The pizza was great, one of my best efforts, and the wine was great too.

Sometimes these matters are ineffable, unexplainable. Whatever the case, I made the pizza dough exactly right, with the correct balance of flours, yeast, water, salt and olive oil; kneaded the dough just as long as it, um, needed; the heat on the back porch was perfect for the first and second rising; I mean it all worked so that the crust, when it emerged from the 500-degree oven after 11 minutes, was thin yet with a slightly dense and chewy texture and a bit crisp at the moderately puffy circumference.

(BTW, I read somewhere that an oven heated at 500 degrees for an hour will reach a temperature of 550, the upper limit for a domestic range. That’s adequate, but I yearn for a wood-fired brick oven and the ideal 800 degrees that cooks a pizza in four minutes and chars the bottom of the crust. Sob. Weep.)

As you can see in the photograph, the pizza was topped with slices of tomatoes and bell pepper — very thin slices — with splotches of ricotta and mozzarella cheeses and Italian sausage. Underneath was a foundation of chopped fresh basil. Also: some diced white onion and two stalks of chopped green onion and, finally, gratings of Parmesan and pecorino cheeses. A dribble of olive oil across the surface as the last touch. Have mercy, everything worked together beautifully.

So did the wine. I opened a bottle of the V. Sattui Black Sears Vineyard Zinfandel 2007, from Napa Valley’s Howell Mountain appellation. At an elevation of 2,400 feet, Black Sears in one of the highest vineyards in California. The wine ages 16 months in French oak, 50 percent new, 50 percent used or “seasoned.” The color is ruby-black, nigh unto opacity, and while that dark hue indicates quite a bit of extraction, the wine is compellingly clean and fresh. The bouquet teems with hints of blackberry, black currant and mulberry is a cloud of cloves, black pepper, lavender, licorice and slate-like minerality. The most important aspect of the wine, other than that it’s downright delicious, is its precise balance and its impeccable integration of elements married to the power of dusty, rock-ribbed mountain-grown tannins and scintillating acidity. It’s the sort of warm, spicy, lively wine that makes you want to keep sipping. Truly a fine example of the zinfandel grape, with no exaggeration, no flamboyance of over-ripeness or high alcohol; by high, nowadays, I mean 15 percent and over. Alcohol in here is 14.5 percent. Production was 400 cases; winemaker was Brooks Painter. Excellent. About $40, at the winery or mail order.

A sample for review.

I won’t say that great pinot noir can only be made in Burgundy nor will I assert that a strict Burgundian interpretation of the grape is the only legitimate course to follow. Yet there is a greatness and fineness about the best models of the pinot noir grape from the Premier Cru and Grand Cru vineyards of Burgundy that examples produced in other parts of the world seldom achieve. Still, who would decry the fresh, pale, astringent pinot noirs of the Jura mountains, or the uniquely rooty, earthy pinots of Oregon’s Dundee Hills or the bright, fruity pinots of Carneros? One of the most transcendent pinot noirs I have ever tasted hailed from Tasmania. Obviously we must allow room for variation and individual style, yet most important is the notion that place matters; geography, friends, is a dear teacher, and whether in warfare or winemaking only fools will fail to pay heed to its lessons.

The responsibility of the winemaker is to produce a wine that exploits the grape’s best and most expressive character. The first exercise of that responsibility lies in planting grapes in the right location. Soil composition, sub-soil, underlying strata; the folds in hillsides, exposure to the sun and its duration, the ability of the ground to absorb or shed rainwater; the direction of prevailing winds and their distant source; the seasonal range of temperatures throughout the day and night; all of these factors and more coalesce in that precisely measurable yet somehow mysterious notion we call microclimate or terroir. Five hundred years have proven that a group of lamentably tiny vineyards in central-eastern France form the perfect terroir for the pinot noir grape, but that fact will not hinder prophets and pioneers from seeking a similar salubrious combination of effects elsewhere in the world.

The winemaker’s next responsibility is to allow a grape variety to seek its most natural level of eloquence; such a wine must be made without ego or agenda. Excellent grapes picked from a great vineyard need little help in accomplishing this goal, yet winemakers are an interfering lot. All details and variations of place and year aside, the pinot noir grape does not express itself best when the alcohol level is high, when the grapes are extremely ripe, when through deep extraction and oak aging the winemaker tries for size, voluptuousness and power. Let me state my feeling clearly: A pinot noir wine that, because of its size, its extraction, its power, reminds the taster, even in part or in passing, of, say, a syrah or a zinfandel, is a flawed wine, is, frankly, a failure, and it has been made in bad faith. The compact was been broken between the winemaker and the grape, and the wine amounts to an act of betrayal. I’m not saying that a pinot forced into larger-than-life dimension could not be enjoyable, match well with certain foods and so forth; I’m saying that it’s not pinot noir, and you might as well be drinking something else.

Over the past two or three weeks, I tasted 30 to 35 pinot noir wines from various regions of California; all are from vintages 2007 and 2008. I present my findings in a three-part series beginning today. A few of the examples displayed exactly what lovers of the pinot noir grape hope for, that ineffable marriage of delicacy, elegance, earthiness and authority that no other grape can offer in the same balance or proportion. More, however, and sadly, seemed heavy-handed, over-wrought, stridently-oaked and burdened with alcohol. Of course the pinot noir grape is not alone in such misfortune.

Image of pinot noir grapes from bighandsome.com.
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Benovia Winery was founded in 2005 by Joe Anderson and Mary Dewane, with winemaker Mike Sullivan as co-owner. The wines produced are chardonnay and zinfandel and a variety of single vineyard or proprietary pinot noirs. New French oak ranges from 53 to 60 percent; fermentation is induced by indigenous yeast.

The Benovia Savoy Vineyards Pinot Noir 2006, Anderson Valley, is pure and intense, rooty, loamy and minerally in the graphite sense. Scents and flavors of macerated black cherries, currants and plums are full-blown and spicy, yet the wine retains a tinge of reticence and austerity. Ten or 15 minutes in the glass bring out hints of pert cranberry and mulberry and burgeoning spice, but you feel the oak too, a tide that pushes against the swathing of fruit. The “Savoy” is the most sinewy, the most powerfully structured of this trio. 14.1 percent alcohol. 372 cases. Excellent. About $58.

The Benovia Cohn Vineyard Pinot Noir 2007, Sonoma County, is a little warmer, a little spicier and certainly more exotic, with notes of sassafras, sandalwood and cloves. The texture is satiny, almost plush, but with a backbone of rigorous acidity and shale-like minerality. The black fruit flavors become rather marinated and roasted and hints of rhubarb and fruit cake seep in. Again, one feels the oak from mid-palate back, drying the finish. 14.4 percent alcohol. 372 cases. Very Good+. About $58.

One notices immediately that the warmest, the most generous and multi-dimensional of these pinot noirs is the Benovia Bella Una Pinot Noir 2007, Russian River Valley, for which grapes are drawn from the Martinelli, Dutton and Manzana vineyards. The wine is also the earthiest, with layers of a moss-like Oolong tea, and traces of tobacco leaf and sandalwood. This is frankly a big mouthful of pinot noir, and fortunately it possesses a core of delicately wrought black fruit flavors to play against the forceful oak and tannic structure, offering convincing balance. 14.5 percent alcohol. 195 cases. Excellent. About $58.

Samples for review.
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Davis Bynum, who could be counted among the Sonoma County pioneers, founded his winery in 1975, concentrating on chardonnay, pinot noir and sauvignon blanc. Well-known winemaker Gary Farrell came aboard in 1986 to bring some steadiness to the label, before starting his own winery. The label is now owned by Tom Klein and is part of Rodney Strong Wine Estates. Winemaker is Gary Patzwald, for whom 2007 was the first vintage.

