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

I am not finished with the recent entry about corresponding the wine to the season. The good dokker calls it wine intelligence. I agree. The immediate objective is to provide a few simple guidelines for how to know what to take to a wine dinner-slash-tasting. The longer term objective is to give some hints on how to enhance your enjoyment of wine.

The impulse that we must all fight is to take a heavy-hitter that we believe will guarantee savvy and breeding. Wrong. The better aspiration is to bring a bottle that fits a set of criteria, such as the taste of the host, the meal being served, the other wines, e.g., a theme‚ and the SEASON or time of year. Cabs in summer? Fogettum. Albariňo for Thanksgiving? Not really. Perhaps it is time for a seasonal wine chart instead of another tasting wheel? This past week we tasted an array of wines that showed intelligence on the part of the guests who trotted them out. Here are the notes. You can ascertain the reasons why.

2006 Chateau des Baumelles Bandol $16: Another rosé from Southwest France. I guess we will just keep drinking these until winter hits SoCal and the temps drop to 60 overnight. What is not to like? Well balanced with just the right amount acidity that, combined with the perfectly ripe fruit, gives the perfect mineral flavor. I liked this one quite a bit and will purchase some more. All rosés are not the same although they do share many similarities. And they seem most enjoyable in the summer season. 13.1% alcohol.

2005 Domaine de Fondreche Cotes du Ventoux Instant Rosé $15: The label with the cute "Instant" name says "for the American market." Great. I am buying. Cotes du Ventoux is in the Rhone region which is north of Provence. So what's in the bottle? Grenache, syrah and one or two more grapes in combo? Alcohol is 12.8%. Wine is more ripe than the Bandol above but you would still probably not mistake this for a California product. This is one of those rosés that supports the stereotype all rosés taste alike. Compared to the Bandol it comes in a distant second. I am glad I tried it. Purchased at the local premium wine store Woodland Hills Wine Company (but not a Steve tout!).

2003 Magnien Morey St Denis Herbuottes ~$20: Now this is smart wine toting. Bring this to a dinner to which you are invited and everyone will be impressed with whatever-heck-was-that-wine-you-brought. The designation (MSD) is lighter for red Burgundy. While Burgundy is arguably the most expensive and collectible region among wine cognoscenti, the region of Morey St Denis is not what the big collectors search out and bag like the big game hunters they are. Why? Because it is just an ordinary little village that makes great wines in certain vintages from the same fricking grape that goes into DRC La Tache or Romanee Conti. Some will laugh and more will scoff at my declaration‚Ķnevertheless, this bottle is plenty of evidence that what I say is at least worth looking into. North Berkeley Wine seems to have an exclusive with this producer. NBW selected the barrels and had it bottled just for them. This is the kind of red wine one can drink with sockeye salmon on a totally relaxed summer night discussing presidential candidates and children and/or choices in prospective spouses. Great nose, fruit is right there, violets, tannins. Good fruit flavors‚ raspberry? - right up front. Tastes like the best wines from the 2005 Beaujolais vintage. Even better. Holds up for a couple hours. Wonderful wine.

2005 Curran Grenache Blanc $24: My last bottle from the 2005 vintage. My experience with this wine is consistent as 100+ heat in Palm Springs in August. This wine needs time. I first tasted the 2004 at the Wine Cask March tasting and it was not appealing. I did not understand the grape of the wine, especially as constructed by Ms. Curran. I next had it at a tasting I put together at which Kris Curran poured the same vintage. Blew me away. Where did all the honey and peaches come from? I bought the 2005 and sat on it for 6 months. Drank it Thanksgiving 06. Perfect with bird and stuffing showing the same rich peach and honey flavors. Tasted the 2006 a few weeks ago and covered it here. Not even close to ready. But now I know better. This 2005 is now almost 18 months past release. Honeysuckle nose with acid evident on the nose. The wine is viscous, rich, exhilarating. We kept tasting it against the Morey St Denis. I know. Sounds silly but it held up impressively. Sip of Morey. Sip of Curran. Stupendous. Probably the two most memorable wines so far this summer (excluding the 1995 Dehlinger Pinot Reserve).

Part two in a couple days; a Santa Rita Viognier and a couple domestic Pinots.

Not one of the three wines reviewed is under $20. Not my fault. And, as you will learn, I cannot say I regret it.

During these dog days of summer when the temps hit 100 in the LA industrial interior you need a really good reason to drive 50 miles one way just to see some old pals starting a new wine venture. As I passed the Commerce Casino on a stretch of freeway where trucks outnumber automobiles I considered what I was doing here...so far from my pool and bike trails.

I was on my way for lunch with old friend and wine biz veteran Greg Gilooly and his partner Alex Correa. Greg is like the Hoyt Wilhelm of wine, well traveled because he can still throw the drop ball. If Greg is the cagey vet, then Alex is Tom Glavine, the steady winner. Greg has been in every part of the business and more than once in each. Want to know more? Founding partner in the Wine House, arguably LA's biggest wine retailer. They carry everything you would ever want. He owned a distribution company, a wine shipping and storage and another more recent wine retail shop. Now he is back in the storage and shipping business with WineBridge. He graciously invited me to visit the facility in an industrial part of LA most people pass through. Seems like there are two trucks for every car on that stretch of concrete.

After we visited, toured the "airplane hangar" perfectly temp controlled, and talked about trucking strategies, it was off to lunch at ABC Seafood in Monterey Park. For those not from these parts Monterey Park is home to reputedly the finest Chinese restaurants west of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Like Grampappy Amos used to say ("Luke...") "no brag just fact".

I was pleased to see that Greg's sense of direction was as bad as mine. Neither Alex or I offered advice being content to roam until we ran into the place. DokkerM would call this the way of men or something like that.

There are so many ABC restaurants in LA I have to wonder if the same thing happens in China. This is stupid of course since I cannot read Chinese script and Chinese people will say anything just to laugh at how stupid I am. Dim sum at lunch as one would expect. So good I tried to engineer a "special" birthday brunch for the subsequent Sunday for my daughter's 20th. But she saw through my ploy and we ended up eating pizza.

2005 Sea Smoke Ten: Brooding, serious, medium weight, one of the main the reasons Santa Rita Hills are a hot area for growing and producing pinot noir. There are tea flavors but mostly ripe SRH fruit. Winemaker Kris Curran is one of the important names behind the wine. The Ten is the high end bottling from 10 different clones in the estate vineyard. OK. 14.9% alcohol. Yow. At least it doesn’t burn. I’m probably a wimp in the eyes of SRH winemakers. http://www.seasmokecellars.com/sections/our_wines/tasting_notes.html

2004 Vocoret Chablis Vaillons Premier Cru: When did I lose track of these wines? I used to love Chablis wines. I think I memorized the Grand Cru vineyards. Maybe they got too pricey (likely) and I just burned out on white burgs (not likely). This wine was once sold by Greg G around $15. Today? $XX. It is not in the flinty style often attributed to Chablis. Has lemon nuance, ripeness, neither plump or lean. Was 2004 a ripe vintage? Absolutely lovely. 2005 village wine is $15. The Blanchot will run you $40 (but it is Grand Cru). You can still buy Vocoret at Heritage Wines in Pasadena.

2000 Uvaggio Il Leopardo: The question is whether the wine is tired. It is California Nebbiolo made by Mr. Jim Moore. The wine has sat in my cellar for a week with temp controlled. It is brackish red in the glass. The nose is delicate, suggesting something aged but not retired. The flavor is aged Barolo, lighter, delicate, familiar flavors of rose and tar. Delicate. We start lunch with this wine and finish with it 90 minutes later, still charmed.

All three wines were excellent with the dishes of BBQ pork, broccoli, shrimp and some kind of shellfish dumpling. I selected cubes of bean curd with sesame flecks for desert. It tasted like sesame gelatin and looked like opaque pepper jello. It was terrific. When do we go again boys?

Send my ribeye to the house of detection. I have eaten my last meal in a big deal steak house. Honk if you have had it, too. The place? Mastros. Not the Beverly Hills location but does it really matter? Go to the website and Sinatra is playing and that is part of the problem. The concept of high rollers, rat pack, swingin' down the lane - it seems so silly unless it's Halloween. Ring-a-ding-ding. I do not care if the beef palace is Cut or Flemings or Arnie Mortons or Nick and Steph. [I will reserve a last chance for N&S never having eaten there, not to mention the wife ate there and liked it]. However, having written that, as it were and if you will...these places are smoke and mirrors...and more than I can handle. And I will throw in a "there you go".

Our dear dear dear friends asked us to join them for a birthday meal (probably for the last time now!). We love them and they are always great company so of course we accepted. They did not disappoint. Cannot say the same for the joint and the meal. The problem for me is I just don't get the $500 meal any more. Maybe I would if it involved fresh truffles 36 hours airlifted from a Piedmont field and shaved over my pasta. But, a Kansas City ribeye? BFD. Or Kobe prime? SFW. I cannot digest this stuff anymore. It gives me g-a-s-s. I rolled in the bed all night. Got up twice to just to see if I could evacuate (as we say in the hospital). Fuggedaboudit.

The steaks were cooked perfectly. It is just too damn much. Sides included mashed with lobster chunks. I felt nauseated hearing the waiter roll it off her tongue. Birthday boy hit that pile like Keith Richards found his lost nickel bag. G'head! They should be serving nitroglycerin on the side.

