I am typing this from Small World Coffee on Witherspoon Street in Princeton Township, NJ, where I am visiting my former roommate Alex who is now making a name for himself at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School.  All around me are people who are younger than me and much older than me: young students with nary a care in the world and gray-haired professor types.  They’re nursing coffees and perhaps hangovers caused from Princeton football’s drubbing at the hands of the Yale Bulldogs yesterday.  As I’m a Cal alumnus, this is a feeling I know all too well, but unlike the people keeping me company I at least am not suffering from a hangover despite sharing two excellent bottles of wine with Alex.

Those few of you who have kept up with my blog know I love Ridge Vineyards to an absurd degree.  To me Ridge represents the best of California winemaking, and its wines are never disappointing.  I might disagree with a few of them, but much more often I love them.

Ridge is well-known for its Zinfandel, but it made its mark on the wine world by making the legendary “Monte Bello” Cabernet.  Monte Bello was selected as one of the California Cabs to go head-to-head with Bordeaux in the now-legendary Judgment of Paris of 1976.  Their 1971 Monte Bello came in fifth and was the second-highest rated California Cabernet in the tasting, not bad for a wine made only nine years after the start of the winery.  More tellingly, however, a re-enactment of the tasting was conducted in 2006, and the 1971 Monte Bello came in first, beating out all other California and French wines!

Unfortunately for broke post-grads,  the Monte Bello line usually starts at $150+ when released.  Fortunately for us, Ridge makes a “second wine” (in the tradition of the great Bordeaux chateaux) from grapes grown in the same Santa Cruz vineyards as the Monte Bello.  The winemakers separate the more concentrated, tannic grapes–those with the chops for long-term cellaring–to make Monte Bello, and the rest are used to vinify the “Santa Cruz Mountains” Cabernet blend.  The 2008 vintage is the first to feature the new name of Estate for this wine.  I had the opportunity to pick up a bottle of the 2008 and an older bottle of the 2003, and I brought them up to Princeton for a comparative tasting.

the tasting notes

2008 Ridge Vineyards “Estate” Cabernet Sauvignon | $35
75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc

We opened this bottle first.  The nose was promising–dusty cherry and plum sprinkled with graphite.  Very, very approachable tannin and good acidity, with nice blackberry and blueberry on the palate.  I really enjoyed this wine, though Alex was adamant that this wine did not have a skeletal backbone.  ”This is a blob,” he said, though he still thought it was an enjoyable wine.  I did notice that the wine did not seem to hold up very well over time.  We opened the bottle and had a taste, then came back a few hours later to finish the bottle over the course of another few hours, and I think it was best closer to its opening.

2003 Ridge Vineyards “Santa Cruz Mountains” Cabernet Sauvignon | $32
68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and 4% Cabernet Franc

This wine smelled old, with a musty, funky nose that was very appealing.  It still had good color, however, and the first taste was savory and tart, even.  It started with umeboshi on the palate and finished with, I thought, unmistakable notes of fresh cranberry.  This wine got better over time, as the initial tartness resolved and integrated into a pleasing whole.

At 13.5% and 13.4% respectively, these wines were easy to handle (thus explaining my lack of a hangover today).  These are California Cabs that, while offering a certain level of complexity, are just very enjoyable to drink.

———

the typewriter

You might notice in the background a vintage baby blue manual typewriter that Alex purchased some time ago.  It was fully refurbished and works like a charm.  We spent the evening not only drinking wine and eating stuff we picked up from D’Angelo Italian Market, but typing letters and notes to various people on the typewriter.  It’s a beautiful thing.  While I enjoy writing letters by hand, I think I enjoy typing letters even more.  What more could we ask from life than friends, a typewriter, and a nice bottle or two of wine?

Considering sparkling wine is like considering heaven and hell.  On the one hand, you have sparklers that barely qualify as wine–Andre and Cook’s come to mind–while on the other hand you have Champagnes that will take you to the sky (related to price).  I haven’t had too much sparkling wine in my life, which is a shame because they are fun, well-made, and, as many are coming to realize, are absolutely terrific with food.

Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited to a trade tasting of the sparkling wines of Schramsberg Vineyards, a venerable California sparkling wine institution located in Napa Valley, at Marcel’s in DC.  I had had their wines once or twice before, but was never in a condition to remember too much about them.  With this tasting I was in luck, however, because not only would I try a number of Schramsberg’s wines but would also participate in a blind tasting of Schramsberg wines and the finest French têtes de cuvée (prestige cuvée) wines.

Yikes!  A blind tasting at a trade event?  I felt outclassed, but I decided I would drink more than I spoke. I rolled up (on foot) to the tasting in my black suit (featured in my previous post) and heavy black backpack (at least it matched my suit!) and was greeted with a glass of Schramsberg’s Brut Rosé, which had pretty strawberry and peach aromas that were mirrored on the palate.

We were then led to long tables, where I sat next to David (the proprietor of the excellent Pearson’s Wine & Spirits in Glover Park) and the wine director of the Ritz-Carlton.  The phalanx of glasses reproduced above awaited us, as well as scoring sheets:

Hugh Davies, son of the founders of Schramsberg Vineyards, gave excellent commentary and production notes throughout the whole tasting.

