Robert Mondavi Napa Cabernet

Robert Mondavi Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Napa, California
2005
15%
$26.00 -- Rum Runner, Tucson, AZ

Color: Deep ruby
Nose: Panko-crusted shrimp with a side of spinach in a creamy balsamic vinaigrette
Body: Full
Front: Cherry cream, mint
Middle: Cedar vanilla, pepper
Back: Smoke, pencils, chocolate, gravel
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Maybe it's because it's Christmas Eve, maybe it's because there's a roast in the oven smelling like heaven at 375 degrees, maybe it's because the Kingston Trio are singing "Children Go Where I Send Thee" in big, fat, analog sound. But this wine is astounding, right out of the bottle. It's all that I imagine in a Napa wine. Many, many things are going on in it, and it evolves beautifully as it opens.

This may be in part because a lot of players are involved in making this taste like it does. I have to say that, though I can't say how it'll age, this is a bargain. It's up there with bottles I've reviewed here at $50 or more. If I survive Christmas dinner and leftovers, I'll be getting more of this.

V. Sattui Napa Valley Cabernet

V. Sattui Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
2005
14.5%
$32.00 -- V. Sattui Winery, St. Helena, CA

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Blueberries, chocolate
Body: Full
Front: Cassis
Middle: Blueberry mocha
Back: Tannins, cream
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is unadulteratedly lovely wine, like so much of what Sattui makes. It's rich and dominating, good with food (stands up to tonight's mild curry, even). It has tannins like playground bullies, but some of us like a good tannin beating every now and then.

This wine goes well with Swamp Rat's song "Stella II," with its combination--contrast?--of smooth and loungey with startlingly powerful and suggestive.

Note: 28 November 2009. The 2006 is delightful, too (price point and alcohol about the same as the '05): tannins are softer, but it has the same blueberry-driven nose, with a nice meaty body that's got some cherry and coffee in it.

Henry's Drive Dead Letter Office

Henry's Drive Vignerons
Dead Letter Office
Shiraz
McLaren Vale & Padthaway, Australia
2005
15%
$26.99 -- Rum Runner, Tucson, AZ

Color: Dark red
Nose: Cherry vanilla cola
Body: Medium to full
Front: Tart cherries, blueberry
Middle: Mocha pencils
Back: Mint-wrapper cedar
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

Henry's Drive makes some good wine. But of course, you never know! If it were baseball, this wine would bat fourth: not a lot of complexity, but plenty of power, likely to hit home runs with some drinkers and strike out with others. Drink it with friends, for two reasons (beyond the usual sociability): first, to watch the reactions, and second, because it has enough alcohol to put you in the hospital if you do it alone.

Now the perfect match, musically, for this wine, is Jace Everett's song "Bad Things." Given that Mr. Everett's tune is the theme song for the HBO vampire series True Blood, the color of this wine seems about right...

Jezebel Pinot Noir

Jezebel (Daedalus Cellars)
Pinot Noir
Dundee, Oregon
2007
13%
$19.99 -- Rum Runner, Tucson, AZ

Color: Light red
Nose: Raspberry mutton
Body: Light
Front: Cinnamon strangleberry
Middle: Buttery raspberry
Back: Peppermint
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

There's not a ton of complexity in this wine, but here's the thing: when Pinot is uncomplex, it's usually grape juice. This one is interestingly uncomplex. If you can figure out what that means, perhaps you can also explain to me what "strangleberry" is.

I spent a delightful midnight hour or two with my friend Frank drinking a bottle of Pinot by the parent label for this wine, Daedalus, while chipping golf balls onto an unlit green under a wide, brilliant northern Michigan sky. So I figured the Jezebel would be a good bet as a cheaper version, and lo! it was. Light foods, rich music, and this will shine.

Water Wheel Memsie

Water Wheel Vineyards
Memsie
Shiraz, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon
Bendigo, Australia
2005
14.8%
$9.88 -- Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep garnet
Nose: Cassis, mint
Body: Medium
Front: Eucalyptus
Middle: Raspberry, chocolate
Back: Cedar
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

I'm a bit astounded that I got this bottle for this price. Perhaps no one knows what is inside it? It's not the most body-full Shiraz, nor the longest on the palate. But it's a great tasting wine, with super-interesting flavors. The nose is strongly fruity and minty, but the palate opens up rapidly into a range of dark flavors, not all of which I've managed to capture above.

For those of you less interested in subtle flavors and more in effects, please note that this wine is powerfully strong, but does not taste that way. I'll write you letters in jail.

Champy Bourgogne Signature

Maison Champy
Bourgogne Signature
Chardonnay
Bourgogne, Beaune, France
2006
13%
$19.99 -- Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Medium gold
Nose: Pineapple, butter, clove
Body: Medium
Front: Melon
Middle: Lime, butter
Back: Wood
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This wine has a lovely nose. It's well-balanced and nicely structured. Perhaps it's just me, but it seems a bit too...subtle. I swirled, I let it warm up a bit, I drank deep, and I chewed. It's really lovely, and good with food (shamelessly, pizza, ordered online, no less), but it's not the life-changing experience of Chasseur or even the good old-fashioned fun of Hog Wilde.

This white wine experiment is making me think. I really think that I need to try whites in the summertime, unless they're brooding chardonnays of repute, because they just don't seem to inspire associative storytelling in me during the winter.

Just an excuse, to convince myself it's responsible to slip back into the Cabernet or Shiraz stream as the holidays approach? That is entirely possible. But I feel that we all will benefit from at least trying this approach.

Bommarito Cabernet

Bommarito Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa ValleySt. Helena, CA2005
14.2%
$14.95 at Spec's, Austin, TX

Color: Dark purpley-red
Nose: Sour fruit, chocolate
Body: Medium to full
Front: Mochaberries
Middle: Black pepper, vanilla
Back: Oak, a little mint
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

Of course, Virginia, there must be such things as "mochaberries"! Especially at this magical time of year. This is an interesting wine--supposedly, it's the second label for Whitehall Lane. After decanting for an hour, it got pretty robust and rich.

Things don't quite develop into stories, in this wine--it's suggestive, creepy--like Tom Waits's "What's He Building in There?" Maybe the evasiveness on the label about the relationship to Whitehall Lane is part of it...but it might be the flavors. Still, it's pretty good at this price if you want a staunch cab to pair with something rich.

Ponzi Pinot Gris

Ponzi Vineyards
Pinot Gris
Willamette Valley
Beaverton, OR2007
13.3%
$17.00 at Vino 100, Lakeway, TX

Color: Very pale straw
Nose: Grapefruit, melon
Body: Medium
Front: Sparkly caperberries
Middle: Lime cupcake
Back: Lemon butter, and way out at the end, pear
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

Attentive readers will notice that I'm drinking more whites. This is because the equal opportunity drinker in me is embarrassed by my own tag stats, over there to the right.

My stat counter for this blog also tells me that if I drink more things that they sell at Kroger, HEB, Osco, or Super Target, I will get more hits. But I don't know that I want to do that. Many of those wines taste almost exactly the same as each other. And (particularly for my male readers) life is short.

But I have had Ponzi Pinot Noir before, so I figured dropping down a shade to the Pinot Gris wouldn't hurt me much. And I don't seem to get to Oregon on the gastrography very often, so I'm paying some dues.

You may not know what "sparkly caperberries" or "lime cupcake" are, and I don't either, but that's associative tasting for you. If nothing else, it can serve as a counterexample to all you prospective sommeliers out there. Suffice it to say that I'll buy this wine again. It's particularly delightful with the Ditty Bops playing in the background and a bit of hot sorpressata on my plate.

Summers Cabernet Sauvignon

Summers Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Adrianna's Cuvee
Napa Valley
Calistoga, CA2005
14.1%
$23.99 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark red with purple tinge
Nose: Raspberries, cinnamon, spice
Body: Medium
Front: Cherries
Middle: Licorice or peppermint
Back: Ginger, a hint of caramel on the way out
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

While it's not quite to my taste, as not being sufficiently bodiful for a Cabernet, this would be great for folks who like their wine layered but not heavy. I decanted it for an hour, and then had it with a little aged goat cheese, and it couldn't really stand up to the cheese. For me, that's a problem, because if Asmodeus has an ethnicity, it could only be described as "cheese-eater."

