No Wine Over $20-Reviews and the LA Wine Scene

It is axiomatic to oenophiles that you have to sit on some wines for awhile so the wine can develop in the bottle. I am coming to the conclusion that this is just one more corollary to the magic chef and the hallowed ground marketing themes that have created the Parker/Rolland two headed monster. Wine does age in the bottle. But does it get better? Recent pourings/tasting have concluded otherwise. The 1996 Burgundies flopped like Vlade Divac taking a charge. And here we have some pinot noir bottlings from the fabled Santa Rita Hills that also fell well below high expectations when purchased on release.

To be fair, tBoW must own being swept up willingly in the SRH hype and falling for the bombastic fruit forward styles that came from the region. How times and palates change.

This was a somewhat free-form tasting that began with white wines of curious interest and closed with five "heavy hitters". Be sure to check out very good friend David McMillan's delirious and delicious political content at the end of this post.

2006 Treana Central Coast Mer Soleil Monterey $10: Purchased online at wines.com. 55% Viognier 45% Marsanne. Dotoré asks "what are they aiming for with this wine"? Too much oak, alcohol, everything. More like a California chardonnay than a white Rhone blend. Awful. Whatever they were aiming for it could not have been this wine. 14.5%

2005 Andre Perret St Joseph $40: A Robert Chadderton selection and the first I have found unimpressive. Highly regarded producer. Would like to taste his reds. Foxy flavors make the Marsanne Rousanne blend taste more like a Viognier. Worth $15 but not what tBoW paid. At least the alcohol is a decent level. 13%

1999 Jean Luc Colombo Le Rouet Blanc Hermitage: Online press on this winemaker is appealing; terroir driven, opinionated, non-traditional. However, this wine did not show well. Acidic and lean out of the bottle. Out of balance. "Nun piss" says an irreverent taster who will never be on Chris Matthews. Somewhat madeirized. Parker says "mature". Soiled flavor as in earth. Not a very good wine. [ed. had to go with red label]

2006 Curran Grenache Blanc $26: tBoW is a Curran fan. This 2006 has been reviewed on two other occasions prior. It may be heading over the hill. Fruit presence more pronounced than old world wines squeezing life from our tongues. Marked contrast to the Rhone efforts. But the wine is out of whack. Enough time has passed to come around as these wines seem to need 12 months. We are struck by how generally mediocre are the white wines, despite expectations.

2005 Lamargue Costieries de Nimes $10: At the insistence of our honored guest we opened this delightful bottle from Languedoc. 50% Grenache Blanc, 50% Rousanne in the blend, reasonably balanced, gentle enough to sip gently, low enough alcohol to sip again and again, and easily the best of class on this day. Great value. 13.5%

disappointed and unimpressed with the white Rhones we moved on to the featured showing...Santa Rita Hills pinot noir.

These wines came right out of the tBoW cellars of yours truly and Dotoré where they have been since release.

2002 Ojai Clos Pepe $40: What could be better than pairing the original Santa Barbara/Central Coast winemaker Adam Tolmach with one of the premium new era growers (and winemaker) Wes Hagen of Clos Pepe. The wine is awkward and even a bit vegetal. Truly Adam Tolmach is somewhat of a tortured soul. Take a moment to read his own notes on this wine. I prefer his Syrah wines.

2002 Sea Smoke Southing $50: Rich, dense pinot fruit. Very smoky even though that has nothing to do with the label name. Let's pretend it does. Entry level for the most collectable SRH label. But not the best wine from the region!! 14.3%

2004 Kenneth Crawford Clos Pepe Pinot Noir $40: Thin, acidic, more like a vin ordinaire Syrah from southwest France. Something happened here between the vintage, harvest and vinification. Further evidence that Syrah is the wine to seek from SRH? I'm convinced. [ed. I never noticed how similar are the Sea Smoke and K-C labels.]

