Thanks to Andrew Healy and his brilliant scoring method, we were able to release the results of the judges scores early on at the Sibling Rivalry: Napa vs. Sonoma Cab event on Sunday, Feb 21.   The highest scoring wine was a Sonoma wine, Stryker Sonoma.  The two second highest scoring wines were Rutherford Grove and Ehlers Estate, both from Napa.  However, just because a judge scores a wine high, it does mean that it is their favorite.  Two wines tied for judges favorite: Rutherford Grove and Stryker Sonoma, with Ehlers Estate coming in as a second favorite.

    The judges judged the ten top scoring wines out of the 30 cabs that were submitted.  The top ten wines are below, starting from the wine in first place:

  Stryker  2006 Alexander valley  (Sonoma)

  Ehlers Estate 1886 '06 (Napa)

  Rutherford Grove 2005 Estate Cab (Napa)

  Simi Reserve '06 (Sonoma)

  Emery ‘06 (Sonoma)

  Kristian Story's '06 Rhapsody (Napa)

  Burly '06 (Napa)

  Harvest Moon '06 (Sonoma)

  Kokomo '07 (Sonoma)

  Broman Cellars '04 (Napa)

 

     By analyzing the scores and spending time with the judges, both at the event and before the event, I was able to learn some interesting things about them.    Not only did I learn a thing or two about the judges, but James Matuszewski, founder and owner of LocalWino.com, learned something about himself.  He loves Sonoma Cabernet!  James is the only judge who tried all 30 of the wines that were a part of the competition.  While James thoroughly enjoyed the Napa Cabs, I often heard him comment, "That was Sonoma? I liked that one!" 

    We brought on some girl power this time around, starting with Antonia Quast, wine consultant, Master of Wine student, and owner of The Princess Grape.  Antonia joined us for 2 of the 3 pre-event judging sessions.   What I learned about Antonia is that she is a total Napa Cab girl. She likes her wine big, complex, and truly seems to appreciate and understand the price of Napa cabs. Rhapsody was her favorite.

    William Allen,  creator of Simple Hedonisms and advocate of everything that is Sonoma wine, stayed true t his adopted hometown by giving Stryker Sonoma his highest score of the night.

    Jil Child, sommelier and founder of Wine Tours of the World, has a Sonoma palate.  Her top three wines were Stryker, Emery, and Simi

  Not only did we have girl power, but we added a member a "millennial," Lee Robustelli who works for Dominus Estate.  Don't let her youth fool you, Lee has a very good palate.  She scored Harvest Moon the highest though her favorites were Rutherford Grove and Ehlers Estate. 

    Sandrew Montgomery has a palate that just likes good wine, no matter where it comes from.  He gave Rutherford Grove his highest marks, but right behind Rutherford Grove was Simi Reserve.  Then came a Napa wine, then Sonoma, and so on and so forth.   Stryker was his favorite, however.

   Michael Meade was much like Sandrew Montgomery, spreading his scores evenly between Napa and Sonoma.  He scored Rutherford Grove the highest, but chose Kokomo as his favorite of the night (of the judges wines).

     The public tasting consisted of 30 wines, including the top ten judges wines.     Napa wines won.  Out of 15 tables, they won 8, Sonoma won 5 and 2 tied.  However when it came to the blue ticket (the ticket used to vote for your favorite wine overall) Napa was the clear winner.  Out of 79 tickets, Napa cab won 51 of the tickets with over half the tickets being given to the top four wines.  The top ten wines for the public {(#) indicates number on brown bag}, starting from the one that received the most blue tickets are:

Kristian Story's Rhapsody '06 ~ (19)

Charbay '05 ~ (4)

Bourassa's Symphony '06 ~(15)

Titus '06 ~(27)

Super Sonoman  '05~(30)

Stryker Sonoma '06 ~(5)

Ehlers Estate '05 ~ (6)

Rutherford Grove '05 ~(3)

Sciandri '06 ~ (29)

Ty Caton '08 ~ (25)

The 30 wines that participated are listed below with their corresponding number from the brown bag:

1 Ceja '07 (N)

2 Hawkes '05 (S)

3 Rutherford Grove '05 (N)

4 Charbay '05 (N)

5 Stryker  '06 (S)

6 Ehlers  '05 (N)

7 Fountain Head '05 (N)

8 Harvest moon '07 (S)

9 Casa Nuestra'07 (N)

10 Windsor Oaks '05 (S)

11 Burly '06 (N)

12 Michel Shlumberger '05 -S

13 Tudal '07 (N/S)

14 Frias Family '06 (N)

15 Bourassa Symphony  ‘06-N

16 Kokomo '07 (S)

17 Windsor Oaks '06 (S)

18 Simi Landslide '06 (S)

19 Kristian Story Wines '06 (N)

20 Chateau St. Jean '06 (S)

21 Emery '06 (S)

22 PB HEIN '05 (N)

23 Mayo '07 (S)

24 Astrale e Terra Arcturus (N)

25 Ty Caton '08 (S)

26 Broman '04 (N)

27 Titus '06 (N)

28 Simi Reserve '06 (S)

29 Sciandri '06 (N)

30 Super Sonoman '05 (S)   


ZAP!

Posted by: Becky

ZAP!

 

I happily attended the Grand Zinfandel Tasting at the ZAP festival on Saturday.  Fort Mason was brimming with sunshine, excited zinfandel fans, taxi cabs waiting in line, taco trucks, grass skirts, leis, tribal masks and wine overflowing in two buildings.  A-G in one, H-Z in the other.   We were on the hunt for small wineries with great zin.  ZAP didn't disappoint!   I handed out quite a few business cards, hoping at least a few will be interested in Small Lots Big Wines.  We're here to serve the small wineries, but they have to want it!

Glass in hand, our first stop was to get a loaf of bread and some Smart water.  This is why I carry a purse!  This is also why there are breadcrumbs stuck to the bottom. *sigh* 

The first thing we notice is how nice the workers are.  Maybe it was the Hawaiian theme?  Smiles abound as we work our way towards the tables.  The noise was deafening.   After sampling many tables, we snuck outside to hear something other than the roar of thousands of people talking.   The picture below shows zin lovers from building H-Z taking a noise break and enjoying the view.  That's the famous island of Alcatraz you see in the background, AKA- The Rock.  You can almost see Sean Connery swimming to freedom!

Even though this event was crowded with people, it was very well spread out.  The wait for a pour, if any, was minimal.  There was plenty of cheese, bread and water.  Lots of spit buckets!  Well, you know how it is, not everyone dumps and/or spits.  Towards the end there were a few people that could barely walk- but most people seemed to be taking their zin in stride!

I had a lot of fun running into my ex-con friends.  Don't worry, although Alcatraz is a short swim from Fort Mason, I'm referring to ex-Constellation employees. Many I found at small wineries - Kathy and Rebecca were manning the SideJob Cellars booth.  SideJob has a wonderful Dry Creek Zin, C-5 - it's named after Jeff's corvette, the one he had to sell to start his "side job"

I got a big kick out of what some wineries call their zins- here is a sample of more:

Plungerhead

Fly by Night

Powder Keg

Big Bad Wolf

InZinerator

The Devious Woman

Zinzilla

Oblivious

Liar's Dice

Controlled Chaos

Explozin

Smuggler's Son

Por que no?

Twisted Sister

ZaZa Zin

My favorite novelty item was Saddleback's "Barrel Program-Wine by the Glass" - for $52 a gallon, you get a stainless steel barrel ($200 refundable deposit- like getting a keg of beer) you get the delicious, smoky 2008 Napa Valley Old Vine Zinfandel.  Well, I think it's for restaurants only, but wouldn't it be cool (and green!) if the general public could get those too!

Continuing on, we tasted, dumped and kept our wits.  We talked to, hugged and dodged a fair share of fellow zin lovers.