There are interesting flavors in this bottle, delivered in quick but interesting succession before a relatively rapid flavor exit. It seems a little odd to me to recommend this as a "good Cabernet for a hot summer day" but it's a strange world we all live in here.

A good song pairing for this one would be Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl." I'll let the cultural critics out there speculate about the metaphorical and material dimensions of this sister-arts harmony.

Pazo Serantellos Albariño

Pazo Serantellos
Albariño
Rias Baixas
Galicia, Spain
2007
12.5%
$8.99 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Light gold
Nose: Honey, banana
Body: Medium
Front: Peach
Middle: Dill, honeysuckle butter
Back: Lime, a tiny bit of steel-belted radial
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Damn fine for a nine-dollar wine. It's a chewy one, though; a substantial body for such light and fruity flavors. This contributed also to a delightful leek-and-chicken concoction from the old standard 1080 Spanish cookbook.

I've lately fallen in love with the new record from a little-known trio called Swamp Rat. It might be because I can pair a different wine with almost every song. That, I suppose, would deductively make Swamp Rat's genre "eclectic." In the case of this wine, its perfect sonic accompaniment is the tune "Stella I."

Luchador Shiraz

R Wines
Luchador
Shiraz
Barossa Valley
Eastwood, Australia
2006
15.5%
$13.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Charred lamb, blueberries
Body: Full
Front: Creamy blueberries
Middle: Gravelly chocolate
Back: Maple syrup, sawdust
Burns clean?:
Cap: Screwcap

Another Grateful Palate import, and another stellar deal. The nose on this one is delovely; complex and strange. They bill this as a non-wine-expert's wine, and without question you'll like it if you want a wine that'll please a wide range of people. Equally true, it would seem odd to bring a wine with this label--an homage to the Mexican wrestler Malo--to a dinner party. But honestly, it'll make anybody happy who likes a good Shiraz: it's layered, good with food, and so strong that one glass will make the truth begin to flow like money around the mat at a wrestling match.

Tough, too, is Tom Waits's "Filipino Box Spring Hog," which is a perfect pairing with this wine. Just note that this sucker is 15.5%, so don't try to drink even one glass of it within the space of that song...

NB: I decanted 1/2 the bottle and put the cap back on almost immediately. 24 hours later, what was in the bottle tasted like caramel and chocolate. No fruit, no spice: dessert. Really, really good dessert.

Anderson's Conn Valley Prologue

Conn Valley Vineyards
Prologue
Cabernet Sauvignon
St. Helena, CA
2006
14.5%
$25.00 at Vino 100, Lake Travis, TX

Color: Dark garnet
Nose: Blueberries, Slim JimsTM, Mountain Violets
Body: Full
Front: Cherry, cocoa
Middle: Vanilla, cedar
Back: Graham cracker, pine
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

It's not easy to find this wine, but it's worth it. It needs air; only after about an hour does it really start to show, so be patient. You will end up drinking a wine worth three times the price. It's subtle, rich, and fabulous with food (a mildly spicy sausage Italian sort of thing, for example). It's art without the artsy. (It doesn't even appear on the winery's website, that's how laid-back this bottle is. I think perhaps the '05 was the first release of this line?)

At long last, I found this wine at Vino 100 in Lake Travis, outside of Austin. This is a stylin' little wine shop on RTE 620--all bottles under $25, with an emphasis on serious values like Conn Valley's Prologue. Owner Gloria Parker offers tastings in their cozy space, which is like the raw-wood-and-leather-living-room-I'll-never-be-able-to-afford. Good taste both in and around the bottle, together with good conversation, makes a great store.

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I'm listening to Duffy as I drink this wine, but honestly, it goes perfectly with her song "Syrup & Honey."

Note, 11-29-2010: A terrible turn of events...the 2008 Prologue is a North Coast wine, not a Napa wine, and it's so oaky that I can't really tell what is going on in it. Most unfortunate. Let us hope this is only a temporary strategy.

Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval

Andrew Will Cellars
Ciel du Cheval
Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot
Vashon, WA
2004
14.6%
$33.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Meat, mango, a little olive
Body: Medium to full
Front: Olive
Middle: Blueberry, plum
Back: Oak, cinnamony spice
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I promised to do more Washington wines, and so I have. I see a case of this in my future. It's going to slow down the pace of my wine experimentation, but I will happily take blogging obscurity as the price of 12 bottles of this wine.
It is extraordinary. Complexly layered, fascinating in its flavors, beautiful in color and odor. With roasted chicken paprika and spinach salad, it showed all kinds of interesting synergies, even a chocolatey flavor at one point. As it opens up, the tastes shift, the fruit ripens, the spices bake, the compost crumbles, the metaphors ferment.

Hahn Estates Meritage

Hahn Winery
Meritage
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec
Central Coast (Monterey County)
Soledad, CA
2006
14.5%
$15.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark red
Nose: Blueberries, green spices, circus peanuts
Body: Medium
Front: Cherry
Middle: Circus peanuts, berries
Back: Vanilla, wood
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I picked up this wine on a recommendation from a reader, and in the wake of a pleasant experience with the Hahn Cabernet. As with that former bottle, I find this one to be a good deal. I'm not sure I taste as many layers in this one as in the Cabernet, but it's laid-back, sophisticated, and good with food. It's not very tannic, so perhaps drink it soon (though I did decant it for an hour before drinking it).

This wine makes a beautiful accompaniment to the music of Ezell, an up-and-coming Nashville singer/songwriter, especially the smooth subtlety of her song "Somebody Else Has Got My Girl." The Texas chili I'm eating isn't bad with it, either.

I note that I seem to drink Hahn wines only on Sundays, so I seem to be associating them with comfort food and relaxation...

St. Francis Cabernet

St. Francis Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Sonoma County
Santa Rosa, CA
2004
14.5%
$21.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark dirty ruby
Nose: Creamy orange, licorice
Body: Full
Front: Apricot
Middle: Mocha, almonds
Back: Soft tannins, blackberries
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Fake cork (plastic)

I've been drinking St. Francis Cabernet for about a year now, pretty regularly. They have it at J. Alexander's in Nashville, where you can see such rising alternative musical luminaries as Matt King and Denitia Odigie dining with the staff of their record labels and such. This stuff is from just over the hills from Napa, but it tastes completely different; it's still big, but not a bully, and while the flavors are rich, they've got a French sort of subtle complexity to them.

St. Francis was one of the wineries I visited back in May. While there, I had a chance to taste many of their other wines, and two things were memorable. First, I enjoyed this Sonoma Valley cab more than I did the single-vineyard cab (Nuns Canyon) they let us taste. Second, one of the reasons I like it so much turns out to be that it's got a good dose of their Cabernet Franc, which is superb, in it; unfortunately, I think the Cab Franc may only be available from the winery.

My pot roast isn't ready yet, but I can smell it preparing itself to be eaten, and it's going to go superbly with this wine.

A note on the price range: I've been getting this for $17-19 regularly; it should be possible to find the current vintage for under $20 (especially in the coming months).

Note, 15 January 2010: I had the 2005 last night and it's delicious; it was different, and still good, tonight after simple corking. The oakiness is under control, balanced nicely with plummy and spicy flavors

Note, 15 November 2014: The 2008 is lovely, rich, and chocolatey, though a bit out of balance; good with something grilled, perhaps?

Waters Syrah

Waters Winery
Syrah
Columbia Valley (Yakima AVA)
Walla Walla, WA
2006
14.2%
$25.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark red with a purple spectrum; notably beautiful
Nose: Blueberry pie
Body: Full
Front: Creamy berries
Middle: Pepper and lamb
Back: Marmalade, a hint of leather--a long finish
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a really nice Syrah. My avid reader will note that I do not drink a lot of Washington wine. My friend Todd keeps trying to educate me about it, and, indeed, I like many wines from there. If I ever had the wherewithal to make notes while drinking wine with Todd, there'd be more reviews of things like Andrew Will on here. My excuse is that I'm young to serious wine drinking and am totally crushing on the 2005 California Cabernets. My bad.