For the first flight, which was the blind tasting of the Schramsberg sparkling wines and the Champagnes, the idea was that we were supposed to rank the wines from first to seventh and determine if we could which were blanc de blancs and which contained Pinot Noir, and which were the Californian wines. These are my transcribed notes from A to G:

• A | aromas reminiscent of white Burgundy–hazelnut and lanolin.  A long finish but a noticeable burn.  | MY RANK: 6
• B | thin bodied and high acid, with notes of green apple.  | MY RANK: 7
• C | wow!   Clover honey and bread, tart but rich.  Really freaking good.  I thought this could be the oldest wine in the lineup, and could contain Pinot.  | MY RANK: 2
• D | some aroma I couldn’t place… more of the Burgundy, maybe… really evocative and old-smelling.  Well-balanced, with tangerine notes.  | MY RANK: 1
• E | gentle floral aroma, with lemon curd.  | MY RANK: 5
• F | a rich color which made me wonder if this was an older vintage.  Burgundian aromas, with a round, full taste evocative of papaya and tropical fruits.  I thought this might contain Pinot.  | MY RANK: 3
• G | pineapple on the nose, less fruit-driven and more hazelnut on the palate.  | MY RANK: 4

• A | 2002 Dom Pérignon | mostly Pinot, 100% malolactic fermentation | TASTING RANK: 7
• B | 2000 Taittinger | 100% Chardonnay | TASTING RANK: 5
• C | 2004 J. Schram | 85% Chard, 15% Pinot | TASTING RANK: 2
• D | NV Krug | blend of Chard and Pinot | TASTING RANK: 3
• E | 2004 Louis Roederer Cristal | 50% Chard, 50% Pinot, 100% malolactic | TASTING RANK: 5
• F | 2003 Schramsberg Reserve | mostly Pinot with some Chard | TASTING RANK: 1
• G | 2002 Perrier-Jouët | 50% Chard, 50% Pinot | TASTING RANK: 4

So it’s nice to find a solid restaurant with well-executed food and great service.  Firefly fits the bill perfectly.  In a nutshell, it’s a wonderful place to have happy hour drinks with a few friends or take a date: it’s cozy without seeming small, social without being loud, and as comforting as a warm woolen blanket.  It is a bit more expensive than it looks like it should be, but still worth the price.

Mary Kate and I went to Firefly for dinner this past weekend and it did not disappoint.  We started with a cocktail each: she had the grapefruit spritz and I had the tarragon fizz.  The grapefruit spritz was a glorified greyhound and a bit too sweet for my taste.  However, the tarragon fizz was right up my alley, with tarragon-infused vodka and St. Germaine, fresh lemon, and topped off by sparkling wine.  It was garnished with some sliced tarragon and was pleasantly herbal; it was a nice aperitif.

We then split two appetizers, the deviled eggs and the “2+2.”  The deviled eggs were delicious and were garnished with crispy garlic chips, but the entire order was three egg halves.  This is fine, I guess, but why only three halves?  Where’s the last half?  The 2+2 allows you to select two artisanal cheeses and two charcuterie items from off the menu.  We picked the smokey blue and the red hawk cheeses, and the rabbit pate and chopped organic chicken liver.  It was all served on a plank along with bread, cornichons, marmalade, berry jam, and whole grain mustard.  The appetizers were nearly enough for dinner for two, but we weren’t done eating.

She ordered the excellent mini pot roast and I had the Dungeness crab carbonara.  I love the pot roast: the meat is marinated in red wine for hours and is fork-shreddingly tender.  It comes in a cast-iron serving dish smothered in a rich au jus and perched atop a huge mound of mashed potatoes, accompanied by French carrots and onion.  It is hands-down one of the most delicious dishes I’ve had at any restaurant, period.

The Dungeness crab–perhaps the most noble of all crustaceans–lent its sweet, succulent meat to a carbonara made of squid ink tagliarini, bacon, and mushroom.  There were two types of mushroom in the dish.  There was savory shitake mushroom in the sauce, and there was a huge hedgehog mushroom on top of it all.  The hedgehog mushroom is a dry, leathery variety that tastes of the woods, or like an oolong tea, and is shaped like a lettuce or a bush.  All in all, this was a serious entree that I would recommend for umami lovers.

Throughout the meal we shared a bottle of the 2006 Surh Luchtel Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir.  I had purchased a bottle of this online, through InVino.  It was a nice example of California Pinot, not too concentrated, big, or fruity.  It was still fruitier than I would have liked, but it also had some nice duskiness and maybe a trace of graphite.  It had a short to medium finish and a medium body.  All in all, good but not great.  Nonetheless, it was a good food wine and enjoyable with both our dishes.  The $15 corkage fee wasn’t bad, either.

All in all, a very solid meal and an excellent dining experience.  The server was knowledgeable, friendly, and intuitive.  The front of the house worked well together, and they did not rush us between the appetizers and mains.  Firefly is not an everyday dinner sort of place, but it’s priced for date night.  (And, in case you procrastinate, it’s possible to get reservations the day of.)

My destination was Santa Barbara, where my former roommate (and current Princeton grad student) Alex would pick me up.  That first day and evening, including a wonderful dinner at Bouchon, will be the subject of Part Two of this series.

