2006 K Vintners Pheasant Vineyard Syrah

As the days get shorter and colder, Syrah is taking a bigger role in my daily drinking habits. To ring in one of my few nights off a month, I decided to pop open a bottle from my favorite producer, Charles Smith's K Vintners. I bought this bottle not too long ago in DC for about $40 bucks, which is on par with a lot of his single vineyard bottlings.

Color: Much like many of his bottlings, this is black, not purple, but black. Incredibly dense color from all angles.

Nose: More of a meal than a wine, there are tons of different aromas on the nose. Tons of dark fruit, blackberry, gamey meat, red cabbage, dark chocolate, and truffles. Really powerful and stings a little bit of alcohol.

Taste: Big wine, with some RIPPING fruit, lamb, chocolate, and dark powered cocoa. Wine is quite off balance though, as the alcohol on this one is way out of control. It really destroys the finish of the wine.

Overall: All in all, a great wine without the overall abundance of alcohol. 85 Points

Awesome Chardonnay

As the days get shorter and the semester gets longer, I unfortunately have not had all the time in the world to taste the goodness of Washington vino. On one of my few free moments, I was able to step into a local shop and taste one of the most profound Chardonnays I have ever had. Not just Washington Chardonnays, but any, period.

The Chardonnay in question is from a storied producer, Woodhouse Family Cellars. Their Hudson Shah Chardonnay, which I picked up for around $36.00 from the Wine Seller in Williamsburg, VA, is bar none one of the best white wines I have ever tasted. The scariest thing about it is that I tasted it after it had been open for 8 days, and at that point it showed such deep complexity and terrior driven beauty, it floored me.

Color: After the extended time to oxidize, the color of this wine was just immense. Almost copper colored, the deepness of the orange and golden hues was just breathtaking. The only other place you will really see such a color are a few of the Friuli whites from Radikon and Gravener. Simply breathtaking.

Nose: If I was served this blind, I would say Batard Montrachet every time. This wine was just loaded with petrol, lemon peal, pear, walnuts, and butterscotch. The wine was so well integrated at this point that the nose just lulled you in. Even after extended oxidation, this wine was just unimaginably good.

Taste: There is no way that this wine tasted 8 days old. The immense beauty of the petrol driven butterscotch is just amazing. Along with the petrol and butterscotch, there was a good amount of pear, guava, and lemon peal to round out the start. The midpalate was great with butterscotch taking the fore paired up with petrol spritzed pear. The finish was just immaculate, a petrol laced guava that lasted a good two minutes.

Overall: For the most part, I honestly dislike most domestic Chards. This one has really changed my view on what this country can do with the Chardonnay grape. Simply one of the most profound wines I have ever had the ability to taste. 97+ Points

The Boy that is a Man

Sorry for the delay, but the increase of workload in my MBA program and my new obsession that is older Rhones, I have not had the time to really drink much of the best of Washington. Tonight, I will rectify that. As a compliment to my new Rhone obsession, I decided to open up a bottle that I bought a few months ago online, the 2007 K Vintners "the Boy". A 90% Grenache, 10% Syrah blend is a nice homage to Chateauneuf du Pape, with the nice twist of brightness and earth that Washington state brings to the table. Now to the wine:

Color: Honestly this is such a beautiful color on a Grenache based wine it makes me tear up a little. There is such a nice transparency to the opaqueness (I know, does not make sense), it is striking. It really reminds me what I have seen in the 05 CDP's, an opaque black color with a huge core of beautiful ruby and crimson emanating from inside. Truly a sight to behold.

Nose: A little subdued when opened, this baby gets bigger and bolder with air. There are obvious notes of cherry, earth, graphite, tar, black fruit, and dusted chocolate and cocoa on this nose. It is so well integrated though, it takes a little work to differentiate between everything, a bit of sensory overload. Beautiful floral component ties everything together and extends to the back end beautifully. Very nice and indicative of some great winemaking and grape sources.

