I will contribute $10 per tasting note to the first twenty postings in each category . I hope we get more than 20 notes in each category but will set the limit for my total donation at $400 for May 1st - 8th.
On a global basis, the first category is wine from women winemakers and the charity is INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE rated four stars (the top rating available) by Charity Navigator with 91.5% of donated funds going directly into aid programs. IRC is working with shaping the future of young girls in the East Congo, providing sustenance and shelter for families uprooted by civil war in the South Sudan, helping displaced victims of natural disasters in Haiti and the Philippines (earthquake and typhoon) and reuniting orphans or displaced children with family members following disasters, etc. To qualify, the winemaker should be a female (Merry Edwards, Lynn Penner-Ash, Lane Tanner, Arianna Occhipinti, Laurence Faller of Domaine Weinbach, etc.) not the owner with a partner or hired winemaker.
Closer to home, the second category is wine from grapes grown in Santa Barbara County, CA to benefit The CARE Clinic of Fayetteville, NC—Compassion, Assistance, Referral, and Education. “The CARE Clinic provides free quality health care to eligible uninsured, low income adults who live in Cumberland County. We rely entirely on the generosity of volunteers, donors, grants from foundations and annual fund raising events so that we can continue to provide health care services in our community.” With the help of Catholic Social Ministries, Sister Jean Rhoads was brought to Fayetteville to establish a free health clinic. The clinic recently observed a twenty-year anniversary. Women continue to take a lead in the direction of this organization. One of the chief annual fundraising events is “Toast of the Town” which is an extensive wine tasting held at a local hotel.
AVAs in Santa Barbara County include Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara, and Sta. Rita Hills. So check your cellar and break out a bottle from Santa Barbara County and help provide health care to those who desperately need it.
Here’s a list of Central Coast AVA wines in your cellar and then you can narrow it down from there
How convenient - I just opened a 2011 Cecily Tremblay 2011 Bourgogne La Croix Blanche tonight. Deep red color. Strawberry, black pepper, roses on the nose. Moderate acidity with good tannins. Nice fruit, sour cherry and raspberry, along with a meaty backbone. Good length and depth, easygoing and high enjoyable.
I wanted to look through my cellar for a wine with a female winemaker, as I’m sure I have a few, but I was too ‘thirsty’, and cracked open one of my few Santa Barbara County wines. I used to have a lot of them, as I do very much enjoy the variety of wines there, and their uniqueness compared to their Norcal brethren, but I have since consumed them all. Fortunately for me, I’ve got a couple trips to the region planned for this year, and plan to stock up once again.
2009 Zaca Mesa Santa Ynez Valley Syrah - if I had to guess from appearance and nose, I’d put a ‘Petit’ in front of this wine - incredibly dark purple color, and smells of dark chocolate and plums. Even the weight and mouthfeel would make me think it may be a slightly-more-aged-than-its-vintage Petit Sirah, but eventually the finish settles in with a more rustic character, even a bit of smoked meat, though I’d not say bacon. There’s also a bit of the ‘Santa Barbara Spice’ that I recognize in wines from Happy Canyon, in particular, like the cabs Bryan Babcock was producing for some years. It’s sort of a regional flavor profile that I often get in Santa Barbara reds, and I like it. Overall, a decent wine. Its typicity is off, but it’s an enjoyable wine nonetheless - better chance of Jen liking this one than any of the more typical Syrahs, as it is more fruit-forward.
2008 MERRY EDWARDS RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR, FLAX VINEYARD. 14.4% abv. From Pommard clone and a hillside vineyard farmed by Phil Flax. For a Pinot Noir, this wine is very dark, dense and opaque purple in the glass. On the nose I am finding dark plumskin while the palate conveys dark slightly tart cherries and some herbal nuances, perhaps tea leaves. This has a nice acid balance as a counterpoint to rich fruit presence and a lengthy finish. It is drinking well now. I paired it with salmon and a tossed salad the first evening and with broiled lamb chop and baked potato the second evenng. It stood up to the lamb although duck breast might have been a better pairing. I have a Williams Selyem Flax Vineyard Pinot Noir from the same vintage and may open it this week to compare.
I am debating which Santa Barbara wine to open this week–possibly a Babcock Cabernet Sauvignon or a Melville Pinot Noir, also from 2008.
I immediately decided to go for the Daily Double when I saw this dual theme. Angela Osborne is an immigrant from New Zealand, and she is as quirky and individualistic as she is delightful. Her core wine is this grenache from the Santa Barbara Highlands, which is a fairly dry area at 3,200 feet elevation about 30 miles east of Santa Barbara in the mountains. She has recently branched out to produce Grenache and Graciano from the Sierra Foothills, plus a rose of Grenache.
2011 A Tribute to Grace Wine Company Grenache Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (5/1/2014)
This was the best showing I’ve had thus far for one of the Grace wines. The wine had the trademark bright but quite transparent and clear color of this bottling, definitely straddling the borderline of the range of rose versus red wine colors.
Fresh strawberry, cherry, orange peel, pine and mineral mix on the nose. Sweet but delicate cherry fruit, mineral, orange on the silky palate, with a subtle clove and cinnamon spice developing at the end after the bottle had been open. There is a hint of warming brown sugar on the finish.
Angela’s wines always have a distinctly feminine character to them, maybe somewhat in the broader style category with producers like Anthill Farm and Domaine Dublere. This wine was really shining tonight. (94 pts.)
I don’t know who made half of the wines I own, maybe 65%, and the only Santa Barbera wines I have are Lillians that are nit ready yet. But I will see what I can do.
This counts as a double!! SBC wine made by a girl. Here’s her high school graduation picture.
2012 Tercero Mourvedre Rosé- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (5/2/2014)
Very interesting light Salmon color with medium forming legs and aromas of hay/straw, peach and orange blossom. It’s in total harmony and has flavours of light peach and cherry with a light/medium body and an earthy note. Linear texture with a medium finish - I’m writing this from the Vinopal app. Last of the Larry’s rosè from 2012 which we guzzled through over the last year. Rumors are the '13 is bottled so it’s probably time to load up again.
I know that Caroline Diel became involved with the winemaking at Schlossgut Diel in 2006. I am not sure how much input she had though.
2006 Schlossgut Diel Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Spätlese- Germany, Nahe (5/3/2014)
We are at an in between phase with this wine. The fruit has become somewhat subdued, but bottle aged complexity is not yet prominent. The balance is good, with sweetness and acidity in harmony, and a sheen of botrytis adding a honeyed edge. Overall though I will wait on further bottles for several more years.
Ok. We’ve finally got it. Samanthan Sheehan at Poe or Heidi Barrett at Paradigm. Tomorrow or Monday. We also have some Diel, but that looks like a maybe, so we’ll stick with California.
*Xavier Flouret uQamata 2009
Amani Winery
Stellenbosch SA
14.5%. 40% Cabernet Franc, 40% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon
Lush, creamy, full flavor but very interesting and smooth. Made by Carmen Stevens, one of SA’s first black female winemakers. Definitely worth trying again.
