Ratings 80-84
2004 Azienda Agricola Vignalta Colli Euganei Gemola I’m actually quite surprised that this note is the first tasting note on CellarTracker – this is a very nice wine. Ripe dark fruit, tobacco and milk chocolate, with a decent finish, but narrow mid-palate. 70% Merlot / 30% Cabernet Franc gives it the lush qualities of a Merlot, with the intensity of a Cab Franc. Very nice and well balanced combination. The only downside is that we had it paired with Osso Buco and there wasn’t enough acidity to cut through the richness of the meal – for me, this is a wine best enjoyed on its own. My rating: 91
2006 Zenato Valpolicella Superiore Ripassa
Plum, Cherries, Dr. Pepper, vanilla and stone. Quite nice, but wanted a little more acidity as it drank just a tad rich for my taste. Good balance and a mid-length finish. Felt a little pricey to me at $30, so not sure I would buy again. My rating: 88
1998 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Unfiltered Reserve Napa Valley
Haven’t had a Mondavi in a very long time and then picked up a case through the Constellation Brands Friends and Family at a great discount – so glad I did. But, it was a risk. The 2008 CA Cab vintage was rated as the lowest, at an 84, in the last 25 years. The best I can say is that somehow this wine snuck through and has aged nicely. Dark cherry, blood orange, vanilla and herbs, with a good up-front, mellow mid-palate, then a nice lingering finish. The tannins have settled down considerably on this, but, even at 12 years old, it still could stand some time to get better. Wine Spectator gave this an 87 at time of release. My rating: 91
2008 Allegrini Valpolicella
Picked this up as a bottle to use in an Osso Buco recipe and held a little aside for the cook. Tart cherries, pomegranate, herbs and earth, with really high acidity – should pair pretty well with the meat. My rating: 87
2007 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten
This is the lowest score I’ve given a Sea Smoke Pinot. Not too low at a 90, but there’s something missing for me about Sea Smoke the last few vintages. I don’t know if it’s the new(er) winemaker or what, but Sea Smoke used to blow me away…incredible tasting experiences with particularly the Botellas and Tens (not as big a fan of the Southings). So, relatively speaking the 2007 Ten is not my favorite relative to other Sea Smokes. But, against other Pinot Noir, this is still very nice. A bit young and rambunctious still, but a nice blend of dark cherries, lavender and blood orange with a hint of smoke. Incredible acidity on this wine, especially for a California Pinot Noir. My rating: 90
2008 Vinos de Terrunos Navarra Siete 7 Medium bodied wine with lots of red, tart fruit, dusty earth and barnyard – sort of a musty hay smell. Fun to experiment with, but not something I would buy again. My rating: 84
2007 Winzer Krems Grüner Veltliner Sandgrube 13
Very solid Grüner for $7. Green fruit, very dry, good acidity. I bought a case because of the price and I will be drinking more of this when the sun is out, I have the wine in a cooler full of ice (this one’s best very cold) and shellfish steaming on the grill… My rating: 86
2007 Cayuse Cabernet Sauvignon Widowmaker En Chamberlin Vineyard
I have to start by saying that I am a huge fan of cayuse wines, but I will admit that they’re not for everyone, both in taste and price. Widowmaker is no exception. Very interesting wine – meaty, salty, dirty wine. actually, amazing how salty this wine tastes. But, make no mistake, this is a good wine, with exceptional balance (especially for how young it is) and a long, lingering finish. another great wine from cayuse. And, if you’re a fan of westerns, you really can’t beat the label. My rating: 91
2007 Lucien Albrecht Gewurztraminer Reserve
Peach, apricot and honey – well balanced white, but way too sweet for my taste. My rating: 85
2006 Orogeny Pinot Noir Redding Ranch
Interesting Pinot Noir. I’ve tried three of these bottles now and each one is a little different. So, am commenting on the most recent bottle. Mellow fruit, smoke and cured meats – it’s kind of like they took a pretty nice mid-fruit wine and left it out at the campfire overnight. Interesting. Will have to see if the other 9 bottles from my case are similar. Still, not bad and I am a big fan of Orogeny Pinot’s. My rating: 87
All tasting notes first published on Grape Stories (formerly CellarTracker)
Continue reading about Wine tasting notes from a week gone by…
Ripe cherry, plum and cedar all play different roles on this one, creating a wine that’s too off balance. Add to that a hot finish and I think I’ll pass on this one the next time around. Unfortunate, though, because I do think Quivira is putting out some decent wines, just not this one. My rating: 83 (NOTE: this bottle sent to me as a sample from the winery).
