WINE POETIX REVIEW

EASTER FOOD & WINE PAIRING

2006-04-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

Michelle writes:

With our parents away, the kids decided to play by throwing an intimate Easter lunch with our friends. We brought two bottles and our guests brought two more. The day was spent cooking, eating, karaoking/napping, eating again, wine tasting w/food pairing.

On the food menu:
pancit - carrots, rice and egg noodles, Chinese sausage
roast lamb - with garlic and mint inserted lemon chicken
tossed salad - with dressing (soy sauce, scallions, ginger, garlic, sesame seed oil, honey, vegetable oil)
lemon chiffon cake - with mango puree and mango pieces with whipped topping
grilled squid - marinated in mountain dew, soy sauce and lemon Girl Scout Thin Mints

On the wine list:
2000 Chardonnay, Santa Cruz - Silver Mountain Vineyard
tangy, oaky, apple, hint of white peach

The Chardonnay went really well with the lemon chiffon, minus the cream, as well as the pancit, so long as you didn't eat the Chinese sausages (which from what we had couldn't find a good pairing for). It overpowered the chicken and made it taste bland.

1998 Pinot Noir, Russian River, Nicole's Vineyard - J Vineyard
fruity, oaky, jammy, late raspberry, black pepper starts light, ends strong

An excellent pair with the lamb as it allowed you to get the full flavor of the lamb before kicking in. Also a delicious pair with the lemon chiffon with the cream topping.

2002 Merlot Vintner's Blend - Ravenswood
oaky, tangy white pepper

not really a good pair with any of the food as it tended to overwhelm the lamb. It went well with the salad, but then again the salad and dressing went with everything. So, if you're looking for a salad dressing that is quite complimentary to a wide variety of wine, I'd recommend mixing up a batch.

2002 Petite Syrah, Inheritance, Lodi - Lone Dove Vineyards
french oak, pepper, dark chocolate, a really nice surprise from Lodi more known for table grapes than table wines. ($11.99 bottle at Trader Joe's)

Most excellent with the Girls Scout Thin Mints. As one of our guests mentioned, when it's a good pairing it makes your mouth salivate more, makes you want to eat and drink more.

DARIOUSH WINERY TASTING

2006-03-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

We visited Darioush Winery yesterday and tasted the following:

2004 Signature Chardonnay:
lemon, pear, citrus, too much toasty oak. But too tart and imbalanced with bitter tannins

2003 Signature Merlot:
nicely fragrant nose. blueberry, plum, new leather-ish, slight oak. Polished but also with bitter tannins.

2003 Signature Shiraz:
smooth, polished nose and texture. Rich red and black fruits, earthy, spicy, and not as much bitterness in finish as prior two

2002 Signature Cabernet Sauvignon:
rich nose of red and black fruits, earthy, cedar, leather, slight mocha, smooth texture, classic cab-bordeaux style. Soft finish. Wine is new world but coesn't have the extra layers of great new world wines.

Generally, Darioush has designed wines to please those looking for the media-described "Napa Valley Experience." Their wines are competent and the bitter finishes are not likely to be noticed by many.

But even at this level of competency, wines should be priced about $20 less a bottle.

I would say that their wines are like the architecture of the winery, which also received much hoopla in this Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle. Mr. Darioush clearly spent much moola bringing over stone slabs from Iran and trying to evoke a complex from Persepolis. So much promise, and yet the result, like the wines, result in a failure to resonate.

Generally, I'd rate the wines a C+ to B-.

But as a tourist experience, it's worth doing once. (I was going to say, "like Disneyland" but I like Disneyland).

DE-CHILLING THE STORM

2006-02-13T18:16:00.000-08:00

David writes from New York:

Two Great Wines on the Eve of the Storm

A friend could not go Upstate because of the impending blizzard, so he invited he over for dinner. Wonderful Risotto followed by Veal Chops with Sauteed Vegetables.

I brought the '04 Pride Mountain Viognier. He supplied an '86 Pichon Lalande. We sipped both wines, alternately, during the course of the evening. The Pichon had been decanted for an hour before I arrived. Both wines were in perfect condition and were wonderful.

The Viognier was rich, flowery, perfumed and balanced. Their best yet. Stood up to both dishes and the chesses, as well. And just plain delicious by itself.

The Pichon was huge, starting out unexpectedly tannic. It smoothed out as the evening progressed, and became silkier and more complex. Not a "young" wine but clearly a long life ahead.

Walked ten blocks in the snow, not minding it at all. Turned out to be the biggest snowful in NY's history. The Blizzard of the Century. (So Far.)

Thanks to Tom and Eileen for introducing me to Pride and their Voignier at Mustard's a few years ago.

FLORA SPRINGS WINERY

2006-02-04T18:18:00.000-08:00

Festival Celebrating
4TH ANNUAL TRILOGY RELEASE PARTY
@ Flora Springs Winery
St. Helena, Ca
Feb. 4, 2006

WHITE WINES
2003 Soliloquy
--too earthy, grassy. Lacked richness of flavor. But crisp. Nice balance. Well-made but nothing special

2004 Barrel Fermented chardonnay
-- our favorite of the whites; it's what we bought. Nice character. Not over-oaked. Had a slight off-smell at first but it wasn't troublesome given the rest of its character.

2003 Select Cuvee Chardonnay
--good but just okay. The nose was closed, though, so it may have been closed today. It should be re-tasted in about a year from now where it may be more rich.

RED WINES
2002 Poggio Del Papa
--lovely. Fragrant. Delicate. What a sangiovese absolutely should be.

2002 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
--little rouch and not as rich as it could be. Just an okay cabernet

2003 Trilogy
--Very good. Rich, dark, deep, ripe cherry fruits. But pushing the envelope with that $45/bottle price.

15TH ANNUAL ZINFANDEL ADVOCATES & PRODUCERS WINE FESTIVAL!

2006-01-28T23:16:00.000-08:00

Just returned from the ZAP festival -- about 275 wineries poured their zins to the very cheerful thousands going through the two buildings at Fort Mason. Here are the wines we -- Moi, Tom, Rhett & Michelle -- enjoyed in chronological order as we each whittled down a baguette through the hours of tasting:

2003 Tofanelli
2004 Tofanelli barrel sampling (03 is lovely but Tom thinks 04 will be better)
2004 Hayne Vineyard Turley
2004 Ridge Paso Robles Lytton Springs (a tad astringent)
2003 Ridge Geyserville (could have used more character)
2004 Rosenblum Henry Reserve (fabulous!)
2004 Ravenswood Tedeschi
2004 Ravenswood Old Hill
2004 Ravenswood Belloni (when we had this and it was the best, thus far, of the line-up we'd tasted)
2004 Ravenswood Dickerson (nicely smooth, with chocolate tones!)
2004 Schrader Train Wreck Vineyards (we liked this wine but as Tom said, "It's a raw bruiser -- no finesse", to which Moi replied, "Sometimes, you just want it that way." More sexually-charged puns were bandied about, and then we went on to ...)
2004 Schrader Ira Carter Old Vines

[Rather, the three of us tasted the second Schrader. Rhett, on his own and still charged by recent double entendres or however you spell that phrase, notices a couple of pretty pourers at a forlorn table and goes over to ask for a sample. I look at the winery and know it to be a pretender. But I wait for Rhett to taste and, yep, Rhett tastes and says, "It doesn't quite finish; it's incomplete..."