So tonight I set out to balance things a bit. I threw difficult food at this wine. Brisket, Texas beans (plenty spicy), a green salad with oil and vinegar and tomatoes that didn't live up in taste to their appeal to the eye. Even the music I threw at it was difficult: Chris Isaak's Baja Sessions, whose laid-backness seems totally unsuited to bravura Syrah, the wine of ecstatic Hafiz. This Syrah was great with everything. Fruitier, with the beans; elegantly balanced and soft with the beef; structured and old-world-(Rhone)-like with the salad; joyfully provocative in the face of Isaak's mopiness about Mexican beauties.

This winery makes single-vineyard Syrahs as well (though if I'm reading the website right, this one might technically count as a 1v Minick Vineyard wine)--I'm very curious now about these. Lurking all over the palate of this wine are little hints of this and that odd flavor; it's like a conversation with a well-traveled, but strong, personality. Perhaps I should take a hint and spend a little more time in Washington.

Freemark Abbey Cabernet

Freemark Abbey
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley, California
2004
14.2%
$31.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark red with a slight purple tinge
Nose: Loam, berry patch on a hot day
Body: Full
Front: Cherry
Middle: Kale, licorice, plums
Back: Cedar, a little cinnamon, tannins
Burns clean?: It would have, if I hadn't drunk almost the entire bottle
Cap: Cork

This is a delightful wine, and a good bargain, given its complexity. It's plenty tight on opening, so don't judge it right away. In fact, I would guess that more time in the cellar would be a good thing for this bottle. I like this blend, but must admit to being a big fan of Freemark Abbey's single-vineyard Sycamore Cabernet, which is a bit more like the Sattui Morisoli and the Faust Cabernets that I've reviewed earlier.

This is a French-style Cabernet; it's soft and complex, never quite ascends to fruitiness but gets brighter as it opens up. It's like reading a Balzac story; it has good characters, and it tangibly enjoys its own patient unfolding. I'm listening to Dave Brubeck as I drink it, and there's beautiful cross-media harmony happening.

Note: It's now two hours later, and I'm enjoying a final glass with a smidgen of chorizo (a classic KY-Latino dessert). It is a stunning combination; the wine gets almost chocolate-sundae-like in response, and the smokiness of the chorizo shines through the spices. More cross-media harmony, on a cool Texas night.

Thorpe Reserve Cabernet

Thorpe Wines
Cabernet Sauvignon
Reserve
McLaren Vale, Australia
2004
14.0%
$25.99 at Carolina Wine Co., Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Dark reddish-purple
Nose: Violets, clove, Fernet Branca
Body: Full
Front: Blueberries and eucalyptus
Middle: Pepper; a hint of anchovy
Back: Rosemary and caramelized onions; after an hour or so, dusty tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is one of the most herbal Cabernets I've tasted. Very interesting, right out of the bottle. Good after a couple of hours, too, and the (comparatively) low alcohol content means you get to enjoy it the entire time. Lively and quick, just like St. Nick! Actually, it's not quick; it's got quite a long delivery. The mintiness goes beautifully with both French onion soup (with Parrano cheese) and the latest record from The Ditty Bops.

Fascinating too is that Thorpe Wines's parent company is a drilling company. No, my fellow Texans, not that kind of drilling--they drill for water. It is, after all, Australia. I hope the water they find is as good as the wine they make.

Catena Cabernet Sauvignon

Bodega Catena Zapata
Cabernet Sauvignon
Mendoza (Agrelo and Tupungato)Argentina
2004
13.9%
$19.99 in Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Medium red with purple tinge
Nose: Blackberries and anise
Body: Full
Front: Plums, honeysuckle
Middle: Pepper, licorice
Back: Cedar, gear-shift handle
Burns clean?: Mostly
Cap: Cork

I have to no time to write tonight, yet write I must. This is a good deal in a Cabernet, and to some palates, will seem to be a great one. It's austere, a little French and a little New World. Yet it went better with the Bawn in the Mash I was listening to this evening than it did with the tomato-and-avocado salad.

Mollydooker Two Left Feet

Mollydooker Wines
Two Left FeetShiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon
McLaren Vale, Australia
2006
16.0%
$21.99 in Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Deep red with purple tinge
Nose: Blueberries and mocha
Body: Full
Front: Buttery berries
Middle: Peppery basil
Back: Chocolate, olive
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

Continuing my pilgrimage through the Mollydooker collection, I linger at Two Left Feet for a moment. This has the profile of all the Marquis wines: bigness, forwardness, unabashedness, and then, after it's opened up for a bit, complexity. It's a lesson in befriending certain kinds of personalities. Wait for it, go with it, watch carefully, and you might be rewarded. Spend too much time with them, you get really smashed. They're cheap, and crowd-pleasers. How far can we take this metaphor? It's okay, I'm done.

This one is a bit better with food, I think, than some of the straight shirazes. It was stunning with a brisket I brought home this evening, and not bad with kalamata olives, either.

Hahn Estates Cabernet Sauvignon

Hahn Winery
Cabernet SauvignonCentral Coast (Monterey)
Soledad, California
2006
14.2%
$13.99 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep purple
Nose: Blackberry, mocha, cardboard
Body: Full, but soft
Front: Strawberry
Middle: Pepper, cedar
Back: Chocolate, spice, soft tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

A delightful bargain of a wine. It's leftover night at the ranch, and this is a great pair with cold steak and an apples-and-cheese appetizer. Once it opens up a bit, it gets fruitier, but stays subtle--it doesn't bowl you over off the bat, but opens slowly with a bit of contemplation. The nose is lovely. If you like Andrew Will wines, this one will please at a fraction of the price; the grapes are, I think, actually Paso Robles in origin, which is a good thing.

Educated Guess Cabernet

Roots Run Deep Winery
Educated Guess
Cabernet SauvignonNapa Valley
Oakville, California
2005
14.1%
$21.99 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep red with a tinge of purple
Nose: Blueberries and celery
Body: Full
Front: Cucumber
Middle: Cassis, spice
Back: Licorice, balsa
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

The stock market appears to have gone off its meds, an insightful person told me today. So tonight I experimented oenophilically, on the cheaper end of the spectrum than I've been working of late with Cabernets, and with a wine whose name seems rather to describe the economic theory that got us into this mess. The experiment was not a complete failure, but it was a bit disappointing, much like capitalism may come to appear to have been in a few months.

Educated Guess is a large, fruity Napa Cabernet, and a good deal at this price or cheaper. But don't go borrowing on margin on it; there's a weird sort of taste in the front that I can't quite enjoy, and though most of the 2005s are supernal, I think this one might not hold up quite as long, given the not-so-stout tannins. Still, maybe I'm just off my palate today. I cut up a cucumber to test my taste theory on the front of this wine, and sure enough, it did make it more cinnamony and vanillaish by cancelling out the vegetal attack. But then, the cucumber sort of tasted fishy when I ate it after the wine, and that ain't right. I hope. "And so the universal thump," writes Herman Melville, "gets passed around."

There was a bit of the Mollydooker Boxer from yesterday left over, getting a trifle oxidized, so I made a wine sauce out of it the ol' French way, with butter, shallots, stock, a smidgen of garlic and a smidgen of flour. Fantastic: rich, intense, layered stuff, owing not a little to the wine.

Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz

Mollydooker Wines
The Boxer
Shiraz
McLaren Vale, Australia
2006
16.0%
$23.99 in Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Inky strawberry
Nose: Berries, graham cracker, a little heat
Body: Full
Front: Cassis
Middle: Ice cream sandwich
Back: Blueberry, pepper
Burns clean?: Yes, if you don’t drink too much
Cap: Screwcap

This another excellent wine made by Sarah and Sparky Marquis (which I think is pronounced markwiss). It’s a whopper, true to its name. But the metaphor breaks down quickly: this is not one to go into the ring with alone. Bring friends and tag team unless you are a Fight Club aficionado. Strong as it is, the texture is soft and sparkly.

