RJ's Wine Blog

2009 Matthiasson Napa Valley White Wine

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:00:00 +0000

It's no surprise to those who read this blog regularly that I am a huge fan of Matthiasson wine out of Napa Valley, CA (if you want to see how much, check out all the blog posts below that mention Matthiasson). I was first introduced to their wines at the 2009 Wine Bloggers Conference in Sonoma and the 2008 Napa Valley White Wine was the runaway hit of the weekend for me. That's saying a lot for me to put a white at the top of any list, especially a list that includes over 200 other wines we tasted that weekend.

Now, I've had the distinct pleasure of tasting the 2009 Matthiasson Napa Valley White Wine and let me be the first to tell you that the 2009 is even better. It doesn't throw the 2008 out the window and stomp it in the dirt, but, with any wine, I expect each year to better than the last and Matthiasson does not disappoint with this new vintage. Both the 2008 and 2009 are blends of four varietals:

Sauvignon Blanc - 47% in 2008; 59% in 2009
Ribolla Gialla - 31% in 2008; 28% in 2009
Tocai Friulano - 3% in 20o8; 8% in 2009
Sémillon - 19% in 2008; 5% in 2009

When I first read the notes on the new blend, I was a bit worried as I thought the Sémillon added so much to the 2008 and, now, in the 2009 blend, it was deemphasized in favor of more Sauvignon Blanc. But, thankfully, there was nothing to worry about. The Sauvignon Blanc infusion is not of the New Zealand or California version, but more an old world, Sancerre feel. In Matthiasson's words: "This wine is our new world conception of a mythical ideal old-world wine...a California wine with a spiritual connection to Friuli, Italy, but also drawing inspiration from the great whites of the Loire, Graves, Alsace, the Rhone, old-school Napa...[t]his wine is an attempt at getting at the core of what white wine is all about, the archetypal 'white wine'"

This is a beautifully structured wine. Good, clean citrus notes, rich and broad mouthfeel, multiple layers, all supported by a perfect mineral base. No question I have a bit of a crush on this wine, but I do think it's for good reason. It is, simply put, one of the best whites I've tasted in years. You cannot lose with either the 2008 or 2009 and it's well worth trying to get at least one of each, if not more.

My rating: 93

What you should do: Find a way, at the very least, to taste this wine. Better yet, if you see it, buy it. It really is worth the effort.

****************
Past Blog posts that reference Matthiasson:

Wall Street Journal and Matthiasson - a Perfect Pair

2010 Wine Bloggers Conference - Walla Walla here we come!

Matthiasson Wine - Someone Who Truly Gets It

Whole Foods - Interview with Doug Bell, Global Wine Buyer for Whole Foods (part 2)

Michel Schlumberger Wines

Wine Bloggers Conference - My Top Wine Picks

Wine Blogging Conference Tasting notes from Twitter - Part I

NOTE: this wine was sent to me as a sample from Matthiasson.

Late to the show...Email at last...

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:01:00 +0000

Sometimes I amaze myself with how late to the show I can be. Take, for example, that I am user #80,911 on CellarTracke r, and I now cannot imagine my wine life without it. But, better late than never, I guess. In the same spirit, after two years of blogging, I have finally added a way to subscribe to this blog via email. Again, late to the game, but, it's here now, so sign up if you'd like to get posts delivered to you as I go. You can find the sign-up box in the right navigation.

Vin Santo, Sauternes and a Wounded Whispering Dove...Tasting Notes From a Week Gone By

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:00:00 +0000

2002 Agricola San Felice Vin Santo del Chianti Classico Ever since honeymooning in Santorini, Greece, I've been a complete sucker for Vin Santo. (or Vino Santo, aka "Holy Wine"). I prefer Greek Vin Santo, by just a little bit, but this is a great example of an Italian Vin Santo that I would try again any time. Christmas spice, maple syrup, hazelnut and tea leaf, this wine is everything I look for in a Vin Santo. The nose reminds me of a slightly muted tawny port, with just enough complexity and sweetness. This one will stay on my list for a long time. My rating: 90 / Outstanding

2009 Abel Clément Vin de Pays de Vaucluse In my endless quest for Rosé I can drink (most of them I don't care for), who would have figured one would show up in the sub-$8 category? Crazy. This is a very simple Rosé, without much body or complexity, but the flavor is there and I would definitely drink this again. Outstanding QPR! My rating: 89 / Very good

NV Bodegas Hidalgo Amontillado La Gitana "Napoleon" Very tricky one with this wine. It's a sweet sherry on the nose, with a pronounced intensity of pine, eucalyptus, vanilla and nut; but, on the palate, this is dry, dry, dry...did I mention dry? Very high in acidity, with flavors of almond skins, popcorn and grass / hay. Very good quality for what it is, but, on its own, I DO NOT like this wine. One of the oddest wines I've ever tasted. I'm told it is exceptional with salty foods, particularly Spanish and Italian hams, as well as many Spanish tapas, so have reserved judgment on the final score. I can definitely see those pairing well and I'll try to check it out soon. This wine is odd enough that it deserves a 2nd chance.

2003 Whispering Dove Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Stags Leap District Past its prime and not drinkable, at least this bottle. I guess I'll check it again tomorrow night and see where it's gone, just in case. Night #2 - same thing. My rating: FLAWED

2001 Castelnau de Suduiraut Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend. Tangerine, dried apricots and roasted orange peel on an intense nose, followed by honey, apricot and sweet mold on the palate. Sweet and syrupy, with a secondary layer of medium acidity. This is a complex wine, with so many distinctive layers. My rating: 92 / Outstanding

2009 Elio Perrone Moscato d'Asti Sourgal Roses, peaches, honey and a touch of men's musk on the nose, with slight bubbles on a peach, honey, lemon palate. Not too complex, just incredibly nice flavor. Sweet, so careful what you pair it with. My rating: 88 / Very Good

Interview: Eric LeVine of CellarTracker / GrapeStories

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Eric LeVine, who most people know as the founder of CellarTracker (now GrapeStories).

Most of what I’ve seen and read about Eric has been specifically about that – the incredible website he’s developed that’s proven to be a critical part of thousands of people's wine lives, including my own. So, I wanted to talk to Eric about something else. Basically, how it all started for him. Not the business, but his love for wine - what sparked it for him, what are some of his favorite wines, etc.?

And, what better way to do that than to sit on the porch sharing wine. I came with a bottle of 2007 21 Grams out of Walla Walla and he brought a fantastic 1994 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. Both great wines to kick off an equally amazing evening.

What I discovered early on in our conversation is that Eric's passion for wine is completely authentic. This is not strictly wine cellar tracking or business, Eric feels wine. When you sit with him, you can tell from the excitement in his voice how much wine means to him. In other words, he is absolutely the real deal.

We talked for several hours and I have yet to transcribe the majority of our conversation, but, in the first five minutes of going through the tape, I was reminded of why I enjoyed that evening so much, sitting on the deck, with Eric and a few great bottles of wine, learning more about how he got into this crazy passion that he and I share.

I’ll let him tell you a little more about it…

Wine was always something I’d enjoyed and it was sort of one of those things that always was on my list - someday I’m going to learn about this. Call it a bucket list or whatever. It was like at some point when I have the time, I want to get in and figure out that wine thing because it’s pretty cool.

My dad was…I found out in later life…always into wine. I remember having the Wine Spectator around in the ‘80’s and 90’s and we would always have wine at dinner and I’d get to taste, but in hindsight, what I learned, was that he wasn’t drinking anything particularly special for the most part. I remember a few wines really stuck out. I think it was after my Bar Mitzvah, we’d gone to what was like the old school restaurant in Boston called Locke-Ober and I remember getting a bottle of Sauternes with dessert. The first time you taste a botritised wine, you’re kind of like “whoa." It’s very unique.

I also remember him ordering a white burgundy off a wine list [for my birthday] and I didn’t really understand it was just Chardonnay, but it was delicious. So, a few bottles stand out, but mostly wine was there and I’ve always enjoyed it and it was something that I’ve always wanted to learn about, but it was yet another thing to deal with in a life where I was too busy.

Wine finally caught up with me when my wife and I took a bicycling trip to Tuscany in 1999. And on the second night of the trip, they had a local merchant come in from Sienna and he put four wines down in front of us. They were a Chianti, a Chianti Classico Riserva, a Vino Noble and a Brunello de Montalcino. This was pre-wine awareness for me, so I don’t know producers or vintages., but, for whatever reason, I remember the appellations.

They went through the wines, we tasted them, there were cheeses and a nice little guy with a beautiful little accent and a sunset in Tuscany and on and on…and then what stuck out for me, for the engineering brain, was that he basically explained that these were the same thing, that they were all Sangiovese or clones of it, just different sun, different hills, different oak. This one’s from over there and this one’s from over there and this one’s from right here. We were in Castellina-in-Chianti and he would just point. Everything was 20 to 30 miles away and it was just different oak, different sun, different clones and so four things that were basically the same were completely distinct and it just blew my mind.

In engineering speak, it was a bit flip moment.

I came back and decided, alright, I was getting into wine. That just pushed me over the edge. The whole week was also so fun because we’re in Tuscany, biking around and all the towns are on hilltops, so you’re finishing all your days biking with a climb. Come dinnertime, you’re ready for food and lots of Tuscan wine.

That week of riding around and eating and drinking, I came home ready to get into wine. That was '99.

To be continued...

Lots more good stuff to come from my conversation with Eric. Watch for a few more posts in the coming weeks.

Henriot, Domaine Hippolyte and more...Tasting Notes From a Week Gone By

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:00:00 +0000

NV Henriot Champagne Blanc Souverain Brut Somewhat autolytic nose on this one, but not unappealing, with both bread dough and warm, fresh baked bread. Underneath that warm blanket is apple, talcum powder and floral notes. Very delicate and elegant, with long-lasting flavor and just a touch of sweetness. My rating: 90 / Outstanding

2006 Gramona Cava Gran Cuvée Wow, so much funk on this, it turned my stomach just catching the aroma. Hard to explain, even, since it was something that I have not yet experienced in the world of wine. An incredibly autolytic nose on this wine, with bread dough front and center and bitter lemon and minerals playing in the rhythm section. For me, this was like the liver of bubbly - the visceral reaction I had to liver as a child is the same reaction I had to this Cava. Not to my liking at all. My rating: 70 / Not Recommended

NV Loredan Gasparini Prosecco Montello e Colli Asolani Brut Prosecco Lemon, peach, pear with medium acidity and length. A perfectly nice Prosecco, but not memorable. My rating: 86 / Very good

2008 Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre I've said this many times before, and I'll say it again - you just can't beat a nice Sancerre in the summer. Clean, crisp, citrusy and built a sunny day, with a bottle of Sancerre in an ice bucket near your feet. For me, Sancerre is one of the best whites out there and an incredible expression of the SB fruit. I'm sold! My rating: 89 / Outstanding

2008 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Côtes du Rhône Rosé Parallele “45” I have one favorite Rosé - the Domaine Tempier Bandol - and a new varietal (to me at least) that was interesting enough to send me on a hunt for more - the Cabernet Franc Rosé. Other than that, Rosé is like just liquid in my glass. Not really qualified to judge its quality - or don't care enough, might be a better way to say it - but I do know that this one leaves me empty like most of the rest. I do envy people who love Rosé because it's a wine that probably deserves some investigation, but, for me, it's just a hard path to go down. My rating: 82 / Good

2009 Hubert LaPierre Chénas Vieilles Vignes Gamay Look, I'm not a Gamay fan. Too light, too delicate, something. I can't put my finger on it...but, I do know that this one is no different than any of the others I've tasted. And, I do have a problem with a red wine that is better chilled - I'd much rather put my effort into chilling a nice white. No rating this time around because I don't feel all that qualified to judge the quality of a Gamay.

