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

2006 Chateau Barbanau Cote de Provence $12: Dry mineral flavors. Everything I expect from a Provencal Rose' which, in my experience, differs in a mineral style compared to wines from Languedoc or other SE France regions. These wines are so easily distinguishable from domestic Rose' wines because they rarely have the big fruit found in CA wines (of which I am also fond, see Anglim out of Paso Robles). However, the real story here - as I discovered - is the importer, Charles Neal. Get thee forthwithly to charlesnealselections.com and read what these folks at Paul Marcus Importer have to say about how to start and sustain an importing business. The first thing you will find is that Mr. Neal picked the region from which to import based upon where he could buy wines below the silly pricing threshold, aka $20. He also took a liking to wines he could drink everyday and that were regional in style and blend, that is, the region has not yet been Parker-ized. The tasting notes from the Paul Marcus Imports staff that toured with Mr. Neal are fun to read and educational. Compare the Neal notes with those found in the LA Times by the Food section's wine-tasting panel ("hint of lime, nice"). It is the difference between riding down a "technical" slope (fun and slightly dangerous) versus riding in your cul de sac (boring and only when necessary).

2005 Beaujolais Paul Durdilly Cuvee Unique Vielles Vignes "Les Grandes Coasses" $11.50: Ring that bell again!! Another winner from North Berkeley Wines. When I asked the clerk about this wine he said at $11.50 how can you go wrong? Put it in the box! Now I must reply how can he be so right? NB Wines - just call 'em up and order. You cannot lose. Perfectly balanced, rich fruit (perfectly ripe), middle-weight so a bit more heft than expected. I need more. So do you. Drink it right up to Turkey-day and put it on the table. How do they do it in Beaujolais? Great vintage, under-the-radar region. The label reads Red Burgundy Wine which is technically correct but without the trophy-wine pricing. I saw a pitch for a current release Leroy Bourgogne at $35. The pitch was this is cheap for Madame Bizes-Leroy. Well exxccuuuuuse me. Bag 'em and taste 'em blind. You may pick out the pinot but you won't tell me the Madame's wine is 300% better.

The next set was tasted at an Independence Day BBQ.

2006 Traversa Moscato d'Asti $15: Summer is for fresh and refreshing wines and that means rose' and moscati d'asti. We have already said plenty about rose' (not to worry I am confident we will say more) so here are some thoughts about moscati d'asti. They are low alcohol, between 5% and 7%. They are frooooty, think peaches, honeydew, melon. When not made well they are tooo frooooty. But when the winemaker hits the target they are like drinking starlight. They have a slight spritz and you serve them cold. This one had it all. Unremarkable house (Tarversa loyalists forgive my ignorance) with an outstanding product. I pushed this on the ladies as the men hit the 1999 Rochioli in protective seclusion. Fuggedaboudit. The moscato killed. "Please suh, cun I have some moh" they asked in their best Oliver impressions. Hell yeh. Going back for more.

1999 Rochioli East Block (cellar): Smoky nose, smoky flavors, bacon, ritz crackers (the cheese and dough thing). Solid unbroken flavor line like a Roman phalanx. A bit cloudy, dark brick color. Opening up after 15 minutes to lush ripe pinot fruit (neither strawberries or cherries). Rochioli is the class of Russian River wines (along with W/S). Extra special (I guess) since East Block is no more.

1995 Gary Farrell Rochioli Vineyard (cellar): Going against the grain here. This wine was over the hill despite perfect storage conditions. Brick-not-brown color but not much red either. A good wine with fruit fading fast. Ironic since I find his wines to be too fruity for my taste. If you're British born before WWII you love this wine and consider it perfectly aged. I confess I have never been a fan of GF (even though he made my favorite domestic pinot at Rochioli from 1982 to 1986). He gets the best grapes from the best growers and is highly regarded and certainly knows much more about Russian River Valley (RRV) winemaking than myself. However, I have tasted through many vintages of Williams Selyem (W/S) and Rochioli to know they are at the summit of RRV wines. If I see a bottle made by a highly regarded winemaker who has sourced a top grower like Rochioli I want to know how he managed. Somebody told me he (the somebody not GF) had tasted a Brewer-Clifton bottling with Cargassachi pinot grapes. This is like Vlad Guerrero going to the Yankees. You have to see know how it worked out when stars get paired. I am sure this was a better wine to taste 5 years ago. On the other hand, I have to say I have tasted wonderful W/S and Rochioli wines that were 13 years old (and older). They held up better. Of course, 1995 was not exactly a memorable vintage for RRV.

2005 Malm Cellars Sonoma County Pinot Noir $16: Smoky nose and flavors reminiscent of the Rochioli. Fresher, more fruit, balanced nicely. I mixed it 4:1 with the Martinez 1994 Oporto. Now that was very nice. This excellent value for Sonoma pinot. 14.4% alcohol is average for region. The problem is I have stopped chasing pinot noir so I will not chase this Malm down although it merits pursuit. Feces occurs!

2006 Domaine Cassagnoles Reserve Gros Manseng $10: Lean angular fruit; dry and brawny in a middle-weight way. Reminded me of Cung Le who I was watching on UFC fighting, he was pounding a veteran mixed martial arts guy with a 24-3 record. Cung Le is now 4-0. Le was tougher, faster, deceptively bigger with a wicked command of spinning kicks and backhands. This Gros Manseng is deceptively delicious with satisfying lean flavors and a devastating blend of near-tropical fruit. Find it at local fave WHW. Or make plans for a trip to the Gers region ASAP and find out for yourself over two weeks. This is Cathar country rich in history of the Inquisition with burned out castles and outstanding wines.

1994 Martinez Port (cellar): I bought this on futures at a reputable west valley wine shop (not Woodland Hills Wine Co - Paul and Kyle would never do what I am about to tell you). I paid $30/bottle pre-release. Somehow they had gotten Martinez to pour bottle samples a year ahead of release. The very young wine was terrific and I thought this will the last vintage of new release port I will buy in my lifetime. Martinez is a rarely seen brand with a strong reputation (i.e., Broadbent covers it). When I went to pick it up a year later the retailer wanted $32/bottle. This is, of course, a case of bad faith and I have never returned there for anything. I paid the price and took the wines. I looked it up on the web today and see it can be found although pricing is about double unless you order it from Scotland; g'head laddy. This is the first time I have opened a bottle. It has everything I want in a 13 y.o. vintage port. Still has a strong presence of tannins but softly firm like a Savile Row haberdasher's clothes brush. The peppers and hot spices common with young ports (why are you even opening ports before at least a decade passes?) have blended in. Balance is perfect with fruit now forward. Alcohol subdued in the background. I can look forward to bringing this out on any special occasion (July 4th 2008? Labor Day 2007?) and I know I will be pleased.

July 4th is a big holiday and this year the 4th is a Wednesday which means no working Thurs and Friday! You want to get your rose' wines and your Moscatos on chill and ready for sipping 'round the pool, spa or bath. If you have never had a sip of Moscato d'Asti please think about it before plunging over the falls. This is a white Italian wine from Piemonte with a slight spritz. The good ones are mind-bendingly easy to swallow...like soda pop. With alcohol around 7% and flavors of peach, honey, lime and mo mo mo you will drink the entire bottle in 30 minutes.

By the way, before we get to the wines, get thee to the North Berkeley website. It is outstanding. I write alot about Kermit Lynch's taste and selections and how terrific is his palate and offerings. However, his website is strictly flapjacks. Not that he needs to be any more fanciful. I just know he could show more about what he likes and does - read his book "Adventures on the Wine Route" and you will get my point. And sign up for the NB email list.

2005 Trenel Chiroubles $15 (Robt. Chadderdon selection): This is the wine that got us started on restricting wine purchases to under $20. The 2005 vintage in Beaujolais was highly touted and has turned out to be pretty darn goot. DokkerM and I have purchased '05s from multiple sources (Kermit, NB, Whole Foods, Woodland Hills Wine Co -WHW, K&L H'wood) and they never disappoint. Sometimes they delight. This is the wine touted to us by Steve at WHW a year ago. It is still great. Medium to light weight. Still showing some tannin. Black cherries, perfectly balanced. A Williams Selyem of Beaujolias. How can you not love it? Need to get more if Paul Smith still has some. Never saw it anywhere else. Also bought the Morgon but have not opened it.

1996 Elio Altare Barolo (from the cellar): Took it to a (Provencal) restaurant. Altare is one of the top producers in Barolo. Another example if you have never tried a Barolo... The 1996 vintage was spectacular. The 1997 got more press which goes to show you should always try to get more info than what is available thru the wine industry. The flavor/nose combo for Barolo is "tar and roses". Great Baroli have that. This did not and it was still great. I have tasted Baroli that do. It did have red cherry flavors, medium weight, great depth of flavor that dawdled on my palate like my wife getting ready to go out. The 1996 vintage is fruity, although less so IMO than the 1997. 1996 has more stuffing. I am sitting on another case or so of mixed labels. Had the 1996 Alessandria a month ago (also wonderful) that let me know the vintage is ready for consumptive intentions. So, you might ask the obvious question...how does it stack up to those '05 Beuajolais? I will defer to you.

2005 Garnacha de Fuego old vines $8: A Jose Ordonez selections wine with cool packaging, fire licking up the label like the intro to a Latin movie about "the romancia". Ordonez is a hot importer. Column forthcoming on hot-shot importers. Unfortunately, this time we had a dud. Cloudy in the glass (not tossed around it's been on my bar for weeks) and jukki in the mouth. Spit it out asparagus and week old pancake mix. I had several bottles this past winter and enjoyed each one. Nothing spectacular but I wouldn't throw it out of my cellar either. For $8 (of bottles stored well) you could do a wedding up right. Bad lot? Most likely. Open one before you buy a case.

2005 St Supery Napa Cabernet $25?: This was the other dinner wine that had to stand up to the Altare Barolo, hardly a fair fight. I had the waiter ice it down and it came out cool. Fruity, cab flavors, without wood and cedar flavors or nose. Tasted very nice. St. Supery is the kind of Napa winery I like to visit but I would never buy wine on premises. They are too widely distributed. I like to visit because their tasting charge is not $40 and their wines are well made. How many cabs are in my cellar? McKenzie-Mueller new releases, and a couple older bottles by Togni.

I gotta go find some Moscatos...

You may have noticed that for a wine blog touting wines under $20 we review many wines more than $20. In fact, we do not post the prices of the over $20 along with the under $20 probably seeking to attain a "sensational" balance only understood by folks with mild ADD.

Here are 2 wines with costs posted, both currently available.

2003 Morgon Vielles Vignes Kermit Lynch Selection (Guy Breton) $16: It's a Beaujolais from an OK vintage. The 2005 vintage gets the press - justifiably - and we have been loading up on those wines as they appear in the bins of our fave retailers (see links to your left and order online). This bottle was touted by a Kermit Lynch floor clerk in Berkeley. It is obviously something left over, on the shelf a little long-ish, for which the clerk will be rewarded having moved a bottle or two ("nice job Jason"). In many other stores this would tick me off. But in Kermit it turns out OK because he has integrity and a great palate. This is a lot selection by Kermit from one of his preferred vintners (Breton) and bottled with the most non-descript label. You have to read carefully to figure out it is a K&L selection. What is that? Humility? Probably. The wine is not humble. It is very nice. Spice on the nose, cranberries in the mouth. I need more for Thanksgiving! Lightweight, almost thin. Let's say reedy. But it fills out enough with a little air to provide just enough body to make Nicole Richie envious.

2006 Anglim Rose' $14: Steve Anglim is one of my favorite Paso vintners. Sources everything. I bought this because the 2005 was so enchanting with its dusty salmon color and delicate flavor with just enough acid. I am telling you it was like a petal. The 2006 was getting closed out at the local cheese shop so I scooped the half dozen. Well, it is not the 2005. This wine is almost hot pink in color. And the nose is profoundly bright with minerals (that would be a gentle touch with acid). Black cherry flavors dominate. There is strawberry too. 14.3% alcohol. Blend is 38% grenache, 33% syrah, 15% mourverdre, and 14% viognier. How French! Steve Anglim makes terrrific wine and this one is priced in my hit-away zone.

