Joseph Phelps – 2013 Sauvignon Blanc

Napa Valley - St. Helena, California

Retail: $32

Winemaker: Ashley Hepworth

We planned a trip to see our son attending Berkeley and threw in a couple days in Napa Valley.  One of the places nearly everyone we talked to said was to visit Joseph Phelps Vineyards.  The beckon call was to try the Insignia Cabernet Sauvignon.  We scheduled an appointment at 10:30 am on a Sunday morning and had the place pretty much to ourselves.  The tasting room was on the patio in between some temporary buildings.  We didn’t mind much because it was absolutely perfect start of our day and it was nice to be outside enjoying the views.  The old barn on top of the hill was under renovation and is now the tasting room.  Go to their website and see the extensive woodwork, wonderful layout and great view.  We knew we have to someday return, and we will.  As we were novice wine drinkers, we adventured outside our comfort zone to try several premium wines.  We liked them all!  At the end of the visit, we chose to buy a bottle of 2013 Sauvignon Blanc because it was as I recall, it was clean, fresh and not a Chardonnay.  I thought it is a wine that many of my friends would love to try.  Frankly, the real reason my wife would say that the Sauvignon Blanc was that good despite being more expensive than what we ever spent on a white wine before, but was much less than the reds we were tasting.   

So now jump forward two years to today.  We are looking at our white wines that are aging and want to drink them while they are still “ready” and not “declining”.  That would be a waste and we can’t have that.   Hours before our Friday afternoon wine tasting, we were anxious to retry this wine.  Will it live up to our memory or will it be better?  My wife and I have different tastes and different wine description abilities but we reached the same conclusion once before, will we again?  Well, lighting struck twice.  

For the past two years we stored the wine in a cooler at 59 degrees.  Using a proper wine glass for Sauvignon Blanc, we found the wine’s appearance to be a bright straw color.  Holding up the glass with a white background and black text, the wine was transparently clear so that you could readily read the lettering in the background.  We expect a Sauvignon Blanc to have a high degree of purity.

We both took in the primary aroma of the wine being a Sauvignon Blanc.  We like to play the game of not disclosing the type of wine to see if the wine smells like the primary grape varietal.   This wine being a Sauvignon Blanc, it is cleaner, crisper than a Chardonnay.  The wine is has an excellent complex first aroma.  As Napa Valley is a warmer climate it has a richer aroma and may be also likely due to aging the wine in 35% new French oak and the remaining in one to three year French oak puncheons (large oak casks) and barrels, the wine a touch of a toast aroma.  

According to the Joseph Phelps website, the 2013 “shows bright Mandarin orange blossom, lemon curd, citrus and honey aromas. Full, ripe flavors of Meyer lemon, pear, honeydew melon and vanilla cream fill the mouth with a streak of minerality through to the nicely balanced long citrus finish.”   The Wine Enthusiast reviewer Virginie Boone in February 2014 gave the wine a slightly different review by saying it is “(f)loral and exotic, the tingling acidity in this wine is the standout, but it’s equally buoyed by a mouth-filling texture adorned by a sensation of fresh-squeezed lime and grapefruit.”  Our tasting of the wine yielded lemon, citrus and honey notes which is more in line with the winery’s notes (we did not know the winery’s notes until after we tasted the wine).

The mouth feel or weight of the wine was creamy and supple.  The balance of the wine was unmistakenable and it has a complex structure to it with the different flavors.  I look for the tears or legs of a wine on the inside surface of the glass that indicates the amount of alcohol in a wine.  I judged the thin, quickly receding tears to mean a lower alcohol level but not at all close to being flat or flabby.  The aftertaste was most pleasant and while not lingering, it was long enough to enjoy for almost 20 seconds which is quite good.  

We tasted the wine by itself and then sampled it with two different pasta salads.  One salad was a Mediterranean salad with Mozzarella cheese and the other an Italian pasta salad with vegetables.  We think this 2013 Sauvignon Blanc is a perfectly wonderful “cocktail” wine that stands by itself and also can be a “food” wine.  If you want to have food with it, the wine makes the food tastes better rather than the food making the wine taste better.  You don’t have to worry about being hit by lighting twice to enjoy a great wine such this Sauvignon Blanc, it not only meet our first expectations, it went clear past them.  It is extraordinary.  

www.josephphelps.com

Food pairing:  Salmon, tuna, trout, shellfish and most vegetarian. Fresh-tasting dishes with avocados, tomatoes, green onions, olives and sharp cheeses like feta.  Avoid lemon flavored dressings and oils so as not to conflict with the wine.  

