I had the opportunity to taste through all the current releases from Mi Sueño winery a few days back and can honestly say that every one of the wines was impressive. However, I chose to review the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon because it's probably the best bottle of red wine that I've tasted year to date. In all seriousness.....it blew my mind.

The 2007 Mi Sueño Cabernet Sauvignon is composed of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and was sourced from  vineyards located in Napa's Coomsville appellation. It was aged for 21 months in French oak.

On the nose I got stunning notes of black currant, blackberry, peppercorn, coco powder, and hints of espresso bean. It's textbook Napa valley floor fruit and has just the most subtle dried herb and pepper aromas that combine perfectly with the dark fruit notes.

On the palate the wine touches down with a powerful and concentrated structure and amazing black fruit flavors. The black currant and blackberry flavors are backed up by notes of chocolate, tar, vanilla-toast, and a touch of cinnamon. The tannin structure and backbone of this wine suggest that it will age gracefully for at least a decade. It's a dry wine, made in a classic style; devoid of over-extraction or over-ripe fruit flavor. The finish sails on and on for about three to four minutes after tasting.

I can say with all honesty, that after tasting probably over a hundred 2007 Napa Cabernet's in the last year, that this wine is easily the best of the lot. 95+ points

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Harvesting by Hand Starts Earlier than Usual

Champagne’s 2011 harvest has commenced. The harvest of grapes from the carefully delineated plots of the Champagne region officially began on August 19, 2011. The combination of an exceptionally early flowering, limited spring rainfall and many sunny days has led to one of the earliest harvests for Champagne since 1822. The three prominently planted grape varieties – Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier – are now being hand-picked across the appellation located approximately 90 miles northeast of Paris. Weather conditions and forecasts are favorable for the next few days, with only a few thunderstorms on the horizon.

“The Champagne appellation is one of a kind, and the grapes being picked today are the only grapes that can be used to make Champagne,” says Sam Heitner, director of the Champagne Bureau in the United States. “As we celebrate another successful harvest from this unique region, we are reminded of the importance that location plays in every bottle of wine and renew our call on the United States to join the majority of the rest of the world in reserving the term Champagne only for wines made with grapes from this specific place.“

There are many sparkling wines made around the world, but the Champagne only comes from Champagne. In addition to allowing grapes to be grown only in a limited number of plots within the region and requiring harvest by hand, the Champagne appellation has strict regulations regarding all aspects of the cycle – from the planting of the vine through harvest, pressing and bottling – all designed to ensure quality for consumers. The grapes picked today will go into non-vintage wines that sit on the lees for at least eighteen months, reserve wines for future non-vintages or, if the producer deems this year’s harvest worthy, vintages that remain in the caves for at least three years.

“This year, the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), the region’s trade body, has raised the amount of grapes that can be harvested in a given area to 12,500 kilograms per hectare (kg/ha),” says Heitner. “They believe that this will keep Champagne on track to meet the growing demand. This is good news for Champagne enthusiasts everywhere, as more people will be able to enjoy real Champagne, which can only come from Champagne, France.”

Have a question about harvest? Thibaut Le Mailloux, CIVC communications director, will be providing on-the-ground responses from Champagne to a limited number of questions through Google Moderator. You can also send questions through Twitter (#Champagne) or Facebook, or email them directly to champagne@clsdc.com. To be considered, all questions must be submitted by Wednesday, August 31.

This is truly one of my favorite Pinot Noir producers, because they make some of the purest and most delicious wines on the planet. They're also one of the few producers that ferments their juice in neutral oak barrels and relies heavily on the the quality of the fruit in the vineyard. These wines can be described as having a beautiful purity of fruit and a stunning balance of acidity.

The 2009 Brewer Clifton Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir is sourced largely from estate managed vineyards, principally Mount Carmel and 3-D complemented by fruit sourced from Rio Vista and Zotovich. The wine was whole cluster fermented and aged in neutral oak barrels.

On the nose I get beautiful aromas of wild strawberry, cranberry, rose petal, and just a slight hint of spearmint. It's a very scrumptious bouquet and makes you want to really devour the wine. The brambly strawberries and cream notes are mouthwatering.

