Posts in USA
The Hilt & Refrigerated Sunshine

"We have refrigerated sunshine. It is sunny all the time, but it is never hot." The Hilt winemaker, Matt Dees, was referring to the one-two punch of the cold Pacific Ocean mere miles away and the mountains just south of The Hilt vineyards that block warmer, more southerly influences. I had tasted The Hilt Pinots before and found them not just crunchy, but almost raw. With such a vivid vineyard description, it certainly was easier to understand the wines' dispositions.

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Albariño Season

With heat blast down on us during these mid-August days - and even nights, I keep reaching for thirst-quenching whites. I have an extra row of whites stacked in my refrigerator, and a few delicious bottles from Rias Baixas are always amongst them. Here are three excellent, flavor-packed choices that I recently enjoyed.

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Jordan Winery - Sonoma's Reliable Class Act with a Newly Invigorated Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2019 vintage marks Jordan Chardonnay's 40th anniversary. As ever, the Jordan Chardonnay wildly over-delivers in quality and price with this decade-marking, birthday vintage. I can't believe the winery still only charges for $35 for this class act, but I'm very happy that such an attractive and age-worthy Sonoma Chardonnay is available at such an (all things relative) incredibly accessible price.

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A Collection of Wines Tasted Recently

Wines arrive constantly at my doorstep and occasionally, I end up with wines that didn't fit into a tasting elsewhere that still merit write-ups. Such is the case here, with both of the reds being personal favorites.

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The Oldest Vines in the Russian River Valley: Olivet Lane Vineyard

Operating under Winery License No. 4 since the repeal of Prohibition, the Pellegrini family of Sonoma has Pinot Noir vines that are about to mark their 50th birthday. The oldest in the Russian River Valley, the Olivet Lane Vineyard's vines show up as single vineyard designates on many prestigious producers' labels: Williams Selyem, Merry Edwards, MacRostie and Gary Farrell among them. In contrast to the star-struck prices of some of those cuvées, the Pellegrini family's wines offer better value at the high-end.

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New Wines from Ehlers Estate

Ehlers Estate 2020 Sauvignon Blanc - This beauty's aromas are pretty and exotic yet also delicate: a plethora of floral blooms nest with kumquat, pomelo zest and cardamom. The palate has a pleasantly tactile pithiness that, with its medium-plus acidity, nicely corrals its rather full and creamy body - whatever one might assume from the abv. Minerally and lingering on the finish, this wine has oodles of charisma along with rather profound concentration to allow it to age in bottle well for several years.

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Chalk Hill Chardonnays: Astounding Purity & Grace

In 2022, Sonoma's iconic Chalk Hill Estate will celebrate 40 years since founder Fred Furth first spotted from his airplane the property's natural amphitheater on the eastern side of the Russian River Valley. The property - and then in 1983, the AVA - were named for the area's white, powdery and volcanic soils. Though a sub-AVA of the Russian River Valley, Chalk Hill is warmer because it sits above the cooling fog experience throughout the rest of the Russian River.

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Reconnecting with Wente Vineyards and Especially with the Wente Clone of Chardonnay

I recently reconnected with the Wentes of Wente Vineyards for the inaugural World Chardonnay Day webinar. The Wente Family is known for its "Wente clone" of Chardonnay, which is a highly sought-after heritage clone in California.

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Aperture Cellars 2020 Chenin Blanc North Coast

Winemaker Jesse Katz began this venture in 2009, just before I originally met him in 2011 when he took on the winemaking at Lancaster Estate and Roth. Fast-forward just over a decade….this is an incredibly rich Chenin Blanc to be only 12.1% in abv. It's deep yellow in color and rounded and broad on the palate with a generous oiliness…..

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Merlot - Always Friendly, Never One to Tout Its Popularity

As hard as it may be for some to believe, Merlot is a much-loved grape. The Sideways effect on Merlot at this point feels almost as distant as the 60 Minutes effect on red wine in general almost three decades ago. Kids born the year that the movie Sideways hit the indie screens (2004) will be legal drinkers in the USA in just four years. They and many other young sippers don't care that Merlot was sidelined - by a small portion of the drinking population - for a fairly short while. They are going to drink what they like, just like many other drinkers have been all along.

