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

Where are the notes on the <$20 wines? We taste enough wines on the weekend (my wife a bissel more often) to post some ratings. Before I get around to posting some notes, I will ask the good dotore' (generously available for palate abuse) to offer notes on the 1999 Oratorio he bought in Costco years ago and held onto until last Friday June 22. In the meantime here are notes on 3 other wines we busted out.

2005 A. Scherer Pinot Noir: Alsatian pinot noir. Think northern Italy PN. Or Swiss PN. Or Austrian PN. I have tasted PN from each region always on somebody's good tout. These are wines grown in cold - not cool - regions. PN needs cooldown weather. However, a parka in August is too much cooldown. The problem with any of these wines is they have little fruit. So they come off as "sinewy" when well-made and anorexic when not. On the other hand, if you like lean woody wines with an APB out on the fruit this could be for you. (Interestingly, Mendocino - a north of Napa cool growing region - can produce terrific PNs, i.e., Navarro).

2005 McKenzie-Mueller Carneros Cuvee Rose': My wife loves McKenzie-Mueller wines. I am quite fond of his pinot noir, cab franc and malbec. His cab sauvignon is very well made, never heavyweight, always balanced. Bob McKenzie has an understandably loyal following. We are in the wine club and order wines direct (25% off) on release. A recent M-M newsletter (I am getting to the point dammit) referred to a request by some clubbies that Bob create a "reds-only" option. These followers apparently do not wish to buy the chardonnay, rose', etc. offerings that usually accompany the red releases. Bob is thinking about it. I usually take the white wines and the rose' in support of a family winemaker who is also a wonderful host should you visit his Carneros winery (which you should if you get the chance). We are guessing the rose' is cab franc. The alcohol is listed at 14.7%. The "standard deviation" accepted in wine metrics is plus/minus 0.5% so the alcohol could be >15%. We prefer wines no higher than 14% and applaud winemakers who keep it close to 13%. We are thinking the "reds-only" folks have been in the club longer than we have.

1989 Chateau Nairac: Golden-copper color, tartrate crystals (?) floating in the soup otherwise looks absolutely perfect. Musty nose but a long way from corked. Still some acid on palate but mostly honeyed...and some mustiness. Never got to the second glass. Dr. M's call and a good one once again. I bought this after having a delicious 1979 Nairac maybe 10 years ago and I expected more. Of course, 1983 is the Sauternes vintage. I would snap up a 1975, 1976 or 1983 Nairac if I had the chance (of course I would also burst the 20$ cap but c'est la vie).

Best suggestion for "field of reference" when tasting wine...surfing!

2000 McKenzie-Mueller Napa Valley Pinot Noir (cellar): Our affection for Bob Mueller's wines is documented. We have reported the sedition within the wine club vis a vis his whites and rosés (i.e., the "red only" membership). I reported how his Merlot stole the show at the Carlitos cab-a-thon last December at the Carlos&Alice Xmas party. So, now I want to say that Bob Mueller's McKenzie-Mueller pinot noir is probably our favorite wine that he makes. It is a consistent knockout wine. We have tasted it to the early 90s. It never fails to amaze us. My wife always recalls how the staff at Saddlepeak Lodge (Calabasas' best and snootiest restaurant, justifiably) flipped when she tasted them on it. Bob's wines are still on that list. Strummy introduced them. This wine (7 years old) is fresh, with smoky pinot fruit. It does not taste like cherries or strawberries or any other berry. It is Carneros pinot noir at its finest. It is spectacular and would stand with any W/S and Rochioli (the sine qua non of domestic pinot noir). Get on his mail list. You decide what level. All estate grown grapes. Alcohol a wonderfully restrained 13.5%.

Sea glass is ocean borne detritus. Pieces of broken bottles wash onto beaches after years (decades?) tumbling around on the ocean floor. Low tide is the time to look. Pieces wash up everywhere. Many LA beaches are fine targets. We have so much trash and so many boaters. Some artists and craftspeople make sea glass jewelry. Seaside towns usually have a sea glass jeweler. When I visit Paso I like to stay in Cambria for this reason. The idea of sea glass is probably cooler than the stuff itself. Something found that was not even lost but tossed or kicked away can be romantic. Something without any value, even a pollutant, that can be valued if convention is set aside, can at least inspire curiosity.

Here are three wines that share some of these qualities. A couple are waiting to be found. At least one has been lost to what is conventional. I would be surprised (even disappointed) if any was rated above 90 points.

2006 Bugey Maison Angelot Gamay $9: A Charles Neal selection. This is the Boogie wine. From the cheap plastic "foil cap" to the half-size plastic cork, this wine is everything great about the importer and the kind of wine every wine drinker should put in the rotation. Call it "plain folk wine", people's wine" or "farmer's wine". It is wine the way wine was made before wine became a lifestyle. First taste is off-putting the wine is so rustic. Where is the polish of oak and soft malolactic? Fresh cherry and tomato (but not cherry tomato) flavors. Naive, fresh but not youthful. The second glass shows what is going on here. Nothing fancy. Just delicious. I have to get that Best of Wine Importers Part 2 post up.

2002 Pipestone Rhone Style Red $U20: There is no confusing what Jeff Pipestone is trying to do here; 40% syrah, 30% grenache noir, and 30% mourverdre. This is his Rhone blend. Tastes pretty good. Rich fruit flavors. "Co-fermented", now isn't that interesting! Tastes more fresh than 5 years old. Dark cherry fruit. Not noticeably tannic. Nice effort. This is the American Pastoral because the Pipestone team (Jeff and Florence) live in the most idyllic setting on the Paso Westside. If you have a chance you should visit.

