Notes From The Cellar » 2009

☆ 2009 Donkey & Goat Four Thirteen

Steve — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:00:55 +0000

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.

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

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☆ 2009 Intelligent Design Cuvée Blanc

Steve — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:00:14 +0000

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?

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

Steve — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:00:41 +0000

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).

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

☆ 2009 The Prisoner

Steve — Wed, 25 May 2011 15:00:55 +0000

A Slight Decline, But Still Sublime

I am a big fan of The Prisoner. This is not news to anyone who previously read my rhapsodic review of the 2008 vintage. If you haven’t, feel free to, either now, or when you’re finished here.

I’m also a big fan of this wine, although it does show some dissimilarities with its immediate predecessor.

For one thing, while Orin Swift Cellars is still the name on the bottle, a new crew owns The Prisoner. The 2009 is the first vintage bottled by The Prisoner’s new owners, Huneeus Vintners, who also own (among others) Quintessa and Faust in Napa Valley, Flowers on the Sonoma Coast, and Veramonte in Chile.

I’m not so sure the change in ownership has benefitted the wine. In fact, before finding any of this out, I had already decided I preferred the 2008. Still, this remains one of the single finest value buys in Napa Valley wine in my opinion. At $35 per bottle, you can easily do much, much worse.

In fact, don’t let my hand-wringing over the inside baseball of ownership dissuade you: this is some really, really good wine.

The 2009 Prisoner has a dark burgundy core in the glass, that lightens a bit to red at its edges. On the nose you’ll find ripe cherries, a touch of strawberry and raspberry. The nose is almost entirely fruit, and not quite as complex as the previous vintage. The wine is medium bodied, and the palate gives more of the complex aromas and flavors that are missing a bit from the nose: incredibly bright, jammy raspberry and cherry notes mingle with subtle dark chocolate and just a touch of smoke.

Soft, supple tannins round out the mouthfeel. Incredibly tasty.

Hopefully, Huneeus won’t fix what ain’t broke, and hopefully fans will be able to enjoy The Prisoner for years to come.

☆ 2009 Elio Grasso “Educato” Langhe Chardonnay

Steve — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:00:43 +0000

Turning Heads, Changing Minds (Mine, At Least)

I’ve got a pretty good deal when it comes to tasting Italian wines. A very close friend, Gwyneth Hogarth, is the bar manager at Prima, a sublime local Italian ristorante. My wife and I go in there, and the Italian wine flows. It’s why I, a Californian of Irish, German, and Portuguese descent, have spilled so much ink on the grape juice of Italia.

I especially dig Italian takes on chardonny. The “I Sistri” is from Tuscany, but this, the “Educato,” is from Piemonte.

But back to the ristorante…

In the dim lustre of a fine Italian eatery like Prima, there are few things I like better than great red Italian wine. Barolo. Brunello di Montalcino. Chianti Classico. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. There’s something about the classic red wine flavors, the robusto, the machismo, of the big reds of Piemonte and Tuscany that go so well with not just the food, but the downright sexiness of a great ristorante.

But, whenever I head out to this particular spot, Gwyn always insists I try a white wine or two. Or three. Or four. She’s good like that.

So here I am, staring at a bottle of “Langhe Chardonnay,” whatever that is. I mean, obviously, it’s chardonnay. But Langhe Chardonnay? As it turns out, Langhe Chardonnay is a DOC designation in the region of Cuneo, part of Piemonte. And, as it turns out…

First off, what kind of chardonnay drinker are you? (Assuming, of course, that you are one to begin with.) Normally, I like my chardonnays unoaked. Chablis style. I’m not a fan of over-extracted secondary ML Cali monsters. In general.

Now, perhaps, I have to rethink any kind of blanket opinions I have about chard. The Educato goes through malolactic fermentation, and spends seven months in new French oak.

Seven months. In new French oak.

And it’s stunning.

Light, glistening gold in the glass. Subtle aromas on the nose, subtle subtle subtle. Butterscotch, butteriness. A touch of caramel. All of it subtle and unassuming. (I promise, I will not use the word subtle again. Maybe ever.) Elegant, light on the nose.

