Candy Core 2004 Late Harvest Grenache

This was the second pour of the night after the first attempt at an after dinner drink failed. We had held onto a late harvest zinfandel from Mt Vernon Winery for a little too long although I thought it was WAY to early for it to be bad.

The great thing about it going bad though was that we got to open up this wine. I like to call my late harvest wines, "ports with training wheels," because they don't have that alcohol bite but they have that jammy, raisiny, syrupy feel to them. This one would have gone great with a cigar as it had a nice smoky taste, a little bit of spice and leather.

If you are up in Santa Ynez, Core Winery is DEFinitely worth a spot on your list of tasting venues. It may look unassuming but the wines and the family that owns it are both top notch.

Kuyam 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from Core Winery

This sauvignon blanc from our new #2 winery, Core, in Santa Ynez is from their Kuyam line up. The owner was nice enough to uncork a bottle for us to taste even though it wasn't on the menu of the day. D and I love us some SB and we weren't disappointed after the tipple so we bought a bottle to add to our already overflowing car on our Santa Ynez jaunt.

We opened this one up about a week later and were just as happy as when we bought it. There wasn't as much of that tingling acid feel present in so may of the SB's out there but D was extremely happy with the smell. Cat Pee! I mean, who doesn't find cat pee appetizing? It is such a great aperitif to a good meal. Kidding aside the vegetal, ammonia(ish), smell is something we both love, although it had to grow on me.

Made in stainless steel and neutral wood with 18% orange muscat, this wine expresses that citrus, grapefruit flavor with a bit of orange. The cool thing about this wine, at least, to me was that it sort of ended up being two wines in one. The first night it was very obvious SB but the second night the color had changed to a deeper gold and it now tasted like a chardonnay. D and I have not been huge fans of chardonnay of late but I really liked the flavor of this Sauvignardonnay as I am dubbing it.

This is another winner from a great find of a winery, Core.

2007 Core C 100% Tempranillo

I'm working on becoming a better photographer but this bottle from our #2 favorite winery was giving me fits because it was really dark. Without a light box I had a hard time shooting this 100% tempranillo that poured every bit as dark as the vessel it came in, so even though the picture says 2005 our bottle was actually a 2007.

D and I wanted something that was red but light the other night with dinner and usually a tempranillo fits the bill. We poured this and the first thing that struck us was how inky it was. It was really dark with some hints of garnet around the rim. The next thing that hit us was the alcohol. It was pretty boozy. I looked at the ABV and it wasn't abnormally high for a California red(Cali likes to up the booze factor). There was also a significant amount of oak and leather on the nose which is a diffferent for a tempranillo.

The first sip I definitely got booze, but there was a hint of chocolate, leather, spice, and just a really unctuous earthiness to this wine. We knew that this was a little young to be drinking now so we hoped it would calm down as it aired a bit. We both left our glasses alone for a good 10 minutes and then tried again. MMmmm more chocolate, more leather, more spice. With all of those qualities you would think that this wine was a big heavy wine but it was surprisingly light in body. This thing was getting good.

D and I had a glass or so each the first night and left the bottle corked with our awesome Rabbit Stoppers. If you don't have a set of these you NEED one. They are the best stoppers ever. They don't stick up too high and they are AIRTIGHT. They will keep bubbles in your bubbly. I even use them to stopper up my 22 Oz beers I don't finish on my own.

Back to the wine though. We reopened it the next night and this thing had blossomed. This was now an unctuous, chocolatey, leathery, earthy, wonder of a wine. One day later this wine was so much better. We had to drink it wuick though because it started turning about 30 minutes after the second opening.

This was a great bottle.

Mosby Lucca Red Table Wine

Mosby was the first wine club D and I joined. D introduced them to me on our first trip to Santa Ynez and I fell in love with their Stelline di Moscato Sparkling and the Sangiovese. Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you want to look at it, D and I have moved on to greener pastures and better wine. We will still go to Mosby to stock up on Stelline every time we are up there but those beautiful quarterly bottles will no longer be delivered to our doorstep.
One of these bottles that was delivered was Mosby's Vino Rosso Di Santa Barbara which is their version of Italian table wine. They also have a white table wine as well. "Lucca" is a blend of mostly Sangiovese with some Dolcetto and tastes similar to a Chianti you would find on any Italian restaurant in Rome. It has a light oak taste, low tannin, and drinks well with about anything you could think of that a light red wine should be paired with. Think red sauce, lean steak, chicken, and pizza. I'd stay away from braised wild boar Bordelais but other than that you should be good to go and at 10.50-14$ a bottle depending on if you are a cellar club member you really can't go wrong with have a few of these bottles on hand for unexpected company.

2007 Zaca Mesa Grenache

Oh Zaca Mesa how I love thee. Not only do you make incredible Rhone varietal wine but your tasting facility is hands down the best I have ever been to.

D and I are part of the Cellar Club. Picture all of those swanky, ultra exclusive clubs in LA, New York, and Vegas. Got a picture in your mind? Good. Not cooler than this one.

We get our own room, we get our own server, we get our own glasses, we get our own table, we get chocolate, we can meander(yes meander) around while we drink, we can drink pretty much whatever we want to try, AND, yes there's an and, we can play on the GIANT chess board.

Our trip to ZM last weekend was highlighted by the beautiful weather we enjoyed all weekend, the beautiful company, at least on D's end(love you), and the incredible experience we had at a soon to be reviewed new winery we found. Oh and of course we had to cap it at ZM.

