2011 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Blanc

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Bonny Doon Winery.

With the weather finally turning to spring here (perhaps?) my thoughts have turned to white wines and (even more) bubbly. Keeping that in mind when I dove into the cellar for something to drink the other night, I popped up with the 2011 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Blanc. I previously reviewed the 2010 vintage here. The current vintage is a bit more Grenache Blanc heavy, at 62% with the remainder being Roussanne. Last vintage was only 55% Grenache Blanc. The wine has a screw cap closure, clocks in at 12.5% alcohol by volume, and retails for $28.

Four takeaways from this mine:

1.) While the Roussanne still made its presence known with the mouthfeel and the viscosity, it felt less dominant to me in this vintage.

2.) I imagined myself eating crab with this wine, which we often indulge in during the spring and summer months.

3.) Or simply sipping it on one of those delightful spring nights where it is still cool enough to rock on the front porch.

4.) Overall, I’ve been mightily impressed with the quality of the wine coming out of Bonny Doon.

On the nose I got yellow apple, melon, pear, lemon, orange zest, flowers, mineral notes, and slight honey.  In the mouth I found green apple, lemon, pear, and grapefruit.  The wine had a lovely mouthfeel with a slight viscosity and a long finish.

 

 

Filed under: California, Roussanne, White, Wine | Leave a Comment »

Sometimes Size Matters

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Sonadora

When we are talking about wine, that is. Large format bottles are fun to open when you have a big group over for tasting and they impact the way that wine ages in a bottle. I particularly enjoy large format bottles for sparkling wines, though I buy them with all sorts of wine inside. I think I currently have about a dozen Magnum format bottles in the basement, mostly of Petite Sirah (which often has great aging potential) and of sparkling wine. We busted one open when an old friend came to town recently.  After perusing the options, we settled on the 2000 Roederer Estates L’Ermitage Brut.  I purchased this wine directly from the winery a few years ago and it’s been resting alongside its siblings in our basement every since. I think it retails for around $100 for the bottle, but I can’t recall what I paid for it.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) Having a Magnum of sparkling wine makes you feel like you actually got enough glasses as you can never have too much sparkling wine.

2.) I’ve had this wine in a regular sized bottle before. You can read my notes from that and compare here.

3.) Nearly 3 years later and the large format bottle (not sure which or if both of those factors contributed) gave this bottle a heft on the palate that I didn’t find before along with a creaminess.

4.) I need to drink more bubbles.

On the nose I got toast, bread, lemon, pear, and apple. In the mouth I found apple, toast, pear, yeast, and bread. Overall the wine had a heft and creaminess on the palate I really enjoyed, especially on the finish.

 

 

Filed under: California, Roederer Estates, Sparkling wine, White, Wine | 1 Comment »

Sipping Sauvignon Blanc

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery.

Snow? Cold? Rain? Gray fog? Nothing says Sauvignon Blanc like that kind of weather, right? Well, I often like to pretend it’s summer or spring when we’re in the dead of winter. Plus, the overgrown rodent in PA says it will be an early spring.  Cheers to hoping it’s right.  We opened up the 2010 Cornerstone Cellars Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc to go with a quiche Lorraine the other day.  The wine has a real cork closure, clocks in at 14.1 percent alcohol by volume, and retails for $25.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) It had me dreaming of heat waves, so it served that purpose.

2.) You can’t see me but I’m making that motion with my fingers to my lips and saying “perfecto” about the pairing with the quiche Lorraine.

3.) I’ll take a bottle for the first 90 degree day of the year.

4.) I’d also drink this with grilled white fish, fondue, pasta with cream sauces, on it’s own on a tropical beach somewhere…

On the nose I found lime, lemon, white peach, grapefruit, and pear. I could smell the acidity and it made my mouth water.  In the mouth I got grapefruit, white peach, lemon, and pear.  Tart and refreshing, my final note on the wine (twice, that is) is “yummy.”

 

 

Filed under: California, Cornerstone Cellars, Sauvignon Blanc, White, Wine | 1 Comment »

Syrah Kind of Day

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery.

We had a cold cold week in the DC area last week and I was digging red wines. I wrestled the 2008 Bonny Doon Bien Nacido Syrah from it’s comfortable resting place in the cellar and dragged it upstairs to pair with some good old fashioned meatloaf.  Seems like comfort food and red wine make it just a little cold out. Especially when your heating system decided to give out for the second time in the winter and you needed to seek alternate sources of warmth. The Bonny Doon Syrah sports a screw cap closure, clocks in at 13.9% alcohol by volume, and retails for $42.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) The Bien Nacido has  a nose you can get lost in.

