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March 2011 - Barrel Tasting Weekend

Earlier this month I made my annual trek north for the Russian River Wine Road Barrel Tasting Weekend. It actually encompasses Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley wineries along with the Russian River wineries. This year I started the weekend early on Thursday by taking five rolls of film. Along with my DSLR I took my Hasselblad and a borrowed Fuji 6x9. The weather was variable over the weekend, with some periods of sunshine, some periods of rain, and a lot in between. All total I shot 7 rolls with the Hasselblad and three with the Fuji. I have developed the film and made contact sheets and test prints. Next week I will start making the final prints on fiber based paper.

Friday morning I started in the north of Dry Creek Valley. I was curious about how the various vineyards suffered with the strange weather for the 2010 crop. I knew from my Christmas trip that Limerick Lane had suffered a 100% loss of their Zinfandel crop! David Coffaro didn't do too bad with a 30% loss. Michael Talty lost about 70% of his estate zin. He was sampling the 2010 Estate from the barrel. While it was fizzy with the malolactic fermentation still proceeding, it was very promising. He was pouring the 2007 trinity of Zinfandels, Dwight Vineyard, Filice Connolly Vineyard and the Estate. All three were tasting great! I snuck a taste of the 2008 Estate, and am really looking forward to opening a bottle of that vintage next Fall.

Then it was off down the road to Kokomo to meet up with my sister. They had a 2010 mystery wine, the 2010 Mount's VY Zinfandel, a 2010 Pauline's VY Zinfandel and a 2009 Ruth's VY Cabernet Sauvvignon in the barrels. The Pauline's tastes like another winner for winemaker Erik Miller. After a quick bite we visited Rued Winery. They had their 2009 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel from the barrel, which gathered another 'A' on the NE14Zin scale. By the way, all of the Talty wines, and the Ruth's Cab and Pauline's Zin at Kokomo also received an 'A'. We finished the day at Mazzocco where they were offering four barrels of their Zinfandels. The top two were the Warm Springs Ranch and the Maple Vineyard.

Saturday was the day for the Alexander Valley. We started in the southern end at Hanna, shooting a roll of film of the vineyards from the parking lot. Then in to sample a barrel of the Cabernet from the Alexander Valley. The hit at Hanna was the only Zin they had available, which was the 2006 Bismark Ranch. We tasted down the road to White Oak. While they no longer have enough Zinfandel to sell very much, they do offer a 'Bottle your own Zin' offering. It is usually quite good. They were also pouring a 2008 Zinfandel, another 'A'. After working up more of the Alexander Valley, I decided to run back to Dry Creek to sample at Mauritson. They were not participating on Friday. Clay Mauritson was manning the wine theif for their first ever Rockpile Cabernet Sauvignon as a single bottling. Also in the barrel was the 2009 Cemetary Zinfandel, with the 2009 Rockpile Ridge being poured from the bottle. All three of these hit the big time with more 'A's. By this time the day was over so I headed home to get ready for dinner.

Sunday we hit the Russian River Valley. After a few wineries on the way, we hit Armida Winery. My sister had never been there for barrel tasting, so I didn't tell her what to expect. After checking in we were told to step right into heaven. Parting the white curtains across the doorway were found ourselves in a room covered with white, gold and silver. There was an altar on one side of the room, and a barrel of Chardonnay on the other. A lovely young angel, complete with wings was offering barrel samples. After tasting, the angel told me to 'Go To Hell', right through the door at the end. We passed through Purgatory to arrive at another door with black curtains and chains. Passing through we found ourselves in a dark, forbidding chamber with corpses in the vat, an occupied coffin, and three barrels of red wine to sample. The Zin sample was an excellant 2010 Maple Zin. We then visited the tasting room for samples of seven different wines. The 'A' wines were the 2008 Maple Zin, the 2008 Reserve Poizin and the 2007 Tina's Block.

We stopped next at Matrix, where the hit was the 2007 Alegria Reserve Zinfandel. Then a short drive found us at a tasting room that had just opened up the previous day. Although the sign said 'V-M-L', they were also pouring three of the Zinfandels from Bradford Mountain Winery. The 2007 Grist VY Zinfandel was the hit of the day. By this time the day was getting on so we made a dash for Siduri to get in a few Pinot samples before the event was over. It was a good barrel tasting weekend. The 2010 growing season was a real trial, with almost all vineyards suffering some loss. They seemed to range from 10% to 100%, with 30-40% on the average. The fruit that was used seemed to be above average. This is partially from the stress, and a lot from the berry selection on the sorting tables.

October 2010 - Catching Up!