Like most things, it needs to breathe a bit. Once it opens up it’s astonishingly complex. If you get a newer one, consider this unusual recommendation by the winery. And I’m serious about the ice cream sandwich, by all that is holy. Oddly a good combination, all things considered, with the Stilton I’m eating tonight from the world-famous Wheatsville Co-op.

Note, 13 January 2010: I tried the 2008, with a chicken and chorizo stew. Raspberry jam, black cherry, pie, a little hint of mint, and plenty of oak lending a nice creaminess (like the 2006), without too much of a milk flavor. I think I like this more, actually, than the 2006, and it has enough fruitiness in there to develop for a little while.

Paraduxx

Duckhorn Wine Company
Paraduxx
Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc
Napa Valley
St. Helena, CA
2005
14.5%
$49.99 at Whole Foods, Evanston, IL

Color: Deep raspberry
Nose: Blackberries, anise, pepper
Body: Medium to full
Front: Plums
Middle: Chocolate
Back: Cedar, banana
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

A few years ago, my good friend Todd introduced me to this wine. Todd is a lover of what most of us would call bad puns. His favorite joke is the old standby, “A horse walks into a bar…” etc. So I was taken a bit by surprise when this wine with a silly name turned out to be astonishingly good, complex, rich, evolutionary. Todd’s jokes turned out to be funnier than I thought; the world seemed to be a more recoverable project; the birds were all lightness and splendor; and even the squirrels seemed full of wisdom.

That was the 2003, I think. The 2004 was better; the 2005 is stunning, too. Though it’s largely Zinfandel, this is Silverado Trail wine, so it can stand up to serious food. This wine is a catalyst for joy.

Strong Arms Shiraz

R Wines
Strong Arms Shiraz
Shiraz
McLaren Vale
Eastwood, Australia2006
15.5%
$11.99 -- Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep red
Nose: Blueberry with a hint of cinnamon
Body: Full
Front: Blueberries
Middle: Dirt, creamy vanilla
Back: Cedar, okra?
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

One of my bloggin' colleagues writes that at some point in your wine-drinking days, "you stop following individual grapes or regions and begin chasing individual winemakers and importers." I believe we're on the same page when I say that it's not that the latter two entities are a better indicator of quality--but that you're probably in tune with their taste. Tuning is more important, because wine is for pleasure.

The first time I really asked with interest who an importer was, it was just after sharing a bottle of Henry's Drive Shiraz with my friend Todd. Good lord, it was good, and I'd never seen it before. THE GRATEFUL PALATE, OXNARD, CA. Watching for this on the back label has never led me astray, and it didn't with Strong Arms Shiraz, either.

A lot of wines have groovy packaging and not much else. In the case of this wine and the others imported by Grateful Palate, it's an attention to style that extends to every part of the operation, apparently, from grapes to fact sheets to leveraging value: good luck finding another $12 wine with more complexity, subtlety, and intensity than this. Everyone seems to benefit from this outfit; it's like magic--check out not just the label art, by Mel Kadel, but the way Grateful Palate took the time A) to go for six different images and B) make a separate PDF out of each.

(I've seen Kadel's art compared to Sendak and Gorey, but it seems to me perhaps as much like a Kathe Kollwitz, cheered up by Roald Dahl, collaborates with Shel Silverstein type of thing. Sick, wrong, and lovely!)

Food matters to The Grateful Palate. The best sign of their attention to detail is that they have not only great wines, but a Bacon of the Month Club. I didn't do justice to the wine by pairing it with cajun roasted chicken (though the onions came out splendidly), but with edamame (also lightly cajun, just to be perverse) the shiraz was harmonic.

Ryan Patrick Rock Island Red

Ryan Patrick Vineyards
Rock Island Red
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
Columbia Valley
Rock Island, WA2005
14.3%
$13.88 -- Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep garnet
Nose: Violets and a lovely gaminess
Body: Full
Front: Strawberry
Middle: Chocolate, mocha
Back: Ripe cherry
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This wine is a delightful surprise. It's an ideal tertulia wine. The Spanish have this custom, the tertulia, where on Friday afternoons you get together with a small group of friends, eat lots of stunningly good food, drink appropriate wine, and decompress from the week. The conversations range from art to politics, and usually blend the two in ways it's hard to describe. It takes a good wine, but a wine great with food, to make the tertulia happen properly, and this is one. For example, it shows a delightful mintiness with the heavily spiced pasta with tomato sauce I'm having. It stands up both to the young parmesan and the rock-hard, paprika-and-pepper laden chorizo that I don't seem to be able to put back into the fridge.

This is a new winery (first vintage 1999), but with stuff like this it's going to stay on my list. It's not very tannic, so it may not be one for the ages. One thing: it's a bordeaux-style blend, Merlot-heavy, but I wouldn't go into it thinking about that comparison. This wine is its own thing--a good thing, with layers and depths all its own. And, at least for the moment, it's a bargain.

Keenan Cabernet Sauvignon

Robert Keenan Winery
Napa Valley
Cabernet Sauvignon
St. Helena, CA
2004
14.3%
$40.15 -- Spec’s, Austin, TX

Color: Rich, jammy red
Nose: Apricots, bananas, berries
Body: Full
Front: Pepper, spice
Middle: Early tannin attack, plums
Back: Licorice, and bread or pencil lead, way out there
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

You have to be paying attention when you drink this one. It's not an explosive wine, though it has the strong character of Napa Cabernets. It's spice-imbued, not fruit-imbued. Leave it open awhile before drinking it; or leave it closed for a few more years, since this I'm thinking will age for a good while longer and just become more interesting. The nose is great, so you nasally oriented types can smell it while your tongue-oriented friends wait for it to open up and it'll be a perfect collaboration.

I was told about this wine's high marks by a manager at the perfectly stocked Pastiche Wine Shop in Tucson, Arizona. It doesn't disappoint, but it deserves more than just a number and a few stock adjectives.

Frank Family Cabernet Sauvignon

Frank Family Vineyards
Napa Valley
Cabernet Sauvignon
Calistoga, CA
2004
14.4%
$31.14 -- Spec’s, Austin, TX

Color: Rich purpley red
Nose: Cassis, vanilla
Body: Full
Front: Ripe berries
Middle: Vanilla, cinnamon
Back: Cedar, cumin
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I had this wine first at the winery (across the road from one of my favorites, Larkmead), where things were a little carnivalesque in the tasting room. I remembered it being classic California: huge fruit, embracing, but with a hint of complexity that keeps it from being Hi-C. The pourer pointed out that it took it awhile to open up, and said I should buy an older vintage than the '05. I thought it was pretty damn fine as it was.

The next time I had it, I was sitting at a table with three dudes who have been or are GMs at major international luxury hotels. We drank two bottles and everyone went home happy; don't be surprised if the next time you stay at a $500+ per night hotel in Miami (like ya do), you see it on the menu.

Tonight it's glorious instantly out of the bottle (I got the 2004, since I'm trying to take people's advice more often these days). It's lush, embracing, and with a hint of complexity that says, "I have been drunk by people smarter, more experienced, and better looking than you, but I still love you, so let's spend the night together."

Delaunay Pouilly-Fuisse

Delaunay et ses Fils
Pouilly-Fuisse
Chardonnay
Pouilly-Fuisse, Bourgogne, France
2006
13%
$17.14 -- Spec’s, Austin, TX

Color: Light limey yellow
Nose: Lime, sunflower
Body: Light to medium
Front: Lemony
Middle: Apricot, butter
Back: Wood, orange
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a layer cake of chardonnay loveliness. There's way more going on in the palate than I can describe. Sometimes it's like opening a closet in your grandmother's house, the sweet smell of nostalgia and the elusive mystery of years of some sort of something making itself known, unforgettable, but not identifiable either. Sometimes it's like opening the door to your dad's old Corvette with the leather seats, the cracking dash, the years of exhilarated sweat and open windows. Cooking a delightful leek and cream sauce chicken dish gave me the excuse to open this one and now I can't believe I put 5 tablespoons of it into the pot.

