Tilapia with pinot noir

We’ve been meaning to cook at least once a week, but our schedule has not really permitted it – after all the climbing on the week nights, we just want to get to the food pronto, and not waste time knocking about the kitchen.

But since we had to stay in tonight to await the delivery of the spanking new 35-bottle silent wine fridge, it was a good time as any to cook some breaded tilapia marinated in some OJ and leftover Gewurtz. And it was a perfect occasion to break out the bottle of Tantara Santa Maria Pinot Noir Napa Valley 2004 that my ex-boss had given me a couple years ago. I’d have kept it longer, but my old wine fridge had broken down – by the time we discovered the sorry state of affairs, temperatures within was 77 degrees and rising. Bleah.

But, the tilapia was delicious. The orange juice was an awesome touch, given that it was an afterthought because we were too lazy to go to the store to grab some lemons. And it went beautifully with the Pinot Noir, which was light and smooth but stood up well to the peppers we rubbed into the fish. Can’t wait to have it again tomorrow night.

Hari Raya Haji

It’s been a good week of catching up with friends, drinking and laughing. Had a sort of mini primary school class gathering at Dempsey Hill on Monday – I wanted to meet up with Valerie since she was in town, and also got several classmates along as well. Loved the choice of location, Dempsey Hill. Hehe, even though Cristalle lamented it was far and out of the way (which it is, being at the top of a secluded hill), I reckon its offering of braised duck and uber generous serving of foie gras makes the visit entirely worth the while. Mmm!

On Tuesday, I accepted Cristalle’s invitation to drink and play board games with some of her friends down in Boat Quay, and we somehow managed to laugh our way into the small hours of the night. Thank goodness for the public holiday today! Made it home half past one, and then spent another hour and a half chatting with friends half a world away.

Today, I luxuriated in bed for till half past noon, re-reading, probably for the twentieth time, David Edding’s Belgariad series (no, it never, never gets old!), before I headed all the way out west to climb with Bijuan, Vincent, and Jack. Pity the inclement weather prevented us from scurrying up the natural rocks at Dairy Farm; we did put in several good climbs at the gym though!

After, Bijuan patiently waited at Denise Wine Cellars at UE Square for me while I tried to put together a case of wine for this Sunday’s DGS. Boo – I was somewhat disappointed at the paltry Italian collection there… they only carried TWO labels of Italian white. Not even a Moscato d’Asti!!! Seriously. I really miss Sam’s Wine. We also popped into Cold Storage for a while, and I must say that I was pretty impressed by their collection there, tiny as it is. After all, they had four different bottles of Italian white, including two Orvietos that I’m really tempted to pick up (do you remember this, Jeff?), and a bottle of Carpineto Dogajolo I had previously tasted in the Belmont Wine Styles.

Anyway, for dinner, we ate at Tasting Notes, which Bijuan really liked for the ambience. The rain had cooled the weather considerably too, so it was really pleasant to sit alfresco style and watch people walking by. Since there were only two of us, we ordered glasses of wine instead of a bottle. Though the selection of wines by the glass was very limited, we were pretty pleased with our wines – a surprisingly delicious Merryvale Vineyards Napa Station Merlot 2005 for her (will have to keep my eye out for it!), and a Lugana DOC Superiore Moline 2006 for me.

Hehe, it looks like it’ll be a week of drinking for me. Probably more drinking with a client tomorrow evening, and Oktoberfest with Xavier on Friday. Meet up with Wellian and Pinn who will be in town Saturday, and DGS Singapore Sunday.

Journey to the West: Part VI

The Napa Valley wine trail, July 18-20

Six of us go to Napa: Peiyun, Maria, Walter, Jon, Bruce, and I. We start off the day with some baguettes, cheese spreads, and sausages. And oh, of course, a bottle of wine, Soave, from Italy.

Duckhorn, our favorite tasting of the trip

Second stop on the wine trail, Cakebread

Day 2 on the wine trail. We begin with some fresh strawberries

Signorello has pretty forgettable wines, at least, I don’t really remember them right now. But it has gorgeous grounds, including an infinity pool

The beautifully tree-lined driveway to Stag’s Leap and Quixote

Quixote is not just sought after for its wines, but architects love to come out to check out the cool building design

We had an absolutely amazing lunch at Martini House, a definite must go for anyone who visits Napa!!!