While I had good intentions to write about the rest of the Spring, a couple of Summer events and a start to the Fall, they were all for naught! It is now October and I haven't made an entry since March. I am also going to make a slight change to the direction of the Blog. It is in the NE14Zin.com web sitre, but I am going to talk about photography, fishing, family and whatever strikes my fancy in addition to writing about Zinfandel. Zin is still my "go-to" wine, and I will be reviewing wineries and providing Zin related recipes, so this will just be an additional bit of information.

Last Spring I took a couple of photography classes at Orange Coast College (OCC). One was all color, mainly digital, although we were able to use both large and medium film cameras. One fun assignment was a "Low Key" picture. This means at least 90% dark colors. My son-in-law had a Mexican mask. I used a red gel on a strobe behind the mask, and a "Coffin" of Reserve Poizin from Armida Winery. The final shot was made using my Wista 4x5 and transparency film. It turned out that the colors, especially the cloth at the bottom, looked much better with film than with a digital camera! The other class was about using a view camera. These are the large format cameras that you see where the photographer is under a dark cloth looking at the picture upside downand backwards on a ground glass. They have been used for MANY years, and still have features that are imposible to match with modern digital cameras, although they can come close with special "tilt/shift" lenses.

During the Orange County Fair I worked at the Wine Courtyard, sponsored by the Orange County Wine Society, selling tastes of award winning wines. While we sell glasses of the non-award winners, I always arrange to work on the award side. One aspect that I like is when someone looks at the "Menu Board", which has about 80 choices between the whites and reds, gets a glassy look and says something like "I don't know anything about wine, but I want to learn." While a lot of them end up liking something white and sweet, a lot of them become genuinely interested in really tasting good wines. This makes all the work worth while.

March 2010 - Russian River Wine Road Barrel Tasting

I made my annual trek up to Sonoma County for the Russian River Wine Road Barrel Tasting weekend. As always, it is held on the first two weekends in March. I always go on the first, which is the traditional weekend. We started out Friday morning at David Coffaro. He had the normal spread of about 15 barrels set out for tasting. Even though I had already ordered a few cases through his futures program, after tasting I had to add another case. Then right across the intersection at Yokum Bridge to visit Mike Talty. I always get at least a case of his estate zin. They were offering Barrel tastings of his 2009 lineup of Zins, as well as some bottles of released wines.

We then went down the road to Kokomo Winery to see what they were offering. In the barrels they were offering a 2009 Timber Crest Zinfandel, a 2009 Petite Sirah and a 2009 "Mystery Wine". I heard many people guessing what the mystery wine was, but nobody was getting it right! It turned out to be a full bodied Merlot! I was able to sample a couple others from the barrel that are coming out later. Keep a lookout for the 2009 Pauline's Reserve! After trying Kokomo's version of the Mount's fruit, we headed up to Mount's Family Winery to try their version. It passed muster, so will be added to this site as soon as I am able to revisit it for pictures and information.

Continuing down the valley, we visited A. Rafanelli to sample the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon in the barrel and the 2007 from the bottle. These are again great, solid wines. For the final winery of the day we went to the other side of the valley to Mauritson. They were not yet set up for Barrel Tasting, but we did sample the great lineup of Rockpile Wines again.

Saturday morning I went to Mauritson early so I could have a chance to talk to Clay Mauriston. It was a hurried moment before the winery opened, but efter the opening flurry I was able to talk for a few minutes. They were offering one of the 2008 Zinfandels in the barrel. The pictures of the "Gnomes in the Vines" came from the vines in front of the winery. I then went to Christopher Creek Winery up on Limerick Lane. One of their offerings was the 2008 Dry Creek Zinfandel in the barrel, with the chance to buy it as futures. I gave it an A-, and bought a case. Then down the hill to Meitz. Besides the Meitz 2006 and 2007 Zins, I was able to sample a 2008 Dry Creek Zin being presented by Denxamis Winery from the Manaukian Vineyard. I gave it a potential rating of A-. This will be a hard wine to find, but is worth the effort! I received a phone call that the rest of my group was ready to meet up, so I headed down the 101 to Siduri. They had a huge variety for tasting out of the bottle. The best out of the barrels was a 2008 Carlisle Vineyard Zinfandel. Another great barrel sample, although not a Zinfandel, was the Lewis Pinot! We capped off the day with dinner at Chinois, an Asian Fusian Restaurent in Windsor. Great food if you are in that area.

Sunday was a slow trip down the Alexander Valley, staring at Sausal. The 2008 Century Vines, from the barrel, got a B+. Then across the highway to White Oak. They said that they would be producing Zinfandel in quantity again soon. If so I will be adding it to this site. Alexander Valley Vineyards was pouring two of their Zinfandels. Neither one really seemed to make it this year. At the next winery down the road, Hanna, two wines got B+s. The 2006 Bismark Ranch Zinfandel from the bottle, and the 2007 Alexander Valley Cabernet from the Barrel. While at the next stop, Fieldstone. we heard that they will also be producing a Zinfandel soon. The last stop of the trip was about two miles of the main road. They have been added to this site already! Stuhlmuller Vineyards is certainly one to visit. The 2007 Estate Alexander Valley Zinfandel rated a B+. Another must visit winery in the Alexander Valley.

