Winery_Times

Ruth Straessler a Local Historian

I do wine tours with people from all over the country and usually they are from somewhere else.
This last week I was visiting our local hotels and the folks we usually get our referrals from, letting them know about the launch of my  new interactive wine list.  One of the places I visited was the California Welcome Center in downtown Santa Rosa.  This is our state's official  visitors center and offers visitors a personal concierge for their visit to our area!  The center is manned by not just any person, but by people that have extensive knowledge of the area and can give you information based on a lifetime of experience.

This week I had the opportunity to be chosen to meet with one such person and be her driver for a wine tour of the Sonoma Valley, Ruth Straessler!
As most of you know I consider myself quite knowledgeable about the area and the wineries so it is no small thing when I say Ruth really knows her stuff! She is a fountain of information about the area  and a real asset to her California Welcome Center!
The occasion was her son Scott's birthday and his recent engagement to his soon to be bride Jamie!  We went to Matanzas Creek, Benzinger, Imagery, Chateau St. Jean and last, Ledson.  This was one of the few tours I can remember that I actually learned a few things as well as shared my experience.  Ruth was born in Santa Rosa and thus has a lifetime of experience to share in information and local history!
If any of you are coming here for a wine country tour I highly recommend you stop by the California Welcome Center in Old Railroad Square  in Santa Rosa!

Be sure and ask for Ruth!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It is Christmas day and I am off to my Mom's and Sister's!  I did a wine tour on Sunday for some folks out of San Diego and will do another tomorrow but today it is Christmas!

Did you all check out the ultimate wine list?  I am adding Appellations and tasting room fees at the suggestion of others and to make it more complete.  That should be in place in the next couple of weeks.  The fees are the hard part as I have so many small wineries on the list and many will just have to be called or emailed to get the information!

I just want to say thanks to all for reading me and this has amazed me how quickly my readers have increased, I am just doing this six months and already had 3000 page views which is even more amazing when you consider I had 200 the first 3 1/2 months!

Stay tuned for more wine country adventures from the Russian River Valley to the top of Chiles Valley. I am in search of the best of the best and with now almost 1000 wineries in a 50 mile radius it is a job to find out who is doing the Best!

Waiting for Ghost Block?

The masters of Cabernet over at Cult Wine Central just released 285 cases of Rock Cairn Vineyard.
Wine  Maker  Rob Lawson does it again with fantastic fruit from the vineyard just north of Yountville right at the time the winery has depleted its '04 supply of Ghost Block.   This vineyard is very near the
Ghost Block and should be very similar  it is priced 10 dollars cheaper at  $45 a bottle!

So while you are waiting for the next update on the Ghost Block why not pick up a few bottles of the Rock Cairn to tide you over!   Cult Wine Central

Holloway Cellars Vertical Tasting

The Holloways had a Christmas party this last Saturday night which I was lucky enough to attend.  Their daughter, Claire, who works for Copia in Napa happened to bring a new Ackerman Cabernet from the Napa Valley.  Add one more to my wine list!  This wine was made very much in the French style and reminded me of a Clos Du Val.  It should age well but seemd to have a little  too much tannin to fruit in its balance. 
The highlight of the evening, in which there was just one long parade of food, was the vertical provided by Mitch Holloway of his '02 ,'03  and '04 Cabernet. 

I wrote an article on this wine back a couple of months.  As you know I have long been a big supporter  of hillside fruit.  This fruit  is grown at  a Beckstoffer  Vineyard in the  Red Hills  District  of Lake  County!  The elevation is 2200' and it is all clone 337, one of my favorites!

The wine is harvested in the cool of the night, picked at 25.5 Brix, placed in open top fermentation for about three weeks, then blended with a 2% combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petite Vedot.
The wine was aged 18 to 22 months in both French and American oak barrels and was not filtered or fined prior to bottling! 

Tasting the wine  is a real pleasure. It is very much like some other hillside Cabernet that go for much more money.  It has a lot of complex fruit up front and the oak is in balance which to me indicates it will age well.  The event of the evening was to illustrate that fact.  We tasted the '02, '03 and '04. The '02 is holding well, balanced with no indication of age. It's fruit is a little more subdued compared to the '03 which seems to just be a bigger vintage.  The '04 has even more fruit than the '03 but has not opened up completely. It may end up being the best of the three vintages but it seems to still need a little more bottle age to completely open.  The consistency of these three vintages and similarity in fruit and balance is a tribute to the wine maker and his ability to produce the wine year after year.