Meh. I’m getting hungry again just thinking about this burger

At Judd’s Hill, one can learn to make his own wine, as well as design his own label

We ended the second day of tasting at Mustard’s, another must go for anyone who goes out to Napa.

For more pictures, go to my Journey to the West photoset.

Napa Valley Tasting: Day 3

Back at Bruce’s house, but he, along with the rest of the gang, have left already (he and Peiyun, on Saturday night, and Walter, Jon, and Maria, on Sunday night). Boo. It was a really fun weekend though – we really went all out in wining and dining. I basically haven’t felt hungry since Wednesday (we went to Chez Paneizz on Thursday for dinner, and that was phenomenal too).

We brunched at Alexis’ Baking Company this morning. The food was amazing, with heaping sides of fresh and sweet fruit. Despite my attempt to share and not over stuff myself, I was still very pleasantly bloated by the end. The highlight of the meal though, was the very engaging and informative conversation we had with the lady who shared our table. She’s a winemaker at a tiny family owned winery in Mt Veeder, Yates, and was very generous with sharing her insights on all things wine.

Turnbull
2007 Sauvignon Blanc – grapefruit, guava, melon. Tart finish. I prefer the nose to the body but I like how all the summer fruits are so discernable.

2004 Syrah – intense, very intense fruit. Nice spice in the mouth, some tannins in the mouth but a long lingering finish. Definitely a food wine.

2005 Merlot – bright fruit, a lot lighter in the body and finish. I think I prefer the weight of the syrah. Softer tannins.

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon – super ripe black fruit. Some spice, not too much though. Some toasted oak. Rich tannins, big finish.

St Supery
I didn’t know it initially, but St. Supery is actually one of the largest wineries in the Valley. Their grounds were enormous, and they even had a museum above the tasting room for visitors to learn more about the wine making process. Alas, we weren’t too impressed with the wines themselves.

2007 Sauvignon Blanc – grapefruit in the mouth, some guava too. Interesting, short finish.

2006 Virtu – blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillonc. Like how the semillonc rounds off the wine and lends it some hints of toasty oak.

2007 Oak Free Chardonnay – reminds of apple tart. Very light, tart though. An ok Chardonnay, think zd still has my favorite chardonnay of the trip.

2006 Rose – merlot grape. Very interesting nose; blend of tart strawberry and honey. I get the honey at the finish too.

2002 Merlot – tomato and herb in the nose. Tannins are quite strong, none too subtle I think. Not my favorite.

2003 Cabernet Sauvignon – cherry, again the tannins are at the start. Finish just falls off pretty abruptly.

2004 Elu – meritage blend with 66% cab. Cherry and vanilla in the nose. Tannins right at the front too, short finish.

2006 Moscato – 7% residual sugar. Lychee and tangerine notes and body. Very sweet, could probably enjoy just a glass after dinner.

Frank Family
We were only considering going to two wineries today, but both the lady at brunch and the folks at ZD (Jon returned to pick up a bottle of Gewurtz) pointed Frank Family out to us, so up we went. It was definitely a nice way to end the trip. We had eight glasses of really good wines, including a couple of off-the-shelf special reserve pours.

Blanc de Noir – warm baked bread, yeasty. Some nuts in the nose.

1998 Signature Brut – a lot of bubbles but small fizzy. Nice hazelnut in the body. Superior to Mumm. Maria loves it too. New pour has tighter more concentrated bubbles. I like it a lot!

Rouge – 100% Pinot, one and a half hour in contact with the skins. Blackberry finish. Quite nice.

2006 Chardonnay – 100% from carneros. Jon’s immediate comment: ” like cake!” very nice, floral nose, smooth and rounded body, not tart. I like. Mellow, beautiful at room temperature. Some butterscotch.

2006 Zinfandel – yellow cake, again that sort of smooth untart nose. I like that it’s not in your face, more elegant in that sense. Nice rounded and off sweet finish.

2004 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – bell pepper, spice, cedar.

2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford – fuller, a lot more concentrated, even in the color. A little bit of coffee in the body. Tannins more discernable, could stand to be aged. But I like the focus. Mocha chocolate?

