TN: Château de la Maltroye 2006 Santenay 1er Cru La Comme

Burgundy is a region I'd like to explore. But it is simply too expensive to spend much time exploring. Except when I can find fair deals on wines like Château de la Maltroye 2006 Santenay 1er Cru La Comme. Primer Cru vineyards are upper echelon vineyards. But Santenay is less well regarded than other Burgundy regions. So perhaps this wine slipped through the cracks for this reason.

No matter, this is Pinot through and through. The elegance and perfume are typical, though the specific expression of the varietal is so varied. This actually does seemed a bit New World in the fruit-forward approach, but the weight and acidity are much more typical Old World traits.

• 2006 Château de la Maltroye Santenay 1er Cru La Comme - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Santenay 1er Cru
  
  
  
  Classic Pinot. Mid-weight, with floral, truffle and spice aromas. Opens up to red fruit flavors, mainly strawberry. Fruit-forward, but with excellent complexity and not bombastic at all. No heat, clean finish. Good value. Mild tannic structure, medium+ acidity.
  
  
  
  From southern portion of Cote de Beaune, southern exposure, limestone and marl soils.
  
  

Clos Pepe, Cold Heaven and Longoria

CLOS PEPE, COLD HEAVEN AND LONGORIA - Santa Ynez Valley

Since we were due to pick up our first Longoria shipment of the year, we decided to make a full day out of the trip to Los Olivos. At first we were thinking about heading to the beginning of Foxen, but at Larry Shaffer's (of Tercero and Fess Parker) suggestion we scheduled a tour at Clos Pepe, then worked back towards Los Olivos.

Clos Pepe Vineyard

Bar none, this was the most interesting, thorough and hospitable vineyard tour and tasting I've had the chance to enjoy. Wes Hagen, winemaker and grower at Clos Pepe, leads the tour and is a fountain of information. Tours are only given once a day, at 10:30 AM, and for good reason: it's thorough. We started off with a quick introduction to the sheep, dogs and even chickens on the estate. The sheep are used to mow down the cover crop between rows, which is important for nitrogen fixation. To protect the sheep, a mastiff stands guard against any intruders such as coyotes.

Next we moved onto a brief tutorial on pruning and general background on the vineyard. The vines are cordon trained, meaning there is a permanent, lignified, thick piece of vine running horizontally. The previous vintage's canes are then clipped down to the cordon leaving behind only a spur with a bud on it. On each cordon there are about five spurs, and each vine had two cordons. The vineyard as a whole is oriented with rows running from north to south. Wes Hagen commented that while in the Old World south-facing vines are more typical to encourage ripeness, in California there is ample sunshine. Thus the orientation is chosen to limit exposure such that the fruit can hang longer before it reaches sugar maturity. Wes joked that whenever he comes back from France, he has to forget everything he learns about viticulture. Of course, there was mention of the transverse (east-west running) mountain range due to the peculiar tectonic action in this corner of the world as well the the diatomaceous earth that provides the soil with silica and calcium.

The tasting took place in the Pepe's home--incredible hospitality if you ask me. Wes provided a cheese course--Gouda, (real) Cheddar, Camembert and goat cheese--along with the five wines. Notes are below. All the while Wes provided commentary on a variety of topics. On sulfites, he noted you can't fear them as a winemaker. And while Clos Pepe is farmed organically, he had strong words along the lines of "organic is BS" in terms of the organic movements as a whole. For him it appears organic farming is a means to an end--better wine. But it's not reasonable in his mind to demand all types of farming pursue organic techniques at this point. He also suggested that often it's good to let go as a wine drinker. Geek out when appropriate, but just enjoy it otherwise: "drink like a 5 year old." Another nugget was wine is a craft, not art, like making a chair. This was one of those times where it was great just to sit back and absorb while listening to a very entertaining and informative lecture.

The tour and tasting wrapped up at about 1 PM.

• 2009 Clos Pepe Estate Chardonnay Barrel Fermented - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Very fresh, citrus and white stone fruits. Clean (precise), dry with a long finish. Minerality. Pears on the nose. Took a few minutes to open up--sulfites blowing off, perhaps?
  
  Fermented in neutral oak, goes through ML and aged on lees. But also has rippin good acidity. I love this style that gets the body and richness with balancing acidity and light-handed oak influence.


• 2009 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Primary, but open. Plummy, red fruits, perfumed, sage. Some smokey flavor, integrated structure. Complete wine--beginning, middle and end--long finish. Tightly wound at present, though showing well.


• 2007 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Cherry jam, spice, sage and ginger on the nose. More open than 2009. Structured with integrated oak. Pretty ripe on nose and by flavor, though not heavily extracted or alcoholic.
  
  Wes Hagen suggested 3-4 years further aging to bring out earthier characteristics.


• 2006 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Favorite of tasting--seems to be at a really good spot right now. Earthy, mushroom, truffle, floral (rose) and mild spice. Good acidity and core of fruit. Integrated structure, fine tannin.
  
  Interesting to compare to the '06 Ojai Clos Pepe tasted a few months ago. The Ojai had a more extracted, baked fruit quality to my palate. Supposedly Ojai's was all Pommard clones, but I'm not sure if it was harvested later or treated differently otherwise.


• 2008 Axis Mundi Syrah Sleepy Hollow Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
  
  Meaty/bacon aromas, lavender, round fruit and zippy acidity. Very fruit-driven wine. Tannins not noted, but acidity gives it balance.

Cold Heaven

After the atypically long and interesting tour and tasting--plus lunch by the pond in Clos Pepe's vineyard--the Cold Heaven tasting was a more typical format. However, the wines are anything but typical. Cold Heaven's tasting room is a tasting bar at the front of their winery in Buellton. And by winery, I mean utilitarian space in a small industrial park. Exactly my style!

While Cold Heaven is best known for its Viognier from a variety of SBC vineyards (Le Bon Climat, Sanford and Benedict, Curtis and formerly Vogelzang), Morgan Clendenen's collaborative efforts with Condrieu vintner Yves Cuilleron and the remarkable Syrah should not be missed. Jeb Dunnick's Rhone Report totally nails it when it comes to Cold Heaven's wines, IMO. I'm just a 2nd assenting opinion here. If you like Syrah in a lower octane mold, this is the one to pursue. The 2004 is pretty funky, though, in an old world farmyard sense. The 2003 and 2005 are more spicy, floral and garrigue-laden with a core of fresh fruit.

• 2008 Cold Heaven Sauvignon Blanc Strangelove - USA, California, Central Coast
  
  Peaches on the nose, fresh, high acid mouth watering sort of wine. Grapefruit pith on the finish. 50% stainless, 50% neutral oak.


• 2008 Cold Heaven Viognier Le Bon Climat Santa Barbara County - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  Continues to be favorite in Cold Heaven Viognier lineup. Perfumed, honeysuckle, great balance, medium body with med/high acidity. Combines the honeyed aromatics with unreal freshness and precision. Finishes with a bit of pith. World class stuff, IMO.


• 2009 Cold Heaven Viognier - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
  
  Bigger bodied, lower acidity than Le Bon Climat--from Curtis Vineyard in warmer heart of the Santa Ynez Valley. Floral, spicey and a notion of toast--maybe some SO2? Solid wine, just isn't as racy as the Le Bon Climat.


• 2007 Domaine des 2 Mondes Viognier Saints and Sinners Sanford & Benedict - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Floral, broadly textured yet finely woven, big, serious and tropical. This is the Viognier if you like Cali style Chardonnay--it's a white wine for red wine drinkers. But it is not overly oaky or toasty, just creamy, and the acidity is really lively underneath it all.


• 2004 Cold Heaven Syrah Second Sin Santa Barbara County - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  Smelling this immediately takes me to France--leathery/horsey aromas, earthy, tar and herbs. The palate is lively with good fruit and tannin. Definitely of a certain style, let's say just a wee bit Bretty. I suspect if poured side by side with some expensive French N. Rhone Syrahs or S. Rhone CdP it would more than hold its own due to the funk. Alas, I'm looking for something a bit cleaner from CA Syrah.


• 2005 Cold Heaven Syrah Second Sin Santa Barbara County - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  The Syrah counterpart to the great Le Bon Climat Viognier. Very similar to the '03 vintage which was flat out one of the best Syrahs I've tasted. Elegantly styled, more fruit driven than the '04. Perfumed with spice and pepper. Firm tannin, lively acidity, creamy texture. Cold Heaven is known as a Viognier house, but the Syrahs are a hidden gem. 13.6% ABV, by the way, and not at all underripe in flavor.

