Sanford 2001 Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills Sanford & Benedict Vineyards

Country of origin: USA
Region: California
Appellation: Santa Barbara County/Santa Rita Hills AVA
Vineyard: Sanford & Benedect Vineyards
Stats: 14.5 % ABV, dry
Cost: no longer available

Appearance: Ruby red, clear, big legs.
Aroma: Cherries with a raspberry finish, vanilla, and light oak.
Taste: Medium body, muted cherry fruit flavors, bright finish, slightly lingering finish of raspberries & pomegranate. High alcohol overtakes a lot of the fruit notes.

Pretty good by itself (which was how I drank it), I think this wine would probably be best when served with some fatty food to help calm the high alcohol and acidity. Something not too flavorful as the food might overpower the fruit flavors, like a creamy cheese.

Sanford Winery was the very first winery I stopped at when I first went winetasting in Santa Barbara. When the Sanford family owned and operated the winery, it definitely a laid back, hippy feel. The tasting room accommodated only about 10-12 people at a time with open windows overlooking the valley and vineyards, breezes blowing through, and lots of flies! For you "Sideways" fans, the tasting room and iconic pourer was featured in a gorgeous sunset shot and was one of the few wineries to use their real names in the film.

Richard Sanford was the first to plant pinot noir in Santa Barbara county in the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, and made some of my favorite pinots. In the early 2000s, they tried to reach more of a mass market and teamed with Terlato Wine International. In 2005 after the partnership had a falling out, the Terlato family purchased the majority interest in the winery and assumed control of the Sanford & Benedict and Rancho La Rinconada vineyards.

Richard Sanford has since started a new winery, Alma Rosa, using organic certified grapes from the new La Encantada vineyard that they had planted in 2000 and their home ranch vineyard El Jabalí. I haven't had a chance to try any of his new wines, but history should repeat itself.

Salute,
a Wine Student

Candia Vineyards Noiret Vault Reserve

Continuing to dig through my pile of tasting notes that I've written over the past 6 months, I came across this gem that I had completely forgotten about. Enjoy!

Candia Vineyards Noiret Vault Reserve
Country of origin: USA
Region: New England
Appellation: New Hampshire (not an official AVA!)
Stats: 13 % ABV, dry
Cost: don't remember--$10-15 retail

Appearance: Deep, dark purple. Strong legs with maybe some gas bubbles
Aroma: Deep, dark cherries, toasted oak, and aromas of black pepper and spice.
Taste: Strong green & black pepper with an abundance of dark fruit--blackberry & currants. A tannic finish with a lingering pepper taste. Much like an Australian Shiraz

This wine comes to us from a boutique winery in Candia, New Hampshire. I stumbled across it during a visit to Abbey Cellars wine shop in Lincoln, NH and was intrigue because I had made wine from Noiret grapes in 2006. Noiret is a new hybrid grape varietal developed by the genuises at Cornell University and has only recently begun to be planted commercially for winemaking. This grape was designed to produce a robust, bold red wine in cold climate regions like New York, Pennsylvania, and other Eastern States. One would think that New Hampshire winters might be a challenge, but Candia pulls this off. They were the first to plant the grape in New Hampshire (a dubious accolade considering the paucity of wineries/vineyards in New Hampshire), and have been producing the wine from their grapes since at least 2006. The 2006 and 2007 vintanges have each won several bronze medals at various wine competitions.

Salute,
a Wine Student

Nashoba Valley Winery Chrysleton

Digging back through my stack of wine tasting notes, I came across the wine I selected for Thanksgiving Day dinner--Nashoba Valley Winery's Chrysleton. I had gotten an email update from Nashoba earlier in the week that recommended pairing the Chrysleton with turkey, so I decided to give it a try...

Nashoba Valley Winery Chrysleton
Country of origin: USA
Region: New England
Appellation: Massachusetts (OK, that's not an official AVA)
Stats: 11 % ABV, 1% residual sugar, 20% European elderberry/80% estate apple
Cost: $11 at the winery

Appearance: Light brownish-garnet (lightly brown edge).
Aroma: Vegetable berries. Hints of chocolate and tobacco with a broad apple background. A rather unique aroma.
Taste: Some vegetative berry/apple taste with some tobacco in the finish. Fruity, but also complex. Paired pretty good with dark turkey meat.

I had tasted this wine earlier in January 2008 during a tasting visit to Nashoba (read details here), so I was looking forward to a repeat/reminder. Was very pleased with how it paired with Thanksgiving dinner. The fat of the dark turkey meat added some depth to the fruity taste and it even smoothed out the acidic punch of the cranberry sauce. The fermentation notes on the Nashoba Valley website indicate that the elderberries are added to the fermenting cider until the desired color is obtained and then scooped out. If I was the winemaker, I might push the color a little to get a darker wine, but that might lead to a bigger tannic punch than he was wanting. The 6-12 months in oak barrels add a nice subtle touch. Not overly oaky, but just a little firmness in taste.

