Key West Wine Cruises

A wine cruise, particularly a sunset wine cruise is a great way to enjoy wine, make new friends and watch the sun paint the clouds red, yellow and orange. I recently took such a cruise with Danger Charters on a 65 foot two-masted schooner out of Key West. The choice of wines looked interesting and we boarded the vessel only steps from our timeshare; the Hyatt Sunset Harbor. How can you not do a sunset cruise from there?

The winds were light that evening so the cruising part consisted of moving a few leagues, while gently rolling on the waves. The wines were all excellent as was the crew, which is highly rated and deservedly so. We sat on the forward cabin overhead with people from both of our home states on either side of us. What are the odds of that? Camaraderie is easier after a few tastes of wine, but a sense of sharing a common adventure began with the first white, a sparkling cava from Spain. This was a Marcel Martin Brut, a crisp wine with citrus and melon expanding on the palate.

The Hess 2009 Sauvignon Blanc following it was also excellent. I’m more familiar with their Cabs, which are uniformly good. This grape came from the same Allomi vineyard, which sits at the base of Howell Mountain in Napa. The tropical flavors of passion fruit and citrus notes added to the lemongrass evident in the nose. I had to have a second taste of this one, and will add it to my must-have Sauvignon Blanc list.

The hors d’oeuvres were standard fare but with a few interesting twists, fresh and plentiful. Best of all, they complimented the wines. The Bianchi Chardonnay was lightly oaked and fruit-forward, not the heavy California style. The Chateau Grande Cassagne Rose was dry which is typical of most European Rose, with a delicate nose, bright fruit flavors and none of the heaviness of typical blush wines.

By now I was already impressed with the choices, which were inspired and selected as though they had me in mind. They really didn’t know the Southwestern Wine Guy was aboard, did they? Nah! The first red was a light-bodied French red, La Font du Vent Cotes du Rhone.

I became a fan of this wine back in the early 90s when my then fiancé and I toured much of France. It was always inexpensive, plentiful and consistently delightful on the palate. Nowadays they are not as consistent and certainly not as inexpensive so finding a good one requires more effort. But then, we’re not in France either.

This wine and its more well-known neighbor Chateauneuf du Pape come from the southern Rhone region; both feature Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre grapes. This one is mostly Grenache and has a good spread of red fruits; red currants, muted raspberry and nice peppery accents. The tannins are fine and the finish velvety.

The remaining reds included a Peter Lehmann Australian Shiraz that was well balanced and not over-extracted as some of these wines tend to be. The Shiraz showed black fruits, plum and blackberry with restrained oak and fine tannins. Ba

The Errazuriz Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the Aconcagua Valley in Chile, where Pacific breezes and cool rainy winters and hot dry summers help shape the wonderful fruit of this wine. The bite of tart cherry is moderated by the black currant, fine tannins and good acidity.

The Ergo Tempranillo is from the Rioja region of Spain, where this grape shines like few other areas. The rich berry and dark fruit came with earthy notes and spice. If only they had Spanish paella to go with it. I apologize for not having all the vintage years. I guess I was just enjoying myself too much.

All the wines were ably presented by Sunshine – I’m not making that up – and the name is appropriate because she sure brightened our cruise. She did admit to a bit of nervousness since I was on board, but she had nothing to worry about. When sunset finally arrived we were toasting a wonderful time with the last of our wine. This is a must cruise if you love sailing, sunsets and creative wine choices.

Introducing the Wine Guerilla

The Wine Guerilla is not the big hairy beast you might be imagining, but a relatively new winemaking concern in Sonoma with a passion for Zinfandel (among others), particularly old vine Zins. California’s love affair with this grape goes back to late gold rush days. As the gold fever subsided, planting of this grape with origins in Croatia has been steady and rising beginning in the 1980s. Guerrilla actually refers to revolutionaries and Bruce Patch is certainly working his own revolution in Zinfandel wine making with a big focus in Sonoma County, home to many of California’s best Zins.

Old vine Zinfandel is just that, aged vines that take on complex flavors even as the production per vine drops. Mass produced Zinfandel seldom gets the chance to show this character as older vines are yanked for newer, higher-yield vines. Not so for those winemakers that love the grape, and that certainly includes Bruce.

The first Zinfandel wines I fell in love with were in the Santa Cruz Mountains, including Zins made with 80-year old vines at Congress Springs. I even had taken cuttings of these vines and planted them at my home in Los Altos. After many years of touring and tasting wines in Sonoma, I developed a passion for Russian River and Dry Creek Valley Zins. I still remember swatting at fruit flies while tasting Zins at Lytton Springs Winery, which is now owned by Ridge Winery.

