Wines of the month 7/07

I realized that I've been remiss on recommending wines that I've liked and have good availability. So here's a list for the past 2 months:

1. Montes 2005 Alpha Syrah: $16 Costco and all over - spicy, complex with red fruit with a lush body. My favorite Chilean wine to date. (WS 92, too).
2. Columbia Crest 2004 Grand Estates Merlot: $8 at TJ - a nice plush wine with dark fruit and some sweet spice. Hard not to like this and it's under $10. (WS 90, too)
   
3. Marquis Philips 2005 SE Australia Shiraz: $14 at Costco? & Wine Club - big rich Shiraz with nice spice to it. What an Australian Shiraz should taste like.
   
4. Beringer 2004/5 Alluvium $15 at various - a chameleon of whites. Sometimes it is a rich spicy white, other times tangy and acidic, and other times there is a smoky edge to it. In most cases, very nice. Obviously complex or at least has a multiple complexions. (Always gets 89 or 90 from WS)
   
5. Kali Hart 2005 Chardonnay $10 at Wine Club - big, oaked, sweet chardonnay. No prisoners taken, but you won't care.
6. Rosemount 2004/5 Traminer/Reisling $4 at TJ - semi-sweet with some acidity. Come on, how can you go wrong for $4? (WS 86)

The best wine I've had recently was the Neyers 2005 Syrah Old Lakeville Road Sonoma Coast. I bought 2 bottles for a wine tasting at work and fortunately got to take the remaining 1/2 bottle home. Took a long time to open up but had a smoky bacon along with rich dark fruit and spice. Sadly, I don't know if I can get another bottle. I gave it 93 points. (WS 87, Tanzer 93).

A Two Buck Chuck Surprise

No, I'm not referring to the 2005 Two Buck Chuck winning the Best Chardonnay in California with no price limit over 270 other chardonnays at the 2007 Sacramento State Fair. That's old news.

I'm talking about the 2002 Shiraz they made. It won a gold medal or two back then, so remember hunting a bottle down. I think that I was supposed to look for the a specific bottling, too. I remember having to go to more than one Trader Joes to find it, if I recall.

About 7 of us had dinner with wine at work, yesterday. The 2BC Shiraz had no varietal character at all, in fact I'd be hard pressed to guess what grape this was. But it was tasting rather well with pleasing fruit and a medium body. Smooth with just a touch of acidity. I'd give it an 87. This was surprising for many reasons

• It's Two Buck Chuck
• It was a 2002, and I didn't expect any 2BC to keep so well
• I haven't exactly protected it over the years. It sat in a wine rack on the bottom shelf of a in the wall book case. It was protected much of the time by other wine boxes in front of it, but the temperatures routinely reach 75 or 77 in the summer. And it's been there for 4+ years.
• It's Two Buck Chuck

A coworker, Neha, even liked the 2BC better than a 2005 Razor's Edge Shiraz (WS 90). I'll admit the Razor was pretty closed initially, but it a spicy pepperiness along with the subdued dark fruit. And the Razor's started to open up after 45 minutes developing a rich body, which I'd give an 89.

But perhaps the biggest surprise later that evening was my own elation at finding I had two more bottles of the 2002 Shiraz Two Buck Chuck.

The last place to look for those hard to find gems

Admittedly I am a slave to WS reviews, so that when the store sign said it was 91 point Pinot for $19, I took notice. I snapped up 4 bottles, assuming the signage was correct. Checking online when I got home (note to self: if you get an iPhone, you can check at the store), I found the following review:

Refined, elegant and beautifully focused, offering pure blueberry, plum and creamy spice flavors that linger against superfine tannins on the light finish. Drink now through 2014. 150 cases imported

Now the interesting thing to me is they only exported 150 cases (1800 bottles) to the US, the Te Kairanga 2004 Pinot Noir Martinborough Runholder from NZ. Guess where I found this?

The Mountain View Costco.

I also noticed another NZ wine, the Kumeu River 2004 Chardonnay, which was scored very well for under $20. And upon checking at home, there are only 600 cases imported. And it is at the MV Costco. Go figure.

Blind Tasting at home 7/7/7

On 7/14, I stacked the box with big reds. I removed the Pinot, the Cote du Rhone and the inexpensive Cabernet. I was left with a some heavy hitters.