2002 Boyer-Martenot Mersault "Le Pre de Manche" $25: Barrel-selected by North Berkeley Imports. Citrus, orange-like, even peachy flavors. Just enough oak to make it interesting. Very good acid spine. Very nice wine. North Berkeley, like Kermit Lynch, has a wonderful selection of their own blends form Burgundy producers who, I guess, find the practice worthwhile. Hard to imagine Rolls Royce collaborating with a team of Russian engineers who want to produce their own RR vehicle.

2002 Etude Carneros Pinot Noir $40 (at the right online store):
How good was this wine? Had it with a friend over dinner. He likes wine well enough to know what he likes but not enough to know what he is drinking. All wine-o-files have pals fitting this profile. He loved it from the first sniff to the last drop. This is the latest event in my developing pursuit to become more familiar with Carneros pinots. Not sure how this got in my cellar so I guess I am lucky it was there. This bottle will still take age. Smoky slightly briny character. Very nicely balanced. Great pinot fruit more cherry than otherwsie but the smoke - in balance- was strongest note for me. Medium weight. Lovely. Etude has an especially elegant label that is reminiscent of Leroy.

With a double bar/t mitzvah in Palo Alto (Papa Ricolini vogues Tevya at reception) we saw the opportunity to extend a few days and hit Napa as long as we were so near. A trip to Napa is always mixed for me...at least at the outset. Visiting with good friends is a plus. But given the pure wine-country choice I would prefer to visit almost anywhere else like Paso Robles or even better Walla Walla.

Napa is silly. Take the tasting rooms...please. [apologetic link to Henny Youngman insult machine] In Napa they have tasting galleries. U20 wines? Not in Napa no way no how. It costs at least $20 just to taste wines in the galleries. The Del Dotto Gallery demands $40 and they keep the glass. And they are hardly the exception. If you plan on tasting at Del Dotto, Stags Leap and Opus in the same day bring a couple hundies...for the privilege of sipping and spitting in a bucket. The way I get around the over-the-top silliness of Napa is to make sure I visit Carneros first. Which means a visit with McKenzie-Mueller.

Fall paints brilliant colors which are wonderful to look at in the wine country light. I did not get a single picture but I do keep the memories of blazing orange, scarlet and brown vineyards.

Karen McKenzie greeted us and we got right to tasting. All prices reflect M-M Wine Club 25% discount. She poured wine on their tasting table...in the same warehouse (OK, very large garage) where they make and store the wine. Bought every wine reviewed.

2006 McKenzie-Mueller Sauvignon Blanc ~$18: She said this wine came from vines that they had tried to convert ("t-budded") to red varietals. Some the vines produced SB anyway! So they bottled a very small amount of very fresh, minerally and not at all grassy SB. Like a Sancerre.

2005 McKenzie-Mueller Clan Rose ~$14: 63% cab franc makes for a brawny pinky.

2004 McKenzie-Mueller Pinot Noir $~$26: Deep almost caramel nose. Deep red robe. Fruit forward, elegant. The thing about Bob's pinot is that you would not mistake it for Sonoma, Napa or Santa Rita. He gets the Carneros smoke and slightly briny fruit far better than other Carneros producers. Outstanding. Biggest purchase.

2002 McKenzie-Mueller Merlot ~$26: Bob makes the best and the best value merlot. Five years in bottle and completely fresh. Another deep wine with seductive aromas of blackest cherry. Spectacular.

2003 McKenzie-Mueller Cabernet Franc ~$26: Of the three reds we bought this was the least spectacular. Which is like saying Lana Turner was not quite Marilyn Monroe. Or James Coburn was not quite Clint Eastwood. More narrow flavor profile and still kicking it good. We purchased.

The McKenzie-Mueller presentation never disappoints. I need more of these wines!

On the way to Napa we spent an overnight in The City. I will not bore you with my appraisal of all the ways SF is so much cooler than LA. The restaurants with their intelligent wine lists is one reason. Here is what we tasted at SPQR, the new A16 installment in Pacific Heights on Fillmore. You can order a 3 ounce taste, a 6 ounce glass or a 375 ml carafe of any of the 32 wines on the list. Is there one LA restaurant that has even considered this policy? Lou (Dottore' suggestion) may be the closest LA has to this enlightened of a wine policy. I am showing the price on the wine list which you have to figure is a 100% markup from what you might pay retail.

First the white wines...

2004 Emmanuele Scammarca 'Murgo' Nerello Mascalese Brut, Sicilia $49: Toasty nose. Tiny bead. Dry flavor, pinot fruit, good acid and citric flavors in balance. Terrific.

2006 Ferrando 'La Torrazza' Erbaluce di Caluso, Piemonte $32: Neal Rosenthal selection. Creamy, oak on nose and in flavors. Vanilla and mineral going on. Find it, buy it. Has to be excellent value.

2006 Scagliola 'Casot dan Vian ' Chardonnay, Piemonte $37: Pale color. Sweet and salty flavors. Stick to Arneis.

2005 Di Giovanna 'G&K" Grillo, Sicilia $40: Resembles sauvignon blanc con grass.

And two reds...

2006 Castello di Luzzano 'Carlino Bonardo, Oltrepo' Pavese, Lombardia $36: Perfumed fruity nose. Flavor is cooked fruit like in a pie. A bit green. OK, not great.

2004 Di Giovanna Nero d'Avola, Sicila $34: Earthy nose, almost veggie, burnt charcoal-like. Sounds awful huh? Tasted great! Perfect BBQ wine. Even has BBQ tastes, rich and smoky. I would hunt this one down.

SPQR was a great stop. Dropped in at the Elite Cafe up the street before heading to Firefly in Noe Valley for a quiet dinner. We'll dine at Elite next time up.

