Gun Bun

New Year, new wine! This week I spent time in Sonoma exploring a few wineries that happened to be open, including a couple I've been wanting to try for a while. As one of the original producers of California Gewurztraminer, my knowledge of Gundlach Bundschu ended there. The oldest family-owned winery in CA (since 1858!) hand harvests and uses gentle techniques to make their wines.

2012 Chardonnay offered fresh citrus flavors and a creamy texture with minimal use of new oak. Since our wine collection was lacking in the Chardonnay department, we picked up a bottle.

2012 Pinot Noir boasted pretty rose petals on the nose with cocoa, black tea and espresso notes around mixed dark berries.

2011 Merlot, one of Gun Bun's most successful varietals, had pretty black fruit, good texture and a really nice finish. I can't resist a good Merlot - Sideways or not!

2012 Tempranillo was brambly and spicy with good tannin that will make it last a few years.

Thanks to Rosie for an informative and fun tasting at Gun Bun!

Thanksgiving Wine Recommendations

As we approach the holidays, all this Pinot Noir has primed my palate for turkey and all the fixings. Pinot Noir is a natural choice for red wine at the Thanksgiving table, and in particular I would recommend these wines that I tried recently in wine class at SF Wine Center:

• Labyrinth Yarra Valley Viggers Vineyard Pinot Noir 2004 – Australia ($20)
• Seresin Marlborough Pinot Noir “Leah” 2009 – New Zealand ($40)
• JK Carriere Shea Vineyard 2005 – Willamette Valley, Oregon ($60)

As for white wines, ever since I worked at Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard in the Finger Lakes region of New York, I've given Riesling and Gewurztraminer prominent seats at the table. I am not alone; recently both Food & Wine and Bon Appetit magazines featured Hermann J. Wiemer in their Thanksgiving issues. The bright fruit flavors and wonderful acidity of these wines compliment traditional Thanksgiving dishes as well as vegetarian fare.  So naturally I highly recommend drinking American this holiday with one of Wiemer's many Rieslings or other white wines, including the newly released Gruner Veltliner, which I haven't tried yet but I fondly remember installing the posts in the vineyard that produced that wine. All of these wines are around $20 or under and available in many states around the country:

• Hermann J. Wiemer Dry Riesling 2013
• Hermann J. Wiemer Gruner Veltliner 2013
• Hermann J. Wiemer Gewurztraminer 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mendocino Day 2: Wine and Waves

Last weekend I went up to Mendocino county to check out the wine and waves. In doing my research I realized that Mendocino is both a town and a county - a large county. North of Sonoma, the county stretches out to the California coastline and is named "America's Greenest Wine Region" since many wineries are organic and biodynamic. The main wine areas are the Upper Russian River Valley and Anderson Valley. On day 1 we focused on the Upper Russian River Valley with our visit to Campovida and the surrounding Hopland area. On Day 2, after enjoying the Campovida property, we drove through the mountains to Anderson Valley. First stop was lunch at Roederer Estate, California's outpost of the Champagne producer Louis Roederer. Roederer uses traditional Champagne winemaking methods including Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, which are all estate grown. We had pre-ordered a picnic lunch and enjoyed it on their patio with two glasses of sparkling wine. The lunch basket was filled with delicious local cheeses, bread, onion jam, almonds, clementines, and dark chocolate for dessert.

Roederer Estate Brut MV (Multi Vintage) is a wine made in the traditional non-vintage style of Champagne, with each year's wine layered on top of the previous. The idea is to have a consistent "house" wine each year. This wine, aged two years on the lees, was crisp and refreshing with bright toasty pear notes.

Roederer Estate L'Ermitage 2004, with 4% reserve wine aged five years in oak, spent additional aging time on the cork before release. More complex and toasty, this wine was creamy and nutty with subtle apple and butterscotch.

There is nothing like sparkling wine and flavorful cheese on a sunny afternoon. We had to pull ourselves away to get to our appointment at Navarro Vineyards, just down the road on Highway 128.