I observe, "So that's your Pity Sip...?"

Tom, who'd been shepherding us around to which wineries to sample, tsks tsks Rhett: "You cannot be merciful with your samplings today."

Anyhoot, moving on...]

2004 Neyers Pato Vineyard
2004 St. Francis Reserve Pagani (loved its characteristic that I called "smoke"!)

Except for Rhett, at this point, everything we'd tasted was enjoyable in one fashion or another. But we also had identified ahead of time the better zinfandel producers to sample since we certainly didn't want to sip our way through all 275 wineries. But we decide to take a risk on a winery unknown to us and sampled _____. I won't identify it since it was really bad -- basically red sugar water. As I told Michelle, "It's a bad poem in an otherwise great anthology."

2003 Ch. Montelena (elements of cough syrup)
2003 Chase Family
2003 Chase Family Reserve
2003 Cline Live Oak (Cline was pouring from several bottles so I asked the pourer, "Gimme your oldest, meanest, grumpiest wine." To which the pourer replied, "Grumpier and older and meaner than me?!" I nodded. And, yep, this Cline was enjoyable but also definitely "grumpy."
2003 Ed Meade

That's all folks! But I leave you with this image that greeted us at the festival: the backside of a blonde's back t-shirt that proclaimed a Goth moment:

ZIN BITCH!

A TASTE OF THE BEST OF NAPA VALLEY

2006-01-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

Wine Tasting – January 8, 2006
@ Galatea

N.B.: Wine Tasting notes & rankings are by Robert Parker

2003 Peter Michael Winery Chardonnay “La Carriere” 97 pts
“This spectacular Chardonnay La Carriere is becoming one of my favorite California Chardonnays as it tastes like a Corton-Charlemagne on steroids. The 2003 boasts aromas of crushed rock, quince, lemon butter, and orange marmalade, followed by a full-bodied, powerful yet extraordinarily elegant wine with an amazing finish. It should drink well for 4-5 years”

2001 Jones Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 95 pts
“The 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the finest offerings I have tasted from Jones Family. An inky/purple color is accompanied by sumptuous aromas of sweet blueberry, blackberry, and cassis fruit, licorice, and toasty background oak. This full-bodied, unctuously-textured 2001 possesses tremendous purity, palate presence, and balance. The finish lasts 40+ seconds. It should drink well young yet age nicely for 10-12+ years.”

2002 Hundred Acre Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 98 pts
“As for the 2002 Hundred Acre (1,200 cases), this is a terrific example of great Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. A seamless wine with extraordinary concentration, a dense purple color, a beautifully sweet nose of black cherry liqueur intermixed with cassis, graphite, smoke, and underbrush, it is layered, multi-dimensional, and opulent, with a long finish. Although more accessible and flashy than the 2001, it is capable of lasting 15 more years.”

1999 Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon “Herb Lamb Vineyard” 95 pts
“This 200 case cuvee spent 26 months in oak. Its opaque purple color is followed by a gorgeous perfume of graphite, crème de cassis, and licorice, and full-bodied, layered, concentrated flavors with superb balance and density. Surprisingly sweet tannin as well as an explosive finish have developed over the past year. Colgin, which is already a so-called “cult” wine, seems to have pushed the envelope of quality even higher….as hard as that is to believe. As always, the truth is in the bottle…in vino veritas.” Robert Parker

1994 Dominus 99 pts
“Christian Moueix (owner of Chateau Petrus) and his talented winemaking team continue to rewrite the definition of a Napa Valley reference point wine. I have had a difficult time keeping the corks in my bottles of 1994 Dominus. Eight-thousand cases were produced from this blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. In this vintage, 174 days passed between budbreak and the harvest, a remarkable period of time for any wine region in the world. The 1994 is strikingly thick, compelling rich wine with the texture of a great Pomerol, despite being primarily made from Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine exhibits a dense purple color, and an incredibly fragrant nose of jammy black fruits, spice, smoke, and loamy, truffle-like scents. In the mouth, it is full-bodied, with thrilling levels of extract and richness, but no sense of heaviness or harshness. The seamless Dominus possesses no hard edges, as its acidity, tannin and alcohol are beautifully meshed with copious quantities of ripe fruit. This wine offers early drinking, yet has the potential to last for 30+ years.”

1997 Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch 100 pts
“As I reported last year, the 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch is a perfect Cabernet Sauvignon. It has been in bottle for over a year, and this wine, like all others, has easily soaked up its aging in 100% Taransaud barrels. It is a sumptuous, unctuously-textured, fabulously concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon that hits all the sweet spots on the palate, and puts the olfactory senses on overdrive. The wines smells and tastes perfect. It is a compelling effort that one day will be considered part of a small part of elite California Cabernets that may be rewriting the definition of greatness in Cabernet Sauvignon.”

1997 Harlan Estate 100 pts
“The 1997 Harlan Estate is one of the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines I have ever tasted. A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this enormously endowed, profoundly rich wine must be tasted to be believed. Opaque purple-colored, it boasts spectacular, soaring aromatics of vanilla, minerals, coffee, blackberries, licorice, and cassis. In the mouth, layer after layer unfold powerfully yet gently. Acidity, tannin, and alcohol are well-balanced by the wine’s unreal richness and singular personality. The finish exceeds one minute.”

IT'S 152 YEARS OLD!

2005-12-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

Last night, we tasted the historic

1853 Whitwhams King Pedro V port

a wine with an amazing story. Some family in Portugal bought a house and ended up discovering in the basement these casks of port that go back 152 years. So they sold it to the company who then bottled it. Its age means that it's pre-phylloxera wine! Phylloxera, of course, was that bug that decimated the world's grape vines and nearly killed wine production. Part of the solution was the grafting of American rootstock, which is generally rougher/wilder as well as more intense. So immediately noticed was how smooth this port was...and the intensity, no doubt, is what made it last to offer today some absolutely fantastic sipping.

