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This is the 54th consecutive month we have highlighted a wine of the month. What goes into its selection? Is it simply the wine we liked the best over the past month? No. Whether you like a wine or not is subjective, so that can’t be the criteria. Some people don’t like Pinot Noir. They think it’s not big and bold like a Cabernet Sauvignon and therefore never drink it. Other people swear by Pinot; it’s their go-to wine.
The professional, certified tasters at Peninsula Underground have their personal favorites but they judge all wines, not just those they like. Each varietal has characteristics based upon region, climate, weather, slope, aspect, soil, and winemaking, just to name a few factors. This is sometimes loosely referred to as “terroir.” The aromas, flavors, acid, tannin, length, etc. are identified and used to judge a wine against its varietal peers. In other words, whether you like a wine is subjective, but what it is is objective. It’s one of the first things you learn as you go through certification.
When we get together as judges we always begin by reviewing what to expect from the wines on our docket. We never stop learning or trying to improve.
With that background in mind, our choice for June wine of the month, the 2023 Goosecross Cellars Rosé for Lucy (100% Pinot Noir) Napa Valley, is a model wine for teaching certain traits. (And, yes, it’s delicious!)
Judges first describe the color and intensity of a wine. Rosé is typically pink, salmon, or orange. The Goosecross Rosé for Lucy, named for the vintners’ daughter, is a classic pale salmon. We then judge the aroma: identifiable characteristics and intensity. Our June wine of the month has a wonderfully pronounced aroma. While you can pick out many descriptors, like strawberries or lime, this wine is most notable for its textbook cantaloupe.
Detecting aromas from a wine is a learned skill. Master Sommelier Peter Neptune tells his students that his job is to get them to learn his nose and palate. We can imagine him using this Goosecross Cellars Rosé for Lucy as the teaching wine for picking out the smell of cantaloupe. It’s what you would imprint on your brain, as a taster, to call upon later.
We had the pleasure of tasting through all of Goosecross’s wonderful wines on their patio not far off the Silverado Trail. We are grateful for Angelica’s courtesy in making arrangements to welcome us and for Antwaun, our new favorite wordsmith, for hosting us. Ask for him if you visit; your conversation with him—and his exuberant personality—enhances the tasting experience.
Winemaker Bill Nancarrow employed stainless steel aging to give the Rosé for Lucy a clean, fresh mouthfeel with bright acidity, allowing the fruit to be the star and carrying it to a long, satisfying finish. You need to pick up this wine now, before it’s gone, so that you have it for the summer. Outstanding value for $39.00.
So, later this month, when you’re having an afternoon get together, pull out our June wine of the month, the 2023 Goosecross Cellars Rosé for Lucy Napa Valley, pour it for your friends, and impress them with your tasting prowess. You can thank us later!
Learn more about Goosecross Cellars, purchase their wine, and follow them here:
@goosecrosscellars
Do a self evaluation of your wine journey. Are you stuck in a rut? Always buying that same old buttery Chardonnay or smack-you-in-the-face Cabernet Sauvignon? Ultimately, if you enjoy it, then it doesn’t matter. But if you are at all curious and open to new experiences, then the world of wine has so much more to offer. Region, climate, weather, soil, slope, aspect, and technique can affect the wine so that the same varietal can have very different expressions.
Take Syrah, for example. For the most part, this Northern Rhône grape yields a wine featuring dark fruits, black pepper, and high tannins. In a warmer climate, like Paso Robles, that black pepper may turn to licorice. It’s a big, bold wine.
But it doesn’t have to be. Enter carbonic maceration and our May wine of the month, the Coquelicot* Estate Vineyard Carbonic Syrah Los Olivos District.
Carbonic maceration is a winemaking technique in which whole clusters of grapes are placed inside a sealed container that is filled with carbon dioxide. In this oxygen-free environment the grapes ferment from the inside (intracellular fermentation) until they crush under their own weight and release the juice so that the ambient yeast can finish the job. The result is a juicier wine with bright acidity and low tannins. Perhaps the most famous example of this style is Beaujolais Nouveau, made from Gamay and released every November around Thanksgiving.
