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A Blog About Boutique Wineries and more…

A Blog About Boutique Wineries and more…

Tag Archives: Santa Lucia Highlands

Wine with everything…

29 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by natashaz93 in Amphora Winery, Boete, Cabernet Sauvignon, Joyce Winery, Joyce wines, Petite Sirah, Pinot Noir, Red wines, Scheid Vineyards

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Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Pinot Noir, Rick Hutchinson, Santa Lucia Highlands, Wine Tasting

There are some many great wines and I have some really gorgeous ones to share Boete 2006 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon with you.  These are all outstanding wines and I recommend them so highly. they’re from some of my favorite wineries and winemakers, you cannot go wrong with any of these. Let’s start with a little known, except around here, winery called Boëté.  They have astonishingly good wines, mainly reds. They do Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc exceptionally well. Here is the 2006 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, that is, of course, a knock-your -socks off delicious wine. Big fruit, earthy, savory and well structured. It has a tremendous complex finish, that lasts and lasts with notes of leather, violets, dark fruit and warm earth.

Scheid Vineyards 2009 Petite SirahNext, a fantastic 2009 Petite Sirah by Scheid, rich and smooth with lovely dark plums and cherry fruit flavors, supported by robust tannin structure, the finish is like cherry cola, vanilla and smoke.

Always a fan of Pinot Noir over here. I love these two wines from Amphora and Joyce which are very Amphora Russian River Valley 2009 Pinot Noirdifferent in style, but totally delicious. Amphora wines are always big on flavor and a full mouth feel. Rick balances the wines beautifully and this one is no exception. I just love how chewy it is and well developed. Big fruit: raspberries and blackberries, spice, slightly syrupy. The 2009 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is that substantial wine you look for to have with stuffed portobellas or pork roast.

On the other hand, you might want something a bit lighter, such as the Joyce 2012 Tondre Vineyards Pinot NoJoyce Tondre PN 2012ir. This is a nectar like wine with delicious juicy strawberry, raspberry and red fruit flavors, supported with spice, cocoa and a nice firm tannic structure. A truly wonderful wine recently awarded 93 points by Robert Parker for Wine Enthusiast.

Baker & Brain Levels the Terrior at a Symphonic Wine Maker’s Dinner

12 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by natashaz93 in Grenache, Gruner Veltliner, Monterey County, Pinot Noir, Syrah

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Boutique Wines, Grenache, Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Noir, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Lucia Highlands, Sustainability, Syrah

Jeez. There is so much to say.  I just can’t stop talking about boutique wineries. I mean, really, if you love wine, really good wine that is created with a consciousness and awareness of sustainability there is no way you will not try to find out more about good wine-making and exceptionally talented winemakers.

We have beautiful wines, here on the West Coast, and I will do my best to illuminate the reader and drinker.  So, we went to a wine maker’s dinner and it was pretty spectacular. Great food to compliment the incredible wines. Baker and Brain was the featured winery. They define their passion and green approach to winemaking here:

“The Baker & Brain family is committed to utilizing scientifically based sustainability practices in every aspect of our business, this includes partnering with ecologically responsible growers, utilizing winemaking practices that are environmentally friendly, making our wines at a solar powered and sustainably certified facility and promoting the brand in an
environmentally conscious manner.”

We were fortunate enough to taste five of their amazing wines.

Starting with the Gruner Veltliner we experienced traditional slate tastes. It is crisp, Baker & Brain Gruner Veltlinerflavorful and absolutely delicious. A lovely wine that cuts through any heavy fats like those that you might find in melted cheese, to bring you back to reality, that is the flavors of meadow flowers and fresh grasses. Remarkable nose and really quite soft. A California GV, which is a good thing. If you’ve never had a GV, you must try this. It will expand your palate and take you into another dimension of wine. Paired with Grilled Flatbread with Speck and Carmelized Shallots we started off happy.

Baker & Brain Central Coast 2011 Pinot NoirNext we tasted the Central Coast Pinot Noir, 2011. These grapes are grown in Monterey County which is a very good place for Pinot Noir, BTW (By The Way). It presents very well, not overly assuming or over powering, a good introductory Pinot Noir. If you’re just drinking this, you won’t be disappointed. It’s friendly, open and has the established and expected flavors of raspberries and strawberries which add that delicate seductive fruitiness. What sets it apart is its’ jewel like clarity and light refined finish . We had it with a Passionate Berry Salad ( Raspberries, Blueberries and goat cheese with Fried Shallots (loved those). Pretty sexy.

