2006 Seven Deadly Zins

Still a pretty decent wine, but the '06 just didn't live up to previous vintages. Great wine for the price, and if you know nothing about wine this is still a great pick to take to dinners, parties, etc.



I do have it on good authority that the most recent vintage of the Earthquake Zin is a better pick then the Seven Deadly.

Another Smörgåsbord of Wine Porn

In no particular order:



I found a bunch of this 2000 Rosemount Hill of Gold Shiraz in a local wine store. I'm not sure what the current release is, but this one is a few years old. If you have this wine, drink now. It will not be getting any better. It is brown around the edges and incredibly pungent. It is a decent wine, if you're feeling adventurous. I picked this up a few months ago for $20.



Next we have the 2004 Matthews Claret. A great Washington wine, good for all occasions. I enjoyed it quite a bit.



I have nothing good to say about the 2004 BV Napa Valley Merlot, so I will say nothing.



The 2004 PlumpJack St. Helena Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon is a great wine. Very different from the more recent PlumpJack vintages, but the oak has mellowed quite a bit and the flavors are much more integrated than when it was young. A great wine, but a bit on the expensive side at $50.



The 2005 Scabi, in addition to having one of the most visually appealing wine labels in my collection, is also a great drop! I've only found it through Garagiste the one time I got it, but I would recommend it to anyone if you can find it.



Last but not least in anyway is the 2006 Justin Savant, their Cab/Syrah blend. It's a great wine, but not as spectacular as I had hoped. Only available through their wine club (or the right local Bay area store, as I found), this wine is about $50. And because Justin always has lots of useful information on the back label, the back of the bottle:

2006 Rombauer Zinfandel

As good as it ever was.



If you liked previous vintages, you'll like this one too.



A great wine for the price ($25).

a whole lot of Justin

I just got another shipment from Justin so I keep finding excuses to open them.



We start with the 2006 Justin Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a special one for me because I have never had it before. Indeed, this is the first time I have got a shipment of it. It was an inky purple wine (which I like), and full of oaky fruit (which I also like). This is a great wine, but at $45 it just is not as thrilling as some other California Cabs in that price range. The wine club price of $36, however, makes it a very reliable drinker, and a good deal.



Next we have the 2006 Justification, the 63% Cab, 37% Merlot blend. I used to say the Isosceles was my favorite wine, but now I just can not make up my mind between the Justification and the Isosceles. Really, these are where Justin earns all my respect. Their Cab, their Syrah, their whites--all good solid wines, and alone they would make a respectable line. But these blends! This is where Justin really shines. I opened this on election night to celebrate.



Third was the 2006 Justin Syrah. I could smell the pepper and taste the fruit, the cassis, and the oak. This is a great Syrah--not as good as the 2002 Reserve Syrah, but still a nice bottle. Certainly it impressed my guests who got to drink some.



Lastly we opened a bottle of the 2007 Viognier. Not a lot to say about it. If I have to drink white, I like to drink Viognier. I would drink this one again. It was light and crisp, not syrupy-sweet.

2005 Lewis Alec's Blend Napa Valley

Lewis doesn't need me to tell you how good their wine is. This wine was great. Fantastic. Too expensive for me to add to my list, but it made a great gift for which I am very thankful.



Sara and I drank this at home with a good, home-cooked meal. It really made my night. I love cab-syrah blends, and this is one to rival some of my favorite Australians. If you want the details, here's the reverse of the bottle.



If you've not had it, this is a great California wine to try on a special occasion.

2005 Baer Ursa

This was a gift, and I quite enjoyed it. You'll probably enjoy it to. A great little find from Washington state.

how to uncork a bottle of wine

First you need the proper equipment. There are people who open bottles of wine everyday for a living. These people are called waiters. There is a tool called the waiter's key. This is not a coincidence. Proper ones look like this:



The thing on the left is a foil cutter. You can get by without one, but they're very cheap and make your life a bit easier. If you don't have one, you must use the little "knife" on the back of the waiter's key.

The important thing is to get a waiter's key that has the hinge. To do it properly you have to have the two stages. See the orange arrow.

Use the foil cutter to remove the foil. One twist while pressing inward and it should come right off cleanly.




Next open up the waiter's key and insert the corkscrew. You do not want to push the tip directly into the center. Instead, you want to do it slightly off-center so that the center of the corkscrew spiral is aligned with the center of the cork itself.



