Top 10 wines of 2013

‘Twas the year of Pinot Noir…

While scrolling through my bottle shots in iPhoto and clicking through the past year’s posts, I realize I was on quite the Pinot Noir kick—all year long! I picked the following wines as “favorites” because they stood out in my mind and/or I enjoyed them more than once. Here they are, in no particular order:

Laurent Perrier Brut Champagne NV: I always like to begin with Champagne, and the LP never gets old to me! I enjoyed it on my birthday in October; every time I have gone to La Folie on Polk Street in SF in the past three months; and on countless occasions during the summer. There are even two half-bottles of it in my fridge as I write this. Bright and crisp, this Champagne is always a great price (under $40 retail, less than $20/glass in restaurants) and delicious every time!

2010 Dominique Cornin Pouilly-Fuisse: When I was working in the city, I accidentally grabbed a bottle of this instead of the $20/bottle Cornin Macon-Chaintre (which I think is a great value and blogged about in the spring). Alas, I was pleasantly surprised with this Pouilly-Fuisse ($35/bottle), as it was a notch up in complexity and fruit flavors from its more affordable sibling wine. Unadorned with oak, this Chardonnay also has terrific acidity without the mouth-puckering quality of biting into a lemon. If you know where to find in the Bay Area, please let me know!

2011 Domaine Perraud Mâcon-Village Vielles Vignes: Yes, another White Burgundy. I’ve become a huge fan, especially when said wine is only $18/bottle. Totally unoaked, this is a great wine for summertime and seafood, as mentioned in the July 18thblog post.

2009 Gary Farrell Russian River Valley Pinot Noir: I listed the vintage only because it was a 2009 I blogged about back in September. But at the winery in Healdsburg last month, I had the opportunity to taste a few single-vineyard Pinot gems that you won’t find in stores. The 2011 Gary Farrell Hallberg Vineyard Pinot Noir ($55/bottle) has a perfume of rose petals and dark berries. On the palate, notes of ripe plum and red currants are bolstered by ample acid and silky tannins. And the views of Russian River Valley from the tasting room are spectacular!

2009 Kosta Browne Gaps Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir: I really liked the 2009 Kosta Browne Russian River Valley Pinot Noir as well, which I tried on July 4^th (but didn’t blog about) and then enjoyed again at a party in October. It was awesome tasting the RRV and the Gaps Crown Vineyard side-by-side. Mr. Browne does an excellent job of taming the tannins that Gaps Crown fruit is known for, while keeping the mouthfeel lush and satiny. It’s a full-bodied Pinot fit for a steak or similarly full-flavored meal.

2010 Alysian Russian River Valley Pinot Noir: I never mentioned this particular wine in a blog post, but it is delicious ($42/bottle). It has been on the wine-by-the-glass menu at Main Street Wine Bar in Tiburon for the past six months—for a reason: everybody loves it. It has that classic dark cherry cola flavor with just a hint of earthiness and a luscious mouthfeel.

2011 Sojourn Cellars Wohler Vineyard (Russian River Valley) Pinot Noir: Are you seeing a pattern here? I love Russian River Valley Pinots! This particular one even got a mention in my novel and was mentioned in the highlights of my “Release PartyRound-up” post.

2010 Anaba Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir: I discovered this wine at my favorite restaurant, Picco in Larkspur, after driving by the winery hundreds of times. I finally stopped in at the tasting room, which is a quaint spot just off the 121/12 intersection in Carneros and blogged about it in July.

2010 Sequana Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir: This was a popular wine on many by-the-glass menus in the spring—and I was quite happy about that. I also love the darker, richer Sequana Pinot from Russian River Valley and compared the two in a postback in May.

2009 Cornerstone Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: I have to include at least one Napa wine on this list! And this is it. This new release from one of my favorite wineries is a delicious Cab, which I included the tasting notes for in my last post.

A few other wines that I really enjoyed in the past year were the 2009 Castello di Amarosa Sangiovese, the 2010 Tendril Cellars Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, 2010 Rubissow Mt. Veeder Merlot and the 2012 Hess Collection Albarino. I would love to hear your favorite wines of the past year—please post your comments below or on my Facebook page. Cheers!

