Dry Creek Releases Good Choice For Holidays

Looking for wines for gifts or holiday meals. Check out these four new releases.

California Unlocked

Much of the country – heck, all of it – has been struggling mightily with the pandemic. That includes winery tasting rooms and wine country businesses.

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This morning I was reading a newspaper article about a three-week stay at home mandate in Los Angeles County. Thankfully there is wine – not just to ease our frazzled nerves, but the purchase of which support the wineries, staff and related businesses.

A memorable pre-COVID wine country trip included a stop at Dry Creek Vineyard, one of our favorite wineries. We’ve just tasted through four new releases. They came not a moment too soon. The holiday season is upon us and these Dry Creek Vineyard wines are perfect for holiday meals, gift giving, or just unwinding.

2019 Fumé Blanc, Sonoma County

This wine is one of our “go-to” bottles for entertaining. It is reasonably priced at $16 and is a crowd-pleaser that delights wine aficionados as well as wine novices.

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DCV has been producing Fumé Blanc for 48 years. This 100% Sauvignon Blanc is fermented in stainless steel to preserve the bright, refreshing flavors. Lemon and peach notes align with minerality and a pleasing minerality.

2019 Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Creek Valley

While the Fumé Blanc echoes the Loire Valley aspirations of the winery’s founders, the second generation of this family winery has produced a more contemporary take on Sauvignon Blanc. The 2019 vintage blends 73% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Sauvignon Musqué, and 7% Sauvignon Gris.

This wine has multiple layers of cool. Not only with the added grape varieties, but aging is in chestnut, acacia and French oak barrels. Add to this the wonderful terroir of Dry Creek Valley and you have a winner for only $20.

We suggest this for a nice holiday meal where seafood or poultry is highlighted. The palate has tropical fruit and a slightly creamy texture.

2019 Dry Chenin Blanc, Clarksburg

Chenin Blanc is plentiful in South Africa and in France’s Loire Valley, but may not be a familiar sight at your wine shop. This is a rich white wine that is perfect as an aperitif or pairing with a light meal. At $16, it is also light on your wallet.

Please not that this is dry Chenin Blanc. Chenin can also be produced as a sweet or semi-dry wine, as is often the case with Vouvray. The flavor palette includes lime and candied lemon mingled with tropical mango notes. It’s fresh and lively and is finished in 100% stainless steel.

Like the other wines produced by Dry Creek Vineyard, the grapes are sustainably farmed. The wines are made with minimal intervention and without any animal-based fining agents or products containing gluten. Put your feet up and recover from the holiday chaos with a glass of Chenin Blanc.

2017 The Mariner, Dry Creek Valley

The Mariner, Dry Creek Vineyard’s powerful yet elegant Meritage, has been one of our favorite wines for more than a decade. It’s a blend of the five noble Bordeaux varieties. The 2017 vintage, retailing for $50, is 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec, and 5% Petit Verdot.

Aging is 18 months in French and Hungarian oak, 42% new oak. The grapes come from a hillside vineyard with gravelly, iron-rich soil.

We paired The Mariner with a grilled sirloin steak. On the nose there is cocoa and blueberry. On the palate it is luxuriously smooth with deep raspberry and notes of smoke. There is an earthy complexity.

The Mariner continues to top the charts of our wine favorites. As with other DCV wines, the value is outstanding. It drinks like a much more expensive bottle. As such, we recommend The Mariner as a perfect holiday gift for the wine lover on your list.

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

New Cameron Hughes Wines Deliver Half Price And Full Value

We scoffed when we were told these premium reds were half-price. Then we opened the bottles…

Cracking The Quality-Price Code

We’ve known Cameron Hughes for quite a few years. The brand never fails to surprise – in a good way.

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If you’re not familiar with Cameron Hughes Wine, the first thing to know is that Cameron Hughes is a négociant, not a winery or even a vineyard. A négociant is a merchant who buys and sells wine. This is a common thing in Europe, but is perhaps unfamiliar here in the States.

Cameron Hughes focuses on sourcing the very best wine and negotiating the most favorable price. The name of the source winery is undisclosed to protect the brand. As a result, Cameron Hughes Wine can obtain $100 Cabernet Sauvignon and sell it for a third of the price, or offer a $60 Pinot Noir for less than $20. Sounds like a great concept to me, an avid wine consumer.

We recently popped open three new releases, billed as half-price reds. That and the fact that they come from three of our favorite regions certainly piqued our interest.

A Lot Of Lots

Each of the wines is given a lot number, and the first lot we liked – a lot. That was Lot 730, the 2018 Zinfandel from Lodi. We enjoyed this on the patio after a socially-distant wine dinner with friends.