1. Marquis Phillips 2003 Sarahs Blend
   
2. Marquis Phillips 2005 Shiraz 2005
   
3. Jip Jip Rocks 2005 Shiraz
   
4. Lehman's 2002 Cabernet
   
5. Jim Barry 2001 Cabernet (I just pulled this out of the wine fridge... I'm expecting wonderful things if this is selected)
   
6. Opolo 2005 Mountain Summit Zin
   
7. Montes 2003 Alpha Syrah
   
8. Columbia Crest 2002 Two Vines Shiraz
   
9. Melipal 2003 Malbec
   
10. Vina Robles 2005 R4 (Paso Robles blend of Syrah and more)
    

Sunday evening, 7/8/7, after multi hour road trip home, I got a mysterious glass. There was not much nose, but the palate had dark berry and a dark spiciness. Flavorful, but not especially rich. I was in a quandry.

On a Saturday afternoon 7/14, the wine had ripe plum and a bit of spiciness. Given the preponderance of Australian wines, it smelled alot like a Barossa. The color was a bit muted with a dark purple but not excessively thick, making me think it was an older wine. However the firt taste, changed my mind. Sweet, ripe and jammy with that sweet mineral edge I remember the Opolo tasting like from the SF Zin tasting several months ago. Subsequent sniffs were also consistent with a Zin. Sticking to my guns, I got it right on the first guess. A first two ways. I'll admit this was a weakened (and weekend) field, as the wines were mostly Shiraz and Cab. And the Opolo should stick out. Also, it's not as good as I remember it being. But still nice. Score: A.

Montes 2003 Alpha Syrah The box complexion had changed a bit to

1. Marquis Phillips 2003 Sarahs Blend
   
2. Marquis Phillips 2005 Shiraz 2005
   
3. Molly Dooker 2005 Merlot "Scooter"
   
4. Molly Dooker 2005 Shiraz Two Left Feet
   
5. Columbia Crest 2002 Two Vines Shiraz
   
6. Columbia Crest 2004 Grand Estates Merlot
   
7. Columbia Crest 2003 Grand Estates Merlot
   
8. Melipal 2003 Malbec
   
9. Vina Robles 2005 R4 (Paso Robles blend of Syrah and more)
   
10. Rosenblum 2004 Richard Sauret Zinfandel
    
11. Montes 2005 Alpha Syrah
    
12. Chateau Rauzan Despagne 2005 Bordeaux
    

The wine had a nose of dark fruit with earthy, farmyard, tobacco notes with spiciness. It didn't seem as rich and spicy as I remember the Montes, but it had that funk Chilean wines have. Montes? Nope, that hurt, as it was my best guess. What ensued was a bit of blind poking. R4? Nope. Now I was hurting. MP Sarah's Blend? Nope. Molly Dooker Left Feet? Nope. Finally I remember the Bordeax and guessed that. Yes. It had more fruit and spice initially than I expected but it fit the barnyard, tobacco notes. Damn I should have gotten this on the second guess. Score: C.

1. Marquis Phillips 2003 Sarahs Blend
   
2. Marquis Phillips 2005 Shiraz 2005
   
3. Molly Dooker 2005 Merlot "Scooter"
   
4. Molly Dooker 2005 Shiraz Two Left Feet
   
5. Columbia Crest 2002 Two Vines Shiraz
   
6. Columbia Crest 2004 Grand Estates Merlot
   
7. Melipal 2003 Malbec
   
8. Vina Robles 2005 R4 (Paso Robles blend of Syrah and more)
   
9. Rosenblum 2004 Richard Sauret Zinfandel
   
10. Montes 2005 Alpha Syrah
    
11. Bianchi 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
    
12. Buehler 2005 Zinfandel
    

It's a lovely Sat afternoon. Another round. At first there was a zin hint due to the ripeness but that has gone. A bit of tobacco and funk. Dark fruit with some spice. Medium intense. Short finishes with some heaviness and spice. I'm struggling from the start. Not funky enough to be Chilean. No ripe fruit for a zin. Too much funk for an Aussie. Malbecs aren't so heavy, I think. This could get ugly and it dies. Bianchi 2002 Cab from Chile? Nope. Malbec? Nope. Buehler? Nope. Scooter Merlot? Nope. Vino Robles R4? Nope. Columbia Crest 2002 Syrah? Nope. I've now guessed half the wines. Montes Alpha Syrah? Nope. Marquis Shiraz? Nope. Marquis Sarah's? Yes. Good thing I used the process of elimination rather than having a trained palate. Score: F.

