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Today is my anniversary and Kipp and I have a babysitter so we are going out tonight. I'll make up for no blog today by posting one for Thursday!! Cheers!
Half bottles of wine are great, at least in principal. They are a perfect way to prevent having to deal with left over wine. I am delighted to find them in restaurants, as it gives me a chance to sample more than one wine through a meal.
All life it seems is a compromise. With half bottles you get great benefits, but there is the inevitable downside. A half bottle of wine is more prone to environmental circumstance. In other words, it goes bad more easily.
I have been in a position of late to try many half bottles in a row (I am temporarily single). These have been bottles of my favorite wines, and I was delighted to find them in 375s. The delight turned to disappointment, repeatedly, as one after the other was in some way less than I expected.
The smaller size means that any heat or vibration damage has a greater impact. It is the inverse of why Magnums are the perfect sized bottles for aging wine. Small bottles also tend to not fit well in wine racks, unless you plan for them in advance.
I am not saying that all half bottles are likely to be bad, far from it. My spate of bad luck can be attributed to the fact that I bought all of the wines from the same place. Whatever ruined the first bottle, probably was responsible for the downfall of the others as well.
I have had better luck in the past, and I am far from swearing off half bottles. I just thought it was important to point out that a bad half bottle or two is no reason to swear off the size in general.
Ask for half bottles in restaurants, let them know you are interested. This will help propagate them in the industry, so if your favorite restaurant doesn't have any half bottles now, perhaps they will in the future.
Wine by the glass in a restaurant is a great concept, but too often poorly implemented. If the bottle has been open too long the wine will be much worse than the little variation a half bottle may be prone to.
Speaking of restaurants, I love starting with a half bottle of Champagne. Then a half bottle of white wine followed by a half bottle of red, and perhaps even a half bottle of dessert wine to finish it off. This is ideal for two, but even for the solo diner 2 or more half bottles can still be ideal. Remember, no one said you have to finish all of the wine! By the way, I send my left over wine to the Chef - the kitchen rarely gets a tip.
This wine is characterized by a yellow-green colour, a fresh citrusy aroma with hints of honey and a complex flowery aftertaste. It’s a semi-dry riesling, dryer than the Slovenian rieslings (such as Laški Riesling for example), but sweeter than those found in Serbia. It is a nice wine to accompany a lighter meal.
This is one of the wines available in Belgrade restaurants in 0.2l bottles, so if you’re a driver among non-wine drinkers (meaning you can’t order a whole bottle of some fine wine) it’s a good chance you’ll be in a position to try it. Do so.
Barry Schuler may know a thing or two about running multi-billion dollar technology companies, but what he really wants to talk about, given the chance, is food and wine. The former CEO of AOL, Schuler often gets credited along with Steve Case (who preceded Schuler as CEO) for the company's success in the late Nineties. But while his colleagues and most of America's top technology executives were returning home at the end of their long days to comfortable suburbs near major metropolitan areas, at the end of the week Schuler was making his way back to Napa, California. Schuler may have been one of the country's top technology executives, but now he spends as much time thinking about wine as he does anything else.
Schuler says that he can remember wanting to live in Napa as early as the age of 18. In addition to dabbling in photography and filmmaking as a teenager, he says, "I was really into cooking. And drinking." His obsession with food and wine, led him to the altar of Alice Waters' restaurant Chez Panisse, which he visited for the first time in 1974 on the pretense of considering a graduate degree at UC Berkeley. Instead of attending his interviews and exploring the campus, however, Schuler dined at Chez Panisse, and drove to Napa, where he spent days wandering around in a daze. "It was like mecca," he says, "like I was hit by a lighting bolt. It truly was amazing. I decided then and there that I had to figure out how to live [in Napa] someday."
By his own account, Schuler spent the next 15 years "chasing French wine" and working out the math that would get him back to the Napa valley. While he wasn't in his own kitchen dreaming of his future Napa estate, Schuler was busy making a name for himself in the emerging world of digital interactive media. He founded an early advertising agency to serve the emerging home and business computing market, then ran one of the first successful Macintosh software companies, and finally ended up founding an interactive design agency called Medior, with several colleagues, including Tracy Strong, who is now his wife.
