2002 Walter Hansel South Slope Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, California

Several weeks ago we reviewed the 2002 Walter Hansel Pinot Noir and while I ended up really enjoying it, Cat did not. I knew that this winery also offered a few single vineyard Pinot Noirs and this is the first we have been able to try.

After sitting decanted for about an hour we glass tasted and found the wine immediately approachable. The nose had nice, round fruit of berries... primarily sweeter blueberry and a little blackberry. There is also a really nice fragrant floral component to the nose that we notice in some California Pinot Noirs. The floral scents are balanced by a little smoke and just a bit of alcohol. The palate is round and puts the fruit right out there with more berry, some cherry but not as deeply sweet as the nose. There is some wet soil flavors (like wet soil smells...) and a little peppery spice in there with really, really subtle cedar on the finish. This wine is lighter, totally Burgundian in style and remarkably complex. As we drank this Pinot Noir over the next hour or so it continued to open and soften, being incredibly well balanced and elegant. This was a terrific bottle of wine.

cost - $37.99

winecommando rating (1-10) - 9

this wine is available at Raeder's Wines online

२००२ Chateau Reynella Grenache, McLaren Vale, Australia

This was a wine that I stood in the wine shop holding for a few minutes doing a quick positive/negative analysis to determine if it should come home or not. It made it. In the positive category is that it is a Grenache from McLaren Vale, Australia. McLaren Vale is a pretty amazing wine region, and we reviewed the De Lisio Shiraz earlier from there and it did kick ass. Grenache is an ideal grape to grow in McLaren Vale, as most Rhone varietals are, and John Reynell is a highly respected old school Australian wine pioneer. His arrival dates back to 1838 (not sure if that was by choice or not... ) and in 1842 he released his first wine.

In the negative category is the fact that Chateau Reynella is a pretty huge winery. Almost like a wine factory. We tend toward the smaller, family run, hands-on wineries in our wine buying choices... more of the craft of wine vs. the enterprise. Another concern was the words "Basket Pressed" right on the front of the label. Now, basket pressed is not a bad thing. In fact, it is an incredibly involved traditional method of pressing the fruit that ostensibly results in superior quality juice. On its face, this would be a good thing to trumpet about any wine. In this case, I worried that it was the result of a careful marketing study conducted with a multitude of focus groups. Was I being watched at that very moment?

Well, obviously the wine came home and we opened and decanted for an hour before tasting. When we did we found a really bright and fresh smelling wine. The nose was full of concentrated raspberry and ripe strawberry, with a little wet soil. The palate delivered more raspberry along with cranberry, and earth and coffee in the finish. There were tannins, but they were in check and only added to what was really solid structure in the wine. Medium bodied, this is a great food wine and I would recommend something a little more rich to contrast well with the brightness of the fruit. This Grenache is definitely on par with the Domaine Lafage that we tasted last month, though with more focus on the fruit. My only knock would be the $10 price difference with the Lafage.

cost - $22.00

winecommando rating (1-10) - 8.25

2002 Kaesler Avignon, Barossa Valley, Australia

This wine presents another great immigrant wine story. Sadly, though, this immigrant story begins with a wayward German (that's not really sad, just my bias). No Italians make up the players in Kaesler's history, thus ruining my standing theory on all great wines coming from wineries/vineyards originally founded by Italian immigrants. But I digress.

It was a German shoemaker, Gottfried Kaesler, who arrived in South Australia in 1845 and set in motion the events that would put this wine on our table 162 years later. Gottfried landed in Australia and fulfilled his dream of becoming a farmer. He chose his land carefully, and built his farm in the Barossa Valley which would become one of Australia's preeminent wine producing areas. Back then, Gottfried and his sons were not sure which vines would survive the Australian climate, so they planted many different grape varietals as an initial trial-and-error to see which might survive, and eventually thrive.

