2001 Produttori Barbaresco 'Moccagatta'

Still drinking Nebbiolo -









I found the 2001 Moccagatta from Produttori del Barbaresco at a tasting held at Pizzeria Mozza almost four years ago now. The tasting featured the entire lineup of their 2001's, other current releases, and a vertical of the Poro vineyard (I think...). We've had the wine on the list since that time and when it came down to my last bottle, I just had to buy it and say goodbye properly.

The menu featured a Prime Ribeye from Costco, the last of our Chino Farms corn sauteed with some red bell pepper, and a long-grain wild rice provided expertly by Rice-a-Roni. I love that stuff! I grew up eating Chicken-flavored Lipton rice for almost every meal. Twenty minutes in the microwave so it got crusty on the edges... Look - you have some weird childhood foods, too!

The wine is drinking beautifully. Still firmly structured and fuller-bodied than the recently reviewed Brovia Barolo. Red cherry, leaning its way toward black, roses and tar, plum and blackberry. The dusty spices are there as well. To my recollection from the tasting, the Moccagatta was the fruitier and more crowd-pleasing bottling and that seems to still be the case.

Delicious wine and great with the meal. I suppose the Ribeye could have taken a heartier wine, but I was certainly not complaining. When great wine is great, fine-tuning to food is usually irrelevant.

Brovia Barolo 2005

We just picked up the 2005 Brovia Barolo at Jar and, having not tasted the 2005 yet, I figured I might as well pick one up and give it a shot. I've been on a Nebbiolo kick lately and any excuse to dive into one is welcome.

While not profound, the Brovia 2005 Normale is everything I look for in a Barolo at a young age. The core of cherry fruit is there with the roses, tar, dusty spices and gripping tannins. This is Barolo in the classic style: light-bodied, elegant and built for hearty foods to tear down that wall of tannin.

An interesting point: There is a small blurb in "What to Drink with What You Eat" from Silverlake Wine owner (and former somm at Campanile) George Cosette about Barolo. He says that people are sometimes surpised when they taste Barolo at how "light" it is when they were told or think that it's a "big" wine. I encountered this last night when I served a bottle and the table was surprised at the light color and light body with jarringly (no pun intended) firm tannin.

This brings up the issue of wine vocabulary. "Big" can mean a lot of things. Big fruit, big tannin, big alcohol, big body. My buddy Josh means big tannin. Most people seem to mean big body or dark fruit. So, in that sense, Barolo is not a big wine.

Yes - back to the Barolo at hand. By the time said table had food, the Barolo had been open and was singing with the dishes. While still not a full-bodied wine, it was better with food. Personally, I was hoping they'd refure the wine so I could taste the staff on it and maybe pour it to some cool guests in the dining room. Or worse, drink it at the end of the night! No such luck.

Tenuta di Trinoro Estate 2003

Every so often, disappointment rears its ugly head...





I opened a bottle of Tenuta di Trinoro Estate 2003 with dinner last night after a long night at Jar. Kara and I were enjoying a Kansas City, some roasted carrots and sauteed corn from Chino Farms. A Bordeaux blend from Tuscany seemed a good fit and we hadn't tried this in a few years.

I accept that 2003 was a hot year for Europe that produced less terroir-driven wines, but this was practically a Californian wine. Kara blind-tasted it as New World Bordeaux-blend. The fruit showed as wild berry jam mixed with violets, soft tannins and a short finish. And this is not a cheap wine! While I have confidence in the quality of this producer, I cannot recommend the 2003 vintage of this bottle.

It's possible that this paled in comparison after tasting the 1996 Phelan-Segur and the 1997 Shafer Hillside Select at Jar tonight, which were both showing beautifully. I think I'm suffering from wine envy tonight...

Penfolds with Chief Winemaker Peter Gago

I was invited today to a tasting of Penfold's wines featuring chief winemaker Peter Gago as a speaker. He is in town for the recorking clinic tour. If you're not familiar with this, Penfold's offers to recork any bottle of Penfolds older than fifteen years for free. They see a lot of wines from the 50's, 60's and so on. So, to our benefit, he decided to hold this trade tasting of mostly current releases.

