Owen Roe, 2010 Sinister Hand, Columbia Valley

Owen Roe winery is named after Owen Roe O'Neill, a 17th century Irish Patriot from County Cavan, Ireland where winemaker David O'Reilly, one of 12 children, was originally from. Despite an age-old clan rivalry between the O’Neills and the O’Reillys, the two families were united in the opposition to Oliver Cromwell’s English tyranny over Ireland in the 1600’s. The photographs on all of his wine labels commemorate sites in Ireland where O’Neill lived, fought, and died. 

Adorned on the label is a giant picture of a severed left hand which turns out to be his own family’s crest. It tells a story of a rowing competition between the O’Reilly’s and the O’Neills. Whoever touched land first after rowing across the lake was to be rewarded with the land he touched. Lagging behind, one of the kinsfolk grabs his sword to cleave his hand and tosses it ashore to touch land first. He won the land and later ruled over it as king.  Each wine and each label depicts a different chapter in the Owen Roe saga, utilizing the back label to convey the story.

Owen Roe is committed to practicing the highest standards of winemaking. Since the first vintage in 1999, Owen Roe winery has been working to produce exceptional wines from fruit sourced from small vineyard sites in the Willamette Valley in Oregon and the Yakima Valley in Washington State, a place where the fruit ripens slowly and fully, resulting in excellent acidity and balance, in an effort to showcase the best expression of each variety.    

The interest in these areas is further enhanced by the remarkable diversity of soil types within each region; allowing them to create wines with distinctive and unique personality, even within the same varietal. They employ as natural practices as possible in the vineyards.  The principle of good earth stewardship is very important to everyone they work with, so no herbicides or pesticides are used in these vineyards. David O'Reilly is a firm believer in the principle that great wine comes from great grapes. All of the grapes are hand harvested, handled with minimal processing, small-lot fermented, and aged in French Oak barrels. 

Typically they are racked only once after malolactic fermentation. Once in the winery, only minimal and traditional handling practices are employed to gently coax the most authentic expressions of each varietal.

"Everything we do is meticulous," said O'Reilly. "What we do is totally uncompromised. It is a lifestyle that includes hard work, but the product is thoroughly rewarding."

As someone who believes in working with the best, O’Reilly insists on feeding his crews in Oregon and Washington at lunchtime with fresh food. He hires a cook to serve lunch daily. The crew sits down for the meal and talks about the work of the day or things they hear in the industry. If O’Reilly is in town, he joins them for a meal.

Everything O'Reilly does is also thoroughly Irish. "I like to tell people that I got involved in the business to follow an Irishman's dreams," said O'Reilly with a wink and an Irish brogue that comes and goes. "Imagine making a living by drinking!"  He jokes of course, because O'Reilly is dead serious about wine making. Although he enjoys the high ratings bestowed on his wines, O'Reilly says he is more satisfied with great taste.

In a relatively short time these spectacular wines have built an excellent reputation among the restaurants and shops of not only Washington State, but also New York, San Francisco, and Chicago.  His wines generally sell out every vintage, and his beautiful labels are immediately recognized by consumers.

Owen Roe's 2010 Sinister Hand blend is a Chateauneuf-du-Pape-style blend composed of 71% Grenache, 24% Syrah, and 5% Mourvedre. A small crop of intensely flavored fruit in 2010 means fewer bottles than usual of an especially big Sinister Hand. Deep purple. Dark fruit aromas are accompanied by juicy raspberry and cranberry preserves, with herb and savory spice accents. The first sip of this wine surprises the palate with soft, supple flavors of raspberry jam and currant. The mid-palate opens up to a complex layering of minty eucalyptus, black pepper and leather and finishes with a structured backbone of earth and spice. The overall palate is vibrant and lush, with fine tannin structure and a medley of earth, hint of coffee and baking spice accenting the layers of fruit.  Syrah adds pepper, Grenache adds raspberry jam. Medium to full-bodied with crisp acidity, smooth tannins, and a long finish.

It's not an unfamiliar sight to see O'Reilly touring the hills surrounding the Yakima Valley in his Ford Explorer, scouting out vineyards. Although a designated appellation, the Yakima Valley has been under the radar for many years, with the Walla Walla and Columbia Valley appellations garnering most of the attention. O'Reilly, a stickler about fruit, is convinced that the Yakima Valley has yet to yield all its gems in the hills surrounding the desert floor. With a cool, dry climate and shallow soils on top of volcanic rock, Yakima Valley vines produce smaller grapes with high acidity and lower pH levels - exactly what O'Reilly wants for a balanced wine.