2005 winston hill red wine Bordeaux style ($150) – nice and tight mocha chocolate. More mellow than the prior wine, more elegant. Some plum, and mocha chocolate notes. Very nice. But not as full bodied as the Duckhorn.

Napa Valley Tasting Day 2

We visited five wineries today, which does not feel as many compared with Aaron and company’s trip out to Sonoma last fall. Still, it was plenty enough and by the time we rolled into our last stop at Mumm, I was feeling bloated. I guess the awesome lunch we had stuffed me up too much. But it was an excellent recommendation by the guy at Quixote: we shared marinated ahi tuna, beef carpacchio, duck terrain, and the juiciest Kobe burger I have ever had. So good!!!

Anyway, it has been a really good trip out to Napa – I barely knew of the wineries the last couple of times I came out, so I think I definitely appreciated the experience this time around. We hit most of the wineries that I had planned on going to, wineries recommended by various friends, so I am definitely very satisfied. Still have a long list of wineries to hit up for when I next return!

Signorello
2006 vielles vignes estate Chardonnay -some apple in the mouth and pear in the nose. Some buttery toast, walter thinks. Thick luscious finish, maybe a little oily. Peiyun likes the heft of the wine.

2005 estate syrah (96% Shiraz and 4% viognier) – northern Rhine style, not quite the us style. I like how the viognier rounds off the finish of the Shiraz. I like the nose; some berries, coffee, and spice.

2004 estate Cabernet Sauvignon – Bordeaux style blend. Currants in the nose. Well structured, like the smooth tannins in the finish. Not very sweet but I like.

2006 las amigas vineyard Pinot noir – grown in carneros. Aged in French oak for ten months. Four uses per barrel. Smoky and nice body, some raspberries.

2006 luvisi vineyard zinfandel – 26 miles north of napa, a lot hotter. Hotter, a ton more fruit in the nose and body. Big body, smaller ass.

2003 estate Cabernet sauvignon – cool and moist growing season, completely opposite of 2004. Smells a little greener, the tannins still on the tongue, a little bigger. Interesting how the noses are so different.

Quixote (petite syrah focus. Carl big food guy, likes how this grape pairs with wine. This owner used to own stag’s leap before he sold it to beringer).

2005 panza Grenache mourvedre blend – only seventy cases. Nice hot smell. I really like this wine, not too heavy, but not in the least watery, delightful finish really.

2003 Cabernet sauvignon – tons of black currants in the nose and in the mouth. Maria really likes it too. Me too. Very juicy! Should not try to age the 2003 cabs, but this one is definitely ready to drink right now.

2003 panza Cabernet Sauvignon (5% petite verdot) – I think the Quixote was more exciting. But this is still very nice and smooth. I think that they have very nicely structured wines here, very nice and smooth tannins.

2004 Quixote petite syrah – jon thinks very nice, I do too, but my palate is a little numb right now. Very ripe black fruit, some mocha or chocolate. Should age as it can hold the fruit.

Opus one
2004 Bordeaux style blend – very very hot, a lot of currants in the nose and mouth. Very concentrated, very smooth. But I’m not sure about the $30 tasting nor the $180 price tag. Long finish very peppery.

Zd Winery
2007 rosa lee gewurtztraminer Russian river valley – very dry, citrus notes: pineapple lemon, orange. Very refreshing for today’s hot weather. Peiyun can easily distinguish the pear notes.

2006 Chardonnay California – selection of vineyards including Santa barbara. Cold barrel no maloactic fermentation. Long yeast contact. I like this a lot. Interesting body. Coconut? Little bit of vanilla in the finish. Reminds me of a breezy summer on the beach.

2006 Pinot noir, carneros – ten months French oak. Quite a light color, and with that characteristic pungent Pinot nose. Did not blow my socks off but still good, just paled after comparing with the previous two.

2005 Cabernet sauvignon – blackberries, tobacco in the nose. Some tannins buy not overwhelming. A pleasant wine.

Judd’s Hill
2007 rose – strawberries very light and refreshing, a nice change from the heavy reds. Peiyun thinks it is too sweet. Got to drink cold though.

