VINOGRAPHY: a wine blog
Wine and food adventures in San Francisco and around the world
~ Recently in Boutique Wines Category ~
Garagiste Winemakers of Chile: Introducing MOVI
If I were Hugh Johnson or Jancis Robinson, I could clear my throat and begin my story with a distinguished pronouncement about how I've watched several wine regions around the globe evolve from their infancy to later stages of maturity. But I lack the perspective of someone who's been a professional observer of the industry for decades. While I may not be able to tell you how, exactly, I do know that wine regions evolve over the course of their history, and that Chile finds itself in a particular stage of evolution that most regions probably encounter after a few... continue reading 
- Posted by: Alder on January 23, 2010 11:37 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Ramblings and Rants , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews
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Jemrose Wines, Bennett Valley, CA: Current Releases
Some people like to go to flea markets, where they will spend hours wandering around the stalls hoping to stumble on something wonderful. I spend hours wandering through huge public wine tastings in much the same way, and every once in a while I stumble across a winery that I've never heard of nor seen before, whose wines pull the needle off the record and bring me up short in breathless surprise. When I first tasted the wines from Jemrose in just such a fashion, they immediately impressed me, not just because they were so high quality, but also because... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 17, 2010 11:50 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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2001 Renaissance Winery Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, North Yuba
Every time I review a wine from some little producer whose wines I adore, I experience a pang of regret, because I know that by writing about these wineries and their wines, I only make them more expensive and harder to acquire for myself (and others). I do occasionally get e-mails from ticked off wine lovers bemoaning the fact that I've divulged one of their secret sources for great wine. But that's just an occupational hazard for me, and doesn't outweigh the joy of being able to say things like this: Listen up people. There is some seriously amazing wine... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 12, 2010 10:22 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2007 Potel-Aviron Fleurie Vielles Vignes, Beaujolais, France
Should one of your New Years' resolutions be to broaden your wine horizons without breaking your wine budget, one of the places worth exploring would certainly be Beaujolais. Much maligned, or at the very least avoided -- and rightly so -- by many wine lovers whose experience with Beaujolais consists of a glass of banana-scented Nouveau in November, the region actually produces some truly wonderful wines that can be tremendous values. The Beaujolais region has seen a renaissance of winemaking in the past decade, with many serious, small producers trying to make wines that have much more in common with... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 5, 2010 10:45 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Corison Winery, Napa: Current Releases
It's hard to get attention in the world of wine. Many wineries and winemakers struggle their entire careers for recognition, both deservedly and some, not quite. In the days of big marketing budgets and cult wines that are only figuratively on everyone's lips (and literally on the lips of very few), it's easy to overlook wineries that have quietly been doing their thing for decades. I can't tell you how many times I've driven by the understated Corison Winery on Highway 29 without ever going in. The number must literally be in the hundreds. While I've still not actually stopped... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 29, 2009 9:28 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Olson Ogden Winery, Sonoma: Current Releases
I take a special interest in a particular class of winery. I call them estateless wineries, but they are wineries that have no permanent physical presence. These types of operations have no vineyards, own no buildings, and sometimes don't even own any equipment. Such wineries are most often the result of someone taking small steps towards their personal dream of being in the wine business, and are often sources for great wines at reasonable prices. Olson & Ogden winery is a perfect example of such a label. Proprietor John Ogden worked in the high tech corporate world for most of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 19, 2009 10:51 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Odfjell Winery, Chile: Current Releases
Many of the people I spoke to in Chile were quite proud of the diverse European immigrant populations that have seeded the country in previous centuries, especially those that brought with them skills, knowledge, and entrepreneurship. Even more recent immigrants, like Norwegian Dan Odfjell are welcomed, especially when they come bearing gifts. Odfjell brought two things to Chile with him. The first was his shipping empire which quickly established itself in Chile's busy ports. The second and perhaps more romantic gift, was the Fjord Horse. While you won't exactly find these horses running around all over Chile, you certainly can't... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 16, 2009 11:59 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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The Best Wines from Chile?: Tasting Notes for Wines over $40
As some of you know, I spent the last week traveling around Chile trying to get a sense of the country and its wines. It was my first trip there and I was quite excited to taste a lot of wine -- education by immersion, so to speak. With that in mind, my hosts for the week, the Wines of Chile organization, pulled together a tasting of what in Chile they refer to as "Icon Wines." These wines are usually the top wines in many wineries' portfolios, in some cases they are the only wines, and they generally retail for... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 6, 2009 10:49 AM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Casa Marín Winery, Chile: Current Releases
For me, great wines always have a story behind them. It can be the story of the people who made it, the place it comes from, the story of how the grapes became the final wine, or a thousand other things that make a wine more than just the flavors and aromas in the glass. The best wines are overflowing with such stories, and discovering them for myself is one of the greatest joys of being a wine lover. In the far reaches of Chile's San Antonio valley, on a road that winds its way over the rolling hills towards... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 2, 2009 7:40 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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2003 Descendientes de J. Palacios "Moncerbal," Bierzo, Spain
This is one of those wines that I live for. The kind that begins with an unknown bottle thrust in front of me by a friend with a twinkle in their eye, and ends with a profound memory of taste that becomes one of those moments that wine lovers cherish. Such wines are not common, at least not for me, but they are what keep me passionate about drinking and writing and enjoying the world of wine. Occasionally still described by romanticizing writers as "off in a forgotten corner of Northwestern Spain," the winegrowing region of Bierzo can no longer... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 17, 2009 11:49 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2007 Smith Madrone Riesling, Spring Mountain District, Napa
There are more legends, stories, fairytales, and fables than anyone could count that all involve some guy up on a mountainside somewhere. Sometimes a hermit, sometimes a wizard, sometimes a troll -- sometimes just an old man who went to sleep under a tree for a long, long time. No matter what the story, there's always something a little different about the guy on the mountain, something that is both scary and alluring at the same time. Stu Smith might be living out yet another version of one of these tales. The fact that Stu sports a big gray and... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 11, 2009 10:19 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews
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NV Henri Billiot "Cuvee Laetitia" Grand Cru Brut Champagne, Ambonnay, France
It seems that this week has me on a sparkling wine kick, and I see no reason to stop. As I often say (to myself and others who bother to listen): it took me a while to get here, but now I realize that we are all drinking far too little Champagne. These days, the whole world isn't drinking much Champagne, which is why the industry is in a bit of a crisis -- at least the really big players are. But this is not the wine of a big player. To say that Serge Billiot runs a small winery... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 4, 2009 9:03 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Sparkling Wine , Wine Reviews
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Farmer Fizz: Tasting the Terry Theise Champagne Portfolio
Ask most people to name a good Champagne, and most will likely stall after a couple of well known names like "Cristal" or "Dom Perignon." Like many industries, the world of Champagne (and at this point I'm not talking about sparkling wine in general, but literally the stuff from the Champagne region of France) is represented in the minds of many and the world media by a few mega-brands whose very identities have come to stand for Champagne, and who often literally eclipse many others with their popularity. By some estimates, however, there are more than 3500 producers within... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 3, 2009 10:23 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Sparkling Wine , Wine Reviews
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Blackbird Vineyards, Napa: Current Releases
As you likely know, I make it my business to keep my eye on new California wineries, especially in Napa and Sonoma, as much as I can given the fact that I do a lot of other things besides write about wine. Whenever possible, I like to taste the first releases from these wineries. They are not always fantastic - some are good, some show potential, and some simply need to be written off as first efforts and retried again later. That's the thing about wines, just because they're not good now, that doesn't mean they won't be later, and,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 10, 2009 11:45 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Bond Estates, Napa: A Retrospective Tasting
