Long Meadow Ranch 2003 Peter's Vineyard Napa Valley Sangiovese

This wine has a bright, clear, dark, red color, with a hint of purple, in the glass. Promising on the nose with pleasant raspberry, a floral note, and slightly herbaceous (tarragon). On the palate though, it disappoints. Still some raspberry, tart berries, medium acidity and smooth tannins. This might not sound to bad, but it does miss any kind of punch, and comes across as thin, a little week, and has a short finish. I love Long Meadow Ranch and I am a LMR Corral Club member since several years, and always look forward to their shipments. I really enjoy their Cabernet Sauvignon, and it hurts me to say that this Sangiovese is not worth the $29 it retails for.
I would love to hear from you if you are of another opinion.

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top
Did you know that you can vote once every 24 hours?!

Video: Longoria 2003 Fe Ciega Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir

A new tasting and review of a Pinot Noir from Santa Ynez Valley, the Longoria 2003 Fe Ciega Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir . Do not miss this one!

Episode 9: Tasting of Longoria 2003 Fe Ciega Vineyard Pinot Noir


Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top
You can vote once every 24 hours!

Brassfield 2005 High Serenity Ranch Sauvignon Blanc

I got this bottle of wine after reading about it in the "Special Best of Year Issue" Wine Enthusiast Magazine. With a rating of 91 points, and ranking 27 in their list of Top 100 Best Buys of 2006, at the modest price of $12.99 (at BevMo), I had some rather high expectations on this wine.
Very pale in the glass. Hard to detect the aroma. Was it to cold? I let the glass heat up in my cupped hands for quite a while. A new try. A very shy, but fresh, nose with hints of pineapple and tropical fruit. Time to taste. Again, hard to detect flavors. Some tropical fruit, some minerals but overall just plain. Was there something wrong with my bottle? It didn't seem corked to me, and the cork had not been bleeding... Maybe it was in a so-called closed/dumb stage?
I was very disappointed in this wine. Not bad tasting, just not tasting at all... I vacuum pumped it and tasted in for three consecutive days. All with the same result.
Maybe I totally missed something here. Maybe it is supposed to be so delicate as to almost not existing. This wine is a mystery to me. I would love to here your comments on this one!

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top
You can vote once every 24 hours!

Teuscher Chocolates

Valentine is a day I look forward to every year with great anticipation. Why? Its not the flowers, the food, or the champagne (although those are all great to), its the chocolate! For a couple of years now, my hubby has been giving me a box of Assorted Truffles from Teuscher Chocolates for Valentine's, and this is possibly THE BEST chocolate in the world.
Let me start with the story behind these divine chocolates.
It all started in the small town of Turbenthal in the Swiss alps a little bit over 70 years ago. Master chocolatier Dolf Teuscher started a small chocolate company that slowly grew over the years and finally moved to Zurich. He uses his very own recipe utilizing on the best quality ingredients, all of them 100% natural. The chocolates are still all made in Zurich to guaranty the quality, and are then shipped to Teuscher stores all over the world.


Their most famous chocolate creation is the Champagne Truffel (my favorite a well). Dolf Teuscher is the original inventor of this truffle and for over 20 years the only maker of it. As it got very popular and spread over the world a lot of other chocolate makers copied it and you can now see it everywhere. But non of them tastes as good as the Teuscher. Trust me, I have tried a lot of Champagne truffles and nothing can touch the original...
The Champagne Truffle is made of dark ganache filled with a French Champagne Cream and then covered in Milk or Dark Chocolate and finished off with a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar. This piece of truffle in velvety, rich, melt-in-your-mouth piece of heaven...
All of his other truffles are outrageously delicious as well. All with beautiful, intense chocolate flavor and incredibly smooth. A few of my other favorites I want to mention is the Milk and Dark Truffle. Simple, pure chocolate, mouth watering truffles. The Milk and Dark Buttercrunch has a crunchy shell filled with ganache and then dipped in chocolate. Delicious!
The best thing is that they come with a note recommending consumption within 10 days as they are all made of natural ingredients without any preservatives. That means that I have a perfect excuse to eat them all fast, fast without to much guilt...
Since Teuscher is only available in a few cities around the States like New York, San Francisco, Beverly Hills and Chicago, you most likely will have to have them shipped to you if you live outside these metropolitan areas (like I do). A box of 16 Champagne Truffles costs $34 before shipping, so this is not an inexpensive treats, but so worth it! If you are a chocolate lover like me, this is a must! So go out and get them and let me know what you think.

