Can We Taste Colors?

An interesting discussion arose about five days ago when I was trying to explain how a wine tasted to a friend of mine. We were drinking a 2006 Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley. I won't name the producer but suffice it to say it's about $50 a bottle and they consistently score in the low 90's from Wine Spectator and Robert Parker. I'd never had this wine before but knew it's reputation and he was a big fan.

We had opened the bottle about an hour prior and were excited to give it a shot. As soon as I tasted the wine, I told him "Dude! This wine tastes red to me, I like it". He was surprised and said "What do you mean, red? Do you taste some red fruit?". I was adamant, and told him "No, seriously, this wine tastes red, that's what my palate is telling me right now". In my mind, I could only ascribe the flavors to the color. It's hard to explain, but as soon as I sipped that first little bit, my senses screamed at me "this is red!". In my mind's eye, I saw red, in dot form. Cool dot, isn't it!

The debate continued and he asked me if I'd ever tasted colors in wines before. I told him about a 2005 Amon-Ra by Glaetzer that tasted deep blue to me, and a wonderfully dry 2006 Airlie Muller-Thurgau from Oregon I had a few years ago that tasted like light, lime green. Each time this has happened, the first instance of sensory perception has been a color, not a flavor.


(img src: http://prime.premiergroup.net)

My theory is that there's something going on with my perceptions of fruit notes and how they interact on my palate. Perhaps it's sensory overload, too many flavors manifesting and therefore my brain takes a step back and throws a color at me instead of trying to discern each flavor individually. Maybe I'm seeing red fruit notes as a color because I'm not focused enough, my neurons are working on something else up in my head.

 Back to the Pinot Noir, I was eventually able to search out some more traditional flavors. The wine itself never tasted off or like it didn't have ripe fruit, lively acidity and a touch of oak. I just saw and thought "red!" as soon as I sipped it. Meanwhile, my friend was happy with his wine and enthusiastically described what he tasted, which could be described as a normal set of flavors and textural notes. The Pinot rocked, I hope there's some left and I may review it at a later date.

I don't know if he agreed with me or thought I was full of shit, but he's still my buddy if that says anything. He'd never experienced anything like I was trying to describe.

  

The discussion was interesting and I have been thinking about it for a few days or else I wouldn't have written this post. Has anyone else ever tasted a wine and been able to relate it to a color or shade versus a set of flavors? Was it easy or hard to do? I've heard of people who hear sounds as colors, that's pretty awesome. This isn't the same thing because it doesn't always happen to me, in fact it's very rare that I drink a wine and think of colors versus specific flavors.

One day I hope I can taste a wine that makes me think of a lot of colors, hopefully it'll be something ridiculous like a 1990 Romanee-Conti or 1947 Cheval Blanc. Now that would be interesting, maybe I'd just pass out and you'd see that old Windows "Blue Screen of Death" in each of my eyeballs as my brain reset itself.

Interested to hear your thoughts.

Beau Carufel

Another Foray Into My Kitchen...

Often times I pair food with wine, not the other way around. I suspect most of you do too or you wouldn't be reading this blog.

Tonight is no different, I had a new Pinot Noir I wanted to taste and decided to make something to complement the wine. First, the Pinot. It's new (to me at least) from Trader Joe's. Their VINTJS (get it, vintages?) label is juice they buy from people who need to make room for the next vintage or don't want to dilute their own brands.

Typically the VINTJS wines are good to very good (B to B+ on my scale) and this wasn't any different. From the Willamette Valley in Oregon, I can't say who makes it but it's quite good for $8.99. I would strongly recommend it to Trader Joe's fans. Nice spicy nose, good acid across the palate that's balanced by cherries and hints of raspberry with a back end of mocha and neutral oak. I'll be buying some more myself.

Now for the food!

I wanted to make something for dinner versus ordering Chinese or going to get Mexican or Sushi. Therefore I was limited to whatever I could forage for within my fridge. Tomorrow is shopping day and wasn't in the mood to walk up to Vons for a few items.

