Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Wine Lines
Daily Press ^ | Wednesday, September 13, 2006 | Bob Johnson

Posted on 09/13/2006 9:08:46 AM PDT by NautiNurse

The harvest season has arrived in California wine country.

Thus far, reports from the Napa Valley have been unanimously positive, which means if Mother Nature continues to cooperate, 2006 could be an exceptional vintage for a number of wine varieties.

Per usual, things got going early in the Carneros region, which straddles the southern borders of both Napa and Sonoma counties. That’s a big area for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir — two key ingredients in sparkling wine — and the makers of sparklers prefer to work with less-ripened fruit.

Sauvignon Blanc was the first variety harvested farther north in Yountville, with Chardonnay not far behind. The Chardonnay bunches were reportedly ripening very evenly, a harbinger of quality wines to come.

In the Stags Leap District, the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot seemed to be running about a month behind other areas, and up on Mt. Veeder, a mid-October harvest was being anticipated.

Overall, the California Cabernet harvest is expected to be somewhat small, but of exceptional quality — again, as long as Mother Nature doesn’t pull a fast one with some extended rainfall or, even worse, a hailstorm.

Other news around the vineyards and wineries…



• Earlier this year, all the legal maneuvering finally ended and it was decreed that wineries that use “Napa” in their name must make their wine from Napa Valley fruit. It was considered a landmark truth-inadvertising case.

Now, a similar brouhaha is brewing — or, perhaps that should be fermenting — in Sonoma County. As was the case in Napa, there is not unanimous support for the proposal. However, for consistency’s sake, it’s a proposal that certainly seems to make sense.



• More than $700,000 was raised for local charities at the 2006 Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction.

Among the highlights of the event: Joe, Mike, Chris and Bob Benziger showing up in full Elvis regalia.

Another: Bruce Cohn of B.R. Cohn Winery impersonating Elton John, sequins and all.

Proceeds benefited the Sonoma Land Trust, Vineyard Worker Services and the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, among other local groups.



• In response to a question from a Daily Press reader, a wine glass should be washed immediately after use with hot water and a mild detergent.

This prevents staining, and gets the glass completely clean for its next use.

After being dried with a clean cloth, the glass should be stored upright so stale air doesn’t become trapped in the bowl.



• And in answer to another reader question, the main difference between making white wine and making red wine involves the skins of the grapes.

In the making of red wine, the skins are kept in contact with the fermenting juice. That’s what gives the wine its color.



• Mark your calendar: The next tasting event of the High Deser t Wine Explorers is scheduled for Sept. 23 at the Cask ’N’ Cleaver restaurant in Victorville.

The theme of the tasting is “blended wines,” the first time in the club’s history that the topic has been tackled… and tasted.

To order tickets, call 843-0500.

Wines of the week



• White: Legends 2005 Chardonnay, California. Legends is the wine project of basketball hall of famer Larry Bird, and this wine is all about finesse and elegance. It offers aromas and flavors of ripe, sweet pear, apple and peach, and even though it did not undergo malolactic fermention, it’s soft and creamy in the mouth. In basketball-speak, this wine is “nothing but net.” $25. Rating: 88.



• Red: Cosentino 2003 “The Poet,” Napa Valley. This red Meritage wine is dark garnet in hue, with complex aromatics that unfold to reveal cedar, mint, black currant, black cherry and dark chocolate. The sweet black fruits are more prominent in the mouth, picking up notes of black licorice and tobacco leaf. A few years in the cellar should help this wine “show” even better. $65. Rating: 92.



Wines are rated by Bob Johnson and Glen Frederiksen on a 100-point scale: 70-79, commercially sound; 80-84, good; 85-89, very good; 90-94, excellent; 95-100, world class. Send questions to Wine Lines in care of the Daily Press, P.O. Box 1389, Victorville, CA 92393 or e-mail them to bobwino@aol. com.


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: napa; oenology; wine
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-90 next last
To: DollyCali
I set a pretty table for 6 once with 6 different settings.

I knew a psychologist couple who did the same. They teased it was a psychology experiment to see who chose which place setting and wine glasses.

It made a lovely eclectic table--and I do like eclectic.

41 posted on 09/13/2006 11:16:12 AM PDT by NautiNurse (Katherine Harris for U.S. Senate)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: NautiNurse
That is my background (and last career) also! I never thought of it as a "test" but clever.. I just was being artistic & trying to use my odds & ends & prove SOME PEOPLE wrong who said I would never use the mish mash!

My sign other at the time was a therapist also & at first he thought it would be bizarre but bowed to my decision. I told him if he wanted to set the table, he could also cook. Settled that quickly!

:-)
42 posted on 09/13/2006 11:22:20 AM PDT by DollyCali (Don't tell GOD how big your storm is -- Tell the storm how B-I-G your God is!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: Range Rover

Word on the street is that if you liked Red Zin out of California . . . .

My advice is PASO ROBLES! Best Zins & Syrah anywhere (IMO). Still much cheaper than Napa (although the gap is closing fast).

If you're not familiar with California, Paso Robles is about midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, approx. 22 miles inland from the ocean and 25 miles north of the city of San Luis Obispo.

The first modern winemaker, IINM, was Gary Eberle (Def. Tackle for Penn State way back when); others followed.