We followed with the McIntyre Pinot Noir 2010 (Santa Lucia Highlands). It is truly is spectacular. Really, I do not throw that word around flippantly. The flavors of ripe blackberries and secondary rich red berry flavors continue to expand on the palate. This wine is complex with spices, earth, leather and perfectly balanced tannins. While dense, the oak grounds the wine; otherwise you’d just be spinning off to heaven.  Rebellious Asparagus, Romesco Sauce and Saracena Aioli added a challenging note. This is so satisfying.

Now comes the Le Mistral Vineyard Grenache. Uber yummy. From the Joseph
Phelps vineyard, this Grenache delivers a very deep concentration of fruit. It is bright and sophisticated at the same time with stabilizing tobacco, ash and developed tannins. This wine stays on the palate and finishes beautifully. Paired with Lamb Chop over Sticky Cabbage and Wild Mushroom Ravioli it was a victory.

We finish with the Le Mistral Vineyard Syrah, which is my favorite.  this one is brambly, like thickets of wild berries and vines. Super concentrated, with that dried fruit body and jammy flavor. Once oxygenated; which the presenters did, it developed that plummy and spicy flavor that is so traditional to Syrah. Rich and full mouth with a velvety lingering mouth finish, this wine stood up to the Quail stuffed with Chorizo and potato.baker&brain

Brief: Baker & Brain produce exceptional wines that are gorgeous and delicious.

Very small production makes for exclusive and elusive wines. We want these wines, but we want this winery to stay true to their values, vision and esthetic.

♥ Check out Stonecreek Kitchen for fabulous wine maker dinners, classes, deli and wines.

A Cluster of Tastings

21 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by natashaz93 in Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Meritage, Moscato, Pinot Noir, Uncategorized

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Central Coast Wines, Santa Lucia Highlands

I was privileged to tag along with a friend of mine who is a wine rep (and an awesome girl BTW) and got to have a tasting field day.  So here we go. The notes will brief and succinct. (I’ll try).

The first was a Jack Hammer Chardonnay, Santa Lucia HighlandsJack Hammer Chard 2010, 2010. It brings lots of crisp, bright tropical fruit with vanilla notes, and a good malolactic acid profile; a well balanced wine. Aged in stainless steel,  usually for me, means it doesn’t have those rich flavor producing oak flavors, which I really like, but I loved this wine. Yes, I said it.

JH PN 2010

Next  we  Jack Hammer 2010 Pinot Noir, Olsen Ranch also Santa Lucia Highlands. This has a wonderful berry richness, nice balance with tannins and minerality. Fun label and great drinking wine.

Damian Georis of the Georis legacy is creating some really outstanding wines in the  European style. Elegant and Madeleineclassic, these wines still bear the wine footprint of California yet have the substantial character associated with traditional refined tastes. The 2011 L’ Arsouille Chenin Blanc is a great example here. Creamy, delicious, fruity and satisfying; it’s a fantastic representation of the chenin blanc grape. It opens with unbelievably fragrant flavors of apples, peaches,  and nectarines, Meyer lemon blossoms and cantaloupe. The mouth offers nuances of white mushroom, sea salt, jasmine and coriander. It is crisp, off-dry with an harmonious acidity. I found it rich, and the fruit from the mature Ventana Vineyards really shines. Gorgeous wine.

Giselle 2010 PNAnother delicious Pinot Noir is the Gisele 2010, from Monterey grown grapes. It is everything you’d expect from a fruit redolent Pinot. Rich, full berry and spice flavors are well balanced as are the tannins formulating the purely delightful aspects of this lovely wine.

Tobin James wines have really fun labels with a great sense of humor, but there is tobin_thumbnothing funny about the wine. It is well crafted like the Red Blend, called “tongue-in-cheek” Chateau Le Cacheflo. Cute. A mix of Barbera, Sangiovese and Syrah grapes makes for a powerful yet smooth taste with plenty of mouth feel in a really affordable wine. Nice. Their Ballistic Zinfandel is kind of their signature wine and what put this winery on the map. It is “ballsy” –  in your face, with big, powerful fruit, like dark cherries and plums and a delicious long lasting flavor on the palate.

Charles de Fere MoscatoFinally we tried the Charles De Fere Moscato which was absolutely fabulous. A blast of honeydew and melon flavors, wildflowers,  a spring like delight, sweet and bubbly, perfect for dessert or aperitif. This is just pure fun. Yum.

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