2003 Windsor California Merlot

This bottle of wine was given to us last year by our realtor, Deborah Lopez as a thank you for her business. It's a vanity label from Windsor Vineyards.

I opened this bottle at 7:00am to add to a beef stew as a cooking wine, and then saved the last glass to accompany it.

The presentation was OK. It came in a traditional Bordeaux style bottle. The label has the minimum required information.

It had an amalgamated cork tipped with real cork. There was penetration only through the real cork, and it left no tattoo.

The wine was deeper that I would expect from a Merlot; more like a Cab.

It had a very light nose, but alot of the aroma could have dissipated since I didn't get around to evaluating it until it had been open almost 12 hours.

I had to over-swirl it to get any legs at all, and the post-swirl nose was still lame.

It has a slight wet sponge to the taste, but not enough to make me pour it down the drain.

Stew is about the only meal that I prefer a Bordeaux to accompany, and this Merlot worked fine with it.

The Verdict:

On a par with a Charles Shaw or Gato Negro. (this is not a bad thing)

Style:	Bordeaux
Varietals:	Merlot
Appellation/Terrior:	California
Vintage:	2003
Vintner:	Windsor Vineyards
Alcohol:	15.3% by Volume
Price:	Gift

2002 Danzānte Della Sicilia Merlot

I do not remember where I picked up this bottle of Sicilian Merlot, given the appearance of Robert Mondavi's name on the label, it is likely that it was a gift rather than something that I purchased myself. If indeed it was a gift, and if the giver is reading, then my sincerest apologies for forgetting, and my thanks for the gift.

The presentation was excellent. It came in a traditional Bordeaux style bottle. Given that this is an Italian wine, the labeling requirements are different than most of the wines that I talk about here. The minimums are here, EU quality (IGT) and geographic indicator (Della Sicilia), vintage, and booze content. This wine could never be granted the more prestigious DOC or DOCG indicators as it is made with grapes not traditional to the region where they are grown. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is more like an American AVA in that it indicates that the overwhelming majority of the grapes that make up this wine were grown in the region specified, and that the region has a history of winemaking and the expectation that the region is beneficial to the craft. (DOC and DOCG carry varietal requirements as well).
The label is also marked with the names of the owners of the winery - Bob Mondavi and "Marchesi De' Frescobaldi" (Italian for "The Marquis of cool-self confidence"). You should be familiar with Mondavi; Frescobaldi is an Italian winery of like size.
The rear label gives some tidbits as well; tasting notes, harvesting info, and history of the IGT as well as the names of the actual wine makers - Tim Mondavi and Lamberto Frescobaldi.

There are extensive tasting notes on the Danzante website add quite a bit of value when choosing this wine.

It had an amalgamated cork. There was no penetration and it left no tattoo.

The wine was more translucent that I would expect from a Merlot; almost like a Pinot. It did have a good red colour, reminicent of a checkered tablecloth at a pizza resturant.

It had blueberries on the nose and a hint of smoke - but since I had just fired up the BBQ; the smoke could have been on my hands.

The swirl left 4 legs on one side of the glass, and more fruit on the nose. Perhaps pomegranate, and believe it or not grapes. It was light and sweet tasting; but the sweetness was an illusion as at 13% it's fairly dry. That's a neat trick; to give the illusion of sweetness. Some vintners (Rosenblum) do that by overwhelming the wine with fruit; it was more delicate here.

After the full pour I got more of the classical Bordeaux on the nose; it should go well with Beef (which coincidentally is what I was having for dinner).

I like it. I wish I could remember where I acquired it.

After about 1½ hours I got boysenberries and apples on the tongue, and yes it did go well with the tri-tip that I was smoking with lavender.

The Verdict:

My predjudice against the Mondavi's was overcome by this wine. If all Merlot's were this good then I would not have a bias against Bordeaux style wine. Must be the Italian influence :-)

Style:	Bordeaux
Varietals:	Merlot
Appellation/Terrior:	Della Sicilia IGT, Italy,
Vintage:	2002
Vintner:	Danzānte
Alcohol:	13% by Volume
Price:	Gift

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 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