winewaves

Chateau De Combebelle St. Chinian Changes Hands

The new Combebelle label pictured above came to Winewaves from Catherine Wallace. Catherine and partner Patrick Keohane bought Domaine de Combebelle in December 2005. Winewaves reviewed the 2000 vintage of Combebelle's Syrah-Grenache in January, 2007, and incorrectly attributed current ownership of the property to Robert Eden. Eden was owner at the time that wine was made.

Wallace and Keohane are continuing with the 10 year history of biodynamics on the property. They will release a new Vin De Pays Rose in May of this year, and a white wine from contract grown fruit soon after. Current plans also include planting Roussanne and Marsanne in 2008 as well as Cinsault and Carignan in the future.

In describing their purchase of the property from Robert Eden, Wallace states, "I am living my dream of one day owning a vineyard in France and making wines in a region I fell in love with many years ago now! I knew from a fairly young age (8 or 9 years old) that I would one day become a vigneronne and a Master of Wine.  I have succeeded with the former and am working on the latter!"

Wallace is the principal winemaker and favors an approach which expresses the unique terroir. Wallace and Keohane are currently in talks with stateside importers to bring their new label to the U.S. soon. A summary of the change of ownership as provided by Wallace may be downloaded by clicking here.

The previous Robert Eden label is pictured (right - click the image for a larger version), or click here view the recent review of the 2000 vintage Combebelle Syrah Grenache.

Iris Hill Oregon Pinot Noir 2005

Hug a tree, get on a bike, take time for the arts, and have a glass of alternative Pinot Noir. With the attention focused on Oregon Pinot Noir labels an hour north, some very good things are happening under the radar around the Emerald City, Oregon's hip college town located at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers.

Eugene is halfway between the state borders north and south and there is a growing winegrowing industry visible alongside the decline of logging. Home to the University of Oregon and the birthplace of Nike, word has it a lot of "aging hippies" find refuge here.

Iris Hill Winery was founded by Pamela Frye and Richard Boyles when they returned to their stomping grounds after a world business tour of duty to start a family, plant a wine estate and indulge their dream of making wine. The first vintage for their Iris Hill label was 2001.

Their Chalice Vineyard located 18 miles southwest of Eugene is the source for all their wines at present, with only 44 acres of vines producing out of 870. The majority of the property is in forest, Christmas tree plots and grazed. The vines are planted facing South in terra cotta clay loam soil.

Frye and Boyles are organic grape growers and they practice sustainable viticulture. Last year they began using biodiesel blended fuel for their farm equipment. Like many Oregon growers, they participate in the LIVE (low input viticulture and enology) program and they are obtaining Salmon-Safe certification.

Iris Hill Pinot Noir 2005 is the product of low-yielding estate vines, aged an average of 9 months in French oak barrels, 1/5 new. The wine is custom crushed in Eugene. Production is in the neighborhood of 3000 cases annually.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Deep cherry red with bright edges, almost transparent. Aromas: Bright cherry, strawberry, toffee, and background notes of minerally earth, cold blossoms and black olives. Light-to-medium bodied and sweet-tart on the tongue, the bright red cherry-berry, light spice, citrus and sage flavors are lively in the soft smooth finish. The empty glass smells great.

Excellent value ($17).  Closure: Real cork.  Alcohol content: 12.5%.

Food pairing: Roast chicken with herbs.

Van Duzer Willamette Valley Estate Pinot Noir 2004

The sunset in late January near Dallas Oregon is bold, beautiful and richly textured as it seems to last forever going down over the Coast Ranges. The vineyards in this "Van Duzer Corridor" are spread out far and wide. When the Pinot Noir vines awaken, they benefit from more than their fair share of the sun and the gentle cool west wind, and wines which capture the beauty of this sunset are made from the fruit they bear.

Zephyra is the name of the beautiful lady who graces the label and she represents the west wind of Greek mythology, Zephyr.

The Van Duzer family winery, is owned by Carl and Marilynn Thoma, and practices sustainable farming on their 77-acre estate 3 miles off Highway 99W. This is the Thoma's long-term vision and they continue to invest in it with the best people, techniques and equipment available. A new winery building was opened to the public last year, just in time for Thanksgiving.

