Oregon Pinot Noir Blind Tasting

A few weeks ago Becky and I took part in a blind pinot noir tasting with her parents friends. They are part of a tasting group that meets once a month and we were fortunate enough to be invited, perhaps due to our good behavior the previous time..perhaps... While the theme was Oregon pinot noir, due to a misunderstanding I thought the theme was just pinot noir, and therefore brought along an international sample that I hoped would wow the rest of the tasters. More on that later.

This was what I'd term a "loose-blind" tasting because the only knowns were that we were tasting pinot noir and it was (supposedly) from Oregon. The vintage spread was 2001-2010, in my mind a great thing because it forced us all to think about each wine and dredge up previous tasting experiences. I always tell people looking to learn more about wine that blind tasting is one of the most effective tools you can use. Reading books is great, so is visiting tasting rooms and large events, but blind tasting engages the brain's memory centers in a powerful way, teaching us to evaluate and retain the characteristics of wines we taste.

Below is a list of the wines we tasted, put in order from first to last according to my rankings that night. It's important to note that this only represents how the wine tasted to me that night, and isn't necessarily an indicator of overall quality. I am presenting my tasting notes raw and unedited, save for spelling corrections, so that you might get the most accurate possible view of what I smelled and tasted.

1. 2010 Willamette Valley Vineyards Whole Cluster Pinot Noir Willamette Valley:
Nose: Candy (jolly rancher), strawberries, vanilla..oak, clean and fresh. Green notes..stemmy even, partial whole-cluster fermented? Good stuff, I like how intense the bouquet is without veering into jam territory.
Palate: Light, uplifting fruit, red cherries and wild strawberries. Green, stemmy notes add texture. Some tannin, grippy, but not overwhelming. Impressive balance, light yet intense and full. YUM.

2. 2009 Craggy Range "Te Muna Road" Pinot Noir Martinborough:
Nose: Zippy raspberry, rose petal, hints of baking spice, and a touch of oak. Beautifully aromatic, reminds me of the best of CA and OR pinot's. 2006/7Oregon pinot?
Palate: Ripe red berry, oak, spices, raspberry jam, taut acidity that refreshes the palate. Great structure. Impressive! **Note: I later threw this result out because the wine was not from Oregon.**

3. 2009 Montinore Estate Reserve Pinot Noir Willamette Valley:
Nose: Oregon funk, bright fruit, woody. Nice minerality, it's a dusty, earthy kind. Balanced nose, I like the interplay between the fruit and forest floor notes.
Palate: Nice acidity, keeps the mouthfeel light and fun. Red fruit...cherry and raspberry, good proportions of each. Well-integrated tannin, this is so approachable and friendly right now. Young, 2009 or 2010 maybe?

4. 2001 Panther Creek Cellars Bednarik Vineyard Pinot Noir Willamette Valley:
Nose: Very light, with red fruit and a hint of green stems. Some earth and Oregon funk that's and muted. Seems graceful, could be an older vintage?
Palate: Very smooth approach brings some fruit, spice, and a touch of oak. There's some alcohol on the finish but it's not too harsh. Nice flavor integration, seems kind of simple though, lacking any "wow" factor.

5. 2006 Oak Knoll Red Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir Willamette Valley:
Nose: Loads of bacon-y meat, teriyaki, dark fruits, and brown sugar. Interesting savory notes, could it be Brettanomyces? Not much fruit or Oregon funk pushing through, hard to figure what this is.
Palate: Oaky, like really oaky. Sweet baking spices, cured meats, but here are some bright red fruits finally coming out. Very mellow palate presence, smooth and soft despite the spice and oak. Uninspiring though.

6. 2008 Johan Nils Reserve Pinot Noir Willamette Valley:
Nose: Tons of oak, like a vanilla-soaked bag of wood chips. Behind the oak lie ripe red cherry and herb aromas, but it's disappointingly oaky compared to the others. Very light bit of funk, almost completely washed out by the wood.
Palate: Sweet oak and cherry preserves dominate, the acidity feels beaten down. May be a young pinot but right now it's just too heavy and clunky to enjoy. Hopefully not the wine I brought! Sticks out for the wrong reasons.





What, if any, conclusions can I draw from this tasting? 

A lot, actually: I have much to learn about Oregon pinot noir, for starters. Also I realized that I've got to learn how to blind-taste better. In this case, I let myself get distracted and I think my notes showed that. My distrust of what my palate tells me is another thing to work on, and I think it's something a lot of us do. Often what our gut (or palate) tells us right away is invaluable and attention must be paid to those "hunches".

The poor showing by the Johan Nils Reserve was a shock, since Johan is one of my favorite Oregon producers and I am always touting them to my friends and family. I think the Nils will get better with age though, it's going through a "dumb" phase. Willamette Valley Vineyards shocked me with their Whole Cluster pinot, it was so good and so cheap, around $20! Montinore's wines impressed me last time I visited and it was good to see that it wasn't a fluke. The group really enjoyed the Estate Reserve pinot noir, and at around $25 it's a bargain for the quality level.

While I had to discard the wonderful Craggy Range Te Muna Road from the final standings, it really held up against Oregon's array, further proof that New Zealand has come into their own as a pinot noir producer. In the interests of full disclosure, it was a sample sent to me for review purposes.

