I am traveling for the Easter Holiday. One afternoon my wife and I went to the lobby bar for a quick drink. My first choice will always be wine so I glance at the wine list and settle on a name I am familiar with 'Rutherford Ranch'. There are many issues I have with wine by the glass but I will start with my two largest.
First, for a bottle I know costs $24 retail at the store they were charging $11 a glass. Assuming they pour 4 glasses they make double the retail price of the wine. I have heard the argument that you have to add overhead for glasses and waitstaff but the bartender had no knowledge of the wine nor was the generic 4oz glass.
Second, I proceeded to ask how long the wine has been open and what is the policy, in days, for removing a wine from the shelf. After two ambiguous answers including "a few days" and "when it is bad" I determined for this markup I was potentially paying $11 for an oxidized wine that is not removed until someone complains. I fail to understand how this type of 'service' justifies such an incredible markup.
I ended up with a Sweetwater Brewery Brown Ale which was excellent and only $4.
How do you feel about wine service by the glass?
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Long Island North Fork Trip Part 4
The last stop on our tour of the North Fork was Roanoke Vineyards. I have to admit I walked into and out of the tasting room at least twice before I stopped to taste. I prefer to avoid the crowds, especially at the end of the day, and Roanoke's location at the end of the wine trail (west) means it is a great last stop.
Finally we were able to stop in when it was not crowded and after the first sip I immediately regretted not stopping in sooner. It is hard to compare them to any other wine except to say Cabernet was meant to grow on the Roanoke Vineyard. Roanoke is also known for its Gabby's Franc, which has achieved cult like status on the North Fork.
They offer a white, red, mixed and member flight. The red fight highlights what they do best, Cabernet and Cabernet based blends. The Blend One and Blend 2 (in which 2008 are the final vintages to be replaced by Prime Number) are Cabernet and Cabernet Franc blends that are on par with any Bordeaux blend. They show the combination of structure, finesse and fruit. The Blend 2 is 50% Cabernet Franc which is supported in structure by the Cab and Merlot, while the Blend One is 75% Cabernet with equal parts Merlot and Franc to round out the mouth feel. If you have a friend or colleague who doubts how great Long Island wine can be bring him or her a bottle of the Blend One.
Roanoke also celebrates Cabernet, Cabernet Franc and Merlot as single varietals. The Cabernet Franc has two offering, Gabby's and Roanoke Cabernet Franc.
The tasting room and wine's should be a must stop and not just for the fact it is on the way home. Roanoke has quickly become one of benchmarks for high quality on the North Fork
Recommendation - A must stop for the red wine and red wine blends.
Finally we were able to stop in when it was not crowded and after the first sip I immediately regretted not stopping in sooner. It is hard to compare them to any other wine except to say Cabernet was meant to grow on the Roanoke Vineyard. Roanoke is also known for its Gabby's Franc, which has achieved cult like status on the North Fork.
They offer a white, red, mixed and member flight. The red fight highlights what they do best, Cabernet and Cabernet based blends. The Blend One and Blend 2 (in which 2008 are the final vintages to be replaced by Prime Number) are Cabernet and Cabernet Franc blends that are on par with any Bordeaux blend. They show the combination of structure, finesse and fruit. The Blend 2 is 50% Cabernet Franc which is supported in structure by the Cab and Merlot, while the Blend One is 75% Cabernet with equal parts Merlot and Franc to round out the mouth feel. If you have a friend or colleague who doubts how great Long Island wine can be bring him or her a bottle of the Blend One.
Roanoke also celebrates Cabernet, Cabernet Franc and Merlot as single varietals. The Cabernet Franc has two offering, Gabby's and Roanoke Cabernet Franc.
The tasting room and wine's should be a must stop and not just for the fact it is on the way home. Roanoke has quickly become one of benchmarks for high quality on the North Fork
Recommendation - A must stop for the red wine and red wine blends.
Monday, March 25, 2013
What I Drank - 03/24/2013
I enjoy retrying wines from places that I have visited but almost forgotten about due to the length of time since the last taste. It is almost like a reintroduction to an old friend. I first visited Anaba in May of 2009 during the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers event. The winery is located right off 121 in Sonoma not far from Cline and Ravenswood. The winery is an old farmhouse that is small and quaint. The real standout of the tasting room is the outdoor deck that overlooks the vineyards. It is the perfect place to end your day if you are in the Carneros region of Sonoma. Although my wife would counter that Gloria Ferrer is the ideal place to end the day and truthfully neither option is incorrect.
