Vinfolio.com

Last week I received an email from the Napa Valley Vintners inviting me to a tasting of 100 Cabernet Sauvignon three days hence only blocks from my office. As my tasting appointment calender was fairly full in the afternoon, I decided to make the most of the morning section of the tasting thinking that it would be getting crowded fast. When I arrived there was only one other person in the room with nearly 18 cases of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon to taste. The tasting was arranged at the request of Jancis Robinson of Decanter Magazine for the benefit of their California correspondent, Linda Murphy, to review. After a quick survey of the room I resigned myself to start at the far end and work my way around backwards so that I would only overlap Linda once.

I made it through about 20% of the available wines with notes but tasted more than that which I left without notes. A few of the top wines of the day are noted below. I will add more notes here and to VinCellar, with my ratings over the next week.

2003 Staglin Estate - Beautiful fruit, allspice, creamy cherry and berry. Excellent structure with extracted smootness.

2004 Laura Zahtila Beckstoffer George III - Chocolate and cherry nose; smooth concentrated and polished on the palate. Nice tannins with a smooth grip.

2004 Crocker Starr Stone Place Cuvee - Solid berry and herb laced nose. Very sexy on the palate and grippy tannins

2004 Lewis - Rich, polished nose with licorice, blackberry on the palate. Very intense.

2005 Revana - Pretty nose, blackberry, briary polished blueberry. The palate is intense with great length.

I would like to thank Terry Hall of Napa Valley Vintners for putting this amazing lineup of wines together for those of us who were able to make it to the event. It was a one of a kind experience.

When visiting recently with Michael Browne at Kosta Browne to taste and blend Vinfolio's Hospices of Sonoma barrel, I also had a chance to taste with Shane Finley, a former New Yorker who got his start in 2001 as a harvest intern for Copain and rose quickly from there becoming Associate Winemaker for Kosta Browne in 2006. He is introducing his new eponymous project consisting of three Syrah and a Rose. Two of the Syrah are mailing list only, and the Rose will be arriving in about a month.

Like Ryan Zepaltas who has a similar position at Siduri, Finley is producing excellent wines and Vinfolio is honored to be the exclusive retailer for his only wine that had some left over from the mailing list. The wine is called "The Unknown" and with this kind of quality, that moniker will be gone in no time.

Finley uses three complementary sources; Kick Ranch located in Rincon Valley, Jemrose Vineyard in Bennett Valley and Valenti Vineyards in Anderson Valley. Jemrose is brighter and fruitier than the massive, broad shouldered Valenti. A total of five diverse clones are sourced.

2006 Shane Syrah The Unknown, Sonoma County

Smooth nose of black currant and white pepper, the palate is jam-packed with black currant, peppery blackberry and a sachet of violet, and plump salt-sprinkled blueberry. Only 125 cases are produced.

Look for this wine soon at Vinfolio. You are welcome to place a quote request through VinCellar. There will be strict allocations for this first release.

 Last year when I attended the Hospices of Sonoma Pinot Noir Barrel Auction in Sebastopol I was looking for the wines that were not just great but represented the hard-to-define "rare air" of Pinot Noir; those that had the pedigree for greatness. As these were wines from 2006 vintage tasted in early spring of 2007 many were still in a "cocoon phase" requiring some rigorous evaluation.

Interestingly a pair of lots I purchased were from Keefer Vineyard's and planted to Wadensvil Clone 23; the same as used by Kenneth Juhasz for his stunning back to back 100 point Auteur Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard. The Keefer lots were 2006 Siduri and 2006 Kosta Browne.

The invitation to collaborate with some of the most critically acclaimed Pinot Noir producers in blending a special one-of-a-kind lot is an honor like none other. I had the opportunity to blend the Hospices of Sonoma 2006 Donum lot with Kenneth Juhasz in the summer of last year and posted those results at Free Run Juice. Just last week I received a call from Michael Browne of Kosta Browne to schedule some time later in the week to join him at the winery and help blend Vinfolio's barrel from the Keefer Vineyard. We settled on Wednesday morning as I was arriving from San Francisco.

When I arrived, Michael had a lineup of the current release Kosta Browne wines from the 2005 vintage waiting for me.

2005 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Russian River Valley; VF 92

Bright cherry and violet hints in the nose with a touch of herb leading into the plum and dark berry flavors.

