BUYING GUIDE - Wine Enthusiast

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ichness is balanced with crisp acidity. Drink over the next three years for freshness. —S.H. abv: 14% Price: $40 89 Samsara 2010 Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills). The raspberry, cherry and vanilla flavors of this Pinot Noir taste sweet, giving it a delicious pie-filling richness. Crisp acidity fortunately provides balancing structure. It’s a flashy young wine for drinking over the next five years. —S.H. abv: 14% Price: $30 88 Foursight 2009 Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley). Acidity marks this wine, making it sharp in the mouth, while some greenness gives it a flavor of mint jelly. Nonetheless, there’s some fancy cherry and raspberry fruit. A fragile wine that seems at its best now, so drink soon. —S.H. abv: 13.5% Price: $46 88 J. Wilkes 2007 Solomon Hills Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley). Shows jammy but somewhat simple cherry candy and mint flavors, the kind that come from young vines. Plenty of tart acidity scours the mouth, creating balance to the fruit. Ultimately, this is a Pinot Noir for drinking soon. —S.H. abv: 14% Price: $42 88 Ketcham Estate 2009 Ketcham Vineyard Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley). Lots of ripe, spicy fruit in this Pinot, marked by waves of black cherries, Dr. Pepper cola, plums, tobacco and sandalwood. It’s brisk in acidity, a wine that gets the tastebuds whistling. Seems at its best now, so drink up. —S.H. abv: 14.1% Price: $48 88 Summerland 2009 Pinot Noir (Santa Barbara County). Summerland’s new crop of Pinot Noirs is quite good, and while this is their least expensive and lightest, it shows their signature. Crisp and silky, its cherry, spice and sandalwood flavors make for nice drinking now. —S.H. abv: 14% Price: $24 87 Foursight 2009 Charles Vineyard Zero New Oak Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley). Brisk in acidity and bone dry, this Pinot is elegant, although it falls short on opulence. The flavors are of sour cherry candy and cola. —S.H. abv: 13.5% Price: $38 87 Fritz 2009 Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley). For some reason, Fritz held this wine back eight months later than their very fine 2009 Reserve Pinot. It’s a solid wine, silky and pure, but it’s a little too sweet in raspberries and cherries, like a granola candy bar. —S.H. abv: NA Price: $30 87 Ketcham Estate 2009 Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley). A little rugged around the edges, with jagged tannins that emphasize the acidity. But it’s dry and balanced, and you’ll find ripe flavors of cherries, pomegranates, red licorice and toast. Drink now. —S.H. abv: 14.1% Price: $38 56 | WINE ENTHUSIAST | MONTH 2012 87 Manzoni 2010 Home Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands). A big wine, ripe and explosive in fruit. Maybe too fruity, almost a bomb. Raspberries and cherries, sweetened with oak, dominate. Could use greater subtlety and restraint, not to mention grounding earthiness. —S.H. abv: 14.2% Price: $26 87 One Hope 2009 Reserve Pinot Noir (Carneros). A little heavy for Pinot Noir. Almost like Grenache, with deliciously sweet, full-bodied flavors of cherry compote and raspberry tart, sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Give it a good decant and drink now. —S.H. abv: 14.5% Price: $40 87 Pessagno 2009 Central Avenue Vineyard Pinot Noir (Monterey). A nice Pinot Noir to drink now. It’s bone dry and somewhat austere, showing only modest cherry, pomegranate and cola flavors that are marked by rich tannins and zesty acidity. But it’s very elegant. —S.H. abv: 14.4% Price: $21 87 Summerland 2009 Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley). This tight, brittle Pinot Noir isn’t giving much pleasure now. It’s distinguished in structure, with a fine, silky mouthfeel, brisk acidity and a pleasurable dusting of tannins. But it’s a bit short on