Heitz Cellars Ink Grade Vineyard Zinfandel 2013

When I passed the Society of Wine Educators Certified Specialist of Wine exam, my parents promised me they'd take me out to celebrate to wherever I wanted to go. This was my second time taking the exam (I'd failed by two damn points the first time, which was super annoying) and earlier in the day I'd seen that 20nine, a wine bar in town, was hosting an event featuring Heitz Cellars Wines. I'm constantly paranoid about jinxing myself so I hadn't mentioned it before I went in for the exam, but I thought it was an amazing coincidence that one of my favorite Napa Valley producer's wines were being featured the day I was determined to pass the CSW.

Immediately after I got my results back that day telling me I'd passed the exam I called my parents and told them we were going to this event. The wines being poured were Heitz's Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and the Trailside Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and they were all just as delicious as I remembered their wines being.

It was a nice surprise to go back there this past week and find the Zinfandel still on their list, since it's usually by far my favorite and the most reasonably priced (for my purposes) of their reds (retails for usually under $30).

It's not a typical California Zinfandel, which tend to be very full-bodied and bursting with jammy fruit notes. The Heitz "Ink Grade Vineyard" Zinfandel displays a bit more finesse and elegance. It's medium-bodied with dark fruit notes of black cherry, raspberry and a bit of plum. It spends two years in French Oak barrels and you definitely pick up a bit of the vanilla and baking spices usually accompanied by that particular oak aging on the palate as well. It's a very well-balanced wine with smooth tannins and a medium acidity that give it a lingering finish. I absolutely love this wine and was happy to finally get a chance to write about it!

US Pinot Noir 2015

Thanksgiving, a holiday that really means nothing to me, is when I sell the most Pinot Noir. It’s a grape that has always been lauded as the best pairing with Thanksgiving meals. It’s also one of my favorite varietals due to the different expressions you can find of it throughout the world. One of my favorite quotes in the film ‘Sideways’ is when Miles is trying to explain to Maya his fascination with this grape:

“It’s a hard grape to grow, as you know. Right? It’s uh, it’s thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It’s, you know, not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and thrive even when it’s neglected. No, Pinot needs constant care and attention. And in fact it can only grow in these really specific, little, tucked away corners of the world. And only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot’s potential can then coax it into its fullest expression. Then, I mean, oh its flavors, they’re just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and… ancient on the planet.”

Basically, this is a grape that can’t just be grown anywhere in any climate by just anyone. It’s hard to grow and usually only flourishes in cooler areas. That’s why when my parents gave me a bottle of Old Soul Pinot Noir from Lodi, a California AVA known for being on the warmer side climate-wise I was a bit horrified.

They gave the bottle to me in a brown sack and made me promise not to reveal what it was before I tried it. I even went so far as to open the bottle with my eyes closed so as not to see the cork. When I tried it I was convinced it was Zinfandel or possibly Petite Sirah. When I finally pulled it out of the sack I was shocked that it was Pinot Noir, I hadn’t even considered it as a potential varietal for what was in my glass. That being said, it actually wasn’t a bad wine. Full-bodied, bursting with dark fruit notes and only medium tannins. It just wasn’t Pinot Noir and I found it harder to enjoy after knowing what it supposedly was.

Luckily I’d had a good Pinot earlier that week: Trisaetum Willamette Valley 2015. This is one of my favorite Oregon Pinots, partially because it’s so affordable and just so damn delicious. I hadn’t been able to find it in a while, but Kye brought it home after a shopping spree at Total Wine, and I was thrilled. It’s light to medium-bodied with ripe red fruit notes of strawberry, cherry and raspberry. It finishes with hints of black pepper and nutmeg, a hint of acidity and silky tannins. It’s a truly beautiful example of the best kind of wine this grape can produce and I was more than happy to drink it again.

Brutocao Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

I am not a huge fan of California Cabernet Sauvignon, I tend to think that they have a tendency to be a bit unbalanced and a bit overpriced at times (*cough* Caymus *cough*). At the same time I can't fault California, especially Napa Valley, for making Cabernet their own and every now and then I come across a bottle that I really enjoy and adore, like Heitz (one of the best producers out there as far as quality and price are concerned) or, more recently, Brutocao Cabernet Sauvignon from Mendocino County.

Cabernet Sauvignon came into being due to a crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. It is one of the most widely planted grape varieties in the world and though California has embraced it, it was originally well known for being one of the six red grapes allowed in France's Bordeaux wines. It's also fascinating how differently this varietal can taste depending on where it was grown and produced. In France (usually blended with other varietals, like Merlot and Cabernet Franc) it exhibits more earth and tobacco notes, Australia and Chile tend to highlight it's herbal (especially eucalyptus) flavors and California focuses on the jammy fruit notes (and high alcohol) it can display.

Brutocao Cabernet was different from what I'd come to expect from Cali Cabernet. While it still accentuated the fruitiness, it didn't overdo it, like other wines of its ilk. It was medium-plus bodied with notes jammy fruit on the nose accompanied by a hint of clove. Black cherry, cranberry and raspberry came through first on the palate but were quickly followed by dusty, herbal earthiness. This single vineyard Cabernet finished with pleasantly smooth tannins and a touch of acidity.

This wine went a long way in changing my mind about buying California Cabernet and it definitely helped that it was under $20.