Schuler finally moved to Napa in 1989, settling closer to the town of Napa than to the centers of culinary and wine activity farther up the valley, because he was attracted to the change he saw underway in and around the city of Napa. "It was a train wreck in those days," says Schuler, but he saw something of a diamond in the rough in the scrabbly area to the east and north of town known as Coombsville. When he finally decided he wanted a bit of land on which he might one day plant some grapes, "mostly just to sell, I was thinking," he says, "I started looking in Coombsville." Good lots were not immediately forthcoming, so Schuler would spend several years poking around the area until in 1998, when someone told him that a 35 acre parcel was due to be sold in the area, and that he might want to take a look at it.
After rounding the shoulder of the hill and seeing the view of a green cow pasture roll out from underneath the mossy shade of oaks all the way to the San Francisco Bay in the distance, Schuler purchased the property on the spot, thinking he'd figure out whether it could grow grapes later.
What Schuler ended up with is an interesting geologic and climatologic anomaly in the region. The hilltop of ash and clay soil is layered thinly on a deep base of round river stones, and sits up higher than most surrounding points in the traditionally cooler region of Napa. This makes the property a little island of heat that misses much of the fog influence that creeps up from neighboring Carneros and the wind patterns that sweep through the rest of the region, which is a pending AVA (American Viticultural Area) under the name Tulocay.
With the help of vineyard consultant Michael Wolf, Bill and Dawnine Dyer, (of Dyer Vineyards) and occasional advice and moral support fromTony Soter (of Etude Wines) the Schulers set about carefully establishing their 22 acre vineyard, still with the idea that they'd sell the grapes, and perhaps make just a tiny bit of wine for themselves. After some struggles, the vineyard began yielding grapes in 2003, and by the time the 2004 grapes were going into bottle, it was clear that the fruit was on track to being exceptional. The folks who had purchased the initial lots of grapes were clamoring for more, and new requests were constantly being made.
"At that point," says Schuler, "we couldn't resist." Barry and Tracy enlisted the Dyers to make them 40 cases of wine from the 2003 harvest, and asked them to become equal partners in the winery. For the name of their project they selected a rephrasing of Medior, the company that had brought them together, and arguably made possible the fulfillment of Barry's teenage dreams. For their label they chose the silhouette of the solitary, ancient oak tree that anchors the center of their vineyards.
Most of Meteor Vineyard's grapes are still sold to select wineries around the valley, but the family holds back enough fruit to make about 700 cases of their estate Cabernet, and about 90 cases of their Special Family Reserve, which represents the best barrels from each vintage.
TASTING NOTES: 2004 Meteor Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Coombsville/Tulocay, Napa Medium to dark garnet in color, this wine has a perky nose of nutty, cherry aromas that are tinged with hints of tobacco and anise. In the mouth its initial impression is of brightness and good acidity, with earthier flavors of tobacco, leather, cherry, and a hint of "stemmy" green wood that doesn't keep the wine from being tasty. Score: around 9. This wine is not commercially available.
2005 Meteor Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Coombsville/Tulocay, Napa Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine bursts from the glass with bright cherry and chocolate aromas that are followed rapidly with sweet tobacco and vanilla scents. In the mouth it is silky, even sexy, on the tongue, with a nice weight to it. The wine is juicy, with acidity that might even be slightly too sharp in comparison to the rest of the beautiful lush cherry and cedar fruits that mingle with pipe tobacco to finish with great length and satisfaction. I would expect this wine to smooth out in the next year or so in the bottle, and continue to improve for several more. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $225.
2005 Meteor Vineyard "Special Family Reserve" Cabernet Sauvignon, Coombsville/Tulocay, Napa Medium to dark garnet in color, this wine smells of tobacco, earth, and cocoa powder. In the mouth it displays a deeper earthy quality than the label's primary release. Nicely balanced flavors of cherry and wet earth, with hints of blue fruit, sit poised on the tongue, nicely balanced for a finish that feels like a leisurely backstroke in a placid pool, as the wine slinks and slips down the palate. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $300.
The 2005 vintage will be available for purchase starting at some point in the next couple of months. Interested parties can sign up for the winery's mailing list on their web site.
I also had the opportunity to taste several clonal selections from different blocks of the vineyard, vintage 2007, that will soon be blended. These samples displayed a broad range of deep, complex fruit that are showing their first incarnations in the wines above. The clone 7 cabernet fruit was classically Cabernet Sauvignon -- cherry with hints of stem tannins. The Clone 4 fruit was deep and earthy, with notes of slate and graphite aromas and spicy flavors of espresso and orange rind. Finally the clone 337 was an impressive, powerful luge-run of cherry fruit that nearly knocked my socks off. There are clearly many good things to come from Meteor.
