An Oldie

Posted on April 14, 2010 by Sonadora

We bought this wine so long ago. It had to be in 2006. It might have even been on our honeymoon. I don’t recall what I paid for it then, and I didn’t write it down anywhere. Looks like the 2006 is retailing for around $24, so I’m going to guess that’s about what I paid, give or take. The wine is the 2005 Marimar Estate Don Miguel Vineyards Chardonnay, which clocked in at 14.2% alcohol by volume and had a real cork closure.

On the nose I got caramel, vanilla bean, vanilla, spice, pear, honey, apple, and toasty oak. In the mouth, the fruit came out of hiding with apple, pear, tropical notes, and toast rounding out the palate. Although the oak was there, this was no butter bomb. It had great acidity that kept all the flavors in check and was more like an apple crumble in a glass.

Filed under: California, Chardonnay, Marimar, White, Wine | 1 Comment »

Tasty, but pricey.

Posted on September 25, 2008 by Sonadora

The wine for the evening came from a club shipment, the 2004 Marimar Estate Christina Pinot Noir, Don Miguel Vineyard. It cost me $39, clocked in at 14% alcohol, and had a real cork closure. The wine is unfiltered, which translated to lots of sediment. If you are going to drink it, I would definitely recommend decanting it to get rid of the sediment.


On the nose, the flavors appeared very tight at first, not giving up a hint of the wine within. We intended to drink this with dinner, but it took a good hour or so in the glass to open up. After it did, I got aromas of strawberries, oak, spice, leather, raspberries, cherry coke, vanilla, and baking spice. In the mouth I found red berries, cherries, raspberries, sour cherries, and coke.

The wine showed darked in the mouth than I expected, the flavors were deep, but ultimately I would describe the fruit as quite tart. The finish disappointed a bit, it feel off quickly. The wine also had some tannins, so perhaps it wasn’t quite ready to drink. Cellartracker said starting in 2007, but take that for what it’s worth. A bit out of my everyday price range as well, which is one of the reasons we are no longer members of this club!

Filed under: California, Marimar, Pinot Noir, Red | 2 Comments »

Bonus Blogging!

Posted on October 26, 2007 by Sonadora

Usually on Fridays you just get my weekend round-up, but my reviews are piling up on me and I need to get them posted without overloading the blog with content. So since the round-up is short this week I thought I’d post a review too.

The wine was a Marimar 2004 Torres Family Vineyards Don Miguel Vineyards Pinot Noir. Whew, now that’s a mouthful of a name for a wine. Unfiltered and hailing from the Russian River Valley, the wine clocked in at 14% alcohol by volume, had a real cork closure and cost us (gasp!) $39 from a club shipment.

On the nose I found smokey leather, cherries, and raspberries. I described the aroma as fresh, strong fruit in my notes with an earthy hint and a medicinal note. In the mouth I found sour red cherries and raspberries. The wine was tart and tannic.

Overall, this a bottle that could certainly lay down for much more time before you drink it. If I had any more, I’d sock it away for at least 3-4 years, it should develop nicely. Alas, $39 for a bottle of wine plus shipping is way out of my everyday wine budget these days, so we won’t be seeing another one of these. I also had to cancel my membership in this club as the prices kept rising and while I felt some of the wine were worth it, others were not, and I don’t like the 50% or so success rate on wines that all cost over $30.

Filed under: California, Marimar, Pinot Noir, Red | 3 Comments »

Too much for too little

Posted on September 13, 2007 by Sonadora

I was not impressed with this bottle of wine. It was a 2004 Marimar Don Miguel Vineyard Dobles Lias Unfiltered Chardonnay. At a price point near $40, I really expect a very good bottle of wine that has some depth and complexity. While this was not a bad bottle of wine, it just wasn’t a lot for the money.

It had a real cork closure, hailed from the Russian River Valley and clocked in at 14.1% alcohol by volume. The wine came in a club shipment.

I got wood, lemon and flowers on the nose. In the mouth there was lingering lemon and ginger. The whole wine was buttery and a bit on the oaky side. NMS of Chardonnay.

Filed under: California, Chardonnay, Marimar, White | 2 Comments »

Naked Chardonnay Again!

Posted on August 29, 2007 by Sonadora

Moving really screwed up my entering shipments of wine into Cellartracker. So when it came time for WBW 36 I thought my only “naked” Chardonnay was the one I had just purchased at Breaux Vineyard. I was mistaken and overlooked this bottle of 2006 Marimar Estates Acero Chardonnay from Don Miguel Vineyard in the Russian River Valley.

The wine came in a club shipment, cost $29 minus a club discount and was 14.2% alcohol by volume, on the higher end for a white wine in my experience. It also had a screw-cap as this is a lower-end Marimar production.

I’m beginning to think that my nose might be off these days. On the nose of the wine I was knocked over to find an overwhelming aroma of peanut butter. I thought I was losing my mind, but Matt concurred with my assessment. Under the peanut butter was lemon, green apple, and pineapple with a touch of cream. In the mouth I found green apples and lemons. Overall I would say the mouthfeel of this wine was tingly, almost as if it had tiny bubbles in it. The wine was crisp, but smooth at the end. A pretty good bottle of naked Chardonnay.

Filed under: California, Chardonnay, Marimar, White | 2 Comments »

Dinner and Good Friends

Posted on April 11, 2007 by Sonadora

We had some friends over for a dinner at our house recently and of course served my now famous homemade pizzas, bruschetta and chocolate mousse. Not to mention a good bit of wine. I love having people over because it gives me a chance to play hostess and I also get to serve a bottle of dessert wine, not something Matt and I would really drink on our own. A little too sweet for me to enjoy more than a cordial glass or two. And yes, I have little fancy crystal cordial glasses that I only drag out when we have company. Since Matt is our dishwasher for all things hand-wash needed, he prefers if I stick to dishwasher safe items! Such a deal though, I do all the cooking and his job is to wash the few things that can’t go in the dishwasher!

We consumed 3 bottles over the course of the evening, beginning with a 2005 Mauritson Sauvignon Blanc. I’ve reviewed that one before and liked it every bit as much this time as I did the last. I’m much looking forward to the new bottling, which I understand from a club email has just been released.

With the pizzas I served a 2004 Marimar Earthquake Vineyard Pinot Noir. I believe it cost us around $37, is unfiltered, has a real cork closure and is 14.5% alcohol by volume. A few weeks ago I reviewed the 2004 Marimar Stony Block Vineyard Pinot Noir and wasn’t terribly impressed. As I told you then, we had tried the Earthquake Pinot Noir in mid-October and I had remembered really enjoying it (though I could have just been delerious with excitement over passing the bar….) but I thought I’d try it again now so I could compare the two bottles.

The Earthquake was significantly better in my opinion. It had none of the thin or astringent flavors that characterized the Stony Block, though the price tag was still a little steep for what I found in the bottle. My first impression of the nose of this wine was that it had a distinctly toasty aroma, followed by raspberries and wood. The nose was pleasant, and perhaps I was too busy chatting with our company to notice more aromas, but I recalled it having an earthy and leathery quality the last time we drank this bottle. In the mouth, the taste was almost all black cherries, with hints of spices showing through as the wine aired. While tasty now, I believe this bottle could benefit from a bit more aging.

Filed under: California, Marimar, Pinot Noir, Red | 4 Comments »

Marimar Pinot Noir

Posted on March 26, 2007 by Sonadora

Our second bottle with our company and pizza this week was a 2004 Marimar Estate Pinot Noir from the Stony Block Vineyard.

The bottle came in a club shipment and it cost $42 minus whatever the club discount is. It was 14.5% alcohol by volume and had a real cork closure. This is an unfiltered wine.

In the glass the wine is a pretty ruby red color. On the nose I found strawberries and currants. It feels very light in the mouth and I am getting berries (raspberries and strawberries), a little spice and some oak. It has a bit of a kick at the end.

I much preferred the Alderbrook we had earlier in the evening. For the price, I was not all that impressed with the flavors or the depth of this wine. I found it a bit thin and lacking in flavor in the mouth to quite justify the price tag. We had a bottle of Marimar Earthquake Vineyard Pinot Noir perhaps a month before I started the blog to celebrate my passing of the bar and I remember that being an excellent wine, so I was disappointed that this one just wasn’t nearly as good. I do have another bottle of the Earthquake hanging around so perhaps I will consume that one in the near future so I will have a better comparison point.

Filed under: California, Marimar, Pinot Noir, Red | Comments Off on Marimar Pinot Noir

Swing and a Hit!

Posted on March 9, 2007 by Sonadora

I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am to again be drinking wine after wine that I am enjoying so much. Between being sick for a week and getting a string of so-so bottles my palate was in desperate need of some good juice. And this last bottle continued the winning streak of excellent bottles.

We drank a bottle of 2004 Marimar Estate Acero Chardonnay. The wine cost us $30, came in a club shipment, checked in at 13.5% alcohol by volume and had a real cork closure.

This Marimar is steel fermented and is drinking fabulously now. On the nose I found pineapple, tropical fruit and a hint of exotic spices. It was a wonderful smell. In the mouth it displayed crisp lime and green apple tones.

The finish was very long and an excellent taste lingered in my mouth. I could picture myself drinking this on the patio in the summer. Too bad this was our only bottle! Overall, the structure was well done and I love the way the steel fermentation allows the characteristics of the grape to show through. I served this with leftovers last night, which probably didn’t do it much justice, but it worked fairly well with my leftover fish and chicken soup. I don’t think I can say the same for Matt’s leftover ravioli and pasta sauce though….

Filed under: Chardonnay, Marimar, White | Comments Off on Swing and a Hit!