It actually helped when the entrees arrived before the salads. Our host thankfully chided the delivery guys and sent the steaks back to the kitchen. Next thing the matire'd is tableside gushing apologies. With a promise that he would "make it up to us" we relaxed and the wives were able to shelve their embarrassment at my pal's show of masculine restaurant decorum.

By dessert I was in a cholesterol/diabetic fog. I think the coffee was good. The wines were outstanding. Here they are.

2001 Ojai Vineyard Close Pepe Pinot Noir ~$40: We toted this in figuring it was worth the $25 corkage. And how about the new corkage retaliation? I guess these big ticket steak brothels figure they need to squeeze every bit of cash from their customers so they have jacked the corkage fee to discourage folks from bringing their own trophy cab that is too young to drink anyway. This would be less objectionable if a wine list was in place with a selection that complemented a $125/plate. Like the basic fare, the list exchanges imagination for label flash. But I digress. This wine was outstanding. Adam Tolmach is a master winemaker working with fruit from one of the top three vineyards in Santa Rita Hills. More importantly, Wes Hagen the grower (can you guess which is Wes?) and Adam T the winemaker share a stylistic and personality kinship. Adam is somber. Wes is lyrical. Both are serious experts at what they do. This wine will take more age and I would like to have several more bottles even though they will easily break the $20 limit. This wine moves to the "hunt list"; a small and distinct list of wines for which I am always on the hunt. What else is on my hunt list? Ask me another time. Adam extracted lots of fruit from the Clos Pepe tonnage which is his way. The wine has aged enough to show some dried flowers character. Cola and sour milk flavors sounds absolutely disgusting but that is my best description. This comes from very ripe fruit. Only 200 cases. 14.5%. For some fun and to perhaps learn a bit more about Wes and Adam be sure to read Adam's "tasting notes" from his website.

2003 Nicolas Potel Nuits St George $105 (on the list): Delicious wine. It is the "village wine" from Nicolas Potel who is a newcomer in Burgundy (1997). 2003 was an unusually hot vintage. This wine was ripe with lean characteristics of northern Burgundy. It was balanced and tasted like French pinot noir. Cherry and blackberry fruit. Tannic but no barnyard. If you like Nuits St George, which I do, then this wine is very pleasing. Retails is in the $50s so Mr. Larry - birthday boy - picked a value winner.

Our hosts were the best company as always and, along with the wines, the best thing about the dinner!

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.

Like many middle-aged empty-nesters we faced a typical Saturday night choice: watch another boring division series baseball game or enjoy a dinner prepared by Jackie d'Occitan with wines selected by her shadowy husband Michael du Nawlins. Not even close.

Michael was decanting the 1983 Grahams Port (definitely not U20) when wife and I arrived well ahead of the other guests (the Scourge of Mastros and his wife Letty). Naturally I poured a small taste of the Grahams immediately seeking a reference point when I hit this again much later. Spectacular. Rich nuttiness. Cherry and mentholatum not unlike cough syrup. Loooonnnnngggg finish. Next taste in three hours with cigars. Michael bought this from his local wine retailer, Liquid Wine & Spirtis in Chatsworth CA. Excellent wine store where one can always find something unexpected, unusual and often spectacular. Here are some notes from a tasting of the 1983 oporto vintage. Very nice!

Cheese, olives and crackers was accompanied by the 2005 Cargasacchi Pinot Noir (also not U20). Mike pours it blind. Oh my goodness. Exotic spice in the nose. Not cab. Not pinot. Not syrah. What is it? Mrs tBoW says allspice aromas. First taste reminds me of fruit cakes at Christmas. Cinnamon, gluwein, lipstick. Wildly exotic wine from Peter Cargasacchi a wildy exotic winemaker from Santa Rita Hills. Tannins emerge after 20 minutes. This will go awhile. I believe Michael bought this on subscription from Caragsacchi through Peter's Point Concepcion Point Concepcion wine label. For me this was the most remarkable and memorable wine of the evening. Truly exotic.

Dinner time. Michael serves the NV Veuve Clicquot. $34 at Costco. The orange label. Toasty citric. A bit harsh. Orange fruit flavors. Michael suggests tangerine. OK. Goes nicely with Jackie's platter of duck fois gras, peppercorn pork pate, beets, and carrot shavers.

Jackie serves poached salmon and spinach gratin for the main course. It is perfectly prepared. Delicate. Nice to not get beef again. Love that. Thank you M&J. Michael serves the 2005 Domaine de la Motte Premier Cru Chablis Vauligneau. This is covered in a preceding report. Costco purchase and the hands-down U20 value for this evening and many others to come.

Jackie serves creme brulee' for dessert. Since I am waxing on Rieslings Michael pulls another surprise wine out. I have had it before but do not recognize it until I spot the bottle lurking behind him. The nose is rich and oily riesling. Pomegranate, grapefruit, very ripe. Oops. That gives it away. The nose is too ripe for the color. It is the 2004 Rideau Riesling from Santa Ynez. The flavors of peppermint and pear are nice but they do not fulfill the promise of the aromas. He has dropped his subscription even though they do have a new winemaker. The pedigree is there so they could and should get better. Worth a re-visit.

Michael decides if I will not drink the riesling then he will put the 2005 Inniskillin Cabernet Franc in front of me. I am just at my limit for more rich food so I pass on the dessert and the riesling (given the choice it would be Jackie's dessert). But I do taste the Inniskillin.This is a wine I would never buy simply because it is too widely marketed, too corporate (I am such a snob about being snobby). I figure if I see it in an airport duty free store... So I must at least try it. I am surprised and pleased with the low level alcohol at 10.5%. This is rhubarb pie in a glass. Strawberries, chambord, strawberry jam. Everyone plays along thinking of flavors. This is the hardest thing for shy wine drinkers to do. But it so simple if you just un-dam your memory pool. This is nice wine. Costco? I do not ask. But if the Kirklanders offer it a really great price...it was awfully good.

The evening closes upstairs with cigars on the patio with the fireplace going - I know, a dream home and it is. We return to the 1983 Grahams. It is still delicious and worth another small glass.

Fall approaches and the holidays are a'coming.

1994 Leroy Pommard Les Vignots about $200): Fuggedabout da price. First some catty background. Madame Lalou Bize-Leroy was drummed out of DRC, Burgundy's most coveted house. She focused on her own label Leroy with ferocity. That's it for the gossip. This link is much more informative. You can also read about the 1994 vintage in Burgundy here.. All this reading suggests the vintage was not that great but that great producers made great wine despite the climatic challenges. Reading also suggests Leroy has re-released many older wines of late making wines like this one available when they would otherwise not be available at all. As the fellow who introduced Dotore' and I to Burgundy said when we asked the price for the bottle of heavenly exotic flavors he had just poured "it's not a question of price, it's a question of availability". As for this wine...it was very interesting and wonderful. The difference between Tia Maria and Kahlua is the caramel in Tia Maria. This wine has that Tia Maria quality. The longer it was in the glass the more the caramel flavors emerged. Color shows aging. Nose was profound right at the start. No barnyard. Lean, sinewy. Attractive for a middle-aged gal just like the proprietress. I'm a chauvinist! I gottatellya it was harder finding a photo of the Madame than Adam Tolmach and that was near impossible.

1998 Franz Hirtzberger Smaragd Hochrain Riesling $18: "The hills are alive..." This is the Wachau Valley in Austria, close to Vienna. It is the most famous wine growing region in the Sudetenland. You may have read how I love Austrian and German Rieslings. This wine was an example of why. It is spectacular. Ripe green apples on the nose and in the mouth. Beautiful golden color. Weighty in the mouth. Clean and crisp. Like Irish Spring!! My wife, my daughter PeeWee and I tasted it. Even PeeWee's boyfriend had to sniff it. I think PeeWee finished it off. This is 10 year old Austrian Riesling at its finest. Hirtzberger is a top line producer and this is a great effort. Look at the family ferchrissake. Adieu! Adieu! To yu and yu and yu-u! 13.5%. Wish I had some right now. Check out their website. Even if you don't read German. Better yet, let's all go there next Spring.

1999 Ojai VIneyard Chardonnay Clos Pepe $27: This wine was a s#225B60 at this price. Got it at Wades Wines which is a local emporium for domestic wines. He also has some very nice champagnes (single vineyard) but he is primarily renowned for his California selection...which is outstanding and very fairly priced. Igottatellya (dontcha know people who talk like dis?) this wine is 8 years old and there is a ton of oak on it. Color is golden. Nose it subdued. The wine is not balanced but it is not out of whack either. Just oaky. The chard fruit is there. No California tropical flavors. More mineral. Clos Pepe and Cargassachi are two of the best vineyards in Santa Rita Hills and Adam Tolmach is a grand master of central coast wines. So this wine should be in perfect balance, right? Fortunately, Adam is very detailed and forthcoming about his wines and explains why it may not be. His own tasting notes are here. It is worth the effort to peruse Adam's website. I would say he is more candid on his website than in person. Here are his thoughts on winemaking. "I like to think I am the master of my own destiny. I have my vision of the ideal wine, and I know what to do to help insure I get the desired result. You obviously need great vineyards, low yields, and delicate handling of the wine in the winery". See my recent review of his 2001 Clos Pepe Pinot Noir. That wine was delightful. What happened with this 1999 chardonnay? I cannot say...but...unlike the 2001 Pinot Noir this wine does not make the hunt list.

Along with great meals, close friends, good cheer and all of that...holidays at the end of the year should include giving to others. Many have their favorite charity and many do not. Please check out my good friend's website www.givr.us and sign up to give something to someone you never knew existed but who you also know can use your help. The site is a networking center that connects those who want to give to those organizations that give to those in need.

