To make a long  story short, our Internet Service Provider stopped providing when a worker took a backhoe to a Fiber Optic trunk line.  We are among the last to be re-connected.

So we are back and have a lot of catching up to do. 

Thanks for all the emails and worm wishes.  Again, we are sorry for the absence but we are excited to be back.

Cheers!

As the weekend is here I was wondering what my fellow Wine Lovers have planned involving wine. 

  -  Have a special bottle you were saving for this weekend?

  -  Going wine tasting?  Where?

  -  Having a tasting party planned?

  -  Going to your local winery to see the Harvest first hand? 

What ever your plans, drop us a note and share.  You may spark an idea for one of us.

  .  .  .  . Oh me?  I am going to explore the Temecula Valley wineries. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Cheers!

Cabernet Sauvignon,Red Wine,Wine,Value Wine

2006 Ghost Pines Cabernet Sauvignon

   I made a nice find at my local Costco yesterday.  Like many wine fans today, I am always on the lookout for a nice value wine.  This can be tough for me with my affinity for great big Cabs as most wines in the value category do not fall into the big category.  Until now.

   The 2006 Ghost Pines Cabernet Sauvignon is made up of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc.  Sourced 72% from Napa and 28% Sonoma County.  The result is a very fruit forward wine with wonderful mouth feel.  Ripe blackberry, dark cherry, almost jammy with a long fruit finish.  The tannins are there but very well behaved.  Notes of spice and pepper are detectable but not overpowering. 

Winemaker Notes: The grapes for Ghost Pines Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 were gently delivered whole-berry to the fermenter, eliminating harsh bitterness while maximizing fresh fruit characters.  Upon arrival, the grapes were inoculated with Bordeaux yeast strain, optimal for fermentation of premium Cabernet Sauvignon.  Fermentation completed in an average of 8 days with temperatures not exceeding 88 degrees F, producing clean, expressive Cabernet Sauvignon character.  To complete a more complex mouth feel, 100% of our Cabernet Sauvignon completed malolactic fermentation, contributing a complex texture to the already deep, layered flavors. 

 The Chewy Details:

Varietal Content:    80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc

Appellation: 72% Napa County, 28% Sonoma County

Alcohol Content:  13.9%

 Retail Price:  Seen between $17 and $24  Costco Price: $14.99

This is a great big red and when you factor in the price this is a must have! Enjoy and let us know your opinion!

Cheers!

Take a moment to take our poll. We will share the results with everyone.

Cheers!

Wine,Wine Tasting,Winery,Napa

Most will agree that a great tasting room experience can influence how we feel about the wines we are tasting.  On a recent trip to Napa I had the good fortune to have one of the best tasting room experiences ever.  The room was well lit and un crowded.  The staff was glad to see us and made us feel like we were part of the family.  We learned a lot about the winery, the winemaker, and the wines.  The staff treated us to a couple wines not on the tasting menu and a barrel sample as well.  We in turn bought more wine then we had planned.

With all the tasting rooms to choose from there is no reason for your experience to be a bad one.  The good news is, much of the experience is in your control.  Here are a few tips I have picked up in and out of the tasting rooms.  By no means is this the last word on tasting room tips.  If you have a few, please share.

GET READY BEFORE YOU HIT THE TRAIL

Do some pre-planning.  Make a list of the wineries you want to see on your trip and find out if any are by appointment only. Nickel & Nickel in Napa is one of them.  The tour starts at designated intervals throughout the day and ends with a fantastic tasting.  These tours can take time and you will need to call well in advance to claim your spot. 

• Bring plenty of bottled water.  Most tasting rooms offer water by the glass but you will want to stay hydrated between stops.  Your body will thank you.
• Eat!  Here again, sounds obvious but it is important to remember to plan for a food stop somewhere in your day.  When in Napa we like to stop at Taylor’s Refresher or Dean and Deluca.  You will find your favorites wherever you go.
• Do not wear perfume or cologne.  Smell is a very big part of the experience.  Don’t ruin it for you or your fellow tasters.
• Do not chew gum.  Unless you like the fresh minty taste of Quintessa . . . .
• Make sure you are dressed for the occasion.  Even if it is in the heat of summer remember most barrel rooms are kept around 55 degrees
• Bring your cooler.  When you buy your favorites you don’t want them cooked in the car while you are at your next stop.  Even the styrofoam shipping inserts will help prevent your wine from overheating.
• Bring along a tasting journal.  Taking notes helps you remember not only what you liked but why you like it. Many formatted journals are available but a small spiral bound notebook works just fine.
• Make sure you plan for traffic.  Whether its Napa, Sonoma, Paso, or any other major tasting region traffic can be an issue on the weekends. 

BUCKETS AND BARRELS

  So you don’t want to use the dump bucket because you don’t want to offend the staff?  Trust me, you won’t offend.  They use it themselves.  If your mission is to "taste" wine, you can’t very well taste anything if you have tasted (and swallowed) everything.  Get a taste for the wine, write your notes, dump and move on.  This way you maintain a clear head for the rest of your tasting.

  If you come across a wine or winery that really piques your palate, ask some questions.  Find out more about the vineyard, the fermentation process, how long on oak, what kind and how new was the oak.  You start to building your mental library and can more accurately describe what you like, or don’t like about a wine. 

  Get a Wine Aroma Wheel http://www.winearomawheel.com/#purchase.  This little gem helped change wine tasting for connoisseurs and beginners alike.  They are very inexpensive but unbelievably helpful.

