I was given this wine with the comment that it is a “quintissential Napa Valley cab”. I generally agree; this wine shows a lot of effort in presenting a very particular style.

Note: The bottle I had was opened 4 days earlier, so your results may vary.

This wine is thick and hearty, with small unfiltered bits floating around. The tongue shows 3-4 rings transitioning from near magenta to nearly opaque, scarlet red at the heart. Streaky legs reveal the 14.5% alcohol.

The bouquet jumps out of the glass with cocoa, sweet spices (maple?) and a hint of roasted red meat. Unfortunately, the bouquet is so strong that the aromas are all but lost. Not much fruit on the nose. What is there is dark, maybe boysenberry or blackberry?

On the palate, this wine came across to me as being dis-integrated. Maybe it was the 4 days in the open bottle? Could be, but I doubt it. What I tasted was a very complex array of flavors and mouthfeels, all very distinct, with very supple tannins. Soft to say the least, and very plush, with just the slightest sensation of residual sugar. The heavy cocoa aspect continues in the mouth, along with dark fruits and a hint of fresh herbs – mint, basil etc.

What I like about this wine is that it shows a serious effort at quality and integrity in the winemaking process. I get the sense that the fruit itself is nigh on spectacular but may have been left on the vine a week too long. What I don’t like is the heavy-handed approach to vinification, resulting in lack of structure and integration. I love complexity, but I also like to have to think about what’s going on within the body of the wine. This wine isn’t flabby, per se, but just seems so near falling apart that it doesn’t suit my palate.

Ultimately, at $125 per bottle, I’d agree this is a typical “high end” Napa cab. Very well made, and quite tasty, but not at all groundbreaking and maybe just a bit pretentious at its price point. It may be quintissential, but it ain’t no Quintessa

Presented by Bella Terra Wine Tours

Experience a once in a lifetime opportunity in the Santa Ynez valley, at the
southern end of California’s Central Coast wine region. Taste world-class wines at some of the region’s top wineries and get acquainted with some little-known gems destined to become great wineries.

This is a personalized, hands-on wine tasting experience with the winemakers and growers themselves. Each winery has made special arrangements for our group, which we keep small enough to ensure individual attention. Here are some highlights:

❧    Go behind the scenes into the barrel-aging rooms and sample future
releases with the winemakers themselves as they describe how they
create their masterpieces.

❧    Venture into the vineyards with the growers and learn about soil, slope, irrigation and other aspects of the vineyard’s terroir that help produce these great wines. Learn how soil composition affects the flavors in the wine and hear about the latest techniques in slant irrigation and ideal sun exposure on hillside vineyard blocks.

❧    Enjoy astonishing views of the vineyards and valley while sampling
the distinctive, world class wines these professionals have created
by blending nature and nurture.

August 28-30, 2009 (Fri-Sun)

Itinerary (subject to change):

FRIDAY, August 28
Palmina
Kenneth-Crawford Wines
Epiphany Cellars
Carina Cellars
Harrison-Clarke Wine
Read the rest of this entry »

OK, so it’s turned out Richard and I took the summer off from the blog. But we’re back with some exciting new updates and tour offerings. We will be updating the blog again regularly and finishing some of the previously started stories. So stay tuned!

am in Marlborough now. Today at Dolce in Blenheim I had a wonderful lunch
of steamed greelshell mussels with Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc (both local).
It was quite surreal, sitting in a cool restaurant, looking outside and
enjoying a perfect meal, thinking, hey I am really in New Zealand, enjoying
two of my favorite things!

Tomorrow we are going to several wineries: Cloudy Bay, Villa Maria, Huia,
Allan Scott, Herzog, etc. They all mainly produce “savs” as they call them
here in Marlborough but some pinots, chard and gerwurz too.

Also, I was in the Central Otago region a few days ago (or was it a week? and had some KILLER pinot noirs.

Will report again soon… cheers from NZ!

I first tasted this wine during the Barrel Tasting Weekend in Sonoma County in March 2008. At that time the wine had already aged in barrel for over two years. I was stunned by its complexity and depth, and as a result I purchased a case of futures – something I almost never do.

My shipment arrived in November 2008 and I immediately opened a bottle. It was as good as I remembered it!

The color is very deep purple with brilliant clarity. Perfume and lilacs on the nose, with undertones of earth and a hint of vanilla typical of the Maple Vineyard.

On the palate this wine explodes with fruit yet also retains amazing balance and complexity with well integrated tannins. Ten minutes in the glass reveals cocoa and dark chocolate with a hint of tobacco on the nose.

This really is a beautifully-done Zin.

This lovely wine is brick red; with its high level of extraction is 50% opaque… in the glass, the tongue is magenta at the edges, transitioning to purple, then the brick red at the heart.

On the nose are dried herbs, lilac and pomegranate, with plum and toasty vanilla at the top of the glass.

When tasting, the first attack shows big, dark fruit with undertones of peat/earth. The long finish reveals tobacco, licorice, a hint of charcoal and coriander.

This wine opens up nicely in the glass and the mouth feel, which is a little rough at first, quickly becomes rounded and silky. Bright acidity complements the supple tannins.

This Barbera presents great varietal character, works wonderfully with food, and though ready to drink now will also age nicely for a few more years.

Highly recommended!

