Battle of the Rhône's

So I wanted to see how close one of the prominent "Rhône Rangers" of California could come to an honest-to-god French Rhône wine, so I hopped on down to Nob Hill and bought a Rosenblum Château La Paws Côte Du Bone Roan and the only Appellation Côtes du Rhône Contrôlée that they stocked - a Cellier des Dauphins Prestige Côtes du Rhône.

Presentation

Closure

Dauphins: The plastic capsule encased a synthetic cork that left no tattoo.
Rosenblum: The foil capsule enclosed a synthetic cork that also left no tattoo.

Bottle

Dauphins: Squat, lightweight, puntless pale green bottle. Not in the Rhône shape, but with an embossment that is typical of Rhône bottles.
Rosenblum: Traditional y shaped Rhône bottle in a heavy, dark green glass and a deep punt.

Labeling

Dauphins: Typical French labeling; no indication of what varietals are in the wine, only what varietals might be in the wine, and then only if you memorized the AOC rule list.
Rosenblum: Rear label gives varietals, but not ratios. Some tasting notes provided.

Website

Dauphins:Their English language version of the site for this wine is targeted at the UK market, and it's not clear if the wine is the same in both markets. The UK info is good - even giving pounds of fruit used in fermentation.
Rosenblum: Detailed PDF that expands upon what is on the rear label

The Tasting

Initially, both wines smell very similar, after a swirl the Dauphins came out on top with more earthy smells in the aroma. The Rosenblum had a richer colour. The Rosenblum had a classic syrah burnt rubber on the tongue, but over all the Dauphins was better balanced (this is supposed to be a blend, not a Syrah dominated wine), and improved over the hours sitting in my glass. After leaving both wines overnight, the Dauphins was still better than the Rosenblum which got a little sour.

The Verdict:

While neither is great; The French wine wins.

Vintner:	Cellier des Dauphins
Style:	Rhône
Varietals:	Grenache, Syrah, Cinsaut, Carignane, Counoise, Mourvèdre
Appellation/Terrior:	Appellation Côtes du Rhône Contrôlée, France
Vintage:	2005
Alcohol:	13% by Volume
Vintner:	Rosenblum
Style:	Rhône
Varietals:	Carignane, Syrah, Zinfandel, Mourvèdre
Appellation/Terrior:	California
Vintage:	2005
Alcohol:	14.9% by Volume

2003 Coyoteville Howling Red

This wine was one of the ones that I bought at The Grocery Outlet. I did not know anything about this winery when I bought it; selecting it based soley upon the (albeit limited) data available from the label. It turns out that Coyoteville is the label that Burch Hall uses for blends. I selected it because I'm a bit of a Rhône junkie and the classic Châteauneuf-du-Pape blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre makes me salivate.

The presentation was OK. It comes in a Rhône shaped bottle of a sick light green colour. The artwork on the front label is appealing.

The foil capsule enclosed a real cork that had some classy embossing upon it. SG thoght the cork was fake because of it's glossiness from the embossing. It left the faintest tattoo.

SGK swilled her taste immediately and declared it a "Table Wine". I examined it more closely. It had the colour of the Buffalo Grove Syrah that we opened earlier in the evening. As I contemplated the slight oily film on the surface of the wine, SGK declared "It smells like Ass" I look up and she's holding the bottle up to her nose. I stick my nose in my glass and determine that ass must smell like burnt rubber because that's what I'm getting. Despite her likening it to the odour of an equine beast of burden, SGK declares "It's nice" I say fine.

I put some through the Vinturi and get more fruit on the nose. SG felt it was more smooth after the Vinturi, but that she had more pepper beforehand. She said she would get more. She asked me to go buy a case.

It went well with the Mexican Heirloom tomatoes and lavender smoked beef loin that we had for dinner. The Buffalo Syrah that we started the evening with was bigger.

