Being that they have a tremendous identity problem American Syrahs can be very problematical. Are they the bruising, fruit bomb wonders similar to Australian Shiraz, or are they delicate and nuanced cool climate wines like the Northern Rhone's Cote Roties and Hermitages appellations. With Zinfandel becomming America's preferred fruit bomb wines and Pinot Noirs from the Sonoma Coast being our nuanced ones, where does that leave Syrah.
Perhaps in the middle. Last week, while attending an industry function, I had the distinct pleasure of trying the 2007 Russian River Valley Syrah from Trione Vineyards. Some of you might remember that the Trione family used to own Geyser Peak Winery, and sold it several years ago. That winery has undergone several rounds of ownership changes and rumors have it that it is on the verge of bankruptcy.
After selling the winery, the family regrouped, and now operates out of the the old Canyon Road Winery location down the road from Geyser Peak. Only producing around 5000 cases they use only the blocks from their own vineyards, making all their wines estate produced and bottled.
This Syrah is magnificent. It has all the sleekness of a northern Rhone, comoplete with the tell tale roasted meat/bacon nose, and some very interesting, and liberal sprinkling of black currants and plum fruits with just enough earth to make this have a very interesting nose. The surprise is the juicy acidity that starts in the mid pallet and works its way to a long finish with some very integrated, and deliciously chewy tannins. This combination makes you want to drink more. I'd match this wine with roasted and braised red meats, or some interesting cheeses.
All in all, this is a very successful syrah that seeks to stake out its own territory in the American Syrah landscape. If more wineries followed the Trione family's lead, the question of where American Syrah falls in the wine world will be a question that is well on its way to being answered. And at $32 a bottle, it presents a great value as well.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
V. Sattui?
I, and probably half the wine drinking world, have probably dismissed V. Sattui as being totally a tourist attraction not worthy of wine drinkers time and efforts. A recent visit to the tasting room has convinced me that the time has come to reassess this opinion.
And if you look at their vineyard sources, this makes total sense. They have wonderful vineyards in Rutherford, Russian River Valley, Carneros and throughout northern California wine country. If you can't make good wine from these sources, you should hand in your winemakers certificate.
What turns off most wine lovers is their business plan, they have a wine for all tastes, including muscats, gamays and the whole enchilada of what are considered non-serious wines. Skip those and go right to the locally produced, vineyard designated wines. These are quite good and represent some of the best values in the entire Napa Valley.
I loved their Carneros Merlot, the Russian River and Dry Creek Valley Zins and the numerous cabs from Rutherford. These wines were all about $50 and under. And everything is sold Direct to Consumer so these products are not available elsewhere. As a side note, even you you don't want to taste their wines, they have the best, and best priced cheese store and deli in the valley. Food for thought.
And if you look at their vineyard sources, this makes total sense. They have wonderful vineyards in Rutherford, Russian River Valley, Carneros and throughout northern California wine country. If you can't make good wine from these sources, you should hand in your winemakers certificate.
What turns off most wine lovers is their business plan, they have a wine for all tastes, including muscats, gamays and the whole enchilada of what are considered non-serious wines. Skip those and go right to the locally produced, vineyard designated wines. These are quite good and represent some of the best values in the entire Napa Valley.
I loved their Carneros Merlot, the Russian River and Dry Creek Valley Zins and the numerous cabs from Rutherford. These wines were all about $50 and under. And everything is sold Direct to Consumer so these products are not available elsewhere. As a side note, even you you don't want to taste their wines, they have the best, and best priced cheese store and deli in the valley. Food for thought.
Friday, February 3, 2012
What's A Winobot
The simple answer is that Winobot is one of the coolest wine based apps available for the IPhone.
In this space, I usually blog about some of the great wines that I've sampled over the past several weeks. Today, its about a great wine app that I've been playing with on my new IPhone. What makes this app different from most others is that it is geared towards wine lists in specific restaurants, and guiding each user to select a bottle off that restaurant's wine list that fits their preferences.