Longoria Wines

This is our only wine club (or mailing list). The commitment is minimal--8 bottles per year--and we get to participate in the various open houses and special events. Plus, the wine is uniformly good to great. Definitely of the fruit-forward style, but with plenty of structure and acidity for larger framed wines. The Pinots are my favorites, and that's the overall consensus as well. Just another bandwagon for me to joyfully hop on, I suppose!

Richard Longoria is pretty old school. He's one of the originals in Santa Barbara County of the same generation as Jim Clendenen, Adam Tolmach and Richard Sanford. He's also very proud to have learned under Andre Tchelistcheff early in his career. But he's a quiet, unassuming sort of vintner, so he tends to fly under the radar, especially with the rapid growth in the post-Sideways era.

• 2009 Longoria Pinot Grigio - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  See previous note. Varietally on-target, and priced fairly. One for sipping on a hot day or with the right food pairing.


• 2009 Longoria Pink Wine Cuvee June - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  Same experience as with my previous note. Watermelon and strawberry. But doesn't have the gum numbing acidity I look for in a rosé. Plenty of juicy fruit, just feels a little flat to my taste.


• 2008 Longoria Pinot Noir Rancho Santa Rosa - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Loved the '07 vintage of this cuvee; this is just as good. A bit more acidic and lighter in weight with cranberry and cherry flavors. Mushrooms on the nose. Medium body, fresh, structured with fine tannin.


• 2007 Longoria Pinot Noir Fe Ciega Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Seems to be opening up. Shows mushroom and a definite spiciness. Full bodied and rich. Complex with firm structure. Plenty of fruit here, but not showing the baked edge to it I found in the '06. This looks like it'll get really good soon.


• 2008 Longoria Tempranillo Clover Creek Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
  
  Big ripe fruit, but also tannic and tightly structured. This needs several years to unwind.


• 2007 Longoria Syrah Alisos Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  Huge structure! Tannic and acidic with dark fruit (berry, cassis) and complexing pepper and licorice aromas. Alisos isn't a truly cool climate vineyard, but isn't hot, either--this sits in that middle ground between the two poles. Big and ripe, yet structured and savory. Needs 3-5 years to unwind, I'd wager. Sometimes this bottling has a slightly porty feel to it; this is really chiseled. 6.9 g/L TA, 3.57 pH, 15.1% ABV.


• 2009 Longoria Albariño Beso del Sol Clover Creek Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
  
  Delicious dessert wine with honeyed aromatics. The real quality here is lively acidity with a lighter texture than a typical sticky. 11.9% ABV, 12% RS (~120 g/L RS) and 6.6 g/L TA with 3.36 pH. Apparently the result of a heat spike roasting the fruit, but only enough so that it raisined a bit then developed with further hang time. A fortuitous accident of nature it seems, and just the sort of dessert wine I like.

All in all, a great day in the valley. I'll miss it when we move!

A Blind Tasting of Kermit Lynch Wines at East Beach Wine

The local shop East Beach Wine was hosting its weekly tasting, and this week's tasting was especially compelling. Six wines, blind, from various regions in France, all imported by Kermit Lynch. Not only is that a slam dunk as far as overall quality, it's also a challenging prospect as the selections are fairly diverse.

We were not going into this double blind, though. It was essentially single blind as we were given lists of varietals and regions to pair with each wine. The varietals were Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat, while the regions were Bordeaux, Loire, Burgundy, Rhone and Beaumes de Venise.

• 2009 Domaine Daniel Chotard Sancerre - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
  
  Melon, citrus, high acid, minerality, medium body.
  Guess: Loire/Sauvignon Blanc. Actual: Loire/Sauvignon Blanc.


• 2008 Domaine Lucien Boillot et Fils Bourgogne - France, Burgundy, Bourgogne
  
  Floral, spice, mushroom, light/medium body, cranberry, pepper, slight cow pasture, linear flavor, mild tannin.
  Guess: Burgundy/Pinot Noir. Actual: Burgundy/Pinot Noir.
  Flavor and weight had potential as entry level Loire Cab Franc, but floral and spice aromas definitively pointed towards Burgundy. If Cru Beaujolais was a choice, though, it would have been a tougher call between Burg/Bojo.


• 2008 Kermit Lynch Selections Côtes du Rhône - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône
  
  Jammy, lavender, low-acid, bitter finish, unstructured.
  Guess: Rhone/Grenache. Actual: Rhone/Grenache.
  Commented this tasted cheap relative to other wines in tasting; indeed it was. Definite pass, very mediocre wine.


• 2008 Domaine les Pallières Gigondas Les Racines - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas
  
  Perfumed, medium/full body, medium/low acid.
  Guess: Rhone/Grenache. Actual: Rhone/Grenache.
  Very rich wine. Aromatics suggested Burg/Pinot at first, but flavors eventually pointed to a much warmer climate. Reminds me of how CA Pinot is often Grenache-like IMO--throw a full-bodied Cali Pinot in and I'm stumped!


• 2007 Château Aney - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
  
  Grass/bell pepper, dark fruit, earthy flavor, full body, medium acidity.
  Guess: Bordeaux, Cab Franc. Actual: Bordeaux, Cab Franc.
  This one was the most obvious red in the tasting. It had to be CF, and nothing else could have been Bdx. Bought it.


• 2006 Domaine de Durban Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise
  
  Floral, honeyed, sweet, full body
  Guess: Beaumes de Venise/Muscat. Actual: Beaumes de Venise/Muscat.
  Had to be Muscat given the options. Figured a dessert wine appellation would be the odd man out, so we went with Beaumes de Venise.

Success! But without the list of regions this would have been an intractable problem. Cab Franc, Pinot and Grenache can be surprisingly similar if grown in similar climates (say entry level Chinon vs. Burgundy, or California Grenache vs. Pinot), so the appellation laws in France regulating variety were a big help assigning varietal to palate character I'd expect from a given climate.

TN: Mayro-Murdick 2006 Carneros Pinot Noir

I didn't really have high expectations for the Mayro-Murdick 2006 Carneros Pinot Noir as it was a discount/closeout buy. But as usual there turns out to be little correlation between price, expectation and enjoyment. This is very high quality feminine-style Pinot. The producer's notes indicate the fruit is 80% 35 year old vine Pinot from Iund Vineyard (with suggested retail of $36). If this is typical of Carneros, then I need to try more Pinot from this area as I tend to try the regions with more current buzz like SRH, Anderson Valley and Sonoma Coast. Trends and fashion are nice, but this wine had a certain classic frame to it that transcends hype and hoopla.

• 2006 Mayro-Murdick Pinot Noir - USA, California, Napa Valley, Carneros
  
  
  
  This was just firing on all cylinders. Pinot Perfume on the nose with a mix of floral, red fruit, herb and mushroom aromas. Still smelled great even in an empty glass! All about balance on the palate. Good body and texture with refreshing acidity. Mild earth and red fruit flavors with aromas carry through on the finish. Even has some tannic structure on the back end. Textbook cool climate Cali Pinot, and perfectly executed in a seamless fashion.
  
  

Tasting Notes from Ojai: Old Creek, Vino V, and The Ojai Vineyard

Following up on my last post on Vino V Wines and Old Creek Ranch, here are a few highlights of what we tasted. This is not a comprehensive list. Just a few favorites and noteworthy wines.

We also visited The Ojai Vineyard's tasting room in downtown Ojai on this trip. This is an historic producer whose winemaker and owner, Adam Tolmach, was among the first handful of winemakers to help realize the potential of Santa Barbara County. Generally speaking I liked the Santa Maria wines more, and the warm climate Roll Ranch wines didn't have the lift and complexity of the cooler climate wines. A few notes are included here as well.

Old Creek Ranch

2008 Grenache Blanc - Decent, but middle of the road. Winemaker Michael Meager commented he wasn't terribly excited about this one, either.

2009 Loureiro - Aromatic, peaches, honey, but very acidic and mineral driven flavors. From Estelle Vineyard.

2009 Albarino - Refreshing, good body, lemon and citrus aromas. From Paragon Vineyard in Edna Valley.

2008 Carignane - Earthy, tobacco, floral, medium body, medium acid. From Camp 4 Vineyard in Santa Ynez.

2007 Cabernet Sauvigon - Very fruity, kirsch, from Branham Obsidian vineyard between St. Helena & Calistoga. Warm climate, fruit-driven Cab.