It's actually hard to describe the nose and flavors of the wine. The color was a pale brown, befitting its age, but it still had an incredible richness and offered the great essence of wine and port. The nose was also complex with fruits. A once-in-a-lifetime experience....but fortunately the hubby tucked away more than one bottle when we had the chance to acquire it.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER WINE-TASTING

2005-11-12T15:06:00.000-08:00

MICHELLE WRITES IN:

Italicized wines indicate ones we bought

Wine from the heart ($10 reserve/$5 regular):
list is from the reserve tasting we did on Sunday; on Tuesday we tasted the first two, plus had two additional ones

Baywood Cellars ($1 for any two; $3 taste your choice of wines)

2004 Monterey Blanc de Noir (Chard/Pinot Noir blend)
2002 Monterey Chardonnay
2003 California Symphony
1999 California Tempranillo (Spanish varietal, smelled very different)
2000 California Symphony Late harvest

Clos La Chance ($5 for the list of 6)

2004 Estate Sauvignon Blanc
2003 Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay
2002 Central Coast Merlot
2002 El Dorado Zinfandel
2002 Central Coast Syrah
2002 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (86 cab 14 merlot)
barrel tasting of 2004 Zinfandel (12 months in French oak; needs 6 more months with some american oak)
he liked us so much, he opened two others:
2003 Central Coast Estate Grenache
2003 Central Coast Estate Petite Sirah

Silver Mountain

1999 Santa Cruz Chardonnay – fruit light crisp
2000 Santa Cruz Chardonnay – smooth, creamy

On Monday night we posted on the conference newsboard:
Birds of a Feather: Wine tasting crawl collaboration
3p-6p
Meet at Wine From the Heart, Portola Plaza
hosted by UC Berkeley
Just show up

I added "collaboration" just to add one of those "ringer" words in the title. And looking back, I would have chosen "stroll" rather than "crawl". Didn't want to look completely like lushes. This BOF was earlier than the usual BOFs at 5pm, because most of the wine tasting places closed at 5pm. By 3pm no one had written their name down. I myself was a bit nervous putting my own name down and claiming this idea since both my director and manager were there. Fortunately I learned that this wine tasting BOF is right in line with the spirit of this conference.

I consider myself a rather novice wine drinker. I read the descriptions of the taste of wine and wonder what they mean. I was having a conversation with another coworker before the BOF and he asked me about my interest in wines. I told him, I'm not looking to become a huge expert on wines, but I enjoy the experience of wine tasting. The artist in me simply enjoys exploring sensations and in this case taste and smell. What's fascinating to me about wine is that alot of it has to do with personal experience, the memory banks of flavor we tie into what we think/feel we are tasting.

We get to our first stop Wine From the Heart located right across from our hotel. It was just two of us from Berkeley. Then a couple of others stop by. We add the guy from Princeton just finishing a tasting there. I introduce myself as the designated walker. As we wait for others, people go back to pick up jackets and change shoes. Since we don't know everyone's names, we call one woman the "shoe changer". She left with 8 of us and by the time she came back there were 14 in all. Six of us were from Berkeley, the rest from small and large colleges. One from Princeton who was already there, another from a corner of Wisconsin, another from a small school in Connecticut, another from the Naval Academy in Maryland.

The woman tending the counter that day seemed worried about having enough wine as Tuesdays tend to be slow days. She calls up the owners to ask what else she should pour. The weekday tastings consist of 4 wines, while the weekend reserves are 6 wines plus cheese pairings.

From the weekend's tasting, I was really amazed at how the cheeses changed the flavor of drinking the wine even after eating the cheese. The creamy brie cutting the tartness of the chardonnay and emphasizing the butteriness. We tasted the Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, then she served us two not on the list that I don't remember. Both a bit forgettable.

Next, we took a short walk on the Monterey Bay Trail to the three tasting rooms literally two doors down from each other: Baywood, Clos La Chance, and Silver Mountain. While the group got started at Baywood, we scoped out the other two and warned them that we were coming.

Baywood had a lot of light, sweet white wines. The Symphony was particularly sweet. The wines would be good for a general crowd and particularly for people who don't normally drink wine. I’d say most Filipinos would like these wines as they tend to like that sweet flavored drink. Easy wines to drink, few tannins, smooth finishes, juice taste. Nice wines to bring to a party. Walking into the tasting room the air had a sweet juice smell, like Welches. I also tried the Tempranillo, a Spanish variety I wasn't familiar with. It had, I guess, what they call an earthy nose. Most of the wines were not really my taste, so I passed on buying, though several others did buy bottles.

Next stop was Clos La Chance. I really liked this place and they served wines that were in my taste range: stronger white wines, and light to medium reds. I really had a hard time picking one bottle. Though I bought the Cabernet, I really wouldn't have minded buying the Merlot, Sirah, Grenache or Zinfandel. There wasn't much I didn't like from here.

The last time I had done a barrel tasting was at the wine festival in Amador county. I wasn't sure what people tasted for. Considering the barrel tastings I had were really awful, I wondered how wine makers ever predicted the direction of their wines. But the 2004 Clos La Chance Zinfandel with only 12 months in the French oak was amazing, with wonderful spice and fruit flavor. I asked if they sold futures, but they didn't.

Time was running by fast and it didn't look like we could make the Taste of Monterey tasting room. In hindsight, maybe we should have started there and walked back, but it left something for others to the next day.

Last stop was Silver Mountain. What was interesting here was that their Chardonnay, which they poured several consecutive years of, was a distinctly different wine from year to year. The 1999 was more crisp, fruity and tart while the 2000 which I bought was a smooth, creamy, vanilla finish. Their 2000 Zinfandel was dark and sweet almost like a port.

By this time the whole group was giggling and laughing, sharing wine notes. Most everyone took home a bottle of something. We took pictures and promised to try this again at the next conference. The woman from British Columbia was asked to be the next designated walker. Others discussed various ways they were going to pack their bottles on the plane rides home. The woman from Wisconsin said she checked in a couple of bottles of wine once and when she opened the box she found the TSA inspector’s tag and one of the bottles missing. Her complaints to TSA went no where, so now she checks in everything else and hand carries the wine. I learned you can’t ship wine to Massachusetts but you can bring it in your luggage for personal consumption. I’m not sure what the history to that is, but it seems odd since it’s not like Massachusetts has a huge local wine industry that would be threatened by shipments.

While the wines in Amador County left a lot to be desired, except for a couple of jewels, I was really impressed by the wines I tried from the Monterey vintners. The nice part too about drinking so many wines in succession it really develops one’s palette of comparing one wine to another.

Conferences are interesting events. You meet people once a year for a few days. Everyone is fairly pleasant because well they’re not at work and at such a great location. By the time you leave, you still like them because it’s not like you have to deal with them on a daily basis. The BOF brought together people that I would not have normally met and also let me learn more about people I already knew. Plus drinking wine is way more fun when you can do it in a group.

MONTEREY WINES

2005-11-07T22:54:00.000-08:00

Michelle does a tasting report on Monterey wines that, yah, she should have posted here, so we link to it instead. She ultimately recommends Mission Trail Vineyards 2001 Reserve cabernet.

