The Paring: A Quality Wine for $25 per Bottle
Many people equate quality with price. While it may be a fair assumption sometimes, it does not hold up under all circumstances. In fact, one quest for wine enjoyers could be to find the best wine for the best price. Price, for many, is a hurdle that gets in the way of enjoying many different wines.
Herein lies the opportunity: The Paring is a well-crafted, modestly priced wine to enjoy anytime. The vineyards are located in Santa Ynez in Santa Barbara County. The winemaker is Matt Dees who skillfully makes JONATA, The Hilt, and The Paring. (For my Midwest friends, he is from MO.) This property is a “sister” to Screaming Eagle as both wineries are owned by the same individual. Matt brings great skill to his craft and delivers on quality. I have enjoyed wines from all three labels for which he is the winemaker and have written about all three labels on the blog before (here, here, and here). The price and quality of The Paring bear repeating.
Pride Mountain Vineyards: A Gem on Spring Mountain
Pride Mountain Vineyards is a beautiful winery that delivers on great flavor and texture in your glass. Pride is located at 2000 feet high in the Mayacamas Mountains which separate Napa from Sonoma. Uniquely, the winery and the vineyards are located in both counties – in fact the county line runs through the vines and the caves.
This is a gorgeous place to visit. The winery was established in 1991 and the property has evolved since then. Originally, it was solely the vineyards; and today you can enjoy a beautifully situated tasting room and patio with a wide expanse of vines in sight. The wine caves have been an integral part of the hospitality tours and have yet to reopen since COVID. Visits, of course, are by appointment and there are various options to choose from before you get there. Today, you may still even set up a virtual visit after purchasing some wine through the winery.
Wine: How Do I Choose??
This is a simple question, yet the answer can be very complex. In surveys, the number one reason people do not drink wine is that they find it too hard to choose which one to buy. It is a big question, no doubt. Just recently I read a blog that listed the number of different bottles of wine available to buy in the world at any point in time, and it totaled a million. Whoa, that is a big number to sort through. I fully appreciate the challenge.
Wine itself is not a single note expression like cola. When you pick up a bottle of Coca Cola or Pepsi, there is a specific flavor profile that is expected. The degree to which that expectation is met is tied to customer satisfaction and repeat sales. So, for a manufacturer to deliver, they must adhere to a specific process to replicate the product’s profile, time after time.
Leviathan: Find It at a Great Price — $34!
Leviathan is a red blend made by Andy Erickson. He is a wonderful winemaker whose résumé includes Staglin, Screaming Eagle, Alpha Omega, and his current personal label Favia. He is one of the most sought after consultants in Napa Valley. Search his name, and you will be impressed with the wineries where he has had a hand in making the wine.
Leviathan 2018 is a red blend that consists of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Cabernet Franc. It is accessible when you open the bottle yet shows more robustly with decanting. You will get aromas and flavors of boysenberry, black cherry, and plum. The grapes are harvested from various vineyards in the area and come together in a rich harmony.
Whose Fault Is It, Anyway??
We all know that taste is 80% smell. You still remember the day you had a stuffy nose and nothing tasted good. You couldn’t taste much at all. So, what is it when the aromas and flavors are off in a wine?? What does that mean?? Is it the wine’s fault, a bad bottle, or something else? That is the question.
Here is the first rule of thumb in drinking wine. Yes, it is a rule. Before you pour that wine, smell the glass. I mean that emphatically. Today’s dishwashers are wonderful, yet they recycle water. I have many times been put off by the stinky odors in a clean glass that was washed in the dishwasher. It is a simple fix. If you get anything other than a neutral aroma, simply rinse the glass with water. Dry it with a towel specifically for crystal, if that is what you are using, to avoid scratching the glass. Once that glass is neutral, then you can pour.
Chenin Blanc: A Great Find in Napa Valley!
In my studies, I had read about the beauty of this varietal. It is very versatile as it is used in still wines, sparkling wines, dry wines, and sweet wines. It is diverse in its growing areas from Europe to South Africa. It is in fact the most grown white grape in South Africa where it is sometimes called Steen. The home of this grape is thought to be the Loire Valley of France, and it has been called the “most cerebral wine” when crafted in the appellation of Savennieres located in the Loire. I did not expect to find it as a dry white wine from Napa Valley!
