Grenache---Blanc?

I had never even heard of grenache blanc when I wandered into Malibu Wines last month and saw this bottle on offer. Made by Kris Curran, the winemaker at Sea Smoke, on her new personal label, there are fewer than 100 acres of grenache blanc under cultivation in the US. The wine is popular in both France (where it can provide up to 50% of the juice in Chateauneuf-du-Pape whites) and Spain (where the grape originated in the Priorat region). This is not a "white" version of a red grenache wine--it's a whole other grape.

The 2005 Curran Grenache Blanc ($25.2o, Malibu Wines) is a very good QPR wine that is pale straw in color, with aromas of fresh peaches and apples. A slight spritz on your first sip is the preamble to flavors of ripe, round peaches and melons. As you swallow, you are left with a rich, juicy impression that is all fruit. While grenache blanc is often aged in barriques, Curran ferments in stainless steel and inhibits malolactic fermentation to highlight the fresh flavors of the varietal. This is a full-bodied white with a luscious texture--but none of that comes from oak. It's all from the high-quality fruit.

I looked on the web for some suggestions of what to serve with Grenache Blanc and many sites mentioned pumpkin and squash dishes. I decided to try David at Cooking Chat's recipe for a chicken and butternut squash risotto. He didn't post a picture of his dish, so I took a picture of mine. And I hope David will forgive me for swapping the garlic powder for minced garlic, and omitting the truffle oil which I didn't have in the house and couldn't face shopping for it! It was absolutely excellent, and its rich yet delicate flavors went perfectly with this full-bodied, soft wine. It would also be good with spicy, creamy dishes like Thai and Indian curries, or with traditional French bistro fare. Kris's wines were recently featured at a wine-tasting dinner at Akbar in Santa Monica, where the 2005 Grenache Blanc was paired with an Indian fish dish, confirming my sense that the wine would go as well with spicy fare as it did with my risotto.

This is a special bottle of wine, and even if your normal wine ceiling is $20 every now and again it pays to go above it as long as the wine you are purchasing is of sufficient interest and quality. This one is. There are quite a few bottles of this wine available through retailers (check WineZap for one near you, or one that can ship to you). Curran also has an email list to notify customers of upcoming releases and allocations, in case you want to explore her syrah and other wines.

Buying into Burgundy

One of my wine resolutions for 2007 was to get to know Burgundian wines, as well as Spanish wines. I've started on the Spanish front, and a little trip to the Chronicle Wine Cellar has helped set the stage for my foray into Burgundy.

Chronicle Wine Cellar recently acquired some 1998 and 2000 Burgundies, including a range of wines produced by Vincent Girardin, a well-known winemaker, for the European market under the Baron de la Charriere label. Quoting Alan Meadows of Burghound: "Some of these wines are also sold through European Cellars under the Baron de la Charriere label and they are identical to those sold under the Vineyard Brands label, Vincent Girardin." (Since 2003, all Girardin wines have been exclusively labeled Girardin.) As a relative Burgundian newbie, I'm trusting the experts on this one, and feel like I've been able to get some wine produced by an excellent winemaker for a reasonable cost.

To stick to the Good Wines Under $20 brief, I purchased red Burgundies from several appellations (map from Terroir-France), all made by Girardin, all from the 2000 vintage, all sold under the Baron de la Charriere label, and all under $30. It seemed like a good plan to limit the variables in an attempt to figure out appellations on this round, and worry about vintages and producers later.

The wines I added to my cellar are:

2000 Baron de la Charrière Corton-Renardes ($24.95)
2000 Baron de la Charrière Nuits St. Georges Les Damodes 1er Cru ($22.95)
2000 Baron de la Charrière Volnay Les Santenots ($19.95)
2000 Baron de la Charrière Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots 1er Cru ($29.95)

I bought a few bottles of the Volnay and the Corton-Renardes, and am looking forward to tasting them in the upcoming weeks. When I went to Chronicle Wine Cellar at the end of the week, there were still quite a few bottles of the Baron de la Charriere wines left, so if you're in the LA area and are on the lookout for some excellent values from Burgundy, you may want to head over there to see what's on offer.

