The Wines Of Jean-Luc Colombo

Jean-Luc Colombo

French winemaker Jean-Luc Colombo was in Los Angeles recently for a series of tastings and dinners to promote his wines.  The walk-around tasting at Monsieur Marcel in Beverly Hills was staged by Ian Blackburn's Learn About Wine education group.  Blackburn greeted me with the news that Colombo was in rare form.  “He won’t stop talking about non-irrigated farming.  He says irrigation destroys terroir.”  Well, he’s had a lifetime to think about it.

Colombo became interested in wine at an early age.  Back in Marseilles, he started a quest to make wine which was as good as his mother’s cooking.  Colombo is a devotee of the Syrah grape, so he was quite naturally drawn to the northern Rhone Valley.  The first vineyards he bought for himself were on a granite hillside overlooking the tiny village of Cornas.  They call it the birthplace of Syrah - in fact, Syrah is the only grape planted there.  That’s alright with Colombo.

Ian Blackburn

The winemaker shook things up a bit in Cornas with his fruit-forward tendencies, which flew in the face of traditional ways.  Colombo thought wine shouldn’t be locked away for years in a barrel before being released and enjoyed.  He is described on the winery website as having deep “respect for the unique qualities of each and every terroir, and uncompromising support of a sensible alliance between traditional approaches to vineyard management and a modern understanding of the life cycle of the vine.”  He also departs from tradition by labeling his wines varietally - Syrah, Viognier, etc.

Colombo later acquired vineyards in the Southern Rhône Valley and Languedoc regions.  He farms his vineyards organically and sees his grapes not as kings of the hillside, but residents of it.  His wines are imported by Palm Bay International.  The prices listed here are retail, found online, and they may not be exact.  He is what I tasted:

WHITE

La Belle de Mai Saint-Peray 2011, $42
Saint-Peray is in the Northern Rhône, the mirror image of Cornas.  All the wines of Saint-Peray are white.  La Belle de Mai is 80% Roussanne and 20% Marsanne taken from 80-year-old vines on steep limestone and granite slopes.  Fermentation and malolactic takes place in mostly neutral barrels, while aging on the lees last ten months with weekly stirring.  This method of leaving the wine in contact with the yeast during aging brings out some amazing aromas of nuts, flowers and lemons.  This wine is very full-bodied, creamy and buttery.  Colombo says he is “very proud of this wine.”

Les Abeilles de Colombo 2012, $12
This white from the Côtes du Rhône is 80% Clairette and 20% Roussanne.  Stainless steel fermentation, then aged on the lees - 15% in barrels and 85% in tanks.  Apple, floral, mineral.  Very fresh.

La Redonne 2011
Another Côtes du Rhône blanc, the grapes are 70% Viognier and 30% Roussanne.  Fermented in steel tanks, 20% is aged on the lees in barrels with the remainder in steel.  Minerals, oak, floral, honey.

La Violette Viognier 2011, $14
This is 100% Viognier from the Languedoc region in southern France.  Fermentation takes place in steel tanks (80%) and barrels (20%).  The wine ages for six months - on the lees, of course - with only 70% in tanks and the rest in barrels.  Minerals, peaches, almonds.

ROSÉ

Cape Bleue Rosé 2012, $12
This pink wine is made from 67% Syrah and 33% Mourvèdre grapes from Provence.  The traditional saignée method of extraction - bleeding the juice from the grape skins - is followed by two or three weeks fermentation in steel tanks.  Minerals and strawberry, nice savory notes.

RED

La Louvée Syrah Cornas 2010, $50
This single-vineyard wine is made from 70-year-old vines growing in granite soils.  It is fermented in stainless steel tanks with skin contact of one month, then aged 22 months in oak -  15% of which is new.  Extremely floral blueberry nose, mineral-driven blueberry palate.  Oak spice stays around on the finish.

Les Ruchets Cornas 2010 Syrah, $60
These grapes are from 90-year-old vines in a single vineyard on ancient Roman terraces.
Stainless steel fermentation precedes aging of 22 months in oak, a third of it new.  Minerals, delightful dark fruit, oak spice.

Terres Brulees Cornas 2010 Syrah, $50
Fermented in steel, with 21 months in oak - 15% new, 85% neutral.  Burnt caramel nose, blueberry with a caramel edge on the palate.  Extremely rich and completely delightful.

Les Bartavelles Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2011,
45% Syrah, 35% Grenache and 20% Mourvèdre, the grapes are grown in the CDP's galet soil.  Stainless steel fermentation, then 18 months in neutral oak.  Minerals, berries, spice.  Lovely, perfect use of oak..

La Violette Syrah 2011, $15
100% Syrah from Languedoc.  Fermentation in tanks is backed up with a year of aging, ten percent in oak and the remainder in steel and concrete tanks.  Floral nose, mineral palate.  Black and blue berries, herbs on finish.

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Castello di Amorosa White Wines

Castello di Amorosa

It’s always interesting to hear which wineries people hold dear.  For folks not in the wine business, that choice often centers on a winery they visited once.  Maybe they joined the club and get quarterly reminders of their trip to wine country.

I know a fellow who talks about a particular Napa Valley winery every time I see him.  It was at least a decade since his visit, but it impressed him so much that he still relives that vacation.  Castello di Amorosa is one of those places people will talk about for years after their visit.

Dario Sattui opened Calistoga’s Castello di Amorosa winery in 2007.  The structure - built in the style of a Tuscan castle - is mightily impressive and unforgettable.  It employs brick, wood and iron imported from Italy, along with over 8,000 tons of local stone.  This wine castle was a dream for years before it actually took shape.

Today, winemakers Brooks Painter and Peter Velleno work in the cellar there with consulting winemaker Sebastiano Rosa.  There is no distribution for their wines.  If you want them, order from the winery or go pay them a visit that you'll remember forever.

Their red wines were the subject of an earlier article on this site.  The winery was kind enough to send samples of a few of their white wines for me to try.

Dry Gewürztraminer 2012 Anderson Valley, Mendocino County

This wine comes from an Anderson Valley vineyard where they have sourced Gewürztraminer for years.  They made 2,392 cases at 14.5% abv - rather high for this variety.  Stainless steel fermentation means you can expect a clean and refreshing wine.  The retail price is $25.

Pale straw in color, the bouquet comes on strong with beautiful honeysuckle, pineapple, apple and pear notes.  The palate is fruity and fresh.  Apple and pear flavors are joined by minerality, a spicy note and great acidity.  This wine will be just fine with shrimp or crabs.

Napa Valley Chardonnay 2011

The grapes come from a vineyard at the south end of the Napa Valley.  1,424 cases were made, and the wine retails for $28.  It hits 14.4% abv on the alcohol meter, is 100% barrel fermented and aged sur lie for ten months  in 50% new French oak.  Sur lie means the wine is aged with the spent yeast cells - lees - still in it.  It is stirred to re-suspend the yeast.