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top
You can vote once every 24 hours!

Two Great Restaurants: Ca'Dario and Elements

When we were in Santa Barbara last weekend, with friends from the Bay Area, we tried a restaurant we had not been to before, Ca'Dario . It is a small Italian, intimate restaurant that has been around for a long time and has gotten the rating "Excellent" from Zagat Survey for the last three consecutive years.
Starting of with a glass of wine in the small, cozy bar, we were soon seated. We started our meal with sharing the outrageously good Risotto del Giorno, which happened to be Wild Mushroom this particular night. True Italian risotto, creamy, silky and oh so tasty! We continued with splitting the Insalata Ca'Dario, a salad with radicchio, arugula and shaved Parmesan. Fresh, crisp, and light. For main course I ordered Penne al Salmone e Panna. A hand made pasta with smoked Salmon and a white sour cream, dill sauce. Pasta perfectly cooked al dente, tossed with generous amount of smoked salmon and perfect amount of sauce. The pasta was not at all "floating" in the sauce as you so many times see... Delicious!!!
With this meal we had a bottle of Antinori Pian Delle Vigne 2000 Brunello Di Montalcino, that our friends had brought. A great full bodied Brunello, 100% Sangiovese, with big dark fruit and mellow tannins. Great meal, great wine, great company, great night!

The prior night we enjoyed dinner at Elements which I have reviewed previously . However, I tried new dishes and wine so I just have to tell you all about it again...
Sea Scallop with Creole Sauce, Asparagus and Crab meat made for an excellent start. Scallops tender and perfectly seared and the sauce very flavorful with some spice to it.
For main course the Lemongrass-Panko Crusted Sea Bass with a Thai Green Curry Sauce, Gingered Basmati Rice and Stir Fried Medley of Vegetables. Nicely balanced dish with right amount of spiciness of the coconut curry sauce, not overpowering the sea bass.
As a final, the grownup version of Ice Cream Cookie, with home made chocolate cookies hugging vanilla ice cream, topped with dark chocolate sauce.
The wines we had with this meal were all great. We started with the La Vie Vineyards Rasta Rita, Santa Rita Hills 2003 Pinot Noir. A big and powerful Pinot with dark fruit, nice spice and great tannins to balance it all out into a long finish. A truly great Pinot! One of the best one I've had in quite a while. We continued with the Sea Smoke Cellars Southing Santa Rita Hills 2003 Pinot Noir. Again beautiful dark berries and fruit with great tannins as backbone but this one a little bit more elegant in style than the Rasta Rita. Also an amazing Pinot, right up there with the Rasta Rita.
Last we had the Stag's Leap Cellars SLV 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon. A great match to the chocolate dessert. Black currant, and dark, not to ripe, fruit, with good tannin structure. We opened this bottle at the beginning of the meal to let it air and that was a good call.

Looks like it's hard to go wrong in Santa Barbara with a ton of great restaurants to choose from, and most of them featuring a respectable wine list.

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top
You can vote once every 24 hours!

