?Which are the best Napa Valley Wineries to Visit?

We frequently get emails from visitors to our Website, WineCountryGetaways, asking for advice. The most common email goes something like this: ?We will be in San Francisco in September and want to spend two days in the Napa Valley. Can you please tell us which are the best wineries to visit?? Continue reading

Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/%e2%80%9cwhich-are-the-best-napa-valley-wineries-to-visit%e2%80%9d/

about wine what is wine wines about wines

Tasting Report: 2008 Denner The Dirt Worshipper

Buy 6 or more bottles of small batch bourbon and get 50% off shipping with code "drink13"


The most notable "buy" indicators coming out of Wine Spectator the past six months have been for big Rhône-styled reds from Paso Robles, California.

The 2007 Saxum James Berry Vineyard Paso Robles was named the Wine Spectator Wine of the Year for 2010. With a $67 release point and a 98 point rating it would seem to be one to seek out. But it was sold almost entirely via mailing list and combined with a 100 point score from Robert Parker (calling it "utter perfection") it was never really in play unless you were on the mailing list. It sells north of $300 at auction these days.

But just behind this wine were a fleet of 95+ pointers from other winemakers in Paso Robles. Some of the names were vaguely familiar - Booker, Jaffurs, Justin. Others I'd never heard of like Herman Story, Epoch, and Torrin. I always enjoy Spectator's pieces featuring up and coming producers. Like this article by MaryAnn Worobiec highlighting seven up and coming Paso Robles producers (subscription required).

Articles like this have provided me with a way of becoming familiar with winemakers when they're small enough to handle customer interactions themselves, their mailing lists are open, and best of all their prices are relatively low. None of these high scoring wines carry a release price more than $100 and many sell for $50 or less. Compare this with Napa and Paso Robles is a value play.

Back in 2007 a similar article about 12 Hot New California Pinot Noir Producers turned me on to Clary Ranch, Zepaltas, and Black Kite. As I look back at that list now - guess which name is there? Rhys! It was right there in front of me for 4 years and I didn't make the connection until just now.  Amazing.

When the 2008 vintage of Paso Robles wines came to market two caught my eye for their quality to price ratio: The 2008 Herman Story Nuts & Bolts (95WS/$36) and the 2008 Denner The Dirt Worshipper (97WS/$45).

My efforts to find some of the Herman Story weren't fruitful (though reading their website is time well spent). I was able to obtain a half-case of the Denner directly from the winery.

The Spectator article identifies Denner as the epicenter of the west Paso wine scene. They produce grapes purchased by other producers like Epoch and Torrin and they also produce wines with their own label. Rob and Marilyn Denner own over 100 acres in Paso Robles and 25-year-old (!) Anthony Yount is their winemaker.

I cracked open one of the The Dirt Worshippers last night. It was a winner. 

What they said:

The Dirt Worshipper is a wine whose sole focus is the expression of cool climate terroir through a Syrah medium. This wine is a blend of 42% Syrah from the frigid, coastal Bassetti Vineyard near Cambria, 53% Denner Estate Syrah from the coolest, latest ripening blocks, and 5% Denner Estate Viognier to perfume this beastly hedonistic wine. Please enjoy! (from the back label)

This hedonistic beauty has upfront aromas of sarsaparilla, vanilla bean and black raspberries. Undertones of eucalyptus and white pepper come through on second emanation. Coffee crusted steak, huckleberry compote and dried Provencial herbs pioneer a precise finish with chalky tannins and great length. 95% Syrah, 5% Viognier. (from winery website) 

What I thought:

2008 Denner The Dirt Worshipper
95% Syrah 5% Viognier
15.6% alcohol
810 cases produced

A massive wine with a silty, muddy appearance. Aromatically complex with dried blueberries, bacon cooking on a Saturday morning, and white pepper. Stunning depth and density. High alcohol and I had some concerns about it being overripe. But it keeps thing under control and I enjoyed it.

Hard to stop drinking. Quite nice. 

93/100 WWP: Outstanding 

Outlook:

Based on this experience I'm looking forward to trying more wines from Paso Robles. The 2008 Dirt Worshipper is selling for north of $100 at auction now but the 2009s are coming to market at attainable price points. I'd recommend checking a couple of them out if the style sounds at all appealing to you.

Question of the Day: What do you think of big Paso Robles reds? Is this the next big category in California wine?


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/dWUZs6A9maY/tasting-report-2008-denner-dirt.html

chianti red chardonnay syrah

Silver Oak Winery in the Napa Valley ? For Cabernet Sauvignon Fans

I loved listening to the offbeat and jovial winemaker, Daniel Barons, who tells it like it is with a no-holds-barred approach to winemaking. He has been making wine for 41 years so he says he has seen it all. Continue reading

Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/silver-oak-winery-in-the-napa-valley-%e2%80%93-for-cabernet-sauvignon-fans/

the wine library type of wine wine type italian wines

Five Easy Winter Projects for Winery Marketers

It’s November, post-Harvest and going into slow season for winery marketers.  Thought I would put together a short list of projects that may make your life easier in 2011 with a little time put in during the winter. 1.  Claim your winery on location based services and review sites. Even if you don’t use the [...]