Coquelicot’s winemaker, Mike Roth, has employed this technique to make a wonderfully bright Syrah with fresh candied flavors where the red fruit is more prominent than the black. Think jolly rancher, kirsch, and bubble gum, with violet on the nose as well. There is a hint of tannin to provide some texture and structure, but it’s not brooding as in a typical Syrah. This is a wine meant to be drunk young to take advantage of its freshness. A completely different, and still enjoyable, Syrah experience.
Also notable is the appearance. Mike wisely chose a clear glass bottle to highlight the color, which would technically be classified as a medium purple but we would call medium magenta (red wines are professionally described as either ruby, purple, garnet, or tawny). It’s beautiful.
Next time you’re in Los Olivos make a point to visit Coquelicot for a tasting. Try their Carbonic Syrah, our May wine of the month. You’ll be hooked. At $35 it’s a great value, and since this wine is meant to be drunk now, you can push back your buttery Chards and big Cabs for a while. You may even decide on your next wine adventure.
Learn more about Coquelicot, book your appointment, and purchase their wine here:
https://www.coquelicotwines.com
@coquelicot_wines
*(ko-klee-ko)
Think about your favorite winery. The vineyard or tasting room you love to visit. You’re big fans of the wine they produce and have been club members for years. Maybe you’ve even volunteered there for fun.
Then think about buying that winery.
That’s the story of Dee and Todd Krivoshein, who in 2021 purchased Washington’s Page Cellars, home of the 2019 Preface Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, our April wine of the month.
Both Dee and Todd come from farming families, with Todd helping at his uncle’s Walla Walla winery as a teenager. By the time Dee stumbled upon a winery listed for sale, which turned out to be Page Cellars, on New Year’s Day 2021, the couple had already been club members and cellar volunteers. As they state on their website, they, “acquired the winery to build a family business and legacy. They intentionally chose Woodinville’s Warehouse District to create a tasting experience that immerses guests in the artisanal process of winemaking.”
The 2019 Page Cellars Preface comes from Red Mountain AVA, the perfect growing region for powerful, structured Cabernet Sauvignon. Red Mountain’s first vineyards were planted nearly 50 years ago and it became an AVA in 2001. The Cascade Mountain rain shadow protects the region from the heavy rains on the western side of the state. Its seven inches of annual rainfall is less than half that of Yountville in Napa Valley, and it yields 17 hours of sunlight during the growing season—two hours more than Napa Valley. The large diurnal range (roughly 50-90 degrees Fahrenheit) allows Cabernet Sauvignon to ripen properly, while also retaining acidity.
The 2019 Preface grabs hold of you from the start with pronounced intensity of aroma and flavor. Expect peppercorn, red and black cherry, and violet, layered with warm spice, vanilla, and pipe tobacco. The wine has a luxurious mouthfeel, outstanding balance, and a long finish. A bold Cabernet Sauvignon with great structure and a long life. It’s no surprise that the 2019 Preface won a gold medal in our 2024 Washington State Wine Competition.
The Woodinville Warehouse District, about 20 miles northeast of Seattle is one of the country’s great wine-tasting areas, with more than 100 tasting rooms to visit. When you go, make sure Page Cellars is one of your stops and taste their 2019 Preface Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, our April wine of the month. Tell Dee and Todd that Peninsula Underground sent you.
Learn more about Page Cellars, purchase their wine, and follow them here:
@PageCellars
Imagine pressing just one drop of nectar from each grape to produce a wine. Does that really happen? What is the process? The wine must be prohibitively expensive!
The answers are: yes, we’ll explain, and not terribly.
Icewine is something of a delicacy in the wine world. Grapes remain on the vine long and into winter until the point they freeze and then they are picked. At Peller Estates Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, home of our March of the Month, the 2019 Million Icewine VQA Niagara Peninsula, they do this with their Vidal grapes at -10*C (14*F). The sugars and other dissolved solids in the grape do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape nectar to be pressed from the grape. Because the balance of sugars and water have been shifted, the result is a lusciously sweet wine suitable as an aperitif.
