Childress Vineyards: Chardonnay from North Carolina!

Have you ever had Chardonnay from North Carolina? I have not, nor have I tasted any wine from that state, ever. Not a state known for wine growing or production, North Carolina is home to over 100 wineries and is actually ninth overall in the United States as far as production. Quite a surprise, no? Here's a link to some interesting facts on North Carolina wine.

Whenever I think of North Carolina, I think of Nascar and the Appalachian Mountains. Coincidentally, Childress Vineyards is owned by Nascar legend Richard Childress! The grapes for this are in the Yadkin Valley AVA, and the winery is located in Lexington. My friend Alina attended the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she came into possession of this bottle. She was kind enough to gift it to us earlier this year and it's lain in my cellar since then. Given the hot, muggy weather we're having, a cold glass of wine seemed in order.

2010 Childress Vineyards Chardonnay North Carolina:
Pours a beautiful straw-yellow color. On the nose I immediately get ripe tropical fruit, lees, and a touch of oak. With some swirling and time out of the fridge, a bit of buttercream and something like bacon fat become apparent. The first sips bring out a smooth, soft apple and pear thing along with more creamy notes. I like that there is still some acidity present, as it helps lighten the ripeness and richer flavors. Tropical notes come later, along with some barrel spices on the finish. My only gripe on this wine is that the finish is a bit bitter, reflecting perhaps too much pressure in the grape press. It spent nine months in French Oak barrels and that shows in a good way, with just a bit of woodsy flavor throughout. 12.8% abv. $14.99 SRP.

On the Childress Vineyards website, this is listed at $14.99, though that's for the 2011 vintage. This 2010 was similarly priced and represents a fantastic QPR. I wish more similarly priced Chilean and Californian chardonnays were this easy to drink.

Suggested food pairings include fettuccine alfredo, shellfish, roasted chicken, and cheese plates.

Childress Vineyards on Facebook

Thank to Alina for generously gifting us the bottle!

Beau Carufel

Trione Winery Selections

Yet more wines I was sent a long time ago and am finally now getting around to reviewing. This review will be interesting though, because the Trione Vineyards wines I was sent all came in 50ml bottles. The company tastingroom.com bottled them way back in September 2012 and I am just now getting to taste each one. In total, I was sent six 50ml bottles, each of which is barely good enough for two pours.

Trione is another California winery with an excellent reputation. Their wines were a familiar sight in San Diego and I liked selling them because you always knew that they'd deliver at their price points. It's been nearly a decade though, so I was anxious to taste through the lineup and see if the wines were as I recalled.

As you read through the notes, please bear in mind that these are probably (hopefully) not the current releases from Trione, it's my fault for not getting to them sooner.

2010 Trione Sauvignon Blanc Russian River Valley
The nose shows tart gooseberry and green grass right away, very fresh. Behind that lurk some lime juice and herbaceous qualities. As it opened in my glass, I picked up a flinty minerality that was quite cool. On the palate I can tell that this is softened a little bit by age but it's still got ripping acidity and a linear minerality that I thoroughly enjoy. The fruit seems to be mostly in the background, with touches of grapefruit and papaya showing through. More bracing acidity cleans up the finish beautifully, readying your palate for the next bite. Surprisingly fresh and vibrant, this stuff is almost Muscadet-like. Color me impressed. 14.0% abv. Recommended.

2008 Trione Chardonnay Russian River Valley
It's rare that I get to taste California chardonnay with this much age on it. This one stays traditional, with lots of butter and oak rushing out of the glass. They aren't necessarily overpowering as much as dominating. With some air, I picked up aromas of golden apple, quince, and baking spices. A sip brought plenty of buttercream but a nice hit of acid too. There's enough apple and pear playing around with the vanilla oak and butter to make a really, really nice chardonnay. Acidity dries out the finish in a good way, making me think this needs some grilled sea bass or chicken kabobs. 14.3% abv.

2008 Trione Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Again, it's rare to taste a RRV pinot with 6+ years of age, so I was looking forward to this one. Initially it's showing age, with notes of dried leather, furniture varnish, red cherry, and old wood. Still, it doesn't smell bad! There's still some acidity on the palate, barely holding together cherries, apple skin, baking spice and white pepper. Still-alive tannin is nicely integrated and I think this would pair well with more delicate meat, salmon and pork. It's not quite my cup of tea but still a really fun wine to taste. 14.2% abv.

2007 Trione Red Wine Alexander Valley
Shows a touch advanced, like it's just settling into some tertiary flavors. Similar to the pinot noir, this has a dusty, leathery element that is pretty interesting. Green herb, cassis, and cocoa powder come through with some swirling. Plenty of barrel spices too, maybe more than necessary. Sipping brings ample black fruit, good acid, and good tannin integration. Mostly cabernet, with merlot, petit verdot, and malbec thrown in. This looks, smells, and acts like a Bordeaux blend that's impeccably crafted. The balance between those advanced aromas and flavors versus the fresher blueberry, boysenberry, and red currant is excellent. If you see a 750ml of this, grab it. 14.5% abv. Highly Recommended.

2007 Trione Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley
Fresher than the red blend, this is still showing plenty of primary fruit. Loads of sweet black cherry and blackcurrant framed by what smells like both French and American oak. That freshness carries over onto the palate too, with more cherries, firm tannin, and plenty of oak. Unfortunately it also gets really hot and sloppy, with perceptible alcohol through the mid-palate and finish. I don't think this is nearly as good as the above red blend. 14.5% abv.

2008 Trione Syrah Russian River Valley
This remained tight despite being open for almost two hours and getting vigorously swirled in my glass. I did manage to tease out notes of black tea, plum, and blackberry preserve. There's a bit of VA present too, which I found distracting. Also, like the cabernet, some alcoholic heat on the nose. On the palate this tastes young-ish, like a wine that is nearly in middle age. That and like it has a bit of brettanomyces. I picked up a distinct medicinal component on the mid-palate and the finish was hollow on the tongue, a big time indicator for brett. Behind the bretty, medicinal note lurked some firm tannins, dusty minerality, and muted fruit. Kind of a bummer because I was really looking forward to tasting this wine. 14.8% abv.

With these wines we batted .500, the sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and red blend all being worthy of consideration. The other three, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, and syrah, had issues which I just can't overlook. Still, Trione clearly makes some very, very good wines and you should feel confident in purchasing (full size!) bottles of the wines I liked. Each promises to be good with food and have the ability to put on a bit of age to boot. I was pleased to find that I still enjoyed Trione after almost a decade of not tasting any of their releases.

The kit from tastingroom.com is really, really cool and gave me just enough wine to do a reasonably proper evaluation. They even include helpful information on how soon to drink the wines and how long they'll (most likely) remain fresh. I think more wineries that send out samples to bloggers might want to look into either this or bottle 375ml's for us, since it wastes far less wine.

