

My comments

This is perennially one of my favorite Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons.  The Elyse Morisoli Cab generally needs a few years in the cellar to fully open up and reveal all of its layers.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a very nice, deep ruby color, showing absolutely no sign of age.  The outstanding nose has cassis, smoke, well worn leather, fresh ground coffee, dark chocolate, dried herbs, tobacco, and a faint hint of cedar.  This is medium bodied with nice, ripe, integrated tannins and very nice acidity.  The wine is very civilized and refined on the palate with a nice fruit to savory balance.  The finish is long and full of cassis, dried herbs, and dark chocolate.  Very food friendly, but I’m very much enjoying a post dinner glass.  This can easily rest in the cellar for a few more years, but it is stunning today.  (94 pts)

 

 

9 – 2007 Westerhold Family Vineyards Syrah Westerhold Vineyard

 

My comments

This was a new find for me early in the year.  I bought a few bottle based purely on the fact Russell Bevan was the winemaker.  As soon as I had a couple sips, I was online stocking up.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep maroon color.  The irresistible nose has blackberries, smoked meat, black pepper, charcoal, dried herbs, melted licorice, baking spices, and a hint of violets.  This is fairly full body with solid, ripe tannins and very good acidity.  This is lush and ripe on the palate but not really pushing the ripeness to the edge.  The palate shows nice peppery berries, licorice, and some smoked meat with baking spices and dried herbs in the background.  The finish is very long and highlights the fruit initially but as the fruit slowly fades, the savory elements keep going.  Still extremely young but already outstanding.  (95 pts)

 

 

 

8 – 2004 Bodegas AAlto Ribera del Duero AAlto

 

My comments

I’ve been a big fan of this Ribera del Duero wine for several years.  It took some cellar time but this outstanding vintage is just now coming out of its shell.

 

My Tasting Note

Decanted about 2.5 hrs.  Deep maroon color.  Blackberry liqueur, licorice, earthy underbrush, cedar, dried herbs, dark chocolate, and dark roasted coffee on the very open and inviting nose.  Medium to full body with solid tannins and very nice acidity.  Loads of spicy, sweet fruit on the palate with no over ripe notes.  Long finish again full of spicy fruit.  This will improve , perhaps quite a bit, with some additional cellar time but it is outstanding now with a couple hours of air.  Delicious!  (95 pts)

 

 

 

7 – 2002 Shafer Relentless

 

My comments

Another perennial favorite.  With the current vintage’s number one ranking in the Wine Spectator Top 100 wines, I’m sure more people will come to appreciate this gem.

 

My Tasting Note

Deep, dark maroon color.  Blackberries, smoked meat, black pepper, licorice, Asian spices, vanilla, dark chocolate, and fresh ground coffee on the very inviting and exotic nose.  Medium to full body with fairly solid, ripe tannins and nice acidity.  A big hit of berries on the palate then waves of savory elements grab the palate.  Long, lingering finish with the spicy berries giving way to the dark chocolate and espresso.  Outstanding!  (95 pts)

 

 

 

6 – 2007 Saxum James Berry Vineyard

 

My comments

I’ve been a big fan since back when some of the major wine magazines hated this wine.  This vintage was not only named the number 1, Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator but was bestowed very high scores by just about everyone who rates wines.  In my opinion, it is outstanding but will benefit from some additional cellar time.

 

My Tasting Note

I decanted the wine for a couple hours before tasting.  The wine is a deep, dark ruby color.  The wine has an exotic nose full of blackberries, blueberries, Asian spices, smoky incense, potpourri, black cherries, minerals, cola, earthy underbrush and a touch of alcohol.  This is fairly full bodied with solid, ripe tannins and bright acidity.  On the palate the wine reveals itself in layers.  First there is a solid hit of fruit with slowly building Asian spices.  As the fruit begins to fade, some nice earthy elements slowly start to build, later a bit of dark chocolate starts to take over.  The alcohol note on the nose is not noticeable on the palate or the long finish.  100 pts?  Wine of the Year?  I don’t know if I’d go that far at this point in its evolution, but there is still considerable upside.  (95 pts)

 

 

 

5 – 2003 Carlisle Two Acres

 

My comments

This is another wine that tastes great upon release, but some cellar time is greatly rewarded.  For all their early richness, Carlisle wines are balanced enough to improve in the cellar.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, saturated maroon color with a touch of bricking at the edge.  The very pleasing and inviting nose features blackberries, licorice, tree bark, leather, meat juices, dried herbs, violets, and a touch of Asian spices.  The wine is fairly full bodied with nice, ripe tannins and good acidity.  On the palate there are nice, spicy berries with just a touch of earthiness and a hit of dark chocolate.  Even though the nose and palate are top notch, the finish is probably the best part of the wine.  The finish is very long and loaded with berries, chocolate, dried herbs, and earthiness with just a bit of a meaty element.  The length is incredible!  There are absolutely no rough edges or any overly dominant taste or aromas in this wine.  This wine is in a perfect drinking window, if I had more I’d recommend drinking over the next year or two.  (95 pts)

 

 

 

4 – 2008 Melville Pinot Noir Carrie’s

 

My comments

This is a wine I grabbed off the shelf at my local wine store to try down the road.  Now I wish I had opened it as soon as I got home so I could have stocked up.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep ruby color.  An intoxicating nose with earthy underbrush, black cherry, raspberry, baking spices, vanilla, melted licorice, and violets.  This has medium body with ripe tannins and very good acidity.  Rich and plush on the palate with fantastic, earthy, spicy, fruit that slowly transforms to reveal a new nuance every couple of seconds.  The finish never really seems to dissipate, seemingly lingering forever.   One of the absolute best young California Pinot Noirs I have had the good fortune to enjoy.  Absolutely stunning!  (95 pts)

 

 

 

3 – 2003 Turley Petite Sirah Hayne Vineyard

 

My comments

For a long time, one of the upper echelon Petite Sirahs from California.  Over the years other wineries have been able to duplicate Turley’s “formula” when it comes to Zinfandels, but no one has been able to replicate the power and finesse Turley generates from this Hayne Vineyard masterpiece.