I’d like to talk about Stolpman Vineyards, a winery located in the Ballard Canyon area of the Santa Ynez Valley.  If you might recall, my friend Billy had brought a bottle of Stolpman, the excellent 2007 L’Avion, to a tasting at Mission Wines we attended two weeks ago.  Alex had planned a late morning of tasting, so we went to Los Olivos to look around.  You might recall, if you were in Southern California, that the weekend of December 18 was rainy as heck.  This made driving a bit precarious but also had the unexpected benefit of clearing Los Olivos of nearly every other tourist and taster.  Alex and I basically had the town to ourselves.

We started with a light repast at Corner House Coffee, where freshly-brewed Peet’s awaited us and we could play a few rounds of Hive while we dried off.

We walked around Los Olivos, which was absolutely beautiful:

There were a number of tasting rooms, including a few I recognized (e.g. Qupe). But, one of the most attractive tasting rooms was none other than Stolpman Vineyards! I had totally forgotten that the Stolpman tasting room was in Los Olivos. We decided to give it a shot.

There was one other taster in the room when we got there, and over the course of the hour or so we were there only two or so others came in. This was probably not the best day for business, but it was a great day for me and Alex to get personalized attention from one Tom Franklin. He was very liberal with the lineup, which consisted of:

• 2009 Sauvignon Blanc ($22)
• 2008 L’Avion ($38)
• 2009 “La Coppa” Sangiovese (N/A)
• 2007 Estate Sangiovese ($36)
• 2007 La Coppa Syrah (N/A)
• 2008 “Originals” Syrah ($38)
• 2008 “Hilltops” Syrah ($48)
• 2008 Grenache ($34)
• 2008 “La Croce” Sangiovese/Syrah ($66)

I don’t think there was a wine here that I didn’t like.  Obviously, I liked some of them more than others, some much more so.  For instance, the Sauvignon Blanc was clean but fruit-forward, sort of like adding tropical fruit to something you’d find in the Loire.  At $22 a bottle this is a serious contender at your next barbecue.

The ’08 L’Avion is composed of 100% Roussane (as opposed to the ’07 L’Avion, which was 90% Roussane and 10% Viognier).  I found it to be feminine and smooth, with a great Chateauneuf-du-Pape blanc finish.  I personally found the ’07 more voluptuous and fruity–to me, the ’08 seemed more restrained.  According to Tom, the ’08 L’Avion is more typical of the Roussane varietal.

The difference between the Estate and La Coppa bottlings was very interesting.  Stolpman’s La Coppa line is meant for everyday drinking.  They are still good-quality wines, but are great for Tuesday night and will not break the bank.  I actually liked the La Coppa Sanviogese more than the Estate Sangiovese–the La Coppa was lighter, juicier, and had more pronounced acidity.  It was more approachable than the Estate Sangiovese, which was serious, with big notes of dark cherry.  Don’t get me wrong–I could drink the Estate Sangiovese for days, but when I think of Sangiovese (not Chianti Classico or Riserva, mind you, but straight-up Sangiovese) I think of something like the La Coppa.

Similarly, there was a significant difference between Stolpman is especially known for their Syrahs.  I tried three.  The La Coppa Syrah, while billed as the “crowd favorite” on the tasting sheet, was my least favorite of the three.  I found it to be vegetal, herbal–not necessarily bad qualities but ones I found detracted from the fruit.  My favorite was the Originals Syrah, which is picked from Stolpman’s oldest “original” vineyard blocks.  Mouth-filling and luscious.  Graphite, dried fruit.  Dark and sexy.  Excellent.  The Hilltops, made from Syrah “micro-picked from only the ridgelines [of the vineyards], where the thin topsoil and harsh limestone yield less than 1 ton of fruit per acre,” was crazy intense.  It does not overpower like certain Shirazes, but it fills the mouth and shows your palate who is boss.  It is a powerful wine and one that demands to be contemplated and enjoyed over the course of a long, long evening.

Next was the Grenache, which Tom described as a “candy store in a bottle.”  It has low residual sugar but is so fruity that people mistake it for a sweet wine.  This was my least favorite wine of the morning, but it was perhaps the most fun to discuss with Alex and Tom.  I found front notes of plum resolving to a sweet-sour green apple.  Tom said he found cotton candy, and Alex said he tasted Jolly Ranchers.  Again, not my favorite, but certainly a well-made and interesting wine that has a number of adherents.

Rounding out the tasting was the ’08 La Croce, which is composed of co-fermented Sangiovese and Syrah.  Most blends are just that: blends of grapes that were vinified separately.  Co-fermented grapes are vinified together.  This wine was surprisingly refined and, after the Hilltops and Grenache, seemed light.  Beautiful cherry notes and a long finish.

Overall, the Stolpman tasting was an excellent experience.  The tasting room is nicely appointed, the staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and the wines are outstanding.  Not only did I purchase a bottle of the Originals (for myself) and the Grenache (for Alex’s mom) I ended up joining the Stolpman Wine Club and am eagerly awaiting my first shipment in April!

TO BE CONTINUED…

I was very excited about this wine, having had it shipped from invino to my home back in California.

We opened it up yesterday for dinner, which was New York strip steaks topped with caramelized onion, creamy mashed potatoes, and a nice green bean, tomato, and feta cheese salad.  True to form, I opened it up about an hour before dinner to drink while cooking.  Very dark, saturated color.  On the nose there was prune and blueberry, and herbs.  When my mom tried it she said it tasted salty–I agree: there was sort of a cured olive aspect to the wine.  I got the prune and berries, along with tar, tobacco, licorice, and stone–nicely integrated, soft tannins.  It had a long finish, resolving to lighter red fruit notes.

Overall, very good and an easy-to-drink wine.  It paired well with the dinner, too.  However, I’m not sure if I’d pay $70 for the wine; I got it from invino for about $40.  If I can find this wine for $40 I would probably buy it again.  I enjoyed it more than the 2005 Clos du Val “Stags Leap District” Cabernet Sauvignon (85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 3% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot) I had purchased from invino a while back.

While similar in style (Bordeaux, not Blockbuster) to the Cinq Cepages, the Clos du Val was simply not well integrated.  There were good things–terrific fruit, for instance–but the elements were distinct and not part of a unified whole.  That being said, I would definitely try it again in a few years just to make sure.  The critics love it and there are good things going on in the glass.

I am a lucky man.  Not only do I have a home to go to for Christmas, but I get to try some terrific wines.  Not least of all, however, I have a very cute dog to keep my spirits bright!

Happy holidays, everyone!

Of course, this being a wine blog, the time was also filled with some excellent wine.

I type this from sunny California. It is literally sunny (yesterday was 77 degrees, today is going to be 80), with uncharacteristically perfect blue skies through which you can see the San Gabriel Mountains. I just flew in from DC on Saturday and have already had some great Chinese food–great Mexican food awaits.

Bookending my flight: Life by Keith Richards, which I highly recommend; two finals, courtesy of law school; clinic work, also courtesy of law school; drinking, courtesy of my nascent alcoholism; and a few bottles of wine had on either side of the continent.

The first bottle I want to write about is the young 2008 Roger Belland “La Fussière” Maranges 1er cru (Ansonia Wines, $22).  This is almost criminally young, but despite that (or because of that…?) it is tantalizingly good.  The nose on this is incredible, just exploding from the glass with strawberry and red fruits.  It has pronounced acidity and not too much tannin, and it is very lean and juicy.  It is a pretty expression of Burgundy, fruit, not funk; berries, not earth.  This is reminiscent of good Beaujolais cru.

Contrast that to this bottle right here:

The 2008 Meiomi “Belle Glos” Pinot Noir (Pearson’s Wine and Spirits, $20ish) is a blend of Pinots from California’s Sonoma, Monterey, and Santa Barbara counties.  I had had it before at Mission Wines in South Pasadena, but that was years ago.  All I remembered was that it was a quality wine but one I didn’t necessarily want to purchase again.  I tried it again at Pearson’s with Heather, and again it was not impressive–except that there was something about it, some Mickey Rourke-like spark that kept me from writing it off.  There was some funk hiding beneath the tired waves of old fruit that made me wonder if this had something else to offer.  I told this all to Larry, the pourer, who said that this bottle had been open since the day before and that he would open a fresh bottle (so nice of him, right?  I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND Pearson’s to anyone with access to Glover Park).  The new bottle: wow!  What a difference!  The tired waves of old fruit were rejuvenated and became supple cascades of ripe plum and jujubes, offset by baking spice and underlined by that funkiness I had tasted in the first bottle.  Substantial body and great tannins to balance the acidity.  Very fragrant nose.

Now, I love me some Burgundies, but sometimes you gotta go back to where you come from.  California, constantly lambasted for being Hollywood-like in its oenophilic expressions, for being too big, too bold, too brash–well, California is a big place.  France and Spain and every other winemaking region have their villains as well.

Yet another France-California face-off: any Châteauneuf-du-Pape blanc versus the 2007 Stolpman “L’Avion” ($30s) brought very kindly by Billy to a Mission Wines tasting I went to yesterday.  From the Santa Ynez Valley it is composed of 90% Roussane and 10% Viognier (though the 2008 vintage is 100% Roussane).  This has a very pretty light straw color but clocks in at a hefty 14.8% ABV.  Nutty but mouth-puckering, with a solid base of mineral and clay.  Floral nose–apparently, it smelled like honeysuckle, though I don’t even know what that means.  Great body and finish.  One of my favorite wines of the past year was the 2007 Paul Autard Châteauneuf-du-Pape blanc; if I had to compare them, I would think that the Autard is a bit more refined and with more minerals, whereas the Stolpman is more voluptuous and fruity.  Both are great, and the Stolpman is a significant bit less expensive.

Before I go, a closing note on another Californian wine I tried.  The 2009 Orin Swift “Abstract” (Mission Wines, $23ish) is a blend of predominantly Grenache, with Syrah and Petit Syrah from Sonoma.  Orin Swift is the maker of the ludicrously popular “The Prisoner”, which is good but a bit too much for my taste.  Not so with the Abstract.  Black fruits, licorice, light-to-medium body.  Definitely drinkable alone but probably also enjoyable with lamb or, I’m thinking some sort of meat-based parpadelle dish.