Vineyard source: 100% estate-grown Sauvignon Blanc from Spring Valley Home Ranch Vineyard

Vineyard certification: Not applicable

Harvest dates: August 14, 2013 to August 29, 2013

Vintage notes: “Lower than normal rainfall paired with moderate spring weather brought with it early bud break and bloom. Sunny skies throughout the summer months led to earlier veraison and set the stage for an early harvest. Warm daytime and cool night temperatures leading up to harvest created evenly ripened fruit with ideal hang time throughout (their) estate vineyard”.

Yeast: Not disclosed

Fermentation: Not disclosed

Alcohol: 13.5

Baileyana Winery – 2013 El Gordo (Chardonnay)

Retail $33

Winemaker Christian Roguenant

My wife Janet and I found Baileyana Winery while our daughter was in college at Cal Poly San Luis Obisbpo.  We purchased a whole bunch of red wine for the kitchen remodel and had nearly no white wines.  I think we bought 100 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of white!  We found out that Baileyana Winery has really great white wines so we stopped into their old schoolhouse tasting room.  My wife, daughter and father in law are teachers so a 1909 schoolhouse was a good starting point.  Within a couple minutes of sampling white wines, we signed up for the wine club.  

Baileyana Winery makes El Gordo Chardonnay from grapes grown in the Edna Valley (Central California coast).  The Edna Valley has one of California’s longest growing seasons due to morning fog then sunshine and cool breezes from the Pacific Ocean.  Jack Niven from Baileyana has been growing grapes in Edna Valley since 1973.  Baileyana is one of six labels under Niven Family Wine Estates. You can find Baileyana, True Myth, Tangent, Trenza, Zocker and Cadre labels at www.nivenfamilywines.com. 

Winemaker Christian Roguenant believes the wine should have a “Big toasted oak, marshmallow, pear, pineapple, and buttery aromas.”  He goes on to say that the wine has a rich, creamy mouthfeel with flavors of dried apricot, vanilla and a touch of nuttiness. This golden hued and full bodied wine has an oaky sweetness with smooth, silky tannins. Flavors of honey and vanilla are prevalent throughout the wine as well as on the finish.“  

Personally, I think the wine is a bright straw color with aromas of pineapple and salted butter.  It is indeed a full bodied wine that has a detectable pear flavor.  The wine was fermented for seven months in 50% new French barrels which gives the wine a strong oak taste that just overpowers the fruity flavors.  I think the wine is slightly out of balance but I like this Chardonnay because it is out of balance.  I agree with the winemaker that the El Gordo Chardonnay has a lingering aftertaste finish.  It lasts for nearly half a minute in the mouth.  It is a good wine to spend time while quietly enjoying a sunset or just appreciating some peace and quiet.

Special Note:  Our daughter went to wine taste at Baileyana (04/01/16) and we called ahead to make sure that there was something nice done for her and her guest.  The tasting room staff was very accommodating and made sure it was a surprise.  I did not disclose to them that I wrote this review until after my daughter’s visit.

Food pairing:  Salmon, tuna or vegetarian.

Vineyard source: Select blocks from Paragon Vineyard

Vineyard certification: SIP Certified Sustainable since 2008

Harvest dates: 10/8/13- 10/9/13

Yeast: CY3079 (“Steady, slow fermenter even at cooler temperatures… good alcohol tolerance and low production of VA (volatile acidity) and H2S (hydrogen sulfide) when properly fed. Highly recommended for barrel-fermented and sur lie aged Chardonnay. Autolyzes quickly at the end of fermentation. It is thought to enhance aromas such as fresh butter, honey, flowers and pineapple.”) www.scottlab.com/product-50.aspx 

Fermentation: Fermented on 25% new French oak for 22 days

Alcohol: 14.4% - High

420 cases produced

2012 Schug Estate Pinot Noir

Carneros (California)

Retail:  $45

Winemaster Emeritus:  Walter Schug

Winemaker:  Michael Cox

This wine review became more of a winemaker history as we researched the wine.  The history and different approach to winemaking by Schug Vineyards is worth exploring.  We believe that a wine is as good as it is because of the grapes, the appellation and the winemaker combined.  This wine has all three!

