Last Saturday was the 19th Annual ZAP Grand Tasting at Fort Mason, San Francisco.  I was lucky enough to get into the trade portion of the tasting at 10:00 AM.  The trade crowd is maybe 1000 to 1500 people vs. the general portion which was between 5000 and 6000 people.  The attendance this year seemed much lower than in previous years — it could also be that I left around 2:00 PM (only an hour into the general portion).

I was in speed tasting mode so I only have a star rating from 1 to 5 where 5 is the best.  A new find for me was C.G. Di Arie Vineyard & Winery — the owner is a food scientist who has moved into wine making.  He has done a very good job with his wines — give them a try!  The Gregory Graham, Gamba, Mazzocco and Edmeades wines really stood out for me this year.  I strongly suggest that you try their wines / visit the wineries.   The wines are listed alphabetically by winery

Bella Vineyards & Wine Cave, Healdsburg, Sonoma
3.75 to 4 stars — 2007 Lily Hill, Dry Creek Valley $38 – (light, complex, layered with ripe fruit but not overly so)
3.75 stars — Two Patch, Alexander Valley, $38

Boeger Winery, Placeville, Sierra Foothills
3.5 to 3.75 stars – 2006 Walker Vineyard, El Dorado, $18

Bradford Mountain Winery, Healdsburg, Northern Sonoma
3.5 stars — 2006 Dry Creek Valley, Dry Creek Valley, $28
3.75 stars — 2006 Grist Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley, $34

Brutocao Cellars, Hopland, Mendocino
3.3 stars — 2007 Estate Reserve, Hopland Ranches, Mendocino, $34
3.25 stars — 2006 Estate, Hopland Ranches, Mendocino, $22

C. G. Di Arie Vineyard & Winery
3.5 stars — 2006 Gunther Vineyard, Shenandoah Valley, $25
4.25 stars — 2006 Southern Exposure, Shenandoah Valley, $35
3.75 stars — 2007 Sierra Foothills, $18

Calcareous Vineyards, Paso Robles, Central Coast
4.25 stars — 2005 Twisted Sisters, Kate’s Vineyard, Paso Robles, $26
4 stars — 2006 Calcareous Vineyard, Kate’s Westside Vineyard, Paso Robles, $26

Candor/Hope Family Vineyards, Paso Robles, Central Coast
3.25 stars — NV Candor, Central Coast — a zinfandel blend, good concentration

Chatom Vineyards, Murphys, Sierra Foothills
3.5 stars — 2006 Calaverous, $19
3.75 stars — 2008 Barrel Sample, Calaveras, $19

D-Cubed Cellars, St. Helena, Napa Valley
3.75 stars — 2006 Napa Valley, $27
3.25 stars — 2006 St. Helena, $32
3.25 stars — 2006 Howell Mountain, $37

Edmeades Winery, Redwood Valley, Mendocino (they poured 7 zinfandels and they were all very good this year)
4 stars — 2006 Perli Vineyard, Mendocino Ridge, Mendocino Ridge, $31
4.25 stars — Piffero Vineyard, Redwood Valley, Redwood Valley, $31
4 stars — 2007 Mendocino County, Mendocino County, $20

Four Vines Winery, Paso Robles, Central Coast
3.25 stars — 2007 Biker, Paso Robles, $25
3.25 stars — 2007 Dusi, Amador, $25
3 stars — 2007 Sophisticate, Sonoma County, $25
4.25 stars — 2007 Zinbitch (blend of Biker and Dusi) — only 300 magnums made!