2.) I’d recommend decanting the Bien Nacido and letting it get some serious air. It kept getting better and better with time in the glass.

3.) I think, given how the wine developed in the glass, combined with the acidity and tannins, the Bien Nacido could easily age for quite some time.

4.) Meatloaf was good, but next time I’d go with my rosemary/mint/mustard/breadcrumb crusted rack of lamb.

 

On the nose I found spice, cedar chest, cinnamon, baking spice, the aroma of Christmas, (pine tree, spices, cookies), espresso, pepper, cherry, and raspberry.  I would have kept sniffing at the wine, but I was afraid to lose my second glass to Matt if I didn’t move on to the palate.  In the mouth I found meat, black cherry, leather, spice, raspberry, plum, pepper, earth, and more black fruit.  Overall, the wine had great structure and acidity and seemed alive in the glass to me.

 

Filed under: California, Red, Syrah, Wine | 2 Comments »

You Need This Wine

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Sonadora

You haven’t tried wines from Bill Wertzberger? What are you waiting for, a personal invite? Don’t wait. Bill makes small lot wines from small lots of grapes that he buys from his million and one contacts in the Northern CA wine world. He’s also an accomplished artist (all his wine labels are his own artwork), a musician, and he works at Teldeschi as well. Look him up and tell him I sent you his way. In addition to all of the above, he’s a generally all around good guy and someone who is awesome to spend an afternoon with.  I suggest you do so, immediately.  The wine. We tried the 2010 Wertzberger Pedroni Vineyards Cabernet Franc with our roast the other night.  It has a real cork closure, clocks in at 14.5% alcohol by volume, and retails for $30 with 72 cases produced.

1.) I’m always impressed with the depth of the wines in Bill’s portfolio.

2.) Cab Franc is my (not so secret) wine love.

3.) Get lost in the nose of this wine.

4.) I buy a lot of wine from Bill, at least 4 cases a year. His Cab Franc is perennially one of my favorite wines.

On the nose I got spice, herbs, green pepper, chocolate, strawberry, raspberry, more herbs, red cherry, and flowers. In the mouth I found raspberry, black cherry, strawberry, spice, herbs, pepper, and chocolate. The fruit was more prominent on the palate than on the nose for me. The wine had excellent acidity and good tannins on the finish.

 

 

Filed under: Cabernet Franc, California, Red, Wine | 2 Comments »

Lobstah. It’s what’s for dinnah.

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery for review.

I’m on a bit of an Albariño kick these days.  We traveled North for Christmas this year to see my parents for the holidays in CT. In CT, lobster is $4.99 a pound. In VA, it’s $8.99 a pound if you can find it. And, you can almost never (read: it’s happened ONCE in the decade I’ve lived here) find steamers.  We enjoyed this lobster and some steamers with the 2011 Bonny Doon Albariño. The wine clocks in at 13.2% alcohol by volume, has a screw cap closure, and retails for around $15.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) I could drink this all day, every day with steamers. Add in the lobster and I’m in heaven.

2.) The Bonny Doon Albariño is a super value at sub-$20. It easily makes my list of best white wines I tasted in 2012.

3.) I sort of feel bad for lobsters, but they can rest easy knowing they were paired with such an excellent match.

4.) It appears the 2011 is nearly sold out (or sold out) but be sure to keep an eye out for the 2012.

On the nose I found honeysuckle, tangerine, candied pineapple, lemon, lemongrass, and orange.  The nose smelled tart and promised good things to come to help cut through the butter and rich lobster flavors.  In the mouth I got lemon, lime, tangerine, orange blossom notes, more lime, and pineapple. The promise of the nose held true with excellent acidity and tart fruit flavors.

 

 

Filed under: Albarino, California, White, Wine | 4 Comments »

Starting off the New Year

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery.

What should you drink in the New Year? Wine from Bonny Doon, clearly. I’ve been quite impressed with many of the Bonny Doon wines I’ve tasted over the last year or so and can easily recommend many of them.  In fact, I pulled out this one to start off 2013, the 2008 Le Cigare Volant.  The 2008 has a screw cap closure, clocks in at 14.2% alcohol by volume, and retails for about $38.  The 2008 is a blend of 45% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 13% Mourvèdre, 7% Cinsault, and 5% Carignane.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) I went to a college where the tradition for freshmen is to run the number of their class year in laps around a giant bonfire on the green. My first thought on tasting/smelling this wine was that it evoked the memory of the smell of that fire for me.

