February 15, 2013 – Wine: 2005 Chateau Gruaud Larose Saint Julian

Back in 2006, after hearing rumors about how good the 2005 vintage from Bordeaux was expected to turn out, I placed my first futures order for a number of half-bottles based entirely on price and ratings resulting from barrel tastings.  At the time, I had very minimal experience with Bordeaux wines, so this was the best I could figure out.  Most of the wines arrived a few years later, and this one arrived last (which is more than I can say for one of the wines I ordered).  My research suggested holding onto this until 2012, so I figured I had satisfied that requirement.  I decanted the wine for nearly an hour beforehand.  The wine had good balance, a nice, floral nose, and an interesting palette featuring a kind of stewed cherry and plum mixture with baking spices, followed by sturdy minerals.  Throw some pastry around this wine and you’d have a terrific dessert, but barring that, you have an interesting wine to say the least.  I have one more, so I’ll hold onto it another few years to see what happens.

2005 Chateau Gruaud Larose Saint Julian

February 14, 2013 – Wine: 2006 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine was one of my first wine club shipments from Corison.  When it was released, I tasted it and decided that the vintage characteristics were sufficiently buried beneath the fruit and structure that made this wine so good, so I bought a few extra bottles.  Last April this wine was in an awkward stage of development.  Something happened in the ensuing six months to correct this, as this wine is again in great balance.  Unlike most Corison wines, this has come on nearly full-throttle with rich, pure fruits of red and black currants, black cherry, leather, and minerals.  The nose is also quite pronounced.  While far from its peak, this wine is in a good place right now and there is only a trace of the 2006 vintage characteristics that my palette is sensitive to.


2006 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon



McGrail Vineyards, February 16, 2013

Winery - 7 / Wines - 7
Range:  1 to 9 (9 is best, 5 is average)
Napa style in Livermore Valley.  Respectable cabernets and other varietals.
www.mcgrailvineyards.com

When my sister invited me to a winery event featuring good local Cabernet paired with chocolate, I was already rearranging my schedule before the word “yes” could flow from my mouth.  As a wine club member at McGrail Vineyards in Livermore Valley, my sister gets invited to a number of functions throughout the year, most often paired with tasty treats and live music.  Today was no exception.  The special event was held in the middle of the (well-kept) cellar, surrounded by tall stacks of barrels full of the past two vintages’ harvests.  Usually, the first scent registered by my nose inside of a cellar is that of red wine juice.  But not today…  In the center of the room was a good sized chocolate fountain that had been stocked with a good quality chocolate (far superior to what I had experienced at my last high school reunion).  The scent of the chocolate was actually the first smell that I noticed, not the wine.  The band that played was set up just outside the main service door to the outside pad, where chairs were set up for listening in the sunshine.  This arrangement allowed the perfect volume of music inside the cellar while maintaining the desired energy from the music.

The McGrail winery and tasting room in Livermore Valley.

 As you drive up Greenville Road, the McGrail operations loom off on the left.  The large building’s structure is very basic, with a few details added to give the building a more welcoming look.  Touches such as terra-cotta roof tiles, a stone facing surrounding and accenting the entrance, and arched windows and doors tastefully lend an almost Italian feel to this otherwise minimal structure.  The tasting room occupies the front length of the building, giving it a long and narrow dimension.  The space feels open thanks to ample natural light and high ceilings.  The walls are painted in a rich golden cream color that adds warmth to a February afternoon.  Because the event attracted a substantial crowd to the tasting room (many club members returned to the tasting room after enjoying the member event), it was difficult to check out the tasting bar itself, which runs the length of the tasting room.  This winery attracts a high-energy crowd, and the lack of any softer materials in the tasting room amplified the noise level inside.  To relax, consider bringing your pour outside to enjoy when it gets crowded like this.  Along the north side of the building is a covered patio with a few places to sit.  With a slightly elevated view of the Livermore Valley floor, the patio is a nice place to relax most of the year.

Inside the (dim) McGrail cellar for the special event.

Inside the cellar where the club event was held, the winery had set out four wines at different stations for sampling.  Two of the wines were McGrail Vineyards’ premium Cabernets, while the other two were from a new label they were promoting called Picazo, featuring grapes from Napa Valley.  I started with the 2008 Picazo Merlot (a blend of Napa Merlot and Livermore Cabernet), followed by the 2009 McGrail Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2010 McGrail Shamus Cabernet and Petite Sirah blend, and ended with the 2008 Picazo Cabernet Sauvignon.  I was taken in by the Merlot, but factoring in prices, my favorite was the 2009 McGrail Reserve Cabernet.

Based on this experience, I would rate the winery as a 7 and the wines offered as a 7.  This is consistent with my previous visit.

