The Wedding Weekend-Part Three-The Aftermath In Temecula
by Phil Anderson
We had been in Temecula for two days and now we had only our schedules to adhere to, which meant, no schedules at all. One thing WAS for sure, however. We were going to do some MORE wine tasting! We checked out of our somewhat disappointing hotel and decided the first place we would visit would be South Coast Winery which is also a resort and spa. As we walked in a grand fountain marked the wine tasting room entrance. It was a spacious room indeed, with rustic beamed ceilings and Tuscan decór. The tasting room walls are an original painting: a mural of the entire Southern California Temecula Valley Wine Country and surrounding mountains.
We toast at South Coast Winery. Shelley (R) with a 2008 Grenache Rose' and mine, a 2010 Tempranillo Rose'.
Within the first five minutes of our visit, however, we realized we weren’t in Kansas anymore (or more specifically, we were tasting wine in California). The tasting fee is about 5 times more than the wineries tasting fees in Washington, give or take. After I swallowed hard and paid the fee, my building regret for having stayed a few more hours to taste some more Temecula wines started dissipating.
It was fairly busy at the time we were there (after all, it WAS around Noon on a Monday) and they had two people pouring behind the bar. The person pouring for us was named Jennifer. Jennifer was not for the timid. She spoke her thoughts and opinions and was very much in command of what was going on. She was a perfect blend of somebody who could give impeccable customer service yet would never be taken advantage of. I’ve been to enough tasting rooms to have seen many classless and snooty people with countless personality disabilities try to one-up, two-up or even three-up the poor person pouring the wine. Jennifer would dice and slice anyone like that, but do it in a way that they would have no idea what hit them.
Fortunate for her (and probably for me, as well), we are pretty easy going and will let the person behind the bar guide us through the best experience possible. That isn’t always the case, for many reasons, and we were happy where things were heading. Jennifer started us out with an extra dry sparkler that was marvelous. It was very crisp, light and simple but I loved it. We tasted so many wines including, Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Verdot, Sauvignon Blanc, Petite Sirah, <taking a breath> Late Harvest Riesling and Port. Whew!
Jennifer definitely had a passion for Italian styled Red wines and she steered us in that direction which was fine with me! One of them was a 2006 Wild Horse Peak 100% Sangiovese with a smokey nose and luscious, soft tannins. There were two Syrahs that were outstanding as well, both 2006 vintage, one a Reserve and one from Wild Horse Peak. Both were big and bold and packed a punch. We also enjoyed a Tempranillo Rose’ that was absolutely exquisite, perfect for a hot summer day.
But the one that stood out over all of them, in my opinion, was their Black Jack Port, which is a blend of Tinta Cao, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Zinfandel and Alicante Bouchet. WOW! Deep raspberries on the nose and so many layers. We had this with milk chocolate kisses and it paired beautifully.
So many times at tasting rooms the wine is superior but then the person pouring is snobbish. Or the other way around, with an outstanding person pouring a less than satisfactory wine. In the cases where you have both a snob and poor quality wine, it’s best to just back out the door slowly and make a mad dash to anywhere but there! In our experience at South Coast Winery we were treated to both excellent juice and a very knowledgable and friendly person behind the counter, Jennifer.
The enchanted entry to Briar Rose Winery.
Our last stop of the day was at Briar Rose Winery, mostly because of the name and because we were given a coupon for “buy one tasting and get one free”. I’m glad we had it, too, because this was even more expensive than the last place! It was a very cute property that Beldon Fields purchased in the 1970′s and built replicas of Snow White’s cottage for his wife. Beldon worked for Walt Disney and was one of many artisans who built Disneyland’s Fantasyland and Toon Town.
In the early 1990′s, Les and Dorian Linkogle purchased the beautiful estate from Beldon Fields with the promise to not change the architecture of the cottages. It turned out that the estate location was perfect for growing grapes. So, in the late 1990′s Viognier grapes were planted along with Merlot, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling. Their grand opening was in 2007, so they are a very young winery, indeed.
We were the only ones there and their cat kept us company at the bar while we glided through the tastings. This was tannin city! Every single one of their red wines had sharp tannins. I didn’t give huge scores to any of the wines we tried but there were two worth noting. We tasted a 2007 Citronier which surprised us with a zingy lemon finish. Light and crisp and brilliant lemon flavor. The other was their 2008 Estate Zinfandel which had quite a lackluster nose but made up for it with an explosion of flavor. This wine was extremely smooth and balanced.
