Drinking Imagery's 2006 Cinsault is about as close as I believe I will ever come to actually drinking velvet. It is this very rich, full-bodied lush wine that is bursting with dark fruit and some surprising tannins in there which give it uncharacteristic structure for cinsault. I get bits of lavender, vanilla, plum, blackberry, cinnamon and just the faintest hint of earth.
It glides over the tongue and coats it in this soft, delightful and utterly addicting way and has a finish that I want to last for days.
The cinsault grape is an interesting one- one of the most prolific grapes in France, they grow more of it there than Cabernet Sauvignon. The French love their cinsault so much that it's one of the crops they actually brought to Algeria when they colonized there. It's traditionally used as a Rhone blender, it grows nice and easy and can produce huge crops. The quality of course, is low when the grapes are not carefully controlled since the quantity is so high, quality must be managed carefully. It's known to be a pretty hearty, drought-resistant grape which is why it grows so well. It likes to be on hills. It does well with other hilly-grapes like mouvedre.
It's known as "hermitage" in south africa, in 1925 Professor Perold cross-bred with a petite syrah which produced the first original south-african varietal: pinotage.
By itself, cinsault is not known for its tannins, which is why the blending gives it structure and some measure of longevity.
Go out and enjoy some cinsault. Let its fruit suck you in, delight you and cast a spell on you. Look for it in any Rhone blend and you will notice the fruit it adds to the wine. Try a big, luscious high-end one like Imagery's cinsault, and you will fall in love as I have.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
What a Winey Weekend
Thanksgiving was Thursday. I waffled until Wednesday, a bit ticked off that everybody seemed to have something to do other than come to my house for a meal on the holiday, but finally decided to bite the bullet and cook a nice traditional meal for myself and Larry (okay, the pug ate a lot, too) on Thursday.
I had to pick up some wine clubs at Imagery, as well as some bottles for x-mas ( i decided last year that all everybody is getting from me from now on is wine. Easy). So Friday morning we drove up to Imagery with the pug in tow. We arrived in the morning, and it was already crazy busy with lots of cars in the usually deserted parking lot even a couple of ominous limos... there were people visible on the patio which was odd as well. We arrived to find it bustling like crazy with the heart of Sonoma Valley event weekend where some 35 wineries are hosting open houses Saturday and Sunday. It was already very busy. I went in in search of a few cases I ordered in the Employee Wine Sale, and packed those into the car along with half a case of my wine cubs and several additional bottles for gifting. My grandmother loves chardonnay, and this year she's getting a bottle of the Imagery White Burgandy which is the Imagery answer to a tired chard: it's a white Burgandy style blend of Chard, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Meurnier. It's a really lovely wine and is definitely not your mother's chardonnay. The blanc adds some acidity and the meurnier adds floral sweetness and a very aromatic nose. I got a bottle of the Mourvedre which is big, bold, fruit forward and luscious for folks who perhaps don't care for anything earthy. And really, this is so successful that I'm not sure it would be possible not to absolutely love this wine. I grabbed a couple of those for folks I am not sure if I need gifts for, just in case, and bustled around in the packed tasting room and patio.
We met a very friendly woman on tour with her family and an 11 year old very, very sweet pug named Isabelle, and she offered to take Charm out to the lawn and keep him company for us while we took care of our business. How sweet! We got the wine packed into the car, tasted the 06 Wine Club exclusive Barbera (everything you love about Barbera- it's wonderful), the Pallas Cabernet and the Pallas Estate (my favorite, with the malbec rounding out the cabernet and adding a softness to the palate and a roundness to the nose that lingers on the finish in a most pleasing fashion) as well as this new release that wasn't there when I worked back in October- the Tuscan Blend- (fabulous- I need to get back to taste more of this for sure- mostly Sangiovese) before we took off for some lunch and then home.
Saturday I convinced my long suffering boyfriend to head back down to Paso Robles to pick up my other wine club case at Midnight. Back in May when I signed up for Midnight's club, I had the brilliant, nicely buzzing, serotonin-induced sense of well being to decline shipping, opting to pick up since who wouldn't want to take an occasional 6 hour road trip down to Paso for wine?
