Ah, yes.  It’s another French rosé.  It’s still summer, so we need to celebrate good summer wines.

This one is 100% syrah and it’s labeled as a Vin de Pays d’Oc, which means it’s a French “country wine” (i.e. Vin de Pays) from Languedoc (i.e. d’Oc).  Vin de Pays is considered a step up from Vin de Table or “table wine” but a step below AOC labeled wines.  Regardless of its classification, this is a nice wine.

This rosé shows mostly mineral aromas on the nose, there is also some cherry & raspberry but it’s subtle.  The palate shows some strawberry and raspberry flavors, but it’s not an “in your face” kind of fruit.  It’s subtle… it’s nice.  This is a dry rosé with no sweetness to speak of.  The acidity is sufficient.  It finishes with mineral and a hint of tart berries.

Wine: Le Jaja de Jau
Variety: Syrah
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 86
Price:  $10.00

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

A few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to take part in a Chilean wine tasting with several other wine bloggers around the country.  It was a virtual tasting, meaning that we were connected “virtually” not that we virtually tasted… we really did taste the wines.  But we were connected via a web conference with all the other bloggers participating and with the winemakers in Chile.  I’ve done a few of these before, and it’s always an interesting way to taste and learn about a few new wines.

The theme for this tasting was “cool climate reds,” which means red wines produced in cool climate regions.  You see, some grape varieties perform better with cool conditions versus hot.  And some just perform differently.  In this tasting, it was pinot noir and syrah.  Pinot noir is exclusively a cool climate variety, as too much heat ruins these grapes.  Syrah, on the other hand, can be produced in cool or warmer climates, but the results are different.

Some of the best wine growing regions are coastal, like Chile, and the cool, maritime influence is big part of what makes these regions good for growing wine grapes.  But there is a lot of variation in climate within these regions, creating some areas that are better, consistent cool climate regions as well as some warmer micro-climates.  For a number of years, Chile has had a good reputation for producing exceptional cool-climate white wines, but it’s really only been within the last five years or so that they’ve done well with cool-climate reds, like pinot noir.  And there’s certainly more to come.

Given the setting for this tasting, these were not tasted blind.  Here are my notes.

Valdivieso 2009 Pinot Noir Reserva

The nose is pretty powerful on this wine.  Spicy cherry and strawberry aromas are the first thing that stand out.  It also has some bacon fat and cola aromatics.  The palate provides a good amount of fruit, without being at all jammy.  It’s kind of a cherry/cranberry thing with a touch of smoked meat on the palate.  The acidity is just right and the soft tannins provide a nice mouth feel.  The finish is relatively long, with a strong cranberry note.

Wine: Valdivieso Reserva
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 88
Price:  $16.99

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Viña Casablanca 2009 Nimbus Estate Pinot Noir

This wine shows the smoky and spicy side of pinot noir on the nose, with nutmeg, cocoa, and toasted aromatics.  There’s some fruit under all that too, but the spice is what makes the music on this one.  Unfortunately, there’s also a touch of sulfur/egg on the nose, which isn’t a good thing, although it’s not overwhelming.  On the palate, the fruit comes out to play, offering plum and raspberry flavors.  But there’s plenty of spice on the palate, with a nice black pepper characteristic.  There’s some cocoa on the mid-palate too.  The acidity and tannins are good.  Aside from the sulfur, is a fun pinot.

Wine: Viña Casablanca Nimbus Estate
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 84
Price:  $19.99

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Veramonte 2009 Ritual Pinot Noir

This is a nice, earthy pinot noir with intense tree bark and truffle aromas.  It also shows plenty of cherry and a touch of cola fragrance.  The palate is filled with cherry and cranberry flavors with vibrant acidity.  The palate also gives a touch of spiciness. The tannins are slightly velvety in the mouth.  The finish is long, with lingering fruit and spice.  This is a great wine.

Wine: Veramonte Ritual
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 90
Price:  $19.99

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Cono Sur 2008 Ocio Pinot Noir

The nose of this wine is screaming with intensity.  The fruit on the nose is a bit darker than a lot of other pinot we’ve had, favoring cassis and blackberry.  There’s some red fruit in it too, cherry.  It has a nice smoky quality on the nose too, with notes of sandalwood and tobacco.  The palate offers concentrated cherry and blackberry flavors, with outstanding acidity.  It borders on jammy.  The finish is lasting with the powerful fruit and spice from the palate taking you for a long ride.  This is an exceptional, although somewhat pricey, wine.

