Paul Dolan Vineyards Cabernet and Sauvignon Blanc

I've written about Paul Dolan Vineyards many times over the course of my blogging career. The wines are almost always excellent values while tasting freakin delicious! Certainly you could do a lot worse at their modest price points.

I confess though, that these wines have sat in the sample rack for damn near one year. It's my own fault so I feel bad. A big apology to Fineman PR for not getting to these sooner!

These wines are from Mendocino County, north of the more well-known Napa and Sonoma areas. Mendocino boasts conditions that are right for several different kinds of grapes, from pinot noir and syrah to sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio. As far as I know, all of their vineyards are either organic or biodynamic, and they even produce certified biodynamic wines. No small feat in this age of fertilizers and chemicals.

2011 Paul Dolan Sauvignon Blanc Potter Valley: I picked up a lot of citrus and melon notes right away, all nicely balanced and in tune with each other. Lively acidity carries the citrus notes across the palate while the summer melon flavor helps give some body. All in all, a clean, simple sauvignon blanc that would pair beautifully with fish and chicken in the summer. $17.99 SRP. 13.5% abv.

2010 Paul Dolan Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Mendocino County: Lots of herbs, soil, wood, and cassis aromas. While this smells young, it also has impressive complexity for a $25 California Cabernet. I like the firm, drying tannin and how it balances the ripe blueberry/blackberry flavors. More of the dusty soil flavors come through too, as well as a bittersweet chocolate thing. Needs time to open up but once it does, I think this will be a QPR winner. $25.99 SRP. 14.5% abv.




I think the Cabernet is my preferred wine of the two, it's showing more complexity and depth, and it's got such a similar flavor profile to the Paul Dolan wines I've tasted in the past. This is one you might want to consider stocking up on, as it will continue to drink well for the next ten years or so.

These wines were samples for review.

Beau Carufel

Shannon Ridge Winery Current Releases

Shannon Ridge Winery, of Lake County California, recently sent me their new red wine releases to taste through. As someone just beginning to learn about the wines coming out of the Lake County AVA, this was a good chance to get to know one of the wineries from the area. I've reviewed a Shannon Ridge wine in the past, unfortunately a disappointing sauvignon blanc. On the other hand, it's rare that I find a California sauvignon blanc I like. That said, I'm always up to try new ones!

Lake County is located in California, north of the famous Napa Valley and inland from Sonoma and Mendocino counties. This American Viticultural Area is somewhat higher than other notable AVAs as well, and Clear Lake plays a major influence on how the vineyards ripen. You probably won't be surprised to learn that cabernet sauvignon is the most-planted varietal, merlot being a distant second.

These are the wines I was sent to review:
2008 Shannon Ridge Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon $19 suggested retail
2009 Shannon Ridge Lake County Zinfandel $19 suggested retail
2009 Shannon Ridge Lake County Petite Sirah $24 suggested retail

(img src: http://calicabs.eventbrite.com)

Each of these wines can be purchased at local wine stores and directly from the Shannon Ridge website.

First up was the 2008 cabernet sauvignon. This cabernet is actually made up of 89% cabernet sauvignon, 8% petite sirah, and 3% merlot. All the fruit comes from Lake County and the abv is a relatively (sad, I know) normal 14.5%. After fermentation, the 2008 cabernet spent 16 months in French and American oak barrels.

Aromatically this 2008 Shannon Ridge cab is all smoke and wood, with a bit of a boozy heat on the finish. A vigorous swirl session brought out some dark, ripe berry aromas too. I wrote down one word, then circled it repeatedly: "pleasant". That sums up the bouquet in this cabernet, it's nice and interesting yet lacks some depth. Above average, yes..but mind-blowing, no.

The way this wine tasted was a different story however. I loved how it was dry and dusty, with some firm tannin keeping a dollop of soft red fruit flavors firmly in place right in the middle of my tongue. There is some influence from the oak barrels too, a toasty sawdust note hangs out at the fringes of my palate throughout the sip and swirl. Unfortunately the finish did leave me wishing for more depth, but that could be a function of this relatively young wine needing some decanting.

