Peay Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2002

Epiphany time. Once in a while you come across a wine that changes your perception or reminds you that there are other great wines besides Pinot Noir and Zinfandel. (Ok, Cab too. But that's not important right now.) Peay Chardonnay is one of those wines.

Produced by Andy Peay with Venessa Wong as winemaker, (I've been here before...) the Peay Chardonnay from the coastal hills of the Sonoma coast is lush, fragrant, delicious, and amazing. Beautifully light in color, with a full body and a nose of light crisp citrus and apples, without a noticible hint of charred oak, this wine hits the tongue like a delightful play of words touches the mind.

Subtle and robust at the same time. Evocative and demure. There are many facets to Vanessa and Andy's work.

The 2002 is of course unavailable anymore. But the 2004 appears to still be available from the web site for $45. More than the butter you may have been drinking, but this ain't your mother's chardonnay. Grow up and smell the fruit!

Well done guys!

Carlisle Sonoma County Zinfandel 2004

While I like to call Mike Officer's wine, the wine from the company that shall remain nameless, I can't go for long without having a glass or two of his wine. Of course since I got stiffed ordering direct I found several stores to acquire some of his great stuff. Amazing Grapes in Santa Margarita, Ca. had both the Sonoma County ($19.98) and Dry Creek ($26.98) versions of his Zin. (Going fast!) Now I have to state upfront that this is not his Estate wine, but none-the-less they are all good.

I had the Dry Creek last week and would have written a review but I was too enthralled with the wine to care about writing, so tough. But I opened the Sonoma County tonight. This is a wine made from grapes stated to be from both the Dry Creek area and Russian River Valley.

The label says 23% RR Syrah which means that since the wine is classified as "Zinfandel" it needs to have 75% of the stated grape and the balance can be...well anything. However to be from Sonoma County, 85% needs to be from that large area covering that area.

With 210 cases made, unless you jump, this wine is not available. But let me state as fact; Mike Officer makes no bad wine. You heard me. NO BAD WINE! His $20.00 Zin while not an estate wine is mighty fine. A prime example of what Sonoma can be in Zinfandel. He has no peers. But please don't buy any. I have a hard enough time as it is getting my hands on his juice without the competition.

The 2004 Sonoma Zin is dark purple, with a full nose of area fruit and light toasted oak. A full palette of flavor exemplifies Mike's skills as winemaker and grower.

If you are used to $5 Zin...you owe it to yourself to try this or one of Mike's other wines. Not that he needs help selling it. In fact, forget I mentioned it....

Go away!

Here is his breakdown of the wine:
59% Russian River Valley Zinfandel, Fava Ranch
23% Russian River Valley Syrah, Atoosa’s Vineyard
12% Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, Teldeschi Ranch
6% Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, Mounts Ranch

15.8% Alcohol. Zowie!! Read his notes.

Plungerhead Dry Creek Old Vine Zinfandel 2004

Well those wacky guys, Don Sebastiani and Sons have released yet another well marketed, nutty named wine. Along side the Three Loose Screw wines, Smoking Loon, Pepperwood Grove, Screw Kappa Napa, and a few other odds and ends, they now have "The Other Guys" wine line-up.

This line includes le bon vin dela Napa Valley, (Cab, Merlot, and Chard) Hey Mumbo, they call this an Italian blend, but with 99% Malbec I calls it Chilean more than anything, and the Plungerhead. Apparently so named for the "Zork" wine closure from Australia. Currently the only wine from Plungerhead is the 2004 Zinfandel which I found in a large (what else) stack at the local market for $8.99.

Now, personally, I'm not sure what the intention is by having a multitude of wines under various lables and names other than to confuse and confound the public. But they have the money, so they make the rules. I don't so I'll shut up.

This particular Zinfandel is 85% Zin and 15% Petite Syrah. I suspect that the juice they most likely purchased for this wine was just a little lacking in both color and body so it needed some structure which the PS supplies. Since it's from Dry Creek and only $8.99, I can't imagine who bulked out there wine but... who cares really? One thousand cases (12,000 bottles, woohoo) makes this a high production wine in my book. But if it's any good, at $9, it means I can get some more!

The Closure is as unusual as I have ever seen. It's plastic with a wrap around zip piece that when removed leaves a stumpy, mushroom shaped plastic plunger. (Hmmm plunger, plungerhead....) The Zork. Evan a website... The only complaint I have is the unit is slightly difficult to remove without fingernails, so don't let your wives and lady friends open this thing up if you don't want to hear about broken nails all during dinner. And probably after as well. And probably into the morning also. But that's another story.

The wine is a mildly deep purple in color, with reasonable viscosity, and an indeterminate nose of.... (Picture Miles with his nose in a glass) well, overtones of Zin and alcohol, the Petit Syrah contributes something as well. But it does kinda' smell like the Screw Kappa Napa Cabernet.... Not that that's a bad thing, Don... But it's certainly not a nose or taste that says Dry Creek. I've had Dry Creek Zinfandel. (Not necessarily the wine from the winery of the same name.) This is not the DC area. That may be why it is $8.99.

For a good Dry Creek wine, try some Quivira Vineyards Zinfandel from the same area. For a treat get the Anderson Ranch. A great Dry Creek example.

The Plungerhead is mildly tart and young, with little hope for a long life. Drink now or in the next year for maximum flavor.

Now if only I could find the Used Automobile Parts wines to try... (hint hint. I can pick it up, DS and Sons.... Notice the name similarities?)

Whitehall Lane Napa Cabernet 2000

Whitehall Lane is not what one would consider a small winery. It's large production, estate vineyards in Napa Valley, and the Tuscan Villa appearance of their tasting room would have one believe that being big might affect the wine's quality.

But this family run operation is well located in St. Helena with vineyards in some of the best growing areas of the Napa Valley. Founded in 1979 but family controlled for just the last 13 years or so, the Leonardini's have become well respected and well received by reviewers for some time.

The 2000 year was considered a weak one, but I have stated before, what looks less than stellar one year can become quite a star six years later. This may just be one of those wines.

With a dark color in the glass and the wonderful aroma of cherries in the valley fruit, this wine is a pleasure to smell and taste without the need for decanting or breathing. Unlike the 1999 Napa Cabernets which are still waiting for fruit to shine though the tannin and 2001 which has good flavor but is still a might young, the 2000 is just hitting it's stride. It is lighter than the Reserve, but still has a nice mellow mouth feel with lingering taste on the palette. The addition of 14% Merlot and 2% Petite Verdot attest to the fact that the 2000 season needed a wee bit of assistance to bring out both the body and color in this wine.

Although reading through the fact sheets on the WHL website, it would appear that the winemaker has used small quantities of other grapes to enhance the color or taste of their wines for some time. Other wineries (like Neal Family) will use 100% Cabernet to provide what would be the essence of the fruit untarnished by other juice.

But check out their reserve Cabs. You will see that when you look for the best barrels, you can make the wine with far less fillers and flavoring. The Reserve 2000 in particular at 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petite Verdot. Or the 1999 at 100% Cabernet Sauvignon!

Like I said, Whitehall Lane is not small production with the regular 2000 Cabernet at 15,040 cases. (180,480 bottles! Yikes!!) The Reserve was even fairly substantial at 3,140 cases. But they still make a nice wine.

WHL also makes Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and a sweet dessert wine called Belmuscato, which is made from 60% Muscat Alexandria and 40% Orange Muscat grapes. A very nice wine for after dinner.

If you have a chance and are out that way, try them out for a taste. Wines range from $15 for the Sauvignon Blanc to $75 for the reserves, and more for Library wines.

As with all wineries in the area, tastings are not free, and can become downright expensive. But it's ok to pick out a few of the better producers to see how the other half lives....

Give my regards when you go! They don't know me, but they will probably act like they do because they are just nice folks.

MMMMMM. Pot Roast and Cab. What could be better.

Talbott Vineyards Kali Hart Pinot Noir 2004

Kali Hart is a line of wines from Talbott Vineyards. Until now I had not heard of or seen wines from either Talbott or the other brand names registered to the Talbott family of the Santa Lucia Highlands, in Monterey County, California.

If your idea of fine Cali wines includes only Napa and Sonoma you owe it to yourself as a wino(sm) to visit the Monterey County wine making region. While there you can visit San Simeon's Hearst Castle, the quaint Danish town of Solvang, and grab a coon skin cap at Fess Parker Winery. Also in the area is the Neverland Ranch now closed, but who cares really! It truly is a beautiful area that you won't want to leave, and it can consume several days to visit it all.

The region is fast becoming an area know for Pinot Noir due to it's climate of warm days, and cool nights needed to grow the Pinot Noir grape. Being over exposed in the movie, Sideways, it has gained a repution and advanced the cause of Pinot Noir from Monterey County. If you haven't seen it, do. And please, stay away from Virginia Madsen. She's mine... Ok not really. But a man can have dreams, can't he?

The Kali Hart Pinot is named after the youngest daughter of the Talbott clan, according to the back of the bottle, and harvested from estate vineyards.

But you want to know if it's any good; right? Well in two words, hell yes!!

This wine is a fine example of a quality, tasty, affordable wine, with all the necessary attributes a wino(tm) wants from a Pinot Noir. Good color, bright clean flavors, a nose that says..."drink me, now!", and a price that says, "drink me often. Available from the winery at $16.00 or from www.amazinggrapeswinestore.com for, holy cow!!, $9.98 (Good luck, the website says 1 left..) this wine is a steal for Pinot lovers on a budget or winos(sm) like me that can't drink a $50 wine everyday. If you see it, grab it. Yum. On the new winos(sm) rating scale, it gets a 3 out of maximum 5 winos(tm). Woohoo. Thanks Jeff!!

Congrats to Amazing Grapes for a great find and a super recommendation! It's not Roar, but it's Damn Fine(sm)!

{Picture found at the Talbotts website. They can request removal at any time. Winos(sm) is a service mark of Don Strickler and donstrickler.com. Any use by anyone else could be construed as trademark infringement. Or maybe not. Same for Damn Fine(sm).

[The winos(sm) scale: 1 Winos - Leave it where you found it or die an untimely death, 2 winos - Drinkable, but not really memorable, 3 winos - A good value, drinkable by the liter if necessary to forget work, 4 Winos - A wine that is a cut above, generally outstanding or very good, 5 winos - A wine to share with and impress friends. Something that probably was bought and stored years ago and cannot be found anywhere now. Original price $50, current value, priceless. You have one bottle and will never see it again. And that makes you sad. Yet happy to have had it. So memorable that if you ever had the opportunity to taste it again it would be like seeing an old loved friend, missing for an extended period of time and thought dead. You will most likely cry. Even if you are a man. A woman will be happy she met you. Virginia Madsen is your soul mate. Oh wait. That's me....