Wines I'm Making: 2017 Cabernet and Sangiovese Bottled

Newly bottled and labeled 2017 wines

I finally got around to bottling and making labels for the 2017 wines--a very small batch of Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc from the backyard vines and two batches of Zinfandel from the neighbor's grapes, some oaked, some unoaked.

2018 Sangiovese in the press

In other wine news, I pressed the 2018 Sangiovese from our vines on October 14, after an 11-day fermentation. We got a little under four gallons of Sangiovese, which will make 20 bottles. I pressed the Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc today, October 17. The 2018 yield was six gallons, which will make 30 bottles, or 2.5 cases.

Sangiovese ready for the press

Wines I'm Drinking: Recent Grocery Outlet Wines (December 9, 2016)

Ever hopeful of finding bargains, I continue to visit my local Grocery Outlet on a regular basis. I've tried a couple dozen wines there in the past few weeks. As usual the majority are fairly uninteresting, if not objectionable, but I've lately come across a few bargains and a few worth mentioning as wines to avoid. The biggest recent disappointment was probably the 2009 Ripanera Chianti Classico. Ripanera is a fairly reliable brand for everyday wines. I've had decent examples in the past, but this wine was flawed, with an odd, jarring, volatile component. I took it back.

The 2014 Castle Tower Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel looked promising—although "Castle Tower" sounds like one of those generic, made-up names slapped onto wine of no special interest just to get it on the market. The wine was fairly tannic, not very fruit-forward, shortish, and generally ungenerous. Not terribly interesting. The 2013 Benison Lodi Zinfandel I tasted it with was better, with some red berry and sandalwood scents and a bright palate. Although it seemed a bit hollow—the flavors disappearing on the mid-palate—it came back with a fairly concentrated fruity, if somewhat woody finish. Acceptable everyday wine.

Recent Grocery Outlet finds that seem particularly worth recommending include the 2011 Bailiwick Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($6.99). Pinot Noir is perhaps the hardest of all common varieties to find cheap. I've been disappointed over and over again trying to find decent examples at an affordable price. The Bailiwick Pinot is not fine Burgundy, but it's quite solid California-style Pinot at a bargain price. It's as good as some I've tasted costing four to five times as much. It has presence and true Pinot qualities with a little character of its own. I went back for a case. Recommended—if it's not all gone. (The label shown here is the 2010 Russian River Valley Pinot from Bailiwick.)

A good deal is the 2011 Alto Cinco Garnacha ("High Five" get it?), from Spain. Another decent wine for everyday consumption with real Grenache character. Grenache is an under-rated grape in my view. When well done, it can have an irresistibly appealing ripe fruitiness. Also not bad is the 2013 Flying Feet Syrah.

Around Thanksgiving time I picked up a decent Champagne, the D'Armanville Brut, for $19.99 a bottle—actually less than that, as they were having a 20% off sale on all wines at the time. I can't say the D'Armanville is the best Champagne I've ever had, but it's competently made, has pleasingly fine bubbles, and is a nice change from the local sparkling wines in the same price range from the likes of Mumm Napa and Roederer. It's hard to find real Champagne of any kind at this price, although Grocery Outlet now has another on the shelves at $19.99 (with a blue label, I've forgotten the name) that was not as good, with comparatively large, loose bubbles and a bit on the sweet side despite being labeled "Brut". The D'Armanville is still available at the time of writing. I also picked up several bottles of a decent $6.99 Cava called Gran Barón. This appears to be gone, but I'll be picking up more if it appears again. Not great wine by any means, but respectable, everyday sparkling wine—and why not drink sparkling wine every day?

I have no financial or other connections with any producer or retailer of wine. For more wine reviews, use the "Wines I'm Drinking" label at top right

Wines I'm Drinking: Portalupi Wine, Healdsburg, CA

I stopped into Willi's Seafood & Raw Bar at the corner of Healdsburg Ave. and W. North St. in Healdsburg yesterday, tired after a long day of landscaping work, to treat myself to a glass of wine with my lobster roll--a late lunch. I noticed a Vermentino on the wine list from Portalupi Wines, a winery I'd never encountered before. At its best, Vermentino is both crisp and flavorful. It seemed a perfect choice, as I wanted something refreshing--although I was wary; so many California versions of the more obscure European grapes turn out heavy, monolithic, and too alcoholic to be either refreshing or very interesting. I ordered a glass, reassured by my waitress, who appeared to know what she was talking about, and I was impressed from the first sip. I very much enjoyed the 2013 Vermentino from Portalupi (from the Las Brisas vineyard, in the Carneros region). It was exactly what I wanted. The wine has fruity presence and good length with just the right amount of crisp, balancing acidity (suggestive of key limes) to make it seem delicate. An excellent example of wine made from this grape--as good as any I've had in the variety's heartland, in Sardinia.

