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2012 Silver Palm Cabernet Sauvignon

Silver Palm is a new Cabernet Sauvignon to this taster, and one I was glad to try this December weekend. It’s label is definitely an attention-grabber, its platinum inlay and metallic finish an inviting beacon on the shelf of our local wine store.

2012 Silver Palm, Cabernet Sauvignon, North Coast, California, USA.

2012 Silver Palm, Cabernet Sauvignon, North Coast, California, USA.

We know that 2012 was a favorable year for California Cab, and that’s evident here in this dark ruby red wine. It has a definite cherry taste to it, and it is substantive. There are spices on the nose, and I’m drinking it from a Reidel glass made specifically for Cab Sauv. I think that helps bring out some of the nuances here. The finish is soft and silky; the tannins even and firm.

Says the winemaker, “We select grapes from some of the finest coastal vineyards in Northern California and, with traditional and cutting-edge artisan winemaking techniques, craft a sumptuous, seamless Cabernet.”

Enjoyed very much, both last evening with pan-seared steaks and broccoli, and again tonight with Mexican chicken soup. The 2012 Silver Palm Cabernet Sauvignon will go great with your steaks, your ribs, and virtually any meal seasoned with pepper. Or with none–just grab a bottle and give it a try.

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2013 The Count’s Selection Carignane, Buena Vista Winery

After a few recent blue-collar bottles it was time for a palate cleanser–a nice, medium-bodied red with a lasting finish. Something closer to a Cabernet than a Zinfandel or a Pinot, and once again it was a Buena Vista wine that rang the bell.

The 2013 Count’s Selection Carignane is a member of the Boisset Collection (look that up) and worth the effort to put your hands on one. It’s 100% Carignane, a grape traditionally available in the western Mediterranean and also in California’s Central Valley, and here courtesy of Mendocino County. Buena Vista Winery only produced 175 cases of this 2013 vintage, so do the math on the possible availability of a bottle.

If you find the 2013 Count’s Selection Carignane, you should expect some flavors of blueberry and black raspberry. I’m not exactly sure what currant tastes like in a wine, but I mention it because there is a lot dark fruits in play here that I can’t quite nail down; just a bit of spice or earthiness too. And the wine wasn’t the night’s only treat, as we had this 2013 with cole slaw and baby back ribs. Those we set up with an ancho chile-based dry rub and finished after nearly six hours of low heat with a “Whammy” all-purpose barbeque sauce, picked up from a Charlotte BBQ festival.

A couple important facts regarding the wine:

1) Its grapes were harvested October 19th, 2013. I’m not sure why but I love the specificity.
2) The grapes were aged 10 months in seasoned French and Hungarian barrels.
3) Of the outcome, the winemaker remarked, “Our 2013 Carignane exudes a classically decadent nose of rich, darker fruits…”

I apologize for including no photo with this first recap, but if you check back in the next day or two I’ll be sure to share a glimpse of this delicious 2013. Thanks for reading and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

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2013 Merlot, Bogle Vineyards

Bogle is readily available to you, I know, and if you’re reading about the 2013 Merlot on Notes Of Note it’s not because you’re wrestling over some life-changing decision with your vino. Bogle Vineyards, after all, probably has a sampling of their entire lineup in your local grocery or big box supermarket. Why then?

2013 Merlot, Bogle Vineyards, Clarksburg, California, USA.

2013 Merlot, Bogle Vineyards, Clarksburg, California, USA.

You’re reading further, perhaps, because (like me) you recognize wine sometimes makes an impact on our lives that is greater than just its taste or its scarcity. Maybe you’ll come a little further and know what Bogle means to this guy?

First the nuts and bolts: This 2013 Merlot accompanied about 10 ounces of perfectly cooked steak, replete with good grill marks, a baked potato, and lemon-drizzled asparagus. It was fine in that regard, but I’d have preferred a Cabernet in hindsight.