2006 Faust Cabernet Sauvignon
First had this wine at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Napa Valley last year. Good Cab with ripe red and black fruit and strong front palate. But, starts to fade mid-palate and finishes short for me. One dimensional, easy drinking wine that’s worth trying, but falls short of many of its $50+ competitors. Rating: 87
2007 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir
Decent enough Pinot Noir with cherry, orange and floral notes, but this wine was too hot for me and I expected more from Domaine Drouhin. It also lacked a basic structure and finish. Won’t be buying this again. Rating: 84
2005 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon
I just went through all the CellarTracker notes on this wine and, since they’re pretty mixed, I think the bottom line is this – if you do not like big California Cabernet Sauvignon, this is not the wine for you. Plain and simple. Don’t spend the $55 or the $100+ at a restaurant. You will not be happy. But, if you do like California Cabs, Groth always delivers. Strong cherry, dark berry fruits and earthy undertones – it’s big, it’s lush and it’s fruity. I’m a big fan of the Groth offerings. Rating: 91
2007 Quivira Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley
Fruity and tart, with some distinctive Dry Creek Valley dryness and minerality. This is not a big, ripe. lush Zinfandel, so if that’s your taste, this probably isn’t for you. But, i liked it. the acidity brought some good life to it and i can easily imagine it paired with a nice greasy burger or pizza. My rating: 87 (NOTE: this bottle sent to me as a sample from the winery).
2006 Papapietro Perry Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
I had this wine at a restaurant on the strong recommendation of both the waiter and the sommelier and I was stunned by it – one of the better new Pinot Noirs I’ve had in a while. Good red fruit, floral and spice notes, with an incredibly lush and silky balance. Well priced at $45, but very small lots, so not easy to find. My rating: 92
2007 Soda Canyon Cellars Barrel Chaser
Made by Dave Phinney of Oren Swift and Prisoner fame, this one is an easy, smooth drinker, which is a bit of a shock at 15.9% alcohol. Good complexity with cherry, anise, chocolate and espresso. Not a huge finish, but just long enough to savor it. If you’re a fan of the Prisoner, you will like this wine…although I’m not sure why Barrel Chaser is more expensive – I think I’d be willing to pay more for the Prisoner than I would the barrel chaser. My rating: 90
All tasting notes first published on Cellar Tracker
Continue reading about Wine tasting notes for a week gone by…
2007 Thierry et Pascale Matrot Chardonnay Bourgogne Blanc
Citrusy, pithy, minerally…off balance and a bit challenging for me. Picked up as another recommendation for a wine that pairs well with butternut squash soup, but didn’t compare to the 2008 Domaine d’Ardhuy Bourgogne Blanc (tasting notes on this wine posted earlier today) – in fact, I have a full bottle of this wine left while the d”Ardhuy was finished at dinner last night (and both were served with dinner). My rating: 84
2008 Domaine d’Ardhuy Bourgogne Blanc
I went to McCarthy & Schiering wine shop in Seattle looking for a good wine to pair with butternut squash soup and, man, did they nail it with this French Chardonnay. Good wine on its own, with more crispness than a US Chardonnay. Good citrus, apple and mineral notes. But, with the soup, it was a perfect blend of flavors complimenting each other. Whenever I make butternut squash soup again, this is the wine I will have on hand to enjoy it with. My rating: 88
2008 Woodward Canyon Chardonnay
Lemon, peach, sour apple, in a crisp and full white wine. surprisingly little oak and a long, lingering finish. Really nice wine, but a bit pricey for a Washington state white wine, so keeping my rating at an 89 (don’t always do this, but only in situations where i feel the QPR is off a bit). My rating: 89
