When everything tastes real good

I'm in that wonderful period where pretty much anything I open tastes nice to wonderful. Granted these are decent wines, but that's no guarantee of enjoyment. So what have I had?

• Had a going away tasting for a co-worker at work. Now wines at these work "meetings" rarely tastes good because, we don't let the wines breathe and the drinking is rather hurried. But all 3 wines I brought were quite good (for once).

1. Ercavio Roble 2005 Tempranillo Mas Que Vinos (WA 90, WS 84, $9). A great wine, partly because I didn't realize tempranillo could taste so rich. Lots going on besides the friendly fruit. Drinking nicely now. At $9 a steal. My score: 91.
2. Rosenblum 2004 England Shaw Syrah Solano County (WS 92, $28). A big purple fruit bomb with a velvet texture. The tannins were getting under control and the complexity was rising on my last glass. (My stupid coworkers drank way more than I did, leaving me, the provider with not as much as I would have liked). My tentative score: 91.
   
3. Frederic Mabileau 2005 Cab Franc, St. Nicolas de Bourgueil AOC
   "Les Rouilleres" from the Loire (W&S 91, $13) . Took a while to open up, which was tough for my impatient coworkers who kept saying it was young. But a nice acidity with fresh red berries and a gentle woody earth. It was continuing to soften when the bottle finally ran out. Reminded me of a big pinot in some ways. Great with food and possibly cheese. My score: 90 (but if you like this style a 92).
   

• Lehmann 2005 Shiraz Barossa (WS 91, $13). I finally couldn't take it any longer and opened a bottle. Very decent and drinkable with obvious ripe plum and purple berry, though missing the richness and complexity that makes an amazing wine. My wife had no trouble sucking down her share. My score: 89-90.
• Thorn Clarke 2004 Shiraz Shotfire Ridge (WS 91, $16). One of my four pillars of big Aussie Shiraz. A medium bodied balanced wine with moderately strong dark berry fruit and some acidity. A bit of complexity but not much oak or richness. Reminds me of the Jim Barry Lodge Hill 2005 Shiraz. My score: 90.
  

Sep 2008 bargains

It's time for my quarterly bargain report, that comes out only two or three times a year.  I haven't tasted as much as I would have liked in the last few months as about 40% of the time either nothing has tasted really good or I preferred beer, due to the heat.  But nonetheless I did find some great wines that you, my loyal reader (yes, if you're reading this you are the one reader I have (don't be embarrassed)).  So cutting to the quick:

1. Columbia Crest 2006 Chardonnay Grand Estates (WS 90, $8 TJ).  This label continues to dominate all others in the number of bottles I've bought over the last 5 years.  By this metric it is my favorite wine, bar none.  (I am in fact drinking it as I type this.)  Among vintages, I'd rate the 2002 a 98, and the different 2004 and 2006 tie, both at 96.  When I want a pleasing white, this always delivers and still blows me away on occasion.  A friend K independently liked it and so did "snobby" F.  So go out to your local Trader Joes (so long as it is not in Santa Clara county as you are treading on my turf) and load up.  I certainly have.  My overall score: 92.  
2. Razor's Edge 2007 Shiraz/Viognier (WS 91, $11).  Screw cap from Australia.  Both the 2006 (pure Shiraz, WS 90) and the 2007 are delicious.  Balanced, rich with a nice complexity.  Low cost and decent production.  My overall score: 91.
3. Pope Valley 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley ($8 TJ, if they have it).  At conference in Austin TX, an acquaintance R mentioned this wine to me and I mentally pooh-poohed it (not another lame cabernet), silently of course.  But curiosity got the better of me, and I found a delicious wine with some of the most direct fresh, berry flavors I have had in not-so recent memory.  Perfect for a BBQ,  picnic, a casual get together or an end of a day sip.  [Note, I'm recommending this based on one, well now two bottles.  Danger, danger wine robinson.]  Unless your middle name is "pretentious", I think you'll like this wine.  A lot.

I realize I don't have many red bargains, because I buy at most 3 bottles of a red and I don't drink them right away.  I don't buy many whites, but those we like I get a lot more of.

A high-end dinner

We splurged last night family style.  Dinner for 8 consisted of

• salad with kumquats and pecans.
• caprese salad with di bufala and heirloom tomatoes
  
• a green lentil salad with wild arugula and goat cheese, the hit of the night.
• rib-eye and filet mignon steaks.  This place served prime grade beef and you could taste the difference over choice grade.   We had a chimichurri of olives and escabeche (pickled jalapenos, onions and carrots)
• mashed potatoes

We also splurged on wine in a big way.