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Lodi is the epicenter of the Zinfandel world and, in our humble opinion, produces the very best Zinfandel wines. It also produces a lot of Zin, some of which is the grocery store variety. If you look carefully, you’ll find the specially crafted wine, like Lot 730.

This is fruity on the nose, but the palate reveals depth with layers of plum, raspberry and leather. This is a dry wine with a velvety texture and a very long finish. The wine was aged for a year in French oak.

The SRP is $13, half of what you would pay at the source winery. It’s a small release with 1,500 cases.

We love big Cabs and we cannot lie. Occasionally, though, we pine for something that’s not from Napa. We found our answer with Lot 735, a 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon from Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is a unique California AVA in that it has both coastline and mountains. In addition, the mountains and valleys run east-west as opposed to north-south.

Lot 735 is an outstanding Cab value, priced at $16, and again this is half of winery price. Santa Barbara is known more for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir than Cabernet, but this is a shining example of mid-to-full-bodied Cab. The winemaker has French and American training and the grapes come from high-elevation vineyards.

A Pinot That Cuts Pricing, Not Corners

Russian River Valley is one of the world’s greatest Pinot Noir regions. Located in California’s Sonoma County, it gets maritime breezes and morning fog, ideal for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

We returned to our patio firepit and uncorked the bottle of Lot 729, a 2018 Pinot from RRV. This gem is also priced at $16, half the price of its cousins at the winery. From the first sip, we knew this was a winner.

There is a complex nose of earth and strawberries. On the palate there are layers of cranberry and savory flavors. A pinch of spice and playful acidity frame a balanced wine. The mouthfeel is velvety.

These latest releases from Cameron Hughes show that it is possible to find 90+ rated wines for less than $20. We hope that he continues to work his magic. Cameron Hughes wines can be found only online.

Full Disclosure: These wines were received as marketing samples.

Sun Wine 2018 Saperavi, Georgia

When we talk about winemaking tradition in Georgia we’re talking about the former Soviet republic that intersects Europe and Asia.

Grapes From The Birthplace Of Wine

Batman and Robin have the batsignal. When that spotlight illuminates the sky with the bat emblem, the Dynamic Duo hop into the Batmobile ready to fight crime.

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I don’t have anything like that (although I do know some Jokers!) instead all I need is a simple call or email from my friend Arthur. That’s the signal to grab a nice bottle of wine and head for a (socially-distant) wine tasting.

Arthur had a couple of beautiful bottles, and I’ll share them in the near future. Today I’m focused on a very special bottle from the birthplace of wine that we enjoyed during a fabulous tasting on his back deck. I’m talking about Sun Wine 2018 Saperavi from the country of Georgia.

Georgia, the country that intersects Europe and Asia and was once a Soviet republic, is home to Caucasus Mountain villages, Black Sea beaches and an ancient wine-growing region producing over 500 unique grapes that produce exotic and affordable wines. In fact, once archeologists discovered qvevri (clay vessels) filled with grape seeds dating back to over 6,000 B.C., Georgia laid claim as the oldest winemaking region in the world.

Ancient Grapes In New Bottles

Saperavi is a hardy grape that is used to make Georgia’s most celebrated wines. It is also grown in  Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and in small quantities in the Niagara and Finger Lakes regions of New York State and Northeast Ohio. I had my first taste of Saperavi at McGregor Vineyard in the Finger Lakes as part of a blend called Black Russian. It was delicious and I was anxious to try this new bottle.

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Sada Wine Imports, a U.S. importer of Georgian wines,  released five wines under its family’s Sun Wine label to showcase Georgia’s 2018 vintage. The 2018 rtveli (harvest) was the first in 10 years that wasn’t subsidized by the state. Business is looking up and Georgian wine exports are at an all-time high.

The name Saperavi means “to give color” and the bottle we cracked open is 100% Saperavi. The label has an attractive photo of a vineyard inside the outline of the country of Georgia. The bottle proudly proclaims the country as the birthplace of wine and displays a Georgian flag. The wine retails for a tasty $19.

The Saperavi I had previously tasted was bold and tannic, so the Sun Saperavi was a bit of a surprise. The wine comes from the Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region, famous for its winemaking history and favorable climate for growing of several rare grape varieties. It has only 12% ABV and so is much lighter than I expected.

The wine is light bodied with aromas of cooked berries, leather and apricot. It is nicely balanced with notes of cherry and pomegranate.

