Pre-release Halleck Wines with winemaker Rick Davis

With Bryan and Marcie in town at the beginning of the month, it was time for our now annual trip to meet with Rick Davis, winemaker for Halleck, Londer, and Alcina Cellars, as well as owner/winemaker for Calstar Cellars. Rick worked alongside Greg La Follette at both Flowers and Tandem and is making some truly exciting wines at the shared crush facility in Sebastapol. Most of the wines were tasted either from barrel or from tank, and the quality across the board is very, very high. I'll post the rest of the day's tasting in a bit, but here's the Halleck 2006 Pinot Noirs to start with...
Halleck 2006 Pinots:
Halleck "The Farm" Russian River Valley
"The Farm" is a parcel of RRV land that delivers classic deep and dark Russian River fruit. Candied cherry and spice dominate the nose and follow up on the palate with an edge of toast form the thirty or so percent of new french oak. Very expressive and densely loaded. Around $60 retail.
90-92 points
Halleck "Estate" Sonoma Coast
Sultry and seductive nose of cherries and citrus peel with hints of tobacco and spice. On the palate the "Estate" bottling is generously fruited and very spicy, with a whack of pain grille from the 50% new french barrel ageing. Broad and rich with more than enough stuffing to last 5-10 years. Very pleasurable. Retails around $75
91-93 points
Halleck "3 Sons" Russian River Valley
Seven hundred cases or so are produced of the "3 Sons" Cuvee, a blend, predictably, of three parcels in the Russian River Valley; The Farm, Hallberg and Hawk's Roost Vineyards go into the production. Again, right around thirty percent new french barrels add a bit of toast without overwhelming the fruit and spice character. This is seriously extracted pinot fit for steak with mushrooms. Very darkly fruited and exotic with cherry, plum and blackberry, as well as a hint of sandalwood and sauteed mushroom. Retails around $45
89-91 points
Halleck "Hallberg" Russian River Valley
My favorite of the Halleck pinots was the "Hallberg Vineyard". This just seemed to get more open and expressive with every swirl of the glass. Cherry and spice mingle with sweet plum, baking spice and raspberry coulis. Sweet fruit dominates the palate and the rich lavish texture is velvety at least...if there's something more velvety than velvet, please let me know...the finish lasts a minute plus with hints of sweet tobacco and nutmeg.
92-4 points

Supermarket Experimentations Part Deux

This month's experiment...2005 Hess Monterey Syrah:
Sample courtesy of gourmands, connaiseurs, and house guests extraordinaire:
Bryan Coats & Marcie Prince.
There will be more to follow on the exploits of last weekend, but this was a supermarket selection and an outright demand for me to get back on here and get back to this blog (sorry for the absence, I plead work, stress and too much mediocre wine over the last thirty days or so...a streak broken by their arrival). So without further ado, here is the review...
2005 Hess Monterey Syrah: Thirty minutes in decanter to start
Not half bad... not half bad. Pretty decent and drinkable. But not overly varietal. There is a good core of dark cherry and raspberry fruit here, as well as a hint of oaky toast around the edges. It lacks the telltale bacon and spice elements that make syrah so very attractive. Could easily be a heavily extracted pinot or a darkly fruited merlot. As this evolved it lost a bit of lustre on the front end and became a mid muddy. Still well fruited though and not without a simple charm, it did start to develop more secondary aromatics over the course of an hour. Allie's assesment "Fine, but unexciting"; I agree. If this were below the $10 threshold, I'd be a bit more excited, but for $15, I feel I could have had two bottles of yummy cotes-du-rhone or spanish red. $15 at retail.
82 points
cheers
TRC

Preparations

I know I know...
Where have you been?
What have you been doing?
Why haven't you written anything...
no excuses-
I'm on it-
Prepare for the barrage!
TRC

Lamb on the Grill!!! Top Shelf BBQ with friends...

What do lamb, butter, soy sauce, garlic and blue cheese have in common? Nothing, except that when you throw them all on the grill together (after some marinating) it's ridiculously, preposterously good! This dish has been nicknamed "Crack Lamb" and I'm tending to agree. What looked like an insurmountably large leg of lamb for five people was demolished before I had the chance to take a decent picture...

I'll post the recipe below- but the concept is as follows- the leg of lamb is butterflied and marinated in the garlic, soy, red wine (always a good idea in this writer's book) and olive oil, then grilled- then literally slathered with butter and blue cheese mixture and broiled to finish... the lamb was tender, amazingly flavored and melt in your mouth cooked to perfection...with some simply grilled zucchini and broccolini and a quinoa salad...the perfect backyard dinner.

Dinner started with a delightful surprise from our hosts:
2004 Domaine Laurens "Clos des Demoiselles" Cremant de Limoux ($20 +/-) A surprisingly bright, dry and elegant way to start the evening. Crisp and floral with vibrant acidity. A perfect apertif!!! (I'll be finding some of this for the house)
89 points.
Not knowing what to bring to dinner, I fell back on the standard pairing for lamb; Chateauneuf du Pape.
In this case, the always spot-on 1999 Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape. Showed marvelously with layers of bright kirsch and dusty berry fruit, elegantly developed garrigue and spice. Medium bodied and elegant on the palate with bright acidity and well developed tannin and a minute plus finish with hints of cedar and smoke. This was great with the lamb itself, but the blue cheese overpowered it just a bit. $35 at retail (current release is most likely a bit more)
92 points