Fine so far, I suppose, but I have to say that the Davis Bynum Pinot Noir 2007, Russian River Valley, is one of the most un-pinot-like pinot noirs I have experienced, and I have to wonder what good ol’ Davis Bynum, with his label in other hands, thinks of it. The color is a deeply extracted dark ruby-plum hue; aromas of plum and black cherry, fruit cake, lavender and rose petal (some dark, heady damask-like rose) seethe in the glass in a promiscuous smoky, fleshy welter. The wine is dense, succulent, almost viscous, and the intense ripeness pushes the fruit toward boysenberry, just as the 14.9 percent alcohol shoulders through the finish as a kind of sweet heat. Is it zinfandel? Is it shee-razz? The grapes, we’re told, are pinot noir, but the effect is bizarre. Not for this boy. About $35.

A sample for review.
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Donum Estate occupies the former Tula Vista Ranch in Carneros, which the Racke family held onto after selling the Buena Vista Carneros Winery to Allied Domecq in 2001. Buena Vista traced its origin to 1857, when it was founded by the Sonoma County wine pioneer, Count Agoston Haraszthy, so even peripherally, there’s a lot of history here. President of Donum is Anne Moller-Racke, who came to California from Germany in 1981 and by 1997 was vice president of vineyard operations for Buena Vista; Moller-Racke is highly regarded as a grower, and her experience with the vineyards from which Donum draws its estate grapes goes back 20 and 30 years. I understand how meticulously the estate is run, how thoughtful and careful the vineyard practices are; I comprehend the innumerable questions and details that Moller-Racke and winemaker Kenneth Juhasz address in trying to achieve what the winery’s website calls “the purest possible expression of site and vintage.” So why do I find this trio of pinot noirs not thrilling? These are large-framed, packed-in pinot noirs, very Californian in tone and presence, and there’s nothing wrong with that nature, necessarily — all pinot doesn’t have to be Volnay or Chambolle-Musigny –but the persistent presence of new French oak in these wines is distracting, distancing and, particularly in one case, unbalancing.

The color of the Donum Estate Pinot Noir 2007, Carneros, is medium-darkish ruby. Scents of black and red cherries and cloves with a touch of cola and rhubarb burst from the glass in a welter of macerated and slightly roasted fleshiness; this is heady stuff, indeed. The spicy black and red fruit character continues seamlessly through the mouth, ensconced in a satiny texture that flows smoothly and lushly across the palate; the wine is substantial, even weighty for the pinot noir grape, and you feel the pull of the oak — 11 months, 70 percent new barrels — as it takes over the finish. 14.4 percent alcohol. 800 cases. Very Good+. About $65.

Even more seductive and exotic is the bouquet of the Donum Estates West Slope Pinot Noir 2007, Carneros, a seething cauldron of red currants and black cherries, sandalwood and ashes of roses, lavender, rhubarb, sassafras and smoky Oolong tea, like some hippie cologne concocted in Kathmandu. The wine is smooth, silky, plush, dense and dusty with moderately chewy tannins and a touch of slate; altogether, it takes the grape’s sensuous possibilities almost to the limit, that is to say, almost beyond a sense of natural pinot noir-ness. In quite a feat, Moller-Racke and Juhasz pulled off a minor miracle by putting the wine through 16 months in French oak, 70 percent new barrels, and not overwhelming the wine (and its drinkers) with too much wood. Try through 2013 to ’14. Alcohol content is 14.4 percent. 150 cases. A grudging Excellent. About $70.

Beyond the pale for this palate, however, is the Donum Estate Pinot Noir 2007, Russian River Valley, a wine that opens with sweet succulence and quickly proceeds to display the tangible panoply of its oaken arsenal. The regimen was 11 months in French oak, 75 percent new barrels; the result is very foresty, very briery, with dry woody spice and dusty austerity. Where’s the fruit? 14.4 percent alcohol. 500 cases. Not recommended. About $65.

Samples for review.
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In 1998, Bill Foley, who has deep pockets, founded his winery in the Santa Rita Hills, a sliver of Santa Barbara County’s Santa Ynez Valley. Not long afterward, he swung into acquisition mode, and now Foley Wines owns 16 wineries or labels, including the venerable Firestone and, as of December 2008, the even more venerable Sebastiani. The Foley label itself focuses on chardonnay and pinot noir from the estate’s Rancho Santa Rosa vineyard. Winemaker is Kris Curran, who before she came to Foley established the very successful pinot noir program at Sea Smoke Cellars.

Lord have mercy, the Foley Pinot Noir 2007, Santa Rita Hills, is lovely. Despite 16 months in French oak, the wine is a model of subtlety, poise and elegance. Poignant aromas of red and black currants and cherries are married to piercing slate-like minerality and a wafting of cloves and the slight asperity of allspice. As is the case in great pinot noir, slashing acidity cuts a swath on the palate, so the wine’s luxurious satiny texture does not overwhelm or turn into exaggeration; the wine is so fresh that even the spare tannins feel clean and wholesome. The bouquet’s heady perfume increases as the moments pass, while the ripe black and red fruit flavors deepen and darken. A wonderful amalgam of grace and authority; close to perfection. 14.3 percent alcohol. Drink through 2012 to ’14. Excellent. About $40, but prices on the Internet can be as low as $32.

Tasted at a trade event.
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Rich Frank — no pun intended — sough relief from the stress of the Hollywood media industry by buying a house in Napa Valley in 1990. He had been chairman of Disney’s television and telecommunications division and president of Walt Disney Studios. In 1992, he and a partner — subsequently bought out — purchased the defunct Kornell Champagne Cellars on the old Larkmead Winery near Calistoga. Larkmead had been established in 1884. Frank Family Vineyards concentrates on chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel, and though I have liked the cabernets and chardonnays, I have found the zinfandel overbearing. The pinot noir discussed today is the first pinot that the winery has released for national distribution; a Reserve Pinot Noir is sold only in the tasting room. Winemaker is Todd Graff.

The Frank Family Vineyards Pinot Noir 2008, Napa Valley-Carneros, is one big snootful and mouthful of pinot noir. Scents of red and black cherries and plums are dominated by ripe, earthy, fleshy elements and by piercing slate-like minerality and spicy oak. The treatment is entirely reasonable — 11 months in French barrels, 25 percent new, 75 percent one- and two-years-old — yet wood pervades every aspect of the wine, building from mid-palate back through the finish and providing, paradoxically, a sort of robust balance between voluptuousness and austerity. A few more details emerge in hints of cherry cola and briers, rose petals and licorice, but this is a wine primarily dominated by structure. 14.5 percent alcohol. Production was 954 cases. Very Good+. About $35.

A sample for review.
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The Gainey family hails from Minnesota, where they built Josten Inc., a company devoted to academic and athletic products and services, into a Fortune 500 company, while, at the same time, dedicating their lives to the raising of Arabian horses. That avocation brought them to the Southwest and then to Santa Barbara County’s Santa Ynez Valley, where Daniel J. Gainey, son of the family patriarch, in 1962 purchased 1,800 acres of farmland and open range. Grapevines came later, and in 1984 Gainey Vineyards released its first wines. The ranch is the largest diversified farming operation in Santa Ynez Valley, with 1000 acres for cattle, 600 for organically cultivated farmland, 100 acres for horses and 100 acres of sustainably farmed vineyards. Winemakers are Kirby Anderson and Jon Engelskiger.