This wine is really comparable to wines that are 150% to double the price.  Holloway Cellars is marketing this wine of  which there was only 148 cases in '04 at $540 a case.  There are (were) about half that number left and the party the other night probably depleted that number some.

They are just completing their web site but in the interim you can contact me if you would like to try some of this wine. 

MENU For HOPE

Hey everybody, this is half way over and I would like to see this be as big a success as planned.  It is a $10 raffle ticket and you pick the prize.  Some of these prizes are really great too.

See my original post for all the details one link is food blogs and the other wine.  Please, be a sport and support the needs of those less fortunate.  At the same time you could win one of these great prizes and you can choose which one you would like to try to win! Menu For Hope 

Thanks for Old Vine Zinfandel!

I just was answering a question on Wannabe Wino, Sonadora's site and it made me think of a story I often tell my clients.  Back in the 1980's there was a big new trend that was the beginning of many people's wine drinking experience. It was when the wine maker at Sutter Homes made the first Zinfandel sans skins, White Zin was born!  Many consider this a bad period in wine making, the "kool-aid with a kick" period.
Yes, this was some very weak wine in terms of what is possible for Zinfandel,  but one must be old enough to remember what was happening at the time.  There were a lot of old Zinfandel vineyards that were near to being pulled out.  When White Zin hit it was a reprieve for those vineyards!   The owners were so happy because they could now hang twice as much fruit, as White Zin required less sugar in the grapes to harvest! 

As a result these vineyards were left planted and not ripped out.  As the years passed the White Zin fad faded and was replaced with the current Old Vine phase!

Today we must be thankful for the silly and introductory Phase of Zinfandel, White Zin, as it is very responsible for this current Phase, Old Vine Zinfandel.   Why? Because if it was not for those White Zin days many Old Zinfandel Vines would have been pulled 25 years ago!

Ridge Won the 2006 Reenactment not the 1976 Tasting!

Well I have to say I thought I had this right but evidently I was incorrect in saying that Ridge Monte Bello won the 1976, now famous blind tasting in Paris.  In was in fact Stag's Leap Wine Cellars that won for their fabulous Cask 23  Vintage 1973!

I have been corrected by Sue Furdek, Director of Communications  and Marketing for Stag's Leap Wine Cellars.  I actually went to the Internet, reread the documents and realized I had misread the information!   I was shocked to say the least because I was certain I had read this more than one place but, I stand corrected, to my great embarrassment.

I must say that I am pleased that Sue is reading my Blog, but hey, I do have the best clients on earth. (Warren Buffets pilot this weekend.)  I have even had the fellow that did the blind tasting,  Steve Spurrier's assistant, Elizabeth Cutberth, this summer.  It was so nice Christie's of London  thought to use me!

OK, enough patting my self on the back I am such a ham! 

Sue, I stand corrected and I will tell clients and readers that Stag's Leap Wine Cellars won the 1976 Blind tasting in Paris for their 1973 Cask 23!  Ridge Monte Bello 1971 took fifth place.   It was at the 2006 reenactment  30 years later that the 1971  Ridge Monte Bello took first place and the Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cask 23 took second! 

Well, it is important to get these great dates correct and I guarantee I will not make that mistake again.  Thanks Sue, for correcting me, now do I get a bottle on the 1973 Cask 23 to taste once more to confirm this?....I am sure Paul would be willing to give  a bottle of the 1971 Monte Bello!  I could do a 2007 reenactment!  Who knows I might prefer the cask 23 and SLWC could reclaim #1!

The Ultimate Wine Country List!

As promised it is up 930 wineries in Napa and Sonoma Counties.   I will continue to work on it if you see any thing that is incorrect please advise me.
Please search the various possibilities and let me know any way it could be improved!
http://www.limosamerica.com/wine_tasting_search.asp
Enjoy!

Ridge ATP Club

Many do not know it was not the Stag's Leap Cellars who won the blind tasting in Paris back in 1976.  It was a little known winery at that time down in Santa Cruz.  Ridge Monte Bello won the tasting back then and again in '06 at a reenactment  of that original  tasting!