2005 l'Uvaggio di Giacomo Vermentino $11: Finally, an opportunity to write about a Jim Moore wine. First, a few words about Jim. He is one of many winemakers who are not media stars. However, he is widely regarded within the winemaking industry as a "go-to" person
when you need something done. Looking for premium juice for sale by a high-profile winery? Call Jim. Need more super-premium French oak barrels? Jim probably knows where they can be had. Want to start a winery from the ground up? Do a custom crush? Fill-in a sudden and unexpected hole on your winemaking team because the winemaker for your long-standing label just went elsewhere? Want to turn around your wine program for your winery that is one of the oldest in the valley? He is the man to see. I am sure there are others like Jim in Napa. He knows them all, too. And what of his wine? Distinctive, meaning his wines share certain qualities regardless of the grape or employer. This Vermentino has all the earmarks of Jim Moore wine. He got the grapes from old old vines in Lodi. My summer reading includes "Blood and Wine", the unofficial story of Gallo wines, and Lodi goes way back in California wine history. Jim knows. Read more about Moore here. His Vermentino is from young Lodi vines, fresh and light, balanced with a subtlety that you do not even think about the alcohol (12.5%!!) or any kind of awkwardness. Perfect summer style. Flavors bring lime, some white grapefruit (Indian River?), citrus rind (pick-a-fruit). Acid supports the overall tart and bright experience. It is available but good luck finding it.

2005 Edward Sellers Grenache Rosé $12: The good dokker paired this Paso effort with the Languedoc wine below. The objective was to compare two fruity wines from the two distinctive regions that we are always yapping about. First sip showed hugely fruity and sweet flavors. I did not like it...at first. The dokker's wife (see photo) was disappointed since she picked it on their last trip top Paso. It is a remarkable achievement that when spouses play bridge or taste wines together there is always something on which we can disagree. Aha! As my palate re-tuned from the more mineral continental roses' I have been quaffing to the fruit bomb side of things I began to find the strawberry flavors more seductive and charming. We killed the bottle with flair. 14.2% alcohol. Nice wine from Edward Sellers. [URL]

2005 Mas de Brassandes Costieres de Nimes $10: Curiously, the good dokker had this rosé from last summer already chilled. He called it a transition wine (evening plans and all). It was also a fruit bomb. And from SW France. Nimes is squarely in the Languedoc which is a region everyone who loves wine should visit at least once. Topographically identical to SoCal with wall-to-wall vineyards and chateaus. The principal grapes are grenache, syrah, mourverdre, and carignane. I have probably already written it but let me do so again (in case I already have). The Languedoc is traditionally the garbage hole of wine. Critics love to tell how the region produces so much ordinary and sub-par wines that in years with an especially large harvest the wine is sold off as fuel. This has changed in some measure over the past decade as French and international winemakers have recognized the conditions are outstanding for producing quality and even better the cost of vineyard land is (was?) extraordinarily attractive. I like to recall our 2001 trip to St. Chinian when it was almost impossible to find a bottle costing more than 10$. And the wine was fine....bring-it-back-in-your-son's-backpack fine.

1997 Rochioli Allen Vineyard Chardonnay (cellar): Controversial wine for me. I have been a wine club member since the early 80s. I have tasted Rochioli through 20 plus vintages. In 2006 I sold off my remaining collection going back to 1996 to a dear friend who was more than happy to take it off my hands. This wine is from the dokker's cellar. It is complex. "Coconut" says dokkerm. "Quince" says I. We agree tropical aromas and flavors emerge over 40 minutes in the glass. Tons of acid. The wine is still young. Dokker says it will not get better. I play my collector trump card and say it will go at least another few years, possibly longer. Playing my collector trump with the dokker is silly since he has tasted through my entire collection. Still looking for a path through his usually invulnerable intellect I suggest this wine captures the problem for me with Rochioli. It is too complex. "Too serious?" he snorts. Yes. I ask Gail (see photo above) what TV game show she would rather, Championship Jeopardy or Deal or No Deal. No contest. Deal gets her vote. Williams Selyem is Deal/No Deal. The look-alike babes march over the grandstand in their short satin dresses with their black leather suitcases and it's all downhill from there. Turn off sound and dig the chicks hamming it up. Rochioli is Championship Jeopardy. Stay sharp. Hit and miss hoping for a category where you actually have some expertise. Fight intellectual exhaustion. Pat yourself on the back 30 minutes later for surviving with some pride intact. "Too many notes" said the King. Rochioli is top of the RRV heap with possibly "the best situated vineyard in North America".

2006 Curran Grenache Blanc ~$20: This is the 3rd vintage of this wine I have tasted...and enjoyed. In each vintage it is a late bloomer. Drink this in the first 6 months of release and you will ask yourself what is all the fuss. Wait 9 months (only another 3 or so, sit down) and you will be very happy. Give it a year and you will be amazed at how much this wine changed. At first it is recessive, withdrawn, almost sullen. Like first seeing Juliette Lewis in Cape Fear. So awkward. When she starts to mature a bit the charms emerge, slowly, gracefully. And after a full year she is all charm, delicate fruit, sparkling flavors, like a kiwi-blueberry-custard fruit tart. Too much to taste in one swallow. Kris Curran is a terrific winemaker (she makes Sea Smoke which is generally opened way too early). This meets the $20 criterion (maybe a little more but worth it) and is age-worthy (if a couple years count). That's Kris on the left and her dear friend Strummy on the right. Curran Wines

Summer is really starting to slip over the horizon. I can feel Fall in the evening air. We have to close the doors at night it is so cold!! Brrrr. It is also football time.The Trojans are rocking (even though we played like plonk against the Huskies) and the other local team has faltered as expected. I posted a pic of the band for the #1 team in the country at the Idaho rout at the end of this entry.

Something nice about the end of summer, post-Labor day, pre-Halloween weeks is that we find ourselves with open weekends. No plans. Relaxing and playing it by ear is nummah wun. A good time to hang out in your 'hood. So naturally I am going to visit my local wine shop, Woodland Hills Wine Company (WHWC). I have been instructed by the Connecticut Mouse that I must get my hands on a bottle of Sagrantino post haste. Mouse has recently returned from Barolo where he stayed at Da Felicin and LOVED every pour and bite. Here is a photo of da man Nino at da place Da Felicin. Somehow in the calculus of wine pals I am now beholden to Mouse to get over to Paul Smith's emporium, WHWC, ASAP. Mouse has already foraged around the website and verified Paul has at least one bottle of the Sagrantino.

WHWC is humming at 2:30 on Saturday. I spot super-sales guy Steve Gulden immediately and present the details of my quest. He finds the bottle and asks me if I would care to sample the 2005 Beaujolais being poured in flight at the wine bar. I have a couple hours until USC kicks off in Lincoln so why not?

WHWC (aka Paul's) just gets better all the time. The sales team has always been fun. Paul sets the ribald tone and the wine flows. The wine flights (fLights not fights) at the bar are always interesting and well considered. Pricing is quite fair. Stemware is top notch. What's not to like? What I love is the 2005 Beaujolais flight. I have tasted some of these wines but not all.

There are 2 Trenel wines - St Amour, Morgon Cote du Py; a Pierre-Marie Chermette Fleurie les Deux Roches; and a Vissoux Morgon. Paul has something special with Trenel. I just do not see them anywhere elses and they are across the board excellent. Brittany is one of the reps pouring the 4 wines and she happily poses with Paul for me then gets her own pal to get a shot with Paul on her own camera. Doesn't Paul look great? I forgot what we talked about. I bought the 4 Beaujolais wines. How could I not?

When I got home Linda M. called and invited us to her home for BBQ and whatever wine I would like to bring. Curious to learn what other wine lovers might think of a 2005 Beaujolais and pull something waiting long enough in the cellar I accepted the invite. Plus I adore Linda. OK. There is the setup for a casual afternoon and evening. Here are the wines.

2006 Mirassou Sauvignon Blanc ~$12: This was open when we arrived. The wine is quite nice. This category of wine (~$10 California wines from high volume wineries that make their stake in supermarkets) is meant for easy pickins. Mirassou competes with Gallo...and thank God it does. This is fine wine for the price. Well made, balanced, nothing challenging here. Easy to drink. It would never spoil a meal and it complements many. I saw the Wine Speculator gave the 2005 an 83 score. While I have never tasted the 2005 version I cannot imagine it was much different. The grapes for this wine come from all over the state so any vintage issues are washed out in the blending. Alcohol is admirably restrained at 13.4% You have to be a real s-n-o-b to rate this wine in the low '80s which is equivalent being tossed to the WS deepest dungeon.

2006 Quincy Domaine Fouassier $15: Now here is what you get for a few bucks more if you shop at WHWC and hit their floor stacks or the back wall as you walk in from the parking lot. This is also sauvignon blanc but instead of the goal being to to smooth out all the wrinkles this wine is all about the idiosyncracies of the region. The wine is aromatic with mild grassy aromas (sauvignon blanc, especially California and New Zealand SBs have profound grassy noses).
The flavors are mineral without beaucoups acid. Anise in the flavor. The wine is very well balanced. 12.5%. When I asked Steve at the counter what he thought of the wine he kept it simple "great wine for the price". Right. Take that Mr. Mouse!

2005 Trenel Chiroubles $16: Second review for this wine this summer. I said I needed to get more. Now I have more. Same fruit bomb ala' France. Among the 2005 Beaujolais this is the seductress. Who needs fruity California wines when we have fruity French wines from this vintage? The resemblance (to fruity Cal wines) is there although the nuances are important. Start with 13% alcohol - low by Cal standards. The black cherry fruit is still there. Dokkerm asks can it age? Will any of these 2005 Beaujolais be drinkable in a couple years? Do I realize how many fruit bombs from Santa Rita Hills he is sitting on? Yes...yes...and yes.

2003 Anglim Syrah French Camp Vineyard $35: Speaking of California fruit bombs, this wine falls in that group but remains captivating. The fruit bomb benchmark for myself and the good Dotore' has to be Kenneth-Crawford wines. When we first tasted these in 2003 it was an epiphany. We realized that the Santa Rita Hills were going to be the next great growing region and the next great set of California winemakers were coming out of SRH. And the winemakers of K-C were two guys to watch. A year later we were in deep reconsideration. The alcohol levels for these wines are...how to put this...high...maybe even excessive...out of control? We have a Melville Pinot that is more than 16%. The better winemakers get so much ripeness and extraction from the fruit that the alcohol is overwhelmed by it. At least upon release. Which leaves us with the nagging question...can wines with all this alcohol last? When the fruit fades will there only be vodka? But I digress. Mr. Steve Anglim makes very good wine and he is not even in SRH. He is in Paso. This wine is big and juicy. It is not thick as the Lone Madrone (which is a cabernet) but it definitely falls in with the K-C crowd. 15.4% alcohol. Glad I bought it. Glad I drank it. Had it with grilled steak. Just like they say you should.

1995 Pelissero Barbaresco Vanotu ~$40/$80: I am sure I paid around $40 but I have found it online closer to $80. This is my cellar wine that I took over to Linda's. Her guy - El Rocco - liked it mucho. I can see he and I will probably be sharing more wines in the future. He has a good palate. I was happy with this wine. The 1995 vintage is a toughie to count on. Same with 1993. When we returned from a Barolo vacation in 1998 I loaded up on 93 and 95 Baroli while I waited for 96 (I have always preferred 96 to 97 in spite of the hype). This wine has classic tar and roses in the nose and in the flavor profile. Baroli are like train travel; they need a little extra time to arrive. This took 15 minutes to open. The first whiff out of the glass complemented the first taste; dusky but not corked, some say "old world" when what they mean is lean and almost astringent. This is because the old world Barolo winemakers (Giacomo Conterno) still use Slovenian oak barrels the size of a scud missile to age the nebbiolo. Look at this photo I took in the cellar of a very famous Barolo wine house. No wonder the flavors can taste old world. But when a Barolo (and I should point out that this wine is from Barbaresco which is adjacent to Barolo and is often considered a younger sibling) comes into its own the wine is like no other. It is truly unique, seductive, fruity and lean, luscious and delicate. Wish I had another. I think the Dotore' needs to prune his Barolo stash. I really hope he doesn't give me a hard time on this rather urgent matter.

Up next...Trojans conquer all who face them. Still not safe to lay the points. Uncle Pete has shown his kind side. Now it's winning time.

You may have noticed that "value" in wine is getting quite a bit of attention. A recent LA Times article expounded on the merits of various domestic and international wines which they considered to be good values, i.e., the U20 wines (under 20 bucks) we favor. The Wall Street Journal also recently (Sept 7) featured values in pinot noir.

We could not agree more with this reasonable fascination. We recognize trophy wines have their place as trophies that can play a very helpful role when entertaining and seeking to impress clients or anyone else whose favor is worth culling. I am being perfectly serious. However, we also know when it comes to enjoying wine for nothing other than the sheer pleasure of drinking and talking about wine...it's a great big world. Bully!

Here are four wines we tasted recently that cover the range from bargain to trophy.