So, last week I took Winobot out for a spin. Using it is easy, you sign in with your Facebook page (there will be connectivity in upcoming releases) and then choose whether to manually search for a restaurant, or to use your phones GPS to select on for you. I selected Il Fornaio in Corte Madera, near my house, as the test restaurant.
After your restaurant is selected, a short list of featured wines appears on the screen, followed by several reels on that allow you to select up to three criteria for narrowing your search. Since I was having Veal Osso Buco, I selected meat. and using my past preferences and selections, Winobot suggested four selections for me to try; Franciscan Napa Valley Cabernet, Tiganello Super Tuscan from Antinori, a Brunello from Canlicchio and Ridge Three Valleys Zinfandel.
All very good suggestions, but I wanted something Italian. Tiganello, a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet is one of my favorite wines, but at $185 it was a little out of my price range. So I went back to Winobot, put a $50 limit as my price range, and hit the select bar again. The choices were three Chiantis, and since I love Antinori's Tiganello, I selected the Peppoli Chianti to have with dinner.
The next screen describes the wine, allows you to rate and review the wine, and comming soon will be direct links to the winery and/or importer web sites to buy your wine and arrange for visits and to be included on any mailing lists.
This sounds complicated, but its not. The whole process took about 30 seconds. The app is free, and the developers tell me they are currently adding restaurants from all over the Bay Area and wine country as well as direct links to many Northern California wineries.
Check it out at http://www.winobot.com/. If nothing else, its a great source to check out wine lists at your favorite restaurants.
In this space, I usually blog about some of the great wines that I've sampled over the past several weeks. Today, its about a great wine app that I've been playing with on my new IPhone. What makes this app different from most others is that it is geared towards wine lists in specific restaurants, and guiding each user to select a bottle off that restaurant's wine list that fits their preferences.
So, last week I took Winobot out for a spin. Using it is easy, you sign in with your Facebook page (there will be connectivity in upcoming releases) and then choose whether to manually search for a restaurant, or to use your phones GPS to select on for you. I selected Il Fornaio in Corte Madera, near my house, as the test restaurant.
After your restaurant is selected, a short list of featured wines appears on the screen, followed by several reels on that allow you to select up to three criteria for narrowing your search. Since I was having Veal Osso Buco, I selected meat. and using my past preferences and selections, Winobot suggested four selections for me to try; Franciscan Napa Valley Cabernet, Tiganello Super Tuscan from Antinori, a Brunello from Canlicchio and Ridge Three Valleys Zinfandel.
All very good suggestions, but I wanted something Italian. Tiganello, a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet is one of my favorite wines, but at $185 it was a little out of my price range. So I went back to Winobot, put a $50 limit as my price range, and hit the select bar again. The choices were three Chiantis, and since I love Antinori's Tiganello, I selected the Peppoli Chianti to have with dinner.
The next screen describes the wine, allows you to rate and review the wine, and comming soon will be direct links to the winery and/or importer web sites to buy your wine and arrange for visits and to be included on any mailing lists.
This sounds complicated, but its not. The whole process took about 30 seconds. The app is free, and the developers tell me they are currently adding restaurants from all over the Bay Area and wine country as well as direct links to many Northern California wineries.
Check it out at http://www.winobot.com/. If nothing else, its a great source to check out wine lists at your favorite restaurants.
Monday, December 19, 2011
1993 Clos Du Bois Marlstone Vineyard, Alexander Valley
Last week, I was had the opportunity to participate in a really great case sale where I purchased several wines at some very good prices. One on these wines was designated as a mystery case which turned out to be the 1993 Clos Du Bois Marlstone Vineyard Bordeaux blend. Since 2000, Marlstone is the name Clos Du Bois gives to it's proprietary red Bordeaux blend. Before that, it was a single vineyard designation. This version was about 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and the rest divided between Malbec and Petit Verdot.