A beautiful golden color, the wine's nose is bursting with ripe tropical fruit and funky, buttery oak.  The palate is big, too, with similar fruit and oak spice.  Flavors of citrus and pears find comfort in the silky, buttery oak for what we could call a classic California Chardonnay.  The acidity offers a zing to complement the full mouthfeel.  Feel free to pair it with shellfish and salads.

Bien Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay Reserve 2011 Santa Barbara County

From one of my favorite vineyards, this Santa Maria Valley wine was produced in a quantity of 1,344 cases.  This reserve Chardonnay sells for $38, and the alcohol is not shy - 14.8% abv.  Aged for ten months in French oak, on the lees, only 20% of the grapes went through malolactic fermentation in the barrel.  This means you can expect the wine be a little more steely than creamy.

This wine also has a lovely golden hue, and a nose which carries every bit of that ten months of oak.  Get past the oak spice, and you find lovely tropical and citrus accents.  The same can be said for the palate, which is abetted by a riveting acidity.  It's not exactly the steely wine a minimized malolactic might indicate, but it definitely has a lot of focus apart from the oak influence.  This one will be a hit with any type of seafood or poultry.


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Southern California Beer: Hangar 24 Orange Wheat

While waiting for a movie at one of our favorite theaters - with a bar attached - Denise developed a hankering for a beer.  It's funny, because she seems much more like a cocktail girl than a beer fan.  She ordered a dark beer, then changed her mind.  I made a bee line for the waiter, catching him just before the previous order had been drawn from the tap.

The Hangar 24 Orange Wheat Beer from Redlands, CA, seemed like an odd choice for my wife, but we both enjoyed sharing the large bottle, $6 at the bar.

Our airborne reporter friend often speaks of the Inland Empire brew, which is brewed across the street from Redlands Municipal Airport, where his aircraft often stops for refueling.

This beer has an alcohol content of only 4.6% abv.  The label states that it is "crisp, tangy and refreshing," and that's right on the money.  It's an unfiltered wheat beer, which is brewed with locally-grown oranges.  Usually I experience the orange as a slice placed in the wheat beer.  The oranges come through brilliantly in the flavor.  Like other wheat beers, it appears cloudy in the glass.

The Hangar 24 website states, "Our oranges are purchased through the Old Grove Orange company (affiliate of the non-profit Inland Orange Conservancy) whose main objectives are to save the local orange trees from disappearing, spread the word about the local citrus growing heritage, and to feed the hungry with the unutilized oranges.  Please visit them at www.inlandorange.org.  All we need to do to save the orange trees is to eat or drink locally grown oranges!"  Redlands is in Southern California's Inland Empire, which was once a major source for citrus fruit.

They advise pairing this beer with fish, salads, mozzarella cheese and less-spicy Mexican or Thai food.  It went great with the popcorn during the movie.


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Frank Family Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

They say the best way to make a small fortune in the wine business is to start with a large fortune.  To that end, you may want to emulate Rich Frank, the owner of Frank Family Vineyards.  Like a number of California vintners, Frank left a career in which he literally waded through money to go into a career in which he wades through grapes.

He was Chairman of Walt Disney Television and headed Disney’s syndication arm, Buena Vista. Then he became the President of Walt Disney Studios, a chair he occupied for nearly a decade.  He oversaw the development of The Disney Channel.  All that after serving as chief at the Paramount Television Group and Chris Craft Television.  He also helped found USA Network in his spare time.  Enough with the resume, though.  Let's talk about wine.

This $50 could be hard to come by - it's sold only through the winery and at select restaurants and retailers.  The blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc aged for 20 months in French oak, 30% of which was new.  Alcohol content measures 14.5% abv.  A sample was provided to me by Jarvis Communications.

This Cab is deep ruby red with a nose of blackberry, cassis and vanilla spice.  The bold palate is full of the same, with the added attraction of some pencil point and and a plum note that powers right through the finish.  Freshly poured, the tannins are out to get your attention.  They will serve well with heavy beef dishes.  Allow a bit of time for the air to do its work, and the tannins smooth out considerably.


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Jeff Gordon Cellars Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

If you are racing to buy a good wine to pair with a steak, make a pit stop with NASCAR racer Jeff Gordon.  When he's not turning left at 200 mph, he oversees his California wine outfit, Jeff Gordon Cellars.  His Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 will have your meal taking the checkered flag, assuming your tires are good and nothing under the hood blows up.

The grapes for this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon come from two vineyards at opposite ends of the Napa Valley.  Stagecoach Vineyards in the Atlas Peak area features rocky, volcanic soil while Corbett Vineyard is on a hillside in Spring Mountain, just north of St. Helena.  Both vineyards are at an elevation of about 1,000 feet.  A hard frost in the 2008 vintage reduced the crop size, but what was left, as Spencer Tracy said, "was cherce."

Grapes from the two vineyards were fermented separately, then blended.  According to the winemaker notes, a gentle crush, a two-day cold soak, punchdowns and pumpovers enabled winemakers August "Joe" Briggs and his nephew Jesse Inman to craft a wine with "maximum extraction from the skins without harsh tannins."

On the nose are roses, blackberries, plums, rosemary and oak spices of vanilla and cigars.  Take a sip, and it gets all elegant up in here.  Graceful notes of black plum, black currant, spice, a great acidity and a good tannic structure that doesn't try to push you into the wall.  That rocky hillside soil really shines through.  The finish, naturally, is a winner.


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Whole Foods Market Debuts A New Vintage For One Wine

The local wine concept is alive and well at Whole Foods Markets in Southern California.  The One Wine label - available at Southern California Whole Foods stores - is a unique collaboration between Whole Foods Market and local winemakers.  It started with WFM’s commitment to providing their customers with products that celebrate the places and stories from which they are created.

The One Wine label started in 2011 as a partnership with two wineries in Santa Barbara County, and has since blossomed into a mutually beneficial, creative and delectable partnership between Whole Foods Market and over ten of Southern California’s best winemakers.  All of the One Wine releases are small lot wines, typifying the movement of boutique wineries in Santa Barbara County.  They are all in limited supply, and only available in Southern California Whole Foods Market stores.  They have a habit of disappearing from the shelves quickly, so don't delay in picking up the ones that interest you.

I had the extraordinary opportunity to visit the Whole Foods Market in Venice, CA as they celebrated the five-year anniversary of that store.  The new One Wine releases were poured, with winemakers and representatives of the wineries that made them present to chat about the wines.  It was a three-hour drive down to L.A. for them, so their presence was much appreciated.

