A Virtual Tasting Of Italian Wine With Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market are celebrating wines from Italy this month and in April.  Eight delicious and seductive wines from some of Italy’s notable winemakers are offered at great prices - all under $16.  From light, crisp Pinot Grigio from Veneto to earthy, fruit forward Sangiovese from Tuscany, you can taste your way through Italy with recipes and cheese pairings from Whole Foods Market.

There are two great opportunities for you to participate in virtual tasting events for these eight wines on Twitter.  Below is the list of Whole Foods

Market’s featured Italian wines as well as the dates and wines for the two Twitter Tastings - access them at hashtag #WFMWine.  The comments below are from Whole Foods.  I'll be writing about these wines, in my own words, separately over the next couple of weeks.

Get your descriptors warmed up, and get your wines at Whole Foods Market so you'll be ready to join me and share your thoughts on them via Twitter on both dates.

Twitter Tastings

Thursday March 13, 7:00-8:00 p.m. CT:
Banfi Principessa Gavia Gavi
Ruffino Orvieto Classico
Gran Passione Rosso
Donnafugata Sedàra

Thursday April 10, 7:00-8:00 p.m. CT:
Presto Prosecco
Caposaldo Pinot Grigio
Monrosso Chianti
Verrazzano Rosso

Banfi Principessa Gavia Gavi $15.99
"On the nose are vivid aromas of pineapple and tangy green apple.  There is a lovely balancing act between juicy ripe pear notes and bright acidity with a clean, delicate finish."

Ruffino Orvieto Classico $10.99
"Fresh flowers and citrus on the nose followed by ripe green apple up front, sassy acidity and a characteristic touch of mineral.  The finish is long and fragrant with almond notes."

Gran Passione Rosso $14.99
"Ripe blackberry and chocolate-covered cherries distinguish this delicious aroma.  This rich red is juicy with notes of black fruit and a satisfyingly long, dense finish."

Donnafugata Sedàra $14.99
"Fresh cherry and strawberry aromas give way to cascading notes of sun-dried cranberries, then black olive then peppercorn.  The finish is rich, deep, and rustic."

Presto Prosecco $10.99
"This sparkler has orange blossom aromas and honey notes.  Frisky flavors of apple and citrus bubble to the front and then make room for the light fresh finish."

Caposaldo Pinot Grigio $11.99
"White fruit, cut flowers and intriguing mineral aromas are on the nose followed by kiwi tartness balanced by mellow honeydew notes.  The finish is dry crisp and crowd-pleasing."

Monrosso Chianti $13.99
"Lavender and cranberry aromas blend in this soft, rich ruby red wine.  Gentle tannins, abundant fruit, and a well-balanced finish characterize this textbook Chianti."

Verrazzano Rosso $15.99
"This red has complex aromas of fresh fruits and violets followed by Tuscan herbs, black currant and pomegranate flavors that move to a smooth finish."


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Lodi Wine: A Great Place To Be Stuck Again

John Fogerty made Lodi sound like a lousy place for an entertainer to be stranded, but a grape-growing winemaking family could sure do a lot worse.  Lodi is full of generations-old farming families who have turned their farms into vineyards and their barns into wineries.

A recent virtual tasting of a handful of Lodi wines featured the Mettler Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2010.  The Mettlers have been at the grape thing for a while now - their estate was established in 1899.  Five generations of Mettlers have tended the vines and winemaker Adam Mettler helps carry on the family tradition.  Both vineyard blocks used in the making of this wine are organically and sustainably farmed.

The Mettler Cab has a varietal makeup of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petite Sirah and 1% Petit Verdot.  It is bottled under natural cork, aged in French oak for 22 months and strikes 14.9% abv.  7,800 cases were produced and the bottles retail for $25.  I was given a sample to review.

Some of my cohorts taking part in the Twitter tasting were mightily impressed by the Mettler wine:  "I find the @MettlerWines Cab is, ironically, very Napa stylish...it's good!"  "Mint and eucalyptus nose! almost birch beer."  "Big with fruit, soft with tannic structure. very drinkable & food friendly."

Inky purple in the glass, this Lodi Cab does produce quite a sensory experience for the nose.  Aromas of blackberry, cassis and clove are major players, but the fruit stands forward.  Other herbal qualities also take turns in the spotlight.

The palate is all big, dark fruit.  The wine has great acidity and tannic structure, but it drinks very smoothly.  Cedar notes carry a little spice - the oak is very pleasantly noticeable here.  There is a hint of bramble in the finish, but the sip goes away as smoothly as it came.


