Dynamite Under-$20 Pinot Noir & More

20 Sunday May 2012

Posted by in California, Napa/Sonoma, Oregon

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The wine geeks among us have many quests. One such quest is usually to find a really good under 420 Pinot Noir. They’re really hard to find and can be inconsistent from vintage to vintage.

After a few thoughts on my Pinot find how about more Pinot?

Gauthier Sonoma Coast 2008 Pinot Noir – Simply put, the Gauthier is one of the best under-$20 Pinots I have ever found.

It had really nice red berry fruit, a smooth, smoke, spice and a balanced feel in the mouth and moderate acidity. Pinot at the price point isn’t always a true representation of the grape but this one sure was. It even had a richness in flavor.

All too often $15 Pinot, give or take a couple bucks, can be flat, acidic, or tasteless. The Gauthier is none of those things.

Now a caveat, I picked this wine up on clearance for about $17 but it does normally retail for near $30. So perhaps this review should have an asterik.

But if you get to know your wine retailer, the proprietor is going to point out these great deals to their best customers.

Gauthier Sonoma Coast 2008 Pinot Noir, $17-$29, Highly Recommended.

Acrobat 2011 Oregon Rose of Pinot Noir – At the start of each summer I go on a Rose binge. I have explored Rose from different countries and different grapes since I got into the wine writing.

Unfortunately, too many people still see pinkish or off colored wine and think of white zinfandel. There is no better summer sipper than dry Rose.

I’m partial to the Provence region of France and their really great salmon-colored Rose. But I still like exploring. There is a lot of Rose made from Pinot. The Acrobat comes from critic favorite King Estate Winery in Orgeon.

The Rose is a bit darker than many but really packs a dry strawberry/cherry punch. It certainly has a bigger fruit component and bigger flavor than many Rose wines. But I liked the balance and bigger flavor. It held up to chocolate and salmon off the grill.

Acrobat Rose is pretty easy to find and generally $14-$15.

Acrobat 2011 Oregon Rose of Pinot Noir, SRP $15.00, Recommended.

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Phillips’ Winery Making Impact Value Wines

08 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in California

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I never take meeting a winemaker or winery owner for granted. Getting to meet these people and learning about wine and their personal story is my favorite part of wine writing.
Unfortunately, most wine drinkers don’t get these opportunities unless they go to high-ticket wine dinners or have a networking connection in wine country.
Michael Phillips with his signature Seven Deadly Zins
Michael Phillips, of Michael David Winery, is visiting Indiana this week and his PR firm offered me the chance to taste some wines and talk with Michael. I jumped at the chance because my schedule allowed it to work.
While you may not have heard of Michael David Winery, it’s a safe bet you’ve seen its flagship wine if you frequent wine shops. The winery produces around 300,000 cases of wine each year with the bulk of that being Seven Deadly Zins. And if you’re more than a casual wine drinker you may be familiar with the Earthquake label as well.
Michael, and his brother David, are family winemakers living off land farmed by their family since the 1860s. I’m going to transcribe my chat with Michael for a future newspaper column but wanted to share the experience here through the blog as well.
Michael David Winery is a big success story in recent years of plenty of bust. They make great value, big-flavored wines for under $20.
The family farm is in California’s Lodi region which most people know as Zinfandel country but the area produces lots of different wines.
Phillips filled in plenty of the backstories of his wines, family history, and winemaking approach. He personally gave up the winemaking a few years ago but still sits in on the final blending processes.
I’ll comment on the wines I tasted in the newspaper column but I’ve always been a fan of the two mentioned above. Monday evening I tasted their Incognito red and while Rhone-style blends. I loved the white and thought the red was okay. The very reasonably priced 6th Sense Syrah is one of the best value wines at $15 I’ve tasted in ages.
I also was treated to Michael’s personal project and favorite, Rapture Cabernet. This is a beautiful Bordeaux style $65 cab that would stand up to anything out of Napa at the same price point. It was a double gold medal winner at the 2012 S.F. Chronicle wine competition. It was gorgeous Cabernet.

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Oregon’s Chardonnay one of Next Big Things?

07 Monday May 2012

Posted by in Oregon

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Occasionally, I’ll post a wine-related news story here that I think even the most casual reader might find interesting.

The Wines & Vines story posted Friday is all about Oregon’s emerging Chardonnay wines.

It particularly caught my eye because when I visited the Willamette Valley last summer I remember asking Don Lange what’s new, what’s next for the region. Don replied without hesitation that Chardonnay was the next big thing.

The story is interesting. If you’re a Chard fan, check it out.

