Tag Archives: wine blog

December 23, 2013 · 4:55 PM

2006 Ramey Cabernet Sauvignon Calistoga

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Ramey Wine Cellars

California, Napa Valley, Calistoga

Wine Tasting Note:

2006 was an interesting vintage year that seemed to favor old-world style Napa producers. IMO, it was difficult to find valley floor producers with exceptional wines. Whereas, many of the mountain fruit producers (Spring, Howell, etc.) with a more subdued style (Ladera, Cain, etc.) released amazingly soft, nuanced cabernet sauvignon. This Ramey followed the line… After 30 min. decant, complex nose of blackberry, plum, cigar box and mint. This wine is black fruit forward with a mid-palate of vanilla and a medium short finish of bitter dark chocolate. The texture is a bit watery and the alcohol is not integrated well. Medium-high acidity with medium tannins. Rather disjointed and unbalanced. This is difficult to enjoy, without food. Try accompanying beef, or pasta with a rich tomato-based sauce. I don’t think this will improve with more time in the bottle. Drink now.

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December 19, 2013 · 4:20 PM

2010 Andrew Murray Syrah McGinley Vineyard

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Andrew Murray Vineyards

California, Santa Ynez Valley

Wine Tasting Note:

This is drinking beautifully right now. Just a great nose of blackberry, plum, chocolate and earth. The nose follows though to the palate, with the the fruit forward, the earth and some white pepper on the mid-palate and a medium length finish of rich dark chocolate. Medium acidity and medium-low tannins. The alcohol is nicely integrated. The texture is lighter and very, very soft, but not quite silky. This has just enough backbone to support the fruit forward approach, but is definitely not a wine to lay down. The drinking window would be now through maybe… another year, or two. The price-value ratio is good for a high quality, drink-now Syrah with some complexity. This is not for aging, or to accompany all but the richest foods. Which easily could have brought this down, but I am really enjoying its softness and fruit-forward character before I grab some supper.

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Filed under Santa Barbara County, Santa Ynez Valley, Syrah/Shiraz, Wine Tasting, Wine Tasting Notes

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December 15, 2013 · 1:51 PM

2004 Piccini Sasso al Poggio IGT

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Piccini Sasso al Poggio Toscana IGT

Italy, Tuscany, Chianti

Wine Tasting Note:

Folks, this is some serious wine for the price. After 30 minutes open, more black fruit is peeking out. I will be buying more, if I can find it… Subdued gamey, black fruit nose. Black cherry is on the front of the palate, blackberry, black currant and vanilla on the mid-palate moving towards dark chocolate with an herbal medium length finish that includes a touch of spearmint. The mouth-feel is a bit watery, but is very soft. Medium acidity with medium high tannins. This is not a fruity wine, but for those who appreciate complexity… for $10/btl this is your value wine. I am wrestling with the idea of whether I have tasted a better $10 bottle of wine… Italy continues to provide the biggest surprises in fine wine value in the world! OK, IMHO…

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December 11, 2013 · 6:14 PM

2007 Delectus Syrah Mt. George Vineyard

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Delectus Syrah Mount George Vineyard

California, Napa Valley

Wine Tasting Note:

Strong alcohol on the nose. Hard to pick-up the other aromas. The palate is much more balanced. Less complex than I would have hoped for an old-world style mid-priced syrah, but it was still very enjoyable. Fruit-forward blackberry, plum and black currant flavors moving to rich dark chocolate and a short bitter finish. Good effort on the texture… not silky, or velvetty, but still soft and refined. An amazing feat, considering the alcohol content at 15.8%. Medium tannins and medium-high acidity. The value here was good for a Napa Syrah with some old-world character. Though, this was missing the cool climate complexity I would expect from this style, in higher priced wines.