There is no shortage of grapes here, but at times it has been a battle to convince local growers that less fruit of higher quality will be their best fiscal bet. Eastern Washington crop farmers are used to big yields - 5 to 10 tons of fruit or more per acre.

The Columbia Valley AVA is Washington's largest viticultural region covering just over 1/3 of the land mass of Washington state. Within the Columbia Valley AVA lie all of the AVAs of Washington except the Puget Sound AVA and part of the Columbia Gorge AVA. Many different micro-climates are found within this larger region and these influence quite heavily the Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and Chardonnay grown here. The arid soils, warm days and cool nights provide perfect conditions for fruit forward balanced wines.

Story compiled from excerpts from Christina Kelly at AvalonWine.com, and other sources found on the web including;
http://www.avalonwine.com/Owen-Roe-Winery-New-Vineyards-New-Winery.php, 
http://www.northwest-wine.com/owen-roe-winery.html
www.winepeeps.com
www.owneroe.com

2006 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant

Rich and smooth red.

Meaty, smoky and peppery.

Tasting Notes:

The ‘06 Cigare certainly shows the family flavor profile of red fruits, herbal and earthy notes in a savory medium bodied package. But it is quite a different wine!

A blend of syrah, grenache, cinsault with just a hint of mourvèdre and carignane, making for a bright and wonderfully gamey wine. Very youthful with toasty notes of cherry, birch, sassafras and pomegranate. Pair this racy red with a bloomsdale spinach salad in a sherry vinaigrette garnished with carpaccio of tuna or beef. Speaking of beef, a rare steak in any number of variations (tri-tip, flat-iron, filet) would be quite delish. While the zesty ‘06 is excellent right now, aging it for 2-3 more years would be all to the good.

  

Vineyard | Production Notes

This cuvée, the 22nd edition of Le Cigare Volant, is dominated by the chief red in residence - syrah. Our traditional syrah source in Santa Maria Valley was this year supplemented with the exceptional Central Coast Chequera Vineyard. Chequera Syrah is very fragrant and elegant, not quite classically New World or Old. Bien Nacido produces the closest analogue we have found to a Northern Rhône wine - tannic and meaty in the lower registers; peppery, fruitful and delicately floral in the top, all the while showing great balance and harmony. For those with particular sensitivity, a smidge of our own Biodynamic® Estate grenache adds a discreet spiciness to the attraction. A small group of non-irrigated, centenarian Contra Costa vineyards has provided mourvèdre for Cigare for many years and finally, a small dollop of cinsault provides a very particular fragrance of flowers and aromatic herbs.

Vital Statistics

Varietal Blend: 44% syrah, 43% grenache, 12% cinsault, 1% mourvèdre, carignane

Appellation: California

Alcohol by Volume: 13.3%

Serving Temp: 55-65ºF

Cellaring: 3-5 years

Production: 3,300 cases

Mas Carlot, “Les Enfants Terribles” 2006

The Farmhouse Carlot is a Farmhouse Of Provence of 17th and 19th century and is located in the Twyers-side of Nimes, in the South of the Rhone valley.  Mas Carlot is situated in the south of the Rhône Valley, extending across 76 hectares of pebbly land southeast of Nîmes. Originally a 17th century farm, this beautiful estate was resurrected in the 1960's by the Blanc family—it is currently run by Natalie Blanc-Mares and her husband, Cyril Mares of the neigbouring and equally reputable property, Mas Bressades.  Nathalie took over the property from her father Paul-Antoine Blanc in 1998.

"The appellation of Costières de Nîmes used to be considered part of eastern Languedoc but the climate, soil, topography and wine are far closer to those just over the river in the Southern Côtes du Rhône. It is a region with an ancient and glorious viticultural past dating back to the Greeks, who planted the first vines there. The Romans then developed this into a burgeoning wine trade whilst building the Pont du Gard and the amphitheatres of Nîmes and Arles. Over the last ten years this region has undergone a transformation that has witnessed the emergence of a younger generation of innovative and modern wine growers who are generally producing smaller yields and far better quality wine. It is now a region very much on the up and is widely recognized as a great source of excellent value wine." from the vineyards direct website

"The vineyards were planted in the 1950’s and 1960’s to the current varietals. The vines are trained using a system called Cordon de Royat, which helps maintain lower fruit production. Mas Carlot limits yields to around 45hl/ha, which is one-third below what the appellation allows. Nathalie likes to wait during harvest - picking late to obtain the maximum maturity for each grape varietal.  This Cuvée was created for the first time with the 2003 vintage.  This is a selection of really good old vines Mourvèdre and Syrah. The Mourvèdre was aged in barrels for one year.

