2006 Shooting Star Blue Franc

This wine came in my Steelehead wine club shipment. Shooting Star is Jed Steele's "Bargain" label.

SaraGrace really wanted a wine with dinner, but she had prepared chicken mole; makes it hard to pull a red out of the cellar to accompany it, so I was looking for something unusual. The Lemberger (Known as Blaufränkisch in it's native Austria) that Steele sent us was right up that alley.

The presentation is OK. It comes in a Bordeaux bottle. 2005's rear label had all sorts of great information, but that was lacking on the 2006. The Tasting notes on Steele's website are less informative about this instance of Lemberger but interesting on Lemberger as a whole. I love the cinc franc note for a label.

It had a capped agglomerated cork. There was no penetration to the cork, and no tattoo. It's colour was like a dark tea, and had no nose to speak of.
After the swirl we did get some berry aromas, and no legs.

This wine was a smooth, easy drinker with a Pinot like body. Given that it is a rather young vintage, we ran it through the Vinturi - which gave it a fresh berry aroma and believe it or not improved the colour as well.

The Verdict:

Smooth Easy Drinker. Serviced the Mole sauce.

Style:	Germanic
Varietals:	Lemberger
Appellation/Terrior:	Washington State
Vintage:	2006
Vintner:	Steele
Alcohol:	13.5% by Volume
Price:	Came in a wine shipment with 3 other bottles

Steelehead Wine Club

The Steele Winery is located in downtown Kelseyville in the The Clear Lake AVA, but they both own vineyards in, and source grapes from, many different locals.
Jed Steele, for whom the winery is named is a wine industry veteran; having worked in the industry since the '60s and being the original winemaker for Kendall-Jackson.

We stopped in at the Steele winery one cold spring day during a camping trip that we were on, and had such a good time at the tasting room, that we bought a couple cases of wine. We joined the club for the discount.

The club gives the usual 20% discount and complimentary tastings. They go a little farther and extend the free tasting to your guests. Other than appearing in person at the winery, it also appears to be the only way to purchase special bottlings and library wines.

They also claim to give members "Invitations to special events for members-only at the winery" but in the last 16 months I have yet to receive a single one.

Shipments are 3 wines each 4 times a year, priced a reasonable $45.00 a shipment. This is a deal price wise ($15 a bottle including shipping cost!). The winery produces over 40 different wines under 4 different labels; Stymie, Steele, Shooting Star, and Writer's Block.
I have never received a Stymie in my shipments, but that can be explained by the pricing limit that they set for themselves.
We joined this club for the discount, and have since appreciated the access to the library wines (in particular the Pacini Zins) and the exposure to a couple of varietals and regions that we would not ordinarily purchase. Blaufrankisch and Barbera are two varietals that Steele introduced us to. Washington State is is a region I would not have tried without being a "Steelehead".

The Verdict:

A good beginner's wine club. We remain members for the economical pricing.

1999 Steele Pacini Zin

The 1998 Pacini Zin is the wine that got me hooked on Zin. We were at the Steele tasting room, and it wasn't even on the menu; it was a library wine that was close to being lost, so they were pouring it to see if they could sell some. I bought a case. A few months later I called the winery to ask if I could get any more; and they only had 8, so I rounded out the case with '99's. That was a year ago. At the time I had a vertical tasting of the '98 and the '99 and found the '98 superior; so I laid down the rest of the '99's until now.

Jed calls the Pacini "Old Vines"; the oldest vines in his vineyard are 67; with the median age probably slightly lower. Since "Old Vines" is not a regulated term, it's open to interpretation. I would call 50-80 year old vines "Mature" and 80-100 "Old" and anything older than a century "Ancient" - but again it's relative. The reason Older vines are sought after is that their lower yields concentrate flavour - and since the Pacini vineyard cannot be irrigated, the yields are closer to those you would get from 80 year old vines.

Now, most people would say an 8 year old Zin is pretty long in the tooth; and you would be right - except that Jed aquired this vineyard in '96 and the first few vintages by any winemaker tend to be overly tannic. The Pacini is no exception; and we all know the cure for too much tannin - let 'em age.

Enough of that. Let's open the wine.