Wine: Cono Sur Ocio
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 94
Price:  $65.00

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Tamaya 2009 Reserva Syrah

The first impression I got from the nose of this wine is bubblegum.  But it’s not overly sweet/artificial, there’s just a hint of that fragrance in the nose.  It also shows some red currant, pepto bismol and licorice aromas.  The palate has plenty of ripe cherry and raspberry flavors and a good bit of spice.

Wine: Tamaya Reserva
Variety: Syrah
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 86
Price:  $16.99

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Loma Larga 2006 Syrah

This wine has a nice, deep red color.  The nose is very earthy, with aromas of eucalyptus, leather, chocolate, grilled meat and raspberry.  The mouth feel is really nice.  Very velvety.  The palate offers loads of ripe blackberry and currant flavors, that are slightly jammy.  It gives a little white pepper kick in the mid palate and finishes with more of the fruit.  This wine is begging to be served with lamb.  I like this wine, but the eucalyptus aroma may be a turn off for some consumers.

Wine: Loma Larga
Variety: Syrah
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 89
Price:  $29.00

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Undurraga 2009 T.H. Syrah

The “T.H.” on the label of this wine, stands for “terroir hunter” and this is a single-vineyard syrah, produced with the goal of featuring the terroir in the expression of the wine.  The intensity on the nose of this wine is outstanding.  It has loads of red fruit, raspberry, cherry and red currants. It also has some black pepper and soy sauce characteristics adding to the complexity.  The palate has a vibrant acidity with concentrated cherry and raspberry flavors.  There’s plenty of spice on the palate of this one too.  It also has some soft tannins, rounding out the mouth feel.  It’s a tasty wine.

Wine: Undurraga T.H.
Variety: Syrah
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 90
Price:  $24.99

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Hacienda Araucano 2009 Reserva Syrah

Cherry, raspberry and grilled meat aromas make up the nose of this wine.  The intensity on the nose is good, but not overwhelming.  This is a big wine on the palate, filling every crevasse in your mouth with flavors.  Plum, chocolate and leather all combine to make a interesting palate.  The mouth feel is very good.  This is a big wine with a lot of flavor, but it’s not refined or integrated.  Still, it’s a tasty wine.

Wine: Hacienda Araucano Reserva
Variety: Syrah
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 86
Price:  $13.00

Disclosure: These wines were received as a sample.

A couple weeks ago, I did a lengthy writeup about my recent visit to Paso Robles.  But I didn’t highlight any of the specific wines I tasted there.  Tonight I want to touch on a few wines I tasted on that visit, from Villacana Winery.

Villacana is a small winery run by a husband and wife team, Alex and Monica Villacana.  Of course “small” is all relative.  The property, which they purchased in 1996, is 72 acres on the west side of Paso Robles.  Now you may be thinking that 72 acres seems big not small, but only 13 acres of the property are vineyards and their total production is under 2,000 cases.  Therefore, I’d say they officially qualify as a “small winery.”

The soil in the vineyard varies from calcareous soils to acidic shales and the Villacanas have chosen locations for different varieties of vines where they will perform the best.  They produce a combination of Rhone varietals, which do better on the calcareous soils, and Bordeaux varietals, which do best with the shale.  The vineyards are also at a high elevation, which brings some challenging winds.

Part of their philosophy in wine production, consistent with others I met in Paso Robles, is they let each vintage express the wine uniquely.  They don’t want to manipulate the juice to achieve consistency from one vintage to the next.

In addition to their wines, they are making plans to get a still so that they can produce grappa and vodka.

I had the opportunity to taste three of their wines, the viognier, the cabernet sauvignon and the syrah.  Here are my notes on each.  I should point out that because I didn’t taste these in my normal environment, with my normal process, I did not score the wines.  But, I assure you that they were all good.

Villacana Viognier 2010

This wine has a light, almost watery appearance, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s going to be a thin wine.  The nose has good intensity with very nice floral aromatics, apricot and a touch of mineral.  On the palate, it shows a pleasant apricot and lime flavor, with good concentration to the fruit.   Priced at $24.00, it’s a nice wine.

