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I just returned from the 5th annual Hospices of Sonoma Pinot Noir barrel auction for 2007 vintage wines. Thirty-four wineries brought barrel samples to the Santa Rosa Jet Center on Saturday afternoon where the guests were able to mingle with the winemakers and bid on individual cases of special one-of-a-kind wines, or walk away with five cases for a fixed price. As with last year, Kosta Browne received the top bid and newcomer Jamie Kutch topped $1000 per case for his first year at the event.

My impressions of the 2007 vintage at this stage are not as enthusiastic as they were for the 2006 vintage. Vinfolio grabbed seven of the top lots last year including Kosta Browne and Radio Coteau. I am optimistic from talking with several producers that the vintage is very young at this point (one wine seemed to still be going through fermentation) and very few were showing well enough to grab my attention at this time.

The top three lots for me were: (Links are to our current inventory, or producer page of these wines)

Capiaux - A Widdoes Vineyard based wine from Sean Capiaux showed excellent balance and was the favorite of many friends I polled

Donum Russian River - Anne Moller Racke and Kenneth Juhasz sample was tasting in beautifully. We currently have the 2005 Carneros bottling in stock and look forward to the release of 2006 Russian River in the coming months

Patz & Hall  - Anne Moses was pouring an eye-popping example of Jenkins Ranch, a bottling never sold outside the winery

Personally I missed the energy of the live auction during dinner and hope the organizers will bring it back for next year. The weekend began Friday evening with a small dinner for 50 in the caves of Freeman Winery co-hosted by Ken and Akiko Freeman and their winemaker, Ed Kurtzman along with Michael Browne and Chris Costello from Kosta Browne. This was a great opportunity to reconnect with people I might only see once a year as well as have generous pours of both Freeman and Kosta Browne to enjoy. The final event was a Paulee on Sunday afternoon held at the beautiful Lynmar Winery. If you ever get over there, the gardens are beautiful and you can sip on a delicious Chardonnay and lose yourself staring at the vineyards. More great wines were poured at the Paulee in an endless parade of excess. Jamie Kutch had one of his last remaining bottles of 1966 Louis Martini Pinot Noir still showing glimpses of fruit. The day was too hot for the wines to not begin falling apart on the tables after a few minutes and they along with the guests could have used some shade because temps were in the high 80's.

Be sure to visit the Vinfolio website for our current availability of the 2006 Pinot Noir from Hospices of Sonoma.

This last Monday, I attended the annual Oakville Growers Tasting held at Robert Mondavi Winery. Over the years this tasting has become one of the most talked about venues for tasting because of the presence of wines such as Screaming Eagle, Harlan and Bond. Tasting these wines becomes a rite of passage if you have ever had the chance since they are highly allocated mailing list only wines. When reality sets back, I start working my way around the room to try other new producers and familiar brands with new releases to taste. 2005 vintage seems to be a pretty sturdy one without much smoothness at this point. Patience is recommennded.

The top wine for me out of 27 producers I visited was the

2005 Tierra Roja Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, VF 95 made by David DeSante

This wine was very good last year as well but what I liked about the 2005 was the amount of pure creamy blackberry that I found in the wine. DeSante treats this fruit very gently and is rewarded with exceptionally beautiful wine.

followed by

2005 Ghost Block Cabernet Sauvignon, VF 93

This was literally the first wine I tasted this year as it was a BIG surprise last year. More of the same is in the offing with supple, ripe smoothness to the black currant and cherry flavors.

Other tidbits...

2005 Futo

I have notes from a prior tasting that I did with Tom Futo at the winery I will add here later today. Sadly this wine is not available retail

Russell Bevan is the new winemaker at Showket and he was pouring the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon barrel sample. The wine is beautifully formed now, with ripe currant, licorice and plum. I expect it will put on some weight over the next 24 months but it will be something to look forward to.