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Aromatic White Wines Of The Finger Lakes: Gewürztraminer

There are not many American wine regions that make me jealous that I don't live there, but New York's Finger Lakes region does.  I would love to be close enough to those long lakes gouged out by glaciers to visit every weekend - or every day, for that matter.  I live in Southern California, so I have no complaints - the Santa Barbara County wine country is my spiritual home.  Even so, I sometimes think I would trade my "sunny and 78" for scraping snow off my windshield - if the Finger Lakes were held in the balance.

The cool climate of this area means the wines generally have an acidity level that is best described in superlatives.  The fruit is sometimes overshadowed by the minerals, but that's OK with me.  the wines of the Finger Lakes are overall superior products, even though they are made just south of Lake Ontario.  If you are shopping around for great wines to place on the Thanksgiving table, the Finger Lakes region is a good place to start.

Billed as "North AmerIca's premier cool-climate winegrowing region," the winemakers of the Finger Lakes produce wines which are fresh, crisp, refreshing, relatively low in alcohol and given to having minerality to burn.

I was invited to join the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance Virtual Tasting series when aromatic white wines were the subject of the day.  White wines - particularly Rieslings - are the area's forte, and this selection featured a half dozen wines that showed off some of the other white grape varieties that succeed wildly in the Finger Lakes.  The wines were provided to me for promotional purposes.  You can check out the Twitter feed of comments that transpired during the event here.  Watch the event as it appeared on USTREAM here.

We will cover the three Gewürztraminers today, and in a later post, the Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay.

Villa Bellangelo Finger Lakes Gewürztraminer 2012

Gentle warm breezes off Seneca Lake lengthen the growing season at Villa Bellangelo in Dundee, NY.  Winemaker Ian Barry is in his 17th vintage with the winery.  He says he got the 2012 Gewürztraminer a little riper than he did in the previous year.  This wine is all stainless steel, but they plan to produce Gewürztraminer  the same way they make Riesling beginning in 2013, with neutral oak barrels and stirring on the lees.

The 2012 Bellangelo Gewürztraminer is sourced from nearby Gibson Vineyard (91%) and Morris Vineyard (9%). 325 cases were made.  Alcohol is low at 12.9% and residual sugar nearly nonexistent, at only 1%.  It hits the "medium dry" mark on the sweetness scale and is bottled under a natural cork.

The wine shows a nice yellow-gold tint and gives a beautiful nose of flowers, pears and apricots.  On the palate, tangerines are laced with pear juice by persistent mineral notes.  The really fruity flavor has the citrus is in the forefront.  Nice acidity begs for food and a beautiful finish of citrus is marked with minerals.  One taster in the virtual event picked up an oily character, so it's fairly full in the mouth.

Barry suggests pairing it with green curry, spinach Alfredo pizza and, of course, your Thanksgiving feast.


Keuka Springs Vineyards Finger Lakes Gewürztraminer 2012

August Diemel makes the wine for Keuka Springs Vineyards, located in Penn Yan, NY, on the east side of Keuka Lake.  Their ten acres of grapes are home for nine white wine varieties.  Diemel thinks Riesling is the lead actor in the Finger Lakes, but cites Gewürztraminer as the big supporting player.  He says his Gewürztraminer is more like Chardonnay than Riesling, with Riesling's aromatics and the textural qualities of Chardonnay."

He had to harvest early to maintain the acidity in balance with the sugar.  "Our cool climate helps Gewürztraminer maintain its aromatics."  The grapes he used are not estate fruit, and as a Keuka Lake proponent, he refused to comment on the source.

The Keuka Springs Gewürztraminer is sweet, with 8% residual sugar and a moderate 13% abv.  It is bottled under a natural cork with a retail price of $22.  Diemel's suggested pairings for the Keuka Springs Gewürztraminer are grilled shrimp, asparagus or Thai food.  He also likes it as an aperitif.

The nose on the Keuka Springs Gewürztraminer is highly aromatic, showing dried apricots, honey and a whole floral arrangement.  The sweet palate is loaded with white nectarines,pears and a touch of tropical fruit.  Acidity is pretty good, even though the mouthfeel overall is nice and creamy.


Knapp Winery and Vineyard Finger Lakes Dry Gewürztraminer 2012

Sunset Hill Vineyard, where the Knapp Gewürztraminer is grown, is on the west side of Cayuga Lake in Romulus, NY.  It opened for business in 1984 and 32 of their 46 estate acres of grapevines are white wine grapes.  They also manage another vineyard to the north with another 14 acres of white wine grapes.  Winemaker Steve DiFrancesco has 33 harvests to his name, and he works closely with vineyard manager Chris King.