The hosts also provided two zins for the main course:
The utterly black colored and super extracted 2002 Biale "Black Chicken" Napa Zinfandel...I tend to like softer zins with good acidity, but this might be my favorite zin on planet earth. Helena and Key broke this out after a discussion about zins a few weeks ago (thanks guys). Exuberant and expressive with loads of bombastic fruit and spice. Starting to come together after a few years in bottle, this showed more refinement and elegance than my last tasting. Seamlessly textured and focused on the palate, with broad and rich mouthfeel. Chock full of mixed berry fruit and hints of black pepper, cocoa, toffee and black licorice. It was bordering on perfect with the lamb/bluecheese combo... 94 points
A more subdued, classic style zin was the 1999 Limerick Lane "Collins Vineyard" Russian River Valley Zinfandel. This has developed nicely in the bottle, taking on some claret-like hints of tobacco and cedar on the nose along with softer red fruits. On the palate the wine is starting to develop nicely with velvety textured tannins and great balancing acidity. I was reminded of something almost like a fruitier version of a mature rioja. Much like the Vieux Donjon, this was delightful with the lamb itself, but was slightly overpowered by the intensity of the blue cheese. Current vintage is $26 from the winery.
91 points
After a few nips from their prodigious scotch collection and a hotly contested "battle-of-the-sexes" game of Cranium, we all enjoyed a rather un-athletic, netless version of backyard barbeque badminton (to work off the lamb), that is until yours truly launched the last of the birdie things onto the roof (Key gets points for bravery for retrieving)...
next one's at our place guys- Thanks again...
TRC
P.S. The Recipe for the lamb if anyone wants to duplicate (I highly recommend it...)

"Crack Lamb" courtesy of Helena Chaye and Key Shin
butterflied leg of lamb
Marinade:
garlic (2-3 cloves)
brown sugar (2 tbsp)
olive oil (1/2c)
red wine (1/2 c - I used more)
soy sauce (I use light low sodium) (1/2c - I used slightly less)
2 tsp ginger powder
- marinate for 48 hours
- grill

Cheese mix:
butter (4oz - but I used half of that)
blue cheese (4 oz)
lemon juice (1 lemon)
green onions (4)
- smother with the mix and then put it under broiler for 2-4 minutes until the mixture bubbles
Sante-
TRC

Ken Wright Cellars Pinot Tasting at Wine Spectrum Bar and Shop

It's always fantastic when you get a chance to try some of the best pinots out of Oregon, it's even better when the maestro of Pacific Northwest pinot is there to discuss them with you...
Ken Wright is legendary for his work with both Panther Creek and Domaine Serene before he started his self-named label, where he has taken the concept of site specific pinot noir to a new level, offering eleven single vineyard pinots from all over the state. We had a chance to taste five of the pinots, plus two new wines from his Tyrus Evan line (named for his two sons, this is the label he uses for "non-pinot" wines), a syrah and a claret.
The wines were tremendous as I have come to expect, showing balance and elegance without lacking depth or purity of fruit. I don't think anyone in Oregon is as dialed in as Ken is right now.

1) Ken Wright "Nysa" Dundee Hills Pinot Noir 2005
The brightest and most acidic of the bunch, the Nysa shows super intense sour cherry and blackberry fruit with hints of baking spice and pepper. This begs for roasted duck with some sweetness. Juicy and fun. $55 at retail
90 points

2) Ken Wright "Savoya" Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir 2005
The Savoya is the first vineyard actually owned by Ken Wright. Planted in 1999 to 777 and 115 Dijon clones, the Savoya shows loads of richness and intensity for such a young vineyard. Dark fruit and spicy cola tones dominate the nose, and it develops some hints of clove and anise as it begins to open. Lingering finish with hints of cedar and smoke. Very intense and dramatic! Less than 300 cases produced. $55 at retail
91 points

3) Ken Wright "Guadalupe" Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir 2005
There are 400 cases of the "Guadalupe" Pinot this year, but really, is there ever enough. The Guadalupe is a great example of Ken's ability to allow the vineyard to make the wine. This wine literally reeks of its place... Black cherry and strawberry on the nose with massive earth and spicy cocoa/coffee tones. Fat and exotic on the palate with a mountain of dusty, earthy dark fruit. $55 at retail
92 points

4) Ken Wright "Carter" Amity-Eola Hills Pinot Noir 2005
My favorite of the bunch, the Carter was unusually open and lively right from the start (this vineyard usually rewards patience...). Still big and earthy with Bright cherry fruit and scents of fresh loam and smoky tobacco. Truly massive on the palate, rich, viscous and intense with a minute long finish with hints of anise, black pepper, coffee and cocoa. Made me want some duck confit... $55 at retail.
93 points

5) Ken Wright "Shea" Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir 2005
Powerful, spicy and intense, the Shea vineyard is one of Oregon's best known pinot sites and in the hands of Ken Wright, the potential is truly fulfilled. Exotic and lively on the nose, the aromatics shifted with each swirl of the glass. Shifting from cherry to black and blueberry, and from earth and mushroom to musk and spice. Typically dense and rich on the palate, with loads of fruit and earthy spice on the finish. This will certainly reward patience over the next few years. $55 at retail
91 points
Cheers
TRC

Tandem Winery at Wine Spectrum, Santa Rosa

Tandem Winery Tasting
Greg La Follette is no stranger to those who know great Chard and Pinot. The former winemaker at Flowers and Hartford Court is THE guru for truly burgundian style wines in Sonoma. It's always a treat to taste a lineup of his wines and last tuesday's tasting of new Tandem wines was no exception. La Follette sources fruit from various locations in Sonoma, from Russian River out to the coast. His relationships with growers get him the finest grapes available and allow him to produce some of the best wines in Sonoma county. Greg is a man who speaks with both knowledge and passion when discussing wine, you can tell instantly that he lives to make great wine and with every accolade, his pride in his craft grows.
1) Tandem "Ritchie" Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, 2004
The Ritchie Vineyard is one of Sonoma's most revered for Chardonnay, and Tandem's version does not dissappoint. Mildly toasty with 1/3 new french barrels, the Ritchie chard is all finesse with nary a rough edge in sight. Loads of tropical and stone fruit with hints of caramel, baking spice and citrus. The texture is luxurious and plush with a minute long finish. Around $45 at retail.
93 points
2) Tandem "Sangiacomo" Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, 2005
When I tasted this last year, I was shocked by it's intense perfume, happily, it was no fluke and it is even more striking now that it has been in bottle for a while. A crazy nose of flowers, spice, and musk gives way to fat and exotic tropical fruits, guava and papaya, as well as super ripe pear and fuji apple. On the palate, the fruit is lavish and expressive, giving more than a mouthful of intense juicy pear. The texture, like the Ritchie, is what got me though. Creamy and broad without being over oaked (also 1/3 new french), the Sangiacomo show's La Follette's mastery of burgundian style Chards. Around $45
92 points