Like the saying goes, if I had a nickel for every time I'd heard or read about a winery "sparing no expense" to get the "best possible fruit" to make the "best wine they could," I'd be a rich man. Winery owners and winemakers are like proud parents -- they see the best in their operations, and if they are aware of their flaws or shortcomings, when company is over, they put on their best face. After all, they're ultimately trying to sell wine. As someone who has spent a lot of time visiting wineries, and hearing the owners and... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 7, 2009 11:44 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Perfect 10s , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2006 Cadaretta Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, Washington
I make it my habit to pay attention to new, small wineries. Generally that means seeking them out at public tastings, perking up my ears when I hear the names of wineries I don't know, and approaching each box of unknown wine I get on my doorstep as the potential to be something new and exciting. Generally, whatever you might like to call these efforts of mine, if they can be described as efforts, tend to be focused on California. This has nothing to do with my preferences, so much as it does with where I live, who I know,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 24, 2009 10:46 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Kutch Wines, Sonoma: Current Releases
Every wine has a story behind it. Some are better than others. Every wine has a dream behind it. Some are bigger than others. While some people are content to drink wine their entire lives, and never once feel the urge to make it, there are those wine lovers who yearn for something more than they get out of even the best bottles. This is the story of a guy whose enthusiasm for wine got the best of him, and whose passion for his dreams got under the skin of some people who couldn't help but show him how to... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 15, 2009 10:59 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Anaba Wines, Sonoma: Inaugural Releases
One of my greatest pleasures remains the surprise and delight of opening the very first wines made by a new winery and discovering in them both enjoyment and the signs of great potential. Alas, such pleasures are only occasional, which make them all the more exciting when they do occur. My latest opportunity to celebrate the beginnings of a new winery came at the hands of a few bottles that showed up on my doorstep bearing the name Anaba in beautiful looping script. I was immediately intrigued to note that the first releases from this new Sonoma County winery were... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 31, 2009 10:47 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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2001 Gravner "Anfora" Ribolla Gialla, Friuli, Italy
When it comes to winemaking there's New World, and there's Old World. There's new school, and of course, there's old school. And then there are a select few people and wines who make the old school winemakers look like young tykes with newfangled toys. In a world where "traditional" or "natural" winemaking has now become a self imposed designation of the most extreme proponents of biodynamic and non-interventionalist winemaking, Josko Gravner puts them all to shame. These people proclaim how in touch they are with the "traditional" methods of winemaking, but they're still using what Gravner would call modern technology:... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 29, 2009 9:56 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews
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1994 Zind-Humbrecht "Brand" Riesling, Alsace, France
For anyone who drinks Alsatian wines on a regular basis, let alone someone who considers themselves a fan or an aficionado of the unique wines from this narrow slice of northeastern France, it's pretty much impossible to have a discussion about the area without the name Zind-Humbrecht coming up. While everyone is reticent to pronounce any one winery "the best" no matter which region you're talking about, many people would be hard pressed to find a reason why you couldn't say that Zind-Humbrecht has the position fairly well covered for Alsace. The Humbrecht family has a long history in winemaking,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 9, 2009 11:20 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews
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Piña Napa Valley: Current Releases
If one were to speculate on the wine market as a savvy investor might in the small-cap stock market, the game would be the same: follow people you know with good track records. In the wine world, we'd also have to include a corollary about betting on great vineyard sites, but leaving aside the raw materials, it's clear that most good wines don't happen by accident. They're made by talented people. Finding talented people in Napa isn't hard at first. There are a lot of them, many of whom have big brand names. When they start working for a winery,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 8, 2009 10:32 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Patton Valley Vineyard, Willamette Valley: Current Releases
When it comes to wineries I generally know I'm in for something good when I drive down a long dirt road (unsure if I'm headed in the right direction) and finally come upon some vineyards and a couple of small aluminum barns with harvest bins stacked outside. For many small winery operations, the barrel storage, the lab, the office, and the tasting room are all under one corrugated roof. I had the pleasure of winding my way down just such a road on a rainy Autumn day three years ago to arrive at the little operation that is Patton Valley... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 2, 2009 10:16 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Tasting Oregon Riesling...At the International Pinot Noir Celebration?
Adulterous. Maybe a little sneaky, and a tiny bit rebellious. There I was at the International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon -- a whole weekend dedicated to the glory of Oregon Pinot Noir and it's Burgundy forebears -- when someone in a trench coat pulled me aside and whispered, "Hey buddy, wanna taste some Riesling?" The thought, frankly, couldn't have been the furthest thing from my mind at that point. But when the shadowy figure suggested that this was a nearly comprehensive tasting of all the Rieslings made in the state of Oregon, give or take a few, my interest... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 30, 2009 11:00 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Undiscovered Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Notes from the Al Fresco Tasting at IPNC 2009
I go to a lot of wine tastings, and have come to really appreciate those that are done right. It may not be immediately apparent how easily a large public tasting can be screwed up, but all it takes is one small thing to make it a really miserable experience. For instance, a lack of spit buckets has turned more than one big tasting event into a nightmare. The spacing of the tables, the labeling of the stations, the number of wines available, the availability of water, the offering of food, the temperature of the building -- these can all... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 27, 2009 9:58 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews
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Arista Winery, Russian River Valley: Current Releases
Given the chance, I highly recommend anyone to make the investment of time and money to watch a winery evolve from its very first vintage. It doesn't take much, just buying a bottle or two every year from a brand new winery that you think shows some promise, and then drinking them. Such observation is a wonderful study in personality. You get to see, or perhaps more accurately, taste, how a winemaker settles into a winery and its vineyards, and how he or she begins to express whatever it is that can be expressed through the wines. I've had the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 17, 2009 9:49 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2007 Point Concepcion "Celestina" Pinot Grigio, Santa Barbara County
I make it my habit to seek out and try a particular kind of wine that flies well under the radar of most wine lovers. Indeed, this kind of wine is all but unknown to most, yet some of my favorite wines in the world fall into this category -- a category that is not included in any book, classification, or encyclopedia of wines anywhere. These wines have something very special in common. Not the grapes used, nor the soils on which they are grown; not the country they come from, nor the climate in which they are grown. The... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 12, 2009 10:14 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Pink Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Domaine Tempier, Bandol, France: Current Releases
There are two types of people in the world, the joke goes: those who believe the world can be divided into two types of people and those who don't. Substitute wine for people and you might just as easily be charting those who firmly believe in the wall of tradition, history, and style that divides the so called Old World, from the New World. In principle, I object to a wine world so starkly divided, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't occasionally resort to the use of these labels and the generalizations they imply to make a... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 9, 2009 10:30 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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Lang & Reed Wine Company, Napa: Current Releases
All of us wine lovers inevitably discover, in the course of our explorations, our own secret wineries. These are the wines that we hold close to our chest, revealing them to those with whom we share only our choicest of morsels, which often include such things as parking spaces, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and great movies and books. As I'm in the business of sharing great wine with readers all the time, I can't really afford to hold much back. But I'd be lying if I told you I had reviewed or written about all my most favorite wineries around the world.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 6, 2009 10:08 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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2007 J. Rochioli "River Block" Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
It took me a long time in my evolution as a wine lover to truly understand the amount of money and sweat and energy that goes into building a world class winery over decades, even centuries. Many wine lovers early in their education (and in their earning power) are often flummoxed by prices for wines that start to head north of $80 or $90 per bottle. Should they pursue their love of wine long enough to really learn (and see for themselves) what kind of work goes into some of the world's best vineyards, and to taste the wine that... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 2, 2009 9:46 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Giacomo Conterno Barolo and Barbera: Italy's Greatest Wines?
