Maddalena Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

(Yes I know. I've been remiss in my duties. But in my defense, the house and the commute have made life a bit hectic. And I'm doing some graphic design on the side so no time to write and litle time to drink... If you have work in the wine business and in the Sonoma Valley, give me a call. I need to kill my commute!)

This wine is sourced from Paso Robles, which typically means fruit forward, rich, full bodied wine. If you had to hang in that hot sun for months on end, you would be ripe too!

These grapes came from six vineyards in the area, picked in 2004, and barreled for 24 months in new American and French oak. 8780 cases made. (That's over 105,000 bottles; put the calculator away!)

If you follow the link you'll find out that the winery is owned by the Riboli Family who have a variety of wine and restaurant interests based in Los Angeles proper.

I've tried several of their wines in the past, the Maddelena being the value priced line. I say that because this bottle retails at $13.95. But for it's price it can only be the volume that makes this wine come in at the price.

This wine shows very little to the nose, which I wouldn't expect at the low end, however the palette has more than meets the so called nose.

The first thing that comes across is the fullness of this wine, and the color which is deep purple/red. The barrel toast (or how the barrel was charred inside) is evident more than the oak flavor itself. Silver Oak does this at $100/bottle so don't be fooled. The fruit is noticeable bright cherry, cloaked in mild tannins. This should age for a year or two should you have more wine than you can drink at any one time. Alternatively, give it some open time in the glass while making dinner and let the flavors come out.

I'm having this with spaghetti, but this would be a fine beef side dish. I think you get one fruit portion for each glass, don't you?

If you find it, give it a try. There aren't many Cabs at this price that give you more than flavored water, and this wine comes across assertive and with more power than you can get from any other wine I've had at the price.

(note: This wine provided by the winery. your milage may vary.)

I've moved to Paradise

Well the time finally arrived and I have relocated to Sonoma. The Valley of the Moon. This is indeed paradise. With warm to hot temperatures, fertile soil and tanned bodies, Sonoma Valley is a radical change for me. For the better!

I have a garden, oak, plum, and olive trees; a guava bush, an herb garden and high speed DSL. What more could one want?

If you have a winery or wine tasting room here in The Valley and think that having a high quality webcam like mine (the high quality San Francisco Webcam at WebMarin.com) on your website would help drive business to your winery like it has to my site, (over 600,000 hits per year, then give me a call. I can arrange to install and maintain a camera at your location for viewing by potential customers. I can also work with your web site developer to properly place the image within your existing website.

Send me and e-mail to find out more about it. And check out Stardot's complete line of high quality cameras

Peay Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2004

Have I been here before? Peay, a winery and vineyard created by Andy Peay, Nick Peay, and the incredible Venessa Wong, has got to be a storybook collaboration.

Nick Peay is the wine grower, a veteran of Schramsberg, Storrs , La Jota Vineyards, Flowers, and Newton. Nick has demonstrated that his growing expertise is one of the best in the business. What Vanessa makes is solely dependent on what Nick grows. Without Nick Peay the wine could end up two buck you know what.

His brother Andy, an MBA from Haas School of Business is congenial, knowledgeable, and smart. Without him I suspect that Venessa and Nick would be looking at a lot of wine in boxes; since selling and informing is a full time job.

And then there is Venessa Wong. A veteran of both French and Californian wineries. There is nothing I have had that doesn't qualify as extraordinary. While hiding away at her own winery with her two business partners, she has proven her abilities in wine making that match or exceed those of the rich and famous before her. Helen Turley, Carol Shelton, Mike Officer, Delia Viader, and many others, who excel at wine making today in California, are seriously challenged by Vanessa's skill and palette.

The 2004 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is an enormous achievement. From the git go, the wine is magnificent. In the glass it has wonderful, dark reddish/purple in color, nice viscosity, and a nose of heaven. If the Sonoma coast can have a fragrance, this is it. It is morning smells of the vineyard, ripe fruit, great vines, cool weather, and dark earth. This wine speaks of Vanessa, and Nick as much as anything they could possibly do. They have captured the land and the vine like few before have done. This is what you should live to taste.

On the palette, the wine is smooth, yet slightly tannic, in a way that says, " drink me now or collect interest for waiting". It doesn't have the sweetness of hot central coast wine or the modesty of European fruit. The wine exudes Sonoma Coast.

Another achievement of both the Peay brothers and Ms. Wong's skill. If you haven't tried a Peay wine, white or red, do not walk; run. Get some. Now.

If wine were a woman, I would marry this bottle. I might just try! Just "don't ask, don't tell".

Roar Wines - Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 2004

I've written about Roar Wines before, but since I opened this bottle I figured it needed revisiting.

Tonight in anticipation of fresh salmon I decided to grab some Pinot from the cellar. And of course my favorite is Roar. The Franscioni family owners of Roar and other like Adam & Dianna Lee of Siduri Wines and Gary Pisoni (Gary's Vineyard, oh yea!) all collaborate on Roar Wines.