The next part is the part that so many wine-opening gadgets get wrong. You want to twist the corkscrew down far enough into the cork so that you can maximize the volume of cork you exert force on while pulling it out. However it is of utmost importance that you do not puncture the bottom of the cork. Things like The Rabbit and counter-mounted cork extracting machines almost universally puncture the bottom of the cork. Those weird cork extractors that have the two arms that go up while you screw the thing downward are also notorious for doing this--they can't function properly without breaking the bottom of the cork. If you break the bottom of the cork, depending on the age and composition of the cork, you most likely end up with bits of cork floating in the wine. Which nobody likes.

With the waiter's key you generally want to leave about a full twist above the top of the cork. Once you are at the proper depth, put the first stage of the metal arm on the rim of the bottle and make sure the hinge is bent inward.



Then you simply left the lever while holding the metal arm in place with your free hand.



When the cork cannot be pulled further, move the hinge so that it is bent outward and put the second stage of the metal arm on the rim.



Pull upward on the lever one more time and the cork should slide right out with no pulling or problems.



At this point you remove the cork from the cork screw, make sure the bottom of the cork is wet by touching it with your finger and smell the wine in the bottle. If the cork is dry and the wine smells like socks and nasty, find another bottle. Otherwise, drink and enjoy.

If at any point the cork doesn't move easily, jiggle the lever up and down or give the screw another bit of a twist and try again. Basically approach it as you would any stuck item by trying to loosen it by applying forces in different places until it comes unstuck.

2004 Gaja Ca'marcanda Promis

I have quite a backlog of wines to blog about. There are several factors that have caused this. Things have been incredibly busy at work shipping new versions of the product; Sara got a new job and is working two jobs while she transitions to the new place; Sara's parents were in town for a week staying with us, so I did a lot of wine-drinking but zero wine-blogging. Also, I sometimes forget to post. But I always remember to get the photo. Here is a glimpse of things to come:



But those guys are at the end of the queue. Today's post is about a wine further back in my backlog, the 2004 Gaja Ca'marcanda Promis.



I reviewed this wine a year and a half ago, but that was before blogger made it easy to upload photos. My opinion of it has not changed much, but it has mellowed out quite a bit. We decanted it and had it with pasta, and it was just a great, easy-drinking wine that tasted the way medium-bodied Italians should.

The Promis is one of the wines that I just buy a half case of on release every year and keep on hand to open when we have people over for dinner. It's a great wine to which everyone should consider subscribing, though at ~$35-$40, it can be pricey. It is the price you pay for consistency and quality in Italian wines.

2004 Chateau Vieux Chevrol

Not as good as I had hoped, but a very pretty bottle.

Dinner with The Family

Sara's Aunt, Uncle and Cousin were in the area and they stopped in Palo Alto to visit us for a day. They were kind enough to take us to dinner. That, combined with Sara's Uncle's love of wine and extensive wine knowledge inspired me to pull out a bottle that I expected he (a) had never heard of and (b) would love.



The 2004 Mith is a stunning wine, one of the best Washington wines I have ever had. Sara described it as "like drinking candy." I'm sure that will evoke different images for different people, but it is not inaccurate. The wine has no hint of alcohol in the taste but has plenty of beautiful yet subtle fruit.

Of course, since we went to an Italian restaurant, Sara's Uncle also wanted to try one of the wines off their list. He chose a 2004 Amarone.



I'm not an expert on Amarone, in fact, this was only the second one I have ever had, but I enjoyed it. It was sort of a brownish color, compared to the vivid purple of the Mith. It has a very unique taste, not unlike a nutty-raisiny taste. It was a bit hot, but went nicely with the food. I couldn't finish my glass though, because I had too much to drink and too much rich food by that point.

Party Wine

A few weeks ago we had a sort of house-warming party. Sara BBQ'd some ribs, made some other dishes, and invited my new coworkers over for dinner. I ducked into the closet and came out with the following.



The 2004 Chester-Kidder, a merlot. A good merlot, but not really my style of wine. It's smooth and drinkable, but does not have the nice fruity flavor I tend to go for.

The 2005 Portteus Zinfandel, of which I can not say enough good things. Have you joined their wine club yet? Why not?! This is a Washington Zin that puts a lot of California wines in their place. Think of it as Turley that you can actually get a hold of. Though I hear the 2006 is a very different sort of Zin. I am looking forward to trying it.

The 2002 Moulin-St. Georges, my stand-by Bordeaux. I got a lot of this vintage from Garagiste at a ridiculously low price. I love to pull it out for guests.

The 2006 Mark Ryan The Dissident. There are two things I believe to be true about Mark Ryan. One, he is a great wine maker. Two, his wines are over-priced. This particular bottle was a gift, so the second theorem is rendered moot. The wine is billed as a "red table wine," which is about right. It was a decent enough drinker, though honestly I think I only had a small taste of it. It was a bright and fruity wine. If you like Mark Ryan's other wines, this one will please you. Though I think for the price, you can do better.



