Carménère From Chile

The 2022 Carmen Delanz Carménère Apalta was grown in Chile's Colchagua Valley, in the Apalta region. The varietal makeup is 71% Carménère grapes, 15% Syrah, 9% Petite Verdot, and a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Carmen's Carmenere vineyard was planted in 1935. I'm told that Carménère was considered extinct from its original home in Bordeaux, until 1994. That's when a noted wine expert identified the grape in Chile's Maipo Valley, where it had been known as Chilean Merlot. This wine is a tip of the hat to that discovery. It carries alcohol at 14% abv and retails for $30. Winemaker Ana Maria Cumsille has done a fine job with this Carménère blend.

This wine is dark ruby in the glass. The nose carries rich notes of cherry, strawberry, and cassis. A savory angle joins the fruit and presents a more complex bouquet. The palate brings similar dark fruit flavors, along with some clove, anise and oak spice. The tannins are firm, yet the sip is elegant and smooth. Pair this with any sort of meat or cheese. 

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Priest Ranch Winemaker Cody Hurd

When you get the chance to have some very good Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, you take that opportunity. Lunch is thrown in, too? A bonus, for sure, but the wines from Priest Ranch need no justification. 

I was invited to join Priest Ranch Winemaker Cody Hurd and CEO Judd Wallenbrock for a lunch and tasting at Castaway in Burbank. They were in Southern California for Musexpo 2025. Wallenbrock told me that he likes the philosophy of Robert Mondavi, which combines wine, food and the arts into a complete and fulfilling lifestyle. It was my good fortune that he and Hurd had a couple of hours to kill between more enriching events.

Priest Ranch, they were quick to tell me, is not a religious organization. Apparently, some folks take the name literally. The winery is named after James Joshua Priest, a prospector in California's Gold Rush era. He may not have found much gold in 1869, but he did find a good patch of land. It is now called Somerston Estate, and that's where all Priest Ranch wines are grown. They date back to 2007, those wines, the inaugural vintages of Priest Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon. Hurd came along a few years later and is now crafting those wines. He shows his skill at blending with the reserve wine called James Joshua, a tip of the hat to the original landowner. It is produced only in select years and is dedicated to club members and the Yountville tasting room.

Hurd described for me the blending process, which he says can start with as many as 112 bottles open in front of him. Although he has an idea in mind along the way, he says the blend is always a mystery until it's done. Priest Ranch wines are made with minimal intervention, but with the help of today's technology. Hurd has a big hand in guiding the Priest Ranch brand. 

Does the worldwide renown of Napa Valley serve as a burden to him as he crafts his wines? Not on your life. "People ask me where I would be a winemaker if I could make wine anywhere in the world," he says. "I tell them 'I can make wine anywhere in the world, and I'm doing it right here.'"

Hurd and Wallenbrook were happy to put their Soda Valley terroir on display for me. They poured the 2023 Priest Ranch Sauvignon Blanc as an opener, then we sampled the 2022 Priest Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2019 Priest Ranch Remedy, and the 2019 Priest Ranch Snake Oil. The latter two are both Cabs. 

The Sauvignon Blanc has a bit of herbal grassiness to it, but plenty of ripe fruit to keep it fully in the California style. The wine was made from the Musqué clone, grown on a west-facing slope. A tall mountain makes the sun set early on the vineyard, producing a truly incredible acidity.

The Cabernet Sauvignon is what they call the workhorse Cab. It has a beautiful, minty nose, and 40% of the oak is French. A retail price of $60 is about half what you would expect to pay for a Napa Cab of this quality.

The 2019 Priest Ranch Remedy offers spicier notes than the workhorse.  The blend features Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Merlot. Remedy retails at $85, while the 2019 Snake Oil sells for $110. Snake Oil sports great tannic structure, so it's the one you may want to cellar, if you can resist the temptation to put a corkscrew in it.

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It's Always Spring With Aviv Wine

Israel’s Galil Mountain Winery is introducing their new Aviv line of wines, a red, a white and a pink. The grapes for all three were harvested from the various estate vineyards in the Upper Galilee wine region, all three are kosher for Passover, and all three sell in the $15 range.

The 2023 Aviv Dry Rosé was made from 43% Syrah grapes, 22% Tempranillo, 20% Grenache, and 15% Barbera. Winemaker Michael Avery must have needed a passport to produce such an international wine. The grapes in the blend are more at home in France, Italy and Spain. 

