2008 Linne Calodo Oustider

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, January 27, 2013

VINTAGE

2008

WINERY/PRODUCER

Linne Calodo

WINE NAME

Outsider

TYPE OF WINE

Red blend

COMPOSITION

72% Zinfandel, 18% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Paso Robles, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

15.9%

PRICE PAID

$55

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We bought this bottle at the winery’s tasting room in November, 2010.

BOUQUET

Based on this wine’s varietal make-up, the bouquet reveals classic Zin, Syrah, and Mourvedre characteristics, especially dark fruit, peppery and savory herbs, earth, and suggestions of oak.

 

TASTING NOTES

After getting home from our Paso wine adventure in November 2010, I made a note on my wine inventory to NOT drink this wine until after 2012.  As best I remember, this wine struck me as being very tight and spicy-beyond-belief and thought a couple of years in the cellar would allow this wine to reach its potential and to mellow-out a bit.  We bought it assuming it had magnificent potential (and even in 2010 it was fantastically delicious), but like most young, rambunctious, rowdy red wines, allowing it to “chill-out” for a couple of years almost always helps it to calm down and gain its composure and balance.  Let’s see if those two+ years in the cellar helped or hurt this exuberant young Whippersnapper………….

This is one of the best red blends I’ve ever tasted out of Paso Robles.  It’s rich, creamy, spicy, smooth, well-balanced, and delicious beyond belief!  We decanted it about an hour before dinner, but the wine probably could have benefited from another hour or so of decanting.  If you have this wine at home and want to open it this year (2013), I would suggest cooling it down and decanting it for a couple of hours (or more).

There are acres of black and red fruits (blackberries, raspberries, plums, and sour cherries), along with truck loads of black pepper and savory herbs to accentuate and support the earthy core/essence of this fantastic blend.  The spicy character/essence of this wine is almost to the point of ridiculousness; if you’re as obsessed with black pepper and savory herbs as I am, this is YOUR wine! 

As I’ve already mentioned, I remember this wine being young and spicy and knew that (at least) a couple of years of cellaring would help “tame” this wine’s rambunctiousness.  Sure enough, those 2+ years of cellaring has allowed this beauty to age, mellow, and mature (almost) to the point of perfection.  I was very concerned with the wine’s 15.9% alcohol level, assuming it was going to be a typical, ridiculous, high-octane Paso Fruit Bomb, but despite the abundance of alcohol, this is a magnificently well-balanced, beautifully well-structured, absurdly delicious red blend.  Linne Calodo has extracted maximum flavor, balance, elegance, and complexity out of the three varietals used in this magnificent red blend.  You don’t often see Zin, Syrah, and Mourvedre blended together (which is exactly why Stephan Asseo from L’Aventure (also in Paso Robles) fled the strict varietal requirements in France to come to America so he could blend whatever varietals he wanted to mix together!), but based on how well those three varietals “play together” in this wine/bottle, I think more vintners should give it a try.

This wine almost has a Southern Rhone quality to it; if I were to taste this wine blind, I would probably have assumed that this wine was a Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache blend.  Although it’s rich and creamy, it’s also somewhat light-bodied, suggesting that Grenache is somewhere in the blend.  Most Zins from Paso are/were ridiculously ripe and fruity (we went over to have dinner at a friend’s house last night and they opened a bottle of 2011 Opolo Zin, who used to make those typical Paso Fruit Bombs, but the Zin last night was actually well-balanced and light bodied), but the 72% Zinfandel used in this blend is gorgeously sublime and restrained.  Adding Syrah and Mourvedre only adds depth and complexity to the blend, resulting in a fantastically rich, delicious, SPICY, yummy, well-balanced, creamy, incredible red blend.

 

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this red blend with one of my all-time favorite red meat dishes: lamb chops topped with a roasted garlic, rosemary, and parsley pesto.  This complex, delicious wine paired beautifully with the lamb chops and would/should pair perfectly with a just about any/all red meat dishes like a grilled ribeye, pot roast, prime rib, and curried lamb shanks.

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is still young, exuberant, brash, wild, and rowdy and because of it’s alcohol, fruit, spice, and acidity, I would imagine this wine would continue to age well for another ten to twenty years.

