Mr. Ross

This weekend we opened a bottle of 2004 Fort Ross Pinot Reserve and were pleasantly surprised. Usually we open a Patassy of a Domaine Serene, but we decided to treat ourselves to the wondrous delight of opening a bottle labeled as "reserve." That little word however is very subjective, for what is reserve quality for one may be quite less or quite more for another. However, this bottle was a reserve in the word's very essence. Straight from the bottle it held its flavor and color - very little time was needed for aeration or for opening. Cherry and Vanilla. All the way through this beauty held intense notes of cherry and vanilla. A wonderful balance between acidity and tannins. Beautiful and elegant. And quite inhibiting when one is attempting to write a paper for a history professor. Quite so.

As a side note, I have been spending more time with my uncle and aunt since they live close to Davis, and two of the more memorable bottles that we have recently opened were the 2007 Broken Stones Saxum, and the 2000 One Acre Littorai Anderson Valley Pinot. Both were absolutely stunning, leading me to abandon (or more like pour out) the Hess cabernet I was currently working on. Saxum never fails in seducing me.

We worked in the vineyard this past weekend, feeding the smaller shoots through the second vineyard. The front vines are healthy and tall, but the grenache in the back vineyard is insane, like always. We have already added a subsequent top wire. And the berries are much more advanced in the back as well. Can't wait for harvest, although this odd spring whether and the cool temperatures and rain mean that verasion and harvest will be much later than usual. We'll probably be picking close to November.

Patassy & Keller

This past Saturday I was at a family dinner with my mom's side. My uncle and aunt enjoy wine, but unfortunately believe anything and everything they taste to be "the best." Especially if my dad tells them it's good. Then it must be the most delicious thing ever tasted. Anyways, we decided to bring a 2006 Patassy Vineyards Russian River Pinot and a 2006 Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Cab. Moderately priced but definitely tasty.

Of course I was partial to the Patassy - it's a pinot. Very full, expressive nose and body, full of red fruits and spices and cinnamon. The finish is long and a bit tannic, but perfectly balanced. This is a wine that is a great value for the flavor, but hard to find due to it's popularity.

The Duckhorn was a perfect balance to the heavy Italian dinner we were having of lasagna. This wine had a lot of oak in it, but it lacked the butter that oak is usually associated with. There was more vanilla than butter. Dark fruit defined the body. Tannic back end.

On a FOOD note, we had the most amazing dish with my dad's side. Thomas Keller recently released the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook, written to not intimidate the cook. For Thanksgiving, my aunt made the Leek Bread Pudding from the book, and it was beyond good. The brioche was the perfect texture and consistency for the dish and the flavor was rich but not overpowering. A savory alternative to the rich stuffing that it a holiday staple.

I'm cooking for a tea party this week - I am thinking cinnamon scones and maybe a dessert...

Tastings and 100 pointers

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending a wine tasting in Danville for my uncle's birthday. He is an avid wine collector, ordering and sharing cases upon cases with my dad. Joel Baecker and his wife Naomi from Pizza Politana created woodfired Neapolitan pizzas that were to die for - fig and goat cheese, mushroom and gremolita, margarita, pepperoni, and more. They came in to a close tie with Picco's Pizzeria in Larkspur. My aunt also made A16's Monday Meatballs, a Nate Appleman creation that transcends all other meatball wannabes.

I started out my night with a 2000 Copain pinot, Anderson Valley. A pretty good start to my night. And then a 2007 L'Ecole Walla Walla Valey Syrah came out. Dark and spicy fruit on the nose until halfway through when the body opens up and reveals the amount of fruitiness! Much more like a Californian wine. The back end finished with spice and fruit, a perfect balance. Behrens and Hitchcock goldenrod label was opened. And then, the holy of holies was brought out - a 2004 Marcassin "Three Sisters Vineyard" Sonoma Coast Pinot. Marcassin is a small boutique winery owned by HELEN TURLEY and her husband John. It's pretty much gold - only 2,500 cases are made each year.

The tasting eventually started, consisting of 4 flights.

Flight 1:

2007 Ceritas - Porter Bass Vineyards

2007 River-Marie - Thieriot Vineyard

2007 Aubert - Ritchie Vineyard

If it is not obvious, these were all chardonnays. I've always been partial to red wine, being weened onto in at such a young age. But I was blown away at the flavors in these chardonnays! The Rivers-Marie was my favorite; some oak, some vanilla, mild acidity but not completely absent. Reminiscent of a sugar cookie. The Aubert was fruity - pineapple, nectarine. The Ceritas was sultry, with only a hint of citrus.

Flight 2:

2006 August West - Graham Family Vineyard

2006 Sandler - Sonoma Coast

2006 Freeman - Akiko's Reserve

These were the pinots, my favorite bunch. All three of these are made by Ed Kurtzman; this is more of a story about vineyard location. I've grown up with the Freeman from Sonoma Coast; it's a standard. The August West from the Russian River Valley was new - color like a syrah but flavor of spice. The Sandler though lacked an elegant finish.

Flight 3:

1995 St. Clement - Oroppas

1997 Plumpjack - Reserve

1999 Araujo - Eisele Vineyard

This flight was the cabernet flight. Bold, courageous, and lacking the elegance of a pinot. You either like them or hate them. I've had the Araujo before, a classic cabernet. Dense, packed with fruit, almost to the point of being done, but finishing with medium tannins. The Plumpjack had oak, sweet spice, and even some chocolate. The Oroppas was full of black pepper, berry, and chocolate.

Flight 4:

2004 Outpost - Petite Sirah, "The Other"

2004 Corte Riva - Petite Sirah

2004 Foley - Petite Sirah

I have had each of these wines before - they've all had their time and place in our cellar. I am not a huge petite syrah fan, although we make it. The Outpost had hickory and oak in it - we finished off the night with it. The Corte Riva is a favorite of mine - a nightly ritual at home. Deep flavoring of cherries and licorice. The Robert Foley was huge in body and flavor; mountain fruit, licorice, and tannic at the end.

After the tasting, I had 2 of the most memorable wines I will ever be lucky enough to drink. The first was a 1964 Giacomo Conterno Barolo from Italy. Such an experience. The color and smell are almost revealing of a bourbon, until you take a sip and the expected burn is elegance and class. Earthy and fruity all in one with soft tannins. The second was the masterpiece. a 100 point Buller & Son Calliope Tokay (Muscat). Deep amber, dense body. Glorious.

In all, 34 bottles were open and finished. Complete with good food, chocolate parings, and dessert. Amazing night. Robert Parker would be proud.

Crush

My family makes wine. It's a hobby of ours. To me, fermentation is a familiar and inviting scent. Interning at a winery only heightened my love of winemaking. We planted the vines in 2001 - 350 of them - and prune, net, harvest, crush, press, and bottle it all by hand. So far, our wine has been...interesting. It falls some where between cooking wine and vinegar. Definitely not on Robert Parker's top ten list. Or top 20. But each year we improve. This year we've decided to actually test acidity levels. So far it's drinkable.

Two weeks ago, I went home to help crush the Syrah and Grenache. My clothes are now permanently dyed purple, and my fingers are still stained. At least purple is a pretty color, right? We started malolactic fermentation. It's still drinkable. This is farther than we got last year. Although now we have 332 bottles of Syrah that we refuse to drink.

Great nose, first sip not bad, and then you swallow. No back end. No structure. So we now give it as gifts to people we don't like. Pray you never get a bottle.

Someday, Helen Turley will be knocking down our door for a bottle. Hey, Screaming Eagle started out in a garage. Just like us.