Because of our deep history with wine, the standards by which we judge today's efforts must be placed within the context of tradition. While we can judge California Pinot Noir on its own merits, we cannot understand or evaluate it completely without reference to Burgundy, its ancestral home. Burgundy will always be the benchmark for Pinot Noir, as it has been for centuries. Just as there exist regional benchmarks for grape varieties or wine styles, there also exist some individual wine producers, and even individual wines, that manage to define the uppermost limits of quality or the epitome of a... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 27, 2009 10:07 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2006 Hourglass "Blueline Estate" Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa
There is no single recipe for greatness when it comes to Napa wine, but starting with a great plot of land can take you a long way. The only problem is, a lot of people don't necessarily know a great plot of land when they see one. Sometimes these plots of land can be hidden in plain sight until the right person comes along to notice. When Jeff Smith's father moved the family to St. Helena in 1964, he wasn't thinking about wine, he was thinking about real estate development. He was also thinking about the tiny trickle of tourists... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 17, 2009 9:55 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2005 Lieff "Auberge Road Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa
There are people who start wineries and work for a long time to get to the point that their names become synonymous with good wine, regardless of whether their names are on the bottle or not. And then there are those who you wonder at how they managed to avoid having their name on a wine bottle for as long as they did. Robert Lieff has a long history with wine, and with Napa Valley in particular. How he has managed to only just now end up with his name on a bottle, is in part a testament to his... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 15, 2009 9:45 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine
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2006 Hall "Exzellenz" Sacrashe Vineyard Proprietary Red Wine, Rutherford, Napa
The pleasures of childhood call to us as adults. The tug of nostalgia is so great that we so often find ourselves indulging in little things that remind us of our early years, and in some cases we throw ourselves passionately into the pursuit of the things we have lost. Kathryn Hall lost the vineyard that was her childhood playground. Despite having managed the vineyard for nearly a decade, letting it go after her father's death was the right thing to do. But her memories of growing up among the grape vines in Redwood Valley, coupled with her enduring love... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 13, 2009 11:57 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Fontanella Family Wines, Napa: Inaugural Releases
When it comes to family-run wineries, I always enjoy seeing how the many different roles and responsibilities involved in a full-fledged winery are divvied up among the family. Often, the winery benefits from the luck of a child that has gone into marketing as a career, or a sibling that has gone back to school to learn about enology. The combined skills, passion, and familial bond that makes such wineries tick can sometimes make for quite a powerful operation. I don't think I've ever seen quite the combination represented by Jeff and Karen Fontanella. They're just a young couple in... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 10, 2009 10:53 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews
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2004 Erba Mountainside Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa
In Isaac Asimov's Foundation series of science fiction books, the main character has invented a science called Psychohistory for predicting the behavior of large groups of people. And by large groups, I mean the entire galaxy. Based partly in sociology, partly in history, and heavily in math, the psychohistorians have developed algorithms that can be used to figure out what big groups of people will do in any situation. I'm not so sure there isn't some sort of algorithm that we might be able to construct to figure out the kind of person (apart from trained winemakers or wine business... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 6, 2009 9:51 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews
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Flowers Winery, Sonoma Coast: Single Vineyard Pinot Noirs
I love the places where wine grows in spite of the adversity heaped upon it by the place, the climate, and the geology. I also love the places where wine grows despite all conventional wisdom to the contrary -- the places everyone else avoided, but where visionary winegrowers and winemakers have staked their claims and bet their futures. Often times these two types of places are one in the same. Call them extreme vineyard sites. The places that most people would dismiss as infeasible for making wine, for one reason or another. Some of these places stay extreme, and the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 2, 2009 11:18 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2006 Jack Larkin Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa
The allure of Napa is legendary, even clichéd. The wine country lifestyle, or whatever you want to call it, combined with the love of wine has inspired countless people to sell everything they own and head to Napa to try and live their own personal wine dream. There must be people who simply flounder and fail in these endeavors. Like many of the unfortunate, their stories never surface for most of us. We tend to only hear about those that succeed in turning their dreams into reality. Yet I continue to be astonished at just how many people seem to... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 30, 2009 10:46 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Peay Vineyards, Sonoma Coast: Current Releases
As a wine reviewer who gets paid next to nothing for his work, I have the luxury of only reviewing wines that I think are worth writing about. I've got no deadlines, no quotas to fill, and no obligation to anyone. All of which means that it's always a great pleasure to say nice things about a wine or wines that I enjoy. But this is perhaps the most pleasurable kind of review I write. The review of a winery whose wines I can safely say are all spectacularly good -- so good that I will simply buy any wine... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 18, 2009 11:28 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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2005 Peacock Family Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain District, Napa
I have a hard spot in my heart for peacocks. Spending summers with my father in Sonoma County as a kid, we had a neighbor with a bunch of peacocks that would wander over towards our house and hang out in the trees nearby. Beautiful birds? Yes. But they also have an incredibly loud, piercing call that at 5:00 AM makes you wonder what peacock stew tastes like. I recently learned what Peacock wine, er, rather Peacock Family wine tastes like, and we won't hold the bird's reputation against Christopher and Betsy Peacock, because the wine they're making from their... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 16, 2009 9:33 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Outpost Wines, Napa: Current Releases
To the casual visitor or inexperienced wine lover, Napa may just be a name on a bottle, or a vision of vineyards stretched between Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail. But like many wine regions, Napa is only a word on a map and an official designation for a group of winegrowing regions that, at times, seem to have little in common. The extreme variations of climate, soils, and topography among the various sections of Napa County make the subdivision of the region into separate AVA's (American Viticultural Areas) an inevitability. The variety of terroirs represented by these 14... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 3, 2009 10:59 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2005 François Blanchard "Violoncelite" Cabernet Franc, Touraine, France
Perhaps some of the most interesting wines in the world are made by cranks, crackpots, and wackos -- iconoclasts that keep time to their own secret rhythms and make wine in ways that often make sense only to them. You might say that I'm a collector of such wines and winemakers, in the same way that young boys collect baseball cards. And today I'll add another to my growing menagerie of eccentric visionaries that make extraordinary wine. François Blanchard is a jazz musician who one day found himself the owner of his family's (somewhat decrepit) wine estate and decided that... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 25, 2009 11:04 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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The World's Best Kosher Wine?: Tasting The Covenant
The more stories I hear about how some wineries get started, the more I tend to think that by far the best way to start a wine brand is almost by accident. Ten years ago if you had told wine writer Jeff Morgan that he'd eventually be making the best (and most expensive) Kosher wine in the world, he would have probably fallen off his chair laughing. At that point, his exposure to Kosher wine consisted of the seven consecutive years he wrote (what he says was) essentially the same story on Kosher wine for the Wine Spectator. I'm not... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 9, 2009 10:20 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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New Cabernets from Napa
When I was a kid, I wanted to be an archaeologist or an exploratory marine biologist. I had dreams of discovering lost civilizations or new species in the oceans or jungles. I never quite managed to fulfill that dream, but I have managed to channel some of that passion into the discovery of new wines. In the past few years, there has been an explosion of new wineries in Napa. Other than the market forces that made making Napa wine pretty attractive, and therefore something people wanted to try, I'm not entirely sure what might be responsible for this serious... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 2, 2009 10:42 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews
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2006 Isole e Olena "Collezione de Marchi" Chardonnay, Tuscany, Italy
Chardonnay is just about the last grape variety I think about when I daydream about Italian wine. In casual conversation, I might have even been overheard to suggest that planting Chardonnay in Italy would be a waste of a good vineyard. Now, that isn't to say that I haven't had good Chardonnays from Italy -- I've had a couple of them that are quite good -- but with all the fabulous indigenous grape varieties that exist, I tend to confine my white wine drinking to grapes that are a little harder pronounce. All of which meant for the perfect set... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 17, 2009 10:02 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine
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Rivers-Marie Winery, Sonoma Coast: Current Releases
The creation of a new winery is always an exciting thing, especially when it is founded with the goal of being small, conscientious, and expressive of a particular place and grape. Like turning the corner in a new neighborhood and discovering a tiny shop that sells exquisite crafts, or finding a hole in the wall restaurant that serves the perfect version of a favorite dish, tasting great wine from a recently begun boutique winery is one of my favorite experiences in the world. We hear a lot (and I certainly write a lot) about wineries or wine labels that represent... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 2, 2009 10:19 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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Kapcsándy Family Winery, Napa: Current Releases
Napa has a way of turning modest dreams into major productions. Lou Kapcsándy and his wife Bobbie decided to retire to Napa mostly out of nostalgia for the picnics and wine tasting they used to do as a young married couple living in Sausalito. Forty years after the first of these romantic escapes, their retirement dream included only a little cottage with at most an acre or so of vines, so Lou could putter in the garage and make a barrel or two of wine from his backyard fruit. Three years after the family, including their son Louis, made the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 21, 2009 8:40 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2005 Ladera Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain, Napa
I've been drinking wine for more than 30% of my life at this point, taking notes on wine for ten years, and writing this blog for five, but despite that fact, it's not exactly common for me to be able to say with certainty that I've tasted every vintage of a particular wine made by any one winery. Even those wineries whose inaugural vintages debuted since Vinography became a going concern I am generally not able to taste their wines with regularity every single year. But there are a few wineries whose wines I have been buying and tasting since... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 8, 2009 8:02 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2007 Cooper Mountain Vineyards "20th Anniversary Reserve" Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon
One of the great pleasures of wine appreciation will always be the process of tasting the wine of a single winery over a very long span of time. Tracking the products of a winery's labor over the years can be remarkably rewarding regardless of whether the experience is one of consistency, or of progress and change. I've only had the pleasure of tasting the last two vintages of wine from a little family winery in Oregon's Willamette Valley. Despite my recent introduction to Cooper Mountain Vineyards, I can almost taste the twenty years that came before this, their 20th vintage.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 29, 2009 10:36 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2004 Domaine de la Bouissiere Gigondas, France
The best known and highest quality wines of the world continue to get more expensive over time. This is a function of the increasing value of their brands, the increasing recognition of the regions they are grown in, and the rising demand for top tier wines. These price and popularity gains filter down from the most well known wines to those that are slightly less well known, producing the aggregate effect of price increases in most of the world's famous wine regions, at least for the wines that represent the upper end of the regions production. As a result, regions... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 17, 2009 10:14 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2003 Smith Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain District, Napa
There are more legends, stories, fairytales, and fables than anyone could count which all involve some guy up on a mountainside somewhere. Sometimes a hermit, sometimes a wizard, sometimes a troll -- sometimes just an old man who went to sleep under a tree for a long, long time. No matter what the story, there's always something a little different about the guy on the mountain, something that is both scary and alluring at the same time. Stu Smith might be living out yet another version of one of these tales. The fact that Stu sports a big gray and... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 10, 2009 6:23 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Alfred Gratien Champagne, Epernay, France: Current Releases
The more good Champagne I have, the more it seems to me that you really get what you pay for. Unfortunately, what you have to pay for the really good stuff is out of the reach of most wine lovers, which was why I didn't like Champagne until several years after I started getting into wine. Now I love it, but only because I've been able to taste Champagnes like these. Alfred Gratien represents an interesting class of Champagne producer. When we speak of those who make Champagne, we most often talk about the Champagne "Houses" -- the massive brands... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 3, 2009 10:50 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Sparkling Wine , Wine Reviews
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Two Hands Wine, Barossa, Australia: Current Releases
One of the things I love about the wine world is the way in which it rewards people with vision, initiative, talent, and above all, passion. I find it magical that someone can fall in love with wine, and decide that the most important thing for them to do for the rest of their lives is to make wine, and then actually make a living following that passion. Maybe the same thing happens in a lot of industries, but you just don't hear such stories about accounting. Or maybe we only ever hear about the success stories in the wine... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 24, 2008 8:45 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2002 Bressan "Special Bottling" Pinot Nero, Friuli, Italy
I'm not entirely sure why some of the best wines in the world are made by people who are more than a little crazy, but there are enough wacko winemakers out there to make it clear that the connection between great wine and reclusive eccentrics is more than mere coincidence. Even more telling are the number of these "eno savants" (to perhaps coin a phrase) that live in Friuli, in northeast Italy. Once upon a time, there was no Italy, there was only the river Isonzo, winding its way down out of the Alps towards the Adriatic sea. From the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 7, 2008 10:04 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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1996 J. Rochioli "West Block" Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
To paraphrase Shakespeare, there are wineries that are born great, those that achieve greatness, and those that have greatness thrust upon them. To explain: some fantastic wineries are started by people who are superstars already, and it hardly seems to matter what they do -- these properties are destined for success. Some top wineries seem to come from nowhere, and indeed have greatness thrust upon them, when out of the blue, their wine scores highly somewhere and they are vaulted from obscurity to fame. The majority of the best wineries in the world, however, fall into Malvolio's second category through... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 6, 2008 11:55 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2006 Jean-Paul Thevenet "Vielles Vignes" Morgon, Beaujolais, France
The wine industry spends a lot of time and energy fighting for the attention of global consumers. In particular, they've tried hard to market seasonally to consumers, but they just can't quite compete with the likes of Oktoberfest for beer drinkers. The best that the wine industry has been able to come up with sends even the most tolerant wine lovers running for cover every November, as the rollout of Beaujolais Nouveau reaches ever more spectacular heights of commercial bling. It would be one thing if the wine was even somewhat drinkable. But these days, what passes for Beaujolais Nouveau... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 26, 2008 10:49 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2006 Williams Selyem "Hirsch Vineyard" Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast
We don't have a Cru classification in California (we just have mailing lists and release prices) but there are a few vineyards in the state that would most certainly be at the top of the list. Their names are well known to those wine lovers who can afford the generally expensive wines they produce, and one of them is unquestionably the Hirsch Vineyard. First planted in 1980 by farmer David Hirsch, the Hirsch Vineyard is located on the mountain ridges above the northern California town of Fort Ross at 1500 feet above the ocean surface and 3.5 miles as the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 23, 2008 9:40 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2006 Handley Cellars "Hein Vineyard" Pinot Blanc, Anderson Valley