Nevertheless, Bogle will always remind me of a great Boston meal, a work dinner with new clients. An Italian joint, steps leading down from the street to a dimly lit dining room where new colleagues met to hash out terms and next steps. We had an Amarone (which has left a similar indelible imprint on my brain) as well as the Bogle–which lit up my new contact, a world-class dental ceramist. With wild gestures from Greek hands he talked eagerly about this wine, which I’d never heard of beforehand. The wine itself is fine, but the memory of his excitement about Bogle is, oddly enough, far more lasting. It’s the kind of thing that, if you’re still reading here, is perhaps you recognize too in some of the wines you’ve tasted. Feel free to share…

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2013 The Count’s Selection, Syrah, Buena Vista Winery

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to bottle number 3026 of The Count’s Selection Syrah, produced by Buena Vista Winery. Yes, another Syrah, loyal readers. You know I have a tendency to hold onto Buena Vista wines for special occasions, but this weekend (which also included the new Bond flick Spectre) I needed some TLC courtesy of these good Sonoma folks and fired up this 2013 to get my fix.

2013 Count's Selection, Syrah, Buena Vista Winery, Sonoma Valley, California, USA.

2013 The Count’s Selection, Syrah, Buena Vista Winery, Sonoma Valley, California, USA.

This Syrah is very easy drinking, a blackberry-flavored red with earthy undertones, a bottle that you’re so disappointed to see dwindling over the course of the evening. Savor every glass, my friends, because excellence is fleeting and impermanent.

Buena Vista says The Count has “…round, well-integrated tannins, flavors of dark fruits, and a touch of black pepper [that] lead to a velvety finish.”

The Count’s Selection works well in both low-brow (i.e., grilled cheese sandwiches) and high-guard (e.g., grilled steaks) applications. Accompanying the cheese you get a sense of the contrast, the spicy pepper-tinged underpinnings of the Syrah. Eaten with the grilled meat, you experience more of the complimentary flavors, the way the seasoning of the steak parallels the leathery complexion of the Syrah. But hell, a drink this fine you could drink with just about anything and it’ll improve both the food and your mood.

That’s my prescription for you this evening–take one of these to cure what ails ya. I hope I remembered to order another in the November shipment that’s presently en route.

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2014 Orquestra Cabernet Sauvignon

In-flight beverage, this 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon from Vino de la Tierra de Castilla, Spain. After sitting on the tarmac for more than an hour, I was grateful for any beverage and this dark red rang that bell.

Since I’ll fly American on several more trips before year’s end I’ll be sure to include additional notes next time. For now, I’ll say simply that the dark fruits come together effectively and leave a pleasant mouthfeel. Nice long finish, too.

Last note on this tasting: these grapes are grown at an altitude of 700 meters in the Castile La Mancha region where rainfall is scarce.

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2012 Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon

Last weekend I went on a quest for 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Montes Alpha was a specific focus of that search. The latest edition of Wine Spectator piqued my interest in its coverage of Cab, and 2012s in particular. This Chilean red  (which includes 10% Merlot in its composition) lived up to all expectations, a luscious and fragrant beauty that was packed with scents of black fruit, herbs, and even a light metallic tang of some kind.

2012 Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauivignon, Colchagua, Chile.

2012 Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon, Colchagua Valley, Chile.

This AVA in Colchagua, Chile, has a terroir that produces Cabernets that a bit of research tells me are similar to those from Pauillac in Haut-Medoc. This bottle was just under $20, though, and I suspect the French version would be at least three times that figure. Even cooler, in my mind, is that the vineyard’s grapes (from Apalta and Marchigue) are all sustainably dry farmed–they consume far less water than the norm, and produce a noteworthy outcome in the 2012 vintage.

We ate Swiss cheese and mushroom burgers and some ‘crispy crowns’ potatoes alongside this red. Tasting highlights from the Wine Spectator summary read, “Blackberry, graphite, and violet on a structural core of bright acid and plentiful tannin with a long molasses-scented finish.” All that being true, the 2012 Montes Alpha is a very worthwhile drink.

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2013 A to Z Pinot Noir

Rarely, it seems, do I take an opportunity to point the compass north from California and its bounties in order to sample some of the goodness that hails from the northwest corner of the country. This weekend, however, I’ve done just that and set my sights on the 2013 A to Z Pinot Noir. The A to Z originates in Oregon and did not impress right from the start.