3) Tandem "Sangiacomo" Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast 2004
The aromatics of the Sangiacomo pinot are breathtaking, carrying the musk and spice notes present in the chard to a completely different level. La Follette calls it "Animale et Sauvage" and I'm tempted to agree, adding on sweet tobacco, cola and coffee for good measure. Loaded with ripe, dark berry fruit ranging from cherry to blueberry and a hint of sour cranberry. Fat and viscous on the palate with firm acidity and a minute-plus finish. Tremendous. Around $55 at retail.
93 points
4) Tandem "Silver Pines" Pinot Noir, Sonoma Mountain, 2005
A mere 227 cases of the Silver Pines was produced this year. Which sucks, because this stuff is truly breathtaking. Exotic and enticing with a mess of berry fruit and hints of cocoa and licorice. Less aromatic, but fatter and broader texturally than the Sangiacomo, I couldn't decide which I preferred. The Silver Pines give the impression of a pinot ready to burst from the inside out- juicy and firmly acidic and just plain fun to drink. I'll use the same word...tremendous. Around $55
93 points

Supermarket Experimentations; Part One

Sorry for going all incommunicato on everyone there... I'm back now.
I moved to a new place in downtown Sausalito, closer to the water and the conveniences of town (but too close to Sushi Ran for my fiscal comfort). I'll keep everyone posted on the inevitable housewarming barbeque. As one would expect, the last few weeks have been overly hectic and I've been too busy to keep up with posting, but have no fear...I do have, and will post tasting notes from the past few weeks. I've also decided to start a new segment type thingy. A client of mine was swearing up and down that they buy almost all of their wines at the local Safeway and that I would be surprised by the number of quality wines they have there. I will admit that they do have some very drinkable, though very rarely world class wines there, so I thought about this; what is it like for the average wine drinker (who doesn't spend all his time researching and tasting) who must go into a supermarket and purchase a wine almost at random...
So I'm doing a little experiment, and I encourage my fellow wine geeks/snobs/know-it-alls to participate with me (just post your findings as a comment under this, or a subsequent Supermarket Experimentations post) . The experiment is this. Once per week, I will walk into a local supermarket and without much pondering or conjecture on possible quality based on vintage and region, purchase a wine I know absolutely nothing about...I will then...drink the wine. I mean it. No tasting quickly, making a snap judgement and then moving on to something with more pedigree. I will roll out the red carpet, decanters and Riedels, and see what happens. First test...
Parcel 41 Oakville Merlot 2005
Obtained at: Strawberry Village Safeway
Price: $22
This was a pleasant, if not overwhelming first foray into the supermarket wine selection. Plenty of plush red fruits, and rich merlot mouthfeel. A touch over oaked for my tastes, but not offensively so. The fruit here is plenty ripe with not a hint of greenness, or unbalanced alcohol. Over the course of dinner this opened nicely (but did seem to get more oaky) and grew more aromatically interesting with spicy overtones and a hint of cocoa. 85 points
Overall- not bad for a first go round. I will say that I don't expect all future experiments to be this good...
Cheers
TRC

Que? Syrahs

1) Esca Syrah Napa Valley 2003
As pleasant as any suprise I've had recently is the spicy and intense Esca Syrah. 100% Syrah from Napa, with 21 months in french oak, the Esca displays classic dark berry and cherry flavors, a subtle hint of smoked bacon and spicy pepper and cocoa tones on the nose. On the palate, the texture is plush and dense with loads of ripe black cherry fruit and an intense gripping finish that lasts. This is a relatively new project for Anna (Bryant Family) and Mario (Quixote) Monticelli and it looks like they are off to a great start. Retails just north of $20
91 points

2) Rosenblum Syrah "Base Camp Vineyard" Santa Barbara County 2003
Rosenblum has a tendency of late to make wines that are just a bit too homogeneous for my palate, but that being said, they are hardly ever BAD, so I gave this one a whirl on a whim. While I found it a bit unexciting for its $25 price tag, it was juicy and satisfying in a straightforward manor. All splash with a hefty dose of slick new oak and jammy fruit, it had just the faintest hint of smoked ham on the nose, with a more dominant blast of cola spice and caramel. On the palate this is juicy and ripe, flirting with over ripe. This will be very pleasing to loads of warm climate syrah lovers.
87 points

3) John Anthony Syrah Napa Valley 2004
A darker and more brooding option, this syrah is made by Alison Doran, the former oenologist at Lewis Cellars and she shows some real talent for the varietal. Very spicy with loads of black pepper, cola and darker bacon notes. Very rich and intense on the palate with a mountain of plum, black berry and raspberry fruit. Firmly structured, this warrants some time in a decanter before consumption, or better yet a few years in the cellar...Best from 2008-2012 Retails around $50 and very worth the effort of hunting it down.
93 points

4)Pure Love Wines "Layer Cake" Shiraz Barossa 2005
This is the first vintage for Jason Woodbridge(owner of Napa cult cab producer Hundred Acre)'s new Pure Love Aussie project. These wines (there are a few including the "Layer Cake", as well as "Maverick", Barossa Jack" and "Desert Eagle") are all fantastic. The "Layer Cake" is inky black with a tremendous intensity of dark dark cherry fruit as well as plum and blueberry on the nose. Dense and broad across the palate with subtle hints of eucalyptus and spice, this is a classic Barossa shiraz and is an absolute steal at $17-20 if you like intensely flavored, high alcohol aussie shiraz (you know you do, stop lying...)
92 points

Some thoughts on service, what to expect as a guest...