It's time again for Wine Blogging Wednesday, the online tasting event started by Lenn Thompson of Lenndevours. This month, Wine Blogging Wednesday is hosted by Tim Elliott of Winecast, and his theme is Old World Riesling. Rieslings are great summer wines, with their fresh flavors and typically low alcohol levels, so I have been looking forward to this month's theme for a while now.
The wine that I picked--the 2006 Max Ferd. Richter "Zeppelin"Riesling--certainly qualifies as an "Old World" Riesling. This label has loads of fascinating history behind it. First, Weingut Max Ferd. Richter has been operated by the family for the past three centuries. Second (I love this part), Rieslings from the Mülheimer Sonnenlay vineyard where the grapes for this wine were grown was the wine most often poured on Zeppelin flights during the 1920s and 1930s. That's why even now the bottle has a glorious Art Deco image of a Zeppelin on it. I don't think you can get much more "Old World" than that! The 2006 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter "Zeppelin" Riesling was one of the better lower-price German Rieslings I had lately. ($14.99, domaine547; it looks like they've got the 2007 in stock now) This Riesling was one giant lime fest. There were aromas of apple, honey and lime zest, which were as enticing as the bright golden color. Flavors of fresh squeezed lime juice and lime zest kept it tangy and lively in your mouth. A tiny bit of stoniness in the back of your throat during the finish kept the wine interesting down to the very last drop. Very good QPR.
Like most Rieslings, this was a very drinkable and food-friendly wine that would be best with spicy food or grilled sausages--something with lots of flavor. We had it with an amazing chicken salad that combined honey-mustard dressing with mangoes, cucumbers, red pepper, and greens. The salad had great synergy with the wine. The dressing was made with lime juice and honey mustard which brought out all the lime flavors and aromas. And the honeyed aromas in the wine turned into mango-like flavors you sipped it after a bite of salad. This was a terrific pairing, and really showed you the power of the perfect wine and food pairing.
Thanks to founder Lenn, our host Tim, and to all of the participants who make this a great event every month. See you back here in June when I'll be your host. Stay tuned for an announcement of the theme following Tim's roundup.
Based in Kavadarci, Macedonia, Tikve? is the largest winery not only in Macedonia but also in the whole of south-eastern Europe.
The Tikve? region is a part of Macedonia abounding in natural beauty, with a distinctive habitat and climate, important cultural and historical sites, and a very long tradition of grape growing and wine making.
The Tikve? region occupies the central part of the Republic of Macedonia; it is situated about a hundred kilometres south of Skopje, around the middle section of the River Vardar. The sub-Mediterranean climate is prevalent here, characterized by long, hot summers and mild and rainy winters. Spring is shorter and fresher here, and autumn is longer and warmer.
The ratio between produced red and white wines is 50:50. The most widely grown grape varieties are Smederevka (white) and Krato?ija (red).
The range of produced wines depends on the vintage, but the list of wines they produce as quality wines (a step above table wines) could be wrapped up as:
Reds: Krato?ija, T?ga za Jug, Teran, Alexandria, Merlot, Burgundec, Kavadarka, Cabernet Sauvignon, Vranec and Rose
For the ?Special Selection? wines Tikve? has chosen the highest quality grapes and turned them into their best wines. In the red wine range these are Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Vranec, while in the white wine range these are Chardonnay, Riesling, Temjanika and Traminec. The Special Selection wines come with a distinctive label.
Rocket Science 2004 Proprietary Red $45 Wine Label says: “Son, your 21 years old. It’s time you learned the art of wine tasting.” “I already know how you taste wine,” replied the sure young man. “This wine has an inky, purple hue with a sensational purity, flavors of a blackberry liqueur with a creme de cassis intensity and [...]
Once a bartending necessity that reigned supreme in soda guns the world over, tonic water - and her friends club soda, Coke and 7Up - is fizzling in today?s hipster scene. What?s bubbled to the forefront? Energy drinks, which in a few short years have gone from mini-mart obscurity to VIP status behind the bars of even the hottest, Paris-Hilton-worthy nightclubs and restaurants.
As anyone who?s chugged Gatorade or Lucozade knows, energy drinks are nothing new. They?ve been around since the 1930s, are sold throughout the world and have traditionally enjoyed especially strong popularity in the Far East. (Think Pocari Sweat. Yum.) In their early incarnations, energy drinks were meant to quickly rehydrate the body and to provide energy through carbohydrates in the form of sugar. They were the savior of many exhausted athletes, lethargic kids with the flu and pathetically hungover frat boys.