Salute,
a Wine Student

p.s. I'm stumped on the name. Is there a secret meaning to Chrysleton? Google searching turns up mainly links to the Nashoba Valley website, or other wine review websites (that review the NV Chrysleton). Is this an old English name for elderberry wine? Is this a secret code to the Masonic Order of Eastern Winemakers? Inquiring minds must know!

Laurel Lake Vineyards 2003 Cabernet Franc

I'm slowly getting around to writing up my back-log of wine tasting notes. This one comes from a couple of weeks ago when I decided to open a nice bottle of wine to accompany a steak dinner that I made for myself.

Laurel Lake Vineyards 2003 Cabernet Franc
Country of origin: USA
Region: New York
Appellation: North Fork Long Island
Stats: 12.5% ABV, dry
Cost: $20 at the winery

Appearance: Clear dark ruby red.
Aroma: Dark cherry initially, followed by black pepper, tobacco, vanilla, caramel, with a nice smooth oak finish.
Taste: Medium body with a strong fruit flavor. Cherries abound with strawberries peeking through. Hints of green and black pepper. There is an underlying greenness or herbiness. The lingering finish is a little flat without a big tannin punch.

For those of you who keep count, this wine won a Gold Medal at the NY International Wine and Grape Juice Competition (don't know the year). I had picked this bottle up during my tasting trip to Long Island this spring. I had a very nice conversation with the winemaker's wife (both were from Chile). Laurel Lake is a relatively young winery (1999), but the vineyard is one of the oldest on Long Island. I believe that it bears watching in the next few years as they grow and develop. Reasonable prices and good wine! The 2003 Cab Franc is still available at the winery, so take a trip!

Salute,
a Wine Student

Sandhill Crane Vintner's Select Riesling 2006

It has been awhile since my last post due to navigating through some personal upheavals in my life that abruptly happened in June. But don't fear--I've been saving my tasting notes for when I finally had the energy to blog again. That time has come so I thought I'd start off with a return to my Michigan roots.

Sandhill Crane Vintner's Select Riesling 2006
Country of origin: USA
Region: Michigan
Appellation: Southeast Michigan
Stats: 12% ABV, 1dry
Cost: no longer in stock

Appearance: Clear with almost no color but the very slightest yellow.
Aroma: Sharp bite to the nose, light fruit--pineapple/citrus, strawberry and some floral notes
Taste: Bold pineapple flavors that were much more aggressive than the nose would suggest. Lightly sweet tasting finish, but nicely balanced with the acidic tartness.

Sandhill Crane Vineyards is a winery that was founded just 5 years ago outside of Jackson, Michigan. I've been a fan of Holly's wines for some time and have really enjoyed seeing her skills and wines grow over the years. This 2006 Riesling has won several awards, including a Silver Medal at the 2008 Great Lakes Wine Judging. Memory is beginning to fail, but I believe that these grapes came from the western MI lakeshore area. Too bad that the wine is no longer available, as I would highly recommend this for a light summer sipper or possibly paired with a chicken stir fry.

Salute,
a Wine Student

Long Island Tasting Trip

This past weekend, I got to take a tasting trip through the wineries on Long Island's North Fork. OK, the real reason I was there was because my wife was riding her bike in the 100-mile Montauk Century Ride, but what else was I going to do while she rode her bike for 7-8 hours?

I started the day on Saturday at Laurel Lake Vineyards mainly because I got up to the North Fork at around 10:30 AM, which was about 30 minutes before most wineries opened. Laurel Lake was the first winery that I came to that was open! However, the early bird does get the worm, because Laurel Lake was a gem. An interesting contrast because it is one of the oldest vineyards, but the winery had been started in 1999. A nice sized smaller winery that is an up and coming establishment. $4 to taste 4 wines. The winemaker's wife was manning the tasting bar--very nice and friendly and told me lots about the winery. Turned out she and her husband were from Chile (which was cool since I had just purchased some Chilean grapes this spring!). I tried the 2006 unoaked chardonnay (very nice and light) and then turned to the reds--2004 merlot (smooth), 2003 cab franc (spicy and peppery), and 2005 syrah (bold). All the reds were very good and I ended up purchasing the 2003 Cab Franc ($20) and 2004 Merlot ($18). This was the first time that I tried the sip and spit method of wine tasting since I was by myself and driving--a fairly good success with only 1 minor spill.