2002 Ethan Santa Ynez Valley Syrah Purisima Mountain Vineyard $25: This was purchased in 2003 on futures at the Wine Cask Santa Barbara tasting. We do not go
anymore as the event dipped in quality and range of wines offered. It is actually an interesting story of how the leverage shifted from the Wine Cask to the winemakers. As the winemakers and their respective labels received more and more attention the winemakers began bringing fewer wines to the tasting where the cost of entry to them included a mandatory 25% discount (which encouraged attendance). The only way to get many of the top wines is to buy them through the winery mail list at full retail or with a nominal discount. Makes sense, no?

Ethan Lindquist is the son of Bob Lindquist, founder of and winemaker at Qupe. This bottle may be Ethan's first release of Purisima Mountain Vineyard. It was delicious. Profound bittersweet chocolate (65% cacao) flavors. Dustiness initially (soft tannins) faded within 15 minutes. Never faded throughout our meal. There was a companion tasting article in the LA Times that covered a couple other Purisima Mountain releases from SRH winemakers. This vineyard is regarded as one of the area's best. 14.5% alcohol which is typical for SRH. Ethan kept it balanced without pumping up ripeness. I doubt pricing for Ethan wines still begin with a 2!

2005 Clautiere Estate Viognier Paso Robles $20: I am not a big fan of viognier from any region domestic and abroad. The grape just does not thrill me. I have had the "legendary" and very expensive Chateau Grillet young and aged. Nnhh. This wine was nice enough. Came with the Clautiere club order. I like Clautiere wines. Great price points. Well made. I prefer their red blends which are traditional Rhone style. I really like that. But even Tablas Creek (California's best winery) makes duds. I would still recommend joining the Clautiere maillist (along with Tablas Creek), especially if you like costume parties and the bacchanalian debauchery.

2005 Trenel Moulin A Vent Tirage Limite $23: These are numbered bottles which means they are limited production. It is the fabled 2005 Beaujolais vintage. How much longer will we be able to find these wines in our local (and favorite mail order) stores? This is a cut above the ordinary 2005 wines from Beaujolais. More tannic backbone with just as much of the ripe Gamay fruit. This wine will keep for several years. In flavors it is closer to Barolo than Burgundy (its northern neighbor). A lean and sinewy wine (think marathon runner) that likewise does not give out.

1997 Louis Latour Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru: Long term cellar dweller that I finally busted out for a special guest. This is highly sought wine for burg hounds. 1997 was a difficult vintage in Burgundy with intermittent rain. This means some grapes did not ripen enough. French chardonnay blows away California across the price range but especially at the high end. This wine has character and flavors that cause us to prefer French to domestic chardonnay wines, however, the vintage did leave a mixed impression. Stones and minerals in the nose and initial flavors. A bit later jasmine emerged as the wine opened. Ten years is a good time to wait for white burgundy especially a Grand Cru. Because of the vintage problems with ripeness I wold say this was a good time to open this bottle. Served with halibut and a tomato salsa that worked well. Here are notes from the domaine.

It is OK to stop eating now. And let me tell you the ladies who hosted the New Years Eve party (Tootsie) and the New Years Day party (Lettie) made it impossible to slow the cascade down my gullet. Prime rib and lasagna were followed by a torrent of extra special wines.

We can all go back to drinking excellent everyday U20 wines. The 2007 Christmas/Hannukah/New Years/Wedding Anniversary holidays are CLOSED. USC is the best football team in the nation and will open the 2008 rankings in the top 3. And we open at home against Ohio State. Now back to work!

These 2007 holidays came to a resounding close. New Years Eve with the Sinkowskis and New Years Day at the See-Glits, being awful damn friendly with new friends and old friends. We watched Uncle Pete and his Trojan Heroes obeying the Two Rose Bowl Laws: [1] It will be a beautiful SoCal day (the kind of day folks back east call "sun-splashed"); and [2] the Big Ten will lose.

The most interesting thing about the also-ran Illini was learning about the banishment (I mean retirement) of their beloved mascot (I mean symbol). There are at least half a dozen websites devoted to the controversial Chief Illiniwek.

The other important news about the Illini is they were the only team to beat OSU in 2007 which was enough to land them in the Rose Bowl for the inevitable thrashing. Wish it would have been the Buckeyes...soon enough my pretties.

If you think it might be interesting to read how Chicago sportswriter Steve Rosenbloom saw the game then click here. With a 49-17 USC victory in the books I can tell you now 2008 will bring another football championship to University Park...behind Mark Sanchez & Mitch Mustain, Stafon Johnson & Joe McKnight, and a defense that could be better than the #2 defense in the nation in 2007.

Here is a bucket of bottles that helped bring in the New Year.

2006 Marques de Caro Cherubino Valsangiacomo $11: 90% Mersequera, 10% Muscat. Alto Turia is the region. Mountainous region west of Valencia. Wine Expo is the local vendor. A moment to describe the Wine Expo where Robert Rogness roosts playing the vinous Lothario; think Orson Welles as Citizen Kane in a wine shop. Bombastic, impatient, ultimately charming and quite persuasive. His newsletter says he has the best selection of Ital wines and champagnes in the Southland...and maybe he does. Like Granpappy Amos might say "no brag just fack". If there is one caution it is that Rogness' tastes are wide ranging and on occasion mine do not match his...despite his enthusiasm. His newsletter is a hoot and fun to read. My brother-in-law shops there and always brings something direct from Robert's stacks. This is Spanish Blanco. First opened wine is always under added pressure to be good. It is. Quince and citrus then pear flavors in the middle and on the finish. Cannot top the U20 price. Good job Don Pharaoh.

2001 Ciu CIu Esperanto $30: Another Wine Expo selection. Could not uncover a millibyte of data on the web. It is a blend of Montepulciano and Cabernet Sauvignon. That's right, Montepulciano is a grape. Mixed with cab means Super-Tuscan intentions. Nice nose and flavors. Delicate with tannins present. Middle to light weight with some earth. Good fruit. Pronounced choo-choo. I liked it because it was so gentle. By the way, Esperanto is an international language created in the 1870s as a second language that would promote internationalism over nationalism. I wonder if "W" ever heard of it?

2002 Paul Lato Duende Gold Coast Vineyard Pinot Noir $25: Purchased at the 2004 Wine Cask Santa Barbara Futures Tasting. One of two wines that stood out for myself and Dotore' at this tasting and the next two (then we stopped going). Paul Lato is the winemaker who produces all of 75 cases annually. That Paul Lato will end up making thousands of cases each year for somebody is a done deal. It will happen. This first vintage is beautiful. It tastes like Pinot Noir fruit. The key flavor is sweet beets. Not veggie. Not cherry although it gets close. But sweet red beets. If that sounds ridiculous then you will have to figure this one out on your own. Here is a thought. Paul Lato captures pure Pinot Noir fruit in his wine. Smoke on the nose. Some in the taste. He has to work with Santa Rita HIlls high alcohol coming in at 14.3%. Which is low. One of the best in region. He kicks booty. His wines rock. He makes wine like Guns 'N Roses work over Paradise City!!! And we discovered him all..by..ourselves (and a couple hundred others).

Schramsberg Mirabelle NV: Venerable Napa sparkler. My first taste of this. Kind of lean, even weedy and soapy but not off-putting. More acidic with a reflux backwash. Sounds just super. WE did not hate it but it did not get a second pour from me.
Canard-Duchene Brut ~$35: This got a couple pours. Tangy orange fruit. Mandarin. Ripe. Really nice. Available in LA County at Wine House (West LA), Wine Country (Long Beach/Signal Hill), Heritage Wine (Pasadena).

2005 Foxen Sea Smoke Pinot Noir ~$45: Bought at the 2006 Wine Cask SB Futures Tasting. Sea Smoke is a coveted Santa Rita HIlls vineyard that is also one of the most coveted labels from the new Pinnacle of Pinot Noir. A big near jammy wine. 14.5% alcohol typical of the region. Says Dotoré "I no longer have a taste for these big wines". Me too. However, if you have the taste then this one is pretty well balanced and you will find it quite appealing.

2005 Pipestone Viognier $25: Shipped under Wine Club. Fruity and fairly forward. Not too much oak (7 months in barrel). 250 cases. Does not have the foxiness I sometimes find off-putting and that, I believe, comes from new oak. Guests preferred this to the Chalone PN (which I think says something about the Pipestone wine). Much more character here and a very nice wine. 14.5%.

2006 Domaine Colette Régnié Beaujolais $13: The first find of the new year. A WH/SG selection. Fruity, cherries, not jammy (!!), special. This is a Beaujolais cru with which I am not familiar. A Charles Neal Selection so there are excellent notes on the wine and the Regnie region. I will be visiting local wine whop Woodland Hills Wine Company to pick half a case. Thinking how nice this will be with Spring lamb being from a biblical shepherd family and all.

Here is one final biblical shot of Rey Maualuga making memories for the Illini quarterback and fans. Click here to see the photo of Rey Maualuga and local fan taken in August.

Wine has inspirational powers. Kermit Lynch on occasion publishes thoughtful da-kine-wine musings from Jim Harrison in his newsletter. In his page 10 December 2007 piece Mr. Harrison considers his own contradictions when it comes to balancing side pork with red wine. A fun read from a prominent author.

Large has appeared on this blog in the past. He is an enthusiastic wine-taster who is developing his own wine-mind. He creatively shortened the battle cry "no wine over $20" to "U20" wines showing some marketing chops otherwise found at his Alternity Records website. Did you know Jim Harrison is one of the foremost artists creating advertising works for Coca Cola?

The Large has assembled some ideas as only he can. Here he is unvarnished, untamed, and in glorious U20 mode.

Budget Unconscious? There's simply no doubt all but the wealthiest among us are under considerable cost pressure out there. If your ARM isn't through the roof [ed. my ARM feels like it is broken] and you start to worry about $20k at the budget end of a year for your kid's college expenses... Then there's Bush talking about Iran and Word War III pushing oil back up over $100 a barrel, not to mention a good 7 foot Christmas tree now pushes over the $100 mark. Where to get a break? Think grapes and fermentation for starters. Don't think cheap, think smart value vintages.

There's always a sigh of slight remorse when I pull out that last bottle of Qupe Rousanne from the cooler (an '04)--one of the most delicious whites with a fruity, complex, and tart finish--but at $43 a bottle, just imagine the satisfaction of finding something comparable--or great but different--like the White Knight--recently in abundant supply at the Woodland Hills Wine Co. for about $10.99! Okay, I admit the Rousanne probably blows it away--but here's an 06 Clarksburg Viogner with a crisp, complex nose--a delightfully dry alternative to a pedestrian $30 bottle of Chardonnay--think about a 3 to 1 value in that scenario--at least for me. It does require a lot of detective work, and brushing up on your savvy business skills to practice some relationship building. You find a trusted confidant, whose taste and U-20 recommendations are built on a foundation of trust--that guy or gal you rely on at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, or your favorite wine shop. [ed.: Large echoes prime directive; my local guide is Steve Goldun at WHWCo] There's risk too--you may wind up talking to some clueless dolt who'd equate 2 Buck Chuck to an '04 Ridge Monte Bello. You have to be bold enough to sift the disingenuous from those that know. But remember it's ultimately your palate that must be the judge (no offense, Chuck). The satisfaction of sipping the divine, titillating your taste buds like an 0-40 rather than U-20--is truly worth some good research and chatter with some fine wine merchants who are happy to turn you on to some rare bargains. Now you're starting to understand the lure of the U20 mission.

Healthy U-20 Psychology. As you move further along in exploring the U-20 imperative, you'll discover the considerable psychological benefits--specifically in terms of the mental calisthenics of budget transference and expenditure justification. As I'm sure my good friend, Dr. Stumpf (aka the 'Vinemaster') would attest, the U-20 hunt is half the fun [ed. note: Hunting U20 Wines coming to youtube soon], and there are any number of mind exercises that can delight and astonish your friends when they start exploring the wonders of U-20 wines. Forget about tasting the stuff--for a few minutes while The Large elaborates. Last summer I found myself vacationing on the Isle of Capri--a modest room there goes for about EU220--ouch! In a small mart I stumbled on a blue bottle of some island grown white grape... "Capri Blue"--price? EU9! Even at about $13 with the exchange rate--the savory, crisp, unusual flavors still linger in my mind as one of the best whites ever--just because your limiting yourself to a great bottle of wine for under $20 doesn't mean you can't spend a fortune to find one! Look, not for a moment would I commit to going cold turkey on the occasional splurge: a nice Cargassachi, Siduri, or Foley Pinot Noir, well north of the $30 mark. But my refined palate simply outpaces (along with my daughter and wife) my cash flow, and in truth, truly savoring two to three outstanding bottles a week does not have to add up to another car payment (or my daughter's latest "I'll have to go to school naked if you don't buy them Daddy" designer jeans). The U-20 imperative is mental-health-friendly, in that with only minor impact on your pocketbook, you can escape the aforementioned dilemmas at least temporarily.