Upon entering, we were served the 2009 Bin 51 Riesling. Plenty of petrol and lime on the nose, dry on the palate (austere, even...) with peach underlying. Also a touch of tropicality in the nose with orange as well. Very straightforward and a nice, friendly Riesling.

At our prepared seats, we had a line-up of whites and reds. To start we tasted contrasting Chardonnays. The 2009 Bin 311 Chardonnay represents the more Burgundian-styled with less new oak, but still showing baked apple, buttered toast, fig and orange flavors with crisp acidity that support a moderate finish. On the other end is their premium Chardonnay: the "Yattarna" Chardonnay 2007, which sees a lot more new oak. Wildly buttered grilled pineapple, lemon, green apple, showing nice balance in its components, but certainly a powerhouse. At $100 a bottle, I'd stick to the Bin 311.

Moving on to reds, we tasted the Bin 2 Shiraz/Mourvedre 2009 which shows amazing freshness on the nose, almost as if it were not oaked at all. Also, cracked black pepper, black cherry, a little herbaceousness, blueberry and a touch of raspberry. Following this, in comparison, they poured the Bin 138 GSM 2007. Bin 138, sealed with a screw cap, showed an incredible amount of reductive flavors that needed blowing off. However, underneath the rubber, it showed black and red fruits with dried flowers, a touch of coconut, and a nice balance on the palate.

The Bin 28 "Kalimna" Shiraz 2006 began to showcase what Penfold's is known for: Shiraz. This wine was textbook Shiraz with cherry liqueur and chocolate on the nose, blueberry and blackberry mixed with black pepper, sweet aromatics, and somewhat firm tannin. Following this, and more in the style I would prefer, is the "St. Henri" Shiraz 2005, which is aged in large oak casks, minimizing the oak flavors and emphasizing the purity of the fruit. This wine showed Queen Anne Cherry Cordials and vanilla on the nose, a very clean fruit component, balance, florality, blueberry and black cherry, a hint of meat as well as a saline character. Moderate body and soft tannin with a beautiful texture on the mouth. Following this was a library selection of the 1999 Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon , poured from magnum. It was difficult to get past all the new oak on this wine. It reeked of freshly sawed cedar on the nose as well as on the palate. Underlying, there were sweet flavors of brown sugar, coconut, vanilla, Twizzlers, blackberry and cassis, baking spices. The tannins are very firm suggesting this has a way to go, but I doubt that oak will ever integrate.

And finally - the 2004 Grange. Firm tannin dominates the palate right now, suggesting this has got a long life ahead. 100% new American oak shows on the nose and palate, but it's much more integrated than the other bottlings. The florality here is fresher and the fruit is sweet, but not AS sweet. The finish on this guy is pretty impressive and overall, for elegance in Australia, this is top notch. I wouldn't pay the prices they're charging these days, but I certainly wouldn't turn away a glass if offered.

Lastly, they poured a Grandfather Rare Tawny. I love Aussie dessert wines in lieu of dessert. They have so much to offer! This was full of walnuts, cherry flesh, tangerine candy, brown sugar, raisins, fig, toast. Wildly sweet, of course, but complex and a delicious end to a meal with some cheese.

With as much wine and as many labels as Penfold's makes, it's a wonder they can make this many solid wines. Overall, they are crowd-pleasers and don't push the envelope in any one direction, but their commitment to showing different styles and vineyard sources is commendable. A hearty thanks to Mr. Gago for making some time for the Los Angeles wine market!

Washington Road Trip Day 5: Woodinville

Our day began with our departure from Suncadia and a bus ride to Woodinville. Most of the wineries in Washington are located here and ship their grapes in from the vineyards we have been visiting all this week. While it may sound weird, it’s really not that unusual. For example, if a winery in Calistoga (Northern Napa) gets any grapes from Carneros (Southern Napa), that’s an hour shipment that you’d never know about. While not particularly scenic, this is really where all the magic happens and the wines actually get made. There are lots of tasting rooms and that’s about it. Actually, at one intersection, there are no less than 25 tasting rooms. One could potentially come to this one intersection for two or three days. In addition, this is where the famous Chateau Ste. Michelle winery is located which brings plenty of attention.