Source: http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/five-easy-winter-projects-for-winery-marketers/

free wine italian wine wine gifts dry wine

Alan Kerr?s Vintage?s May 28 Release ? Tasting Notes

As another barrage of Californian wines prepares to hit the shelves, the good news is some of them are very good and a couple are exceptional. However, the bad news is they are not cheap. As always, there are several wines to be found that won?t make the wallet wince so please read on. WINES [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/a44L6rWp70U/vintages-may-28-release-%e2%80%93-tasting-notes

wine sale fine wines wine ratings black wine

Wine Word of the Week: Right bank

This week?s Wine Word of the Week is right bank. Official definition from Jancis Robinson?s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Right bank is an expression much used of that part of the Bordeaux wine region that is on the right bank, or north, of the river Dordogne. It includes, travelling down river, Cotes de Castillon, [...]

Wine Word of the Week: Right bank was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WinePeeps/~3/Lj_reuPAqkI/

wine making california wine wine shops best wines

Field Notes from a Wine Life ? Jambalaya Edition

http://www.goodgrape.com/images/uploads/A_Fly_on_the_Wall_-_Jon_Rimmerman.pdf

Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass…

American Wine Consumer Coalition

I am excited that Tom Wark - Man of Action - and also the Executive Director of the Specialty Wine Retailers Association, is taking the initiative to build the non-profit consumer wine advocacy group the American Wine Consumer Coalition (AWCC), as preliminarily announced at his blog last month.

image

I was privy to an early iteration of his business plan and if his ideas for the organization hew closely to his initial vision it will be a rock solid benefit for wine enthusiasts.

My understanding of the nascent AWCC is an organization that represents the voice of wine consumers on a myriad of issues, but will most specifically be linked to consumer shipping rights while also providing an umbrella offering of member benefits for those that live a wine-inclined lifestyle.  In doing so, the AWCC addresses three woeful gaps in the wine landscape (my extrapolation not Tom’s):

1) Legacy groups like the American Wine Society have failed to implement technology and the cultivation of a member base under the age of 50 in the age of social networking and have forfeited the opportunities for connectedness that social media offers.

2) Wine social networking sites like Wine 2.0 and the Open Wine Consortium failed to regularly engage a captive audience and died an inert death.

3) Free the Grapes! has been very successful at coalescing a large number of consumers in support of shipping rights, but has largely failed at two key things:  Transparency in where the money goes (a 501c(6) trade association doesn’t have to do any financial reporting to donors) and they provide no member benefit.  Theirs is the “black box” of wine advocacy.

If the American Wine Consumer Coalition does even a half-hearted job of connecting and engaging with consumers with attendant non-profit transparency, the organization will be successful.  Godspeed and cheers to that potential outcome…for the benefit of all wine consumers.

Pulling Punches

Over the last week or so, the wine blogosphere has been revisiting its annual tête-à-tête with the 100-point system.  This time the lightening rod is a PR campaign from Hedges Family Estate in Washington called the, “Score Revolution” a sort of public petition against wine scores (and, by proxy, the critics who give the scores).

Folks have decamped to either side of the debate which is all well and good, but for one person whose livelihood has been based on wine criticism for decades, I’d expect a less flaccid (more rigid?) repudiation.

Charlie Olken, the Granddaddy of wine critics with his Connoisseurs Guide to California Wine, has this to say at his blog:  “They want us all to abandon wine ratings because they have outlived their usefulness—or, in the case of one winery—because they got crappy scores for their crappy wines.”

Two problems here, folks:  First, details make a story interesting.  For the casual reader, who are you calling out Charlie?  Hedges Family Estate?  If so, call your shot.  Second, facts are an important element to a story, as well.  And, say what you will about Hedges wine, but a search of the Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate and CellarTracker ratings databases doesn’t bear out Charlie’s assertion – the scores that are available on Hedges are all in the solidly “above average, but not great” category.

Charlie’s post, instead of being a skilled defense of scores, actually typifies what’s wrong with a lot of blogs –they’re poorly researched ideological opinions that are barely defensible beyond the sound bite. 

Methinks that if you’re going to wade into the court of public opinion then it’s best to name names and back up your opinion with some facts and in Charlie’s case, as an elder statesman, he should be raising the level of discourse instead of playing to the level of his competition.

On the Other Hand

On the positive side of the equation in regards to wine writing, Jon Rimmerman from Garagiste wrote a brilliant and insightful essay on the state of our national political climate.  Available by signing up for the daily Garagiste emails, I’ve taken the liberty of creating a PDF of Rimmerman’s essay from Monday, August 8th. This link initiates a PDF download that is well worth the read.

Imitation is the sincerest form of Flattery?

Around the holidays when nearly every wine writer who writes for a masthead heeds the call of the wine pairing article, you might expect some columns to look similar… But, in August not so much…

Color me surprised then when I read Matt Kramer’s column in the current issue of Wine Spectator (August 31, 2011) called, “Keeping Your Cool” about chilling red wines and then I see Ray Isle (also Food & Wine magazines Executive Wine Editor) who wrote a syndicated wine post for CNN’s food section on their web site called, “Chilling with Red Wine.”

I’ll give Isle the benefit of the doubt in regards to lifting the idea straight from Kramer, and assume that it’s a situation of, “Great minds think alike.”  However, for goodness sake, with wine, when there are a million things to write about, you might expect a slightly different twist on the same topic when they’re published in the same time window from two notable wine writers.

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/field_notes_from_a_wine_life_jambalaya_edition/

wine warehouse wine company port wine wine spectator