Rolf Binder Halliwell 2005

Last night I decided to make myself a nice birthday steak dinner. I wasn't all that impressed with the steak selection at my local Market Basket, but finally settled on a reasonable looking rib-eye cut. After I finished my afternoon work-out, I rummaged around in the cellar looking for a good bottle to pair with steak, potato planks, and a salad with ginger-lime dressing. Came across this bottle that had me stumped where I got it from. I don't recall purchasing it, so perhaps it was a gift? If you were the giver, the givee would appreciate a note of reminder!

Rolf Binder Halliwell 2005

Country of origin: Australia
Territory: South Australia
Appellation: Barossa Valley
Varietal: 60% Shiraz & 40% Grenache
Stats: 14.5% ABV
Cost: ~$25 (no idea where I got this)

Appearance: Dark brillant red, clear, good legs
Aroma: Chocolate, stewed plums, black cherries, strong oak flavors with coconut & vanilla predominating
Taste: Smooth & supple. Moderately light tannins with muted flavors of black fruits & chocolate. Nice lingering (and smooth) after taste.

I've tried to find some additional information about this wine, but interestingly the Rolf Binder website doesn't contain tasting notes for the 2005 Halliwell. The description on Wine.com states that the Grenache comes from the "Western Ridge" estate vineyard located along the edge of the Marananga bowl in the western rim of the Barossa Valley, while the Shiraz is purchased from Rolf's neighbors. I can't find independent verification, so for now, I'll go along with them. Wine.com also had Robert Parker's review, which I found humorous:

"A sexy, knock-out effort for drinking over the next 5-7 years is the 2005 Shiraz/Grenache Halliwell. This aromatic blend of 60% Shiraz and 40% Grenache offers up notes of blueberries, raspberries, cherries, earth, spice, and a hint of oak. It is full-bodied with juicy, concentrated flavors, supple tannins, and a velvety, opulent finish."
Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, 92 Points

I'm guessing that he rated this wine upon release in 2007 or so. I'd have to disagree with some of his review, as I found the oak to be very strong and almost masking the duller fruit flavors. That was rather surprising since the screw-cap closure would have led me to expect a much more fruit-forward style. Perhaps the wine has already reached its peak and is declining, or perhaps Robert's insured palatte is more discriminating than mine. :)

I did enjoy scoping around the Rolf Binder website. There's a lot of viticulture, harvest, and winemaking info and pictures posted. Interestingly, I learned that the winery was originally named Veritas in 1955, but changed to "Rolf Binder at Veritas" in 2005 to avoid marketing confusion with another Veritas wine brand in the US. That of course led me to search for the competition, but the only US Veritas winery that I turned up with a quick Google search was the Veritas Winery of Afton, Virginia. If this was the other brand, it's rather interesting that the VA winery that only started in 2002 could force a much longer established Australian winery to change the name of their brand, but that's up to the lawyers to settle.

Salute,
a Wine Student

Rio Seco Zinfandel Paso Robles 2000

Country of origin: USA
State: California
Appellation: Paso Robles
Varietal: Zinfandel
Stats: 14.3% ABV
Cost: ~$20, purchased at the winery in 2003/4

Appearance: Dark brick red, clear, good legs
Aroma: Chocolate, leather, blackberries, cassis, slight vanilla & caramel notes
Taste: Smooth, light tannins, low acid, cherries & raspberries dancing behind a curtain of leather & chocolate. Hints of mint in the smooth, lingering after taste.

This is an old Zin that I might have caught slightly past its peak. I discovered Rio Seco on a wine tasting trip to Paso Robles in 2003 or 2004 (same year that my ex-brother-in-law got married). Found it through a personal recommendation from another winery. They were a young winery at the time. Housed in a newly purchased building that had been used for illicit drug production (had the bullet holes for proof), I was fascinated that the owner/winemaker also was a former MLB baseball catcher and currently a scout for the Detroit Tigers. Fortunately, his wine was better than the players he found for the hapless Tigers! His wife gave us a tour of their facilities, including the vats of actively fermenting must. The smell in the tasting room/winery was pure heaven and probably one of the reasons that I ended up purchasing a case of wine! Seriously, I enjoy finding small, family-owned wineries that produce good wine for a reasonable price, and Rio Seco fits that bill to a T. Interestingly, the website currently lists the 2000 Zinfandel for sale. I'd suggest buying and consuming quickly because I think this wine is at its peak. A lovely old zinfandel that went great with a pumpkin/italian sausage pasta & green salad, it didn't hold up very long after opening--was pretty flat after 24 hr under vacuum.