I suppose tastings like these serve to remind us all that wine is dynamic, ever-changing, and learning about it is a task you will never finish. It could be worse though, because educating yourself about wine is perhaps one of the most fun activities you can do.

Beau Carufel

Brancott Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir New Releases

(img src: www.brancottestate.com)

Quick: How long as Brancott Estate been growing grapes and producing wine? You might be surprised to learn that the company now known as Brancott has been around since 1934, when the company (then known as Montana Wines) first start planting grape vines in New Zealand. Fast forward to 1975, when the first sauvignon blanc grapes were planted in Marlborough at the Brancott Vineyard. As we know today, that was the beginning of something big.

Now Brancott Estate is the largest producer and exporter of Marlborough sauvignon blanc in New Zealand. Their signature style of high acid, citrus-flavor themed white wines has been around since 1979 when the first vintage was released.Within a few years, Brancott sauvignon blanc was winning accolades all over the world. Here in the United States, a veritable wave of inexpensive sauvignon blanc washed over our shores, to be lapped up by a wine drinking public looking for light, friendly white wines at low prices.

I was recently sent the new releases from Brancott Estate, and sat down one day to taste through them in order to see if much has changed since my first Brancott wine, almost a decade ago. The wines remain true to form, as inexpensive, high quality, easy drinking whites and reds. I was once again pleased to find these New Zealand wines varietally honest and straightforward. It's no wonder that they are on so many restaurant wine lists, and on so many wine drinker's shopping lists.

(img source:  www.brancottestate.com)

2010 Brancott Pinot Grigio Marlborough: Pours as clear as Sprite into the glass. The bouquet is lightly grassy, complemented with lemon notes. Secondary aromas include summer flowers and a touch of pineapple. For such an inexpensive, high-production wine, the bouquet is impressively complex. In typical pinot grigio fashion, the citrus-themed acid notes approach fast and hard, coating the palate before giving way to a gentle mid-palate of tropical fruit and hints of pear. While simple and a bit disconnected from the complexity of the bouquet, the mouthfeel is good and refreshing. This New Zealand pinot grigio is more interesting than a lot of Italian bottles. For a good time, blind pour it for some wine-geek friends and ask them to guess. 13.2% abv. $10 suggested retail.

2011 Brancott Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough: A pale yellow color, if I was fancy I'd say "delicate straw" or some other banal term. The aromas are very nice, a mix of lime juice, grass, and kiwi fruit. Hints of pineapple peek out from around the lime-citrus edges. When tasted at proper temperature (hint: not straight from the fridge) I also detected a wonderfully ripe passion fruit aroma that helped temper the lime and grass. On the palate the acid screams out at me, leading to a procession of citrus, gooseberry, and pleasant minerality. The finish is quick, a touch more citrus and it's all over. I'd love this wine paired with grilled fish, scallops, or a salad with creamy ranch dressing. Even by itself, this is a nice, fun sauvignon blanc. In my opinion, there's no need to over-pay for a sauvignon blanc from Napa Valley when for under $10 you can drink this. 12.5% abv.

2010 Brancott Pinot Noir Marlborough: Dark red, bordering on garnet, all the way through. The nose is interesting, some forest-floor notes, a hint of funk (the good kind), and an undertone of dark berry fruit. On the palate the Brancott has a darker orientation as well, more black cherry, plum, and a hint of leather. I also feel the acidity is a bit harsher, not as nicely integrated as other New Zealand examples. Still, you could do a lot worse for around $10. Perhaps the biggest fault in the wine is the finish, it evaporates into nothingness far too soon, leaving a bitter, stemmy quality behind. Bottle age will help out with the flavor integration issues but again, at the $10 price point you can do far worse. I'd happily drink a glass of this with salmon or red meat.


The Brancott wines are often maligned by wine geeks (bloggers included) as being to homogenous, a familiar refrain being that they're not worth drinking because they are mass produced. What those out of touch people fail to realize is that Brancott is everywhere and at under $10, provides an excellent level of quality. Sure, production is high, but it's consistently a high-sales brand and therefore we can infer that Brancott's style appeals to many people.

For that reason, I recommend any of these wines to those of you looking for a consistent, reliable producer with a fun back-story and great availability. None of these wines will knock your socks off but as I said in the pinot noir review, you can sure do a lot worse for around $10.

These wines were media samples for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

Thanksgiving Pinot Noir

In lieu of a "Drink _______ on Thanksgiving" type of post, I'm going to suggest a few wines that you, gentle reader, may or may not want to seek out on that last-minute shopping trip. I certainly won't tell you what to drink because we all have different taste preferences. Thanksgiving is usually about gut busting quantities of food crammed down our feeding holes, followed by intensely lethargic periods spent watching Americans beat the crap out of each other on TV, while wearing pads of course. Why add to the stress of preparing a mammoth feast by worrying about which wine to pair with what food?

For this post, I'll highlight some pinot noir's that are easy to find and quite good, as well as being reasonably priced. First though, my view on why pinot noir is a nice pairing with turkey and the assorted side dishes we gorge ourselves on each November. With the plethora of dishes weighing down the table, finding a perfect catch-all wine is impossible. For simplicity's, I suggest a high acid wine, specifically a high acid red wine like pinot noir.