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

93

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.linnecalodo.com/

2008 Lynmar La Sereinite Chardonnay

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, January 27, 2013

VINTAGE

2008

WINERY/PRODUCER

Lynmar Estate

WINE NAME

La Sereinite

TYPE OF WINE

White

COMPOSITION

100% Chardonnay

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

Proprietary Cuvee

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

58% Sweeney, 21% Lazy W, and 21% Mill Station (all in the RRV)

REGION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Russian River Valley, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.1%

PRICE PAID

$63 (10% wine club discount off of the full retail price of $70)

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We received this bottle in June, 2010 from Lynmar’s wine club

BOUQUET

On Lynmar’s website, they describe this Chardonnay as being very Chablis-like (the above listed vineyards are in some of the cooler regions of the RRV) and based on the chalky, flinty, citrusy bouquet, I believe it!  This is one of the earthiest California Chardonnay’s I’ve ever sampled.  Most Cali Chards are tropical fruit bombs, but this Chard appears as if it will NOT by your grandfather’s Chardonnay.

TASTING NOTES

Sometimes a wine’s bouquet will tell you exactly what it’s going to taste like and other times a wine’s bouquet completely and totally fools you into what you’re about drink.  This wine’s bouquet is as honest as a Girl Scout.

Sure enough, this Chard is indeed chalky, flinty, and citrusy, with deep, complex flavors.  We decanted this wine for about 10 to 15 minutes before drinking it with our scallop appetizer (see below) since we cellared this wine for more than two years. 

As I am want to do, I must inject my big fat mouth/opinion on the subject of wine temperature.  Unlike 99% of the world’s restaurants, I strongly and vehemently believe in properly serving wines at optimal temperatures, which in the case of a quality Chardonnay means serving it at approximately forty-five to fifty degrees, unlike the thirty-five degrees that most restaurants serve their Chards.  Decanting whites that are more than four years old certainly helps with the temperature issue, in addition to aiding and assisting the bouquet to truly “flower.”

This is a fantastic (though certainly not cheap) RRV Chard (probably the best RRV Chard I’ve had in the last one to two years).  In addition to the previously-mentioned chalk, flint, and citrus elements, there’s also a wonderful mineral essence, in addition to cream and vanilla, thanks to the wine being fermented in neutral oak barrels.  I’m also assuming this wine was unfined and/or unfiltered since the wine has a slightly cloudy appearance.  Let me get back on my soapbox for a moment: I LOVE unfined and unfiltered wines; I believe the fining and filtering processes remove some of a wine’s character and depth-of-flavors. 

Looking for an elegant, delicious, beautifully well-balanced and structured Chardonnay from the RRV?  If you can afford it, I would begin with this wine; it’s tough to beat for a sub-$75 RRV Chardonnay.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We served this wine with seared scallops in a Chardonnay, bacon, caper, grapefruit juice, and butter sauce (my favorite scallop recipe of the past ten years) and the pairing was fantastic!  This wine would also pair well with most white fish dishes but I think the PERFECT accompaniment for this wine is scallops.

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is drinking gorgeously right now and thanks to its acidity and structure it should continue to evolve and mature beautifully for another five to ten years.

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

93

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

FAIR (I LOVE this Chardonnay, but at $70+ with sales tax and shipping, it isn’t cheap)

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.lynmarwinery.com/

2008 Fess Parker American Tradition Reserve Pinot Noir

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, January 20, 2013

VINTAGE

2008

WINERY/PRODUCER

Fess Parker

WINE NAME

N/A

TYPE OF WINE

Red

COMPOSITION

100% Pinot Noir

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

American Tradition Reserve

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Santa Barbara County, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.1%

PRICE PAID

$25.00 (plus tax and shipping, resulting in a net price of $30.37) (regular full retail price is $35.00)

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We received this wine from Fess’ wine club in June 2012; they were blowing this wine out at the special wine-club-member-only price of $25 (plus tax and shipping)

BOUQUET

This wine exhibits a classic Santa Barbara-area bouquet, especially red fruits, black pepper and savory herbs, smoke, and very earthy elements.

 

TASTING NOTES

At $25 (special wine-club-members-only pricing), this is one of the best California Pinot bargains. 

This Pinot has a mostly red fruit flavor profile, like raspberries and sour cherries, along with a little bit of black fruits like black cherries, blackberries, and plums.  Immediately after the red/black fruit profile, the wine’s significant spice profile comes to the fore, like TONS of black pepper and savory herbs.  Like any self-respecting Pinot, this wine also has a significant earthy quality, revealing its Santa Barbara County terrior.  This is also a relatively rich, creamy, slightly oaky Pinot, as well as being very well-balanced with a beautifully well-structured essence.  Some Pinots can be too sweet, too oaky, too spicy, and/or too whatever; this wine is beautifully well-balanced, with a nice, deep, complex flavor profile, smooth/sweet tannins and acidity, fantastic spiciness, rich, juicy, yummy fruit, and a smooth, elegant, nicely-balanced lingering finish. 