Roger Fawcett

The event was headed up by Hilary Maler, the Southern Pacific Region Associate Marketing Coordinator for Whole Foods.  Joining her was Roger Fawcett, wine and spirits buyer for the region.  Fawcett was excited about the chain's involvement with the One Wine project.  “We are thrilled to partner with our neighboring vineyards to create regional, locally produced blends for our customers,” he said.  “Our One Wine label wines showcase the world-class winemaking taking place in the foothills and valleys that surround our community, and allow our shoppers the opportunity to uncork a range of Southern California’s best wines.”

In case you are unfamiliar with the One Wine line, participating wineries include Ampelos Cellars, Au Bon Climat Winery, Cimarone Wines, Clendenen Family Winery, Fallbrook Winery, Happy Canyon Vineyards, Hearst Ranch Winery, Hitching Post Winery, Ken Brown Wines, Margerum Wineries, Sextant Wines, South Coast Winery and Stolpman Vineyard.  With names like those, you can expect high quality - and they are priced nicely, between $15 and $20 per bottle.

You can get a taste of One Wine by viewing this mini-documentary.

Jim Saunders

One Wine Hearst Ranch Paso Robles Red Blend 2011, $20

Jim Saunders, of Hearst Ranch Winery, conducted a blind blending session to determine the mix for his One Wine Red Blend.  It turned out that the Whole Foods Market team, led by Priscilla Vazquez, made a more popular blend than that of the winery staff.  Saunders took it in stride and signed off on it, saying, “We get to showcase a lot of different wines in one bottle.”

Priscilla Vazquez

He certainly does.  The blend is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Malbec, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Petite Sirah.  The expressive nose shows big fruit - black cherry and raspberry - with a touch of mocha.  Blackberry and currant flavors dominate a palate which is both elegant and powerful.  The tannins make themselves known in this muscular wine, and the alcohol stands at 14.1% abv.  Saunders says, “We use different shades of oak for the different varieties in the blend.  We love it.  We made less than 500 cases, so it probably won’t last too long on the shelves.”

Gray Hartley

One Wine Hitching Post Red Blend 2010, $15

Gray Hartley is one half of the winemaking team at Hitching Post Winery.  He and Frank Ostini make some fairly legendary Pinot Noir, and are also doing some nice things with a grape Hartley calls a “Pinot Noir wannabe.”

The Valdiguié grape - VAL dee gee ay - was once known as Napa Gamay, due to its similarity to the grape of Beaujolais.  What it really bears a resemblance to is Pinot Noir.  The One Wine Hitching Post Red Blend is 51% Valdiguié, 42% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc, so the grape’s presence is easily noticed.  Hartley leans in and softens his already soft voice to explain how Valdiguié “acts as a conductor, tapping the baton and bringing the other elements of the wine together in symphony.  It brings out the best the other grapes have to offer.”

The wine is fermented and aged in neutral oak barrels and comes to an easy-drinking 13.8% abv.  The smoky, raspberry/floral nose and slightly tart palate immediately makes me think of a really bold Pinot Noir.
When Hartley told me how the One Wine experience has spurred sales of other Hitching Post wines, WFM’s Roger Fawcett jumped in.  "The One Wine project is a great way to showcase the region's winemakers, and the extra visibility helps move other wines in the wineries' own lines."  Hartley responded with an overly sincere, "You're in good hands with Whole Foods Market,” then the kicker: “Oh, that's an Allstate commercial!  Seriously, the friendships we've built with Whole Foods are close."

One Wine Hitching Post Rosé 2012, $15

The pink side of Valdiguié is about as pink as it gets.  It’s deeply tinted - like the salmon Hartley caught in his earlier career as a fisherman.  The mix this time is 48% Valdiguié , 47% Grenache and 5% Pinot Noir.  Hartley says there’s isn’t a lot of Valdiguié available in California.  “I dare you to try and find some!  Ours comes from French Camp Vineyard in Paso Robles.”  It has a very modest 13.1% abv number and is released to Whole Foods for One Wine before they do their own Hitching Post version.

Showing the mark of a good rosé, the wine has great acidity.  Again, the presence of the Valdiguié comes through in the flavors that are as dark as the color.  Again, Hartley lifts his imaginary baton in explaining how the grape inspires the other fruit.  “All the grapes are co-fermented, half in steel and half in neutral oak.  The fermentation of Valdiguié is quite something to see.  It really roils in the barrel.  Puts on a show."

Doug Margerum

One Wine Happy Canyon Merlot 2010, $18

Doug Margerum was one of the original winemakers involved in the One Wine series, back when it was called A Collaboration.  He showed up on his birthday with no candles awaiting him, but he lit up like one when he started talking about his wines.

The One Wine Happy Canyon Merlot blends 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.  Margerum says he used Bordelaise punchdowns to keep the grape skins in contact with the juice and sent the wine into small oak barriques for eleven months.  The Merlot was fermented in steel.  The wine offers a dusty, floral nose and is fresh in a way that is Margerum’s calling card.  Bright cherry flavor and great acidity are your reward for working the corkscrew.   This wine - as with all the One Wine selections - was subject to a blending panel.  Margerum admits that he cheated the process a bit to get the blend he wanted, but all’s well that ends this well.

One Wine Margerum White Blend 2012, $16

Margerum’s white wine entry to the One Wine line is an inventive blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Riesling.  "I wouldn't do it, but they can," Margerum says, with a nod toward the WFM crew.  "For them, all bets are off the table."  He likes more traditional blends, so something this riotous would not appear in his portfolio.  "I'd be more inclined to mix Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon."  The wine is very mineral driven, with pears and apples aplenty, but the minerals are really the story.  It's a delicious and interesting wine.  Quite refreshing, too.

Marissa Beverly

One Wine Clendenen Family Winery Italian Red Blend, $15

Representing Clendenen Family Winery was Marissa Beverly.  She tasted me through the One Wine Italian Red Blend, made of 60% Nebbiolo and 40% Barbera grapes at only 13.5% abv.  The grapes come from Bien Nacido Vineyard, a very special plot of Santa Maria Valley land, in blocks planted especially for winemaker Jim Clendenen.  It's a non-vintage mix of mainly '05 and '06 wine.  The nose shows cherries and dark berries and hits the palate with great acidity and tart raspberry flavors.

One Wine Au Bon Climat Winery Pinot Gris 2012, $18

Clendenen's Pinot Gris is a 100% varietal wine made from grapes grown in the Sierra Madre Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley.  The alcohol is quite restrained - just 12.3% abv - and the wine sees full malolactic fermentation, which converts the malic acid into lactic acid and gives a fuller mouthfeel.

Whole cluster pressed, the wine is fermented and aged six months in neutral oak.  The bouquet is full of fruit with a great mineral profile.  Soft, smoky fruit decorates the palate and there is just a touch of creamy oak on the finish.  Pair it with salmon, lobster or crabs and you'll be happy.


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Cimarone 3CV Cilla's Blend 2010

An interesting red blend is a favorite type of wine for me, especially if I can name the grapes without looking.  I don't think I could have named all five grapes in Cimarone's 2010 Cilla's Blend without help, but I did enjoy waving at them as I recognized them.

