First month of 2020

The Wines of January 2020

I hope your New Year and new decade are progressing nicely.  Crazy weather where I am - hot one day then snowy and cold the next. One constant - drinking wine. 

2012 Chateau Ste. Michelle Ethos Reserve Cabernet sauvignon, Columbia Valley, Washington

Chateau Ste. Michelle crafts Ethos Reserve Cabernet to showcase the power and richness of Washington fruit combined with Old World elegance. A majority of the fruit comes from our 40-year-old Cold Creek Vineyard which provides the wine’s power and structure. This is the most complex of our Cabernets and offers layers of ripe blueberry fruit with silky tannins.

Blend: 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot

RP 93 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

One of the standouts in the lineup is the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Ethos Reserve, which comes from a number of sites in the Columbia valley and incorporates 10% Merlot. Aged in 53% new French and American oak, this full-bodied, rich, unctuously textured and concentrated Cabernet is loaded with notions of currants, blueberries, smoked herbs, and licorice. Possessing low acidity, a plump, sexy profile and no hard edges, it can be enjoyed anytime over the coming decade.

WE 91Wine Enthusiast

Cold Creek Vineyard provides the majority of the fruit for this wine, with the rest coming from the Wahluke Slope. It's immediate in its appeal with aromas of cocoa, dark chocolate and black fruit. The coffee flavors show a mixture of fruit and barrel, with some graininess to the tannins.

WS90Wine Spectator

Chewy, with tannins around a smoky core of blackberry, currant and roast beef. Comes together with intensity on the finish. Best from 2018 through 2022.

This was a gift a couple of years ago from my brother. He indicated it could use some time in the cellar. I opened it just after the Holidays for a nice hearty meal. Wow!  I could have left it for at least 5 more years – the tannins were still evident, although not overpowering the fruit. Delicious dark berry fruits with hints of graphite, dusky herbs and cocoa. A really great wine – prices range in the $40’s for this. I liked it so much I was able to get a 2013 to put in my cellar at around the same price. Great wine.

2017 Ridge Three Valleys, Sonoma County, California

Deep garnet color. Fresh raspberry and cherry fruits, barrel spice, clay minerals, and fresh mint. Sweet red berry fruit entry, medium body, lively acid, and supple tannins. Long, elegant finish.

Blend: 73% Zinfandel, 15% Petite Sirah, 10% Carignane, 2% Grenache

WW 91Wilfred Wong of Wine.com

COMMENTARY: With such a star-studded line up that Ridge Vineyards has with its world of wines, the Three Valleys Red Wine is sometimes overlooked by my wine pals and myself. Fortunately, after tasting the wines over a decade, I have grown to appreciate this wine. The 2017 vintage possesses what it needs, and it belongs in the company of the best. TASTING NOTES: This wine is nicely balanced and pleasingly open-knit. Its aromas and flavors of ripe berries are already showing well. Pair it with a double-thick grilled pork chop. (Tasted: February 27, 2019, San Francisco, CA)

WS91Wine Spectator

Lively and well-built, with expressive cherry, roasted dill and white pepper flavors that glide toward refined tannins. Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane and Grenache.

A close out special at $20, this is typical of the field blends that Ridge is known for. 2% short of Zinfandel to be called that, but a very nice blend with bright red fruits, a nice acidic backbone, hints of tannins and a good finish. I only bought one – what a dope – at this price, buy several and drink over the next year or so.

2017 Petra Zingari Toscana, Tuscany,Italy

#29 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2019

WS93Wine Spectator

A well of dark cherry, black currant and blackberry fruit makes this red sumptuous and inviting. Fresh earth, thyme and rosemary accents add depth. A mineral element emerges on the long finish. Shows fine balance overall. Merlot, Sangiovese, Petit Verdot and Syrah. Drink now through 2032.

JS93James Suckling

A delicious red that shows red plums, brambleberries, undergrowth, cedar and freshly cut herbs. Medium to full body, delightful, juicy tannins and a tangy, medium-long finish. A blend with equal measures of merlot, sangiovese, syrah and petit verdot. Drink now or hold.

A really nice inexpensive Super-Tuscan. The petite Verdot is an unusual addition but blended nicely.  Nice red fruits with some herb and mineral depth in the mouth. Good finish, nice acidic backbone to be a good food wine. Priced under $20 – possibly as low as $12, a real buy to have on hand.

