I'm taking a serious risk with this wine. The last Hamilton Russell I tasted, the 2008 Pinot Noir, was categorically the most disgusting wine I have ever enountered. The best description I can come up with is that it tasted like the Michelin Man rolled around in a big pile of trash, then set himself on fire. Nasty! But in general, this firm has a good reputation, so I decided to give them a second chance.
As it has some bottle age on it, I'm not surprised to see that the wine has a fairly deep yellow-gold hue, tending almost to brown. The aromas are also indicative of age, with honey and butter outweighing the white flowers and green apple. There is definitely some oak in the wine; however, there is no sign of a self-immolating Michelin Man, so I am encouraged.
On the palate...it's beautiful. Hamilton Russell has certainly redeemed itself in my mind. The flavors are fresh - not at all oxidized as they could be in a 4 year old Chardonnay - with loads of lemon and green apple and a perfectly balanced touch of oak for creaminess and a hint of bitterness at the back of the mouth. I'm astonished at how youthful this wine tastes. There is no one flavor or element out of place. It's simply delicious.
So the lesson here is simple: if you ever come into contact with a Hamilton Russell wine, avoid the Pinot Noir like the plague it is, and embrace the lovely chardonnay.
Vintage: 2007
Region: Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, South Africa
Grape: Chardonnay
Price: $26
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
2008 Mauritson Syrah Rockpile Madrone Spring Vineyard
It's entirely possible that I bought this bottle of wine because it is from Rockpile. What a fantastic name for a wine appellation! Is it evocative of what it really looks like? Don't know, never been there. But I did buy the wine at the Mauritson flagship vineyard in Dry Creek Valley. (I'm really raiding my Sonoma stash these days!)
The wine is inky violet in the glass, deep enough to be called opaque. The aromas are dominated by oak, manifesting as vanilla and milk chocolate. I'm not getting much fruit beyond blueberry pie. Not that I'm complaining. In the mouth, there's a lot more fruit - stewed blackberry, more blueberry, and sweetened black currants. And there's a lot of oak, but in balance with the fruit, the acidity, and the slightly scratchy tannins. The only thing out of whack here is the alcohol (I sense a pattern here amongst the recent California wines I've tasted - shocking). It's got to be at least 14.5% pecent. I've had ports that burned my lips less. But, just like doing squats and lunges hurts like hell, it's a good kind of hurt. I really like this wine.
Vintage: 2008
Region: Rockpile, Sonoma
Grape: Syrah
Price: $38
The wine is inky violet in the glass, deep enough to be called opaque. The aromas are dominated by oak, manifesting as vanilla and milk chocolate. I'm not getting much fruit beyond blueberry pie. Not that I'm complaining. In the mouth, there's a lot more fruit - stewed blackberry, more blueberry, and sweetened black currants. And there's a lot of oak, but in balance with the fruit, the acidity, and the slightly scratchy tannins. The only thing out of whack here is the alcohol (I sense a pattern here amongst the recent California wines I've tasted - shocking). It's got to be at least 14.5% pecent. I've had ports that burned my lips less. But, just like doing squats and lunges hurts like hell, it's a good kind of hurt. I really like this wine.
Vintage: 2008
Region: Rockpile, Sonoma
Grape: Syrah
Price: $38
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
2008 Ten Acre Pinot Noir DuNah Vineyard
On this momentous day - the one on which I officially enter the wine trade as a career - I am opening a bottle of wine that is very special to me. I picked it up during Sonoma's barrel tasting even earlier this year, while traveling from vineyard to vineyard with two of my favorite wine aficionados, Vanessa and Brian. This Pinot Noir is a new endeavor for the owners of Bella Vineyards; in 2008 they produced the first bottles of wine from the 10 acres of property around their home, where they planned to produce small lots of high quality wine in a Burgundian style.
The wine certainly carries aromas common in Burgundian wines. While he later recanted, or at least qualified it, Anthony Hanson once wote that "Good Burgundy smells of shit." I wouldn't go so far as to say this wine smells like shit, it certainly has an air of the barnyard about it. In a good way, of course. It also smells of ripe rasperries, cola, and cinnamon.
In the mouth, I immediately remember why I bought this wine (and am wishing I had bought more). It is impeccably balanced (aside from the elevated alcohol level, which is pretty much par for the course in California wines these days). There is a hint of residual sugar, expressed as ripe black cherries, the tannins are smooth as silk, and the finish is delightfully long and juicy. There isn't much of this wine out there, but I highly recommend you seek some out!