Schug Estate has been in Carneros since 1989 but the winemaking experience has been around for over 60 years.  You will be surprised to find out what a remarkable winemaker Walter Schug is.  Walter Schug moved to California in 1959 from Germany where he was a winemaker in Germany. He studied two years at UC Davis and began working in the wine industry.  He got a break in 1966 when Julio Gallo made Walter the Head of Grower Relations and Quality Control for Northern California. The wine tells us that in 1973, Walter was sought out by Joseph Phelps to establish Joseph Phelps Vineyards in Napa Valley.  Walter worked at Joseph Phelps where he oversaw 10 vintages as Vice President and Winemaker.  If that wasn’t enough, Walter had also created California’s first proprietary Bordeaux-Style blend called Insignia (Joseph Phelps), involved in Backus and Eisele Vineyards, introduced the first varietal Syrah in the United States and helped pioneer late harvest dessert wines (Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Scheurebe).  See our review on Hans Wirsching Scheurebe wine for more information.

Sometime around 1980, Joseph Phelps ceased production of Pinot Noir thinking there was no significant market for it.  Walter as we are told wanted to continue working with Pinot Noir so he reached an understanding the Joseph Phelps that Walter would continue working for Phelps but Walter could create his own Schug private label.  It took Walter three years to be successful enough to leave Phelps so he could further build his wine brand.  As if Walter is ever done and thinking long term, in 1989 he purchased 50 acres in Carneros (Sonoma County) which they call it “the heart” of the business today.  We have visited, toured and tasted.  Quite a nice winery.  This is the place we learned about why roses are planted at the ends of vineyard rows and large oak casks (800 gallons of vine divine). 

Winemaker Michael Cox was kind enough to answer a couple questions we had.  In describing the difference of aging in large oak casks versus barrel, Michael writes, “All red wines at Schug pass through the ovals. Following pressing off the skins wines are racked dirty to the ovals to undergo malolactic fermentation. Once that is complete the reds are racked to small barrels for further ageing. In this manner all wines spend roughly 6-8 weeks in the ovals.  Lots destined for Sonoma Coast Pinot may be returned to oval and are aged until bottling there.  Some white wines (Sonoma Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc) are fermented in oval.  They start in stainless steel and then about halfway through the fermentation are moved to oval.  A small barrel is a more oxidative environment and wines there develop more.  Wines aged in ovals retain much of their youthful fruit, but don’t have the body of a barrel aged wine."

We had to ask how old are the oak casks to which Michael says “The oldest are close to 50, the youngest under 10.  The casks are neutral on purchase – not toasted in the sense that small barrels are.  They do not have the impact on tannins like a small barrel. We have 12 whites (137-1107 gallons) and 14 red (346 – 1168 gallons) casks.”

You’ve read a lot about the winemakers, so “How does the wine taste?”.  The wine has notes of forest woods, pepper and leather.  The lighter bodied medium wine has cherry, blackberry, spice and black pepper on the taste.  The wine hits richly on the front and mid-palate.  The tannins were round and supple.  We thought there was nice acidity that makes this a great food pairing wine as the acidity cuts through the food nicely.  The finish was abbreviated.  The wine overall is smooth and enjoyable that begs you to try more.   I am collecting this Pinot Noir to someday do a vertical wine tasting of several vintages.

http://www.schugwinery.com

Cases produced: 546 (750 ml) 

Food pairing:  Lamb, grilled fish, spare ribs, roast chicken or sausage, roast pork with herbs and fennel, sweetbreads, mushroom risotto, and grilled lobster

Vineyard source: 36% Schug Estate Block 8 (Pommard); 32% Block 9 (Pommard);     22% Block 10 (Dijon clone 115); 10% Block 4 (UCD clone 13) 

Vineyard certification:   Not disclosed

Harvest dates:  September 21th through October 6th, 2012 

Vintage notes:  ““Clonal diversity” is achieved by carefully blending several vineyard lots, each retaining its own unique clonal signature in the blend. The result is a complex wine with a rich bouquet of cherries, berries and hints of spicy new oak. It has flavors reminiscent of black cherry, currant and strawberry, followed by a rich, spicy texture and a long silky finish.”

