2001 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve ***

Winemakers Clive Otto, Dave Dowden, and Will Shields crafted a gorgeous cabernet sauvignon from the Margaret River appelation of Australia in 2001 for Vasse Felix. With 7% malbec and 3% merlot, aged in both new and old French oak for 18 months, this wine reminded me of aged Monte Bello: cedar and pine on the nose, with a smooth texture yet dry tannin, crisp raspberry and light notes of mint and semi-sweet dark chocolate on the finish. A balanced and elegant wine.

Latitude 50 Pinot Noir Rheingau 2006 **

Germany. Pinot Noir.

Let's just say that pinot noir isn't the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Germany. Not even if I think of German wine. "Spätlese" or "Auslese" or the tongue-tying "Trochenbeerenauslese" - semi-sweet whites, stony hills, century old vineyards and family estates - that's what springs to mind when one mentions German wine. But mostly I think of all the stuff I don't know and don't understand about Germany and its vinuous environs. Pinot noir would come at the very end of that list, as in, "Do they produce that, too?" So let's get to the heart of the matter and admit that this wine was suprisingly good, and a good value.

Imported by Savio Soares, the Latitude 50 Pinot Noir Rheingau 2006 ** is purple and nearly opaque, somewhat dense with chewy sweet tannin, jammy without being sweet, tangy without being offensive, and structured without being searing. Pinot noir for $12 is just simply never this good. (Except when it is.) The wine turned too sweet and lost its edge by day 2, so find this one and drink it up. It's a great value.

Likewise, the Barbera d'Alba 2007 * from Cantina Terre del Barolo Soc. Coop. is another value red wine that will befriend your hearty fare and robust pasta dishes. Spicy red fruits and nearly jarring acidity require you drink this with dinner, but it's much better than many Chianti and Classicos at the same price point ($10) that just don't have the fruit, or are too dry, to serve with anything but pizza.

Both were purchased at the "$10 Table" at Smith & Vine, in Brooklyn, NY.

E. Vatan "Clos La Néore" Sancerre 2003 **

I opened this Sancerre from Edmond Vatan the other night just to remind myself -- in the midst of winter -- that hope springs eternal. Picked up from Crush in midtown, Vatan's Clos La Néore is intriguing, beguiling, salty and refreshing. This is classic old-timer Sancerre, a touch dirty, which I sort of like, "grown on the steepest, most perfectly exposed slopes in Chavignol ... from old, low-yielding vines, that he tends using minimalist, natural methods." Robert Simonson, at Offthepresses.blogspot has described the Clos La Néore as, "Complex, wide and deep, full of subtle, nuanced fruit and minute flecks of minerality throughout. It is simultaneously mellow and easy, and bracing and edgy."

This is indeed a wine worth looking for, because it is unlike any other Sancerre on the market. I noticed hints of cherry cola and musk emanating from the glass. A salty minerality underlies the mild pineapple and tropical fruits on the midpalate, and there is good Zing! in the mouth. A touch dirty for me, reminiscent of foam or chalk. Considering the rarity of this style of Sancerre, and Vatan's age, it represents a style of Sancerre that will soon become extinct.

Online Wine Auction Prices Continue to Drop

Auction prices for premiere cru wines have dropped significantly since the beginning of 2009, but they have not reached 2004 levels. Post-1982 vintage Mouton Rothschild at auction at www.WineBid.com has dropped 10% in just the past five weeks. Some vintages have dropped more. 2004 Mouton Rothschild is still available at its release price of just under $200 (although a buyer at this price would want to be careful that these bottles have been stored correctly).

Other classified growths have shown similar declines, but nothing as dramatic or across the board. The drop in opening bid prices for Latour has been inconsistent. While prices for 1998 Latour remain high compared to 2004 levels ($200 versus $115) the opening price for 1999 has declined significantly in recent months.

Grand cru Burgundy has also showed significant drops. Original wooden cases of J.F. Mugnier Bonnes Mares are available for less than 50% off last year's lowest retail price. (I bought one myself - I just couldn't resist.) Prices for all of the wines from Dom. de la Romanee Conti, though, haven't come down much at all.

Likewise, prices for California Cult Wines have dropped, but with little consistency. Even good vintages like 2001 are under pressure, with some wines, like Sloan Estate, suffering 33% drops in opening bid prices, and still there are no bidders. 2003 Screaming Eagle can be had for $1000/bottle; the 2001 is still offered at over $1100, down from $1300. The trend is erratic, but angling down.

Two questions in my mind are: (1) When is it going to end? And, (2) What is reasonable?

