June 2010 Archives

A couple who are friends shared the Snowden Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve which they had obtained from Snowden't mailing list. Last year's 2006 The Ranch (their lower level) was one of my favorite wines, so I was thrilled to get to taste the Reserve from 2007.

It's early for the wine, but that wasn't a negative when tasting. It was a beautiful cranberry color, and it's nose was fresh berries, red cherries, bing cherries, quite different than the reviews or the winemaker's notes. Absolutely a terrific, balanced wine with delicious fruit, nice tannins, and medium bodied. Mid to long-finish.

Snowden's site is at http://www.snowdenvineyards.com/ourWines-snow.htm and includes barrel sample scores from The Wine Advocate and International Wine Review. Unfortunately it appears to already be sold out from the winery, and hasn't arrived anywhere else. About $75, tasted June 2010.

 

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• The Secrets of Snowden's Success (vinessetoday.com)

The Landmark Steel Plow Syrah is a dark purple/burgundy, spice, blackberries, dark fruits on the nose, followed by spicy pepper, blackberry, and fruit tastes. Very balanced, nothing out of place, terrific Syrah with a long finish. Tasted June 2010, about $33.

Landmark's website: http://www.landmarkwine.com/home.html

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• Sonoma Syrah (sfgate.com)
• The Pour: Syrah's Plunging Market (nytimes.com) - on California Syrah generally

Deep, intense red/purple, opaque, viscous, on the nose it's dark fruit immediately, then red to follow. Tasting gived great red fruit, dark cherries, currants, with dusty, beautiful tannins. It's mouthwatering, mid-weight for a Cab, and then there's spice and pepper. Tasted June 2010 at The Wine House in Manlius.

John Ramsey is the owner, and he gave a wine talk and tasting at The Wine House recently. His Zinfandels are terrific as well, and it's pretty amazing that he'd come and give a talk locally. JR Wines is at http://www.jrwines.com/index.html - their wine notes are at http://www.jrwines.com/wines.html and you need to scroll down a bit to get to the 2006 Cabernet.

Chappellet's Mountain Cuvee is a blend of Cab, Merlot, and a tiny bit of Malbec, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot. The winemaker's notes indicate it's made to drink early. It was a medium red, translucent, seemed to have cooked fruit, particularly prunes, plums, and other dark fruit. It was mid-weight, and the taste followed through with dark fruit. It seemed too hot on the nose, but not in the taste, and it's 14.9% in the winemaker notes. It had been open over an hour when I tasted it. Chappellet has a PDF available at http://www.chappellet.com/assets/client/File/2007_Mountain%20Cuvee.pdf with information about the growing season, harvest, and more. Good value if you can find it priced right. Tasted June 2010.

Cellartracker: http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=767809

Medium ruby, bright, nose of dark cherries and smoke. Flavors of red fruits, berries and cherries, some black pepper and licorice, nice and tart, nice acidity, well balanced, mid-length 15 to 20 second finish. Tasted June 2010, about $50.

Beautiful, very light, transparent with a tint of gold, Chardonnay from Pouilly-Fuisse. The nose has light typical Chardonnay nose, light wood, no heavy components on the nose. It's got a bright, clean flavor, rich with a bit of tartness, light to mid-weight, with a lingering mid-palate. Some white pepper, presumably from the oak, pears and apples. Tasted June 2010. About $35.

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• The Chronicle Recommends: White Burgundy (sfgate.com)

Very light color, amazing stream of very small bubbles. Nose has some spice and toasted wood influence. Citrus, stone fruit, light and airy, so effervescent it almost has not weight in the mouth, yet it's rich. Has a long finish. Nicely done California sparkling wine, priced at about $35. Maybe comparable sparklers from Italy or Spain would be better values. Tasted June 2010.

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• Schramsberg Winery: Napa Valley Icon, Important History and Fabulous Bubbly (wine-blog.org)

From Italy, one of the goldest pinot grigio's I've opened recently, tropical fruit on the nose, citrus, pineapple, papaya. The taste has a tangy pineapple, very bright, acidity balanced with fruit, no tannins, and no bitterness. Full bodied white, plenty of depth, nice finish. About $15.

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• Pinot grigio will save your summer, wallet (miamiherald.typepad.com)

The 2007 Shea Pinot Noir 2008 Estate is a pretty, transparent cherry red, and it had a relatively muted nose, a bit floral, some red cherry, some darker fruits. It paired well with sauteed mushrooms and a dry aged New York strip, but struggled on its own. It had dark fruit, a bit of alcohol, some fine tannins, and was well balanced, but again, the fruit seemed muted to me. It was more typical of Burgundian Pinot. The 2008 is relatively new, so perhaps it just needs some time to open up. It was medium weight, had good acidity, and a mid-length finish, about 20 seconds or more.  

Harvey Steiman on Shea Estate Pinot Noir over the past decade: http://bit.ly/aPafx1 He seemed to feel very differently about the '08 than I did, suggesting it's one of the best vintages of the decade.

Wow, terrific tasting today - everything was excellent, and the variety was outstanding. Tim and Matt had a lot of knowledge to share, from the history of Schramsburg in the early 1800s, to the wine makers for Landmark's first vintages.

First up was the 2006 Schramsburg Blanc de Blanc. This is light, airy, and a great starter. Then a 2007 Chateau-Fuisse "Tete de Cru" from Pouille-Fuisse, France.

Switching to reds we started with the 2007 Bergstrom "Cumberland Reserve" Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. From there we moved to the Chappellet Mountain Cuvee 2007, a Napa Valley blend of Bordeaux grapes. Staying in Napa we did the 2007 JR Rutherford Vineyard Cabernet. Finally up was the Landmark "Steel Plow" 2007 Syrah from Sonoma.

Full notes for each will be forthcoming over the next few days. Excellent tasting, thanks as usual!

Bright, translucent burgundy red. Nice cherry nose, some spicy pepper, floral, cola, typical California Pinot nose. At first taste I was surprised by how hot it was! 14.6% alcohol I think, but it seemed higher. After thirty minutes (20 in the refrigerator to chill to cellar temp) it seemed to have less heat, but maybe it just needed some air. The first thing I noticed in taste was bright acidity,fruit, dark cherries, blackberries, and more mouthwatering acidity. Reminds me of Lucia and Peay, so definitely still California. The finish lasts a while, cherry cola, some more dark fruit, and finishing with acidity. Tannins and structure are there (at least as far as they are with most Pinot) and not intrusive at all. Very enjoyable Pinot. Tasted June 2010. About $35.