Chalk Hill Sauvignon Blanc 2006

If you like the warmer climate, style of Sauvignon Blanc then you'll love this little gem. The nose is loaded with peach, nectarine, a touch of pineapple, pear, and just the slightest bit of grassiness to remind us it's a Sauvignon Blanc. Very well balanced, good but not racy acid, nice ripe fruit that give a lovely medium/(+) length finish. The use of new oak is detectable but not distracting, they did a good job with it and made for an enjoyable experience.

Drinks wells now and should make you happy through 2012 or even 2013 if properly stored.

Number of wines reviewed in 2011: 18

Brander 2006 Sauvignon Blanc 30th Anniversary Cuvée

I love Brander, the winery that turned me on to Sauvignon Blanc. To celebrate my love being home I decided to open a bottle of their special 30th anniversary cuvee. Light, bright yellow in the glass the nose is an excellent expression of Sauvignon Blanc with a lovely nose loaded with grassy notes, crisp apple, and a touch of lemon peel. This medium bodied wine has good acid structure and delivers lovely citrus with a touch of minerality that carries into a medium/(+) length finish. Peaking now this tasty wine will carry itself well through 2012.

Number of wines reviewed in 2011: 7

Brander Cuvee Nicolas 2009

Brander was where I first came to enjoy white wine and with the latest release of their Cuvee Nicolas they just keep getting better. Best known for their Sauvignon Blanc wines in this blend we have a fine expression of Bordeaux white wine with a 75/25 mix of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes aged sur-lie in 50% new oak. This wonderful dry wine is fantastic bringing expression of lemon, a touch of gooseberry and lovely little floral and vanilla hints creating a complex, layered experience. The wine is refreshing without being racy, balancing acid and fruit that produce a medium length finish and this taster wanting more.

Number of wines reviewed in 2010: 111

Mason Sauvignon Blanc 2007 "Napa"

Dang it's been hot, so here we go for something nice and cool. The latest selection is Mason Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2007, a well-reviewed Sauvignon Blanc (Wine Spectator 90, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 88). Well, it was nice but it was a little bit of a disappointment... not bad, but a while the components were nice (pretty color, nice nose of pineapple, citrus and hints of grass), the oral experience was a letdown. I felt it wine coat my tongue due to a lack of acidity. There just wasn't enough acid in the wine to bring the flavors out, rather leaving them flat. A little sad, I was so looking forward to a refreshing experience.


Number of wines reviewed on 2010: 109

Domaine Sylvain Bailly 2008 "Sancerre"

In the eastern part of the Loire Valley in France you find the Sancerre which until the last century was known for its red wines, especially Pinot Noir. A bout of the root louse phylloxera devastated the crop and today it is known for its wonderfully expressed wines made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape which is dry, pretty acidic, loaded with gooseberry and peach and a minerally finish. Today's wine, Domaine Sylvain Bailly is a perfect example of what you can expect from a Sancerre. In the glass the wine is clean, clean, somewhat watery with just a touch of green. The nose was aromatic, citrus, a touch of melon, a little gooseberry and something that was reminiscent of mineral water (without the bubbles). The palate was dray, clean and crisp with medium-to-medium (+) acidity, green apple, touch of citrus all coming together to a medium length minerally finish (felt like I licked a rock which for this wine is a good thing). If you want to know what classic Sancerre is like this is a good, inexpensive way to find out.

Number of wines reviewed in 201: 97

Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2009 "Marlborough"

