Napa Cellars Zinfandel

The reputed Mecca for good zinfandel wines has been Lodi, California. Many from that region are spicy and meaty and complex. However, last night I experienced an impressive zinfandel from Napa Valley.
Some friends uncorked this 2009 Zin from Napa Cellars to pair with our evening fare of barbequed pulled pork. I barely managed to save one sip of it to pair with our main course.  We had nearly consumed this Zin before the dinner bell sounded. It demonstrate vibrant fruit aromas (cherry, currant, dates, subtle raspberry) and oak-imposed dimensions of spice and vanilla. Well-rounded and complex, this dry red is a fine wine to sip or to pair with food - pork, beef, ribs, lamb, pizza, chili. You get the idea!

The Napa Cellars website is currently offering the 2010 Zinfandel for $22.00. Ours was purchased upon the recommendation of a wine shop proprietor. There are lots of zinfandels out there.  It is always a treat to encounter a good one.  We recommend this Zin!

Wine Spectator Recognizes Montelle Winery

The October 15, 2012, edition of Wine Spectator contains a feature article by Kim Marcus that lists 200 American value wines under $20. There are no wines included below 85 points. Some wine enthusiasts are quick to insist that wines that achieve 85 points are very good wines and, in fact, personal opinion gets involved with scores above that. You can pretty much be assured that if you have purchased a wine rated 85 or more, you have a very nice wine.

The article "Great American Values" (p. 81) is divided first by reds or whites, and then rolls out by state and by score. After California, Oregon, and Washington is the category "Other U. S." In that section, we read "Montelle Vignoles Missouri Dry 2010" with 86 points. A Brief mention that speaks volumes! What an honor to be listed among great wines from California, Washington, Oregon, and New York! Congratulations to Tony Kooyumjian, family, and staff! Thanks for putting Missouri in the national spotlight!

I am on my way with several friends to enjoy Montelle winery in a couple weeks. (Although, I didn't need Wine Spectator to tell me Tony and his crew make great wines.) The Missouri leaves are turning a myriad of fall colors and Montelle has one of the best views of the Augusta Valley from that hilltop location. This is a great time to head just west of St. Louis to the Augusta AVA to enjoy the fall colors and some top quality midwestern wines! Way to Go, Tony!

Kansas City Wine Discussion

Just got back from Kansas City, MO.  What a fantastic visit. Besides the wedding that took me there (which was an amazingly beautiful), I participated in an unplanned wine tasting and discussion at a new restaurant in Country Club Plaza called Seasons 52. They have a nice wine list and create low calorie dishes with locally grown foods.

While waiting for my food to arrive, I wondered over to take a closer look at a bottle of wine on the bar. That led to a great conversation with a delightful, knowledgeable, and attractive young bartender I will call Georgia (name changed to protect her privacy). Among the 9 wines we tasted from around the world, there was a unique Treehouse Pinot Gris Rose from the Vista Hills vineyard in the Willamette Valley near Portland, Oregon.This richly colored rose is nice and crisp but pleasantly dry. A myriad of fruit flavors display through the nose and on the palate.  Tropical fruit, strawberry, watermelon? A veritable fruit salad!  Insightfully produced by Dave Petterson, only 50 cases were made. It's a steal for under $18.00 on the Vista Hills website.
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A Sensuous Cabernet

I love a good Cabernet Sauvignon!  And, I have noticed that since I have returned from my Sommelier training that I am indeed more sensitive to quality -- oh I love good wines -- and less tolerant of mediocre wines.  I would rather wait for a quality wine than drink the average stuff.  Does that make me a wine snob or just someone with a more refined palate?

Since I am sure you rushed to agree that it is my refined taste, let me add that to me, developing a mature palate is like learning to appreciate Shakespeare's writings. You have to acquire a taste for it over time as you are exposed to a multitude of fine literature. The more good literature you read, the more you can identify excellence. The superior quality (cleverness) of Shakespeare's writing eludes the average reader because of their limited encounters with great writings. Training yourself to recognize fine wines is a long (albeit enjoyable) process as well. You must experience a great number of well-made wines and thereby learn to recognize quality wines.

 

All that said, this Cabernet is a "delightful, sensory experience." I sampled the Starmont 2008 from Napa Valley at a recent wine tasting. It was a delicate yet full bodied dry red with dark cherry and plum flavors.  This Cab is gently oaked with a smooth, lingering finish.  I prefer the softer cabs, and the Starmont 2008 is definitely supple and tantalizingly tasteful. You can find it for around $25.00 in the St. Louis area. If you are willing to spend more than $20, this is well worth the additional money. Thanks for picking this one, Jody!

Now Certified by the U. S. Sommelier Association

I have just returned from taking the level 1  Immersion Course for Sommelier Certification offered at Wente Vineyards in California by the U. S. Sommelier Association. What an experience! After weeks of study, previewing course materials, and reading a wonderful wine course by Kevin Zraly, I went to California for the course feeling pretty well prepared for the challenge. 

In 5 1/2 days, however, I learned an amazing amount of additional information and tasted an incredible array of wines from all over the world. It's often said, "I now know enough to know how much I have yet to learn."  It's true!  The rich history of wine has so many dimensions -- from viticulture to vinification to terroir to aging -- that it is wonderfully exhausting to begin to delve into the great wines of the world. I tasted wines from France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Argentina, and, of course, the United States -- many varietals, various processing, difference ages. Fascinating! I have learned so much! And met others who are passionate about wine.  Life is too short to drink bad wine.

 I am proud to say I passed the exam -- both written and blind tasting -- and now begin a new era in my blogging career -- as a Certified Sommelier. I hope to write even more valuable entries going forward.

The Noble Nature of Sipping Wine

When we share wine around a table, we relax and enjoy the moment.  Stress melts away - if only temporarily -- as a sense of well-being and blessedness permeates our souls.  N ext time take note of the character of the conversation -- playful, thoughtful, inspired!

Our senses are awakened by good wine, yes, and the companionship of good friends and family.  And in those moments punctuated by reasons to lift our glasses in shared toasts, we are elevated to a noble state free of earthly burdens and human disappointment. We have an enhanced sense of civility, of refinement, and of the enjoyment of life itself.

So as we savor a few ounces of the divine elixir we call wine, here's to you, my noble friends and family.  And to all the passionate vintners that make these moments possible!  Clink!

A Touch of Tuscany

From the Tuscany region of Italy with a Denomiazione di Orginine  Controllata e garantita (DOCg) rating that guarantees me it is a top quality Italian wine, comes the Toscolo Chianti.  I was fortunate enough to taste a 2010 vintage of this fine medium-bodied dry red wine at a fabulous new Italian Restaurant in Fairview Heights, Illinois – Agostino’s. This is a restaurant I plan to dine at over and over again because of the outstanding quality of the food, the wine, and the service. This family-owned establishment is passionate about giving its customers a great experience at a fair price.

I was with a group of seven last week so I had to choose a wine that would pair well with a number of selections from the menu. This Chianti not only paired well with our dinners, but had amazing aromas, structure, and flavors. We savored the silky texture and dark cherry overtones then caught a touch of acidity and tobacco as it finished prompting yet another sip. This Chianti is created from 100% Sangiovese and is pleasing to the palate. Its flexibility in pairing reminds me of a Pinot Noir. A very nice wine!

Silver Palm's Cabernet

Silver Palm crafts a vintage cabernet sauvignon out of  carefully selected grapes from Northern California vineyards. Their drive to create quality wines is evident in the 2009 Silver Palm Cabernet. They have a nice website that describes the 2010 vintage as "dark ruby in color, with aromas of Bing cherry and cassis. Flavors of menthol, spice and oak with round firm tannins lead to a soft, silky, lingering finish." I have to echo this experience with the '09 Cab.  This soft,subtle, supple cabernet caresses the mouth and tingles the throat with pleasure! (Note the empty bottle!) A friend and I savored each sip as we watch the evening events of the 2012 Olympic games. A great experience all around!

