Bench Mark Pinot Noir

The last couple of nights, my wife and I shared a bottle of Papapietro Perry Pinot Noir, Russian River. I have been enjoying Papapietro Pinots for several years now and the 05 is no exception. These are beasts, with loads of sophisticated red fruit and subtle notes of baking spices such as nutmeg and Cinnamon. These pinots beautifully bridge the gap between California and Burgundy. They have a pride of place as do the Burgundies and still have bright fruit flavors like their California brethren. These folks do six or seven Pinot Noirs and a couple of Zinfandels. All of their wines benefit from several years in the bottle for best showing and though I have not yet tried any with more than a couple of years of aging, I suspect that they will hold up for four to eight years at the low end. The Papapietros and the Perrys started out about ten years ago as hobby wine makers and then decided that they could make it as full time wine makers and in my opinion they are among the best in their price bracket ($45 - 50). They are somewhat allocated, but still generally available at least part of the year. Give it a try if you like good pinot and don't mind splurging occasionally.

A couple of revelations

I opened a bottle of Hiedler Gruner Veltliner a couple of nights ago and was surprised at the zesty lemon peel and clove. It was perfect with a spicy burger concoction my wife had come up with, while still very refreshing on a hot evening. These wines are the Riesling of Austria and will often age in a similar fashion. Like Riesling they are usually dry and crisp and pair well with a wide variety of foods.
That was revelation number one. Number two occurred by mistake and involved a bottle of Wall Cellars Cabernet, which is a second label for 20 Rows. This is a wine I had tried before and not been overly impressed with, I had gotten this bottle by default and not intended to open, however it was opened without my knowledge. I ignored it for about 24 hours until my wife tried it and pronounced it very good. So I grudgingly sampled it and was really surprised. It was good, particularly for the price around $15. Now I must point out two things that might have lead to my change of opinion on this wine, besides the fickle nature of ones taste buds. First the bottle has a screw cap, which as I have previously pointed out means the wine needs to breath more than most wines. Secondly the wine was last years vintage and thus had an extra year in the bottle. Often more time in a bottle develops more flavors in red wines. It also moves it past the dreaded bottle shock, which often hurts wines taste in the period after bottling and shipping. So I had a new wine with great versatility and revisited a wine I had tried, but not liked before and saw it with new taste buds.
Just keep and open mind. If a wine is not expensive give it more than one chance to shine if it comes highly recommended!

Zinfest

The other night a group of us got together and shared five bottles of Zinfandel with a picnic of gourmet burgers, baked beans, and corn on the cob. The wines; Seghesio Cortina, Renwood Grandmere, Imagery Taylor vineyard and a blend from Linna Calodo Problem Child and Magito Panorama another blend. All of the wines were good, but of course some were better than others. The Renwood was a little past its prime ( 2002 ), however with it's dried plum and dusty notes it may well have appeal to some. The Magito, which was a kitchen sink blend anchored by 75% Zin, was a nice wine and would have shown better in less sophisticated company. It had good fruit and was not to jammy, a good Zin for the summer heat since it was a little lighter than the others. The Imagery is from a project that Benzinger started about ten years ago. It started as a boutique label within Benzinger and has evolved into its own winery with several labels of its own. This was a very nice wine that evolved as it got air, the wine was a 2003. It had a nice richness with ripe plum and a little black raspberry and spice. The Seghesio, what can I say, This is a wine from a producer that knows what to do with the grape. My wife and I have never had a bad Zin from Seghesio. The Cortina is one of their single vineyard products and was rich with fruit, while not being jammy. It had some restrained black pepper and the flavors coated your tongue like Greater's ice cream. The finished lingered and it complemented the spicy burgers beautifully. Finally the Linne Calodo, this was a Zin dominated blend with syrah and mourvedre which added lushness to the wine. I have been wanting to try this wine for over a year, but the right time just never presented itself. I am glad to have finally had the opportunity, it is a very nice wine with a complex blend of Red and Blue fruit and the same lushness that I associate with southern Rhone wines. Calodo actually has another Zin blend which I imagine is also very good and will now have to try. All of these wines went very well with our picnic fair. The Magito was over powered by the other wines, but this was not unexpected, as it is priced at less than half of the other four. I think the Seghesio for the money is worth the splurge, however for those of you on a budget, they also make a Sonoma label, which is in the mid teen price point and a very good wine. Finally, I have to mention alcohol levels, the Imagery at 14.5% was the lowest and the renwood at 15.5% the highest. People have gotten used to high levels of alcohol in wines, but it was only 12 to 15 years ago that Zins used to top out around 13.5%. While none of these wines were "hot" ( having noticeable alcohol flavor), I would just as soon see the levels drop some, as lower levels allow for safer enjoyment of this wonderful wine.

