winewaves

Henry's Drive Pillar Box White 2006

The aroma is so fresh, it glows in the dark. Just follow your nose to your glass. Here is an innovative way to use Chardonnay grapes.

Pillar Box White follows the successful model of Pillar Box Red. This boîte blanche combines great ingredients, talented winemaking, an immediately accessible slightly off-dry style and an everyday price.

The blend is 66% Chardonnay, 20% Sauvignon Blanc and 14% Verdelho, sourced from Padthaway Australia. Chris Ringland of Henry's Drive is credited as Winemaker and Dan Phillips of Grateful Palate imports and markets it.

Excellent value ($10).  Closure: Screw cap.  Alcohol content: 12.5%.

Style: Unwooded, juicy tart, light and zesty refreshment.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Pale straw with a greenish tint. Aromas: Melon, lime, pear, plus grassy and flinty notes. The mouthfeel is citrusy tart and light-bodied. The sweet and sour lime and orange rind flavors are refreshing with just a touch of mineral and a clean well-balanced finish, albeit barely off-dry.

Comment: Spring forward, pucker up and clean your palate.

Winewaves reviewed Pillar Box Red 2005.

Sylvan Springs Hard Yards McLaren Vale Shiraz 2005

Wine is made in the vineyard, it is often said. The name "Hard Yards" refers to "extra effort", symbolized by the Clydesdale horse and farmer as they "plow to the end of the row". The Sylvan Springs label pays homage to the generations of the Pridmore family who have grown and made wine in McLaren Vale since the late 19th century.

Fourth generation David Pridmore is now in charge of the 110-acre family vineyard and winery, and Brian Light is Winemaker.

Excellent value ($19). Closure: Screw cap. Alcohol content: 14.5%.

Style: Lush, Fruit Forward, Some Oak Spice.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Deep purple cranberry with a nice haze, semi-opaque. Aromas: Blackberry and plum, cassis liqueur and spicy vanilla, plus a whiff of the forest. Full-bodied and viscous on the tongue, there's enough structure to carry the sweet liqueur-like fruit flavors. Just a bit of oak evolves in the dry satisfying finish.

Comment: It tastes more expensive than it is, and is good before during and after dinner. Sip with music by Adrienne Young.

Winery Website: http://www.sylvansprings.com.au/

Cristalino Brut Rose Cava

Here's an affordable and legal "acid trip" to the Catalan roots of Dalí.

Cristalino Brut Rosé Cava is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Trepat, made traditionally with the secondary fermentation in the bottle. The fruit is from Penedés in Catalonia, south of Barcelona, and Trepat is an ancient red (black) grape indigenous to the region.

Outstanding value ($9). Alcohol content: 11.5%

Style: Bubbly, Festive, Casual, Rosé.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Brilliant new copper - strawberry - salmon color, profusely bubbly. Aromas: Strawberry, raspberry, plus hints of dough, herbs and mineral. Lively and lightly tart, the juicy strawberry, grapefruit/orange/lemon citrus and a light chalky minerality lead to a refreshing almost fully dry finish.

Comment: Brighten up a cloudy gray Sunday; pair with an awesome sandwich.

Winery Website: http://www.21cdigital.com/civusa/cristalino.htm#winemakernotes

EOS Novella Paso Robles Synergy 2003

Novella Synergy 2003 is produced by EOS Estate Winery and is a blend of 56% Petite Sirah, 39% Zinfandel and 5% Sangiovese. Leslie Melendez, Senior Winemaker rose through the ranks from Lab Tech and has been with EOS since its beginnings in the 1990s.

Excellent value ($14). Closure: Neocork. Alcohol content: 13.5%

Style: Lush, Fruit Forward, Some Oak Spice.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Deep purple ruby, translucent. Aromas: Red to black berries, some dried fruit and some toasty oak spice; perhaps a bit of forest/earth there as well. This wine is firm but polite, with lush fruit and chocolate flavors that reverberate in the tangy dusty finish.

Comment: Good on a rainy night.

Winery Website: http://www.eosvintage.com/novella.html

A Call to Retailers: Where Can I Buy Bitch?

Some wines are hot, like right now Bitch Barossa Grenache. My recent reviews of the 2005 and 2004 vintages have brought huge numbers of "Googlers" to Winewaves looking for this wine. And the number one question is "Where Can I Buy Bitch Wine?"

Okay retailers, here's your chance! Send me an email and let everyone know if you have Bitch Grenache 2005 in stock. In your email, provide your store name, location/address, phone number, email, website address, and the price (optional but preferred). The format for providing this information is shown here.