There you have it, my suggestion for this year's Thanksgiving. I like to go with red wines because they have a bit of muscle behind them, and when paired with some acid, can still retain a lightness that won't contribute to weighing down your stomach like that pecan pie will. And by the way, I love pie. There are other options, I've seen bloggers recommend everything from Barolo to Zinfandel. If those are more your style, go with them and enjoy!

Here are three pinot noir selections that might interest you, at price points under $40, from three regions around the world that produce consistently excellent wine. They were all sent as samples for me to review. The imported wines are brought in by WJ Deutsch & Sons.

1. 2009 The Crossings Awatere Valley Pinot Noir Marlborough - This Kiwi beauty comes in at under $20 and only 13.0% alcohol by volume. There are notes of cola, baking spices, dried cherry, and cranberry on the nose along with just a hint of white pepper. I tasted ripe red fruit, a hint of cedar, more of that white pepper, and some nicely integrated mushroom flavors. The finish is clean and precise, leaving your palate ready for the next bite of food. I liked the acidity because it kept the wine light and easy to drink, yet the mix of cherry, pepper, and cedar made for some interesting flavors within my glass. I think it would hold up well under the onslaught of turkey and stuffing.

2. 2010 Llai Llai Pinot Noir Bio Bio Valley - Hailing from Chile, we get another low alcohol (13.5%) pinot noir. At a suggested price of $12.99, this was the least expensive of the pinot selections I was sent to taste through. Noticeably riper nose, with aromas of black earth, sun dried tomato, red cherry preserves, oak, and a touch of rhubarb. Compared to the Crossings, the Llai Llai is a softer, fruitier pinot. I tasted raspberry and cherry notes, some oak, a touch of spice, and a nicely integrated tannin. Everything was well integrated, unfortunately the finish was a little too short and abrupt. That said, the pinot still retained a light mouthfeel and I wouldn't minding having it with sweet potatoes or stuffing with bacon.

3. 2009 Sonoma Coast Vineyard Pinot Noir Freestone Hills - Hailing from the Sonoma Coast AVA, this is the most expensive pinot noir in the lineup with a suggested retail of $40. Unfortunately it's also the booziest, coming in at 14.3% abv. Aromatically I think I liked this the most, as it was expressing more intensity across the bouquet than the previous wines.  There was a lovely strawberry jam component that wove through the aromatic palette, along with red licorice, dusty earth, and some cola notes. All together very pleasant though I did get a touch of heat right at the back of my throat. Wild strawberry and raspberry along with black cherry come through on the palate, the acid does a great job of restraining those fruit flavors though, which in turn leads to a nice peppery finish. Some oak does show but it's minimal and overall this wine is very nicely balanced.

These three pinot noirs are all of good quality and fairly priced, I'd be happy with each of them at Thanksgiving. Check your local wine shop or wine-searcher.com for listing of who might carry the labels in your neighborhood. Lastly, remember that Thanksgiving shouldn't be a time of year to stress out about wine pairings. I figure that since you already have enough on your plate (bad pun alert!), the wine should help ease that stress.

One final note for those of you who prefer white wines to red wines, my personal preference is a riesling, like the 2010 Weingut Ackermann or 2010 Cornerstone Napa bottlings. If you're more adventurous, try to find a riesling from the Finger Lakes region of New York or a fine New Zealand label like Mt. Beautiful or True & Daring.

Don't forget sparkling wine either, be it a Prosecco, Champagne, Cava, or Sekt. Open whatever you want and enjoy it with your friends, family, and guests. Yes, that includes your Mother in Law...

Happy Thanksgiving!

These wines were press samples for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

2009 Stoneleigh Marlborough Pinot Noir

Back in June, we had "Sauvginon Blanc Day" and I tasted the 2010 Stoneleigh from Marlborough, which unfortunately had been attacked by the acid monster, leaving not much in it's wake. Still, Stoneleigh is a terrific producer and I have had previous wines from them that were very good.

Enter the 2009 Stoneleigh Marlborough pinot noir, a deliciously tart and spicy example of a New Zealand pinot noir, made in a style that's really starting to make waves over here in the States. New Zealand pinot noirs differ from California and Oregon by having a combination of higher acid and lighter-weight fruit. In a lot of the better made wines, the acid fairly pops on your tongue, and that coupled with flavors like rhubarb, baking spice, and ripe red cherry can create wonderfully complex wines.

This New Zealand pinot noir pours a nice pale ruby color, creating an air of understated elegance. That seems appropriate considering the subject, itself a grape that can manifest as understated, elegant wine..But only in the best case scenario. The notes below should help us understand whether the Stoneleigh falls into that category or not.

Aromatically the 2009 Stoneleigh pinot has a good undertone of earth mixed with sour red cherries and a hint of green stems. I also detected a very interesting secondary aroma, ripe wild raspberry, the little tart ones you find in a forest for a few weeks out of each year. Popping them into your mouth immediately elicits a sigh of pleasure and a wide smile.

Per my usual routine, an hour of open time was allotted to this pinot noir in order to let it breathe a bit and (hopefully) gain some complexity. The image I like to use when explaining why a wine needs breathing time is that of a flower. Imagine a flower that's closed up, you're not going to see or smell anything beautiful. Now when that flower opens up, we can revel in it's beauty, aromatically and visually. Add in the taste component and substitute wine for flower to get my point.

