Wine Each Week – 2017 Wrath Swan/828 Pinot Noir

Monterey Country excels at Pinot Noir. This fact is indisputable. Exactly what type of Pinot you prefer is another matter. And that’s because there are more clones of Pinot Noir than of any other wine grape variety, and, not surprisingly, most are from France. At present nearly 100 Pinot Noir clones are registered in California. Wrath has chosen wisely. This bottling of half Swan clone and half clone 828, results in bright expressive notes of black cherry, blueberry, boysenberry, with back notes of rose water, pomegranate, cola and Bing cherry compote. It is the Swan that provides the floral component, which is one of the reasons Swan can be so compelling as it is here, offering a richness in the mid palate. They used French oak - 40% of that was new – and the wine was aged for 11 months, then bottle aged another year. Truly an astounding price for a wine of this quality, I highly recommend this. Just 500 cases were produced.

ORIGIN: Monterey, California

ALCOHOL: 14.3%

PRICE: $35/ 750ML

SCORE: 94 POINTS

WRATH

Wine Each Week – 2017 Cherry Pie Tri-County Pinot Noir

In spite of the name, this is not some innocuous sweet Pinot Noir that doubles as dessert. The name in fact was based on the imagery of the label, taken from an oil painting. Cherry Pie is a companion brand to Layer Cake, which also successfully used imagery to build its brand. Fortunately, this wine works. There is mild red raspberry, strawberry, Bing cherry, fairly integrated oak (30% was new wood), soft tannin and finishing with a hint of sweet tobacco. The majority of the fruit is from Monterey, with 21% from Santa Barbara, and 16% from Napa. The blend varies from year to year, the 2016 iteration for example had Sonoma Coast fruit – it also sold for $28. The growing field of terrific Pinot Noir under $25 is quickly growing and the competition is a very good thing for the consumer. Cherry Pie helps raise that bar and this is more than worth its retail price.

ORIGIN: Monterey, Santa Barbara and Napa counties.

ALCOHOL: 14.2%

PRICE: $22.99/ 750ML

SCORE: 92 POINTS

Cherry Pie

Wine Each Week – Roar 2017 Chardonnay SLH

ROAR launched their first wines in 2001 with a focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from higher altitude plantings along the eastern slope of the Santa Lucia Mountains overlooking the Salinas Valley. Their 2017 Chard not only provides a smooth, velvety viscosity, but there is lovely subtle and light notes of guava, white peach, honeydew melon, lime Kiefer, butterscotch, lemon verbena, caramel, browned butter, sweet dogwood, and Werther’s Originals. A comprehensive acidity fleshes out the experience. Using three clones including 96 – which typically translates to a more texture driven wine - they utilize multiple sources of French oak including Cadus, Latour, and Francois Feres to add deftly nuanced oak. This is one of those Chardonnays that works perfectly by itself or with food. Either way it drinks well. 303 cases.

ORIGIN: Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey, California

ALCOHOL: 14.5%

PRICE: $35/ 750ML

SCORE: 92 POINTS

ROAR

Wine Each Week: Scott Family Estate 2017 Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir, Monterey

I am always impressed when I can find an outstanding Pinot Noir at $25 or less, and this little gem is a great surprise. Not only is this truly indicative of its Monterey roots but it also has a great viscosity. Coming from a cooler portion of Monterey this offers up what you want in your Pinot, namely strawberry, red raspberry, black cherry, with back notes of pomegranate, plum, lavender and slight sweet vanilla. The acidity and tannins are in line and what you get is a wonderfully drinkable wine that can showcase itself with a variety of foods. It also has that lively balance between great fruit and something a little deeper in terms of structure. If you are a fan of Pinot, as I am, you know that the majority of them are pricey to absurdly expensive. This is really a Pinot for the people one that is within reach budget wise yet still offers classic Pinot power. Aged with a combination of French and American oak for just 10 months, this captures the essence of Monterey Pinot Noir.

ORIGIN: Arroyo Seco, Monterey, California

ALCOHOL: 14.7%

PRICE: $25/ 750ML

SCORE: 90 POINTS

RUTHERFORD WINECOMPANY

Wine Each Week: District 7

In the 2009 movie, District 9, aliens invade the earth and…well, I’m sure you can figure the rest out. There’s no mention if said aliens liked wine, however if they did, they might have been attracted to District 7, two districts away. 

From Scheid Vineyards in Monterey County comes a line-up of wines named after an actual California growing region – AKA Monterey - rather than sub-aliens, District 7. The region’s wine growing dates back to commercial plantings of Chenin Blanc in 1919, but with historic roots of vineyards (pun intended) dating to the time of the Spanish Missions in the late 1700s. District 7 also fosters an attractive price point with these wines not exceeding $20, therefore Scheid has seamlessly blended quality and value. The portfolio includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Rose’, Sauvignon Blanc and the Pinot and Chard listed below. All their estate vineyards and winery are officially certified by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance a statewide certification program that provides third-party verification of a winery’s commitment to sustainable winegrowing practices. As they state, “Driving our efforts at District 7 is a core belief that the best wines come from vineyards and ecosystems that are in balance.” I like that.

2017 Pinot Noir

The Pinot presents lots of red raspberry, black cherry, boysenberry and cranberry with a mild acidity running through it. The minimal oak (a mere 10 months of aging with just 30% new French wood) supports the bright fruit, pulling it down a bit and balancing it out, adding depth to the wine. In doing this it creates a deeper Pinot, not an esoteric version as some Pinots can be, but a more earthy deep red fruit type.

ORIGIN: Monterey, California

PRICE: $20/ 750ML

ALCOHOL: 13.5%

2017 Chardonnay

Conversely, the D7 Chardonnay aims for a more typical Chardonnay with lemon, lime kefir, guava, white peach, red Delicious apple, honeysuckle and vanilla. This reminds you why Chardonnay is still the number one wine in the world; creamy, food-friendly, able to play well with others, its why we love California Chardonnay.

ORIGIN: Monterey, California

PRICE: $17.99/ 750ML

ALCOHOL: 13.5%

The original 1919 Chenin Blanc Vines located in Chalone

Wine Each Week: 2016 Ranch 32 Pinot Noir

Coming out of Monterey, California on the Western side of the Salinas Valley, this Pinot Noir, named for the ranch it’s grown on in the Arroyo Seco AVA is a terrific value priced Pinot Noir at $19.99. It offers red raspberry, pomegranate, strawberry, black pepper, Bing cherry with back notes of lavender and sweet vanilla. Aged 12 months in nothing nut French oak barrels (a mere 35% of those barrels were new), it reflects an earthy, mineral quality without giving into an abundance of oak. Straightforward with softer tannins and a bright acidity, it’s one of those $20 Pinot's that’s actually worth it.

ORIGIN: Arroyo Seco, Monterey, California

PRICE: $19.99/ 750ML

ALCOHOL: 13.5%

www.ranch32wines.com

Legends of Sleepy Hollow

When Washington Irving wrote his short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in 1820, he couldn’t have known there would be a Sleepy Hollow vineyard all the way across the country in California, which didn’t even exist as a state. And the two Sleepy Hollows could not be more different. California’s Sleepy Hollow in Monterey County is a lush beautiful land populated with grapes at the foot of the Santa Lucia Mountains overlooking the fertile Salinas Valley. Cranes’ Sleepy Hollow is dark, dank, moody and people fear for their safety. Fortunately there’s no fear in the Talbott Vineyards 2013 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay. This wine is full of apple, apricot, sweet resin, quince, cedar and vanilla. It’s been fermented in the barrel but is not some oaky/buttery bomb that has lost its head. And it straddles that line between mature fruit and caramelized flavors, and yes, it’s under screw cap – and regardless of what you want to think or believe, screw caps protect you, the consumer. This is what Talbott does best, take a scary idea like barrel fermented chardonnay and turn it into a great little story. TALBOTT

ORIGIN: Monterey, Santa Lucia Highlands, California

PRICE:  $42 - 750/ml

ALCOHOL: 14.7%

BOOZEHOUNDZ SCORE:  91 POINTS

Lohr of the Rings: Circling 40 Years with J. Lohr

Jerry Lohr, along with Gary Eberle, are the two guys responsible for wine in Paso Robles. It was their foresight and determination back in the 1970s to resurrect this old wine region - grapes have been planted here since the 1880s – and without them you’d be drinking crappy wine, old cider, and maybe would have never heard of Paso Robles to begin with. So there. Jerry Lohr started J. Johr Winery in 1974 and is one of the most dominant players here, not to mention having acreage in Napa and Monterey, and being one of the largest solar powered wineries in the county. “With numerous sunny days, Paso Robles isn’t just ideal for producing rich Bordeaux and Rhône-style wines,” Executive Vice President Steve Lohr, once told me, “It’s perfect for producing clean, renewable energy. We are working to protect the very climate that nurtures our grapes, while contributing to efforts that reduce the need for drilling off our spectacular coast.”

Steve Lohr and me at a panel discussion on Paso Cabernet

You’ve seen J. Lohr wines even if you haven’t had one of their wines – they are ubiquitous. Offering an impressive range of styles, J. Lohr produces multiple wines: J. Lohr Estates, the Vineyard Series, and the Cuvée Series which are their top wines. They also produce three tiers of wines to meet the needs of everyday and entry-level wine peeps including Cypress Vineyards with wines in the $10 range, and Painter Bridge which is dedicated to Zinfandel and Chardonnay at $7, and even a line of non-alcoholic wines called Ariel.

So to celebrate, J. Lohr crafted two anniversary wines, a Pinot Blanc from Arroyo Seco in Monterey County, and a Red Wine comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Merlot and Malbec making it soft and supple, a tinge of acidity and less tannic with fruit coming from Paso Robles. 40 years is a long time for any business, and certainly a family-run business, to keep operating effectively and to keep up consistent quality. So in honor of their 40^th, try one of their wines – maybe the anniversary wines, maybe their well known White Riesling, and if you think about it, raise your glass to the likes of Jerry Lohr who helped put Paso Robles on the map. Read my interview for IntoWine.com with Jerry HERE.

Visit their website: JLOHR

My Big Ass Chardonnay's

Chardonnay is one of those grapes it’s popular to hate.

Yet Chard is also the most widely planted grape in sunny California. Wine writers and sommeliers (some of whom are my friends) keep bashing Chard and the old ABC movement (Anything But Chardonnay) from years back is still alive and well. It’s a bitch being in demand. 
 

The Wine Institute of California based in San Francisco says this: Chardonnay is California’s most widely planted winegrape, with 95,074 acres reported in 2012. Chardonnay far and away remains the most popular wine in the U.S. and has continued to be the leading varietal wine for the last decade, with sales increases every year.

People keep buying it so somebody is loving it. What many people hate is the big oak and butter bomb. There has been a move recently to produce more stainless steel fermented Chard – avoiding oak - and that’s a great idea too. The point is, there’s a place for all types of Chardonnay on your table and a brief pause amidst the hype reveals something remarkable: “Chardonnay makes a more diverse portfolio of wine styles than any other variety in the world,” Richie Allen, Rombauer’s winemaker told me recently. “You have everything from blanc de blanc Champagne, barrel fermented, stainless steel, and dessert wine.” And Mr. Allen is correct. So I happily present two versions – yes they are big ass wines, and no apologies are necessary – a lot of people still adore this style and they are damn tasty.

Rombauer 2013 Carneros Chardonnay ($36) is the quintessential oak and butter bomb. Vanilla, citrus, sour cream, lemon curd and lots of buttery goodness overflow in this wine. There is a huge market for this style and they sellout of their 65,000 cases each and every year. It retains a nice acidity is easy to drink and has a velvety viscosity in the mouth. 14.6% alcohol. ROMBAUER

Landmark 2012 Overlook Chardonnay ($23)

Sourcing fruit from Sonoma, Monterey and Santa Barbara, this offers a little less oak but more vanilla, acidity and a tangy citrus, almost pineapple note, as Monterey and Santa Barbara fruit are prone to do. But make no mistake, aged 10 months in 100% French oak – it’s definitely a caramel and butter bruiser. 14.3% alcohol. LANDMARK