P.S. The hardback edition of Where I Want to Be: A Wine Country Novel is still available for purchase at authorcortney.com or consider the ebook as a gift for yourself or a fiction-loving friend (no shipping fee, all you need is the recipient's email address). The ebook is exclusively for Kindle and the Kindle app for iPad, iPhone, and iMac.

P.P.S. I look forward to sharing more of my reviews and wine-tasting experiences with you in 2014. Happy Holidays!

Serve Brut Rosé at your next holiday soirée

It is nearing Thanksgiving and I would like to declare how grateful I am for pink bubbles. I can enjoy brut rosé all year long, but there is something about a bottle of bubbly that makes any occasion feel more festive.

With a whisper of sweetness, most brut rosé wines are quite pleasant on their own and pair well with soft lighter cheeses (think goat chèvre or burrata), seafood (particularly smoked salmon), and even turkey. Any of these pretty sparklers are sure to impress your dinner guests this Thursday and throughout the holiday season:

Le Grand Courtâge Grand Cuvée Brut Rosé NV is a French sparkler made of Chardonnay, Ugni Blanc and Gamay. Thanks to the addition of the Gamay, this wine has a lovely fruitiness to it with a delicate sweetness. Fresh and vibrant, it offers aromas of ripe strawberries and white flowers while the palate extends flavors of wild strawberry and white peach. It can be found locally for as low as $20 a bottle at Three Birds Wine Bar & Bottle Shop in Corte Madera and Vintage Wine & Spirits in Mill Valley. Great value!

J Brut Rosé Russian River Valley NV ($38/bottle) has long been one of my favorite California bubblies. It is 66% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay, and 1% Pinot Meunier. It has a bright coral hue to it and a lovely perfume of strawberry and freshly baked bread. The palate is layered with notes of rose petal, strawberry and raspberry. As you can see, it disappears quickly!

On the higher end of the sparkling spectrum, the Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Brut Champagne NV ($85/bottle 750 mL; mainstreetwinebar.net) is made from 100% Pinot Noir. It is a glorious magenta hue with powerful notes of black currant, sweet cherry, and raspberry. Rivals Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé in complexity and richness (and price!).

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with friends, family, and amazing wines like these - and maybe a good book?! The hardback edition of Where I Want to Be is now available for purchase at authorcortney.com/novel. If you have another wine you like to pair with turkey dinner, please leave a comment here, on Facebook, or Twitter. Gobble gobble!

Cheers,Cortney

Release Party Round Up

On October 5th, I threw myself a party in honor of the release of my new ebook, Where I Want to Be: A Wine Country Novel. This is the first of four novels in the Wine Country Series and it contains many real wine and winery references. If you have been reading Sip, Swirl, Savor for any length of time, you know I only promote wines that I am passionate about. The same goes for the wines I mention in the novel—they are my favorite wines and places to visit. Naturally, I sourced the same wines for the party!

You can’t call it a celebration without bubbles, so we popped the cork on a bottle of J Cuvée 20 Brut NV ($28/bottle) right off the bat.  As always, this J sparkler was a crowd pleaser. A blend of 50% Chardonnay, 49% Pinot Noir and 1% Pinot Meunier, this Russian River Valley bubbly is elegant and sumptuous. It offers zesty citrus notes and yeasty aromas with flavors of pear, toast, and almonds. It was spectacular to sip on it’s own but it was also quite lovely with a variety of cheeses, olives, and Marcona almonds.

The Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs NV ($22/bottle) is what we toasted the success of my ebook with. (It’s a delicious wine, let’s hope it’s a lucky one too!) This pale-pink bubbly is 82% Pinot Noir and 8% Chardonnay, all of which is hand-harvested from the 340-acre estate in Carneros (Sonoma). With lots of bright strawberry and bright acidity, this too is a wine that is great with ripe cheeses or duck liver mousse, ahi tuna, or smoked salmon.

The 2012 Stepping Stone Napa Valley Pinot Gris ($20/bottle) is a brand-new release from Cornerstone Cellars. This fresh and lively white wine with its colorful label was the perfect accompaniment to the joyous energy of the celebration. With crisp fruit flavors and great acidity, this is a terrific warm weather wine and great with appetizers of all kinds!