Gamba Vineyards and Winery, Fulton, Northern Sonoma
4.5 stars — 2008 Estate Old Vine, Russian Rivery Valley, $43
4 stars — 2008 Moratto Vineyard, Russian River Valley, $43
4.25 stars — 2008 Russian River Valley, $35

Gregory Graham Wines, Lower Lake, Lake County
4 stars — 2007 Crimson Hill, Red Hills, Lake County, $18
4.5 stars — 2007 Crimson Hill, Red Hills, Lake County (late harvest – 375ml), $22

HammerSky Vineyards, Paso Robles, Central Coast
3.25 stars — 2007 Estate Reserve, Paso Robles, $39
3.25 stars — 2007 Open Invitation Zin Blend, Paso Robles, $49

Harney Lane Winery, Lodi, Central
2.5 stars — 2007 Old Vine, Lizzy James Vineyard, Lodi, $33
2.75 stars — 2007 Lodi, $20

Hendry, Napa, Napa Valley
2 stars — 2006 Block 7 & 22, Napa Valley, $30

Klinker Brick Winery
3.35 stars — 2007 Old Vine, Lodi, $18 (light but complex aromas and flavors)
3 stars — 2007 Old Ghost Old Vine, Lodi, $37 (fruit was overripe)

Lava Cap Winery, Placerville, Sierra Foothills
3 stars — 2006 Rocky Draw, Lava Cap, El Dorado, $22

Leonhardt Vineyards, Geyserville, Northern Sonoma
3.3 stars — 2007 Rserve, Dry Creek Valley, $48 (complex and spicy)

Mauritson Family Winery, Healdsburg, Northern Sonoma
3.75 stars — 2007 Rockpile Cemetery Vineryard, Cemetrery Vineyard, Rockpile, $39
3.5 — 2007 Rockpike Ridge Vineyard, Rockpile Ridge, Rockpile

Mazzocco Winery, Healdsburg, Northern Sonoma (they had 4 reserve zinfandels — all very good and 6 regular zinfandels — all very good but not quite as concentrated as the reserve wines)
4 stars — 2007 Maple Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley, $32
4.5 stars — 2007 Maple Vineyard, Reserve, Dry Creek Valley, $40
4.25 stars — 2007 Smith Orchard Reserve, Dry Creek, Valley, $50
3.75 to 4 stars — 2007 Pony Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley, $32

Murphy-Goode, Healdsburg, Northern Sonoma
3 stars — 2006 Snake Eyes, Alexander Valley, $35
3 stars — 2007 Liar’s Dice, Sonoma County

Novy Family Wines, Santa Rosa, Northern Sonoma
3 stars — 2008 Novy, Russian River Valley, $20

Outpost Estate Wines, Angwin, Napa Valley
3.5 stars — 2008 Barrel Sample, $45 (will be bottled in 3 months, good concentration with a elegant layered finish)

Perry Creek Winery, Someset, Sierra Foothills
2 stars — 2006 Zinman, Sierra Foothills, $14
2.5 stars — 2006 Altitude:2401 Fair Play Farms, Sierra Foothills

Renwood Winery, Plymouth, Sierra Foothills
2.5 stars — 2006 Grandmere, Amador, $40

Rosenblum Cellars, Alameda, Bay Area
3.5 stars — 2007 Rockpile, $?

Saddleback Cellars, Oakville, Napa Valley
3.5 stars — 2006 Old Vine, Napa Valley, $36

Selby Winery, Healdsburg, Northern Sonoma
3.5 stars — 2007 Bobcat, Sonoma County, $34 (ripe flavors w/ RS and 17.8%abv!)
3.75 stars — 2007 Old Vine, Sonoma County, $24 (elegant, layered, concentrated with 15.7% abv)
4 stars — 2007 Zinfandel Port, Sonoma County (fragant, perfume aromas with a clean finish)

Carol Shelton Wines, Santa Rosa, Northern Sonoma
3 stars — 2006 Wild Thing, Cox Vineyard, Mendocino County, $24
3 stars — 2006 Rocky Reserve, Florence Vineyard, Rockpile, $33
4 stars — 2006 Karma Zinfandel

Sierra Starr Vineyards, Grass Valley, Sierra Foothills
3.5 stars — 2009 Zinjolais, Sierra Foothills (Zinfandel fermented using carbonic maceration — this would be a great wine chilled in warm weather.  Note: this must be a unique wine!)
2.5 stars — 2006 Old Clone, Estate Vineyard, Sierra Foothills