These wines were samples for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

Spelletich Family Wine Co. Releases

File these under the "samples I discovered while unpacking at our new house" label. I was sent three wines from Spelletich Family Wine Company last year and meant to write them up at that time but with the job, harvest, and moving to a new house all the samples were shuffled into boxes that went into the cellar. I've been slowly unpacking all those boxes and categorizing the wines since the move.

If you drink wine and live in California, chances are you know of the Spelletich Cellars label. I sold the wines with great success back in my retail days, they were always of high quality and priced competitively. In particular, I used to enjoy their cabernet sauvignon. Now, it would appear that the Spelletich family has expanded product lines with one called 3 Spells and one called Spellwine. As explained by the website "SPELLwine, created by Kristen Spelletich, characterized as “A Next Generation” brand produces around 2,000 cases annually, priced from $15-$20. The newest brand, 3 SPELLS, is our“3rd generation” wines, priced from $22-$30 range."

I was approached by the PR rep to try the Spelletich wines and ended up being sent three bottles. The 2009 3 Spells Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma Valley and 2011 3 Spells Chardonnay from Lodi, plus the 2009 Spellwine Chardonnay from Mendocino County. Unfortunately, none of the actual Spelletich Cellars wines were included.

2009 Spellwine Chardonnay Mendocino County ($25 retail)
Shows some reduction at first, as well as notes of lemon, struck match, and gun flint. As I swirled, a vegetal aroma came out. Swirling some more to get the reduction in check, I picked up a touch of cream and red apple. On the palate this is soft and smooth, with lemon and pear dominating. A subtle herb and melon thing kicks in, but it's barely there. Very simple and compact, without any layering or nuance. The finish wasn't that great for me, with a chemically aftertaste. 14.2% abv.

2011 3 Spells Chardonnay Lodi ($22 retail)
Smells much, much better than the Spellwine bottle. Ripe lemon, melon, and pears galore. Very fruity and expressive on the nose. The attack is quite soft and easy, like a wine made for sipping on the patio. It tastes low acid (it's Lodi, after all) but has tons of flavor. I found lots of apple and lemon plus a satisfyingly grapey thing. The finish a touch hot from the 14.2% abv, but that would easily be covered up if you served this with a white pizza or grilled shrimp.

2009 3 Spells Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley ($30 retail)
The bouquet takes me back to working retail in the early 2000's in California. Tons of oak in the form of spicy wood, vanilla, and cocoa. Beyond that likes plenty of black fruit - think cherries and blueberries - surrounded by some black pepper. At first I was worried that this might lack structure, but it doesn't. Firm, grippy tannins reign in the ripeness and even help temper the alcohol. It's a bit hot, just like so many 2000's era California cabs. That said, I think this could be enjoyed on the back deck with grilled burgers or ribs. The tannic finish really begs to pair with something smokey and charred. 14.5% abv.

After tasting these three wines, I gotta say that can't recommend that Spellwine chardonnay. However, I will suggest that if you enjoy bigger, lusher cabernet and chardonnay and spot the 3 Spells wines on the shelf, you give them a shot. Both 3 Spells wines I tasted will stand up to food and are well made, but are also a bit pricey at their wine-searcher.com retail listings. Knock $5-7 off the price of each and then we'll talk about QPR.

To learn more about the Spelletich Family Winery lineup, visit their website.

These wines were media samples for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

Joseph Drouhin's La Foret Wines

A long time ago a nice, courteous PR professional pitched a blogger on some wines. These wines, French wines, were from a well known producer that many of us wine lovers hold in high esteem. What was particularly interesting about said wines was the pricing, much lower than this producers other offerings.

Maison Joseph Drouhin makes wines that cost $12 all the way to over $500. Here in Oregon, their Domaine Drouhin property is considered one of the states finest sites for great pinot noir and chardonnay. Winemaker Veronique Drouhin has redesigned the La Forets brand, more on that below.

As I read further into the pitch, I noted that these wines are designed for restaurants to pour by the glass. Perhaps the hottest category in on-premise wine programs, btg lists are fast becoming places not just to dump off cheap wines, but to also find unique, exciting, and delicious wines. American btg culture is changin, albeit slowly, into something far better than it was.

To taste these wines in approximately real world conditions, I took them to my fiancee's shop, Urban Decanter, and ate a meal with a glass of each wine. In between bites and sips, I took notes on what the wines were like. The food pairing was a meat and cheese plate to start, then one of Urban Decanter's famous paninis.

2012 Joseph Drouhin "La Foret" Bourgogne Chardonnay: Grass, butter, green apple, and fun! This just has a whimsical, happy element to it. When tasting, the word of the day is clean, clean, clean! It's so crisp and pure on the palate, with wonderful texture and a finish that's beautifully light and airy. For such an inexpensive chardonnay, this is firing on all cylinders. Recommended! $12.00 SRP.

2011 Joseph Drouhin "La Foret" Bourgogne Pinot Noir: Reminds me of macerated cherries, baking spice, wood, and tart strawberry. In other words, a perfectly normal set of aromas one finds in pinot noir from around the world. Soft and fruity on the palate, with a bit of acidity and tannin thrown in. Clean, easy-drinking, red Burgundy. Recommended! $12.00 SRP.







Wines like this on restaurant btg lists make a lot more sense than what is currently there. This goes doubly true for big chains like Landry's. If you're a wine lover and have ever looked at lists for places like McCormick's, El Gaucho, etc, you know that the list of high quality, unique wines is limited. It's mostly a bunch of boring stuff supplied by one of the mega distributors operating in the United States.

Ok, rant over.

These two wines are good and priced extremely well. If you see them on restaurant lists you can be assured they'll be food-friendly and of high quality. Should you see them on store shelves, I recommend considering each for that casual, Tuesday night bottle.

To find out more, visit the Drouhin La Forets website or the Maison Joseph Drouhin website.

These wines were samples for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

Paul Mas Estate, Languedoc-Roussillon

Continuing the series of "Wines Beau Was Sent A Long Time Ago", this time I am exploring a producer in the Languedoc-Roussillon area of France. Long a place associated with cheap, mediocre bulk wine, there have been rumblings over the past few years that a serious uptick in quality is taking place. Granted, there has also been a concerted push by the trade group(s) and producers of the region to showcase their wines on the world stage.

Earlier this year (a familiar refrain, no?) I was sent three wines from "rural luxury" wine company Domaines Paul Mas to taste and comment on. Time, as it seems to do, slipped away and while I fully intended to open and write about these wines for summer, now the Holiday Season is upon us. I was sent three wines from the Paul Mas Estate line, which appears to be their mid to high(ish) priced label.

Despite the lateness of the year, upon tasting these wines I found them to be very suitable for the cool/cold weather and am excited at the thought of how they could pair with your Holiday feasts.