The Educato is full bodied, and a touch sweet. Not dessert wine, of course, but the slightest bit off-dry. Understated hints of nutmeg and honey, and a few other spicy notes open up presents on Christmas morning all up in your mouth.

The nose shows off the butter/butterscotch I expect from ML, and the palate has more of the spiciness imparted by the oak. But this works, this is good shit.

I can no longer claim my favorite chardonnays are all unoaked, Chablis-style. Not any more.

2009 Elio Grass "Educato" Langhe Chardonnay

☆ 2009 Mollydooker Velvet Glove Shiraz

Steve — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:00:05 +0000

Big Aussie Kicks Ass, Takes Names

Let me get something out in the open real quick: this wine is 16% alcohol. Now, most of you who have read my blog for a while—I suppose I should say, those who stuck around during my long, and unexcused absence—know I don’t tend to care for high-alcohol wine. Normally, I do not.

This is a special case. Or my tastes are changing. Or something else. Regardless, I love this wine.

I was introduced to this wine during the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla, Washington. During a “speed-tasting” event, this was one of the red wines offered to us to try. It was, off the bat, big, bad, (like the way Michael Jackson used the word “bad”) and bold.

This is Mollydooker’s crown jewel shiraz. I’m a big, big fan of their Blue Eyed Boy and Boxer shirazes, and will hopefully be writing up at least one of them soon. The Velvet Glove is a pricey number, however—between $150-$200, which hurts to even think about.

Like a lot of good shiraz/syrah that I’ve had, the coloring on the Velvet Glove is a lot more purple than it is red or black. The edges pink out a bit, but your glass will be purple to the core. The nose is pretty bad ass. Lots of dark red fruit, some earth and some cigar box. The most interesting thing to me was that my nostrils didn’t burn.

Remember, 16% alcohol. This thing should be torching nosehairs. But it doesn’t.

The wine is very full bodied, with a long, loooooong finish. The alcohol again doesn’t go crazy on you, though it is more apparent on the palate than on the nose. Still, very good balance here. Big plum and black cherry notes. Lots of fruit, but still enough to keep a no-fruit-bombs guy like me interested.

The wine may be priced out of most people’s reach—including my own—and the populist-slash-class warfare combatant in me wants to dock this wine just for having the audacity to reach up close to $200 per bottle. But i can’t.

It’s just too tasty. I can’t stay mad at you for long, Velvet Glove.

Verdict: 95/100

☆ 2009 Mollydooker Blue-Eyed Boy Shiraz

Steve — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:13:03 +0000

Crikey! Good Wine, Mate!

My inexcusably embarrassing attempt to sound Aussie notwithstanding, I had some very good wine over the weekend, and felt compelled to share the news.

See, I haven’t been drinking much wine lately.

I’ll take your sudden, sharp inhalation of breath as a sign of shock. If you’re choking, call 9-1-1. If truly all you’re dealing with is the minor trauma that comes from learning that your favorite¹ wine writer hasn’t been partaking of the juice a whole lot lately, then read on.

My mother-in-law had a birthday. I thought it might be a good idea to bring some wine, and frankly, the cellar is getting a bit full. Because I am completely clear about my status as a crapshoot, I have no qualms sharing wine that I’ve been sent by the winery, or a P.R. firm, or whoever else randomly sends me bottles on occasion.

But I do try to pay attention. And I’m glad I did.

Bottles of Mollydooker wine include the direction to do “the Mollydooker Shake” before drinking their wine. What is that, you ask? It’s this, actually:

Sounds patently ridiculous. But then, I’ve been known to do patently ridiculous things. At times in my life, with regularity. So screw it, I thought, I’ll give their silly little process a chance.

Since the Mollydooker Shake includes pouring out a touch of the wine that you can’t get back into the bottle, I took the opportunity to taste that first. It was nice, but nothing special. A run-of-the-mill syrah, with a hint of red fruit, but also some sharp, jagged edges that kept me from loving it.

Then I shook, or Shaked, perhaps,² and followed the instructions in the video to the letter.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Quite the difference. Supple, silky, rich and creamy, simply bursting with dark red fruit notes. Raspberry and dark cherry flavors mingle with chocolate and espresso in this ridonkulous way. The wine may have been a bit one-note, but that one note had it pleasing everyone present.

