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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Feature: August 2006
Value Vintages
Our seasoned panel puts three Golden State varietals to the test
Story by Douglas Curley
California has long been known for its French-trouncing Cabernet Sauvignon. The Golden State wine industry, along with its counterpart in Oregon, is developing an increasingly loyal following for its Pinot Noir. And for those of us not enamored with classic, buttery Chardonnay, coastal and valley vineyards are producing an attractive array of Sauvignon Blanc.
With this varietal trio in mind, members of Comstock’s growing panel of wine experts recently gathered at the new 58 Degrees & Holding Co. wine shop and café in midtown Sacramento for the group’s second blind tasting. The purpose of this assemblage, hosted by proprietor Ian Smith, was to rate nine wines, three of each of the popular varietals, at incremental price points.
“Selecting wine is as much about value as it is personal taste,” Smith explains. “We can all find $100 bottles of wine in most any varietal that we like, but for many of us it is impractical to offer that as a house wine or to pour at gatherings of novice wine drinkers.
“The challenge for wine enthusiasts,” he continues, “is to find wines that they love and can afford. There are great values out there at every price point.”
With that in mind, Smith tested our blind tasters with three Sauvignon Blancs in the $15 to $25 range, three Pinot Noirs priced from $25 to $35, and a threesome of Cabernet Sauvignons at $35 to $45. All wines were grown and produced in California.
By virtue of two more No. 1 ratings, Cakebread’s 2005 Napa Valley narrowly edged the 2005 Ojai Westerly Vineyard in the Sauvignon Blanc competition.
Priced at $23, the Cakebread was described by our host as a “round-nosed, smooth-bodied, easy-drinking Sauvignon Blanc with a nice finish.”
Gina Caffese of American Wines & Spirits agreed, noting the “honeysuckle start and toasty finish” as especially desirable.
Pinot Noir became a topic of hot discussion when it was asked if the varietal is “just the next fad wine,” similar to Merlot. Not so, said Mike Chandler of Enotria Café & Wine Bar in North Sacramento. “It’s such a versatile wine, matching well with foods that usually lean only toward white or red. It is the hottest varietal in our café. We currently stock 168 Pinot Noir labels at Enotria.”
Priced at $27, the 2004 Morgan Twelve Clones from the Santa Lucia Highlands took top Pinot Noir honors in our tasting.
Giguiere highly complimented the Morgan’s black cherry color. “It has a good mouth feel, rich middle palate and nice red-berry overtones,” he said. The “chocolate, vanilla, almost smoky nose” the Morgan exuded impressed Caffese.
Chandler was quick to point out that “Cabernet is still king, especially if you are willing to splurge. If you’re on an expense account, most people will eat steak and drink Cab.”
Cabs are also known for getting better with age. Our tasters apparently agreed, as the oldest wine in the lot — the 2002 Frank Family of Napa Valley — garnered the highest point total of the nine wines tasted.
Caffese and Back were quite taken with the Frank Family offering. Caffese described it as a “great Cab with a soft, elegant and velvety chocolate taste and a nice, long finish,” while Back rated it first for its “intense coloring and nose and its black currant, cassis, French oak and vanilla taste.”
While admitting the Frank Family vintage has perhaps the most potential of the Cab trio tasted, Chandler said it still has some developing to do. “It’s like a 13-year-old girl with acne — it’s pretty obvious she’s going to be a beauty.”
Aging well and remaining valuable? We should all be so lucky.
Expert pallet
2005 Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc
Napa Valley, $23
cakebread.com
Caffese, a key-account specialist for American Wines & Spirits, liked the honeysuckle,
lemon and lime start to the Cakebread. Her favorite of the white lot, she says the wine
had good acidity, grapefruit flavor and a toasty finish.
“Tropical nose. Vibrant acidity. Great middle and finish. Good fruit flavor.”
— Mike Chandler, Enotria Café & Wine Bar
“Simple peach-apricot nose. Soft on the palate, slightly sweet.”
