All Hail To The Raven!

Whenever I am in Sonoma County, one of my favorite places to visit is Ravenswood Winery. Located in the town of Sonoma, this winery is one of the first California wineries I ever visited and I keep going back for more! I've been there three times now. One of the reasons I enjoy visiting so much is because of the vast amount of different wines they make, including an enormous selection of Zinfandels. And we all know how I feel about Zinfandel!



I believe this winery truly has so much to offer. Founded in 1976, by winemaker Joel Peterson, it began as a small winery and eventually became a world renowned brand! You can pretty much go anywhere and see several of their wines sitting on the shelves! Now I have not met Joel personally (but hope to someday) but the staff at the winery is well-educated and enthusiastic. In fact, I enjoyed my last visit there so much, I visited again a few days later! Guess I couldn't get enough! I have sat on their "patio" with the umbrella covered tables and enjoyed the view, toured their nearby vineyards and even done their famous "blending lab", where you blend your own Zin and and are given a small bottle of your blend to take with! That makes for a decadent afternoon! Afterwards we got to barrel taste! Even better. We definitely needed some help leaving the place. We were just having way too much fun!



As stated before, they make a lot of wines and their wines come in different tier selections. There are the "Vintner's Blend" wines, which are what I call their entry-level wines. Easy drinking, everyday wines at a reasonable price. Usually around $10 at your local shops. I've sampled several of those (sent to me by a local distributor) and I found them to be a great value. So far I have tried the Zinfandel, Merlot and Shiraz. They also make a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Petite Sirah as well as a Chardonnay. The next tier is the "County Series", which are Zinfandels made from Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Lodi fruit. Very nice and sell for just under $20 a bottle. These are also easy to find. The tier I am going to discuss today is the "Vineyard Designate" tier. The winery carries a lot of these and I have managed to find a few at some of the wine shops.



Several months ago, I received a couple "Vineyard Designates" from Sam Folsom & Associates, a public relations firm based in San Francisco. I had actually not tried these two yet, which was remarkable considering how many wines Ravenswood offers on their tasting menu. Both Zinfandels were like night and day. The first one was the 2006 Barricia Vineyard Zinfandel. Barricia Vineyard is located in the Sonoma Valley. This was an elegant and smooth Zinfandel. Very luscious blackberry and an almost blueberry flavor with a lot of spicy undertones. I coined the word "pretty" to describe it. It was very delicate. The second one was the 2006 Teldeschi Vineyard Zinfandel. Teldeschi Vineyard is located up in northern Sonoma County near the town of Healdsburg. It is the prototypical Dry Creek Zinfandel--a lot more rugged, brambly, jammy and in your face! Huge blackberry flavor, spice and some earthiness. A very big Zin! Both Zinfandels sell for $36.00 each.

I can't wait to go back and visit them again. A couple of my friends joined their monthly wine club and have amassed a huge lot of their wines--verticals and all. I'm going to have to raid their wine cellar one of these days! Hint-hint! All in all Ravenswood is a fun winery, producer of some great wines and a great place to start your wine education, blend your own wine or spend a couple nice hours sipping on their patio. Their philosophy is "No Wimpy Wines" so I leave you with this thought...

A Little Taste Of Dry Creek In Iowa

On the final day of WBC09 last July, we were treated to a picnic lunch at Dry Creek Vineyard, a winery in the northern Sonoma County town of Healdsburg. It seemed like a magical place and though it wouldn't be until after I arrived home that I learned of the history of this winery, I was happy to have visited and looked forward to the day when I could go back and re-visit. The short amount of time we spent there just wasn't enough to satisfy my appetite for such a beautiful place!

About a month ago, I learned that the President of Dry Creek Vineyard, Don Wallace, would be making a promotional trip here to our fair city of Des Moines. I was excited to meet him and to discuss the wines and the winery at length. So on that Thursday evening, I headed to Hy-Vee, a local grocery store, to meet the man in person. There was a tasting of Dry Creek Vineyard wines, free and open to the public.


