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

The Old Field Tasting Room

My father and I were in New York for less than happy reasons; my cousin who is also my god-father had died and I was attending his funeral. I had been reading a lot lately about the wine industry on Long Island; and the North Fork in particular, so after the funeral my father and I went out Orient Point and stopped at a couple of places at random on the way back to the pine barrens. The Old Field was the first place we stopped.

The tasting room was in a glorious setting. A gravel parking lot surrounded by vineyards and the rustic old hen-house converted into a tasting room was perfect. The pourer was the winemaker. He is proud of his sparkling wine, claiming it to be "The best in America". He also makes three Bordeaux style wines - a Cab Franc, A Merlot, and a blend. The reds were OK. This winery had it all - history; atmosphere; good wines. Too bad the winemaker was a pompous ass. He spent more time chatting his friends than his customers. This ruined what would otherwise have been a great tasting experience.

There is a $5 tasting fee.

The Verdict:

So-so reds combined with a mostly rude winemaker/pourer don't overcome the wonderful atmosphere and good sparkling wines. I'll give it a pass.

2003 Firefly Ridge Central Coast Syrah

This was another Safeway deal. I was attracted to the Central Coast appellation, year, and price ($7.99). I initially thought it was slightly young in taste; but my wife liked it. Upon further research it turns out to be Safeway's private label. Congrats to Safeway's buyer.

The nose on this wine was of burnt rubber, followed by figs. Now, burnt rubber? Many people freak about this; but it is a typical characteristic of a Syrah and no; it does not taste of Burnt rubber. I take it a sign of quality; If this aroma is present, then the winemaker really knows how to make a Syrah.

I liked the deep burgundy colour. The taste was tannic, lemony and slightly sour. Where did my figs disappear to? But there was more to it than that - there was something there that I can't quite put my finger onto; but it was a taste that I liked.

The presentation was OK. Traditional Rhône bottle with an agglomerated cork. The label lacked info - even a website; but then again this is a private label wine OEM'd by Safeway - you wouldn't expect much to tie it back to the original vintner.

The Verdict:

My wife liked it enough that I bought more.

Style:	Rhône
Varietals:	Syrah
Appellation/Terrior:	Central Coast, California
Vintage:	2003
Vintner:	Firefly Ridge
Alcohol:	13.5% by Volume
Price:	$8.69

2001 Villa Encantado Sonoma Dolcetto

This was yet another Wine Shop at Home wine. Villa Encantado (Spanish for enchanted villa) is actually a private label produced by Viansa in Sonoma (not to be confused with the vintner in Solvang).

Dolcetto is Italian for sweetling. And this wine is indeed sweet. It had a cherry nose and a light red colour more reminiscent of a rosé than a red; indeed this wine might even taste good <aghast>chilled</aghast>. No; seriously this Dolcetto is so light and fruity that it goes down like Kool-Aide on a hot summer day. It's as smooth as a wine cooler.

The presentation was good. It came with a real cork in a traditional bottle. While the label was weak in the information they give; they get bonus points for the bottle as it's unusual. The cork was literally encrusted with crystals.

The Verdict:

I bought more.

Style:	Italian
Varietals:	Dolcetto
Appellation/Terrior:	Sonoma, California
Vintage:	2001
Vintner:	Viansa"
Alcohol:	11.2% by Volume
Price:	$18.39

Lost Canyon Tasting Room

Lost Canyon is one of the 4 winerys that you can visit during a lunch break if you work in Alameda. It is also probably the most obscure of the three, and has very limited tasting hours.

The tasting room is in the lobby of the winery, and because it is such a small winery, the gentleman pouring our wine was no other than Jack States himself; the vintner behind Lost Canyon's wines.

Jack gave us a tour, and led a good discussion on barrel choices and the different types of Oak trees used in their manufacture. I learned more about this subject in the hour and a half we were there than I have anywhere else. This is what visiting a winery is all about.

There is no tasting fee.

The Verdict

It's a good tasting room. I will go again; as a matter of fact I signed up to be a winery volunteer.

2002 Pura Vida Howell Mountain Zin

Like the last wine was an example of the good side of wine clubs; this wine is an example of the downside. It was part of our Wine Shop at Home shipment for March, and turns out to be a custom label second.

Custom labels, or vanity labels make popular gifts; frequently real estate agents or other personal service professionals will have some made up to give as thanks to their clients. Or perhaps you got married at a winery and wanted to give your guest a gift of your own "personal" wine. There's really nothing wrong with custom labels, except that they are rarely better than average.

What makes me believe that this is a custom label wine is that:

1. There is no URL on the bottle
2. Googling for Pura Vida returns no winery
3. On the bottle it says "Cellared and Bottled by Terroir Napa Valley Wines"
4. On the Terroir Napa Valley Wines web site they do not list the Pura Vida Label
5. And the Wine Shop at Home resells custom labels straight from their web site.

I opened this bottle to accompany some BBQ venison tenderloin steaks. It had a light colour, like a pinot. First sniff gave me charcoal, shortly followed by fruit. very skinny legs only presented themselves at the end of the drain. Then a re-sniff gave me apricots and cherries.
The taste was light with definite oak. It had a boozy finish.
After the first 1/2 glass, I let it sit while I attended to the steaks.

The wine improved slightly with the accompanying meat. It aquired a smokey flavour.
The glass I had after dinner showed the spice and oak I expect from a cab. Why ruin a Zin with Bordeaux flavours???? It also did not open well as it acquired a slightly sour if not bitter taste after breathing in the bottle for a couple of hours.

The presentation was ok. It came with a real cork in a Bordeaux bottle, with no extra data on the label. The tasting notes that accompanied it gave good information about an AVA that I am not familiar with (Howell Mountain), but little about this wine in particular.

The Verdict:

Not so bad I wouldn't cook with it. Should be a $7 bottle of wine.

Style:	Bordeaux
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Howell Mt., California
Vintage:	2002
Vintner:	Terroir Napa Valley Wines
Alcohol:	15.2% by Volume
Price:	$18.39

2004 Trinitas Napa Cab

This is why I like wine clubs. This cab showed up in the mail (with it's twin) and there is no mention of it on Trinitas's web site. Not even when you log in as a member to buy wine. This is a wine I never would have gotten to taste if I was not a member of the "Trinitas Wine Society" And let me tell you, I would have missed a fantastic wine.

This is the third of three bottles that we opened up for the Venison BBQ on Wednesday. Yes it's a little young for a cab; but I had two of them so I could lay one down and taste one now; and boy am I glad I did because even though I am not partial to Bordeaux varietals; this wine knocked my socks off.

It was legless (but then again so was I by the time I finished it) and a deep (but not bright) purple. Inhaling it's aroma got me high on apricots or perhaps even pluots. There was a charcoal taste on top of the fruit; but hey; cabs are not supposed to have this much fruit.

Since there was an oaky bite in the finish, we let the wine open up a bit and poured some more. Now we get legs; and inhaling it's aroma was like a wake up call of goodness.

The presentation was ok. It came with a real cork in a Bordeaux bottle, with no extra data on the label.

The Verdict:

I will buy more if Trinitas ever releases this one. I'm not sure that the other bottle that I have will last long in my cellar, simply because I want to drink it now.

Style:	Bordeaux
Varietals:	Cabernet Sauvingnon
Appellation/Terrior:	Napa Valley, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Trinitas
Alcohol:	14.5% by Volume
Price:	$28.98