Terra Bella 2011 Proprietary Red Blend, Sonoma County

For red wine lovers, the search is always on for a unicorn – an exceedingly rare wine that delivers rich, premium taste for under twenty bucks. We may have spotted one!

Avoiding Gift-Giving Disappointment

Occasionally the Green Dragon (my wife) will buy something at the store, bring it home and tell me that this is the gift I’m giving her for her birthday or Christmas. No problem with me, although it does seem to cut down on the surprise.

Leading up to Christmas, I was perusing a massive online wine sale on one of my favorite sites, Invino. During their occasional clearance sales, you can spend hours scrolling through hundreds of bottles all being sold at significant discounts.

Recently, Green Dragon has shut down my wine purchases. She issued a mandate that we had to “drink down” the cellar in preparation for our upcoming move to North Carolina. So, I was wistfully looking at the site, wondering if the Green Dragon would start breathing fire if I ordered a bottle or six.

She pleasantly surprised me by asking me to pick out a half-case for my Christmas present. I selected two from Terra Bella Vineyards, the 2011 Proprietary Red Blend and an estate Syrah.

A Unicorn Sighting

We love Bordeaux blends and Meritage. Some of the blends from premium appellations can command high dollars. That’s why this Terra Bella blend caught my attention. It was listed as retailing for $85, but was selling for $19.99.

We opened the bottle over the weekend. Now I wish we had gotten six bottles or maybe a case.

Grapes for this wine come from 600 to 1,100 feet in the Mayacamas Mountains in Sonoma County. The volcanic soils are well drained and cooling breezes add to conditions that are almost perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was created by acclaimed winemaker Peter Boyd. His goal was to create Sonoma County’s best Cabernet Sauvignon.

Somewhere along the line the train ran off the tracks and his company, Genius Wines, went into bankruptcy. His misfortune is our good luck. Invino purchased the remainder of his inventory and is able to offer it exclusively through their online site at an amazing price.

Although it is from the 2011 vintage, which some classify as being problematic, it is perfectly attuned. It can age for another decade, but drinks deliciously now. There is a flavor rush of cooked cherries with notes of blackberry, herbs and tobacco. The blend is complex, but the enjoyment is easily accessible. The blend isn’t disclosed, but I’m assuming Cabernet Sauvignon as the lead player followed by Merlot and Cabernet Franc with a cameo role.

The tannins provide nice structure and aren’t ponderous. The alcohol by volume is 13.5%. It finds the perfect balance point between power and finesse. The finish is one of the longest I can recall, laced with delicious flavors. 

This wine receives our highest recommendation. Furthermore, we say this “unicorn” is deserving of a multi-bottle purchase. Cheers!

Oliver Winery Camelot Mead

Most of the reviews here focus on the “fruit of the vine.” For a change of pace, here’s our experience with an ancient beverage that is “fruit of the hive.”

Nothing New Under The Sun

Mrs. Alba, my sixth grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary school, was right. Her favorite saying was, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” If there was a news item capturing the nation’s attention, sorry. The Egyptians were dealing with it thousands of years ago. New inventions were simply variations of what the Greeks or Aztecs were tinkering around with during their epochs.

She’d be proud to know that mead, a trendy “new” beverage has actually been around since Biblical times.
Mead, a wine made from fermented honey, was the world’s most popular beverage throughout most of recorded history. It was enjoyed by Aristotle and Pliny the Elder – but nearly died out after the Middle Ages. Honey wine remains the most popular alcoholic beverage in Ethiopia, one of the planet’s oldest cultures.

Today It is the fastest growing segment of the American alcoholic beverage industry. In 2003 there were 30 mead producers in the US. Now there are more than 300.

Not Just For Hobbits Anymore

Mead has enjoyed a resurgence and growing mainstream popularity. Ohio has at least three meaderies and they can also be spotted in the popular Finger Lakes wine region.

