June 10, 2012 – Wine: 2006 Bell Cellars Sonnette

2006 has not been my favorite vintage from Napa Valley.  I have opened a lot of unsatisfying bottles from this vintage.  (I suspect that the week-long July heat wave culminating in four days of 115 degree F temperatures may have had something to do with it.)  I applaud any winemaker that released a truly successful wine from 2006.  This wine is a great example.  Bell’s Sonnette wine is a blend of the classic Bordeaux varietals with some emphasis on Cabernet Sauvignon.  In this instance, the wine walks the line between power and elegance, featuring flavors of cranberry, sour cherry, black licorice, and minerals.  While the 2006 vintage characteristics are still evident in this wine, they are substantially subdued as this wine exudes terrific balance and flavor.  (I have noted flavors of steel and charcoal in most 2006 reds from Napa Valley, and off balance acids and bitterness that steer many of the wines away from my tastes.)

2006 Bell Sonnette Red Wine

Not Unbreakable, but Rather Break-Resistant

I had to look up the customer support phone number on the Wine Enthusiast web site for my broken glass.  The first thing that I noticed is that the glasses are not called unbreakable, but rather break-resistant.  Now I don’t feel so bad having broken a break-resistant glass.  (I broke down its resistance?)  It is worth noting that only the bowl of the glass broke, and the stem remained intact.  So, I called the 800 number, gave my name and ZIP code, explained that I knocked over a glass and broke it.  They told me the new glass is on its way.  Again, the whole transaction lasted about 90 seconds (actually a few seconds longer because I wasn’t calling from home).  The wine glasses are quite nice, but they cannot compare with the excellent customer service.

June 8, 2012 – Wine: 2006 Elyse Korte Ranch Zinfandel

I bought a case of this wine on sale at the winery back in 2008 and split it with my sister.  I quickly drank through the first five half bottles, putting up with the tannins to get at that delicious fruit.  Through much discipline I was able to hold onto one last half bottle until tonight.  What a worthwhile endeavor that turned out to be.  This wine has developed both a richness and an elegance that are held in balance.  Unlike some elegant Zinfandels, this wine has tremendous depth to it.  The tannins are only starting to soften, suggesting that this wine would have gone on another three to five years (though my patience would not).  In addition to its lovely nose, this wine offers up flavors of black cherry, black licorice, intense minerals, black currants, and note of dark chocolate.  The real treat is to pair this wine with some rich chocolate, which allows the fruit flavors in the wine to sing.



2006 Elyse Korte Ranch Zinfandel



Unbreakable Wine Glasses

I knew that there had to be something up with these break-resistant glasses, but after having broken one of my favorite crystal stems (leaving me with only three stems), I needed to look for something more “Mark-proof”.  I must have inherited a genetic tendency to break stemware because my sister has worked her way through more than a dozen stems in the past decade.  This is my third broken stem in seven years.  So, I ordered a set of magnesium-infused wine glasses from the Wine Enthusiast back in 2009.  My suspicions about these glasses were stoked when I opened the second box of four neatly-wrapped stems and one was an inch shorter than the others.  Indeed, one of the stems had broken in transit or in storage.  The most amazing thing was how responsive Wine Enthusiast’s people were to replace the damaged stem.  When I called to report the problem, they captured my phone number from the caller ID, matched it to my order, confirmed my shipping address, and 90 seconds later my replacement glass was on its way.  That is what I call service!  And I realized that I wasn’t buying unbreakable stemware so much as a company that stands behind its product.


Break-resistant wine glasses arrive with one glass "shorter" than the others.

Flash forward to June 10, 2012.  After having finished my second (and final) glass of the 2006 Bell Sonnette, I reached for the remote next to my glass to turn off the TV and brushed the glass off of the end table where it stood.  As I watched the glass fall in slow motion, I wondered how it would react.  Would it bound about on the floor, spilling trace amounts of wine and bumping about?  Or, would it perform like most wine glasses that fall a distance of thirty inches and shatter upon impact?  Well, the slow motion ended with a substantial crash, as shards of glass splintered across the hardwood floors.  I guess I kind of expected that.  If you want unbreakable stemware, get acrylic.  If you prefer to enjoy your wine from a fragile yet elegant wine glass, be careful with your glass stemware.  Duh.

(I actually have a cruel joke that I play on my friends where I hand them a clean acrylic stem and let go of it just as they are almost within reach of the “glass”.  They have a heart-attack as the object falls to the floor, only to bounce back up to their knees before bouncing again off the floor.  I pulled this trick on my sister who immediately pulled it on someone else.)