Winemaker Jim Kakacek reports Estate Pinot Noir 2004 is 100% varietal, hand harvested, cold-fermented, and aged 10 months in French oak barrels, approximately 1/3 new, 1/3 one-year-old and 1/3 neutral. Kakacek has overseen winemaking at Van Duzer for the past 12 years.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Deep cranberry garnet with a purple haze, semi-opaque. Aromas: Luscious pungent pomegranate, cassis and black cherry, fine sweet spice and faint hints of earth. Gorgeous rich smooth texture is the real story here, possessing a nearly full body for a Pinot and enough backbone to carry it well. Rich dark red fruit and spice flavors reverberate alongside supporting notes of oak in the double encore of a finish.

Excellent value ($26). Closure: Real cork. Alcohol content: 13.5%.

Food pairing: Salmon, pan-seared and then poached atop red onion in white wine and butter.

Girasole Vineyards Mendocino Pinot Noir 2005

Now would be a good time to get in touch with your inner "flower child". This is the Pinot that might help you do it without a costly therapist.

Girasole (pronounced "jeer-ah-so-lay") translates to "turning into the sun" and thus is symbolized by the sunflower. The honeybee and sunflower together telegraph the organic feeling you will experience when you take in the wine.

Proprietor Charlie Barra has been treading lightly on his Redwood Valley Ranch for about a half a century, and his wines are made with minimal human intervention. Charlie grows grapes organically, meaning without conventional pesticides or herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, or bioengineered products, and Charlie has always planted cover crops between rows. A portion of the Barra ranch is devoted to natural habitat and irrigation is sourced naturally from runoff.

In the winemaking process, less than 99 ppm of sulfite is added for preservation, special organically-approved yeasts are used and egg whites are not used for fining.

Girasole Pinot Noir 2005 is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from 45-year-old vines (when was the last time you heard "old-vine Pinot" being mentioned?), fermented in stainless steel, and seasoned lightly with oak chips. Cases produced: 3,500.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Bright raspberry garnet with a very slight haze. Aromas: Raspberry and sweet cherry, with hints of cocoa, toffee and sweet pie spice. Light and lively on the tongue, the tannins are well integrated and the flavors range from predominate black cherry to nuances of tangy chocolate, citrus peel and tea. The finish is smooth warm and dry.

Outstanding value ($12).  Closure: Real cork.  Alcohol content: 13.5%.

Chateau de Combebelle St. Chinian Syrah-Grenache 2000 (Wine Blogging Wednesday #29 Jan. 2007)

It's alive, the soil and the wine!  What a fine find, divine and kind.

Situated in the "Catbird seat", nearly 1000 feet up from the sea, in the oft overlooked St. Chinian appellation in the center of the Languedoc in southern France above Beziers is the tiny 50-acre biodynamic vineyard known as Chateau Combebelle. The views are of the sea and mountains. Robert Eden is the proprietor and keeper of this Eden, and by all accounts he telegraphs the character of his wines with his own personality.

No doubt this monumental red wine bargain from Combebelle reflects the principles of modern biodynamic farming. To quote Eden, "We started out making wines in 1997. Our objective is to cultivate our vineyards with absolute respect for the environment so that our wines may express as naturally as possible their origin. We seek to preserve our local eco systems in as natural as state as possible, researching ways of allowing our vines to establish natural defences against their different predators. We feed our vines compost (from sheep and cow manure), made on each of our farms according to the Biodynamic principles, to ensure our soil is nurtured with live matter."

This is a worthy wine to consider for January 2007's "Wine Blogging Wednesday", and a unique and somewhat rare find for the wine bins in Nashville.

Produced by Eden's Comte Cathare Winery in La Livinière, Chateau de Combebelle St. Chinian Syrah-Grenache 2000 is a blend of 6/10 Syrah and 4/10 Grenache, aged a year in large vats.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Deep cranberry garnet, with an unfiltered haze, inky and opaque.  Aromas: Intense pungent dark berries and currants, roasted dark chocolate, plus hints of pepper, Worcestershire sauce and smoked meat. Almost full-bodied, the tannins are still alive and well albeit mature. Pepper-laced blackberry, spice and ripe olive flavors finish with strength and a twangy savory character.

