The Wine Hacker.com

Illuminaire Winery and the "Off-the-Hook" 2014 Quartz Hill Pinotage

My dear husband Bert is a beer drinker and usually only drinks red wine to humor me. Imagine my surprise when I handed him my glass at Illuminaire Winery filled with the Pinotage only to hear him exclaim, "Off the hook!  Can we get some of this?"  What the---?  Happily, I obliged him and this wonderful wine now sits in our cellar (which is just a small room off our garage), waiting to be paired with a fantastic meal worthy of its amazing spirit. 

Winemaker Aaron Hill, never to be seen without his signature baseball hat, has a right to be proud of his Sierra Foothills winery.  This year at the California State Fair, his bold jammy reds won three gold medals; one for the 2014 Petit Verdot (another of my favs), the 2014 Zinfandel (bought one of these too), and the 2014 Alicante Bouschet. 

The Pinotage was our fav wine at this tasting as it was literally bursting with big jammy cranberry, blackberry and raspberry fruit with a hint of allspice, and enough tannins to add complexity.  It had a wonderful fruity nose, a smooth finish, and a beautiful deep cherry flavor with exceptional clarity.  It was different, and not your "run-of-the-mill" red.  What was different was the mix of fruit flavors and spice - giving it a unique and very welcome taste sensation. 

This is because this varietal is not usually found in California.  From Wikipedia:

Pinotage /ˈpɪnətɑːʒ/ PIN-ə-tahzh^[1] is a red wine grape that is South Africa's signature variety. It was bred there in 1925 as a cross between Pinot noir and Cinsaut (Cinsaut was known as "Hermitage" in South Africa during that time, hence the portmanteau name of Pinotage). It typically produces deep red varietal wines with smoky, bramble and earthy flavors, sometimes with notes of bananas and tropical fruit, but has been criticized for sometimes smelling of acetone. Pinotage is often blended, and also made into fortified wine and even red sparkling wine.^[2] The grape is a viticultural cross of two varieties of Vitis vinifera, not a hybrid.

No acetone nose here, thankfully!  I also thought it was quite different from this description as it had no real smokey or bramble flavors, although I could taste some earth.  What was predominant in this top notch wine was big, bold, juicy fruit flavor.  I also got a very small hint of the peppery flavor one would get in a Pinot. 

I think this wine is a bargain at $25/bottle!

As to pairings, I am working on some ideas - and here they are:

Food Pairings:  This is not a shy and retiring red - it is BIG BIG BIG!  It needs something big and juicy to accompany it, and right now I am thinking something like Beef Tamales smothered with a spicy red sauce, lasagna (Bert's favorite food), or a big bowl of Cioppino served with a bib and lots of those little hand wipes that smell like Windex.  

Music Pairings:  I see drinking this wine while listening to Isaac Hayes, Trombone Shorty, BB King, or Bonnie Raitt.  Big, bluesy, strong music goes with the BIG RED this is! 

Activity Pairings:  The key word here is BIG - I vote for drinking this wine while boating or having a summer picnic with friends.  I also see it as a great accompaniment to a rowdy, raucious pool party - even though it has a very smooth finish it is a strong wine. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Dinner and the Crystal Basin 2009 Renegade Red

Easter is a bright and lovely holiday - and deserved a bright yet soft and lovely wine to share with friends.   After not writing ANY blogs for many months, I am returning to my beloved wine blog - and the 2009 Crystal Basin Renegade Red is a wine deserving of being my first blog post for the resurrection of The Wine Hacker.  

It's no secret that I love a good red blend - the Renegade Red is crafted of 18% each 2009 Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Sangiovese, with the majority being the 2009 Zinfandel.  This wine is soft with delicious strawberry and plummy flavors, but packs a Malbec and Zinfandel punch - with toasty oak coming from barrel aging in French and American oak for 18 months.  When tasting, I tasted a cedar finish with a soft vanilla overtone complimenting the beautiful raspberry/strawberry zinfandel front palate flavors. 