The wine’s label depicts the fruit and flowers of spring, which are embodied in the wine itself. It’s only fitting, since Aviv means “spring” in Hebrew. Alcohol for this rosé is quite low, at 11% abv. Yarden Wines imports the new Aviv line to the U.S. 

This wine has a beautiful salmon color in the glass, and in the clear bottle, too. The nose displays a basket of fruit, like strawberries, cherries, berries, all quite ripe. There is also a green herbaceous quality along with the fruity nose. The palate is medium full in the mouth with red fruit and citrus minerality. The acidity is fresh and lively. It is rather bold for a rosé, only to be expected with Syrah, Tempranillo, Grenache, and Barbera.

The 2023 Aviv Dry White Wine was made from 69% Viognier grapes, 24% Sauvignon Blanc and 7% Gewurztraminer. Alcohol is 13% abv.

This wine colors up a pale yellow in the glass. There is a floral note on the nose that hits first, followed by honeydew and nectarine aromas and a hint of citrus minerality. There is an herbal, grassy feel on the palate and a nice, fresh acidity. The finish is long and leaves traces of the Sauvignon Blanc behind as a remembrance.

The 2023 Aviv Dry Red Wine was made from 86% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, 8% Merlot, and 6% Petit Verdot. Alcohol is 14% abv.

This wine has a dark purple color in the glass. The nose has an odd, medicinal smell to it, along with abundant black fruit and savory earth notes. The palate brings similar fruit flavors and a healthy dose of spice rack. Clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg appear, as do white pepper and dry mustard. The acidity is racy and the tannins are quite firm. 

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Passover Wine From Judea

Our current series explores some options for kosher wine. With Passover coming up, many people are searching for good kosher wines. Some keep kosher all year 'round. Whatever your need, here is a kosher wine that deserves a seat at the table.

Darom by Yatir Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 is a dry red wine blend. It is made up of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, 10% Petite Sirah, and 5% Shiraz, all grown in several different vineyards in the Judea region of Southern Israel, near the Negev Desert. 

The vines grow at an average altitude of 2,500 feet, according to winemaker Eran Goldwasser. The wine was aged for a mere eight months in small oak barrels. Alcohol stands at 13% abv and retails for $35. 

A spokesperson for Yatir says this new wine "is an ideal choice for celebrating the Passover holiday, with its full-bodied profile, dark fruit flavors, and savory notes that complement dishes like lamb, steak, prime rib, and chicken, traditional staples of festive holiday meals."

This wine is medium dark in the glass. It smells of black fruit, like plums, blackberries, and currant. There is also a layer of spice on the nose. The palate brings more of that dark fruit, with a heaping helping of tannic structure. It will pair nicely with fatty meats.

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Central Coast Cabernet

Seaglass Wine Company partners with the Surfrider Foundation, a protector of coasts and waterways across the nation. That includes California's Central Coast.

The winery uses grapes from Central Coast regions stretching from Santa Barbara County to Monterey County. They don't say which specific region gave the grapes for their 2021 Seaglass Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon, but they came from somewhere in the huge expanse of the Central Coast region.

Alcohol is restrained, at just 13.5% abv and the price was right. It was $13 at Pavilions, on sale from $20. 

This wine is a very dark purple, more like indigo, in fact. The nose offers a bushel basket of fruit. Blueberry, plum, currant, and blackberry aromas are abundant. There is a hint of oak, but it stays well in the background. The palate is just as fruity, but there are some savory notes of earth, licorice, and black pepper. A hint of chalkiness is in the flavor profile, but it, too, stays somewhat undercover. The tannins are useful, but not bothersome, while the acidity perks up the taste buds nicely. 

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Israeli Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2021 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon is a varietal wine made from grapes grown in the cool, high altitude, rocky soil of the Golan Heights in Galilee. Head winemaker Victor Schoenfeld feels that this wine is a great addition to any holiday feast.

The wine was aged in French oak for 18 months. It carries alcohol at 14.5% abv and retails for $45. It reminds me of the Cabs from Paso Robles, with their rambunctious nature and chalky mouthfeel. The wine may not be as elegant as a silky Napa Valley bottling, but it more than compensates for that in character.

This wine is dark, with an aroma profile that seems to match. The nose has a tarry sense to it, with notes of cedar, cigars and clove buoyed along by the blackberry and cassis fruit smells. The palate is dark, too, with blue and black fruit, clove and pepper and oak notes providing complexity. The acidity is fresh and the tannic grip is firm enough that food is almost a necessity with it. It will pair well with any meat dishes.