Sage and Onion

Our first night in Santa Barbara we had dinner at Sage and Onion. Chef and Proprietor, Steven Giles, calls his style of cooking "European-American Cuisine with an English Twist".
We have had dinner here once before, had a glass of wine in the bar a couple of times, and have always had a really good experience, with great food and excellent service.
I know a member of the staff and he always treats us to something extra. This time it was a glass of Champagne to start of our evening. Thanks Sean!
After ordering, an Amuse Bouche was served in a miniature cup, a Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup with Truffle Oil. Excellent start to the meal, I did add a touch of salt though, to bring out the flavor. After that I had the White Cheddar Cheese Souffle with Pickled Red Onion and Micro Greens. Wonderfully light and tasty souffle in a Phyllo shell. Parmesan Crusted Halibut with Wild Mushroom Risotto Cake followed. The halibut was flaky and moist, the risotto cake a tad dry but otherwise very good. We finished the meal with the Liquid Center Chocolate Cake served with Coffee Ice Cream. Over all a very good meal, but not quite as good as the prior dining experience here. Service however was as great as ever. Only mistake was my husband being served the duck instead of the chicken he ordered, and that was corrected as fast as one can expect.
The wine list is surprisingly short and although there are some good wines it really lacks in the selection. Needs to be improved.
We had the Roar Rosella's Santa Lucia Highland 2004 Pinot Noir to start with. This was a fantastic Pinot with dark cherries, raspberries and smooth tannins. A very complex wine with medium-full body. We ordered a second bottle of the Roar but the waiter returned letting us know that was his last bottle. We moved on to the 2005 Babcock Grand Cuvee, Santa Barbara Pinot Noir. A really nice Pinot as well but I must admit it was hard to enjoy this younger Pinot after having the excellent 2004 stand out from Roar. Not quite fair to Babcock, which always makes great Pinot Noir. We should have enjoyed the Babcock before the Roar and it would have come more to it's right. Well, next time...
We had a great night and will return, but hope for an expanded wine list in the future.

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top
You can vote once every 24 hours!

Rideau Vineyard

Rideau Vineyard Tasting Room

During our weekend in Santa Barbara we took a little trip up to Santa Ynez Valley to do some wine tasting. Our favorite during this tour was Rideau Vineyard which was founded in 1997 by New Orleans native, Iris Rideau (at photo to the left). The tasting room is a historical 2 story Adobe built in 1884. Through the years it has served as stagecoach stop, a famous inn, a guest ranch, and a working ranch. Iris Rideau bought it in 1995, after the property had sat abandoned for 10 years, and restored it to it's current condition.
The estate grows exclusively Rhone varietals and we decided to do the Reserve tasting at a $15 cost per person.

The first pour was the 2006 Estate Viognier. It has not been bottled yet so this was a futures sample. Cloudy due to coming straight from the barrel this was a nice Viognier but a little bit to fruity and sweet for my taste. After this we got to taste the 2005 Estate Viognier. A year in the bottle makes a huge difference and this was much more balanced, not to sweet, and had a slight crispness to it. A really good Viognier but at a pretty steep cost of $52.
Next we moved on to another barrel sample, the 2005 Santa Barbara County Syrah. Lush with ripe, dark berries and young tannins. Followed by the 2004 Santa Barbara County Syrah. Again you could taste the difference a year in the bottle makes. The 2004 was more balanced with less jammy fruit, and the characteristic hint of peppar. Both very good Syrahs.

The 2004 Chateau Duplantier, a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre, was my favorite red. Beautiful fruit, not to jammy or ripe, with nice balance, a hint of spice, and adequate tannins. What a great Rhone blend!

Last but not least the 2004 Petit Sirah, dark and fruit forward but a little bit more elegant than many other Petite Syrahs. A nice finish to our tasting.

Me and friends in tasting room

Did I mention the very friendly and extremely knowlegable tasting room staff?
This all adds up to a great winery to include in your next tour of the Santa Ynez Valley, and I highly recommend it.

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top
You can vote once every 24 hours!

Lincourt Santa Barbara County 2005 Pinot Noir

Lincourt Vineyards Tasting Room

Reading the latest issue of Food and Wine on our way down to Santa Barbara on Thursday I spotted the Lincourt Santa Barbara County 2005 Pinot Noir as one of top four star selections out of 27 bottles in the article, Best American Pinot Noir. We have enjoyed Lincourt Pinot Noir many times before and since passing the winery on the way through Santa Ynez Valley we decided to drop by, do a tasting and pick up some bottles. Said and done, we walked out of there with a full case of the 2005 Pinot Noir. A great wine for $25 perfect for week night dinners, or bringing over to a friends house.
The 2005 is made from grapes from Santa Rita Hills Vineyards. This is a medium bodied Pinot with bright red cherries on the nose, and some blueberries and hints of oak. It has flavors of red berries with some spice and earth notes. The wine is rich and fruity but not a power house. It is more toward the elegant style. Find it at http://www.wine-searcher.com/ for as low as $18.45. A great price!
I will be here in Santa Barbara until Monday and I will have a ton of good food and wine to tell you about when I get back home. Stay tuned...

