The Grape Crusader

One of the reasons that we’ve been excited about moving to San Francisco is the close proximity to the oodles of annual wine tasting events we’d have.  We’ve already been to a couple of them as out of town visitors, but this event was our first as residents of San Francisco, and we were chomping at the bit for this one

With over 130 producers present, small in comparison to the annual San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and Family Winemakers event, there was no shortage of pinot noir to go around.  I calculated that we’d be able to visit each booth in attendance in the time allotted if we spent 2 minutes at each table.  The calculations however did not take into account rest time between booths, bathroom breaks or winemaker chat time, so it was basically an impossibility.

Many of the booths we visited were familiar names to us from our time as wine shop owners or just brands we’ve purchased over the years, so unfortunately, my attempt to discover new producers I’ve never heard of or were vaguely familiar with failed.  As soon as we started to mill around, we knew it was going to be hard to resist revisiting the new releases of old standbys.  Oh well, here are some pictures from the event as well as a list at the end of producers whose wines we tasted and enjoyed.

A birds-eye view of the well attended event.

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Winery: Ojai Vineyards

Bottling: 2005 Clos Pepe Pinot Noir

Region: California

Sub-Region: Sta. Rita Hills

Estimated Retail Price: $56

Purchase Details: Purchased off of the wine menu at Vino Italian Tapas and Wine Bar on Oahu.

Tasting Notes: On the nose this wine had nice aromas of dark pinot fruit like blackberries, some plum and black raspberries.  Although it was a mouth-filling pinot noir, the wine still had a clean, palate cleansing acidity.  On the palate, more dark berry fruit, spice and a little earth.  A very complex wine that will thrill the right wine enthusiast.  I think another year in the bottle and this would’ve been perfect.  I’m not complaining though because this was thoroughly enjoyable as is.

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The first thing that came to mind when I took my initial sniff of the 2006 Symington Family Douro Vale de Bomfim, was it smelled like a Dry Creek Valley zinfandel.  No kidding; it had a certain peppery spice and wild berry aroma that was reminiscent of wines from that particular part of zin country.

In the mouth, the wine was also not far off from tasting like a zin.  More wild red and black berries, a little plum, currants and a lot of spice like cinnamon and black pepper.  Nice weight, pleasant purity of fruit and easy to drink.  We really enjoyed this quaffer of a wine.

I haven’t had a lot of experience with dry Portuguese reds and to tell you the truth, with the exception of Quinta do Crasto and another label I can’t remember, most of what I’ve had has been pretty bad.  They were very dry, tasteless and insipid.  I know a lot of this has to do with the availability of dry Portuguese reds in the market that I’ve lived in the past several years, so I’m definitely not writing these wines off.  In fact, I’ve been noticing that lately there has been a lot of positive industry press about the new wave of quality Portuguese dry reds coming to market.  I just tasted another solid one last week, so look out for my review on the Sogrape Callabriga.

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The aft label

Winery: Once Wines

Bottling: 2007 The Table Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: California

Sub-Region: Napa Valley

Estimated Retail Price: $30

Tasting Notes: This wine was crafted with the intent to be a food-friendly wine and it does a great job at hitting the mark.  On the nose, lots of high-toned fruit such as red berries are intermingled with just a touch of dark fruits.

In the mouth, red currants, pomegranate, blackberries, a little spice and just a smidgen of oak.  The texture was unlike anything I remember as being cabernet-esque.  Elegant, medium weight, barely a trace of tannins and a slight mouth watering tartness from the refreshing acidity.

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Winery: Martinelli Winery

Bottling: 2005 Bella Vigna Pinot Noir

Region: California

Sub-Region: Russian River Valley

Estimated Retail Price: $45

Purchase Details: Purchased for approximately $45 at Tamura’s Fine Wine & Liquors on Oahu.

Tasting Notes: I think I’m beginning to get a sense of the style of Martinelli wines.  We drank the 2004 syrah a few months ago and if I remember right, there were some qualities in that wine that were similar to this pinot noir.

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Winery: Pahlmeyer

Bottling: 2005 Jayson Red — (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec)

Region: California

Sub-Region: Napa Valley

Estimated Retail Price: $55

Purchase Details: Purchased for $63 at Vintage Wine Cellar in Honolulu, HI.

Tasting Notes: Pahlmeyer Winery makes a flagship red called simply, Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red.  The wine is excellent, but it doesn’t really begin to show very well unless the wine has spent a few years in the cellar.  It also retails for around $120, so its not the most accessible wine.

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Winery: Ojai Vineyard

Bottling: 2005 Grenache

Region: California

Sub-Region: Santa Barbara

Estimated Retail Price: $35

Purchase Details: Purchased for $56 off the wine menu at Vino Italian Tapas and Wine Bar.

Tasting Notes: This was a grapey, winey, bistro-esque kind of wine if that makes any sense — gulpable, but serious and with some stuffing behind it.  The wines drinkability more than its flavor profile is what allowed it to pair well with the Mediterranean-Italian food on our plates.  Nice, refreshing acid structure and wild berry and plum flavors on the palate.

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I apologize for not having any posts as of late.  You know what its like to move right?  We’re jst getting settled in to our new zip code, so new scintillating reviews to follow shortly.  Aloha — Andre

Winery: Quivira Vineyards

Bottling: 2007 Fig Tree Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc

Region: California

Sub-Region: Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma

Estimated Retail Price: $18

Purchase Details: Bought for $18 at R. Field

Tasting Notes: Quivira’s Fig Tree sauvignon blanc used to be fermented and aged in oak, but since new ownership has taken over, they’ve changed vinification processes and adapted the more modern and traditional style of stainless steel fermentation.  I was excited to try this new version.

On the nose, fresh citrus, herb and mineral.  In the mouth, lime, citrus, mineral and a nice wet-stone component.  The wine had a rich mid-palate that I thought might be lost without the use of barrel-fermenting and aging, but the current process of aging it on the lees while in the steel tanks surely helped retain somewhat of a richness.

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I did a little bit of a double-take when I saw this wine on the shelf, because if my memory served me right, Marc Kreydenweiss is a well-known producer of wines from Alsace.  This was a Costieres de Nimes, red, grenache-syrah-mourvedre blend that’s nowhere near an Alsatian white wine.

Nevertheless, I promptly grabbed this off the shelf.  Even though I haven’t posted very many reviews on Cotes du Rhone, Languedoc, Southern France regional red blends, I’m a big fan of these value priced, “cheap” bottles of wine.  I never hesitate to grab one off the shelf.  They’re great to have around the house for any occasion.  Note to yourself, lots of great wines $15 and under can be had from these regions.

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