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December 7, 2013 · 2:16 PM

2009 d’Arenberg The Laughing Magpie

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d’Arenberg The Laughing Magpie

Australia, McLaren Vale

Wine Tasting Note:

This is not a typical Aussie fruit bomb. 92% shiraz and 8% vognier. Northern Rhone in its way… grapey nose with creme brulee and cinammon. Definitely give this at least a 30 min decant. Directly out of the bottle, this is very smooth, but watery and the flavors are off-putting – like grape candy. As it opens, it becomes more complex. The palate hits you first with black table grapes and blackberry. The mid-palate has black-currant moving into a long bitter dark chocolate finish. I have tasted other syrah blends like this and the viognier (8% is too much?) had the same effect on the nose and palate. The acidity is medium-high, but the tannins are mostly hidden until decanted, then they reveal themselves in a fairly big way as chewy and medium-high. Has a little bit of that Northern Rhone oily, tar characteristic, but no olive tapenade and earthiness. The grapey fruit flavor begins to subside after an hour, but is still too much. At this stage of its life, this would not be much of a food wine, although it has the backbone for it. I enjoyed it as an aperitif (after decant) and for $20/btl, it was a good value. This may just be too young. I am thinking after 3-5 years, the fruit may subside a bit and allow other flavors to present. It certainly has the backbone to allow aging. Will tuck the others away for a few years and see if it has the potential to improve, as I hope.

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December 4, 2013 · 5:20 PM

Can You Justify Spending on Premium Wines?

Okay, I know there aren’t many wine drinkers out there that maintain a diverse cellar of bottle-aged wines, but for those of you who do, and invest in the spendy, premium wines… how do YOU justify it?

Which Wines Are in Your Cellar?

2/3 of my cellar is made up of moderately priced red and white wines of good value.  The other 1/3 is reserved for more expensive, special red wines.  So, just what constitutes a “special” wine worthy of a premium price? It has taken me 20 years of collecting wine and an evolving palate to finally arrive at a couple of answers.  My justifications for spending $75+ on a bottle of wine are:

1. Wines that have structure, balance, texture, be complex, BUT ALSO be accessible in no more than 5 years, and be able to age (AND improve) for 10 years or more from the vintage date (yes, even Barolo).

That doesn’t mean the wine will be in its prime drinking window then, just that I can enjoy it and then look forward to another beautiful experience down the road.  Enjoying wines this way, requires a purchase of several bottles of a wine, per vintage.  I will rarely do this until a producer has proven a good match for my palate and been consistent with quality vintages, year over year.  Although, sometimes you just know from drinking a wine… and I say “drink”, not taste.  This has happened too many times… Tasting Room Attendant hits you with attitude, goes on and on about the wine and presses you to purchase his/her amazing $100 (speaking of Napa here) bottle.  Then, you are hit with a 1 oz. pour!  Who needs a direct relationship with a winery, when you are treated like that!  With a good experience, enjoyable wine and the right value, I will become a year-over-year customer and they can start thinking of me as a revenue source for years to come…

2. Wines that my family and friends enjoy.

An example in this category for me is expensive champagne.  Not what I personally would spend big dollars on, but I really enjoy sharing good bubbly with friends who appreciate it!

Overview

IMHO, the holy grail of wine is the 1st category.  Examples for me would be vintages of Barolo, Southern & Northern Rhone (also CA “Rhone Style”) and mountain fruit Napa Cabernet Sauvignon (Veeder, Spring, Diamond & Howell).  Yeah, I know… no classified growth Bordeaux & cru Burgundy included.  I have not tasted Bordeaux meeting that criteria under $75/btl. AND other regions bring the same level of enjoyment for $50.  ENTRY LEVEL Burgundy STARTS at $50/btl and I just don’t enjoy pinot noir enough to explore that varietal for that kind of money.  My Oregon Pinot is just fine thank you.  I have Bordeaux and Burgundy in my cellar, but just to provide a representative collection, and it skews my average bottle price more than I would like.  I know many of you DO spend that $150+/btl for Bordeaux and Burgundy.  I wonder, how do you justify devoting the disproportionate percentage of your wine budget?

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Filed under Barolo, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Howell Mountain, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley, Northern Rhone, Southern Rhone, Spring Mountain, Wine Cellar, Wine Collecting, Wine Tasting

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December 3, 2013 · 9:44 PM

2010 Caligiore Malbec Reserve

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Caligiore Malbec Reserve

Argentina, Mendoza, Lujan de Cuyo

Wine Tasting Note:

Nose of plum and blackberry with cooked green bell pepper vegetal undertones. Palate of blackberry, black currant and oak in front with a short finish of smokey tar. Medium acidity and medium-low tannins. The backbone is lacking. Texture becomes a bit watery. Not the big, textured, fruity malbec that I have come to equate with Mendoza, but interesting enough. Value is about right at $14/btl.

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November 29, 2013 · 11:37 AM

Perfect Wine?

How can any wine critic score a wine at a perfect 100?  This is one critic’s explanation at Wine Spectator Magazine:  http://www.winespectator.com/blogs/show/id/49223.