When you are tasting your way through Sauvignon Blanc wines there are basically three styles you can look forward to: "Loire" style which is minerally, "steely", slightly "green" herbal and probably the most elegant style for Sauvignon Blanc, "Bordeaux" style where you get more blends of this grape with Semillon where the wine is a little more "round", hints of citrus, then there is "New Zealand" style where you get excellent expression of gooseberry and grassiness with more steel fermentation to get leanness but not quite the minerality of a Loire. California tends to be all over the map though it seems that quite a few producers lean toward the Bordeaux styles. So here we have Spy Valley's wonderful entry, a definitive New Zealand style Sauvignon Blanc. Compared to the last two of this variety I have to say this one is a powerhouse and gives you a great introduction to Sauvignon Blanc without being expensive. In the glass the wine was very pale straw with just a touch of green showing both varietal expression and youth. The nose was fantastic expressing limes, gooseberry, a little grapefruit and green grassiness. Commit this nose to memory and you will always tell a Sauvignon Blanc. The wine is zippy, medium (+) acidity, lean but not so racy as to make you shudder or hurt your teeth. There is a touch of fruity sweetness that works well with the acidity, hints of lime, tangerine and grapefruit all rolling together to provide a lip-smacking medium length finish that somehow produced the slightest hint of flint. Go get it and see why it earned a Wine Spectator 91... hard to beat for the less than $13 a bottle price.

Number of wines reviewed in 2010: 96

Gainey Sauvignon Blanc 2007 "Limited Selection"

Yes, another Gainey. Why not? Gainey puts out quality stuff and with my current tasting of Bordeaux varietals I should open with a good one moving to the whites. The Limited Selection is not a pure varietal but like its Bordeaux cousin it is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc with just a touch of Semillon to add a little roundness. This wine is very pretty, clean, light yellow with just a touch of green in it. On the nose I got some good notes of green apple, lemon, lime, melon and a tiny whiff of grassiness. The palate was a nice reflection of the nose, a dry, medium/medium (+) acidity with nice citrus flavors, a touch of melon and some minerality on the pretty long finish. This is a fun, refreshing, drink it now and maybe over the next year wine.

Number of wines reviewed in 2010: 85

Alex's Red Barn "Old Vine" Sauvignon Blanc 2007

If you've been reading my blog for a while you know by now I have a few wineries in the local Temecula Valley AVA that I really like. One of the most consistent producers of good quality wines is Alex's Red Barn Winery and on a warm afternoon I reached for their Old Vine Sauvignon Blanc, 2007. This was a lovely, very clear lemony hued wine with the color extending out to the rim (a nice sign). The nose was clean, medium intensity with notes of grass, lime, green apple and a little gooseberry, a lovely style of Sauvignon Blanc. In the mouth you get a lovely dry medium bodied wine with good acidity and flavors of citrus and green apple that all combine to give a nice medium length mouthwatering finish. An excellent refreshing wine that should pair well with salads and fish dishes (especially when using a citrus-based sauce).

Number of wines reviewed in 2010: 71

Brander 2008 Sauvignon Blanc "Purisima Mountain"

Ah, a lovely evening. With kitty stable after his big medical trauma and finishing up from hubby's lovely dinner it is time for me to relax. I decided to pull a bottle from my latest Brander shipment and settled on their 2008 Sauvignon Blanc "Purisima Mountain". I have to say, Brander makes some of the most fragrant Sauvignon Blancs in California and I love it. This is a vibrant wine, nose full of limes, grapefruit, just a hint of "green" (I know, a color, but that is what I get) and good minerality you expect from a Sauvignon Blanc that all comes together to make the mouth water before it gets to taste. With this wine you get loads of fruit right off the nose. This is a very pure Sauvignon Blanc, treated the same way that Brander makes it stunning "Au Natural" so that you get loads of the pure fruit with little manipulation. The mouth feel is good, just enough body to it so that you don't get lean, lean acidity but just a touch of "roundness" that combines with the fruit and acidity to make this a very enjoyable expression of the Sauvignon Blanc grape. They only produced 158 cases so I suggest you get a bottle while you can.

