CB Wine Cellars “Thirteen-B”
100% Pinot Noir. Central Coast, California 2018
Nestled on a ridge overlooking the foothills just south of the sleepy town of Tres Pinos lies a handful of vineyards, each with their own microclimate, and one of these is situated perfectly to produce a combination of elements that two great neighboring Pinot Noir regions benefit from: Mt. Harlan (of Calera fame) and Santa Lucia Highlands. Mt. Harlan is farther inland and can get extremely hot (and stay hot over night) but has some of the best soil for Pinot Noir: Calera limestone. This same vein runs through Tres Pinos as well. San Lucia Highlands gets warm during the day, but drastically cools off at night thanks to the seaward winds. Luckily the ridge where our Pinot Noir is grown also is graced by these cooling nights. A perfect combination! The resulting wine that we get in the bottle is just bursting with hyper aromatic, luscious, red floral notes of hibiscus and pomegranate that all make way for the mouth filling, plush and ripe, red cherry that makes way for the finish of green strawberries and subtle all spice and just a dusting of espresso. Simply wonderful.
La Sirena “Rosato”
100% Primitivo Rosé. Amador Country, California 2019
White. Zinfandel. Gasp! Those words have become synonymous with Beringer and all things less-than-expensive, and semi-sweet, in the wine world. While the name may carry a certain bad rap, there is a reason why Zinfandel was the grape of choice for the mega-production of Beringer (fun fact: more Zinfandel is grown for rosé production than red wine.) While some varietals of grapes can lose their nuance and pleasing flavors, Zin is so loud and confident that it carries extremely well into a dynamic rosé wine. La Sirena knew this and, as a clever way to get around the negativity tied to Zinfandel Rosé, they use an Italian variant of Zin, and can label it as Primitivo. Wine laws can be…strange. However, the fact of the matter stands: Zin makes for one damn good rosé wine. This is actually our second time offering this on our wine club (we last did the 2017 vintage a couple years back), and every year it gets better and better! The wine jumps out of the glass with pretty white and pink flowers that are neatly placed over a bushel of freshly picked berries, at peak ripeness, with a soft glaze of pink grapefruit and agave nectar while leading the imbiber to a snappy dry finish of red apples, that only begs for another sip. Yum!
Sans Liege “The Offering"
45% Grenache, 33% Syrah, 21% Mourvèdre, 1% Viognier. Santa Barbara County, California 2017
Oh, The Offering. A favorite at Swirl since day one, and it is so easy to see why. The wine is just so immediately charming and well balanced between it’s plush cassis notes that are so finely balanced with, one of my all time favorite tasting notes that the winemaker once used, ‘freshly broken branch’. It may sound odd, but it is so apt with the forest floor and earthy, wooded, notes that contains the blackberry, currants, and violets that want to just run wild, but are nicely contained with this framework that wafts in to a velvety finish. The finish is curious too - with all the bold flavors vying for attention one would think it would have a serious, spicy, finish, but that 1% Viognier has a unique, chemical, interaction when fermented with Syrah that, even with just 1%, gives as the luxurious finish to a wondrous wine.
Quinta de Silvares “Anselmo Mendes”
25% Touriga Nacional, 25% Tinta Roriz, 25% Alfrocheiro, 25% Jaen. Dão, Portugal 2015
Portuguese ‘still’ wines (still, aka not dessert, aka not Port) have seen a marvelous resurgence in the wine world thanks to the elegance and complexity the can exhibit, even in extremely warming climates, and the incredible value the offer. With the way the world is warming the Bordeaux governing board is actually experimenting, and allowing, Portuguese varietals to be grown and blended with the noble Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon! In Portugal a blend containing mostly Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roris are pretty much the norm for red wines and give something that is in-line with Bordeaux: dusty red fruit, and drying tannins. What sets this wine apart is both the age, 5 years certainly helps soften tannin, and the addition of Jaen, also known as Mencia, which is a grape more similar to Grenache: bright red floral tones and acid driven finishes. This all makes for an extremely pleasing and well balanced wine that both has big, bright, aromatics of fall orchard fruits plus the addition of freshly picked raspberries and rosehips that rounds out for an extremely long finish. What a treat.
Domaine Gour de Chaulé
90% Grenache, 10% Syrah. Côtes-du-Rhône, France 2018
…maybe/probably 10% Syrah. Certainly 90% Grenache. It’s commonplace for well established regions to pay less mind to the minutia of the blend, and more to focus on the finished wine and the expression of place, and vintage. Gour de Chaulé focuses on field blends and, when an old vine Grenache passes away, they replace it with either Syrah, Mourvedre, or Cinsault. The parcels that make up this wine are ‘likely' the Syrah. So confusing, but at the end of the day it makes for one seriously compelling wine, and truly does represent one of the best finds from the Rhone valley. It’s super aromatic with grilled plums and herbaceous blood orange the leads to fine strawberry jams and all finishes on a candied, but not sweet, raspberry and sage glaze. Delightful.