The wine is a medium gold color, approaching amber. Expect a very pure array of fruit on the palate: citrus, stone, and tropical. There is wonderfully refreshing acidity to provide backbone, and a long, lingering, honey finish. It is such a treat. Pair this with your dessert or after-dinner cheeses. And because the sugar levels are so high, this wine only reaches 11% ABV, making it (slightly) guilt free!
Icewine is not poured the way a typical glass of red or white wine is poured. It is best savored in small quantities. That is why Peller Estates Winery makes our March wine of the month in a 200 mL bottle. Given what it takes to make this wine, it is a surprisingly good value at $55. We highly recommend it.
Learn more about Peller Estates Winery, purchase their wine, and follow them here:
@pellerwines
The tag line on our Peninsula Underground logo is, “Find Great Wines.” To do so, you often must step outside your comfort zone. There are so many exciting wines in the world—wines that make your palate come alive. But if you are used to drinking the same two or three varietals, how will you ever come to appreciate other great wines? If you want to improve your aerobic fitness, you need to run more. If you want to increase your muscle mass, you need to lift more weights. If you want to upgrade your wine palate, you need to drink different wines.
The first step in expanding your wine horizon is our February wine of the month, the 2021 St. Avalo Nero d’Avola Los Olivos District Santa Barbara County.
Nero d’Avola is the most important red-wine grape in Sicily and has more recently popped up in Valle de Guadalupe and Mendocino County. This expression from St. Avalo is deep purple in color and has a pronounced intensity of aroma and flavor. There are a plethora of identifiable characteristics that are impressively balanced. Primary descriptors: blackberry, black raspberry, blueberry, black currant, violet, black currant leaf, and wet wool. Secondary: toast, butterscotch, and chocolate. Tertiary: savory and vegetal. This wine has fruit on the midpalate that adds layers of complexity on the velvety finish. A high acid, high tannin, full-bodied treat that can be enjoyed now or over the next 7-10 years. We scored it a 93.7 a few months ago and scores will only go up from there. Outstanding.
We were first introduced to Diana & Oliver Ramleth, and the impressive team at St. Avalo, in our 2023 Under the Radar California Competition, where they took home Best in Class for their Pinot Grigio and Vermentino. Their first release of reds (Sangiovese, Dornfelder, Gamay Noir, and Pinot Noir, in addition to the Nero d’Avola) has been a revelation. And, with a new tasting room soon to open in Los Olivos, word will spread quickly about this new gem in the wine world.
We so appreciate St. Avalo’s contributions to the industry by making outstanding varietals that give us a chance to grow in our wine journey. For that reason, the 2021 St. Avalo Nero d’Avola Los Olivos District Santa Barbara County is our February wine of the month.
Purchase, learn more, and follow St. Avalo here:
@StAvaloWine
If you believe that a new year is about starting fresh—a clean slate—then shouldn’t your first wine of the year be symbolic of this mindset?
A big, heavy Cabernet Sauvignon or Sagrantino suggests more about comfort, the status quo. Fat and happy. They don’t set the tone for renewal. What does?
Albariño.
From Rías Baixas in Galicia in the northwest Iberian Peninsula—a region know as green Spain—Albariño grows near the European frontier of the Atlantic Ocean. Go west, young grape! It thrives in cooler climates (winter renewal) and does well with rainfall (cleansing). It is typically fermented in inert vessels, like stainless steel, to preserve the pronounced aromas of citrus, stone fruit, and apple. It is fresh and clean with high acidity and salinity.
To get us in the mood for this winter rebirth, we chose the 2021 Albariño de Fefiñanes D.O. Rías Baixas as our January wine of the month. It is a wonderful expression of the variety with red apple, honeysuckle, brininess, and high acidity. The wine dances about the palate in a way that wakes up your senses. It is rejuvenating. A perfect start to the new year.
Best of all, you can buy this wine for less than $35. We picked it up at Hi-Time Wine Cellars for $31.98. A fantastic value.
Your January does not need to be dry to start fresh—your wine just needs to set the proper tone. Try the (dry) 2021 Albariño de Fefiñanes D.O. Rías Baixas, our January wine of the month, and you’ll see what we mean.
Learn more about Bodegas Fefiñanes here:
@BodegaFefinanes
Purchase from Hi-Time here:
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