2007 Santa Barbara County Syrah - Deep fruit & lavender, earth, tannic, long finish,

2007 White Hawk Vineyard Syrah - Meaty, floral, structured, supple, elegant, currants and cherries.


Vino V Wines

2009 Confundida - Floral aromas, nice texture and acidity, unique and brimming with character. 100% Albarino from Estelle Vineyard.

2004 Syrah - Great cool climate Syrah aromas, dense and tannic. From White Hawk Vineyard in Los Alamos.

2006 Syrah - Again, great cool climate Syrah aromas, but a bit more supple. Also White Hawk.


The Ojai Vineyard

2006 Clos Pepe Chardonnay - Santa Rita Hills AVA, intense, mouthwatering, apples, lemons, not super oaky or tropical, a more restrained style.

2006 Solomon Hills Pinot Noir - Feminine Pinot, spicy, red fruits, med body, some earth.

2006 Clos Pepe Pinot Noir - Heavier, earthier, raspberry, meaty/smokey, more tannic, mushroomy, but a distracting raisin aroma is present.

2007 Santa Barbara County Syrah - Pepper and floral aromas, good structure and tannin.

2005 Bien Nacido Syrah - Spicy aromas, dark fruit, tannic, concentrated, great Syrah, should age.

2005 Roll Ranch Syrah - More jammy, fruity, seemed less concentrated, a bit of heat and roasted fruit.

2008 Roll Ranch Viognier Ice Wine - Harvested at 22 Brix, frozen, then crushed. 9% ABV, sweet but still fresh, aromatic with honey, very nectar-like, cryo-extraction seems to capture freshness and intensity (i.e sugar, flavor and acidity).

TN: Shaky Bridge 2006 Central Otago Pinot Noir

Well, this one was a real surprise. For one, how is it that a $15 Pinot Noir has genuine varietal character with proper balance and structure? But the bigger surprise--which probably explains the initial one--is that I was sold the wrong wine. Fortunately, the error worked in my favor. I got the Shaky Bridge 2006 Central Otago Pinot Noir, the winery's flagship wine, instead of their entry level wine. I was expecting a simple, correct, fruit-forward wine. What I got was the real deal.

At any rate, the note below tells the whole story. The wine's a little quirky, but it also has guts, and it has plenty character, too. I emailed the retailer, Winery Insider, and the head honcho Tony Westfall explained they were sent the wrong wine by the importer, and they hadn't realized the error either until shipping it out! However, they were happy to sell me more of what they had left.

See the end of the post for a note on this web-retailer.

• 2006 Shaky Bridge Pinot Noir - New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago
  
  Fairly dark for a Pinot, but the nose immediately confirms this is a very good new world Pinot. Mushrooms, twigs, roses, raspberries and strawberries on the nose. Very interesting flavors on the palate. Good body with solid upfront fruit, both of the tart red and plummy sorts. Then displays a pleasant stemmy quality with pronounced metallic minerality. Concentrated without being fat. Some well-balanced oak vanillin present as well. Good acidity, dry, with chalky tannin--rare for a Pinot in my experience. This seems to have the structure to develop further in my opinion.
  
  
  
  I believe I was supposed to receive the lower tier Pioneer Series ($19 US), but was sent this one ($28 US) by accident. Didn't realize I had the wrong one until I saw the pictures in CT after drinking 3/4 of the bottle and wondering why it was so good! Definitely looks like a mistake in my error as this drinks like a $30+ Pinot. Best $15 I spent on Pinot . . . .
  
  

Disclaimer: I receive a credit if you make an initial purchase from Winery Insider via my referral link above. That said, I've found their customer service very good and highly responsive, not to mention they are very careful with shipping in warm weather. As for the wines they discount, they can be hit or miss. I haven't had any bad wines, but some I've felt were discounted to about what they should have cost in the first place. A few have been great values, however.

If you do use their service, their 'retail' price estimates tend to be on the high side so the calculated discount can be a bit misleading. Google Shopping and Wine-Searcher are your best friends to help verify how good a deal is from a raw dollar standpoint. I do think they deliver the best price on any given wine, and especially above the $20 price point you have a good chance of landing a great value.

TN: Blind Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Our local wine shop held a blind tasting of Santa Barbara and Burgundy Chardonnay and Pinot Noir last week. Six wines were tasted in pairs, with one Santa Barbaran and one Burgundian in each set. The first pair was Chardonnay, with the remaining two Pinot Noir.

Wine #1 - Tropical, citrus, almonds, some caramel & vanilla, hot finish, medium acidity, some minerality. My guess: California Chardonnay.

Wine #2 - Super toasty. Lighter, more acid, less body, dry, lean and clean. Toast oak. My guess: White Burgundy.

Results - I was right. #1 was Daniel Gehrs 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay ($12) and #2 was Olivier Leflaive 2007 Bourgogne Les Setilles ($21). Interestingly I had some sense the first wine was oaked, but clearly it was not. Still, the tropical fruit in #1 and the acidity and body of #2 helped me get this set right.

Wine #3 - Volatile acidity, mild funk, light body, earthy/toasty flavor, rough finish, some tannin and minerality. My guess: $10-$15 (cheap) Red Burgundy.

Wine #4 - Cali Pinot 'perfume', full body, little structure, chemical finish. My guess: $20-ish California Pinot Noir.

Results - Again, I got them right. This one was fairly straight forward. #3 was Laboure-Roi 2006 Maximum Bourgogne ($16) and #4 was Babcock 2008 Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills ($20). The body, funky and earthy qualities in #3 and the aroma and missing structure in #4 made the differentiation easy. Neither was very good, though.

Wine #5 - Favorite of the tasting. Metal, flowers, high acid, good tannins, toasty/earthy, fresh plums, light. My Guess: Red Burgundy.

Wine #6 - Volatile acidity/glue, pepper, dusty rocks, floral, earthy, tannic, My guess: California Pinot Noir.

Results - I missed this one completely. #5 was Rusack 2007 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County ($29) and #6 was Bouchard Pere & Fils 2007 Bourgogne Reserve ($26). I was convinced the alluring, high-toned aromas and elegant, structured profile of #5 had to be French. And #6 was simply some poorly made example from California. In retrospect, I probably should have associated plummy fruit with California. In my defense, the lab numbers on the Rusack Pinot (Alcohol: 13.7%, pH: 3.49, TA: 0.672 g/100ml) are atypically restrained and acidic for a California Pinot Noir.

The bottom line is out of these six wines, only #5 is something I'd buy. If these two Red Burgundies are representative of what one can find in the $15 to $30 range, I'd simply avoid this region if looking for mid-priced wines. Both wines had mild flaws and off flavors, though perhaps they'd be better food wines than the California Pinot Noirs. But I doubt it. The bottom line for me is that for an expensive varietal like Pinot Noir, buying lighter styled domestic wines is probably the way to go. Any Burgundy has to be imported, which knocks the price up significantly. That means you're probably paying $20 for a wine that would cost $10 in France. $10 domestic Pinots are similarly mediocre in my experience. Buying domestic is greener, and more of what you pay is actually for the quality of fruit and wine making.

TN: The Paring and Jonata Wines

Local wine shop East Beach Wine held a tasting of The Paring and Jonata, a Santa Ynez producer owned by the same people behind ultra cult wine Screaming Eagle. I was definitely a bit skeptical given the prices--up to $125 per bottle--and the Parker hype--90 to 96 points depending on the cuvee. But the second label, The Paring, is more sensibly priced for a new producer in the $20 to $25 range. Moreover, their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are sourced from such vineyards as Sanford & Benedict, Bien Nacido and Solomon Hills, while their estate vineyard sits in Ballard Canyon. Ballard Canyon is not all that well known at this point, but there are some serious producers like Stolpman and Rusack sharing the canyon and there's good reason to think this location has the right soils and micro-climate to produce high quality Bordeaux varietals.

As for the tasting, I'm not 100% sold, but there are a few caveats I'll mention below.

The Paring 2007 White Wine - $20. Mostly Sauvignon Blanc with about 20% Semillon. Honeysuckle, orange blossom, toast, citrus and herbaceous aromas. Acidic, but full bodied. Hot finish that's not very pleasant.