The Knapp Gewürztraminer is just off dry on the sweetness scale typically used to identify the relative sweetness of Rieslings, but it is just as worthwhile in this case.  An alcohol content of 12.5% makes it easy to drink, and the 2.2 residual sugar adds a nice festive touch.  56 cases were produced and it retails for $15.  It comes bottled under a synthetic cork.

With light straw coloring and a beautiful floral and lime nose, the wine shows flavors of pears, sweet satsuma and a little bit of spice.  It's very fruity with a nice and dry mouthfeel.  Good, crisp acidity makes it very fresh.  The finish is memorable, full of citrus and minerality.


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Finger Lakes Wine Month Celebrated On Twitter

The Finger Lakes Wine Alliance continued their series of virtual wine tasting events on May 25, 2013, with a wine tweet-up in honor of Finger Lakes Wine Month.  Dubbed the Finger Lakes Wine Hour - really four-hours - the FLWA encouraged all to grab a bottle of their favorite wine produced in New York’s Finger Lakes region, taste it and get social about it.

The FLWA made it pretty easy on me - I was one of nearly two dozen media representatives supplied with samples.  Hundreds of other folks participated with wines which they bought with their own hard-earned money - money well spent.

New York’s Finger Lakes are a collection of long, deep, narrow lakes that were clawed out of the earth by glaciers.  Those lakes now provide the moderating influence needed to balance the cold winters in upstate New York for the growing of grapes.

Established as an AVA in 1982, the Finger Lakes region really got started in the 1950s, when Dr. Konstantin Frank set out to prove the skeptics wrong.  He figured it couldn’t be any harder to grow European vinifera grapes in New York than it was in the Ukraine.  His perseverance paved the way for all the other Finger Lakes growers to follow in his successful footsteps.

Best known for their distinctive and delightful Riesling wines, the winemakers of the Finger Lakes region also like to grow and make Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Merlot - in addition to native and French hybrid varieties.

Wagner Vineyards Reserve Pinot Noir 2010 

The folks at Wagner say they only produce this wine in top growing seasons, and they say 2010 was one of those seasons.  A lot of folks say that around the Finger Lakes, in fact.  Some say the 2010 vintage was God’s way of making up for the 2009 vintage.

The grapes for this Pinot Noir are grown in a single vineyard overlooking Seneca Lake from the eastern shore.  On Twitter, Katie Roller - @PR4Wagner - told me that “most of the wineries in the Finger Lakes region are so small that all their wines are single vineyard.”

Wagner was founded in 1979, and is one of the older wineries in the region.  There is no residual sugar in this wine, and the alcohol hits 12.8% abv.  Winemaker Ann Raffetto ages it in French and American oak for a year.

This is a spicy little number.  Notes of cinnamon, allspice, pepper, and anise join the raspberry aromas and flavors.  Hints of tea come forth on the palate, along with a ripping acidity.  It would no doubt leave a fairly delicate remembrance if it were not for its incredibly zippy freshness.

Thirsty Owl Wine Company Dry Riesling 2012 

The grapes for this varietal wine come mostly from newer estate vineyards on the western shore of Cayuga Lake, but there is fruit from some 30-year-old vines as well.  The tech numbers show alcohol at 11.2% abv and residual sugar at 0.4% - so it’s very dry.  Shawn Kime is the winemaker and vineyard manager for Thirsty Owl.

The wine is very pale in the glass and its nose smells of pears and tart apples.  In the mouth, it’s an austere Riesling, with green apple and a citrus zing on the palate and a freshness that’s bracing.  The clean, angular feel is steely and nervy.

On Twitter, @wild4wawine noticed a nice note of apple cinnamon that appeared on the finish.  The winery’s twitter feed - @TheThirstyOwl - told me, “This was bottled not too long ago. I expect the fruit to come up more over the next few months.”

Standing Stone Vineyards Gewürztraminer 2010 

Minerality is expected here, since the Standing Stone vineyards are planted shallow over a solid bed of slate on the eastern side of Seneca lake.  This Gewürz has only 1.0% residual sugar and 13.3% abv.

The huge, expressive nose trumpets not minerals but honeysuckle, jasmine, fresh peaches, pears and oranges.  Those notes repeat on the palate, which is abetted by some of that great Finger Lakes acidity.  The finish leaves a trace of tropical fruit behind.

Lakewood Vineyards Chardonnay 2011

Established in 1988, some of the Lakewood vines actually date back to 1952.  Winemaker Chris Stamp uses a mixture of American, French, Hungarian and 65% New York oak in the aging program for this Chardonnay, while the alcohol clocks in at 13.4% abv and there is no residual sugar.  It retails for $13.