This finishes The Wedding Weekend trifecta which marks and honors the marriage of Shelley’s son Tyler to his new bride, Jennifer. Wherever we go we try and incorporate a winery visit. For this momentous occasion we probably wouldn’t have because the priority was on the wedding, as it should be. However, we were blessed to have the wedding events be in and around the wineries of Temecula and so it was a perfect combination.
If you have any comments please feel free to write them below. You can also reach me by following me on Twitter and “Liking” me on Facebook. If you’d prefer to go (semi) old school my e-mail address is drinkwine@generalwinethoughts.com. As always, thank you so much for reading and remember, bottoms up!
The Wedding Weekend-Part Two-THE Big Day
by Phil Anderson
This is the second part of a three part series about our trip to Temecula wine country.
The big day had finally arrived. All the girls spent the day doing make up and getting their hair and nails done. The guys swung the sticks on the course. I tried to find somewhere to lie out in the sun and soak up a few rays since this is something I love but can’t seem to find the time to do it.
As the hours ticked off and the time drew nearer and nearer to the ceremony starting, we got all dressed up and prepared ourselves for a limo ride from our hotel to Leonesse Cellars, where the wedding was to take place. Having been to the rehearsal the day before I knew that it was going to be beautiful but not THIS beautiful! They did a phenomenal job decorating, although, it’s not too hard with the vineyards as the backdrop for the ceremony.
The Rock Star couple after the ceremoney during pictures in the vineyards at Leonesse Cellars.
Everything went off without a hitch (and the happy couple WAS hitched!) and then we were shuttled from the ceremony location to where the reception was to be held, Leonesse’s barrel room. Two barrel rooms in two nights! There was a bit of a wait while they shuttled 150 people to the reception (it was a rather long walk…). During this wait I met somebody whose career I found quite interesting. Click HERE to read all about THAT story!
This barrel room was much larger than the one at Ponte Winery the night before. It was fabulously decorated and had a wonderfully festive ambiance. This might surprise you but, the moment we got settled at our table, I sashayed to the bar to find out what they were pouring. I was VERY much looking forward to trying their wine! (If you are a fan of Drinking Wine on Facebook you will know we have a wine neighbor that is always bringing wine over to our place. She brought a bottle of Leonesse Port that we had with chocolate one night that was WONDERFUL!)
We started out with a Leonesse Melange de Blanc which consisted of 44% Roussane, 41% Viognier and 15% Marsanne. With all the celebrating activities going on it was difficult to really savor the experience of the wine but the Viognier really stood out as their were notes of peaches a hint of honey.
Dinner was uttlerly spectacular. It was a buffet that featured (in my case, anyway, because I didn’t try the grilled chicken with brushetta) top sirloin with bacon, shallot and Gorgonzola compound butter. I paired a 2007 Leonesse Melange de Reves with the sirloin and it was perfect! It was a red blend of 54% Syrah, 25% Cinsaut, 16% Grenache and 5% Mourvedre and it was a bit smokey with flavors of peppory raspberries.
A bonus was a sparkling wine for the toast of the bride and groom. This wine wasn’t produced by Leonesse but from Wilson Creek Winery and Vineyards, also in Temecula. Wow! It was an almond flavored sparkling wine that was absolutely delicious! I didn’t expect the almond taste but it was certainly there.
After writing her own personal note of good luck on the Leonesse cork to her son and his new wife, Shelley places the cork into the cork catcher at the reception.
This night was, obviously, a very special occasion as Shelley’s second child was the first to be married off. There was dancing, laughter and high spirits, great food and wonderful wine at a magnificent venue, Leonesse Cellars. It was seamlessly orchestrated by Meghan and Katie of Intertwined Weddings and Special Events. I would typically not even mention them but the night was so flawless they deserve special mention. People even wrote little notes of luck to the bride and groom on corks and pitched them (ok, more PUT them) in the cork catcher I had made for them as a wedding present. We met new family and friends and sampled the best that Temecula has to offer.
The only downside was Shelley’s Nikon digital SLR turned up missing and I ended up making two trips back to the winery looking for it without success.
I would suggest a trip to Leonesse Cellars for sure to sample their extraordinary wines if you have the chance. It is certainly a winery that takes great pride in producing high end juice! Or better YET, if you’re planning an event and you’re near Temecula, why not consider Leonesse Cellars? Laura Mitchell, the Weddings and Events Manager at Leonesse who handled this wedding would be more than happy to hear from you!
Thank you so much for reading and remember, bottoms up!
Networking At Weddings
by Phil Anderson
I wanted to use, “Pardon The Interruption”, or, “Now For Something Completely Different”, as the title to this post since it is NOT Part Two of The Wedding Weekend, but they are both taken, and, undoubtedly, trademarked. However, what happened on the night of the wedding is REALLY worth writing about on SO many levels, so here you go!