For around $15 in the retail environment, this 2008 Shannon Ridge cabernet is good and veers away from the typically overripe, fruity cabernet's that $15 buys from Napa Valley. I'd love to pair it with a grilled steak and some garlic french fries. B and a BUY recommendation.

Next, I tasted the zinfandel from Shannon Ridge. One of the varietals (along with petite sirah) from Lake County that's getting some coverage in the blogging community, zinfandel can be a very structured, focused wine or an overripe, sweet, high alcohol fruit bomb. Guess which kind of zinfandel I like?

This 2009 zinfandel is again 14.5%, around the norm for what we see these days. A blend of 93% zinfandel and 7% petite sirah, this wine spent 12 months in oak barrels. 2,060 cases were produced.

I liked the spice and earth notes right up front, very dark aromas that set the tone for the wine. There's also some black cherry and fig creating a balance with the spice and earthy primary scents. If I had to pick one aspect of the bouquet that I enjoyed the most, I would choose the mixture of earth and black cherry. Imagine dark, dry earth and crushed cherries, inhale deeply and I think you'll get a sense of what I smelled with the 2009 Shannon Ridge zinfandel.

After tasting this zin, I wrote the following: "Plenty ripe but with nice balance between ripe red berry fruit and the tannin. Well built wine, my attention was taken by a dollop of spice on the mid-palate. Very enjoyable, especially for zin lovers!"

Good stuff, this is a very good zinfandel at a great price. Using wine-searcher.com I found it at $18, which compares favorably to zinfandels costing a lot more. This is a very high-quality wine with great complexity and for most zinfandel drinkers, atypical of what they usually drink. Upon some reflection, this might be a zin for cabernet lovers...B, STRONG BUY recommendation.

Finally, the "big daddy", petite sirah. Again, 14.5% alcohol, I detect a theme...This is varietally pure, 100% petite sirah and also spent 12 months in oak barrels. A relatively small 7,000 cases were produced, though the Shannon Ridge cabernet did see 12,000 cases making it the largest of the three. I did a quick check of wine-searcher.com and found this petite sirah at only $12 at a number of stores. That's half the suggested retail price. The question then is, how good of a deal are we getting?

An intense blend of blackberry and blueberry are framed by baking spices and dry, dusty earth. I was intrigued by the restraint, even after running the wine through an aerator. There is a green, herbal component at work but it's very light and doesn't show up with every sniff of the glass. Even after being open for three hours, the bouquet remained a lot more muted than I expected.

Sipping this Shannon Ridge petite sirah is a different story entirely though. An initial smoothness full of ripe berries give way to a thick, tannic mid-palate that begs for a steak. I used words like "beefy" and "chewy" to describe how dry and intense that mid-palate sensation is. Balancing a ripe core of black fruit with a muscular, tannic sensation is a hallmark of good petite sirah and one of the reasons I tend to enjoy it so much. In that regard, the 2009 Shannon Ridge achieves notable balance and intensity. I suspect that given a few more years of aging, we'll see an even better wine.

Of the three Shannon Ridge wines I tasted, this was my favorite by a comfortable margin. An easy B+ and STRONG BUY recommendation, at $12 it's a no-brainer. Bring this out at the end of a Barolo tasting or when you're grilling thick steaks, I bet it'll wow your friends.

A successful tasting of three Lake County wines that showcase the high quality and low prices that create some outstanding bargains in that region. All three of these are wines I'd gladly purchase and indeed, if I spot the petite sirah around town, I'll be picking up a few to have on hand. If Shannon Ridge keeps pumping out wines like this, I think they'll become a very well known Lake County producer in a short period of time.

These wines were media samples for review purposes.


Beau Carufel

2009 Paul Dolan Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel

Way back in March I tasted the Paul Dolan Vineyards 2009 chardonnay and 2009 sauvignon blanc, both were outstanding wines for the money, and honestly, outstanding wines overall. Last year I got to sample previous vintages of Paul's wines during a TasteLive event featuring Paul Dolan Vineyards. That tasting was a blast and I learned a lot while getting to taste some splendid examples of wines made with organic grapes. This blog highlights the two new red releases I was sent, Paul Dolan Vineyards 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Zinfandel.