This event had been on the calendar for a couple weeks - A tasting for about thirty local Sommeliers and Wine Buyers of virtually everything out of Abe Schoener's Scholium Project library, from the 2000 Les Tenebres and the 1999 Sangiovese he made at Luna, all the way to the un-released 2007 Naucratis and Gemella. Actually it was more than just a tasting. Abe held court for 45 minutes discussing his philosophy of what makes his wines unique and his inspirations. For someone who was fairly familiar with what the origins of many of the wines was, I was able to cover some of the minor details people at my table asked about such as "What is the difference between La Severita di Bruto and Cena Trimalchionis? They are both Sauvignon Blanc from the same vineyard..."

I felt very fortunate to retaste some of the great wines: Babylon, Scheria, Iseult, Gemella, Glos, LSB, Cena and Sylphs and see how they are progressing. I can't say any were going through any type of oddball phase (even though there were two consecutive bottles Abe determined to be corked and never poured them.

It seemed quite a few people were enraptured by the 2006 Prince in His Caves, currently available at Vinfolio. It was tasting superb and I highly recommend picking up a few bottles. I was especially curious about the 2002 Guman Vineyard The Sylphs, VF 100 that helped make Abe Schoener my Winemaker of the Year in 2006.

After nearly six years it is still bright golden in color with no orange or brown to be found in the color. Open to air now for nearly 40 hours and not being gassed, I get whiffs of apple tart, lemon curd, dried anise and salt. The palate is brilliantly focused with some smooth nuttiness mingling with the apple, pear and honey drizzled baked white peach. I looked back at my notes just now from 2006 and they are very similar. It seems to confirm my first evaluation of the two+ decades this wine could last in the proper conditions. If you have a few bottles, you could certainly enjoy one this year.

The tasting was hosted at Nopa in San Francisco, located at Hayes and Divisadero.

Don't look now but our Winemaker of the Year 2007 is bringing out the followup to his excellent 2005 vintage. Russell From has just released the pair of reds from his Herman Story Winery for 2006. Those who enjoyed the diverse selection of Russell's 2005 Syrah from such benchmark sites as Larner and White Hawk need to look no further than 2006 Nuts & Bolts - his Uber-four vineyard blend of these two sites along with Laetitia and Watch Hill. Yields were way down in individual parcels and upon inspection over a 30 hour period it appears nothing was lost from blending these four parcels together. Total production is only 550 cases.

The world-class Larner Vineyard was able to produce yet another stunner, the 2006 Grenache for Russell. This wine was quite tightly wound when first opened but unfolded beautifully over thirty hours with out gas.

Look for these wines in this Friday's Wilder Side of California. Vinfolio is honored to be the first retailer in the country to offer these wines together with reviews.   

2006 Herman Story Syrah Nuts & Bolts Santa Barbara County, VF 95

2006 Herman Story Grenache Larner Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley, VF 97

I spent this morning with a new Napa Valley producer you have not likely heard about. The winery is called Seven Stones and is owned by Ron and Anita Wornick. I was met at the impressively sited winery (tucked in the hills of the Meadowood Resort) by Ron along with his winemaking team of Aaron Pott and Roy Piper. Wornick has an interesting background as an influential food scientist whose company was selected by the US military to produce the MRE (meals, ready to eat) that revolutionized food delivery in the field. Additionally over the last thirty years he and Anita have developed one of the most important contemporary craft collections in the world.

Aaron Pott is a deliberate and precise winemaker. After graduating from UC Davis he worked at Newton with John Kongsgaard. While there he met the internationally acclaimed wine consultant, Michel Rolland who helped him get his first head winemaking positions in France of all places; first at Troplong Mondot, then at La Tour Figeac where he learned old world style winemaking before returning to the US after six years. I first met Aaron in 2003 when he was at St. Clement and was impressed by his initial efforts there. In 2004 he moved to Quintessa as Winemaker and General Manager. In 2007 he left to begin his own brand but still consults for a small number of labels including Blackbird, Fisher and Quintessa.

