Coffee Like Wine

A New Year, a New Beer

2010-01-02T17:27:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010! Last year was a good one for me. My second child was born, a son, Rowan, and professionally, I was able to publish several wine reviews. But I've also slowly gotten more into craft beer, especially after getting, and quickly finishing, a book called "The Naked Pint: An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer" by two beautiful beer sommeliers, Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune (check out their photos in the book jacket - I showed it to some guys at work who were like - "that's not what we imagined a female beer sommelier would look like.")

The book offers a great entry into the world of different beer styles, and offers suggestions and food pairings along the way. I really enjoyed the book, especially the history behind how certain styles emerged over the past few hundred years, and think it is a great primer for people interested in learning more about the field of craft beer, even if, like me, you've been drinking the stuff occasionally for a few years already.

It really inspired me to seek out some beers I wouldn't normally try, such as Belgian ales and funky, sour beers. Luckily I did, because I enjoyed them tremendously - in particular, a Reutberger export Dunkel that brought some serious ripe banana and fruit scents on the nose, and a barnyard funk in the glass. I also had my first saison, a farmhouse ale that nearly went extinct but is being revived. I can't remember the name of the brewer (I got it at Lucky 13 in Alameda), but the beer had a striking orange rind taste with other citrus accents.

I always hated beer growing up because what I had access to before reaching the legal drinking age was horrible watered down beer-flavored water. I'm thinking about you, Natty Light. It wasn't until I tried an oatmeal stout years ago that my eyes were open to what beer could be. Since I love chocolate, any beer called mocha porter attracted my attention. Since moving to the Bay Area four years ago, I have been able to deepen my appreciation for craft beer by visiting all of the wonderful brew pubs in the area. Plus, the Whole Foods in Oakland has an amazing selection. I can go there and just read all the labels and shelf talkers for hours. My latest finds there have been Ten Fifty, a black as night, thick as tar beer that tastes chocolately and malty. Their selection has also allowed me to delve deeper into the world of extreme hopped-beers, which I also love.

I've been finding myself reaching for craft beer lately to pair with certain meals instead of bottles of wine. Still trying to determine appropriate matches, and tonight, I'm going to see how chicken chili matches with a Green Flash Barleywine. I'll let you know how it goes.

But again, happy new year, and good drinking in 2010!

Les Clos 2006 Perdus "Prioundo" Corbières

2009-12-30T15:31:00.000-08:00

Absolutely beautiful wine. Picked this up from K&L Wines in San Francisco after browsing the shelf talkers. A few facts sold me on this wine, including the fact that it is biodynamic, was the nice description about where the grapes come from:

"Les Clos Perdus is a small winery based in the village of Peyriac de Mer in the Languedoc region of the South of France. Founded by Paul Old and Hugo Stewart, Les Clos Perdus (Lost Vineyards) mission is to discover and nurture select parcels of old vines, scattered throughout the hillsides. Many of these small vineyards had been disregarded by larger producers because of their isolation, their low cropping potential and their inability to be machine worked. Their ultimate goal is to produce distinctive well balanced wines of the very highest quality. Prioundo contains 70% Grenache, 30% Cinsault from select vineyards in the Corbières hills, near the village of Villesèque."

I found a funky, earthy nose, with virant red berry flavors focused on sweet red cherries balanced by smoky tobacco and spice notes on the finish. Wonderful acidity.

While the debate about whether biodynamics has an effect on wine is fierce, I for one certainly think there is. Now, I'm not saying I can spot a wine made biodynamically if tasting blind, but what I do find when I try "BD" wines is that they don't taste too perfect, and this is a good thing.

The more wines I drink, the more I appreciate uniqueness, while earlier I might have settled for sameness in experience. There are some wines that I've drunk recently that I perhaps didn't think tasted so great, but found them fun to drink because they were so different from anything I've ever tried before (a slightly oxidized white wine from Hungary comes to mind, from A Cote).

BD wines, at least the ones I've tried, typically have an earthy note some where in the aroma and beautiful vibrant fruit flavors. I don't get tired fruit notes like other wines. They all seem to have soul, if you will, which can be missing from mass produced wines. I know I'm probably not making much sense here as I'm grasping at the appropriate way to describe what I mean, but try a biodynamic wine and see if you get the same thing. There are many beautifully made wines that seem competent, but they lack the extra "oomph" that pushes them beyond just tasty. The BD wines I've had all seem to have that quality.

Ethiopia Mordecofe Natural Process

2009-12-20T08:57:00.000-08:00

It seems like Four Barrel is really hitting its stride when it comes to roasting fresh coffee beans. I am currently enjoying their Ethiopia Mordecofe Natural Process and it's showing wonderful blueberry and apricot notes and a striking citrus-like acidity. In the past, their coffees seemed tired and roasted at levels that didn't fully show their best flavors.

Natural process means the coffee cherry fruit was left attached to the bean (as opposed to being removed as is more typical in the washed process) and as a result, the coffee has more funky fruit flavors that might have been gone otherwise. Though interestingly enough, the acidity remains, which tends to be muted when made in this manor.

So far I've prepared this coffee in an inverted aeropress, french press, and in espresso form. My only attempt at pulling this coffee was a failure, I choked my poor Gaggia, requiring 56 seconds to get maybe half the amount of a single shot. So I'll retry that soon and figure out how to properly dial this thing in (still, the espresso I got tasted great with steamed milk - the blueberry flavor shown through like a spotlight in fog). I liked this as a french press, but overall the flavors seemed muted a bit. The inverted aeropress version I'm drinking this morning is the best preparation so far - bright acidity, wonderfully sharp flavors, and a nice clean cup.

Priced at $13, Four Barrel describes this coffee's taste as "Intense strawberry throughout, blueberry and apricot jam, passion fruit, apricot, and vanilla cookie."

Robert Stemmler 2006 Estate Pinot Noir Carnaros

2009-12-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

Picked up this wine from Wine.com's shop in Berkeley for $19.99, down from it's original $36. Wasn't entirely certain this would be a good offering given my poor track record with sub-$20 pinots, but the label was
beautiful, the producer was one I thought I'd heard of being good, and the
in-store write up didn't mention "a touch of wood" in the tasting notes like the
other wine I was considering (whenever I see that I shudder because it usually
means the wine is over oaked).

When I got home and looked up what the producer had to say about the 2006 growing season, it bothered the crap out of me. The problems with the season seemed biblical in nature - flooding, "brutal" hot weather, and an overabundant crop that was picked late in the season caused me to think the wine would be thin and taste like raisin-flavored vodka.

Lucky for me, the wine was excellent, displaying an earthy nose with petrol and
cherry notes, which echoed in the glass. There was hints of black liquorish
on the finish. The winery did a good job of "aggressive" green pruning, so that the remaining berries were able to display great flavor and not the watered down taste I expected.

I really liked this wine and think it's a great deal for under $20.

Four Barrel Ethiopia Sidamo Mordecofe

2009-11-28T08:46:00.000-08:00

My appreciation for Four Barrel Coffee continues to climb the more I visit their shop on Valencia and 16th St. in San Francisco. Initially wowed by the atmosphere, machinery and great minds behind the shop's concept during my first visit in August 2008, subsequent trips have left me disappointed with the quality of the beans that I bought to brew at home. While the desserts are fantastic (chocolate and salt donut=yum) and in cafe espresso-based drinks are nice, some of the beans just seemed tired, over-roasted or plain boring.

But I'm an optimist. So I went back and picked up a bag of the Ethiopia Sidamo Mordecofe, which was roasted on Nov. 9. The coffee, priced at $12.50, is organic and direct trade. Four Barrel's tasting notes described it as: "A clean tea-like body, with bergamot aroma, notes of raspberry lemonade, and a peachy acidity."

I was really impressed with this bag. Showing best in a pour over, I definitely found it to have a tea-like flavor, followed by blueberries, some floral and earthy components, and a finish that hinted of oranges and a bit of lavender. Wonderful coffee and great price, definitely worth picking up.

Il Barbaresco 1997

2009-11-27T14:57:00.000-08:00

This is a weird one. I walked into a small, sort of dingy shop in Oakland where I had heard there were many good microbrews. I was looking to stock up on some odd and unique beers for a pizza and brew night with another couple when I came across a shelf near the register of a wine with a simple red label with white lettering that said "Il Barbaresco."

Didn't see anything else except the DOCG ring on the top of the bottle. On the back is the producer's name, "Tenuta San Mauro," and the year 1997. The price? just $3.99. Yes, that's not $39.99 or $399.99, but a measily four bucks.

"What the deal with this wine?" I asked, incredulously, to the shop keeper.
"Oh yes it's very good," he said. But how did he get it? Was a distributor dumping unsold older wines? Was it a fire sale? Were they actually in a fire? I had tons of questions and no one to really ask, since the clerk didn't seem aware of the wine's history. The shop's wine selection itself was much less impressive than it's amazing beer offerings. Most of the wine bottles were under $10-mass produced picks that you'll find at any corner liquor store. So suddenly out of no where they're pulling out a 1997 Barbaresco? The bottle looked brand new too, and in fact I assumed it was either a non-vintage (which I'm not even sure they make for Barbarescos) or some misprint with the label. Why would the vintage be on the back? And again, how did this little shop get the wine? WTF?

Barbaresco is made from the Nebbiolo grape, the same grape used to make Italy's famed Barolos. Known for it's spiciness and rich cherry flavors, Barbarescos are considered more feminine than Barolos, though they can get expensive, and can age for decades. Just looking at wine searcher, I see about two dozen 1997 Barbarescos priced from $30 to $112.

The Nebbiolo grape can make extremely tannic wines, with high acidity and sour flavors, so if you drink them too young, they can be unappealing. DOCG status means this wine had to see at least two years of aging (at least one year in oak) before being released, and the grapes must come from Italy's northwestern Piedmont region.

Anyway, I jumped at the chance to try a 12-year old Barbaresco for $3.99. If it was horrible, oxidized, or somethinge else, then I'm not losing out that much.

What I got was a mixed bag. When I poured this wine, I saw a pretty brick color, indicating the wine has seen some age. After letting it get some air, I found massive earthy aromatics, with tobacco leaf dominating other aromas of nutmeg and menthol.

"Wonderful nose - could sniff for hours," I wrote in my journal. Got me all hot and bothered for some awesome aged Barbaresco for four freakin' dollars!!!!!!

Yet this where the disappointment set in. The wine itself tasted a lot like the aromas I found in the nose -- tobacco leaf, mixed spices, mentol, but after a strong attack, the wine fell apart on the mid palate, and ended in a mess of sour sour cherry and dry, busted tannins. The end result didn't even taste like it was wine - there was no fruitiness, no freshness or life at all.

Sigh.

Well, I'm not sad I took a chance on this, and I might even buy another bottle to see if the result is any different. The reason why I wrote this as a posting is because despite the bad vino, I love the sense of discovery that you can have with bottles like these. While I can't find any info on the producer at all online, or vintage reports from the most recent books, it's still sort of like opening a time capsule and seeing what has been stored in the bottle for all those years.

Cool Way to get Coffee/Wine Gifts.....

2009-11-19T13:15:00.000-08:00

I just found the coolest thing today for helping helpless relatives buy me gifts I actually want for Christmas (yes I am that self-centered). Normally I just add stuff to my Amazon.com wish list, and tell all the relatives who want to know what to get me to check out the list. This year it's full of books about wine. Unfortunately my time for actually reading these things has diminished since having my second child in August.

But then I saw a little notice on the site today saying I could have a "add to wish list" button to my browser...oh....my....god.... instead of being limited to only products sold through Amazon, I can now go to any web page, and "add" a product to my wish list.

I've spent the morning using this tool to add bottles of wine from K&L Wines to my wish list, such as the
2007 Mönchhof Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese for $29.99 (normally $45) off of K&L's clearance list. I'm all about sweet German rieslings ever since I wrote about them a month ago.

I have a bevy of coffee sites to check out later today as well for special gifts I want. Wouldn't that be cool? To get a pound of a really sweet coffee or a rare or interesting (yet still affordable) bottle of wine for Christmas? I'm way to excited about this....and probably won't get either. But still! Just the idea of it!

A Tale of Two Wines

2009-11-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

So I know it's been like a long long long time since my last post, and I'm sorry. I have three excuses that I hope you'll buy.

1) New baby
My son, Rowan, was born three months ago and basically any free time I had before after work to write blog posts has gone out the window. As soon as I walk in the door, I quickly change into shorts and a T-shirt (god I love the weather out here in Oakland) and then am handed a warm, squirmy, drooling infant while Rhonda takes a break. Then I make dinner, give my daughter a bath, put her down, do whatever chores I'm assigned that night, and take the baby back until he needs to feed. And then I burp him. So you see, less free time.

2) Writing about wine for work
For the past few months I've been writing about wine for work, and have been receiving review samples and drinking a lot on the corporate dime, so I can't discuss those things here, unfortunately.

3) I'm lazy/procrastinate

Moving along swiftly to wine reviews....

I headed over to Wine.com's shop in Berkeley a few weeks ago because they had a $50 Cote Rotie for sale, half off. Cote Rotie, which means "roasted slope," (named because of the hills the sun bakes) is located in the northern most portion of France's Rhone region. Wines are primarily made from syrah and can include some viognier, but are known for some of the Rhone's best wines, having a spicy, full berry flavor and can age incredibly well.

The wine in question was the 2004 Domaine Duclaux. Now, I figured it was on sale for a reason - the distributor needed to move bottles being the most common reason today why things go on sale like this. So I took a chance, hoping for a winning lottery ticket. Well like all lottery tickets I buy, I lost. This wine was a poor example of what the syrah grape can produce. On the nose I got currants, steel, and musty cellar. In the glass, I got a cocktail of red berries with a varying degree of ripeness, with an overall sensation of too ripe fruit, bordering on raisiny. The wine was thin on the mid-palate, and finished with a tart acidity.

Checking out what Robert Parker had to say about the vintage explained what went wrong. Apparently 2004 was a very productive year with mixed weather, so chateaux that didn't prune a lot before harvest ended up with too many grapes. This is a problem because the vines spread out it's growing efforts and produce thin tasting fruit. If a grower cuts back the amount of fruit on a vine during the growing season, the vine will concentrate its efforts on the remaining grapes, producing more flavorful fruit. Of course, if you're livelihood depends on selling fruit by the ton, or selling more bottles, cutting back a lot of your fruit can hurt the wallet. So I totally feel for the farmers...

Even at $25, this was overpriced.

But my trip to Wine.com wasn't a total waste. One of the workers there (red hair and beard, very talkative, very knowledgeable about French wines) suggested a 2007 Marcel Lapierre Morgon (gamay) for $25. The producer is biodynamic, and the wine was made with little intervention. Overall I loved this wine - it had an intreguing nose of christmas spice, varnish and black peppercorn. In the mouth I got rose petals, dust, dried cherries and a racy acidity with stealthy tannins that appear at the end without you really noticing at first. This is a nervy wine that would be great for a Thanksgiving meal.

I'm hoping to write more from now on, but as I'm typing this, the baby is crying hysterically and Rhonda is giving me evil eyes...so until next time....

Some coffee notes.....

2009-09-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

Been longer than I would have liked between posts, just haven't been able to give this as much time as I've wanted recently. For one, I've been busy at work with some coffee and wine reviews, so I can't really write about the exciting things I've been drinking here until I finish my articles and get them out. Second, I have an infant that doesn't want to be put down at all, ever, so typing with one had and holding a squirmly little boy takes more skill than I currently possess.

Nonetheless, I wanted to put out some coffee tasting notes.

The first is Ritual Roasters' Ndumberi Peaberry (coffee bean variety SL-28). Ritual's notes said this coffee had strawberry shortcake, raspberry and lemon curd in the cup. I got more dried red berry fruits, like raspberries. This coffee had a huge acidity component to it, which I liked.

The second coffee I had was Barefoot Roasters' Guatemalan FVH Edlyna. Purchased at Whole Foods for $11.99, this coffee had a lovely silk body, with subtle berry flavors and some wood and melted butter notes.

2008 Skouras White

2009-09-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

I have a fondness for Greek wines, even if I only drink it very rarely. That's because I first started drinking wine on a regular basis when I was studying abroad in Greece during college.

I remember not liking red wine at first, because it was served warm, and I couldn't comprehend drinking a warm, or room temperature beverage with food (that's an American thing, apparently).

Still, the novelty of being able to buy alcohol at will (I was only 20) and the idea of drinking wine with dinner as what sophisticated people did, compelled me to try the various bottles on the shelves.

It wasn't long until I was exploring the wines of Greece, and loving every glass, from Xinomavro wines of Naoussa to Agiorgitiko wines of Nemea, as well as the sweet, dark dessert wine Mavrodaphne to the cheap, available in every bar, pine sol tasting Restina.

After I moved back to the US, I continued drinking wine on a regular basis, but shifted to the cheap wines I found here, which were mainly California plonk.

When I moved to California, and Oakland specifically, I came across a wine shop called Du Vin Fine Wines in Alameda that specialized in Greek wines (they have a good selection of Portuguese and Italian wines as well).

As I'm on an obscure Italian wine kick, I decided to see what they had last weekend. I was able to get a Lacrima di Morro, my current favorite red, and I asked him to suggest an off-beat white wine as well. The main one he wanted to sell me was out, but he suggested instead the 2008 Skouras White, a 60/40 blend of Roditis and Moscofilero, two native Greek grapes. As a bonus, the bottle was only $10.99.

Back home, I found this wine to have an earthy nose with a slight blue cheese mold tint to it. In the mouth, this dry wine had bright acidity and seemed to have a slight effervescence. Steely while cold, flavors of almonds and honey appeared as it warmed.

Overall, and interesting wine for $10.99, but nothing too exciting. I believe the wine the shop owner wanted me to try was a 100 percent Moscofilero, which the site All About Greek Wine describes as "A distinct aromatic grape from within the AOC region of Mantinia, in the Peloponnese, Moschofilero grapes have a gray colored skin and therefore produce a wine that is a blanc de gris. Its crisp character and beautiful floral aroma of roses and violets with hints of spices can be drunk as an aperitif or with food." Sounds good - I'll have to seek something like that out!

2006 Thomas Coyne Petit Verdot

2009-09-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I took some friends of mine to a wine trip to Livermore. They had wanted to visit Napa, but I've spent too much time stuck in traffic waiting to get to packed tasting rooms where the winery charges $10 for three little tastes, then offers you the option of tasting "reserve" wines for $15 more, and a futher "library" tasting for another fee. You can spend $40 in a tasting room trying wine without yet buying a bottle, which are themselves $40 and up. Plus you're fighting crowds.

Livermore has dozens of wineries, many that are smaller operations. Some of these I visited were literally in the garage of the grape grower. While you may not get astounding wines at every stop, you're bound to find a few great ones that won't cost you a ton of money simply because it was made in Napa.

One of the places we visited was Thomas Coyne Winery, a hard to find but worth visiting location in south Livermore. Specializing in Rhone and Bordeaux varietals, winemaker Thomas Coyne (pronounced "Coin") started making wine in 1989. The winery itself is on a hill in the middle of in an 1881 building built by French engineer Alexander Duvall. You can see Mt. Diablo in the background, and overall it's a really pretty place to try some wines.

All of the wines I tried tasted great, and I in particular liked the Petit Verdot. You can get these at Whole Foods as well.

The Petit Verdot, priced at $18, looked as black as night in the glass. On the nose, I found sweet jammy black fruit, and this followed in the mouth, as it presented ripe blackberry jam with a touch of vanilla and heat on the finish. Really thick mouthfeel, with the fruit flavors sparkling as a bright beam.

From the winery: "This little-known Bordeaux Varietal is normally reserved for blending to enhance color and body of the major varietals. The grapes came from a vineyard near Lodi in Northern California. After crush and fermentation, the wine was aged in American and French oak barrels for eighteen months. The wine is full-bodied in character with intense herbal flavors and rich oak finish."