2009 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Very nice Muscadet - and paired with Kumomoto oysters makes it all that much better. We did find, however, that when Oyster juice is accidentally spilled into a glass of this Muscadet, it does not pair as well. So, be careful with pairing suggestions - they're not meant to be taken literally. My rating: 89 / Very good

2009 Château d'Oupia Minervois Rosé Middle of the road Rosé. Not bad or offensive, not mind blowing. But, a damn good quaffer in the middle of a short heat wave in Seattle. Well worth trying in the dead of summer...and that's from a guy who does not like Rosé. My rating: 85 / Very good

Tasting Room Confessions

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:15:00 +0000

Palate Press, the online wine magazine, has graciously decided to run one of my pieces in their Featured Stories area today. It's a piece called "Tasting Room Confessions" and is a view of the tasting room experience from both consumers and those who serve them. If you want to check it out, you can do so at Palate Press here.

Introducing Leland Cellars...

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 21:30:00 +0000

I haven't talked much about this over the last two years, maybe only a couple times - and not even sure why - but, we just bottled our first vintage as Leland Cellars, a 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Haven't tasted it yet, but wanted to publish some pictures of the packaging that my wife designed. Not a bad Saturday...

(Front Label)

(Front and back label)

(Our first case, all in a row...)

Wall Street Journal and Matthiasson - a Perfect Pair

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Short post today, but wanted to let everyone know that the Matthiasson White out of California that I (and many others) have been raving about, continues to get great traction in the marketplace.

Below is an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal Blogs, written by Jay McInerney about this wine specifically. If you haven't tried it yet, perhaps this will help push you over the edge, before their wines become too hard to find.

And congratulations to Steve and Jill, the masterminds behind this wine.

WSJ Blogs - On Wine
August 11, 2010
By Jay McInerney
I just spent a couple days in the city, despite the heat, and dined at two of my favorite spots, Cookshop and Momofuku, on successive nights. They have two of the quirkiest and smartest wine lists in the city, the former presided over by Richard Luftig, who took care of me years ago at Washington Park in the Village. Matthiasson Napa White

Richard advised me several visits ago about the virtues of the 2008 Matthiasson Napa White. In fact, he said it’s the best white made in California. I don’t think he’s that far off. It’s an amazing wine that combines the flesh and fat mid-palate of Napa Chardonnay with the steely/stony core of a Puligny. Yet, it’s not a Chardonnay at all but a blend of Ribolla Giallia, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Friuliano and Semillon. Amazing stuff. I wouldn’t know what to say if I were served this blind...

1994 Quilceda Creek Anyone? Tasting Notes from a Week Gone By...

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 03:30:00 +0000

1994 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Very interesting floral note on the nose - took me a while to get my arms around what it was, sometimes like a melon smell, sometimes like a white flower in full bloom - but most like a violet, as Eric mentions (on GrapeStories). Great flavor profile and a stunning amount of tannins still left on this wine - very much a teeth stripper, still, after all these years. Drank this alongside a 2007 21 Grams from Walla Walla and this made that wine taste flabby by comparison. Overall, though, hard to beat a QC. My rating: 92

1997 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon So sad - my last bottle of the '97 and it had clearly gone over the aging wall. If you own any, I would highly recommend getting to them quickly to see if any are still drinkable. FLAWED.

2005 Pasanau Priorat Finca La Planeta A true glass stainer this one - dark, dark, dark. Dark berries, leather, wet cigar (like jumping into a pool with a cigar still in your mouth, not that I've even done that, of course), some funk like rotting leaves and vanilla. There is a good level of acidity, but you have to wait for the tannins to fade - but, when you do, the acidity really adds a nice liveliness to the wine. Very good / outstanding wine, but let it sit - it's pretty pissed off when you open it. My rating: 92

2005 G.D. Vajra Barolo Interesting nose on this one - black licorice bites, over-ripe or even just rotting strawberries, tar and maple syrup. Sounds sweet, but not too bad. Similar on the palate, but more like dried strawberries and far more heat on the finish than I expected - enough so that it distracted from the wine, even with some layering and complexity. My rating: 86

2005 Bodegas Muga Rioja Gran Reserva Tempranillo Strong chocolate covered cherry aroma, but not fresh ones, like they had sat on a dusty shelf for a while. About the same on the palate, but brighter fruit than on the nose. Nice flavors, but not much layering - sort of one dimensional. My rating: 85

2008 Fattoria Selvapiana Chianti Rùfina Cooked strawberries, pepper, mint, tar and nail polish remover on the nose, transforming into leather, over-steeped tea. dried cranberry and dust on the palate. Been a bit of a mediocre week for wine and this one falls right in line with many of the others. A good wine, but nothing special. Definitely needs food to showcase its strengths. My rating: 85

2008 Bodegas Y Vinedos Shaya Rueda Old Vines Verdejo The best I can say about this is that it drinks like a very limey margarita - kept wanting to roll my wine glass in salt. Pucker, pucker. My rating: 85

2008 Inama Soave Classico Garganega Medium intensity on the nose, with floral notes, green apple, stone and musty / wet wool. White grapefruit, melon and hay on the palate with a long finish. Nothing special, though. My rating: 86

2009 Rebel Wine Malbec The Show I'm a big fan of The Show Cabernet, especially the label strategy. But, this Malbec is average, nothing more, including a blue version of an existing label. Pretty disappointing. 'nuff said. My rating: 80

Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2007

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:00:00 +0000

So, let's just get this out of the way now - this wine is young. Too young to fully appreciate it's value and I get that, but, when you're wife says "yes" with no hesitation when you suggest opening one of the best wines in your cellar on a random Tuesday night, well, that's nothing more than a race to the corkscrew, for fear that cooler heads prevail.

Even as young as it is, though, there is no question that this is a beautiful wine. Incredibly complex and layered - on the first sip, even after only about 20 minutes of decanting, I picked up on at least three distinct layers, each hitting the palate like it was next in the chorus line for a round of "row, row, row your boat." Black fruits, rich and sweet tobacco, some eucalyptus - all play a role as the wine careens from front to back.

A complex flavor profile, to be sure, but what hits me more than the individual aromas and flavors is the overall structure of the wine. I've heard comments and seen reviews that this is a BIG wine, but I have always been very impressed by Quilceda Creek's ability to create elegant and supple wines in the high-end Cabernet Sauvignon category. So smooth, so silky and absolutely no heat on a long, lingering finish. The tannins grip, but not in a chewy or intimidating way...they just let you know that if you're drinking it now or 10 years now from now, you will be in good hands.

Bottom line is that this wine is absolutely fantastic. If you can try it, do so. If you can buy it, do so. If you have more than one bottle in your cellar, live it up and try it tonight. Well worth seeing where it's at right now.

My rating: 95

Penfolds, Chapoutier, Laurent Barth and more...Tasting Notes from a Week Gone By

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

2007 Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet Fairly closed nose, with blackberry, caramel and dust. The most pronounced aroma, however, is a sweet pipe tobacco, a smell that brought me back to childhood smelling my dad’s occasional pipe smoke, a very fond memory for me, even though I don’t smoke a pipe myself. On the palate, take everything on the aroma and cover in a thick blanket of warm cherry pie. Low acid, grippy oak tannins and a medium, hot finish. Decent, but not my favorite and probably not one I will pursue. Although, for the $10 price point, I would say the QPR is relatively high (and I’ve seen it at Costco for less). My rating: 86

2006 Domaine Laurent Barth Riesling Rebgarten The best I can say is this – if you drive into a remote gas station (think Thelma and Louise here), the one that smells like hot air, dirt and gas, throw a peach jolly rancher in your mouth, take it out and drop it in the dirt, then wash it off with Limeade, this is the nose on this wine. Pronounced aroma and much better than I’m making it sound in the description. On the palate, a lot of the same flavors, but with a huge lime overtone. Mouth watering, rich and acidic, this wine took me by surprise – a true winner in my book. Great summertime wine and, for $26, a stunning effort. I think I’m definitely heading down the Alsace white path, with another favorite being the Lucien Albrecht Pinot Gris – great stuff too. My rating: 93

2006 Domaine Vincent Paris Cornas Granit 60 Syrah This feels to me like a fall weekend – rhubarb pie (straight from the oven, church pews (all you recovering Catholics know what I mean), cedar, musk and a nice assortment of cranberry, raspberry and blackberry fruits. The nice piece is that the fruit is lean, not syrupy, which gives a lighter mouthfeel than I would have expected given both the aroma and the overall flavor profile. Grippy tannins, so, if you’re not a fan, then this one is not for you, but it’s clearly tannins from the fruit and not the oak, which is right up my alley. This wine is from the southern tip of Northern Rhone, which is definitely going to send me out exploring that region in the hopes of finding similar wines. My rating: 91

2005 M. Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Bernardine Red Rhone Blend I want to be a CDP fan, I really do. Once you start dropping the name Châteauneuf-du-Pape, it just seems to make you sound like an expert or a wine snob, which are oftentimes indistinguishable qualities (or, you could be like a friend of mine who laughs every time she hears the name, which clearly rules her out of the wine-snobbery club). Overall, though, they’re almost a little too precious and fragile for me. I don’t need every wine I taste to kick me in the teeth and connect with an undercut that busts my jaw open, but, of all the reds in the world, CDP is the one that always kind of leaves me empty. Now, I know in saying that, there may be some of you reading this that say “well, he clearly knows nothing about wine,” but the one thing you can’t accuse me of is lack of trying. I have tasted a bunch of CDP’s and come up at least a little empty every time (sometimes vacuously empty). That said, this Chapoutier CDP is quite nice. Still fragile like other CDP’s, but packed with interesting aromas and flavors – cherry, white pepper, earth/funk, dill, meat, black olives, cloves – take your pick. But, the most interesting element to me is the metallic edge it shows, like the greased up metals you find in a mechanics shop, but without all the body odor (how’s that for appetizing). The good news in this is that here’s a CDP I like. The bad news is that I feel the same way I do when I hit a few good holes in golf (which is rare as my handicap is “one can only imagine”) compelling me to go back to the course. In other words, this wine, instead of taking me off CDP’s forever, has convinced me to keep trying. My rating: 90