Yeast: Not disclosed

Fermentation:  Aged 16 months in 21% new and 79% in 1 to 3 year old French oak barrels 

Aging: 2 months in 800 gallon oak casks (during malo-lactic fermentation) 9 months in 60 gallon French oak, medium toast barrels (20% new)

Alcohol: 14.1% 

How to improve you wine tasting skills -by Robert Ilko

To get better at tasting wines, which I know that I need to constantly improve, there are some easy steps and some fun steps to improve our wine tasting skills.  This article is not about how to judge wines on points but what can people do to enjoy the wine they are drinking more.  To be more knowledgeable.

What I hear from wine critics, judges and wine enthusiasts is to drink many different wines as possible.  That is fun and all but is that going to improve your tasting skills?  Not immediately.  Rather than “taste, taste, taste”, I prefer “taste, educate, taste”.  You need reference points to gauge what is one taste and what another taste is.  You need exposure to various smells such as spices, flowers, chemicals, wood, coffee, licorice, fruit, faults, etc.  Some people have a natural ability to taste and smell, for the rest of us, we need to learn.  Both smell and taste changes over time.  Our bodies age or become damaged so our senses do too.  What I liked as a child is not necessarily what I like know except I still roundly dislike cooked spinach.  Sometimes what I had last month for dinner is no longer my favorite.  Wine is like that too.

Things to Do:

1. Experiment, learn and make tasting “deposits”:

-    Go to the grocery store or spice shop and smell everything.

A winemaker, who I don’t remember who (they seem to all blend together over time, get it “blend” together).  He said he goes to the grocery store and he spends an hour just smelling everything from breads to produce.  He tries to make mental notes as he smells an item.  He called it akin to muscle memory.  I like you to think of smelling something and making a deposit into your tasting memory bank for later withdrawals when you need it.

-    Know something about the wine, winemaker, winery or area harvested.

Before you try a wine, look for information about the winery, the winemaker, when harvested, and the area (appellation) that the wine is made.  Is the winery a large multi-million case producer that gets wines from different locations or is the winery a single source winery?  Is it a blended wine from different grapes or just one grape varietal? Winemakers come in two categories to me. One is the “old timer” that has years of experience and is tried and true.  The other is “young buck” that is willing to learn but try new methods or varietals.  Is the wine from a cold climate or warm climate?  Due to weather and water, were the grapes harvested early or late?  Lastly, what are the special effects of an area on the grapes (think Napa versus Northern New York).

2. Taste in the right environment:

-    Be aware of background smells.  

-    Try to avoid wine tasting in a kitchen and near foods (unless you are pairing your wine with your food).

-    No perfumes or heavy deodorants.  

-    I thought this was unusual.  When you are overloaded with aromas? Neutralize your nose by sniffing your forearm.  www.winefolly.com/review/how-to-taste-wine-develop-palate/

3. Cleanse your palate before tasting wine:

Mike Dawson from the Wine Enthusiast collected some ways to cleanse your palate from experts.   www.winemag.com/gallery/sommelier-palate-cleansing-tips/ 

- Michael Schachner, Contributing Editor, Wine Enthusiast uses unripen pineapple.

- Joe Czerwinski, Managing Editor, Wine Enthusiast uses a banana followed by water.

- Paul Brady, Manager at Hearth NYC uses a pilsner beer.

- Scott Turnbull, CMS,  Sommelier, Solbar, Calistoga, CA likes tortilla chips. 

- Kevin Zraly, The Windows on the World Complete Wine Course prefers rare beef.

Other ways to cleanse your palate are:

- Olives

- Water crackers

- Coffee beans

- Celery

- Room temperature water (but don’t drink much)

4. Find more flavors when you taste: 

What can we do when we are tasting wine to help figure out what the flavors are?  According to Madeline Puckette, “try coating your mouth with a larger sip of wine followed by several smaller sips so that you can isolate and pick out flavors. Focus on one flavor at a time. Always be thinking from broad-based flavors to more specific ones, i.e. the general “black fruits” to the more specific, “Dark plum, roasted mulberry, jammy blackberry.” http://winefolly.com/review/how-to-taste-wine-develop-palate/ 