So, I now have to call Wine Enthusiast again to find out whether this sort of “use” qualifies for replacement under the terms of their ten-year limited warrantee.  That will come tomorrow.  I am curious to see how my experience this time will vary from my first contact.

(Read the rest here.)

June 6, 2012 – Wine: 2007/8 (NV) Boa Ventura Platinum Label Cabernet Sauvignon

Boa Ventura is located on the eastern end of Livermore Valley.  This winery is one of the smallest winery operations that I know of that produces a respectable wine.  When I first tasted this wine at the winery, I was sufficiently impressed to purchase a half-case of half-bottles.  Over two years later, I opened the fourth bottle from the set.  I sense a very different mineral influence between Livermore Valley Cabernets and Napa Valley wines.  In this case, the wine starts off with a prominent flavor influence of tea and plum, followed by mineral, strawberry, tobacco, and sour cherry.  It is interesting to note that this wine is made from a blend of 2007 (60%) and 2008 (40%) grapes.  This wine is difficult to find beyond the winery (except for a few local restaurants) because the winery produces fewer than 1,500 total cases of wine per year.  (By contrast, Beringer Winery produces 40,000 cases a year of just one wine, their Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.)

2007/8 Boa Ventura Platinum Label Cabernet Sauvignon

June 2, 2012 – Wine: Two Zinfandels

I thought I was bringing two different wines to a party.  Sure they were both California Zinfandels, but they were from two very different vintages (2006 had plenty of rain and a July heat-wave, while 2008 was a drought year with heavy smoke from files), and were from grapes grown in different regions. 

The first wine we opened was a 2008 Hess Artezin which is blended from grapes in Amador County, Dry Creek, and Mendocino County.  This well-balanced medium bodied wine walked the line between power and elegance.  A delicious nose leads to a palette of red cherry, currant, black licorice, and mineral with a suggestion of lime on the finish. 

The second wine was the 2006 Renwood Old Vine Zinfandel from Amador County (specifically, the Shenandoah Valley).  This wine featured a nearly identical flavor profile, except for slightly more emphasis on oak and less on mineral, and no lime on the finish.  Being two years older, this wine also captured the elegance of Zinfandel better than the Artezin.  Both of these wines were delicious and easy to drink.  And, they were my last bottles of each.

May 31, 2012 – Wine: 2004 Chalk Hill Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

I stumbled upon the 2003 Chalk Hill Cabernet while browsing online and wanted to taste it before buying some.  So, I arranged a visit to the winery back in 2007 and was sufficiently impressed to buy a few bottles.  I bought the next two vintages on blind faith, and have not been disappointed.  Tonight I opened a bottle from the 2004 vintage.  After 90 minutes of decanting, the wine had achieved lovely balance.  It also had a terrific, full nose offering up black fruits.  On the palette, the flavors start off with sweet blackberry, leather, black licorice, and minerals.  The fine tannins have a slightly chalky texture to them.  Go figure.

While not technically a Napa Valley wine, the Chalk Hill vineyards occupy the west-facing slopes of the mountain that separates Healdsburg in Sonoma County from Calistoga at the northern end of Napa Valley.  It is because of this that their wines share some of the same mineral characteristics of Napa Valley wines.  When their red wines are young, it is possible to taste a hint of chalk in their wines.



2004 Chalk Hill Estate Cabernet Sauvignon



May 30, 2012 – Wine: 2003 Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste

When I first tasted this wine in a Bordeaux lineup back in 2006, I recall how much this wine resembled a Napa Valley Cabernet in its flavor profile (which is probably the reason I bought a bottle).  Today, that still holds true, as this wine lacks many of the characteristics that point to a fine Bordeaux, such as pencil lead or tar notes.  Instead, this wine features equally intense flavors of red currant, strawberry, mineral, and leather.  The nose is nearly as intense as the palette, although it is more floral.  The tannins are too big right now, even after two hours of decanting, suggesting this wine should rest for another three to five years before really enjoying what it has to offer.  Regrettably, this was my only bottle of the 2003 vintage.  And, I’ll have to wait a few more months before my 2009 bottles arrive, let alone the six or more years of cellaring before I can open any of them.

