Category Archive

Tonight I decided to open up a New World Pinot Noir that tastes like an Old World:  the 2002 Calera Mills Vineyard Pinot Noir.  Calera’s founder and owner, Josh Jensen, a native Californian, graduated from Yale and then earned his Master’s degree at Oxford.   After graduate school he spent a number of years living in France, where he became fluent and French and learned a great deal about Burgundian-style winemaking.  He even worked a few harvests including one at the world renowned Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, producer of some of the most expensive Pinot Noir in the world.  In the early 1970’s he returned to California and began his search for land rich with limestone.  It took a few years, but he eventually found land similar to that of vineyards in France he admired.  It is located near Mt. Harlan and is 2200 feet above sea level, unusually high for a vineyard.  A hundred years prior, the property was used as a commercial quarry for limestone.  Calera (the Spanish word for “limekiln”) is named after an old masonry limekiln which was leftover from the quarry operations.  I am embarrassed to admit it, but I was first drawn to his wine by the label.  It wasn’t the front label that grabbed me; it was the back label with its plethora of information.  It lists:  American Viticultural Area (AVA): Mt. Harlan, Mountain Range: Gavilan Mountain, County: San Benito, Region:  California’s Central Coast, Predominant geology:  Limestone, Average Elevation:  2200 feet above sea level, Vineyard location: 9 miles south of Hollister, 90 miles south of San Francisco, 25 miles inland (east) of Monterey/Carmel, Number of vines:  10,575 (100% Pinot Noir), Vine Spacing:  6′ x 10′, Vines per acre: 726, Exposure of slope:  South, Year planted: 1984, Rootstock: Own-rooted (Pinot Noir), 16 year average crop yield:  1.33 tons per acre (20.0 hectolitres of wine per hectare of vineyard), Dates of harvest: September 16 – October 11 2002, Tons harvested:  21, Tons per acre:  1.49, Average ripeness:  24.7% sugar, Fermentation: Native yeasts, Barrel aging: 18 months in 60-gallon French barrels 30% new, Malo-lactic fermentation: 100%, Filtration:  none, pH: 3.64, Quantities bottled: 15,492 750ml bottles, 3000 half-bottles, 72 magnums (1.5L), 6 jeroboams (3L) for a total of 1468 full-case equivalents.   The wine-geek in me appreciates the fact that Jensen shares all of these facts with us and that somewhere in the midst of the facts about geology, pH and vine spacing is a graceful and elegant Old World style Pinot Noir.  Calera’s Pinot Noirs most certainly have not gone unnoticed.  Robert Parker says “Calera is one of the most compelling Pinot Noir specialists of not only the New World, but of Planet Earth”.    Try it for yourself, see what you think.

Yesterday we packed up the car and headed up to Northern California to visit our friends Melissa and Ron.  Today we all spent a beautiful sunny afternoon on the patio at the Moss Beach Distillery.  If you happen to be near San Francisco, make sure to stop at the Distillery.  The restaurant is perched on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  I’ve never eaten in the restaurant, because I prefer the oceanside patio which has food service (clam chowder, sliders, fish tacos, steamers, calamari etc.), fire pits and cozy wool blankets.  Literally, you can curl up with your significant other in a blanket in front of a blazing fire, drink wine (they also have fabulous bloody marys) and watch the sea.  It is wonderfully romantic, even for lunch.  The patio is dog friendly too!   The restaurant, built by Frank Torres in 1927, used to be a very popular speakeasy / restaurant called “Franks’ Place” during Prohibition.  It was frequented by silent film stars, writers (mystery writer Dashiell Hammett was a patron and used Frank’s Place as a setting for one of his stories) and politicians from San Francisco.  The restaurant’s location, on a cliff overlooking a secluded beach, was the perfect drop off point for illegal whiskey from Canada.   The whiskey was brought up from the beach and loaded into trucks for transport to San Francisco.   Naturally, Torres made sure that some of the whiskey was brought into Frank’s Place.   Torres’ whiskey stash gave him social and political clout enabling him to run a successful, illegal business.  Case in point, his speakeasy was never raided.  Once Prohibition was repealed in 1933, Frank’s Place remained a popular dining destination.   During our visit to the Distillery we were told that there is a resident ghost, called the Blue Lady.  I didn’t see any spirits (other than in my bloody mary) but some people have reported (including NBC TV series Unsolved Mysteries) seeing a ghost all dressed in blue.