With that in mind, the Stoneleigh pinot noir had a light, delicate mouthfeel. The acidity of the pinot noir grape was there, but it was more subtle than I expected. Perhaps this can be attributed to the neutral French Oak regimen used by the winemaker. Flavors of raspberry and strawberry mixed with silky smooth tannin to create a wonderful sense of balance. Baking spices tried gamely to hold up the finish, and they almost succeeded, almost.

The biggest knock on this 2009 Stoneleigh was the relative lack of finish, it's like the wine just disappeared off a cliff while I was enjoying the strawberry and cherry flavors. A touch of baking spice cried out desperately to be saved but was dragged down and out before it had a chance to make any impact. Interestingly I didn't detect a lot of heat from the 14.0% alcohol, something very pleasing.

The 2009 Stoneleigh pinot noir is good wine, not great, but quite nice. At around $15, you get a pinot that's balanced and food friendly. Try pairing it with duck or veal, and lamb would work too. Pizza works with almost any red wine, this is a darn good pizza wine to share with friend. Like the 2010 Stoneleigh sauvignon blanc, this is a wine that does bat above it's price level. I gave it a B+ and a BUY recommendation. Well worth the $15 to get a sense of what New Zealand pinot noir is doing these days.

This was a media sample for review purposes.


Beau Carufel

A Quick and Dirty Recap of the 2011 #PinotSmackdown

Where were you last night? If you're a wine lover, specifically a pinot noir lover, you should have been drinking the stuff! Last night, Thursday August 18th, marked the second annual "Pinot Smackdown". This unique event, started by infamous wine bloggers Ed Thralls and Joe Herrig, is a massive online tasting of pinot noir from around the world. The goal, to find a winner among the world's pinot regions, by popular acclaim, instead of having some critic appoint a region as the best in the world. Cause we all know that critics suck, right?

I'll repost the official details right here, so that you can see what you missed. *Evil laugh*
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#PinotSmackdown is an all-day global celebration of the world's most expressive wine grape combined with a knock-down, drag-out cage fight between YOUR FAVORITE Pinot-producing regions!

TIME: 24 hours in order to give everyone time to share a glass when it makes sense in their time zone.

This event is FREE and all you need to participate is wine and Twitter, Facebook or your favorite social channel. Everyone is encouraged to invite wine lovers to your location and make the Twitter stream of #PinotSmackdown tweets visible to attendees. We like to use Tweetdeck, TweetChat.com or Twitterfall.com to display all the tweets with the hashtag "#PinotSmackdown"
Here's the twist!... who makes the best Pinot you've ever tasted? To vote via your tweets simply add another 2-character hashtag after #PinotSmackdown and we'll count the votes so that region gets bragging rights for the night!
Voting region hashtags:
#OR - Oregon
#CA - California
#WA - Washington
#NY - New York
#46 - U.S. The "Other 46," outside of the Big Four
#FR - France
#IT - Italy
#DE - Germany (Deutschland)
#EU - Europe, beyond France, Germany, Italy
#CN - Canada
#NZ - New Zealand
#CH - Chile
#AR - Argentina
#AU - Australia
#SA - South Africa
#WD - World, as in none previously listed
For example, if you are drinking a Pinot from a region in California, simply tag the end of your tweets with: #PinotSmackdown #CA
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Very simple, I agree, but incredibly fun and a great way to get some people together for a night of wine and discussion.

About two weeks before the event, Ed reached out to myself and a handful of other wine bloggers with a trifecta of pinot noir samples from the Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley AVA's. Those were:
2009 Sonoma Coast Vineyards Freestone Hills - $40 SRP
2009 Windsor Sonoma Russian River Valley - $30 SRP
2010 Windsor Vineyards Pinot Noir, Sonoma County - $28 SRP
These were all wines from the Vintage Wine Estates portfolio. As a disclaimer, Ed works for them and they were a huge backer for the Pinot Smackdown.

In addition to those California (specifically, Sonoma County) pinot noirs, I opened a 2007 Kramer Vineyards Cardiac Hill pinot from Oregon to throw some contrasting style into the mix. The Kramers were hosting an event at The Friendly Vine in Forest Grove, Oregon. Apparently (according to Becky Kramer at least), the event was a real hit.

With those four pinot noirs, I was ready to go. While I could have also opened other pinots, including some great stuff from Burgundy and New Zealand, I wanted to keep it somewhat under control. I mean, I didn't want to get absolutely hammered while tasting and tweeting. Drunken tweeting, while fun, can be dangerous.

Here are the tasting notes on the four pinots I sampled last night:

2010 Windsor Vineyards Sonoma County pinot noir: Bright acid but disjointed and unbalanced. Very young and it shows. Needs time to settle down. Ripe, sweet strawberry fights with baking spices and surprisingly thick tannin. Cranberries try to come play but are smacked around and leave in tears. Perhaps a few years in the bottle will settle this wine out, perhaps not. Hardly any finish, just disappears from my palate. Tastes cobbled together, which it was. 14.5% abv.

2009 Windsor Sonoma Russian River valley pinot noir: Soft, ripe, rich, and brimming with the flavors that American oak barrels impart. This is one of those pinots that stand up well on their own due to the sheer ripeness of the fruit. Like a strawberry fruit roll-up. That's how ripe and oaky this Russian River Valley pinot is. Imagine eating vanilla-buttered raspberry/strawberry toast. If you really dig fruiter, softer pinot noir, I bet you'd love this.. 14.5% abv.