2005 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast; VF 92

A nose of tarry cherry; smooth and round. The palate has forward and focused dark cherry, licorice and toast.

2005 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Amber Ridge Vineyard; VF 95

Beautifully polished nose of black cherry, violets and berry. The palate is smoothly formed and ripe with smooth tannins and flavors of cherry, dark currant and licorice/violet.

2005 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Koplen Vineyard; VF 97

Comprised of 25% whole cluster, the nose is saturated with licorice, prune and jasmine. The palate shows intense extraction with impressive weight.

2005 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard; VF 96

Nose of violet pastille, blueberry and graphite. The palate is licorice, dark cherry and christmas spice. Carries itself beautifully.

2005 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Miron Vineyard; VF 90

Shows a tarry, sour cherry nose with a polished red raspberry feel. The palate is intense and full.

2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast; VF 90 - 92

Scheduled for release May 1, 2008. All the parts are here for a very good wine. Shows excellent texture and aromatics. needs a year before final evaluation.

With the "warm-up" completed Michael then led me to the pad where over twenty barrels of his 2006 Keefer Pinot Noir were lined up and due to be racked into tank for final blending in two days. The last remaining task was to come up with Vinfolio's barrel to be bottled in magnum; an incredibly rare size for Kosta Browne that is only used for charitable donation. We tasted through ten barrels seperately and I noted them sequentially as 1 through 10. Below I have listed the specifics of the barrel, cooper and clone as well as impressions

1. Clone 23 Press lot #1 neutral barrel: lean, elegant with bright cherry backbone

2. Clone 23 Press lot # 2 neutral barrel: A little more weight than #1 but still showing bright acidity

3. Clone 23 New Rousseau: herbs, cherry and violet

4. Clone 23 New Rousseau: more color extraction than #3, bigger flavors with more meatiness

5. Clone 23 New Remond - Troncais MTL: bright nose of black fruits, open, porous texture on palate.

6. Clone 23 New Remond - Allier MTL: broader nose with violet and cherry. beautiful texture

7. Clone 23 New Remond - Allier MTL+: smooth but light on the palate

8. Clone 23 New Remond - Bertranges: very extracted, a monster

9. Clone 2A Neutral Rousseau: cherry, vanilla smoothness on the nose. beautiful mouthfeel, lilac and honey

10. Clone 2A New Rousseau: this barrel was originally destined for the iconic "4 Barrel", 100 cases of the best Kosta Browne makes every vintage. cinnamon and black fruits in the nose with a touch of smooth honey. very extracted.

Now that the raw material was identified we began to assess different blends of 25% proportions of different barrels

Blend 1 - All Clone 23; 1, 2, 6, 3: Pretty violet nose with hints of creamy vanilla. Nice structure but there was no length. 87 points

Blend 2 - 75% Clone 23, 25% Clone 2A; 2, 2, 10, 6: Chalky licorice nose, the palate is rich and long with toast, cherry and herbs. The intensity builds on the palate with some air. 93 points

Blend 3 - 50% Clone 23, 50% Clone 2A; 2, 6, 9, 10: beautiful balance in the nose. licorice, violet and cherry.The mouthfeel is smooth cherry, pomegranate and licorice showing a solid structure for aging (50% new oak).97 points

Blend 4 - 75% Clone 23, 25% Clone 2A; 2, 2, 8, 10: including the "monster" Bertranges did nothing for the blend. no notes.

Blend 5 - 50% Clone 23, 50% Clone 2A; 2, 3, 9, 10: very similar to blend 3 except it has a new Rousseau barrel of Clone 23 instead of the new Remond Allier MTL. the prevalent feel was compact toastiness and black cherry. 84 points

The clear winner was Blend #3 that displayed all of the inherent values that Michael and I agreed were important for the wine to have as it is being custom bottled in magnum formats.

Look for thes and the other Hospices of Sonoma magnums appearing in a Vinfolio offering soon.

Why do I call it the Wadensvil Butterfly? The definition of a butterfly is a creature with two pairs of wings. In this case it is 2 pair of barrels from different clones that will take a few years in the cocoon to show the full brilliance.