December 2009 - Christmas Visit To Windsor

Every year I head up to Windsor on the day after Christmas to visit the family. This year I had a chance to get out to a few wineries, to pick up some orders, taste some new releases and check out some wineries that I haven't reviewed yet. On Sunday I paid a visit to Mauritson in Dry Creek. They were pouring five Zinfandels, and what a selection. The '07 Rockpile Ridge Vineyard and the '07 Rockpile Westphall Ridge Vineyard Zinfandels were two of the only three wines that I awarded an A- on the NE14Zin scale to the whole week. Full of dark fruit flavors and a smooth, elegant aftertast, they were indeed "Extremely Good Wines." The other three all received a B+! This is indeed a winery to include on your visit.

On Monday I finished up the day at Dutcher Crossing. The sunset picture at the top of this blog entry was shot from behind the tasting room. I have visited this winery often, and was surprised to find that it hadn't been included on the NE14Zin winery pages. This is currently being remedied! The '07 Maple Vineyard Zinfandel received the third A- of the trip. This wine is from the vineyard farmed by Tom and Tina Maple. Dutcher Crossing is one of only four wineries that currently have access to the Maple Vineyard fruit. With only 14.5% alcohol, it still has a great deep dark flavor and mouthfeel. They were also pouring the '07 Proprietor's Reserve. With fruit from three Dry Creek vineyards, this wine tasted of Red fruits. Well balanced, it received a solid B+. Another winery that received a B+ for a wine was Kokomo Winery, one of the new ones. Both the '06 Dry Creek Valley and the '07 Mounts Vineyard made the grade.

Tuesday was a slow trip up the Alexander Valley. I was hoping to get a lot of pictures, but the weather was not cooperating at all. Overcast grey skies seldom provide a very large range of lighting, so I am afraid the shots will come out rather flat. I won't know until February when I can get back into the lab and develop the 4x5 sheets of film. Some of the best wines I had that day started with the '06 Bismark Mountain Zinfandel at Hanna. It has 26 months in both American and French new oak. Tastes of dark berries and black cherry, and great balance resulted in another B+ for this one. Right down the street, Alexander Valley Vineyard had the '05 Alexander School Old Vine which also garnered a B+. Stryker Sonoma was pouring four Zins, two of which rated a B+. These were the '06 Monte Rosso and the '06 Perotti Vineyard. The Monte Rosso was one of the lighter, but had great complexity and balance. The Perotti was dense, and seemed to have fairly low acid. The Monte Rosso would certainly go better with food. The last of the B+ tastes for the week was the '07 Dry Creek Valley from Simi Winery. With 91% Zin and 9% Petite Sirah, this would be a great wine with a spicy BBQ dinner.

The new wineries that are being added to the reviews are Amista, Dutcher Crossing, Kokomo and Peterson. All of these are in the Dry Creek Valley. When you visit these, or any of the wineries reviewed on this site, be sure to tell them that you read about them on NE14Zin.com!

September 2009 - Scotland

This September I took a trip to Scotland. While it has nothing to do with Zinfandel, I still wanted to add it to my blog so I can share some of the pictures. We flew to London from LAX on the 14th, which meant we arrived on the 15th. The first day we just looked arount the local area, including Victoria Station, then went to bed early to try and reduce the effects of jet lag. Ths next day we had an "English breakfast" at the hotel. What a spread! Everything from eggs and sausage with fried tomatoes and mushrooms, fresh fruit, cereal, to meats and cheeses for a sandwich.

Then off to the Tower of London, which is really a number of towers. One has the crown jewels of England stored in vaults, others have apartments where both prisoners, guards and kings lived. The central tower is the "White Tower", which is shown in the picture. Getting around all the towers involved a lot of climbing up spiral staircases built into the walls to see everything. After many hours seeing what we could fit in, we took a double decker bus to Trfalgar Square. It was mobbed with tourists and fans getting ready for an outdoor concert that they were setting up for. We then stopped at a pub for luch and to try some English ale.

After lunch we crossed the Thames and wandered along the river. The Eye is a huge ferris wheel, which we didn't have time to ride. Next to it was a Dali exhibit, with many sculptures along the walk. We had a clear view of Parliment and Big Ben across the river. After crossing back over the Thames for some shots of Big Ben, we caught the underground back to Victoria Station. Our hotel was right across the street from the station. We had dinner and got to bed early for the next day's tour.

