Posts tagged with 'Zinfandel'

The Wedding Weekend-Part Three-The Aftermath In Temecula

  • Posted on December 27, 2011 at 3:41 pm

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!

 

Networking At Weddings

  • Posted on October 10, 2011 at 11:04 am

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!2009 ONEHOPE California Chardonnay

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!

 

Wine For Every Setting At THIS Dinner Party

  • Posted on January 23, 2011 at 9:38 pm

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!

The Definition Of Local Wine Bar is Daanen’s Delicatessen

  • Posted on January 13, 2011 at 2:30 pm

by Phil Anderson
This is the fourth of a small series of articles aimed at acknowledging the importance of local wine bars and shops.  Every decent city has them!

And Hayden, Idaho, is most definitely a decent city, because they have a number of great little wine bars, one of them being Daanen’s Delicatessen.  Daanen’s is a small little deli that focuses on quality if not quantity.  Their selection of meats and cheeses is top notch and they serve great micro-brews on tap.  My friend, Ashley Routson would be in heaven with these beers! 

But this isn’t a stinkin’ beer blog, it’s a WINE blog, and wine is what we’re GOING to talk about.  Mark Daanen and his wife, Irene are the owners of Daanen’s Delicatessen.  I have only had the opportunity of meeting Mark in person, as he’s there virtually everytime I stop by.  The one time he wasn’t there, I was told he was in France, undoubtedly honing his wine knowledge. 

And knowledgable he is.

Mark is a wealth of wine information, which I consider a must for anybody running a wine shop.  He carries a great variety of different wines in which to choose from, from all over the world, just not many of any one type, as his shelf space is very limited. 

On Friday nights, Daanen’s has a wine tasting where Mark puts together three different wines to sample, usually for a nominal fee.  I had the privilege of attending one of these tastings about a month ago.  Daanen’s used to give you the three tastings in one glass and Mark, who usually is pouring, had to remember which wine you were on for many people at one time.  Now, you get three pours all at once served on a very clever little rack that holds all three glasses.  With this you also get a card that provides the wine you’re sampling along with tasting notes and other information.  The glasses are positioned in a way that coincide with the wines on the card so you know which one you’re drinking.  I LOVE this!  Did I get a picture of this?  NO!  Stupid, stupid, STUPID! 

But I will!  Watch for it on my Facebook page and you’ll see a picture of it next time I’m there!

The wines I tried this particular night were from Cline Cellars out of California.  Cline has a reputation for making good wine at reasonable prices.  Finding a bottle of wine from Cline Cellars in the store is usually not too difficult.  Originally Cline Cellars was in Oakley, California but moved to the cooler Carneros region in Sonoma County in 1991 where they now specialize in producing Zinfandel and Rhone varietals.

I tell you this because the first wine I tasted was called Oakley Five Reds, a little shout out to where they started.  This wine was my favorite of the night and it was also the least expensive, selling for under $14 a bottle!  It is a blend that includes Barbera, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Mourvedre (I know, what a jip, only FOUR reds!).  I found it a bit dirty on the nose with hints of dark raspberry.  I ordered meatloaf off of their bar menu for dinner and it was even BETTER with the meatloaf!  The vintage of this blend was 2008.

The other two wines were Cline Cellars’ 2009 Cashmere and their 100% Zinfandel. 

The Cashmere is also a blend, including Mourvedre, Grenache and Syrah in the mix.  On the nose there was a slight smell of seafood.  This also got better with the meatloaf but for the most part non descript.  The Zinfandel I probably shouldn’t write about because it didn’t do anything to turn my wheels.  This had no nose and had a bit of a bite on the finish.  After a little time it DID open up but it was wound pretty tight so that was somewhat expected.  Surprisingly, this didn’t change at all with the meatloaf.

Wine and food pairings are a whole new world of wine tasting for me that I can’t wait to get into more.  If you love wine and love good food, pairing the two perfectly is almost indescribable it’s so good.  In future posts I will talk more about that and the experience I had in June involving Jeffrey Saad, who is the host of the Cooking Channel’s newest show United Tastes of America.

If you have a chance to stop by Daanen’s Delicatessen in North Idaho, I would suggest you do.  Make it on a Friday night when you can sample some wine and hopefully listen to some music at the same time (the night I was there the band cancelled–bummer).

Until next time, thank you for reading and bottoms UP!

A Night To Remember

  • Posted on February 5, 2010 at 10:56 pm

The definition of “A perfect night” will differ from person to person.  How many times do you try to line everything up so that you have a perfect night?  You get the kids taken care of, make sure you’re well rested, not having an argument with your significant other, and so on.  You put so much energy into an evening like this, yet, it rarely seems to work out as planned due to unforseen circumstances. 

And then, when you LEAST expect it, one just happens to fall into your lap.  And that is exactly what happened to us. 

We have started up AGAIN our Netflix account so that we have a movie waiting for us should we find ourselves in the mood to watch a movie.  This time it was the movie Bottle Shock.  I know, you have probably seen the movie; most people who enjoy wine have.  We had not, however.  The movie is about a big blind competition between the French wines and California wines back in 1976.  It has been well documented and understood that the French rarely give much credit or respect to wines outside their country.  Back in 1976 it was far worse than it is today. 

The movie follows the story of how the competition came to be and how the results knocked the wine industry, um, well, sideways.  In blind tastings it was a wine from California, Chateau Montelena, that won.

Now, if you EVER watch a movie that has people drinking wine and you enjoy wine it pretty much makes you really want to have a glass of your favorite, yes?  Now make it a movie ABOUT wine and, well, the desire can be overwhelming.  Fortunately for us, we had that taken care of.

Shelley made a wonderful pot roast.  She has a new recipe she’s been using that makes the roast, in her words, fork tender.  Delicious!  We opened a bottle of 2002 Ravenswood Zinfandel, from Sonoma, Californnia, and it paired wonderfully with the roast.  It also paired perfectly with the movie!

Rich notes on the nose of raspberry and cherries made it difficult to concentrate on the movie.  It also took me a long time before I finally touched the glass to my lips to give it a taste.  When I did, it tasted as good as it smelled, full body, not too many tannins, though they were certainly there.  With every bite of the roast I added a small sip of this Zinfandel as a chaser.  Wonderful!

Some wines are easier to drink than others and this was one of those wines.  This particular wine was bottled in May of 2004 and 2,400 cases were produced.  I don’t know how many bottles of this vintage are left out there but if you have a chance to get one I’d recommend it.

I know it would have been better had we opened a wine from Napa instead of Sonoma (and a Chardonnay at that), seeing as how the movie was all about the wine of Napa Valley, but with the roast it seemed apropos to pop the Zin and let ‘er rip, and neither of us regretted that decision.

And so now, here is my prediction for this years Super Bowl.  I know you all have been waiting for it!! 

First of all, I really don’t care who wins.  I would prefer a really good game, one that went down to the wire.  I don’t think many people are giving New Orleans much of a chance because of who is playing quarterback on the other side of the ball.  Yes, Peyton Manning is a very good quarterback.  I didn’t realize he had the arm strength until I saw him throw the ball on a ROPE to one of his recievers in the AFC Championship game.  He is also very smart, like another coach on the field. 

However…..

…..I think I am going to pick the upset (again).  I think New Orleans will surprise people by bucking the Colts in a close one, 34-31.  I think Drew Brees will rally his Saints at the end and score with not much time left on the clock.  The city of New Orleans could, would and should really benefit the Saints winning the Super Bowl.  The Colts and Manning had their time a couple of years ago.  Let’s see the Saints go marching in!

Until next time, bottoms up and thank you SO much for reading!

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