St. Francis Winery & Vineyard, Santa Rosa, Sonoma Valley
3.5 stars — 2007 Karen’s Terrace, Sonoma Valley, $35
3.25 stars — 2007 Old Vine, Sonoma County, $25

Storrs Winery, Santa Cruz, Bay Area
3.25 stars — 2005 Lion Oaks Vineyard, Bay Area, $34
3.25 stars — 2006 Rusty Ridge, Bay Area, $30

Storybook Mountain Wines, Calistoga, Napa Valley
3.25 to 3.5 stars — 2007 Mayacamas Range Estate, Napa, $34

Tin Barn Vineyards, Sonoma, Sonoma Valley
3 stars — 2007 Dalraddy Vineyard, Napa Valley, $27

Valley of the Moon Winery, Glen Ellen, Sonoma Valley
2.75 stars — 2006 Estate Old Vine, Sonoma Valley, $25
3 stars — 2007 Sonoma County, $20

Venge Vineyards, Calistoga, Napa Valley
2.75 stars — 2007 Scout’s Honor, Napa Valley, $38

Zina Hyde Cunningham Winery, Boonville, Mendocino
2.5 stars — 2007 Old Vine, Redwood Valley, $30 (lacking in fruit and too many tannins)

Recently, I did some blending trails with my two lots of Syrah from 2008.  The two lots are from the Thompson vineyard and White Hawk vineyard in Santa Barbara County.  The goal of the blending trial was to see if the wines were ready to make the primary blend of the two and/or would I need to bottle them seperately.  Thankfully, the two syrahs (each made as a blending component of a Santa Barbara County Syrah) are complimentary to each other.

2008 White Hawk Vineyard, Syrah, Santa Barbary County
App -> opaque black w/purple hues core changes to a purple rim
Nose -> Medium+ intensity aromas of black fruit, black olive, dried herbs, boysenberry
Palate -> Medium+ tannins (fine-grained with a hint of green tannins on finish), high acidity; medium+ intensity flavors of black fruit, violets, fresh raspberry (frambiose), blackberry, earth, cherry; medium+ alcohol, long length

2008 Thompson Vineyard, Syrah, Santa Barbara County
App -> opaque black/purple hues core changes to a purple rim
Nose -> pronounced intensity aromas of toasted espresso, milk chocolate
Palate -> Medium+ Alcohol; pronounced flavors of black fruit, bramble berries, spicy red fruit, light sulphur note (from recent sulphur addition) red grapefruit on finish

The blending trials consisted of 50% Thompson / 50% White Hawk to get a baseline to see how the two complimented each other — quite positive! — followed by blending with different amounts of Viognier, Grenache and/or Mourvedre.  The result of the trial for the primary blend turned out to be 49.5% Thompson / 49.5% White Hawk / 1% Catie’s Corner Viognier.  The primary blend will be completed and put back into neutral barrel as the wine does not need anymore tannins to round out the wine.  The small amount of Viognier does a great job of enhancing the aromatics and softening the strong tannins from the Thompson Syrah (it was in a new barrel with med+ toast). 

Primary blend
App-> opaque black/purple core transitioning to a purple rim
Nose -> Medium+ intensity aromas of black fruit(olive, cherry, cassis), blueberry, earth, red floral, apricot (slight from viognier)
Palate -> High tannins (soft), pronounced intensity flavors of black olive, sweet olive plant flowers, boysenberry, blueberry, currant, warm spice on finish; long length, high acidity, pronounced concentration

The primary blend with re-evaluated in 5 weeks to see how the blend is settling down.  The goal is to bottle the wine sooner rather than later to maintain the excellent aromas and flavors.  I think it will be a very good wine which will need 12 to 18 months in the bottle before it really starts to open up.  The wine is very big with an elegant and complexity to it.  I am very excited to see what it turns into!

