2006 Ventana Rubystone
Blend: 62% Grenache / 38% Syrah

Appellation: Arroyo Seco (Monterey), California
ALC: 14.9%
You can buy this wine: at ventanawines.com
Retail price: $18
Haydn gives this wine: 91pts

There is something mystious about red blends. There is no way to assume anything. Yes, sure I know relatively how the wine is going to taste, but in no way am I going to bank on anything until that wine hits my lips.

I had the pleasure of attending the LA winefest this past weekend. Numerous wineries were pouring, including Quivira, one of the wineries in my book, Wineries Beyond Napa Valley: Dry Creek and Alexander Valley (shameless self-promotion, I know). The wines seemed to range from the California / Oregon border to as far south as Malibu. And with over 40 or so wineries representing nearly double that amount of wines, I literally just picked random booths to try.

One of my first booths to sample was Ventana, hailing from Monterey. Out of the 4 wines being poured, it was their red blend that stole the show.

Grenache on it’s own is very light, and you have do quite a bit to punch it up a bit (that’s wine lingo for, to bring out the characteristics in the wine). Thankfully, the 38% Syrah highened the spice and earth in this wine with a bit of cherry. Indicative to the Rhoné world , I was surprised and delighted that, while missing the Mourvédre, it still held up very well. I kept going back and smelling this wine as the aromas were distinced and delightful, even for a earthy wine. There were a bit of tannins, but give it two years and they’ll be a distant memory.

As I mentioned before, the wine was particularly earthy, with a bit of fruit to round it out. The finish went on for a bit. This wine could go very well with some medium-game meat, nothing too heavy. The wine is not big enough to mount a charge against a t-bone or a filet mignon.

——————————-
Haydn Adams is the author of the book, Wineries Beyond Napa Valley: Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, an insider’s tasting guide to the hidden gems region. He also contributes to the Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog, writes for vinvillage.com, and can be found roaming the hills of Sonoma County looking for the next hidden gems. You can contact him at haydn@beyondnapavalley.com

Scheid Vineyards 2006 Rosé
by Haydn Adams | Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog

Appalachian: Monterey
Alc: 14.4%
Haydn gives it: 86pts

Summer is right around the corner. It’s the time to dust off the picnic basket, find a park with a bit of light shade and uncork a Rosé. The rosé for me has been my answer to drinking a cool red wine in the summertime. With temps out here in Marin hitting 90-95 degrees in the summer, the chilled whites seem to get billing in addition the Rosé.

The rosé in the spotlight today is the Scheid Vineyards 2006 Rosé. This wine is plain and simple, with a great basket of strawberries in the palate, the nose and just about everywhere else. There is a sweetness to this one, so think about pairing it with a dryer or coarse cheese to balance it.

Aside from the strawberries, the rosé is a wonderful palate cleanser. While this wine comes in at 14.4% when it comes to alcohol content, which is fairly high for the rosé market (yet on par for California standards), the abundance of alcohol is light and at first I had this wine pegged at around 13.2 – 13.5%.

The rosé did its trick— it was opened on a warm spring time afternoon, sitting outside on the balcony with a great friend. I was also happy to see a screw top, as the past few wines have been corked.

The 2007 rosé by Scheid is made from Syrah grapes with a kick of Cab. The best part about this wine is 1) the alcohol content lowered to 13.4% (I tend to lean towards the lower alcohol content on a hot day, as you’re already losing hydration from the heat, and a high alcohol content furthers the feeling of intoxication) and 2) the price point of $16.

You can buy this wine directly from Scheid’s vineyard at: scheidvineyards.com

—————————-
Haydn Adams is the author of the book, Wineries Beyond Napa Valley: Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, an insider’s tasting guide to the hidden gems region. He also contributes to the Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog, writes for vinvillage.com, and can be found roaming the hills of Sonoma County looking for the next hidden gems. You can contact him at haydn@beyondnapavalley.com

2007 Scheid Sauvignon Blanc
by Haydn Adams | Beyond Napa Valley Blog

Retail Price: $18.00
Appellation: Monterey, California
Where you can buy this wine: Scheid Vineyards
ALC: 13.5%
Haydn gives this wine: 87 pts

There is something about Sauvignon Blancs that make me smile. Maybe it is the crispness mixed with a fair bit of acidity. For whatever reason, this Sauvignon Blanc does it’s job by providing textbook characteristics with some smooth qualities.

The color of this wine is a pretty light yellow. It picks up a bit of color from the 10% it hung out in 3-year-old French oak barrels. After about 2 years, barrels have lost their luster, so you’re not going to see any piece of oak here, even if parts did touch it for a little while. The remaining 90% of the wine underwent aging in stainless steel. A wise choice as this wine demonstrates some textbook characteristics.

The nose exhibits a strong sense of acidity, with images of ruby-red grapefruits. It is a sweet-acidic, not tart like a lemon. The nose is fairly strong, and even with only a little bit of wine in the glass, the aromas fill the space with a bit of intensity. a little honeydew can also be found on the nose.

The wine has a pleasant mouthfeel. For something this acidic, I was expecting a bigger bite. However, this is a good thing. As the grapefruit smell continues, the classic lemon component emerges. It’s as if it was hiding on the nose, but then comes out of it’s shell on the mid-palate. Another word I would use to describe the palate is exceptionally clean. Not jarring components, just refined and fairly smooth.