Crystal Basin calls this it's "Tuesday night, non-pretentious, Pizza-and-Pasta wine", but I found it lovely enough to take to a gathering of my friends for Easter, all of whom found it perfect for the occasion.   It stood up nicely to the Easter ham as well as the cheesy broccoli casserole and green beans without losing brightness or character.  It also has great clarity and a wonderful claret red color, making it more elegant that just a "pasta" wine. 

Blends tend to get a bad rap as some lesser labels have used them to use up "leftovers", creating blends that widely vary in quality and taste.  Crystal Basin is a small, El Dorado county wine producer with a solid reputation for quality.  The Renegade Red is not a vat of leftovers - it is a masterfully blended and well crafted cornucopia of El Dorado wine essence, with only the best grapes included.  I found this a "friends and family" wine, and it tasted magnificent!  

As my friends and family know, about three weeks ago I had a very significant life event - a heart attack.  Red wine in moderation is GREAT for your cardiac health, but moderation means no more than two full glasses for a woman with one being preferred.  If you sip a great wine, it is not difficult to drink in moderation.  Its the bad wines you want to drink quickly so you get them over with!!!  This one I enjoyed with generous sips of water in between. 

Also thanks to my significant life event, I made a firm decision to spend more time doing what I love - which is writing!

Food Pairings:   Like most wines that are predominantly Zinfandel, this wine IS a great pasta and pizza wine - yet it also complimented ham quite nicely.  It has more softness than most Zins and a beautiful oak taste as well - I think it would go well with BBQ'ed ribs, lasagna (yeah, that is pasta too), pork tenderloin, or a rack of lamb.   

Music Pairings:  This is a warm and friendly wine - the kind of wine that inspires friends to gather around the piano and play 60's music while singing (maybe even a bit off key).  I see it as a Beatles White Album kind of wine, or even a BB King and Diane Schuur album mash up kind of wine.  Its soft yet warm and complex flavors echo the blues scale - as well as 60's rock and roll.  I hear great bass too, when I sip. 

Activity Pairings: A great family and friends holiday gathering wine, this would also be a good jam session wine or rock and roll concert replay wine. 

 

 

 

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Red Blends are HOT! Remembering the 2009 Paraduxx Z-Blend, Napa Valley

I just got my new issue of Food and Wine magazine; and learned that red blends are very trendy and popular right now.  This is great news, as I have always loved the unique nature of blends.  Today's market features a wide variety of blends, from your garden variety "casserole" wine to highly complex "filet mignon" wines.  One wine that I really loved from last year's tastings came to mind immediately as I was reading; the 2009 Parduxx from the makers of Duckhorn.

Paraduxx is THE only winery in Napa that is entirely devoted to blends, and what lovely blends they make!  This Z blend was released in February of 2012, and is 62% Zindfandel (which is where the Z comes from), 31% Cabernet, and 7% Merlot.  This unique combination has all the intensity of a fine Zinfandel, with the structured tannins of a Cabernet and a hint of softness from the Merlot.  A very bold and "in-your-face" wine, it has hints of fine spice such as clove, juniper and allspice in the middle notes, which is a nice follow up to the raspberry forenote.  It has a creamy feel to it, and is very strong without being harsh like some zinfandels can be.

This Z blend was aged 16 months in oak and has a distinct toasty oak flavor which adds to its grandeur.  Although the Paraduxx website is showing it as sold out, a careful shopper may be able to find some in wine shops or on the web.  I haven't yet tasted the 2011 which is available from Paraduxx, but given the high standards shown by this winery, I am sure it is equally divine. 

 

Food Pairings - The Z-blend would stand up very well to spicy foods, such as a nice Indian Vindaloo or a Panang Thai Curry.  I would also pair it with chocolate laced with hot peppers, or a beautiful steak salad

Music Pairings - This is a wine far too regal for rock and roll - I would pair it with the bold brass and percussion found in Schuman's 8th symphony while enjoying an exotic, spicy dinner. 

Activity Pairings:  Sophisticated yet rugged activities pair well with the Z-blend - I would drink it while watching tennis, soccer, or even polo!