WTN: Sterling, Siduri

[Jenise]

2002 Siduri pinot noir, Van der Kamp vineyard (1.5L)

At last, a 2002 Siduri pinot that's showing well. Rich, sweet California nose with kirsch, plums and blueberries (textbook VdK, for me). Unfortunatley, I took it to a party where the wine glasses were fat-lipped Libby types, and nobody really understood how good this wine was.


2006 Sterling Sauvignon Blanc, Napa

Sent hubby to the store for groceries and he comes home all smiling and proud with this, a wine he incorrectly believes we used to drink a lot in the past and that I'd be excited to see (wrong again, Sterling wines register far more misses than hits with me). Turns out he done good after all, though: so pale it almost looks like water, with bright lemon-lime flavor, green tea and a hint of California grass. Crisp and mountain spring refreshing, with good mid-palate fruit and a clean, dry finish. Tasted like a California attempt at making Austrian wine, and I mean nothing but compliments by that. Not overpriced at $14.

Jenise:

Sterling SB has gone through an interesting evolution over the years, from originally being one of the shining stars of Napa SB to an "Eh, why bother?", and then back around to being pretty interesting and well made stuff.

It's still not my fave among Napa SBs, and I think there's plenty others around that are making more intriguing versions more consistently (Groth, Mason, Voss, Emmolo on occasion, to name a few), but it's good to see one of the former icons make a healthy comeback.

The WineTV guy panned this pretty broadly. Too broadly, he was claiming that there is no good California SB. It was an amusing episode, though.

Too broadly, he was claiming that there is no good California SB.

Don't you love those sweeping generalizations, Brian? Makes them sound so all-knowing and decisive.

You know, like "1998 was a terrible vintage year in California". Oh yeah? Really? What grape? Where, from Temecula to Humboldt County, and from the Coast to the Sierra, all that space?

Another old fave: "It's impossible to get a bad meal in France."

And one I heard recently, from someone who really should have known better but let his mouth run ahead of his mind: "California doesn't really have terroir. You can have that only in the Old World."

That kinda stuff keeps it fun though, doesn't it?

Funny story.. I can imagine Bob coming home all proud and all.. nice that it turned out to be good!! I guess it shows, we shouldn't automatically turn up our nose at what we think might be plonk.

2002 Siduri pinot noir, Van der Kamp vineyard (1.5L)
Unfortunatley, I took it to a party where the wine glasses were fat-lipped Libby types, and nobody really understood how good this wine was.

I hate when I break out the pinot glasses and you see half the bottle go in one pour

I have recently tried a few Van der Kamps and thought they were nice. Funny thing is I avoided this bottling and stated I hated it ... then realized I had confused it with the Sapphire Hill bottling ... which I still dislike every time I try it. But now I have it figured out

Jason

[Jenise]

Funny story.. I can imagine Bob coming home all proud and all.. nice that it turned out to be good!! I guess it shows, we shouldn't automatically turn up our nose at what we think might be plonk.

I didn't overstate it--he was so proud of his purchase that I guessed it might be a Schramsberg bubbly, a wine we'd had on our first date. And in fact, only you, me and the rest of WLDG know of his error--I pretended to be very excited about it and made a big fuss over opening it last night. I wouldn't have had to pretend to like it if it wasn't good, but fortunately, it beat the odds.

Jason--yeah, me too. In fact, I was worried about that pre-event. Turned out it was in greater danger of being presumed to be jug wine and glugged for that. These weren't geeks, but I did think they'd understand that difference.

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 7:08 pm Post subject: Re: WTN: Sterling, Siduri

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James Dietz wrote:
Funny story.. I can imagine Bob coming home all proud and all.. nice that it turned out to be good!! I guess it shows, we shouldn't automatically turn up our nose at what we think might be plonk.


I didn't overstate it--he was so proud of his purchase that I guessed it might be a Schramsberg bubbly, a wine we'd had on our first date. And in fact, only you, me and the rest of WLDG know of his error--I pretended to be very excited about it and made a big fuss over opening it last night. I wouldn't have had to pretend to like it if it wasn't good, but fortunately, it beat the odds.

Ahh, the magic is still alive.

Nice, Jenise...no one has a bigger heart than Bob... no doubt....

We had a 1/2 bottle of Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc at lunch last week... I had forgotton how good it could be.... and still reasonably priced...that idiot we used to drink/eat with at Arte Cafe put me off it for a while....but that's not a reason not to drink a good bubbly.

drink/eat with at Arte Cafe

In Ceritos?

J

drink/eat with at Arte Cafe

In Ceritos?

J

yep....we used to go there quite often... used to be very good.. haven't been in a while.. maybe that would be a fun place to have a tasting???

drink/eat with at Arte Cafe

In Ceritos?

J

yep....we used to go there quite often... used to be very good.. haven't been in a while.. maybe that would be a fun place to have a tasting???

Hmmm...last time I was there ... at least 4-5 years ago ... I was pretty underwhelmed ... and the "B" health rating didn't help their cause.

Jason

[Jenise]

yep....we used to go there quite often... used to be very good.. haven't been in a while.. maybe that would be a fun place to have a tasting???

I'm with Jason--I didn't think the restaurant was that good. There were some good dishes, but overall it was merely good for mall food in Cerritos. That "idiot" loved it because the owner catered to him with multiple meat courses and fried food undiluted by healthy green stuff, which made him feel like a Big Player there in the very town he'd actually grown up on the loser fringes of.

Fortunately, I don't remember his name, but damn if he didn't get under everyone's skin!!

[Jenise]

Fortunately, I don't remember his name, but damn if he didn't get under everyone's skin!!

Yes, he certainly had a knack for that. But the good thing that came out of that was that we met at one of his dinners. I remember well that I brought an 89 Beringer Bancroft Ranch Merlot which was stunningly graceful. And then there was the bra....

But the good thing that came out of that was that we met at one of his dinners. I remember well that I brought an 89 Beringer Bancroft Ranch Merlot which was stunningly graceful. And then there was the bra....

Yes.. I will never forget that dinner.. who could? And there is foto evidence to boot...

I'm sure you are going to have to tell the whole story here at some point, Ms. S....

[Jenise]

I'm sure you are going to have to tell the whole story here at some point, Ms. S....

I'm not sure I could. But I will say this: a highlight of the evening for me was you and Gary H. hoisting it aloft in princely fashion and heading nobly into the bar to see if you could find a Cinderella, of sorts, to fit into it.

wait ... before you continue let me put the kid to bed ...