6.24.09 Shake Your Blanc-a-Donk

Is it worth it? Let me work it. I put my blanc down, flip it and reverse it…

Summer’s here in SF. Thus we needed to get down with some crisp, refreshing white wine so we chose Sauvignon Blanc.

Up first was an 08 Pomelo Sauvignon Blanc (CA), $11. At first we were scared by an appelation as big as well, California, until shortly after we learned that a Pomelo is THE biggest citrus fruit in the world. The nose provided some grassiness, Nikki smelled white grapefruit, andKatie got some kind of floral component and joked that the wine smelled like the biggest citrus fruit in the world. It reminded Nikki of being Jewish and dipping parsley in salt water.
The palate was viscous and not very crisp. Katie got celery that’s been in a bloody mary, and overall we found that it fell short on the acid we were looking for and becomes “wrong” for Sauv Blanc. Still, at $11, a good value.

Taking a trip down to Argentina, we tried the 08 Zolo “Gaucho Select” Sauvignon Blanc (Mendoza, Argentina), $12. Off the bat I got dill, Collin got pete moss, Katie got Crisco, and Nikki got a crazy combo of Russian tea cookies and pineapple banana smoothie.
The palate on this wine was hella tart. Nikki and I picked up on a lot more acidity. Several of us got meyer lemon, and overall just freaking oodles of citrus.

Bringing it back home to the Napa Valley was an 07 St. Supery “Dollarhide” Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley), $35. Katie got peanut brittle on the nose, Kim also noticed a nutty component, Collin found it grassy.
Kim thought the palate tasted like high school biology class, and several of us agreed. On a more appealing note, there was some lime. This may have been a potentially bad bottle or possibly over the hill, which would be odd for an 07. Not a favorite.

Lastly (but not leastly), we tried an 07 Carica “Kick Ranch” Sauvignon Blanc (Rincon Valley), $20. Right off the bat, Katie said that this was a “very, very interesting and complex wine.” Maybe it was the Rincon Valley fruit coming from north eastern Santa Rosa in Sonoma County. Maybe it was the blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Sauvignon Musque (a clone of Sauv Blanc). Whatever it was, we got a bunch of interesting components, like Kim and Nikki noticing a creamy baby food smell, Collin and I noticed a citrusy/lime aspect, Nikki got mango and tropical dried fruit.

Carica's Sauvignon Blanc... Yum

On the palate, it was very plush and soft. Katie got vanilla. Nikki commented on the really long finish and noticed some spice. I got some fig on the finish, coincidentally Carica fig in Latin. This was undoubtedly the favorite of the night and was enjoyed by all. Even the photogenic cat wanted some.

I can haz wine?

YWSF

KN

6.13.09 Azamor & Mor, YWSF First Online Tasting

The SF winos were proud to join the LA chapter and NY capital region chapter to taste the 2004 Azamor Red Wine during the YW’s inaugural online chat event. Here in San Francisco we gathered around a 42” flat screen, logged onto youngwinos.com, and started drinking.

Winos chat

The winemaker, Alison Luiz-Gomez, joined us all the way from Portugal and the importer, Tempe Reichardt of Bibola.com, joined as well. More on the Azamor winery: http://www.bibola.com/Azamor

We started off with the wine’s characteristics. On the nose the crowd picked up on raspberries, dark berries, figs, even some licorice. The raspberries seemed to be top of mind when tasting the wine, as well as some notes of leather and tabacco.  The palette was described as approachable and light bodied.

Azamor Red

Production Notes: The grape varieties for this blend were fermented separately in 10-ton stainless steel tanks at relatively low temperatures for seven days. After pressing, the wines went through malo-lactic fermentation to increase subtlety. 15% of the wine was stored in stainless steel tanks. The wine was bottled in August 2005 but held for a full year before release.

