Wine Trip To Spain
This is just a quick note to thank everyone for the Spain Trip.
I'll be attending the WineFuture conference. The organizers have graciously allowed me to fly in two weeks early so I can also attend the European Wine Bloggers' Conference.
I have so much more to post about this, but, unfortunately, this week is quite a busy one for me. I'm finishing up a consulting project for a client through my boutique firm The Penguin and The Python and moving to Santa Barbara.
After I unpack next week I'll have much more to post about my plans. In the meantime if you have any suggestions as to what to see in Spain and Portugal, please add a comment!
Don Melchor
Dan Green, special correspondent for 1000 Corks
"Creosote. It reminds me of the smell of Creosote". Thus began Christopher Hoel's description of his tasting of my beloved Don Melchor 2003 at the French Laundry.
I had cherished the bottle since purchasing it in Chile several years ago after it appeared as number four on the Wine Spectator Top 100 List of 2006. Don Melchor and I went way back…back to 1994 when I first visited Chile as a college student on an exchange program and my parents and I visited the Concha y Toro winery that makes Don Melchor.
At the time, my budget couldn't afford it; I was limited to $7 a bottle "late harvest" whites, which, by the way, tasted terrific to a twenty-one year old.
The sommelier's words initially pained me but he went on…"It has a wonderful earthy quality and is so young. I can't believe how dark the color is. This wine is a superb example of what a Chilean red should taste like." Whew, I felt redeemed.
Don Melchor is Concha y Toro's flagship red, a wine known for its big bouquet, full body and consistency. Year in and year out Don delivers. Several years ago, it was a fantastic value at about $35/bottle. I remember seeing it at Trader Joe's at the time.
Now, alas, its recent success among wine critics has led its winemaker to raise prices - it now will set you back around $55-60/bottle at Costco. But to my mind it still delivers on every penny.
It's a wine that is not for the faint of heart. It is tannic and full-bodied, best served with a bife de chorizo or some other choice cut of red meat. It is a deep and vibrant red. But for me it is the perfect example of what a high-class South American wine should be.
Don Melchor is a wine very much worth cherishing during a special meal with friends or family. And, even at current prices, a wine that continues to deliver good value.
Bonny Doon
When I think of Santa Cruz I don't normally think about wine. That is a shame because there are more than fifty wineries located in the greater Santa Cruz area, and they are doing some really interesting things.
Leading the pack is Bonny Doon. In 2006 they went from producing over 400,000 cases a year to 35,000 cases a year by selling off their Big House and Cardinal Zin labels. This allowed Randall Grahm, the founder and winemaker, to return to making wines he was passionate about.
Randall has a new 220 acre property in the San Juan Bautista area where he will be making wine in an "old-fangled no water way", trying to manipulate grapes as little as possible.
The great thing about Bonny Doon is the varietals they use: Sagrantino, Rousanne, Grenache, Dolcetto and many, many more you don't normally associate with California wines. Apparently they once had a wine called "tutti frutti", which was made up of more than 100 varietals.
I had a chance to try their wines at their annual wine maker dinner.
The most intriguing wine of the night was their 2004 Ca' del Solo Nebbiolo, made...
Continue Reading...WBC Favorites #5 and #4 - Gustafson Wines
Gustafson Rosé of Syrah 2006
Gustafson Petite Sirah 2007
This year's wine blogger's conference was awash with two different types of wine.
- Young pricey Cabernets that given a few years to age will probably be pretty good.
- Young pricey Pinot Noirs that even after a few years of aging will probably still be mediocre.
Against this background...
Continue Reading...WBC Top Wines #6 - St. Supery Moscato
I've already revealed number seven of my seven favorite wines from the 2009 Wine Bloggers Conference, the 2005 Yates, Alden Perry Reserve.
We now continue our countdown. Weighing in at number six:
St. Supéry Moscato 2008
The perfect pairing with any dessert with lemon or peach flavors. And I mean perfect! If you come by my house any time in the next year, I'll be serving a lemon sorbet just so I have an excuse to break this Moscato out....
Continue Reading...Wine Blogger's Conference Top Wines - Number Seven
Last weekend was the Wine Blogger's Conference. And what a conference it was! I easily must have tried 200 wines, all in the name of finding you, my dear readers, absolute gems! What I wouldn't sacrifice for you.
Now you have to understand, this conference is a big deal. Every winery is showing wines that are pretty darn good. So to make it to into the list of seven wines is a really, really big deal.
Each day this week I'll blog about one of my seven favorite wines from the show.
Drumroll please for number seven:
Yates Family Vineyard, Alden Perry Reserve, 2005
In a grand tasting of forty or so Napa valley wines this was the one I wanted to go home with....
Continue Reading...Perfection? Thy Name Is French Laundry
For some reason I always thought the French Laundry had both a regular tasting menu and a vegetarian tasting menu. And each time I went to the French Laundry I told myself: next time I really should try the vegetarian tasting menu.
Not that I went all that often, mind you. I mean, who can afford to?
But in the end, each time I chose the standard fare. Well, not that anything at the French Laundry can be considered standard. It can't.
Turns out I was wrong. It's not...
Continue Reading...Wines Of The Week - No. 4
Some of the wines we choose each week as wines of the week come from members of the press, and others come from traditional wine critics. Most, however, are originally reviewed by wine bloggers.
This week's Wines of the Week is especially exciting because it coincides with the 2009 Wine Bloggers Conference. It's a great opportunity to meet everyone whose blogs I read religiously week in and week out.
I'll be spending the weekend at the conference, so the next issue of "Wines of the Week" will be available two weeks from now.
In the meantime, sit back and take a look at the five great wines we have for you.
Bolaire Bordeaux Superiur 2005
This was eRobertParker's (Wine Advocate) Wine of the Day for July 19, 2009.
Jay Miller writes that "an amazing percentage of Petit Verdot (39%), combined with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon has resulted in one of the more distinctive wines of Bordeaux....It exhibits wonderful aromas of charcoal, incense, black currant liqueur, and licorice. Medium-bodied with stunning depth, richness, and texture, this sleeper of the vintage is a terrific buy."
Jay gave it 89 points and suggests a window for drinking from now to 2018.
Sanford Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2007
Jeff Lefevere of Good Grape glowingly reviewed this wine calling...
Continue Reading...