Outstanding value ($18). Closure: Real cork. Alcohol content: 14%

Food pairing: Sweet hot spicy barbecue, either Memphis pork ribs or Austin Hill Country beef brisket.  Or, spicy bacon and cheese meatloaf with bar-b-que sauce.

In keeping with "pay it forward", a portion of the proceeds of all Comte Cathare wines goes to the Rainforest Foundation.

Update/March 13, 2007: In December, 2005, Combebelle was purchased by Catherine Wallace and Patrick Keohane. This post incorrectly attributes current ownership to Robert Eden, who owned the property when this wine was made. A new post is available with all the details. Click here.

Cline Contra Costa Ancient Vines Zinfandel 2005

Tread lightly and carry a big Zin. The very wise Fred Cline, grandson of Valeriano Jacuzzi (the famous pump and spa company founder), wasn't born yesterday. In fact, Cline recently spearheaded the move to become the fourth largest generator of solar power amongst wineries in California, now producing more than 400 kilowatts of power.

That's enough to power Cline's Sonoma County winery's peak requirements and sell power back during sub-peak hours.  Cline also employs compost tea feeding and other organic techniques in their vineyards, plus they import volcanic rock from Arizona to amend the minerality of their soils, they plant winter cover crops, and they even employ sheep to eat broadleaf weeds.

Cline's Ancient Vines Zinfandel 2005 is mostly Zinfandel, with many of the vines planted 100 years ago by Portuguese and Italian immigrants. There is a bit of Carignane and Alicante Bouschet added in giving the mix an ancient field blend sensibility.  The lots were extracted in stainless steel tanks and then aged 9 months in 3/10 new American oak. A small amount of residual sugar was allowed in the final cuvee.

The geographical source of fruit was the Oakley area, between Lodi and Oakland just south of Rio Vista (pictured above and below), in the Sacramento River delta area near where the San Joaquin River meets up, near the point where Contra Costa County meets Sacramento and Solano Counties.  There the days are warm and dry and nights are cool providing grapes with ripeness and acidity.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Deep purple raspberry, translucent. Aromas: Blackberry, raspberry with background notes of vanilla, caramelized oak, coffee and earth. Muscular with traces of front-palate sweetness, fine young tannins and moderate acidity, the pepper-tinged black raspy fruit displays well without going overboard and the finish reverberates the wisdom of old vines.

Excellent value ($15). Closure: Real cork. Alcohol content: 14.5%

Val di Falco Morellino Di Scansano 2004

The debut of this "super Tuscan" futurity prospect is impressive, right up to its glass stopper.  For about $20, this would be a fine wine gift because it's new, novel and modern, not to mention the wine inside is bold and an excellent value.

Val di Falco translates to "valley of the falcons", paying homage to historical tradition of falconry in the Casanuova area of Montalcino where the Corte Pavone estate is located.  Corte Pavone is one of several properties owned by Rainer Loacker and his sons and currently has an estimated 50 acres of very young vineyards planted in 2000 and 2001.  The entire operation, cultivation and vinification, is considered organic.

Val di Falco 2004 is a blend of 85% Sangiovese, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Syrah.  The lots were aged one year in 1/2 new French oak barrels, not filtered, and bottle aged 6+ months.  Just under 2000 cases were produced.  Son Hayo (Hajo) Loacker is Winemaker.

Tasting Notes: Appearance: Deep ruby, semi-opaque.  Aromas: Berry liqueur (a bit more cassis than framboise but in-between), rose floral notes, plus supporting hints of forest floor, licorice and spice.  The mouthfeel is medium-to-full-bodied with good structure and young tannins.  The berry flavors are richly layered and the finish is substantial and very dry.

Excellent value ($22).  Closure: Glass* stopper.  Alcohol content: 14.5%.

*The glass stopper closure makes a very nice presentation and was a good choice for this new label in particular.  There is a definite "snap" or "click" as the glass stopper is pressed in to its "seat" and the resulting seal is perfect after multiple uses.