After another huge breakfast the next day it was a short stroll down to the Victoria bus station, where we boarded our tour bus. The first stop was Windsor Castle, in the town of windsor. We had to go through a full security screening, just like at the airports. It was a real rush to get through the tour in the allotted time, trying to see as much as possible before getting back to the bus. Then a long ride to Stonehenge. We had luch in a small pub, then joined the loop of people circling the stones. While it was quite impressive, I would sure like to have been there in either the early morning, or just before sunset. In the early afternoon the light was too high and harsh. Then back in the bus for a log ride to Bath. It is a nice city in the west side of England. The old Roman baths were very interesting. The water looked rather nasty though. Then we had a long ride back to London.

The next morning, Friday, we took a cab to City Airport. It is much closer, and smaller, than Heathrow. After an hour and a half in a small prop plane, we landed in Edinburgh. It was a short ride to the hotel, or rather a side street close to the hotel. Princes Street was closed for major rebuilding, so we had to get a porter to come help with all the bags. The hotel was on the first floor, which means we had to walk up a flight of stairs to get to the lobby. In the UK the street floor is floor zero. Then in the hotel they started numbering all over again, so out room on floor 2 was on what we would consider the fourth floor here in the States. We had a great view of the Robert Scott Memorial and up toward Edinburgh Castle. We took a short walk up Princes Street looking in the shops. Now, before you get upset with my spelling, the street name is not Princess, as in a Monarch's daughter, but is named for the two Princes who were imprisoned in the Tower of London, and suffered an untimely death.

One street up from Princes Street is Rose Street. This is a great street for just wandering down and checking out the great little shops and pubs. The first day we ate luch and dinner in pubs. The food was very good! While haggis was on the menu, I passed in favor of some delicious steak and ale pie for dinner.

On Saturday morning we had a full "Scottish Breakfast" in the hotel. Very filling! Then a walk over to the "Royal Mile" and up the hill toward Edinburgh Castle. It is built on a rocky hill. This hill has been used as a fort since at least the bronze age due to its natural defensive position over the plain. It drizzled occasionaly, but that rather added to the ambience. We toured the castle and began the walk back down the Royal Mile. While a lot of the stores are just for tourists, there are a lot of interesting historical buildings. We only got halfway down the Royal Mile before it was time to return to the hotel and get ready for dinner. We ate at the "Witchery", a very nice restaurent just below the Castle. Great food and ambience.

Sunday we continued our walk down the Royal Mile, finishing at Hollyrood Palace, one of the royal families residences in Scotland. The cathedral is now in ruins, which makes for some great photo ops, as seen in this picture of the ruined wall. We finished up the day with a ride in a tour bus around the castle, Royal Mile, some markets, Hollyrood and the surrounding streets. It is a wonderful city to visit, and would take much more time than we had to see even a small part of what is available.

On Monday morning I picked up a rental car, loaded the bags and headed south to "The Boarders". Concentrating on driving on the left side of the road, while on the rightside of the car, still couldn't detract from the Scottish coutryside. The dry stone walls were very tight to a lot of the roads. They were built when roads only had to accomodate horse and carts, and weren't moved when cars came along. The blackfaced sheep were eating in emerald green fields. The colors seemed so much brighter than in California, probably from the amount of rain available. We still had generally nice weather, with a far amount of blue sky. We had lunch with a distant cousin and his wife just outside the town of Selkirk. After visiting for a while, we headed north, stopping in the village of Dunkeld. We spent the night in the same room that Queen Victoria stayed in when she stayed in the Royal Dunkeld Hotel. We toured the village in the morning, seeing the bridges and the cathedral, most of which is now in ruins. Then back in the car to head north to Dingwall, where we were to stay for a few days with another distant cousin.

We were provided with turn-by-turn directions for Wednesday's tour by our host's daughter, who seems to know every inch of the highlands by heart. We went south to Moniack Winery for a tasting of their wares. Then on to Urquhart Castle. While it is mainly ruins, it provides many great photo ops. It is right on the side of a loch. Unfortunately it is not open until well after sunrise, so getting great sunrise shots is out. We then went to the Black Isle, which is neither black nor an island, to visit the Clootie Well. This well has been considered sacred since the bronze age. The ritual is to circle the well three times, walking "Sunwise". Then splash some water from the well onto the ground. You are then supposed to tie a "clootie" onto one of the surrounding trees. A "Clootie" can be any peice of cloth, a rag or some clothes. As the cloth disintegrates, your medical problem is supposed to go away. I went through the whole ritual, and tied a old sock onto a tree. The whole area is covered with old clothes, rags, etc. It is quite a sight to see!

