Darioush Signature Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Darioush has one of the most over-the-top buildings in Napa Valley and has garnered a bit of a reputation as a happy-hour stop by. Despite this, they still make good wine. I have heard complaints that Darioush wines are over-oaked, but I can't say I feel that is the case here. This was the first of my heat-damaged wines that I started opening this summer in hopes they were still alive, and this flavourful Napa cab happily drank fantastically.

The nose gave up spice, cherry, chocolate, and plum. The palate was supple and elegantly balanced with raspberry, black cherry, baking spice, violet and molten chocolate. The long finish also tasted like graphite and cedar-box. I loved the soft texture of the wine and the nice long drawn flavours, but the midpalate was a bit linear. This is a very fruit driven and fleshy wine, but it also has fine tannins and elegance. Really just a great flavourful and well integrated Napa cab.

Excellent
$115 at BCLDB

Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc 2007

California is not known for sauvignon blanc, and what it does produce gets very mixed reviews. Seemingly unable to find a niche, like New Zealand and its zesty citrus driven SB's or Sancerre and its mineral-laced wines, many California wineries treat Sauvignon Blanc too much like chardonnay. What this means is too much oak and too much opulence for a wine that should be acidic and refreshing. With all the sun that the state gets, however, it can be tough to find the right balance. Spottswoode, a Napa producer known more for their elegant Cabernet Sauvignons, is one of the few that gets it right.

How do they do it? First of all, this wine sees only a brief touch of oak, and is picked relatively early in the growing season. Instead of dominant oak, this is fermented in steel vats and concrete eggs, the former allowing the natural acidities of the wine to show and the latter making the fruit rounder and lusher without the flavour profile that oak imparts. The final result? A wine with tons of citrus fruit on the nose, but also grass, stone and clay. The palate is wonderfully full bodied, but also amazingly spritely given the intensity of the fruit. The finish is long and clay-like, suggesting this wine could find a place between New Zealand and Sancerre. And, what did it taste like? Orange, grapefruit, stone, and a slight edge of that distinctive cat's pee taste SB fans know and love. This is a wine that lifts the palate upwards before drawing it back into a carefully structured and lengthy climax, and is perhaps my favourite Sauvignon Blanc from the US. Woth every penny.

Excellent
$54 at Marquis

Mer Soleil "Silver" Chardonnay 2006

Mer Soleil, Caymus' chardonnay project in the Santa Lucia Highlands, has been making superb wines for some time now. The Mer Soleil regular "gold" bottling is an oak-aged chardonnay that, while opulent, is also balanced and elegant. The "silver" - new in the BC market - is their unoaked chardonnay and is certainly also made with balance in mind.

The nose on this chard has nuts, caramel, butter, peaches and cream, pineapple, and banana sundae like you would expect from many California chardonnays. The palate continues the ripe and rich fruit with peach, pineapple, and coconut / pina colada. However, even with all the flavour this has great balance and fresh acidity. Texturally leaner and sharper on the palate than the oaked chard, this also makes the "silver" even more food friendly and perhaps more suitable for a hot day. While in California chardonnay abounds, quality balanced chardonnays are a bit harder to find. And, while if I were in the US I could recommend quite a few other very good chards at this price point, this is perhaps the best (or close to) California Chardonnay in BC for $35. As such, I highly recommend it for new world chard fans.

Very Good+
$35 at BCLDB

Alma Rosa El Jalbali Vineyard Chardonnay 2005

In response to a recent review I wrote on Au Bon Climat's 2001 Mt. Carmel Chardonnay, I was invited by John Clerides of Marquis to taste another from them to see if I still found it to be alcoholic and heavily oaked. While we could not find an appropriate comparison from ABC, I was given this bottle to sample from the same region in the Santa Rita Hills. While the ABC was made with grapes from the Mt. Carmel vineyard, nearby is the El Jalbali vineyard, from which Alma Rosa sourced the grapes for this chardonnay.