A small group of us were assigned to go to the DeLille facility with owner Jay Soloff and Chris Upchurch, the winemaker. Chris spoke to us for awhile about his philosophy on winemaking and what is important. He has travelled the world to see wineries and discover “what is a great wine”. Chris then took us into the winery and let us get on the sorting table to sort some Roussanne. Then, he allowed me to inoculate a barrel of Merlot. While a simple process, it was awesome and sounds impressive! This was a great visit and I have a tremendous amount of respect for the team at DeLille now.


We returned to Columbia Winery for a seminar on Merlot, the proposed grape that Washington does best. The seminar featured Bob Betz MW and showcased some of his wine as well as some other producers. I think many of the wine professionals in the room agree that Merlot needs to make a comeback. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the underdog at this point, but the Merlot coming out of Washington (and many other varietals, as well) is exceptional, particularly for the money. Unfortunately, a movie wiped it out of people’s realm of consideration and, with any luck, that will wear off someday and wine drinkers will rediscover amazing wines. Especially those from Washington!

We had a brief tasting in the barrel room across the street at Chateau Ste. Michelle after the seminar. Two tables that were real standouts were DeLille and Eferte. The DeLille wines were great across the board! Their Roussanne has terrific acidity with peach, lime and honeysuckle. The Chaleur Estate Blanc was profound and I can’t wait to go home and buy it! Eferte makes a slew of wines, but their Riesling was a standout: Orange Crush aromas and really zesty acidity supporting the tangerine, lime, melon and peach flavors. Also, their Emmy which is a Mourvedre-based blend was pretty solid. Lots of white pepper and animal flavors over a core of cherry and plum. This one is perfect for Jar.

We dined in the winery after that. “The Ocho” reconvened one last time! I’m really going to miss dining with these people. It’s highly unlikely that we will all be together ever again, but I will hope for that day. It was a bittersweet meal as we all began to re-assimilate into our real lives, checking phones, prepping for our return to work. But we have a tremendous amount of memories to take with us. As well as some incriminating photos…

So, a quick recap, if you’ve made it through this entire rehash of my journey to Washington: These are really wonderful wines and not to be overlooked. There is such an amazing sense of pride and awe that this wine-producing community feels about what they are doing. I’ve never seen so many people in competition with each other who are also so supportive of one another. These are vines that have not been affected by phylloxera. The flavors are complex in a way seen in few places around the globe. These growers and winemakers are incredibly passionate and it shows in the wines they make. And this is just a budding region! It’s going to be amazing to see where they go from here.

I will definitely be on that trip for sure!





In the mean time, there are two very sad dachsunds waiting for me to come home. I'm on my way, boys!

Washington Road Trip Day 4: Yakima and Suncadia

Today was a pretty big travel day broken up by some wine events, as opposed to our previous days that felt the other way around. Although, we did get a fair amount of down time at the luxurious Suncadia Mountain Lodge. That was a pleasant surprise.

The day began with a bus ride out to the DuBrul vineyard. Owned and farmed by Hugh Sheils and his family, they escorted us on a foot tour through the vineyard where we sampled all the varietals they make off the vine. They produce Cote Bonneville themselves, but also sell a lot of the fruit off to other wineries like Owen Roe. With 48 acres under vine, you kind of have to let a little go. This was my first time tasting Riesling off the vine and I have to say, I’d love to have these frozen in my freezer for a hot day.

At the end of the tour, we stopped and tasted through the wines off the back of Hugh’s SUV. These included the 2008 Chardonnay, 2007 Carriage House Blend and the 2003 Cote Bonneville which was pretty amazing. In addition, they poured us a little Late Harvest Riesling that they make for themselves and their wine dinners. This was the star of the show. Even though it’s 16% sugar, it felt completely dry because of all the acid Washington produces. I’d put a few of these away if you ever happen to see them by some chance.


