August 30th, 2010

Fruit-Forward Oregon Pinot Worth More Than Just a Taste

2008 Soléna Estate Hyland Vineyard Pinot Noir

Oregon’s doing something right with pinot noir, I don’t think anyone is really arguing otherwise at this point.

Sure, you can argue, as I have, that nothing happening over on this side of the world matches up to the best of Burgundy, but when the great pinot noir regions of the western hemisphere are named off, Oregon cannot be excluded.

And if you know your Oregon pinot, you know Willamette Valley. McMinnville is a sub-appellation of the WV that sits at the north end of the valley, south of Portland. An elevation-restricted AVA, qualifying vineyards need not only be within the geographic borders of the McMinnville AVA, but they must sit between 200 and 1000 feet above sea level.

These people are specific about their wine.

New School Superstar

Not surprisingly, the AVA is dominated by vineyards of pinot noir, with a smaller amount of other Burgundian varieties like chardonnay, pinot gris, and pinot blanc. One of the most storied vineyards within the AVA is the Hyland Vineyard, a pinot noir-dominated vineyard that has produced award-winning pinots for decades.

This is Oregon. I wasn’t going to say “centuries.”

Anyway, this wine is Soléna Estate’s Hyland Vineyard pinot noir, all pinot, all from the single vineyard. The wine is a dark, vibrant ruby red at its core, and lightens a bit to a dark pink at the edges.

The nose is a mixture of bright ripe strawberry, and darker, stewed fruit, mostly cherry and plum. The wine is medium-bodied, with a long, lustrous finish. The stewed fruit from the nose is all over the palate, but so is a hint of mossiness that starts to get us towards that “forest floor” element that Burgundies always seem to feature. Not quite, though.

The 2008 Hyland Pinot from Soléna clocks in at a bit-high-in-my-opinion 14.5% ABV, but it’s balanced very nicely. The alcohol dominates neither the nose nor the palate, and the whole experience is very pleasant.

In fact, it’s more than pleasant. This is an excellent fruit-forward pinot noir. The “New World” doesn’t always have to compete with France and Italy. Sometimes, we can make our own rules, and rule our own wines. Viva Oregon pinot!

Verdict: A-

Soléna Estate

Soléna Estate

Tags: 2008, A-, McMinnville, New School Superstar, pinot noir, Solena Estate

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August 24th, 2010

Napa White Shows Off Less-Common French Grapes

2008 Tallulah Como

I like white wine. I actually do. If you’re reading this, chances are decent that you yourself are a wine blogger, or at the least you’re kind of a wine nerd. So maybe you haven’t experienced, recently, the concept that so many people have in life, which is that they are either “white wine” drinkers or “red wine” drinkers.

Me, I’m a wino (and a discussion about “taking that term back” would be a worthy one, for another time).

While I once would have sworn up-and-down that red wine is the only wine for me, I have long ago now (or so it seems) accepted that good wine comes in many different—ahem—varieties.

Tropical Vacation Approved!

And this, dear readers, is the kind of white wine I get especially excited about.

First off, the varietal makeup here is not something you’re going to be particularly familiar with, as it’s predominantly a lesser-drunk-here-in-the-States Rhône Valley grape (marsanne), mixed with an only-slightly-more-common Rhône grape (viognier) and the Queen of White Wine (and of Burgundy), chardonnay.

More precisely, the 2008 Como from Tallulah Wines is Napa Valley juice, and 53% marsanne, 37% chardonnay, and 10% viognier.

So, what’s it like? Tasty. Tasty, tasty, tasty.

The wine is bright in the glass, and gives off a bright, sharp yellow-gold color. The nose starts off a bit predictable—featuring a pear note off the bat—then starts throwing you curve balls, as some light spices mix with ripe melon and apricot aromas.

The wine is medium-to-full bodied, which I found I expected due to its color and viscosity when swirled. The spice notes from the nose mix with a tropical cornucopia of citrus (mostly orange), pineapple, and cantaloupe.