Fast forward to now and I’m sampling the Wine Guerilla 2009 Clopton Vineyard Zinfandel, which is in the Russian River Valley appellation. This is mostly Zinfandel fruit with a bit of Alicante Bouschet added, probably for added depth and color. The nose is redolent of old vine with forest floor (yeah, but who’s forest?), mushroom, spice with an undercurrent of red and black fruit, which predominate on the palate. The fine tannins help shape the mouthfeel at mid-palate and the finish trails some of the earthen flavors on the nose. The 14.7% alcohol is fully integrated into the wine, which is well balanced.

I recently attended a wine dinner at La Casa Sena in Santa Fe, which featured five of Mr. Patch’s wines. This wine was paired with Achiote grilled Prawns and complemented Chef Garrity’s dish perfectly. You’ll find a wealth of different Zinfandel wines; single vineyard and blends that will have you in a revolutionary spirit as well. Check them out here.

Hiking the Santa Cruz Mountain Wine Trails

The first wine region I came to know and love was only footsteps from my homes in Los Gatos and later Los Altos. I’ve explored most of it on bicycle, tracking 50 to 90 miles rides along its slopes and craggy mountain escarpments. The defined boundaries for the Santa Cruz Mountain AVA begin at the crest of Mt. Madonna in the south to the sparkling waters of Half Moon Bay in the north. Within that area are over 70 wineries and 200 small vineyards.

The varied and enriched soil types and the coastal influence of the Pacific Ocean to the west and San Francisco Bay to the east have created five different subregions. These are varied enough that defined Pinot Noir wines from each subregion bear a unique signature or terroir as the French would have it. I know this from sampling the many excellent wines at a variety of wineries. I’ll discuss a few of these in this and subsequent articles.

Santa Cruz Pinots are among the best in California, but as mentioned above each subregion places its own stamp on the color and flavor of the wines. Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are also wonderful here, but my focus on this article is Pinot Noir.

Muns Vineyard: Touching the Sky
The highest vineyard in these mountains is Muns Vineyard at 2600 feet. From this vineyard, Muns makes their own Pinot Noir and Syrah as well as providing grapes to Sonnet Winecellars, Soquel Vineyards, Silver Mountain and Savannah-Channel. Tony Craig, the winemaker at the latter also crafts Muns’ wines at the Silver Mountain facility.

I and a friend, Jack Faraone, were there to view the vineyards at this unique location and sample some of the wines with Mary Lindsay, part owner and well-regarded publicist for the Santa Cruz appellation. Through the low-flung clouds we could see Monterrey Bay in the distance, a view unobstructed by trees or other mountaintops. The vines hugged the slopes, meandering up hill and down dale in a graceful dance of vines, and trellis-held canes.

We set up behind the main house and Mary brought out a 2007 Muns Vineyard Pinot Noir and three glasses, which she preceded to generously fill. Now this is my idea of a wine tasting! We indulged in amiable company and a relaxing afternoon enjoying a wonderful Pinot. I soon discovered why other leading Santa Cruz wineries were buying their fruit.

The distinctive cherry notes are wrapped around plum with spices and subtle vanilla from the Hungarian oak. The mouthfeel was sensuous and silky and the finish long and lingering. If I could only have one winery’s Pinot, this would be my choice.

Then we were treated to the 2008 Muns Vineyard Syrah. I decided then and there I had to have Jack join me in any Santa Cruz wine tasting. Mary also provided me with a seminal work she is doing on the Santa Cruz Mountain subregions.

Even though the winds still chilled, the warmth of those wines stayed with me on the long drive down the mountain. Just a word of warning; these Pinots are done in modest lots of around 160 cases except the 2006, so don’t wait too long to purchase, you’ll be missing something very special. Salud!

A Russian River Junket

February 26, 2011
I took a tour of Sonoma and Napa counties during a weeklong stay in the town of Napa at the end of February. With our good friends Debbie and Ken McKenzie joining us, we took a trip into the past. The past for us was our previous excursions together along the Russian River beginning in the late 1980’s and reacquainting ourselves with wineries we’d enjoyed then along with exploring newer ones now. That began with trying to remember which back roads we were supposed to take.

The late winter in Sonoma still brought a chill to the air, but sampling some wonderful wines along the Russian River and Dry Creek regions warmed us up considerably. Our first stop was Arista Winery, the newest winery on Westside Road. Westside Road and Eastside Road are on opposite sides of the Russian River, which ends at the Sonoma Coast and meanders east and west and then north and south as it wends its way through some of the most fertile soil in the whole county.

