Category Archives: Wine Reviews

Margins Wine: In Search of Difference in Santa Cruz

18 Tuesday Sep 2018

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margins“I wanted to make wine that was different, outside the comfort zone of most tasting room visitors” said Megan Bell, as we sipped through her lineup of low-intervention wines. Hence the name “Margins”. Trained at UC Davis and with multiple apprenticeships in wineries from California to Loire Valley, Megan certainly knows conventional winemaking. But she is chasing a different dream giving recognition to vineyards, varietals, and wine styles that she admits many people “won’t get”.

But these wines are eminently “gettable” if you appreciate originality. Although firmly in the style of natural wines made using native yeasts, low sulfur, without fining and filtering,  and only neutral oak, they nevertheless taste like no other and each bottle brings something distinctive to the table. With an annual production of only 500 cases (but growing) snap these up. They sell quickly.  Oh, and she has some of the coolest labels to ever grace a wine bottle.

Purchase Here.

Reviews are based on industry samples

Chenin Blanc  2017 Wilson Vineyards Block 20 Clarksburg

Made from organic grapes, this wine is creamy but with an underlying textured mouth feel, the result of skin contact for about 30% of these grapes. Apple, lemon, robust floral notes and a hint of yogurt on the nose, on the palate its more mineral than fruity with slight honey midpalate and a bit of pine on the structured finish.  6 months in used oak. A vibrant white wine with red aspirations.  90 pts. $25

Cabernet Franc Santa Cruz Mountains 2017

This is very French, straight from the Loire via Santa Cruz. Strawberry with background hint of barnyard especially after aeration and mint that plays hide and seek. Tart cranberry on the palate, this is lean with some interesting citrus-like top notes. The finish is acid-driven with powdery tannins playing a supporting role. A 3 week fermentation, on neutral oak for 8 months.  88 pts.   $26

Sangiovese Arroyo Seco Mesa Del Sol Vineyard 2017

From very stressed vines in a very hot vineyard on the back side of Big Sur, this is not Italian. No sour cherry here. This is a darkly fruited Sangiovese redolent of ripe plums, freshly turned earth, blackberry and hints of caramel. The palate is rich and round, full bodied, bringing chocolate to the table with really lovely supple tannins that build on the peppery, mouthwatering finish. Large-framed but elegant and refreshing, there is real purity of fruit on the finish. 6 months in used French and American oak. A standout.  92 pts.   $26

Mourvedre Santa Clara Valley Sattler’s Vineyard 2017

This wine is so unique, I could explore it for hours. An unusual nose, ripe berry, coffee, herbal wood notes, against a spiced chocolate background. It’s very luscious and creamy on the palate, supple and ingratiating, with a lengthy drawn out midsection that gently slides into a subtle finish softly lingering, loaded with delicate, hi-toned acidity that never cuts. A meditative, dreamy wine to be enjoyed with Jan Garbarek’s Knot of Place and Time.  92 pts.

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Budget Wine Review: Paul Mas Grenache Noir Pays d’Oc 2017

14 Friday Sep 2018

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paul masDomaine Paul Mas has mastered the business of selling inexpensive French wine to the export market. Sourced from vineyards located in Languedoc, Jean-Claude Mas makes wines in the ripe, smooth style that succeeds on the international market. Domaine Paul Mas (named for Jean-Claude’s father) is the largest privately-owned winery in France outside Champagne.

Red berry and a hint of the garrique (thyme, rosemary, lavender) aromas characteristic of the south of France but marked by prominent chocolate notes that mask the herbal qualities.  In the mouth the wine is juicy, but not overly ripe, spicy, with plenty of bright acidity that turns tart on the finish. The tannins stay well in the background. Medium body with a smooth texture, this is a decent wine with enough French character showing to make it interesting for less than $10, although it is pushing in the “international” direction with the prominent chocolate notes.

A warm, generous wine that resonated with Al Green’s Love and Happiness.

Score: 87

Price: $9

Alc: 13.5%

Wine Review: Birichino Pinot Noir Antle Vineyard 2014 and Malvasia Bianca Monterey 2016

11 Tuesday Sep 2018

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birichinoFounded in 2008 by Alex Krause and John Locke, this Santa Cruz winery with a downtown tasting room makes interesting, low-intervention wines that sometimes fly under the banner of “natural” although they use a bit of sulfur to protect the wine. They look for old vineyards that are well farmed with the balance already in the grapes said Alex.