Salute,
a Wine Student

Bedell First Crush 2007

I was cleaning off my desk a few days ago and came across some tasting notes that I could have sworn that I'd already written. However, a quick peruse through the archives says that I did not. I stumbled across Bedell on a 2008 spring trip to Long Island. At the time, this was about the only wine that I liked and was willing to pay their price (most everything else was really expensive). Enjoy!

Bedell 2007 First Crush
Country of origin: USA
State: New York
Appellation: North Fork of Long Island
Varietal: 82% Chardonnay, 18% Viognier
Stats: 12% ABV
Cost: $18 at the winery

Appearance: Light straw yellow
Aroma: Notes of pineapple and green apples with a melon finish. Very light & delicate nose.
Taste: Crisp & clean citrus and melon with a slightly acidic finish. There's a vegetative earthy undertone.

Salute,
a Wine Student

Elk Cove La Bohéme Pinot Noir 2001

I couldn't get enough turkey over Thanksgiving so after spending the T-Day with friends (who brought out an amazingly complex 9 year old Napa cabernet), I cooked a turkey and trimmings for myself the next day. I was drinking a white wine while I was cooking all afternoon, but opened up one of my library wines to celebrate the dinner. The menu included turkey, the Powell special cranberry sauce, maple glazed roasted brussel sprouts with turkey bacon, and sourdough stuffing with italian sausage & mushrooms. And for the wine...

Elk Cove La Bohéme Pinot Noir 2001
Country of origin: USA
State: Oregon
Appellation: Willamette Valley
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Stats: 13% ABV
Cost: Unknown, purchased at winery in 2003

Appearance: Medium brick-red, good legs, clear, lightly translucent
Aroma: Dark cherries & vanilla, complex notes of leather, tobacco, & tar.
Taste: Silky smooth with muted dark fruit flavors of cherries & cassis. Finishes with complex layers of leather, tobacco, and cocoa.

Wow--that just about sums up this Oregon Pinot Noir. Amazingly complex & wonderful. Flavors that I'd normally associate with a cabernet sauvignon. The kind folks at Elk Cove Vineyards are nice enough to have historical tasting & viticulture notes on past vintages so we can glean a little more of how this wine was made. The 17 acre La Bohéme Vineyard was planted in 1985 on steep, south-facing slopes of well-drained Willakenzie soils with cuttings from the original estate Pommard vines. The vines are extensively pruned and cluster thinned to limit yields. Indeed, the 2001 harvest was a mere 1.9 tons/acre with Brix = 23.8 and total acids = 0.80%. After fermentation and aging in French oak, the wine was bottle with a total acids = 0.65% and pH = 3.62. Only 484 cases were produced. For those who keep track, this vintage received a score of 90 points from Wine Enthusiast magazine in 2003.

I visited Elk Cove in 2003 while I was on vacation. It was my first visit to the Oregon wine region and I fell in love with their pinot noirs. I visited a number of wineries on that trip, but I distinctly remember Elk Cove because it was the last winery of the visit. It's located in the hills of the northern Willamette Valley way off the beaten track. But it is well worth the trouble of getting there. The winery/tasting room was situated on the top of the hill overlooking the vineyards--an absolutely gorgeous spot as the sun was beginning to go down over the western hills. Elk Cove wines are pretty widely distributed, at least their larger base lines, and I've found them to be pretty consistent over the years since 2003. You may not be able to find the La Bohéme, but definitely try any of their wines that you can find.

Salute,
a Wine Student.

Spier 2008 Sauvignon Blanc

While I'm reminiscing about my trip to Namibia, I'll add another note about some South African wines that I tried. Namibia was run by the South African government as a protectorate after World War I when Germany ceded control of its former colony. Lots of politics and bad history there, but even after Namibia gained independence in 1990, South Africa has remained as strong presence. Namibia gets most of its tourists, fresh produce, infrastructure, and wine from South Africa. Pretty much from the moment I stepped on the Air Namibia flight where they were serving a South African pinotage to the flight home, I was drinking South African wines. Fortunately, South Africa makes some pretty good wine, so it was all good! The first night in Namibia, my brother wanted to treat me to a traditional brai. Normally that word is simply translated as BBQ, but brai is not just a noun or verb, it's almost a way of life. It brings to mind visions of the early Afrikaaner settlers building a bed of charcoal in the middle of the veld and roasting hunks of fresh meat (beef or wild game). Real man stuff here--the hunt, meat, fire, beers, you get the idea... I missed my brother's big game hunt, so off we went to the grocery store to get some garlic wurst, toasties, and kebabs. To wash down our bounty, we bought some Windhoek and Tafel lagers (some of the best beer on Earth!) and a nice bottle of South African sauvignon blanc. The store did not have the greatest wine selection, but I rooted around until I found a bottle from the Stellenbosch region, one of South African's rising stars.