For those looking for Bitch, I will do my best to keep the list updated. Click here or the picture above for the current list of retailers.

Wallace Brook Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2005

Oregon Pinot Noir from top producers, the sort that hits all my flavor and texture "hot buttons", is usually a bit out of my everyday price range. It may be worth the price paid, but it usually takes on "special occasion only" status.

One way to keep to a wine budget is to find "second labels" from top producers. Wineries more often sell the extra wine that doesn't match their stylistic or business requirements, but sometimes they bottle it under a second label.

Like in Burgundy, in Oregon lots of "unmatched" Pinot Noir finds its way into "negociant" labels. Perhaps it is just the temperamental nature of the grape. Fortunately Adelsheim Vineyards offers up some of their extra wine under the Wallace Brook Cellars label. Wallace Brook Pinot Noir is sourced from vineyards in the northern Willamette Valley and aged in French oak barrels (up to 1/4 new).

Unfortunately the quantity is limited and varies from year to year, with less than 1,400 cases produced of the 2004 vintage. Wallace Brook shows up on a lot of restaurant wine lists.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Bright ruby, translucent. Aromas: Intense cherry, strawberry, vanilla and chocolate and hints of earth. Light bodied and tart with fine tannins, the juicy red fruit flavors combine with citrus and light buttery oak spice and mineral notes, leading to a vibrant dry finish.

Excellent value ($16).  Closure: Neocork.  Alcohol content: 13%.

Food pairing: By itself, or if it doesn't disappear first, with pan-seared salmon.

Bacalhôa Santa Fé de Arraiolos Alentejano 2005

Spanish reds are hot, but when it comes to red wine from Portugal, where do you begin? Although Portuguese wine goes back to ancient times, it's not yet a hot topic around the U.S., especially when high quality dry reds at a good price are being discussed.

That could be changing as the Portuguese wine scene appears to be heating up in America. Good everyday reds from Alentejo are a very popular local choice in Portugal and can be had stateside for fewer than ten bucks.

In producing Sante Fé, Bacalhôa fuses tradition and modern methodology to get a result which tilts to the new world. The flavor is not entirely different from some of the popular new world Spanish "tapas" reds that we cannot get enough of.

Santa Fé is produced at Bacalhôa's new winery “Adega das Ânforas” at Arraiolos, from grape varieties traditionally grown in Alentejo: Aragonez (Tempranillo in Spain) and Trincadeira from the “Santa Marta” Vineyard in Borba and Alicante Bouschet from the “Tinoca” Vineyard in Portalegre. The lots are vinified separately in small vats, and then briefly aged in American oak before bottling.

“Adega das Ânforas” translates to "Cellar of the Vase" and is so named because before it was turned into a modern winery the building was built to be a ceramics factory. The large original ceramic ovens are now used for cellaring wines. The Sante Fé label suggests the fiery atmosphere inside a kiln.

Arraiolos is a town in Alentejo, a south-central region of Portugal separated by the Tagus River and known as the "bread basket".

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Bright candy apple red, translucent. Aromas: Red currant preserves, raisin, strawberry and hints of roasted coffee beans. Light to medium bodied and lean but muscular and rather tart, the bright red fruit and mineral notes combine with cocoa and finish nicely rustic and dry.

Excellent value ($10). Closure: Real cork. Alcohol content: 14%.

Food pairing: Pecan crusted Tilapia.

Januik Winery Columbia Valley Merlot 2004

"Wherever you go, there you are"*, comes to mind with this beautiful "meditative" Merlot which compels you to be in the present moment. In the case of winemaking this idea translates to knowing what every barrel has to offer, and raising each task to the level of art rather than production, which seems to be Winemaker/Proprietor Mike Januik's approach. Great results have been following him for two decades of Washington State winemaking.

Mike Januik is an artisan winemaker with a large scale winemaking background. As the Head Winemaker with Chateau Ste. Michelle for 10 years he expanded his repertoire, developed relationships with the best Washington State winegrowers, and started Ste. Michelle's single vineyard program. His desire to be more creative led him to open Januik Winery in 1999 and make wines in the hundreds of cases, not thousands. Januik is also Consulting Winemaker for Novelty Hill which is scheduled to open their new winery in Woodinville (Seattle suburb) in spring 2007.