I will end this post with a picture of the awesome coconut cakes that Sara made, and a promise of more posts to follow soon.

2006 Turley Old Vines Zinfandel

I love California Zinfandel, and I love Turley. And, of course, Turley will always have a special place in my heart.



On my trip to Seattle I was lucky enough to come by four bottles of the 2006 Old Vines Zinfandel and so I figured we should open one up for the family to try before I bring them to California and cellar them.

As always, the Turley did not disappoint; indeed, this is the best wine that $35 can buy. The wine is full of peppery spice and complex structured berry fruit flavors. It smells great and is a bit young but eminently drinkable.



We had it with salami, fruit and cheese as we sat on the back porch over looking Puget Sound. It was quite nice.

2005 Cougar Crest Cabernet Franc

There is nothing like sipping a well made, Washington grown, Cabernet Franc outside on the deck of a not-quite-completed house overlooking the Puget Sound. This 2005 Cougar Crest Cabernet Franc came courtesy of Sara's uncle Chris.



The 2005 did not have as much vanilla as the 2004, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who you ask. I like the vanilla flavor that certain oak barrels will impart. Chris though it had a bit too much oak influence. Either way, we both agreed this was a nice wine to drink. If you like other Washington wines, you will like this one.

Wine Spectator gave this 93pts, and I think that is pretty fair. This pushed the price up a bit into the low to mid $30 range, but everything seems to be getting more expensive. The wine is very fruit-forward and smooth. My personal feeling is that Cougar Crest is one of the better Washington wineries and their entire line bears tasting, but I always seem to like the Cab Franc the best.

2006 Chateau Montelena Potter Valley Riesling

Sara's father bought this from the winery on our last Napa trip. I think it was around $14.



The wine was very yellow with fruit and floral notes. It was dry for a riesling, but still very nice to drink. Today it is supposed to top 100 degrees again here in the Bay Area, so if you have some in the fridge, now would be the time to pull it out and drink it.

2004 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon

This was my treat to myself. I had not tasted the 2004 Bin 707 yet, but I had fond memories of the 2002 and I wanted to see how this one was going to turn out.



The 2004 is not as luxuriant as the 2002 was. The 2004 has the dark, full bodied color and the wonderful pungent smell, but the flavor was a bit dull. I think the wine is very young and the various components will integrate better with a bit of time. The wine was short on the palate, with bits of dark fruit. It was smooth and supple, but not mind blowing.

While I was in Seattle I also managed to score a few bottles of the 2005, so I have something to look forward to in this department. I hear it is the best vintage ever.

birthday smorgasbord

The day of the event we had a pretty good line-up, as you can see for yourself:



Some quick notes on each:

The 2001 Betz Pere de Famille Cabernet Sauvignon is probably the star of this bunch. This is a great wine with fruit and veggie notes, acidity and tannins that are a bit rough but are well structured to create a great drinking wine.

The 2002 Red Diamond Shiraz is very similar to the 2001 which I already reviewed. This is still the best wine I have found for under $10.

Second place goes to the 2005 Portteus Zinfandel, which I can never get enough of.

I do not think we got around to opening the Vina Robles cab.

I am not a huge fan of 2006 the ghost of 413 syrah. The name is clever, and the wine is drinkable enough. But if you are looking for value syrah, you can do a lot better than this for $15. Look to Australia.

Still more wines from the Seattle trip to come. Stay tuned.

2005 Rombauer Zinfandel

Just got back from a road trip to Seattle. Birthdays were involved, so lots of wine was consumed. I will be dealing with them in approximately the order in which they were drank.

The Rombauer Zin will always have a special place in my heart because it is one of the first wines I tried where I actually began to understand the differences between wines, and what makes a really great wine. The 2001 was our house wine when I lived with Raph. But I am not going into that story now.



Anyway, my father-in-law opened this for us the night we got into town to have before and with dinner. It is a great wine and I still think it represents a good value ($27) for your average daily-drinker. It is pleasantly fruity and smooth, and medium bodied. Always good to have a few bottles around for unexpected dinner parties and such. It is a drink-now wine, so no need to be stingy with it or worry about aging it.

2005 Marquis Phillips Shiraz 9

I picked this up from Seattle Wine Co for about $35. Robert Parker gave it 96-98pts, and you just do not find those wines for that price these days. So I snatched some up. I am glad I did.



It was a real deep, rich, shiraz. Lots of blackberry and some toasty oakiness up front. Overall a great wine that I really enjoyed drinking over the course of three days. It held up well in the fridge even, with just the cork pushed back in.