Beginning, Budget Steps into the World of Bordeaux

Just before the holidays, I received my very first EVER shipment of Bordeaux wines. I ordered them over a year ago from K&L Wines in the San Francisco area. The box included three bottles of the 2003 Chateau Cantemerle ($20.99, K & L Wines) and three of the 2003 Chateau Sigalas Rabaud Sauternes ($16.99, K & L Wines).

See, you're not on the wrong blog.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to share my new adventure into the world of Bordeaux futures, pre-arrivals, ordering, and cellaring. I'm almost a complete newbie--I've had a few Bordeaux wines and did not cellar them myself--so I'm hoping for lots of feedback, suggestions, and commentary from readers and bloggers who know more than I do! And from those like me who are new to this, I hope you will post questions and reactions to these stories, too. This will give us all a way to get through the short winter days and the long winter evenings.

Throughout the posts, I will be linking up to some of the fabulous resources on the web provided by fellow bloggers, podcasters, and other wine writers. I don't think I would have taken the plunge into Bordeaux without this online community.

I'd like to prove this winter that you don't have to be a millionaire, have a 250+ bottle refrigerated wine cellar, or know everything about Bordeaux in order to have fun, learn something, and drink some pretty enjoyable wine. Indeed, I want to demonstrate that those of us in the mostly under $20 crowd can and should be buying Bordeaux futures because it makes sound financial sense. And then there's the wine!! But you do have to go into it with your eyes open.

Here are the questions I think it's important to ask yourself before you get into the business of buying dozens of bottles of Bordeaux:

1. Have you ever had a Bordeaux or another cool weather example of a cabernet sauvignon or merlot? Did you like it?
2. Do you like wines that exhibit the classic varietal characteristics of cabernet sauvignon and merlot? How about sauvignon blanc and semillon? I mean, do you really like the varietal characteristics of these wines?
3. Do you have a place to store 36 bottles (3 cases) of wine for the next 5-10 years that is dark and has a stable cool temperature between 55 and 60 F?
4. Do you have or are you willing to develop a relationship with a trusted and reputable wine dealer knowledgeable about Bordeaux?
5. Do you enjoy geography?
6. Do you like research?
7. Are you patient?

If you answered "no" to any of these questions, you probably aren't ready yet to start buying Bordeaux futures. That doesn't mean you can't buy Bordeaux, drink it, and enjoy it--but you may not want to make the investment of time and resources needed to start buying with an eye to what you will be drinking in 2012.

If you answered "yes" to all of these questions, then you are ready to buy Bordeaux. I'm going to take each question in turn, and talk about the wines, varietals, storage requirements, shopping, shipping, appellations, investigation, and waiting that go into enjoying the world of Bordeaux wines.

Sanford Estate Winery

We went Sideways for the final stop for our day out in the Santa Barbara wine country. After Rhone Rangering through both Bridlewood and Andrew Murray, we headed out to the Santa Rita Hills AVA and to the lovely Sanford Winery.

The car inched up the gravel roads between vineyards with the traces of pinot and chardonnay vines, forded a stream (no biggy--I have a 10-year-old Saturn sedan and it was just fine), and deposited us here outside the converted dairy barn with the tin roof and the prickly-pear cacti.

The Santa Rita Hills AVA is known for its Burgundian plantings of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, although other varietals are now being grown there, as well. It has a strong marine influence from the nearby Pacific. and is much more westerly than the Santa Ynez Hills AVA where we began tasting wines. It is also a small appellation, with only a handful of wineries, so it is still relatively hard to find wine from this appellation in your local store.

I love pinot, so visiting Sanford was the high point of the trip for me. The first Sanford Pinot Noir I had was the 2001 Santa Rita Hills, and I'm a big fan of their careful management of this very difficult grape. the Terlato Family now has majority ownership in the winery, and I have to admit I was a little bit worried about what corporate ownership was going to do to these wines. I was happy to discover that everything at Sanford is still like their Pinot Noir--low key, thoughtful, and excellent. The tasting room is the size of most living rooms, with bookcases full of books (yes, autographed copies of the novel Sideways are for sale...and a signed poster from the movie is hung in the back corner), tables with lots of information about Sanford and the area on them, and a single, small tasting bar. The cost of the tasting was $5 for 6 pours--and no wine glass to take home! Hurray! (Plus, the cost of the tasting is refunded if you buy wine. Wouldn't you rather save $5 on wine than take home a glass you won't use? I would.)