The Verdict:

Easy drinking. SG wants another case

Style:	Rhône
Varietals:	Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache,
Appellation/Terrior:	California
Vintage:	2003
Vintner:	Burch Hall
Alcohol:	14.3% by Volume
Price:	$3.99 from a liquidator

2005 Big White House Mourvèdre

I fell in love with the not so common Rhône varietal Mourvèdre a while back under the Californian name of "Mataro". While I liked that one, it is the one made by young John Evans that really gets me going. I first bought this wine (2 bottles) on my first visit to Big White House in May of 2007, then again (3 bottles) when we stopped by for a picnic three months later, and last week decided that I couldn't live without more so bought out John's last inventory (13 bottles) that's not slated for his library.

The presentation is OK. It comes in a Rhône bottle, with a foil capsule and a real cork.

The label was faded - which to me would normally indicate that the wine had been stored in the sun (a distinct no-no), but in this case I watched John label them in front of me after pulling them from the back of his warehouse, so it was the label that sat in the sun, not the bottle in this case. The rear label includes what appears to be a description of the 2004 Mourvèdre; not sure if this is a typo or a mislabeling - and the cave dog's email box if full, so until I return to the winery, we won't know.

It had a pale colour, and was stereotypically sour on the nose. Sour in a good way.

The swirl gave legs galore, with a distinctive Mataro smell. Sour dirty leather, or perhaps leathery dirt. The sour evoked citrus to my wife. She says lemony, I say awesome. It makes me crave salami.

Sour plums. Saw dust. Leather, leather, leather. Awesome Mourvèdre.

I made the mistake of pouring some in my pasta sauce. I should have drank it instead. As a matter of fact, I stole my wife's glass and finished it before she could stop me.

The Verdict:

One of my all time favorite wines

Style:	Rhône
Varietals:	Mourvèdre
Appellation/Terrior:	Davis Vineyard, Lodi, California
Vintage:	2005
Vintner:	Big White House
Alcohol:	14.8% by Volume
Price:	$22.00

2002 Kunde Estate Zin

This is the second of three bottles that we opened up for the Venison BBQ on Wednesday. It is a wine that I picked up at Safeway earlier this year. What attracted me to it was again the 2002 year - wines at Safeway don't usually get that old, and 2002 was a bitchin' year for zin.

This is an estate wine, which legally only means that the vintner owns the vineyard and fermented and aged the wine on the premises. Since the perceived value of estate (amongst those that do not know what it means) is high, plonk makers over use it. On the flip side, at a family run vineyard (as the photo of the Kunde family on the label attests to) this usually means wine from their house, so they are more careful with it (which was the original point of the estate designation on American labels).

The presentation was good. It came with a real cork in a Rhône coloured Bordeaux bottle, with no data on the label. The reason this rates better than an OK is the tasting notes are fantastically detailed.

The wine opened to a big fruity jammy nose full of raspberries. Mmm mmm. The first sip gave a fruit taste with a hint of charcoal. Subsequent sips were predominantly blackberries. There were legs all over the place.
Doug called it big but not monster and claimed a smokey finish.

The Verdict:

Oh Yea. Loved it. Bought the last 14 bottles at Safeway. Liked it enough that I would like to visit Kunde and taste some of their block designated wines.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Mourvèdre
Appellation/Terrior:	Sonoma, California
Vintage:	2002
Vintner:	Kunde
Alcohol:	14.1% by Volume
Price:	$17.39

A Trinity of Trinitas: Trinitas 2003 Mataro

Last Friday; My mother, her girlfriend and another of her friends all showed up tonight for dinner. We BBQ-d a couple of tri-tips and needed some wine to accompany. Since my mother and her friends all live in Concord; I figured a selection of Contra Costa wines would be in order; so over the course of the evening we opened 3 different bottles from Trinitas. This is the third bottle of those three.