Don was very personable and kind enough to give me the background on the winery and how it came to be. Dry Creek Vineyard had been the dream of his father-in-law, David Stare. David, who was MIT-educated and worked for the railroad in New England, had fallen in love with the wines of the Loire Valley in France. Eventually, he moved his family to Sonoma County after realizing he wanted to become a winemaker. Once in California, he started from scratch, going to school and learning the ropes of winemaking. Finally, in 1972, he broke ground for what would become his winery and his passion. The family also has a passion for sailing which is reflected in the beauiful labels that adorn their wine bottles.


The wines speak for themselves and the winery produces many of them. I got to taste quite a few, my favorites highlighted below:

2008 Dry Chenin Blanc--I consider this wine a sort of flagship for their white varietals. Chenin Blanc is a varietal best known in the Loire Valley of France. Dry Creek Vineyard are one of the only wineries that produce a dry Chenin Blanc in California. It had a crisp apple flavor, very clean, very easy on the palate. The grapes for this wine are sourced up in Clarksburg. $12.00.

2008 Sauvignon Blanc---This is one that I got to sample at the winery as well as here and I truly enjoyed every drop of it. It's classic California Sauvignon Blanc with some wonderful citrus and grassy notes. Crisp and refreshing! $16.00.

2005 Dry Creek Merlot--Juicy and rich with ripe berries, cassis, vanilla and chocolate. It drank like a Cabernet Sauvignon at a fraction of the price. $19.00.

2005 Mariner---This is a classic Bordeaux-blend, beautifully layered, solid structure, nice firm tannins. You could lay this down for awhile but why wait!
$40.00.

2004 Late Harvest Zinfandel--Before sampling this, I'd never tried a late harvest Zinfandel before. It was really smooth and richly sweet with ripe blackberries. Perfect little wine to go with my chocolate dessert. $30.00.

The winery produces an array of other wines including Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and several Zinfandels--some of which are single vineyard. Their wines are distributed nationwide as well as being available in their winery tasting room and on their website at www.drycreekvineyard.com. Don's wife and the company vice-president, Kim Stare Wallace, has a blog called "Wilma's Wine World." Please check out her blog at the link on my blog list to the right.

I purchased a bottle of the Chenin Blanc, autographed by Don. All in all, I feel I can make a great solid choice with their wines and am very pleased. I look forward to visiting again and came away with an invitation to tour their property when I re-visit. I want to thank Don and Kim for their great hospitality and hope to see you again next year!

Thanksgiving And The Meaning Of Friendship

When I was a little girl, I had an Italian Mom who stayed at home everyday and took care of our family. One day, after we had made the move from Italy to Iowa, our mailman knocked on the door. In his hand was a letter from Italy. He usually didn't make it a point to interact with customers, however, being Italian himself, holding the letter had piqued his curiosity. That was 36 yrs ago...My Mom is no longer with us. (Some of you may have seen her on my Crushpad "Fusebox" label.) My Dad, sister and I celebrated our 36th Thanksgiving yesterday with that same mailman and his family. They have been our dear friends and have welcomed us like family each and every year.

Holidays are all about spending good times with family and friends. This year, I chose to bring the wines to the table. In doing so, I carefully picked two wines created by a new friend of mine, Eric Luse. I met Eric on the first day of the North American Wine Blogger's Conference in Santa Rosa last July. He happened to be the winemaker sitting at our table at the dinner. His winery is Eric Ross Winery, located in the Sonoma Valley town of Glen Ellen. He was kind enough to help me search for my camera when it accidentally got misplaced. And that would make sense because one of his great loves other than winemaking is photography. (I am a terrible photographer so I hope he forgives me for the photos!) He also has Iowa roots, something I'm finding a lot out in California. It's a small world and we've been friends ever since that day... When I expressed interest in discussing some of his wines, he was kind enough to send samples.