After Laurel Lake, I headed east to Pellegrini Vineyards. Again, another gem with a very nice tasting room staff. Larger place with 23,000 gal production. Although they had plenty of space for weddings and events, the tasting room had a nice and cozy feel. The girl I spoke with was young, but was very friendly and really knew the winery and the wines. She took the time to talk with me before I started tasting to get a feel for my wine tastes to make some recommendations on what to taste (nice touch). A little pricier with $4 for 3 tastes, but I managed to taste several of the reserve wines as well. Tasted a very nice rose made from cab fsauv grapes, along with a flight of very good merlots and a bourdeaux blend. Liked them so much I bought 3 wines--2007 East End Select Rose ($15), the 2001 Merlot ($20), and the 2004 Cabernet Franc ($20).

I finished my Saturday tasting at Macari Vineyards. Large family farm with 120 acres of grapes that sold grapes for years before opening the winery. Large tasting room, but I managed to score being served by the tasting room manager who was extremely friendly and told me a lot about the winery and the wines. Expensive to taste, though--$8 for 4 wines in a pre-selected wine flight. They had two main flights to choose from, but after I said that I really was looking to explore merlot, a special reserve red flight was brought out because they just happened to have a bottle of the expensive anchor wine open from the previous day. Overall--very good reds. I purchased a 2003 Merlot ($13) and their Sette--a blend of merlot, cab franc, malbec, and petite verdot ($15).

At that point I had to break away and go meet my wife at the bike ride end in Montauk. So glad I got to experience the wonderful summer traffic stall through the Hamptons. Nice place, but I sure wouldn't want to sit in that traffic again (coming and going)!

On Sunday, we had to drive through the North Fork again to get to the ferry, so I forced my wife to join me in tasting a few more wineries. We started at Bedell Cellars. Much fancier than any of the other places and expensive $8-12 for different flights of 4 wines. We tasted the $8 flight and sampled a chardonnay, a chardonnay/viogner blend, a rose, and a merlot. The tasting room staff was pleasant, but didn't talk with us a whole lot. Were more concerned about some smell coming from the wine fridge that I couldn't sense. My wife did like the 2007 First Crush White (chardonnay/viogner blend), so I bought a bottle for her ($18).

On the way east, we stopped in at Osprey's Dominion, which was a mistake. Cheaper tasting ($5/5 wines), but frankly not very good. Plus, the server refused to smile or engage us in conversation at all. So we drained the wine and left without purchasing anything.

Our last stop was at Corey Creek Vineyards, a sister winery of Bedell Cellars. In fact, we tasted a couple of the Bedell Wines that we did not taste at Bedell. A very good gewurztraminer and a wonderful unoaked chardonnay. They had a folk music guitar duo playing on their patio that overlooked the vineyard, so we purchased a couple glasses of wine and enjoyed the music and the view. Stayed so long, we missed our reserved ferry time and had to go on stand-by for the next one!

Overall I was impressed with the quality of the Long Island Wineries. I really enjoyed the merlots and cabernet francs that I tasted. I'm looking forward to writing reviews of the wines that I purchased!

Salute,
a Wine Student

Russell Orchards Winery Visit

My wife and I spent Memorial Day on Crane Beach. Gorgeous weather for a day at the beach--sunshine and hot! After getting our fill of surf and sand, we headed for home but made a quick stop at Russell Orchards to check out their fruit wines. From the size of the sign advertising their wine, I suspected that wine was not the primary focus of the place, and I was correct. If ice cream, baked goods, cold cider, or local produce is your object, Russell Orchards is the place. The tasting room, produce stand, ice cream counter, cider fridge, and bakery are all housed in their big old barn. It took a little bit of snooping around to locate the winetasting counter in the back corner of the barn. I was immediately turned off by tasting from small plastic cups instead of a normal glass (it's a pet peeve of mine). The tasting counter is also very small (less than 6 feet long). The poor gal behind it was trying to serve as many people as possible, but not physically possible to get more than 4-5 folks squeezed in.

Russell Orchards produces only fruit wines and cider and most everything that was open that day was sweet to some degree. Their Baldwin apple was pleasant--crisp, fruity, and the only dry wine available to taste. I was eager to try their blueberry (off dry), but couldn't get past the funky taste (like old leather soaked in medicine). Ditto for the black currant. I ended the tasting with their rhubarb wine--very interesting. Their rhubarb is completely colorless (looked like a bottle of vodka) and tastes only slightly of rhubarb. I'm guessing that they don't use much rhubarb in their recipe, but was surprised by the good body and mouthfeel of such a light version.

My recommendation--not a destination in and of itself, but a fun stop after a warm day at the beach. Go when it's less crowded for a more pleasant experience. Judging from the size of the parking lot, that may not be very common.

Salute,
a Wine Student.