Mike's Wine Blog

1982 Chateau Leoville Barton, Saint Julien

2006-03-26T23:32:00.000-08:00

Medium dark. Open nose with aromas of cherry, currants, chassis and oak. Big forward cherry and current fruit flavors, with hints of leather and tobacco towards the finish that developed as the wine aired, moderate acid, still soft fruity tannins, good structure and a long finish. My rating 90.

Parker rated this wine very highly when it was young, and it has developed into a very good, mature Bordeaux that does not show any signs of decline yet. In fact this wine seems surprising tight for a 20 year old Bordeaux.

2003 Las Rocas de San Alejandro Garnacha Spain Calatayud Vinas Viejas

2006-03-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

Dark. Raspberry and pepper on the nose. Big raspberry, strawberry fruit flavors with spices and pepper, high acid, soft tannins and a long fruity finish. A very fruity young wine that will be nice drinking over the next few years. I paid about $10. My rating 85.

2001 Chateau Bastor-Lamontagne, Sauternes

2006-03-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

Light golden yellow. Nose had lemon and orange aromas. Sweet orange and apricot fruit, moderate acid, and a long sweet, fruity finish. A medium weight young Sauterne. I paid about $20 for a half bottle. My rating 84.

2001 Beringer, Alluvium, Knights Valley

2006-03-08T23:05:00.000-08:00

Dark. Cherry and raspberry aromas. Cherry, chassis, and earthy flavors, moderate acid, soft tannins and long fruity finish. This is a Bordeaux blend that is good for near term drinking, and of the next 5 years or more. I paid $18. My rating 87.

2002 Chateau Souverain, Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley

2006-03-08T23:03:00.000-08:00

Dark. Very tight nose, with hints for cherry. Forward fruit of cherry and chassis, good acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. This is surprisingly tight for a Chateau Souverain. It was very slow to open in the glass. It seems to need a few years to come around. I paid $16. My rating 85.

2004 McMainis Family Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, California

2006-03-08T22:56:00.000-08:00

Dark. Cherry and plum aromas. Black cherry and mineral fruit flavors, low acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. This is a big, flabby young wine. It has intense fruit flavors, but lacks structure. I don’t like it even for current drinking, but my wife liked it. I paid $8, so it may be a good value for those who like this style of wine. I tried this because the retailer claimed Parker praised this wine and it was only $8. My rating 75.

Zinfandel as the California State Wine?

2006-03-06T00:07:00.000-08:00

There is an effort in the California legislature to declare Zinfandel the California State Wine. This has apparently gotten some people up in arms who thing Cabnert Sauvignon is a better wine than Zinfandel. (here , free signup required).

I have been thinking about this and I guess I like the idea of Zinfandel as the California State Wine. What does it mean for a wine to be the state wine. The official California State Bird is the California Valley Quail. Why was it made the state bird? I don’t think I have ever seen one. It certainly is not the most widespread, most common bird in California. I don’t think it is the most beautiful bird we have in California either.

Cabernet Sauvignon is my favorite red wine, and California makes some of the best Cabernet Sauvignon’s in the world. When you think about Cabernet Sauvignon though, you think about Bordeaux as well as California. Bordeaux was producing great Cabernets hundreds of years before there was a single Cabernet Sauvignon vine in California.

On the other hand, Zinfandel is a grape that became famous in California. When you think about Zinfandel, the first place you think about is California. Now Zinfandel actually is a European grape from Croatia, but it became famous once it got to California, so it seems reasonable to me to make it the California State Wine. Now if we could just get more California wine makes to stop making overripe Zinfandel….

2001 Savannah Chanelle, Zinfandel, Santa Cruz Mountains, Estate Bottled

2006-03-05T23:32:00.000-08:00

Medium. Nose and fruit are dominated by raspberry flavors, moderate acid, moderate tannins, and a long fruity finish. This fine example Zinfandel is made from the almost 100 year old vineyard adjacent to the old Savannah Chanelle winery that were rescured by Daniel Gehrs in the mid seventies. Although it is 15.5% alcohol, it did not taste overripe to me. It seems to have improved from when I first tasted it at the winery last spring. My rating 88.

1992 Ridge, Zinfandel, Late Harvest, Lytton Springs Estate Vineyard

2006-03-01T22:43:00.000-08:00

Very dark garnet. Strawberry aromas. Very sweet strawberry and raspberry fruit flavors, soft acid, moderate soft tannins, and long raspberry fruit finish. Although this Zinfandel has 16.0% alcohol and is very sweet with 8% residual sugar, I detected only a slight hint of over ripeness. I think I like the 1991 better. My rating 85.

2004, Cline, Zinfandel, California, Ancient Vines

2006-03-01T22:40:00.000-08:00

Dark. Nose has aromas of strawberries and cherry. Big concentrated strawberry and cherry fruit flavors, moderate acid, modest tannins, and a long overripe fruit flavors on the finish. Another example of the overripe, high alcohol (15.0%) style of Zins which are popular in California winemaking today. We are going to make this the offical California state wine? Not rated.

2003 Cliff Lede, Claret, Stags Leap District

2006-02-20T11:05:00.000-08:00

Dark. Cherry, plum and spice aromas. Cherry, plums, and spices in the forward fruit, good acid, soft, round tannins, long fruit finish. The fruit on this wine developed more intensity on the finish, with hints of chocolate and nutmeg. This is a very appealing young Bordeaux blend wine. I’m not sure how it will age, but it is delicious right now. It is 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 1% Malbec.. 1948 cases produced. List price $35. My rating 90.

2001 Ridge, Mazzoni, Home Ranch

2006-02-16T22:53:00.000-08:00

Dark. Tight nose with some strawberry aromas. Big, tight wine with cherry and strawberry fruit flavors, moderate acid, high tannins, and a long fruity finish with a good dose of astringency. I think mostly harmless is the best description of this wine. Maybe it needs some more a few more years to open up. 45% Zinfandel, 50% Carignane, 5% Petite Sirah. My rating 80.

1997 Chateau Raymond-Lafon, Sauternes

2006-02-16T22:51:00.000-08:00

Golden. Nose has aromas of honey, apricots and oranges. It is very sweet, rich and oily in the mouth, with flavors of oranges and honey, moderate acid, and a long sweet finish. This is a good, young Sauternes, but I am a little worried about the acid for long term aging. Perhaps it just has so much big, fat fruit now that the acid is not showing. My rating 89.

1982 Chateau Lynch-Bages

2006-02-06T22:55:00.000-08:00

I had several bottle of this wine last year, here and here, and this one was very similar. It seems to have held up slightly better than the March 2005 bottle, even though the cork was stained all the way up the side and was not tightly seated. The cork broke into two large pieces while getting it out. The wine had earthy flavors with licorice and tobacco to add complexity to the cherry and chassis. My rating 91.

This was my Super Bowl wine. I thought it went well with the game. It definitely was not a wimpy wine.

2002 Savannah Chanelle, Pinot Noir, Armagh Vineyard

2006-02-06T22:53:00.000-08:00

Medium garnet. Cheery and spicey oak nose. Cherry and raspberry fruit flavors, moderate acid, soft tannin, and a long fruity finish. A very nice Pinot Noir with lots of fruit and good structure. My rating 86.

2002 Testarossa, Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido Vineyard

2006-02-05T00:57:00.000-08:00

Medium garnet. Cherry and oak on the nose. Big forward fruit flavors of cherry, plums, and raspberry with hints of muskiness, moderate acid and a long fruit finish. A very good Pinot Noir that continued to improve with airing. My rating 88.

I recently tasted the 2004 Bien Nacido Pinot Noir from Testarossa at the winery. It is very good, perhaps slightly better than this 2002, but the 2004 is very young and tight and needs a couple of years to open up.

2004 Cline, Cashmere

2006-02-05T00:53:00.000-08:00

Medium dark. Aromas of cherry and chocolate. Forward fruit has overripe flavors of chocolate and coffee, moderate acid, soft tannins and a long finish. The fruit has so much potential, but like the 2003 Cashmere, it tastes hopelessly overripe to me. The alcohol is 15.0%. Not rated.

1981 Chateau Margaux

2006-02-01T19:41:00.000-08:00

Medium dark, brownish around the edges. Open nose with aromas of cherry, cedar and spices. As it aired, the nose developed smoky overtones. Cherry and chassis fruit flavors dominate, with smoke, leather and spices, moderate acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. Margaux is all about fitness and elegance, and this bottle certainly showed plenty of that. It does not have the power or concentration of a Latour, but it is superbly balanced with rich, complex fruit flavors. Definitely ready to drink, and will probably hold for a few more years. My rating 92.