2011 Paul Mas Estate Picpoul de Pinet Coteaux du Languedoc: Opens with lemons and oranges, grass, and hints of butter. Great acidity on the palate, which helps tame the ripeness, and provides a very food-friendly angle to this wine. I really enjoyed how interesting the wine was as it gradually warmed up, showing fleshier tropical and stone fruit flavors. $11 on the East Coast. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

2011 Paul Mas Estate Chardonnay Saint Hilare Coteaux du Languedoc: Ripe notes of apple and lemon curd, rendered butter, and tart lime juice. I was struck at how balanced the aromas were. Good acidity, creating a beautifully cleansing effect on the palate. It highlights citrus and apple notes galore. Each sip left me with a smile, and the finish was nice and crisp, readying my palate for another bite. $13 nationally. Recommended.

2011 Paul Mas Estate GSM Coteau du Languedoc: My first thought was that smells like a GSM, which is a good thing. Licorice, blackberries, blueberries, and a pleasing meaty nature. The bouquet had me intrigued but unfortunately I just wasn't as excited about the palate. It's a bit soft and ripe, and could maybe use more acidity. I'm not sure if it's a function of this wine's youth or not, but this seems incomplete. That said, if you like soft, ripe, easy drinking red blends, I think will make you happy, especially at the price. $14 on the East Coast.





The two whites showed the best for me on the day I tasted them, and on the second day. They had lots of nice primary fruit, plenty of acidity, and are priced to compete. The red just wasn't that great, and I feel there are better options around the price point. One would be the 2011/2012 St. Cosme Cotes du Rhone, an incredible deal at around $15. Still, the GSM is a wine that will appeal to many palates and the crowd-pleasing style will certainly be a hit at any parties you bring a bottle to. Those whites though, they deserve some serious consideration as you plan your holiday meals.

The Paul Mas website isn't very good, but I was able to find out that this producer makes a lot of different wines from sources all over the Languedoc-Roussillon area of France. I think their packaging and message are very good and the wines are certainly of reasonable quality. Seeing the Languedoc-Roussillon area start to climb out of the shadows and more into the mainstream as a source for quality is exciting, I hope we all continue to get exposure to the wines.

These wines were media samples for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

Wine Industry Technology Symposium Live Tasting With @WineTwits

During this year's Wine Industry Technology Symposium, a group of wine bloggers were sent four wines from California and invited to participate in a live, virtual wine tasting. Frequent readers (all four of you) might be familiar with this format, as I've posted recaps of these tastings fairly often over the past few years.

The way a "virtual tasting" works is by having bloggers around the country receive the same wines, then use Twitter and a specific hashtag to talk about each wine. Usually there's a moderator, in this case the fine folks behind the @WineTwits account and website. We talked (tweeted) about each wine over the course of about an hour, with the various participating wineries chiming in to answer questions and give data points.

I tend to enjoy some aspects of virtual tastings, especially when bloggers whose palates I trust are participating. We get to compare notes and really dive into what the wines are about. The other side of virtual tastings is that all too often we get bloggers who do nothing but tweet hyperbolic statements praising every wine. Not only do they look like idiots, it undermines our already-fragile credibility as a group.

Each wine selected has the benefit of being easy to find in grocery stores and BevMo-type outlets, being of high enough production to virtually guarantee nationwide distribution. The sole unfamiliar wine to me was the 2010 Garnet Vineyards Pinot Noir, the rest have all graced my wine glass at some point in the past few years.

2010 Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay Livermore Valley: The bouquet is full of lemon cream, tropical fruit, and popcorn butter aromas. To me it smells exactly like I'd expect a traditional California-style chardonnay to smell like. On the palate there's a nice bit of that tropical fruit, some more lemon notes, vanilla, and more of the buttery taste. The acidity is low, or at least, feels low due in part to the malolactic fermentation that this wine saw. Wente consistently makes drinkable wines, and if you're a fan of buttery California chardonnay, I think you'll really enjoy the Morning Fog bottling. 13.5% abv. $11 retail.

2011 Hahn Winery Nicky Hahn Pinot Noir California: Pours a beautifully vibrant ruby color in the glass, a testament to its youth. The nose is full of ripe, jammy cherry preserves, baking spice, some woodsy aromas, and a touch of earth. Cherry jam dominates the palate, providing a soft, rich mouthfeel. The baking spices come out to play a little bit on the finish, which in itself is nice if a bit short. 100% pinot noir, according to the data sheet I have. 14.5% abv. $14 retail.

2010 Garnet Vineyards Pinot Noir Carneros: Loads of raspberry and strawberry aromas followed by a bit of white pepper spices. I think there's a bit of funk here too, some nail-polish remover came out as the wine warmed up. I think this pinot is very varietally correct on the palate, with light red fruit, peppery spice, hints of earthy funk, and lots of acidity. The finish is medium length, tapering off nicely, however, the bottle was open about five hours before the finish got to be any reasonable length. It might need a bit of age or an hour in a decanter before it shows all its facets. 13.5% abv. $19 retail.

2008 Franciscan Magnificat Napa Valley: A blend of 69% cabernet sauvignon, 23% merlot, 6% petite verdot, and 2% malbec. This Meritage pours dark, almost opaque garnet. Pepper, wood smoke, cassis, and leather rush up out of the glass. There's a touch of alcoholic heat, nothing more. Lots of ripe black fruit mixed with oak form the primary flavors. Secondary flavors include smoked meat, cocoa dust, and dried spice leaves. A nice long finish shows earth and leather before disappearing in a burst of dried black cherry. This is a 2008, and it shows true to form as a very young wine. Lots of firm tannin that will soften and integrate with age. I tasted this again after six hour and it had mellowed out noticeably. 14.5% abv. $35 retail.



The wines we tasted were all interesting and well made. The Franciscan was very good, and the clear leader of the group. I re-tasted each wine about six hours after I opened them and save for the Meritage, they'd all begun to fall apart. Out of the latter three, the Wente chardonnay held together best, still retaining some acidity and complexity.

The WineTwits crew did a great job getting such a large group of bloggers together and keeping the discussion moving along, but weren't as active with the technical facts and winery-liaison work that I've seen from other virtual tasting hosts. Perhaps that will change in the future, should they do another tasting. Then again, it's not always necessary to constantly chime in if the discussion is flowing nicely.

You can find each winery on social media here:
@Wente and on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/WenteVineyards
@HahnWines and on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/HahnFamilyWines
@FranciscanWines and on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/FranciscanEstateWinery
@GarnetVineyards and on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/GarnetVineyards

and @WineTwits

Thanks for inviting me!

These wines were media samples.

Beau Carufel

The Seeker, Wines From Around the World

Have you heard of the wine brand called "The Seeker"? I was sent samples of a few of their wines recently, and looked forward to evaluating them. This brand is seeming to grow in popularity with each month, and their Facebook and Twitter presence could certainly be emulated by others. Whomever manages the social media account does a good job engaging with the fan base, responding to comments, and creating discussion.