Fun Wine-Mind-Unwind Games. As my friends in the sciences might intone, "Consider the U-20 mission as a social tool to engender cognitive harmony (if not gradual cognitive degradation)." Gather five to eight friends or new acquaintances or three or four couples who enjoy tasting great wine and invite them to help you crack the enigma of your Mystery Rack. The Large keeps a Mystery Rack always at the ready--meaning three or four promising U-20s (always some potential losers, or wild chances, mixed with a couple well tested vintages). Add some goat cheese and crackers, and for less than $60--you have one hell of a small-scale party in the works. Everyone rates the bottles from 1-10, picking a best value of the evening. Sure, you take a few risks on some clunkers--but what's the downside? $30? Many of you lose that and much more regularly betting on football. On the other hand, think of the prolonged savings if you find that awesome label at $12.99 that goes at $9.99 when you buy a case--great with casual meals, but still passing muster on the holiday dining table. Here's a sampling of what lurks in my current Mystery Rack:

2006 Southern Right Pinotage Walker Bay, South Africa $15.99
2005 Ghost Pines Cabernet Sauvignon blend (61% Napa 39% Sonoma) - $18.99
2005 Point Concepcion Esplandia Paso Rosé $9.99(!)
2005 Terrazas Reserva Malbec Mendoza, Argentina $14.99
2005 Trenel Beaujolais Saint Amour $18.99
2005 Arroyo Del Sol Pinot Noir - Arroyo Seco, CA $17.99

First of all, I'm compelled to inquire of the Vinemaster, "What the **ck [ed. note: ed. reserves exclusive right to consider and act upon expletives on tBoW] "is a pinotage?" [ed.: note wikipedia entry] A beautiful right whale on the label though--sure to please Al Gore. Crazy Boers. We'll find out soon enough. The Malbec is terrific--the rosé is amazing for the price. As for the other two I have no clue, but the cab came highly recommended as a holiday special from Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa. In Harvard business school they teach you risk is great--if it's managed. The U-20 mission is not without risk. I tried an '06 Saint Cosme Cotes-Du-Rhone ($10.99), lemon notes on the finish or not, it struck me as another countless boring but passable budget French wine. On the other hand, I found a Syrah-Grenache blend that was fabulous and distinctive with a deceptive nose and a strong raspberry notes on the finish--same price at Woodland Hills Wine Co, and more than adequate as a wondrous contrast to another merlot or zin, with real complexity ('05 Mas Carlot).

Helpful hints. As the Vinemaster would insist, get to know your importers (their names, not necessarily in the biblical sense). Get to know great vintages and regions that have had a particularly good harvest and yield. The above mentioned Trenel is a Robert Chadderdon selection--according to my buddy at the Woodland Hills Wine Co. always a good bet. If you don't know an authority personally--ask around at a couple wine shops--browse the magazines, and don't take anybody's opinion without testing and tasting for yourself! Thanks to the Vinemaster's wisdom imparted about the '05 Beaujolais villages crop, I've savored many a revelatory bottle at $11 to $14 which I've found more savory than some Pinots at twice the cost!

The Grand Prize. In conclusion, the U-20 mission empowers the budget epicurean to minimize risks, and maximize sustainable returns (i.e., consumption)! It requires a little networking and detective work, but ultimately, what's good for business is good for the palate (Orson Welles notwithstanding). Of course the grand prize in the U-20 mission is to dupe some particularly smug, want-to-be wine auteur who's offered up a $40-60 so-so bottle at a social occasion, and pour a subversive U-20, and watch some tasters get loopy over your '05 Beaujolais or Mystery Rack #2. I can't lay claim yet to having won the Grand Prize--but I have raised the Vinemaster's eyebrows and elicited a sly smile more than once with a delicious U-20 find.

[ed. final note: My eyebrows may never descend following your tour de force. Go to the head of the class. Always an upside when The Large is in da haus. Thank you Chris for adding to the world of U2 wines. All love.]

2005 Inco Bianco La Viarte $13: I could not resist including at least one U20 review. This wine was served on New Years Eve. I got to it late, as in post several champagnes and reds, but I did taste it. Notes say tangy, fresh. 13%. I liked this wine and found it impressive even after the preceding parade. Today I received the new Kermit Lynch mailer (snail mail of course) and there is the 2006 Inco Bianco. He calls it a value-of-the-month and identifies it as a Friulian wine made up of mostly Tocai Friulano with small %ages of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Grigio. Herddat Kermie.

Wades Wines has a lot of characteristics that I like in a wine shop. First, no dark walnut or oaky bars. We need less oak in wine in general. Leave the oaks in our sublime California hills. There are no stuffy clerks who size you up before they decide what you should be drinking. No green lantern-type lamps that belong in attorney offices. And no bottles in individual racks.

Give me floor stacks of bargain priced wines that demonstrate someone has an idea of what they are selling and who is their market. I like shelves of bottles I can see and easily pull into my basket. I like pricing that is no worse than fair and sometimes even below market. And I like selection that is ahead of the pack. If the clerks are all wearing burgundy bowling shirts with the WadesWines logo on it...well that is fine with me, too.

I had not been to Wades in about half a year. Last time in he told he was reorganizing the floor plan because some clever little bastards ripped him off stuffing some of his wonderful late harvest splits (e.g., Kracher) in their pants.

This is more than callous and crummy because Wade is a local guy who is also a prolific giver. We got to work together on a Boys & Girls Club event I organized a couple years ago. He was my go-to wine guy and he really delivered. Not just in wine but in contacts to distributors (who we squeezed for really nice products instead of the usual plonk) but also with phones for Santa Barbara winemakers who I eventually roped into pouring and contributing wines. I think of that event as the TAMI show of regional wines. Check out the lineup who poured that day: Wes Hagen (Clos Pepe), Dave Corey (http://www.corewine.com/), Andrew Adam (Andrew Adam Vineyards, tiny production), Dave Dascomb (East Valley Vineyard), Kris Curran (Curran Wines), Peter Cargasacchi (Point Concepcion Wines) and Ernie Vandegrift (Tantara Winery). It was like going to a 1967 rock show featuring new British bands with funny names - Kinks, Stones, Searchers, Animals, Them. [ed. Click on each band name and see these BITCHIN vids from the mid 60s.]

Wade has completely changed his store. Not only has he expanded his space claiming extra footage at the back, he has also expanded his selection of libations. He features premium vodkas, tequilas and beers. His wine selection has always been especially strong for regional winemakers. A couple years back he began offering estate grown champagne. Fuggedaboud Cristal and Dom. Try some of these bottles. Small production, grapes grown on the estate.

If you live in the Conejo Valley (Westlake Village, Agoura, Thousand Oaks) or the West San Fernando Valley go by and check Wade out. Did I mention premium cigars?

If you cannot visit be advised Wade's mail order business dwarfs his on-site sales. He has many small regional (Santa Rita Hills) labels.

I took three bottles to open the same evening. The missus was hosting her staff party. The group likes wine but they are not snobs (like you and me), usually asking for white or red (which is actually a good place to start) while the smarties ask for merlot or chardonnay.

So I poured Wades own label.

2005 Wades Wines Syrah Terra Alta Vineyard Santa Barbara County $20: Served at the wife's staff party. A hit. Dan does not like wines with tannins. Neither does his wife Ellen. They loved this wine. What is not to like? Easy drinking, plenty of fruit. Medium bodied. You drink this one right down. Perfect choice for this sort of affair.

2005 Wades Wines Syrah Clover Creek Vineyard Santa Barbara County ~$18: More fruit than the Terra Alta. The crowd loved this one, too. Up front fruit flavors. Easy going syrah. Another perfect wine for a business-like holiday party.

The back story is Wade purchased juice from a high profile Santa Rita Hills vintner and bottled it at considerable savings under the Wade label. Good for us.

I also poured two other reds.

2004 Chalone Monterey County Pinot Noir ~$12: Another excellent party wine. Dan and Ellen noticed it was lighter weight and preferred Wades syrahs all round. I thought this was pretty generic pinot that would not embarrass the bearer if brought in as a casual gift. Chalone is a Diagio property along with Sterling and Acacia.

2005 Vielles Vignes Daniel Bouland Morgon $19: I bought this at Woodland Hills Wine Company which is my local wine haunt. The 2005 vintage is really special. Gamay fruit that stands right up there with Burgundy. Big wine, solid, forceful. Medium weight. I love this vintage. I have also had the 2003 form the same producer. The Bouland wines are worth searching out. Imported by Peter Weygandt who provides a complete data sheet for the discriminating buyer.

I actually went by Wades because I knew David Corey was pouring his new stuff this weekend. Oh. That was Saturday. So to help me stop sobbing Wade poured the end of a Gypsy Canyon late harvest Mission grape elixir that was delicious. Angelica is the wine name. A bit pricey. Napa arrives in Santa Barbara. No matter. This is exactly the point. Where else does one find this wine? Interesting story (of course). Interesting wine shop.

Now...here's Tommy James...

Richard Belloff is a pioneer in Westlake. He opened his cozy wine bar/restaurant Bellavino in Westlake CA in 2003. He has gone through several chefs and enough personal re-tooling to test anyone's survivability. Yet here he is with his very warm dining establishment, a terrific chef, a wine director, an outrageously attractive Monday night $30 three course special...and a superb wine list.

2005 Michael David Petite Petit $20: Richard recommended this wine to go with my crab cake and pork chop. He also noted the importance of staying under $20 without sacrificing quality. This wine does it. Great balance. Medium weight. Some cranberry, light pepper. Could pass for a Southern France Carignane blend. And it is such an unusual blend. Michael David Winery hails from Lodi. He makes the 7 Deadly Zins which is a very popular label. Not a zin fan but who knows now? We love Lodi having learned about the historical importance of Lodi in California wine history. You could call it the motherlode. More like the motherland.I usually frown on the zin-cab or cab-syrah stylists. As my good pal who took me to Mastros might say Igottatellya this blend works really well. Now I have to bring Igottatellya to Bellavino on Monday night.

14.5% on the alcohol which is the new goal for Adam Tolmachl! If you did not read the incredible LA Times article on high alcohol levels in Central Coast wines with the courageous admission from Tolmach - one of California's master wine makers - that he is boycotting his own high-alcohol wines - then you must click on the preceding link. Of course, tBoW has been pounding the table (like Krushchev at UN in 1960) for this cause for a long time. This is why we post alcohol levels. Let me step down from my soapbox.

[ed. for all the puppies who read this blog, the link goes to a 1960 newsreel showing Russian Prime Minister Krushchev and komrades pounding the table with their fists to demonstrate Soviet strength and pugnacity. tBoW's Bacchus was 11 y.o. then and this stuff played big but you had to go to the movies to see newsreels, or you could just read the newspaper. Now I feel like Andy Rooney.]

Holy jumpin' elephants now here's a goodun. The Michael David winery was supposedly sued because this label looks too much like Barnum & Bailey artwork. All I can say is the wine is not listed on the winery website nor could I find it on the web. I had to take this pic of the Micahel David label above myself so you could make up your own mind.

Jesse Casanova is the wine director. Jesse brings his experience working with Terlato Wines International which handles many high-end Italian wine plus domestic standouts such as Rochioli. So Jesse know wine. Better yet, Jesse is on a mission to help Westlake wine fiends learn about wines other than the same old same old (nuff said right there). So he has initiated a series of wine dinners called Vine and Dine. These feature different varietals paired with well-matched foods. How about a Riesling tasting? First one I have seen in the Conejo Valley. Check these guys. If you are there on a Monday say hello to me!

Here are some other nice wines recently tasted.

Pipestone 2003 Grenache ~$18: Jammy-lite, ripe fruit. One day later the fruit backs off and blends in much more nicely. Ripe plum notes. Rich tasting. Can only dream of what this wine might offer with a bit less ripeness and alcohol. Following the development of this winemaker is worthwhile.14.9%.