The Gainey Pinot Noir 2007, Santa Rita Hills, offers lovely balance and integration, with delicately wreathed notes of smoky black cherry, red currants and plums, touches of orange zest and lapsang souchang tea and an intriguing back-tone of spiced apple. The wine drapes the mouth like satin, and then pulls out the panoply of dried baking spices and subtle hints of blueberry, cranberry and dried currants. A modicum of briers and brambles testifies to the presence of firm but unobtrusive tannins, while the oak influence, probably inescapable after 16 months in French barrels, 30 percent new, hews a dry, slightly woody path through the finish. I personally would rather see a tad less oak on the finish, but this is by and large a very warm and appealing pinot noir. Alcohol is 13.9 percent. production was 450 cases. Excellent. About $32.

A sample for review.
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In Part II of this post about California pinot noir, I’ll review wines from Hahn and Hahn SLH Estate, three pinots from La Crema from 2008, two single-vineyard pinots from Lucienne (2007), three from MacMurray Ranch and the Meiomi 2008 from Belle Glos.
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I’m working on a major post about pinot noir in California, in which I will write about 30 examples of 2007s and 2008s from various regions within the state. I hope that this will be on the blog within a week (or so). Meanwhile, I was in a nearby retail wine shop and saw a couple of cases of the MacRostie Pinot Noir 2006, Carneros, and I bought a bottle, because, frankly, I think that MacRostie’s chardonnay and pinot noir are some of the best around, always filled with character but restrained and elegant. Steve MacRostie had been the winemaker for Hacienda when he left in 1987 to start his own winery. MacRostie made the wines for his label, which include merlot and syrah, until 2004, when he passed that position to Kevin Holt.

The color of the MacRostie Pinot Noir 2006 is moderate but radiant ruby-cherry. Charming aromas of spiced and macerated red raspberries and black cherries waft from the glass; this fruit is ripe and fleshy but not in an obvious or heavily extracted sense. Impeccably balanced yet taut with acidity, the wine goes down like somnolent satin, leaving, in its wake, flavors of black and red cherries, a touch of red currant and traces of sandalwood and sassafras. A few moments in the glass deepen the effect, and nose and palate are equally beguiled by notes of moss and earthy truffles and, as the deepest bass tone, a hint of warm asphalt. The oak regimen was a sensible 10 months in French barrels, of which 30 percent were new. Tremendous pinot noir character, lovely poise and equilibrium, a trove of nuances. 14.2 percent alcohol. Production was 5,091 cases. Drink through 2012 or ’13, but careful storage is essential. Excellent. Suggested retail price is $30, which is what I paid, with Internet prices ranging from $25 to $32.

I don’t mean that the Ridge Vineyards Three Valleys 2008, Sonoma County, is the kind of wine that brings you to your knees, makes you want to kiss the earth and thank your lucky stars that you’re alive. Those wines are rare. What I do mean is that this is a reasonably priced, thoughtfully crafted, quietly confident wine that dictates no extremes and tolerates no exaggeration. Its balance and integration are lovely to behold, and it happens to be delicious. It’s not an Exceptional wine in my rating scheme, but in its own way, it’s perfect.

Last night, I made Jamie Oliver’s Pasta alla Norma, about which I have written before, and opened to drink with the dish this Ridge Three Valleys 2008. The wine is a blend of 74 percent zinfandel, 11 percent petite sirah, 5 percent carignane, 4 percent mataro and 3 percent each syrah and grenache. Mataro is a little-used synonym for the mourvèdre grape. Notice the oak regimen: American oak barrels, 33 percent new and 1-year-old; 20 percent 2-years-old; 47 percent 5- or 6-years old. No taint of toasty new oak or woodiness mars the integrity of the wine’s fruit and finely-meshed tannic structure. Bouquet and flavor profile meld seamlessly in a welter of dusty plums, black and red currants and a touch of pert mulberry bolstered by hints of potpourri, sandalwood and granite-flecked minerals. Vibrant acidity whets the palate, leaving your taste buds eager for another sip, while the smooth, supple texture fills the mouth with impressive but not imposing weight. To remind us that the majority of grapes in the blend are zinfandel, the finish brings in notes of briers, brambles and black pepper. While head winemaker at Ridge is still the venerable, if not saintly, Paul Draper, the artisans of this wine were Eric Baugher, winemaker at the company’s Monte Bello facility, and John Olney, winemaker at Ridge’s Lytton Springs winery. 14.2 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2013 or ’14. Excellent. Suggested retail price is $22; I paid $25 here in Memphis.

Reading over what I wrote in this post, it occurs to me that in its wholesome clarity of purpose, its authenticity and integrity, its complete level of sensual and intellectual satisfaction, its general unfussiness and lack of ego, the Ridge Three Valleys 2008 is precisely the sort of wine that should make us thank our lucky stars.

Arnold and Alma Tudal planted vines on 10 acres of former walnut orchard north of St. Helena in the Napa Valley in 1974 and released their first wines in 1979. Big Tree Road is still pretty rustic compared to the circus that Hwy. 29 has become, a circumstance reflected in Tudal’s refusal to follow new-fangledness and fleeting fame or even, over the course of 30 years, to alter their winery’s logo or the labels on their products. This refreshing stance implies a becoming modesty of purpose but not of accomplishment; the pair of Tudal cabernet sauvignon wines from 2007 that I tried recently are among the greatest cabernets I have tasted this year. The wines are 100 percent cabernet sauvignon. Winemaker was Ron Vuylsteke, though he departed and has been replaced, as of the 2009 vintage, by Kirk Venge. These wines were samples for review.
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The Tudal Family Winery Clift Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley, offers everything that devotees of old-fashioned Napa cabernet look for: classic notes of cedar, tobacco and lead pencil; a solid structure based on abundant and vibrant acidity, dust-laden tannins (both polished oak tannins and a hint of slightly more astringent grape tannins) with the bass tone of granite-like minerality; and dark, rich, spicy black currant and black cherry flavors slightly tinged with black olive, briers and brambles. What makes the wine so exciting — LL said, “This is the best red wine I’ve tasted all year” — is that it’s packed with character and a sense of slumbering, brooding dignity as well as being beautifully balanced, clean, fresh and appealing. It feels like a supreme example of an impeccably-made country wine, so perhaps “exciting” is not correct, for this is, above all, a wine that resists trends of nervy raciness or sleek sophistication or blatant ripeness or heavy-handed extraction for the simple yet profound virtues of being natural and effortless and complete. 14.1 percent alcohol. Production was 490 cases. Best from 2011 or ’12 through 2018 to ’21. Exceptional. About $40.
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The Tudal Estate Bottled Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Napa Valley, displays an entrancing dark ruby color with a magenta/blue rim. Blue, too, metaphorically, is its quality of blue fruit drenched with black; its piercing, bluey slate-like minerality; its cool yet smoldering blue flame of smoky potpourri, cassis and lavender. The concession to modern practice is the alcohol content of 14.7 percent; 30 years ago for this wine, 12.5 percent alcohol was considered just fine. (Cherchez le global warming?) Other than that factor, this is a solid, robust, uncompromising Napa Valley cabernet that shows more density and more concentration than its stablemate mentioned above. The finish adds to that austerity with loads of underbrush and forest elements and dusty, dry-leaf and leather tannins. One has to applaud this relentless and totally satisfying unstylishness. Production was 390 cases. Try from 2012 or ’13 through 2018 to ’22. Excellent. About $45.
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As faithful readers of this blog know — bless yer little pointy heads! — every feasible Saturday night it’s Pizza-and-Movie Night in the FK/LL household. This has been a steady occurrence for 15 years or so, and for most of that time I adhered to pretty much the same routine in making the pizza. Recently, though, I radically changed the way I make pizza, in terms of basic ingredients and technique.

