Sometimes an once or two is simply insufficient

 Wine tastings in our trade are very common as wine suppliers are eager to get wine store staff to taste their product. I do make a point to attend as many as I possibly can, not because I haven't tried the wines in the past, but because it is a very good way to stay up with current vintages and new offerings. On Wednesday I went to a tasting that offered a very large selection of high end California wines that were right up my alley, many favorites that I drink on a regular basis and a couple new offerings that would be a first taste. I brought along an employee who was very enthusiastic for this particular tasting because she saw several wines on the list that she had not tried, including some that we sell. In an effort to offer the best customer service, she wanted to be well versed in all the products she sells for Glen Lake Wine and Spirits. I was the designated driver on this outing so I decided to just follow her around and let her pick all the wines we were going to try that afternoon. There are often one hundred or more wine offerings at these affairs so even the most seasoned taster cannot try them all. She chose to try wines from the following vineyards;

1. Ladera

2. Bollinger

3. Hogue

4. Raymond

5. Blackstone

6. Pine Ridge

7. Chappellet

8. Barnet

9. Martinelli

10. Kenwood

11. Chalk Hill

12. Hendry

 We ended up trying about twenty five samples, very small samples due to the driving and the fact that we had to go back to work. Given the choice I would rather just try a couple wines and truly taste and appreciate them rather than just a cursory sip then on to the next. The little sip gives an idea of the wines flavor profiles, but to really analyze a wine I need to drink a whole glass over a period of time. In fact my favorite procedure for trying a wine I truly appreciate is to try a glass in the evening and a second taste the following evening to see how the wine opens up and develops . Years ago I used to take notes at these events and remember reviewing my thoughts on the forty plus wines I drank the previous evening; even if you spit the majority of your samples out the alcohol numbs your tongue to the point where you are not tasting to your fullest potential. The notes proved that I had less and less to say about the wines as I went down the list. Along with my pallet, my handwriting seemed to get sloppier going down the list as well.  My tasting partner from Wednesday agreed that twenty five wines are too many to taste at one time, the difficult thing for her was trying to decide which ones to skip. That is not an easy decision for anyone considering the list above. I guess it is a good problem to have, too many wines to try and not enough hours to try them all.

Regarding the list of twelve wineries above, my favorite of the day was Ladera. We started with their new Pillow Road Pinot Noir then drank through their four Cabernet Sauvignon offerings. All excellent wines that I never pass on trying at tastings. The 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet is a Glen Lake Wine and Spirits favorite and the biggest seller from Ladera in Glen Lake. The wine consists of 94% cabernet sauvignon and 4% petite verdot that adds a richness to the wine and juicy flavors to the finish. The cabernet comes from the wineries vineyards on Howell Mountain and Lone Canyon.

 

 

 

2006 Chateau Ste Michelle - Indian Wells

 

I could go on for days about this winery, it is one of the largest selling labels at Glen Lake Wine and Spirits and certainly offers one of the best values. Chateau Ste Michelle is part of a larger company that holds many vineyards. These vineyards come from Washington State, California, Italy, and South America. The majority of the sales in Glen Lake are from the Washington vineyards (Chateau Ste Michelle, Columbia Crest, Snoqualmie, and Red Diamond.) Columbia Crest is the leader in bargain priced wines and Chateau Ste Michelle follows with heavy sales in the mid priced $10 to $15 category. The next step up, Indian Wells, is the topic of my tasting tonight. Although I am not a big main stream score follower, (i.e. Parker, Wine Spectator), the reason I am drinking this wine tonight is that it scored 88 points under the "Best Buy" category in the Wine Spectator that arrived at my store this week.

 Indian Wells cabernet is grown on their vineyards in central Washington, ranging from Wahluke Slope to Cold Creek. As with almost all of Chateau Ste Michelle offerings, this wine is superbly made. It has velvety tannins, ripe currant, plum, and blackberry. Certainly a cabernet that will accompany the traditional "dry red wine" foods, but is also perfect for drinking on its own. The wine gets some jammy fruit flavors from the 10% syrah that has been blended to the cabernet.