Vermentino seems to be gaining a foothold in California. Mahoney Vineyards, also in the Carneros region, has a good reputation (although I've not tried their wines yet). I've tasted the Vermentino Tablas Creek Winery (affiliated with France's Château de Beaucastel) is making in Paso Robles and I've talked Vermentino with one of its champions in the state, Ken Volk, who makes Vermentino wines (and many others) in Paso Robles. There has been activity in the Lodi area and the Sierra foothills as well. I look forward to tasting more Vermentino wines from local producers (and it would be nice to see them on retail shelves at the kind of affordable prices they go for in Italy--often less than $10 for even the best examples--where they are everyday wines).

While eating, I happened to look across the street and was surprised to see a sign for the Portalupi tasting room, literally a stone's throw from the raw bar--something of an odd coincidence. I resolved immediately to stop there after my lunch. I ended up having a very enjoyable conversation and tasting, the wines poured by the winemaker himself, Tim Borges (Portalupi is his wife's family name). Borges has been making wine for others for decades, but the Portalupi label appears to have emerged around 2002. The Healdsburg tasting room has been in operation since 2010. Portalupi makes small lots (10 wines totaling about 5,000 cases annually) and the love shows. I tasted all the wines available in the tasting room. I was particularly impressed by the Vermentino (as noted above); a somewhat unusual, but quite successful white blend that Portalupi packages in what look like liter milk bottles; and a wonderfully perfumed old vine Zinfandel redolent of raspberries that put me in mind of Paul Draper's Geyserville. That said, the entire line-up is marked by a refreshing lightness and restraint that gives the wines more elegance and nuance than is often the case in California. Delicious. Recommended. The Portalupi Wine tasting room is at 107 North St., Healdsburg, 95488 (707 395-0960) grazie@portalupiwine.com.

I have no financial connections of any kind with the companies mentioned in this post.

Wines I'm Drinking: 2009 J&J Cellars Paso Robles Estate Zinfandel

Tonight I tasted the 2009 J&J Cellars Paso Robles Estate Zinfandel, one of a group of about ten wines I picked up this afternoon at my local Grocery Outlet, looking for bargains. Although comparatively inexpensive at only $5.99 a bottle, I don't think this wine is a very good value, and it's not a wine I'll buy again, but every bottle is interesting. Brief tasting notes follow. 

Medium-deep garnet red. Although only three years old, this estate Zinfandel doesn't have the look of a young wine. Scents of tea, plums, and something floral at first, but later mostly suggestive of stewed fruit. Seems a bit hot on the palate right from the start--with the alcohol too prominent--and thus a little out of balance. The heady alcoholic component was accompanied by a rather dark, ripe, fruity sweetness and suggestions of caramel. Light acidity. Very little tannin to speak of. Seems heavy and lacking in finesse, if not entirely uninteresting. Sweet vanilla flavors on the finish. Lingering stewed fruit sweetness on a fairly long finish. Tastes like raisins more than anything, perhaps. The sort of wine that has some immediate appeal but that quickly tires the palate. I suspect this might be popular with wine drinkers that mistake the punch of ripe fruit and alcohol for quality in wine, but unlikely to please anyone with more refined tastes. After tasting the wine, I checked the label and was not surprised to see that it's nearly 15% alcohol (14.8%). Perhaps the grapes would have been better used to make a Port-style wine? In fairness to the winery, I'd be interested to taste a fresh bottle that has definitely been stored properly. There's a chance that the stewed quality of the wine I tried was caused or enhanced by poor storage, and that that's why this particular selection showed up at Grocery Outlet. Grocery Outlet is always an interesting adventure. From a little Internet sleuthing, I see that the 2009 J&J Cellars Paso Robles Estate Zinfandel normally sells for about $16 a bottle at the winery.

Wines I'm Drinking: Pedroncelli 2010 Dry Creek Valley Dry Rosé of Zinfandel

Rosé of Zinfandel? If those words bring "White Zinfandel" to mind and make you cringe, you're probably not alone, but that's an unfortunate effect of the huge commercial success in the 1980s--mostly among unsophisticated wine drinkers--of White Zinfandel, a wine that was usually blandly flavored and cloyingly sweet, and thus a travesty of Zinfandel. From a marketing perspective, it was a stroke of genius, however: it provided an outlet for large quantities of (red) Zinfandel grapes in the US, where demand at the time was mostly for white wines. But relax: White Zinfandel has largely disappeared from the shelves, and few seem to lament its demise.