 

My Tasting Note

Decanted an hour.  Deep, dark, inky maroon color.  An outstanding nose of blackberries, pepper, melted licorice, baking spices, dark chocolate, fresh ground espresso, with some vanilla, blueberry, and violets.  Full bodied with solid, ripe tannins and very nice acidity.  Rich and spicy on the palate with loads of dark fruit, pepper, and spice.  Ripe tannins grab the palate coating it with velvety plushness.  Long finish that just seems to go on and on, very slowly fading.  One of the best Petite Sirahs I have ever had.  This is still quite young but very drinkable now with some air.  I’ll hold onto my other bottle for a special occasion.  (95 pts)

 

 

 

2 – 2004 Jean Edwards Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Stagecoach Vineyard

 

My comments

Jean Edwards Cellars was another new find for me in 2012.  In this case, my thanks goes to Twitter for leading me to this winery and the wonderful owners.  Check them out on the internet, you can probably still get in on this action before the winery catches on in a big way making the wine extremely hard to get.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a fairly deep ruby to garnet color.  The sensuous nose features cassis, cedar, tobacco, dried herbs, smoke, well worn leather, black cherry, and just a touch of earthiness.  This has medium body with nice, ripe tannins and very good acidity.  The wine is rich and velvety on the palate with dried herb laced berries and cherries up front and nice savory notes and spicy oak adding considerable depth and complexity.  The long finish adds a touch of dark chocolate and earthiness to the fruit and dried herbs.  The wine is in a perfect drinking window with absolutely no rough edges or over powering elements, but it should hold for at least a few more years if not longer.  I’ll hold my remaining bottle for another couple years.  (95 pts)

 

 

 

1 – 2007 Villa Creek High Road The Long Path James Berry Vineyard

 

My comments

I’ve been buying and very much enjoying the wines from Villa Creek for several years.  This bottle, from a great vintage, and the magical James Berry Vineyard has propelled this wine to the top of my list for the year.  I wish I had bought more of this but my couple bottles will have to make due.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark maroon color.  The nose on this wine is absolutely incredible with blackberries, intense stony minerals, violets, smoke, briny olives, blueberries, and dark, bittersweet chocolate with just a hint of earthiness.  This is medium to full body with fairly solid, ripe tannins and very nice acidity.  Like the nose, the palate on this wine is incredible, loaded with spicy, smoky, mineral laden berries with olives and dark chocolate in the background adding depth and complexity.  The finish is very long, never seeming to end with spicy berries and just a bit of earthiness seeming to last forever.  In a perfect world, this would be cellar worthy for a decade, but realistically it will be next to impossible to resist for more than a year or two in my cellar.  (96 pts)

 

 

 

Number 11 to 20 by winery

 

 

2007 Big Basin Vineyards Odeon Black Ridge Vineyard

This was decanted for about 3 hours.   The wine is a deep, dark, purple color.  The very deep and interesting nose had cassis, blackberries, black cherries, baking spices, licorice, fresh ground espresso, dark chocolate, dried herbs, minerals, and some toasty oak.  This is full bodied with a nice tannic backbone and good acidity.  The wine explodes on your palate coating it with spicy fruit, dark chocolate, and dried herbs.  There is a some nice, spicy oak providing some background “seasoning”.  The wine has a long, lingering finish with just enough toast oak to add interest without over powering the fruit and dried herbs.  This is a big, ripe, rich wine that perfectly conceals the alcohol.  This wine has years of life ahead of it, but it is delicious today with some air.  (94 pts)

 

2006 Carlisle Zinfandel Carlisle Vineyard

Decanted about an hour.  Deep, dark maroon color.  Brambly berries, melted licorice, black pepper, smoke, dark chocolate, with a bit of vanilla on the fantastic nose.  Full bodied with solid, ripe tannins and very nice acidity.  Big, ripe, and bold on the palate with loads of juicy, peppery berries.  Long, spicy finish.  Wine still tastes young and has youthful tannins and very nice acidity, this could cellar for several more years.  This is an absolutely stunning zinfandel, one of the best I have ever had. and I think it will still improve with some additional cellar time.  (95 pts)

 

2005 Clos du Mont Olivet Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Decanted about 2 hours.  Deep, dark ruby color with just a touch of lightening at the edge.  Black cherries, raspberries, loads of minerality, dried herbs, spices, scorched earth, a bit of underbrush, black pepper, and meat juices on the rich and luxurious nose.  Medium body with solid but silky tannins and very nice acidity.  On the palate the wine is rich, smooth, and velvety with no jagged edges or off notes, it just envelopes the palate with spicy, earthy fruit.  Long, lingering finish.  This may be very young, but with some air it is a knock out.  Top rate and at under $30 a QPR masterpiece!  (94 pts)

 

2003 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon

Decanted about an hour.  Deep, saturated ruby color.  Cassis, cherry, licorice, worn leather, cocoa, dried herbs, smoke, tobacco, and just a bit of cedar on the slightly reserved nose.  Medium body with fairly solid but ripe tannins and very nice acidity.  Much more expressive on the palate than on the nose, everything seems to be turned up a notch, with the rich and spicy fruit leading the way.  Nice dried herbs are in the background with a bit of dark chocolate coming in on the backend.  Long finish with the dried herbs and dark chocolate seeming to last forever.  I think the nose will open up with another year or two in the cellar.  Very nice now, probably even better in a year or two.  (94 pts)

 

2007 Jacob Franklin Mon Chou #50 Napa Valley

Pretty much pop and pour due to a different wine being corked.  The wine is a deep ruby to maroon color.  The fantastic nose has cassis, dried herbs, licorice, baking spices, cherries, cigar box, smoke, and minerals.  This had medium body with fairly solid, ripe tannins and very nice acidity.  On the palate the wine shows very nice spicy fruit full of dried herbs and a touch of licorice.  The wine has a long, lingering finish full of sweet berries, spices, and the dried herbs.  This is the real deal, with no rough edges.  This wine is very highly recommended.  (94 pts)

 

2005 Jaffurs Petite Sirah Thompson Vineyard

The wine is a very dark purple color, almost black.  The very inviting nose has blackberries, blueberries, white pepper, baking spices, melted licorice, violets, and some dark chocolate.  This is medium to full bodied with solid, ripe tannins and very good acidity.  Ripe, juicy, spicy berries dominate the palate with some very nice licorice and dark chocolate coming through on the backend.  The bright acidity and tannins keep the wine in check and actually makes it seem a bit lighter in body than the 15.8% alcohol lead me to expect.  The wine has a long finish with the juicy berries and spices slowly fading.  The alcohol is surprisingly well hidden with just a touch peeking through on the finish.  An outstanding Petite Sirah that is drinking perfectly today but with enough acidity and tannins to easily cellar for several more years.  (94 pts)

 

2010 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir “The Three”