What you see in the picture to the left is a majority of the things in my fridge that would fit together somehow. Here's the list:
Heavenly Light cheese
Deli Mustard
Sun-dried tomatoes
Rosemary ham
Margarine
Eggs
Willamette Pinot Noir
Heirloom tomato
Garlic
Foccacia Roll

I layered the ham, cheese, ham, sliced tomato, cheese, and ham on the bottom of the sliced roll. That wee bit of mustard was for a spice element.

For the top half of the roll, I sliced a chunk of garlic up and rubbed it all over the bread, then drizzled some sun-dried tomatoes and their oil onto the top as you see in the picture.

The garlic was then sliced very thinly and I slipped them back into the bottom, between the tomato and cheese slices.

Me frying an egg. I really need to work on my egg-frying. That and slicing things. I want to be one of those people that can slice quickly and consistently, like you see on the Food Network.

Back to eggs. I turned the stove up too high and that scorched the oil, next time I'll remember to turn the heat to slightly below medium. That's one of the things with cooking, you have to keep trying and testing in order to get better.

There's my dinner! Cooking away in a George Foreman grill..I only use my Foreman for a few things but one of those is doing sandwiches. I personally don't think it does beef well at all. Chicken works great, not fish. You can do hot dogs and sausages quickly and easily too.

Fresh out of the foreman, I'm getting excited! The trick is to rotate the sandwich 1/4 turn every 3-4 minutes, so the sandwich should cook for about 15 minutes. Why, you may ask? When you put the sandwich in, the floating hinge of the Foreman can allow it to unevenly cook, leaving a half-melted, half-cold creation. That isn't fun at all.

Quickly now! Pull apart the sandwich, slide the egg in, and reassemble dinner. While the food isn't much to look at, it smelled wonderful. Garlic, toasted bread, and ham wafted through the kitchen.

Now I can only speak for myself in this case, but that looks mighty tasty. The verdict: The sandwich was a winner, very flavorful and texturally appealing. Crunchy, soft, creamy, salty, spicy. My palate enjoyed the experience.

What I'd do differently: 
Cook the sandwich longer
Fry the egg properly
Use a different, creamier cheese like Provolone
Add some more spice



Another food entry is in the books. I had fun creating this quick and easy meal, the total time was about 20 minutes and it filled me up very nicely. This wasn't all I ate though, there was a small salad but honestly, who wants to see pictures of me mixing a salad? I know I don't want to take any pictures of the process, maybe when I make a fancy salad I'll do a blog.

The wine paired quite well, I didn't want something too heavy or sweet. Light, good acid and just enough of that savory ripeness to balance the elements of the sandwich. Yum!

Beau Carufel

Kitchen Exploits, Fun With Leftovers!

I'll preface this food post by saying do not try this at home, I'm not a professional, I just love cooking. Are we cool? Good.

So this evening, I got the itch to cook. Within the domain of my fridge are the things you will see in the pictures below. A lot of the ingredients tonight were leftovers or things that you wouldn't normally associate with dinner. Why not then turn the tables and create dinner from breakfast and lunch foods?

Luckily, I had tortillas. That saved the day, no lie. Had I not had those, this blog post would be one of me begging, pleading even for someone to bring me or send me food. Wine too! Now that I think about it, my wine fridge is running suspiciously low, that's a bad sign.

Enough about me, let's check out what I did tonight in the kitchen - besides making it dirty and stinky.

Here we have some of the raw ingredients for my meal. No, the corkscrew isn't an ingredient, it's for opening delicious things like wine and beer. I just realized too that everything I created this meal with was bought at Trader Joe's. Go me!

Why oh why did I buy Lite Mexican Blend though? Since I've now gone about 13 days without red meat, maybe I blacked out and accidentally bought the low-taste..er...low-fat version of my preferred shredded cheese blend.

I cut up everything into small bits, the better to fit into a tortilla. You have had a burrito before right? Great, there goes my international readers, moving on to a better blog like 1WineDude's.
So what you see there is:
Fingerling potatoes
Red bell peppers
Sliced ham
Two eggs
Cayenne powder
Lite Mexican blend shredded cheese
Mild salsa (more like a pico de gallo actually)

What I did was add some grape seed oil to the pan and let it heat up, then toss in the sliced up potatoes. The objective was to get them fried and crispy, to add both a flavor and textural component to the burrito. This is where I added cayenne powder but in hindsight, I should have also added some to the eggs when I cooked them up. Next time. Before I forget, at this point you should add salt and pepper, I neglected to do that.