Happy Turkey Day!! 386 years and counting of stuffing the bird and ourselves!

Here are a couple of recently tasted wines that probably will not make it to the celebratory dinner table. My list of wines that will are at the bottom.

1997 Dante Rivetti Bricco de Neueis Barbaresco: Not a U20 wine ever. However, it got into my cellar somehow (I am pretty sure it was a K&L purchase). Barbaresco is known for producing premium nebbiolo as in Barolo with the aging potential but without the brute muscularity of Barolo. Barbaresco is "feminine" in style. I always feel like Jeff Garlin when I write this. Feminine versus masculine? In wine? Silly? No...useful. Let's bring up an important question every wine aficionado faces sooner or later. Do you prefer wine older or younger? Masculine or feminine? Luca Brasi tells Marlon Brando "gawdfadda may your first child be a masculine child". Wine goes well with imagery. You will enjoy it more if you embellish it (true for many things). If the development of a wine were plotted on a curve it would look like some kind of parabola. Some wine writers like to refer to a wine as being in some developmental stage like adolescence, young adult, octogenarian, and the like. Once you set a model in your own mind you can begin placing wines as you drink them on that curve or in that stage of life. You might find, as I did, that I prefer a wine in its young maturity, like a 35 to 45 year old person. Still vibrant without the youthful blush. Exceedingly thoughtful and definitely capable of surprise. Muscular or sinewy. Charming without being nostalgic. These are wines before the crest of the curve. They are not yet in the descending plateau of middle age (45-55). We could go on and on, conjuring images of people who we liken to our favorite wines. Send in your thoughts. I definitely do not find wines advancing in age to be very interesting. They require too much support. I would not say this about older people (like myself!) but it is true that aging can bring many more disappointments beyond rescue. So it is for me with wines beyond the crest of the curve. Parabolas, people, gangster movies, find a metaphor and work with it! This 10 year old Barbaresco was browning at the edges with age. Weight is fine. Fruit is good with the pressed roses and minerality. I thought about the 1996 Ruchottes Chambertin recently tasted and considered how similar are these two wines. Both past their prime yet still stitched together like a fine ladies purse from the 19th century. The Barbaresco even had some baked bread on the nose. Otherwise the nebbiolo was like they say, textbook, and Dotore' picked it out right away. Barabrescos do age faster as a rule and they are not the same in depth as Barolos. This wine is more than ready to drink. I really should not wait too much longer...and I will not.

2003 Justin Cabernet Sauvignon ~$25: Bought this at the winery which
means we paid top dollar (>$25). Not my pick so that means you-know-who (she who cannot be resisted) had to have it. I did not find the wine interesting on site and I did not find it interesting with veal chops and mushrooms, lovingly prepared by you-know-who, which is a dinner this wine should complement perfectly. Justin is the premier cabernet grower and producer in Paso. I think Paso is not and never has been (e.g., HR Mountain Ranch) good cab country. Even though Justin does the best job of it (there are other collectible cab blend wines from Paso) and sells a lot of wine and has a very nice winery that should be on your tour...I just am not fond of their products. So bully for me. There are plenty of folks who love Justin wines, think my opinions suck, and I am glad for them. This wine had a tinny high acid flavor and not much of a nose. The fruit had a touch of veggie which is typical of Paso Robles cabernet (and Santa Barabara, too, as long as we are calling out regions where certain grapes just do not flourish). 14.5%

2005 Blaunfrankisch Burgenland $22: Not sure what to make of the producer as it appears to be a cooperative effort among Austrian producers. However, the wine is easy to appreciate. Blueberries, cool weather fruit. Some pepper but not sharp or tart. Nicely made wine. Easily the most fruit forward Austrian red I have tasted. Something like being the most flamboyant CPA. Blaufrankisch is a popular grape for Central Europe wine regions. Perhaps related to Gamay which we like mucho.

2002 Clendenen Family Vineyards Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido Petite Verdot $24: Bought this at the Wine Cask Santa Barbara Futures Tasting in 2004. Wife picked it out and she made a great choice. Fruity spicy nose. Red berries in flavor. Cranberry and raspberry. Some sharp acid. Robust. Has aged well and will continue to. An unusual bottle but then Jim Clendenen is not exactly shy about trying something different. Only 100 cases so this bottle would be difficult to locate.

Now here is the Best of Wines thanksgiving day wine lineup. I will be toting the following wines north to the home of Uncle Alan and Aunt Betsy in hopes these humble gifts will complement her home cooked turkey and Kirkland lasagna!!

REDS
2004 Cote de Tablas
1997 Dante Rivetti Barbaresco
2000 Parador
something I buy at Kermit Lynch and/or North Berkeley

WHITES
2005 Domaine de la Motte Chablis Premiere Cru Le Vigneau
1990 Prince Poniatowski Aigel Blanc Mouelleux Vouvray
2006 L'Uvaggio di Giacomo Vermentino

DESSERT
last minute decision drawing from a nice batch of California stickies

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.

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.

One of the early sequences in the Monty Python epic "The Holy Grail" is the "bring out your dead" scene (youtube link brings instant gratification lads and lassies). I am not sure why that scene reminds me of my Christmas Day party. Maybe because the day offers a few chuckles over some kinky exchanges. We had both this year with the surprise arrival of Little Stevie who moved to Paris several decades ago and made a life as a successful photog. Check out Steve Murez website. In the course of his very cool career he has been retained by the Wine Spectator to shoot wine dinners at 3 star Michelin restaurants around Europe and in the USA (that would be New York mainly). I wish I had pressed him more for Speculator stories. He did say something nice about Jim Suckling. He strongly suggested I rent Mondo Vino which is the Sicko of the wine industry so I could learn about the cozy relationships between big advertisers and high ratings. I will watch it. I already know that the Wine Spectator is the last place I would look for touts. I used to subscribe to WS and the Underground Wine Journal. More of that some other time. How interesting that Mondo Vino is also the name of a hot shit Denver wine shop (inadvertent web surfing outcome).

James Suckling has a blog where it appears he posts often. He lives in LA. His wine beat is Bordeaux. He posts vids (5 seconds with winemaker for Leoville Las Cases) which is cool. They were tasting the 2005 Bordeaux vintage. He tasted 900 Bordeaux wines in 12 days. This is a curse. He must be the Lebron James of wine tasting...skills and stamina beyond what is ordinary for the world's greatest athletes. The vids have decent resolution which makes me wonder what camera he is using so spontaneously. Maybe I will start doing vids! Check out Jim Suckling's blog. I expected much worse (some compliment, I know). In our wine tasting clique the Wine Spectator is the progenitor of everything wrong with wine. We certainly did not originate this idea but we do subscribe to it. I'm not saying I now am a reborn Bordeaux fiend. But I was pleased with what I found.

My beat is my Xmas party and the top wines were white on this day!! I have tossed in a couple reds from a dinner two nights later that are worth covering.

1978 Dom Perignon: Look what the Doc dragged in! Not a wine one sees every decade. Dotoré pulled it from Ma and Pa's closet. Looked to be in perfect shape from the condition of the box. Foil was flimsy but not stuck to the bottle so moisture contact was eliminated as a spoilage threat. Cork came out easily but not in a way that suggested leakage. Ullage (empty space at top of bottle created by normal evaporation) was absent, another good sign. We poured. Tiny bubbles rose to the top of our flutes...and kept rising. Brassy color like a slightly red lager. Caramel on the nose. Oxidation. Apple and cinnamon in the mouth. "The nose of history leads to mystery" said the Divine Ms. M who arrived early enabling her and her Rock to imbibe this rarity. And she was on the money. DP is the most widely known champagne in the world thanks to 007. The wine is a mystery to those drinking it for the first time because it is so damn expensive. But catch a sip and the next mystery hits; the wine is also quite austere. We saved a taste for Dotorés spouse who fashionably arrived 90 minutes later. We had to bring out the dead Dom as all life has passed by then.

Rene Geoffroy Rosé de Saignee $60: Purchased at Wades Wines on Wade's recommendation "20 cases came into the country; the French Laundry got 10 and I got the rest". First wine opened at Dr. Del's dinner party. Pink light strawberry color. Fresh, refreshing flavors. Delicate tang. Pinot Noir fruit from a premier cru vineyard. A non-U20 wine worth the splurge. Imported by Michael Skurnick Wines.

2006 Auvigue Macon-Villages Vendanges Manuelles $15: Manuelles means this is a hand-made wine. Outstanding value. White burgundy well made, balanced. Woodland Hills Wine Co purchase recommended by the redoubtable Steve Goldun (now shortened to WH/SG). Lemon rind, acidic, some bitterness but not off-putting at all. Fruity, steely. Loved it. I hope this is an indicator of what we can expect in wine bargains in 2008. Hardly seems likely given the dollar/Euro exchange rate. Here is a wine blog by someone who loves wines by Auvige. Worth reading, of course.

2005 Chateau d'Epire Savannieres $18: Dotoré loves to surprise me. And I love that. Here is one great example (there is another coming). This Chenin Blanc is downright feral. It actually reminds me of a Nahe Reisling. Oily, petrol. Also has grapefruit flavors. Exotic. The term I like is foxy. These are wines that do well with age. Drinking them now is interesting but they really turn out richly with time. Dotoré read this Slate article and took a leap. Nice hops my freng.

