Guilt-free bubbles

my only complaint was that the bottle was not photogenic

I took a day-trip to Hollywood last weekend and by chance found myself perusing the floor at K&L Wine Merchants. It was mostly fantasizing about wines that I can't afford to buy right now... Literally in every direction! Luckily the solution for all of the fantasies was in a good selection of half bottles on the shelves in front of the check out lanes. On those shelves was a magical guilt-free half bottle of Fleury NV Champagne Carte Rouge Brut for $21.99.

Fleury is well known as a grower-producer from the department of Aube in the south of the Champagne region. Early practitioners of organic viticulture, the estate began a conversion to biodynamic farming in 1989. Fleury is planted to 90% Pinot Noir with the balance being Chardonnay. The vineyards are located on steep slopes with soils of mostly calcareous clay. The Carte Rouge is a non-vintage Blanc de Noirs Brut. 

Notes- The mousse is foamy with a consistent medium-sized bead. Full golden color. Slightly maderized notes of baked apple and honey; with stone fruit and winter wheat aromas. Ripe and opulent on the palate with a depth of flavors consistent with the bouquet. Adds a tinge of mineral on the mid palate and finish. Ends crisp, dry and full. Very nice. $40 (rating- I like+!) 

Vertical or horizontal?

Horizontal rows at Storybook Mountain, Calistoga, Napa Valley

Have you ever wondered why some hillside vineyards have horizontal rows while others have vertical rows?

Working at Arcadian's tasting room today, I got into a discussion with guests about the varying exposures of slopes in vineyards and the possible influences on the resulting wines. The conversation eventually led to me being asked about the reasoning for horizontal or vertical rows on the slopes.

It was one of those moments... you've learned it before and you're aware of the answer. However it's something you don't think about everyday so the brain put the breaks on verbalizing an answer. Otherwise known as your mind going blank. My answer was based around vertical and horizontal rows offering different sun exposure to the vines; and also the possibility of the direction of the rows affecting the overall use of the land. My answers were correct in a very general sense, but I didn't feel on top of my game in giving the answer.

So to be more exact, the reasoning can be based on factors relating to the land, ability to work the land, exposure to the sun, and even to reasons related to culture and tradition. In general -- horizontal rows are easier to work, either by hand or by machine. A steep vineyard would require horizontal terraced rows just to be able to be tended. It would also require the horizontal rows to help in maintaining the structure of the soil. Conversely, vertical rows may increase exposure to the sun. This may be important in a cooler growing area where the grapes may need the extra sunlight to reach the desired ripeness. I live near the cool-climate Sta. Rita Hills AVA in Santa Barbara County and drive through the AVA a few times each week. The hillside vineyard blocks here are predominately planted in vertical rows, thus prompting the question from the guest.

Wine is such a humbling subject. There's so much information and knowledge, you're always just a question away from having you're mind go fuzzy on you. I wrote this post to clarify my thoughts on the matter... any further thoughts or clarifications are welcome!

Vertical rows in Sta. Rita Hills

Hot off the presses- 2010 Melville small-lot Pinot Noir

The Pinot Noir from Melville's Terraces and Carrie's blocks of their estate vineyard in Sta. Rita Hills are wines that I identified with from an early stage in my wine evolution.

The Terraces is a 4.9 acre block in the far west of the Melville vineyard. It's essentially west-facing terraces, exposed to the elements coming off the Pacific- wind pressure and several sun exposures with little morning sun. It is clay loam and calcareous shale soil planted to five clones- Swan, Mount Eden, 115, 667 and 777. The density and impact of the wine from Terraces along with the brooding earth qualities stood out to me when I was first exposed to these wines. 

The Carrie's block is also 4.9 acres. It sits on terraces above the Terraces block. It gets more overall sun and less wind pressure, and is planted on deeply rooted botella clay soil. The clones of the Carrie's block are 114 and 115. The resulting wines are full of brighter red fruit and more floral elegance when compared to The Terraces.

Winemaking on these wines includes whole-cluster fermentation (100% on Terraces and 60% on Carrie's) and sur lie aging in neutral French oak barrel. Winemaker Greg Brewer's wines are sometimes thought to be in the fuller/riper camp of Pinot Noir's from the area. However I've always found them to be more about impact than about being forward. The wines to me show balance, with the Carrie's being the more elegant of the two while The Terraces is more about impact and presence. 

