NV Louis Roederer Brut Premier Champagne

This bottle was brought over by our friends Tom and Kris to celebrate the New year.

The presentation is OK. Neither label gives much more than the French legals, and the website is so difficult to navigate that I gave up (Death to those that over use flash!) The bottle also bears QEII's seal; so apparently they serve this bubbly at Buckingham Palace.

It comes in a Champagne bottle, with a composite cork typical of sparkling wines.

It gave a resounding pop as it opened. Quite satisfactory. It was chock full of micro sized bubbles that streamed non-stop from the centre of the flute. Smelled like Almonds and tasted like apples. Despite being a Brut, It tasted sweet. The colour was almost clear. Kris, like me, doesn't much like sparkling wines, but she liked this one.

The Verdict:

Typical Champagne, if higher quality than I am used to

Style:	Champagne
Varietals:	Pinot Noir, Chardonay, Pinot Meunier
Appellation/Terrior:	Reims
Vintage:	NV
Vintner:	Roederer
Alcohol:	12% by Volume

2000 Ciardella Santa Cruz Mt Pinot Noir

I have not written about any wine recently because my wife is on a grape-free diet and I dislike drinking alone. I was able to break this Bacchus free streak with the arrival from England of a dear friend of mine, Mandy. On Friday night we opened three wines, (two previously un-reviewed) and on Saturday, a Pinot with my dad's girl friend (my dad does not drink reds), and Sunday for dinner a bottle from the old world.

Today's wine is from a friend of mine from my days at Borland in Santa Cruz, Randy of the Redwoods. Randy, no longer lives amongst the redwoods, but instead he's trying to open a winery just south of the Willammette valley and over the CA border north of Shasta. When Randy did live in the redwoods, he volunteered at some of the mountain wineries and I believe that this wine was a gift from him.

The presentation was good. It came in a traditional Burgundy style bottle with an attractive pen and ink of grapes on the label. The front label has the legals, and the back covers some of the history of the vintner as well as a blurb about the climate in the AVA.

The winery has no website, but a quick Google on them returns a list of awards that their Burgundy style wines have won.

When I went to remove the stopper, I was disappointed to find a plastic capsule and an amalgamated cork. A plastic capsule does not detract from the flavour of the wine, but appears cheap. The cork was penetrated about 1/8 in and left a very light tattoo.

The wine was the colour of dried blood , but translucent as you would expect in a Pinot. There was vinegar on the nose - which along with the colour worried me, as this wine spent at least 12 months in questionable storage at our ski cabin rather than in my cellar.

After a legless swirl, the vinegar nose dissipated, and the initial taste was tangy - almost like it was still fermenting which it should not have been doing.

Despite this, the wine still went down easy (as most Pinots do).

The Verdict:

Any conclusion would be unfair, as I was lax on it's storage conditions.

Style:	Burgundy
Varietals:	Pinot Noir
Appellation/Terrior:	Santa Cruz Mt. AVA, California
Vintage:	2000
Vintner:	Ciardella Vineyards
Alcohol:	12.5% by Volume
Price:	Gift

2005 Kenwood Russian River Pinot Noir

This is a restaurant wine. We bought it at a restaurant, and indeed, it's part of Kenwood's Sonoma Series made specifically for the restaurant trade.

We were staying at Safari West (Highly recommended BTW) and the dinner that night was BBQ Chicken. We bought this wine because $30 for a bottle of Kenwood was better than $6 for a glass of wine-from-a-box. It's a pinot because BBQ Chicken was what was on the menu.

The colour was highly transparent (to be expected) and reminiscent of watermelon juice. It was sweet on the nose, and went down like Kool-Aide. It had a charcoal finish. As the evening progressed, it got cooler out which in turn chilled the bottle, and it actually improved the wine.

The presentation was fair. It came in a Burgundy style bottle with a real cork. The labeling was poor. The front label had nothing on it but the legals, and the rear stated two facts:

• "Grapes for this years pinot were grown..." - Indicating that they do not use the same vineyards year after year, making a verticle tasting meaningless.
• Aged in French oak for one year

Not a lot to go on. The tasting notes are a little better.

The Verdict:

It was a restaurant wine at a zoo. It was as good as could be expected.

Style:	Burgundy
Varietals:	Pinot Noir
Appellation/Terrior:	Russian River, California
Vintage:	2005
Vintner:	Kenwood
Alcohol:	14.5% by Volume
Price:	$30.00

2005 Château Doppee Unlabeled Pinot

As I mentioned in the review of the Truchard Zin, my wife has a friend Meg, who works for Wine Shop At Home. Well, Meg's Husband Vic works for The Winery At LaGrange, and is an avid winemaker in his spare time. Meg brought out a couple of Vic's creations for us to try, so Wednesday night after slurping down the David Bruce Pinot I wanted to compare Vic's vintage to the pro.

Vic's wine proved to taste as good as the pro's, which shouldn't be too surprising given that Vic spends a lot of time around the pros. In addition to the typical grape taste of a Pinot, I also got pomegranates. There was a tingly after taste; probably due to ascorbic acid that is typically added to homemade wines.

The presentation was that of a homemade wine. It came in a Zinfandel bottle rather than a Burgundy bottle, but hey; I bet it's what Meg and Vic had on hand at the time. There was no label. It had an agglomerated natural cork that had started to unglue - not to the point of damaging Vic and Meg's fine product, but I'm glad I listened to Meg and opened it now rather than let it cellar for a couple of years as I might have ruined it had I done that. (Rule#1: If the Vintner tells you personally to drink the wine now; do so with all expedience).

The Verdict:

I enjoyed this wine, and if Meg and Vic are nice enough to give me another bottle you will hear no complaints coming out of this mouth! I am fortunate enough to also have a bottle of Shiraz that they made, and I'm looking forward to opening it soon.

Style:	Burgundy
Varietals:	Pinot Noir
Appellation/Terrior:	Unknown
Vintage:	2005
Vintner:	Château Doppee
Alcohol:	Unknown
Price:	N/A

2005 David Bruce Central Coast Pinot

The weather in Alameda has been fantastic this last couple of weeks, so much so that we're running out of meat to grill on the barbie. Yesterday when my wife was out buying Kobe beef, pork loins, and other choice smokeables she also picked up a bottle of Pinot on the recommendation of someone at Costco who claimed it to be "chewy" (As in gum; not Wookie).

Now, I'm not normally a Pinot fan, as they tend to lack the fruit and body of my preferred wines (I like my jam) but on a hot day, a light wine is appreciated. and this one was light and airy. I drank it like kool-aid, so it's good that it was also lower in booze content than I'm used to or else I'd of got sploshed.

The presentation was OK; it came in a Burgundy bottle with a painting of David and Goliath. The label lacks any data whatsoever except that required by law. They loose points for that one. The website also has nothing. Obviously Mr. Bruce is trying to market his wine on the quality of the artwork on the label. I don't usually drink wines this young either, but it's a good thing I did as it had an agglomerated natural cork; Which if you read my closure post, is bad news if you want to cellar your wine.

No legs, but I wouldn't expect any either. Now, Pinot usually tastes like grapes, and this wine was no exception, but it also had cranberries. Which is good. Don't take this the wrong way, but this is the wine that Ernest & Julio wanted drinkers of Hearty Burgundy to think they were getting.

The Verdict:

I enjoyed this wine, it's appropriate for a hot day. At $20 it's over priced. It's worth $10

Style:	Burgundy
Varietals:	Pinot Noir
Appellation/Terrior:	Central Coast, California
Vintage:	2005
Vintner:	David Bruce
Alcohol:	18.8% by Volume
Price:	$19.57

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