Drinking older vintages is always a crap shoot. Will the wine hold up, how much fruit is left? And the real kicker how will a California wine age, especially one from Alexander Valley as opposed the Napa Valley. So upon returning home from picking up my wine, I immediately popped the cork on a bottle.
I was one of the more interesting bottles that I've had in the past year. First, there is a eucalyptus/mint/cedar aroma on the nose. There is a some interesting fruit and a lot of leather, tar and tobacco. Very interesting.
On the pallet, this wine is rich and full bodied, even after 18 years. The fruit is elusive, but that is common in a lot of older wines. The cedar and mint really come to the forefront. There is a alluring touch of acid in the mid pallet and finish that keeps this wine refreshing and makes you want to drink more. The finish is long, and even though we drank this wine with some very humble meat loaf, it matched beautifully. I have some lamb and beef in the freezer and I can't wait to crack open a bottle with those proteins.
Aged wines are not for everyone. Originally rate 90+ points in the Wine Spectator, it has held up amazingly well and is a very intriguing wine. However, it will have to be drunk very quickly! I think we are up to the task.
Drinking older vintages is always a crap shoot. Will the wine hold up, how much fruit is left? And the real kicker how will a California wine age, especially one from Alexander Valley as opposed the Napa Valley. So upon returning home from picking up my wine, I immediately popped the cork on a bottle.
I was one of the more interesting bottles that I've had in the past year. First, there is a eucalyptus/mint/cedar aroma on the nose. There is a some interesting fruit and a lot of leather, tar and tobacco. Very interesting.
On the pallet, this wine is rich and full bodied, even after 18 years. The fruit is elusive, but that is common in a lot of older wines. The cedar and mint really come to the forefront. There is a alluring touch of acid in the mid pallet and finish that keeps this wine refreshing and makes you want to drink more. The finish is long, and even though we drank this wine with some very humble meat loaf, it matched beautifully. I have some lamb and beef in the freezer and I can't wait to crack open a bottle with those proteins.
Aged wines are not for everyone. Originally rate 90+ points in the Wine Spectator, it has held up amazingly well and is a very intriguing wine. However, it will have to be drunk very quickly! I think we are up to the task.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Muscardini Cellars 2009 Monte Rosso Sangiovese
Originally planted by Louis M. Martini, the Monte Rosso Vineyard is on of California's iconic estates. Long known as an outstanding source for Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel, producers from Ridge to Rosenblum among many, have made great wines from this vineyard. However, until last weekend's Sonoma Valley Vintners Holiday Fair, I had no idea that there was Sangiovese in this vineyard.
They do and you need to seek this wine out. Smoky, dark fruit with traces of block pepper, what really struck me was the firm acidity that was more typical of a great Brunello rather than a Cal Italia knock off. Never having been a great fan of the California versions of Italian varietals this one breaks the stereotype.
This is not a California knock off of Chianti Classico, but a great wine that has echos of a classic Brunello. Great stuff, and at $35 per bottle via the Muscardini web site, it is better than most Brunellos in that price range. It will go great with almost any Italian food, from assertive pasta to Italian style grilled meats. As a note, Muscardini also makes a Zinfandel from Monte Rosso as well.
They do and you need to seek this wine out. Smoky, dark fruit with traces of block pepper, what really struck me was the firm acidity that was more typical of a great Brunello rather than a Cal Italia knock off. Never having been a great fan of the California versions of Italian varietals this one breaks the stereotype.
This is not a California knock off of Chianti Classico, but a great wine that has echos of a classic Brunello. Great stuff, and at $35 per bottle via the Muscardini web site, it is better than most Brunellos in that price range. It will go great with almost any Italian food, from assertive pasta to Italian style grilled meats. As a note, Muscardini also makes a Zinfandel from Monte Rosso as well.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
California Syrah?
Quick, can you give me the taste markers for Napa Cabernet? How about Zinfandel, Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. Of course you can. Now try again for California Syrah? Gotchya! And that in a nutshell is why California Syrah continues to lag behind the so called experts expectations for the variety.