We did. We went back to familiar Anderson Road off 46West, pug in tow. First stop was Midnight where we weren't the only folks in the usually quiet tasting room, and got a nice tasting while they assembled my wine club case. We went down the tasting menu while we were there, why not? The 2008 Aurora is Midnight's white blend: 54% Viognier, 21% Marsanne, 17% Rousanne and 8% Grenache Blanc. Alcohol 14.6%. The nose is full of ripe fruit, acidy and floral backnotes and the palate is delightful: vanilla, a little spice, some jasmine, pineapple and just a faint hint of earth.
The other winners on the current menu were the 2005 Reserve Zinfandel (15.2% etoh), hugely fruity and much bigger than the estate Zin of the same vintage. It's 2005, but it's got some time to go in the bottle over the next 5 years to mellow out a bit and round.
The other winner was the 2004 Mare Nectaris, a Bordeaux-style blend with all the usual "Big 5s" in a Bordeaux, it's got a lot going on. It's still young, and a little bit bitey even for an 04 and is probably going to need to sit at least 5 years before it really starts to soften and open up. Decant is now, for sure, or aerate, but this one is a library keeper.
We turned left on Anderson Road, intent on trying another winery back there on the same road, which was closed and sold out. Behind that was the best find in all of Paso so far: Caliza Winery. It was their one-year anniversary, a very young winery in a little cute Tuscan-style store front that's pretty small but nicely styled. They make only 1,000 cases a year, and this is only the second year the store has been open and their wines poured. We met a couple of pug lovers in there, and the pug was on his best behavior for sure. They only had 4 things on the menu, but what a delightful surprise- all 4 of them. 2008 Kissin' Cousins is a white blend of 48% viognier, 30% grenache blanc and 23% rousanne that was crisp, had a lot of pear and nectarine on the nose and the palate, and had a pretty and soft finish. We loved it. Really pretty, elegant white.
The 2006 Azimuth wins the Shelby award for best red of Paso, hands-down. It's a blend of 51% Syrah, 19% grenache, 14% mourvedre, 8% tannant and 8% alicante bouschet. It's incredible and blew me away. The nose just had so much going on where nothing smacked you in the head and all of it just needed to be opened, decanted, sipped and lingered over. Vanilla, cloves, dark berries, coffee and a little chocolate is what I got. The palate is also that complex: lots going on. Like things that are masterfully crafted, I couldn't pick out any specific varietal by itself, but the symphony in there was pretty impressive. Again, lots going on. Big, but so blended and soft already that it's impressive. The finish just lingers and lingers. This wine is amazing now, will last another 10 on a shelf, and is a wine to be reckoned with.
The 2006 Companion is a cab blend, and the 06 syrah is similarly wonderful and has a very grassy, unusal nose for a syrah. We loved them all. I loved them all, but I especially loved that Azimuth. I couldn't believe this tiny little gem of a place was real. If you like big wines and great surprises, run, don't walk to Caliza.
The best part of the tasting was in the middle of it, we met the owner, Carl Bowker. He came out to say hello, an unassuming man with sandy brown-blonde hair and a ready smile in a plain white tee shirt and jeans. He walked us through the companion and the syrah, and invited us back to the azimuth and the companion again. You have to love walking into a tiny store front to meet the winemaker himself, it's like when Joey comes in on a Saturday and pours for a few minutes. It's really great. He walked us through his process, where his grapes come from, and the aim of being 100% estate soon. What a wonderful experience.
We should have just quit when we were ahead. We went to the Disney replica of Cinderella's castle also on Anderson Road across from Dark Star known as Eagle Castle Winery. Crossing the moat, we fought past a couple of large tour groups with a guide, snapping pictures on the way. The medieval castle is over the top. Truthfully, I'd live there. It's pretty wild, if a little too perfect. They have a divine smelling dining room as you enter the heavy carved faux wood doors on the right which will pair with wines well, and on the left is the tasting room. I was totally shocked as the smell of firewood, smoke and a little incense met my nose as soon as we walked into the massive tasting room... there is an actual wood-burning fire burning full blast in the corner of the tasting room!! They had to be kidding me- why pollute the wine? You need to avoid smells with wine that can flavor and mask- unless of course your wines are so forgettable that masking isn't a bad idea. I believe this was the case here. We got a pour with meagre to no customer service- an employee who was far too busy with the folks next to us chatting not about the wine but about travel and nonsense. We tried the whole menu and all of it was completely forgettable. And Honestly, all I kept smelling was smoke, and it permeated the taste of all the wines such that we ended up just taking off. I was really shocked that they would be burning real wood in the fireplace in a tasting room. Crazy.