The 1981 vintage of Margaux was overshadowed by the 1982 and 1983 vintages, which at the time were considered powerhouse wines. I have some of the 1983 Margaux and hopefully will get around to trying a bottle of it this year.

1986 Chateau Raymond-Lafon, Sauternes

2006-02-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

Golden. Rich nose with aromas of apricots and oranges. Big intense fruit flavors or caramel, honey, oranges and spices, high acid and a very long, fruity finish. A huge, balanced and very smooth, almost creamy, Sauternes. The best Sauternes I have had in a long time. It still seems very youthful, and shows no signs of decline. I expect it will continue to hold for a number of more years. I think this is clearly showing better than the 1983 Chateau Raymond-Lafon right now. My rating 91.

In the 1980s Parker speculated on how the 1983 and 1986 Chateau Raymond-Lafon would develop. Having tried both of these recently, it seems to me the 1986 is showing better right now, but the 1983 seems more youthful. The 1986 seems mature while the 1983 shows promise for further improvement.

2001 Cline, Zinfandel, Big Break

2006-01-28T14:08:00.000-08:00

Dark. Open nose with cherry, strawberry and eucalyptus aromas. Rich cherry, strawberry, eucalyptus and spice fruit flavors, good acid, moderate soft tannins, and a long fruity finish with a aftertaste of mint. Some people might be turned off by the mint and eucalyptus in this big Zinfandel, but I find it very attractive. It is ready to drink but will hold for at least 5 more years. This wine is made from 100-year-old head trained vines. I’m not sure what the price on this wine was, but the 2003 from this vineyard is $28 list. My rating is 90.

1998 Ridge, Syrah, Lytton Estate

2006-01-23T23:11:00.000-08:00

Very dark. Black raspberry aromas on the nose. Big black raspberry and strawberry fruit flavors with hints of chocolate, moderate acid, substantial tannins, and a long fruity finish. This is a huge wine that needs a bit more time. 90% Syrah, 10% Viognier. My rating 88.

I tasted this wine while watching the NFL league championship games. What do other people think is a good Supper Bowl wine?

2002 Cliff Lede, Pinot Noir, Napa Valley

2006-01-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

Medium dark. Cherry and cedar on the nose. Black cherry, spicey, moderate acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. A nice Pinot Noir. I think this wine was around $25 to $30. My rating 85.

From my visit last summer to Cliff Lede, I expect them to discontinue this wine sometime in the next few years.

2002 Ridge, Grenache, Lytton Estate

2006-01-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

Dark. Strawberry and raspberry aromas on the nose. Big, concentrated strawberry and raspberry fruit flavors, moderate acid, some soft tannin, and a long fruity finish. The intense forward fruit was very good, but on the finish the fruit tasted slightly overripe. Still, this is a nice Grenache with loads of concentrated fruit flavors. 78% Grenache, 13% Petite Sirah, and 9% Zinfandel. 14.7% Alcohol. My rating 83.

1982 Chateau Branaire-Ducru, Saint Julien

2006-01-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

Medium dark, brownish around the rim. Open nose of red cherry and cedar with hints of smoke. Red cherry and chassis, moderate acid, soft tannins, and long fruity finish. A very good mature Bordeaux with nice fruit flavors, but lacking in the complexity of a top Bordeaux. The wine is ready to drink and doesn’t show signs of decline yet. My rating 89.

As you can see in the picture, I paid $15.80 for this wine. This was after the 1982 Bordeaux had arrived in the US and the prices had already gone up. I wish I could find wine of this quality for that price today.

2001 Ridge, Zinfandel, Dusi Ranch

2006-01-21T18:22:00.000-08:00

Very dark. Open nose of strawberry and cherry. Big forward overripe strawberry, cherry and raspberry fruit flavors, moderate acid, soft tannins, and long fruity, hot finish. This is a very fruity, but overripe Zinfandel. The Alchol is 15.2%, Not rated.

1988 Ridge, Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello

2006-01-09T20:27:00.000-08:00

Medium dark, brownish around the rim. Open nose of red cherry, cedar and eucalyptus. Red cherry with eucalyptus and mint flavors, high acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish. An elegant and mature cabernet that lacked the big fruit and structure that you find in the top Monte Bello vintages. I think this wine is probably at its peak and will not improve from here. Although not labeled a Cabernet Sauvignon, it is 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot. My rating 88.

1986 Ridge, Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello

2006-01-01T01:11:00.000-08:00

Medium dark garnet, brownish around the rim. Open nose of red cherry, chassis and cedar. Red cherry and currant fruit flavors with hints of tobacco and forest floor, high acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. This is an elegant, mature California Cabernet that still has lots of fruit intensity and complexity. While is shows no signs of decline, it is not going to get any better. It is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot. My rating 93.

It would have been interesting have tasted the 1986 Caymus and 1983 Pichon Lalande with this wine, but I had them all on different nights over the Christmas week. The 1983 Pichon Lalande and the 1986 Monte Bello had a lot of similar fruit flavors.

1983 Pichon Lalande

2006-01-01T01:10:00.000-08:00

Medium dark, brick around the edges. Open nose with red cherry and cedar. Red cherry, chassis and tobacco, high acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish. This is a elegant mature Bordeaux. The complexity seemed to grow in the glass as the wine aired. This wine seems to be fully mature and holding very well. I don’t think it will improve, but it is hold well. My rating 92.

1986 Caymus, Special Selection

2006-01-01T01:07:00.000-08:00

Medium dark. Open nose with cherry, oak with earthy aromas. Red cherry and plum fruit flavors with overtones of spices and early overtones, high acid, fine, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. Nicely aged with good balanced and structure and lots of complexity. Not likely to improve from here, but no signs of decline. My rating 92.

1996 Ridge, Syrah, Lytton Estate

2005-12-21T22:00:00.000-08:00

Dark. Aromas of raspberry and strawberry on the nose. Slightly overripe raspberry and strawberry fruit flavors, high acid, large amounts of softer tannins, long fruity, hot finish. This wine still has lots of tannins, but I am not sure it is getting any better. The fruit tastes overripe and it has a hot finish. The label says the alcohol is 14.2%. It is 95% Syrah and 5% Viognier. Not rated.

1988 Ridge, Petite Sirah, York Creek, Devils Hill

2005-12-21T21:59:00.000-08:00

Dark. Tight nose with a little raspberry aromas. Raspberry flavors, moderate acid, still hard tannins, and a long finish. Rather modest fruit flavors. My rating 82.

2002 Savannah Chanelle, Pinot Noir, Laetitia Vineyard, Arroyo Grande Valley

2005-12-18T21:29:00.000-08:00

Medium dark garnet. Red and black cherry aromas on the nose. Big red cherry forward fruit, high acid, soft tannins, and long fruity finish. This is a good Pinot with big fruit flavors and very lively acid. I think this was around $25. My rating 86.

1990 Caymus Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

2005-12-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

Medium dark, brick colored. Cherry and chassis on the nose. Red and black cheery fruit with dusty, earthy overtones, moderate acid, soft tannins, and a long, fruity finish. This is an elegant, mature Cabernet. This bottle showed a little more complexity than the previous bottle in January. My rating 87.

2004 Loring Wine Company, Pinot Noir, Rosella’s Vineyard

2005-12-17T17:25:00.000-08:00

Medium dark. Cherry and strawberry on the nose. Big strawberry and cherry fruit flavors, moderate acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity, slightly hot finish. This is a big Pinot, with big fruit flavors, and high alcohol (14.9%). I liked it, although the finish seemed hot at times. My rating 89.

Two 1983 Sauternes

2005-12-08T19:03:00.000-08:00

I happen to have these two wines just days apart.

1983 Chateau Raymond-Lafon, Sauternes

Medium dark gold. apricots, peaches and honey on the nose. Apricots, pears, and honey furit flavors, surpisingly high acid, and a long fruity finish. This wine still tastes amazingly youthful, with high, lively acid. I’m guess this will continue to hold and maybe even improve slightly. My rating 89.

1983 Chateau Rieussec, Sauternes

Very dark, amber golden color. Deep aromas of apricots and honey. Apricots, pears, peaches, and honey fruit flavors, good acid, and a long fruity finish. A delicious Sauternes. This wine is not getting any better, drink up. My rating 91.