— John Giguiere, Crew Wine Co.
“Nose less intense than others. A musty taste featuring unripe tropical fruit, green apples and bananas.”
— Jeff Back, 58 Degrees & Holding
2004 Morgan Twelve Clones Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands, $27
morganwinery.com
Everything about this wine shouts black cherry, according to Giguiere, owner of the recently established Crew Wine Co. He says the wine has a good mouth feel and a rich middle palate. He loves the nice black cherry flavors with the red berry after tones.
“Lightest of the bunch. Slightly over-oaked. Silky on the palate.”
— Back
“Bright cherry start, well-rounded with some smokiness. A long chocolate finish.”
— Caffese
“Offers a great fruit-to-alcohol balance. There are hints of pomegranate and strawberry. Nice, enjoyable fruit flavors with a great finish.”
— Chandler
2002 Frank Family Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, $36
frankfamilyvineyards.com
By far his favorite Cab of the lot, Back favored the full intensity of this wine, from its dark red color to the French oak nose to the Rutherford dust, cassis and black cherry taste.
“Vanilla and chocolate nose. It has a smoky start with layers of raspberry,
vanilla and chocolate.”
— Caffese
“Slightly under-ripe. There may be a lot of merlot in this wine. An enjoyable fruit taste. Good tannins, nice finish.”
— Chandler
“Black jam and anise nose. Hot and rough on the palate. Harsh tannins.”
— Giguiere
Building a collection
If you’re consuming $15 to $20 bottles of wine on a frequent basis, it’s likely time to consider building a personal collection. Besides the obvious economic gains of receiving case discounts, there is the added value of having wines on hand that you know you like.
Ian Smith, proprietor of 58 Degrees & Holding, notes that if you find something you like, you really should buy a few bottles.
“Vintage and varietal stock rolls over very quickly in this business,” he says. “Some stock lasts days, others a few weeks. We’re a retailer — we expect it to move. Our wine-by-the-glass menu changes at least once a month.”
Once you’ve made the commitment to build a wine collection, Smith suggests a three-step launch:
1. Experiment. Determine what your favorite type of wine (Cabernet, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, etc.) is. Try several. Buy what you like.
2. Expand. Now that you know you’re in love with California Cabernet, try several other varietals. You’ll be surprised how quickly you identify other flavor favorites.
3. Profile. As you develop favorite labels, determine the flavor profiles of these wines by region, vintage and varietal.
“Don’t be afraid to experiment,” Smith says. “I had a client who for years only bought California Cabs and French Bordeaux. He was a serious, avid collector, but with a limited breadth of varietals. When I finally got him to participate in a tasting of Merlot, Pinot Noir and French Rhone wines, he finally turned. Now he wonders why it took him so long to open his palate to other flavors.”
In California in particular, lighter wines are all the rage. “The lighter reds, like the French Rhone, Paso Robles Syrah and Oregon Pinot Noir, go very well with the Sacramento summer temperatures and menus,” Smith says.
In addition to determining the varietals and region of a particular wine you like, he recommends paying close attention to the year it was bottled. “If you like a ’97 Caymus, seek out other wines from that vintage. Wines from that same year from that region should be similar in flavor.”
If you often find yourself opening a bottle for self-consumption at home, Smith also suggests buying half bottles to avoid long periods of recorked storage. A half bottle is the equivalent of about two glasses. This smaller size is available at most wine shops as well as vineyard tasting rooms.
Besides visiting the growing number of retail wine outlets in the Capital Region, a visit to the numerous nearby wine regions is a must for any budding wine collector. However, Smith insists you be prepared to store wine before you head for the Sierra foothills, San Joaquin Valley or Napa and Sonoma.
“Don’t leave home without an ice chest or Styrofoam cooler. Whether it’s a $10 or a $100 bottle of wine, it can go bad in 20 minutes in the trunk of your car, especially in Sacramento,” Smith emphasizes. “There’s nothing worse than buying something special and then opening it three years later only to find that it has gone bad.
