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Wine Blog

Monterey Finds Gold At 2012 S.F. Chronicle Competition

by Laura Ness - HerVineNess on January 24, 2012

Monterey wineries had an impressive showing at the recently completed 2012 SF Chronicle competition, once confirming that this AVA has “Pinot Power” in spades. And let’s not forget all the gorgeous Chardonnay that flows like golden sunshine from the vine-threaded hillsides.

WrathSign It was Double Gold for Wrath for their 2009 “Fermata” chardonnay, $34.99, Double Gold for Paraiso’s 2009 SLH estate pinot, $24.99, Double Gold for Scheid’s 2009 Estate pinot noir ($32), and Double Gold for Hahn SLH Estate 2010 pinot noir ($34.99).

Proving Winemaker Sabrine Rodems has the golden touch when it comes to pinot, Wrath took Gold for both the 2009 Pommard 4/667 and 115/667 pinots, $34.99. sabrine&chrisWrath

CRU scored Gold for their Vineyard Montage pinot, $23. Mendelson Vineyard (Napa) took their 2008 Doctor’s vineyard pinot to Double Gold, and the 2009 version to Gold in the $35 to $40 category.

Bernardus took Silver for their SLH pinot in this category, as did Wrath for their 2009 “Ex Vite” pinot, Monterey appellation. This is a fabulously bright wine, overflowing with strawberry and rhubarb pie, with no wood to get in the way. It was fermented in neutral barrels. Wrath ExVitePinot

Truckee River Wine Company, a humble little spot I’ve enjoyed visiting up by the Truckee airport, turned their 2007 Garys’ Vineyard pinot into Double Gold, and the 2008 into Gold, both in the $40 to $49 category. Vision Cellars pulled off a Gold for their 2008 Rosella’s pinot, and Silvers for both their 2009 Los Alturas and Garys’ pinots ($48). Sonnet Cellars scored a Double Gold for their awesome 2009 Tondre pinot ($34.99).

Hahn SLH Estate scored Gold for their 2010 Santa Lucia Highlands chardonnay, $24.99, and Ventana pulled in a Gold for their sauvignon blanc ($19). Mercy Vineyards scored Silver for their Griva vineyard chardonnay ($30), as did Paraiso for their 2009 Estate chardonnay ($19). Scheid scored a slew of Silvers, including one for their 2008 Reserve Isabella sparkling ($45), their Estate pinot blanc ($24), their Napa Valley petit Verdot reserve ($65), and for their Monterey Reserve Tannat ($35). Well done! All the more reason to visit the new Scheid tasting room in Carmel.

Hahn also scored Gold for that yummy 2010 Central Coast GSM blend, priced at $12, and Gold for their Central Coast Meritage, $18, along with Silver for their Monterey pinot, central coast merlot and cabernet sauvignon. Winemaker Paul Clifton definitely still has that magic touch. paulCHahn

Mark Calendars for River Road Wine Trail Sweethearts Passport Event, Feb 11

It sure is nice to get rain at long last, but I would not mind if lovely weather would reappear for the annual Sweethearts Passport tasting event on River Road, Saturday, February 11. It’s a great time to visit all the sweet tasting rooms along one of America’s most scenic and charming wine trails. Tickets are $20 prior to Feb 1, and $30 thereafter, so you know what to do.

Laura&CHefBRianO Chef Brian Overhauser of Hahn Estates will be serving up some delicious appetizers focused on Pinot Noir, so be sure to make Hahn a stop on your River Road journey. A couple of the dishes he plans to serve are:

Pork Confit sliders and Royal Rose radicchio slaw with 2006 Lucienne Lone Oak Pinot Noir and Wagyu Short Ribs with Andy Boy Cauliflower and Horseradish Chantilly, paired with 2010 Hahn Winery GSM. Yum!! Can’t wait. HahnFood4Passport

Winemaker Dave Coventry of Franscioni and Manzoni wineries, invites you to come taste the difference he’s making at both these wineries. Recent tastings of the newly released 2009 Manzoni Estate Syrah and 2010 Manzoni Estate Pinot Noir confirm this brand is on a new track to greatness. DaveCoventryBarrels

Tagged as: 2008 Scheid pinot noir, Brian Overhauser, Dave Coventry, Franscioni, Garys' Vineyard, Hahn, Manzoni, Sabrine Rodems, Santa Lucia Highlands, Tondre, Truckee River Wine Company, Wrath

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Livermore Cabernet Takes “Best Red of Show” At 2012 SF Chronicle Competition

by Laura Ness - HerVineNess on January 23, 2012

Livermore Cabernet has bested the lot of ‘em – over 3k entries – to take Best Red bragging rights at the just completed 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Competition. Kudos to winemaker Mark Clarin for this outstanding achievement, and one of which every Livermore Cabernet lover can be proud. The 2008 McGrail Livermore Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve ($36.00) outscored its way to the top through a thick field of Cabernets, including submissions by a dozen other Livermore wineries, and strong competition from big Napa names, like Black Stallion, Sequoia Grove, B.R. Cohn and Judds Hill.
Among other Livermore wineries bringing home the bacon for Cabernet were Fenestra, who scored Gold for their 07 Cabernet from Thatcher Bay in the $20 to $24.99 category, where Page Mill, Red Feather and Wente scored Silvers.
Bent Creek won Best of Class for their 09 Cabernet in the $25 to $29 category, and Cuda Ridge scored Best of Class for their 09 Merlot in the $20 to $24.99 category.
Wente scored Gold for their 07 Merlot in the over $40 category, and scored Best of Class for Syrah in the over $40 for their 09 Livermore Valley under the nth degree label. Thomas Coyne, too, brought home Best [...]

