2007 Kali Hart Pinot Noir

The 2007 Kali Hart Pinot Noir, Monterey is the entry level Pinot Noir from Robert Talbott Vineyards. Intended for early consumption, this wine has a medium ruby color and offers up aromas of cherry cola, rhubarb and a hint of Asian spice. The palate is rather lean and tart with modest light red fruits and charred French oak. Quite acidic with negligible tannins. A bit too lean to enjoy on its own, but nicely balanced as a food wine.

2007 Dunning Syrah

Dunking your nose into a big Riedel full of 2007 Dunning Vineyards Private Reserve Syrah, Paso Robles is like stepping into a coffee house. The exotic, roasted coffee scent is just intoxicating. Of course, there's a ton of spicy blackberry fruit and a touch of licorice in there as well. Carries the 15.2% alcohol quite well. Quite plush right out of the bottle, but the tannins hit you like a bear trap after an hour or so. This has all the components to suggest it might age pretty well for a while, but I doubt I'll be able to keep my hands off for that long. You need to spend $30 on one of these next time you're having lamb.

2008 Sean Minor Chardonnay

The reasonably-priced wines of Sean Minor continue to impress me. This offering, the 2008 Sean Minor Chardonnay, Central Coast has a light golden color and a nose overflowing with pear, lemon, vanilla bean and toast. The creamy, medium-bodied palate finishes with a hint of mineral and a bit char from the tasty French Oak. Great wines for a great price!

2006 Heller Petit Verdot

In the spring of 2009 my wife and I spent a glorious week touring the wineries of Carmel Valley and Paso Robles with her sister and her sister's husband. The very first winery we stopped at was Heller Estate based on a recommendation from Ridge Watson, winemaker at Joullian. A few months earlier he had told me: "If you like Petit Verdot, you have to stop at Heller because they make the best."

Well, my sister-in-law was in town this weekend so I thought it would be an appropriate time to open one of the few remaining bottles of the 5 cases of wine we brought back from the trip. Dinner was marinated tri-tip grilled over charcoal and served with a zesty charmoula sauce. It turned out to be quite a nice pairing.


The 2006 Heller Estate Petit Verdot, Carmel Valley displays the inky black color that one would expect from this varietal and shows you why this grape is routinely added to add depth to the color of Bordeaux-style blends. The wine is quite murky (nothing wrong with that) as it receives a light fining and no filtration. The nose reveals layers of smoke, seasoned French oak, blackberry and graphite with black pepper and chocolate playing supporting roles. Firmly acidic. Not as tannic as I thought it would be, this is beautiful to drink now but can certainly age for another decade. A bit pricey at $40.

Loring Wine Company tasting

On Saturday, June 19, I attended a work function sampling 6 different Pinot Noirs from superstar winemaker Brian Loring. Loring, witty and engaging, tasted us through each of these Pinot Noirs from the excellent 2007 vintage. He doesn't own any vineyards or grow any of his own grapes. Instead, he relies on recurring “handshake” deals with some of the best growers throughout California and Oregon.

Loring explained that he crafts his wines for immediate consumption and recommends that they be consumed within 3-5 years from release. And he is unapologetic for the bold, fruit-forward style saying that he likes his big Pinot Noirs to be able to stand up to bold cuisine featuring a lot of red meat. After struggling early with poor quality corks, Loring made the transition to screw caps 6 vintages ago and he remains a fervent defender of this alternative closure. According to Loring, if the romanticism of pulling a cork is what you remember about your wine, then that wine “sucks!”