Sunday night we dined at Uva in Napa. Great local spot. Food was excellent. Service unpretentious. Carlos brought wines.

1999 Clarendon Hills Shiraz Moritz Vineyard ~$128 online: This is the first Aussie shiraz I have actually enjoyed. Excellent balance, lush fruit. Ready to drink. Like a Carneros merlot crossed with Russian River pinot. Was worth the wait. Hmm. Could there be others this good?

2003 Donatella Cinelli Colombini Cenerentola Orcia ~$50: Tuscan blend of 65% Sangiovese and 35% Foglia Tonda (a once-cast-aside grape she is resurrecting) tastes more like Sicilian style than Tuscan. And no cab so it tastes nothing like a super Tuscan. Or her highly regarded Brunello. Have had this before also from Litos' cellar. Tannic, like-able, good cherry flavor. But tannic. Keeper. Stylized label represents...Italian woman with 3 names? Cerentola translates to Cinderella. Her press suggests she is kinda cool.

Monday we awakened to a gorgeous Napa day. By this time Carlitos and Alice are in tow. There is no sense getting in the way of the irresistible force that is Carlos. We headed directly to Sterling Winery. I know what you are thinking...Sterling? The winery with the tram ride? I will tell you we spent three hours there being served by Sigrid in the VIP Room tasting the best wines Sterling has to offer. And they were excellent. Among the big Napa/Sonoma producers - Mondavi, Beringer, Simi, Kendall-Jackson, BV - I favor Sterling. Now that Sterling is owned by Diageo they no longer produce a Winery Lake chardonnay. Acacia (another Diageo property) produces the Winery Lake since Acacia is the "single vineyard" property in the minds of Diageo marketers. Having just finished reading the Mondavi book (read review here) I understand the importance of positioning product up and down the price ladder. And Acacia in a word? Unimpressive.

But Sterling...and Sigrid...what a great afternoon. Retail prices at the winery listed. Enterprising folks (such as Carlitos) can do better.

1998 Sterling Cabernet Reserve $100: Wow. And I am not a cab fan. And 1998 is an "off vintage" for Napa. Extended rains in Spring delayed bud break all over the valley. But this wine was special. Tobacco, cedar in nose and flavors. Velvet smooth, all integrated, black cherry fruit. Not listed for sale.

2001 Sterling Reserve Merlot $75: Not listed. Vanilla flavors. Sweet. Too much for my taste.

2004 Sterling Three Palms Merlot $65: Tannic, chocolate/coca flavors. Doughy nose. Dark red color. Needs time. 14.2%

2001 Sterling Three Palms Merlot $60: Spicy, mint nose. Lusty wine, mocha flavors, beautiful. 13.5%. Winnah. Pay the front line! A great contrast to the McKenzie-Mueller style. Not listed for sale.

2004 Sterling Vineyards Reserve $45: Bordeaux blend sourced throughout Napa Valley (i.e., Diageo properties). Earthy, cab/merlot/petit verdot. Everything I find boring in Napa cabs.

2001 Sterling Red Carpet Reserve $100: Not listed for sale. Bordeaux blend bottled for the Academy's Oscar party. Nose is integrated. Balanced flavors, shoe polish flavors I associate with Bordeaux blends that are mostly cab and merlot. The pitch is make your friends who watch the Oscars with you feel special. I would rather watch Dog the Bounty Hunter than the Oscar show. Actually I would rather watch Beth. Now she is in perfect balance.

2003 Sterling Diamond Mountain Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon $65: No sooner do I open my big mouth about boring cabs then I fall in love with this fabulous wine. Mint nose, intense mountain fruit, lush package all round. This wine would be tempting at full retail. At the price we paid it is a very good buy. 13.5%

Diageo seems to have improved things at Sterling. The marketers have not run roughshod over the winemakers. There are only a few mega-players like Diageo and, together, they own an important proportion of the valley. But don't ask me. Ask the staff who all seem very happy and were exceptionally helpful and courteous. Sterling Winery - worth the visit.

And then there were three more wines...

Monday night we dined at Redd in Yountville. This is high-ticket fancy-pants joint. Even though it is major frous-frous I must compliment the staff on their top-of-the-line service. We were a difficult party arriving 30 minutes early and asking to be seated if something opened up. It did. They offered but we were not quite ready. When we did get to our table we were unhappy with it so back to the bar we went. They set us up in a better location in a few minutes. Unashamed, we lobbied hard to open a bottle we had brought that was also on their list. A no-no. However, the maitre'd Adam graciously assented.

The Redd decor is elegantly spare with a backlit mirror along the rear wall. Even our waiter Misty was spare. I wish I had her photo. Thin, pale. The wait staff uniform is black shirt, pants and tie. A black and white houndstooth full length apron provides contrast. Misty - who was exceptionally competent - completed the look with jet black hair, pale pale skin, round black earrings and no lipstick. How perfect is that? Prices not posted since they are ridiculously over-the-top.

1999 Roederer Cristal: We actually had this at the hotel before heading out. Golden color. Small bead. Lemon flavors. Not toasty at all. Clean and rich.

2004 Opus One: I think Opus is better since going on its own sans Mondavi. The 04 is round, balanced with lots of merlot. That is a good idea. The website is a total pain.

2000 Joseph Phelps Insignia: Insignia has always been an idiosyncratic wine. Mesmerizing; like watching "a snail crawl across a razor's edge". I go back to 1985 with it. Minty to a fault. Showing characteristic mint flavor. Narrow band of flavors. angular. Intense and focused. This 7 year old wine is quite muscular. Think Tommy "Hit Man" Hearns. It will knock you out.

Until next time.