2008 Brotte Côtes du Rhône Domaine de la Grivelière Grenache Blend Very interesting – a HUGE nose on this one. Red licorice, tea, white pepper, smoke and a hint of absinthe (without all the “crazy-making” of absinthe). Medium acidity and tannins, with a finish that’s hotter than most – actually felt more like a scotch finish than a wine finish – and distracted me a bit from the wine itself. My rating: 88

2009 Cowhorn Vineyard and Garden Spiral 36 White Rhone Blend Drinking this wine at one of my favorite places in the world - a B&B in Southern Oregon called the Willows (which also happens to be where my wife and I were married 4 years ago). The night before we arrived, they had a winemaker's dinner with Cowhorn and they passed this bottle on to me. A very nice Rhine style white with star fruit, tropical fruit and ripe white peach, with a touch of refreshing effervescence. A bit oaken, but doesn't distract from the overall balance and richness of the wine. A bit heavy for a hot summer afternoon, but would be a great addition to a shellfish feed in the late afternoon. Delicious. My rating: 90

2007 Später-Veit Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese This is a tricky one for me because of two things – (1) it’s a very well made wine and (2) I don’t like it. So, on the one hand, I shouldn’t discount the skill that went into making the wine. But, on the other hand, I have to acknowledge that this wine would never find its way into my cellar…and for one simple reason – it’s incredibly sweet. There are only two “sweet” or dessert wines that I like consistently – Vinsanto (and it’s not as sweet as most sweet wines) and tawny port (and one could argue hear that tawny port resembles an after-dinner liqueur as much as it does a port wine). It’s got all the elements you would expect – peach, orange, meyer lemon, musk and honey – lots and lots of very sweet honey. So, you make the call. My rating is based on the quality of the wine, but it is definitely not to my palate. My rating: 87

Porter Creek, Joel Gott, Chateau Grillon and more...Tasting Notes from a Week Gone By

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:30:00 +0000

Been a busy week of tastings here at RJ's Wine Blog, so publishing two posts of tasting notes - this one below and the regularly scheduled Thursday tasting notes.

1998 Château Grillon Sémillon Sauternes Opened this with my family on vacation, so this is a group tasting note, taken from 6 family members (one of the best ways to taste)...On the nose - apricot, pear, caramel, black licorice and burning styrene (like a burning Bic pen cap - really cool aroma, one I haven't found before). Also, found a rain-drenched cigarette on the nose. On the palate, canned pears, apricot, slight tangerine, caramel and plastic (like the Bic cap plastic), with a syrupy, apricot finish. Average to good. My rating: 85

NV Elk Cove Vineyards La Sirene Syrah Blend A little skunky on the nose (although it did open up over time), mixed with spice, cedar and. believe it or not, methane. On the palate, black fruit, currant, plum and pine needles. Too diluted for my taste, with a medium start that diminishes across the mid palate and completely disappears on the finish. Even under $12, this is not worth the money, which is too bad, because there are several Elk Cove Pinot Noir's that I like a great deal. My rating: 81

2007 A. Ogier & Fils Côtes du Rhône Heritages Grenache Blend This is a cherry hard candy that's sugary up-front and then turns into a glass of water on the finish. Nothing much here for my taste. My rating: 83

2006 Porter Creek Pinot Noir Fiona Hill On the nose, wet redwood deck, fresh mint and cherry. Palate - cherry, chocolate, warm holiday spice with grippy tannins and a medium level of acidity, giving the wine some great life. It's much more fragile than I thought it would be and I'm typically a fan of bigger Pinot Noir, but this one I like. A very nice effort. My rating: 89

2008 Joel Gott Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 815 Here's the thing with Joel Gott - his wines are "go to" wines in the price category. He's not making the world's best wines (but one could argue that his wife Sarah is making some of the best), but, in the price range, he rarely disappoints. This one is no different. It's an oakey Cabernet, with blackberry, plum and chalk, all wrapped up in a decently balanced effort. Not great, but, again, at $13, a solid QPR and it's always worth having some Joel Gott on hand during the week. My rating: 87

2009 J Vineyards & Winery Pinot Gris Sweet, not like a dessert wine, but so far from the crisp European Pinot Gris / Grigio that I like. Not my style, but if you like American Pinot Gris, try it - still average, but might be worthy of that style if you're a fan. My rating: 85 2008

Joel Gott Chardonnay Monterey Very decent bottle of Chardonnay. Not big and oakey like you might expect from a California Chard, but more acidic and dry. Nice hot weather Chard, worth having on hand. My rating: 87

All tasting notes originally published on GrapeStories.

Wine Blogger in the Spotlight...RJ's Wine Blog

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Recently, South Florida Food and Wine Blog just recently featured RJ's Wine Blog as it's "Wine Blogger in the Spotlight." If you missed it, below is a copy of the article and interview.
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RJ's Wine Blog, a Great Wine Blogger in the Spotlight This week's Blogger in the Spotlight, RJ's Wine Blog comes to us from Seattle, Washington. RJ's Wine Blog caught my eye because he's got a little bit of everything going on; interviews, summations, commentary and reviews; but the one thing about RJ's Wine Blog that runs consistent throughout his blog is that he believes wine is not about ratings, hype, price or what others like, it's about what you like (as he states in his bio) and I agree. Wine drinkers all start somewhere, their tastes evolve, they expand their wine world, they find what they like and ultimately experience all they can with that varietal. RJ's Wine Blog presents the facts straight up and you make your own decision. RJ's Wine Blogs' information is easy to read and easy to understand. This blog is a good reference tool highlighting wines you may not be familiar with and never heard of; this ultimately is where you want to be...discovering that great wine and sharing it with your world. Discover new dimensions within your wine world with this week's great wine blogger in the spotlight, RJ's Wine Blog.

South Florida Food and Wine: How did you start wine writing?
RJ's Wine Blog: I guess you could say I kind of fell into it. My buddy Jason over at Jason’s Wine Blog is not only as clever with his wine blog naming as I am, but also a good friend and THE authority on Trader Joe’s wines. He and I were talking about wine a few years back and he suggested I start a blog – he thought I knew about a lot of wine and I had a passion for it, so why not? I played around with it for a few weeks and then decided I would go for it. I wrote a post every day for 60 days. That’s a lot more content than I thought it would be, but I found a nice groove and really enjoyed it. At first, I believe 3 people a day read the blog (which was most likely my very kind sisters), but at the end of those 60 days, I started getting comments and questions from strangers asking my opinion about wine, which gave me the energy to keep going.

South Florida Food and Wine: Do you do anything else other than write about wine?
RJ's Wine Blog: As odd as this may sound, I also drink wine.

South Florida Food and Wine: What is the most challenging thing about wine writing?
RJ's Wine Blog: Trying to make tasting notes feel authentic and real, while also giving readers something useful and applicable to their own wine world. Sometimes, I go back and look at my own tasting notes and I can’t figure out a word I’ve just said. It happens most often when I try to identify every last element, down to the oak and the vanilla and the specific fruit and whether or not it’s cassis or northern hemisphere cassis (I got that last one from someone else – I still have no idea what it means). But, if the aroma reminds me of an indoor swimming pool or a handful of dirty rocks after standing out in a rainstorm, that, to me at least, is more interesting than if I were to pull from my handy “how to write a tasting note” reference guide. Doesn’t work for everybody, but it does for me and I’m amazed when others tell me they smell the same thing. What I find to be less challenging, which was a surprise to me, is the story aspect of writing. It’s a lot of work and I don’t always accomplish what I want, but I always love working on a story, something that conveys the experience of wine. For example, a few years back, my wife and I were tasting in Applegate Valley in Southern Oregon and we went into a very small winery named Devitt. The proprietor was clearly not all that excited to have customers, so I made it a point to see if I could break through – I knew if I could there was a great story there. Turns out he had a very long and rich history with wine and winemaking and it provided a great framework for a story.

South Florida Food and Wine: What is the greatest opportunity that has come from writing for you?
RJ's Wine Blog: I’ve been exposed to some pretty cool things since starting RJ’s Wine Blog, but, honestly, the greatest opportunity that’s come from this is the creative outlet. I’ve written on and off my whole life, but fell into a non-writing mode for several years a while back. The blog has allowed me to take two passions and combine them into one.

South Florida Food and Wine: What is your most memorable writing moment?
RJ's Wine Blog: My most memorable writing moment was in college [cue the turntable with Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days] when I was supposed to write a paper for arguably the hardest literature professor at our University. I only remembered the day before that it was due, just about the same time my roommate told me he was throwing a party at our house that night. So, throughout the night, I went from the attic computer upstairs to the party downstairs, back and forth, until dawn. I handed in my paper that morning and went back to bed. The next week, the professor had made a copy of my paper for everyone in the class and said “this is what I’m talking about.” I had never seen her pass out anyone’s paper before or after that. It’s the little victories that make me happy, I guess.

South Florida Food and Wine: What is the best wine advice you have to share?
RJ's Wine Blog: Trust what you taste. If you don’t like it, don’t let anyone tell you that you do, for whatever reason. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t experiment, or listen to what others have to say because that’s the only way you can expand your palate and find the wines that you like, but, if you don’t like what you experiment with, move on. Too many times I’ve seen people doubt their own palates because other people around them talk about it as if it was the second coming. A few weeks back at a tasting I attended, there was a wine that was being hyped as one of the “buzz” wines among hundreds of wines. People were going crazy over it and professing their love for it as if it were their own child. A buddy and I tasted it, gave it a hearty “eh, I’ve had better” and moved on. Maybe I missed something, or maybe I just don’t know good wine from bad wine, but, in that case, it felt like a waste of my time to try and figure out why everyone else thought it was so good.
South Florida Food and Wine: What is your one obsessive wine habit?
RJ's Wine Blog: Not sure I can narrow it down to just one, but if I had to pick a current one, it would be temperature. My wife and I just set up a new wine cellar and, since we had an underground space with very thick, double insulated walls, we decided to go with a passive approach to cooling (meaning, we did not install a cooling unit). I have 5 temperature sensors in the cellar that keep track of the room as well as send me warnings if the temp or humidity get over a certain threshold. Last week, the outside temperatures got into the 90’s and, well, let’s just say I got a little obsessive about the increase in temperature. All good in the end as the insulation did its job, but of all the things I had to stress about last week, this was probably top of my list.