The weather looked like it was heading from rain to blizzard in Squaw, so we jumped in the car and  headed back home (before we got snowed in) to Santa Barbara.   We celebrated our arrival with some Ampelos!    Jason opened up the Ampelos 2005 Grenache tonight.  We’re both giddy about their expressive wines.  The Grenache is darker and richer than most with a super long finish.  Tonight, we’re pairing our Grenache with – drum roll please … leftover chicken.  I figure, a really wonderful bottle of wine makes all the difference to a meal.  My in-laws are convinced that my husband and I are hopeless foodies – they tease us incessantly about infusions and reduction sauces – but I’d like the record to show that sometimes we just eat leftovers.  =)

It is rainy and cold outside, so we stayed inside in front of the fireplace. In the afternoon, we popped open a bottle of the 2006 Tre Anelli Barbera. This is dark garnet colored wine is a great everyday drinking wine. It goes well with grilled meats and with foods with tomato sauces. Tre Anelli only made about 200 cases of this wine so get it while you can! Tre Anelli wine is only available for sale at the tasting room in Los Olivos, California. If you stop by for a visit, be sure to say hello to Jim and Janeen the tasting room manager.

The serious skiers and snowboarders in the group were on the slopes before 9am.  I took the day off to relax and putter around in the kitchen making coq au vin.  Before dinner we decided to visit Uncorked again.  Doug Hackett from Dogwood Cellars was there for one more night.  After waiting for a few minutes a table that was big enough for our group opened up.  We sat down and ordered a bottle of 2005 Dogwood Cellars Dry Creek Zinfandel and a cheese plate.  We had fun talking and taking turns petting Champ, a very friendly yellow lab.  Doug brought over our wine and was kind enough to pose for a couple photos.  After we finished up at the wine bar, we headed home to have dinner.  The coq au vin is a pretty hearty dish and our friend Alina is on a Syrah kick, so I figured it would be a good night to open a few vineyard designate Syrahs.  We opened three Consilience Syrahs, the 2005 Camp Four, 2002 Star Lane Vineyard (a library release) and 2005 Star Lane Vineyard.  It is fun to taste different vintages side by side and debate about which one is better.  One of the world’s best known wine critics, Robert Parker Jr. gave the 2005 vintage 91 points.  I don’t think he rated the 2002 but our unofficial vote at the dinner table resulted in an even split between the two vintages.   Personally, I prefer the 2002 Star Lane – it has wonderful flavors of chocolate and coffee.

After a long day of skiing, Jason, Shannon and I headed over to Uncorked – a great little wine bar at the base of the slopes owned by a woman named Kali. Winemaker Doug Hackett was there pouring wines from his two labels, Three Families and Dogwood Cellars. Doug’s Three Families brand is great for simple everyday drinking whereas his Dogwood Cellars wine is more complex. Doug says Dogwood is “his baby”. Before we started the tasting, our friend André showed up unexpectedly. He said, “I’ve learned over the years that I want to be wherever Shannon is”. Shannon is known for his ability to find fun things to do, like wine tasting. Clearly he is a good friend to have!  First, we tried the 2007 Three Families Chardonnay- the only white that Doug makes. This bright wine is completely unoaked and has wonderful mineral characteristics. I think it would be a perfect glass to have before a meal. Next up was the 2005 Three Families Merlot. This wine spent 22 months in neutral French oak – it was fruit forward with a slight sour cherry finish. Doug poured us his 2004 Three Families Cabernet Sauvignon next. This is a simple wine, but it is so by design. I tend to like more complex Cabs, so this wine didn’t really zing me. With that said, this Cab is exactly what it was meant to be – a very approachable wine for Doug’s less formal, Three Families brand.