Here's what we had:

2005 Pinot Grigio Santa Barbara County ($17): From vineyards outside Los Alamos, it was a wine with abundant nectarine and citrus aromas and flavors. Nice acidity, no bitterness, and no oak--aged in stainless steel. Very good QPR.

2005 Sauvignon Blanc California ($14): This barrel-aged sauvignon blanc, made from fruit from Sisquoc and Trubody, was round and rich with grapefruit and herbal aromas and flavors. In the fume style, this sauvignon blanc would be good with roasted chicken or seafood. Very good QPR.

2004 Chardonnay, Santa Barbara County ($17.50): Made from grapes from La Rinconada, Sanford and Benedict, and Bien Nacido vineyards. Aromas and flavors of tropical fruit, with a definite mineral undernote. Fermented in both stainless steel and oak barrels, it was a nicely balanced wine. Very Good QPR.

2005 Pinot Noir-Vin Gris, Santa Rita Hills ($14): Made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes from the La Rinconada vineyard, it underwent both tank and barrel fermentation. Peachy-berry in color, with aromas and flavors of strawberry. Dry, Tavel-style rose. Excellent QPR.

2005 Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills ($26): Made from grapes grown at La Rinconada and the Sanford and Benedict Vineyards, this was a bright and clear young Pinot Noir with cherry, raspberry and a lovely note of clove that is distinctive of Sanford wines that I've had. Aged in French oak (20% new) for 10 months, this wine was my favorite of the tasting. Will benefit from some cellaring, and should develop into a very interesting wine. Very good QPR.

2004 Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills ($26): What a difference a year can make! Made from all three of the Sanford vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills AVA, this wine was much more plummy than its younger sibling, but with the same clove note. More oak on the palate, perhaps because it was aged in French oak (30% new) for 14 months. Another year in the cellar should soften that oak a bit, and result in a round and rich Pinot Noir. Very good QPR.

I knew I liked Sanford wines before I went, but I left even more impressed. Winemaker Steve Fennell and his colleagues are clearly people who love wine, and love making wine that is good to drink with family and friends over a nice meal (see their website for a special food and wine section that includes recipes developed to go especially well with Sanford wines). Sanford also has a wine club with a variety of membership levels, and this is one of the few wine clubs I would consider joining apart from Navarro Vineyards' excellent pre-release tasting program (more about that later).

Andrew Murray Tasting Room, Los Olivos

After we finished over at Bridlewood, we took the short trip along Rt. 154 to the charming town of Los Olivos, where there is a string of tasting rooms extending down Grand Street. (you can click on this map to enlarge the view, and you will see all the tasting rooms listed). Boutiques, galleries, restaurants, and other shops fill the streets of this small town.

We wanted to taste some Andrew Murray wines, and since their vineyards on Zaca Station Rd. are closed to the public, our goal in Los Olivos was to stop into the tasting room pictured here. On the way we picked up sandwiches at the branch of Panino just off Grand in the heart of town.

Andrew Murray is a UC Davis graduate who has received all kinds of press for his distinctive wines. He plants only Rhone varietals in his own vineyards, though he does also serve as wine maker for his neighbors at Oak Savanna. Murray is devoted to syrah in particular, and crafts his wines with the philosophy that good wines are made in the vineyard, and the winemaker "merely takes care of them" in the cellar. This is a winemaker who specializes in small production wines, and although you can sometimes find his Tous les Jours Syrah in shops, most of these wines are sold directly through the winery or in the tasting room. The Andrew Murray wines website is full of information, so I encourage you to take a look.

