California

Ribbons & Bows And Plum On The Nose!

Ribbons & Bows and Plum on the Nose!

I’m a little crazy about Christmas. My husband and I absolutely love the holidays and we decorate our house from top to bottom. We love to relish in the festivities of December and the holiday season.

After bringing up all of the boxes of decorations, we pick out some fun bottles of wine to enjoy while beginning the long (but fun!) process of turning our Florida home into a winter wonderland.

This year we started with a bottle of bubbly from one of my favorite wineries in Sonoma, Iron Horse Vineyards! I personally think that EVERY day is a great day for bubbles, so how could I possibly begin decorating without a great glass of bubbles?

We chose a bottle of 2014 Iron Horse Harvest Moon from the Green Valley of Russian River Valley appellation. 72% Pinot Noir and 28% Chardonnay, this wine has very fine bubbles with toasty brioche on the nose and apple and pear on the palate. This beautifully balanced sparkling wine was a great way to start the evening!

Not only does Iron Horse make some wonderful wines, they are located in an absolutely gorgeous spot!  Their rustic outdoor tasting room has a magnificent view and is a must visit spot if you’re in Northern California Wine Country!

After our bubbles we poured ourselves some 2013 Sixteen Appellations. Now a part of the Italics portfolio, Sixteen Appellations began in 2002 when several Napa vintners got together with the idea of using grapes from all of the Napa appellations (then 13) and blending the grapes into a single wine. They wanted a wine to represent the entire Napa Valley. Cool, right??? As appellations were added, the name changed. In 2012 the 16thAVA (Coombsville) was added, thus the 2013 name of Sixteen Appellations!

This Bordeaux blend consists of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot.  The color is deep ruby. After an hour or so decant, on the nose are red cherry, currant and some coffee. On the palate the fruits are riper, with plum and cherry leading the way, complimented by baking spices and good acidity. This is a really fun wine and I’ll be buying more!

I absolutely love the month of December. The holiday season truly is my favorite time of the year and I love to drink some of my favorite wines and discover some new favorites along the way!

So cheers to you all! I wish you happy decorating and happy drinking!

 

 

A “Spooky” Good Chardonnay

A “Spooky” Good Chardonnay

It’s Halloween and I’m drinking one heck of a great wine! I mean … it’s FABULOUS!

I’m a bit of a Chardonnay snob. I really like Chardonnay, but only when it’s done right!!! Burgundy is my favorite spot for this varietal. So when I find a Chard that I’m this nuts about, it’s definitely something special for me!

Tonight I found one!!!! I opened a bottle of 2013 Williams Selyem Chardonnay from the Drake Vineyard in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. I actually have quite a few bottles of Williams Selyem in my cellar. They’re all dang good, but this one is exceptional!

This wine is full of a gazillion different flavors. On the nose are white flowers and citrus. On the palate there is a little oak, but not too much. Let’s call it lightly buttered toast. There’s also everything from acidic citrus to ripe pear. That’s how complex this wine is. This is one special wine!

So if you see the ’13 Williams Selyem Drake Vineyard Chardonnay on a wine list, order it! If you find it in your favorite wine shop, grab a bottle or twelve! If you appreciate great Chardonnay the way I do, you definitely won’t be disappointed!

P.S. Happy Halloween!

P.S.S. If you find ANY wines from Williams Selyem … see above!

Check them out here: https://www.williamsselyem.com

 

The Rhone Ranger & His Wine!

The Rhone Ranger & His Wine!

Why do I love wine? There are actually a lot of reasons. I love the taste, for one thing. Well, of a lot of wines anyway! The whole process of winemaking fascinates me, and I find the history and geography involved absolutely intriguing. I also don’t hate the fact that it’s an intoxicant! And the people???? Oh how I love learning about and meeting some of the fabulous characters that have made wine their artistic and scientific goals of life.

I recently had the chance to taste with one of the true characters of California wine, Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard. A self-professed wine geek, he is a lover of wines with a sense of place. Grahm started out as a huge fan of Burgundy, hoping to create the Great American Pinot Noir. After realizing that Rhone varietals were better suited to the terroir of his Central Coast area, he became a pioneer of making California wine from Rhone grapes, even earning the honor of being considered the original “Rhone Ranger”!

Grahm is also credited with being the first California winemaker to use screw caps on premium wines! His belief is that wines with screw caps live longer than wines with cork, which can result in more complex wines down the road. This makes a lot of sense to me. He does admit, however, that premium wine under screw caps will not be ready to consume as early as those with corks, so for the majority of Americans who consume the bottle they purchase that very night, cork may still be the answer.

Our tasting included eleven wines from his Bonny Doon label, ranging from the 2017 Picpoul with a nose reminding me of a bouquet of flowers to his 2011 Cigare Volant Reserve which is aged in glass! I enjoyed pretty much all of them, but some of my favorites included:

2016 Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare Rosé – A pretty pink in color (perfect for Valentine’s Day!), this wine tastes of strawberry, cranberry and a touch of grapefruit. This is a beautifully balanced wine, with a bit of creaminess on the finish without losing the acidity. Comprised of 49% Grenache, 19% Grenache Blanc, 13% Mourvèdre, 12% Carignane, 4% Cinsaut and 3% Roussanne, it’s darned difficult to stop drinking this. I’m planning on stocking up for the summer months ahead.

2014 Bonny Doon Proper Claret – This is an easy drinking wine at a great price point of about $16. With lots of bright cherry, some plum, and mellow tannins, this is a great wine to crack open on a Tuesday night. 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Petit Verdot, 22% Tannat, 9% Syrah, 7% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petite Sirah

2013 Bonny Doon Syrah Pousseur – This is the wine I’m sipping on as I write this. Made of 100% Syrah from 4 different vineyards, I love the trueness to the varietal this wine is. Olive and bacon fat on the nose takes me back to the Rhone Valley. There is a touch of violet too. On the palate is the bacon, along with spicy pepper, dark fruit, and a fabulous earthy garrigue element. This is a really nice wine, perhaps my favorite of the night!

And what a fun night it was! The wines were great and Randall Grahm’s presentation was fabulous! His intelligence shined through while discussing his past, present, and future in the wine biz. One of my favorite stories was his explanation of how he named the “Le Cigar Valant”, which goes back to a wacky 1954 law in Châteauneuf du Pape banning flying saucers and flying cigars! Yup … true story. Google it!

Another thing I took away from the evening was his sincere belief that his wine career has only just begun. At 64 years of age, he’s just getting started. I love that! His latest endeavor? Popelouchum, which he literally saw in a dream. Popelouchum is a 400-acre property in San Juan Bautista where he plans to breed 10,0000 new grape varieties in which he hopes to create a New World “vin de terroir”. My money is on him succeeding and I can’t wait to taste it!

As you’ve probably noticed, his wine labels sure aren’t boring either! Randall Grahm is definitely a fun figure in the sometimes-stuffy world of wine

To learn more about Randall Grahm and his wines, here’s a link: https://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com

 

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