I know it’s considered taboo to do business at weddings but this was something I didn’t see coming. So, since I was caught off guard I didn’t even KNOW I was networking! While standing in the horde of people waiting to get from point A (the wedding ceremony) to point B (the wedding reception) I was introduced to one of Shelley’s friends whose wife happened to be in the wine business. DOH!
While we all said what we did for a living, Andrea’s explanation piqued my interest. She told me she worked for ONEHope Wine and she went on to tell me what the winery’s mission was. Apparently, what I did (write a wine blog!) piqued hers, as well and we exchanged contact information. A new wine relationship was born!
ONEHope Wine, as it turns out, is a winery that supports great causes through the sales of their wines! Can you say, “Win/Win”? Some research uprooted an interesting story of a sales rep for a large wine distributor, Jake Kloberdanz, who, while stocking shelves with wine at a store realized specialty items used to raise awareness and proceeds would garner and enjoy preferential and prominent placement on shelves and thus move faster than other products off those shelves. Six months later he had created Hope Wine, a name that has since been changed to ONEHope Wine.
In a nutshell, ONEHope Wine produces several varietals of wine, each of which help support a particular cause with the proceeds. For example, 50% of the profits of their 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, which runs $18.99 and was co-created by Rob Mondavi Jr., goes to help the Fight Against Autism. They also produce a Merlot which helps in the Fight Against AIDS, a Pinot Noir which goes to Supporting Children’s Hospitals, a Sauvignon Blanc which goes to Supporting Our Planet, a Zinfandel which goes to Supporting Our Troops and a Chardonnay which goes to the Fight Against Breast Cancer. In all cases, 50% of the profits go to the cause in which that varietal is supporting. In fact, Rob Mondavi Jr. has his hand in each of these wines as well!
Andrea was nice enough to send me a bottle of their 2009 Zinfandel and their 2009 Chardonnay. Because we are in the midst of Breast Cancer Awareness month (did you know that each year it is estimated that nearly 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die?), I am writing about these wines today!
Suffice it to say, many products that represent causes or issues are….how do I say…um….well, not of high quality. I am happy to report that this is NOT the case with these wines!
They chose their Chardonnay to help with the Fight Against Breast Cancer because one out of eight women are effected by breast cancer in this country today plus they prefer Chardonnay 2 to 1 over any other varietals. Ours had a very light and balanced hint of oak on the nose. It opened up to butterscotch and butter. It was simple and delicious. We paired it with breaded Talapia and it was phenomenal! It will go with other light fish perfectly. This wine finished very well and I would recommend it without pause. The bonus of drinking this delicious Chardonnay is that you know that you are directly helping to fight breast cancer!
We opened the Zinfandel and paired it with one of Shelley’s fabulous steaks. It was not a big Zin, a bit light, but paired very well with the steak. What I love about Zinfandel is the spicy, peppory, earth tones and this one didn’t disappoint. It was also very berry-ish and fruit forward which I loved. 50% of the profits from this wine goes to help support our troops which is outstanding because, since 911, more than 8,000 children have lost a U.S. service member parent as a result of the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. OHEHope Wine is right there to help with each bottle of their Zinfandel bought and enjoyed.
I love the concept behind OHEHope Wine and I hope you will pick your favorite varietal (or two…or three….or……?) and give them a try. The juice is good but what they’re doing is even better!
I will write about Part Two and Part Three of The Wedding Weekend next but I am excited to announce we’re having another big tasting and it’s happening this weekend! We are tasting through some quality Pinot Noirs (hopefully even my very FAVORITE Pinot I’ve ever tasted, from Patricia Green!) and sparklers. It’s like Christmas in October!
As always, thank you so much for reading and I look forward to reading your comments especially those comments about how much you loved the OHEHope wine you tried! Be sure to find me on Facebook and Twitter!
Bottoms up!
The Wedding Weekend-Part One-The Rehearsal Day
by Phil Anderson
Shelley’s son recently got married and we found ourselves in California for quite some time, her longer than me. The woman her son married is very, VERY cool, but what I enjoy most about her is her passion for learning more about wine!
Our Wine Time bell that is next to the back door waiting to be rang.
We have a Wine Time bell that is attached on the wall outside our back door and it is rang when appropriate, like when chores get the best of me and I lose track of time, as a reminder that it is wine time. Because of this little bell and it’s name and how much she enjoys that time of the day, Jennifer chose that as an underlying theme to their wedding and chose the ceremony to be held at Leonesse Cellars in Temecula, California.
