2010 Three Wine Company MATARO "Spinelli Vineyard" (Contra Costa County, Cal.)

From 125 year-old vines, this is a composed, low-toned, rich red.  Complex, intense, and smooth.

Very dark black-ruby.  Complex nose of toasted baking spices, rich blackberry, and pungent rock dust.  Low-toned and quite concentrated, this wine has rich flavors of ripe blackberry and dark minerals.  Pretty good acids for such a weighty wine.  Very full, and there's very slight peppery bite of alcohol at the end (heck, it is 15.2% for Pete's sake).  This will drink nicely for at least another 2 years, maybe more -- but with wines with this much alcohol, I'm always nervous about long aging, because the alcohol seems to take over after a few years and burn through the fruit.  B+.  Got this for $22 and change from Wineaccess.com as part of a mixed half-case of Three Wine Company wine
several months ago.

2010 Three Wine Company OLD VINE FIELD BLEND (Contra Costa County, Cal.)

I really like old vine reds from the freakishly deep sands of Contra Costa County.  They really represent a unique American terroir.  This wine is composed of 100+ yr. old vines from 26% Zinfandel, 25% Petite Sirah, 25% Mataro, 20% Carignane, 3% Alicante Bouschet and 1% Black Malvoisie.  And it's really good.

Very dark, plasma-like ruby/violet.  Enchanting nose of rich berries, cocoa powder, minerals, and ashy embers, with a single line of tangy rhubarb at the end.  Rich, low-toned, and darkly berryish, with a the cocoa component still there.  It's quite dry, with lots of soft tannin coating the sides of the mouth.  And despite the 15.2% alcohol, there's some very nice acidity buoying everything up.  Although this winery's single varietal wines tend to be a little more expensive than its "field blend," I think I usually like the field blend a little more.  A-.  If I'm remembering correctly, I think I got this several months ago for around $18 from WineAccess.com.

2010 Beckman Vineyards GRENACHE "Estate" (Santa Ynez Valley, Cal.)

A zesty, herb-tinged and very quaffable style of Grenache.  Not as big and earthy as Chateauneufs, or as powerful, weighty, and densely-fruity as the best old vine Spanish Garnachas.  This is a wine that doesn't necessarily shine on its own, but fits in beautifully with a meal.

Dark, magenta-shot ruby.  Bright, slightly tartish raspberry fruit coupled with mixed green herbs on the shy nose.  Much more animated in the mouth than the as yet undeveloped nose suggests, it fills the mouth with earthy, iodine-tinged, herby black raspberry fruit.  Lots of youthful but soft tannin, and very good acids provide nice framework.  Medium-full-bodied, with pretty good concentration.  As the finish wears on (it's a long one), the fruit lingers and comes more into focus.  This wine will age nicely for 2-3 years, but if you like them young, it works nicely now too (but run it through a Vinturi or decant it to allow it to develop.  B(+).  Was $22.99 from WineAccess.com.  Neither a good nor bad value at that price.

2010 Birichino GRENACHE "Vieilles Vignes Besson Vineyards" (Central Coast, Cal.)

Grown in the Santa Cruz Mountain area, this Grenache (from 101 year-old vines, grown on its original roots), shows off intense cherry fruit with a bit of black raspberry, along with a pungently stony minerality.  It's very good, balanced, and focused, and not at all the fruit bomb one would expect from such old Grenache vines in California.  In fact, it's a little on the lean side.  This wine would do very well with pasta in a good meat sauce or grilled burgers.

Deep violet-tinged ruby. Dry cherry extract coats the mouth, along with stony minerals.  Lots of soft tannin, as well as acids and alcohol.  Not very complex, but satisfying and athletic in a linear way.  B+.  Was $17.99 from Winex.com.

2006 Ridge SYRAH "Lytton Estate" (Dry Creek Valley, Cal.)

Our friends the Murphys bought this at Ridge when they were out there visiting a coupla months ago, and were nice enough to share it with us recently.  It's available only at the winery or if you're a member of the Ridge "Advanced Tasting Program" (which is well-worth being on if you have the wherewithal.)

It was outstanding.  Very much a "Ridge style" wine, with great depth, length, and linear flow, without being too heavy, too jammy, too alcoholic, or too tannic.  In other words, everything in perfect balance.  Great nose of dark, ripe berries, bacon drippings, and dry gravel.  Loved it.  Perfectly mature, though seemed like it could hold for several more years.

Mom & Dad's Visit -- Round three

2009 Domaine Perraud MACON-VILLAGES "Vieilles Vignes" -- This unoaked Chardonnay was large-framed, earthy, with lots of wet straw and gravel scents, along with intense pear/apple fruit.  Very nice.