The wine is undeniably oaky, with spiciness crawling all over it.  In addition to a creamy texture in the mouth, there is a racy acidity that doesn’t give up until well past the finish.  This is not a Chardonnay that just lets itself be sipped away.  This is a Chardonnay that takes umbrage it’s not paired with brisket and slaps the taste buds silly.


One Twitter user who seemed to wander into the Finger Lakes fray unaware - @maria_fulmer - commented, “Not a big wine drinker, but I am apparently missing out on this #FLXWine.”  That’s right, Maria.  If you are not already on the Finger Lakes bandwagon, it’s never too late to jump on.  There are plenty of hands to help you climb aboard.  Start with @FLXWine.

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Whole Foods Wine: Summer Twitter Tasting #1

The folks at Whole Foods Market have a popular series of Twitter Tasting events designed to show off the wines offered in their chain of groceries.  The Whole Foods wine buyers and some local stores take part, but mostly the gatherings consist of a bunch of social media addicts who love wine - good people like you and me.

Their Twitter Tastings about their line of Spanish wines were quite enjoyable, and just last week the same venue was used to expose Whole Foods’ wines of summer.  They have a top ten list of summer favorites, and three of the wines were the topic of the May 31, 2012 event.  Another trio will be sipped and discussed on July 12, 2012 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. CT.  If you want to take part, pick up the wines and log on at that time.  Use the hashtag #WFMwine.  We’ll be waiting for you.

There was a lot of very satisfied tweeting about the three wines tasted for the most recent event.  A lot of tweeters found all three to be of high quality at a reasonable price.

Mionetto Prosecco is made from organically-grown Glera grapes, which were known as Prosecco until a few years ago.  The name of the grape was changed to help protect the name of the Prosecco D.O.C.  The sparkling wine has only an 11% alcohol content and less than 1% residual sugar.  The winery advises serving it refrigerator-cold, which is a lot colder than I like to serve wine.  They recommend Mionetto Prosecco as a base for Bellinis and other sparkling wine cocktails.

I found the nose a little hard to reach - that happens to me a lot with very cold wine - but minerals and lemon lime did come through for me.  On the palate, the toasty aspect of the fruit was more pronounced than I had anticipated.  It wasn’t as sweet as I had thought it might be, either.  Apples and citrus are in front, with a gentle earthiness riding over the sweetness of the fruit.  Minerals abound amid a wonderful acidity.  The medium finish really holds that minerality.  On Twitter, @WineHarlots liked it a lot.  I know that @WineHarlots tend to love that which sparkles, they also have a discerning palate I can trust.

Pratsch Grüner Veltliner 2011 is another organic wine.  The Pratsch winery is in Austria, northeast of Vienna.  This wine also presents an easy-drinking abv number of 12%.  On the Austrian scale of wine quality it is Qualitätswein.  The Austrian and German quality scale is as challenging a topic as the Italian D.O.C. system, so I won’t pretend to be an authority on it.  As I understand, Qualitätswein means the grapes used in the wine were harvested somewhat overripe.  This could result in a late-harvest type of sweetness, but in this case it does not.

The Pratsch Gruner is very pale and has a nose of lemons and wet rocks.  On the palate it’s very smooth - almost too smooth.  I would like to have a little more acidity, but the smells and flavors are great.  Green apples and minerals are most notable, and the minerals are all over the finish.  Chill this wine for a summer sipper.

On Twitter, @SomeGrapes, @DeniseFraser, @joewinetraveler and others commented on how nice they found the acidity, directly contradicting my impression.  @WineFoodTravel pointed out there’s a hint of cucumber, which I had not noticed until it was pointed out.

Tormaresca Neprica 2010 is a wine from Italy’s I.G.T. Puglia region.  The grapes used are alluded to in the wine’s name:  NEgroamaro, PRImitivo and CAbernet Sauvignon.  The red blend is vinified and aged completely in stainless steel, with full malolactic fermentation.  I always love tasting a red wine produced without oak - the aromas and flavors are always so fresh and enticing.  In this wine, malolactic fermentation imparts a full-mouthed creaminess.

It’s medium-dark in the glass and has an amazing nose - big, huge black cherry, raspberry and currant notes are all wrapped in an earthy hint of allspice.  The palate is lean and fruity, showing very dark raspberry and cherry flavors, but so clean.  The nice acidity level and elegant tannins work together to make a mouth-watering quaff that is a joy to drink.  And in case you think summer wines have to be white or pink, this shows otherwise.  Neprica takes a chill quite well.