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top

Video: Authentic Swedish Meatballs

Today I've taken a new turn with my video blogging. I am showing you how to make my grandma Elsa's, authentic Swedish Meatballs. I've taken a few steps to make them a little bit more healthy without sacrificing to much taste. These are the meatballs I grew up with and that I am now making for all of my friends, and everybody loves them (or so they tell me...). Check it out, cook up a batch of your own, and serve them with the traditional Swedish sides.


Episode 8: Cooking Swedish Meatballs


Swedish Meatball Recipe

Mix together in a bowl:
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
Half a yellow onion, finely chopped
1 egg
5 tbs plain bread crumbs
1 tbs water
salt and white pepper to taste

Work mixture together with hands. Form and roll into round, small, balls. Place on plate, cover with plastic, and refrigerate for 30 min. Remove from fridge and pan fry with butter in skillet on medium/high until nice, dark brown on all sides. Transfer to bowl and cover with foil to keep warm.
Pour water or milk into skillet, scrape bottom to release brown bits. Bring to a boil. Mix 2-3 tbs of flour with water and pour into skillet while stirring. Stir until mixture comes to a boil. If the gravy is to thick add water/milk, if it's to thin add more flour+water mixture. Season with salt and white pepper.
Return meatballs to skillet and simmer in gravy for 15 minutes. The gravy will get great color and flavor from the meatballs.
Taste and season with salt and white pepper to taste.
Serve with the traditional sides of mashed potatoes, vegetable trio of green beans, carrots and green peas, and don't forget the lingonberries!

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top

Domaine Des Senechaux Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2003

While in New York last fall we stopped by Chelsea Wine Vault to pick up a few bottles of wine. Drinking California wines all of the time we wanted to try something different while out of state. We gave them a price range and description of our taste, and asked them to put together a selection for us. They did a great job. We have had two of the bottles so far, both great, and tonight we opened the Domaine Des Senechaux Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2003 and had it with BBQ'd pork chop with wine braised fennel, onion, celery and radish. Quite good...
Domaine Des Senechaux is one of the oldest domaines in Chateauneuf-du-Pape with a history dating back to the 14th century. In 1993 it was purchased by Pascal Roux, owner of Chateau Du Trignon. Roux revamped and modernized the wine making facility and payed a lot of care and attention to the 27 hectares of grapes, and the result is now, 14 years later, an estate recognized as on of the finest in Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
My first impression of the nose, immediately after pouring this wine, was big aromas of newly crushed raspberry and blackberry. Beautiful! After some time in the glass that impression mellowed and gave way to a little more floral aroma with a hint of licorice, still very big on the darker berries though...
On the palate, the beautiful berries again, with a spicy note and nice, big tannins that gives this medium/full bodied wine a long finish. Over all a very good wine!
We payed $38 for this wine but searching online I found it from $29.95 at http://www.wine-searcher.com/. A great price for this truly beautiful wine.

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top

Loring Wine Company Gary's Vineyard 2004 Pinot Noir

Yet another great Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands, Pinot Noir...
Tonight we opened the Loring Wine Company Gary's Vineyard 2004 Pinot Noir.
Independent software contractor by day and winemaker by night, Brian Loring is a Pinot freak who made his first two barrels of Pinot Noir 1997 as a "crush apprentice" at Cottonwood Canyon, and on that way it is. He now produces around 3000 cases per year, concentrating 100% on the Pinot Noir grape. He purchases grapes from growers from different areas and therefore makes different style Pinots.
The 2004 Gary's Vineyard has a dark, bright red color in the glass. Some muskiness on the initial nose, rolls over into red cherry and raspberry with a floral note. On the palate ripe red cherries and berries with slight spice and round, full tannins that ends in a lingering finish.
This is a beautiful wine that I want more of and I know where to find it. Either at http://www.wine-searcher.com/ or http://www.winezap.com/ from $42.

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top

Friday night wines...