This estate grown wine is made from grapes sourced in Cimarone's Three Creek Vineyard in the Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA.  The blend is 56% Syrah, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot and 6% Malbec.  There is more Cabernet Sauvignon and less Syrah and Cabernet Franc in the '10 than in the '09.  Fermented in barriques, then aged 10 months in new and neutral French oak, this red blend carries its wood well.

Doug Margerum, the winemaker of this vintage, exited the role of Cimarone's cellar man last year and Andrew Murray stepped in fill his shoes.  Cimarone said on Twitter, "From 2011 forward, it's an Andrew wine."

Cimarone's owner Roger Higgins showed his sentimental side when he named the blend after his wife, Priscilla.  He calls it “a wine of beauty and elegance - just like Cilla.”  Some guys really know how to make it tough for the rest of us.

The wine sold for $20 per bottle, but it's listed as sold out on the website.  The folks at Cimarone were kind enough to send me a sample to write about.

The '10 Cilla's Blend shows a fairly dark ruby color and whiffs a tad heavy on the alcohol until the 14.5% abv settles down.  Blueberry and blackberry aromas hit hard and fast, leaving room for just a hint of black pepper and anise.  Notes of cassis creep in after the glass has been sitting for awhile.  The flavors are similarly fruit-laden, with a breath of pencil shavings and licorice.  Taste it with feta cheese or, of course, steaks.


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The Two Faces Of Syrah: Cimarone 3CV Syrah 2010

Some people are confused by Syrah, The Two-Sided Grape.  The difference between warm-climate and cool-climate Syrah can be as marked as the difference between sweet and dry Riesling, which is another grape with a bit of an identity crisis.

Syrahs from cooler climates are typically more restrained, less ripe, lower in alcohol and higher in acidity than their cousins from the warmer vineyards.  A Syrah from a cool-climate vineyard might taste lean and peppery, while one from a warmer vineyard could be lush and smoky, showcasing extremely ripe fruit.

Is it this dichotomy that created confusion in the consumer’s mind and kept Syrah from becoming the hugely popular grape many wine experts felt it was supposed to become?  Some winemakers joke that it's easier to get rid of a social disease than a case of Syrah.  Well, I can speak to the Syrah issue - it wouldn't last too long at all around my place, and I say that without any confusion at all.

Rieslings often have a “sweetness meter” on the label somewhere, to show the consumer where the wine falls on the scale of sweet-to-dry.  Why not put something on a Syrah label to show from which type of climate the grapes hail?

Or course, there will always be exceptions to the rules.  Cimarone’s Three Creek Vineyard in the Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA brought that point home.  A sample was provided to me.

Located in the warm eastern end of Santa Barbara County’s Santa Ynez Valley, Three Creek Vineyard’s Syrah grapes make the 3CV Syrah 2010 act like it’s trying to play both ends against the middle.  It certainly does not lack ripeness, but there is a lot more going on than a simple bomb of fruit can offer.

Syrah was once the majority holder of space in Three Creek Vineyard, but its share decreased when it was discovered what a good place Happy Canyon is for the grape varieties of Bordeaux.

3CV Syrah is a dark ruby color with some purple around the edge.  Lifting it to my nose, the aromas take me aback.  Expecting a ripe and lush warm-climate Syrah, I am greeted by the scent of berries trodden into the floor of a pine forest.  Black pepper and a funky herbal note are right up front in both the bouquet and the palate.  A memory of black cherry cough drops lingers on the finish.

Its alcohol content is a lofty 14.5%, but its acidity sparkles and the tannins are soft.  So, what would one put on the label?  It’s from a warm-climate vineyard, but it shows the complexity of a cool-climate wine.  It may be a crazy, mixed up kid, but at $16 the 3CV Syrah 2010 is hard to beat for value.


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Sequoia Grove Napa Valley Chardonnay 2011

Sequoia Grove Winery sits on 22 acres of prime Napa Valley real estate, on what's known geologically as the Rutherford Bench.  Mineral-rich soil, warm sunshine and morning fog combine to make what most folks think of as ideal growing conditions for wine grapes.

President and Director of Winemaking Michael Trujillo has been with Sequoia Grove since its inception in the early 1980s.  Winemaker Molly Hill uses fruit sourced mainly from Sequoia Grove's original estate vineyard and their more recently purchased Tonella Estate Vineyard in Rutherford.  They also acquire grapes from other Napa Valley growers.

The Sequoia Grove Napa Valley Chardonnay 2011 is produced and bottled in Rutherford, under the sequoias on the family-owned property.  From the Sequoia Grove website, "These Chardonnay grapes come mostly from Dijon and Wente clones grown in the renowned Carneros District in Napa Valley.  We buy fruit from the Beckstoffer Vineyard, the Haire Vineyard, the Ghisletta Vineyard, and Kate’s Vineyard in Oak Knoll."

The wine sees no malolactic fermentation, so the malic acid remains in control.  It is more lean than creamy.  Still a mouthful, though, it carries a ripe 14.2% abv number.  The wine is stirred on the spent Burgundy yeast cells for eight months and the finished product sells for $28.  A sample was provided to me by Jarvis Communications.

This Chardonnay has a nice, golden hue in the glass and displays a bouquet of pineapples, apples, apricots and lovely spices.  A hint of floral notes really sets off the fruit.  The palate is marked by flavors of sweet, red apples, lemons, peaches, papaya, and a nice touch of oak.  Butter and vanilla notes testify to the barrel aging, and a very lively acidity serves as lip-smacking refreshment.  Pair this wine with rich or creamy dishes and it won't disappoint.


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Wines Of El Dorado

Less than an hour northeast of Sacramento - close to Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Foothills - Northern California's El Dorado AVA has vineyards at a high elevation, microclimates and granitic soils to define their terroir.  The region's roots go back to California's Gold Rush era in the mid-19th century, but as gold fever waned, so did El Dorado’s wine trade.  What phylloxera didn’t kill, Prohibition did.  It would be 1972 before the rebirth of the area started and another decade before El Dorado would be given official status as an AVA, an American Viticultural Area..

There are now over 60 wineries in El Dorado producing wines made mainly from Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Rhône grape varieties.  Vineyards in El Dorado benefit from the cooling effect of the ocean breezes that are channeled up the Carquinez Strait.  These breezes, along with the altitude, help produce the diurnal swing that brings the warm temperatures of the afternoon down by as much as 50 degrees.

I received samples of a half dozen El Dorado wines for the purpose of this article, and all six were produced in the eastern portion of El Dorado, where the elevation is at its highest.  The western border of the AVA sits 1,200 above sea level, while the eastern boundary is around 3,500 feet high.