February 5, 2013 – Wine: 2003 Domain Vincent Girardin Santenay 1er Cru Les Gravieres

Back in 2007, a number of my coworkers came to California for a group training and planning session that lasted nearly two weeks.  Not willing to give up my wine access for so long a period, I opted to bring a variety of selections from my young cellar to share with some of them, ranging in price from $10 to $60 a half-bottle.  To express their appreciation, they all chipped in for this bottle of fine Burgundy, most likely at the urging of my friend.  Tonight I was to have dinner with that same friend, so I decided to share his selection with him some six years later.  This bottle demonstrated (more so than the Clos du Lambrays) the distinction between California’s and Burgundy’s Pinot Noir wines.  This wine has a sort of rustic elegance to it, with terrific balance, a prominent nose, total mouth feel, and a persistent finish.  I noted flavors of strawberry, cranberry, red rose, and minerals.  The minerals become more pronounced as the evening progressed, but settled down by the next day when I finished the last glass.

February 1, 2013 – Wine: 2008 Provenance Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon

Have you ever tasted potential?  This wine has the potential to develop into something magnificent, given enough time in the cellar.  And that is precisely what I should have done – left this in the cellar for a couple more years.  The wine is drinking nicely today, with a nice nose and dark flavors of blackberry, black cherry, leather, black licorice, and notes of smoke.  The wine is nicely balanced.  But lurking beneath the niceties is developing the beginnings of some magical qualities.  If you want a nice wine, go ahead and open this wine now.  If you want something more, hold onto this for two to three more years and then let’s see what happens.

Buying Wine on Futures

The time between when a grape is harvested and ends up on a store shelf can last from weeks (for lighter wines) up to years, sometimes four years or more.  During this time, the winery has to harvest, transport, separate, crush, soak, ferment, barrel, rack, bottle, box, and store the wine (just a few of the processing steps involved).  To produce a higher quality wine, the steps are often more labor intensive (or rely on expensive high-tech automation), pushing up the winery’s operating costs.  To recover some of those costs ahead of schedule, some wineries will offer a fraction of their wine under production for sale shortly after it has been stored in barrel and the quality can be assessed.  To motivate buyers to engage these wines early on, a discount is usually offered.  Alternatively, it may be the only means by which the wines can be obtained in certain formats (such as magnums or half-bottles).  By selling wines ahead of their release using futures, wineries can get some operating revenue and customers can get better access to the wine.

If, like me, you buy wine to drink, then you may be wondering whether to participate in a wine futures campaign.  (If you are buying wine as an investment, then there are superior sources of information than this post.)  Whether you participate in a futures campaign differs for domestic and import wines.  Most domestic wineries offer their wine futures at a substantial discount, so the opportunity to save money on a case or two of nice wine is sufficient motivation.  (If there is no discount, then the wine is probably in such high demand that this is your only means to secure a bottle, but you should confirm this.)  When visiting a winery, especially a smaller operation, ask if they have any futures wines available.  It is rare when they do, but well worth asking.  If a futures offering is available, make an effort to taste from the barrel before buying so you can get an impression of the wine’s potential.  (Expect wines from barrel to have much higher tannin levels and less refined fruits.)  If you cannot taste the wine before purchasing, then try to read the harvest reports online for details about the anticipated quality of the year’s wines in general.

Buying international wines on futures involves more risk and research.  Above all, buy your futures from a trusted wine retailer that is well established in the futures market (like JJBuckley and Zachy’s).  Often times, the larger retailers will send their own sales team to places like Bordeaux to assess the vintage early on and can weigh in on their personal favorites.  Wine journals like the Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator, et al, attend the same tasting functions and rate many of the wines.  You can use the retailers’ assessments and the professional reviews as a guide until you discover a few wineries that you come to know. 

Bordeaux wines are highly speculative around the world, which can affect their prices and availability in better vintages.  If a vintage is previewed with unanimous praise (as were the 2009 and 2010 vintages), buying the wines on futures can mean the difference between getting a bottle and missing out, or simply being priced out of the market.  As an example, one wine that I wanted to acquire was the 2009 Chateau Pontet Canet Pauillac, which had been rated in the range of 97 to 100 points in early 2010 from the barrel.  I was able to secure a few half-bottles at about $60 each, which was below my are-you-insane??? limit.  Upon release, the wine scored 100 points from the same reviewer and the price shot up to $150+, which is well beyond my limit.  So, buying this wine on futures made it possible to acquire the wine in the first place.  This same experience happened with five of the wines I ordered from the 2009 futures campaign.  Price changes like this help you to understand why there is so much speculation in the futures market.  It is worth noting that in less impressive vintages, the value of ordering futures diminishes, especially during years of currency-exchange turmoil.  You may end up saving $5 to $20 a bottle, but not much more, and with an increased level of risk.  In an ordinary vintage, you might consider futures as an affordable way to acquire a few bottles of first-growth Bordeaux for your collection, but buy the other wines at release.

January 25, 2013 – Wine: 2006 Meyer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

I first discovered this winery’s 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon in a tasting lineup of medium-sized Napa Valley wineries.  I also learned about two other notable wines at that event: the 2003 Ramey Claret and the 2003 Quintessa.  This Meyer wine impressed me with its richness and delicious fruits.  I later tried a 2004 which was good but less than great, and the lush 2005, which I bought two cases of.  So, I had high hopes from this bottle of 2006.  I was hoping that the winemaker was able to overcome the challenges of the vintage.  Alas (in the half bottle at least), this wine has not fared well.  While certainly serviceable, the wine lacks the richness of its 2003 and 2005 siblings.  The minerals are too pronounced and the balance is slightly off.  I think I’ll stick to my 2005’s, and I am looking forward to trying one of my 2007’s.  I’ll just skip the 2006 vintage.


