2009 Donkey & Goat Four Thirteen

Wineries? In Berkeley?!

Let’s not get carried away.

Obviously, the wine I’m telling you about today is not from grapes grown in Berkeley, California. While I have not scoured the streets, alleyways, and head shops of the home not only of the great University of California Golden Bears football team, but also of aging hippies, I do know I have never found a vineyard in Berkeley.

And I know for sure, that wine grapes are not what’s growing in People’s Park.

That having been said, there are wineries in Berkeley. Oakland and San Francisco, as well. Small-batch, family-owned boutique wineries in Northern California have begun setting up shop in the Bay Area’s urban centers, and not just the fertile valleys of Napa and Sonoma counties.

Because they do not grow their own grapes (at least not on the estate!) but instead buy them from grapegrowers all over the state, what chance these winemakers have to set themselves apart is often in the blending.

2009 Donkey & Goat Four Thirteen

Which is why I was so excited to taste this, a Chateauneuf-du-Pape-style red blend from one of Berkeley’s best-named wineries, A Donkey & Goat Winery.

Seriously. Nailed the name.

So, what do we have here in Donkey & Goat’s 2009 Four Thirteen blend? 46% syrah, 33% grenache, 18% mourvedre, and 3% counoise, all from El Dorado County in the Sierra Foothills. Details and digits aside, we also have a very tasty wine.

The first thing you want to do after you pour yourself a glass of the Four Thirteen is take look. The wine is stunning. Blood red at the core— really vibrant— with ruby edges that are only slightly lighter.

On the nose, the heat shows off just a bit— never a good thing, but here, not enough to kill off the nose’s strong points. Blackberry, black pepper, leather, and notes of dark caramel. Rich, strong, weighty, meaty, and hefty. This wine is like Gerard Depardieu: it’s got a nose with gravitas.

The wine is medium bodied, and the finish is passable but could be longer. The nose is so awesomely bombastic that the palate could be a bit of letdown, were it not so damn tasty. Black fruits, earth and leather, and a hint of cassis round out this wine’s palate. I do wish it packed the punch hinted at by the nose, but I’m not going to complain.

Wine this good just doesn’t come around all that often. And in my experience, it never comes from Berkeley.

Bravo, Donkey & Goat. Bravo.

Price Point: $30

2009 Intelligent Design Cuvée Blanc

Minerals and Acid: White Wine’s Best

I think it’s incredibly important for every wine drinker, of every level of experience and knowledge, to learn what they like. I can tell you all about what I taste in a wine, I can talk about the balance, the acid and the sugar, the alcohol and the tannin, and on and on. But, as Jim Morris of Michel-Schlumberger once told my wife Heather and me, while we sat and sipped his winery’s stellar pinot blanc, “There are two kinds of wine in this world: yummy wine and yucky wine. Drink the yummy wine.”

Jim’s right, of course. While it’s a simplified view of wine that doesn’t make for compelling wine writing, the long and short of wine is enjoyment. Do you (or I, or anyone else) enjoy the wine you (or I, or that other person) are drinking?

2009 Intelligent Design Cuvee Blanc

It takes time to learn what you like, of course. There are plenty of people out there just drinking wine willy-nilly, making no mind of what it is about a specific wine they like. Is it the fruit? The acid? The alcohol? The astringent texture? The long finish? Is there nothing in particular that they do like, they just find the wine inoffensive?

Ambivalence is the most sinister emotion of the heart. Its darkenss sneaks up on us, takes us unaware, and makes us feel, well, nothing. And nothing is worse than nothing.

I say all this to bring up the following point: I know what I like. And when it comes to white wine, I know I like minerality, and chalk. I like acid, and crisp, clean flavor notes.

Luckily for me, this wine delivers on all those points.

The 2009 Intelligent Design Cuveé Blanc from Wesley Ashley Wines is a Central Coast blend of 50% viognier, 30% rousanne, and 20% grenache blanc.

The Rhône varietal blend expertly balances a not-insignificant 14.1% alcohol by volume. In the glass, it’s a lemony straw yellow, with the faintest hint of green. On the nose is a wonderful mix of fruit (apple and lemon), a custardy element, and some grassy, floral elements. My wife commented that the wine “almost smelled like beer,” and I think there is an herby, hoppy element to the floral notes on the nose.

The wine is light bodied, crisp and clean. Not much fruit on the palate, but great acid and some nice grassy notes. The finish is long, with tight, crisp mineral and chalk notes. There’s even this slight skinless almond note on the finish, really cool and different.

This wine is excellent. It’s really awesome, and more than that, it’s right up my alley. If you’re a big oaky-buttery chardonnay person when it comes to white wine, maybe this won’t be up yours.

But if your taste buds tingle and your mouth waters at the sounds of “mineral,” “chalk,” and “acid” when it comes to your white wine… well, what are you waiting for? Intelligent Design is the natural selection for your obviously-evolved palate.

Price Point: $34

2009 VIVI Primitivo

Affordable Italian Crowd Pleaser

In case you weren’t aware, there is a connection—actually, an absolute genetic sameness—between zinfandel and the Italian wine grape primitivo. They are both descendant clones of a Croatian grape, actually, one you will never be able to pronounce (give it a go: Crljenak).

2009 VIVI Primitivo

I’m a pretty huge zin fan, some of my favorite wines are zinfandels or zin-based blends. So I was pretty excited to try the Italian equivalent. How could I go wrong? The bold, smoky, spicy flavors of my beloved zin, married with the traditions of Italian winemaking? Sounds positively delightful.

But who is VIVI? I’m not entirely sure, and their website does very little to tell me. Something about them screams “high production, not artisan” to me, but this may indeed turn out to be an unfair, ultimately untrue statement. What I do know is they make two wines: this VIVI Primitivo, and the VIVI Falanghina. So regardless of how big or small they are, props for bringing some of the lesser-known Italian varieties to the States.

Primitivo’s home and native land is the “heel” of Italy’s topographical “boot,” Puglia, and it’s from here that the VIVI Primitivo hails.

To the wine, then. The 2009 VIVI Primitivo is burgundy red at its core, with edges than both lighten and brown slightly to an auburn red. The nose shows off aromas that any zinfandel fan will feel right at home with: blackberry, tobacco, clove, and cinnamon. A lot of spice, a little dark fruit, and hints of herby and smoky elements.

The wine is light bodied and remarkably refreshing for something so bold. The finish is long. Quite long, though I’m not sure what I should reference in order to truly drive home the point that the finish on this wine is long. The VIVI Primitivo is spicy and robust, with notes of clove and dark spices mingling nicely with complementary aromas of light black and red fruits on the palate.

Yummy. And quite food-friendly. I liked this wine, a lot, actually. And it’s a pretty decent value, to be had for $10-$20. Easily recommended.

Price Point: $11