While I'm the first to speak out on bad service when it rears its ugly head, I wanted to spend a few paragraphs outlining what actually constitutes good and bad restaurant wine service. I posted a bit about this and a few people have asked me to elaborate on what they should expect from wine service when they are out at a restaurant. This is likely to be a bit dry, but informative and I promise some new reviews and more fun topics in the coming week. You see, the problem is that lots of people misunderstand the ritual of wine service and what elements are necessary and which are simply for show. To that end I'll give a (somewhat) brief description of wine service basics.
Stemware.
There is no excuse, in this day and age, for a restaurant with a wine list...any wine list...to not have, at the very base level, acceptable stemware. This does not have to be top shelf, varietal specific Riedel or Spieglau crystal (although it's nice to be certain). Simple stemware with a relatively large bowl suffices and is now available on the cheap from every restaurant supply store and catalog. You should be able to pour six ounces of wine in the bowl and leave it only half full or less, allowing room to swirl. If it is the sort of restaurant that has an extensive wine list containing multiple vintages of first growth bordeaux, you can expect more, but if not, be satisfied with a glass you can swirl without recoloring the tablecloth and your girlfriend's new blouse.
Presentation.
This is where it gets tricky, as all sorts of different types of service get involved, but I'll stick to the basics here.
The server should retrieve the wine in a timely fashion and show you the bottle first, pointing out on the label the five necessary pieces of information; Vintage, Winery, Varietal, Appelation and Vineyard (or Proprietary Name when applicable). This prevents any confusion about which wine was ordered. If you're not sure that the bottle presented is the one you ordered, stop, look at the winelist again to confirm. This can save confusion and money (the wine might be a different vintage than the one you ordered and many times the price), so be thorough.
When you're satisfied that it is indeed the correct bottle, you should gesture to the server to begin opening the bottle. The server should use a waiter's tool with a knife to remove the foil from the bottle, below the lip, not on top of it (shards of foil do not taste good, trust me). The server should not spin the bottle as they do this, they should cut around the stationary bottle to prevent strirring up any sediment that might be resting calmly at the bottom of the bottle.
The server should then remove the cork, again NOT spinning the bottle, keeping the bottle as stationary as possible. There should be no audible "pop" as a bottle of still wine is opened and there is little need for flourish here. Champagne is another matter, but you still should only hear a brief hissing sound.
If the server hands the cork to you, and this is NOT necessary, feel it to ensure that the end which was in the bottle is indeed moist. This will tell you that the wine has been stored properly, on its side, not vertically. You can smell it if you want to, but it's not going to help too much...corks smell like cork.
The server should then pour a small amount into your glass (about one ounce) for you to sample.
This, people, is your moment to shine. At this juncture, it falls on you to ensure that the wine is free from flaws. To put this in the simplest terms, the wine should not smell like wet cardboard (cork taint, or TCA), nailpolish remover (volatile acidity), rotten eggs (sulfur dioxide) or burnt rubber (mercaptan). It should also not smell like vinegar...
If you're pretty sure the wine contains one of these flaws, simply inform the server that this must be an off bottle, and please bring another. If you have any doubts, or don't trust your palate completely, ask the sommelier or manager to sample the wine, this is common practice and certainly nothing to be embarassed about, assuming that you're not making a scene.
If you are satisfied that the wine is showing nicely, gesture to the server to pour around the table. The server should serve the ladies first, then the gentlemen, pouring last to the host, or the person who selected the wine. Now you get to relax, enjoy the wine, eat your steak and try to ignore your in-laws slightly off kilter political leanings...
Oh, one last thing, if you order multiple bottles during the course of a long dinner, this process should be repeated for each and every bottle. Never, I repeat, never allow a server to pour from a new bottle until you have tasted it, even if the wine comes in a screw cap. And yes, it's ok to drink wine that comes in a screw cap, even red wine...but I'll make my arguments for alternative closures at a later date...
Cheers
TRC

A quick rant about bad restaurant wine service...

I'm going to spend just a moment ranting here about a very big pet peeve of mine. Restaurants that allow their wine lists to become outdated and/or just plain wrong. Making a wine list can be a daunting task for a restaurant manager who doesn't have a wine background, but there are consultants to help if you're not up to the task. If you call yourself a sommelier, you'd better be up to it. The list, regardless of size, scope and format should list the following information for every wine.
Varietal, Winery, Appellation, Vineyard (where needed), Vintage and Price. This is very base level of information for any guest, from novice to Master of Wine to make an educated decision. Please please keep the list updated. There is no excuse for not updating the list at least once a month to keep vintages correct and remove items no longer available. These sorts of errors reflect very badly on the restaurant. I ordered a bottle of Alain Graillot Crozes Hermitage Blanc 2004 (a white Rhone fave of mine) from a notable Bay Area restaurant lately and was brought (after fifteen or twenty minutes to chill the bottle to an acceptable temperature without showing me the bottle) a bottle of 2003 Guigal Crozes Hermitage Blanc. So let's review, I waited without wine for almost twenty minutes for a bottle of wine that was both the wrong wine and the wrong vintage. The waitress seemed stunned upon presenting the wine to discover that A) I knew the difference and B) I seemed to mind. Oh, but the wine they DID have was the same price... Hallelujah!
You wouldn't present a menu to a client where nine out of the ten items are mispriced and come with french fries instead of the wasabi mashed potatoes would you? No, and you most definitely would not bring out a well done steak when the guest had ordered a veal medium rare.
I can't fault the poor waitress, the manager/sommelier never bothered to show his face at the table to apologize, and the waitress had obviously never been trained properly.
So please, keep the list current- does it take time? Yes. But trust me, it is very necessary.
Cheers,
TRC