2003 Stella's Garden Lost Highway Shiraz

So, I was in Vegas at this restaurant. The first thing I noticed is their wine markup is about 4x the normal price of a bottle. Which is ridiculous. But I did not follow my own advice and bring my own bottle, so I was stuck. Luckily we were splitting the tab 8 ways.

The second thing I noticed was they had the 2000 Stella's Garden Lost Highway Shiraz on the menu. The 2004 was stupendous, so I figured lets have a go at one with some age on it. Of course, they brought me a 2003. Another thing I hate is restaurants who do not update their frickin' wine list. But, still, I will take a 2003. So they open it and decant it and add $136 to the bill. Bastards.



Anyway, the wine was very good. It was not that dark, midnight-satin, inky color the 2004 was. It was still a nice, full bodied Shiraz, but much less remarkable than the 2004. The '03 had nice color and was pretty smooth for a 15% wine. Everyone at the table, even non-drinkers and non-wine drinkers all liked the bottle. There was good dark fruit and just a hint of spice.

2002 Moulin-St. Georges

No need for me to type a full review again, but I am just going to say that it has been very consistent from bottle to bottle.



And here is a picture.

2003 Fairview JakkalsFontein Shiraz

As a Shiraz purist and having lived in close proximity to a fellow from down under, I get twitchy when people outside of Australia call their wine shiraz. Furthermore, my general preferences for wine regions have always been California and Washington, France and Italy, and Australia. However, like all oenophiles, I am always searching for a good deal on a spectacular wine. Or even a notable wine. Well, at least a drinkable wine.

I do not remember actually ordering this wine, but I did because I have the e-mail to prove it. It must have been an impulse buy. It was $20 from Garagiste.



This wine was hot, running at 15% by volume. Sara and I were quite sloppy after drinking it. We paired it with Mac and Cheese, which does not really soak up any alcohol. We both enjoyed the taste, and as you can see from the photo above, had a good time. And neither of us had head-aches the next day.

The wine itself was not like an Aussie shiraz. At least not the ones I typically buy. The wine was lighter, more medium bodied, and a sort of ruby color. There was no sediment to speak of. It was all bright fruit and supple tannins. Despite being 15%, it did not burn or have a bad finish. It seems like if I had to put it on a spectrum it would be right between your older, brighter Aussie shirazes and some of the California style zinfandels (the peppery ones, not the velvety ones).

If this is a good example of South African terroir, I think we are all going to have to take them very seriously. I highly recommend this one.

2005 Justin Justification

Sara's parents came to visit us in Palo Alto. Sara made a cassoulet the first night they were here (which was excellent) and I wanted to open a nicer bottle to go along with it. You can see for yourself in the picture below that we enjoyed the wine.



The wine is a great blend of 64% Cabernet Franc and 36% Merlot. The wine was still young, with the some pretty recognizable vanilla flavors in it that will fade over time. The tannins were tame and it wasn't acidic at all; the wine was smooth and complex with a fairly short finish. It is a good drinking wine that goes great with home cooking. Now I can not decide if I like it or Isosceles better.

If that is the only difficult decision I have to make, I guess things are going pretty well.

1989 Jordan Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

My sister graduated from college on Saturday (congrats Jen!) so I flew back to St. Louis for the ceremony and the party. While I was there I had to stop by Meshuggah Coffee to get the best cup in town. Besides the incredible coffee, the most interesting people in town hang out there too. I ran into Blake Ashby. He was on his way to Riddles wine bar for dinner. I decided to tag along and inspect the wine list. I grew up in St. Louis, but I had never been to Riddles since I was not 21. And I would not have appreciated it anyway.



The great thing about wandering into a Wine Bar in the Midwest is you never know what you are going to find. The wine list here was impeccable. Not a bad wine on the list. No cheapies, but a really good spread in the price. The '89 Jordan Cab was $85. I am pretty sure on release these days it's around $50, so we are already doing pretty good on the price. Standard restaurant markup on a wine like this is 100% on the West Coast, $20 in Missouri. But this one was 18 years old. Old enough to vote and lovingly cared for. A quick search on-line and I could not find an '89 for less than $100. I would expect it to be about $200 in San Francisco. But it is, as my friend Clif said, all about what the market can bear.

I ordered the wine and a second waiter came to verify that I was actually serious. He brought the bottle out. He looked a bit nervous opening it, and for good reason--he broke the cork. But he decanted and filtered it and the wine came out tasting great. I have not had any other Jordan cabs so I do not have anything to compare it to, but this was a very well integrated wine. The tannins were soft--perfect for a medium bodied, understated wine like this. Flavors of light berry, a hint of some various spices. Baking spices, not pepper. This was a well made wine.