2010 Chateau Soucherie ROSE DE LOIRE "Cuvee L'Astree" -- This rose, which I believe is Cabernet Franc-based, was ridiculously crisp, fresh, floral and zesty, with excellent minerality and sweet/tart strawberry fruit.  Excellent.

2009 Three Vineyards "Old Vines Field Blend" (Contra Costa County, Cal.) -- Much bigger, riper, and in-your-face than the 2008 (which I've previously reviewed here), this wine would be an excellent choice on a cold fall or winter evening with a beef stew.

2008 Umani Ronchi LACRIMA DI MORRO D'ALBA "Fonte del Re" (Marche, Italy) -- This wine is grown in the hills where my grandfather was born, and is quite unique in its aromas and flavors.  It's got an intense, bitter dark plum/grape and licorice aroma, with a bit of dry gravelly earth, and is both mouth-filling and palate-cleansing at the same time.  Very nice accompaniment to rich, meat and tomato sauces and braises.

2002 Selbach RIESLING EISWEIN (Mosel, Germany) -- Wow.  Light tawny-copper color.  Intense, complex nose leaps out, with honey, apricot, bright citrusy acids, and sweet earth.  Utterly ridiculous in the mouth, with mouthfilling richness and honeyed, intensely sweet fruit, but juxtaposed with such vibrant intense acids that it literally makes your mouth water.  Fantastic, long finish.  In 500 ml bottle, so a little more to enjoy than the typical dessert 375.  This wine will last another several years.

Mom & Dad's visit -- first few wines

Mom and Dad are down from New England for a visit, and that means breaking out some of the "non-value-oriented-stuff."  After all, they deserve it, and at their age, making the trip is pretty grueling.

2010 Cantina Terlan PINOT BIANCO (Alto Adige, Italy) -- I expected a leaner, more minerally expression of Pinot Bianco, given the climate and the vintage, but this was a bit fatter than I'm used to seeing in Italian whites, with very good, straightforward apple and slightly underripe peach fruit.

2008 Three Wine Company "OLD VINES FIELD BLEND" (Contra Costa County, Cal.) -- I previously reviewed and liked this very much, and it's still drinking really well.  Deep, soft, a little earthy, and with good weight and balance.

2009 Jakob Schneider NIEDERHAUSER HERMANNSHOHLE RIESLING SPATLESE (Nahe, Germany) -- A ridiculously pure, sweet, and crisp Riesling.  Unbelievable purity and intensity of fruit.  Sweeter and riper (seemed more like an Auslese) and would have served beautifully as a refreshing dessert wine.  As it an aperitif, which was how we drank it, it was maybe a tad too sweet for most tastes, but we all thought it was killer.

 2008 Poggio Antico ROSSO DI MONTALCINO (Tuscany, Italy) -- Very low-toned in the nose and flavors, with deep bass berry fruit buried under loads of minerally, schist-rich gravelly scents. Drinking very well now.

2007 Domaine de la Terre Rouge TÊTE-À-TÊTE (Sierra Foothills, California)

This was a very nice surprise!  I'd seen this blend of Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache (according to the winery website)  in Spec's several times and almost picked it up, and finally my curiosity got the best of me.  And I was glad it did.  It reminded me of a very well done, drinkable style Vacqueyras from the Rhone.

Blackish dark ruby.  Loads of stony minerals and spicy blackberry fruit in the nose.  Mouthfilling and medium full-bodied, it was filled with sandstoney, stony, iodine-laced dark berry fruit.  Loads of soft tannin are present, and the flavors are very clingy in the long, pleasurable finish.  A-.  Was $14 at Spec's on Weslayan/Bissonnett.  Get some of this!

2006 Anglim "CERISE" 39% Mourvedre, 32% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 4% Viognier "French Camp Vineyard" (Paso Robles, Cal.)

This Rhone blend was almost Pinot Noir-like not only in its gentle, feminine nature, but also in its flavor profile.

Medium dark ruby. Earthy, complex almost Pinot-like nose of sappy cherries, warm, smoky gravel, and lemony spice. A streak of intensely minerally, dark winey cherry fruit up front, along with some peppery heat, but in the finish an interesting note of ripe peach/peach pit. Lots of minerals in the finish. Decent acidity. Ready to drink right now. B. Was $14.99 at Whole Foods on Bellaire.

2008 Three "Old Vines Field Blend" (Contra Costa County, Cal.)

This was a dense, brooding, macho-styled wine that needs lots of air time (or multiple Vinturi pours) if opened in the next few months. It should definitely be cellared for a couple of years if possible. It's a blend of 34% Zinfandel, 21% Carignane, 19% Mataro, 16% Petite Sirah, 8% Alicante Bouschet, and 2% Black Malvoisie from 100+ yr.-old vines.