Other Chardonnay's to Consider: LAVA CAP, DOLIN

There is Nothin' Like a Dame

Me and the Man, Fred Dame

One of the perks of being a wine writer is all the winemaker dinners you attend, and hanging out with the big guns, that is to say Mr. Fred Dame. Fred was cellarmaster of The Sardine Factory in Monterey, California for 12 years helping to turn it into a wine destination and currently he is a Master Sommelier and the first American to have served as President of the Court of Master Sommeliers Worldwide and he founded the American Branch of The Court of Master Sommeliers and plays an active role in the expansion of the Master Sommelier program throughout the U.S. I included Fred in my IntoWine.com “100 Most Influential People in the U.S. Wine Industry” list (see the list INTOWINE TOP 100) and got to meet him at the tony Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara for a “Meet the Masters” wine dinner (that article first appeared in the March 2014 issue of The Tasting Panel Magazine).

Frankly wine dinners are a dime a dozen and I asked Fred why this one, and why all future ones should be different. “They get stale if you’re one winery pitching the 2 or 3 varietals you make.” The problem he suggests is that for a 4-5 course pairing, perhaps you don’t make a dessert wine, or a Cabernet to fit a particular dish, “so you try and squeeze something together to best fit Cabernet, and the dinners turn into a sales pitch.” And whether it’s Amway, or wine, no one wants a hard sell.

The autumn hued wine cellar at the Bacara holds 12,000 bottles

“Look, this is entertainment, people want to walk out of wine pairing dinners having had great food and great wine but got good information in a timely manner, and not get bored.” He looks at me with his bright energetic eyes then says, “I want to talk four minutes tops to introduce each wine, but I want to give you a really great four minutes.” Hopefully the new wave of wine dinners will feature the expansive wines that he and the Bacara put together of different producers and different regions which best reflect the food. We then talk about his influence on the younger generation of sommeliers, most clearly seen in the film SOMM. “I tell them, don’t parrot what I do. I’ll teach you the fundamentals but you need to figure out your game, develop your own personality.” The idea of mentoring is important to him, the passing of information and experience and the wine industry on the whole succeeds with this quite well. “I tell all the folks I work with, you owe me one thing - the next you - and until that debt is paid I will hold it an arrears.” And Dame is a man who can inspire the people he mentors to then mentor others.

“The next generation is looking for the next thing,” he tells me. “I was speaking with someone in the beer industry, and I think craft beer has become so successful because the last generation, and the wine and spirits industry, was built on consistency: a Budweiser always tasted like a Budweiser, Chivas tasted like Chivas. But now people want the next experience. Happily, the world of wine is built for experimentation.” And he’s correct. There is a tremendous resurgence in small lot winemaking, craft beers and craft spirits. This doesn’t mean they all turn out well, but unless and until we experiment with our preconceptions about what gin or Grenache should be, we’ll be reduced to the bland and banal drinks we consume. Your challenge? Try something new this week, something you’ve never tasted and maybe can’t even pronounce. Wine and spirits are built for experimentation, yes, but so are you.

Hey There, You with LaZarre in Your Eyes

Rosé gets a bad rap. Guys think it’s a girlie wine and girls simply gush over its pretty color. OK, knock it off, all of you! Rosé should be one of the terrific wines in your wine drinking rotation. When made correctly it has acidity, minerality and clean, light flavors. Oh wait, that means I’m talking about Adam LaZarre’s 2012 Vin Gris. This is Adam’s first ever rosé and it undoubtedly proves why I included him on my Into Wine Top 100 Most Influential U.S. Winemakers list. The guy knows how to make balanced, tasty wine. For this little jewel there's a nice little acidity perfect for food with flavors of cranberry pomegranate and to a lesser degree, strawberry. It has an almost earthy, smoky quality to it and it’s lean and clean. Adam only made 44 cases of this (damn it) and this is a rosé which will change your perception about just how good it can be. It’s all Pinot Noir and it’s a barrel aged so there’s a deftly nuanced oak note here. Buy this, drink it, then tell Adam to make more next time! LAZARRE WINES

ORIGIN: Monterey County, California

PRICE: $18 / 750/ml

ALCOHOL: 13.5%

BOOZEHOUNDZ SCORE:  90 POINTS