Week of 3/3/24 : Vinography
Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently.
Let’s start this week with an old favorite, the Lang & Reed Chenin Blanc from Napa Valley. I’ve enjoyed John Skupny’s wines for a long time, and they continue to impress, with nervy acidity, great balance, and a judicious use of oak.
I received a number of new releases from Calera recently, and I’ve got three to share this week, their two Chardonnays, both of which are excellent. The estate designated wine is, as one might expect, a bit more complex and refined, but both are worth seeking out. The Central Coast Pinot Noir is a wonderfully bright expression of fruit that will please many people who are looking for a glass full of cherries and raspberries without much fuss, and at an excellent price of around $25.
The latest Pinot Noir from Rockhound Wines is aiming at a more serious interpretation of the grape, and it will satisfy those who want a much richer expression of Pinot Noir and don’t mind a little oak with their fruit.
Merriam Vineyards offered a Cabernet Franc and a Merlot-dominated red blend this week, both of which are highly polished and might benefit from a little more time in the bottle before opening.
Lastly, I’ve got a couple of wines from Steven Kent Winery in Livermore. Except these wines aren’t from Livermore. Unbeknownst to me, proprietor Steven Kent Mirassou has started bottling wines from the Santa Cruz Mountains and from Napa. He has brought his usual refinement to these wines, both of which are worth seeking out, though I much prefer the Santa Cruz Mountains bottling, as it has much better integrated oak, and a nice vivacity to it, in part due to the steep volcanic soils of Bates Ranch, where the fruit comes from.
Notes on all these below.
Tasting Notes
2022 Lang & Reed Chenin Blanc, Napa Valley, Napa, California
Light gold in the glass, this wine smells of vanilla, pears, and a hint of grapefruit. In the mouth, pear and pear skin flavors mix with grapefruit and lemon zest. Excellent bright acidity keeps things juicy and a faint grippy texture lingers in the finish. Bright and delicious with just a hint of salinity adding to the wine’s mouthwatering quality. 14% alcohol. 112 cases made. Score: around 9. Cost: $75.
2022 Calera Chardonnay, Central Coast, California
Light yellow-gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon curd and a hint of pineapple. In the mouth, juicy lemon curd and white floral flavors mix with lemon zest and grapefruit as the wine has a brisk and stony brightness to it. Strikes a nice balance between richness and stony qualities without straying into the overripe. 14.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $20. click to buy.
2021 Calera Chardonnay, Mount Harlan, Central Coast, California
Light yellow gold in the glsas, this wine smells of resinous lemon oil, verbena and a hint of grapefruit. In the mouth, the wine is bright and faintly saline with juicy flavors of lemon curd, lemon pith, grapefruit juice and a touch of resin lingering with citrus zest in the finish. Complex and long. Vines grow at 2200 feet of elevation, with some of them dating to the original 1984 planting date. 14.5% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $66. click to buy.
2022 Calera Pinot Noir, Central Coast, California
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of sweet cherry and raspberry fruit. In the mouth, juicy and bright cherry and raspberry flavors have an alluring aromatic sweetness to them and a faint herbal note that lingers in the finish. Excellent acidity and imperceptible tannins. What this wine lacks in complexity it makes up in sheer exhuberance. 14.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $25. click to buy.
2022 Rockhound “Radian Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Barbara, California
Medium garnet in color with some purple highlights, this wine smells of sweet cherry fruit. In the mouth, cherry compote and raspberry jam flavors are rich and ripe. Good acidity keeps the wine juicy but overall it conveys the impression of ripeness, while sweet oak flavors surface in the finish with wispy tannins. Not my style of Pinot Noir – too ripe, with a bit too much makeup on. 14.5% alcohol. 119 cases made. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $90.
2021 Merriam Vineyards “Windacre Vineyard” Cabernet Franc, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of sweet cherry and plum fruit. In the mouth, juicy cherry and plum fruit flavors are wrapped in gauzy tannins that turn powdery with time. There’s a decent acidity here and well-integrated oak. Pleasant and straightforward. 13.6% alcohol. Packaged in an unecessarily heavy bottle weighing 1.51 kg when full Score: around 8.5. Cost: $60. click to buy.
2019 Merriam Vineyards “Right Bank” Red Blend, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of dark cherry and plum aromas. In the mouth, cherry and plum flavors are held tightly in the grip of muscular tannins. Good acidity keeps things fresh, as the tannins put the squeeze on the palate and ultimately dry out the mouth a bit. Needs a little time, and frankly a bit less oak. A blend of 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec. 14.6% alcohol. 125 cases made. Packaged in an unecessarily heavy bottle weighing 1.51 kg when full Score: around 8.5. Cost: $85. click to buy.
2020 Steven Kent Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa, California
Very dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of dark cherry fruit and snuffed candle. In the mouth, cherry and chopped herbs mix with a touch of licorice, as bright acidity keeps things juicy. Muscular tannins wrap around the core of fruit and then stiffen and dry a bit through the finish. This is the inaugural bottling of this wine. 14.5% alcohol. 25 cases made. Packaged in an unecessarily heavy bottle, weighing 1.57 kg when full. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $200. click to buy.
2020 Steven Kent Winery “The Premier” Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherry and bing cherry with a hint of tobacco. In the mouth, juicy cherry and cola flavors have a faint herbal tone and fantastic brightness thanks to excellent acidity. Faint, supple tannins caress the palate as the wine finishes clean and delicious. Quite pretty. Fruit comes from the Bates ranch in Santa Cruz. Aged 24 months in French oak. 150 cases made. 14.5% alcohol. Packaged in an unecessarily heavy bottle, weighing 1.56 kg when full. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $125. click to buy.