The tBoW tasting team returned to Carneros for the post-Thanksgiving-day wine sojourn. It's a family tradition, y'know. This year it was me, the missus and Aunt Betsy with the naughty clogs. The regional choice was Livermore or Carneros. Much as I would like to visit another California wine region...with McKenzie-Mueller (M-M) beckoning the choice was easier than a Trojan win over the Bruins.

The wines reviewed below were purchased in Berkeley at North Berkeley Wines (NBW), Kermit Lynch or in Carneros. North Berkeley Wine offers a strong selection of Verget wines. Verget is a negociant who buys juice and produces only white Burgundy wines. Quality is high and pricing is very fair. Classic NBW selection. If I am going to visit the Bay Area then I am going to visit Kermit and NB wine merchants. They are covered plenty on this blog as they are in this post. However, I am not going to review M-M since I did a few weeks past. I will say once more that Bob and Karen M-M are expert hosts, and Bob makes absolutely wonderful wines. Do not overlook Carneros next time in Napa. We tasted on Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day, T-Day, and the day after.

Another family tradition is making sure everyone at the turrkey table learns how to taste and enjoy wine. So the tasting can become a descriptive free-for-all which is reflected in some of the notes.

The good news is every wine (except the Adastra) is a U20.

2004 Verget Saint Bris $U20: Recommended by John at NBW. Sauvignon blanc from Burgundy! On the nose we get oak and green apple. On the tongue and in the mouth sour kiwi lime and lemon. Some green bean and cucumber. You taste the coolness. On the finish I thought of the tennis-ball sized rough skinned crab apples I ate as a kid. Here is a link to a wine/travel blog that covers St Bris. Recommended surfing.

2004 Verget Bourgogne "Grand Elevage" $U20: Green gold color. Sold as "de-classified Mersault" which is always a good pitch when dealing with the Duke and Dauphin. We never ask the obvious question - why was it de-classified? Is the war over? Did somebody important die? Was a handful of radical vintners granted amnesty? While we pondered these question we waited for the wine to open up. As might be expected from a young premium white burg this took hours. The first sniff and taste was oaky, soapy, tannic, even musty. Aunty B mentioned cow pie and she would know (Michigander farm girl). A couple hours later when the tasters were also a bit more friendly they suggested sandalwood, currant berry blossom and scented candle. 13%. NBW

2003 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre $U20: Another sauvignon blanc. Green gold color (even though it has enough years to turn yellow). Nose is lime, mineral, acid, bright. Flavors are sweet and fruity apple. Honeysuckle and hydrangia. Flavors are green, earthy, oak. Distinctive taste with waxy cheese and peach stone.

2004 Vincent Dureil-Janthial Bourgogne Passetoutgrains $U20: Are you ready for a red gamay pinot noir blend? Dave Corey of Core Wines (a Santa Barbara/Paso Rhone guy) always got a chuckle from me when he described pinot as a nice blending grape. Well, Mr. Corey must have known that Passetoutgrains is a traditional field blend in Burgundy of the two grapes. So now we know it too. Raspberry flambe' and smoky chocolate on the nose. The gamay is quite noticeable. Liked it plenty. My choice with the bird. NBW.

2005 Chateau du Trignon Cotes du Rhone $U20: This was excellent red village Rhone. Color is purple. Nose is sweet, doughy, dusty, with pepper. Tannic, strawberry-kiwi jam. The strawberry-kiwi is there in the mouth. Medium weight, slight tannins. Grenache fruit prevails. Turns to granny apple cider after a couple hours. Bold effort and terrific wine. 14%. Kermit.

Here is an article that describes this particular wine as well as asks the question why are there not more wines like this one made in California. Good question.

After visiting at M-M we walked across the street and said hello to the vineyard manager at Adastra. A retired physician and family run this tiny 1500 case operation in wine country. Blippin hot winemaker Pam Starr is the highly touted "soil translator" (read her October 07 interview here). We tasted five wines and purchased two. The style is high-tone rustic. Well-made wines that are balanced but show minimum handling. If you can visit you should. I have posted a couple of photos FYI.

Adastra 2006 Syrah $56: Syrah production in Carneros is small so we were quite interested in tasting this one. This is the winery price, of course, which is 100% retail. But at ~150 cases where would one find it anyway? Very fruity reminiscent of Santa Rita Hills with more lean fruit. Cold weather fruit. Not plump. 16% alcohol! When I mentioned our host said we would not have known without looking. He was right. 100 cases.

2005 Pinot Reserve Proximus $36: Ripe style, rustic, not melded. Tannins floating like particles. Just a visual, not actually. All good components. 200 cases. 14.5%.

The Adastra wines need to lay down awhile. These are the kinds of bottles I pull from the cellar in five years. I know I will be pleasantly surprised recalling the 40 minutes memorably spent there. And I bet I will say this is pretty good.

A bonus wine...I discovered this in my cellar and have been opening and enjoying it the past month.

2002 Beckmen Cuvee le Bec ~$14: Current release is the 2005. The blend is classic Rhone style. In this vintage it is almost half Grenache, one quarter Mourverdre and one-fifth Syrah and 10% Counoise. The 2005 blend is 52% Grenache, 34% Syrah, 8% Mourvedre, and 5% Counoise. I prefer Grenache and Mourverdre to Syrah so the blend suits me fine. I find California syrah to be ripe and fruity. Domestic grenache seems more restrained and earthy without sacrificing fruit. Mourverdre provides the bold meat flavors I like in Rhone wines. This blend after 5 years in the bottle and three in my cellar is quite presentable. Soft, tannins have blended in. More fruit than pepper and earth. The wine is perfect for any evening and almost any meal. By the way, this blend is featured in that SF Chronicle article (above) as proof that a good tasting well-priced Rhone blend can be made in California.