While the potatoes cooked up all nice and brown, I felt that adding in the ham would speed the process. That means I could eat faster, which was my priority.

My stove (or pan) apparently has a gangsta lean to it, making things easier in this case. I moved the spuds to the right, out of the pooled oil and in their place went the ham. That stuff jumped, crackled, browned, and smelled absolutely delicious! YUM!

This was supposedly a splash guard. Yea right. Total b.s. I still had to clean up a filthy stove-top after my cooking session. Not that I mind because it signifies I've done something in the kitchen and well, I'm used to it. Making messes seems to be my specialty. One day I'll make better food than messes though, so stick with me!

What you see are bell peppers cooking up ever so nicely. If you don't like bell peppers, just don't add them in, but I love the things especially after browning them up real nice. Add salt here too by the way.

Action shot of me pouring eggs into a pan! Beyond that there isn't much to say about this picture. Just remember, add some seasoning at this point but not too much! I think that garlic salt might add an interesting dimension, next time I'll be trying that too. Oh and I drained the oil, probably a wise move on my part (a rare occurrence in itself)

The eggs took literally 30 seconds to cook, the pan was that hot. Plus I absolutely hate over cooked eggs, it's an insult to how delicious eggs can be.

I transferred the eggs to the tortillas. I'd prepped them by adding a bit of cheese then the potatoes and ham from earlier, thus heating and partially melting the cheese. My intent was to fully melt the cheese once the heat of the eggs made contact with my lite cheese. Still can't believe I bought that crap.

I have a confession to make..I'm out of hot sauce. Please don't be mad, I'll rectify the situation as soon as I can. At this point, add Tapatillo or Cholula brand sauce. Or whatever you want. Had I been smart, I'd have bought some fresh jalapenos and put them in too. Just gotta remove the seeds first.
 

This one's easy. 2007 Toasted Head Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. Delicious! Balanced spice, lively acidity that washes across your palate. Nice fruit and silky but subtle tannins. Since this is what I had open, I decided to go with it instead of opening up something else.

What wine would you pair with the dish I created tonight? Red? White? Rose? Bubbles? I'm not sure what I'd pair with it but the Pinot went well or so I thought. Those peaches are going into a peach margarita tomorrow, thanks to my friend Anthony (@acfoodandwine) for that suggestion!

There you have it, my leftover-breakfast-style-burritos. And a glass of wine. There are those elements I'd add, nothing I'd subtract. Taste wise, I really liked all the flavors together. Texturally, it was wonderful with the crispy potatoes and ham, soft eggs and slightly chewy tortillas. The cheese and bell peppers were great complements to the aforementioned ingredients. The result was a lot better than my previous attempt at food-blogging, where I nearly burned down my kitchen.



Beau Carufel

Napa, Sonoma, Job Hunt, Why I'm Doing This

I'm searching for a job in Napa and/or Sonoma. There, I've said it. Publicly, for you and everyone else to see. I keep asking myself why I waited so long to pursue my passion. So far, I can only come up with the singular idea that I truly didn't know the depths of said passion like I do now. A combination of attending the Wine Bloggers Conference, being pushed by my friends and family, and time itself have conspired to light the proverbial fire under my ass.

(img source: http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/images/)

For over a month I've been sending out resumes and cover letters to wineries and vineyards. My success rate is dismal, or else this blog post would be full of rejoicing and the announcement that I'd found a job. To date, I've had one polite rejection, for a job I was (and I knew it) under-qualified for. I've had one job offer at a very well known Napa winery, but the pay was so low that I couldn't take it and survive up there. Disappointing but not entirely unexpected, a decent enough first step into the eddies and currents of the great river of jobs. Maybe not so great in this economy but you get my point.

(img src: http://www.century21bhj.com/)

Every so often I allow myself some frustration and am tempted to put the job search on hold, but the reality is that for me to be happy and successful in life, I need to go after my passion. If I were to put that pursuit on hold, to wait until the economy improved or other factors changed, I might never have this energy again. The thought of being another unhappy worker in a dead end job, the implications of that scenario, are terrifying to me.

