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Waltzing Bear 2003 Rancho Ontiveros Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir
2008-05-13 04:40:00 Waltzing Bear Winery is an artisan winery where owner and winemaker Brad Lowman focuses on producing small lots of ultra premium wines.The Waltzing Bear 2003 Rancho Ontiveros Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir is made from the first fruit of a new block planted and grown by James Ontiveros in the southern end of Santa Maria Valley, near Bien Nacido Vineyard. Only 74 cases made.The wine has a dark garnet color in the glass.The nose showing deep cherry, earth, mushrooms, and oak. The earth/mushroom components being dominant.On the palate is earthy and rich with dark cherry, dusty raspberry, and red fruit. The wine is nuanced with good acidity, and a long, smooth, finish with soft, lean, tannins.This is definitely a slightly different, very interesting Pinot Noir. I can't quite put words to it so you just have to experience it yourself. The winery is right now selling it to a reduced price of $33.75. Give it a shot! I do not think you will be disappointed...Vote for my blog here a...
By: Tastes of Life
Foxen 2003 Bien Nacido Vineyard - Block Eight Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir
2008-04-25 19:39:00 Foxen makes some of our favorite Central Coast Pinot Noirs. We opened a bottle of their 2003 Bien Nacido Vineyard - Block Eight Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir a few night ago, and got to enjoy it close to, or at, its peak.The grapes are 100% destemmed prior to enjoying five days of cold soak. They then go through whole berry fermentation before being aged in 65% new French oak for 16 months. Finally it is bottled unfined and unfiltered.The result is a Pinot with a clear, dark, ruby red/purple color in the glass.On the nose; dark raspberry, cherry, vanilla, and earthy components.On the plate the wine shows of raspberry, cherry, and plum with a hint of spice and vanilla. It is a harmonic, balanced, and concentrated, medium to full bodied Pinot, that receives a lift from the fresh acidity and slight edge to the tannins. Drinks beautifully right now. Unfortunately this was the last bottle I pulled out of our stash...Looks like it is still available at Vinfolio.com for $42. Check it out i...
By: Tastes of Life
Bonaccorsi 2003 Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir
2008-04-24 04:31:00 Not the first time I have had and reviewed a Bonaccorsi Pinot Noir, and although I always think they are stellar, for some reason I am particularly enjoying the 2003 Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir tonight. I decided to try all new recipes for dinner and served it with BBQ red wine flank steak, bulgur/roasted beet/mushroom/red onion pilaf, and a red wine vinegar braised carrot and leek dish. It turned out awesome! (both the food and the pairing)The 2003 Santa Maria Valley has a dark, dense, slightly cloudy, garnet color in the glass. To me indicating big, lush, savage, fruit. But I should have known better. Bonaccorsi usually leans toward the more elegant side, although the dark fruit is there. It stays true in this case as well.The nose, sure enough, displays black cherry, raspberry, blueberry, vanilla cola, and notes of dried grass. All powerful but with the recognizable finesse.On the palate dark raspberry, black cherry, a touch of blackberry and subtle spice. The berries are accom...
By: Tastes of Life
Nagy2 2005 Garey Ranch Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir
2008-04-07 04:02:00 I picked up a bottle of Nagy2 2005 Garey Ranch Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir at El Rancho Market in Solvang when I was in Santa Ynez Valley a couple of weeks ago. I was on the hunt for something new to try and this bottle came highly recommended by the ?wine guy? that helped me in the store. El Rancho has as lot of wine from local wineries that can be hard to find in other grocery stores/wine shops. This bottle was no exception. The only other place I could find it online was at WanderingDogWinebar.com, located in Solvang, for $32.The color in the glass; a dark, dense garnet color.On the nose smoky oak, dark raspberry, blackberry and vanilla.The palate showing dark cherry, dark raspberry, blackberry and a hint of pencil lead at the very finish.This is initially a very mouth full and fruit forward wine on the palate that unfortunately goes a little thin on the mid palate and finish. Moderate acidity and young light tannins. Thin finish or not, we still enjoyed this wine and think it ...
By: Tastes of Life
Taz 2005 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir
2008-01-17 19:53:00 Today I am starting of with a fun little trivia: The name of the winery, Taz, is short for Tasmanian devil, which is winegrower Robert "Taz" Steinhaur's nickname.The grapes for the Taz 2005 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir comes from Northern Canyon Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley, and Fiddlestix Vineyard in Santa Rita Hills. 1/4 of the wine was aged in new oak and the rest in neutral barrels.This wine shows a clear, bright, ruby red color in the glass.On the nose red berries, red currant, a hint of blueberries, vanilla and some floral notes come through.When tasting the wine darker berries emerges with dark cherry, ripe raspberry and spice. The acidity is good and tannins, although slightly light and tart, are also there in sufficient amount.This wine is relatively light and lacking a little in complexity, but despite that I really enjoyed it. Bright, fruity and with the slight spice it is a great wine considering I only payed $14.99 at Costco. Normally price at $25 at the winery, t...