The Santa Lucia is Loring’s first ever blend and represents something of an “entry level“ wine in his portfolio. Whereas most of his Pinots spend 10 months in oak, this blend of Gary’s Vineyard and Rosella’s Vineyard sees 18 months. And it is apparent in the abundant black cherry and smoke aromas and flavors. About $32

The full-bodied and tannic Rancho La Vina (Santa Rita Hills) features beautiful raspberry and mint with notes of spicy oak and a hefty alcoholic kick. Not for the faint of heart! $45

Another wine sourced from the Santa Rita Hills is the Cargasacchi Vineyard. Similar in style to the previous wine, but with sweeter raspberry fruit, a hickory/cedar note to the wood and even bigger tannins. Nice acidic balance. $45

Durrell Vineyard (Sonoma Coast) is oozing with sweet, ripe blackberry, licorice and toast. The texture is quite thick and the acid is low. The closest thing you’ll find to a “fruit bomb” in the Loring line-up. $45

His Keefer Ranch (Russian River Valley, Sonoma) features a classic Burgundian nose of mushroom, fresh herbs and ripe red fruits. Slightly more restrained than his other offerings and I suspect a beautiful wine for duck or chicken.

Rosella’s Vineyard (Santa Lucia Highlands) is the most delicate and elegant wine of the Loring portfolio. Mocha, black fruits and a long, sweet finish are the hallmarks of this beauty. Nice acidic balance.

The real beauty of a tasting like this is being able to taste these wines at the same time and note how the same grape from different wine-growing regions in the hands of one winemaker can result in completely different finished products. Generally speaking, the wines from the northern portion of the state (such as Russian River Valley) result in more restrained, elegant wines while those from the south (Santa Lucia Highlands, Santa Rita Hills) tend to be bigger and more fruit-driven. Of course, there are exceptions such as the Sonoma Coast region where the Pacific winds create drastic temperature fluctuations throughout the day and result in massive wines.

Thanks to Brian Loring for this entertaining and educating (partial) tour of his portfolio. He told us that he is now interested in pursuing Chardonnay and even sparkling wine. Can not wait to try those over the next few years!

2007 Etude Pinot Gris

Oh, how I love this wine! The 2007 Etude Pinot Gris, Carneros is supremely aromatic with beautiful tropical pineapple and mineral flavors. The acidity is positively mouth-watering. This is the perfect dry, full-bodied white to enjoy while snacking on a spicy tuna tartare. About $20.

2007 Trenza Tinto

Threw together a bunch of leftovers for dinner tonight including pulled pork shoulder, roasted red potatoes, aromatics and a farm-fresh egg. Reaching for the smoked Spanish paprika cemented my choice of wine for the night. The 2007 Trenza Tinto, San Luis Obispo County is a blend of 42% Tempranillo, 40% Syrah, 13% Mourvedre and 5% Grenache. I think it's flavors are faithful to the new wave of high end Iberian red blends. The nose is packed with licorice, vanilla, ripe black fruits and sweet earth. The palate is relatively low in acid with good tannins and copious earthy/loamy flavors. Leather comes more to the forefront the longer the wine is exposed to air. Long, earthy finish. Fabulous color. 14.5% alcohol. Worth every penny of $26.99

South American wines

Some quick notes from a tasting of South American wines from work:

Yellow + Blue Torrontes, Cafayete, Argentina - Expressive nose of cotton candy, sweet peach and white flowers. The palate is thick and viscous with cotton candy flavors and a dry, minerally finish. Incredible value at $12/liter (Tetrapack)

2007 Quintay Sauvignon Blanc, Casablanca Valley, Chile - Considerable bell pepper and tomato leaf on the nose. Beautiful mineral and rainwater on the palate. Will appeal to fans of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. $18.49

2008 Apaltagua Envero Carmenere, Colchagua Valley, Chile - Bell pepper and blackberry cobbler on the nose. Lean and slightly green (a characteristic of this grape) on the palate with good acidity, roasted coffee and exotic spice notes. $14.99

2007 Chono San Lorenzo Estate, Maipo Valley, Chile - 50% Carmenere with the remainder being a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Cabernet Franc. Luscious blackberry and coffee aromas and flavors with long, sweet tannins. If you liked the 2005 version of this wine, you will love this richer vintage. $29.49

2008 Vina Cobos “Felino” Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina - The crowd’s favorite of the evening! Dense blueberry, coffee and spice with a hint of vanilla. Think: blueberry ice cream. Assertive alcohol level begs for grilled red meat. $21.49