In the mid-?80s, an Austrian businessman looking to cash in on the energy drink craze in Asia took the concept and gave it a decidedly modern twist. The result was Red Bull, a unique-tasting drink spiked with caffeine and the amino acid taurine, which pumps up the heart rate.
Red Bull?s slick silver mini cans, clever ad campaign and energy-boosting properties made it an instant hit among club-goers and those looking for a quick boost from something other than espresso (or a powdery South American import that might invite a sentence of five to 10). By the late ?90s, Red Bull was available worldwide, had taken up sponsorship of popular new extreme sporting events and was well on its way to becoming a pop culture icon.
Since then, the energy drink market has exploded. New entrants include Rockstar (which contains liver-rejuvenating milk thistle), Monster, Socko, Full Throttle, Hype, Bomba (which comes in four flavors), Roaring Lion, Go Fast, Atomic X and Boo Koo. (The entertainment value alone - ?I?ll have an Effen Boo Koo? - keeps us enthralled.)
Everyone from traditional soft drink marketers to celebs are getting in on the energy drink craze, scrambling to create new concoctions with fresh hype. Rap star Nelly is hoping to grab a piece of the market with his bright green, sweet sour-apple brew PimpJuice, which contains taurine, guarana and multi-vitamins. (No word on whether the nutrient properties of the drink will finally heal the boo-boo that lurks beneath his omnipresent Band-Aid. Or what test group approved of the name PimpJuice.)
Though all energy drinks are unique, they share in common some form of caffeine and sugar as key ingredients. Guarana, a natural source of caffeine, replaces the straight chemical in some brands. What gives energy drinks their rocket boost is the amount of caffeine and sugar they include: studies show energy drinks pack four times the amount of caffeine as soda and as many as 13 teaspoons of sugar in a single bottle.
Energy drinks also get an extra kick from ingredients such as ginseng and vitamins B12, B6, riboflavin and niacin. The most popular addition (and the one that put Red Bull on the energy drink map) is taurine, one of the most abundant amino acids in the body. It functions as a metabolic transmitter, has detoxifying properties and has been shown in studies to be beneficial to cardiovascular functioning. Mix these peace-and-love herbs and vitamins with some cutting-edge nutritional research, and the old standbys caffeine and sugar, and you?ve got yourself a recipe for a go-the-distance, 21st century good time.
Not long after these space age potions hit the shelves, smart consumers realized if energy drinks could keep them going as they burned the midnight oil or blasted through a road trip, they could put a whole new spin on a night of partying. Thus was born Red Bull-vodka. In the late ?90s, European drinkers started a new trend in cocktails by marrying the recently released Red Bull with vodka, creating a mix packing a potent alcohol punch and a lift of herbs and caffeine, and enabling drinkers to get maximum pleasure out of a hard-earned weekend night of raving or pub crawling.
As more energy drinks were born, more cocktails were created. Bars around the world now stock energy drinks as mixing basics and look for innovative blends to create their own signature cocktails. While most drinkers still prefer flavored vodkas such as Stoli Citros or Skyy Melon to add intrigue to their energy drinks, more innovative experiments are being undertaken every day: how about an energy drink/Jagermeister mix? Perhaps a little Johnny Walker Black? (Any carpet fluff you might ingest later will simply add to the...mouthfeel.)
If mixing isn?t your thing, consider an energy/alcoholic drink that comes straight from the bottle. Zygo is a peach-flavored vodka blended with so-called ?functional ingredients? taurine, D-ribose, guarana and yerba mate. Known as the ?morning vodka? with a 35 percent alcohol content, it hits the spot with partiers still pounding the dance floor at dawn. Sparks, a sickly sweet, citrusy concoction with taurine, caffeine, guarana, Siberian ginseng and a 6 percent kick of alcohol, is becoming a popular party alternative, as are MoonShot, a (believe it or not) lightly carbonated, caffeinated beer, and XXL Orange, which packs 8.9 percent vodka, orange juice and caffeine into a curvy plastic bottle. (Frankly, that sounds to us like what a pimp would really be juicing.)
In a culture that?s dancing as fast as it can, it seems energy drink cocktails are the perfect libation for the new millennium. And who knows, tonic and club soda might even make a comeback - thanks to the recently released Hi-Ball Modern Mixers line, which offers classic mixers enhanced by B-vitamins, caffeine, taurine, guarana and ginseng. So grab a can of liquid energy, throw in the spirit of your choice and start channeling Don ?The Magic? Juan. And remember, it takes seven to make a stable.