2008 Lucien Albrecht Pinot Gris Cuvée Romanus
Excellent Pinot Gris and under $20. Crisp lemon and citrus, with a smooth, buttery broad palate and long finish. Recommendation from the sommelier at Cafe Campagne in Seattle and absolutely hit the mark. If I could find any of this online, I’d buy a case without hesitation. My rating: 90
2007 Domaine Roger Perrin Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Very nice Chateauneuf-du-Pape, with a huge aroma – blackberry, bacon, mocha and chestnuts. On the palate, great acidity and a decent finish. doesn’t live up to all the hype of the 2007 CDP vintage, but, then again, this is a $27 bottle and I think the QPR is very high on this wine. My only regret is that I didn’t buy more than I did (only bought two bottles). My rating: 90
2007 Terra Blanca Roussanne
Reserve Terra Blanca Estate Buttery/creamy, meyer lemon, leeche and some minerals. Nice, easy drinker, but may be too buttery for some tastes. My rating: 87
2006 Long Shadows Wineries Pedestal
I had a glass of this last night at the met in Seattle and didn’t take too many notes, but suffice it to say this is a beautiful wine. Dark, lush, ripe fruit and so incredibly well balanced, smooth and silky. Long, lush finish and zero heat. I thought I would need to wait on the ’06’s that I have in my cellar, but this is already showing very well. My rating: 94
2007 Tamarack Cellars Firehouse Red
Raspberry, blackberry, mocha, smoke (from the Carménère …rare addition for a US blend, at least in my experience) and pepper – it’s lush, broad on the palate and well balanced, with a long, lingering finish. This is an incredible wine for the price (about $15) and if I can find any more, I’ll pick up everything I can let my hands on. My rating: 90 And, the blend on this thing is crazy (see below) – makes me want to be there for that blending party…probably takes a week to figure it all out.
BLEND
- 31% Cabernet Sauvignon (15% Walla Walla Valley, 9% Columbia Valley, 4% Wahluke Slope, 3% Rattlesnake Hills
- 27% Syrah (17% Columbia Valley, ◦6% Horse Heaven Hills, 2% Wahluke Slope, 2% Walla Walla Valley)
- 16% Merlot (9% Walla Walla Valley, 4% Columbia Valley,2% Rattlesnake Hills, 1% Wahluke Slope
- 14% Cabernet Franc (◦8% Horse Heaven Hills, 3% Walla Walla Valley, 3% Wahluke Slope
- 7% Malbec (Columbia Valley)
- 3% Sangiovese (Columbia Valley)
- 1% Carménère (Walla Walla Valley)
- 1% Petit Verdot (Walla Walla Valley & Columbia Valley)
2005 Frédéric & Daniel Brunier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine La Roquète Cherries, strawberries, fennel and butterscotch. Bright acidity, medium body, medium finish. Very nice CDP. My rating: 88
2005 La Crema Chardonnay California
Every time the price goes up on this wine, the quality seems to go down – this was a much better wine when it was $10 then it is now at around $15. My rating: 84
2006 Havens Wine Cellars Merlot
Really bummed out with this one. Bought a case at what I thought was a steal for $6.99 a bottle at K&L Wines, one of my favorite and most trusted wine sources. Opened one bottle and thought it had gone bad, so opened another, which was okay the first night buy the second night it tasted like the first bottle. Not worth giving tasting notes on this one except to say it tasted like wine in a can – very tinny and bitter. My rating: 70
Continue reading about Wine tasting notes from a week gone by…
I’ve been experimenting a lot with Carménère lately and the good folks at Wines of Chile were gracious enough to let me in on a tasting of their selections a few months back. Unfortunately, at the time, I had to back out of the tasting so am just now finishing up the wines. Overall, a good flight of wines, some I really enjoyed, some that fell a bit flat, but none of them dogs. If you haven’t tried Carménère, I suggest you try it – it’s a varietal that will become more and more prominent and it’s smoky features are always interesting to experiment with.