2005 Chardonnay – quite nondescript after zd. Lemony bright fruit.

2006 Pinot noir – light colored. Nice strawberry in the nose. Some spice in the body; peiyun liked that. Nice rounded finish. Better done than the pinot we had at zd. Jon liked it so much, he bought a bottle.

2005 Zinfandel old vine (75 years) – raising nose, sweet body and raising in the finish too. Just a hint of spice. Quite enjoyable. I really like the nose.

2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (6% Cabernet franc) – nice nose, love the wood. We had this for dinner last night and loved it, which is why we decided to stop by here today. Tannins in the finish, a wine that could stand to be aged a little longer too I think. A little of that sherry nose.

Mumm Napa
The winery’s the biggest we’ve been to the entire trip. Very commercial feel, none of that small intimate winery feel that we have enjoyed at some of the other places. Still it feels quite luxurious to end the day off with a couple glasses of bubbly.

Blanc de blanc – dry, and a little tart in the finish, but the body is off sweet.

Reserve brut – tighter bubbles, off sweet and I think my favorite of the series.

Grand annee 2001 – big bubbles too tart. Way too fizzy. Granted I am not much of a champagne person; Natalie would have been able to offer a much more informed opinion, but this will not be my drink of choice.

Blanc de noir - peiyun and I think its too dry. But she decided after a couple sips that she still likes it.

At Mustard’s Grill
2006 Merryvale Pinot Noir – light nose but nice weight to the body; of strawberries.

Napa Valley Tasting: Day 1

We only managed to hit a few wineries today, but I think half of us thought that was enough. Still, they were all pretty good, especially the Duckhorn, which we were unanimously impressed by.

Duckhorn
2007 Duckhorn Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc – floral notes very crisp light super refreshing.

2005 Duckhorn Napa Valley Merlot – tannins young some shoots in the mouth. More leather in the nose.

2005 Duckhorn Napa Valley Merlot Estate - smoother in comparison, tannins at the end.

2005 Duckhorn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – more wood in the nose, some tannins too, little bit of spice and leather, but restrained.

2004 Duckhorn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – weightier nose less fruity but maybe a little weightier, smooth so darn smooth. Definitely ready to drink right now!!! (speical pour!!!) more restrained and elegant, not as fruit forward. More old world.

2004 Duckhorn Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Rector Creek Vineyard – strong raisin flavor, (special pour) some citrus notes.

2004 Duckhorn Howell Mountain Merlot – light varnish maybe light not as much weight as the cab.

Cakebread
2007 cakebtead Sauvignon Blanc- floral but strong pee notes that I associate with sb. heavier def. Little time in oak, mostly in stainless steel. Smooth, but I hibk I prefer the crispness of duckhorn.

2006 Cakebread Chardonnay – some honey notes. Some nuts in the nose, little not of pear and citrus? But it is less heavy than most chard.

2005 Cakebread Chardonnay Reserve- stinky strong notes def heavier earthier more maloactic fermentation. More butter and oak. More viscuous.

2005 Cakebread Merlot – strong nose. 76% merlot and 26% Shiraz. Jon thinks a little grass jelly.

2005 Cakebread Cabernet Sauvignon – heftier nose. Some tannins, still very young, a little bitter in the finish. Could stand to be in the bottle in for a couple more years. Jon thinks it has a truffle body. Could keep for a couple more years.

2005 Cakebread Syrah Carneros Cabernet Sauvignon – tannins in the front finish is kind of thin. Big body light ass. Jon think thinks gravel.

Grgich
2005 Grgich Chardonnay - very lemony nose. Buttery. Bruce thinks baked pear. Some honey in the nose.

2006 Grgich Fume Blanc – tasting notes indicate grapefruit, lemongrass and some minerality? Fume done in oak. Sharp in the tongue but a long finish. I do get the sharpness of the lemongrass in the nose and some grapefruit in the mouth.

2005 Grgich Zinfandel – strawberries and raspberries. Growth in the northern end of the valley, more stressed. Some spice in the body. Jon thinks very Asian: no nose, no butt.

2004 Grgich Merlot - ton of cherries in the nose. Some cedar, not a whole lot of tannins. Jon likes it. A little thin at the finish. But I like the hint of spice in the body.

