sonoma

EXCEPTIONAL ZIN TIME

We aren’t ready to make some sweeping statement about some sort of Zinfandel rennaissence. There are a number of econiomic things working against that. So we’ll just chalk it up to random chance that we have come across a surprising number of really outstanins over the last few weeks. A number of them have a really limited audiences at the $50 and up pricing that seems to baseline for many of the top producers. But we have run across that have given us hope that California’s historic varietal has a future.

Jeff Gaffner has been around the industry a long time ( for you old timers, since he started with Richard Arrowood when he was at Chateau St. Jean). He created his own label, Saxon Brown, pulling name inspiration from the Jack London novel ‘Valley of the Moon’. As the notes reporterd, “Jeff always thought that if he had a daughter, he would name her Saxon Brown after the willful heroine of Jack London’s iconic novel… In 1997, after having two sons, Jeff decided to re-purpose the name he loved for his new wine label.”

We have known Jeff for a while. He is the definition of the ‘independent winemaker’. He has very specific ideas about how things should and the talent to make very stylish wines. He has a number of side gigs as well including Stephanie by Hestan, Black Kite, and Modicum (the in house label for French Laundry).

His style is a bit more ‘old school’ and bold, but the results are usually pretty tasty. Within the context of our recent spate of memorable Zinfandels we were presented this classic, Saxon Brown Zinfandel Fighting Brothers 2018. Named tongue in cheek after his two sons, this is what the varietal can be. It’s mouthfilling with a broad presentation of brambly, dark berry fruit, spice, and a healthy but well mesh dose of sweet wood notes. ‘Big Zin’ but balanced, pure and very expressive. In other words, a Zin lover’s Zin without the rough edges.

The Wine Spectator review does it justice, “Supple and jammy, with rich and multilayered berry cobbler and toasty spice flavors that expand and flesh out on the zesty finish. Drink now through 2029…93 Points.”

The price on that Wine Spectator review was $48, an acceptable tab in the current marketplace given the performance. We’d have bought a little at that price but, $29.98, we were a lot more interested. Delicious, classic Zin.

DID SOMEBODY SAY MERLOT?

Yeah we know that, largely thanks to the scathing ridicule of the varietal in the movie Sideways, the great sea of Merlot that was the trend previously has dried up. Nobody talks about Merlot any more and, while we have seen all manner of trends going south (see also Australian wine), we know its easier to follow the crowd for most folks. Some of us can still remember back to a time when bottling a varietal Merlot was pretty avant garde and wineries like Keenan and Duckhorn created a whole new awareness in the marketplace. For all you naysayers out there, we also like to mention that some of the world’s most sought after wines (Chateau Petrus, Chateau Trotanoy for example) are made from the stuff.

Some wineries never gave up the ghost and, frankly, Merlot can be a rather delicious alternative in the right hands. Getting back to history, the Merlot craze was so strong that producers were growing it in places that it shouldn’t have been grown and slapping together very ordinary bottlings that barely qualified varietally so they could capitalize on the trend. The same thing is happening today with pink wine. The point is that a lot of wines were made that sullied the grape’s reputation, but shame on the industry for that.

In any case, one of the wineries that was in early in the game and still doing very good work is Saint Francis. We hadn’t seen the wines in some time but a rep trotted in with a series of new releases from this old guard Sonoma producer, including reserve bottlings, and the most impressive, as well as the most remarkable value was the Saint Francis Merlot Sonoma County 2019.

Yes we are recommending a Merlot because it was an ample, plush, very solid red at a really good price. Deep color, inviting nose of blackberry, black cherry, spice, briar, and a little vanilla, the fruit appears unmanipulated and it’s pretty juicy. The juice comes from two sustainably farmed vineyards in the Sonoma Valley, Behler and Wild Oak, and saw 16 months in French oak, 25% new. The winery notes said it got a 91 point score from someone but didn’t say who. Not really the point though.

Our whole trip is that one shouldn’t be ashamed to drink Merlot when it’s this tasty and only $15.98. This is the kind of solid citizen that helped make the varietal popular in the first place. Just sayin…

ANOTHER VALUE CAB FIND (LIKE UNDER $20!)

It’s always good to find a well-performing California Cabernet Sauvignon at a great price. It has been a prime directive of ours almost since ‘day one’. But it should be stressed that, over the next couple of years as the market deals with the aftermath of the 2020 wildfires, this particular crusade is only going to get harder. Finding an ample, tasty Cab for under $25 is a greater achievement than it has ever been. For that reason, we are digging harder than ever, our task even more difficult because of our own unwavering standards.

That said, there are still things in the broad market from the very good 2018 and 2019 vintages out there at present that one should consider stockpiling to get through the ‘dark times’. Our latest find is Valravn Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 2109, the California wine project that has been building over the last decade as an adjunct for an importing company. Over that time they have developed sourcing relationships that are clearly paying off if this wine is any indication.

This is an ample, ripe Cabernet is composed of 92% Cab and the remaining 8% a mix of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. The grapes hail from a variety of Sonoma County vineyards including the sub-appellations of Dry Creek Valley, Moon Mountain, Sonoma Valley, and the cooler Knights Valley.
Combining elevations, aspects, climates, and soil types allowed the producers to blend the components for a seamless composition.