I'm awestruck by the help I've gotten too, from people I've never met in person to my good friends and family all over the country. Wine people take care of their own and are always ready to lend an hand, to keep their ears and eyes open, to offer feedback and guidance. Reminding myself of how lucky I am all but eliminates the frustrations that come with job hunting. If there's a God or god or gods, or some omnipotent deity up there, he or she or it has blessed me with this great network of people in my life.

(img src: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grape-vine.JPG)

So what's the nitty-gritty of what I want, where I want to do it, and why? Breaking down the generic sounding "I want a job in wine country" helps me figure out what the hell I should be doing about it. I want to work at either a winery or a vineyard, and I'd do basically any job they asked of me, provided the pay was what I need to be making to pay my expenses. Simple, right?

But what can I do? Wine education, hospitality, accounting/finance, retail sales, tasting room, cellar rat and more. Unfortunately where I fall short would be in the formal wine education department. Times like this are when you want the time machine to take you back to college and change your major/university to something more conducive to your passion. Still, the past is static, the future isn't.

How quickly I can move up to wine country has been asked of me as well, the answer is that I can move within 30 days, given the right job. That's pretty quick right? Enough time to do the right thing with my current job and train a replacement, enough time to find a place to live and enough time to pack and transport my belongings 14 hours north. To avoid confusion, when I say "wine country" I refer to Napa and Sonoma counties and the wine industry present there.

Why? I love wine. I'm absolutely fascinated with how wine is made, from vine all the way to bottle. Why a glass of wine tastes the way it does, why one wine tastes different than another, how that comes about, those questions fly out of my brain, exciting the neurons in there and driving me back into this business. Up to this point I've done plenty of retail work, some marketing and wine education too. Returning to a career in wine would help me learn instead of only teaching others. One word I keep coming back to is fulfilling. That is what pursuing my passion means to me.

About six weeks have passed since I began, in earnest, to look for jobs in the wine industry. I do not know how long the search will take or where I'll end up. I ask that my friends keep their fingers crossed for me as I begin to follow my dreams. If by chance you're a winery or vineyard owner looking at this blog and want a passionate, dedicated, energetic person on your team, you can email me here and I'll send you my resume and a cover letter.

Beau Carufel

No Wimpy Wines While You're Having Flies

Does anyone else remember the old Frog's Leap slogan "Time's Fun When You're Having Flies!"? Or how about the much more well-known Ravenswood "No Wimpy Wines" tag-line?

Imagine those two slogans were thought up today instead of 20 years ago. The pervasive nature of social media would get those out to perhaps millions of people in the span of a few short months. Tweeting, re-Tweeting, Facebook, Myspace, and Tumblr would broadcast a brand's tag-line to even the most casual of wine searchers. But, would the brands grow as fast in say a year or two as they have over the past 20+ years?

In Ravenswood's case, their slogan was printed on basically everything, short of babies. Back then, it was a little edgy, a bit of a thumb of the nose at the establishment even. Ravenswood drinkers demand their wines be big, bold, juicy, full of flavor...Does that remind you of anyone today? Can we draw any parallels to the wine market as it stands at the present day?

Frog's Leap went the cuter, friendlier route. We all giggled a bit at the clever wordplay but still, the intent was to get that brand into the consciousness of wine drinkers. Frog's Leap wanted a positive memory association which would then hopefully spark the person standing at the wine section of their store to think: "Oh that's the winery with the funny slogan, I like them!" and buy a bottle. I should note that the original slogan appeared many, many years ago in a one panel cartoon. I suspect the saying has been around even longer, but the point is that Frog's Leap seized on a great way to generate brand awareness.

Both seem to have worked because Frog's Leap and Ravenswood are still viable brands, producing some stellar wines and some more modest examples. The average wine drinker knows of each brand, both are poured by the glass at all kinds of restaurants and most wine stores carry them. It's entirely reasonable to call them each a huge success.