Blend: Syrah, Merlot, Touriga Nacional, Alicante Bouschet, Touriga Franca, Trincadeira, Mourvedre

——-

After a good amount of tasting we got Alison to answer some interesting questions. Here’s a highlight of the Q&A:

Pairing Options:

Jesse: Does anyone have any thoughts about what they might pair this wine with?
Alison: Jesse love to hear what you would pair the wine with
Jesse: I, for the record, really enjoy a touch of “beetroot” in my wine.  And I only seem to ever find it in European wines, not New World.
Alison: Thats interesting . could it be variety or “terroir”????

6.9.09 Que Syrah/Shiraz

6>9>09 –> Syrah? Shiraz? Brother grapes separated at birth? Nope!

Syrah and shiraz are the same grape. Aussies, South Africans, and some others have adopted the name shiraz (shih-raaz, like raspberry) because they’re 15 years old and want to be “different.”

Actually, Shiraz is actually a highly populous city in Iran and is known as the city of poets, wine, and flowers [thanks Wikipedia]. Legend – not fact – hast it that the syrah grape may have originated near the city of Shiraz, and thus Australians and South Africans called it thus when the grape came their way in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Stylistically, French syrah coming from the northern Rhone Valley tends to be more elegant yet intense while syrah from the southern Rhone is often heartier and rustic (and often blended with Grenache, Mourvedre, and other grapes not permitted in the north). French syrah is usually characterized by aromas and flavors of blackberries, roasted meat, smoke, pepper and spice.

Californian and Australian interpretations of syrah tend to be riper, softer, thicker and sometimes syrupy with characteristics of big opulent boysenberry, blackberry, and some spice.  When it comes down to it, you might find some Frenchy characteristics in your California syrah and vice versa. Let your nose be the judge and have fun with it.

For our tasting, we brown bagged the bottles so we could taste blind and see whether Tim was correct in his bias against shiraz. So, (besides me, brown bagger extraordinarie) we unkowingly started with a 2007 Penfold’s Koonunga Hill Shiraz (South Australia), $9. Off the bat, Tim said “smells like a syrah not shiraz.” Nikki guessed CA syrah. She smelled blackberry, Katie noticed the alcohol and along with Tim concurred that the smell was like a wet towel that you use to clean up wine.
The palate was one dimensional. It was a jammy fruit bomb with no acidity on the finish. Katie some kind of cotton candy flavor and Nikki got angel food cake. We concluded that while not super exciting, this would make a good drinking game/party wine.

Up next, 2006 Bell Syrah, (Canterbury Vineyard, Sierra Foothills, CA), $22. What a nose… Kaite got figs and a meaty component, I sensed some bacon fat and leather, Nikki found it smoky, Tim got dark heavy jammy fruit and tire rubber. With the various dead animal characteristics and tire rubber, Katie concluded that this bitch smells like road kill. Sweet, delicious, road kill.
The palate was spicy and smoky, Nikki noticed leather, and Tim found it a lot more mellow. This was the most interesting wine and our favorite of the night.

Third was a 2006 Andrew Murray Vineyards “Tous les Jours” Syrah (Central Coast, CA), $18. This one smelled grenache-y, with some black cherry and coffee bean characteristics and a campfire/barbeque smell noticed by Katie.
The palate was soft and smooth with red and black berry. Nikki got a barbeque potato chip flavor. Katie found a natural dried fruit leather component and Tim got black cherry soda. Overall a solid and interesting wine.

And we finish it up with France:  a 200? Domaine Lafarge “Los Planos” Syrah (Cotes Catalanes, France), $10. On the nose, right off the bat Katie got poop and was offended. Later she noticed the smell of grass clumps from a lawnmower bag. I was stoked to get some white pepper (CLASSIC for syrah), but no so stoked about an oxidative, port/sherry component. This is table wine, not dessert wine, Domaine Lafarge. Nikki got prosciutto and Tim concurred and got salty meat.
The palate had some bite/alch. Katie – keepin’ it funky – got “either bark, wood chips, or wheat thins” and sweat. Tim found it smelled ocean-y. This wine was ‘aight.

