Revisiting California Pinot Noir and...a Conundrum

After a few months of tasting Pinot Noir across New Zealand, I came home to discover a few California Pinots in my cellar that I bought a few years ago. The first is 2004 Etude Carneros and the second is 2005 Baker Lane, Sonoma Coast, Hurst Vineyard. I remember buying the Baker Lane after reading a stellar review about it on vinography. I wasn't sure how long to keep them, but curious to open at least one of them, I brought the Baker Lane on my Ensenada cruise last weekend.

We opened the bottle on Sunday night, and it was definitely the best of the three bottles we brought (2004 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon and Caymus Conundrum* being the other two). The aromas were black cherry, jammy, and bright berries. It was definitely ready to drink and paired excellently with my mushroom soup starter and my norwegian salmon main. Everyone at the table loved it, and I was glad I had saved it for a semi-special occasion.

To close the gap in my cellar, I also purchased an Etude Carneros Pinot Noir from '05 so that I can do a vertical tasting with the '04/'05 at a later date.

*I've had two Caymus Conundrums in the past week - a 2007 and a 2006. Both vintages teetered on the edge of an off-dry riesling more than the predominant Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Viognier blends that I recognise from previous years. The website indicates that the blend of grapes is still true to its roots, but maybe there is more Muscat in recent vintages to give it the higher sugar content? Either way, I still thoroughly enjoy this wine, and consistently find it to be a crowd-pleaser and to pair with a variety of foods. I trust Caymus on this one, but I am still really curious to know what's inside the bottle!

February's Tasting: California Reds

I don't know where the time has gone, but clearly a month of not posting does not accurately reflect the month of wines I've actually tried, including the California Red Wine Tasting I hosted on 23rd February.

We had a full house of 10 people, which I've determined is the maximum number of guests I can comfortably host with everyone having the basics, like a chair :) To eat, we started with cheese and crackers. With six planned wines to get through, I served an appetizer of marinated beef skewers to go with the first three wines, and a simple but tasty pasta dish with sausage and lots of veggies with the second three wines. A final addition of a Rhone-style blend was added towards the end of the evening.

We drank:

• 2003 Hannah Merlot, Sonoma County ($20)
• 2003 Qupe Syrah Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
• 2004 Bonny Doon Vineyards Carignane "Ancient Vines", Central Coast
• 2003 Pipestone Mourvedre (£15)
• 2003 Zahtila Zinfandel Laura Zahtila, Sonoma, Dry Creek Valley
• 2003 Peju Province Winery Cabernet Sauvingnon, Napa Valley (£15)
• 2003 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant (Rhone-style blend), Central Coast

Nearly all the wines were the 2003 vintage, which although purposeful, was probably not noticed by anyone. We weren't trying to do a detailed comparison tasting between the varietals, but it was more demonstrative of "this is what California can produce" and it doesn't hurt that 2003 was a good year. The wine was well-received, and it was such a nice change of pace for me to be able to have an evening of yummy California wines, nearly all carried over from the U.S. in various suitcases over the past year.

California Viognier Recommendations

By special request, this post is about California Viognier (pronounced VEE-un-yay). A friend of mine in San Francisco is interested in trying more California Viogniers, but in choosing from restaurant wine lists and off the shelf at stores, she has experienced poor expressions of the varietal more often than the intriguing and solid attempts that many California winemakers do have to offer.

For those who don’t know, Viognier is a white varietal most commonly grown in the northern Rhone Valley of France. One Rhone appellation, Condrieu, is exclusively Viognier. Several New World regions are now experimenting with the varietal, California being one of the leaders. But because it’s not a tried and true varietal with known New World geographies producing exceptional output year-on-year (i.e what Cabernet Sauvignon is to Napa), there are plenty of hit and misses on the shelves of your local wine shops and supermarkets.

Viognier can be extremely floral (think honeysuckle or gardenia) and can include tropical fruit scents such as mango or pineapple. To oversimplify, I think of it as ‘Sauternes-lite’ but with enough acidity to pair well with most foods. I personally really enjoy Viognier and take most opportunities to try it. It’s my substitute Chardonnay for when I want a medium-bodied white that is less acidic than Sauvignon Blanc but without the oak and butter that California Chardonnay can’t seem to escape.

So now that you are intrigued, which ones to try? I’ve listed some recommendations below based on a combination of my own tasting experience as well as reputation of the wine producers for the varietal. These suggestions exclude the vintage, so of course each year will taste a bit different. Also, these Viogniers are mostly priced between $22-$30 USD with the exception of Cline, which is ‘good’ but not ‘great’.

California Viognier recommendations:
Alban (San Luis Obispo) ~$23
Arrowood (Sonoma) ~$30
Calera (Central Coast) ~$28
Cline (Sonoma) $12-$15
Fess Parker (Santa Barbara) $22/$30
Joseph Phelps (Napa) $?
Pipestone Vineyards (Paso Robles) ~ $25

Please post if you’ve tried any of these or have any other California Viognier recommendations to share!

Winter 2008 Wine Tastings

Now that we are firmly in 2008 and everyone claims to be detoxing, it's the perfect time to announce the Winter 2008 Wine Tasting schedule.

We took a break in December, but as we head into the depths of winter, the next few tastings will focus on red varietals, perfect for pairing with hearty roasts and other comfort food. The cost per person will stay at £15 which includes a tasting of at least 6 wines and dinner.

Upcoming Tastings:
Saturday 19th January: Pinot Noir (Old World vs. New World)
Saturday 23rd February: California Reds

Please RSVP via commenting on this post or responding to the email invite.