In the tasting room, you received 10 pours (9 Andrew Murray wines, and 1 Oak Savanna wine) for $10, and got to keep the Andrew Murray glass. Contrary to the tasting room website, it is not a Riedel "O" series glass, but at least it doesn't have a rounded edge! The wines poured for us included:

2005 Viognier, Santa Ynez Valley ($25): Aromatic with flowers, pineapple, and citrus, which come through as you sip the wine, too. Crisp, clean-tasting, and complex. 550 cases made. Good QPR.

2004 Enchante ($22): A blend of two white Rhone varietals (Roussanne and Marsanne). Rich tasting with melon and oak aromas and flavors. More full-bodied than the Viognier, and a nice change from chardonnay for lovers of that varietal. 800 cases produced. Good QPR.

2004 Oak Savanna Vineyards Chardonnay Rancho La Zaca ($30): An exceptional chardonnay, with pronounced pear aromas and flavors with a bit of citrus and a real streak of minerals. Bright acidity is kept in check with a little bit of oak. Round, complex, delicious. 350 cases produced. Very good QPR.

2004 Esperance ($22): Murray's red blend intended to translate Chateauneuf du Pape to the soils of Santa Ynez. Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre are blended into a wine with black cherry, blueberry, cinnamon, and black pepper aromas and flavors. Delicious, and will be more delicious in a few years. 850 cases produced. Good QPR.

2004 Grenache Central Coast ($28): Murray only bottles his Grenache by itself if the vintage is of sufficient quality, and the 2004 lived up to his standards. Raspberry, cranberry, and currant aromas and flavors. Unusually soft and drinkable for a 100% grenache wine, only 300 cases were produced. Good QPR.

2004 Syrah Estate Santa Ynez Valley ($25): Made only with Syrah grown on the hillsides of the Santa Ynez appellation, this wine is full of cherry flavors and aromas with an interesting note of black tar. Oak is used, which makes it nice and smooth, but the bright acidity keeps it interesting. Perfectly drinkable now, or cellar it if you can wait. 1100 cases produced. Good QPR.

2004 Syrah Roasted Slope Vineyard ($34): This is a big, interesting wine made from Syrah and Viognier grapes that are interplanted in the same hillside vineyard (just like in the Cote Rotie in France). The grapes are picked and fermented together. Black cherry, plums, and a hint of strawberry in the aromas and the palate. Would benefit from 2-10 years in the cellar to help round out all its edges, but I have no doubt in time it will be spectacular. 800 cases produced. Good QPR.

2004 Syrah Westerly Vineyard ($36): Made from grapes from the eastern part of the Santa Ynez AVA. This produces Syrah with higher alcohol and lower acidity due to ripeness and less marine influence. This monster wine had 15.4% alc./vol. and didn't even taste alcoholic. Flavors and aromas were typical of the varietal, with blackberry and spice notes. 284 cases produced. Good QPR.

2005 Viognier Late Harvest ($20/375 ml): A yummy dessert wine, with peach jam and honeysuckle aromas and flavors. On the back end you got a bit of apricot. Not as sweet as most late harvest viogniers, it would be excellent chilled and served on its own as a dessert, or with fruit-based desserts. Very good QPR.

I was really impressed with all the wines I tasted, and for Rhone lovers Murray is a name to watch. Murray does have a wine club, and given how few cases are made of these wines it is appealing to think of receiving them on a regular, reliable basis. The prices are a bit steep for me, but I did leave with a bottle of the Chardonnay, the Esperance, and the Late Harvest Viognier because they were so darn good.

Bridlewood Winery

Bridlewood Winery was our first stop in Santa Barbara. Located in the Santa Ynez Valley AVA, Bridlewood specializes in Rhone varietals such as viognier, rousanne, marsanne, and syrah. Located on a beautiful spot, the winery used to be a horse farm, and still has horses roaming around in the back.

When we arrived we headed into the tasting room, which had lots and lots of Bridlewood gear--t-shirts, tote bags, baseball hats, it went on and on--and some snack foods in case you wanted to buy a bottle and go out to the terrace for a picnic.

We decided to go straight for the tasting, which was $7 for four pours (and the rolled-edge, Bridlewood etched glass was yours to keep). This tasting had the fewest pours, and the middle price of the three. Could it be all the merchandising that drives up the prices?? And do people really want all these glasses? I'd rather have a cheaper tasting and no glass!