2008 Tiamo Sangiovese

2009-09-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

We were having some friends over for dinner last night, with a plan to make pasta and sauce from scratch, so when I was at Whole Foods looking for a wine to match, I naturally gravitated toward the Italian section. I have also been on a huge Italian kick as of late, exploring the country's many indigenous grape varieties.

Sangiovese is one native grape that's used in a variety of wines, including Chianti, Super Tuscans and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. This particular bottle, the 2008 Tiamo Sangiovese, was affordable, at $10.99, made with organic grapes(my friends are really into that) and came from the Marche region, an area that I've found to make really good wines.

This bottle, unfortunately, wasn't a good example. I found it to be extremely over oaked, and the signature Sangiovese cherry flavors watered down. If I had to guess, I'd assume the grape grower didn't reduce their yields enough to produce concentrated wines, and then to compound the problem, used barriques (small wooden barrels) which gave this wine ultimately too much woody flavor.

I've been telling anyone who will listen that cheap European wines outshine their American counterparts, though here's a case where that theory didn't hold up.

In general though, a $10 bottle of wine from Europe will likely express more pure fruit and varietal correct flavors than a wine made in the U.S., especially California, where the cheaper wines aim for the supposed mass market desire for vanilla and oak tasting wines.

I think things are changing here, as I've seen more examples of wines made with a light touch, but if I want to play it safe in the wine shop, I'll head toward the Euro section.

Bolivia Cup of Excellence #2 - Flor de Mayo

2009-09-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

My mom has been getting me gift certificates to Acton, Massachusetts-based Terroir Coffee for my birthday for the past couple years, and I recently cashed in by splurging on several offerings, including the second place winner in last year's Bolivian Cup of Excellence from the Flor de Mayo farm. The coffee cost a stiff $27.95 for 8 ounces, an amount I probably wouldn't spend on my own unless the coffee was crazy good.

As an espresso, the coffee was devoid of bitterness, showing complex, subtle flavors that were hard to pick apart. I think I got some papaya and mango in there.

Prepared via inverted Aeropress, I got wonderful floral aromas of lavender and lilacs, reminding me of an astounding Italian wine called Lacrima di Morro d'Alba. I'm talking huge aromatics here (in both the coffee and wine) that are beautiful to behold. In the cup itself though the flavors aren't as strong, and I got chocolate and hazelnut notes in the finish. As for mouthfeel, this coffee was richer than other Central American coffees I've had, almost feeling a bit like butter but not quite there.

The Cup of Excellence jury awarded the coffee 90.85 points, describing it as "bright, balanced," and added it had flavor-aromas of chocolate, orange, caramel, peach, honeycake, blueberry, green apple, with a "lingering mouthfeel, complex, well balanced, subtle."

I believe I got the last batch from Terroir as I don't see it on their site anymore. If I'm going to spend $30 on 8 ounces of coffee, I'd like something a little more powerful, but overall I enjoyed this, especially since I didn't pay for it myself.

Natural Wine Week

2009-08-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

Did you know this week is Natural Wine Week in San Francisco? I didn't - though I wish I had.

"Natural" is a term used to describe wines that fall somewhere between organic and biodynamic practices. Organic will get you so far, while biodynamic incorporates a whole mess of almost religious practices that some growers chaff at. Both aim to encourage grape growing and wine making that allow the end product to truly reflect the spot it's from.

The nuts and bolts of both grape growing and wine making to achieve this process are detailed and controversial, but overall they try to limit outside influences or inputs such as chemicals like fertilizer, or non-native ingredients like lab-created yeasts. Whether these methods do work are fiercely debated. I happen to think they do produce more authentic wines, if you'll allow me to use that term, and are great for the environment.

Every day this week, one location in the city will host a tasting of natural wines. Tonight's event will be held at Biondivino, which will feature wines from Italy, Georgia, Spain and Austria. Importers will be there as well to probe with questions.

Check out Natural Wine Week's Web site for more info on this great idea.

Family Winemakers of California Tasting

2009-08-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a chance to check out Family Winemakers tasting at Ft. Mason in San Francisco. It's one of those events where hundreds of wineries pour thousands of wines, except the key thing about this is that most are small, family-owned operations.

In the past I've attempted to take tasting notes, but I've found that it's too difficult, especially when you go from table to table quickly sipping and spitting dozens of wines across a variety of varietals. Some people I ran into tasted whites first, then circled back around to the same tables to taste reds, but I mainly stuck to reds and tasted the occasional odd white when it was an intriguing bottling.

I mostly enjoyed the wines I tried, with standouts being a Syrah from Quivira (biodynamic), a trio from Red Car Wine, including a Pinot Noir that just received a high 90s score from Wine Spectator, a Bosche from Freemark Abbey and a Howell Mountain grenache from Outpost .

The quality this year seemed better than last, and better than other events I've attended at this building. One thing that stood out to me at a variety of tables - I was getting a lot of earthy and dirt notes across the board. Not sure if it's just something I happened to notice this year and not last year, but I found myself making the same remark to several people pouring wines. It's a scent I like in wines, and to me, seems to indicate a closer connection to the place where the wines were made. It seemed like the bottles overall were in better balance on the aggregate and I'm excited to see if we're going to be drinking more restrained, complex wines from California in the future that don't all taste like juice made from raisins.

Siete 7

2009-08-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

The wine shop's description of this wine really intrigued me. They started off by saying this bottle was killer two vintages ago, flying off the shelves, but the follow year wasn't as great, and no one wanted it. Now, however, the latest vintage (2008) restores the wine's good name. Drink up!

That really puts the buyer in a difficult spot. If, like me, you didn't have the previous two vintages, you don't have any reference point to judge their assessment. Sure, they get points for honesty, but what will next year's pull quote say if this year's doesn't sell well?

But I took a chance on it anyway, the bottle was only $13.50(or around that, I forget if it was a dollar cheaper) plus the label was killer. No bad wine could come out of a bottle with an awesome label, right?

Well turns out the investment was worth it. This blend of garnacha and tempranillo from grapes grown in clay and calcareous soil in northeast Spain's Navarra region was aged in stainless steel and presents a heavy dose of spice to the palate.

In appearance the wine was violet and had purple-tinged edges; the nose was very aromatic, smelling like incense, green bell peppers and other spices. In the mouth I got raspberries, a little burnt rubber, and an earthy finish punctured by cayenne spice that really bit my tongue. After a couple of days, the spiciness subsides some, and the black and blue fruits are more present.

Great value for an interesting wine.

The juice is a blend of Garnacha and

McDonald's Coffee

2009-08-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would be writing about McDonald's coffee on this blog, but I have to hand it to the golden arches - they sure know what they're doing when it comes to iced coffee.

Let me begin by saying I grew up in Massachusetts, and as a small boy was thrilled whenever my parents would let me drink coffee milk - milk with coffee syrup flavoring - for breakfast. You can't find it anywhere else than New England, and even there it's not that well known. It was like heaven in a cup, especially when paired with a big stack of chocolate chip pancakes drizzled in real maple syrup. Yeah, I had lots of sugar-fueled meltdowns as a child.

From there I progressed to my early coffee drinks - I fell in love with Dunkin Donuts Coolattas as a teen. These milky, iced coffee-flavored beverages tasted amazing even if they had like 1,000 calories. I think I had one every day as a 17-year old driving to my lifeguard job at a waterpark on Cape Cod.

I still didn't get the appeal of hot coffee - it tasted awful to me, and couldn't believe people drank it black. Eventually I ventured into iced coffee with loads of cream and sugar, more like coffee-flavored milk with a quarter of the cup filled with undissolved sugar grains. In college I became aware of how horrible having this everyday was for you, and gradually changed my coffee pollution to skim milk and splenda.

Nowadays even on the hottest days I'm making frenched press coffee at work in the morning, since it's AC-ed to the point of being downright chilly. But I still have a strong association of hot summer days and large gallon-like cups of iced coffee, so the other day when we were headed off to see The Fray in concert, we stopped at McDonalds for a quick bite. I was tired and decided to try their iced coffee.

Now, McDonalds has made a huge push the past year or so with their McCafe - espresso-based drinks to order, and have been successful with the product line. The iced coffee I got came with milk and sugar added, without my asking.

I usually don't like more than a few drops of milk or cream in iced coffee, but this was definitely on the light side. Taste-wise, they really nailed what most people are probably looking for from an iced coffee. It tasted sweet, creamy, nutty and coffee-like - more along the lines of coffee milk - than overroasted beans I expected from McDonalds. It really seemed well-balanced altogether between the three flavors. I consider this a dessert drink, but nonetheless it was delicious and I had to restrain myself from downing the entire thing, less I be awake the entire night with caffeine jitters.

It's a boy!

2009-08-11T21:52:00.001-07:00

My second child was born last week, a boy named Rowan. Everyone is healthy, if not totally exhausted.

While at the hospital for a few days, I found a local wine shop, Vintage Berkeley, that does daily tastings from 4pm to 7pm, and made a visit (to the utter dismay of Rhonda, who was still recovering. I told her I was going out to buy her something special to eat from whole foods, which I did...after the tasting. Am I a bad person?)

Anyway, the wine shop has a cool concept - small production wines all under $25. They have some more expensive ones in the back, but it's more of a side room. An employee, Matt, told me if it was up to him, he'd have a wall of reisling and a wall of cab franc, which sounded good to me, as I love both those varietals. Alas, business sense prevailed, and the long, narrow shop has a good variety of wines from different regions of the world, with no discernible bias(that I could see anyway from a quick walk through).

I'm going to be adding this store to my regular rotation of shops, as I become increasingly price conscious with the new addition to my family, and those diaper bills start to pile up.

2006 Vins de Pays Cotes de Brian Clos du Gravillas "Le Rendez-Vous du Soleil"

2009-07-31T16:33:00.001-07:00

This wine came to my attention at K&L in San Francisco last weekend when a friend of mine asked a clerk for something earthy from France. He suggested this bottle, saying it had that dirty taste she was looking for.

Mix of 30 percent each cab, syrah and carignan, with 5 percent each of mourvedre and grenache. Aged 25 months (in what, I wonder? Bottle just says the length of time).

In appearance this wine is dark and murky, with cranberry-tinged edges. The nose has an old, musty earth smell as well as black fruit scents.

In the glass, I got dense currant flavors and blackberry preserve. I wanted to write down jammy because this felt so thick on my tongue, but it wasn't overly sweet, which I typically associate with the "jam" description.

This wine has a rich mouthfeel and was hard to interpret at first. I detected several strains of fruit on my palate, but separating them in my head was difficult because of the weight of the overall wine. Tangy, almost bitter tannins bring the wine to a finish.

This is certainly a beast of a wine, and is a good example of how something can be powerful but not overdone with oak, vanilla, and gooey sweetness. Not bad for $15.99. I have had dirtier wines, but if you're not sure if that's a flavor you're into, this could be a good entry bottle.

2000 Crociani Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG - Reserva

2009-07-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

Picked up this 9-year old bottle of wine at the Wine Mine and really enjoyed it. Clocking in at 13.5 percent alcohol, this mixture of Prugnolo Gentile (75 percent), Canaiolo nero (15 percent) and Mammolo (10 percent) is aged for two and a half years in oak barrels and then six months in the bottle before being released.

It's color is a beautiful brick burnt red, most likely due to it's age. Even my non-drinking partner noticed how different in appearance it looked from other wines I've had recently (mostly younger, purplish hued wines).

On the nose I found burnt rubber, dung, and some floral accents, which blossomed into a larger part of the scent after being opened for a few days.

In the mouth, I got a tart but floral taste, favoring violets and ending with a lifesaver cherry component. Very light body. Overall I enjoyed the fruit in this wine, and described it on the whole to a cool breeze in August, compared to much heavier American reds I've been drinking.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wines are mostly made with Sangoviese, and shouldn't be confused with the grape varietal Montepulciano.

Tasting notes from the producer: "Ruby red colour with orange hints, delicate and intense bouquet with pronounced notes of violet. Dry, rounded, harmonious, full of fruit with a lovely mouth’filling finish."

K Vintners Syrah flight

2009-07-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for months to attend an event at the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant this week to meet Charles Smith of K Vintners, the rock star of Washington winemaking.

I've been able to acquire some of his lower priced wines (see reviews here), and wanted to try the upper echelon and see what all the commotion is about.

The day came for the big event, and I was all ramped up to try the flight of his single vineyard Syrahs and speak to the man himself. Hours before I was about to leave my office, however, I got pulled into a work event for the night. Oh well.

Disappointed that I couldn't meet Smith, I still hoped to try some of his wines, and the next day, I went over to the wine bar to see what was left.

"Do you still have the K Vintners' flight available?" I asked the bartender with all the eagerness of a child asking a Best Buy clerk if some hot video game was still in stock the day after the hordes of other kids waited in lines for hours to buy every copy.

"Hm, let me see," he said, gazing over the bottles that were in front of him. "Yeah, we can do a mini flight."

YES!!!!

The full flight would have consisted of five wines and cost $35. What I got was three generous pours, and probably half an ounce of another one, for $22. I think all of my pours finished off their bottles, so I wasn't expecting much in terms of quality, though with wines purported to be this big, I was thinking a day after opening might do them some good.

I started with the most expensive of the offerings, the 2006 Royal City Syrah, which was selling for $105 for a bottle at the shop (you can get it for $80 from K Vintners's website).

The first thing you notice about the bottle is its kick-ass label. All of Charles Smith's wines employ a striking black and white contrast on their label, with huge letters and a goth-like image. On Royal City, you see a jeweled crown with a skull chopping on two bones on the front of it.

If you look for information about this wine on the K Vintners site, all you get is a blurb review from Paul Gregutt: “100 Point Wine…Rich scents of purple fruit, smoked meat, cedar, lead pencil, moist earth and so on proclaim a wine with genuine gravitas…..the finest syrah I have ever tasted from Washington State, and in fact as good as any young syrah I have ever tasted..." (April 2009). WOW! Best Washington Syrah ever tasted! That's pretty awesome!

Well, what I got wasn't as great. In fact it seemed too huge, too sweet. The wine had a dark ruby red color, and a moderate nose of ripe fruit. It tasted like sugary sweet candy, red and black berries so ripe they're oozing juice. The finish starts to fade after a few seconds, and then BAM! a turbo boosts kicks it into another gear for more what seemed like minutes.

This velvety mouth-coater was definitely the big boy of the tasting, bringing wood and vanilla notes as well. I just don't see it lasting a while (my hopes of getting one of these bottles and socking it away for a couple of decades until my daughter hite 21 were dashed after this tasting).

The bartender agreed with me. "Point chasers," she said, and then professed her love of dirty Rhone Syrahs.

The other wines in the flight seemed smaller in stature to this one. The 2007 "The Deal" Syrah from Wahluke Slope, priced at $37, was almost cartoonishly sweet. On the nose I found red liquorish, charred wood and some green component I couldn't put my finger on; in the glass I described the wine as having Willy Wonka flavors. Just super candish, sweet berries, and some heat on the finish along with a bit of spice.

Since I only tasted about an ounce or two of the Phil Lane Syrah, I'm not going to give it a review here.

The wine I liked the best was the 2007 Morrison Lane, from Walla Walla, priced at $41.

Tasting the "cleanest" of the wines, it had nice blackberries and blueberries, with a juicy center that seems to pop out on your palate. Hints of cranberries and raspberries as well. Medium, dry tannins were balanced against smooth acidity.

Didn't get much of a nose on this one.

Now, Charles Smith has said his K Vintners line up is meant to age, and his Charles Smith wines are for consuming now. Since they're much cheaper and more appealing, I'm probably going to stick with those for the time being, though I still want to try his K Vintner's Ovide, which Gary Vaynerchuk sounded estatic about on the Thunder Show in October.

Old Soul Company (Sacramento)

2009-07-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

I was in Sacramento last week for work and while there set about to find some good coffee. Using ManSeekingCoffee as a guide, I ventured into Old Soul Co. located near 17th and L streets and found coffee delight.

The cafe looks like an old warehouse, as it's a huge open space with a Diedrich roasting machine in the corner, a scattering of seats, couches and tables, and the main operation in the middle. Fresh baked items tantalize from their racks behind the counter.

On my first visit, I had a shot of their "sauce" espresso blend, which had light brown crema, with no tiger stripping. Bright nose with grassy notes. In the cup, I found it to be thick an juicy, with tropical fruit notes, and a medium acidity, with no bitterness.

I also had a cup of their Ugandan Mt. Elgan Bugisu drip, but couldn't make out much after the espresso coated my tongue with its richy goodness. Old Soul describes it as "Beautiful subtle fruits with a candied sweetness. Thick and syrupy with a cream-coated softness throughout the cup."

I took a bag of the coffee home to evaluate, and so far, found it to give off a strong black cherry scent all the way through from the beans, in the grinds, and in the fresh brewed coffee. Bright, fresh cherries were persistent in the cup, to the point where I wrote down it was like liquid cherry pie. Initially creamy on the attack, the coffee's acidity picks up through the middle and lingers on the finish. I got an odd chalk dust flavor at the end, but I'm not sure if that was a one time deal or something I'll find again.

As an espresso, this coffee presents milkshake-thick crema, lively acidity and notes of caramel, cherries and layers of other exotic fruits I couldn't quite pick apart.

Old Soul is definitely one of those "third wave" coffee roasters bringing customers medium to light roasted single origin coffees. They seem to really care about what they do, and in my conversations with them, are trying to develop a barista scene and culture of coffee love in Sacramento. If you're up there, check them out.

2006 Poderi San Lazzaro

2009-06-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

I've been drinking a Rosenblum Syrah (2006 Snow's Lake Vineyard, Lake County) and have been pondering similes to describe how the wine has opulent fruit flavors that seem obscured by a heavy, thick coat of smoked wood. You know that smell that penetrates your clothes if you sit near a camp fire for any amount of time? Imagine that in your mouth. It's the same after taste you'd get from drinking a single malt scotch aged in toasted barrels for a decade or more (I'm thinking primarily of Laphroaig, one of my favorite go-to single malts).

I say all this because in the midst of my mental exercises trying to figure out an interesting way to breaking down this wine into words, I had a glass of something far superior that threw my thoughts about it into clear relief.

The Rosenblum wine is very "American" - ripe fruit, too much wood. The glass of wine I had, a Montepulciano/Sangiovese from Marche, Italy - the 2006 Poderi San Lazzaro, Rosso Superiore - reminded me why I love good Italian wines.

We had dinner at Pizzaiolo in Oakland, and of the several by the glass offerings, I chose the Montepulciano from Marche because I've had wines from that region and that grape before and really enjoyed it.

Marche is a region in central Italy on the eastern coast.

I got a little rubbery dirt on the nose, and in the glass I tasted violets, black and red fruits and a spicy finish. At $10.75 a glass, it was the most expensive choice on the menu, but it was worth it.

The fruit tasted fresh and pure, without any heavy overlay of wood or vanilla that ruins so many good American wines. I've certainly have had bad Italian wines, but the more I venture out to other countries, the more I understand why many winos prefer cheap foreign wine (cheap meaning less than $20 a bottle) to a comparably priced American bottle.

Four Barrel Duncan Estate Micro Lot #2 (Panama)

2009-06-19T15:24:00.001-07:00

Following my recent good experience with Four Barrel's Ethiopian Wondo Harfusa, I went back for something different, something from South America that would be complex and light.

I picked up the Duncan Estate Micro Lot #2 from Panama for $13.50. I was pretty sure I tried coffees from this farm in the past (I think during a trip to Stumptown a few years ago) and remembered liking it very much, so I wanted to give it another go.

Four Barrel describes this organic, direct trade coffee like this: "Linden dominates the overall flavor of the cup from fragrance through finish and is accompanied by notes of kumquat, key lime, strawberry and evergreen."

My initial run at this coffee in a French press was a disaster. Tasted lots of pencil shavings and led, which are signs of old beans (the coffee itself was roasted a few days prior to my brewing it, but they could have still sat around for a long time in jute bags, losing their liveliness). There was some tropical fruit underneath the other layers, but overall it wasn't a pleasant experience.