The verdict: Tim was correct in guessing that the two middle wines were CA syrah, Nikki and Katie got a couple right guesses as to what was what, and I was the knowitall that got to orchestrate the whole shebang. The conclusion? We like syrah…

…

ESPECIALLY AFTER 4 GLASSES:

YWSF

KN

6.2.09 Light Bodied Reds

6>2>09 –> So… I can’t find my notebook with the tastings notes on this one. Check back later otherwise we’ll have to drink and make up!

5.27.09 ¡No Way, Rosé!

5>27>09 –> Yes way! Summer’s on the way so bring on the rosé. No white zinfandel/Kook-Aid spiked with alchohol, SI VOUS PLAIT! Legit rosé, por favor. But what is legit rosé?
The three main methods include:

Saignée – literally, “bleeding” in French, refers to bleeding the storage vessel (oak barrell, stainless steal tank) at an early stage in wine production. So the lighter colored pink juice that hasn’t had much contact with the grape skins is “bled off” from the container to yield lightly colored pink wine.
Vin Gris – literally, grey wine. Really, it’s white/pink wine made from red grapes, usually pinot noir. The grapes are brought to the winery, crushed, and the juice that runs off from the pressing is removed from contact with the grape skins, which leaves flavor and color components from the skin behind. (This is how Champange can have red pinot noir grapes in it but have a yellow or golden color. )
Blending – usually discouraged, this simply means mixing red and white wine. French winemakers of “real” rosé will smack you until you’re “saignée” if you do this.

One Wednesdé los Young Winos of SF decided to play with rosés from across the globe. Here are our findings:

Our first pink darling? Carica’s Kick Ranch Rosé (Rincon Valley, Sonoma County), $16. This was likely the first wine most of us have tasted from the under-the-radar Rincon Valley area of Sonoma County. The nose was fresh, with a nice watermelon scent. Jessalyn smelled some Grandma’s lemon strawberry pie.
In the mouth it had some minerality, a watermellon flavor, and Jane found it sharp and crisp. Nikki got black cherries and Luke got strawberry. It had intensity of flavor and was full-bodied for a rosé.

Continuing with California, A Donkey and Goat’s 2008 Isabelle’s Cuvée Grenache Rosé (McDowell Valley, Mendocino) was next. On the nose, Luke got watermelon, Nikki got strawberry, celery, and tangerine. Alex and I smelled watermelon jolly rancher.

The palette was creamy with a super clean finish. Nikki found it very fruity but not sweet with great balanced acidity. Certainly a cool rosé coming from some 90 year old grenache.

We were off to France with a 2008 Reuilly Rosé of Pinot Gris (France), $20. Nikki found white peach on the nose while Alex got apricot and citrus.
The palate was SO citrusy for Will and Nikki got clementine, meyer lemon, and lime peel.
This wine was solid. Très bien, Frenchies.

2007 Domaine Maby “Prima Donna” Rosé (Tavel, France), $?, was next. I smelled popcorn and Alex got strawberry shortcake on the nose.
The palate was citrusy with higher acid on the finish. Nikki found it full bodied, the least sweet, and Luke thought it was creamy. Maby you should try it. Right, Alex?

2007 Lacramirosa Rosé, (Campania, Italy). Nose: bland. ‘Nuff said.

Palette: also bland, with unripe fruit, a little frizzante action, Alex thought it tasted like white wine, I got a little creaminess. Overall, I want to stick out my tongue, blow it, and make spit fly everywhere.

Pinky nubmer 6 was a 2007 Floresta Rose, (Empordà, Spain), $13. 50 percent Garnacha, 42 percent Merlot, 8 percent Tempranillo. Alex got ruby red grapefruit – Ocean Spray style – on the nose and Nikki and I agreed upon red cherry pie filling. Tasty.

The palette was fuller in body with some definite red cherry goin’ on. Good juice.

Pink is nothing to play with. Many of these were serious rosés with serious flavor. Utilize these blush-colored beauties on a hot day, with summer-themed foods, and next time you have a barbeque before you tap the keg.

YWSF