Villacana Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

The appearance of this wine is a shimmering brick red color.  It has outstanding intensity on the nose, with big black cherry aromas and a hint of red raspberry.  The palate offers deep black cherry flavors without being jammy.  The acidity is excellent.  It has a very long, very rich finish, filled with fruit and vibrant acidity.

The wine is a blend of 80% cabernet sauvignon with 20% merlot.  It was oaked in neutral barrels.  This is a very good wine and sells for $28.00.

Villacana Syrah 2008

Purplish-red in color, this wine shows complex aromas on the nose, including smoked meats, blackberry, cherry and nutmeg.  On the palate it has a really nice mouthfeel with rich tannins.  The acidity makes it lively too.  The flavors are ripe blackberries and spice.  It has a long finish with plenty of berry flavors.  This is another tasty wine and sells for $30.00.

Disclosure: I visited Paso Robles on a press junket with the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance.  My travel and accommodations where covered as a part of this trip and these wines were provided as samples.  I was not required to write about Paso Robles or Villacana.  The opinions expressed here are 100% my own.

Over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to have tasted many barrel samples with some really experienced winemakers.  With almost every visit I’ve gained some valuable perspective to help me identify what wines are revealing, and more importantly what they have the potential to reveal.

Sampling the Jacob’s Creek brought me back to one tasting in particular.  That day I heard the winemaker use a very interesting term to describe his barrel sample.   As he dispensed the wine into my glass with the thief, he enthusiastically offered up a prelude to what I was about to experience, with one very interesting caveat.   He said his barrel sample was “still a bit angular”.  With one eyebrow now standing firmly at attention, I replied “angular?”  He said, “yea, angular”.  He went on: “sometimes young wines, particularly ones still in the barrel, offer up a lot of complex fruit and nuance, but the elements are not integrated yet”.  I knew exactly what he meant, but I had never heard wine described as having any rectilinear qualities.

So as I was tasting the Jacob’s Creek and determining what the wine was offering, the term angular came right back into memory.  On the nose the wine is more integrated, initially offering hints of banana and other tropical notes, turning to rich plum and ripe cherry.  On the palate, the wine is quite jammy, offering loads of plum and cherry.  There is some mild pepper and spice, but I was a little disappointed that these typical shiraz traits were not as prominent in the Jacob’s Creek.

But what had me comparing this wine to other young barrel samples was the way the wine offered up it’s flavor nuances.  The wine shows it’s fruit in chunks, and then offers up other details in not so subtle ways.  This wine hasn’t integrated yet.  A mature, well integrated wine is a lot like a well-conducted orchestra.  No one musician or instrument stands out.  You just hear beautiful music.  It would be fair to expect these traits right out of the barrel, but not after a few years in the bottle.  Which makes me wonder what a little more time will do for this wine.

Now, all that being said, I still rated this wine a very respectable 85.  There is some very potent fruit, that is currently overwhelming any spice or pepper.  I would actually suggest laying this wine down for maybe 6 months to a year.   It’s not built to age over the long haul, but I think it would benefit from just a little bit more time.  Time for the conductor to do his thing.

A  Salute!

Wine: Jacobs’ Creek
Variety: Shiraz
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14%
Rating:  85
Price: $12.99

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

This past week I took part in a Taste Live event featuring Stepping Stone wines from Cornerstone Cellars.  Taste Live events are wine tastings where numerous wine bloggers and media from around the country all taste the same wines and share their thoughts via Twitter.

Cornerstone Cellars is a Napa Valley, California producer and is still relatively young—1991 was their first vintage.  It was founded by two Memphis physicians, who jumped into winemaking when they purchased left over grapes from another producer in Napa Valley.  The wine they created from those grapes was a hit and they’ve been at it ever since.

The wines we tasted were from the Stepping Stone line of wines, which is an effort from Cornerstone to produce good wines at affordable prices.  So, a “step” lower in price than other Cornerstone Cellar wines.  Get it?

Unlike most tastings we do, these wines were not tasted blind.  A few of them are within the price range of wines we typically review here, but a couple are more expensive than our typical wines.  All the wines were provided to us as samples.