They are still coming, and even French producers have set up shop there -- Beacastel (from Chateauneuf-du-Pape in the Rhone region) opened up Tablas Creek in PR and makes great Rhone-style wines.

Another French family (Mom, Dad, and 3 kids) moved into Paso and founded L'Aventure, which makes OUTSTANDING wine.

In vino veritas in aeternam!


43 posted on 09/13/2006 11:22:28 AM PDT by eddiespaghetti ( with the meatball eyes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: DollyCali
a pretty good sized one is owned by a former Hollywood magnate... anyone recall who?

Raymond Burr owned vineyards/winery for many years. I believe it is still in his name. I would imagine there are other Hollywood types with investments in the wine industry.

44 posted on 09/13/2006 11:25:27 AM PDT by NautiNurse (Katherine Harris for U.S. Senate)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: DollyCali
That is my background (and last career) also!

Too funny!

45 posted on 09/13/2006 11:27:57 AM PDT by NautiNurse (Katherine Harris for U.S. Senate)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: NautiNurse
It's hard to figure how the Frenchies can make a profit at that price.

You could say that about their airliners too.

46 posted on 09/13/2006 11:52:51 AM PDT by wireman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: wayne_b24

VIRGINIA IS FOR WINE - NAPA IS FOR AUTO PARTS

(Not even close to being true, but a funny slogan)


47 posted on 09/13/2006 11:56:43 AM PDT by PurpleMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: PurpleMan

now THAT is a good bumper sticker!
new keyboard on order...
Chateau Morrisette still a winner. try Naked Mountain, too - wine is foul but great t-shirts and hats.


48 posted on 09/13/2006 12:10:44 PM PDT by wayne_b24 (every day in the Light is a good day...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: DollyCali

Pairs well with cucumbers!


49 posted on 09/13/2006 12:39:45 PM PDT by LibWhacker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Rb ver. 2.0

"...My GF bought a bottle of French Wine for $5.99 the other day.

After I scolded her, I had a great laugh at the price...."

I bought a $6 bottle of French wine a few months ago, and it was undrinkable. Worse than kerosene. I had to pour it out.


50 posted on 09/13/2006 12:43:24 PM PDT by Renfield
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: ricer1
Mine was identical to the pix. Black, gold script, disc brake in front with peashooter exhausts. It would shoot a squirt of oil out the pipes on cold start so it wasn't good to stand directly behind it. There is a place in Colorado, Colorado Norton Works, that rebuilds these beasts. New wiring, frame, .20 overbore and better brakes front and rear. They get $20,000 a copy, plus one Norton core. Very tempting.
51 posted on 09/13/2006 12:49:07 PM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (BTUs are my Beat.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Eric in the Ozarks
Wow... that's fairly pricy stuff.

I went the Japanese route with the Yamaha, and am pretty happy with how it performs. Yes, there are faster beasts out there and more expensive ones. But what does that prove... ?
52 posted on 09/13/2006 12:57:48 PM PDT by ricer1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: ricer1

I owned a 3 cylinder 500 2 stroke Kawasaki back in the 1970s. It was a real screamer. No power until past 5,000 rpm, then HANG ON. It had a wobble on long right hand sweepers. The forks were made of recycled aluminum foil.


53 posted on 09/13/2006 1:04:42 PM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (BTUs are my Beat.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: Heyworth
Weak dollar against the euro

You've got it backwards. That makes our exports cheaper over there, and their exports (like wine) more expensive over here.

plus the French make a LOT of wine.

That much is true. Sky-high, subsidized production, in the face of declining demand = Cheap wine!

-ccm

54 posted on 09/13/2006 1:06:38 PM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: ricer1

Do you still ride? Or was the Norton your last bike?


55 posted on 09/13/2006 1:10:32 PM PDT by ricer1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: NautiNurse; DollyCali
I would imagine there are other Hollywood types with investments in the wine industry.

Fess Parker in the Santa Barbara area. You may recall his winery as the tourist-infested site where Miles had a breakdown in the movie "Sideways", taking a big drink from the spittoon.

56 posted on 09/13/2006 1:11:08 PM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: NautiNurse
After being dried with a clean cloth, the glass should be stored upright so stale air doesn’t become trapped in the bowl

Do it this way and you have to wash them again before you use them.

Instead you should spend five bucks on a rack that suspends your wine glasses in the cupboard. It not only keeps your glasses clean and ready for use but it also frees up shelf space below the glasses.

57 posted on 09/13/2006 1:11:36 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (A propensity to hope and joy is real riches; one to fear and sorrow, real poverty)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NautiNurse
Chardonnay?


58 posted on 09/13/2006 1:16:46 PM PDT by steveo (ADVERTISEMENT)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wayne_b24

Have been to them all.

My favorite Virginia winery is Pearmund Cellers in Broad Run, VA. Very, very good wines.

Check out their website http://www.pearmundcellars.com/ (and wines and regular dining events!)


59 posted on 09/13/2006 1:21:05 PM PDT by PurpleMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: NautiNurse
In the Stags Leap District

LOL, these phony Californians are so full of themselves.

Reminds me of the lunch I experienced with a top salesman of Far Niente. He said Bush was a maniac and that they was no way he was going to send his kid to die in some oil field.
60 posted on 09/13/2006 1:25:43 PM PDT by Vision ("As a man thinks...so is he." Proverbs 23:7)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-90 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson