Monday, June 30, 2008

Wine with craig of pinnacle

Today was the first day back with several of the reps and new wine. For the complete update on my trip to oregon I will post here the article I do for the Tastebud magazine. Just what I didnt need was another Pinot Grigio from Italy but craig brought in the 2006 Borgo M with beautiful acidity, a picquant touch of grapefruit.

2007 Triebaumer Blaufrankish Rose soft and lush and nice enough acidity to match with most foods. Not as sweet as last year but thats alright.

2006 Solitude Cote du Rhone..dark color in the glass but I think a little green on the palate from youth...or too much grenache.


2004 Elderton Friends Cabernet Sauvignon Barossa Australia nose of a syrah or Iodinie...lots of black fruit, a small bite on the end but not too annoying. around $18

Monday, June 23, 2008

day 2 of pinot camp

I think it is interesting that the wine that made the biggest impression on me at pinot camp was not pinot noir but pinot blanc,a white mutation of pinot noir.. from bethel heights a beautiful, rounded aromatic but not sweet wine knocked my socks off last night at the pre tasting event at domaine serene which was beautiful too, and luckily today at Oregon cool whites we tasted it again blind and luckily I was able to pick it out from a flight of 6 .

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Day One of Pinot Camp

Interestingly enough the most exciting part of my day so far has been about aviation. We had breakfast in the museum that houses the Spruce Goose of Howard Hughes fame....its huge... and gray. located in the city of McMinnville where I am staying.

Our first seminar was a basic history of Oregon winemaking and what makes Oregon special for Pinot Noir.

Second Seminar was a vintage tasting with 5 wineries in particular...at least what theylook for in wine..fruit..is it bright or jammy tannin...light or heavy..acidity..tart or not and balance... then we tasted through wines of vintage annd looked at forward vs ageable..acidity or lush...
the wineries represented at the panel were Raptor Ridge, Eyrie, Archery Summit, Panther Creek and Elk Cove. All represented in missouri except for Raptor.

The afternoon seminar was a walking and tasting seminar at Domaine Drouhin Oregon on the Dundee Hills...they had carved out a 6 foot crater to show the depth of soil and where it came from.

They also explained sustainablity practices of cover crops, canopy maintenance and soil maintenance.

The wines tried here were from Drouhin, Erath and Lange..All which are represented in Missouri.

So far the information has been general and not to specific. I think I can tell I am getting older by the crowd of people (none of whom I know) I seem to gravitate toward. There are several 20 somethings who I envy in a way because I would have loved to have their passion when I was that age, but a lot of them are just asking questions that they know the answer of or making statements so they can appear to be smart or intelligent. My mother always said be silent and thought a fool instead of speaking and removing all doubt.

Dinner tonite at DOmaine Serene, one of the more pricey wineries. 25 wineries will be represented tonight

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

no new applebys here

i am sure of that.

Ciaran Malloy and Bogle Wines

Tasted through the lineup of Bogle wines today with the rep from bogle and the distributor rep. these wines have always been consistent and great value wines, maybe nothing exceptional but nothing awful either...
Bogle Sauv Blanc 06 a pink grapefruit style...trying to be new zealand...another example of the mondovino effect...sweet.

Bogle chardonnay sweet and a touch oaky..wall street journal always rates this as a top wine for the value and cost

Bogle PinotNoir 06 russian river ...light color...some cranberry...nice glass for the money..

Bogle Merlot..its merlot what more can yousay

Bogle Cabernet ..nice bottling for juice..some of the fruit actually comes from Napa and Sonoma...not very tannic but a little hot on the palate...alcohol.

Bogle Old Vine Zin ...not terribly impressed today...juicy, bordeaux style zin but nothing overly exciting.. a little chewy but for old vin a little disappointing.

Bogle Petite Syrah..dark color...juicy..interesting for people wanting to try a petite because of the price...usually a teeth stainer.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Marc Shoemaker of Glazer

Usually the big companies do not have much to taste as they are all about hitting the numbers that the big guns put to them

Stellina di Notte Pinot Grigio 2006 light minerla nothing original or interesting..definitely NOT fierce

Acacia 2006 Chardonnay Carneros fruity nose, creamy , some butter on the palate, lemon curd?? long finish with a toasty end.

111 Century Sryah North Coast 2005 some red fruit, uninspired and oring..a bit rustic..with some bing cherry and then nothing..a little spice on the end but....

Derrick Coffelt of Bommarito
2006 Olivet Lane Chardonnay lots of mineral and dry..dry dry...for those people looking for the anti california chardonnay

Figge Syrah 2005 Arroyo Seco from the Central Coast. dark inky color, iodine on the nose and very tight in flavors...may need some time to open up more...

last tastings before the trip

several wines yesterday...most had been tasted before in different vintages.

Craig Rohner of Pinnacle had a few interesting wines
Twin Vines Vinho Verde 2007 I like this wine because it does vintage date..usually vinho verde is a blend of recent vintages. light easy sipping wine this has a tang flavor, oranges and astronauts love it

Schmitges Halbrtroken (half dry) Riesling 2007 dry and oranges...no zip or zang to it but nice everyday riesling

St Innocent Shea Vineyards Pinot 2006 beautiful nose with mocha and lots of layers of flavors that keeps evolving.

TirNa Nog Old Vine Grenache Australia 2006 Aussie stink on the nose with a touch of salt? interesting maybe caused by the drought? very tight.

Long Shadows Pirouette 2005 a bordeaux style wine with a touch of syrah...lots of fruit, with a nice balance of tannin and juicy red fruit.. made with Philip Melka and Allen Shoup of St Michelle fame