The Paring 2008 Chardonnay "The Hilt" - $24. Cream, toasted nuts, citrus. Crisp and acidic, full body, fresh. Good finish. 1/3 new oak used.

The Paring 2008 Pinot Noir - $25. Smoke dominates nose. Earth and chocolate on palate. Good weight in mouth, medium-low acid.

The Paring 2006 Red Wine - $24. Intense borderline jammy cherry-berry aromas typical of region with mild herbs. Full body, dry finish with earthy/herby flavors. 52% Cab S, 42% Merlot, 6% Petite Verdot.

Jonata 2007 La Poesia Pinot Noir - $85. Bottle just opened. Very tight, no nose other than hint of caramel. Good weight and flavor, medium acidity. Fine, but not showing much.

Jonata 2006 La Alma Cabernet Franc - $125. Tight, bottle just opened. More accessible than previous wine. Shows almost jammy cherry and berry with great jalapeno accent. Fine tannins show on mid-palate. Dark chocolate and herbs on long finish. Structured and needs time or air.

I was a bit disappointed to catch the last two wines on freshly opened bottles. Robert Parker rated the Cab Franc a 95 and called it the best Cab Franc in California. Is it the Screaming Eagle of Cabernet Franc? Perhaps. It wasn't showing great today, but the ripeness and structure seem spot on as it's a bit green and a bit jammy yet neither herbaceous or flabby. I'd probably buy 3 or 4 bottles of Longoria Blues Cuvee or Evidence, which are also Cab Franc based with similar flavor and structural profiles, for about the same cost. On the flip side, The Paring Red Wine was a solid value that competes on both price and quality with its peers in Santa Barbara.

An interesting side note is that the 'heavy hitters' in the tasting lineup weren't as expressive as the less expensive wines. While part of this is the structure of the wines (Jonata is built to last, The Paring is built to drink now), I can't help but think much of this has to do with the wines be treated on equal footing. All were popped and poured. There was no special glassware, decanting or ceremony for the more expensive wines. If you take away the ceremony (and, even better, the labels), the perceived differences between wines in different price ranges tends to vanish. That said, I'd still like to see what the Jonata wines would do with a proper decanting as that's how I'd drink any wine costing more than $15!

Winemaker Matt Dees made sure to point out The Paring wines are designed as food wines, while the Jonata wines are "California style," which I take to mean big, ripe and structured. Dees seems like the quintessential nerdy sort of winemaker. I mean this in a good way. He's not full of hot air, and seems like he's more of a technical sort of winemaker. There may be plenty of bluster behind the brand, but it looks like there's the right sort of guy handling the nuts and bolts of it.

Bottom line, I didn't really care for the whites on both stylistic and quality grounds. The reds were good top to bottom, though the Paring Pinot seemed pretty monolithic in its toasty, smokey aromas and flavors. The Cab Franc in particular has plenty of substance and is both true to its region and varietal, though the structure was too imposing to say much more than it's well-made with plenty of potential.

TN: Holiday Red Recap

Here are some red wines from the holidays. Since throughput is higher with guests in town, I've consolidated several wines into a single post.

Red Wines

Lane Tanner 2008 Block 4 Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir - This is a Trader Joe's only offering, produced by Lane Tanner for TJ's from fruit that was supposedly left un-purchased last year. Based on the appellation and block designation, I'd be willing to bet this is Bien Nacido wine that TJ's and Lane Tanner agreed to de-classify in return for a great price on the fruit. Trader Joe's also has Block 2 and Block 7 Pinot Noir from Lane Tanner, and if you check out a map of Bien Nacido you'll see blocks 2, 4 and 7 that seem plausibly small enough to support one-off cuvées.

I will say this is no uncertain terms: this is the best wine I have ever purchased from TJ's. The nose is pure, classic, young Santa Maria Pinot Noir. There are spice, floral, mushroom, earth and red stone fruit aromas all readily accessible. The flavors are ultra-fresh, buoyed by high acidity and low alcohol (for the Central Coast, at least, at 13.2%). It is a lighter bodied wine, and is pure and honest. Good finish, too. Those who prefer Power Pinot from Santa Rita Hills replete with coastal sage aromas, the viscosity of high alcohol and oak aging may not like this. But I'm on this like butter on toast as a Pinot to drink young for its varietal expression. Not cheap at $20, but boy does it deliver! I'd consider it a good QPR simply because it is very well made and varietally correct as a Pinot, which is extremely rare at this price point.

Pros: Fresh, Varietal Typicity, Complex Nose, Fruit-Forward Flavors, Good Finish
Cons: None
Decant: Maybe, I did, but it didn't develop
Price: $20 from Trader Joe's
QPR: Good (out of Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good or Excellent with Fair denoting expectations were met for the price point)

Vigne Irpine 2006 Giubilo Aglianico - This is an Aglianico, a hearty, structured grape variety, from Campania, Italy. The wine is pretty straight forward on the nose with aromas of currants and leather. On the palate it's all about balance. There's plenty of fruit, sufficient acid, and moderately drying tannins on the finish. I'm especially impressed by the finish. There is no alcohol bite, medicinal flavor or bitterness; it's clean and cleanses the palate. While it's not especially structured, it's not overly oaky or spoofy and has just enough body. Basically an excellent table wine for what I paid.

Pros: Balanced, Fruit Forward, Food Friendly, Clean Finish
Cons: Not Complex
Decant: Not necessary, this one is good from first pour
Price: $10 from Wine Library
QPR: Good (out of Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good or Excellent with Fair denoting expectations were met for the price point)

Vinos Sin-Ley 2007 Gra2 Rioja Graciano - Graciano is a grape variety typically blended in small quantities with Tempranillo in Rioja. I'd imagined it's a bit like Petit Verdot: a structural grape that adds tannin, acid, aroma and color to a finished wine. An inexpensive varietal Graciano thus was hard to pass up. Unfortunately, this was disappointing. The bouquet consisted of cherry and a little barnyard. The flavors were more along the lines of cherry cough syrup, though there was a bit of tannin and acid to keep it in balance. This was perfectly drinkable on virtue of its balance, but just not interesting. It tasted exactly like some anonymous inexpensive wine, thus I doubt this really showed what makes Graciano unique. Yet critic Jay Miller curiously rated this a 91. A head scratcher to say the least. There should at least be some clean, simple fruit or attractive rusticity at this price point. The back of the bottle does offer up quite a bit of info on the region, varietal and terroir.

Pros: Not Flawed, Drinkable
Cons: Medicinal, Dull
Decant: No, didn't develop with air
Price: $11 from Wine Library
QPR: Mediocre (out of Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good or Excellent with Fair denoting expectations were met for the price point)

Mosaic 2005 Alexander Valley Malbec - This is a typical New World Malbec along the lines of a mid-priced Argentinian version. Blackberry fruit, spicy oak, coffee and a little bacon all factor into the flavor profile. Fruit-forward with some complexity, but not especially structured. It's a pleasant wine to drink now, though at full price doesn't present a good QPR. At half price, it is worth it.

Pros: Fruit-forward, Spicy Oak
Cons: Not Much Structure
Decant: Maybe, but good upon opening
Price: $12 from Wines & Makers
QPR: Fair/Good (out of Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good or Excellent with Fair denoting expectations were met for the price point)

TN: Two Holiday Pinots

I've placed these Pinot Noirs in a separate post since they're in a higher price point than I usually like to discuss. I'm usually trying to find interesting wines at or below $20. Since it's the holidays, though, I opened two higher end Pinots for our guests. I paid around $25-$30 for each, one though the suggested retail price is $45-$50.

Torii Mor 2006 Willamette Valley Reserve Deux Verres Pinot Noir - This is a blend of barrels from various vineyards located in Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills, Chehalem Mountains, McMinnville and Willamette Valley. The bouquet delivers as it should at this price point (whether you go with what I paid or full retail) with black cherry, ginger, flower blossoms and herbal nuances. So far so good. But like many Pinots, it's slightly disappointing in the mouth. Yes, it's a medium to full bodied wine. But this is related to a bit of alcohol burn and a somewhat candied quality, be it from oak, alcohol or both, on the finish. I don't mean to say this is a bad wine, though. The acidity is also quite high to help with balance and there are bits of earthiness that assert the Pinot character. It's certainly enjoyable to drink, but feels somehow disjointed. 2006 was a warmer vintage in Oregon, and it does seem that this wine drinks more like a California Pinot, though I wouldn't say it's truly over the top. It just doesn't have the finesse to match the beguiling aromatics.