I'd learned about Navarro via my cousin, one of their club members, who had shared a bottle of their Pinot Noir with us about a year ago. What I didn't realize was that Navarro focuses on wine varietals that hail from Alsace, France: Gewurztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris in addition to Pinot Noir. In fact, Gewurz and Pinot Noir make up the majority of their production and were the first grapes they planted on the property in the early 1970s. An old sheep farm, the property also includes goats, llamas and quail, and they make and sell goat cheese. During our vineyard tour we got close with one of the llamas.

I haven't had much California Gewurztraminer so I happily inhaled the floral bouquet and tropical, spicy flavor that I enjoy in this type of wine. Navarro Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris were all approachable and refreshing wines. Pinot Noir was earthy and spicy with pleasant red fruit and rose petals. Late Harvest Riesling, made from grapes "kissed with the noble rot" and coming in at 7.5% residual sugar and 12.5% alcohol, was luscious and complex with that botrytis spice that helps balance the honey-like sweetness. Navarro sells all of their wine direct to consumer at reasonable average prices around $20-$30.

After a pleasant afternoon in the Anderson Valley we decided to head to the coast and spend a night near the town of Mendocino. Back on Highway 128 heading north, driving along the Navarro River until it opens into the Pacific Ocean, we found ourselves in the Navarro River Redwoods State Park with the tall trees hugging the road and creating a canopy over us. A magical ride, the highway then meets up with Highway 1, and suddenly, we were at the edge of the continent. The coastline rose to greet us as we continued north to our destination, The Heritage House Resort. Every room has a view*, and after sunset and dinner the sound of the waves lulled us to sleep.

*Not the view from our room

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wiemer wines are still dominating my Thanksgiving table...

Riesling Dry 2008 (Magnum), Gewurztraminer Dry 2008, Riesling Semi-Dry 2008

Wine & Spirits' Grand Tasting

Last month my friend Oskar visited from the Finger Lakes and invited me to join him at the Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting, honoring the San Francisco-based magazine's chosen top 100 wineries of the year. Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard was honored for the 3rd year in a row, and I got to accompany Oskar as a representative of the winery. Going to industry tastings is always more fun with 2 people - you can share the responsibility of pouring the wine while having the chance to walk around and taste the other wines.

The best part was the Champagne and oysters section on the veranda of City View at METREON in downtown/SoMa San Francisco - great views and delicious indulgences. I tried Dom Perignon for the first time (it was ok; I've had better for cheaper) and sampled some other great names like Louis Roederer.

In the Riesling family, in addition to Wiemer's 2010 Gewurztraminer and 2009 Late Harvest Riesling, wines that I proudly helped produce, I enjoyed Joh. Jos. Prum's 2009 Mosel Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese (Germany), a similar style to our Late Harvest Riesling, and Loimer's 2009 Kamptal Reserve Langenlois Steinmassl Riesling and 2010 Kamptal Gruner Veltliner (Austria). I love this simple green label:

Again I sampled R. Lopez de Heredia's 1993 Rioja Reserva Vina Tondonia Blanco, the white Rioja I first had at San Francisco Wine Center over the summer; this is such an interesting wine. I also had their 2001 Rioja Reserva Vina Tondonia Tinto, the red version. Delicious Spanish wines.

Other notable reds included Leonetti Cellar's 2008 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Walla Walla Valley Merlot. I've had older Leonetti vintages and they have been divine, so it was nice to try the current releases and see what the wine is like in its youth. I also enjoyed Achaval-Ferrer's 2008 La Consulta Uco Valley Finca Altamira Malbec. I visited this winery during my trip to Mendoza last year but I hadn't tried this single vineyard Malbec.

I had fun bumping into Mary Burnham and Jordan Mackay, wine writers and instructors at SFWC wine school.

And as always, it was great pouring Wiemer to adoring fans from around the country.