To our west, Oliver Winery of Indiana, has been producing mead for 40 years. We recently uncorked their Camelot Mead. We expected a thick ice-wine-like dessert wine, but were pleased to discover a medium-light body.

The aroma is a bit of a surprise. Whenever a stick my nose in a glass of white wine, I expect aromas of fruit, perhaps vanilla or toast. Camelot Meade delivers – what else – the bouquet of a dollop of honey.

Camelot is made with source-specific orange blossom honey. On the palate it is crisper than expected and offers citrus flavors with delightful honeycomb taste from start to finish. It certainly has a splash of sweetness – but this is not a syrupy or sugary drink.

I was tasting it after a tennis match that was cut short by a rainstorm. We had it well chilled and is was nicely refreshing.

Camelot Mead by Oliver Winery retails for $10 and is available in 18 different states including Ohio and Michigan. It will be easy to spot on the shelves with its whimsical label featuring Jeremiah the Frog. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal!

Full disclosure: We received this wine as a marketing sample.

Chamonix 2013 Reserve Pinot Noir, Franschhoek

Pinot Noir from South Africa is not as well known as that from Oregon or France. Just one sip may make you wonder why this is so.

Out Of The Blacksmith Shop

One or our great wine adventures was our trip to South Africa, which included a visit to Franschhoek, the food and wine capital of the country. Chamonix wine farm was a memorable stop on our tour.

The Chamonix tasting room is in a blacksmith cottage. Outside there was a spectacular view of the mountains and an elevated views of the picturesque Franschhoek Valley. The area was settled by French Huguenots who brought with them their winemaking tradition.

The top-of-the-line tasting cost a mere $3.22 US due to the favorable exchange rate. We were enchanted by the Reserve Pinot Noir and picked up this bottle for $22 US.

A South African Spin On Pinot

The Reserve Pinot is naturally fermented and is made from the best blocks of Pinot Noir, which flourish in the Greywacke soil. Greywacke is a dark sandstone soil with quartz feldspar. The wine is aged for 16 months in French oak.

One of the reasons we love South African wine is that although it is considered “New World,” the techniques and focus are old world. The wines have subtle flavors and a finesse designed to accompany foods – as opposed to the bold flavors of New World wines often quaffed on their own.

The Chamonix had an earthy quality punctuated by raspberry and rhubarb flavor notes. It’s a complex wine with layers of flavors and even a dash of toffee.

This bottle was none the worse from being stuffed into our luggage for the long trip from South Africa. With some wines there is a type of “buyer’s remorse” perhaps more aptly named the “winery effect.” A bottle sampled in a scenic tasting room leaves you scratching your head asking, “What was I thinking” when you sample it at home. But with the best wines – like this one – the memories of our incredible travels came flooding back with each sip.

Three cheers for Chamonix and the superlative wines of Franschhoek!

Rosé Overrules Summertime Heat: New Favorites From France and Spain

This might be the Rosé Summer. Store shelves are bursting with pink concoctions. In our opinion, the quality of rosé has never been better.

It’s Rosé Weather

We really didn’t need another sign, but there it was. Record-breaking heat in Ohio pushed the thermometer to 96 degrees. If you don’t want to be confined to the indoors, there is only one proper solution: chilled rosé. Through a recent Wine Studio education program we were able to taste a quartet of rosé offerings. We added a fifth – just because it’s what we do!

Domaine Paul Mas has about 1,500 acres in France’s Languedoc region in the south of France. Mas has agreements with other vineyards totaling about twice that amount in acreage. Languedoc, hugged by the Mediterranean to the south and mountains to the north, is known for its diverse terrain. Domaine Mas has access to 40 different grape varieties.

We sampled a rosé trio from two Domaine Mas Brands. We started our journey with the 2016 Arrogant Frog Rosé paired with turkey tenderloin and cranberry reduction, maple glazed sweet potatoes and asparagus. One of the joys of rosé is that it pairs with a vast array of entrees. An exception would be a heavy steak – that’s Cabernet territory.