Pros: Top Class Bouquet, Medium-Full Bodied, Varietal Character
Cons: Slightly Candied Flavor, Disjointed Alcohol and Acidity
Decant: Yes, there was a lot sediment in the bottle
Price: $25 from wine.woot.com ($45 retail)
QPR: Mediocre/Fair (out of Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good or Excellent with Fair denoting expectations were met for the price point)

Ortman Family Vineyards 2006 SRH Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir - Here's a Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir sourced from a well-known vineyard, Fiddlestix. This one has cherry, sage, smoke and baking spice on the nose, and is both shifty and classy as one would expect from a single vineyard Pinot Noir. Like the Torii Mor Pinot above, this is full bodied and fruit-forward. However, it also had a bit of a candied flavor on the finish suggesting over-ripeness or over-oaking (60% new oak was used with this wine). While the acidity is better integrated, this wine seems to be lacking a bit of freshness. It's well-made wine and certainly a varietal Pinot Noir, and is enjoyable to drink. So perhaps I'm nitpicking a bit. But that clumsy candied flavor hangs around on the finish, so it sticks out in my mind.

Pros: Top Class Bouquet, Medium-Full Bodied, Varietal Character
Cons: Slightly Candied Flavor, A Bit Flabby
Decant: Yes, there's enough stuffing that air can only help
Price: $28 from wine.woot.com ($50 retail)
QPR: Mediocre/Fair (out of Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good or Excellent with Fair denoting expectations were met for the price point)

OK, these are both really good wines and if forced to score them, I'd go for something in the high 80s. But that's the kicker--I expect great things from wines that would ordinarily cost $40+. Both of these wines seem like textbook examples of 'reserve' styled wines that basically use riper fruit aged in newer oak to justify their designation. While they're not over the top fruit bombs, the balance is tipped toward the New World style more than I'd prefer. Where's the earth-funk and silky texture I desire?

In their defense, these are built to age at least a couple of years, so I opened them pretty young. They should integrate and mellow better over time. I don't know that this will fundamentally change the character of the fruit and oak influence, though.

TN: Trader Joe's Closeouts

I've come across two seriously discounted closeouts at Trader Joe's recently, the Domaine Alfred 2006 Chamisal Vineyard Pinot Noir and Howell Mountain Vineyards 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. The Pinot was priced at $23, marked down significantly from its suggested price of $38, while the Cabernet was even more jaw dropping at $15 with a typical price point of $60.

According to what I've read, the Domain Alfred Pinot Noir as well as the other Domain Alfred wines are a casualty of the winery being purchased. The new owners changed the brand to Chamisal Vineyards and had to ditch anything with the Domaine Alfred label. Trader Joe's was happy to oblige them. As for the wine, it's not one I'd pay close to $40 for, so it may have ended up priced under $30 regardless. Although the forest floor aroma of the bouquet is definitely that of a Pinot Noir, it drinks more like a Grenache. There's a lot of ripe cherry juice, and a little caramel and oak flavor as well. It's slightly flabby, hot and disjointed. Very California, though I should give more credit for the likability factor. Wines with this level of ripeness at least are fairly approachable even when they lack the elegance Pinot Noir should should possess.

The Howell Mountain Vineyards Cab is supposedly the byproduct of a distributor getting rid of stock that wasn't moving in the slow economy. Again, I think this is a wine that doesn't justify the full retail price, but is a nice value at the Trader Joe's price. Blackberry, dust, leather and only the slightest hint of herbs show on the nose. There is also a bit of heat, though this isn't too distracting. The attack is a thing of beauty, all concentrated cassis and well-balanced acidity. This carries through to the mid-palate where creamy oak and dark chocolate take hold. However, the finish does not sustain what preceded it, showing some heat and an odd medicinal flavor. The tannins were also strangely lacking, which is not what I'd expect from a mountain wine. I'm left wondering if the wine was manipulated by micro-oxygenation, which would soften the tannins, eliminate herbaceous qualities, and round out the texture. Indeed, this wine is all about upfront characteristics and texture without the intoxicating bell pepper notes or big tannins I love in Cabernet. The initial salvo of flavors is worthy of the suggested price, but the finish has a cheapness to it that compromises the wine as a whole. Despite this objection, this is a great value at $15 for what you do get.

Domaine Alfred 2006 Chamisal Vineyard Pinot Noir
Score: 82-86
Price: $23 at Trader Joe's

Howell Mountain Vineyards 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
Score: 85-88
Price: $15 at Trader Joe's

Pinot like Syrah? Or Pinot like Grenache?

While tasting an interesting and delicious blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedré (60%-30%-10%), I couldn't help but think it was like a Pinot Noir on steroids. Grenache tends towards a true red color instead of the deep purple of Syrah, and its fruit profile also tends towards red fruit like cherry and raspberry (at least with the younger vine versions of the varietal). This wine in particular had a good bit of earthy and savory elements, perhaps from the Mourvedré or the fermentation techniques. The end result was a blend with the qualities of an very ripe, yet complex Pinot Noir that nonetheless carried its weight more gracefully than a Pinot of that size.

This has me thinking a bit. Even the most powerful of Power Pinots is not likely to be mistaken for Syrah, but it's common to say Power Pinot tastes like Syrah. Of course there are similarities that warrant the comparison, like black fruit flavors and copious tannins. But my thinking is that jammier high alcohol Pinot really has more in common with Grenache than Syrah because of the fruit profile. The comparison to Syrah becomes even more tenuous when the Pinot in question is over-oaked. Syrah is not a varietal that benefits from oak in the same way that Cabernet does, in my opinion. It's already so well-rounded that the oak unbalances the wine, whereas oak seems to complement Cabernet that's not overripe. The overroaked Pinot is, well, just overoaked.

Maybe I'm just overthinking this. A little hyperbole--who spiked the Pinot with Syrah?!?--enhances the impact of the statement. But I think most of these bigger-styled Pinot Noirs have more in common with Grenache-heavy Rhone blends than New World Syrah.

WN: A Costco Budget Pinot Battle

The contenders:

On the left is the Cambria 2006 Julia's Vineyard Pinot Noir. To its right is the Erath 2007 Oregon Pinot Noir. Both hail from Costco, costing $16 and $14, respectively, which are quite modest prices in the world of Pinot Noir.

The play by play:

The Erath opened up first with an intriguing bouquet of cranberry, strawberry, dust, earth and pine. Although it's not generally a good policy to judge a Pinot contender by its color, the light color, more reminiscent of rosé than a red wine, was the first sign that this wine wasn't really packing a strong punch. Indeed, the attack was non-descript and the mid-palate hollow, though a flourish on the finish was pleasantly earthy and floral. While the acidity, alcohol and tannins were all nicely balanced, there just wasn't much fruit or concentration of flavor on the palate. 13.0% ABV.

The less reticent Cambria replied with a salvo of cherry, sage, earth and a hint of caramel on the nose. The attack and round mid-palate displayed a significant burst of fruit, and the texture was much fuller. It was a Pinot with some body and depth, but not over the top as evidenced by a good balance. The finish is not quite seamless, but a little oak tannin did give it a little grip. It's fair to say the oak influence is a more pronounced in this wine, though its presence is well-measured and serves to enhance the wine. 13.9% ABV.

And the winner, by unanimous decision:

The Cambria 2006 Julia's Vineyard Pinot Noir. Maybe I've become accustomed to the fuller-bodied style of California Pinot, but the Cambria is just a flat-out superior wine in comparison to the Erath. It's still distinctly a Pinot Noir, so there's no compromise of varietal charactistic, either, in the interest of producing a more appealing wine. (An oddly dark and syrupy glass of Chalone Monterrey County Pinot Noir my girlfriend ordered at a restaurant, after some research, turned out to be spiked with Petite Sirah.) Oregon has a reputation for producing world-class Pinot Noir. Thus it's surprising that out of the several inexpensive Oregon Pinot Noir's I've tried, I haven't yet found a really good wine. For $2 more, I'll buy local and stick with the Cambria from the Santa Maria Valley. A top quality, albeit very large single vineyard trumps whatever generic Oregon appellation grapes are going into the Erath.