Other coverage:
http://www.vinography.com/archives/2011/10/whats_your_best_wine_tasting_t.html

Gewurz and Go-Wiemer

A couple of weeks ago we went back up to the Finger Lakes to visit our friends at Wiemer Vineyard. As guests, we were given the royal treatment and put up on the 3rd floor of the winery barn, which doubles as Maressa's jewelry studio and a guest room. It was amazing to sleep in the winery, enveloped in that combination of smells that I love so much - wine, fermentation, wood. It was also really strange to wake up to Fred giving instructions to the German interns for the day's events. I felt like I was late for work and should be down there getting my assignment. Same time as last year, they are in the middle of bottling. It has been an amazing year so far at Wiemer, and many of the 2009 wines are already sold out. As happy I am for their success and for all those who are drinking those wines, this made me sad to hear since I was so involved in that vintage and it is almost gone now. But the 2010's hold a lot of promise too, and I got to try the Gewurztraminer, which was just released. The Gewurz was the hardest sort of the 2010 vintage because of the pesky grape berry moth that invaded the vineyards and pecked away at the grapes. We spent hours upon hours sorting these pink grapes, making sure none of the bad ones made it into the press.

The result: 2010 Gewurz is beautifully scented, concentrated and full on the palate, and downright delicious. Our hard work paid off!

We took a stroll through the vineyards and saw all the work that had been done over the spring. The tree lines were moved back to help control pests entering the vineyard, and unused land is being prepared for new plantings.

On the Magdalena Vineyard, the warmest Wiemer site, veraison has begun. This is when the color of the grapes starts to change from green to red or green to golden (for whites). It's an exciting time because it means the grapes are heading toward maturity and will soon be harvested. The bunches look really cool at this stage - this is Pinot Noir:

It is hard to believe harvest is coming and I won't be at Wiemer. But I know the able team is prepared for all the fruits of their labor. Thanks again to Team Wiemer for a great visit. Happy Harvest!

A Fond Finger Lakes Farewell

After working 2 harvests with Hermann J. Wiemer and getting involved in all aspects of winemaking, I am taking this great experience to California in search of new skills to add on. My Finger Lakes family bid me a memorable goodbye with a fantastic wine tasting of 16 wines from around the world. The theme, as usual, was to try to stump everyone. Points were given for accurate guessing of varietal(s), origin, vintage and price. I won first place, but I think it was rigged.

The lineup was extremely varied, and without really planning it we ended up with an interesting comparison of wines from around the world.

 Riesling from Germany and Ohio:

 Gewurztraminer from Hungary and Chile:

Pinot Noir from Germany, France, and Oregon:

 Red blends from Bordeaux, South Africa, and Languedoc:

My favorite was the Chassagne Montrachet from Burgundy, France. I was excited by the 2005 Prieure-Lichine from Bordeaux because my FLX family got me a bottle for my birthday last year, and after trying theirs that night and the day after (1 day of aeration helped a lot - it is still very tight) I am looking forward to aging mine another 10 years.

Thanks to everyone for the wines, the lessons, the fun, the experience.

Be sure to follow my adventures in California, as soon as I figure out what they will be!

Second Harvest

When I hear Second Harvest I think of the Wiemer Nursery, which we harvest in early to mid November after all the grapes have been pressed to tanks and the reds are fermenting in bins. But for wine, some consider the harvesting of botritysed fruit or fruit left on the vine for another reason to be the second harvest. Seneca Lake's Bloomer Creek vineyard, located on the 'other' side of the lake (the east side) makes a dry second harvest wine from botrytised Riesling. Where we would make dessert wine from this fruit, they let it ferment dry instead of stopping the fermentation and leaving the high residual sugar that makes some of the best dessert wines. I tried this wine at Stella's, a bar and restaurant in Cornell's collegetown. It smells typical of a late harvest wine, with apricot, honey, and some botrytis spice. But then on the palate it is dry, with rich flavors that are not quite in balance with the crisp acidity and high alcohol for a Riesling. Interesting - but I think this fruit is better suited to the dessert wines so cherished in Germany, Sauternes, and at Hermann J. Wiemer.

Gewurz me

Last week we harvested the first block of Gewurztraminer from our Josef vineyard up in Dresden, NY.  For the first picking of Gewurztraminer we focus on capturing crisp, natural acidity in the grapes. Usually 2 weeks later we will harvest the rest, giving it time to develop more rich, ripe flavors and higher natural sugar content.