2.) I thought the Syrah really sung in this blend, but the Mourvedre gave it a nice heft and color.

3.) Drink with bacon.

4.) Randall Graham is even cooler in person than online. :) I had the pleasure of listening to him speak at the Wine Blogger Conference in Oregon this year!

On the nose I found black cherry, black plum, campfire, crushed violets, blue fruit, spice, and forest floor.  In the mouth I got black cherry, campfire, blueberry, spice, and forest floor.  Overall I found the fruit to be juicy and tart.

 

Filed under: California, Red, Wine | 1 Comment »

Wine and NASCAR??

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery to participate in a live tasting event.

I’ve never seen a NASCAR race.  I really don’t know much about it at all. It’s certainly never something I expected to come across in the context of writing a wine blog. Then a direct message arrived on Twitter asking me if I’d like to participate in a live tasting with Jeff Gordon and his new wine, the 2008 Jeff Gordon Joie De Vivre.  Color me intrigued and a bit skeptical.  The wine has a real cork closure and retails for $61.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) Wine and NASCAR: not nearly the strange combo I imagined.

2.) The Joie De Vivre has one of those noses you can get lost in.

3.) In the glass the wine had so much going on that I had to keep coming back to my notes to add new descriptors.

4.) I am no longer a skeptic and this is definitely not just another celebrity wine.

On the nose I got flowers, chocolate, caramel, herbs, spice, blackberry, plum, and black cherry.  The nose on this wine is amazing.  Intriguing, multi-layered, and keeps getting better with air.  In the mouth I found black cherry, smoke, spice, herbs, mint, tobacco, more black cherries, toffee, toast, currants, and coffee notes.  The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, a different choice for a blend.  Seeing the wine evolve over the time in the glass leads me to believe it could easily age in the bottle for many years to come.

 

 

Filed under: California, Red, Wine | 2 Comments »

Jordan Wins Again

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Jordan Winery.
Jordan knows how to make a good thing, so they stick to it. They make Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon and that’s pretty much it. (Sorry, I appear to have misplaced my photos of this bottle. For some reason I lost a week’s worth of photos somewhere in the ether.)  Tonight we tried out the 2008 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon which clocks in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, has a real cork closure, and retails for $52. Jordan also makes estate olive oil, which is very yummy. Technical term.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) Serving something juicy, red, and cow-based for Christmas? Serve this.

2.) You can get lost in the nose of this wine.

3.) If you can unbury your nose from your glass, the palate of the wine has a ton to offer as well.

4.) Jordan’s Cabernet is great right out of the bottle but they age wonderfully as well, as evidenced by a tasting I did at Jordan last spring.

On the nose I got black currants, berries, cigar, herbs, spice, cardamom, chocolate, roasted coffee beans, and bay leaf. The wine has one hell of a nose. In the mouth I found black cherry, black currants, spice, chocolate, herbs, and berries. Overall I found the wine to be juicy with lots of a depth and a long finish.

 

 

Filed under: Cabernet Sauvignon, California, Red, Wine | Comments Off

Drink With Turkey

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample.

I’m not a big one on “this is a perfect pairing with Thanksgiving” because I don’t really think there is such a thing. But some wines will work better than others and to me I want something on the lighter side with lots of acidity. Not sure about anyone else, but we have a lot of food at Thanksgiving and it’s general some heavy stuff with potatoes, stuffing, etc.  The 2011 The Crusher Rose of Pinot Noir fits my bill for a decent Thanksgiving wine at a great price. It has a real cork closure and retails for around $11.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) At times odd wine descriptors jump into my head, like for this wine where I wrote down “pink berries.” What does that even mean?

2.) I liked this wine because you could just smell the acidity on the nose.

3.) Like I said, turkey dinner.

4.) I could also easily picture this as a porch sipper in the summer.

(I seem to have misplaced the pictures of this wine….) On the nose I got pink berries (?), raspberries, watermelon, and white pepper. The crispness and acidity I could smell on the nose made my mouth water. In the mouth I found melon, watermelon, raspberry, strawberry, and more melon. Overall the wine was crisp, acidic, and really quite tasty.

 

Filed under: California, Rose, Wine | 1 Comment »

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