So then, if a winery today comes up with a phrase like Ravenswood's or uses a cute one like Frog's Leap did, can social media act as a brand awareness multiplier? Take a phrase that is easy to remember, plaster it on everything you can, short of babies. Engage people/users (paid or not) to use social media in all it's forms to mention your brand to their friends/followers. The way you present the slogan or tag-line and the phrase itself will get talked about over and over. At least some of that chatter will make it past the subject-focused people using social media and leak into the mainstream-brand-conscious population. Your brand will capture their attention too, further increasing awareness which ultimately results in more sales.

I think if you do each of those steps, and produce quality content (wine, in this case..get the pun!), your market will basically create itself. Therefore, my answer is a resounding yes, social media can and will work, imagine what would have happened to the two brands I've mentioned had they had access to such tools two decades ago. It's working right now with a few brands. That's perhaps saved for another post though.

See the things I think about when I'm bored?! It's scary..

Beau Carufel

Fiftieth Post, a Recap of the Bus Tour From Walla Walla

Three wineries, five hours, one hangover, fifteen wine bloggers, some delicious wines, free lunch, and the U.S.A. losing to Ghana in the World Cup.

So describes Saturday, June 26 of this year. After an epic Friday, all most of us Wine Bloggers Conference attendees were up early to go on bus tours of local wineries. There were 15 buses and 15 bloggers per bus. Regrettably I do not recall my bus number. We started the morning attempting to go to Cougar Crest, then we got lost, then backtracked, and finally did find the winery.

Here you see winemaker Debbie Hansen unloading in the midst of Cougar Crest's vineyards

The wines poured were:

2007 Viognier - Light straw color, great florals and hints of apricot on the nose. Lively acidity, very palate friendly. It was a nice way to start the day's tasting. $20 per bottle. B


 2008 Grenache Rose - Lovely salmon color, smelled like flowers and strawberries. Dry, clean fruit and a nice finish. Very food-friendly.
$18 per bottle. B

2007 Cabernet Franc - My first experience with a Cab Franc from Washington. 76% Cabernet Franc, 15% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Malbec.
Garnet in color with cherry, earth and mocha on the nose. Smooth, chalky mild palate that reminded me of fresh berry pie. Hints of spice..cinnamon across the finish. I liked it!
$36 per bottle. B+

After an informative but relaxing time walking around Cougar Crest Winery and tasting their delicious wines, our next top was Skylite Cellars. Their Syrahs made such an impression that I actually did an entire blog entry devoted to their wines and those of Robert O. Smasne.

You can find that entry here, along with descriptions of the wines I tasted and why I loved them so much. While not as big as Pepper Bridge, Skylite Cellars was incredibly cool and really gave the feel of being a small production winery with a specific focus.

One wine I do want to mention is the 2007 Riverhaven Cellars Syrah. Another small production (150 cases) wine from a relatively new producer. Dana Dibble of River Rock Vineyards produced this wonderful Syrah and was kind enough to pour it for us bloggers.

Dark ruby in the glass, a great nose of dark cherry and vanilla. Blackberries and hints of fig go with smooth tannins and a smoky finish.
$28 per bottle. B+

Finally the last stop was out at Pepper Bridge where we had our lunch and I took some of my favorite pictures of the afternoon. This was the one winery I was somewhat familiar with, having looked into some of the history of Washington wineries before I left on my trip.


The winemaker, Jen-Francoise Pellet spent a great deal of time explaining the sustainable viticulture practices at Pepper Bridge. You can't help but admire a winery so dedicated to making great wine but also taking care of the environment.

The wines poured were:

2009 Amavi Semillon - I found this wonderfully light and refreshing. 86% Semillon, 14% Sauvignon Blanc. It was at once ripe with notes of lychee and pear, and balanced with a deft touch of acidity. $20 SRP. B

2007 Pepper Bridge Seven Hills Vineyard - 52% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc. Great coloration, very ripe notes of red and black fruit. Grippy tannins and a streak of earthy richness that carried through to the finish. $ N/A. B+