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Long Road Louisville to Saint-Jean-de-Minervois

03 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in France

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It’s a long path from Louisville, Ky., to Saint-Jean-de-Minervois in Southern France. But that’s the journey Brown University graduate John Bojanowski took in transformation from literature major to Languedoc winery owner.

Bojanowski was recently in Indianapolis to promote his Clos du Gravillas wines and visit family in Kentucky. His journey is an interesting one as is the unique Languedoc wine he champions.

The wine event was at Tastings in Indianapolis at the Conrad downtown.

Bojanowski attended prestigious Brown University in Providence, RI., and wanted to travel. He landed a job in the computer industry that took him to 50 countries in five years. During that time he met Nicole who wanted to be a winemaker. They went in search of just the right property to open their winery. 
John Bojanowski at Indy’s Tastings
“When my wife started she wanted white limestone gravel, which is what our soil is because you get freshness and minerality out of that to balance what the sun does to the grapes,” he explained. “But Carignan was what we started with because that’s what she was able to buy. “
Their property included Carignan planted in 1911. Carignan is an often-maligned grape. It is a dark-colored and strong flavored wine. Some will even call the nose offensive and the taste can be strong. But the old vine Carignans can produce deeply flavored and rich wines. Small amounts of Carignan is consistently found in most Languedoc blends.
“We discovered that Carignan could be more than just okay. It can be really, really good. We’ve made it our purpose to tell everybody about it.”
Clos du Gravillas is a small production winery featuring wines made from 15 different grapes. “So it’s sort of like being an artist with 15 different colors on the palette. We try to figure out what each of those grapes are best for and how we can make it the best wine.”
The Languedoc is the largest wine-producing region of France.
“The Languedoc is on the Mediterranean. It’s between the Rhone River and Spain. Our winery is three hours form Barcelona and six hours from Paris. It’s sunny, beautiful and rain free almost all summer. You find very different terrain when you go a half hour drive in any direction from sea to flatlands to plateaus to mountains. It’s a beautiful place and wine grapes have been grown there for 2,000 years.”
The warm weather, the region averages 315 days of sunshine a year, produces ripe fruit. “We pick the grapes ripe which means a certain amount of sugar, a certain amount of alcohol, so they’re not little wines. We practice very natural and organic farming and then natural non-interventionist winemaking, and fermentations.  We try not to do too much besides getting really great grapes, putting them into the tank and letting them become wine.”

Clos du Gravillas wines are available in some Indiana restaurants and fine wine shops. John’s wines are above the value price points usually featured in Grape Sense. His wines are in $30-$50 range.

Languedoc wines are widely available in the $12-$16 range. Finding a 100 percent Carignan isn’t impossible but could be difficult; it will be worth the effort.
Howard’s Picks:
Le Rendez Vous du Soleil 2007 – This is a nice extracted blend of Cabernet, Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Counoise, Tannat, Terret Gris, and Carignan. This is big rich red wine that is beautifully balanced with big dark fruit. (SRP $42)
Lo Vielh Carignan 2007 – This is the real star in John’s stable and the supply alloted Indiana has already sold out. This is the 100 percent Carignan from vines planted more than 100 years ago. Its a big incredible wine that has a smoothness unlike many Carignan wines. It’s outstanding fine wine. ($25-35)

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Indiana Wines Improving, Still Room to Grow

30 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in Indiana

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Ignoring hard rain in Central Indiana and a Saturday morning two-hour drive, off I set for Story, In. Saturday morning and the 10th Indiana Wine Fair.

Fortunately, the rain ended nearing the small Brown County town nestled in a valley southeast of Nashville. So I knocked out a video interview as guest of Ole Olson, dean of Indiana wine writers, for his Hoosier Wine Cellar Blog which runs in Bloomington and other Southern Ind. papers. I’ll note here on the blog when that interview goes up.

Then it was off to taste some wines. I pretty much decided to stick with whites and Rose’ wines and avoid the reds. There are a few good dry red wines made in Indiana, usually blends, but when Hoosier winemakers try to bottle a 100 percent Cabernet they aren’t doing themselves or other winemakers any favors.

Jim Pfeiffer of Turtle Run Winery.

The state has two wine fairs each year, the other is Vintage Indiana in Indy, but the Story Wine Fair has grown to be a big event. The rain all over the state didn’t keep the vino fans away from the Story Inn grounds. The mob wasn’t as big as I remember during my last visit but the crowds were good (as you can see from the photo at the top).

Okay, to the wine. The Wine Fair has a judging competition on Thursday each year before Saturday’s event. I went straight to Huber Winery’s stand under one of several tents to try the Catawba semi-sweet Rose ($11.99). It was the rated the top wine by a panel of independent judges.