Black Magic Bomba Energy Drink 1 1/3 oz. vodka 2/3 oz. triple sec 2/3 oz. lime juice
Shake vodka, triple sec and lime juice together. Pour into chilled martini glass. Top with Black Magic Bomba Energy Drink.
Warning: Consume energy drink cocktails in moderation. Caffeine is a primary ingredient in energy drinks and can, when combined with the dehydrating effects of alcohol, lead to feelings of dizziness and faintness. In some cases, sensitivity to caffeine can also raise blood pressure and trigger potentially deadly heart reactions. Drink responsibly.
A recent stopover in LA had me dining with the one and only Dr. Conti. I can safely say that reports of his demise are greatly exaggerated, and that there are still a few jewels left in the cellar. Quite a few. We were joined by the Burghound, always on the scent of the best [...]
Upgraded to 96-100 points Parker: "This offering has been controversial as its price increase ranged between 300-400%, but this is a great terroir, and since the remarkable winemaking team of Nicolas Thienpont and Stephane Derenoncourt took over in 2002, Larcis Ducasse is finally showing its true colors. Located near Pavie, it possesses undeniable potential as demonstrated by the profound 2005. A 3,000-case blend of 78% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon fashioned from yields of 27 hectoliters per hectare, it underwent all of the standard garagiste winemaking techniques. It is not surprising that just about all the famous estates in this neighborhood on the Cote Pavie, including Pavie and Troplong-Mondot, did unbelievably well in 2005. A dark, dense purple color is followed by an extraordinary perfume of roasted herbs, espresso, tapenade, creme de cassis, and sweet kirsch. It is a wine of sheer opulence, extravagant richness, sweet tannin, and an amazingly layered texture as well as length. A blockbuster with superb elegance, finesse, and precision, it represents an exceptional achievement. Kudos to everyone involved for turning out this modern day legend. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2030."
I am anything but a teetotaler. Ask any of my friends if they?ve ever seen me without alcohol in my hand (after 6pm... okay, when i'm awake) and they?ll laugh you silly. Mind you, I am a responsible drinker. I don?t drink and drive (mainly ?cause I don?t have a car) and I don?t get shit-faced to the point I can?t remember my name (that?s what friends are for, right?).
I do, however, enjoy a great mug o? coffee or cup o? tea. That?s why when the press release from Teaposy crossed my desk? okay, it?s really more like an old door on sawhorses, I had to get a sample. Because very few products end up looking or performing as well as the press release boasts.
The Garden Gift set (pictured above) lived up to all expectations and PR boasts. The cute little Socrates cups (every time I hear/read Socrates I remember Bill & Ted?s Excellent Adventure and pronounce it ?so-crates?) are just that, and the tea pots are not only elegant but thoughtfully functional. Granted, the little cups hold about as much tea as I consume in one sip (I solved that prob by drinking directly from the pot), but for a special dinner or meal (or prelude to sex) this is the perfect tea set to bring out.
Wait, there?s more. If you really wanna WOW your guest(s), drop a Teaposy ?Blooming Tea? into your pot and watch a beautiful blossom unfold before your eyes. There are eight blooming teas to choose from, each containing silver needle white tea and herbal flowers, stitched together with natural cotton thread. And each produces a wonderfully unique experience and taste.
Barely recovered from the imposition of a smoking ban this year, the French are bracing for the next novelty in their favorite bistros: a Breathalyzer.
I don't remember when I ate my first oyster; it was probably twenty years ago. I haven't kept score, but in the past year alone I've had a couple hundred raw oysters. Yet Sunday was the first time that I'd ever found a pearl in an oyster. Fortunately I didn't chip a tooth in the process.
The pearl can be seen at right with a Shiner 99 bottle cap for comparison. Smaller than a BB, grey/brown in color yet slightly iridescent in the right light. Alas, it's too small for the old tooth test.
For those of you who saw this title and assumed the worst, I have yet to experience the uniquely soul-destroying food poisoning brought on by a bad oyster. I realize that my day will come at some point, yet the slight hint of danger somehow improves the flavor of each one. If hunger is the best sauce then dangerous/forbidden/rare characteristics must be the best garnish: the fully-raw beef, the mispriced bottle of wine, the wild mushrooms sold under the table...
I had the opportunity to taste the 1994 Smith Woodhouse Colheita Tawny Port this week. What a nice way to usher in spring in the Midwest. The single harvest port is a lovely, translucent red amber color and a leisurely sniff yields hints of plums and cherries. A taste confirms those notes with a little bit of oak and walnuts. It's a rich, well-balance wine, perhaps a little on the sweet side.