Vintage: 2008
Grape: Pinot Noir
Region: Russian River Valley, Sonoma
Price: $38
The wine certainly carries aromas common in Burgundian wines. While he later recanted, or at least qualified it, Anthony Hanson once wote that "Good Burgundy smells of shit." I wouldn't go so far as to say this wine smells like shit, it certainly has an air of the barnyard about it. In a good way, of course. It also smells of ripe rasperries, cola, and cinnamon.
In the mouth, I immediately remember why I bought this wine (and am wishing I had bought more). It is impeccably balanced (aside from the elevated alcohol level, which is pretty much par for the course in California wines these days). There is a hint of residual sugar, expressed as ripe black cherries, the tannins are smooth as silk, and the finish is delightfully long and juicy. There isn't much of this wine out there, but I highly recommend you seek some out!
Vintage: 2008
Grape: Pinot Noir
Region: Russian River Valley, Sonoma
Price: $38
Thursday, July 14, 2011
2005 Blason-d'Issan Margaux
Tonight's wine is a splurge. (That's such a gross word, isn't it?) It's Bastille Day, and I'm opening up a bottle of French wine that I full expect to knock my chausettes off. I haven't been tasting much Bordeaux since I returned from France nearly a month ago, because I tasted so much good wine there, that I was afraid I might be disappointed that I doesn't taste as good in America. You know, the ambience and all. But then I realized that was stupid. So here goes.
Blason d'Issan is the second wine of Chateau d'Issan, third growth Bordeaux in the Margaux appellation. I wouldn't touch a bottle of the first wine from the 2005 vintage for quite some time, but since the second wines of the great chateaux tend to be made with the slightly lower quality grapes and with less use of new oak barrels, they're ready to drink earlier, on average. So I think we're ok.
The wine is an inky garnet in the glass, with some orange-brick coloration at the rim. The aromas are gorgeous - just the right amount of earthiness and fruit that I expect from a Bordeaux - and incredibly complex. Red cherry, slate, licorice, dark chocolate, red currant, pencil shavings (yes, I said it! Pencil shavings! What a cliché!)....
I want to dive into the glass.
But instead, I take a sip. Still gorgeous. I actually think I could have let this one age a couple more years, as the tannins are still a bit firm, but they're not wooly and they don't overpower the ripe red fruits or the freshly turned earth flavors that just keep going and going, long after the mouthful is swallowed. The length is phenomenally long and lucious. My only minor criticism is that the alcohol is just a touch high; 2005 was a very warm year for Bordeaux, leading to higher sugar content and consequently higher alcohol, so it's not totally unexpected. It's just not entirely integrated. But it does not detract at all from my enjoyment of this wine. I hope to enjoy it again very soon. (Hint hint.)
Vintage: 2005
Grapes: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot
Region: Margaux, Bordeaux, France
Price: $43
Blason d'Issan is the second wine of Chateau d'Issan, third growth Bordeaux in the Margaux appellation. I wouldn't touch a bottle of the first wine from the 2005 vintage for quite some time, but since the second wines of the great chateaux tend to be made with the slightly lower quality grapes and with less use of new oak barrels, they're ready to drink earlier, on average. So I think we're ok.
The wine is an inky garnet in the glass, with some orange-brick coloration at the rim. The aromas are gorgeous - just the right amount of earthiness and fruit that I expect from a Bordeaux - and incredibly complex. Red cherry, slate, licorice, dark chocolate, red currant, pencil shavings (yes, I said it! Pencil shavings! What a cliché!)....
I want to dive into the glass.
But instead, I take a sip. Still gorgeous. I actually think I could have let this one age a couple more years, as the tannins are still a bit firm, but they're not wooly and they don't overpower the ripe red fruits or the freshly turned earth flavors that just keep going and going, long after the mouthful is swallowed. The length is phenomenally long and lucious. My only minor criticism is that the alcohol is just a touch high; 2005 was a very warm year for Bordeaux, leading to higher sugar content and consequently higher alcohol, so it's not totally unexpected. It's just not entirely integrated. But it does not detract at all from my enjoyment of this wine. I hope to enjoy it again very soon. (Hint hint.)