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Slumming It With Low-Alcohol Wines

There is, these days, if the publicists are to be believed, a move toward "mindful drinking," seeking out healthier alcohol alternatives. You can say I cling to the old ways, but I see no need to try and make alcohol healthier. You want healthy? Give up drinking. There. I said it. I quit smoking, gave up cannabis and cut way back on coffee. There is a limit to how unpleasant I want the rest of my life to be. Please leave the alcohol in my wine. 

There are those who will insist that they want to moderate their alcohol consumption. These are the people who call us "boss," ride a scooter to work, and reply to everything we say with "perrrfect." Studies show that 64% of these younger folks are on the lookout for that healthier alcohol option and 34% of all wine drinkers want ways to moderate their alcohol intake. I suppose no one has suggested "put down the glass," so let me toss that into the ring as a logical answer to the problem.

Someone saw those numbers and decided that something needed to be done about them. The thing they decided to do was to make low-alcohol wine. Arlow Wine jumped at the chance to cater to the people who simply cannot stop at one glass. Now you can have two glasses, with the same alcohol as one glass of high-octane wine. You get double the regret, though.

Arlow, I'm told, is the first truly low-alcohol wine made in the US. Arlow's wines promise "full flavor, complex profiles, and all the enjoyment of wine, with just 6.5% abv." As if that were not enough enticement, Arlow is lower in calories at just 70 per glass, lower in sulfites and has little to no sugar added. 

I was given three samples of these new wines to try. After drinking the rosé, I wanted to pour out all three and give up on the article. But I persisted in the taste test. Here are my findings.

Arlow Rosé

This wine has a vibrant salmon-orange color to it. The nose gives aromas of cherry and strawberry with a fairly intense herbal slant. An occasional whiff of Jolly Rancher comes through, too. The palate is almost completely taken over by the herbal aspect found in the nose. There is little to no acidity. It tastes like an adult Kool-Aid instead of a wine. The low alcohol allows one to drink a lot of it, but one doesn't really want to. 

Arlow Sauvignon Blanc 

This wine is tinted lightly golden. The aromas are very much what I expect from New World Sauvignon Blanc. The most dominant is a strident grassiness, which is joined by citrus and minerals. The palate gives lemon, lime, grapefruit, and minerality combined with a decent acidity. The flavor has an almost sweet note to it, which offsets the rather blunt fruit and herbal offering. The finish is not too long, but is pleasant enough while it’s there. 

Arlow Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine is peculiar. The color is medium dark purple. The nose is where the peculiar part begins. There is an extremely earthy, musty scent arising from the glass, almost foxy, as if it were a North American hybrid grape, but not quite. It is not a particularly bad smell, but it certainly bears none of the hallmarks of Cabernet Sauvignon wines I have ever had. The palate offers no apparent oak spice, and it tastes relatively fresh, so maybe this is a rare example of an oakless Cab. The tannins are almost nonexistent and there is not much acidity present. As with the Arlow Rosé, this is adult Kool-Aid, suitable to be chilled and served in plastic cups by the pool. Don't waste any food in a pairing with this wine. 

If you think I'm being too harsh in my criticism, let me say that I am normally an easy audience for wine. My scores tend to be higher than most for the same wines and I am reasonably agreeable when a bottle fails to live up to hopes and expectations. I can nearly always find something positive to say about a wine, and I think that points to how much good wine is being made these days. These low-alcohol entries are easily among the worst wines I have tasted this year, maybe this decade. For 6.5% abv, I’ll take a beer instead, thanks. 

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Super Tuscan Scores In The Glass And On The Stove

Volpolo comes from Tuscany, the Bolgheri DOC, to be more precise. It is Podere Sapaio's second label. The winery was founded in the early 1990s, and the three and a half decades since then have shown the outfit to be quite adept at winemaking.

The 2022 Volpolo di Sapaio Bolgheri DOC is a Super Tuscan blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, 15% Merlot, and 15% Petit Verdot. The juice was fermented in steel tanks, aged in French oak barriques for 14 months, then given a rest in cement tanks before bottling. Alcohol tips 14.5% abv and the retail price is $36.