These are both very good, mature Sauternes, but the Rieussec is clearly the stand out of these two, with deep, more intense fruit flavors. On the other hand, the Raymond-Lafon seems like a young Sauternes with many years ahead of it, while the Rieussec seems fully mature.

2000 Ridge, Zinfandel, Nervo, Late Picked

2005-12-08T18:59:00.000-08:00

Very dark color. Very ripe raspberry aromas on the nose. Overripe black raspberry flavors, moderate acid, moderate softer tannins, and a long fruity finish. This a hard wine to pair up with food. I had it with some curried chicken dish, and the fruit is so intense it held up well to the spicy curry, but at 15.7% alcohol it is not really a food wine. My rating 80.

2000 Ravens Wood, Zinfandel, Cooke Vineyard

2005-12-04T21:32:00.000-08:00

Dark. Aromas of cherry and eucalyptus on the nose. Forward cherry fruit with mint and eucalyptus, moderate acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. This is a good Zinfandel with unusual fruit flavors for a Zin. Some people may not like the eucalyptus on this wine, but I think it makes it more interesting. It is very fruity, without being overripe, which makes it a good food wine. My rating 88.

1983 Chateau Suduiraut, Sauternes

2005-12-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

These tasting notes are from a half bottle. Dark golden color. Aromas of apricots and wood on the nose. Rich flavors of apricots, carmel, and pears, moderate acid, and long apricot finish. This Sauternes is beginning to lose its sweetness, at least in this half bottle size, although it is aging very gracefully, with big complex fruit flavors. To my taste it seems much bigger and more appealing now then when it was younger. I had a full case of half bottles, but it is almost gone now. I appear to have one more half-bottle left. My rating 88.

1987 Ridge, Petite Sirah, York Creek, Devils Hill

2005-12-03T17:51:00.000-08:00

Very dark. Raspberry and strawberry aromas on nose. Black raspberry flavors, moderate acid, still hard tannins, and a long astringent finish. Tasting notes for this bottle are similar to the other bottle I had in April. I don’t have anymore, but you have to wonder if the fruit will be gone before the tannins ever soften out in this one. Other vintages from Devils Hill have not had this problem. My rating 84.

2003 Ravens Wood, Merlot, Sonoma County

2005-12-03T17:48:00.000-08:00

Medium dark. Cherry aromas on the nose. Nice black cherry fruit, with some smoke, moderate acid, solid structure, some hard tannins, and long fruity finish. This not your usual wimpy Merlot. It needs a few years of aging to soften out the hard tannins. People who drink Merlot because it is not tannic when young, should avoid this wine, but for everyone else this is a good value. List price $18.50. Should be discounted in the $12 to $15 range. 5600 cases produced. My rating 84.

2004 Abrazo Del Toro Tinto

2005-11-22T22:33:00.000-08:00

Medium dark. Nose of red cherry and strawberry. Lots of red cherry forward fruit with spicey overtones, good acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish. This is a light, fruity wine and is a good value. I had the impression this wine had a little residual sugar, but maybe it was just very fruity. I paid $4 at Trader Joe’s. My rating 80.

1989 Chateau Monbrison

2005-11-22T22:31:00.000-08:00

Moderately dark, slight brick color around the edges. Open nose with aromas of red cherry and chassis. Big cherry and chassis fruit flavors with hints of chocolate and spices, high acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish. My rating 90.

2000 Cline, Zinfandel, Live Oak Vineyard

2005-11-20T17:29:00.000-08:00

Medium dark. Very ripe raspberry nose. Big, very ripe raspberry and strawberry fruit, moderate acid, substantial tannins, and a long finish. This is a big, somewhat overripe Zinfandel, in the style which seems to be trendy, and which I don’t really like. The alcholo is 15.5% My rating is 83.

2001 Valley of the Moon, Zinfandel, Estate old vine

2005-11-20T17:26:00.000-08:00

Medium dark. Raspberry aromas on the nose. Forward raspberry and strawberry fruit flavors with a few hints of chocolate, moderate acid, significant amounts of hard tannins, and long fruity finish. A nice Zinfandel that needs a few more years of age to soften it out. Alcohol is 14.5%. My rating is 86. I bought this at the winery months ago and don’t remember what I paid for it.

1990 Ridge, Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello Vineyards

2005-11-15T23:57:00.000-08:00

Dark. Open nose with aromas of cherry, eucalyptus, and caramel. Big forward fruit with flavors of cherry, chocalate, eucalyptus, and mint, substantial acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. Complex, fruity, fully mature, but seems to be holding well. My rating 95.

Administrative Note

2005-11-15T23:54:00.000-08:00

In case you have not noticed, I added a RSS feed finally. It is near the bottom of the left menu.

I also change to using popup comment windows that require retyping a word to try to cut down on the spam comments I have been deleting.

2002 Ridge, Carignane, Buchignani Range

2005-11-13T13:24:00.000-08:00

Very dark. Rather tight nose with raspberries and strawberry aroma. Intense cherry and raspberry fruit flavors with good acid, some hard tannins, and a long fruity finish. This wine is proof that you can make a big, fruity wine with fully ripe fruit flavors and still keep the alcohol below 14%, 13.7% in this case. My rating 88.

2001 Sierra Cantabria, Rioja, Cuvee Especial, Spain

2005-11-13T13:23:00.000-08:00

Very dark garnet. Interesting nose with spicy aromas of forest floor and mushrooms. Big cherry, earthy fruits with overtones of tobacco and spices, high acid, substantial hard tannins, and a long fruity finish. This wine has interesting, complex fruit flavors and appears to need some time to soften out the hard tannins. I paid around $18. My rating 89.

2003, Juan Gil, Jumilla, Spain

2005-11-13T13:22:00.000-08:00

Very dark garnet. Tight nose, with raspberry aromas. Big raspberry, strawberry fruit flavors, high acid, a good dose of hard tannins, and a long fruity finish. This wine tastes very ripe, perhaps a bit overripe, but it is an intensely fruit wine. Alcohol is 14.8%. It is made from 100% Monastrell. I paid around $12. My rating 86.

2003 Cliff Lede, Petite Sirah, North Coast

2005-11-06T22:41:00.000-08:00

Very dark. Nose has aromas of strawberry and raspberry. Intense strawberry and raspberry fruit flavors with hints of chocolate, moderate acid, some hard tannins, long fruity finish. This is a nice fruity Petite Sirah that needs a few years to soften the hard tannins. The alcohol is 15.3%, which seems to show a little bit on the finish. List price is $28. My rating is 88.

2003 Ravenswood, Petite Sirah, Sonoma County

2005-11-06T22:17:00.000-08:00

Very dark. Tight nose, with black berry aromas. Big black cherry flavors with a hint of chocalate, moderate acid, substantial hard tannins, and a long fruity finish. This is a big Petite Sirah that needs a few years to soften out. The alcohol is 15.0%, which does not show right now, because it has so much fruit. List price is $15. My rating is 87.

I like the 2002 a little better.

2003 Ravenswood, Zinfandel, Napa

2005-10-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

Medium dark. Nose has cherry aromas. Lots of cherry forward fruit, high acid, moderate tannins, and a long fruity finish. Seems simpler than the 2002. List price $15. My rating 80.

1988 Philip Togni, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Estate Bottled

2005-10-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

Very dark garnet, with just a little brownish edge. Big nose with cherry, tobacco, and chassis aromas. Concentrated forward fruit with flavors of cherry, tobacco, and spices, with just a hint of herbal flavors, high acid, soft tannins, and a long smooth, fruity finish. This Philip Togni is a vast improvement on the 1986 and 1987 I tasted earlier this year. It has a hint of the green bean flavors that dominated the 1986 and 1987, but here they are integrated with lots of cherry fruit and it seems to add to the complexity rather than ruin the wine. This one tastes completely mature, and there is no need to cellar it any longer. My rating 89.

2002 Silverado, Merlot, Napa Valley

2005-10-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

Dark garnet color. Cherry, chassis on the nose. Big forward fruit with black cherry, red cherry and current fruit flavors, moderate acid, fair amount of hard tannins mixed with the fruit flavors on the finish. This is a big fruity Merlot. The only possible problem is that it tastes just a touch overripe. It clearly needs a few years of aging to soften out the surprising hard tannins (more hard tannins than the Cabernet Sauvignon). Alchole is 14.6%. List price is $28. My rating is 85.