I next brewed this in an inverted Aeropress, and got the same thing off the bat. "Just tastes old," I wrote in my notes. As the liquid cooled, I found some milk chocolate notes as well as kiwi, and something like a hibiscus tea flavor.

As an espresso, this coffee had a little more life, showing dried fruits, prominently cherries. Still, I'd say pass on this one.

2006 Razor's Edge Shiraz

2009-06-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

Back in November I reviewed a 2004 Razor's Edge Shiraz and found it to be a great little affordable bottle of wine, showing sweet tar and honey on the nose, and heavy black plum flavors in the glass, strong tannins and a bit of heat, with some tar and dirt flavors on the finish. While big enough to outweigh most meals, I still thought it would be good to match up against stinky blue cheese, or just on it's own on a cold night.

Well, I've gone and purchased the 2006 vintage of this wine a few weeks ago, and came away with a totally different impression. Priced at $11.99, the nose had black fruit and toasted barrel notes. In the mouth I found blackberries, black currant, more toasted wood flavors and a lot of heat. The finish imploded because of the vodka-like taste at the end.

I was really disappointed - I was hoping this could be a good go-to cheap Shiraz, but now I'm not sure.

The winery's distributor, Joshua Tree Imports, describes the 2004-2006 vintages as such: "The Razor's Edge Shiraz is dark purple in color, yet bright and appealing in its clarity of fruit flavors, persisting on the finish against firm tannins."

Four Barrel Ethiopian Wondo Harfusa

2009-06-08T09:54:00.000-07:00

I've been drinking a lot of coffee from Ritual and Barefoot lately, so I decided to switch things up and buy a bag of beans from Four Barrel (although they get their beans from Portland's Stumptown and Sweet Maria's, according to ManSeekingCoffee).

Four Barrel Coffee has been around for almost a year now, and I've visited several times, often during my lunch break, for espressos and the occasional Dynamo donut. You can see my postings about them here.

I was a little hesitant to buy beans from them after reading ManSeekingCoffee's pronouncement in March that their roasting has yet to live up to expectations, and that basically he prefers Stumptown's versions better. Still, it's been a few months and thought I'd play around with a bag for a few weeks and see what I got.

During previous trips, I didn't see roast dates on the bags, but they all have them now, which is an important piece of information for the coffee buyer to know. Freshness is so critical for coffee to be good, and I'm realizing that it's not just about the roast date, but the age of the beans themselves. I've pretty much ended my brief, torrent love affair with Blue Bottle after purchasing numerous bags of beans for home brewing, only to find they've all seemed dead inside. Nothing but stale, pencil shaving flavors. No acidity, no life, despite the fact they they were all roasted within a week of my purchase. I still like to get an occasional shot from their new cafe in the Ferry Building because of their cool lever machine and the convenience factor for me (I work a few blocks away), but I no longer get their beans for home because they don't seem to refresh their stocks enough or keep their green beans fresh.

Anyway, I went to Four Barrel a few weeks ago and wanted something lemony, something powerful. So I picked up their Ethiopian Wondo Harfusa for $12.50. As Four Barrel's website is just a front page right now, I couldn't get any additional info about the beans, but there is info on Stumptown's site.

Here's what Stumptown had to say: "Our lot was traditionally fermented for more than 24 hours, washed and left to dry in the sun on raised beds for more than a week. Wondo Harfusa is pure essence of hibiscus in fragrance followed with ripe red fruit flavors of raspberry, red currant and red cherry that finish in classic Yirgacheffe style with distinct notes of black tea."

I toyed around with different preparations for a week or so and found the inverted Aeropress to extract the best flavors. Very complex coffee, with a nutty, buttery taste to start, developing into jasmine/floral tea and ending with stone fruit flavors. The coffee had a light body and muted acidity. As a pour over, I got more nuts in the finish - hazelnut and macadamia nuts.

If you enjoy tea-like coffees, this is one to try. I haven't had Stumptown's version, so I can't compare it, but overall I liked it and will be exploring some more Four Barrel offerings in the future.

Sean Thackery's Pleiades XVII

2009-05-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

Wine Maker Sean Thackrey is one of those guys who's limited production bottles can be hard to get a hold of, thanks to high 90s scores by Robert Parker. Thackrey, who claims to own the world's largest collection of ancient writings on wines and reads in seven languages, lives and does his wine making in Bolinas, California, in a Eucalyptus grove. His wines are named after constellations, and he has a Petite Sirah called Sirius; a Rhone-style blend called Orion; a Pinot Noir labeled Andromeda; and the cheapest of his offerings, the field blend called Pleiades.

Pleiades is a non-vintage, which is why it's given Roman numerals. Last year I popped open version XVI for a party with friends and enjoyed its red berry fruit flavors and cool-Eucalyptus finish (read review here).

This year, I spied Pleiades XVII at the Wine Mine in Oakland and purchased a bottle for $21 there (prices can vary depending on where you shop from $19-$26). I drank this bottle over a few days. It's appearance is a black cherry color, complete opaque in the center with some light filtering through the edges, which looked brick red.

On the nose I got Nyquil cherry scents, along with Eucalyptus and bark. These flavors follow in the mouth, to the point where it really has that medicinal cherry taste going on, accented by the cool Eucalyptus that carry throughout the sip.

Grippy tannins on the palate, with an acidic bite on the finish.

As much as I wanted to love this wine, I found the medicinal cherry flavor a bit too overpowering and ultimately this was more of a two-note wine when I expected more. I would certainly call it interesting though, and definitely not a cookie-cutter California wine.

Crazy wine bar

2009-05-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

As a wino, I love wine bars. Love them. You get to try a variety of wines you might not find elsewhere or not be able to buy anywhere else. They usually have interesting cheeses and sliced meats and other small plates for munching on. And in general, you feel like an adult in one, which has become a rare commodity for me ever since my daughter was born two years ago (if we do go out to a restaurant as a family, it's usually before 6 p.m. at a "kid-friendly" place - ie - not too slick or expensive, usually with beat up wooden tables and open enough so if she complains or cries people don't get upset. Yes, I'm looking at you Triple Rock, our go-to fam-friendly restaurant with the amazing beer selection.)

But getting back to the matter at hand - when I've been allowed out of the house after dark for a dad's night out or just a drink with a friend, I've been going to Alameda Wine Co. and loving it.

The place is not for everybody. It certainly has its quirks, the main one being the owner, a willow-thin, bald woman who wears droopy sweat pants that expose a thong as she walks around behind the bar. She also seems to have a nervous breakdown every time I'm there, swearing profusely and loudly about ex-customers who didn't pay or someone who pissed her off. I'd imagine it's kind of scary for people who didn't grow up with parents who screamed a lot. (Check out the one-star reviews on yelp for a taste of the offended customers - here).

Ok, on to the positives. The selection is nice and affordable. You can get a small pour or a large pour and pay accordingly. This is super if you're like me and want to try several selections on the menu without committing to an entire glass. The variety of the selection is nice too. When I've been I've found interesting American, Italian, French, Spanish and Argentinian offerings. There's a 1977 port you can try if you want. Last time the bartender popped open a really great madeira (I think it was a Rare Wine Company Historic Series Madeira Boston Boal NV) to show me how good madeira can be - and boy was she right.

The bar is curvy and the seats are leather with backs. You can sit for hours there twirling around, creating mini-flights of wine from the menu, and pick at plates of charcuterie and artisinal cheese. If you liked something you drank, they also have a retail end of the store with well priced wines that are mostly under $20 and include a lot of small production, well made choices.

If you're ever in Alameda, check this place out.

Paul Mathew 2008 Knight's Valley Gamay Noir

2009-05-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Another nice find from the Wine Mine in Oakland! The Paul Mathew 2008 Knight's Valley Gamay Noir cost $13.99 (MSRP $16) and clocks in at 13.4% alcohol. It's appearance is a translucent cherry color tending toward purple at the edges. Slight nose, but in the mouth bright cherry notes (reminded me of Hi-C cherry flavored beverages) and a bit gamey. After a few days sitting in my fridge, I finished it off last night and found additional flavors of cinnamon and tobacco, which were kind of bizarre to get from gamay.

This is a great wine for the summer, it's light, fruity, and tastes good chilled. Try it instead of a rose with some lighter fare, as the acidity probably won't be as sharp as a rose.

I also like this wine because it's small production - only 133 cases produced from a 60-year old, two acre plot in Calistoga. The NYT's wine writer, Eric Asimov, had an article today about the difficulty of finding good, cheap and interesting American reds. I especially found myself shaking my head in agreement with this sentence: "In effect, then, California produces a small amount of top-flight wine along with an ocean of generic wine that seeks to imitate the top echelon, often through artifice like oak substitutes and additives. All too often, the choices are expensive cabernet or chardonnay, and imitation expensive cabernet or chardonnay."

Asimov's take mirrors my own opinion and findings as a wine drinker who mainly stays within the $10-$20 a bottle price range. Interesting and unique wines are difficult to find from the U.S. But they can be found, and some, like this gamay, can be utterly enjoyable.

The Velvet Hammer

2009-05-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

My perusal of Charles Smith wines continues with The Velvet Hammer, a 2007 Merlot from Columbia Valley, Washington. Charles Smith is the crazy-haired guy who used to be a promoter for Danish rock bands, then decided to make wine in Washington State more than a decade ago.

I've tried and reviewed his Kung Fu Girl Riesling and Boom Boom Syrah! so when I saw this on the shelf at Farmstead Cheese and Wine in Alameda, I grabbed a bottle (for $15.99, I think).

Love the name and graphic. Also nice to see, on the back of the bottle, was this motto: "Land to Hand, Vineyard to Bottle," an ode to producing wines that taste like, well, wine, and not toasted oak and vanilla. Or as Smith says on his site: "The intent is to create wines to be enjoyed now, but with typicity with regards to variety—that is merlot that tastes like merlot—and to the vineyard—wine that tastes like where it was grown. The wines are full of flavor, balanced, and true to their place of origin."

I've largely been disappointed with cheaper American wines lately, as they tend to taste over-made. Some people criticize me for criticizing these wines - after all, why pick on a bottle that costs less than $15? Well, for most drinkers who chose to imbibe every night with a meal, this is probably your sweet spot, price wise. So why not ferret out the values, finds and nicely made wines in this price range?

It's not hard to find, if you know what to look for. Loire Valley reds, in my shopping experience, hit the mark. Washington State also seems to put out a good amount of these wines. Wine regions in California far removed from Napa Valley and expectations of being a "big massive trophy bottle" can also surprise.

Some of the things I look for on the bottle is a description of limited interaction between the wine maker and wine. Organic, biodynamic, no filtering or fining, carbonic maceration, etc etc etc. These are a few of many terms you might see on a bottle expressing to you, the buyer, that the liquid held in the bottle in your hand wasn't treated like a commodity beverage.

Now not all these wines are great. In fact they can be hit or miss, and just because the grapes were grown with limited chemicals doesn't mean it wasn't picked too ripe or stored in oak for too long. But with a sea of choices in front of you at the wine store, these are some hints as to what might be an interesting purchase.

Back to the Velvet Hammer. It was a dark burgundy in color, and murky in the glass. Slight nose of spices and dark red berries, and in the mouth showed lovely cloves, nutmeg, wild blackberries and cedar notes. This wine was mostly spice for me - cool spice - not the kind that sear the tongue, but ones that seem to chill the palate.

The winemaker's website says this of the wine: "Balanced, rich and explosive. Think red plums, bittersweet cocoa with hints of smoke and cedar. SO SMOOTH, SO NAUGHTY, AND SO VERY, VERY NICE." (MSRP: $12).

This wasn't an amazing, mind blowing wine. It didn't move me to sing it's praises like some other recent bottles I've had (like this one). But it was a nice wine, and, if you're used to too many overdone American Merlots, is a nice contrast. Plus for $12-$16 a bottle, won't kill the wallet.

Ritual Roasters Fazenda Esperança Pulped Natural, Brasil

2009-05-07T22:24:00.000-07:00

Pulped naturals are an intriguing halfway point between washed coffees and full naturals (or dried processed). I really like naturals. They give you interesting, murky, maybe even musty sweet fruit flavors with muted acidity. Washed coffees can give you a more complex, subtle cup and lots of acidity. A pulped natural is when the outer layer of the coffee cherry is stripped off, and the coffee bean, embodied in the fruity mucus, is left to dry in the sun.

When I went in to Ritual last weekend looking for something new to try, I originally grabbed a bag of the Fazenda Kaquend, the first place winner in the Brazilian Cup of Excellence contest. It's not often you get to try a CoE #1 coffee. However, I checked out the price and decided $30 was a little rich for me right now. Trying to cut back expenses, given the depression and all...and spending that much for coffee is a little hard to justify.

However, the Fazenda Esperança caught my eye. Also a pulped natural from Brazil, this coffee was a mere $15. Deal!

I had a hard time dialing this coffee in as an espresso. The few times I tried, I got very light colored crema, blonde/tan in color and lasting a medium time before fading. In the small cup, this coffee tasted like dark chocolate and cinnamon. Nice milky mouthfeel. Now that I'm reading Ritual's description, I also recall getting malt chocolate. Whoppers-candy like.

As a French press, this coffee is all hazelnut. Almost like a Dunkin' Donuts flavored coffee. But much better. There was some vanilla notes in there as well, but this was really dominated by the hazelnut taste.

From Ritual's website: "Produced by the Souza family—João and Tiago—in Campos Altos, Brasil, this coffee is a micro-lot from their farm, Fazenda Esperança, located in Brasil’s Cerrado eco-region. These Mundo Novo, Acaia, and Catuai trees were processed in the pulped-natural manner—pulping of the coffee fruit followed by drying with some mucilage, developing natural sweetness with clean, syrupy body. This coffee is clean and syrupy with flavors of malt chocolate, toasted aniseed, and sesame."

Barefoot's "The Boss" Espresso

2009-04-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

One of my pet peeves is people who refer to certain coffees as espresso beans, as if beans used for espresso are somehow magically different from other coffee beans. They're not. Espresso is a preparation of coffee. The beans you use to make it can be any particular type. While I wouldn't fault a non-coffee person for not knowing this, I was surprised to see that annoying commentator on Iron Chef referring to some beans during the recent coffee episode as espresso beans, and not just dark roasted beans (in general, beans for espresso tend to be roasted darker than your garden variety beans used for coffee because it mellows bright flavors that can be intense and overpowering in the small cup).

So this little rant brings me back to the original point of my post, which is a description of Barefoot Coffee's "The Boss!" Espresso. I picked this up from their Santa Clara (or is it San Jose? I'm never quite clear on that) cafe earlier this month and have been enjoying it ever since. It's a blend of Brazil Datera Monte Cristo, India Jasmina and Ethiopia Dale.

I found this blend to have a nice presence of blueberries in its aroma and taste. Crema straddles the light-dark brown line, and for me lasted well after the shot was pulled. Can dissipate with a lot of milk, but tasted great as a macchiato.

I have also brewed this blend as a coffee, and am currently sipping the results from a pour over. While lacking a body that lives up to its name, the blueberries are there bright and shiny. Again, the point is, espresso beans can be enjoyed as coffee, and coffee can certainly be pulled as an espresso with great results.

Barefoot, by the way, gives the blend this description: "Dope sweet thickness and chocolate berries con panna. Chocolatey goodness with some sneaked in spice and berry notes. Touch of citrus kiss in the finish. Thick, thick, sticky and gooey. A whole lot of good chocolate and fruit in your cup."

Portable Espresso Makers

2009-04-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

I received a press release today from a company called mypressi that makes a handheld espresso maker, called the Twist. From the promo photos, it looks gorgeous. Apparently this device, which can use either pods or grounds, gets 9 bars of pressure, the standard required to officially make espresso. It says it doesn't require external power to work, just hot water and gas cartridges that you can find at kitchen retail stores. Don't see price information, which would be a big factor in how many of these are actually sold. It's biggest claim to fame so far is that it was awarded the "best new consumer product" by the SCAA recently.

While mypressi claims the Twist is the first portable espresso maker, I've certainly seen others advertised elsewhere.

Here's the Handpresso, a device that's currently priced below $90 on amazon.com

Reviewers seem to like it a lot.

I don't personally travel enough for this to be an issue, although when I do travel, I always try to find a third-wave cafe or roaster at my destination so this doesn't become an issue. Of course, if you're camping, then something like this, or the AeroPress is pretty cheap and easy to use.

CL Wines 2005 Sonoma Coast Syrah

2009-04-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

Continuing, but probably getting close to the end of, my Syrah kick now that it's getting warmer out, I picked up this bottle at Farmstead Cheese and Wine in Alameda, a little shop that has some great small production wines, for about $15 (In doing some online searching about it, I see that it can be had for as low as $9.99 elsewhere).

This wine was totally pitch black in color. It had a nose of dried earth and slightly rotting pine needles. In the glass there was definitely some alcoholic heat, along with blackberries and a blue cheese flavor. There's a nice smoked paprika

Couldn't find a website for the winemakers, but did stumble across this description from WineGeeks: David Lattin founded Craven & Lattin in 1998 when he left Acacia Winery in 1998. His wife, Kendra Craven, is a trained enologist and compliments him well on the business side of the wine industry. They produce 150 to 300 cases of each single vineyard wine they make, with a focus on Pinot Noir from various appellations.

Kim Crawford 2008 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

2009-04-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

Kim Crawford's 2008 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc was rated a best buy by Wine Spectator's April 30, 2009 edition, receiving 91 points. I haven't explored New Zealand's SBs, which it's famous for, so when I saw this bottle for $15 on sale at Safeway (normally $19) I quickly picked it up.

What I've read about these wines is the presence of a grassy flavors, which is unique, or at least stronger, than Sauvignon Blancs from other origins.

So what did I find? Well, on the nose, grassy notes and lime leaf. In the glass, I got a nice round mouthfeel, with the acidity picking up half way through and lingers on the finish. Some black liquorish notes are there, as well as pink grapefruit, tropical fruit, but this wine is dominated by lime flavors - what I would describe as lime popsicle. Really strong.

I liked this wine, and can see myself getting again some hot day this summer.

Blue Bottle Ferry Building Update

2009-04-07T17:03:00.000-07:00

Had a chance to run over to the Ferry Building during my lunch break to check out the recently opened, third Blue Bottle location. Situated in a corner space, the cafe has two places to buy coffee. On one side, there's a little shop with some beans, machines and cups along with a glass counter containing baked items. There's also sandwiches on the counter for sale.

You can get a pour-over coffee or espresso-based drink from a three head, spring hand pulled lever here, and the baristas were pulling Blue Bottle's Retrofit Espresso blend. In this iteration, I found the scents coming from my mug more exciting than the taste itself.

Pulled slowly from the lever, my shot had nice, light tan-colored crema that didn't dissipate quickly. I found aromas of tropical fruits, chocolate and some muted spice on the nose. In the mouth, however, the espresso was more flat that I expected. It went down without harshness, but did have some flavors of smoked wood.

On the other side of the cafe, you can order espresso drinks from a more traditional La Marzocco. One of the baristas told me they're planning on offering single origin espresso shots at some future date. While some people in the coffee world prefer blends, I personally think having a choice is great because it allows people to truly see the difference growing conditions, country of origin and processed method can have on the end product.

Rosenblum 2006 Rockpile Road Zinfandel

2009-04-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

This was one of the wines I received in my March club shipment from Rosenblum. Retails for $35, member price is $28. I have to say, I really liked it, and was surprised at the layers of complexity I tasted. Zinfandel is something of a first love for me, as it was the first varietal I latched onto a decade ago when I began drinking wine on a regular basis. It can be fun, cheap, spicy and juicy without being snobby or pretentious. You don't always need to focus on discerning its characteristics, because it's so pleasant and uncomplicated. Maybe that's why I have a hard time spending a lot for a bottle of Zinfandel (and I consider $30 or more expensive for Zinfandels).

