Brancaia Tre 2006

Brancaia is a Tuscan producer with an interesting array of proprietary blends including the illustrious "blu". The Tre - a blend of sangiovese, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon - is their entry level wine and I suppose could be equated to a Rosso or a basic Chianti with its nose of herbs, forward spicy underbrush, cherry fruit and a bit of earth. This wine is surely made for easy drinking with its very soft, almost plush, palate of cherry, blackberry, earth and spice. Overall, simple, pleasant, balanced, but boring - very boring. Unfortunately, in the end I think this is not worth the money and doesn't taste like much more than a decent Chianti Classico.

Good+
$30 ($23 on sale) at BCLDB

Apollonio Copertino 2001

Having recently tried and loved the Apollonio Valle Cupa, it was a simple decision to pick up this Negroamaro based wine from the Copertino DOC in Italy. With earth and highly extracted red fruit on the nose, this wine reminded me somewhat of 2003 southern Rhone wines, especially Gigondas, because of the heat combined with the rich red fruits and scorched earth notes.

While this wine has a rustic charm, it is also superbly concentrated and fruit driven with a nice soft texture. My biggest complaint here was the amount of heat on the back end of the wine, which made it somewhat fatiguing over time. Nonetheless it's still tasty for the price, although not quite the same quality as the Valle Cupa.

Very Good
$24 at BCLDB (note that this sells for as low as $11 in the US)

Arrocal Seleccion 2004

With its minimalist design, the Arrocal is another excellent value red from Spain's Ribera del Duero. If you like big robust reds at affordable prices look no further. It strikes me that Spanish wine tends to fly a little under the radar here in BC, and perhaps in North America generally. I'm not quite sure why as most of Spain is offering not only better value than France and California but also many extremely 'terroir' driven wines.

This particular Tempranillo had a nose of baked raspberry, strawberry pie, graphite and dust. The palate was big on baked fruit, but had wonderful undertones of herbs and dried out underbrush. This is a large red with edge and fruit without sweetness that will kill most BBQ's and braised meats.

Very Good+ and Highly Recommended
$24 at BCLDB

NB: I've started a new 'category' for this blog for 'Highly Recommended Values', which are all wines that both far exceed their price point and offer something particularly unique to the drinker.

Thelema Sauvignon Blanc 2007

Sauvignon Blanc at reasonable price points tends to fit into a few well delineated pockets: the acid driven steely basic mineral concoction from France, the super rich, fruit and alcoholic versions from California and the Zesty citrus and grass firebrands from New Zealand. This particular Sauv Blanc, however, comes to us not from one of these three classic regions, but from the oft-neglected South Africa.

Thelema is a highly regarded producer down there, and luckily we get a few of their offerings on the other side of the world in BC. This Sauvignon Blanc really shone past its price point with quince, baking spices and pine on the nose. Defying typicity for an under $30 wine, the palate was massively flavourful and much more complex than expected: zesty lemon, quince, spice, and cloves. Full in the mouth, but fresh and zippy on the finish, this should be a destination summer white.

Very Good+ and Highly Recommended
$25 at BCLDB or Marquis

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

Mini Vertical: Peter Lehmann The Mentor

It seems as though great deals abound here in California since I was able to score two vintage bottles of Lehmann's Barossa Bordeaux blend "The Mentor" for a pretty fantastic price. Furthermore, Australian wines are not known so much for their ageability, and I was curious how a wine like this, from a major producer, would fair with moderate age on its back. Here are the results:

The Mentor 1999

A big cassis blast on the nose and not showing fatigue. Wood, eucalyptus and cedar smoke. Quite aromatic and very Australian. However, the palate was definitely a lot softer than I remember recent versions of this wine being. Notes of caramel opened the palate, but it was the purity of the cassis that was most impressive - one of the more authentic expressions I've tasted. It reminded me of an ice cream shop I loved when I was a kid that home made black currant ice cream by folding numerous fresh berries into it - and man was that good. Quite a long finish, and actually semi-earthy. The 9 years of age has made this quite an elegant wine, even if it is not super complex. It has layered very nicely and is still an excellent wine.

Very Good+

$25 at K&L

The Mentor 2002

Showing cedar, chocolate, cassis, eucalyptus and blackberry on the densely layered nose, this promised a lot. The palate, however, was a bit disjointed and this is definitely not showing as well as it did last year. In fact, this has become alsmost too cashmere in texture, and it lacks the layering and elegance of the 99. Cassis and cedar predominate on the palate, which feels quite round in the mouth. So, while the wine has good flavour, it is lacking the punch I expected from its more youthful visage.

Very Good to Very Good+

$25 at K&L

Clearly these wines can age, although I would suspect there is reasonable bottle and vintage variation in the quality of the aged wines. Also, I don't find them to be that much more expressive or complex than the most recent vintages; rather, the difference is in texture and elegance. I will enjoy continuing to sample some older Aussie wines to get a fuller sense of how they fare over time.

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

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

Broken Spur Petite Sirah 2006

Bounty Hunter's (sweet Napa store) proprietary brand. I had this 2 years ago on my first trip to Napa as the first PS I had ever tasted. This vintage was somehow far less convincing. The almost cheap fruit aroma did not get me excited, and while this improved with air and with Eisch, in the end this was all jammy, plump and somewhat gummy sweet. I prefer PS to have a tannic backbone to support the opulence. This is just flabby. Nonetheless, if you like soft wines this had a lot of chocolate, blueberry and plum on the palate, and it does add weight with air. So, the final verdict is: decent, but overpriced.

Good+

$28 at Bounty Hunter

Ojai McGinley Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2007

I am not a huge fan of most American Sauv Blancs - they tend to either be over-oaked, dull, and lifeless, or simplistic and unbalanced. This particular wine, however, (which was formerly known as Westerly Vineyard), is a great exception.