According to the notes from the winery it is 91% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Sauvignon.
The vineyards used for this wine are 50% from the estate Mt. George Vineyards, 34% from the estate Stags leap vineyard and 16% from other non-estate Napa Valley vineyards.

2002 Silverado, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

2005-10-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

Dark garnet color. Nose has aromas of cherry, chassis, currents and oak. Big flavors of red cherry, currents and chassis, moderate acid, softer tannins, and a long fruity finish. While this is a big, fruity wine, at this point the 2002 does not seem quite as big as the 2001. List price is $40. My rating is 87.

According to the notes from the winery it is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc. The vineyards used are 50% is from the estate Stags leap vineyard, 35% is from the estate Mt. George Vineyards, 5% from the estate Haystack vineyard, and the remaining 10% is from other non-estate vineyards.

2003 Ridge, Lytton Springs

2005-10-14T23:57:00.000-07:00

Dark garnet color. Rasepberry and cherry aromas. Big cherry, raspberry, and strawberry fruit flavors, moderate acid, moderate tannins, long fruity finish. When first opened it had a slightly grapey flavor, but that faded after the wine had been in the glass for a while. I expect this wine needs at least a couple more years. My initial reaction was this was an average Zinfandel, but as it aired in the glass it got better and better. That is a good sign that it is just a tight, young wine. My rating 87.

The wine is labeled simply Lytton Springs. It does not say Zinfandel on the label, even though it is 76% Zinfandel, 18% Petite Sirah, and 6 % Carignane.

Instant Simulated Wine Aging?

2005-10-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Times of London has a news article on a Japanese chemical engineer that has developed a machine that he claims can simulated the effect of aging on wine in a 15 second process. The article says he has been working on it for 15 years and will have a commercial version ready in January that will be capable of processing four liters per minute. The process uses electrolysis and a patented ion exchange membrane. The process is said to cause a rapid rearrangement of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms around the alcohol molecules, which is suppose to simulate aging.

Apparently some wineries are looking at the process. The only winery mentioned by name in the article is Robert Mondavi. The article does not say that Mondavi is planning to use the process, only that they are evaluating it. The article includes some wine tasting notes for some wines before and after processing.

Is this the next big step in better wine making through chemistry? Time will tell, but for now I'm still keeping my wine cellar.

1986 Beaulieu Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Georges De Latour, Private Reserve

2005-10-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Medium dark, brownish around the edge. Red cherry and violet aromas on the nose. Red cherry and dill flavors on the fruit, high acid, soft tannins, and a long finish. This bottle is much better then the previous bottle of this wine I had, but it seems to be a little past its prime. People who like young cabernets will probably not like this wine. My rating 87.

1977 Warre’s Vintage Port

2005-10-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

Dark, brownish around the edges. Rich aromas of coffee and chocolate. Flavors of cherry, chocolate and coffee, soft, fine tannins, and a very long finish. This port still has lots of fruit intensity. Someone told me they thought the 1977 Warre’s was starting to fade, but I don’t see any sign of that. My rating 95.

2003 Cline Cashmere

2005-10-02T16:27:00.000-07:00

Medium dark garnet. Java and chocolate on the nose. Concentrated flavors of java, chocolate and raseberry, moderate acid, soft tannins, and long fruity finish. This is a huge, slightly overripe wine with 15% alcohol. I generally liked this wine, even though it tastes slightly overripe, but it is hard to pair with food and I think the alcohol is too high. I am not sure what the price was on this. Not rated.

Chappellet Pritchard Hill Club Party

2005-09-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

I attended the Chappellet Pritchard Hill Club Party. It was a wonderful afternoon of wine, food and artists in the picnic meadow on Pritchard Hill overlooking Lake Hennessey. We had a very good time, and my wife won two bottles of Chappellet wine at the ring toss game! Note that while Chappellet is in the hills above Napa Valley, it is open for tasting only by appointment.

The picture here shows the Chappellet vineyards with one of the employees giving us a tour. Some of the oldest vineyards are in the foreground. Behind them are the bulk of the Chappellet vineyards on either side of the dirt road that runs through the vineyard and Lake Hennessey is in the background.

In Napa Valley most of the Cabernet and other red wine grapes were already dark purple, but in the cooler climate on Pritchard Hill on August 20th they were just changing from green to purple. They said this was about 2 weeks late, so they expect the harvest will be 2 weeks late this year. This is because of the rainy spring we had this year and the relatively cool summer so far. This doesn’t mean this will be a bad year, but it depends on what the weather is like in September and October. One other thing I learned is that they had just ripped out the 40+ year old Chenin Blanc vineyard on the top of Pritchard Hill that produced their Mountain Cuvee Chenin Blanc because the production was too low. They are not sure what they will replant this vineyard with, but the current thinking is Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

The food was excellent, including chicken, Tuscan leg of lamb, asparagus, grilled vegetables, and a bread salad.

There were lots of wines available for tasting. Just released or about to be released:

2004 Chardonnay – Nice lemon and citrus character on the nose and fruit, very high acid, long finish, light oak. This is a nice style of chardonnay I like, which is focused on fruit rather than oak. List price $28.

2003 Merlot – Both red and black cherry fruit, moderate acid, some hard tannins, long finish, still a little rough, needs time to smooth out. List price $30.

2003 Mountain Cuvee – Cherry and currants on the nose. Cherry, chassis, fruit, good acid, substantial softer tannins, long finish. Like the Merlot, this seemed a little rough for current drinking, and needs a little time to come around. My wife won two bottles of this in the ring toss game. Club price was $20.80, not sure what the list price is or if it is available.

2003 Cabernet, Signature – Cherry and chassis on the nose. Red cherry, currents, chassis and some hints of spices on the fruit, good acid, lots of softer tannins, and a long finish. This is a different style than the 2002 which had a lot more black cherry and harder tannins. List price is $44.

2002 Cabernet, Pritchard Hill – Cherry and plums on the nose. Big cherry, plums and tobacco fruit flavors, moderate acid, lots of softer tannins, and a long finish. This needs a few years to soften out the tannins. The wine was available on futures to club members, and will be shipped in October. List price is $120 (Club price is $102).

2004 Barrel samples:
They had separate barrel samples of Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. If you asked, which I did, they would try to blend these in about the proportions they expected to use for the 2004 Pritchard Hill Cabernet. This showed lots of promise, with big black cherry, currants and chocolate fruit flavors. There were a lot of soft tannins showing too.

Library wines:

1994 Cabernet, Signature from Magnum – Cherry and chassis on the nose. Big black cherry, chassis and chocolate, moderate acid, moderate tannin, and very long finish. This was my favorite of all the wines served at the party.

1987 Cabernet, Signature from Magnum – Red cherry and leather on nose. Red cherry, leather and hints of tobacco in the fruit, moderate acid, still some tannins, and a long finish.

1978 Cabernet, Signature from a double Magnum – Very similar fruit to the 1987. Red cherry, leather and hints of tobacco, good acid and still some tannins.

They also had a bottle of 1976 Signature Cab, but I didn’t get in line fast enough and it was gone by the time I got there. They had opened the 1978 in its place.

Napa Valley Trip

2005-09-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Have not posted much here lately, but I have been doing lots of tasting, and I have a bunch of notes I need to get posted. First off, I took a trip to Napa Valley in August and visited a few wineries. I have posted my notes from those winery visits below.

The main purpose of this trip was the annual Chappellet Pritchard Hill Club Party, and I will have my notes up from that in the next few days.

The grapes in the picture to the left were from Darioush.

Niebaum – Coppola

2005-09-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

Last time I visited this winery, it was still Inglenook. Niebaum – Coppola has done a nice job of fixing up the old facility.

2004 Coppola Sofia Blanc de Blanc – A nice light bubbly with tropical fruit flavors. List price $19.

2004 Directors Reserve Sauvignon Blanc – pale, clean, critius and light grassy character. List price $19.

2003 Directors reserve Zinfandel – Jammy and overripe. 14.9% alcohol. Didn’t like this much. List price $27.

2003 Director’s Reserve Merlot – Red cherry, chassis, moderate acid, moderate tannins, long finish. Just released, a little rough, needs time. List price $36.

Frank Family Vineyards

2005-09-25T20:10:00.000-07:00

I didn’t visit this winery, but they came to the B&B I was staying at and hosted a tasting.

2004 Chardonnay, Napa – Was severed warm. Clean, fruity, not overly oaked. List price $32.50.

2003 Sangiovese – bright cherry, high acid

2002 Zinfandel, Napa – Jammy and overripe. Label said 15.2% alcohol, but the representative from the winery said it was probably more like 16.2%.