As a wedding present to the new couple, I made them a slightly smaller replica of the cork catcher I made for us that I’ve written so much about. Getting that down to California in one piece was a feat in and of itself! I sent everything down with Shelley (knocked down), as she drove down a week prior to me to work at Camp ReCreation, except the glass which I bought down there, TWICE as it turns out after breaking the first pane (or should I say PAIN!?!) during installation! The cork catcher was going to be used primarily at the wedding reception as guests deposited corks in it they had written words of wisdom to the couple on. Then during the course of their marriage they will add more and more corks with each bottle of wine they drink.
The barrels of wine are stored in the barrel room at Ponte Family Estate Winery
We arrived on Saturday morning for the rehersal and then checked into The Inn at Churon Winery in Temecula. The property was nice enough and had a happy hour that included one glass of their wine per person. I don’t write this blog to bash wineries or vineyards or the wine they produce, but I will say I know why they give this wine away. We had their Chardonnay and their White Merlot. I tolerated the Chardonnay (Shelley did not) and she tolerated the White Merlot (I did not) but suffice it to say, we were not impressed at all with these wines.
Temecula has not been known as an area that produces great wine and after these first tastes we were starting to become concerned. Not long after those thoughts permeated our minds we found ourselves in the barrel room at Ponte Family Estate Winery which is a boutique producer. Their wines are made in very small quantities, typically 1,500 cases per year for each variety. We started out with their Fume Blanc which had a very pretty, floral nose that completely made us forget about the Chardonnay at Churon.
For dinner we enjoyed an unbelievable crab stuffed filet mignon which was pan roasted and finished with a creamy white balsamic bearnaise. This paired perfectly with their Super T, a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. Ponte’s Super T is made in the classic Super Tuscan style, perfectly blending Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. This rich and bold wine tasted of juicy raspberries with hints of anise and vanilla and a smooth finish that left me longing for another glass.
I next moved to their Dolcetto. Although the name means “little sweet one”, this wine is not at all sweet! It was big and bold and also went very well with the filet. During the entire dinner I switched from the Super T to the Dolcetto, thinking each glass was my favorite. The dinner was superb as was the service. People even put a few corks into the cork catcher as I had brought it by there.
A very rushed day turned into a wonderful evening with perfectly prepared food and excellent wine from Ponte Family Estate Winery. If you EVER visit Temecula and want a treat around dinner time I would suggest you kill two birds with one stone and have dinner at Ponte and choose one of their delicious wines to go with it.
Here is what is coming in the future on General Wine Thoughts:
-Part Two and Part Three of The Wedding Weekend
-Guest Blog from Lindsay Anderson about her Napa Valley experience, which included a four hour stop at Opus One (and also happened on the same weekend as the wedding.)
-d’Alessandro Wine from Italy
-Cafe Dolce in Missoula, Montana
-One Hope Winery
-The Dinner Party
-Another edition of “Here’s To Good Friends”, although I’ll have to change the title, featuring sparklers and Pinot Noirs (maybe even one from the producer of my favorite Pinot Noir, Patricia Green Cellars)!
I thank you for reading and please remember you can always write me at drinkwine@generalwinethoughts.com or converse, chat or correspond with me about wine, or anything ELSE for that matter, on Twitter and Facebook! Until next time, bottoms up!
Hello, It’s Me
by Phil Anderson
Remember the song, “Hello, It’s Me. Haven’t been around for a long, long time…”? How relevant is THAT? Once again I find myself having to apologize to those that find refuge in my little wine blog but yet don’t see anything new for awhile. My bad. My TOTAL bad! What I’ve grown to understand is that summer time is exceptionally busy. I’m not trying to make excuses. It’s just reality.
The UP side is that I’ve still been drinking wine and taking notes…well, except for an eight day hiatus just before I traveled down to California, but I’ll tell you all about that in my next post. Other than that, I have a lot of content and I look forward giving you my general wine thoughts. I also have a guest blogger lined up to tell of her trip to Opus One!
So, even though the last blog post was written eXACTLy five months ago to the date, I’m ready, willing and able to produce for you. It’s football season, afterall, and things have started to slow down just a tad.
We spent a week in California recently, so look forward to a mini series about that trip, as we were in Temecula for a wedding, and visited five different wineries. I also had the chance to taste a varietal I was not familiar with, Nero d’Avola which I look forward to writing about. I have also had the opportunity to taste some wine from a winery that is doing GREAT things to help some great causes.
So get ready as they will start coming at you, rapid fire. Until then, as always, you can reach me at drinkwine@generalwinethoughts.com or find me on Twitter as well as Facebook. I hope you will and thanks for reading! Until next time, bottoms UP!