A CALIFORNIA CABERNET TASTING

2005-11-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

DAVID WRITES IN:

CALIFORNIA CABERNET TASTING
NAPA VALLEY, MOSTLY 2001, MOSTLY SPRING MOUNTAIN
NOVEMBER 2, 2005

I was asked to select eight California cabs for a blind tasting. I chose the following. The purchase prices are indicated, as is whether purchased from wineries.

1. BV Rutherford 2001 ($18.99)
2. BV Rutherford 1994 ($12.99)
3. Beringer Knights Valley 2001 ($17.99)

I chose these three as examples of reliable, moderately priced standbys, with the older BV to see how such a wine ages.

4. Marston Family Vineyard 2001 ($65.00) (Winery
5. Smith-Madrone 2001 ($35.00) (Winery)
6. Pride Mountain Vineyards 2000 ($54.00) (Winery)
7. Summit Lake Emily Kestrel 2000 ($40) (Winery)
8. Robert Keenan 25th Anniversary Cabernet 2001 ($27.99)

The rest were all Spring Mountain estate grown wines, with the exception of the Keenan, a blend of Spring Mountain and other fruit, and the Summit Lake, which is from Howell Mountain, and which, unfortunately, turned out to be corked. All wines were 100% cabernet. The wines were tasted blind: I opened them, someone else bagged them, then another person decanted into numbered bottles.

This turned out to be an extremely challenging tasting. Except for the corked bottle, all were in excellent condition. There was no obvious loser in the bunch. All good wines. But there was no obvious standout either. All were huge. All kept evolving in the glass, first showing huge fruit, then tannin, then fruit, again; some starting out harsh, then smoothing out. As the wines changed, one’s opinion changed as well. Some were easy to drink now, some not. All but one clearly would benefit from additional aging. Some needed lots more time! (The one that did not need to age and which began to fade after awhile turned out to be the ’94 BV, as might have been expected.)

When it came time for each person to rate the wines in order of preference, it was clear that there was no obvious front-runner.

The results: The Beringer and the Keenan were tied for first place, with 22 points each; the runner up was the Pride, with 23 points. (My personal preference: Beringer, Pride, Keenan.) In 4th place came Marston –definitely a blockbuster in need of much more bottle age - was 4th, with 25 points. The ’01 BV, ’94 BV, and the Smith-Madrone ranked 5th, 6th, and 7th, respectively.

I thought the Beringer, though as big as the others, was the most balanced of all. The Keenan offered the most variety of flavors and textures. At times, it seemed almost zin-like. Of course, we were surprosed at the Beringer's incredible showing, especially in light of the prestigious company it was keeping. (The wines, not the tasters!) One person seemed upset and wondered what kind of trickery or manipulation was done to get such a mass-produced wine to be so good. The answer: Who cares. Whatever they did, it worked. And as it is readily available for $20 or less, it’s a real bargain.

WINES THAT DON'T LAST...AND WINES THAT DO

2005-10-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we had a 1998 Peter Michael Point Rouge chardonnay that started out promisingly but soon faded in the bottle (fortunately, the second white, the 2002 H. Bolloit Batard Montrachet, was just outstanding!).

Also had a 1975 Eiswein that had died in bottle -- too bad. Same fate for the 1970 Ch. Lynch Bages. As back-up to the Lynch Bages, we had the 1986 Margaux which was wonderful -- but simply could not stand up to the 1996 Araujo Eisele Vineyard Cabernet (in magnum) against which it was paired. When a California wine is on, almost nothing can beat it due to California's native fruit!

THE MARSH HAWK PRESS TASTING

2005-09-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

David writes in:

Encouraged by the Chatelaine, the wines served at a poetry reading on Sept 23, 2005, in NYC, were several cuts above the usual throat-burning jug slime and half-buck chuck served at readings and gallery openings.

I tasted the two reds and one of the two whites.

2003 Benzinger Carneros Chardonnay -- the basic white from the winery that pioneered "fighting varietals" with the Glen Ellen brand in the '80s. I have had this wine in the '02 and '03 vintages several times. Very consistent. Nice balance between fruit, acid, and oak. Medium bodied with a long finish. Often one of my house wines, as it sells for around $10-$11and is frequently available for as little as $8.99. A very good mass produced wine, and a great value.

2002 Ravenswood Cabernet Sauvignon. Smooth, but insipid. Mild varietal flavor, no complexity. My least favorite of the three.

2003 Cartlidge and Brown Pinot Noir. For the Sideways crowd. Better than the Cabernet, some complexity, nice texture, but it seemed a little too sweet, possibly because it was too warm. I would like to try it again at a more appropriate temperature.

CHATEAUNEUFS TASTING

2005-09-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

David writes in from New York to proclaim:

These are the Chateauneufs I tasted last week. (There was also a nice white Cotes du Rhone). The notes in Italics are Parker's. Mine are bold. (Yes, I am bold enough to disagree with him.) The store (Union Square Wines) has high prices, These are the sale prices and are closer to retail in other venues. Clearly, popularity plus the rise of the Euro (fall of the Dollar) have taken their toll.

This was the order of tasting, and range from lightest to heaviest.The overall quality was good to excellent - well made wines, good fruit. But some seriously overrated and over- priced wines, such as the first two:

2003 Mas de Boislauzon Chateauneuf du Pape
Red Wine; Rhone Blend; Rhone; $29.99 SALE!

“The deep ruby/purple-tinged 2003 Châteauneuf-du-Pape is filled with elegance, finesse, and precision, offering wonderfully sweet cherry and strawberry fruit… fresh, and full-bodied, with a refreshing delicacy and vigor…” Robert Parker (90-92 points)

Pleasant, nice fruit not much of a finish . Would be a good buy as a generic Cotes du Rhone at $10. Nice, but not special.

2003 Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape
Red Wine; Rhone Blend; Rhone; $39.99 SALE!

“This full-bodied, tannic, rich, age worthy 2003 will benefit from 1-2 years of bottle age, and drink well for 12-14 years. One cannot say enough about the extraordinary qualitative revolution that has quietly taken place at this well-known domaine north of the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.” Robert Parker (89-92 points)

This had the biggest, most complex aroma of any wine in the tasting, but the flavor was only a slightly revved up version of the preceding wine. Both wines faded and became candyish as the evening progressed.

2003 Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf du Pape
Red Wine; other red varietal; Rhone; $39.99 SALE!

“…a great success for Beaurenard. Seriously endowed and heady, with high levels of alcohol, glycerin, and concentration, supple tannin, and low acidity, it should drink beautifully for a dozen or more years.” Robert Parker (90-92 points

Finally, a real Chateauneuf, medium body, more complexity, possibly a wine to develop over 3-5 years, very drinkable, but not nearly a patch on the 2001. Not worth the money.

2003 Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape
Red Wine; Rhone Blend; Rhone; $44.99 SALE!