2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa – Cherry and plum fruit flavors, soft tannin, nice for current drinking. List price $39.75.

2000 Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve, Rutherford – Red cherry, currents, and plums, good acid, moderately strong tannins, and long fruity finish. This is a very good Cabernet that needs around 5 years to open up. List price $65.

Sequoria Grove

2005-09-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

Is a smaller winery which I have visited a number of times over the years. I have always liked their white wines.

2002 Chardonnay, Carnaros - Lemony, fresh, high acid, long fruity finish. This is a nice Chardonnay with fruit character and only light oak. List price $18.

2002 Syrah, Napa – Dark, black cherry nose. Black and red cherry fruit with pepper, high acid, strong tannins, long fruity finish. This wine seems rough and not balanced. This is the first vintage from this vineyard. The vines are only 4 years old. List price $32.

2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa – Dark, cherry and chassis on the nose. Black cherry, spicy, peppery, high acid, moderately high tannins, long fruity finish. This wine will benefit from a few years aging with should smooth it out. List price $32.

2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve, Napa – Dark, cherry, chassis, with some Rutherford dust. Black cherry, current, and chassis, high acid, high tannins, long fruity finish. This is a very nice cabernet that needs some time. List price $55????

1996 Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve, Napa – Leather on the nose. Cherry, chassis and leather on the palette. High acid, still some tannins, and a long fruity finish. I suspect this wine is close to mature. List price $65.

Cliff Lede

2005-09-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

This winery use to be known as Anderson Vineyards. Cliff Lede bought this winery about 3 years ago and he has been changing the winery to focus more on Cabernet and Bordeaux blends. Currently they also produce Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc from purchased grapes. They will be discontinuing those, except for the Sauvignon Blanc when the contracts run out in the next few years to concentrate on Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends.

2004 Sauvignon Blanc – Very pale yellow, but very nice lemon and grassy nose and fruit flavors. A good Sauvignon Blanc with lots of Sauvignon Blanc character.

2002 Pinot Noir, Carreros - Red cherry and oak nose, Red cherry fruit with cedar and spices, good structure and finish. I like this one.

2002 Merlot, Stags Leap District - Tight, young wine with cherry and high tannins. Needs some time.

2002 Syrah, Napa Valley - Rasepberry and cherry fruit, good structure, moderate tannins, well balanced. Not overripe like the 2003.

Silverado

2005-09-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

2000 Merlot – Very nice cherry and chassis, well balanced and good structure. The best Merlot I tasted this day. This was a library wine. The 2002 is the current release.

2001 Cabernet, Stags Leap District – Lots of black cherry and chassis fruit, with good structure and moderate tannins. Very nice wine. List Price $70.

2001 Cabernet, Limited Reserve – This is a huge wine, with black cherry, currents, chocolate, good structure, and significant tannins. This wine looks outstanding and needs probably at least 5 to 10 more years to mellow out. I think this was the best Cabernet I tasted on this trip to Napa.

Silverado is now using screw caps for their Sauvignon Blanc, but they said they had no plans to use screw caps for the red wines.

Regusi

2005-09-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

Regusi is a small family owned winery. They have been making wine since 1996, mainly Cabernet, Merlot and some Zinfandel.

2002 Merlot – red cherry fruit with a little bit of dust. List price $40.

2002 Cabernet – Nose had cherry and oak. Cherry chassis with hints of chocolate, good structure, long fruity finish. Could use a few more years aging. Very good. List price $48.

Darioush

2005-09-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

Darioush Khaledi is an Iranian that made his money in the grocery business in Southern California. The very impressive year old Darioush winery has Persian architecture. The tasting fee was $15.

2003 Viogrie – Very fruity and floral, perhaps a little sweet, low acid, 14.9% alcohol, list price $34. Too sweet for my taste.

2001 Red Table Wine – Niece nose of red cherry, and cedar. Rich forward black cherry fruit, good acid, soft tannins, and long fruity finish. 64% cab, 32% Merlot, 4% Franc. 14.5% alcohol List price $38. Nice wine for near term drinking.

2002 Merlot – Lots of black cherry fruit on the nose and palette, moderate acid and tannins with fruit on the finish. Nice merlot. 14.0% alcohol. List price $44.

2002 Shiraz – Big black cherry, black berry fruit, good structure with moderate tannins, long fruity finish. 14.5% alcohol. List price $64.

2002 Cabernet – Big cherry and chassis aromas on the nose. Big black cherry and cedar flavors, good structure, moderate tannins, long fruity finish. 85% cab, 10% Merlot, 2% franc, 1.5% Petit Verdoit, 1.5% Malbac. 14.8% alcohol. List price $68

Darioush appears to be making wines in the highly extracted, softer tannin style that is popular now days. I did not like the Viogie, but the other wines were good, though pricey.

Cline 2003 Mourvedre

2005-09-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

2003, Cline, Mourvedre, Ancient Vines, Contra Costa County
Medium dark garnet color. The nose has aromas of raspberry and chocolate with hints of pepper and spices. The forward fruit had flavors of cherry, chocolate and peppery spices, high acid, soft tannins, and a long spicy finish. I think this is a delightful wine for drinking over the next few years, and good value. 18,000 cases produced. List price is $18, Cline wine club price only $13.50. My rating 89.

2003, Cline, Mourvedre, Small Berry, Contra Costa County
Dark garnet color. Nose has aromas of cherry and eucalyptus. Big intense fruit flavors of cherry, mint, chocolate and spices, moderate acid, big soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. This is big, fruity wine that can be paired with strongly favored foods. Alcohol is 15% but the wine did not taste overripe. List price is $36, Cline wine club price is $27. My rating is 90

2003 Fleming Jenkins, Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains

2005-08-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

Straw colored. Lemon and oak on the Nose. Lemon and butter on the fruit, oily feel in the mouth, high acid and a long fruity finish with a grapefruit aftertaste. This wine was better balanced when it warmed up a little. When it was cold, it seemed too oaky, but as it warmed up it became better balanced. I found this wine just slightly too much oak for my taste, but I’m sure many will like it. List price is $35. Not rated.

2002 Ravenswood, Zinfandel, Napa

2005-08-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

Medium dark. Nose has cherry and strawberry aromas. Cherry and strawberry forward fruit flavors, high acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. Nice fruity Zin for near term drinking, and a good value if you can find it at discount. List prise $15. My rating 84.

2003 Fleming Jenkins, Syrah, Madden Ranch, Livermore Valley

2005-08-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

Dark garnet. Raspberry aromas on the nose. Big jammy raspberry and cherry fruit flavors with hints of spices, very high acid, moderate tannins and long fruity finish. This is a very good, fruity Syrah. List price is $40. My rating 88.

Fleming Jenkins is a new winery started by Peggy Fleming of Olympic skating fame and her husband, Greg Jenkins. This wine comes from a vineyard owned by the family of John Madden, the ABC football commentator and former coach of the Oakland Raiders. In spite of all the celebrity names, the wine still is very good. This is a promising initial release from this small new winery.

Better Winemaking Through Chemistry

2005-08-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

There is an article in the New York Times Magazine about the wine consultant Leo McCloskey. He has developed a method of analyzing about 100 trace chemicals in wine and has correlated these with the rankings and scores given to these wines by wine makers and wine critics. He analyzes these trace chemicals in grapes before harvest and in the juice just after the crush and uses this to recommend when to harvest and how to process the wine.

To those who think winemaking is an art form, using chemistry to improve the quality may sound offensive, but I don’t see anything wrong with this. What has gotten some people all bent out of shape about this article (see this thread at Robert Parker’s web site for example) is that McCloskey claims he can predict the score that major wine critics will give a wine from measurements of these trace chemicals in the wine.

The style of wine McCloskey seem to be encouraging requires wineries to get the grapes fully ripe (overripe?) and then to limit the amount of skin contact during fermentation to reduce the tannins. McCloskey says critics and I guess consumers favor highly extracted wines with softer tannins that are more drinkable when they are young. The article does point out that this may not produce wines that age as well, but again I don’t see anything wrong with that. Most wine, even high priced cabernets are drunk fairly young. Very few people have wine cellars with 10-20 year old Bordeaux or California Cabernets. Wineries sell wine as a business, and that means they need to make a profit. Basic business 101 is to make your product more attractive to the consumer, and it only makes sense that a consumer that just paid $30-100 for a bottle of Cabernet would want to drink it sometime relatively soon, not put it in a cellar for 15 years before trying it.