fruit. Give it a good airing and drink now. —S.H. abv: 14.1% Price: $45 86 Leese-Fitch 2009 Pinot Noir (California). A little on the soft side, with candied raspberry, cherry and cola flavors, but at this price, it’s a decent starter Pinot Noir for those who are curious about this red-hot variety but don’t want to spend a bundle. Enjoy the silkiness and spice. —S.H. abv: 13.5% Price: $13 86 MacRostie 2008 Wildcat Mountain Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast). There’s something off in the aroma, which is herbal and peppery. Turns richer once you take a sip, with pleasantly dry, crisp cherry candy, white pepper and oak flavors. The vineyard is in a cool site, and it tastes like the grapes were not fully ripe. A disappointment after so many great bottlings from MacRostie. —S.H. abv: 14.2% Price: $40 86 Mario Perelli-Minetti 2008 Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast). With a nice, silky texture and flavors of cherries, pomegranates and cola, this Pinot has plenty to like. It loses a few points, though, for unripeness that mutes the fruit and makes the finish sharp. —S.H. abv: 14.5% Price: $31 86 Sebastiani 2010 Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast). Light bodied and modest in flavor, with lots of acidity. You find yourself wishing there was more in the way of fruit. Still, it’s pretty good for the price, with a nice, silky texture. —S.H. abv: 13.8% Price: $18 86 Whetstone 2008 Bella Vigna Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast). Big and ponder- ous for a Pinot Noir, almost like Grenache, it’s so fullbodied and rich in cherries, mocha, anise and spices. Delicious in its way, but lacks Pinot finesse and subtlety. Drink up. —S.H. abv: 14.5% Price: $65 85 Forenzo 2010 Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley). Soft, simple and fruity, but with its silky texture and rich raspberry and cherry fruit and spice flavors, it’s pretty good for the price, showing authentic Pinot character. —S.H. abv: 15.5% Price: $15 85 Francis Ford Coppola 2010 Votre Santé Pinot Noir (California). A rather ordinary wine, dry and tart in acids, with modest cherry, tea and clove flavors, plus a little unripeness. —S.H. abv: 13.5% Price: $14 85 Summerland 2010 Vintners Select Pinot Noir (Santa Barbara County). Heavy and dull, with a soft texture framing cherry, berry and spice flavors. Pinot’s famously silky texture is there, but the wine isn’t offering much else. —S.H. abv: 14% Price: $35 83 Castle Rock 2010 California Cuvée Pinot Noir (California). Pretty ordinary stuff, although it does communicate Pinot’s basic message of dryness and silkiness. Shows modest cherry and spice flavors. —S.H. abv: 13.5% Price: $12 SYRAH/SHIRAZ 93 Blair Fox 2009 THompson Vineyard Syrah (Santa Barbara County). Richness defines this ripe Syrah. It dazzles with blackberry and cherry jam, dark chocolate and exotic spice flavors, while firm tannins provide supportive structure. Oak adds additional tannins and a smoky, toasty coat. Drink now and through 2015. —S.H. abv: 14.3% Price: $42 93 Samsara 2009 Melville Vineyard Syrah (Sta. Rita Hills). Rich, extracted and dramatic, dazzling in blackberry, currant, anise and smoky aromas and flavors. It’s a big, tannic, flamboyant young wine, just at the start of its journey. Will hold well through 2015 and possibly beyond. —S.H. abv: 14.9% Price: $40 92 Fess Parker 2009 Rodney’s Vineyard Syrah (Santa Barbara County). For full review see page 5. abv: 15.7% Price: $49 92 Melville 2010 Verna’s Estate Syrah (Santa Barbara County). This fruity Syrah is rich in cherries, raspberries, white chocolate and spices. Syrah hardly gets more flamboyant. And yet its structure is firm and pleasant. Drink now–2016. —S.H. abv: NA Price: $26 92 Rusack 2009 Ballard Canyon Estate Reserve Syrah (Santa Barbara County). This rich Syrah leaves little to the imagination. It’s dramatic