I was happy to see a lot of producers that were in our Sibling Rivalry event, especially because we were so busy at our event we didn't get a chance to taste all the wines.  Ballentine, Benessere, Downing, Fontanella, Kokomo, Moss Creek, Peju, Saddleback, SideJob, Tin Barn, Tofanelli, Woodenhead and Z-52.  

I also stopped at Nichelini's table.  I love their zin, and the history of this winery, the oldest family owned, continuously operated winery in Napa Valley!  I got married there years ago, thanks in part to Toni Nichelini-Irwin.  I didn't realize that she had died earlier this month. So with a few tears in my eyes, I drank a silent toast to a great woman.  I hope someone has written down the history of how her grandfather produced wine through prohibition.    The winery won't seem the same without her, but her dedication and love of the winery will be felt in those old walls.  Next time I go there I'll still hear Sinatra, Dean Martin and all the great music she played in the cellar. Cheers Toni!

Other then my sad moment and my parking ticket, the day was a complete success.  Oh, except for the comment from A------ Winery (owner) that saw my sticker and said "Media!  There sure seems to be a lot of you guys around here, must've been a cheap ticket."   Well, I told him we probably paid what he did to get in. I doubt he'll be joining our website JGeesh, you try to do something nice and that's the thanks you get!


Sibling Rivalry: The Results
I know everyone is dying to know about the results for the Sibling Rivalry Tasting so I’ll get right to it.  The judges judged ten wines listed below in the order in which they were tasted.
#1 ’06 Woodenhead Martinelli Rd Old Vine Zin/Sonoma County/Russian River
#2 ’07 Bonneau Dry Creek Valley/Mauriston Vineyard/Sonoma County/Dry Creek Valley
#3’07 Robert Craig Howell Mtn Zin, Napa County/Howell Mtn
#406 Zahtila Dry Creek Zin, Sonoma County/Dry Creek
#5’07 Titus Zinfandel/Napa Valley/Napa Valley (grown upvalley in St. Helena)
#6 '06 Grant Street Vineyards, Napa Valley/Oakville
#7’07 Teresina, Sonoma County/Sonoma Valley-MacLeod Vineyard
#8 ’07 The Terraces Zinfandel/Napa/Rutherford
#9 ’07 Tin Barn Russian River/Sonoma County/Russian River-Glisson Vineyard
#10 ’07 Fontanella/Napa Valley/ Mt. Veeder and Oakville
Judges Pick: Titus
Highest Score: Fontanella
2nd place :Titus
3rd Place: Tin Barn
Highest Scoring Sonoma Winery: Tin Barn
Overall Valley: Napa (by one point)
This was also a competition for the judges.  We tested their blind tasting abilities by having them guess the county, year, barrel program, blend, price point and AVA of each wine.  After calculating their scores I am happy to report that Napa and Sonoma are in very good hands when it comes to our wine experts.  Our top scorer, funny enough, is William Allen.  A man who asked if he could refrain from the competition portion for the judges because he was afraid of being embarrassed.   William is not a Sommelier nor does he have any other letters that he can put after his name.  What’s even more remarkable is that he does not consider himself a zin lover.  Yet he won by a fair margin.
Many of you are fans of KokomoWineryErik Miller is passionate about Sonoma County.  While many of the judges were not able to distinguish between Napa and Sonoma, Erik Miller definitely knew his beloved valley, as did William Allen.  When deciding on a barrel program winemakers might want to  consult fellow judge, Andrew Healy, who guessed 7 of the 10 barrel programs correctly.
James Matusweski, along with Andrew Healy, can pick out a blend anywhere.  Again, winemakers, you may want to consult with these two talented wine experts.  Michel Rollan, watch out!
Sandrew Montgomery, your personal sommelier, focused more on his true passion, which wines go well with food. He chose Woodenhead and Zahtila’s Sonoma Zin as great food wines.  I’m hungry just thinking about those wines and the wonderful dinner my sister, Gale Tyner, prepared for this event.  Recipes for the Lamb and Pork will be posted on the site soon.
The most difficult thing to guess was the particular AVA.   Of all the judges there were only 2 correct answers for this question, those came from William and Erik.  What’s nice about Erik doing such a fabulous job with Blend, County, and being one of only two to guess an AVA, is that when you drink Kokomo you know you really are experiencing a point of view.  Erik knows exactly what he’s tasting when he makes, blends, and releases his wine.
Overall, the judges did a great job.  They have Efrain’s and my heartfelt thanks for their hard work, good humor, and passion for wine.
Now on to the public tasting.   Unlike the judges, the public was not nearly as excited by Napa.  The top three favorites were all Sonoma wines with Mayo and Viansa both coming in at number one.  However, Chase Cellars was the favorite Napa Wine.
In 13 head to head competitions, Sonoma wines won 8 times.  Even when broken down between male and females..Sonoma still wins.   Some tables were very close, separated by only a point or two.  Others were landslides.
I want to thank all of you who came out on this rainy night and participated in our first ever Sibling Rivalry Blind Tasting Event.  A big thank you to James Berry who MC-ed, found us some sound, and kept things rolling.  We had a lot of help but I need to thank Susan Hirschy, who always works selflessly and quietly behind the scenes without asking for anything in return and a big thank you to my nephew, Justin, who fetched glasses, set up tables, and poured wine even though he doesn't drink.
The next event is on February 21, Napa vs. Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon.  We’ll be doing some fine tuning and tweaking to make this event more organized and to try to get the results out to you quicker.
Below are the wines that were involved with the public portion of the tasting.  They deserve a big hand and your patronization.   Without them, these events would not be possible.  I hope next time you are out and about wine tasting, you’ll consider visiting these fine wineries.