We began the tasting with the 2005 Bridlewood Winery Viognier Reserve Central Coast ($24). 10,000 cases of this wine were made, and I felt it was the best wine of the tasting. I did find bottles at significantly lower prices on Wine-Tracker. This was a slightly sweet, aromatic viognier with citrus and flower aromas and a peachy palate. It would be excellent with curries and rich fish dishes. Good QPR.

The next wine poured was the 2004 Bridlewood Winery Arabesque ($24), Bridlewood's red Rhone-style blend made of Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Syrah, and Viognier. Light cherry in color, with spicy box aromas, there were cherry flavors and a bitter tobacco flavor on the palate. This wine just didn't hang together for me, and I wasn't at all sure that ageing the wine would help. Poor QPR, given the low prices of most Rhone blends from the Rhone. 970 cases produced.

Next up: the 2005 Bridlewood Winery Syrah Reserve ($22) Predominantly (93%) syrah grapes, blended with a bit of grenache, Roussanne, and Cinsault. This was a big wine, with blackberry, plum, and spicy cedar aromas. In your mouth, you got a smooth, extracted taste of blackberry jam. Unlike the Arabesque, I felt this would continue to improve during a few years of cellaring. Good QPR.

Finally, we had the 2003 Bridlewood Winery Syrah Blue Roan ($30). Faint blueberry and flowery aromas were accompanied by a definite whif of sweet, round oak. There were flavors of cassis and blueberry, with some soft tannins. Very round. Drinkable now, this wine should also improve steadily in the cellar for another 2-3 years. 554 cases produced. Good QPR.

I didn't feel any of these wines were special enough to warrant the prices, but my dad found a bargain: bottles of the 2001 Reserve Syrah for just $9. I wished they had poured some of their gewurztraminer, or one of their late harvest viogniers or syrah ports to round out the tasting a bit. Still, we were glad that we went and tasted these small-production wines that we would not in all likelihood see in the stores.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #27: 2004 Jackson-Triggs Vidal Icewine Proprietors' Reserve

Kitchen Chick set icewines as the theme for this month's wine blogging Wednesday, and it's a perfect time of year to get to know these special dessert wines. Long autumn and winter evenings are just right for sipping your way through one of these beauties.

I've only ever had one ice wine before, the Sineann Sweet Sydney Zinfandel icewine, which is not entirely characteristic of the type, most of which are made from white varietals. So Kitchen Chick's brief gave me a chance to go out and try to find a budget-friendly ice wine that is readily available. The one I settled on was the 2004 Jackson-Triggs Vidal Icewine Proprietors' Reserve ($21.99/187 ml, Beverages and More) from Ontario. Just a smidge over my usual $20 ceiling, but I am so glad I parted with that $1.99. A little internet research proves that it's widely available online, and at an even better price, so it's worth checking your local merchant.

Icewines are made under strictly controlled conditions. In Canada, where the Jackson-Triggs wine is produced, grapes must be picked by hand after temperatures reach a hard frost of at least 17 degrees F. The rock-hard grapes are crushed while still frozen, producing wines with both sweetness and a balancing acidity. Typically ice wines are made with riesling or vidal blanc grapes, although winemakers are now experimenting with cabernets and zinfandels. The lesser known vidal blanc grapes should be bracing and balanced, with citrus and floral notes. If you are interested in icewines, and are a reader of Bon Appetit, you can look forward to Natalie MacLean's article on the subject in the December 2006 issue.

I was really taken with this wine, from the moment I popped the cork until the last drops were gone. The 2004 Jackson-Triggs Vidal Proprietors' Reserve was a beautiful, deep golden color. It has a silky, syrupy texture. The aromas are a little bit of heaven: honeysuckle, peaches, nectarines, and pineapple. I detected a slightly metallic smell at first, but this quickly dissipated. This wine was just as interesting and lively on the palate as it was in its aromas, with lemon peel, apple, brown sugar, and tropical fruits. It was sweet, yet refreshing and crisp, too. I drank it on its own, and it really did qualify as a dessert in a glass--not so much a wine to have with food, perhaps, as a wine to have instead of food. I can imagine a gleaming tray of icewine being served at a festive dinner in lieu of dessert.

