Napa Valley Register 10 Questions with Chef Eric C. Maczko - August 11, 2010

Did you miss my interview in the Napa Valley Register?

Read it here:

http://napavalleyregister.com/business/10-questions/article_f3fdfee0-a4fd-11df-920b-001cc4c03286.html

Wines Tasted, August 1, 2010

Cameron - Clos Electrique - Red Wine - Willamette Valley - Oregon - 2007 - $40 - (Classic, Ager, Food Wine, Old World) - All sources tell me its 100% Pinot Noir, though the vineyard grows Nebbiolo and Chard as well in its small 4 acres. So I got a couple of these as I've been very interested in tasting it for years.  Earthy funky aromas of: leather, cola, skunky, wet clay, (red berry, cran, rasp-all clumped together like Dig-Dug Characters hidden under all that Earth).  Maybe its that profound, maybe.  Structure-wise, it's med+ acid, alcohol, & m+ complexity, med in tannin, body, balanced and med+ in finish.

To read a recent interview I did on Wine & BBQ Pairing Concepts lick this link:
http://www.winecountryminute.com/taste/wines-for-grilled-food.html#eric

Just played prisoner to the 4000 acres of Kenzo Estate on Mt. George in Eastern North Napa. With David Abreau, Heidi Barret, TKRG(Thomas Keller Rest. Grp.) and $100000000.00. It's proof that all of Napa's Grands Crus have yet to be concieved...

Wines Tasted - June 25, 2010

Pinot Days - Fort Mason - San Francisco - 2010 -

The following wines were the standouts of my visit to Pinot Days:

Clouds Rest - Sonoma Coast - Pinot Noir - 2005 - $100 - (Showpiece, Modern-Ager) - These wines are excellent and I'll tell you why.  They are very well balanced yet intense and earthy with deep rooted potential for development.  I started with these wines because I wanted to have a fresh palate to see if they were worth the price and the hype.  I believe they are, especially their second wine at $50.

Clouds Rest - Sonoma Coast - Pinot Noir - 2004 - $100 - (Showpiece, Modern-Ager) - Similar to the 2005 but more weighty and concentrated.  Excellent.

Clouds Rest - "Femme Fatale" - Sonoma Coast - Pinot Noir - 2008 - $50 - (Modern, Balanced) - The Winery's second wine is equally enjoyable, though in a more fruit forward (perhaps due to its youth) style, but a great entry into this small estate's wealth.

A Cote & La Fenetre Wines - 
  I loved the line up here starting with the, A Cote thru the 3 La Fenetre single vineyards.  All very balanced, earthy, clear cut fruit, and medium in structure but with excellent acidity. 
A Cote - Pinot Noir - 2008 - $25 - (Classic, Old World, Food Wines) - A touch of pleasant brett in this wines nose gave me an Old World flashback.  I had to double check the label to be sure it said Central Coast.  It did.  And so i fell in love with this light to medium- bodied pinot of moderate extraction.  Nice ripe red cherry, pomegranate and dried red florals.  Medium+ acid, medium alcohol, medium- tannin & body.  An elegant quaffer with a vast array of foods.  Drink now.
La Fenetre - Los Alamos Vineyard - Pinot Noir - 2008 - $36 - (Classic, Old World, Food Wines) - A few shades more concentrated in ruby than the A Cote, as well as being cut from a similar cloth(sources).  This wine had less to none of the, "brett", I liked in the A Cote, but I liked it even more because of its clean lines.  Darker berry fruit, but still very much in the red fruit camp.  Another medium bodied effort which was my favorite of the line.
La Fenetre - Sierra Madre Vineyard - Pinot Noir - 2008 - $50 - (Classic, Old World, Food Wines) - Again getting darker in color as well as showing a touch more spice, toast and tannin than the, A Cote and Los Alamos wines.  Wild berry and Earth notes were common and the weight increased.  Still medium bodied, medium+ in alcohol, medium in tannin & medium+ in acidity.
La Fenetre - Au Bon Climat - Pinot Noir - 2008 - $50 - (Classic, Old World, Food Wines) - Proprietor & Founder Joshua Klapper worked a number of harvests at Au Bon Climat Winery to hone his skill, so a single vineyard offering of about 2 tons from his former employer's vineyard seems a typical Central Coast vignerons nod to having come-of-age as a winemaker.  This is by far the most concentrated wine of the lot.  The wine's medium ruby color hints at purple but never goes there.  The viscosity is higher that the previous bottlings and the wines fruit structure veers to the same camp.  Blackberry, black raspberry and red cherry notes mingle with forest floor and mossy notes as well as sage and turned dark Earth.
 

Clos Pepe Estate - Sta. Rita Hills - Monterrey - Pinot Noir - 2006 - $56 - (Classic, Food Wines, Agers) - I got to taste 3 vintages of Clos Pepe Estate Pinots with Vineyard Manager & Winemaker, Wes Hagen, and they had such a similar vein, I thought I'd write one review and just talk about the differences.  I like the most mature(2006) wine the most, and i think that sums up the style a little.  These wines are beautiful in that Geverey Chambertin way: a little funky and Earthy, red and dark berry fruited but not exuberantly, and full of mineral/rock/anise/floral notes.  Not very different through the vertical, just more "bratty" and infantile as we got into the 2007 & 2008s.  These wines don't demand cellar time, rather they ask nicely for it in a passive aggressive way.  I highly recommend this Grower/Producer if you are a fan of Classically styled New World Pinot.  

Clos Pepe Estate - Sta. Rita Hills - Monterrey - Pinot Noir - 2007 - $54 - (Classic, Food Wines, Agers) - Buy it, hold it & drink it in 2013.  Stellar.