Ridge makes some of the best Cabernet on the planet .  They also make some dynamite Zinfandels and if you are lucky enough to have joined their  ATP  club you get 2 bottles a month of wine tha is not offered on the market as the bottlings are so small.   Well, this month they sent out some '05 Carmichael Ranch Zinfandel.  Only 48 barrels produced, fermented in open top tanks in their own yeast, then drained and pressed after 6 days.  After pressed wine and free run were combined and natural malotaltic on the lees took place in the barrel, the wine was racked to new, one year, and three year American oak barrels.  Five months prior to bottling , they added 3% Petite Sirah from the neighboring vineyard.

The result is a fruity nose, followed by a full mouth of cherries, slowly fading finish which keeps you smacking your mouth to extract more favor.  This is good stuff and for me, I will try to get more before it is gone! $28 a bottle.

Ghost Block Update!

The news at Cult Wine Central is the Ghost Block '05 is to be released on April 15 '08!
This wine has been rated 92 from all the majors and has the internet in an uproar.  Never fear I am on the heartbeat!   I was there today and have good information that in the next couple of weeks futures may be offered, at this point it is in the works!   Stay tuned and keep checking in for the information as it is released!

Menu For Hope! It is the Season for Giving!

Christmas is the time for giving and this year I have decided to Join Menu for Hope!  My mentor in Blogging, the most recognized wine blogger, Yarrow of Vinography, has asked many, me being just one, to help the great food blogger  Pim , of Chez Pim who is the founder and moving force behind Menu For Hope!

What is it? Well, we will raise money for UNF, UN food bank, specifically for school children in Lesotho, Africa!  We feed them and at the same time keep them in school so the can learn to feed themselves. What could be better!  The money goes .85 on the dollar to these children 7.5 % to the UN and 7.5 % to the First Giving people who collect and administer the credit card receipts and finally transfer the funds to the UNF.
So, how it works is we are putting up many different items up for bid, in $10 increments, one ticket, a raffle!  The prizes are listed for the wine bloggers at the vinograpy site  Alder's Vinography

My prize will be an eight hour wine tour which can start anywhere between Healdsburg and San Francisco ,as far west as Guerneville and as far east as Napa. It can end anywhere in the outlined area.
I will take up to three people  in a Lincoln town car  any day between Monday through Friday  until the beginning of April.  This does not include tasting fees or lunch but if this is a concern I will work with the winners to go to places that do not charge.  I have done hundreds of wine tours and know many wine makers and winery owners.  Check out my list at www.limosamerica.com under winery listings.  Hey, you know, you are reading my blog, so you know me!  Well, I love doing wine tours and I love giving and if you win this tour I will do my best for you to have a great day!  My prize code is WB13

Here are the donation instructions

1. Choose a prize or prizes of your choice from our Menu for Hope at Chez Pim

2. Go to the donation site at First Giving and make a donation.

3. Please specify which prize you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code.
Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02. Please write 2xEU01, 3xEU02

4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.

5. Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

Check back on Chez Pim (http://www.chezpim.com) on Wednesday January 9 for the results of the raffle.

 

 

Another Great Tour of Sonoma

Today I took a man and his wife on a tour who said they did not know wine.   They said they liked Zinfandel.  Our first stop was Seghesio, one  of the four oldest active wineries in the  Healdsburg area.

They have a beautiful tasting room on Grove Street, heading out of Healdsburg.  Their focus is Zinfandel.  They have an old vine at $20,  a Home ranch at $36, Cortina at $36, Lumetta at $36, San Lorenzo at $36.  They also make in lesser quanities Petite Sirah and a blend they call Ommagio.
Great wine in the Italian tradition!
Next we stopped at Robert Young, known for their clone 17 Chardonnay $37 , some of the best this side of France.  They make "Red Winery Rd", a soft approachable wine ready to drink now $50, and a "Pro Red Blend Scion" which is just the opposite and wants to lay down and age for several years to drink at its peak $54 .  With over 500 acres to choose from Robert can well afford to produce the best from his estate with that much fruit.  Next we went to my favorite and winner of the blind tasting of Paris in 1976,  Ridge Vineyards.  These guys are always a spot for the good Zinfandels but few realize they won the tasting in Paris over Stag's Leap Cellars. No one acknowledged them as they were from Santa Cruz, nevertheless they were the winner for their 1971 Ridge Montibello Cabernet.