I invite readers' comments and thoughts ...

2004 Nickel & Nickel Cabernet Sauvignon Copper Streak Vineyards ***

After tackling Girard Winery last week, it only made sense to take on another big name in Napa, Far Niente (pictured above in 1979), which should also be celebrating its 30th birthday this year. But when you think of Far Niente, you really have to think of three separate and distinct operations: the main campus/vineyard just west of Highway 29, the Nickel & Nickel brand, located on 42 acres in Oakville, and Dolce. These wineries are collectively, "owned by longtime friends and partners Larry Maguire, Dirk Hampson, and Beth, Erik and Jeremy Nickel."

What sets them apart? Far Niente produces only Napa Valley cabernet and chardonnay. The cabernet is an untypically elegant Napa Valley wine, with dusty, tight tannin and dried flowers on the nose, (ala St. Julien?). The chardonnay is usually big and fruity. Nickel & Nickel produces single vineyard wines from Napa and Sonoma counties. I have had mixed feelings about these wines recently. They are generally good, but occasionally too big, sweet, and robust for my taste. Dulce is a stand-alone dessert wine. It is consistent year in and year out, but perhaps because of a little help from science. (The winemakers [may] spur the production of noble rot in order to guaratee a crop.) It's fair to say that all of these wines tend to be good to very good - notwithstanding the typical $50-$100 price range - but none of the wines produced by any of these companies every wowed me like the 2004 Nickel and Nickel Copper Streak Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ***

This is the kind of wine that you will drink the whole bottle of and then tip over for the last drop to come out, and you will stand there looking down into its murky green depths, confounded, and you will say, "Is it already gone?"

According to the website, the "Copper Streak Vineyard is located in a protected hollow at the base of the palisades in Stags Leap District. The soils are composed of Perkins gravelly loam mixed with red, copper-like streaks, which is how the vineyard got its name. The vines receive a western exposure and are of moderate size, yielding loose clusters with small berries. The climate in Stags Leap is very warm, however, midafternoon breezes sweep in to cool things down, allowing for excellent ripening. Nickel & Nickel Copper Streak Cabernet is produced from seven of the vineyard’s 30 acres."

The 2004 Copper Streak reminded me initially of Araujo's 2005 Eisele Vineyard, with more vanilla. Whereas the latter wine has fully absorbed a 100% new French oak treatment, the Copper Streak caberent, aged in 45% new French oak, is still quite oaky. But that is the only fault I can find with this wine. Wonderful blueberry jam notes with mellow frozen strawberry and mild spices, the wine is both concentrated and elegant, with soft, sweet round tannins, no hard edges, perfect symmetry, and a dependable, if not necessarily persistent, finish. Without question one of the best wines I have tasted from Napa Valley in 2004. Drinking perfectly now, this will no doubt live for another decade in the cellar, although I doubt that it will ever quite shed the overt vanilla top note.

Previously reviewed:

2005 Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville **

2004 Far Niente Napa Valley Chardonnay **/***

2005 Nickel & Nickel Manzana Vineyard RRV Pinot Noir *
2005 Nickel & Nickel “Bonfire Vineyard” Zinfandel *

Girard Winery ***

History, like beauty, is in the mind of the beholder. And the history of a winery is no exception. Thirty years after planting their first vineyard, Girard Winery continues to craft elegant and pleasing wines. But there have been some twists and turns along the way, lending to some confusion among consumers, or maybe just me. I, for one, never understood the close relationship between Girard and Rudd, and sought out the history from Steve Ross, Director of Wine Education at Girard Winery.

In 1995 Leslie Rudd purchased the Girard Winery brand and estate property from the Girard family. The property operated under the Girard name until 2000, when Mr. Rudd changed the direction and name of the winery to Rudd Estate. That was the end of the beginning of Girard. And that is where Mr. Pat Roney stepped in.

When the name change occurred, Pat Roney -- President of Dean & Deluca -- purchased the Girard brand from Leslie Rudd and began to rebuild the brand. When Pat purchased the brand, he hired Marco DiGiulio to be the new winemaker. The wines were initially produced in custom crush mode in Calistoga. In 2004, Girard moved into its first winery on Pritchard Hill, where they remained until the existing winery was built in the Carneros region in the summer of 2007. Winemaking and operations continue out of the Carneros plant, while the tasting room is located at 6795 Washington Street in Yountville.