The Seeker, as far as I can gather, is another one of those made-up brands. Kobrand acts as negotiant, marketer, and distributor. They have sourced wine from all over the world to create five wines, with the featured three plus a sauvignon blanc and a pinot noir.

Each wine has a character to go along with it, and the story of each revolves around flying machines somewhere in the world. It's a bit cheesy, but still fun to read through each story. Therefore, we can't exactly say this brand has heritage or the authenticity that goes with heritage, but we can say some thought was put into the development. Ever the skeptic, I looked forward to tasting the wines but was wary of the "manufactured-brand effect", where someone comes along, starts a brand with a catchy, hip story, and tries to market the product (which may or may not be of good quality) to us Millennials. Keep reading to see if any thought was put into the actual wines.

2010 The Seeker Chardonnay California: Straightforward bouquet of citrus and tropical fruits along with a touch of butter (diacetyl). On the palate it's clean and smooth with balanced acidity that highlights flavors of lemon zest and tropical fruit. Some creamy, buttery notes are present as well, lending contrast to the acidity. The finish is nice and straightforward, gently tapering away after a few seconds. Serve chilled to enhance the acidity and citrus flavors, for as this wine warms up it becomes more buttery. 13.8% abv. $11 retail.

2009 The Seeker Malbec Mendoza Argentina: Lots of black and red fruit on the nose, also some peppery spice and a touch of alcoholic burn. Still, it's got more than your typical Argentine "blackberry/blueberry jam" nose, and that's to be commended. I liked the impressive tannic backbone which worked to keep the ripe fruit flavors in line, drying the palate out nicely. Also found were secondary flavors of char, black pepper, and earth. A medium length finish full of drying tannin and ripe black cherry flavors is the nice ending touch for this tasty malbec. Stainless steel tanks held the wine during fermentation before it spent a year in French barrels. 14.5% abv. $11 retail.

2010 The Seeker Cabernet Sauvignon Chile: Fruit is sourced from Colchagua and Maipo Valleys in Chile. The nose is typically Chilean, with some green pepper notes, plums, black pepper, and black currant. Soft and inviting on the palate, it showcases ripe blackberry and currant flavors surrounded by nicely integrated tannin. Secondary flavors of tar, tobacco leaf, and dark earth emerge after the wine gets some air. The finish is clean and simple, ending with drying tannin and dusty soil flavors. For an inexpensive cabernet, this is a solid bottle of wine. Aged in French and American barrels for five months. 13.5% abv. $11 retail.




Each of these wines, considering the price, is drinking very well. They certainly won't blow you away in terms of complexity and aren't worth aging, but for $11 a bottle you're getting wines that express a sense of place and varietal typicity. If I had bought them, I'd have no regrets whatsoever. My advice, buy a bottle of each, let the reds open up a bit and keep that chardonnay nice and cold. Serve them during the summer barbecues or casual nights with your buddies.

You fan find The Seeker Wines on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter.

These wines were media samples for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

Wine Club Review: California Wine Club Sends Tobin James Selections

I was sent the second in a series of three shipments from the California Wine Club recently. The first shipment was wines from Fess Parker, a very well known and respected winery in Central California. This time, another well known (and respected) producer called Tobin James Cellars was selected for us.

2010 Tobin James “Radiance” Monterey County Chardonnay: This chardonnay pours a pale gold in the glass, and you're immediately struck by a mish-mash of buttered popcorn, lemon, and tropical fruit aromas. Sourced from Lockwood Vineyard in Monterey County, only 4,000 cases were produced in 2010. On the palate it's got a lot of acid and no real trace of oak. Indeed, only 8% of the harvest was barrel-fermented. Lots of zesty citrus on the palate combines with some buttery texture to create a bit of an awkward mouthfeel though. The finish is medium-length and gently evaporates from the palate. Overall, a solid if unremarkable chardonnay that will probably please the masses. 13.8% abv. SRP: $18, CA Wine Club: $10.99

2008 Tobin James Titan Hills Vineyards “Fiasco”: This is something interesting, a wine made from grapes harvested over a 1.5 month period, from 20 vineyards. When I read the info sheet I scratched my head, but figured what's the worst that could happen? Mostly syrah (55%), with 25% zinfandel and 20% barbera thrown in to complete the blend. Alcohol is a rather large 14.9%, according to the label. I wouldn't be surprised if it was closer to 16% though. Loads of peppery spice, jammy black fruit, and wood smoke rush up out of the glass. Oh and alcohol too. The palate shows big, jammy black fruit, more wood smoke flavors, earth, and black pepper. Bring this one out during your barbecues and watch your non-wine-geek buddies lose their shit. SRP $21, CA Wine Club: $11.99.


As with the previous California Wine Club wines, this shipment was 1 for 2. The chardonnay wasn't that great, and to me it tasted like it cost $10 at a grocery store. On the other hand, I know a bunch of people who I'd love to have over to share the bottle of "Fiasco" with, while we grill up some thick steaks and burgers. If I paid $21 at a retail store I'd be ok with that, but I love the California Wine Club price of $11.99.

One final thought before I wrap this up; as I browsed the literature, I noticed both wines were released a while ago. In the case of the Radiance chardonnay, a year ago. The "Fiasco" was released way back in the summer of 2010. I would imagine that the 2011 Radiance chardonnay is about ready to be released, and the Fiasco too - if they've made another batch. That might explain why these are available at such a discount, the California Wine Club could have gotten them on a closeout, at lower prices.

You can find the California Wine Club on Twitter as @cawineclub and The Boring Wine Guy as @boringwineguy. Bruce Boring is one half of the founding team behind this club, the other being his wife Pam. The California Wine Club Facebook Page is also full of activity and a good place to talk about your experiences. The Boring Wine Guy is also on Facebook. If you use the code "beau12" at checkout, you will get four bottles instead of two. That might be the best deal of the whole club!

These wines were provided as media samples in collaboration with Mom Spark Media.

Beau Carufel

Tasting Chilean Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc With @DrinkChile

I was invited to taste again with the Wines of Chile trade group, with whom I had tasted a variety of Chilean wines last year. The format, using Master Sommelier Fred Dexheimer as the moderator of a tasting session with winemakers and bloggers, was unchanged. At the studio in New York, he had a chef preparing some delicious looking seafood recipes to showcase these white wines. We bloggers were sent these recipes, I chose to simply taste the wines though, in order not to fill my apartment with distracting aromas.

Our theme this time was Coast to Toast, featuring white wines from the coastal areas of Chile.

1. Casa Silva Cool Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2011 Colchagua Valley: At first I said this wine was trying to be a New Zealand sauvignon blanc, with its green grass, gooseberry, and lemon zest bouquet. I still think it is, but also has taken on a Chilean twist. There's a note of briny ocean air to go with the aforementioned bouquet. On the palate, lemon zest and more asparagus. A clean mineral profile adds depth and complexity but isn't enough to overcome the lack of interesting flavors. 13.0% abv. $25

2. Los Vascos Sauvignon Blanc 2011 Casablanca Valley: A wine that for me started out dull and insipid, but grew into something vastly more interesting. While this wine isn't an extraordinary experience, I respect the fact that it is unpretentious and very quaffable. The nose is mildly astringent with notes of grass, grapefruit, and stem. On the palate the Los Vascos is dry, clean, and simple. More of the citrus with hints of asparagus and a nice bit of minerality. The very definition of crowd-pleaser. 13.5% abv. $14

3. Cono Sur Visión Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2011 Casablanca Valley: Way more lime juice than initially detected, some three hours in. Hints of minerality and a strange, not unpleasant lettuce aroma. Barely-there tropical fruits too. On the palate, bursts Meyer lemon, pineapple, and light grassy flavors dominate. The finish is really evaporative though, which disappointed me. 13.0% abv. $15

4. Viña Casablanca Nimbus Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2011: Earlier during the tasting I said this wine started to gently veer towards a Sancerre, and it still does three hours later. That stated, there are more cut-grass aromas now, pushing out some of the stone fruit and limestone I picked up before. This isn't a bad thing though because it gives the bouquet nice complexity. The mouthfeel is great, acidic and cleansing. Nice citrus - lemon zest to me - along with a kick of pear help this wine achieve lofty status as the best QPR of the night. 13.8% abv. $13

5. Veramonte Ritual Sauvignon Blanc 2011 Casablanca Valley: I kind of dogged all these wines when I first opened them. There was a stunning amount of homogeneity, but then I re-tasted and this Veramonte is making me smile. The bouquet is still sauvignon blanc, redolent of limestone overlaid with grass that someone squeezed a ton of limes over. On the palate, there's a smoothness here, a depth from the subtle oak treatment. Anthropomorphically speaking, it's like a girl who's grown up from a saucy teenager to a classy, Ivy League educated 20something. 13.5% abv. $18

6. Santa Rita Medalla Real Chardonnay 2010 Leyda Valley: Aromatically pleasing, think wet rocks and buttered popcorn co-existing with a bowl of sliced pears and apples. On the palate, light and kind of sultry, somewhat unexpected. Pears really show through, that and some grassy notes, even a bit of granitic mineral quality. My only knock on this wine is that it fades away awfully quickly. 14.0% abv. $18

7. De Martino Legado Reserva Chardonnay 2010 Limarí Valley: This wine was very interesting, but not necessarily in a good way. I tasted it right after opening, when it had some acidity and flavors of tropical fruit. About two hours later, when I smelled it, I thought of rotting grass. Decidedly unpleasant, and this sharp, pepper-like note also showed up. On the palate it's relatively simple, peach and golden apple notes, acidity, but more of the strange rotting grass type flavor. Could very well be a bad bottle. 13.5% abv. $16

8. Concha y Toro Marques de Casa Concha Chardonnay 2009 Limarí Valley: I like the bouquet here, green apples mixed with cinnamon-spiced wood. There's a pleasantness this chardonnay has that keeps drawing me in. On the palate it's creamy but also balanced, the acidity shows up as a lemon and apple flavor. There's also noticeable oak here but it isn't in a bad way. In between the oak and citrus, a hint of tropical fruit - think papaya - shines through. A sweet, mineral-laden finish continues the intrigue. This chardonnay begs for king crab legs dipped in garlic butter. 14% abv. $19

What can we take from this tasting? First off, the wines we tasted were all interesting and while none were world class, all but one were very drinkable. Out of the lineup I did enjoy the Veramonte and Vina Casablanca bottles, and two of three chardonnays exhibited some pleasant characteristics too. If you are out and about, looking for an inexpensive bottle of wine that will pair with seafood or appetizers, buy any of these with confidence. The quality levels are high (save for the De Martino) and the wines are easy drinking.

From an educational standpoint, each wine showcased an area of Chile that can clearly produce high quality wines. As the winemakers in Chile gain experience with their diverse micro-climates, the onus will shift to the consumer to educate himself or herself and seek out specific regions. Personally, I enjoy syrah and sauvignon blanc from the Colchauga and Casablanca valleys, respectively. Others might love Maipo cabernet sauvignon or Maule Valley carmenere. It's so important to keep exploring countries like Chile because they're constantly discovering new areas that are conducive to grape growing.

Visit the Wines of Chile website to find out more information about the wines we tasted tonight, including some helpful links for where to purchase each one. Follow @DrinkChile on Twitter to learn more about Chilean wine and tastings in your area.

These wines were media samples for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

Parducci Small Lot Blend Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

I've written about Parducci wines frequently over the last year and the wines have generally been very good, in some cases excellent, and always a great value. You can read my past blogs about Parducci and see what I mean. Recently I was sent two more bottles to sample, the new "Small Lot Blend" series. Both the chardonnay and pinot noir are priced with an eye towards by-the-glass placement in restaurants and wine bars, their respective srp's being $11.00 and $12.00. That said, they are also both available at retail locations as evidenced by my wine-searcher.com query.

The pinot noir is 100% pinot, aged for eight months (assuming that's in oak), and produced in large quantities - 20,000 cases. The chardonnay on the other hand was subject to a neutral-wood and stainless steel regimen, along with 5% barrel fermentation. It was produced in much small quantities, only 6,620 cases. Depending on your perspective, these wines could be seen as large production or small production, but I looked forward to tasting them and seeing if Parducci had continued its run of great quality wines at bargain prices.

2010 Parducci Small Lot Blend Chardonnay Mendocino County: A very pale chardonnay, I'd liken it to a New Zealand sauvignon blanc in color. Aromatically I get a lot of sweet apple and pear notes, some buttery pastry-crust too, and maybe the barest hint of a mineral component. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied, with vibrant acidity at the edges of my tongue that restrain the pastry-crust note, providing balance and texture. Just like on the nose, that ripe golden apple comes through along with an easygoing dollop of fresh stone fruit. A light, airy finish ends the Parducci on a pleasant note. Overall I think this is a wonderfully food-friendly wine and it nails the by-the-glass intent that Parducci had when creating this line. I would gladly drink this chardonnay over many higher-priced examples for it's lightness and balance. 13.5% abv. $11 suggested retail price.

2010 Parducci Small Lot Blend Pinot Noir Mendocino County: I like the color here, it's a beautifully vibrant Burgundy that mellows out to ruby-red towards the edges of the glass. The bouquet is a nice mix of vanilla, cedar, baking spice, and a core of prominent black cherry-plum mixture. At only $12, the complexity level is unusually high. A sip brings out very ripe red fruits backed up by a firm acid streak supported by subtle oak before the mildly tannic finish cleans things up. The core fruit flavors of sweet cherries and plums are welcomed, where they form a very sippable pinot noir. This is light-bodied, fun, and still possess enough intensity to stand up to salmon and even some red meat. I often lament cheap pinot noir, but this deliver above the price point. 14.0% abv. $12 suggested retail price.


Over the course of two days, both wines showed very well considering their price. The chardonnay maintained a light, uplifting feel and the pinot held on to the firm acid and fruit notes that made it so pleasurable in the first place. I guess you could say that Parducci passed the test once again with their Small Lot Blend wines.. If you see these wines on a list somewhere, it's safe to order them and know that you're getting a good quality wine that will pair with a wide range of foods.

Visit Parducci on the web
Parducci Winery on Twitter

With that, my first Parducci wines of 2012 were a big hit and I look forward to bringing you more of their bottlings over the next 12 months. Hopefully this year they sample me on the more expensive stuff too! Thanks as always for reading.

These wines were media samples for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

Kendall Jackson CEO on Undercover Boss

Last night if you were on Twitter you likely noticed a lot of tweets about the CBS tv show "Undercover Boss", and it's "guest star"/featured CEO, Rick Tigner. The Twitter account that was most active seemed to be @KJWine, Kendall Jackson's own. I watched the show, though I didn't take it as far as some people, who drank Kendall Jackson wines and hosted viewing parties. Still, the social media leveraging that Kendall Jackson utilized was very impressive, it increased their brand visibility and created conversation about the company and product. That qualifies as a good return on investment, which is contrary to what people like Steve Heimoff claim; that there really is no ROI on social media.

My reaction to the show, again being distinctly in the minority, was one of pity for the CEO and admiration at how Twitter and Facebook were used for the public relations (spin) that transpired before, during, and after the show. Let me first discuss how bad I felt the company looked before analyzing the social media aspect. Before I even get that far though, I want to state that this isn't a personal attack on the CEO. Rick Tigner seems like a nice guy, and he got emotional (I think it was real) at multiple points of the show. I believe he does want his company to succeed and does care about the people that work at Kendall Jackson. Just how much he cares is up for debate though.

In the opening scenes, we see a group of executives sitting around tasting white wine, presumably the infamous Kendall Jackson Chardonnay, and Rick is describing it with words like "smoke", "oaky", and "buttery". My gut told me the scene was staged for the benefit of TV audiences but it came across as somewhat arrogant and snobbish, making wine look more hoity-toity than it needs to. Not a good way to start, I noted.

As we watched Rick screw up in task after task, the entertainment value was replaced by a sense of dread. If Rick is to lead the company, how can he not know his customer-facing employees' job duties and attitudes? In particular, after watching him waste company money attempting to work the bottling line, I was struck at how lost the guy looked doing real work.

"I gotta count every row?"

The question is, would I want a guy like him running a company that makes wine? A short answer is no, a longer answer is hell no. The CEO knows less about making wine than I do, yet he controls a company that sells five million cases per year. His attempts at working the vineyards, on the bottle line, running deliveries, and in a tasting room showed that he really has no idea how the lowest levels of Kendall Jackson operate. That's a big red flag, because just like in any other large corporation, the lower you go, the more likely you are to find someone who is directly interfacing with the public on a daily basis.

"tastes like apples and pears..?"

Mr. Tigner seemed stunned that there were people working for the company that don't speak any English, who the hell did he think picked the grapes and tends the vineyards? Bands of rabid U.C. Davis students and sommeliers? Sorry bud, that only works in Burgundy. He also was seemingly incapable of doing manual labor on a bottling line, and couldn't flip over a case of empty bottles without spilling them everywhere. Having done that with cases of full bottles before, I can tell you that it's a simple task. At the tasting room, Tigner had no clue how to sell a wine club membership, pour a one ounce taste, and I can only pray to Bacchus that he actually was faking his inability to describe sauvignon blanc.



I was left with the sense that the CEO of Kendall Jackson is more comfortable behind a desk, telling people what to do and not really caring how they felt about it, just that they did what he felt was best. Either that or more comfortable behind his incredibly expensive Audi S6. Next I'll explore the social media angle that I noticed last night. By all accounts, it's been a smashing success for the corporation winery.

Watching the @KJWine account last night, I admired how well whomever ran that account managed to get outside their Twitter bubble and into the mainstream trends. There's an old joke that the only people who tweet about wine are wine people. While partly true, last night's tweets showed that it is possible to extend your brand's reach by generating and sustaining conversation based on a different media source. In this way, the TV show itself was leveraged to build brand buzz on Twitter and Facebook.

Through a combination of original tweets and retweets, the twitter account managers kept that buzz going into today. The Kendall Jackson homepage also has links to the TV show and their Facebook page was frequently updated with pertinent facts and details. While it's obviously a public relations coup to score a visit from the Undercover Boss film crew, there is also ample opportunity to squander that publicity. Kendall Jackson may have sold a few more cases of wine in the near term, but the name is now much more common in many American households. How many people going to buy wine (hint: millions already buy wine) will choose K-J because they saw the show? My semi-educated guess is it will be a few thousand, at minimum.

There's a saying: "there is no such thing as bad publicity", and even though the company may have not looked like such a hot place to work, the brand recognition metric took a sizable bump upwards. It's impossible to measure exactly how many more bottles of Kendall Jackson wines will sell but based on the audience numbers (unavailable at this time) we can reasonably assume that Kendall Jackson is going to be recognized by more people than before the show aired. Looking deeper, we can also see that because social media leveraged the TV show, wine consumers (who are already on social media sites) had a greater chance of being exposed to some great PR for the company.

Knowing this, we can therefore understand that a company (be it winery or otherwise) who uses social media to leverage an event (using this as a general term) properly can therefore expect a rise in brand recognition such that they will most likely (50%+ chance) a rise in revenue as well. Because of the fantastic PR job by both CBS and Kendall Jackson on the TV show and because of the well-managed Twitter campaign waged by the brand managers there, Kendall Jackson will see an increase in wine sales.

The people like myself, who remain skeptics and unmoved by the seemingly heartwarming story of a CEO who realizes the need for change, will continue to grumble about how Americans buy into crap like this. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we are a minority and our grumbling is mostly confined to blogs and microblogs.

Now all that remains to be seen is how long the changes Mr. Tigner made actually last. The employee's 401k was brought back and there's a new training program for employees who work with Spanish-speaking coworkers, as well as some kind of paperwork reduction program in place. Will that all stick around or is it just going to last as long as the buzz over the show does?

Beau Carufel

Foley Steel Chardonnay, 2009, Santa Rita Hills

I used to be firmly against oaky, buttery chardonnays. The "California style" that was so prevalent in the mid-90's through the early '00's grossed me out. Wines that reminded of movie theater popcorn and vanilla extract were (and are) horribly offensive to my palate. As a result, I avoided chardonnay for the most part, occasionally allowing a Montrachet to seduce me or a Chablis to dance a tango for me.