Here’s To Good Friends-Part Three
by Phil Anderson
Part One was all about the oldest vintage wine we tasted on this very special night with our group, including Shelley, Laureen, Katie, Diana and myself. Part Two was all about the year 1984, tasting three wines from that vintage. Part Three we bring in some pretty heavy hitters:
Here is evidence of what is about to come--empty, but ready, glasses and decantors. The proverbial quiet before the storm.
1996 Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cepages, Sonoma County
1999 Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
2002 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon, Carneros
*Bonus tasting-keep reading…
After tasting the first four wines while standing around the island in the kitchen we decided to adjourn to the dining room to finish the night tasting while seated. The next wine up was the 1996 Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cepages from Sonoma County. This wine was ranked #1 by Wine Spectator in 1999. It sold for around $30 then but now fetches around $200 a bottle. The first vintage of this wine was 1990 and the 1990-1995 vintages are no longer available meaning this was the oldest available vintage of this wine. Although a blend, Cinq Cepages always has 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, and this vintage used Merlot as the predominent blending varietal.
This was the only wine that we did not decant during the evening. We only had four decanters to work with, although, I DID find another one around the house AFTER the night was over. I poured everyone a small glass and we did a swirl and smell. Now THIS is what I’m looking for in a big red wine. Although this wine was 15 years old (if you did the math by years, but probably a bit less in reality), it was VERY balanced and smooth. I didn’t notice any color change and the taste held up wonderfully. It is probably prudent to mention that, although I had PLANNED on spitting during the course of the evening (7 bottles of wine to taste with five people equals Phil drinking WAY TOO MUCH RED WINE IN ONE NIGHT and I had to wake up at 6:30 the next morning to play piano on our worship team at church), I didn’t spit more than 2-3 times during the course of the evening. With that said, I was starting to feel the alcohol a bit and so my notes began to fade. It’s just so hard to justify spitting such quality juice!
SOME of the wine made it to our vinegar pot but not much.
The next one to open was the 1999 Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon which was unfiltered. I did decant this after I poured a beginning pour for everyone. It was even better than the last one! I will confess, this was my very favorite wine of the entire evening and I kept coming back to this one over and over again. Suffice it to say, this wine and I became well acquainted with one another. This wine had marvelous mouthfeel and was quite complex. It had very good structure and was big and bold. This wine originally sold for around $125.
Lastly, we tried the 2002 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon from Carneros. Originally this wine sold for about $60 and it’s hard to say anything bad about this wine. Also very big and more fruity than the ’99. It was interesting that most of the people at the table enjoyed this more than the other two later vintage wines. We did a “somewhat” blind tasting with Laureen as I poured both the ’99 and the ’02 and had her guess which was which to see if she really DID like the 2002 better. She nailed it!
These two wines were very comparable, however. It’s not as if I liked the ’99 a LOT more than the ’02 but I kept tasting all three over and over, with chocolate, with dip, with chocolate, with cheese and also with some chocolate….did I mention I tried these three with chocolate? Ok, good. They all three were really very, very good wines, in my opinion. It was just hard for me to NOT put the 1999 on top.
We had started this night of wine tasting by opening the first bottle, a 1979 Beaulieu Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, at 7:15 PM and the last bottle, the 2002 Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon at 9:45 PM. It was near Midnight when people started to clear out. We tasted through 23 years of California Cabernet Sauvignon in just under five hours. Before anyone was allowed to leave each had to sign and date a cork from the evening and then toss it into the cork catcher.
It was a magical night, to be sure.
The aftermath of what was an epic night of wine tasting is evident by the debris on the table.
I told you about a bonus. Well here it is. While down in Walla Walla last year for the Wine Bloggers Conference I came back with a bottle of Sherry. I had never been a Sherry fan but man-o-man I became a fan really quickly after tasting this particular Sherry. I broke it out for Laureen and Katie after Diana had left, just so they could try it. They got the last two sips of this bottle! They absolutely loved it. This Sherry is so nutty and smooth but the thing that amazes me time after time is that after the initial taste and swallow, you count to five and then there is a powerful flavor explosion in your mouth! SO interesting! Now I have to find a new bottle of that same, exact Sherry!
I remember back in the day of my grandparents and, perhaps, even in my parents’ generation, neighbors would knock on one anothers door if they needed cream or sugar or salt or what-not, if they ran out. I don’t think that happens nearly as often, anymore, if at all, which is sad. I think we have just come up with a replacement to that old tradition, as Laureen completely outdid herself in sharing some of her wonderful wine with us. I think we will just head over to her house the next time we need “some” wine! The Mondavi family was very lucky to have employees the likes of Laureen and Katie working for them during the trailblazing days of Napa Valley wine. “Mister” may not be around anymore but his spirit lives in his wines from yesterday and we became well acquainted with it.