The finish was the most surprising, with the Sauvignon Blanc picking up a trace amount of honey with the grapefruit and lemon. I suspect that is from the 10% French Oak used to complete this wine. The grapefruit is carried throughout the wine all the way until the finish, yet it seems to pick up and drop off other fruits along the way.

A beautiful wine to enjoy on a bright and warm spring day. You could easily pair this wine with shrimp or crab, just make sure the seafood is more whiter in color. However, I would be very conent with just drinking this wine all by itself, as it does have enough stamina to stand on its own two feet.

Drink this wine now through 2012. Due to the screw top (a nice little nod to the kiwis) along with the stainless steel aging, this wine will most likely not change in the years to come. Just don’t wait to long until it turns to vinegar, or something worse!

—————————-
Haydn S. Adams is a wine author and reviews wines for wineries all over the world. He currently writes for vinvillage.com along with his own wine review site at www.beyondnapavalley.com/blog/.

2006 Scheid Pinot Noir

Pinot Noirs are some of the easiest wines to size up simply by judging their color. Unlike other wines that usually don’t budge, say a Petite Sirah or a Cab, the Pinot will range from bright red to a dirty vermillion.

With Scheid’s 2006 Pinot Noir, you’re going to get a bit more a lighter red on the color. I would characterize it as a bright brick color with it being semi-clear on the rim.

The nose embark visuals of  strawberry juice and raspberry popsicles. I envision both being 100% pure fruit juice, too. The nose in some way made me remember eating a popsicle as a kid on a hot sunny day, where the temperature outside is almost too warm and the welcomed relief of a chilling item on your tongue is better than all of the gold in the world. I wouldn’t call the nose luscious, but it’s in the same ball park. The nose was very clean, and my mouth started to salivate.

The rasberries and strawberries continue on the mid-palate and sat comfortably on my tongue. However I kind of wish that this wine would sit a bit more pronounced on my tongue. The flavors are well and balanced yet almost appear to be hiding. There were a light display of tannins, and unless you were looking for them to show up, they’d most likely pass right on by you. Deep in this wine, I could detect a hint of spiciness (we’re talking about a 50 on the scoville scale).  

The finish is smooth with the lingering berries trailing off into the sunset. The finish is concurrent with the nose and overall appearance of this wine—soft and subtle. Very subtle traces of vanilla could be found on the finish before the taste dissipates. 

This wine is a clear definition of a new-world pinot. The fruit forwardness is clearly present on all aspects of this wine. Another strong characteristic of this wine is the lightness on the mouth. While a petite sirah would come over and hijack your tastebuds, this wine just easily saunters by with more of a wave hello. Pinot Noir newbies, this wine is for you.  

You can get this wine:
Directly from Scheid at: scheidvineyards.com/

Recommended Food Pairing:
Roasted Cornish Game Hens - For this wine, you’re looking at white meat with a lean sauce. Too heavy, like gravy and it will wipe this wine out. Looking through foodTV.com (Food Network’s website), I found two dishes that I feel would pair will with this Pinot. The lightness of the hen mixed with an almost neutral dressing and the lightly spiced bird will be softened by this silky wine.

CRU  “Two Vineyards” Chardonnay

I discovered this little gem while wine tasting at Woodlands Market. I almost passed at this, assuming that, much like 90% all California Chardonnays, that it would be over-oaked and the barrel-taste would overpower the Chardonnay. Boy was I wrong!

The nose on this wine was superb, even if it happened to have 100% ML (malolactic acid). Soft hints of butter mixed with a bartlet pear could be found when I gave this wine a sniff. Very subtle tones of oak were coming out, which further surprised me to hear that it was 100% barrel fermented. The silverlining in this wine was the fact that the 75% of the barrels used were used French Oak Barrels, so the wine didn’t soak up so much of the toasted oak.

The color further showed how the used barrels took a strong part in making this wine what it is. A lighter shade of yellow could be seen, almost moving towards a Viognier-shade or two. The golden yellow traditional color you’d expect to find of a textbook California Chardonnay was no where to be found.

Tasting the wine was such a treat. The oak was there, but it wasn’t in the spotlight. It took the role of a supporting actor, then the top dog. The pear and a slight hint of apple, I’d venture to say Granny Smith, were coming out in force. Of course, mixed in with a small stick of butter.

Overall, a very clean and pleasant mouth feel. I didn’t lurch from excessive tannins or oak, and my tounge’s taste buds didn’t bounce around trying to assimilate with one another. An all around well-made Chardonnay.

This wine is easy to comprehend, which makes it an ideal candidate for Valentine’s day. It will appease the ABC fans (Anything But Chardonnay) as well as the ML addicts.

Serving suggestions:
Baked Brie With Pimentón Toasts- Brie on its own would be alright, but utilize the power of the oven, a hint of garlic, butter and paprika to drive this dish home.

Two Vineyards 2006 Chardonnay by numbers:

Estimated Retail Price: $19.99
Alcohol: 14.5%
Total number of cases produced: 432
Appellations: 83% Paraiso Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands
17% Redding Ranch, Greenfield

Places where you can find/buy this wine: