Last Week in Wine -- New series!

I often tweet out what wine I’m drinking during the week and highlight various wines from my region as well as from regions around the world, but I don't always have room in a tweet to elaborate on each wine. So I’ve decided to collect them in occasional posts called Last Week in Wine. Catchy title right? I got the idea from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

I doubt I will post this every single week, but this will be an ongoing series, a round-up of the wines I tried and some brief notes on each. Unless noted all wines were purchased with legal tender by me.

Here are the wines from the past week of November 2nd -8th, 2014

Stark Primitivo 2012
I’m not a big Zinfandel drinker, but I loves me some Primitivo. (Incidently both Zin and Primitivo are clones of the Croatian grape Crljenak.) This Stark wine from the Damiano Vineyard in the Sierra Foothills is just the ticket to send you on an Italian reverie (or perhaps a Croatian reverie considering the source) without the need to get on a plane. $38

Gloria Ferrer “Hands on Harvest” Pinot Noir 2010
This wine is not widely available. It was made as part of a Hands on Harvest event I attended in 2010 and the finished wine was sent to the participants. I’ve been holding on to these and this bottle showed some deeper characteristics from aging since the first bottle I tried in 2012. In my original notes I found it to be dry and spicy, but now it is much more lush, fuller, with rich dark fruit flavors and more balanced structure overall. Very nice indeed! (Priceless.)

Colonia Las Liebres Bonarda Argentina 2012 
I first came upon this wine when I was living in Florida and cruising the local Total Wine aisles for some decent wine to take my mind off the fact I was living in Florida. Anyway this wine did the trick. I love Bonarda (aka Charbono in California) and this one is a great value and a true representation of how lovely Bonarda can be-- dark in color, light tannins and good acidity with a hint of mint, dark cherry and concentrated plum flavors. Brambly and delicious. I bought it at Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa for $7.99.

Dingač Vinarija Pelješac  2012

Darker and richer than its sister wine, the Plavc, the Peljesac is has a medium body with a slightly sweeter base note on the palate. This is a bargain at $12.95. Buy a mixed case of this and the Plavac and see which you prefer. I think I’m leaning toward the Plavac, but it depends on what day it is. ;-)

Resources:

Colonia Las Liebres Bonarda Argentina

http://www.colonialasliebres.com/

Blue Danbue Wine Dingač Vinarija -
http://www.bluedanubewine.com/winery/dingac/

Stark Wine
https://starkwine.com/store/item/2012-stark-primitivo

Where Can You Get the Best Views of Napa and Sonoma?

The best views in my opinion are from wineries where in the event it’s a cloudy or overcast day you can always console yourself with a glass of wine and imagine the vista before you. But seriously, some of the best views are at found at wineries and here is my list:

Napa
Sterling Vineyards—
When you have to take a gondola ride to reach the winery you know a stunning view is on the agenda. Sterling is perched 300 feet above Calistoga, and the panoramic views of Napa Valley are indeed tremendous.

VinRoc—
Call for an appointment first and and then make your way up to VinRoc for the most extraordinary views of the valleys and vineyards below Atlas Peak. This tiny winery is well worth the drive up the long and winding road.

Silverado Vineyards—
Sunset on the terrace at Silverado is a guaranteed “peak experience” for those seeking the best views across the valley. From any angle Silverado has a vista worth viewing.

Sonoma
Gloria Ferrer Winery—
Enjoy sweeping views over the vineyards and of the valley from their tasting room patio. Nothing pairs better with a fine sparkling wine than a great view and you’ll find both here.

Everett Ridge—
This birds-eye view of Mount St. Helena, the surrounding mountains and valley below, is one of the best you can get without being airborne.

The Waiting is Over--2010 Hands on Harvest Pinot Noir

Two years ago I attended Gloria Ferrer Hands on Harvest ( read about it here Part 1 and Part 2 ) and just a few days before this year’s Thanksgiving I got a wonderful surprise in the mail--

The 2010 Carneros Estate Pinot Noir is made from the grapes our Hands on Harvest group picked from the Seven Bays Block, one of the highest ridges at the Circle Bar Ranch property.

I opened a bottle the minute it arrived even though it was only 3pm, but hey, it’s called research! I’m happy to report the wine is delicious -- balanced and dry with a spicy finish. It’s fun to sip and to contemplate that I had a hand, albeit a very small hand, in the making of it. Most of all I’m very happy I don’t have to harvest all the grapes for the many wines I enjoy all year long. There is nothing like a hands on harvest experience to give one tremendous respect and appreciation for all the real hard work carried out on a daily basis by the professionals who make wine.