2013 A to Z Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA.

2013 A to Z Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA.

To be fair, I picked up two of these bottles in my latest wine adventure so perhaps it’s just this first one that came off as lackluster. I had high hopes going in, as the northwest has a great reputation for wine because of its climate, terroir, etc. Is it crazy that I found the A to Z bland?

Yes, it eventually gained some momentum with me, both over time and repeated sampling–we all know how that goes. I am used to Pinot Noir that has a characteristic pale red color, and the A to Z answered the bell in this respect. Aromas of cherry, strawberries, and often vanilla. But I’m also accustomed to spice nuances, a whiff of raspberries, that swirls in your glassware and gives a deeper layer to your tasting experience. And the A to Z really didn’t do this–it was sort of flat by contrast.

I had the A to Z with two different meals–a dish of salted-and-buttered penne pasta, and pecan-encrusted chicken breasts (with accompanying vegetable sides). The 2013 vintage held up more effectively with the chicken, but it was almost too light to match up with the pasta. Didn’t really anticipate that outcome.

Reading about this wine after the fact, I realize how much my tasting experience has differed from that of others. One meaningful comment from a tenured wine aficionado read, “The 2012 A to Z Pinot Noir invites with vibrant aromas of juicy berries, cherries, lavender and violets, evolving to clove, game, smoke and cherry tobacco. A succulent, focused attack has flavors of blue and red fruits, flowers and earth, then deepens with hints of mocha, gingerbread, green tea and cacao.”

Sounds fantastic! That profile would be right up my alley, and would be a drink I’d be pleased to share early and often with guests, family, friends, you name it. But the 2013 A to Z that I sampled was just…even…measured…and felt like it took no risks. Rest assured I’m going to be paying close attention to bottle two when it’s eventually cracked, but the wine has a lot of recovery to do in my book. Good luck and tell me what you think. It’s readily available at your local wine store I’m sure.

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2012 Pannunzio GV Giovanni Vincenzo Malbec

Let’s not overthink this one. This is the 2012 Pannunzio GV Giovanni Vincenzo Malbec, which I’m sipping on the patio of Tony P’s Dockside Grill in Marina Del Rey. I went out questing for the Pacific and ended up in this casual joint. That’s the California Yacht Club over which the day’s dying light appears.

2012 Pannunzio GV Giovanni Vincenzo Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina.

2012 Pannunzio GV Giovanni Vincenzo Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina.

Enjoyed the wine–perhaps for the ambiance, perhaps for its red ruby color and balanced taste–and a better end to the work day.

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2012 North Coast Chardonnay, William Hill Estate Winery

This was a multiple­-night Chardonnay, and that usually means one of two things: 1) either the white didn’t have enough time to breathe, or 2) the accompanying food disappeared faster than the vino. In our house, whites are consumed infrequently and even less often once the fish or chicken is gone.

2012 North Coast Chardonnay, William Hill Estate Winery, Napa Valley, California, USA.

2012 North Coast Chardonnay, William Hill Estate Winery, Napa Valley, California, USA.

The William Hill North Coast has good branding, and a label that is not unlike a Mondavi. The embossing is a nice touch too, but I didn’t think this white quite lived up to this appearance. It was not sweet (which gets no love whatsoever in Notes) at all, and had some light floral and citrus (definitely pear) notes to it­­–but so do practically all whites. So how did this 2012 differentiate itself?

Said plainly, it really didn’t. I have yet to research this vintage of the William Hill, and I don’t know its cooperage­­, but I’m betting this was not aged in oak. I’m thinking stainless steel instead. Some of the warmth (what I often hear described as “buttery”) I equate with an oak barrel was not present here. This is not to say it was metallic tasting, but it was just uneven.*

Enjoyed the chance to try something new here, in the 2012 William Hill North Coast Chardonnay, but I am satisfied and file now under “been there, done that.”

*Postscript. The winemaker described, “This well-balanced wine has a robust fruit finish.” And they also state that a “portion” of this wine is aged in stainless steel at a maximum temperature of 62°F and the rest fermented in barrels at “an ambient cellar temperature of approximately 65°F.” Bingo!