a great time was had by all

Last night we hosted a tasting of Kinkead Ridge white wines (two verticals including four years of Riesling and four years of Viogner Rousanne) and for those who are partial to reds, I also opened 2004 Rochioli pinot noir, 2005 Emeritus pinot noir, 1996 Chateau St Michelle meritage, 2005 Bergevin Lane Calico red and 2001 Thomas Clay Counoise from Santa Barbara. For more on the wonderful Kinkead ridge wines check out www.kinkeadridgewinery.typepad.com , I think they were all fantastic and show the potential Kinkead Ridge wines, but I am going to talk about the reds tasted. First the Rochioli, my wife and I have visited this winery and tasted there entry level wines, they were good while not exceptional. This wine however was fantastic and points to the importance of time in the bottle. This bottle had gotten some bottle aging which made it rich and full bodied with dried cherry notes, just a stunner. Next the Emeritus, this is a new project from the former owner of Sonoma Cutrer winery, that though know for their chardonnays, produces a pinot noir, so exclusive that it is allocated to the club members. The point is that the producers of Emeritus were responsible for a highly sought after pinot, thus the interest in this wine. That said, I think the 05 will benefit from some more time in the bottle. To be continued.

A neat revelation

A couple of nights ago my wife and I decided to finish off a bottle of Chateau Rieussec Sauternes 2003. We had opened this bottle almost a month before and kept it in our refrigerator sealed with a vacuvin. When we intially opened this wine it was bright and unsophisticated. I was somewhat disappointed because it did not exhibit any of the traits I look for in a sauterne. It was not lush! Now to the second go round. Boy did this wine change with time and oxygenation. It was now rich and full bodied. There was a fantastic carmel flavor up front and noted of butterscotch on the finish. This wine had become better than I could have expected. This exemplifies one of my credos for wine. That being :If you do not like a wine initially give it time, go back to it 24 hours later, it will probably be better, but if not you are no worse off. Often times wines just need to open up, particularly younger wines, so do not give up.

Good wine bad experience

This weekend we opened a bottle of 2001 Provenance Merlot. This is a wine that I have like for quiet some time. We visited the winery a couple of years ago when traveling in Napa Valley. I presented my business card expecting to be able to taste the full range of their wines for free( as a trade courtesy), which is customary and had been followed at every other winery we visited, only to be told I could try four wines for free, but would have to pay for the premium wines. I paid, but was put off by this poor treatment. This needless to say has colored my view of these wines since, even though I still think of them as superior wines I do not recommend them because of this event. Any way back to our Merlot, which not withstanding the above mentioned event, we thoroughly enjoyed, it was a rich wine with plum and black raspberry flavors laced throughout the lingering finish. This wine had held up beautifully and as I have commented before would easily rival a great many Cabernets on the market. Try it for yourself, form your own opinion. Just be a ware that there are other producers with comparable wines that have employees that know how to treat people who might be in a position to sell their products.

An old friend

This weekend my wife and I went down to Vevay Indiana to spend a few nights at the Ogle Haus Best Western on the river. We had brought our own wine (of course) and on the first night we opened a bottle of Seghesio Old Vines Zinfandel. This is one of their lower production Zin's and Seghesio is our all time favorite Zin producer. We had not had any Seghesio in a while and we were blown away by this bottle which had big fruit and alcohol, yet was very reserved and sophisticated. It was a real mouth full, with red cherry and strawberry notes. The alcohol level is high, but well integrated and does not mar the wine. The bottle we opened was a 2004 and thus had some bottle age, yet was still bright and lively, not what you would expect from a four year old Zin. If you like Big wines and Big Zins treat yourselves to one of Seghesio's limited production wines. They retail in the mid thirties, but are worth it for that special occasion