Four Vines 2007 Freak Show Release Party

Not an April Fool’s Day Joke, Four Vines Owner Bill Grant, alias the Zin Pimp, Showing the 2007 Freak Show Wines for the first time

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 from 5pm to 8:30pm

Seven wines will be poured: 2007 Anarchy “Red Blend” 2007 Heretic “Petite Sirah” 2007 The Peasant “Rhone Blend” 2007 “Naked” Chardonay 2007 j dusi “Dante Dusi” Zinfandel. The 2006 selections include: 2006 Loco “Tempranillo” 2006 and “Old Vine Cuvee” Zinfandel

Three Magnums will be given away!

$20. Seating Hourly – RSVP – reply to this email and specify the hour and number of peopleinfo@winelabnewport.com

More information about Four Vines, Bill Grant, his team or da goods can be found at www.fourvines.com

$20. Reservations recommended – seatings at 5, 6 & 7 PM – reply to this email, info@winelabnewport.com Wine Lab Newport hosts wine tastings during store open hours from Tuesday thru Sunday.

Wine Lab Newport 2901 West Coast Highway Newport Beach, CA 92663 949-515-VINO www.winelabnewport.com   

 

 

Wow – today we drove up from Huntington Beach to Lompoc for a private tasting at Brewer-Clifton. Truly exceptional Burgundy-style Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays that all show great finesse and elegance. It’s interesting to compare the differences resulting from similar winemaking techniques applied to grapes from different vineyards; This is most notable on Brewer-Clifton’s Pinots from Sta. Maria Hills versus Mt. Carmel. Both are really tasty but the Mt. Carmel really shines. Meredith Caruso runs a great tasting environment and we both enjoyed the experience a lot.

Following that, we had an appointment with Norm Yost of Flying Goat… maker of really amazing Pinots. On a tip from a waiter at Sissy’s named Jim we tasted Norm’s clone 667 – really phenomenal. Norm is one of the great recent talents in Central Coast Pinots.

Then we went to Palmina, one of Richard and my common favorites. Picked up some club shipments and more olive oil.

Next, on to Ampelos. Highly recommended by Emily and Al Harris, Peter and Rebecca Work’s Rhone varietals are really impressive. They are masters of grenache – my favorite! We had a really nice time getting to know the Works and look forward to hosting events with them this year.

We finished the evening with a lovely dinner with Al and Emily at Chef Rick’s in Santa Maria – excellent cajun food, highlighted by a bottle of Armida Tina’s Block zin. What a great day!

I just arrived in Southern California to start our 5-day trip through California’s Central Coast. Richard and I are on a fact-finding mission, visiting several winemakers we already know as well as many new ones to us.

The purpose of this particular trip is to establish working relationships with the cream of the winemaking crop here. We’re building a small portfolio of select winemakers who share similar philosophies. Beginning in 2009 we will be providing marketing, promotional and event services for these exceptional producers.

Tonight we kicked off our tour in the unlikely locale of Costa Mesa, meeting with the lovely husband-wife team of Julie Thompson-Dobkins and Jeff Dobkin of Thompkin Cellars.

At their winemaking facility, Jeff and Julie graciously allowed us to taste their beutifully-crafted red wines (see the tasting notes on previous posts). They also took the time to thoroughly explain their background and winemaking process, giving us much better insight to what goes in to making their outstanding wine. We’re looking forward to establishing distribution for Thompkin Cellars in Colorado and hosting winemaker dinners. Thanks Jeff and Julie!

Tomorrow we’re heading to Santa Barbara county – the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Rita Hills. Stay tuned!

Five of our current top picks for wines/winemakers to keep an eye out for. If you find bottles in a retailer from these producers, buy them!

And watch for BT winemaker dinners coming soon…

Palmina
Italian varietals by Steve and Chrystal Clifton. Their nebbiolo, dolcetto, tocai friulano and subida are stunning.

Edward Sellers
Look for Ed & Dani Sellers and winemaker Amy Butler’s 2005 Vertigo, 2005 Le Thief, 2005 Syrah Sélectionné and 2005 Cuvée des Cinq. They make some of the finest Rhone wines in Paso Robles

Stolpman
Look for Tom Stolpman and winemaker Sashi Moorman’s 2005 hiltops syrah and 2005 sangiovese, estate grown in Santa Ynez Valley and they are both extraordinary

Thompkin Cellars
Look for Julie Thompson-Dobkin and Jeff Dobkin’s 2006 grenache and 2006 syrah, they are both outstanding

Fiddlehead Cellars
Look for Kathy Joseph’s 2005 Estate Pinot Noir Lollapalooza and 2003 Sauvignon Blanc Hunnysuckle. Kathy without a doubt makes some of the finest Pinot Noir I have ever tasted!

Sol Rouge
Look for Bryan Kane’s grenache, The Gypsy and marsanne-rousanne

Ovene Winery
Look for Jeff White’s 2006 Pinot Blanc with its big floral bouquet and 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon with its rich intense aromas of ripe berry fruit with a hint of sage and chocolate

Cass Winery
Steve Cass and Ted Plemons make killer mourvedre, viognier and an unbelievable left-bank Bordeaux-blend cab.

Our recommendations are always highly-extracted, big fruit bombs with remarkable character, complexity and perfect balance. If it doesn’t knock our socks off, we won’t recommend it!