You may have noticed that I mentioned “well-balanced” about twenty times within the past one or two paragraphs.  That’s because this Pinot is, indeed, exceptionally well-balanced.  I have had better Pinots, but for $25, this Cali Pinot is VERY difficult to beat.  It’s rich, creamy, spicy, delicious, and, once again, well-balanced.  If I had the ways, means, and space, I’d buy about 25 cases of this fantastic Pinot at $25/bottle if that opportunity ever arose again.  As usual, great job, Blair (Fox, Fess’ head winemaker).

Fess Parker was the very first wine club we ever joined.  And after almost six years, we’re still proud, happy, satiated wine club members because Fess Parker is one of the few wineries where both their white and red wines are, without exception, always very good.  At worst, their wines, in my humble opinion, score 85 points or higher.  And most of their wines score 90 points or higher (again, in my very humble opinion).  We’ve cancelled a couple of wine clubs over the years because we joined them before we knew any better.  But Fess Parker continues to deliver well-priced, fantastic white and red wines, year after year after year, with reds and whites that aren’t Napa over-priced and exhibit honest varietal essence.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this wine with a pan-seared ribeye spiced with Kosher salt, black pepper, and Herbs de Provence (which we used to use only on salmon, but it occurred to me that it would also work very well on steaks, which is does brilliantly (in my humble opinion)), smothered in Arthur’s world-famous mushroom medley.

This wine paired perfectly with the spiced ribeye and would also pair equally well with lamb (chops/rack/shank), prime rib, and just about any other grilled steak and/or red meat dish.

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is drinking gorgeously right now and will continue to age/mature well for another 10 years or so.  We decanted this wine for about twenty minutes before dinner, but if you’re not living in Southern California during one of its typical mid-winter heat waves (which we’re suffering with right now), I would recommend decanting this wine for about an hour before drinking.

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

91

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD (regular price of $35)

GOOD – EXCELLENT (special members-only sale price of $25)

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.fessparkerwines.com/

2008 Inman Family Thorn Ridge Ranch Pinot Noir (94 Points)

DATE CONSUMED

Friday, January 18, 2013

VINTAGE

2008

WINERY/PRODUCER

Inman Family

WINE NAME

N/A

TYPE OF WINE

Red

COMPOSITION

100% Pinot Noir

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

Thorn Ridge Ranch

REGION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Russian River Valley, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.5%

PRICE PAID

$56

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We bought this bottle at the winery’s RRV tasting room in October 2011.

BOUQUET

This wine exhibits classic RRV Pinot traits, like tons of RRV earth, savory herbs, and red, blue, and black fruit.  The RRV in Sonoma County, just like the Santa Rita Hills in the Santa Ynez Valley and Central Coast AVAs, has VERY unique traits, both on the bouquet and flavor profile. This wine is no exception; RRV Pinots have unique floral, spicy, fruity, and earthy bouquets; this wine has all of those traits in SPADES.

TASTING NOTES

This is one of the best Pinots we’ve had in the last 12 to 18 months, with a rich, dark, creamy, wonderfully deep and complex flavor profile (it almost tastes like it came from the North Coast of Sonoma County, where Pinots tend to be dark, brooding, spicy, and delicious beyond belief).

This wine has an abundance of red and black fruit (black cherries, plums, blueberries, and black berries), TONS of savory herbs and spices (especially black pepper, along with the usual Pinot savory herbs like sage and rosemary), along with a gorgeous RRV earthiness.  This wine is beautifully well-balanced, with smooth, sweet, creamy oak and tannins, followed by a deft, delicate, feminine finish that lingers for the perfect amount of time.  This wine isn’t too sweet, too earthy, too fruity, too oaky, too alcoholic, and/or too anything; it’s a GORGEOUSLY perfectly-balanced Pinot Noir.  

We don’t buy wines from tasting rooms nearly as much as we used to.  When we first got “into” wine, we used to buy cases and cases and cases of wine from tasting rooms at full retail prices, but we’ve learned over the years that that isn’t terribly smart.  At $56 a bottle, this wine isn’t cheap, but we obviously felt compelled to buy this at Inman Family’s tasting room for a reason; and that reason would be because this is a FANTASTIC RRV Pinot Noir.