2007 Pepper Bridge Cabernet Sauvignon - 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 4% Malbec, 1% Petit Verdot. I loved the nose, it was reminiscent of cocoa powder-wrapped blackberries. A slight touch of heat tickled my nostrils. On the palate the wine was very strong, brawny even. The tannins hit fast and hard but devolved quickly into a fleshy mid-palate. I suspect this wine would be better after 2011. $ N/A. B-

2007 Pepper Bridge Vineyard - 48% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot. Smelling of ripe, non-threatening fruit up front, I was reminded of a summer fruit bowl with a dollop of vanilla cream on top. On the palate unfortunately, I felt the tannins up front too much, at the expense of the other elements. My notes show a nice depth of flavor with riper fruit and spice through the mid-palate. The finish was somewhat disjointed, leaving me wishing for a more elegant effect. $ N/A. B

Wrapping this up, we all piled back into the bus, hangovers gone, needing more wine. Luckily there was a wine dinner coming up that night, along with lots of other ridiculously fun things. As I keep saying, the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference was epic. I want to thank all three wineries for taking the time to pour their wines and share their passions with us bloggers. I had a wonderful time at all three places and was happy to expand my knowledge of Washington wine.

Beau Carufel

San Diego Twitter Taste Live!

What were you doing on July 10th? I was meeting up with a group of wine lovers here in San Diego for a tasting! As active as I am on Twitter and Facebook (follow me! @UCBeau), I'd yet to actually meet up with any San Diego wine lovers. While at the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference, I'd wanted to meet up with Bill (@Cuvee_Corner) but we just couldn't connect. Too much wine or something.

Anyways, before the Conference he and I had tweeted back and forth about holding a little tasting with a small group of wine fans here in town. We'd deliberately picked a weekend after the Walla Walla festivities, to better ensure everyone's availability. That day, I worked a 3:30am-11:30am shift at work, leaving me just a bit tired, but still happy to be meeting and tasting with some fine folks.

Keith (@Brainwines) was kind enough to host the event at his beautiful home in La Jolla. Granted, the day was crappy because of the persistent overcast, the view was still absolutely amazing. Scenery like that is conducive to tasting great wines.

In addition to Keith and Bill, Katie (@lajollamom), Megan (@wineforblondes), and Nanette (@wineharlots) were able to make it and contributed some vino to the festivities.

(img copyright Keith Hoffman 2010)

The theme was that we'd each bring two bottles of wine of the same varietal or region to share. For six or seven people, I thought this might end up being overkill. Looking back, it was fun to taste that many wines but a bit tiring on the palate since there were so many intense, full-bodied reds.

Highlights for me included the Malk Cabernet Sauvignon. Priced squarely in what I consider "Napa Cab Territory" at about $65 per bottle, I had high hopes for them. Keith (@Brainwines) poured the 2006 and 2007, one right after the other. The '06 was texturally very interesting but just felt a bit disjointed, like the wine needed to find itself and would do so in maybe three or four years.

(img copyright Keith Hoffman 2010)

On the other hand, the 2007 was splendid. Everything was so beautifully integrated, it was smooth and supple but had some wonderfully firm tannins across the palate. I loved how the finish just lingered on, notes of bakers chocolate gently dissipating from my palate. I'd highly recommend it, and gave it an A and a very enthusiastic BUY recommendation at the tasting.

(img copyright Keith Hoffman 2010)

Bill (@Cuvee_Corner) brought a couple of Spanish reds, so of course I was very happy to see them out there for us. My experiences with the Marques de Riscal have been mixed. Way back when one could find the 2001 vintage readily available, it was one of my favorite sub-15$ reds. The 2004 though was very thin and lacking of any kind of texture last time I tried it.

This time though, it was wonderful! Great balance of fruit and tannins, nicely tapered finish and all around smooth across the palate. I'm chalking my previous bad experience up to bottle variation or a flawed bottle itself. The Celeste he brought was also absolutely delicious with some darker, earthy flavors and good, grippy tannins.