Last stop on the winey road was a place a friend has recommended to me in the past: Eberle Winery. It's through the little (and charming) town of Paso Robles, and up onto 46 East, where there are several of the big-producer, non family owned wineries in the area, so not the same ambiance as the little winding roads on 46W, but who cares if the wines are good?
The Eberle tasting room is bustling and huge. We walked in and it was about 4pm. I put my card down on the tasting bar for a very busy younger guy who said "okay, complimentary tastings are 5 off this menu..." and walked away. They have a lot on the menu. I was smiling a bit- being "in the industry" my card from Imagery gets me comp tastings and usually the whole menu is open. A new woman came over as the younger guy was rather busy, and got us started. There were a couple of whites and we were just starting on the lighter bodied reds when the tasting room manager came over and introduced herself, asked what winery I was from in Sonoma and had we been to Eberle before. I have her my low-down on Imagery, and said that a friend recommended we try Eberle while we were down there, so this was our first time there. A minute later, a woman came up behind us and said "Grab your glasses, the last tour is starting if you'd like to join us in the caves."
Yes, we'd love to join you in the caves!! I want to live in the caves!
A fun tour. They have a lot of caves in a labyrinthine pattern down there, and a big central space with tables set up for parties and dinners which I understand are a real experience. There is also a small and elegant private tasting room down there where one of the staff can pour personally for your party of 2-8 people. That would be very cool to experience. Midway through the caves, Charmey tired but at my heels like a loyal dog, we stopped and got a wine refill- Larry and I got the Cab/Syrah blend which was the best thing on the Erberle menu for sure.
Back in the tasting room, I was delighted that they took such good care of us at Eberle. The wines are light to medium bodied staples that are reasonably priced and good for everyday table drinking. Their biggest red was no longer available, so I was most disappointed to miss their best-crafted red, but the cab/syrah was solid and delicious. And really, they took very good care of us at Eberle so I had a really nice experience.
A few more cases laden, we headed back to the Bay Area early Sunday morning. While I need to drink more and buy less wine for sure, I like the opportunity to get down there and explore Paso's finest. And boy, I can't wait until Caliza gets a wine club.
Cheers fow now afficianados!
I had to pick up some wine clubs at Imagery, as well as some bottles for x-mas ( i decided last year that all everybody is getting from me from now on is wine. Easy). So Friday morning we drove up to Imagery with the pug in tow. We arrived in the morning, and it was already crazy busy with lots of cars in the usually deserted parking lot even a couple of ominous limos... there were people visible on the patio which was odd as well. We arrived to find it bustling like crazy with the heart of Sonoma Valley event weekend where some 35 wineries are hosting open houses Saturday and Sunday. It was already very busy. I went in in search of a few cases I ordered in the Employee Wine Sale, and packed those into the car along with half a case of my wine cubs and several additional bottles for gifting. My grandmother loves chardonnay, and this year she's getting a bottle of the Imagery White Burgandy which is the Imagery answer to a tired chard: it's a white Burgandy style blend of Chard, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Meurnier. It's a really lovely wine and is definitely not your mother's chardonnay. The blanc adds some acidity and the meurnier adds floral sweetness and a very aromatic nose. I got a bottle of the Mourvedre which is big, bold, fruit forward and luscious for folks who perhaps don't care for anything earthy. And really, this is so successful that I'm not sure it would be possible not to absolutely love this wine. I grabbed a couple of those for folks I am not sure if I need gifts for, just in case, and bustled around in the packed tasting room and patio.