I enjoyed it completely, then had to wander around the loop for a few hours until I could be sure I was okay to drive home.

2005 Union des Vignerons de Saint-Pourcain Domaine de la Croix d'Or

Sheesh, with a name like that, you just know it is going to be good, right?



This wine was tasty. For $12 is was just as good as many $30 frenchy wines I have had. It is a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay. It is a lighter bodied wine, with interesting mineral and earthy tastes. It would be good with poultry or fish.

A little secret: the French know how to make wines out of Pinot Noir. Americans, with the exception of a few places in Oregon, don't seem to quite get it yet.

penfold's releases luxury wines

Good news everyone! The new round of current releases from Penfold's high-end are available as of May 1st.



I do not think I can afford to continue to build my vertical of Grange. Instead, I'm going to sink all that cash into Bin 707, which I rather enjoy drinking. Probably more so than the Grange vintages I have tasted.

2003 Fox Creek JSM

They blended Shiraz and Cabernet Franc. BRILLIANT!



This wine cost $10. I should have bought a whole case. I should have bought two cases. This wine was great. Australia wins. The wine is big, jammy, fruity, Aussie Shiraz. Great wine to go with whatever you're having for dinner.

It did need 24 hours in the fridge after I opened it to come into its fullness, so if you are going to drink it, leave time to let it breathe. Generally you do not need to decant value wines, but this one really needed some time.

2005 SlipStream Fastback Shiraz

Another previously-reviewed wine that I broke into again because I just couldn't resist.



Good stuff.

2004 Domaine de Piaugier

I got some of this from Garagiste. This was my last bottle. It was good. I would drink it again. Here is a picture.



Sorry, that's all I have in me today.

2005 Ridge Geyserville 40th Vintage

Congratulations to Ridge on reaching this milestone. After all the hard work they have put in over the years, the least I could do was celebrate it by drinking it.



Sara and I drank this on a whim one night a few weeks ago. I bought a few bottles from Nabil and I was planning on holding them for awhile, but after we drank the first bottle, we ended up drinking all of them over the next few weeks. It was just so good.

Like all of the Ridge wines I can afford, this is mostly Zinfandel (77%) with other varietals mixed in for structure and taste. It is a full-bodied, rich wine but it's not think and syrupy or overdone. I've found two types of Zinfandel--the mineral, peppery type and the velvitier, more dark-fruit driven type. This is of the later type, with hints of blueberry.

I love Ridge, and I'm going to go visit their winery as soon as I get a free moment. After all, they're just down the road now.

2005 Cor Cellars Momentum

A cozy blend of cab, syrah and cab franc from my favorite wine producing region: Washington.



The 2005 Cor Cellars Momentum is pretty good. It is one of the best $15 drinkers I have found to date. The wine maker was trained in Tuscany but seems to be doing his best work in Washington. It is a very dark wine, but without the heavy, full bodied taste you expect from the color. It is an agile wine, light on its feet but brooding. It tasted like dark fruit with the classic sort of spice and mineral that seems to be the hallmark of the region.

AT&T: overpromising, underdelivering

It took two days longer than I was told it would, but I finally have the Internets at the new apartment. Posting will resume in short order.

moving... again...

Just to keep you apraised, AT&T assures me they will have teh internets turned on in my new apartment on Tuesday. Until then...

2005 Justin Cabernet Sauvignon

Following fast on the 2004 Justin Cab is the 2005 Justin Cabernet Sauvignon.



This is just their basic, entry-level cab. You can find it in many grocery stores as well as fine-wine shops. If you like new world wines (which I do) and you like deep purple California cabs with big fruit and smooth oak (which I do), then one cannot go wrong with this wine. This is the third or fourth vintage I have had and I love it every time. Sara liked it quite a bit as well.

2001 Penfold's St. Henri Shiraz

Yep, I could not stand it anymore. I drank the last of the vintage.



I do not know if Ben has any left, but I do not. It was a mighty fine wine though. It was dark purple, 14.5% but smooth and fruity. It had calmed down a bit since last I tasted it and had a more mineral taste to it than before, just enough to balance the fruit and odd spices. We drank it chilled since I did not feel like waiting for it to get to room temperature, so it started out intensely smooth and as the temperature warmed, so did the taste.

back again

My old cell phone, which I used to take pictures of wines I drank, died. But now I have one of them new-fangled iPhones, and I'm back in a big way. I've been too short on cash to buy new wines, which means I've been dipping into the good stuff in the collection, so stay tuned.