On Twitter, @sf_valerie thought the Tormaresca Neprica was like an Orin Swift Chianti, while @melanie0 was happy to find a chillable red for the hot weather ahead.

We hope to see your Twitter handle in the timeline in July!


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Spanish Wines At Whole Foods Market

The wines of Spain loom large in my love of the grape.  It was a tasting event featuring Spanish wines which first made me want to pursue wine as something more than just a beverage.  To paraphrase the Hoyt Axton song made famous by Three Dog Night, “I’ve never been to Spain, but I kinda like the vino.”  I kinda like it a lot.

Whole Foods Market has their springtime spotlight on Spain’s wine heritage, and they are featuring a dozen Spanish wines that are each priced at less than $20.

When the grocery chain invited me to participate in a pair of Twitter tastings featuring some of these Spanish wines, I didn’t even think about saying no.  Due to scheduling difficulties, I was unable to participate in the first round of tasting and tweeting.  The second round - April 19th, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. CDT - will see me tasting and tweeting.  Since my local Whole Foods was kind enough to supply me with all six of the wines in the tastings, allow me to taste and type about the first three now.

Hermanos Lurton Rueda Verdejo 2010
In addition to Spain, Francois Lurton also makes wine in his French homeland, as well as in Portugal, Argentina and Chile.  This wine comes under a screwcap and carries an alcohol number of 12.5% abv.

This Verdejo comes from from low-yielding vines.  When a grapevine yields a small amount of fruit, that fruit tends to be much more concentrated in aroma and flavor.  The Lurton holds true to that rule, showing a medium golden tint and an extremely aromatic nose.  Tropical fruit aromas, cantaloupe and the peel of lemons and oranges fill my nostrils immediately.  It’s the kind of bouquet I want from a slightly chilled white wine on a warm afternoon outside.  Not to plagiarize Evan Dawson, but it has the olfactory sense of summer in it.

The wine is fairly full in the mouth, too, with a razor-sharp acidity.  The citrus zest comes across the palate first with pineapple next - not the sweet heart, but the part very close to the rind.  Melon lingers on the very long finish.  This is what I want a white wine to be - anytime.


Castillo de Monséran Cariñena Garnacha 2009

The grapes for this wine - called Grenache elsewhere - are grown in Spain’s northeastern Aragon region.  The cool-climate vineyards are located up in the Sierra de la Virgen mountains.  The DO status for Cariñena was created in 1932, and the area is where the French Carignane grape originated.  It’s known as Mazuelo in Cariñena and is still widely planted, although Garnacha Tinta is king.

The back label, after a brief and none-too-descriptive summary of the vinification, ends up with one of those great blanket recommendations: “To be drunk with all meat dishes or slightly chilled with any starter.”  That doesn’t narrow it down much, but it does leave my options wide open.  Again, a moderate alcohol level of 12.5% abv.

The medium dark hue tips off a nose of very intense black cherry and blackberry with a bit of earth peeking through.  The taste is a mix of cherry and raspberry, with a tartness and earthy quality about it.   A great level of acidity makes the mouth water.  Nice tannins would support that rather all-encompassing pairing suggestion..


Castaño Yecla Monastrell 2011

Yecla is a DO in the Murcia region of southeastern Spain.  The area is known for its Monastrell - elsewhere called mourvédre.  Under the Castaño screwcap is a wine made from organic grapes and bearing a robust 14% alcohol number.

It’s a very dark wine, not inky but getting close to it.  The nose displays dark blackberry and plums with a layer of clove.  On the palate there is dark fruit and spice as well.  Some oak steps forward but doesn’t try to steal the show.  That act is handled by the brilliant acidity and forceful tannins.  The Castaño Monastrell would pair quite well with a smoky grilled steak.

If these three Spanish beauties are an indication, the second round of the Whole Foods Twitter Tasting should be a gem.  Join in, if you can.  Follow my tweets, or those of @WFMWineGuys.  The hashtag #WFMWine should make it easy to channel all that Spanish wine chatter into a single column.  You can also go to http://www.twitter.com/#!/search/wfmwine to see all the tweets.

