Jason’s Wine Blog

Price: $7.99 @ Trader Joe’s

What They Said:

Lots of trials and tribulations here. First I tried the winery’s site. Nothing. Next I put them through the ringer as discussed in my post on wine search engines and I was 0-3 with Google, Able Grape, and Scrugy. Next up I expanded the test to include Corkd, Snooth and WineMad. No dice. 0-7. At least I should be assured a good SEO ranking here.

If you don’t want to count solely on me check quaffability’s write up on the 2002 and the 2004.

What I Think:

Thinking about this one brought up loads of cross links in my head before I even pulled the cork out of the bottle. I had the 2002 offering of this one last year and was impressed but it was quickly overshadowed by the Beringer Clear Lake Zinfandel which was ranked #1 in my TJ’s top 10 for 2007. Couple that with my recent experiences with the Sausal which I enjoyed but seemed pricey and Cline which was slightly disappointing I was keen to see where this one slotted in.

In a nutshell if you call the Cline too fruity and the Sausal to mellow this found a happy middle between them with the price on the lower end of that scale. It was a bit tannin filled up front but this tightness gave way to some lush fruits that lingered on through the finish with a spiciness throughout. I’ll definitely be grabbing another bottle of this one but just like last year if the Beringer reappears I’ll drop it like a bad habit.

Rating: Buy It

Price: $13.99 @ K&L Wines

What They Said:

Per K&L Wines “This 2006 Sauvignon Blanc was produced from grapes grown in various microclimates of the Napa Valley. The warmer Napa Valley microclimates give us grapes that result in wines with a lush, full melon/citrus character in the aroma and in the flavor. The cooler Napa Valley fruit provides a solid, crisp backbone that gives the wine an exciting liveliness that balances the rich creaminess from “sur lie” aging.”

What I Think:

You know those friends you’re lucky to have? Well we had one of those over the other night and the same couple kind enough to share the impressive 2005 with us brought this ’06 to the table. Since I had already put this 06 Santa Ynez in the fridge I figured we had an excellent chance to do some true side by side tasting. Two similar bottlings from the same year and region but from different areas and at different price points. Now onto the results…

When compared to the Santa Ynez this seemed much more classic to me. It was light, dry and tart on the tongue with flavors hinting towards melon tied together on a backbone of mineral and stone. It in now way resembled its tasting partner and would have been better suited to pair with this New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. That said this wine was and is a clear winner. If you’re looking to splurge don’t hesitate to grab it, you can’t go wrong.

Rating: Wow!

Price: $6.99 @ Trader Joe’s

What They Said:

Per the winery, well nothing on the ’05 which appears to be from Haus Creek but I did find an ’06 that is likely a different bottling here

What I Think:

A sangiovese in Napa Valley? If you are like me you’re thinking WTF? On opening the question is not answered. The wine is light and seems thin, almost pinot-ish. More fruit forward than its Italian brethren it started to show some cherries on day 2. Still so light that it is better without food which overpowered this diminutive wine. Perhaps this would be better chilled like a rose, which this winery does make from sangiovese.  I’ll let someone else find out. 

Rating: Skip It

Price: $20.00 direct from the winery

What They Said:

Per the winery “This beautiful vineyard sits at 1,000 feet in elevation on a ridge above eastern Napa Valley. Planted in the 1970’s it is a part of a small sub-appellation of Napa known as Lower Chiles Valley. This wine shows fresh green apple and key-lime pie with elements of flint and spice. It pairs well with pan-seared trout, fettuccine alfredo, or roasted fowl. Drink now or cellar 1–3 years”

What I Think:

We opened this one up to pair with the cheese plate before dinner on New Year’s Eve. For those that don’t frequent this site a few quick disclaimers. 1) Whites aren’t my favorite so I have a bias to ranking them towards mediocrity. 2) Chardonnay is at the bottom of the list for whites. Now back to this bottle. It was one of the two Rosenblum wines we opened to welcome in 2008. Overall I would describe it as light, not robust in the fruit department and lacking the typical heavy butter notes that I associate with California Chardonnay. That said, at $20 you wouldn’t find me buying this again, this Martin was far better and adds a fiver to your wallet. I likely wouldn’t buy this for $10 either, even at a lower price I may just try my luck searching for gem at TJ’s.

Rating: Not for Me

Price: $27.99 @ K&L Wines

What They Said:

Per K&L Wines “Located high on Spring Mountain, overlooking the Napa Valley, York Creek Vineyard has been the source for some of Ridge’s most notable zins. Aged in a combination of new, two and four year old oak allows the vineyard and the varietal’s mountain iterations to shine through. The addition of petite sirah adds richness and structure. Bound to be another Ridge favorite, grab some for your cellar and watch this develop over the next five or six years.”