And one more thing: for years, wines that came with screw caps (technically called “Stelvin closure”) were generally pure crap.  As anybody who knows anything about wine nowadays well knows, that is no longer the case.  Some of the best wines in the world now come with Stelvin closures, including this beauty.  So don’t be alarmed that a fantastic, not-exactly-cheap wine comes with a screw cap.  If anything, it shows that Inman Family really cares about their wine and doesn’t want to gamble with having TCA-tainted corks ruining their precious wines.  Don’t blame them one bit!

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this wine with Arthur’s homemade duck confit (the leg and thigh portion) and a mushroom and potato medley sautéed with onions in the duck fat.  As you can probably imagine, the duck confit and mushroom/potato medley went PERFECTLY with this fabulous wine.  The wine’s red and black fruit, spice, mushroom earthiness, and structure paired beautifully with the duck confit and mushroom/potato medley.  This wine would also pair well with just about most red meat dishes, especially prime rib, lamb (chops/racks/shanks), and grilled steaks.

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is drinking GORGEOUSLY right now and will continue to age and mature beautifully for another 10 to 15 years.  In a perfect world, I would have aged this wine for another three to five years.  If you have this wine in your cellar and can’t wait any longer, cool it down and decant it for about an hour (we decanted for about ten to twenty minutes because we couldn’t WAIT to taste/drink this beauty).

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

94

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.inmanfamilywines.com/

2007 Domaine Chandon Yountville Brut (92 Points)

DATE CONSUMED

Friday, January 18, 2013

VINTAGE

2007

WINERY/PRODUCER

Domaine Chandon

WINE NAME

Yountville Brut

TYPE OF WINE

Sparkling wine

COMPOSITION

Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but exact percentages are not given on Chandon’s website.

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Yountville, California (Napa County)

ALCOHOL CONTENT

13%

PRICE PAID

$39.69

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We received this wine from Domaine Chandon’s wine club for $39.69 (discount price of $31.50 (full retail price is $45) plus sales tax and shipping) in December, 2011.

BOUQUET

This bubbly has a yeasty and citrusy bouquet, which isn’t too surprising considering Chandon ages this wine a minimum of two years on the lees (yeast).  I also detected a slight graphite element on the nose as well, but that could have been due to the variety of aromas wafting around the kitchen area since Arthur was baking two different appetizers to go with this bubbly, along with his homemade duck confit for dinner.

 

TASTING NOTES

This is a delightful California bubbly with a deep, complex flavor profile.  Based on the depth of flavors, I would assume that most of this bubbly consists of Pinot Noir, though Chandon also grows fabulously rich, complex bubbly based on Chardonnay.  But it’s difficult to beat the depth and complexity of the Pinot grape.

Domaine Chandon makes a variety of vintage- and site-specific bruts (Yountville, Carneros, and Mt. Veeder to name a few).  They’re all fantastic.  In case you don’t know, Domaine Chandon is the American outpost of France’s Moet & Chandon, the maker of Dom Perignon and other fabulous Moet & Chandon Champagne.  Obviously, they know what the hell they’re doing, even here in California.

As the bouquet suggested, this is a rich, creamy, citrusy, yeasty bubbly.  The flavors go deep and long, reflecting Chandon’s typically/complexly delicious bubblies, exhibiting brioche, lemons, yeast, crème brulee, earthy elements, and thanks to the Pinot Noir, hints of suggestions of rumors of cream-of-cherries and other creamy varieties of typically red Pinot fruits.

We joined Domaine Chandon’s wine club in September 2009 for one painfully obvious reason; we went wine tasting in Napa Valley in 2009 and decided to visit their tasting room and were poured around eight to ten different bubblies, all of which were FANTASTIC.  We joined their club right then and there.  We were blown away by the quality and variety of all of their bubblies and have NEVER been disappointed in a bottle of Chandon bubbly.  Their bubblies are always very good and tasty; even their most basic and cheapest bubbly (Classic Brut, a non-vintage bubbly) is excellent, especially for the price (we had two magnums of the Classic Brut during the recent holidays and couldn’t believe how good it was!).

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this bubbly with two different appetizers: bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with pecans and black bean and banana empanadas.  We always drink bubbly with the stuffed/wrapped dates, which are sweet, creamy, salty, crunchy, and delicious beyond belief.  Bubbly pairs extraordinarily well with the dates (the bubbly’s acidity plays very well against the aforementioned qualities of the dates) and went very well with the empanadas.

AGING POTENTIAL

This bubbly is drinking beautifully right now and should continue to age, mature, and develop for another 400 to 500 years (assuming you store your bottle(s) at the bottom of the ocean).

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

92

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://chandon.com/