“A very strong vintage for this traditionally made Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the 2003, a blend of 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah, and the rest Mourvedre and Cinsault… a classic, concentrated essence of Provence, all in an alcoholic beverage.” Robert Parker (92-95 points)

2003 Clos des Papes - 2003

These [above two] were my two favorites. Despite being closed in, both demonstrated rich fruit, complexity, long finishes, and appear to be real agers. Full-bodied, but not ungainly. Sort of like siblings, the same but different. Should age well and long. Classics. These are the ones I bought.

2003 Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Boisrenard
SALE PRICE: $79.

“… stunning… possesses a classically southern Rhone nose of melted licorice, cassis, black cherry liqueur, smoke, white chocolate, and background oak…. a full-bodied, powerful, intense style that is super pure and long/persistent.” Robert Parker (94-96 points)

I tasted the licorice, but was perplexed. This wine was full of big, very extracted (California-style?) fruit, and alot of tannin. Mouth coating. Monolithic, no complexity. No charm. What will it turn into? A wine for people who buy labels. Impress your friends . Better still, wait until it goes back to $115, so you can really impress them!

1986 Chateaux Margaux

2005-09-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

This was my birthday dinner wine from Tom, who also provides the following tasting notes:

Nose of cigar, cedar, black cherry, a little bit of mocha and a little bit of vanilla.

Taste: Full-bodied. Sweet tannins. Incredibly concentrated. Red cherry flavor with tobacco, leather and "some smoke." A long finish.

A "classic" Margaux similar in style to the great vintages of 1982 and 1990.

However, and notwithstanding its 100-point rating by Robert Parker, it's still "not mind-bending like the off-the-chart vintages of, say, 1953 Lafite, 1949 Cheval Blanc, or even the 1996 William Selyem pinot noir."

Tom adds, however, that this wine may reach that off-the-chart status with another 30-40 more years in the bottle.

Eileen: Note to Self -- try this wine on hubby's death bed.

Tom: Note to Self -- try this wine before I die.

And I'm another year older but aging like great fine wine!

SOLACE FROM SOLYSS

2005-09-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

DAVID writes (from New York):

Recent dinner in an Italian restaurant on the Lower East Side called Basso Est. (Guess what that translates into in English!) Excellent food. There were four of us. The owner recommended a wine called SOLYSS, which none of us had ever heard of or had before. 2003 vintage. From Puglia region in southern Italy. 100% Negroamaro. Needed a few minutes to open up. Then, big, rich fruit, long finish, excellent accompaniment to Italian food, red sauces. Delicious on its own. A welcome change from cab -merlot-zin- etc. $32 in the restaurant. We had two bottles. Would be happy to pay $20-25 in a store.

Found it in 3 shops in NYC: Union Square Wines has it for $18.99; Zachy's price is $14.99, and Sherry-Lehmann will let you steal it for $12.99. Highly recommended.

Another Atlantic Beach Club Wine Tasting

2005-08-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

Sandy writes in to report:

Well, you know we love our beach club. They offer three or four wine tastings each summer, and competition is fierce to reserve a table, since the chef limits the number of diners to fifty each time. Barbara and I were thrilled at the last minute to take the place of a couple that couldn’t make it. In the end, though, we were somewhat disappointed with both wine and food pairings.

Opening Wine: Rotari Sparkling Blanc de Noir
A very dry sparkling wine from northern Italy. A blend of Pinot Noir with Chardonnay, light pink in color, and with a silky texture. Aromas of sweet spice and cherry. Emphasis on the very dry. Virtually unyielding to the tongue.

First Course: Castillo de Querceto—Chianti Classico 2003, served with Fried Calamari Puttenesca.
***Corked!***
This is a wine we’ve had before in potable condition. Then it is ruby or black in color, with a nose of roses and violets with macerated cherries. However, who ever heard of serving a corked wine at a wine tasting? The distributor's rep, who visited each table promoting the wines, was slow to admit that the wine was ruined, instead urging us to let it breathe. After forty minutes with the unchanging wine sitting in our glasses, even he had to admit that there was a problem. The Puttanesca sauce, usually made with black olives and capers visible, was pureed, thus taking all the tarty fun out of it.

Second Course: La Tunella—Pinot Grigio 2003, served with Crusted Red Snapper with Roasted Garlic Broccoli Robb.
Pretty good wine with fresh apple and mineral notes. The Red Snapper was tasty—probably the best of the dishes we were served.

Third Course: Raspberry Sorbet.

Fourth Course: Casanova di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino 1998, served with Veal Saltimbucca with Fingerling Potato.
Tongue-curling tannins and firm acidity. This was a very good wine. Veal: kind of yech. Had to drink the wine to cover the taste of the meat. Potato good—best thing on the plate. Tried to convince a table partner who had had a bit to drink earlier in the evening that the potatoes were actually made of fingers.

Fifth Course: Concilio—Barrel Aged Chardonnay Trentino 2000, served with Mesculan Salad with Roma Tomatoes and Portabella Mushrooms.
I’ve never tasted a Chardonnay as dense and sweet as this one. Deep, rich gold color. Fruit and dried flower aroma. Not one I’d want to try again. Odd. Badly paired with the salad, since this seems to be really more of a dessert wine.

Sixth Course: Valdo—Prosecco, served with Cappuccino Tear Drop.
Just what you’d expect from the name: an extremely dry wine. I guess I just don’t have the palate for this.

Barbara and I concluded that other diners were likewise unsatisfied with the offerings. Dinner over, we all moved over to the bar, where many began gulping Scotch. This isn’t the kind of end of a wine tasting that a promoter should consider positive commentary on his products.

1970 VEGA SICILIA UNICO

2005-08-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

As regards the 1970 Vega Sicilia Unico, one of the world's greatest wines ever made, Tom writes in from a recent tasting (ye NY Wine Club members should remember this wine):

"Deep ruby color. Aromas of red and black fruits, spice, leather and cedar. Medium to full bodied with rich fruits, cedar, tobacco and leather. Very concentrated and complex. Very seductive. A long, long finish. Fantastic wine."

The wine is so fabulous, Tom reminds, and Vega Sicilia knew what it had one its hands, such that they did not release the 1970 for 25 years -- to wit, 1995 -- to make sure that the wine was fully mature before the drinking public got its hands on it!

WEDDING WINES!

2005-08-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to the October nuptials for Michelle and Rhett. They recently did a wine tasting at the hotel which will host their wedding reception. Here's Michelle's report:

We chose the BV Chardonnay and stayed with the house Trapiche-Penaflor Merlot from Argentina.

The Penaflor Chardonnay was trying to be crisp and fruity but was neither and came off rather sharp. And I don't know how much it would mellow out really. The BV Chardonnay had a creamy taste, touch of Vanilla, that was easy to drink. I liked it. A wine that I could keep drinking. This should go well with any of the main dishes.