Stepping Stone by Cornerstone
Napa Valley Cuveé Musqué Sauvignon Blanc

The aromas are nice, but I would not call them “intense.”  This is definitely a different style of Sauvignon Blanc that the explosively tropical ones from Chile or New Zealand.  This is more of a Loire Valley style, and it’s a nice wine.  The aromas are mostly melon and some soft tropical fruit — including a clear banana aroma.  Some wine aficionados might not peg this for a Sauvignon Blanc right off the bat, but I did get a touch of green bell pepper aroma — which makes it clear to me that this is Sauvignon Blanc.

The palate has a bit more intensity than the nose.  Up front, it gives a melon and apple flavor, and finishes with a touch of citrus acidity.  The acidity is adequate, but not nearly as crisp as I usually expect from a SB, but again, it’s a style difference.  It does have a creamy mouth feel, which is nice.  The mouth feel might make you think it went through a malolactic fermentation, but the winemaker says it’s from lees contact in neutral oak.  This is a good wine, but only for those who like this style of Sauvignon Blanc.

Wine: Stepping Stone Napa Valley Cuveé Musqué
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.9%
Rating: 87
Price: $16.00

Stepping Stone by Cornerstone
Red Hills Lake County Rosé Corallina

The color of this Rosé isn’t bright pink, like many others, but rather it’s kind of a copper-pink.  I really like the color of it.  The nose is a little tight, but citrusy and slightly floral.  The palate has flavors of red apple peel and cranberry.  There’s a bit of cinnamon and a bit of heat to it too.  It’s a pleasant wine, but more of a rosé for food than for sipping.

Wine: Stepping Stone Red Hills Lake County Rosé Corallina
Variety: Grenache/Syrah Rosé
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.9%
Rating: 85
Price: $16.00

Stepping Stone by Cornerstone
Napa Valley Syrah

Wow! The nose is really fun and interesting, with a definite smokey quality, grilled meat, black cherry and black pepper aromas.  The palate has outstanding concentration in the fruit, with intense cherry and black raspberry flavors.  It has a little spice too, which makes it interesting.  The tannins are silky giving it a great mouth feel.  This is one of the best Syrahs I’ve tasted in a while.

Wine: Stepping Stone Napa Valley Syrah
Variety: Syrah
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14.9%
Rating: 89
Price: $20.00

Stepping Stone by Cornerstone
Napa Valley Cabernet Franc

This wine has a really nice purple-red color.  It has an herbal quality to the nose, which I would expect from a Cabernet Franc. I’d describe the aromas as tarragon, black currant and cherry.  The acidity is bright on the tongue, making this a great wine for fatty foods.  The flavor is mostly cherry, and it has outstanding concentration.  The tannins are also well-structured.  It’s a really nice wine.

Wine: Stepping Stone Napa Valley Cabernet Franc
Variety: Cabernet Franc
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 91
Price: $30.00

Stepping Stone by Cornerstone
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

The nose is really pretty on this wine, although lacking some intensity.  It shows dusty blackberry, leather, cassis and vanilla.  The mouth feel is silky-smooth.  The flavors begin with rich, ripe, juicy blackberries, moves into a cassis flavor and adds some carmel notes on a lengthy finish. This is a luscious Cabernet.

Wine: Stepping Stone Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14.9%
Rating: 90
Price: $35.00

So the bottle says T.H. and that stands for Terroir Hunter.  Sounds exciting doesn’t it? And it is.  This is the first wine I’ve had the opportunity to taste from the Limari region in Chile.  This is one of the northernmost wine regions in the country and generally has a dry, hot climate.  The grapes for this wine, however, were sourced from a vineyard in an area called Flor del Norte, which is a cool weather region as a result of winds from the Pacific ocean.

Although the grapes are sourced from a cool weather region, there is a lot of heat on the nose of this wine.  (No, those two facts are not necessarily related).  Aside from the heat it also has caramel and vanilla aromas that are very nice.  Underneath those aromas you’ll find some dark fruit.  The palate is a little bit jammy.  Cherry, blackberry and cocoa make up the palate.  It’s a nice wine, although it’s another one that’s priced slightly above my usual $20 limit.

Wine: Undurraga T.H.
Variety: Syrah
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 13.7%
Rating: 87
Price: $24.00

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The Shiraz challenge is over (for now) leaving us with seven picks that won’t break the bank.  We ended up trying wines from several different regions for this showdown, including France, Chile, Australia and the US.  Shiraz is actually a challenging variety to find one that is both inexpensive and exceptional, but we did find a number that are pretty good.

