Apr

10

When I was at the Santa Cruz Mountain trade tasting the other day, I had the pleasure of meeting the owner and winemaker of Domenico Wines, Dominick Chirichillo.  Through my own research prior to attending the event, I had identified his winery as one whose wines I could not miss.   

domeniconebbiolo2005.jpgI came home with an array of Domenico wines, and when I popped open my first bottle, Domenico’s 2005 Nebbiolo from Amador County (i.e., in the Sierra Foothills), I was happy to discover that my pre-event research resulted in good information.

There was quite a bit going on in this wine – lots of leather complimented by a touch of tar, dark cherry, and plum, and when we took a taste, we were struck by how beautifully the initially dominant dark fruit flavors yielded to leathery ones in the midpalate, and then back to a mix of everything on the long finish.  The body of this wine was big, but the tight tannins helped give it impressive backbone. 

As you can all probably tell by now, we at WineRabbi expect serious performance out of wines that cost more than $20, because there’s so much on the market below that price point that’s terrific.  The Domenico Nebbiolo met and exceeded that expectation by quite a stretch. 

We still have a variety of Domenico wines left, so don’t be surprised to see reviews of their other bottles in the near future. 

Apr

8

What a week we’re having over here.  I attended a trade-only tasting in Los Gatos organized by the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association and had the opportunity to sample some truly glorious wines, the most notable of which were Burgundian-style Pinots, Chardonnays, and — though I’m not usually a fan — a fabulous Barbera.  More on those later.

For now, though, we thought it appropriate to lay the groundwork for the warmer months ahead, when barbecues across the nation will fire up to cook foods in need of a wine companion, by reviewing a nicely priced Zinfandel. 

We bought our bottle of Cline Zinfandel directly from Cline’s tasting room — it was there that our pourer, a lovely woman who had relocated from Arizona to work in the California wine industry, first gave us the idea of naming our Tuesday posts ”Weekday Wines.”  Weekday wines were those on the front side of the menu costing $20 and less, and weekend wines made up the rest on the back side.

Interestingly, we ended up purchasing the cheapest bottle of everything on offer, and tasting it again the other night validated our choice.  Our bottle tasted of raisins and plums, with black pepper present on the finish — it wasn’t really a complex wine, but it had enough acid to counterbalance the high alcohol content, and the flavors were quite pleasing to our palates. 

Conclusion?  A perfect wine to buy in bulk for a barbecue.  Mission accomplished!

Mar

27

This is hands down the best value in a Pinot Noir that I could ever expect to come across.  The only problem is that the $18.58 price tag existed for only 48 hours during Gundlach Bundschu’s 150th anniversary sale a couple of weeks ago.  As you might remember, we told you about it as it was happening, and those of us that took note (and action) should give ourselves a pat on the back: we won big.  The same bottle now sells at its usual price of $38.  

Apart from being a lovely winery with very friendly staff, Gun Bun makes quality wines nearly across the board, with the most notable of them being the Gewurztraminer, the Pinot Noir, and, this year, the Cabernet Sauvignon.  We expect to write more on the Cab in the near future.

Shopping for good Pinot in this post-Sideways (the link is to the movie’s official web site) era can be frustrating.  Even lousy Pinots sell above the $20 mark, and if there’s anything Wine Rabbi abhors it’s a bottle of wine that costs $20+ but doesn’t perform.

Enter the Gun Bun Pinot, which would have been worth the cost even had we paid the usual price.  We found a gorgeous nose and flavors of oaky vanilla, black cherry, and strawberries, along with a kiss of black pepper on the finish.   The body, color (amber), and intensity (light) were all of the more elegant Burgundian style, and the lively acidity and supple tannins gave it all the backbone we would have wanted. 

At $38, this Pinot would have been a great value.  At $18.58, the value was off the charts. 