With the release of the 2010's, I visited Melville for a sneak peak-

Melville 2010 Terraces Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills- Aromas of spice and cola, with rhubarb, plum, black cherry and licorice. Silky and voluptuous on the palate, highlighted by notes of pine needle and spice above notes of black cherry, raspberry and hints of earth. Firm and tight with finishing notes of Christmas spice, fruit and fully lingering cracked pepper. Needs time to meld. (rating- I like+!) $52

Melville 2010 Carrie's Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills- Bright aromas of orange zest, hints of cola, rhubarb and candied cherry. Bright floral fruit and spice on the palate with hints of dried herb. Silky and tight with fine tannins and flushed with full brushed herb and red fruit on the finish. A little more together at this young stage but still very tight and firm. (rating- I like+!) $52

Overall I got the qualities that I look for in these wines- impact, balance, complexity, lasting finishes and hints of elegance (especially on the Carrie's block). There's a cooling down and settling in to happen with these wines, but I look forward to seeing them come together. With time and tender loving care, I'm sure they could both end up ascending to attain the coveted "I love!" rating.

Eric Solomon Imports tasting in Santa Barbara, and an homage to Richard Jennings

Richard Jennings is the most prolific taster in the wine blogosphere. It's not even close. On Cellartracker he's posted over 27,000 tasting notes- his closest competition is just north of 11,000. His blog, RJonwine.com, covers wine tasting events and other wine information with comprehensive detail. His tasting notes are short and succinct, but presented in a manner that gets to the heart of the wine. They give you a good idea of what the wine's all about, whether or not your tastes align with Mr. Jennings. 

When he covers a wine tasting event on his blog, he'll post notes on every wine poured with photos from every table or producer. I've read these accounts in wonderment. It seems like a Herculean effort putting these reports out as he does.

I've started to think about RJonwine.com when I find myself at a wine tasting. As I think about how I might want to write about an event, the Jennings blogs become the impossible benchmark to attain. I don't have the time, resources, work ethic, attention to detail, or the will to cover an event in that manner- as much as I might like to. And it blows my mind to think about how many wines that Jennings tastes as an amateur blogger, 

I think the essence of blogging on any subject is being willing to be comfortable in your niche, realizing you're just one voice among many, and that the many may be well ahead of you. Maybe from that tiny place in crowd a gap can be filled with unique perspective, if not the highest expertise.

**********

Before I got sidetracked thinking about Richard Jennings' tasting acumen and in-depth coverage of wine tastings, I was thinking about how to put together this piece on a recent Eric Solomon Imports tasting that I attended in Santa Barbara. At this late stage I'll just give the basic info- it was presented by The Winehound retail store this past Saturday Feb 25. It was held at the Soho Restaurant and Music Club and featured a broad selection of wines from Eric Solomon's Spanish and French Portfolio. I tasted 31 wines over the course of 2 hours. Overall it was excellent quality and interesting wines, many if not most of which were organic or biodynamically farmed and handled mininally in the cellar. I've set aside some of the wines to highlight- great ones (epic), excellent wines/values (smart), and wines that disappointed (oh well). 

 EPIC-

Ossian Blanco 2009 Old Vine Verdejo, Rueda- Slate, earth, spice and stone fruit bouquet. Fine and silky with added tropical and citrus and hints of spice. Aromatic and profound with a full finish. (rating- I love!) $49.99

L'Esprit de la Fontaine 2006, Languedoc- 50% Syrah, 25% Grenache, 25% Carignan. Wow- nose of meaty blueberry and white pepper along with perfumey cherry. Rich on the palate- notes of slate and blue fruit with peppery, meaty and savory depth. Brambly and wild feel yet fine and polished at the same time. Lengthy finish. (rating- I love!) $82.99

Aalto 2008 Ribera del Duero- Brooding bouquet with tobacco & leather, red & blue fruit, spice and earth. Full lush fruit on the palate with hints of sage and spice and cocoa. Super-polished with fine tannins and long savory and tea finishing notes. (rating- I love!) $59.99

Quinta Sardonia 2007 Sardon del Duero- Blend of Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Petite Verdot, Cab Franc and Malbec. Meaty notes of the nose with cassis and bold dark fruit. More leathery meaty fruit on the palate with cracked pepper, sage and spice. Firm tannins and a full finish. (rating- I like+!) $67.99

Domaine de la Janasse 2008 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes- Primarily Grenache and Mourvedré. Cracked pepper, candied red fruit and spice aromas. The fruit evens out on the palate still carrying spice. Impactful with a serious presence. Gamey feel with round tannins and full fruit on the finish. Looking for more flavor development. (rating- I like+!) $78.99

SMART-

Pazo de Senorans 2010 Albariño, Rias Baixas- Expansive aromas- everything from nectarine and guava, to mineral and floral, all the way to fine cheeses. Round feel with focused crisp highlights- opulently precise. Full finish. (rating- I like+!) $24.99

Roger Champault 2009 Sancerre Les Pierris- Rocky lime and lemon aromas; furthered with spice, floral, mineral, citrus and stone fruit flavors... a little bit of everything. Focused and lean but impactful. Full finish. (rating- I like+!) $18.99

Izadi 2006 Rioja Reserva- Earth, red cherry and spice; growing to cassis, leather, red berry and tea on the palate. Silky and polished spice on the finish. Good length. (rating- I like!) $20.99

Chateau Puech Haut 2010 Prestige Rouge, Languedoc- Grenache and Syrah. Licorice, mineral, red berry and pepper. Focused flavors on a mineral-driven palate. Firm tannins and medium finish. (rating- I like!) $21.99

Domaine La Garrigue 2009 Vacqueyras- Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault. Gamey and meaty red/blue fruit. Pure fruit on the palate with red berry and mineral flavors with dried herb depth. Firm tannins and full finish. (rating- I like+!) $22.99

OH WELL-

Mas Alta 2005 La Bassetta Priorat- Lots of candied, jammy red fruit and spice. Out of balance. Full finish. $42.99

Espelt 2009 Garnacha Old Vine, Emporda- Chocolate, espresso and licorice with jammy red fruit and pepper. Out of balance. Inexpensive, but similarly priced and more well rounded Monastrells were available in comparison. $11.99.

Gramona 2008 Cava Gran Cuvee- Nice aromas- butterscotch, brioche and stone fruit. Goes totally austere on the palate with tart fruit and minerality. Finishes clean. I wanted to love this, but it was too cold (figuratively) and angular. $20.99

Also of interest- Two dry sherries were poured from Equipos Navasos (NV La Bote De Fino, Jerez- $47.99; and NV La Bote De Manzanilla, Jerez- $67.99). I don't consider myself able to properly evaluate fine sherry, but I did note that the Fino was full of nutty-almond and briny notes with a rich silky texture. The Manzanilla was fuller and richer on the bouquet, with lightly candied and nutty hints of fruit. The palate showed dried fruit and almond with notes of brine, and was very polished in structure.

Overall the tasting was a great trip throughout Spain and the South of France. My favorite regions on this day were Rhône, Languedoc, Rioja and Ribera del Duero. Cheers!

Getting to know you

The thing about Alma Rosa Pinot Noir is that it doesn't aim to please. It expresses on its own terms. The wines don't get that (at times) generic rich silky fruit thing going, or reveal all of their character in a quick tasting. I don't know that I've truly gotten one until today.

Alma Rosa 2009 Pinot Noir, Mt Eden Clone, El Jabalí Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills ($43) From Richard Sanford's estate vineyard El Jabalí, located at Alma Rosa's "headquarters" in the eastern area of Sta. Rita Hills. The Mt. Eden clonal selections were planted in 1984. The vineyard was the first of Sanford's to be 100% organically grown. 

The wine is briary and alive with notes of red berry fruit and perfume along with flourishes of sage, wild underbrush and rocky minerals that come in waves. Great presence and feel and grip- there's more beneath the surface. And a lasting finish (rating- I like++). I could see myself loving this with a little more time to get to know it!

El Jabalí Vineyard in winter

A great deal on a great Cab with an already great price.

There's plenty to debate about Napa Cabernet Sauvignon pricing. It's a weird and ahistorical caste system held together by ratings, real-estate prices, production levels, mailing lists and the latest greatest high-priced winemakers.