New Kobalt Cab

Speaking of wines that can ONLY be bought at auction...
This wine is simply impossible to find, but I've gotta put a word in nonetheless...
2004 Kobalt Cabernet Sauvignon
Met up with Owner/winemaker Kevin Carriker at the shop last week, and got a chance to taste the latest vintage of his super intense blockbuster cab. Made in partnership with Mark Herrold of Merus, from a variety of Napa vineyards, this inky black blend of 97% cab and 3% petit verdot is an absolute monster. Screaming black fruit, licorice and spice as well as hints of coffee, black pepper and a layer of sweet oak. On the palate the wine is weighty and dense with more than enough stuffing for the long haul. I recommend at minimum 2-3 hours in a decanter if you must drink this before 2012. Retail price if you can find it, uhmmm best guess is over $125, but don't quote me on that, just buy it if you see it...it's worth it, even from an online auction...
93 points

A few words on the subject of online auctions

This may not come as too great of a shock coming from a wine retailer, but there's something about online wine auctions I JUST DON'T TRUST. It's not that I distrust all online auctions, in fact I am a frequent eBay buyer, having purchased everything from shoes and clothes to sporting goods and even a 120 bottle Haier wine cooler unit. I hear from clients and friends all the time who have "gotten a steal" on some rare hard to find gem on one of the auction sites. I've also been there when said gem bottlings were opened only to find that maybe some of the sparkle is just not there. Aside from the obvious flaws, wines that have been mishandled can simply not live up to their potential. A "bargain priced" bottle of Guigal Cote Rotie "La Mouline" 1991 purchased by a friend on an online auction comes to mind. Having tasted the wine in question a number of times at Charleston, I knew what to expect and was excited for my friend's $199 steal... Alas, the wine wasn't bad...it just, wasn't good. And 91 La Mouline should be, at the very least, pretty damned good. I felt that the wine had just been badly stored, not enough to make vinegar or oxidize the treasured syrah, just enough to make the wine the equivalent of a nice $13 Cotes-du-Rhone. Sure $199 was cheap for 91 La Mouline, but it's a shitload to pay for a bottle of mediocre syrah.
Issues of provenance come into play when purchasing a trophy wine, but not a pair of Nike running shoes. As long as the shoes are the right size, you're pretty much fine to run your Visa through PayPal with little or no concern. Remember that wine is a living breathing thing, you can't stick it in a warm closet next to a vibrating elevator, even for a little while, without the product in the bottle suffering. Trouble is, there's no easy way to know. Without knowing the cellar conditions of ALL the previous owners (including distributors with giant non-climate controlled warehouses and trucks and cut rate retailers with less than ideal storage) it's impossible to know if the wine you're buying is up to snuff. It can be hard to tell even upon physical examination of the bottles, much less sight unseen.
I tend to buy wines from retailers that I trust, and this is what I tell my friends in other cities. Find a small fine wine shop with a well educated staff and make friends with one or all of the clerks. I'm not saying you have to invite the guy to your wedding, but a little good cheer and remembering a name goes a long way. Never underestimate the value of having someone you trust who knows your palate. No matter how well educated you are in the wine world, there's always a producer you've never heard of, or an exciting up and coming region you're not comfortable with yet, and a trustworthy wine consultant is your ticket to these new experiences. Not to mention that this sort of contact (and spending some cash in the store) will help put you near the top of the list when the cult cabs come in and you might be surprised how thoughtful a wine clerk can be if you're one of his favorite clients.
"We just got in this amazing value from Priorat, I thought about you Mr. Smith since you love Clos Mogador, it's amazing and only $20 a bottle, but we only got two cases in..."
This type of well thought out opportunity to buy wines with limited availability is irreplaceable. A well trained wine clerk can be your best friend in the wine world, steering you towards new and exciting things as well as giving you a shot at the hardest to find of your favorites.
Happy hunting, and I still want the invite when you've got a bottle of 91 La Mouline to taste...from an online auction or not.
Cheers
TRC

2005 Tantara Releases

Speaking of California...Here's a California Pinot Noir producer y'all should start making yourselves familiar with.
Tantara. Never heard of it you say? You will. They started up in 97, based at the Bien Nacido vineyard in Santa Barbara County, they produce a number of vineyard designate Pinots as well as a few Chards. I got a super early preview of the lineup just after bottling. The 2005's just became available 3 weeks ago, just after being bottled unfiltered and unfined, and they are made in miniscule quantities, the maximum being around four hundred cases produced. Winemakers/owners Bill Cates and Jeff Fink were uber-excited about the vintage and I can see why. The quality across the board was fantastic and the wines show amazing depth for having been just bottled.

Tantara Pinot Noir "La Colline", Arroyo Grande Valley 2005
The softest and most feminine of the lineup, the "La Colline" is farmed from the Laetetia Vineyard. It exhibits softer cherry fruit and floral tones on the nose. On the palate the wine is elegant and balanced with good acidity and a ripe, soft endpalate. Very nimble and light on the palate, it almost dances. This would be ideal for salmon in a fruit based dark sauce. $55 at retail.
92 points

Tantara Pinot Noir "Rio Vista" Santa Ria Hills 2005
Riper and more fruit forward is the Rio Vista vineyard from the Santa Rita Hills appelation. Exotic cherry and berry flavors are very prominent on the nose, along with hints of cola and spice. On the palate, the fruit gets more intense and riper. Loads of sour and candied cherry dominate with blueberry and raspberry in the mix. New French oak gives just a shade of cocoa to the proceedings. Nice long supple finish. Screaming for duck breast and some sort of reduction. $55 at retail if you can find it.
91 points