California's Anderson Valley remains one of its least known and most under-appreciated wine regions. In particular I believe it to be under-appreciated for its Pinot Noir, in particular, and in some cases, its Alsatian varieties of wine. I offer a slight caveat to the latter because while Anderson Valley is certainly known for producing wines in the style and varieties of those found in Alsace, France, in my experience they are mixed in quality. But when winemakers manage to get things right, Anderson Valley can produce some stunning examples of wines that might, in the right circumstances be mistaken for... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 8, 2008 11:28 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2004 La Stoppa "Ageno" White Blend, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Most people faced a with the choice of merely a specific color of wine to drink will consider their stated preference between the options of red, white, or pink. My choice is none of the above. If I had to swear my allegiance to one color of wine, it would be orange. I have a friend who has seriously suggested that the world ought to acknowledge orange as a legitimate fourth color when it comes to wine. I don't know that I'd go that far, but I would seriously suggest that everyone drink as much of it as they can... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 4, 2008 6:13 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Undiscovered Wines , White Wine
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Cadaretta Winery, Walla Walla, WA: Current Releases
I make it my habit to pay attention to new, small wineries. Generally that means seeking them out at public tastings, perking up my ears when I hear the names of wineries I don't know, and approaching each box of unknown wine I get on my doorstep as the potential to be something new and exciting. Generally, whatever you might like to call these efforts of mine, if they can be described as efforts, tend to be focused on California. This probably comes as no surprise to most, but that has nothing to do with my preferences, so much as... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 24, 2008 10:42 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews
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2006 Blackbird Vineyards "Illustration" Proprietary Red Wine, Oak Knoll District, Napa
As you likely know, I make it my business to keep my eye on new California wineries, especially in Napa and Sonoma, as much as I can given the fact that I do a lot of other things besides write about wine. Whenever possible, I like to taste the first releases from these wineries. They are not always fantastic - some are good, some show potential, and some simply need to be written off as first efforts and retried again later. That's the thing about wines, just because they're not good now, that doesn't mean they won't be later, and,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 16, 2008 10:29 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Ehlers Estate, Napa: Current Releases
Who ever heard of a non-profit winery? The first time the folks at Ehlers Estate told me they were, I laughed. But somehow it's true -- amidst the glitz and glamour of Napa, there is a small winery that feeds all its profits back into the cardiovascular research foundation that owns it. There is, of course, a story behind this most unusual of affairs. The Ehlers estate was established in 1886 by Bernard Ehlers, who erected a winery building and carved his name in the stone above the doorway. Ehlers purchased the estate for $7,000 in gold coin from an... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 15, 2008 9:55 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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Sadie Family Wines, Swartland, South Africa: Current Releases
I went to South Africa to learn about its wines. This meant understanding first hand what the country's wine regions and winemakers were capable of, and by implication, how they stacked up against the rest of the world. My main activity in pursuit of this goal consisted of tasting hundreds and hundreds of wines at Cape Wine 2008, the biannual trade show of South African wine. After about 10 hours of doing nothing but tasting wines, I had learned a thing or two about South African wine, the wine regions, and the various styles of wine currently being made throughout... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 3, 2008 10:24 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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The Best South African Wines: Tasting the 2008 Cape Winemakers Guild
During my week in South Africa, I had a lot of educational experiences that involved serious spates of tasting, but perhaps one of the most insightful involved my attendance at the Cape Winemakers Guild pre-auction tasting. South Africa sports (to my knowledge) a rather unique organization known as the Cape Winemakers Guild. Started 25 years ago by eight South African winemakers, this association has been, and continues to be, the "who's who" of the country's winemaking talent. The CWG has as its mission to simply advance South African winemaking to the highest possible levels of quality and international recognition. Membership... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 1, 2008 11:01 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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Tasting the Red Wines of Simonsberg Ward, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Greetings from Cape Town, South Africa! I've come down to the Cape Winelands to dive deep into South African wine in a way that isn't possible in the United States. In most wine stores I'm lucky to find a handful of South African wines at most, and forget about restaurants, which often just have a single representative wine on their list, if anything at all. So I'm here under the imposing shadow of Table Mountain to attend Cape Wine 08, the biannual South African wine convention -- their equivalent of VinItaly or VinExpo. I'll be visiting a few wine producers,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 23, 2008 3:43 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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1996 Walter Hansel Estate Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
One of the greatest, though imminently forgivable, crimes perpetrated by a large number of even the most knowledgeable wine lovers consists of the tendency to consume great wines before they have had the opportunity to fully develop. Sometimes referred to as "infanticide," this practice varies in its levels of extremity depending on the category of wine. In my opinion, perhaps the most slighted of all categories in this respect is California Pinot Noir. While it may not have the aging potential of Burgundy (though we don't really know for sure -- no one has been making really serious Pinot Noir... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 20, 2008 1:27 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2005 Gargiulo Vineyards "G Major Seven Study - 575 OVX Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, Napa
There's something really cool about seeing a young winery start to hit its stride. I've only seen a few newborn calves and foals in their first moments after birth as they learn to use their spindly legs, but it's hard not to feel a sense of pride when after a few minutes, they go galloping around in circles. I was first introduced to Gargiulo Vineyards at a wine bar in San Francisco a couple of years ago. I just happened to stop by for a drink, and April Gargiulo was on hand, pouring what was then her family's second release... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 13, 2008 5:16 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Freeman Vineyard and Winery, Sebastopol, CA: Current Releases
Say what you want about the state of America, I know of no other place where it remains so imminently possible to realize your dreams. These days it takes a lot of money to do it, but this country is still one of the easiest places to decide that you want to achieve something, and then set out to do it. This is especially true in the wine business which, despite being a far cry from the pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps success stories that typify the American Dream, continues to support those who decide to take their strongest passions and turn them into... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 2, 2008 8:28 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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1997 Staglin Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford
From the late 1800's to the first half of the twentieth century California represented a land of opportunity for many. In Northern California, this potential seems to have been realized in particular by Italian immigrants who settled North of San Francisco in great numbers, founding small towns up the coast and in the inland valleys. Drive Highway 1, Highway 12, Highway 116, and the Bohemian Highway North of the city and you'll pass old barns and homesteads, country stores, and several Italian restaurants that have been operating continuously since at least the Thirties. That these fiercely determined immigrants met with... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 28, 2008 4:56 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2003 Meyer Family Cellars "Bonny's Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville
Heritage plays out in many ways in the Napa Valley. There are only a few remaining families that have been farming in the valley since Prohibition, and even those that have tenures lasting more than three decades are increasingly being supplanted by new blood or corporate interests. Some of those families that have left the valley after decades often move on to other enterprises after cashing out on their vineyard investments. However, it's tough to abandon Napa Valley once you've lived and loved there for so long. Winemaker Justin Meyer moved his family to the Anderson Valley in 1999 after... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 14, 2008 11:18 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews
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2005 Hughes-Wellman Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa Valley
Good wine is rarely made by accident. So much can go wrong in the winemaking process that to get something that isn't complete dreck is a triumph, and those who are capable of creating fantastic wines are, despite their modesty and common protestations of "just letting nature take her course," truly talented artisans. While wines, and great wines in particular, are made with incredible forethought and planning, sometimes wine labels can spring up overnight as the result of an opportune conversation or new friendship. Such is the case with this wine, which may be the first and only vintage under... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 2, 2008 10:57 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews
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La Brancaia, Chianti, Italy: Current Releases
Tuscany will always hold a special place in my heart. If not for the dreamlike quality of the rolling Chianti hills in Spring, then for the fact that it was the place I realized I was probably going to marry the woman who is now my wife, and the place she fell in love with wine (she was already in love with me, thankfully) for the first time. The red wines of Tuscany can be as frustrating as they are fantastic. Just ask anyone who's had their share of lousy, watery Chianti at neighborhood Italian restaurants in the United States.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 26, 2008 11:30 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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Vérité Wines, Sonoma: Current Releases
Formulaic is an adjective that is often leveled at some of California's top boutique wines and their winemaking. As if when you finally manage to afford all the components required to make a high-end wine, that somehow you just throw them together and, "poof" you've got yourself a $300, 94 point superstar. This stereotype is especially convenient for those who can't afford to drink such wines. I should know. I still can't afford to drink such wines, and while I've learned better now, about 10 years ago I believed that the only thing special about big name wines was how... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 21, 2008 11:34 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2006 Baker Lane "Hurst Vineyard" Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast
Some people seem to get into the wine business through sheer determination. After years of saving, scraping, dreaming and planning, vineyard or winery ownership is the fulfillment of many people's long held (if not hard earned) fantasies. And then there are those people who somehow seem destined for it -- people whose stories you hear and you think, how on Earth did you manage not to do this earlier? If Stephen Singer was going to fall into one of these categories it would most certainly be the latter. In 2003 he became the proprietor of a small winery called Baker... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 19, 2008 11:17 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss, Alsace: Current Releases
The wines of Alsace are some of the most unique and distinctive in the world. They are also some of my favorites, not only because they are delicious, but also because they are made by some of France's most individualistic and headstrong vintners. Alsace has long been a place apart, both from France and Germany, each of which have laid claim over the valleys and hills that lie west of the Rhine river which currently demarcates the border between the two nations. It's easy to characterize the region as a smooth and quirky blend between the two countries, but... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 12, 2008 10:46 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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2005 Star Lane Vineyards "Astral" Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Ynez Valley
There are those in the wine world who seek out (and often pay for) the best possible advice they can get. Winemaking and winegrowing are sciences as much as they are arts, and these days, there are plenty of experts to be had in both arenas. And then there are those in the wine world that no matter what the scientists, experts, and even their friends say, choose to follow their instincts. Call them pig-headed, call them eccentric, call them iconoclasts, there are certain people that will always walk their own paths when it comes to wine. Jim Dierberg seems... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 22, 2008 10:17 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews
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Kamoizumi "Shusen - Three Dots" Junmai, Hiroshima Prefecture
In the world of sake, perhaps even more so than the world of wine, just when you think you've figured out that things work a certain way, you stumble across an exception that completely destroys whatever sense of predictability you might have been cultivating. It's fairly safe to say that most fine sakes should be served chilled, to preserve and highlight their subtleties and delicate qualities. However, there are a specific class of higher end sakes that not only can be served at room temperature, but actually benefit from a little warmth. These sakes bear no resemblance in style (or... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 6, 2008 10:55 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Sake , Wine Reviews
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2005 Blackbird Vineyards Proprietary Red Wine, Napa
I make it my business to keep my eye on new California wineries, especially in Napa and Sonoma, as much as I can given the fact that I do a lot of other things besides write about wine. Whenever possible, I like to taste the first releases from these wineries. They are not always fantastic - some are good, some show potential, and some simply need to be written off as first efforts and retried again later. That's the thing about wines, just because they're not good now, that doesn't mean they won't be later, and, of course, vice versa.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 3, 2008 11:43 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
- Comments (13) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
Movia, Slovenia: Current Releases
Visitors to the far Northeast of Italy, in the shadows of the Austrian Alps, quickly realize that they are not really in Italy, no matter what the maps say. Traveling to the east of Venice and north of Trieste puts one in the midst of a a patchwork quilt of languages, geography, and political affiliations. One town will speak perfect Italian, and you'll find risotto on every table and then a few kilometers away, another town will speak German and serve you knockwurst. Such diversity is actually quite entertaining and makes for a really interesting variety of food and, as... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 26, 2008 9:18 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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Meteor Vineyard, Napa: Debut Releases
Barry Schuler may know a thing or two about running multi-billion dollar technology companies, but what he really wants to talk about, given the chance, is food and wine. The former CEO of AOL, Schuler often gets credited along with Steve Case (who preceded Schuler as CEO) for the company's success in the late Nineties. But while his colleagues and most of America's top technology executives were returning home at the end of their long days to comfortable suburbs near major metropolitan areas, at the end of the week Schuler was making his way back to Napa, California. Schuler may... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 11, 2008 7:24 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews
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Does Napa's Best Cabernet Live in Oakville?: A Recent Tasting
While often referred to as a single "place" when it comes to wine, Napa is hardly a single monolithic growing region. Each of its 14 established AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) lays claim to a separate identity, characterized by geology, microclimate, and different histories of production. The Oakville AVA has one of the most storied of such histories. It is home to the famed To Kalon Vineyard, purchased by H.W. Crabb in 1868, shortly after the installation of a railroad stop made the tiny village of Oakville spring to life. In 1876 Crabb's neighbor John Benson bottled his inaugural vintage of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 4, 2008 11:08 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2005 Piña Napa Valley "D'Adamo Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa
If one were to speculate on the wine market as a savvy investor might in the small-cap stock market, the game would be the same: follow people you know with good track records. In the wine world, we'd also have to include a corollary about betting on great vineyard sites, but leaving aside the raw materials, it's clear that most good wines don't happen by accident. They're made by talented people. Finding talented people in Napa isn't hard at first. There are a lot of them, many of whom have big brand names. When they start working for a winery,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 2, 2008 11:48 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2005 Domaine Albert Boxler Pinot Gris "Vieilles Vignes," Alsace
Like Jazz standards interpreted endlessly by masters and amateurs alike, grapes find infinite expression in the hands of winemakers around the world. These interpretations, filtered through the lens of a regions climate and geology, are often wildly different from place to place. Syrah from Paso Robles in California, the Barossa Valley in Australia, Cornas in France's Northern Rhone Valley, and Washington State's Colombia Gorge are so wildly different you might even question that they were the same grape in a blind tasting. Such variation serves to both delight and befuddle wine lovers at different turns, and can often prompt the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 21, 2008 10:58 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews
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2003 Pulenta Estate "Gran Corte VII" Red Wine, Mendoza, Argentina
Three years ago this week I was making my way around the top restaurants of Buenos Aires, ordering too much food, too much wine, and having a grand old time. I had come to Argentina, in addition to simply relax, to find out whether or not there was anything worth drinking made out of a grape called Malbec. The answer, of course, was a resounding "yes!" I managed to figure out why some serious wine lovers (and critics alike) had begun to quietly suggest that Argentinean Malbec was going to be the Next Big Thing. This wine was NOT one... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 16, 2008 11:09 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Neal Family Vineyards, Napa: Current Releases