2005 Domaine de Combiaty Brouilly $18: Imported by Beaune Imports, an importer to watch. We are pretty much in love with the 2005 and the 2006 vintages in Beaujolais. Something is happening in the region. This wine is made by Dominique Piron. We think we can always tell the old world wines because they do not have the big bright fruit (generally, there must be exceptions). This is not the exception but it does have a lot of good fruit. A day later (as above) it is better, more blended (melded?) and nicely balanced. Moreso than the Pipestone. Would I buy it again? If other wines from the same vintages were not available. Would I buy it if I had never tried it before? Well I already did. Best of all? 12.5%

2004 Barbera d'Alba Vigna San Lorenzo Bartolo Mascarello $22: Steve Goldun tout (he left WHWC!! What will we do? We throw our corks in with Dave Russell). Think Gamay fruit with spicy pepper. Absolutely delightful. Very nicely balanced. Open one day and stored in half bottle. I will get more of this. 14%. Once upon a time Barbera was not very glamorous. Maybe it still is not. Then it got glamorous kind of riding the coattails of the Barrique Barolistas. Those would be the Piemonte winemakers who broke ranks with the old timers and started aging the wine in small oak barrels instead of monster Slovenian oak - or traditional cement - barrels. My point is Barbera quickly shifted from being sort of obscure and for locals only to a "re-discovered" varietal that "deserved its due". Thank god that movement faded. Here is a locals only wine that tastes like the wines we would like to taste more of. Who is Bartolo Mascarello? Mascarello is a high profile name in the region and a defender of the "old ways". Click on the preceding link to read a bio on the elder statesman of Barolo.

Summer is the season for stealth wines like Rosé and Moscato d'Asti. And if you really need something more substantial there are the very stealth Gamay wines from Beaujolais. Which makes summer the most bombastically wonderful season of the year. Put away the pretensions with the ratings gurus and get ready to just sit back and enjoy. Here is a group of summer wines recently tasted.

2007 Rosé du Nuit Domaine du Deffends: Robert Chadderton is the B-2 Stealth Bomber of wine importers. Silently dropping vinous mayhem on our palates. For tBoW it is a tossup between Charles Neal, Chadderton and Peter Weygandt for most captivating importer. In case Chadderton is an anti-war guy I apologize in advance for associating him to my fascination with military porn. This is the stealth wine. [ed. God I hope "W" isn't "protecting freedom" in Iran by the time we publish.] Plenty of acid but still balanced. Undertones of PINK grapefruit. Pale salmon in color. Almost sophisticated but who cares? Not sure what the vogueing lady has to do with the wine except I am sure she has something to do with it. That or she just TRIPS on Madonna. Please check her out and let me know. Fenks. 12.6%.

2005 McKenzie-Mueller Clan Rosé Napa Valley $19: Screw top cap lets us know Bob Mueller means we should drink this up. Knowing Bob makes serious wine even when he is not being terribly serious we had it with lamb chops off the grill. Perfect. 63% Cabernet Franc, 27% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. That's right - it is a Bordeaux blend Rosé!!! BRAVO!! Who else would try this? Unfiltered to make sure we get all the blend has to offer. I did not like particularly this when he poured it at the winery. Now I am blown away. Beefy Rosé with a light bright red color. A Rosé meant for grilled meats. Who knew? Here is what Bob has to say about this wine. There is only one Napa mail list to be on. 14.7%

2007 Txakoli Gurrutaga Rosado: The pink version of the Basque white wine we drank at the Playboy Jazz Festival. That was super acidic. This is just bright and acidic. I like it just fine. Not your grand-papa's pinkie. Or maybe it is if he is a Viking. A Kirk Douglas Rosé. I am going to go out on a limb and say you need to try this wine just to prove you are not a WINE WIMP. I like it. I'm a real tough palate when it is 80 degrees at 8:00 in the evening. 10.5%

2007 Vissoux Pierre-Marie Chermette Les Griottes Beaujolais Rose $15: [ed. I could not find the label so here is the MAN with his vines]. Pale pink salmon color. Creamy, sour cherries, good acid balancing the fruit like a seal tossing a ball. This has to be Grenache but no...it is Gamay. Unfiltered. So what! It is just perfect in early sumer when the SoCal air is still kinda cool. Peter Weygandt (tBoW Best of Wine Importers) does it again. Kick my booty in a frosty glass bottle no less. Great touch. 12%

2005 Chateau de Thulon Beaujolais Villages $15: Winemaker is Jean-Marc Gurgaud. The vintage continues to show very well, as expected. Solid cassis flavors usually reserved for Cabernet Sauvigonon. With light shining through. A translucent wine. Outstanding. Rich and hedonistic flavors like a liquer. How do they do it and keep it so lightweight? This is simply excellent wine. 12.5%

2005 Rousset Crozes-Hermitage $20: Kermit Lynch selection purchased at Wine Country in LA's South Bay where the buyer does a wonderful job. Dry, sour-like, balanced, stoniness. I like it; Missus does not. You have to develop a taste I suppose. She much prefers the next wine down.

2007 La Morandiña Moscato d'Asti $18: This is the perfect summer wine, or it is the wine of the summer according to the Missus. Like key lime pie in a glass. Has the bitter bright lime topping a core of ripe summer fruit; peaches, oranges, honey with a slight fizz and just enough acid. More sophisticated than other efforts (which we also love). 5%.

2007 Sori del Re Moscato d'Asti Degiorgis $18: WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER. Some like it better than the Morandini. Peaches and zing and slight spritz. Wunnaful wunnaful. 5.5%

A cool and dreary start to the summer. LA is known for June Gloom (AM coastal fog that works great for early morning tee times) but this is something else. Overcast and slight drizzle for the unofficial start of summer. [ed. that was 7 weeks ago, now in the 90s plus daily] tBoW hosts three couples who are ready and willing to try anything we put in front of them. What more can one ask from a guest?

The tasting choices were like a juke box on Adderal. Bottles flew out of the cellar as fast as we could purge. We covered California pinots, white Bordeaux, a Paso white, and Baroli that must get consumed. As they say in film noir, the usual suspects showed up...and I do mean people and wines.

1996 Cantina Vignaioli Elvio Pertinace Barbaresco Vigneto Marcarini: Tobacco nose and flavors. Cherry puckering fruit, too many tannins for 12 years. Not enough fruit left. Anutha bummah from this selection. I think. 13.5%

1995 Sottimano Curra Vigna Masue Barbaresco: I am fighting with the 1996 vintage in Barolo. When I tasted the vintage in the Clerico cellar with Domenico himself it was magic. The wines were forward, rich and elegant. So many now are tough. The chance to taste this 1995, a "harder" vintage, more than ten years later was welcomed. One of the premium vineyards for this label. Tannic, puckering, needs decanting. Opens up after several hours. Still not very impressive wine. 13%

2000 Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico: Costco purchase? Parker 90. Was opened last so it did not get much attention that evening. Next evening it was nice enough. You have to like Sangiovese, of which I am not a big fan. Too sweet and rakish. Balanced, sweetish, light to medium weight. Holding up nicely for 8 years old. 13%

2005 Wiliams Selyem Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir: If this were basketball this would be a "make-up call". The Chianti brought by "igottatellya" is all but forgotten whenever he opens his WS stash. Of course, wrestling a glass from him of the nation's finest domestic pinot noir is another matter. This is the first bottle opened from the 2005 and 2006 vintage resting comfortably in the tBoW cellar. So there are many more to come. [ed. cue wicked Dr. Evil laugh] We (the ubiquitous Dotoré) selected carefully, being sure to crack the wine most likely to be ready. This eliminates all the vineyard designated wines. Going through the sealed case and reading every label is a lesson in the marriage of a label with mega-cachet and lesser known Russian River-Sonoma growers. Seeing your vineyard on a Williams-Selyem label brings prestige. We hardly recognized the names. This wine had all the seductive flavors and qualities we associate with WS wines, especially the ones for "early" opening. Vanilla, creamy, forward fruit, some understated smoke. Soft but not flabby. It went quickly. Summer's challenge? Not to plunder the entire two cases. 14.2%

2004 Paul Lato Gold Coast Vineyard Pinot Noir: With the Italian debacle behind us and a strong pinot wind in our sails we headed for the Santa Rita Hills. Paul Lato is one of the finest examples of wines from this region. tBoW put it in a bag and poured on the heels of the Williams Selyem. More tannic but that is no surprise. Restrained at first. More structured than the WS but then this is the flagship. Showing smoke and dark dense pinot fruit. Not an SRH fruit bomb. Excellent. So different than WS and outstanding on its own. It is not Rochioli with all the complications and complexity. It is fine wine. Paul made 70 cases. 14.5% [ed. special credit to Grape-Nutz where I lifted the photo of Paul; an outstanding wine blog for all wines regional; highly recommended reading].

2006 Chateau Martinon Entre-Deux-Mers $10: Recommended by Hi Time Wine Cellar as a go-to summer white. Like white loafers. Reminds me of Jim Moore's l'Uvaggio di Giacomo Vermentino. All the bright acid, lush fruit. Almost oily in weight. Somewhat reminiscent of the Argentine Torrontes wines. Wonderfully good. Here is a nice review on the Entre-Deux-Mer region. Love that alcohol level. 12.5%

2006 Tablas Creek Vermentino: Another excellent white wine from TC. Strong, spiney, good acid. Sharp, lime flavors. Serious, even. But for current drinking. Anytime with anything. Before dinner. 14.5%

2005 Calot Morgon Vieilles Vignes Cuvée Unique: North Berkeley Wine purchase. Pinot pedigree (Morgon borders Burgundy) with Gamay fruit. Unusual. Read the NBW notes on the winemaker. Excellent, fruity but not overtly forward wine. Tannic balance. Will last a year in the cellar. Jump on it.

It is going to be a very good summer.

Palate Food & Wine is the one restaurant in Los Angeles where I do not bring my own bottle of wine. Every once in awhile something is so obvious it is stupid. Taking wine to most restaurants is, truthfully, a defensive move. There are very few restaurants that offer interesting wines at reasonable prices. Most restauranteurs consider their wine list an opportunity to extort 300% markups for whatever low-end bottles the local mega-distributor can sell them.

One has a far better choice at Palate where I usually spend more on the wine than the food. But what value and what fun. I prefer to have Steve Goldun, Palate's wine-meister, bring wines by the glass, matched to what has been ordered. This is like giving the bailout to Warren Buffet instead of Henry Paulson. I know Steve's picks will be exceptional, unusual, delightful and inspirational. Did I leave something out?

2005 Domaine Labet Cotes du Jura Flors de Savinin: Where the heck is Jura (see map)? The Savingin grape is related to Traminer and has more cousins than a Nashville songwriter. Read all about it at wikipedia. This wine has some purposeful oxidation that yields hard cheese flavors, doughy, yeast notes (say that 5 times in a row yeastnotes...yeastnotes...) and memories of "mache" (merci to Palate Manager Francois aka le pointeau argent). Flavors bring lemon, citrus, mashed tart apples (not apple sauce). White wines from Spain are often oxidized to bring out this dry and cheesy flavor. It can be off-putting but it worked here. The perfect wine to start with at Palate where I expect to taste wines far from the middle-of -the-road.

2004 Vitatge Vielh de Lapeyre Jurancon Sec: If it is a wine from Gascony it usually means Charles Neal is the importer. His choices are bleeding edge, in the forefront, beyond the vanguard. Here is a great example. Bright citrus fruit. Orange-ish. Think Riesling crossed with Chenin Blanc. Is it really? Steve pours it with the Matsuki 'shrooms and Dungeness crab risotto. Perfecto.

2007 Pierre Chermette Beaujolais $15: This is it. Guaranteed U20 pick for Year 2. Spicy on the nose like glüwein, cinnamon. Big fruity, juicy but not overripe. Just delicious. This is the entry level. How great will the village wines be? Weygandt brings them in. I took some home with me. That is commitment. 12%

2005 Camille Giroud Bourgogne $32: Premium Burgundy producer from exceptionally fine sourced vineyards. This wine described as de-classified Mersault. It is beautiful, simple and straightforward Pinot Noir. Soft, fruity. Pinot plus. More more more. 12.5%

1997 Ca' Togni: I broke my rule and brought this bottle but only because I knew Steve Goldun would like to taste it. After all, a dessert from a top Napa cab-maker is unusual. Philip Togni is one of the premier Napa Cabernet winemakers. This statement is somewhat supercilious since everyone who makes Cabernet in Napa considers him or herself a premium winemaker by virtue of location [ed. and price!]. However, Philip Togni has one of the better stories that makes the hyperbole real. Trained in Bordeaux at a mature age he purchased land on Spring Mountain 2,000 feet above Napa in 1983 and began fulfilling his plan to make great Bordeaux style wine from the best growing region for Cabernet in the world. His wines are toothy, even stiff when young. They require age. When we visited a few years ago he offered this little split of his dessert wine. Sassafras, root beer and strawberries. Rich flavor, lovely balance. Cooked strawberries style. Wish I had another. Paired with the chocolate pudding, like Bonnie and Clyde, they were meant for each other. Perfect finish to a great dining and wine-ing experience.