2004 Grgich Cabernet Sauvginon – smoother than the merlot. I like the feel of the tannins best of this series actually. Very nice ass; smooth and rounded with a liitle kick.

Peju (90% sold at winery)
2007 Peju Chardonnay – room temp buttery, smooth. I like it a lot not too oak and buttery. I have to admit, I like this a lot. Seems like the consensus of this group! They served it at room temperature to try bring out the flabour of the wine. Jon thinks its a very polite wine. Just right!

Non vintage Peju Provence (seven different grapes, both white and red) - Jon thinks its a Michigan wine. Very sweet in the nose but not as didsgusting as the mich wines. Its ok not too exciting. No tannins whatsoever, a drink now wine.

2005 Peju Estate Bottled Merlot - very smooth, raspberries and dark berries. Jon thinks watery but Bruce and I really like it. Maybe a little thin in the nose but I like the lightness in the nose and the body.

2005 Peju Cabernet Sauvignon- tannins, spice, some tobacco but otherwise not really distinguishable from what we’ve had.

2005 Peju Cabernet Franc - chocolate. Smooth. A little tart, just a little in the nose. I liked it more than the cab.

The Prisoner

Sandy had specially picked out this bottle, The Prisoner 2006, Orin Swift Cellars, Napa Valley, for me, rightly thinking that I would enjoy it. I’d been saving it for a while, for a good, full meal with a couple of close friends whom I guessed might enjoy it as much. So last night, I brought the bottle along to Tango Sur for a satisfying meal of Argentine steak with Bruce, Sihao, and Jeff.

Heh, having forgotten the grapes that made up the blend, I guessed there was a mixture of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and possibly some Zinfandel. Oops – turns out, it’s actually a heavily concentrated Zinfandel blend, with Zinfandel (51%), Cabernet Sauvignon (23%), Syrah (12%), Petite Sirah (6%), Charbono (6%) and Grenache (2%) – quite an off-the-wall combination, but Dave Phinney, the winemaker, I think, is definitely on to something. It was a beautiful, beautiful wine, super concentrated with lush dark fruit that exploded in my mouth. Smooth, with a nice structure too – a backbone with some espresso and chocolate to round off the sweet fruit, and a finish that lingered on pleasantly in my mouth.

Vinography writes on Dave Phinney and Orin Swift Cellars:

I wish I knew how many wineries in Napa started as “just a guy who decided he wanted to make wine one day.” There must be dozens of them. Maybe hundreds. These numbers shouldn’t be allowed to devalue the effort and vision it takes to create a successful winery, but sometimes I scratch my head in bemusement at the audacity of so many people who simply decide to throw their lives into the wine business. While we don’t really hear about the ones that don’t make it, there are enough of them that have become wildly successful that “the guy with the dream” is a well established cliché at this point in the history of wine.

Dave Phinney was one of those guys, and his ascendency to the proprietorship of one of Napa’s great success stories is a textbook case of seeing where his nose led him.

Mid way through his college career, and after a somewhat disheartening summer internship as a congressional aide, Phinney began trying to think about what to do with the rest of his life. At the time, he was studying abroad in Florence, and his roommate at the time apparently came from an old wine family in Sonoma County. At a certain point, the roommate suggested that perhaps Phinney could take his personal love of wine and turn it into something more, and apparently, that was that.

Or at least, that was the idea. The first thing Phinney had to do was figure out how he was going to get from the middle of nowhere (at least as far as wine country is concerned) Arizona to some place more conducive to growing grapes. Not content to simply relax once he had made the decision, Phinney apparently spent his last two years of college working in a wine store and, while he wasn’t at work or in class, trying to convince a professor in the Agriculture department to let him mess with the one-acre plot of experimental vineyards that the university had recently planted.

Once he escaped the desert to more Mediterranean climes, Phinney threw himself into the wine business with an abandon that seems common to those trying to break into any major business. While there are lots of different roads to success, in the wine business, like the film business or the advertising business (to just name a few comparable industries) no matter what other options exist, there is always the option of starting at the rock bottom and climbing your way to the top. For the wine business, and for Phinney in this case, that meant being the only sweaty white guy on a team of Mexican vineyard workers.

