Return to Coolsville: Perseid at Meteor Vineyard

Last time I was in Coolsville it was for some zip line action and the release of Meteor Vineyard 2007 Perseid Cabernet. {You can read a full account of that visit here.} This time I went for a meteor shower viewing party and a pre-party vertical tasting of the Perseid Cabernet 2004-2007 and the Special Family Reserve 2005-2007.

The 2004 Perseid had not previously been tasted outside of the family. I almost felt like we would be sworn to secrecy after trying it and required to take an oath of Omertà--oh wait I’m probably projecting my own Sicilian family traditions here, not Meteor’s. No one at the table was in danger of getting whacked for speaking about the charms of the 04, well, not that I know of at least.

In addition to the pre-set verticals we tried the 2003 “Barry's Half Century” Estate Reserve, a special Birthday Blend created to commemorate vineyard owner Barry Schuler's 50th. The wine had a deep plum color, scents of tobacco and nutmeg, with chocolate, coffee and blackberry flavors. It was luscious and rich, a great birthday gift to enjoy for years to come.

I’ve tasted my way through a lot of Cabernets over the years and I'm always on the verge of declaring that I just don't like Cabernet all that much—and then I taste Meteor and it makes me reconsider. These Cabs always surprise and intrigue me. They are deep, earthy and grounding-- full of diverse flavors and scents like licorice, mint, cinnamon, clove, peppermint, chocolate, violets, leather, truffle, blackberries and plums. In the 2006 Special Family Reserve I found notes of caramelized toffee and smoky s’mores. 

Meteor wines get to me in a way that is unexpected and completely fascinating. They keep me thinking about them for days afterward. It must be that Coombsville is Coolsville mystique in action. And it’s not just marketing copy to say something is truly different about Coombsville--official recognition of Coombsville as a distinct AVA is imminent.

I have a good understanding of winemaking, grape growing and the clones that are planted. But when I first taste a wine I don’t always need to know it’s personal history, I just want to be captivated. I’m curious to discover how a wine inspires me, because I think a great wine can be a catalyst to inspiration for all sorts of creative endevors.

That’s not to say the process is unimportant, quite the contrary, I love hearing winemakers describe it in their own words. It’s always interesting to hear what Meteor winemaker Dawnine Dyer and Schuler have to say. While Dyer might describe one of their clones or wines as full of feminine charisma, or a temptress; Schuler will counter with “This wine is a busty centerfold girl with a mighty rack and body that will suck you in and never let go.” (I paraphrase here of course.) But you can glean the general spirit in which it was said. Yet despite their different frames of reference, Dyer and Schuler are in full agreement that the clones they’ve planted possess all the right stuff to thrive in Coombsville.

From the tasting we headed outside where the party was in full swing with signature cocktails, spacey music to set the tone for star gazing, and tucked off to the side, a tarot card reader. As the sun set my appetite peaked and I practically inhaled a mini cup of bacon cheddar soup and a few smoked pork belly sliders with caramelized apple that naturally paired perfectly with the 2008 Perseid and Special Family Reserve. Then I got on line to have my cards read. I was relieved to see we only had to wait in line, not zip-line to the tarot card reader. 

After dinner, carrying our glow sticks and wine glasses, we followed a path of tiny lights set down like a secret mini airstrip, that led us to the Lone Oak out in the vineyard. Under the oak, Cliff De Lacy, a NASA ambassador filled us in on all things celestial and where to scan the sky for meteors.

A dessert station set with was set to one end of the rows serving coffee and a Meyer Lemon Curd tart with a graham crust as well as a Brioche Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding with chocolate sauce and sea salt. Both were a delight to enjoy in the moonlight.

In between the rows of vines were recliners and blankets from which you could settle in and watch the sky. It was like a sanitarium in the vineyard. As I lay there I half expected a masseuse to show up and knead my shoulders. It was quite cozy tucked under the blanket between the vines with little clusters of grapes above me and the rocky soil below. Something about lying down in the earth between the vines was extraordinary. It was as if you could feel the very essence of the vines seep into you. As I looked down the long dark row towards Mount George, I could smell traces of mint and fennel, sweet clover, hay and chalky earth. It felt fantastic and rather nurturing. Heck, maybe my true roots are more Druid than Sicilian! Or perhaps there is some kind of harmonic convergence going on between the Meteor vines and land in Coombsville.

Although the event was billed as a Perseid Viewing Party, I only saw a few meteors shoot across the sky. But the most brilliant stars of the night were all in my glass.

Thanks to all the Meteorites for a stellar evening. 

Ridge Lytton Springs Wine Blogger Tasting III

This past Sunday Christopher Watkins, the Tasting Room Manager for Ridge Monte Bello, held a vertical tasting of Zinfandels from the Ridge Lytton Springs Library as well some select Cabernets from the vault at Ridge Monte Bello. This was an exceptional line up of wines and one might expect a formal setting and a hushed silence of reverence for the tasting. Instead it was serious amount of fun, a relaxed and casual day of tasting out on the crush pad at Ridge Lytton Springs. It was a scorcher the day we sat down to try the wines, but the crush pad stayed a cool 80 degrees in the shade. Hard to know if this temperature affected the wines on the palate, but I felt the heat made it slightly more difficult to capture the nose.

Chris assembled a terrific slate of writers and bloggers for the event and you can a find a full roster and links to the participant’s blogs here:

It’s great to sit with a group of enthusiasts to talk and tweet about wine on a high intellectual level. Okay, so that’s not exactly what happened at my end of the table. One thing about tweeting is that it makes initial interaction rather stunted. I was actually talking to Liza on twitter @BrixChix_Liza via tweets, even though she was sitting right next to me. Oh what a weird world we live in. Eventually we lifted our eyes off our phones and met our tablemates.

I had the pleasure of meeting David Tong and Richard Jennings among many others. Also in attendance was the notorious Ron Washam who pens The Hosemaster of Wine blog. Ron is an expert blogger baiter calling out the ridiculousness of bloggers and their antics in carefully crafted and parody filled prose, so I was expecting more of a general drubbing from him that day. But instead he merely threw out a few stale zingers and behaved himself for the most part. I think maybe it’s because the people at the table were serious about wine and serious about writing about it and sharing it with others, but for the most part don’t take themselves very seriously. So it’s hard to get your hooks into someone who agrees that what they do is not brain surgery for rocket scientists. Or some other fractured metaphor of false aggrandizement.

Maybe he was just caught up in the moment of sending his first tweet.

Oh dear, Ron tweeted, the world as we know it has ended. Anyway, enough about Ron, on to the wines.

The vintages we tasted included the Lytton Spring Zinfandels from 1987, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, & 2007.

The standouts for me included:

1992– Lavender notes and on the nose and good tannins

1993—A yeasty almost lemon cupcake-y scent with long finish. I was quoted as saying this made me want to have a cigarette and I don't even smoke.

2003—Interesting salty soy like quality. Umami as Chris says. Perhaps would make for a good sushi Zin.

2005—Hints of green pepper and fruit forward with a touch of grapefruit. Me likey very muchy.

2007—Full lush and worthy of an animal sacrifice on the BBQ.

We also tasted Cabernets from Ridge Monte Bello 1991, 1992 & 1994.

I thought all the Monte Bello Cabernets were complex and multi-faceted, but the 1994 had the perfect aligning of the planets for my palate.

We discussed foods that would pair well with the wines and came up with everything from tempura to guinea pig. We also theorized that if wine had been aboard the Apollo 11 moon launch they might never have left the capsule for the first moonwalk. Imagine what might have resulted. —

“That’s one small sip for Man and the rest of this Zinfandel from Monte Bello for Me. Huston, I’m staying here in the capsule and drinking this Monte Bello. It’s literally out of this world.”

How we got on to the subject of space travel is probably my fault, but that’s the fun of tasting. Everyone has a unique frame of reference to call upon in describing wine.

Here are a few screen shots of what others had to say:

You can search twitter for the hashtag #Ridgewines and read more of the tweets that where unleashed during the tasting.

Thanks to Christopher and also to Brandy Alexander (yes, her real name) for organizing and hosting the event.