We moved on to the Dogwood Cellars wines. We tasted the 2003 and 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. Both have the complexity and depth I appreciate in Cabs. Both vintages contain some Merlot. (The 2003 has 13% and the 2004 has 20%.) The 2003 has less fruit on the palate and hints of cedar and anise. The 2004 has firm tannins with cherry, cedar and white pepper on the palate. It is very drinkable now but Doug says it can be cellared for up to 10 years. The 2005 Dogwood Dry Creek Zinfandel was next. With 6% Syrah and 20 months in oak (50% new, 50% neutral) this is a really showy wine with flavors of chocolate and cinnamon. Doug surprised us with a barrel sample that wasn’t on the list, his 2007 Dogwood Dry Creek Zinfandel. Dense with flavors of cinnamon, allspice, rhubarb and white pepper, this wine is a Zin lover’s Zinfandel. Doug let us know that he sold a number of cases as futures. There are only 10 barrels of this wine, so place your order now! Since we enjoyed the barrel sample so much, Doug brought over a few more surprises for us. He poured us a barrel sample of his 2007 Dogwood Mendocino County Zinfandel – which tastes similar to the Dry Creek Zin but with more kick and spice. I would love to have this wine with gumbo. We all really enjoyed the wines from Dogwood Cellars, especially the Zinfandels. I’ll find out when the two Zins that we barrel tasted are scheduled to be released and post that information here.

When we got back to the house, we opened a few bottles to have with dinner – the 2005 Consilience Hampton Family Syrah (a new release) and one of my current favorites, the 2003 Ethan Syrah (bottle number 1341 out of 3575). I specifically brought this one for our friends André and Alina to try. André’s family has been in the wine business for many years and as you might guess, his palate is quite astute. I was especially interested in hearing his thoughts on the Ethan Syrah. It is made by second generation winemaker, Ethan Lindquist. His father is Robert Lindquist of Qupé, an award winning Santa Barbara county winery well known for its spicy and complex Syrahs. Clearly the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.  Another late evening enjoying wine, great food and friends – now THIS is my kind of vacation!

Anne, Andre & Alina

Jason and I packed up the car today to head up to Squaw for a week of skiing with friends from from Santa Barbara and New York. We stopped in Paso Robles for lunch at Artisan. This is one of my favorite restaurants – great locally sourced food, an awesome wine list and a relaxed, casual atmosphere complete with cool photography by Ross Halfin. While checking out the menu, I ordered a flight of three Paso Robles wines for us to share – this is the equivalent of about one glass of wine. (I didn’t want us to get tired on the road.) We had the 2004 Chateau Margene Cabernet Sauvignon, which was a beautiful garnet color. On the palate, we tasted currant, raspberry and cedar. Next up was the 2006 RN Estate Cuvée des Trois Cepages. This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. It had soft tannins and made a wonderful transition over my entire palate. The Cabernet Franc dominated the long finish. It went really well with the portabella, sundried tomato and pesto panini and the seafood chowder we ordered. The third wine of our flight was the 2005 Booker Remnant, which is a blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot. This is a deep purple colored wine, with flavors of white pepper spice, cedar and a hint of mint. I am on the Booker allocation list, so I hope to be able to taste this one again in a few years?  Perhaps Booker will do a library release?  After our fabulous Artisan lunch we got back in the car and finished the drive to Squaw. We arrived just before dinner; perfect timing to open up a few bottles. First we finished off the 2006 Stolpman Grenache that we opened yesterday evening. It tasted much better today than it did yesterday. I think it just needed some time to open up. I also opened a 2006 Tre Anelli Sangiovese – fruity and very food friendly.  If you’re a fan of Italian and Spanish varietals, I highly recommend visiting the Tre Anelli tasting room.  Tre Anelli makes so few cases, that they sell all their wine from the tasting room.  Next up was the 2003 Mandolina Toccata. This is a blend (45% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, 15% Freisa and 10% Merlot) that had a wonderful richness on the palate.   Mandolina’s tasting room is located in Solvang and is also worth a visit!

My husband Jason is obsessed with grenache – ask him, he won’t deny it.  In light of this, we’ve acquired lots of grenache.  One of our recent purchases is the 2006 Paredon Grenache This medium bodied wine has firm tannins and a nose of baking spices.  The flavors of berries were complemented by a lovely peppery finish. It went remarkably well with dal (a spicy Indian dish with lentils) and the chicken tikka masala!