2005 Chateau Boswell Chardonnay

Yes, I know. Another white wine. New job, new zip code... new taste in wine? Not really. I still like the reds. I got this for my wife for St. Valentine's day. Every time we go to napa, we drive by Boswell, since we really like the building. We've never made an appointment to go visit it, however, so we had never actually tasted the wines.

As I was shopping for gifts on the 13th, I wandered into the Oakville Grocery and discovered their wine sale. The 2005 Chateau Boswell Chardonnay was $72 but was on sale for 40% off. And it had a picture of the winery on the label.



This is my new favorite Chardonnay. Aside from the price, this wine was perfect. It was everything I want in a white wine. It had definite notes of pear and buttery-oak, but nothing was over powering. It did not taste like Welche's white grape juice--if it had I probably would have returned it. This wine was a very pleasant and bright wine, but subtle. It was not a sweet wine, but it was drinkable by both Sara and I. It is rare that we finish a bottle of anything these days, but we killed this one.

I should mention we had this with a Cassoulet that Sara made out of lentils, beans from Rancho Gordo and mild Italian sausage. You may not think it would be a white-wine dish, but it worked out surprisingly well.

napa trip report, part two

After St. Clement, we drove all the way to the north end of the valley and had lunch in Calistoga. Calistoga, at night at least, is a bit of a party town. We stopped at The Calistoga Inn and Brewery for lunch. We sat in the bar and watched the Washington-Stanford basketball game while we ate.

The food exceeded my expectations. I had the brunch special which was scrambled eggs with artichoke hearts, peppers, a crab cake and some toast. Crab cakes are sort of like Meatloaf in that they can be used as a gauge by which to judge a restaurant. This was a good crab cake. The rest of the family ordered various things that all looked pretty good as well, mostly in the sandwhich department. Because we had already hit to wineries (and it was just about Noon now), I had coffee instead of beer. Sara had a beer (a wheat of some sort) and she liked it quite a bit.

After lunch, on the advice of the nice woman at St. Clement, we went to Dutch Henry. Neither Sara's dad nor I had heard of this place, so it was with a bit of hesitation we approached the winery. It certainly was not the most grandiose structure in Napa but this is the sort of winery one hopes to find on such expidetions. The tasting was held in the cold amongst the barrels of wine. The guys doing the tasting were also the guys involved in the actual wine making. For $10 we got to taste a range of seven or eight wines (some on the list, a zinfandel they opened even though it wasn't on the list). It was completely unpretentious and every wine was a strong example of it's varietal. One stand out was the Pinot Noir, since neither of us generally like Pinot's but this one was quite enjoyable and drinkable. Sara's dad is always trying to find something to drink with Salmon he catches. The other varietals, the cab, the zin and the blends were all very strong. You can only get them from the winery, but joining their club just might be worth it.

Dutch Henry was the last place we stopped in Napa. We drove back down to the bottom of the valley, cut over to Sonoma, drove through downtown Sonoma but it was raining too hard to really get out and do anything. After a quick jaunt around Sonoma, we headed back south, across the Golden Gate bridge, through the traffic in San Francisco and through the high-winds on 280 to finally arrive back home in Palo Alto.

deal alert: oakville grocery in palo alto

The Oakville Grocery in Palo Alto is closing. Currently their entire selection of wines is 30% or 40% off. They have many heavy hitters including the Chester-Kidder and other Napa Valley wines. There are some great deals, so stop in and get them while you can.

napa trip report, part one

Last Saturday Sara, her parents and I visited Napa Valley. It was a grey, overcast day. The hills around the bay area were covered in fog and we encountered rain off and on all day. Everyone we met kept apologizing for the weather, but then we explained we were Seattle natives and this was actually better weather than what was happening up there. Which seemed to satisfy them.

From Palo Alto it took us less than two hours to get to the City of Napa. We didn't actually stop in the city, but instead drove straight on up the valley to PlumpJack. PlumpJack was our favorite winery last time we visited, so we figured we would introduce Sara's parents to the area by starting there. It was about 10:30 in the morning and the place was fairly crowded. We were able to park in the parking lot without issue. They were tasting two wines, their two newly released wines: the 2005 PlumpJack Reserve Chardonnay and 2005 PlumpJack Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. The cost was $15. Last time we visited it was $10 and we tasted three wines, but this time we got to keep the glass.

The Chardonnay was decent. I'm not a fan of Chardonnay in general, but this one was nice letting the flavor of the grapes come through. A little oak, a little butter, but nothing gross and white-grape-juice tasting. The Cabernet was great, but literally this was the first day it was released, so it was young and tannic. I suspect it will settle down and be just as good as the 2004--if not better. I am not well trained enough to tell.