In some ways, if Mark Neal and his small winery, Neal Family Vineyards, didn't make fantastic wines, it would be cause for extreme concern. Neal has been working in the vineyards since the age of eight, and his family business, which was responsible for his early employment among the vines, has been managing many of Napa's finest vineyards for more than four decades. At this point, Jack Neal and Sons, which still carries the name of Mark's father, who passed away in 1994, is the single largest vineyard management company in Napa according to Neal. They manage well over 2000... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 10, 2008 10:11 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2005 Domaine de Chateau Gaillard Saumur, Loire Valley, France
The Loire Valley is perhaps one of the most underrated and unexplored (by most Americans) wine producing regions in France. So often eclipsed by the bombast of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Rhone, if it is known at all, the Loire tends to be known for its famous Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre. Yet the region, which is the largest white wine producing region in France, and the third largest winegrowing appellation (AOC) in the country, also produces many excellent red wines, chiefly from Cabernet Franc. The most dominating feature of the Loire Valley must be the river itself, France's longest and... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 2, 2008 9:20 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Cooper-Garrod Vineyards, Santa Cruz Mountains: Current Releases
One of the greatest joys in my life remains the feeling I get when stumbling upon a small winery whose name rings no bells, but who produces excellent wines. I don't know why this is, exactly, but it has replaced the childish joy I used to experience as a young boy when finding a small crystal on a hike, or setting a new personal record for stone skipping on a pond. Little wineries with high quality wines are like buried treasure, I guess, but these days my goal is not to hoard but to share as widely as possible. Which... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 15, 2008 7:15 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews
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Kapcsándy Family Winery, Napa: Current Releases
Napa has a way of turning modest dreams into major productions. Lou Kapcsándy and his wife Bobbie decided to retire to Napa mostly out of nostalgia for the picnics and wine tasting they used to do as a young married couple living in Sausalito. Forty years after the first of these romantic escapes, their retirement dream included only a little cottage with at most an acre or so of vines, so Lou could putter in the garage and make a barrel or two of wine from his backyard fruit. Three years after the family, including their son Louis, made the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 4, 2008 7:54 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2001 Benanti "Pietramarina" Bianco Superiore, Etna DOC, Sicily
I try to avoid getting into discussions about terroir for the same reasons I avoid arguing about religion: no one has any proof, but everyone seems to have strong opinions. I tend to share my own opinions only amongst those whom I have pre-screened as like-minded when it comes to issues of how and whether wines can actually taste of the place from which they come. Regardless of whether you are a believer or not, and independent of what elements of its origin you truly believe can be expressed in a wine, perhaps you can agree with me that at... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 27, 2008 10:23 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine
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The Best Cabernet in Napa: Tasting Premiere Napa Valley 2008
One of my favorite events each year involves the opportunity to sample some of the best wines that Napa produces in a given vintage. At Premiere Napa Valley, an auction that serves as the world's most expensive "bake sale" to support the efforts of the non-profit Napa Valley Vintners Association, journalists like me get a chance to sneak a taste of hundreds of unique wines that are purchased by the nation's top wine retailers at staggeringly high prices. This year, as every year, 200 member wineries each crafted a unique auction lot of wine that in most cases represents the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 24, 2008 10:34 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews
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2002 Vodopivec Vitovska, Friuli-Venezia Giulia IGT, Italy
In the far Northeastern corner of Italy there lies a countryside that is better defined by wine than by any geopolitical affiliation. The far eastern edge of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia winegrowing region has been a member of many countries and many empires, and by now its people are used to living in different countries every three or four decades, it seems. The one constant in this area of small picturesque valleys and numerous natural limestone caves (good for hiding from whoever your present occupiers are), has always been wine, and in particular, white wines, some of which I will unabashedly... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 16, 2008 9:41 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews
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2002 Pietratorcia "Scheria" Rosso, Isola d'Ischia, Italy
The phrase "wine country" generally evokes a wide variety of mental images, largely derived from each person's individual experience in such landscapes. My mental image is most certainly the golden hills of Sonoma County from my summers spent as a child in Northern California, followed closely by the lush green hills of Tuscany in the springtime. I'd venture to say one of the least common pictures of wine country would be a tiny volcanic island, growing grapes within a stone's throw of the Mediterranean and interspersed with geysers and mud baths. Leaving aside the coincidence that Napa valley has its... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 14, 2008 11:10 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Renaissance Vineyards, Sierra Foothills, CA: Current Releases
I don't think anything excites me quite as much as finding a small producer of wine that is off most people's radar and discovering that they are making tremendous wines. I'm always in a tricky position when I do this, because by virtue of publicizing great winemaking on a small scale, I make the wine harder to get for everyone, including myself. I do occasionally also get some e-mails from ticked off wine lovers bemoaning the fact that I've divulged one of their secret sources for great wine. But that's all occupational hazard for me, and doesn't outweigh the joy... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 5, 2008 11:51 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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2006 HdV "De la Guerra" Chardonnay, Carneros
California's Carneros AVA (American Viticultural Area) is unusual in many respects. It's most well known eccentricity is that it exists divided between two other AVAs -- Sonoma County and Napa Valley. One of its other oddities, at least for me, is the fact that the best wines from this region are invariably made by producers who do not actually have wineries there. Many have argued with me on this point, but I maintain that, overwhelmingly, this is true. There is perhaps one striking exception to this belief of mine, and it's name is HdV, or Hyde de Villaine Wines. Not... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 24, 2007 10:51 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews
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2003 Meyer Family Cellars Syrah, Mendocino
There are some California appellations that need no introduction, others that will ring a bell for experienced wine lovers, and only a select few that nine out of ten people will likely never have heard of. Up until a few years ago, the Yorkville Highlands was one such appellation. These days, it's hard to tell whether it still languishes in obscurity or is gradually making its name known to lovers of California wine. Every time I meet a winemaker or winery marketing person from the area, however, after telling me where their grapes are grown, they always briefly pause,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 3, 2007 5:39 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews
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Tasting the Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries for 2007
There are public wine tastings and then there are public wine tastings. The difference between the good ones and the bad ones can be quite dramatic. The bad ones are in crappy locations, are poorly organized, offer no food, and only mediocre wines. The good ones are, well, just the opposite -- nicely organized, well catered, and offer great wines. And the best ones? Well, they throw in a jazz quartet, and all you can eat oyster bar, a dessert bar, and wines that sometimes retail for hundreds of dollars, if you can find them. All of which nicely describe... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 27, 2007 2:40 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Activities
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1997 Colgin "Herb Lamb Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa
There are several tiers of wines that can legitimately and confidently wear the name tag: HELLO MY NAME IS: Cult Napa Cabernet at any party they happen to attend. The top tier is populated by Screaming Eagle, a single wine that practically invented the phrase "cult Cabernet." Below the hysterically unattainable pricing and scarcity of the Eagle, however, there are several wines which clearly deserve the moniker, and which tend to get consumed a bit more often, if only because in doing so, a wine lover isn't drinking a the equivalent of a San Francisco monthly mortgage payment. That's not... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 14, 2007 11:02 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Older Vintages , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2005 Kindred Wines "Amber Ridge Vineyard" Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