Where the visionary and maverick winemaker Jim Clendenon runs Au Bon Climat, Alma Rosa is the Sanfords' (also pioneers of the region) latest project after their split with Sanford Winery. I visited Alma Rosa a few months ago but did not get a chance to taste their whites at the time. Interestingly, the lore I've heard about California seems to indicate that the oaky days of Santa Barabara County were largely in the 90's and early 2000's, which could explain the stylistic approach of the 2001 ABC. As we shall see, this wine is made very differently.

With quite a rich and tropical nose here I also got nectarine, kiwi and banana - aromas somewhat typical for a California chardonnay, but with a bit more mineral lacing than you might expect. The palate, however, is where all the action is in this wine. There is a definite minerality up front with some tart kiwi and lime notes that leads into a finish of banana and nectarine. The whole palate is structured around a bracing and clean acidity that brings brightness and alacrity to the fruit. Ultimately, this wine is driven toward a layered finish that is both tart and clean, and, while rich, the wine is not creamy nor laden with oaken vanilla flavours. In fact, it still retains a subtle degree of austerity despite its approachability and really is all the better for it. Very well done and another score for the Sanfords. And, as a brief note Alma Rosa claims to be a fully sustainable winery.

Very Good+ to Excellent
$40 at Marquis

Full Disclosure: I received this wine as a sample from Marquis Wine Cellars who exclusively sell Alma Rosa wines in Vancouver

Au Bon Climat Mt. Carmel Vineyard Chardonnay 2001

I picked this up about a year or so ago from Marquis on sale. You don't often run into California chard with this much age on it in BC, and certainly not at the price I paid. Further, Au Bon Climat is one of the best producers in the Santa Barbara region - all in all hard to pass up. That said, I was somewhat disappointed with this otherwise tasty wine.

The wine poured a dark golden yellow, like gold foil. It was also starting to brown at the edges - a sign of age. Nevertheless, the nose was big and full not suggesting tiredness: pineapple, vanilla marshmallow, kiwi, and creme brulée. The palate had awesome fullness and vitality, especially for 8 years on the bottle. I got plenty of creme brulée and banana cream pie. Although the flavours were rich and full, I found this wine a bit hot and thus imbalanced with respect to alcohol. And, even with the new world creamy goodness, this was not showing the kind of complexity I would expect for great chards after 8 years in the bottle.

Very Good+
~$30 on sale at Marquis

Dierberg Pinot Noir 2005

Wanting a little nostalgic reflection on California I pulled out this Santa Maria Valley pinot from Dierberg, who I visited back in March. The 2005 vintage is showing well right now.

The nose had mostly strawberry and licorice, with noticeable alcohol hinting at a slight imbalance. The palate, however, was well structured with its leafy edge to the dominant cherry and strawberry fruit alongside a hint of cola. This was rich, bold, and had a smooth finish with an elegant structure. In the end, though, this is overpriced in the Canadian market.

Very Good+
$70 at Steamworks Liquor Store

Pride Mountain Petite Sirah 2000

It's been quite a while since my last post - life has been incredibly busy, including a move back to Canada and the start of my bar admissions course. And what do I elect to do with my first quiet moment? Think about this great bottle of California grape extract. Petite sirah is almost quintessentially Californian - the politically incorrect sibling of Zinfandel. This was one of the last bottles I had in California before returning back to Vancouver.

Deep purple in the glass - like a crimson sunset. The nose is very grapey and jammy with plenty of blackberry, plum, kreosite and chocolate. With all that intensity the alcohol is prominant on the nose, and this wine has serious legs in the glass.

The palate is impressively structured given its sheer mass: not too jammy, but replete with fruit and massive tannins that are on the verge of overwhelming. While drinking just about right now, I could not imagine what this was like upon release. The extraction and concentration are so intense in this wine that the flavour almost becomes a texture. An absolute goliath of a wine.

Very Good+
$52 at Benchmark Wines

An Indelicate Aparatif: Dunn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1986

Day 2 of the celebration, which in fact must be divided into two posts: what glorious times these are. I have been saving this bottle for several months for this specific occasion. Dunn is one of the most respected producers of age worthy Cabernet in the Napa Valley, producing a bottling from grapes at the Valley floor as well as the famous Howell Mountain wine. This is the Napa version of the wine, which I picked up at K&L - I could not help but jump at the chance to try a 20 year old wine from Napa by one of the few producers able to produce a product worthy of such age.