2005 Monteviejo, Mendoza, Argentina - A blend of Malbec, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. If they made Australian Shiraz in Argentina, this is what it would taste like. Unapologetic blackberry liqueur and cake spice. Highly viscous with huge tannins. Drink now or cellar for a decade or more. $34.99

2009 Dona Paula "Los Cardos" Malbec Rose

I had some flank steak and chimichurri sauce left over from a South American wine tasting so I popped the 2009 Dona Paula Los Cardos Malbec rose, Mendoza. Wow, what a vivid magenta color! Just beautiful to look at. You can almost see the fruit in this wine. Wonderful sweet cherry and strawberry aromas and flavors. Vibrant acidity and a long, mouthwatering finish. Each sips just makes you beg for the next. One of the best roses I've had this year.

First Annual Pinot & Pig Shootout

We had our usual wine group over to the farm yesterday for an assortment of Pinot Noirs and grilled/smoked pork products. It rained pretty much all morning, but I soldiered on and manned the dueling Webers; one charcoal and one gas. The welcoming "course" was NV Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noir, Carneros offered with brie, Sonoma jack cheese, bacon-wrapped scallops and bacon-wrapped chicken livers. Calling the wine a "blanc" de anything is something of a misnomer as it has a beautiful, pale salmon color. They should just go ahead and call this a rose. Just wonderful yeasty, raspberry flavors and a fine, fine mousse. Due to my shellfish allergy, I couldn't try the scallops, but it was quite nice with the grilled chicken livers and cheeses. Nice sparkler for under $15.

The rest of the food was served "family style" on large platters all at once. I knew I wanted to smoke a pork shoulder, but I stayed away from the traditional BBQ route by keeping the BBQ dry rub in the cabinet. Instead, I marinated it in red wine overnight and then rubbed it down with dried rosemary, fennel seed, crushed red pepper flakes, sea salt and other dried herbs. This was smoked over apple wood for about 5 hours. The meat was succulent and delicious. I also used the apple wood to smoke two pork tenderloins that were coated with a spicy jerk seasoning. This was served with a raspberry/whole grain mustard sauce. I grilled up a mess of Italian sausages and red peppers, sliced them and then poured a balsamic vinegar/honey reduction over it. And since we needed some vegetables on the table, we wrapped some asparagus in proscuitto and grilled it lightly.

The first (still) wine we tried was the 2008 Sean Minor 4 Bears Pinot Noir, Carneros. Pretty cherry/vanilla aromas and flavors. Clearly the most fruit-driven of the line-up and the crowd's favorite. The wines from Sean Minor continue to impress me as very good values. About $15

I think the most disappointing wine of the night was the 2007 Erath Pinot Noir, Oregon. The color on this wasabout as thin and washed-out as I have ever seen. I've literally seen roses with more color. Very little aroma (some slight mushroomy/forest floor in there) and no flavor to speak of. Not sure what happened here, but had we taken a vote I have no doubt this would've been a solid 4th place. Not worth the $20 tariff.

The next wine was the 2008 Wild Rock Cupid's Arrow Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand. I'm not a huge fan of Pinot Noir from down under, but I really enjoyed this one. Lots of fruit in here of the restrained sweet/tart cranberry and pomegranate varieties. And it had a nice mineral streak, good acidity and moderate tannins. This was particularly good with the raspberry/mustard sauce that was served with the jerk tenderloin. Priced in the low $20 range.

The final Pinot was the 2003 Parent Bourgogne. Initially, this showed a beautiful Earthy/cherry nose but the palate never quite delivered. And even the nose faded with just a brief amount of air. I kept thinking this would open up but instead it just kept getting more and more shut down. Perhaps this needed some extended decanting. Really hard to judge this one. I have one more bottle and I'll give it another shot in the near future.

Dessert was the always-delicious 2007 Adelsheim Deglace Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley. This is a late harvest Pinot Noir made from frozen grapes that shows tons of earth and beautiful raspberry flavors. It is quite sweet, but there is enough acid in there to keep it crisp and refreshing. It was the perfect pairing with raspberry truffles from Andre's.