Spanish Wines Twitter Tasting 2 – Apr. 19 at 7 p.m. CST

Castell de Raimat Albariño

Faustino Rioja

Más de Leda Tempranillo

Whole Foods Market featured Spanish wines include:

Hermanos Lurton Verdejo from Rueda

Castell de Raimat Albariño from Costers del Segre in Catalan

Spartico Organic Tempranillo from Valencia 

Protos Tinto Fino from Ribera del Duero 

Faustino Rioja from Rioja

Maximo Tempranillo from La Mancha 

Más de Leda Tempranillo from Castilla y León 

La Vendimia Granacha Tempranillo from Rioja 

Cellars Can Blau Blau Cariñena Garnacha-Syrah from Priorat 

Monte Oton Garnacha from Campo de Borja

Castillo de Monséran Garnacha from Cariñena

Castaño Organic Monastrell from Yecla 

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A New Look For Now And Zin Wine

There's a bit of change underway on the Now And Zin Wine Blog.  If all my tech-savvy know-how falls into place without a hitch, you might not even notice it, except to remark that it may well be the first time all my tech-savvy know-how fell into place without a hitch.

For a number of reasons, I'm exiting the blog platform I have used for the past two years or so.  Website Tonight's Quick Blogcast service has looked good, but it has provided me with several technical issues I felt I needed to address.

I'm in the process of a "soft opening" of the new site, Now And Zin Wine, which should become official over the weekend.  It's actually a return to Google's Blogger platform, which I used in the initial months of this effort.  Google made a lot of upgrades since I had used it last, and it made sense for me to return to it.

If all goes well, it should be a seamless changeover.  If, however, you have saved links to articles on the Now And Zin Wine Blog for any reason, they will disappear at some point.  All the articles which have appeared in the past two years have been shifted over to the new site, so if you need to fix any links, they are available.

The Now And Zin Wine Report podcast also has a new location, and it is accessible through Now And Zin Wine.  You'll also find links for the Wine Country series, Blood Of The Vines, the Now And Zin Facebook page, California wine events and other items on the site.  The search box is easy to use, and the share and subscribe features should also be painless.

I'd love to hear feedback on the new site, if you feel inclined.  Contact information is available on the "About Randy Fuller" page at Now And Zin Wine.  Just click on my picture.

Thanks for all your support during an amazing growth period for Now And Zin.  I hope you find the changes make the site better.


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HAHN FAMILY WINES ON CENTRAL COAST WINE DAY

Those of us who participated in the Twitter tasting for Central Coast Wine Day on March 15, 2012, had a blast tweeting our thoughts on the wines we were tasting that evening.  There were many online who, like me, were supplied samples to taste from the Hahn Family of wines.  The four Hahn wines we all seemed to be tasting and tweeting were the Hahn Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay, Hahn GSM, Hahn Pinot Noir and the Smith & Hook Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

The Hahn Family makes wine in Monterey County, in the Santa Lucia Highlands.  Warm climate vineyards there provide a good foothold for Cabernet Sauvignon, and it was that grape that captured the attention of Nicolaus and Gaby Hahn in the mid-seventies.  The Hahns turned a couple of neighboring ranches - the Smith Ranch and the Hook Ranch - into vineyards and released their first Smith & Hook Cab in 1980.  Nowadays some Paso Robles fruit is added to the fruit from the San Antonio Valley in the southern end of the Santa Lucia Mountains.

The tasting tweeters all seemed to really like the Hahn wines quite a bit.  There were numerous tweets hailing the Chardonnay as the best, and a seemingly equal number praising the GSM.  Backing for the Pinot seemed to get a late start and the Smith & Hook Cab really never seemed to get going, at least to my notice.  Winemaker Paul Clifton can feel proud of the love the tweeters were showering upon the fruit of his labor.

People seemed genuinely surprised to learn that the price of the Chardonnay, GSM and even the Pinot Noir were well under $20.  The Cabernet retails for around $30.

It was great to have a tweet-versation with a gentleman from Florida, who spoke of his trips to Paso Robles and pined for a wine country life.  He spoke with reverence of meeting Paso winemaking nobility like Gary Eberle, Kenneth Volk, Stephen Lohr and Stephan Asseo.  You can check how the conversations went on Twitter by searching the hashtag #CCWineDay on Twitter.

The Hahn Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands 2010 is very light in color, with a golden tint.  The nose is massive with tropical fruit, pineapple, green apples and oak spice.  It tastes tropical too, with some guava and a citrus zest element.  Oak shows up here, in restrained fashion, but maybe just a touch more than I usually like.  The effect of the oak does not hide the fruit, but it definitely colors it.  This wine certainly wowed the Twitter crowd.  It was in a dead heat for the title of favorite wine of the night.

In the Hahn GSM 2010, the Grenache gives tons of pretty fruit, the Syrah providing darkness and tannins, and the Mourvédre gives it some kick.  Medium dark ruby in color, the nose has black cherry and anise in the forefront.  A bit of an herbal note comes through as well.  On the palate, bright acidity lifts the dark fruit and coffee notes.  The Hahn GSM has great tannic structure and a cherry finish.  It's a very flavorful and somewhat complex wine.   The mix is 62% Grenache, 34% Syrah and 4% Mourvédre, with an alcohol content of 14.5% abv. 

