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Liquid Farm … It’s A SOLID Hit!

Liquid Farm … It’s a SOLID Hit!

My husband loves poker the way I love wine! So while he’s off playing in a tournament tonight, I decided to crack open a nice bottle!

I’ve been eyeing a bottle of Chardonnay that I bought a couple of years ago while visiting the Santa Ynez Valley. I remember falling madly in love with it during the tasting, but wanting it to have some more time in the bottle before I opened this gem. Hoping that it’s ready, I decided to go for it tonight.

Before my visit to Santa Ynez in early February of ’15, I had been hearing a lot of buzz about a winery called Liquid Farm. I’m a huge lover of White Burgundy and I’d been reading that Liquid Farm focuses on Chardonnay and that they’re true believers in the fact that what happens above and below the ground produces the liquid in the bottle. Hence … Liquid Farm!!! Great name or what??? I love New World wines that adopt some of the Old World wine making philosophy.

I remember the tasting at their facility well, not only because Anna and Assistant Winemaker Tanner (and their awesome wine dog named Button) took great care of, but because of the wonderful wines! We tasted through 5 different Chardonnays that day, and there wasn’t a dud in the group! My personal favorites were the 2013 Golden Slope, named for the famous Côte-d’Or of Burgundy France and the 2013 Bien Bien, which had a wonderful finish and reminded me of a Chassagne-Montrachet! I’m a sucker for Chassagne-Montrachet, so you can imagine how much I loved this wine!

Tonight I decided to open the Golden Slope! I want that ’13 Bien Bien to sit a bit longer!

Light golden in color, the nose has white flowers, lemon, melon and pear. The well-balanced palate has a medium body, great acidity, lemon curd, a touch of oak! I’m munching on some brie cheese while drinking this (which is a great pairing!), but keep wishing I had a big plate of pasta with an Alfredo sauce. Something creamy like that would be another fabulous match with this Chardonnay!

So while my husband was doing something that HE loves, I was too! I just found out that he WON … and so did I, with this 2013 Liquid Farm Golden Slope Chardonnay. And … I still have half a bottle left to share with him tomorrow night!

Are you interested in learning more about Liquid Farm and their wines? Click here: http://www.liquidfarm.com

 

Here’s the “Tell” on Patel!

I’m a Right Bank kind of girl. Don’t get me wrong. I love the power and elegance of a great Cabernet Sauvignon and the wines of the Left Bank. There’s some reason, however, that I’ve always had a soft spot for the Right Bank. Is it because I can enjoy them earlier? Perhaps! I love the soft tannins and big fruit of Merlot. Plus, I seem to love to root for the underdog! And the Right Bank and their New World versions do indeed seem to be, for the most part, the underdog!

This Right Bank Bordeaux blend from Patel Winery in Napa Valley is right up my alley.  The blend is 80% Merlot, 11% Malbec, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.  The nose screams cherry, cherry cherry! Okay, it’s not just cherry! There’s some subtle oak, a touch of leather and some big time floral aromas as well. The velvety palate has black cherry and some other dark fruit, along with some spice and good acidity. This is a great food wine (I want to try this with some Swiss fondue!), but I also enjoyed a glass (or three!) sitting on my deck with a nice breeze, some great tunes, and my hubby and dogs!

Check out Patel Winery here:  http://www.patelwinery.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

My New Favorite Party Wine!

I recently strolled into my favorite local wine store asking for some “every day” wines! I needed some decent bottles that come in at (or under) the $20 price range. I grabbed two bottles each of the six suggested to me.

My husband and I looked at the group and decided to crack open a California Cab for tonight. We chose the 2012 Matthew Joseph Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa. Comprised of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot and 2% Malbec, this wine is dark garnet in color, the nose has delightful currant, ripe cherry, baking spices, and coffee, perhaps even mocha. The well-balanced palate confirms the fruit and spices, along with some wonderful flavors of chocolate shavings. The substantial finish brings lovely cassis flavors.

This “MJ” really fit the bill for a tasty wine that I won’t feel guilty about opening on a random Tuesday night. I’m going to be sure to stock up on some more for those nights when I’m home alone and don’t want my hubby feeling jealous, although he still may!!! It’s also going to be a great Cab to pour for an upcoming party we’re having.

This is definitely a fruit driven wine, with soft tannins and sweet vanilla. Now don’t go expecting a Bordeaux style wine. For a nice sipper and a great wine for entertaining, however, this 2012 Matthew Joseph Napa Cab can’t be beat. And it comes in at under twenty bucks! What’s not to like?

2011 Aaron Paso Robles Petite Sirah

Most wine lovers agree that wine is to be shared and enjoyed with friends.  It’s so much fun to share some of my favorites, and I also love when friends do the same for me.

Last week I was introduced to a new wine, and I enjoyed it so much that I knew that I needed to blog about it!

Aaron Jackson is the owner and winemaker at Aaron Wines, located in the Paso Robles region of California’s Central Coast.   He’s a young guy who loves surfing and loves wine.  In fact, he knew at a very young age that he wanted to be a winemaker, and I for one am glad that he is!

The wine I had last week was his 2011 Aaron Paso Robles Petite Sirah.  As you probably know, Petite Sirah is NOT Syrah.  This is a common mistake made by many casual wine drinkers.  These two varieties do, however, share some similarities and perhaps some geographical history.  Petite Sirah vines have grown in California since the 1880s, and DNA research has suggested that this grape is likely Durif, a cross of the grapes Peloursin (an ancient Rhone varietal) and Syrah (another Rhone varietal), which was created in France in the 1880s. 

The 2011 Aaron Paso Robles Petite Sirah is Jackson’s flagship wine, and is a blend of his very best barrels of Petite Sirah.  The ’11 is a deep purple in color.  On the nose are blackberry, black currant, pepper and some leather.  The palate confirms the blackberry and black currant and has wonderful mocha flavors on the mid palate.  It has great complexity and yet is made in a pleasant easy to drink style.  After tasting this I was shocked to see that it contains 15% alcohol.  The wine is so well balanced that I would never have guessed that the alcohol is that high!

While I know nothing about Aaron Jackson’s surfing skills, I can certainly tell that he’s a darned good winemaker!  I also know that I will seek Aaron Wines out the next time I’m in Paso Robles.

If you’d like to learn more or purchase some of his wines go to: www.aaronwines.com

 

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