South Florida Food and Wine: If you could choose to be any wine, what would it be?
RJ's Wine Blog: A very expensive wine, with incredibly high ratings and lots of buzz, so I could make a ton of money and vacation with all my other friends who are also expensive, highly rated wines.
South Florida Food and Wine: What is the best wine accessory you own?
RJ's Wine Blog: I’m either a simple man or a man who’s notorious for breaking things (corkscrews, wineglasses, etc.), but the best accessory I have is my trusty waiter’s corkscrew. Simple, functional and the only corkscrew I somehow haven’t destroyed over the years.

South Florida Food and Wine: What is the most bizarre thing you ever did with food or wine?
RJ's Wine Blog: Started a wine blog.
South Florida Food and Wine: Where was the best wine you ever had? And why?
RJ's Wine Blog: Red wine. I like it better than white wine.
South Florida Food and Wine: If you could share a bottle of wine with anyone who would it be and why?
RJ's Wine Blog: My wife, because she knows so much more about wine than I do.

1961 Buick Invicta and Pinot Noir...Tasting Notes of a Week Gone By...

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:31:00 +0000

2004 Camille Giroud Nuits St. Georges Cailles Pinot Noir Crazy assortment of things going on with this wine - old musty car (think old 1960's leather upholstery), swisher sweet cigar tobacco and fruit leather. Come to think of it, reminds me of a fugitive running hard cross country, feeling in the clear, having evaded the authorities in his 1961 Buick Invicta, smoking cigars and eating homemade fruit leather (little does he know, the roadblock is just over the next hilltop). Grippy tannins and a mid-length finis. Not my favorite, but definitely on my list of interesting wines and one to try again. My rating: 88

2006 Vavasour Pinot Noir Dashwood Good representation of a "typical" New Zealand / Marlborough Pinot Noir - cherry, strawberry, cranberry and white pepper, with an interesting root beer note on the nose. All in all, the best way to describe it is that this is a very pleasant wine (be careful, this is a very technical wine term) - well balanced, soft, with a little heat on the finish, but not unbearable. My rating: 89

2007 Palliser Estate Pinot Noir There are plenty of good elements on this wine - cherry, blackberry, toast, with grippy tannins and a long finish - but, in the end, I couldn't get past the oak. Plain and simple, it just overwhelms the fruit. Too bad, because I actually enjoyed the initial fruit forward palate. My rating: 87

2007 Bouchard Père et Fils Bourgogne Reserve Pinot Noir All fruit on this one, some cherry, strawberry and pomegranate, but the real stand-out on this one is cranberry...it's like an unsweetened, 100% fruit cranberry popsicle that you can probably find only at a specialty, all natural food store somewhere in Marin. Not sure those even exist, but maybe they should. My rating: 86

2006 Joseph Drouhin Chablis Chardonnay Citrus, green apple, peach stones. Medium weight and intensity. For my taste, a little bitter and pithy, but, still a nice wine for a summer afternoon on the deck. My rating: 87

2006 Walter Hansel Winery Chardonnay The North Slope Vineyard Complex white, with earth, vegetal (think garden dirt) and sage on the nose, transforming into a spicy, buttery, grapefruit and vanilla palate. Incredibly expressive and complex, but the heat on the finish distracted me too much to truly enjoy it. My rating: 86

2006 Jean Rijckaert Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru LesGarennes Vieilles Vignes Chardonnay Incredible nose on this wine - mostly caramel, butterscotch and candle wax, with a touch of Catholic church incense. Medium acidity, mid - long finish and incredibly expressive. This is a fantastic white and very warm, balanced and broad. My rating: 92

Caymus, Kosta Browne, Sea Smoke, Pontet-Canet and more...tasting notes from the top of the list

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:00:00 +0000

It's been a bit of a slow week for tasting here at RJ's Wine Blog, so, I thought it might be interesting to go over to GrapeStories (aka CellarTracker) and see which of my past reviews have attracted the most amount of views, or people interested enough in the wine to read about it. It's always an interesting thing to look at to see what's on other people's minds and, with more than 31,000 views on these ten wines alone, worth noting how robust and large a community CellarTracker has become.

2007 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon rjswineblog 93 The good news is that this wine definitely delivers on what I've heard. It's a big, aromatic California Cabernet, with so many interesting elements. Over a period of about 15 minutes I picked up blackberry, chocolate, coffee, dark cherry, paprika and herbs on the nose. So many good things, it's hard to list them all. In the mouth, it's just as extravagant, but without as many spice and herb notes, mostly cherry, plum, dark berries and espresso. It's a 15% alcohol wine, but, even at that high level, it's an incredibly well balanced wine with very firm tannins, mild but good acidity and an incredibly long finish. Definitely still a little young, but deserving of the Caymus name. This is a fabulous wine and should have the stamina to peak at about 5 - 7 years...just decant it if you want to enjoy it now. (4,412 views).

2007 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast rjswineblog 91 For the 2007 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, the nose is dark cherry, raspberry, menthol and some heat, transforming into dark cherry, spice and vanilla in the mouth. It's light in color, lighter than I expected, with good acidity and tannins. This is a very well balanced Pinot Noir, with a long, lingering finish. As I suspected, given that it is a newly released 2007, it's still a little young and I think I'll wait a few years to try the next one. The bad news is that I have to wait...the good news is that I know it will be worth the wait. (4,044 views)

2008 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast rjswineblog 93 Just received my 2008 allocation this week and I couldn't open one of these fast enough. And, as always, Kosta Browne delivers. It's too young now, but shows a ton of promise. Tart raspberry and strawberry, smoke (i.e. smoked meats, not tobacco smoke) and dirt on the finish. Incredibly well balanced, with all the components working in harmony and such a stark contrast to some of the other wines I've tasted this week. The acidity is also very bright and this wine has a lot of life. I'm not sure if every vintage of Kosta Browne is better than the last, but they all strike a chord with me when I taste them. Another fantastic wine from the boys over at Kosta Browne (now, hopefully, they won't let the acquisition change the quality of the wine). (3,502 views)

2006 Quilceda Creek Red Wine Columbia Valley rjswineblog 91 Ghostwriter777 (scroll down in the tasting notes) is definitely on to something here. There's a good wine in this bottle, but it takes a lot of effort right now. I decanted mine for 3 hours and it still wasn't quite there - a bit tight and a bit hot still. But, make no mistake, this is a good wine. I can already tell there's a lush silkiness to this wine that will only get better with time. Fruit is pretty sparse on the nose, but what fruit there is is black, with some leather, mocha and vegetable notes. In the mouth, blue/blackberry, blackcurrant, cigar tobacco and black licorice, with a very broad distribution. Very well balanced, long finish, this one should be even better if aged, but not past a few years - doesn't feel like it has legs to go much past 3 - 4 years. 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Malbec from Champoux, Ciel du Cheval, Galitzine, Klipsun and Tapteil vineyards. (3,338 views)

2006 Château Pontet-Canet rjswineblog 93 Great fruit. Great acidity. Great earth. Great barnyard (just enough, but not too much). Great tannins. Short finish. (3,238 views)

2005 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five rjswineblog 92 Very strong and lingering nose, with some strawberry, very dark cherry, anise and blueberry. On the palette, this one is silky smooth. Still maybe a little early to be drinking it at its peak, but even so, there's no denying that this is good now and will be a great wine with age. There's some good ripe fruit, chocolate and, odd as it sounds, some sausage on the initial taste. Some oak, but definitely not over-oaked, very well balanced and complex, all the way through to the end - hits quickly at the front, drives straight through the mid-palate and stays complex through the finish. The tannins on this are definitely a prominent part of the mix, making the wine slightly chewy, but that's right up my alley when it comes to Cabernet Sauvignon (2,863 views)

2006 Havens Wine Cellars Merlot rjswineblog 70 Really bummed out with this one. Bought a case at what I thought was a steal for $6.99 a bottle at K&L Wines, one of my favorite and most trusted wine sources. Opened one bottle and thought it had gone bad, so opened another, which was okay the first night buy the second night it tasted like the first bottle. Not worth giving tasting notes on this one except to say it tasted like wine in a can - very tinny and bitter. (2,536 views)

2007 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten rjswineblog 90 This is the lowest score I've given a Sea Smoke Pinot. Not too low at a 90, but there's something missing for me about Sea Smoke the last few vintages. I don't know if it's the new(er) winemaker or what, but Sea Smoke used to blow me away...incredible tasting experiences with particularly the Botellas and Tens (not as big a fan of the Southings). So, relatively speaking the 2007 Ten is not my favorite relative to other Sea Smokes. But, against other Pinot Noir, this is still very nice. A bit young and rambunctious still, but a nice blend of dark cherries, lavender and blood orange with a hint of smoke. Incredible acidity on this wine, especially for a California Pinot Noir. (2,437 views)

2006 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco rjswineblog 88 Bought this wine as a pairing for Osso Buco (along with an '07 Ripassa - see last tasting note) and it just didn't pair as well. First, it is a good one, especially at the price, so don't get me wrong - I would probably buy this one again. But, in my search for a good pairing, I think I over-indexed on the acidity, so this wine didn't quite cut it for me as either a stand-alone or a pairing. (2,346 views)

2006 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten rjswineblog 95 This is, hands down, the best Pinot Noir I have ever tasted. I first learned about Sea Smoke with the 2004 vintage and it continues to amaze me with this, my third vintage of Sea Smoke. This is not a faint, light Pinot - it's dense, rich and incredibly well balanced, with a complexity unrivaled in other Pinots (or, at least those I've tasted). Definitely one of those wines I'm sad to finish...my only consolation is the other bottles in my cellar, but I think I'll wait a few years on those. (2,340 views)

Interview: Gilles Nicault of Long Shadows

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:00:00 +0000

For those of you who have followed my blog for a while, you’ll know that I pay close attention to Long Shadows, a Washington winery that brings together some of the best winemakers in the world to produce their styles of wine using Washington fruit. Among the winemakers involved are Randy Dunn of Napa (from Caymus and Dunn, among others), John Duval (best known for his work with Penfold’s Grange and a true legend in Australia) and Michel Rolland. They currently produce 7 wines – Pedestal, Chester-Kidder, Poet’s Leap, Sequel, Feather, Pirouette and Saggi – as well as a new second line called “Nine Hats.”

At the center of all these world-renowned winemakers, and the winemaker for one of my favorites (Chester-Kidder) is another truly remarkable winemaker – Gilles Nicault. Recently, I was able to talk to Gilles and I quickly learned that besides being one of the most passionate winemakers I’ve talked to in a long time, he’s also an incredibly humble and warm person, particularly in light of the fact that he has arguably one of the most interesting jobs in the wine industry today. Here’s a little more on him, from his perspective.

RJ: Tell me a little about your background.