Another interesting technique is called “aspirating”.   Vogue food journalist Rachel Signer says “to truly taste wine in a way that educates your palate, you have to slow down and practice something called aspiration: rolling a sip of wine over your tongue and sucking air into it. Does it look weird at first? Sure. But by allowing oxygen to release more of the wine’s flavors, you’ll notice more aspects about how it was made, such as the oakiness or acidity.”  In her research she says consulted with Nick Gorevic, a wine industry professional who believes that “If you want to taste more, you have to practice and think about it with a critical eye.” He goes on to say “Really focus on what’s in your mouth and leave it there for a long time. Let it stay there, aspirate, and chew it around.”  www.vogue.com/13419159/wine-tasting-how-to-train-your-palate/ To aspirate wine for tasting, while you have some wine in your mouth, open your lips only a little bit and inhale just enough to pass air through the wine.  This should really expose the wine to your taste buds and add to your sense of smell. 

5. Visit a wine shop with Enomatic machine:

Some wine shops but more wine bars have an Enomatic machine (closed system wine dispenser) that allows you to pour as much as you like from an open bottle.  You can taste a splash or have a whole glass.  You pay by the amount you use.  Typically, you prepay for whatever amount of money you like to spend that is put on a magnetic strip card that you use to tell the machine which wine you want to try.  The one place we went had over a hundred wines to sample.  The environment can be noisy and distracting.  

6. Join wine tasting group:

For me it was matter of luck that I happen to bring up my new interest in wine with someone that I thought only drank beer.  It turned out he was the President of a monthly wine tasting group called the San Diego Wine Guild (www.sandiegowineguild.org). I went to their Summer party and couldn't write the membership check fast enough. The guild is the second largest chapter of the American Wine Society (www.americanwinesociety.org).  The wine guild holds a potluck dinner and arranges for a winemaker to come in to talk about 7-8 wines.  A lively social and educational experience.

7. Go to charity wine tasting, visit wineries or wine bars and attend wine pairing dinners

8. Throw your own wine tasting event:

Buy various wines or invite friends to bring a wine to share.  You will be surprised by how much your friends and neighbors know about wine.  If they don't they may want to join you on your journey of enjoying wine more (or more wine!).

9. Ask a restaurant if they have a Sommelier:

When talking with the Sommelier, ask more than which wine to order.  Ask follow up questions about why that particular wine versus another.  Find out how they came to like that wine.  

10. Take a sensory analysis class:

Wine consultant and blogger Betty Kaufman says that she took a sensory analysis class at the Culinary Institute of America in Saint Helena. The course was two days where they smelled the first day and tasted the second day.  Betty writes that she “got so much out of the class, I think I could take it many times over and benefit each time!”.  This is something I want to explore myself.  www.bettyswinemusings.com/fine-tuning-your-wine-tasting-skills

11. Read books about wines:

Simon Stockton from Sugar and Yeast writes that “reading wine books is an essential part of learning about wine and it's imperative you learn from experts in the field.”  He goes on to say that “it's helpful to absorb the way wine writers/critics describe wines they've tasted so you can emulate this at some stage of your own development”. Here are some of his books that he recommends.  The Champagne Guide by Tyson Stelzer, Why You Like the Wines You Like by Tim Hanni, The Concise Guide to Wine and Blind Tasting by Neel Burton and James Flewellen, and Wine Grapes by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and Jose Vouillamoz. 

12. Buy a wine aroma tasting kit:

Manufacturers make a kit of wine aromas that come in small vials that you can smell.  The object if you make it a game is to see how many you can correctly guess.  They can include red wine and white wine aromas but also faults as to what wine should not smell like. 

13. Most important and one that you have done is read wine blogs like this one!

Chateau Bonnet – 2015 Bourdeaux (White)

Entre-deux-Mers

Retail:  $16

Winemaker: André Lurton

Cellar Master: Laurent Le Dez

We may have found a nice Summer wine that is simply good by itself.  This wine has a golden color with a slight green hue showing its freshness.  While called a Sauvignon Blanc, it is a mix of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Semillon and 10% Muscadelle.  What is Muscadelle (and we had to find out for ourselves)?  It is a sweet grape that is similar to Muscat but not related*.   Muscadelle adds sweet floral notes.  It is used usually in percentages less than 10%.  We noticed that the winery’s website conflicts the bottle label as the website showed the blend to be 55% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Semillon and 15% Muscadelle.  Unfortunately, we don’t know why the change from 15% to 10%.  We made efforts to reach the winemaker to explain but received no response.