Mount Aukum Winery

The top line on the Mount Aukum Winery website reads, "Elevation Matters."  At 2,615 feet above California's Central Valley, they say their Zinfandel vines grow "between outcroppings of crumbling granite in a perfect world for wine grapes - a little red dirt here, a rocky drainage there - what the experts call "Holland Series", thirty-six inches deep."  Like other wineries in the Fair Play sub-region, they rely on ground water to make their grapes grow.  Michael Prod'hon turns that fruit into wine.

Mount Aukum’s 2009 El Dorado Zinfandel has a brawny 15.7% abv number, reflecting the ripeness of the grapes.  They made 542 cases and the wine retails for $26.

This medium-dark Zin carries a nose worth noting.  It's huge - plummy and laden with black cherry.  All sorts of spice aromas leap out, from clove to vanilla to allspice to sage.  A gorgeous caramel note comes out just as I drop to one knee.  This is one of those wines I could just sit and smell all evening.  The palate is just as explosive, bursting with big, ripe cherries and plums, toothy tannins and ripping acidity.  Brawny is an understatement.

There is an elegance to the wine, but that white glove goes hand in hand with one made from rough leather.  The refined essence of the Zin is carried in a rustic straw basket.  It’s a great way to experience California’s heritage grape.

Jodar Vineyards

Specializing in Bordeaux and Italian grape varieties, Jodar Vineyards also produces a Zinfandel from among the pines of the Sierra Foothills, in the sub-region of Apple Hill.  Vaughn and Joni Jodar's steep, terraced vineyard sits at an altitude of 2,400 feet, overlooking the American River canyon.

The Jodar 2009 Zinfandel is aged for 24 months, hits an alcohol number of 14.7% and sells for $24 per stylish bottle.  That 14.7% may seem high by some standards, but after sampling the Mount Aukum Zin, it comes off as positively tame.

It has slightly less perfumed aromas than the Mount Aukum, but still brings forth a potent bouquet.  Oak spice in the form of vanilla and cinnamon present a beautiful cover for the brambly cherry notes.  The palate shows a dusty, sagebrush essence and firm tannins.  The fruit flavors last a long time and turn a little towards raspberry on the finish.  This Zinfandel's rustic side is up front, so it really feels like the frontier.

Miraflores Winery

Victor and Cheryl Alvarez own the 254-acre spread, of which 40 acres are planted to grapes.  The hillside vineyards lie at elevations from 2,500 to 3,000 feet in the Pleasant Valley sub-region of the El Dorado AVA.  Winemaker Marco Capelli makes wine from these vineyards, as well as from his own.

The Miraflores 2010 Méthode Ancienne Syrah retails for $25 and brings in an alcohol content of only 13.5% - extremely low for this AVA.  The ancient method on the label refers to the foot stomping the grapes receive to free their juices.  Shades of "I Love Lucy" come to mind.

The wine colors up as a deep ruby in the glass and shows a nose of blackberry, blueberry, cherry and vanilla spice.  The palate comes forth with dark fruit - blackberry and black plum in the forefront.  Really fine tannins and a brilliant acidity make for a wonderful mouthfeel, and the flavors head toward the tart side on the finish.

Madroña Vineyards

Located in the Apple Hill sub-region, winemaker Paul Bush works the Madroña Vineyard the way his family has done since 1973.  That's virtually the stone age for the El Dorado AVA.  His father - who started the whole thing - and his brother, and all the wives, are involved with the winery as well.

Two other family vineyards - Enyé and Sumu-Kaw - are in the Pleasant Valley area.  The 3,000 foot elevation of the estate was once the highest altitude for a vineyard in California.  Altogether, 26 grape varieties are planted on the property.

Madroña's 2010 Signature Cabernet Franc has a fairly dark garnet tint in the glass and a nose full of dark fruit and spices.  Black cherry and blackberry aromas turn into the corresponding flavors on the palate.  The nose also sports a good portion of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, while the flavor profile features a great slice of El Dorado dirt.  At 14.5% abv, it's not the strongest quaff in El Dorado, but the grip is good, the acidity is first-rate and the tannins are steak-worthy.

Boeger Winery 

The Boeger Winery estate was a vineyard site during California's Gold Rush and eked through Prohibition by producing sacramental wine.  Most of the vines were uprooted in favor of orchards through the years, but some of today's vines date back to the 1800s.  Greg and Sue Boeger are pioneers of the El Dorado AVA’s modern era.  They set up shop in the Apple Hill region in 1972.  The winery's website says Boeger was "one of the state's first producers of a varietal Merlot when it was virtually unheard of in California.  Today he is a pioneer of innovative blends, drawing from over twenty-nine varieties of grapes grown at the estate."

The Boeger Milagro Reserve 2009 is made of 91% Graciano, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Tempranillo.  It's part of Boeger's M series, which tips the hat to old world wine regions.  Graciano and Tempranillo are both big figures in Spanish wine.  The wine clocks in at 14.5% alcohol and it retails for $25.

The Milagro is as black as ink in the glass with dark, earthy aromas and flavors and a brawny tannic structure.  Blackberry and brown sugar dominate the nose, while the palate is a riot of raspberry, blackberry and oak spice.  A peppery vanilla note rings on the finish.  This wine spent 30 months aging in barrels, and it wears that oak effect well.

Lava Cap Winery 

The Jones family - geologists by trade - liked the volcanic soil of this spot in the Apple Hill area so much, they literally put down roots on the early 1980s.   Winemaker Tom Jones went to his Granite Hill vineyard for his Petite Sirah.

Lava Cap’s 2010 Petite Sirah uses 75% Petite Sirah grapes, 19.5% Grenache, 4% Merlot and 1.5% Barbera for the old-world blend done in new world terroir.  The Lava cap Petite Sirah stands at 14.9% abv and is quite dark in the glass, an inky purple hue.  Aromas of blueberry, vanilla spice and a lovely cedar note define the nose, while the palate shows ripe berries and plums, black and white pepper and tobacco.  Fine tannins and a brilliant acidity finish off the experience nicely.  It's a really astounding wine, but be forewarned - it's big, brawny and very masculine.  Pair it with any kind of grilled meat.


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Wine Country Pennsylvania - Lakeview Wine Cellars

We have visited Pennsylvania before in the Now And Zin Wine Country series.  At O'Donnell Winery, Norbert O’Donnell makes due in a cold climate quite nicely with grapes taken from slightly off the usual wine grape path.  Awhile back, O'Donnell wrote to suggest I get in touch with Sam Best of Lakeview Wine Cellars in northwestern Pennsylvania.  The pair met while taking some wine classes together and they hit it off famously.

Lakeview Wine Cellars is located in the town of North East, PA, even though the community is actually in the far northwestern corner of the Keystone State.  The name refers to its position within Erie County.