Apollonio Primitivo 2011

I recently had a disagreement with someone about Zinfandel and Primitivo being the same grape. It wasn’t much of an argument since his only response to any proof I presented that they weren’t the same was “Yes they are” and eventually I just gave up and bowed to his obviously “superior” knowledge. It did cause me to try and research the topic and what I found were a lot of conflicting facts. Some people claimed they were the same, others that they weren’t identical, but clones of the Croation grape Crljenak. The latter theory is the one I agree the most with since while the Zinfandels and Primitivos I’ve had are similar in some ways, I’ve also found them to be quite different in others. In my opinion Primitivos tend to display spicier, earthier notes with red fruit flavors whereas Zinfandels are smoother with notes of darker fruits.

I personally tend to prefer Primitivos because I find them to be more complex and interesting. Kye is probably sick of me bringing them home, but the ones that I do I can’t seem to stop buying. My favorite by far has been the 2011 Apollonio Primitivo from the Salice Salentino DOC in Apulia/Puglia, the heel of Italy. Aged for 12 months in American oak and cherry-wood barriques, which comes through on the palate. It’s full-bodied and rich with notes of stewed blueberries, figs and plums. There’s hints of clove and anise on the finish followed by a slight acidity and smooth tannins.

It’s been one of my favorite finds this year and reminded me how much I love Italian wines.

Canadian wine

My parents recently returned from a trip to Canada. Before they left I'd made them watch a video produced by the Guild of Sommeliers about Canadian wine and made them promise to bring me back a couple of bottles since icewine is really all you can find down here. I also insisted that they branch out and drink Canadian wine rather than sticking with more familiar labels from California or other places. Despite this causing some issues with their traveling companions they mostly stuck to my orders and were very happy to have done so.

The Canadian wine industry suffered thanks to prohibition in the early 20th Century and it's taken them a bit longer to get back on their feet. It wasn't until almost the 1990s that it really started to flourish again. Ontario and British Columbia are the main wine-producing regions in the country and though Ontario is the larger producer, most of the wines my parents drank (and the two they brought back for me) were both from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, which is one of the world's most northerly wine regions.

My parents wound up bringing me back a Riesling and a Cabernet Franc. The Gehringer Brothers Private Reserve Dry Riesling 2016 was the bigger hit with both Kye and me. It started out bursting with notes of green apple, golden pear, kiwi and white peach. As it opened up the acidity became much more prevalent along with a honeyed richness we both really enjoyed. I really love wines that change and open up with each glass and this riesling was definitely one of those. 

The Poplar Grove Cabernet Franc 2014 was also lovely, but definitely needed to be decanted (meaning I got to feel super fancy busting out our decanter). It spent 21 months in French oak barrels and was further aged in bottle for 18 months. It had notes of baked blackberry, raspberry and red currant accompanied by hints of cedar and baking spices. Firm tannins and medium acidity left a lingering finish after each sip.

Both the wines were wonderful and it made me hope that more Canadian wines will make their way into the Texas market soon. 

Gryphus Carménère 2016

At my first liquor store job, I had a sales rep (from some random company I can’t remember now) who seemed to always have very interesting descriptors for the wines he was peddling. The most memorable of those was his selling point for Carménère (all his wines were Chilean), a varietal he’d always claim was a “panty-dropper”. To this day I have yet to have proof of this and I mostly suspect he was an idiot who probably hadn’t even tasted the wines he was selling, but it’s always stuck with me, mainly because it is hilarious.

Carménère has a very interesting background: it started as one of the six grapes allowed for France’s Boredeaux AOP, but these days it is virtually extinct in the region. After phylloxera devastated much of France’s vineyards in the mid-1800s, it wasn’t really replanted due to its unpopularity and thus it became the “lost” grape of Bordeaux. Luckily, cuttings of this varietal wound up in Chile, where for years it was mistaken for Merlot. It wasn’t until DNA research in 1994 proved that much of what Chilean wine-makers thought was Merlot was actually Carménère and since 1998 the country has embraced the varietal that is now considered the national grape of Chile.

I’ve found that wines made with Carménère are usually very interesting (though not quite “panty-dropping”). They tend to be medium-bodied with distinct green pepper and spicy notes that pair very well with heavy meat dishes. For quite a while I was under the impression that it was a varietal that needed to be paired with food (mostly because that's what everyone always told me), but since then I’ve started to enjoy it all on its own. I’ve had Montes’ Purple Angel (a beautiful expression of this grape from the Colchagua Valley), but since I can’t afford $70-ish wine all the time (or ever, really), I’ve sought out other, more affordable Chilean Carménères.

The one I’ve been most impressed with recently was the Gryphus Carménère, a very affordable wine from the Maule Valley in (it probably goes without saying, but heck, I’ll say it anyway) Chile. It is 100% Carménère with 40% aged in used French oak barrels. This wine starts off bursting with flavors of black cherry, blackberry and plum which are then quickly followed by notes green and black pepper. It has a medium finish with smooth tannins and a slight acidity. It had surprising complexity and elegance that I don’t usually expect in wines that are so inexpensive (under $10). This wine is more than enough proof that Carménère has found a very good home in Chile… and maybe it really could be a panty-dropper (though I’m still waiting on more concrete evidence of that before I start using it as a descriptor).