Cambria 2006 Julia's Vineyard Pinot Noir
Score: 86-89
Price: $16 from Costco

Erath 2007 Oregon Pinot Noir
Score: 80-83
Price: $14 from Costco

The Seedy Underbelly of Cheap Wine

Importer Kermit Lynch's book Adventures on the Wine Trail, in an attempt to de-romanticize the pristine image consumers often have of wine, relays several anecdotes about the art of blending in Burgundy. One vignette describes how a tanker truck went from village to village in Burgundy acquiring wine and the documents indicating each wine's point of origin. However, when the tanker truck "blend" was bottled, every bottle bore the label of the most well respected village that was most likely to fetch the highest price at market. Lynch also mentions that negociants, the middle men who bring the finished wine from cellar to bottle, often had a "house style" that trumped the sort of vineyard to vineyard distinctions one typically finds in Burgundy. It turns out that some negociants--perhaps those who weren't fully satisfied with the tanker blend--mixed bulk wine from Algeria, which was much higher in alcohol, fruitier and generally more robust, with the more delicate, nuanced Pinot Noir of Burgundy to produce a more enticing blend reminiscent of a sturdy Rhone wine.

Although major producers now are more careful to control what goes into bottles bearing their names, these sorts of tricks are still employed. Take for example the American equivalent of Burgundy, California Pinot Noir. Anyone who has seen the movie Sideways knows Pinot Noir is a varietal capable of reaching great heights. However, Pinot Noir, more than most varietals, is rarely very good at moderate prices. It only grows well in very specific locations, and because it is generally lighter bodied than other popular red wines, it's harder to mask deficiencies without introducing a gross imbalance to the wine. Although Pinot Noir wine traditionally is made from 100% Pinot Noir, a producer legally can have as little as 75% Pinot Noir in a blend and still call it Pinot Noir. Yes, the trick of Burgundian negociant "blending" is alive and well in California.

A local retailer advertised RedTree 2008 Pinot Noir via email recently. It had received good press recently from a major wine magazine and was priced to move at $8 per bottle. So how do you make really good Pinot Noir at $8 per bottle? With tea bags of oak chips and generic red blending wine of unknown provenance, of course! It's a win for the consumer if a wine is both good and inexpensive. But it's also a case of deceptive marketing when a consumer buys a Pinot Noir that's really a well-engineered red table wine that meets the varietal Pinot Noir standard. To me it's akin to those fruit juice drinks that have illustrations of real fruit on the bottle, but are 15% juice and 85% high fructose corn syrup water. Pinot Noir sells by name alone, and smart marketers know it's good business to label intelligently in a fashion that's perfectly legal. It's tricks of the trade like these that make me wary of any varietal wine in the sub-$10 range. The wine surely has 75% of the varietal in it, but beyond that the producer is looking to make something that will meet the expectations of the largest number of customers. Good for quality table wine. Bad for any varietal or regional expression in the finished wine.

I noticed another slightly less nefarious, yet equally fascinating detour brought about by the wheels of commerce today. A well-respected Rhone producer has an inexpensive wine they sell under the label La Vieille Ferme. This label has a picture of a chicken on it and sells for $7 per bottle at a local wine shop. Trader Joe's, meanwhile, sells wine from the same Rhone producer for $5 a bottle with the exact same appellations designated on the respective red, white and rosé wines. They go by the name La Ferme Julien and display a picture of a goat. Searching around the web a bit, it appears the same wine goes into these different bottles. One is widely distributed and well received by professional critics, while the other it seems goes exclusively to Trader Joe's. By the transitive property of wine labels, I'm going with the one that costs 28% less as an easy drinking wine for a hot Saturday afternoon.

A Trip Through Santa Barbara County: Day 2

Our second day of tasting in Santa Barbara brought us to the Santa Rita Hills and Lompoc. Descriptions and notes follow.

Our initial stop was at Melville Winery. Melville primarily produces big Pinot Noirs (power-Pinot) with varying levels of earthy-funk. In particular, they produce multiple bottlings focused upon terroir and clone specific expression, several of which I have noted below. However, the tasting room experience was one of the worst we've had. Although it wasn't busy since we were there in the late morning, the pourer ignored us and instead discussed the wine with other customers. What separates a $50 Pinot Noir from a $30 Pinot Noir is typically that it is produced from a specific vineyard site and expresses some unique characteristics. Thus, it is important to connect the source of the grapes to the wine in a customer's glass. The server, unfortunately, was inattentive to the point of rudeness. I contacted the tasting room manager afterward; she was apologetic and wanted to ensure future visits were more enjoyable. Nonetheless, it's still hard to recommend a tasting room with one of the highest tasting fees in the area that did not engage all of its customers. Hopefully I'll be able to post about a better experience in the future.

Wines of interest:

2007 Clone 115 Pinot Noir - Deep earthy nose, heart of darkness. Herbs and earthy flavor. Top notch.
2007 Terraces Pinot Noir - Herb nose, tarragon? Something green and delicious. Spicy finish.

Next we made a stop in the 'Lompoc Wine Ghetto' to taste at Palmina Winery. Despite the tasting room's location in an industrial park, this was a much more satisfactory and intellectually stimulating experience than our prior stop at a beautifully manicured estate. (Perhaps it is true that beauty and personality are negatively correlated!) Although Palmina's wines can pretty much sell themselves, one has the opportunity to taste the wine sitting down, paired with cheese and prosciutto. It certainly makes sense to place the wines in the context in which they should be enjoyed. Palmina is focused on Italian varietals, which seem to have intrinsic streak of earth and minerality, but their wines also show the extroverted fruit one would expect of California wines. Although the single varietal bottlings were uniformly excellent, their blends were the most interesting aspect of the tasting as they represented the sorts of wines that can only be produced in regions like Santa Barbara County with great geographic diversity over small distances. There aren't many wine regions that can produce a blend of Refosco, Cabernet Franc and Merlot or a blend of Nebbiolo, Syrah and Barbera. There's a certain feeling of 'rightness' to a winery producing unique wines that express its region, especially when so many wineries attempt to emulate a model that is ill-suited to their climate and geography.

Wines of interest:

2007 Dolcetto - Floral, medium body. Minerals and wet earth. Tannic.
2004 Mattia - Refosco, Cab Franc and Merlot blend. Plum and red fruit. Big fruit attack, then mineral finish. Alisos Vineyard and Bien Nacido Vineyard fruit.
2005 Savoia - House of Savoy simultaneously ruled Piedmont and the Rhone, hence the name for Nebbiolo, Barbera and Syrah blend. Big blueberry and floral. Round; tannic finish. Structured.

Our last stop was at Cold Heaven Cellars, a winery devoted almost exclusively to cool-climate Viognier. Although tastings are by appointment only, winemaker Morgan Clendenen took the time to meet us at the winery and pour her favorite selections from the current releases. How often does a winemaker pour his or her own wines, especially those that are respected as some of the best Viognier in California, and chat informally with common folks? It's experiences like these that allow one to learn a lot. For example, Morgan Clendenen explained that the historical purpose of blending Viognier and Syrah in the Northern Rhone was largely pragmatic. Although Viognier's aromatics lift up Syrah, it also reaches high sugar levels earlier than Syrah and can be used to 'fix' under ripe Syrah in tough years. As far as the wine is concerned, Cold Heaven's Viognier is unmistakable aromatic in that flower blossoms and peaches way, yet it is retains lively acidity. Often a lack of acidity is the largest failing of Viognier from warmer regions.

Wines of interest:

2007 Viognier Santa Rita Hills - Initially found it crisp with an orange cream-sickle aroma. Drinking it again as I type now, that's not nearly enough credit for this wine, the "basic" cuveé from Cold Heaven. The wine smells like springtime hillsides in bloom, fresh peaches, green apple and orange cream-sickle. It's fully dry, yet tastes like nectar; the flavor lingers for minutes.

A Trip Through Santa Barbara County: Day 1

My girlfriend's birthday took place a few weeks back, and to celebrate we spent the weekend wine tasting. Over two days we tasted, well, just about everywhere in Santa Barbara County. Not everywhere in the sense of every winery, but we did visit tasting rooms in Los Alamos, Santa Maria, Foxen Canyon, Santa Rita Hills and Lompoc. Aside from the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley, that's a wide swath of Santa Barbara County ranging from the warmer inland valleys to cooler coastal vineyards. For now, I'll touch on the highlights and lowlights and post notes on the wines I found most delicious or interesting from each tasting.