Taste: Cuff me up and take me end, I am a babykiller. This wine is sooooo young its insane. Even after decanting it for about 5 hours, there are loads of very sweet and delicious tannins present throughout. Under all of that there are layers upon layers of floral components, cocoa, earth, clay, red fruit, and a tinge of bitter dark fruit. Its finish is incredibly long and vibrant, bursting with sour cherries and floral components for about 80 seconds after you swallow. This will be a best years down the road, but right now is pretty damn good on its own. The structure on this baby is great and should last for atleast 10 years. Air REALLY does help bring this beast alive, but age will help make this Boy a man.

Overall Impression: If you want to get the same impression you can find from Chateauneuf du Pape with a little more brightness and approachability, this is your wine. This wine does a lot of what it should extremely well, along with bringing some insane polish and structure to the table. If you popped this in the middle of an 07 CDP tasting, even with the strength of this vintage in the Rhone, it would outshine a lot of whats on the table. If you can find it, get it. 94+ Points

Loving some Sorella

Andrew Will is by far one of my favorite producers in Washington State. Camarda simply crafts some amazingly long lived wines that rival some of the best wines in the state and world. Tonight to unwind from an incredibly long week at my new second home, the Mason School of Business at William and Mary, I uncorked the signature Meritage from Andrew Will, the 2002 Sorella. I picked up this bottle a few months ago at MacArthur Beverages in DC for the low price of $42. Enough preamble, lets get to it.

Color: Really, this wine reminds me a lot of the color I saw from the 2004 Quilceda Creek I had for my birthday. Just amazingly dark, rich, inky color, showing immense concentration. This wine is showing none of its 7 years of age, looking just like the majority of high quality new releases. It is almost viscous in nature, showing incredible legs as it slowly drips down the class. Whoa.

Nose: Much like the color, this wine is definitely still a baby. Take me to jail, I am a baby killing fool. This wine is just a refined explosion of dark fruit, earth, chocolate, and assorted brett and barnyard aromas. This is really straddling the New World/Old World fence well, but the vibrancy of fruit is really what pegs this as New World. Overall very very nice.

Taste: Age has treated this wine well. I have a feeling that this wine would have been a tannic monster in its youth, but a lot of those edges have been rounded out and smoothed with age. There is an immense amount of refinement to the wine, showing nice sweet fruit, earth, and baking spices. The length is whats most impressive, as it just goes and goes over the palate, building intensity over the palate even after swallowed. The finish is about 2 minutes overall, but seems like it lasts for days. The acidity on the wine is good, just enough to leave the mouth clean and takes away much of the weight in the back end. Overall, this is a great medium bodied, full flavored red wine.

Overall: Much like many of Andrew Will's wines, I would say just buy whatever you see. This Sorella has the polish and refinement that many of its contemporaries are missing and is showing immensely well. The wine can last for another 5-10 years easy, with its prime drinking window just opening. 95 Points

Wonders what everyone is smoking.

As I have started grad school, I was definitely comforted by the fact that my fair university is within 100 yards of my favorite wine shop, the Cheese Shop, in Williamsburg, VA. One day after class, I was asked by the staff to pick up a favorite Merlot in the shop, the 2005 Northstar Columbia Valley Merlot. I heard from the staff that it was trashed a little bit in the Spectator, so I wanted to see if the criticism was true. By the way, the Cheese Shop has an amazing price on this bottle, $29.99.

Color: Absolutely beautiful. A thick opaque garnet and black color that permeates throughout the glass. There is absolutely nothing that I can find wrong with it at all. It has a great a amount of concentration for sure. Overall, definitely indicative of a high scoring wine.

Nose: Boom. Really explosive, nice, and balanced. There is no hint of the nearly 15% alcohol, just a nice attack of cherry, red fruit, strawberry, cola, chocolate and earth. The nose goes on and on, filling the room as I drink this beauty. It is much of what I love about hotter vintage Pomerols, still having the earth, but a great amount of rich, beautiful fruit.