2010 Gloria Ferrer Hands on Harvest Team

Timeline:
Grapes were picked and crushed on September 14,1010
Wine placed in Barrels on October 5, 2010
Bottled and hand labeled on August 15th 2012

Details about the wine:
* Dijon 115 was the only clone used in the Hands on Harvest Pinot Noir.
* The grapes were de-stemmed, partially crushed, and cold soaked for three days to extract color and aromas.
* Thirce daily punch downs and pump over regimes were tailored to each lot of fruit.
* Barrel aged for nine months in two medium -plus toast 100% French oak barrels form the Allier forest.
* The Pinot Noir was bottled un-fined.

Production: 276 bottles

Thank you to Mike Crumly, Bob Iantosca, Steve Urberg and to the entire staff at Gloria Ferrer .

Cheers!!

How Did You Get Here? My # 1 Search Term of the Year.

As the year draws to a close it’s only natural to look back and reflect on what went down in 2010. I’ve had this wine blog for almost two years now and this year showed a marked increase in traffic to Come for the Wine. I’d love to think it’s because of my witty outlook and scintillating take on the wine world at large, but it’s much less honorable than that.

After reviewing my blog analytics for the year it has been revealed that the number one search term that brought people to my site this year was: “nuts and wine”. Nuts & Wine!!!

Apparently there are boatload of folks looking for information on nuts and wine and I seem to be the person to give it to them because about 60% of the people who come to my site with that search parameter stick around… for quite a while!

Nuts & Wine. Make of it what you will. I guess it’s not a complete random act that this search term delivers my blog as a result. After all, I did write a few things that do fit the category like: The Danger of Pine Nuts. And oh yeah my post called Pairing Nut's with Wine probably started it all. Or perhaps it was the Lamrusco incident that lead people to think I was nuts?

Go figure. I guess I will just embrace it. After “nuts & wine” the second most popular search term was “type of blogger” or “crazy type of wine blogger” which lead people to my most popular post of the year:

The Five Types of Wine Bloggers: What Kind of Wine Blogger Are You?

This post of course was a joke but you would not believe how many people took it as a serious treatise on the state of wine blogging. {well maybe it is} But Helloooo! Satire while grounded in the truth is still a parody, humor, and mirth! It’s amazing how many people don’t get the joke.

It’s been a good blogging year though and I have been very fortunate to get the opportunity to taste some amazing wine and meet some incredible people this year.

Highlights include events at:

2010 Diageo Chateau Estate Burgundy Tasting { I'm still thinking about the wines I had that day}

Meteor Vineyards

Willamette Valley

Hands on Harvest at Gloria Ferrer

In retrospect I have to say-- “Wine Blogging has been bery bery good to me.”* In fact I’m off to Portugal in the new year mostly because of this blog, so I can’t wait for that and look forward to blogging all about it in February. *{if you are too young to get that joke Google SNL-- Baseball has been bery, bery good to me}

I want to thank everyone who invited me to taste their wine this year and gave me so many great experiences to write about.

Happy 2011! Here’s to you and a new year filled with less nuts and more wine.

A Tale of Two Harvests

Last year I participated in my first harvest (which I wrote about here) and all I got was a warm beer and a taco at the end of a grueling day of manual labor. But oh what a difference a year makes!

As I said in my post last year, the most important thing I learned was to politely decline any subsequent invitations to Harvest. But then I got invited to the Gloria Ferrer Hands on Harvest event on September 13 & 14th, and all I can say is OMG! The Hands on Harvest exceeded my wildest expectations. I learned more about winemaking and the particular vines at the Carneros estate than I thought possible in two days. My palate was put through some rigorous paces as well with what seemed like a never ending parade of wine and food pairings.

I live tweeted the event with the hashtag #GFHoH, but later discovered many of my messages were saved to draft instead of going out…oh the joys of technology. There is much to share about what I experienced so I’ve decided to break it up in to two separate posts. For now, here is a quick pictorial of Hands on Harvest.

The Vertical Tasting of Royal Cuvee

Vintages from 1990 -1997, I was impressed by the consistency of color across all the vintages and particularly liked '90, '92 and '94.

"Champagne is like a bed, it's meant to be shared" ~ Bob Iantosca

Wake up and smell the vineyards

The “Gentleman’s” Harvest

Breakfast Al fresco

Left to Right: Tom Burnet, President; Elvia the Cake Lady; Bob Iantosca, VP Winemaking; Harvest Guest, Gerald Murphy of Revival Bar & Kitchen

Sustainability Walking Tour with Mike Crumly

Artifacts from the Miwok Midden

The Riparian Corridors

The Bluebird Boxes

Mid-morning replenishment-- Oysters & Bubbles

Grafting Demonstration

Geology Lesson in the Trenches

Pinot Pairing Lunch!

The Crush

The Caves

The People

I 'd like thank the entire staff of Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards for an exceptional event, forever changing my idea of a harvest experience.

Stay tuned...next post will go in-depth to the history & geology of the Circle Bar Ranch including the particulars of our Sustainability Walk led by Mike Crumly. If only Mike had taught my high school geology class I'm sure I would have attended more often and learned something along the way!