Tasting at Bedford Thompson in Los Alamos was certainly one of the high points of the trip. As I'd speculated in a previous post, this small producer holds its wines back before release. Whereas most producers are pushing the 2006 and 2007 vintages, Bedford Thompson is still offering the 2000 and 2001 vintages as current releases. Their style is ripe and forward, but the wines have good acidity and low alcohol (under 14% ABV); the former is almost an absolute prerequisite for aging. As a result, everything they poured, including their '01 Pinot Grigio, was drinking quite admirably. It's quite remarkable that a 7 year old Pinot Grigio that costs only a few dollars more than most mass produced examples still has much more going for it than the light, watery stuff you'll find at a grocery store from 2007 or 2008. The reds were doing just as well, if not better, from the lighter bodied Grenache to the earthy, meaty Mourvedré.

Wines of interest:

2001 Pinot Gris - Citrus, floral, fresh. Still going strong. Nice acidity.
2001 Grenache - Strawberry, floral, light mature tannin, medium body. Almost Pinot-like.
2001 Cabernet Franc - Red currant and violets. Almost round on palate, good stuff.
2001 Mourvedré - Meaty nose, again nice balance and maturity.


The next stop was Cambria Winery in Santa Maria. As you can see above, their vineyards and winery provide one of the most idyllic locations to visit in wine country. Cambria isn't exactly a small boutique operation as their vineyards stretch for several miles between the Sisquoc River and Santa Maria Bench and they produce around 200,000 cases of wine per year. But they have pursued Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in a location well-suited to the varietals and do what they do very well. I didn't love everything I tasted; their Katherine's Vineyard Chardonnay had overwhelming aromas of smokey toasted barrels and their unoaked Chardonnay just seemed to be missing a little something. But each wine they poured had its own character with very few crossing into over-oaked or over-ripe territory. Their mass produced wines provided a more than perfunctory expression of the varietal, while the limited production wines highlighted a specific winemaking style, grape clone or terroir.

Wines of interest:

2006 Rae's Chardonnay - Nice balance of fruit, toast, vanilla, acidity. Long finish! Good body, but not too full.
2006 Julia's Pinot Noir - Top QPR. Earth-funk, strawberry, cherry, sage and a hint of vanilla. Delicious, great balance.
2006 Bench Break Pinot Noir - Similar to Julia's, but more earth-funk and tannins. Big structure.
2006 Clone 667 Pinot Noir - Big red fruit exploding from glass, hugely aromatic. Round fruit on palate. Simpler, but more intense.

Stop number three was at Kenneth Volk Vineyards. Winemaker Kenneth Volk seems to have an abundance of intellectual curiosity judging by the broad array of wines he produces. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are his primary focus, but he also produces Bordeaux varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, Rhone varietals like Syrah and Mourverdé, and a little bit of everything else like Tempranillo, Negrette, Malvasia Bianca, Zinfandel and Orange Muscat. The downside, however, as is often the case, is that it's very hard for a small winery to do a dozen things that one person will really like when it's extremely difficult to make just several great, broadly appealing wines, especially when individual tastes of customers are so variable. There wasn't a bad wine out of the handful we tasted, but there were a few that were not all that exciting or were somewhat unbalanced to my palate including a pair of Pinot Noirs that seemed somewhat disjointed, heavy and alcoholic. My preference is for a winery to aim for excellence in just a few varietals, though the adage that you can please some people all the time and all the people some of the time is applicable here. Volk's approach is probably best suited for those who'd like to try a broad range of wines from one producer.

Wines of interest:

2004 Negrette: Nice aromatics. Somewhat meaty and earthy. Smooth like a Southern Rhone blend. Good find.
2004 Claret: Blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Plum and raspberry, nice mix of fruit. Round palate, great structure. Clean, well-made.

Foxen Vineyards was our penultimate stop on the day. Unfortunately, we hit at what appeared to be happy hour and it was like a loud, raucous party in their wooden shack/tasting room. You can't blame the winery, but it's hard to learn about the wine if you must fight to get a pour like you're at a bar trying to buy a pint. Regardless, the overall impression was of generally big, ripe, but reasonably balanced wines. All were ambitiously priced without crossing the line into the realm of being outrageous head-scratchers given the quality.

Wines of interest:

2007 Vogelzang Vineyard Viognier - Great aromatics, honeysuckle, peach. Crisp and fully dry. Top notch. Big, ripe style.
2005 Range 30 West - Blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petite Verdot. Black fruit, tobacco, deep nose. Top notch. Hits palate on all levels. Best Bordeaux blend of the day.

Our last stop was at Fess Parker Winery. Again there was a happy hour atmosphere that made it kind of difficult to appreciate the wine. Unfortunately, nearly every wine was mediocre and I can't recommend anything from the tasting. The Chardonnay was a Cali-style butter-bomb complete with overwhelming smokey and nutty aromas. The Viognier was not fully dry, and Viognier is already rich enough as it is without being vinified off-dry. Although Riesling is often produced with residual sugar, their Riesling came across as flabby, though the nose had an intriguing mix of lime and tarragon. The reds were even worse. A Pinot and a Syrah were both hot on the finish, and the final Syrah they poured was corked! This might even have been a pretty good wine, but the pourer apparently did not check to see if the wine he was pouring was spoiled. If there was anyone there who was halfway sober, he or she would have come away thinking their top Syrah smelled like a moldy basement. That's not a good impression to give a potential customer.

Day 2 will follow in my next post.

Off the wine club free agent market

My girlfriend and I settled on a new wine club and went the direction we had always anticipated, joining the Longoria Wine Club. We already have several of their wines in our cellar and have been impressed by the vast majority of their wines we've tasted. Although their wines aren't cheap by any means, the yearly allotment via wine club shipments is 8 bottles per year (most wineries aim to send at least 12 if not 16 or 24 bottles yearly). This might not be enough wine for a trophy hunting collector, but it's just about right for an eclectic drinker who wants to sample a cross-section of a winery's new releases.

There are quite a few aspects of Longoria Wines that are positive from the perspective of an informed consumer. Their business is small and family-run, for one. In terms of their winemaking, Rick Longoria has been making wine in Santa Barbara County, quite literally, since before I was born. While his portfolio has expanded to about a dozen different bottlings, he initially started with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. There's almost always a positive correlation between winemaking skill sensitive to varietal and regional characteristics and the production of Cabernet Franc; it's not a varietal one can harvest super ripe, heavily oak, then sell it based on varietal name recognition. It's also a positive in my mind that Rick Longoria started producing Pinot Noir well before Sideways made Santa Rita Hills en vogue. Although he may have been able to raise his prices due to growth in demand, he is not beholden solely to current trends and can make wine based on his personal aesthetic and experience.

One final note of interest come from Longoria's promotional material. Promotional material is often little more than propaganda and is not all that trustworthy, but the following statement resonates given the Longoria wines I've tasted: "My goal has always been to discover the 'grand cru' vineyards in our region and to work with their owners to grow the best possible grapes every year." Implicit in this statement is an appreciation of the French model where certain vineyards are designated as Great Growth, First Growth, Second Growth, First Great Growth, et cetera based on their established reputation over decades if not centuries. There's a certain anti-democratic sentiment to a system that legislates greatness via legal designation, but there's also an undeniable truth that certain sites are better than others. In this sense, Longoria's wines combine the best qualities of Old World and New World wines. There's a respect for the terroir and for specific vineyards, yet because Santa Barbara County is still very young as a wine region, an ambitious winemaker by nature must constantly be evaluating his sources. Longoria does have an top-notch estate vineyard, Fe Ciega, where he grows Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Santa Rita Hills, but otherwise sources from others' vineyards. He purchases Cabernet Franc, for example, from Alisos Vineyard in Los Alamos, and based on my experience with several other producers' Alisos Cab Franc, as well as the Los Alamos region in general, this may well be a 'grand cru' vineyard for Cabernet Franc. Moreover, the reputations of the vineyards from which Rick Longoria sources his Pinot Noir speak for themselves.

