king estate with shelli shepard

King estate has ties to kansas city...used to own king radio that became bendix

king estate acrobat pinot gris 2007 light, pinot grigio style.. a little sweeter and less serious?

king estate signature pinot gris...2007 a work horse for them and consistently good if not overly exciting

king estate next oregon riesling 2007 a touch sweet, quick finish and a little dull at the end..no tension or acid

2007 next pinot noir oregon a little herbal, light. quick finish...

2007 king estate signature pinot noir...light which is typical for the vintage..good food wine just a little soft for what i like.

king estate domaine vin de glace pinot gris...take the grapes, freeze them and then take out the water..liquid apricots...soft not overly sweet...lots of legs.

Artesa with tim shippey

Artesa winery has been around for about a decade. Housed in the beautiful winery that was once Codorniu California site in Carneros...

2007 Artesa Chardonnay Carneros creamy, light oak, good legs.. nice finish...

2006 Artesa pinot noir Carneros cola and cranberry, tart and yet a sweetish finish.

2006 Artesa Pinot Noir Reserve Carneros Estate a little more burgundian in style, according to the salesman...but hard to hide the calif fruit...and some floculates too

2005 Artesa Merlot Napa/Sonoma herbacious stinky feet...and not in a good way.. red fruiton the palate...with some of the stinky feet coming in..it seems cool climate merlot can either be like this or really tannic and enjoyable like truchards.

2005 Artesa Cabernet Napa/Sonoma some stinky feet but not as much as the merlot, nice coffee aromas medium bodied and nice finish

2005 Artesa Cabernet Reserve Napa penicl lead and traditional cab aromas...good fruit and tannin up front but slowly missing the middle and not a long finish.

2005 Artesa Elements a red blend...best of the bunch for me.. tempranillo as the base with a whole range of other red grapes... nice acidity, juicy and medium bodied...good food wine.

the other guys with premier cru/jonathan white

The White Night Viognier Clarksburg 2007 smells more like beaujolais than viognier...more banana . sweet

MooBuzz (because california is the land of milk and honey) Chardonnay 2007 golden yellow, very california in style.

Moobuzz Pinot Noir 2007 Monterey fruit...juicy cranberry and tea on the finish.. nice for the price

Leese-Fitch California Chardonnay 2007 typical california chardonnay, a touch hot on palate..boring label

Plungerhead Loid Zinfandel 2007 made from 40 to 80 year old vines.. juicy and smokey, a pleasant surprise...lots of good zin character...

Robert Rentsch of Dobbes

2007 wine by Joe (Dobbes) Pinot Gris light, not much minerality more round. light green apple after taste.

2007 Wine by Joe Pinot Noir light color, some whole cluster pressings... a touch of banana... good example of what oregon pinot can taste like.

Dobbes Grand Assemblage Cuvee Pinot Noir 07 lots of acidity...good fruit.. nice finish...a good example from a hard vintage... this wine changes each year with the blend..depending on the quality of the single vintages.

arnold goldberg with alexander valley vineyards

a staple in my wine repetoire since I can remember.. very solid if not very exciting...

AVV Chardonnay 07 soft ml. some oak but mostly stainless steel..going toward the lighter side

AVV Dry Rose of Sangiovese. dry and strawberry, rose and fruity nose...definitely a dry finish. and great for summer

AVV Sin Zin 2007 woulld like more fruit on it...still a dependable zin year in...cute label

AVV Temptation Zin... opening up from the last time I tried it...more fruit..less briar..

AVV Estate Cab 2006 full flavor cab...84% cab..uses all the bordeaux varietals. could be called meritage if it wanted to...

AVV Merlot 2006 big full bodied merlot..not the insipid style that the less expensive brands can be...

Cyrus 2004..their high end..big boy very tannic, and lots of juicy berry flavor... nice special occasion wine

Derrick bommarito

Care Syrah-Tempranillo blend 2007 dark purple and coffee on the palate...the northern rhone often gives this type of experience at 3 times the price....we have their rose for the summer too

Massone Gavi 2008 a touch nutty on the finish. a much more interesting and food friendly wine for summer than pinot grigio...made with the Cortese grape...a touch of stone fruit on the finish...nice and round palate

Vina Mayor Verdejo Spain 2007 one of the prominent white wines of spain, verdejo is a hard sell to american consumers... this wine really had a lot of torrontes feel to me..just a hint of sweetness with good acidity.

cellar selections with juan guardia

one of the premier suppliers for value wines from the old world...several of their wines have been staples in my corner for many years.

Val de Sil 2007 Godello mineral, a little herbacious and just a little too dry

Roger Champault, Sancerre 2007 sauvignon blanc as its meant to be.. light yellow/green
rounder than most sancerre i have had and still it was all stainless steel, stirred on lees i imagine, just a hint of sweetness that surprised me

Espelt Saulo Red 2007 from emporda region of spain near the french border.. a little green on the nose, grenache and carignan blend... rustic through and through...a little alcoholic on the palate... but a cute label and it tasted better after being open a few minutes.

L'hortus Rouge, Pic saint loup, Coteaux languedoc, 2007 syrah, grenache and carignan. really beautiful nose, with mocha and red cherry fruit on the palate...

Artadi Pagos Viejos Rioja 2007 beautiful fruit...dark and potent..long tannic finish..tempranillo

Aalto Ribero del Duero 2005 cedar, earth and fruit on the nose, long long finish...french oak...tempranillo...in 5 hours open I bet it would rival any big california cab,