We met a very friendly woman on tour with her family and an 11 year old very, very sweet pug named Isabelle, and she offered to take Charm out to the lawn and keep him company for us while we took care of our business. How sweet! We got the wine packed into the car, tasted the 06 Wine Club exclusive Barbera (everything you love about Barbera- it's wonderful), the Pallas Cabernet and the Pallas Estate (my favorite, with the malbec rounding out the cabernet and adding a softness to the palate and a roundness to the nose that lingers on the finish in a most pleasing fashion) as well as this new release that wasn't there when I worked back in October- the Tuscan Blend- (fabulous- I need to get back to taste more of this for sure- mostly Sangiovese) before we took off for some lunch and then home.
Saturday I convinced my long suffering boyfriend to head back down to Paso Robles to pick up my other wine club case at Midnight. Back in May when I signed up for Midnight's club, I had the brilliant, nicely buzzing, serotonin-induced sense of well being to decline shipping, opting to pick up since who wouldn't want to take an occasional 6 hour road trip down to Paso for wine?
We did. We went back to familiar Anderson Road off 46West, pug in tow. First stop was Midnight where we weren't the only folks in the usually quiet tasting room, and got a nice tasting while they assembled my wine club case. We went down the tasting menu while we were there, why not? The 2008 Aurora is Midnight's white blend: 54% Viognier, 21% Marsanne, 17% Rousanne and 8% Grenache Blanc. Alcohol 14.6%. The nose is full of ripe fruit, acidy and floral backnotes and the palate is delightful: vanilla, a little spice, some jasmine, pineapple and just a faint hint of earth.
The other winners on the current menu were the 2005 Reserve Zinfandel (15.2% etoh), hugely fruity and much bigger than the estate Zin of the same vintage. It's 2005, but it's got some time to go in the bottle over the next 5 years to mellow out a bit and round.
The other winner was the 2004 Mare Nectaris, a Bordeaux-style blend with all the usual "Big 5s" in a Bordeaux, it's got a lot going on. It's still young, and a little bit bitey even for an 04 and is probably going to need to sit at least 5 years before it really starts to soften and open up. Decant is now, for sure, or aerate, but this one is a library keeper.
We turned left on Anderson Road, intent on trying another winery back there on the same road, which was closed and sold out. Behind that was the best find in all of Paso so far: Caliza Winery. It was their one-year anniversary, a very young winery in a little cute Tuscan-style store front that's pretty small but nicely styled. They make only 1,000 cases a year, and this is only the second year the store has been open and their wines poured. We met a couple of pug lovers in there, and the pug was on his best behavior for sure. They only had 4 things on the menu, but what a delightful surprise- all 4 of them. 2008 Kissin' Cousins is a white blend of 48% viognier, 30% grenache blanc and 23% rousanne that was crisp, had a lot of pear and nectarine on the nose and the palate, and had a pretty and soft finish. We loved it. Really pretty, elegant white.
The 2006 Azimuth wins the Shelby award for best red of Paso, hands-down. It's a blend of 51% Syrah, 19% grenache, 14% mourvedre, 8% tannant and 8% alicante bouschet. It's incredible and blew me away. The nose just had so much going on where nothing smacked you in the head and all of it just needed to be opened, decanted, sipped and lingered over. Vanilla, cloves, dark berries, coffee and a little chocolate is what I got. The palate is also that complex: lots going on. Like things that are masterfully crafted, I couldn't pick out any specific varietal by itself, but the symphony in there was pretty impressive. Again, lots going on. Big, but so blended and soft already that it's impressive. The finish just lingers and lingers. This wine is amazing now, will last another 10 on a shelf, and is a wine to be reckoned with.
The 2006 Companion is a cab blend, and the 06 syrah is similarly wonderful and has a very grassy, unusal nose for a syrah. We loved them all. I loved them all, but I especially loved that Azimuth. I couldn't believe this tiny little gem of a place was real. If you like big wines and great surprises, run, don't walk to Caliza.
The best part of the tasting was in the middle of it, we met the owner, Carl Bowker. He came out to say hello, an unassuming man with sandy brown-blonde hair and a ready smile in a plain white tee shirt and jeans. He walked us through the companion and the syrah, and invited us back to the azimuth and the companion again. You have to love walking into a tiny store front to meet the winemaker himself, it's like when Joey comes in on a Saturday and pours for a few minutes. It's really great. He walked us through his process, where his grapes come from, and the aim of being 100% estate soon. What a wonderful experience.
