On the Rebound

Most people, in any situation, realize that a let down should be followed by an experience that you know will be a sure thing. For example, you try a new recipe for dinner and it turns out horrifically horrible. The next night you'll return to one of your old standbys, a sure fire tasty treat. Wine is no different of course. So last night I needed to erase the Cask 23 from my mind. That meant pulling out some wines that I knew would not be another let down.

After my first attempt at Striped Bass, which came out quite well, we decided to open up some wine from the cellar. Instead of gambling a wine thats been resting for three or four years, I pulled out a more recent addition, the 2003 Alpha Omega Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. I discussed my visit to Alpha Omega way back when, and had three bottle of their wine shipped back home in November. I pulled out the '03 Cab seeing as the other wines were both '04s. Thankfully, there was no let down this time. The Alpha Omega Cab, I believe I paid $50-$60 for it, out performed the Cask 23 by leaps and bounds. We risked drinking it without food, but taking that chance paid off. It's a light Cab, with a velvety smoothness that simply caresses your mouth. AO describes their '04 Cab as "power with a feminine touch." The '03 may be lacking in the power department, but not in flavor and finesse. I'm looking forward to having the '04 as well as their proprietary blend in the future. If you see any Alpha Omega, snatch it up, you won't be disappointed.

Next up was the 2005 Cristom Pinot Noir Sommers Reserve from Willamette Valley. My love for Oregon Pinot is only surpassed by my love for my wife. This bottle was picked up over at Thames River a month or so ago. As soon as this wine wafted past my nose, I was in for it. Such a shining example of Oregon's finest grape. The aroma of fruit and earth blending together is breath taking. The winemaker narrows it down to black cherries, currants, orange zest, leather, and vanilla. Either way its intoxicating. The palate is balanced and lush, with more red fruit flavors than the nose. The finish was slight and soothing, like the smell of the inside of an oak barrel. We didn't make it to Cristom on our last trip to Oregon, but we definitely will next time we go.

In the end, it was a pleasant recovery from the near traumatizing Cask 23 incident. Till next time..."How could I forget about you? You're the only person I know."--???

Let Down

When tasting wine, you're bound to have some severe let downs. You build yourself help for what should be a terrific experience, only to have the wine, the winery, the restaurant, or even your friends let you down. Last Monday at Thames River joins my ranks of big let downs.

I met up with a bunch of friends to taste the $180 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23 Cabernet from 2000. By all means it should've been wonderful. Granted 2000 was not a killer year for Napa Cabs, it's still SLWC, and it's still the famed Cask 23. Amy and I arrived first and grabbed our sampling because they would only be dishing out one bottle, and we didn't want to be left high and dry if our friends arrived too late. We stood their sniffing our glasses in great anticipation. The nose was fabulous! Everything you could ever ask for in a powerhouse Cab. Cedar and Currant and Blackberries. Just glorious scents. Once Amanda and Kevin arrived and secured their glasses, we tasted. Blah! Just so flat and lifeless. No sense of structure or flavor. It was like being at the fair when you were six and having the bully pop your balloon. It tried to redeem itself with a relentless finish that wouldn't go away. It was that flavor of a winery's barrel room just seeping into your mouth. But the complete absences of a palate made this wine a dud in our books. Maybe I'd pay $30 for it on clearance, but surely not $180.

Another recent let down was my 2002 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou that I lugged out to Martha's Vineyard. I was hoping this $80 investment would've aged into a First-Growth imitation. Instead, I was left with another $20-$30 tasting bottle that left me drinking it straight from the decanter till I felt I had my money's worth (see Facebook for photos). So, fill me in, what's been one of your memorable wine related let downs?

Till next time..."Broadway! I haven't been so happy since we crushed Poland!"--???

