My wife and I visited Chanticleer a few years back on the recommendation of our driver. When we arrived it turned out to be more the owner's home than an actual winery. That said, he had a fantastic cave-like cellar off the side of his house, built into the hill, and a hillside vineyard to make it all complete. Pretty cool location and cellar. The wine is good - a nice nose of chocolate, cherry and herbs with a palate that adds more chocolate and a bit of spice. Not the most memorable wine, but something that was worth pulling out of the cellar - probably drinking close to its peak right now. My rating: 89 / Very Good
I have yet to have a domestic sangiovese that I enjoy to the point that I purchase more bottles.
The best I've had is from Noceto, out of the sierra foothills area.
good point. i'm not sure i have either. i'll have to give that some thought and maybe start a new pursuit...
happy new year.
rj
Opolo Vineyard's 2006 sangiovese @ about $28 is the only domestic sangiovese that I recall ever enjoying. Opolo's located in Paso Robles in California's Central Coast region
thanks for the tip, danny. i'll have to check that out.
RJ,
The best way to check it out, IMHO, is to visit Paso Robles and do some wine tasting at the plethora of wineries in that area. Since my last visit in December 2007, many wineries there have come of age with Wine Spector scores in the 90-92 range, or so I have read. Cheers!
RJ,
PS If you go to Paso Robles, I;ll go to Walla Walla
so, danny, what would you say i told you that i've already been to paso robles? does that commit you to going to walla walla? :-)
if you've been to Paso Robles since my Jan 18, 2011 comment, RJ, then, yes I would feel obligated to honor my word and make the Walla Walla run (not that you'd have to twist my arm).Though I think cold and gloomy Walla Walla would be uninviting and have a tough time beating today's 77 degrees and sunny weather here where I'm at in SoCal.
ha! good point. it's awfully nice in the summer, tho...