GN: So, I’m French, obviously. When I was in school, I did 4 years of viticulture and winemaking. After school, I wanted to come for one year to a wine producing country. I actually tried to go to Australia, but, given the time of the year, it was just too late to go to Australia since they were close to harvest, so I agreed to go to the U.S.A.

I ended up with an internship in Washington State, at Staton Hills, in 1994, so 16 years ago. I agreed to spend one year in Yakima and I just loved it, I loved not only the wines and the viticulture, which still we had a lot to learn about back then, and we still do now, but, I loved the countryside, all of the Pacific, Oregon and Washington shores are just amazing, all the mountains and the wildlife – it’s just incredible. It’s just an incredible part of the world, I thought.

RJ: When you were in Yakima, how many wineries were there at that time?

GN: There was something like 65 wineries…in all of Washington. A lot less wineries in Washington then then there are in Walla Walla now.

RJ: When your internship ended, what was your next step?

GN: I had to do the French mandatory military training and in 1996, I started working for Woodward Canyon. I did a short stint at Hogue Cellars in 1998, but after 10 months, Rick Small at Woodward Canyon called me back, so I agreed to go back to Woodward Canyon in 1999 as an associate winemaker along with Rick Small. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 at Woodward Canyon, then I left in 2003 to join Allen Shoup at Long Shadows Vintners

RJ: Were you the first winemaker he hired?

GN: Yes, I was the first winemaker at Long Shadows Vintners, the first resident winemaker.

RJ: So, how long did it take for you guys to get all the other winemakers involved?

GN: Allen Shoup had already talked with many of them, like, Augustin [Huneeus Sr.] had always been a great friend of Allen’s and always told Allen that when he was ready to do his project, he’d be the first one to sign. So, he was the first one to sign. And then Michel Rolland signed up. And Armin Diel, he was talking at that time to Armin Diel, when I came in.

RJ: How do you work with all these accomplished winemakers, from all over the world – how do you keep relationships going and the engine running on so many different things?

GN: All the winemakers are really the owners of their brands. So, when each winemaker comes to Washington State to talk to me, we talk about their wine and they’re really committed to it. Randy Dunn makes 100% Cabernet Sauvignon Washington State, so we go to the vineyards and I give Randy different allocations in vineyards that he’s liked over the years, since now we have walked 7 years, we are able to, year after year, refine which grapes he gets...When Randy Dunn comes to Washington State, we are able to go to the vineyard together and talk about what viticulture practices he wants and once the grapes come into the winery, we know what techniques to use for winemaking and also what barrels to use because we know it’s going to be for Randy Dunn. Same for all the different winemakers – I have different grape allocations for each one of them and we know what technique to use for each one of the grapes that come to the winery.

Each winemaker is very different and our goal, once again, is to make the wine, but reflect their style, not our style. If I had made the wine myself for each one of those guys, it would somewhat be all the same style. Here, I think each wine is very different and each wine really reflects our different partners, which is our goal…Year after year, we’ve been able to refine it a little bit what we we’ve been doing and, now, each brand is really getting to where we want to be.

RJ: I just discovered “Nine Hats.” It seems pretty limited - can you tell me a little more about it?

GN: We just released the ’07 and it’s going to be really limited on that vintage, mostly because we didn’t know we were going to do it and we have a little more of the ’08. What it’s going to be for us is a second label. TO ensure that the quality and the style of each wine reflects our partners/winemakers, we give them the option to select their lots that go into their blend and "carte blanche" to reject any lots they feel like not using. Since 2003, we have sold our excess wines on the bulk market. Now days, there is too much wine on the bulk market so we thought it was time to bottle our own second label.

RJ: Are you making the “Nine Hats” yourself?

GN: I am blending it from the lots remaining from all the different brands. All Ling Shadows' winemakers have their hands into making it.

RJ: It’s a very interesting wine and one of the best value wines I’ve found this year.

GN: Yes, I agree. I think it’s just great value for the wine.

RJ: What are the wines that you like to drink?

GN: I like to be diverse. I always love drinking French wines, it can be Bordeaux and Burgundy. Since I am from Côtes du Rhône, I love Vacqueyras and Gigondas and, of course Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I love also Chilean wine, for example. Clos Apalta, a little bit more expensive, but I love Clos Apalta. As a winemaker, I’m not a sommelier, so I probably don’t have as much knowledge as a sommelier, but I think it’s important for me to test a broad selection of wines. So, that’s what I’m trying to do.

If you’d like to learn more about Long Shadows wines, you can see some of my reviews at Long Shadows or go directly to their website.

Chris Gorman and Long Shadows - Tasting Notes from a Week Gone By...

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:00:00 +0000

All the wine tasting notes below were originally published on GrapeStories.

2007 Gorman Winery Chardonnay The Big Sissy Conner Lee Gotta love Gorman's wine names - Big Sissy, Bully, Evil Twin. This Chardonnay was remarkably good. A bit more oakey on the nose than on the palate, with a very nice balance of cream, fruit and acid. Served me well on a hot evening in Seattle (which don't come around very often). My rating: 89

2007 Gorman Winery Cabernet Sauvignon The Albatross This is a reserve, served only at tastings - so, if you can make it to a Gorman tasting, this one's worth attending for. BIG, strong tannins and very dense - my kind of red. Could use some aging, but drinking very well right now. My rating: 92

2007 Gorman Winery Zachary's Ladder Big flavor, but not too heavy. Drinking very well, even in the summer heat. Perfectly balanced & smooth. My rating: 90

2007 Gorman Winery Cabernet Sauvignon The Bully Very firm tannins, mostly in the mid palate and softening on the finish. Black fruit, dark cherry and cedar. My rating: 90

2007 Long Shadows Wineries "Nine Hats" A new Long Shadows release? Without any press or any indication on their website? I can't even find it on Google, Bing or anywhere else. Nowhere, you say? Nowhere! Crazy. And, it's damn good. So what gives? I picked up a case at Esquin, a local Seattle wine shop, and I wonder if they have a retail-only strategy on this one. Not sure, but whatever their distribution strategy is, I'd like this one to remain quiet for now.

I'm assuming anyone reading this note knows the story behind Long Shadows (if not, you can check the Long Shadows website here), so I'll spare you that bit, but wanted to share with you the story on the "Nine Hats" label..."Nine winemakers. Nine hats. The nine renowned winemakers of Long Shadow's signature wines discover after each harvest that a percentage of their resulting barrels are more than they require to achieve that perfect balance in their final blends. These extra barrels now produce NINE HATS...wines of complexity and supple texture."

For $24, this is a very nice wine (nice being a technical term, of course). It's not overly complex, but it's definitely not one-dimensional either. Not much fruit on the nose, with a little bit of campfire smoke, pepper and eucalyptus. On the palate, hints of dark, dark fruit (but very subtle), with cedar, tobacco leaf and cherry on the finish. Doesn't drink out of its weight class, but it is one of the best $25 wines I've had in a long time.

Cheers to Long Shadows for making a less expensive wine for those who are too shy for the other $40 and $50 wines in their line-up. I would love to see them continue this wine, as I expect it would be just a little different every year.

60% Cabernet, 15% Syrah, 11% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot, and 4% Cabernet Franc.

My rating: 90

Interview: Trey Busch from Sleight of Hand Cellars

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:00:00 +0000

A few years back, my wife and I were in Walla Walla for a wine tasting trip and we had the unexpected pleasure of meeting Trey Busch, winemaker and co-owner of Sleight of Hand Cellars. Situated in downtown Walla Walla, and conveniently located on the walking path of wineries downtown, Sleight of Hand is, simply put, a cool place to hang out and taste wine. I’m very much into the experience I have when I walk into a tasting room and I knew when I heard Joy Division’s “Closer” on the turntable (one of my all-time favorite albums) that I was in for a rare treat.

Being an avid music fan as he is, Trey’s got a whole stack of vinyl records lined up in his tasting room and even named his winery after a Pearl Jam song, “Sleight of Hand.” Seems fitting for a guy who moved from Seattle 10 years ago for a serious lifestyle change – “he waves goodbye, to himself / i'll see you on the other side... / another man...moved by sleight of hand...” (Pearl Jam, “Sleight of Hand,” Binaural, 2000).

I recently met up with Trey again at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla and was able to interview him last week. Here’s what he has to say…hope you enjoy it as much I enjoyed getting to know him a little better.

RJ: How did you land in Walla Walla?

TB: I moved here about 10 years ago in July of 2000, 10 years almost to the day…in the mid-90’s, I was working for [a major retailer in Seattle]…and there was a record store…called Ruby Records…and it was owned by Jamie Brown, from Waters Winery. Jamie, in his previous life, ran record stores, used to manage the Tower Records in the University District and was always in a band and involved in music. He was working for a small record store and then opened his own called Ruby Records…He specialized in vinyl, had a bunch of CD’s too…but he also had this little back room where he had bootleg live concerts…so I used to buy all of my bootleg Pearl Jam CD’s from him. He used to call me once a month and say “Trey, man, I got in this great recording from Italy, from the ’93 show,” So, I’d roll down and see him and just through that, he and I became friends.

Then, about ’97 or ’98, Jamie moved back to Walla Walla…he was born and raised in Walla Walla…and realized what a cool little town Walla Walla had turned into. The wine thing was just sort of happening…When Jamie would come back to Seattle, he would stay with my wife and I and on one of those trips, he brought Eric Dunham [of Dunham Cellars], so I met Eric. Then, my wife and I started visiting Walla Walla to go see Jamie and…we thought “this is a really cool little town.” Eric and I became friends and we were at a dinner party at his house and he asked me if I would ever consider living in Walla Walla. I said, “Yeah, I would love to live here but what would I do?” He said, “You can come work for me.” So, he hired me as his assistant winemaker, even though I didn’t have any winemaking experience whatsoever. I enjoyed wine, I loved Eric’s wine, of course, but it really was a lifestyle change, not a passion for wine change.

RJ: Walla Walla’s changed a lot in the time you’ve been there.

TB: There were 14 wineries when I went to work for Eric. And I remember about a year later, it was 30 and we were like “Man, 30 wineries – no way” 140 wineries now – that’s crazy. And somewhat untempered growth - I mean, you’re already seeing fall out and casualties, especially this year with the economy.

RJ: I love the music vibe in your tasting room. How does that all play into what you’re doing?

TB: Music is such a big part of my life and I don’t play any instruments, which is really sad. I promised myself that I would learn how to play guitar one day. I just love music so much and to not have it…I mean I have music going all the time…I’m a junky. And I love vinyl, but with a 4-year old running around the house, I’m not going to play vinyl at home. So, I thought, why not bring it to the tasting room? And, now, it’s almost taken on a life of its own. It really is a topic of conversation with almost everyone that walks in there. It’s funny to me – are they really that rare? I guess no one really plays vinyl any more.

RJ: Well, it’s part the vinyl, but you’re also playing cool music. Most wine tasting rooms play music, but it’s usually pretty staid and mellow.