My Zin drinking has been limited over the past few years, as there seems to be a trend of producers making their wines bigger and bigger, with high alcohol levels and high prices to match. I haven't enjoyed many Zins I've tried recently as much as I remember enjoying them years ago (this could just be a nostalgic perspective thing, but that's a psychological question I don't feel like exploring here) so I've subsequently stopped buying them.

Rosenblum is known for their Zins, so it was no shocker that I got one in my club shipment. I've been to their tasting room numerous times to taste some of the dozens of bottles they have (free tastings all the time thanks to the membership) but I haven't purchased any additional wines there because while they seem nice, I didn't feel like putting out $30-$40 a bottle for them.

Then I tried the 2006 Rockpile Road Zinfandel, and my opinion on the matter changed.

Here is a lovely wine with a nose of cedar, spice and blue and black fruits. In the mouth, I found an attack of clean tart berry fruit, which gives way to a beautiful blackberry preserve, blueberries, and finishes with vanilla spice and, on one night, seemed to show shades of grape bubblicious gum flavor.

This wine is big, but unlike lesser Zins, it doesn't devolve into a mix of unreal sugary sweet fruit flavors and vodka-like alcohol heat; instead, it ramps up in your mouth without losing its cohesion. I plan on picking up another bottle next time I visit the winery, as this zin is certainly worth the price.

Owen Roe 2007 Abbot's Table

2009-03-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

This Owen Roe wine from the Columbia Valley AVA (mostly in Washington and part of Northern Oregon) is truly a field blend - check out the mix: 22% Sangiovese, 20% Merlot, 20% Zinfandel, 15% Cabernet Franc, 7% Grenache, 6% Syrah, 3% Petite Sirah, 3% Cinsault, 3% Malbec, 1% Pinot Noir. Seems like everything is thrown in there, huh?

This light quencher will certainly have mass appeal. On the nose, I found fruity, earthy scents with a dark chocolate component. In the mouth, this wine, which clocked in at 14.6 percent alcohol tasted like strawberries, currants, and other red and black fruits that were difficult to distinguish.

From the winery's web site: "The year was marked with great heat during the summer that was abruptly ended by an unseasonably long and cool fall, leaving us with ripe wines with great acidity. The 2007 Yakima Valley [ed note - Yakima is within the Columbia Valley AVA] wines have big flavors that will cellar well. It has vibrant fruit aromas and delicious flavors, expressing the fruitiness and weight of Sangiovese and Zinfandel- it is such a rich, yet easy drinking wine that it can be paired with the broadest range of foods and also tastes great by itself."

I paid $19.99 for this wine at the Wine Mine in Oakland, pretty good price considering it's more typically priced between $20-$30 at other wine shops. Overall I liked this wine but didn't think it was anything spectacular. Owen Roe, and Abbot's Table has received a lot of praise (check out Good Wines Under $20 review of the 2004 bottle, here). It's certainly an easy drinker, but for $20, I want a little more from my wine.

Picking up beans at Ritual....

2009-03-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

My supply of Kenya Kiandu from Ritual ran out this weekend, and I needed to re-up my fix, so I took Bart over to their cafe on Valencia to peruse the goods (I had actually studied what they were selling online first so I didn't feel rushed into making a purchase at the cafe itself because of its typically long lines).

The Brazilian Chapadão de Ferro caught my eye - I thought I read it was a natural processed coffee - meaning the coffee cherry, with the bean inside, is dried in the sun, instead of being washed off. I asked a barista to be sure, but she didn't know, finding someone else instead. She said they didn't have any naturals for sale, except for the Fazenda Esperança Yellow Icatu (also from Brazil), a coffee that is a semi-washed - meaning the cherry is removed but some of the mucus around the bean remains for drying. However, Ritual's website says both are full naturals, and the Brazilian Fazenda do Sertão is a semi-washed.

I'm guessing the website descriptions are correct, and the barista was misinformed, but we'll see if I can tell for sure when I make my first cup. The beans have been sitting in my work bag for the past few hours emanating mouth-watering aromas, so I'm certainly looking forward to pulling, pressing and pouring over this coffee!

Chateau de Campuget "1753"

2009-03-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

I purchased this beautiful bottle of Syrah at the Wine Mine in Oakland for $12.99, and boy what a bargain it is!

The wine was a pretty ruby color with a silver shimmer on the surface. On the nose I found fresh earthy aromas, sweet blackberry jam and black currants. In the mouth this light (ie - not syrupy like some American Syrahs) wine had bright acidity, fragrant lilacs and was and reminded me of a Cabernet Franc by Catherine Breton that I tasted at Terroir Wine Merchant a few months ago (review of bar and wines here).

The winery labeled it "1753" because a document found on the property from that year mentions its vineyards (for a four page pdf about the winery, click here). From the Costières de Nîmes, Languedoc Roussillon AOC, this is another example of great, cheap wine produced out of Europe that offers a lot of bang - and by bang I mean complexity and intrigue - for the buck. I plan on picking up at least one more bottle for later.

Ritual Roasters' Kenya Kiandu

2009-03-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

Went to Ritual Roasters a week or two ago to refresh my supply, since the beans I've been buying from Whole Foods haven't been that great to me lately (I typically buy Ritual or Barefoot at the Whole Foods in Oakland). I decided to go to the source directly, since that's where the rarer offerings would be.

I purchased a pound of their Kenya Kiandu, for $15.95 IIRC. In a French press the coffee has a medium body, with flavors of pink grapefruit and chocolate coco powder. Acidity is a bit bigger than the body but overall the cup is balanced. Touch of hazelnut lingers on the tongue in the finish. In a pour over I had today, I got some grassy notes in the finish.

Nice coffee, certainly better than others I've had recently.

Coffee Dinner

2009-03-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

Just got word that the Dissident Chef in San Francisco will be having a coffee pairing dinner later this month, with each course paired with a cup of Ritual Roasters coffee. He was inspired by a cupping at Ritual (watch a mildly humorous (at least to me) video of the cupping here).

Tickets are about $100. You can sign up here.

I have never heard of a coffee-pairing dinner. You can get a wine-pairing dinner at any nice restaurant (I still dream of being able to splurge one day for the "Grand Tasting of Fine and Rare Wines," for the eight course chef's tasting menu at Cyrus in Healdsburg that costs $185 in additionto the food).

Less costly, but probably more fun, would be a beer-pairing course at Magnolia Pub & Brewery on Haight street. They have some interesting things brewing over there, including their Oysterhead Stout I tried at one point (Tomales Bay oysters are actually thrown into the tank when they make it, or so I was told).

But a coffee pairing dinner? That's crazy talk! I wonder how long until we see more of this happening in other foodie-centric places with a third wave coffee scene like Seattle, Portland, Chicago (Intelligentsia is a force to be reckoned with) and now New York (check out ManSeekingCoffee's recent round up of the growing specialty coffee movement in Manhattan - it's quite extensive and heartening to hear).

Plus, in these difficult economic times, coffee pairings is an interesting, different thing chefs can do to entice diners to come out for something new without breaking the bank.

Blue Bottle Ferry Building Update

2009-03-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

Got a cappuccino at Blue Bottle's Ferry Building farmer's market stand today, and asked the barista for an update on when their new cafe would be opening (the sign, posted last year, outside the shuttered shop said it was going to open "this winter"). She said April 4th, or April 9th, or 10th. So sometime early next month. She also said they'd have manual lever machines there pulling espressos, though she blanked on the manufacturer. Blue bottle has a Bosco Napoli two-head manual lever machine at their Mint Plaza location, which pulls quite a nice shot.

2006 Rosenblum Abba Vineyards Syrah, Lodi

2009-03-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

Picked this 2006 Rosenblum Abba Vineyards Syrah from Lodi up last weekend as part of a club shipment (club price: $20, retail:$25).

I picked up wild blackberries and some woody notes on the nose of this thick, dense Syrah. In the mouth I was hit with black cherries, plums, a touch of heat on the finish along with bubblegum sweetness and black pepper spice.

Only 2,550 cases were made. The wine was aged in French (90%) and American (10%) oak from grapes grown by Phil Abba.

Nicely crafted wine, and for $20 not too bad quality price ratio (QPR).

Cafe Grumpy

2009-03-02T21:26:00.000-08:00

After my return visit to Gimme! Coffee, I decided to branch out and see one of the other major third wave cafes in New York City, Cafe Grumpy in Chelsea.

I ordered a double espresso of their house blend, called Heartbreaker. It had a strong nose dominated by red berries. In the cup it was very jammy - like reduced blackberry sauce, and thick as oil. It had a long finish.

I also had a cup of Nimac Kapeh, Atitlan, Guatemala Roasted by Barismo. This was one I've tried and reviewed before (see it here.) This time around, with the coffee prepared in a Clover, I found lots of cinnamon and baking chocolate in the cup, a lot different from last time I tried it.

I really liked this cafe. From a coffee geek's perspective, I love the fact that they offer several different coffees from various roasters, prepared in the Clover. They also have a couple of espresso choices as well, including a single origin option (when I went it was a decaf, which is why I didn't try it).

The cafe itself is one of those neighborhood places you can imagine hanging out in for hours reading or writing and just observing the world go. I'm definitely going to make a trip here the next time I'm in NYC.

Gimme! Coffee

2009-02-25T08:56:00.000-08:00

When I come to NYC, I like to go waaaay out of my way before work and head down to Gimme! Coffee on Mott St. in NoLita. Since my last trip a year ago, several other Third Wave cafes have opened in NYC, but I like Gimme's little shop. It's very narrow, with no room for seats, an L-shaped counter. They roast light and have at least two different coffees on tap. Plus they know their stuff.

When I came in last year, and starting talking shop, I got skeptical looks from the barista. "Who are you again?" he asked, after a brief discussion about natural vs. washed coffees, CoE and vacuum sealing at origin. Perhaps it was because I wasn't spotting hipster clothes and tats (I was wearing a tie and a jacket).

This time I talked to Jenni, and had a great conversation about some of the different beans they were selling. She was raving about their Panama Hartmann Honey, a small lot of mixed varietals that I'll call a field blend. It includes Caturra, Catuai, Tipica, Geisha, San Ramon, Pacamara and Bourbon varietals, and is semi-washed, where the fruit of the coffee cherry is stripped off but the mucus is allowed to remain on the bean while it dries. This imparts more fruit flavors on the bean than if it were totally wet processed.

Unfortunately she didn't have any for me to buy then, but will be receiving some tomorrow and I'll try to make it down to get a bag to bring back to SF.

I did have a nice Rwandan Bourbon Bufcafe that showed light tropical fruit flavors that Jenni pegged as cantaloupe. These were more present as the coffee cooled, then receded somewhat as it grew cold in temp.

Naughty Boy Vineyards

2009-02-22T14:39:00.000-08:00

At the Wine Mine in Oakland Saturday, Jim and Emjay Scott from Porter Valley, Mendocino-based Naughty Boy Vineyards were pouring some of their wines, including two Chardonnays, two Pinot Noirs and a Dolcetto. I was really digging the Pinot Noirs - a 2006 and a 2005. The more recent vintage was actually drinking easier than the prior year. The 2006 was almost brick-like in color, with a moderate nose of bright fresh strawberries and grape candy. These were present as flavors in the mouth, and the wine really gave me a pepper zing on the tongue at the finish. It was very approachable.

The 2005 seemed more complex and Old World in style, with earthy notes not present in the 2006 dominating the nose, and more pepper and spice in the mouth. The fresh strawberry component in the 2006 was muted in the 2005, or more like the pepper was kicked up a notch.

According to technical notes on Naught Boy's website, the 2005 Pinot spent 18 months in French oak, with 28% being new barrels (the newer the oak, the more likely you're going to find oak and vanilla flavors in the wine). In fact, I don't think I tasted any oak at all in these wines, showing a nice handling of the barreling, compared to many American Pinot Noir producers who overdo that aspect of aging, leading to woody, heavy wines that aren't that interesting or even resemble Pinot Noir.

These small production wines (less than 1,000 cases produced) are made from organic grapes. I didn't get prices for all of them, but I think I saw the 2005 going for $14 a bottle.

Palate Fatigue?

2009-02-22T13:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted about coffee in some time because I haven't been that impressed by the coffees I've had during the past month or so. They've included two from Ritual Roasters - a Honduran and a Costa Rican - el Cedral, Terrazu, as well as a pair from Barefoot - their Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Dominion Trading and a Rwandan Ruseyini co-op Kinunu lot. All were pleasant, but I just didn't find myself compelled to write notes about them as the complexity in each one muted.

Makes me start to wonder if I'm not suffering from a little coffee palate fatigue. Most of these I purchased at Whole Foods in Oakland, which means they're not these roasters' primary offerings, and some had signs of aging prior to roasting (pencil shaving/lead flavor), however I have had them before and liked them more than my most recent experiences.

Anyway, I'll be heading to NYC for a week, and am looking forward to hitting up some of the small, third wave roasters popping up. If you have any suggestions, send them my way.

Starbucks making instant?

2009-02-12T15:29:00.000-08:00

Starbucks brewing up plans for instant coffee

February 12, 2009

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Starbucks Corp. said Thursday it will unveil a new instant coffee as part of its attempt to turn around sluggish sales and shed its reputation for pricey lattes.

The company has been working on the product for more than 20 years and has a patent pending on the technology that will allow it to "absolutely replicate the taste of Starbucks coffee in an instant form," spokesman Vivek Varma said in an e-mail to employees.

more here....

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Not that I drink Starbucks regularly, but they've always held up their ideal of making fresh coffee from quality beans (you can debate the execution of these goals, but the company was responsible for creating the perception in the American consumer mind that coffee is a daily luxury and not some caffeine delivery system to be had for the cheapest price). With a move away from that freshness, we're getting one step closer to falling back into the coffee hell that has gripped this country for the past several decades.

The Wine Mine

2009-02-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

Discovered a great wine shop in Oakland last weekend, called the Wine Mine at 5427 Telegraph Ave. They have $1 wine tastings on Saturday from 2pm to 5pm, and when I went they were pouring several Italian bottles from “Central Italy” - Tuscany, Abruzzo and Sardinia. All less than $15, if I recall correctly. I was really impressed with the 2007 Quattro Mani Montepulciano d'Abruzzo that sells for $10.99.

On the nose I found anise, slight vanilla and some dark chocolate. In the mouth this wine was really juicy, featuring strawberries with a note of fennel and black pepper. Spicy tannins throughout.

It's a decent $10 bottle of wine for everyday drinking. Not too racy or exciting, but very pleasant and better than a lot of American bottles in the same price.

2005 Christian Moueix Merlot Bordeaux

2009-02-07T21:49:00.000-08:00

Christian Moueix is the winemaker for Petrus, the super expensive Merlot (bottles go for thousands) from Pomerol deemed "the most famous red wine in the world," according to Robert Parker Jr. (the 2000 and 1998 vintages received 100-point scores). He also makes Napa's Dominus Estate, another perennial winner of high ratings and high prices.

Even though this bottle was only $10, I still thought it might be a decent given Moueix's reputation and the fact that he put his name on the bottle. I was looking for a restrained, old-world wine. Instead I got a nose of ripe cherries and alcohol. In the mouth there was red berries, some heat, with a spicy finish of black pepper that tangs the tip of the tongue, maybe cinnamon.

Pass on this one, there's better $10 bottles of Merlot out there.

Winemaker's notes (via wine.com):

Christian Moueix has created this uniquely personal cuvée through a selection of wines from numerous small growers in the Côtes de Castillon, Côtes de Francs and Côtes de Bourg appellations. The common factor in these three areas is the predominance of the Merlot variety. In the Côtes de Castillon, it acquires elegance, finesse and longevity; in the Côtes de Francs, structure and fruitiness; and in the Côtes de Bourg, is selected for aroma, body and richness.

Blended to evoke each of these aspects of the Merlot's personality in a very Bordelaise style, the wine spends, depending on the vintage, approximately six months in old oak casks to enhance structure and harmony. Sweet, supple berry and wild cherry fruit mark this charming, medium bodied wine. Fruit impressions carry into nuances of herbs and vanilla underscored by a fresh, elegant acidity and ripe, soft tannins.

2006 Charles Smith Boom Boom Syrah

2009-02-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

I'm really loving Washington State Syrahs. First there was the 2006 Gramercy Cellars' 'Lagniappe' Syrah from Walla Walla that I had at Cyrus in Healdsburg (review here) and now this Charles Smith entry level Syrah, that is anything but entry level. As I mentioned in my review of his Kung Fu Girl Riesling, Smith is a Walla Walla, Washington State-based winemaker generating a lot of excitement among wine Geeks. His labels, "Charles Smith" and "K Vintners" sell a variety of wines, with the more expensive K Vintners specializing in field blends and Syrah.

I paid about $18 for this bottle, though you can probably get it for as low as $13, if Google Shopping is any guide.

On the first night of pouring this wine, I got an interesting nose of earth, old rubber and vanilla. These melted away in a few days, and what was left was more dark berry scents.

In the mouth, on the attack, this wine tasted a lot like a Grape Jolly Rancher. Remember those? I also found Boysenberry and jammy notes. Slight bit of heat on the finish.

Overall this wine was intriguing, but not challenging. There was some complexity, some layers, but it's not a geeky wine where it compelled me to sniff and swirl all night trying to discern what was going on. It was enjoyable, and kept me interested with every sip. It also makes me want to try some of Smith's K Vintners Syrahs, which start around $35 a bottle and go up from there.

2007 Rosenblum Kathy's Curvee Viongier

2009-02-01T22:14:00.000-08:00

2007 Rosenblum Kathy's Cuvee Viognier

Tried this in the tasting room in Alameda a few months ago. I remember liking it, and almost buying it, but not wanting to spend $18 for it at the time. However, I've seen it on sale all around recently, and will probably pick up a bottle this week. The cheapest I've seen it is at Nob Hill in Alameda for $10, IIRC. Safeway had it for around $15.

On the nose, the wine showed a nice fruit bowl dominated with peaches and apricot. In the mouth it was initially chalky, followed with dried fruits, such as apricots. Spicy finish.

It's a nice, interesting white wine that would go well with a lot of foods, and if you haven't had a Viongier before, it would be a good place to start.

2003 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco

2009-01-28T20:11:00.000-08:00

I've been seeking out more Italian wines since attending the Golden Glass event in San Francisco last summer, where I was blown away by the high end offerings being poured. Dining out at Healdsburg, at the Madrona Manor, more recently, I spotted the 2003 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco on the list for $38, and I decided to bite.

The Nebbiolo grape makes some of Italy's most famous wines, including Barolo and Barbaresco (these are wine zones in Northern Italy's Piedmont region, not grape names). While good examples of these wines can run hundreds of dollars per bottle, wine labeled Nebbiolo tends to be cheaper.

Nebbiolo can make powerful wines, big, bold and tannic. With five years in the bottle, I thought this particular wine might be good to go, however it never seemed to open up for me (we had to leave dinner before the extent of the chef's tasting menu was complete, so I took about half the bottle home with me and finished it during the next two days). On the nose I got cassis, and in the glass I found some nice fruit, dominated by blueberries, but brawny tannins took over and never let the berries leave a lasting impression. Could use some aging. (the most recent issue of Wine Spectator has a retrospective on Barolos and Barbarescos from the 1998 vintage, and said they're just starting to come around).

The "Langhe" in the wine's name refers to a broader region that came into existence in 1994. Wines from this region have less restrictive rules that apply to wines labeled Barolo and Barbaresco, and can be blended with non-native grapes (think Cabernet Sauvignon).

Parker gave Vietti high marks in his 7th edition buyer's guide, rating both the 2004 and 2005 Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco wines 90 points.

Nothing came up on a google shop search, so I'm not sure how much this bottle retails for, but likely half of the $38 I spent. I've tasted better wines in the $20, but I'd be curious to try this again in a few years to see how it develops.