2002 Melville Carrie's VIneyard Pinot Noir $60: That is correct sir. We ponied up three Jacksons for this monster wine. It is rich. It is ripe. It is eating the little dog. This wine, alcohol and all, was preferred to the K-C, Sea Smoke and Ojai efforts. Nobody would ever confuse this with an old world pinot noir. But they might confuse it with a zinfandel port from Sonoma. 15.1%

2004 Paul Lato Goldcoast Pinot Noir $30: Elegant, balanced, delicate, smooth, silky, some smoke. Paul gets it right every time. In the vintages tBoW owns he made 75 cases. Why didn't we buy more? That's right, we had a limit. Dumbkopf!! 14.5%

So here is the real question. Given the recent tastings of SRH and Burgundy (avoiding impulse to write French Burgundy), from which region is tBoW likely to pick his next pinot noir wine? Domestic, and in the following order....Williams Selyem and Paul Lato in a dead heat; then select Oregon bottlings, then select SRH bottlings. If we go "old world" we will be looking for recent vintages from less fashionable regions....from Becky Wasserman and North Berkeley Wines.

Still have a taste for satire and a contemporary POV? Try David McMillan's News In Color on youtube. 75 entires and climbing. Here is one of my currents faves. WARNING: this material can be political.

The wine economy update:When I wrote this post about a month ago in advance of this publication preceded the greatest economic event in our lifetlme. The current financial crisis in world markets has bearing upon what we will be buying and drinking over the next couple years. It is more important than ever to find value wines and avoid the vinous equivalents of institutions deep into credit debt swaps

The end-of-days folks are getting new airtime. tBoW finds that contemplating the mass psychology of cataclysmic disaster scenarios makes it all the more important to attend to more rational minds breaking new ground in their own way.

New York Times wine columnist Eric Asimov recently published a column that addressed the "intersection of price and value". It is definitely worth a read. With the economy slipping into darkness we are going to be reading a lot more about the broader issue of price and value - a favorite and frequent tBoW subject. Click here to read a pdf version of "Modest Luxuries for Lean Times" posted with permission from Mr. A.

tBoW interviewed an industry insider who has seen plenty of ebb and flow over the past 30 years. Here is what he sees in his looking glass. (1) Trophy wines are a dead market and have been for 6 months. After all, even Sumner Redstone had to sell off stock at depreciated values to cover his margin calls. (2) We will be seeing more and more wines form South Africa and South America because they are the only wine producing nations that can compete at the sub-$10 level with Two Buck Chuck. (3) California wines have to recalibrate and re-negotiate in order to avoid pricing themselves almost completely out of a declining consumer market. Look for this to be a painful process that will not be realized until 2010 as California vintners hang on to the vapor from their Mondavi-style hangover.

And this is just the start. Here is what tBoW was thinking about a few weeks ago.

The Canyon Bistro in Topanga Canyon has been open less than a year. The history of dining establishments in Topanga Canyon is checkered, to be blunt. Topanga is the canyon where time stands still. I suppose time also stands still in East LA where mariachis and homies have been alive and kicking for more than 60 years. The Topanga equivalent is hippies, pot and artists...since the 60s.

The last decent restaurant predictably folded [ed. ca 1993] undone by Topanga's finest hippies, artists and reefer. The place was a home with a fireplace masquerading as a dining establishment. Dining was very relaxed.
Steaks were broiled on a grill in the fireplace in the dining room. [ed. That had to be out of code] Sometimes you had to remind the waiter the steak was ready to come off. Service was a direct function of what weed was in the canyon that month. All the servers were stoned. We saw Steve Guttenberg in there a couple of times [ed. and Rebecca Romijn in Canyon Bistro]. Now it's an "antique" clothing store.

The Canyon Bistro is sober and quite charming. The tBoW team hopes they make it. Service is alert, food is prepared well, and the wine list is decent. One recent evening we brought in a wine and ordered one off their list.