Christmas has passed...finally. I have a strongly ambivalent relationship with the year-end holiday. I hate the hype, ruthless and relentless marketing. Wreaths on car grills always make me sneer. But Ray Charles singing about kids...I tear right up. That's right. Big wet eyes. And my kids are adults! I also greatly appreciate my wife and our friends this time of year. That is why we throw a Christmas Day party and invite everyone we know and love.

Another holiday tradition which usually inspires bland disinterest is lists of the past year's greatest whatever [these are similarly disinterested seals on the beach in Jenner] I know what you're thinking...he's going to list his favorite wines from 2007. Why would I do that when I list them for you every week. No, I am going to post some of my favorite photos...and not from this year necessarily. And I am going to post these photos adjacent to the reviewed wines since, for the most part, I was unable to find corresponding labels.

Finally, I expect to taste great wines and unusual wines over the holidays. I bring some and I drink what others bring as well. [Chicago's Fulton Alley was unusually pretty on this night]I really look forward to the holidays for that reason...to enjoy wines with which I am not necessarily familiar with good and new friends. This season did not disappoint.

1996 Cantina Vignaioli Barbaresco Elvio Pertinace Vigneto Castellizzano ~$50: I continue to work through the 1996 and 1997 nebiollos. Forgot where I got this one but if I had to, I would guess K&L. Cherry cola. Ready to go. Delicious. Not the expected tar and roses...and so what? Excellent bottle.

2001 McKenzie-Mueller Pinot Noir ~$30: Believe this came in a mailer for wine club. Opened in a restaurant with following wine below. had this one first. Good idea. Elegant, cherry Carneros pinot. Dining with L&L and they both loved the wine. Absolutely ready, need more. Bob Mueller is one terrific winemaker.

[Regusci winery off the Silverado Trail in Napa] 2002 Point Concepcion Syrah Jalama Cuvee ~$40 in mag): Took the mag to celebrate the birthday of somebody special. Did not disappoint. Already developing in bottle. Showing nicely. Softer, some white pepper (I think we say white pepper when it is not black), syrah dark fruit character. Peter Cargasacchi did a fine job with this wine.

[West Coast Choppers celebrate the holiday their way]

2001 Tobin James James Gang Reserve ~$28: A guest at same party brought this one. I am not a zin drinker. There are a few producers I like - Franus and Nalle. Both make their zins in a claret style. I have never found the big tooth stainers to my liking. This wine is very nice. Has the characteristic prune flavor, like an Amarone. Sweet, with some spine. Has aged well in the bottle. I hit it a few times and not just to be nice! Tobin James is an under-the-radar winemaker from Paso with a strong following.

[Santa did not bring me this Gaja stash]
1997 Pacific Star Petite Syrah: These wines were brought out at Carlitos' holiday party (best one I get invited to attend). Carlos puts out non-Kirkland shrimp (in Carlos' view Costco shrimp are a little tired - agreed) that are plump and firm. A couple hours later out comes the filet side that is simply outrageous. Oh yeah - the wines. If you like under-the-radar then check out Pacific Star. Been around for decades. Mendocino Coast winery sourcing Mendocino County grapes. This is the first petite syrah that I have tasted that has been properly aged. Petite Syrah is a legendary grape in NoCal. It is one of those wines where it helps a lot to know the producer. And it has to age. Well this was pure cherry coal (there is that flavor again). My first one. I see what you mean brutha.

1997 Pacific Star Sirius Red: This wine was 40% Charbono blended with Cabernet, Zinfandel, Charbono and Petite Syrah. Charbono is another one of those field blend Italian farmer grapes that was on the table every night in the Cesare Mondavi and Cesare Gallo households. Classic. This was not cherry cola. It was more like a chianti, sweet-ish, light weight. No tannins. House red that goes with everything. I found a good news piece about Pacific Star that you can read here.

Sober thinking: The following entry was written several weeks ago as is my practice. I am writing this preamble following the most incredibly miserable week in the stock market in my lifetime. If ever there was a time for wines under $20 it is now. Like every business the wine industry will surely take a beating. We hope our favorite wine makers, importers and retailers will survive the shakeout that is sure to come. And that goes for our readers as well.

Next to corked wines and a busted cellar cooler in August, wines aging past their prime is one of the worst wine scenarios imaginable. Ergo Dotoré must purge his cellar of aging wines. tBoW has a few that also have to go. So we pulled corks over Labor Day and found several reportable selections.

1998 Talisman Carneros Pinot Noir $35 (today!!): Second vintage for a small production house devoted to Pinot Noir. Holding up pretty well for 10 years old but this is why we purge. Fruit is there but on the downslope. Napa vineyards planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are disappearing. Carneros has the best fruit. This is the second vintage (171 cases from this producer. Here is what a Talisman fan said about this wine in 2006 while tasting thru a vertical from 1997. "A nice hint of spiced raisin and licorice in the nose. Full compote of cherries, herbs and leather which picks up steam with air time. Plenty of stuffing left and thoroughly enjoyable. Impressive for a difficult vintage. A Hugh Hefner wine: showing a little age but still perky". Perky? I would be too if I had bowls of Viagra strategically placed throughout my home. Today Talisman bottles from multiple sources. 13%