2009 Sonoma Coast Vineyards Freestone Hill pinot noir: Here we go, bright acid, restrained berry fruits, and silky tannin. Each of those three elements are in balance, creating a very nice, smooth, light mouthfeel. I liked the wild strawberry tartness mixed with a bit of raspberry puree. Both of those added depth to the mid-palate. A warm, happy baking spice flavor brought a smile to my face. While this pinot did see oak barrel aging via American oak, the effect here is merely to add dimension versus squashing the acid like in the other two California wines. 14.3% abv.

2007 Kramer Vineyards Cardiac Hill Yamhill-Carlton pinot noir: Compared to the first three, this is in another part of the pinot spectrum. Earth and sour cherry show through, supported by fresh cranberry and a bit of peppery spice. Here and there, cigar-box and a hint of plum skin make tiny impressions across the mid-palate. The '07 Kramer Vineyard had a lightness to it that reminded me of a Côte de Beaune. The tannins were nicely integrated and firm enough to give this pinot noir structure and balance. A wholly different expression of the grape but one that's perhaps focused more on terroir and less on using oak and other techniques to create a wine. 12.8% abv.

What was my favorite? I picked the 2009 Freestone Hill from Sonoma Coast Vineyards last night as the "winner". The balance was impressive and no part (flavor, tannin, acid) of this wine felt muted. The winemaker used a deft touch to express the terroir of this particular vineyard. Sure, it's $40 a bottle, but that's right about the price you start to get excellent pinot noir. The reason I preferred this (on August 18, 2011) to the Kramer Cardiac Hill pinot noir was that it spoke to me more last night. It's that simple.

Enough about me, what about the rest of the world, busily tasting and tweeting away to support their favorite region! The winner, by a relative hair, was New Zealand! I was surprised! Last night (due to the time difference) I didn't notice much if any "#NZ" tweets from the "#pinotsmackdown" but apparently when us Yanks were asleep, the Kiwis were tweeting up a storm. Congratulations to them! Now let's get the exchange rate fixed and some more pinot from New Zealand into the USA, I want to taste it! In second place, Oregon, no surprise there. Perhaps the king of domestic pinot noir producing states (sorry, California), I saw a multitude of tweets in support of their pinot noirs. California brought up third place, a respectable showing and only a few votes behind Oregon.

Ed posted a great recap of the 2011 Pinot Smackdown on his blog, go read it and you'll see the amazing reach that this event has. He breaks down the numbers to show how this is a global event and impressions that were generated across all the social media platforms is truly amazing. We gotta give it up to Ed and Joe Herrig for promoting and steering this event along. Nicely done, gentlemen.

The wines featured here were provided free of charge for the Pinot Smackdown tasting event.


Beau Carufel

2007 True and Daring Riesling, Another Gem From the Kiwis

True & Daring is brand new to the American market, debuting here just this past May. I was sent a sample of the only wine they make, riesling, to taste and share with you. This 2007 riesling took a gold medal at the International Wine Challenge in 2010 and a trophy for Best New Zealand Riesling from the same event.

The wine is made by the Dobsons who also own Sandihurst Winery, which itself is relatively new to the New Zealand wine scene, at least in it's current iteration. I read through the website and really like the owner's story. Celia and Hennie Bosman bought the old Sandihurst property in 2005, apparently it was a dilapidated old wreck of a winery. They've set about rebuilding and renewing the entire property. Before moving to New Zealand, the couple and their children had been living in South Africa, which Hennie is a native of. His wife, Celia, is English born and the couple met in Portugal while she was a ballet dancer and he was in the Foreign Service.

I found it remarkable that after only two years, the Dobsons were producing such great wine. This is clear evidence of the meeting point between exceptional terroir and skilled, dedicated people. To make award winning wine in 2007 makes the True & Daring story that much more remarkable. Cold and wet conditions severely affected fruit-set. As a result, the harvest was smaller thank average. Luckily, a period of heat and low rainfall during the midst of the growing season did ensure the grape themselves reached optimum ripeness.

After the 2007 vintage was harvested, the grapes were divided into seven stainless steel tanks to begin fermentation. In each tank, a different strain of yeast was inoculated, with the objective being a final-assembly from each vat of a more complex wine. Fermentation temperatures were kept cool and stopped when the residual sugar levels reached a point so that the final wine would be off-dry, but only just. Since riesling does have a lot of natural acidity, this balance point is critical to a producing a complex, layered wine.

With fermentation complete, winemaker Kirk Bray combined the tanks into one lot, then blended them together on light lees, stirring the wine occasionally over about six months. True & Daring was fine but unfiltered and bottle-aged for 24 months before being released. In all, only 5,450 six packs were produced.

Sourced entirely from the Annabrook Vineyard in Nelson, New Zealand, the 2007 True & Daring comes in at 12.2% abv. The name comes from the philosophy that that the winery would stay true to one grape and be daring enough to take on only Riesling, as the wine they produce.

I poured the 2007 True & Daring into my glass with a high level of excitement. Of late, a lot of riesling has been gracing these pages. I wrote up the stellar 2009 Mt. Beautiful Cheviot Hills riesling last month, and also was able to taste through a superb lineup of Finger Lakes rieslings just a few weeks ago. I for one hope that this trend continues, bring on the Austrian and German rieslings next! Oh and more from New York and New Zealand too please!

