Kaz Vineyard & Winery Machismo 2006

Kaz Vineyard & Winery Machismo 2006
Country of origin: USA
Region: California
Appellation: Sonoma Valley
Varietal: 100% Counoise
Stats: 13.8% ABV, dry
Cost: $40 at the winery

Appearance: Light medium garnet, good legs
Aroma: Initial burst of vanilla & cherry with some black pepper and vegetal notes around the edges. A little dark cassis in the end.
Taste: Upfront sharp cherry fruit with a fairly tart cedar finish. Medium body.

I was rather intrigued by this wine when I visited Kaz Vineyard & Winery earlier this year. I can't say that I've ever heard of the grape varietal Counoise before and had to try it. Kaz describes it as a "studly" Pinot Noir with sharper fruit plus leather and cedar. I agree with the sharpness and cedar, but I'm not getting much leather in this wine. Wikipedia claims that the dark-skinned, but low tannic grape is grown almost solely in the Rhone Valley region of France (1580 acres), where it is allowed as a blending varietal in Chataueneuf-du-Pape wines. The Rhone connection is not a surprise since a Google search indicates that another Rhone Ranger winery, Tablas Creek, is the only place that admits to growing (5 acres) and using Counoise.

I've tasted this over 3 evenings. Night one was in a classic Bourdeaux-style Riedel glass, which did not showcase the wine. The flavors seemed tight and very in my face. I tried a Burgundy-style Riedel glass on the second night due to the pinot reference and found that much more to my liking. Granted, the wine had had an additional 24 hrs under vacuum to breathe, but the larger glass bowl seemed to give the aromas room to move and not deliver a concentrated punch to the nose.

Salute,
a Wine Student

Loxton Cellars 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon

After getting off the plane from Germany, I felt like a nice glass of wine before heading to bed to sleep off the jet lag. I chose a bottle that I had picked up on a recent visit to Loxton Cellars earlier this spring. A relatively new winery, winemaker Christopher focuses on syrah and zinfandel (although he obviously makes a cabernet sauvignon, too!).

Loxton Cellars 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Buffalo Bluff Vineyard
Country of origin: USA
Region: California
Appellation: North Coast
Stats: 14.3% ABV, dry
Cost: $26 at the winery

Appearance: Inky garnet with just a hint of brick along the edge. Massive legs.
Aroma: Massive fruity blast of cherries and blackberries. Hint of chocolate and coconut.
Taste: The blast of fruit in the nose repeats in the mouth along with a tannin chaser. Big, massive cabernet that wakes up your senses. Relatively nicely balanced considering the alcohol levels.

Notes from the winemaker:
Buffalo Bluff is a steep hillside vineyard north of Calistoga. It gives me some of the smallest grape berries I’ve seen and the challenge of this dry-farmed hillside fruit is to tame how big the wine wants to be. Aged two years in barrel and one year in bottle, this is a full-throttle mountain Cab that screams for a good steak. Big wine, sweet fruit, grippy Cab tannins; it’s like chocolate covered cherries and should age well. 187 cases produced.