We grabbed some lunch and stopped one more place, Lambert Bridge.  Here they have four wine makers and a dedication to excellence the goes as far, such  as picking individual grapes to go into their wines. I have never taken anyone there that has not raved about their wine!

Well the end of the day came and the customer, my client, shared with me that he was in fact the pilot for Warren Buffet the #2 richest man on this earth!

Another Classic Wine Tour in Search of Cabernet!

Well as you know I do many wine tours and usually I do not know the folks I am driving as they do not tell me about themselves, only what they want to do.  Well this day my clients wanted to go to Von Strasser which is a wonderful Cabernet house on the base of Diamond Mountain.   Then Schramsberg the Champagne house of the Napa Valley, then Twomey, the sister to Silver Oak, then Chateau Montelena and lastly Castello de Amorsia.   Well this had me worried because the first 2 could take up the better part of 3 hours and Twomey closes at 4 .  We were starting from Napa so that meant leaving at 12:30 we would not be there till 1 plus 3 equals 4!  The first thing the clients said was "Scratch Schramsberg, we did not get an appointment".   This is not a surprise as Schramsberg is typically booking several weeks in advance. This is because everyone loves their tour which includes the hand dug caves dating back to the middle 19th century!

Now I am relieved as the timing of doing that tour would have prevented us from getting to the other places they wanted to go!  Off we went. First stop Von Strasser owned by Rudi Von Strasser who was the first American to serve as a intern in the cellar at Chateau Lafite .   An learning experience he can now transfer to his wines!  They are pouring their '05 vintage now. They are a very small production winery with their biggest production being of their Diamond Mountain District Cabernet of which they make 2400 cases and sell at $50.  The next biggest production drops down to 750 cases. This is their Estate Cabernet ay $70  Then they produce 700 cases of Sori Bricco Cabernet  at $70.   The production drops down to only 240 cases  for their Post Cabernet at $75, next they produce 240 cases of the Ranin Cabernet also at $75  They also produce 240 cases of their Reserve which is a Bordeaux blend  40% Petite Vedot, 40% Cabernet, 10% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc at $100.  They do a Monhoff Vineyard Zinfandel at $45.  This year only 207 cases were produced.  They made a rose (120 cases) a Chardonnay (130 cases )and a Petite Vedot Port (75 cases )which have all sold out already.

Next the clients wanted to go to Chateau Montelena, owned by the Barrett's Heidi and Bo  long famous for their Cabernet '04 at $105.  They also have a long list of Library Cabernet which could blow your socks off!
Then we when to Elders Estate which has been in the same spot for over 100 years. The building has their name on it with a date of 1886.  Their wine is quite good and reasonably priced '05 NV Merlot $45, Cabernet NV $45 and their flagship, commemorating the building, 1886 Cabernet '04 NV $75.

Last but not least the Larkmead Winery in the heart of the Larkmead district there on Larkmead Lane.  These guys are a product of Cult Wine Central where so many greats have started. They were there for 16 years before graduating to their own tasting room and production facility.  Wow, they have a fantastic line up and the prices are very reasonable.  Their Merlot, called Firebelle  after Miss Coit  who was an early owner of the property  and big supporter of the SF fire department. She is the woman SF landmark Coit tower was named after. Her namesake is a great Merlot  '04, priced at $45.  Their '05 Cabernet is just released and full of fruit with a tremendous nose $55.  LMV Pro Red Blend is another great wine ,'04 $60.  They have more wines but only available to the client that joins their Firebelle Club.  This is a place I can highly recommend and I say just do it!

It turned out my clients were principal stock holders in the Smith Wollensky restaurant chain of famous Steakhouses!

Local Wine Events Dot Com

I just joined a site called Local Wine Events. It is a major site that follows wine events around the world and also keeps track of the wine blogs out there.

I have registered my site and would appreciate it if any who care to would go there and vote for my site as a site you read. http://www.localwineevents.com/blogs/blog_list.php

I am at the end of the list as I have not gotten any votes yet .   Just locate the Winery_Times site and click it.  A vote tab will come up click it again.  That's it!

