2003 Kunde Shaw Vineyard "Century Vines" Zinfandel

This wine was one of the ones we bought when Jeff Kunde showed us around the Kunde property in Sonoma. We bought it mostly because we Kunde's regular Sonoma Valley Zinfandel is outstanding, and I figured that this one, being from the oldest vines on the property would be out of this world. Jeff did not recommend it to us - it turns out that he's a white wine drinker, so always hesitates to recommend and reds.

The presentation is good. It comes in a Zin bottle. All the required label info is there, along with a short historical blurb. The tasting notes give great info on the harvest and vineyard.

It has a foil capsule, and the real cork was clean - and smelled slightly vinegarish.

It had good clarity and a nice colour, with a fruity smell. The first taste was tangy and acidic.

The swirl left instant legs the length of the glass. Nice, long legs. It was still tangy, and now somewhat watery in taste.

3 trips through the Vinturi gave it some dirt on the nose - but it still tasted tangy.

I decanted the bottle. After 15 minutes, it was only slightly earthier and still tangy. 15 minutes is nothing, so I let it wait another hour. Still tangy. SGK swears it brought her allergies up.

At this point, I'm disappointed - this wine had so much promise. I funnel it back into the bottle to see if it will improve later.

<Sunday Evening>
SGK: It's much better. Still Puckery. Better than the Lemony taste from Thursday.
MRA: More fruit and fuller. By the second glass, I felt it was good.

The Verdict:

Given the length of time it needed to breathe, I surely opened this wine too early.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Shaw Vineyard, Sonoma Valley, California
Vintage:	2003
Vintner:	Kunde
Alcohol:	14.5% by Volume
Price:	$45.00

2004 Lost Canyon Stage Gulch Syrah

Our friendly Rosenblum pourer and oenology student Pam had been dying to take us across the estuary to Lost Canyon for a while, and when we did this was one of the wines I bought.

SaraGrace and I opened it in our tent-cabin at Safari West after dinner, when the kids were down and we could relax on the porch.

This wine was not accompanied by food, but rather by starlight and the sounds of the African savannah at night. Downright romantic if you ask me :-)

The presentation is OK. It comes in a traditional Rhône bottle and while the rear label gives no additional information, the sell notes and vineyard notes do.

This wine had a deap, rich colour and cherry blossoms and apricots on the nose.
The initial taste was smokey and reminiscent of pomegranate. It even left legs on a plastic glass!

After the swirl I got cherries. Definately cherries. While not the fruit bomb of a Rosenblum, definately more fruit than a Carina or Rusak.

The Verdict:

Yum. I liked it. at $35.00 I probably won't have it often.

Style:	Rhône
Varietals:	Syrah
Appellation/Terrior:	Sonoma Coast, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Lost Canyon
Alcohol:	14.2% by Volume
Price:	$36.07

2002 Lincort La Cuesta Cab

Last Labor day we loaded the kids in the Yukon and drove them down to Legoland for their birthdays. An ulterior motive was that we would be passing through some superior wine regions. So, whilst the kiddies napped; Mom and Dad would taste.

One of the winery's in Solvang that we tried was Lincourt. They only had one red on for tasting that day, but since the overall experience at their tasting room was excellent, I bought a single bottle. That would be their vineyard designated Santa Ynez Cab.

If you have been reading me for any length of time you will have figured out that I simply tolerate Bordeaux grapes - They are neither my favorite nor my least favorite. Now, because of this I tend to buy them and not drink them, causing my cellar to accumulate about 100 bottles of Bordeaux based wine (Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, Merlot, Petite Verdot, etc). I'd like to make room for more Zins, Petite's and Cal-Itals so I need to make an effort to drink some of the Bordeaux's. A couple of years ago this would not have bin a big deal as I had a passive cellar of almost 1000 square ft, but now I have a much smaller Viking wine cellar and space is at a premium.

The cork left me with a spotty tattoo, and there were some legs. The wine was a good, rich burgundy colour. I got strawberries on the nose and no pucker on the tongue, but could taste the tannins of a cab. This is a good example of a classic cab. It had a slightly sour finish at first, but later opened up to finish with fine white pepper and course ground black pepper.
SG said it was heavy and spicy with booze on the nose. I didn't get that. I did get strawberries on the palate though.

We later took paper cups of the Lincourt for a walk around the block, and damned if it didn't look good against the white cup. The colour was superb.

The presentation was good. It came in a proper Bordeaux bottle, stoppered with a real cork. The front label has the windmill that sits prominently in the center of their vineyard on it and looks nice. The rear label gives some info, and the tasting notes give you a bit about the vineyard.

The Verdict:

I am still not a Bordeaux bigot, but I liked it. I didn't like it fourty bucks worth though; $20 would be fairer.

Style:	Bordeaux
Varietals:	Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
Appellation/Terrior:	Santa Ynez, California
Vintage:	2002
Vintner:	Lincourt
Alcohol:	13.9% by Volume
Price:	$42.02

2004 Rosenblum Rockpile Petite Sirah

We bought this wine the day before my wife left for Florida and she's been bugging me to drink it since. I wanted to cellar it up for a while; but she won :-) and last night we hickory smoked a tri-tip and opened her up.

This wine has a colour reminiscent of Welch's grape juice; indeed after the swirl you even get the persistent bubbles in the meniscus just like you do with Welch's, and my glass acquired a purplish pink colour from the swirl.
The initial nose was of apricots. After the swirl the nose opened up to cherries.
My first taste was thick and dry. Typical of Rosenblum, it was jammy (how do you get dry jam?).

After a half hour, the cherries joined the apricots on the palate. I suspect this wine is unfiltered because of the little cinnamon-like sparkles of sediment that collected in the bottom of my glass.

This was a fun wine to drink - leaving my wife with a purple clown smile from the rim of her glass.

The presentation was good. It came in a traditional Rhône bottle with an agglomerated synthetic cork. The back label gives some info, and the tasting notes give more.

The Verdict:

It wasn't quite ready. This wine would benefit with more time in the cellar.

Style:	Rhône
Varietals:	Petite Sirah
Appellation/Terrior:	Rockpile, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Rosenblum
Alcohol:	16.0% by Volume
Price:	$39.15