Tagged as: 3 Steves, Bent Creek, Cabernet, Charles R, Concannon and DeMayo, Csaba Szakal, Cuda Ridge, Darcie Kent, En Garde, Fenestra, Livermore Valley, Mark Clarin, McGrail, Mitchell Katz, Nottingham Cellars, Page Mill, Retzlaff, Ruby Hill, Stony Ridge, Thomas Coyne, Wente

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New Year, More Cheer: Wine Sales On The Rise

by Laura Ness - HerVineNess on January 16, 2012

Wine Sales Continue to Make Registers Go KaCHING!
You probably knew this already, but wine sales were definitely up this holiday season. People are in a merrier mood than they’ve been in a while, even if they’re not celebrating the prolonged California drought. So far, the only thing dry about this year is the weather.
What’s the fastest growing variety in recent sales trends? Online sales site, wine.com, reports that sales of cabernet were up 58% in 2011 over 2010. That’s winemaker Jeffrey Patterson crafting some dynamite House Family Winery cab, above. It’s bold, muscular, satisfying stuff, with all the cigar-laden, tanned saddle leather cabness that makes it the King.
Holding the number two sales position, at least on this site, is no longer chardonnay, but pinot noir. That’s quite an interesting trend. Good news for merlot makers, too: sales were up by 43%: maybe an early indicator that the merlot-bashing phase has passed? That Burrell School “Honor Roll” merlot is as bodacious as a Right Bank Pomerol beauty, at half the price, jam-packed with wild cherry and mocha goodness.
The wine.com site reports sales of tempranillo and sangiovese on the upswing, and in the white category, chenin blanc, muscat, torrontes and gruner [...]

Tagged as: Bill Brosseau, Boekenoogen, chardonnay, Dos Rubios Vineyard, House Family Winery cabernet, Jeffrey Patterson, Kirk Williams, Monument Valley, Testarossa

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Chardonnay and Apple Pie?

by Laura Ness - HerVineNess on January 15, 2012

In early December, as the sun sank low in the sky, dropping daytime temps quickly from 60 something to barely 50, I took a rather exciting drive through the broccoli fields of Gonzales to the fall-colored hills of the Santa Lucia Highlands, with Mark Pisoni: farmer, father, son, grandson and winegrower. He is first and foremost a farmer, and his love of the land, this fruitful, beautiful land, is evident in everything he says and does. Oh, he does love wine, but one gets the impression that he would choose a jar of his wife’s apple butter over a bottle of chardonnay if that were the last choice to be made.
Mark lives in a beautiful old farmhouse with a root cellar filled with wine – dust-covered, musty-looking old bottles, quietly resting on even more dust-covered shelves, surrounded by empty bottles that read like a who was and really still is who of the great Burgundy houses: Echezaux, Le Tache, Gevery-Chambertin, and modern legends like Kosta-Browne, Roar, Testarossa, Lucia…oh, yeah, and Pisoni.
Cases of liquid gold resting beneath the growing roots of broccoli and lettuce, and the pitter patter of children’s feet as they scamper across the same oak floor that Mark [...]

Tagged as: Franscioni, Lucia, Lucy Rose, Pinot Noir, Pisoni, Roar, Santa Lucia Highlands, Testarossa

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Christmas in Santa Fe

by Laura Ness - HerVineNess on December 28, 2011

Around 25 years ago, my husband and I were flying somewhere for some trade show and I happened upon a copy of New Mexico magazine. On the cover was a dazzling photograph of an old mission church covered with snow, and it took my breath away. The article regaled the beauty of the high desert in winter and extolled the pleasures of Christmas in Santa Fe. We knew we had to see it for ourselves.
A couple of years later, we flew to The City Different, as the Santa Feans refer to their adobe city, on Christmas Day. Little did we know the rules that govern dispensing of alcohol on Christmas in a Catholic city. Very few places were open, and we had not made dinner reservations (really dumb) – every place was booked. Many were taking waiting list reservations, with a non-refundable credit card fee of $60. No bars were open. Forget it. We needed a drink, but more than that, we needed dinner. We felt a bit like Mary and Joseph on La Posada, looking not for shelter, but for food.
Finally, we found (this in the days before iPhones and smartphones of any kind) that the Hotel Santa Fe, [...]

Tagged as: Christmas, Garcia Street, Hotel Santa Fe, New Mexico magazine, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Stay, St Francis, Zia Diner

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