C. Donatiello Wines

An inn down the lake from my mountain camp is featuring a five course dinner with C. Donatiello wines later this week. I don't drink as a rule, or know anything about, California wines, other than to enjoy virtually any Chardonnay that costs more than $12 as a palate refresher when drinking a French red wine. I pay a lot of attention to the reds. But I would enjoy the dinner that goes with the wine, if the wine was okay. Anything special about C. Donatiello red wines at all? It looks as if they might specialize in Pinot Noir, which I like if it is a little earthy. I can not drink Cal Pinots that taste like cherry pop, which many do to my palate. This is something I must avoid, even if it means forgoing a dinner close to home that I would really like to attend. I am just ready to relax this week, and decided to take an unprecedented middle-of-the week respite in the mountains, somewhere.

On a related note, I almost planned to travel all the way from Albany, New York to West Dover, Vermont to stay overnight at Sawmill Farm Inn, because they advertise several vertical Bordeaux collections and wonderful food and ambience. The room price alone was around $400 for one night, at a time that is past peak foliage and prior to skiing season. Given that I suddenly feel a bit poor due to some nasty behavior in my retirement portfolio, $1,000 or so to relax for an evening in the mountains is a bit steep for me. Has anyone tried Sawmill? The White House Inn in Wilmington, Vermont looks like a deal at only something like $170 a night. It has a wonderful ambience, good food and wine, so I might go there if I find out that C. Donatiello wines are nothing to look forward to.

Thanks for any inputs.

Covert

Don't know anything about Donatiello wines other than having driven past the winery on a recent visit to California..Have eaten at Sawmill a number of times tho not recently..My wife and I used to ski Mt Snow and Stratton frequently with our kids when they were younger..Also dined at Sawmill a number of times back in my single days..Last time I was there, they had a world class wine cellar and very good food..Sawmill has always been pretty pricey

Geez you guys. I was hoping someone might provide me a clue. Well, I will find out about these wines and report back to the Forum, because I went ahead and signed up for the dinner on Friday.

Here’s the link for the place. http://www.friendslake.com/

[Jenise]

Geez you guys. I was hoping someone might provide me a clue. Well, I will find out about these wines and report back to the Forum, because I went ahead and signed up for the dinner on Friday.

Here’s the link for the place. http://www.friendslake.com/

Apparently it's a fairly new winery so not unexpected that so many of us would know nothing of it. Have no way of predicting your reaction to their pinots, but I think you'll at least like the chardonnay based on this report I found on Cellar Tracker by someone named Torque: 2006 C. Donatiello Winery Chardonnay (USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley) 7/22/2008 95 pts
Outstanding, very well balanced chardonnay. Buttery without being cloying, and firm enough to stand up to a well spiced grilled chicken.

Apparently it's a fairly new winery so not unexpected that so many of us would know nothing of it. Have no way of predicting your reaction to their pinots, but I think you'll at least like the chardonnay based on this report I found on Cellar Tracker by someone named Torque: 2006 C. Donatiello Winery Chardonnay (USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley) 7/22/2008 95 pts Outstanding, very well balanced chardonnay. Buttery without being cloying, and firm enough to stand up to a well spiced grilled chicken.

Hmm...more promising than I would have expected. Just because it is a winery doesn't mean they have their own vines, correct? So the vines could have some age. It is nice that maybe I can contribute something to the Forum by paying attention to the offerings.

I'm a sucker for romance, as you know. There is no way really that I could do anything but go to this thing on Friday, even if the group said the wines were equivalent to Woodbridge's. It so happens that it was on the 24th of October that Lynn and I first stayed at this Inn, maybe 10 years ago, and discovered the lake. We paddled around it the next morning with one of the Inn's canoes, and fantasized about how wonderful it would be to own a camp on it, thinking it would be impossible. I believe I wrote up the experience on this very forum. I had discovered a large spider in the boat, and deposited it in the lake with my paddle. Afterward, I felt terrible that I had drowned the fellow creature for no reason other than my fear of it. I wished I could dive in and find it. Thought about it for days. The experience changed how I view animals and influenced me to give up fishing for fun, something I had lived for as a little boy; even though the lake is full of fish, because it is in perfect ecological balance, and private. You have probably read in the NYTs that men view being recognized in a restaurant as one of the biggest draws. I called and Amy answered the phone. I said my name, and she said she knew me because her husband had just constructed our guest quarters. Having a sense of roots is really cool. Looking forward to reporting back.

[Jenise]

Hmm...more promising than I would have expected. Just because it is a winery doesn't mean they have their own vines, correct? So the vines could have some age. It is nice that maybe I can contribute something to the Forum by paying attention to the offerings.

