Tag Archives: California

Kent Rasmussen Esoterica Petit Verdot 2004

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There’s a strange peppery note on the nose of this wine – almost like a low quality mixed peppercorn grinder you bought on clearance at Ross Dress for Less last January and promptly forgot about. There’s sort of a soft quality about it too; it’s very hard to describe, but it’s almost like an overstuffed velour couch you passed out on in your parents’ rumpus room back in the 70s. With air, there’s also a decidedly feral funky there as well: fairly meaty, and possibly Brett (enough to provide interest, not enough to really turn you off).It’s fairly full in the mouth, with drying tannins on the finish; the flavor’s very hard to describe, so all I’ll say is that (surprise) it’s no wonder that this grape seldom is vinified and bottled all by itself. It’s not that it’s unpleasant; it’s just that it feels somehow incomplete on its won. There’s kind of medicinal, almost horehound fruitiness, but other than that? I have to admit that I don’t get it.Kent Rasmussen WineryPrice: US $20Closure: CorkDate tasted: December 2007—After I wrote this post, I spent a few hours with this wine… and grew to appreciate it much more. It may not be the most forgiving or enjoyable wine, but at least it seemed to be very much of itself. I suspect that the winemaker did a very good job indeed at allowing the grape to express itself; the naturalness and honesty of the wine was very impressive.

The Sonoma Trail™ Sonoma County Pinot Noir 2006

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I laughed a bit as I poured this wine into the glass: I’d just opened two bottles of Ridge petite sirah and, well, this wine is pretty much at the exact opposite end of the color spectrum of red wines. If the Ridge was coagulating bull’s blood, then this is more like an overbrewed cup of Red Zinger. No, scratch that, it looks like agua de jamaica – a Mexican drink made from hibiscus flowers. This would be the perfect thing to serve to secretly alcoholic Mormons in a Salt Lake City Mexican restaurant, but I digress. I laughed again as I smelled the wine: whoa, this actually smells like Pinot! Score! Most of the time, your ten bucks gets you a grim joke of a clunky red wine as you remind yourself that yeah, this is probably the hardest grape to grow. There’s a lot of rich, fresh red cherries complemented by a very faint hint of clove and spice. It may not be the most complex thing in the world, but at least it smells recognizably like Pinot and has a cheerful, friendly fruitiness about it.In the mouth, it’s ever so slightly thin (which, oddly enough, makes it even more convincing). It’s got a kind of Red Vines-iness to it, but it’s by no means truly sweet, and it ends on a pleasant enough down note, with decent acidity and a finish that does persist for a bit.As my partner just said: hey, this shit ain’t bad. What more could you want for ten bucks?The Sonoma Trail™ [but really fresh&easy]

Price: US $9.95
Closure: Diam
Date tasted: December 2007

Ridge Vineyards Petite Sirah Lytton Estate 2002

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Straight out of the bottle, you know right away that this wine isn’t like most other wines. More than anything else, it’s the color that looks strange: surely wine isn’t quite that dark? There’s a brownish tint that looks more like Kyoto pickle than actual fermented grape juice; it’s not age, but intensity that makes it look that way.On the nose, it’s all sweet dusty bramble. In fact, it’s so odd that part of me is wondering if the bottle is OK: is that TCA? Brettanomyces? Or is that normal? It’s hard to get past the killer sweetness and onto a real wine smell. Jeez, Paul, do you think it would kill you to stop using natural corks? There’s almost a smoked bacon note there, but again and again that weird smell takes over. Is it supposed to smell like that?In the mouth, it gets even stranger: there’s a persistent, tooth-coating fuzziness that’s fairly unpleasant combined with, well, nothing.Dang it, this bottle’s bad. Glad I bought a pair of them… let’s go open the next one…Well, it almost smelled like wine there for a second, and then poof, it smells like tinfoil and metal shavings. WTF? Same horrible taste: vague sweetness and harsh, grating tannins.Next week in Full Pour: Will Ridge respond to my E-mail asking about this wine, and if they do, what will they say? User error? We meant for it to taste like you’re drinking it out of a Capri-Sun pouch? Gosh, we’re sorry, must be a fluke? Gosh, we’re really sorry, but they’re all bad? Or will they say sorry, nice try, but we don’t believe you and won’t refund your $60? Stay tuned…Ridge Vineyards

Price: US $30
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: December 2007

Cameron Hughes Lot 48 Meritage 2005

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Whoa. Clouds of rich, dark chocolate, bulldust, and black olive billow up in the glass, and there’s an almost perfumed character to the wine, with a slight sweetness – it’s not unlike vetiver or sage, albeit with a lovely, restrained edge. The color’s a lovely, dark purple with nearly visible particles towards the rim; it just looks expensive, somehow.

On the palate, the first thing that strikes me is the lovely texture: firm and round, followed shortly by flavor that I can honestly only describe as delicious. There are tastes of cassia, Kalamata olive, and cassis, and it all trails off into a clean finish with hints of tannin, acid, and a lovely sweetness, almost like violet pastilles mixed in with tahini. Best of all, the finish keeps going for a while, not resolving itself; it’s a fine drink.

Cameron Hughes
Price: US $9.99
Closure: Diam
Date tasted: November 2007

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For you Aussies out there, Meritage is American for “Bordeaux blend,” more or less. This also marks the first time I’ve seen an American wine closed with a Diam technical cork, which is awesome. Finally, it may interest you to know that we don’t have cleanskins – but Cameron Hughes is pioneering what y’all would call cleanskins in the US market. If you’re in the USA, you can probably find one or two of them at your local Costco, and they also do mail order (their Lot 39 Shiraz Viognier from the Barossa is probably the most incredibly fun $10 wine I’ve had this year).