Best tells me that northwestern Pennsylvania is the largest grape growing area east of the Rockies, with some 30,000 acres under vine.  The Lake Erie appellation stretches over three states, from Buffalo, New York to Toledo, Ohio.  Best proudly notes that the Lake Erie Wine Trail is the fastest-growing wine country in the northeastern US.

Best estimates there are anywhere from 150-200 grape growers within 15 miles of his winery.  A lot are growing Concord grapes, while some grow Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay,  Gruner Veltliner and Riesling.  Best says there are three major growers in his area who sell their juice to winemakers.

Becky and Sam Best

The 5,000 cases of wine produced by Lakeview each year are currently produced with juice from these growers, but Best has plans for grapes of his own.  He actually has six acres of Concord, but he is in the process of removing those vines and replanting different varieties like Noiret.  That grape was developed by the wine department at Cornell University, an institution as indispensable to winemakers in the northeastern US as Cal Davis is to California vintners.

"Noiret is similar to Cabernet Sauvignon," says Best, "with the same type of color and tannins but a little higher in acid.  It has a peppery taste and is not as fussy as, say, Pinot Noir."  The one-acre plot could take five years to start producing, and Best is looking forward to planting more varieties, too.

Best says he specializes in dry reds and dry whites, although he sells about the same amount of sweet wine as dry.  His biggest seller at Lakeview Wine Cellars is Red Sky, a blend of Concord and Niagara grapes with a 5% mark on the residual sugar scale.  He uses only neutral Pennsylvania oak for fermentation and aging.  He also makes a wine using Steuben grapes.

Only four of Best’s 13 wines are sweet, clocking in between 3.5% and 5% residual sugar.  He makes a proprietary blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and a Cab Franc ice wine infused with chocolate.  The grapes for his ice wine don’t come from the freezer.  They are picked frozen right off the vine.

Lakeview's Shipwreck Series of wines tips the captain's hat to the seafarers of Lake Erie.  Best claims there are more shipwrecks on Lake Erie than in the Bermuda Triangle.  He says that's due, in part, to an average depth in the Great Lake of only 58 feet.  It's the climatic effect of that relatively shallow water that keeps things temperate in the fall and spring.

I can’t wait to taste the wines made from Best’s own vineyard, although I’m sure he’s even more anxious.  Until those vines are ready, he will continue to use grapes grown by others - the best he can find - to fulfill his passion for winemaking.  If his Lakeview Wine Cellars customers can wait, so can he.


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Finger Lakes Riesling: Red Tail Ridge

Red Tail Ridge Winery is the product of Mike Schnelle and Nancy Irelan, a husband and wife team still awaiting their tenth year on Seneca Lake.  Irelan is the winemaker - she has a background with what she terms "a large corporate California winery" - and Schnelle comes from construction.  He handles the wine growing and any heavy lifting that needs to be done.

They have appeared before in the Now And Zin Wine Country series, and you can see the previous articles on Red Tail Ridge and their cool-climate wines here and here.

The wines of Red Tail Ridge are largely Riesling, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but Irelan and Schelle also like to dabble in some pet projects.  On their website Irelan explains, "We have a small plot of the Italian varietal, Teroldego.  We also have a few rows of Dornfelder—a German red variety."  They will plant more small experimental plots of other obscure varieties to see how they take to the Finger Lakes terroir.

Schnelle and Irelan were kind enough to send a few samples of their Red Tail Ridge estate wines to me for the purpose of this article.

RTR Estate Vinyard Riesling, Finger Lakes 2012

This $16 Riesling is stainless steel fermented and experiences no malolactic fermentation.  852 cases were produced.  Red Tail Ridge makes about 6,000 cases of wine per year.  This entry-level Riesling is priced nicely and isn't going to scare off any novice wine lovers.  It's listed as "vegan-friendly," by the way.

The wine shows a pale tint, with a bouquet of fruit and flowers and an herbal side that caresses the sweetness.  Orange peel shows nicely.  The sweet side is lovely, pears and peaches are in front. Decent acidity makes me think it would pair well with spicy Asian food - but it sips beautifully all by itself.

RTR Vineyard Dry Riesling, Finger Lakes 2012

This effort is much drier than the previous wine.  It also is fermented in stainless steel tanks with no malolactic fermentation, so it's fairly edgy.  The retail sticker is $19.  For grape geeks, clones 90 and 110 are used and 460 cases were produced.  It is bottled under cork and has an alcohol level of only 12%.  The sweetness meter on the back label shows it just one click away from the dry end of the scale.

Very pale, the wine makes bubbles which cling to the side of the glass.  The nose displays a beautiful slate figure, with muted fruit expressed through a layer of minerals.  The palate gives a fruitier taste, but there is still a significant earthiness.  Citrus notes join a fresh acidity, and just a hint of sweetness makes it an easy choice to pair with shellfish and crustaceans.

Good Karma 2012

This is Red Tail Ridge's charity wine.  Ten percent of the profit per bottle is donated to the food bank in the state where you live.  Foodlink, in Rochester, New York, assists in redistributing funds to other food banks across the country.

840 cases were made, from 89% estate grown Riesling and 11% Seneca Lake unoaked Chardonnay.  By the numbers, the steel fermented wine has an alcohol count of only 12%, residual sugar of 1.8% and sells for $14.  I suppose that since it’s a blend that's why there is no “sweetness meter” on the back label, as on their Rieslings.  If there were, it would register somewhere in the middle ground between dry and sweet.

Pale in the glass, the wine offers a slightly floral nose with citrus and a green element present.  It smells very pretty.  On the palate, slight earthiness is joined by a touch of sweetness and flavors of pears, peaches and a hint of spice.  It's very easy to drink, with acidity taking a backseat to flavor.


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Dog Day Relief From A Happy Canyon Wine

In the warm, dog days of summer, when you're hot and dog-tired, it's nice to come across a completely refreshing white wine to welcome to your panting tongue.  It doesn't hurt that it has a winery dog on the label - although the dog is in the foreground of a vineyard scene, so it's really not a critter label.  That would have us barking up the wrong vine.

Cimarone 3CV Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2012 is such a beast.  From the warm east end of the Santa Ynez Valley, in the Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara County AVA, it spells relief in capital letters.  Three Creek Vineyard yields the grapes while winemaker Andrew Murray brings them home.

The Cimarone website reveals how the grapes were harvested.  "We picked at night and over a period of several weeks to eke out subtle nuances and diversity in ripeness profiles.  The riper fruit yields more tropical flavors, whilst the less ripe fruit contributes more acid with zingy citrus notes."  I love to see the use of "whilst" outside of Great Britain every now and then.

The wine is fermented in stainless steel for the most part - four percent is fermented and aged in oak.  Whole-cluster pressing of the grapes maximizes the herbal notes and the absence of malolactic fermentation maintains the crisp freshness.