Thumbprint Cellars

2009-01-26T21:17:00.000-08:00

Thumbprint Cellars is a great little Sonoma producer with a tasting lounge in downtown Healdsburg, off the main square. I stopped there over the holiday and tasted some of their wines. Here are my notes:

2007 Pinot Noir, Schneider Vineyard, Russian River Valley, $45
Nose: Earth and cherries
Mouth: Bright fruit, tangy finish.

2005 Pedroni Vineyard, Cabernet Franc, Dry Creek Valley, $45
Nose: ashy pepper flakes, green peppercorn.
Mouth: Peppers, peppers peppers! Finish of black cherries and raspberries. Really drinking nice right now.

2005 Three Some, $43 (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot)
Nose: Cab Franc comes through with strong pepper.
Mouth: Raspberries on attack, pepper-shaker throughout, long finish of black plums.

2005 Climax, $49
Nose: sweet, candied fruit
Mouth: Very sugary fruit, strawberries.

I really enjoyed these wines, but I didn't buy any during this visit. I'm finding it increasingly harder with the economy the way it is to justify spending more than $20 for a bottle of wine that realistically I'm going to pop for a daily drinker some week (or, save for a year or two for some magical event that never comes and just open it for a special dinner or dinner party).

I've also seen several of Thumbprint's wines on discount site
www.winestilsoldout.com for as much as half off, if not more. For instance, the 2005 Thumbprint Cellars Dry Creek Valley Schneider Vineyard Reserve Merlot 2005 (originally priced at $33.99) was available last week for $16.99.

Still, the people behind Thumbprint know what they're doing, and if you have a chance to try some of their wines, whether it's at a tasting, a wine bar, a restaurant or even the tasting room itself, I recommend you do.

2007 Epicuro Vermentino IGT Lazio

2009-01-25T13:27:00.000-08:00

Bought this wine at Trader Joe's for $4.99. Clocks in at 13% alcohol.

Found some funky flavors on the nose - really strong pineapple scents and something else that I could only describe as crayons. Yes, the smell of Crayola crayons. Weird, I know.

In the mouth this wine starts off nice with syrupy tangerine, lemon flavors, then, unfortunately disintegrates at the center. The rich fruit present at the beginning falls off, leaving a steel-metalic taste and alcohol notes. I'm guessing this is because the wine was aged in stainless steel tanks, and didn't see any oak, according to the winemaker's site.

For less than $5, this wine is certainly better than many others at this price range, but I ended up leaving half the bottle unfinished. I might serve it at a big party, but overall I've liked Epicuro's reds, such as it's Salice Salentino, much better.

2006 Hedges "Three Vineyards" Red Mountain, Washington

2009-01-20T21:40:00.000-08:00

I've been seeking Washington State wines recently and Hedges Cellars's "Three Vineyards," Red Mountain blend has received 90+ ratings in the past. The other thing that attracted me to this wine was it's origin - Red Mountain. Wine writer Elin McCoy had a column in August talking up Red Mountain AVA in Washington, saying that she found "stunning cabs and syrahs made from grapes grown in Red Mountain, the state's smallest and most exciting appellation."

Since this wine can be had for less than $20, what's not to like? (I purchased my bottle from K&L for $18).

Hedges calls the wine it's flagship of its estate bottlings, saying it is a "classic Red Mountain wine showing deep, dense color, firm yet supple tannins, and well defined acidity."

The blend is 51% merlot, 38% cab 7% cab franc, and 4% syrah, all from three estate vineyards: Hedges Estate Vineyard, Bel'Villa Vineyard, and Red Mountain Vineyard. It clocks in at 13.6% alcohol, a nice level for a restrained wine.

This wine didn't open up for a day or two, but when it did, I found aged leather on the nose. It blossomed into a sumptuous wine with some contact with oxygen, displaying blackberries and currants in the glass, bright, unfiltered fruit flavors that finish with green peppercorn and a tannic tang on the tongue.

I'd recommend seeking out this wine, especially if you can get it for less than $20.

Flying Goat Coffee

2009-01-19T08:35:00.000-08:00

I've been drinking some coffee from Flying Goat Coffee in Healdsburg since my visit almost a month ago and just had my last cup yesterday. It was a "meh" coffee. Not bad, not super exciting. It was the Kenya AA Gatomboya, Neryi Hill District, and from an inverted Aeropress, I got a distinct darjeeling tea-like taste and some baking chocolate flavors.

Much more enjoyable was a cup of French Pressed Ethoipian Koratie served to me at the cafe itself the week after Christmas. I didn't take notes, I just took pleasure in every sip. It had a nice round mouthfeel, and some fruit notes.

I was disappointed with a macchiato that I had at the cafe itself. There didn't seem to be any care with the way it was made, or skill shown with the dollup of foam. I've made better macchiatos at home, and I'm no pro.

They do have some great rare and limited coffees at the shop, including the Price Peterson's Esmeralda from Panama (which I discussed in my first post) and
a highly regarded Ethiopian Aricha selection.

Despite the mixed experience, I will still stop by Flying Goat whenever I'm in the Russian River Valley because, so far, it's the best location I know of in the area to get specialty coffee.

2006 Rosenblum Yolo County Syrah - Rominger Vineyard

2009-01-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I took my mom to the Rosenblum Cellars tasting room in Alameda because it's only a few minutes from my home, and she wanted to visit some wineries during her trip here. The people at Rosenblum are pretty laid back and they have a good variety of wines to try, though they are most known for their Zinfandels.

Somehow I got talked into joining the wine club ("it's free! plus you get 30% off all purchases today!" basically sold me). After tasting several wines, including the reserve flight that normally would cost $8 a person but was free because I joined the wine club (and since they rotate those wines on a weekly basis, you'll know where I'll be stopping by most weekends) I ended up purchasing a bottle of the 2006 2006 Yolo County Syrah - Rominger Vineyard. Normally priced at $25, I got it for about $17 with the discount.

The reason I picked that bottle out among the myriad choices was because I remember reading something about it getting a good score (I'm not a score-whore, but I've been on a Syrah kick lately, and when several places praise the same wine, my interest is peaked).

I opened this up a week later and poured it over several days. The wine appears dark as night in the glass, and the nose gave up scents of blackberries, anise, and on one night, I even detected something akin to Ju-Ju fruits.

In the mouth this thick, syrupy wine has notes of wild berries, chocolate, and had a mocha finish. Rosenblum describes this as their version of a Côte-Rôtie wine from Northern Rhone Valley. The wine is co-fermented with a bit of Viognier.

"Elements of plum and dark berry fruit mingle with floral notes as well as vanilla and cracked white pepper in the bouquet. Full-bodied, soft textures and distinct flavors abound on the palate," according to the Rosenblum site.

While I liked this wine, I wouldn't buy much more of it at $25 -- as you can get it for $12.99 at K&L. For that price, this wine is a super bargain, and I'd recommend getting a bottle to try at home. Much better than most bottles you're likely to encounter below $15.

Pair from Portugal

2009-01-13T20:45:00.000-08:00

My mom rounded up some Portuguese wines for me in New Bedford, MA before heading out west to visit for Christmas. New Bedford has a large Portuguese population, and many of the package stores (New England speak for liquor shops) have a plethora of non-port offerings from Portugal. I've said it before and I'll continue to push these wines because they usually represent great values.

The two we tasted were the 2000 Borges Reserva Douro ($11.49) and the Quinta do portal Mural Tinto ($8.99).

Borges: 13.5% alcohol. On the nose I found dry coffee grounds and nice berry notes. There's oak and vanilla on the attack, but not too much that it seems overdone. The wine quickly switches gears to a coffee-chocolate taste, and then the finish lingers on raspberry notes. Pleasant wine, great deal for the price. This wine reminded me of the much more expensive 2005 Benziger Tribute ($80) a biodynamic wine and Bordeaux blend.

Mural Tinto: Wasn't a big fan of this one. Alcohol-soaked cherries, gamey flavor, and red currants. Was wondering if I had a bad bottle, but I'm not inclined to try it again.

Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling

2009-01-12T21:36:00.000-08:00

Charles Smith is a Walla Walla, Washington State-based winemaker generating a lot of excitement among wine Geeks. His labels, "Charles Smith" and "K Vintners" sell a variety of wines, with the more expensive K Vintners specializing in field blends and Syrah. Robert Parker Jr. rated him an "Excellent" producer from the state in his 7th wine buyer's guide, and scored his wines between 87-93. Jay Miller (of the Wine Advocate) called him a "Brilliant winemaker," and added this: "While it’s way too soon to put K Vintners on the same level as a Domaine Leroy or Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, the experience you get tasting in the cellar is much the same as in those legendary wineries, brilliantly made wines reflecting the terroir but also a winemaking signature that makes it totally clear which winery made the wine."

That's quite some laurels for a guy who opened his winery in 2001.

I first saw Charles Smith on Wine Library TV, (episode here - check out his crazy hair) and since then have been reading up on Mr. Smith and have seen nothing but praise for his efforts.

While I haven't yet ponied up $40+ for a K Vintners bottle, I did snag another highly regarded wine from his cheaper line, the 2007 Charles Smith Wines “Kung Fu Girl Riesling” – Columbia Valley ($12). I got the last bottle of this wine at K&L Wines in San Francisco a few weeks ago, and served it for a New Year's Eve party at my place. Everyone seemed to really like it. I thought it was a touch too sweet, but overall a good wine.
On the nose, I found Asian pear and white peaches. In the mouth I gor some minerality on the attack, followed by juicy granny smith apples with a cidery sweet finish. The acidity seemed better balanced as it warmed up. Touch of cinnamon.

Winemaker's description: "Single vineyard, fragmented basalt, and caliche...classic Riesling, sublime minerality. WHY? BECAUSE, RIESLING AND GIRLS KICK ASS!"

Dutton Estate WInery

2009-01-11T21:12:00.000-08:00

One of the wineries I was most excited to visit during my trip to Healdsburg a few weeks ago was Dutton Estate. The winery's 2005 Cherry Ridge Vineyard Syrah ($34) got a nice write up (and 95 points) in the Dec 31-Jan 15 edition of Wine Spectator. Under the heading Rich & Ripe, it said "this rich, layered red is dense with blackberry, wild berry, anise, fresh earth and cedar notes," and "there's not a lot of it, but try to get your hands (on one)."

I tried, alas, but failed, as they were sold out by Dec. 30th when I showed up. They had the 2004, but it didn't blow me away, so I passed. Here are my tasting notes:

2007 Cohen Sauvignon Blanc ($20): slight earth on the nose, green apple, kiwi, great acidity in the mouth.

2007 Rose of Pinot Noir ($18): nice tart wine, some baked fruit notes.

2003 Dutton Ranch Syrah ($22.50): light, restrained fruit flavors, bits of pepper peeking through.

2004 Cherry Ridhe Syrah ($34): Smelled a little extracted on the nose, with rubber and tar. In the mouth the wine was nicely balanced with red berries and cherry flavors.

2006 Russian River Valley Zinfandel: plums on the nose, cranberries, cardamon and blackberries in the mouth.

2006 My Father's Vineyard Syrah ($34): Herbal nose, rosemary and cedar. In the mouth very cool and herbal as well. This wine stood out among the bottles I tasted, and I ended up buying one. Later I saw that it was given 90 points in WS.

Tercos 2006 Malbec

2009-01-10T19:12:00.000-08:00

Tercos, which means "stubborn" in Spanish, is a new Argentinian winery and this is its first release. Retails for $12, butI exchanged a bottle for it with a family member during Thanksgiving.

I've never been a big fan of Malbec in the past (at least the cheap ones I bought for around $10 in the store) because they seemed too harsh and too alcoholic -- if memory serves, they tasted like a badly made mixed drink with too much vodka. My tastes have changed a lot since then, and I am more appreciative now of wines with some tannic backbone, and Malbec certainly has rustic, or robust, tannins to go along with its spicy character and big fruit flavors. They're a great winter wine when well done.

I've been reading a lot lately in wine magazines and from critics and bloggers about the incredible value wines being produced in Argentina for less than $20, so I was looking forward to trying this one.

It clocked in at 13.9% alcohol, and had violets and sweet tar on the nose. In the mouth I got fleshy red and black fruit, particularly raspberries and blackberries. The wine has a peppery bite and hints of milk chocolate. Overall a really great wine for the money.

More Healdsburg Tasting Notes

2009-01-05T21:35:00.000-08:00

Although visiting Ridge Vineyards was probably my favorite experience during my holiday trip to Healdsburg, I did go to several others that were "interesting" experiences, both good and both.

On the bad side was Foppiano Vineyards. I arrived there early on a drizzly Sunday shortly after tasting at Limerick Lane Cellars. I was probably the first person there, and was looking forward to trying some of their offerings from this historic winery. They were pouring some old Petite Sirahs and had some deals (buy one get one).

The first wine I have notes on was the Lot 96 NV ($25 at the tasting room, but looks like $12 online, though it may be a different bottle, see link here). It's a field blend dominated by Sangiovese, with Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Carignane, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc thrown in. Stinky nose with red fruit notes. Nice tannic structure in the mouth.

Also have notes on the 2001 Paso Robles Petite Sirah ($59.95). Again, stinky nose of blue cheese, with an earthy barnyard funk taste, and a long finish of black peppercorn and coffee. Certainly interesting.

The bad part about my experience here had to do with the guy pouring the wines. He seemed friendly enough when I showed up, but made a comment when I spat into the dump bucket on the bar. "Aw geez, you really going to make me clean that?" he said. I laughed because I thought he was being sarcastic, and tried a few more wines, spitting every time. After the third wine he made another comment, saying "You know, that's a health code violation." Then I realized he was serious. I asked if I could have a plastic cup to spit in and he gave me one, but all the joy from tasting was gone. I just felt really embarrassed about spitting, but I was driving that day and I also wanted to take good tasting notes, both of which become impossible for me if I drink every pour.

By the time I finished off the wines on the pour list, he was offering all sorts of deals on library wines, like two-for-one on a $60 Petite Sirah from 1991, but it didn't excite me enough to spend $60 for two bottles, so I left there in a hurry. At every other winery I went to that day, I asked if it was ok if I could use the dump bucket for spitting, and they all looked at me like I was crazy. "Of course you can, why wouldn't you?" I told them about my little incident at Foppiano and they were surprised. I've never had anyone else act as strange about spitting, and was really shocked that someone in Russian River Valley, of all places, would take offense. You'd think they would have seen that before. I guess not.

On the plus side, I had a nice experience at Porter Creek Vineyards. I felt a little awkward because I was there by myself surrounded by several different groups having fun, while I was scribbling notes and spitting. The guy pouring wine nervously asked if I was in the business, and I said I'm a journalist that writes about wine, but that I was just out for a personal trip (I wasn't planning on writing an article for the company I work for on the winery, at least not from that visit, but blogging I feel is different).

The tasting room is a tiny wooden shed built decades ago (I think he said 1920s, but I'd don't recall). The top of the bar was a glossy piece of stripped wood, and we were told it was made from a old bowling alley lane, which was a nice touch. Only one light bulb lit the room, a new, welcomed addition, the man behind the bar said.

I was excited to try the 2006 Carignane "Old Vines," from Alexander Valley ($24), as the grape known for its quantity, not quality, in France, has become a darling of some winemakers in the U.S. looking for a tasty, affordable varietal. I found a good mix of funk and fruit in the mouth.

Next I found the 2006 Syrah "Timbervine Ranch", from Russian River Valley ($36) to have a herbal finish.

Lastly, the 2006 Zinfandel "Old Vines" Sonoma Coast ($34) had an earthy, vanilla spice nose, and was balanced in the mouth, until the end when spices send you off with a nice kick.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Porter Creek, and the tasting room employee was able to weave wine geek info about the bottles to me with general info for the four younger British lads just out for a few glasses of wine.

Limerick Lane Cellars

2009-01-02T21:32:00.000-08:00

Stopped by Limerick Lane Cellars in Healdsburg last weekend. I was the first visitor of the day, so the woman at the bar waved the tasting fee (normally $6, I think). The winery is known for its zinandels.

Tasting notes:

2006 Orsi Vineyard Pinot Noir ($38)
Nose of light strawberries , which follows in the mouth. Peppery finish. "Burgundian" said the tasting room staffer. She had it about right. Very pleasant wine.

2005 Collins Vineyard Zinfandel ($30)
Crimson appearance. Funky burnt rubber nose. Juicy red berry fruit in the mouth, smooth. Clean, minty finish. Eucalyptus.

2006 Collins Vineyard Syrah ($30)
Earthy, ripe blackberries on the nose. Lighter in the glass with plums and a round mouthfeel.

Razor's Edge 2006 Shiraz-Grenache

2008-12-31T22:38:00.000-08:00

In the final hour of 2008 comes to a close, I'm finding myself finishing off a bottle of the Razor's Edge 2006 McLauren Vale Shiraz-Grenache left over from a party we had at our apartment earlier today. It was something I picked up at K&L Wines in San Francisco for $10.99.

I grabbed this because I really enjoyed the label's 2004 McLaren Vale Shiraz (review here).

When I first pulled the cork on this several hours ago, I wasn't that impressed. But now it's opened up, and I'm getting some nice blackberries, blueberries and grippy tannins in the mouth. Strong black liquorish on the nose. Again, good wine for the price.

Wine Spectator gave this wine 91 points and named it a best buy, saying it was: "Polished, round and expressive. A gorgeous mouthful of ripe blackberry, plum, cherry and exotic spices, with hints of leather and brown sugar. The finish rolls on against superfine tannins. Drink now through 2016."

Happy New Year, everyone!

Ridge Vineyards

2008-12-31T20:51:00.000-08:00

During my recent trip to Healdsburg, I stopped by Ridge Vineyards, one of the premier wineries in the U.S. Ridge is most known for its Monte Bello Bordeaux blend, which retails for about $150 and regularly receives laurels for its beautifully complex taste and ability to age decades in the bottle. The 1971 Monte Bello took fifth place in the seminal "Judgment of Paris" in 1976 that put California on the map as a quality producer of wine. It's also the bottle I'm thinking about buying for my daughter now to save for her 30th birthday.

Ridge makes numerous other wines, including estate-and region-specific zinfandels, syrahs, cabernet sauvignons, petite sirahs, and a chardonnay.

The tasting room itself was gorgeous, and very sustainable, constructed with bales of straw sandwiched between wooden walls. We arrived on a chilly, dreary Saturday morning around 11am, and only one other couple was there. The staff was super friendly and we chatted for about an hour while tasting wines. There's a complimentary tasting, a $5 fee for four additional wines, and you can taste the current Monte Bello bottling for $15.

Here are my tasting notes - I visited two other wineries before arriving at Ridge, and also had a glass of the Monte Bello before tasting the rest (I spit everything else though), so my palate was somewhat fatigued

The complimentary tasting was of their 2006 Zinfandel Ponzo Vineyard ($28). Earthy, stinky nose, with pomegranate and ripe red berries in the mouth.

For the $5 fee I tried:

2006 Zinfandel Carmichael ($28) - baked apple pie on the nose, cranberries in the mouth.

2006 Geyserville ($35). Blend of 70% zin, 18% carignane, 10% petite sirah and 2% mataro. Ripe plums, weighty fruit flavors and peppercorn.

2006 Lytton Springs ($35). Blend of 80% zin, 16% petite sirah and 4% carignane. On the nose, cedar, vanilla. nice, complete fruit in the mouth.

2002 Syrah ($36). Herbal, almost "green" nose, with green bell peppers and floral mouth.

As for the Monte Bello, $15 gets you a decent-size pour, about half a glass full. On the nose I found red currants, eucalyptus and a citrusy note. In the mouth this wine displays huge tannins, supported by an expression of pure fruit flavors and an herbal note of dill. The finish had sweet delicious berries. Overall the wine is integrated well, and while it would to taste better with some age, it drinks well now.

International Wine Cellar's Stephen Tanzer, a tough and noted critic, gave it 95 points, describing it as "Deep ruby. Explosively perfumed nose offers a profound bouquet of ripe cherry, blackcurrant, yellow rose, Asian spices and vanilla bean; you could use this for incense. Deep and sweet but remarkably precise, offering powerful dark berry and kirsch flavors supported by substantial, velvety tannins. The fruit plows through the finish with superb energy, depth and clarity, fully absorbing the tannins. A big but wonderfully balanced example of Monte Bello, and sure to reward extended cellaring."