What I Think:

This is a wine recently given to me by my wife to celebrate a special occasion. I loved the 2003 Ridge, put a half case of the ’04 in the cellar and decided to open this one to celebrate New Year’s. Given the write-up above has no mention of tasting notes it likely should have been an indicator to let it lie a little longer. Of course I didn’t heed the advice. Like the others I had tried the Petite Sirah in this field blend already added a subtleness that you wouldn’t expect in a Zinfandel. Unfortunately the time in the bottle has yet to allow the flavors to shine through. Or perhaps it was the sub-optimal pairing with roasted chicken. Either way this wasn’t the revelation I was hoping for. It doesn’t dampen my enthusiasm for the offering but should this make it my way again I’ll give it a couple more years in the bottle. I recommend you do the same.

By the way, interestingly I noticed that the blend does change slightly from year to year which I initially did not expect from a field blend, guessing it is based on yields, any other thoughts?

Rating: Pricey

Price: $7.99 @ Trader Joe’s

What They Said:

Per the winery…well couldn’t find anything on the ‘05, nor the ‘04 but the winery owns up to the ‘03 at a tune of $26 a bottle for the Eakle Ranch, not sure if this was what I had or not. Anyone out there know? Otherwise I’ll check on my next TJ’s visit.

Here nor there, it looks like you are stuck with me on this one!

What I Think:

As mentioned in the Santa Cruz Mountain Cabernet post I tried these two more or less side by side.  Again, no help here from the experts so you are stuck with me…This wine must be freshly bottled; wish I could find some information as the end of the cork was not even red yet. Was it bottled yesterday? This wine was good. Big, bold and dark but it came off as slightly manufactured. Nice forward fruit. This wine is somehow disappointing & better than the Santa Cruz Cab mentioned above at the same time. I am guessing because it is made for the mass consumer market and therefore straight forward, familiar and comfortable. On Day 2 the nose seems to have shut down a bit but the wine is still rich and opulent. I finish the bottle confused. Pretend I’m not here and try it if you would have. Who knows if the stars align I may try it again to…

Rating: 12th Bottle

Price: $9.99 @ Trader Joe’s

What They Said:

Per the winery “Great structure and layers of complexity are the hallmarks of this full bodied Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Sumptuous upon entry and showing a dark crimson hue, this delectable wine hints of classic bell pepper, violets and a lingering suggestion of chocolate before bursting into a full bodied black cherry finish. This hand crafted wine was aged in hand selected oak barrels and will be rewarded by proper cellaring.”

What I Think:

After my brother-in-law sampled the Rosenblum we moved on to this Rocking Horse Cab which had enthralled me on first encounter. Shortly after I opened it, given the lack of a meal to accompany it, I was a bit concerned that the dry, dustiness may not have been as appealing as I had found it last.

On the nose this seems like a complex cabernet. The dryness starts at the front of the palate with some fat, rich fruit flavors on top that move towards briar and spice in the mid-palate until the floor drops out and it gets chalky, dry and dusty. Still wondering how this one will age. I think I have another 2 bottles so I’ll have another one over the next few weeks and if I am still enjoying it I’ll be back at TJ’s (it was readily available on last visit) to load up again.

Rating: Buy It

Price: $9.99 @ Trader Joe’s

What They Said:

Per the winery “Great structure and layers of complexity are the hallmarks of this full bodied Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Sumptuous upon entry and showing a dark crimson hue, this delectable wine hints of classic bell pepper, violets and a lingering suggestion of chocolate before bursting into a full bodied black cherry finish. This hand crafted wine was aged in hand selected oak barrels and will be rewarded by proper cellaring.”

What I Think:

Trying to have some patience as I type, yet again what a ridculous value! $24 for the same bottle on the winery site! You have to love TJ’s! That said I can’t help but cut to the chase, get this wine now! Read this when you come back….

Okay good, I opened this after the Marietta as I knew we were having steak and this would be an appropriate pairing. Before I opened it I read the above and thought to myself; Bell Peppers are classic? Who would have ever known? Back to the wine, how high can I sing the praises? On opening this it had a true cabernet noise, what is that? I think I now, so I’ll say this was it. The complexity was apparent at that point. The aromas were briary fruit with oak and a bit of spice lingering behind. On the palate you are struck immediately by dryness. I mean almost puckering dryness that ends up opening to some fruit and then fades back to this (with some time I determine the dryness equals this) earthy and dusty finish. Somewhere you can catch floral notes, I think violets, intermixed with those earthy tones. The texture seemed almost velvety, there is so much to describe here that I feel like I have ADD. The look is deep purple, almost silky. I wonder what the vintage rating was this year, let me add that to my list of things to do… Does this taste older than it is? I want someone that really knows wine to tackle this one and tell me why it seems so unique to me. Either way I want to watch this one age so I’m going to get more now.