Taste: Balance is the best descriptor of this wine. There is an obnoxious amount of cherry and other red fruit, with a nice counterbalance of dark chocolate and earth to bring it around. It has a good amount of structure and sweet tannins, but nothing that would really indicate that this is a real long term ager. I would say that it can be enjoyed over the next 10 years, but will peak in the next 3-5. The wine is not terribly complex, but freaking amazing still.

Overall: I love this wine. The complexity and balance on the nose and the pure, great execution otherwise makes this wine a definite winner. It is certainly worth the 30 bucks I paid for it, and definitely on par or better than efforts from Duckhorn and other top Cali and international producers. 93+ Points

Nice Reward for a Long Week.

These past few weeks have been a flurry of grad school preparations at William and Mary and the eventual and sad end to what has been a great summer. To cap off my long orientation week, I pulled out a nice bottle of Merlot to have with a nice grass fed rare steak. The bottle in question, a 2005 Novelty Hill Merlot, was picked up a few weeks ago at Whole Foods in Richmond, VA for $20.99.

Color: Overall the color to this wine is very nice indeed. Dark garnet and black throughout, the wine when held to light shows a good amount of concentration and pretty color. The wine itself is slightly translucent at the rim, with dark core of black and garnet in the center. When pitched, there is little to no deviation in color. Very, very nice for the price.

Nose: This is textbook, I mean textbook Merlot. A nice plum component is present througout, continuing from beginning to end. Along with the immense amount of plum, there is a nice dark bitter chocolate component, cassis, black currant, strawberry, and a multitude of red fruit. Nothing too different or exciting, but executed very well.

Taste: Again, textbook Merlot. Plum, cassis, and chocolate dominate, with a liquer component that nicely compliments it all. It is not terribly complex, but in this case the wine is so well executed that it should not be. The black fruit on this is great and pure, going on and on throughout. The structure of the wine and tannins are there, but suggest the wine should be consumed within the next two to three years. The length is quite nice, but not remarkable, lasting for about 30-45 seconds after consuming.

Overall: If you are looking for a very well done Merlot that shares some of the great components of the New and Old World, this is a great introduction. At the price point, it is a certainly very enjoyable Merlot that is very well executed. It is not really all that different than its contemporaries in its region and price point, but again done very well. 89 Points

Saturday Merlot

Having a quiet Saturday night in, I decided to break open a wine in my collection that I am a bit flush with, the 2006 Seven Hills Merlot. I am a big fan of what Washington state does with this varietal, as it is a hell of a lot more exciting than the majority of California and shows enough sunshine and brightness to make everyone happy. I picked up this bottle at the Cheese Shop in Williamsburg, VA for about $28.

Color: The color of this Merlot is a nice beautiful dark garnet color, not as opaque or as obnoxiously dark as some Merlots from this region. It shimmers very nicely from the core of the wine, showing flecks of crimson and dark purple. It is a little transparent, as I can see my fingers through the glass, but doesnt distract from the overall beauty of the color.

Nose: This is a simple, but very nice beautiful nose. There are notes of red fruit, iodine, tar, and chocolate throughout. It does not really deviate from these four components as it gets air, just becomes a tad more intense. The fruit is very floral in nature, floating more than punching as it reaches your nose.

Taste: The taste of this wine is as simple as the nose. It is very floral throughout, with a medium body and decently large mouthfeel. It is very pleasant to drink, albeit not very inspiring or intense. There are notes of red fruit, a little earth, and floral components throughout.

Overall: This wine is a good, but ultimately not great wine. Very pleasant and nice, but does not really have the spark to make you want to have a repeat visit. It is lighter than most of its breatheren in Washington state, but shows enough good difference to make stand up to its peers. Overall I like it, but dont love it. 87 Points