From one of the Santa Ynez Valley's most consistent producers, this Sauv Blanc had a very expressive nose of apple, grapefruit and passionfruit. But the extensive and deep palate is where the true stand-out qualities of Ojai's underappreciated little Sauvignon shine. Smooth, minerally, and truly citrus-tastic - this has brighter minerality and acidity than New Zealand Sauv Blanc's, but more fruit than a Loire Sauvignon and maybe a very tiny touch of oak. It's really quite a remarkable combination of elements and any Sauvignon Blanc lover absolutely must taste this wine. A personal favourite and highly recommended.

Excellent
$29 US at various online stores

Matanzas Creek Chardonnay 2006

Matanzas is a realtively small winery in northern Sonoma that flies a little under the radar in Canada, but has seen some good press here in the US. Respected for their Sauv Blanc and their Merlot, I opted for the odd duckling and chose this excellent value chardonnay.

On the nose this was classically tropical, with a touch of rocks. The palate, however, was where this stood out: rich and creamy fruit, but surprising minerality and brightness. A fresh and very lively sipper that is not only great value, but cuts the cloth slightly differently from most cali chards. Highly Recommended.

Very Good+

$22 at K&L

NB: For those in Vancouver, Marquis carries these guys at a decent price - check them out!

Il Ponte Fra Due Terre 2004

I have written before that one of the great joys of wine is finding a smallish and lesser or unknown producer who happens to produce outstanding wine (and hoping that no one else discovers them). Well here in Berkeley there is a wine merchant who does all the work of sorting out the great stuff from the crap for you called Vintage Berkeley. Nothing at the store is over $25, nothing is from a major producer, and pretty much everything is outstanding value. I picked up this bottle from that store.

Usually new world sangiovese is pretty gross. The brilliance of this particular California Sangiovese blended from Sonoma and Napa grapes is that the winemaker used to head up Robert Mondavi's Italian wine experiment in California. While Mondavi ultimately decided not to pursue a mass production of Italian style wine, the wine maker for this beauty of a bottle in the meantime learned where the best sources of Sangiovese were for the state. Sure he could only produce 200 cases of wine from them, but being lucky enough to try a bottle I can attest to both the outstanding quality and, honestly, phenomenal quality to price ratio this wine brings to the table.

On the nose I got a classic Chianti style cherry and plum with distinct barnyard notes. The palate had real acidity and balance to it, with real integrity to the simple but pure fruit flavours of cherry and strawberry. The 2% Petite Sirah added to the blend very likely added both depth of colour and depth of flavour and, along with the abundent sunshine, gave the wine a distinctly Californian edge, while yet not overwhelming the Italianite qualities of the wine. Essentially this is not only the best New World Sangiovese I've had, but it tops many more expensive examples from Italy. Wow!

Excellent

$21 at Vintage Berkeley

Ridge Paso Robles Zinfandel 2006

I like Ridge a lot - but generally less so for what they are famous for. I prefer their chards and cabs over their zins, but since I was in California with access to some of their more obscure bottlings, I thought I'd give zin another chance. I also heard good things about Paso Robles zins....

The nose was a dusty, brambly red fruit. The palate was pepper, high in acid, and with butterscotch berries. Smooth easy drinking with some nice depth that zin lovers will probably enjoy. However, this still doesn't do it for me as anything special - at least it is restrained and thoughtful.

Very Good

$30 at Andronico's

Quinta do Infantado Vintage Port 1995

Another of the joys of California is that you can get smaller producers and older wines off the shelf for reasonable prices. I picked this bottle up at a great store called The Spanish Table, which, self-evidently, specializes in Spanish products.

I have not had a vintage port quite like this before. The nose was figgy with further notes of raisin, date, and prune - but not over the top; rather very refined. The palate was super spicey with the same characters as above, with a maple-like edge. This was simply brilliant with real character, depth and elegance. And, it proved to me that, dear god, aged port is good!

Excellent to Excellent+

$24 at The Spanish Table

Domaine La Monardiere Vacqueyras 'Les Calades' 2006

Vacqueyras wines are not terribly profuse in this market, and accordingly I have only had a handful. I normally love the Southern Rhone, however, so it was easy to give this a try at a relatively low price point.

The nose was simple and forward with red berries, pepper and licorice. The palate was peppery, gamey and a little vegetal. Overall I enjoyed the decent flavour profile and this wine's capacity to pair well with food, but I found it otherwise a bit thin and lacking in fruit concentration. It's nonetheless good for the price and I think may be a bit of a style-wine, meaning that likes and dislikes could be divided quite strongly based on a style preference.

Good+, but Very Good (with food)
$30 at Marquis

Vina Chocalan Gran Reserva 2005

I have enjoyed Chocalan's Cabernet Franc in the past and had wanted to give this a try, so when I saw it at the local BCLDB I grabbed a bottle. A nose of big dark black fruits, plum, and dark roasted coffee. The palate offered cassis, chocolate, coffee, toffee and plum. This had decent structure and potency for the price and was very flavourful. However, this was slightly hot and unbalanced. A good drinking wine for the price.

Very Good
$25 at BCLDB

Ciclos Malbec Merlot 2005

The final wine of the South American terroir trio is this Ciclos Malbec from S. Michel Torino Estate of the Cafayate region in Argentina. Cafayate is a high altitude region, which promised concentration and power. And, this was the best of the bunch with menthol, vanilla, cassis and chocolate. Not refined, but with solid structure and depth of flavour, which make this above average at this price point. Good grippy tannins give the wine bite without detracting from the fruit. Worth a look and taste.

Very Good

~$20 at BCLDB