The article does mention that Joel Peterson of Ravenswood, famous for their No Wimpy Wine slogan, tried McCloskey’s analysis but decided they didn’t like the results. Some people are worried that this kind of analysis is accelerating the trend towards homogenized wine making, where everyone tries to make wines that taste the same, but it is really the wine critics and the consumers that follow their recommendations that are responsible for this. Presumably, critics like Robert Parker are so influential because many consumers have found they like the wines that he likes.

The winery most prominently mentioned in this article as a McCloskey client is Chappellet. I have tasted a number of Chappellet wines in the last year. I liked some of them (here and here) and didn’t like one (here), so I have an open mind.

1982 Chateau Duhart-Milon-Rothschild, Pauillac

2005-07-25T21:13:00.000-07:00

Very dark, brick colored around the edges. Open nose with aromas of red cherry, chassis and cedar. Big red and black cherry fruit flavors with the cedar, high acid, still substantial backbone of soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. A big fruity Bordeaux that is still going strong. My rating 90.

This estate is owned by the Rothschild’s that own Lafite-Rothschild, and the label has a Lafite-Rothschild look to it. According to Parker’s recent ratings, the 1982 was the best wine produced by this estate in the last 50 years. I do not believe I have ever tasted any other vintages from this estate. I probably bought this wine after it arrived in the US based on Parker’s recommendation. The price sticker still on the bottle shows I paid $18.50.

1999 Ridge Vineyards, Zinfandel, Dusi Ranch

2005-07-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

Very dark garnet color. Strawberry and raseberry aromas on the nose. Big raseberry, strawberry, black cherry fruit flavors, high acid, moderate tannis, and a long fruity finish. This is a big, fruity Zinfandel. The alcohol is 14.5%. The fruit seemed very ripe, but not overripe to me, like a lot of California Zinfandels. My rating 87. This was a Ridge ATP wine.

2002 Leeuwin Estate, Chardonnay, Prelude Vineyards, Margaret Rive, Australia

2005-07-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

Moderately dark straw. Nose has lemons, grapefruit and oak. Forward fruit of lemons and grapefruit, with buttery, oaky overtones, high acid, and a long fruit finish. I found this a big fruity Chardonnay. I paid $23. My rating 90.

I tried the Art Series Chardonnay too at a retailer tasting. It was similar, but had some heat on the finish, and I didn’t like it as well. It was about $53 a bottle.

1983 Chateau Gruaud Larose, St Julien

2005-07-21T22:35:00.000-07:00

Dark, brownish around the edges. Big red cherry nose. Intense forward red and black cherry fruit, high acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. A big, mature Bordeaux which is drinking beautifully, and show no hints of decline. My rating 89.

Bonny Doon and Randall Graham

2005-07-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

I attended a Bonny Doon wine tasting last weekend and got a chance to talk briefly with Randall Graham. Randall Graham is California’s original Rhone Ranger, an innovative wine maker who is always trying new things, and the producer of the most original packaging of any winery in California.

Bonny Doon has switched almost entirely to screw caps. Randall Graham said that he tried plastic corks, but found that they seal more poorly than real corks and that wine ages faster with plastic corks. Randall also said that there are two different kinds of screw caps. One kind seals very tightly, which slows down wine aging. The other lets a little air in, similar to a real cork. Bonny Doon apparently uses both kinds of screw caps, depending on the type of wine.

Randall Graham complained about the quality of the grapes he has been getting lately in California. He said he felt that the growers that Bonny Doon has contracts with are not working very hard any more to produce the best quality fruit and that the quality of grapes he is getting has declined over recent vintages. I thought this was a rather surprising thing for a wine maker to say. Perhaps Randall is not a marketing person. In the latest copy of the Wine Advocate that just arrived, Parker says that the quality at Bonny Doon has declined from the mid 80s, but Parker suggests it is because of the production, now almost 400,000 cases a year.

Bonny Doon is now making a number of wines in Italy. The wine is made and bottled in Italy and then imported to the US to be sold by Bonny Doon. Randall Graham goes over to Italy to supervise much of the wine making. He had just gotten back from Italy.

Randall talked about his latest crazy idea. He is thinking about planting a vineyard from seed. All grape vineyards are planted by grafting from existing vineyards onto root stock. This gives vines that are genetically identical to the vines the grafts came from. He said, if you plant from seed, then you would get random genetic variations. Many of the seeds may be sterile. Some of the vines might not produce any grapes, but he would like to try it and see what happens. He was thinking of taking a vineyard planted to a mix of Rhone varieties, so that the different varieties would cross pollinate, and then take the seeds from the grapes and plant vines from those seeds. This would produce some totally new type of grapes. He would like to try it, even though it might well produce mediocre or terrible wine. He just wanted to try it once and see what happens.

Interesting Randall Graham fact: he drives an old Citroen because it is cigar shaped.

These wines were available for tasting. I didn’t really have time to rate them:

2003 Big House White, $8
Blend of all kinds of whites, but tasted like a Sauvignon Blanc. Good value.

2004 Ca del Solo Malavashia Bianca, $10
Some Italian grapes I had never heard of, but good, and a good value.

2004 Cigare Volant Blanc, $16
Made from white Rhone grapes. Very interesting and different. I liked it.

2004 Vin Gris De Cigare, $10
Basically made from the free run juices of the Cigare Volant. Nice summer sipping wine.

2003 Cardinal Zinfandel, $15
Ok Zin. Not overripe like many California Zins nowdays.

2001 Old Telegram, $25
Made from Mourvèdre. My favorite of the tasting.

2002 Cigare Volant, $25
Rhone mix. I was disappointed. Some other tasters said they thought the 2001 was better.

2003 Montepulciano, $9
Some Italian grape. Interesting. Needs some time.

2003 Ruche, $14
Another Italian grape. More ready to drink.

2001 Uva di Troia, $10
Yet another Italian wine. Interesting, ready to drink.

2004 Muscat Vin de Glacier, $14
Muscat desert wine. Ok.

Framboise, $9
This is raspberry wine, and tastes like you are drinking raspberry jam. Not my cup of tea.

Boutielle Call, $17
This is a port made from the Framboise, sort of a raspberry port. I thought it tasted better than the Framboise, but still not something I would buy.

1986 Beaulieu Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Georges De Latour, Private Reserve

2005-07-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

Medium dark. Cherry with vegie overtones on the nose. Cherry and green beans are the forward fruit flavors, high acid, very soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. This is the 50th anniversary bottling of the of the Georges De Latour Private Reserve. The year 1986 was generally regarded as a good vintage in California, but this is a very disappointing wine. Not rated.

2004 Beaulieu Vinyards, Sauvignon Blanc, California, Private Cellars

2005-07-13T23:23:00.000-07:00

Light yellow. Grass and lemon on the nose. Lemon and grassy on the forward fruit, high acid, long finish. This is a pretty good Sauvignon Blanc with some nice varietal character. My rating 83.

2002 Savannah Chanelle, Pinot Noir, Laetitia Vineyard, Arroyo Grande Valley

2005-07-13T23:19:00.000-07:00

Dark garnet. Red cherry on the nose. Red cherry and strawberry fruity flavors, high acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish. This wine seems tight, and may improve in a few years. My rating 86.

2001 Ridge, Grenache, Lytton Estate

2005-07-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

Medium dark. Nose had raspberry aromas. Dark raspberry fruit flavors, high acid, still some hard tannins, and a long fruity finish. Lots of good fruit intensity, but just slightly overripe fruit flavors. Alcohol is 14.4%. My rating 83.

Dinner Party Saturday Night.

2005-07-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

Had a small dinner party Saturday nigh. We served both Salmon and beef with these wines:

2002 Testarossa, Chardonnay, Michaud Vineyard
Lemony nose with tropical fruit. Forward fruit has lemon, peach and mango flavors, with high acid, and a long creamy finish. This is an elegant, intensely fruity Chardonnay, with just a touch of cream, oak in the aftertaste to round it out. My rating 92.

1984 Ridge, Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello Vineyards
Very dark garnet, slight brownish around the rim. Tight nose with red cherry. Intense forward fruit with red cherry and currant flavors, high acid, and a long fruity finish with very soft tannins. This bottle was a let down after the last bottle. It is still a very good wine, but just not mind blowing. My rating 90.