Both the cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel wines are made with organically grown grapes. That is not the same as an organic wine. Important distinction that many people might not know about, so here's the deal: organic grapes are farmed in accordance with USDA (or other appropriate agency) regulations specifying the types of pesticides and chemicals that can and cannot be added. Organic wine is made much like conventional wine, but must contain no added sulfites. What are sulfites? A naturally occurring chemical (sulfur dioxide) that stabilizes wine so that it will last for long periods of time. That's the quick and dirty definition. Winemakers may use organic grapes to make non-organic wine, and can still label the wine as "Made With Organically Grown Grapes".

First up, the 2009 Mendocino County Cabernet Sauvignon. 2,800 cases were made and the blend is 97.5% cabernet sauvignon, 2.5% petite verdot. The primary grape sources are Parducci's Upper Home vineyard and Paul's own Dark Horse Ranch. The '09 cabernet spent 15 months in 50% new American oak barrels.

It pours a beautiful dark purple in the glass, and has a nice shimmer effect too. The color is bright, vibrant and tells me right away that this is indeed young. As much as I love the brick-red hues of aged cabernet, looking at a glass of fresh, young cab definitely gets my wine-geek side going.

After my usual wait time of one hour, I poured a glass and immediately noticed the wide spectrum of aromas. Lots of blackberry, cassis and bramble were first, then a beautifully expressive red earth and herb melange. As those aromas faded, a woodsy, campfire-esque smell wafted up out of my wine glass. At various points during my tasting of this wine, I could also detect a green, grape-stem aroma that had me fascinated. Rather than detract from the wine, it added an extra dimension.

That complexity I smelled carried over to the taste and texture. The Paul Dolan cabernet makes no bones about being a young wine, it's bright and full of acid and tannin. Luckily they're balanced by some dark berry and plum notes, dark chocolate, earth and a bit of oak. I like how the tannin created a bookend to the ripe fruits, keeping them from getting out of control while allowing the earth and dark chocolate to shine through. To me, this is a wine that's very expressive of terroir and not at all overly manipulated. If I had to find one flaw, it's that the finish is too quick. This cab wraps things up too fast, leaving the drinker wondering "what the hell just happened?".

Beyond that little gripe, this is some delicious cabernet sauvignon. At a suggested retail price of $25, it's a no-brainer. I think that with a few months to a few years of bottle age, that finish might develop. Even a few hours in a decanter will allow more flavors to come out and play. Easy B++ (89 points) and STRONG BUY recommendation. You can find the Paul Dolan 2009 Mendocino Cabernet Sauvignon in good wine shops all over the country.

Next I tasted and took notes on the 2009 Mendocino County Zinfandel. This is almost all zin, 99%, with 1% syrah added. Only 2,727 cases were produced, so it's clearly a very small production wine, just like the Paul Dolan Cabernet. Most of the grapes were sourced from the Parducci Upper Home vineyard, right outside Ukiah, California. After fermentation was complete, the 2009 zinfandel spent 15 months in neutral oak barrels, redwood tanks, and 10% new American oak.

I had high hopes for this wine, having loved the 2007 Mendocino County zinfandel I tasted last year. In my glass, it had a surprisingly light color, like a garnet in the sunlight. It was clear all the way through and reminded me of some California pinot noirs, the ones that are bastardized with syrah.

After waiting an hour for the wine to open up, I swirled and sniffed the 2009 zinfandel, finding ripe black cherry and blackberry aromas, spices, crushed pepper and even a hint of something delicate, like dried flowers. Needless to say this is somewhat atypical of most zinfandels out there but speaks to another of Paul Dolan's wines expressing it's sense of place, or where the grapes are grown.  I loved the bouquet, loved the complexity and the fact that it wasn't the same old, stewed blueberry/blackberry oak monster that is so often made here in California.