The Merlot could have used a few more minutes than when we drank it right after opening. Light on tannins, easy to drink red. A slight bouquet, some fruit, touch of spice. I hope it goes well with the lechon during the cocktail hour.

Trapiche-Penaflor is made by one of the largest wine producers in Argentina, Bodegas Esmeralda. According to this 1995 Wine Spectator article, over half of Trapiche-Penaflor is exported as bulk wine. They consider themselves the Gallo of Argentina. I wasn't completely satisfied with the Merlot but had left that decision with the Fiance as he tends to be the red drinker. I may try to sneak a taste of perhaps one of the Zinfandels or a Shiraz, before finalizing the decision.

Choosing wines for a wedding is tricky considering most people aren't necessarily wine drinkers and you want something that is generally pleasant yet not forward in any way. It's like choosing a "polite" wine, one that knows proper chit-chat, but doesn't overstep the boundaries of etiquette to make anyone uncomfortable. You want a wine that people will drink.

My Filipino family tend not to be wine experts as it is difficult to get decent wine in the Philippines. Though when my friend had his wedding there he did manage to score several cases of a decent Spanish table red wine to serve at the reception. But my uncles are quite the connoisseurs of whisky.

We also decided not to host an open bar at all during the wedding reception since we're already providing champagne and two bottles of wine. Besides we had to choose between lechon or open bar and we went with what could be enjoyed by the most guests. We also sacrificed a few chair covers as well.

2004 DUTCH HENRY CABERNET FRANC

2005-08-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

So we're over at Dutch Henry for lunch, as we often are on Saturdays, and wine maker Scott Chafen dips a glass into a barrel to give us an advance taste of the 2004 cabernet franc. Make a note to get it as soon as it's released next year. Deep, rich, black fruits and salle leeather. Excellent structure. Full body. Lingering finish. Scott says he plans to blend it with some cabernet before finalizing. It will be great!

FROM PASO ROBLES & TEMPLETON, THE BAD NEWS AND THE GOOD NEWS

2005-08-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

Tom and I did a road trip this weekend between San Francisco and Ojai. Off of Highway 101, we zipped into Paso Robles to do some wine tastings, one good and the other bad.

First, the bad news -- PEACHY CANYON WINERY where we did a zinfandel tasting. The wines were generally disappointing (and thus also aggressively priced); in order of tasting here they are:

2002 Eastside: -- $15. mild spice, bright cherries and strawberries, light oak.

2003 Westside -- $19. more spicey. Cherries, vanilla, black pepper, cedar and cinnamon but was a little green in the finish and not as lush as we would have desired.

2003 Old School House -- $26. black cherry, clove, cocoa. Too much oak although it came with decent spice.

2003 Mustang Springs -- $26. cherry, eucalyptus, not balanced but does have more intense fruit.

2003 Snow Vineyard -- $26. mint, strawberries, plums, cherries. vanilla. 'Twas young in a pleasant way.

2003 Especial -- $30. basil, nutmeg, black pepper, vanilla and berries

2003 Luv-a-Duck -- coffee, cinnamon, warm apple pie.

This visit was disappointing to us as Tom remembered once drinking and loving a Peach Canyon wine years ago. And, geez, the aggressive sales over the tasting bar! A combination of mediocrity with aggressive sales tactic means we're unlikely ever to return here.

THANKFULLY, SOME GOOD NEWS over at TURLEY WINES, Templeton. We had no disagreement with their printed wine tasting notes (if vague, but then wine tasting notes are often vague) so I'll just replicate here (words in italics are moi dos centavos or notes):

2001 "Pesenti Vineyard" Paso Robles Zin: $40. Drink now or hold a few more years. Bottle age has benefited this wine by softening the edges and creating a velvety texture. We love the rich, ripe fruit and multiple layers. A stand out zin in our Paso Robles portfolio! Fragrant nose -- the wine apparently started to come out of its shell this spring....

2003 "Grist Vineyard" Dry Creek Valley Zin: $46. The color is as bright as the flavors which include red fruits, roses and candied berries. More than the aromas, however, it is the texture of this wine that makes it delicious -- clean, refreshing and straight forward demonstrating balance and finesse.

2002 "Dusi Vineyard" Paso Robles Zin. $48. Dusie Vineyard offers up huge aromatics from dark berry fruit to baking spices. ON the palate, it is complex and ripe with firm acidity and plenty of tannin.

2002 "White Coat" San Luis Obispo County Rhone Style Blend: $35. This blend of Roussane, Marsanne and Viognier has a seductive nose with nuances of honeysuckle and melon. Flavors of stone fruits mingle with notes of citrus, almond and honey. It finishes with crisp, clean grapefruit. Softly yummy.

Proof of the pudding? Among the wines tasted, bout was the 2002 "White Coat" San Luis Obispo County Rhone Style Blend. We also bought the 2002 "Tofanelli Vineyard" Napa Valley Charbono ($32) and the 2002 "Hayne Vineyard" Napa Valley Petitie Syrah ($75). Here are the winery's tasting notes for the latter two:

2002 "Tofanelli Vineyard" Napa Valley Charbono: AKA "Purple Haze" this superdark wine has aromas of pepper, tar and concentrated grape and blueberry fruit with interesting floral and spice notes.

2002 "Hayne Vineyard" Napa Valley Petitie Syrah: Inky dark and chewy describes this wine. Wonderful chocolate and floral aromas can be found intertwined between blueberry and spice. The wine is rounc, rich and thick and the tannins are seamlessly integrated, making it surprisingly silky. The finish is long, deep and complex, with layered flavors of dark fruits, spice and classic Petite Syrah meatiness.

$20 GETS YOU GOLD, LITERALLY!

2005-08-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

Last night, we had dinner at Mustard's with Seth, one of the hubby's partners who was visiting from New York. We naturally brought over wines from the cellar, and had anticipated bringing over a bottle of the 2002 Batard-Montrachet Boillot to start. A few hours earlier, however, we were in the local photo/frame store developing some photos of our beloved German Shepherds Achilles and Gabriela; there, we bumped into Jason Woodbridge, proprietor of impressive One Hundred Acres vineyard.

Jason tells us of one of his new projects, GOLD, which was just released this year. This is a chardonnay blended with other varietals in Australia; Jason wouldn't identify the mix as the blend is "proprietary" information but it was easy enough later to taste the viognier in the glass. Anyway, Jason was also developing some photos and he showed us the very elegantly designed bottle, and added that it was available at the St. Helena Wine Center which is a few feet away from the photo frame store. So, Tom and I went over and picked up a couple of bottles to taste.

Here's the thing -- it's $20; Jason said he's doing this primarily for fun and not to make money and it shows since that packaging -- embossed white paper labels -- is worth more than $20 to admire. And why is it called "GOLD"? Check this out -- there are genuine 24-karat gold flakes shimmering through the wine. Well! We quickly replaced the dinner white, even if it's Batard-Montrachet, for one of the GOLD bottles -- I wanted to know what it was like to sip, literally, gold.