2001 Ipsus Passito $8/500 ml: The season's second miracle...a decent bottle of wine from Trader Joes. Can TJ's reclaim the mantle now covering Kirkland shoulders? This is a fine desert wine (muscat) from Sicily that brings dried apricots to your tongue. I read some pretty nasty reviews on the web that will probably deter me from buying more. Nevertheless, the bottle we had was just fine. Maybe it just goes well with honey-baked ham and tamales. Maybe it got better (passed a dumb phase?) after TJ got it on close out. Hard to beat this quality/price ratio.

REDS

2005 Chateau du Hureau Saumur Champigny $16: I get almost giddy when I learn a wine I tasted is a Charles Neal Selection...like this one. We were guessing what was the grape and ended up with Gamay and/or Cab Sauvignon (snobbily consulting the Hugh Johnson Atlas to learn these are two regional grapes). WRONG. This is 100% Cabernet Franc. I like cab franc a lot. Actually I prefer it to cab sauv. The Charles Neal site has an excellent description of the Chateau du Hureau and his wines Solid, middle-weight effort. Good plain fruit. I mean not tricked up with oak or over-ripeness. Cocoa in the mouth. I will be stocking up. Compare to domestic effort from Foxen below.

2005 Passopisciaro Rosso Sicilia $32: A WH/SG selection (haha!). Steve sold it to Dotore' telling him to think Pinot Noir. Well it has the weight of Pinot Noir and something like the game-y fruit. But the white pepper is not of Pinot Noir. But I like it in this wine. I do not usually describe the label but this one is worth it. Like medieval graffiti. LA Times food and wine critic S. Irene Virbila gave it an enthusiastic review. For pure style appreciation check out the Passopisciaro website. Molto forte!

2003 Foxen Tinaquaic Cabernet Franc $20: 140 cases made in 2004. Purchased at Wine Cask Futures tasting. Rich in nose and flavor. New world wine richness. Ripe, almost jammy. Black cherry, coffee/toffee. Middle to heavy weight. This is really good wine but I think I prefer the Saumur. Still, Foxen makes very nice wines, has a vision, and is located in really pretty country.

One more Python video... Only a flesh wound!

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...

It is the worst of times for home prices. They just keep falling. It is the best of times for the best of wines. When wine prices start sinking that is a good thing. Excellent wine values just seem to keep on coming. When we started this blog we thought we were busting new ground. Not exactly. Looks like we were just feeling the pulse of a wine market losing its glitz. Good!
The absurdly priced trophy wines need to clear out. Mondo Vino is correct. Robert Parker is narrow-palated. Storm the Bastille of Bombastic Bordeaux. Beaujolais, Cote du Rhone, Languedoc! Savoie, St. Chinian, Minervois!

Here are some recent tastes while preparing another Molotov for the aristocratic folks over at World of Wine!

2002 East Valley Vineyard Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir $30 then: Kudos to Wades Wines for bringing this one to our attention. Dave Dascomb has a day job at some technology firm in Goleta. When he isn't building GPS (spy) satellites he tends the family vineyard up in Santa Ynez. He makes the wine too. Rustic, simple, deep Santa Rita Hills fruit. This vintage produced 55 cases. Can you buy better wine for $30? Maybe. But can you buy better Pinot Noir from SRH at this price? Not likely. I would buy this one again. 14.2%. Low for those parts.

2004 Perrin & Fils Chateuneuf du Pape Les Sinards $23 (Costco): Grenache from the homestead of the Tablas Creek partners. Softer than Paso juice. Lovely perfumed nose. Doughy. Lip smackin' good. Smooooth. I know it does not sound appealing but I am left with the impression of doggy biscuit on a long finish. I guess that is some dusty earth. Definitely resembles the TC style. 14%

2005 In Extremis Chateau d'Agel $23 (Costco): Minervois wine of Syrah and probably Carignane. Very tasty. Rich red "robe" (color). Black berry nose with spice and pepper. Minervois in the Languedoc is known for more mineral and leaner wines. This is not exactly that. Must have been a hot harvest?
But it ain't Parker either. And I will tell you something else - somebody is buying some really interesting wines for Costco. Like this little gem. I am seeing Rhones, the Sud. I would not be surprised at all to find a Hermitage Blanc soon! Tasting just perfect for the summer that is threatening to break out now here in SoCal. 14.5% alcohol.

And one for the road...
2003 McKenzie-Mueller Malbec $30: As I am getting ready for a trip to Argentina I have decided I need to become at least a bit more familiar with the Malbec varietal. Bob Mueller makes this wine in each vintage. Nice red fruit nose and flavors. Cinnamon, allspice and tarry finish. Reading tells me tar is not unusual in the more extracted style. Not a fruit bomb nut kinda fruity. 14% Cant' wait.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This year was the 30th anniversary of the Playboy Jazz Festival. It is a day in the sun with "mature" party pipples including the tBoW crew. We bring plenty of wine, cheese, a camera and binocs because the best performers are not always on stage.

The festival lineup follows a rather inflexible format: 3 or 4 new performers paired with seasoned tigers fill the first half of the day. Then there is a dinner act followed by the pop stars, a "classic" vet, and closing with a crowd pumper (Tower of Power this year and they did pump). The downside is minor if predictable. Bill Cosby, exercising his traditional emcee role, puts together "his" ensemble of local premium performers who jam under the name Cos of Good Music. The indulgence is tolerable because the ensemble features truly great musicians (such as trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire) who, having never played in one group, are compelled to exhibit their talent in featured solos.

The other "anchor act" is the "nostalgia" performer. This year Al Jarreau filled that spot and he was truly awful. He complained about "performers touching their privates". The LA Times reviewer loved him which means he had a stringer web in the report. If Jerry Lewis has a musical counterpart it is AJ.

The big question for the day is not where to park but what wines to bring. Matching includes food (we are toting), the weather (hot and sunny), and the acts. Here is what we came up with in 2008.

2004 Arbois Traminer by Stephane Tissot $20: Supposed to be Savagnin (huh??) but it tastes like white Burgundy. But from Jura France, a region on the Swiss border east-southeast of Burgundy. Plenty of acid but not like the Basque wines. Tastes a lot like old world chardonnay. Dotoré - "very well made but not my favorite grape". 13%

2007 Bandol La Bastide de Blanche Rosé $19: Dry, strawberries, pale salmon color. Floral flavors, taste the alcohol, almost hot, at least lukewarm. Put it back on the ice. Too acidic! Ultimately, we do not "get" Bandol. Our expectations seem to exceed our experience consistently. It is not like the winemakers fail to aim high. They just do not seem to hit their mark. 13.5%

Served with the Cos of Good Music (see above). Aim high...fall short. Except this year with Auntie Renée Resnes on piano and Cos doing his best T Monk impression on drums.

Fortunately, the performer of the day was working hard so the weird Rosado was quickly forgotten as Hiromi and her crew of 2 gave it all they had. She is a youthful ball of energy who plays piano like a bumblebee in a free fall. She plays with lightning speed and melodic thunder. She topped her performance in 2006 which was powerful enough to steal that show as well.

2007 Avinyo Vi D'Agulla Rosado $15: Phawn-keee. Weird. Volatile acidity? No it's a spritz. Strawberry jam. With something weird. Plasticity in feel and flavor. 100% Spanish Merlot from Penedes. Ugh. IF this has to compete with Moscato d'Asti...fuggedaboudid.

2007 Txakoli Gurrutxaga $13: Pure grapefruit juice from the Basque country. If you like acid in your wine the way Hef likes blonde bimbos this is the wine for you. The wine is still light on its feet and tight! 10.5%

It must have been the wimmin's hour as Hef and trio arrived around the same time the all female 16 piece band from New York DIVA took over the stage.

The ladies were tight and ready to let it all go. Hef and crew were gone in two hours while DIVA showed real moxie. You can keep Kendra and MIss Sugar Kane; I'll take DIVA's bass player! [ed. tBoW a big Some like it Hot fan]

2002 Babcock Cargassacchi Pinot Noir $30: Possibly the last pinot to come out of Santa Rita Hills under 14%. This wine has followed a precipitous road since futures purchase in 2003. Wine of the show at the Wine Cask's SB Futures Tasting (so said-eth tBoW's tasting team). The wine immediately entered a dumb phase that cost a couple of bottles and hours of worrisome lamenting. "It's just dumb. No it's freaking awful". Happy to see things are back on track. Too bad we lost our flavor for SRH pinots! Expansive nose that keeps growing. Cherries all over. Soft smoky smells and flavors. Powerful and rich. Could be a Syrah it is that dense. 13.6%

The wine went perfectly with the paunchy punchy homeboy Pancho Sanchez, timbales maestro. Cos re-emerges with a cow bell so he can party with Pancho begging the question...is he buzzed?

Not reviewed but putting in good vibe...Dr. John, Robert Glasper and RnR who will definitely be headlining Vegas in 24 months if not sooner.

As the Presidential campaign comes to a crushing close we are asked to focus our remaining attention muscles on voting. tBoW urges every reader to follow the same principles in voting that we advocate in selecting wines. People who "buy the label" will vote for the candidate with most seductive TV ads. They will be as disappointed in their candidate as they will in their wines, forced to utter platitudes and faith-based claims that they made a great choice. Folks who read a little will buy a wine for which they have a pretty good idea what will come out of the bottle. They will vote with what's left in their wallets for a balance between quality and value to the consumer. Trust and value and an informed position. Not the "razzle dazzle" Chris Matthews has tattooed on the McCain campaign. [ed. cantcha see Sarah P in this? yoobethca!]