The Magdalena block will hang another week or so before we harvest it:

Gewurz grapes are my favorite wine grapes to eat, so I don't mind the fact that the sorting takes a long time. I eat my way through it. Sometimes you just have to sample the grapes to make sure the bunch is good enough to go into the press. If it's underripe, we reject it. Good grapes in, good wine out.

Wines from Alsace

Over the past few weeks I've tried some interesting wines from Alsace. They have a similar wine-growing climate to us and are known for Riesling and Gewurztraminer, so it is interesting to compare the wines.

This is a super high-end Riesling that retails for around $240:

It had a petrol nose that opened up to floral and stone fruit. Crisp acidity mingled with a smoothness on the palate as it sat in the glass.  Alsatian Riesling is generally more dry than in Germany, and this too was a very dry style.  This 2002 is their current release, so it has already been aged and now could be aged another 30 years.


We also tried a couple of Gewurztraminers next to Wiemer's 2002...

The 2007 Emile Beyer was surprisingly similar in taste to our '02 - with a mellowed creaminess balanced by the still-refreshing acidity. The 2000 Domaine Zind Humbrecht was viscous and sweet, the sweetest Gewurz I've ever tasted. That winery is the gold standard in Gewurz, so it was cool to try it, but I preferred the crispness of the Emile Beyer and ours.

Blend, baby, Blend

This week we released a new wine: Field Cuvee 2007. This is a red blend that until now used to be called Estate Red.  Field Cuvee 2007 is dominated by Cabernet Franc and Merlot, followed by Lemberger, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir. Hermann originally planted some of these varieties for the nursery business to provide bud material for grafting. We vinify Cab Franc and Pinot Noir as single varietals. Depending on the vintage we'll also do a Merlot. But we'll always have a blend with these 5 grapes, and from now on it will be known as Field Cuvee. It's a medium-bodied red with a lot of bright fruit that is easy to drink and will go well with many foods from BBQ to pizza.

The Cuvee line of wines is our blended line, with a different label to distinguish it from the rest of our wines - which are single varietals that are named on the label. It was first unveiled last summer with Frost Cuvee 2008, a white blend of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Chardonnay.

Blends are nice because they can bring out the best of each variety. If you can't decide on one grape, blend, baby, blend!

Unrelated: Apparently John Travolta has bought a house on Keuka Lake, which is west of Seneca. I've called dibs on his tasting if he comes to the winery!

Gewurztrameeter

Over the weekend we hosted a great event at Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard featuring tank/barrel samples and a live jazz band. We focused on Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Cabernet Franc - the 3 top varietals of the Finger Lakes. We offered 3 vintages of each, including the current 2009 release still in tanks/barrels. I hosted the Gewurz table, where I poured the 2006 and 2008 vintages plus a tank sample of the 2009 vintage, just filtered on Friday. I first had the 2006 Gewurztraminer in February when I brought a bottle down to Argentina and loved it. The 2008 Gewurz is one of my current favorites. And the 2009 Gewurz is going to be great - it's got a lot of concentration. These wines paired great with Chef Michael Murphy's spicy shrimp and his tarragon and mustard seed chicken salad.

Here's what one fan and fellow blogger had to say about the event:
http://www.livelifeeatright.com/2010/06/27/let-there-be-riesling/

Pictures to come!

Filter this

Last week at HJW we started filtering! This was very exciting. Filtering is one of the last steps before bottling. Essentially, in the simplest terms, the winemaking process goes like this: pick the grapes, press the juice, rack (transfer) the juice off the solids, ferment the grape juice (thereby converting the sugar to alcohol by action of yeast), rack off the fermentation lees and tartrates, cold stabilize (lower the temperature of the tank to about 35 degrees F) to further precipitate out any tartrates, filter, blend and bottle. So filtering is a big step. We use a very fine (0.2 micron) cross-flow filter:

We started on Wednesday and in 3 days we filtered the components of Frost Cuvee (our white blend), a couple of tanks of Riesling, and Gewurztraminer. We still have a lot of tanks to go, but it's very exciting because once the wine is filtered we will make final blending decisions and then bottle it.