We went wine tasting a few times last year with our friends Mike and Sandra.  On one of the tasting excursions we all bought a library release the 2001 Lions Peak Proprietor’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.  Mike emailed me the other day to let me know that he and Sandra opened their bottle it was drinking really well.  I wanted to be able to compare notes with him, so Jason and I opened up our bottle tonight.  Mike was right!  The fruit used to make this wine was grown in Paso Robles.  The Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from Paso tends to yield a wine that is soft on the palate but rich with chocolate and berry flavors.  I love Napa Cabernets (especially the 1999 Nickel & Nickel Rock Cairn Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon we drank about a month ago, WOW!), but quite frankly, I lack patience.    Paso Cabs cost less than their Napa cousins and best of all, they are ready to drink far sooner!  So while you’re waiting for your Napa Cabs to bottle age for eight to ten years, you can choose from great Cabs from Paso.  Case in point, at the 2008 California State Fair, the Calcareous 2005 Cabernet was named ‘Best Cabernet Sauvignon in California’.  This wasn’t an isolated Paso win, either.  Out of 1700 entries from wineries in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Australia and New Zealand, Paso Robles won all three Best in Class awards for Cabernet.  Trust me, if you’ll be visiting the Santa Barbara area, be sure to give yourself a weekend to taste Paso Robles’ wonderful Zinfandels, Petite Sirahs, Syrahs AND Cabs!

Neither Jason nor I were able to get dinner reservations anywhere tonight – it is Valentine’s Day and we both didn’t plan far enough ahead. We headed downtown to Elements to see if we could get one of the tables in the bar. Fortunately we lucked out and were able to get a table by the window– so we had a view of the Santa Barbara courthouse. We got married in the clock tower of the courthouse and then we had dinner at Elements, so it is extra fun that we are celebrating Valentine’s Day here. We ordered wine to drink while we were deciding what to order. I had the 2007 Chien Edelzwicker (my favorite white blend of 2008) and Jason ordered a glass of Prosecco. For our first course we had two salads, one was prosciutto and citrus on a bed of watercress and the other was a squid salad on mixed greens. For my entrée, I chose a swordfish fillet with mole and fingerling potatoes and kale. It was, hands down, the best mole sauce I have ever had. If you haven’t tried mole yet, you should go to Elements. It is an intriguing blend of chocolate (bitter, not sweet), cinnamon, chili peppers (usually ancho, pasilla, mulato, chipotle), nuts or seeds, garlic, and onions. It seems that there is no single way to make mole, it is very open to interpretation and experimentation. This mole tasted rich and had a slow, mellow burn with a very slight tang. It was so perfectly balanced – richness and spice dancing in my mouth! During dinner I had a glass of Tercero blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre. It was the second glass that I ordered…the first one I am sad to report wasn’t good so I ordered a different wine. Life is too short to drink wine you don’t like. It was a 2006 Syrah from Barrel 27 and it smelled like sherry and wet cardboard. On the palate it didn’t taste bad per se, but it sure didn’t taste good either. It was a new wine at Elements, so the waitstaff couldn’t tell me if this was just an aberrant bottle. I generally like the wines from Barrel 27, so I am inclined to believe that it was just an “off” bottle. Jason ordered the 2005 Beckman Syrah. I am consistently pleased with the wines from Beckman, especially the Syrah and Grenache. Expressive and lush, they are sheer pleasure to drink! We had a chocolate ganache dessert, reminisced some more about our sunny afternoon wedding years ago and then headed home. At home we opened a Paso Robles blend of 55% Syrah, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 9% Zinfandel. It was the 2004 RN Estate Cuvée des Artistes. I loved the flavor combination of blackberry, spice, licorice and white pepper. There are some really amazing wines coming out of the Paso Robles area. We went wine tasting there last year in September and were surprised at how many wonderful wineries we found. We’ll be going again this year at least once or twice, in search of more great wine.  Drop me a note if you have any favorites in Paso!