2007 Dunning Zinfandel

Dinner tonight was home made meatloaf with sauteed spinach and steak frites. Figured the 2007 Dunning Westside Zinfandel, Paso Robles would be appropriate. Not quite as complex as previous offerings from this winery, but it still shows considerable concentration of raspberry liqueur and French oak. 15.5% alcohol is quite noticeable, too. I have two more of these. I'll probably try another one in a year or so and see if there is any change. This winery continues to be one of my favorite hidden gems from California.

2007 Renwood Viognier

Opened the 2007 Renwood Viognier, Lodi tonight as an aperitif. Pleasantly thick with lots of peach and floral notes. A bit sweet for drinking on its own, but in the past this has been nice with spicier foods. Good value at $10-12. Will certainly appeal to fans of Torrontes.

Truglo Switchback

Took the plunge on a Truglo Switchback. Had it for about 10 days now. Quite rugged and heavy-duty but not too Rambo-ish. I like the fact that it's a simple, 3-hand design. No extra time zone hands or chronographs that most of us will never use.

Even though the bezel is marked in minutes from 1-20 (something a diver would find useful in a decompression dive), it is fixed in one position. This makes it pretty worthless for a diver, but it's fine for the rest of us who don't need that feature anyway. Basically, a nice aesthetic feature rather than a functional bezel.

Sells for $169 all over the internet and at outdoor retail shops. But if you go to Truglo's facebook page, you can find a deal to get it for $69 + shipping.

I didn't really care for the ballistic nylon strap it came with so I called them back and purchased the rubber strap ($30) that comes with their $900 Truglo Chrono. I like it much better.

Truglo is best known for making tritium optics for guns. And they put the same tritium in the markers on their watches. The result is an incredibly intense glow that doesn't require hitting it with a flashlight beam or exposure to sunlight.

2007 Carmel Road Pinot Noir

Bought the 2007 Carmel Road Pinot Noir, Monterey on a lark and opened for dinner guests on Saturday. I thought this was a pretty dense, smokey take on Pinot that also featured a lot of nice raspberry and hickory flavors. Picks up a bit of herb/sage on the finish. Great wine with the food. Not my favorite $20 Pinot Noir, but I wasn't at all disappointed.

My wife's boss always keeps us well-stocked with pheasant that he shoots in Iowa. Someday I'd like to go hunting with him, but that's another blog.... On Saturday I wrapped the breasts in apple wood smoked bacon and smoked them for about 35 minutes over charcoal with a few apple wood chunks. Earlier in the day, I took the breastbones and made them into a pheasant stock that I used to make a risotto while the breasts were smoking.

The risotto itself was made with red wine and the aforementioned pheasant stock. At the last minute, I wilted some shredded radicchio in (with butter and Parmesan, of course). All in all, it was a pretty fantastic meal.

2007 Box Car Syrah

Opened the 2007 Red Car Boxcar Syrah, Santa Maria Valley tonight to accompany lamb burgers. Packs quite a punch. I thought it showed a lot of red fruit and licorice on the nose and palate. Not terribly complex, but what's in there is pretty intense. Picks up a neat iron/graphite note on the finish where the tannins really clamp down. Already throwing tons of sediment. Reasonably priced at $20.

2000 Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo

Opened the last of my 2000 Cordero di Montezemolo Monfalletto Barolo tonight with a rack of grass-fed lamb that I started on the grill and finished in the oven. The dry herb rub mainly consisting of dried rosemary and fennel seed was the perfect choice of seasoning for this wine. Being a Nebbiolo, the color was typically washed out and faded. This thing already looks like it's 20 years old. But the nose is alive with fennel seed, lavender, old saddle leather and dried cherries. The palate is already showing a touch of oxidation, but it adds complexity. Dried fruit and licorice are the major players here with some tannin playing a supporting role. Nice, long finish. Overall, this is a very pretty wine and I'm not disappointed having paid $32 for it.