I suppose that exposition is a bit longwinded, and what really matters is in the bottle. But this synthesis of Old and New World does extend to the finished wines. Perhaps what I've enjoyed most in Longoria's wines is the combination of classical, Old World structure with the layers of rich flavors typical in California wines. He's not trying to produce one-dimensional blockbusters, nor is he trying to duplicate a French model that likely does not apply in a vastly different climate. His wines are substantial, yet not exaggerated, and have sufficient acidity and tannin to hold up over the long run. This style simply seems right, and what better way to vote as a consumer than to patronize a business whose approach you appreciate.

WN: Iron Horse 2007 Rosé de Pinot Noir

I picked up the Iron Horse 2007 Rosé de Pinot Noir after Christmas at the winery. I liked just about everything I tasted at Iron Horse and praised the winery effusively about a month ago on this blog. But sometimes when you return to a wine you enjoyed in the context of tasting at a beautiful estate winery, it doesn't quite live up to the memory.

This rosé actually topped my expectations as a dual Valentine's Day and parental visit selection, however. The color was a fairly dark cherry red for a Pinot Noir rosé, though it would not have been mistaken as regular Pinot Noir. Poured from the bottle at home, the bouquet was every bit as good as it was on a crisp morning in the Green Valley. I found the desired watermelon, strawberry and cherry aromas as well as a high toned floral aroma that unfortunately I don't have the words to describe. The balance of flavor and structure was superb. At 13.5% ABV, the alcohol lent body without being overtly noticeable. The palate was full and fruit-forward, yet had a light acidic tingle on the attack and finish. This is one of those rare wines with a seamless arc of flavor that makes your mouth water, then has a finish that just goes on and on. It's not really built to age, but it's so delicious and complete that it's amazing that it costs under $20.

Iron Horse wines are generally not cheap. But this is the third Iron Horse wine I've regretted not buying or buying more of for the future. I left the winery with only this rosé; I probably should have splurged on a couple of bottles of this as well as their estate Pinot Noir. If you have a chance to buy just about any Iron Horse wine, buy more than one while you can. It's a purchase that you'll be hard pressed to second guess. I'd love to have a few more bottles of this rosé for the warmer months, but since it's sold out at the winery I'll have to be a bit creative if I want to stock up.

Score: 91-93
Price: $18 from Iron Horse Winery

Boxing Day with an Iron Horse and the Agressive-Berry

After spending Christmas in San Francisco, my girlfriend and I headed north to Healdsburg for some wine tasting and relaxation. Our hotel in San Fran had offered complementary wine during Happy Hour. Unfortunately, they provided Charles Shaw and, despite Chuck's Chard being better than most Chards in the under $10 range, this was not quite what we had in mind as a good way to transition into a trip to wine country.

We selected Healdsburg as our destination because it's pretty much the axle in the appellation wheel formed by the Russian River Valley, Dry Creek and Alexander Valley. It's also somewhat removed from the melange of corporate wineries and ambitious new money that is Napa. I haven't been to Napa or Sonoma Valley, but I can only imagine it as being a sort of wine-themed amusement park complete with kitschy souvenirs and all the standard trappings of a tourist destination. There are a few wineries, particularly those owned by large conglomerates, in nearby Santa Ynez Valley that pile on the t-shirts and vaulted ceilings, and this really detracts from the whole tasting experience for those who don't pull up in a stretch SUV or tour bus.

Our first stop on the way north was Iron Horse Vineyards just outside of Sebastopol in Green Valley. Although their wines easily eclipsed the 2 Buck Chuck, what was most impressive was the atmosphere of the winery. Iron Horse is one of the most respected producers in the US, but unlike most big names, the winery appears to be singularly focused on making great wine the way they like to make it. The winery is located at the end of a single lane road that includes a makeshift bridge over a creek and convex mirrors to help drivers see around blind corners as they work their way up to the hill upon which their winery is perched. The outdoor tasting room attached to the winery overlooks not only their vineyards, but the Russian River Valley as well. The only souvenirs you'll find there are bottles of the wine they're pouring.

Iron Horse is perhaps best known for its sparkling wines. I'm not much of a sparkling wine drinker, though the one real flaw that will destroy any sparkler for me is excessive residual sugar. All of the Iron Horse sparklers, even the Russian Cuvee which by their standards is sweet, come across as dry and wonderfully balanced. Of the five sparklers I tasted, the 2003 Blanc de Blancs was my personal favorite because of the dry finish, mildly nutty, yeasty nose and the harmoniously acidic citrus flavors that one would find in a white still wine from a cooler climate. While doing some "research" for this blog post, I discovered that Wine Enthusiast placed the 2002 Blanc de Blancs very highly in its end of the year rankings. Apparently I'm not the only one enamored with this flavor profile.

Iron Horse's still wines are equally beguiling. Although I wasn't excited by their Chardonnays, all of their red wines showed excellent balance, restraint and elegance. My previous post on the 2005 Cab Franc sums up the flavor profile their Bordeaux blends from T-bar-T offer. The Cabernet Sauvignon heavy blends, however, do offer more cassis and dark berry flavors in addition to the red fruit that's prominent in the Cab Franc. Despite the darker fruit profile, the 2005 Bdx-3 and 2003 Benchmark are elegant wines with moderate alcohol levels, seamless lengthy finishes and bright acidity. There's no jam or fatness here, just silk and balance with a hint of tobacco.

Last, but certainly not least, are their Pinot Noirs. I'm by no means a serious Pinot drinker. However, Pinots that are hot or otherwise clumsy are pretty easy for me to pick out. On the other end of the spectrum nimble, lighter bodied Pinots are also easily discerned. Iron Horse Pinot falls decidedly on the nuanced end of the spectrum. My personal favorite, the 2007 Estate Pinot, was seductively fruity, yet offered a big burst of herbs on the finish. Their more expensive bottlings were darker with more overt fruit and perhaps have more aging potential (these fall in a grey area for me since I can't project how they'll develop), but as a youthful wine with real complexity the Estate Pinot really hits the mark.

We stopped at three other wineries the day after Christmas, but none quite matched Iron Horse's classy wines. Hop Kiln had a fragrant white blend named Thousand Flowers as well as an intriguing Malbec that paired a nose of earth, mocha and coffee with a smooth fruit-forward palate. However, the Estate Pinot Noir they poured came across as hot and disjointed. Maybe it was a bad bottle or hadn't been open long enough, but it was disappointing that their flagship wine did not show well. Mill Creek poured its estate Gewurtzstraminer and a variety a big red wines including Zin, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet. The Gewurtztraminer was extremely aromatic, but was vinified to be semi-sweet. For my palate, fragrant whites work best when fully dry and balanced with acidity. I did enjoy their 2005 Cabernet which had a very prominent jalapeno pepper component to its bouquet, loads of dark fruit, and a big tannic structure. Overall their wines were well-made and fairly priced, but hard to differentiate from other wines produced in this style.

After decompressing a bit, our last stop was Seghesio Family Vineyards in downtown Healdsburg. We had been hoping to taste their Aglianico, Arneis and Fiano, but the limited production of these varietals meant they weren't pouring any of these three. Seghesio did however pour two Sangioveses, several Zins, a Petite Sirah and a port. The Zins, their signature varietal, are best described as big, bigger and gigantic. The important detail, however, is that their old vines produce wine with the structure to support what would ordinarily be palate torching degrees of alcohol. The tannins and acidity are present to balance the intensity of the fruit and viscosity of the alcohol. From the nose, Seghesio Zins conjure up an image of a gigantic blackberry wrapped in barbed wire growing on a thorny vine. The berry is massive and it is aggressive. It is the aggressive-berry. The Seghesio Petite Sirah had slightly lower aggressive-berry content than the Zins, but in its place were oceans of Petite Sirah-fueled tannins and a heart of pure darkness. There's no doubt these wines are balanced with extremes. A 600 pound gorilla of concentrated fruit on one side of the fulcrum is offset by an African lion of tannin. To say that subtlety is lacking in these wines is to entirely miss the point. Seghesio does this style extremely well and, more importantly, expresses exactly what their terroir and ancient vines have to say. I left the tasting room, which offered a great view of the barrel room and kept the extraneous souvenirs to a minimum, empty handed, but now am beginning to understand what a massive Zin can be in the hands of masters.

Having worked our way up through the Russian River Valley to Dry Creek on our first day, I'll cover our stops in Alexander Valley and upper Dry Creek in my next post.