Last week at the Artisano event held outside of Santa Rosa, I had the opportunity to taste two Syrahs that may help change all that; Valdez Family Winery and Acorn Alegria Vineyard, both from Russian River Valley.
Most CA Syrahs are fruit bombs that have so much roasted meat on the nose, that in the words of Crystal McCauley, one of my instructors at CIA, it smells like you are outside a BBQ joint in Texas. These two do not have any of that. They are clean and have noses reminiscent of a Cote Rotie or Croze Heritage. Not to say there is not smoked meat on the nose, there is. But bright cherry fruit and earthy tones are also there giving them both great balance.
The Valdez is 100% Syrah and is available on their website for $50.00 per bottle. A little pricey, but one of the best Syrahs I've tasted from California. The Acorn Alegria Vineyard is a blend of 95% Syrah and 5% viognier as is $33 per bottle. Both are outstanding and worth seeking out.
Last week at the Artisano event held outside of Santa Rosa, I had the opportunity to taste two Syrahs that may help change all that; Valdez Family Winery and Acorn Alegria Vineyard, both from Russian River Valley.
Most CA Syrahs are fruit bombs that have so much roasted meat on the nose, that in the words of Crystal McCauley, one of my instructors at CIA, it smells like you are outside a BBQ joint in Texas. These two do not have any of that. They are clean and have noses reminiscent of a Cote Rotie or Croze Heritage. Not to say there is not smoked meat on the nose, there is. But bright cherry fruit and earthy tones are also there giving them both great balance.
The Valdez is 100% Syrah and is available on their website for $50.00 per bottle. A little pricey, but one of the best Syrahs I've tasted from California. The Acorn Alegria Vineyard is a blend of 95% Syrah and 5% viognier as is $33 per bottle. Both are outstanding and worth seeking out.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Wines From the Costco Front Lines
For those who may not know, Costco is the world's largest wine retailer. They are also the largest purchaser of Bordeaux futures. In other words, when it comes to volume sales, no one beats Costco. They may not have the latest boutique winery, but when it comes to upscale brands, they probably are the best source of wine going. You find outstanding deals on Chateau St. Jean, Beringer, Provenance, and a host of old and new world brands that are distributed by some of the largest importers in the country.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending a tasting sponsored by the Wines From Italy institute. Among the stand outs were the single vineyard Barolos and Barbaras from Pio Cesare, which were the best in show. The Barolo was spectacular, lots of plum and dark fruit with that refreshing acidity that makes Italian reds so food friendly.
So what does that have to do with Costco? While perusing the wine section I stumbled upon Pio Cesare's 2006 standard Barolo bottling for $40. Parker rated this bottle 95, the Spectator 92, and it is young with the recommended consumption at 15-25 years! It was a no brainer and into the cart it went. Then next to this outstanding bottle was the 2007 Antinori Tiganello at $75. One of the world's great wines, available at $50 under its release price. It also fell into my cart. Now how to I tell my wife that I spent $115 on wines? Believe me, when they are opened and enjoyed, she will inevitably ask "Where did we get great wines?" The answer is Costco and it is why I always shop their wine section.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending a tasting sponsored by the Wines From Italy institute. Among the stand outs were the single vineyard Barolos and Barbaras from Pio Cesare, which were the best in show. The Barolo was spectacular, lots of plum and dark fruit with that refreshing acidity that makes Italian reds so food friendly.
So what does that have to do with Costco? While perusing the wine section I stumbled upon Pio Cesare's 2006 standard Barolo bottling for $40. Parker rated this bottle 95, the Spectator 92, and it is young with the recommended consumption at 15-25 years! It was a no brainer and into the cart it went. Then next to this outstanding bottle was the 2007 Antinori Tiganello at $75. One of the world's great wines, available at $50 under its release price. It also fell into my cart. Now how to I tell my wife that I spent $115 on wines? Believe me, when they are opened and enjoyed, she will inevitably ask "Where did we get great wines?" The answer is Costco and it is why I always shop their wine section.
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