Now I know that our group tasted a lot of wine but the ones I mentioned really stuck with me. My own contributions, a JC Cellars Zinfandel and a Fife Zin were polar opposites. the Fife was a 2004, from Redhead Vineyards in Mendocino. It was tired, old, worn out, like a bum's shoe. I hadn't opened one in a while and wanted to see how the wine had held up but it was universally agreed to be the worst bottle there. I suspect my reputation was saved by the JC Cellars, a superb 2006 from the Russian River Valley. Bright, ripe fruit, hints of spice and oak, a bit of crushed pepper and this joie de vivre element that I rarely find in a wine. Right now the JC Cellars is at it's peak and I wish I had another bottle to open up while BBQ'ing for my friends.

(img copyright Keith Hoffman 2010)

 All in all, I had a wonderful time. There's another tasting planned for August so if you Tweet, keep an eye out for the #SDTTL hashtag. We'll be changing the format a little bit this time, to actually do some tasting and evaluating. I'm looking forward to it, and to seeing my new San Diego wine friends again. Bill did a lot of the organizational work in this but I'd encourage any of you who have friends who may be intimidated about wines to organize something similar. A casual, fun atmosphere and some good wines can help de-mystify wine to the average consumer. Your enthusiasm will rub off on them and before anyone knows what's happening, you will be competing with them to get the best deals at your local wine store!

Beau Carufel

Tasting Wonderful Washington Syrahs

I was lucky enough to attend the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla this year and had an amazing time. The event, from Friday June 25 through Sunday, June 27 featured all manner of tastings, seminars, tours, excursions, more tastings, food, and probably everything else wine related that you can think of.

Going into the Conference I was (and still am) ignorant to a lot of the wines Washington produces. I knew of their famous brands like Columbia Crest, Northstar, Cayuse, and Pepper Bridge. I'd had the chance to try the aforementioned wines over the years and they each contributed to a general idea of what Washington wines were about for me.

Back to Syrah: my experiences with these hadn't been so great, at least where examples from Washington were concerned. Too often my palate seemed to hit on under-ripe, green notes or overly oaked versions. Sometimes I was even overwhelmed by excessive tannins, which would reduce the fruit to nothing. I don't care what anyone says, getting away from perception bias is not easy. Admittedly, I was a skeptic though I did want my mind changed.

Saturday, June 26th dawned as a gorgeous day. I was hungover as hell though, because of the festivities from Friday night. That's enough for another blog post in itself. Suffice it to say I had a blast and there was a great house party involved. The agenda for the day was taking a school bus to various wineries around the Walla Walla area. Each bus held 15 bloggers, not one more or less. The organizers were..organized.

The entire tour will be written about in another blog entry (gotta keep you coming back somehow!) so stay tuned. One of the stops, the last actually, was at the gorgeous Skylite Cellars (@Skylitecellars).

(image copyright Beau Carufel 2010)

There we met the owner Cheryl, winemaker Robert Smasne and assistant winemaker Greg Matiko. Also present was Dana Dibble, from Riverhaven Cellars and RiverRock Growers.

Little did I know that a stellar lineup of wines was poured for us to try. After Dana gave us a talk and taste about his vineyards and wines (their Syrah is delicious!), Robert Smasne stepped up to discuss Skylite and what he was going for with the Skylite and Smasne Cellars/Alma Terra wines.

Out of the lineup, I hit on two Syrahs. By that I mean I absolutely loved them, despite my hungover/dehyrdated/hungry state. Robert did a superb job crafting accessible, elegant, powerful wines. I was impressed as were my friends Dan, Chas, Scott and Preston.

(image copyright Beau Carufel 2010)


2005 Skylite Cellars Syrah
Very nice ruby-garnet color in the glass. The nose was wonderfully classy but powerful too. I smelled crushed cherry, raspberries, hints of mocha and damp, loamy soil. Gorgeous ripe fruit up front, carried through by notes of earth, mocha and graphite. Silky smooth tannins created a framework that kept the red cherries, raspberries and bramble contained. This was one of my favorite wines of the whole Conference. Cheryl was kind enough to sell me a bottle out of their library, which I truly appreciate. I can't wait to pair it with either venison or, if I can, some pheasant. There was no question this is an A- from me, at $32 it beats a lot of $50+ California Syrahs.