As this game has continued, I can see that a play by play is wearing thin for even me. Some of this is due to blogger losing some of my edit, as I edited this post from multiple different laptops at home and at work. So much for the vaulted "autosave". In any case, I've been doing much better at guessing:

1. Marquis Phillips 2005 Shiraz 2005
   
2. Molly Dooker 2005 Shiraz Two Left Feet
   
3. Columbia Crest 2002 Two Vines Shiraz
   
4. Columbia Crest 2002 Grand Estates Merlot
   
5. Columbia Crest 2003 Grand Estates Merlot
   
6. Vina Robles 2005 R4 (Paso Robles blend of Syrah and more)
   
7. Montes 2005 Alpha Syrah
   
8. Montes 2005 Alpha Cabernet
   
9. Norton 2005 Malbec Reserve
   
10. Bianchi 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
    
11. Kangarilla 2005 Zinfandel
    

Melipal 2003 Malbec: got this in one. Unique Malbec flavor. Didn't care for this much and after 5 hours, it was terrible, fading fast. Score: A.

Molly Dooker 2005 Merlot "Scooter": got this in 2. It was not overly fruity and had some spice so I guessed the Columbia Crest 2002 Two Vines Shiraz at first. I ruled out the rest and the "Scooter" was correct. This was good guess if I may say so myself. Score: B+.

7/26(?): Rosenblum Richard Sauret 2004 Zin. Got it on the first try. Though, if I had missed, I'd have to myself an C- or lower, given it's unique huge ripe flavor. Score: B+.

7/30: Peter Lehmann Clancy 2004 (Syrah, Cab, Merlot). Took me 3 guesses, as I pounded on the Aussie Shirazes, until I got it. Marquis Philips, Mollydooker and finally Clancy. I'm glad I stuck to my guns. Score: B+.

7/31: Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon. Got it in 1. Thought it was the Montes Syrah from the nose at first but it was missing the spicy complexity of the Syrah. Score: A.

A little too steamy perhaps?

Reading the following passage, from what category of fiction or non-fiction would you classify the following passage?

"ripe and concentrated .... caressed by suave.... Long and fleshy through the finish, which shows solid grip."

A steamy scene in a (romance) novel? Nope. Try the Wine Spectator writeup for the 92 point 2005 Montes Alpha Syrah, which by the way is a wonderful wine.

Here's the full passage.

"This is ripe and concentrated yet polished and refined, with layers of dark cherry, blackberry and briar caressed by suave toast, vanilla and mineral notes. Long and fleshy through the finish, which shows solid grip. Contains 7 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 3 percent Viognier. Drink now through 2009."

Unifinished business , the 750ml dilemma

You open a nice bottle of wine but you can't finish it all that night. What to do?

There are a lot of ways this can happen.

• If it is just you drinking, one bottle is a lot. Especially for a weeknight.
• You open a bottle that nobody else likes but you. Now you're "responsible" for finishing that bottle.
  
• If there are several of you, say 4, you might not be able to finish that 7th bottle you open. :)
• At your normal food and wine pairing dinner at home, one wine per course leaves a lot of unfinished bottles.

The problem is oxygen. Perhaps hence the phrase, "letting the wine breathe." Oxygen is a highly reactive element and reacts with the wine. Softening the tannins at first but then slowly turning the wine into vinegar. The rule of thumb I've heard is every hour of air is like a year of bottle age, when trying to soften a tannic red. Of course, bottle aging is gentler process and lets more complex flavors develop than beating a wine with oxygen.

Reds are a lot more finicky than whites. For a while, it seemed that 95% of the reds I opened were goners the next day on the counter. In retrospect, I was buying cheap (but highly rated, of course) ready-to-drink wines that didn't have much tannins. These wines intrinsically don't have much aging potential. And sitting on the counter overnight is like fast-forwarding through a decade. In particular, the Columbia Crest reds and Australian Shirazes, were pretty much on death row once they hit nightfall.

The solutions I myself have tried are vast, if five is considered vast.

• buy the rubber stopper and the pumper that pumps air out of the bottle. The stopper does hold a seal over night, but I found that this does not work too well. I had also read that this was useless, confirming my experience. Of course I've had friends tell me that it works great. And finally, the scientist in me knows that you can pump at most 1/3 of the air with the plunger, so you've still got 2/3 of the oxygen doing its damage. Score: D
  
• buy the spray can of inert gas that you spray (cause it's a spray can) into the bottle. The idea is to have a gas heavier than air coat the surface of the wine, forming an oxygen barrier. There are different variations of the gases, but the cannisters I've tried use carbon dioxide and a bit of argon. Initially, it seemed to sort of work, but I never felt like the next day bottle was anywhere near as nice as the night before. Score: C-
• just fuggadaboutit. Leave the darn thing corked. Score: D
• get half bottles. (See below).
• and my favorite idea... just drink the whole bottle. Score: ?? (to drunk to remember)

The half bottle solution

I poured dessert wine at a Rosenblum open house one year and they came in 375 ml bottles. I asked if I could have a case of the empties and after making sure I was taking just bottles, they gave me a case.

Since the bottles sat for 2 months ignored, I had to thoroughly wash the bottles, which was no fun. (Can you say pour boiling water and let sit overnight again and again?) I finally started using them. I would open a 750ml and immediately pour wine into the half bottle to about 1/2 inch from the top. I would then cork it leaving very little if any air. (If you fill to the brim, the cork displaces the very top and you get to wipe off your hands.) I placed the filled half bottle in my pantry which was cooler and darker than the rest of kitchen.

And the verdict is... not terribly effective at all. I got one in maybe 15 bottles that tasted good the next day. What sounded so good on paper was a flop. And there was the issue of washing out the half bottle each time for reuse. Score: C

The current solution

A friend Steve, who has all sorts of unsophisticated and contradictory views on wine (likes cheap French wine, doesn't care for too fruity, enjoys the mini bottles given out on airplanes, doesn't like oaky chardonnay), said he just sticks it in the refrigerator. I of course, poopooed this moronic idea. Until I read a Wine Spectator post from one of their tasters about essentially doing the same thing. So I tried it and well it seems to work better than anything else. Score: B+

The best chardonnay in the land

If someone asked you what the best chardonnay was, what would you answer? Let's restrict things to California, for funsies.

Of course, there is many many "right" answers, since taste is in the tongue of the beholder.
And while Beringer, Hobbs and Kistler are all potential answers, you could also argue that 2 Buck Chuck (2BC), officially known as Charles Shaw, sold for $2/bottle at Trader Joes throughout California is also a contender. How can you go wrong with a reliable chardonnay that only costs $2 bottle. Heck a glass at most restaurants costs at least 3X this much. Certainly by sales volume, measured by the bottle, 2BC is the "best" wine out there.

But what if I told you that Two Buck Chuck was the best Chardonnay in California regardless of price? Why that's crazy talk, you'd say. Except that 2BC was deemed the best Chardonnay from California at the recent California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition in Sacramento. There was no price limitation. The chardonnay received 98 points, a double gold, with accolades of Best of California and Best of Class. There were 300+ chardonnays submitted, so it was not as if 2BC beat a small or weak field. So... what happened?

This is a blind judging, so the tasters were not influenced by brand or price. One of the veteran judges said about the result: "... Charles Shaw won because it is a fresh, fruity, well-balanced chardonnay that people and wine judges — though maybe not wine critics — will like.”

Now this result is causing a bit of consternation among the wine world. I mean if a $2 wine is really that good, the rest of the wineries should just pack it up. The high end wine world has offered a variety of reasons such as

• the judges at this state fair weren't very good
• there must have been palate fatigue setting in after tasting so many wine
  
• it is conventional wisdom that middle of the road wines wines often wine competitions since extreme wines garner their fair share of detractors
• it is hard to judge wines blindly
• it was a clean unoaked chardonnay and many people are tired of oaky chardonnays
• who the heck knows what happened, but let's totally ignore tasting competitions at state fairs from now on.
• perhaps Bronco wines which makes 2BC sent specially selected bottles to the tasting. As someone who made wines themself said, "I make wines and send them to the fairs. Do you think I would send them a bad bottle?". On the other hand, I can't believe they Charles Shaw would send a ringer bottle....

My personal take, is that if you have never tasted wines blind, you won't understand. Blind tasting is the great leveler (or humiliator). And it is possible that everybody on the tasting panel liked the 2BC, which would be enough to get it very high marks.... This unfortunately doesn't explain why none of the other 250+ wines (except a Wente wine from near Livermore, which also got double gold) didn't get equally high marks....