Since it is so close to PlumpJack, Silver Oak was our next planned stop. However it was incredibly crowded with people parking on the road up to half a mile (or more) away. There was a big white tent in the lot and winery workers directing traffic. We decided their wine couldn't possibly be that good and instead returned to highway 29 and continued north up the Valley.

Eventually we got to St. Clement and I suggested we stop there, as they make great wines. Sara's father and I opted for their "all reds" tasting. For $15 we tasted five or six wines. I wish I had kept notes so I could discuss each of them, but the general gist of it was the 2005 St. Clement Oroppas was a star and the 2002 St. Clement Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon was a frickin' rock-god. The entire line of reds was enjoyable with each one displaying distinct character and excellent wine making. It was certainly worth the $15. The staff was also very friendly and personable, and the winery is in a great old house on a hill with a nice view of the surrounding area.

Stay tuned for Part Two.

2004 Mith

For Sara's birthday, we went to Rosso and Bianco for dinner and I brought along a bottle of the 2004 Mith. The Mith was an extremely limited (less than 100 cases made) and incredibly difficult to get Longshadows wine. I tried very hard to get more, but I was only able to scrape up three when it was released.

The Mith is made by Tom Glase (previously a wine maker at L'Ecole). Now I've never been all that impressed by L'Ecole's cheaper offerings, and I've always thought their higher-end offerings were over priced (meaning I'm just not enough into their style of wines to pay that much for them--YMMV).

However, the Mith is easily the best Longshadows wine I have tasted to date.

The Mith is made using only the highest quality Eastern Washington grapes and it is made in old French Oak, meaning the oak can't cover any defects in the wine. This is a well made wine, pure and simple. It was a smooth, velvety, lucious wine that evoked all the best flavors of California and Washington. I'd pay more for this than the Silver Oak I discussed yesterday. It was just an amazing wine.

Searching the internet shows there is a 2005 Mith about. I've probably missed out, but if you can find some, get it. Even if you don't want it, I'll buy it from you. :)

2003 Silver Oak Alexander Valley

We didn't actually visit Silver Oak on the recent Napa Trip (which I will post about soon), but we did decide to pick up a bottle at the store and have it with dinner. Sara's Dad had never had Silver Oak and we all agreed he should try it at least once.



I was disappointed. The '01 and '02 Alexander Valley were both really wonderful wines. I think this is a case of the vintage just not being as good for the region as previous vintages. It was obviously a quality wine; it just did not blow me away the same way previous vintages did. It was still classic Silver Oak--oaky, smooth, supple. Good fruit, good finish. It is everything one has come to expect from California Cabernet. If you are going to drink it, at $50 the Alexander Valley is still a way better deal than the $100 Napa Valley. If you are laying them down in a collection and building a vertical as an investment, I think the Napa Valley bottles are still a decent investment.

the wine collection has been unpacked

I have completed my move from Washington to California. I have been super busy at work and at the apartment unpacking, but I finally have all the wine out of boxes and back in the fridge or on shelves. Which means I can start tasting and posting again. We had the 2003 Worthy Sophie's Cuvee the other night, and it was awesome. However, three weeks of no drinking have left me quite the light-weight.

Despite this, I'm scheduled to go to Napa this weekend, so stay tuned.

1997 laurent-perrier champagne

I do not know much about Champagne. Usually I ask for Veuve Clicquot and everyone nods approvingly. I am also aware, thanks to popular culture, of Dom Perignon and Cristal. But I have never had either one.

So on New Years Day Sara's father popped the 1997 Laurent-Perrier Champagne and I drank it. It was good. I do not have the adjectives to describe it. Here is a picture though:



It was crisp. Not too sweet, not too dry. Not buttery, not white-grape juice tasting either. It was just a nice, well made, drinkable wine. Tiny bubbles.

2003 DeLoach Zinfandel

The 2003 DeLoach Zinfandel is an $18 wine that you feel just fine paying $36 for at a restaurant (as we did last night). Here is another wonderful, low-light, cell phone photo:



The wine was good value California Zinfandel. It was spicy with hints of the sort of fruit you get with red Zin, berries and grapes, and a little nutty but not blatantly so. After having the main course, which was a butternut squash lasagna with nut paste and assorted vegan ingredients, the wine became much more subdued, almost falling flat in the finish. Wine pairing is an art that still eludes me.

I have not done a lot of exploring of the Russian River Valley, but I keep finding great tasting wines coming from that region, and I think it is deserving of further investigation. My previous try was a white wine.

another milestone

Today my wine blog turns one year old. Fittingly, Dec 31st was the most-viewed day of the entire last year, breaking 100 page views for the first time in a single day (with 102 total page views). Thanks for reading.

a tale of two chianti's

We had an Italian dinner the other night. Sara's father cooked an excellent pasta dish and we each brought a Chianti Classico to go along with it. We ended up with two wines from the same region that were incredibly different. I brought a 2001 Castello di Fonterutoli and he brought a 2003 Frimaio Riserva.