I’m a big Huber fan and the wine didn’t disappoint. The judges rated it 98 points on a 100 point scale. The wine had a nice tart and fruity flavor, perhaps a tad sweet on the palate for some but not a sweet wine as compared to many other wines on the festival grounds.

Ted Huber knows how to make wine and he knows the Midwestern palate. This is great Rose for less-sophisticated tastes or new wine drinkers. I liked it, but it bordered almost too sweet for me but that’s because of the Catawba grape. Catawba more frequently is used in sweet wines.

Huber wines are some of Indiana’s best made. Huber’s reds are consistently some of the best.

The second-place wine in the Blush (or Rose) category was Brown County’s Vista Rose. It was similar to the Huber offering with a bit more pronounced fruit.

For my palate, neither of those Rose wines was the best I tasted. Just a couple of years ago Jim Butler won top honors at the Indianapolis International Wine Competition for his Chambourcin Rose. I tasted Butler Winery’s most recent vintage and it’s outstanding. It was dry Rose with lovely hints of cherry and delightfully tart. At $13.99, it’s an outstanding Hoosier wine.

I tasted several whites I liked and several insipid offerings. Turtle Run’s Jim Pfeiffer makes a $12 Dry Traminette that is one of the best wines made in Indiana. Everyone makes Traminette and almost everyone makes it sweet or semi-sweet. Not Jim! He also knocks out a crazy barrel-fermented Traminette that is just as good from the same grape and couldn’t be more different because of the oak. You really have to try it.

All three Rose’ wines I tasted prove Hoosiers can make great wine.

One of the day’s biggest surprises was a Pinot Blanc from Chateau Pomjie, in southeastern Indiana. The $25 Pinot Blanc comes from estate grown Pinot Noir. The nice woman assured me they really grow the Pinot on their property. I’ve only had one white Pinot before and that came at the highly respected Domaine Serene in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The Pomjie’s Pinot Blanc showed promise. It was really nice and light wine with the distinctive Pinot flavor. The finish had a wee bit of funk but very promising wine.

I dislike trashing any winery’s efforts but some things just shouldn’t happen. Back to the aforementioned Cabernet. It’s not going to work in Indiana. And why would you want to grow the stuff when consumers can pick up good $10-$14 Cabs from the grocery. Indiana can grow Chambourcin and other reds which can be made into great dry wines.

I read that the top-judged red was a Malbec. Hmmmm?? I went to the booth to see the tasting menu said Chilean Malbec. I asked about the source and a server told me they bought ‘bagged juice” from Chili. Now ask yourself, do you want to drink anything called ‘bagged juice?’

How the judges missed so badly on this wine is hard to figure out. Perhaps the bottle I tasted from was tainted. The wine was beyond bad it clearly had chemical issues.

I also tasted a Silver medal white that that had a lovely onto-on-the-palate light apricot to dissolve into an off-putting sour (not tart) finish.

Indiana wine has come a long way. Do not let one bad wine or winery skew your judgment against midwestern states’ wines. Support the state industry! There are plenty of good ones and still plenty of bad ones. But do your homework and you can buy wonderful Indiana wines!


Here are the judges picks from the 2012 Indiana Wine Fair:

Dry Red – Gold: Harmony Winery, Malbec, NV (89 POINTS); Silver: Huber Winery, Heritage 2008; Bronze: Oliver Winery, Zinfandel 2009

Sweet Red – Gold: Best Vineyards, Concord NV 87 POINTS; Silver: Indian Creek Winery, “Cardinal Red” NV; Bronze: River City Winery, “Colonel’s Legacy” NV

Blush – Gold: Huber Winery, Catawba NV (BEST OF SHOW, 98 POINTS); Silver: Brown County Winery, “Vista Rose” NV; Bronze: Monkey Hollow, “Pasture Limit” NV

Dry White – Gold: Huber Winery, Vignoles (88 POINTS); Silver: Cedar Creek Winery, “Butterfly Kiss” NV; Bronze: Turtle Run Winery, Traminette NV

Sweet White – Gold: Oliver Winery, Creekbend, Vignoles 2010 (88 POINTS); Silver: Best Vineyards, Catawba NV; Bronze: Buck Creek Winery, “Der Champion” NV

Dessert – Gold: Chateau Pomije, “Late Harvest” NV (86 POINTS); Silver: Huber Winery, Black Raspberry; Bronze: Cedar Creek, “Harvest Moon Cab” NV

Non-Traditional/Non-Grape – Gold: Winzerwald Winery “Cherry Red” (96 POINTS); Silver: River City Winery, “Market House Elderberry”; Bronze: Cedar Creek Winery, “Peach Paradise”

NV – Non-Vintage.