2001 Longoria Fe Ciega Pinot Noir $: This is one of the venerable Santa Rita Hills labels. John Longoria has nearly exclusive rights to the Fe Ciega (blind faith) vineyard which is one of the oldest (at ten years) planted to Pinot Noir in the SRH AVA. He does sell off to other labels so one sees Fe Ciega vineyard elswhere. tBoW cannot recall tasting any Longoria wines so we pulled this cork with interest. Well-made wines often show best 7 years out. No science there. How about the wine? Can detect the alcohol in the nose though it is not pronounced. Good strong fruit without cherry or barnyard. The taste is distinctive and appealing. Dotoré, who contributed the bottle, says the wine does not taste like pinot noir. What it does taste like is a Maipu Malbec. Pronounced orange tones within rich fruit. The wine is ready tonight. 14.7%

2006 Cote de Nuits Villages Domaine des Tilleuls $30: A North Berkeley Wine Imports selection selected from Philippe Livera Fixin juice. To the knowing burg hound this means declassified Premier Cru. I like the earthiness and the lean sausage sauvage [ed. nyuk nyuk on the weird wine alliteration] . The nose is rustic and fruity with cherries in liqueur, leather and terra firma. Very fragrant. With aeration the red fruit (cherry) and violets appear. Second sips show more fruit and waxiness. xx%

There were a few other wines worth mentioning.

2006 Frederic Magnien Rosé~ $12: Purchased in a mixed case from go-to retailer North Berkeley Wines. Grapefruity, acidic, dry 100% Pinot Noir from a top Burgundian producer whose labels are more likely to read Echezeaux, Pommard, and Vosne Romanee. This is excellent Rosé and I would buy this again.

2004 J. Wilkes Pinot Blanc $18: Purchased in Los Olivos at a 2003 tasting with Jeff Wilkes. This was the only white wine we purchased along with several Pinots that should be opened soon [ed. think Turkey Day]. This wine has nto improved with age. Not that it is over the hill. It was just not a pleasing wine (for tBoW) when we tried it. I prefer Oregon Pinot Blanc. Or Alsatian. Not certain I liked this wine that much at the wine bar which means you-know-who tossed it in with the others. Not in balance. Too ripe. Flavors seem to peel off like paint in a Manhattan apartment. I am confident the Pinot Noir wines will show much better. Here is a nice piece on Jeff Wilkes. 14.1%

2001 Rochioli Estate Chardonnay Rich, still some tannins, Almost thick. Goes well with the sausage. Too sweet on the finish. Some woodiness lingers. I used to love these wines. Then I lost my flavor for them.This wine has some of the reasons [ed. besides changing taste]. Rochioli tries too hard to make great wine. This is their estate blend, not the single vineyard South River. The wine is too rich, too big. It is not a monster like so many others (one thinks immediately of Cakebread) but it is not a pleasure to drink.

2005 Williams Selyem Bucher VIneyard Pinot Noir $70: High tone New World baby. Rich, jammy, raspberries. Very fruity without being out of whack. Williams Selyem sources from enough vineyards to have its own appellation. Too young. Needed the aerator big time. 14.1%

1986 Chateau Canon Premiere Cru $340 today: From the depths of the cellar it came. A 22 year old St Emilion. Memories from a time when we bought the hype and hunted down First and Second and Third and Fourth growth mis-marks. I once grabbed a 1966 Chateau Montrose for $60 around 1983. And it was delicious. This perfectly stored Merlot is wasted on pinot-files or even worse cheapo-philes. Red brick in color. Impressive color and nose. Cedar. Camphor. Spicy. Very very nice right out of the bottle. Nose is more impressive than the first taste. Merlot fruit evident. Cannot be any Cab in here. Not a lean but a sinewy wine. The property is owned buy Chanel which is one of the problems with collectible Bordeaux. An international perfume company owns it. You think they bought it because they love the wine? Here is the other problem. What is being sold is not wine. It is a mirage. I clipped this note from a vertical tasting of Canon that went back 60 vintages. "...every young collector can already consider that in twenty to thirty years, he will drink wines which will reach the quality of the legendary wines of the twenties". Are you kidding me? Who would want that?!?!? What do we drink in the meantime? #&*^%$+*&^!?!$!!! 12.5%

When the world seems upside down it makes perfect sense to turn to wines we know and love. We feature a few of these "comfy wines" in this post.

Hot off the press. LA Times covers everything you have been reading for weeks about falling prices on trophy wines, the inevitable rise of New World wines under $10, and the reluctant cancellations of wine club memberships, on tBoW. Click here to read what we already know.

2005 Tablas Creek Grenache Blanc $26: Sweet, with bright acid grapefruit flavors. Released in 2006 this wine is drinking wonderfully, cellared for more than a year. Still has a hint of wood. tBoW taster Tootsie says she's had this before. It's Oroblanco grapfruit. Say what? "In Israel, known as 'Sweetie'. Mid winter Oroblanco produces sweet seedless fruit even in areas of low summer heat. Huge, intensely fragrant flowers and attractive glossy foliage." Read about all kinds of citrus fruits at the Four Winds Grocers website here. I bookmarked it. An omigod 15.3%

2004 Tablas Creek Panoplie $68: [ed. Alert reader points out tBoW missed this price point. This is the release price for TC Wine Club members Serious thanx for the tip.] The TC flagship wine blends 69% Mourvedre with 21% Grenache and 10% Syrah. Like the name it is a "magnificent array" of TC's top red vines. A classic Rhone blend only made in exceptional vintages. Differs from the Esprit de Tablas Creek in two ways: proportions of Grenache and Syrah are reversed and the Esprit includes Counoise. This is big and jammy right now. tBoW team taster the Crackberry Kid distracts himself from his 24/7 mainline to everything anyone needs to know long enough to say "Nouveau Beaujolais". Then he busies himself looking up how many home runs Dick Allen hit in his career. [ed. 351] The wine should age plenty more years. Goes well with thick grilled pork chops and grilled pineapple, onions and red peppers. But it is still not too big or overwhelming. Somehow it seems restrained. Could be the food! 280 cases. 14.6%

Both wines are delicious and encourage the tBoW tasting team that things will get better!!