Number of wines reviewed in 2010: 4

Two From Tallulah

Stress. Work, kitty with major health issues, moving... ugh! So last night hubby took me out to a place we first encountered on a pre-drink to our lovely New Year's Eve outing at Martinis Above Fourth (affectionately known as "Temple"). While we often passed it on the way to church (real church, not temple), we had never been in Jake's on Sixth until that time. We had so much fun we wanted to go back and last night was that time for a return visit. Jake's offers a nice little selection of cheese and fruit plates, salads, and yummy paninis (we both had the "Americano Panini" which was delicious) but since this is a wine blog I want to focus on the wines. Jake's tends to offer wines that might be termed "boutique" wines, wines that are not mass produced or as our bartender Greg said "Not the ones you can find at BevMo". Indeed, for as many wines as I have sampled over time there were few I recognized, a good sign for me to come back more often.

With dinner (pictured) I chose the 2006 La Femme D'Argent (or if your French is bad, "The Silver Lady") from Tallulah. A Sauvignon Blanc sourced from the Farina Vineyard on Sonoma Mountain. The wine is aged in neutral oak and the minerality and citrus shine through. The nose is loaded with orange blossoms, grapefruit, and honeysuckle. The wine is lean but not racy with good acidity making the mouth water. Quite a good offering. So good in fact I decided to try a second Tallulah offering after dinner, their 2006 Shake Ridge Ranch GSM. For those of you who don't know, GSM is a shorthand way of writing "Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre" which is another way of saying "Chateauneuf-sytle" (sorta, close enough for government work in my opinion). The blend is slightly over half Grenache making this a nice fruit-forward and approachable wine. The bouquet is loaded with red fruits and has just a hint of lavendar and smoked meat. The mouth experience was quite pleasant with good fruits, young but not strong tannins and enough acid support to bring it all to a warm medium-length finish. Apparently less than 100 cases of this were produced so if you want to try it I would suggest you hurry out now. To make things easy Jake's is open at 4pm seven days a week.

Number of wines reviewed in 2010: 3

A Brander Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve my partner and I were fortunate enough to have dinner with two friends Efrain and Sarah at Martinis Above Fourth. While we did have some lovely cocktails I brought along a couple of bottles from my private stash of wines. Interestingly enough both were from Brander, my favorite for Sauvignon Blanc in the Central coast as well a fine purveyor of Bordeaux reds. I brought two very special wines of theirs for the four of us to try with our dinners:

First up was the popular 2007 Au Naturel Sauvignon Blanc (which was recently rated a 91 by Wine Enthusiast magazine... ya Brander!). This is their flagship unoaked offering and provided a lovely lemony, limey, green appley nose, a citrusy taste with excellent acidity and a long finish that made it a delightful opener.

For a red I brought along their 2006 Bouchet. "Bouchet" is another name for a Cab Franc but from the good folks at Brander this wine is a blend of the traditional Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon but to keep it from being a traditional "Bordeaux style" blend they add just a touch of Syrah. Their use of new French oak adds a touch of spiciness to this wine, this full-bodied, fruit-forward wine was excellent! Loads of black cherry and cassis with just a hint of cocoa that was perfect with our entrees.

Wines reviewed in 2009: 223

Brander 2007 Uno Mas

With the arrival of my shipment as part of Brander Vineyard wine club I decided to celebrate by opening a bottle of their interesting Uno Mas 2007. This lovely little wine is blend of Grenache Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc (70% - 30%). The nose on this wine is extremely pretty, slightly floral with undertones of grapefruit, orange peel, and something hinting at a touch of minerality. The wine presents a touch more body than one would expect with a lovely flash of fruit, nice acidity (though to make it "perfect" I would like a touch more), and a fine medium-length finish where I got my touch of minerality again. A wonderful wine with which to finish a warm day.

Number of wines reviewed in 2009: 198

Charity Tasting At San Diego Wine Company

I was happy to attend a charity tasting for Southern Caregiver Resource Center, a local charity that helps families and caregivers by providing services that are inclusive of all issues related to caring for adults with chronic and/or disabling conditions held at San Diego Wine Company. The theme for the tasting was "Big Gun" and offered several higher-end wines from the store's inventory. There were 9 wines of which I sampled all 9 (naturally) and hors d'oeuvres provided by Metro Gourmet. The wines tasted in order poured an my hastily scribbled notes were:

Cakebread 2007 Sauvignon Blanc: Traditional Sauv Blanc, tart with bright citrus and light minerality delivering a nice finish. Good apèritif.