This wine is very dark in the glass, with almost no light getting through. The nose is full of blackberry, blueberry and plum, with savory notes of anise, black pepper, tobacco, tar and a hint of smoke joining the fruit. The palate has a savory bent as well, with spice and earth mixing in with the dark fruit flavors. The acidity is quite fresh and the tannins have a medium firm grip. I paired mine with slow cooker short ribs, and even used some in the recipe. Delicious. 

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Another Splurge - CV Studium From Paso Robles

A special wine is a real treat. Not an everyday wine, but a splurge wine, one that you buy to reward yourself. Broken Earth Winery of Paso Robles says their CV Wines are named after the legendary 50-year-old Continental Vineyard, which is part of their estate. I have always found Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignons to be of high quality, a bit rustic and completely underrated. I was overjoyed when samples were offered to me. 

Broken Earth's CV line are club wines, so a twice-a-year membership is required to purchase them. If you aren't overextended on wine club shipments, this would be an excellent opportunity to grab some limited-production BDX grapes, from Paso Robles. 

Winemaker Chris Cameron says the 2020 CV Studium Red Blend is estate grown in Paso, as are the other two CVs. They also have a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Cabernet Franc on offer. The Studium was first aged in neutral French oak barrels for a year, then transferred to second-use French oak. The varietal makeup is inexplicably absent from the promotional materials, but I'm guessing that it is some mixture of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, since that is what is grown on the estate. It has alcohol at 15.4% abv and retails for $80.

This wine is extremely dark. It has a nose which reflects both the Cabs, Sauvignon and Franc. Dark fruit on the nose, along with a peppery and herbaceous note. The tannins ease up a bit after the wine opens up, but they are something else right after the pour. Flavors of plums, blackberries, cherries and a hint of licorice make for a delightful palate. Studium combines the best of the two grapes. I think I like it better than either varietal wine. 

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Splurge On This Paso Cab

A special wine is a real treat. Not an everyday wine, but a splurge wine, one that you buy to reward yourself. Broken Earth Winery of Paso Robles says their CV Wines are named after the legendary 50-year-old Continental Vineyard, which is part of their estate on Paso's east side. I have always found Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignons to be of high quality, a bit rustic and completely underrated. I was overjoyed when samples were offered to me. 

Broken Earth's CV line are club wines, so a twice-a-year membership is required to purchase them. If you aren't overextended on wine club shipments, this would be an excellent opportunity to grab some limited-production BDX-style grapes, from Paso Robles. 

Winemaker Chris Cameron says the 2019 CV Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is estate grown in Paso, as are the other two CVs. They also have a Cabernet Franc and a red blend on offer. The Cab was aged for nearly two years in new oak barrels, has alcohol at 14.7% abv and retails for $80.

This wine is dark in color. It smells like it has been perfumed, with ripe red berries, plums and cherries on the nose. The fruit is layered over an herbal note, but nothing like bell pepper or peas. It smells like cedar trees. The nose of a Paso Cab always grabs me, and this one does it to the fullest. The palate is simply beautiful. Whenever I start thinking I could get along with fifteen dollar wines, along comes a wine like this one to show me the folly of that thought. The fruit flavors tend toward the dark side, while sweet oak provides a beautiful lift. The tannins are silky smooth, even upon opening the bottle. The winery says you'd better have some seared lamb to pair with it. 

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A Portuguese Surprise

The Casa Ermelinda Freitas winery was founded in 1920 in the southern reaches of Portugal. Today's owner, Leonor Freitas, keeps the wine flowing so that we may enjoy the fruits of her labor. 

The 2021 Vinha da Fonte Reserva is made from 25% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, 25% Castelão, 20% Syrah, 20% Touriga Nacional and 10% Alicante Bouschet. It was aged for a full year in French and American oak barrels. Alcohol hits 14.5% abv and I bought it for about $7 at Trader Joe's.

I have had Touriga Nacional wine before, and Alicante Bouschet, but this was my first fling with the Castelão variety. It is most prevalent on Portugal's southern coast, but is found all over the country to some degree. 

This wine is a very dark purple, almost inky. The nose is also dark, showing blackberry notes alongside savory tobacco, spice and earth, all in a very smokey framework. The palate of this interesting blend is nearly stunning. Tannins have a good grip, but the blue fruit flavors are amazing and the acidity leaves the sipper salivating. It seems bizarre to me that this wine cost less than $10. It drinks like it should cost much more. 