I’m now enthusiastic about seeking out and trying more Georgian wine! I enjoy Rkatsiteli and would like to try the Georgian version. Sada also imports wines made with Mtsvane, a white grape with apple and citrus flavors. In addition they sell a Saperavi made with grapes from Mukuzani. There the wine is aged for three years in oak, giving a nice robust flavor.

The vote counting in Georgia is finally over and we have a winner: Saperavi from Sun Wine!

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

Safety Planning For Your Outdoor Adventures

As you head to the great outdoors, safety comes first.

More people are turning to outdoor activities during the pandemic, but not everyone is prepared for potential emergency situations. Even a morning hike can quickly turn to disaster in a split second thanks to a turned ankle or a missed trail marker. Depending on your starting point, the comfortable morning temperature can turn into searing heat or wintery blast.

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How can you be safe in the great outdoors? SPOT – a leader in satellite messaging and emergency notification technologies, has pulled together top safety tips for anyone planning to venture into the outdoors. It also has data on the states that have had the most emergency rescues conducted and top activities leading to rescues – heads up, California!

Safety Tips for Outdoor Adventures

1. Plan your route of travel
2. Determine how long your trip will take
3. Share your travel plans with family or friends
4. Prepare a regional / seasonal specific survival kit
5. Carry navigation equipment, such as a map, compass, and GPS – and know how to use them
6. Have enough clothing to keep you warm and dry throughout the night if necessary
7. Have a means to start a fire for warmth or to signal for a rescue
8. Pack a sharp knife, flashlight, first aid kit, rope, saw blade and signal mirror
9. Carry at least two liters of water, if no source of clean water will be available
10. Communication is essential. Carry a satellite device, such as SPOT Gen4 GPS Satellite Messenger that can be set to track your progress and send OK and S.O.S. messages

Top U.S. States with Rescue Incidents

1. California
2. Colorado
3. Utah
4. Washington
5. Idaho
6. Alaska
7. Wyoming

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Most Common Incidents Resulting in Rescues

• Hiking and mountain sports
• Boating and water sports
• Motor vehicle incidents (snow mobile, motorcycle, car, ATV, etc.)

Donnachiara Wines Pair Modernity, Tradition In Southern Italy

Mezzogiorno, or Southern Italy, is the home of incredible wines sometimes overlooked by wine lovers.

3,000 Years Strong

Don’t make this big mistake with Italian wine. Italy is a large, wonderful country flowing with wine. Don’t overlook the southern part of the country.

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While Tuscany and Piedmont offer many glittering wine jewels, there are plenty of  gems to be mined in the southern part of “the boot.” We had a chance to explore some of these great wines as the Wine Studio education program hosted Ilaria Petitto, the CEO of Donnachiara Winery, in a recent Zoom chat.

Donnachiara is located on the slopes of Montefalcione in Calabria. Their steep vineyards are surrounded by  green hills dotted with ancient villages and the beautiful mountains of Montevergine and Chiusano. The winery debuted in 2005 and has almost all female management. Although modern in all regards, Petitto brings five generations of family wine experience to the operation.

Wine has been made in southern Italy for more than 3,000 years. Ancient winemaking here benefitted from the knowledge of Greek colonists, who brought new grape varieties and new methods of vine cultivation. The Greeks were so impressed with how their vines grew in their new home that they christened Italy “Enotria” or “Land of the Vine.”

Much of the wine made in southern Italy is made for the bulk market and far outweighs the output of the DOCG (Italy’s highest quality designation) appellations. However, the DOCG wines from the south are distinct, beautiful, and worth seeking out. Donnachiara produces three DOCG wines – Fiano di Avellino, Taurasi, and Greco di Tufo, as well as the traditional Aglianico and Falanghina wines.

Prizes From Mezzogiorno

Winemaking in Campania is not for the faint of heart. “The biggest challenge is that you are working with nature and you can’t control the weather,” said Petitto. “We have to worry about hail and tropical storms. The weather is also changing and our qualities are small.” We were able to taste the 2016 Taurasi DOCG and the 2018 Aletheia Greco di Tufo DOCG.

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The Aletheia is 100% Greco di Tufo, the most prestigious white wine in the southern Italian region of Campania. This is a limited production wine, with only 3,300 numbered bottles produced. This is one of the best sellers for Donnachiara. Petitto says this is a wine that improves with aging.

We paired the Greco with a shrimp appetizer and the flavors were perfect. This is a flowing and elegant wine with pineapple and peach notes with touch of cinnamon. The bottle label has a fascinating word cloud with Italian and English words such as unveiling, sincerity and revelation – nice descriptors for a unique wine.