With age and maturity, I have evolved, much like a fine wine. Today those chardonnays are viewed as elements of a meal and I've had a few that were incredibly friendly and palate-pleasing. Rombauer, Far Niente, Kongsgaard, Kistler and the rest of them could be made in a technically complex style and are certainly capable of high scores...and the associated high prices.

The other side of the chardonnay coin would be examples that see no oak and no malolactic fermentation. Crisp, clean, bracingly acidic wines that highlight intenese minerality over oaky richness. Chardonnay like that holds immense appeal to me, and I remain an unabashed fan of white Burgundy to this day. Here and there, a wooded chardonnay would appeal to me, and I remain a fan of the Derbes offering, though it's rarely seen here in San Diego.

That brings us to this wine, the 2009 Foley Steel Chardonnay. The word steel referring to the lack of oak barrel aging. Also, there is no malo-lactic fermentation taking place, which results in higher malic acid for more of the green apple and lemon flavors. The suggested retail price is $30 but I've seen the 2009 Foley Steel sell for as little as $23 per bottle.

Some wine geek info: 14.3% abv, pH of 3.35, 100% chardonnay, and all fruit from the Santa Rita Hills AVA.

But what's this Foley Steel all about? Is it worth your money?

One of those answers is a simple yes or no, the other requires a bit of exploration. Is the 2009 Foley Steel Chardonnay worth your money? Yes, it's an excellent chardonnay and goes head to head with white Burgundies at the same price. But why?

Aromatically there are all sorts of fun things going on. I was struck by how fresh this chardonnay smelled, being devoid of oak and m-l fermentation allowed the natural bouquet of summer flowers and lemon zest to shine. Intense minerality plays a part too, showcasing a wet river rock scent, or perhaps that of a gravel driveway after a rainstorm. In short, this Foley chardonnay is a wine you want to sniff for hours, enjoying the picture that it's bouquet paints.

But that's only part of what makes the '09 Foley so deliciously fun. At first sip, lots of green apple and lemon pith present themselves. As the wine moves across the palate, it fattens up to reveal lemon curd notes with a core of tight minerality akin to limestone in the sun. That fatness comes from the relatively high 14.3% alcohol, perhaps the only flaw I found. Despite this cabernet-level amount of alcohol though, the Steel chardonnay remains balanced and food-friendly. 

I reviewed this wine a couple of months ago and gave it a B+ and STRONG BUY recommendation because I was impressed with the quality and balance. Later, I learned that Wine Spectator gave this exact wine a 90 points, it's nice to know my ratings agree with the "professional" critics once in a while. For suggested food pairings, go with something light and fresh. Grilled ahi tuna or mahi mahi fish tacos would be wonderful. Pasta with pesto would also work out and any kind of vegetarian pizza pairing would be awesome.

This wine was a sample for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

2010 Stepping Stone White Rocks! (It does!)

After tasting the 2010 Stepping Stone Riesling, 2010 Stepping Stone Sauvignon Musque, and 2010 Stepping Stone Corallina Rosé, I feel like I'm getting to know the Stepping Stone wines a bit more. Granted, I wasn't a fan of the sauvignon blanc but I loved the riesling and rosé. Their combination of high quality and great price are proof positive that Cornerstone Napa Winery is doing it right with their second label.

For this, the 2010 Stepping Stone White Rocks!, we're exploring a blend of chardonnay and muscat, two grapes that can stand on their own quite well. When blended, I honestly have no clue what to expect here. Chardonnay runs the gamut from dry and steely to lush and oaked beyond all recognition, whereas muscat often becomes a sweet, light, perfumed wine that is surprisingly versatile. To blend them is certainly an exercise in daring, the risk here that I'll be tasting a washed out, overly sweet, flabby glass of liquid nastiness.

Then again I know the Cornerstone Cellars and Stepping Stone wines fairly well, so I have some faith that this will be an intellectually stimulating exercise at the very least. Or simply, this wine shouldn't suck.

As a mission statement for the Rocks! wines, the Cornerstone website says this: "Inspired by the blends of southern France, each vintage of Rocks! is a new creation weaving the characteristics of each vintage by interlacing the personalities of each variety selected. The style of our Rocks! wines will flow with the vintage as our goal is not to replicate a certain taste profile, but to make the most interesting wines possible each vintage."

(img src:http://www.cornerstonecellarblog.com/) 

A nice golden straw color appears in my glass as if by magic, but it's really just me pouring a "taste". All in the name of research of course. As usual, this wine (and all other white wines) get to sit out and warm up a few degrees before I review it. The White Rocks! coloration reminds me of sauvignon blanc that's been aged in oak barrels. It's not dark yellow like a chardonnay or sweet riesling, yet there is more here than with a translucent pinot grigio.

The bouquet can best be described as a mish-mash of stone fruit, summer flowers, wet rocks, and green apples. Ripe peach and nectarine comprise the two most prominent aromas, but the light flower scents helped to balance out the sweetness of the fruit. There's a nice mineral element too, I kept imaging wet limestone or wet chalk. Again something to contrast the ripe peach/nectarine that seemed to dominate. And yes the green apples were awesome, cleaning up the entire bouquet and wrapping it in a neat package for me to ponder. It's obvious that the team at Cornerstone paid attention to detail when blending this white wine.

So how does it taste? Great! Clean fruit flavors and vibrant acidity make the 2010 White Rocks! a very enjoyable, refreshing wine. Think of a chardonnay stripped of the oak and malolactic fermentation, all apple and nectarines. That wine would have a certain lightness yet retain a nice sense of depth. Add in that muscat and there's a richness through the palate, part sweet and part soft, taming some of that acidity while allowing a nice balance to be struck. I guess I should point out something that did disappoint, though it's nitpicky. On the front-palate this wine does struggle a bit with it's identity. I got the sense that the juicy (in a lip smacking way) acid wanted to come first but the sweet muscat fruit flavors weren't letting that happen. Still, that's about all I could find wrong.

Cornerstone's 2010 Stepping Stone White Rocks! would pair well with a fresh summer salad of baby lettuce, spinach, candied cherries and crumbled feta. You could also work with a grilled, herb-marinated chicken dish to create a traditional southern California summer dinner.

At $15 suggested retail price, it's a QPR home run and for those of you looking for white wines that remain light and dry, yet come with a bit of sweet fruit, this is your wine! I give a B and a STRONG BUY recommendation. Check out the Cornerstone website for where to purchase this delicious wine.

This wine was a media sample generously provided by the winery.