2006 Alma Terra Minick Vineyard Syrah
WOW. This wine reminded me of a bright, concentrated Rhone. Spicy cherries dovetailed into earth and black cherries with great acidity and tannins encompassing everything. Layer upon layer of fruit and minerality struck me as the soul of the wine. Even now, I could drink this stuff all day and be happy (and I would be!). The integration of flavors made a strong impression, it's even in my tasting notes, underlined three times. If you want a Syrah that's powerful, expressive, and will wow you, this is the one. I wouldn't call the Minick Vineyard Syrah cheap, more of a mid price at $54. Easy A for me, one of the real highlights of the Conference.

Robert was also generous enough to provide a sample of 2007 Smasne Cellars Block 3 Syrah which I'll be writing about in the future, if I can bring myself to open it. Maybe I'll save it for when I move up to Napa and cook my first meal in my kitchen up there. Hey that could turn out to be a fun blog!


Beau Carufel

2005 Hearthstone "Slipstone" Paso Robles

Check out that imposing bottle! So serious, like the wine inside is brooding, dark, moody, and soulful. I might have set the bar a bit high right off the bat though. Still, I can easily make a list of my friends who'd love to drink a wine described like what I expect the Hearthstone to be.

The 2005 Hearthstone is 72% Grenache, 12% Syrah and Mourvedre, 4% Zinfandel. Later vintages show more of a focus towards Grenache and Syrah.

In the glass, the wine is light like a California Pinot Noir, but I expected it to be darker because of the Syrah and Zinfandel. To see it looking the way it does disappointed me, my palate was hoping for something big and intense tonight.

On the nose, good dose of heat assaults your nostrils but quickly fades into the background. I smelled toffee (oak?), red cherries and dust. Continuing the theme of being surprised by Hearthstone's effort, the wine reminded me of a rustic French red you'd find for 6 Euros at the Supermarche.

What was the winemaker going for in this offering? It's very one-dimensional. Where's the concert of varietals, each adding a note to the chorus? Why do I get an overwhelming sense of singularity?

Delicate flavors of allspice, earth, and a lot of ripe red cherry. While definitely not heavy-handed, it lacks the finesse and elegance of a Cotes du Rhone too. At this point the wine's been open over an hour and I'm desperately fumbling for my Wine Soiree (@winesoiree) and hoping it'll help add something to the sensory experience. Unfortunately it didn't allow anything new to show, rather it enhanced the existing flavors.

By the way, you should buy a Soiree. Seriously. I became a convert after talking to Andrew Lazorchak at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla this past June. Wine Soiree website.

What I like about the Hearthstone: nice acidity, interesting notes of spice, an approachable (beyond the alcohol) nose and smooth finish, .

Still, I'm disappointed. I expected more but got a lot less. California Rhone-style blends almost always hit a sweet spot for my palate yet this falls short. There isn't much going on and for $10 there are better, more enjoyable options. I give it a C, an average wine with no flaws and no excitement. If I'd paid $25 like the winery website says, the grade would be lower.

Beau Carufel

My Turn For a Wine Bloggers Conference Video

While I was up in Walla Walla at the Wine Bloggers Conference, I had the opportunity to shoot a video with Dan and Chas of Wine is Serious Business (@wineissrsbiz). Rewind to about eight or nine months ago, I saw a video of a guy opening a wine bottle with his shoe and a brick wall. At the time, little did I know that the guy trying to get the wine open was Chas. He did succeed, impressively, and I noticed he and his friend Dan had done a series of videos showcasing their love of wine. While their focus was Oregon, Riesling and Pinot Noir, their enthusiasm and passion for wine wasn't constrained at all.

Since I use Facebook to waste a lot of time, it's only natural that I "liked" their page and started watching more videos. We got to emailing back and forth, then Dan suggested I appear as a guest on their video blog. Both of the guys and I were going to be at the Wine Bloggers Conference and that seemed like the ideal place to meet up and talk wine.

We made it happen, and here is the result:



You'll laugh (we hope) and even more so, you'll be inspired to get out and try more wine. I can't say enough about how much fun I had tasting and talking about it. Please excuse the profanity, I get like that when I'm excited (and a bit buzzed) and wine is involved.

Here's a link to Dan and Chas' entire video suite on Viddler. Wine Is Serious Business..Indeed.

Beau Carufel