Januik Columbia Valley Merlot 2004 is 89% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cab Franc, sourced from some highly-esteemed Columbia Valley Vineyards including Conner Lee, Ciel du Cheval (translation: Horse Heaven), Klipsun (translation: Sunset) and Alder Ridge. Aging of the lots was about 18 months in mostly new French oak barrels. Cases produced: 1041.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Deep ruby with a slight haze, translucent. Aromas: Black cherry, chocolate, cinnamon/spice, and long aged rye whiskey. The mouth feel is voluptuous, smooth and polished with perfectly balanced tannins and acidity. The richly layered flavors include cherry and darker fruit notes supported by buttery oak spice, chocolate and citrus rind. The finish is warm and lingers like a friend you want to spend the night with.

Excellent value ($23).  Closure: Real cork.  Alcohol content: 14.4%.

Winewaves reviewed Novelty Hill 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon and named it one of the top reds of the year for 2006.

*"Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life", a book which explores the practice of meditation was written by Jon Kabat-Zinn in the 1990s and is available in paperback at Amazon.

Eugene Wine Cellars b2 Oregon Pinot Noir 2004

Starting with the 2004 vintage, b2 (b-squared) is a new label of Eugene Wine Cellars and the acronym refers to founder and Vineyard Manager Bruce Biehl, his brother Winemaker Brad Biehl and a host of other "2-b" word sequences. The b-squared idea surfaced because Bruce had been signing his name b-superscript-2 for years, and the winery needed a label with more National appeal than the previous label which featured an image of local landmark Spencer's Butte.

The wine behind the label is a textbook example of a berry-and-earth Oregon Pinot Noir. The Biehls have lots to work with taking into account Bruce's more than 20 years experience with his own vineyard management company and Brad's winemaking background which notably includes a UC-Davis degree and 20+ years experience including helping to build Oregon's acclaimed King Estate in the 1990s. Together the Biehls have both access to great local grapes and the ability to turn them into great wine.

Since 2000, the 2 brothers have been building Eugene Wine Cellars - not along the oh-so-popular wine route which runs from Corvalis to Newberg - but in downtown Eugene Oregon. Their adaptive reuse of the former "Food For Lane County" building brings local customers in for wine, food and music, while it serves as a production facility and tasting room for their Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and other wines. People from all over the world visit the winery creating a nice mix of local and global patrons.

Grapes for b2 Oregon Pinot Noir 2004 were sourced from 6 vineyards in four counties within the Willamette Valley: Pendarvine, Dion, Dylan's Run, Dunning, Elhanan and Johnson/Enyeart. Lots were fermented and aged separately. According to Associate Winemaker Greg Sothras, the lots were aged an average of 16 months in a mixture of 1/4 new oak and 3/4 "neutral" barrels of various ages (most from King Estate, some from Benton Lane and other sources) and thereafter blended and bottled. Only 1555 cases were produced.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Bright red garnet, translucent. Aromas: Bright red berry fruits, freshly tilled earth, clove/spice and slightly smoky vanilla. Medium-bodied, nicely tart, warm and dry on the tongue, the flavors range from red fruit preserves to pepper and baking spice and the finish is generous and dusty dry.

Excellent value ($18). Closure: Real cork. Alcohol content: 13%

Food pairing: Pan-seared salmon.

Eugene Wine Cellars also serves as a custom crush facility and has been making Pinot Noir for Iris Hill, whose 2005 Pinot Noir Winewaves recently reviewed.

Eugene Wine Cellars is expanding with the purchase of more stainless steel tanks and is co-producing a semi-sweet Riesling with veteran Doyle Hinman, former founder of Hinman Vineyards which is now Silvan Ridge. The label, "H5", will start with about 1,700 cases this spring and grow to 7,000 over the next couple of years, sourcing nicely acidic fruit from Washington State. Eugene Wine Cellars is also putting in a bottling line and intends to stay with corks for Pinot Noir.

Dominio de Eguren Codice Tempranillo 2004

Codice translates to "laws, traditions, codes", originating from the Latin word for the earliest forms of books which were of course important manuscripts. Codice is a very modern and successful red wine produced by the many generational Eguren wine family.

Marcos Eguren, Technical Director at Dominio de Eguren is credited as Winemaker for Codice. The 100% Tempranillo was sourced from low-yielding vines and aged about 6 months in French and American oak barrels.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Candy apple red, translucent. Aromas: Plump bright red fruits and a bit of lightly smoky and spicy vanilla. Warm and medium-bodied, there is a fair amount of tannins and a nice chalky sensation on the tongue. Some tart citrus and spice joins the ample raspberry and cherry on the palate as the finish kicks out some oak flavor and stays firm.

Excellent value: $10. Closure: Real cork. Alcohol content: 13%.

Food pairing: Southern pot roast and vegetables.