There is no doubt that an icewine is sweet--but a well made icewine like this one is held in balance with an equally impressive acidity. It was hard to stop after just one glass of this, whereas with most dessert wines one glass is all it takes for me. Some icewines cost more than $100 for a bottle, and at $21.99 the strong varietal characteristics of this Jackson-Triggs icewine lead me to say this is a wine with excellent QPR. Thanks to Kitchen Chick for suggesting such a great topic for WBW #27.

Weekend Wine Tasting at Mission Wines

Mission Wines is doing it right. I had a great time at their weekly Saturday tasting. For just $10 you get five generous pours of a well-selected array of wines. And if you buy wine that day, the cost goes down to $5. Talk about excellent QPR! Saturday tastings run from 1 pm to 7 pm.

When I walked in shortly after 2, it was standing room only. There are only 6 stools at the bar--this is a small shop that prizes service and selection, not a wine warehouse--but this wasn't stopping people from ordering up flights, tucking themselves around the tasting bar's corner to talk to Dave (who was manning the operation), or drifting through the stores with their glasses looking at the wine. Mission Wines has a great atmosphere during its tastings. It's a neighborhood hangout where both regulars and newcomers of all levels of expertise from novices through serious collectors come to talk and drink wine.

On offer yesterday for the tasting were four wines under $20, and one under $30. While I do enjoy wine tastings that include sips of wine that are way out of my budget as a way to increase my knowledge this was great in a different way since theoretically everything I sipped I could conceivably purchase. The selection of wines was outstanding: 2 old world wines (a grenache and a gruner veltliner) and 3 new world wines (sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, and malbec).

Here were the wines and my brief tasting notes for them:

2005 Tobiano Sauvignon Blanc ($11.99): This Chilean sauvignon blanc exhibited textbook flavors of gooseberry and granny smith apples. No oak was used, allowing the fresh fruit flavors to come through. Excellent QPR.

2005 Wienenger Gruner Veltliner "Leicht and Trocken" ($15.99): Pale, almost translucent in color with vaguely citrus aromas and a hint of both greenness and spice. On the palate, it was mostly citrusy, and I couldn't detect any of the pepper or lentil varietal characteristics for which this wine is known. A neutral wine, at the price I felt it represented good QPR.

2005 Bodegas y Vinedos del Jalon Calatayud Vina Alarba Old Vines Grenache ($8.99): An appealing, bright garnet wine with aromas of black fruit and spice. On the palate you did get a bit of the characteristic grenache dustiness and smoke, with less fruit than the aromas would suggest. A great example of an old world, old vine varietal I thought this wine had very good QPR.

2005 Sineann Pinot Noir Oregon ($29.99): I was excited to taste this wine, but found it a bit disappointing. This was a wine that smelled better than it tasted, with interesting forest and fruit aromas. Once sipped, I felt it didn't really hang together and there was an undertaste I couldn't identify. This may well be a wine that is too young to be drunk right now, but I don't have any experience with Sineann pinot noirs--if a reader does, please let us know if this is likely to settle down because the aromas were very promising. At the price, and as it is drinking now, I felt this wine represented good QPR.

2003 Alto Cedro Malbec ($16.99): A very dark, plummy wine with whiffs of peppery spice tucked into the fruit. There was an interesting dried herbal note--black tea? tobacco?--that made it an interesting wine to drink. It would be great with grilled meat. For the price, this was a very good QPR wine.

Before I left I purchased a bottle of the 2005 Tobiano Sauvignon Blanc, which I felt represented the best QPR. All wines are available through Mission Wines, and the grenache and pinot noir look like they are widely available throughout the country. I know I'll be back to sample more great wines and to enjoy the welcoming atmosphere.

Saturday Wine Shopping--On the Oregon Trail at Mission Wines

Today I had a very specific wine goal in mind: buy the 2005 Owen Roe Abbot's Table to stick in the closet next to the 2004 Owen Roe Abbot's Table before it is sold out. Mission Wines in South Pasadena has a great selection of wonderful bottlings, including a wide range of Oregon wines so I headed over to South Pas to see what I could see.