The first inspiration was an article that ran in the food section of The New York Times on May 18 (and available online), called “The Slow Route to Homemade Pizza,” by Oliver Strand. Following the advice of a number of professional pizza-makers, the story advocates making the pizza dough and letting it rise at room temperature for 24 hours or at least overnight. Now I’ve always indulged in what I thought of as a slow rising of the dough at about eight hours, but overnight was new to me. I tried the technique soon after I read the article, making the dough on Friday night and leaving the bowl on the counter until the next morning. About 11 o’clock, I punched the dough down, kneaded it a few times, put it back in the bowl and set it out on the back porch. By the time I was ready to make the pizza at 6 p.m., the dough has been working for about 20 hours.

What happened next was remarkable. Usually, when you roll out the dough, you have to have do it a couple of times because the gluten is still elastic, so it has to rest for a couple of minutes and then be rolled again. With the new technique, I rolled the dough out and it immediately spread across the edges of the wooden paddle and onto the counter. Whoa! I actually had to trim the circumference because the pizza would have been too big for the stone. (Sorry I don’t have images of the process.) When we ate the finished pizza, the crust was thinner than I have ever achieved before, yet still chewy, not cracker-like, with a texture that had a little give and a rim that was slightly puffy. Fabulous, yes, but for me anyway, this technique is a little tricky, and over the past two months or so, I have had — it seems to me; LL is more generous –about a 25 percent failure rate, by which I mean that the crust was not up to a fine standard. I think I just have to keep trying to tune the method until I get it right.

The other change is that I began buying, at the Memphis Farmers Market, the hard white whole grain wheat flour from Funderfarm, a milling operation run by a young couple in Coldwater, Miss. The flour is not cheap — $8.50 for four pounds — but it’s ground the day before I purchase it, and it contributes wonderful texture and flavor to pizza. Now I can’t make a pizza with only the Funderfarm flour (the result is rather heavy), so I worked out a formula of about 40 percent Funderfarm hard white whole grain flour, about 50 percent King Arthur Bread Flour and about 10 percent rye flour from Whole Foods. All of these flours are organic.

We have also benefited from a bumper crop of local aubergines, including little globular eggplant; slim, tender baby eggplant; and pale lavender eggplant with faint white stripes. I slice these thin, marinate the slices in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, thyme and oregano, salt and pepper and then grill them briefly over hardwood charcoal. This is great on pizzas, especially in conjunction with pepper-cured bacon (as in the image above), and what’s interesting is that usually I can’t stand eggplant, it sort of
hurts my stomach. Ratatouille, yuck! I also like combining fresh tomatoes and marinated dried tomatoes on the same pizza, dribbling on a bit of the marinade as the final touch. (This image is of a small vegetarian pizza I made one Saturday when LL was traveling.) And recently I’ve been using four cheeses: mozzarella, feta, parmesan and pecorino.

Anyway, that’s what’s happening in My Pizzaworld. As far as wine is concerned, here are notes on the variety of wines we’ve had with pizza over the past few months. These were all samples for review.

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When Easton says “old vine,” they’re not kidding. The grapes for the Easton Old Vine Zinfandel 2006, Fiddletown, derive from the Rinaldi-Eschen Vineyard, some of whose vines date to the original planting of 1865, up there in Amador County’s Shenandoah Valley. Can there be an older vineyard still producing grapes in California? This is a beautifully balanced and integrated zinfandel, with loads of poise and character. The color is rich dark ruby with an opaque center and just a nod to cherry-garnet at the rim. Scents of macerated and meaty plums and red and black currants are permeated with smoke and cloves with a touch of leather and briers. In the mouth, the wine is rich and warm, displaying an intriguing combination of the savoriness of ripe, fleshy black fruit flavors with a sweet core of spicy oak and a touch of the grape’s brambly, black pepper nature. It’s quite dry, though, gaining a bit of dignified austerity and mineral presence on the finish. Nothing jammy, nothing overdone, and surprisingly elegant for an “old vine” zinfandel. Drink now through 2014 or ’15. Winemaker was Bill Easton, who also makes Rhone-style wines under the Terre Rouge label. Alcohol is 14.5. percent. Excellent. About $28 and definitely Worth a Search.
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The Grgich Hills Estate Merlot 2006, Napa Valley, asserts an individual character, unlike so many merlot-based wines that just taste “red” or like an imitation cabernet. From the winery’s Demeter-certified biodynamic vineyards, this intense and concentrated merlot delivers a bouquet of ripe black currants and black cherries etched with smoke and bitter chocolate and hints of lavender and Damson plum. A few minutes in the glass bring on a slightly roasted element, with flavors of black currants and blackberries permeated by cedar and dried thyme, all of these sensations cushioned by gritty, velvety tannins and fairly militant dusty, gravel-like minerality. The wine aged 18 months in a combination of French barriques and casks (that is, small and large barrels), some 30 percent of which were new. Such a regimen lends the wine shape, tone and seriousness without the frippery of toast or overt spiciness. Try from 2011 or ’12 through 2016 to ’18. Winemaker is Ivo Jeramaz, nephew of the winery’s co-founder and winemaker emeritus, Miljenko “Mike” Grgich. Alcohol is 14.5 percent. Excellent. About $42.
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The winery was founded in Australia’s Barossa Valley as Karlsburg Wines in 1973 by Czech winemaker Karl Cimicky; his son Charles changed the winery’s name to Charles Cimicky Wines when he took the reins. The blend in the Cimicky Trumps Grenache Shiraz 2007 is 55 percent of the first, 45 percent of the second. The wine spends 15 months in two-year-old French oak barrels that lend subtle spice and suppleness. This is a big, dark, rich and, yes, jammy red wine that bursts with aromas of ripe black currants, blackberries and plums swathed with licorice and lavender and crushed gravel. Despite the intense black fruit nectar-like ripeness, the wine is completely dry, even austere toward the finish, but it also just rolls across the taste-buds like liquid velvet couched in furry, chewy tannins. A little swirling unfurls notes of clean earth, new leather and smoke. This was terrific with the night’s pizza, but Lord have mercy, would it ever be great with a medium-rare, pepper-crusted rib-eye steak. Alcohol content is 14 percent. Drink through 2012 or ’13. Very Good+. About $15 to $18.
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La Mozza is jointed owned by Lidia Bastianich, her son Joe Bastianich and his partner is the restaurant business, Mario Batali. None of these celebrities — especially Batali — needs an introduction. (Mother and son also own a winery, launched in 1997, in Friuli Venezia Giulia, in the Colli Orientali Giulia D.O.C. region.) La Mozza was founded in 2000 and is located in Tuscany’s southwestern Maremma area. La Mozza Aragone 2006, Maremma Toscana I.G.T., could be called a combination of Italy and France; on the Italian side we have 40 percent sangiovese and 25 percent alicante grapes, and on the French side, specifically the southern Rhone Valley, we have 25 percent syrah and 10 percent carignane. The wine aged 22 months in 500-liter French casks; the standard French barrel is 225 liters, so theoretically, because of the greater mass of wine in proportion to wood, the oak influence with a cask is less, or at least more subtle. Not that the point matters tremendously for this dark, robust and vigorous red wine. Scents of red and black currants (and a touch of mulberry) are permeated by elements of graphite and potpourri, moss, briers and brambles and a bass note of mushroomy earthiness. Yes, there are intriguing, seductive layers in the bouquet, and if the wine is a bit more brooding in the mouth, that’s nothing that a little bottle aging won’t ease. The wine is well-balanced, but the emphasis is on dense but smooth, almost sleek tannins and rich, smoky black fruit flavors that need a year or two to develop. Try from 2011 or ’12 through 2016 to ’18. Alcohol content is a comfortable 13 percent. Excellent. A few months ago, the price range for this wine was about $38 to $42; today it’s about $28 to $35.