As it turns out, I couldn't detect a taste associated with those gold flakes though Tom said he felt their grit against his teeth...but the wine itself was a very enjoyable experience which didn't make us begrudge the curiosity that made us defer the Batard-Montrachet.

Tasting notes: A yummy combination of melon and citrus. Very nice acid and a good balance between fruit and acidity. Pleasurable, with a slightly lingering finish that makes it a great summer white. Clearly meant to be enjoyed, not stored.

It's a great story for the price: in addition to everything else, it adds adds bling bling to your poop. (Heee!) Anyway, this is GOLD's first year and Jason says there were 2,000 cases brought into the U.S., with 8,000 cases left in Australia. Over time, though, they hope to increase production of this "table wine" to the 75-80,000 case range. But mayhaps you heard about it here first...?

2003 BODEGAS OLIVARES ALTOS DE LA HOYA

2005-07-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

Jim Ryals writes to note:

2003 BODEGAS OLIVARES ALTOS DE LA HOYA
A big wine, lush with fruit and coffee flavors. I was a little disappointed in this wine only because it held the promise of opening up and becoming even better, which it did not. However, for the price ($8.99 at Wine Exchange, $9.99 elsewhere) it is a real bargain.

LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK, WINES

2005-07-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

Sandy and Barbara McIntosh sacrificed to provide this report on Long Island, N.Y. wines!

Twenty-five years ago an honest assessment of wines produced on Long Island would be that, while promising, they embodied the pungent taste and fragrance of potatoes. This is logical since the grapes are grown on former potato fields. Despite an unpromising start, the Long Island wine industry has matured from one small vineyard to 3,000 acres of vines and over thirty wineries that produce wine they boast are world-class.

There are two good reasons to wish the success of Long Island vineyards. The first has to do with climate. The island extends 120 miles into the Atlantic Ocean, which allows the grapes to grow in the mitigating maritime weather familiar to French wineries and, perhaps, to those in Sonoma County. The second has to do with the much-less sexy subject of real estate.

Long Island potatoes used to compete favorably with the Idaho variety. However, the forces that encourage supermarkets to feature one brand over another pushed out the Island’s spuds. Farmers were going into bankruptcy and looking to sell land that their families had worked for generations. The sale of land from one farmer to another commands a greatly reduced price than land sold to a housing developer. Thus, farms began to disappear, and the idyllic Hamptons became the crowded mish-mash of shouting, honking, pissed-off urbanites-on-holiday that it now is. Luckily, to stem this horror, the idea that good wine could be grown took hold. Vineyard land sells for a premium, but apparently produces enough income to support those who desire to make wine.

Having said that, I wish to report that, though a Long Islander, I haven’t kept up with the wines of the region for several years. Thus, at great personal expense and sacrifice on behalf of this blog, and following the knowledgeable recommendations of my friends at Pop’s Wines & Spirits in Island Park, I bought three bottles of what the management insisted was the state of the art of Long Island winemaking. (I was offered a choice of Rieslings, supposedly terrific, but turned them down because I dislike sweet wines.) Those I bought were the Pindar 1998 Mythology Meritage Red Table Wine, the 2000 Pindar Merlot Reserve, and the 2002 Chardonnay bottled by Macari.

And what did Barbara and I find, when we finally got the opportunity to try them? Really genuine surprises! After discovering that our new Thai/Chinese/Japanese fusion restaurant we’d been notified about through their menu in our post box had never opened, we cooked a couple filet mignons, some creamed spinach and some rosemary roasted potatoes we picked up in the local King’s supermarket—a rich but blank palate accompaniment for wines.

The Pindar Mythology is a complex Bordeaux blend from a vintage year of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. It is deeply and wonderfully fruity. Is it worth $35.00? Well, perhaps $25.00. It is, in fact, a terrific wine. The kind you want to muse over.

The Pindar 2000 Merlot is a very good wine, with complex flavors of Black Cherry, Black Plum and spice. This is a good buy at about 20 bucks.

The Macari Chardonnay is also a notable Chardonnay, with a mellow, rather than sharp Chardonnay taste, as some other Long Island Chardonnays have exhibited.

Barbara and I were very happy with the subtlety and robustness of these wines—and, moreover, very proud that Long Island wines have finally allowed us to enjoy our potatoes in their natural form, rather than in our wine.

BORDEAUX RULES AT BARBECUE...UNTIL LONG VINEYARDS RAISES ITS LOVELY HEAD!

2005-07-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

From DAVID:

THE RIDICULOUS AND THE SUBLIME

A few Saturdays ago a friend invited me to a backyard barbecue - Salmon - Grilled vegetables. Really good. The raison d'etre was that one of the guests decided to bring a '78 Chateau Palmer. I was asked to bring a good red. I did not want to bring a Bordeaux because I did not want to compete. So I decided to bring a 1991 Beringer Reserve cab -- different style, different venue, but high quality.

These were the wines:

1. Charles Shaw Sauvignon Blanc. (Yes, Two-Buck Chuck!!) I didn't bother.
2. 2003 Conundrum. Not bad, - different from any other vintage I ever tasted, but that's the idea.
3. 1978 Palmer - A wonderful, sophisticated, complex and elegant wine at it's peak. It won't go downhill tomorrow, but no need to wait.
4. 1991 Beringer Reserve - More full-bodied and one dimensional than the Palmer, but elegant. Not a "fruit bomb."

We agreed in retrospect that it was correct to have the Palmer first - because if it had been the other way around, the subtleties might have been missed after the more opulent Beringer. But no doubt, Bordeaux RULES.

4. For a finish, I brought a 2000 Long Vineyards Late Harvest Riesling - Possibly the wine of the evening - and the competition was clearly stiff. This is one Napa dessert wine wine that has the acidity to back up the fruit. The woman who brought the Palmer wouldn't let go of the bottle.

Cheers -DAVID

2002 MICHAEL THOMAS SYRAH

2005-07-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

We tried a glass of this wine because our waiter today for lunch (at Hurley's Restaurant -- see prior post) happened to be the "Michael" in the artisan wine maker Michael Thomas. He and his partner make about 100 cases of wine. We first began talking about his background when I noticed the bandage around his left hand, which apparently occured during an accident as he was covering his bottles with hot wax. Anyway, it's always nice to see people live out their dreams in winemaking, and so decided to taste his syrah. The following wine tasting notes are from Tom:

2002 Michael Thomas Syrah. Nose of black plum, leather, ripe and roasted fruit, a nuance of oak. Medium body. In the mouth: black fruit, leather, good glycerin, nice finish, slightly bitter tannins. Light in mid palate. Enjoyable, but would be great if there was an extra layer of concentration and slightly sweeter tannings. Would rate it a "B-" which means that it's also over-priced at its $32 Retail price.