The fuller-bodied nature of this wine keeps me from describing it as particularly “crisp,” but the tropical, melon-revolving aromas and flavors are so refreshing, that this still works wonders as a chilled summertime white.

Even if you’d never heard of marsanne.

Verdict: A-

Tallulah Wines

Tallulah Wines

Tags: 2008, A-, chardonnay, marsanne, Napa Valley, Tallulah Wines, Tropical Vacation Approved!, viognier

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August 12th, 2010

Meet Marita

2005 Marita’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

This, my dear friends and people who read me because they hate me but want to see what I’ll do/say next, is some friggin’ Napa Valley Cab.

Marita’s Vineyard Special Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (say that fivefold fast) is a pretty fantastic bottle of wine, if I do say so myself (and I do). Limited to 225 cases, this 100% hillside cabernet sauvignon is something everyone should try.

Legit Juice

Unfortunately, by virtue of the fact that it runs a buck-and-a-half per, not everyone’s going to be able to. C’est la vie, n’est-ce pas, mes amis?

First off, the wine comes in one of the heaviest glass bottles I’ve ever encountered. Seriously, when I opened the box the bottle came in, I thought for a second it was a 1 liter bottle or something. It’s not, it’s a standard 750, but a good 10% taller and maybe 20% wider than most of the other 750s I have in my cellar. And heavy. Even empty (and hooo boy did I finish this one) the bottle felt like it might be half full.

I know the point of thick, heavy glass bottles is to lend a measure of elegance, perhaps even gravitas, to the wine. I couldn’t help thinking about the environmental impact of all that extra glass. Extra energy to make the bottles, if not recycled properly, extra glass in the trash/landfills and all.

It’s the exact opposite delivery mechanism mentality from the NPA, for instance.

But whatever, I’m not actually that concerned about it. Much more concerned about the juice, so shall we?

2005 Marita's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

2005 Marita's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

First things first: the wine is damn near black in the glass. It lightens to a rich ruby at the very edges, and mine showed just the slightest hint of tanning near the edge as well.

The nose is incredibly nicely balanced between some fruit aromas—mostly blackberry and rhubarb—and the other side of the cabernet aroma world, namely hints of leather and cigar box and cedar. On the palate, the wine is full bodied, and announces its presence with authority.

But it’s not a fruit bomb. It doesn’t “punch” you, as it were. And at 14%, it isn’t overly alcoholic for its robustness and size. It’s well balanced, all in all. The finish is long, the entire experience is lustrous and smooth, with soft, lush tannins and an overarching elegance that just rocks. It fucking tastes good, too, with fruit aromas of blackberry and black cherries that dance around.

Altogether, this is elegant, grown-up, still delicious wine, with lots of nuance and incredible balance. This is Napa Valley cab, writ large.

Verdict: A-

(full disclosure: this wine was provided to me as a press sample from VinTank)

Tags: 2005, A-, cabernet sauvignon, Legit Juice, Marita's Vineyard, Napa Valley

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July 13th, 2010

Chardonnay From Another Planet (Actually, From Tuscany)

2007 Felsina Berardenga ‘I Sistri’ Chardonnay

The concept and history of the Super Tuscan is one of my favorite stories in wine.

First off, it just sounds cool. “Super Tuscan.” Like a crime-fighting superhero who loves pasta and his nonna. But the best part is, of course, how this rogue brand of Italian winemaking came to be.

See, before the 1970s, everyone who made fine wine in Italy did so under the strict rules laid down by the governmental DOC and DOCG bodies, which defined things like the fact that Chianti Classico is a blend, with sangiovese as the dominant grape, and that Barolo is always 100% nebbiolo, etc. But DOC(G) classifications also define almost every element of the winemaking process, like what to use during, and for how long fermentation can occur, to barrel-aging requirements, picking procedures and methods, and on, ad nauseum.