The white wine I chose to compliment our meal was the 2008 Marsanne Roussanne Saralee's Vineyard. It is a new release at the tasting room and online site. Though very young, it opened up beautifully as the meal progressed. Very elegant, stone fruit flavor with creamy undertones. It was a big hit as most at our table had never tried a Marsanne Roussanne before. This one would be equally good by itself as a nice warm weather sipper. It has a lot of finesse. $28.00



The red wine was perfect! I couldn't have done it better! The 2007 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Ivywood Vineyard. Wow! Light in color, light bodied, but with so much explosive cherry pomegranate flavor and a lot of spice. It paired perfectly with the turkey, prime rib, stuffing, peas and onions, green bean casserole and the risotto we had! (Thanks Mary--you are such a wonderful cook!) It disappeared quickly and someone asked if there was another bottle. I would buy this one over and over. It was grand. $40.00.



Eric Ross Wines are available online at www.ericross.com. They distribute throughout the United States so you may be able to find them locally in restaurants or wine shops in your area. If you're in Sonoma Valley, please stop by their tasting room at 14300 Arnold Drive in Glen Ellen. Now that the holiday is over, I've had the chance to reflect on yesterday. I am thankful for my family and all my friends, new and old. I am also thankful that I have finally found my true passion and that is my passion for wine and bringing stories like this one to the public. Thank you, Eric, for your friendship and for sharing your wines and being a part of our Thanksgiving! I will be bringing my friends over for a visit in the Spring!

A Surprise Find In Lodi Wine Country

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of meeting Tom Hoffman, winemaker and owner of Heritage Oak Winery, located in Acampo, California. Tom's family has been farming and making Zinfandel for generations in the Lodi, California area. (Yes, I know--you're probably wondering if we are related because our last names are the same. Well, not that I know of but I'd be proud to be related to him!) We met on Facebook, of all places, after he read my Halloween wine blog and sent me a message. I have to hand it to Facebook--it has helped me forge a lot of new friendships and open doors. I've had the opportunity to meet amazing people like Tom and sample nice, rare wines I wouldn't have known about otherwise. Tom sent me samples of some of his Zinfandels and after sampling just two of them, I believe he is one of California's Best Kept Secrets!

I'm such a Zin fanatic and it never ceases to amaze me how many great Zins there are out there and I am discovering some of them from areas other than Sonoma County. Located east of San Francisco near the Sacramento River delta, the Lodi appellation's sandy soils and Mediterranean climate makes for the perfect combination needed for excellent Zinfandel production. In fact, it is famous for it! From this area come handcrafted, small production wines such as the ones that Tom Hoffman makes.

Tom was a school teacher in South America when he chose to come back to the U.S. and continue his family's work. After years of hard work and self-teaching, he is at home doing what he does best-- making handcrafted wines. He is a jack of all trades--overseeing the vineyards and wine production. He and his wife Carmela have passed on their love of winemaking to their two sons, making it a family affair.

I had an intimate dinner party a week or so ago and invited my sister and a friend to sample a couple of Tom's Zins with me. For this occasion, I chose the 2007 Estate Grown Zinfandel and the 2007 Block 14 Zinfandel. The label on each bottle is simple, textured and really beautiful. Both wines were exceptional and well-balanced but the complete opposite of each other was far as taste went.

2007 Estate Grown Zinfandel--100% Zinfandel. Upon uncorking it, the aroma was amazing! I could not get past the wonderful vanilla oak aroma and we were all swooning. The wine proved to be just as rich and beautiful. Unlike other big Zins I've tried, this one was light to medium bodied, light in color for a Zinfandel but velvety rich-- brimming with bright fruit, and a spicy caramel cinnamon undertone that made it irresistible! If this isn't Tom's flagship wine, it should be! It left us begging for seconds! $18.00

2007 Block 14 Zinfandel---Much darker in color, it was also medium-bodied and was redolent of concentrated blackberries. Very spicy but elegant. I could feel that familiar "Zinfandel Burn" as I sampled it and it was very satisfying and delicious.$20.00.