Correct. The property is the old Belvedere winery (who also made buttery chardonnays). I'm not sure if he got all their vineyards too or their vineyard contracts, whichever applies, in the purchase. What I did find was a statement that they intend to a great deal less wine than the former Belvedere produced from the same property, and "strong" wines--two facts that may have nothing to do with each other.

I'm a sucker for romance, as you know. There is no way really that I could do anything but go to this thing on Friday, even if the group said the wines were equivalent to Woodbridge's. It so happens that it was on the 24th of October that Lynn and I first stayed at this Inn, maybe 10 years ago, and discovered the lake.

Then you're right, you couldn't not go. And since all wines taste better to you in restaurants, you are already predisposed to like this wine, and if we then apply the sliding scale for restaurants that you have an important history with, there's a strong chance that C. Donatiello is about to become your favorite California winery.

Then you're right, you couldn't not go. And since all wines taste better to you in restaurants, you are already predisposed to like this wine, and if we then apply the sliding scale for restaurants that you have an important history with, there's a strong chance that C. Donatiello is about to become your favorite California winery.

Very cool, Jenise. Thanks! You're roots, too.

even if the group said the wines were equivalent to Woodbridge's

I'm happy to report the wines are better than Woodbridge’s. We've been receiving many great scores from publications such as Burghound.com, connoisseurs Guide to Wine, and Dan Berger's Wine Experience.

Yes, we took over the old Belvedere property. We have since gutted it, and reconstructed it to craft boutique pinot & chard. The old winery made 125,000 cases. We make 6,600. We focus on Pinot and Chard because we are on Westside Road. It’s a place many believe to be the Gold Coast of Russian River pinot & Chard. It’s no wonder, given our neighbours (Rochioli, Williams Seylem, Arista, Gary Farrell, and until recently Davis Bynum).

I unfortunately will not be there Friday. We were asked to host the Pinot Report's annual Founder's Dinner for Pinot on the River. It’s a great honour for a new winery, and I just can't pass it up. Howard Imber, my National Sales Manager will be hosting you. Howard has a great history in the wine business including working as a sommelier, and for Stags' Leap Wine Cellars. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time, and I'm sorry I won't be there in person.
-Chris Donatiello

[Jenise]

Yes, we took over the old Belvedere property. We have since gutted it, and reconstructed it to craft boutique pinot & chard. The old winery made 125,000 cases. We make 6,600. We focus on Pinot and Chard because we are on Westside Road. It’s a place many believe to be the Gold Coast of Russian River pinot & Chard....

Now this is what I call the personal touch. Bravo, Chris!

I unfortunately will not be there Friday. We were asked to host the Pinot Report's annual Founder's Dinner for Pinot on the River. It’s a great honour for a new winery, and I just can't pass it up. Howard Imber, my National Sales Manager will be hosting you. Howard has a great history in the wine business including working as a sommelier, and for Stags' Leap Wine Cellars. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time, and I'm sorry I won't be there in person.

Thank you, Chris. I’ll ditto Jenise’s comment. It’s great to get the personal perspective. I am now more than ever looking forward to your wines and the evening. Enjoy your Founder's Dinner and make sure you remind Howard to bring something warm to wear outside up here.

Covert

One thing I learned at the C. Donatiello Wine dinner is that critiquing California wines is not my métier. If anybody cares in the slightest what I, who identifies with Old World wines, think about these California wines, just ask, and I will do my best to tell you.

Completely off the point, but emanating from the wine dinner, I will just say that it strikes me as odd that so few people care to express themselves about anything other than humdrum. There is no effort to idealize, generalize, or see beneath the surface in any way. Instead of presenting rich realism, a fusion of memory and perception, of imagination and historical fact, partakers merely set down static little pictures, impressions as they fall upon the retina; reproductions from the physical act of perception alone, without any intellectual transmutation; all crude accidents of life as they incursively befall. By the billions, folks play anything that might be of profound interest close to the vest, as if bringing something up other than humdrum might in some way single them out and embarrass them or something. They act as if keeping out of the picture is important, as though they were saving themselves for the period in time that mattered, maybe an afterlife.

Not believing in the idea of an afterlife, it seems to me instead that the universe is pretty big and old, and we, as humans, spend such a brief time here, at least in a conscious sense. I would think more people would be more sensitive about this – I mean what if there isn’t an afterlife? – and at least try to say something. But then again, I have spent my entire life trying to say something, but I don’t think I was successful; so it appears that a better case could be made for not wasting my time, or anybody else’s, with such nonsense.

