Lot 57

Another Cameron Hughes chardonnay, this time from Carneros. Priced at $9.99 it was okay, not as good as the Russian River Valley Lot 59 which I would buy again.

This chardonnay smelled like crazy fruits but was not very sweet, very dry really. It almost tasted as though there was no acid and practically tasted oily if you can imagine. One thing you will be overwhelmed with is the oakiness. Like drinking mesquite wood chips.

Would not buy again but don't regret trying it.

In Your Face.

In Da Face! In Da Face! Good ole Akeem Joffer, the Prince of Zamunda. Todays post is about the...

2007 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc Viognier. Yes you heard it right, a 2007. It basically spent a little over 2 months in the bottle or steel fermentation tanks and into your hands. Outrageous. Or outrageously delicious. Priced at a cool $11.00, this smacks you in the face with crazy citrus and floral arrangements. Think of those Japanese 'My Shaldan' car fresheners. Anyways, nicely chilled but not too chilled and it will taste the way it smelled. Lots of citrus mainly grapefruit, I would say it tasted a lot like those New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs but without the scent or taste of grass and possibly feline urine. I don't know what a chenin blanc or a viognier is but it is not a chardonnay. No butter whatsoever, there is some acidity leaving you with a real crisp and refreshing aftertaste, although overtly fruity it won't leave you in a diabetic coma (i.e. not that sweet or sugary). This will definitely be in heavy rotation throughout the warmer months this year.

Lot 59

My parents really like white wines it seems. They are down with whitey. I will more than happily oblige as long as it accompanies a late lunch early dinner, it feels weird drinking white wine unless the sun is still up. They enjoy the reds I open for dinner but they were real enthusiastic with the two whites I opened the last few weeks. As long as they are drinking. I'm constantly trying to instill a daily wine drinking lifestyle with them. Like that of the Italians, Spaniards and the Frenchies who seem to live at a slower pace, not affected by outside influences. That's the life. 

Cameron Hughes Lot 59 Russian River Valley Chardonnay, its really good. Priced at $10.99 at your neighborhood Costco. It smells good right out the bottle and tasted oh so crisp. Lightly acidic and slightly buttery. I can't speak of pineapple notes or essence of other tropical fruits but I will say it isn't very oaky which might be a good thing. I found that once the wine warmed up a bit and got some air, it tasted a whole lot better. I know Neel isn't down with decanting white wines but I would let it warm up a tad after you take it out the fridge and give it some air. I don't think you can taste the wine if it's too cold unless it's wine ice cream. 

My experience with white wines isn't all that extensive but I'd say this is a keeper. It's hard to find good white wines under $20 and this priced at $10.99 looks like a winner.

Heads Up!

This throwdown occured while Neel's dad was in town, but I decided to make it it's own post for the sake of organization. Anal retentitiveness at its best, too bad we never tagged our blogs with labels from the get go, whatever. Hindsight is 20/20. So here's our cheap Stag's Leap comparison...

Cameron Hughes Lot 60 Stag's Leap Cabernet - $13.99 at Costco now, the label says Napa Valley cause they say they were contractually obligated to by the winery they sourced the grape juice from, not bad. Honestly, I though the wine was decent. On the light to medium body tip, somewhat sweet and smooth. I'd rather drink the Seriously, but if you don't have a Cost Plus nearby then this is fairly suitable. If it makes you feel any better, its a dollar cheaper and on a 'limited' time only basis. Neel found it drinkable whereas his dad found its nose a bit skunky due to the zinfandel grapes and a travesty that they were able to even classify the wine a cabernet sauvignon! It's cool. Nothing to go out of your way to find but probably fun to try and have it go heads up with the Seriously.

Chateau Diana Seriously Good Wine Stag's Leap Cabernet - $14.99 at Cost Plus! Don't let the name fool you, this is seriously good for the price. Everyone found it to be a solid bottle and worth finding if you're interested in trying wines from different appellations in the Napa Valley.

In conclusion, Seriously Good Wine wins the shoot out between cheap sourced wines from really famous Napa appellations.

A Round of Venture Capital.

This past week, Neel's pops came through and we were able to have a few bottles of wine with him. Granted he didn't come through with crazy bottles, it was still cool to talk shop with him and shoot the shit. He did however fund one of the bottles bought. Here's the run down...

2006 Orin Swift 'The Prisoner' Red Blend - $31.99, this wine was the one that Neel's dad wanted us to try. And after some hunting, we were able to track it down at K&L Wines in Menlo Park. This wine is what you'd call a total cult wine. It's revered in oenophile circles and gets crazy marks from wine critics. It's a red blend with the majority of the grapes being zinfandel, it's got some cool artwork and has been bottled for only a few years now. We thought it was crap. The wine literally took our taste buds 'prisoner'!!! And I do not mean that in a good way. It smelled highly alcoholic and was downright difficult to drink. It was like syrup, sizzurp, I likened it to a wine concentrate that you'd dilute with water to make a few gallons with. Holy hot damn, one of the hardest wines to drink, EVER! Whoa, highly not recommended.