A lengthy bus ride later, we arrived at the Red Willow Vineyard in Yakima. Absolutely stunning property! A strenuous uphill hike through Owen Roe’s Syrah vines brings you to a small chapel they built to resemble La Chapelle in France. And from up there, an amazing view of Mt Adams and the rest of the property. The smell of the Concord grapes being grown down below wafted up the hill and smelled like a jam truck exploded.

We had a sit-down Syrah seminar with some producers, highlighting how Syrah is affected by including stems in fermentation, how the weather can change its flavors, as well as the winemakers influence. The real standout at this tasting was the JM Cellars ‘Boushey Vineyard ‘ Syrah 2007. It had everything going on: mocha, vanilla, pepper, smoked meat, blueberry, soy, beef jerky. It’s beginning to become apparent that there truly are Grand Cru vineyards in Washington.

We enjoyed tacos, burritos and beer on the lawn of the property from the Taco Truck they brought in. We relaxed for a bit and then hit the road for another lengthy bus ride to the Suncadia Mountain Lodge where we had a full three hours of scheduled down time to relax in whatever way we wanted. I took a stroll around the property and wound up at the far end of the driving range where I came upon six deer. Two families, in fact, with the parents and their babies. I had to sit down and soak in the wildlife for awhile. This is a gorgeous property and well worth the visit – I will definitely be going back someday!

At the other end of the property, we attended a small tasting on the patio of their adjacent and sister restaurant. Then, we were escorted down to dinner in the barrel room. We enjoyed the wines from Stillwater (the winery where we dined) among others. Our table of Master Sommeliers, et al re-joined forces and wreaked havoc on our tour group yet again. I started calling us “The Ocho” (an affectionate name I have for the “party table” in any room). We sucked down as much Riesling as we could throughout the course of the Italian-themed meal and had a blast!


Shortly after dinner, we discovered a life-size stuffed sheep… It’s not everyday one gets to molest a farm animal with a couple of Master Sommeliers.

We returned to the hotel for “Beer Hall”. I was quickly coerced into playing piano and was joined by Andy McNamara who sang a grumbled rendition of “Black”. That turned into Lady Gaga and so on. A few of us tackled the hot tub for about thirty minutes to relax and then off to bed with enough time to recharge for the final day.

Washington Road Trip Day 3: Ciel du Cheval and Fidelitas

I am SO glad I didn’t go out with Charles Smith last night. Even after what amount of partying I did experience, I am so tired and not ready to do anything today. I rolled out of bed at 6:30, got ready and made it down to breakfast in the lobby. Cheerios… I couldn’t take anymore than that.

We shipped off to meet Jim Holmes at the Ciel du Cheval vineyard in Red Mountain AVA. Jim has been growing grapes for other wineries for more than 30 years. You can tell he’s a farmer. He’s very into the soil and the vines. In fact, he taught us how to analyze the soil to tell what it’s made of. Even the MS’s on this trip thought that was pretty cool. Jim toured us around the vineyard as well, showing off all of his hard work. Super nice guy!

We were then off to Washington State University for a tasting seminar of wines from the Ciel du Cheval vineyard. Some groups were at different vineyards in the morning, but I was very pleased to have been able to see the vines before jumping into these wines. In attendance with a few wines each were the winemakers from Seven Hills, DeLille and Andrew Will. They each poured the wines they make from Ciel du Cheval. It was amazing to see the through-line of what that specific vineyard has to offer. In fact, by the end of the tasting, many of us were able to identify the Ciel du Cheval vineyard blind amongst a couple of other Red Mountain vineyards.

Lunch was served after the tasting at WSU. Thankfully, it was a lighter meal than we have been served up to this point. My stomach was ready for a little break from the cheese and charcuterie. We had a little extra time so we hung out on the lawn. It was like being back in college again.