Many years ago the Westside Wineries, as they’re known, sponsored “An Evening at the Westside Wineries”, which began after the normal serving hours. I believe there were up to ten participating wineries at one time and each offered two or three wines paired with dishes prepared at each winery. A movable feast indeed, but as word got around and the numbers increased, liability became an issue and the program was discontinued. That evening each year held some of my best memories of touring Sonoma, and now I was reliving them, albeit in broad daylight.

Arista Winery
We began at Arista for some Pinot Noir tasting. I’d previously purchased a half case of their 2008 Sonoma County Pinot Noir and was eager to try more. Pinot Noir is Arista’s main passion, although they also make excellent Syrah, Zinfandel and Pinot Gris. Artisa specializes in single region and single vineyard Pinot Noir wines from Sonoma, Mendocino and the Monterrey Peninsula.

The winery is located on Westside Road, an area I’ve traveled more times on bike than car. Davis Bynum, one of the early pioneers of Russian River Pinot Noir had a winery here at one time. My love of this area’s Pinot began there and continued with Rochioli just down the road. This is also home for Gary Farrell and Williams Selyem, all iconic producers of premium Pinot Noir.

To my great satisfaction, Arista continues that heritage with exceptional Pinot Noir. Due to the popularity of their wines, one has to join their “A” list to insure access to all the enticing varieties of this grape they offer, which topped ten unique Pinots at my last count. That’s what I mean about a passion for Pinot.

Arista Winery is a family affair with multiple generations of the McWilliams clan getting into the act. The photo above is by Al McWilliams. Ben McWilliams, the tasting room manager, gave us good background on the winery and poured us increasingly wonderful Pinots and other choice wines. It appeared that my 2008 Pinot was only the tip of the iceberg of what Arista produces. This may become my go-to winery for Russian River Pinots, the wines are that good.

I did grab a bottle of their Smoky Ridge Vineyard Zinfandel, sourced from the Dry Creek Valley, which was also excellent. The winery and its grounds are a great place to decamp, sample the wines, bring a picnic and open a bottle looking over the vineyards and distant mountains. The Japanese gardens and waterfall are inviting and make it hard to leave. It will have you saying,” Maybe just one more glass.”

Touring the St. Clair Winery in Deming

March 29, 2011
I recently had the privilege of touring the St. Clair winery with Farid Himeur, who handles national sales for Southwest Wines. He had written a very nice review of my wine book; Wines of Enchantment, but we had never met in person. That includes his tour at Gruet before joining Southwest Wines. I found him to be as amiable and knowledgeable a guide as I could have wished for. Before long it seemed we were just two wine dudes exploring the newest wines of Southwest Wines.

First off this facility is huge and expanding even as I write this. Several smaller wineries could fit inside St. Clair with room to spare. We began by tank tasting some of the whites. In tank tasting, one sidles up to a towering stainless steel tank with glass in hand, and draws off some of the liquid from a spigot. All four whites were very good, being well on their way to ready.

Many of the whites were a bit on the sweet side, but had good acidity and fruit, making them food-friendly. I particularly liked the Muscat of Alexandria, which could well be the wine Cleopatra, used to entice Marc Antony to her bed. You don’t think she did that just with her looks, do you? Liz Taylor, she wasn’t.

After tasting the whites we went into a storage room and barrel tasted the reds, beginning with a St. Clair 2010 Pinot Noir. This is not a classic grape for New Mexico as most of the great ones come from coastal areas, but this is a very impressive effort. The wine is varietally correct, which is not often the case in New Mexico, and I’ll be anxious to try it after a few months in the bottle. The 2009 Syrah was chewy, rich and loaded with dark fruit.

The 2009 Cabernet Franc was a real eye-opener, however. Echoing the flavors that made the 2007 Limited release a red sweepstake winner at the SF Chronicle wine competition, this will be a wine to queue up for. Knowing that future releases were doing well, we went into the tasting room to try some of the current releases. A cheery and enthusiastic Terri behind the counter kept us well fortified.

The one wine I’ll mention here is the DH Lescombes 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. I’d reviewed this wine here on my examiner.com blog site. I enjoyed a bottle almost a year ago, and thought it had definitely earned its gold medal. Now that it has had a year in the bottle, Farid suggested I should try it again. How right he was! I could not believe how much better it was now. The fruit seemed richer, there was definitely a lot more complexity including scents of forest floor and spice and a lush mouthfeel that made me ask for a second taste.

