Dan Atwood has settled into his role as host of The Wine Company quite comfortably. The recent renovations are a nice improvement and things continue to improve under his guidance. Dan makes a point of spending time with his customers and making them feel at home. Yesterday he launched “The Counter Club”, a weekly gathering on Wednesdays where invited guests can join him in evaluating wines brought in by a different wine rep each time. It’s a win-win. Dan gets valuable feedback and his guests get to be in on the decision making process and buy wines at a great price.
About ten of us were on hand for yesterday’s inaugural gathering. Jeanette Treadway from Regal Wine Company had the honor of kicking things off and she did so with seven wines, starting with Kendall Jackson’s Grand Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is made from the top 1% of KJ’s grapes and is fermented in oak and stainless steel. The wine was clean and crisp, but to my palette, unremarkable. At $19, this is not a wine I could recommend. Things began to improve with the Los Alisos Chardonnay from Santa Barbara County. This was a great Summer wine, with a fresh citrus nose and a caramel apple finish. I would have no trouble paying $16 for this wine. The next wine we tasted was my favorite of the afternoon. The Novellum Chardonnay hails from France and it is delightful. Viognier lease is stirred in during fermentation. It’s crisp, fruit forward and complex and I look forward to drinking it again. I highly recommend it at $16.
The reds were up next starting with the Evodia, a big Garnacha from Spain. This one smacks you in the nose with big berry aromas. It had a true Grenache flavor and feel, but was a bit acidic for my taste. It did open up in the glass, and at $10 a bottle, I would recommend it in a heartbeat. I thought the notes on the back of the bottle were great: the who, what, when where and how – “remove cork, pour into glass (optional) and drink. I’m a sucker for a good sense of humor. We tasted another Spanish wine next, the Creta Roble Tempranillo. It presented an earthy nose with some blackberry and had a chalky finish. At $15, it was okay, but not one I would likely buy. We moved on to another Spanish entry, the Castell del Remei Cotim, a blend of 60% Tempranillo, 20% Cab and 20% Merlot. It had a raisiny nose and was definitely drinkable at $15 a bottle. The finale was the Prima Voce Super Tuscan from Tenuta di Arceno, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. There wasn’t much I liked about this wine. I found it to be extremely dry and acidic. It did improve after being poured through a Vinturi, but I was disappointed with it. That one was priced at $17.50.
All in all it was a fine afternoon and I look forward to an encore performance next Wednesday. Maybe I’ll see you there.


We decided to spend a Sunday afternoon wine tasting with our friends Roger and Kathy. The fact that
Lori set us up with four glasses and we began to taste. I started with the ‘07 Sauvignon Blanc and found it to have a nice, floral nose with a crispness on the palate and a smooth finish. Equally good was the ‘07 Viognier, dry and perfect for a hot summer day. I moved to the reds, starting with the ‘06 Estate Mourvedre. I thought this was the best wine I tasted at Wilson Creek, with a great plum nose and vanilla on the finish. It’s always a pleasant surprise to find a winery producing a 100% Mourvedre. Next up was the ‘06 Estate Legacy, a Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. It tasted fine, but the nose eluded me. One of the things I enjoy most about a fine wine is its nose, and strangely enough, there wasn’t one to be found here. The final red was the ‘06 Estate Zinfandel. This was a very smooth Zin, fruit forward with a satisfying finish. To top things off we enjoyed an “Almond Joy”, with the “Decadencia” Chocolate Port in a chocolate shot glass. You take a sip, they add Almond Champagne, you drink it and eat the cup. That’s very tasty!
Our next stop was at
Damian said he “wasn’t done with the dog & pony show” yet. We tasted three late harvest wines: the ‘08 Muscat, very sweet with apricot and peach notes and a big honey finish. The non vintage Zinfandel Port had a remarkable nose and a silky smooth finish. The final offering came with a story. During the ‘05 harvest, somehow an entire row of Syrah grapes was left on the vines. Marcello discovered the near raisins when he returned from a post harvest vacation. They crushed what there was and it sat in oak for three and a half years. The late harvest wine was going to be dedicated to Marcello’s granddaughter, but his daughter miscarried. Another daughter got pregnant, the first daughter became pregnant again, and the resulting late harvest Syrah is called “Los Nietos” (the grandchildren). On the back of the bottle are the words “on earth as it is in heaven”. There were enough grapes to produce one barrel, and it is ambrosia. I will return to Doffo this weekend to spend more time with Marcello and Damian and will do a story on them and the winery.
Roger and Kathy had never visited 

Laura and I got married on the 4th of July. Our wedding was everything we could have hoped for and more. The weather was perfect, we were surrounded by family and dear friends and to cap it all off we took in a spectacular fireworks display.







Laura and I ran into an acquaintance last night and the subject of WINEormous came up. He told me he had visited the site a few times and asked if I wanted his honest feedback. I told him I did and I am very grateful for what he told me. He said the blog was too positive and that I needed to balance it with with some critical comments.