This Pinot Noir from the hot, Antle Vineyard in the Chalone AVA has a gorgeous nose—raspberry,  rose, clove, and wet stone with a touch of wild herbs. In the mouth it opens with taut, top note tension giving the wine energy right from the start. Light bodied but quite firm and sinewy, the tannins enter early giving the wine expansion as the dynamic finish launches. The finesse is on the finish which becomes playful oscillating between mineral notes and bristly textures.

Lean intensity, acerbic and tense yet engaging and playful. Finding music that was playful,  light on its feet but lean and tough was a challenge. Bonnie Raitt’s Good Man, Good Woman came through

Technical notes:  18 months in used French oak and demi-muids, sulfur added at bottling and after malo. A mix of Heritage Swan and Chalone clones, on granite and limestone soils.

Score: 91 Price: $40 Alc: 13%  Purchase Here

Malvasia Bianca

This is the wine that launched Birichino. It’s their only wine harvested by machines to crack the skins and the juice is left on the skins overnight so it’s a wine on its way to orange.

Another expressive nose. That’s a theme here. Aromas of lemon, apricot, white flowers, mint and hints of honey, are pretty and alluring. But don’t be fooled.

On the palate it’s angular up front showing grapefruit, but acquires a lovely glycerin texture midpalate keeping the surging acidity in check.  Medium weight with a soft, smooth underbelly, only to reveal a tide of bitterness, an emergent diorama of ruin at the end of the midpalate. The finish is textured, chalky, but with that layer of glycerin providing contrast. An undercurrent of apricot surfaces to play with with the bitter notes.  A distinctive, multi dimensional wine, sarcastic with its pretty nose and bitter hints on the palate, a mercurial chameleon, flamboyant, whimsical and cruel. Its Bohemian Rhapsody.

Score: 92 Price: $17     Alc: 13%  Purchase Here

Budget Wine Review: Folonari Valpolicella 2016

07 Friday Sep 2018

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folonariA generic Valpolicella with aromas of red berry, green, twiggy notes, rose and earth.

Light and fruity on the palate, with good acidity, it opens and finishes thin, but there is a  soft, waxy midpalate mouthfeel that makes the wine a bit rounder than other wines from this region. The finish is short with restrained tannins. A decent, everyday wine if you find it for under $10 and you like slender wines.

The blend is 65% Corvina, 25% Rondinella, and 10% Molinara.

Owned by the massive Italian Wine company Gruppo Italiano Vini with production facilities across Italy. Imported by Fredrick Wildemon and Sons, also owned by Gruppo Italiano Vini

Best consumed with lighter pork or chicken dishes and something quiet, simple and rustic in the background like Hem’s Stupid Mouth Shut.

Score: 83

Price: $8

Alc: 12.5%

Wine Review: Central Coast Group Project “Behind the Purple Door” Syrah Santa Barbara 2013

04 Tuesday Sep 2018

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This soon-to-be released wine is from one of the most distinctive wineries in California (see my profile here). Winemaker Scott Sampler’s vision is to make wines using ripe, California fruit and old world winemaking techniques. He macerates his reds up to 140 days before pressing just as they did years ago in Barolo.

Made from grapes harvested from a relatively cool site, White Hawk Vineyard near Los Alamos in Santa Barbara County, 20% of this Syrah was vinified whole cluster and all of it spends 101 days on the skins in neutral barrels before being pressed and bottled on the same day.

The result is a wine as deep as an ocean but with life ”errant and flamboyant” to rob a phrase from the poet Baudelaire. The reference to bawdy Baudelaire is appropriate. “Behind the Purple Door” references the film “Behind the Green Door”, which those of us of a certain age might remember as a popular porn film from the 1970’s. “Purple” of course refers to the color of highly extracted Syrah and the color of the prose needed to describe this wine.

Lush and full up front, acidity enters early and explodes, a quick crescendo of floral and mineral top notes with taut, drawn out tension. Juicy and mouthwatering, the seamless tannin/acid synergy adds great intensity to the wine, propagating prickly sensations with an underlying fineness of  grain imparting layers of texture on the finish.

Seductive aromas of blackberry, coffee, freshly turned earth, violets and a bit of crushed rock framed against a musky background, are joined by charcoal and mocha on the palate for an olfactory orgy worthy of Dionysius himself.

To be consumed only with a partner glowing with desire accompanied by the tumult and  mystery of Bjork’s Hidden Place.