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Cabernet Sauvignon, Kosher, Velvety

Carmel is celebrating the launch of a new wine in their high-end Signature line. The 2021 Carmel Black is a Cabernet Sauvignon that was grown in Galilee, Israel. The grapes came from the top vineyards of Carmel, Israel's largest winery. If it's a little late to have this kosher wine on your Passover table, the winery says it will store well for the next five to seven Passovers. The wine was aged for 14 months in French oak barrels, carries alcohol at 14% abv and retails for $30.

This wine is medium dark. Its nose is a delight, with black fruit like blackberries, cassis, black cherry and sweet plums. There is an oak profile that sits just about right, showing nice spices and savory notes of tobacco and leather. The palate is beautiful, with all that dark fruit and a nice bit of tannic grip. The winery calls it a velvety feel. The smoothness does approach that descriptor. 

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Kosher Clarksburg Rosé

Oxnard may not spring to mind immediately when you start riffing through your mental Rolodex of California wine regions. The Ventura County town is home to Herzog Wine Cellars, under the umbrella of the Royal Wine Corporation. The winery's story is one of immigrant grit and determination. 

The Lineage line of wines, the latest from the winery, helps trace back the Herzog family winemaking tradition over nine generations. From Eastern Europe, to America's East Coast, to the western US, Herzog has been producing fine kosher wines all along.

The 2022 Herzog Lineage Clarksburg Rosé is kosher for Passover and delicious anytime. The website blurb says it is made from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, and at first I thought it must have been a misprint. After a few sips, though, I feel it might be Cab. It's just that we hardly ever see a rosé made from Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyards are in Clarksburg, alcohol sits at 12.5% abv and the retail price is $23, but I see it online for far less. 

This wine is a pretty pink color and has a nose of ripe cherries, strawberries and citrus, along with a beautiful herbal note that suggests thyme and tarragon. The palate has all the fruit there, with minerals and a mid-level acidity. It will serve well on the table as well as on the back porch or patio as a sipper. 

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Israeli Wine For Passover

If you are planning on picking up some wines for Passover, you probably already know about Golan Heights Winery, one of Israel's premier producers. Besides their outstanding Yarden label, they also offer the Galil Mountain Winery brand. 

The  2019 Galil Mountain Winery Alon is a Galilee wine, made from 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah and 8% Petit Verdot grapes. Alon, by the way, means wild oaks. That type of tree is found in abundance around the vineyards. Alon is aged for one year in French oak barrels, carries alcohol at 14.5% abv and a price tag of $27.

This wine has an indigo color in the glass. The nose is full of dark fruit, with blackberry, plum and black currant coming into play. Notes of cigars, leather, white pepper and funky earth make me think the Syrah plays a much larger part than its percentage indicates. The palate has all the black fruit and some ripe, red cherries in addition. The acidity has some zip to it and the tannins are firm enough for brisket. The finish isn't terribly long, but it holds the fruit flavors for a delicious few minutes. 

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Israeli Wines For Passover

If you are planning on picking up some wines for Passover, you probably already know about Golan Heights Winery, one of Israel's premier producers. 

The 2020 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon is a varietal wine made from grapes grown in the cool, high altitude, rocky soil of the Golan Heights in Galilee. Head winemaker Victor Schoenfeld feels that this wine is a great addition to your Passover meal.

The wine was aged in French oak for 18 months. It carries alcohol at 14.5% abv and retails for $50. I was reminded of the Cabs from Paso Robles, with their rambunctious nature and chalky mouthfeel. 

This kosher wine, the 38th vintage of the label, is a dark wine, with an aroma profile that seems to match. The nose has a tarry sense to it, with notes of cedar, cigars and clove buoyed along by the blackberry and cassis fruit smells. The palate is dark, too, with blue and black fruit, clove and pepper and oak notes providing complexity. The acidity is fresh and the tannic grip is firm. It will pair well with meat dishes and provide a pleasant experience as a sipper, if you wish. 

The 2022 Yarden Chardonnay also hails from the hills of Galilee. The wine aged for seven months in oak and underwent partial malolactic fermentation to give it a complex presentation. Alcohol is a tad lofty for a white wine at 14% abv. The retail price is $28. 

This wine has a remarkable fruit profile on the nose, with lemon aromas being predominant. The is a slight herbal note along with a very reasonable amount of oak spice. The barrel aging, which was only seven months, comes on most noticeably on the palate, but the wood is used to great effect. 