in blackberry and cherry fruit and exotic spices, sweetened with new oak. Delicious now and for the next few years. —S.H. abv: 14.5% Price: $36 91 Pessagno 2009 Manzoni Estate Vineyard Syrah (Santa Lucia Highlands). What a nice Syrah for drinking now. It shows that firm structure of Highlands reds, with fine acidity and dusty tannins, and is rich in blackberry, currant, licorice, bacon, black pepper and cedar flavors. Too bad more Syrahs aren’t this good. —S.H. abv: 14.6% Price: $35 90 Novy 2009 Syrah (Santa Lucia Highlands). Robust and fruity, this big Syrah floods the mouth with blackberries, currants, bacon and black pepper. It’s a delicious wine, wrapped into firm tannins, and ideal with a nice charbroiled steak, with salt and pepper to echo the wine’s spices. —S.H. abv: 14.2% Price: $27 90 Samsara 2009 Turner Vineyard Syrah (Sta. Rita Hills). Lots of flashy blackberry and blueberry fruit in this rather forward Syrah. It’s also quite tannic and spicy, the result of 100% whole cluster fermentation. With its fairly high alcohol, it has a mouth-warming fullness. Drink now. —S.H. abv: 14.9% Price: $40 89 Blair Fox 2009 Fox Family Vineyard Syrah (Santa Barbara County). This is a rich, ripe Syrah, with deep, long-lasting chocolate, blackberry jam and oak flavors. Impresses for its sheer razzle dazzle. Probably best over the next few years. —S.H. abv: 14.7% Price: $45 89 Cakebread 2009 Syrah (Napa Valley). Made from Carneros-grown grapes, this Syrah strikes the palate as rather candied in blackberries and cherries. It’s smooth in the mouth, and the oak brings a pretty layer of smoky cedar. —S.H. abv: 14.1% Price: $55 89 Q 2010 Syrah (Sonoma County). For full review see page 10. Best Buy. abv: 13.9% Price: $12 88 Dogwood 2008 Syrah (Dry Creek Valley). This is a dry, robust Syrah, packed with blackberry, blueberry, anise, bacon and pepper flavors, and wrapped into sturdy tannins. Give it a decant, and drink with game or Mexican beef dishes. —S.H. abv: 14.5% Price: $30 88 Samsara 2009 Verna’s Vineyard Syrah (Santa Barbara County). This Syrah is remarkably ripe in blackberry, blueberry and cherry fruit, with a bite of acidity. It feels fine and vital in the mouth. Give it a brief decant. —S.H. abv: 14.4% Price: $32 88 Whetstone 2008 Phoenix Ranch Syrah (Russian River Valley). A fine Syrah, dry and rich in blackberry, currant, dark chocolate, grilled meat, spice and cedar flavors. It’s pretty firm in tannins and acids, though, making it hard and chewy. Difficult to predict its future, but an educated guess suggests it’s not an ager. —S.H. abv: 15.7% Price: $55 87 Black Box 2009 Shiraz (California). Robust, peppery, dry and fruity, just what an inexpensive Shiraz should be. Easy to like for its array of blackberries, spices and cedar. A great value in a barbecue-style wine. Best Buy. —S.H. abv: 13.5% Price: $25/3 L 86 Manzoni 2009 Home Vineyard Syrah (Santa Lucia Highlands). Huge flavors of jammy blackberries and cherries dominate this Syrah, with a coating of sweet, caramelized oak. It’s yummy, but not especially complex. Drink now. —S.H. abv: 14.2% Price: $26 83 Radar 2009 Syrah (California). Thick, soft and sweetly extracted in blackberries and licorice, this Syrah can best be described as rustic. It’s not bad, just simple. —S.H. abv: 13.9% Price: $15 PETITE SIRAH 93 Rutherford Grove 2008 Spring Creek Vineyard Petite Sirah (Napa Valley). Here’s a big, thick, tannic, ripe wine, impressive for its sheer power and fruit. In other words, it’s classic Petite Sirah. The flavors are just wild, suggesting blackberries, plums, bacon, orange tea and exotic spices. Absolutely delicious, with classic Napa balance. Shows why Petite Sirah has such momentum. Will age easily for at least a decade. —S.H. abv: 14.5% Price: $37 92 Madrigal 2008 Barberis Family Reserve Petite Sirah (Napa Valley). This is one of those Petite Sirahs that will benefit from a little time in the cellar. Even though it’s made in the modern style, with softer, sweeter tannins than the variety has shown the past, it’s still a bruiser. Yet