Here are some "blochbustah" wines tBoW has been tasting on the campaign trail.

2007 Rusack Santa Barbara County Rosé $12 (at the winery): Raspberry and peach color. Soft watermelon gummi bear flavors. Made from Syrah and Grenache but you would never know the wine is so delicate and soft. Nice effort. 13.1%

2005 Koehler Syrah Estate $32 (at the winery): Big thick "man's wine". Syrupy and spicy. Hot on the first taste (high alcohol). Blends in with the powerful, brooding fruit. Think Ludwig Von. This has the best and the worst of Santa Rita Hills wines. Blow you away fruit with bowl you over alcohol. 15.1%

2004 Domain de la Chapelle Les Gallieres Chinon $15: Perhaps it was a mistake opening this after the Koehler. The wine could not stand up next to the dark and forebearing Syrah. This is Cabernet Franc however it is harvested not very ripe, somewhat lightweight. Not very much fruit flavors. 13%

2004 Chateau Gaillard Saumur $15: Dirty, flat, uninspired. Because this bottle was purchased from the same wine shop and said wine shop recently lost the clerk who had a sense of what tBoW liked and personally had tasted many of the wines in his shop...it reinforces an important principle of wine shopping. If the Prime Directive is find a shop that carries a nice array of interesting wines, the the Prime Prime Directive is find a sales person in that shop whose palate matches yours. If both conditions can be met then the likelihood of buying two dog wines like these at the same time from the same shop is greatly reduced. 12.5%

2002 Ojai Vogelzang Syrah $33: Unusual nose of garlic salt. Briny and earthy. The Vogelzang planting is in the southeastern corner of the Santa Ynez Valley where it is hot hot hot. The flavors are berry berry full of berry. Smoky, skunky, funky. The wine is well made but not too appealing at this point. Have had this more than a year ago and liked it better. 14.5%

1996 Chapoutier Chateauneuf du Pape Barbe Rac $112 (online today): The ringer, big ticket. A birthday gift to ubiquitous tBoW tasting team leader Dotoré (thank you). A "luxury" cuvee. Classic white pepper all over the nose. Idiosyncratic to some. Elegant to all. Liquer richness and intensity. Seems to be perfectly aged right now. Does not fade quickly. Holds up throughout the meal. Excellent French Syrah. 13.8%

Here dey come. You know what I'm talkin' 'bout.
HOLIDAYS. So get out your stocking hat and start diggin'...see what you got layin' round the cellar, or stuck back in the closet. Guests comin' and they have expectations! Here's a couple snorts tBoW found for hanging out on Jay Z's yacht when he runs out of Cristal.

2007 La Yunta Torrontes $5: Leftover from the Argentina Discovery. I am pretty sure I found this Torrontes in a local Chimmichurra market. Hails from the La Rioja region which is halfway between Mendoza and Salta (northernmost wine region bordering Bolivia). Juice from the 40+ year old vines is aged 6 months in French oak. Pretty fancy! And it tastes good, too. Bright, lemon-lite fruit. Fresh, good acid backbone. Excellent wine and before the meltdown I would have said outstanding value at $15. A definite re-buy and a strong candidate for the end-of-year-two Best of tBoW wines list (summer 2009). The alcohol is also commendably restrained at 12.5%

2007 Andaluna Torrontes $10: FINALLY. After striking out upon return from Argentina with NO HELP from the Andeluna distributor I found this wine on clearance in Bristol Farms. The wine is pale toned. Bright fruit with typical Torrontes acid. Citrus flavors. Firm. Torrontes remains an undiscovered grape that easily fits with the world's most versatile varietals. Love it. Read what tBoW had to say about Andeluna following his visit there. 13.3%

The next three wines are Pinot Noir representing California's three principal growing regions known for Pinot Noir. These wines make a worthwhile contrast of the regions' qualities.

2002 Ojai Vineyard Clos Pepe Pinot Noir $50: A wine with this much pedigree must deliver on its promises. Of course, we have had so much disappointment lately with big pimpin' (spendin' the G's) pedigree wines that we now approach them with caution. Here is Adam Tolmach, legendary practically-a-hermit winemaker, original Rhone Ranger, crafter of the original "acid" wines so intense they were hallucinogenic. Then we have Wes Hagen, famously meticulous grower extraordinaire of SRH Pinot Noir, winemaker at SRH flagship winery Clos Pepe, notoriously enthusiastic La Purisima golfer. Something great had to happen. And it did. At six years the color is dark, the juice is viscous (thick), and the nose is...slightly closed. Earthy, spicy but not like a Pinot Noir. Smells like a Bordeaux. But it tastes like a Pinot Noir. In fact it tastes like the quintessential big and brooding Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir. At first the flavor profile is narrow, singular. Closed. Then she opens and she is big and beautiful, still lean and smoky with gorgeous fruit. And the alcohol is acceptable at 14%. A very good job all round!

2004 Davis Family Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir $35: Ripe, in your face, up front fruit. Bright and showy. A crowd pleaser for wine drinkers in love with the style. Not nearly as intense as the Ojai Clos Pepe and certainly not restrained as the next wine from Oregon. However, the wine has its own charms; great pinot fruit, moderate alcohol, and easy to swallow. 14.1%

2005 Belle Pente Murto Vineyard Dundee HIlls Pinot Noir $34: The very successful birthday tasting where we broke out the 1998 Lange Pinot Noir prompted an immediate tBoW hunt to assess the current state of Oregon Pinot Noir. We learned you will not find many U20 wines. But you can buy wines at the $35 price point that are very nice. This is one. The fruit is sourced from 6 acres devoted to Belle Pente in the Murto vineyard. This is their 10th vintage. Current 2006 release is 828 cases. Recommended by venerable Woodland HIlls Wine Company staff the wine showed dark color and a peppery nose. Initial flavor has some green olive. The wine showed complexity opening up to reveal mild smokiness and deep dark pinot fruit. Definitely a New World wine and definitely without the ripeness seen with both SRH and RRV efforts. tBoW would return for more, especially in the current economic climate should it go on sale! Note and applaud the low alcohol. 12.9%

Turn tough times to good times. Purge the cellar. Hold onto cash. As with everything there is risk. Cellar purging has the risk of finding forgotten wines. The last thing we need today is another letdown.

Feces occurs so often that when it does we think in familiar ways, like why we thought the wine would be GOOD. Good pedigree (Alejandro Fernandez), good score (Parker 91), good story (bottled only in the BEST vintages). How did we lose sight? How did we let a good wine go bad? Here is my story.

1996 Alenza ~$60: Once upon a time this was a great tempranillo. Highly touted. Soft and smooth like a...like a...complete that on your own. Blame it on tBoW. He sat on it too long. As I pull the cork I pray this one will tell me the other 2 bottles were corked. Painful truth. The wine is just over the hill. Like a Republican candidate. Dies faster than a vampire born with a stake in its heart or a November World Series. Within minutes it tastes tired, gnarled. Like it just wants to fall into the abyss without notice. [ed. getting a little dark here] The real bad news is I still have 3 bottles. Family holiday gifts!?! 13%

Another equally maudlin story is a one-hit-wonder wine always on the fringe, in the periphery. A notorious loner. Like the Shangrilas (who had a string of hits) said "he's good bad but he's not evil". Tell me mo' tell me mo'....


2003 Melville Verna's Syrah $56: Bought this bad boy at the winery just as tBoW was beginning to fall out of love with Santa Rita Hills wines. Sterno alcohol levels were not yet the baccio dela morte that killed the romance. This is the second bottle tasted in 24 months. Tastes a lot like the first one which is pretty good! Jammy to be sure. Dark dark fruit. Coffee flavor. Distinctive like Melville says. The 100 acre vineyard is not located in Santa Rita Hills proper but rather outside the tine town of Los Alamos (click here for clarifying map), on the way to Santa Maria north and east of Santa Rita Hills. There is plenty of good growing turf outside SRH. We wish other local winemakers would adopt Paul Lato's point of view that the regional fruit is big enough and should actually be toned down! This wine, however, reflects the prevailing POV where bigger is better. Not quite bombastic, the Melville wine would not look out of place under the wing of an Apache Longbow. As we threw down the mother-of-all-over-the-top-wines we wondered what would the Kenneth-Crawford team (aka Kings of Extraction) do with Verna's fruit? You can find out yourself. Their current release includes a $34 Verna's Syrah which is actually good value for the region. The ankle bracelet is extra.