Shafer 2006 Chardonnay: Crisp, green apple and apricot. No malolactic fermentation so you don't get any buttery weight, this is a summer Chardonnay. Nice acid with a good finish that paired nicely with many of the food offerings.

Radio Coteau 2007 "La Neblina": A Pinot Noir from the Sonoma area that earned a 93 from Robert Parker. Smoke, red fruit, a little hint of choclate on the nose delivering big fruit with some fine acid and smooth tannins blending to a delicious finish.

Celani 2006 "Tenacious Red": An offering from nearby Napa that is a Cab Frac/Merlot blend. The nose promised big fruit and spice but I wasn't terribly impressed. Might have been the bottle but this one just didn't speak to me.

Don Melchor 2006 "Maipo": A well-regarded Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile's Concha y Toro. I was expecting wow and the nose indicated I would get that will big fruits, tar and tobacco. On the tasting, great opening but something happened on the finish that just wasn't agreeable. It seemed that the the hints of tobacco turned into ash and just turned me off. I definitely want to try it again but this night I wasn't happy.

Silver Oak 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon: OK, now we're talkin' again. Dark ruby red color, blackberries and cassis, licorice and hints of spice combine with mouthwatering acidity and smooth tannins makes for a fine experience.

Ghost Block 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon: Nice! Black Cherry, blackberry, cassis, hints of chocolate and toasty oak. Great mouthfeel, good acid/tannin/fruit balance with a lovely lingering finish.

Duckhorn 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon: Pleasant Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and just a touch of Cab Franc. Rich color, nose promises big fruit (Currant, black cherries, hint of plum). Good acidity, smooth tannins and nice fruit delivery. Big, will be better next year but fine right now.

Caymus 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon: A wine with a LONG distinguished pedigree. DEEP! Nose indicates power in its delivery of dark fruits and a hint of rose petal and hints of Old Worldliness to it. Full bodied, powerful yet balanced in its acid/tannin/fruit combo resulting in a long finish.

Wines reviewed in 2009: 178

A Bit Of This, A Bit Of That

Went wine tasting at the San Diego Wine Company. This week it was a selection of wines new to the shop. There were some definite hits but a few misses as well:

Luna 2007 "Freakout": Quite an interesting blend of white wine grapes - 7% Ribolla Gialla, 25% Sauvignon Blanc, 33% Pinot Grigio, 35% Chardonnay (wow). Light straw in color, I felt that the Chardonnay over shadowed the other, somewhat lighter grapes. Smokey, toasty and melon were what I picked up most. Not bad, not impressed.

Kunde 2006 "Sonoma Valley" Chardonnay: Again light straw in color, blend of apples, pears, and butter on the nose with decent fruit delivery. Good acid, medium finish. Good everyday kind of Chard and at the price ($9.95) it really could be.

Manu 2008 "Marlborough" Sauvignon Blanc: Nice stone fruits and citrus, hints of herbaceousness, good acidity. A tad tight but nice.

Mont Gras 2007 "Quatro": A Chilean blend of 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Malbec, 25% Syrah and 15% Carmenere, this is a lovely little wine. Deep ruby shading to purple. Nice black currant, cherries, hint of "gaminess" on the nose. A medium bodied wine delivering good fruit and a hint of oak along with balanced acidity and tannins leading to a medium length enjoyable finish.

Eberle 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon: Solid offering by a Paso Robles mainstay (gotta love the pig logo). Nice deep garnet, excellent black fruits and berries on the nose, hints of tobacco and chocolate. Nice mouthfeel and acid/tannin balance. Longish finish, a fine product.

Brassfield 2004 "High Valley" Monte Sereno Zinfandel: From the High Valley appellation just north of Napa comes a nice Zin (currently on sale at SD Wine Company). Deep rich color, fruit-forward nose and nice, good mouthfeel, decent acid/tannin/fruit balance.