Charlie Hoppes of Fidelitas picked up our little mini-group for the afternoon. We rode in his Excursion out to the winery and tasted through the line-up of his current releases. He made a name for himself while making wines at Columbia Crest. This is a slightly smaller endeavor, producing about 7500 cases a year. But, to keep himself busy, he also makes the wines for about 6 or 7 other wineries. The highlights from his line-up were the Semillon, Merlot and Ciel du Cheval Cabernet. He also poured us a vertical of his Optu from 2005 to 2007.

We then rode out to the Red Mountain Vineyard, where he sources fruit from to check out the vines. After a quick stop, we then rode to where they make the wine. Charlie allowed us to taste four different Merlots that are in the middle of fermentation. This was so cool! It comes out looking like carbonated wine mixed with a spoonful of melted ice cream. And it’s still fermenting out the alcohol, so it’s still sweet and warm. The texture is like unfiltered sake mixed with wine. But the flavors and tannin still show through. These are going to be some really good wines. We witnessed a quick punch down on a wine and then we were off to the hotel for a little downtime.

We were bussed out to Canyon Ranch for a tasting of the Red Mountain and Yakima regional tasting featuring some pretty awesome wineries: Andrew Will, Owen Roe, Cote Bonneville, Col Solare and many more. Most of us plowed through the wines and then dug into the thirty pound wheel of Parmesan on the picnic table. There were some very good wines on the tables, but we were all fairly tired of heavy reds by that time and very few of us took any detailed notes. I, myself, was only able to star a couple of wines to revisit at another time for serious consideration.

The dinner bell was rung and we sat for dinner under the tent. The meal was BBQ! And it was good… Barbecued chicken and ribs, Brussels sprouts with bacon, some crazy mashed potato concoction with cheeses… It was badass! The wines were less than stellar, but BBQ wines should really never stand out. In my world, anyway. As soon as we were permitted, my fellow tablemates and I procured as many beers as we could and shot the shit for a long while. Actually, four of my dining pals were Master Sommeliers. Before we knew it, the conversation ran from Eddie Izaard to the plagues, from diarrhea to Celine Dion, and Sean Connery… While it may sound weird, it was awesome! And then the Bacchi ball…

The bus ride home was no exception to the fun either. We broke out the disco and Disco Ball app on the phone. Singing all the way home with a Scuttlebutt Tripel in hand. It’s awesome when you don’t have to be responsible for getting home! AND when you can drink in the vehicle on the way! Who says the party has to stop when you leave the venue?!!!!

Washington Road Trip Day 2: Morning Wood and Charles Smith!

Yikes! I awoke at 4:45. This is what time I’m normally going to bed! After a much needed cup of Starbucks, we hopped a prop plane out to the Tri-Cities airport to begin the Road Trip. Directly off the plane, we hopped on to our busses and were soon tooling down the road through Washington Wine Country. Riding along the Columbia River and looking at sheep. Good times! The overall plan for the journey is to work our way back to Woodinville by bus, stopping at the major AVA’s and wineries along the way.

The day began at Woodward Canyon with Rick Small. A fifth generation farmer, he toted us out into the vineyard to do some berry samples. 2010 has been an extended and late vintage for everyone down the west coast so we had the opportunity to taste the fruit when we otherwise might have not had the ability to do so (It would’ve normally been picked by now). We pulled different clones from clusters on different rows, etc. I’m tooling around on a broken tow (long story…), so it was a slight challenge, but awesome!


We checked the sugar levels of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon with the refractometer and then tasted barrel samples of the same varietals from 2009. Those of us brave enough to do it in front of the owner, concocted blends from the individual grapes. I christened mine as “Morning Wood”.

After that, the debauchery ensued. I pretty much won the lottery on the Road Trip by being paired up with Charles Smith of K Vintners for the afternoon. Myself, and three others (one of whom was newly indoctrinated Melissa Monohoff MS) spent the afternoon hanging out with Charles at the winery. Ultimately, it turned into a patio party with some of his wines and a Vieux Telegraphe 2005. Of the K Wines, we tasted the 2008 Viognier, 2008 Phil Lane Syrah (from 2 acres surrounding his home), 2005 Cougar Hills Syrah, and the 2007 Royal City Syrah. All were excellent wines with intense complexity, but completely balanced on the palate. As Charles said, it coats the palate, but still feels light.