Napa Redux

So on Tuesday of my trip, Mike and I once again found ourselves in Napa Valley. We began with a tour and tasting at Pine Ridge. Here on the East Coast I usually find their Chenin Blanc/Viognier blend or their Rutherford Cabernet. So tasting their entire line of Cabs and whites was a real pleasure. I actually bought a bottle of the Stag's Leap Cab, because while I used to think Rutherford Cabs were my favorites, the Stag's Leap ones really seem to be growing on me. Plus, I knew Katie would love it! Here's some free advice, when you vacation alone, always come back with good stuff for your wife! The tour of Pine Ridge's wine making operation and caves was outstanding and our host did an excellent job. We then shot across the Yountville Crossroad back to Highway 29. Here we stopped by Prager Winery and Port Works. Prager is unique in that they primarily focus on making Port, a fortified style of wine. This fortification with Brandy, results in a higher alcohol content and richer flavor. Try it once with a chocolate dessert and you'll be thanking me for the rest of your life. John Prager poured us all of their current releases and we were overwhelmed. Besides a bottle of 1977 Fonseca Port from Portugual, I have never tasted anything so outstanding. Many wineries churn out a port, but few specialize in it and create such spectacular results as Prager. We then headed north and stopped at Freemark Abbey. I'll make this one quick, we tasted a tone of wines (maybe 15?) and none really stood out. They were all good but at the same time, boring. Quick enough for ya? We were then off to what I was feeling would be the highlight of the trip, Schramsberg. In Calistoga, Jack and Jamie Davies have been producing sparkling wine (not champagne) from the former winery of one Jacob Schram (no not Ben Stiller's character in Keeping the Faith) since 1967. They are so unique in that most other sparkling wine producers in the valley are simply franchises of famous Champagne houses of France. And when I first tried a bottle of Schramsberg last year, I knew they were doing something special. Sparkling wines have always had a niche market due to weddings, anniversaries and various other celebrations. But good sparkling wine will be a special moment in and of itself. Schramsberg does that for me. Every time I taste their wines it feels special. The tour, led by a teacher (my kind of guy, works at a winery on weekends and summers, then teaches), was outstanding. We toured their extensive network of caves and riddling racks (where they still hand riddle all the bottles) and then finished with a tasting deep below the ground in an empty cavern. All their sparkling wines have something special and exciting about them, but I couldn't leave without a bottle of their two finest offerings, the J. Schram and the Reserve. Two decadent wines that will make two special days that much more memorable. As we drove down towards Calistoga I realized two things: 1. I was borderline drunk (bubbly does that to me) and B. I could feel a sinus headache creeping in. Needless to say by the time we reached Rombauer Vineyards I wasn't much in the mood to taste. But I soldiered on, and realized they made some outstanding Chardonnay. If you spot a bottle pick it up and give it a go. After that we did manage to find one more winery open, a small place called Milat. Here they make limited quantities of Cab, Merlot, Zin, Chard, Chenin Blanc, and a red table wine. All the wines were very good and affordable for the most part. Unfortunatley I had hit my quota of bottles to take home and was sticking to it. But it was also interesting to learn that Milat sells quite a few of their grapes to Silver Oak, who I mentioned in the last post tied in with Twomey. That tells you something about the quality of Milat's grapes!

Well, that wraps up the wine tasting from my California trip. Next on the agenda is a series on boxed wines and where they fit in our lives! Till next time...

Nicholas Angel: "Mr. Porter, what's your wine selection?"
Roy Porter: "Oh, we've got red... and, er... white?"
Nicholas Angel: "I'll have a pint of lager, please."

Sonoma and Napa, back to back

Once again my sincerest apologies to my few readers. I am late witha post again, big shocker. So we left off at Gary Farrell. After descending their insanely steep driveway, we shot back up Westside Road towards Healdsberg. We were hoping to stop by at Twomey. Twomey is run by the wonderful folks over in Napa at Silver Oak Cellars. At their Sonoma winery, they make a Napa Valley Merlot, a Russian River Pinot Noir, and a Napa valley Sauvignon Blanc. Of course we pull in and they are closed. Damn! So if you ever spot a bottle of Twomey at a local wine shop, please drop me a line so I can check it out! So we ventured backwards down Westside again to Arista. Mike had heard rumblings about their wines, and they were open till six, so we stopped by. The people at Arista, the friendliest, the wines, good but not earth shattering. I enjoyed their Pinots and they made an excellent Gewurztraminer, but nothing that wowed me. We ambled back into Healdsburg around five-ish and were thankful to find La Crema still pouring. Their wines were exactly as I remembered them from a wine dinner at Nicola's. The Sonoma appellation wines were blah, the Russian River ones were excellent! They are a true example of how sometimes a broader appellation, with more volume of production creates a so-so wine, while smaller volume, more specific region, and more careful winemaking, create a better wine. Of course those better wines also usually cost quite a bit more. We departed La Crema and returned to Rosenblum for some dessert wines, while my palate was just about shot, I did manage to enjoy their Syrah Port, and procured a bottle of Rose, a bottle of Maggie's Reserve Zinfandel, and the Port.

The next day we once again rose early to trek North from San Rafeal. This time we set our sights on Napa. And instead of the dull drive up through the southern mouth of the valley, Mike decided to take us (Christie included) over the Mayacamas Mountains from Sonoma. What a breathtaking, and sometimes stomach churning ride up and down those winding roads! We stopped first at a new winery called Alpha Omega. The tasting room was still under construction, but what great wines. Their winemaker comes from newton, one of my favorites, and their consultant is Michel Rolland, the world's foremost consultant and wine guru. Their Sauvignon Blanc was hands down my favorite of the trip, and their reds! Wow! I bought a bottle of the '03 and '04 Cabernets, as well as the '04 Proprietary Blend (Think Bordeaux style blend). I'll discuss shipping these wines home in a later post. After this unexpectedly good start we went North on Highway 29 to Corison Winery. Mike had sworn that they made the best Napa Cab he had ever had, after tasting I just might have to agree. I am hoping that their 2004 Kronos Vineyard that I picked up, will eveolve into what glimpses it gave me. A fantastic wine with supple tannins and delicious dark fruit flavors, it could rank up there as one of the best I've ever had if it matures just right. Cross your fingers! Next i had Mike stop at Beaulieau so we could taste the Clone 4 that they were pouring. It was $15 a glass, and the only tasting I paid for all week. The three of us shared it and were very pleased. The juice from the '97 Clone 4 we tasted makes up almost 60% of our 1997 Georges De Latour Private Reserve. So in essence it was a sneak peak at how our '97 was drinking. And I am thinking of opening soon! Maybe for the hard core wino's at the next wine tasting (October 26th!). We manged to wait almost an hour for two sandwiches at Oakville Grocery before ending up at Seqouia Grove. While their tasting room was being remodeled, we sipped under a tent surrounded by lush Sequoias. The wines, as from most reliable wineries, didn't dissapoint. The real treat was when the Assistant Winemaker Molly, an acquaintance of Mike, took us out back to taste the 2006 Cabernet from the tanks. Truly a treat, tasting these young Cabs in an overwhelming experience in flavor but enjoyable noe the less. People at Sequoia feel this might be the best they have ever made! Aftyer Sequoia Grove we had an appointment for a tour and tasting at Cakebread. I'll sum it up quickly, decent tour, strong portfolio of wines, but no real blockbusters. I did buy a bottle of the Rubyiat. This is a fascinating blend of Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and Syrah. What a fun and different wine! A stop at St. Supery showed how delicious their wines always are, followed by a tasting at Honig. Honig makes one of my favorite Napa Valley Sauvignon Blancs, but we were able to taste their entire portfolio, and I was extremely happy afterwards, and it wasn't just the buzz. They make two additional Sauv Blancs I had never had, that made the Napa one look like child's play. The reds, phenomenal! I was thrilled to taste their Cabs and was just floored by their Stagecoach Vineyard Cab, if I didn't buy a bottle I knew I'd regret it forever. Not to mention the free postcards they gave me are a riot!

I know that was a long winded post, but hopefully informative. I'll have one more on our second day in Napa, and a wrap up of the whole trip. That should be followed by a new series of posts on, get this, wine in box! That's right, Jack ol' boy, the wine snob, is sipping Chardonnay from a box right now! I'll fill you in soon. Till next time..."Mark your calendars, clear the night, October 26th, Wine from A to Zin: Episode 3"