We should have just quit when we were ahead. We went to the Disney replica of Cinderella's castle also on Anderson Road across from Dark Star known as Eagle Castle Winery. Crossing the moat, we fought past a couple of large tour groups with a guide, snapping pictures on the way. The medieval castle is over the top. Truthfully, I'd live there. It's pretty wild, if a little too perfect. They have a divine smelling dining room as you enter the heavy carved faux wood doors on the right which will pair with wines well, and on the left is the tasting room. I was totally shocked as the smell of firewood, smoke and a little incense met my nose as soon as we walked into the massive tasting room... there is an actual wood-burning fire burning full blast in the corner of the tasting room!! They had to be kidding me- why pollute the wine? You need to avoid smells with wine that can flavor and mask- unless of course your wines are so forgettable that masking isn't a bad idea. I believe this was the case here. We got a pour with meagre to no customer service- an employee who was far too busy with the folks next to us chatting not about the wine but about travel and nonsense. We tried the whole menu and all of it was completely forgettable. And Honestly, all I kept smelling was smoke, and it permeated the taste of all the wines such that we ended up just taking off. I was really shocked that they would be burning real wood in the fireplace in a tasting room. Crazy.
Last stop on the winey road was a place a friend has recommended to me in the past: Eberle Winery. It's through the little (and charming) town of Paso Robles, and up onto 46 East, where there are several of the big-producer, non family owned wineries in the area, so not the same ambiance as the little winding roads on 46W, but who cares if the wines are good?
The Eberle tasting room is bustling and huge. We walked in and it was about 4pm. I put my card down on the tasting bar for a very busy younger guy who said "okay, complimentary tastings are 5 off this menu..." and walked away. They have a lot on the menu. I was smiling a bit- being "in the industry" my card from Imagery gets me comp tastings and usually the whole menu is open. A new woman came over as the younger guy was rather busy, and got us started. There were a couple of whites and we were just starting on the lighter bodied reds when the tasting room manager came over and introduced herself, asked what winery I was from in Sonoma and had we been to Eberle before. I have her my low-down on Imagery, and said that a friend recommended we try Eberle while we were down there, so this was our first time there. A minute later, a woman came up behind us and said "Grab your glasses, the last tour is starting if you'd like to join us in the caves."
Yes, we'd love to join you in the caves!! I want to live in the caves!
A fun tour. They have a lot of caves in a labyrinthine pattern down there, and a big central space with tables set up for parties and dinners which I understand are a real experience. There is also a small and elegant private tasting room down there where one of the staff can pour personally for your party of 2-8 people. That would be very cool to experience. Midway through the caves, Charmey tired but at my heels like a loyal dog, we stopped and got a wine refill- Larry and I got the Cab/Syrah blend which was the best thing on the Erberle menu for sure.
Back in the tasting room, I was delighted that they took such good care of us at Eberle. The wines are light to medium bodied staples that are reasonably priced and good for everyday table drinking. Their biggest red was no longer available, so I was most disappointed to miss their best-crafted red, but the cab/syrah was solid and delicious. And really, they took very good care of us at Eberle so I had a really nice experience.
A few more cases laden, we headed back to the Bay Area early Sunday morning. While I need to drink more and buy less wine for sure, I like the opportunity to get down there and explore Paso's finest. And boy, I can't wait until Caliza gets a wine club.
Cheers fow now afficianados!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Paso Robles
Larry and I decided to take a little mini vacation to test the water and see if we could stand to be with eachother uninterrupted for a whopping 72 hours. This seems comical, but for those of you young pups who started out living with other people from a young age, this is not so simple after time... For the past 15 (plus, although the plus is more Larry than me, thank you) years we have essentially lived with nobody but ourselves. You become- how to say- stodgy about how things are done in the home. To test this water, we put a toe in and decided to road-trip down to Paso Robles, where I could further immerse Larry into my wine indulgence. He'd so far been a quick study, although who doesn't like wine??