Having reconsidered such, I had a bunch of things I was going to talk about with the preceding comment as my introduction, but decided against it for now. I will filter it in with other posts, maybe. But again, if anybody cares about a lone bloke’s opinion of an obscure California wine ensemble, ask and I will take a stab at it. Otherwise, end of story.

[Jenise]

critiquing California wines is not my métier...just ask and I will tell you

I think you just said it without saying it. Which has no bearing on the wines themselves. It's just that you really are an old world wine guy who drinks Bordeaux pretty exclusively--if Chris Donatiello is reading on, I am here to attest to you being poured all manner of what others consider Great California Wines out of your brother's girlfriend's cellar of which I can remember you liking none. They not only don't talk to you, they don't even wimper. Only California chardonnay holds any interest for you, and there you like the cheapies that see tons of highly toasted oak--Souverain, IIRC, being a favorite.

critiquing California wines is not my métier...just ask and I will tell you

I think you just said it without saying it. Which has no bearing on the wines themselves. It's just that you really are an old world wine guy who drinks Bordeaux pretty exclusively--if Chris Donatiello is reading on, I am here to attest to you being poured all manner of what others consider Great California Wines out of your brother's girlfriend's cellar of which I can remember you liking none. They not only don't talk to you, they don't even wimper. Only California chardonnay holds any interest for you, and there you like the cheapies that see tons of highly toasted oak--Souverain, IIRC, being a favorite.

Thanks, Jenise, for being spot on, except for where I drank the good California wines that I mentioned, but didn't appreciate them. It was at The Wine Bar in Saratoga, which a good friend of mine owns. My brother's girlfriend has a great cellar of classed growths, mainly, including verticals of First Growths. I know she has some great California wines, too; but I never drank any of them - that I can remember, anyway. If you find an old post where I said I did, I probably did and forgot.

Someday, after my stocks rebound, I am going to buy some very fine and expensive California wines and once and for all determine if I can really like any of them. C. Donatiello's Pinots were as good as any I have had from California. A little Old Worldish except for the hint of residual sugar, nicely balanced by good acidity, I should mention.

[Jenise]

except for where I drank the good California wines that I mentioned, but didn't appreciate them. It was at The Wine Bar in Saratoga, which a good friend of mine owns. My brother's girlfriend has a great cellar of classed growths, mainly, including verticals of First Growths. I know she has some great California wines, too; but I never drank any of them - that I can remember, anyway. If you find an old post where I said I did, I probably did and forgot.

Oh I remember her Bordeauxs, and also that she pours a great many Spanish wines. But I was thinking she occasionally gets out some top old Cal stuff from time to time. I'm also associating her name with Stags Leap. But it's your life--you must be right.

A little Old Worldish except for the hint of residual sugar, nicely balanced by good acidity, I should mention

I'm surprised to hear you thought there was residual sugar. The wines are, chemically speaking, completely dry. Perhaps the fruit gave you that impression. It happens a lot.

It was great to hear that you found balance and acidity. Balance is truly the goal here. I believe that too many of the large publications now are becoming formulaic in their approach to scoring. fruit + Tannin/alcohol = X points. There is no accounting for balance, elegance, or finesse. Thankfully our production is low, and publications that are really focused on pinot like burghound.com, the Pinot Report, and Pinotfile enjoyed the wines immensely.

I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts on the wines. I can be reached at cmd@cdonatiello.com

I'll also be in Quechee, Vt in February for a dinner at Simon Pierce. Anyone headed up Okemo or Killington for a little skiing is welcome to join us.
-Chris

I'm surprised to hear you thought there was residual sugar. The wines are, chemically speaking, completely dry. Perhaps the fruit gave you that impression. It happens a lot...I'll also be in Quechee, Vt in February for a dinner at Simon Pierce. Anyone headed up Okemo or Killington for a little skiing is welcome to join us.

Chris, thanks for clarifying, and please don't be surprised by a mistake I might make regarding wine critiquing. Like Jenise says, I mostly drink Bordeaux, for pleasure only, and thus am not any kind of geek. I participate on this forum mostly because I am partial to wine lovers. I am a little surprised myself, though, by my particular mistake. Maybe it was an alcohol that seemed a tiny touch sweet to me, or the fruit, as you say. The wine was by no means sweet. I was quite impressed by the elegance, including classy finishes, of your Pinots.

If you haven't been to Simon Pierce, you should very much enjoy the ambience. The last time I was there, in the winter of 2005, I sat by the window beside the waterfall and enjoyed a 1996 Haut Marbuzet, which I was surprised to find on the list.

Covert