Some weekend wines-E. Spencer, Dutch Henry, and Beringer

Wine-filled weekend (but I am learning pacing and restraint)

Elizabeth Spencer Winery

Wine Club "Paella Party" with my boss, his wife, and a couple of other friends. Some of the best paella I've ever had, although my ancient "problem" with shellfish allergies (which I thought was gone) reared its itchy head after I ate a crawfish. (it was delicious, though)

2004 Napa Valley Cabernet-Luschious, big bold black fruit. Plum, cassis, blackberry. Very nice mouthfeel, rich without being jammy. Negative: The vanilla oak is pretty powerful right now. It doesn't overwhelm the fruit (this is no caramel-vanilla machiatto wine), but it is more present than I like. Decant in three years to see how the oak integrates?? 3* just because the fruit is so luscious.

2005 Petit Sirah. Nice, very smooth, very drinkable. Light, with blueberry and grapey notes. A "slurpable" wine. Solid 3*

2006 Zinfandel. Their first Zinfandel. A very nice, light, elegant, "claret-style" Zin! It's nice to see that Zins don't have to be cough syrup! Plenty of spice, zinberry, red fruit. At 14.5% abvf, it's not "low" in alcohol per se, but there is definitely no fumes or burning on the throat. My favorite of the afternoon-and only $20. Why did I not stop there today and pick up a bottle????? 3.5*

Dutch Henry Winery

Today, I did a different bicycle ride-rode up to conn Valley Road, then road the 3 miles uphill along Howell Mountain Road. I need to try Amizetta and Anderson's Conn Valley wineries some time! Not a real steep climb, but it was lonnnnnng. Still, the ride up the canyon was simply gorgeous today. California has its share of issues, but I love this State and its landscapes!

When I bombed downhill back to Silverado Trail, I remembered that one of my favorite wineries has bread and olive oil along with the wine. I was slightly hungry, so I stopped at tiny Dutch Henry Winery, where I was greeted by the winery's pair of pugs and a lovely young lady with an Irish?? accent and a funny Grizzly Adams

The 2006 Mount Veeder Pinot Noir was a major surprise. Grown at 1700 feet above the western side of Napa Valley, this is definitely a cooler climate Pinot. Quite light in color and flavor. Good "pinosity" on the nose. Yummy mushrooms and herbs and forest floor (I now know what this means!) flavors complemented the Pinot fruit. I think this wine would be fantastic for thanksgiving dinner, and I've been charged with providing the wines for a family and friends dinenr, so....4*????

I also enjoyed the 2002 Estate Cab. Like the Pinot, this was lighter in tone, with savory and herbal notes complementing the light cabernet fruit. Fairly priced at $48, I might return for this next budget cycle. 31/2*

The 2003 Argos Bordeaux Blend was nice, too, but it had too much green bell pepper for my palette. This appears to be a very common "flaw" for 2003 Cabs. 2*

Beringer

Beringer had a really nice library flight in the Rhein House. I know they are owned by a big, evil corporation, and it is a major tourist maelstrom, but I am throughly enjoying many of the Cabernets produced under Ed Sbraggia. They almost remind me of Merryvale in their lighter texture and flavors.

1997 Quarry Vineyard Lovely red toned fruit-raspberry, currant. Some pretty herbal notes. Good acidity. Only a whisper of oak, with no jarring vanilla character. Delicious, if a little light-is the fruit fading? 3.5*

1998 Quarry Vineyard . Wow. I know the usual suspects dislike this vintage, but this wine was much richer and darker than the 1997. I'm not saying it was "jammy," by any means. Still a fairly light texture, with great acidity. Red fruit, again. Raspberry, currant, cassis, also. The richness of this wine made it my favorite of the flight. 4*+

The 1999 Quarry was the only one of the three that left me unimpressed. It was too light on fruit and even a little astringent. Maybe it needs a couple of years??? Try again in two years? 2*

Current Release: 2004 Private Reserve. Pretty light in texture and wieght for a 2004. Much less dominance by vanilla oak than the Elizabeth Spencer-there is a whisper of vanilla, but definitely not a big part of the flavor here. Plenty of nice acidity. Red fruit, again-seems to be the house style? A grapey note? Some nice herbs and a few toasty notes from the oak (again, not dominant). Is the 2004 too light to be an ager? It's drinking fine right now, but....the QPR issue comes into play here. Still...I like lighter style Cabs, and I rank this 3*

The 2006 Mount Veeder Pinot Noir was a major surprise. Grown at 1700 feet above the western side of Napa Valley, this is definitely a cooler climate Pinot. Quite light in color and flavor. Good "pinosity" on the nose. Yummy mushrooms and herbs and forest floor (I now know what this means!) flavors complemented the Pinot fruit. I think this wine would be fantastic for thanksgiving dinner, and I've been charged with providing the wines for a family and friends dinenr, so....4*????