I had the opportunity to taste three Thai fruit icewines recently.  The entire concept of Thai icewines is just plain odd, but the fruit side of it makes it even more intriguing.  The flavors of the icewines are: Pineapple, Mangosteen and Passionfruit.  Mangosteen is a fruit only grown in Southeast Asia; it is a wonderful fruit that is exotic and familiar in flavor — floral, apple, pear and good crunchy texture.

The three icewines were all very interesting and good in quality.  My preference was for the Mangosteen and the Passionfruit.  The Pineapple tasted about equal parts pineapple and lemon — the two do not work as well as you might expect.  The Passionfruit and Mangosteen would make excellent bases for some very interesting cocktails. 

If you are looking for something out of the ordinary or something that would be a natural drink to work with Asian and Indian food, you should definitely give these products a try!

I was one of the judges in the 2010 Pinot Noir Shootout held on January 11th at Boudin’s restaurant in Fisherman’s wharf in San Francisco.  The final round consisted of 64 wines being split into two panels of 32 wines.  Each panel had 4 flights of 8 wines to be judged on a 100 point scale.  A wine given a score of 90 or higher indicated the judge felt the wine should be included in the final list of Pinot Noirs to be included in the public tasting as part of the 2010 Pinot Noir Summit (Feb 27th, Osher Marin Jewish Community Center, 200 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafeal, CA, 94903 — tickets available on the Affairs of the Vine website).   Each group of 32 wines had 13 judges rate the wines. The Pinot Noir Shootout had approximately 280 wines entered from all over the world.

Flight 1:
87 pts - Ampelos Cellars, 2006 Ampelos Vineyards, Reserver – Rho, Santa Rita Hills, 520 cases, $45  retail
90 pts - Claiborne & Churchill, 2007 Edna Valley, 2380 cases, $25 retail
89 pts - Row Eleven, 2006 Santa Maria Valley, 2000 cases, $36 retail
89 pts – Cumbre of Vine Hill, 2007 Barrel 31, Santa Cruz Mountains, 187 cases, $59 retail
89 pts – Spy Valley, 2008 Marlborough, 8106 cases, $29 retail
90 pts - MacMurray Ranch, 2007 Sonoma Coast, 75000 cases, $24 retail
92 pts - Robledo, 2006 Rancho Rincon, Estate, Los Carneros, 900 cases, $40 retail
90 pts - Fulcrum, 2007 Anderson Valley, 100 cases, $52 retail

Flight 2:
88 pts – River Road Vineyards, 2007 Stephanies Vineyard, Estate, Russian River Valley, 997 cases, $26 retail
87 pts – Oak Knoll Winery, 2006 Red Hill Vineyard, Red Hill Oregon, 430 cases, $24 retail
89 pts – Hahn SLH Estate, 2007 Santa Lucia Highlands, 2591 cases, $29 retail
91 pts - Shandel’s Oppenlander Vineyard, 2007 Estate Grown, Mendocino County, 250 cases, $40 retail
93 pts – Lionheart Wines, 2007 Sonoma Coast, 50 cases, $40 retail
89 pts – TR Elliott, 2007 Three Plumes, Russian River Valley, 150 cases, $40 retail
90 pts – Left Edge, 2008 Sea Ridge Vineyard, Timberline Block, Sonoma Coast, 300 cases, $40 retail
91 pts – Artesa, 2007 Carneros, 20664 cases, $24 retail

Flight 3:
90 pts – CRU, 2008 Appellation Series, Santa Lucia Highlands, 240 cases, $32 retail
85 pts – La Fenetre, 2007 Le Bon Climat, Santa Maria Valley, 115 cases, $55 retail
87 pts – Sonoma Coast Vineyards, Freestone HIlls, Sonoma Coast, 450 cases, $40 retail
88 pts – Handley Cellars, 2007 Anderson Valley, 4029 cases, $30 retail
88 pts – David Bruce Winery, 2007 Santa Cruz Mountains, 1232 cases, $30 retail
87 pts – Truchard Vineyards, 2006 Carneros Napa Valley, 4503 cases, $35 retail
85 pts – Belle Vallee, 2006 Grand Cuvee, Willamette Valley, 382 cases, $42 retail
84 pts – Orentano, 2007 Russian River Valley, 400 cases, $40 retail