Cheers!
Becky Tyner

By Table

1

Ballentine '07 Block 7 Estate(21) Napa

Kokomo '07 Perotti Vineyards (Dry Creek) (30) Sonoma

 

2

Z-52 '07 Brsdada (13)Sonoma

Saddleback '06 (14) Napa

 

3

Mayo '07 Ricci Vineyard, Russian River(22)Sonoma

Pope Valley Winery '06 Eakle Ranch (25) Napa

 

4

Benessere BK Collins  '06 Old Vines(27) Napa

Harvest Moon Pitts Home Ranch (31) Sonoma

 

5

Chase '07 Hayne Vineyard (11) Napa

Strycker '06 Patti's Patch  Alexander Valley(16) Sonoma

 

6

Pendleton ’07 (12) Sonoma

Benessere Black Glass (35) Napa

7

Zahtila '06 Oat Hill (15) Napa

Paradise Ridge '06 Hoenselars Vineyard(18) Sonoma

 

8

Tofanelli '06 Calistoga(8) Napa

Alex Valley Vrds Sin Zin (20) Sonoma

 

9

Pendleton ’06 Russian River Ponzo Vineyard (19) Sonoma

Z-52 Truchard '06  (24) Napa

 

10

Alex Valley Vrds Redemption Zin  '07 Dry Creek (26)Sonoma

Rustridge '06 Zinfandel, Chiles Valley (28) Napa

 

11

Viansa (17) Sonoma

Peju '06 Napa Valley Zinfandel(29) Napa

 

12

Downing Napa

Sidejob Sonoma

 

 

13

Simi (39) Sonoma

Vermeil '07 Calistoga (40)Napa

 

 


Man of the Year: Aaron DeBeers, Verismo Winery.

We chose Aaron for being a "can do" man.  When the D'Ambrosio family asked Aaron, their vineyard manager, if he could start a winery, create the label, do the branding and make the wine he said, "yes, I can!"    He came up with the name, label, and varietals for Verismo Winery, with nods to classical music and Frank's D'Ambrosio's attachment to his dogs.  Having a culinary background, he took his experience for flavor to make the wine, receiving 90 points on the Cabernet right out the door.  Congrats Aaron..you never cease to amaze us!

 

Lifetime Achievement Award: Gustavo Brambilla, GustavoThrace Winery.