The cork was chock full of sediment (as you would expect from a wine this old) but there was no slippage on the neck of the bottle, so it should have held up well. The tattoo that the cork left me was as dark and persistent as henna. The colour of the wine was that of dried blood - to be expected in an older wine, but a warning that I might have let it age too long.
The nose was of cassis - that's (currants in English but since it's French that makes it more posh). The swirl left twisted legs on my glass.
On the first taste there was toast and the pucker of tannin. If this was a Bordeaux grape I would say there's enough tannin to let it lie a couple more years.
At this point a slight toothache I'm having is distracting me from my sensory inputs - particularly taste and smell, but I did get rich berries on the finish.
I poured a glass to accompany dinner - cherry smoked Kobe ribs. I generally like Zins with bar-b-que, but I'm not sure if this was the best pairing, as it brought out an almost chemical taste, almost like lighter fluid, which is odd as I did not use lighter fluid to start the coals (but then again it could be that darn toothache).
Saragrace got a Bourbon taste - could be related to the toast I got initially.
Later that night I had a second glass, and my daughter popped a dot in my mouth (the candy) and wierdly - I got a smoked salmon taste. I found that interesting, so I stole a watermellon flavoured jelly-belly from my son and hot dogs on the palette. Again I'm suspect as between the fact that the kids had hot dogs for dinner and my toothache I don't trust it.

The presentation was ok. It came in a proper Zin bottle, stoppered with a real cork. The rear label gives no info, but the tasting notes give you a bit about the vineyard.

The Verdict:

I will drink my remaining bottles now, as each day from here on out is killing this wine.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Mendocino, California
Vintage:	1999
Vintner:	Steele
Alcohol:	13% by Volume
Price:	$14.61

2004 Steele Catfish Zin

The wife and kids left for Florida on Tuesday, which gives me the chance to BBQ up some venison that I've had in the freezer for a while now (The wife won't eat Bambi), so I had my friend Doug bring over some salad and jerk sauce for the deer and popped open a bottle of Catfish to sip on while the coals got hot.

Catfish is Steele's signature Zin. It's a field blend of century old Zinfandel and whatever else was planted to replace dying vines in the last 100 years. This particular Catfish came in my wine club shipment. When I was last in Kelseyville I bought the 2003 Catfish so was eager to try this one.

The 2004 Catfish is superior to the 2003. It had a much better balance. Thick legs with a beet red colour. The nose was weak enough that I actually snorted some before I could smell it. There was no presence of jam. The great balance in this wine overcame all of this, and it was very enjoyable.

The presentation was great. It came in a proper Zin bottle, stoppered with a real cork. The catfish intertwined into Steele's regular stained glass logo is nice. The rear label gives a great overview of the wine, and the tasting notes give you even more.

The Verdict:

I enjoyed it. Doug really liked it. $20 is a very fair price for this wine.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel, Merlot, Carignane, Alicante Bouschet, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, others
Appellation/Terrior:	Clear Lake, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Steele
Alcohol:	13.5% by Volume
Price:	$20.01

2004 Steele Shooting Star Barbera

I first had a Shooting Star Barbera when it came in my Steele wine club shipment; it was a 2003. I enjoyed it as a light pizza accompanying wine, so I ordered more, but alas All they had by the time I got around to ordering it was a 2004; but hey how different could it be?

Well, it turns out quite a bit different. This Barbera, while having the same light and bright colour as the 2003 had more of a Bordeaux flavour to it than the Cal-Ital I was expecting. There was Bordeaux on the nose too; I can only surmise that Jed chose a different vineyard for this vintage, and that vineyard had some Cab Franc or Merlot vines interspersed. I cannot believe that the blending would have been done intentionally, as a Barbera isn't strong enough to be included in a Super-Tuscan.

The wine was legless; but with the low alcohol, that was to be expected. True to form, this Barbera tasted like the house red at a Pizza restaurant (and as Barbera is the wine for the masses in Italy), and since this is what I was expecting it went well with my supper of leftover spaghetti and re-heated panini. There were no fruit flavours.

After 45 minutes, I re-tasted and it was light and airy, with only the lingering reminder of the Bordeaux taste, so I decanted it and waited another 1/2 hour and it opened up quite a bit.

The presentation was OK. It came in a Bordeaux bottle; which is an improvement over the traditional jug (think Carlos Rossi). It had an agglomerated cork, which given that this is Steele's budget label is to be expected. The label was poor, listing only the legal requirements.

The Verdict:

Barbera is a good Pizza wine. This vintage did not stand up to the 2003, so I am unlikely to buy more, but as I liked the 2003 I would have tried the 2005 if Jed had made one, but it does not appear that he did.

Style:	Italian
Varietals:	Barbera
Appellation/Terrior:	Lake County, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Steele
Alcohol:	13.5% by Volume
Price:	~$12.00