The Northern California wine scene is like a giant spreading metropolis. I think I read a few days ago that a building over 20 stories is completed in Shanghai every 12 days or something crazy like that. Northern California wine country is experiencing its own boom of expansion, and wineries big and small are popping up all over. One of my greatest joys is looking through the nooks, crannies, and back-alleyways of this boomtown for brand new wines that have a great future ahead of them. While the search is fun, finding them can be exhilarating -- an adjective that... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 5, 2007 10:50 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews
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2005 Lusco do Mino "Pazo Pineiro de Lusco" Albariño, Rias Baixas, Spain
Spain has many claims to fame in the wine world but it will always hold a special place in my heart for being home to the wine region that is the most fun to say: Rias Baixas. Confoundingly difficult to wrap one's English tongue around, as is most of the Galician language, this small region produces wines that most white wine lovers should want to wrap around their tongues. For the record it's reeyahs-bye-shuss, and it is tucked into the far northwest corner of Spain near the border with Portugal and the Atlantic ocean. Were it not for the fact... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 1, 2007 11:13 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews
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2001 Raphael Cabernet Sauvignon, North Fork of Long Island, NY
Like many wine lovers, I enjoy exploring the wine regions of the world from the comfort of my own kitchen table. Night after night I open a bottle or two and experience little bits and pieces of the world -- snapshots of places and times captured in flavors and colors and aromas. Some of these explorations don't offer much return on the investment. There's a lot of wine out there, and much of it is below ordinary in quality, especially from wine regions that often carry labels such as "up and coming." I take extra care and effort to try... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 24, 2007 9:41 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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California's Best Boutique Wines: Tasting Family Winemakers 2007
Better late than never? Many of you have been e-mailing me for the last few weeks since the Family Winemakers tasting event here in San Francisco asking when my notes from the tasting would be up on Vinography. My intent has not been to teach you a lesson of patience, rather I was learning a lesson myself: DO NOT GO FOR TWO DAYS. Folks, I ended up tasting over three hundred fifty wines over two days, and that is just too many. It's taken me hours and hours to transcribe my scores from the tasting, but I've finally finished. Family... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 11, 2007 11:36 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews
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Rolf Binder Wines, Barossa, Australia: Current Releases
Some of my favorite people in the world are those who offer no affect of their knowledge, even when you're swimming through waters in which they are clearly expert. I aspire to that sort of demeanor myself, but I've got work to do. Something in me always wants to be helpful, teacherly, and before I know it, I find myself rambling on about this or that. Guess what kind of old man I'm going to be? The kind that tells the same stories over, and over, and over again. I managed to sit through nearly an entire lunch of tasting... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 1, 2007 5:35 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2001 Enrico Santini "Montepergoli" Rosso, Bolgheri, Tuscany
When I think of Italy as a wine producing country, I tend to think to think of it as ancient. It is the home of thousands of indigenous varieties of grapes, and people have been making wine for centuries, sometimes in the very same spot for dozens of generations. This is certainly true in many of the most established and famous of Italy's wine regions. What I tend to forget is that there are other wine regions which are relatively new, in which the standards for what is good and what is not are still being defined by every new... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 27, 2007 6:59 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Lang and Reed Wine Company, Napa: Current Releases
All of us wine lovers inevitably discover, in the course of our explorations, our own secret wineries. These are the wines that we hold close to our chest, revealing them to those with whom we share only our choicest of morsels, which often include such things as parking spaces, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and great movies and books. As I'm in the business of sharing great wine with readers all the time, I can't really afford to hold much back. But I'd be lying if I told you I had reviewed or written about all my most favorite wineries around the world.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 25, 2007 11:02 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2001 Domaine Joseph Roty "Fontenys" Gevrey-Chambertin, Burgundy, France
I'm a sucker for curmudgeons and iconoclasts in the world of wine. Perhaps these eccentric winemakers play into my romantic notions of the mystery of wine, which I pray never to lose despite my increasingly rational and commercial view of the wine industry. There's just something seductive about a winemaker who does things his own way no matter what anyone says. Joseph Roty's family has been making wine in roughly the same spot in Burgundy for 11 generations, which means that they've had plenty of time to settle into their own ways of doing things. While some winemaking families can... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 20, 2007 10:16 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Wolf Family Vineyards: Current Releases
Napa is increasingly the province of large established wineries with pedigrees that are as long as either their mailing lists or the lines at their tasting rooms on summer weekends. This, of course, is not exactly a fantastic thing, especially when it is accompanied by rising prices for wines bearing the appellation designation. Luckily, as in many other places around the country, Napa is also seeing a resurgence of small, family-run vineyards. The rise of such vineyards alongside the consolidation and increasing corporatization of the wine industry may at first be counterintuitive. How is it that both can be happening... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 16, 2007 10:42 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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2004 Spring Valley Vineyard "Frederick" Cabernet Blend, Walla Walla, WA
I'm ashamed of the city I live in. Really. I'm normally so proud at the wine sophistication of San Franciscans. Collectively we support dozens of great wine stores that carry an amazing range of wines, hundreds of restaurants with corkage policies, and we provide a home base for some of the best wine tasting events in the country. So imagine my surprise when I walked into a very large and very prominent wine store (which shall remain nameless) today looking for a bottle of Washington State Cabernet, and there were only two extremely inexpensive ones on offer. That's not what... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 13, 2007 10:17 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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1993 Williams Selyem "Rochioli Vineyard" Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma
It's not every day that I get to tell the majority of the wine world that they're dead wrong, so forgive me if I savor this a little. There is a widespread belief in critical circles that California Pinot Noir does not age well. Like all blanket stereotypes there is some truth to this, especially among those wines that are made in the lush fruit-driven style that is popular these days. And furthermore it may be true that California Pinot Noir can't age as long as Burgundy can (though we're about a decade away from even being able to put... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 23, 2007 10:22 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Older Vintages , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Belle Glos Winery, Napa: Current Releases
So let's say you're a winemaker. You have a winery in Napa. You've been making Cabernet for maybe 50 years. You've made a lot of it. You've won a lot of awards. You made more Cabernet. You've made so much Cabernet, in fact, for so many years that your name is nearly synonymous with Napa Cabernet. What happens, then, when one day you decide that you want to make Pinot Noir? In 2001 Chuck Wagner, proprietor of Caymus Vineyards faced this precise problem. Caymus Pinot just doesn't quite roll off the tongue like Caymus Cab, now does it? To be... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 12, 2007 11:10 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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MORIC, Burgenland Austria: Current Releases
There's nothing I love more in the world than being knocked on my ass by some new thing I learn about wine. I especially love those moments when I realize I've been wrong about something, or when I taste a wine that puts all the others in perspective. The last couple of years have been an education in German and Austrian wines for me. I went from knowing very little about them to tasting hundreds every year. While I certainly don't consider myself extremely knowledgeable yet, I feel like I've got a decent handle on what's out there, and what's... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 1, 2007 11:00 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews
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2004 Quixote Winery "Quixote" Petite Sirah, Napa
It seems to me that as people get older, especially those who we might consider accomplished and successful, they might feel a bit more license to lighten up or to stir the pot, having already proven themselves a bit to the world. I certainly plan on being a bit more frivolous, eccentric, and quirky if I can afford to in my old age. Napa is filled with a generation of winemakers that could easily rest on their laurels. Over the past thirty years, this group of men and women have created an industry, and most have made their own fortunes.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 17, 2007 9:37 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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