I do enjoy DC and the East Coast; I do also love French wines.  But sometimes, damn it, it’s good to be home.

I will be in California for five more weeks, after which I will be headed back to DC for a few days, and then eight weeks in beautiful Wilmington, Delaware, known in legal circles as one of the locations of the Court of Chancery (where I’ll be interning) and known in pop culture circles as the nameless setting of Fight Club.  Hopefully during this time there will be wine, wine, and more wine.  If this past week has been any indication, there will be plenty of that this summer!

I have to write a few posts, one of Deep Sea Wines (which was gracious enough to send me two bottles to review), another for a great product known as the Wine Diaper (it’s probably not what you think it is), and yet another for a book by Matthew Frank entitled Barolo.  And, I’ll have to write about a very wonderful evening at Founding Farmers in DC at which a bottle of Riesling figured prominently–that’ll be coming soon.  All of these will take place in good time, but before I do I wanted to “clear the palate,” so to speak, by writing about a few of the wines I’ve had at home.

One of my habits while at home is to buy a few bottles with which to tide over my mom until my next visit.  I had purchased a few bottles during Spring Break, and to my surprise (and pleasure) I found that one of the bottles had not yet been opened.

This bottle was the Candidus from Malm Cellars.  Malm Cellars is a one-person show, helmed by Brendan Malm.  He doesn’t have a winery or vineyard, but he sources fruit from select growers to make his wines.  One such wine, his 2007 Sonoma County Pinot Noir, garnered a great review from the LA Times.  The Candidus, which is made from a bunch of undisclosed white Rhône varietals (but also apparently includes Chardonnay concentrate according to Dave from Mission Wines), is about $16.  It’s intensely aromatic–I’m thinking Viognier or Muscat (though I’m not sure if Muscat is a Rhône varietal)–with an assertive nose of quince and honey.  It’s pear-colored and appears on the viscous side.  Excellent: full of dried apricot and citrus, full bodied yet light, good acidity, very pleasant.

Forget the Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris for the upcoming summer–this wine is a refresher for those who want more heft.  Think of a blond Christina Hendricks:

Yum.

The Candidus was good even on the second day, but alas, a 750 mL bottle only lasts so long.  My third day at home and there was nothing left to drink!  A trip to Mission Wines was in order.

One of the great things about Mission Wines–at least if you’ve gone there for years like I have, now–is that they always have a few bottles open to try.  Matthew was manning the bar and he poured me a few drinks:

• 2009 Torii Pinot Gris | Willamette Valley, Oregon | notwithstanding my Pinot Gris/Grigio bashing above, this was a wonderful example of the varietal.  Great acidity, lemon curd, flowers, and minerality.  Hits you right in front of the mouth and doesn’t let go.
• 2009 Bella “Special Release” rosé | Sonoma Coast (?), California | made from a blend of Grenache and Syrah, this rosé packed a serious color (almost as dark as a light Burgundy or Beaujolais, as dark as a rosé made from Malbec) and serious flavor: peach, watermelon Jolly Rancher.  Think of this as Domaine Tempier’s um, racier backwater cousin.
• 2007 Louis Jadot Côte de Nuits Villages “Le Vaucrain” | Côte de Nuits, Burgundy, France | a village-level Burgundy, tart but with a nice mouthfeel and a satisfying mid-palate.  Fig, membrillo.  A perfect bistro wine, served chilled with steak tartare on the side, and at the mid-twenties at the perfect price.
• 2004 Bodegas Luzon “Alma de Luzon” | Jumilla, Spain | more on this below.

Upon Matthew’s recommendation I picked up a bottle of the 2007 Weinhof Scheu Spätburgunder from the Pfalz region of Germany ($15.99) and, a day or so later, a bottle of the aforementioned Alma de Luzon.  The Spätburgunder, which is German for Pinot Noir, was fantastic!  Never mind the long, narrow Riesling-type bottle in which it arrives: this is serious red wine.  A light brick color, it is full of tart cranberry and has hints of earth, very light-bodied and excellent chilled.  This is serious value for the money: leave it to the Germans to deliver efficient, precise wine.

The Alma de Luzon is a Jorge Ordoñez selection, so you know it’s good.  The first release, this normally retails for $67 but given the poor economy, its distributors unloaded quite a few cases to Mission where it is going for $27.99 a bottle.  This is an insanely low price for a very good wine.  It’s rare that everyone in my family likes a particular wine: this had something for everyone.  Dark, inky color.  Tobacco and stewed dark fruits on the nose, a hint of graphite.  In the mouth it had prune, blackberry, fig jam, clove.  It reminded me of Madeira, or the 2005 Ridge “Paso Robles” Zinfandel I had a few months ago.

Although this blend of 70% Monastrell, 20% Cabernet, 10% Syrah spends 22 months in oak (60% French, 40% American) and has a very dark, extracted color, it is not a Vaynerchukian “oak monster”: the tannins are there, but they’re silky and well-integrated.  Indeed, the Alma de Luzon’s acidity is more pronounced than its tannins.  Altogether, this is a tremendous value and a crowd-pleaser.  Buy it, drink it with a meal (I’m thinking red meats or molé, even), drink it with dark chocolate-covered blueberries, drink it by itself–whatever you do, be sure to buy it and drink it.