An offer from WTSO crossed by email for 4 bottles of Anaba Pinot Noir 2010 Sun Chase Vineyard Sonoma Coast which was rated 91 points by James Laube of Wine Spectator. I normally do not buy on rating alone but I remember liking the Pinot at Anaba (another post on taking notes during wine tasting in the future) and my palate tends to agree with Mr. Laube so I bought the offering.
We had our friends over for Sunday dinner and opening two bottles with the chicken and vegetables seemed like the perfect choice.
The front palate had notes of chocolate covered cherries and red fruit. The mid palate pushes the cherry and fruit notes to the back as hints of dark chocolate with a touch of oak coat the middle of the mouth. The strongest and best part of the wine was the finish which has a unique sweet earthiness. The earth in the finish gives the wine a long finish that leaves you wanting another sip.
Recommendation: A great wine that changes character at each point in the both making for a complex and enjoyable wine. Sold-out on the website.
***Editor's Note - this wine was purchased on WTSO.COM***
An offer from WTSO crossed by email for 4 bottles of Anaba Pinot Noir 2010 Sun Chase Vineyard Sonoma Coast which was rated 91 points by James Laube of Wine Spectator. I normally do not buy on rating alone but I remember liking the Pinot at Anaba (another post on taking notes during wine tasting in the future) and my palate tends to agree with Mr. Laube so I bought the offering.
We had our friends over for Sunday dinner and opening two bottles with the chicken and vegetables seemed like the perfect choice.
The front palate had notes of chocolate covered cherries and red fruit. The mid palate pushes the cherry and fruit notes to the back as hints of dark chocolate with a touch of oak coat the middle of the mouth. The strongest and best part of the wine was the finish which has a unique sweet earthiness. The earth in the finish gives the wine a long finish that leaves you wanting another sip.
Recommendation: A great wine that changes character at each point in the both making for a complex and enjoyable wine. Sold-out on the website.
***Editor's Note - this wine was purchased on WTSO.COM***
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Deciding What to Drink
How do you decide what to wine to open? Does the temperature drive your decision towards white over red. Does your weeknight wine differ from what you would open on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Do you decide which wine to drink based on what food you are preparing.
I have an internal struggle most nights on what to open. I do not have the most diverse cellar-mine consists mostly of Napa Cabernet, Sonoma Pinot (RRV, Sonoma Coast, etc), Napa Merlot and Long Island North Fork. Some weeks I can through "kicks" where I will drink exclusively one varietal or another. Some nights it depends on how long the wine needs to decant, e.g. if I ample time to prepare a young Cabernet. Sometimes my decision is based on which wine will last for 2 or 3 days in the bottle, despite what wineries say not all wines are created equal in this category.
To add one more thought, if 20% or more of your bottles cannot be opened on any occasion (e.g. a Tuesday or Saturday or if you alma mater is playing in the NCAA tournament) than you may want to reconsider your buying habits.
I have an internal struggle most nights on what to open. I do not have the most diverse cellar-mine consists mostly of Napa Cabernet, Sonoma Pinot (RRV, Sonoma Coast, etc), Napa Merlot and Long Island North Fork. Some weeks I can through "kicks" where I will drink exclusively one varietal or another. Some nights it depends on how long the wine needs to decant, e.g. if I ample time to prepare a young Cabernet. Sometimes my decision is based on which wine will last for 2 or 3 days in the bottle, despite what wineries say not all wines are created equal in this category.
To add one more thought, if 20% or more of your bottles cannot be opened on any occasion (e.g. a Tuesday or Saturday or if you alma mater is playing in the NCAA tournament) than you may want to reconsider your buying habits.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Auction Buying
Tonight I am drinking 2005 Favia Cerro Sur. The wine on the mailing list is $125. At Spectrum Wine action I was able to get 6 bottles of Cerro Sur for $225 plus fees and shipping which brought the sum total to 299.95. This is the equivalent of two bottles plus shipping from the mailing list.
Auction buying has some great advantages such as being able to buy hard to find wines. Even better, in my example above, being able to buy hard to find wines (or mailing list only wines) at well below retail value.
Auctions are not always the best value as you have the buyers percentage (at Spectrum 19.5% of the final bid value) and the shipping cost. Plus buying directly from the winery is the only way to ensure the wine was properly stored, this is important of older wines.
I view the auction sites for mostly values but I have used them to buy hard to find second labels (Bond -Matriarch and Harlan-Maiden for example). I have also used them as value 'steals' for Nickel and Nickel, Favia and Palmaz to name a few.
The difficult part of auction buying is once you buy a great wine at a great price it is often hard to turn around and pay full price (especially if the wine exceeds $100) or waiting 3 years to get on the mailing list.
Does Auction buying effect your perspective when buying bottles you really enjoy at retail price?
Auction buying has some great advantages such as being able to buy hard to find wines. Even better, in my example above, being able to buy hard to find wines (or mailing list only wines) at well below retail value.