Here is a really terrible picture taken with my cell phone:


The first thing you will notice is the difference in coloration on the corks. This foreshadowed the differences in the wines themselves very well.

The Fonterutoli was a deep wine with great texture. It had a bit of a floral smell and dark fruit taste. The first taste wasn't shocking and the finish was especially protracted, but it tasted great on the tongue and was my favorite of the night. It is aged perfectly for drinking now, and I found it for $25 at Nabil's.

The Frimaio was a much brighter wine. It was more inline with what you would expect from Chianti Classico. Very approachable and great nose. The wine tasted a bit tart after trying the Fonterutoli (I should have tasted them in the other order, but I went chronological instead of by weight). However, after letting the ol' palette air out, it stood on its own. This was in the $20 range too, I believe.

One Chianti per night is almost always good, but two makes for a great night. The food was awesome too.

2004 and 2005 chimney rock cabernet sauvignon

I stopped by Nabil's today to try to get some empty boxes off him, pick up a Chianti Classico and see what he was tasting. I will tell you how the Chianti was tomorrow--in the mean time I wanted to jot down a quick note about the Chimney Rock.

Nabil is officially tasting the 2004 Chimney Rock Cabernet Sauvignon. As I got there before the official tasting began, it was just me, Nabil and the distributor unloading the wines. Well, turns out Nabil accidentally pulled the 2005 Chimney Rock Cabernet Sauvignon that the distributor had got as an advance taster. But, since it was already open, what can you do? So I got to taste both the 2005 and the 2004. Talk about being at the right place at the right time. Since I tasted them in that order, I will tell you my thoughts in that order.

The 2005 Chimney Rock Cabernet was tight. Super tight. It is going to be a great wine once it has some time in the bottle. As it stands now you have to aerate it before drinking it. The wine was smooth and classy, full bodied and wonderful fruity Napa-cab taste.

The 2004 Chimney Rock Cabernet was much more approachable and even more obviously well made. It was very similar to the 2005, just more integrated and ready to drink--though I would still decant it first. Nabil was selling this for just under $50 today. He only had two cases, so if you want some, better get over there quick!

2005 Cor Cellars Momentum

Another entry from Washington, this time Horse Heaven Hills. And another Cab/Syrah blend. Only this time, it is a value wine which I picked up for $17. The 2005 Cor Cellars Momentum hits the sweet spot. It is a great, earthy, full bodied drinkin' wine at a reasonable price. It is a screw-cap, which means you can close it up and put it in the fridge easily to drink over a few days. I give it 3.5 out of 5.0.

Short digression: I am in favor of screw caps for the vary reason I mention above. Sometimes I like to have a glass by myself and don't want to have to finish the whole bottle. I like being able to throw it back in the fridge and not worry about pumping or where did I put the damn cork. It will also free up more cork for higher end wines. When I open an expensive wine, I like the way pulling a cork makes it feel like something special. I realize wine is to be drunk, not worshipped, but I enjoy some ritualization.

napa... it calls to me...

In order to further destroy my liver and life's savings, I'm moving to California. The proximity to Napa, I assure you, is purely coincidentel. Actually I'm changing jobs. The next few weeks will be pretty crazy, so please bear with me as postings may come slower. Thank you.

2004 Chester-Kidder Columbia Valley Red Wine

The Longshadows wines really are some of the best you can get from Washington. They are also, in my opinion, generally over priced. However, they are less overpriced then their Napa brethren. So if you can afford them, buy them; they do not disappoint. Many are also collectables, so get them while you can.

For my father-in-law's birthday, we opened the 2004 Chester-Kidder. It's a $50 wine. It is a well-made and reasonably complex Bordeaux blend with the addition of syrah into the mix as well. It is not some ridiculous tannin-bomb--it is well balanced with good acidity and supple tannins. It is not a fruit-bomb either--in fact, I give it a few marks off for not having much of a flavor at all. This wine seems much more European in its make than most Washington and California wines. It was a deep purple, but the kind that you can see right through. Medium-bodied they call it. It had a fairly good finish and was pleasant enough to drink. However, I would not consider it a showcase wine. This is a food wine. Drink it by itself and you will not remember it much. Drink it with the right food, and I think it will be spectacular. Furthermore, I am going to let it sit in the bottle for another year before opening one again. There is so much going on with the blend, I hope another year will give it a chance to find itself.