Last night we had friends over for dinner and we had some good wine. I wanted to share my thoughts on three of them with you.
We started of with the Talley Vineyards Arroyo Grande Valley 2004 Pinot Noir. I am a big fan of Talley Vineyards. They make some really excellent Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The Talley Family made their first wine in 1986 with a production of 450 cases. They are now producing around 18,000 cases annually from five vineyards with a total of 185 acres in Edna and Arroyo Grande Valley. All the wine under the Talley Vineyards label is grown, produced and bottled by the Talley Family.
This wine has cherry, raspberry and spices on the nose. Rich in the mouth with black cherries and nice tannins giving it a long finish. This wine is a more elegant style pinot but still has really nice ripe fruit. Very good! ($32 at http://www.wine-seacher.com/)
We continued with a bottle from a winery I had never had before. The Black Kite Cellars Anderson Valley 2005 Pinot Noir. This is a small production winery in Anderson Valley, owned by the Green Family, that only produces Pinot Noir.
This Pinot is very different from The Talley Pinot. Slightly cloudy, dark red with a hint of purple in the glass. Dark ripe berries on the nose with a floral tone and some burnt match stick. Super rich, plump black cherries and dark berries on the palate, over shadowing the tannins in the back ground. This is a fruit bomb of a Pinot Noir, very good, but almost to powerful fruit at this point. Being so young I think a year in the cellar will do good and show a more balanced wine. I am looking forward to revisiting this in a year or two... ($32.95 at http://www.wine-searcher.com/)
Our friends had brought a bottle of Rodney Strong Sonoma County 2002 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and we moved on to open that. This wine was pretty much what you would expect from a Cabernet, no surprises here... Nice dark red color in the glass with black currant and dark berries on the nose with a hint of oak. The same berries/fruit carrying through to the palate with good tannins supporting a lingering finish. A good quality Cabernet. Find it at http://www.rodneystrong.com/ for $40.

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top
Did you know you can vote once per day?...(hint)

Video: Carles Krug Yountville Napa Valley 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon

Last night my neighbor knocked on my door, told me to bring my camera and took me down to her house. Waiting was the shipment she just received from her Charles Krug wine club. She pulled the 2004 Yountville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, poured me a glass and said -"Taste this while I film you. This can be your next video blog!"

So said and done. I tasted, she filmed, and below you can see the result... 100% unprepared with a new "camera man"...

Episode 7: Tasting of Charles Krug Yountville Napa Valley 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon


Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top

The Crossings Marlborough 2004 Sauvignon Blanc

I am once again trying a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. This one placed #44 in the Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Wines of 2006 (rated 91 points), so when I saw it at BevMo for only $12.99 I just couldn't pass on it.
The name of the winery has an interesting history. Back in the nineteenth century, early pioneers found a specific spot at the Awatere River where their horses could wade across, and they called this spot The Crossings. This point now lays within The Crossings Wine Estate, and thereof the name. The Awatere Valley is a sister valley of the Wairau Valley where the legend of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc began, and they share very similar characteristics in their climate.
This wine has a very pale straw color in the glass. The nose presents a nice soft peach, tropical fruit and what I interpret as a hint of grass(?). The dry palate shows tropical fruit and some mineral. As it sits in the glass and breaths for a while the dryness softens and gives way to a softer, sweeter note.
I really enjoyed this SB but find myself liking the slightly more fruitier style of the Kim Crawford and the Huia a little bit better. The best deal I found online was at www.wine-searcher.com from $8.95. A really good deal!

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top

Video: Tasting of MacPhail Goodin Vineyard Sonoma Coast 2004 Pinot Noir

Another fabulous Pinot Noir from Russian River Valley. You have to get your hands on a bottle of this one!