2004 MacKenzie Mueller Carneros Cabernet Franc $27: Another fine effort. Dark red robe. Cinnamon and spice. Dark chocolate finish. Perfect with steaks. A tad hot at 15.2%

2005 Williams Selyem Flax Vineyard Pinot Noir $54: Beets and smoke on the nose. Rochioli broods while WIlliam Selyem giggles. Cherries and cola (but not cherry cola) flavors. Young enough to show some tannins. 14.4%

Late word from the Crackberry Kid...a panoply is...oh, we already know.

Scarface loses the election and gazes on our new world of economic chaos and the unavoidable destruction of a false history. tBoW apologizes for his morose mood. While I am happy with our presidential choice and hope his long coattail brings with it sweeping changes in our economy and political culture, I know the road ahead will be very rough.

Well. Let's talk about wines.

2006 Magnien Bourgogne $30: What's not to like? If you ever want to know the difference between old and new world Pinot Noir here it is. tBoW says this entry level wine is perfect because (1) the price/quality ratio is there, 2) the wine is very nicely made, and (3) it will drink well for a few years. Concentrated dark fruit we seldom see domestically (excepting McKenzie Mueller and other certain Carneros styles). Good spine-firming tannins. I held it four days after which it showed a spiciness. Selected by the team at North Berkeley Wine through their Beaune Wine Club which is one club I kept because they always send wines that have great price/quality ratio, $75 every other month. Delicious. 13%

2005 Anglim Viognier BIen Nacido $~25: Steve Anglim makes two Viogniers one each from Bien Nacido and Fralich vineyards. The Fralich is local to Paso and Bien Nacido is in northern SB County. Purchased this in Paso. Anglim did not have a "visiting" winery then. He had a retail shop in the train station. That was when he did everything from tend vines to bottle to pack cases to hand sell. He may still be doing it! This is a pretty tasty example of Central Coast Viognier. More candy cane than feline. Nice if you like Viognier. The alcohol, which is typically Paso, does not overwhelm. 15.3%

2000 Clos du Val Estate Carneros Pinot Noir ~$30: A guest brought this to dinner. Nice pick. Has the dark Carneros fruit reminiscent of a McKenzie Mueller Pinot Noir. By comparison, Acacia Carneros Pinot Noirs are quite fruity, a style that is not as attractive to tBoW. At 8 years it was showing very nicely. Cinammon and smoke are vineyard characteristics and present here. Clos du Val, started by Bernard Portet, is 35 years old, a real Valley veteran from the 70s boom years. They have 150 acres in Stags Leap and 180 in Carneros. He knew he wanted to make a Napa Cabernet and a Carneros Pinot Noir. Cannot fault his judgment. Clearly the Cab line is more successful. One rarely sees or hears from the PN line. A bit more rustic in style, earthiness not barnyard. Fell apart a bit after 90 minutes. Who knew Clos du Val had vineyard in Southern Napa? 13.8%

Dotoré reached deep into his double double cooler (wider and deeper) and came up with some real beauties for celebrating the holidays. Your humble blog-host reports on the premium treats along with a couple other not-so-shabby year-ending tastes.

2002 Domaine Huet Vouvray Petillant $27: Robust sparkling wine, lemon rind, simultaneously green and ripe. Every bit as wonderful as when we first "discovered" this producer and this wine in particular at Palate. A Robert Chadderdon selection. Chenin Blanc. 12%

1996 Frederic Esmonin Griottes Chambertin $100: Thin and undernourished like a fashion model in Vogue; an appropos metaphor since with Burgundy and Grand Cru vineyards like Griottes it is all about what is on the label. What happened to these wines in this vintage? 30 minutes later the wine opened up a bit and showed an exotic nose with black cherry and black berries. Too little too late. 13.8%

1996 Armand Rousseau Ruchottes Chambertin Grand Cru Monopole $130: Lean, showing its age. More structured than the Esmonin, soft with yam flavors. Red brown robe (like the Esmonin) indicates age past its prime. Flavor is more full than the Griottes. Suits the potatoes. Better of the two wines. 13%

CAVEAT EMPTOR: ON at least three occasions in 2008 we found disappointment with 1996 Burgundies from top producers considered among the region's finest. The vintage was simply less than stellar.

1997 Rochioli West Block Pinot Noir $250: Bourbon nose. Great contrast to the two 1996 Burgs. Towering, lean, tannic, deep pinot fruit. Burnt sugar cane, hedonistic. Full exudatum nose. Ripe and lush. Velvety, rich, exotic. Showing its age. Sour mash whiskey on the nose. "The perfect glass of wine" or just too ripe? Certainly one of the most widely collectible! 13.5%

The year-ending bottles included the last of a mixed case of 1983 Sauternes along with a fresh and lively California Pinot Noir.