Arrogant Frog delivers a lot of arrogance for only $10 SRP. It is 100% Syrah and is rich with cherry and floral flavors. Like the other Domaine Mas rosé we sampled, it has a screw closure – that’s no problem with us. This is a wine intended to be consumed while young.

Attesting to the range of Domaine Mas is the Côté Mas Crémant de Limoux Rosé Brut NV St. Hilaire. Limoux is know for sparkling wine and this crémant is a fun blend of 70% Chardonnay, 20% Chenin and 10% Pinot Noir.

Bubbly rosé is a double treat. This is elegant and playful. The price is also easy to swallow at $16. The stream of bubbles was long-lived, but not very vigorous.

Our Domaine Mas trio wrapped up with the 2016 Coté Mas Rosé Aurore, which has a Sud de France appellation. It is priced at $11, but is in a liter bottle – giving you a third more than the 750 ML standard bottle. It is made with 50% Grenache Noir, 30% Cinsault and 20% Syrah. These are typical Mediterranean varieties. The bottle aims to embody the “rural luxury” motto of Paul Mas. I found this to be more flavorful than the Arrogant Frog – but my wife favored the Frog. The packaging gives you a bit more vino but is sufficiently cool that it never feels like “jug wine.”

We continued with our tour of France with a rosé from Cotés de Provence. Eighty-eight percent of the wine produced in Provence is rosé – so this region is always a good option for you. Our pick was the 2016 Sables d’Azur. It also is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah. It is a delightful light peach color and is spritely on the palate.

Our tour of rosé crossed the border into neighboring Spain, with Hacienda de Arinzano Rosé 2016 from Arinzano. We had a chance to sample some knockout reds from Arinzano.
This rosé was most interesting since it is 100% Tempranillo.
From the get-go, this wine was different from the others we had sampled. This rosado (as the Spanish call it) was a deep pink-red in the glass. On the palate the flavors were elevated and more intense than the French rosé.

Arinzano has been designated a Pago, which is the highest classification in the Spanish wine system. Pago is a term reserved for the very best vineyards, and so far there are only 14 of them in all of Spain.

The Arinzano rosé delivered superb freshness, acidity and rich flavors. This would be a good pick for a red wine lover who is unsure about trying rosé. At $20, it’s another great value.

There you have it – a quintet of wines to equip your summer survival kit. One final suggestion. Your rosé should be chilled sufficiently to provide refreshment, but be warm enough to allow the flavors to shine. A good way to do this is to take your bottles out of the refrigerator to sit for about five minutes before serving.

Scotto Family Cellars Offers California Value Selections

Scotto Family Cellars history in winemaking dates back to 1883. Today it is the “biggest California winery you’ve never heard of.”

Family Tradition – Eye On The Future

I first became acquainted with Scotto Family Cellars during last year’s Wine Bloggers Conference in Lodi, California. Scotto had collaborated on the Masthead project – a Sangiovese wine developed by a team of four wine bloggers. Well not only was the wine a winner, but we had an opportunity to visit the newly opened Scotto Cellars tasting room in downtown Lodi for a Masthead debut party. It was a great evening filled with fun and excellent wine.

Dominic Scotto’s homemade red wine filled the family glasses in Ischia, Italy, in 1883. In 1903 he immigrated to New York. In the 1940’s his sons sold jugs of their father’s wine from a pushcart in Brooklyn. Dominic and his brother Sal created Villa Armando, one of the oldest wine brands in the US, which had filled more than 250 million glasses with traditional red wine.

The company is now run by the latest generation of Scottos – five siblings – who operate state-of-the-art wineries in Lodi, Napa Valley and Amador County. While Scotto Family Cellars has deep traditional roots – with 53 harvests in California – they also have an eye on the future.

Lodi Flavor And Value

One of the revelations during my trip to Lodi was the diverse winegrowing scene. Although know for superb Zinfandel, grape varieties from Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy and the Rhone Valley are also grown.