Jet black violet color. Brooding, reticent nose of baker's chocolate, roasted earth, and concentrated cassis and blackberry extract. Dark, tannic, and powerfully concentrated, with very low-toned dark berry and dark chocolate notes. Long, clingy finish with some cracked black peppercorn bite. Reminds me of a young theoretical California Bandol. Very good potential. Drinkable (barely) now. 88+. Was $16 from WineAccess.com.

UPDATE 3/3/11: Just had another bottle of this that was significantly more open than the first bottle -- not nearly as "brooding." I opened the first bottle about 2 weeks after receiving shipment, so maybe it hadn't yet recovered from the travel. The bottle I just had was still very deep and vibrant, with great concentration yet no jamminess whatsoever. Just a lot more open. Really delicious. Solid A-.

2006 Qupé GRENACHE "Purisima Vineyard" (Santa Ynez Valley, Cal.)

Showing the herbal side of Grenache, this was a distinctive wine.

Medium dark ruby/garnet color. Scents of rhubarb, raspberry, herbs, and intense powdered stone notes. Lean but intense in the mouth, with herby, minerally raspberry flavors and a very noticeable peppery component. Long, minerally, peppery finish. 87. Was $19.99 on sale at Houston Wine Merchant (on South Shepherd).

2007 Cline "Ancient Vines" MOURVEDRE (Contra Costa County, Cal.)

This winery really has hit a consistent groove over the last several years with its "Ancient Vines" Zins and Mourvedres. This latest iteration of the Mourvedre is excellent and a very good value. Again.

Youthfully bright, dark black ruby. Deeply fruity nose, with loads of dark plums, blackberries, and even a hint of peach, along with a sweet, high-toned balsa smoke note. Rich, fruity, and balanced in the mouth, with concentrated plummy fruit accented with a vaguely bitter dark chocolate note. Lots of soft tannins in the long fruit-and-spice finish. 89. Widely available, I got mine for under $14 at Spec's on Westheimer near Montrose.

2007 Barrel 27 GRENACHE "Rock and a Hard Place" (Santa Barbara County, Cal.)

Very nearly outstanding. A very big, full flavored mouthful.

Nearly fully-saturated blood/ruby. Fragrant nose of dry raspberry syrup, yeasty notes, toasty baking spices, and dry stones. Concentrated, full-bodied, with focused flavors of port-like fruit (but dry) and tons of crushed stones. Excellent length. If these grapes had been harvested just a hair earlier, this wine would have been even better. I think the fruit would have veered away from its port-like quality more towards raspberry and it would have been even better with just a bit more acidity. What the heck do I know, though? I'm just a dang lawyer. I still liked it enough to give it a 90.

Was $24 at Spec's on Smith.

2007 Beckman Vineyards CUVEE LE BEC (44% Grenache, 28% Syrah, 20% Mourvedre, 8% Counoise (Santa Ynez Valley, Cal.)

This perennial good buy is a great buy in this vintage.

Dark blackish ruby violet. Big southern Rhone-like nose of earthy herbal scents over blackberries and pungent minerals. Big, deep-toned, and fleshy in the mouth, with intense "garrigue" (that's the French way of saying "earthy-herbal") and iodine/mineral-tinged blackberry fruit. Long, peppery finish with substantial but soft tannin. A big, satisfying mouthful of red. 89. Was about $17 at Spec's on Holcombe.

Easter wines

Sorry -- I know I'm behind, but here are the wines we popped open for our Easter dinner (with truncated, from-memory notes).

NV Pierre Sparr CREMANT D'ALSACE Reserve Brut -- To my mind, in general, sparkling wines from Alsace are the best values in the market for bubbly. They're generally $15-$20, and have as much character as non-vintage Champagne costing twice as much or more (although because of the different varietals used in Alsace the flavor profile is a bit different). They tend to be more flavorful than the Spanish cavas as well. This one was decent, but not a great example -- crisp, citrusy fruit, bone dry, but I detected just a note of beginning oxidation. Lucien Albrecht and Rene Mure are other producers to look for in Houston.

2006 Jean-Max Roger SANCERRE "Cuvee Les Caillottes" (Loire Valley, France) -- Lean, very herbal and crisp. A tad underripe for my palate. Bone dry and refreshing, however.

2001 Delectus MERLOT "Stanton Vineyard" (Napa Valley, Cal.) -- Yes, I have often repeated the famous Merlot line from Sideways, but this wine (which our guests the Murphys brought over) floored me. Superb, rich, chocolately dark fruit on the nose. Full, and still sporting some nice tannic structure. Lots of concentration and length, but with good balance. Can even stand a few more years in a cool cellar.

2006 Linne Calodo "NEMESIS" 82% Syrah, 14% Mourvedre, 4% Grenache (Paso Robles, Cal.) -- Big disappointment for such a cult winery. Overripe and massive, but plainly out of balance, with hot, hot alcohol burning from entry to finish, obliterating the flavors.