2006 Meyer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon



January 24, 2013 – Wine: 2006 Gary Farrell Starr Ridge Pinot Noir

I really enjoyed tasting the 2005 vintage of this wine at the winery, but lacked the motivation to purchase a bottle.  After tasting the 2006, I was thoroughly impressed with the pureness of the fruit to buy two bottles.  I opened the first a little prematurely in 2010 and could tell that this wine needed some more time in the cellar to unlock its potential.  Tonight I was ready to try again, and I was well rewarded for my patience.  The wine offers up a pronounced bouquet.  The palette has retained its elegance and purity of fruit while also developing its mineral backbone.  I noted flavors of strawberry, cranberry, baking spices, minerals, and red licorice.  My friend, who is an ardent follower of Burgundian wines, was also impressed with this bottle.

Corison Winery, December 28, 2012

www.corison.com

It was wine-club pick-up time for me, so I stopped in at Corison winery again.  (There is a more detailed review earlier in the April/May posts.)  My shipment this time was the prodigious 2008 Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.  The big disappointment for me was not being able to taste it.  The reason given was that nearly the entire production of 2008 Kronos was distributed to wine club members, leaving very little to sell to others in the tasting room.  (2008 suffered a late frost and a drought which greatly reduced the Napa Valley crops.)  So, I will have to accept these wines on blind faith – that and a small sample of the grapes from the vine just prior to harvest.  The fresh grapes tasted wonderful, and I trust the skills of Cathy Corison to craft these grapes into something special.  I’ll let you know in a few years. 

One thing I enjoy about tasting at Corison Winery is that they frequently offer a vertical tasting of their wines, giving you a good idea about how aging affects their wines.  During this visit I was offered a taste of different vintages of both of Corison’s Cabernets.  First, they offered the 2004, 2005, and 2009 Napa Valley Cabernets, followed by the 2000 and 2006 Kronos Cabernets.  I tasted only the 2004 and 2005 Napa Valley and the 2006 Kronos.  My favorite was the 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet (again) for its juicy red fruits, typical for the vintage.

January 17, 2013 – Wine: Boa Ventura Blue Label Cabernet Sauvignon

Three summers back I visited Boa Ventura winery on the eastern end of Livermore Valley.  While not Napa Valley fruit, the wines are made with depth and structure which can be difficult to find in Livermore Valley.  After tasting this wine, I decided to buy a couple of half bottles.  I opened the first two years ago.  It was not ready then, but was integrating nicely.  Now, the wine’s development has made its way to the next level, with nice fruit, controlled minerals, and less of the winery’s funk that finds its way into most of their red wines.  I noted flavors of red grapes, leather, tea, minerals, and a subtle note of cranberry.  This wine may have been my best experience from this winery.

January 16, 2013 – Wine: 2003 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

I have met a few people that share a passion for red Burgundy, so I decided to try some myself.  After tasting a few 2005 Burgundies at a local wine shop (back in 2008), it was clear to me that these wines would show their best with a little age.  Of course, finding aged Burgundies in California is a bit of a challenge, so I figured it would be best to age a few bottles and find out.  I stumbled upon some half bottles of this wine while checking out some 2005’s, so I picked up both vintages – the 2003 would be ready a few years earlier.  Three years later I decided to try the first of the 2003’s.  This wine really impressed me.  It balances depth, elegance, and power in a way that is quite appealing, with a fantastic nose and a delicious palette of strawberry, sour cherry, pomegranate, leather, and pronounced minerals on the finish.  This wine will easily go another five years, even in the half bottle.  While it’s different from California Pinot Noir, I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed this wine.


January 16, 2013 – Wine:  2003 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru



March 1, 2013 – Mustard Time in Napa Valley

Second to the golden, orange, and scarlet hues of the vineyards in autumn is the shimmering yellow of the naked vineyards as the mustard blooms. If you can make it to Napa Valley in the coming days, you will be able to catch the last of the winter color as the Napa Valley transitions into spring. But it won't be long before it all gets mowed down and mulched into the soil to feed the 2013 vintage. (nearly half the rows have already been mowed.)  In addition to the fields of yellow, you will find fluffy fruit trees shimmering in pink and white in the late afternoon sun. The biggest surprise was the tulip patch that popped up along the Rutherford Cross Road near the Napa River. This picturesque color palette won't last but a few more days, so make a point to go soon.

Mustard weed in full bloom at Robert Biale Vineyards

I was in the valley to pick up wine club shipments at three different wineries, as well as checking out a new place (for me).  I stopped at Robert Biale, Elizabeth Spencer, Freemark Abbey, and ended up at Provenance Vineyards.  The weather was spectacular, reaching up to about 72F degrees by the end of the afternoon.  It was quiet before the Napa Valley Marathon being run on March 3^rd.