with a gigantic core of blackberries, blueberries and chocolate, it should negotiate the next 5–6 years easily. Cellar Selection. —S.H. abv: 14.6% Price: $65 90 Jacob Franklin 2009 Hayne Vineyard Petite Sirah (Napa Valley). The vineyard, which is in St. Helena, certainly yielded grapes that were ripe, to judge by this wine’s flavors. It’s gigantic in berries, cherries, mocha and spices that are jammy and sweet. The best thing about it are the tannins, which are smooth and complex. Give this flashy young Petite Sirah a couple years to integrate and mellow. Cellar Selection. —S.H. abv: 14.2% Price: $65 90 Jaffurs 2010 Thompson Vineyard Petite Sirah (Santa Barbara County). Rich, ripe and oaky, this Petite Sirah charms with flashy blackberry, cherry and dark chocolate flavors that are opulent through the long finish. The vineyard is in the Los Alamos region. —S.H. abv: 14.5% Price: $34 87 Carica 2009 Kick Ranch Petite Sirah (Sonoma County). If you’re sensitive to high alcohol, this wine isn’t for you. If you’re not, it has plenty to offer in the way of flavor, including raspberries, chocolate and pepper. Turns a bit overripe in the finish, but not too much. —S.H. abv: 15.6% Price: $36 86 John Tyler 2008 Bacigalupi Vineyard Petite Sirah (Russian River Valley). Tastes like it was just bottled, with jammy red fruit, sweet licorice, vanilla and spice flavors and a fresh burst of acidity. Almost like it’s been frozen in time over the years, but not likely an ager. Drink up with barbecue, ham or pork chops. —S.H. abv: 15% Price: $58 ZINFANDEL 92 John Tyler 2007 Bacigalupi Vineyard Zinfandel (Russian River Valley). Sweet, soft and delicious, this is a rich Zinfandel to savor with barbeque. It’s tasty in blackberry, cherry and blueberry fruit, with a coating of smoky oak. Earns extra points for a long, exotically spicy finish. Great now and over the next four years. —S.H. abv: 14.8% Price: $38 91 Fritz 2009 Estate Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley). A delicious Zinfandel, one of Fritz’s best in years. It shows Zin’s robust, briary character, with a peppery, brambly mouthfeel. Yet the long, cool vintage has resulted in sweetly ripe flavors of wild berries. —S.H. abv: 14.5% Price: $25 90 Peachy Canyon 2010 Mustard Creek Zinfandel (Paso Robles). A soft, exceptionally ripe Zinfandel, sweet in what tastes like residual sugar, although the sweetness also comes from very high alcohol. The flavors are pure Paso Robles, all about black cherries, raspberries, red plums, red licorice, bacon and exotic spices. A splash of Petite Sirah brings tannic depth and weight. This is a good example of Peachy Canyon’s style. —S.H. abv: 15.5% Price: $36 90 Uvaggio 2010 Primitivo (Lodi). If only more California Primitivo could be made in this style - soft, lower in alcohol, modestly showing its fruit - there would be more converts among Zin fanatics, who would be wowed by the subtle black cherry and licorice flavors and dry finish, minimally aged in oak. —V.B. abv: 13.5% Price: $18 90 Yorba 2007 Shake Ridge Vineyards Zinfandel (Amador County). Yorba is doing the world of Zin lovers a huge favor by holding its wines in bottle for longer than most producers, and what you get for all that waiting is a wine ready to drink that’s still got plenty of structure and ageability. This Zin shows great depth, with subdued fruit and darker flavors of plum and coffee allowed to shine, rounded out by an intensity of spice. —V.B. abv: 14.6% Price: $28 <strong>Wine</strong>Mag.com | 57
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Clay McLachlan 2 ITALY 29 FRANCE 31
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The Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide Th
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Page 33 and 34: Devo Enterprises Corporation. Edito
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Page 53 and 54: 87 Francis Ford Coppola 2009 Direct
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