2008 Viña La Rosa Cabernet Sauvignon La Capitana Barrel Reserve This one’s an easy drinker – blackberry, smoke, plum and pepper – with great balance and just enough acidity to make it come to life. versatile wine, either on its own or with a big, fatty, grilled steak. Broad on the palate all the way through, with a medium length finish. Almost scored this a 90, but the finish on this one left me wishing for more. But, good wine other than that. My rating: 88
2007 Ventisquero Carménère Grey Great nose on this one…dark berry fruits, blackcurrant, pancetta (as in pancetta still frying in the pan, filling the kitchen with its aroma)), smoke and leather. On the palate, a very full, broad mouthed, acidic, tart dark berry surprise…some of the leather, but more earthy than that, with chalk and dust elements. The finish drops off a bit for me, but this one’s a keeper. I really enjoyed this wine and would love to take it with me to an Argentinian steak house. My rating: 89
2007 Santa Carolina Carménère Reserva Plum, candy apple, bacon and smoke, with, unfortunately, a funky day old prosciutto aftertaste (not sure how to describe it other than that, but if you want to try it out, leave a piece of prosciutto out on the counter for a couple hours, then taste it). Outside of that funky element, it’s got a nice balance and good acidity…but, I can’t get my palate past the prosciutto piece. My rating: 83
2004 Carmen Wine Maker’s Reserve Day 1: Cherries, dark berries and green vegetables on the nose. Sour cherry, smoke and chalk on the palate. Medium-bodied up front with a light, hot finish. Decent enough, but not my favorite Carménère. My rating: 85 Day 2: Not going to change my rating on this wine, but it did develop a lot more overnight – the tannins smoothed our considerably and it took on a silkiness that I did not see last night on the first tasting. So, my advice is to keep most of this bottle for day 2 – you will be rewarded.
2007 Viña Cono Sur Carménère Visión On the nose, star fruit, blood orange, simple syrup and rain water (not from the sky, but the rain water captured in a pot, two days after the rain has passed – a bit musty and funky). On the palate, all bright tart fruit, smoke and pepper. crazy mix of stuff on this one. I will finish this bottle, but I doubt I’ll buy another one. my rating: 85
NOTE: These wines were sent to me courtesy of Wines of Chile
Here marks the end of the Whole Foods Top Ten Holiday Wines review. Hope you enjoyed the write-ups and had a chance to go out and try some of these for yourself. If you did, let me know – would love to hear what you think.
Below is the wrap-up of my results. At the end of the full tasting, I was more often in the “buy it” camp than not. All ten are in order of preference below, along with my “What you should do” notes for each:
2008 Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir, Valle Central
Did I mention that you should buy this wine? Well, it’s worth saying again. If you like Pinot Noir and good deals, this is the one for you. It’s around $6 and an incredible Pinot Noir for that price – the QPR is off the charts on this one. My rating: 89 (I give it a 90 rating for wines under $10)
2008 Pisato Montepulciano
Buy it. Well worth having some around the house. After all, you know of any other sub $15 bottles of Organic Italian wine? Yes? Good, go buy this one. No? Well, good, go buy this one. My rating: 88
2008 Paso a Paso Tempranillo
Buy this wine. It’s always nice to find a good Tempranillo and the quality of this wine, especially for the price, is high. My rating: 88
2008 Los Vascos Domaines Barons De Rothschild (Lafite) Special Selection Sauvignon Blanc
BUY IT! It’s just a nice take on Sauvignon Blanc. Some good complexity, but an easy drinker at the same time. And, given that sweeter wines tend to find their way through the clutter more over the holidays, this was a nice surprise and a drier alternative. My rating: 88
2008 M. Chapoutier Belleruche Special Selection Cotes-Du-Rhone Blanc
Getting hard for the Whole Foods wines because I’m preparing to go next week and buy a bunch of these. This one’s no exception. I would buy it. It’s a good value, a nice wine, from a trusted producer who clearly cares about the world around them. If you had to pick up only one, I would probably err on the side of the Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir, but if there are a couple you can afford, this is also a good one to have on hand. My rating: 87
2007 Helfrich Gewurztraminer
Buy this wine in time for Thanksgiving. It will be a great one to kick off your night, especially with some good, rich cheeses, as Whole Foods suggests. The sweetness of the wine should be offset by the robust cheeses. My rating: 87
2008 Santa Julia Bonarda & 2008 El Coto Special Cuvee Rioja
Buy the Santa Julia and try it out, but if you want to get a Tempranillo, I would go for the Paso a Paso – just more bang for the buck on that one. Santa Julia rating – 87; El Coto rating – 86
2008 Marques De Riscal Rueda Seleccion Especial