With desert, which was a bluebery cheese cake we had:

1983 Chateau Rieussec
Amber color, very dark for a Satuern. Forward nose of apricots and honey. Intense fruit flavors of apricots, pears and honey, high acid and a very long fruity finish. Delicious. My rating 91.

1986 Philip Togni, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

2005-06-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

The notes for this wine are almost identical to 1987. Green beans and very disappointing. Not rated.

2002, Ravens Wood, Cabernet Franc, Sonoma County

2005-06-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

Very dark. Tight nose, with cherry and oak aromas. Big forward cherry fruit, with chocolate on the after taste, high acid, high tannins, and long fruity finish. This is a big, fruity Cabernet Franc. It has 14.8% alcohol, but does not taste overripe. My rating 87.

Two Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noirs

2005-06-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

Garys’ Vineyard is a famous California Pinot Noirs vineyard, and many wineries make Pinot Noir from there. I happened to purchase two 2002 Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noirs from different wineries, and decided to taste them together.

2002 Savannah Chanelle, Pinot Noir, Garys’ Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands
Medium dark garnet. Cherry and raspberry aromas on the nose with some oak. Cherry, raspberry, spicy, high acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish with hints of tobacco. List price is $30. My rating 88.

2002 Testarossa, Pinot Noir, Garys’ Vineyard
Medium dark garnet. Raspberry aromas on the nose. Raspberry, cherry, spicy fruit flavors, with high acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. List price $47. My rating 90.

These two Pinot Noir’s are both very good wines, but the Testarossa Garrys’ seemed to be a bit bigger wine all around.

2001 Silverado Vineyards, Sangiovese, Napa Valley

2005-06-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Medium dark. Raspberry aromas. Bright raspberry, fruit, very high acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish. This was a very pleasant and easy to drink wine. List price is $18. My rating 82.

I am not a big fan of Sangiovese. This wine is 97% Sangiovese and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. I preferred the 2002 Silverado Fantasia, which is a Super Tuscan style blend, made from 55% Sangiovese, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, although that wine is much more expensive.

2003 Las Rocas de San Alejandro Garnacha, Spain

2005-06-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

Medium garnet. Strawberry and pepper on the nose. Raspberry, strawberry and black pepper on the forward fruit, high acid, very soft tannin, long fruity finish. This is a nice, lighter style wine with a lot of intense fruit flavors which should drink well over the next few years. Good value. I think I paid about $6. My rating 83.

2000 Sebastiani, Zinfandel, Sonoma Valley, Old Vines

2005-06-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Dark garnet color. Open nose with intense raspberry aromas. Big forward raspberry fruit flavors, high acid, moderate soft tannins, long fruity finish with an aftertaste of chocolate. This is a big, very fruity Zinfandel that is drinking very well right now, and should hold for a number of more years. List Price $22. My rating 89.

I bought this wine on a trip to Sonoma last year. I stopped at Sebastiani with low expectations, and was very surprised at the quality of some of the wines they were offering in the tasting room. The fruit on this is ripe, without being overripe. The alcohol is 13.8%. According to the label, the grapes for this wine are mostly from the Domenici Vineyard. 1820 cases were produced.

1983 Chateau Pichon Lalande

2005-06-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

This wine evolved in the glass during dinner. The color was medium dark and brownish around the rim. Initially the open nose had aromas of cherry, chassis and spice oak. The forward fruit had cherry, chassis, and spices, with moderate acid, very soft tannins and a long fruity finish. After some airing, it began to develop some earthy aromas and tastes of mushrooms and tobacco that added to the complexity. This wine is clearly in its prime, if it has not already started to decline. A very enjoyable, complex example of Bordeaux. My rating 94.

Inexpensive Australian Tawny Ports

2005-06-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

I am always on the lookout for inexpensive desert wines that might be good values, so I decided to try out these two Australian Tawny Ports, since they seemed very inexpensive.

Penfolds Club Reserve, Tawny Port, South Australia, NV
Light, brownish. Open nose with aromas of honey and nuts. Flavors are honey and nuts, very sweet, soft acid, very soft tannins, log fruity finish. This is a very sweet tawny port, too sweet for my taste. It feels like honey flowing over the tongue. I would like to see more fruit flavors. Still, it is a good value, and some people may like this sweet style. Most places seem to be selling this for $9. Trader Joes had it for $7. My rating 80.

Benjamin, Tawny Port, Australia, NV
Medium dark, brownish. Open nose with aromas of dried cherry and oak. Forward fruit is of cherry, and nuts, moderate acid, soft tannins, long fruit finish. This one is not as sweet as the Penfolds and more to my liking. It comes in a funny bottle, shaped sort of like a ink well. Most places probably sell it around $10. Trader Joes had it for $8. My rating 85.

2+2 Buck Napa Creek

2005-06-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

The Bronco Wine Company, which makes “2 buck chuck” sold in Trader Joe’s, has announced that it will begin selling Napa chardonnay and merlot under the Napa Creek label at Trader Joe’s for $3.99. This announcement follows a California state appeals court ruling that labels like “Napa Creek” can only be used on wines when 75% or more of the wine in the bottle is made from Napa grapes. When asked if this was a response to that court ruling, a Bronco spokesman would only say “It certainly sends a message that good Napa Valley wine can be produced and sold for a low price."

The article above has some quotes from two different wine industry analysts who disagree on whether Bronco can make money on Napa wines at this price. One analyst says that bulk Napa chardonnay and merlot is available at $8 to $9 per gallon. That works out to a little less than $2 per bottle Bronco will have to pay at wholesale for the bulk Napa wine. He thinks that means Bronco’s profit margins will be less than before, but it will still be making money.

The article says that the Napa Creek wines should start appearing in Trader Joe’s the middle of June.

When Trader Joe's first started selling Charles Shaw (2 buck chuck) for $1.99, it seemed pretty decent quality. I had it in some blind wine tasting with less then $20 California wines and it did pretty well. It certainly looked like an outstanding value at the price. I have tried a few bottles recently, and the quality seems to have gone down hill a lot since it was first introduced. Will have to wait and see what the quality of these Napa Creek wines is.

2002 California Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting

2005-05-30T17:21:00.000-07:00

This was a standup tasting at local retailer. All wines are 2002 California Cabernet Sauvignon.

Hess, Estate
Dark garnet. Nose of cherry and plums. Forward fruit of cherry, chassis, and plums, high acid, moderate tannins, and long fruit finish. Good value. $17. My rating 84-88.

Frogs Leap
Dark garnet. Nose of cherry and spicy oak. Rich forward fruit of cherry and currants, high acid, high tannins, and a long fruity finish. Needs some time. Price $31. My rating 87-92.

Sbragia Family, Dry Creek, Andolsen Vineyard
Medium dark garnet. Spicy, earthy nose. Spicy forward fruit with flavors of dill, high acid, moderate tannins, long fruity finish. Price $28. My rating 85-90.

Turnbull
Dark garnet. Oak and cherry on the nose. Forward fruit flavors of cherry with hints of mint, high acid, high tannins and a long fruity finish. Price $30. My rating 87-92.

Cliff Lede, Stags Leap
Dark garnet. Black cherry on the nose. Forward fruit had flavors of black cherry with hints of pencil lead, high acid, high tannins, and long fruity finish. This is a Bordeaux like Cabernet and needs time. Price $41. My rating 88-93.

Joseph Phelps, Napa
Dark garnet. Nose of cherry and plums. Forward fruit of cherry and plums, high acid, moderate tannins, long fruity finish. Price $44. My rating 85-90.

Chappellet, Signature
Dark garnet. Black cherry on the nose. Big black cherry fruit flavors, with high acid, high tannins, and a long fruity astringent finish. This is a big wine that needs time. Price $37. My rating 87-92.

Provenance, Rutherford
Dark garnet. Cherry and chassis on the nose. Forward fruit of cherry and currents, high acid, moderate tannins, moderate fruity finish. This wine is pleasant, but a lighter style. Price $25. My rating 80-85.

Regusci
Dark garnet. Nose had cherry and minerals. Flavors of cherry, raspberry, and chocalate, with high acid, high tannins, and a log fruity finish. This is a big Cab that needs some time. Price $43. My rating 88-93.

Ladera, Howell Mtn
Dark garnet. Nose had black cherry. Black cherry and chassis fruit flavors, with high acid, high tannins, and a long fruity finish. Another big Cab that needs time. Price $50. My rating 87-92.