Side note: Interestingly enough, the three wineries above just recently debuted beautiful new websites! After launching my new Author Cortney website, I can appreciate how much effort goes into this process. I love the new look at Jwine.com, GloriaFerrer.com, and Cornerstonecellars.com!

Another white wine that attendees sipped while I read one of my favorite excerpts from the ebook was the 2012 Honig Sauvignon Blanc ($17/bottle). It’s a white-gold color in the glass with subtle aromas of mango, lime and lemongrass. On the palate, it has zippy acidity with bright tropical fruit flavors. This wine is very refreshing and such a great value. Ten percent is aged in neutral oak barrels and it is blended with 2% Semillon and 1% Muscat. Yum!

After the party, a small group of us went to the Tiburon Tavern for dinner where we enjoyed the 2011 Sojourn Cellars Wohler Vineyard Pinot Noir ($48/bottle). This is one of my favorite Sojourn wines. About 500 cases were produced from this small Russian River Valley vineyard. It has that classic cherry cola flavor along with a super-smooth mouthfeel and moderate weight. It paired perfectly with the lamb sliders!

If you like reading this wine blog, check out my new ebook, which is available exclusively on Amazon. Where I Want to Be started as a blog post, and then got longer and longer until I started referring to it (and self-published it) as a novel. Although it’s women’s fiction, quite a few men have already read it (and enjoyed it!). I hope you’ll enjoy it too. Cheers!

Praise for Pinot Days 2013

Promise not to judge me? This wine girl did not like Pinot Noir when she started working in the wine industry. Yeah, I know; it’s hard for me to believe, too.

During a visit to the Hope & Grace tasting room in Yountville in late 2009, it was the Russian River Valley Pinot Noir that broadened my horizons. Since then, I don’t think I’ve ever met a Pinot from the Russian River Valley (#RRV) that I didn’t like.

So it was no surprise that, this past Saturday, I fell head over heels for the 2010 Bluxome Street Winery #RRV Pinot Noir (which I brought to Salito’s in Sausalito to share with some friends). Purchased from www.fpwm.com for $32/bottle, this silky-smooth wine is dark ruby and opaque in the glass. Sourced from five different vineyards, it delivers classic #RRV cherry cola flavors. The palate is opulent and complex with nuances of vanilla and spice; it finishes with lingering notes of red fruit. That was Saturday night. Yum!

Then on Sunday. . .

Although I was pouring for SojournCellars at the Pinot Days event at Fort Mason in San Francisco, I was able to sneak away and do a bit of tasting. The folks from Bluxome Street were there with the 2011#RRV Pinot as well as single-vineyard Pinots from Yorkville Highlands and Mendocino. I was partial to the #RRV, but all three are super tasty and available direct from the winery (which is located in SF!).

With limited time to taste, I visited a few of my longtime favorites. The selections from J Winery & Vineyards included the 2011 #RRV Estate Grown Pinot Noir (which is great every year) and the 2010 Robert Thomas Vineyard #RRV Pinot Noir (which was new to my taste buds). With deep aromas of cherry and spice, this limited-production wine is dark and delicious with lingering notes of baking cocoa, dark fruit, and dusty earth. But I feel like that brief description barely scratches the surface of what this wine is capable of. It’s one to spend an evening with!

Like Sojourn, Dutton-Goldfield makes many vineyard designate Pinot Noirs; vintage after vintage, they continue to wow me. The 2011 selections from Dutton-Goldfield are fantastic, particularly the new Azaya Vineyard bottling (Marin County). Lean and fruity, this wine would be perfect for lighter summer fare.

I was also impressed with the offerings from Ten Acre Winery (more on that later) and La Fenetre, which included many delightful Pinots from Santa Barbara County. (Click here for tasting notes for the A Côté Pinot Noir from one of my previous blog posts).

If you like Pinot Noir and you’ve never been to Pinot Days, make sure to get on their mailing list and check out the event in SF, SoCal, NYC, or Chicago. Even if you don’t drink Pinot—go. It will show you what you’ve been missing!

Sojourn Cellars: wines for every day of the week!

