2011 CALIFORNIA WINE FAIR
Hi Berserkers,
My third and final thread on the recent 2011 California Wine Fair looking at the wines themselves.
THE WINES
POSITIVES: Wines were nicely balanced; no oak and tannin overkill on the end; strong fruit flavors in some wines that were very bold and upfront; eye-opening Chardonnays; some truly outstanding Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons (and I normally don’t like those two types of wines, particularly Chardonnay); the Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Moscato
NEGATIVES: Not enough variety of wines; inexplicable and inexcusable absence of late harvest and botrysized dessert wines that California is famous for; some wines covered weaker fruit flavors with oak; wineries brought too many affordable but average quality wines
THE VARIETALS:
CHARDONNAYS: California is famous for its Chardonnays, and this was one of the highlights for me. They were generally fruity, refreshing, and balanced with great noses. I was very surprised at the immediate onset of strong acidity the moment I took a sip, almost Riesling icewine like in quality. I don’t like Chardonnays normally and I had real fun tasting these.
The main difference in all the Chardonnays was the oak treatment they got. Some were barrel fermented and aged, some fermented in steel and then aged in barrel, some were aged in barrel and then transferred to steel. Some underwent long heavy oaking, others very short light periods. Some used toasted barrels. One was completely unoaked.
Even the slightest variation produced a completely new Chardonnay experience to my palate. Many were average, a few poor, and some were truly outstanding. One highlight was an attendee and I comparing two Chardonnays from two wineries side by side which literally had only one month’s difference aging in French oak. They were both incredibly different and we split on which of the two was our favourite. I can’t say I’m a Chardonnay convert just yet but I’ve got a healthy respect for California Chardonnays now.
PICKS: Went Vineyards 09 Riva Ranch Chardonnay; Nichols Winery & Cellars 01 Chardonnay; Castle Rock 09 Chardonnay; Robert Mondavi 10 Private Selection Chardonnay
SAUVIGNON BLANC/FUMES: These were really underwhelming. They generally had great floral noses of peach blossoms and mangoes with flavors to match, but they were weak and nowhere near as strong as their noses would suggest and just faded away on my tongue. Some were tropical, others were grassy, but all were surprisingly weak. There was nothing to distinguish them from any I’ve had in Niagara and in some cases were actually worse in taste.
Every one of them was extra dry and I know from research that Sauv Blanc is a delicate grape and wines made from them simply don’t age well and should be consumed right away. I kept wondering why none of them were off-dry. Even just 10 to 50 grams of residual sugar per liter would’ve put these far ahead of the Chardonnays for me. Every time I tried one, the only thought going through my head was, “This would make a great off-dry/late harvest/select late harvest/ice type of wine.
I did some research on the net after the event and found out that low-quality Sauvignon Blanc was a major component of cheap unlikeable American sweet wines until the California wine renaissance of the 60’s, where winemakers led by Robert Mondavi then made dry wines out of them which has since become the standard. A few producers, such as Beringers, have started to bring them back into sweet wines. I really wish they had brought their botrysized Sauvignon Blanc based Nightingale wine to try.
CABERNET SAUVIGNON: The Cabernet Sauvignons were mostly average with a few standouts. I did like the fact that they were very balanced and I never tasted one with overly strong oak or tannins. None of them really stood out. Lots of plum peel and red currant flavors, very upfront, but sometimes flat and covered up by oak. I generally preferred the fruitier ones with more acid.
As with the Sauvignon Blancs, I really wished someone had brought one that was off-dry with 10-50 grams of residual sugar per liter just to see what it would taste like. I must mention one particular standout: the Robert Mondavi 2006 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. This was a $149 wine that actually tasted like a $149 wine and probably explains the really long lineup at their table.
PICKS: Rancho Galante 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon; Nichols Winery Silver Fox Cabernet Sauvignon 2005; Wente 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
THE OTHER REDS – MERLOT, ZINFADEL, PINOT NOIR, GRENACHE, SYRAHS: Not much to say here, these were okay but nothing mind-blowing. Similar thoughts to the Cab Sauvs: the fruitier they were and the more acid they contained, the better they were.