This excellent estate in the Costieres de Nimes continues to turn out some superb bargain-priced wines that consumers should seek out for relief from increasingly higher prices as well as the weak dollar. The 2006 red wines all reveal zesty acidity, beautiful pure fruit, perhaps not the structure of the 2005s, but they are more friendly."   The Importer's notes; Robert Kacher Selections

Winemaker Nathalie Blanc-Mares best describes her wine; "This special cuvee was inspired by the spirit of our children, Blanche, Eugene, Olympe & Alexander. Along with my husband Cyril Mares, winemaker of Mas des Bressades, and importer Bobby Katcher, we've created a wine that honors their individuality and the richness of their originality.  This blend of old-vines Mourvedres and Syrah was aged both in tank and in oak barrels. Like our children, the charm of this wine is found in its complexity."

Blend:  50% Mourvedre, 50% Syrah
Production:  Not much was made.
Body:  medium - full bodied
Aromas: blue fruit
Color: dark purple

Tasting Notes:  This is a hearty wine with lots of spice and elegance. It unites plum and berry preserves with a raw meat character for an unforgettable juxtaposition. there are hints of herbs, cocoa powder and vanilla.  It is round, yet compact in the mouth.

"Dark and brooding in character, with lots of underlying energy, this showcases the pure blue fruit aromas that seem to be part and parcel of both good quality Mourvedre (Boysenberry, black raspberry) and Syrah (freshly plucked blueberries, currants) in counterpoint with smoked meat, beef blood and wild herbs, tamed by a hint of oak-infused cocoa and vanilla. (If this wine at all resembles Nathalie, Cyril and Bobby’s children, they are an intense, serious, impactful lot!)"
excerpts from: WineSF.com Blog

Wine Advocate: “The 2006 Constieres de Nimes Les Enfants Terribles (a 50/50 blend of Mourvedre and Syrah) offers oodles of fruit along with superb purity and freshness and a medium-bodied, savory luscious personality. Enjoy it over the next 4-5 years. Score: 89.” – Robert Parker, February 2008.

Margerum 2006 M5, Santa Ynez Valley

Doug Margerum (right), one of the early pioneers of the Santa Barbara wine scene in the 1980’s, was also a restaurateur, with his well known and very popular Wine Cask restaurant. So he, above all knows the importance of the balance a wine must have to be able to compliment and enhance the dining experience.

M5 is a Chateauneuf-du-Pape style blend using five grape varieties from twelve of the highest quality vineyards in Santa Barbara County.

Is it a Varietal Blend or a Vineyard Blend - OR BOTH?
50% Syrah -  (24% Alisos Vineyard, 24% Vogelzang Vineyard, 15% Great Oak Ranch Vineyard, 20% Black Oak Vineyard, 7% Alondra de los Prados Vineyard, 7% Purisima Mountain Vineyard, and 3% Colson Canyon Vineyard)
26% Grenache - (58% Zaca Mesa Vineyard, 15% Vogelzang Vineyard, 10% Purisima Mountain Vineyard, 11% Crossroads Vineyard and 5% Watch Hill Vineyard)
9% Mouvedre - (78% Zaca Mesa Vineyard and 22% Vogelzang Vineyard)
4% Counoise- (Stolpman Vineyard)
4% Cinsault- (Stolpman Vineyard)

Case Production: 2,200 cases

This carefully crafted blend brings together the black, deep licorice richness of syrah and melds it with the bright raspberry-cherry flavors of the Grenache. The mouvedre, counoise and cinsault add bright acidity, tannins and aromatic notes of spice and fruit. The result is a full bodied yet delightfully well balanced and lively blend.

Regarded as one of California’s top producers of Rhone style wines, Doug and his winemaker Doug Scott are masters at sourcing out the best fruit from some of the region’s most renowned growers. Names such as Volgang, Purisima Mountain, Alisos and Colson Canyon are a few of vineyards chosen by these two talented vinters to make their wine.

"The M5 mission statement: M5 is a wine that is from a thought - a blend that is an amalgamation of memories, both distant and recent, of wines I've tasted and loved the past thirty-three years.  As always, this multi-vineyard, multi-varietal cuvee illustrates the benefits inherent in a blended wine." 