2006 Nettare Carneros Pinot Noir $20: Carneros wine featured at the Napa Valley Wine Exchange in San Francisco. NVWE specializes in small production outfits and this fits at 112 cases produced. Sweet candied fruit, some smoke as we would expect from Carneros. A bit rough around the edges and still worth the price. 14.2%

1983 Chateau d'Arche $200: The end of a collection that saw the last 2 opened over the past holiday season. This was perfectly ready as was the Sigalas Rabaud. Honeycomb flavors which is to say there was waxiness and a raw essence quality to the wine. Extremely rich and concentrated. Another spectacular example of an outstanding vintage. The online price for the d'Arche is almost 10 times the Sigalas Rabaud. While the d'Arche is superior and more spectacular it is not so by a factor of ten. The readiness of these two wines contrasts with the relative youthfulness of the 1983 d'Yquem. This was an excellent investment and a strategy tBoW would recommend to any young wine drinker looking to put wines down that can be enjoyed in their glory at 20 years age. 12.5%

It can get pretty strange around this town. And the place where LA is most bizarre is a Lakers game. Blend Us Weekly with In Style with Enquirer and read the super rag in a celebrity cemetery. tBoW attended the only Lakers game he will attend this season. Kloe Kardashian sat 10 feet from Frank Robinson. That's right. The only MVP in both leagues and arguably the greatest pound for pound baseball player of all time; a Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux of an athlete. 10 feet from a Dubouef Nouveau Beaujolais. Guess who got the most attention. Not that Frank did not have visitors and folks begging for a photo. At the end of game (more ordinary like a Central Valley Merlot) the bored courtside photographers, who had been shooting the action non-stop, all turned at once and took their paparazzi shots of Lamar Odom's newly betrothed. One fan close to tBoW's age sitting nearby asked for Frank to stop and pose for his cell phone cam. Frank obliged. After all, the man won the Triple Crown the year he was traded to the Orioles and once hit back to back grand slams.

Now for LA weird. tBoW once watched Dom Delouise swallow a bird in front of a horrified crowd of parents at a school fundraiser, after Dom spun the bird on a stick in a way that would give PETA people nightmares. That's the warmup act. At halftime of the Lakers/Hornets game a very slight woman with trademark blonde curls, covered head to second knuckles to instep in sweater and jeans, made her way to the tunnel where the visiting team comes and goes. She waited. She never took her eyes or attention from the tunnel. She was close enough tBoW could see flourescent light bounce off her tight and tawny face. Her full red lips hovered like two engorged leeches between her Michael-Jackson-perfect chin and nose. The Hornets eventually returned to the court to sleep walk another 24 minutes. As coach Byron Scott appeared the 90 pound [ed. if that!] waif rushed to him and threw her arms around Scott's neck. She whispered in his ear and stroked his cheek until he smiled then disentangled himself returning to the bench. Sated, for now, she turned and headed to her baseline seat. It was Dyan Cannon, celebrity fan from the Showtime 80s who once got as much attention as Jack. I guess she still has her seats but feels obligated to cover up everything lest she be captured by paparazzi. They still care. Two "fans" behind me spent the game calling out new celebrities. Leo DiCaprio! Maria Sharapova! Toby Maguire! The back of Nicholson's head! When I checked they had never heard of Dyan or Frank.

Kobe had 26 in the first half. Robby is two years older than Dyan.

Now wine can certainly be silly but rarely is it perverse. Even the LA-based wineries do not sink to the depths our celebrity population finds so comforting. The closest we come is the all-too-common bombastic review, but these inspire more humor than horror. A top SoCal retailer pushed us to wikipedia to figure out what exactly is raspberry coulis!

The wine leads off with an enticing nose of violets and framboise followed by a creamy smooth, layered palate of black raspberry and black cherry fruit nuanced nicely with hints of carob, cardamom and cinnamon stick. The wine's velvety texture is a real turn-on while its long, even-keeled finish provides additional flavorful hints of milk chocolate, raspberry coulis and crème de cassis! The fruit purity at play here is simply amazing! So, too, is the wine's superb length and depth of flavor complexity.

Tanks gott for wikipedia: Coulis (kool-ee) is "...a form of thick sauce made from puréed and strained vegetables or fruits. A vegetable coulis is commonly used on meat and vegetable dishes...Fruit coulis are most often used on desserts. Raspberry coulis, for example, is especially popular with poached apples."

Oh. The wine was was sweet. At least it was $10.

2004 Foley Santa Rita HIlls Pinot Noir $33: Acidic, citric. The mid level Foley bottle which means it should be consistent. Does not taste like a Pinot Noir. Medium to lightweight body and getting thinner by the minute. Toted in by Dotoré who expected much more; has tasted much more from several bottles. Just not in balance. Not showing well at all. Is it breaking apart? Did not change with time in the glass. 14.3%

2006 Paul Lato Fiddlestix Sine Cerra $65: Paul Lato is one of the winemakers singled out by Haeger in hIs wonderful guide to domestic Pinot Noir [ed. that is, California and Oregon]. Of course, if you have been following tBoW for more than a year you would have read about Paul's wines in Jan 2008 and you might have bought some of his wines for yourself! Now everybody knows and his wines cost a fortune! And you cannot get them. Well this is one of those wines worth the steep entry price. The wine is transcendent. Dense and intense. But not lysergic like a Tolmach wine can get. Weight is light to medium. Fruit is SRH ripe but still showing Lato's restrained sensibility. Dotoré fairly flipped somehow finding vindication for the disappointing Foley. 14.7%

1999 Silverado Sangiovese $40 in magnum: For every exclusive and unavailable wine there is some throwaway loss leader that in order to acquire, just like the exclusive bottle, you gotta be there. This bottle in mag was on the counter last time we were at the winery. The price was right and we sprang. Missed our Turkey day plan to open it for at least two years only recently popping the cork. At ten years this wine is completely integrated. There are no tannins. It is a nice light to medium bodied Itaiian red wine. No acidic undertones. Nice Napa wine that complemented the lasagna. 14%

2002 McKenzie Mueller Cabernet Franc $39: Ripe fruit with typical rustic quality and restrained style. Bob Mueller makes terroir driven wines from a small farm in Carneros. They are built to age 5 to 10 years. He makes local, personal classic wines. Down home Napa bred. A real throwback and worth finding. Think of him as the Brett Favre of Carneros. 14.7%

The USC Trojan football season is officially over. RIP.