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Indiana Wine Fair This Weekend in Story

24 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Indiana

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Live music, food, wine make for a big crowd and fun day in Story

You literally have to belly up to the bar to get a taste.

Regional and state wine fairs have become big events across the Midwest. Indiana wineries participate in two major wine fairs each year.

The first is the Indiana Wine Fair this weekend, 12:30-7 p.m., April 28, at Story, Indiana. Story is located in Brown County, east of Nashville. You can find directions and lots of information on the Indiana Wine Fair website.

I counted 26 Indiana wineries participating but there may be more. Admission is $20 and you get a souvenir wine glass from the historic Story Inn. For that $20, you can taste the wines of the Hoosier State. With a designated driver in tow, you can tastes as many as you like.

A lesson on learning to taste and spit is appropriate if you really want to sample a lot of wine.

I like these events. They’re fun and exciting. The other big Indiana wine show is Vintage Indiana held each summer in downtown Indianapolis.

Don’t miss Huber Winery, Butler, and Turtle Run. Several Hoosier winemakers have really stepped up the quality in recent years. These three wineries are consistent, quality-driven wineries. Also a note of caution on the same topic. Frankly, there are some wineries where the product just isn’t up to par. Don’t let one bad taste ruin the experience or make you think all Indiana wine is swill. Go visit the names you know or have heard of first, then go exploring.

Take time to visit the Inn. It has a fantastic restaurant.

For fairness sake, I’ll share two warnings about Story. It’s down a very winding state highway and there is limited parking onsite. The wine fair runs shuttles from Nashville that make things a bit easier. All of that information is on the website linked above.

It’s been at least two or three years since I last attended this fair. It’s crowded. I mean, it’s really crowded. My best advice is to come early or late.

I intend on visiting this year and meeting up with lots of Indiana wine friends. It’s a beautiful drive, great scenery, and a wonderful way to taste a lot of Indiana’s ever-improving wines.

Just bring some patience with your smile!

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Languedoc’s Virgile Joly Gaining Notice

23 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in France

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The first time I met Virgile Joly in France at Montpellier, I thought ‘this guy has something that would sell wine’ in the back of my mind.

I’ve always believed a great story or interesting personalty sells wine and keeps people coming back for more.

iPhone shot I took at Millesime Bio

Joly was the focus of a book, Virgile’s Vineyard, that first brought his name and winery, Domaine Virgile Joly,  to prominence. Virgile’s English is pretty good and he makes great wine. He just recently contracted with Paul Chartrand, Chartrand Imports, Maine, to bring his wines to the U.S.

Joly’s name popped up in my email inbox three times this morning.

First, through a serious of communications, Chartrand  expects to have Joly wines for U.S. distributors by early summer.

Second, Terre de Vins magazine just published its list of the top 20 organic wines from a Languedoc tasting and the top wine was the Virgile – IGP Herault, Domaine Virgile Joly 2005. (100 percent Grenache Blanc)

I really found that interesting because for the story I wrote for Palate Press about organic wine, I called the same wine the best white I tasted at the Millesime Bio. Unfortunately, that section of the story was edited but I did post it to this blog.

Third, I get a number of emails daily about wine news and business. One of those featured this link to Ken Payton’s great Reign of Terroir blog and a feature on Joly.

It’s nice to know others are taking notice!

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Celebrate Earth Day With Organic Wines

22 Sunday Apr 2012

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As we delight in warmer springs, stay surprised by drier winters, and brace for blistering summer, it makes one wonder what we’re doing to Mother Earth!

Earth Day, celebrated on this date annually, is a time to reflect and think about the products we eat and drink and how they’re produced. After attending in January the Millesime Bio in Montpellier, France, I’ve become a fan. I’m not a fanatic but a big fan of the wines, the Languedoc, and the importance of buying food products – and wine – from producers who care about what they’re doing to their soils, steams, and air.

Organic wine does not use chemicals – pretty simple isn’t it?

You can find organic wines in the U.S., mostly from California along with biodynamic wines. In your wine shop you might have to make an effort to find a bottle. Too often the organic wines are stuffed in a corner with Kosher wines, state wines, and “other” bottles.

French wines are labeled “made with organic grapes.” The French do add minimum sulfites while U.S. producers do not.

That is a discussion for another time and you can read more about it in the story I wrote for Palate Press after returning from France.

But for today think about organic wines. Try a few. If you have trouble finding them then I’ll direct you to my friend Veronique Raskin’s wonderful The Organic Wine Company website. The  Bousquette, Mas Janiny, and Ventoux wines are a great starting point. Keep your eye open for wines imported by Paul Chartrand, also a friend, and one of the leading organic wine importers in the U.S.