Every motley crew has one decent player. In this group it is a wonderful Italian white wine that Costco carried all summer. [ed. imagine an entire generation only knows Motley Crüe the Hollywood band. Click here if you MUST see the Dr. Feelgood vid]

2007 Falanghina dei Feudi di San Gregorio $10: Coco-nutty and floral nose with key lime flavors. After lying open a few days it tasted nuttier and just as good. Great value. The story: only the "free run" juice goes into the bottle. The varietal is Falanghina. The vineyard has 20 y.o. vines. Viva Italia and viva Kirkland once again. 12.9%

2002 Marques de la Concordia Signa Reserva $16: We will be seeing more of these kinds of wines. Gelsons Market special. A Mrs. tBoW impulse buy. How bad can it be? Well, tBoW is not fond of Tempranillo. I find it to be fairly undistinguished among red wines. Fruity, moderate flavors. Middle to heavy weight. This wine is 100% Tempranillo, aged in the high profile oak program. A bit overripe for my taste. Nice enough but I know there are better wines to be had out there. Like the next one. Aged in new French and American oak. Six years later the oak has given up the fight and the raisiny fruit has won. Worth $8 so at this price it is overripe and overpriced. 13.5%

2001 Marshall Cellars Juliet Peery $10: Now this is the kind of deal we are actually looking for...and expect to see more of. A good wine that went bad because nobody would buy it at the posted price. Don't blame the wine. 1500 cases of this vanity project with a bottle you can heft to the oldies. And so handsome! Wide at the shoulder, tapering down to the punt. Clean label design quietly announces its presence. Recommended release price $55. What do you think Whole Foods had to pay to put this out at $10? Marshall had several hundred cases still in warehouse from a phenomenal vintage and said "get rid of it". Lucky for Whole Foods and lucky for us. To quote
Dotoré the Discoverer "it's the kind of wine you can take to a holiday party and nobody will know you paid $10". Sometimes he is so shallow...but always correct. Because the wine is good. Eight years later the Bordeaux blend still has legs after several days with just a cork in the bottle of steel. Napa floor and Carneros hills fruit with serious tannins that have mellowed but remain present, if less feisty. Great Napa premium flavors with enough Merlot and Cab Franc (24% combined) to keep the Cab in its place. 14.3%

tBoW feels the Winter thawing. The financial markets may still be in the dumps however if you are sitting on some cash it is getting time to think about scooping up the coming bargains. Here are some guiding examples of what you might look for and one you might avoid.

2005 Prodigal Pinot Noir $30: The first vintage from a winemaking guy who dropped out, got his PhD and a veterinary medicine degree only to return to the vineyard 40 years later. This is the Appellation (lesser) wine; only 275 cases. The Estate is better but the 2006 is even better yet. Translation: we need to get the 2005 vintage out and raise some dough for the next series. Unfortunately, the 2005 appellation wine could not be more ordinary. My local vendor who I am trying very hard to get on board with has put tBoW on another weak tout. While I am happy to help this academic turned farmer get started with my purchase of his entry-level wine I wish it was sold that way; "here, this guy who blew off his advanced degrees needs our support". For Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir it is indistiguishable. Sometimes with SRH wines this is actually good. It is not over-the-top-ripe. I guess at $30 it is "fairly priced" but for $30 it is not priced fairly when I can have the next wine down for half. Some barnyard, some cherry, mostly kind of bland. Just not very interesting. Maybe I am just cranky. 14.5%

2004 Mas Carlot Les Enfantes Terribles Costieres de Nimes $12: Got this at the established local vendor Woodland Hills Wine Company. Parker gave it an 88. What does a Parker 88 signify? Certainly this is a "so-what" score. Nobody is running to the local wine store to find this little gem. He talks earth, ripe and no hard edges. Actually, the wine has a definite bretannomyces flavor thankfully on the good side of brett. It is ripe and it is soft. 50-50 Mourvedre and Syrah a blend I like. I would not buy it again but I would buy it before I ventured twice the funds on another SRH Pinot Noir of which I never heard. 14%

1995 Alessandria Barolo San Giovanni $48: Got this from Mission Wines in South Pasadena. I rarely get over there any more but I did like the store. The Allessandria wines are not well known outside Barolo. No big name cachet. However, they can be lovely and this is a case in point. tBoW loaded up on Baroli from 1993, 1995, 1996 and 1997 following a 1999 trip to Piedmont. These wines are ready to go. Some are past ready and have been described. This Allessandria is small production Barolo in the modern style; i.e., they age in barriques instead of cement vats. Check out the photo of traditional aging items taken in Piedmont in a very famous and big name winery. This wine is past its prime, brick red color, yet it still offers lovely delicate fruit; with an aroma sometimes referred to as dried flowers. It is delicate. There is cinnamon. It is lovely. When I have a Barolo like this one I understand why Barolo is referred to as the Burgundy of Italy. Although Nebbiolo and Pinot Noir are similar in weight they do yield quite different aromas and flavors. They also share the same ability to evoke exotic and delicate flavors, excellent balance, lightness and delicacy like a dandelion flower floating by on a late spring afternoon. 13.5%

2000 l'Uvaggio di Giacomo Il Ponte $21: Swell opportunity to revisit this bottle which tBoW has enjoyed since its release. Found it languishing in a local wine shop. The color is a vibrant deep dark red brick. The nose is full and rich. The wine has matured beautifully. It drinks very well. Is it a Super Tuscan ala' Tignanello or Sassicaia or Flaccianellla? No. It is Jim Moore's take on what can be done very well with Tuscany varietals grown in Napa and environs. At this price it is a very good bargain and definite U20+1. Excellent bottle. The winemaker shows off his graphic chops with the label he conceived and designed. If you track the entire almost wrap-around label you will see how the Golden Gate bridge blends into the Ponte Vecchio. NIce.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone in love who reads this blog.

The Holidays are over. Everyone breathe a big sigh. Eleven months before the intense commercialization begins again. Dotoré already senses the approach of a long summer. The best thing about the Holidays for a wine aficionado is the chance to taste stuff that would otherwise go unnoticed, even avoided. There are always surprises. Here were a few of the last we encountered.

2002 Elevage Stags Leap District Napa Valley Red Wine $70: Why why why? Another Meritage with rich Napa fruit that is not quite in balance and is priced way beyond its relative quality. There used to be a modest if unnecessary 9-hole golf course on this property now planted to modest if unnecessary vinifera. This is the winery's Bordeaux blend, something once known as a Meritage - is that term still in use? tBoW opened this alongside three 2005/2006 Beaujolais wines, a 2006 Gigondas and a 2005 Argentine Malbec; each around $20, light to medium weight, internally harmonious and at peace with the food. These other bottles were drained by red-wine-crazed VINpires [ed. VINpires - © that] and the Chimney Rock was shoulder-full four hours later. 14%

1983 Sigalas Rabaud Sauternes $16 in 1985 and about $80 online today: This is why you should come to this wine blog; to read about a rare and extra special late harvest French wine like this one. Note the original price tag on the bottle. Very few wine drinkers consumed sweet wines in the mid-80s and the same holds true today. This wine is stupendous. Incredibly rich, definitely liqueur-like in its intensity. Rich ripe peaches drenched in honey. Pooh Bear would flip out. Golden brassy color. Thick. Spectacular. The wine is absolutely perfect right now. You can be sure there are not many wines that can go 25 years and hold it together like this. Naturally we must compare it to the 1983 Y'Quem opened over Labor Day. The Y'Quem was still young. This wine is ready. Otherwise, these wines are equally wonderful in what they present. Testimony to a truly special vintage. 13.5%

Thoughtful recess: Why is it more wine drinkers do not enjoy dessert wines? This is perennial question ignores the principles of price/quality relationship. The two wines above illustrate the good fortune for those who know better. The Sauternes is from one of the top vintages in the past quarter century. The Napa blend is from an ordinary vintage. There must be about 100 times as many Napa cabs available like the one reviewed as there are quality Sauternes, Barsacs or Cadillacs. Read this enlightening piece from a fellow blogger that articulates the differences. In the matter of Chimney Rock vs. almost any old Sauternes, the Napa blend wine is difficult to distinguish according to most criteria while the other is distinguished simply in terms of limited availability. The same is true for Port. The exception within dessert wines as a class is Auslese level Rieslings considered by some to be the choice when you-can-only-take-one bottle-with-you. You do need a crowd to finish a 750ml bottle of French sweet wine but tBoW can only think of a very few with whom he might share his 1983 Maximin Grünhaus Riesling Auslese. 14.5%

2006 Alma Rosa Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir $29: Richard Sanford rises like the phoenix with his new Santa Rita Hills winery. This is a modest effort, fruity and straightforward, cherry flavors. As notable as the wine are the screw cap and the low alcohol. 13.9%

2006 Nagy 2 Garey Ranch Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir $30: Winemaker form Byron Vineyards. Husband and wife tram from Byron and Bonacorsi, respectively. Low production, interesting wine worth a plunge. Masculine style, dark color, dense liquid. Somewhat feral, slightly rugged and sinewy. High toned fruit, plums, dark fruit. Quick finish. Finally a good pick from the new local store! Nice. 14.5%

2004 Cargasacchi Pinot Noir ~$40: This is the first Cargasacchi 2004 Pinot Noir tasted and his first release. Peter C is a grower whose grapes are highly coveted by California's foremost Pinot Noir winemakers. He does not appear to release the wine to critics for scores. Good. Peter's wines under the Point Concepcion label are fairly forward while remaining distinctive. Mrs. tBoW once described the nose on a young PC Syrah as reminiscent of her hair salon. Hold that yech. It was not bad. Just funky. The eponymous label is more serious. tBoW tasted and reviewed the 2005 version in a former post. The 2004 is stylish, almost elegant. Formal. Structured. Moderate smokiness, strong dark fruit. Bacon fat and tannic. Seductive and masculine. If Point Concepcion expresses Peter's playful and quirky side then the Cargasacchi label is all about his very serious and intensely focused persona. He will probably be upset I did not use the label image from his website. Glad I am holding several more bottles. If you would like to sample Peter's wit click here. 13.7%

Allimant-Laugner Cremant D'Alsace Rosé $16: Steal of the holidays. Fresh, sweet. Pink and brass color. Cherry fruit, pomegranate too (acidity). Tart. Loving this. tBoW made the commitment to half a case. Found it at Palate Wine shop although K&L also has it (for a couple bucks more!!). 12.5%

2001 Cap de Faugeres Cotes-de-Castillon $20: Picked this one up at the new Wine Cask "outlet" in our neighborhood [ed. parent is in Santa Barbara]. The Wine Cask was never about its international selection. However, there seems to be a move afoot to enter the U20 market. The buyer has yet to impress with the U20 selections. Internet notes for this wine describe a dense, dark wine when released in 2002. Tanzer reviewed it and liked it kind of. Scored it 85-ish which is kind of OK. Six years later it remains a serviceable drink. Nothing great. Here is what tBoW thinks of as he sips this wine. How many richer, fruitier Napa wines are there (it is a cab blend) that are no more memorable and pricier. Two for two for the locals. 13.5%

Lets' get something straight. The idea that the quality of a wine increases in lock step with its price is specious. It should be obvious to readers of this blog that there are plenty of good to very good to downright ridiculously good wines that cost less than $20. We cover a few (of course) on this post. However, the suggestion that the cost of a bottle of wine is a necessary and sufficient condition denoting quality is.....what is the word.....S-T-O-O-P-I-D.

