Lost Sonnet 2007 Meritage Napa Valley

May 3, 2011

Matt $10 Price Point, 2007, Give-A-Try, Lost Sonnet, Meritage, Napa Valley, Our Cellars, Worth-Buying 9 Comments

Lost Sonnet 2007 Meritage Napa Valley

The Wine: As of late, I’ve been seeing a lot more Red Wine blends on the shelves of Trader Joe’s; and it makes good sense. Grape growers or wine makers or grape brokers need to move some of their inventory, so they create a blend which results in enough cases for a national or regional grocery store chain, like Trader Joe’s which openly embraces the private or fictitious label wine scene. It’s us, the curious consumer who can really benefit from this sort of situation. Our wine today, Lost Sonnet from ‘Our Cellars’ is no doubt another perfect example; it comes from the same producers as Hamilton Stevens and another Trader Joe’s Reserve Petite Sirah. So, how is this wine?

The Experience:

Color: Fairly rich/dense strawberry, plum hue.

Nose: Quite fragrant berry preserves, vanilla, smokiness, little herbaceous, some wood and baking spices.

Palate: Pretty decent tannins quickly dry your mouth, then a layer of dried berries followed by coco, vanilla, little herby, spiciness and moderate acidity to the finish, which really begins to fall flat after about eight-seconds.

Bottom-Line: Worth-A-Try/Worth-Buying

Here’s a wine that is not really flawed, but nor is it brimming of original character; it’s a result of technical wine making. The appellation is Napa Valley, so it’s true to the appellation with a heavy dose of oak treatment on both the nose and palate. Is this bad? Not necessarily. But you will probably end up saying ‘This tastes like other wines I’ve had from Napa before’. But, probably paid a lot more for! So, on that account, this is good. If you’re looking for a revolutionary wine, this is not the right choice. If you’re looking for a bargin on a Napa Red Wine, this is certainly the right choice. What do you think of this wine?

Wine Info: 

  • Price: $10
  • Alcohol: 14.5%
  • Grape Blend: 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc
  • Appellation: Napa Valley
  • Cellar: Our Cellars, Healdsburg.

Spotted Owl Vineyards 2007 Mountain Cuvée

February 14, 2011

Matt $11-$20 Price Point, 2007, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley, Spotted Owl Vineyards 1 Comment

The Wine: One of the most intimidating aspects of getting into wine is the introduction of many new words, many of which are of a foreign origin – namely French. The term Cuvée translates into ‘vat’ or ‘tank’, meaning the wine at some point of its life spent time in one of these cylindrical devices. Simple enough, but typically Cuvée also means the wine is a blend of several different vats/tanks, and could possibly imply the wine is of a higher quality, but this is yet another one of those unregulated terms which wine makers can use at their own discretion. This wine is a 52% Cabernet Sauvignon and 48% Syrah blend from the Mount Veeder AVA in Napa Valley. I read somewhere that the winery is actually a bonded garage in Napa, I think that’s really cool. So what about this wine, is it Cuvée of a higher order?

The Experience:

Color: An amazingly deep plum violet, similar to a prune. You can tell this wine is unfiltered by the fogginess in its hazy clarity. I prefer unfiltered or fined wines.

Nose: Barreling (oak, vanilla), toasty, gravel, earthy – not much in the way of a fruit driven nose.

Palate: The first note I make is about the barreling qualities of oak and herbaciousness, most certainly from the Syrah. The next notes make notes refer  to stoney, gravely, earthy qualities. The body of this wine is medium-high, there is certainly tannin and some acid to this wine.

Bottom Line: Give-A-Try

Here’s a wine which has a bright future, it’s just not there yet. When you cut the foil, you will notice it’s thick; the quality of cork also let’s you know this wine was meant to lay down for awhile. Right now, the wine is still trying to come together to form something a bit more balanced, but has a ways to go. Even after plenty of time in a decanter and re-visiting several days later, it’s still a young and classically powerful Napa wine. It stems from the Mount Veeder AVA which has lots of great volcanic properties to its soil which is definitely leaves its mark on this wine. If you were going to open this wine anytime soon, make sure it’s with a piece of red meat and potatoes. It’s not really a wine for sipping or for subtle dishes. This wine is a hustle-buy and Trader Joes’ warehouse (in Northern California) doesn’t have anymore, buy this wine and have it with your Memorial Day 2014 BBQ.

Wine Info:

  • Price: $19
  • Appellation: Mount Veeder AVA, Napa Valley
  • Grape Varietals: 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 48% Syrah
  • Alcohol: 14.8%
  • Barrel Aging: 18 months French oak – 50% new (Seguin Moreau, Marques; med toast)
  • Cases Produced: 500

Picket Fence – 2008 Chardonnay – Russian River Valley

January 7, 2011

Matt $5-$9 Price Point, 2007, Chardonnay, Next-Wine-Please!, Picket Fence, Russian River Valley 2 Comments

Picket Fence is a winery now on the radar of many Trader Joe’s wine drinkers because of the Pinot Noir they produce.  The Pinot received the #1 pick over at Jason’s Wine Blog followed by a lengthy discussion in the comments section.  Jeff over at Viva La Wino also enjoyed this wine and gave it an A.  I thought this was a nice wine and recommend it often.  Personally, this is not my first choice of Pinot found at TJ’s, I found this wine too high in alcohol and oak; but this wine would pair excellent with a meat or red pasta sauce dinner.  So I wondered, how’s their Chardonnay?