Decanted about 2 hours.  Deep ruby red color.  Black cherries, blackberries, baking spices, white pepper, underbrush, and vanilla on the very intriguing nose.  Medium to full body with fairly solid but ripe and silky tannins and very nice acidity.  Big, rich, and spicy on the palate with loads of dark fruit and baking spices.  Very nice length on the finish with the spicy fruit lingering for a long time.  This is not a Pinot for Francophiles, VERY unique.  I would call this hedonistic, even though I absolutely despise that term in a tasting note because it usually denotes an over ripe, sweet, syrupy wine, which this is not.  Not for everyone, and not an everyday wine, but tonight I absolutely loved it.  (94 pts)

 

1988 Schloss Schonborn Erbacher Marcobrunn Riesling Spatlese

The wine is a bright, golden yellow color.  The very pleasing nose has petrol, apples, white peaches, honey, minerals, citrus zest, lime, and some white pepper.  This has light to medium body with crisp acidity and nice sweetness.  Very rich and smooth on the palate with most of the overt sugar having been incorporated into the magical elixir.  The wine has a long, lingering finish full of peach, apples, honey, minerals, and lime.  This actually still tastes young.  (94 pts)

 

2000 Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile

A bright golden yellow color.  Apple, peach, lemon zest, minerals, lime zest, petrol, and a touch of white pepper on the very luxurious nose.  Light to medium body, dry with outstanding acidity.  Tart and tangy white fruit and citrus on the palate with minerals and a bit of white pepper coming in on the back end.  Long finish with mouthwatering citrus and spicy minerals seeming to last forever.  An truly outstanding example of a dry Riesling.  (94 pts)

 

2007 Villa Creek Willow Creek Cuvee

Decanted about an hour.  Deep ruby color.  Cherries, blackberries, white pepper, baking spices, some earthiness, licorice, and nice minerality on the very open and inviting nose.  Medium to full body with solid, ripe tannins and very nice acidity.  Rich fruit and solid peppery spice on the palate with some minerality and earthiness coming in on the back end.  Long finish with the fruit, spice, minerality, and earthiness all lingering seemingly forever.  I love this wine every vintage, but one seems to have that little something extra.  This is special.  (94 pts)

 

 

***** 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

 

 

 

 

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!

 

 

 

2009 Foncalieu Côtes du Rhône Villages St. Gervais La Réserve du Crouzau – $8.95

 

My comments

I bought several bottles of this wine at the local store at a fantastic price.  I’ve held off opening a bottle for six months, but I really want to open one.  These could probably use another 6 months to a year in the cellar, but it’s time to check in and get a read on how long before these hit their stride.

 

Winery history

Les Vignobles Foncalieu are like no other cooperative.  Their technical teams include international talents who revel in this mosaic of huge terroirs.  So it comes as no surprise to learn that Michel Bataille and the 1,200 winegrowing estate owners made the choice to produce upmarket wines.  In order to achieve excellence in terms of quality, they have invested in cutting-edge facilities.

 

IN THE VINES

Very strict vine management specifications: pruning, green harvesting, picking dates, convocation to the vine plot…

GIS (geographic information system) cartography.

Computerized plot monitoring.

High-tech ripeness tracking.

Grape analysis, segmentation and control over the harvest adapted to the product profile with Dyostem©.

 

IN THE WINERY

Creation of a vinification plan for all the vineyards, taking account of client needs and brand profiles.

Precise definition of aromatic profiles.

Full traceability process guaranteeing regularity in the quality of wines.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a dark ruby color.  The outstanding nose has black cherries, blackberries, minerals, dried herbs, charred meat, earthy underbrush, and violets.  This has medium body, fairly solid tannins, and very good acidity.  The palate has very nice fruit and dried herbs with some spice and earthy elements in the background.  The finish shows considerable promise until the tannins and acidity kick in clipping it a bit.  Give this one another year in the cellar or give it some air.  (90 pts)

 

 

 

2005 Vincent Arroyo Petite Sirah – $28.80

 

My comments

I’m been on the Vincent Arroyo mailing list since the 2000 vintage.  I was hooked after our first visit to the winery.  I was fortunate enough to get in on a sale of their library wines so I have had the wines from as far back as the 1995 vintage.  If you ever make it to the Calistoga area, I highly recommend a stop at Vincent Arroyo.  They generally have a couple bottles open but the highlight is the barrel tasting.  You have the opportunity to buy the exact wines you sample from the barrel.

 

Winery history

Walking into the Vincent Arroyo Winery, one gets the sense that it has been here forever.  Is it just the comfortable atmosphere of a big barn full of oak wine barrels that lends to the sense of permanence?  Vincent Arroyo, himself, may feel like he has been here forever, as well.  He left behind a career as a mechanical engineer in the Silicon Valley during the early 70’s and headed to Calistoga, at the northern tip of the NapaValley.  He felt much more at home close to the land, being able to see and taste the fruits of his labors.

 

The purchase of the 23 acres of the Greenwood Ranch property in 1974 began the evolution of what is seen today, 85 acres cultivating 9 different wine grape varietals.  Vince has always been a farmer at heart, taking care of the land to produce the best that it can.  He began to transform the Greenwood Ranch by ripping out existing prune trees and unhealthy vines and planting new vineyards.  For many years, he did it all alone, the tractor work, cellar work and a one-man sales force.  Originally he made just a few hundred cases of his favorites, Petite Sirah and Cabernet, selling the majority of the grape tonnage to other Napa wineries.  Today, he produces over 8,000 cases of seven different varietals.

 

More information is available at: http://www.vincentarroyo.com/

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a fairly deep ruby color.  The appealing nose has blackberries, baking spices, black pepper, minerals, underbrush, and a hint of band aid or adhesive tape (brett).  The wine is barely medium body with fairly solid tannins and very good acidity.  Nice spicy, peppery fruit on the palate with some earthiness and minerals in the background.  Once again, there is just a slight hint of band aid on the palate, but it actually adds to the palate instead of coming across as a flaw.  The finish is a touch short but nice earthy berries are good while they last.  If you are overly sensitive to the band aid influences of brett, you will hate this wine, if you think a touch of brett isn’t necessarily bad, you’ll like it.  I’m in the like it camp.  With the nice balance, solid tannins and acidity, this should last in the cellar for several more years.  (90 pts)

 

 

Barrel Tasting at Vincent Arroyo several years ago.

 

 

 

2009 Lewis Cellars Alec’s Blend – $37.99

 

My comments

I guess you can say I am a fan of Lewis, but only when I can grab the wines on sale.  The wines are usually pretty good, but there are better ones out there at their release prices.  In this case, the wine had a release price of $60 and the Cellar Tracker average price paid was around $55, both tough price points for me to justify.  When my local store had these for $38, I had to grab several.