Dark Star Imports, New York.
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Yangarra Estate Vineyard, located in Australia’s McLaren Vale appellation, is part of the Jackson Family Wines empire. While the Yangarra wines are promoted as “100% estate grown,” the federally required designation on the back label mysteriously does not say “Produced and Bottled by …” but “Vinted and Bottled by …”; the implication is that the Yangarra wines (at least the ones shipped to the U.S.) are not made at the estate. Whatever the case, the Yangarra Mourvèdre 2008, McLaren Vale, is a wonderful, I’ll say it again, a wonderful expression of the mourvèdre grape. While a traditional component of the blended red wines of the Rhone Valley, Provence and Languedoc in southern France, mourvèdre is seldom bottled on its own except for a few instances in California and Australia. At first, this is all black: Blackberry, black currant, black plum, black pepper, black olive. Then a touch of dried red current enters the picture, along with sweet cherry and sour cherry, red plum, new leather. Give the wine a few more minutes and it turns into a glassful of smoldering violets and lavender, with overtones of bitter chocolate, espresso and dried thyme. The mineral element expands into layers of dusty granite and graphite that permeate the bastions of polished, chewy tannins. The wine aged 18 months in French oak barrels, only 15 percent of which were new, so the wood influence is sustained yet mild and supple and slightly spicy. This could mature for a year or two, so drink from 2011 or ’12 through 2016 to ’18. Production was 500 six-bottle cases; winemaker was Peter Fraser. Alcohol content is the now standard 14.5 percent. Excellent. About $29.

Sovereign Wine Imports, Santa Rosa, Cal.
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Just as the Yangarra Estate Mourvedre 2008 mentioned above represents a Platonic embodiment of the mourvedre grape, the Nickel & Nickel Darien Vineyard Syrah 2007, Russian River Valley, performs a similar service for syrah. Syrah was planted in Darien in 2000 and 2001, so the vines have reached a point of development that should lend rich character to the wine and continue on a plateau of quality for 50 or 60 years. There’s a whole truckload of crushed thyme, marjoram and Oolong tea in this wine, as well as baskets of blackberries and blueberries imbued with hints of prunes, plums, lanolin and leather and an all-over sense of ripe fleshiness. The color is inky with a faint violet/purple rim; the granite and shale-like mineral element feels/seems inky too. So add the caprice of lavender, licorice, bitter chocolate and potpourri crushed by mortar and pestle and scattered on a smoldering field of wild flowers and herbs. Yes, I’m saying that this is a syrah that reaches a level of delirious detail, depth and dimension, and the deeper it goes, the darker and denser it gets, until you reach the Circle of Austerity and the Chamber of Tannins and the Rotunda of Oak. (The wine aged 14 months in French barrels, 42 percent new.) Despite those fathoms, the wine is surprisingly smooth and drinkable, huge in scope yet polished and inviting. Production was 974 cases. Alcohol content is 14.9 percent. Drink from 2011 or ’12 through 2018 to ’20 (well-stored). Winemaker was Darice Spinelli. Exceptional. About $48.
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Desiring something probably less complicated and certainly cheaper on a subsequent Pizza-and-Movie Night, I opened the Estancia Zinfandel 2007, Keyes Canyon Ranches, Paso Robles. Estancia was founded in 1986 on the old Paul Masson vineyards in Soledad, in Monterey County. The winery is now owned by Constellation. Keyes Canyon is in Paso Robles, down south in San Luis Obispo. The wine is touted on its label as “Handcrafted” and “Artisan-Grown,” whatever those nebulous terms mean. As is the case with many of the products from wineries purchased by Constellation, this wine says on the label “Vinted and Bottled … “; check your bottles of Mt. Veeder and Franciscan, also owned by Constellation. Actually what the complete line on this label says is “Vinted and Bottled by Estancia Estates, Sonoma Co.” So the question is: Where the hell was the wine made?

Anyway, I didn’t like it. I tried manfully for 15 or 20 minutes to coax something out of the glass that might resemble anything to do with the zinfandel grape, but all I got was a generic sense of smoky, toasty red wine that could have been cabernet or merlot. Alcohol content is 13.5 percent. Winemaker was Scott Kelley. Avoid. About $15.

Finally, LL said, “Oh, just open something else. Something better.” So I went looking and found the next wine.
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Yes, as you know, I’m the kind of guy who will open a Jordan Cabernet to go with pizza, but, damnit, the movie was going and we were chowing down and I had to grab something. And of course I’m not implying that a wine that costs $52 is necessarily better than a wine that costs $15; the case is simply that every wine should perform up to or better than its price range, and the Estancia certainly didn’t do that.

Anyway, the Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Alexander Valley, offers lovely balance, integration and harmony. The blend is 75 percent cabernet sauvigon, 19.5 percent merlot, 4.5 percent petit verdot and 1 percent malbec. Aging was 12 months in French (67%) and American (33%) oak barrels, of which 33 percent were new. The bouquet is first a tangle of briers and brambles, cedar, thyme and black olive with a background of iron and dusty walnut shell; a few minutes bring in the notes of black currants, black cherries and cassis. The wine is intense and concentrated, dense and chewy, with finely-milled tannins and polished oak enfolding flavors of spicy black currants and plums and a streak of vibrant acidity contributing a sense of purpose. A model of the marriage of power and elegance and a delight to drink. Try now through 2015 or ’16. The alcohol content is 13.5 percent. Winemaker was Rob Davis. Excellent. About $52.

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We continue with a series that presents two great wines that I tasted within the last three months — April, May and June for this post — but didn’t get an opportunity to write about.