1996 Rochioli Little Hill Pinot Noir $475 (today online): If I had to pick a favorite Rochioli pinot noir this would be it. 1996 was a very good vintage in Russian River. The lineup used to be East Block, West Block, Three Corners and Little Hill. The color on this 12 year old wine is cherry red. The nose is exotic in the way Broadbent describes the exotic nose of Mouton as Chinese spices. We have tea, truffles (funk), cardamon. Indian spices? There is acid in the front. Fruit is high toned. It all settles down and wasn't this a very fine bottle of wine? 13%

2006 Louis Latour Macon Lugny "Les Genievres" $42 (on the list, $20 retail): Stony, citric. Green apples. Mineral-like and lean. No oak. tBoW prefers this style of Chardonnay. Very nice bottle. 13.5%

2005 Grange des Rouquette Marsanne Viognier$8: A Robert Kacher Selection from the Languedoc. Chalky nose, lightly woody, call it balsa. On the lean side. Some honeydew melon emerges but it is too late. Lost interest. Probably one year past prime! 13%

I know what you're thinking. Where is Steve Guttenberg now? Find out easy enough online. Just turned 50. Hot work period was in the 80s. Still works on stage, Dancing With The Stars showing off a "hot press" facelift. Playing it a little safe. Best line from his IMDb bio "Spent a week volunteering at the Houston Astrodome after Hurricane Katrina hit". Bravo.

Jim Morrison sang "Strange days have found us. Strange days have tracked us down. They're going to destroy our casual joys<. Can we use his gravesite as metaphor for the 2008/9 economic collapse? His fevered fans have trashed his grave like our fevered wall streeters trashed...you get the point. I hope we all listen to his moody lyrics and act with the anger he showed singing. Troubled rock stars are a cliché today. We can only hope boom-to-bust traders, AIG executives and hedge fund managers will become tired clichés tomorrow. I can foresee a new era of celebreality shows that replace the Bad Girls Club; maybe Broke Brokers and Bad Bankers, or TARP Traders; re-enact the hey-day of unbounded greed and self-interest. Thursdays at 9:00 on the WB. Strange days have come!!
Yeh!!

tBoW reports on wines from yesterday and today, encountering mysterious memories along the way.

2005 Domaine Labet Cote de Jura Flor de Savinin $27: Purchased at Palate wine shop. Let's not mince any words. This is a strange wine. tBoW has actually reviewed it before. [ed. recently too] It is so unusual it can only be likened to a Patti Smith song you have to hear at least once more to make sure you did not get it. It is plenty acidic but not volatile. The flavors are dry lemon. Oh? You have never enjoyed dried lemon in your Omega Trek mix? Flavors are bright, woody. Izit oxidized? We thought so before. We are not sure how we feel about it this time except that it is not offensive and it is interesting. I would not say it is an Amy Winehouse of a wine because its picture isn't everywhere you turn...but it is STRANGE.

2007 Barrel 27 "High on the Hog" French Camp Vineyard, Paso Robles White Wine $20: Barrel 27 is a small production, sourced-wine project from the Central Coast. This Rhone-style white is a blend of 54% Viognier with the balance Roussanne and Marsanne. All the fruit is from Paso Robles' French Camp Vineyard. An oily texture, full bodied, balances the foxy Viognier and more sour Marsanne/Rousanne fruit. Good to know interesting wines are still coming out of Paso. tBoW would buy it. 15.1%

2000 Wellington Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyard "that time forgot" $n/a: When tBoW was still buying bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1980s he "discovered" Wellington VIneyards in Sonoma. All they do is make a small amount of superior quality Sonoma wines which they sell at bargain rates - for Sonoma and Napa, anyway. The story helped hook tBoW on the wine club. A doctor purchased an old Italian farmer's small acreage vineyards blessed with old varietals scattered throughout the flat acreage. The farmer always sold off the fruit holding back a small batch for his own "red" commonly referred to as a field blend. This was a nice way of saying he had no idea what vines where planted where on the site. The MD, being a scientist, DNA-identified each and every plant on the property. His son became the winemaker and they began to blend the most interesting bottles using the now known locations of old old vines on the property and properly labeled the contents. They also planted new vines and bottled the same old Chardonnay and Cabernet. The most intriguing bottling from Welly-Welly was the Noir de Noirs Old Vines which blended four varieties from the estate and their neighbor, the more famous Pagani Ranch, including Alicante Bouschet, Lenoir, Grand Noir and Petite Bouschet. The stuff was big and hearty without being overwhelmingly acidic or ripe. It was just thick and warm, like a Pendleton blanket. This estate Cabernet Sauvignon is soft and tasty at 9 years old. It is fruity more like a Mendoza Malbec than a Sonoma Cab.