Tudal Napa Valley Cabernet

Tudal Family Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Napa, California
2003
13.8%
$24.84 -- Spec’s, Austin, TX

Color: Deep strawberry jam
Nose: Cherry, earth-after-rain, wet leather car door panels in the nose. The nose is really one of the best things about the wine
Body: Medium to full
Front: Tart cherries
Middle: Caramelly cedar
Back: Spice, coffee
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

At this price, this is a sensational wine. It’s a blend of four different sources, including Oak Knoll grapes, and it’s got all the great stuff Napa is known for, but more old-world character than is common there. The fruit is noticeable up front, but then it gets Bordeauxy in the later stages of the palate. I’m having it with thin slices of cold mesquite-grilled sirloin left over from Austin Land and Cattle restaurant (which carries BV’s Tapestry by the glass, fantastically) while listening to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and it’s making for a great evening.

La Crema Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

La Crema Winery
Pinot Noir
Sonoma Coast
Healdsburg, California
2004
13.5%
$19.95 -- Total Wine, Durham, NC

Color: Medium strawberry
Nose: Cherry, cassis
Body: Medium
Front: Cassis
Middle: Smoke
Back: Blueberry and cognac, cedar sawdust
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I've been spoiled lately, by virtue of drinking two of the best American Pinot Noirs I've ever had: Red Car's Amour Fou and Daedalus's Labyrinth. But this isn't bad--it's got earthy notes in it, a little smoky in the middle, which tempers the fruitiness beautifully. I like a little imbalance in my pinot, apparently, and this is as even-tempered as an IBM service representative. But it's also just as competent. I have a feeling that, like good service representatives, it's benefited from age; it certainly got better with about a half-hour of air.

Chateau de Barbe Blanche Bordeaux

Chateau de Barbe Blanche
Merlot, etc.
Cuvee Henri IV
Lussac St.-Emilion, Gironde, France
1998
12.5%
$19.95 -- Total Wine, Durham, NC
Color: Dark strawberry
Nose: Blueberry, mint
Body: Full
Front: Berries
Middle: Leather, clove
Back: Mocha, smoke, more berries
Burns clean?: Mostly
Cap: Cork

A couple of years ago I bought this wine and loved it. I put a few in the cellar and this one I wrote "2008" on at some wine-illuminated moment of planning for the future. It's a really great wine: complex, old-world, structured, and slow to reveal its beauties. After it had been open about 2 hours it finally relaxed into its full richness, where it stayed for a long time. So I think this one will age even more.

Mount Veeder Napa Cabernet

Mount Veeder Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Rutherford, California
2003
14.5%
$38.00 -- Total Wine, Durham, NC

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Blackberry, eucalyptus
Body: Full
Front: Plums
Middle: Tannins, graphite, blackberries
Back: Mocha, cedar
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is an extraordinary cabernet. It's complex, well structured, evolutionary, and balanced. I had a bottle of this as a guest on the Thompson Publishing expense account back in December 2007 and thought, this is a ludicrously good bargain they're getting--so I had no regrets about not ordering the Opus One. It still is a great deal, and it'll age plenty, I reckon. It benefited from decanting, this time, as compared to the last time I drank it.

V. Sattui Preston Vineyard Cabernet

V. Sattui Winery
Preston Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
Rutherford
St. Helena, Napa Valley, California
2005
14.8%
$45.00 -- V. Sattui Winery, St. Helena, CA

Color: Deep ruby
Nose: Blackberry, shrimp creole, eucalyptus
Body: Full
Front: Dried cherries
Middle: Tannins
Back: Graphite and wood
Burns clean?: More or less
Cap: Cork

This wine has won more prizes than Annika Sorenstam. It's darker than Tim Burton's imagination. It's richer than shrimp creole. It's tastier than chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. And it's better for you than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Cliff Lede Claret

Cliff Lede Vineyards
Claret
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot
Stag's Leap District
Yountville, Napa Valley, California
2005
14.8%
$35.00 -- Rum Runner, Tucson, AZ

Color: Beautiful deep garnet
Nose: Rich berries, damp leather, maybe a little bay
Body: Medium
Front: Cedar and spice
Middle: Blueberries, licorice
Back: Apricot, dust
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a complex, evolutionary wine. It got really stellar after decanting and sitting for about an hour. Early on there's some heat, then right before it got good there was a little celeriac hint. But I think it'd pair well with stew, with its dusty but not overpowering tannins.

NB: For the uninitiated (as I learned by saying it incorrectly), I believe it's pronounced "Cliff Lady."

Elizabeth Spencer Pinot Noir

Elizabeth Spencer Wines
Pinot Noir
Special Cuvee
Sonoma Coast
Calistoga, California
2005
14.3%
$45.00 -- Elizabeth Spencer Tasting Room, Rutherford, CA

Color: Rich medium strawberry
Nose: Young strawberry, beef jerky
Body: Medium
Front: Tart cherry
Middle: Strawberry, pine smoke
Back: Peat, clover
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a delightful Pinot Noir. I like it because it doesn't have the fruit-solo taste many Pinots do; there are layers in here, strata of interesting, strange flavors on the heels of the fruity taste. The delivery is long on the palate, too. Check here for a fact sheet on the wine, but don't read too much if it will delay your ordering bottles and drinking them.

Note: still tasted great the next evening.

Keenan Merlot

Robert Keenan Winery
Napa Valley Merlot
St. Helena, Napa Valley, CA
2004
14.3%
$44.50 -- Pastiche Wine Shop, Tucson, AZ
Color: Deep garnet
Nose: Cassis, mocha, smoke
Body: Medium to Full
Front: Berries
Middle: Spicy
Back: Leather car seats
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Give it air! It comes out a little tight, even after years in the bottle. This is a little more French than I'm used to in a Napa Merlot. Hear hear. It's well-built, economical, and will run smoothly for years; plus, who doesn't like leather seats?*

I'm amused to find that this is the first Merlot I've reviewed.

*No animals were harmed in the writing of this review.

Maryhill Winemaker's Red

Maryhill Winery
Winemaker's Red
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc
Columbia Valley, WA
2006
14.2%
$14.50 -- Pastiche Wine Shop, Tucson, AZ
Color: Medium strawberry red
Nose: Cassis
Body: Medium to Full
Front: Tart cherries
Middle: A little spice, chocolate
Back: Light tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I don't seem to have reviewed many Washington wines, but this one is more than worth it. It reminds me a little of one of Andrew Will's Bordeaux-style blends. It's smooth, chocolatey, but brooding, without being mean or overbearing. It's like having a little-known poet over for dinner. And like that, too, it's a real bargain in terms of entertainment for the money. Please show this post to your favorite under-published poet friends.

Speaking of the under-published, this wine goes fabulously with the music of the jazz/country trio Swamp Rat, especially the two songs with "Stella" in the title.

This reviewer found it tarter than I did, which makes me think it might have settled down a bit in the intervening months. If so, that's a good sign.

Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy

Mollydooker Wines
Blue Eyed Boy
Shiraz
McLaren Vale, Australia
2006
16.0%
$45.50 -- Pastiche Wine Shop, Tucson, AZ
Color: Deep creamy red
Nose: Raspberry, brambles, heat
Body: Full
Front: Blueberries, cream
Middle: White pepper
Back: Plums, jam, perhaps a little cocoa
Burns clean?: Somewhat; don't drink too much at a sitting.
Cap: Screwcap

This is a big, playful wine, true to the Sparky Marquis style. If there are tannins, I can't taste them. It's not the synesthetic experience that a wine like Possum is, but it's spicy and jammy and dark out of all proportion to what is normally understood to go by the name of wine. Let it sit open a bit; it's hot and tight out of the bottle.