A neighbor of mine just started working in a cheese store and we paired the port with a creamy, truffle brie. The richness in the cheese was perfect and cut the sweetness in the port. Tawny port is also a classic accompaniment to creme brulee.
The wine purveyor suggested serving it slightly chilled in the summer (a Portuguese tradition), but I haven't tried that yet.
The 1994 Smith Woodhouse Colheita Tawny Port is available throughout the United States and Canada. Suggested retail is $46. Aged port wine will keep for four-six weeks once opened.
For more information on Smith Woodhouse port wines, visit their Web site.
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2004 Riesling Little bit of briar, mango and some florals. Good punch to the palate and good length with just a bit of sweetness. 89/100
2004 Charcoal Joe Chardonnay Soft nose, some butter and spice. Very creamy mouthfeel with good flavour persistence and good structure. 89/100
2003 Jackson Barry Pinot Noir Powerful nose of spice, cherry and pepper. Bit soft and lacking character on the palate though. Lingers slightly but only lightly. 85/100
2004 Jackson Barry Pinot Noir Cherry and violet nose with a bit of earth. Palate shows better depth and intensity than the 2003 version. Very good. 88/100
Carrick
2006 Sauvignon Blanc Crisp nose with some mango and herbs. Palate has some texture to it and there is length and persistence. 88/100
2006 Riesling Musky, floral and perfume to the nice nose. Palate bursts with flavour. Nice length and structure. 90/100
2004 Chardonnay Big nose, meal, butter and some funky characters. Palate shows lots of intensity but not a lot of complexity. 87/100
2006 Pinot Gris Lychee, apple, limes on the nose. Crisp palate with a hint of fruit sweetness. Enjoyable. 89/100
2005 Unravelled Pinot Noir Red berries, rhubarb and spice. Light fruit driven palate. 86/100
2004 Pinot Noir Funky, spice and earthy nose. Palate suffers a bit from what seems like too much oak and also tastes a bit confected. 84/100
Wooing Tree
2006 Rose Pale pink. Some cherry to the nose. Palate is really lacking in any flavour except for some sweetness. 82/100
2005 Pinot Noir Full on nose, a bold style with blackberry and spice. Very intense fruit on the palate as well. Starts to look a bit like cool climate Shiraz rather than Pinot Noir. Good if that is the style you are looking for. 87/100
Desert Heart
2005 Pinot Noir Strawberry nose. Palate is soft and there isn’t much of interest. 86/100
2005 Spencer Block Pinot Noir Intense Cherry Ripe nose. Boisterous palate, too overblown for my taste with the oak and massive fruit concentration. 86/100
2002 Pinot Noir Tight nose, some sulphur characters and maybe some earth. Fine tannins on the palate. Too closed in to find much to enjoy right now. 86/100
Lamont
2005 Dry Riesling Minerals and gunflint. Palate is dry as promised, but boring. 85/100
2006 Classic Off-Dry Riesling Lychee and tropical fruit on the nose. Acid doesn’t carry the sweetness on the palate well enough and it finishes short. 83/100
2006 Pinot Gris The ultimate in bland. No carry to the palate. 81/100
2005 Pinot Gris Steely nose, some green characters. Palate is viscous, there is a bit of alcohol on the finish. 85/100
2005 Pinot Noir Elegant and restrained style but it doesn’t have the depth or interest on the palate for me. 86/100
2005 Pinot Noir Violets, spice and cherry to the nose. Palate is decent, clean and bright with some structure for aging over the next 5 years. 87/100
Kawarau
2006 Sauvignon Blanc Passionfruit and tropical fruit nose. The palate shines with intensity of flavour. Pretty good. 88/100
2006 Pinot Gris Lightly scented nose. Palate is soft and lacks anything to get excited over. 85/100
2004 Reserve Chardonnay Butter and spicy, nutty oak with some wild character. Good mouthfeel, round without being broad. Good for the style. 88/100
2004 Reserve Pinot Noir Earth and lots of dark cherry character. Savoury palate, with good tannins and structure. Needs some time to shine. 88/100
Quartz Reef
NV Chauvet Sparkling Oyster shells, apples and grape aromas. Palate is fresh but with 0 depth, really driven by acid alone. This doesn’t speak to me at all. 83/100
2002 Chauvet Sparkling Apple pie aromas on the nose. Palate is like apple juice. Length is disappointing. 83/100
2006 Pinot Gris Melon and musk. The palate is quite good, bright fruit but with some depth to it. 88/100
2005 Pinot Noir Perfumed violet nose with some bright fruit supporting. Palate is good as well, with some structure and interesting texture. 88/100
Chard Farm
2006 Rabbit Range Pinot Gris Bit of alcohol showing on the nose. Palate has fruit sweetness but isn’t very interesting. 86/100
2004 Closeburn Chardonnay Elegant nose with some straw and citrus. The palate is taut and very well structured. Balanced and clearly very good. 90/100
2005 Pinot Noir Pepper and spices with some black cherry character. Good balance on the palate. Quite nice. 88/100