 

Winery history

In 1992 Debbie and Randy Lewis established a small family winery in NapaValley and were later joined by their son Dennis in 1999.  Total production is approximately 9,000 cases annually of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

 

We are literally hands-on in every aspect of vineyard management, winemaking, sales and distribution, and we thrive on this challenge and the relationships we cultivate in the process.  It is our continuing goal to create world-class wines.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark, purple color.  The rich nose has blackberries, blueberries, wood smoke, violets, black pepper, dark chocolate, fresh ground coffee, vanilla and some earthiness.  The wine has full body, big, ripe tannins, and decent acidity.  There are massive amounts of fruit and spice on the palate with smoky, earthy elements coming in on the back end.  The finish is fairly long and again massive endowed with fruit and spice.  The wine does show a bit of alcohol on the nose and palate, perhaps it will integrate with some cellar time, there is plenty of stuffing to help it hide out.  Not for the meek.  This could use another year or two in the cellar.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2003 Carlisle Syrah Dry Creek Valley – $23.00

 

My comments

Currently the oldest vintage of Carlisle in my cellar.  Sadly, this is my last bottle of this wine.  The last couple bottles have shown this wine to be in its’ sweet spot, so I have high expectations.  Carlisle Winery is not known for letting you down.

 

Winery history

We are a small SonomaCounty 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.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark purple color.  The dark and inviting nose has blackberries, smoked meat, baking spices, black pepper, dark chocolate, dried herbs, wild flowers, and a bit of earthiness.  The wine has a medium to full body with mostly integrated, ripe tannins and good acidity.  On the palate, some of the usual Carlisle up front fruit has receded allowing more of the savory elements to show themselves.  This does not mean the fruit is gone, it is still front and center, it is just allowing more room for the earth, meat, pepper, and spices to add tremendous depth.  The finish is fairly long with berries, smoked meat, and earthy elements leading the way.  This is in a real nice place.  (93 pts)

 

 

 

 

***** 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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mailing Lists

 

 

Nothing new to report now, but keep an eye on the inbox starting next week.

 

 

 

Wines bought or received this week

 

I was good over the last few days, so nothing to report.

 

 

 

 

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!

 

 

 

This is based on a winery supplied sample.

 

 

Elyse Winery was started in 1987 by Ray and his wife Nancy when they crushed 4.5 tons of Zinfandel from the Morisoli Vineyard in Rutherford to craft 286 cases of their first wine.  While the portfolio has grown over the last 25 years, the focus remains on creating vineyard driven wines that pair well with food.  Total production is currently 10,000 cases and the wines are nationally and internationally distributed.

Ray grew up on a dairy farm in northwest New Jersey and tended various crops before tiring of milk and leaving the roost.  After a two year stint in the army and extensive travel in Europe and Africa, he returned to the states and attended Stockbridge Agricultural College at the University of Massachusetts.  While at school, he worked at a fine wine shop in Boston, and it was here that he discovered fine French wine.  With Coursen’s background in farming and his new appreciation for wine, the idea of making wine took hold.

 

Nancy is a third generation Californian and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.   Following her graduation from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Occupational Therapy, she worked with special needs children in the educational systems of the Boston area.   It was in Boston in 1982 that Nancy met Ray and shortly thereafter his interest in the wine business brought them to the Napa Valley.

Much more information and Ray, Nancy, Elyse, and her younger brother Jacob Franklin can be found at:  http://www.elysewinery.com/25.html

 

 

 

On your next visit to the Napa Valley, I highly recommend a stop at Elyse.  They are about a mile south of Yountville just off Highway 29.  A reservation is required but the visit is well worth the phone call.  More information is available at:  http://www.elysewinery.com/visit.html

 

 

 

Everyone knows great wines start in the vineyards, and the Morisoli Vineyard lies in the heart of the famed Rutherford region in Napa Valley.

 

 

 

And finally onto the reason you are visiting this post, the wine.

 

 

 

My comments

Elyse has been one of my favorite wineries since my first visit there in 2001.  I was talking to an employee at Merryvale about the style of wines I liked and that I was on the lookout for leads to some nice Petite Sirah based wines.  All he said was, “You have to checkout Elyse”.  As soon as we got back in the car, I pulled out my guidebook of wineries, and looked them up.  According to the guide, they required a reservation so I called them.  About 30 minutes later we were met by a very gracious and inviting tasting room employee.  We spent the next hour trying just about everything they made.  We left with several bottles for the week and ordered a case to be shipped back home.

 

Since that day, Elyse has always been the first winery we visit when we make it to Napa.  I always have several bottles of Elyse wine in my cellar.

 

 

Wine Info

This wine is 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot.

 

After a 15 day fermentation using native yeast, the wine was aged 30 months in French oak, 60% of which was new.

 

The alcohol is 14.8%, and the production was 1,190 12-pack 750ml cases and 20 cases of 1.5L magnums.

 

 

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a fairly deep, dark ruby color almost purple.  The enticing nose features cassis, melted licorice, dried herbs, cedar, dark chocolate, minerals, black cherries, and baking spices.  The wine has medium body, solid, ripe tannins, and very good acidity.  The outstanding palate has a good fruit base with plenty of spice, dried herbs, and a touch of earthiness and minerals adding considerable depth and complexity.  The long, lingering finish seems to go on forever, showcasing the spicy fruit, dried herbs, and a touch of dark chocolate.  A very powerful and elegant wine that should be left in the cellar for a few years to allow it to reach it’s full potential.  (94 pts)

 

 

We paired the Elyse Cabernet with our Christmas dinner of prime rib, mashed potatoes casserole with onions and cheddar cheese, Prosciutto wrapped asparagus, and some Asiago Cheese and garlic bread.

 

 

***** 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

 

 

 

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!

 

 

This is based on a winery supplied sample.

 

 

 

NapaValley’s Elyse Winery has two causes for celebration this harvest.  In addition to a stellar looking 2012 vintage in NapaValley, it is the 25th harvest for the winery.

 

 

I guess a good way to get started is by meeting Elyse.  Here she is with Ray Coursen, her dad.

 

 

 

Elyse Winery was started in 1987 by Ray and his wife Nancy when they crushed 4.5 tons of Zinfandel from the Morisoli Vineyard in Rutherford to craft 286 cases of their first wine.  While the portfolio has grown over the last 25 years, the focus remains on creating vineyard driven wines that pair well with food.  Total production is currently 10,000 cases and the wines are nationally and internationally distributed.