Score: 93

Price: $79 (purchase here)

Alc: 15.4%

Review based on an industry sample. Updated on 9/9/18

Budget Wine Review: Waterbrook Merlot Columbia Valley 2015

31 Friday Aug 2018

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waterbrookWaterbrook was the 4th bonded winery in Walla Walla, founded in 1984.  They produce consistent, affordable wines year after year and advertise their aim as varietal correctness. With this Merlot they succeed up to a point, but it is too lean around the mid section.

Aromas of black cherry, vanilla, a background hint of nutmeg and a bright citrus note make for a pleasant profile.

The palate adds chocolate to the proceedings on a medium frame with powdery tannins. The midpalate is  hollow but good acidity gives the wine some freshness on the finish with tart pomegranate notes. A Very linear wine without much energy, it finishes with some tannic breadth and crisp top notes but little midsection to integrate them. If you like restrained, food friendly Merlot with bright acidity, this is your wine but fans of richness will be disappointed.

The cool, brisk, elegance of Bill Evans Witchcraft was a good match for this wine.

Score: 86

Price: $15 (purchase here)

Alc: 13.9%

Wine Review: Ambyth Estate Mourvedre 2013 and Re Vera 2012 Paso Robles

28 Tuesday Aug 2018

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ambythNatural wine and bio-dynamic farming have become an accepted part of wine culture these days but it wasn’t always the case. Ambyth was doing it back in the early days. With vineyards planted in the early 2000’s, Philip and Mary Hart were already using biodynamic preparations on the young vines, and since their first vintage in 2010 they’ve used no additives, filtering, commercial yeast or sulfur. Today, with son Gelert and his wife Robyn operating the winery, they make about 1500 cases of world class natural wine using dry farmed fruit from their Paso Robles estate.

Some people in the wine industry have doubts about whether natural wines can age without the use of sulfur as a preservative, but Ambyth is proving the doubters wrong. The reds are aged for at least 2 years in neutral oak or amphora and are 5 years old before they’re released. These wines are vibrant with no hint of spoilage. Gelert attributes the aging potential to what he calls “happy oxidation”. Low and slow like Bar B Q, the introduction of oxygen via the right aging vessels build strength for long aging. Whatever the explanation, these lively, elegant wines are distinctive, interesting, and delicious.

Mourvedre 2013

Blackberry melds with red fruit and mushroom. A bit of garrique plays with the muted cider background, while hints of tar linger in the glass. This is a very savory wine. Cranberry emerges on the back of the mid palate. It’s very juicy up front but with tense acidity emerging early its quite nervy in the top notes which provides an interesting contrast with the soft, velvet mouthfeel on a medium frame. Subtle, refined tannins lurk as the action unfolds aloft, the wine skitters across the palate, animated, euphoric, almost jittery but with a soothing side that climbs back from the edge.

Nitin Sawhney’s Acquired Dreams has a similar, upper register animation, with the soft, bass note ostinato and soothing synth strings providing warmth and comfort.

Score: 92     Price: $45      Alc: 12.3%

Re Vera 2012

This blend of Mourvedre, Counoise, Grenache, and Syrah leaves a distinctly different impression. Full bodied, round with depth and concentration, very drying, powdery tannins enter early giving this wine more booming, bass notes without the soaring acidity. It’s movement is like a slow flood, dark, brooding, enigmatic, even a bit somber. It has a polished steel texture but the tannins wrap the palate in a briary blanket giving the wine an enveloping, tactile intensity.

Dried fig, dried cherry, garrique, smoke and coffee aromas reinforce the gloom redeemed by a layer of rich, midpalate fruit that lightens the load. The honest, haunting “Golden” by A Girl Called Eddy captures this wine’s depth and the power.

Score: 91      Price: $45      Alc: 12.8%

Budget Wine Review: Root and Vine Chardonnay California 2015

24 Friday Aug 2018

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root and vine chardonnayI often complain about the homogeneity of “Big Wine” brands, but this Gallo brand Chardonnay is just weird.

The nose is dominated by apricot notes, unusual in Chardonnay, although the floral and slight butter notes are more traditional. The palate has obvious sugar up front and vaguely topical, guava-like flavors, with a woody background, but the fruit fades on the finish which shows too much exposed acidity and disjointed bitter notes. The midpalate creaminess is pleasant but the texture hardens as the fruit fades. I must say I haven’t tasted a Chardonnay quite like this but the experience is not entirely pleasant. The finish manages to be both cloying and bitter.

An acceptable table wine with dishes that have some sweetness, I found pairing it with the weird, disjoint but pleasing Animal Collective’s Lion in a Coma makes it seem less sugary.