The 2004 Santa Lucia Pinot is another stupendous release of wine form these nice folks. Although in all fairness this is not a Burgundian Pinot. This is an in-your-face wine. Full flavor, beautiful nose, and a mouth feel that is pure silk.

As I've said before, the nose is where it's at, and this wine has an aroma that takes one from present day problems to vineyards in summer. You take one whiff and you are transported. You are in the central California fields on a wonderful hot summer day, sipping wine and enjoying the weather. Nothing says California Pinot to me more than Roar. "Escape to Roar" is the feeling! (Permission to use is hereby granted to the Franscioni folks.)

If you ever wanted to taste the direction of Central Coast Pinot, this is it. While I have been whittling down the size of my cellar, the Roar will always have space.

About $50 for any bottle. If you can get it.

In case you are interested, the dynamic duo are here in a purloined picture. (Picture stolen from Roar Wine website...)

Valley of the Moon - Estate Old Vine Zinfandel 2003

I made a circuit of Sonoma County this weekend to plan and purchase a new shed. Going from the town of Sonoma to Rohnert Park, I came upon the Valley of the Moon winery.

Now I've been by this winery many times and never felt the urge to stop; but this time I had other urges. Those that Mother Nature won't easily let you forget.

In case you are unaware, wineries can have some of the best facilities for this kind of, um, urgency. The nicer the winery, the better the bathroom. Many enter from outside the tasting room making any pretense for tasting unnecessary. The Sonoma 21st century version of McDonald's for the hoi Paloi. And I thank them from the bottom of my ..er... heart.

But this winery is a pretty place, slightly off the main road, highway12. They have a large tasting room and bar, plenty of accessories to buy, and (shhhhh) free tasting for the regular brews. They also have the pricier stuff at $2 a taste, applied to the purchase of each wine tasted. Taste one, buy one, I guess.

I tasted some whites, including a lightly oaked Pinot Blanc that was sweeter than I prefer, to an almost unoaked Chardonnay with incredibly bright acidity that was surprisingly nice for the price. No butter here. If you're looking to put something on your bread, you're in the wrong place.

The Rosato di Sangiovese (rose' to most of us) is a delight. Not sweet, not acidic, tasty and nice. Drink cool.

In the $2 tastes I tried the Old Vine 2003 Zin. This is a big wine. I like the Old Vine Zins that develop extra flavors and sugar that stand up to spicy, greasy foods. Much like a good cab but cheaper. This wine was no exception. One rarely knows what "old" means in old vines, but it usually means flavor and body. The Valley of the Moon people say that these vines were planted in the 1940's making them older than me. And like me they have only gotten better with age.

Slightly syrupy on the palate, the Old Vine Zin is full, rich, and with the wonderful nose of Zinfandel fruit I would expect. At $25, it is properly priced for the market. You can't get more flavor for less. I'll be drinking this tonight with freshly ground chuck. Yum. 14.8% alchohol, for those of you keeping track.

Side note to winery owners: When hiring a web designer to build your website you have two basic options. Make the site functional and easy to use, with information quickly located; or submit to the whim of an over inflated ego of a designer and produce a website that is more an homage to the developer/designer, who apparently cares not a whit whether anyone can find anything or not.

Guess which one I'm for. This site makes a game out of finding the wines. Clicking on a row of gray faceless bottles (mainly by accident) you are slowly greeted by the plunging rhythms of the phallic bottle dance. Fun? If I'm bored... And since the wines are all (hidden) on one page, there is no way to actually search, well, anywhere for a particular wine. Not on Google, not on your site. Like I said an homage. Unfortunately, not to the winery.

If you need to reign in a web developer, call me. At my hourly rate I will club any over zealous designer into submission and get you a website for less, that does more. And if you make good wine, I make take part in trade.... I'll be the judge.

Save the fancy stuff for the brochures and things sold in the gift shop.

Just my 2 cents. Like the wine by the way!

3rd Annual Marin County Pinot Noir Celebration

From the desk of Pey-Marin Vineyards:

Please save the dates of Friday & Saturday, June 8 & 9 from 3-5 PM (media/trade only, times for the public are below) for the 3rd Annual Marin County Pinot Noir Celebration which will be held at the historic Escalle Winery in Larkspur, Marin County, CA. This year our group has grown considerably as interest in Marin-grown Pinot Noir continues to increase;

Corda Vineyards
Dutton-Goldfield
Kendric Vineyards
Miller Wine Works*
Orogeny Vineyard
Pey-Marin Vineyards
Point Reyes Vineyards
Sean Thackrey
Stubbs Vineyard
Thomas Fogarty Winery
Vergari Wines*
Vision Cellars
Willow Brook*

All growers & vintners will be available to meet with you personally in a relaxed and intimate setting between 3-5 PM and a delicious selection of artisan, organic Marin-grown cheeses, breads and other local delicacies will be available to enjoy. The location is conveniently situated between San Francisco and Napa/Sonoma wine country, only 8 miles north of the GG Bridge.

The consumer fund-raiser event benefiting the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) will be held after this tasting from 5-8 PM on both days. Ticket prices will be $40 ($30 for MALT members).

Wine Lover Invitation - Media Invitation