Hahn's Pinot Noir Monterey 2010 has lovely floral aromas with cherry notes.  The palate is dominated by black cherry and I find some pretty big spice rack notes.  It’s pretty lusty, with nice tannins and a finish that goes forever.  It also has a 14.5% alcohol content.  I, and others, find it hard to believe it sells for $14 a bottle.

The Smith & Hook Cabernet Sauvignon Central Coast 2009 is a very dark ruby red color.  The nose shows dark fruit and oak spice.  It feels quite full in the mouth.  The wine is very dry and has nice, firm tannins.  The flavor of plums and currant appear on the palate, and an earthy quality holds the fruit in check.  This is a great steak wine, with some mushrooms on the side.  The Sith & Hook Cab retails for $30.

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CENTRAL COAST WINE DAY

The California Central Coast wine region has a hashtag day coming up!  If you use Twitter in order to converse with other wine lovers - or #winelovers - you have no doubt seen entries utilizing the hashtag - # - to raise the profile of a specific grape variety on its special day.  Now get ready for #CCWineDay.

That's the hashtag designation to use on March 15, 2012 as you tweet up your favorite Central Coast wine.  Presumably, you may also toot the horn of your favorite Central Coast winery, vineyard, wine bar or wine store.  Whatever helps make the Central Coast wine region worthy of recognition is fair game.  It's a huge appellation, stretching from Southern California to Monterey Bay, so there should be no shortage of worthy hashtag recipients.

The whole day is expected to feature plenty of Twitter activity in the #CCWineDay hashtag, but the biggest concentration is expected between 5:00 and 7:30 p.m. on March 15th.  

See the EventBrite page for a partial listing of those participating, and if you'd like more information on getting involved, email mark@HahnFamilyWines.com.  Hahn Family Wines has been kind enough to provide some samples to Now And Zin which I will be tasting and tweeting about on Central Coast Wine Day.

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NOW AND ZIN YOUTUBE

Here's a little video with some wine images from Southern California and the Central Coast.

SOUTH COAST WINERY GROUP THERAPY RECAP

One of Temecula’s showcase wineries - South Coast Winery - held their second live-streamed Group Therapy session of 2011 on May 25th.  Interested parties watched the live video stream and tweeted with one another - and the world - about the wines they were tasting.

The event is designed to coincide with their wine club shipments, so you can expect another Group Therapy session sometime in August.  Tasters were able to order ahead of time the package of wines being featured so they could taste and tweet along with everyone else.  Now And Zin was provided with complimentary samples for review.

With one event like this already under their belts, the group at South Coast Winery seemed pretty relaxed in their comfy chairs in front of a cozy fireplace.  South Coast Owner Jim Carter and winemakers Jon McPherson and Javier Flores held the fireside chat in a living room setting with the logs burning behind them.  Carter used the homey setting to announce that the South Coast wines will soon be distributed nationally.

The participants on the viewing end had a nice time, too.  In addition to those tasting in person, there were wine lovers chatting on the winery’s website and on Twitter about the four wines in the tasting group.  I caught several comments indicating pleasant surprise at the quality of the wines as well as at least one complaining of overly ripe fruit.  That’s a matter for debate; while the flavors were admittedly big, I didn’t feel it was something unexpected from grapes grown in Southern California.

Here are the wines which were tasted in the most recent Group Therapy session:

South Coast Winery Sauvignon Blanc Musqué Clone 2009 
Temecula Valley Carter Estate Vineyard
This extremely aromatic wine is made entirely of the Musqué clone of Sauvignon Blanc.  That’s a cross between Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat.  This clone allows the florality of Muscat to soften the acute grassiness of Sauvignon Blanc.  The Carter Estate Vineyard, from which the grapes come, is now seven years old.  The wine has an amazingly low alcohol level of 12.2% abv.

Light in color and beautifully aromatic, the wine has generous notes of fresh cut grass and a driveway after a brief rain.  The mouthfeel comes on strong, too.  There’s a striking acidity, with flavors of lemon peel and minerals.

South Coast Winery Brut 2007 
Temecula Valley Sparkling Wine
70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, this sparkler shows off its main grape.  Most of the fermentation was in stainless steel, while only 12% of the blend was fermented in new French oak.  Closed cuve secondary fermentation with 11 months on the lees finished this methode champenoise offering.  The alcohol level is 13% abv.