The place was hopping with standing room only at the tasting bar and three very knowledgeable and helpful clerks on the floor. I'm writing up my tasting notes in a separate post, which will be out later today or tomorrow. This is a small, neighborhood wine store with the added amenity of a tasting bar (serving both wine and Craftsman beer on draft) and it has a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Chris Meeske, the owner and manager, has been sommelier at Charlie Trotter's, Patina, and the Highland's Inn, so he knows what he is talking about as do his assistants Chris and David. But they aren't hoverers--they let you browse the aisles and are there to answer questions if need be.

On to the wines. They have a wide range of bottles in the $10-$75 range, all carefully selected. You will find Flowers pinots, Owen Roe wines, Sineann wines, Core, Kilikanoon, and other favorites like Black Chook sparkling shiraz. You will also find excellent selections from France, Italy, and Spain. They have a clearly marked section of wines under $10 that included today selections from nearly every major wine region of the globe. So there's no excuse to be drinking the same old wine for budgetary reasons any more!

As I said I was on the hunt for Oregon wines, and did indeed pick up the 2005 Owen Roe Abbot's Table ($26.99), a spectacular red blend that I like to put away for future holidays. I also got a bottle of the 2005 Sineann Gewurztraminer Resonance Vineyard ($19.99). I've had their pinot gris and really enjoyed it, so wanted to try out this white. And, inspired by Tom Wark's breathtaking photos of Bucklin Ranch, I picked up another bottle of the best gewurztraminer I've ever had, the 2004 Bucklin Gewurztraminer Compagni Portis Vineyard ($17.99). It was hard to do, but I selected just one of Tom's photos to include here, but I urge you to click on his name to check out the rest as well as his other blog posts on Fermentation. I also bought a great wine from the tasting, which I'll write about there.

Mission Wines has a small selection of wine accessories, like Riedel stemware (bought a Vinum Extreme ice wine glass for WBW #27 because I was feeling ridiculously splurgey), Screwpull openers, Vacu-Vin kits, and the all-important WineAway. They have an online ordering system at their website, as well as a newsletter that you can subscribe to. We all go to the wine super-stores sometimes, but a trip to Mission Wines reminds you of what you're missing: a first-class shopping experience, with knowledgeable staff, and a selection of wines made by people who are passionate about the grape.

2003 Ca'Viola Dolcetto d'Alba Barturot

It's Halloween and the ghosties and ghoulies will be out soon, so I came home early to make some soup to slurp between the rings at the doorbell and to bring some warmth to what it turning out to be a rather chilly and grey day. Perfect for trick-or-treaters, less so for the rest of us.

I thought the wine to go with my hearty Nigella Lawson minestrone might be this 2003 Ca'Viola Dolcetto D'Alba Barturot ($24.69, Costco). This is slightly above my normal price cut-off, but I do love dolcetto, which translates roughly from the Italian as "little sweet one." A grown-up treat then, or so I tell myself, and far better for me than diving into the bowl of candy set aside for the ghosties and ghoulies.

The Columbia Wine Guy over on Brim to the Dregs is working his way alphabetically through wine (great idea!) and he hit "D" just the other day and gave some great information on dolcetto, as well as a more budget-friendly recommendation than mine is tonight.

My minestrone recipe comes from Nigella Lawson's How to Eat (recipe not online). I should note here that this is not a tomato-based minestrone, but instead a pale, golden version with lots of vegetables and a special, not-to-be-omitted ingredient: a parmesan cheese rind. I tried to take a picture of my soup in the kettle (clearly a lot to be learned about this), to show both the color and (in the upper left) the rind bobbing around in the soup. The parmesan rind gives it a little kick of salinity, and a richness of flavor that is indefinable, but distinctive. On Ms. Lawson's advice, no parmesan rinds are thrown out in my house: they are all bagged up popped into the freezer to stick in soups, stews, and pasta sauces. (PS: You discard the rind before you serve the soup. It gets gummy. You are forewarned.)