The Taurasi accompanied our main course of eggplant parmesan. The wine is 100% Aglianico, the most important red grape in the region. The wine is considered the southern Italian equivalent of Barolo and Barbaresco – although the styles of wine are very different. This wine gets 12 months of aging in French oak barriques.

Powerful yet supple the Donnachiara Taurasi has layers of  blackberry, plum, mocha and tobacco. Taurasi is known for being tannic but we found a very balanced wine. Although big and bold, it was smooth like rumbling thunder heard in the distance.

Donnachiara is crafting ancient grapes into wine with modern appeal and sensibility. Cross the border into southern Italy and enjoy some of these wonderful gems. You may not have to travel too far as some Donnachiara wines are featured at Total Wine.

Corning & Southern Finger Lakes Offer A Bounty Of Incredible Wine

Seeking world-class white wine? Look no further than New York’s Keuka Lake.

A Wine Playground

We’ve trotted the globe in search of adventure and exemplary wine. While Italy’s Alps and the old vine Shiraz of Australia are impressive, the Finger Lakes region is perhaps our favorite place for wine adventures.

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The Native American legend says that the Great Spirit loved the central New York State region so much that he placed his hands on the land. The imprint filled with crystal water and became the Finger Lakes (although there are 11 of them!).

During a recent International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association webinar with Corning & The Southern Finger Lakes we had a chance to revisit our favorite wine playground. The webinar included a tasting of three superb white wines.

The sensational wine is just part of the story. Corning and the Southern Finger Lakes is a 4½-hour drive from New York City and about four hours from Philadelphia. It is a world away, though, with small town Americana charm plus world class attractions.

Corning has been voted the Most Fun Small Town and Hammondsport has been named one of the country’s best small lake towns. We’ve enjoyed visits to both over the years. In addition to great dining and shops, Corning also has the Corning Museum of Glass, which has the world’s largest collection of glass art. Its collection spans 3,500 years.

Keuka Lake is known as the crooked Finger Lake, being shaped like a “Y.” While we have enjoyed wine tastings on Seneca, Cayuga, and Canandaigua, we have special affection for Keuka.

Nearby Hammondsport is a wonderful small town with a perfect town square surrounded by restaurants and shops. It’s a short distance from the three wineries highlighted during our webinar.

Towering Trio

In addition to representatives of the Steuben (stew-BEN) County convention and visitors bureau, three wineries were featured: Domaine LeSeurre, Weis Vineyards, and Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery. It is a great snapshot representing the quality wines of the region.

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Domaine LeSeurre 2017 Chardonnay Unoaked Cuvée Classique – Sébastien LeSeurre and wife Céline craft wines using their taste and feelings. “If you make wine with numbers, your wine will taste like numbers,” he said during the webinar. Both Céline and  Sébastien are from France with deep family roots in winemaking. They are the winemaking team for Domaine LeSeurre and with the Chardonnay Cuvée they have crafted a wonderful food wine.

The wine is fermented 100% in stainless steel and undergoes battonage for 10 months. Grapes are sourced from two Finger Lakes vineyards, one predominantly shalestone and the other clay. The wine has tropical fruit and honey notes. There is a flowing minerality and great balance.

Weis Vineyards 2019 Dry Riesling – Hans Peter Weis was born in the Mosel region of Germany and spent his youth in the vineyards and wine cellar of his family’s winery. He decided to pursue his winemaking passion in the US and tried one vintage in Sonoma before stumbling upon the Finger Lakes. Here he found the soils and climate similar to home and the perfect location to handcraft German-style wines.

We paired the Weis Riesling with a vegan meal of crispy tofu with orange sauce and stir-fried vegetables. Our daughter is a vegan chef and outdid herself with this delicious meal. While we had visited the other two featured wineries, this was our first taste of Weis (pronounced VICE) and it did not disappoint.

The wine has refreshing minerality with lime notes and a crackling acidity. There are flavor notes of wet stones and apple. This is an amazing wine and for those who aren’t familiar with the dry style of Riesling, this bottle will be a game-changer. Superb!

Dr. Konstantin Frank 2019 Rkatsitelli – Meaghan Frank is the great-granddaughter of Konstantin Frank, the Ukrainian immigrant whose determination and skill changed the course of wine history in the Finger Lakes. It was previously thought that New York was only suitable for table wines made with native grapes and that vitis vinifera, or noble grapes, would never grow there. He dashed that idea and today the region produces world-class wine and the winery that bears his name is acknowledged as one of the top 100 wineries in the world.

Meaghan has brought innovative ideas to the winery, but shared something very old. Rkatsitelli is one of the oldest grape varieties in the world, dating back to 3000 BC.