Flight 4:
89 pts – Deaver Vineyards, 2007 Sierra Foothills, 112 cases, $24.99 retail
89 pts – Nicholson Ranch, 2007 Sonoma Coast, 169 cases, $42 retail
88 pts – Manzoni, 2007 Manzoni Family Estate, Santa Lucia Highlands, 324 cases, $24 retail
89 pts – Mahoney Vineyards, 2006 Las Brisas Esate, Carneros, 300 cases, $28 retail
90 pts – Heart O The Maountain, 2007 100% Pommard Clone, Santa Cruz Mountains, 25 cases, $58 retail
87 pts – Dierberg Vineyards, 2006 Estate, Santa Maria Valley, 4400 cases, $42 retail
86 pts – Pessagno, 2007 Four Boys Vineyard, Estate Grown, Santa Lucia Highlands, 192 cases, $55 retail

I did score my wine the highest out of the flight of 32.  Note: I did not realize it was my wine during the tasting — I am a bit embarressed to say that but it is the truth.  At least, I consistently like my own wine.   After the tasting, the judges were conferring and it appeared that my scoring was fairly consistent with other judges including picking the Lionheart Pinot Noir as the top in the flight.  I hope that I do place in the top three after everything is tabulated.   

The wines in the other grouping were:
David Bruch Winery, 2007 Anderson Valley
Wedell Cellars, 2006 Hillside Vineyard, Edna Valley
Canihan Family Vineyard, 2007 Exuberance (Reserve), Carneros/Sonoma Valley border
Big Basin Vineyards, 2007 Alfaro Family Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains
Clary Ranch, 2006 Estate Sonoma Coast
CRU, 2007 Vineyard Montage, Central Coast
Ampelos Cellars, 2006 Lambda, Ampelos Vineyards, Santa Rita Hills
Longboard Vineyards, 2007 Russian River Valley
Bogle, 2007 Russian River Valley
Bjornstad Cellars, 2007 Hellenthal Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Nicholson Ranch, 2007 Estate, Reserve, Cactus Hill, Sonoma Valley
La Fenetre, 2007 Calmant Creek vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Gloria Ferrer, 2005 Rust Rock Terrace vineyard, Carneros
Sonoma Coast Vineyards, 2006 Petersen Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Pacific Coast Vineyards, 2007 Babcock Vineyards, Santa Rita Hills
Elk Cove Vineyards, 2008 Mount Richmond vineyard, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton District
Bohemian Vineyard, 2008 Bohemian Vineyard, Russian River Valley
Willamette Valley Vineyards, 2007 Tualatin Estate, Willamette AVA
Brophy Clark, 2007 Garey & Goodchild Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley
Eric Ross, 2008 Saralee’s Vineyard, Russian River Valley
Amisfield, 2007 Lowburn, New Zealand
Russian Hill, 2007 Estate Vineyards, Russian River Valley
Wild Earth, 2008 Central Otago
Vine Hill, 2007 Santa Cruz Mountains
Perception, 2007 Russian River Valley
Balletto Vineyards, 2007 Winery Block, Russian River Valley
Pegasus Bay, 2007 Waipara Valley, New Zealand
Kendric Vineyards, 2007 Marin County
Kenneth Volk Vineyards, 2006 Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley
Lucienne, 2007 Doctor’s Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands
Stephen & Walker, 2006 Monterey
Scott Cellars, 2008, Sierra Madre Vineyard, First Mesa, Santa Maria Valley

I believe that the top 40 or so wines from the final round will be included at the Pinot Noir Summit based on the aggragated scoring of all the judges in each flight as part of the public tasting.

I would like to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous new year! 

