Posts belonging to Category Gamay

The Delays are a UK Band that debuted a remarkably lovely set of songs in 2004. The singer Greg Gilbert can make his falsetto voice sound like Michelle Philips crossed with Stevie Nicks. The songs are lushly textured with guitars, keyboards and tambourines. Sometimes they are the Byrds in 1964. The band named their debut set of songs Faded Seaside Glamour. The music conjures images of notable British seaside resorts that pop up in movies like the Witches. What does this all this pop music have to do with Santa Rita Hills wine country?

SRH is old enough now to have its own sense of faded seaside glamour. Dotoré and tBoW “discovered” the region in 2003 attending the Santa Barbara Wine Futures show which was the invention of Doug Marjerum and was held adjacent to his original and trend-setting restaurant The Wine Cask. These are good memories. The first wines we bought were all Pinot Noir: Drew, Kenneth-Crawford, Foxen, Clos Pepe and a bottle of Babcock Cargassachi Vineyard made by the K-C guys. We met Paul Lato and bought his wine when he was in the corner of the back room next to where the waiters came and went with more mussels and shrimp for the lumpen. While the crowd was six deep at Seaside we were all by ourselves with the only winemaker able to bring in a Pinot Noir from regional grapes under 14%. A few years later we realized he (along with Jim Clendenen) was the only one WILLING to produce low alcohol wines in SRH.

The bloom came off the rose shortly after the film Sideways put Buellton, Los Olivos and the Hitching Post on the map. Miles – played by Paul Giamatti in his breakout role – ranted on despicable Merlot and raved on magical Pinot Noir. Molly and Jason Drew moved to the Anderson Valley (where was that?). The Kenneth-Crawford team went separate ways. Kris Curren left Seasmoke and Foley set up shop like a dormant volcano that someday just has to blow it all up. The Delays have made three CD song sets since 2004. Wines from SRH are still highly desirable. tBoW just put in for two of the most recent Delays CDs but he did open a couple of wines made by SRH premium winemakers recently… along with a couple other wines. Here are the reports from the transverse oceanside valley known as Santa Rita Hills that may have lost just a touch of glamour in the past half decade.

2006 Paul Lato “Sine Cera” Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir $xx: The first two vintages made by Paul Lato using Santa Maria fruit were both under 14%. They were not simply remarkable they were exceptional. By the 2004 vintage Paul had stopped making delicate feminine Pinto Noir. He remains a talented winemaker but his wines are no longer femmy like gossamer. This is young at seven years, plenty of alcohol on the nose. Color is deep red. Medium wight Fruit is rich and ripe, big. Fruity. Somewhere in that thicket of fruit is a core of tender sap. 14.7%

2006 Curran Syrah Black Oak Vineyard $xx: Kris Curran is arguably the most heralded winemaker from SRH. She was raised in Santa Barbara and spent most of her life around Santa Ynez. She is local as one can get. Kris was the original winemaker for the region’s breakout “collectible” label, Seasmoke. Doug Marjerum signed up a tiger when he signed Seasmoke. The prospect of tasting the Wine Spectator darling wine was enough to pack the table which always had a prime spot in a corner of the main hall. The prospect of buying a case or two at 25% off was enough to guarantee that wine sold out within the first hour of a two day event. Kris makes lush juicy wines. These are the wines she loves. These are the wines she knows. She does not travel to other wine making regions. She rarely drinks wines other than the jammy wines from the region. She is the purest of purists. This wine is fruity but not forward. She keeps it balanced and fruity. After 30 minutes a bit of veggie and bricquets emerges. Weight is medium, red ruby after seven years. Her wines are not terroir driven with a neutral winemaker. She makes a “style” of wine. Paul must like her style because his style – post 2003 – is very similar. This wine has lots of legs. I have never tasted an “aged” Curran wine. 14.6%