There is a long and tensioned history of Us-Versus-Them between those of us who work in Sonoma and those of us who work in Napa. Sonoma lovers are somewhat sanctimonious about Sonoma being mainly family-run and owned wineries, like the one I work for, Benzinger. We frown on Napa valley for its Disney-esq monied mega-mansion winery storefronts that are all owned, operated and paid for by mega corporations. Basically from Napa all the way up the main drag to Healdsburg it's one huge conglomerate corporation-run wine "experience." While the quality is undisputed for many of these places (I love many of them- Montelena, Franciscan, etc), I dont like the idea that Nestle Corporation is getting my money for that $55 cabernet. The best part about Sonoma is that it's smaller, much more spread out, and mainly family run. This is even more so the case in a place like Paso Robles. It's small, it's in the middle of nowhere, really, it's got a ton of little wineries most of which are still family-owned and operated, with the occasional mega-production house that makes millions of cases per annum. And, Imagery gets many of our grapes from vineyards down there. It was time to visit. And Larry had never been there.
Off of highway 101 is highway 46, there is an east and a west 46- both have wineries all over the place. We went down to 46 West and there were two names on the winery map that caught my eye, and they both happened to be next to eachother that I thought were worth a visit: Dark Star Cellars and Midnight Cellars.
Our first stop was Dark Star, which has a tasting room located in a charming little barn-type structure, and we were met with pretty art-glass pot lights over the bar and an ageing boxer serving as welcome committee. Behind the bar in the tasting room is Susan Beson, wife of Norm Benson, the wine maker. They started Dark Star in 1994 and have a very small production of 4,000 cases a year. Norm wanted to focus on finely crafted big reds, which he felt were "dark stars." We enjoyed our tasting with Susan, buying a few bottles of the signature Bordeaux-style blend they produce called Recordati. The 2005 Ricordati is a lovely blend of CabSauv, Merlot, Cab Franc, Malbec and Verdot.
Susan encouraged us to walk through a little doorway to a second tasting room in the same building as Dark Star's where Susan and Norm's son opened his own tasting room. Brian Benson's tasting room reflects his younger age (26!) with vivid red walls and pictures of classic muscle cars all over the place. Brian himself was pouring for us. Brian Benson Cellars began in 2000 and has slowly increased its production since. He released a syrah in 2005 that we tasted that was like nothing I've ever had before- it was the smokiest syrah I've ever had- it is sultry and you can just taste and feel the smoke on the nose and the palate. His first big release, this won a gold medal as a total unheard-of underdog in a wine competition (I don't remember which). We bought a few bottles of that and headed up the little narrow Anderson Road to Midnight Cellars. Another barn in the parking lot, and in visible distance to Dark Star, the barn has barrels upon barrels. The tasting room is in a house-like structure where you're greeted by a somewhat skittish long haired calico cat and a quiet tasting room.
I was very pleasantly surprised by Midnight. They also try for big reds- they are also a family run and owned enterprise, and the woman pouring for us gave us a very nice tasting. I ended up joining the platinum wine club and left with an assorted case. They have several Zins which are lovely- and some other very cool things on the menu. They produced a discreet Petite Verdot that was fabulous, and a Bordeaux style blend (their flagship) called "Mare Nectaris" which is a blend of all 5 Bordeaux usuals. It's lovely. The Hartenberger family started midnight in 1995 and have been making small production big wines since to many accolades. Currently, they make about 8,000 cases annually. I decided to join the winery but opted for pick up since I thought it would be nice to take a little trip a couple times a year down here to do some more exploring...
On this trip, these 3 wineries were about all we could manage before having to find a place to set up camp for the night. We opened a great bottle of one of the day's catches, I introduced Larry to the amazing Chili-Cheese-Mac, played some football, and fell asleep. The rest of the weekend (one day, really) was in Monterey, which is still probably my favorite place in the state- we went whale watching and felt like I had the gentle sea-gods giving me good karma by showing up in spades for us- breaching, jumping, mothers with calves, playing with dolphins, it was just fantastic.
Oh, and it's not "Paso Roblays," it's "Paso Robels."
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