Elizabeth Spencer Chardonnay

Elizabeth Spencer Wines
Wente Clone Cuvee
Chardonnay
Sonoma Coast
Calistoga, California
2006
14.2%
$40.50 -- Elizabeth Spencer Tasting Room, Rutherford, CA

Color: Rich yellow
Nose: Pear, damp sawdust
Body: Full
Front: Lime, fig
Middle: A little butter, clover
Back: Grapefruit
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

"'8 Barrels Made'?" my mother says; "They should have made more." It makes a wine writer's job easier when half of his reading audience declares an opinion. This is an excellently balanced, nicely structured chardonnay that's long on the palate, but I think I'll have to drink some more bottles of it before I launch into any poetics about it. It goes well after a swim in the pool on a hundred-degree day with a little fruit and cheese before dinner, that's for sure.

Crane Brothers Brodatious

Crane Brothers
Brodatious
Cabernet, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Syrah
Crane Ranch Vineyard
Oak Knoll, Napa Valley, California
2003
14.5%
$39.00 -- 58 Degrees, Tucson, AZ

Color: Dark red
Nose: Eucalyptus, raspberry
Body: Full
Front: Cherry mint
Middle: Leather, spice
Back: Oaky, peaty
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a huge, beautiful, Bordeaux-style blend. Crane Brothers doesn't make a lot of wine, but what they make is sick-and-wrong-good. They graciously make available a hefty amount of information about this wine. But you don't need it. It evolves as it's open, going from a dense mint-fest to a chocolatey brooding lurker, to something more laid-back and yet sophisticated for which I lack a simile that isn't laughable. I admit I was going to say "like James Bond."

Sattui Family Chardonnay

V. Sattui Winery
Sattui Family
Chardonnay
Napa Valley
Napa, California
2006
14%
$17.75 -- Sattui Winery, St. Helena, CA

Color: Light gold
Nose: Pears and clover
Body: Medium
Front: Peachy
Middle: Grapefruity
Back: A little butter, marmalade
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

A nice mix of oaky and steely. 2/3 from a Carneros property, and 1/3 from the Carsi Vineyard, it's an elegant balance of Chardonnay elements. Not many people are going to dislike this wine.

Hog Wilde Chardonnay

Glenlyon Vineyards & Winery
Hog Wilde
Chardonnay
Sonoma Valley, Parmalee-Hill Vineyard
Glen Ellen, California
2005
14.1%
$17.75 -- 58 Degrees, Tucson, AZ

Color: Intense gold
Nose: Pears
Body: Medium
Front: Pear, wood
Middle: Cilantro, hamburger
Back: Butter
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Plastic

Don't be put off by the unusual bottle. The spelling of "Wilde" in its name demands fabulous spectacularity. This is a delightful wine, especially for summer. It's about a thousand degrees here in Tucson today, and this wine is a perfect accompaniment to death-dealing heat. It's not super-long on the palate, but it does have some really interesting flavors going on in there. Don't be put off by the hamburger. Embrace the hamburger. Besides, maybe I'm just hungry.

Faust Cabernet

Huneeus Vineyards
Faust
Cabernet Sauvignon
Rutherford, Napa, California
2005
14.8%
$50.00 -- Bounty Hunter, Napa, CA


Color: Deep burgundy red
Nose: Plums, cinnamon
Body: Heavy
Front: Cherry
Middle: Café crème
Back: Walnuts, soft tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Drinking this is like walking down a root-corrupted sidewalk under a canopy of moss-laden live oaks on a late afternoon on the gulf coast. Like most 2005s it is better with some time to air (one hour, in this case, and it really bloomed). It’s got a long delivery, yet by some paradox, it doesn’t take long to drink a bottle. Good with everything but spicy food. Comes in a half-bottle which is a good deal.

On disrespecting the palate length of wines: I used to wait until the wine had fully delivered before taking a bite. I do that less now, because eating doesn’t erase or stop the wine’s unfolding on the palate—it combines with it.

Asmodeus in the Valleys

SOME OF YOU have probably noticed that, though it's summer and prime wine drinking time, I haven't been reviewing so many bottles. Unlike my hiatus in March, I haven't been abstaining. I've been drinking tiny amounts of an enormous number of wines.

For the past few years I've been spending a few days of May in Napa and Sonoma. There's a conference I go to out there, and I'm allergic to my home state in May. But also, there are some good wines in Napa and Sonoma. Before three years ago, the only winery I'd been to was in Spain, and that is an experience I will never remember--after all, I was about 17 when it happened. Here is a picture of someone who looks much like me, emerging from a vat during that trip, tasting cup in hand.

Asmodeus visita a la bodega, circa 1987.

(Now that I look at this photo, in the wake of many years, I see from the couple in the background that I was perhaps less inebriated by comparison than I thought.)

The famousness of Napa and Sonoma means that there are hundreds of wineries and thousands of tourists all the time. Most of them are not wine experts, so the experience of tasting in the valleys is a strange one for someone who really likes wine and has tasted a lot of it. There's good advice out there on the web for how to make the most of trips to wineries, so I won't repeat it except to say drink lots of water and don't plan to visit too many places in one day. The people who make and serve the wine are the most excellent (see, I've been in California, where they say things like that) thing about any wine country, so come ready to confess your shortcomings, tell your best wine stories, and listen to theirs.

Last year I went to Napa right after being caught in the Griffith Park fire in Los Angeles. The whole neighborhood I was in was evacuated to a high school that was directly in the path of the smoke from the fire; I had a horrific allergic reaction that made it impossible for me to taste anything for a week afterwards. So all I got out of Napa and Sonoma last year was experiments in "mouthfeel."

Well, that's not all. Wine country in California (whether north of San Francisco or the Central Coast or wherever) is stunningly beautiful. No pictures capture it; it is temperature, aromas (eucalyptus and fertilizer, or fermenting berries, or wood-fires and pine), the texture of vineyards, wind, redwoods, switchback roads, potholes on highway 29--all of this. It's easier to see these things clearly if you go in April or May, and go during the week rather than a weekend.

This year was a little odd, too, because Robert Mondavi passed away while I was there. Everywhere I went I heard stories about him, so I felt more embedded in the "deep time" (and also the tight economic weave) of Napa than usual. But rather than just go to the boutique places that I'm really excited about now (Elizabeth Spencer) or the places I've always loved (V. Sattui) I tried to expand my vistas this time.

It's impossible to schematize the wineries in Napa and Sonoma, but I think it might be useful to take a stab at it, since most wine drinkers never get a chance, or more than one chance, to go there. So let me make an important distinction, stereotype a little bit, and then tell a couple of stories.

First, there's a distinction between the experience of a winery's tasting room and its marketplace profile. That is, there are massive winemakers (Gallo; Mondavi), medium winemakers (St. Francis; Sonoma Cutrer); small wineries (Larkmead; Conn Valley); boutique or winery-only-distributed joints (Crane Brothers; V. Sattui); and makers so small that, while having cult followings, it's hard for non-oenophiles even to find out about them (like Terry Hoage in Paso Robles, about whom more later). The whole industry is like a high school from a John Hughes movie: everybody knows everybody and everything is changing all the time--alliances, partnerships, apprenticeships, and so forth--creating a frothy experimental environment founded on some of the best grapes in the world. Listen to the conversation at the table next to you at Artisan or Matthew's in Paso Robles; it's bound to be educational. You'll hear guys who run picking crews who were hired because they speak the obscure Mixtec dialect that the latest round of field workers speak and who have their own vineyards on the side or who work for distributors; you'll hear the latest gossip about new hires or small winemakers furtively whispering to each other about how awesome the Charbono grape is; and much more.

But boutique wineries can have Disney-esque tasting rooms. Established makers like B.V. and St. Supery can have laid-back, but seriously educational ones. Some places, like Freemark Abbey, will do comparative tastings of old wines with recent vintages of the same label; others will only give you the latest stuff released.

To stereotype a little, I found there to be three sorts of tasting room experiences worth differentiating (though the hospitality design folks will doubtless insist that there are twice as many at least): The appointment-only, down-home experience; the friendly, open, tourist-sensitive but oenophile-adaptable experience; and the mostly for-show experience, which includes both Disneyfied tasting rooms and unbelievably pretentious wineries. Before describing some of these in Napa, Sonoma, and Paso Robles, let me disclaim that, while for me, wines from the Disneyfied tasting rooms tended not to be as good, there's no correlation extrapolable from this, both because wine is a matter of personal taste and because even at the newest, most pretentious winery in Rutherford, the Cabernet is unlikely to suck.