These wines were samples for review.
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The “regular” bottling of Renaissance Winery’s Roussanne 2006 was released early in 2009. A year later came the wine under review today, the Renaissance “Vin de Terroir” Roussanne 2006. The winery lies in the North Yuba appellation of the Sierra Foothills region, about 70 miles north of Sacramento. Gideon Beinstock is a thoughtful and careful winemaker who keeps alcohol levels low and new oak at a minimum. The Renaissance “Vin de Terroir” Roussanne 2006 spent two years and eight months in bottle before release. The wine was fermented in stainless steel with natural yeasts and aged nine months in new and one- and two-year old barrels. Just pulling the cork unleashes scents of pears and roasted lemons into the room; the bouquet wafts like fragile tissues of apple, ginger and quince, bee’s-wax and camellia woven together, while a few minutes in the glass bring out hints of orange water and rose petals. Bear in mind that nothing bold or flamboyant mars the delicacy of these sensations. This wine is more spare and more elegant than its young cousin, the Renaissance Roussanne 06; the present “Vin de Terroir” version, though lush enough to be almost viscous, almost oily, is nonetheless very dry, lithe and supple, even austere, providing a gratifying paradoxical nature that balances richness with clean, crisp acidity and a burgeoning limestone element. Flavors of peaches and pears macerated in cloves and allspice unfold before a tide of wood that’s close to ecclesiastical in its dry, dusty, slightly smoky character (but not toasty or charcoal-y; this is not a new oak thing). In its integrity and individual nature, the Renaissance “Vin de Terroir” Roussanne 2006 is an exotic masterpiece. 13 percent alcohol. The rub? Beinstock made all of 63 cases of this wine. Excellent. About $45.
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The related wineries Far Niente (founded in 1979), Dolce (1985) and Nickel & Nickel (1997) have been joined by a new affiliate, En Route, dedicated to making pinot noir in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley. The first vintage was 2007. Winemaker is Andrew Delos; director of winemaking for the group is Dirk Hampson. Grapes for En Route “Les Pommiers” Pinot Noir 2008, Russian River Valley, derive from two vineyards at different locations in Russian River with a touch of grapes from Sonoma Coast. The wine ages 11 months in French oak, 55 percent new barrels. This is — what’s the word I’m looking for? — gorgeous, but thinking about the case for a few seconds, I hesitate to use “gorgeous” because it implies a quality of blatancy that the wine does not evince. It is, instead — what’s the word I’m looking for? — ethereal or evanescent or beguiling. The hue is moderate cherry-magenta with a slight blue cast, like the color of lipstick that men associate with danger. Aromas of black and red cherries are wreathed with dried cranberries, cloves and cinnamon, while in the mouth, flavors of black cherries, currants and plums nestle in a super-sexy, smooth satiny texture that’s seductive without being heavy or obvious. Traces of smoke, truffles and moss comprise a species of ripe earthiness that deepens the wine into layers of spicy oak and a hint of slate-like minerality. Really just incredibly lovely. Production was 1,993 cases. 14.8 percent alcohol, which might make the tail-end of the finish a trifle hot, but essentially the wine is superbly balanced and integrated. Excellent. About $50.
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I invited wine-blogging colleague Benito to come over and taste six pairs of mainly limited-edition red wines with me a couple of weeks ago. The wines within each pair were related in some way, mainly in the sense that they were made by the same producer but from different vineyards or appellations. My intention was to see what sort of characteristics the wines possessed and how they expressed the variations in location, if they did so, and to what degree. There were four pairs of cabernet sauvignon-based wines and two pairs of merlot; one pair was from Washington state and the others from California, two from Sonoma County and three from Napa Valley.

Benito knew none of these details; all I revealed to him was that the wines were red, in related pairs and that we would taste them blind. I had a potential advantage, of course, but after I bagged and marked the wines (and removed the capsules), I moved the pairs around the table, and when Benito arrived, I asked him to do the same thing. When we sat down to begin, I realized by looking at the groups of bottles in brown paper sacks that I actually didn’t have a clue what the order was.

Here’s the deal: I found these wines, whose prices range from $35 to $85, generally solid and well-made but unexciting, uninvolving and uncompelling. Many of them shared so many similar qualities that they felt as if they had been engineered by committees. Nor did I discover much of the individuality and personality I was hoping for, either in the single examples or comparatively within the pairs. In fact, they seemed remarkably alike, reflecting a sense of prevalent style. After Benito and I tried the wines on a Thursday afternoon, I set the wines aside, let them rest over night and tried them the next day, and the next and even on Sunday; there was little sense of development or diminishing of oak and tannin. It’s difficult to understand, then, what these wines represent except their own status as iconic products to be featured on high-end wine lists and in the cellars of collectors. The order in which the wines are reviewed follows the order in which Benito and I tasted them.

These wines were received as samples for review.
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1. Matanzas Creek Merlot 2006, Bennett Valley, Sonoma County. 88.5% merlot, 7.5% syrah, 4% cabernet sauvignon. 14.1% alcohol. $35. and 2. Matanzas Creek Jackson Park Vineyard Merlot 2006, Bennett Valley, Sonoma County. 100% merlot. 14.1% alcohol. $49. Winemaker is François Cordesse. Matanzas Creek is part of the Jackson Family Wines of Kendall-Jackson.

The “regular” Bennett Valley Merlot 06 offers a dark ruby-purple color and a seductive bouquet of smoke, lilac and lavender, iodine and graphite, cassis and crushed raspberries, with a final fillip of violets and toasty charcoal. (The oak regimen is 14 months in French barrels, 31 percent new, 69 percent used.) So, this aromatic nature is attractive and pretty standard in the California vein, with emphasis on the character that comes from oak aging, all that sort of smoky, crunchy, roasted stuff. The wine is rich, ripe and juicy with black fruit flavors, deeply spicy, solid with dense chewy tannins that grow more austere as the minutes (and days) pass, and altogether very cabernet-like in its sleek, powerful structure.

How does the Jackson Park version compare? Immediately one feels more power and darkness in the glass, more structure and more of the wheatmeal-graham-walnut shell nature, the dusty minerals that indicate the presence of formidable oak and tannin and presage time in the cellar. This wine also spends 14 months in French oak, 50 percent new barrels, 25 percent one-year-old, 25 percent two-year-old. At first the wine feels pungent, spicy and provocative, but it quickly succumbs to its structural elements, turning very dry and austere from mid-palate through the finish, leading one to wonder if the only way to produce impressive merlot-based wines is to make them like cabernet sauvignon. Try this perhaps from 2012 or ’13 through 2016 or ’17.

I rate both of these merlots Very Good+.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Emblem Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Napa Valley. 100% cabernet. 14.3% alcohol. $50. and 2. Emblem Oso Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Napa Valley. 100% cabernet. 13.7% alcohol. $50. Winemakers are Michael Mondavi and his son Robert Michael Mondavi Jr. of Folio Fine Wine Partners.

The Rutherford district, progenitor of the famed (or infamous) “Rutherford dust” character, marks the heart of the Napa Valley. Named for the small, unincorporated community on Hwy 29, the district stretches in a broad band across the valley from the foot of the Mayacamas mountains in the west to the smaller Vaca Range on the east. The grapes for the Emblem Rutherford Cabernet 06 derive from a single, unnamed vineyard on the eastern side of the Napa River. This feels, indeed, like classic Napa/Rutherford cabernet, with a nose of cedar and black olives, mint and cloves and very intense and ripe cassis and black cherry scents wrapped in spicy oak and (yes) a dusty, leafy graphite quality. The oak treatment is 22 months in French barrels, of which 66 percent were new. At first, Emblem Rutherford 06 is pretty luscious and juicy, but strapping tannins expand rapidly and take up all the available space, turning the wine austere to the point of astringency. It is, in a word, huge in oak, huge in tannin, huge in that dusty, granite-like mineral element. It’s the old iron-fist in the iron-glove thing. Try from 2012 or ’14 through 2018 or ’20. For now, Very Good+.

Cousinage between these two Emblem wines consists of the factor of 100 percent cabernet sauvignon grapes and some resemblance in the oak regime, which for the Oso Vineyard 06 is also 22 months in French barrels, but 45 percent of the barrels are new. No matter. The Oso is another substantial, oak-bound, formidably tannic and granite-like wine that’s even more closed, more brooding and more austere than the Rutherford 06. The grapes come from the Mondavi family’s Oso Vineyard in the northern part of Napa Valley, near Calistoga. Considerable time will elapse before it softens and unfolds a bit, though I’ll grant that the wine’s supple texture — the tannins are more velvety than grainy and gritty — is very attractive. Another Very Good+ and hoping for the best after 2013 or ’14.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Northstar Merlot 2006, Walla Walla Valley, Washington. 78% merlot, 17% cabernet sauvignon, 5% cabernet franc. 14.4% alcohol. 1,200 cases. $50. and 2. Northstar Merlot 2006, Columbia Valley. 76% merlot, 19% cabernet sauvignon, 3% petit verdot, 2% cabernet franc. 14.7% alcohol. 10,00 cases. $41. Winemaker is David Merfeld. Northstar is a sister winery to Chateau Ste. Michelle.