Score: 81

Price: $12

Alc. 13%

Wine Review: Giornata Nebbiolo Luna Matta Vineyard 2014 and Vermentino 2017 Paso Robles

21 Tuesday Aug 2018

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giornataLong one of my favorite Paso Robles wineries, Giornata uses Italian grape varietals and an Italian sensibility with distinctly Paso Robles fruit. After working for a well-known Tuscan producer, and traveling throughout Italy, Brian Terrizzi and his viticulturist/wife Stephanie had the bright idea of growing Nebbiolo in California, in the face of many naysayers who claimed it could not be done successfully. Today,  Giornata produces about 2500 cases of stunning, unique wines including this beautiful Nebbiolo and an intriguing, distinctive Vermentino.

Giornata is often associated with the natural wine movement although they don’t advertise this connection and are “not dogmatic about it”, said Assistant Winemaker David McDonald. They use natural yeast, a little sulfur at crush and at bottling, and will sometimes filter if bottling early. Their grapes, which are sourced from several local vineyards, most of which Stephanie has a role in managing, are mostly organic, with some biodynamic and some sustainably grown. Are they natural or not? Californian or Italian in style? Well, both or neither—they can’t be pigeonholed. But some of the winemaking techniques are decidedly traditional. The Nebbiolo has the lengthy maceration associated with old school Barolo—a week before fermentation, a long 2 1/2 week ferment, and then 6 or 8 weeks after fermentation. David explains, “with the long maceration, the tannins get more aggressive but then hit a plateau, and start bonding and dropping out. When it feels right we press.”

The result is a very authentic Barolo-style Nebbiolo but with California exuberance tossing up evocative aromas of dark cherry, strawberry, salami, forest floor and cinnamon in an ebullient nose with great clarity and focus. The palate has a minty/herbal note to contribute, supported by firm tannins that force their way into consciousness very early but without being grippy. Vibrant acidity forges into the finish  bringing lots of top note attention as the fruit disappears into the structure and then returns in long, slow pulses with a cranberry note emerging as the finish fades

Nebbiolo when made well is relentlessly forceful when young, a tense, massive compulsion while releasing, delicate fragile aromas. Acerbic and provocative but with elegance, that’s Nebbiolo and no one does all that better than Bowie.

Score: 92  Price: $45 Alc: 13.8%

Vermentino 2017

Vermentino’s home is in Sardinia, although I’ve seen it in Bolgheri and Piemonte as well. An uncommon grape in the U.S. , Giornata sources theirs from the 30 year-old Coyote Glen Vineyard and then vinifies it as an orange wine.  It’s fermented in amphora on the skins for 3 weeks and then sits on the lees for 8 months in the same vessel before bottling. Pale gold in the glass, the tangerine, orange blossom, melon and salty aromas, are a unique combination of fresh fruit and earth. An outstanding, creamy mouthfeel, almost full bodied, gives the wine a laid back, mellow dimension, quite soft for a skin contact wine, with a softly textured finish that shows great fruit purity.

Cibelle’s Um so Segundo shares the heady tropical atmosphere and mellow comportment of this wine.

Score: 90    Price: $30  Alc: 12.8%

Budget Wine Review: Leftie Wine Co. Red Blend NV

18 Saturday Aug 2018

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leftieIn many parts of the country wines made from fruit other than grapes are an important product, especially in northern states that have trouble getting grapes to survive the cold winters. Blackberry wine is one of the better fruit wines. But I’m not sure we need grape wine blended with blackberries.

The geniuses at E.J.Gallo have a new product in which raspberry juice is added during the secondary, malolactic fermentation. I have heard of this technique when making beer and mead but not wine. So in the interests of science I’ll give this a try.

So what does it taste like? Blackberries. You get a strong whiff of blackberry on the nose with some cherry character as well. The palate also is dominated by blackberry but you can detect some chocolate and coffee notes, with discernable sweetness, between off-dry and semi-sweet. The round, full mouthfeel is soft and the short finish shows a bit of drying tannin but overall it lacks acidity.

It’s being sold as something innovative and eccentric, but it’s really just another option for the soft, smooth, and sweet crowd. If you’re tired of coke but can’t quite get your arms around grown-up wine this will do– think of it as gateway juice.  It isn’t awful but it doesn’t taste like grape wine and lacks the punch and zesty acidity of the best blackberry wines.

Kim Petras “A Heart to Break” has enough fluff and bubblegum to resonate with this wine.

Score: 80

Price: $10 (purchase here)

Alc: 13%