Frankly, I’d challenge you to set up a blind tasting and see if you or your friends can taste any difference.

Most organic wines are wonderful. And, they’re wonderful for Mother Earth.

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Two Really Good Whites & a Great Red Under $20

19 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in California, France, Italy

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Pinot Grigio has never been one of my favorite wines. I have never found them very interesting or particularly satisfying. There may be as much bad Pinot Grigio on the market as any other varietal. They are often flabby or flat or thin – just choose your adjective.

But I have two Pinot Grigios as great price points worth your trouble. When the grape is done right, this is a refreshing and lighter white wine for entertaining and lighter meals.

Ca’ Montini Terre di Valfredda 2010 Pinot Grigio – This might be, no probably is, the best Pinot Grigio I’ve ever had. This Italian winery was founded in the 1700s in the Veneto region. This is a family winery known for its Pinot Grigio and it shows up from the first sip until the last drop.

This Pinot Grigio provides a full-flavored wine for the palate. It’s golden in color, fragrant with flowers and has a nice hint of lemon with a bit of a sour fruit finish. You’ll get a bit of terroir and minerality.

The distinctive bottle will standout on the shelf and prove itself as a distinctive wine to serve your guests this summer season.


Ca’ Montini Terre di Valfredda 2010 Pinot Grigio, SRP $14.99, Trade Sample, Highly Recommended.

Robert Mondavi Private Selection 2011 Pinot Grigio – I’ve become a fan of the Mondavi Private Selection label because it offers good wines for a very affordable price. The Private Selection is available in many liquor stores, supermarkets and any where you might expect to buy value wine.


One of the real attributes of the label is that the different wines are consistently well made. This isn’t your typical $10 swill. Now, it’s not going to please your taste like a $20 wine either but I’d suggest it competes with the highly competitive $12-$16 market.

Mondavi draws upon vineyards in Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Barbara to make this 12.5 percent alcohol white wine.

To my palate it has hints of grapefruit and lime with really moderate acidity. But this wine as a great value. You might be surprised how refreshing a $10 wine can be!


Robert Mondavi Private Selection 2011 Pinot Grigio, SRP $9.99, Trade Sample, Recommended

Gerard Bertrand Grand Terroir 2007 Tautavel – From the Cotes du Roussillon in Southern France this easy drinking, fruit forward, red is a nice bottle of value wine. I got chocolate and black raspberries on my palate so when I find two of my favorite things – be it dessert or a red wine – I’m going to like it a lot.


Wine Spectator gave the wine a surprising 91 points. But some of the citizen review sites like Snooth and CellarTracker were not quite as kind. CellarTracker contributors gave the wine an average of 88 points but many of the comments were dismissive of the wine as “just okay.”

The wine is made of 50 percent Grenache, 35 percent Syrah, and 15 percent Carignan. It’s definitely a “ripe fruit” style of wine with hints of spice. 

I’m not sure I’d go as far as 91, if I used such a scale, but I think it’s great drinking wine at a good price. If you haven’t had much of the Languedoc-Roussillon appellation, this wine is a great introduction.


Gerard Bertrand Grand Terroir 2007 Tautavel, $14.99, Recommended

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Trivento Golden Reserve Darn Good #Malbec

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in South America

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Today is World Malbec Day and it’s easy to join the celebration because I’m a fan!

I’ve been recommending Malbec to beginning wine drinkers since I started writing about wine four years ago. Malbec is generally easy to drink, rich, nicely balanced, and affordable.

The Trivento Golden Reserve 2008 Malbec is one darn nice glass of wine. This wine is inky dark, with a wonderful nose and a nice rich body on the palate.

I had the wine with two pork chops I braised then baked. One chop had just salt and pepper while the other had a dry rub and sweet BBQ sauce. The Malbec was a wonderful pairing. Many people think of malbec for grilled meats and big beef dishes, but I think the wonderful silkiness of good Malbec is a great date with a moderately seasoned piece of pork.

This wine gives you dark berries, plum, maybe some chocolate, and plenty of earthy tones. In other words, it’s my kind of wine.

The tannins are well balanced with a very nice lingering finish. The alcohol comes in at 14.5 percent. Robert Parker gave this wine 90 points.

This is a fine bottle of wine for the price point. The suggested retail is $21, but I received the bottle as a trade sample. There are a lot of great Malbecs around $13-$17. Here is one with a bit more richness than many for just a few more bucks. I’d highly recommend the Trivento Malbec.

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