Sonoma: I love everywhere in Sonoma. It's beautiful, less trampled than Napa, and less subject to palate-deadening from repeated Cabernet bastings. Gloria Ferrer doesn't do tastings, but a glass of their sophisticated sparkling offerings and some of their free almonds taken out on a veranda overlooking a hillside of chardonnay vines is unforgettable. Things are more goofy at Cline, but they make a couple of the best wines in America. It's less regal at Grundlach-Bundschu, but the wines are even better. At St. Francis, try the Cabernet Franc to see one of the secrets of the widespread success of these wines. To see some of the local politics, take one of the ill-maintained mountain roads over to Napa and read the signs, the messages painted on the road, and the election banners in various front yards.

V. Sattui in Napa is a carnival, but you can't trust anything I say about it, because, for entirely selfish reasons, I don't want you to go there and it's already too popular. Serious: Ehlers, a non-profit winery and ecologically awesome, with a great Cabernet Franc; Larkmead, appointment-only; Elizabeth Spencer. Pretentious beyond imagination: Opus One; Darioush; Peju.

Peju is new and spectacularly self-conscious. They're open until 6 p.m., and I visited them immediately after going to one of the most established wineries in the valley, B.V., and drinking several of their reserve wines. There was a gleaming, white Ferrari parked in the circle in front of the winery when I got there, and one incredibly swanked-out Asian woman taking a picture of another incredibly swanked-out Asian girl (her daughter, as it turned out), so that, together with the fountains and ridiculously expensive building materials, set the tone. Then there was a wait to taste: a sign saying, wait here for the next tasting, while twenty feet away you could see fourteen people tasting and having a big ol' time with the pourer. When you finally were admitted to the tasting area, it turned out to be not the usual shoot-the-shit session with a pourer as in most places in Napa (my favorite was with Amy at Conn Creek), but instead a one-man show with bottles. It was so put-on that I thought at one point the pourer would start juggling .750s of Pinot Noir. The wine was not that great.

Darioush has a second label called CARAVAN that's worth the money. The Persian-palace architecture, million-dollar furnishings, multiple video screens, and roped-off areas with signs telling you redundantly that you can't go there are designed for something, to produce some reaction in tasters that I do not understand. But most importantly, while their Cabernet is good, it's no better than CARAVAN, is much more expensive, and lacks wisdom from Rumi (or anyone else) on the back label.

I went to Paso Robles because I think some of the best wine in the world is starting to come out of there. Apart from falling into a sulphur spring and having to buy new shoes as a result, I had a fantastic time. The business is booming there--on the drive down, on 101, you'll pass through thousands and thousands of acres of vines, disturbing in their magnitude for anyone who's been to France or Spain: the Central Coast mother lode. But it's not as toney as Napa or Sonoma, and most of the wineries are still boutique, often with tastings by appointment only. Everyone is friendly, so pick up the phone and make a date.

This doesn't mean that there aren't Disneyfied experiences. Tobin James is one of the most important makers in the area, and the tasting room is a spectacle of crypto-Wild West kitsch. They make you taste about a dozen wines, too, so it's hard to remember what happened there. This much I remember: the Sangiovese was fantastic, and those words don't come out of my face often. This is a key to what's happening in Paso Robles; varietals like Sangiovese, Grenache, and Mourvedre thrive there.

A sticky swine at Eberle.

For a slightly less cowboyish, but equally old-school-Paso Robles experience, I went to Eberle. Eberle, according to the German oenos I went on the cave tour with, means "small male wild boar" in German. Thus, henceforth we will call this the "Eberle Swinery."* They have super-cool caves in which, for a modest fee, you can get married and/or drunk, and more importantly, they have an extraordinary wine I didn't know they made: Côtes-du-Rôbles. (A side note; the wineries on the East side of Paso seem to be into putting embroidered stickers on you; see illustration.)

From the swinery I went to an even more serious winery, Tablas Creek. It's way up in the hills, and more than worth the drive. Their Esprit de Beaucastel and Côtes de Tablas are fantastic wines; they were tasting the Mourvedre (an important ingredient in both of these French-style blends) while I was there and it was a revelation.

Back in town, I ate dinner at two excellent places, Villa Creek (a restaurant and a winery; Robert Parker loves Villa Creek wines more than I do, but their GSM is pretty damn fine) and Artisan.

I wish I'd had a chance to set up a tasting at Terry Hoage Vineyards, because both at Villa Creek and at Artisan all the talk was about him and his stellar wines (he also sells grapes to other boutique winemakers). Like many Paso wineries, Hoage makes Rhone blends. The wine brokers sitting next to me were talking about Hoage when he walked into the restaurant, with three guests and two already-open bottles of wine. The feeling in the room was exactly like the one that happens in Nashville when John Rich walks into a venue. Hoage appears much more calm and self-possessed than Mr. Rich, but he is bigger than life--remembers everyone's names, gives credit all around the room, and moves with a quiet confidence that makes Peju look like a cheap online advertisement for low mortgage rates. And I haven't even tried one of his wines yet.

It is an amazing time for winemaking in this country, and particularly on the West Coast. But if you are lucky enough to visit a winery, be sure to notice the show, and the people behind it, as much as the wine. There's a special kind of eclecticism, or perhaps insanity, involved in any craft, I suppose, but this one has some unusually bodacious side effects.

*This joke shamelessly extrapolated from a slip of the tongue by one of my generous hosts later that week in Los Angeles.

V. Sattui Vittorio's Vineyard Cabernet

V. Sattui Winery
Vittorio's Vineyard
Cabernet SauvignonNapa, California
2005
14.4%
$40.00 -- V. Sattui Winery, St. Helena, CA

Color: Deep cherry red
Nose: Mocha plums
Body: Heavy
Front: Dark fruit
Middle: Cinnamon, dust
Back: Spicy tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a new wine. It's from what used to be Suzanne's Vineyard--a plot adjoining the winery on Highway 29 in some prime grape-growing territory. It's functionally Rutherford. This wine shows its youth; it doesn't hold up as well as the other main-line Sattui Cabernets, so it's a tad unfortunate that it's so expensive. But drink it young and it's stellar, just like all the others. It doesn't have the cherry tang of the Preston or the stately vanilla of the Mt. Veeder but it's Napa Valley loveliness all the way. Fantastic with food. My father noticed instantly, too, that it has legs like Jessica Alba and staying power like Sigourney Weaver. He didn't say that out loud but I could tell that's what he was thinking.

Forthcoming (since I know I've been absent and my sexy, loyal followers are wondering what the hell is going on) is a slight departure: I've been in Napa and in Paso Robles recently, tasting (and reading) instead of writing, and one of my readers has persuaded me to muse on my winery visits. I promise it will burn clean.

Vinos Sin Ley Grenache

Vinos Sin Ley
G-5 Garnacha
GrenacheVinos de Madrid, Puerta Bonita, Spain
2004
14.5%
$9.99 -- Durham, NC

Color: Deep red
Nose: Raspberry and pepper
Body: Medium
Front: Raspberry KA-POW!
Middle: Raspberry AGAIN!
Back: Graphite
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Plastic cork

It's a fruit bomb. Like, the Dr. Strangelove of raspberry-based palate devastation. It's an easy-drinking wine, if you are a raspberry drinker. No, really, it's an interesting wine, but not if you like subtlety, lots of layers, or anything much more than fruit and a little tannic spice. Still, why trust me: check out the high ratings at this site.

Longview Cabernet

Longview Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
Adelaide Hills, Macclesfield, Australia
2006
14.2%
$27.99 -- Highlands, NC

Color: Deep purpley red
Nose: Blueberry
Body: Heavy
Front: Mint
Middle: Blueberry
Back: Creamy oak, tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I can't taste any of the things the back label claims are in it, but I like it anyway. Like lots of Australian cabernets, it doesn't taste like what I think of as cabernet. but it's good stuff nonetheless, and not hot at all. Good with food, but it hasn't got the tannic backbone to stand up to really hearty fare.