I was really expecting a lot from the famous California Zinfadels and were surprised at how middling they were (except for one pick below), certainly less flavorful than the Cab Sauvs but I think this is more to do with the varietal. The less said about the Merlots the better. They were just… there. The Grenaches were overly oaked with harsh tannins. Syrahs were a bit peppery, but otherwise almost identical to the Zinfadels present in their averageness.
The main difference between these and the Cabs is that they were just plain uninteresting for the most part with a couple of exceptions. I’d rather throws these into a sangria than drink them alone in a glass. However, I made a couple of picks because they really did stand out far above the average lot they were a part of.
PICKS: Francis Ford Coppola 2008 Director’s Cut Zinfadel; Galante 2006 Almond Flat Pinot Noir
THE OTHER WHITES – RIESLING, VIOGNIER AND PINOT GRIGIO: I really wish there had been more of these to sample because I have exactly 1 Riesling and 2 Pinot Grigios to go on. That’s how small the sample available was. Because there were so few, I made sure to try them.
The Riesling was a dry one and it was nothing great at all. I don’t really like dry Riesling and prefer a good off-dry, Spatlese or Auslese but I have tasted some good dry ones in Niagara. This one wasn’t even close. Given that we’re talking sunny California which grows superb fruit and how much I enjoyed going through the Chardonnays, I really wish I had more than one sample to make a judgement call on. Since there was literally only one, I will abstain out of fairness. I’m sure there are great Rieslings from California. Too bad nobody else brought one.
The Pinot Grigios and Viogniers had really lovely noses, very fruity and floral. However, unlike the Sauvignon Blancs, they lacked any distinctive flavors or minerality to make them really stand out. The Sauvignon Blancs were weak overall, but at least I could tell when the winery was going for a more fruity style as opposed to an earthen grassy style.
The Grigios and Viogniers were so blah I couldn’t tell what the winery was trying to do. Again, though, I really wish there had been more samples brought so I could taste a larger sampling. I’d definitely use these for cooking and that is in fact what they came off as to me -– cooking wines rather than drinking wines.
The sole standout white wine was the Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Moscato. A nice fruity wine with a great nose and a lovely off-dry sweetness due to having about 50 grams per liter of residual sugar from what the exhibitor told me. I’m sure the environment helped it stand out a lot more as well. It couldn’t compete with the best Chardonnays there, but it was very popular and was the only wine I went back to for a second sample.
This was one of the few wines that was completely gone before 9 PM too so obviously many people felt that way. I was really surprised to find out it was only $11.80 from the exhibitors and proves what a Berserker mentioned to me in a previous thread – the cost of a wine is not necessarily an indicator of how much you’ll enjoy it. I’ve tasted expensive wines I didn’t really like and this was the reverse, an inexpensive wine that was really enjoyable.
OVERALL: I talked about the event with a few attendees as we were getting our coats and I pretty much kept getting the same opinion over and over. The wines were alright but not great. At an important event like this, I was expecting a lot more than just alright. Even the exhibitors were honest with me in sometimes criticizing their own wines. Yet, every single one of us enjoyed the event as a whole itself. The sum of the experience was definitely greater than its parts.
FINAL SUMMARY:
After three long threads – thanks for reading, by the way – the final summary of the 2011 California Wine Fair reads like this:
• Event itself was top-notch and superbly organized and was run like clockwork
• Event needed at least 1 ½ hours more time and should be expanded from 7 to 11PM instead of a 9:30 PM finish
• Wines were mostly average overall with a few truly great standouts that deserved their high price tag and a surprising moscato
• The general California style of wine is very fruity and forward with its bold flavors, which I guess is to be expected from one of the top fruit growing land masses in the world
• California really does Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons well, their reputation for these two types of wines is well-deserved; everything else was a mixed bag of average to disappointing
• Wineries really need to bring some off-dry wines and especially more sweet wines
• Wineries really need to bring far more varietals, especially in the white wine varietals
Thanks again for reading. My next big events are going to be a 3 day 35 winery whirlwind long weekend tour of the Niagara region at the end of April, a special new release event with 50 Niagara wineries in May, and the Toronto Wine and Spirits festival in the summer. Cheers. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}