Pinot Noir - St. Innocent

Pinot Noir is typically a medium bodied wine, light in color with flavors of cherry, raspberry and cranberry. Depending on the region, the level of fruitiness and influence of earthiness varies.  

California pinot's typically more fruit forward with bolder flavors. Oregon Pinots tend to be more delicate in the fruit flavors with more earthiness (I call them 'dirty Pinots."). Both styles are great for different reasons. It is also nice to discover those that have a little bit of both in the bottle, like the 2010 St. Innocent Temperance Hill Pinot Noir.

We discovered this wine on a trip to Willamette Valley in 2012. Not only did we like the taste, we also rated it with a high QPR score (what's a QPR score?). This wine is darker in color than you would find with a typical Oregon Pinot. Light smokey nose, dark cherry and raspberry flavors with a touch of spice.  Just enough earthiness to round it all out, with a very smooth finish. It paired quite nicely with our flat iron steak and pork chops!  

Keep an eye out for it in restaurants, or purchase directly from the winery.  Retails $32. 

Discovering Spanish Granacha - Las Rocas Vinas Viejas

We always say that shared bottles are the best bottles.

Last night, we enjoyed a bottle of 2009 Las Rocas Vinas Viejas Grenacha that was given to us by our friend Alisa. It was delicious. 

Quick trick - whenever we receive a bottle of wine as a gift, we write the name of the person on the bottle with a silver marker. This way, we’ll remember who to toast when we enjoy it.

Back to the bottle.

Grencha is the Spanish name for the Granache grape. This particular wine is from the Catalyud region in Spain, where Grenache accounts for approximately 55 percent of the grapes grown. “Vinas Viejas” means “old vines.” According to the Las Rocas website, the grapes are grown on vines between 50 and 100 years old. 

We’ll be the first to admit that we’re a bit California-centric when it comes to wine. That’s not at all because we think wine from elsewhere is inferior. We just don’t know other wine regions quite as well as we know our Californians.

Thanks to Alisa, we’ve gotten to know a good Spanish wine a bit better.

This was definitely a darker Grenache. It has black cherry and plum on the nose with dark fruit continuing onto the palate along with a little earth. The finish was slightly acidic with a touch of heat, which went well with our meal of rotisserie chicken and roasted root vegetables.

Note: The "regular" Las Rocas Granacha (i.e. younger vines) received a nice recommendation on the Reverse Wine Snob blog. It sounds like either one is worth a try if you can get your hands on a bottle.

Wine Bar Discoveries

Some of our best wine finds have been discoveries while attending events at local wine bars.  Many of them offer special tasting events or even just a wide selection of wines by the glass.  Both are a great way to explore wines you may never find, or try otherwise.  Here are a couple of wines we discovered while attending local tasting events with friends. 

2011 Tomàs Cusiné “Auzells

We discovered this wine at a Spanish wine tasting event at Village Vino.  It is a blend of 31% Macabeu, 27% Sauvignon Blanc, 16% Riesling, 16% Chardonnay, 5% Albariño, 3% Müller Thurgau, and 2% Muscat. If you are like me, I didn’t know what half those grapes were, much less how to pronounce them.  The important part was that it tasted really darn good.

Auzells is a medium body white, with aromas of citrus and pear.  We found these flavors to carry over to the palate.  It was delicate, but not bland.  Light and crisp, with flavors that stayed strong throughout.  It paired very well with maple mustard chicken and roasted root vegetables. 

This wine is distributed to restaurants and specialty wine shops. Keep an eye out for it, it’s really quite tasty!

2010 Writer’s Block Cabernet Franc

We discovered this wine at a Cabernet Franc tasting at Bacchus Wine Market & Tasting Room.  I love Cab Franc, but it is harder to find this varietal not hidden as part of a blend.  This event was an opportunity to taste 6 in a single setting.  Count me in!  

Writer’s Block is produced by Steele Wines, in the Lake County area.  The 2010 is a blend of 92% Cab Franc, 4% Merlot, 2% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon.  It did not disappoint.  Thick, full flavors that hit you from the time you pop the cork.  We immediately smelled green pepper, coffee, and a little tobacco that carried over with a growing flavor of rich, dark berries that finished with bold tannins.  Excellently balanced, with no burst of alcohol. This is a very solid wine, and at under $20 a bottle, an excellent anytime wine. 

Check out your local wine shops and bars for upcoming events.  You never know what you may discover! 

Upcoming Events

Village Vino (full list and details)

April 2: Oregon Pinot Tasting with Raptor Ridge

April 12: Cune Winery with Lucia Ramos

April 15: Patz & Hall with owner Anne Moses

Bacchus Wine Market (full list and details)

March 28/29: Wines from Eastern Europe

April 4/5: Wines from Portugal

April 11/12: Cabernet Sauvignon

2007 Ferrari-Carano Tresor - A Terrific Steakhouse Wine

There are a few bottles in our modest wine collection we like to call steakhouse wine. These are extra-tasty wines with a little bit of backbone that we hope will pair perfectly with a nice steak.

We recently opened a bottle of 2007 Ferrari-Carano Tresor. Sonoma Valley wine fans are generally familiar with Ferrari-Carano and their excellent wines. Their Fume Blanc is on our Great Wines Under $20 list, but they also produce higher-end wines like this one. Tresor means “treasure” and we’d agree it’s a fitting name.

The wine is labeled as a red wine but could also be considered a Cabernet Sauvignon since more than 75% of the wine consists of that varietal. It’s 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, 4% Malbec, 4% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. 

The wine had leather overtones with underlying smells of dark berry on the nose. It was a medium-bodied wine with smooth tannins starting on the front palate and coming on perfectly strong on the finish.  

We enjoyed a bottle at Fleming’s Steakhouse, which makes the best steak in town. The wine was a perfect pair and we savored each sip until the very last drop.

Decimus Pinot Noir – “What You Drink Does Matter”

It’s not often you find a wine that tastes good, and helps a good cause.  A few years ago we received a couple bottles of Decimus wine from my brother, Greg and his wife, Jennifer.  The Chardonnay didn’t stick around for long, but we just recently popped open the 2010 Pinot Noir.  Delicious!

Sourced from grapes in Los Carneros, produced and bottled by Reynolds Family Winery in Napa, this Pinot Noir is a tasty food wine.  It is well balanced, with cranberry and raspberry on the nose.  The flavors continue in taste, with a touch of oak on the finish. 

You’ve heard of turning water in to wine.  Well, Decimus turns wine into water.  They donate 10% of revenue to provide clean drinking water to areas in need, worldwide.  They have partnered with Living Water International, which implements community-based water solutions in developing countries. 

Decimus produces limited quantities, and distributes over half to restaurants.  Look for it on a wine list near you, or purchase directly online.  The Pinot Noir retails for $50. 

Another great wine supporting a great cause is Ehlers, which donates a portion of their proceeds to international cardiovascular research.

Know of other wines which donate proceeds to a cause?