Trinitas is Matt Cline's Hobby vineyard. Matt is the wine maker for the largish vintner Cline (which owns a lot of vineyards in Oakley). He married a scion of the Jaccuzi family; Erin. The Trinitas label is a partnership between Matt and Erin and Busch and Rodeno families of Oakley. Their goal is to show off the terrior of heritage vineyards in Contra Costa County.

I bought this particular wine based upon my good experiences with their 2002 Bigelow Zin. I opened it without any idea what I was getting into.

The presentation was OK. It came in a Bordeaux bottle; but then this wine is a blend of Rhône; and Burgandy varietals so the bottle cannot be traditional. It came with a real cork.

The labeling was good - all the necessary information is present (Vintage, Vintner, Terrior, Varietal, and Booze content) and in the right places. Oddly, Trinitas has chosen less-used names for two of their grapes; Mataro for Mourvèdre and Black Malvoise for Pinot Noir. The rear label gives tasting notes and history of the region as well as the goal of the vintner; but does not hint at fermentation techniques oak? brix? punch down? etc.)

There were some legs, and a rich nose. The colour was brilliant. It tasted of strawberry jam followed by booze. The boozy taste makes me say that this wine is unbalanced, but it is good.

The Verdict:

I enjoyed this wine, but with the alcohol after taste am not sure I would choose another 2003 - When they release the 2004 though I will likely try it to see if 2003 was an exceptionally sugar rich harvest (accounting for the extra booze)

Style:	Meritage
Varietals:	Mourvèdre, Petite Sirah, Pinot Noir
Appellation/Terrior:	Contra Costa County, California
Vintage:	2003
Vintner:	Trinitas
Alcohol:	14.5% by Volume
Price:	$21.75

A Trinity of Trinitas: Trinitas 2004 Old Vine Cuvée

My mother, her girlfriend and another friend all showed up on Friday night for dinner. We BBQ-d a couple of tri-tips and needed some wine to accompany. Since my mother and her friends all live in Concord; I figured a selection of Contra Costa wines would be in order; so over the course of the evening we opened 3 different bottles from Trinitas. This is the second bottle of those three. Read yesterday's post for the first.

I bought this particular wine based upon my good experiences with their 2002 Bigelow Zin. I opened it without any idea what I was getting into. This wine is a piece of California history - reading the blend of grapes in this puppy is like pulling layers of history off of California's plantings. I would love to believe that this is a field blend of grapes from vineyards that have evolved over the centuries (19th, 20th and 21st).

I am very glad that I had cow on the BBQ as one sip and swirl was enough to see that this wine was meant for beef. The tri-tip was on indirect heat with dried lavender thrown onto the coals to generate smoke (sort of an "Herbs de Provence" smoker) and the lavender really complemented the wine. By accident I ended up with a superior pairing.

The presentation was good. It came in a Rhône bottle; but then this wine is a rather odd blend of Provençal; Rhône; and Zinfandel varietals so the bottle cannot be traditional. It came with a real cork.

The labeling was good - all the necessary information is present (Vintage, Vintner, Terrior, Varietal, and Booze content) and in the right places. The rear label gives tasting notes and history of the region as well as the goal of the vintner; but does not hint at fermentation techniques oak? brix? punch down? etc.) Oddly, Trinitas has chosen less-used names for two of their grapes; Mataro for Mourvèdre and Black Malvoise for Pinot Noir.

There were some good legs, and a nose full of jelly. The colour was a brilliant burgundy. This is truly a heritage wine; the richness of the old vines really shines through.

The Verdict:

Awesome for accompanying smoked meat a BBQ. Well drinkable at other occasions as well. at less than $20 if you are having meat - buy it. I am planning my next BBQ now just so I have an excuse to drink my next bottle of this superior vintage.

Style:	Heritage
Varietals:	Zinfandel, Mourvèdre, Carignane, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet, Pinot Noir
Appellation/Terrior:	Contra Costa County, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Trinitas
Alcohol:	14.0% by Volume
Price:	$15.66