It's yellow in the glass, a less intense shade of the crayon we used for coloring freshly mown grass as kids, and it smells like sweet respite is on the way.  A slight grassiness steps aside and makes way for aromas of lemons and limes a-plenty.  On the tongue, a brisk freshness bursts forth immediately, with flavors of citrus and cantaloupe.  The finish hits the mark with a zest of lemon.  Chill it, pour it, and take a load off your dogs.


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Birthday Wine

Image by Lolita

Denise and I don’t really count our birthdays, but we do celebrate them for the entire month.  She gets the better of the Birthday Month concept, though, with a date that falls near the end of the month.  Mine, on the first, tends to be forgotten in the swirling miasma that is life in L.A.  Hers is a constant beacon for us, offering four weeks of fervid hoping that every little event undertaken lives up to the expectation of Birthday Month.  It’s a tough act to follow once, let alone thirty days.  It makes for a lot of fun, though.

The 2013 edition of Denise’s official birthday celebration was held at Della Terra in Los Angeles, a nice little neighborhood Italian place.  Displaced New Yorkers will feel at home here, even more so if you are a Yankee fan.  That’s what they like to watch up on the big screen.  Denise, like everyone else with that name, has roots back east, so she enjoys the atmosphere there.

It was a warm evening, and a good time was had by all, despite the repeated disregard of the “no gifts” portion of the invitation.  Or maybe it was, at least partially, because of that blatant disregard.  At dinner, we enjoyed two wonderful wines brought by friends - a Hitching Post Pinot and a French sparkler.

The Hitching Post Cork Dancer Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County 2010 is made by the restaurant team of Frank Ostini and Gray Hartley.  Winemaking began as a hobby for them in the ‘70s, turned into a sideline for the restaurants in the ‘80s and has since blossomed into a full-fledged venture of its own.  They produce their incredible wines at Terravant, a production facility in Buellton which has a pretty fine tasting bar/restaurant upstairs.

Ostini and Hartley have a stated mission to, “put a slice of Santa Barbara in every glass and a piece of their soul in each bottle.”  That may sound high-minded to some, but only to those who have never had a glass of their wine.  Their handful each of Pinot Noir cuvées and vineyard designates give reason to celebrate whenever their corks are popped.

Cork Dancer 2010 comes from grapes grown in the Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley appellations, mostly from Bien Nacido and Rio Vista vineyards, two of the more storied plots in Santa Barbara County.  The aging occurs in French and Hungarian oak, 35% of which is new.  A bottle sells for around $20.

The wine has a very floral nose and showing dark fruit and spice.  A blast of lovely, tart cherries and plums hits the palate, and there is some very nice acidity to make a food pairing seem like a natural.  A dark, fruit finish really sets off the sip.  This Pinot is more Burgundian than Californian, showing a lot of restraint in the winemaking process.

Domaine du Moulin Brut is a non-vintage sparkler from the Gaillac appellation in southwestern France.  Winemaker Nicolas Hirissou makes this delightful bubbly from Maussac, the most predominant grape of the region.  It is a hard-to-find wine, but not expensive.  Marge found hers from North Berkeley Imports.

They offer some production notes: “Wine is made according to the ‘Gaillac method,’ also called the ‘ancestral method.’  Young wines are bottled before all the residual sugar has been fermented into alcohol; the fermentation continues in the bottle, releasing carbon dioxide.  There is no dosage. “

This brut gives up some fine bubbles and has a bouquet of earthy fruit and a crust of toast.  The flavor profile is quite fruity with a mineral streak a mile wide and melon on the finish.  It’s a fairly complex experience.  The gals thought it had a beer-like quality but I didn't get so much of that.  What struck me was the lovely sweetness, rather unexpected after the dark earthiness of the first sniff.  And with no dosage - the addition of sugar before the final corking - it’s all from the grapes.


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White Wines Of Santa Barbara County

It was so nice to be included in the #winechat on July 17th, 2013, the subjects of which were some amazing white wines of Santa Barbara County, wines that are perfect for helping to beat the heat of the warm weather of summer.

For the uninitiated, #winechat is a weekly gathering of wine lovers on Twitter, directed by Protocol Wine Studio.  You don’t need an invitation for this affair, simply search “#winechat” and you are seeing the live stream.  Join in if you like, or just drop in to see what people are tweeting about on Wednesday evenings at 6:00 p.m. PT.

On this particular #winechat, moderator Bill Eyer (@cuvee_corner) was joined by Morgen McLaughlin (@sbcwinelady).  She is the recently installed Executive Director of the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association.  The SBCVA was kind enough to provide me and about ten other wine writers with a battery of six white wines from Santa Barbara County for the purpose of the event.  Further disclosure: I am a huge fan of Santa Barbara County wines and love having such a great and diverse wine region in my backyard.

Santa Barbara County gets a lot of attention for its Syrah and its Pinot Noir, but there are some world class whites there, too.  All four of Santa Barbara County’s AVAs got into the act.  Represented on the #winechat were Chardonnays from the Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley, Sauvignon Blancs, Viognier and Arneis from the Santa Ynez Valley and Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA.

Santa Barbara County Vintners Association

The SBCVA was established in 1983 and currently has over 100 wineries and more than 20 vineyards as members.  Sporting over 20,000 acres of vineyards and 65+ varieties, Santa Barbara County's wine industry has gone from next-to-nothing to a billion dollar business in less than 35 years.  As you might expect from an organization of wine people, the SBCVA has a big heart, too.  They have helped raise more than $40 million to aid folks around the world.

Geography

What makes Santa Barbara County unique among California wine regions are the transverse mountain ranges which make for distinct microclimates.  The ranges run east and west, rather than north and south, so the cool marine influence of the Pacific Ocean is channeled inland across the county.  Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah are the three top varieties in SBC, particularly in the western part of the region closest to the ocean.  In the eastern part of the county, Rhône and Bordeaux varieties do quite well.

History

Winemaking in Santa Barbara County began in 1782 when Father Junipero Serra brought for planting cuttings of what would come to be known as Mission grapevines from Mexico.  Sacramental wine was the impetus, but Spanish rancheros also grew grapes and made wine for less lofty purposes.

In 1884 Justinian Caire imported vines from France and planted a 150-acre vineyard on Santa Cruz Island, just off Santa Barbara's coast. He made award-winning wines there until 1918.  Prohibition ended his efforts and stymied the entire wine industry in California and the rest of the US.

After Prohibition, a couple of UC Davis viticulture professors tabbed SBC as one of the state's potentially great grape-growing areas.  It was not until the 1970s that grape-growing and winemaking really took off in SBC. Through the '80s, experimentation pinpointed which grapes did their best in which locations.

The Wines

Here is what all the fuss is about, the beautiful and varied white wines of Santa Barbara County.  This selection of six wines shows the diversity of SBC's terroir.