Tasting the wine was another great experience, with a lot of grippy tannin framing blackberry and baking chocolate, white pepper, red currants and that same green, stemmy note from the cabernet. There was a good layering of acid throughout, maintaining balance between dark, ripe fruit and the wood/bittersweet chocolate. Very, very impressive to me. The complexity shows what is capable with zinfandel, and this is one I would happily age for a few more years to see what other flavors came out to play. I love how mouth-filling it was, with the acidity hitting the roof of my mouth, the tannin and pepper the sides of my tongue, and the core of fruit plopping down smack in the middle of my tongue. That's not to say it was overripe though, again I go back to how balanced and interesting this wine is.

After pondering the 2009 Paul Dolan zinfandel, I looked at the price, $25 suggested retail. You can probably find it a lot cheaper and if you do, buy a bottle. This is an easy A- (90 points) and another STRONG BUY recommendation. You can find it in good wine shops around the country at retail prices closer to $20. It's a great wine to pair with barbecue during the summer, and something that'll accompany a rib roast during the winter. Paul Dolan did it again, another outstanding wine.

These wines were media samples for review purposes.


Beau Carufel

Paul Dolan Vineyards Brings It With Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc!

Last year I was first introduced to Paul Dolan Vineyards during a live tasting event. The tasting was all red wines and featured Mr. Dolan via webcam talking about his vineyard philosophy and history. I had a wonderful time and took away a newfound respect for organic farming and his passion for biodynamic methods. Click here to check out that writeup.

Fast forward to earlier this month, I received samples of his 2009 chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. After giving them a bit of time to rest, I was anxious to taste each one, just needed the opportunity to arise. Last week, it did! I pulled each wine out of my fridge an hour before I tasted them, so they did have a slight chill but nothing like the pinot grigio at your aunt's place that's been in the fridge since last July.

2009 Paul Dolan Mendocino County Chardonnay - Pale straw hued wine with great clarity. Focused flavors of papaya, coconut, vanilla and green apple. Minimal oak influence adds a nice dimension to the mid palate. Great interaction between the hints of oak and the tropical fruit, creating a surprisingly complex layered effect. I suspect that has to do with the fact that out of the entire batch, 91% of the juice was aged in stainless steel and the remaining 9% in American oak.Well balanced with a cleansing acidity on the finish that makes it a good food-wine. Pair this with turkey burgers, marinated fish, citrus glazed chicken breast. A superb effort. B+ and a STRONG BUY recommendation. $18 SRP. 5,235 cases produced. 13.5% abv.

2009 Paul Dolan Mendocino County Sauvignon Blanc - Pale yellow with a green tint, looks very inviting. Smells like Meyer lemons and subtle kiwi, grass and pineapple. I like the lack of an overly sweet fruit component, which is often my knock on other California sauvignon blancs. Despite it's light body, there is a fleshy texture, a good depth especially for this varietal. The 09 Paul Dolan walks the tightrope between having body but avoiding any cloying sweetness or residual sugar. I was impressed and at an $18 suggested retail, figure this wine hits its price point squarely. Try it with fish tacos or chicken quesadillas. B and a BUY recommendation.

In addition to his reds, Paul Dolan does some rockin' whites too. Both of these wines are delicious and impressive for different reasons. The chardonnay hits way above it's price point, comparing favorably to low-to-no oak wines at $30 a bottle. It's a structural and textural home run. On the other hand, the sauvignon blanc isn't a price-killer but it's got some great flavors that veer away from the typical California model. Pick up a bottle of each and see what you think, I bet you non-chardonnay lovers will enjoy the chardonnay and of course, the sauvignon blanc appeals to many wine lovers out there.

These wines were received as press samples.

Beau Carufel

Live Tasting With Paul Dolan Wines, Biodynamic in the House!

Last Wednesday I took part in a live tasting with Paul Dolan of Paul Dolan Vineyards, my first semi-formal exposure to biodynamic wines. Paul Dolan Vineyards and Parducci Wine Cellars fall under the umbrella of the Mendocino Wine Company. Set up in 2004, the company has focused on organic and biodynamic farming and winemaking.