Tantara Pinot Noir Bien Nacido "Adobe" Santa Maria Valley 2005
The dark and saturated color of the Bien Nacido "Adobe" is just a foreshadowing of the intensity of fruit and spice on the nose. Very ripe blackberry and cherry form the backbone, with layers of spice and caramel. This is the most tannic of the bunch with a more gripping presence and dryer mouthfeel. The glycerin is high as well, rounding out the middle of the palate. Very intense wine to pair nicely with rich game dishes. A whole lot of pinot for $55
91 points

Tantara Pinot Noir "Gaia" Santa Rita Hills 2005
Darkly colored and lavishly scented, this reminded me on the nose of a super ripe Chambolle-Musigny, but it was indeed farmed in the Santa Rita Hills. All cherry and cola spice with hints of flowers, coffee, cocoa and rootbeer. Big and bright but perfectly balanced on the palate, the depth of this wine took my breath away. Seemingly endless finish is just amazing with layer upon layer of cherry fruit, spice and floral tones. Amazing. $59 at retail...go find some.
94 points

Tantara Pinot Noir "Pisoni" Santa Lucia Highlands 2005
The now legendary Pisoni vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands and its owner Gary need no introduction to wine geeks, as many of the pinot worlds luminaries have purchased from this legend. If the Tantara is any indication of what Pisoni harvested in 2005 I will be hunting for every other bottling I can find. Put simply this is truly amazing stuff. An ever evolving nose of cherry, kirsch spice and hazelnut creme. On the palate the Pisoni is a monster of a mouthfilling pinot, all broadness and depth with a full minute finish that evolves from ripe cherry to spice and back to dried and candied cherry.
Retail is around $75
95 points

Tantara Pinot Noir "Evelyn" Santa Maria Valley 2005
The flagship of the Tantara line is a super rich and exotic Pinot from two select blocks in the Bien Nacido Vineyard. Treated with 60% new French Oak, it has gorgeous layers of caramel, spice and kirsch/cherry fruit on the nose. Simply gorgeous with loads of super rich and ripe cherry and berry fruit. Seamless and perfectly integrated with enough acidity to balance the formidable tannin and alcohol, Evelyn pulls off one heck of a balancing act. Forget pairing, just immerse yourself in this one...Retails around $100
95 points


Cheers,
TRC
"Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, make the sage frolic and the serious smile."
Homer, "Odyssey"

Wine Literature

So for the past few days I've been reading Noble Rot, by William Echikson, a slightly fragmented, ok that's not true, it's borderline scizophrenic, narrative about the state of affairs in Bordeaux. Echikson does a fantastic job developing the history of some of Bordeaux's most revered estates, Yquem and Mouton Rothschild, but fragments his timeline so badly that by the middle of the book, the reader is entirely unsure which century, let alone decade, he/she is reading about. The lurid, but true, tale of Alexandre Lur-Saluces and his family is both captivating and truly scary, and it's this part of the narrative where Echikson does his best work. The reader comes away from this section(s) feeling like a distant cousin of this great family, connected enough to care about the waxing and waning fortunes of the sauternes barons. Echikson's detailing of Chateau Mouton's rise to premier cru status is similarly interesting to read and the author does an excellent job of filling in all of the background necessary to make sense of Baron Phillipe's struggle. From the entrenched merchant system to the once temporary, but now (except for Mouton) impenetrable classification system, the background is well detailed and Baron Phillipe's struggle to reach Premier Cru status is very engaging. "Premier je suis, Second je fus, Mounton ne change--"First I am, Second I was, Mouton does not change" One gigantic bright spot is his attention to cooperative winemaking in Entre-Deux-Mers, an area of bulk wine production that has massive economic impact on the agricultural economy of bordeaux, but gets no press from any of the major critics. These low cost wines are the backbone of daily consumption in France, and it's nice to learn something of their production and some of the people behind the massive machine. While these character driven portions of the book succeed, Echikson loses the reader in a muddled accounting of the rise of Robert Parker and his sphere of influence. While Echikson does give a good history, he doesn't connect it well to what I think is his overall scheme of the book, which is to detail the friction between bordeaux's old guard and the garagistes whose wines Parker (and this reader) rates so highly. The main problem is the almost A.D.D. pacing and skipping around. If Echikson would slow down and offer his narrative as a series of well composed parts, it would make much more sense and be an easier read. Still, he hits the historical mark and "Noble Rot" will certainly satisfy any true wine geek's lust for background information about Bordeaux.
Read it if...you're a wine geek with a hankering for some more info on bordeaux's history.
What to drink while reading it...1982 Mouton Rothschild of course (or another bordeaux if you must...)

"Judgement of Paris" by George M. Taber, the only journalist at the now famous "Paris Tasting", is an accounting of the people and wines that shocked the world that fateful day. Taber's inside perspective and his excellent background work, highlighting such Napa luminaries as Andre Tschieleff, Mike Grgich and Warren Winarski, is fashioned into a cohesive, and very readable narrative. Younger wine lovers will find this to be an excellent resource for information about the golden age of Napa and the people who built the foundation of American wine culture. "Judgement of Paris" however transcends wine geekdom into the realms of social history, and anthropology, and is well written enough for a non wine drinker to fully understand the events portrayed.
Read it if...you have any interest in wine, california, american history, french history...well, if you're reading this blog and you haven't read this book yet, you should...
What to drink while reading it...California baby. This book makes me patriotic.

Again with the Grenache? Parade of 05 Chateauneuf's...

