Laurel Glen 2016 Rosella Rosé Sonoma Mountain: The story goes that a single stip of old vines dating back to the 1880s gives the flavor backbone of this wine. Can it really be "just" a row or two or three? "Just" a patch of vineyard? Whatever it is precisely, I love this wine.
Read MoreTrinchero 2012 Forte Napa Valley: This estate-grown wine boasts exceptional concentration. In fact, it’s a bit of a monster! It is inky black in color, bold in its full body and strident in grainy tannins. Alas, this is a classic case of a high-end wine seeing a retail shelf or restaurant wine list far before its time, even if it is now four years post-vintage.
Read MorePinot Noir isn’t an easy grape to grow and it isn’t an easy grape to vinify either. Combine those two points with low yields and you have a wine style that tends to be pricey, wherever it hails from. Plus, Sonoma isn’t an appellation known for its bargains, whatever the grape variety may be. So, when I recently purchased a dozen Sonoma Pinot Noirs under $40, I was particularly pleased to find these three bottlings under $25.
Read MoreCopain Wines mix European stylistic sensibility with Californian fruit. To add a layer of complexity, these wines are made in Healdsburg, one of Sonoma’s sweetest towns, yet none are made with Sonoma fruit. Alas, it’s hardly the first time something in the wine world has seemed contradictory. What is utterly clear with Copain Wines, however, is that they are supremely delicious.
Read MoreJuicy, succulent and sappy, this Cabernet Sauvignon aims to be everyman’s wine. It satisfies the connoisseur with its classic black currant notes and pacifies the anti-tanninist with its rounded mouthfeel.
Read MorePinot Noir, its clones and selections fascinate me. It’s a quixotic variety. For as much as I read about them, I’d never heard of the Wrotham Clone (pronounced Rootham) until now.
Read MoreHas Sean Thackrey done a 180°? This was my impression when I tasted the 2010 vintage of Pinot Noir Clone 114 from his new Cassiopeia project in the Wentzel Vineyard.
Read MoreOvertly aromatic and loaded with varietal notes of lime, honeydew melon and peach blossom. Perky acidity, light body, low-ish alcohol and cleansing, dry finish.
Read MoreLast week I met Davis Bynum. Davis was one of the modern pioneers of Russian River Valley. (The Russians who settled there in the early 1800s planted vines before the Gold Rush of 1849.) In fact, Davis was the first to produce a single vineyard Pinot Noir from the area AND indicate its origins on the label.
Read More“Paul really likes to use ‘heritage’ clones.” Calera, Swan and Mt. Eden are among their Pinot Noir selections and Wente, Bato and Rudd are among the Chardonnay plantings.
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