The point here is that since Walla Walla is a smaller appellation within Columbia Valley theoretically a Walla Walla merlot will be (or could be) better than a merlot from the larger, more diversified region; how else justify the difference in price and packaging? As it happens, in this blind tasting, Benito and I tried the Walla Walla version before the Columbia Valley rendition, and while I’ll give the Northstar Walla Walla 06 a slight edge over the Northstar Columbia 06, these were both very well-made wines with a pleasing sense of detail and dimension. Walla Walla is, as many devotees of merlot know, a potentially superb area for the grape. Do these Northstar merlots, especially the Walla Walla, evince a definite regional character, points that one would pick out as “Walla Walla”? I would say not. While immensely enjoyable, there’s not much to distinguish these merlots from dozens, if not hundreds, of other examples.

To follow the tasting order, the Northstar Merlot 06, Walla Walla, ages 17 months in French oak barrels, 56 percent new. The grapes for the wine derive from nine blocks within four vineyards. The color is dark ruby-purple with a slightly paler purple rim; the bouquet is intense and concentrated, a tightly furled amalgam of iodine and iron, licorice and lavender, and very ripe and penetrating scents of black currant and black cherry. The wine is deeply rooted in baking spice and macerated black fruit flavors permeated by polished oak, graphite and dense, supple tannins, all ensconced in a sumptuous, velvety texture. Drink now through 2015 to ’16. Very Good+.

Surprisingly, my first notes on the Northstar Merlot 2006, Columbia Valley, are “color is even darker; more intense — more concentrated.” This is actually an incredibly dense, fervently eloquent expression of the merlot grape that, for once, doesn’t seem like just another cabernet in disguise. The wine sees a little more oak than its stablemate — 18 months in 70 percent French and 30 percent American oak barrels, 65 percent new — but it does not come off as besotted or imperiled by wood; in contrast, it feels as if you’re drinking tapestry loaded with cassis, Damson plums, potpourri, mocha and bitter chocolate with a slightly piquant spicy edge and a lacy etching of iron filings. Nothing over-ripe or exaggerated here, and, in fact, this may be the most elegant and balanced wine of the tasting. Drink now through 2015 or ’16. Excellent.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Rodney Strong Rockaway Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County. 97% cabernet sauvignon, 2% malbec, 1% petit verdot. 15.4% alcohol. $75. and 2. Rodney Strong Brothers Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County. 100% cabernet sauvignon. 15.4% alcohol. $75. Winemakers are Rick Sayre and Gary Patzwald, with David Ramey as consultant.

Alexander Valley is a narrow, 12-mile long region that stretches southeast to northwest into the upper reaches of Sonoma County. At its lower end, Alexander Valley is buttressed by Knights Valley on the east, Chalk Hill and Russian River Valley to the south and southwest and Dry Creek Valley to the west, but it rises above this crowd and reaches in isolation up to the border with Mendocino County. The Russian River runs right down through the center of Alexander Valley, providing a moderating influence to temperatures that are generally warmer than the rest of the county.

The Brothers Ridge Vineyard, in what we’ll call the northern quadrant of Alexander Valley, lies east of the town of Cloverdale — pop. 6,831; motto “Genuinely Cloverdale” — in hills that reach nearly 1,000 feet elevation. The soil is loam over layers of sandstone, shale and “ancient” greenstone, that is, basaltic rock that was once deep-sea lava. The vineyard faces mainly west. In contrast, the Rockaway Vineyard, which slopes primarily northeast and southwest, lies over a gravelly clay subsoil atop fractured sandstone. A few miles southeast of Brothers Ridge and slightly lower — 750 feet at the highest elevation — Rockaway is a bit cooler. Do these factors of climate and geography produce different wines? Don’t forget the element of oak aging; 22 months in French barrels, 42 percent new, for Brothers Ridge, 22 months, in French barrels, 47 percent new, for Rockaway.

Rockaway 2006 starts with toasty, sweet oak and sweet, ripe black and blue fruit scents straight out of the gate; this bouquet is deliriously seductive, broadly and deeply spicy, with violets, crushed lavender, licorice and an exotic touch of mocha and smoky, incense-like sandalwood. Soon, however, one reaches an impasse; yes, there are the generous spicy nature and glimmers of cassis and blue plums with a hint of fruit cake, but mainly the wine at this point is tightly, massively structured, and three days in the bottle did not do a lot to help it unfurl. On Sunday morning, Rockaway 06 still offered an intensely spicy character that permeated black cherry and red currant flavors, but the tale was told in chewy, grainy tannins and formidably austere oak. Try from 2012 or ’13 through 2018 to ’20. Very Good+ for now.

Brothers Ridge 2006 felt a little looser, a little more open and approachable than its cousin. Here we perceive leather, plums with hints of espresso and prunes — the summer of 2006 was historically hot — the depth and range of the spice cabinet, touches of menthol and cedar. After three days of sweet-talking and coaxing, though, however much the attractive points of macerated and roasted berries became evident, Brothers Ridge 06 remained all about oak, which coated the mouth with austerity and astringency. It’s difficult to imagine that the wine will ever achieve the equilibrium it requires to become palatable. Try, with hope in your hearts, from 2013 or ’14 through 2018 to ’20. Very Good+ for now.
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1. Piña Cellars Buckeye Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley. 100% cabernet. 15.1% alcohol. 840 cases. $85. and 2. Piña Cellars D’Adamo Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Napa Valley. 100% cabernet. 15.4% alcohol. 1,085 cases. $75. Winemaker is Anna Monticelli.

The Buckeye Vineyard, high atop Howell Mountain — vineyard elevation up to about 2,200 feet — is a far cry from the D’Adamo Vineyard, nestled in the foothills between the Silverado Trail and Atlas Peak. One feels that difference immediately in this pair of wines from the Piña family, who have been tending vineyards in Napa Valley since the late 19th Century. The Buckeye Howell Mt. 07 displays bastions of resonant tannins for framing and foundation, like the deepest bass notes of a grand pipe organ, yet the bouquet draws you in with bacon fat, lavender and licorice, smoky charcoal, roasted meat (lamb, I would say) and very intense and concentrated elements of black currants, black cherries and plums. By the third day after being opened, this Buckeye Howell Mt. 07 had evolved into a real classic of mountain-grown cabernet, with high notes of cedar, tobacco and mint leading into spiced and macerated black currants and plums; the wine was still inky and granite-like, still awesome with oak and tannin, yet its innate elegance and balance were clearly evident. Of the 12 wines under consideration in this post, this was my favorite. Try from 2013 or ’14 through 2020 to ’22. Excellent.

Not to stint, however, on the virtues of the D’Amado 07, which opened seeming a little sleeker, a little smoother and more supple than its stablemate; in fact, you could swim in this ripe, rich, spicy and floral bouquet, though seemingly fathomless tannins come into play fairly quickly and dominate the wine after 15 or 20 minutes in the glass. Three days later, that bouquet still simmers with spice, cloves and mocha and macerated black fruit, but the bitingly austere tannins, the oak, the mineral qualities had not abated an inch. Give this considerable time, and call it Very Good+ for now with the potential for an Excellent rating.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Markham “The Altruist” Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Calistoga, Napa Valley. 100% cabernet. 14.8% alcohol. 507 cases. $53. and 2. Markham “The Philanthropist” Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Yountville, Napa Valley. 100% cabernet. 14.8% alcohol. 506 cases. $53. Winemaker is Kimberlee Nicholls. These wines are dedicated to Markham’s 2008 “Mark of Distinction” award winners, Table to Table in Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J., and the Bartlett Arboretum in Bell Plaine, Kansas.

