Wine Each Week: 2016 Flora Springs Trilogy

Most every major Cabernet Sauvignon producer in Napa has their flagship wine and for Flora Springs, it is Trilogy, which first appeared in 1984. Trilogy has an emphasis on New French Oak and if you love that luxurious, smooth, comforting type of wine, this certainly will play well on your table. The fruit comes from Oakville, St. Helena, and Rutherford so though subtle, it offers some of the best grapes from quality growing regions.

The 2016 iteration offers up rich black berry, blueberry, boysenberry and black cherry notes, along with vanilla, white pepper, cinnamon and subtle notes of amber, sugared almonds and black strap molasses, chaparral and cocoa. Trilogy is comprised mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon, with just 8% Petite Verdot and 6% Malbec. Aged 20 months with mostly French Oak it accentuates what many Napa Cabs strive for, a balance on fruit, food and place.

ORIGIN: Napa Valley, California

ALCOHOL: 13.5%

PRICE: $85/ 750ML

SCORE: 91 POINTS

FLORA SPRINGS

Garage Doors – Opening Unknown Wines

The French have a word for everything and we Americans adopt many of those terms in the wine world. I’m not sure why, but I guess tedious American words don’t have the same panache and sex appeal as French words. Anyhoo, Garagiste is one of those French words. It means, as the word implies, garage. Which brings us to the Garagiste Festival. The point of this wine festival is to showcase small wine producers (as in working out of their garage, though not literally), most without a tasting room, distribution or much exposure except what they have managed to cobble together on their own. Think of this as the Sundance Film Festival for independent wine.

Cloak & Dagger wine labels

It started in Paso Robles and I attended the first iteration, which has grown to include 300 wineries and has become immensely popular because we all want to be on the cusp of the next big thing. Why it’s important to showcase small, relatively unknown wineries should be obvious but especially for people like me, a wine writer and a wine buyer for an upscale market in Montecito, California, is that I can bring more attention to the little guy by way of articles and wines on a shelf.  Since the public can attend, you should consider going, especially if you’re a wine nerd.

For Garagiste Southern Exposure held in Solvang, standout wines included Alta Colina - who by now actually don’t fit the exact terms of Garagisite as they produce about 2,000 cases, but they were one of the founding members and now receive national press (including my article in The HollywoodReporter). Alta Colina showcases the best of Paso Robles and Rhone wines. Also noteworthy is Baehner Fournier from Santa Barbara and their 2013 Petite Verdot. And Larner whose Syrahs and Rhone wines coming from Ballard Canyon are exceptional. “There is Syrah planted in every AVA in Santa Barbara, but the reason it does well in Ballard is because we don’t have to work hard at it,” Michael Larner told me when I interviewed him for The Tasting Panel Magazine. “We have the Golidiocks syndrome - It’s not too hot, not too cold. Our Syrah has the pepper spice from cooler areas like Santa Rita Hills, it has the abundant fruit you get from Happy Canyon (Santa Barbara’s warmest growing area) solid tannins and acidity structure.” If you’ve not tried Larner wines, you need to check them out. 

I also found Small + Tall who is creating dynamic Pinot Noir from both the Santa Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley in Santa Barbara. There are many other wines of course and I cannot list them all here, but consider any of the Garagiste Festivals and new wine doors will open for you.

May the Fourth Be With You: Of Klingons, Wine & Paso Robles

Star Wars may the daddy of all sci-fi films, but TV’s Star Trek is the granddaddy of anyplace where anyone wishes to boldly go. It’s one thing to create a whole other world, rather universe, of unique characters and places, and it’s another to actually have a wine here on planet earth inspired by such far off distant galaxies. The Klingon Bloodwine (literally “tlhlngan ‘Iw Hlq”) has been transported to earth for us mere mortals. A blend of Malbec, Syrah and Petit Verdot without a hint of blood, this is a mild wine, fun like Spock (OK, well, maybe not fun exactly) but not as nerdy and implacable as many Klingons. Bright red fruit like plum, black cherry and boysenberry with a boost of acidity and a touch of oak treatment makes this the perfect wine for May 4^th, or any such celebratory millennia ocasion. Grab your light saber, cuddle with your Tribble, sit next to your favorite AI, and enjoy the bounty of the universe. http://www.vinport.com/startrek/klingon-bloodwine

ORIGIN: Paso Robles, California  (so we’re told)