Thursday we started our tour at Glenmorangie Distillery. We arrived between tours, so decided to just buy some "Water of Life" as souveniers. Then on to Dunrobin Castle. One of the sights to see here is the Falconry Display. Falconmaster Andy Hughes flew three different types of birds the morning that I was there. The grace and speed of these birds is amazing. The first type goes after its prey on the ground, like rabbits. The one that he flew provides a lot of rabbits for himself and the rest of the birds. The second bird went after its prey in the air, usually other birds. The last was an owl, which goes after prey on the ground, but waits for it to show up while he is sitting rather than going after it from an arial search. It was completely silent when it was flying. He was able to have it and on the heads of unsuspecting people in the audience. The gardens at Dunrobin Castle looked magnificant, but since it was drizzling, we only saw them from the castle windows. The last stop this day was the Falls of Shin. These falls are known for the runs of Atlantic Salmon that are heading upstream, and making magnificent jumps up the falls. The picture above is from these falls.

That night we had dinner at Tulloch Castle in Dingwall. This castle is known for the ghosts that inhabit some of the rooms. One such room is a bedroom, number 7 in the hotel that the castle became. This room is in high demand. Although some of us toured the castle, no spirits made their presence known that night.

Friday I headed out alone, with my first stop at Rogie Falls on the River Blackwater. The water is indeed black, with the rapids turning a light chocolate brown. The second river picture is from this spot. The rivers in Scotland are great for shooting. The rocks are often sheared at steep angles, so the falls start out almost sideways before gravity takes over. I then continued north to Ulapool, a fishing village in the North Highlands. I had to stop here to have some fish and chips for lunch. I then headed south, stopping at the Corrieshalloch gorge. The River Droma runs through the gorge, with the highest falls being the Falls at Neasach which has a 46 meter drop. A suspension bridge spans the gorge, and a viewing platform juts out into the gorge a little ways downstream. While it took some walking, it was well worth it. I then drove a big loop back to Dingwall, passing through mountains, past lochs and bays, seeing a lot of the rugged Scottish Highlands. Little Gruinard Beach provided a shot of an almost deserted beach with some magnificent coloring. Some of the "Highways" were one-lane roads, which really keep you alert. There are slight bulges of the road every 100 yards or so. If two cars meet, the closest to a bulge pulls over and the other passes. Both drivers are required by custom to smile and wave at each other. These are quite common all over Scotland, not just in the sparsely populated regions.

Saturday we bid our hostess goodby and headed toward the Isle of Skye. The road provides some great views of some lochs and bays. One place along the way is Eilean Donan Castle. This is a must see stop for anyone visiting western Scotland. When we were there the tide was out, but there was still some reflection in the water. I shot most of a roll of B&W film with my Hasselblad. I am still working with them, but a few are hanging on my wall already.

When we left Dingwall it was sunny, and looked like it was going to be a nice day. By the time we left Eilean Donan Castle is was raining. We crossed over to the Isle of Skye in the rain. There were occasional breaks in the rain, and rainbows were becoming a common sight. We continued on to Portree to find the B&B we were to stay for a couple nights. From the town of Portree, it was a two mile drive down a one-lane road. We were also slowed by a flock of black faced sheep which were not too happy about having to share the road with a car.

For dinner we went down to the waterfront of Portree. I had some of the famous mussels from the region. The seafood in Scotland was all extremely fresh and delicious. The meat pies, "Mince and Tatties", "Scottish Breakfast" and yes, even haggis, was all great. While a lot of restaurants were expensive, the small places and pubs proved to be reasonable, with the better food often found there. Plus the pubs have a good supply of the various ales that can be found around the country.

The next day was rainy. Not just a drizzle, but the first serious rain we had run into. We look a big loop around the northeast portion of Sky, visiting Dunvegan Castle along the way. This is the ancestral home of Clan Macleod and the Fairy Flag. I wasn't able to get a lot of pictures with the rain, but we could see that this Isle would be great to shoot with some decent skies. That night we went to a pub in Portree to get warm. With a warm fireplace, a match on the telly and a good crowd enjoying the ales, it was a nice way to finish our travels. The next day was a long drive back to Edinburgh to turn in the car, with over 1,000 miles addd to it, and check into a hotel at the airport. The next day we jumped on a British Air 747 and flew back to LAX.

It was a fantastic trip, with a lot compressed into two short weeks. I would love to go again, spending much longer overall, and more time on the Isle of Skye. If I do go again, I would love to take my view camera along with the Hasselblad and DSLR. I could spend many hours shooting castles and waterfalls on 4x5 film. I hope you enjoy these few shots from the trip.