These wines aged in French oak barrels 28 months and 27.5 months respectively, longer than any of the other wines tasted for this post, and the extra time shows in the intractability and impenetrability of their textures and structures. These are two freakin’ big tannic, oaken, dusty-iron-and-granite-girt wines! Will they ever come around? Making two 100 percent cabernet sauvignon wines from distinct areas in Napa Valley — Calistoga, north of St. Helena, and Yountville, in the central south –and treating them much the same in the winery would seem to point to the notion of emphasizing the wines’ origins in different micro-climates and soils, but the imposition of long oak aging and of deeply extracting tannins rendered that potentially interesting point moot, null and void. These cabernets are about their making, not about their vineyards or locations. As much as I played with them from Thursday afternoon until Sunday morning, I could elicit from them only the stringent rigor of their fabrication. Try, if you will, from 2014 or ’15 to 2020 or so, and let me know what happens. You know where to find me.
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I am fortunate to live within short or fairly easy driving distance of four or five excellent wine and liquor stores, and I happened to be in one of them a few days ago when my eye fell upon a selection of rosé wines. Now it’s already stinkin’, freakin’, awesomely and unseasonably hot in Memphis — it’s supposed to hit 100 today, and don’t talk about the heat index — and well-made, thirst-quenching rosé wines are among my favorites, so I perused this display with interest. There, amid the usual pale suspects, was a label I had never seen. This was the Margerum Rosé 2009, Santa Ynez Valley. The label was restrained and typographically elegant, but what really caught my attention was the line: “This is bottle 0801 of 1200″. Gathering the forces of a razor-sharp intellect, I performed a quick calculation and realized that only 100 cases of this wine were made, and the puffy, luminous thought-cloud above my head contained the question: “How the hell did this wine get to Memphis?”

Douglas Margerum makes this rosé by bleeding off some juice from a variety of grenache vineyards he works with, fermenting and storing in stainless steel, and then blending back 30 percent of the “regular” grenache. The result is a rosé whose color is a bit ruddier than watermelon pink and a tad paler than copper, with a cerise-like radiance at the center. Scents and flavors of strawberries and red currants with a hint of peach in the background are sustained by a wash of damp gravel and dusty roof tiles — how to explain? Think of limestone after a rain and the warmth of the sun on fired clay. There’s an undertow of plum, a touch of cloves and cinnamon, and evidence of a mild but firm tannic structure. Dry, crisp and vibrant, this is a rosé of uncommon suavity and resonance. Excellent, and definitely Worth a Search. The price at the winery is $21; I paid $23.

It’s ironic that the logo for August Briggs Winery features a delicate dandelion puff-ball with a few of its gossamer filaments a-drift on a gentle zephyr, because these six red wines are anything but gossamer-like. They are, instead, in a few words, solid, substantial, robust. The winery is on the Silverado Trail in Calistoga, in the north part of Napa Valley, but August Briggs draws on vineyards not only in Napa but in Sonoma and Lake counties, making small quantities of 16 wines. Under review here are two cabernet sauvignons, two pinot noirs, a petite sirah and an old vine zinfandel.

Samples for review.
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The August Briggs Pinot Noir 2008 derives from three vineyards in Russian River Valley. The color is medium ruby with a radiant darker shade within. Aromas of black cherry, plums, cloves and cola unfold to hints of moss, autumn leaves and smoke. The oak regimen was eight months in 30 percent new French barrels, 70 percent two- and three-year-old barrels. There’s nice balance here initially between delicacy and something more dynamic, but the wine is also quite dry, and it reveals more spice and wood, in the form of brown sugar and allspice, that turns a little astringent on the finish. More time in the glass intensifies the cherry fruit. Production was 503 cases. Alcohol content is 14.2 percent. Very Good+. About $38.
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More detail and dimension surface in the August Briggs “Dijon Clones” Pinot Noir 2008, Napa Valley. This is slightly darker than the Russian River Valley pinot noir, and its bouquet is more pure, intense and entrancing. Subtly expansive black cherry, cranberry and mulberry aromas are gently infused with sweet baking spices and a touch of the exotic, a hint of smoke and sandalwood. The oak treatment is the same for this wine as for its Russian River Valley stablemate, but you feel its slightly woody presence a bit more on the finish, but before that moment, your palate is engulfed in a lush swathing of satiny succulence and earthy, rooty black and red fruit flavors. Still, 20 or 30 minutes bring in the same austerity that defines the August Briggs’ Russian River Valley pinot noir, so what we see here is a stylistic choice. Perhaps a year or two of aging will soften the wine. Production was 805 cases. Alcohol is 14.5 percent. Very Good+. About $40.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Let’s do these two 100 percent cabernet sauvignon wines, one from Napa Valley, one from Sonoma Valley, together.

The August Briggs Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Napa Valley, is all about structure. You smell it in the aromas of dust, briers and brambles, granite and lead pencil, cedar and walnut shell; you taste it in a mouthful of dusty minerals, dusty tannins and dusty oak from 20 months in half-and-half French and American barrels. Yet you also feel a richness, a smoothness and sense of dimension that speak of this wine’s potential for development over the next six to eight years; try from 2012 or ’13 through 2016 or ’18. Two vineyards were involved, the Stagecoach Vineyard in Atlas Peak and the Corbett Vineyard on Spring Mountain. 498 cases. 14.5 percent alcohol. Very Good+ now with the possibility of Excellent. About $52.

Let’s remember that the Napa Valley designation on the previous wine implies a large growing region with smaller appellations, like Atlas Peak and Spring Mountain, within it. Sonoma Valley, on the other hand, is a vineyard appellation (or American Viticultural Area) within the larger Sonoma County region. In the case of the August Briggs Monte Rosso Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Sonoma Valley, it’s also vineyard-specific, and a venerable vineyard it is, first planted in 1880, purchased in 1938 by Louis M. Martini and replanted, and owned since 2002 by Gallo.

The color of the August Briggs Monte Rosso Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 is dark ruby/purple; the bouquet is rich and warm, fleshy, floral and spicy, and dense, if aromas can be dense, with macerated black and red currants, plums and cherries; a few minutes in the glass bring in elements of iodine, sea-salt, cedar and graphite. As you can tell, the wine, in its bouquet, is a testimony to defining (indeed, provocative) detail. In the mouth, the wine takes a harder edge, with sumptuous, chewy tannins and lavish oak — 20 months French and American, 50/50 — leavened by a feast of granite-like minerality and foresty qualities. Fine now with a piping hot rib-eye steak, but otherwise try from 2012 or ’13 through 2017 to ’20. Production was 598 cases. 14.9 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $55.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ I’ll admit that the one of these six wines that I liked unabashedly was the exuberant August Briggs Old Vines Zinfandel 2008, Napa Valley, a clean, bright, pure and authoritative zinfandel whose grapes derived from two vineyards, one planted in 1908, the other in the 1940s and ’50s. Black cherry, black currant and blackberry scents and flavors are infused with smoky lavender and licorice and interesting hints of caraway and wheatmeal, the flavors ensconced in rip-roaring, lip-smacking tannins that are gritty and chewy yet plush, too, almost velvety. Tons of fruit here and tons of structure in great balance. You can’t get away from the fact that the alcohol level is 15.2 percent, but, hell, we get top-flight iconic cabernets now with that factor, so, you can live with it. Wrap this around game meats like venison and boar. 420 cases. Excellent. About $35.
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And, the one of these wines that I disliked absolutely was the August Briggs Petite Sirah 2007, Napa Valley, which in its very evident 15.5 percent alcohol, its massive oaken influence and its overwhelming tannins makes a detrimental fetish of muscle-bound bigness. 296 cases. Not for this boy. About $38.
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