The top pick goes to the Marquis Philips Shiraz from South Eastern Australia.  This is a very tasty Shiraz, and it’s their entry-level version (Marquis Philips has a few pricier lines of Shiraz available too). In addition to having sumptuous fruit, this Shiraz also had a very nice chocolate characteristic in both the nose and palate.

The St. Hallet Faith, from the Barossa region in Australia, and the McWilliam’s Hanwood Estate, from South Eastern Australia, both tied for the second best pick.  This gives the top three picks to Australia, although Chile isn’t far behind with the Tamaya Syrah.

Here is the full line-up of scores.

McWilliam’s Wines has a long heritage as a family-run winery in Australia since 1877.  They tout themselves as “Australia’s most awarded winery,” and they certainly have earned a number of awards over the years.

McWilliam’s has vineyards in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales—the latter being the area where the grapes for this Shiraz were harvested.  While there are a couple different lines of wine available under the McWilliam’s name, the Hanwood Estate is their entry-level wine in terms of price.

The nose on this wine is beautiful.  It has a nice nutmeg nuance layered on top of blackberry, cherry, toasted oak and black pepper.  The palate is equally enjoyable.  It starts out with a lively spice feature which I would call a combination of black pepper and nutmeg.  Raspberry and blackberry flavors are the next thing you notice, and I would say that the fruit is full, but not jammy.  Some cocoa flavors come to life in the mid-palate and the nutmeg returns on the finish, which is relatively long.

They used both French and American oak barrels in the production of this wine, as well as oak staves.  I know some purists scoff at the idea of using staves, but if good wine can be produced using oak staves and it saves a few bucks on the price of the wine then I have no problems with it.

I’m usually one to avoid Australian Shiraz in this price range due to the fact that it’s often filled with overtly jammy fruit, a whack of spice and nothing else.  But this wine is quite nice, especially for the price.

Wine: McWIlliam’s Hanwood Estate
Variety: Shiraz
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $12.00

Sebeka is still relatively new to the American wine market, as it first appeared here in 2007.  It’s produced in the Swartland Winery in South Africa, which dates back to 1948, and distributed in the US by E.J. Gallo. You can’t miss this wine on the shelf, as it stands out with a bright yellow label showing a cheetah running.  Sebeka is actually named after a cheetah that was raised by wildlife conservationist Lente Roode, who founded the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre to help preserve endangered species.

I haven’t had the opportunity to sample many wines from South Africa, so I was curious to see how this compared to Shiraz from other regions.  My first impression upon pouring this was that the color was a little light for a Shiraz, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and so I let the tasting be the judge.

Upon first opening this I was underwhelmed, but after decanting and letting it aerate for about an hour it came to life.  Therefore, this is a wine that I do recommend decanting.  The nose has a good balance of fruit and earthy aromas, with blackberry, cherry, leather, and smoke.

The palate is crisp and vibrant with bright cherry flavors.  This wine is not as jammy and overpowering as a lot of Shiraz I’ve had, which makes it a little more approachable than some others.  It is also a little bit on the acidic side, which can work well for pairing with certain foods.  I would think this would go quite well with a yellow fin tuna steak.

Wine: Sebeka
Variety: Shiraz
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 84
Price: $10.00

The St. Hallett winery resides in the Barossa region in Australia and focuses on producing wines from this region.  They are best known for their Shiraz, of which they release a few different lines.  The Faith Shiraz is their most affordable Shiraz—other than a Shiraz Grenache blend they offer.

The winery was established in 1944 and was named after an early surveyor of Southern Australia.  In 2004, St. Hallett was named “Winery of the Year” by Wine and Spirits magazine.

Faith is a big, fruit-filled Shiraz.  If you’re a fan of fruit-forward Shiraz, you may like this one.  The nose is filled with jammy plum, blackberry and blueberry.  A little licorice, cocoa and black pepper to add complexity to the bouquet.  The palate is jammy, with loads of blueberry, blackberry and black cherry.  The finish continues the fruit theme, but is a little short.  All told, this is a big and enjoyable wine.

Wine: St. Hallett Faith
Variety: Shiraz
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $15.99

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