The nose here was surprisingly boozy, and had chocolate, licorice and blackberry. Despite 22 years in the bottle this nose was expressive and tremendously deep, and later took on some wet root qualities with air. The palate was much more acidic than I expected, but has incredible intensity of flavour, with notes of blackberry, raspberry, graphite, jasmine tea, and quite hefty tannins - I'm not sure the tannins could ever get softer after 22 years, so I suppose that is the style of this wine. This is more like a cross between Napa and Bordeaux than anything strictly Californian. The finish is very mineral intense and has notes of damp soily earth. However, this is not as complex or as balanced as I was hoping and while a very good wine, is certainly not worth the price I paid. Nonetheless, I couldn't feel down about this - after all it was only an aparatif to a much more incredible experience coming to this blog all in good time. If you do ever get an aged Dunn Cab, I recommend decanting for at least 2 hours.

Very Good+

$90 at K&L wine

Dry Stack Cellars Marie's Block Syrah 2006

From the Bennett Valley - the newest Sonoma AVA - this syrah is very big and very bold. A measly 300 cases of this supremely dense blackish purple darker than concord grape juice wine was produced. While this style of wine is going a bit out of fashion, I still highly respect winemakers that can pull off a ballsy New World syrah without making it syrupy, overly sweet, or one dimensional. This is just such a wine.

With a rich meaty nose, the toffee and stewed black fruits complimented the chocolate, cherry, and coffee aromas that made this smell like a Willy Wonka experiment gone right. The palate was somewhat sweet up front, but very dry in the back end, with proper tannic grip. This is quite alcoholic and extracted, but its concentration is superb and it sits on the good side of the cusp of overdone wine. This is in almost every way a bruiser (albeit with just enough of a soft heart to garner our sympathies), and is clearly an American wine made for high fat American food.

Very Good+
$38 at North Berkeley Wine Merchants

B.R. Cohn Olive Hill Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

B.R. Cohn doesn't get a lot of press. Sitting in the relatively unpopulated southern Sonoma Valley, Cohn quietly makes stellar Cabernet and outstanding olive oil, both for reasonable prices. Luckily for me when I first came to San Francisco K&L had a huge selection of vintage bottles of Cohn's estate cab, which is one of the most refined in Sonoma in my opinion.

The nose on this beautiful Cabernet was rich and redolent of licorice, plum and dried figs. There was a tremendous depth of aroma here and an intensity suggestive of thick tar. The palate really got into the secondary and tertiary flavours, with tar, tobacco, and cigar box rolling over each other as the palate developed. Still, this had a distinctly warm-climate approach with a lot of fruit concentration and depth of fig, plum and dried black cherries. Amazingly, while many wines might simply be described as herbal, here I could cleanly detect distinct herbs such as thyme and sage. The mid-palate was also undergirded by a touch of earth. This is a stellar Cabernet and at a price that belies its complexity.

Excellent to Excellent+
$40 at K&L

Franz Hill Vineyards Big and Little Vineyards Zinfandel 2005

Sometimes small production wines really can hit the spot for a great price. This Franz Hill Zinfandel was limited to 10 barrels, which translates at 300 bottles a barrel into 250 cases. So that's a pretty tiny production. I was also fortunate enough to finally partake in one of Berkeley's sacred traditions: a stuffed pizza from Zacharey's, a place so legendary that it has lineups every single day of the week.

On the nose I got pepper, bramble, spice, plum and dark cherry. The palate was 'restrained' for a zin, which I appreciated. Very spicy and dry on the palate, the sweetness levels and jammyness are dialed back on this one. I even got some earth and dust with a good base of acidity. In the end though, this is all about the fresh mixed field berries that paired beautifully with the pizza in their simple way.

And, as for that pizza, it may be lacking somewhat in the crust, but the 2 inches of amazing tomato sauce topping the melty-cheese dough was pretty amazing. I have not really tasted a pizza quite like this before, and it was pretty much the perfect complement to the Zin. So, all in all, a win on both fronts.

