Don's Gillette's Weekly Wine Blog
Weekly musings from our store's resident wine guru
Don has over thirty years experience in the wine industry. For the last eighteen years his attention has been focused on the growing local industry. Don has a large following of customers who search out his opinions (never in short supply!) on new releases and on what's currently most distinctive on our shelves. Others seek his insights on wineries and trends that are still under the radar. Check back here each week for Don's latest thoughts on various wine-related topics. Read Don's full bio...
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Migrating Birds and Fall Surprises
Went to two good trade-tastings in the neighborhood last week. At my favorite venue too. Farallon restaurant in Union Square, despite being younger than Napa Valley Winery Exchange, is a local institution (at 20, NVWE is a bit of an institution as well). It has a fine street-level dining room, decorated with blown glass chandeliers, along with 3 upstairs rooms for the use of people like us.
Since this is supposed to be a wine blog, I won't spend time on Farallon's delicious seafood-centered menu; its fine sommelier, Peter Palmer; or its interesting list of California wines. Suffice it to say that their Fish Carpaccio (I didn't recognize and don't recall the variety); braised beef-filled Empanadas and various mousse-stuffed this-and-thats were an entirely separate reason not to miss the tastings.
Duckhorn hosted the first tasting. They poured their various Cabs, Merlots and a tasty 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, along with all their satellite bottlings: Decoy; Paradux; Goldeneye; Migration, etc.. Highlights included decanted magnums of the delicious 2005 Goldeneye "Confleunce" and "Gowen Creek" Pinot Noirs. Duckhorn spent five or ten years and bucket-loads of cash accumulating prime Anderson Valley real estate. Goldeneye, it's two vineyard-designate reserves, and Migration are the tangible result.
Of course, Duckhorn is most famous for its multiple Merlot and Cabernet bottlings. These are uniformly age-worthy and of reliably high quality, although their scarcity dictates that more consumers have read about them than tasted them. The most dramatic of these was the 2005 Napa "Estate" Cabernet, a wine packed with palate-drenching blackberry-blueberry fruit and rich oaky-earthy spice. The tiny-production '05 "Monitor Ledge" Cab was more elegant, but just as fruit-packed.
To me, the most rewarding Duckhorn Cab was the 2005 Napa bottling. This 40-vineyard blend has, over the last six months, changed from a dark and brooding "ugly duckling" into an elegant and beautifully focused swan. My favorite Merlots were the already delicious and beautifully elegant 2005 "Estate" and the deeply complex and age-worthy 2004 Howell Mountain.
A flurry of Fall Offerings
The second tasting was presented by a local distributor who has a large portfolio of fine to cult-status bottlings. Lots of terrific stuff, including brilliant 2005 vintage Cabs from Staglin; Showket; Seavey; Keever and others. I also tried a terrific 2006 "Summit" from Audelssa in Sonoma. Pinots on hand included Londer, Kosta Brown, Ketchum and Auteur. My own favorite Pinots, in no particular order, were the Auteur Sonoma Stage; Kosta Brown's Amber Ridge and Koplen; the Londer Estate; and the 2006 Ketchum.
I thought Shane Winery's Weir Vineyard Pinot, made by a Kosta Brown associate, was a fine first effort. My favorite new items were a 2006 Chardonnay and two 2006 Pinots from Tyler Winery in Santa Barbara. The Chardonnay was racy, complex and Meursault-like, while their Dierberg Vineyard Pinot was much the finest I have tasted from that oft-praised, but inconsistent property.
Three Chardonnays stuck out: a plush 2007 from Oakville Ranch; Londer's 2006 Kent Ritchie Vineyard; and the luxuriously ripe and oak-rich 2005 Salus, from Staglin Family. Pelerin poured a preview sample of their 2007 Les Tournesol white Rhone-grape blend: a delicious new version of a bottling that has been among my personal favorites since its launching.
Possible additions to our next newsletter were: the absolutely delicious and varietally true 2006 Showket Sangiovese; the focused and delightfully elegant 2007 Viognier from Ketchum and a fine bargain 2007 Old Vine Zin from Three Wine Company. I hardly had time to eat!