TB: Yep. If you go through all my vinyl, I’ve got things like Best of the Scorpions in there. I want people to experience my winery as my personality and not worry that, oh, these people are coming in and I need to change the music or they’re going to be offended. If they don’t like it, they don’t like it. In the end, that’s who I am and these are my wines and what the whole experience is about. I’ve never had anyone walk out or be offended by anything.

RJ: Does the music play in to how you make wine? Does it inspire you?

TB: I can’t say it affects how I make wine – I mean, I make wine how I make wine. I don’t even think that my musical tastes correlate really. The wines I make are the wines I make and they’re all different…

But, yes, I think about it from a branding standpoint all the time, especially when I’m creating second labels. Mark McNeely [of Mark Ryan winery] and I formed a company called the Underground Wine Project and made Idle Hands…Idle Hands is a Gutter Twins song and we always talk about music and it always comes back to music somehow.

I’m bottling a Syrah in August…and the vineyard is owned by Rich Funk…one of the nicest guys in the business…all the way around. Instead of having another Sleight of Hand Syrah, like a reserve Syrah, which is really what this is – single vineyard, 4 barrels – it’s going to look like another project. And we’re going to call it the Funkadelic Syrah, like Parliament’s Funkadelic. I got my buddy working on a label right now and he’s going to try and mimic that look, basically like an album cover.

RJ: What wines are you drinking now?

TB: I’ve been drinking a lot of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, not just the ’07 – plenty of good ’04, ‘5, ’06 still out there. My buddy from Seattle always brings a killer Châteauneuf-du-Pape with him and we enjoy it together. I love Steve’s wines over at Trust [Cellars]. I’ve been drinking a lot of white wines, probably more Riesling than anything. We got back from Italy last year, so we were on an Italian kick for a while, the Tuscans…Paleo [is a favorite].

Thomas Brown is probably one of my favorite winemakers in California. He has his own project called Rivers Marie…It’s a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay project. Gorgeous label. Single vineyard and Sonoma Coast Pinot’s. Amazing Chards, high acid, amazing flavors, not a ton of oak. Not even a ton of oak on the Pinot’s. Almost opposite wines that he makes for his clients…Whenever I get my Rivers Marie allocation, I buy that.

The other list I just got on was the Lillian list out of Oregon. That’s Maggie Harrison, winemaker and one of the partners at Antica Terra, a Pinot Project out of Willamette. She has her own label called Lillian and it’s a Syrah project. She was the assistant winemaker at Sine Qua Non for 10 years. So, Manfred Krankl sells her White Hawk fruit and she trucks it up in a reefer overnight and makes the Syrah at Antica Terra. It’s the affordable Sine Qua Non. It’s a gorgeous label…I don’t know if I’d call Sine Qua Non reds controversial, but they’re really delicious and they’re just big, slutty wines and you just need some of those sometimes. I’m not going to drink them every day, but Maggie’s wines are very much in that style and are really delicious.

If you’re ever in Walla Walla, be sure to visit Sleight of Hand Cellars and talk to Trey. Great guy. Great music. Great wine.

And, if you're interested in knowing more about Sleight of Hands Cellars, you can check out this great article from Seattle magazine in which Sleight of Hand was named one of the "Next Cult Wineries of Washington State."

Long Shadows, Fisher Vineyards, Fall Line and more...Tasting Notes from a Week Gone By

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:00:00 +0000

All the wine tasting notes below were originally published on GrapeStories.

2006 Fall Line Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley I don't know why this is, but I've become accustomed to wines in the $20 - 25 price range being inconsistent. The good ones are pretty good, but the bad ones tend to always have at least one of the following problems - too much oak, diluted, over ripe, out of balance or too much heat. This Fall Line actually has none of that. It's not horribly complex, nor is it a wine to be cellared, but it is a very good wine. Big cherry up front, dissolving mid-palate into a rounder, darker fruit and finishing with a smooth, zero-heat, peppery finish. A very elegant wine for the price. Quite impressed with this wine and definitely feel like my blind buy from Garagiste paid off on this one. If you can find it, it's well worth a try. My rating: 91

2009 Long Shadows Wineries Riesling Poet's Leap Just received my case of the 2009 Poet's Leap and was excited to try it, as The last few vintages have been fantastic. I think the 2009 may be just a little bit better than both the '07 and the '08, mostly because it's a much dryer version of this wine. Lemon, orange zest, hay and just a touch of fresh nutmeg, this is perfectly blended, smooth on the palate and a long, refreshing finish. Another great one in a long line of wines at Long Shadows. My rating: 91

2006 Fisher Vineyards Syrah Hidden Terrace This is a very interesting Syrah. If you've ever had the Cayuse Syrah's, this is in that school...big, heavy, savory and masculine, with an incredible amount of white pepper both on the nose and the palate. But, not coarse pepper, more like white pepper that's been ground into a fine powder, leaving a chalky feeling on the palate. Huge, well rounded and lush finish. Incredible wine, recommended to me by my buddy over on twitter at @thatreeder (who, by the way, has an incredible palate and is always one to have a good wine on hand). My rating: 92

2008 Torii Mor Pinot Noir Willamette Valley I was just in Willamette Valley tasting a few weeks back and I was astounded by the high prices at the wineries we went to. $70, $80, even up just south of $100. I get that the region is known for its Pinot Noir (it's even got its own Pinot Noir glass made by Reidel), but, man that's a bit rich for my blood. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see a wine from the valley under $20 at the wine store today. And it's good. A bit light for my palate (I tend more toward the bigger Pinot, mostly from California), but it's incredibly well balanced, smooth as silk and a nice, juicy finish. Cherry, watermelon and spice, all with a mist of minerals. Good stuff. My rating: 88

2007 Zero One Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon The Wild Sky Sometimes there's not much reason to reinvent the wheel, especially when someone else captured everything you were thinking - RobertDwyer is spot on in his description below. The only difference for me is that I think it drinks more like a 90 than a 93, but, still, a very good wine. My rating: 90

RobertDwyer's note: Typical Cabernet Sauvignon density in the glass visually. It has a quiet confidence about its presence aromatically. Red raspberries and blackberries. Coffee. Some sage in the background. Moderate acidity and just a touch of tannic grip. A wonderfully balanced wine. Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. Drinking well now but would mellow out a bit and integrate with 1 year or more of bottle age.

NOTE: Robert Dwyer also runs a great wine blog called Wellesley Wine Press.

2008 Cameron Hughes Pinot Noir Lot 165 Carneros The second Cameron Hughes I'm tasting tonight and they're both just average. Good enough fruit and I guess for $18, the QPR is pretty good on this, especially since California Pinot is usually over $20. But there's nothing interesting about this wine. Not sure I'll pick it up again. NOTE: this wine was given to me as a free sample. My rating: 86

2007 Cameron Hughes Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 172 Good enough everyday red, with bold dark fruit, but very one dimensional and really hot (think instant heartburn). Not my favorite Cameron Hughes - just middle of the road. NOTE: this wine was given to me as a free sample. My rating: 86

Quilceda Creek, Cayuse, 21 Grams, Groth and more - tasting notes of a (few) week(s) gone by...

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:00:00 +0000

All the wine tasting notes below were originally published on GrapeStories.

1998 Quilceda Creek Red Wine Columbia Valley I'm having a bit of a heart-wrenching couple weeks because I've finally set aside all the wines in my cellar that are technically past their prime and am trying to go through them before they pass over to the other side. This Quilceda, in particular, is hard because it's the first Quilceda Creek that I could get my hands on and the wine that turned me on to them (well, that and all the crazy ratings and attention, but that is a much less compelling story). It's still a very good wine. A bit steely and metallic, but lively fruit and acidity still, with a touch of nutmeg, spice and chocolate. Has some leather on the nose as well. All in all, going to be sad to see this one gone. Cheers, '98. My rating: 90 (note: the label on the right is the 2000, but the 1998 and 2000 share the same design)

2006 Soter Pinot Noir Mineral Springs Blackberry, blueberry, earth and pie crust. Well balanced, very smooth, just a hint of complimentary acidity and a lingering finish. More fruit forward than I thought it would be, but not at all overbearing. On the medium to heavy side of Pinot Noir. My rating: 90

2003 Valley View Cabernet Sauvignon Anna Maria It's amazing to me how unknown Applegate Valley is - this is the only bottle of Valley View Anna Maria on GrapeStories - and there are some great wineries, most notably, at least in my humble opinion, Devitt Winery. If you're ever in Southern Oregon, Devitt is a must visit. For this wine, it's reached a very nice maturity and is drinking quite nicely. Blackberry, truffle, mossy dirt - not super strong fruit, but nice enough. Smooth, well balanced, good but short finish and relatively low heat. Quite nice. My rating: 88

2007 Cayuse Syrah Cailloux Vineyard Another 94 when I had this again last night. I remembered why I love this wine so much - it's savory. Sounds weird, but there's nothing sweet about it and the fruit is very subtle. I'm not sure if "salty" is all that attractive to some folks, but it really is one of the driving notes of this wine, along with meat and leather. For the price, this is easily one of the best Syrah's in Washington, just wish it wasn't so hard to find. My rating: 94

2007 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Haven't tried basic Mondavi Cab in a very long time and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Cherry, plum, tobacco and freshly oiled saddle leather, with a very nice mouthfeel and balance. Finish is solid and long and there's very little heat on this wine. Not overly complex, but not one-dimensional either. My rating: 89 NOTE: this wine was sent to me as a free sample.