Apparently there’s nothing like starting with the hardest, dirtiest, and most thankless part of the business to teach you how things work. By the end of his first year as an intern at Robert Mondavi winery, Phinney had figured out how to get his hands on two tons of Zinfandel grapes, and Orin Swift Cellars was born.

A combination of elements from his parent’s names, Orin Swift Cellars sounds like it’s the life’s work of a master winemaker. That’s about right, except the winemaker’s name is Dave (there is no Orin Swift) and he is only in his 7th vintage.

I’ve watched the evolution of Orin Swift Cellars for the past four years with amazement and admiration. The path from that first couple of tons of Zinfandel to an emerging iconic brand in the matter of seven or so years is truly phenomenal. When I first encountered The Prisoner, the wine that evolved from Phinney’s early obsession with Zinfandel, it was a cute little boutique project that had a catchy name and a cool label. Now it is the centerpiece of a 20,000 case production portfolio of wines, and ended up as #17 on last years Wine Spectator Top 100 list of wines (for the 2005 vintage). Phinney has recently purchased nearly 50 acres in Soda Canyon, above the Oakville appellation of Napa Valley. The word juggernaut comes to mind, yet the winery is anything but. Phinney only recently quit his day job to run the winery full time.

This wine, with its eccentric blend of Zinfandel (51%), Cabernet Sauvignon (23%), Syrah (12%), Petite Sirah (6%), Charbono (6%) and Grenache (2%) defies the logic of most wine blends, and would scandalize the wine appellation police in many countries. But there’s not a lot about Orin Swift Cellars that really seems intent on following accepted practices when it comes to wine. I don’t know much about the winemaking for the wine, or the specific vineyard sources for the grapes, which Phinney doesn’t disclose. The blend changes a little bit each year but generally keeps to the same flavor profile that has made the wine a raging success among its enthusiastic fans (I’ve reviewed only one vintage of the wine previously and it is still one of the most often searched for wines on Vinography).

Joseph Phelps Sauvignon Blanc

Joseph Phelps Sauvignon Blanc, 2005

Beautifully structured, with a floral hint at the beginning of the nose, which quickly gives way to some oak and butter. I loved the weight of the wine in my mouth, in the finish. Nice and rounded. Come to think of it, I like it better than the supposedly “cleaner” New Zealand examples because the oak lends more gravitas to the wine.

Goes nicely with some Chinese rice dumplings (thank you Sandy!!!) and pot stickers (thank you Katy’s Dumpings!) and chilli sauce.

Midweek Rumblings, Beringer Tasting

Waha, I couldn’t help it – when I received the e-mail notification that I would be getting a $50 gift certificate from one of the trade publications I read as thanks for pointing out an error, I headed to Amazon and checked out two items that have been sitting in my “save-for-later” cart. Got myself the Eugene Onegin DVD starring Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Renee Fleming in Michael Levine’s economical but stunningly effective set design. The Chicago Lyric had borrowed the production from the Met this past season, and it was one of my favorite performances. That, Renee Fleming, and the fact that Dmitri, the leading Onegin of the day, might be retiring from the role, pushed me towards the DVD. And because it was just 3 cents under the $25 free shipping floor, I decided to pre-order the soon-to-be-released copy of “Reflections of a Wine Merchant” by Neal Rosenthal.

In other news, I am somewhat upset that I wasn’t able to make tonight’s Banff Film Festival World Tour at the Field Museum. I first went to the festival two years ago and greatly enjoyed the clips of my favorite extreme sports like rock climbing, mountaineering, whitewater rafting, alpine skiing etc. When the festival bypassed Chicago on its world tour last year, I was crushed, and counted the months to this year’s festival (ok, not quite so desperate, but). I’d been so looking forward to the line up for this season too, which features Chris Sharma’s King Lines – ok, I can easily borrow a copy of that, but it’s different watching it on the big screen with like-minded enthusiasts… Oh well, there’s that I guess.