2001 Beaulieu Vineyards Rutherford Cabernet - An oldie that Neel snagged from his pops' cellar and it went down smooth. One of those really large vineyard/winery name brands that consistently produce quality wines that some folks don't want to drink based on the popularity of their name brands. You can pick up a newer vintage for under $20. Sweet!

2005 Chateau Diana Seriously Good Wine Stag's Leap Cabernet - Cost Plus represent! $14.99 exclusive! We've already blogged about this one so you know the haps. 

On the Cheap

2004 St. Francis Red Table Wine - Priced at $7.99 at Costco, it was not bad at all. A wine for any occasion and for any tastes really. Think of the house wine at Bucca di Beppo's or any other Italian restaurant, it'll go well with whatever you're eating. Would I buy again? Perhaps, I had this along with a spinach-olive lasagna I made a few weeks back. Did I mention that i used a bechemel sauce for the base? Yeah, uh huh.

2002 Columbia Crest Two Vines Semillon Chardonnay - $2.99 at Trader Joe's. I actually bought this cause I needed a white wine to pair with a baked salmon in parchment paper I was making later in the afternoon for a late lunch early dinner for my parents. Yes, pairing foods is what's up, not really, I figure it was warm and I was cooking fish, whatever. Actually it was whatever. I didn't finish it and instead had some ice cream.

My Minds Hazy And My Bodys Lazy

I woke up this morning fairly toasty. 

2005 Groth Chardonnay - The first white wine of the season for us. Light, sweet and not very acidic. Not as buttery as I'm used to but still fairly good, might have been better if the weather was warmer. Hopefully we can elaborate more on white wines as global warming creeps up.

2005 Stag's Leap Winery Merlot - Yeah whoa. I'd much prefer the Pine Ridge Crimson Creek Merlot for the same price but sometimes it's nice to try something new. How else would any one discover something good? Honestly, I don't remember this too much which may mean it was unmemorable.

2004 Robert Mondavi Cabernet - Interesting. Lots of tannins, yeah I said that. Could even cellar this for a few years, yeah that happened too. Solid cab from possibly the largest Napa wine producer. Decent price but it's like eating at a chain restaurant, if that analogy works. I'm sure you can find other smaller scale wines to try.

Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale - Beer and wine don't mix. Although they are usually sold in the same establishments, they really don't work well with one another. This was good. Real good. Crisp with a slight Pale Ale like bite at the end. I could see this working well with a nice salty bowl of soba noodles and tempura. Although it didn't take me back to all those times i've had it at SobaYa, it was still went down well.

Three Wheelin'

I really need to upgrade my wine vernacular. Besides smooth, delicious, fruity and disgusting, my wine related vocabulary is pretty limited. I may invest in one of these to help with describing wines. What say you? It's an aroma wheel and was developed at UC Davis.

Not to be overtly pretentious, I don't want to bombard the small handful of readers to terra firma, terroir, bouquets in the wine recaps etc. Cause at the end of the day, your palate is your palate. Unique like a fingerprint. People have preferences in what they like and you shouldn't let anyone tell you otherwise. Two buck chuck to $1000 Bordeaux's, whatever floats your boat. 

Can You Stop The Rain?

Yeah this is kind of ridiculous now. Damn near excessive. I need to step back and reassess what's really going on here. I may have even gained a few lbs over the past week which is not good as I'm trying to get into bikini mode or banana hammock mode whichever you like to picture me in.

2005 Seriously Good Wine Stag's Leap Cabernet - This is win-win on all counts. At $14.99, it's taken the driver seat in the wines under $15 range, an unstoppable run away mack truck careening down the grapevine. So good.

2003 Trefethen Oak Knoll Cabernet - Ballin. I won't comment on why this was consumed but it was and on any other day it would have been drank first but the powers that be were what they were. Mad good.

2005 Les Caves Joseph Bordeaux - Trader Joe's oldie but goodie, revisited. Solidly good.

Don't Judge Me.

Yes, I read. Read good. I read books on wine even. Actually I've been reading a lot in general lately. Perhaps its the extra time one has when jobless. granted I probably shouldn't be buying so many books since you know, I'm unemployed but I rationalize it as calling those purchases educational allowances. Anyways, the Judgement of Paris was mentioned on the blog a few times before and how the hiSTORY of it all piqued my interest as it should all those who are getting into wines or like wines for that matter. After a few searches, I found that there was a book written detailing the accounts leading up to the event by the very journalist who covered the tasting in person. A very good read, part storytelling, part history lesson, I may have finished the book in a few days. A definite must read for those into California wines and wine in general. Available on borders.com for a cool price of $5.99. Say word!