2007 Remoissenet Père et Fils Chambolle-Musigny Pinot Noir I'm not sure what it is with me and Burgundy, but I just can't seem to find one I like, especially when there are so many other wines I do like. I appreciate them for what they are and understand that they're good wines, but they're just not to my palate I guess. The Remoissenet is very well balanced, good strong red fruit (cherries, raspberries) and a very interesting driftwood note, but, it's just too light and faint for my taste. I need something a little meatier, a little more to hold on to. And, at $69 a bottle, I would turn to many other wines before I came back to this one. I will say, however, it did pair quite nicely with the salmon we made on the grill. My rating: 87

2005 Silverado Vineyards Merlot Strong tannins and a lot of heat on the finish. I feel like this should be drinking better than it is, but it's just too hot for me. My rating: 86

2001 Trefethen Cabernet Sauvignon Oak Knoll In my bin of wines that need to be drunk before they pass their prime. The drink window notes on this wine were spot on - feels like it's at its peak, with great black fruit, cedar and light coffee notes. The tannins are perfectly aged, creating a smooth, silky mouthfeel. If you have this in your cellar, drink it now - it's ready. My rating: 89

2007 21 Grams Cabernet Sauvignon I was enjoying this wine so much at dinner last night that I completely forgot to take any notes. Suffice it to say, it's one of the best wines I've had in a long time. Perfectly balanced, soft, rich, with a huge, memorable finish. I'm sure it will age well, but I was stunned that after just two hours of decanting, this young wine acts much older and more mature. If I could stock my cellar with this wine, I would. My rating: 96

2008 ÀMaurice Cellars Viognier Really nice Viognier that we picked up at Pike & Western in Seattle to pair with Salmon. Salmon's not ready yet, but I can tell this would be a nice match. Full bodied Viognier, with lemon, melon, vanilla and even some tropical fruit, maybe like a pineapple. Good long memorable finish - this could be our "go-to" Viognier moving forward...really nice wine. My rating: 89

2007 D.R. Stephens Chardonnay Once again, this wine delivers. One of my favorite chardonnays, if not the favorite. Amazing flavor profile, with loads of buttered popcorn on the nose (but not too oakey). The perfect blend of crisp and rich. Well worth the money. My rating: 91

1997 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon I agree with Vinokep on this one - no need to cellar this any longer. We opened this with some good friends tonight and I thought it held up very well. More life and acidity than I thought or am even used to with Groth Cab - almost as if the wine was giving out its last gasp of life for our dinner, even after it suffered a three-part corking, as the cork crumbled on the counter and into the bottle...very soft and worn out. All in all, though, still a great wine and kudos to Groth for producing a non-reserve that's held up this long. My only advice is that if you have any of this in your cellar, it's time to drink it...there's not much time left in my opinion. My rating: 91

2005 Northstar Merlot Columbia Valley My wife and I first had this wine 2 - 3 years ago on a trip out to Walla Walla. We stopped at Northstar with our picnic lunch and split a big glass of the Merlot, probably an '03 or '04 at that point. The view was spectacular and I remember the wine being rich and lush, matching perfectly with our lunch (which I remember less). The '05 is decent, but not like I remember - this one is a tad oakey, over ripe and hot. That said, the fruit is black and tasty, with a good overall mouth feel. Lacking on acid for my taste. My rating: 87

2008 Buty Beast Cabernet Sauvignon Hartebeest I am a true believer in Buty wines - incredibly interesting wines that never cease to amaze me. But, I guess I got what I paid for on the Hartebeest. Don't get me wrong, it's decent, but nothing special...and, fortunately, it's priced well at around $24. It's really fruity, very new world and ripe/lush. Big, broad mouthfeel, with a pretty good finish, but a little hot. Not exactly to my liking, but, again, not bad. If you like very fruit forward, new world wines from Washington, definitely put this one on your list. If you like complexity, originality and a wine to savor, hold out for Buty - well worth the money. My rating: 87

Wine Bloggers Conference Live Tasting notes

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:00:00 +0000

At the Wine Bloggers Conference every year, we have an event called Live Tasting. It's sort of like speed dating as all the bloggers in the room stay put for an hour and winemakers are given 5 minutes at each table to pour their wines and talk to us about anything they want. All the while, those of us on the blogging side are tasting, listening, asking questions and tweeting as if the fate of the world depended on it (clearly it doesn't, but it is a fun event).

For those of you not on Twitter and unable to see my tasting notes, I'm publishing them below, for both the red and white wine Live Tasting events. (NOTE: the notes are in reverse order, meaning the first wine on the list is actually the last wine we tasted and vice versa)

Red Wines

Buty 2006 Columbia Rediviva - if you are wanting your next Washington wine, this is it. Phenomenal producer, across the board.
Hogue Genesis Merlot. Flat, lush, low acidity. General audience wine, but not my thing.
Dry creek 2007 Old Vine Zin - big fan of dry creek region. Great Dry Creek minerality, a break from tannins of the last 2 wines.
Maryhill Winery 2007 Zinfandel. First Zin of the weekend. Total Cab on the nose, Zin on the palate. Not bad, but average.
Jordan 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley - super tannic, acidic, bright fruit. Good, but probably even better with food.
Concannon Conservancy 2007 Petite Sirah - same wine that I reviewed with whole foods - decent but fell apart 2nd night.
@solenaestate 2008 Pinot Noir Hyland Vineyard - surprisingly good acidity, a little young, but it's a stunner.
Woohoo! Long Shadows. 2007 Sequel. I am actually chewing this wine - right up my alley. Huge wine. Great nose. Another good one.
Stepping Stone Cabernet Franc 2008 - mocha madness...warm, rich nose on this one. Great acidity levels. Good stuff.
Stoller 2007 Pinot Noir Dundee Hills - vibrant nose, huge flavor profile. Good stuff for $25.
Stoller 2007 Pinot Noir Dundee Hills - first LEED certified winery in the u.s. Very cool.
Ponzi 2008 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir - $35 Pinot from Oregon that, unfortunately, is drinking like a $15 wine.
Trio Vintners 2007 Riot - only blend they make - most expensive grapes in their least expensive wine. $18. Great wine under $20.

White Wines

Neethlingshof 09 Chard. Good tropical fruit, minerality, crispness and spice. Really well balanced. Amazing QPR on this wine at $15.
Concannon Conservancy 2008 Chardonnay. Interesting how many California wines are pouring right now.
Cornerstone Cellars 2009 Sauvignon Blanc. 25 year old grapes. Big, lush SB, a little oaken and empty on the finish.
Sebastiani The Crusher Rose. Big mouthfeel, very refreshing, but a little lacking in flavor. Drink with steak. Really?
Sebastiani The Crusher Rose. Listening to the winemaker. Clearly a project he's into. Big bold rose for the red wine lover.
Sebastiani The Crusher Rose. Man, that takes some guts calling a rose "the crusher".
Le chateau 2008 Chardonnay. That said, a very nice California Chardonnay to be sure. (note: "nice" is a technical wine term).
Le chateau 2008 Chardonnay. If I wasn't listening to the winemaker say otherwise, I'd swear this is a California Chardonnay.
Cadaretta SBS 2008 - Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon. Pineapple, lemon and some serious creamy notes for not using oak. Dry. Interesting.
a'Maurice 2008 Columbia Valley Viognier. $25 price point and well worth the money. Very rich, strong fruit and complete, long finish.
a'Maurice 2008 Columbia Valley Viognier. They make Viognier because his wife loves it. Reason enough.
Jordan 2008 Russian River Chardonnay. Light and lush at the same time. Oak is there but comes in very late.
Jordan 2008 Russian River Chardonnay. Wow, this is some serious buttered popcorn on the nose. Throw in a dash of kettle sweetness.
K Vintners 2009 Viognier - grapefruit flesh and pith, some seeds even. Solid offering from K.
Charles Smith Kung Fu girl Riesling - nicely off dry, good broad mouthfeel, lush fruit. Great finish. Needs to be on your summer wine list.
Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling. A bit biased on this one as I have a bunch of it in the cellar.
Centine Bianco Toscana IGT - pucker, pucker, lots of acidity on this one. Fruit falls a little short, with a short finish. Drink very cold.
Delille 2008 Chaleur Estate Blanc - grapefruit, lemon, straw, oak. Fruit is strong enough to cut through the oak. Rich, broad and full.
Moving to duckpond 2008 Pinot Gris. Definitely stainless, with no oak. Surprisingly rich / creamy. Lemon, lemon, lemon...and mineral.
Moving on to duckpond 2008 Pinot Gris. Definitely stainless, with no oak. Surprisingly rich and creamy. Lemon, lemon, lemon...and mineral
Delille 2008 Chaleur Estate Blanc - grapefruit, lemon, straw and oak. Fruit is strong enough to cut through the oak. Rich, broad and full.
What a great wine to start with on the live tasting - @delillecellars. One of my favorite Washington producers.

Cheers!

Wine Bloggers Conference 2010

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 05:42:00 +0000

Just got back from the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla and my head is brimming with ideas, new connections, new favorite wines and a pretty good set of memories for being there just three days.

As I'm not that excited about recanting all the details of the Wine Bloggers Conference (as in "first, we did this, then we did that” and on and on...), even though there definitely are moments worth sharing, I’m going to try and focus on the vibe that pervades a conference like this one. On the surface, the WBC is a very big room full of nerds. Nerds who love wine. Nerds who use technology to tell each other (and whoever else is interested in listening) about their passion for wine. Nerds who for once in their lives aren’t chastised for bringing their smartphone and laptop to the dinner table. Nerds. Plain and simple.

But, digging deeper, it’s a place where truly cool things happen. For one, Lettie Teague, The Wall Street Journal wine writer, spoke to us at dinner last night and appeared honored to be there. I bet if you asked her 20 years ago what she’d be doing this weekend, that’s probably one of the last things she would come up with. She didn’t talk long, she didn’t have a script, no slides (thank God), just a few musings about writing, finding your voice and some great quotes from those who figured it out before us. There’s so much knowledge in her, about wine, about how wine affects the living, but she didn’t inflict it on us. What I would have given to be sitting at her table, or better yet, in a parlor of an old house, just 5 or 6 of us sitting around drinking a first growth, debating the issues of the day. And, yes, I was a bit enamored.

Another cool thing…how about a day on a yellow school bus, tooling through the wheat fields of Walla Walla in search of our mystery wineries? Seriously. You get on a bus, they start driving, and you end up where you end up. For our bus, Spring Valley Vineyard and Reynvaan Family Vineyards were where we ended up. Spring Valley, home to half a dozen generations of farmers who decided to diversify into grapes and wine a while back and intertwine their family in every aspect of the business, from images on the labels to our great host, Kate, who told stories with the passion you want to see come from someone with that kind of life. Unbelievable wines, too – all just shades different than the one before, but all distinct in their own right.

Reynvaan Family Vineyards was a new one for me. On first approach, it looked like what it is – someone who probably did quite well in their first career and has now taken the romantic notion of winemaking serious enough that it is quickly turning into the next career. Nothing wrong with that and, to be honest, I can see myself going down a similar path someday (if life will allow). But, scratching the surface, there’s more to it, a kind of fortuitous turn for a family that made a decision at the right time. Turns out his son was in in the area by chance, working at a country club as an accomplished golfer and the family just kind of came together to make this happen. It was interesting watching the son tell the story of the winery, while mom and dad looked on. I know how I would have felt, owning up to some good old fashioned pride in myself and in my boy for what he’s turning into. They’re doing it as expected and as many before them have done – a great wine consultant, some recently planted estate grapes, a great designer and what sounds like a lot more work than they expected. In the end, though, what really mattered to me was the touch of honesty in this wine and I was very impressed with the juice in my glass. What made it even better was the incredible pairing worked out with the Jim German Bar, who provided the food. Chorizo, spicy potatoes and a handful of other diverse delicacies should not have worked with their wine, or, with any wine for that matter. But, their “In the Rocks” Syrah was so perfectly matched, it literally stopped the conversation at our table. Phenomenal. Truly. And the best part is that I now have a great red to pair with spicy food.