Wine Bloggers Unite!

TasteCamp EAST 2010 was held last weekend in the Finger Lakes. TasteCamp is a regional wine event aimed at getting enthusiastic journalists and bloggers together in a region that is new to them to taste as much wine as possible and speak to as many winemakers as possible over the course of a weekend. It had its inaugural weekend last year in Long Island, and this year they hit the Finger Lakes.

We hosted a group of 36 at Hermann J. Wiemer on Saturday, and Fred Merwarth, our winemaker, focused our tasting on the evolution of our vineyard sites and how we make blending and bottling decisions. We started off with our 2008 Frost Cuvee, a blended wine of Riesling and Gewurztraminer accented by our cuvee of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir - a second pressing from grapes originally designated for sparkling wine, where we only use the first press juice (sparkling wines are very delicate so you only use the first pressings, whereas with other still wines there may be 2 or 3 pressings total). Then we poured the '08 Dry Riesling and the '08 Gewurztraminer to illustrate examples of wines that are blended from different pickings. Next was the Reserve flight - the '08 Dry Riesling Reserve, a blend of the best tanks in the winery, and the '03 Dry Riesling Reserve, which was 100% fruit from the HJW site, Hermann's original planting and a very slatey site. After that we poured the 2008 single vineyard bottlings: Dry Riesling HJW Vineyard and Dry Riesling Magdalena Vineyard. We finished with tank samples of these single vineyards from the 2009 vintage, still fermenting.

It was a great event, but obviously I'm biased. Here's what some of the bloggers had to say:

New York Cork Report: http://www.lenndevours.com/2010/05/when-a-winemaker-asks-if-you--need-to-be-anywhere-the-answer-should-probably-be-no-when-that-winemaker-is--fred-m.html

The Wine Case: http://winecase.ca/2010/05/09/tastecamp-day-2-quick-notes-from-seneca-lake/

Wine Lover's Journal: http://www.examiner.com/x-17620-Manhattan-Wine-Examiner~y2010m5d11-Hermann-J-Wiemer-German-precision-gives-rise-to-fine-wine-in-the-Finger-Lakes

Pink Wine

This post is dedicated to my mom, lover of White Zinfandel, in celebration of her birthday this month.

Note: I am no longer referring to pink wines as "rose" wines, since this is a French word and not all wines are French. So these types of wines will from now on be labeled "pink."



During my travels in Argentina and Chile I learned about how some pink wines are made. To further concentrate red wines, some of the free run juice is bled off the skins after a short amount of contact, resulting in a pink by-product wine that is usually vinified dry. The remaining red wine has a higher ratio of skins to juice, resulting in more concentrated flavor, color and structural components.

This method is not new. In fact, when Bob Trinchero of Sutter Home Winery in California released the first White Zinfandel in 1973, he had made it for the same reason. It was a by-product of his red Zin that he wanted to get more concentrated. He fermented the pink stuff dry and sold it as White Zinfandel. A few years later, while making this wine, the fermentation got stuck and not all of the sugar was converted to alcohol. Bob tried it, liked it, and decided to bottle it that way. The sweet White Zin was a hit with Americans who thought they didn't like wine. And now you know the rest of the story.

Like it or not, and even though my mom prefers Beringer to Sutter Home, we still owe thanks to Sutter Home for starting the White Zin craze and getting more Americans to drink wine. I am happy to report that my mom's evolving palate now enjoys many Rieslings and sometimes a Gewurztraminer :) Happy Birthday, Mom!

Argentina, Chile, Uruguay: My Wine Awards

I drank a lot of wine in South America! So I thought I'd wrap up the trip with a recap of my favorites. It can be tough for me to choose favorites since I believe wine-drinking is very circumstantial, but I tried my hardest to find my top picks. I've paid homage to the signature grapes of each country plus my other favorites in the major color categories. And I've rated my best food pairings and wine experiences in each country.