Where Napa Valley wine really becomes cool is when you find the producers making great Napa Cabernet off of that grid. Here you can break off of the main drag and visit a Napa Valley winery while having a laid-back and down-to-earth experience. And after you're through you can pay 40 or 50 bucks for a bottle of Napa Cab that amazes you. One that you know is as good as wines priced much higher. And one that gives you the essence of the place you just visited.

A couple of names that fit the description for me are Smith-Madrone and White Rock Vineyards. What got me going on this was seeing White Rock's 2005 Laureate on Lot 18 yesterday. Lot 18 is offering 6 packs for 179.94 through mid-March. The winery's price is listed at $45, so in my book it's a steal. If you like classically-styled Napa Cab with hillside tannins, focused fruit and the ability to age- it's a great deal. And if you're planning a visit to Napa Valley, head down to Soda Canyon and check out the vineyards and underground winery.

White Rock Vineyards

Here's a note I wrote when I visited the winery last year-

Tasted at the winery. Vanilla, cedar, toffee, minerals, currant, and cassis are introduced on the bouquet. A beautiful satiny feel in the palate, with added notes of black tea, iron, red currant, and cherry. Nice weight throughout. Firm, gripping tannins. Big finish with spice and currant. Multi-layered, it's outstanding now and but will continue to benefit with time. (rating- I love!)

One to indulge on!

Say yes to Merlot.

I recently read a piece on Steve Heimoff’s blog about the current state of the Merlot grape on the domestic wine scene. It was a good read, in which Steve laid out 2010 Nielson statistics showing Merlot’s awareness among consumers at a consistently high level, even through the perceived decline in popularity over the last 8 years. The piece goes on to try to reconcile the stats with Merlot’s continued decline at the ultra-premium level.

To me the answer is simple. I think that the general wine consuming population, outside of the most educated consumer group, thinks of a wine like Merlot in terms of a brand rather than a grape. Merlot as a brand became identified more for what was sold on the low-end rather than the high-end, i.e. jammy and softly structured wine without much character. Unlike Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir, the brand-identification had nothing to do with Merlot’s status as a great grape, or with the great wines of the world made from Merlot. Developing wine drinkers started to see Merlot as passé, which clouded Merlot’s profile in the wine community. All of this came to head with Sideways, although I don't think the dialogue was written to decry Merlot as much as it was written to capture the growing sentiment of the time. It’s a similar story line to that of Australian Shiraz, the difference being the squeeze on Shiraz happened at the top-end as well as the bottom-end. At the same time consumers were seeing value brand critter-laden Shiraz as cheap and passé; there was a barrage of hugely rated Shiraz wines that just did not measure up. As a result, a similar malaise has happened with Shiraz. 

What makes it difficult for Merlot to now recover with the wine intelligentsia is that it has no champions or advocates. There’s no ZAP or Rhône Rangers for Merlot. There’s little review space in major publications for it. James Laube hardly even reviews Merlot in the pages of Wine Spectator- the Merlot reviews are normally passed on to others in the magazine. And while there are plenty of areas in California and Washington where Merlot shines, there’s not a Right Bank where it outperforms Cabernet Sauvignon. Cab is always there in forefront taking up the spotlight. 

So that’s my modest take on the continued issues that Merlot faces. I think great Merlot is divine. It can be a little more about red and blue fruit than Cabernet Sauvignon, while still having the darker fruit notes. It highlights subtly different savory notes than Cab. It can have great structure, but can be rounder and more welcoming. Two of my favorite Bordeaux varietal wines over the past few months have been Merlot-based wines. One was the 2008 Calluna “Aux Raynauds” Merlot, Chalk Hill which I wrote about in December. The most recent is the 2008 PepperBridge Merlot, Walla Walla.

The 08 Pepper Bridge Merlot is 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec and comes from the Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills Vineyards. Elevage is 17 months in 47% new French oak. Ironically enough, I opened this for a dinner of barbeque-grilled steak at the Hitching Post II in Buellton, CA. I later aerated further with a Vinturi.

The appearance was a dense and opaque garnet; with red cherry & cassis with hints of graphite, spice and cedar opening and developing on the bouquet. Backward but expressive on the palate with blue/blackberry & cherry notes and further dark chocolate, black olive & cedar. It drank with a regal silky feel, with fine, round & smooth tannins over a full lingering finish. Very enjoyable, but don't touch for 2-3 years- it should be a stunner. (rating- I love!)

Highly recommended Merlot from Pepper Bridge!