So, I’ve been at home for a week and a day and I’ve been able to try some wonderful wines.  I would recommend all of them.  With selection like this, how can I not love South Pasadena?

All kidding aside, California does have a lot going for it.  This being a wine blog, I will restrict the discussion of California’s awesomeness to wine.  Of course, there’s Napa.  Sonoma.  Paso Robles.  There’s Cabernet.  There’s Pinot.  There’s Chardonnay.  Etc., etc., etc.

But just as overexposure to sun can lead to premature wrinkles and skin cancer, and being in the shadow of Hollywood creates self-aggrandizers, posers, and shallow B-list types, so can the sun lead to huge, overly-ripe wines, and so can being in the shadow of Napa create wines that, in undergoing sugar Botox and oak augmentation, have become caricatures.

Thus, there are so many California Cabs that are as undrinkably oaky, and California Chards that leave nothing to the imagination.  Hence my migration towards the refined, subtle graces of Burgundies.

Thank God for Zinfandels.

Now Zinfandels are not immune to Californiazation.  Witness Turley, whose Zins are huge huge huge, with some of its wines approaching 16% ABV.  Or, go the other way and behold the torrents of White Zinfandel being produced–bland sugar water with all the substance of a waiter/aspiring actor.  Zinfandels are the most Californian of all grapes, composing 10% of all vines planted in the state.  Zin came to the Golden State during the Gold Rush of the late 1840s and early 1850s.  These vines are survivors, many having lived through that vinous nightmare known as Prohibition.  (And though we are quick to dismiss White Zinfandel, it was White Zin’s popularity during the 70s and 80s that saved old vineyards from being ripped out to be replanted with more financially-successful varietals.)  Thus, more than perhaps any other type of varietal in the United States, we see very old Zinfandel vines–60, 80, and even 100+ year-old vines are not uncommon.

Old vines generally produce small yields with grapes that have very concentrated proportions of sugar and flavor vis-a-vis younger vines.  And, at the hand of master winemakers, old-vine Zinfandel can be incredible.

Enter Ridge Vineyards.

Founded in the 1960s by a number of Stanford grads (and later helmed by the great Paul Draper, another Cardinal alum),  Ridge is known for high quality wines, from Chardonnay to their prized and expensive Monte Bello Cabernet.  They also make a full lineup of Zinfandels.

So.  I wanted to host a wine tasting for the Nota Bene, so what could I do?  I’d already done a Spanish and a Burgundy wine tasting last semester.  Heck, why not a Zinfandel tasting?  And why not a Ridge Zinfandel tasting?

I bought up a bottle of nearly every Ridge Zin available in the District (a big shout-out to Schneider’s of Capitol Hill for supplying the majority of those bottles).  The sight was beautiful to behold:

The tasting list was as follows:

• 2005 Ridge “Paso Robles” Zinfandel | 100% Zinfandel | Paso Robles
• 2006 Ridge “East Bench” Zinfandel | 100% Zinfandel | Dry Creek Valley
• 2006 Ridge “Ponzo” Zinfandel | 95% Zinfandel, 5% Petite Sirah | Russian River Valley
• 2005 Ridge “Pagani Ranch” Zinfandel | 96% Zinfandel, 2% Petite Sirah, 1% Alicante Bouschet, 1% Mataro | Sonoma Valley
• 2006 Ridge “Geyserville” Zinfandel | 70% Zinfandel, 18% Carignane, 10% Petite Sirah, 2% Mataro | Alexander Valley
• 2007 Ridge “Geyserville” Zinfandel | 58% Zinfandel, 22% Carignane, 18% Petite Sirah, 2% Mataro | Alexander Valley
• 2007 Ridge “Lytton Springs” Zinfandel | 71% Zinfandel, 22% Petite Sirah, 7% Carignane | Dry Creek Valley

The ten-person panel first tried small pours of the first four wines, then took a food break (people were already getting drunk by this point, what with these Zins clocking in at a pretty significant ABV range in the low 14%s to a high of 15.2%), after which it tried the last three wines.

Good lordy, what good wines.

I had previously tried and liked the 2007 Geyserville and the 2007 Lytton Springs.  I was especially looking forward to the 2007 Geyserville again because it made such an impression on me that last time.  However, the big winner was the first wine: the 2005 Paso Robles.  This wine was a limpid, opaque color, but what it lacked in color it made up for in nose and body.  On the nose were currant and baking spices like cinnamon and clove, some leather.  The taste was undeniably port-like, with a concentration of dried fruit that was balanced with juicy tartness, like a baked apple.  There was also some hints of copper or clay at the end.  The body was characterized by excellent structure and balance, and it had a wonderfully long finish.  This was the consensus favorite of the evening.

In comparison, the next wine–also 100% Zinfandel–was less well-integrated than the first.  The East Bench seemed hotter on the nose and tasted a bit vegetal, with plum and cedar fighting with stem and green olive.  The finish was hollow, and there was a touch of rubber boot as well.  To be fair, this was the first bottling from the East Bench vineyard, so it’s bound to improve.  In fact, I’d like to lay down a few bottles to see how they develop over the years.