The Yarden sparkler was made from 73% Chardonnay and 27% Pinot Noir grapes, fermented in the bottle in the traditional method. Alcohol is a comfortable 12% abv and it retails for $52.

The 2017 vintage of the Yarden Galilee Brut Rosé has a golden, light copper hue in the glass. Bubbles are plentiful on the pour, but don't look away. They dissipate quickly. The nose brings mineral aromas along with stone fruit and just a hint of toast. The palate shows a yeasty side with lemon and apricot fruit. The acidity is refreshing. As with most sparkling wines, it will pair with everything. 

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Oakless Chianti

If all you know of Italy's Chianti region is that straw-wrapped wine bottle with the candle drippings down the side from your college dorm, you need to know more.  First of all, they dispensed with the straw baskets years ago.  Second, the area has undergone a complete transformation since those days.  It is now home to some of Tuscany's best wines.

Ruffino was founded in 1877, when cousins Ilario and Leopoldo Ruffino set up a small winery in the town of Pontassieve, near Florence.  Wine had been a thing there for ages, but the two Tuscan natives felt certain that much of the area's greatness had yet to be revealed, what with Tuscany's mineral-laden soils, the cooling influence of the Mediterranean Sea and the dry summers that wine grapes just love. 

Ruffino lays claim to being one of the first major wineries with vineyard estates in Italy's three most famous wine-producing regions – Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

The 2020 Chianti Superiore is made from 70% Sangiovese grapes and a 30% blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  Those grapes really get a chance to shine, since aging takes place in concrete and stainless steel tanks for six months, then another two months in the bottle.  Superiore serves as a sort of midpoint between the Chianti DOCG and the more complex Chianti Classico.  Alcohol ticks 13.5% abv and it generally sells for around $12.

Aromas of black cherry and dark raspberry come forth on the nose, nice and bright due to the oakless aging process. Acidity is refreshing and the tannins are firm. This is a good wine to pair with a spaghetti dinner, with or without meatballs. 

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Blood Of The Vines - Soul Music

Pairing‌‌‌ ‌‌‌wine‌‌‌ ‌‌‌with‌‌‌ ‌‌‌movies!‌‌‌  ‌‌‌See‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌hear‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌fascinating‌‌‌ ‌‌‌commentary‌‌‌ ‌‌‌for‌‌‌ ‌‌‌these‌‌‌ movies‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌many‌‌‌ ‌‌‌more‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌at‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌From‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Hell.‌‌‌ ‌ This week we put on the headphones/earbuds and let the music wash over us. Are we high? If not, we have some wine pairings to go along with the musical movies.

This is one of those weeks where music and movies merge, a happy affair, for me at least, even when the sound and the pictures are not of the highest quality. The beach party movies come to mind, as do Elvis flicks. Somewhere, there is probably a home movie of the legendary 30-minute version of "Louie Louie" recorded at a Hell’s Angels party. That would fall into this category as well. But on we go to the films that reach loftier heights.

The 1986 film, Crossroads, was inspired by the legend of blues pioneer Robert Johnson. The legend says he went down to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil to get his guitar prowess. If that's how it's done, what did Carlos Santana have to give up? Eric Clapton? Stevie Ray Vaughn? Well, that last one doesn't need answering. We know what he gave up. 

For authenticity, guitar god Ry Cooder provided a lot of music for the movie, but he was passed over to play the guitarist in the film's climactic guitar battle. Ry was reportedly a little bit pissed that Steve Vai ended up shredding the hot licks. If anyone else wants to carp about the choice, Vai could easily say, "Hold my beer" while showing you a thing or two. 

Napa Valley's Crossroads Wines are made by Samantha Rudd and utilize grapes with a pedigree, from places like Oakville and Mt. Veeder. You may have to shop around to find them, and you will spend $80 or more for a Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc. Their Sauvignon Blanc runs quite a bit less. 

Honeydripper was written and directed by John Sayles for a 2007 release. The plot deals with the owner of a blues club in rural Alabama and his effort to save the place by hiring a hot, young guitar man, played by Gary Clark, Jr. Keb’ Mo also appears and R&B great Ruth Brown would have had a starring role, had she lived long enough. She was replaced by Mable John.