Ray grew up on a dairy farm in northwest New Jersey and tended various crops before tiring of milk and leaving the roost.  After a two year stint in the army and extensive travel in Europe and Africa, he returned to the states and attended StockbridgeAgriculturalCollege at the University of Massachusetts.  While at school, he worked at a fine wine shop in Boston, and it was here that he discovered fine French wine.  With Coursen’s background in farming and his new appreciation for wine, the idea of making wine took hold.

 

Nancy is a third generation Californian and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.   Following her graduation from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Occupational Therapy, she worked with special needs children in the educational systems of the Boston area.   It was in Boston in 1982 that Nancy met Ray and shortly thereafter his interest in the wine business brought them to the NapaValley.

Much more information and Ray, Nancy, Elyse, and her younger brother Jacob Franklin can be found at:  http://www.elysewinery.com/25.html

 

 

 

My comments

Elyse has been one of my favorite wineries since my first visit there in 2001.  I was talking to an employee at Merryvale about the style of wines I liked and that I was on the lookout for leads to some nice Petite Sirah based wines.  All he said was, “You have to checkout Elyse”.  As soon as we got back in the car, I pulled out my guidebook of wineries, and looked them up.  According to the guide, they required a reservation so I called them.  About 30 minutes later we were met by a very gracious and inviting tasting room employee.  We spent the next hour trying just about everything they made.  We left with several bottles for the week and ordered a case to be shipped back home.

 

Since that day, Elyse has always been the first winery we visit when we make it to Napa.  I always have several bottles of Elyse wine in my cellar.

 

 

Wine Info

Elyse has been making Zinfandel wines from the Morisoli Vineyard since 1986 and have been the only producer working with the grapes since 1988.

 

Though this wine is mainly Zinfandel (87%) it also contains 13% other varietals including a combination of Alicante Bouschet, Carignane, Durif, Grand Noir, MuscatHamburg, Negrette, Syrah, and Valdiguie.

 

The total production was 2,077 cases.

 

After a 16 day fermentation with native yeast, the wine was aged 10 ½ months in American oak, 25% of which was new.

 

The final alcohol is 14.4%.

 

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep garnet color, almost purple.  The very inviting nose features brambly berries, licorice, eucalyptus, Asian spices, violets, dark chocolate, black pepper, with hints of cherry, dark roast coffee, smoky bacon, and a touch of earthiness.  This has a medium body with fairly solid, ripe tannins, and very good acidity.  The wine is very rich and spicy on the palate with the fruit and savory notes delivering a very tasty mouthful of pleasure.  The finish is long and very flavorful with the spicy berries, pepper and a touch of earthiness slowly adding a touch of eucalyptus.  This is an outstanding, young Zinfandel that has several years of good drinking ahead.  (94 pts)

 

 

 

 

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!

 

 

 

2006 Peter Lehmann Shiraz The Barossa – $11.39

 

My comments

I bought several bottles of this wine after trying a bottle.  This is a Barossa wine that breaks the mold of the big, fruit forward, syrupy Barossa Shiraz.  This wine, though ripe, is not out to grab your palate in a stranglehold.  This wine is, in my opinion, somewhere between your normal Shiraz and a French Rhone wine.  If you are down on Aussie Shiraz, look around, there are other examples like this one that will pull you in.

 

Winery history

In the face of a serious overproduction of grapes and the real possibility of growers facing financial ruin, Peter Lehmann found some investment partners, established a consortium and built the Peter Lehmann Wines winery.  It was 1979.

 

The first vintage was processed in 1980 and in 1982 the winery was formally named Peter Lehmann Wines.  From then on, its wines have been marketed under the Peter Lehmann Wines label.

 

As an experienced winemaker, Peter Lehmann was all too aware of the challenges facing a young winery in a competitive market.  Growth was well planned, slow and steady.

Initially, the winery facility was built to process fruit purchased from the local growers.  Carefully and strategically, the Peter Lehmann Wines operation moved on from the bulk wine market to become a producer of premium bottled wines with a well-deserved international reputation.

 

As well as purchasing grapes from about 185 local independent growers, Peter Lehmann Wines has its own vineyards, which produce about 2% of its requirements.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark maroon color.  The very nice nose has blackberries, cherries, tobacco, dried herbs, meat juices, dark chocolate, and a touch of earthiness.  This has medium body, soft, ripe tannins, and good acidity.  This is not a big, in your face Aussie Shiraz, it is actually on the subtle and nuanced side of the aisle.  Nice spicy, earthy fruit on the palate with some dried herbs coming in on the back end.  The finish has very nice length, again featuring the same elements from the palate.  This is very tasty and enjoyable.  (90 pts)

 

 

 

2009 McPrice Myers Altas Vinas Alta Mesa Vineyard – $30.40

 

My comments

The wines made by McPrice Myers, aren’t light weight, timid, and subtle, these are big, bold, and in your face.  Are they made for every day consumption?  Probably not, but once in a while a bottle of these wines will make you say, WOW.

 

Tonight’s wine is a blend of 42% Grenache, 29% Mourvedre, and 29% Syrah.

 

Winery history

We work.  We work hard to make good wine.  You work.  You work hard and need good wine.  You might have money, but maybe you’re like us.  We make McPrice Myers wines for people like us.  If you work, and we mean work hard, and you need to drink good wine, and still make your mortgage payments, car payments, kid payments and pet payments, we’re here for you.  Our goal is to make wine that works hard at helping hard working America relax for a minute, take a load off, and remove the nose from the grindstone for a while.  We hope you enjoy them.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark violet color.  The intense nose has blackberries, cherries, earthy underbrush, plums, smoked meat, dried herbs, stony minerals, licorice, and black pepper.  This is very full bodied with sold tannins and decent acidity.  The palate features an overload of minerals, fruit, and spice that put a stranglehold on the taste buds.  Intense.  The finish is fairly long and adds a bit of dark chocolate to the mix.  This is still on the young side and could use another year or two in the cellar.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2009 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Garys’ Vineyard – $45.00

 

My comments

I’ve been a big fan of the Pinot Noir wines being made by Brian Loring for several years.  These will never be confused with a French Burgundy, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  Loring’s Pinots are ripe, fruity, and delicious.  That’s really all that should matter.

