Peay Vineyards 2002 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Peay Vineyards for all intents appears to be the culmination of the American Dream for three people. Vanessa Wong, the winemaker, and Nick Peay and Andy Peay, the growers and probably all around worker bees... (Note: Label shown is not the year reviewed, but I have ordered some!)

I first heard about Peay from a San Francisco Chronicle article several years ago that was about the new wave of up and coming wine makers. Vanessa Wong was one of those winemakers. I e-mailed about buying some wine and Andy,who apparently lived in S.F. at the time replied, said send a check, since that was all they took, and he could deliver the wine to my work in The City. Talk about service! Since then I have made it a point to buy at least some of the Peay production. And what a production. Vanessa started out making quality whites including Chardonnay, Viognier, and Roussanne/Marsanne. They expanded to include Syrah and Pinot Noir. And while the white wines Ms. Wong makes are in a category of quality and taste that few people have successfully made, her reds are in a class all their own.

Tonight I was planning another great salmon fillet from Bryan's Foods in Corte Madera, (another great find) so I decided a Pinot was in order. Not just any Pinot. A great Pinot. Because if I have not made it clear before, I will now. There is no cheap Pinot Noir that compares to the real deal. High end Pinots are something to behold. Full bodied, full of flavor, with ripe berries, cherry, some coffee or toastiness brought in by the judicious application of lightly charred oak. Smooth and silky, a great Pinot is like a teddy. (Not the bear.) wonderful to behold, and a delight to drink in. There ya' go!

The Peay '02 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is a testament to the the belief that wine enjoyment is 90% smell and 10% taste. There is so much to take in from the glass with the nose, that even when the glass has been emptied, putting my nose in for the smell provides a euphoria not found in many other things.

Just think Miles in Sideways, you know what I'm talking about!

And the finish, what lingers on the tongue after you take a sip of wine... It's like that pink rabbit with it's drum set. It keeps going and going and going, ....

Have I made my point?? The first sip said "buy more, buy more", so I did... You can get yours too if you hurry... About $48 direct plus tax and shipping. Less for some whites when available. (All sold out right now.)

You can add this to an ever growing list of fine Pinot producers, which shall remain nameless so I can get mine. Find your own!

Pride Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

So there I was on a Friday night, with what I hoped would be a first attempt at oven baked brisket, patted down in spices and cooked for six hours in foil wrapped nirvana, wondering what would be nice to open. While a Zinfandel would come readily to mind for something I would normally pair with anything in barbecue sauce, I decided to go in a different direction. Cabernet sauvignon. Ahhh the grape of The Valley. Or in the case of Pride Mountain Vineyards... The grape of the mountain. (Kinda' follows, doesn't it?)

For a about sixteen years now, the Pride family has been making Cabernet from their vineyard's fruit under the direction of winemaker Bob Foley. According to the Pride website, Mr. Foley joined in 1992. The estate is a beautiful place, far off the beaten path on the top of mountains overlooking the Napa valley and straddling both Sonoma and Napa counties.

The wines are known (only too well) for being dark brooding liquid, with intense flavor and, as in the case of many mountain wine, tart tannins waiting to drop to the bottom of the bottle, leaving what one hopes will be a wonderful taste sensation in a number of years.

To quote the Pride site, which quotes the Wine Spectator from November 15, 2003, (hope I don't violate too many copyright laws here): "Dark, rich and plush, with an unusual display of fruit opulence; polished blackberry, huckleberry and raspberry fruit is lush, deeply concentrated and long on the finish. Toasty oak adds a fascinating dimension." They gave it a 95-100 point score since the review was from barrel samples prior to bottling.

However I think Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar May/June 2004 issue put it in a better frame since they tasted the finished product: "...A powerfully tannic wine that finishes with terrific thrust. Compared to some of the other Pride 2001's this really demands a few years of cellaring, and may ultimately merit an even higher score." A 92 score from Stephen. For me, I think Tanzer was right on.

In the last decade we can classify each year of Cabernet wine from the region. Most notable would be 1997, which had a preponderance of lush, fruity flavors, dark concentration of color, and wonderful finish on the tongue. Then 1998, which many try to forget, and some wineries failed to produce, but in a few cases gems were made. Many wines were simply discarded, or I suspect given to that "Chuck" guy for a buck a gallon. For the most part weak insipid things not fit for bottling nor canning.