It's hard for me to personally say the bottle is worth $150, as I haven't had many other wines in that price range to compare it to, and it wasn't something so amazing that knocked me completely off my feet. It certainly was an enjoyable, beautiful wine, though I'd like to taste it again sometime to see if I really do want to buy and save one for my daughter (I have time as the 2007 vintage won't be released until spring 2010).

Cyrus

2008-12-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

I probably had the most expensive meal of my life this weekend at Cyrus in Healdsburg. I can't recall another restaurant that I've been to where there's a truffles cart, from which you can get 2 ounce shavings of the tuber on any course for $15. I wanted to get the eight course chef's tasting menu for $130, but Rhonda wasn't interested, and they'll only serve it for the whole table. So instead I opted for five courses of my own choosing. As for wine, I picked the 2006 Gramercy Cellars 'Lagniappe' Syrah from Walla Walla. I was in the mood for a smokey, Northern Rhone style Syrah and thought this might be a good option based on a review that I had read beforehand. It wasn't what I was looking for, but the wine was excellent. Nice, pure fruit in the mouth that tasted complete without any flaws. An easy sipper, I finished the bottle without problem during our two-hour plus dinner. Here's what Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Jay Miller review) had to say about the bottle:

"The 2006 Syrah Columbia Valley is dark ruby-colored. The nose features spice notes (pepper, sage, and cinnamon), mineral, cedar, leather, plum, and blueberry. Like the Tempranillo, it appears to obtain its structure from acidity. On the palate it is slightly lean with an elegant personality (like a slender fashion model) leading to a moderately long, savory finish. It should be at its best from 2012 to 2020."

The bottle cost $60 at the restaurant, which is a really fair markup from the $38 retail price.

As for the food, my courses included a Chanterelle Consommé with Roasted Chestnuts, Celery Root and Madeira, Seared Foie Gras with Braised Duck Cannelloni and Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Truffled Red Wine Risotto with Parmesan Broth, Lamb Loin with Badda Beans and Cippolini Onion, Vin Santo Sauce, and a selection of cheeses.

The food was excellent, beautifully prepared and presented. It was also a course too much for me - I walked out of there pained from expanding my stomach too much. The restaurant itself is considered one of the best in the country, having received two Michelin stars, and it's certainly the kind of place where the staff goes overboard to impress every dinner. It's hard not to be with a 53-page wine list, the aforementioned truffles, several amuse bouche sent out by the kitchen, and the caviar and champagne cart. I also think it's the kind of place that would be enjoyable with a large party that could share bottles of wine and the chef's tasting course together. Or, if you really want to splurge, the $185 "Grand Tasting of fine and rare wines."

Healdsburg Bound

2008-12-26T11:54:00.000-08:00

We're escaping to Healdsburg for the weekend sans child while my mom is here (free babysitter!) and I'm looking forward to trying some amazing wines and incredible dining. We're staying at the Healdsburg Inn on the Plaza, a Four Sisters property.

For dinner, I booked us a table at Madrona Manor, a restaurant recently given 3.5 stars in a review by the Chronicle's Michael Bauer. Key takeaways:

"...my recent visit shows that (Chef Jess) Mallgren has grown immensely and now produces some of the most innovative food in the Bay Area."

"It's an unlikely setting for a chef who makes powder out of olive oil for one of his complimentary appetizers, whips up foam of Parmesan cheese for soup, cooks an egg sous vide to float in his silken onion veloute, and pours liquid nitrogen into custard to make ice cream tableside," and "Madrona Manor is a bargain splurge."

We also secured an early spot at Cyrus, a two-Michelin star rated restaurant. "The food is spectacular, but what makes Cyrus remarkable is the entire experience: The frozen lemon-and-verjus lollipop that Clemmons sends out for an intermezzo; Alexander's description of an heirloom sake made from a rice considered extinct for 2,000 years; Peyton's waxing on about the Carles Roquefort, a ewe's-milk cheese that is "the last of the homemade Roqueforts" (its producer cultures his own penicillin spores)," according to Food & Wine magazine in a April 2006 review.

I'm sure we'll be lunching around the plaza as well, at Healdsburg Bar & Grill and Bear Republic Brewery, so I can clear my palate with some tasty beer between all the winery trips I'm planning.

In particular, I want to see Dutton Goldfield Winery, whose 2005 Cherry Ridge Vineyard Syrah ($35.00) was rated one of the most exciting wines of 2008 -- and for $35, quite a deal if true.

I might explore other wineries on the Green Valley Appellation Wine Trail, inlcuding Lynmar and its beautiful new tasting room.

And for coffee, there's local artisan roaster Flying Goat.

Besides that, I'm looking for any suggestions. Any can't miss wineries or coffee shops in Healdsburg area I should check out?

Christmas Goodies

2008-12-26T07:52:00.000-08:00

Got some really nice coffee and wine gifts this year for Christmas. On the coffee side, I found a 4-cup Bodum Chambord (French Press) under the tree to replace my 10-year old single cup maker; as for wine gifts, I got this really cool notebook called De Long's Wine Tasting Diary that has a full pull-out color chart of wine tasting terms;

Robert Parker's 7th edition Wine Buyer's Guide;

and a World Atlas of Wine by industry giants Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson.

I also walked away from a Christmas party with two bottles of Merlot - the 2005 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot from Washington State, and a Cameron Hughes Lot 94 Oak Knoll Merlot.

Bonny Doon's Ca' del Solo 2006 Dolcetto

2008-12-23T12:05:00.001-08:00

Had the pleasure of visiting winemaker Randall Grahm's new tasting room in Santa Cruz a month ago. The new Bonny Doon digs near downtown is much more slick than the old tasting room, which was buried in the forest and took what seemed like hours to get there via a winding road that took you up, over and down mountains. But it is also super sustainable, with wood from wine barrels and glass from wine bottles used in the facility for booths, lamps and decor.

Grahm has converted his Ca del Solo estate to biodynamic practices, which is hard to explain in a few sentences, but basically combines organic practices (no chemicals allowed) with astronomical schedules for picking and planting. While it's been ridiculed by some as "Voodoo on the Vine" (article here) the winemakers who practice it say it leads to wines that better show terroir. Vinography published a "skeptic's guide to biodynamic wines" in response to the SF Weekly article talking about some of the positive benefits of its approach.

The 2006 Dolcetto ($24) has a nose of sweet cherries, earth, oak and rounded out by a hint of eucalyptus and anise. In the mouth the wine starts off like an Aussie Shiraz with plush red berry notes, though sour cherries soon turn up to give this wine a bitter ending, which is not unusual for the varietal.

The bottle's label likens the Dolcetto, an Italian name that means "little sweet one" to a 280-pound football player dressed in a tutu. I think they have it backwards -- imagine having dinner with a supermodel that spends the entire time swearing like a sailor. Beautiful, sure, yet bracing.

Terroir Coffee's La Esperanza, Huila, Colombia

2008-12-20T13:16:00.000-08:00

George Howell at Terroir Coffee continues to produce wonderfully roasted coffees. The La Esperanza is a coffee George calls "among the finest of any Colombian I have had, an exemplary coffee revealing a peak expression of Colombian terroir." It took first place in the 2007 Columbia Cup of Excellence competition, with a score of 91.5, and selling for $19.20 a pound to Terroir and Stumptown Coffee in Portland, Oregon.

As an espresso, the coffee came out with a head like a Guinness, and had flavors of baking chocolate and grapefruit. As a French press, I got a very buttery mouthfeel and nice acidity with some tropical fruit flavors. The coffee was very complex, and I had a hard time discerning particularly flavors, but there was definitely a nice orange component appearing as the cup cooled.

Terroir's website described its flavor profile as: "jammy ripe dark plum saturated coffee, layered with tropical fruits and streaks of honeyed raw sugar cane."

Cost is $21.95 for 12 ounces.

The farmer, Cantillo Osa, started his career as a handpicker, saving up until he could buy his own small plot for coffee nearly two decades ago. He borrowed many heirloom varieties of bourbon beans from neighboring farmers, and his coffees are shade grown. For a lengthier run down about Osa and his farm, click here.

A Donkey & Goat Winery

2008-12-17T16:56:00.000-08:00

I noticed on a list of East Bay events happening this weekend that A Donkey & Goat Winery is holding an open house this weekend, and it reminded me about their wonderful wines I tasted a few weeks ago during a similar opening. Sadly, I didn't take detailed notes at the time, because I really didn't expect to be buying anything. I went simply because it was a small producer in Berkeley, and I like to try as much wine as possible.

The winery's name comes from something the husband and wife team behind the label observed in France while learning how to be winemakers - that some farmers pair a workhorse animal with a nonworking sidekick. In this case, the winemakers saw a hard working donkey being trailed by his buddy, a goat with little to do, so that's how they came up with the name (or so I was told during the tasting a few weeks ago).

They were tasting four wines when I visited, three Syrahs and a Châteauneuf-du-Pape blend (Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache). All were great, complex, layered wines that really blew me away. I ended up buying the CDP blend, called Three Thirteen for $35. I found it to be the most approachable of the wines, just a touch sweeter than some of their Syrahs. Not to say this is a sweet wine, because it's not. It's just that some of the other wines had more leather, spices, herbs and tannins that indicated to me they would benefit from a few years of aging, and my little wine rack in the living room isn't going to provide the most stable humidity and temperature control over the next couple of seasons.

The open house will be on Saturday, Dec. 20 from noon to 4pm at 2323 B Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA (details here). As a bonus, if you don't like the wines, you can always check out Wine.com's shop across the street. They have a pretty good selection and decent prices as well.

Barismo Kiandu Nyeri

2008-12-14T15:00:00.000-08:00

Received this coffee from Boston-area roaster Barismo as a sample. It's full name is
"Kenya 2008: Nyeri Region: Kiandu Lot 8696," from the Mutheka Farmers COOP, and cost $16.95 for 12 ounces.

I found I got the most expressive version of this coffee from an inverted Aeropress (for tons of info and photos about the process, check this link). On the nose I found some really intriguing savory notes that I wrote down as BBQ sauce. Breaking that down further, I ferreted out brown sugar and some orange peal. In the cup I there was high toned fruit, nice acidity, and a dark chocolate finish. Other times I drank this as an espresso, pour-over and French press, I also found a lightly tart orange-rind/grapefruit flavor.

Like I said in my last post about Barismo, these guys are doing some interesting things with vacuum sealed coffees, and are very passionate about roasting.

Here's what Barismo's green coffee buyer/roaster, Jaime van Schyndel, said to me about his outlook and goals: "We want to roast without error. No tipping, no baking, no scorching, no roasting raw. I don't think enough roasters appreciate this and executing to preserve what's in the coffees consistently is widely misunderstood."

That's one of the reasons Barismo has all their coffees vacuum sealed at origin, to preserve some of the flavors and freshness that's lost when green beans are shipped and stored in jute bags.

He also hopes to find new sources for coffee and rediscover farms that have been lost in the system, or are under appreciated. "We can all fight over the Injertos and La Minitas but that's a top down strategy which we feel doesn't effect the total system all that much," Jaime said.

Definitely keep an eye on these guys.

Rwanda Cup of Excellence - part 2

2008-12-12T14:48:00.000-08:00

Not sure why it's taken me so long to post this, but my article on the Rwanda Cup of Excellence competition came out about a month ago. Link here.

I really enjoyed working on this story, and wish I could have had more space to give all the details about how Rwanda's coffee industry got to the point where it was able to host a Cup of Excellence competition. It was largely due to USAID projects SPREAD and PEARL.

Here's the first few graphs of the article, read the whole thing at the link above:

Clinton, `Rock Stars' of Coffee Help Change Rwanda's Economy

Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- As Christy Thorns, the coffee buyer for Allegro Coffee Co., which supplies Whole Foods Market Inc., sniffed, slurped and spit her way through 24 Rwandan coffees on her evaluating table, she discovered a taste she wasn't used to from that country.

``I'm an acidity freak,'' Thorns said in a telephone interview. ``Citrus, stone fruit and peach. And that's what I got.''

The coffees were samples of the top winners in the first contest held in Africa by the Cup of Excellence program, a non-profit organization that hosts the world's largest coffee competitions. Allegro teamed up with Boston-area roaster Terroir Coffee to place the winning bid of $12.05 a pound for the sixth- place winner, sold during an Internet auction on Oct. 23.

The fact that Rwanda's $45 million coffee industry, which represents half of its income, has specialty buyers in the U.S. raving about its quality is news in itself, given how low the country's beans were regarded just eight years ago.

Wine Deals

2008-12-09T20:20:00.000-08:00

Man, I wish I had money to blow. There's just so many discounts out there right now. A few weeks ago I was talking to one of the owners of K&L Wine Merchants for a story I was working on, and he mentioned that they were getting in a shipment of heavily discounted Italian wines from a distressed distributor. Today, I got the e-mail newsletter with the details, and these are some eye-popping discounts. I'm not familiar with many, if any, of these wines, so I can't speak to quality, but anytime you can get a bunch of wines normally priced $15-$35 for $5, it's worth taking a shot on some of them. Here are two:

2003 Maria Pia,Castelli di Monte Urano, "Stella Flora" (Was $34.99 Elsewhere) ($4.99)

From the same vineyards as the Sant Isidoro, located about 200 meters above sea level with good sun exposure to the south and west. Comprised of 50% Pecorinio, 30% Passerina, 10% Trebbiano and 10% Malvasia di Candia. Vinification: First fermentation is temperature-controlled in stainless steel with 10-16 days of maceration on the skins. Second malolactic fermentation in new oak barrels for over 18 months. Wine is the aged in bottles for at least 3 months before release.

2003 Castel Noarna Bianco di Castelnuovo (Was $28 Elsewhere) ($4.99)

The Bianco Castelnuovo is made from 40% Rheinriesling, 25% Gewurztraminer, 25% Sauvignon Blanc and 10% Chardonnay planted in terraced rows descending from the estate's castle. The soil is sandy and loose with lots of lime and the vines are around 10 years old.Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel and barrels for at least 9 months - no new oak. Partial malolactic fermentation and then bottle-aged at least 8 months before release. Pale yellow with bright reflections, aromas of lemon, clean minerals and white peach. In the mouth, the wine is crisp and refreshing, citrus and minerals support a long finish. Fruity and complex with gooseberry and peaches. This wine can support more substantial foods such as light pasta dishes, soups and stronger cheeses. Also a lovely aperitif with antipasti or crostini.

There's a dozen more included in the e-mail. See the store's entire clearance list here.

There's a ton of deals being offered by wineries as well. It's worth checking out web sites for wineries that you like to see if they're offering a big sale for the holiday.

Lulu Carpenter's Cooper Street Blend

2008-12-06T21:36:00.000-08:00

This espresso blend is one of those "wow" coffees. I haven't been a big fan of espresso blends lately, preferring to explore how different microlots taste in the small cup. However, I was really impressed with this espresso blend when I had a double shot at Lulu's at the Octagon in Santa Cruz a few weeks ago and bought half a pound.

The label says it's a medium roast color, a blend of Typica varietals from Africa, and has characteristics of "lively tea rose aroma, bright blueberry."

I certainly got blueberries. Sweet blueberries. No bitterness at all in this blend. It was such an intense flavor in this espresso I immediately thought of those super sugary Hostess Fruit Pies I used to think were healthy as a kid because it had "fruit" in the name.

Had the last of this blend today (it was roasted Nov. 19) and it still had that blueberry flavor shimmering through a dollop of foam and steamed milk, with a nice dark chocolate component as well. Really enjoyed waking up the past few weeks to this coffee, especially since I've been battling cold after cold. Its bright flavors certainly helped cut through that morning fog on my palate.

Wine Weekend Extravaganza!

2008-12-05T15:11:00.001-08:00

If you're a wine lover in the San Francisco Bay area this weekend, you're in luck - there's tons of fun events going on. It seems like every winery is having a release party, holiday event, or just offering good deals. Check out this link for a from a site called Local Wine Events for a complete list. Here are some that I'm excited about (although will probably only make it to one, sadly).

Tonight, Pleasant Hill Wine Merchants (in Pleasant Hill) will be having it's third annual Big Cab tasting, and for $30 you can try some cult wines from Caymus, Silver Oak, Grassi, Nickel & Nickel, Hartwell, Pina, Stuhlmuller, Baldacci, Mi Sueno and Miner Family Vineyards.

Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV will be in town signing his book at Books Inc. in the Marina at noon, then heading over to Fort Mason for a tasting event. Tickets are $30, and you have to bring a bottle of wine and a plate of food to match. Details here. (I was checking out the Fort Mason website for details about the event and noticed there's an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting there the same day. Oh the irony!)

East Bay vinter Periscope Cellars is having a futures release party at its tasting room in Emerville on Saturday, and knocking 40% off its wines.

Ridge Vineyards, the famed maker of cult cab Monte Bello, is starting its winter wine series on Saturday in Healdsburg, and for $10, you can taste wines from the "Sonoma Zinfandels" Gift Pack: 2006 Geyserville, 2003 Zinfandel Del Carlo and 2002 Home Ranch 1.5L.

VIE Winery is having a fall release party on Sunday, Dec. 7 in San Francisco. VIE's Les Amours (The Loves) Syrah received a 90 point score from Robert Parker (if you care about that sort of thing). I like VIE because one of the wine makers is Bryan Kane, who is also the guy behind Lake County's Sol Rouge. I met Bryan at ZAPfest earlier this year, and his wines really stood out among the tens, if not hundred, that I tasted. Plus he's a small winemaker and I like to support small production wineries. You can read my review of Sol Rouge's 2006 Lake County Cab here.

If you get to check any of these out, let me know!

Milbrandt Vineyards Traditions 2006 Riesling, Washington State

2008-12-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

Awhile back when I was looking for deals at BevMo, I wanted to indulge in my craving for dry Riesling. There was a lot there to choose from, but I settled eventually on the Milbrandt Vineyards Traditions 2006 Riesling, Washington State, because the label looked familiar, and I thought this meant I read a good review somewhere and drilled its imagine into my brain so that I would flash on it, a la Chuck, if I happened to come across it somewhere.

Besides my shaky memory, this shelf-talker helped push this bottle into my cart:
"90 PTS, BEST BUY, WINE ENTHUSIAST. The '06 Milbrandt Riesling is off dry with delicate floral and mineral aromas; persistent flavors of white peach; papaya and orange blossoms; exotic and delightful."

From the winery's website:
"Our 2006 Traditions Riesling is a great example of terroir and variety. The textbook floral aromas of orange blossom, apricot and white peaches are well supported by the firm acids and hallmark "Evergreen minerality." The palate is lush but lively, and the finish is long and silky."

Well, I bought the wine for about $11.99, and looked it up online to see if I could find where I saw the review. Turns out it was from Gary Vaynerchuck's Wine Library TV (episode here). He wasn't that impressed with it, saying he got stone fruit, dried apricot and blue stone on the nose, followed by good petrol, acidity in the mouth. "Not that much pizazz," was his overall impression, rating it an 85. "It's like the difference between eating a steak at a run of the mill restaurant, and eating a steak at a steakhouse. They're both steak, but you know what I mean? You can taste the difference, the quality."

Overall I liked it, but not sure if I would buy another bottle. On the nose I got tangerine, and thought it tasted somewhat similar to the orange flavor you might get in a McDonald's orange soda. Kind of syrupy, with a touch of sweetness in the finish.

The winery's website says the grapes come from its 452-acre Evergreen Vineyard, which was planted 1998. The property sits on a bluff above the Columbia River, and has "geologically young" soils on top of ancient volcanic basalt beds. (For the winery's pdf sheet with all the details about this wine, click here).

Riesling has become more popular in the U.S. in recent years, as it has nice aromatics, good acidity and pairs well with lots of foods, especially spicy Asian dishes (the grape comes from Germany, where many variations of the wine are made from dry to sweet). There's a lot of buzz about Washington State Riesling, which is another factor why I purchased this.