The agricultural abundance in Lodi, enables the region to be a leader in providing quality wine at a great price point. The wines are on target not only with rich flavors – but with outstanding value.

We sampled a pair of Scotto Family Cellars recent releases that checked both boxes. The 2016 Dry Sangiovese Rosé was opened on a warm evening. We were visiting friends and on their deck overlooking a small lake. We are fans of Sangiovese in any form and the lovely reddish-pink hue had us thirsting for the first sip.

The rosé is crisp with swirls of strawberry and sour cherry. The wine is fermented in stainless steel, so the flavors are pure and crisp. This is an ideal food wine and can pair with vegetarian dishes, appetizers or with mild or spicy entrees.

A few evenings later we were on the back patio around the fire pit. The 2013 Scotto Family Cellars Malbec was uncorked.

This is an unpretentious and satisfying wine. The body is light with ample fruit and smoky notes. Tannins are dialed back in this wine adding to the smooth finish. This was a perfect wine for unwinding around the fire.

Both wines are priced at $14.99 and are a hit at that figure. These are perfect for casual entertaining.

What Millennials Want

The wine industry has been wringing its hands for some time trying to figure out how to sell wine to Millennials. Contemporary lifestyles require some rethinking on the part of wineries.

Scotto Family Cellars has answered the call with some innovative packaging. The Heavyweight line, which has a boxing theme, is available not only in traditional glass bottles, but also in 187 ML pre-packaged plastic cups.

I sampled the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was a varietally correct Cab. If someone had served this to me in a glass, I wouldn’t have batted an eye. The traditional glass bottle sells for $11.99 and this tastes like what I would expect the wine from the bottle to be.

Assuming the same blend goes into the plastic cups, it includes Cabernet Sauvignon with lesser amounts of Barbera and Petit Verdot. For camping trips or on the boat, this could work very well. They would pop easily into a backpack for a hike, bike ride or picnic. Heavyweight in the convenient plastic container costs $3.99.

Anywhere Cellars is a 250 ML canned wine.  This product is also priced at $3.99, although some states require that they be sold in four-packs. Unlike the Heavyweight, this isn’t a vintage wine. I sampled the California Anywhere Red Wine. To me, the aluminum can was hard to ignore and didn’t enable the typical sipping experience. Unlike the Heavyweight, the wine itself wasn’t very good. I’m not sure if the can contributed to the somewhat bitter taste, or if it was strictly my brain manifesting its objection.

My verdict? If portable wine is a must, Heavyweight is your best option. These two products are in the process of rolling out nationwide.

Full disclosure: This wine was received as a marketing sample.

Arínzano: Crafting Wines From The Zenith Of Spain

I travelled thousands of miles to Spain and traversed five different wine regions. Yet in my travels, one prize eluded me – until now – a taste from Spain’s highest wine classification.

Climbing The Spanish Wine Pyramid

When I was studying for the Certified Specialist of Wine designation, each country’s wine laws were presented as a pyramid. Basic table wine was the broad base and as you moved up the pyramid became more narrow and the quality improved. At the top, the geographic area and often the type of grapes and production method are tightly controlled.

Studying the section on Spain, I was surprised to hear about Vino de pago. What the heck was this? I crisscrossed the country and never saw a bottle of pago.

Thanks to a recent Wine Studio education program, I was able to sample the elusive pago wine. My search had a delicious and satisfying ending!

Pago Perfection

Vino de pago, or “estate wine” is a category established to recognize specific single vineyards of distinction that produce excellent wine. It is awarded only to estates that exhaustively demonstrate not only an outstanding and unique climate and terroir, but also winemaking that turns these inherent qualities into extraordinary wines.

Arínzano is the first estate in the north of Spain to receive this honor.

Arínzano is located in the northeast of Spain, between Rioja and Bordeaux (not shabby neighbors!). The Señorío de Arínzano estate has been recognized for the excellence of its vineyards since the 11th century, when the noble Sancho Fortuñones de Arínzano first produced wines on the property. Alas, over time the estate fell into disuse.