Titus, Reserve
Dark garnet. Tight nose with hints of cherry. Forward fruit is cherry and raspberry with a slightly burnt, overripe character, high acid, high tannins, and a long fruity finish. Definitely overripe. Alcohol was 15.4%. Price $48. Not rated.

Darioush
Dark garnet. Nose was tight with hints of cherry. Black cherry forward fruit, with high acid, high tannins and a long fruity finish. Needs time. Price $60. My rating 86-91.

Far Niente
Dark garnet. Nose had some cherry. Cherry and chassis fruit flavors, with high acid, moderate tannins and a long fruity finish. Price $80. My rating 85-90.

It looks to me like 2002 was a pretty good year here in California. The Cliff Lede and Regusci were my favorites from these.

1987 Philip Togni, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

2005-05-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

Very dark garnet, with no sign of a brownish edge. Nose has green beans and spice oak. The forward fruit is cherry and green beans, with high acid, moderately soft tannins, and a long fruit finish. It is a very well structured, nicely balanced Cabernet, but I do not like the vegie, green bean fruit flavors at all. Very disappointing. Not rated.

2003 Chappellet, Chardonnay, Napa Valley

2005-05-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

Straw yellow color. Open nose with citrus and topical fruit aromas. Forward fruit of lemons, peaches and green apples, high acid and a long fruity finish with a buttery aftertaste. This is a big, full throttle chardonnay, and much better than their Signature Series Chardonnay. List price $28. My rating 90.

Court Says Napa Wine Must Actually Come from Napa

2005-05-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

The California state appeals court has ruled that a 2000 California state law is valid and that California is allowed to have stricter labeling standards than the federal government.

The federal government began to define the meaning of wine growing regions, like Napa, Sonoma, Rutherford or Carnos in the 1980s. The federal rules say you cannot say Napa on the label, unless at least 75% of the wine is made from grapes grown in Napa. The federal government, however, made an exception for existing wineries that used a region name like Napa as part of the winery name. These wineries were grandfathered in and allowed to use Napa as part of the winery name even when the wine was not from Napa. This included wineries like Napa Ridge and Napa Creek.

The Napa Ridge and Napa Creek wine labels are now owned by the Bronco Wine Company, a big central valley wine producer. Bronco is most widely known for its deep discount labels, like “Two Buck Chuck”, and apparently sells mostly wine from central valley grapes under the Napa Ridge and Napa Creek wine labels.

This offended the Napa wine growers, so in 2000 they got the California state legislature to pass a stricter labeling law to forbid using wine region names in the winery name unless 75% of the grapes actually came from that region. Bronco has been fighting this law in court claiming that California cannot set tighter labeling requirements than the federal government and that this law violates Bronco’s free speech rights. The appeals court rejected those arguments and said the law was valid.

Bronco has 90 days to decide if they will appeal to the California Supreme Court. Meanwhile they are still selling wine under the Napa Ridge and Napa Creek labels that is not made from Napa grapes.

2002 Ravens Wood Zinfandel, Sonoma County, Old Vine

2005-05-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

Medium dark garnet. Nose has raspberry and cherry. Forward fruit has raspberry and cherry flavors, high acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish, with just slightly overripe taste. This is a nice fruity Zinfandel that is drinkable now and over the next 5 to 10 years. It would be even better if the fruit was not slightly overripe. Alcohol is 14.5%. List price is $17.50. My rating 80.

Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello Futures Tasting and Comments from Paul Draper

2005-05-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

Today and tomorrow Ridge is having a tasting of barrel samples of the 2004 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine will not be released until 2007. They were also tasting some older Monte Bello’s, the 1988 and 1992.

In addition to tasting these wines, I got a chance to listen to Paul Draper, wine maker at Ridge since 1969, discuss various topics and I got to ask him a few questions too. Paul Draper says he believes in minimizing the manipulation of wine. He thinks many wine makers try to get too fancy and lose some of the fruit character and complexity through over processing. He named some famous California Cabernet producers as well as the big name Bordeaux estates that he felt were guilty of this.

Paul Draper told an interesting story from his early days at Ridge, when they bought a number of barrels of a 1967 Bordeaux from one of the lesser growths (in those days you could still buy wine by the barrel from the lesser growths and bottle it yourself). They had the barrels shipped to Ridge and bottled it at Ridge. Latter Paul Draper was at a blind wine tasting which included the Ridge bottling and the Estate bottling of this wine. Before they found out which one was which, most tasters had agreed that one was better than the other, and it turned out to be the Ridge bottling which was better. Paul Draper said he could not believe that the Bordeaux estate had actually sold him the best barrels of wine, so he started calling to investigate. He discovered that the Estate had not fined the wine that they had shipped him, since they expected the bottler to fine the wine before bottling, as the British bottlers did. At Ridge they had seen no need to fine the wine, and so they had bottled it without fining. He thinks the estate had unnecessarily fined the wine and that is why the Ridge bottling turned out better. Paul Draper feels even today too many Bordeaux wine makers do too much fining and other manipulations of the wine, which rob the complexity from the wine.

Paul Draper also talked about ripeness or over ripeness of Zinfandel in California. He said that at Ridge they try to make Zinfandel from ripe, but not over ripe grapes. He is not a fan of the over ripe, high alcohol style of Zinfandel that some people now seem to like. Ridge has large numbers of people that go out daily into the main Zinfandel vineyards that Ridge owns or controls like Lytton Springs and Geyserville, and samples fruit to make sure that they harvest when the grapes are fully ripe, but not over ripe. He said that in many years when there are hot spells in September, even 2 or 3 days can make the difference between ripe and over ripe. He said when Zinfandel is ripe, but not over ripe, the alcohol will usually be just over 14%.

Paul Draper indicated that in 2004 they started harvesting Lytton Springs in mid August, because the sugar levels were correct, and the fruit had reach full ripeness. No one else in the area started harvesting until September, and there was a hot spell in early September after Ridge was finished harvesting Lytton Springs that left most other producers in the area with very over ripe fruit.

Paul Draper did say that Ridge just doesn’t have enough people to monitor all the smaller vineyards used to make the ATP wines as closely, and those vineyards have sometimes accidentally gotten over ripe.

Here are my tasting notes:

2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello
I have limited experience tasting barrel samples. This young wines are usually very fruity and the tannins are less obvious. Moderately dark. Nose had cherry. Forward fruit was cherry and currents with mineral and earthy overtones. Moderately high acid. Tannins seemed soft and covered by the fruit, but I am suspect they will be more obvious in a few years when this wine is released. Long fruity finish. Based on my limited experience with barrel tasting, I think this wine looks promising. Futures are available from Ridge until May 31st. Future price is $65 a bottle with a minimum 6 bottle purchase.

1988 Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello
Medium color, brownish around the edges. Very open nose with earthy and mushroom aromas. Forward fruit flavors of cherry, chassis, violets and earthy mushrooms, high acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish. A very nice Monte Bello that seems fully mature and ready for drinking. My rating 88-92. This is available from the winery for $200.

1992 Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello
Medium color. Tight nose. Fruit is dominated by mineral and earthy flavors, high acid, surprising hard tannins, long fruity finish with some astringency. The fruit on this seems promising, but it is still surprisingly tight. My rating 86-90. This is available from the winery for $200.

2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, Home Ranch
The Home Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon is Ridges second wine, and is made from lots that are not chosen for the Monte Bello. It is intended to be age worthy, but not as long lived as the Monte Bello. Medium color. Tight nose. Flavors of minerals, high acid, moderate tannins, long finish. A nice wine that could use a few more years of aging. List price $60. My rating 86-89.

2000 Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains
This is Ridges third wine. It is made from lots that were not used for the Monte Bello or Home Ranch and is intended to be more drinkable at release. Medium color. Light nose of cherry. Cherry and minerals on the palette, high acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish. Very drinkable right now. List price $33. My rating 84-88.

2002 Ravenswood, Merlot, Sonoma Valley, Estate

2005-05-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

This is a Merlot that would cause Miles to leave quickly, probably run away. The shorter version of my tasting notes is “boring”.

Medium color. Cherry and chassis on the nose. Cherry fruit, high acid, soft tannins, long finish. Light, uninteresting fruit. Your generic inoffensive Merlot. Only 237 cases produced. List price $25. My rating 70.

This arrived in the same wine club shipment as the Sangiacomo Vineyard Merlot, which is certainly a lot more interesting wine. This wine is produce from a vineyard across the lane from the tasting room.