I think I might need to drink some more wine. And soon.

Verdict: B+

(Sent to me by Mollydooker blah blah blah I’m in it for the samples and obviously cannot be trusted blah blah blah Parker doesn’t buy his goddamn wine, either blah blah blah FCC)

Footnotes

Ed note: HA!
Damn proper nouns…

☆ 2009 Bonny Doon Vinho Grinho

Steve — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:15:18 +0000

Growing Portuguese Grapes in Monterey County

I like Portuguese wine.

I like Randall Grahm.

So it’s no surprise that I like this wine. I don’t love it, not yet, but there’s so much to like about it, I’m still pretty excited.

By now, chances are you know the tale. Maybe you’ve even heard me tell it. The tale of the Rhône Ranger, Randall Grahm, who twenty-some odd years ago starting really going to town growing Rhône varieties in California, which had been dominated by the noble species of Bordeaux and Burgundy to that point.

But now, everybody’s growing grenache and syrah. OK, maybe not everybody, but still, the two grapes—especially syrah—are incredibly easy to find in California wine now. Randall doesn’t seem the type to do much laurels-resting, so where’s he headed next?

Portugal.

I don’t know of anyone in California—and please, please correct me if I’m wrong—making wine that is over 50% loureiro. Besides Bonny Doon, that is.

At 56% loureiro and 44% alvarinho (I use albariño’s Portuguese spelling here for obvious reasons), Bonny Doon’s Vinho Grinho (VEEN-yo GREEN-yo) is California’s first attempt¹ at Portugal’s venerable Vinho Verde white wine. The grapes hail from BD’s Ca’ del Solo estate vineyards in Monterey County.

And it’s pretty damn good. It will kind of depend on what you’re looking for in a white, of course, but this was something I enjoyed, and my wife actually kind of raved about.

The wine is almost clear, light yellow in the glass. Kind of sauv blancish if you’ve never seen a Vinho Verde before, and kind of Vinho Verdesque if you have. The nose features pine and green herbs, but not heavy, very light in the air.

The wine is actually a bit fuller-bodied than I expected, but I would still characterize it as “light-to-medium” bodied. Minty herbs that reflect the aromas on the nose are greeted by a pleasant green apple note on the palate. The wine is not particularly acidic, and finishes pretty short, but it’s not meant to be big or bombastic.

I hope this is an example of things to come for California winemaking, just as Randall’s adoption of the south of France was in the 1980s. The world could use more wine from Portuguese grapes.

Verdict: B

2009 Bonny Doon Vinho Grinho

Footnotes

again, that I know of

☆ 2009 Silver Birch Sauvignon Blanc (Octavin)

Steve — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:30:17 +0000

The Real Meaning of “Value”

I just don’t get it.

A few people I really like and respect have reviewed this wine ahead of me. Jason over at Jason’s Wine Blog (who, it should be noted, specializes in reviewing wine at the lower end of the price spectrum), while not formally giving the 2009 Silver Birch in the bladder inside the octagonal cardboard the once-over, did mention it in a recent post as “…impressive and… a crowd favorite.“

A couple of my homeboys (as it were), including fellow Trés Amigo Josh Wade at Drink Nectar wrote this guy up, and gave it a 3 out of 5, which I translate in my little head as something resembling an 80 on the Robert Parker point scale. Josh mentions specifically that this is a value buy.

The same score was given out by Those Who Are The Best New Wine Blog Twentyten at Swirl, Smell, Slurp, where both She and He gave, individually, a score of 3 out of 5. They refer to the wine as “good” after calling food They consumed “great,” so I have to consider that a less-than-rousing endorsement of the wine—but an endorsement nonetheless.

Liking this a bit more is my buddy and fellow fantasy baseballer Josh Sweeney at wine(explored). With his forgiveness, I am going to include here his entire review verbatim, including his 7 out of 10 (which, in my little messed up world, is something like an 85 on Parker’s scale):

2009 Silver Birch Sauvignon Blanc: 7/10. This is a classic, aggressive, beautifully flavored Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. I actually had a lot of trouble keeping my pace with this box. It drank so well for so long, I actually finished it a week early. If you can get the 2009 before we hit 2011, I highly, highly recommend it for anyone who likes a crisp, acidic Sauv Blanc.