March 15, 2009 - Barrel Tasting Weekend

Last weekend, March 6 - 8, we were all at the Russian River Wine Road Barrel Tasting Weekend. This was the 31st year of the event.When we first starting attending, it was $5 to buy a glass for the weekend, or free if you brought your own glass. This year it was $30 for one weekend at the door, which included a wristband and a stem. Since last year it extends over the first two weekends in March. About half of the wineries are also open on Friday. Even with the price increases it is worth it, as the heavy crowds attest. Friday and Sunday are the best days to avoid the crowds.

We started out Friday morning in the Dry Creek Valley. While not open for Barrel Tasting, Dutcher Crossing was open for regular tasting. They are one of only four wineries that still source Zinfandel grapes from the Maple Vineyard. Their '06 Maple was a full bodied, fruit forward gem that received an "Extremely Good" rating by all of the NE14Zin.com staff. The rest of the day was spent working down the Dry Creek valley. I stopped by Talty Winery to get a case of futures of the Talty Estate '08 Zinfandel. After another stop at Unti, which had some very nice barrel offering, we headed into Healdsburg for a bite of lunch at a great little Mexican place just off the square. We finished off the day at Holdredge Winery, tasting the '08 Dry Creek Zinfandel in the barrel, and the '06 Dry Creek and Alexander Valley offerings in the bottle. A great way to end the tastings before we had to start setting up for hosting a home-made sausage dinner for the family.

Saturday was an Alexander Valley trek. From Lancaster in the far south (no Zinfandels, but some excellent cabernet sauvignon), we visited Fieldstone, Hanna, Alexander Valley Vintners, White Oak and Stryker Sonoma. Most of the '08 Zinfandels were very good, but I am not sure they will be as good as a lot of the '07s. At the end of the day we headed across the 101 to visit Mazzacco Winery. I will have to redo my writeup on them since they have split off the Matrix label, and changed their Zinfandel lineup. They are also one of the wineries that gets fruit from the Maple Vineyard. Winemaker Antoine Favero poured a taste of this for me from the bottle. He did a great job with this one!

On Sunday we had planned on a Russian River trek, but got a very late start after a Saturday night dinner with a group from the OCWS and the time change for daylight savings. We did visit Meitz and Christopher Creek, two of out favorites in the very northern corner of the Russian River AVA. "Head Chef" and "Cellar Master" did make it down the 101 to Siduri to sample some of their outstanding Pinots. Next year I will have to start there one morning! It was a wonderful weekend as usual. This is an annual event that we plan on attending next year. Looking for those great buys of futures as well as tasting the ones we may have missed from the bottle.

March 1, 2009 - OCWS Extraordinaire!

The Orange County Wine Society held the "Extraordinaire" at the Hilton Hotel in Anahiem. There were a lot of boutique wineries, and some great restaurants offering their wares. I found a lot of very good wines, many good wines, and almost no poor wines. I have to admit I spent most of my time tasting Zinfandels, but there were some standouts with other varietals. There were four that REALLY impressed me. I started off with Neal Family. Just as at the Faux Zap, it was "Extremely Good". V-Twin was pouring the '05 V-Twin Zinfandel and the '05 Poker Run. These both received an A- on the NE14Zin scale. (Look down for a description.) The V-Twin is slightly more fruity than the Poker Run, but both a drinking great now.

Another favorite from previous tastings that was being poured today was from Macchia. They were pouring the "Mischievous" and "Victorious". Both showed off the fruit forward, full mouth feel that Macchia is known for. The fourth winery that was hitting the top of my list was Wine Guerrilla. Bruce Patch was pouring five of his Zinfandel blends, starting off with the '06 "Two Vineyards". From '07 he offered the Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley, Russian River and Block 6. The Block 6 was my favorite, but all gathered an A-. As a student of David Coffaro, Bruce blends in different varietals to enhance the basic Zinfandel flavor.

The wines from these four are all on the NE14Zin.com "Well worth the price" list. I have already bought some, and will be picking up some of the others in the next few weeks. Where I will be putting it I have not a clue! There is a lot of good stuff out there. Now to get ready for next weekend in Sonoma. Lots more tasting and reviewing. I hope to see you at some of the wineries during Barrel Tasting.

February 7, 2009 - Season of Anticipation and Dread!

This is the time of the year that I look forward to, and also dread. The reason? Mailers from my favorite wineries. For various reasons, like shipping weather conditions, January and early February is the time to order wines so that they can be shipped when the temperatures are in the range of 60 to 70. This year started out with Quilceda Creek. While not a Zinfandel, it is a great wine and I have been on the list for years. Soon after came one offer that I take everything I can, Carlisle. Mike Officer makes great wines, and keeps the prices way down.