First word on the week's historic election: be happy that somewhere Redd Foxx is smiling because something truly incredible happened when the blue states won. Hell yeh!!!

[ed. Redd Foxx, for our younger readers, was a trail blazing comic best known for his mid 70s TV show Sanford & Son. Before he hit the bigtime he labored long and hard breaking new ground for taboo humor that opened the gates for later comics from Richard Pryor to Chris Rock. Foxx broke many color barriers in entertainment. He was a loyal friend to many other entertainers of color who rode his coattails into the mainstream business. He was socially progressive (a colleague of Malcom X when he was Little)...and he was hilariously funny. Click on the above link and learn about him]

The power of the subconscious has revealed itself to me. tBoW thought he was writing about three very nice wines and it turns out, in retrospect, he was writing about his three favorite and most reliable wines and wine regions in this current economic collapse. They represent the best in the cellar, the best U20 [ed. criminittly! it's a U10!] of what can be found with a bit of labor, and the best wine-for-wine region year in and year out. To summarize...value, perfection and the steal of 2009...so far.

2005 Trenel Saint Amour $20: What a wonderful wine house is Trenel. tBoW has only gotten familiar with Trenel since 2007. We have tasted vintages form 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Each vintage has proven more than worthy for anyone who enjoys quality wine at value prices. We have tasted other producers which are also exceptional. Trenel remains a steady bet when hunting down quality Beaujolais village wines. This has lavendar and chocolate in the nose. Light to middle weight. Sour bright cherry flavors. Very sound wine. Tasty and balanced. Some sweet beet flavors. 2005 and 2006 terrific vintages for Beaujolais village wines. Chadderdon import. Loving this. 13%

2006 Sedna Malbec $8: You cannot beat this wine for value. From the Lujan de Cuyo, one of three premium regions outside Mendoza. A working man's red in every possible sense. How do they keep the price so low? Machine harvesting means no manual labor in the vineyards. And steel tank fermentation means no costly oak barrels. The result is a very tasty wine that if you were one of those people who just wants an everyday wine you can count on at a very fair price, and could give a hoot about the label or name factor then THIS IS YOUR WINE. Tasty Malbec form Argentina's workhorse region. Wines like this one, in fact Malbec in general, is superior to California Cabernets form the bottom to the top of the scale. If there is one area in which the California product competes it is on the premium end but ONLY in terms of quality. Toss in price and it is no contest. The costliest Argentine Malbec is $100 and, unlike Napa, it is lonely at the top. How is this wine? Solid, middle weight. Full and rich flavors. Malbec from Mendoza can be sweet-ish however this one offers a bit of pepper as well. 14.9%

1996 Paruso Bussia Vigna Munie Barolo ~$100: Another Marc de Grazia Selection. tBoW tasted this in 1998 in the cellar of Domenic Clerico who at the time was the local bottler for his rebel alliance of new wave Barolistos (the guys who did not put the juice in Spruce Goose sized Slovenian oak barrels). The 1996 vintage is considered classic Barolo whereas the 1997, which got a ton of press, is more comparable to the 1982 vintage in Bordeaux; very ripe and new world-like. The Bussia vineyard is in Monforte d'Alba, one of the numerous picturesque hilltop villages in the Piedmont [ed. photo at top is the view from Da Felicin]. So, let me tell you...we have been waiting for this wine. And fortunately tBoW has a few more bottles. This is the essence of Piemonte Nebbiolo wine. There is some mint up front with plenty of fruit. Tannins show themselves then soften like a coy femme fatale. It opens steadily for 40 minutes; each pause bringing something new to the experience. We have tasted some "over the hill" Baroli but this ain't one of them. This wine follows a trail that has led from disappointment to better to the best. It is exquisite libation. 14%

Bravissimo to Paul and Kyle Smith and the WHWCo crew for putting on one of the best breadth tastings we have attended in many years. The tasting featured the wine selections from Louis/Dressner. Mr. Dressner was there and he confidently assured us the new catalogue has expanded considerably since tBoW included him in our Best of Wine Importers group last year, mostly on the strength of the 2005 Clos de la Roillette which was our favorite Beaujolais in 2007 and a Dressner selection. tBoW faked the rest by cruising the very helpful Dressner website. This guy loves what he is doing which is very good for us. The only issue with Dressner selections is they can be hard to find. Enter Farm Wine Imports, the new distribution company for Louis/Dressner tasked with making sure the days of hunting down Dressner Selections wines are a faint memory. You do want to keep a lookout for these very well priced and made wines. Dressner is as opinionated as anyone in his field [ed. tBoW is being sarcastic having conversed with Neal Rosenthal among others] unusual and thank god for that. His opinions are lively and uncompromising about what represents a wine he would like to share with his customers.

Dressner has assembled a traveling road show of winemakers who were all in attendance at tBoW's local wine hang, WHWCo. Think about it. Wines from twelve estates were poured by winemakers whose first language is French or Italian. They are stopping in San Francisco and New York so stay alert for when they come to your premium wine shop. Tour info is posted at the Louis/Dressner website.

All the wines were very good to excellent. Not a dog in this show. We did find wines we had to have. Without taking anything away from any of the wineries presented, here are the tasting notes for those we found to be the most compelling. Many are described on the Louis/Dressner website.

2007 Luneau-Papin Pierre de la Grange Muscadet $14-$18: Muscadet grown in the Loire is known as "melon du bourgogne". Almost clear of color, like light itself. Very nicely balanced, delicate, pleasing wine. Perfect oyster wine that is "light on its feet". The Wine Doctor provides a complete profile of this house. 12%

NV Terres Dorées FRV100 $15-$19: Worst label you ever saw. Buy a case. Dotoré predicts this wine will be the hit of the summer! Pink and sparkling Gamay. What a great idea. With the low alcohol it will compete wonderfully with Moscato d'Asti. Strawberry supreme. And cree-mee. 7.5%

2006 Domaine Louis-Claude Desvignes Morgon Cote-de-Py $21-$26: Big and beefy Gamay from Beaujolais. The 2006 vintage is known for its superb fruit and added stuffing. This one has the muscle too. The brother and sister winemaking team, Louis and Claude, poured. 6,000 cases total including the next wine. A very civilized 13%

2006 Domaine Louis-Claude Desvignes Morgon Javernieres $22-$27: A bit more feminine and elegant. Lighter weight. Delicate. Excellent. tBoW's preferred style. 13%

2007 Franck Peillot Altesse de Montagnieu Rousette du Bugey $20-$25: Another new grape (Altesse) for tBoW. Ain't it great to go to a wine tasting and try new wines? Tapioca in the nose. Full flavors, middle weight wine. Lush. No tannins. A winner. Here is another terrific blog that goes into more detail about the grape and this bottle. 12.5%

2006 Domaine Marechal Bourgogne Cuvee Gravel $24-$29: Entry level Pinot Noir from Burgundy. The whole reminded me of Dave Dascomb and East Valley Vineyard in Santa Ynez. Local guy making straightforward wines at very good prices. I prefer this Cuvee to other Bourgognes I have tasted recently. Smoky nose, sweet flavors. Beautiful. A bit of gamey flavors in the middle palate. Mssr. Marechal spoke little English and tBoW even less French so WHWCo staff David Russell intervened. Marechal makes 2000 cases of this bottle. He tends 30 hectares, some owned some leased, mostly near Pommard. So there is your pedigree and your selection. Isn't it cool Dressner finds under-publicized vignerons from Burgundy? We think so. 13%

2005 Azienda Agricola Montesecondo Rosso del Rospo $22-$28: Bella Signorini Francesca Padovani poured. Her twin sister Margerita stayed back with their vineyards in Tuscany. The sisters think nothing of clearing land, planting vinifera and making wine. Together. Then they make the traditional wine their way risking DOCG status because they followed their own rules more than the DOCG. [ed. they used the obligatory Sangiovese but only two of the other dozen Ital varietals that comprise Chianti]. But then, who could tell them no? She poured a Sangiovese along with this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, both form the estate. This was remarkable wine, tannic and rich. A wine that begs for steak. It will keep a long time. Ripe and powerful without being overwhelming. 14%

2006 Occhipinti Frapatto $33-$42: My notes say "if there is one bottle of wine I have to have..." This is it but you got to love the funk. The nose is sweaty, funky, off-putting to some but not to the Epoises/Tallegio crowd. Then you taste. Delicate, balanced, sweet. Take a look at the winemaker Arriana Occhipinti [ed. oaky peen-tee] which means "painted eyes". Strong features with soulful eyes. 4,000 cases made in Sicily. I was surprised at the number of bloggers reporting similar moonstruck impression. This is a wine to toss in front of the King (visiting this summer, odd years on his calendar). "Oh Mouse, have you tasted many Frapatto wines? From Sicily you know." [ed. he'll know alright] She also makes a Nero d'Avola which Dotoré acquired. Cool. 12.5%

With Spring and Summer comes wine festival season. With so many many to choose from tBoW presents two festivals worth your consideration. How is a wine festival like a golf tournament? If you like golf you must go to a tour event at least once, see the pros hit the ball, make tricky putts, eat a hot dog. If you like wine then you should probably attend an event where the wineries are pouring their best stuff, you can attend an exclusive dinner in a winery, and talk to the winemaker over sips. [ed. photos show the Pipestone corner of paradise, the 10 acre vineyard and the wonderful owners/winemakers/farmers Jeff and Flo]

#1: Portland Indie Wine Festival takes place in Portland May 1-2. tBoW will report on his first visit. This festival hits the excitement button on a couple counts. First, there are a limited number of wineries (40) that are "craftsman" size (must produce less than 2500 cases). I guess the idea is that if you are making less than 2500 cases of wine you gotta really love doing it because you can't make a lot of dough at this size. Maybe enough to feed the family of four and a couple hounds. Second, Portland is adjacent to premium Pinot Noir country. tBoW has previewed the wineries online and is certain we will find a handful worth filling up on at fair prices.

#2: Paso Robles Wine Festival is two weeks later May 15-17. tBoW has covered Paso wines and the region. Dotoré declared he was finished with the region following an underwhelming visit. Do not let this dissuade you. There are more and more exciting wines coming from the region, e.g., Clautiere, Pipestone, Saxum, Linne Calodo, Barrel 27. Many Paso wines are priced competitively, are not so thrilling to tBoW, and have loyal followings. Then there is Tablas Creek which is one of the finest wineries in the state and the finest in Paso all things considered. The point is you get to try them all at this well-attended event. You might make it a 3 day weekend and do some touring as well. They usually feature a bunch of winemaker dinners worth considering. We recall a great evening in Adelaida Cellars where the owner host broke out a 1989 sparkling wine in magnum that was exceptional and completely unexpected. Here is the link. This one sells out quickly so get on it ASAP.

Within the Paso Wine Fest is an exhibit sponsored by the Paso Robles Art Association. Art and wine...it's a lifestyle thing. They are featuring twenty-seven professional artists and 6 commissioned one-liter wine bottles called "Magnum Masterpieces" (alas sin vin). Proceeds help build the new Paso Robles Art Association art gallery in downtown Paso. Preview the "Masterpieces" here.

Finally, Tablas Creek is hosting a bunch of events throughout the summer. So if you miss the Paso wine Fest you can always visit TC. Check them out their events calendar here. They put on a fine show and do not scrimp when it comes to breaking out the good stuff.

One North Berkeley Wine selection and one Kermit Lynch wine showed very nicely recently. tBoW has to hunt these down for more. Fortunately, NBW is featuring a Spring blowout sale.

2006 Jean Paul Thévenet Morgon "Vieilles Vignes" $24: This is Beaujolais at its best. Lush, lightweight, delicate. Dancing a minuet in your mouth. Ruby red color. Perfumed nose of cherries and strawberries. Very slight pepper on the mid palate. Finishes with Kirsch flavors and power. Had it with the Easter lamb dinner. It was THAT good. Sign of the times...tBoW called Kermit Lynch and got the last 5 bottles. Amazing this was still in stock one year later. 13%

2006 Frédéric Magnien Chablis Foréts $24: Another WOW. Tart, fruity, quince jelly. Is it apples? Pear? Then the key lime shows up. Mrs. tBoW says she can tell it is not new world because there is no oak. The crisp flavors go deep and the wine is extremely satisfying. A winner. NBW is out of the 2006s but has the Magnien 2007 group. 13%

2005 William Hill Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $20: Showed nicely with rich Napa Cabernet flavors. Bit of leather, soft fruit, not much tannins. I guess a Napa cab hound would be disappointed while a Napa cab fan would consider this a good daily wine. tBoW finds the wine and the varietal fairly ordinary, especially on its own. It just is not that interesting. Jim Moore said it first "Cabernet Sauvignon is a nice blending varietal".