Dr. Frank’s has a wide-ranging lineup of wines, but the Rkat is special indeed. It has medium body weight and texture and a core of grapefruit flavor. Notes of citrus and flower blossoms intermingle with mineral undertones. What an amazing wine! It will pair perfectly with sushi, seafood, poultry and even barbeque.

We have only scratched the surface of this enticing locale. Each time we travel there we return with beautiful memories (and plenty of wine). For more information on the destination, check out the Corning and the Southern Finger Lakes website.

My colleague Stacey Wittig has recently shared her top picks for the best Finger Lakes wineries near Corning. Check them out!

Megan Anne 2016 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

This Pinot Noir was the clear winner on Election Day.

The Votes Are In

For one of the most-anticipated elections in our lifetime, we decided to uncork a bottle of Pinot Noir. As I opened the bottle and shared a photo with a friend, I was a bit confused.

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I clearly remember buying the bottle in a Walla Walla, Washington, tasting room. Yet, the appellation was plainly Willamette Valley, Oregon.

For a few minutes my thoughts were as jumbled as the election returns. Then clarity prevailed.

The wine is from the Megan Anne Cellars, which is part of the Mark Ryan Winery family. My friend – the Cabernetor – and I had stopped into the Mark Ryan tasting room in downtown Walla Walla a couple years ago.

The tasting room, in addition to serving up spectacular wine, is quirky and cool. The tasting room highlights the owner’s love of motorcycles. While the Washington reds were certainly standouts, it was the Pinot Noir that got my attention. Megan Anne is a project focused on Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and bottles are available at Mark Ryan tasting rooms.

And The Winner Is

It took much less time for us to declare a winner than some of the battleground states. While the broadcasters earnest tapped away on their maps displaying the votes for 2020 and 2016 and drilled into county results ad nauseum, my wife and I merrily clinked our glasses. There’s nothing quite like a glass of great Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

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The first vintage for Megan Anne Cellars was released in 2016. During my last visit to Walla Walla, I had been tasting Washington wine for about a week. I guess I was ready for a change of pace. And so the Pinot Noir from Oregon made its way home to North Carolina via Washington State.

This is full-bodied for a Pinot Noir. It opens with rich black cherry and boysenberry notes. The fruit dominates the forepalate and there follows earthy and savory flavors. The texture is opulent. The finish? Well it is long – but not quite as long as the ballot counting to determine our new US president.

The current vintage of this wine is 2018 with an SRP of $30. This is a limited production wine that deserves a spot on your ticket.

Maxville 2014 Cabernet Franc, Napa Valley

It’s hard to beat a Napa Cab Franc done right.

Cab Franc Stands Tall

In a world gone mad, Cabernet Franc is one of life’s great pleasures.

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While some might erroneously think of Cab Franc as an offshoot of Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s actually the other way around. Cabernet Franc (along with Sauvignon Blanc) is the genetic parent of Cabernet Sauvignon.

We really started getting into Cab Franc during our repeated visits to the Finger Lakes wine region. Riesling reigns as the supreme white grape in the chilly climate there and Cabernet Franc thrives as the top red.

Cabernet Franc is far from uncommon, but is mostly a smaller percentage blending partner in wines. You’ll find it in Bordeaux wines as well as American red blends including Meritage.

For the true Cab Francophile, there’s nothing like a single varietal Cabernet Franc. We recently uncorked the 2014 Maxville Cab Franc from Napa Valley and were delighted with what we tasted.

Chiles Valley Creation

Chiles Valley is a remote district in Napa Valley that became an AVA in 1999. There are just a handful of wineries there, with less than 1,000 acres planted with grapevines. One of its premier wineries is Maxville Lake Winery, which released its first vintage in 2014. We were lucky enough to procure a bottle of the inaugural Cabernet Franc release.

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There were 2,000 cases produced. This small-production masterpiece was aged for 18 months in French oak, 40% of which was new. Malolactic fermentation was used and results in an a rich, full texture. A dash of Petite Sirah (5%) is added to the wine.

Normally we’d be digging into a nice steak, but I’ve been trying to cut back on red meat. Instead we paired the wine with Barramundi with teriyaki glaze, faro and sweet potato.

The pairing worked brilliantly. This Cab Franc is about finesse not blunt force (even though it has 14.5% ABV). There were billowing notes of cedar and raspberry with luscious red fruit. Chocolate notes accented the wine which ends in a silky finish.

The current Maxville Cab Franc release is 2016, which has a retail price of $60. This, or any other Maxville wine, is a must buy!