Wine Spectator gives this wine high marks for $18 per bottle, Glen Lake Wine and Spirits also gives the wine high marks and is offering it for $14.99 per bottle. Stock up, this is a deal.

"For such a grand meal I had rather expected a claret"

                       -Bond

 2006 Steltzner Claret.

I have a great love for this winery not only for the wines but also for the wonderful experiences I have had there.  Fortunate enough to have visited this winery on several occasions the experience I will never forget was the lunch we had with Dick Steltzner and his daughter Allison. With no one around for miles except acres of vines, Allison Steltzner prepared a fantastic lunch while her father taught Tanya and me about wine making, farming, and details about wine crystal that would have had the guys at Riedel taking notes. This is truly a great example in family owned and operated business. If you find yourself in the Stags Leap district of Napa Valley be sure to visit Steltzner. The Winery that epitomizes Napa from the 1970's.

 Regarding the 2006 Steltzner Napa Valley Claret. This wine is big, tight and dry. Dry is not a descriptive term that should be used on the fine details of a wine, rather a term describing the amount of sugar found in the wine. The Claret is made up of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 15% Merlot. It is by nature a dry wine, but wow it's dry. There are dark fruit flavors that show up subtly, specifically plums and black cherries. There are also tannins, dry tannins. This wine should be enjoyed with chocolate, a steak dinner or just by itself, if you can handle it. A couple hours of breathing will enhance the experience. As always a quality product that is very reasonably priced considering it's pedigree. Look for Steltzner Claret at Glen Lake Wine and Spirits for $14.99.

 

 

Wines of the day

 

Tuesday's wine tasting took a departure to the malt based cousin - beer. Today's stars, Guinness and Harp. Alone or blended together they taste great on St. Patrick's Day. The perfect food for either of the choices is, of course, corned beef at Keegan's Irish Pub in Minneapolis. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

Sampled at Glen Lake Wine and Spirits this weekend

 

Our Friday night wine tasting was a hit with Trinchero, Napa Valley Pinot Noir. If you are looking for a decent pinot without breaking the $20 barrier, look no further. Generally speaking there are not a whole lot of good pinots that fall under this $20 figure, but I always try to have at least a couple available on sale. 2006 Trinchero pinot at $13.99 is truly a deal; it has the commonly found flavors of strawberry and black cherry and also a taste profile not found often in this varietal (cola). It will be on sale through April. Give this wine a try, you may want to stock up.

 Saturday night we had a staff sampling of Artesa 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine has not been in stock at Glen Lake Wine and Spirits for a few years, so it was time to revisit.  At a sale price of $18.99, it is a bargain.  You will find flavor profiles of blackberry, cherry, pepper, vanilla and cedar in this cabernet.  This wine was sourced from vinyards in Napa County (56%) and Sonoma County (44%). Although the 2004 is a year or two older than most current releases in this category, it shows bright fruit and will surely hold up for years to come.

 

 

Sharing a taste of wine country

 My fourth favorite thing to do when visiting wine country is bring along some friends to share the experience. It can be difficult traveling with another couple, but if they are wine lovers and you have them in tow in wine country it should be a trip to remember. This comes to mind because I pulled a bottle of 2001 reserve Simi Cabernet tonight. This particular bottle was given to me by a very special employee of Simi who is no longer with us. The night he gave this bottle to me we were with some very good friends having the trip of our lives in Sonoma, California. The often overlooked description of wine is the setting and the people with which the wine is consumed. Although  in this instance the people and setting are far more memorable than the wine, the wine is still holding up nicely showing an elegant fruit and spice. This 2001 still has some years left to be enjoyed.

Back to the experience...... It involved a wonderful tour of the winery followed by a private dinner with the wine maker and the tour guide (who gave me the reserve 2001). I will forever remember the evening's events and will hold a place in my heart for this winery. So while I can talk in depth about fruits, tannins, oak, body, food matching, etc, there are time's when it is more pleasurable to remember a wine for the place and the people you enjoyed it with and skip the analytical description. 

 Stay tuned for my three favorite things.

 

Wine Country memories to get me through the never ending winter

 One of the best parts of owning a wine store are the "business trips" to wine country. When the cold dreary Minnesota winter begins to wear me down I can always reminisce about one of the many beautiful vineyards I have been a guest of over the years.