Buy it. I think this is a timely wine and one that you can have with Thanksgiving dinner. A relatively light and refreshing wine, it would be a nice complement to the Helfrich Riesling, which is sweeter, but definitely a nice wine to pair with pre-dinner cheeses. Plus, between the two wines, you’ll impress your guests with your international wine savvy. My rating: 86
J. P. Chenet Blanc De Blancs Frut
First off, I wouldn’t take my advice on sparkling wines. If you have a keen eye for them, definitely buy it and see what you think. All the Whole Foods holiday wines are affordable. It won’t be what we crack open for a special occasion, as I’ve had many champagnes that are better and feel more festive, but it’s good. My rating: 85
2006 Red Truck Zinfandel Mendocino County
Don’t buy this one. As I said, the producer used to be higher on my list and I don’t know if it’s just the Zinfandel that’s throwing me off, but not my favorite. Plenty of other good ones on the list (like the Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir and the Paso a Paso Tempranillo) for you to choose from. My rating: 84
2008 Sutter Home Muscat of Alexandria
If you like sweet Muscat, definitely try this. If your palate is more like mine and prefer dried wines, you may want to try the 2008 Ca’ del Solo Muscat from Bonny Doon – it’s a beautiful, well balanced, drier Muscat that kept me going back for more when I first tried it. If you like cheese, find a way to get ahold of some Mount Tam or Rogue blue – these will certainly not disappoint. My rating: 82
Continue reading about Whole Foods Wine Holiday Top Ten list – the wrap-up
When I first moved to San Francisco a few years back, there were some inexpensive wines that I thought were not only drinkable, but worth always having a case around for those weeknights with grilled burgers or pizza. Red Truck was one of those producers and I think I still have a few bottles from the case I bought 4 years ago. But, it occurs to me now, that I’m no longer much of a fan of Red Truck. I’ve had a few of the wines since that first case and nothing’s really knocked me out. Good enough, but not memorable. And, unfortunately, the 2006 Red Truck Zinfandel Mendocino County on the Whole Foods Holiday wine top ten list falls in that camp.
It’s a fairly nice mix of cherry, cranberry, cedar and freshly ground nutmeg, but with an aroma of the air you smell when fly fishing, part fresh mountain air, part fish, part fresh water and mist. Having fished my whole life (although less and less as the years go by), this is a welcome smell, as long as you’re catching fish, but not so welcome when the trout have gone somewhere else down the river or perhaps permanently reside on the hook of your friend standing right next to you. After the river runs through the wine, there’s a dusty butter and vanilla finish, which is actually a little comforting and rich, but a disconnect from the rest of the wine. Off balance, a bit confused about what it wants to be and no longer on my list of weeknight keepers.
What Whole Foods has to say: Think of this bottle as an old friend in a snazzy new pair of shoes! A balanced, organic California wine, its brambly berries, cracked pepper and dark chocolate finish keep your attention, whether you’re eating pot roast or pasta. Wow your taste buds and pair it with Stilton produced by Colston Bassett or Borough market.
What you should do: Don’t buy this one. As I said, the producer used to be higher on my list and I don’t know if it’s just the Zinfandel that’s throwing me off, but not my favorite. Plenty of other good ones on the list (like the Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir and Paso a Paso Tempranillo) for you to choose from.
My rating: 84
We briefly interrupt the Whole Foods Holiday Top Ten List for this special post on the 2008 Pancake Cellars Big Day White, Paso Robles, California.
For those of you who have followed this blog in it’s first year of existence, you’ll know that I’ve spent some time trying to figure out why certain wines are of interest to people and why others are not. The biggest surprise in that effort is the 2007 Pancake Cellars. A year ago, I picked up a bottle at Trader Joe’s based on a recommendation by my buddy Jason over at Jason’s Wine Blog (yes, we were both very clever when we named our blogs) and because it had a campy label and a $5 price tag.
Turned out it was pretty good. Not the second coming of white wine, but not a throw-away either and, if I remember correctly, I even picked up another bottle. Then I moved on and kind of forgot about it…until I started checking the numbers and discovered that the 2007 was my most visited wine review throughout the whole year. And I have no idea why. If you’re out there, you Pancake Cellar seekers, let me know what’s so intriguing for you. Is this a $5 cult bottle of wine? Is it the label that you find too compelling to ignore? Or, is it just a wildly popular wine at Trader Joe’s? Would really like to know if you want to share your thoughts.
I’m not sure if the 2008 will strike as much of a chord as the 2007 or if those of you who seek out this wine will take a liking to, um, my not so favorable review of the 2008, but will be interesting to see what happens to this year’s post. I’ll let you know what I find.