Auctions are not always the best value as you have the buyers percentage (at Spectrum 19.5% of the final bid value) and the shipping cost. Plus buying directly from the winery is the only way to ensure the wine was properly stored, this is important of older wines.
I view the auction sites for mostly values but I have used them to buy hard to find second labels (Bond -Matriarch and Harlan-Maiden for example). I have also used them as value 'steals' for Nickel and Nickel, Favia and Palmaz to name a few.
The difficult part of auction buying is once you buy a great wine at a great price it is often hard to turn around and pay full price (especially if the wine exceeds $100) or waiting 3 years to get on the mailing list.
Does Auction buying effect your perspective when buying bottles you really enjoy at retail price?
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Oak Influence
Toast, Chocolate and Vanilla are some of the nuances in wine that denote the use of oak. We will ignore in this post the wineries that use oak chips or oak powder. I prefer to discuss oak in terms of oak barrels. Oak barrels come in many types, but that main component of the oak barrels are region (French, Missouri, Hungarian) and toast (light, medium, medium plus, heavy). The majority of barrels I have seen in Napa Valley are French and M or M+ toast. The higher end wineries will use new french oak barrels once ($1200-$2000 a barrel) for Cabernet and after three or more uses the barrel is considered neutral oak which is used for chardonnay or even Sav Blanc.
Our lower end wineries use oak mainly to hide the over ripeness of the grapes or the lack of complexity from high yields. Oak should be used to enhance the wine and should be done in balance, much like alcohol levels or tannin.
One winery that prides itself on its innovative us of oak is Del Dotto Winery of St. Helena. They will take grapes from the same vineyard, same blend and put it in many different types of oak. If you doubt the influence oak can have over a wine then you should take the wine tour at Del Dotto. I have had Rutherford Cabernet in both French and American oak that tasted like two distinct wines that you would never know came from the same vineyard.
How do you feel about oak?
Our lower end wineries use oak mainly to hide the over ripeness of the grapes or the lack of complexity from high yields. Oak should be used to enhance the wine and should be done in balance, much like alcohol levels or tannin.
One winery that prides itself on its innovative us of oak is Del Dotto Winery of St. Helena. They will take grapes from the same vineyard, same blend and put it in many different types of oak. If you doubt the influence oak can have over a wine then you should take the wine tour at Del Dotto. I have had Rutherford Cabernet in both French and American oak that tasted like two distinct wines that you would never know came from the same vineyard.
How do you feel about oak?
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
What I drank 3/18/13
Hall Wines is consistently one of my favorite wineries. There Cabernet's show exceptional dark fruit notes, strong tannin and the dryness that you expect from a high end Cabernet.
The 2010 HALL "Ellie's" Cabernet Sauvignon deviates from that path a little bit. Showing the signature dark fruit this wine is very soft and approachable. What differentiates it from other Hall Artisan offerings is the structure that carries the fruit to the mid palate. In the case of the 2010 HALL "Ellie's" Cabernet Sauvignon the dark fruit hits the palate immediately is carried to the mid palate where black candy notes take over. The finish is medium in length that does coat the entire mouth.
Hall wines, especially the Artisan collection, typically represent dark fruits and and rich tannin. The 2010 HALL "Ellie's" Cabernet Sauvignon falls short of the rich tannin and power but freely expresses itself with unmistakable dark fruit from beginning to end.
Recommendation - If you prefer a more approachable Napa Valley Cabernet, with softer tannin and big dark fruit notes, this is your wine. If you buy Hall for its rich and velvety tannin then another Hall offering is the better option.
***Editor's Notes - This wine was purchased via the wine club with discount's available to all wine club members***
The 2010 HALL "Ellie's" Cabernet Sauvignon deviates from that path a little bit. Showing the signature dark fruit this wine is very soft and approachable. What differentiates it from other Hall Artisan offerings is the structure that carries the fruit to the mid palate. In the case of the 2010 HALL "Ellie's" Cabernet Sauvignon the dark fruit hits the palate immediately is carried to the mid palate where black candy notes take over. The finish is medium in length that does coat the entire mouth.
Hall wines, especially the Artisan collection, typically represent dark fruits and and rich tannin. The 2010 HALL "Ellie's" Cabernet Sauvignon falls short of the rich tannin and power but freely expresses itself with unmistakable dark fruit from beginning to end.
Recommendation - If you prefer a more approachable Napa Valley Cabernet, with softer tannin and big dark fruit notes, this is your wine. If you buy Hall for its rich and velvety tannin then another Hall offering is the better option.
***Editor's Notes - This wine was purchased via the wine club with discount's available to all wine club members***
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