 

Gustavo Brambilla immigrated to St. Helena in 1957 as a young boy. It was there that he met the then winemaker for BV, Mike Grgich. Mike was such an inspiration that Gus ended up transferring from the University of Oregon, where he had a baseball scholarship, to UC Davis where he could study winemaking. In 1976 he landed his first job as a wine maker at Chateau Montelena and then joined his mentor, Mike Grgich at Grgich Cellars just one year later. He stayed at Grgich for 23 years before launching Gustavo Thrace in 1996 with business partner, Thrace Bromberger. We salute Gus for his hard work in the wine industry of Napa Valley, from its rebirth in the 70’s to the boom it experiences now.

 

American Winery of the Year: Taylor Family Vineyards.

 

You don't get more American than serving in our military.  CFO of Taylor Family Vineyard, Phil Carlson, served  as a Naval Fighter Pilot before he dipped his toes into wine.  While Phil was just a twinke in his mother's eye, Jerry Taylor proudly served our country during the Korean War as a mechanic in the Army.  Thank you to the Taylor family for your service to our country.

 

European (immigrant) Winery of the Year: Delectus.

 

Twenty years ago Gerhard Reisacher tried some California wine.  A short time later he was on a plane to take his experiences as an 11th generation Austrian winemaker to California.  Using old world techniques and a European appreciation for the fact that fruit can and does ripen in the California sun, Delectus wines offer an old world twist on new world fruit.  But Delectus brings more then just wine tradition to their label, they are bringing the tradition of Family.  Each year, daughter Julia (age 10) draws the label for the Julia's Blend.  And as big thank you to Mutti (Gerhard’s mom) for flying over every year from Austria, they have created Mutti's Blend. Sometimes it takes an Old World soul to remind us all there is to appreciate and savor about New World wine.

 

New Winery of the Year:  Pavo Winery.

 

Not only is Pavo a new winery, but the winemaker/vintner is fairly new.  At just 26 years old, Jordan has managed to not only launch his own label using his family's estate syrah, but he managed to do it well.  From the fun name, eye-catching label, great hospitality, and most importantly, great wine, Pavo is our New Winery of the Year.

 

 

 

Winemaker of the Year:  Josh Mc Daniels, Sweet Valley Wines.

 

When Sweet Valley winery owner, Shane Fischer, gave me a bottle of the Syrah from his winery up in Washington, I was skeptical.  Not because it was from Walla Walla Washington, not because the wine was inexpensive, but because the winemaker was just barely 21 years old!   However, I opened the wine at our family's celebration of my son's return from Afghanistan...and I was blown away.  Full bodied, rich, and very drinkable, I was pretty impressed that what I was drinking in my glass was made from a young man the same age as my son.

 

Exporter of the Year: Altruistic Boutique Wine Company

 

Last year when Raiford Cockfield told me he was going to start a wine company in Hong Kong that would specialize in California boutique wines, I thought, "yeah right, show me."   Sure enough, this last summer Rai and business partner, Karin, came to Napa where Small Lots Big Wines introduced him to some great small wineries such as White Rock, Boeschen, and Petroni.  Since then he has reordered wine three times with plans to increase his portfolio in the next few years. Congrats to Rai and Karin for doing such a great job of representing California in the Asian Market.

 

Retailer of the Year: Cellars of Sonoma.

 

Big Kudos to Mike Westerberg and the gang at Cellars of Sonoma.  Cellars of Sonoma is a co-op of ten or so small boutique wineries from Napa and Sonoma located in Railroad Square, Santa Rosa.  Co-ops have been around for a while, but what makes Cellars of Sonoma stand out is the fun and creative marketing they have done so that they can survive the current economic situation.  From Facebook to Twitter, from Tweet-ups to Christmas Parties, Cellars of Sonoma has made their tasting room more then just a co-op, it's the place to be.

 

Distiller of the Year: Charbay.

 

Was this easy, or what?.  Anyone who follows me on facebook knows that I love girlie drinks made with Charbay vodka.   But Charbay offers more than just vodka and great wine; they also make Tequilla!  Miles & Marko are the first American Distillers to personally hand distill 100% Blue Agave Tequila Blanco in Mexico.  Not only are they first, but they are ranking amongst the best tequilas according to Sante Magazine and their many friends and family around the bay area.