We walked the entire property from bottom to top while Aaron pointed out the miniscule sized blocks, one of which looked no bigger than a couple hundred vines. Purchased as a raw, undeveloped 45 acre parcel from one of the original Meadowood investor plots in 1995 it took the Wornicks years to clear the property of the volcanic rocks that yielded postage stamp size blocks for their home, winery and vineyards. The first vines were planted in 1996. Most of the property is still rootstock but there was enough fruit in 2005; Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, to form a 50/50 blend with the renowned Thorevilos fruit from David Abreu. Eventually the plans are for no more than 400 cases of Estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Vinfolio is honored to be the first retailer to offer this very limited production wine.

2005 Seven Stones Cabernet Sauvignon VF 95 $175 The Premiere Release

AVAILABLE SOON AT VINFOLIO

The nose is full of an unbelievable amount of sun-warmed mountain blackberry, vibrant cassis and cherry. The palate begins with a loamy smoothness that continues to develop more underlying complexity with air. During my 45 minutes of tasting, essences of beautifully polished kirsch-like cherry, allspice, blue plum, vanilla and blueberry emerge to weave across the palate. Drink 2008 - 2016 Production is 235 cases and is primarily to mailing list only.

For someone like me whose job it is to taste wine regularly (practically every day) the idea of having a glass of Merlot or virtually any other variety open in my office doesn't raise any eyebrows among colleagues or management, but millions of Americans generally can't have a glass of wine  until 6PM at the earliest or they reach 21 years old.

I just learned of a new product on the market called First Blush Juice that was mentioned on Springwise, a database of entreprenurial ideas, that offers consumers nonalcoholic grape juices providing health benefits from varieties we normally associate with coming from the fine growing regions of the world. Currently the company produces Cabernet, Merlot and Chardonnay available in 16oz bottles that sell for about $4.00 each. Among the health benefits are antioxidant characteristics that have been widely attributed to grape juice. Additionally there is a property called ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity) existing in red grape juice (at 6000 units, it is twice as high as apple, and 5x that of brewed tea.)

This isn't a new idea though. Navarro Winery in Mendocino has produced nonalcoholic juice from wine grapes for as long as I remember and it is of the highest quality. The problem has always been access as it is generally only available from the winery. First Blush is currently available in 18 states so it will bring high-end grape juice to a much wider audience. It seems the producers are positioning First Blush as an alternative to tea or pomegranate juices that have advertised health benefits. 

But I do have a couple questions

1.How long till non alcoholic Merlot or Chardonnay grape juice in Little Johnny's lunch box lands him in the principal's office because someone thinks it is wine? 

2. To what extent does making non alcoholic grape juices from premium wine grape varieties available to a fruit juice consumer market influence their opinion about wine in general?

I know the title of this is likely to get your attention and I am posting it for a specific reason. You see, this is about a wine that I have never formally rated yet another retailer claims that I did.

But before I get to that story I want to discuss how the power of ratings and reviews of wine have become part of our culture of consumerism and the importance of the consumer being vigilant in verification of information

There have been many instances where retailers will use "Shelf Talkers" on the displays of wine that don't neccessarily pertain to the wine being sold. This is a problem for the consumer if the information mentions a particular critic gave the 2004 vintage of the wine a "93" and the wine on the shelf is actually the dusty 2000 vintage that got "88" instead. Generally the less an establishment knows about the wine they sell, the more you will see shelf talkers used.

Last December, Jane Black wrote an article for the Washington Post entitled Score One for Buyers Who Notice. In the article the author cites a survey the paper's Food section conducted in the Washinton, DC, Maryland and Virginia area. The random survey looked at  10 shelf talkers at each of ten reputable wine shops. The results indicated a full 25% of the information used to sell the wine being offered was erroneous. One shop mentioned in the article was advertising the 90 point review on a 2004 vintage when actually the 2005 on the shelf had received a gloomy 81 point review. In another instance a salesperson told a customer that "the wine was all the same" when she read the store-posted review for a 91 point 2005 Tuscan wine from Parker, only to find the 2006 on the shelf.

Many shops apparently work hard to keep the information they use as point of sale correct and current but due to constantly changing inventory and depending on manually having to police the hundreds of new scores most claim that it is an ongoing problem to keep this information accurate.