The aromatics of the True & Daring were awesome, lots of ripe peach mixed with hints of petrol and a stony, hard burst of minerality. Citrus notes, like a diced up grapefruit also showed themselves, next to a bouquet of white flowers. The complexity of this wine is something to be marveled at, I kept sniffing my glass, putting off taking a sip. If you know me, you know that's a sure sign I am happy with what I'm drinking.

As young riesling goes, this True & Daring also ranks highly for it's complexity on the palate. Maybe those four years in the bottle really did a lot to enhance the wine, I believe that to be the case. An absolute joy to taste with ripe mandarin orange, white peach, and a laser beam of minerality through the mid palate. The acidity contributed the structure, I could feel it all over my palate. This wine is very sure of itself, is comfortable in it's own skin. I got the sense that the winemaker basically lets the fruit do the talking, with only minimal guidance. My favorite part might have been the finish, which had a crisp, dry quality that lent itself to pairing with food.

Next time I go out to sushi, I am going to have riesling and if a sushi place happens to have New Zealand riesling, I'll be incredibly happy. All in all, this is kick-ass wine. It's got great quality, complexity, and a cool story behind it. Since the 2007 True & Daring was just released, finding it is going to be a bit of a challenge but I would recommend contacting Gordon Palmateer and seeing where you can find it in your area. At a suggested retail price of $35, the price is spot on for what you get. Will a $35 New Zealand riesling sell in the United States? I wish I knew. Would I buy a bottle or two if I saw it for sale at my local wine store? Yes. Easily an A- and STRONG BUY recommendation. Cheers to awesome juice from the Kiwis.

This wine was a media sample for review purposes.


Beau Carufel

Sauvignon Blanc Day with 2010 Stoneleigh Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

Apparently today is "Sauvignon Blanc Day", though if it is, the buzz hasn't been nearly as potent as last September's Cabernet Day or the Chardonnay Day of a few months ago. Hell, it hasn't been as talked about as "Merlot Day", when I got to taste and tweet about an awesome merlot from Cana's Feast. The premise behind these "_____ Day" events is to taste and talk about the featured varietal by using social media. On Twitter, users will add the "#SauvBlanc" or "SauvignonBlanc" hashtag to their tweets. This makes it easy to search for the tweeps (Twitter users) who are participating.

That didn't stop me from trying to participate, though my tasting notes and general writing style might be a bit lacking. The past two nights have seen me do overnight shifts at work, where I go in at 8pm and leave sometime between 4am and 5am. Maybe I need to start looking for other jobs! Anyone?

I opened a bottle of 2010 Stoneleigh Marlborough sauvignon blanc this afternoon while in the midst of a sleep deprived daze. This was a sample and I have been meaning to taste it for a few weeks now, "Sauvignon Blanc Day" gave me a perfect excuse. But really, do I ever need an excuse to open wine? Of course not!

The Stoneleigh comes in at 13.0% alcohol, a normal amount for New Zealand and other New World sauvignon blancs but higher than Bordeaux or Loire sauvignon blancs.

Right away the 2010 Stoneleigh smells a lot like other examples from New Zealand. The strongest scent was a grassy, herbal note. Underneath that were hints of stone fruit and a tropical aroma reminiscent of freshly sliced passion fruit. While the herbs dominate, those sweeter fruit flavors help buttress the bouquet, preventing it from descending into the hell that is overly acidic sauvignon blanc aromas.

Remember in the previous paragraph when I likened overly acidic sauvigon blanch to hell? If you like riper, more fruit oriented sauvignon blancs like St. Supery, or the JAQK "Charmed" bottling, stop reading. The 2010 Stoneleigh sauvignon blanc is an acid monster, bone dry in a there-goes-my-tooth-enamel-wait-what's-that-pain kind of way. If you successfully navigate past the acidity you're rewarded with beautifully balanced herb and tropical fruit notes with even a touch of minerality. Actually quite good, but the acidity kicks around so much that my palate, at least, felt like it needed to take a break and have some Gatorade.

I actually enjoyed this wine a lot, it's more acidic than something like a Parducci sauvignon blanc but that's what I expect out of New Zealand. Whenever I taste an acid monster, I'm reminded that sauvignon blanc does love to be paired with food, and this is a great sushi wine, or something with pasta. That acidity cuts right through rich sauces and cheese. My pairing was macaroni and cheese, one of my favorite comfort foods ever, and the wine's acidity cut through the rich cheesy goodness, keeping the meal harmoniously balanced.

For about $17 (found on wine.com), you get a top-notch New Zealand sauvignon blanc, kudos go to Stoneleigh for making a tasty wine in a tough year. B+. BUY recommendation.

This wine was a media sample for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

A Beautiful Riesling: 2009 Mt. Beautiful Riesling Cheviot Hills

As I blogged about previously in the 2009 Mt. Beautiful sauvignon blanc review, New Zealand is well known (and justifiably so) as a producer of that varietal. 20 years ago, the first wines from the land of the Kiwi (and Flight of the Conchords) to make it to our shores were sauvignon blancs, offering a diametrically opposing flavor profile to California's examples.