The Beringer tasting last night was interesting. I arrived there late, and so missed out on the supposedly delicious hor’dourves although Bruce did save me a succulent mini beef burger. I arrived in the middle of a video presentation showcasing the winery’s two winemakers who gave an overview of the vineyard and their wines. Immediately afterwards, with five glasses of wine tantalizingly placed in front of each of us, a master sommelier stepped up to give a short lecture about how one should taste wine. I have to admit – I wasn’t really paying attention to the lecture; usual textbook spiel about how you should just drink what you like and eat what you like. I was just intent on the glasses before me. Hehe. Finally, we were given the green light to taste.

We had two chardonnays, a Beringer Napa Valley Chardonny (around $15-18, depending on vintage) and a Napa Valley Private Reserve Chardonnay (ranging from $30-$36 online). The former chardonnay was a lot sharper, more acidic in the nose, body, and finish, with some lemony notes – more of a “food wine.” The reserve was rounder, softer, with hints of honey and oak; I preferred that actually.

After another short lecture, this time on pinot noir, we tasted the Beringer Napa Valley Pinot Noir (online average for the 2006 vintage was $20). Compared to the two glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon it was sitting next to, the wine was a few shades lighter in color, and had a delightful nose of strawberries. While it wasn’t the best pinot noir I’ve ever had, it’s certainly one of the better ones I’ve had in weeks.

We moved on to the two cabs next, a Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($20) and a Beringer Napa Valley Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (ranging from $80 to $160 online, depending on the vintage). I’m not sure which vintage we had of the Reserve wine, but I felt that, if drunk today, the wine did not deserve the $120 price tag (which we were told was how much the bottle cost). It was a decent enough wine, but failed to knock my socks off – I’d actually guessed that the bottle cost $25 before we were told the price… Heck, the $50 Turnbull I had over Christmas was 10x smoother. In any case, I liked both wines enough, but again thought the Reserve bottle was a more structured wine with a little more complexity to it.

All in all, a good, fun tasting, and a pretty relaxing and short evening out with friends.

300 Bottles Sitting on the Wall

Because I don’t keep a particularly comprehensive record (no excuse, I know, since I have this journal here), I can only provide a guesstimate of the number of bottles I’ve sampled this year. Say, an average of 1 bottle a week on non-DGS weeks, plus an average of 11 bottles on DGS-weeks of which there have been 12, plus an estimated 25 bottles from those random go-out-to-eat-dinners/parties, plus the roughly 50 bottles sampled on my Memorial Day Michigan/Toronto trip, brings me to a total around 250 bottles. Give or take. Hmm. Throw in the December holiday period, and that number should hit closer to 300. Hopefully.

There must be, of course, some sort of pecking order to this relatively large list… But while I can’t – and, really, there’s no need to, for some of the wines – remember all my wines, here’s a list of some of the more memorable ones off the top of my head.

Whites
The Oregon/Washington DGS tasting provided some of the most remarkable whites this year, with Chateau St. Michelle Eroica and L’Ecole N0.41 Chenin Blanc taking the top spots. While I found the Eroica a little too sweet for my taste (though it’s Jeff’s favorite wine), I remember it for its distinct Indian curry aromas. The others contend that it was because I had Indian dinner right before, so I have to get it again for a re-taste. I loved the Chenin Blanc – it is I think the most complex white I’ve had this year. It had a intriguing nose strongly reminiscent of fresh, warm baked bread. The body was just a little sweet, minerally, on the heavier side. Consequently, the finish quite took me by surprise – it was tart and crisp, like a refreshed awakening after a nap.

Reds
Two of my favorite reds this year I tasted at Broadway Cellars: the Duckhorn Merlot and the Mount Veeder Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 Napa Valley.

An additional four of those favorites hail from the Back to Earth flight from Bin 36. 2006 (Grenache / Syrah / Mourvedre), Cotes-du-Rhone, Domaine Montirius, Rhone Valley, France, 2005 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Quattro Mani, Abruzzi, Italy, 2005 (Cabernet / Carmenere / Cab Franc) Vina Maquis, Calcu, Colchagua, Chile, 2004: (Cabernet Sauvignon / Grenache / Syrah / Mourvedre / Carignan), Mas de Gourgonnier, Les Baux de Provence, Provence.

Of the reds we tried at DGS, two were especially noteworthy: Two Hands Brave Faces from Australia, and the Casillero del Diablo Reserve (Concha y Toro) 2005 Carmenere.