Beau Carufel

CalNaturale And Their Tetra Paks of Cabernet and Chardonnay

Over the past few years, alternatives to glass wine bottles have become more common. Once the domain of gag inducing wines like Franzia, today's wine in boxes and cartons are huge leaps in quality while still offering great price points. At least year's Wine Bloggers Conference I tasted some wines from Octavin Home Wine Bar, they were fairly good and at low prices. Also last year I tasted the Don and Sons "Big Green Box" wines, which did surprise me with good quality. Neither the Octavin or Don & Sons wines were mind-blowing but for a cost of around $10-15 per 750 ml, the quality was just fine.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago with I was approached with a query about my interest in trying the CalNaturale wines. I was sent a TetraPak of Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles and another of Chardonnay from Mendocino County. Both are in 500 ml cartons, which is 2/3 of a standard bottle of wine. It's roughly two full glasses of wine for you and I. The CalNaturale Cabernet is a 2008, the Chardonnay a 2009 vintage. Both are also available in 1 liter sizes, for those of you who have parties planned or are lushes.

(img src: http://www.calnaturale.com/products.php)

2009 CalNaturale Chardonnay Mendocino County
This is made with organically grown grapes and comes in at a low-for-these-days 13.0% alcohol. Nice pale yellow color, not at all like the almost buttery yellow that some chardonnays look like.  I couldn't find any information about how much time in oak this spent, though I suspect it was more likely a steel tank/oak chip combination than any time in barrels.

I like the light citrus and apple aromas I pick up right away, along with just the barest hint of oak, not at all distracting. Perhaps a credit to the TetraPak, the CalNaturale chardonnay smells fresh and vibrant, like a wine that would be fun to sit around and sip on a warm summer afternoon.

Well balanced with some sharp acidity up front immediately followed by a soft, creamy mid-palate, I suspect this sees at least partial malolactic fermentation. Ripe stone fruit, hints of grass and pear all wrapped up in a tight package. While not a very complex wine, the 2009 CalNaturale chardonnay is approachable, friendly, and lively. Hard to argue with a wine that costs $7 for a 500 ml package. B-, BUY recommendation.

(img src: http://www.calnaturale.com/products.php)

2008 CalNaturale Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles
This wine has a very nice dark garnet color, lightening towards the edges of my glass just ever so slightly. Again I have no information about the treatment of the cabernet, but I suspect it's similarly a steel tank/oak chip type of wine. This is a great way to impart oak characteristics while keeping the cost down by avoiding the high cost of new barrels every few years.

I liked the nose, it smelled like a freshly made BLT. I could pick up savory meat notes along with a touch of green vegetal aromas, some oak, and a few hits of ripe red berry fruits. There was also a bit of a plastic-y smell too, something like one of those hospital oxygen masks, if you've ever worn one. All in all, pleasant smelling especially for a $7 cabernet sauvignon.

The wine's approach is a bit rough on the palate, sort of disjointed but perhaps something that could solved with some more open time. I'm unsure as to how the TetraPak helps the wine get some air after you open the tiny spout. CalNaturale's 2008 cabernet brings the acid and rough tannin but backs it up with some good earthy and smoky flavors, plum, and black cherry. I could even taste the wine softening up as I wrote this review. Easy B and a BUY recommendation.

What I liked most about the CalNaturale wines were their high levels of quality at a low price. The cabernet would pair beautifully with a location where glass is prohibited and some charcuteries, or maybe a round of burgers off the grill. The chardonnay I can see going with a grilled chicken cesar salad sprinkled with bacon bits, or some chips and carmelized onion dip. Keep the food simple, keep the wine simple, and just enjoy the moment.

Another awesome fact to help you enjoy the moment is the knowledge that the CalNaturale wines have carbon footprints that are far below that of a regular 750 ml bottle of vino. So you not only get to drink tasty wine, you get to help reduce carbon emissions to boot!

CalNaturale wines are available all across the country and the CalNaturale Location List is a great place to start your search.

These wines were media samples for review purposes.


Beau Carufel

2009 Parducci Chardonnay Continues Parducci's Excellence

I like to promote Parducci wines on this blog, they keep sending me samples and those samples keep turning out to be delicious and incredibly affordable. This year I've tasted the 2009 Parducci pinot noir and 2009 Parducci sauvignon blanc. Last year one of the standout QPR-winners that I got to try was the 2007 Parducci petite sirah.

Last week I tasted the 2009 Parducci chardonnay, of which 7,000 cases were made. Not exactly a giant amount, and considering the winery's suggested retail of $10.99, a rare case of a small production winery not charging a lot for their (damn tasty) wine.

The 2009 Parducci spent eight months aging, in 95% stainless steel tank and 5% American oak barrels. Eight separate properties contributed to this vintage's wine, and I was pleased to note that all were certified Fish Friendly Farming, meaning that the vineyards took rigorous steps to ensure that wetlands, creeks, streams, rivers, and aquifiers weren't harmed by the growing operations. Check out the Fish Friendly Farming website for more information, this is something a lot more Napa and Sonoma growers need to get in on.

(img src http://www.parducci.com/product/2009-Parducci-Chardonnay)

Onward to the wine!

The color, as it pouerd into the glass, reminded me of pale straw. This isn't a typical California golden-colored chardonnay. I was reminded of a 2008 Burgundy, in the best of ways. Simply put, the color was lovely to behold.

I never know how to begin the paragraphs where I describe a wine's aroma and palate presence, but I suspect using the simplest, most direct approach will help you out.

The 2009 Parducci chardonnay smelled a lot like ripe red apples and Bartlett pears, along with some very pleasant aromas of lemon zest. The more I swirled, the more I picked up an buttercream note too, something rich, thick, and delicious. I did keep getting subtle flavors of tropical fruit, like fresh cut pineapples in a mango smoothie, but they were fleeting. No oak and no buttered-popcorn flavors that I associate with malolactic fermentation. Score!

My first few sips brought great acidity, lemon juice and pineapple notes. I liked how the acid transitioned into a creamy mouthfeel, the Parducci chardonnay turned smooth and velvety with a hint of fresh flowers. Both the crisp and creamy textures were balanced pretty well, so the wine was one of those I'd describe as "easy drinking". Nothing to fight with, the flavors were all working together in harmony. Winemaker Bob Swain crafted a very good chardonnay here, with a finish that gently fades away.

All in all, I liked the 2009 Parducci chardonnay, from the nice aromatics to the pleasing mouthfeel. I would like to see more depth of flavor, the wine did seem fairly linear but that's a minor gripe considering this costs $11 (less if you search around). I can give this a B and a STRONG BUY recommendation, especially since it's that type of chardonnay so conducive to summertime drinking. No heavy handed oak or malolactic treatment, just a balanced, delicious bottle of wine at a ridiculously good price.

Once again Parducci brings it with great quality at the price point. Let me know if you happen to try this, I always enjoy hearing reader feedback.

This wine was a media sample for review purposes.


Beau Carufel