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What Vintage Are YOU Celebrating?

A fun way for a wine lover to celebrate an anniversary of any kind is to crack open a bottle from that specific year. My husband and I did just that to celebrate our wedding anniversary a few nights ago. We were married in 2001, so we selected a 2001 Napa Valley Silver Oak to toast 15 years of marriage!

I wasn’t sure what to expect. I feared an over-aged thin wine with no fruit. Thankfully my fears were not founded AT ALL. The 2001 Napa Silver Oak is singing right now.  On the nose are cassis, cherry and some tobacco. The palate reflects the fruit and has beautifully integrated tannins. We were thrilled! We may need to hunt down another bottle for our 16th anniversary!

Interestingly, Silver Oak uses American oak for both their Napa Valley and Alexander Valley bottlings. The reason? They feel that American oak imparts less wood tannin than French oak! In fact, as of last year they have acquired full ownership of A&K Cooperage in Missouri. They purchased 50% in 2000, but feel that a full ownership will help them to maintain the barrel making standards they desire.

I love that Silver Oak waits to release their wines. While a lot of Napa 2013 wines have already been on the shelves for months, Silver Oak is just now releasing their 2011s.

I also love that Silver Oak has been using sustainable methods for 40 years! From the usage of solar, Integrated Pest Management and water conservation to obtaining multiple “Green” certifications and more, Silver Oak is one of the “good guy” wineries in Northern California.

To find out more about their Sustainability practices, along with their wines and winery, click here:  http://www.silveroak.com

Tis the Season for SYRAH!

Merry Christmas to me … so I opened a bottle of my favorite varietal tonight! SYRAH!!!! I do believe that I picked a nice one!

Sol Rouge (red soil in French) is a winery located in the Red Hill Lake County appellation, which was designated in 2004. Their seventy- acre estate contains rich red volcanic soil. That would explain the name chosen for Bryan and Jill Kane’s winery!

I wasn’t familiar with Sol Rouge until this bottle, but I’m thankful that I stumbled across it. Located in California’s Lake County (north of Napa County), the winery produces wines using varietals from France’s Rhone Valley and Bordeaux. It also uses a lot of France’s viticulture principals; letting the high elevation vineyards do much of the work.

The ruby red 2011 Sol Rouge Syrah has aromas of raspberry and violet. With flavors of black raspberry, black current, and some black pepper, it is very well balanced with smooth, yet structured, tannins. Sol Rouge has created a very enjoyable wine, and I will seek out more of this and their other wines.

They have a conveniently located tasting room on famed Treasure Island in San Francisco for those who can’t get up to Lake County.

To learn more about Sol Rouge and their wines, check out there website here: http://www.solrouge.com

Walk the County Line, And Taste Some Fine Wine!

Pride Mountain has been one of my favorite Napa wineries for years now. Well actually, they’re not JUST a Napa winery! The Napa/Sonoma county line is on their property, and most of their wines are made with fruit from both AVAs.

Tonight my husband and I cracked open a bottle of their 2010 Merlot, comprised o 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. After about an hour and a half of decanting, the aromatics are lovely! Dark fruits including black cherry, blueberry and ripe plum burst from the glass. Accompanying the fruit are some cedar, tobacco and chocolate.

The palate reflects the fruit on the nose, with chocolate covered cherry, velvety tannins and some nice acidity that balances the wine beautifully. This wine is great with the cheddar cheese on which we’re nibbling. It would also be delicious with a full meal, or simply sipping on at the end of a hectic workday!

Be sure to schedule an appointment to visit this special winery the next time you’re in Napa or Sonoma. You’ll have the opportunity to go deep into the caves and experience some fabulous barrel tastings. Visiting Pride Mountain isn’t the typical “tour”. This is an extraordinary tasting. On one of our visits we were shown the actual county line that separates Sonoma from Napa, right where the crush pad is located.

Pride Mountain Vineyards is located on Spring Mountain. Their eighty-three vineyard acres on the Mayacamas Mountains are about 2000 feet above the floor of Napa Valley, providing many of their vines with a desirable southern exposure. The location also provides spectacular views for your viewing (and sipping!) pleasure.

To learn more, check out their website here:  http://www.pridewines.com

 

 

My Favorite Red of the Day!

I attended a blind tasting yesterday with Master Sommeliers Andrew McNamara and Matt Stamp. Not only is it always very educational to taste with such knowledgeable wine pros, but it’s also a great chance to taste some nice wines!

My favorite of yesterday’s red flight was the 2010 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino.

Brunello is a clone of the well-known Sangiovese grape. Sangiovese is Italy’s most planted single grape variety. It comprises 67% of Tuscan vineyard acreage and is the main grape in 25 DOC(G)s of Tuscany. Sangiovese is an ancient grape and tends to be genetically unstable and very adaptable. Because of this, many clones exist.

Brunello is thought, by many, to be the ultimate Sangiovese clone! Grown in the beautiful region of Montalcino, the grape tends to have thicker skins and more anthocyanin (plant colorants) than other clones of Sangiovese.  Therefore, the wine tends to be richer in color and deeper in tannic structure than say, Chianti, another wine made with the Sangiovese grape. 

The 2010 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino is a dark colored wine with bright red fruit, tobacco, a touch of mint and some vanilla on the nose. The palate is wonderfully silky with great expressions of the fruit, especially tart cherry and raspberry, some spice, mouth-watering acidity and velvety tannins. The long finish of this elegant wine completes the deliciousness.

The 2010 vintage for Brunello is considered by many to be outstanding. So … if you happen to run across any of the Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona, grab them and lay them down for a few years. You won’t be disappointed!

http://www.ciaccipiccolomini.com

Looking for a GREAT Napa Syrah???

Oh boy! I opened a bottle of wine last night that I absolutely love!

A few weeks ago a friend brought over a Bedrock Wine Co. Cabernet Sauvignon and I really enjoyed it. I liked it so much that when I found some Bedrock Syrah for sale I bought a couple of bottles. If only I’d known … I should have grabbed a couple of cases!

Bedrock’s 2012 Hudson Vineyard Syrah is fabulous! The fruit comes from the T and S blocks of the famous Hudson Ranch, which lies in Napa Valley’s Carneros AVA. The purple colored wine has a wonderful nose of smoky meat, violets and ripe red fruit. On the palate are blackberry, cassis, black cherry and licorice. I get some tobacco too! The finish is long with a hint of black olive. There is definitely a lot going on in this complex wine!

While drinking this gem I kept thinking of how it reminds me a lot of a wine from the Northern Rhone.  Well no wonder. After doing some research on the wine I realized that a smidgen of Viognier is added to the Syrah, just as they do in the Northern Rhone’s Côte-Rôtie region.

Considering I’m a huge lover of Rhone Valley wines, it’s not surprising that I’m such a fan of this Napa Syrah. Now I just need to figure out where I can buy some more!

To check out more information on Bedrock Wine Co. and their other wines, click here:  http://bedrockwineco.com

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