In the meantime, let’s get into it.
On the nose, this is lemon, light honey and cantaloupe, with an overwhelming amount of tap water – kind of a mix of nothing, fluoride and a little copper. No other way for me to explain it…it’s almost like I made a light lemon / cantaloupe spritzer and then accidentally knocked it over into a sink full of fresh tap water. Most of the watery part of the wine went away in the mouth and it turned into a full-lemon lemonade, as in everything – the juice, the seeds, the pith, the rind, maybe even some branches of the lemon tree…like a bitter lemonade, maybe made by a kid who forgot to add all the sugar and had to eventually board up his corner lemonade stand for fear of being foreclosed on by his neighbors. Not good. One dimensional, hot, bitter and unbalanced.
This year’s blend is a mix of 47% Pinot Blanc, 35% Pinot Gris, 12% Grenache Blanc and 6% Riesling, which feels like either the blending was a mix of what was left or the tasting somehow took a turn that couldn’t be reversed. Pancake Cellars does have a track record of blending several varietals (in 2007, it was 60% Sauvignon Blanc, 27% Chardonnay, 12% Gewurtztraminer and 1% Pinot Blanc), but this year it just ended up to be a bit of a mess.
It’s really too bad, too. I remember liking the 2007 on this and was pretty fired up when my wife called me from Trader Joe’s asking “was it Pancake Cellars you were looking for?” We have one more bottle of it and I will pit it against some other whites in a blind tasting, maybe in December, but, for now, not that enthused about it.
What you should do: For the faithful, pick it up, see what you think. At around $5 ($5.99 in Washington), it can never hurt. But, $5 wine is a tricky category and I would argue that it sometimes takes as many or more bottles to find one you like as it would to find a $20 bottle you’ll enjoy again and again.
My rating: 80
To be fair, bjwdad over at Cork’d, gave it a 92. Although I cannot understand how he got there, under any circumstances, it does speak to the differences in palettes and, at the end of the day, wine still comes down to personal taste, no matter what anyone tells you.
Here’s his review of the 2008 Pancake Cellars…Trader Joe’s purchase, 13.7% alcohol. Blend is 47% Pinot Blanc, 35% Pinot Gris, 12% Grenache Blanc, 6% Riesling. Quite different from last year’s. The floral nose presents mineral terroir, peach, melon, honeysuckle, citrus & orange blossoms. VERY nice. The taste is at first kind of Chard sour, but that melts into a round, acidic tart-sweet experience. Hard to put a finger (or taste bud) on exact tastes, but they’re simply GOOD. I’m satisfied with that, and the price beats any comparable white!
Continue reading about Pancake Cellars 2008 Big Day White Paso Robles, California
I’ve been really impressed with the tasting and food pairing notes this year from Doug Bell and team over at Whole Foods. For the Sutter Home Muscat, Whole Foods has this to say about it:
The retro label is a tip-off—you’ll find comfort in this bottle. Honeysuckle and peaches make it playful for occasions like brunch or dessert when you need a wine on the sweet side. Cowgirl Creamery Organic Mount Tam or Rogue Creamery’s Anniversary Blue cheese makes the wine’s sugary side divine.
Cowgirl Creamery Mount Tam and Rogue Creamery Blue Cheese? Are they kidding? How’d they know these are two of my favorite things? In San Francisco, my wife and I always went to Cowgirl Creamery at the Ferry building and this was the cheese we went ho
me with, especially when we needed something for a dinner party. On top of that, the Rogue Creamery is a few miles from where we got married in Oregon and their blue cheese is out of this world. Or, better said, the best in this world (literally, they’ve been voted as making the best blue cheese in the world).It’s like Whole Foods somehow tapped our phone lines over the last few years, then rigged it so I would start wine blogging and direct some of my focus on Whole Foods – brilliant! Very interesting…and if I were a paranoid person, I would put a lot of merit in that idea, but I am neither paranoid nor inclined to spend ti
me on such a silly idea. Unless, of course it’s true, then I’d have to hire a PI and bug their phone lines right back and…uh, well, okay maybe not.Unfortunately, I found myself focusing more on the cheese than the wine, because this wine was not to my liking. In short, I found it be one-dimensional and offer not much more than a bottle of spiced honey. Very sweet, too sweet for my taste and a wine that I won’t be picking up again. I did struggle for more to say about it, but after more sips than I would have liked, I just kept coming back to honey with a little bit of spice, like nutmeg or cinnamon.