Pinots of Portland - part 2

The last night I was in Portland, I dined at the Portland CIty Grill located on the 30 floor of a bank building in downtown Portland. With my fresh Alaskan Halibut topped with Dungeness crab over saffron rice, I selected a Trisae Pinot Noir 2009 vintage from  the fairly new Trisaetum Vineyards of Newberg, Oregon -- not far from Portland.  It was amazingly compatible with the delicious baked fish and the incredible view of the Willamette River and the city. The glass ended too soon! But make no mistake, this first class wine would stand alone very well. Like a ruby gemstone the rich color pleased the eyes, the gentle berry tones pleased the nose, and the  wine surprised my taste buds with an amazing, silky quality. Delightfully complex with favors of dark berries and a touch of chocolate.  The finish is smooth and dry. This superb pinot is versatile and worth the price tag.

Portland is a very clean, friendly city.  I enjoyed my stay, was impressed with the wines, loved the culture, and hope to visit again soon! A special tip of the hat to Scott, who was my unofficial guide to the city! Write that book!

Pinots of Portland

After a stunning view of Mt. Hood, I landed safely in Portland, Oregon, for a week long conference in May2012. But I was on another mission: to taste locally produced Pinot Noirs.  Even though I tasted several Pinots during my stay, I ended where I began that first night with a Pinot Noir by Erath winery.  This medium bodied red was a gently complex wine with subtle berry tones and a lingering finis - dry but smooth and under $20 locally.

My readers know I share the good finds and avoid negative content in my blogs.  However, this time I have a story...

During my quest, I happened onto a wine bar conveniently located across from my hotel.  They had a regular or premium flight of three local Pinots.  Just what I was looking for. I knew this might be taking a chance since I had found some negative reviews on the web. But the location was too convenient to ignore and web content is not always reliable. So, a group from the conference went to the wine bar one evening. Two of my companions arrived before me and ordered the premium flight and were well into the trio of wines when I caught up with them.  These were classy, professional women and not newbies with wine tasting. 

Although my understand of wines has grown immensely over the past couple years, I admit there is still much room for growth. However, duing a wine trip last fall in southern Missouri, I had a wonderful lesson from Marty Strussione of Cave Winery on the bacteria that can sneak into a bottle of wine during the bottling process if things are not sterile. As the wine ages, the bacteria grows and infuses an otherwise good wine with odors that range from wet dirt to cat urine. Most wine lovers cannot get passed the nose. And so when I arrived we discovered that one such wine was sadly in the premium flight.

It can happen even to a careful, local winery. So,vendors may occasionally receive one or two bottles in a random case with this issue.  I would expect that anyone running a profitable wine business would be aware of this possibility. It goes with the purchasing local wines.

So, my friend pointed out the problem to the server/owner.  We were summarily rebuked. That was our opinion but it doesn't mean we are right. The owner was offered the glass to smell the wine.  She would not.  Rather she chose instead to tell us that we probably did not know what we were talking about.  So to that sever I say, "Why did you not know about this possibility and offer her a different glass of wine?  Even opening a different bottle of the same wine might have solved the problem. Don't you want your customers to enjoy their experience at your wine bar? If I were running such a business I would (1) smell the wine when asked, (2) offer another wine to replace it,  and (3) be mindful of power of bad reviews. 

Life is too short to drink bad wines! I will not be back!

A Wonderfully Complex Italian Red

Allegrini Winery produces a Palazzo Della Torre in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy , near fair Verona, the setting for William Shakespeare’s tragic love story, Romeo and Juliet. “The Wine Buyer” website reports that the “Geography and weather combine to create an ideal growing environment.”

Rated 90 points by Robert Parker, the Wine Advocate, this 2007 vintage dry red  has a singularly intriguing production process, using a variation of the ripasso technique.  About 30% of the grapes used to make this wine are left to dry until the end of December. In this separate process, they capture that raisin-y, dark fruit goodness. Then this enchanting liquid is added to the other 70% -- a blend primarily of Corvina Veronese –  and refermented, resulting in a rich, smooth, full-bodied red . 

Only minutes away from this new wine and beer shop in Belleville, Illinois, the Wine Girls might have missed a quality wine experience had they deemed themselves too busy to stop in at Grappa Growlers -- so glad we made the time!