The movie ran hot and cold for critics, with one scribe taking issue with caricatures like a "blind guitar picker, redneck sheriff, revival meetings, cotton-picking, fights in juke joints and the like." Having grown up in the American South, I can attest that blind guitar pickers, redneck sheriffs, revival meetings, cotton-picking and fights in juke joints are not so much caricatures as they are the actual stuff of everyday life. 

The story is great, and the music mixes old classics like "Good Rockin" Tonight," "Move It On Over" and "Why Don’t You Do Right" with stuff penned in more modern times. Having Gary Clark, Jr and Keb’ Mo on hand certainly doesn't hurt the soundtrack's street cred.

I ran across a recipe for a cocktail called Honeydripper, but there's no booze in it. What are they thinking? Since we are safely clear of Dry January, try Batch Mead, located in Temecula. It's honey wine. Their Smokin Hickory Barrel Aged Mead doesn't sound like it would get you into a fight in an Alabama roadhouse in 1950. Well, actually, it does. Try it anyway. 

Charlie Parker's brief life was directed for the big screen by Clint Eastwood. The biopic Bird showed the saxophonist's connection with his wife, Chan, and trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Red Rodney. Red and Bird were drug buddies of a sort, and the heroin no doubt contributed to Parker's fatal heart attack at the age of 34. As for Rodney, he lived to be 66, although he was plagued by heroin addiction, stroke and lung cancer for many of those years.

Despite the fantastic performance by Forest Whitaker as Parker, the movie stands as one of Eastwood's least successful films. It has a solid following these days, particularly among jazz fans. The soundtrack features re-recorded tracks with Parker's sax work extracted from original takes and cleaned up through the magic of modern audio technology. 

How can we not give at least a cursory glance to Jazz Cellars? They are in the Sierra Foothills village of Murphys, California, the town that needs to either drop the S or add an apostrophe. Their Grenache Rosé is a $24 bottle of Calaveras County grapes, jazzed up to a beautiful pinkish hue. 

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Too Big, Too Bold, Too Brawny: Bogle's Not-So-Essential Red

The Bogle family has farmed the California delta region for six generations, 50 years now in the effort of growing wine grapes. Like a lot of farming families in the area, they started out selling their fruit to others, then got wise and started turning their grapes into wine themselves. 

The 2020 Essential Red is a California red blend of four grapes: 53% Petite Sirah, 23% Syrah, 16% Teroldego and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was aged for a full year in American oak barrels. Alcohol is right where one would expect it to be, 14.5%. Essential Red sells for $10 or less. The Bogle website suggests making a mulled wine of it. I am not a fan of such, but it does seem to be a good use for this bottle, as bold and brawny as it is. 

This wine is quite dark and quite aromatic. The nose would be fruit-forward if the oak spices weren't so strident. The big display shows dark fruit - plum, blackberry and black currant - carried along by a huge whiff of clove, cedar, tobacco, cardamom and several other occupants of the spice rack, I'm sure. The palate is similarly blessed, or handicapped, depending on your own view of oak treatment. The oak in this wine is heavy-handed and best suited for blunt-force trauma. That is disappointing, since I have long been a fan of Bogle's wines. I’ll stick with their other offerings in the future. 

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Wine Country: Virginia - Jump Mountain Vineyard

The Now And Zin Wine Country series started in 2011, with Virginia wine. In the dozen years since then I have sampled wines from 46 states. The last four - Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming - have proven to be tough nuts to crack, for a variety of reasons. There are fewer opportunities in those states and shipping restrictions, to name two. I'll press on to find wines from those states, but when I get a chance to revisit a previous stop, I'll jump at the chance. Especially when it is Virginia. 

The Old Dominion State has 291 wineries, by Wine America's count. That's good enough for 6th place in the winery count. As far as wine production goes, Virginia lags a little farther behind, in eighth place. 

Jump Mountain Vineyard is in the unincorporated community of Rockbridge Baths, in the southwestern part of the Shenandoah Valley. They admit that the mountain they call Jump is really a sandstone knob, but it protects the estate which has soil and a microclimate that makes vinifera grapes want to grow. 

The 2019 Jump Mountain Vineyard Borderland Red Blend is from the Shenandoah Valley. The grapes are 50% Tannat, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Cabernet Franc. They also grow Syrah, Grüner Veltliner and a handful of grapes with an Italian pedigree. Alcohol hits 13.5% abv and the retail price is $26. 

