The Corkdork - Wine and Food Musing

Praise for a Big Bottom Chardonnay- Peay "Hirsch Vineyard" Chardonnay 2006

Peay Chardonnay 2006 Hirsch Vineyard, Sonoma Coast

I know it's chic to turn away from the big phat Chards, but this wine is a winner. Unfined and unfiltered, it's plump and juicy, pushing at the seams with flavor.

Last night was the perfect time for such a wine. I prepared a nice spread of cold plates for dinner: tarragon chicken salad (vinaigrette-style), cold steamed corn salad, fresh mozz and tomatoes with roasted tomato vinaigrette. It was still almost 90 degrees as we ate outside at 8:30. So the wine, maybe a little too cold, stood up to all the different flavors of dinner, but once dinner was done and the kids to their Friday TV time, we were able to hang outside and chat for an hour and savor the wine and stars. Once the wine warmed up slightly, the beautiful butterscotch aromas came out along with the peachy, bread-y scents. With a good acid backbone to counter the healthy dose of plump fruit and long 50% new oak treatment, the wine was in perfect balance. 

I had the 2007 Estate Chardonnay at this year's Pinot Days, (Andy Peay snuck me a glass) and it was one of my favorite things of the whole tasting. I went right out and found some in SF (at the SF Wine Trading Co.) and they also had this beauty. Recommended.

2009 Family Winemakers Tasting

I left the Nineteenth Annual tasting of the Family Winemakers of California with stained fingers, purple teeth, and the overwhelming feeling that I had only scratched the surface of the more than 300 producers had to offer. I spit everything except when there was no bucket within range or the wine was too precious to expel. And still there was no way to give more than 100 or so wines the time to be evaluated.

The tasting book didn't help the situation either for those of us taking notes. There was no room to write and no listing of the wines that were being poured so lots of time is wasted just getting the names down correctly. I think most people would pay an extra few dollars to get a tasting book that is close enough to a listing of the actual wines being tasted and ample room for notes. This is a pretty serious tasting with very little of the public drunkenness that plague other huge tastings. I didn't see enough people spitting, but I saw lots of note taking.

Since the book and website were divided up by varietal I have decided to do the same with my recommendations. These are the wines that were clearly standouts among the wines I tasted, the caveat being that I was only able to get in just over a hundred before I ran out of time.

Here are the stand-outs. I really loved all these wines and they are in no particular order. All should be considered recommended.

Cabernet Sauvignon
2006 Staglin Family Vineyard Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2005 Spring Mountain Vineyard Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2005 Macauley Vineyard To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon
2006 Macauley Vineyard To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon
2006 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

Chardonnay
2006 Staglin Family Vineyard Estate Chardonnay
2007 ZD Wines Reserve Chardonnay
2006 Derbès Wines, Russian River Chardonnay
2007 Littorai Charles Heintz Vineyard, Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
2006 Pahlmeyer Chardonnay
2007  Patz & Hall  Zio Tony Ranch Russian River Chardonnay
2007 Truchard Chardonnay
2006 Mt. Eden Vineyards Estates Chardonnay
2007 Varner Bee Block Chardonnay

Pinot Noir
2007 Melville Estate Pinot Noir Carrie's
2007 Littorai Mays Canyon, Russian River Pinot Noir
2006 Lynmar Quail Hill Vineyard Bliss Block Pinot Noir
2007 Pisoni Pinot Noir Gary's Vineyard
2007 Siduri Keefer Ranch
2005 Thorne Estate Pinot Noir Rio Vista
2007 Patz & Hall  Hyde Vineyard

Viognier
2008 Melville Verna's (sold out)

Merlot
2006 Pride Mountain VineyardsMerlot

Cabernet Franc
2007 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Franc
2006 Acorn Cabernet Franc
2006 Titus Cabernet Franc

Sangiovese
2006 Benessere

Syrah
2006 Big Basin Rattlesnake Rock Syrah

Top Value producer
Foxglove

Red Blends
2004 Spring Mountain Vineyards Elivette
2006 Tablas Creek Espirit de Beaucastel

Secret Old Wine Vault in San Francisco: Adel's Wine Cellar

This is a public service announcement, not for Adel's, but for you, gentle reader...The world is full of wine shops, but how many times have you wanted to get a bottle with some age on it with impeccable provenance that is for drinking right away and can't find one?

Enter Adel's in the Haight district. For more than 25 years, Adel has been quietly amassing an incredible stash of the world's fine wines for those in the know in the Bay Area. I recently got a private tour of the back room storage area and he has some amazing stuff in there: DRC's, old California Cabs, beautiful Pinots, lovely Rhones from north and south. And Adel has a palate to match his collection. If you are looking for a special something, have him start looking in his computer inventory or browse his admittedly challenged website, and you will find something that matches your mood. I bought some amazing older American Pinots --2001 J. Wilkes and 1998 Belle Pente, as well as a real treasure...a 2001 Cuvée Laurence from Pegau.

The prices are honest and fair, but don't go in there trying to pillage and raid--Adel knows what he has, but many bottles have not been marked up in a while and are priced to move.

The recession is halting a lot of purchasing in the high-end wine market, so there are an unusually high number of ready-to-drink wines at Adel's that he knows he has to move, so get on in there! Tell him the Corkdork sent you and ask to go upstairs to the good room!

   

Adel's Wine Cellar
17th & Cole Streets
1400 Cole Street
San Francisco
CA 94117

Telephone:
415-731-6319

Don't miss the Family Winemakers Tasting: August 23, 2009

The Family Winemakers Tasting

This is always an exciting tasting at Ft. Mason and this year should be no exception. This is one of the few times of the year where you can find local small producers that are doing exciting things all under one roof.

This year their website has prepared an interesting search tool, both for the tasting public, and the winemakers themselves to see who is going to be featuring each particular grape variety. If you're interested in red grapes like Aglianico, Lagrein, Negrette, Bastardo, Counoise, Tannat and Tinta Cao, and unusual whites like Albarino, Picpoul Blanc, Torrontes and Vermentino you can see which tables to visit. I would highly recommend checking out some of these out-of-the-ordinary on their site and making a plan to visit those tables. Click on the "other whites" and "other reds" boxes to get a listing.

See you Sunday, August 23rd in San Francisco! Public tasting is 3 to 6 p.m.

The 19th Annual Family Winemakers of California Tasting will be held at the Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Tickets are $50 per person in advance, $45 per person if ordered in groups of 10 or more, and $60 per person at the door.  Tickets can be online or by calling 877-772-5425.