Spier Sauvignon Blanc 2008
Country of origin: South Africa
Appellation: Western Cape WO
Varietal: Sauvignon blanc
Stats: 12.5% ABV
Cost: Nam$49.40 or ~US$6.50

Appearance: Light straw yellow, crystal clear
Aroma: Tropical fruits, pineapple, melon, apricot, floral notes, and a light coconut finish
Taste: Crisp citrus and floral notes. Well balanced acid.

For you wine techies, here's a link to the Spier website with the winemaker's detailed notes. Overall a very nice welcome to Namibia and South African wines. Don't know how readily available this or other Spier wines are here in the States, but get out of the France & CA aisles and go explore the small South African section. You're likely to find a number of inexpensive, good wines.

Cheers,
a Wine Student.

Oysters & Champagne---In the Desert

A couple of posts ago, I alluded to trying oysters for the first time--in the middle of the Kalahari Desert along the coast of Namibia. Sounds too fantastical to be true? Well, guess again, it happened.

In October, I took a wonderful extended vacation and went to visit my brother and his family in Namibia. After a photo safari to the Etosha Pan National Park and getting far closer to lions and elephants than I would like, we headed for the Skeleton Coast and Walvis Bay/Swakupmond. One day we headed out for a boat tour of Walvis Bay and then a dune buggy ride through the sand dunes south of Walvis Bay in the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The boat tour is an interesting blend of the mechanical (Walvis Bay is the only deep-water port along the Skeleton Coast) and the natural (home to many sea lion colonies, bird sanctuaries, and Bengali dolphins that ride the bow waves of your boat). You also get an up close introduction to the burgeoning oyster fishery in the bay. It's still a small experiment, but one with great potential. They've found that the cold waters of the Bengali current that sweep north along the Skeleton Coast are so cold and nutrient rich that oysters grow to full size in 6-9 months compared to 3 years elsewhere. That's some fast growing!

The boat dropped us off on an abandoned pier along the tip of the bay where our dune buggy drivers were waiting for us. I swear these guys were transplanted stock car drivers! We went careening off up and down dunes that were 400-500 ft tall. After doing his best to get us to lose our lunches, Nick stopped for lunch. Here we are in the middle of the desert and this guy is breaking out the dining tables, chairs, champagne, and a bountiful buffet including none other than Namibian oysters. This was the first time that I had ever tried a raw oyster and I will admit to being rather trepidatious. The briny oyster juice was a little much, but the meat was one of the most tender & succulent things I have ever sucked down. And big! These oysters were almost handwidth in size.

They were paired with a very nice South African sparkling wine. I have no idea of the winery that produced it, but it was brut dry, crisp, toasty, and lightly citrusy. Delicious after a morning on the water and in the sand. We shared this feast with a few other folks from France, who didn't seem to enjoy the wine as much as I did. So I did my best to make up for them! Here's a picture of us enjoying the feast.


I'm the rosy cheeked guy with his glass at the ready! Who would have believed that I'd have a glass of sparking wine in the middle of the desert, let alone a feast of local oysters fit for a king!

Cheers,
a Wine Student

Sokol Blosser Evolution

I was wondering through Gordon's Wines & Liquor shop a couple of weeks ago in search of some viognier-based wines for a wine tasting that I was hosting, and came across this bottle in their "Other Varietals" section. Earlier this year, I read "At Home in the Vineyard", which was written by Susan Sokol Blosser and tells the history of the Sokol Blosser Winery. I enjoyed the book quite a bit because it talks about the struggles & triumphs of building a winery from scratch (I fundamentally disagree with Susan's seemingly cavalier attitude towards divorce as it spoke a little too close to home for me, but that's a side story). The final chapters of the book discuss the development and legal issues of the wine that became Evolution, so when I saw a bottle, I had to buy and taste it. Quite frankly--I was pleased that I had the opportunity to try this wine!

Sokol Blosser Evolution, Lucky Edition
Country of origin: United States
Appellation: Oregon
Varietal: blend of 9 varietals (riesling is definitely involved)
Stats: 12% ABV
Cost: $18 at Gordon's Wines & Liquor, Waltham, MA

Appearance: Light straw yellow, crystal clear
Aroma: Flowers! Pineapple, guava, & maybe some lichee fruit, with a final touch of apricots
Taste: The nose definitely repeats in this wine. Clean & crisp. Medium bodied white that leaves a pleasantly clean fruity taste on your tongue. Slightly sweet finish, although that is probably just perceived sweetness.