Excellent

$30 at K&L

Terra Valentine Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Spring Mountain is one of the 'prestige' AVAs in Napa Valley. It's rare to find a Cabernet from here that costs less than $50. Mostly, that prestige is well earned, especially for those who appreciate big tannic cabs replete with sun and intensity. Enter Terra Valentine, a lesser known producer who has started to make strides towards some very promising wines at very inviting prices.

The colour of this wine could might best be described as utterly blackened juice. The mountain fruit is in clear evidence with the massive nose of brambly cassis, alcohol, twizzlers, and mocha. The palate is filled with flavour, but avoids going over the top. Frankly I was expecting a lot less balance than what came forth. But be prepared, this is supremely new world: caramel toffees, black currant jam and vanilla make this unctuous and hedonistic. With a strong and built mid-palate, the wine also does not dissapoint with its tremendous and lengthy finish. My only real complaint (and one that lowers the rating one notch) is that this is a bit 'hot', or overly alcoholic, which I imagine would dissipate with decanting. Say what you will, this is a great price for a very high quality cab that exhibits true Spring Mountain characteristics.


Very Good+
$33 at K&L

Neyers Cuvee D'Honneur 2004

I have been consistently impressed with Neyers' wines. As many probably know, Neyers was created by Kermit Lynch importer Bruce Neyers in 1992, and has grown to produce an incredible range of high quality wines influenced by the French wines that Neyers cut his teeth on with Kermit Lynch. With highly respected winemaker Ehren Jordan at the helm (of Turley), Neyers is making some pretty interesting and varied products that all have a great sense of personality.

At first when I opened this Cuvee, made in a Northern Rhone style - but with more fruit, and given its name in honour of Theirry Allemand, Auguste Clape and Noel Verset (who helped influence this wine), I was taken aback by its intense gameyness and heavy leaf notes. This is not what you normally see in California Syrahs or Syrah based blends. More like a backwards Cornas, in fact, at first this was somewhat unbalanced and I was disappointed. However, after a day in the fridge (which I assume was equivalent to a good decant), this opened up dramatically and really smoothed out.

The nose shifted so that mint, blackberry and currants predominated and the game and leaf took a secondary character. The palate was equivalent to the colour of the wine: rich and black. Game was dominant on the first day, but then out came chocolate, plums and blackberries. In the end I was quite happy with this wine, although I have to admit I prefer the better QPR of the lakeville road syrah. However, I feel with time this could be really outstanding. Sourced from the famed Hudson vineyards.

VeryGood+ to Excellent (after the fridge); Good+ to Very Good (upon initially opening)

$45 ($38 on sale) at Dean and Deluca in St. Helena

Mer Soleil Chardonnay 2006

Made by Caymus and produced with fruit from the Santa Lucia Highlands, which are just east of the Monterey Peninsula, this Chardonnay is all about showing what California style can do. Not only was the colour an absolutely stunning rich golden hue, but the nose was expressive with big tropical fruit like pineapple and coconut, coupled with minerals and toasted caramel. The palate was where this wine really excelled, though. While many California Chards can have an overly buttery texture, or an incredible amount of ripeness that often covers over some of the more interesting flavours Chard can produce, this particular wine was incredibly layered - beyond what is normal for the California style.

I found toasted nuts, pinepapple, vanilla, papaya, coconut, and an edge of minerals. But this did not come all at once. Rather, the toasted nuttyness approached at first, turned into a beautifully layered mid-palate of vanilla and tart tropical fruit, and ended with a minerally finish. This is structured with depth, and filled with intensity - and, available in BC. I promise I will get to the last Napa profile.

Excellent and Highly Recommended

$35 at K&L ($45 in BC)

Orin Swift Veladora Sauvignon Blanc Tofanelli Vineyard 2005

So I am just back from Spring Break with a huge pile of notes to write up from Napa, the Rhone Rangers tasting, and a trip to Santa Barbara County. But, before all that excitement begins, I thought I'd write up this under the radar David Phinny wine (winemaker for the Prisoner) produced to support the farmers that Phinny relies on to make his amazing wines.