In my opinion, the Ponzo was the most feminine of the wines, which makes sense because it’s from the cool, Pinot-dominated Russian River Valley.  I thought it had a smooth, gemlike quality to it, a flavor of cherry and bright berries washing over worn round stones.  This had a very light body and a peppercorn finish.  It was a SUPERB match for aged Dutch goat gouda.

The Pagani Ranch was, if my notes are accurate, “a veritable cornucopia of fruit,” with black cherry predominating.  This was a plush wine with a pleasing finish that was–again, if my notes are accurate–”smooth as f*ck.”  It was a hedonist’s dream paired with dark chocolate-covered almonds.

The 2006 Geyserville was, well, disappointing.  Again, green vines, with a hint of roasted ginkgo nuts (a Korean thing) and a plasticine finish. Much more tannic than the previous wines.  Eh.  But I was expecting more from the ’07 version, which came next.  Strangely, the ’07 was not as spicy or peppery as I remembered.  And the 2007 Lytton Springs was undistinguished (though it was great with blue goat cheese).

I am convinced, however, that the 2007 Geyserville and 2007 Lytton Springs were somehow affected by the sheer number of wines (and food) we tried beforehand.  My notes from this particular tasting should not, I hope, dissuade you from seeking out these wines.  I still highly recommend them.

However, I would also STRONGLY recommend the 2005 Paso Robles if you can find it.  I also really liked the 2006 Ponzo and 2005 Pagani Ranch.  (Another wine we didn’t try that evening but I tried later, a half-bottle of the 2006 Lytton Springs, was excellent and reminiscent of the Paso Robles: much of the same port-like qualities.  It was perfect with rum cake.)

So what did we learn?

Vineyards and vintages make a huge difference.  I would love to try different vintages of the Paso Robles.  The Paso Robles is 100% Zin unlike most of the others in the tasting (which are usually “field blends”)–thus, there are fewer factors to confound the tastebuds.

However, the big takeaway for me is that there are some excellent producers in California producing excellent wines.  Ridge Vineyards is definitely at the top of the list, and its wines are as a whole pretty exceptional–yet more reason to love the state!

The concrete reason for my trip was to visit two of my former residents (and current friends), Semra and Kana, and their awesome apartment up in the hills on North Side.  There was a sentimental reason, too–namely, that all of my residents and thus the vast majority of the people I knew in Berkeley would be graduating and leaving for the big vast world after college.  

There was a oenological reason, too: I wanted to drink a lot of great wine!

Again, as in my New York post, I’m going to just write down phrases that will hopefully serve to jog my memory when I’m looking back after a few decades.  =)

—————————

Wednesday, May 13
Flight in to Oakland.  BART to Downtown Berkeley and up Euclid, right on Virginia.  Up up up Virginia.  Apartment.  Met up with Kana, went down to get lunch at Poulet. Realized they had only $5.00 corkage. Went to Andronico’s and got two bottles–a bottle of the Domaine E.C. (Emile Cheysson) “Clos les Farges” Chiroubles Beaujolais cru for lunch with our poultry, and a bottle of the 2000 Senorio de P. Pecina Rioja crianza for later.  A huge amount of delicious food at Poulet with a lightly-chilled bottle of the Chirouble (perfect!).  Some of the Rioja later with Kana and Semra at home. Wandering around seeing the sights.  An iced Americano at the Free Speech Movement Cafe. Met up with Stephanie with two of her friends outside the newly-created East Asian American Library on campus.  Fat Slice and La Burrito.  Home, more drinking of the Rioja.

Thursday, May 14
Unsuccessful run at both Gregoire and Vintage Berkeley (they both open at 11 am). Hung out with Aileen. A wonderful subsidized lunch of a pork tenderloin sandwich, fries, glass of Ampelos Rosé of Syrah, and citrus-infused panna cotta at Adagia. An iced Americano at Strada. Shopping with Semra and her awesome roommate Hilary at Andronico’s (for late-night snacks) and Kermit Lynch (for late-night drinking). Some more of the Rioja, which had developed into a very different wine–away from earth but more towards a mushroomy, old-wine sort of taste; not unpleasant but wholly unexpected.

Out to SF. A cappuccino at the SFMOMA cafe. Dinner with Dre at Osha Thai. Back to Berkeley. Back to Andronico’s for more ingredients. Cooked a series of three snacks. First, shrimp ceviche (cooked Bay shrimp with a salsa of tomato, avocado, cilantro, onion, serrano and jalepeno pepper, garlic, salt, and lime juice) and tortilla chips served with the 2008 Denis Jamain Reuilly pinot gris rosé–clean, crisp, and very very light, with just the hint of berries and minerals. Second, garlic shrimp (shrimp cooked in the shell with olive oil, garlic, salt, and crushed red pepper) served with the remainder of the rosé and some of the absolutely gorgeous 2007 Domaine A. Et. P. De Villaine “La Fortune” Cote Chalonnaise Bourgogne. Third, filet mignon rolls (filet mignon sliced thin, half a fingerling potato, a circle of leek, and goat cheese) served with the remainder of the Bourgogne and with some of the brooding, restrained, iron-fist-in-a-silk-glove that is the 2007 Clos la Coutales malbec from Cahors (I had been disappointed with this wine in DC, but I am happy to report that that bottle was a clear aberration). Drunk, drunk, drunk.