Now, Whole Foods di
d nail the fact that this wine would go very well with the Mount Tam and the Rogue blue cheese, but I’ve had enough of both of those cheeses to know that a lot of whites can hang out with these near-perfect cheeses. I would probably even give the Muscat a few extra points in my rating if I tasted it with the cheeses, but I didn’t, so will settle into a lower score of 82.What you should do: If you like sweet Muscat, definitely try this. If your palate is more like mine
and prefer dried wines, you may want to try the 2008 Ca’ del Solo Muscat from Bonny Doon – it’s a beautiful, well balanced, drier Muscat that kept me going back for more when I first tried it. If you like cheese, find a way to get ahold of some Mount Tam or Rogue blue – these will certainly not disappoint.My rating: 82
NOTE: this wine was sent to me as a free sample.
Continue reading about Whole Foods Wine Holiday Top Ten list – 2008 Sutter Home Muscat Of Alexandria
The first time I was introduced to Owen Roe wines I was struck by two things.
From there, I picked up the bottle with the most minimal label (and I believe the lowest price, but can’t remember) called Ex Umbris Syrah. Cool name, cool label, from a cool family of wines. I believe it was a 2004 and, well, that wine spoke to me. It’s a Syrah in the tradition of most good Northwestern Syrah – juicy fruit and spice, with just the right amount of earth, not anything like it’s commercial cousin way down south, otherwise known as Shiraz and tending towards the “super-fruity”. Needless to say, the Ex Umbris has been a staple in my wine cellar ever since.
So, I naturally extended my affinity with Ex Umbris out to a bigger idea – I mean if I like the Ex Umbris this much, then maybe I should dive a lot deeper into their whole line. And that’s what this three-part post is all about – some more info on Owen Roe and a random sampling of their wines.
The two wines I’ll be starting with are the Ex Umbris and the Pinot Noir Eola – Amity Hills.
2007 Owen Roe Ex Umbris Syrah Columbia Valley
As I mentioned above, this is the Owen Roe that started it all for me. I still remember that first bottle and the impression it left. For the price (I think it was around $15), it was dense and rich and incredibly well balanced. The nose was full of life and every sip took me back to my Northwest roots. A little dramatic you say? Well, wine does that to people and attaching wines to good memories is what it’s all about.
The 2007 is equally as good. The richness is still there, like I remember. The nose is aromatic, with dark berry fruit, chocolate, spice and smoke that transforms into blueberries, chocolate and coffee in the mouth. The finish was a little lighter than I remember and left me yearning for more, but overall this is still a very nice wine, particularly for the price of under $20.
What you should do: Buy it. It’s a great introduction to Owen Roe wines, but is also a solid, stand-alone Northwest Syrah. It’s an easy drinker and seems to me to be a wine that will appeal to most palettes – a good one to have on hand for entertaining family and friends.
My rating: 88
2007 Owen Roe Pinot Noir Eola – Amity Hills Williamette Valley
You gotta give Owen Roe credit for the having the moxie to put a headstone on this label. Sets the expectation high. But, in the end, it doesn’t really live up to that kind of pressure.
This one was tricky for me. I’m a big fan of Pinot Noir, particularly Pinot from Williamette Valley, but this offering just felt off to me. Not off like it had gone bad, more like it didn’t really strike me as a Pinot Noir. It’s smokey, chocolaty, spicy with a good strong finish, but it never really landed as a Pinot Noir like I expected. There were moments when it came through, but it went back and forth between being a relatively light, fruity Pinot, to a blended red table wine, then to a mellow Meritage and on and on. Very odd. Never could get my arms around it. Overall, not a bad wine, but when I open a vineyard-designate Pinot Noir, I expect two things – the varietal it claims to be and something unique that represents the vineyard and the grapes from that vineyard. It’s still a bit weird to me, but I couldn’t really nail down either in this case.
What you should do: I’d skip this one. I’ve heard from a few others that the Owen Roe Pinot Noirs are hit or miss and this one definitely fits in the miss category for me. At about $42, it’s also priced way too high.
My rating: 83