2009 was an “interesting” year to say the least.  Lionheart Wines saw some good development of the brand and some great wines going into the bottle.  The year has helped me focus on what Lionheart needs to do better as well as what wines make sense to be producing in 2010 (assuming we have the cash for that!).  I would like to continue to focus on Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese and Rose.  The white Rhone wines are lovely but the market place is not quite ready for them.  I could be changing my tune if I can figure out how to get the production costs down to a more managable price point.   I love syrah but it has not caught on as well as I planned on.  Again, who knows Syrah might bust out with the right production costs.

In 2010, we will be releasing some very good wines from the 2007 and 2008 vintages.  So, please keep your eye out for them.  Also, if you know a place that you would like carry Lionheart Wines, please let me know where so I can contact them directly.  Jen and I are looking forward providing great wines and service to our wine club members and retail partners. 

May you enjoy a lovely and safe time including some of the grape on New Year’s Eve and New Year Day!  Please make sure you have a designated driver!

Sincerely,
Leon Glover
Winemaker, Lionheart Wines

I had the pleasure of participating as a judge in one of the preliminary round judgings for the 2010 Pinot Noir Shootout.  Note: I have entered by 2007 Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir in the the event.  My wine was not tasted in this particular preliminary round. 

As part of the judging system, only 32 wines are tasted at a time in the preliminary rounds.  Each wine will be included in two preliminary rounds to make sure the wine is of appropriate quality for the final round of judging.

The wines in this preliminary round with the score I gave the wine plus what the range of scores for the round were if I have the data for it:

Flight 1:
85 pts – Heart O’ The Mountain, 2007 Estate Blend, Santa Cruz Mountains, 385 cases, $48 retail
89 pts – Belle Vallee Cellars, 2007 Reserve, Willamette Valley, 1088 cases, $28 retail
88 pts [80-90] – Mietz Cellars, 2006 Carmine’s Vineyard, Russian River Valley, 150 cases, $35 retail
91 pts [86-91] – Hahn SLH Estate, 2007 Santa Lucia Highlands, 2591 cases, $29 retail
88 pts – Eric Ross, 2008 Saralee’s Vineyard, Russian River Valley, 310 cases, $40 retail
85 pts – Wild Hog Vineyard, 2008 estate, True Sonoma Coast, 348 cases, $35 retail
90 pts – [77-90] – Willamette Valley Vineyards, 2007 Elton Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette AVA, 410 cases, $45 retail
88 pts – Wedell Cellars, 2006 Hillside Vineyard, Edna Valley, 100 cases, $125 retail

Flight 2:
84 pts – Baretto, 2007 Reserve, Santa Cruz Mountains, 172 cases, $40 retail
89 pts – Escarpment, 2007 Martinborough, New Zealand, 3000 cases, $36.99 retail
87 pts – Signorello, 2007 Estate, Las Amigas Vineyard, Carneros, 104 cases, $50 retail
87 pts – Valley of the Moon Winery, 2008 Carneros, 4440 cases, $20 retail
80 pts – Kyra, 2007 Washington State, 380 cases, $22 retail
91 pts [80-91] - CRU, 2008 Sppellation Series, Santa Lucia Highlands, 240 cases, $32 retail
82 pts – Brandborg, 2006 Estate, Ferris Wheel Estate, Umpqua Valley, 450 cases, $38 retail
91 pts [79-91] – TR Elliott, 2007 Three Plumes, Russian River Valley, 150 cases, $40 retail

Flight 3:
86 pts [82-91] – Pacific Coast Vineyards, 2007 Babcock Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills, 88 cases, $62.50 retail
85 pts [71-91] – Handley Cellars, 2007 Anderson Valley, 4029 cases, $30 retail
86 pts [79-88] – Phillips Hill, 2008 Ring of Fire, Anderson valley, 150 cases, $45 retail
87 pts [79-91] – Surfrider, 2008 Edna Valley, 548 cases, $27 retail
87 pts [75-91] – Lion’s Pride, El Molino High School Vineyard, Russian River Valley, 120 cases, $40 retail
83 pts [80-92] – Orentano, 2007 Russian River Valley, 400 cases, $40 retail
83 pts [80-89] – Wild Earth, 2008 Central otago, 7000 cases, $29.99 retail
84 pts [74-92] – Clary Ranch, 2007 Estate, Clary Ranch Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, 458 cases, $36 retail