Not far from the main square in downtown Sonoma is a quaint little house-turned-tasting room. There’s a sign out front with a lawn chair on it. This inviting and casual space is the home of Sojourn Cellars.

What started as a mere 100-case release of Cabernet Sauvignon in 2001 has grown to an amazing portfolio of small-production offerings of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as well. When I recently visited the tasting salon, I was thrilled to taste seven different wines, each of them enjoyable with significant food-pairing potential.

The 2011 Chardonnay, Sangiacomo Vineyard, Sonoma Coast ($45/bottle; 250 cases produced) smells of honey blossom and white flowers. In the mouth, it is opulent and creamy thanks to the French oak treatment and 100% secondary fermentation. Baked apple and vanilla notes round out the mid-palate with refreshing hints of pineapple and ginger on the finish.

The 2011 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast ($39/bottle; 1250 cases produced) gives off delicate aromas of rose petal and red currants. It is on the lighter side with thrilling acidity, racy red cherry fruit flavors and dusty tannins with a whisper of smoke. This is an extremely easy-drinking wine that would pair nicely with prosciutto-wrapped asparagus or bacon-wrapped scallops.

The 2011 Pinot Noir, Rogers Creek Vineyard ($48/bottle; 550 cases produced) is dark and voluptuous for a Pinot. Perfumed with purple flowers and baking spice, the palate delivers a mélange of boysenberry, raspberry and black cherry fruit laced with a subtle earthiness. Wow!

The 2011 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley (not yet released) is silky smooth and elegant. This purple-hued beauty tastes like dark plum fruit and red candy and will only improve with a little age.

The 2011 Pinot Noir, Gaps Crown Vineyard, Sonoma Coast ($54/bottle; 800 cases produced) is chocolate-covered cherries in a glass. Dark ruby-red in color, this wine is luscious and mouth-filling; it could accompany many dark-meat dishes.

The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain District (please inquire for price and availability) tastes remarkably similar to the Cabernets from Terra Valentine (which I love!). Sourced from the Wurtle Vineyard, this Clone 7 Cab has aromas of black tea and dark fruit. Rich with minerals, the palate delivers satisfying flavors of ripe blueberry compote and blackberry jam. For a winery known for its Pinot Noir production, this Cab is absolutely delicious; a shining gem of a wine.

The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III, Rutherford, Napa Valley ($95/bottle; 225 cases produced) is a big, serious wine with a lot of longevity. Definitively masculine, this wine is complex and structured with firm tannins and a lingering richness. Will cellar very well and pair perfectly with a filet mignon.

Maybe you're wondering about the lawn chair... I had to ask about the story behind it, because these wines are hardly the sip-by-the-pool kind. When the founders decided to name their winery “sojourn”, which means to vacation or rest (verb) or a visit (noun), a lawn chair was the obvious emblem for rest and relaxation. Proprietor Craig Haserot also thinks the lawn chair symbolizes the “laid-back” atmosphere in Sonoma County.

These wines are so good you will want to find a comfortable place in which to sit back and enjoy them!

Don’t forget to call ahead for an appointment at the Sojourn Tasting Salon the next time you’re planning a trip to Sonoma. I also highly recommend grabbing lunch at the Sonoma Cheese Factory (the pulled pork sandwich and slaw is to die for). More Sonoma-based winery recommendations to come soon. As always, I invite you to connect with me on Facebook. I look forward to your comments. Cheers!

Special Pinot Noirs from Sequana Vineyards

Named after the Franco-Roman goddess of the River Seine, which flows through the ancestral birthplace of Pinot Noir, Sequana wines are elegant and terroir-driven. Tasting two of Sequana’s current releases side-by-side showcases the contrasting characteristics between fruit from the Santa Lucia Highlands and the Russian River Valley. Winemaker James MacPhail, who also produces wine for his eponymous label, has crafted two unique and attractively priced Pinot Noirs from these regions!    

The 2010 Sequana Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir ($32/bottle) is bright and delicious with aromas of red cherry and fresh earth. Vivacious acidity complements cheerful flavors of red currant with lingering notes of vanilla and wood spice. I was impressed with this wine’s refreshing intensity on the mid-palate and the finish. It is medium-bodied and playful in the mouth. This is a perfect Pinot Noir for lighter dishes like pork, roast chicken, ahi tuna, or salmon.