• Phelps 2002 Insignia, WS 96 and the #1 wine of the year in 2005.  Disappointing given the huge expectations and build up.  Many said it was too young (tannic) and it was a bit flat.  I thought otherwise, as it was rich, though a bit simple, with olive overtones.  My score: 90.
• Two Hands 2005 Bella's Garden Shiraz, WS 95 and the #5 wine for 2007.  This was so good we got a second bottle, despite the price.  Everyone liked this a lot. A thick rich wine with spices and lots going on in the background.  So long as I tried some food between sips so as not to fatigue my palate it was delicions sip after sip.  While it wasn't the best wine I've ever tasted it was right up there.  And I realize I've capped my scoring at 93 (which is artificially low) before, but I need to break out of that.  My score: 94.
• Layer Cake 2007 Primitivo.  Primitivo is the genetic precursor to zinfandel, from Italy.   Unanimously interesting, but for different reasons.  C said "glass jelly".  I got something familiar that was baked, with almost jammy flavors that was almost elegant.  M just kept saying "Interesting". And anything that bring such diverse yet strong opinions is great.  My score: 91.
• Cristom 2006 Pinot Noir Mt Jefferson this was the weakest wine of the night.  Tasted a bit thin with much complexity.  My score: 86.

How much do you think this was per person?  Given that the restaurant was "Mi Casa".  Yes, my place.  The dominant costs were the wine and the beef.   The Primitivo was only $14 and the Two Hands from Costco was $56/bottle.

Let's just say we had a high-end "Michelin" meal at 1/3 the price.

All roads lead to Rhone

I've had my usual "wine slump" lately, where nothing tastes terribly good, except for wine that comes in half bottles called "beer".  But as of this week, I'm loving wine again and it's been a tale of Cote du Rhones or CdR.  (These wines are a blend of Grenache and Syrah with Mourvedre occasionally blended in.  The GSM blend came from this region, initially.)  And I've opened four CdR wines in the the last three days.  Do the math.

It all started out with a wine I picked up from the display advertising at the Wine Club where the staff thought this $14 CdR was the best initial wine from a winery they could remember.  So this Wed, I open the 2007 Andre Andrieux CdR Village and it is nice with some fruit.  I'm looking for more S(yrah) and less G(renache).   But after breathing it bit, it softened and had a beautiful silky texture.  Not super complicated, but big violet fruit with a hint of earth and mineral in a medium body with deep purple color.  I thought it might be 50% Syrah due to the fruit intensity, but it was all (ripe) Grenache.   So yummy.  Even my wife liked this CdR.  My score: 92.

Thursday, I finally opened a St Cosme, the 2007 CdR (WS 90, $12).  I have both the 2006 and the 2007 of this mostly Syrah blend, but this was my first try.  Big, deep with ripe fruit.  I thought it could be an Italian wine.  My wife liked this, too.  My score: 90.

Tonight, being Fri, it is another CdR, the Domaine Mourchon 2004 CdR Village (WS 90, $17?).  I have this wine because we biked up/around the mountain from Vaison LaRomain a few years back and ended up at this winery at our most tired point.  The winery and the rest stop there was a gods send.  The wine later scored well at WS 90, so obviously I had to buy this.  Big not-overly ripe dark berry in a medium body.  This tastes like it is mostly Syrah, but it is 65% Grenache and 35% Syrah.  Hmm.  It is opening up and softening up nicely as I type this, picking up some nice spice, forcing me to upgrade the score.  The wife likes it, too.  My score: 91-92.

And I couldn't resist contrasting yet another CdR.   Soon,  I opened the Perrin et Fils 2004 Vacqueyras Les Christian (WS 91).  This is my "reference" CdR for a gravelly Grenache blend (80% G with 20% S).  And it is totally different.  Smells of band-aids and musty gravel by the sea, with red fruit and corresponding intense flavors.  Medium to lean texture.  My wife hates this, but I'm enjoying this alot.  And the contrast with the Mourchon is startling given that these came from the same region.   My score: 91-92.

So from most gravelly/"structured" (aka not big and fruity) to most ripe, we have: 

• Perrin & Fils, 
• Andre Andrieux, 
• Domain Mourchon and then 
• Saint Cosme.  

But the bottom line is this week, all roads have led to happiness.

Picking a birthday wine

It was my birthday recently and I had my entire cellar (ok, collection, since we Cali folks don't have cellars) to choose from. I wanted something really good to go along with the normal dinner. And the nominations for the wine I wanted to drink on my b-day were:

• Montes 2005 Syrah Alpha
  
• Thorn Clarke 2004 Shiraz Shotfire
• Luzon 2005 Luzon

It was no contest, really, as I had been thinking of this wine the previous 24 hours for some reason... Montes Alpha. And it was showing itself beautifully with intense dark fruit and dark spice flavors. Medium bodied, balanced. My score: 92.