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Acacia Winery, Pinot Noir, Field Blend 2002

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Acacia Winery, Pinot Noir, Field Blend, Estate Vineyard, Carneros 2002 ($45)

I’ve tasted several Acacia Pinots over the past couple of years and generally liked them. As might be deduced by the reader, I was in their wine club for six or seven shipments and have several more bottles in the cellar to drink. Their “Field Blend” is made from four clones of Pinot Noir planted together providing an expression of the terroir of their estate vineyard in the Carneros AVA. These blends are amongst my favorite in Acacia’s line up because they lay on the fruit, with enough Pinot funk to keep it interesting and finish off with sweet French oak.

The wine is a healthy ruby color with a salmon note on the rim. The aroma profile is of black cherry, forest floor and spice but it seems like the fruit is starting to recede more into the background than I remember my last bottle. In the mouth there is boysenberry and black cherry fruit with spice and vanilla from the oak. The tannins are still moderately firm and the finish is fairly long, but I like their 2003 bottling just a bit better. This is still a solid Pinot for current drinking that I would suggest you drink up given the synthetic cork closure.

13.9% ABV
Synthetic cork (very easily removed)
Score: 89

Hook & Ladder, “The Tillerman” White 2005

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Hook & Ladder, “The Tillerman” White, Russian River Valley 2005 ($16/sample provided by the winery)

Hook & Ladder Winery was started by former San Francisco firefighter Cecil De Loach who purchased an old-vine Zinfandel vineyard in the Russian River Valley. This was back in the mid-1970’s when the California wine business was much smaller and single varietal wines were not as popular with Americans as they are today. Flash forward 30+ years and Hook & Ladder has almost 400 acres of vineyards in Sonoma’s sought after AVA for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. So it’s interesting that it has taken me until now, and a generous wine blogger sampling campaign spearheaded by PR wine blogger Tom Wark, to get me to try one of Hook & Ladder’s wines. I don’t really know why I never picked up a bottle as I’ve seen their wines in the store and the brand name certainly is catchy. At any rate, I’m pleased I did try their white blend, “The Tillerman”, and look forward to finding other wines to buy and blog/podcast here in the future.

The Tillerman is the name used on two blends the winery produces named in honor of the firefighter who steers the fire-truck from the back so the ladder doesn’t collide into buildings as the truck turns. The red version is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese. Hook & Ladder is a bit coy about the blend of the white version only disclosing in the materials that accompanied the samples as a blend, “…of three varietals made from estate grapes.” Since the winery also grows and makes Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay, I deduced these being in the blend. After tasting the wine, I guessed that the third variety to be either Viognier, Verdejo or possibly Muscat due to the Rhone-blend aroma and flavor profile (think Sablet blanc without the banana). Whatever grapes are in the bottle, I really liked the result (disclosure: after tasting this wine I emailed Michael De Loach who disclosed the varieties and percentages of the blend; since these would likely cause the reader some undue bias, I will not post them… try the wine and comment here what you think it is made from and in what percentage).

Tasting Notes:

Light straw in color with a hint of green. Aromas of peach, lychee and grapefruit. On the palate the ripe peach flavors are joined by apricot and pineapple, finishing dry with nice acidity and some minerality. A delicious food wine and a great value.

13.8% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 9/10

D-Cubed Cellars, Zinfandel, Napa Valley 2002

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D-Cubed Cellars, Zinfandel, Napa Valley 2002 ($25)

D-Cubed Cellars is a Zinfandel specialist from the Napa Valley. Starting out 10 years ago with Howell Mountain fruit, they have rounded out their line of 5 Zins from various Napa Valley appellations and vineyards: Black Sears, Slaybaugh Ranch and Brown single-vineyard wines, a Howell Mountain blend and this wine from all these appellations. I first tasted D-Cubed Zin at ZAP 2006 and found both the 2003 Howell Mountain and Napa Valley bottlings to be delicious. So when I found this wine at Napa’s Vintner’s Collective tasting room in June, I had to pick up another bottle or two.

Garnet in color with a ruby rim. Black raspberry, cherry, vanilla and spice aromas. Nicely concentrated black cherry fruit along with some spice and silky tannins. The hedonistic mouthfeel and long finish are about as good as Zinfandel gets. This is a stellar value that I recommend snapping up before they raise their prices.

14.6% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 9+/10

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Trinchero Winery, Cabernet Sauvignon, “Mario’s Reserve” 1999

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Trinchero Winery, Cabernet Sauvignon, “Mario’s Reserve”, Napa Valley Estate 1999 ($45)

Trinchero was started in the late 1990’s by the Sutter Home Winery to create an ultra-premium brand for their best wines. When I was in college, I remember tasting some interesting reserve Zinfandels at Sutter Home and presumably the vineyard sources from some of their best wines of old are now marketed under the Trinchero brand. Today Trinchero Winery is among 15 other wineries in the Trinchero Family Estates line which is dominated by mass scale brands like Sutter Home, Trinity Oaks and Three Thieves.

This wine is deep garnet in color with purple edges. Blackberry, black currant and licorice aromas. In the mouth it has more of a mixture of black currant and bramble fruit with black pepper finishing with medium tannins. Going into it’s eighth year, this wine still has plenty of fruit and structure for longer term aging. Overall, a smooth and satisfying Napa Cab that I would recommend decanting right now.

13.5% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 9/10

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Sterling Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon 2000

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Sterling Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2000 ($24)

I have nice memories of visiting Sterling when I was in college back in the 1981-82. Not only were the commanding views of the Napa Valley beautiful, but the gondola ride didn’t cost much (or anything, if memory serves). Somewhere in the later 1980’s, when Sterling became another brand under the Seagram’s line, I drifted away from drinking their wines. I don’t recall any bad wines, they just didn’t seem to stand out anymore. So when I received this bottle from a friend a few years back, it went into a bin waiting for the friend to return. They are back in town this week, so the bottle was enjoyed with grilled shish kabobs. I’ll have to give some of the other Sterling wines a try again soon.

Dark ruby in color with aromas of blackberry, plum and eucalyptus. Black currant and plum fruit with some spice and very fine tannins. Drinking very well now with plenty of fruit that will remain for a few more years. Delicious and a great value if you can find it.

13.5% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 9/10

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