The estate was rediscovered in 1988 and analysis confirmed that the climate and soils were perfect for producing exceptional wines. At the turn of the 21st centuries, the King and Queen of Spain rededicated the Arínzano winery, reinstating a tradition more than a thousand years old.

 

Verdict Of The Glass

In pursuit of our wine education, we sampled two Arínzano bottles. We started with the 2012 Hacienda de Arínzano Tinto and then the 2008 Arínzano La Casona.

The Hacienda is 80% Tempranillo, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot. We paired this with a Spanish style pork entree with an olive, caper and lemon sauce.

Smooth and elegant, this wine is aged 14 months in French oak. There are no harsh tannins, which you may encounter in Rioja, which favors heavy oaking in American barrels. The Hacienda also offers savory flavors which I dubbed “herbalicious.”

Very surprising to me was the price point. At $19.99, it delivers satisfaction of a wine two or three times the price.

A week later Green Dragon was cooking again, this time serving up braciole with black bean quinoa with the 2008 La Casona.

In the glass it is garnet in color with a clear edge. La Casona is 75% Tempranillo with 25% Merlot. The medium-bodied blend exudes elegance and harmony.

On first approach, there is a bit of heat that rapidly shifts to a silky body. On the palate there is tart cherry, with wafts of mocha and a touch of vanilla. The fruit stands front and center in a way that testifies to the skill of the winemaker.

A wine like this makes dinner an a memorable experience. At about $35, it is an excellent value for one of Spain’s top tier wines.

At last count, there were only 14 pago estates in Spain. This is a very small circle of “grand cru” vineyards. Arínzano delivers the quality that shows why this designation is so exclusive.

V. Sattui 2016 Rosato di Sangiovese, North Coast

There’s no better way to blast through the muggy heat of summer than with a crisp, chilled rosé. This Mediterranean-style wine is made with one of our favorite grapes.

Spanning The Centuries

V. Sattui Winery has earned many accolades for its wine. The reputation for this Napa Valley winery comes despite selling its wine only at its winery or through their online store. Selling digitally would have been unthinkable when the winery was founded.

Vittorio Sattui and his wife immigrated from Italy to the San Francisco area in 1882. Three years later they began making wine full time and named their winery St. Helena Wine Cellars after the town from which they purchased their grapes.

The advent of Prohibition in 1920 resulted in the closure of the winery. After repeal in 1933, Vittorio decides to settle into retirement rather than reopen the winery.

This would all have a sad ending if not for great grandson Dario Sattui. Dario returned from Europe in the early 1970s determined to restart the family wine business. In 1975 he began making Napa Valley wine – 90 years after his great grandfather did so. V. Sattui has since established a reputation for award-winning wines.

Crisp And Contemporary

With a recent hot spell, we declared the beginning of rosé season and opened this 2016 V. Sattui Rosato Sangiovese. Grapes for this wine come primarily from Sattui’s Hibbard Ranch vineyard in Napa’s Carneros region. Color in wine comes from juice contact with the skins. In this case, the juice was given minimal contact with the skins.

Color is always a key component in wine appreciation, but with rosé it rises to another level. There are so many delightful jewel-like shades of pink! The Sattui Rosato is a beautiful light salmon color.

Rosato is the Italian term for rosé and this wine captures the sophisticated zest for living for which that country is known. This is a perfect wine for a salad, light entree of fish or chicken or a cheese or charcuterie plate. You can also savor it on its own, as we did.

The wine has a lively acidity and properly chilled, delivers refreshment that can cut through any summer doldrums. We found the flavors to be more robust than many rosé wines. Strawberry and watermelon flavors mingle nicely in the glass.

Sattui Rosato di Sangiovese is priced at $26. It’s a good choice for a hot weather refresher – or to generate a few sunbeams on an otherwise dreary day.

Full disclosure: We received this wine as a marketing sample.