PRICE: $19.99 / 750/ml                 (uncertain how many darsek that equals)

ALCOHOL: 13%                           (booze is booze in any galaxy)

Ancestry dot WIne

I don’t know my ancestor’s that well but I can bet they never drank wine like this in the Old Country. Halter Ranch is one of my favorite wineries in Paso Robles creating solid Cabernet blends and Syrah, Viognier, Zinfandel and the like - a broad portfolio of very good and dependable wines. But there’s nothing old in style about their flagship 2010 Ancestor Estate Reserve a blending of 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Petit Verdot, and 26% Malbec. At just 900 cases made, this is one of those wines which proves that Paso is best at making Bordeaux varieties. The Ancestor has great notes of cedar, blackberry, dark cherry, cinnamon and raspberry, a lush, rich wine which always calls for a 2^nd bottle. It is seamless with its tannins, use of oak, pop of fruit and its smooth finish. True, at more than 15% alcohol it’s a hefty boy, (and I’m not a fan, generally, of high alcohol wines), but they get it right here, a mix of all the elements which make this a very wonderful wine – perfect to linger over with a freshly grilled steak. The aging of 18 months in half new and half older oak barrels serves this wine well, without making it all about wood, because the fruit is clean and evident. Drinking the Ancestor will make you feel young: if not, then drink more until you do feel young. HALTER RANCH

ORIGIN: Paso Robles, California

PRICE: $50 / 750/ml

ALCOHOL: 15.5%

BOOZEHOUNDZ SCORE:  91 POINTS

Tasting With: Joe Lange of Lange Twins Winery – Lodi, California

There are about 60 wine tasting rooms and 80 wineries in Lodi, a lot more than when Credence Clearwater Revival opined about being “stuck in Lodi again” in 1969. Yet most people either,

a) have never heard of Lodi, or,

b) have no idea even remotely where it is (just north of Stockton if that helps). 

So when Joe Lange and his lovely wife, Amanda, came to Santa Barbara in July, 2013, we met for lunch to taste some of his wines and to talk about Lodi, Lange Twins and leverage.

 

Joe is not the winemaker, but he and his four siblings do run the operation. The first vintage was 2005 and this is a family ideal, seeing as how the Lange’s, originally from Germany, are 5^th generation Lodites (I don’t think that’s the correct term, but I like it). The land they currently grow grapes on - much is sold to other wineries under contract- was, back in the day, dry farmed watermelon. Joe’s grandfather planted grapes and made some wine, but it wasn’t really a business enterprise until Joe’s father and his twin brother, Randall and Bradford, decided to get serious about wine. 

Joe & Amanda Lange

Currently Lange Twins growing 23 different varieties, and growing them as certified green and sustainable - after all, we need to respect our earth. But it took borrowing money from the bank and fully leveraging everything they had to create their winery however Joe tells me the Lange family is totally committed, an “all hands on deck,” philosophy. And since Lodi isn’t on the radar for most people, they have more work to do than a winery located in a known wine region. But Lodi is working towards a more wine-centric core with new places to stay and new restaurants coming on line. Currently it’s a stop on the way to or from someplace else: drive in off Highway 99, visit a few wineries, then leave. But places like Lange Twins will encourage folks to stay a little bit longer. The great thing about Lange Twins is price to quality, something I constantly look for and promote. Aside from Joe’s favorite, the Petite Verdot, try the wines and discover your personal preference. LANGE TWINS

Caricature is one of their most popular wines

What We Tasted Together

2009 Midnight Reserve ($30) a Bordeaux blend of Cab, Merlot, a wee bit of Petit Verdot and an even wee-er bit of Malbec. There’s cocoa and blackberry: a meet n’ greet of bright red fruit, followed by darker, deeper notes on the mid and back palate.

2011 Sauvignon Blanc – Musque Clone ($13) a mild non-grassy Sauv Blanc, the Musque gives it a more floral element and it’s aged sur lie. This is not an aggressive herbaceous wine, but a soft and restrained one.

2011 Moscato (13) a super wine with just 4% residual sugar so it hints at sweet but isn’t candy. Love the beautiful nose of pear, lemon and honeysuckle. It’s easy to drink this like water – you’ve been warned.

2010 Zinfandel ($15) is all bang for the buck here. It’s blueberry and spice, raspberry and pepper, and has some 103 year old-vine Zin in this vintage. All about quality.