Wine Critics Impartial?

There are aspects of this piece that I agree with, especially with regard to defining wine as a snapshot of a moment in time.  The wine experience is definitely more than a scientific examination of flavor components.  This is a major reason why I was taken by wine in the first place.  Yes, of course your situation and surroundings will affect your scoring of the wine, but aren’t the critic’s reviews as an authoritative resource supposed to be impartial… and therefore tasting should occur in a neutral environment?  The more I learn about wine critics and their approach to scoring wine, the more I have come to ignore them.

Wine Critics Consistently Over-Score Wines

This drives me crazy!  I have been moving towards placing more weight on collector’s reviews for several years now.  CellarTracker scores are consistently 3-4 points lower than Parker, Kramer, Robinson, Galloni. Although, Stephen Tanzer seems a bit more conservative, if you look at a cross-section. Take some time to compare and you will see for yourself.  At least their ratings are consistent in this regard, so the scores are not likely to be a bias towards a given producer.  It almost seems as if they all want to believe the wine is better than it actually is?  Is this some subtle coordinated promotional effort to advance the wine industry as a whole?

Perfect Wine, Ah… Really?

Here are a few recent Robert Parker, Jr. perfect 100’s that I have enjoyed:

2010 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

2006 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard

2007 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

2007 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon CCS

I am sorry, but the Bryant Family IMHO did not belong on this list, but I digress.  Of course, anytime you discuss RP you have to take into account his penchant for big fruity wines.  Still, are these perfect scores based on his perception when tasted, or based on projecting their profile after bottle-aging?  I wouldn’t choose any of these, keeping the  divergent criteria in mind.  Don’t get me wrong , three of these were great wines and the fourth pretty damn good too, but perfect?  I have tasted perfectly balanced 5 year old cabernet in an approachable style from Ladera, or a huge fruity, tannic monster from O’Shaughnessy that would be superior (IMO) after 10-15 years.  Although, I wouldn’t score these at 100 either.

Can a 100 Point Perfect Wine Exist?

Everyone’s palate is different AND wine truly is enhanced by the environment in which it is being consumed AND obviously the wine critics make little effort to taste in a neutral environment…  Of the wines I have enjoyed most in my life and matched my palate best, I would give none of them a perfect 100.  In each case, there was something about them that could have been a little better.  Now, I WILL say… some have been drunk in perfect settings, and I will remember them clearly my entire life!

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November 27, 2013 · 9:54 PM

2009 Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon

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2009 Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon

California, Napa Valley

Wine Tasting Note:

Blackberry, plum and vanilla on the nose. Simple palate of black fruit and a touch of bitter chocolate and oak on a medium-short finish. Medium tannins and medium-high acidity. The texture is a bit watery. Nice backbone here, but the structure is missing a mid-palate entirely. Enjoyable every day drinker from Napa Valley that represents a reasonable value. Unfortunately, there is no complexity to this wine. Other vintages have been better.

Wine Tasting Note – UPDATE 2/20/2014:

2nd Bottle of half case:

Second bottle after four months in storage has changed enough to be worthy of note. It is rare to see wine in this price range improve with age. The evaluation is essentially the same as above, but the texture is becoming more silky and the tannins more refined. At least for now, this is continuing to improve.  The same comment holds regarding simplicity, although a short aging window seems to have continued to soften the wine, making it more enjoyable. I wish this wine could magically become more interesting, but for the price, this is a very nice daily drinker.

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November 26, 2013 · 10:28 PM

2009 Domaine Drouhin Laurene Oregon Pinot Noir

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Domaine Drouhin Laurene Pinot Noir

Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

Wine Tasting Note:

The nose has red fruit and earth, with a floral influence. The palate begins with fresh red cherry under-pinned with a delicate floral note. The mid-palate transitions to black cherry and spice, then a medium short finish of earth and bitter chocolate. Medium-high acidity with slightly dusty tannins. The texture was initially silky, but became watery quickly on the mid-palate. You notice the alcohol on the finish. This wine needs more time in the cellar to reach its potential. There was a lot more going on here than a simple, fruity new-world pinot. This was very feminine in character, with a solid backbone. Another 5 years of bottle-aging and I would expect this will be very elegant and composed. I can envision this as a 10 year old pinot reaching its drinking window… add a little barnyard on the nose and Burgundy comes to mind!

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