Better criteria include region, i.e., where the grapes are grown; grower, who is the farmer and what are his preferences in wine growing practices; winemaker, what is his portfolio; and finally price, are we being asked to pay for advertising, vanity and a private jet. And if you can't dig the detail then you can take the shortcut and simply buy the importer.

[ed moment: Slate magazine's wine editor Michael Steinberger posted a recent article on this very same idea of "wine shopping shorthand" first proposed in tBoW in Oct 07 and Jan 08.]

Robert Mondavi was the greatest wine salesman ever. He created the "wine lifestyle" market which prompted a steady rise in prices without regard to quality or the other criteria listed above. Enter the new frugality. And new criteria for gearing down without losing quality and pleasure, courtesy of tBoW.

2006 Vinsobres Domaine Jaume "Altitude 420" $13: Purchased at K&L wines in Hollywood. Classic Rhone blend that tBoW loves; 60% Grenache, 40% Syrah, 30 year old vines. Gunflint nose (some would say pencil lead), blueberry flavors. Lots of spine (or grip if you are manual). The point is it has backbone, strength, goes past front palate. Typical pepper. Terrific wine. Outstanding value. 13.5%

2007 Doña Paula Estate Malbec $18: tBoW took the wine guy's word at the local Whole Foods and bought this bottle. The kid was on a roll after touting tBoW on the successful Nanni family of wines. Of course, those U10 wines make this look like high end juice. If I was buying wedding wine I would go with the Nanni Tannat for the red and the Nanni Torrontes for the white. But, if I was going to a summer BBQ (plenty of those coming up) with folks I did not know I would bring the Doña Paula. If it was in arm's reach. Here is what you get. Caramelo (not quite Carmelo Anthony), cherry flavors, classic Mendoza Malbec. A winner among the lumpen proletariat. 14%

2002 J Wilkes Pinot Noir Block Q Santa Barbara County $34 (we got a holiday deal): The expanded tBoW tasting team visited Santa Rita Hills in 2004 over Turkey Day. Jeff Wilkes offered to meet us at a Los Olivos tasting room where he poured and chatted for an hour. He told us his story how he went from marketer (18 years!!) for the 800 acre Bien Nacido vineyard to becoming a winemaker. It happens. Makes you wonder if he figured this ain't so tough and I know where are the best plots in the vineyard anyway so why not just buy the juice and put out my own label. We tasted his Pinot Gris and several of his Pinot Noir "block" wines. Intensity on the nose with citric scents. Not quite Pinot. Flavors are equally intense. Focused. Brambleberry and blackberry up front and parsley on the finish. The wine is exotic, delightful, intriguing and delicious. After 7 years it is showing beautifully. Bag it we are taking it home. Nice job J. Wilkes. Note the production was tiny at 215 cases. Worth searching out. Pricier now. 14%

1998 Bert Simon Weingut Herrenberg Serrig Würtzberg Riesling Kabinett $18: Picked this up at Palate after sommelier Steve Goldun poured it with our crab salad. Impressive. How many wines can work with any salad? tBoW has a weakness for the Mosel region. Even though this particular wine is from the Saar tributary, it is still a Mosel. German Rieslings from the Mosel are arguably the greatest wines in the world. The statement seems more than a bissel silly since how can anything be the best in the world? I realize the argument is fun to have...the best car, the best beach, the best Cabernet wine. If you said Mosel produces the best Rieslings in the world tBoW would enthusiastically explore the point. This wine is a perfect reason why. A ten year old Kabinett from a lower profile producer (pronounced See-moan as in Nina) that shows spectacularly. While German Rieslings are recognized as wines that can age beautifully - improving with every decade especially in the case of Auslese from the best vintages - Kabinett wines are for earliest consumption. They go 5 not 10 years. But this one has and it is special. The nose is dried flowers. There is a ferric quality that recalls rust. The color is somewhat rusty and perhaps the flavors are so suggestive they conjure unexpected memories. The slight petrol nose one associates with Saar wines (see Zilliken) is there although muted. The wine is perfectly balanced. At its peak right now. Somewhere between Washington and carb apples. Outstanding. 8.25%

Here are a couple of sites to brush on German Riesling wines. This quick and dirty overview is on the Wine Doctor's blog. Rudi Weist, the importer of this bottle, has many features on his website including this recondite slideshow. And finally, a blog that discusses Bert Simon and this wine (among others). If you read one make it this one.

WEEKEND UPDATE ON UPCOMING 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.

Winemakers are somewhat like doctors. There is a lot of talent in the pool but the great ones are uncommon and especially hard to find because there aren't any bad winemakers. Think about it. Who ever says "I have a horrible doctor" or "she is an awful winemaker". There ain't no sech animal. [ed. here is a doctor right now who knows the difference - and where he belongs - in front of Kenneth-Crawford "winery" in Buellton]

Family docs (like big house winemakers) are never stars. We need them and value them but all we are looking for is reliability over time, no diagnostic mistakes, and the ability to make a good referral when one is needed. The grind-it-out primary care guy keeps the whole thing going but the specialists are the stars. In wine their equivalent is the boutique winemaker. If you ever needed a surgeon or a specialist, then you will recognize how everybody you know wants to send you to their knee guy or shoulder cutter who is always "the best" in his field. How do you really know? How can every specialist - or every boutique winemaker - be the best?

If doctors ran baseball [ed. here he goes] every pitcher would go undefeated and every batter would hit a thousand. Same with winemaking. Every boutique has a star winemaker. And like Helen Turley or Michel Rolland s/he is all over the scene. For the record, consider three under-the-radar winemakers Jim Moore (l'Uvaggio di Giacomo), Bob McKenzie (McKenzie-Mueller) or David Croix (Camille Giroud). Virtually zero hype, comparatively small operations. Consistently fine products at multiple price points.

There is really only one way to find the "best" doctor. Ask his peers. Or try her out. Fortunately, you can try winemakers out at much lower stakes than doctors (see above three examples of low risk and potentially high payout). How would we know when we have found the best winemaking specialist? How do doctors know who is best among their peers? The best ones keep showing up at the most important meetings where they are the speakers. In wine the best winemakers show up on everybody else's label without being named because the other label owners know who is making the best wines. Until they finally start their own.

Kenneth Gummere and Mark Crawford Horvath made wine for other labels in the Santa Rita HIlls for at least a couple seasons [ed. probably still do]. They formed their own wine label Kenneth-Crawford in 2001 when they released their fist few bottlings. Their style is in your face overwhelming without being too bombastic. In a word their wines are seductive. They immediately impress. They are voluptuous. They make you want more. They also tend to be high in alcohol but the fruit is so pure that the 15%+ alcohol levels are seldom an intruding presence. We report on two wines made by the duo; one under another SRH label and one under their own.

2003 Babcock Cargasacchi Pinot Noir $30: This wine was tasted and purchased at the 2004 Wine Cask Futures Tasting, now an event of the past. The 2004 tasting was the first of three the tBoW team attended. This wine was the star, the find, the wine that tBoW and Dotoré had to have. The wine went through a dumb phase lasting almost two years when it was just awful. [ed. AWFUL] Patience has been rewarded. The wine is showing reddish-brown brick coloring. The nose is caramello. The alcohol is detectable but, characteristically for these guys' wines, not weighty enough to make the wine go tilt. The dumb phase is thankfully past! This is brown sugar, sour cherry, spicy and beautifully balanced. This wine is at its peak. The remaining bottles will be gone by Labor Day. 13.8%

2004 Kenneth-Crawford Evans Ranch Syrah Santa Rita Hills $50 (good luck finding it): Bought this one the following year at the same tasting. This was also the last tasting at which we purchased wine. The last year we attended, 2006, the selection was more limited and the winemakers started holding back their best wines. We can say now (although we understood it then) it was the beginning of the end. Another sexy, luscious wine. Full and warm. Floral nose with a capital F. Alcohol present but in check. Like a cool mountain spring in the mouth which for a full bodied red is remarkably refreshing. Wonderfully balanced. Rich flavors, dark fruit, middleweight. The wine reminds us that Syrah is truly the best varietal coming out of Santa Rita HIlls. Just enough acid to keep you sharp. 15.3%

Then there are the family docs of wine. Here is the Nanni group from Argentina's Cafayate Valley. One year ago tBoW was touring Mendoza and loving it. The posts that followed positively gushed with praise and wonder. We did not get to the Cafayate Valley which is near Salta in the northwest corner adjacent to Bolivia. This region looks like a must-visit; high mountain desert (6,000 feet plus), endless arid valleys filled with vineyards, 37 bodegas including Bodega Nanni. Happily, there is plenty of info to be found on the Internet so you are encouraged to go forth and seek. Special thanks to Nikki Knaddison at Denver Spanish House for help learning about Bodega Nanni and all things Latino.