Josh likes.

So, the consensus seems to be that this is average-to-good wine, that when coupled with its price (around $24 for a 3L box, or about $6 per bottle-equivalent) is recommended pretty much across the board by my blogging contemporaries.

I don’t fucking see it.

This is plonk. This is nigh-undrinkable, one-note, over-acidic plonk, and I can’t consider wine like that a “value” at any price, including free (which, because this was sent to me by someone involved in the promotion of this product, it was).

I think the wine blog whateversphere has found itself in the dangerous territory of trying to redefine “value.” High value is not necessarily correlated with low price.

The Chateâu d’Yquem I reviewed last week, regardless of how good it is (and oh my GOD it is good) cannot be considered a “value.” It costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $300-$400 per bottle-equivalent (and is much more common in the 375ml half-bottle). But that’s not why. It can’t be considered a “value” because that price point is basically the worldwide peak for Sauternes.

However, the $30 Napa cult wine The Prisoner is absolutely a value. It drinks like a $60-$80 bottle. Many people would argue that wine that costs $30 (or $20, or some other arbitrary number) cannot be considered “value” wine, because it is out of some people’s price range.

To me, this is a bastardization of the concept of “value,” and leads to situations like this: crap wine given more than its due simply because it costs less than a child’s ticket to the cinema.

So here are my notes.

The wine looks like a sauv blanc, very light yellow-to-clear in the glass. On the nose is a light alcohol sting (but not terrible), grapefruit, and some grass.

The palate, however, is all one note. This tastes like grapefruit juice. Almost sour, but really, it’s the high, unbalanced acidity here that is making me think “underripe grapefruit.” Can’t blame the grapefruit for that. Did I mention this tastes like grapefruit juice?

I can’t call that a value, personally. And I can’t recommend this wine.

Verdict: C-

P.S., since I compared everyone’s else’s score to the RMPJOHPS (Robert M. Parker Jr. One Hundred Point Scale), I will tell you that in my little world—where we are right now—a C- is something in the high 60s. Definitely under 70 points.

P.P.S., a 12-pack of 32oz bottles of Ocean Spray white grapefruit juice will run you about $35. That’s around $2.30 per 750ml. Just sayin’.

(full disclosure: this wine was received as a press sample. No way I’d pay for this.)

2009 Silver Birch Sauvignon Blanc

☆ 2009 Quivira Grenache Rosé

Steve — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:04:45 +0000

Drink Pink

Summer summer summer… time.

Hot days here in California lead to a desire for lighter, crisper wines that taste good (and maybe that just “make sense”) served at a bit below room temperature—chilled, even. Aromatic whites, imported blancs, maybe a bubble here and there. And, of course: rosés.

I remember (it wasn’t that long ago) when I thought that the end-all be-all of rosé was the damnable White Zinfandel, as proffered by outfits like Sutter Home and Franzia. How truly naïve I was.

I’ve since had some really fantastic rosés, both still and sparkling. Even a few I haven’t written about.

While this wine does not quite stack up to the likes of Pithy’s Sangiovese Rosé, it is still mighty tasty. It’s also completely organic and biodynamic, so depending on your outlook, add or subtract the appropriate points.

This rosé is 90% grenache, 10% mourvèdre, a pink take on the southern Rhône Valley. It’s a tawny pink in the glass, with this earthy hint of tan that definitely makes it stand apart from the abominable white zinfandel.

On the nose is a mix of tropical fruits—passion fruit, grapefruit, and a tiny tiny hint of kiwi—mixed with a more down-home apricot note. The wine is medium bodied, and the tropical notes carry through from the nose to the palate. There’s an interesting savoriness on the palate as well, something I found difficult to place, but that I completely blame on the mourvèdre.

The 2009 Quivira Grenache Rosé is a tasty summer wine that won’t knock your socks off, but will satisfy your thirst.

Verdict: B-