They found that the Rhone varietals of Syrah (Shiraz in Australia) and Grenache were especially suited for the rigors of the sun and weather of the southern hemisphere. It was on these grapes, and the Southern Rhone style of winemaking, that the Kaesler family began to focus and over the years hone with each successive vintage.

This wine is named "Avignon" because it is a blend that matches that from Chateauneuf-du-Pape in Southern France, Avignon being the cultural capital of Provence. The blend is what is affectionately referred to as "GSM," an acronym for Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. In this wine it is 58%G, 31%S and 9%M. It is also blended with 2% Viognier, so I guess that makes this one a GSMV.

We decanted this wine for two hours before tasting, and it was good thing we did. When we tasted we could tell that the wine was still in the process of opening up. It was massive. We let it sit while we made dinner and when we came back to it we both exclaimed out loud that it kicked ass. The nose is amazing. We smelled toffee and vanilla, rich roasted vegetables, and something akin to the smell of baking bread. This wine had us, before we even tasted. The palate was full of cherry, more toffee but with a slight burnt edge to it... almost like the burnt sugar on top of a creme-brule. There was a consistent earthy, vegetal quality behind everything that carried through to the finish. This wine was not so much elegant as it was just really damn interesting. And delicious. We would classify it as heavier bodied, but balanced with a long finish. It is a FANTASTIC food wine (at less than half the price of good Chateauneuf-du-Pape) and I could see pairing it with anything from a great piece of beef seared on the grill to hearty stews. It made me crave rustic food with lots of herbs. I would love to have this wine with cassoulet and really crusty warm bread. I'm starving.

cost - $23.99

winecommando rating (1-10) - 9.25

2002 Jade Mountain Syrah, Napa Valley, California

The year is 1991. You have the chance to buy some vineyard property. You look, you hunt, and you wait patiently for just the right opportunity to become available. Your perseverance pays off and 42 acres of PRIME vineyard land on Mt. Veeder, vineyards that produce especially excellent Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for several reserve wines, hits the market. You are Jim Paras, a San Francisco attorney with a passion for wine that runs very, very deep. You buy the 42 acres on Mt. Veeder and what do you do next? Do you get into the Cabernet Sauvignon business?

No.

You rip out all of the vines on the property and replant Syrah. The actions of a man who has gone insane. Or, perhaps, we are the ones who are insane.

Jim Paras had a vision and he wanted to make top notch Syrah. He joined forces with Doug Danielak, a known Syrah master who had trained in the crucible of the Rhone Valley. You see, they both knew that the land Jim had purchased on Mt. Veeder, with its cool temps and soil type was primo Syrah growing territory, and anybody can grow good Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa Valley. They executed their plan with extreme prejudice.

Cat and I had not had any wines from Jade Mountain before, but given our lucky streak with New World Syrahs, and given that today is Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBW) and the theme of the day is "New World Syrah" we concluded it is a great time to review this wine. I submitted our review of the Chilean Montes Alpha Syrah to WBW being hosted at Winecast, a wine blog worth checking out.

This wine, blended with 3% Viognier, was very nice. We decanted for one hour prior to tasting. When we poured our glasses we found the nose full of lilac and blackberry. We loved the lilac. There were hints of smokiness, and even some rosemary. Initially, there was an odd scent to the nose... almost like green olives, I think, but it dissipated quickly. The palate was incredibly well balanced and tasted of more blackberry with dark chocolate and earthiness. The flavors were round and full, and the finish was long. Tannin was present, but not sharp and was softened the longer it was in the glass. This wine made me want to eat roasted duck, it would have paired really, really well.

cost - $27.99 on sale from $29.99

winecommando rating (1-10) - 8.5

2002 Cline Los Carneros Syrah, Sonoma, California

There is no reality where it was fair to ask another syrah to follow our experience with the Ridge syrah from a couple of days ago. In fact, after the Ridge we should have just quit trying wine and deleted the blog. And yet, here we are.