Clos Pepe Estate - Sta. Rita Hills - Monterrey - Pinot Noir - 2008 - $49 - (Classic, Food Wines, Agers) - Buy it, hold it & drink it in 2014.  Waiting for it to be Stellar.

Cargasacchi - Pinot Noir - Cargasacchi Vineyard - Sta. Rita Hills - Monterrey - Pinot Noir - 2007 - $40 - (Classic, Agers) - I found the bright ruby colored Pinot from Cargasacchi to be of more full tannin structure than some of the others I enjoyed at Pinot Days.  These were brooding examples of moderate+ concentration and extraction.  They were Earthy and dark fruited with moderate purple florals and touches of spice and mocha.
Cargasacchi - Pinot Noir - Cargasacchi-JalamaVineyard - Santa Barbara County - Monterrey - Pinot Noir - 2007 - $40 - (Classic, Agers) - A touch darker, more savory and spicy than the Sta. Rita Hills wine.  A bit more tannic & funky as well.  Give this one 10 more months then revisit.  Both wines were a pleasure to drink.

Point Concepcion - Celestina - Pinot Grigio - Vin Gris - Santa Barbara County - 2008 - $18 - (Modern, Classic, Food Wine) - I usually need to justify a "Modern-Classic" but if you have even heard of the wines of Movia in Slovenia just NE of Italy, or of any of Alto-Adige's emulators of long macerations on classic "white" wine grapes.  Or of those who use no sulfur, no yeast additions and oxygen-rich maturations to raise their wines, then you must stop in with Peter Cargasacchi to try this stunner.  More than a Rose', less than a German Spatburgunder, but somewhere in the tweens.  Of deep pink-red color which is almost hazy.  This wine leads off with loads of ripe red fruits starting with strawberry and maraschino-cherry then gains stone fruit and citric notes.  Nearly no tannin, thus still seemingly Rose' in nature but a long way from Provence!  Great with Antipasti.

Shandels' Oppenlander Vineyard - Mendocino County - Pinot Noir - 2007 - $45 - (Classic, Food Wine, Ager?) - Oppenlander Vineyard is located in Comptche in Mendocino County. It is owned and farmed by fifth generation owners Bill and Norm Shandel.  The Vineyard is just outside the Northern Sector of Anderson Valley AVA.  Mainly Dijon Clones 114 & 115 as well as Pommard.  This is the "Estate" wine from the grower/owners and a trend from Pinot Days for me.  The 2007 was a more generous wine in the mouth than the palate, but time should change that.  Dark cherry, Earth, spice and some savory notes fill the senses of this medium+ bodied Pinot.  Good Medium+ acidity with medium alcohol & tannin.  Much more complete than the 2006, which showed the turned compost and skunk notes I associate with good but not great Pinot.  

This Vineyard supplies a number of other great wines like: Phillips-Hill & Adrian Fog.

Suacci Carciere - Suacci Vineyard - Russian River - Pinot Noir - 2006, 2007 & 2008 - $48 - (Modern, Showpiece) - I'd never heard of the producer, but the label was beautiful, so what the 'heck, right?  Great stuff.    I had the chance to taste 3 consecutive vintages and highly recommend them all.

These wines showed plenty of color extraction without going overboard, elegant noses of red and black cherries, plump round textures and rather low acidities and levels of tannin.  That was consistent across the 3 vintages tasted and a pleasant excursion from the Central Coast & Mendocino County wines.  All plush, ripe and soft in an elegant, drink me now style.  If you like Rochioli Estate Pinots, try these, they show similar terroir and structures.  (Yes, Suacci, that is a BIG compliment indeed;-)

Hanzell Vineyards - Sonoma County - Pinot Noir - 2000 - 1.5L - $300 - (Classic, Ager, Showpiece) - A magnum of Hanzell?  Who can say no?  Not me...Also tasted the 2006 in 750ml which is the current release.

The 2000 was showing mild color degradation but was still clear garnet/black at the core and faded to a garnet rim with a hint of brick.  The nose was so savory with pine needles, Christmas cake spice and dried currant, cherry, plum fruit.  The wine had nearly full bodied structure with medium+ tannins and acidity as well as alcohol.  A ripe wine in which the non-fruit notes rung highest.  A great glimpse of an Ultra-Classic Sonoma producer using Old World discipline and restraint while still allowing the Vineyard to pluck the strings of its melody.  This wine could continue to develop in bottle for 10 to 15 more years.

Check out what Doug Levey of SFGate.com says about Pine Ridge: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inmarin/detail?&entry_id=66485

Wines Tasted - June 20, 2010

La Togata - Brunello di Montalcino - Tuscany - Italy - 2004 - $55 - (Modern, Showpiece) - Now when I call this Classically produced masterpiece a Modern-Showpiece, it's only because it is atypically ready to drink, with soft tannins and well developed fruit.  So, it starts off as a clear ruby wine with slight development at the rim and medium viscosity.  The nose just blows me away with ripe red & black cherry, and fresh plums mixed with tobacco box spice, leather and forest floor notes.  Very dimensional and complex.  Oak notes are subtle(boti, I suspect).  The wine was very dry, showed less fresh and more dried fruit impressions on the palate than the nose would lead you to believe, and had lower than expected acidity.  This is why I call it Modern, not because it was black and oaked to hell!  The body was medium+ all the way, it was perfectly balanced and had great length to the finish.  This was enjoyed with some toasted baguette and a bit of mature Hudson Vally Camembert with sliced Pears, and yes it went well...not perfectly, but without the Pears it would've gone awry;-) 
Get this at:
http://www.jjbuckley.com/2004-La-Togata-Brunello-di-Montalcino-Sangiovese-Grosso/p~2004~11094~750~f~ws before it's too too late!