Episode 6: Tasting of MacPhail Goodin Vineyard Sonoma Coast 2004 Pinot Noir

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top

Day trip to Napa Valley

Yesterday I left with a friend for a day trip to Napa Valley. We had a fantastic day with great food and wine, and here is the story...
We started of with a stop at the Cosentino Winery where we got free tasting, as I am a wine club member. Jeff, who poured for us, were very knowledgeable and great to discuss the wines with. My two favorite wines their were pouring was the 2005 CE2V Napa Valley Chardonnay (a fresh, fruity, round, Chardonnay with just a hint of creaminess and oak) and the 2002 M. Coz Napa Valley (a big, fruity, well balanced Meritage). A fun little story that Jeff shared with us that I was not aware of is that the M. Coz label is the shape of Napa Valley and the dots represents the location of the vineyards the wine is from. I love to learn little tidbits like this one...

The Demonstration Room at CIA

Moving on we had reservations at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone for their Demonstration Class. It is only $15 and you get to sit down for a one hour demonstration performed by a professional chef, ask as many questions as you want, and then taste the result. Yesterdays course was Marinated Flank Steak with Horseradish and Green Peppercorn Mayonnaise. This was a lot of fun and the food was delicious. Everybody gets a copy of the recipe so you can make it on your own at home. I know I will!

The finished dish and recipe

After a quick snack it was time for more wine tasting. We went just across the street from the Culinary Institute to Charles Krug. My friend is a wine club member there. So again a free tasting. They had a new release event going on and there were a little bit over 10 wines to try, so a lot of tasting, but I wasn't one to complain. The tasting staff here was one of the best I have come across during my many trips to Napa Valley. They shared a ton of information with us about the rich history of the winery, which is the oldest winery in Napa Valley, dating back all the way to 1861. Read more about it at www.charleskrug.com. They also took time to discuss the growing season,the wine making process, and of course the wine itself. Very educating in a great, friendly environment!
We had a wonderful time at this tasting and all the wines were fantastic. My favorites were the 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley (a crisp, lively, fruity wine perfect for hot summer days), the 2002 Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (wonderful dark heavy fruit and berries with some earthiness and great tannin structure), and the 2003 Limited Release IX Clones Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (same great qualities as the 2002 Limited Release Cab.) They also poured a real treat for us, the 1979 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Dark red, brick color in the glass and to my surprise, some really nice fruit still present. This was a great example of a wine that really has aged well. Yummy!

Me and the Charles Krug 1979 Cabernet Sauvignon

My friend, Robyn, in front of the restaurant at CIA

At this point it was time to go to the Culinary Institute again. We had a 5 pm reservation at the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant. We decided to do a wine flight with dinner. There was about 5 different ones to choose between, all with different themes. I love wine flight as it is a great way of sampling several wines you might not have had before. For starter we did the sampler with five different small items. A Cracker with Fromage Blanc, a Cauliflower Soup with Red Pepper Oil, a Croustini with Fois Gras and Pickled Pears, a Shrimp Wrapped in Fried Strings of some kind, and finally a Fried Pocket with Short Ribs, Salsa Verde and Micro Greens. A delicious sampler!
I had the Red Wine Braised Short Ribs with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes and Caramelized Cipollini Onions for main course and then ended the meal with their Molten Chocolate Cake with Caramel Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream. Over all a great meal and dining experience.

Molten Chocolate Cake Dessert

Dinner was over and it was time to head home after a great day. We promised each other to return real soon.

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top

Cousino-Macul Antiguas Reservas 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon

Cousino-Macul is a Chilean winery that just celebrated 150 years in 2006, and is still 100% family owned (by the same family through the years). All wines are estate grown, estate vined and estate bottled, and they take extreme pride in this fact.
This Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% grapes from the Maipo Valley, and has been made that way since 1926.
The wine has a dark, thick inky/red/purple color in the glass. Tons of black currant on the nose with dark fruit, black cherries, and some vanilla oak. It is dark and dense on the palate with black berries/fruit and medium tannins that gives it a nice round finish.
I got this at BevMo at sale for $10.99. At http://www.wine-searcher.com/ and http://www.winezap.com/ you can find it from $9.97.
This was a nice wine for a good price. Will I buy it again? Hmmm, maybe as a crowd pleaser...

Video: Brewer-Clifton Ashley's Santa Rita Hills 2005 Pinot Noir

A small production winery in Santa Ynez Valley, hand crafting a great wine you do not want to miss!

Episode 5: Brewer-Clifton Ashely's Santa Rita Hills 2005 Pinot Noir

Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top