Such wonderful flavor profiles and slightly lower alcohol content make these Zins completely enjoyable alone or with food. Definitely a winning combination! And I am not through as Tom makes five distinct Zinfandels and I will be trying and reporting on more very soon. Heritage Oak wines are available in their Acampo tasting room or online. The winery has a website at www.heritageoakwinery.com. Please take the time to discover them for yourselves. They are truly a find!

Cellarmistress Tastes Live---From New Zealand!

No. I didn't actually go to New Zealand but I am forever honored to have tasted four very different and well-received wines that will forever stick in my mind! In October, I was given the opportunity to do TasteLive once again--this time from New Zealand. There were two tastings--Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. I chose to do the Sauvignon Blanc tasting as I live in the Midwest and it was earlier in the evening. The later tasting was for the west coast. I love surprises! Once everything was finalized, I received a box of samples via DHL Global from Nautilus Estate in New Zealand and one wine to complete the collection of four from Bin Ends Wine, here in the US.

Myself and my fellow blogger, David Honig (New York wine blogger and founder of Palatepress--The Online Wine Magazine) were the two wine bloggers to do this Sauvignon Blanc tasting. Originally, we were told our Tweets (on Twitter) would be seen by people attending the Marlborough Wine Weekend in New Zealand. But a slight snafu (due to that pesky German hash tag) caused us to be pretty much be tasting by our lonesomes... I don't think they were happy the next day. They didn't see our Tweets! (Note to all involved--I certainly hope this didn't hurt our chances of doing this again. It was an amazing experience. We just need to work out the bugs, which I believe we are doing...) There was a lot of "Hellooooo! Are you there?" going on. It certainly was a crazy night, but I'm glad I did it because after the fact, I looked at my notes and realized why these wines were chosen---they were all unique and different. (That would be the supertaster in me saying that!)

As I write this, staring at my notes, I am hypothetically tasting them again and I am not sure I am tasting them in order, but who cares--let's just taste them...




2007 Lawson's Dry Hills 2007 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc--Ah, the Lawson's Dry Hills--I say this as I stare at an old cork with their name on it. However, they haven't done cork for a very long time. Ten years ago when I first began my wine tasting journey, this was the first Sauvignon Blanc I ever fell in love with. For as long as I can remember, this Sauvignon Blanc always stood out in my mind as the prototype I would know and love for the next several years. That grassy, gooseberry flavor. They've never really steered away from that formula. And theirs was the first wine I ever saw that had a screwcap as opposed to cork. It seems to work. (All the bottles I received had screwcaps.) They have stuck to their tried and true formula. The wine was pleasant, easy to drink, delicious, full of gooseberry and grass and I truly enjoyed it! (I really wanted some sushi but didn't have time to stop and get any!)



The 2007 Nautilus Estate Sauvignon Blanc was a bit different than the other. More on the herbaceous side. It has a pleasant nose and a lot of green pepper and grapefruit flavor. Very spicy and crisp finish. Zing! I totally wanted sushi with it at that point. It would really pair well with other fish dishes or even Asian foods. Spicy foods? Not a problem. Perfect! This wine, made by winemaker Clive Jones, has won many awards over the years. Kudos to Clive for all his hard work and it shows! Really a nice find!



Holy mango! Can you say tropical? The next wine was the 2007 Highfield Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. The mango flavor was incredible--passionfruit, mango, wow! There still was a bit of the herbaceous, green pepper thing going on the end but the mango was big enough to overpower it to the end. Believe me, any hint of green pepper gets forgotten. Very nice. I dream of a day I can have this wine in my cellar full-time! Loved it!



2007 Seresin Marama. This is the Sauvignon Blanc like no other I've ever experienced. It says it goes through partial malolactic fermentation. Holy buckets! It's a Sauvignon Blanc impersonating a Roussanne impersonating a Chardonnay. Every moment of this wine was encompassed by richness, medium-full mouthfeel, tropical center, creamy caramel came next with a crispy finish. It's like trying three different wines in one shot! Fantastic!! And amazing... Motherlode! I've been waiting ten years for something like this. It's a real escape!