Chasseur Chardonnay

Hunter Wine Cellars
Chasseur
Lorenzo Vineyards
ChardonnayRussian River Valley, Sonoma, California
2005
14.1%
$59.90 -- Highlands, NC

Color: Light gold
Nose: Pineapple and spice
Body: Heavy
Front: Pineapple
Middle: Caramel butter
Back: Smoky mesquite
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

A French structure--long delivery with several distinct layers--but an American bigness and power. The most extraordinary Chardonnay from California I've ever had.

Note, 2014: This remains true.

Caravan Cabernet Sauvignon

Caravan Vineyards (Darioush)
Estate
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa, California
2005
14.5%
$45.00 -- Highlands, NC

Color: Deep cherry red
Nose: Cherry
Body: Heavy
Front: Cherry vanilla
Middle: Clove and cream
Back: Heat, blueberries
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

After it's been open for two hours, it tastes like French toast. I had it with pecan crushed, slightly spicy shrimp and it was fantastic. It's Napa loveliness; not too tannic, but it held up to the shrimpy pecans. I'm a sucker for Rumi--the back label contains nothing more than a saying from Rumi, who was a spiritual oenophile (but see here for some doubts about the business of attribution). Perhaps it should be decanted; after it's open awhile the heat goes away entirely, and the fruit and oak and spiciness come into harmony.

Note on 2 October 2010: Tried the 2007 ($36, H.E.B., Austin, TX): it needs just as much air as the '05 did at its age. Probably isn't quite as...transcendent as the '05, but it's damn fine. I see no reason to spend twice as much or more on the Darioush Cabernet.

Gary Farrell Cabernet Sauvignon

Gary Farrell
Cabernet Sauvignon
Healdsburg, Sonoma, California
2001
13.9%
$35.00 -- Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Medium red
Nose: Cherry
Body: Heavy
Front: Cherry
Middle: Violets
Back: Graphitic tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

It's a Spanish-style cabernet. Sure, such a thing may not exist much, but this bottle proves it ought to. There's a ludicrous amount of information about this wine at the Gary Farrell website. But what it doesn't tell you how tasty it is, and how it's shaped into a more old-world structure than common for the region. One of the consequences of this is that it pairs interestingly with food, contributing different tastes after different bites, always characteristically berryish but not overpowering your dinner.

Marquis Philips Sarah's Blend

Marquis Philips
Sarah's Blend
Shiraz; Cabernet; Merlot
Australia
2004
15%
$14.99 -- Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Deep purple
Nose: Caramel and berries
Body: Heavy
Front: Creamy blueberries
Middle: A little heat; peppery
Back: Mesquite, and, oddly, cucumber
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

A big bomb of loveliness, but with a little alcoholic burn. Really good if you want something bold, interestingly structured, and fruity (but not sweet). The 2005 tastes better to me right now, so this one may be on the way out. Now, these people don't like it, but what do they know?

Note (23 Nov 2009): I tasted the 2007 vintage. Blueberry jam and cherry on the nose, blueberries, chocolate, red currant, soft coffeelike tannins. I'm going to pair it with grilled lamb and roasted fingerling potatoes, and I'm expecting a tasty synergy. $13.99 at Spec's in Austin, TX, still 15% abv.

Vale do Bomfim Reserva

Vale do Bomfim
Reserva (Touriga N.; T. Roriz; Barroca)
Douro, Portugal
2004
14%
$9.99 -- Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Deep cherry red
Nose: Caramel and berries (put it in a relatively narrow-mouthed glass)
Body: Medium to heavy
Front: Tart berries
Middle: Tannins, spice, moss
Back: Leather, wood
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is not the sort of wine, in terms of tastes or structure, that I expect from this region of Portugal. I don't know what's going on, but it's good. This is one of the most complex wines I've tasted at this price; it's got distinct stages of development in the mouth that get more distinct the longer it's open. The aroma is lush, almost Australian, but the tastes are subtle old-world Iberian leather, spice, and wood, with occasional patches of violets bursting through. It's stellar with anything salty and I wish to Allah I had some chorizo to go with it. It should be good in the cellar for awhile, I'd think.

Barahonda Monastrell

Barahonda
Monastrell
YeclaMurcia, Spain
2004
14.5%
$9.99 -- Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Deep red with brown
Nose: Violety peat
Body: Medium
Front: Dates
Middle: Tannins, vanilla (how)?
Back: Leathery pepper
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Historians will notice that it's been awhile since I posted. First, I got sick. Then, I got infected. Then, I went on two rounds of antibiotics and at some point lost the ability to taste almost anything. I went a month without drinking any wine. While it's nice to know I'm not an alcoholic, I'm distressed that my taste buds basically need to be rebooted--and, of course, it's now allergy season!

But enough whining... crappy taste buds and all, I seem to be able to tell whether a wine more or less sucks or not. Tonight while paying my bills I noticed that the glue on the payment envelopes for American Express tastes like cheap Pinot Noir. So I'm back in the saddle.

This wine certainly does not suck. Apparently it was super a couple of years ago, too, which doesn't surprise me. The tinge of brown might mean it's maturing, which is good to know. It costs next to nothing, and newer vintages, though praised by certain famous tastemakers, might not break the bank either. It's chewy, spicy, and just plain old tasty.

Castello di Lucignano Chianti Classico Riserva

Castello di Lucignano
Chianti Classico
RiservaSangiovese
Chianti, Italy
2000
14%
$18.99 -- Weaver St. Market, Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Medium red with brown
Nose: Peppery strawberries
Body: Medium
Front: Tart raspberries
Middle: Apricots
Back: Leathery thyme, mint
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is one of those old-world wines that it'll take a miracle to replicate in the U.S. It's subtle; the flavors lurk below the surface and it takes focus to figure out what's going on. I still can't quite tell what's going on in the nose. But check this out: after sniffing for a few minutes, trying to get a read on it, I gave up and went back to the kitchen. A chicken onion garlic thing was roasting in the oven and, thanks to the contrast, it smelled like candy when I first walked in. So: alchemy in the nose, herbs kept in your wallet all day in the glass.

Tablas Creek Côtes de Tablas

Tablas Creek Vineyard
Côtes de Tablas
Mourvèdre, Syrah, Grenache, Counoise
Paso Robles, California, USA
2001
14.5%
$24.99 -- Mr. Whiskers, Nashville, TN

Color: Medium red with brown tinge
Nose: Blackberries and sweat
Body: Medium
Front: Sparkly spice
Middle: Plums
Back: Licorice, tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

A good friend gifted a bottle of Tablas Creek's "Esprit de Beaucastel" wine a few years ago and it split the room's opinions. I liked it immensely, but others disliked the spicy, sparkly attack that the wine exhibited. Still young and spritzy, a bit. This wine has the same thing going for it--though it's not quite as pronounced--and I like it again.

Maybe I like it because I've been working like a dog this week; maybe because it's practically a spring day out here on the back porch with my wine and cheese and wisteria; or maybe it's just that this is an excellently structured, elegant wine.

2004 vintage: Stellar again, though not quite as complex as the 2001. Perhaps, though, with another year, it'll get there. Cherry and vanilla dominate in this incarnation.

Honig Cabernet

Honig Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Rutherford, California, USA
2005
14.5%
$35.99 -- Wine Authorities, Durham, NC

Color: Deep purple-red
Nose: Bread, kale, plums
Body: Stout
Front: Blueberries
Middle: Cream
Back: Cassis and cedar
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This wine makes an excellent accompaniment to Dan Cohen's ballad "Hope You Don't Change Your Mind," which is currently at number 40 on the A/C radio charts. Its laid-back blend of cynical tannins and fruity wit match Cohen and King's lyrics perfectly. We're lucky to have wine like this and music like this. This wine evolves as it opens and goes well with lots of different foods.

Note, 10-19-2010: The 2007 vintage is delicious. Chocolate covered cherries, with evenly distributed tannins giving texture and structure, and cherries, plums and tar on the nose. Give it a little air and it'll be stunning.