Beaulieu Vineyards Chardonnay

Who says this blog is only for promoting good wines? The Beaulieu Vineyards Chardonnay, Carneros Napa Valley is really bad. I bought it on a whim at Costco, actually I may have been influenced by Robert Parker's Wine Spectator rating and at $13.99 was a bad choice.

The chardonnay lacked any butteryness and sweetness and tasted more along the lines of alcoholic blandness, almost salty. I was fairly disappointed.

I also tried the Heitz Cellars Chardonnay at $12.99 and it also disappointed. Tasting more like a sauvignon blanc than a chardonnay. While very crisp and sweet, it did not have have the butter that good chardonnays have. *sigh*

With summer coming to an end you can proceed with drinking reds now. Look out for more reviews of red wines forthcoming...

Bottle Shock

"I am not drinking any fucking merlot!" - Miles

For those interested, filming for Bottle Shock has already begun. Basically a movie pertaining to the birth of the wine industry in Napa and how a little ole white wine from an nondescript area north of San Francisco shocked the wine world by beating a French Wine. More information can be obtained here and here.

Chardonnay's on a hot summer day

Chardonnay's and Sauvignon Blancs

Recently, i began drinking white wines due to the hot weather, and well, cheap ass prices. (compared to Cab's) I typically drink Chards (Chardonnays) and Sauvignon Blancs. These wine provide a more lighter, sweeter, more refreshing experience to drinking wine. I would recommend that you drink one of these very cold and before a meal. There are some other white wine varieties that people drink, but I dont really drink them, so I dont have much to say about them. But to distintify these two different whites, the Chard is a more flavorful, savory and buttery taste, while the Sauvignon Blanc's are a lot sweater in taste. But be careful! Sometimes you get some that taste like cat piss. Below is a simple list of ones that I have tried and enjoyed. I will go through a more comprehensive review of some of my favorite whites at a later time. Here are some of my picks:
(prices are currnet of BevMo(if they have prices))

BV Chardonnay Carneros '04 - ~16 bucks, good stuff, very sweet
Ch Montelena Chard - any year, very pricey, but tasty
Chalone Chard - good stuff for under 20 bucks
Clou Du Bois Chard- good for under 10 (the reserve for less then 20)
Clou du Val Chard - very good, very popular wine maker, everyone knows them, but you can get better. Around 20
Cakebread- probably the best chard you can drink-if you can find it.
Far Niente Chard- one of the top chards, sooooooo good. about 50 bucks
Franciscan Chard- strudy wine for 15ish bucks
Grigich Hills Chard- very good Chard, probably one of the better wines to come from there
Groth Chard- pretty good, almost like a cab,but a white, if that makes any sense...
Kenwood- pretty good for less then 10 bucks
Sanford Chard- a good wine esp for around 15
Sonoma Cutrer - Excellent wines, probably the best bang for your buck at 25 bucks (lot of bucks though)
Pine Ridge- excellent chards as well.
ZD Chard- Pricey, but tasty

Thats a pretty good list to work off of. I dont have too much experience in white wines, but these are pretty good. So sample some new stuff and let us know what you all think. If you want a good Savignon Blanc, try any one of these brands, and they should be really good as well.

Happy tasting.

Cakebread Cellars

I went wine tasting with family during the long 4th of July Holiday week. The first winery we hit up was Cakebread Cellars, an appointment I made well in advance for my family. Located along the St. Helena Highway, it's one of the first wineries you see before being deluged with a gazillion wineries along the road.

Tastings are by appointment only, you get to keep the wine glass and at $10, must be the best value in all of the Napa Valley. The tasting lasts about 45 minutes and you'll be able to taste about 6-8 different wines. From the delicious chardonnay, the grand reserve chardonnay, the cabernet sauvignon as well as some other wines they have on hand. On this particular day, they also had a merlot, rubiayat and sauvignon blanc, all of which paled in comparison to the other 3 I mentioned earlier. The weekend we went, they had just opened up their new tasting room which allows you to sit down and casually drink and taste while the wine steward waxes poetic about tasting notes, food pairings and restaurants. The rest of the time we strolled the premises, took pictures and relaxes before driving to the next winery.