The Wine: And at $9 per cork, that’s a fair price, as opposed to the $20 price tag listed on Picket Fence‘s website.  *Picket Fence has since closed it’s e-commerce store from when I first checked several months ago.*  I’ve noticed this wine isn’t exactly clearing the shelf at TJ’s; maaaybe a case per week?  A Russian River Chardonnay with a rather attractive label is one that could potentially be flying off the shelf.  Picket Fence’s website says :”Bright Meyer lemon notes and crisp apple with hints of succulent stone fruit mingle with the toasted oak components of caramelized brown spices, resulting in a rich, sensuous wine that coats the mouth with a long, silky finish”.  So what’s going on inside the bottle?

The Experience: You’re going to find a straw golden yellow color with a lot of oak and alcohol welcoming you on the nose.  Before even tasting I had a feeling this was going to be an overly oak barrel driven chardonnay and indeed it was.  The flavor profiles which showed themselves were first heat/spice from alcohol, oak then some apple and pineapple components.  The alcohol is not very refreshing in the mouth and leaves the finish disjointed; 50% of the barrels were new French Oak with a medium toast, which really puts into context why there is too much oak and vanilla in this wine.

The Bottom Line:  Next-Wine-Please

If I paid the original listed price of $20, I would be struggling to justify why that purchase was worth it.  Even at $9 per cork, I’m left feeling I’m not getting great value out of this wine.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t finish that bottle.

Question: What flavor component(s) do you like best in Chardonnay?

Wine Dork Info:

  • Appellation: Russian River Valley
  • Wine Maker: Don Van Staaveren
  • Released: October 2009
  • Alcohol: 14.5%
  • pH: 3.42
  • TA: 0.43 g/L

Wine Battle Wednesday – Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 2007 ‘Artemis’ vs. TJ’s Reserve 2007 Alexander Valley

December 30, 2010

Matt 2007, Alexander Valley, Buy-Half-A-Case, Cabernet Sauvignon, Give-A-Try, Napa Valley, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Trader Joe's Reserve, Wine Battle , , 3 Comments

In the left corner, we have the Stags Leap Wine Cellars 2007  ’Artemis‘ Cabernet Sauvignon.

In the right corner, we have the Trader Joe’s Reserve – 2007 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This was a pairing I had wanted to do since the Alexander Valley arrived about two weeks ago.  Our last wine tasting/holiday party proved to be a great chance!  So I featured this duo.  I wanted to place the TJ’s Reserve against a high(er) cost wine to see how it would fair against which one would hope is a well built wine.  I really like tasting two wines next to each other, it gives you a real chance for comparison and assessing what a wine is really worth to you, price-wise.  Pretty much all of our crew tastings are the ‘pop and pour’ type of tastings; I wasn’t able to give either wine more than 45 minutes time to breathe and develop before giving each one a taste.  (We will have an aireator for next time…)

Off the bat, the TJ’s Reserve has a nice dark berry and slightly dusty nose and both elements are transfered to the palate.  There are tannins, but are not that incredibly tight or dominant, so this is one with maaaybe 2-3 years lay down time.  But we are certainly  dealing with a better than average daily drinker that will draw positive comments and nods of approval for the price.  At $10 dollars per cork, you are getting value and bang out of this wine.  Simply put, this is  more affordable rendition of Cab from this part of Northern California.

The Stags Leap Wine Cellars ‘Artemis’ only really began to show its paid for refinements at about minute 45 and after tasting several other wines.  It’s balance and attention to detail in the palate was becoming more evident than the TJ’s Reserve.  The wine tasted and reacted very well in the mouth.  It has the tall tale signs of its Napa Valley appellation - juicy dark berries, dustiness, tannins, oak and vanilla which all played well with each other on the palate; the nose is what you’d expect but rather conservative.  Simply good wine chemistry.  $50 bones.

Bottom Line: The Trader Joe’s customer looking for good wine to be consumed shortly after purchase, buy the TJ’s Reserve Alexander Valley.  I feel this wine lives up to it’s price point and could add an fun dimension to a blind tasting event next to one of the Big Boys.  If I were headed to the snow for the weekend and planned on not leaving the cabin all day, I’d bring the Stag’s Leap to enjoy it’s changes throughout the day.

Question: Have you had any interesting results blind tasting California Cabs?

Bonus Dork Info:

TJ’s Reserve

  • Wine Maker – Nick Goldschmidt
  • Barrel Aging – 100% barrel aged, 22% new barrels (time unknown)
  • ABV – 13.9%
  • pH – 3.65
  • SO2 – 77pm
  • TA – 6.1 g/L
  • RS – <3 g/L
  • Fining Agent – None

Stag’s Leap

  • Wine Maker – Nicki Pruss
  • Harvested – August 30th – October 8th, 2007
  • Barrel Aging – 18 months, 34% new French oak
  • Blend – 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 2% Syrah, 1% Petit Verdot
  • Alcohol – 14.%
  • pH – 3.76
  • Tirtatable Acidity – 0.56 g/100ml

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