As the weekend progressed, we went through all the keynotes, panels, social hours and speed tastings, broadcast over the internet like a revolution was breaking out, with new news literally every nanosecond, coming from 300 reporters in the hotel across the street from the heart of the action - a smattering of enough distractions that we never really got bored. Tired, maybe, but rarely, if ever, bored - great kudos to the organizers for pulling that off.

Amidst all that activity, a little wine called Rotie Cellars poked its head around the corner and whispered “follow me.” Trey Busch, the owner / winemaker at Sleight of Hand Cellars, first mentioned it to us, then Sean Sullivan of Washington Wine Report. Between the two of them, I felt like the world was conspiring against me to either try the wine or get the hell out of Walla Walla because, clearly, I was not deserving of finding gold. As a night-ender, a few of us shared a bottle of the Southern Blend and I will just say this about it - if Sean Boyd, owner of Rotie Cellars, decides that he’s not going to make this wine again, ever, even 20 years from now, I will mark it in my book of tragedies. This wine is stunning. I’m not going to tell you why I think that, because you can decide for yourself, but it is absolutely worth the effort, if you can find it. (NOTE: if you want to know more about Rotie, Ken Payton, over at Reign of Terroir, interviewed Sean late last week and I’ll send you over to his place for that one – I could not have captured it better).

The final thing that struck me as cool about this conference is something my wife said to me (who also attended) and I’m going to get the specifics wrong, but the gist of her comment was that up until last week, she saw wine blogging as a hobby for most of us, something we do because it calls us and we have some fun and get together once a year to shoot the shit, drink some amazing wines, network and basically bask in our own nerdiness. But, as she sat in on the keynote from Steve Heimoff, my panel with Jeff and Joe, the dinner with Lettie and just generally absorbed everything around her, it occurred to her how real this is for all of us. And how hard we work. And how damn serious we take it sometimes. For someone kind of looking in from the outside, it was a real eye-opener. And she’s right (and a saint for putting up with it). For me, I was quite humbled to be on a panel with the likes of Jeff and Joe, especially since they mopped up the place with all their awards immediately before we started our panel. There was some pretty heady company in the room this year.

I do think we have some work to do for next year’s event, lest we all start to repeat ourselves (lots of discussion about finding your voice, writing, where we’re headed, the “Rockaway” incident and so on). Maybe we could tell stories, instead of chat on panels. Maybe we could tell each other why we do it – I saw S ir George Martin (the Beatle’s producer) give a keynote address a few years back and just to hear him call the Beatles “the boys” in his regal and sophisticated accent sent chills down my spine. Let’s find our own George Martins and hear from them.

David Honig mentioned an article that he and Meg Maker just recently published on Palate Press, written by Oscar Quevedo, a very charming young man who I had the pleasure of sitting next to on our hot yellow school bus. We should have had him read his story. We should have had him tell us, in the words that he put on the page, in his actual voice, why his story matters. Not that anyone did anything wrong here, but, I don’t know, I just want to keep it fresh. Wine is about storytelling, both telling the story of the wine and letting the wine step aside for a moment so we can use it as the catalyst to tell our own stories, so, instead of talking about finding our voice, let’s hear some voices. Just a thought.
In any case, another great experience this year.

And, yes, in case you’re wondering, or have found yourself the last few minutes wondering “what kind of high is this guy on?” I am passionate about this. I’m not sure when I reached that point, but I do know that this crazy little bubble we’re all living in is one that I really like, combining a love of wine, a love for rich and honest conversation and a love for the inner nerd. To me, that’s a pretty powerful combination and one that I will carry with me this year, until we get to do it all over again in Virginia next year.

In closing, here’s my list of stand-out wines from this year’s conference, in no particular order (other than alphabetical):

• A’Maurice 2008 Columbia Valley Viognier
• Amavi Cellars 2007 Les Collines Vineyard Syrah
• Buty 2006 Rediviva of the Stones
• Buty Semillon
• Delille Cellars 2008 Chaleur Estate Blanc
• Reynvaan Family Vineyards 2008 “In the Rocks” Syrah
• Rotie 2008 Southern Blend (not poured as part of the conference)
• Solena Estate 2008 Pinot Noir Hyland Vineyard
• Spring Valley Vineyard 2007 Frederick (Cabernet Sauvignon)
• Waters / Gramercy Cellars 2007 21 Grams (poured from a “secret” bottle under the tasting table)
• Woodward Canyon (both the Artist Series and the Old Growth Cabernet Sauvignon)

2010 Wine Bloggers Conference - Walla Walla here we come!

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:00:00 +0000

This time last year, I was getting ready for the 2nd Annual Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC) in Napa. It was my first time, so I had no idea what to expect. I had "met" many of my fellow bloggers online before attending, but hadn't met too many in person, so I was curious to see how we would interact with each other.

Turned out to be a great weekend. I think we were all amazed by how much Napa and the California wine country embraced us and went so out of their way for us, setting up elaborate tasting sessions, tours and small interactive sessions with true drivers of the California wine industry. I was also very thankful for the sheer number of wines we were able to taste, from all over California wine country. Some I'd enjoyed many times, others were new to me. I even found a few new go-to favorites as a result of the conference, like Matthiasson, Michel Schlumberger and Bonny Doon (for more of my thoughts on WBC09, click here).

Now, this week, we head to Walla Walla, one of my favorite wine regions, for the 3rd annual WBC. The irony for me is that my wife and I lived in San Francisco last year and now my wife, son and I live in Seattle, bringing us almost as close to this year's location as last (hmmm, I wonder if we'll just keep moving to follow the WBC locations in the future...something to consider...). We used to live in Seattle many years ago, so it's nice to see Washington wines continue to get praise for their efforts and to have the WBC firmly planted on Washington soil.

The biggest surprise for me last year was how little I actually blogged from the event - ironic, being at a blogger's conference. I had grand plans last year to write constantly from the conference and update everyone on what we were doing and tasting, but it's a whirlwind of events, so didn't get the chance to do that. I expect more of the same this year, but will do my best to update the blog as much as I can.

What did work well last year was Twitter, particularly during the Live Wine Blogging tastings, during which each winemaker gets 5 minutes with a table of bloggers to pour and talk about their wine. Sort of like speed dating for the wine tasting world. This was an event very well suited to Twitter, as you're only able to really jot down a few notes. So, look for plenty of Twitter updates during the times of the Live Tastings, at 4:50 Pacific on Friday and 5:00pm Pacific on Saturday (if you aren't already following me already, you can follow my tweets at @rjswineblog and you can follow all tweets from the event at #wbc10).

For those of you attending, I have the distinct honor of joining Jeff Lefevere (of Good Grape) and Joe Roberts (of 1WineDude - you can also see a Skype interview with him at Drink Nectar) on a conference panel discussion. Not sure how I got to be in such good company, but, knowing these guys, it should definitely be an entertaining, useful and lively conversation. The panel discussion is called "Advanced Wine Blogging" and it starts at 3:40pm on Friday in the Sacajawea / Clark rooms at the Marcus Whitman.

Hope to see you there. Hope also to see many of you fellow bloggers at the event and updating those of you who can't attend.

Cheers! Off to Walla Walla...

Whole Foods Top Ten Summer Wine List Wrap Up

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:00:00 +0000

When I started this summer's reviews of the Whole Foods Top Ten Summer Wine List, it looked like we were off to a good start, perhaps a better batch than last summer and the last two holiday lists. A few early whites stood out to me - Pisato Pinot Grigio, Green Truck Chardonnay and the Sokol Blosser Evolution - so I figured we were off to a great start and the rest of the lot would follow suit. However, it started to fall apart for me with some of the late entries, like Valdemar Tempranillo, Rosenblum Zinfandel Vintner's Cuvee XXXII and the Pazo de Serantellos Albarino.

So, that got me thinking - how does this list compare to the three before it? You can see what I discovered in the table below:

Here are a few of my thoughts:

These average scores for each list are so close that it's virtually impossible to make a call. With a range of 85.9 to 86.4, a statistician would laugh me out of the room if I tried to say that, without a doubt, the 2009 Holiday list was far superior to the 2010 Summer list. It's too close for that kind of certainty.
I was a little surprised by how consistent the overall average scores were. Makes me think that I may actually, kind of, sort of, maybe know what I'm doing (but who can say?) because the scores fall very much in line with how I think about most wines in the $8 - $20 range. Most of them are average for me and nothing more.
It also makes me wonder if Whole Foods can actually find wines that may up the game for this price range. Despite my comments in the bullet above, I have tasted several wines in this price range that fare better than the 86'ish average - wines like Three Thieves "The Show" Cabernet Sauvignonw, Pascual Toso Malbec, Townshend Malbec - even though they are few and far between. But when you're a mass retailer like Whole Foods and you come out with a twice a year promotion that drives a heavy volume of sales, the question is whether or not it's even possible to find these better wines at the volume they need. I'm not sure, but my gut says no.

Well, that's all for this summer season on the Whole Foods Top Ten list. Stay tuned six months from now as I see about the holiday lot and if they fare significantly better or worse.

Now off to Walla Walla for the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference...

Notes:
* There are three wines missing from the 2008 Holiday list and for the life of me, I cannot remember why.
** There is one wine missing from the 2009 Summer list because it was a Rose and I didn't give it a rating, as I am entirely incapable of giving a sensible rating to a Rose - none of them taste that good to me (except for maybe the Bandol Domaine Tempier).

Whole Foods Top Ten Summer Wine List - 2009 Pazo de Serantellos Albariño

noreply@blogger.com (RJ's Wine Blog) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:00:00 +0000

#10 in the Whole Foods Top Ten Summer Wine List - the 2009 Pazo de Serantellos Albariño.

Totally disappointing ending to what started off as a great round of top ten wines from whole foods - the last few have been more than a bit off for me. The Pazo Serantellos I wanted to like, as I have some affection for Albariño, but, it just didn't make the cut for me. Steely and sweet at the same time, it does offer up some nice lemon, grapefruit and grassy notes, but it jumps all around my mouth like a distracted kid, going from toy to toy, leaving no toy the same as he left it. It finally does come together somewhat in the finish, but like taking all those kids and trying to stuff them in a school bus after feeding them all sugar. Just too chaotic for me.

And, to quote my wife - "I've had way worse white wines, but there's no real reason to drink that." 'Nuff said...

What Whole Foods has to say about the wine: Think salty sea air, a paella supper on the beach and this intensely aromatic refresher in hand. Apricot and blood orange notes hint at the expansive flavor of this affordable Spanish White, ideal with Manchego cheese.

What you should do: Buy it? Nope, I wouldn't if I were you. Look, there are some decent whites on this list - Green Truck, Pisato, Sokol Blosser Evolution - go with those, they're worth your money.

My rating: 83