By: Tastes of Life
Rusack 2005 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay
2007-07-27 11:40:00 We had the Rusack Pinot Noir not to long ago and really enjoyed it , so when I saw the Chardonnay the other day in the store, I just had to grab it to give it a try.The grapes for the 2005 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay comes from Bien Nacido and Goodchild Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley, and Huber Vineyard and Rancho Santa Rosa in Santa Rita Hills. Both are cool climate appellations with maritime influence. It went through partial malolactic fermentation (70%) and was aged 9 months prior to bottling, in 32% new and 68% older French oak.This wine has a golden straw color in the glass. On the nose ripe apple, citrus and pronounced oak. Tasting it, the apple and citrus steps out again with some light tropical fruit and the buttery creaminess from the malolactic fermentation and oak. It has a round soft mouth feel, and moderate acidity. I wish it had some more to stand up to the buttery creaminess. Our neighbor on the other hand who prefers her Chardonnay in this style thought it was v...
By: Tastes of Life
Kenneth Volk Vineyards 2004 Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir
2007-07-24 17:00:00 I thought we would try a, to us, new winery tonight. The 2004 Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir from Kenneth Volk Vineyards seemed like a good candidate on the shelf in the grocery store.This wine is a blend from several vineyards from Santa Maria Valley and Santa Rita Hills. It was aged in 60% new, 20% one year old, and 20% three to four year old French oak using barrels from several different coopers.A clear dark ruby color with a touch of purple reflects in the glass. On the nose, red cherry, raspberry, blueberry, light strawberry and traces of oak. Moving to the palate blackberry and cherry are the main components, with raspberry and oak in the background. This Pinot has good acidity and firm tannins, that together with the pronounced fruit makes for a great balanced wine with very decent complexity and a medium body.I got this at my local "natural food" market for $ 23.99 and I think that was a good price for this very nice wine. Finding it online for only $17.99 at Wine-Searcher.c...
By: Tastes of Life
Byron Vineyard and Winery 2003 Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay
2007-07-15 03:13:00 This Chardonnay from Byron was aged 10 months in 25% new and 75%older French oak. 93% of the grapes are from Nielson Vineyard and 7% from Sierra Madre, vines being between 29-39 years old. The growing season here is one of the longest in California.The color in the glass is a golden, medium yellow, straw. Sticking my nose in the glass citrus, ripe Golden Delicious apple, tropical fruit, and white floral meets me with oak notes. Tasting, it shows a pretty heavy texture with, again, the citrus, tropical fruit, and oak. Medium acidity and medium length finish. This is a slightly more heavy white then I expected and I suspect it might be due to it being past prime. I have had the Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay from Byron several times in the past of different vintages and it never seemed this heavy to me. It has always been more refreshing with great acidity and more light fruit. I suspect that was what the 2003 had to offer a year or more ago...I do not recommend buying the 2003 vintage...
By: Tastes of Life
Foxen Vineyard 2004 Julia's Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir
2007-04-13 04:51:00 I just love Foxen Vineyard from Santa Ynez Valley. They truly make some outstanding wines and tonight I had the 2004 Julia's Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir. I have reviewed the 2003 earlier. Read more about it here.The 2004 has a bright, medium dark, ruby red color in the glass and shows incredible dark cherries and dark berries on the nose. On the palate, again, that intense dark cherry comes through, with a hint of red licorice, and little else being able to shine trough. Despite of that, it's rich, broad, intense and complex. Medium high acidity and smooth tannins gives this full-bodied wine good balance (tipping toward the ripe cherries). Long fruit driven finish. Still a tad young though. Lay it down for a couple of years and I think that the ripe fruit will mellow out and give this wine even better balance.This wine is shipped from the winery to members only. Only 300 cases produced. Looking for it online the only bottle I could find was a magnum (1.5 liters) for $10...
By: Tastes of Life
The Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel
2007-04-04 05:47:00 We just came home from five days in Los Angeles and thought I tell you a little bit about what we ate and drank.We started our trip with dinner at The Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel. We did not have reservations, that presented no problem, and we got seated right away (7 pm on a Thursday).Attentive staff to start with, taking our drink order and presenting the menu. After that the service went down hill. Food was timely but our bottle of wine sure took it's time, and we sat with our empty plates for quite a while before anyone noticed. Ordering dessert was quite a shore and we had to ask three times for the dessert menu before it finally arrived. Unacceptable!Let's move on to the food. I started with the Ahi Tuna Tartare with Spiced California Avocado and Shaved Radish on Micro Greens. All very fresh and good. For main course I had the Wild Sockeye Salmon with Potato Crisps topped with a Creme Fraiche Sauce and Caviar. The salmon was slightly over cooked, but otherwise ver...
By: Tastes of Life
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