On to the 2003 Ca'Viola Dolcetto d'Alba Barturot. Ca'Viola is in the Piedmonte region of Italy, and the oenologist, Giuseppe Caviola, has been dubbed the "King of Dolcetto" and received the 2002 Gambero Rosso Winemaker of the Year. This wine was made of 100% dolcetto d'alba grapes aged in stainless steel for 10-12 months. For those who have not tasted a red wine that has not had any oak aging, this is your chance.

The first impression you get of this wine is purple--the color of dark aubergines. Once you pick it up and take a good look at it you see it is really a true ruby red with lovely bluish tones to it. I found this wine needed a fair bit of time to settle down and open up. When it was first opened and poured it smelled very alcoholic (14.5% alch./vol.). Even after it's been in the glass a while the aromas are spicy rather than fruity. This is confirmed on the palate, which is predominantly spicy with an undertone of red fruit. Lots of acidity and a tinge of minerality at the end of each sip. It was much better with the food than as a stand alone wine.

I felt this wine needed a bit more fruit to balance out all those intriguing spice and mineral flavors, and that for the price this represented good QPR. If you are looking for a low-tannin, high-acid red with little oak influence that would go well with pasta with red sauces, it is for sale at many merchants throughout the US, and typically retails for under $30.

2003 Hamel Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast, from the Campbell Ranch in Annapolis

It's Indian Summer in southern California, with highs in the high 80s and cool, cool nights. Perfect for pinot! And to celebrate fall, we popped open a bottle of the best domestic pinot I've had in a very long time, the 2003 Hamel Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast. Technically, this wine comes from Campbell Ranch in Annapolis, CA, but if you are looking for it on Wine-Searcher (see sidebar) you will find it easily if you just leave it as "2003 Hamel Pinot Noir." I found it as several online retailers for under $30 (remember, I said mostly under $20) and at my beloved Chronicle Wine Cellar for $21.95.

Hamel Winery is in Healdsburg, one of those small, independent wineries that doesn't even have a website, never mind a fancy tasting room with monogrammed glasses and cheese knives for sale adorned with clusters of grapes. They sourced the grapes for this pinot noir from the Campbell Ranch just north of Annapolis, CA on a long, winding road that passes from Highway 1 on the coast, through part of our beloved Sea Ranch, and up into the warm Sonoma County hills. Over on calwine.com they gave this information about the ranch, to accompany their sale of the 2004 vintage of this wine:

Steve Campbell’s family has lived on this property since 1938. Over the past few years, the Campbells watched as several growers planted Pinot Noir in the neighborhood. It had become evident to them and many others that this northwest corner of the Sonoma Coast shows great potential for producing exceptional Pinot Noir. In 2000, Steve, his wife Lisa and his father Phil followed suit. They identified a few choice acres of Goldridge soil on their large ranch and planted a nicely exposed ridge top that slopes gently to the north west. The site is about four miles from the Pacific Ocean and about 700 feet up above the fog line.Kevin’s grapes came from a swath through the center of the vineyard where the flavors showed the most promise. The clone is Dijon 777.

This is a serious, and seriously good, Sonoma County pinot noir. The 2003 Hamel is dusky plum in the glass, and it has a delicious, silky texture as it rolls around in your mouth. There is a lot of spice and warm berries (raspberry, with strawberry and cherry) in the aromas and on the palate. The flavors just open up, one after the other, and there are hints of dark chocolate, vanilla, and tea as they do. At the end, there are still some strong tannins, which indicates to me that this wine may continue to improve in the bottle. Though this wine is still available, it is now 2 years since it's release in October 2004, and I think could still be interesting in 2 more years. I'm going to buy a half case and try out this theory!

This has just excellent QPR--a wine that is worth every penny, even if you are spending more pennies than you are used to in the wine store. I like this just as much (maybe more?) than the Flowers pinot noirs, that are 2x the price when you can get your hands on them. It has great complexity, along with all the subtle pinot noir varietal characteristics. I'm not the only blogger to give Hamel high marks. See how Alder over at Vinography compared this wine to the field of California pinots at the June 2006 pinot tasting.