The next year, 1999 produced what most had hoped would be another banner year for Napa Cabernet. While the juice was there, and it was highly touted, we may wait a while longer for finding a pleasurable wine in '99. They are for the most part so tannic that some may take a minimum of 10 years to smooth out those tannins for consumption. I know one wine that I had open for three days before it developed flavors that could even be tasted. And it was great after three days. Before that, all you could do was pucker.

The year 2000, along with so much worry about computer problems and other new age gossip, came a Cabernet that many thought would be as underdeveloped as 1998. But many of these have turned from frogs into princesses. (Ok. So the metaphor is not quite right, but while a good wine is many things, it is more a princess than a prince..) I have had several memorable gems from this year, that while enjoying them, I could only smile in reflection of what the naysayers had to say. The Pride 2000 Reserve Cabernet was a gem!

And then we come (finally!) to 2001. Let me state up front that the wines I am referring to in this post, are not your everyday wines from the grocer, (well, not mine) but these are wines that in many cases are only obtainable from the winery direct, and are either made in such limited production, or have such a high demand, that they can be challenging to come by. Pride would only sell me 2 bottles of their most recent vintage. In the past as much as a case has been offered. And these wines are by no means cheap. Sixty dollars at last check for the regular Cab and well over $100 for the Reserve, which most mortals will never be offered, much less see or taste.

So there I am, Glass ready, bottle open, pour a bit into the glass, swirl, sniff, swirl, swirl, swirl, taste..... Nada. Crikey! I have more flavor from much less expensive wine. And tannic. You betcha!. Now it did develop over the course of the night. None went to waste. But if you have any of this or other high end Cabernet in your cellar. Leave it there. If and when the fruit can come out to play, may be some time in the future. A long time. Rumplestiltskin time maybe. I should have known, I suppose in retrospect. But I had not opened a Pride Cab in oh so long. And that 2000 Pride reserve, of which I have one left was oh so delicious. But to night it was not to be. Which I guess was indicative of the evening as a whole. Since that brisket... turned out to be a corned beef I had bought at the local megamart on sale for St. Patties Day. But the spices were in a separate packet, so I figured that it had not yet been corned since it still needed cooking. Wrong.

It did make a great corned beef sandwich once I picked up a loaf of rye bread. And I am sure that the hash I'll be making sometime soon since I picked up the potatoes for it yesterday will get made at any moment. But if you ever have the occasion to ask yourself, "What wine should I pair with corned beef?" Take my word for it. It is not Cabernet. I'm thinking Guinness....


(Sincere apologies to Pride for using the picture. I really do love your wine!)

Coincidence or Conspiracy ?

Well, if you know me you know I don't usually believe in coincidences. However, that is the only way I describe the article in the March 9 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle's wine section (I don't know how long this link will be good for) by one Stephen Yafa. Now since his deadline for the article was certainly prior to my blog posting (below) of Brown Estate Zinfandel, with notes about Duane Dappen's D-Cubed wine, I can only assume that he read my earlier notes regarding these fine wines [here].

But what must be the most amazing thing is, I did not read the Chronicle on Thursday, the 9th. (Whilst killing time at work, probably...) I found out about the S.F. Chronicle article on the 15th, when I read the online version.

I can make some assumptions however based on one of the photographs in the article showing snow on the ground and the caption "Zinfandel vines slumber in the snow last week at Black Sears Vineyard on Howell Mountain." Last week eh? So if one were to assume that the writer followed the photographer, Eric Luse, to the wine country, then they had plenty of time after reading my post of February 25th, to put together the article, make a trip for background and photos, and hit the deadline for the paper, publishing on the 9th. With me so far?

What grabbed me even more were the similarities in content. The comparisons of the valley fruit, and the interwoven relationships of the winemakers. Of course Mr. Yafa went into more detail, and writes better than I do. But he gets paid for it.

So do I care about Coincidences or Conspiracies in the S.F. Chronicle? Nope. I feel a little used. But then I feel used every day I come to work. I of course would like credit for at least giving him ideas... But I am flattered. Even if I am wrong about the whole idea of my WFB (Wine Flog Blog) being used for other's stories.

No. What hurts most, is like the other fine Zinfandels I can no longer get because of overexposure to the unwashed masses of wine drinkers out there, and the lack of products from those winemakers, (that shall remain nameless to prevent more exposure!) is the knowledge that unlike my WFB, the S.F. Chronicle's article will only add two more winerie's wine to the list of unobtainable product.