 

Winery history

My philosophy on making wine is that the fruit is EVERYTHING.  What happens in the vineyard determines the quality of the wine – I can’t make it better – I can only screw it up!  That’s why I’m extremely picky when choosing vineyards to buy grapes from.  Not only am I looking for the right soil, micro-climate, and clones, I’m also looking for a grower with the same passion and dedication to producing great wine that I have.  In other words, a total Pinot Freak!  My part in the vineyard equation is to throw heaping piles of money at the vineyard owners (so that they can limit yields and still make a profit) and then stay out of the way!  Since most, if not all of the growers keep some fruit to make their own wine, I tell them to farm my acre(s) the same way they do theirs – since they’ll obviously be doing whatever is necessary to get the best possible fruit.  One of the most important decisions made in the vineyard is when to pick.  Some people go by the numbers (brix, pH, TA, etc) and some go by taste.  Once again, I trust the decision to the vineyard people.  The day they pick the fruit for their wine is the day I’m there with a truck to pick mine.  Given this approach, the wine that I produce is as much a reflection of the vineyard owner as it is of my winemaking skills.  I figure that I’m extending the concept of terroir a bit to include the vineyard owner/manager… but it seems to make sense to me.  The added benefit is that I’ll be producing a wide variety of Pinots.  It’d be boring if everything I made tasted the same.

 

 

My Tasting Note

This is a fairly dark ruby color.  The very enticing nose has black cherries, baking spices, boysenberries, black tea, and some earthiness.  This is fairly full bodied with ripe tannins and good acidity.  The palate is full of mouth coating, rich and spicy fruit with a bit of earthiness coming in behind the fruit.  The finish is long and lingering with the earthy, spic, fruit.  Not the most complex wine made by Loring, but very tasty.  This will probably improve and gain some additional complexity with some additional time in the cellar.  (91 pts)

 

 

 

2008 Hobo Wine Company Zinfandel Branham Vineyard Rockpile – $22.53

 

My comments

I’ve been a big fan of wines form the Rockpile region in the SonomaValley for a number of years.  I am not alone in my appreciation of the area.  A guy named Robert Parker once said this about the Rockpile region – “…One of the finest Zinfandel sites in Northern California…”

 

If you want to learn more about this up and coming AVA, check out:  http://rockpileappellation.com/viticulture.php

 

Winery history

The Hobo Wine Company is the brainchild, side job, menace to the wine industry, hedged bet, cash strain, mental anguish, late night musing, bruised hands, dirty t-shirts, and constant companion of Kenny Likitprakong.  Despite knowing better, he started his own label in 2002 with the simple idea to have some good fun.

 

Much more information including the origin of the name Hobo available at:  http://www.hobowines.com/about.html

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a dark ruby color.  The big and bold nose has brambly berries, freshly cracked black pepper, melted licorice, smoke, meat juices, vanilla, dark chocolate, and some dried leafy herbs.  This has medium body, fairly solid, ripe tannins, and very nice acidity.  The spicy, peppery, berries hit the palate first followed by dried herbs, chocolate, and a touch of black cherry.  The finish is fairly long with just a touch of earthiness adding a nice dimension with the flavors from the palate carrying over.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2010 Tamarack Cellars Firehouse Red – $13.37

 

My comments

This is a perennial house favorite and best buy.  The blend changes every vintage, but the quality is always in the bottle.  This is always a blend of several grapes that always seems to work.

 

This vintage is a blend of 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Syrah, 12% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 4% Malbec, 4% Sangiovese, 2% Zinfandel, 1% Petit Verdot, and 1% Carmenere, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.  Oops, got a bit carried away there, have to kill the Christmas music for a bit.   🙂

 

Winery history

Whether it’s our highly acclaimed Firehouse Red or one of our limited-production single vineyard reserve blends, Tamarack’s wines offer a delicious expression of Washington vineyards’ style and elegance.

 

When you visit the winery, you won’t find us in a fancy chateau.  Instead you’ll find yourself immersed in the everyday workings of a family-owned winery, racking, blending and bottling wine, in a renovated firehouse located in a World War II Army Air Base.

 

Founded in 1998 by Ron and Jamie Coleman, Tamarack’s first vintage consisted of 300 cases of Merlot.  The goal was to make elegant, balanced, delicious wines and offer them at a fair price.  Years later, and now up to 20,000 cases each year, the focus remains the same. Tamarack Cellars hand-crafts consistently outstanding wines for a great price.

 

My Tasting Note

This is a fairly deep ruby to maroon color.  The pleasant nose has blackberries, dark chocolate, minerals, cherries, baking spices, dried herbs, and earthy underbrush.  This has medium body with soft tannins and good acidity.  Nice, juicy, spicy fruit hits the palate first with some dark chocolate and earthiness coming in on the back end.  This has decent length on the finish which is showing a touch of excess oak.  This is tasty today, but could use a bit more cellar time to fully open up and help the oak integrate on the finish.  (88 pts)

 

 

 

2007 Villa Creek High Road The Long Path James Berry Vineyard – $44.00

 

My comments

I’ve been a fan of the wines coming out of Paso Robles’ Villa Creek for several years.  Most of the wines are very unique blends and all are of very high quality.

 

This is a “extended barrel aged” version of one of my favorite wines made by Villa Creek.  I’m very interested in seeing (tasting) what the extended time adds to the wine.

 

This is a blend of 50% Syrah, 30% Grenache, and 20% Mourvedre from the world renowned James Berry Vineyard in Paso Robles.

 

Winemaker notes:

High Road has historically been aged in barrel for 14-18 months.  With this vintage, I wanted to see how the wine would evolve with additional time in the barrel.  After the initial blend was assembled I held back four puncheons as an experiment.  The Long Path is two of those puncheons aged 34 months.  I tasted the wine with Josh Raynolds of Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar publications and thought his notes were spot on.

 

Winery history

In the spirit of the great wine producers of the southern Rhone and the bodegas of Rioja and Priorat, blending is what Villa Creek does best.  The area’s finest Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Tempranillo Vineyards are just a stone’s throw from the west Paso Robles winery where these blends are lovingly produced by winemaker Cris Cherry and his wife JoAnn.

 

The grapes of the area’s most progressive vineyards, James Berry, Denner, Ohana and Booker, currently grace the wines of Villa Creek Cellars.  Per acre contracts insure that the fruit comes off the same blocks each vintage.  The Cherry’s own 70 acre estate on the west side of Paso Robles boasts elevations of 1400-1800 feet, calcareous soils, south facing slopes and ample water.  In the spring of 2012, the Cherry’s finished planting their first grape vines, 3.5 acres of Grenache.  They look forward to planting Mourvèdre and Carignan in the months to come.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark maroon color.  The nose on this wine is absolutely incredible with blackberries, intense stony minerals, violets, smoke, briny olives, blueberries, and dark, bittersweet chocolate with just a hint of earthiness.  This is medium to full body with fairly solid, ripe tannins and very nice acidity.  Like the nose, the palate on this wine is incredible, loaded with spicy, smoky, mineral laden berries with olives and dark chocolate in the background adding depth and complexity.  The finish is very long, never seeming to end with spicy berries and just a bit of earthiness seeming to last forever.  In a perfect world, this would be cellar worthy for a decade, but realistically it will be next to impossible to resist for more than a year or two in my cellar.  (96 pts)

 

Note:  I just checked the website to place a quick order for a lot more, but it is sold out.  I’ll have to make do with my couple of bottles.