Brian do you know the percent alc on the Pinot? The first 2 vintages were over 15%. The one you describe sounds lower.

No-It's quite high in alcohol (well above 15%).

This is another strange wine for me, as I am generally very sensitive to alcohol. I did not taste any heat at all, no burning at the back of the trhoat or the back of the mouth. And, the wine is not huge extracted fruit, either. If anything, it is light and elegant, almost Burgundian?????!!!!

Did I goof???? I wonder if the label is an error, or if they have a different way of measuring alcohol than the standard technique? I might not have purchased it if I had noticed the nominal label abv. Like the Todd Vineyard Zinfadel from Ravenswood, this wine tastes restrained without being low in alcohol. I am frankly confused-did my palate fail me? .

I hope that when I open the wine at Thanksgiving, I do not experience a heavy alcoholic fruit bomb.

O.K. This sounds like previous vintages. While I never considered it Burgundian, if I use the other extreme as a contrast (Martinelli), the Dutch Henry did not seem as hot, concentrated or fruit driven even though the bottle claimed a higher alc content than the Martinelli. I wondered how old the vines were and thought that could have something to do with it as I did not find the complexity in the first two vintages that you describe.

Funny thing about the DH wines they seem to carry the alc fairly well but they made a couple of different zin bottlings from 2000 fruit and when tasted side by side it becomes more apparent. The balance of the lowest alc bottling (vintners reserve I think it was called at about 13.5) was much better than the 15% monsters even though they do not show as hot as some other 15% wines.

Maybe I am simply tasting "comlexity" because their Pinot was not like drinking cough syrup or Pinot Syrah?? I found the Cab pretty light, too, by current standards.

Sheesh, my palate certainly needs more education -- that point is really driven home by your mention of how you could taste the plum, cassis, mushrooms, herbs, forest floor. I can understand those elements but then you go on to mention "green pepper"?!?

I bow at your feet. I've so far been able to identify oak and vanilla -- most wines are sorted into "I like it!" and "you try it first..."

Case in point: I recently purchased an award-winning Baco Noir. Expecting my taste buds to sing, I was horrifed when they were mugged, mauled and violated instead. It was brutish.

In order to fully appreciate a wine, I recognize the need for further education. Your suggestions and descriptions are a great reference. I'll be sampling some of the same wines and trying to decipher the same notes you did.

Thanks!

Terri

Blush. There are so many better tasting notes here than my mangled syntax and simple descriptions.

Sadly, California wines often lack the elegance of Old World producers. I think back to the discombobulated vanilla mess that was the Lancaster Cabernet Suvignon a few weeks ago. Thank God I did not pay full price! Luckily, I live 25 minutes from Napa County, so I can taste many Napa wines before buying them!

Green Pepper is a pretty common flavor for Cabernet Sauvignon-especially for cooler years or regions. There is a debate here about how much of a "flaw" it is. (I have a low tolerance for both green bell pepper and strong vanilla, but then I've been accused of "not liking Cabernet Sauvignon" ) I don't always reject a wine with too much oak. The Elizabeth Spencer, while too oaky, still had a very nice balance and some great fruit, enough to make me enjoy the wine.

if you can find one, try a French Loire red from a cooler or normal year. You will definitely find Green Bell Pepper!

Thank you for the suggestions.

Anytime you feel the urge to pass along a recommendation (with "what" one should be looking for) please feel free to do so.

Terri wrote....Case in point: I recently purchased an award-winning Baco Noir. Expecting my taste buds to sing, I was horrifed when they were mugged, mauled and violated instead. It was brutish.

Which BN was that Terri?

I'd really hate to say....but it was Jost.

Again, I'm willing to chalk it up to my own inexperience with the heavier wines.

I did like some of their other selections though.