In the 70s, a winemaker in Chianti Classico had had enough. While he was not the first to do this, he may have been the most famous. Piero Antinori wanted to take the Chianti Classico his family had made for over six centuries and make a richer variant. He removed the white grapes from the traditional (and DOCG-required) blend and replaced them with Bordeaux varieties, mostly cabernet sauvignon and merlot. He called the wine Tignanello.

The thing is, Tignanello was not Chianti Classico, though it was wine made from one of the region’s esteemed producers, and still predominantly featured sangiovese. They could not use the name, and in fact, the bottle had to feature the phrase vino da tavola, or “table wine,” normally a phrase reserved for low-grade juice, which Antinori’s new concoction was not.

To this day, the same is true. DOC(G) requirements have not changed. The Italians have created a new label to stamp on fine wine that does not conform to DOC(G) scripture, “IGT.” This wine from Chianti Classsico producer Fattoria di Felsina falls into this IGT category.

The ‘I Sistri’ is 100% chardonnay, and a dark, rich, lustrous gold in the glass. The nose is also rich and lush, featuring, predominantly, notes of pecan praline and honey. This is not chardonnay as I have tasted either from California, or from my favorite French region for the grape, Chablis.

The honeyed nuttiness continues on the palate, as this medium-to-full bodied white brings the same honey and pecan praline flavors from the nose. There is a little residual sugar, it seems, but this is not a dessert wine by any means. On the back end is the most incredible finish of cinnamon that I have ever tasted, and not some sickly-sweet-spicy-fake cinnamon, but like real, freshly grated cinnamon.

Really quite impressive, actually. Not for everyone, to be sure, and not something I would want to drink every day. But if you’re someone who thinks of white wine as the sole province of summer, the warmth and sweet spice of this wine would turn anyone into a chardonnay-in-winter convert.

Verdict: A-

2007 Felsina Berardenga 'I Sistri' Chardonnay

2007 Felsina Berardenga 'I Sistri' Chardonnay

Tags: 2007, A-, chardonnay, Chianti Classico, Fattoria di Felsina, Tuscany

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June 9th, 2010

Amazing Funky Stank Juice

2009 NPA Sauvignon Blanc

2009 NPA Sauvignon Blanc

Those words in the title, if you didn’t realize, are meant with love. Sometimes descriptors in wine reviews seem off-putting at first, but what I mean by funky stank juice is as high a complement as that could possibly be.

The NPA, or Natural Process Alliance, is a Santa Rosa-based winery that focuses on “thinking downstream.” They try to do as little to the wine as possible, and upset the natural process of the winemaking as little as possible. So this sauvignon blanc, which is (among other things) unfiltered, comes off as very, very different from what you’re used to.

But damn if these vine-hugging hippies haven’t figured something out. This juice is legit.

The very first thing you’ll notice, assuming you pour your NPA Sauv Blanc for yourself (or see someone do so), is the container. No glass, no box; the NPA houses all their wine in 750ml stainless steel Klean Kanteen bottles. Next, the wine looks very different from your usual sauv blanc: it’s cloudy, and a yellow-green in color.

When I first sniffed this wine, I had to back up off of it and set my cup down, if you know what I mean.1 The nose is a mélange of the most amazing ripe citrus and tropical fruits: melon, pineapple, nectarine, and passion fruit. It’s really quite something. You could bottle this scent and sell it at Tommy Bahama for, like, a grip of cash.

The NPA Sauv Blanc is full-bodied, which I don’t find often in this usually-lighter variety. On the palate you pick up notes of peach, grass, and nectarine. The wine’s alcohol content is low for California (12.8%), and it’s refreshing in a way not unlike Kern’s fruit nectars are.

NPA wine is extremely hard to get ahold of right now, but you can check out their website to see what your chances are of getting ahold of this funky stank juice.

I recommend you do.

Verdict: A-

(photo: Courtesy Flickr user linecook / CC BY-NC)

Footnotes

  1. Cf. ↩
Tags: 2009, A-, sauvignon blanc, Sonoma County, The Natural Process Alliance

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