Setting aside the White Zinfandel association, why not rosé of Zinfandel? Any good red grape ought to make a good dry rosé, and I've often wondered why we don't see more dry rosé wines from Zinfandel or from Cabernet or many other grapes. I suppose, the answer is purely one of economics. No commercial winery will make such wines if they believe they won't sell, and few Americans appreciate rosé. No winery will use grapes to make rosé if they know a fully red wine from the same grapes will sell better and at a higher price. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see this wine. I decided to try it because the label emphatically calls it a "Dry Rosé of Zinfandel." A dry Zinfandel rosé is a fairly rare beast.Tasting notes follow.  

A pretty pink--somewhere between coral and watermelon with something of the scent of strawberries and suggestions of honey or honeysuckle on the nose. Unfortunately, this is not bone dry. To my palate, it's sweet (although it's not White Zinfandel). The sweetness is moderate and offset by decent acidity, and there's even a hint of tannic bite. The fruit flavors suggest very ripe strawberries rather than the dark, brambly flavors I usually associate with Zinfandel. Moderate length on the palate.

I suspect I'd have liked this if it had been truly dry. It's got just enough sweetness that it tires the palate quickly, however, and I find it hard to think what food it might go with--spicy foods or garlic-laden foods, perhaps? Probably best on its own as a sipping wine. This may appeal to some, but I'd call it fruity, uncomplicated, and easy to drink, but with no attributes to give it any special interest, and I won't be buying it again. $9.49 at Oliver's Market, in Santa Rosa.

Wines I'm Making: Racked Zinfandel

I did a paper chromatography test on all the wines yesterday and found that the malolactic fermentation was mostly finished in the Zinfandel, so I racked the wines, sulfited lightly (to about 50ppm) and added medium toast French oak staves to both the three- and five-gallon carboys. The Cabernet needs more time and the second-press Cab still shows a lot of malic acid, so I will wait to rack both those wines. The "fake" Cab is too acidic because I accidentally added more acid blend than I had intended. I'm hoping further malolactic fermentation and then some serious cold to precipitate tartrate crystals will help soften it. The Sangiovese rosé I moved into the garage where it's cooler. Will have to rack that wine soon, too.

Wines I'm Making: Malolactic Fermentation (2009)

The winery activity around the house has peaked and slowed for the season. Next I need to think about harvesting honey, but I doubt I'll have time ahead of the rains predicted for early next week. At present, the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Zinfandel are quietly undergoing malolactic fermentation in the living room and the Sangiovese rosé is still fermenting in the garage on day nine. This fermentation is already more than twice as long as what has been normal using the Epernay II yeast. Typically, the rosé has fermented in about four days--rather violently. I'm hoping the slow, extended fermentation this year will make the wine even better.

Once again being left with still useful-looking pressings from the Cabernet this year, I decided to make a second-run wine. It may be horrible, but at least I'll know it's not worth doing twice. Into the skins and seeds left over after pressing, I added 6 gallons of water, 10 pounds of sugar, and just over 2 ounces of an acid blend (combining tartaric, malic, and citric acids). Fermentation began again spontaneously. So far, it has behaved just like a normal fermentation. It's remarkable how much color is left in the skins. The wine is already a respectable red. I hope there is enough flavor left in them to make the wine at least palatable.

Wines I'm Making: Harvested and crushed 321 pounds of Zinfandel

Harvested the neighbor's Zinfandel grapes today. We took in and crushed 321lbs of grapes. We had to pick a little earlier than would have been ideal because of raccoon losses and because the grapes were not watered much, so the sugar was rising more as a result of dehydration than because of maturity. Still, the must tests at 23.2 Brix and 1.090 by the hydrometer with a pH of 3.6--not too bad. Sulfited to around 55ppm. Will inoculate with yeast tomorrow. This will be my first time making Zinfandel. The Cabernet and Sangiovese grapes in our own back yard have been better cared for. I expect to harvest them in the next week or so. Above is a photo of my grape-stained hand, looking as if cast in bronze.

Following day: Inoculated the must at around 4:30 with Rhone yeast L2226. Must tested at 1.091 by hydrometer, pH of 3.66, and total acidity of 1.080, at 70 degrees. That translates into a temperature-adjusted Brix of 22.3 for potential alcohol of 12.9%--quite respectable.