On the palate the wine shows flavors of red raspberry, strawberry rhubarb, and a chalky mineral complexity. It's extremely fruit driven and has a razor sharp acidity that helps the wine finish with extended length. This vintage seems to have just a spike of alcohol on the finish as well, which is slightly disappointing, but doesn't throw the wine too far off. 90 points

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Last year I reviewed this wine and it was perhaps the best Chardonnay I had tasted all year. I hope the 2009 vintage can get close to the quality of the 2007, which I rated at 95 points. For some reason the Maldonado's don't put the tech data on their website for the "Parr Vineyard" Chard. However, I believe the wine is a very small production and well in-demand, so they don't necessarily need to publicize it too much.

The nose on this wine is busrsting with exquisite aromas of baked golden delicious apple, fig, almond, quince, meyer lemon, stone fruit, creme brulee, and a slight touch of mineral. It's a fantastically complex bouquet and one that improves as the wine warms to room temperature.

On the palate I get delicious and intense flavors of caramel apple, quince paste, fig, vanilla, tangerine peel, mineral, and hints of nectarine. The wine is perfectly weighted texture-wise and glides effortlessly across the palate. What makes this wine really special is it's acidity and how it is razor sharp on the finish. The wine is impeccably balanced and finishes with an intensity that rivals the best made Chardonnay's in the world. 95 points

I was just blind tasted and semi-quizzed on a few wines by a buddy of mine at the shop where I work. Imagine my surprise when after using up all five of my guesses (South Africa, South America, Paso Robles, Australia, and Canada) what he revealed??? Yeah, well you already read the title of the post....wines from our buddies down in Mexico. I don't actually know why I'm so blown away by the high quality of these wines. I mean, Mexico has been providing a large part of our really good quality produce here in the South West for decades or longer. Hell, California used to be part of Mexico.

Anyways, here is a little information about the wines and my tasting notes:

2009 Jubileo Zapata Zinfandel - Guadalupe Valley

The Guadalupe valley owes much of its success to a small group of Russian pacifists who touched down in the region in 1905 with Zinfandel cuttings in hand. This 400 case bottling was created from a small parcel of old vine, dry farmed Zinfandel vines owned by Baja's famed Bibyoff family.

On the nose I get aromas of wild raspberry, white pepper, and just a touch of earth and oak. It's smells like so many of the Zin's I've had from Paso Robles and has this super-ripe fruit aroma.

On the palate the wine displays flavors of raspberry, cedar, white pepper, and mineral. It has just the slightest kick of alcohol on the finish (the wine is %15 alc.), but the wine is really pretty balanced. 88 points


2009 Jubileo Mexicana Meritage

On the North side of Mexico's Guadalupe Valley the vines for this wine thrive due to intense summer heat, cool nights, and comparatively lower water table. It's a typical meritage blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, and 11% Cabernet Franc. The wine is aged for 10 months in new French oak.

On the nose I get aromas of red raspberry, cherry, herbs, hints of pepper, earth, and a touch of creamy oak. The Merlot and Cab Franc are very expressive on the bouquet.

On the palate the wine delivers spicy flavors of blackberry, pepper, dried herbs, black cherry, scorched earth, and cedar box. It's very nicely balanced and has a firm tannin structure. I can see this wine pairing amazingly with rack of lamb or a hearty grilled steak. 87 points

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Gary and Debbie Farrell purchased the 23 acre Starr Ridge vineyard in the Russian River Valley in 1996. The vineyard is planted to Dijon Clone Chardonnay and some Pinot Noir as well. This wine was aged in 100% French oak (40% new and 60% one and two year old) barrels for 10 months.

On the nose I get fantastic aromas of white donut-peach, guava, caramel ribbon candy, honey, toasted oak, and butterscotch. The bouquet is complex and from the moment I put the wine up to my nose I instantly new it was a high quality Chardonnay.

On the palate the wine touches down with a intense dose of baked apple, butterscotch, and toasted oak flavors. There are secondary notes of meyer lemon, mineral, and caramel that also impress. The acidity is well in balance and the wine finishes with long drawn out butterscotch and citrus notes. 92 points


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I'm excited to taste this wine because it's not only sourced from one of my favorite sites in Napa, but the winemaker Mike Smith learned a large part of his craft working under Thomas Brown and continues to work with him on several projects. For those of you not familiar with Thomas Rivers Brown, he makes the wines at Schrader, Outpost, Maybach, Jones Family, Saunter, Rivers-Marie, and a few others that I'm not mentioning as well.

I couldn't find the tech-data I was looking for on the website, so I'm not entirely sure how long the wine was aged for. However, I do know that it is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.

On the nose I get lovely aromas of black raspberry, boysenberry, black licorice, and sawdust. It has this woody aroma that I can't place my finger on, but it's not cedar.....

On the palate the wine packed with delicious black fruits such as blackberry, cassis, and chocolate covered black cherries. The texture of the wine is very polished, and the tannins are ripe and very firm. The finish is long and shows some really delicious creme de cassis liquor notes and hints of anise. This young Cabernet is bold, seductive, delicious, powerful, balanced, and very well made. 93+ points


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For those who hold a special place in their hearts for the "stickies", this wine is a must try before I die type selection. A renowned 110 acre vineyard in the Coteaux du layon district of the Anjou in the heart of the Loire Valley, Quarts de Chaume wine is made from hand-selected bunches of very ripe and botrytis'd  Chenin Blanc.

The wine is always sweet, but is perfectly balanced because of it's striking acidity and sleek texture. This wine is in my honest opinion the best dessert wine you can purchase for the price. No, it's not a Chateau d'Yquem, but it's about a tenth of the price in exceptional vintages, and it can sometimes compete with Yquem in terms of complexity. 

The 2003 Domaine Des Baumard Quarts De Chaume is a straw-yellow colored wine and shows aromas of ripe pear, white peach, creme brulee, honeysuckle, mineral, and wild-flower. 

On the palate the wine glides gracefully across the tongue and displays generous flavors of white peach, apricot nectar, honeysuckle, mineral, almond, and just a hint of meyer lemon peel. The texture of the wine is quite perplexing, because although it's creamy in nature, it's also surprisingly sleek. The wine is dense and concentrated, yet the super-razor acidity cleans up the cloying sugar and helps the wine finish extremely long. The finish is in all seriousness at least 2 minutes long. 94 points

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The 2008 Blackbird Vineyards Arise is a proprietary blend of 42% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 20% Cabernet Franc. It was aged in French oak barrels for a total of 19 months (70% new oak, 30% used). The Merlot for the blend was sourced from the Blackbird Vineyard that is located in Napa's Oak Knoll District.

On the nose I get beautiful aromas of chocolate raspberry truffle, blackberry, coco powder, peppercorn, and crushed stones. It's an incredibly intoxicating bouquet and one that's very reminiscent of previous wines I've experienced made from fruit from this part of Napa. The peppercorn notes are subtle, but add just that extra bit of complexity and style to make the wine a bit more thought provoking.

On the palate the wine is rich and delicious, delivering flavors of black raspberry, unsweetened coco, peppercorn, chocolate, and earth. The wine finishes with some really nice supple tannin and a coco-cassis layered finish. 92 points

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I have to admit that Rubicon Estate is really one of my favorite properties in all of Napa Valley. I visited one summer a few years back and had an amazing tour of the winery and a tour guide that made you want to cry with his beautiful stories of the fabulous history of what is the original Inglenook Estate founded by Gustave Niebaum in the late 1800's. I also admit that their flagship wine "Rubicon" is in my opinion the pinnacle of California Cabernet and a wine that never fails to amaze.

Although Rubicon Estate is so highly touted for their efforts with Cabernet, they also have found success with other varietals on the property as well. One such variety that they've been able to coax with much delight is Syrah. In 1996 they decided to plant Syrah clones #1 and #7 from the Barossa Field Station in the loamy soil of the Gate Vineyard. More recently they also planted 12 acres of clone #2, #4, and #6 in the Chateau Vineyard. Together these vineyard sourced make up what today they call the RC Reserve Syrah.

The 2008 RC Reserve Syrah is a deep and dark colored wine that boast aromas of black currant, graphite, blackberry, and scorched earth. The bouquet is very dark and seductive and the word that best describes the aroma profile if "Black".

On the palate the wine continues to express it's big black fruits and shows flavors of black currant, coal, tar,  cassis, black licorice, graphite, and earth. It's a massive wine that shows extensive depth and could use probably 5-8 years in the cellar before it hits it's stride. The alcohol is just a tad disjointed right now and the wine itself needs time to meld and age before it's ready to enjoy. 90 points

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