In the Zinfandel camp, along came Turley, Neal Family and Paradigm, along with non-allocated, but nice clubs, Carol Shelton and Seghesio. For non-Zinfandels, which I do buy and enjoy, came Karl Lawrence, Pride Reserve, Loring Wine Company and Siduri. This year I had resolved, along with many others, to really cut back on my wine purchasing. And I have, to a degree. While I took everything on the Carlisle list, I did cut back on Turley, buying only Zinfandels. For some others I bought only 6 bottles where I normally got a case, or a case where I usually buy more. Both of my cabinets are full, and my offsite storage in getting close to full.

I think this flurry of mailers is over. My credit card sure hopes it is! Now I can relax until August, when the next set of offerings arrive! Right now it is time to get a bottle out of a cabinet, both to enjoy and also to make room for more wine!

Coming Events: March will be bringing two wine events that I will be going to. The first is on March 1 in Anaheim. This is the "Extraordinaire", a food and wine tasting sponsored by the Orange County Wine Society. A lot of California Wineries will be pouring, and the food is provided by numerous local restaurants that support the Wine Society. Click on the OCWS logo on my home page for a link to the OCWS web site. The other event is on the next week, the Russian River Wine Road Barrel Tasting. This takes place every year in Sonoma County. It is held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of two weekends. Lots of wines to taste. Most is already in the bottle, but lots of barrel samples are offered with futures available.

January 31, 2009 - Faux ZAP.

I wasn't able to get up to San Francisco for ZAP this year, so I headed over to the Wine Exchange here in Sounthern California for the closest substitute around this neck of the woods. "Faux ZAP" featured 20 different Zinfandels, so it is less than the 300 or so served in Fort Mason, but it covers a nice variety.

To start off the lineup there were four from Napa Valley, two from Paso Robles, and one from Lodi. The main block was from Sonoma County, Four were from the Alexander Valley, two from Sonoma Valley, four from the Dry Creek Valley and three from the Russian River Valley. My "Grades" ran from Slightly Above Average (C+) to Excellant (A). I have included the NE14Zin.com rating scale below so you can have a better idea of how I grade. This is a Single Varietal Scale! It is not used to compare different wines across varietals.

Octavio Marin, on the right in the photo above, was helping to pour, and provide comments on each wine. I gave two of the wines an "A" for drinking now. The first was the 2005 Charter Oak Zinfandel, Monte Rosso Vineyard. It featured dark fruit flavors with a slight tang of acid. Even though it was at 16%, it had the structure to go well with heartier foods. Many there had it at the WOTD. The second was the 2006 Seghesio "Old Vine". This was a full bodied, dark wine with interesting complexity. Both of these are in my cellar! Another "A" wine is the 2006 Outpost from Howell Mountain. It was the highest alcohol of the Day, at 16.2%, but the balance masked any heat. In a year or two this will be even better! I am glad I have some on order.

There were six others that received ratings of "A-", or Extremely Good. Without descriptions these were the 2007 Neal, Napa Valley, the 2006 Sausal Alexander Valley "Century Vines", the 2006 Seghesio "Rockpile AVA", 2006 Ridge Lytton Springs Vineyard, the 2006 Ridge Ponzo Vineyard, and the 2007 Hart's Desire Ponzo Vineyard. The last two, both from the Ponzo Vineyard, showed the results of different winemakers. Both were in the mid 14% alcohol range, but showed contrasting flavors.

This tasting showed that the 2006 - 07 Zinfandels show a lot of promise. I thought they were generally better then most 2005s. The biggest change that I noticed was a reversal in the alcohol levels. These were roughly a full percent down from previous years, and the big jammy "In Your Face" style is going away, at least for most Zinfandels. With better acid balance, Zinfandel is becoming a much more food friendly wine. I, for one, think this is a great trend!

NE14Zin Rating Explanation

Rating	100 Point Scale	Comment
C-	70 - 73	Slightly Below Average - Not recommended.
C	74 - 76	Average - Nothing good or bad, not worth drinking.
C+	77 - 79	Slightly above average - Few redeeming features.
B-	80 - 83	Well Above average - Buy for everyday drinking.
B	84 - 86	Good Wine - Buy if good QPR (Quality Price Ratio)
B+	87 - 89	Very Good Wine - Good to have some of this in the cellar.
A-	90 - 93	Extremely Good Wine - Well worth the price.
A	94 - 97	Excellent Wine - Look for this one!
A+	98 - 100	Outstanding Wine - Buy it if you can find it anywhere!

December 26 - 31, 2008 - Christmas Visit.

Every year I head up to Windsor on the day after Christmas to visit my mother, and the Northern California part of the family. This year all six of my Mom's Great Grandchildren were able to be there. They ranged from 9 year old twin boys, through 23 month, 9 month and 4 month old boys, with a finale of a one week old girl. It was quite a sight!