Angeles Wine Agency Importer Tasting Monday February 26th. Fort Mason Center, San Francisco.
The highlight: A first glimpse at the much anticipated and soon to be released 2005 Chateauneuf du Papes...
I know, I know. Here we go again with the Grenache. But I have to say, a lineup of 25 or so of Alain Jungenet's Chateauneuf producers was too much for me to pass up. I did my best impression of a kid in a candy store for this tasting (Allie is mad at me since she had to stay home and study) and I was not disappointed. This was the first bunch of the tremendous 2005's that I've had the fortune to taste and I have to say, I am very impressed. The quality across the board was very strong and consistent, not a stinker in the bunch a few wines that absolutely blew me away. These wines are firmly structured with loads of stuffing for the long haul. They are not as fat as the 2001's but they come close. The 2005's are getting various levels of hype from all the major reviewers, but the overall concensus is that these are not wines to be missed. They are ageworthy, but should be accessible and be tons of fun to drink only a few years after release.
So I'm not going to waste much time blabbering on today, I'm just gonna get into the wines. These wines start arriving in April, some will not release until August.

Bosquet des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape Tradition 2005
Ripe cherry and kirsch liquor on the nose. Classic spicy notes and bright ripe cherry fruit on the midpalate. Very well balanced with well integrated tannin. Finish is soft and long. A great example of what the British would call a classique, or "regular bottling" Chateauneuf. A perfect foil for grilled lamb chops or a spicy cassoulet.
89 points

Bosquet des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Chante Le Merle 2005
Bosquet des Papes flagship wine, A nose loaded with creme de cassis and lavender. Very exotic aromatics jump out of the glass. On the palate it is rich with well integrated tannins and vibrant with loads of dark cherry and plum fruit. Showed a ton of spice and minerals on the finish. Always a strong candidate for ageing, this will reward patience. No doubt.
94 points

Bosquet des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape "A la Gloire de Mon Grand-Pere" 2005
A very interesting "super chateauneuf" 98% old vine Grenache tempered with 2% Grenache Blanc. Not a common blend but maybe it should be...Tremendously aromatic and vibrant on the nose with loads of black raspberry and blueberry fruit, spicy garrigue and sweet cocoa with great plush and velvety texture. Long, long, long finish. Evolves in the glass constantly. I wanted to just smell it forever.
95 points

Chateau Fortia Chateauneuf du Pape "Cuvee Baron" 2005
One of my favorite classic, old school style Chateauneuf producers, Chateau Fortia always makes me think of what these wines would have been like in my grandparents heyday. Sultry and seductive, with a smoky and ever evolving nose. I was truly impressed as this changed minute to minute in the glass. Loads of raspberry and rosemary on the palate with bright acidity and perfect balance. Long and supple on the finish.
93 points

Clos des Brusquieres Chateauneuf du Pape 2005
Another great "Classique" Chateaneuf- this was very expressive on the nose, calling to mind bright cherry fruit and cotton candy. On the palate it is a bit firmer, with darker fruits and baking spices evolving into hints of bacon and coffee. Richly tannic this will reward a few years of bottle age.
91 points

Olivier Hillaire Chateauneuf du Pape Tradition 2005
The first vintage under his own name. Hillaire has purchased the property formerly know as Domaine de la Relagnes and he has made a statement! Favoring more modern techniques and style- these wines are flashy and exciting. Big bold and cherry fruited on the nose, the palate shows even more intense kirsch fruit and a spicy, exotic very long finish.
93 points

Oliver Hillaire Chateauneuf du Pape "Les Petits Pieds d'Armand" 2005
Hillaire's super cuvee from the oldest vine parcels, this blockbuster Chateauneuf is amazing in its first vintage! Amazingly explosive nose of violets, super ripe cherry, rosemary with hints of cocoa and coffee. Saturated, almost purple in tone all the way to the rim, the palate gives way more than a mouthful of exotic red and black fruits, kirsch, plum, black cherry. Big and powerful, but seamless in its texture, the finish lasts close to a minute. My tasting note actually said "HOLY SHIT" but this is a wine I'll not soon forget.
95 points

Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape 2005
Gorgeous aromatics! Rosemary, lavender, cassis and tobacco. On the palate it is rich and firm, loads of spicy fruit and garrigue, giving much, but promising much more for the patient. This is the epitome of age worthy Chateauneuf. You want to save it, but can you really wait??? You should, as this will become a beautiful and seductive mistress after a few years in the bottle.
94 points

Mas De Boislauzon Chateauneuf du Pape Tradition 2005
One of my favorite lesser known producers. Loads of black and sour cherry dominate the nose. On the palate this is spicy and rich with a broad midpalate and well balanced finish. Very exotic and seductive.
91 points

Mas de Boislauzon Chateauneuf du Pape "Cuvee de Quet" 2005
"ARRRRGGGGHHH! It's a pirate wine! Sorry, the unconventional label on the "Cuvee de Quet" always reminds me of a pirates treasure map. And a buried treasure it is. Mas de Boislauzon's super cuvee is firm and super rich, this only hinted at the wine it will become after a few years in the bottle. Deep and dark in color, one wonders how Grenache gets to be that shade of purple. Lavishly spicy on the nose, with layer after layer of rich, mouthfilling fruit on the palate. The finish is dense and firm, promising to become much more enticing as it ages.
94 points

Pierre Usseglio & Fils Chateauneuf du Pape Tradition 2005
This estate has rapidly become one of my favorites for consistently excellent Chateauneuf since the 98 vintage. while this does not have the explosive power of the "Cuvee de Mon Aieul" (read on) it is blessed with a very approachable personality and bright almost efflusive fruit and spice character. Dense without being too weighty, loaded with cherry and hints of cola, nutmeg and rosemary. I would drink this for the next few years as we wait for its big brother (Aieul) to show its true colors.
91 points

Pierre Usseglio & Fils Chateauneuf du Pape "Cuvee de Mon Aieul" 2005
Talk about an ageworthy Chateauneuf! This cuvee always rewards (demands) patience, and the 05 is no exception. Firm, almost monolithic in its structure, this shows super intense dark fruit and a rich, but balanced structure. I would let this sleep at least 5 years before disturbing it. The 98 and 2000 Aieul's are really starting to come out of their shells now, so
I will use that as my guide for consumption.
94 points