Brewer-Clifton Gnesa Chardonnay 2010

Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton use grapes from the Sta. Rita Hills to make their Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in Lompoc.  Brewer is also winemaker at Melville and has his own label, diatom.  Clifton owns Palmina Wines.

Brewer and Clifton made 288 cases of this stunning Chardonnay, which retails for $48.  Lee Gnesa (knee-sa) planted his sandy, four-acre plot in 1996.  It has been farmed by Brewer-Clifton's vineyard team since 2009.

This wine's bouquet is a beautiful example of earth and oak playing off the lemony fruit.  It appears as a lovely yellow-gold in the glass and tastes of sweet citrus, cantaloupe, herbs and spices.  The acidity is fantastic and there is a touch of chalky salinity that shows on the palate.  At 14.5% abv, it's a fairly hefty white, but the Gnesa Chardonnay does not mimic the old-line "big California Chardonnay" stereotype.  It's a lean, mean Chardonnay machine.

Summerland Chardonnay Santa Maria Valley 2012 

Part of Summerland's Single Vineyard Collection, these Chardonnay grapes come from the Sierra Madre Vineyard, one of the oldest vineyards in the AVA.  The wine turns in a 14.1% alcohol number and retails for $35.

Summerland Winery sources grapes from up and down the Central Coast AVA and produces the wine in Santa Maria.  The cute little seaside cottage tasting room is in Summerland.  Owner Nebil "Bilo" Zarif and winemaker Etienne Terlinden produce some outstanding boutique wines, some of which are popping up on Los Angeles restaurant wine lists with increasing regularity - usually the Pinor Noir.

Upon first tasting, I thought, "this Chardonnay is for those who like a good deal of oak influence in their wine."  From the golden color, to the rich and spicy nose to the buttery palate, every stave of oak seemed apparent to me.  It turns out the wine didn't really see that much oak, though - fermented and aged six months in French oak barrels, one-third new.  Malolactic fermentation was not completed and the lees were stirred every couple of weeks.

The nose is bursting with pineapple, lemon and tangerine aromas while an undercurrent of vanilla oak spice carries the sideshow along.  The palate boasts tropical fruit and citrus layered with some herbal elements and a bit of oak spice.  Putting a chill on the wine reduces the effect of the oak in both aroma and flavor.  There's also acidity a-plenty, so it is definitely a food wine.

Palmina Arneis 2011

Steve Clifton and his wife Chrystal make wine from Italian grape varieties, and the Arneis grape hails from Piemonte.  Translated variously as "whimsical," "rascally" and "a little crazy," it seems to have been named as a winemaker's grape.  Not to mention that it is sometimes ornery and difficult to grow.  This Arneis is grown in the sandy soil of Honea Vineyard, in the Los Olivos district of the Santa Ynez Valley.  Alcohol registers at 13.5% and this wine retails for $20.

The Palmina website extols some of the virtues of Arneis as: "a delightful aperitif, but also a wine with enough body and personality to hold its own with a wide range of strongly flavored food – prosciutto, pesto, grilled seafood.  Arneis is also a white wine that will continue to evolve with a few years of cellar aging."

It gives a golden straw hue in the glass and smells quite interesting.  Floral?  Yes, but it's more like the flowers and their stalks.  Citrus?  Yes, a nice spray from an orange peel.  There are scents and sensibilities of herbs and spices, too, with a mineral undercurrent.  On the palate, apricots hit me first, with a dash of green tea in tow.  Minerals are even more noticeable here, and a vibrant acidity runs through the sip just like it belongs - which it does.  It finishes with a gorgeous salinity.

Imagine Pearl Paradise Mountain Viognier 2010 

The grapes are from Paradise Road Vineyard - they call it Paradise Mountain - in the eastern end of the Santa Ynez Valley.  At a thousand feet in elevation, the vineyard gets three times the rain of the valley floor.  Winemaker Ross Jay Rankin began producing in the late 1990s at the lovely Lompoc Wine Ghetto.  He now operates in the state-of-the-art Terravant facility in Buellton.

This $24 wine blows a 14.5% abv number  and it experienced 100% malolactic fermentation, imparting a rich creaminess.  It was fermented in steel, then half was aged in new French oak for three months, the other half in steel.

The Imagine Viognier leaves little to the imagination.  Lovely golden in the glass, its sweetly floral nose is laced with the aroma of nectarines.  On the palate are peaches and melons.  The lovely smell and taste of the wine are supported by a delightful acidity that refreshes and makes for great food pairing.  I liked it with kernel corn and peas, buttered and lightly dusted with sea salt.

Baehner Fournier Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2012 

The names belong to Dr. Bob Baehner and Vickie Fournier Baehner.  Their Bordeaux grape varieties grow on 16 acres of hillside vineyards in the east side of the Santa Ynez Valley.  Oaks, chaparral and purple sage dot the countryside.  Their vineyards are named for the natural events they both see unfolding on their estate - Sunshine, Rainbow, Moonglow, Misty and Northstar.

From Happy Canyon's Vogelzang Vineyard, these Sauvignon Blanc grapes thrives in the warm eastern end of the Valley.  They say they try for more of a Loire expression than New Zealand, but I find the reverse is true.  This Sauvignon Blanc experiences two-thirds of its fermentation in steel, then finishes in oak, where it stays for six months aging on the spent yeast cells - the lees.  There is a 13.5% abv number, and a retail price of $20.

Steve Clifton - see him in two other wines here - is the consulting winemaker at Baehner Fournier, but the label lists Nick de Luca as winemaker on this white wine.

The nose gives off a lively grassy aroma, with beautiful notes of tangerine, grapefruit and melon.  On the palate, the grapefruit comes forth in mighty fashion and carries some orange peel along with it.  The acidity is very nice, but it doesn't break out the razor blades.  It's more of a lush experience imparted by the wine's time spent resting on the lees.  The wine is as fresh as can be, with a touch of creaminess that lasts into the finish.

Fontes & Phillips Sauvignon Blanc 2010 

Another husband/wife team, Alan Phillips and Rochelle Fontes-Phillips started this Santa Barbara County small-lot venture in 2008.  Their separate wine paths crossed in the Santa Cruz Mountains - he in the cellar, she in the office.  Their Sauvignon Blanc is whole cluster pressed, steel fermented and aged, with a 13.8% abv number.   They say the wine is made to emulate the Sauvignon Blanc of New Zealand, using grapes grown in the Santa Ynez Valley.  Only 112 cases were made, and it sells for $18.  The only label on the bottle is a pewter tab, hand-made in South America.

This strikes me as a California Sauvignon Blanc rather than one done in the New Zealand or Loire style.  Pale gold in the glass, aromas of peaches, pears and apricots lie under an herbal blanket without a trace of grassiness.  Fantastic acidity is right up front, while the flavors are mineral-driven fruit with a melon-like herbal sense.  Tangerine lingers on the finish, with a bit of the peel.


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