This wine is medium-dark in the glass. The nose provides plenty upon which to ruminate. There is red plum and raspberry abetted by a raft of spices: clove, nutmeg, allspice and anise among them. On the palate there is mainly raspberry and blueberry with enough oak spice to make things interesting but not enough to take over the show. Big tannins make the sip a bit raspy, but this wine is made for pairing with beef. 

The 2021 Jump Mountain Livia Italian Style Red Blend is made with an interesting array of Shenandoah Valley grapes. The blend is 60% Refosco, 20% Cabernet Franc, 15% Lagrein and 5% Sagrantino. Owners Mary Hughes and David Vermillion say the wine was named for Roman empress Livia Drusilla Augusta, who made public her love of the Refosco grape. Alcohol is a low 13% abv and the retail price is $26. 

This wine is a medium-dark garnet in color. Its nose suggests savory aspects of the red fruit which is present. There is a smokiness that hangs over the plum, cherry and raspberry aromas, with some oak spice thrown in for good measure. On the palate are big red fruit notes, but little of the oak influence detected on the sniff. It is a rustic wine, with tannins that lie waiting for a bolognese sauce or a plate of sausage and peppers.

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Blood Of The Vines - The Kids Aren't Alright

Pairing‌ ‌wine‌ ‌with‌ ‌movies!‌  ‌See‌ ‌the‌ ‌trailers‌ ‌and‌ ‌hear‌ ‌the‌ ‌fascinating‌ ‌commentary‌ ‌for‌ ‌these‌ ‌movies‌ ‌and‌ ‌many‌ ‌more‌ ‌at‌ ‌Trailers‌ ‌From‌ ‌Hell.‌ This week, we examine a few films featuring young folks who are operating outside the realm of accepted behavior. We have wines to pair with each. 

1981 was a good year for slasher movies. Stuff like Halloween II, Student Bodies and My Bloody Valentine still bring a nostalgic tear to my eye when I think of them. Which, to be honest, is not all that often. And it may have been my allergies, so never mind. 

Dead Kids is really an alias for Strange Behavior, the first New Zealand horror film. A small town's teens are being brutally slain while an undercover mind control experiment has some of them under the power of a control freak. The film was released to mixed reviews but it has acquired a bit of a cult following in the decades since.

The movie delivers what the title promises, and more. A medical procedure performed on a sensitive facial area is better than a stick in the eye in a horror film. Especially when it is a needle in the eye. That's almost as good as Marathon Man dental work. 

For Dead Kids, or Strange Behavior, or whatever you'd like to call it, let's have a bizarre wine. Not one made from snake venom, garlic, avocados or pumpkins. God no, not the pumpkin wine! I'm not drinking any @#$%& pumpkin wine!

Strange Family Vineyards is in the Sta. Rita Hills portion of Santa Barbara County. Besides having a, (ahem), strange name, they make some scary good Pinot Noir. 

In the 1967 British thriller, Our Mother's House, Mom dies and her brood of kids keep it a secret to avoid being parceled off to foster homes. They bury the dear old matriarch in the backyard and cash her monthly checks to keep what's left of the family afloat.

Does it sound far-fetched? Well, it happened in real life just recently when a San Diego woman decided to keep getting her dead mom's Social Security checks. Not to be a spoiler, but she is now celebrating Mother's Day in a federal penitentiary. 

The kids in Our Mother's House also have a deadbeat dad to contend with, but I'll tell you right now, that absentee father is in way over his head with these kids. If you want a nice, happy ending to this movie, sorry. That ship sailed early in the film. The children eventually do the only right thing left to them. Cheers!

Big House Wines gets its name from the nearby Soledad Correctional Facility. They are more attuned to bootlegging crimes, but you also might end up there if you bury mom in the backyard and keep cashing her checks. 

Children of the Damned is the 1964 followup to The Village of the Damned, which only stands to reason. The six young'uns in this one are definitely not alright. They all have highly advanced mental abilities, which separates them from all the other kids on Earth, as well as half of the adults. 

The "stare that will paralyze the will of the world," as the first movie's one-sheet called it, makes the kids do evil things. But are they really evil? The cavalry arrives just in time to spare the world from that stare.

How evil were the looks that kill? Evil enough to murder, evil enough to trick the authorities, evil enough to fill your fridge with White Zinfandel. Let's not go overboard on the evil thing, though. Evil Wine hails from Australia and is a $10 Cabernet Sauvignon. That certainly sounds evil, but the merchants claim it is actually a bargain.

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