“Whatever you do, pour yourself into it.”
-Robert Mondavi
Thank you, again, for reading. Be sure to catch me on Twitter and Facebook. Until next time, bottoms up!
Here’s To Good Friends-Part Two
by Phil Anderson
In the year, ’84, ’84…….’84….
Well, that’s not exactly how the song goes but it certainly is how the wine flows, at least for this particular night of wine tasting with our friends, Laureen and Katie. Part one was all about the oldest vintage we tasted, the 1979 BV Cabernet Sauvignon. Today I’m concentrating on three other wines we tried, all from the same vintage, one from Sonoma and the other two from Napa.
As in George Orwell’s novel, 1984, where the individual is always subordinated to the state, we, as a group, were subordinated to the wine. We tasted three Cabernet Sauvignon’s, a proverbial hat trick, from the 1984 vintage from three different producers:
William Wheeler Vineyards, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Robert Keenan Winery, Napa Valley
Far Niente Winery, Estate Bottled, Napa Valley
The William Wheeler Cabernet Sauvignon was the first one we tasted and was our least favorite, as a group (though their was a stinky one in the future that would push this thought). I noticed a little licorice on the nose but all in all, it was aromatically challenged. After tasting it I noticed it tasted more like a Merlot than a California Cab. After the initial light pour to taste it right after it was opened I decanted it. After 55 minutes (we realized we should not decant as long after we messed up with the ’79) we gave it another go and I felt it recovered and opened up nicely. Finally it had a nose! Adding to the licorice note was a bit of black pepper, which I am always fond of. The others didn’t see this as I did, however, as they were still unimpressed.
Here's to good friends! L-R Laureen, Katie, Diana and Shelley raise their glass of 1984 Robert Keenan Cabernet Sauvignon.
The second wine we tasted from this vintage was from Robert Keenan. This was interesting because Shelley and I had opened a 2001 Robert Keenan Merlot to go with pork chops two weeks prior. Now we had a chance to go back even further with this producer. After the first pour it was much smoother than the William Wheeler. This wine also still had some tannins which suggested it could go a little longer before being awaken from it’s slumber, which is probably why I had such a hard time getting the cork to come out. It was a battle for, what seemed like forever, but was more like about five minutes. In the end, I won as I got all of the cork out without any staying behind in the bottle. Needless to say, THIS cork didn’t make it to the cork catcher! I didn’t notice much of a difference when we went back to it after about 45 minutes.
The last of the 1984 trifecta was one the entire group highly anticiapted, the Far Niente. Before I go any further, I must confess, I didn’t know the pedigree of this producer. I would go as far as saying I MAY have heard of the winery. I didn’t let on to this fact on this night, however. Immediately upon opening and the first pour there was an air of disappointment. VERY stinky! Stinky stink stink. I wasn’t sure if this was because it had gone bad or if it was a European style but it certainly was barnyard. Fortunately, it tasted better than it smelled, but not a lot better, to be sure. After 40 minutes of decanting it became even more of a pronounced barnyard smell with about the same taste. Not much to it, sadly, and I would say this particular ’84 was, in the collected minds of the group, a flop.
All in all, I liked the Robert Keenan the best, even better than the ’79 BV Cabernet Sauvignon. The group, however, all seemed to have a fondness for the ’79. With that said, nothing was blowing our socks off, other than the fact the ’79 had help up all these years very well. Before I give you a preview of Part Three, and last part, of our epic night of tasting, I must confess that I went into this tasting with a very open mind, pretty much convinced I wasn’t going to “hate” any of them. When a wine is as old as these wines were, I think back to the people who were involved in producing that wine: The people who tended the vineyards, who were involved in the harvest, the crush, sampling and bottleing. How many of those people are no longer with us on earth? How could I judge these wines with an arrogance?
I told the group before we started I inteded on liking all of the wines we tasted, especially the older ones, whether they were spectacular or not. We were lucky; I don’t think any of these wines had gone bad. Were some of them over the hill? Probably. The William Wheeler and the Far Niente for sure. But it was SUCH a pleasure to carefully, and respectfully, taste through each bottle with these special people.
<pause for a moment for dramatic effect>
When I write next I will tell you about some of the younger vintages we tried and what we thought of those. I will even add a bonus so be sure to keep an eye out for that! Until then, thank you so much for reading and bottoms up!