2014 Sextant Wheelhouse Zinfandel, Paso Robles, Ca

90 POINTS           Wine Enthusiast

Black-cherry fruit is decorated with crushed thyme, dried sage, roasted meat and cinnamon on the nose of this bottling. The palate offers more cherry fruit but also a bit of black-plum-skin tartness, as well as decent amounts of asphalt and turned earth.

Paso Robles, CA- Boysenberries, black pepper and sandalwood take center stage followed by plum and anise. The nose and palate work together flawlessly. The tannins are firm. Vibrant acidity contributes to a lively mouth feel followed by a long finish.

A fun little wine you can get for about $14 (Reg. $24) – it is a nicely textured zinfandel with nice red fruits and hints of earthiness and herbs. Not “spicy”, but well balanced with nice backbone to bear up with meats. Well worth the money.

2016 Vietti “Perbacco” Nebbiolo, Langhe, Italy

93 Robert Parker - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Luca Currado likes to remind me that this wine could qualify as a full-fledged Barolo. Barrels not used in the final Barolo Castiglione blend are used to make the 2016 Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco. In fact, its very name “Perbacco” translates into a somewhat corny “golly gosh” because that was the reaction Luca’s mom had when she first tasted the wine and was told it was not a Barolo. “Perbacco, it tastes like Barolo,” was her comment—and a legend was born. The Vietti family, along with Bartolo Mascarello and Dott G Cappellano back in the day, had battled for some variation of a Rosso di Barolo in the appellation laws. That never happened, but Langhe Nebbiolo is a concept that follows that same idea: you get great Nebbiolo quality at a fraction of the price. Today, Langhe Nebbiolo is one of the fastest-growing categories in the entire wine region. This beautiful vintage, with its balanced fruit and freshness, is a perfect example.

Description: Offers up generous fruit along with menthol, spices & hard candy, showing notable intensity while retaining an essentially mid-weight style. Strong, intense & powerful when young, complex & elegant with the ageing. Food Pairings: Hearty stew, wild game, roasted red meats & sharp, aged cheeses

Nebbiolo tends to surprise me – it can be a very tannic wine but it is never really deep dark red. The grape of Barolo – one of the pricey and sought after wines from Italy, this wine is a real gem. Ageable in the near term (2 -3 years) it is clean with great red fruit, chalky mineral notes and hints of spice. Nice balance, works well as a food wine with a nice moderate finish. Priced around $25, this is a great wine to impress your friends and enjoy with an Italian repast.

2013 Tolaini “Legit” Cabernet Sauvignon, Toscana, Italy

Wine Spectator 94

This is broad and incisive, delivering black currant, plum, leather, earth and wild herb flavors. Dense and beefy, yet with ample fruit for balance, driven by vibrant acidity. This is starting to mellow but still has years of life ahead. Drink now through 2036"

Rich dark fruit, berry and cassis aromas meld with notable French oak spice. On the palate this is full-bodied with deep but reserved fruit flavors framed by rich oak. The excellent balance of fruit intensity with fine tannins indicates a cellar-worthy wine.

Legit

Legit"Don't play everything, let some things go by. What you don't play can be more important than what you do".

A philosophy of a musician whose enduring legacy continues to inspire listeners, artists and artisans around the world. Music, the language of soul, universally understood and appreciated in spite of borders and barriers. Indeed its rhythm transcends those things and makes our collective hearts to beat as one. We argue that wine has a similar ability. The grapes each a note in a composition written in a universal language. The author, an artisan improvising with practiced deft, not playing everything, letting some things go by. Little wonder then that when Tuscan vintner and international wine importer Lia Tolaini Banville met the grandchildren of the great Thelonious Monk, she was inspired to a collaboration to honor his memory with a singular wine from her family estate - LEGIT.

The picture is of Thelonious Monk – a Jazz legend composer and pianist , not some pop artist. This Cabernet is literally a monster – still tannic, yet carrying dark fruits, herbs and hints of graphite and cedar shavings. It is drinkable with a slab of meat, but needs a number of years in the cellar. A phenomenal wine that runs about $40-44 – a wine this quality is usually more expensive. You could tell your wine friends it cost twice the price and it would be believable. Truly LEGIT.

Well, another month has shot by, hope your New Year is off to a great start. Until next time, keep popping those corks and I’ll meet you out behind the grapevines.