The last time I wrote about Girard Winery I was lightly excoriated by Pat Roney for suggesting that the wines didn't have a house style. I may have been posturing a bit when I said that, but at the same time, a lot has changed at Girard since 1995, and it is apparent in the wines. There is no question that quality has been increasing in the past couple of years -- with the most recent wines garnering 93 points from all the major critics -- and indeed, the 1999 vintage produced a delicious Napa Valley Red, and 2001 produced an excellent Petit Sirah. In any event, after that exchange, I tried to specify for myself what I really thought about Girard, so I pulled some more of their recent wines from the cellar.

There is something visibly appetizing about Girard's label. It's clean and elegant. It's the tuxedo of the wine label world. There is no pretext, and there is no confusion. Note how "Girard" is in script and the information on the label is in type. This is a traditional format, handed down to the new world from France. So aside from being clean and elegant, the label is also traditional. And those, I believe, are the buzzwords Girard is selling here: Tradition. Elegance.

As previously reported, the 2002 Girard Caberent Franc Napa Valley *** displays bright and luscious strawberry notes on opening. There is a very Girard-esque cherry-cola cum bay leaf and vegetal note characteristics about this wine, which showed as well in the 2002 cabernet. After two days, this showed complex notes of spice, fresh red bell pepper, celery and a strong coconut note on the finish.

The 2002 Girard Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill Estate *** smells of anise and blueberry, with mild vegetal and herb notes, and a whiff of cherry-cola. Deep purple but not opaque, this is a mid-weight wine that gains stature as it breathes. With a silky profile after only six years in bottle, the cherry-cola note follows through to the finish. There are mild spices in the middle, and a light, lingering balsam note that is redolent of spicy oak.

With the exception of Roney's early wines, recent releases have tended towards a more elegant, restrained, yet complex style. Even the 2005 Pritchard Hill (which I only tasted briefly at a trade tasting) and which received high scores from Wine Spectator, shows more restraint than many of its peers. But while these wines are not as concentrated as some Napa Valley "fruit bombs," they are, simply put, hard to resist.

Previously reviewed: 1999 Girard Napa Valley Red Wine ***

2004 Weingart Bopparder Hamm Ohlenberg Riesling Spatlese **

From Mittelrhein, this dry German offering from Florian Weingart distributed by Skurnik (a Terry Theise selection) is the vinous equivalent of a pine colada, showing canned pineapple, coconut milk notes, but not without good underlying acidity. There is no doubt in my mind right now that I have not concentrated as hard or as much as I should on decently priced German dry and off-dry wines. I aim to correct this glaring oversight in the coming months. The 2007 vintage is, according to the International Wine Cellar, a good vintage for dry and off-dry wines, at decent prices, with many high-end auslese bottlings surpassing their even more expensive TBA siblings.

On a side note, I have learned from a source that Theise has been encouraging his winemakers to switch to screw caps, a move I wholeheartedly disagree with, even for light, aromatic white wines such as this. In fact, I purchased this particular Weingart bottling out of a number of German wines on display specifically because it was closed with a natural cork. As a consumer, I would ask that, at the very least, if winemakers are going to move to screws, they continue to offer a portion of their wines under natural, high quality cork.

Once It Hits Yours Lips!

The best beers of Super Bowl Evening were this Wet Hops IPA from the Great Divide Brewing Company and the Sierra Nevada IPA. Great Divide's Wet Hops had a saucy white head and a nice hoppy skunk, with lively bitter notes on the tongue, nearly-sweet, with spice on the finish. And it's probably trite by now to proclaim one's adoration for Sierra Nevada IPA, but it's been so long since I had this beer, I became Frank the Tank. "Fill it up again! Once it hits your lips, it's so good!"

2006 Ridge Vineyards Dusi Ranch ATP *

Ridge Vineyards' first Advanced Tasting Program release of 2009, from 48 barrels of 100% zinfandel planted in 1923 on the Dusi Ranch one mile east of Highway 101 in Paso Robles, this big, mouth coating zinfandel is loaded with ripe red fruit. Aged twelve months in American oak (24% new, the rest, 2-4 years old) -- there is no hint of oak here -- the fruit is pure, if straightforward, and lush, if not explosive, but balanced by enough tannin and acidity to give a big finish. The wine is concentrated, ruby red, and has mild smoke and bacon notes underneath. It is a different style zinfandel than the 2005, and may be the best Dusi Ranch I've had since the 2002, but it still lacks the complexity of the Dry Creek and other Sonoma County zinfandels, which I have been favoring lately. Those who don't constantly seek out loam in their zin will score this higher than I have, because it is rich, flamboyant, and aims to please.


(I taste all the ATP wines roughly two weeks after receipt, in order to give the wines a slight rest before consumption.)