The New Zealand rieslings are beginning to garner attention though, and I tried the 2009 Mt. Beautiful Cheviot Hills riesling on Memorial Day while I ate chips and hummus at my brother's place. We did barbecue later, but that wine probably won't be written up because it wasn't very good.

While not exactly cheap at $19 suggested retail, the Mt. Beautiful does deliver in spades. Aromatically, a beautiful mix of flowers and citrus wafted up out of the glass. I also detected a hint of rubber and tart green apple. Finding aromas like those always brings a smile to my face. My tasting impressions took place after I chilled the wine for about 15 minutes in the fridge, then after taking notes I stuck it back in for about an hour.

To date, my experience with New Zealand riesling is somewhat limited but if they taste like the 2009 Mt. Beautiful, sign me up for a lot more. I loved the crisp citrus elements that intertwined with just a hint of apricot and pear, creating a savory/sweet/crisp experience that had everyone raving. I poured this for my Mom, younger brother, and his girlfriend. Each of them loved it and I think a lot of that had to do with the dash of sweetness on the finish. The winemaker aged this riesling on light lees for about six months which contributes to the complexity and rounder, less angular mouthfeel. Another fact that you know will make me happy is the 12.5% abv present. Hooray for low alcohol wines!

For that $19 suggested retail (think closer to $15 on the shelf) you get a slam dunk riesling. A- and STRONG BUY recommendation. This is the real deal, riesling lovers. Buy it. To find where to buy it locally, contact Mr. Robert Watkins here or Ms. Catherine Seda here.

This wine was sent as a media sample for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

2009 Mt. Beautiful New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc

On the other side of the world lies a country, one that has given us many things to be happy about. For one, they graciously exported Flight of the Conchords. We should be eternally grateful for that. Another thing New Zealand exports to these shores: copious amounts of sauvignon blanc. For a while, it seemed that sauv. blanc was the only varietal grown down (or up) there. Before delving into the meat of this most recent review, I'll just take a moment to profess additional thanks that we're now seeing pinot noir, riesling, and viognier emerge from the titanic shadow of the sauvignon blanc engine.

img src: http://flight-of-the-conchords.edogo.com

Journey with me then, to a land down under. No, not the Australian "down under" where they grill all sorts of shit and talk funny. Rather, to a smaller place with lots of sheep, picturesque hills, and cold winds blowing through the vineyards. Yes, New Zealand. Where the men are men and the sheep are afraid. I've never been to New Zealand before but I suspect if I can write well enough, someone will ask me to go on a press junket down there to explore the incredible wines the Kiwis are producing.

A month ago the always-awesome Stacey at Balzac sent some white wines down for me to go through this summer and post up. I already did the Shannon Ridge sauvignon blanc from Lake County a few weeks ago. After my pinot-fueled jaunt through Portland and the Willamette Valley last week, this week has been devoted to reminding my palate that there's more to life than (awesome) pinot noir.

img src: http://www.mtbeautiful.co.nz/home/

Mt. Beautiful's vines were first planted in 2004 on vineyards situated above a river called the Waiau. This area is south of the very famous region of Marlborough, home of wineries like Kim Crawford. Somewhat confusingly, Mt. Beautiful is tucked into the Cheviot Hills of North Canterbury, again a region south of Marlborough.

I chilled this bottle a little, mainly because today was a warm day and I needed something cold to sip. After I tasted the Mt. Beautiful sauvignon blanc, it went back into the fridge to chill down more and be enjoyed with a delicious Santa Fe chicken sub sandwich from Leucadia Pizza. That sandwich is awesome by the way, so I recommend it if you ever hit up Leucadia Pizza.

Yes, I emptied the bottle. No, not alone.

The wine was great too! It poured a nice green-tinted straw color into my glass. I smelled a bunch of interesting things like fresh cut grass, tropical fruit, river rock, and citrus aromas right on the finish. I did detect a little alcohol burn and when I checked the bottle, found that this sauvignon blanc is coming in at 14.0% abv. That's too high for sauvignon blanc, in my opinion, but it didn't show too strongly here.

Upon my first taste, I knew I'd like the '09 Mt. Beautiful because it was so clean and crisp yet had some complexity. Sometimes when a wine is clean, it sacrifices complexity and texture, I believe a balance must be struck. With this sauvignon blanc, I tasted grapefruit and hints of guava mixed with a great streak of minerality. The finish lasted longer than I expected, further pleasing the palate. That high alcohol did lend some weight and heat to the mouthfeel too, which is unfortunate but in the end, the wine tasted very, very good.

If you're looking to try a style of New Zealand sauvignon blanc that's different than the Kim Crawford and Nobilo's of the Kiwi wine world, check out the 2009 Mt. Beautiful sauvignon blanc. At a suggested retail of $18 and a real-world retail closer to $14, it's delicious! I give it a B++ and a STRONG BUY recommendation. This wine is such a lovely summertime white, I think you'll love it on those hot days where you want a light meal and nice glass of white wine. Here in San Diego, The WineSellar & Brasserie has it in stock. Outside San Diego, contact Mr. Robert Watkins here, and ask where you can buy it.

This wine was a media sample sent for review purposes.


