October 26th, 2008
I’m finally taking some time to check back in and reflect on the killer weekend we all had at the Wine Bloggers Conference. As I sort of expected, I couldn’t get a coherent post together during the conference because I was always too busy meeting other geeky winos or too tipsy to open up my laptop. I guess that’s a good thing, right?
In any case, I figured I could at least post notes from the live blogging segment, when I was motivated and actually taking notes. One of the points of controversy being discussed during the conference was whether or not people should post ratings for bad wines. Alder Yarrow, in his breakout session, put a stake in the ground, saying that he never posts negative reviews. I get the whole “why waste time discussing bad wines and making enemies” idea, but I’m not sure that I agree with it. I don’t rate many wines on here but in terms of my restaurant reviews, I talk about poor experiences as often as great ones. I don’t enjoy complaining but I think that if the service sucks and the food is overpriced in a restaurant, people deserve to know. That’s my philosophy on wine as well.
That being said, we all tasted the same wines and a laundry list of notes for all of them is probably boring. I’m going to take Alder’s approach this time. So here are the notes for my 5 favorites, and if you were at WBC with me, what did you think?
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The Small Vines Wines– 2006 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is going to be released to mailing list members next month, so this was a sneak peek at this elegant Pinot. It showed soft raspberry and cocoa with a bit of earthiness on the nose. On the palate it was lean and well-balanced with a lingering finish of more soft, red berries. Only 150 cases were produced.
Kanzler Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir from Sebastopol was another sneak-peek for the bloggers and another small-production beauty. This Pinot is more decadent than the Small Vines with sweeter aromatics like baking spice and some plum, almost reminiscent of a fruit cake. The palate is super fruit-forward with a ton of black cherries. It’s medium-bodied with a silky, rich mouthfeel.
Bonterra Single Vineyard WineMakers Blend 2004, $45
What a neat wine with a real complex profile. It’s crafted from organically grown grapes, comprised of
60% Merlot/26% Cab Sauv/14% Petite Sirah from Mendocino
Each time I sniffed this blend I got something new. At first it began with blackberries and spice, then some oak aromas kicked in with hints of vanilla. Then I started to notice some vegetal funky stuff like green pepper. There was some continuing oak on the palate and more pronounced blackberry. The length on this wine really impressed me, I wrote “very long!” in my notes.
Dark Horse 2006 Zinfandel Treborce Vineyard Dry Creek Sonoma County, $34
Hello meat! This Dry Creek Zin has a real smoky, meaty nose with some spice lingering underneath. The alcohol clocks in at 15.4% and you do feel the heat a bit on the palate. It’s a big Zin with a lot of depth.
James David Cellars 2007 Muscat, Paso Robles $18
The nose on this dry Muscat made me anticipate a sweet wine. It’s got lovely honeysuckle and white flower aromas with succulent peach. But then it’s refreshingly dry on the palate with some lingering peach. This is a unique, easy-drinking white that seemed to be a crowd pleaser.
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Filed under Wine Events | Comments (5)
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Funny, maybe it’s because I was sitting next to you, but these were some of my favorites of the live blogging session as well…although I thought that the Dark Horse, while savory and interesting, was pretty hot on the finish.
My favorite overall was the Kanzler… by far.
Yea, well I think we were actually too crazed to compare notes much except for the Muscat so maybe it’s just similar palates? I’m curious to see everybody else’s opinions when they post’em.
Funny Kanzler was a fave, from the guy who doesn’t like Pinot? ;)
Yea, I did remark on that aspect of the Dark Horse but I still think it was one of the better wines out of the bunch.
Hey Erika,
I think the “five favorites” format is a good one, but I hope you don’t choose to use it exclusively.
Personally, I don’t have any issue with you (or others) posting negative reviews or admitting to disappointments. It helps put things in context.
There’s nothing more annoying to me than looking at Jay Miller’s reviews for the Wine Advocate, and seeing that a huge percentage are 90 and above, and the rest are in the high 80s. It makes them meaningless.
If I know what you don’t like, it helps me understand what you do like more fully. It also builds trust, which is essential.
Thanks!
Jill
Hey Jill, I definitely agree and I tried to convey that in the post (maybe not so successfully?). I thought in this case, for the sake of avoiding repetition, I’d pick out a few favorites. What were yours?
You know, I think my favorite was the Small Vine Wines, and the James David Muscat was a close second!