I’m going on a family vacation next week, and we are going to be joined by some of my wife’s family from California. A few of these people regularly travel to different California AVAs specifically for tastings, so they definitely like wine and probably have opinions on it.
Unfortunately, I’ve been tasked with buying the wine, and all I can get for guidance is that they like “Russian River Valley reds”. I’m assuming that means Pinot.
I have very little experience with California red wines. Most that I’ve tried are too ripe for my tastes. (I tend towards Oregon Pinot and Left Bank BDX.)
Can anyone suggest some California Pinot Noir and/or Cabernet Sauvignon that I should buy that might be in a less ripe style? I’m trying to find something that might please both me and our lover of California reds.
$35 to $50 per bottle is probably the sweet spot for pricing, but I can go up to $75. I’m in Indiana, so I need something with wide distribution.
Right now my only real idea is Frogs Leap Cabernet Sauvignon. I’ve never tasted it before, but I understand they are a little less fruit forward. I have zero ideas for Pinot Noir.
In my experience Russian River reds means more than just Pinot. There are some great Zins, Italian varietals and others. RR tends to be very fruit forward. I would dig deeper as to what they really like.
For Pinot Noir, you could try a few Sta. Rita Hills options: Sandhi, Brewer-Clifton and many more making more elegant styles of California PN. There’s also Paul Hobbs in the RRV who makes great Pinot that is still very much in the California wheelhouse.
Mount Eden is also a much more restrained style of both Pinot and Cabernet that may suit you but is a bit more expensive than your limit. Frog’s Leap is indeed less rich and robust, Matthiasson is quite transparent for Cabernet, Grgich Hills as well.
Disclaimer: I work for an importer here in Ontario that sells Mount Eden, Frog’s Leap, Grgich, and Paul Hobbs. (I just like the wines!)
There are some phenomenal wines in the Paso Robles AVA (and sub AVA’s). If you are looking for Left Bank style wines < $75 - certainly check out the Cab based blends out of Paso Robles - Austin Hope, Daou, J Lohr, just to name a few- all make such wines and are widely distributed.
Dehlinger is my favorite producer in the Russian River Valley. They make excellent Pinot, Chardonnay, and syrah.
For a Bordeaux-style Cabernet, I really like Gundlach Bundschu in (Healdsburg?). They also make a Chardonnay that imo hits a good balance between Burgundian and buttery styles.
Based on your price points and being widely available, Ridge makes some great zinfandels. Geyserville and Lytton Springs are two of my favorites, but both will require a heavy decant. Many of their other Cuvees that are closer to 100% Zin will drink well without the decant (East Bench, Paso Robles, Ponzo).
Other good options with availability and that price range are Loring (Pinot Noir) and Tablas Creek (Rhone blends).
Williams Selyem will have a few pinots at the upper end of your range ($75) depending on the retail markup (I am not sure you can get their Russian River AVA Pinot at that price without buying direct). I like the Ramey Claret recommendation and think that Frog’s Leap is fantastic, though more old school (and needing cellar age or a long decant) than some of the lusher Russian River Valley wines that you typically see.
If you want some really interesting, fun and delicious wines that are not the same-old-same old and can have something shipped to you (it might be too late with the high temps), I would reach out Adam Frisch (Sabelli-Frisch) or Larry Schaffer (Tercero) who regularly participate here. They have a wide range of fantastic Cali wines that are in your target price range.
If you are interested in introducing them to something new, there are a LOT of great Oregon Pinots that fit your price range and are widely available.
I admittedly have not had an Austin Hope or Daou cab in quite some time…but that’s definitely not where my head goes when the OP is asking for a more ‘restrained and less ripe’ style.
Don’t discount the fact that your tastes and theirs might not be aligned. If they like ripe wines, and you want to prioritize their tastes over yours, go with that. Otherwise you’re stuck in an irreconcilable space.
You mention that these folks “regularly travel to different California AVAs specifically for tastings.” I would use that as a guidepost. They likely have very specific winery preferences. Go for those if possible.
I am glad for this. They already know what they already like, and you are unlikely to impress them in their area of expertise. Bringing wines from your area of focus is more likely to achieve a positive result.
If you think they like RRV Pinots, then definitely bring some riper WV wines. And maybe some Coca-Cola.
I had a 2021 Austin Hope a few months ago and while I would not exactly call it restrained, it was not a mess. Here’s my CT note fwiw:
Restaurant bottle. I was fearing an overly extracted juice bomb with enough RS to put me in a coma. Well, this was significantly better than that. Yes you taste a little sweetness and it’s not all that complex but it is not nasty or cloying. At about $50-60 (I think?) retail it’s about right: no bargain, not a travesty.
Personally my advice would be: at below an Austin Hope price you could get virtually any Extradimensional Wine Co red that would blow this out of the water.
Enfield is one of my go to California producers, and I would venture to say that the Grenache might be a good balancing act in terms of what you are looking for.
For Pinots, Au Bon Climat, Gary Farrell, and Siduri are pretty widely distributed. If you can get wine shipped to you, Sandler is offering a 4 pack for 120 shipped right now.
For Cabernets, Clos du Val’s base Napa Valley is widely distributed, as are old standbys Grigch Hills and Frogs Leap. If you have a better wine shop, I’d look for Domain Eden or Mount Eden from the Santa Cruz mountains. I’ve randomly found Matthiasson in wine shops. I’d also consider Blackbird for more merlot blends, though they tend to run a little bigger.
I agree, that even though RRV grows many different types of grapes, the guidance “probably” means they like RRV Pinot Noir. Which also as a middle point, means fruit driven, red fruited, joyful. Obviously there can be a big range from very extracted to super light on their feet.
Just thinking about good California Pinots (predominantly RRV/Sonoma Coast) that I tend to see regularly around at retail, I’d be shopping from this list:
Failla, Flowers, Joseph Swan, Hanzell, Melville, Anthill Farms, Sandhi, Au Bon Climat, Merry Edwards, DuMol, Occidental, Peay.
Depending on where you’re shopping I’d expect to find quite a few of these, and typically something in the $30-75 range.
I’ve been in a similar situation as well, it can be challenging. You can try to buy things that they like, but you’re kinda just guessing. You can buy things you like and try to introduce them to new things, but that can be fraught as well.
Here’s a kind of middle ground that happens to be timely: All kinds of publications and various people are talking about how California winemaker’s are struggling right now and how much sales numbers are down. One person is Patrick Cappiello, who is also posting a TON on instagram all about buying and drinking ONLY California wines. He’s featuring a lot of interesting producers that are very small and are likely doing pretty cool projects that don’t get a lot of traction or awareness otherwise. Maybe this is an opportunity to try a collection of wines and winemakers that BOTH of you are unfamiliar with? Try things that normally you’d pass up. You may end up hating all of it! But at least it will be fun and entertaining.
And just to be safe, get a case of Bedrock Old Vine Zin. I’ve managed to serve that wine to almost every type of wine person and it always manages to be a safe crowd pleaser and great qpr.
