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.
No bikes now. My recreational vehicle now is a bigass pontoon boat with 225 Honda outboard motor.
It's going to six years old, and for even the best producers in the best vintages it would be difficult to expect a Beaujolais to stand up that long.
Best just to make some nice salad vinegar with it.
LOL, we used to laugh at them too when they were confused that their wines weren't on our award-winning wine list, at a top nationally recognized restaurant known to the rich and famous where I was a wine buyer.
They always held their product back and claim 'sold out.' Years later, their cabs would mysteriously show up again as a 're-release' at inflated prices, not commensurate in quality to the price compared to other CA greats.
Not to mention the Fat Cat Cab which has gotten so horribly expensive. I think the price has doubled since I first tried it so many years ago.
Yeah, I realized that after I posted it. I guess I'm still thinking of a few years back, when the dollar was stronger, and lots of interesting foreign stuff from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Chile were showing up because of it.
I think I'll skip dinner tonight. Thanks...
I swear, I misread that at first and I thought that said "In response to a question from a Daily Press reader, a glass of wine should be washed down immediately after with hot water and a mild detergent."
I thought "Hmmm...that doesn't sound right!"
Make mine Oklahoma wine!
http://www.oklahomawines.org/
I'm going to this festival in a few weeks...
http://www.stonebluffcellars.com/ourevents.html
Normally I'd agree and I thought that the Moulin-a-Vent from '01 was really hanging on the edge (IMO) but the '02 I sampled with him was quite fine. I found that you couldn't keep Chiroubles as long.
I would't keep either for more than a week but at less than $4.00 a pop, you could do a LOT LOT worse.
I'm not buying it, mind you. Used to like the stuff but I'll stick to domestics, some bottles from Chile and Australia. Italians are still okay by me but I'm politically on the fence with the Spanish offerings.
Hey, 2J, maybe you can get the cellar to ship a bottle of wine!
Yeah, then there would really be a reason for bubbles to come out of your mouth after drinking too much wine!
Did you tell him that if his son is not already a member of the military, that he was safer with Bush as President? It's not the Republicans who are pushing for a draft, it's the Dems!
LOL
I don't interject politics in business. Besides being an outrageous fool, he is an ass.
He likely wouldn't listen to you, anyway. I'm sure he thinks he's right in everything.
High end wine salesmen may be the most narcissistic group of people on earth. They might even think more of themselves than mountain climbers.
Yes, it was a very disturbing and revolting scene, even more so than some rather squalid, desperate, meaningless sex scenes they seemed to think were necessary.
-ccm
I made my own wine glass rack years ago. Drove the lumber guy crazy at Lowes. Had no measurements, just held my arms out and said, "I need six pieces of wood this long." For the chain, I counted links. It's a beautiful and very functional glass rack. You would never know a tape measure was missing from the assembly process.
However, it doesn't work for the Reidel O stemless glasses.
Once in a while I've seen a Morgon make it five years too, but very uncommon. But it would have to be a top producer in a Cru Beaujolais for me to touch it the first place.
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