ARGENTINA
Fave Malbec: Colome Malbec Estate 2007
Fave Torrontes: Miraflor 2009
Fave other Red: Los Vencejos Aleteo 2006 (Tempranillo)
Fave Rose: Melipal Malbec Rose 2009
Fave Dessert wine: San Pedro de Yacochuya Late Harvest Torrontes 2007
Fave wine/food pairing: O. Fournier Urban Uco Sauvignon Blanc 2009 with steak tartar
Fave overall wine experience: Barrel sampling at Los Vencejos

CHILE
Fave Carmenere: J. Bouchon Carmenere Reserva Especial 2007
Fave other Red: Casa Marin Pinot Noir Lo Abarca Vineyard 2006
Fave Rose: J. Bouchon Cabernet Sauvignon Rose 2009
Fave White: Casa Marin Gewurztraminer 2009
Fave Dessert wine: Errazuriz Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2007
Fave wine/food pairing: Errazuriz Merlot 2007 with pastel de choclo
Fave overall wine experience: J. Bouchon Winery and Mingre Lodge excursion

URUGUAY
Fave Tannat: Bouza Tannat A6 2007
Fave other Red: Alto de la Ballena Merlot-CabFranc-Tannat 2006
Fave Rose: Alto de la Ballena CabFranc-Tannat Rose 2008
Fave White: Stagnari Chardonnay 2009
Fave wine/food pairing: Bouza Chardonnay 2008 with creamy spinach ravioli

Fave overall wine experience: Wine tasting and barrel sampling at Alto de la Ballena

Thanks for following my journey! If anyone ever tries any of the wines I tried please feel free to leave a comment with your impressions.

Gewurz in a tree on Los Vencejos

I brought a bottle of Hermann J. Wiemer Gewurztraminer 2006 to Argentina to drink with Peter. This wine is beautiful - very delicate with honeysuckle on the nose and soft fruit on the palate - pineapple, apricot, and a little bitter orange or citrus zest on the finish.

Peter has this great tree in front of his house that I was just dying to climb. So after half a glass of wine I climbed it and then finished the glass in the tree while watching the sunset.

HJW in Argentina

After a long journey from the Finger Lakes to Long Island to Argentina, it was about time for Peter and me to drink the wine we made during the 2009 harvest at Hermann J. Wiemer. In October we had harvested Gewurztraminer from the HJW vineyard at Wiemer, the original and oldest planting on the property. We had separated out the botrytis-affected bunches and used only the shriveliest bunches for our wine, fermenting it and yielding just one 375mL bottle. It was ready by the end of October, so it´s been aging (and traveling) for about 3 months.

When we took it out of the fridge today we noticed the sediment in the bottle right away. When we first poured it there were some bubbles, so we worried that it had started to re-ferment. But the nose was developed and very pretty, with white flower, orange, grapefruit, and a touch of botrytis spice and minerality. On the palate it had a luscious mouthfeel, complexity, and a really good integration of sweetness, acidity, body, and alcohol. The flavor reminded me of honeyed grapefruit and the finish was crisp. It tasted very different from when we first tried it in early November; the 3 months of bottle aging definitely served it well. We were so excited by the result! We are so proud that we made a good wine. If only we had been able to make some more. Maybe next harvest...

Skip to Marilu

I had a fantastic experience at Casa Marin in the San Antonio Valley, west of the coastal ranges just 20 km from the ocean. I tasted the best lineup of winemaker Maria Luz Marin's wines and toured the facility with her. Marilu, as she is called, was a pioneer in planting vines on the slopes of the mountains 10 years ago. Like all pioneers, she was viewed as loco (crazy). And like all pioneers, her results proved otherwise. The vineyards on top of the hills experience a different mesoclimate (cooler, more breezy) than those at the bottom (warmer), and the taste differences are apparent in the wines, particularly the Sauvignon Blanc. In general, the area benefits from constant coastal breezes that moderate the temperature and cool things down at night.

In terms of varietals, Marilu produces all my faves: Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Syrah. The Sauv Blanc and Pinot Noir are fermented naturally, while the rest are usually innoculated with yeast (with the exception of the 2009 Riesling).

The tasting:
* Riesling Miramar Vineyard 2008: set on the higher part of the hills, Miramar vineyard enjoys a cooler climate with the ocean wind naturally keeping yields lower. The nose is like a classic German Riesling - petrol, mineral, citrus. It is dry, crisp, and fresh with high acidity.
* Sauvignon Blanc Laurel Vineyard 2009: Laurel is a lower vineyard with calcereous soil and warmer temperatures that result in a higher yield. The nose was unlike anything I've ever smelled on a Sauv Blanc - cantaloupe, yellow peaches, apricot. The zesty palate has tropical and similar stone fruit flavors with a long finish.
* Sauvignon Blanc Cipresses Vineyard 2009: Cipresses is higher on the hills with a cooler climate and lower yield. This is a more typical style Sauv Blanc with pronounced gooseberry, herb, lime zest, and a tiny bit of ash on the finish.
* Sauvignon Gris 2009: 60% fermented in new French oak and the rest in stainless steel for 6-7 months. The nose had a unique fresh corn character and was smooth and tropical on the palate with some melon notes as well. This grape is a mutation/cousin of Sauv Blanc and I'd never had it before - very interesting.
* Gewurztraminer 2009: beautiful perfume aroma that at first reminded me of the Tocca Brigitte perfume I sometimes wear and then evolved into lychee and white peach followed by the softest baby powder. On the palate it was dry with pretty flowers and tropical fruit. A really beautiful wine, reminding me how much I love Gewurz.
* Pinot Noir Lo Abarca Vineyard 2006: 12 months in oak, 60% new. Served chilled to lesson the impact of the 15% alcohol (which worked since I never would have guessed it was that high). Classic PN aromas and flavors of red fruit and smoky bacon - delicious! My first Pinot in Chile and it definitely delivered.
* Cartagena Pinot Noir 2009: an experimental label launched in Nov '09, it is completely vinified in stainless steel and meant to be drunk now, cold. The nose is smoky with eucalyptus, then red fruit and meat come through on the palate. It tastes light and almost fizzy. 14% alcohol. Very interesting and pleasant.

After this fantastic lineup I did some barrel sampling with Marilu and her son Phillipe. We tried the '09 Syrah, comparing a French oak sample with an American oak sample. The French barrel was soft and fruity with very subtle spiciness. The American barrel was pure black pepper on the nose and blackberry on the palate. Both are currently going through malolactic fermentation so they will soften after this completes. They've been in barrels for 9 months so far and will remain there for at least another 6 mths. Marilu said they don't always do a Syrah - it depends on the vintage.

I had been most looking forward to this winery visit in Chile, expecting great things from Casa Marin's whites and Pinot Noir, and it was everything I had hoped for. Thanks to Marilu, Phillipe, and Jamie for hosting me and to Karen for setting it up and sharing the experience with me!

Cruzing

Colchagua Valley, Chile - home to the little town of Santa Cruz and the picturesque wineries MontGras and Bisquertt.

MontGras was just beautiful, with purple flower gardens accenting the vineyards. At this point in the lifecycle of the vine (summertime) the grapes are developing and for the most part have not yet gone through veraison, or color development. So all the grapes I've seen so far down here have been an unripe green, until today at MontGras, where I witnessed their Pinot Noir beginning to turn purple. At MontGras I actually had my favorite Chardonnay of the trip yet. It was 60% aged in French oak and the rest stainless steel, and it went through partial malolactic fermentation. The result was a smooth wine with tropical fruit flavors.

At Bisquertt, I saw huge Chilean oak barrels that are no longer used for fermenting wine but are now made into regal chairs. Sitting in one of these chairs fit for a queen I had my first Chilean Gewurztraminer, which was delicious. Not many wineries in Chile have this variety so I was so happy to try it. It was flowery on the nose and tropical/citrusy on the palate, just like it should be.

Colchagua Valley is the first area in Chile that slightly resembles other wine areas that I've been to the before. Maybe it's the Andes, but before today every where I'd been seemed so unique. In Colchagua there actually seems to be a wine trail, a main road where you pass multiple wineries along the way. There is even a Wine Train that leaves from Santa Cruz and takes people along the route. You drink wine on the train, learn about the industry and visit 2 vineyards. Tren del Vino! Maybe next time.