Cheers,
TRC

Welcome to Capo's Wineblog

Welcome to Capo's Wineblog.
This being my first foray into wine criticism/review, I thought it would be best to give just a few notes on my background. I grew up on the East Coast in a food and wine loving family. My Aunt Morgan was (and still is) in the wine business, so great wine always made it to our table for holidays and gatherings. I started tasting wine long before my 21st birthday, so I got a bit of a head start into the world of wine. I think I was 13 (might have been 14) when I tasted a flight of six Chardonnays together for the first time. Learning the differences between different places and vintages has always captivated me. The unending learning curve of the wine world is addictive (intellectually speaking) and I have to say that those who have gotten a taste for it are never the same. I had an early preference for white wines until a college friend (Thanks Erin) introduced me to some mid range reds and that, as they say, was that. I drank every wine I could afford (not that many on a waiter's salary) for a few years, until I got a job as Sommelier for Chef Cindy Wolf Charleston in Baltimore, MD. Under Tony Foreman, I had the opportunity to taste and learn well beyond my salaries limitation, and it helped to turn me from an interested hobbyist into a Chateauneuf crazed lunatic. A few years of this sort of liver expanding "study" and I felt ready to head west.
After Thanksgiving 2005, Allie and I packed up the car, threw the dog in the back seat and headed west to wine country...
So here I find myself in America's undisputed epicenter of wine culture...and I've decided to write a blog. Why? Well to give me something to do while Allison studies for the Bar, and to make myself taste and think about wine in a more cohesive manner.

Do you find yourself always scouring the wine aisles looking for a label you DON"T recognize? Do your friends automatically (and somewhat fearfully) hand the wine list to you when you go out to eat? Do your friends wonder why you have no savings, then look into your cellar and mumble something about bad fiscal planning? Congratulations, you're one of us...this blog's for you.

So without further ado, here's what I'm drinking this week, in no particular order.

1) Russian Hill "Top Block" Syrah, Russian River Valley, 2003
Actually, this is first for a reason. This is most likely one of the best California Syrahs I've tasted in a few years. Beautiful delineation of fruit, super ripe raspberry and kirsch aromas dominate the nose, giving way to soft and elegant floral tones
(no doubt a product of the small percentage of co-fermented viognier, a'la Cote Rotie). On the palate the texture is full and plush with considerable depth of dark raspberry and plum fruit with soft and integrated tannins. The finish is bright and long with hints of licorice, white pepper and cola. I served this with a roasted pork loin with a cherry compote and some wild mushroom risotto with considerable success. A tremendous glass of Syrah and a tremendous value. Retail price is around $34 if you can find this very very limited gem.
95 points.


2) Domaine de la Janasse, Cotes-du-Rhone 2004
As you will soon learn dear reader, my Allie is a Grenache fanatic. So am I. This leaves us constantly rifling through the southern Rhone aisles looking for everyday drinkers at law student friendly prices. This is one. Mostly grenache with a bit of older vine carignan, this shows intense spicy dark cherry fruit on the nose, along with some hints of gravel and garrigue (I know every taster has a different definition of garrigue so here's mine; a melange of rosemary, herbs de provence, smoke and fresh loam). On the palate it has good intensity and balance of acidity. I treated this as if it were a Chateauneuf and decanted about 30 minutes prior to serving. Spicy classic Cotes-du-Rhone and well worth its $13 retail price.
89 points.


3) Celler Capcanes, Cabrida, Montsant 2001
Ok so here we go again with the Grenache. This stuff is much more serious in it's intent. Think about the difference between a very nice and pleasant japanese sedan and say a six figure German or Italian sports car. This stuff is about 5-6 times the price of the CDR I just mentioned, and it is very much worth the investment. Montsant, for those not familiar, is a crescent shaped patch of geography that borders Priorat and produces (by and large) the same types of wines. This vintage of "Cabrida" is inky black/purple saturated to the rim. Overtly fruity and exotic on the nose with loads of spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, basil and mint among others). Super rich palate presence with a mountain of raspberry, plum and cherry fruit. This continued to open up in the glass for more than 2 hours, getting better by the minute. The finish is super long and all that spice comes rushing back. Retails for around $60.
95 points.


4)Bodegas Juan Gil, Jumilla 2004
Looking for something a bit different a few nights ago, I stumbled upon this at the local wine shop. I had tasted a barrel sample of Juan Gil's previous vintage and I remembered the fat structure and texture of the Monastrell (Mourvedre en Espagnol) being truly impressive. My memory served me well. The pure purple/black color is the first clue to this wine's dark brooding character. A nose of black pepper and super extracted black fruit gradually evolves in the glass to aromas of coffee liquor and kirsch. A super rich and textural wine on the palate (super heavy velvet comes to mind), the intense fruit dominates, along with some spicy notes form the oak and a bit of dark caramel on the finish. Explosive and very heavily fruited, this is serious wine, do not be fooled by its very friendly $14 price tag,
91 points.


5) Finca Luzon, Luzon 2005
Inspired by my find with the Juan Gil, I thought I'd have a go at another of Jorge Ordonez' super value wines from Jumilla. The Luzon is a blend of primarily Monastrell, with about 30 percent Syrah added. A few minutes after opening, this little charmer showed a nose of ripe plum and sour cherry, a touch of spicy bacon. On the palate there is ripe dark red fruit with good tannic structure and a spicy finish. Like a nice Cotes-du-Rhone with a much richer texture. Most definitely worth the $6, this will very likely be a staple around my casa.
87 points

Please note: All prices are those which I paid, and may not reflect pricing or availability in your market.
All scores given are my ratings based on the now familiar 100 point scale.



Cheers,
TRC
"Wine can of their wits, the wise beguile. Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile."
Homer, The Odyssey