If you love Cabernet Sauvignon from California's premium winegrowing regions for this varietal (Napa and Sonoma) you really should look at Wellington Vineyards. Great wines at great value. Please note the label posted is from a current release and not the 2000 bottle reviewed.

Kings Ridge Pinot Noir $18: Nice light ruby red color more like Burgundy than an Oregon Pinot Noir. Willamette Valley floor juice sourced form multiple vineyards. Has Oregon smoke, some acid, on the beety side of the flavor spectrum for Pinot Noir. Kings Ridge is a somewhat new project worth checking into once again. tBoW has a wine trip set for Portland in May so maybe we will encounter the Kings Ridge crew? 13.11%

Holidays are here. tBoW is getting ready for a big Xmas day party. Touring local wineries today. Here is my holiday bling collection courtesy of a Downtown LA vendor. Have to make a shopping stop there next week. Here are the wines bringing holiday cheer.

2005 Fitou Bel Armant Chateau Champ des Souers $15: This may be the third time tBoW has reviewed this wonderful little Languedoc/Corbieres wine from Beck Wasserman. Toffee nose, soft, vanilla, fruity. Balanced well. Blends Grenache, Carignan and Mourvèdre. Just very pleasant and completely enjoyable. 13.5%

2006 Domaine des Croix Beaune 1er Cru Les Bressandes $39: An perfect example of when it is time to break the U20 barrier. A Becky Wasserman Selection by the winemaker for Camille Giroud, David Croix. Les Bressandes is one of the great under-the-radar Burgundy premier cru vineyards. This wine is made by an under-the-radar young and upcoming winemaker who handles it beautifully. This is his eponymous label. The dopey phrase iron fist in a velvet glove comes to mind although it probably has no application to Burgundy. Having said that [ed. apologies to Larry David but honestly we have been busting over-used and convoluted "phrasing" for decades; consider "unchartered", "there you go", "if you will" and worst of the worst, like nails dragging across a chalkboard - what's that? - "IT IS WHAT IT IS"! As Dotorè insists, no it isn't.] the wine is focused with a cherry-ish fruit core. Very few feral flavors or aromas, light on tannins, showing polish and skill tBoW picked it off a WHWineCo mailer - and since we bought it blind - this proves the wisdom of having a local wine store you can count on. 13%

2003 Domaine Maxime Chomel Crozes Hermitage Sassenes $23: Hermitage is one of the great vineyards in the Rhone. Crozes is the step-bother, much larger with many wines from the collection of secondary vineyards. This wine has lots to recommend; hand picked, 330 cases, 100% Syrah from old vines. This wine is a bit dirty right away. Is it Bret? Probably not but it is tannic and rustic just the same. Black red color. Syrah bended with Marsanne/Rousanne which gives some sweetness. Raspberries. Quaint. 13.5%

2006 Michel Sarrazin Givry Champs Lalot $20: Strong vanilla on the front palate. Gaminess, creamy flavors. Light to medium weight. Gentlewine for gentle men and women. Givry is one of the lesser appellations in Burgundy, in the the Cote Challonais; a value region for a broker who knows what they want. A North Berkeley Wine pick. They pick the barrels and blend the juice under the producers' label but it is an NBW wine. Very nice. 13%

2008 Evesham Wood Willamette Valley Pinot Noir $18: This Oregon winery is in the southern end of the Willamette Valley near Salem. We have had some wonderful and some ordinary wines from EW. This is in the latter group. We would have liked to have been impressed but were not. Flavors are nice enough. It is just that we can think of enough other wines we could have for the price point or less (see Fitou and Sarrazin). In fact, price point is an issue generally with Oregon Pinot Noir. Our experience is the best values are between $30 and $40. Of course, you could write the same for Burgundy. 13%

Happy Hannukah!