Mar

20

In Chardonnays, we tend to prefer the lighter, crisper style of French Burgundies over the bigger bodied, creamier, and less acidic New World versions.  Still, every once in a while we’ll be taken by surprise by a bottle from the non-European regions that will defy our usual preference.  This was certainly the case with the Taz Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2006.   

So, ok, the Taz had some typical California characteristics that usually aren’t our bag: it was rich and had the creamy texture of peach juice, and it also had tropical fruit flavors that one would expect from a warm climate.  Regardless, there was so much acidity packed into our bottle that we became convinced that we were getting the best of both the Old and New Worlds: rich, luscious fruit flavors and full body, on the one hand, and mouthwatering, fresh puckeriness on the other.

We included the Taz in our tasting last weekend (which we described in more detail in Tuesday’s posting), and it turned out that this wine’s greatest strength quality-wise – acidity – was also the very thing that disappointed us most.  In planning our tasting, we were intending that a Chardonnay from Southern California would act as sacrificial lamb in helping us demonstrate why we prefer the French version of the varietal.  As it turned out, it seemed everyone — including me — preferred the Taz over our chosen Burgundy. 

One thing to suggest: let the Taz sit out for about an hour before drinking.  As we found out last Sunday, it opens up widely with exposure to air revealing tantalizing banana, pineapple, and pear aromas.  We were a teeny bit less enthusiastic by the lemon drops we tasted in the finish, but it hardly detracted from our overall view of the wine: fantastic.

Feb

7

Not long before the Super Bowl, I happened across an article that talked about the best wines to drink during a football game.  The person being interviewed suggested two options: a crisp white wine like a Riesling, which is great with food and won’t worry hosts about carpet spillages, or a Syrah, which tends to pair well with barbecued foods.

I have to admit, though, the wine that I brought to my friends’ Super Bowl party was the above-named Pinot Noir, which is neither a crisp white like Riesling nor a heavy red like Syrah.  Still, we did manage to enjoy both the wine and the game… and, I might add, there were no spillages.  With a light body, beautifully complex berry aromas, a sensual mouthfeel and a lingering finish, any wine connoisseur who has tried the 2004 McHenry Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir would say the same thing: that this Pinot is more like an old world version, in its subtlety and gracefulness, than one from California. 

The bottom line for our purposes?  Not a Super Bowl wine, but with football season in the rear-view mirror and Valentine’s Day fast approaching, this wine is ever more relevant for anyone seeking a bottle appropriate for the holiday.  Riesling might be good for keeping carpets clean and Syrah might pair well with barbecue, but there’s no doubt that this wine pairs well with romance.

Take note that only 320 cases of this Pinot Noir were made, so purchasing a bottle might require a little bit of legwork.  One place that had it as of last week is Vintage Berkeley, which ships across the country.  You can also try ordering directly from the winery itself by clicking here.     

Jan

22

This past year I came up with the project of bringing a list of some of the best bargain bottles of 2007 - about 80 bottles long - to wine merchants to ask if they had anything in stock. 

It was through this effort that I managed to find the wine for which this posting is named: 2005 Turley Zinfandel Juvenile.  Going through my list with the manager of a local wine shop, it seemed that we were headed for a lost cause until he came to this bottle, which he remembered he’d had in his store-room for six months but never had the chance to put out on the shelf.  Success!  

While I can assure you that it is still available for purchase, you may no longer be able to buy it for the $22 that it sold for back in November due to declining availability.  In fact, on one site I saw it retailing at $40.

Still, if you do end up tracking down this wine, you’ll be tasting one of our favorite Zinfandels from last year.  Even beginning with the nose, you know you’re in for something good: I picked up scents of liquorice, dark red fruit and pepper.   On the taste, I found a lighter-than-usual body relative to the normally heavy Zinfandel from Central California, which - due to ripening by the hot climate - can be a meal in and of itself.  My favorite quality of all: the abundance of pepperiness and spice, which shines through especially on the finish, that is so typical of this varietal. 

High marks for this one, even at $40. 

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