Flight 4:
86 pts [75-91] – Villa Mt. Eden, 2007 Grand Reserve, Russian River Valley, 1120 cases, $23 retail
83 pts [76-86] – Firesteed, 2008 Oregon, 25114 cases, $15.99 retail
91 pts [83-92] – Deaver Vineyards, 2007 Sierra Foothills, 112 cases, $24.99 retail
89 pts [79-89] – Kyra, 2008 Washinton State, 350 cases, $22 retail
87 pts [82-91] – Phillips Hill, 2008 Oppenlander Vineyard, Mendocino, 600 cases, $45 retail
84 pts [81-89] – Balletto Vineyards, 2007 Burnside Road vineyard, Russian River Valley, 300 cases, $34 retail
82 pts [81-87] – Erath, 2006 Leland Vineyard, Willamette Valley, 550 cases, $45 retail
85 pts [80-90] – CRU, 2008 Appellation Series, Santa Maria, 317 cases, $32 retail

My scores tended to be in the middle or toward the higher end of the ranges.  I scored the first two flights a bit higher than I probably should have as I needed to calibrate my scoring range a bit.  This is a great example of why wines should be tasted double-blind to make sure they deserve the score given.  If I was judging more often, I think the recalibration time would be much quicker.  Also, after each flight the judges discussed the high and low scores of each wine which is a great way to get feedback on how you are rating a wine.

I hope that my wine makes it into the final round!  I guess only time will tell.

This is one of my favorite times of the year — Christmas and New Years.  My wife and I are preparing for our annual charity Christmas dinner.  We are planning menus, decorating the house, putting up lights and planning the annual holiday Lionheart Wines promotion.  This year has been a very difficult year for many people.  The Lionheart staff are very aware of recent trials in the past and the upcoming trials in the new year.  We would like to help make this holiday season a bit brighter for all the fans of Lionheart Wines.   I will be sending out an email shortly with the details of the promotion.

We donate 5% of purchases to certain charities that we support:  The Lionheart School in Georgia which teaches children with varying levels of autism, Rebuilding Together San Francisco and San Francisco SPCA.  When you make a purchase, please use the following coupon code to let me know who you would like to give the 5% to: The Lionheart School (“LionheartSchool“), Rebuilding Together -SF (“RTSF“) or San Francisco SPCA (“SPCA_SF“).  The coupon code work with other coupon codes as well.

Other news:
The 2008 Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir, has been bottled!  The wine is tasting very good now but will need 6 months in the bottle before showing what it truly has going for it.  Your patience will be well rewarded!

We will be releasing the 2008 Angel’s Fare (Marsanne/Roussanne/Viognier), 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2007 Roaring Red, Proprietary blend in time for Christmas.  We are waiting on the labels to be come back from the printer before the wines will be available for sale.  Those wines have already had many months of bottle aging so they should all be out of bottle shock and ready for you to give a try.

Yesterday, I did a blending trial for the 2008 Lionheart Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir to get ready for the secondary blending to be done.  I am hoping to bottle the Pinot Noir in the next two weeks — it will not be ready for Thanksgiving unfortunately.

I did 12 blending trials with various combinations of barrels and pinot noir single clone blending wines from the two vineyards I get Pinot Noir from — Bohemian (Freestone / Russian River) and Split Rock/Gaps Crown (Sonoma Coast).  Behemian is right next to the Sonoma Coast border so I just call it a Sonoma Coast AVA blend.  The style of the wine is more appropriate for a Sonoma Coast than a Russian River Pinot Noir.