I was sent some samples of the Paul Dolan wines in cute little 50ml bottles, from a company called TastingRoom. The premise is that a full bottle is dispensed into the smaller bottles, in a controlled environment, to ensure there's no spoilage or taste changes. One of the benefits I can see is that for the cost of shipping (by weight) one or two 750ml bottles, you can send out more samples of more wine, allowing a more comprehensive tasting of a winery or winemaker's work.


The downside is that for me and others (yes you, @1WineDude), 50ml just isn't enough to properly taste a wine. Call us lushes or drunks but I and other wine bloggers like taking a large sip, swirling it around, spitting, then taking another one to confirm our impressions. Still, the concept rocks, I'm excited to sample more wines using this method.

Thanks to the awesomeness of the interwebs, anyone who signed up was able to see and interact with Mr. Dolan via Ustream, a site that allows users to interact with live video feeds while simultaneously porting their comments their Twitter or Facebook accounts.

Check out his Biodynamic 'stache! Pretty rockin', I must admit. Mr. Dolan exuded a calm, passionate confidence about his beliefs. Biodynamics is controversial and at least within the wine blogging community, is part of a contentious debate.

Personally, Biodynmaics speaks to the side of me that wants all things to live in harmony, a utopian vision of the earth as one giant, interconnected organism. On the other hand, the analytical side (the side that got me a Finance degree) wants some serious scientific study of the the claims made by Biodynamicists.

(img courtesy Joe Roberts @ http://www.1winedude.com)

So with that aside, the wines, all made with organically grown grapes save for the last one, are as follows:

2008 Mendocino County Sauvignon Blanc: I enjoyed the bright, citrus notes and accessibility of this wine. Wonderful on a hot summer day because of the great acidity but also felt a touch un-integrated, like some flavors were fighting to the surface. A good effort though and hits the price point nicely. B-. $18 SRP

2008 Mendocino County Chardonnay: You know me and most California Chardonnays. Generally they do not like my palate and vice versa. This one was well structured with some great acidity woven throughout the flavors of passion fruit and green apple. Still buttery and with hints of oak for those of you who dig that style. Nice balance, very well put together. I really enjoyed this wine, it's a QPR winner. B+. $18 SRP

2007 Mendocino County Pinot Noir: Hooray for Pinot! I think Paul Dolan did a good job crafting a more traditionally oriented Pinot with lots of sour cherry, spice and using oak as a supporting flavor. Hints of smoke and tobacco on the finish left me a bit curious though, not what I expected. B. SRP $30

2007 Zinfandel Mendocino County: My favorite wine of the night and one of the better Zinfandels I've had this year. I was absolutely impressed with the tannins and acidity that integrated so well with the dark berries and bakers chocolate. What an effort! I'm gonna buy some of this stuff and taste my friends on it, I bet they won't even know it's Zin! It also managed to kick the QPR in it's ass. A-, Strong BUY. $25 SRP.

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Mendocino County: Not bad..But just didn't quite grab my palate the way I'd hoped. I think though that with some time in bottle, this wine would be delicious. Good tannins, under-developed fruit, some smoke flavors but really interesting fresh-cut oak too. I did like the sense of place, the expression of terroir here, this ain't no Napa Cab, that's for sure. Dare to be different!  B-. $24 SRP.

2006 Deep Red Mendocino County: The evening's most expensive wine, and also the only  Biodynamic wine of the evening. A blend of 57% Syrah, 31% Petite Sirah and 12% Grenache. Big, dark and brooding. I liked this one a lot actually, it had character and complexity which made me sit up and take notice. Perhaps my second favorite wine of the night. Lots of spicy blackberries and black cherries, earth, tobacco, tar all showed up to the party. I'm going to give this wine a BUY rating and a B++/A-. It's the good stuff, $42 SRP

Of the above wines, you should buy the Zinfandel and the Chardonnay, and splurge for a bottle of the Deep Red. I was impressed with the quality of the wines as much as I was impressed with Mr. Dolan's clear, honest speech. I'd love to meet the man and talk more about organic farming and biodynamic farming. While it may be controversial, there's no doubt that this way of farming and winemaking produces wines of at least equal quality to those using more conventional methods.


These wines were sent as samples for review purposes

Beau Carufel