In the cellar, it is handled like an expensive wine. Hand-sorted grapes undergo an extended cold-soak followed by primary fermentation in stainless steel. The wine is then racked to French oak barrels (new, second use, and neutral) for 18 months of aging. After aging, the wine was gravity settled and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

There are a few stumbling blocks on the marketing end. For example, as you’ll note, the juice came from Sonoma. They do grow some fine Cabernet there however. Just think back to the delicious Sinegal Details bottling we offered a while back. But Napa has done a better job of promotion.

Also, the name looks like someone forgot to buy a vowel. But the name is in fact a reference to Danish folklore where ‘regular’ ravens who ate the hearts of kings felled in battle became supernatural. Sounds more like an episode of ‘Vikings’ than a name for a wine but we aren’t ‘judging’. Besides, the value here supersedes all of that.

The happy outcome of all of this is a big, juicy, fruit driven display of black fruits laced with flecks of clove, spice, espresso and dark chocolate. Deep color, honest fruit, sleek texture, this delivers far beyond its remarkably modest price point ($19.98).

HANSEL PINOT: MORE THAN JUST ‘NUMBERS’

It has become the norm for consumers to ‘buy by the numbers’ or respond to some other publicity that calls attention to a particular producer. For that reason we still see Walter Hansel’s wines, which have performed admirably for a couple of decades after starting with some cuttings and a little help from Tom Rochioli, as still kind of under the radar. That is both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s bad for them because they are performing well above the crowd but still aren’t quite considered the iconic producer they should be, though they don’t have any trouble selling wine.

The good part is that, because of their less-than-deserved notoriety and rather humble pricing, they are one of the best values in premium Pinot Noir. Take this 2016 Walter Hansel Estate Pinot Noir Russian River Valley. It is all estate-grown and made up of grapes from the five blocks on the property that are also the source of individual vineyard bottlings that do get their share of critical attention. It is loaded with personality, exudes a very tender and engaging palate of dark cherry and mulberry touched with the classic clove and spice notes that define the Russian River’s terroir.

As we have said many times, the ‘little guy’ is usually tasted among it’s higher intentioned siblings and tends to be overshadowed when the reviews are finally published. The thing is, as is often the case, once this one is given the opportunity to shine on its own, it impresses. We have been tasting Hansel wines for a long time and this is certainly among the most appealing. Fresh, lively and at the same time tender and seamless, this is what Pinot Noir is all about.

Wine Advocate’s Lisa Perotti-Brown gives a good assessment of the wine, “Pale ruby-purple colored, the 2016 Pinot Noir Estate has amazingly pure notions of crushed cranberries, Bing cherries and redcurrants with touches of garrigue, tilled soil and bay leaves. Medium to full-bodied, it delivers bags of crunchy red berry flavors and a lovely satiny texture with a very long, lively finish…91 points.”

But we know people, too, and among the individual estate designates, which score as high as 95 points, this one is less likely to get its due. We think the performance here merits a point or two higher. More important than numbers, this is a fantastic performer in the glass winning on all fronts, purity, complexity, palate feel and personality. Less than 900 cases were produced. For Pinot drinkers, this is a must. For our part, we have made the access price a bit more attractive with one of our special ‘click-through’ price deals.

Value Sauv. Blanc from a Budding Superstar Winemaker

We pretty much gushed when we first discovered the wines of Bibiana González Rave Pisoni. We could repeat her saga of making wine on three continents before she finally settled in the Golden State. She has many irons in the fire this days and we can say that have never had a wine from her, in whatever price range it was, that wasn’t top flight.

In a few words, ‘this girl is on fire’, making a style that is deeply expressive, full flavored, energetic and precise. Now granted, that would seem to be expected of the many of her wines that are in the $70-80 price range, though they do excel in that arena vis-a-vis the competition. But what we find most enticing, in line with our philosophy of seeking out the ‘little’ wines from the top talents, is her value-driven Alma de Cattleya line. We have been particularly enamored with the Sauvignon Blanc which, at $16.98, is arguably the best buy among California Sauv. Blancs.

Her just released Alma de Cattleya Sauvignon Blanc Sonoma County 2018 is, once again, a well put together, vigorously expressive mouthful of lime, guava, pear, fig, and fresh herbs. The fruit ‘pops’ up front and expands across the palate, but the tension and acidity keep it humming right through the finish. It is an attention-getting and beautifully fresh example of the breed.

The only potential problem with the wine is that it is made to be the best Sauv. Blanc it can be and true to type. That probably means it will likely not get its due when judged in some 100 example mega-tasting the media often conducts which favors blowsier and more idiosyncratic efforts because they stand out in a crowd.

But one-on-one, this is a little value gem. It’s in a straight up, juicy style with impressive purity, plus that insistent underlying hum that differentiates it from the rank and file of the genre. This is the ‘hot ticket’ among go-to Sauvignon Blancs. Even though we can’t necessarily expect big ‘numbers’, knowledgeable insiders are snapping it up quickly.