Friday, May 15
Hung out for a while at the apartment, then went to Nefeli Caffe for cappuccinos and a pizette with Semra and Hilary. My first time at North Berkeley Wine Imports. Browsing wines to the tune of the great Dark Was The Night album. Picked out some more bottles. Dropped off at Strada. More iced Americano. Dropped off my bags at my new place with Stephanie on Durant. Met with Kana at Strada again for another iced Americano, met a new Phi Delt (my old fraternity) who had been initiated long after I had graduated, found out from him that some Phis were at the Bear’s Lair. Went to Bear’s Lair. Met up with Patrick, Matt, Evan, and some new Phis and Jess B.; ran into my old residents Danny, Alicia, Jessica, and Catherine. Dinner at the I-House with Dana. Wine with Michael, Emma, Jed, Jose (the old Adagia crew) and Atsuko (who was hired long after me). First the 2007 Domaine Diochon Moulin-a-Vent “Vieilles Vignes” cuvee–nice fruit, impressive structure. A unique Ballantine petit verdot that opened up beautifully in the glass courtesy of Jed. Last, the 2005 Bodegas Monte De Reina Tinta de Toro Edicion Limitada from North Berkeley Wine Imports: lush, dark, with full body and nice tannins. Then Brian Martinelli, Teeny, and Chuck showed up; I hitched a ride in Brian’s Le Sabre to the Smokehouse, where I conquered the near-mythical double chili-cheese dog with a side of fries and a Coke (double as in two hot dogs in one bun).

Saturday, May 16
MacArthur BART station to meet up with Ratha. Lake Merritt. A cappuccino and eggs scrambled with lox, cream cheese, and chives at the Lakeshore Cafe. Through the Farmer’s Market. A walk around part of Lake Merritt. Visit to Ratha’s place. BART back to Berkeley. Picked up a whole bunch of books at Pegasus and Pendragon (including first editions of Near the Ocean by Robert Lowell and Praise by Robert Hass). An iced tea (for once) at the Free Speech Movement Cafe with Lauren. Dinner at Angeline’s with Jeff, who is going to the Philippines for his internship. A brief detour on Addison to see Semra one last time at her British friend Ben’s apartment. Some Becks on the roof. No wine all day. Home, and sleep.

Sunday, May 17
Packing for LA. Iced coffee at Peet’s with Stephanie. Brunch at La Note, consisting of a cup of coffee and the omelette de pommes de terre (open-faced potato and caramelized onion omelet) for me and the cote nord (eggs soft-scrambled with goat cheese over French bread) for Steph. Airport. LA.

—————————

This trip was bittersweet, as always, but not for the usual reasons. This trip was bittersweet more for the fact that an era had passed, and that I’d have to stay in SF or Oakland the next time I went up to Berkeley. I certainly had more money during this last trip than I ever had while in college, and I had a great time, but some things can’t be bought and certainly cannot be reproduced: scraping together change for an Americano, grilling cheap frozen hamburger patties on a rickety old deck, holding hands while watching the sun set over the Bay.

This post won’t be one of my long narrative spiels but rather a placemarker for a few wines I feel I should record for perpetuity.  The first I purchased for the occasion of James’s (of The Eaten Path fame) visit to DC: the 2006 Mas de Daumas Gassac from the Languedoc ($49.99).  This wine is billed as “The Grand Cru of the Languedoc” and contains merlot, cabernet franc, tannat and pinot noir, as well as a collection of Italian grapes (nebbiolo, barbera and dolcetto), chardonnay, viognier, chenin blanc, petit manseng, marsanne, roussanne, sercial, muscat and more.  It’s a crazy wine, and I was aching to try it.

I decanted it for about half an hour and eagerly took a sip.  Honestly, I would like to say that the wine was stellar–given the price–but I don’t know if I’d pay $49.99 for the bottle again.  Granted, it was very young–the label said it could age for 7-25 years!–but I was expecting a bit more oomph.  The nose was bigger than the, er, bite, smelling of huge dark fruit and berries.  It was a pale color and a bit thin, though it had good acidity and roundness.  I feel compelled to buy another bottle to keep around for a few years.

There was a superb Nero d’Avola, the 2006 Morgante ($16.99).  This was well-balanced with great acidity that matched perfectly with roasted vegetable and goat cheese pizza.  It was a wine that, though not the most complex, was incredibly pleasing.  It might be the best Nero d’Avola I’ve ever had, and might even be a better Italian food wine than my beloved Casanova di Neri Rosso di Montalcino: it’s cheaper by about $10, too.

Lastly, a few nights ago Ian was kind enough to bring over a solid, affordable California cab: the 2006 Cannonball cabernet, made from grapes sourced from three different vineyards in the Bear Flag State.

It was full of fruit, moderate tannins, and subtle vanilla.  It’s an easy-drinking wine, unpretentious, and would be great for casual evenings with friends.  A steal at $11.99!

With that: farewell till the next time I’m free to write!