 

Innovator of the Year: Access Wine Direct.

 

Being an innovator means looking at the market, seeing a hole, and finding a way to fill it.  That's exactly what James Matuszewski did when he started Access Wine Direct.  He realized that there are many people who would like wine club perks without the automated shipment of wine.  By partnering with wineries, consumers can join his Access Wine Club and visit his winery partners and get all the perks wine club member receive such as discounts, invitation to events, and free tastings.  Members can also purchase the wine from the winery partners through James for additional perks and discounts.

 

Wine Region of the Year:  Coombsville.

 

I remember when Faust bought the cattle farm where my son practiced baseball up on Coombsville road.  I thought, "they're going to plant vines there?"  After trying some great coombsville wine from Black Cat, Sciandri, and  Madison Chase, I can see why Agustin Huneeus purchased that old cattle farm.   A cool climate area with stunning views, this AVA produces big bold cabs and rich spicy syrahs.   Keep your eyes open for wines that boast this "pending" Napa Valley AVA.

 


Happy Trails

Posted by: Becky

 

Last weekend my sister, Gale, my friend Donna, and I all went to Amador County to check Becky Tyner and David Lukasthe wine  up there. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the drive from Napa was easy and scenic.

The first winery where we stopped had great wine. The second place we stopped, not so much. The third place we stopped was Villa Toscano. It was about at this time that we all looked at each other and said, “Really?” You see, all of us are in hospitality so we are keenly aware of hospitality (or lack thereof). And so far we had received a cold shoulder. It didn’t seem like any winery was happy to have people in their tasting room (especially industry from Napa), which were always packed by the way. Their bad attitudes were starting to put a damper on our fun and sunny day.

This is the conversation we were having when we went into Runquist. And that’s when the day changed. We were greeted with warm smiles, great wine, and delicious cheese. EVERYONE there was fun and friendly. From that point on we thoroughly enjoyed our day wine tasting in Amador County. So my advice, based on my limited experience, skip the first 3 places on the main wine drag.

One thing that we were all surprised at was how packed every tasting room was. There was at least one stretch limo at every winery. Because the wineries don’t charge for tastings, they draw a young crowd. However, the tastings were just that, a taste. To me that was GREAT because I could visit more wineries without getting tipsy or palate fatique. Because of the crowded nature of the tasting rooms the one thing that was missing from the day was a true wine experience. I didn’t learn any winery’s story. Didn’t learn who the winemakers were. In other words, the only connection I was able to make with the winery was with the wine (which was quite good).

Most wineries extended industry discounts. However, Wilderotter would not give us an industry discount because we are from Napa. Youngs gave us less of a discount because we were from Napa. As someone who works in a tasting room in Napa, I was disappointed. We give industry discounts to EVERYONE who is in the industry, even vintners from other countries. Discrimination, even against Napa, is always bad for business.  If you are in the wine industry from Napa I suggest visiting wineries in other wine regions that extend the same hospitality towards you as you do to them.

The next day we decided to go home via Lodi. The first winery stop in Lodi was Peirano. They had some really good wines at ridiculously low prices. We then went to Abundance and then ended at Lukas. The Lukas Winery was exactly what I was looking for. We were greeted by David Lukas who then took us into the “Chai”(barrel room) and gave us a personal tasting there. David is passionate about Zinfandel. He carefully handcrafted his estate grown Zin with the same care, love, and expense (all brand new French Oak barrels) that any Cab vintner from Napa uses. And it shows in the wine. The Zins are elegant. That’s right, elegant Zin. It can happen..and it did, at Lukas Winery.

All in all the weekend was great. I enjoyed the wines from both counties very much. In Amador my picks are Runquist, CG D’Aire, and Amador Cellars. In Lodi, go to Lukas. The wines are little more expensive then the other wineries in Lodi, but well worth it.

 

A winery Chicken at Bantam Cellars


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