 

I’d highly recommend joining the mailing list to get your hands on gems like this.  Visit http://www.villacreekstore.com/the-clubs to join a club like me, or browse around.  This is one of my top 5 wineries.

 

 

 

We paired the Villa Creek wine with a homey dinner.  I coated boneless pork loin chops with a mixture of mayo and grainy Dijon mustard and coated with Panko bread crumbs.  A quick sauté and finished in the oven.  Wife made some cheesy scalloped potatoes and quick sautéed asparagus.  Add some Asiago Cheese/Garlic bread and a Parmigianino-Garlic dipping sauce.

 

 

 

 Featured Recipe

 

Chicken Tortilla Soup (see my notes at end)

 

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast

2 cans (15 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (4 ounces) chopped, mild green chiles, drained

1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt and black pepper, to taste

4 corn tortillas, sliced into 1/4-inch strips

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

1 avocado, peeled, diced and tossed with lime juice to prevent browning

lime wedges

 

1 –        Place chicken in slow cooker.

Combine tomatoes with juice, chiles, 1/2 cup broth, onion, garlic, and cumin in a bowl.  Pour mixture over chicken.  Cover, cook on LOW 6 hours or on high 3 hours, or until chicken is tender

 

2 –        Remove chicken from slow cooker, shred with 2 forks.  Return to cooking liquid.  Adjust seasonings, adding salt, pepper and more broth, as desired.

 

3 –        Just before serving, add tortillas and cilantro to slow cooker.  Stir to blend.  Serve in soup bowls, topping each serving with cheese, avocado and a squeeze of lime    juice.

 

Makes 4 servings

 

NOTES – I cut the chicken breasts in half for more even cooking and to make the shredding a bit easier.  This will need a fair amount of salt and pepper if you use low sodium broth.  We generally add additional cumin and the extra broth in step 2.  We also like to add a bit of onion powder and garlic powder in step 2.  Depending on your tastes, we prefer medium or hot chiles.

 

Regular corn tortillas pretty much disintegrate in the soup, so we prefer to use crunchy tortilla strips from the store.  These are generally either with the Mexican foods or in the salad area.  We just add them to the bowls with the cheese.  If you use these, they are a bit salty, so cut back on salt a bit.  You can use regular tortillas, but I’d recommend spraying them with some cooking spray and putting in a hot oven for a few minutes to make them crispy after cutting into strips.

 

 

***** 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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!

 

 

 

 

***** Shameless Self Promotion *****

 

Here is a link to a YouTube video of me getting “coal” from Santa for being the “Nicest Person in Social Media” in 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOvQTeGR3-c

 

 

 

 2007 Terrabianca Campaccio Toscana IGT – $24.69

 

My comments

This wine was #36 on the Wine Spectator Top 100 list for 2011.

 

This wine has been a favorite Italian wine in my house for several years.  This is generally a blend of 70% Sangiovese and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

Winery history

In the medieval times Podere Terrabianca found itself in the ambiguous situation of being situated in the part of the countryside under the rule of Florence and, at the same time, also in the diocese of the Bishop of Siena.  The very first documents mentioning its presence, dated 1085, describe it as being a country estate as, in fact, its name clearly implies.

 

Today the winery Terrabianca is located at the heart of the Chianti Classico region, in the middle of Tuscany, 12 km from Siena and 50 km from Florence.

 

The soil which consists of layers of chalk, sand and clay from the palaeozoic and mesozoic ages has the ideal composition to grow grapes of highest quality.  On the 124 ha, 307 acres, there are vineyards surrounded by olive groves and woods.

 

They are in the best position, south and southeast exposure, at 250 to 500 mt. above sea level.  The grape variety are Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Canaiolo, Chardonnay, Malvasia and Trebbiano Toscano are grown to produce a total of 350.000 bottles a year.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a fairly dark ruby color.  The deep and exotic nose has blackberries, cherries, cocoa powder, licorice, underbrush, dried herbs, minerals, and some well worn leather.  This has a medium body with fairly solid tannins and very good acidity.  On the palate the wine has loads of spicy, earthy fruit with dried herbs, and cocoa powder adding considerable depth.  The finish has nice length, but a bit of oak pops out and gets a touch intrusive.  This tastes very nice now but should be better in another year.  Hopefully by then the excess oak on the finish will smoothen out or integrate.  This is a blend of 70% Sangiovese and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2008 Core Grenache Santa Barbara County – $11.76

 

My comments

This wine was part of an absolute steal offered on WineWoot a couple months ago.  I immediately jumped on the offer for two sets of the 4 bottle packs.

 

I am a big fan of wines made from the Grenache grape, and an equally big fan of the wines being made by Dave Corey.  This appears to be one of the “entry” level wines offered by Core, but I have high expectations.

 

Winery history

Dave Corey’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in Biology from San JoseStateUniversity and a master’s degree in Entomology and Plant Physiology from KansasStateUniversity, which was completed in 1995.

 

Prior to entering the wine industry in 1996, Dave worked in Salinas and the Central Valley in agricultural fields including cole crops, cotton, almonds, citrus, walnuts, kiwi, table grapes, apples and stone fruit.  His first position in the wine industry was as a Pest Control Advisor with Cambria Winery and Vineyards and later at Kendall-Jackson Vineyards of Santa Barbara County.

 

Dave left Kendall Jackson Vineyards in 1999 to begin Vital Vines, a viticultural company providing technical support for vineyard property owners, vineyard managers and winemaking personnel in the promotion of sustainable agriculture.  He has worked with clients that include Laetitia, Barnwood, Beckman, Melville, Stolpman, Gainey, Zaca Mesa, Sea Smoke, Le Bon Climat, Sine Qua Non, Rideau, Carhartt, Rusack, Westerly, Fiddlestix, Vogelzang, Andrew Murray, Evergreen, Arita Hills and Royal Oaks.