Beau Carufel

Shannon Ridge Sauvignon Blanc, Another Summer Sipper

Late last month I was sent an assortment of white wine samples, one box containing riesling and sauvignon blanc arrived at my doorstep. This is the first of the bunch that I tasted, the 2009 Shannon Ridge Sauvignon Blanc "Ranch Collection" from the Lake County AVA. That appellation might not sound familiar, and for good reason. Lake County is not a big-name region like Napa or Sonoma, in fact, the most famous winery in the area might just be Guenoc, though Geyser Peak sources a ton of grapes from the area. The climate is cooler than Napa or Sonoma and there is less diurnal variation, which is the difference between the daytime high and nighttime low temperatures. This results in a different set of flavors than we'd get from grapes grown in other areas of the state. I'll explain below.

(img source: http://www.shannonridge.com/wines/2009_sauvignon_blanc.php)

I should state that I usually do not enjoy California sauvignon blancs as much as say, French or South American examples. Even New Zealand occasionally gets it right in my book, when those sauvignon blancs aren't soaked in bitter acid.. California has always meant overly ripe, tropical fruit laden sauvignon blancs that fail to express any minerality whatsoever to me. They've been like drinking guava/pineapple nectar mixed with white grape juice. Yuck! Not at all what I like in a white wine unless we're talking something stunning like a Moscatel from Navarra..But stay tuned for that!

Shannon Ridge's 2009 Sauvignon Blanc does a lot to defy the conventions of this state's primary style of sauvignon blanc. The question is, of course, does it do enough? Does the Shannon Ridge justify it's $16 suggested retail price? Let's find out.

In the glass, this wine is nicely aromatic and in a word, exuberant. There are a few primary scents; ruby red grapefruit juice with some lemongrass as well. While a bit simple, these aromas are very fresh and enticing, and most importantly to me, not overly sweet. There's a hint of white peach and tropical fruit, adding just enough sweetness to enhance the bouquet while preventing a sugar catastrophe.

This Lake County sauvignon blanc has a good burst of acidity too, it's light and crisp while retaining some sense of minerality and fruity flavors. Unfortunately that minerality just doesn't go far enough for me, leaving the passion fruit and pineapple flavors unbalanced and somewhat clunky. The finish descends through layers of Bartlett pear and a touch of perfume before vanishing entirely. Not exactly what I expected but not necessarily something that hurts the wine. That out-of-balance feeling stays with me though, which isn't a good sign.

The Shannon Ridge Sauvignon Blanc is a solid wine that's priced just a bit too high for what you get. For me, the unbalanced palate detracted from what could have been a truly fine wine, one that would have showed a lot of non-California sauvignon blanc drinkers what this state can do. Now getting back to that price, the suggested retail is $16, but through the magic of Google I found the wine for closer to $10 at Beverages and More, making it much more reasonable. At the $10 price point, it is precisely what I expect in a sauvignon blanc. Still, I'd rather drink a Chateau St. Michelle or Geyser Peak sauvignon blanc because they consistently deliver beyond the price point. B- and a PASS recommendation at this point.

This wine was sent as a media sample for review purposes.


Beau Carufel

Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc..I'm impressed!

I recently received some samples of Cupcake Vineyards wines. You've probably seen Cupcake if you shop for wine online or at some brick and mortar stores. My first exposure to Cupcake was perhaps a year or so ago when I had a glass of their Red Velvet, a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. I recall the wine being good especially since I was having it with random hors d'oeurves at a party. Later that night I cracked a bottle of Brunello, which obviously dominates my wine-memory of the evening.

Anyways, the first of the two Cupcake wines I tasted was the Sauvignon Blanc. All the grapes come from Marlborough in New Zealand. The winemaker, Adam Richardson, used stainless steel tanks versus oak barrels to ferment the wine in. After that, it underwent extended aging sur lie, meaning the wine was sitting in the lees, which are dead yeast cell and bits of grape skin and pulp. This can help tame the acidity and add a fleshy richness to the wine.

 

2010 is considered (by people in the know) to be a good year in New Zealand. Given that, it only stands to reason that Cupcake made a delicious Sauvignon Blanc. I chilled this for about 15 minutes just to allow for the somewhat warm day. Right away I smelled notes of lemon custard, lime-washed rocks, hints of perfume, passion fruit and that "traditional" New Zealand grassy note. The way each scent fit into the overall picture put a smile on my face

I'd describe this wine as a clean, dry white wine that's lighter in body with great citrus flavors. I tasted lemon peel, hints of pineapple and passion fruit, and right through the mid-palate, what felt like Bartlett pears! Almost reminiscent of some of my favorite whites of all time..Sancerre's! Unfortunately, the finish left me wanting more, it felt too abrupt and under-developed. Still, Cupcake's Sauvignon Blanc delivered some very nice quality at a supremely reasonable price.

You can expect to find Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc for anywhere between $7-13, it's SRP (Suggested Retail Price) is $14. I rate this wine a B, with a solid BUY recommendation. For those of you who salivate over numerical scores, I would rate this an 84/85 points. If you happen to see a bottle of the 2010 at your favorite local wine retailer, give it a shot! I think you'll be happy you did. I should add, and though I rarely say this kind of endorsement, I fully intend to buy another bottle to pair with some tilapia fish tacos I'm going to try making soon. The mango-chipotle salsa I'm going to attempt would pair brilliantly with Cupcake's S.B. There may or may not be a blog about that experiment, depending on a singular thing: whether or not I remember to take pictures!

Disclosure: This wine was sent to me as a sample for review.

Beau Carufel