Here are a couple of excellent links: A two year old travel blog that stopped at Bodega Nanni and explored the Cafayate Valley. Nice photos. An excellent cultural site that describes the Bolivian Indian influence is found here. I really like the link at Denver Spanish House. She describes other wineries in the region.

Highlights for Bodega Nanni are organically farmed, 400,000 bottle boutique all local production, family-held for nearly 100 years. tBoW bought the three workhorse wines at the local Whole Foods. Here is what we found.

2007 Bodega Nanni Torrontes $8: You read it right. These wines are absurdly inexpensive and represent the best quality/price ratio since this blog began. Torrontes is a Spanish varietal long disappeared from Spain, decimated by phyloxera. It does exceptionally well in Argentina and especially in this arid high mountain region. This wine is fresh and fruity similar to a Quince wine. A bit tart. Oily texture. Middle weight. 13.3%

2006 Bodega Nanni Malbec $9: Get used to it. This is what these wines cost...over here. Very rich and ripe, almost syrupy. Dark berries abound. Dark chocolate. A chocolate covered cherry in a bottle. Dotore' offers "this year's Malbec is last year's Cabernet Franc." OK with that insight. 14.2%

2006 Bodega Nanni Tannat $8: Another surprise. This is very good Tannat. Must do well in the climate and location because tBoW was not impressed with Tannat tasted in country. This has dark fruit, blackberry. More substantial and better balanced than the Malbec. tBoW remembers the Malbecs from Maipu near Mendoza as particularly charming. This wine is preferred to the Malbec. 14.3%

Everybody knows fine wines are supposed to change over time. The wine's aging process is, for many oenophiles, an essential component of what constitutes "fine wine". However, as long as we are getting anthropomorphic about it, how about some zoology; what about a wine that, over time, changes like a chameleon? Schizophrenic does not fit the wine tBoW has known and documented over enough years - reviewed below by Dotoré - to understand that when Dotoré says the wine is "strenj" he writes with authority. Keeping with the theme tBoW covers a couple other wines recently tasted that are unusual. We like unusual but we also know a Dr. Evil concoction when we taste one.

2003 Babcock Cargassachi Pinot Noir $30 (at the 2004 Wine Cask Futures tasting): Opened this wine the other night (still have 1/2 bottle left for tonight and one other in the cooler). Lots of lessons in that bottle. Wine is really idiosyncratic, almost strange. Very big and multi-dimensional. ŰberPinot. Candy tones reminiscent of WS, but complex like Rochioli. Alcohol not particularly high, especially for SRH, but, for some reason, I still taste it up front. Truth is, not my favorite and, stylistically, a bit of a disappointment. Of course, Mrs. Dotoré loved it. I just don't think it captivates me the way that Burg, or recent Oregonians for that matter, would. To date, my favorite local Pinot (read not Russian River) is made by Paul Lato. Go figure.

2008 Scaggs VIneyard Mt Veeder Napa Valley Grenache Rosé $15 in 500 ml bottle): Pale pale salmon color. The alcohol is prominent even though the wine is chilled as recommended on the label. Gives the wine a smoky but not hot quality. It is somewhat sharp. Upon warming up a bit the wine is much more agreeable. It is not at all sweet. You might call it a "serious" rosé. I am unable to think of another "serious" rosé, in fact, I would regard such a contradiction in concept. Dotoré might tag it "flod". Yes, this is Boz Scaggs label. He does not pretend to be the winemaker which is admirable. 14.1%

2004 Bennessere Zinfandel $20: Just to show that wines which do not taste as expected are not always "off" here is a zinfandel that tastes like something other than zin. And it is 5 years old. The Bennessere label may not be widely recognized. Perfectly delightful wine. I look at the label expecting to see Sangiovese or Barbera. The winery specializes in Cal-Ital and his is definitely on the Ital side of that equation. These are 82 year old vines from St. Helena. Soft tannins, maturing fruit. No raisins or prunes. Proof that Napa really is a winemaking region with ROOTS. 14.6%

tBoW wishes to share a contemporary note on recent social events from Dotoré: The loss of a cultural icon is always felt throughout society. When an artist's work spans generations it is never surprising to observe widespread anguish especially when a lifetime of tragedy and dubious choices is overshadowed by the monumental work of a career. We add our thoughts and prayers to the collective consciousness and bid a heavy-heart adieu to musical pioneer and hitmaker, and LA legend, Sky Saxon.

What happens is you start going through Youtube and before you know it there are two more vids that just gotta get posted.

LA the city as brasserie. Flames fan the hills. Corks get pulled. Once for Dotoré's 60th. Again for RB's departure. Friends mix, barely familiar. Zins and Cabs here. Pinot Noirs there. Fruity whites cross all snob lines. Wine greases the wheels. Everyone loosens up. Even the tighties. Almost everyone. Birthday boy pulls the cork on two Melville bad boys. tBoW pops a double mag and a 26 year old port. Different fetés. Same classic soul mix with 60's thrash. Dotoré and tBoW the only fans.

So what got poured...it's all right here.

1997 Ca' Moreis Sandro Fey $50 (jeroboam): Poor man's Barolo from the region's best producer. Middle weight Nebbiolo from the Italian Alps. Not meant to age so no wonder the color is brown and red brick. Coffee nose, herbal flavors. Soft, lean. Balanced, spicy. A perfect night to pull this cork. 13%

2009 Crios Torrontes $12: Susan Bilbo's classic white from Argentina. Drink it now. Fresh cantaloupe in a glass. Cousin Gar asks if it is Viognier crossed with Riesling. Nice instincts. Every new winemaker should start with Torrontes - the wine you can't screw up. 12%

The guests will eventually dictate the wine lineup so you know in advance what you'll be tasting. At the birthday this meant a descent into big fruit Napa wines...and a couple of bad boys from the Central Coast.

2004 Vincent Arroyo Entrada Napa Wine $65: Mostly Syrah (62%) with a solid Cabernet paunch 23% and a 15% Petite Syrah kick. The only big California grape left out is...that's right...Zinfandel. Carob flavors, i.e., dark chocolate. Thick, heavy weight. Reaching for the Silver Oak style. Not much tannin. Heavy wines should have tannins or they come off mushy. Are you ready for the sex girls? 14.3%

2005 Quintessa $55: Big ticket Napa Bordeaux blend. Lots of Merlot in the mouth. Soft delicious fruit. Balanced. And mushy. 14%

2002 Melville Carrie's Pinot Noir $60 (at winery on release): The LEGEND. The wine Dotoré had to have or be hounded by fever dreams. This isn't wine. It's MMA in a bottle. Seven years ago it was brutal, nasty, ready to take off your head. Now it is somewhat weedy. The fruit has yielded to the alcohol. All that's left is vanilla from what must have been a thorough oaking. Deliciously stupid. 16.1%

2002 Melville Carrie's Syrah $55: A wine only an investor could love. I like to imagine this is the wine that drove the family apart. Like it's sister the Pinot It is just huge. Together these bottles are the Williams sisters of wine. 16.1%

As though the fires in the hills extinguished and a strong ocean wined blew all the smoke somewhere over the desert...there was one more entry.

2006 Stevenson-Barrie Willamette Valley Pinot Noir $32: Cuzzin Gar slipped this one in honoring the Pinot lovin' Dotoré. After having our palates carpet bombed this excellent Oregon wine helped tBoW re-calibrate. Coming from the fruity ripe 2006 vintage the wine actually fit in well. Creamy oak, smells and tastes like PN. 14%

What do you do when the "revenue river" decides he should redirect his course to the Middle East? Same thing we do every weekend. With a bit more subdued crowd, selfishly selected to suit tBoW's taste. The wine choices were more familiar. We skip the whites report except to say there were two goodies: a 2005 Macon Village from Kermit Lynch, matched with a 2005 Dirler Pinot Gris from Alsace. Both were quite pleasing, a cut above and U20s.

2006 Williams Selyem Westside Road Neighbors $100: The first time tBoW has tasted this blend of Russian River premium Pinot Noir. Tannic, exotic, viscous, Plums and blueberries. This was an exciting bottle. The most notable WS tasted in quite a while. 14.2%

1996 Rochioli Three Corners Vineyard $475 (?!?): The wine held form like we would expect from California's most collectible Pinot Noir. Sweet flavors, slight volatile acidity. Focused and balanced. Coffee and toffee flavors. 14.2%

1983 Smith Woodhouse Oporto $35 in split ($9 sticker!): Wow. Port in a split makes such sense. It is so hard to finish a 750 ml bottle at the end of a meal featuring great wines. You have to have 8 solid citizens to make a dent. But, a split is just perfect. This wine was smooth, soft, with stuffing. Dark red, sweet but focused. Each pour was drained . Threw sediment in the split! A perfect port. xx%

Airport wine bar - it just sounds so desperate. Hardly. The help was knowledgeable and the wines were carefully, intelligently selected, and I could construct my own flight cherry picking from the ten flights offered. And the price was right. If I did not want a flight I could pick my wines and pour size from the well represented list. In short, they pretty much covered all the bases.