If you visit the wineries and their respective websites, you can find out if they distribute in your area. These are all worth tasting.

www.lawsonsdryhills.co.nz

www.nautilusestate.com

www.highfield.co.nz

www.seresin.co.nz

I want to thank all the people that made this possible for me: Taste Live, Craig Drollett, Wines Of Marlborough, Seresin Estate, Nautilus Estate and all the New Zealand wineries that follow me on Twitter and Facebook. This tasting has definitely inspired me to sample more Sauvignon Blancs! I'm looking forward to sampling more of your wines in the future!

You Little Devil!

I miss Merlot! In my opinion, people are crazy to not be drinking it nowadays. Everytime I visit a wine store, I am amazed at how small the Merlot section is. All because of a little movie and a sentence people will never forget (You know what it is. I don't have to say it!). Well, here's your wake-up call! It's coming back whether you like it or not and there is no better person to help re-introduce it to a skittish public than the over-the-top, crazy, edgy persona of winemaker Charles Smith.....Huh? Many of you have probably never heard of Charles Smith. That's ok because after you read this, you will want to know everything about him... His cool exterior makes you want to dig a little further.


Just take a look at him...He's not a winemaker! I can just hear it now...Ah, but he IS--an inventive, gutsy, larger than life winemaker whose keeps churning out idea after successful idea . Around wine his entire life, he began making small lots of my former nemesis, Syrah. After managing rock bands in Scandinavia for eleven years, he landed in Walla Walla, Washington and started his own wine companies, K Vintners, The Magnificent Wine Company and his newest project, Charles Smith Wines. His wines are IN YOUR FACE, drink now wines! This year, he was named 2009 American Winemaker Of The Year by Food And Wine Magazine. Not bad for someone who started nine years ago! After all his multiple successes, this motorcycle riding madman has people, including myself, praying at the altar of his wines.

I happened to be at a tasting the other night when I spotted a huge display of 2007 Velvet Devil Merlot. With it's simple but flashy label (see above), it grabbed my attention immediately. I was swooning as I sampled it. Soft, supple and velvety, it personifies everything I love in a Merlot--sexy, voluptuous, brimming with plums, cherries, cocoa. It's ready for you--NOW! Stainless steel fermented, aged in French Oak with fruit from Wahluke Slope, Horse Heaven Hills and Yakima Valley. This is the real deal! A Washington bargain. I cannot wait to drink it again. I purchased several... Average price $12-15 a bottle. You'll find this in wine shops and markets. Check out his latest website: www.charlessmithwines.com. (Note: The 2007 Velvet Devil Merlot is sold out on the website. They have the 2008 available.)

I've never visited Washington and will hopefully be attending the 2010 North American Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC#10) in Walla Walla next June. I sincerely hope Charles makes his presence known there. We want more Charles!!

"Fusebox" Addendum

The Crushpad "Fusebox" Blend-Off Contest is officially over and on Monday, November 9th, they chose the winners for the label and the blend. Unfortunately, I was not in the winner's circle. But I felt I made a terrific but "safe" blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit verdot and 3% Merlot. On the other hand, my label (for those of you who haven't seen it), was a beautiful homage to my Mom, Elena. She passed away on February 16, 2008 and was never able to see all the great things I have accomplished since then, regarding my blogging and my interest in wine. She was my biggest supporter and always wanted the best for me. Her spirit will live on in the label I created and someday I will put it on a bottle of wine I will create on my own. I can't wait for that day to happen! Just looking at her smile in the photo encourages me to be the the best I can be!



Crushpad gave me this wonderful opportunity to learn and create and I want to thank them. I plan to take this experience with me as I forge forward through the future and the wonderful world of wine. Cheers!