At $24, I’d match this against Sonoma and Napa Cabs costing twice as much, it is that good. If you’re wondering why I waited almost a month to tell you dear reader, it’s because I wanted to make sure I got my case first. Salud!

A Spin through Alexander Valley

March 2, 2011

OK, I admit it, I’m writing under the influence. But that’s not a bad thing for a wine writer. I just opened a bottle of Field Stone 2008 Syrah from Alexander Valley in Sonoma. The grapes come from an estate vineyard called Marion’s Block named after Field Stone’s co-founder Marion Johnson. The first word that popped into my head after tasting this luscious Syrah was opulent. I don’t typically use words like that, because they seem overused and not always accurately. Trust me, this wine you can call opulent and it is eminently justified.

Fieldstone has been a presence in the Alexander Valley of Sonoma for many years. Their wines have always been enticing so tasting the latest releases of the Syrah and Petite Sirah (different grapes, just like different spelling) was one of anticipation rewarded. That also goes for the Cabernet Sauvignon and the entire line.

As an aside, I had compared notes with their assistant winemaker, Scott Sabbadini, years ago about cooperage. No this is not esoteric rambling, but a key element of winemaking. To wit, what kind of oak to use, what toasting level and for how long. These are all elemental to winemaking because of the accents and tasting notes imparted by oak. At that time they were evaluating the choices of Hungarian, Rumanian, Polish and America oak on their current release of Syrah. French cooperage is around $1,000 per barrique (barrel) and adds to the cost of the wine versus American ($400-$500) and other European oaks. You can read about that trip here.

I was invited to barrel taste the wines, which all began as the same juice before aging. I was amazed at how different each wine tasted! No surprise to winemakers, but I was relatively new to the technology of wine then and always appreciated the initiation provided by Field Stone.

Fast forward 3 years and I’m tasting the results of the oak choice they made back them. A great choice that has yielded a wine of amazing grace. Rich, dark, seductive red berries and violets such as a good Pinot possesses on the nose, a hint of bacon without the fat, typical of some California Syrah, but admirably understated here which winds into dark fruit, plum-like and dense with peppery tannins on the palate.

One sip invites another in an endless procession that will only end when the bottle is empty. And I haven’t even opened the Petite Sirah yet, but I’ll have to save that for another time. I’m only good for one bottle pre review. Salud!

Any Port in a Storm as Long as it's Prager

Anyone who loves port wine knows how challenging it can be to find a domestic one that is consistently good and also available every year. Most winemakers will only make port wine serendipitously; that is, when the grapes are right for making port. Alternately, if they have an excess of grapes one year they might decide to make port. What is needed is a winery whose main focus is crafting port wines. Enter Prager Winery and Port Works in Napa.

The Prager family has been making port wines since 1979, and the knowledge of three generations of winemakers attests to their commitment and passion. Many California ports are made with Zinfandel grapes, but I’ve found ports made with Petite Sirah grapes superior. Prager uses Petite Sirah, Chardonnay and a trio of Portuguese grapes for a more authentic port. Prager makes tawny, ruby, traditional and vintage ports and two white ports. All Prager ports are in 750ml bottles, most other domestic producers use the 375ml size so don’t be misled by the higher prices of Prager ports. Just divide by two.

Some folks may think port is reserved for special occasions, but I’d reply you can make a special occasion by including port. Valentine’s Day chocolate and port, most definitely, a way to get through that chocolate Easter Bunny, why not? How about a round of Stilton cheese with a hole gouged into the center into which port is dribbled for a more esoteric choice? Perhaps you can see the possibilities.

Prager also makes two very good wines. Sampling the robust 2005 Petite Syrah provides insights into the reason their red ports are so good. The nose of cedar, cigar box and cherry leads to a dark cherry and spicy palate, mellowed with 2-1/2 years aging in American and French oak. The 2007 Sweet Claire of 100% late harvest Riesling is nicely balanced and the apple, apricot and spiciness of this not-too-sweet dessert wine work with any fruit-based desserts and Asian fusion dishes. They also make premium vinegars and a Port Chocolate Drizzle that is seduction itself.

The tasting room is also fun. The walls and ceiling are layered with currency from around the world. Imagine the myriad of visitors that wished to leave their mark on this house of port before they went home. And then there’s the special spider window, but I’ll leave that for you to discover.

Chocolate and port wine always pair well, but Prager ports have a lock on the symbiosis of port and chocolate. In fact they even have jellied port in their truffle-styled chocolates. Did I mention this place might not be good if you’re on a diet? Oh, what the heck, live a little! Salud!