2007 Pierre Chermette Beaujlais $15: This is the entry level wine from a seminal producer in “The Beauj.” tBoW has left in his cellar at least a year too long. The color is brick red. The nose is dusty, earthy with red veggie fruits that have just a bit of sweetness: beets, rhubarb. “Roasted blackberry, red wine vinegar” say the Young Uns. This wine at this age, over-the-hill-but-still-walking, defines the difference between Old and New World. Later the YUs give me some “hickory flavors, BBQ and parsnip. Sour.” They keep it coming now that they are on a second taste. “Golden beets, non-pickled beets.” For tBoW this wine is alike a lavendar sashay Gramma might have kept in her den. U20 delight. 13%

2005 Vistalba Corte B $25: No fading glamour in Mendoza, Argentina’s powerhouse wine region. This producer is a bit under the radar although it is well known in Argentina. If this were Bordeaux is would be Pichon Lalande. If it were Napa it would be Spotswoode. We like Malbec especially with beef of the grill. Should you have the good fortune to visit an Argentine restaurant in Buenos Aires or Mendoza do not bother looking for the fish or chicken entrees or a lightweight red to go with either. Malbec with enough fruit to sweeten the glass and plenty of stuffing to satisfy the most macho bolero is the perfect wine for beef. This wine is very flavorful after 8 years in the bottle. We found it on a sale rack at one of our “underground” stores. Remember the label. It is around town. 14.5%

Here are the Delays singing Wanderlust. The girl is NOT singing.

Anticipating the Mayan calendar end-of-days as 12-21-2012 approaches, the original tBoW team tasters hit the road for a final fling at manly endeavors. We drove to Silverlake which is a bohemian neighborhood east of Hollyweird. Dotoré and tBoW were hosted by Steve Goldun formerly of Palate and Woodland Hills Wine Co, and proprietor of the soon-to-be announced Eno-Merchant, an online vending site for all things delicious and beyond well-priced in mostly Old World wines. Steve made dinner, we pulled corks. We let the jazz selections from Coltrane to Metheny drive the conversation to any topic that came to mind. Here is the down low. (more…)

Santa Anita Staff waiting to serve you.

Gather your bottles of wine, your trays of scalloped green beans, and the all-grown-up cousins. Turkey Day is upon us. Let’s all be together cracking jokes, talking about old times, and checking out the young ‘uns and their “sig Os.” Tell stories, think about those who are no longer here. As Grandma used to say, “eat something!” As we like to say “Drink Something!” Everyone have a great time. (more…)

Tasting wines blind usually works well…usually. It turns out that bagging and tagging can challenge even the most widely traveled among us. RULES for bagging: Learn to hold onto the bags used at your local wine shop; i.e., Woodland Hills Wine Co. Place the wines in plain brown wine bags. Pull the corks first and put them aside. Use corks from other bottles that occupy an otherwise useless drawer in the kitchen. Tape the bags tightly just below the rims. Send someone else to number the bags.

Problems can also arise when the concept fails. The latter occurred recently when we tried to taste off Pinot Noir wines, all from Santa Rita Hills. We were hoping to discern the differences between winemaker styles: terroir vs. fruit driven, lower vs. higher alcohol levels, New versus Old World preferences. Other “territorial” nuances might have played a role but that would lower this blog to the level of “entertainment” rags like People, US, and OK or some other Rupert Murdoch publication [ed. just ask, he's itching to gossip if only someone was interested!]. Suffice it to say the SRH Pinot Noir taste-off proved to be more cerebral than distinctive. Given the sameness of outcomes, i.e., all the wines were pretty darn fruity with alcohol levels above 14%, we turn to the science of measurement to present our findings.

Here then is a matching quiz where you THE WELL INFORMED READER will successfully match the label to the description of the wine. Record your matches at the end under COMMENTS. Enter the number for the wine with the letter for the description. If you believe the #1 wine 2010 La Grange aux Belles La Niña matches the letter F description then enter 1F under COMMENTS. Your complete finished answers will read 1F, 2G, 3D…

OK. Pick up your pencils and break the seal on your booklets. Like so. You may begin.

THE 5 WINES..