This 2007 100% grenache was not popped at ZM we pulled it from our fridge but we did taste a 2006 there which caused us to want to pop this one. Sounded like a good idea at the time but it definitely needed another year of aging because it was a bit harsh. A little too much alcohol and a little too much tannin. We drank the rest of the bottle the next night and everything had calmed down considerably. MMMmmmm.

As usual ZM rules.

Mosby Wine's 2006 Ossessione

Mosby Winery in Santa Ynez makes exclusively Italian varietals in the classic styles of their origins. This is one of our favorite wineries and also one that we are a member of their cellar club. One of the best things about this winery aside from their wine is their incredibly artistic and beautiful labels as you can see from the picture of Ossessione. Each one of their offerings has a similarly elaborate label created by an artist named Robert Scherer of Appiano, Italy. All of them are done in watercolors and have won several awards.

Ossessione is a true Italian import with the grapes coming from Marche, Italy near the Adriatic Sea. They are sold as Montepulciano D'Abruzzo in Italy and they are the TRUE Montepulciano grape varietal unlike some of what we get here which is Montepulciano Nobile.

D and I paired this wine with some red sauced pasta with meatballs. The wine poured a very deep purple out of the bottle and had a pretty deep aroma. The wine was very fruit forward with strawberry, raspberry, and other red fruits dominating. The first sip was all fruit but as this wine settled the tannins really came out and it became a mouth puckerer. I was a fan of the first 10 minutes of this wine but not so much as it sat. I'm hoping that the tannin will fade when I finish off the bottle tonight.

Update: No such luck on the tannin fading.
Overall, too much tannin for me although I would drink it if given a bottle I wouldn't buy another one.

The Rhone...Better than Bordeaux, and Cheaper Too

The Rhone, that wonderful place in France that produces all of the wines D and I love. Syrah, Mourvedre, Viognier, Roussanne, some Grenache, and blends of all.

When D and I travel into Europe the first place we want to go to is the Rhone.

Of course, we will be timing our trip with the Tour de France. What could be better than eating and drinking world class food and wine and then working it all off on a bike ride through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world? Best thing is that D suggested the Tour de France. One more of the bajillion reasons I love her.

2007 Zaca Mesa Z Gris

I don't know what comes over me when I get around good wine. I'm normally a really frugal, level headed, non-spender. I still have jeans from high school! Yes they fit, no, they do not have holes in them, no they are not acid washed, no they are not "Hammer Style" with the elastic waist and cuffs. Good wine seems to bring out my inner high roller.

Case in point, this Z Gris. No, it's not an expensive wine by any means but I don't do things like buy a case of wine, 3 bottles, and a wine club membership all in one trip. Not to mention the case of Mosby Wine and a membership to their club too. Which is what I did.

I learned an interesting fact about wine production and sales when I bought this case. ZM had it on fire sale essentially because they had overproduced and they needed room in their storage. If they didn't sell out that weekend the wine would be, cue dark music, DESTROYED! That's right, they would trash this wine for the insurance money is what they told me. I wish I could do that. I mean think about it. I have insurance on my car, if I bought ANOTHER car I wouldn't have room in my garage for the little toaster I have now. BUT, following ZM's lead I could destroy the little toaster car to MAKE room and get money for doing it. Awesome!

Z Gris is a Rose blend of 96% Grenache and 4% Mourvedre. It's only available part of the year and it's not available every year so that's why when you see it you have to jump on it. At least that's what I told myself when I looked at my credit card statement.

Z Gris is a great wine to pair with a light summer salad, poached fish, or a simple roasted chicken. It has a bright acidity up front that gives way to strawberry, some citrus, and a touch of melon. It's easy to drink and should be served slightly chilled. Not cold, slightly chilled.

Zaca Mesa 2006 Mourvedre

I'm just going to jump right in here and say that this Mourvedre from Zaca Mesa was amazing. D and I received this bottle originally as one of our selections from the Zaca Mesa Cellar Club. We enjoyed it so much that I immediately called to hold another bottle to be shipped with our next shipment. This wine was made in limited quantities so I wanted to be sure to get another one before it was sold out, which, at this time, sadly it has.

The shipment of our Cellar Club selections is always a bit problematic since the educational system seems to frown on alcohol being present around minors(although I had a Spanish teacher in high school that, for reasons that have become clear to me, kept a bottle of tequila in her desk) and receiving the shipment requires a signature. Through a series of snafu's our shipment, that was supposed to be sent to D's work, was sent to our house, where nobody was, on a Friday. Which meant that now, our wine, would be sitting who knows where, in who knows what type of conditions, at the UPS loading docks, ALL weekend. I was to say the least, not pleased. 

Like all of ZM's offerings, mourvedre is a classic Rhone varietal, however it is grown internationally. It's often times blended with grenache to soften up the tannins and provide a wider spectrum of flavors and aromas. This bottle however is 100% mourvedre which led to a very classic aroma and taste. The first wiff off the top of the glass was beautiful. Deep, dark, earthy smell, hints of chocolate, a little leather. I literally remarked to D that I could just smell it all night. I haven't had many wines with that much depth of aroma. The taste easily stood up to the aroma. Hints of choclate, soft red fruit, layers of earthiness, granite , and a finish that lasted for what seemed like minutes. Great wine, I wish I could have bought a case.