Rating: Bulk Buy (for me, you should just grab a bottle until you are sure this style agrees with you)

Price: $30.00 direct from the winery

What They Said:

Per the winery “2003 Zinfandel, York Creek, bottled May 2005
84% zinfandel, 16% petite sirah

Since 1999, this dry-farmed Spring Mountain vineyard has produced a series of opulent, late-picked wines. In this vintage, weather conditions and close attention to varying ripeness within each block have resulted in a zinfandel reminiscent of the seventies and eighties, more in the style of a fine table wine. The eight parcels fermented separately on their natural yeasts, and were pressed at eight days; a natural malolactic finished in four weeks. The firm structure of this classic York Creek required extended barrel aging. Beautifully balanced and approachable now, it will benefit from a year or two in bottle, and develop fully over the next ten years. PD/EB (2/05)”

What I Think:

I can count the number of times that I have paid more than $25 for a bottle of wine on one hand. Before finding this one the amount that I thought were worth it didn’t even require a hand to count on. This was my second, yes I bought two at once, and last bottle of this wine. I had it for the first time a few years back at their tasting room in Sonoma. Shortly before visiting I had read a story about “field blended” wines, which are quite hard to find and usually pricey, and the difference from the normal blends you see on the shelf at the store. A normal blend, to me, is almost scientific. Each grape in the blend is grown individually in different vineyards (or at least separate parcels at the same one), harvested individually and barreled individually until it becomes time to put it in the bottle. At this time, we begin playing science. Let’s try a bit of this, a bit of that until we get it right then voila! We have our blend. This is obviously a laymen’s impression of how this works, I am sure it is much more difficult and requires much more attention than indicated here but I obviously have a bias here. The field blends on the other hand were planted that way. When you get out in the vineyard they are all mixed up, no separate parcels here. You have them all growing intermixed, they are all harvested together, barreled together, aged together until they find their way to the bottle. In this case it seems you get what you get!

And with this wine you sure do get it! In a word, Awesome! This is likely the best bottle of wine I have ever had. I enjoyed it so much I didn’t even really want to take the time to analyze why I was doing so. The nose is full of dark fruit and very inviting. The structure is round, rich, plush any good word you can think of. This wine is perfectly balanced and integrated, showing layers upon layers of varying flavors and complexity. The finished is smooth, long and lasting. I had the wine a week ago and I can almost still taste it. My friend, whom we had over to dinner that night, remarked that it was better than most of the $100 bottles he had and he has had plenty! A few days later we went to the store and split a case of the 2004! It is going to take a lot of restraint to leave those alone! I would have loved to see what this wine is like in a few more years. The winery still has the ‘03 available, maybe I will swing by. If you want to splurge, this is money well spent.

Rating: Cellar It

Price: $19.99 @ Friend/Gift

What They Said:

Per the winery “Aromas of rich chocolate, coffee, and cassis with notes of mixed dark fruit and raspberry. Extraordinarily rich and mouth-filling, with flavors of cassis, coffee and toasted oak that grace a well-structured body, full of texture with ripe, supple tannins on the lingering finish. 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot.”

What I Think:

So last Friday I had some friends over for dinner and we had a few bottles of wine which has led me to some consternation as to whether or not I should attempt to chronicle those wines here. I have already decided that those consumed at a restaurant are out, those at friend’s houses are in most cases to be out, but what about these.

There is one major issue in that I’m not going to be sitting there with a pen and paper with guests present. Meaning at the end of the night, if the bottle is gone which is all but a certainty, I am left with an impression of the wine but find it hard to reconstruct the details, especially after the second or third bottle has been opened. Perhaps in the future I will try to siphon off a taste to jog my memory. Or I could just not post them and mitigate the risk of friends getting mad at me for giving their wines bad ratings…

So now on to this one, I remember a wine that was very well structured, a pleasant texture in the mouth with nice rounded fruit flavors that lasted throughout, The finish was smooth as the fruit gradually gave way to the oak and tannins that lingered on to the end. I don’t remember it being overly complex as the flavor profile stayed largely the same, on the up side it the taste lingered in your mouth long after the wine was down your throat. Would I buy this bottle myself, in a restaurant? Yes, if I didn’t see something else I knew that appealed to me. Going to the store to get a bottle? Likely not as I would prefer to get two $10 bottles. This is certainly a good bottle of wine well worth consuming if you are comfortable dropping that kind of money on a bottle. I’m not so at this price point my expectations have extended to having a memorable wine tasting experience. While there is nothing bad to be said this one simply didn’t have that “Wow” factor.

Rating: Pricey