This Suav Blanc was very dark yellow and had a thick nose of toast, oak, white chocolate and caramel. The palate was very rich, replete with orchard fruits such as papaya and apples (more like apple pie). Full, rich, and round, this is a massive sauv blanc that is made almost like a chard (maybe some malo-lactic here). Yet, there is a distinct flavour profile here and it is hard to deny how awesome this is for the money.

Very Good+
$25 at Liquid Wine and Spirits

Matanzas Creek Bennet Valley Merlot 2004

Matanzas is turning out to be a steller good value producer here in California. Based in Sonoma, Matanzas is producing some seriously well balanced and thoughtful budget wines that blow away most everything else at their price point.

This merlot had a very dark rich nose of mint, chocolate and briar. The palate was a little woody, but had a big punch, good acidity in the mid-palate and a killer flavour profile of spicy earth and dark fruit. This tates like a merlot you would have to pay $60 for in Canada. Simply put: mmmm.


Very Good+ to Excellent
$23 (now on sale for $18!) at K&L Wine Merchants (Marquis carries these guys in Vancouver)

Sean Thackrey Pleiades XVI Old Vines

Sean Thackrey is a bit of a crazy wizard. He apparently reads something like a dozen languages, including mediaeval dialects from Europe, from which he culls his crazy wizard wine making techniques. This bottle is his easiest to find and cheapest wine - but rest assured it is unlike any other wine out there.

The nose is out of this world unique, with intense eucalyptus (Thackrey ages the wine in open vats under the stars in his eucalyptus grove), spice, cherry fruits and berries. A real mine field of aromas. The palate is woody, eucalyptus again, but also blackberries, strawberries, chocolate, minerals, metal, and more. Incredibly layered and complex, all I can say is: singularity to the utmost. This wine has serious personality, somewhat like a masquerade of flavours and layers of complexity with a textural suppleness that entrances. Chameleon like wine. A blend of around 13 different grapes. Thanks to Sean for pointing this out.

Very Good+ to Excellent (but everyone really has to try this wine)

$23 at K&L

Jordan Russian River Chardonnay 2006

This bottle of chardonnay was one of those niggling itches of a wine: one that I had seen sitting around at the wine store back in Vancouver for a long time, always with a touch of curiosity about its contents - not least because a wine critic I greatly respect - Hugh Johnson - seems to think Jordan is up to something good. I think Jordan is essentially a widely available 'high-end' winery favoured very much by restaurants. In any case, the bottle is about $65 in Canada and only $35 down here, so I figured this was my opportunity.

Definitely all California on the nose, with predominant citrus and spice characteristics. Does not smell oaky, though, which is a good thing. Tart on the palate - somewhat steely - and clearly California, but in a restrained spicy citrus style. Very fresh and pleasant, but in the end lacking complexity for the price point. Also, something seems unbalanced about the flavour profile, which had a tinge of metalic weirdness to it. Final analysis: distinctly mediocre at this price point.

Very Good

$35 at K&L

Neyers Lakeville Road Syrah 2007

Damn. I have to admit that Neyers is pretty much the ideal when it comes to adapting old world varietals to the new world climate. This syrah is an absolutely incredible adaptation of a full bodied Hermitage, with serious depth and weight. So delicious.

On the nose this was big and grapey, but not in cheap way - notes of black fruit, licorice and earth turn into quite a massive palate with lots of extract and bramble. Intense dark fruit predominates, but with a cigar box savory quality. This is the ideal big bodied new world syrah with old world style and 'roughness'. Neyers is clearly special and I am looking forward to hopefully visiting them in a few weeks.

Excellent

$28 at K&L

Alfero Family Estate 'A' Syrah 2006

A small production santa cruz mountains syrah, this reminds me of a crozes-hermitage in many ways. A spicy, pepper nose with rich dark fruit, chocolate and licorice as typical for syrah - very forward. The palate was unexpected for California in its restraint and high acidity. An explosion of earth and blackberry that is both mouthfilling and smooth. Not at all a 'sappy' syrah and texturally very bright. Distinctly California, but born of food friendliness and versatility rather than power. Not complex, but a good everyday dinner wine.

Very Good

$21 at Vintage Berkeley