Finally there were "only" 100,000 cases made of the 2005 2BC Chardonnay, so it could sell out fast once the news hits. After all people by 2BC by the case.

The easiest wine to buy

I am a bit disappointed that one of my previous favorite varietals has become boring to me.

• Is it no good? Not at all, it's arguably great with decent consistency.
  
• Is it red? Nope, it's a white.
  
• Am I tired of it? A bit.
  
• Is it chardonnay, which many critics say has become a wine product with a touch fruit, some malolactic fermentation (to soften its texture) and a dollop of oak, especially in the the $6-$20 price range? Nope.

It is one of the true darlings of wine right now: sauvignon blanc (SB). A few years ago I discovered it and marveled at it's crisp acidity with tangy, zippy flavors. And the New Zealand SBs were coming on strong. There were so many good NZ brands, Matua, Babich, Drylands, Huia, Nobilio and more. Much of this is world class stuff. They all tasted pretty darn good. And they were all inexpensive. Many could be had for $10 a bottle and the most expensive were $16 a bottle. I loaded up. And drank a lot of it.

And now I'm tired of it. It all tastes the same. And the final straw is that it is too easy to buy ... just pick one of good ones from NZ. It will cost $10-15. And even if you pick blindly the odds seem to be there's a at least a 50-50 shot you'll get something very good to excellent. Now, where's the adventure in that? (This assumes you are as wine obsessed as I am.)

In Paris about 10 months ago, I had a superb white that was a Sancerre, with superb acidity, flavors and a bit of mineral. Sancerre is one of the "original versions" of SB from the center of France. This would be my SB salvation. But I've hunted various bottles of Sancerre down. And while they've been good, they don't seem noticeably better than the the NZ versions. And they are twice the price. Which leads me back to my boring conclusion... just by the stuff from NZ.
If you want to be adventurous, buy a SB from Chile. Compared to the NZ stuff, it will probably: cost less, be not quite as zippy and if you're lucky will have a nice grassy taste.

The 2006 season of NZ SB is being released and I'm still buy a few bottles (Drylands, Babich, and probably Matua). Mostly for my wife and some for me in case my love of SB returns. But it is a sense of duty not passion driving this.

Big, oaky chardonnays and the last of a favorite 2002

Chardonnay is or was arguable the most popular grape out there. It's white, most people like it, and it grows well. The popular trend in the early 2000's was to make big, oaky, creamy chardonnays. People loved them and soon many (but not all) wine critics started to loath them. Oak fruit bombs with little of the actual fruit was the common complaint. While I understand the sentiment, I beg to disagree.

I'm one who likes the buttery, rich, oaky taste. And some is fine but more is better. And with the plethora of chardonnays out there, the trick is to find the really good ones that don't cost too much with good availability. Here are my choices for the last several years, in which I buy at least 4 bottles every year.

1. Kali Hart 2002-2005 Chardonnay - an over the top style that is heavy and super ripe to the point of being sweet and heavily oaked. Lots of tropical fruit and some acidity. And at under $10, how can you go wrong, when you want an after dinner wine? The 2002 scored WS 90 which made me try it and I've bought at least 8 bottles of the 2005 recently.
2. Kendall Jackson 2004-2005 Kendall Jackson Chardonnay Grand Reserve - a big, fruity, at times sweet and buttery, oaky chardonnay. RP 91 for the 2004. Available at Costco. Pick some up.
3. Columbia Crest 2002-2004 Grand Estates Chardonnay - I've saved the best for last. At it's prime, the 2002 was my wife's and my favorite white. A big, buttery, butterscotchy, buttery popcorn, tasting wine. I think you get my drift. A super bargain with a WS 89 at under $8, I probably bought 18 bottles over time. I gave it the moniker "Old Faithful" during it's heyday. But since 2006, the remaining bottles of the 2002 have been hit or miss, with a sour, thin oaky flavor. The subsequent years have the same style, but haven't been as rich. I've only bought a few bottles.
   

Today, July 4th 2007, marks the last bottle of the 2002 Columbia Crest Chardonnay I have. I hoped for a good bottle and my wishes have been answered. It is past its prime as it is a bit more sour and thin than in its glory, this bottle still has the buttery oakiness unequaled by any other wine. It's all I could have asked for as a farewell.