HURLEY'S RESTAURANT HOUSE CHARDONNAY

2005-07-24T15:15:00.000-07:00

From Eileen:
I don't usually go around rating a restaurant's house wine. But the chardonnay at Hurley's Restaurant is arguably the best house chard I've ever tasted. Hints of pear, green apple, citrust, lemon....a light to medium body, slightly malo, and slightly green (acidity). Well-balanced despite a touch of biterness at the end of the finish. Excellent house chard at $5-$6 a glass (the former priced when having the "Vintner's Lunch" special). It was also served at the perfect temperature (the first time I ever recall saying that about any one's "house" wine).

This was my first visit to Hurley's Restaurant & Bar, 6518 Washington, in Yountville. They apparently have daily "Vintner's Lunch" specials which, at $15 a meal, is arguably the best fine bargain in Napa Valley. Today, that lunch was two-courses. You could choose between a first course of either a soup of Asian pear and curry or goat cheese-stuffed squash blossoms, and between a second course of a Mediterranean fish stew or steak with truffle-infused mashed potatoes and yellow and green beans. A BARGAIN.

MONTEVINA ZINFANDEL PORT

2005-07-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

SANDY MCINTOSH writes in:

The Atlantic Beach Club is a private club on the ocean at Atlantic Beach, New York. Their wine tasting dinners are extremely popular and difficult to attend because the chef limits the number of diners each time to 50. After several attempts, we finally made it to a table last Thursday. Featured wines that night were from Montevina winery, which is located in Plymouth, in the Shenandoah Valley of Amador County, CA. Their wines on offer—the Nebbiolo Rosito, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Trinchero Merlot among them—were quite good, but not spectacular.

However, the wine that interested me most was their dessert wine, a Zinfandel Port. This one had aromas of black berry, chocolate and orange, and, thus, was quite unlike any European Port I’d ever tried. It is a fortified wine, a defining attribute of any Port, so I suppose they can call it Port, but that’s really a misnomer. Since I’m not much of a Port fan, I would have passed this one by at our local wine shop but might have tried a bottle had it been given a name more evocative of what it actually is: a dessert wine with depth and complexity, attractive on its own merits.

The port was paired well, by the way, with "Ebony and Ivory--New York Cheesecake and Chocolate Mousse covered in Chocolate Ganache." The rest of the menu included cracked lobster tail in a Remoulade sauce, Osso Bucco, swordfish, Mesculan salad with raspberries and Mandarin oranges with a raspberry orange vinaigrette.

*****

Good to hear from Sandy, also a stellar chef and poet who has written about wines in his poems, such as in this below from his new book The After-Death History of My Mother (Marsh Hawk Press, 2005):

According To My Mother (4)

My mother said: "I like this Paisano.
It's good, sour, like Hungarian wine."
I was after information. I refilled her glass to the brim.
"Why didn't you let me meet your relatives?"
I had been to Europe several times
but she'd always refused to tell me where they lived.
"You wouldn't have liked them. They were poor."

Halfway through the bottle I got the courage
to ask about her marriage to the mysterious man in Cincinnati.
"We were so young…" she began, and then nothing.

I refilled her glass. And then glass after glass.
In the end she started talking,
but by morning I'd forgotten it all.

"Say again what happened in Cincinnati," I begged.
She stared at me. "No," she answered.
"We were young and poor.
You wouldn't understand."

THE 2003 DUTCH HENRY ZINFANDEL

2005-07-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

from Rutherford, Napa Valley grapes is, technically, not yet released. But we had a previoooo tasting over lunch at the winery, and it's worth getting. $38.00. Spicy and intense. Blueberry, spice and slightly toasted oak. Yum. Check out the Dutch Henry website and join their Wine Club for one of Napa Valley's greatest relative secrets.

FROM MY FIRST VISIT TO "SAN FRANCISCO'S ULTIMATE WINE BAR"

2005-07-16T01:35:00.000-07:00

What a great idea! VinoVenue (686 Mission Street, San Franciso) has set up one of the most accommodating wine-tasting bars I've ever visited. You can get 1-oz. tastings of over a hundred wines from various tasting stations grouped around themes, whether it's the varietals themselves or "adventure" as more difficult-to-find-wines. If you like a wine, you can buy a fuller glass than the 1-oz. sip and/or a bottle right then and there. Which also means you can pick up a wine you know you like for dinner elsewhere (rather than navigating through that restaurant's wine list) or to bring to a party!

The location, while (I think) not generating as much traffic as, say, a bar on Fillmore could, is near SF Moma and Yerba Buena Center, which actually means that this is a nice way, too, to meet someone for wine drinks prior to cathcing shows at such venues.

Anyway, Tom and I have been meaning to visit here for a while and finally did. From our first visit, here are some brief thoughts -- these are all decent food wines (though wouldn't suggest bothering with the Le Bastide), notwithstanding some critical pickiness below:

2003 O'Brien "Seduction" Meritage, Napa Valley
$27. Good, with rich Napa fruit and good tannin. But a harsh finish.

2003 Francis Tannahill Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon
$34. "Aromas of blackberry, violet, smoke and spice give way to a long rich finish," according to its placard's description. Agree -- except that it's lighter-bodied than what I would have desired.

2001 Fort Ross Reserve Pinot Noir, Sonoma
$__ (sorry; forgot to note price but probably not aboe $30s range). Good nose -- strawberry, nutmeg and clove. Similar flavors. Possesses the richness one hopes for from a Pinot noir. But it's a little forward and narrow and tart. Ultimately, good but without that desired "peacock's tail".

2003 Le Bastide de St. Vincent Cotes-du-Rhone
$___ (sorry again). Nice nose but not balanced. Light fruit (I wouldn't bother following up on this....)

2002 Larkmead Merlot Napa Valley
$40 ('twould be a better buy at $30, given price comparisons with others in that price range, e.g. Behrens & Hitchcock wines are fabulous below $40/bottle). Nose gets cherry, licorice, leather and fruit. Dark ruby color. Nicely intense -- recommend really swirling in glass or to decant first. (78% merlot, 12% cabernet, 6% cabernet frank and 4% petite verdot.)

2002 De Toren Fusion V Meritage, Stallenbach, South Africa
$35. A nicely unusual Meritage. Soft fruit. It might be a bit too earthy but not really in a bothersome way. (60% cab, 14% merlot, 14% malbec, 6% cab frank, 4% petite verdot.)

BY POPULAR REQUEST

2005-07-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

among a particular wine-imbibing crowd, I am starting this blog to present reviews of selected tastings of wine. Some of these same yahoos, I mean, oenophiles will also insist on posting guest commentary as regards their wine-induced opinions. Most if not all posts are expected to be writ whilst author is imbibing or intoxicated -- let the wine and whining begin.