Vinfolio keeps a constantly growing database of wines and their ratings available free of charge to our users. Our CEO, Steve Bachmann blogged about this The use (and abuse) of wine ratings by retailers. One of his main points is that Tranparency builds trust. Selective use of only one score or worse yet disecting out only the "96" in a barrel tasting review of "94-96" is less than honest yet I see examples of it all the time.

Over the past couple years I have seen a growing phenomenon of Vinfolio scores being used to sell wine either on the secondary auction market or sometimes distributors or other retailers. One only needs to look at the Wine Commune auction site to see several people selling the 2005 Auteur Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard advertising them as VF100 or mentioning that it was our Winery of the Year. This is an indication that we have transcended the traditional retail model and are now viewed more as a quasi critic/market influencer. We take that responsibility very seriously.

So that brings me to my story.

The other day I received an email through the Mark Squires Bulletin Board on eRobertParker.com from someone who reads my blog as well as The Wilder Side of California. He explained he had received an email offering from The Carolina Wine Company offering a wine with a 98 point Doug Wilder score. He was reluctant to accept the information at face value because he went through my blog and issues of WSC searching for my review. I would have been pleased to tell him to buy as much as he could except the retailer's claim that I had rated the wine, 2004 Dyer Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain was materially false. I have tasted the wine and will be doing a formal review of it in the future. I sent the store an email pointing out the mistake and requesting they inform the customers who bought the wine (apparently sold out) that the score was "erroneous" The next day I received a followup email from the same reader telling me Carolina Wine Company also attributed a Vinfolio rating of 98 points to the 2002 Dyer Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain, a wine that I reviewed in 2006 with a VF 92. Seemingly this wine sold out as well.

In reflection what we try to do everyday is honestly assess wines we bring to market and put this information in the hands of our clients so they may make informed decisions. We recommend the use of Vinfolio's VinCellar or the archive of Wilder Side of California or FreeRunJuice postings if you ever wish to verify what you see posted elsewhere is in fact an "authentic Vinfolio review.

This is the first time I have discussed a Pinot Gris in Free Run Juice and to make it even more special it is a very limited example from Sineann in Oregon. I had the chance to sample this the other day and found it was a delightful wine for the summer. The only problem is that it is highly allocated from the distributor. Here are my thoughts:

2007 Sineann Pinot Gris, Oregon VF 92 $18.00

A lively generous wine with mineral, citrus aromas and bright vivacity on the palate finishing with lemon and grapefrut shaved ice.

If interested in this wine please let your Wine Specialist know as I will be giving the distributor my "wish list" early next week.

After about six months of hiding, the 2006 Scholium Project Sauvignon Blanc, The Prince in his Caves, Farina Vineyard VF 93 has re-emerged to take on Spring and Summer entertaining. It showed up on my desk today, a warm sunny afternoon with my mind drifting to a three day weekend, and jolted me back to attention. Scholium wines are not something you can take on without focusing and clean Eisch stemware floated out of the kitchen to welcome the Prince back. The wine still shows the exotic aromas and flavors we found in the Fall of last year, but I tasted it a little chilled today and the vibrant aromas of grain and cassis flowed nonstop from the glass.

If you have had any of the other Farina Vineyard bottlings from Schoener, you know they will run the style gamut from the solidly wound, breathtaking La Severita di Bruto, to the mind-bending, voluptuous 2005 Cena Trimalchionis, VF 98 which is available now at the Vinfolio Website in very limited quantities.

In today's issue #161 of The Wilder Side of California, I introduced a winery I tasted blind recently and got completely fooled on thinking it was more expensive than it actually was. It now seems like I wasn't the only one to find the 2006 Tamarack Firehouse Red from Columbia Valley an excellent wine (regardless of price). I just learned Wine & Spirits Magazine  named it one of their Critic's Picks for 2008. Fewer than 1% of the 9000 wines the magazine reviews annually are recognized as the best of what the critics tasted, so this little wine will be in some pretty solid company. Look for all of the reviews in the magazine's June 2008 issue.