2003 Chateau Gand Puy Lacoste

May 29, 2012 – Wine: 2002 Ridge Home Ranch

The first vintage of this wine was the 2001.  The last vintage was the 2002.  When I learned there would be no more vintages of this wine, I nearly cried.  Although I preferred the 2001 to the 2002, this wine has long been one of my favorite Meritage blends, especially when factoring in the price.  So, I scouted out as many half bottles as I could afford and tucked them away.  The 2001 bottles were ready right away, so I drank through them while the tannins in the 2002 bottles subsided (somewhat).  The 2002 was built for a long rest in the cellar and is just now starting to enter its prime.  Although the beautiful fruit that I have always adored in this wine is starting to take a back seat to the other flavors, the texture of the wine is vastly improved.  While still quite spicy with tannins, it is very well integrated and complex, with flavors of tobacco and mineral overshadowing the more shy fruit flavors of red cherry.  While deceptively smooth in texture, this wine bores into your palette with its weight, persisting for nearly a minute afterwards.  I will indeed miss this wine once the last bottle is uncorked – fortunately, I have a few more bottles to last me a little while longer.

2002 Ridge Home Ranch

May 28, 2012 – Wine: 2005 Gary Farrell Pinot Noir Russian River Selection

I am not the biggest fan of Pinot Noir wines, but when a nice one strikes me, I notice.  Back in late 2007 I attended a tasting of different Pinot Noir producers at my favorite wine shop in Santa Clara.  Out of the eight Pinots, this wine stood out.  It had remarkable fruit and structure, so I bought a couple of bottles.  I opened the first prematurely in June of 2010 and was a little disappointed, as the wine was soft, tight, and shut down.  Tonight was a different story.


I was joining a friend for dinner and offered him a choice of three Pinot Noirs to accompany our meal.  He selected this bottle of Gary Farrell from the three.  The color was true Pinot Noir, so light like ruby, so clean looking.  The nose was remarkable.  But the palette was the best part.  Pure red cherry flavors floated above a base of baking spices, mineral, and subtle leather notes.  While spicy at first, the texture had settled down to silkiness by the time the wine had been open for 75 minutes.  There was not a hard edge to this wine after it had been open this long.

2005 Gary Farrell Russian River Selection Pinot Noir

Wine Storage for Aging

How long you intend to keep (age) your wine determines how carefully it should be stored.  First, a statistic:  98% of all wine purchased in the U.S. is consumed within 30 days of purchase.  I’m talking more to the 2% of you folks buying some quality stuff to lie down.  For the rest of you, nearly any wine will survive for 30 to 90 days on your kitchen shelf, provided the average temperature stays between 55 and 85 degrees F.  Just keep it away from the stove.

Wine ages best for decades in a cave.  If you intend to age your wine for 20 years or more, you need to store your wine in a cave-like environment.  Most of us don’t have a cave handy, so you can buy a cave simulator (i.e., wine refrigerator) that maintains the wine at a steady temperature around 58 degrees F.  If you live in a clammy climate like San Francisco, Seattle, etc., the basement of an old home will probably work well.  Just check the temperatures throughout the year to be sure the temperature stays below 70 degrees year-round.  If you live on a hillside, a room built against a concrete retaining wall that is shielded from the sun may work too.  I have a basement with retaining walls and store the wine along the north facing wall.  Finally, be sure to store the wine so that the cork stays wet – dry corks will fail and allow air into the wine which quickly ruins it.

If you want to hold onto your wine for 5 years or less, it is often good enough to find a cool, stable environment within your own home or apartment.  The goal is to provide temperature stability, free from regular vibrations and perfumes.  Places to avoid include the garage (unless you only drive an electric car and the sun doesn’t hit the door) because the car’s engine changes the temperature inside the garage dramatically.  The laundry room is also a poor choice because of the vibration, humidity, and heat influences from the dryer and water heater, as well as the scented detergents.  The bathroom is a poor choice because of the daily humidity and heat fluctuations.  And avoid storing wine over the refrigerator (heat and vibration) or around the stove (heat and food smells), or close to the ceiling (heat build-up).  Closet floors that are not along an exterior wall are a good choice (without moth cakes).



Best locations in a house or apportment for wine storage


To help limit the temperature fluctuations, keep the bottles inside of the cardboard carton they came in and place the carton inside a cabinet on the floor of a closet.  These multiple insulating layers help to provide temperature stability for the wine.  This helps protect against heat gain during the day and heat loss at night.  If your only option is in the garage, then build an insulated box using R13 wall insulation or Styrofoam along the box’s walls and lid, and place the box along an interior wall on the concrete floor of the garage.  This will provide the greatest temperature stability.