From the Winelover's Page
"In Santa Barbara County winemaking circles, Doug Margerum is nearly legendary.  ... While running the Wine Cask complex, he also made wine under the tutelage of and with Jim Clendenen (ABC), Bob Lindquist (Qupe), Fred Brander (Brander) and others. Many of these wines were Wine Cask labeled bottlings to serve as house wines for the restaurant; others were made under the MWC label and sold at retail. When Margerum left the restaurant business behind, he had plenty of winemaking experience and was finally able to devote his full time and attention to winemaking at Margerum Wine Company, where he focuses on Rhone style red wines and eclectic whites, assisted by production winemaker, Doug "Scotty" Scott....  ... Sweet ripe fruit, both red (raspberry and cherry) and black, combine for a bombastic, high tempered, full bodied red wine in a Chateauneuf du Pape style that, like I said, will kick out the jams and give you immediate flavor gratification.

5 STARS - From Steve Tanzer of San Francisco, California on 9/17/2008.
Medium, bright-rimmed red. Sexy raspberry and white pepper on the nose, with a subtle anise quality adding complexity. Bright raspberry and cherry flavors offer impressive depth and urgency, fleshing out with air but maintaining verve. There's an impressive delicacy and understatement here that reminded me of pinot noir. It should be noted that Margerum's winery boasts an impressive set of racks filled with some of the greatest Burgundies and Rhones-and even some Bordeaux too.

A popular wine at the girl and the fig, it is a perfect compliment to any meat dish such as our butcher steak or roast lamb but is delicate enough to pair with our quiche or duck confit.

Bonny Doon 2004 Le Cigare Volant, California

Le Cigare Volante is French for The Flying Cigar. (There is or was a particularly strange ordinance on the books of the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, adopted in 1954, prohibiting the landing of “flying saucers” and “flying cigars” in its vineyards.) Le Cigare Volante is Randall Grahm's homage to the wines of  Châteauneuf-du-Pape, though typically less alcoholic or tannic than the originals.

Blend: Grenache 38%, Syrah 35%, Mouvedre 12%, Carignane 8% and Cinsault 7%
Body: med-bodied,
Color: nice red color and - darker and richer than the previous vintages
Aromas: smells like berries
Alcohol:  13.5%
Case Production: 3,500 cases and interestingly getting smaller

Lots of dark berries flavor at first, very smooth but has a grenache bite at the end. Recommended to drink now.

Bonny Doon was founded in 1983 by Randall Grahm who is the winemaker and President. Bonny Doon is based in Santa Cruz.  Bonny Doon became known for using grapes from less known varietals and is considered a pioneer of their work with Rhone varietals.  Randall Grahm wanted to return to his roots and “focus on making the most soulful wines we can muster” and decided to start bio dynamic farming in 2004.

From UC Santa Cruz Alumni Files:
Randall Grahm (early ’70s, German Literature).
Internationally renowned in the wine and food world for the award-winning wines he produces as the owner of Bonny Doon Vineyards, and erudite, humorous and unorthodox wine labels and newsletters. Described by Sunset magazine as “one part Baron Philippe de Rothschild, one part Monty Python.” Grahm won the Wine and Spirits Professional of the Year award in 1994 (nominated by the James Beard Foundation) and the Bon Appétit magazine 1999 Wine and Spirits Professional of the Year award (though, he writes, “that distinction is still subject to a recount in New York State”). In 1992, the “Rhoneranger” asteroid was named in his honor. Grahm describes himself as “a vitizen of the world.”  Photo by Hillary Schalit 

from the Feedbag ...
Grahm, best known for being the man who introduced Rhone grapes to America, is especially adored by the more morally-minded wine people for his strongly principled stances and aphoristic pronouncements, like this one; “BY SOUL I MEAN SOIL, AND BY SOIL I MEAN TERROIR,” and “MINERALITY = LIFE FORCE.”


DOON to Earth - Randall's Comic Strip 
"Deep red. Smoky aromas of raspberry, cherry, herbs and flowers are complemented by minerality. Mid-weight red berry and sweet cherry flavors are given spine by gentle acidity and silky tannins. The red fruit takes a darker turn on the finish, which leaves black raspberry and succulent herbs behind. Reminds me of an easygoing Gigondas; this is ready to drink." (Nov/Dec '08) Bonny Doon's Châteauneuf-du-Pape impersonator-it's hard to believe it's not the real thing. First released in 1984, this blend of grenache, syrah, mourvèdre and cinsault pushed the boundaries of what was available at the time. Named for the storied cigar-shaped UFOs seen over the vineyards of Châteauneuf, this wine is an homage to the region and to mystery. Jammy raspberry, floral, anise and garrigue aromas give way to bright red fruit highlighted by meaty syrah and mourvèdre undertones and a streak of minerals.  ... From Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

2006 Prospect 772 Sierra Foothills "The Brat"

Founders Ron Pieretti and Wendy Sanda bought a 25-acre parcel in Calaveras County in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, where land is still reasonably priced. Their focus is Rhône varietals, and winemaker Jeff Cohn crafts two wines — The Brat, a Grenache-based blend, and The Brawler, a blend of Syrah and Viognier.