Again, I can not stree enough at how good of a value this is, we all know that wine tasting can put a pretty dent in your wallet so being able to do a tasting at a very high end winery and that allows you to keep the glass is okay in my book!

2005 Joseph Phelps Innisfree

A new wine released by the folks over at Joseph Phelps Vineyard? Say word?!?! A 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon? When I first saw it while perusing the aisles at my local Costco, I thought to myself that this must be Joseph Phelp's newest entry into the affordable wine market! Usually, Phelp's wines will hit your pockets for about ~$40, so buying a Phelps wine in the $17-19 would be an awesome look. After going online onto the Phelps website I wasn't able to find much information. Some more google searches and I was able to find that it was made with excess grapes from the Phelps vineyards, the same grapes used for the regular Phelps cabernet as well as the baller Insignia label. Unfortunately, this wine failed to live up to the Phelps standard, lacking in aroma and taste, I must say I was very disappointed. A small gamble to take especially if the wine turned out to be something worth buying in bulk to store away. Onto the next adventure.

*Danny, Laurie, Neel, where you at? Old Chinese proverb say drinking wine improve vitality!*

Friends with Whitey!

Don't discriminate against white wines. Especially during these hot summer days, having a chilled glass or bottle of white wines is kind of nice.

One particular white wine that comes to mind is the Kendall Jackson Chardonnay Grand Reserve. Granted the regular chardonnay is tasty is its own right, the Grand Reserve really puts the 'grand' in it. Very smooth, crisp and buttery, it really refreshes.

At about $13 - 16 a bottle, it's very reasonable. Do yourself a favor and grab a few for the summer.

The Value Wine: 2004 Les Caves Joseph Bordeaux

Sometimes you just gotta buckle down and go cheap. Especially when you are kickin down 4 bottles with your fellow wine snob on a given night. Until recently, I always considered Liberty School to be the only value wine for me. But even at 11-13 bucks a pop, it can get a little pricey.

I was turned onto a 5 dollar value Bordeaux from Trader Joe's. Normally, Bordeaux are your very expensive French wine. When I say very expensive, I mean VERY expensive. An average bottle of decent Bordeaux (think something like a St Supery or Provenance) would set you back about 50 bucks, at the least. The 2004 Les Caves Joseph is an excellent alternative to these.

The wine itself is a very different wine to what I normally drink. It is a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cab grapes. Typically, I stay away from the Merlot scene, but this wine hides it very well. While nothing spectacular, it is extremely smooth and decently flavorful. I definitely recommend trying it. I recommend opening up the bottle about 30 minutes before you drink it. Decanter it if possible (see other blog about decanters), and pour a little into your glass. Be sure to swirl the shit out of the wine. This wine loves oxygen, and definitely needs it. For 5 bucks you can't go wrong!

Storage Solutions

So you got yourself a 2001 Silver Oak, a 2001 Joseph Phelps, maybe even a 2001 Jordan Cabernet... if you're smart you'll hold onto those and let them age. Now the question comes to mind, where to store them? Wine isn't something you leave out, being sensitive to sunlight and temperature changes, you really shouldn't be letting it sit on your kitchen countertop next to the oven.

One way to store them and this is how I do it is use a cooler. A simple igloo ice cooler is all you need. granted it is a pretty pedestrian remedy, it works fairly well, at least I hope. Just make sure to store bottles sideways and tuck the cooler away in a closet someplace cool.

Another way to do it is converting that old mini fridge you had in college into an inexpensive wine cooler. This is what Neel ended up doing and it seems to work well. Just remember to turn it down so it isn't so cold, you don't want to end up with frosty cabernets.

Wine coolers range from your affordable 8-bottle holders to massive industrial sized ones, from $100 to the thousands. Why spend it on that when you can spend it on more wine? Happy ghetto-rigging.

yellow tail cab 2004

not bad for $5.50. pretty strong vanilla flavor. Laurie likes it. now u go give it a spin.

Don't Be That Guy!