Last weekend we stopped at Chateau Davell's brand new tasting room on our way to a jam sess in the Bay Area to pick up a friend's wine club shipment. WOW!! The view is spectacular, the grounds peaceful and inviting, and the wines are as good as ever.
I am posting my first ever VLOG or video blog on our visit - which is here:
Two of our favorites were the 2015 Charlotte's Cuvee and the 2015 Verlyn. The winemaker, Erik, names his wines after members of his family and includes beautiful portraits of them on every bottle. Charlotte is his daughter, and she was happily doing cartwheels on the front lawn while we sipped her namesake wine. Verlyn is Erik's grandfather.
We are definitely blend people, and both these wines are blends. The Charlotte is an Estate wine and a blend of Cabernet, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Our friend John Worley served it at our jam sess where it was definitely a hit. It has an inky deep reddish garnet color with a blonde coffee noise, big fruity middle tones, and a cardamom and clove finish. It is both delicate and rich at the same time, and the blend has created just the right amount of lightness and complexity.
The Verlyn is a stronger, heavier wine, with 45% Mourvedre and 25% Grenache. It has solid, structured tannins and would cellar well. I tasted cedar, toasted oak, rich black cherry and pomegranate flavors. This wine would stand up well to any grilled meat or BBQ, and has plenty of spunk and character.
The longest finish wine is the 2015 Green Man cabernet - a great wine to drink on Summer Solstice. I got eucalyptus, wood, and leather on the finish, with a ripe garden nose and early palate and blackberries with sun dried tomatoes on the mid palate. Chewy tannins give this wine the structure one expects from a fine Cabernet.
If you are up this way, a visit to Chateau Davell will be worth your while for sure!
A truly good Cab Franc is very tough to find. Not many wineries offer it, and many are harsh or just plain blah. But when you get a truly good one, it is worth the wait.
Tom Findleton has created such a gem and I was thrilled to be able to taste it back in February. Since then, we have enjoyed several wonderful bottles of this "nectar of the Gods"
Cab Franc is primarily grown as a blending wine, which is why you rarely see it sold pure. From Wikipedia,:
| Cabernet Franc | |
|---|---|
| Grape (Vitis) | |
Cabernet Franc in Viala & Vermorel
|
|
| Color of berry skin | Blue-black |
| Species | Vitis vinifera |
| Also called | Bouchet, Bouchy, Breton (more) |
| Origin | Bordeaux, France |
| Notable regions | Bordeaux, Loire |
| Notable wines | Château Cheval Blanc |
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being used in blends and produced as a varietal in Canada and the United States, it is sometimes made into ice wine in those regions.
Cabernet Franc is lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon,[1] making a bright pale red wine[2] that contributes finesse and lends a peppery perfume to blends with more robust grapes. Depending on the growing region and style of wine, additional aromas can include tobacco, raspberry, bell pepper, cassis, and violets.
Records of Cabernet Franc in Bordeaux go back to the end of the 18th century, although it was planted in Loire long before that time. DNA analysis indicates that Cabernet Franc is one of two parents of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Carménère.[3]
This lovely and fully drinkable wine is acidic in character, with the beautiful softness of a Cab Franc as well as a bold character usually seen more in its close relative; Cabernet Sauvignon. I tasted rich forward fruit, a hint of black pepper, soft vanilla and hot cocoa flavors enriched with some tart strawberry and rhubarb middle tones and a soothing rich dark berry finish that was both lingering and satisfying. I also got just a hint of the type of bell pepper you would find in a Chicago Portillo Italian sub sandwich (thinking of those, as I am making a clone of them tonight for dinner). The color is also dark and rich, with outstanding clarity (no need to decant as no sediment in this wine).
There are enough tannins to provide some character with a mild chewy feel, as well as to ensure it will cellar well.
We enjoyed this wine with a a pasts smothered with rich Marinara sauce and meatballs. I would expect it to go equally well with salmon dishes, fajitas, grilled chicken based dinner salads, and Italian antipasto plates. And yes, Portillo type Chicago-style Italian sub sandwiches which are NOT low calorie, but a true foodie experience that is not to be missed.
Drink up folks!
It is exceptionally rare to visit a winery and have EVERY wine you taste be outstanding, but that is exactly what happened the week before Christmas at Gold Hill Vineyard . I had hoped to choose my absolute fav of 2017 and write about it, but that became impossible after visiting Gold Hill (and Fenton Heriott, which I will talk about in a later post).
Gold Hill is a definite must see if you go wine tasting in the California wine county! The grounds are absolutely beautiful, and many brides-to-be choose this scenic locale for their weddings. They are dog friendly (on a leash, of course), with a nice deck overlooking the grounds for enjoying a nice glass of wine or beer while Fido sun bathes. This month the deck is under construction, but should be operational again once it is warm enough to sit outside.
Several incredible wines stand out in my mind and taste buds from this experience. The top of the line white choice was the 2015 Reserve Chardonnay, which was aged 12-18 months in oak and had a nice, light straw color. It managed to be both sweet and crisp, with Jonathan apple flavors, jasmine, honeysuckle, and just a "tad" of ginger. I recommend it highly with a nice Thai meal or white pasta.
The "stars" of this tasting show were the reds which rival anything I have had in Napa or Sonoma. If I wrote about all of them, this post would go on forever so I will feature just a few. I am a huge fan of blends, and Gold Hill has two that are just world class. The 2014 Meriticious Red is a Bordeaux blend of equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc, and Merlot that won a double gold at the 2017 Amador County fair. WOW WOW WOW - this is an incredible wine and we are so lucky to have scored some of it before it sells out. It has a rich, jammy black raspberry flavor with a rich, long finish full of plum, rhubarb, and rich cherry flavors. The deep garnet color is exceptional, and the nose full of red berry notes that hint of the wonderful wine to come.
The Rhone blend, called simply the NV5311, is a blend of Petite Sirah, Syrah, and Mourvedre and is equally yummy. I tasted rich pomegranate, persimmon, grape jelly and structured tannins with a snappy black pepper finish. This wine is rich and dark in color with great clarity. We gifted this one to some friends for Christmas who told us they loved it as much as we did.
And one more wine in the same class as the blends as far as quality and drinkability is the 2012 Cab Franc. The nose on this wine was highly fragrant with plum and current notes and just the barest hint of white pepper. It is big for a Cab Franc, with lots of forward fruit and rich jammy flavors. A "zing" at the end was not unpleasant, but rather gave it a unique signature that we really liked.
All in all, we are very pleased to live in El Dorado County as the wines are simply getting better all the time. Gold Hill is aptly named, as these great wines are a TRUE treasure.
(Photo from www.goldhillvineyard.com)
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