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Windracer & Exceptional Passion

Barbara Banke of Jackson Family Wines does nothing that isn't infused deeply with passion. So when I heard that she entered a partnership with a long-standing friend, Peggy Furth - formerly of Chalk Hill Estates - to develop a line of wines called Windracer, I was immediately curious. These are two class-act, business-savvy women, who earned their stripes and their very considerable paychecks on their own, well before they became part of California's North Coast elite vintners. I knew that the wines and terroir they chose would be distinctive.

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Core FEL 2018 Releases & the Story of the Savory Vineyard

FEL focuses on Anderson Valley, which is packed with contrast - like Florence's wines apparently, despite its small size. The Anderson Valley is just slightly longer than the island of Manhattan! For every mile that one moves toward the Pacific coast from Boonville at the valley's eastern edge, there is the loss of one degree Fahrenheit from the average daytime temperature. There is a five week spread between picking in Boonville and Navarro, at the valley's western point! As winemaker Ryan Hodgins - who grew up outside the Willamette Valley but transplanted to California in 2002 - said, the Anderson Valley is nature's tipping point between "the feel" of the rest of California to the south and Oregon to the north.

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The Chemisty and Individuality of Chehalem and Stoller

n early 2018, Chehalem and Stoller became fully interconnected through a single owner, though the two properties retained their distinct personalities. The Chemistry label soon brought them together to make a third, easily accessible wine label - both in style and in price. Here's the latest...do NOT miss the "*" wines!

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An Eye-Opening Tasting of New Jersey Blaufränkisch

I have dabbled little (meaning few than a few dozen wines tasted) in New Jersey wines, so maybe I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was to receive an invitation to taste a selection of the Garden State's Blaufränkisch (aka Lemberger, Limberger, Kékfrankos, Frankovka). A fan of Austrian Blaufränkisch, I couldn't miss the chance to taste these wines! The virtual presentation was moderated by the distinguished José Vouillamoz, co-author of Wine Grapes. The entire experience was fascinating, and two wines in particular were stars: the Beneduce Vineyards and the Sharrott Winery bottlings.

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Bryn Mawr: Vineyards on a "High Hill"

Hailing from small lots planted on rocky, volcanic terrain at high elevation, the wind-blown vineyards of Bryn Mawr produce energetic wines. Appropriately, Bryn Mawr is Welsh for "high hill". Winemaker Rachel Rose leads both the vineyard and the winemaking program with the aim of integrating the natural world and its effects into her wines. These wines salute approximately the one-decade mark since Jon and Kathy Lauer purchased the 26-acre estate.

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Happy 20th Anniversary, Eroica!

Time flies when you're drinking good wines, especially the Rieslings of Ernst ("Ernie") Loosen and Chateau Ste. Michelle's Bob Bertheau - whether those are made independently or together. Ernie is from Germany's Mosel region while Bob is an Idaho transplant to Washington State. (NB: Bertheau left Chateau Ste. Michelle in early 2021.) This Old World-meets-New World collaboration is called Eroica, and with the 2018 vintage, Eroica celebrated the 20th anniversary of its first release. While compelling on release, these wines always age well, as seen here by the 2011.

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Bouchaine's Cosmopolitan Wines

Bouchaine's wines have a cosmopolitan edge, showcasing grace and pedigree with vigor. These are classy, approachable wines with broad appeal. Sitting on 104 contiguous acres on the southern cusp of cool climate Carneros overlooking San Francisco, Bouchaine Vineyards celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Founders Tatiana and Gerret Copeland were pioneers in Carneros, which didn't become an AVA until 1985.

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Luke from Wahluke

The labels and the brand material for Luke, created by husband-and-wife team Thomas and Kristin Vogele look like something fit for a Western flick: a lone, perhaps forlorn, man on dusty, desert terrain. Cleverly, "The Companion" label, is not only a red blend but also includes a dog striding beside him. There is good value here, and there is a lot to like in these muscular, Wahluke Slope wines.

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