It has been a while since my last post. The world of wine has changed, or has it?
Best winery I have been to lately: Toss up between Unti and Teldeschi. Unti is very consistent with their quality and balance, but the zins and cab franc at Teldeschi are knockouts. And BTW where else can you walk into a tasting room and still taste wines that were made in the 90s?
My top five wines from recent memory (remember this is 2 1/2 years since the last post!
5-Seghesio 2009 Arneis: Crisp, clean and very well balanced. Lot's of apple and acid!
4-Sunce 2007 Zemjla's Blend: Lake County at its best. Half Neb and half Barbera. BALANCE!
3-Sunce 2006 "Young Buck" Zin: One word-FRUIT!
2-Preston of DCV Carignane: Spice, dust and no fuss.
1-Rochioli 2006 Estate Pinot: Absolutely the best pinot I have had. Balanced and dynamite structure.
My worst wines of the past few years:
2-Elyse 2006 Couzins: No relation to good wine!
1-Wildhog 2006 Barbera: One word: YUCK!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Why Heimoff Pisses me OFF!
Okay...I have had it with his constant slamming of Zins with high alchohol content. Every single review he writes goes something like this:
87pts: While this wine exhibits blah, blah, blah...it is far too high in alchohol...blah, blah, blah and is too hot on the palate...blah, blah, stinkin BLAH!
I suggest that they assign him to the North Pole after global warming and he can write about ice wine and lower alchohol whites;-)
87pts: While this wine exhibits blah, blah, blah...it is far too high in alchohol...blah, blah, blah and is too hot on the palate...blah, blah, stinkin BLAH!
I suggest that they assign him to the North Pole after global warming and he can write about ice wine and lower alchohol whites;-)
Yakima Valley Part 3
While at Willow Crest I met a very nice guy named Josh Lawrence. I begged him to grown some Arneis in Prosser...We'll see if he does. He gave me a fantastic bottle of dry reisling called Gard. Look for it, as it is dynamite.
Yakima Valley Travels: Part 2
My second stop was at Willow Crest Winery. They are on a frontage road near the local highway and their prices are amazing. Their reds were not my favorite but they make fantastic white and dessert wines. My reviews are below:
Viognier: Bone dry and almost sauvignon blanc like. 87pts
Pinot Gris: Very dry and simple. 84pts
Syrah Port: Killer and extracted. Loads of fruit. 90pts
Late-Harvest SB: Wowza! 92pts
Viognier: Bone dry and almost sauvignon blanc like. 87pts
Pinot Gris: Very dry and simple. 84pts
Syrah Port: Killer and extracted. Loads of fruit. 90pts
Late-Harvest SB: Wowza! 92pts
Yakima Valley Travels
Hi all: I spent a day in Yakima Valley last month and found a couple of very good wineries in Prosser, Washington.
Alexandria Nicole: Fantastic wines! Horse Heaven Hills grower of very nice stuff.Reviews are below.
Reserve Viognier-91 pts. Very elegant with a touch of oak.
Syrah-89pts. Textbook Horse Heaven Hills syrah. Meaty and full-bodied.
Merlot-92pts. If all merlots were this good I would drink a lot more of them. 19% malbec blended in.
Destiny-90pts. Their OPUS. A big and dense bordeaux blend.
Ice Wine Syrah-93pts. Never had one before and loved it. Sweet and smooth.
They have a fantastic tasting room and ship to California!
Alexandria Nicole: Fantastic wines! Horse Heaven Hills grower of very nice stuff.Reviews are below.
Reserve Viognier-91 pts. Very elegant with a touch of oak.
Syrah-89pts. Textbook Horse Heaven Hills syrah. Meaty and full-bodied.
Merlot-92pts. If all merlots were this good I would drink a lot more of them. 19% malbec blended in.
Destiny-90pts. Their OPUS. A big and dense bordeaux blend.
Ice Wine Syrah-93pts. Never had one before and loved it. Sweet and smooth.
They have a fantastic tasting room and ship to California!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
More on Wine2.0
I just found a great site that may be the beginning of this venture. It is: www.winetwo.com
Great insights and a bit of logic while building toward an Online wine world. Who knows??? Maybe 2nd life will become a ground to "virtually" explore wine regions, making and thinking Online one day.
Cheers,
Derek
Great insights and a bit of logic while building toward an Online wine world. Who knows??? Maybe 2nd life will become a ground to "virtually" explore wine regions, making and thinking Online one day.
Cheers,
Derek
Thursday, August 2, 2007
More Musings and Fun Stuff
It has been a couple of weeks since I last wrote, but here are some random thoughts and tastings that I have been involved in recently.
NALLE
They are open to the public on Sundays and make some damn good wine. Not the overblown high-alchohol stuff that gets ripped by the press...Doug makes very honest and balanced wines that claim to age for years. I really liked his reserve Dry Creek Zin and his regular Zin. He is a super nice guy to boot. http://www.nallewinery.com/
PRESTON
Lou's wines get better every time I visit the winery. I tried a killer Viognier and a very jammy Mourvedre. The 05 Zin is fantastic too. I went on a Sunday, which is the day that they taste and sell the 1 gallon Guidagni jugs out of the barrell. Lot's of people and a decent $30 jug. Best at Preston are the olive oil, fresh produce and bread! The grounds are very pretty and a great spot for a picnic. http://www.prestonofdrycreek.com/
TURNING 40
We had my big 4-0 at my brother Fritter's house and everyone had a blast. We drank a ton of wine and there were some real standouts:
White: Quivira SB, Montenovo Godello, Schug Chard
Red: Mauro Sebaste Centobricche, Chateau St. Jean "Durell" Syrah and Forchini "Papa Nonno"
GREAT BUY AT TRADER JOES
For 5 bucks you can buy a really good SB named Diogenes from Lake County. Not super grassy, more a balanced and under-stated wine. Try it...You'll like it!
NALLE
They are open to the public on Sundays and make some damn good wine. Not the overblown high-alchohol stuff that gets ripped by the press...Doug makes very honest and balanced wines that claim to age for years. I really liked his reserve Dry Creek Zin and his regular Zin. He is a super nice guy to boot. http://www.nallewinery.com/
PRESTON
Lou's wines get better every time I visit the winery. I tried a killer Viognier and a very jammy Mourvedre. The 05 Zin is fantastic too. I went on a Sunday, which is the day that they taste and sell the 1 gallon Guidagni jugs out of the barrell. Lot's of people and a decent $30 jug. Best at Preston are the olive oil, fresh produce and bread! The grounds are very pretty and a great spot for a picnic. http://www.prestonofdrycreek.com/
TURNING 40
We had my big 4-0 at my brother Fritter's house and everyone had a blast. We drank a ton of wine and there were some real standouts:
White: Quivira SB, Montenovo Godello, Schug Chard
Red: Mauro Sebaste Centobricche, Chateau St. Jean "Durell" Syrah and Forchini "Papa Nonno"
GREAT BUY AT TRADER JOES
For 5 bucks you can buy a really good SB named Diogenes from Lake County. Not super grassy, more a balanced and under-stated wine. Try it...You'll like it!
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