  Finally, have fun.  Wine tasting can be a very fun, social and educational experience.  Make the most of it.  If you are really lucky, you may be invited to have a rare barrel tasting.  In any case, drop us a line and tell us about your wine tasting experiences.

  Until next time,

Cheers!

Wine,Sauvignon Blanc,Ojai Vineyards

OJAI VINEYARDS 2004 SAUVIGNON BLANC WESTERLY VINYARD – SANTA BARBARA COUNTY

  Sauvignon Blanc has long languished in the shadow of California Chardonnay but to me, this is a fantastic Summer refresher.  Despite being around since the ’60′s as a production wine the varietal has only been a go to white wine for the past few years.  Further evidence of its rise to the mainstream is the cover article in the August 2009 Wine Spectator.

  We tasted the Ojai Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc and were pleasantly surprised.  This is a single Vineyard wine from Ojai’s Westerly Vineyard on the Central Coast of California.  Ojai only produces about 6000 cases, divided between 15 bottling’s.

  The wine is Crisp and clean, highly aromatic.  You would expect grapefruit and this Sauvignon Blanc doesn’t disappoint.  Alongside the grapefruit is hints of mango and a solid peach finish.  Mineral notes are present throughout. 

  In the Winemakers words; "
To avoid mucking up this distinctive fruit, I try to take a delicate approach in the wine making. The wine is barrel fermented in older barrels that do not impart oak flavors, and the malo-lactic fermentation is blocked, keeping the wine fresh and zesty."

  The result is a wonderful, refreshing, crisp and clean summertime "Must Have".  Try the Ojai Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc and leave us a note about what you find.

Until next time . . . . .

 . . . . Cheers!

A great way to illustrate this is to take 2 of your good wine glasses.  Pour about an ounce of a good red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon works well for this) into each glass.  Put your nose to the rim of glass 1 and smell the wine.   Make a note of what you smell.  Now take glass 2 and swirl the wine for about 15 seconds. Let it settle for a few seconds and then swirl again.  Immediately put your nose to the rim of the glass and smell.  Note the difference in what you smell from the same wine.

Two factors are at play here. 

1. As noted above, the swirling action releases the bouquet of the wine.
2. The swirling action also coats the inside of the glass with the wine, increasing the surface area of the wine giving you more to smell. 

So, does the glass make the wine?  Many have and will continue to debate this but one more experiment will let you decide for yourself. This time take a good wine glass and a short cocktail glass.  Again, pour about an ounce of a good red into each.  Swirl them both (be careful swirling the wine in the cocktail glass  . . . ).  Now smell the wine and make note of your findings.

Remember, smelling the wine is the most important part of wine tasting because we can only have the ability to decipher 4 tastes.  Sweet, sour, salt and bitter.  Wine can have over 200 distinct scents.  If you aren’t smelling them, even if you can’t describe what you are smelling, you are missing a big part of the wine experience. 

Swirl away and enjoy!

Cheers!

Cheers!

I chose a bottle of 2005 Pahlmeyer Merlot.  Neither of us had tasted the Pahlmerey but I have read and heard many good things about this wine.

This is one of the largest and heaviest 750ml bottles you will ever pick up. The image works.  You truly feel like you have a substantial bottle of wine in your hands.  After opening I poured off a taste through my Venturi.  Brilliant Ruby in the glass with light licorice and mocha on the nose.  My first taste told me that this is a big Merlot and needed to visit the decanter for a while.  After about an hour the wine had settled nicely into a very smooth, almost velvet on the mouth and had lost the need to scream “I’m not ready yet”.  The wine hits your mouth with a berry, mocha, earthiness and seems to linger for a very long, firm tannin finish.  Hints of pepper and cedar but not oaky.

This is a big Merlot! Winemaker Erin Green has really captured a depth and structure rarely found in a Merlot.  Definitely a good pick to celebrate an anniversary with.  Who Loves Wine rates this wine a 92.

Pahlmeyer Winery Provided the following details about this wine;

Winemaker:   Erin Green

Composition:  89% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon

Alcohol:  15.2%

PH: 3.66

Crushing Regime:  100% de-stemmed

Pre-fermentation Maceration:  4-5 days cold soak

Fermentation:  100% Wild, Native Yeast

Suggested Retail:  $90 per bottle

More Details: www.pahlmeyer.com

Until next time,

Cheers

My excitement was short lived however.  It seems my bank account was not up to the task.  My desire for this outstanding vintage and my ability to pay it would not meet.

I didn’t want to lose my “place” on the list after it took so long to get there.  So, I called my older brother.  Maybe he could buy this allocation so that I could remain on the list.  After all, he has a 2500 bottle collection and is a member of the elite Bel Air Country Club (read rich!).  His response floored me.  I never saw it coming.  In an email reply he said; “none of my friends are buying any wine right now although we are all drinking more . . “.  And there it was.  My answer to how I got on the list in the first place.

Several phone calls to a few of my favorite wineries confirmed my suspicions.  Wine Club memberships have declined between 8 and 20 percent among the 9 wineries I contacted.  They also noted that some remaining club members have either suspended of cut back on on the shipments.  Virtually all the wineries I contacted ask that I not mention them by name.

This leads me to my question.  Are you buying any wine? If so, is it for your collection or immediate consumption? Have you dipped into your collection?  Is this the rainy day you were waiting for?

Until Next Time, Enjoy!