2005 The Viper Pinot Noir Elegant, perfumed nose with rose petals, cherry, smoke and well integrated oak. Palate is delicious, savoury fruit with great length. A real stand out of the day. 92/100
Torr Estate
2006 Riesling Floral and kiwi fruited nose. Nice restraint to the palate, some residual sugar that is balanced nicely by the acid. Good length and intensity of flavour. 89/100
2005 Pinot Noir Dominated by stewy and medicinal aromas. A shame as the palate is quite nicely balanced. 85/100
Mount Edward
2006 Riesling Floral nose. Touch of sweetness to the palate. Not a lot of character. 86/100
2006 Drumlin Riesling Delicate nose, with minerals and steel, could be mistaken for German Riesling on the nose. Good flavour to the palate, the balance is spot on. The only downside is a slightly spritzy character, without that the rating would have been higher. 88/100
2004 Sauvignon Blanc Herbs and asparagus. Palate seems a bit flabby. 83/100
2004 Earths End Pinot Noir Sweet cherry nose. Confected character comes through on the palate. Lacks structure. 84/100
2004 Pinot Noir Tightly wound nose, seems ready but waiting to explode. Palate is nice, but a bit too linear. 87/100
Wild Earth
2006 Pinot Gris Good floral lift to the nose. Palate is too sweet with not enough acid. 84/100
2005 Riesling Nose doesn’t offer up much character. Palate has some residual sugar but it is well handled by the acid. A bit too simple to be better than nice. 86/100
2003 Blind Trail Pinot Noir Cherry and kirsch on the nose. Palate suffers from a serious lack of depth, though it is balanced otherwise. 86/100
2004 Pinot Noir Earth and funky, gamey characters on the nose. Good amount of fruit on the palate, but it feels linear and one dimensional. 86/100
Rockburn
2005 Sauvignon Blanc Herbal on the nose and palate. Good length, but the herbs dominate too much for my taste. 86/100
2005 Riesling Honeysuckle and other floral characters. Balanced palate with good length. Falls into the off-dry category I think. 88/100
2003 Chardonnay Honey and some noticeable but not over the top oak on the nose. Good length to the palate. A delicate style. 88/100
2003 Pinot Noir Floral, musk and spice aromas. Fruit drives the palate with a bit of oak providing support. Nice early drinking Pinot. 87/100
I will be traveling to europe and am wondering, which wines (or beers..:P) should I try? Im a wine novice and love muscato d'asti, though dont mind trying other types. So I will be going to:
amsterdam berlin vienna prague rome barcelona paris
Well, I’ve had a crazy few weeks. March is usually a busy time pouring at events and visiting accounts. We’ve also spent a good deal of time preparing to bottle Sauvignon Blanc and finally doing it now. Then came April and my husband, son and I bought a house and have been dealing with moving and then moving again (long story). I also attended a short cheesemaking course…..Here’s a recap of all that is happened as I have been remiss in posting.
Say Cheese, and then some…..
I attended a cheesemaking course at Cal Poly at the beginning of this month. Learned a lot and had a great time, too (That had a lot to do with the company I was keeping, I’ll have you know—all good fun). I went down there with Marta Kraftzeck (longtime winemaker/viticulturist at Chateau Julien in Carmel Valley), Terry Teplitzky (owner/chef of Michael’s Catering and Wild Thyme Deli here in Marina), and Tony Baker (chef of Montrio Bistro in Monterey). Photos in order: Terry is cutting the cheese (Feta, that is); Tony is making real cream cheese, here I am doing really Gouda, Marta is testing the Mozzarella curd, and last is the whole cheese gang together…..hmmmm
So what’s cheese got to do with wine, you might ask? A lot, actually, and more than I had even realized. It was clearly stated to us by one instructor that cheesemaking is not a natural process. Milk was meant to be consumed the minute it is produced; nature did not mean for it to be stored or made into cheese. Although not such an extreme example, it occurred to me that grapes are the same way: grapes originated as the fruiting body of a wild grapevine that “wanted” it’s fruit to be eaten by birds or animals so that it’s seeds are carried away and planted elsewhere. Maybe we all need to be reminded of this sometimes: the original intention wasn’t to make people drunk or create a multi-billion dollar industry. [So—there’s a little something to dampen one’s hubris—hee hee]
Another commonality: Both cheese and wine are fermented products—cheese is usually cultured with some kind of bacteria and/or mold (molds are fungis and in the same family as yeasts & mushrooms). The primary fermentation in wine is accomplished by yeast (that’s the alcoholic fermentation); the secondary fermentation (which happens in most wines) is produced by bacteria (malo-lactic fermentation) that converts malic acid into the less-acidic lactic acid.