2004 Jo Pithon Savannieres La Croix Picot $22: Purchased at Palate Food + Wine shop. Chenin Blanc youthful and spritely. Like some kind of fairy dust. Peppermint candy cane flavors. Balanced. Delightful. The label pic is borrowed from The Wine Doctor who has an excellent post on the wine here. He likes it alot. And in case you want to learn more about Loire Valley wines you can click on this link.

2003 La Azul $23: This was the wine that got away from the 2008 Argentina wine tour. Took the #1 spot on tBoW's top 9 wines. Impossible to find in the US. When http://www.vinesofmendoza.com/ announced their free shipping in April promo tBoW jumped on half a case. Good idea. Fruit forward with stuffing. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Malbec. Blended perfectly to produce a middle weight dark and rich wine with black cherries and figs. Still #1. 14.2%

2005 Coppola Directors Cut Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel $20: A "re-gifting" bottle that had to be opened otherwise it would have been rude. Turned out to be quite lovely, soft, and delicate especially for such a young wine. Dry Creek produces the best quality and most interesting Zinfandels; a grape usually of little interest to tBoW. This is the exception. None of the dried raisin/prune flavors or brambly tannins sometimes found with the varietal especially when harvested over-ripe. Soft in the mouth, easy to sip on. Caramel flavors and soft tannins suggest it is good to go. 14.8%

1995 Bruno Rocca Rabaja Barbaresco $90: It is called a cult wine when truthfully the entire region of Piemonte is a cult. You have to be pretty nuts (or obsessed) to follow Baroli. The wines are not easy to love..util you get a great one. This was typical of what must be endured. Tough out of the bottle which seems common with the hard and lean 1995 vintage. After three hours it opened to a (still) lean drink with focused Nebbiolo fruit flavors. Lots of dried cherry and perfume. Definitely showing its age but still a beautiful wine.

This weekend June 13 & 14 consider doing the Topanga Canyon Artists' Studio Tour. It is tBoW's favorite summer event. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Topanga home you would never see except for this tour pictured below.

As we roll into summer you may enjoy a runup in invites to dine al fresco with friends and acquaintance. tBoW encourages using such occasions to raid the hosts' wine cellar. Why be just polite when you can also be rapacious? [ed. Mungo Jerry signals the official arrival of another LA SUMMER]

The scene is a Memorial Day last minute dinner at the home of good friends. The offer is to pull anything you like from the cellar. We came up with a Bordeaux and a Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir. Not bad!

2002 La Tour Haut Brion $50 online: A holiday gift from someone in the same business as our host. Meant to impress. At 7 years old it is still young and showing tannins with plenty of Cabernet Franc fruit. The wine is very nice and since we rarely drink Bordeaux wines this is certainly a treat. Goes perfectly with the grilled steaks. It is impossible to write about Bordeaux wines without giving some background. The region is almost universally the introductory wine experience for wine snob novitiates. Bordeaux wines have the right features for newbies: "unquestioned" pedigree, comparatively few labels, prestige pricing, and decent wine. In some cases snobs-in-training start with California. What is interesting is how many wine-os never move past Cabernet Sauvignon thereby becoming faux snobs. For the record, LA Tour Haut Brion is the "second" label for La Mission Haut Brion. This means the wine is made from young vines (figure under 10 and probably closer to 5 years) and is not permitted in the premium batch. For an absolutely classic and haughty article on the Haut Brion wine scene click here.

2006 Aramenta Reserve Pinot Noir $43: Aramenta is the adjoining property and neighbor to Ayres, lauded in the recent Oregon Pinot Noir reviews. tBoW has had Aramenta in the past and enjoyed even though he found it too sweet to purchase it was not so sweet he would turn it down. This is from the ripe 2006 vintage. It is dark red but still not so dark to be mistaken for something other than Pinot Noir or Gamay. Sweet, burnt brown sugar. Kinda big. Would like to try this again in a year's time.

2006 H Pinot Noir $20: We did not get to pick this wine. It was offered as an example of the expanding ocean of "high end" wines now reduced and hitting the consumer market like bugs on the Interstate. Formerly $50 he picked up this H Pinot Noir for $20. The story is "right" with 198 cases and "hand-harvested" Sonoma fruit. Of course, good value requires two components: price and quality. The alcohol is way too high for this Sonoma wine produced and bottled in Paso Robles. The fruit that is there cannot fight its way past the ethanol curtain. Not to be confused with Oregon's Hamacher H wine from Willamette Valley. Or Macy's bedding line with the same logo. 15.55%

2007 Domaine du Vissoux Pierre-Marie Chermette Fleurie Poncié $20: This is the first Cru Beaujolais tasted from this vintage. tBoW flipped over the village Beaujolias from the same producer in the tBoW review last August. The contrast is striking. The cru wine is more intense overwhelming any of he other components such as alcohol and tannins. It is big and fruity. Word to Dotoré: While this Beuaj is very nice now tBoW looks forward to trying it again in a year. Reminds me of the 2006 Jean Paul Thévenet Morgon "Vieilles Vignes" that showed so much better one year later. $13%

The host made up for the BBQ-lighter Pinot Noir with a Canadian sweetie available at BevMo.

2006 Jackson-Triggs Proprietors Reserve Vidal Icewine $16: Out comes a specially packaged tube of Canadian late harvest something. Shows bright acid with ripe apricot and mango flavors. Very nice and refreshing. The region is Niagra and the grape is a 1930 hybird known as Vidal Blanc, named after the bio-engineer who crossed Ugni Blanc with Rayon d'Or to get a cold weather high sugar varietal. The bottle at 187.5 ml is the tiniest ever seen outside an airplane. A very good U20 dessert wine. 10.5%

SUMMER'S BEST LOCAL EVENT IS COMING UP JUNE 13 & 14. I am referring to the TOPANGA CANYON ART STUDIOS TOUR: tBoW travels through Topanga Canyon often. Once a year the Topanga cooperative art gallery hosts a tour of local artists who live in the canyon. This is hands-down the best one day summer activity for people who want to know more about the venerable, charming and mysterious canyon. If you want to see how and where Topanga artists live then you must buy a ticket at the gallery and spend Saturday and/or Sunday June 13 & 14 driving around Topanga. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

To blend or not? Since the 1970s California vintners have chosen to produce bottles of one varietal; in those days it was the ubiquitous Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon. This was not always the case when the blended California Chablis and Hearty Burgundy where the state's flagship wines. In Europe the general preference is to blend grapes, with notable exceptions. tBoW prefers blended wines because they are more interesting PERIOD. With that, let us hasten to immediately confute ourselves by reviewing and praising a French wine that is Gamay-based (perhaps 100%!!) while suggesting an international and a couple of domestic wines should go into a blend. Go figger. Here is an easy-to-follow link that will freshen up your Beaujolais IQ.

2003 Corcelette Morgon $18: Peter Weygandt imports this wine purchased at Woodland Hills Wine Co. Showing some toughness when opened. Made me wonder if it was over the hill. Woody, receding "fruit-line". Either the wine was not ready or it's time had passed. 30 minutes later the fruit emerged, showing a supple quality that was quite lovely. Lots of cherry fruit. Showing some age in the color and the fruit. Not exactly vibrant. More like mature and perfect. One would guess this wine could go another couple years. Really shows how refined Beaujolais wine - and a single varietal - can be. 13.5%

2004 Tablas Creek Syrah $32: Through the TC WIne Club. A gentleman bruiser. Not so big and tough to put one off but plenty solid around the middle. Rich and ripe Paso fruit. Dense without being overstuffed. Great steak wine. Put it in the Panoplie! 14.5%

2007 Trenel Macon-Villages $16: A Robert Chadderdon selection from a house that tBoW counts on for premium wines. However, this is unimpressive. Chardonnay without much flavor. Why not blend it with Viognier? Fairly lean. Not over-oaked (if at all). Just ordinary. Not what I expect from producer or importer. Even the best hitters strike out sometime, right? [ed. ekchooly the best hitters strike out a lot; this is a first for Chadderdon] 13%

2005 Tablas Creek Roussanne $23: tBoW is going to write blasphemy. I wish Tablas Creek would blend all their varietals, red and white. We like the blends so much, e.g., Esprit de Beaucastel, Panoplie, etc. There is nothing wrong with the single varietals. I just find the blends do a better job of showing the terroir. Maybe it is the young vines and the single varietals will be more interesting in the future. This Rousanne is lovely, with a solid tannic spine. It is medium weight. I just do not find it very captivating. The Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc, on the other hand, is dynamite with explosive flavors, and strong character. And the EBB, like the EBR, needs some time to develop. 14.3%

BONUS VIEW FROM THE WINEMAKER HIMSELF...JASON HAAS

tBoW posed the blending question to Jason Haas and he replied promptly. Here is a distillation of his thoughts. He got so pumped up he posted a longer reply on the Tablas Creek blog Sunday May 31. Be sure to check it out.

This is a great question. There are a couple of different reasons for us to do single varietals (recognizing that 80% of what we make, including our flagship red and white wines, are blends).

I think you're right that the single varietals often need more time to really show well than the blends do. This makes sense; we have a lot more tools in our toolkit when we're working with blends. Grapes like Syrah and Roussanne that are fairly monolithic when they're young can be opened up with the additions of Grenache Blanc and Picpoul, or Counoise and Grenache. We typically hold back these wines for quite a while before we release them.

Thank you Jason for these very educational comments. Makes me want to bust open a 2005 Cotes de Tablas AND a Vermentino!

As though there were no red wines for hot days and warm nights summertime is allegedly for fresh white wines and sparkling fruity wines like Moscato d'Asti. NOT. There are beefy and manly pinks and there are also Pinot Noir and Beaujolais that work in the 80s at 8:00. Sometimes you even find a 21 year old memory on your table in front of you. Here are several of da kine.

2007 M. Chapoutier Belleruche Cotes du Rhone $14: tBoW does not see pink wine from this mainline Rhone producer so we had to give it a try. Mostly Grenache and Syrah. Alcohol in the nose and mouth (level is a bit high for pink) but plenty of fruit. Reminds me of the 2006 St Andre. 13.5%

2006 Trenel Beaujolais $11: tBoW reviewed this almost a year and half ago so old habits must run deep. It is still a winner. An import from the mysterious Robert Chadderdon. Delicious Gamay fruit in excellent balance. Not showing much age 16 months down the line. Quite tasty. Serve with a slight chill. Works with all kinds of summer meals from burgers to pasta salad. Also excellent value. 12.5%

Giacomo Bologna Brachetto d'Acqui "Braida" $25: Looks like a Piemonte label because it is another one of those fizzy summer red sparklers from Barolo land. We got to know the style at the recent 100x summer tasting. This one is a bit more sophisticated than the Icardi which is not to say it is nay better, especially for another $8. Nevertheless, it is delightful. Strawberry pop with a bit more kick from the flavors, not the alcohol which is perfectly light beer level. Buy it instead of the $17 Icardi? Not likely but no regrets. 5.5%

Chateau Saint Pierre Cotes de Provence Tradition $14: tBoW recalls buying Freddie Cannon's Palisades Park when he thought it was Johnny Horton's Battle of New Orleans. Same serendipitous confusion here. Thought this was another St something from Provence. Wonderfully lean Rosé with plenty of melon flavor and just enough spine to make it serious. Good value for a very light salmon color fine wine. Like Palisades Park; not a mistake at all. 13%

1988 Leoville Las Cases $33 (on release): Dotoré pulled this Super Second Bordeaux from the recesses of his cellar. There are 5 first growth in Bordeaux, none from St Julie. Leoville Las Cases is the premier wine from that district. 21 years old and fresh as a daisy. Has the distinct Bordeaux pencil lead nose and dried cranberry flavors. Red brick color heavy on the red. Perfectly stored and in outstanding condition. The tBoW team realizes Cabernet Sauvignon is the lone varietal that can span continents in style and recognition. Not that Napa can produce a Cabernet Sauvignon exactly like this one BUT at least the chracteristics are distinctly similar. Wonderful wine. A midsummer treat on a Sunday evening outdoors. "11% to 13%" (per the label- how quaint)

When it comes to Pinot Noir we are entering unchartered territory, if you will, irregardless of goodness of fit. Pinot Noir, like "common" language, is becoming absurdly stylized and impossible to understand. In the attempt to create individually expressive Pinot Noir wines that can win big Parker Points, a phalanx of PN wines has emerged that does not taste like Pinot Noir while at the same time tastes remarkably alike. Either my palate is becoming more finicky or there are more and more of these big fruit big alcohol Parkerized fiascos.