Here’s To Good Friends-Part One
by Phil Anderson
Remember that Budweiser commercial that stated, “Here’s to good friends, tonight is kinda special….”? We had one of those nights recently that involved good friends, new and not so new (I try to avoid the word, “old” when talking about people and friendships as they MIGHT think I’m calling THEM old!).
Now before I get started on recounting the evening I will say there has been a lot of time that has passed since my last post. Green Bay DID, in fact, win the Super Bowl, which I also predicted. The score was 31-25 and I predicted 20-16. Not too shabby. Valentines Day has come and gone. I made veal for Shelley and we paired a lovely Pinot Noir with it. Also, Open That Bottle Night came and went. I was playing at an event called, “MarriedLife Live” at church that night so, not only did we not have any fun wine, I personally didn’t even have a GLASS that night! I have no excuses why I haven’t written but this post will hopefully be worth the wait.
So, back to good friends and that kinda special evening.
A neighbor of ours, Laureen, used to work at Robert Mondavi Winery. She knew Mr. Mondavi quite well and always called him, “Mister”. A friend of hers that also worked there, Katie, was visiting Laureen here in North Idaho and they got to going through some of Laureen’s wine collection. She has quite a collection! They picked out seven wines to open and try but, much to our happiness, wanted to share these wines with a couple of other people she thought might appreciate them. Twist our arms! Now THIS is true March Madness!
There is so much to write about this night that I’ve broken it down into three parts. Part One will really only be about one wine, although, throughout the evening we were treated to vintages in 1979,1984, 1996, 1999 and 2002, all from California and mostly from Napa. I will tell about all but one of those in a later post. This column is about one bottle of wine and one vintage.
Here the bottle of 1979 Beaulieu Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon sits in front of the the decantor that holds its juice.
I graduated from West Seattle High School in 1979 and it was during that summer of ’79 that the grapes from the first wine we tried were being baked by the Napa sun. They were harvested later that year with some of those grapes making the juice that went into this first bottle of wine we tried, a 1979 Beaulieu Vineyard Estate Bottled Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve. This was 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was so old the label didn’t even have the website of the winery on it! In fact, I had visited this vineyard only three years earlier with my family. How interesting to try this particular wine on this night.
There were five of us tasting these wines and I carefully, but eagerly, opened this bottle. I poured a small amount in everyone’s glass and immediately noticed the brown color of the wine, not the deep purple you might get from a new vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon. This is natural in an older vintage.
We all toasted to what the night was about to become. As I raised the glass to my nose, after a fair bit of swirling, I noticed notes of raisins and nuts. It certainly smelled like it had held up all of these years and the taste was not bad either! You tend to worry about a vintage this old that it may have seen better days but this one was still delivering with a very long fig finish.
After we all had our initial giddy response to such an old jewel I carefully decanted the rest of the bottle to try a “little” bit later. Well, that “little” bit later was actually about 65 minutes and, by then, it had fell off the cliff. It was a mistake, on my part, that resulted in most of us being disappointed.
All in all, the 1979 BV Cabernet Sauvignon was a great way to start the evening and it produced the first of many ooooooze and aaaaaaaahs this night was to bring. But this bottle found a soft spot in all of our hearts because of it’s age and how it really tried to show how it had attempted to hold together all these years. For me, it brought me back to that summer of ’79 when I finally felt like I could do whatever I wanted after having just graduated from High School.
I feel so blessed that Laureen asked if Shelley and I would participate in this casual tasting of these wines. I looked forward to it for days and it was even more than I expected. I’ll tell you even MORE about the evening in Part Two of, “Here’s To Good Friends”, as we visit the year, 1984. Until then, thank you so much for reading and remember, bottoms up!
Two Super Wines on Super Bowl Weekend
by Phil Anderson
I know I could be sued by the National Football League for using their sacred term “Super Bowl” without their consent, but I’ll take my chances. I guess the NFL gets pretty pissed when other people promote their product. For FREE, I might add!
By the time I hit “publish” at the end of this blog post, Super Bowl XLV will have JUST kicked off. I have waited until the last minute to write this post and make my Super Bowl prediction. Before I shed light on my prediction, I must tell you about two wines that we had last night that were well worth the wait.
One was a 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from St Supery Vineyards in Napa. I have been trying to find this particular Suavignon Blanc for over a year after a social media friend of mine, Rick Bakas, was working there at the winery, helping to get their name in the minds of the masses. This wine did NOT disappoint! WONDERFUL nose of golden delicious apple, pear, and slight grapefruit. It tasted like a Sauvignon Blanc though not as harshly tart like some of the other Sauvignon Blancs we’ve had. Nice balance and very smooth. It was worth the wait and the $18 price tag.