Every day I would head off to check on the local wineries to look for changes and new wineries, as well as photo opportunities with the Hasselblad camera loaded with B&W film. The first day we started at David Coffaro's. We were the only ones there, so were treated to all of the open bottles, then a guided tour of the barrels prior to the blending process, which will take place in the next few weeks. It was a very interesting and insightful look at his blending ideas.

Next was Talty Winery, where Mike was pouring his '05 Estate and '06 Filice Connolly. They tasted great, as usual! I picked up a bottle of the Filice Connolly for dinner that night. We had a late start, so only had time for one more. I picked Mauritson since I knew they were pouring Rockpile wines that were usually only available to the club members. We tasted the '06 Rockpile Ridge, Jack's Cabin and Cemetery Vineyards for the Zinfandels, and topped it off with a taste of the '06 Rockpile Madrone Springs Petite Sirah. They were all full bodied wines with lots of fruit. I had to get a mixed case of these jewels for my collection.

The next day I hit a winery that I had noticed the previous day as a new place. Truett-Hurst was where the Martin Family used to be. Check them out in the winery review pages for a more complete story. It is a bio-dynamic winery. I tasted the '06 Three Vineyards Old Vine, Red Rooster and Rattler Rock Zinfandels. The Rattler Rock and Red Rooster tied as my favorites here, with the Rattler Rock being a heavier bodied wine. It came in with 15.5% alcohol, and acid levels that would go great with food. I was quite happy to find it. We then went a little ways down the road to Rued. They were pouring three vintages of their Zin. The '04 was a taste combination of the '03 and the '05, and managed to have the better of both vintages. Grab this one while you can!

On the Alexander Valley side of the vacation we were only able to get to a few again! Late breakfasts after late nights make it hard to get to the wineries when they are just opening. Stryker Sonoma was pouring some nice Zins, but none of them had the "Killer!" taste to make me buy some. We then went down the road to Alexander Valley Vineyard to sample the "Wicked Weekend". The '06 trio was good, with the '06 Sin Zin getting one of the best grades of the day. With time running out we headed into Healdsburg to check out Seghesio. I had been fortunate in getting some of their '07 Sonoma County before Wine Spectator published the "Top 100" list. It was number 10, so is almost impossible to find now. I tasted a few, and the '06 Old Vine was at the top of my list!

The final day we headed over to Westside road and went south. Our first stop was Armida. They were pouring four of their Zins. The '06 Maple VY, from the Dry Creek Valley was outstanding, as was the Reserve PoiZin. The Reserve PoiZin comes complete with it's own coffin. I got the Black and Silver version to have at next year's "HalloWine" party. We then continued into the Russian River Valley, stopping at Matrix. Ken Wilson bought Mazzocco, and split the Matrix name off as another label. They have one Zinfandel, which is a nice blend of Dry Creek zins. The final stop this day was a new winery called Moshin. They were pouring the '06 Bowman VY Zinfandel, which is from the Shenandoah valley, the '06 Carreras VY, from Dry Creek, and a NV "Message In A Bottle", which is a zinfandel port. This is a winery well worth checking out when you are in the area!

July 23, 2008 - Summer Fair Days.

Summertime means county fairs, and around here that means the Orange County Fair. The Orange County Wine Society staffs the "Wine Courtyard", where we sell glasses of wine and "Tastes" of the medal winners. This is a great chance to try some of those varietals that you have heard about, but never tasted. It is also a chance to taste your favorite varietal to see what is now available. At the competition in June, and at the fair, I have been able to sample quite a few Zins. There were some definite standouts!

The Zins I have liked so far really show that there are many regions making great wines. I didn't take tasting notes, but five of my standouts are listed here. Winning a Silver Medal, the '06 Macchia "Prestigious" was made with fruit from The Original Grandpere Vineyard, which is located in Amador County. Another was the '06 M2, Soucie Vineyard. This offering from the Lodi area was a Gold Medal winner. The next three Zins were awarded the Chairman's Award! These were the '05 Handley, Redwood Valley, the '05 Carol Shelton "Karma Zin" and the '05 Ledson Bacigalupi Vineyard. All five of these full of fruit, full-bodied and ready to enjoy right now. There were many more that I liked, some just as well, but time and space are limited right now.

This month is also the "Second Season" for mailers. I just faxed in my Carlisle order. Max of everything and asking for extras! Yesterday I ordered the Outpost Zinfandel. Turley is coming soon. And for some other varietals, Shafer's Hillside Select is now being offered. I was talking to Mike Officer (Carlisle Winery) at a tasting last month. He had just been glowingly written up in Wine Spectator. He told me that his waiting list jumped from four to five years right after that article came out! When you make great wine, and sell it for a reasonable price, you will have buyers lining up. In this case for years!