The whole movement to re-make Pinot Noir as a new world vision began when the alcohol levels crossed 14.5%. The tBoW has tasted a Pinot Noir above 16%. tBoW liked it! as the excessive alcohol was balanced by the excessive fruit. Kind of like hippoes in toe shoes. The flavors one associates with Pinot Noir are barely present in high alcohol Pinot Noir. This grape is supposed to make wine that is exotic, gamey, even stinkyfunky, the old forest floor. Mushrooms, bacon fat. Cherries, strawberries, black cherries. Sometimes beets. They are supposed to be delicate, light to medium weight, translucent. Neither clouded or dense. And the alcohol should begin with the calming figure of 13%.

Otherwise we get problems in the most egregious New World versions. We get palate crushing fruit bombs that are closer to New World Syrah. In fact, tBoW gets confused sometimes with these two varietals especially if they are from Santa Barbara County or Paso Robles. In many cases the high alcohol blows out the fruit, overwhelming the palate and even the nose. The wine comes off hot. The winemaker needs the big fruit to balance the high alcohol which gets harder to pull off the higher the alcohol. Even when the trick is pulled off the result still ain't Pinot. Serious music fans HATED Fantasia. Here is a mixed review that tries to get at the weaknesses and strengths of the 1940 animation. As for New World Pinot Parker bombs when the winemaker gets the gaminess going the typical correspondent is a profound smoky nose and flavors. This is where things begin to melt into the Rhone style.

There are exceptional New World Pinot Noirs. Several have been reviewed here: Skewis, Chasseur, Paul Lato. Each winemaker shows restraint and a traditional idea about what comprises classic Pinot Noir. However, for each one of these New World traditionalists there seem to be thousands that occupy a narrow bandwidth where big fruit, high alcohol, short finishes, ultimately produce a forgettable wine. It is shocking how many big name producers are in that space. They are making something closer to a milk shake or chocolate covered briquets.

As with many enterprises today (sports, cooking, unction) that prefer to stretch the limits of taste and skill, there exists within the broad New World group an extreme contingent: the Uncharted Pinot Noir Winemakers. These are the Pinot Noir wines that are from another dimension. We tasted one such recently and it is reviewed below. These Pinot Noirs taste nothing like any of the above descriptors. At best, they begin to taste like lesser known Italian varietals, i.e., Amarone or Lagrein or Sagrantino wines. I am not talking about Pinot Noir wines from Germany, Austria or Switzerland which express their regions and climates without losing the Pinot Noir character. I am talking about somebody's vision, maybe their dream, to do something truly exceptional. Whatever. Please pick on another grape.

2005 Le Cuvier Paso Robles Pinot Noir $45: Bourbon? Sour mash? The alcohol is not really that big but combined with the over-ripe fruit that tastes like it was dried on straw mats in the sun, and some premature aging in the color, this could be a high-end Amarone. It is not a bad wine [ed. you mean FLOD] but it ain't Pinot Noir either. Bee-zarr. The http://www.lcwine.com/ is highly entertaining. Maybe I should try some other vintages but I don't think so. 14.7%

2006 Williams Selyem Allen Vineyard $78: Here is the original model for New World Pinot Noir. WS wines - only Pinot Noir - were always sweet to the point it was rumored they contained Viognier. But they were also balanced, delicate, lyrical. WS wines made the perfect book end for their neighbor Rochioli. WS still produces a Riverblock bottle which is premium Rochioli juice. The Allen vineyard is about as big as it gets for WS. This is no exception. There is smoke and light tannins. The flavors are ripe, crossing the robust fruitiness of Gamay and cherries with some gamey qualities. This would be a great Thanksgiving wine big enough to stand up to all the important flavors of that meal (nothing can handle Mrs. tBoW's marshmallow yams). Allen is a cornerstone WS wine; one you can count on to show characteristic style. A classic wine even though tBoW feels a twinge of hypocrosy given the price and the wine's sweetness. 14.1%

2006 Eric Ross Poule D'or Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ~$30: Another hot [ed. as in alcohol] wine that comes across on the nose and dominates the first sip. The poster wine for Parkerized Pinot Noir. Sourced form xxx in the Russian River Valley, arguably California's best Pinot Noir region. [ed. It isn't; Carneros is]. Flavorful enough but undistinguishable from a million others just like it. 14.7%

2005 Cote de Brouilly Cru de Beaujolais Cuvée Vielles Vigne $20: Here is the other end of the discussion. A Gamay wine from Beaujolais that is almost Pinot Noir. This is a house blend selected by North Berkeley WInes which is a favorite tBoW retailer. The wine is almost brawny. Tannins still very much in evidence, balanced, good dark fruit flavors. Beaujolais has been blessed with great vintages in 2005, 206 and 2007. If you see one from a producer other than Georges Dubouef you might snap it up. 12.5%

2007 Pali Pinot Noir Alphabets Willamette Valley $15: The label is from Santa Rita Hills. The winemaker for 2007 was Brian Loring whose own label tends towards big and fruity. Pali produced 13 Pinot Noir wines in this vintage from what many would consider the premier domestic growing regions for Pinot Noir: Sonoma, Santa Rita and Oregon's Willamette Valley. This is one of three Oregon efforts. It tastes like the 2007 vintage which tells you that it is all about the terroir. The wine is smoky, light to medium weight with restrained pinot noir flavors on the forest floor side of the spectrum. Not a fruit bomb. If tBoW had tasted it at the Portland Indie Wine Fest it would not have made the final cut. But the terroir is there as is the lightweight nature of the vintage. And he used a screw cap. 13.3%

They played Rebel Rebel on Monday Night Football as the broadcast went to a break.Came back from break with Bawwitdabaw. Too late to get tBoW interested in MNF again. Better than Bocephus...now if Kid Rock handled the intro...

2004 Emery Athiri Rhodos Amoryano $16: An El Vino purchase proposed by tBoW so don't hang this on the proprietor..necessarily. Blame it on a dream. If one was traveling to Turkey and planned to visit Rhodes sometime in the future one would like to know if there is any decent wine in that region of the world. After all the Knights Templar were French and the French are wine and even though the Templars did make vows of chastity and all that everyone knows they worshiped the skull of St. John the Baptist. Which is the reason why the King of France rounded them all up or as many as he could on Friday the 13th and threw them in prison.

Now if that won't make you thirst for a decent bottle of red on the road to meet Prester John I don't know what will. Well if we were meeting with the elusive Prester John we would sure like to share something impressive with him and this bottle of indigenous red from Rhodes wold not cut it. Not much of a nose or flavor. Fairly dry. Maybe it should be opened young since it is a 2004. Internet says Amoryano is an ancient varietal that has been cultivated on Mt. Attaviros since ancient times." Turns out there is quite a bit of wine production in the Aegean. The Emery portfolio include numerous other selections so tBoW is encouraged. 12%

2008 Touraine Premiere Vendange Henry Marionnet $16: Talk about inspired obsession, this wine does not use sulfites as a preservative. Keep it refrigerated at all times until ready to pop the cork. No yeasts added. 100% natural fermentation. The way wine was made in ancient times. Aromas like Cabernet Franc or Grenache but it is hand picked Gamay. No chaptalizaiton or nuthin'. A bold wine with bold flavors for Gamay and plenty of character. Brawny and seductive. Impressive. Opens with time to breathe. Remarkable and delicious. U20 wine with archeological value. 12.5%

2006 Weiser-Kunstler Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling Kabinett $21: A Bill Mayer Age of Riesling selection. Sweet especially for Kabinett. The Rielsing naive have tough time with this wine as one does not "get it" right off the bat. This will be a keeper. Mosel that needs time in the bottle. An El Vino pick and I shall return for another two or three. 8.5%

2007 Dominique Piron Beaujolais-Villages Domaine de la Chanaise $15: Beaune Imports which is one of those importers one can rely upon to make a good choice. This wine is a bit tough for a village wine. Lean, twiggy, not so fruity, and it did not open after a day on the shelf. Would not buy this bottle again but I would be willing to try one of the Cru wines. 12.5%

Me I want a hoola hoop! The holidays are coming and going in a blur this year (thankfully). 2009 has been tortuous for most of us given the ubiquitous economic "recovery". Tanks Gott the recession is over according to Bernanke and Supreme Blowhard Larry Kudlow!! This does not mean we cannot enjoy being with friends and family while we resist the urge to purchase items that demonstrate our supreme affection for members of both groups [ed. how tender]. However, rest assured the occasion for gathering is always going to be enhanced if the host pours some decent wines. We certainly found this to be the case in the Christmas week and will probably find the same truth to hold for the New Year. The usual gatherings at Casa tBoW featured most of the blog blowhards and they were clamoring for wine wine and more wine. Please excuse the fuzz tones on photos. Here is what got pulled. We hope your holiday party was equally filled with family, good friends, the Singing Chipmunks, and, if not good value, at least good wines.

2005 Nuits St George Aux Saint Julien Earl Daniel Bocquenet $50: If you want to buy a mixed case of wines from one source then you cannot do much better than North Berkeley Imports and Wines Shop in Berkeley CA. Like Kermit Lynch down the street they work with particular French producers so the consumer gets to try wines that can be referred to as under the radar. Here is one. Dark and brooding color for Pinot Noir. Separates Nuits St George from the Beaune. Delicious fruit. A little tight at first. Plums and cocoa. Pencil lead up front from the tannins. Tried again two hours later and the next day when the wine had finally opened fully. Think rustic style with elegant fruit. Nothing tastes like this! Dotoré says a "hand crafted wine." Absolutely. 13%

2004 Saxum Broken Stones $50: Dotoré rightfully cannot understand why I buy this wine. Like the coccyx is a vestige from our simian origins so buying ridiculously overpriced wines at absurdly high alcohol levels the remainder of a former "wine collector". I guess I can't help myself. 75% juicy, dense Syrah, 22% thick Grenache, and a smidgen of Mourvedre. We turned to the aerator which made a huge difference in readiness. Without aeration this brooding monster was like a young Shaq in the lane. Imposing, unrelenting and rejecting! Once mellowed by instant aging the wine showed its complexity. The nose is spicy, mineral, with green olives as well. In the mouth there are black olives, cocoa and rum toffee flavors. No heat form high alcohol. This is Paso wine at its best. The new world definition of complex. Despite the big fruit and high alcohol the wine shows restraint and control, excellent balance of flavors that offset the alcohol, a sure hand at work. 15.6%

2007 Pierre Chermette Beaujolais $15: From Peter Wegandt of Weygandt-Metzler Imports. Peter has a great lineup and this is a star within his Milky Way. This is precisely the kind of wine tBoW favors. As we have said so many times in the past what is not to like? Weighty fresh fruit flavors, balanced perfectly, satisfying from the first sip to the last. U20 perfection. Read about the producer at the W-M website. 12%

2005 Tablas Creek Tannat $42: Traditional grape form Languedoc region. TC has an acre planted. Very dark color. A bit hot on the first taste which is the alcohol showing. Acid balanced by sweet fruit. Some mintiness. Smoky, gamey, leathery. Can go quite a few years. Very nice wine made for big holiday meals. 14.8%

2006 Domaine Saint Andre de Figuiere Vielles Vignes $16: Getting figgy wid it. 75% Vermentino and 25% Semillon. From the producer that made last summer's best Rosé. The kind of non-traditional blend they can make in Languedoc. A wonderful wine. Fig flavors and nose. Soft acids. Exquisitely drinkable. 13%

2007 Vom Rotem Schotter OTT Riesling $36: Austrian Riesling picked up at El Vino Wines in Venice. Artisan wine. Plenty of bright lively acid really sets this one off. Balanced, fresh, lotsa lime and flinty flavors. The young folks who usually drink tequila love it; they did not ask for salt. 12.5%

2001 Salomon Undhof Kremser Koegl Riesling Reserve $30: The contrasting Riesling. Also Austrian, softer acids, older vintage. A single vineyard wine with strong reputation from a region with 600 years winemaking tradition! Oily texture with stuffing. Muted nose. Prefer the younger style! This could use more fruit. It is most likely we should have opened this on its own instead of the party setting. 13%

The photo above and below are the same 30 foot "tree" constructed of shopping carts. I am told this is an annual installation. You can check it out in Venice on Main Street behind Peetes Coffee. Afterward, you can taste wines at El Vino on Abbot Kinney!