Query 2006

2008-12-01T10:46:00.000-08:00

Forgot to mention in my Thanksgiving wines post that we also had a 2007 Query Gewurztraminer from Monterey County, California. I didn't take notes, but I remember nice nose of apricots, which were present in the glass with other tropical fruits, along with some minerality. The wine finished very dry.

BevMo's Cellarmaster, Wilfred Wong, rated it 89 points, saying: "Delicate rose petal aromas lead the tasty '07 Query Gewurztraminer on it way to goodness; bright and bouncy on the palate with just a trace of sweetness; crisp in the finish."

It's selling for $14.99 at BevMo, and with their 5 cent sale, you can get a second bottle for 5 cents. (I know, I'm starting to sound like a broken record here about the BevMo sale. I can't help it - I stocked up and am drinking those wines now, and you're bound to find these at holiday parties since it's such a great deal).

Thanksgiving Wine Reviews & a History Lesson

2008-11-29T13:41:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving dinner, I brought two wines: Wildhurst 2005 Chardonnay Reserve (review) which I got at the BevMo 5 cent sale, and a red wine called Winfield Red from Winfield Winery in Cabot, Pennsylvania. I picked it up last year at the winery during Christmas when we were visiting family.

The Winfield Red is a dry "red wine blend." Not exactly sure what grapes were used to make this as it's not listed on the bottle or the website (there's no vintage year either, so it could be a NV). The winery bottles four separate single varietal dry reds, including Noiret, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chambourcin, so I'm assuming the Winfield Red is some sort of combo of those.

I bought the bottle last December, and have been waiting for some reason to open it up, but never got around to it. I figured it would be good to open for Thanksgiving with family out here since I remembered it to be light, Pinot Noir-like wine.

My memory was right, I found cherries and stems on the nose, with a very light Beaujolais flavor in the mouth - sweet cherries on the attack and a tart green finish lacking tannins. It was enjoyable, and I think I paid less than $15 for it.

I was really impressed with another wine served at dinner, the Donovan-Parke 2007 Pinot Noir ($16.99 at BevMo and still under its 5 cent sale).

Not sure what I was getting on the nose, but the only way I could describe it in my notes was "Cheez-Its." It was savory, salty, and reminded me of cheese. Take that for what you will. In the mouth I found bing cherries, lots of black pepper on the midpalate - as if I had dipped my tounge in a pepper shaker, and a finish of sweet strawberries. I might be picking up a bottle or two of this wine to try again. I really enjoyed it.

I was talking to my girlfriend's grandfather, Jim, 90, who has a farm in Lodi where they grow a variety of things including my favorite, pomegranates. We started talking about wine, and he told me had grown Tokay grapes on his farm more than a decade ago, from 100-year old vines. What a tragedy, I thought, given that "old vine" wines can command a premium nowadays, especially since a lot of the very old vines were torn up during prohibition. He said he used to sell the grapes to Gallo, but the roots became infected with a fungus, and the government had outlawed a fungicide they used to kill it. So, they pulled up the vines. So sad.

I thought it was kind of bizarre that they had Tokay grapes, since my only reference to the name was for a sweet white wine grown in Hungary. But after some research, I found that the famous sweet white Hungarian wine is actually named after the town where it's from - Tokaj -and the grape varietal is actually Furmint. There's also Tokay d'Alsace (Pinot Gris) and Tocai, an Italian varietal grown in Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. All of these are different varieties.

So, while doing some further searching online for Tokay in Lodi, I saw that the varietal Jim probably grew is called Flame Tokay, which has been planted in Lodi since the turn of the 20th century (more background here). The variety is used both for table grapes and wine, as it has high sugar content and acidity, although it appears it has a "neutral" flavor that doesn't lend to high quality wine production.

I also found out that Lodi had a Tokay Carnival more than a century ago in 1907, which was an "elaborate three-day event that was officially Lodi’s first community-wide grape harvest celebration," according to the Lodi News-Sentinel. While that event was a one-time affair, the community did start to hold a Lodi Grape Festival every September since 1934 (with a five-year break during WWII). Now, most of the Flame Tokay production is gone, made way for more popular varieties. I didn't expect to learn much about wine during Thanksgiving dinner, but a simple conversation ended up teaching me about a part of California's wine history that I never knew about. So glad that happened.

Barismo's Guatemala Nimac Kapeh (Atitlan Region)

2008-11-26T16:46:00.000-08:00

After I wrote a review of Ritual's Kenyan Kiandu, Muthecka Co-op coffee (review here), I received an e-mail from Jaime van Schyndel at Arlington, Massachusetts-based roaster Barismo saying he has the same coffee but at a different roast level, and offered to send me some to review. Barismo sent me that coffee and this one, the Guatemalan Nimac Kapeh (Atitlan Region). I'm reviewing the latter first.

I received this coffee three days after it was roasted, and have been drinking it for more than a week now, prepared it several different ways. Each preparation showed a different facet of this coffee, though I preferred a pour over the best.

Wet pour over grounds had an interesting scent of lavender (more of a hint, actually). In the cup I found red apple acidity, toasted wood notes, some red fruits and it finished with lavender and pink grapefruit components.

As a French Press prepared coffee, I found a stronger chocolate profile, with coco powder leading the toasted wood and baked apple pie notes. There was also an interesting beefy flavor, sort of like the juices you'd find on your plate while cutting into a medium-cooked steak.

In the small cup, my espresso machine highlighted different spices in these beans - along the lines of nutmeg and cinnamon, followed by deep layers of currants and milk chocolate.

Like many Guatemalan coffees I've tried, this isn't a powerhouse. It's not going to bowl you over with huge flavors like an Ethiopian or Kenyan coffee would. But it has nice subtle layers and has a complexity that would be lost in those other coffees.

The other thing I noticed in this coffee was the roast notes as a toasty, wood-like flavor. Unlike overroasted coffee, these notes didn't overwhelm the other flavors, it added a nice layer to the cup, much like oak barrels can, if used sensibly, impart added structure and flavor in wine.

Barismo describes the coffee's flavor profile this way:
"Tea like, floral, and a mellow soft red fruit acidity.If I knew enough people had tasted Teaberry gum, I'd use teaberry to describe this coffee but you just have to trust me on that one."

"Dry Aroma(the grounds): Soft Cherry
Wet Aroma(brewing): Cherry Blossom
Hot Cup: Dark Oolong Tea, Ripe Cherry, Soft Red Fruit
Aftertaste: Brown Sugar
Cool Cup: Raspberry and Red Fruits"

The coffee sells for $14.95 for 12 ounces - a nice price for a coffee of this quality.

The coffee was vacuum packed at origin, meaning that it wasn't exposed to the elements during transportation like coffees packed in jute bags are. This is a really great development for the coffee world, and Barismo stores all of its green coffee beans in vacuum-sealed packages (whether they were shipped that way or not, though they are trying to get all of their coffees vac-sealed at origin going forward). What this does is slows down the aging process, keeping the beans fresh until they want to roast them.

I was e-mailing Jaime about this, and he described the problem with "unprotected" green coffees stored in jute bags:

"Aroma fades first, then acidity turns, then finally sweetness gives way to hard wood. You can compensate up to a certain point. As far as the moisture problem, we approach our roasting drastically different than the traditional roaster, so I am not sure many people can gather much from our notes. The best way I can describe it is that you can push a vac packed coffee harder to get more from it and the coffee can come out rounder and deeper in it's flavors. The same profile to an older coffee in jute would show the baggy or 'agey' notes."

I've had coffee from specialty roasters here in San Francisco where the aging was evident. I won't name names, because I don't have proof, but these coffees should have had bright acidity, lively flavors, and instead tasted dull. You could tell something was missing. This wasn't the case with both of the coffees I had from Barismo. I'll have more about them in my next coffee review of their Kenyan offering.

Henry's Drive 2006 Dead Letter Shiraz

2008-11-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

Accolades, accolades, accolades. Henry's Drive Dead Letter Shiraz has certainly racked them up. 90 points, Wine Spectator. Best Wine of tasting, Wall Street Journal wine columnists. Parker - 90+ for past vintages.

I had a glass of this wine at the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant's wine bar this summer, and wasn't overly impressed. I discounted my opinion because the wine was warm, and I've discovered this year that it's not only OK to chill your red wines, they actually taste better cooler, rather than warmer, than room temperature.

After reading the WSJ column about this wine, I wanted to get a bottle. The article reviewed mid-priced ($20-$50) Australian Shiraz, and the writers were left wanting. They did like the 2005 Dead Letter Office Shiraz, however, ranking it "Best of Tasting," with their second highest rating of "delicious," and describing it as: "Rich and complete, with layers and layers of inky yet juicy fruit. Not even a hint of flab. Could age very nicely for quite some time."

Tasting notes from Henry's Drive describe the 2006 version, the third vintage of this wine, as: "Juicy rich aromas immediately strike the nose with a wide spectrum of
fruits including raspberries, cherry and plum intermingle with milk chocolate,
vanilla bean and roasted coffee. Evidence of the multi-regional blend can be
seen with the fresh minty flavours of Padthaway and the chocolate tones
of McLaren Vale. The layers of creamy tannins form the foundation of this wonderfully opulent, fleshy and fruit driven wine. The palate is succulent with subtle, spicy integrated oak and traces of black pepper." (link to pdf with more info).

I wasn't going to pay $30+ for this wine. But when BevMo included this wine in their 5 cent sale (buy one bottle full price, get a second for 5 cents) I jumped at the chance to have a couple of bottles to try again at home.

This past Friday I felt like popping open a big, fruit-forward wine for the weekend, and naturally I thought of this Shiraz. The wine pours like syrup, and feels creamy in the mouth. Flavors of pure ripe fruit, blackberries and plums, with some spice on the finish. I tasted cardamon. As it warms, the alcohol comes out much more and the finish gets a little hot.

I liked this wine, but think it's overpriced. I wouldn't pay $33 for it (current BevMo price) though if you want to try it, BevMo still has it basically half off for its 5 cent sale (link here). I'll probably save the second bottle for a party - it's one of those wines that is enjoyable and fun, and would please a crowd. Though if you really want a similar experience at a third of the price, check out the Razor's Edge McLaren Vale Shiraz (review here).

Cool Coffee & Wine Photos from Life Magazine

2008-11-24T21:08:00.000-08:00

Life Magazine just put its archive of photos and etchings dating back to 1750 on google images for free, accessible to anyone with an internet connection. That's 10 million images, 95 percent of which have never been seen before, available to sift through, ponder over and gape at. I started playing around with the archive today, and found images of my hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts from the 1950s, and my college, Holy Cross in Worcester.

Then I searched for what I could find under coffee, espresso and wine. The photo up top came under my espresso search (one of only three available, unfortunately). The image was taken in October, 1966 by Fred Lyon in Bari, Italy. The caption reads: "Waiter using espresso machine in restarurant (sic) at Cafe Partenopea." All I could think was, wow, a 6-group head manual espresso machine - that barista must have arms of steel!

Then I searched wine. Much more content here, about 200 images. This one in particular caught my eye:

Yes, that's right - Chateau Lafite wines dating back to 1799. A whole book was written about a 1787 bottle that was supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson and sold at auction: "The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine." (It might actually be a fake). On the Lafite website, they have this to say about the cellar where these wines rest: "Today, samplings for tastings are rare. Rather, the cellar is a place which inspires humility against the passing of time and witnesses the regularity of Lafite wines."

Anyway, if you want to waste a few hours digging through history, check out the archive here: (link).

Beaujolais Nouveau at Kermit Lynch

2008-11-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I needed to get out of the house and just roam around, and I decided to take a trip to Kermit Lynch's store in Berkeley. Lynch is one of the giants in the wine world. He started importing French wine to the U.S. and selling it out of his shop in the 1970s, and has brought many great winemakers to the market here. For a more in depth profile, check out this New York Times piece from last year about him (link).

His shop, located on San Pablo Ave., looks like an old barn from the street, with weathered wooden boards adorned with a simple sign. Inside, boxes and boxes of French wine are stacked in rows waist high, with written descriptions telling shoppers what they can expect.

This particular weekend happened to be when Beaujolais Nouveau arrives. The young wine, made from Gamay grapes, is released the third Thursday of November to celebrate the end of the harvest. The wine is 6-8 weeks old, has been hand harvested and subjected to carbonic maceration, or a process that creates light, fruity wines with little tannins. The wines aren't meant to be taken seriously, and there are usually parties arranged for their arrival. Many winos criticize the whole affair as just a marketing gimmick, and I've never really been to one of these events before.

So when I pulled up to Kermit Lynch's place and saw the parking lot full of red-and-white checkered tables, a crowd of people drinking wine and a band with an accordion player, I figured it was to celebrate the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau.

I walked around inside the shop for quite some time, reading all the shelf talkers and trying to see if any of the names jogged my memory. One did - the Marcel Lapierre, Morgon ($22). I just read a posting about this Beaujolais (some can, and are aged if they aren't pasteurized) on Dr. Vino's blog (link) and had a bottle in my hand ready to purchase, but I eventually put it back (my wine rack is full right now, and I've been trying to cut back my purchases overall or limit myself to bottles under $20. I might come back and buy this at some point, but guilt got the better of me this time).

So, after all that agonizing, I went outside to get a glass of wine and just enjoy the beautiful fall day. The sun was out, a slight breeze took the edge off the heat, and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. At the bar I asked for a taste of one of the Beaujolais Nouveau offerings, and wham! it really punched me with sour tarts. Too much, I thought, so I ended up ordering a glass of 2007 Cote de Brouilly, Cru Beaujolais, Domaine Thivin. It was still tart, but more substantial than the initial one I tried. Being alone meant that I could find a single seat at one of the tables, while everyone else in groups and couples circled around looking for an opening.

Quite a nice time, I have to say. As a parent I don't get much time to just be alone with my thoughts, but I certainly stole some time to enjoy a glass of wine outside on a beautiful day.

Lulu's at the Octagon

2008-11-21T09:17:00.000-08:00

I'm in Santa Cruz for a day to interview winemaker Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon for an article I'm working on, and headed over to Lulu's at the Octagon, one of the slicker specialty coffee shops in the area. Owner Manthri Srinath is very passionate about coffee and espresso (check out this exchange between him and the blogger who writes the caffeinated rantings site who gave Manthri's other cafe, Lulu Carpenter, a mediocre review).

I've spoken to Manthri in the past and he certainly cares a lot about his cafes and the quality of coffees and espressos they make. That's why he has been willing to spend a lot to get the best equipment. At the Octagon he has a Clover for brewing coffee, and a 3-head La Marzocco Mistral for espresso. The Clover, as I've discussed in previous posts is a super expensive, super precise machine created a few years ago to help better prepare a cup of coffee. It was the darling of the specialty coffee world until Starbucks bought the company that makes the Clover earlier this year.

The Mistral is like the Ferrari of the espresso world. Handmade in Italy, it features "exposed, naked saturated brewing groups and dual-boiler technology and is intended for trendy, radical locations," according to the La Marzocco site. If that doesn't get you hot, I don't know what will. Normally, these machines, which have to be specially ordered, come with just two group heads, but the barista today informed me that Manthri had the company build him a three-head machine instead.

I ordered a double shot of their Cooper Street blend, and was told it's a blend of Ethiopian beans. I didn't expect much since I've been less impressed with espresso blends recently. They're blended to be smooth, inviting, and in my opinion, offer less excitement than single-origin shots. However, this was something really special. I didn't have anything to write on in the cafe to capture what I was getting, but it lacked any trace of bitterness and had a high-toned fruitiness that I assumed came from naturally processed coffee beans (where the coffee cherry is allowed to dry in the sun, giving the bean inside a sometimes mustier, softer fruit flavor profile than a washed coffee, which is brighter with acidity).

I wasn't planning on buying any beans, but had to get a half pound of that blend, and I can't wait to fool around with it on my set up at home. I also walked out with a moka brown espresso mug and saucer. These are cute little cups that you see at all the specialty cafes, and are hard to find in stores.

I bought a cup of one of their Colombian coffees from the Clover, but after drinking that tongue-covering espresso, I couldn't really pick apart the subtleties in this cup.

If you in Santa Cruz and want a top-notch coffee experience, I suggest visiting Lulu's at the Octagon. It's in downtown in a beautiful building, and the coffees and espressos are a cut above what you'll find at many specialty cafes.

Primaterra 2007 Primitivo

2008-11-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

Primitivo is the Italian name for Zinfandel (both are genetically related to the Croatian grape Crljenak Kaštelanski). I love Zinfandel; it's one of the first varietals I really identified as something I could always enjoy for it's big, brash fruitiness, touch of peppery spice and overall easy drinking wine. Zinfandel is the party grape, best embodied by the yearly ZAP fest - the Zinfandel Advocates & Producers tasting that takes place at San Francisco's Fort Mason.

If you think wine tasting events are snooty, then just come to this event (next one is Jan. 28-31, 2009). Imagine hundreds of wineries pouring thousands of wines in two large warehouse-like settings, packed with people. Madness ensues. The whole crowd erupts in cheers when someone drops their glass on the floor and it shatters. Sure, some of the people here would fit in nicely at this site, but overall everyone seems attractive and friendly. Actually, the place is filled with beautiful people. Oh how pretty. I've been urging my single friends to check this event out.

I stumbled out of my first ZAP fest like three years ago in a wine buzz that didn't wear off for days. The next time I attended this event, I went as a journalist for the press preview (held a few hours before they let the zoo animals in) and made sure to spit instead of sip. I left sober, content with all the wines I was able to evaluate and generally happy not to be waiting in line like everyone else (you may be thinking "borrrrring!" but I really love wine, and to be able to taste dozens of bottles and decide which ones I might purchase in the future makes me excited. Plus I'm a parent now, so I'm not really allowed to have too much fun as it is anyway.)

So, back to the subject at hand, the Primaterra 2007 Primitivo. I bought this for under $10 at Cost Plus World Market. I was searching for cheap interesting wine, and I had tried a Primitivo at the Golden Glass tasting in San Francisco this summer (mostly Italian wines). I really enjoyed that wine, it had the nice fruit and spice I'm used to in an American Zin, but was restrained in an "Old World" way.

The Primaterra has an alcohol level of 13.5%, which would be mocked and laughed at by its American Zin cousins for being a teetotaler. I've actually stopped buying Zins for the fact that many of them are super alcoholic (15%, 16%, 17%!) and taste like heavy, liquored fruit. Not so enjoyable.

This wine, from Puglia (Apulia - the heel of Italy's boot) is labeled Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) - the second rank of Italian wine above table wine, and similar to France's Vin de Pays (country wine - also one step above table). It's appearance is inky dark with purple tinges at the edges. On the nose I get raisins, dried fruits and figs. These scents are present in the glass, and there's a real baked fruit quality and heavy raisin component. I also got blackberry jam and raspberry liquor.

The raisin taste indicates these grapes had a long hang time and were super ripe when picked. Its a flavor you're going to find in big American Zins. It also usually indicates a high alcohol level, since the riper the grape, the more sugar present, and higher sugar levels means more for the yeast to convert to alcohol. So I'm not really sure what's going on here. The website doesn't have much more info either on how the grapes were grown, except to say they were grown at 200m above sea level and that 40% were aged in new oak, 60% in stainless steel.

My friend Rob tried this with me a few days ago and got marzipan and vanilla.

Overall, I'd skip this wine. It's cheap and not bad, but not really that interesting.

Wildhurst 2005 Chardonnay Reserve

2008-11-18T21:20:00.000-08:00

I have been craving a rich, buttery Chardonnay recently but I haven't had much experience with the varietal, and I know a lot of critics have complained that many bottles are overwrought with heavy oak flavors.