Vintage: 2005
Grapes: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot
Region: Margaux, Bordeaux, France
Price: $43
Sunday, July 10, 2011
2009 Ballast Stone Unwooded Chardonnay South Australia Steeple Jack
I love it the term "unwooded" is used to describe a wine that has not been fermented or aged in oak barrels, but rather in stainless stell. It just sounds so...Australian. And indeed, this unwooded wine does hail from South Australia, a preposterously large appellation that produces more than half of all Australia's yearly output of wine. To be sure, there's a lot of bulk wine to wade through, but some great wines are produced here as well.
The unoaked chardonnay is a medium-deep yellow with hints of gold. The aromas are undemonstrative, as is common in chardonnay, but there is some nice lemon and green apple, but also a chalky minerality. The wine isn't as acidic as it smells, but is in fact quite well-balanced in its elements. The alcohol may be a bit high, but not enough so to overpower the acidity (Certainly nowhere approaching the 15.1% California chardonnay I ran into today!), and it gives the wine a delicious weight and viscosity on the palate. There's plenty of fruit there, too: lemon zest, granny smith apple, and honedew melon. Yummy.
The Steeple Jack wines are some of Ballast Stone's more economical lines of wine, but the low price tag certainly doesn't mean low quality. I'll certainly keep an eye out for their other varietals in this line.
Vintage: 2009
Grape: Chardonnay
Region: South Australia
Price: $10
The unoaked chardonnay is a medium-deep yellow with hints of gold. The aromas are undemonstrative, as is common in chardonnay, but there is some nice lemon and green apple, but also a chalky minerality. The wine isn't as acidic as it smells, but is in fact quite well-balanced in its elements. The alcohol may be a bit high, but not enough so to overpower the acidity (Certainly nowhere approaching the 15.1% California chardonnay I ran into today!), and it gives the wine a delicious weight and viscosity on the palate. There's plenty of fruit there, too: lemon zest, granny smith apple, and honedew melon. Yummy.
The Steeple Jack wines are some of Ballast Stone's more economical lines of wine, but the low price tag certainly doesn't mean low quality. I'll certainly keep an eye out for their other varietals in this line.
Vintage: 2009
Grape: Chardonnay
Region: South Australia
Price: $10
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
2010 Charles & Charles Rosé Columbia Valley
It's 4 bzillion degrees out, I have no air conditioning, and I hereby proclaim it officially rosé weather. I will be drinking nothing else (including water) until the temperature goes below 85 degrees. This could be dangerous, but luckily for me, I won't care.
This Washington state rosé is made from 100% syrah, which is pretty much a recipe for happiness for me. The color is a fairly deep pink with hints of copper, though not nearly as deep as some Southern Rhone syrah rosés I've seen. You couldn't mistake this one for a pinot noir, let's put it that way. The aromas are heavenly, which is good because I spent a lot of time inhaling its aromas while mopping a glass of it off the floor. The Kong got away from the dog and disaster ensued. But now my glass is refilled, and I'm ready to see if these honeydew, lilac, and raspberry perfumes carry over to the palate.
Oh, yes. Raspberries and cream on the palate, with the floral aromas carrying through the finish. The texture is smooth, with just a whisper of tannin. The alcohol and acidity are balanced and in control. The only somewhat unpleasant element is a growing bitterness on the finish, that threatens to overpower the fruit. But all in all, a great wine to sip when the temperature outside - or inside, in my case - is unbearable. It'll cool you off, and you'll enjoy the process.
Vintage: 2010
Grape: Syrah
Region: Columbia Valley, Washington State
Price: $13
This Washington state rosé is made from 100% syrah, which is pretty much a recipe for happiness for me. The color is a fairly deep pink with hints of copper, though not nearly as deep as some Southern Rhone syrah rosés I've seen. You couldn't mistake this one for a pinot noir, let's put it that way. The aromas are heavenly, which is good because I spent a lot of time inhaling its aromas while mopping a glass of it off the floor. The Kong got away from the dog and disaster ensued. But now my glass is refilled, and I'm ready to see if these honeydew, lilac, and raspberry perfumes carry over to the palate.
Oh, yes. Raspberries and cream on the palate, with the floral aromas carrying through the finish. The texture is smooth, with just a whisper of tannin. The alcohol and acidity are balanced and in control. The only somewhat unpleasant element is a growing bitterness on the finish, that threatens to overpower the fruit. But all in all, a great wine to sip when the temperature outside - or inside, in my case - is unbearable. It'll cool you off, and you'll enjoy the process.
Vintage: 2010
Grape: Syrah
Region: Columbia Valley, Washington State
Price: $13
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