The other wine was ALSO a wine I’ve been in search of and that is a 2007 Amavi Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon from Walla Walla. Very dark in color, this wine was absolutely wonderful with the steak we had. Blueberries, black cherries, pepper and tobacco on the nose and a very rich taste, one that you would expect from a great big Cab. For $22 it was, and IS, an exceptional value.
As Mike Tomlin is being interviewed, we’ve heard America the Beautiful and the Star Bangled Banner, and the kick is about to come. The chili dip is prepared, the Principato is about to be poured. Today’s score will be Green Bay 20 and Pittsburgh 16.
Thank you for reading!
Wine For Every Setting At THIS Dinner Party
by Phil Anderson
This is number SIX in a series of articles aimed at acknowledging the importance of local wine bars and shops. Every decent city has them! Right?
And I am back in North Idaho for this little gem of a wine shop which is MORE than just a wine shop. The Dinner Party, in Coeur d’Alene, sets out to provide a truly unique collection that would lend richness and warmth to any gathering. There are examples of exquisite linens, eclectic table settings and art that will set the stage as you entertain, greeting you right as you walk into their shop. Of course, I am entranced with the fact The Dinner Party also offers distinctive wines that please the palette, pair well with food and expand the entire wine experience. YES! Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!
Balletto Vineyards Winemaker, Anthony Beckman, and I at The Dinner Party in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Often times on Saturday, Owners George and Mary Balling, along with a winery or distributor, will host a wine tasting. I’ve been to two such tastings, most recently a tasting of Balletto Vineyards, with winemaker Anthony Beckman, out of the Russian River Valley area of California.
There were five wines poured this particular afternoon and all of them showed well. Even the young 2009 Balletto Estate Pinot Noir showed well, though it was TOO bright and berryish for me. Shelley LOVED that one, however. It’s interesting what different palettes enjoy.
We started out with the 2008 Pinot Gris, moved on to the 2007 Estate Chardonnay, tasted the ’09 Pinot Noir, then a 2008 Balletto Winery Block Pinot Noir, which was my favorite of the two, and finished with their 2006 Estate Syrah. All of the Balletto wines we tasted had an undercurrent of mustiness and were fairly light, including the Syrah. The Syrah, however, did have a wonderful, huge peppery nose which I loved.
We didn’t have a white wine to drink when we got back home so we bought and brought the Pinot Gris back with us. Historically, Pinot Gris is not usually a varietal that makes it through our door. I think it has less to do with the grape varietal than it does the quality of the Pinot Gris we’ve tried. This one is a notable exception. Again, a little mustiness on the nose. It’s not like it’s over powering, but just enough to force you to give it some thought. They accomplished their goal of producing a French style Pinot Gris. We had it before dinner and it was wonderful.
The other tasting, a couple of months back, was of Renwood Winery Zinfandel’s. Renwood, also in Northern California, produces many different Zinfandel’s and they all were marvelous! As you may or may not know, I used to “dance” with Seattle Civic Dance Theatre when my daughters took dance lessons. I was privileged to be asked to “dance” in their two annual performances. Basically, we were walking props for the real dancers! One of the other Dad’s that did this was Jeff Peda and he was the one pouring for Renwood Winery that day! It was great to see him again, especially when he was pouring such quality Zin.
Here Jeff Peda of Renwood Winery talks about one of the fine Zinfandel's being served at The Dinner Party.
So, both times I’ve been to a tasting at The Dinner Party there has been some history. My relatiohship with Jeff was the first stop and this last time it was George’s relatiohship with Balletto Vineyards. George broke into the wine business by working for Balletto Vineyards and the winemaker, Anthony Beckman, made a special trip up North just for this weekend (which included a winemakers dinner the night before at a local restaurant).
Whenever I’ve walked into The Dinner Party, I am always welcomed by a smiling face, usually that of Mary. Though they both know about all of their stock, I get the impression that George knows a bit more about the wine and Mary knows a bit more about all the accessories for putting on a fantastic dinner party. When you’re stuck on what to use while creating a memorable dinner party there is really no other place to turn than The Dinner Party. I know this from experience!
Now, today the NFL Conference Championships were played. As you know, I predicted the Packers and the Jets would meet in the Super Bowl. NOT gonna happen. I split my predictions. Had Sanchez, a USC alum, not fumbled late in the first half the outcome might have been different. But, as my brother-in-law always says, “If if’s and buts were candy and nuts we’d all have a very Merry Christmas”. Sorry…
I will give you my Super Bowl prediction before the game. Until then, thank you for reading and, as always, bottoms up!