The blend that I really liked is made up of equal parts from each barrel (90% of total volume), 8% 777 clone from Split Rock vineyard, and 2% 667 from Split Rock vineyard.  The blending session was very interesting for the following reasons: 1) the use of a single clone wine can have a massive change on the overall quality, balance and flavor profile; for example: a 1% shift of the 667 clone was very noticable, 2) 777 clone adds a great deal of body, red fruit flavors and helps extend the finish of the wine quite a bit, 3) aromatics of 667 are very good and are huge contributors to a complex Pinot Noir’s aromatic profile, 4) Pinot Noir is very sensative to chemistry shifts in the wine — aromatics and flavors shift very quickly with a slight acidity and pH adjustment, and 5) lower alcohol Pinot Noir has a much complex flavor and palate profile.

The tasting notes for the 2008 Lionheart Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, blend are:
Appearance: bright, deep+ ruby with violet core transitioning to ruby rim
Nose: clean, medium+ intensity aromas of black fruit (cherry, blackberry), blue fruit (blue berry and hint of boysenberry), hint of cotton candy, light cola, warm spices, red fruit (strawberry, cherry, raspberry) and oak
Palate: high acidity; medium tannins (soft, fine-grained but will need time in bottle to turn to velvety texture), medium alcohol, medium+ concentration, pronounced intensity flavors of blueberry, currant (red and black), cranberry, strawberry, violets, raspberry, black fruit(cherry and blackberry), warm spices on finish; long finish

The 2008 Pinot Noir will be going on sale as futures in the next week or so.  The actual release of the wine will not happen until spring of next year.  But, I might have some samples available at Thanksgiving dinner!

Appearance:  medium bright, lemon-green core transitioning to a water-white rim

Nose: clean, medium intensity aromas of mineral, sea shell, dried apricot

Palate: medium+ intensity flavors of pear, dried apricot, mineral and lemon pith; low tannins; high alcohol (hot on the finish); medium+ acidity (angular on the palate); medium+ concentration.

Quality: The wine is average to good; the wine is slightly out of balance due to the alcohol and angular acidity.  The flavors are typical for central coast viognier without being over oily in texture.  The wine is best served chilled.

I did barrel tasting from the remaining 2008 wines in barrel with some wine club members on Tuesday.  The wines tasted were: 2008 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast; 2008 White Hawk Vineyard, Sangiovese, Santa Barbara; 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Coombsville Vineyard, Napa Valley; 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Rafael Vineyard, Napa Valley.  All of the wines are tasting very good!

I was quite happy at how all of the wines showed.  Here are some tasting notes:
The 2008 White Hawk Vineyard, Sangiovese was tremendous!  It has great concentration with aromas and flavors of blue fruit (blueberry, boysenberry) and cherry.  The wine is not as classic as the 2007 Sangiovese is but I think a bit of blending with Sangiovese from the Stophlman vineyard will bring in a the lovely sour cherry flavor one looks for in Sangiovese.  Also, a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon will give it a long and lovely finish.

The 2008 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, which has had its primary blend done already is very similar to the 2007 Pinot Noir with the exception of more smoke, earth and hints of spice.  The acidity on the wine might need a slight tweek just before bottling but seems very good during my quick taste.  If you liked the 2007 Pinot Noir, I think you will enjoy the 2008 version very much.  I will be doing the final blend of the 2008 Pinot Noir to have it bottled in time for Christmas but not Thanksgiving. 

The two Cabernet Sauvignons are amazing!  The wine is concentrated, rich and complex.  The fruit flavors of the Coombsville vineyard is quite striking — lots of cassis with some nice middle-palate fruit and a long finish.  The Rafael Vineyard fruit tastes of dense raspberry jam.  It is not typical for Cabernet Sauvignon to have a raspberry flavor but the combination of the two wines will be very good.  I will be looking to blend in some petite verdot to add complexity with a spicey and tannic element and some Cabernet Franc for aromatics.  The resulting blend will be powerful wine with some nice aging potential.