Thanks to all the great bloggers out there! You guys are a force and I read more of you each day as there are so many good articles!  Today I will go over this list and see who I have not already read and add those blogs!  Keep on writing!

Interstate Shipping of Wine!

Tonight I read an article by Thomas Pellechia of VinoFictions about the differences of regulation between the states of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.  Two Kinds of a Chain describes the inequity and down right injustice of the interstate wine regulations. It is a worth while read.

Here on the other side of the country, I am confronted with the same such ridiculous regulations! On a daily basis I deal with customers from every state coming to the wine country to explore the wonderful wines here.  There is an endless parade of stupid laws that obstruct these people, in the name of revenue for the various states, from shipping their wine home!

For instance, this week I toured for three days with a couple from Atlanta Georgia.  Georgia law says that if a state resident is here they may purchase and ship any wine they want home. If they are not here then they cannot have wine shipped!  This means they cannot order from web sites, by phone, nor can they join any clubs.  There are rules such as the following: You can only buy two cases a month from any one winery(Colorado). You must obtain a license before coming and then you can ship but only if you are here (Montana).  You cannot ship at all (Pennsylvania & Utah).  The list goes on and all in the name of revenue for the states or more profit for the big distributors who love these laws.

I say this is not American, most of these laws were passed at the end of prohibition and have remained or gotten worse since.  The time has come for a grassroots revolt and a move toward standardization of wine shipping laws.

Anyone in America should be able to buy wine anywhere in America and ship it to their home, this is basic individual rights and no one should deny a man his glass of wine by the fire in the comfort of his own home!

Come on America this is the time to write your representative and tell them you want these laws to change NOW!

Shore to Shore our Wine Shipping Laws Need to be Revamped!

I would like to direct you guys to an article on the blog VinoFictions.  Thomas Pellechia is the Blogger there.  He has a great article on shipping in NJ, NY and PA.  We need to stop interstate wine shipping regulation and make this a level playing field!  We need one national set of rules!

Check him out Vino Fictions 

Biale 2007 Holiday Offerings!

Biale at 4038 Big Ranch Rd in Napa, one established Zinfandel destination in the Napa Valley, is offering some interesting Library selections for the holidays.

'06 Napa Ranches Zinfandel made for their A-list restaurant clients at $432 a case.

'07 Pollo Bianco Sav Blanc Giovanni Vineyard at $288 a case.

Black and White Chicken '05 Black and '06 Pollo Bianco (24 sets) $95

Gaudi Carlo Barbera, Monte Rosso Zinfandel and Nonna's Vineyard Sangiovese 1 bottle each sets of 3 bottles (only 6 sets) $365 all vintage 2000

Old Crane Ranch, Black Chicken and Speaker Vineyard Zinfandel (6sets) $325 vintage 2001

Grande Vineyard, Old Crane Ranch, and Speaker Vineyard Zinfandel (6 sets) $275 vintage 2002

2000, 2001, 2002 Old Crane Ranch Petite Sirah  (6 sets) $425

2003, 2004, 2005 Black Chicken (6 sets) $295

Current Releases: Zappa Pro Red '05, Royal Punisher's Petite Sirah '05, Black Chicken '05 (12 sets) $165

These are all three bottle sets!

2001, 2002 Hill Climber NV Syrah $225 2 bottles

Hill Climber '04 Petite Sirah NV Thompson Station, '04 Royal Punisher's Petite Sirah $195 2 bottle set

These are expensive Zinfandels but like so many in the Napa Valley, they are rated as the best of the best and they get these prices!  They will be available on a first come first served basis!   Merry Christmas!

Hoopes Vintage Offerings

Hoopes Vineyard in Yountville is releasing their limited '04 Cabernet.  They are growing a Heritage Bordeaux Clone, very rare in the Napa Valley! They are very caring for the vines and since they have a small vineyard they can carefully groom their vines and fruit to get the best of the best for their Cabernet.  The vineyard is at the southern end of the Oakville Appellation, just North of Yountville. The Taste of Oakville event rated the '03 at 90.  They have bottles of the '04 at $60 and Magnums at $140 in s wooden box. 3 bottles in a wooden box at $180, 6 in a wooden box $360.