Tonight I was brought back to an enlightening visit my wife and I made to the Conn Creek vineyard in Napa Valley. I'm not sure if it is the long winter or the glass of 2005 Limited Release cabernet sauvignon I'm currently drinking that reminded me of the trip and it does not really matter. On that particular winery tour, after the customary look at their facilities and property, they had a special lunch in store for us. It was special because the wine that accompanied our meal was created by my wife and I. To make our lunch wine, my wife and I were each handed a Reidel magnum and then lead to a row of twelve oak casks filled with cabernet sauvignon from different vineyard sites within Napa Valley. Looking past the twelve cabernet barrels, there was one oak barrel each of cabernet franc, merlot, petit verdot and malbec. The only instructions were to choose our favorite cabernet sauvignon out of the twelve and put the amount of our choice in our glass. Then make the rounds and add our chosen amount of merlot, cab franc, malbec and petit verdot to mix up the perfect bordeaux style blend for lunch. Being the industry expert I jumped right in and mixed the ultimate blend based on my knowledge of each of the varietals and my preference for said varietal. My wife approached the sea of barrels in a much more cautious and deliberate manner, blending, tasting and considering. I patiently waited knowing that nothing could beat my blend of 90% cabernet sauvignon, 2% cabernet franc, 2% petit verdot, and 6% merlot. As it turned out my fear of malbec and overconfidence in straight cabernet was my downfall. My final blend was blah while my wife's won in a blind tasting that included the wineries own premium blend.

While my wife was the better wine creator that day, I don't really feel like I was beat. I was able to enjoy all the creations we mixed, and looking back there were no bad blends. When starting with some of the finest wines in the world, the outcome is bound to turn out good. Let's leave it to the experts to create the best of the best.

Wine of the weekend

 Those readers who are regulars at Glen Lake Wine and Spirits know that Friday night is wine sampling night. Friday sometimes spills over to Saturday and then we end up with a "wine of the weekend". There are several reasons that this can occur, but the most frequent is simply that I want the Saturday night staff to have an opportunity to try the wine as well. This weekend was a double header with Artesa chardonnay. Artesa comes from the Carneros region of California, one of my favorites for chardonnay and pinot noir. The 2007 Artesa chardonnay is a perfect all around - or crowd pleaser - chardonnay. It is full bodied, rich, creamy (buttery) but also offers some fruit, such as apple and pineapple. It is rounded off with just the right amount of vanilla flavor coming from a modest amount of oak barrel aging. We currently have Artesa chardonnay on sale for $16.99, suggested retail $21.99.

New to Glen Lake

 From several customer requests in the past few weeks Glen Lake Wine and Spirits has added Frei Brothers wines to our extensive offering. Frei Brothers is located in the Alexander Valley, Sonoma's premier cabernet sauvignon appellation. 

I am currently tasting the 2005 cabernet sauvignon. This wine is an elegant cabernet with velvety tannins, hints of blackberry and cedar stand out on this fruit forward cabernet. A good choice for that next steak night.

Along with the cabernet, I have also stocked the Frei Brothers pinot noir and chardonnay.

 

 

North of the famous valley

 

As I sip on this glass of wine tonight I have to wonder how many people even consider the valley that lies on the north side of Napa. From the southern part of Lake County  come the fine wines of Guenoc. The Guenoc Valley, home to Guenoc winery was purchased by film star Lillie Langtry in 1888. She had intentions of making the finest claret in California or perhaps the world. She probably never would have guessed that a small wine store in Minnetonka, Minnesota would sell hundreds of bottles of her claret per year, one hundred and twenty years after she first set eyes on her plot of land.

While the Guenoc claret is the largest seller from this vineyard at Glen Lake Wine and Spirits, tonight I am enjoying a bottle of 2006 Lake County cabernet sauvignon. This cabernet is comprised of 77% cabernet, 14% merlot, and 9% petit verdot. Leaning heavier to the cabernet the wine is more intense than the Claret with flavors of caramel, toffee, and blackberry. Look for this wine on sale at Glen Lake Wine and Spirits for $11.99. A price you probably would not find if this wine were made several miles south in the next valley.