I went to BevMo this weekend to take advantage of their 5 cent sale (buy one bottle full price, get a second one for 5 cents), and after stocking up on some highly rated Aussie Shiraz wines (Henry's Drive Dead Letter Shiraz was my main target -- the Wall Street Journal's wine columnists said it was the best of their tasting of Australian Shiraz priced $20-$50) I decided to take a gander down the Chardonnay isle.

Big mistake. I got lost in a sea of bottles. The problem with a large wine shop such as BevMo is also what makes it appealing -- the sheer size of their offerings. Being a large company allows them to offer amazing deals on some bottles, but if you don't go in with a plan, you can drive yourself mad trying to choose what to get.

After passing through the Chard isle several times, I picked out the Wildhurst 2005 Chardonnay Reserve. I paid $12.99, but got a second bottle for 5 cents, so basically I paid half that per bottle.

I actually visited Wildhurst's tasting room last summer in Kelseyville, Lake County, and ended up buying a Zinfandel that I really enjoyed, so I thought I'd stick with the winery that I knew rather than getting something random.

On the nose I found pears, and gamy scents. On the attack, I got pears, peaches, wet stone and lemon. Some clover spice on the finish and a little petrol.

I was a little disappointed with this wine. It's not a bad wine, it's just not what I was looking for. Didn't have the stature I was seeking.

Sean Thackrey's Pleiades XVI

2008-11-16T13:24:00.000-08:00

I first read about Sean Thackrey in a glossy magazine years and years ago and was so intrigued by the man, his methods and the description of his wines that I started to seek them out whenever I went into a wine shop. Unfortunately, I was living in NYC at the time, and almost always the response by wine shop owners was "who?"

In California, however, he is much better known by the smaller shops. You ask if they have any of his wines, and their faces light up while they wistfully describe how it tastes. Two different wine shop clerks who have had the Pleiades XVI both described how unique its nose was, how they just wanted to spend hours sniffing it. They also said it went down way, way too fast.

Thackrey claims to own the largest collection of ancient texts on winemaking, and he tries to incorporate some of these methods into his practice. For instance, he lets the grapes "rest" after picking them for 24 hours, something that he claims dates back to ancient Greek poet Hesiod. He also lets his juice ferment in open-top vats under the stars and eucalyptus trees, something that fell out of favor hundreds of years ago, according to a wonderful profile in the San Francisco Chronicle (link).

It doesn't hurt demand that Robert Parker awarded Thackrey's 2001 Sirius Mendocino County Eaglepoint Ranch Petite Sirah 96 points.

Pleiades is Thackrey's cheapest wine, a field blend of a variety of grapes possibly including Syrah, Barbera, Petite Sirah, Carignane, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, and Merlot (I don't think the exact mix is known). I bought a bottle for $19 from Wine.com's Berkeley shop in August, and was going to drink it relatively soon when I got an e-mail from Thackrey (sent to those on his wine list) that said e is not planning another bottling of the wine "any time soon." So, in the "save" drawer the wine went.

The wine quickly sold out, as it usually does, and I couldn't get another bottle until last week when I bought the last bottle at Farmstead Cheese & Wine in Alameda for about $25. I decided to open this bottle for a small gathering of friends Friday. To get it ready, I kept it in the fridge for a few hours, then took it out and decanted it for at least an hour before the guests arrived.

On the nose I got sweet tar, cherries and some fresh herbs. In the glass, the wine had a nice cool-eucalyptus flavor throughout. Red fruit berries lie beneath. Overall, everyone loved this wine, and I wish I could have had more time to savor it, ferret out every strand of scent and flavor, but this wine wasn't especially made for that. We drank it with plates of cheese, bread, hummus, grapes and salami. A perfect party wine, and how it should be enjoyed. On the label it says: "The object of Pleiades Old Vines is to be delicious, delight the jaded, and go well with anything red wine goes well with."

Massif d'Uchaux 2005 "Arbousier"

2008-11-13T16:33:00.000-08:00

Man I love this wine. I had to restrain myself every night from finishing the bottle. Several glasses would disappear before I had to forcibly remove the bottle from my sight so I wouldn't keep refilling my glass. This Cotes du Rhone Villages AOC wine is a blend of 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 10% Carignan and clocks in at 13% alcohol. I paid $11 for it, and it's a steal.

In appearance, the wine had shades of light purple on the edges. A quick sniff shortly after opening it gave way to scents to barnyard funk, including a new rubber component. This faded slightly over the next few days and while still present, the nose had a sweeter smell. I wrote down "maple syrup followed by sweet cherries" the third night I had this wine.

In the glass, the wine seemed a bit flat at first, but opened up nicely with some time, and presenting layers of sour cherries, violets and a bit of bark.

This is a great sipper, a wine that goes down easy and impresses you the whole time. It's not overweight with alcohol or oak, and I wonder how much time, if any, it spent in barrels. There's a website on the bottle, but it doesn't say much beyond what's on the label, so I can't tell for sure about how this wine was produced.

This wine would go great with many different plates, though something lighter in fare would match best. My best match up was a sautéed chicken with olives, capers and roasted lemons dish served on a bed of sauteed baby spinach. (Recipe from Food & Wine magazine).

2004 Razor's Edge McLaren Vale Shiraz

2008-11-12T09:52:00.000-08:00

It's hard to resist a great label, and Razor's Edge certainly has that. It's not one of those cutesy critter labels that are derided so much by winos, it's a strikingly bold design of black and red and could have been a poster for the "Sweeney Todd" film.

Normally I try not to let labels influence me when I'm shopping for wine, but sometimes it's hard to ignore a standout. And to be honest, when you're staring at shelves and shelves of wine, some things just catch your eye. I still check out the details before buying, and if there isn't enough info about it or it's priced too high, I won't buy it, but in a sea of wines priced between $10-$20, marketing can triumph.

I have been eying this wine for a few weeks, maybe more, at the local Nob Hill supermarket in Alameda. When they reduced the price to $10.99 from $13.99, I decided to get a bottle (yes, $3 isn't a big deal, but I've been trying to keep my purchases around $10 per bottle for my day to day drinkers in order to save some money. You know, the whole next great depression happening and all).

The bottle I picked up from the shelf had a small tear on the label, and I was worried that indicated it had been banged around during shipping/stocking. I began to put it back for another one when I noticed the vintage -- 2004. All the other bottles were from 2006. I looked to the back of the shelf and couldn't find any others from 2004. Kinda weird. So I kept it, figuring I'd rather have a slightly aged Shiraz from Australia than a newer one, and also thought to myself I can come back next week and get the 2006 if I like the 2004.

Well, I certainly liked this wine, and bought another bottle, this time the 2006, a week later (I'll review that some time soon, hopefully). Its appearance is black as night with crimson edges. On the nose I got sweet tar and honey, and in the glass, I found lots of tannins, heavy black plum flavors, and a bit of heat, though not as much as other massive wines like this. Some tar and dirt flavors on the finish.

This is a big wine, and not one that matches so well with food, in my experience. It's so rich and filling that it showed up the meals I had with it. A light dish wouldn't stand a chance of imparting any flavor in your mouth with drinking this wine, and a heavy meal like braised lamb might just seem like two titans battling it out for space in your stomach. This morning I thought it would probably go well with a plate of stinky blue cheese and maybe some nuts. It would likely standout in a tasting for its mouth-coating abilities, and is certainly one you want to slowly sip and enjoy on a cool fall night or fridged winter evening.

In looking online for more information about the brand, I found out on its distributor's site, Joshua Tree Imports, that 2004 was the wine's first vintage. Apparently it was labeled a “Best Value Wine” by Wine Spectator and as one of the “Best Buys from Australia” by Robert Parker, according to the site. I would certainly endorse those laurels. Great, cheap, bold wine that's enjoyable and nice to have on a shelf at your house to whip out when you're up for something big.

PT's Rwanda Bufcafe

2008-11-11T09:59:00.000-08:00

From just a quick assessment of this coffee, I got nice hazelnut notes on the palate, balanced by semi-sweet chocolate. I've been nursing a cold for a few days, so I'm not trusting my taste buds too much right now, and I'll probably re-review this coffee when I'm not full of phlegm.

The roaster, PT's Coffee, says this about it:
"A sweet honeysuckle aroma combines perfectly with this coffee's pronounced acidity. Strong notes of passion fruit and green apple shift elegantly to an earthy herbacious finish with a creamy body that leaves a long, pleasing finish."

It was rated 91 by Ken David's CoffeeReview.com, with a blind description of "Lush tropical fruit mixes with citrus and flowers in the aroma. Bright acidity; smooth and silky mouthfeel. The fruit and floral aromatic characteristics continue elegantly into the cup, ending cleanly with a slight hint of chocolate in the long finish."

Like I said, can't really taste too much right now, but I wanted to write about it today for a different reason. I like PT's Coffee, they have some great offerings, especially their Ethiopian Beloya offerings.

But I wanted to talk a minute about how this coffee came to me. I used to belong to a coffee club run by Great Coffee. The company checks out CoffeeReview.com's monthly reviews, and sends members one of the coffees that Ken Davids' ranked high that month. I was a member for about a year, and in that time, was sent a lot of different coffees from a variety of roasters. But after a while, I noticed that the coffees often arrived at my door long after they were roasted.

As I became more of a coffee geek, I realized that coffees often taste the best within the first two or three weeks after they were roasted (some insist that beans are ideal for espressos within 3-5 days after roasting). So I decided to drop my membership because I figured I can get enough fresh roasted coffee from the numerous and high quality roasters in the SF bay area.

BUT I still get e-mails from GreatCoffee.com about deals they have. The most recent one offered two half-pound coffees, the PT's Rwanda Bufcafe, and Coffee Klatch's El Salvador 100% Bourbon, for a total of $10, shipped!!!! Shipping has been expensive this year, so the free shipping really got me to sign on for the deal. I placed my order on Oct. 31, and it arrived yesterday, Nov. 10. To my dismay upon opening the box, I saw that the Rwandan coffee was roasted on Oct. 15, basically a month ago, and the Coffee Klatch El Salvador has no roast date whatsoever on the package.

I know this post may sound incredibly bitchy to some people, but there's a real difference between coffees that are fresh roasted and roasted a month ago. My two Terroir coffees that I've been drinking for the past month were roasted on the same date, and I've seen their vibrancy slowly fade the past week or so. I'm disappointing to get these new coffees so late in their lifecycle, despite the price I paid.

Oh well.

2004 Sonnino Chianti Montespertoli

2008-11-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

Purchased this bottle a few months ago on sale from Grail Wine Selections for $12 (normally $20 on their web site). Combination of 80% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo and 5% Trebbiano and Malvasia.

This wine had a light cranberry color, with a nose of cherries, bacon fat and blackberries. In the mouth I got juicy concord grapes and a heavy gamy component. Tannins don't appear until late, but they do kick in and provide a lasting impression.

Erin Martin at Grail Wine Selections sent me some background on the vineyard:
"Another cool thing about the Sonnino is the fact that is it from Montespertoli, which is a TINY little DOC zone in Chianti – their smallest, in fact – about 20km SW of Florence. Castello Sonnino owns about 30% of the land in Montespertoli, so it is incredibly rare to see a wine from there imported into the US. Very unique and special. Plus, the owner is a baron – very cool."

Bitch 2007 Geranche

2008-11-06T17:20:00.000-08:00

(found the label image on google, so it's from a different vintage)
I usually don't buy wines with cute labels, and while this did get a chuckle, I passed it by for more serious fare. "Not so fast!" the wine clerk told me. "It's actually a good wine - Parker gave it 90 points!"

I figured I'd give it a shot for around $11. The bottle, produced by R Wines, was made with grapes from 20-80 year old vines in Eastwood, Australia. It clocks in at 15 percent alcohol and wasn't aged in oak.

The wine appears very light and clear, with a nose of cran-apple. Same flavors in the mouth, with the addition of cherries.

The producer's website says: "Ripe quince and lifted spice with a rich juicy concentration. Intense perfumed characters come from the sandy loam and dark berry characters from the heavier red-brown soils."

Overall, it's a silly label for a decent cheap wine that had me pouring more per night than I intended. Good for lighter meals, or just plain drinkin'.

California Wine Party's Cab Franc/Merlot (TJ's wine)

2008-11-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

Trader Joe's cheap wine is always hit or miss. I've found a lot of hits from wines produced overseas, and a lot of misses from U.S. bottles. Unfortunately, my latest purchase was a dud - the 2006 California Wine Party's Cab Franc/Merlot from Paso Robles.

Jason's Wine Blog listed it as his #2 favorite Trader Joe's wine in August 2008 (see ranking here, longer review here).

I'm a big fan of Cab Franc, and just experienced some wonderful wines of that varietal from the Loire Valley produced by Catherine & Pierre Breton. While those wines were much more expensive, around $20, I was still hoping to taste some of that fragrant rose petal the grape is known for.

Instead, I got burnt wood, oak and vanilla on the nose, some red berries in the mouth but overall, seemed over made.

This isn't an unpleasant wine or a bad wine. I'm certainly going to drink it, but it's not much different from other cheap American wines I find at places like Trader Joe's. They all seem to be in this style that emphasizes oak and vanilla. Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV rails against this style, which he derides as the "Oak Monster" (and recently said during one of his postings after sniffing a bottle that he felt like he had a 2x4 shoved up his nose). My complaint with this style is that it's all the same no matter what kinds of grapes used. Very little fruit shines through, very little individuality makes it into the bottle.

Maybe it seems like I'm overreacting for this $5 bottle of wine, which I say isn't bad. I guess part of it is the fact that I wanted to really enjoy this for election night, and that I've read good reviews on it. But overall, it just deepens my impression that U.S. wine makers, looking to bottle cheap wine, have a preset idea of what they want their wines to taste like. I'm sure it's good business. I'm sure lots of people like this wine, and others like it. But if you're really looking for something unique and cheap, it's really worth checking out wines from other countries.

Clover@Starbucks3 - Kenya Kiamariga

2008-11-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

In my past two trips to Starbucks for its Clover-made coffee, I've tried their Tanzania Blackburn Estate (review) and their Ethiopian Nardos (review). Today I went for the Kenya Kiamariga, a new offering that's not yet on its Clover website. The in-store write up on this coffee said it has "flavors of candied tangerine and star fruit (that) anchor this coffee, with a floral aroma."

I certainly got some nice juicy acidity, but this coffee is ruined by the roast. It starts off really nice, with the citrus-like acidity building and building...until it turns into a mess on your palate of burnt char flavor. Also has a tang similar to sweet tart candy. Unfortunately the dark roast sits above all of these nice flavors like a heavy blanket, eventually smothering any chance they had of expanding their breadth on your tongue.

At least it was free - Starbucks is giving away free coffee to everyone who voted today - even its Clover coffees.

Terroir Coffee's Kenyan Ndiara Estate, Kirinyaga

2008-11-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

Terroir described this Kenyan coffee as "An exceptionally sweet powerhouse coffee exploding with blackberry and crisp distinct notes of ripe blueberry," and said it stood next to its Mamuto Kenyan offering. The Mamuto is an amazing coffee, receiving a 97 from Ken David's Coffee Review, the leading coffee review site.

How could I resist? I still had money left on a gift certificate my mom got me for my 30th birthday this summer, so I got this and the La Esperanza from Huila, Colombia (which I will review in a future post).

This coffee took some time to build on me. It didn't blow me away at first, but I have really come to admire it. It has great juicy acidity. In a pour over, I felt like I was biting into a piece of fruit with every sip. I described it in my notes as having "the acidity of cranberry juice, but more of a lime-tangerine flavor." This coffee has a nice body, rolling around in the mouth, with addition flavors of red apple and lime.

As an espresso, this coffee had high fruit notes in the nose, and seemed a bit high strung in the mouth. Hazelnut, green apple and cherry flavors.

Terroir has priced this at an introductory rate of $20.95 for 12 ounces(normally $22.95).

Terroir Natural Wine Merchant & Catherine Breton's "La Dilettante" 2007

2008-10-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

Last night Terroir Natural Wine Merchant and Bar hosted an event for winemakers Catherine Breton, of Domaine Catherine et Pierre Breton, and Jean Montanet, of the Domaine de la Cadette. It was my first trip to Terroir, but certainly not my last. It's the kind of wine bar you just want to hang out in for a long time. Wooden crates of wine are laid out on the floor and the walls, bursting with bottles and straw; a record player fills the room with jazz, as candles and exposed light bulbs illuminate the space just enough. An upstairs lounge area with couches overlooks the bar and shop below.

I counted at least 30 people there last night, and overheard one guy say to his friends: "I've never seen it this packed before..." with another replying "I don't like it like this."

Terroir is out of the way - it's on 1116 Folsom Street off of 7th in San Francisco, so I'm not sure how they do for foot traffic, but I have seen write ups about the bar and shop in several publications, so I'm guessing it's probably building a wine geek following for focusing on organic, biodynamic wines.

The shop had six or seven wines for us to try last night. While al were interesting, I thought it would have been a little awkward to pull out my tasting book in the middle of the crowd and jot down notes. I'm a professional journalist, so this sort of thing shouldn't bother me by now (I've been working in the field for eight years) but my natural inclination is to not stick out or draw attention to myself, and I often have to force myself to get out of my shell and speak to people when I'd feel much more comfortable observing things from a corner.

Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is that I only took notes on the '07 La Dilettante because it's one of the wines that Catherine produced by herself, it was the most interesting of the tasting, I talked to her for a few minutes about how she made it, and it's what I was able to write about in my notebook as BART sped me home that night.

So, onto the notes -

This wine, made with Cabernet Franc grapes, had a dirty funky nose. I got burnt rubber, tar and barnyard scents. These aren't negatives, these can be good things to smell in a wine, if you like that sort of thing. I do, and was surprised by how different the wine tasted on my palate. I call it a "double-take" wine, because while the nose is super funk, the wine itself tasted like rose petals and strawberries. Tannins were light, and this was a very enjoyable easy drinking wine.

Catherine said she used carbonic maceration to make this wine, which is a gentler process of pressing the grapes. Basically the grapes are put in a vat and carbon dioxide is pumped in. The gas spurs fermentation within the grape (as opposed to grapes being crushed) and the weight of the grapes and the pressure from the gas slowly presses the grapes. It leads to wines that are light and fruity with less tannins, which is why it's the method mostly associated with making Beaujolais. (For more on carbonic maceration, there's an interesting wiki page on the subject here.)

The shop was selling this wine for $21 last night, and they might sell it by the glass at the bar as well.

Maipe 2008 Torrontes

2008-10-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

Picked up this wine for under $12. It's very light in color, almost completely absent of a hay-like tinge. The nose was a gorgeous combo of peaches and pineapple. On my palate I found wet stone and pink grapefruit flavors.

The wine comes from Mendoza, Argentina. For some nice photos and background about the vineyard, click here.

I've had two torrontes so far and have really liked them. I've only recently begun to expand my white wine drinking, and this grape has already impressed me mightily. The aromatics are so exciting - your nose is filled with massive sweet fruit flavors as if you're sticking your face into a bowl of fruit salad. What's even more exciting is how different it can taste. So far, in my limited experience with the grape, the flavors on my tongue tend to be more toward minerality and stone than the massive fruit I got on the nose (though it's still there on the palate). If you have a chance, pick up a bottle of the stuff and take it for a spin, it's quite a fun ride.

Cru 2006 Two Vineyard Pinot Noir

2008-10-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

The grapes for this wine come from the Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County, an AVA known for producing high quality, high priced Pinot Noirs. The long, cool 2006 season helped make this into a soft, acid-light wine, according to the Cru Website (looks like Cru is owned by the Mariposa Wine Company).

I tried this wine at a tasting, and found a little funk on the nose, leaning toward veggies/dried herbs. In the glass I got nice, light cherry fruit flavors and a touch of vanilla at the end. An easy drinking wine that for the price is pretty good considering what other Pinot Noirs out there taste like.

I generally avoid buying bottles of Pinot Noir for my everyday drinking because unless you're going to spend $40 or more, there's a good chance you'll be assaulted by a massive, overdone wine with posing as a Pinot. The Cru Two Vineyards is not one of those wines - it is more Burgundian.