2005 Tablas Creek COTES DE TABLAS (43% Grenache, 24% Mourvedre, 18% Syrah, 15% Counoise) (Paso Robles, Cal.)

This nicely-rendered Rhone varietal blend showed why it is important, particularly in the heat of the summer, to make sure reds are served, NOT at ACTUAL room temperature (which is invariably too hot), but at a temperature in the low to mid 60s.*

Eye: Dark, sultry black ruby.

Nose: When I popped the cork after taking the wine out of my wine closet (which is about 71 degrees in July and August), the nose was overwhelmingly dominated by peppery alcoholic scents. I could hardly smell anything else. Alcohol vaporizes quite readily as temperature increases. So I popped the wine in the fridge for about 20 - 30 minutes, and upon cooling down to the mid-60s, the alcohol receded and deep-toned scents of smoky earth, dark black berries, and pungent yet sweet balsa wood emerged.

Mouth: Rich, dark flavors of smoky, mineral-laced blackberry syrup, with good density and length, and lots of fairly soft tannic structure.

Score: 88.

Cellar or drink? Drink over the next 2 years.

Price/store: I can't find my receipt, but I think this was about $21 at Spec's on Smith.



* The notion of reds being served at "room temperature" comes from a loose translation of the French word "chambre." But serving red wine "chambre" in the old days (when this truism was formed) referred to the temperature of a room in a typical French stone house, which were usually a lot cooler than modern American houses tend to be. So "room temperature" (chambre), as used in this rule, actually refers to temperatures between about 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

Vacation wines -- Day 2

2006 Ferrando Erbaluce di Caluso "La Torrazza" -- This was a very refreshing, dry white. Stylistically like a good Sancerre or Chablis, this wine had great minerality and refreshing dry fruit.

2005 Tenuta San Leone Bardolino Superiore "Montesalionze" -- This wine, which I previously raved about, is still drinking wonderfully, and has lots of life left. An amazing Veronese wine.

2004 Edmunds St. John "Rocks and Gravel" -- This was a really French-styled Rhone blend from California. The label doesn't give info about the varietal(s), but from the spicy blackberry, olive, iodine, and gravelly-earthy scents and flavors, I'm guessing that this has lots of Grenache and a bit of Mourvedre and maybe some Carignane in it. Very elegant.

2005 Guigal Cotes du Rhone -- To see just how French the previous wine actually was, we opened this one next. Though tight upon opening opening, it developed a rich, spicy cassis fruitiness, with earthy, iodine, and herbal undertones. It was really good, and, if anything, it was even more Californian in style than the previous (California) wine.

Dinner: Pollo in potacchio Marchegiana

2004 Bogle "Phantom" (California)

This blend of 54% Petite Sirah, 43% Zinfandel, and 3% Mourvedre was fairly deep and nicely-balanced.

Eye: Dark garnet with ruby highlights.

Nose: Sweet-smelling, with high-toned, lemon juice-inflected cherries, gingerbread spice, and chalk dust.

Mouth: Very nice fruit and concentration -- black cherry, balsa wood, and smoky ashes. Fair amount of soft tannin still perceptible. Nice balance and length.

Cellar or drink?: Drink. While there's substantial tannin, the fruit is so mellow (as opposed to vibrant or youthful) that I think leaving this wine to allow the tannins to settle out will be at the expense of the nice fruit present now.

Score: 87.

Price/Store: $18.79 at Richard's on Richmond.

2005 Rosenblum Cellars "Chateau La Paws" Red (California)

This is a moderately priced blend of Rhone varietals. It had a nice nose, but was kind of hollow on the palate.

Dark black ruby color. Nose tight and astringent at first, but with air time it opens up to reveal ripe, plummy-cranberry fruit with a little gingerbread spice. Full bodied, but with a sense of hollowness in the mouth. Quite a bit of blackberry fruit and iodine flavors, as well as some scorched earthiness, but it's simply not nearly as fleshy and concentrated as the nose would lead you to believe. Decent length and balance, though. Was $12.99 at Whole Foods on Bellaire. 83.

2005 Cline "CASHMERE" (Mourvedre, Syrah, Grenache) (California)

Beautiful, dark ruby color with a hint of purple. Very forward fruity nose -- lots of black raspberry jam (replete with the tart pectin) with a hint of rock dust underneath. Lots of clean, peppery blackberry fruit in the mouth -- not complex, but fairly gutsy. Soft texture. Full-bodied, with some iodine-y notes in the finish. I think, however, it may have been a little over-enthusiastically sulfured, as my wife had her familiar flushed cheeks reaction to wines that have lots of sulfites. On taste, I'd give it an 85, but with the caveat about the possibly high level of sulfites. Was $13.99 at World Marketplace on Richmond.