Made from Grenache and Syrah, this Rhône-style blend has pronounced flavors of cherries, accented with sweet, vanilla-tinged new oak. It’s bone dry, and the tannins are pronounced, making the palate long for a bite of well-marbled, grilled steak. Best now for freshness.

Winemaker Jeff Cohn supplies his expertise on the Rhône-inspired wines of Prospect 772, located in the Sierra Foothills just outside of Angels Camp.
It is a blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah.

Sierra Foothills/El Dorado - This sweeping inland territory (an AVA on its own right), encompassing El Dorado, Fiddletown, Shenandoah and Amador, has been on the grape-growing map since the Gold Rush. With the exception of high-altitude El Dorado, the vineyards here are sun-baked and hot—in other words, best suited to old-vine zinfandel, petit sirah and Rhône varietals. The cooler climes of El Dorado are ideal for cabernet, chardonnay and merlot.

The Sierra Foothills, southeast of Sacramento, are now making some of California's most exciting Rhone-style wines. Four Vines, with an Amador Bailey Vineyard Syrah, is joined by Prospect 772 among those excellent Rhone variety-based wines from the Sierra Foothills. Prospect 772 is a new label from Ron and Wendy Pieretti with Jeff Cohn, of J.C. Cellars (and formerly of Rosenblum), overseeing winemaking. Prospect 772's two wines are The Brawler (Syrah and Viognier) and The Brat (Syrah and Grenache), and their prices are excellent.

Calveras County is a picturesque and remote area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Popular with outdoorsmen, the region also serves as a northern entrance into Yosemite National Park. In 1865, Mark Twain immortalized the area in his tale of “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. 

Through the 1850s and ‘60s, this was the heart of the Gold Rush. Prospectors of many national origins arrived in the area afflicted with Gold Fever. Those who stayed, notably the French and the Italians, quickly established vineyards and a reputation for producing the best wines in California. Many of these vineyards would long outlive the boom and bust of the Gold Rush and a century and a half later, the red clay and gravelly slopes of Calaveras County are yielding another kind of Mother Lode – the gold medal winning wines of the region. Calaveras County forms the southern third of the broad Sierra Foothills AVA which also covers much of El Dorado and Amador counties to the north. Vineyards here generally lie between 1500 and 2400 ft in elevation – higher and cooler than those in Amador.

According to Wine Spectator: "Ripe, fleshy and full-bodied, with tasty plum and black cherry fruit that has a slight candied edge, ending with a crisp berry aftertaste. Grenache and Syrah. Drink now through 2013. 153 cases made."

Submitted by James Cross

Chateau de Lascaux

Chateau Lascaux was founded by Jean-Benoit Cavalier in 1984. Cavalier planted small vineyard plots in the gravelly soil that is separated here and there by swaths of bay trees, herb gardens, green oaks, and pines. Cavalier feels that the herbs add an interesting complexity of flavors and scents to his wines. Sheltered by the mountains from most of the cold from the north, but at an elevation where nights and occasionally breezes are cool, Cavalier found what he considers to be an ideal Mediterranean climate. The winery is currently undergoing a major transformation in their vineyard practices and moving towards biological farming since September 2006. The grapes continue to be manually picked and table sorted.

Chateau de Lascaux is located in the Languedoc Region of France near the town of Vacquieres. To the extreme north are the "Hills of the Languedoc" and at the foot of the Hills is the Cevennes limestone plateau, where the Castle of Lascaux spreads over 45 hectares.


The 2007 rosé is a blend of 40% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 20% Cinsault and 10% Mourvedre. The wine is aged for seven months before bottling. The color is like pale pink petals in the glass. The nose suggests anise, peach, cherry, and black currant. It is gentle and floral with a hint of spice. The flavor is full of young berries, wild thyme and a touch of anise. This wine has a medium finish with a creamy mouth-feel, with a final note a bit like menthol or anise again.