We were required to return to our new hotel at 4pm, but Charles traded his SUV for a Rolls Royce Phantom 2006 and came to pick us up covertly for a “super secret probation party” back at the winery before the evening festivities. We sped out (and I mean sped at 110mph…) to the winery where we drank a Sauzet Puligny 1994 amongst other activities that set the night up for pure hilarity!


Off to Leonetti Cellars for tasting and dinner, I don’t think any of us wanted to do more than drink beer or Riesling. So, Charles grabbed each of us a Japanese import (didn’t get the name, but he has it imported special…) for the car ride over. He says the cops “know “ him! Can’t imagine how. We plowed through the tasting as best we could and hankered for dinner.

Dinner was wonderful. The Leonetti wine pairings could have been a little more course specific, but the wines were good on their own, as was the food provided by Graze Catering. The Leonetti’s offered their Sangiovese with Antipasto, the Merlot with Caesar Salad and Roasted Tomatoes, and the Cabernet with Spaghetti and Meatballs. For a dessert of Tiramisu, they poured their Reserve Cabernet. A number of cool wines were broken out by the Walla Walla Vintners after the meal for fun.

The night extended itself as Charles escorted us in the Phantom (affectionately named Satan) to the Green Lantern for a preliminary beer before attending the official “Beer Hall” in downtown Walla Walla with the rest of the gang. Eventually, we caught up with the rest of the crew to enjoy some local brews and a relaxing end to the evening. Charles was still looking to party, but our tour guides advised us highly against it if we wanted to survive to rest of the week…

And so Day 2 has come to a close. I am excited for what the rest of the week has in store –

Washington Road Trip Day 1: Seattle

I was lucky enough to be invited by the Washington State Wine Commission to attend the 2010 Road Trip. Basically, they invite about 40 – 50 sommeliers and wine buyers to Washington for an intensive tour through the AVA’s of wine country. Having never actually made the trek myself, I leapt at the opportunity. 5 days in wine country paid for – of course I did!

I landed in Seattle to the typical rain and gloom. I just wouldn’t have been happy if it wasn’t disgusting weather. It would be like meeting the Pope while he was smoking a doobie. We were shuttled directly to our hotel at the Edgewater. It actually was on the edge of the water! Cute little hotel and very lodgy-feeling. And apparently famous for hosting the Beatles in 1964 during the whole Beatlemania craze. In fact, they snuck us down the same stairwell to our buses. No screaming girls, though….

After a brief “primer” with Master Sommelier Shayn Bjornholm, we were shuttled off to the Space Needle for a wine tasting of the 11 AVA’s. IN the Space Needle! Great atmosphere. And very cool wines as well. Some interesting finds were:

Tsillan Dry Riesling 2008
Syncline Gruner Veltliner and Mourvedre
DeLille Harrison Hill 2007
Hedges ‘Red Mountain’ Blend 2007
Dupont ‘Red Mountain’ Les Gosses Syrah (vtg?)

After the tasting, we stood atop the Space Needle and took in the view at our leisure, deciding who we were going to hook up with and where we were going for dinner. I latched on quickly to a small group and we dined at Lark. Very good tapas-style restaurant. Pricey, but the food was truly delicious. I highly recommend the Sea Bass which was the best I may have ever had. And the Buratta ain’t a bad way to start with the local Billy’s Tomatoes.

With dinner, we ordered a bottle of the McCrea Grenache Blanc, a Teroldego (forget the producer…) and a Januik Red Blend (to support the locals again). The Grenache Blanc was a real surprise and very good. Sourced fruit from the Boushey Vineyard. All of the wines were sound and versatile with the array of dishes.

Sadly, no after-partying as we were getting up bright and early to fly out to the Tri-Cities in the morning. And by bright and early, I actually mean dark and early…

Let the Road Trip ensue…