I now add those two wineries to my list of "those that shall remain nameless"... Get your own wine, damn it!

Brown Estate Zinfandel 2001

When I first got serious about wine, I tried to limit my exploration to a variety that is both easy to find, and comparatively inexpensive (When compared to such wines as Pinot Noir or Cabernet), not to mention delicious.

Two of the wines a local wine merchant introduced to me during this time, were D-Cubed Cellars and Brown Estate. These are not your mother's Zinfandels. While I did not know it at the time, these two wineries have more in common then I had expected or anticipated.

Brown has used Duane Dappen, the proprietor/winemaker of D-Cubed Cellars, for winemaking, and consulting and assisting the current Brown winemaker, David F. Brown. Duane Dappen (there must be a third "D" in there somewhere!) buys grapes for some of his wines from the Brown Estate.

Both wines can have similar flavor profiles while exhibiting differences in their respective winemaking styles. They are very good. These Zins are always full, wide bodied wines, with bountiful fruit flavors and smooth round textures. They are wines that are as pleasurable to drink, as they are to enjoy with family and friends.

The 2001 Brown Estate Zinfandel is a classic example of Brown wines. 100% Zinfandel fruit from 4 different blocks of vines on Brown Property in the Chiles Valley District of Napa Valley.

If you're in the market for a high end Zin, give the Brown Estate a try. Current release is the 2004 Napa Valley Zinfandel, $36 direct, although you may find some 2003 around in local wine stores.

If in the Napa area and you want someplace different to visit, they have a beautiful property a ways out of the valley, with some picnic space and tasting by appointment only. They also now charge a fee of $25 for "non-library members". I have not a clue as to who they are referring to, but tell them you belong to the local library and see if it flys... The Brown sisters, who are usually found in or around the winery and frequently answer the phone, are two lovely and charming people that are a pleasure to meet.

Russian River Barrel Tasting Weekend

Well another wine "cattle call" occured over the weekend. The 28th Annual Barrel Tasting Weekend in Sonoma County.

I add this event to the usual list of suspect events; the Family Winemakers of California at Fort Mason, the Zap Festival in the same location, the Holiday in Carneros, in, well, Carneros (check the link, you neophyte!), as well as weekends spent tooling around Napa's Silverado Trail, downtown Napa, Sonoma, and on and on.

I forgot my shoulder pads. And cup. Ah, the joys of packed wine tasting rooms, wine thiefs being dunked into barrels filled with fermented grape juice not yet ready for prime time, by purple fingered persons with no connection to the winery other than that of possibly birth or marriage.

The wonder of tartness, they endlessly call "pre-release", its chewy goodness staining my teeth and receeding my gums. Platters of food as poorly matched as dark chocolate with what could have been a nice syrah. The bitterness of the chocolate a sharp counterpoint to the wine. Cheese slapped willie-nillie around the room, like orphans looking desperately for a home, and meatballs mantained by the meatball attendant, insuring that the sweaty, poor homeless of Healdsburg don't make a meal. If I could have gotten to the wine counter while eating my meatball, it may have helped.

The up side was the stunning number of women, dressed-up, pushed-up, and made-up, with diamonds the size of, well, grapes, adorning the beautifully nailed fingers of these wealthy wine drinkers. Did I mention the cleavage? Oh Boy!

I do have some memory of the event actually other than that previously mentioned, however. I visited Rosenblum Cellars, (too many people in too small a space), Thumbprint Cellars, (biodynamic, and vegan !?) Mauritson Family Winery, (some nice but not outstanding wines), Siduri, (jam packed home of some very good Pinot, and under the Novy lable, syrah, blends and zin, and a newborn baby!!). I may have made it to several more I can't remember. But who cares, really?

Did I buy any futures? Nope. Current wine? Nope. Sorry guys. Too short a time, in too big an area. I suspect the right day to have gone would have been Friday. But I work for a living. (Damn!)

I did enjoy chatting with people, seeing the scenery, visiting the wineries and testing my aim at spitting. But would I go again. Probably not. Most of the wineries are open for tasting the rest of the year. Any other day, during the week, is the time to go. Also in Winter. On a rainy day.

Where's my cork screw? I gotta go open something good.