Wines reviewed in 2009: 150

Back To Cafe Bleu

My beau and I went to Cafe Bleu for happy hour... great deal on the food and glasses of good wine for $5 each. During this outing I sampled the following:

Valdivieso Sauvignon Blanc, 2007: A pleasant Chilean offering delivering a slightly grassy and citric nose, hints of lime on the tongue combined with a refreshing acidity. Nice opener.

Clos LaChance Zinfandel "Hummingbird Series", 2005: From California's own Central Coast we have a deep cherry-red Zin. Berries, spice (cinnamon?), vanilla on the nose, nice tannin/acid fruit balance with noticeable black fruits and lingering peppery/spicy finish. Somewhat closed out of the bottle, really opened up after about 15 minutes.

Nine Stones Shiraz, 2005: From the Barossa Valley, a pleasant Aussi-style Shiraz. Extremely fruit-forward (dark berries and plum), juicy acidity. Not complex but very drinkable. Finish runs a little hot but can be tempered with some food.

Wines reviewed in 2009: 144

Inn at the Park

Last night my beau and I went to see the Old Globe's production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. One advantage of buying the season tickets is the discount offered on meals at certain nearby restaurants. We decided to choose one from the list, Inn at the Park, located in the lovely little Park Manor Hotel just across from Balboa Park. I had never dined in the restaurant and have been curious about it for quite some time.

The dining room was cozy and well done, kinda like being in an well-worn sitting room, comfortable and relaxed. Since we made reservations our table actually had a "reserved" sign on it (nice little touch). Service was attentive without hovering, very enjoyable (thumbs up to Jayson our waiter/server).

The menu was small but very enticing with a nice selection from which to choose. We started with their Calamari Fritto Misto (I enjoyed their kaffir lime and avacado sauce). For the main course my beau chose their chili-dusted mahi mahi and I, pretending to make a healthy choice, selected the skirt steak and baby arugula salad. Both dishes arrived beautifully plated. I ordered my steak medium rare and it was cooked to perfection for my tastes. At first I was worried about my beau's mahi since he isn't one for hot spice but he ate every bite (a compliment to any chef).

The wine selection is limited but serviceable (both of my selections came from "other" listing... other whites and other reds). My first selection was a 2006 Sterling Sauvignon Blanc which delivered a nice array of grapefruit, citrus and a little bit of melon and pineapple on both the nose and palate. Finish was a bit short but it went well with a first selection and was a nice crisp starter. With my steak I went with the Coppola Pinot Noir (sadly I didn't get down the vintage). It went well with my course (though I was a little scared at first since the dressing was a lime chipotle, but the chef's hand was light and the meat/wine pairing prevailed). I have to say, the more Coppola I have the more I like (both wine and restaurants). The wine was clean and had a pretty ruby color with nice legs. I got bits of plum and spice on the nose with a bit of strawberry on the tongue and a good balance of acidity and tannin with a nice mid-length finish.

At the end of the meal we were starting to be a little pressed for time and (sadly) skipped dessert for coffee. Next time though... and there will be a next time.

Chateau Sansey 2006

Today I decided to get serious about my wine certification and thought the best way to kick start the process was to sip some wine while reading about the various growing regions in France. After work I hit the closest wine bar and restaurant to my domicile, The Vine. While there I sampled the 2006 Chateau Sansey, a white Bordeaux from the Graves region. The wine is a mix of the three whites allowed by the laws covering AOC: Semillion, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle. The wine is clean and light yellow reflecting the wine in general with simple legs. The nose has an interesting blend of pine and peach (Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion) and while refreshing was a touch sweeter than the glass of 100% Sauvignon Blanc varietal I had just moments before (from the Muscadelle) with a touch of that Old World minerality from the gravely soil. The mouthfeel was nice but not a completely round feeling in the mouth, OK acidity and I thought the finish a little short. It wasn't bad, but I've had better. I am thinking I should give it a later second chance to prove it's worth.