The nose of the wine is clearly Sauvignon Blanc.  We found it to reveal citrus and floral notes.  The citrus to us was zesty tangerine and grapefruit.  The floral note was lavender. The winemaker’s notes say that the wine has "succulent aromas of pear and tropical fruit, . . . with a clean finish and well-defined". They also recognize that the wine is “easy to drink”. There was no fermentation smells nor oak aging because the wine was fermented for four months in stainless steel tanks.  The winemaker leaves the wine to ferment with lees and limited skin contact.  

The mouth feel is soft but with some grippy tightening as a result.  The legs or tears in the glass were fast which to us indicates a medium amount of alcohol.  The winery’s website doesn’t reveal the alcohol content percentage. The wine is a rich yellow that yields a smooth balance taste.  It is not a complex wine meaning that it doesn’t change in taste from the beginning to the end.  It is a refreshing wine with a fair amount of acidity and a warm alcohol feel.  The wine is dry with some sweetness.  

The aftertaste is pleasant and this Sauvignon Blanc has a likeable lingering taste that lasted a solid 20 seconds.  Overall, the wine is ordinary but a good value that you will want to share with others on a warm Summer evening.

http://eng.andrelurton.com 

Food pairing:  Fish and seafood

Vineyard source: 

Vineyard certification:  

Harvest dates: 

Vintage notes: “2015 was the third warmest year since 1900. Drought conditions, above-average monthly temperatures and sunshine (in the first half of the year), cool nights and hot weather in August accompanying véraison (colour change) were all ideal for the vines!” http://eng.andrelurton.com/Our-Wines/Our-wines/Chateau-Bonnet-Blanc

Yeast: Not disclosed

Fermentation: Steel tanks. Tartaric precipitation by cold treatment.  After skin- contact and settling, in temperature- controlled stainless- steel tanks

Alcohol: 

* Muscadelle, Vitis International Variety Catalogue

2012 Chateaux la Tour de Mons – Bordeaux (Merlot blend)

Margaux - left bank

Retail:  $40

Winemaker: Managing Director Thierry Budin

For those who know a little about Bourdeuax, this is a left bank Merlot blended wine with 55% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Petit Verdot.  The winery chateau dates back to the 13th Century.  The grapes from this winery are predominately 30 years old with some being planted in 1934 according to the winery’s website.  They produce 12,500 cases of this solid Bourdeaux.  

I found the appearance of the wine to be a good example of a Bourdeaux, a deep ruby red that is fully opague.  The purity is excellent and the wine is filtered.  The first aroma of this wine is that of tree fruit of plums and an earthy notes of dusty, vanilla and some cedar.  The aromas are distinguishable for a Merlot blend.  

The bouquet is fruit forward of blackberries and plums.  You can taste a pleasant amount of oak which is a result of the 40% new French oak barrel aging.  The wine is aged 12 months. The wine was first vinified on stainless steel tanks.  I believe that the wine is full boded that when tasting is chewy and grippy.  I attribute the body of the wine to the good amount of Cabernet Sauvignon which I prefer as one of my go to varietals.  When you swish the wine in your glass, the legs or tears of alcohol were slightly slow on the cascading descent meaning that there is a fair amount of alcohol (13.5%).  

The taste of this wine is smooth with some complexity.  The wine starts in the tip of the tongue with plum and ends in the back of the mouth as blackberries.   The tannins are clearly present and supple.  The alcohol feel was warm which I think complements the suppleness of this wine.  The acidity is low and although not a refreshing wine, it is nice to drink with cheese and meat.  

The finish of this wine was pleasant but didn’t last as long as I would have liked.  I measured it to being 15 seconds.  Overall, this is a good example of a Bourdeaux that you can try to get a better sense of what a left bank wine should be.  You can drink this wine now and it should get better with some proper cellaring.

http://www.chateau-latourdemons.com

Food pairing:  Lamb, most meats, and bleu cheese.

Vineyard source:  Single block vineyard

Vineyard certification: 

Harvest dates: 

Vintage notes:  Low temperature fermentation

Yeast: 

Fermentation: Steel tanks

Alcohol: 13.5%

2012 Chalk Hill Chardonnay 

Sonoma Coast – 100% Estate 

Retail:  $38

Winemaker: Not disclosed

The appearance of this Chardonnay is a wonderful light gold.  The wine is filtered and has nice purity and brightness which is what you expect from this grape variety.  The initial aromas are nuttiness and tree fruit.  I smelled toasted almonds and peaches.  The toasted almonds compliment the wine and its flavor is likely from sur lie aging (breakdown of the fermentation yeast added to the barrels).  Chalk Hill makes a distinguishable Chardonnay that is not buttery.  The wine has a creaminess quality.  I detected some oak in this wine which probably comes from the wine being in 40% new French oak barrels for seven months.  

The wine has a creamy, front of the mouth feel.  It is a bit less refined than expected.  We found the legs or tears of the wine to be fast moving which normally indicates lower alcohol but this Chardonnay is a full body high alcohol wine with a listed 14.5% alcohol content.  

We thought the wine has an acceptable balance and some structure to it.  It starts with a peach taste and ends with hints of pear. We didn’t find the vanilla finish as others did in their reviews of this wine. The winery tasting notes say that the wine drinker should find yellow apple, tropical fruit and toasty vanilla on the nose.  As for taste, there should be traces of guava, golden apples and pears.  We tried the wine at cellar temperature and also after warming up a bit but found no real difference in the aroma or taste.  Our preference was on the chilled side as being better.  The wine had more fruit flavors when colder and as it got warmer the more nut flavors became stronger.

We agree that this Chardonnay was full bodied.  The wine has an appropriate dry sweetness to it.  The tannins were thin and the alcohol feel was definitely not flat but not warm either.  We think you will find the wine on the refreshing side because of the creaminess and acidity which makes this a good Summer party wine with appetizers.  The wine unfortunately did not linger very long.  

http://www.chalkhill.com

Food pairing:  Cheese pizza, pulled pork, shellfish and scallops.

Vineyard source:  100% estate. Sonoma Coast Chardonnay comes from Foley owned vineyards throughout Sonoma County which they get fruit from Carneros, Chalk Hill, lower Sonoma Valley and the Alexander Valley.

Vineyard certification: 

Harvest dates:  September 18 - October 20, 2012

Vintage notes: 

Yeast: Not disclosed

Fermentation: 

Alcohol: 14.5%

To Smell or Not To Smell (The Cork)?

A good restaurant today will open a bottle of wine for you and present the cork.  You are afraid to ask why am I seeing the cork?  Historically, premium Bourdeaux wines would be marketed by unscrupulous business people who would put a fake label from a well-respected winemaker on an ordinary bottle of wine.  The Bourdeaux winemakers to protect their wines began to put identifying marks on their wine corks to differentiate their wines from fake bottles.  With advent of computers and improved printers, corks can be faked by almost anyone.  Now a days, winemakers are using corks to promote their websites or brands.  I looked through hundreds or corks recently and one caught my eye from Lazarre Wines.  Winemaker Adam Lazarre is known for liking leopard print so he uses it on his wine corks. 

So when then smell the cork today?

Inspecting the cork or smelling it may tell you something about the wine.  If the cork is dry and crumbly, then the wine may not have been stored properly thus not the best that it can be.  The wine maybe oxidized.  If the cork is wet but smells like a wet dog or cardboard then the wine may be “corked”.  A possibility a wine is “corked” is due to the presence of TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) or TBA (2,4,6-tribromoanisole) which only applies to natural cork; not synthetic corks.  TCA may be present due to fungus in a wood barrel too.  Both TCA and TBA are harmless to people.  “Corked” wine began occurring recently in modern time as cork was treated with chlorine bleaching but now less frequently due to treating cork with peroxide.  TCA may also be caused by industrial pollutants absorbed by cork trees or when the cork is subject to wood preservatives.

Winemakers and probably more likely their business partners are pushing synthetic corks due to less cost, easier to print, less complaints and greater availability.  The best way to smell if a wine is “corked” is to have the server pour a small amount of wine in a glass and then smell the wine.  If it is “corked” it will smell less than what you expect like something musty.   Perhaps less than 5% of wine may be “corked” so you are more likely to enjoy a great bottle of wine with your friends and family.