It is always an exciting time when new producers come our way that have the makings of an instant classic. That is what I found last week when I met and tasted with Keith Emerson who along with partner, Brian Brown, created a gorgeous small-production Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley - their premiere release. Keith is Director of Winemaking at Vineyard 29 where he first met Brian and set out to make a wine of superb quality. The partners found a vineyard in Oakville near Rudd, Phelps Backus and Plump Jack that had everything they were searching for in a source.

From a production standpoint, the wine saw less than 50% new french oak and is bottled unfined and unfiltered. 

My tasting showed beautifully defined salt-sprinkled black currant, velvet textured licorice and shaved dark chocolate. The mouthfeel is creamy and focused, intensely smooth (up there with the very best) and extracted on the mid-palate. The flavors are mouth-watering licorice, black currant and supple blackberry. The tannins are beautifully formed and show a sublime velvet-like grip. The finish of black raspberry and currant lasts for several minutes. Drink 2008 - 2016

Production is a mere 225 cases and the winery is now virtually sold out. To compare this wine to anything that has premiered in the last five years, It would be Drinkward-Peschon.

 You may place a quote request for this wine at www.vinfolio.com and look for it in an upcoming issue of The Wilder Side of California

I tasted over a half dozen new wines from a supplier yesterday who I feel will become a growing influence on the wines you see discussed and recommended at Vinfolio. Only a couple offerings were familiar to me because of knowing the winemakers associated with them, even so this was my first opportunity to taste.

2004 Battle Creek Pinot Noir  from Willamette Valley is made by Aron Hess who has worked for Erath and Rex Hill. All estate bottled, the low yielding vines produce under a ton per acre. Production is 150 cases. The nose shows graphite. dusty olive, clove spice and meat. The palate is cleanly focused and shows notable elegance in profile.

2005 Winter Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley and made by Kiwi transplant Helen Mawson of Hundred Acre. It shows a polished nose of blueberry and blackberry with velvet-like tannins, licorice and black currant on the palate.

2004 Roy Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley and made by Philippe Melka. It shows nicely structured aromas of lilac, smooth blackberry and meaty currant mixed with kirsch and licorice. A hint of olive is also noted.

All three of these wines will be available at Vinfolio soon. You can place a quote request for any of them throug VinCellar.

This may seem like an odd note to post on freerunjuice because it doesn't seem like it really has much to do with wine, but be patient and read on.

Vinfolio's San Francisco office is located in a very large former industrial structure on Potrero Hill. Shortly after the office opened here in 2005, A restaurant called Arc Cafe opened downstairs where I could start my Tuesday in the city with an espresso, something to munch on and the great equalizer - free Wi-FI! I usually get into SF early as I drop my partner off downtown by 630AM and I have some time to kill. It became one of my personal rituals that abruptly ended when they closed down in December of 2006. The only alternative to coffee in the morning was a Starbucks on the next block which I resigned myself to for the foreseeable future.

Imagine my surprise when I came into the office today after being gone for three weeks and seeing the old Arc Cafe space was actually open under a new name, Coffee Bar. It was a little early when I poked my head in the door asking if they were open, but a friendly guy named Jason said he could make me an espresso which turned out to an exquisite way to begin the day (in the proper cup, with a metal spoon, no less!) i asked about breakfast bites and he advised me that the ham and cheese croissants from Patisserie Philippe, to be delivered by 730 were not to be missed.

I powered up my laptop and began surfing the web in their spacious, newly outfitted, modern space. When the pastry finally arrived (right on time), it was every bit as good as Jason suggested and as he mentioned, still "bakery fresh warm". This Tuesday morning "start-up" is the boost I need to approach tastings in the city and ultimately gets me through writing my weekly offer published on Friday. There is the wine connection!

They have some items for lunch but also an extensive wine selection that becomes available after 5 PM.

If you find yourself doing a pickup of my latest wines from The Wilder Side of California at Vinfolio and you need an espresso or a quick bite. Here is your answer.

Vineyard owner Kelly Fleming is finishing up the rough work in her new 12000 square foot cave on her Pickett Road property. There will be enough room inside for all her production of organically grown Estate grapes made by Celia Masyczek. The project will not be finished for about another year but Kelly is optimistic about crushing there in 2008. Her 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon was recently profiled at Vinfolio where it received a 93 point score. Don't miss this weeks issue of The Wilder Side of California featuring more wines by Celia.