Despite the limited exposure to oak, there's a very aromatic nose with huge yeasty notes.  Flavors of apples and citrus dominate the palate, and there is quite a bit of acidity.  It's a very fizzy wine, but when the bubbles die down it takes on the feel of a dry still wine with a touch of yeastiness.  Several tasters were pining for some sushi to pair with it.

South Coast Winery Tempranillo Rosé 2010 
Temecula Valley Carter Estate Vineyard
This Temecula Tempranillo is a beautiful light magenta color.  The nose is, once again, aromatic.  Strawberries are met with a touch of funk, while herbal berry aromas also come into play.  The wine offers a zippy acidity, and the strawberry and cherry flavors are enormous!

South Coast Winery Syrah 2005 
Temecula Valley Rolling Hills Estate Vineyard
This Syrah was fermented in stainless steel and aged 14 months in French/American hybrid barrels.  The 14.3% abv alcohol level makes itself known on the nose, which is all spices, vanilla and clove layering over the blackberry and cassis fruit.  Definitely not a cool climate Syrah, there's a ton of very ripe and juicy aromas with lots of spice and a touch of tar.
The palate shows intense fruit with big spice flavors as well.  There's a lot of influence from the oak at first and it runs a bit hot, so let it sit a while or decant before serving.  The wine shows a great meatiness after it opens up a bit.  Three days after opening the nose is incredible.  Tar, leather, meat and sage all play with an admirable complexity.


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SOUTH COAST WINERY GROUP THERAPY

Now And Zin has the pleasure of participating in South Coast Winery's second live-streamed Group Therapy session for 2011. 

Wednesday May 25th at 6:00 p.m. PDT, the tasting and fun will get underway in person at the Temecula, California winery or online through Twitter.

Watch online and tweet about the wines as they are tasted.  Simply go to WineResort.com and click the Group Therapy button to join the video feed, and use the Twitter hashtag #SCWGroupTherapy to channel your comments into the stream of those participating.

The first time around was a lot of fun, and this venture should be illuminating as well.  You can join South Coast Winery on Facebookand follow them on Twitter.  The latter is how Now And Zin's Randy Fuller will be participating in the Group Therapy session.

Here are the wines which will be tasted in the Group Therapy session for May:

South Coast Winery Sauvignon Blanc Musqué Clone 2009 Temecula Valley Carter Estate Vineyard

South Coast Winery Brut Temecula Valley Sparkling Wine 2007

South Coast Winery Tempranillo Rosé 2010 Temecula Valley Carter Estate Vineyard

South Coast Winery Syrah 2005 Temecula Valley Rolling Hills Estate Vineyard

WINE ON TWITTER

If you like wine, and you like Twitter, you might like to find out about a few wine people who are very active in the social media.  The website WeFollow has listed the most followed wine industry people.

Number one on the list is @garyvee. That's the Twitter handle used by popular wine videocaster Gary Vaynerchuk.  His tweets are followed by over 850,000 people, making him the most-followed wine person in Twitterland.  Be forewarned: he's a very active Tweeter.  You'll be kept apprised of nearly every thought that pops into his head.

Next on the list is @ablegrape, at just over 295,000 followers.  Doug Cook is his real name, and he says he's a computer geek turned wine geek, and that he's building the world's most comprehensive wine information search engine.  He’s the head of Twitter’s search initiative.  

After those top two, the numbers really fall off the cliff.  The third most followed wine Tweeter is@winerecipes with just under 68,000 followers.

@crushpad, "a state-of-the-art winery where you are the winemaker," is in fourth place followed by a little over 65,000 Twiiter users.

In fifth place with about 54,000 followers is @WineTwits, promising insider information and wine for sale.

Foodie and sommelier @RickBakas is number six, with followers numbering some 46,000.  Seventh on the list is @magillamax - otherwise known as Aussie John Newell - serving up tweets about wine, food, music, travel and marketing to 43,000 or so faithful.  Esteemed wine writer@JancisRobinson has 42,000 followers, @GetYourWineNews delivers messages to 41.000 and@winedinetv - the mother-daughter team of Judit and Corina celebrate wine, food, travel and lifestyle for 39,000 fans.

WeFollow also offers a listing that ranks wine tweeters in order of their influence, which does shake things up a bit.  On that list, @WineTwits knocks @garyvee out of first place, while @JancisRobinson moves up to third.  @WineEnthusiast magazine moves from #22 to fourth place and @GetYourWineNews rounds out the top five most influential Twitter users in the wine biz.

I scanned down both lists, but didn’t see my handle anywhere.  If you’d like to follow me anyway, send me a tweet at @randyfuller1.