 

With a major commitment and a second mortgage, Dave gradually decreased his vineyard consulting work to focus on vineyard sourcing, winemaking duties and winery direct sales for CORE wine company which he started in 2001 with his wife, Becky.  Dave passionately continues working in the same capacity today in addition to several new wine projects with family members.  He can also be found pouring wine for customers at the CORE wine company tasting room in Old Orcutt, California.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a garnet red color.  The very intriguing nose has cherries, Asian spices, plums, dried leafy herbs, meat juices, leather, white pepper, and a touch of earthiness.  This has medium body, moderate, ripe tannins, and very good acidity.  This has solid fruit and spice on the plush and velvety palate.  The palate leans heavily on the tart cherries and Asian spices, but the pepper, plums, and pepper spread out to totally envelope the palate in flavor.  The long, lingering finish echoes the palate with the spicy, cherries and a touch of earthiness seeming to never totally fade.  This is a fantastic value that should find a place in your cellar.  This can be enjoyed over the next 4 to 5 years.    (91 pts)

 

 

 

2006 Rosenblum Cellars Petite Sirah Heritage Clones – $12.99

 

My comments

I may be in the minority, but in my opinion, this winery has fallen off the cliff since Kent Rosenblum sold his namesake winery and Jeff Cohn left as the winemaker.  This bottle is from the days when Rosenblum on the label meant you were getting some powerhouse juice in the bottle.  It looks like this wine has been dropped from the Rosenblum portfolio since the 2008 vintage is the last one I can see in existence.  One can hope, at some point the owners will attempt to bring the label back into prominence, but every passing vintage is diluting its value to long time fans.

 

Winery history

In 1978, Rosenblum Cellars opened its now-legendary home in Alameda, California; a place known more for its docks and shipyards than for winemaking. But then again, Kent Rosenblum, “The King of Zin,” always did things a little differently from the status quo.

 

When most of the established wineries in California were focused on their estate-grown wines, Kent chose to explore some of the unrecognized and underappreciated grape-growing areas of Northern California. He met families who had been growing grapes for generations; dedicated growers passionate about their vineyards, who worked tirelessly to grow the best grapes possible from old vines their families had planted years before.

 

Their efforts showcased the difference between mountainside and valley floor grapes, the importance of soil types and their influence on the taste of a wine. Kent was fascinated by the character and complexity of the Zin grapes produced by these old vines, and was determined to capture this spirit in a bottle.

 

Kent took grapes back to Alameda and began to make wines, acknowledging the contributions of his friends by placing the vineyard’s name on the bottle. Working out of a factory building near the docks, Kent and his crew looked more like longshoremen than winemakers. But the wine they made spoke for itself.

 

Rosenblum Cellars has become one the most-awarded and highly rated California Zinfandel portfolios. Our head winemaker, John Kane, and his team still travel all over California to find exceptional grapes – working to make bold, delicious wines. And if you’re ever in the neighborhood, we invite you to come visit us next to the docks in Alameda.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark purple color.  The very appealing nose has blackberries, smoked meat, black pepper, leather, dark chocolate, plums, with lesser notes of cedar, earthy underbrush, and violets.  This is medium to full bodied with fairly solid, ripe tannins and good acidity.  Mouth filling berries and spice coat the palate with pepper, spicy oak, and some earthiness adding nice depth.  The finish has decent length with the fruit and spice slowly giving way to a touch of excess oak.  All in all, a very nice, middle aged Petite Sirah that may be starting on a down hill curve.  Probably best over the next two, maybe three years.  (90 pts)

 

 

 

2007 Elyse Zinfandel A.K.A. – $20.00

 

My comments

Elyse has been one of my favorite wineries since my first visit there in 2001.  I was talking to an employee at Merryvale about the style of wines I liked and that I was on the lookout for leads to some nice Petite Sirah based wines.  All he said was, “You have to checkout Elyse”.  As soon as we got back in the car, I pulled out my guidebook of wineries, and looked them up.  According to the guide, they required a reservation so I called them.  About 30 minutes later we were met by a very gracious and inviting tasting room employee.  We spent the next hour trying just about everything they made.  We left with several bottles for the week and ordered a case to be shipped back home.

 

Since that day, Elyse has always been the first winery we visit when we make it to Napa.  I always have several bottles of Elyse wine in my cellar.  A quick check of my cellar on Cellar Tracker shows I currently have 22 bottles of Elyse wines and 12 from their other label, Jacob Franklin in stock.

 

Winery history

In 1983, Nancy and Ray arrived in California from Cape Cod to fulfill Ray’s dream of making wine and Nancy’s taste for adventure.  After working harvest at Mt. Eden Winery in Saratoga, they moved to NapaValley and became innkeepers for a bed &breakfast. Ray then spent formative time at Tonella Vineyard Management, where he gained philosophical perspective and practical knowledge working in the vineyards.  Ray’s nine year tenure at Whitehall Lane Winery under the tutelage of Art Finkelstein first as a cellar worker and then as head winemaker honed his skills in the art of blending and was the inspiration for Ray’s winemaking style today.

 

In 1987, Ray & Nancy started Elyse Winery with 286 cases of Zinfandel from the Morisoli Vineyard, which is still a cornerstone vineyard source for the winery. After a decade of nomadic winemaking at various custom crush facilities, in 1997 they purchased a small winery and vineyard on Hoffman Lane, the home of Elyse Winery and tasting room.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a fairly dark maroon color.  The captivating nose features brambly berries, black pepper, smoke, meat juices, baking spices, and a touch of vanilla and leather.  This has medium to full body, fairly solid, ripe tannins, and very nice acidity.  On the palate, this has lost some of the “baby fat” and is now structured like a nice claret.  The peppery berries and spice dominate the palate but there are good earthy and savory notes coming in on the back end that add considerable depth.  The finish has good length and the fruit turns to more of a cherry element with the spice and earthy notes in the background.  This is in a very nice, food friendly place.  (91 pts)

 

 

Mailing Lists

 

Saxum

The next Offer from Saxum, their 2013 Winter Release, should hit the inbox on January 14^th.  This release will include the following wines:

2010 Broken Stones

2010 Booker Vineyard

2010 Heart Stone Vineyard

2010 Bone Rock

 

Quivet

The next release for Mike Smith’s Quivet label will hit on January 8th.  This release will include:

2011 Quivet Cellars Syrah, Kenefick Ranch Vineyard   $38

2011 Quivet Cellars Syrah, Las Madres Vineyard Hulda Block  $40

2012 Quivet Cellars Sauvignon Blanc, Tench Vineyard   $25

 

 

 

Wines bought or received this week

I’ll have some wine to report here in my next post on Sunday.  Hopefully my Bedrock wine will arrive if FedEx can figure out where it is.  According to the tracking info, it arrived in Sacramento on Sunday afternoon but never left the facility.

 

I also have some wine to pickup at the local store and I received a nice Pinot from Tolosa that arrive earlier in the week.

 

 

 

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!