1. 2010 La Grange aux Belles La Niña (Gamay) 13%
2. 2001 Viña Ardanza Reserva Especial (80% Tempranillo) 13.%
3. 2010 Cold Heaven Peacemaker Pinot Noir 14.75%
4. 2006 D’Alfonso-Curran Pinot Noir Los Hermanas Vineyard, 14.1%
5. 2007 Talley Arroyo Grande Pinot Noir 14.1%

THE NOTES…

A. Fruity, balanced, not overwhelming. Tastes like Sangiovese. Forward cherry fruit. Medium weight. Pretty fresh for older wine. Fan favorite. $30

B. Alcoholic, big wine with peppery nose and flavors. Cherry cola. Powerful, like Syrah. $45

C. Funky nose and flavors. Is this Pinot Noir? Thick, unctuous, vinous. Sweet, cherry Robitussin, tannic. Off balance. $15

D. Sweet flavors. Smells and tastes like Pinot Noir but not distinctive. $25

E. Too big. Lots of alcohol. Hot. Everything wrong with SRH Pinot Noir. Gets more intense with time in the glass. Too focused. $45

Our tasting was undone not only by the lack of distinction among Central Coast Pinot Noir winemakers but also by the entry of two non-Pinot Noir wines. In the end the Spanish wine was most favored [ed. hint hint]. Once again, SRH Pinot Noir wines will go on hiatus. As took place with Paso Robles, we shall turn our attention to Rhone style reds from Santa Barbara. David Corey of CORE Wine Company has made the point in spades that these are the varietals which do best round these parts. In the queue for further testing on that proposition, we have Blair Fox of Blair Fox Cellars and Mikeal Sigouin of Kaena Wine Company; both premium and high rep Rhone style wine makers from the region.

As we observed in Paso Robles White Rhone style wines from SRH are another story. Some local SRH winemakers are doing a bang-up job with Rhone varietals such as Viognier, Rousanne, Marsanne and Grenache Blanc. Kris Curran has been making very popular and luscious Grenache Blanc wines for longer than we can look up. We tasted two Viognier wines recently from producers with whom we were less familiar. We often find the Rousanne/Marsanne/Grenache Blanc blends fairly pleasing. However, we have consistently been unimpressed with Viognier as a varietal in general. Things have changed.

2010 Cold Heaven Sanford & Benedict Viognier $34: This is Morgan Clendenen’s signature wine. The next issue of Elegant Living magazine includes my incredibly perceptive interview/profile of her. This wine has a powerful nose. First flavors are steely, acidic, sharp. There is ferality but none of the dreaded feline quality. With a little more time citric and lemon flavors emerge. Kind of like ripe kiwi. Next stage shows peach. This is getting delicious. Excellent. Check the alcohol. 13.5%

2009 Blair Fox Paradise Road Santa Barbara County Viognier $24: Another winner. Comes out strong but not beefy. Think Marshall Faulk. A tough, persistent and shifty runner with enough power and strength to carry the ball the entire game. Solid fruit flavors. More peachy than lychee. Also more straight ahead where the Cold Heaven teases and tempts. Like the Cold Heaven version this wine has very good acid to support the fruit. Also featured in the November 2012 issue of EL. Another winner. 14.2%

Although these two wines are not U20 values they are still good value in terms of quality. Keep in mind these are very low production hand-crafted wines made very skilled local winemakers. It shows. If somebody wants to know what to bring to the holiday party suggest one [ed. or both!] of these wines and you will be watching the door. Timing is perfect for bigger red and solid white wines. We especially like these white Rhone varietals with their lighter alcohol levels. The weather will turn cooler and Turkey Day is on the horizon. Stay frosty.

With our lives governed by precious petrol we had little choice but to turn to wine as an alternative fuel source over Labor Day. The Large provided the first tasting session on a perfectly sunny SoCal day. After checking out the SW swell at Salt Creek we retired for a serious and amusing tasting dubbed Le Ruse Rouge de Mooj. The crew assembled for the avalanche of U20 wines laced with commentary heavy in fake Frénch acceñts. Let’s get to it. Many of the wines are still available.

Chris primed the tasters with a nice selection of Rosés that showcased the range of varietals and regions making up this prototypical summer beverage. (more…)