I could go on in this “vein”, although it doesn’t make me “bleu” (sorry I’m in a cheesy mood today)....I’ve always been greatly interested in making (and eating) cheese, and certainly this course opened a door into other world for me, and it unexpectedly added other facets and “levels” to my ever-evolving winemaking philosophies, too, and that I always welcome. Neither wine nor cheese may be a product that nature intended, but natural laws nonetheless shape each, and this was another opportunity for me to renew my appreciation of that concept.
....and then there was Sauvignon Blanc
I may be solidly in the arms of Pinot Noir, but I will always have eyes for Sauvignon Blanc. I’m admitting it here. Call me easy—maybe—but I truly appreciate all styles of S.B. from all regions of the world (can’t say the same for all P.N…..). We are bottling ours now, finally. This year’s (2007, that is) gave me a little hassle as it never wanted to clean up completely (unlike last year’s offering), so had to resort to the filter (which isn’t as bad as it sounds—and can be good for a wine). I really liked last year’s, but some thought it too acidic, so for 2007, I’m moving very slightly toward a “Napa style”—a portion of this was picked just a tad riper, and I barrel-aged 50% in old barrels to soften it and add a little more complexity. The barrel-aged portion may have gone through a little malolactic fermentation, but mostly the original acid component is retained. This will be released in a few weeks out of necessity, but methinks it should open up and show it’s true character sometime this summer…..
Events
Doug will pour at the MCVGA tasting at La Playa in Carmel on Tuesday, April 22.
Doug and/or I will provide wine for KAZU’s Salon Series dinner with Lynn Rosetto Kasper on Thursday, April 24 (looking forward to this as she is one of my favorite radio & food personalities)...
Out and About
Dean & DeLuca in St. Helena is selling our 2005 Tondre Pinot Noir. I visited with Spencer Chaffey (spencer.chaffey@deananddeluca.com) over there the other day and had a nice conversation with him…..
Napa Valley Wine Exchange: Speaking of Sauvignon Blanc, check out what they have to say about our 2006..... and our 2005 Tondre Pinot.
I’m racking 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from barrels now. In these photos, you can see the clean wine that I’m racking from the lees, and then the lees being poured from the barrel into a bucket. 50% of this wine was fermented in old french oak barrels and the other half was fermented in tank. I can take and post all the photos I want of this process, but it’s hard to convey the aromas that fill the winery at this time. This is one of the most hedonistic times, at least for me.
The lees are the dregs, the “bottom of the barrel”, and largely viewed as waste but in a winery they can be useful and wonderful. Lees is composed of grape solids, yeast bodies, nutrients, bacteria that have settled out of the wine during aging, but it is also a way to “diagnose” or ascertain the condition of the wine itself. Sweet, clean, ethereally aromatic lees is the sign of healthy grapes, a good fermentation, a clean wine.
I do this process myself because I want to make sure we get a very clean wine from this racking as it will not be filtered. So, all of the barrels are “racked in place”, ie, the barrels are not moved or disturbed until racking. That’s a rule for all of the wines we produce here, but it is particularly critical with the Sauvignon Blanc as it is packaged in a clear bottle!! I will probably fine it with a little bentonite to make sure it settles out as much as possible before bottling.
Tecnorati
This wine is characterized by a yellow-green colour, a fresh citrusy aroma with hints of honey and a complex flowery aftertaste. It’s a semi-dry riesling, dryer than the Slovenian rieslings (such as Laški Riesling for example), but sweeter than those found in Serbia. It is a nice wine to accompany a lighter meal. 
For the ?Special Selection? wines Tikve? has chosen the highest quality grapes and turned them into their best wines. In the red wine range these are Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Vranec, while in the white wine range these are Chardonnay, Riesling, Temjanika and Traminec. The Special Selection wines come with a distinctive label.