The 2010 Sequana Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($38/bottle) is the darker, more concentrated of the two. Opaque in transparency and dark ruby in color, it offers an attractive perfume of dark berries, lavender, and baking spice. This wine is weighty and opulent with black cherry and cassis flavors. Although the RRV Pinot has ample acidity to balance the dusty tannins, it is a fuller, richer style than the SLH sibling. This gorgeous wine finishes with a healthy dose of sweet oak and blackberry fruit. It is a terrific match for a steak, duck breast, or charcuterie.

These two wines were received for sample purposes. Seek out your inner goddess at the Sequana website and stay tuned for the opening of the new tasting room in The Barlow in Sebastopol. The MacPhail wines can currently be tasted at the winery. Cheers!

Trione Sampler Kit from TastingRoom.com

I almost called this post, "The Sampler Kit for the Single (Wine) Girl"...

I was set up on a blind date last week. My date was not unattractive, but with a nose ring, clad in skinny jeans, and covered in tattoos, he was hardly my type. (The guy can wear the pants in the relationship, but I’d like to reserve the right to wear skinny jeans.) 

But that wasn’t the worst of it. He didn’t drink wine. Ever.

I totally respect a person’s decision not to drink alcohol. But as I rode the ferry back to Marin that night, I debated whether I could imagine dating someone who didn’t share my passion for wine. I tried to consider this scenario with the “glass half-full” perspective—if it were to work out with Mr. Skinny Jeans, it would mean more wine for me and always having a designated driver, right? 

(But it’s not going to work, for the reasons mentioned in the first paragraph.)

In most contexts, wine is meant to be shared. And analyzing wine is a lot more fun when you’re not the only person in the room drinking it (otherwise, it’s called a monologue or talking to yourself).

There is one scenario, however, when sharing isn’t really possible. Like with a wine sampler kit from TastingRoom.com for instance.

I was thrilled to receive a six-pack of 50-milliliter bottles of the current releases from Trione Vineyards and Winery. I’ve heard a lot about these mini-bottles and sampler kits, so I was eager to check them out for myself (and by myself).

As I posted to my Facebook page, the bottles are adorable! Each has it’s own legitimate miniature label and stamped with its unique bottling date. The Trione samples included the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, the 2008 Chardonnay, the 2008 Pinot Noir, the 2008 Syrah, and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2007 Red Wine.

Sometimes as a single person, I refrain from opening a 750-milliliter bottle for fear of not finishing it. With this Trione sampler kit, this wasn’t a concern at all.

Off came the screw-caps of the little bottles in quick succession.

The 2008 Russian River Chardonnay ($30/bottle) was my favorite of the two white selections. It was refreshing and pure with bright notes of green apple, Meyer lemon, and almond skin.

The 2007 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was a delicious and full-bodied wine. It had aromas of cherry compote and a dark concentrated color in the glass. Black cherry and blackberry flavors were complemented by earthy undertones, black licorice notes, and drying tannins. It will continue to cellar nicely; however, it is—sadly (for the consumer)—sold out.

The 2007 Alexander Valley Red Wine, a Bordeaux-style blend, is also sold out. It was very rich and ostentatious with a sweet cherry liqueur perfume. This weighty, heavily extracted wine delivered ripe black cherry and sweet black plum flavors with velvety tannins. The finish showed generous oak spice and sweet vanilla notes. I really wanted another glass of this one!

That brings me to my next point. The TastingRoom.com wine sampler packaging was quite cool, but I was surprised by how little 50 milliliters is. It’s less than 2 ounces and no more than two sips, so I had to make each one count knowing that I wanted to review the wines. (The website also offers 100-milliliter “single serving” bottles—perfect for the single girl or someone dating a non-drinker haha.)  From an evaluator’s perspective, I would have preferred 100-milliliter samples to observe how the wine changes and evolves in the glass.

Full-size bottles of Trione can be ordered from their website and their tasting room in Geyserville is open Thursday thru Sunday. 

I definitely plan to visit the Trione Winery some day, perhaps when I'm dating someone who will enjoy tasting the wines with me!