The wine I’m talking about is a beauty crafted by Sean Capiaux and made into 100% Chenin Blanc under the label of TBD Wine (more to come about the label). He found the vineyard of 60-year old Chenin Blanc in Pope Valley. The wine was hand-harvested and whole cluster pressed. He fermented it in concrete and one French barrel. The wine saw no malolactic fermentation which allowed the wine to retain its natural acidity. This is a wonderful wine that is sleek and smooth on the palate with green apple, citrus, and hints of honey.
Smoke Taint in 2020: What Does It Mean?
The fires are out, hopefully, for the season. Rain has returned to Northern California, and yet there are scars of the fires visible – most notable in the north end of the Napa Valley. The blazes have left their mark; and, all told, 30 wineries have been impacted. Some burned completely like Chateau Boswell. Others lost buildings or vineyards. The sentiment in the valley is “Napa Strong – come back better than ever.” The question for the consumer, though, has got to be: What can be expected of the wines?
The first questions to answer are: 1) What is smoke taint, and 2) How does it impact the vines? Smoke from a fire enters through the leaves and vine stems. It also is absorbed through the grape skin itself. The grapes are most susceptible during the period post-veraison. (Veraison is the stage of the ripening process when the firm, green berries begin to soften and change color.) The closer it gets to harvest, the greater the risk to the grapes. At this time, the volatile phenolic compounds found in smoke permeate the waxy skin of the grape and become bound to sugars forming glycosides. Very little smoke gets concentrated into the pulp of the grape. Smoke does not enter through the soil or roots.
Taking It to “The Hilt”
By definition, the hilt means “in full.” That is exactly what I discovered when tasting the Pinot Noir “The Hilt” from Santa Barbara. The wine is silky and smooth with rich, lush flavors. Given that experience, I wondered how I had missed the opportunity in the past. Nonetheless, I am glad I found it. The Old Guard is the bottle I tried first, and I was wowed by the depth of flavor and how long the finish sailed on. This was a real treat to discover!
Pinot Noir presents challenges and to drink it done so masterfully is a treat. The vine itself is a difficult partner and can fall flat. It has been called the heartbreak variety since it is a frail vine and subject to many diseases and mutation. Its clusters are usually small and challenging to evenly ripen. So what makes it appealing? It can provide subtle depth of flavors and an array of notes to accompany the fruit flavors of Cranberry, Cherry and Raspberry. Its high acidity and low tannins profile make it a wonderful partner for many meals. When you find one like The Hilt, it really makes for a fabulous dinner.
Enjoying Wine with All Senses
Many times, I have observed people drinking wine in a casual environment, at a gathering or over dinner. They raise the glass to their lips and drink it in. What is wrong with that you might ask? Nothing, nothing at all; yet there may be more to garner from the pleasure of wine if there were more thoughtfulness in the process.
Wine is a multi-faceted beverage, and the more curious approach may yield more depth and breadth of flavor when you engage more of the senses. This type of exploration may heighten the enjoyment and offer expanded knowledge each time. Each glass becomes a practice session for engagement of the senses to discover what is in the glass.
Rosé for the Summertime!
It will soon be summertime with warmer temperatures and bright blue skies. Across the street from my house, my neighbor’s roses are in full bloom and gorgeous. My email inbox is blooming too with numerous offers for rosé. It is a perfect time for light pink wine with bright fruit and crisp acidity to complement your stay-at-home meals. Rosé can be made in many different styles and ranges from very pale pink to a dark cranberry-juice red. It can be dry or slightly sweet. It is amazing how much the rosé market has taken off! A few years ago, it was an interesting wine, served on occasion. Today, there are plentiful takes on this historic wine.
Rosé generally is a wine made from a blend of red varietals with Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre leading the way. The most notable area for production of rosé is Provence in France. Provence is a region which lies on the southeast border of the country along the Mediterranean Coast and prides itself on being the birthplace of French wine. Winemaking in this region dates back to before 600 BCE. It has a Mediterranean climate of mild winters, warm summers and little precipitation during the growing season. Rosé accounts for 88% of the wine production in this region and contributes greatly to France being the number one producer of the world’s rosé.