This is a solid syrah, a nice value and very drinkable. It didn't really stand out in any way, though, and just tasted really neutral. Again, not fair given our minds being blown by two syrahs so recently. The nose of this wine is light, with just a little fruit and a baked cookies kind of scent. A lot of Californian syrahs have that baked cookies smell to me. Some people totally get that, some don't. Cat thinks she smelled that too, but she's not sure and mostly just humors me.

The flavors on the palate were ripe dark cherries, a little allspice or clove... I can't tell the difference, and that same baked cookie quality. It was medium bodied with little tannin and a longish finish. The finish did not seem balanced and was a bit cloying, like many other Californian syrahs.

Cline positions the Los Carneros syrah as one of their best, and the fruit is from a small 18 acre vineyard along a hillside in the center of Sonoma's cool climate area. That is ideal for producing rich, concentrated fruit and sets my expectations for what this wine would be like. it didn't really live up to a small vineyard production "best" syrah, but just to reiterate... it was a nice wine and enjoyable. Just not that memorable.

cost - $21.99

winecommando rating (1-10) - 6

2002 Walter Hansel Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley

This was a wine that cleaved Cat and I. I really liked it. Cat, not so much. It definitely had some interesting qualities, and after pouring our glasses it really wasn't that great. I decanted it and let it sit for awhile. When I came back to it I was pretty happy. The flavors were full with lots of jammy berry type flavors (I hate the way that sounds, but that is what I tasted). The nose is definitely earthy, and almost a little bit smoky. The flavors lasted a long time on the tongue and were very elegant. Ultimately, this turned out to be a really nice wine... it just needed some time to reveal itself.

Here's the deal with this winery. It is a true "family vineyard and winery." Walter Hansel planted the original vines for the vineyard in the Russian River Valley back in 1978. This was a labor of love for Walter. Today, his son Stephen runs the winery and is the wine maker. This is a good thing as he has been very well steeped in how to make incredible pinot noir. I read somewhere that he studied with a great recognized wine maker, but I cannot remember who it was. Whoever it was, it was a good investment. This vineyard is focused on low yield, quality fruit. Everything is hand picked, and there is tremendous focus on the craft of making wine. This is no quantity operation, and it really shows in the quality of the wine. I read that the first wine that Stephen Hansel made was done in his garage. I love stories like that. Apple Computers started in a garage. Some really great music came out of garages. The garage may be my favorite room in a house.

I thoroughly enjoyed this bottle of wine and was sad that Cat didn't groove on it. The more for me, I guess. Look for the single vineyard pinot noirs from this winery, I am sure they are excellent. I'll be reviewing a couple in the coming weeks.

cost - $33.99

winecommando rating (1-10) - 9

2002 Domain Thomas + Fils "La Crele" Sancerre, Loire

French sauvignon blanc gets me as geeked up as pinot noir. There's just something about really, really good ones that stop me in my tracks. Cat feels the same way. This wine was not one of those, but it was still quite good. There are really two main sauvignon blancs coming out of the Loire Valley in France, and they are very different in style. Sancerre being the more delicate of the two, the other is Pouilly Fume, which is made in the next village over from Sancerre. In Sancerre there are two types of vineyards... one is made up of more earth and the other of quite a bit of limestone. This one comes from the limestone vineyards, and you can taste it.

The nose is terrific. It smells like summer, which is probably why I love Sancerre so much. On the tongue there are green apple and lime-like flavors. The limestone quality is prevalent throughout. You can smell it and you can taste it. I really like this, but some do not. I enjoy being able to taste and smell the ground in which the vines are growing. Sounds crazy, but the French call this "terroir" and this approach of bringing out the soil qualities in wine is catching on big time in California. Most of the higher end wines from Napa and Sonoma are now embracing the unique qualities of their soil and touting these as desired flavors in their wines. I say rock on. This wine was crisp and refreshing, and would be a terrific apertif or afternoon cocktail wine with light appetizers or good lightly flavored cheese.

cost - $19.99 on sale from $24.99

winecommando rating (1-10) - 6.5